The midfield
- Thread starter Gary25
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I think that guy is Enzo Fernandez
Btw, anyone read Xabi's interview on the official website? Missed him.
[article]Just on Jürgen Klopp in particular, is he someone you look up to as a coach?
Absolutely. I loved my games against his Dortmund when I was in Madrid and Bayern. You could see that he was special. I remember when he signed for Liverpool, straight away I had the feeling that he was the man. We were playing Liverpool-Mainz at Mainz [in a pre-season friendly in 2006] and in the programme he mentioned that his favourite stadium was Anfield. That was on my mind. When he signed for Liverpool, I [was like], 'He's always had that in his mind and he's the right man for the job.' After that, what he's done, it's a treasure what we have in Liverpool, what Jürgen built and the inspiration for the players, for the club, for the fans, for everyone.
One of your former teammates Thiago Alcantara is part of this current Liverpool squad. Did he do things that even left you amazed when you played with him, like he does to us?
You could see that he's a different player. He's a different talent because he's competitive but at the same time he has those magic Brazilian actions that are not that European. He's competitive but he can do different things. He was a great player at Bayern and he continues being consistent and being a great player at Liverpool.
He said he asked you what Liverpool was like before he signed. You must have put in a good word...
We talked a lot that summer because he was thinking about the option. I said, 'Thiago, you love football, you're in a great club, you're in Bayern and you've achieved great things, but Liverpool is pure football and you're going to enjoy it as much as you have done. If you feel it's the right moment for a new chapter, you won't get better places than Liverpool.'
You're still contributing to Liverpool long after you left...
Well, once a Red, always a Red – it's not a logo, I think it's a reality. Not just my case, I think that most of us feel really close to the club. Wherever you are in the world, Liverpool fans remember you and they keep you closer to the club. That's the best thing of Liverpool – all the support and all the family that's around the world.[/article]
[article]Just on Jürgen Klopp in particular, is he someone you look up to as a coach?
Absolutely. I loved my games against his Dortmund when I was in Madrid and Bayern. You could see that he was special. I remember when he signed for Liverpool, straight away I had the feeling that he was the man. We were playing Liverpool-Mainz at Mainz [in a pre-season friendly in 2006] and in the programme he mentioned that his favourite stadium was Anfield. That was on my mind. When he signed for Liverpool, I [was like], 'He's always had that in his mind and he's the right man for the job.' After that, what he's done, it's a treasure what we have in Liverpool, what Jürgen built and the inspiration for the players, for the club, for the fans, for everyone.
One of your former teammates Thiago Alcantara is part of this current Liverpool squad. Did he do things that even left you amazed when you played with him, like he does to us?
You could see that he's a different player. He's a different talent because he's competitive but at the same time he has those magic Brazilian actions that are not that European. He's competitive but he can do different things. He was a great player at Bayern and he continues being consistent and being a great player at Liverpool.
He said he asked you what Liverpool was like before he signed. You must have put in a good word...
We talked a lot that summer because he was thinking about the option. I said, 'Thiago, you love football, you're in a great club, you're in Bayern and you've achieved great things, but Liverpool is pure football and you're going to enjoy it as much as you have done. If you feel it's the right moment for a new chapter, you won't get better places than Liverpool.'
You're still contributing to Liverpool long after you left...
Well, once a Red, always a Red – it's not a logo, I think it's a reality. Not just my case, I think that most of us feel really close to the club. Wherever you are in the world, Liverpool fans remember you and they keep you closer to the club. That's the best thing of Liverpool – all the support and all the family that's around the world.[/article]
it's obvious our team is now geared to play with thiago -
he goes, and the team struggles to replace what he adds in the middle ...
So that leaves two solutions -
find another thiago like player to ensure teh drop off isn't so big when injured, or change the style of play...
he goes, and the team struggles to replace what he adds in the middle ...
So that leaves two solutions -
find another thiago like player to ensure teh drop off isn't so big when injured, or change the style of play...
Thiago is a one of a kind player. It's not that easy.
You say that… but we have the spare parts of about 5 Thiago’s at the training ground after previous models died.
I’m not sure it’s particularly Thiago we are geared to play with but rather a pair of disciplined as part of the original trio of athletic all rounders whom can play it short, tuck in and do all the basic responsibilties but also able to cover roughly over 11km a game.
Ofcourse, Thiago when fit overs us a different version of that but for most games if we had younger Hendo and Gini then we would smash 90% of teams. We just only had for most of this only one of the 3, Fabio.
Ofcourse, Thiago when fit overs us a different version of that but for most games if we had younger Hendo and Gini then we would smash 90% of teams. We just only had for most of this only one of the 3, Fabio.
How do we solve a conundrum like Elliot? He has such high potential but our experiment to make him into an attacking mid is causing a lot of balance issues for us.
At the moment we're not even really seeing the benefits of him in attack. Those I whatsapp will be sick of me saying it but watching him & mo only use their left foot is fucking annoying, even more so when Trent isn't overlapping to the byline.
Off the ball his positioning and pressing gets weaker the higher up the pitch our opposition are.
If he were more threatening in attack I wouldn't mind such an experience (especially against a low block) but I think this is the biggest 'piece of the puzzle' that needs fixing against sides who are going to attack us.
At the moment we're not even really seeing the benefits of him in attack. Those I whatsapp will be sick of me saying it but watching him & mo only use their left foot is fucking annoying, even more so when Trent isn't overlapping to the byline.
Off the ball his positioning and pressing gets weaker the higher up the pitch our opposition are.
If he were more threatening in attack I wouldn't mind such an experience (especially against a low block) but I think this is the biggest 'piece of the puzzle' that needs fixing against sides who are going to attack us.
That was superb - sold the Ajax player completely. Sold me too - I was still looking at the centre of the park wondering where the ball had gone.
Wonderful player and wonderful words. And he's not wrong in his response to that last question. Plenty like him (Garcia, Kuyt etc.).
The logical solution seems to be moving Elliott to number 10 in a 4-2-3-1, and embracing a new system.
The other thing to do is to play him more sparingly while he continues to develop.
Move the season to run from the last week of June until the first week of August - I get at least one every 2-3 days at that time of year. Having one in the house in September is a rarity that is unlikely to be repeated
He’ll be more like the Brazilian Lucas.
Lucas is Brazilian...
Jarg Brazilian.
After last night’s match Jude’s the one we must do everything to get. Everything ! Sign him and his brother I don’t care. Just get Jude asap !
How come we never seem to sign any players from South America or Africa. We've had top class south American and African players but all of them were signed from European clubs. Is it that we don't trust players who haven't played in European leagues, or simply that we can't be arsed scouting outside of Europe. I get that there's a work permit hurdle involved but no other clubs seem put off by that.
I think if they're talented - but without int'l games etc - it's near impossible to get them.
What we should do is set up a 'relationship' with a team in Belgium/Holland or Portugal where we can buy 15-18 year old potential stars and loan them there ... those clubs get the benefits of the players etc and we then take 'em for a more realistic fee if they hit the big time.
I’m all for us getting involved in a bit of international child trafficking but they’ll end up being shipped to Rwanda the minute they enter the country.
All our scouts went missing after they stepped foot in South America, and the ones in Africa were fired at and nothing's been heard from them since.
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