Chelsea have the players to play that system and win the league.
The new DM ... ?
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Chelsea have the players to play that system and win the league.
It seems Klopp has targeted Keita so that design might be changing?
However look at every other club in the PL and you still won't find a cracking CB partnership :-
Luis & Cahill (plus Azpilicueta or Zuma or Ake if we are talking 3 CBs),
Alderweireld & Vertonghen or Wimmer or Dier
Kocielny & Mustafi or Mertesacker or Paulista or Holding
Bailly & Rojo (this is their #1 partnership) or Smalling or Jones
Kompany and Otamendi or Stones
Not one out and out top partnership, usually one strong and one weak but a couple of teams with two CBs who can be superb one week and error prone the next. The best probably being Alderweireld & Vertonghen (though I don't know how often they've played together this season) being highlighted by the best defensive record in the PL.
So overall not much different to what we have (though I'd like a better partner for Matip with Lovren moving into a squad slot).
He isn't your bog-standard DM though. More of a Kante with an added goal threat. The earlier Fernandinho comparison is probably closer to the mark.
Yes, we were top of the league and smashing all the teams around us for the first half of the season. It wasn't until Henderson and other key players were missing that that started to change.
Maybe, but I see him as more of a Gini type player, but an improvement on, he's far from a DM.
It's amazing how results and performances over one half of the season don't really offer any guarantee of how results and performances will be over a full season
I'm sure we have discussed this phenomenon before
He started pretty much every game in January during our slump.
We did miss Mané and Coutinho, though.
I'm not suggesting they do, I'm just suggesting that blaming Henderson for the poorer form we've had this season is laughable seems as he's been out most of the time we've played badly (along with other players), but was an ever present during our best form of the season.
So it has nothing to do with him really -
- We lost Coutinho
- Mane went AFCON shortly afterward
Basically, as we all know, we have no squad depth.
That's what cost us a better season, not the quality of player we have.
Improve the squad quality (i.e. 3-4 first teamers), and we'll be far better next year AND able to deal with injuries too.
He started 4 of 9 games In January, including funnily enough our only two good results of January, the draws with United and Chelsea. So no, not really.
I never brought up the fact that he played during the better part of our season. I just don't see him as a defensive midfielder and I never will cause he isn't. He's not defensive minded.
A - Hull Feb 4, 2017 Prem L 2-0 Started
H - Chelsea Jan 31, 2017 Prem D 1-1 Started
H - Southampton Jan 25, 2017 CC L 0-1 Started
H - Swansea Jan 21, 2017 Prem L 2-3 Started
A - Man Utd Jan 15, 2017 Prem D 1-1 Started
Feb is just an annoying short month so we stick first half into January and last into March. So short month you basically dont notice that on either of them....
Lol
True, but that huge 'L' against Swansea wasn't.
Okay, so because he started a game that we lost against Swansea, he needs replacing? Thats a stretch even for you and your standard disdain for Henderson.
Hmm, not sure about that. Alderweireld and Vertonghen are very strong as a pairing. Chelsea admittedly don't have a pairing but they were changed to a back three and that has hugely improved their defensive solidity. Man City, Arsenal and Man Utd don't necessarily have a great pairing but they've not had to chop and change (apart from recently re: Man Utd) to the same extent we have.
Also it's worth bearing in mind that there are only two sides who have looked nailed on for a top four spot for the majority of the season - Spurs and Chelsea. Both of whom have settled, strong defences. I don't undervalue the important of midfield protection for the defence, and would be hugely disappointed if we don't strengthen in that area this summer, but I guess I feel that getting a strong defence (so improvements at centre back and full back, again look at Chelsea and Spurs in those areas) will be as important. It's a similar argument to having a shit hot keeper and striker, because even if everything else is going badly those two positions can either win you points or save you points. I guess I still think that not getting the defence right will undermine everything else, and will hamper any progress to being a team which is a solid, consistent top-four finisher in the short term and a title-chasing side in the longer term.
Actually almost all teams have had issues with their CB pairings this season with extended periods out for ; Kompany, Smalling, Jones, Bailly, Rojo, Alderweireld & Vertonghen and Arsenal's backline has been in flux all season long. It seems only Chelsea, who have had immense luck with a lack of injuries, have escaped the curse.
However since you mention the top two teams and their defensive records it's worth also mentioning that Chelsea acquired Kante (the Player of the Year), and Matic has returned to his form of two seasons ago, whilst at Spurs they have had either Wanyama or Dembele (and sometimes both) protecting their back line. City have Fernandinho who has had another excellent season and whilst United don't have a recognised DM per se they do have De Gea who has had another exceptional season and has undoubtedly been worth 6-10 points to them above and beyond what an 'average' keeper may have saved.
I still feel it is the whole defensive unit, which includes a DM to protect the backline, rather than just an excellent CB pairing, that has made the difference in the PL and is probably going to for the foreseeable future.
I don't think anyone would argue that we badly need a top quality DM, or that such a player has certainly helped the teams with better defensive records than us (almost everyone in the Top 10 in the Premiership), but equally, a good DM wouldn't solve all our issues, which is why Klopp wants to buy Keane from Burnley.
Yep, this.
Well at the moment the only link to Keane is The Mirror and the article was written by a Manc with no previous history of any ITK Liverpool links. So maybe Klopp wants Keane and maybe he doesn't.
klopp wants a new CB, that much is obvious
No surprise there since he's virtually said as much. However that still doesn't mean it's Keane just because a journo with no history composes a story on the exact night that Puel says VVD is going nowhere this Summer.
Yeah, Southampton don't need to sell their best players
That wasn't the point I was making but do carry on.
I wasn't really interested so I just changed tack and veered off completely.
Southampton's entire business model is selling their best players whilst their value is highest and replacing them with players who'll become better than them a year or two later, they'll 100% sell VVD this summer, and we'll probably be the mugs who pay £50million for him.
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