Chelsea away

[Irishnev]

Don't even think we need a marquee signing, just a number of good players.

Just say we went after only players who are in the final six months of their contracts this January and ignoring the really big names who are on that list.


Zakaria, Keisse and Kamara are all in their final six months if we want a midfielder or two who would be able to compete with those we have for a starting berth and who would all add phsicality and pace to our midfield

Belotti is in his final six months if we want a mobile striker with a really high work rate


There is the right back at Ajax whose name I cannot spell correctly without googling him. The Moroccan lad.

Defenders like Ginter or Denayer.

The Ajax keeper who got the ban, Onana, is also in the final six month and is a really good keeper.


Plus there are a lot of PL players of good quality in their final six months now.



Now I would love to see us going after top names, the marquee type sings like say Martinez for up front or someone like Barella for the midfield, but I do think there is some real quality to be had in the market this year when it comes to the players running down their contracts and more than a few look good enough to get into our team or at the very least look good enough to be far better than our current back ups.

There is value out there but we seem to sit on our hands - we need a Tsimikas to support Trent. We need an available utility midfielder and I think Zakaria is a good option in Jan

[danperkins]

Because there is no pace to track runners, something Chelsea have in numbers.

this and it was so evident yesterday. They gave us a terrible time in there between winning the midfield battle and that ball over the high line we really struggled. Kante breezed by Fab 4 times, Milly just clogged around smashing people & I honestly don't know what Henderson done or where he was. Keita & Ox came on and did absolutely nothing... which is also no surprise either.

[danperkins]

We needed to strengthen when we were on top, since winning the CL we have only really brought in Jota, Thiago and Konate. Although timing wise they weren't essentially Thiago and Konate are replacements for Lovren and Wijnaldum the only area we have really strengthened is up front with Jota and that's in 3 years. In that time other players have either reached their peak or just started to drop off. I also feel that there is the need to keep pushing themselves, the desire to win the league was clearly there for a couple of years but once they did it we seemed IMO to lose that edge.

We should have been strengthening in a position of power but we just didn't for whatever reason & City have finally sorted out their backline and look one of the most balanced squads I've ever seen and to be honest with the amount of money they've spent so they should. When you are operating off a blank cheque, you'll eventually get it right.

Last season we left ourselves short at the back and paid the price, we got Konate in this season as we know Matip and Joe are injury prone. This season we left ourselves short in midfield and it's come back to bite us. On paper we have numbers in there but also on paper is just how many times the likes of Ox, Keita & Thiago are not available... Hendo can be injury prone too. We look at our strongest when Fab/Thiago play together. Unfortunately we seem to be struggling to get them on the pitch at the same time for any sustained period. For me now as it stands, Ox, Keita, Origi, Minamino, Philips, Milner, Gomez, Neco are up for grabs whether it be selling or loan move. Tsimikas was a shrewd buy, we need something like that on Trent's side so we can rotate with less compromise. We absolutely need some more pace in the midfield and we need some goals in that midfield. One creative mid and one defensive mid would be lovely. I also think if Firmino keeps up his form over the last few years he'll be gone. A fabulous player on his day but his form has dropped off badly in recent years.

I see big changes in our side over the next year or so. We are a brilliant side, can beat anyone on our day but trying to compete against City over a long, brutal season is so difficult.

[Buzzo]

I don’t have an issue with Hendos contract at all tbh. He is a clear leader within the squad.

The problem perhaps is we still rely on him playing every game and well so heavily. It wasn’t vintage Hendo yesterday, but he has been great in general this season. Look at some of his assists, his drive and some goals (all missing yesterday tbf). As the stats in the other midfield thread show, we just don’t have my one to come in and challenge him that can put a run of games together.

We should be at a point where we can manage the game time of Hendo and Thiago and not be dropping a level when they are either injured or have a bad game. We can’t bench or rotate them as they are pivotal. That means either the guys on the bench step it up, or, we look for replacements.

[BootRoom]

Captain Fantastic is lucky that the other midfielders can't stay fit otherwise he'd be where he belongs - warming the bench.

[Peter_Griffin]

Some odd takes on here. Didn’t have the best game yesterday but the disrespect he gets is strange.

[Exiled_red]

Captain Fantastic is lucky that the other midfielders can't stay fit otherwise he'd be where he belongs - warming the bench.

I think Henderson is in the side for balance rather than because of the availability or unavailability of others. For me the midfield balance Klopp wants has Fabinho as the holder, Henderson and one of the more attacking three Thiago/Keita/Ox. If Henderson is out it is more likely Milner will come in than he will play another of the attacking players (at least from the start, there may be times in games where this is not the case but rarely will 2 of them start unless there are no other options)

[BootRoom]

I think Henderson is in the side for balance rather than because of the availability or unavailability of others. For me the midfield balance Klopp wants has Fabinho as the holder, Henderson and one of the more attacking three Thiago/Keita/Ox. If Henderson is out it is more likely Milner will come in than he will play another of the attacking players (at least from the start, there may be times in games where this is not the case but rarely will 2 of them start unless there are no other options)

Fab as the anchor, Thiago as the metronomic playmaker, A.N. Other (Keita if he ever gets his arse in gear for a whole game....was Elliot before he got injured) as the (more) attacking midfielder.

[Fierce]

It wasn’t about there being no pace, it was us losing the ball and them breaking on us. Hendo is no slouch and by all accounts Milner is one of the fittest in the club. We play with an incredibly high line, if we lose the ball in transition teams can be in on goal very quickly. I don’t think Hendo had his best game yesterday and I’d never start Milner in a game like that personally - but I’m not writing them off.

Some of the comment on this game are ridiculous. Chelsea are the current Champions League winners, not the dog and duck under 5’s.

The loss at Leicester was a poor performance, and some of the draws earlier in the season have been disappointing. But we have mainly been excellent this season. We still average just under 3 goals per game. We’ve got a decent points return.

The issue is no one can compete with City.

We were the better team in the second half yesterday and created decent chances to win the game.

Agree with every word, but specifically:

Some of the comment on this game are ridiculous. Chelsea are the current Champions League winners, not the dog and duck under 5’s.

I cant fathom why its always our fault on here when we drop points. There is always another team on the pitch and given that the prem is (probably) the best league in the world we shouldn't be expecting to stroll through games at a canter

But moreso, miles miles moreso, when we're playing the current European Champions who are one of the top 5 richest clubs in the world

It sucks to drop points but given the team we were able to field I'd have taken a draw all day long

It was an absolute belter of a game, regardless of the result

[Irishnev]

Some odd takes on here. Didn’t have the best game yesterday but the disrespect he gets is strange.

He was ****e yesterday as were many others but he has been ****e a lot recently. My issue is that if Naby plays poorly he gets name checked by every journalist questioning his price tag, sane happened to Thiago. Henderson will still get a 6/7 from the echo because of who he is and he shouts a lot......so what.

In fact he was atrocious yesterday and I’m going to put up a cherry picked highlights reel

[ame="https://twitter.com/albaaaaaaaaaaah/status/1477996864960176131"]https://twitter.com/albaaaaaaaaaaah/status/1477996864960176131[/ame]

He is an absolute great character and he’s been amazing for us on occasion + he will always go down in history as our captain for number 6, the league post drought and first world title. I’ll never forgive him for how he acted when looking for a new contract. Cried to the media....... mad extending it when he was already struggling

[Buzzo]

To be fair you will quite quickly name check He do ever time he has a bad game. There haven’t been many this season. Highlighting one game, that literally just happened, where he was poor, and ignoring every other game this season. I’d say he is struggling playing every game and has not been at his best vs Leicester it yesterday - but that’s it.

Particularly September through November. Hendo was brilliant when we beat Everton and Utd. As mentioned he needs help in midfield, he needs other players to step up, but he is miles from the worst midfielder we have.

[BG1973]

I do think we’ve rested on our laurels, keeping the squad static but aging rather than refresh at great expense. But I suspect this is more out of necessity than a strategic plan, we can’t afford much else. And it has benefits of consistency, it’s already a strong team but it is gradually degrading with age in places. Giving Henderson a pay rise and four year deal at age 31 was pretty ridiculous imo, but then maybe they have to pander to the fans sometimes.

I’m not sure where we are going in terms of personnel and this will no doubt be another window without major reinforcements to the first eleven. Konate has made the back four look healthier, but we need significant midfield changes now, and attacking changes in the next couple of years. Maybe the major investment will be given to whoever replaces Klopp and we’ll kind of tread water until then.

This. We are treading water because Ageing squad + klopp = better chance of a trophy than fresh young guns + klopp. So we seem to be sticking to that to make most of Klopp while he is here.

With klopp on a countdown it's a bizarre situation now.. He's still here which is fine if course.. but at some point part of me thinks it's detrimental for him to stay to end of his contract.

[Irishnev]

To be fair you will quite quickly name check He do ever time he has a bad game. There haven’t been many this season. Highlighting one game, that literally just happened, where he was poor, and ignoring every other game this season. I’d say he is struggling playing every game and has not been at his best vs Leicester it yesterday - but that’s it.

Particularly September through November. Hendo was brilliant when we beat Everton and Utd. As mentioned he needs help in midfield, he needs other players to step up, but he is miles from the worst midfielder we have.

I certainly will - I think he is one of the most over rated players we have. Great guy and that shouting must count for a lot

Jokes aside - when he has time and teams stand off he is fine..... when the midfield is tight and combative he struggles on the ball.... he used to be amazing off the ball but he’s lost that as well. He needs to be managed on rotation but we are ****ed and he needs to play all the time. That doesn’t help him

[Buzzo]

I don’t know about over rated that’s if you ignore the passing assists for Salah vs Everton and frequent other passages of play that if ignored and you purely focus on negatives then yeah… we are averaging 3 plus goals per game with He do playing in most of them. With only 3 in midfield… we are hardly carrying him.

The issue we have is when he starts to suffer from the amount of fixtures, we don’t have anyone capable of stepping in. We needed Ox and Keita. Ox has been ‘ok’ and Keita got halved by Pogba. Jones has been injured. Thiago injured. Elliot putt for the season. We need one of these guys to string together a real run of form where can then rest Hendo.

[Irishnev]

I don’t know about over rated that’s if you ignore the passing assists for Salah vs Everton and frequent other passages of play that if ignored and you purely focus on negatives then yeah… we are averaging 3 plus goals per game with He do playing in most of them. With only 3 in midfield… we are hardly carrying him.

The issue we have is when he starts to suffer from the amount of fixtures, we don’t have anyone capable of stepping in. We needed Ox and Keita. Ox has been ‘ok’ and Keita got halved by Pogba. Jones has been injured. Thiago injured. Elliot putt for the season. We need one of these guys to string together a real run of form where can then rest Hendo.

We’ll never agree Buzzo but I can agree to disagree - for me it is the most obvious improvement area in our first 11. Fab, Thiago and one more……

I 100% agree that if he was managed properly we’d get much more from him