This ^^^^^^^^^^^^. Plus he's only 30, not exactly the Old Man of the Sea.
Milner's new role
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Milner's the best CM at the club. I know there's a lot of loyalty for Hendo and there's a lot of hope/hype surrounding Can but, right now, Milner is better than both of them in their favoured roles.
He's not a DM, and that's where Can will predominantly play. So it's down to how well our new Dutch lad plays if he's used in CM.
I'm not really bothered about these CM/DM/ACM descriptions we go through on here from time to time.
Milner is the best player we have to plonk in the middle of the park.
Milner is the best player we have to plonk in the middle of the park.
I think it's clear he wants someone. My feeling is he wants an attacking left back and also a more conservative left back, depending on the opposition. So he's using Milner temporarily as the stand-in, more defensive fullback, and then Moreno when he wants more pace/support down that flank.
I really like the fact that he seems unwilling to do the usual LFC thing of 'Oh well, I can't get the players I REALLY want so I'll take one the committee thinks might be quite good'. He knows what and who he wants. Then again, the childish part of me just wants us to get SOMEONE to replace that idiot Moreno. Managers can't win!
No manager can ever know enough about the entire footballing world that he has an exact idea of which players he "really wants". That's what his scouting department and assistant managers are for. And I also find it hard to believe that Chilwell was the only genuine option, and failing that we'll be playing Milner there, or Moreno.
Yeah, we have brought in far, FAR too many average players in the last 10-15 years, but on the other hand, it sometimes seem as if the pool of options was ridiculously small to begin with.
How did we end up with players like Markovic, Balotelli, Adam, Cole, Konchesky, Aspas, Ilori, Allen, Ngog, Degen, Krygiakos, Poulsen and Aquilani?
Under a different manager and 2 seasons ago. I doubt he has any qualms about this. I'm sure he'd rather be in the team in some capacity than on the bench, left out completely or, worse still, sold to Stoke.
Whilst I would much prefer a replacement FB for Moreno, Hector and De Sciglia (sp) are linked (the later please SVP), I understand that both Ragnar and Milner can stand in, even Sakho. This doesn't say much for Flanno's chances of staying though (seemingly LFC - BFC - Exit Door).
The very best of him, over a sustained period, may still not be good enough for Klopp. Hence his willingness to use him as a utility player, which may be of greater value to the manager.
We can see that Klopp has sorted out his attack/front-line this Summer and has added strength to the defence in two key positions. He may be reticent to go the whole hog and change LB, strengthen RB and add further defensive minded midfielders all in the same Summer, in fact we know he is. If he did there would be nothing to do next year bar go on to win the CL to add to this season's PL.
Yet it seems Klopp doesn't agree with you so where does that leave Milner ? Regardless of what this board feels about him.
You'd be wrong. Milner has often stated he doesn't enjoy playing in the full-back position. He said he didn't like it at City. He stated he wanted to leave there and join us, and one of the reasons was being played in central midfield. He said it again a few months ago when he played there against United:
'The manager asked me to play there, and I’ll always do what’s best for the team. “I wasn’t really comfortable there. It’s not a position I want to play"
He quite obviously has qualms, and if he left a title-winning side to join Liverpool, partly because of his desire to play in the position he enjoys most, I have no doubt at all that he will not be happy playing a position he doesn't like for Liverpool.
Maybe 'qualms' was the wrong word to use. However knowing his options, i.e. not first choice in midfield, I'm sure he'd rather be on the pitch in some capacity than not at all. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him leave next Summer.
I think he might be confident in his abilities that he could still be one of the midfield CM partnership, or playing wide on the right or left of the attacking midfield three.
And I wouldn't blame him for that; Henderson has had a dreadful season, Can is still a work in progress and Grujic is very young.
Yes we are at least 1 player away from Klopp's ideal midfield. At lot will depend on what formation we line up with. In a 4-2-3-1 I don't see many opportunities for Milner (as I believe Klopp will go with Can & Henderson) however in a 4-3-3 then he would probably be one of those midfield 3.
It is beginning to look as if Henderson is getting back to his old, better, self and that Klopp will then prefer him over Milner. Both Milner & Henderson in midfield has not worked well for us if memory serves me well and with our strength in attacking mids I don't see how Milner is going to get into the team very often other than from the bench.
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I don't disagree that the acquisition of Grujic, Mane and Wijnaldum will increase the competition, as will a 100% fit Henderson, but Milner is not a player I would write off, especially as he was one of our best players last season.
Of course he can have an exact idea about what player he really wants, in certain cases. Paisley wanted Dalglish. Clough wanted Shilton. Mourinho wants Pogba. History is littered with examples. Maybe you misunderstood my point and assumed, somewhat bizarrely, that I think Klopp knows all the players he ever wants for every position, or was simply committing a fatal Hegelian error. All I meant was that Klopp specifically wanted a certain player for left back, he'd scouted him, talked to his mate Wagner about him, and decided he was the signing he wanted to make, here and now, as his next left back. And because he can't get him, he's not being pushed into taking some other bloke the committee has had on the list for ages.
I get that, I'm just not about to be impressed when a manager can't get his first choice player - for whatever reason, financial or otherwise - and thinks "oh well, at least I tried, fuck it then"
There should (and almost certainly will be) a plethora of options.
I'm certainly not advocating the hapless scattergun approach of "Sign someone! Anyone!" that would appear to have been utilised in certain cases, but if there is only one or two LB options before "Milner Plan B" is put in place, I'm not going to be jumping up and down with delight.
The existence of a Plan B, C, D, or E option is not the problem, it only becomes one when our Plan B, C, D or E is fucking shit.
Or even worse, when Plan A is too.
Yeah, you should basically have options of the same quality more or less, the only reason there should be a massive vary in the transfer fee being asked for is because of things like inexperience, the standard of team/league the player is currently playing in, but ultimately any "list" should only contain players you have the upmost faith in.
When we brought in Caulker in January he had just had a fucking awful game against us. It seems he was brought in as an absolute emergency and nothing else, no one had enough faith to play him in his favoured role either, so it was all pretty pointless really. I mean, would Ilori have been any worse as emergency cover?
When we brought in Caulker in January he had just had a fucking awful game against us. It seems he was brought in as an absolute emergency and nothing else, no one had enough faith to play him in his favoured role either, so it was all pretty pointless really. I mean, would Ilori have been any worse as emergency cover?
Who's to say that the options for LB aren't exactly that?
I don't think it necessarily follows that Plan A failed so Plan B must be Milner. Milner is an option, an option that will only be utilised if the right LB doesn't come along between now and September.
Given the fact that Flannagan is on loan and Smith has left; I'm sure the club is exploring all options for the FB positions on both sides.
I never said our options wouldn't be exactly that, I wasn't criticising Klopp, I was merely saying that that's how a club should operate. As opposed to a plan A and then basically a degrade in quality the further down the list you go. Cf Pennant instead of Alves.
I don't doubt we have other players earmarked. It's perfectly natural for some transfers to be more drawn out than others, it happens at every club every year.
I don't doubt we have other players earmarked. It's perfectly natural for some transfers to be more drawn out than others, it happens at every club every year.
Yes I know and I agree. I was being somewhat lazy when I replied to your post, because I was replying to yours and the one directly above it.
The options in the media seem to be Chilwell or Hector. The Chilwell interest was clearly firm as a bid was put in (and rejected), I think the Hector link is just the media linking another German - not to mention that the him and Chilwell are not really comparable given the stages they are both at in their careers.
What would have been interesting was whether Klopp viewed Chilwell as first or second choice LB had he have signed. If we knew that, then we could probably make a more educated guess as to who the club may target.
What? No Downing and Carroll love?
And Willems and De Sciglia (at least I hope that one is genuine, poor track record though).
I don't think there's any real truth to either rumour at this point, unfortunately.
Of course the other issue with Milner at left back is the small issue that he's right footed.
It's fine for a right footer to be playing left midfield, but I always feel full backs need to be playing on their strongest foot.
It's fine for a right footer to be playing left midfield, but I always feel full backs need to be playing on their strongest foot.
Disagree. Rob Jones was excellent on the left, Carra stormed the LB role during the Treble season and more recently both Magic and Flanno have done well there. I'm actually less happy about right-footed MFs playing left side as I don't like this insistence on wide players coming inside all the time - it reduces, or completely removes, the width of a team's attacking play.
I don't care how good De Sciglio looks in Serie A BTW. Aquilani, Dossena, Borini, Balotelli anyone? No. More. Italians.
I don't care how good De Sciglio looks in Serie A BTW. Aquilani, Dossena, Borini, Balotelli anyone? No. More. Italians.
That deal wouldn't make much sense. The bid for Chilwell suggested to me that Klopp isn't necessary looking for a straight replacement for Moreno, but someone who can push him for his place. I don't think the club are looking for a big money, first choice LB. Maybe Klopp rates Moreno more than the fans do, rightly or wrongly.
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