2022/23 Season

[RedReet]

8 points on City is doable.

Arsenal lose to us and City (x2) and 6 behind them.

It's on.

[Frog83]

8 points on City is doable.

Arsenal lose to us and City (x2) and 6 behind them.

It's on.

3rd is max for us this year with the current squad. We've no chance of catching Arsenal and City with the state of our midfield and injuries. If we make some quality signings and Haaland is somehow sidelined for a while then there's a possibility of 2nd. Bit we aren't catching both.

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[SB]

3rd is max for us this year with the current squad. We've no chance of catching Arsenal and City with the state of our midfield and injuries. If we make some quality signings and Haaland is somehow sidelined for a while then there's a possibility of 2nd. Bit we aren't catching both.

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Yep I’ve resigned myself to that level too for this season. But I’ll still enjoy the ride.

[Exiled_red]

3rd is max for us this year with the current squad. We've no chance of catching Arsenal and City with the state of our midfield and injuries. If we make some quality signings and Haaland is somehow sidelined for a while then there's a possibility of 2nd. Bit we aren't catching both.

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As much as I don't want City to win the league, if Arsenal won it I would probably be more frustrated with us because it feels like a lost opportunity

[Fosterbloke]

I hope Arsenal win it - **** those oily cunts above us.

[BigChief]

Well we're fecked. Should still have more than the others to finish top four once Jota, Diaz and Gakpo are in flow. So depressing seeing Elliot and Ox.

[danperkins]

Top 4 is going to be a real struggle imo, we're just too easy to play against.

[ronanm]

Get. Some. Effing. Midfielders.

[Kenneth]

Midfield has been the slowest train wreck in history, but it’s also a shame we got rid of Origi and Minamino in the summer and are starting Oxlade Chamberlain up front 16 games later.

[Irishnev]

Just about sums it up

[ame="https://twitter.com/oilysailor/status/1609978179673808904"]https://twitter.com/oilysailor/status/1609978179673808904[/ame]

[Irishnev]

Carra post match last night - sums up what a lot of us are saying

[ame="https://twitter.com/carra23/status/1610017201565667331"]https://twitter.com/carra23/status/1610017201565667331[/ame]

[BobTheCharmer]

The worry would be if klopp and pep can't see the issues themselves.

It concerns me they don't seem to be doing anything to rectify the problems. Just ploughing on with the same high line when we don't have the players to press and win the ball back seems ignorant. Surely they need at this stage a plan b. Get tighter at the back first and foremost. Teams know how we play and its relatively easy to put balls behind us to counter.

[Irishnev]

[ame="https://twitter.com/simonbrundish/status/1610190390627295232"]https://twitter.com/simonbrundish/status/1610190390627295232[/ame]

[danperkins]

Carra post match last night - sums up what a lot of us are saying

https://twitter.com/carra23/status/1610017201565667331

Yup, no identity anymore. We're all saying the same things, we don't have the players to play in what we know is a Jurgen Klopp system. I honestly don't think it's a case of us even needing middle eastern oil guys buying the club, we just were negligent in our midfield recruitment, it's as simple as that. Yeah sure big oil money would have been great to buy whomever but this whole thing of "we wait for our specific targets" just doesn't work all the time. Just look at us now, we are stuck.

Sad thing is that I don't think that it was necessary a year ago to get big money owners in either. We've been selling to buy for years and massively over achieved because of spot on recruitment. For some reason we just have not addressed the midfield issues and every single person can see it apart from Klopp and Pep. For every Jude, Tchoumeni, Barella these marquee players etc there is a Caicedo, Guimares, Bentacur. We've all been praising our recruitment but we have just failed miserably in this particular area imo.

I love Klopp and before yesterday's game he was basic saying it's not monopoly and the money isn't there etc but he just hasn't been ruthless enough imo. Keita, Ox, Bobby, should have been gone at least a years ago, certainly Keita and Ox anyways. There was many on here that still wanted to keep them. Henderson and Milner are in the phasing out process and although having them as experienced squad members is great, neither are good enough to be starters and certainly not having to rely on them to start back to back games. How much wages are these guys taking out of the club weekly, what is their value for money and if they had of been gone... Would the money been there to get who we needed if indeed money was the issue?

Even the recent signings Jota, Diaz, Gakpo, Nunez all excel on the left, I'm just not sure what our thinking is. There just been a strange shift in our recruitment, we've needed a Gini replacement and we did not get one, someone robust, mobile who will run themselves into the ground every week. We've seen a massive drop off in running, pressing, intensity over the last year but we've got by as we have world class players but the engine of the team is gone and the identity of the is gone. I have no doubts in my mind if we had the two mids with legs in there last season, we would have won the quad. We have quality everywhere but frankly, sometimes you need blokes who are relentless and aggressive and are a mechanism to release the other world class players to do their thing. I'm not saying we just should have bought some random sprinter but there is nobody that can tell me with the way we've been recruiting over the years that a quality mid with pace and physicality wasn't available. We simply didn't sign one.. or two as is needed. Do we even run anymore, or press anymore. We seem to get out muscled and outfought in most games. Why on earth would you start Elliot vs Brentford away? It's preposterous, he got bounced around. Fab can't run, Thiago is tiny, Elliot is weak as piss. That's on Klopp, as is playing a 4 3 3 that we so not have the players to play it successfully. I would have even understood is we played 3 CB's yesterday instead of that ****e as we knew that Brentford would play like.

Carra mentioned Pep there, if his influence is that slow dutch pussy footing around football, then good luck he can go sell some books elsewhere. We became successful not only by having world class players but by specific recruitment and having a team that would not give you a second on the ball, aggressive, relentless pressing and drive that teams could not handle. That sadly, is long gone.

[Kenneth]

Still think the Henderson contract was a key moment, at least symbolically. That’s when our ‘Bellingham’ type midfield transfer should have happened, with Henderson moving on. That’s what clubs used to maintaining success would have done.