The midfield
- Thread starter Gary25
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Status
I'll respectfully disagree.
Tielemans could be an option, I just don't know if he's particularly press resistant, or willing to press.
Nunes I know next to nothing about
Nunes looks a good fit. Given he’s earned significant praise from Pep too, I’d imagine his technical ability is as good as his compilations suggest. Add the impression of an aggressive, attack minded player, and I’d say he’s one to consider at the fees quoted.
Given our Portuguese league connections, I’m sure he’d be under consideration if we weren’t all in for Bellingham.
Given our Portuguese league connections, I’m sure he’d be under consideration if we weren’t all in for Bellingham.
Liverpool are reportedly readying a move for AC Milan midfielder Ismael Bennacer as they experience a mini injury crisis in the middle of the park.
Despite Jurgen Klopp saying he’s not looking to add any further reinforcements in the midfield area, the Reds are ready to submit a bid for the Algeria international, that’s according to CMW (via Liverpool World).
Thiago Alcantara picked up a hamstring injury in yesterday’s disappointing opening day draw with Fulham whilst Curtis Jones, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita were all unavailable due to injury and illness.
Following the game, Klopp provided an update on the severity of our No. 6’s injury and hinted that the Spain international may be sidelined for a significant amount of time.
READ MORE: ‘Growing talk’ – Fabrizio Romano weighs in on speculation linking 26-year-old Bayern Munich star with a move to Liverpool
With Liverpool’s squad depth far from ideal at the moment, our German boss may now be tempted to enter the transfer market and it’s believed that Bennacer is a player that Klopp admires.
The report claims that the 24-year-old has a release clause of £42m but the Reds would look to strike a deal closer to £34m.
The defensive midfielder made 40 appearances for the San Siro outfit last term, registering two goals and one assist across all competitions.
He featured in both Champions League group stage games against Liverpool last term where he was on the losing side on both occasions.
It does appear that anymore incomings this summer are unlikely, but if the injuries continue to mount up, Klopp may have no other option than to delve into the market once more.
There's only one type of MF that i'd pay any amount to get, and that is the Iniesta/Xavi/Zidane type. A proper baller who doesn't give the ball away easily and enough dribbling skills to dictate the pace of the game as well as launch attacks. We haven't had those sort before, and i feel this is what we need right now. Thiago was supposed to be that player but he's been hit and miss so far, with his injuries, form, etc. I haven't seen enough of Jude to make a conclusion yet.
So i don't know who else fit that mould, as i don't watch any other games anymore.
So i don't know who else fit that mould, as i don't watch any other games anymore.
We don't need someone of Thiago's level. A 28 year old Gini was invaluable in games like yesterday. He could hold onto the ball, ride the press, give us some physicality, and push us forward. And most importantly, was always available.
I can understand waiting for Bellingham. But next year, we will need more than one midfielder.
But he is 29 and valued at £34m. Houssem Aouar is available for £12.5m, current comp for his signature are Leicester and Forest
Is Tielemans better than Kieta - no, I don’t believe so, but he’s certainly not as injury prone. I honestly think there’s no question Kieta has ability - his abilities aren’t the problem.
As for Tielemans having more kegs than Henderson - Henderson played 7 more games than Tielemans last season, so no, I don’t think he necessarily has that much more “legs” - you’d expect him too because of his age, but Henderson appears to be looking after himself.
Besides Henderson is our captain - he’ll play a big part of this season.
Last edited:
who knows what is true. Be loads of rumours flying now …
We ain't gonna sign a 29 year old for 34M
If Aouar injury record is good the yeah for that price, been so long since I have seen him, but can he run and tackle with the intensity we need and without getting injured ?
Also those arguing for that flabby melt at Leicester, forget him, he is inconsistent.
Can I suggest some of you that keep quoting how many mids we have, take a good look at their history, forget their availability and games played last season, every season is different and the injuries will come when our mids are forced to fight a bit. So just assume that the following will only be around 20 to 30 percent of games:
Ox, Curtis, Thiago, and Nabi
Hendo 60%
Fab 75%
Milner at 40 to 50% depending on consecutive games played.
Don't count the two kids, as I don't think they can physically provide defence cover.
We need the fit, healthy runner through the lines , and a fighter, that's all. We need him now.
Naby is now considered shite but won’t go that far, Ox currently is on his own league of shiteness.
We should have got another midfielder last season and the case for it was even bigger this season, I get the whole let’s wait for the right player strategy but it’s countered by having to make do again with what we have for this season.
His injury record
[xtable]
{thead}
{tr}
{th}Season{/th}
{th}Injury{/th}
{th}from{/th}
{th}until{/th}
{th}Days{/th}
{th}Games missed{/th}
{/tr}
{/thead}
{tbody}
{tr}
{td}20/21{/td}
{td}Adductor problems{/td}
{td}Apr 1, 2021{/td}
{td}Apr 16, 2021{/td}
{td}15 days{/td}
{td}3
{/td}{/tr}
{tr}
{td}20/21{/td}
{td}Corona virus{/td}
{td}Aug 28, 2020{/td}
{td}Sep 9, 2020{/td}
{td}12 days{/td}
{td}1
{/td}{/tr}
{tr}
{td}19/20{/td}
{td}Thigh Problems{/td}
{td}Nov 10, 2019{/td}
{td}Dec 3, 2019{/td}
{td}23 days{/td}
{td}5
{/td}{/tr}
{/tbody}
[/xtable]
I agree. I think Keita alongside Alcantara are our best midfielders— able to look after the ball and beat a press. Unfortunately, we can’t seem to rely on them and it’s the Daniel Agger and Harry Kewell conundrum all over again. If we can’t rely on a player regularly to be available, of what use is he?
Simple they are the wold class talent that can be subs, and they can't really complain as they know their injury prone when playing too much.
Last edited:
[bcolor=rgb(255, 255, 255)]Thiago played 54% of mins possible in his first season with us & last season he played 45%.[/bcolor]
[bcolor=rgb(255, 255, 255)][/bcolor]
[bcolor=rgb(255, 255, 255)][/bcolor]
[bcolor=rgb(255, 255, 255)]Oh dear [/bcolor]
Assuming we were already in for him, I doubt anything has changed. We don't usually do panic buys.
Think he's available? 😛
I meant suddenly looking for a player we hadn't an eye on for some time (and were planning on getting.)
Last edited:
£75m and £300k/w well out of our league
If we count Elliott and Carvalho, who are obviously capable of playing RCM & LCM, then we've actually signed four, with Fabinho and Thiago. It's nonsense and selective to say we have neglected improving that area. We might need to go out and buy a Worldy, but thats besides the point, we've bought two top brass midfielders since 2018 and two kids who "should" go on to big things. Its not that "grim", we need one addition, not a complete overhaul.
You're really counting two unproven kids who've played out wide or off the forward line in their youth as centre mids for a team looking to compete for a League & CL? Like really?? I'm sure we've all given up on Ox & Keita at this stage. Milner is a last 15 or 20 minutes man at this stage of his career, Henderson isn't quite at that stage but shouldn't be an automatic starter now. Jones another one who came through as a wide player/no10 but has been shoehorned into centre mid and has yet to truly convince there consistency.
Whatever way you dress it up, our midfield options aren't up to standard, nowhere near it. And yes, we've signed one centre midfielder in four years.
- Status
