Liverpool v Napoli (A) CL

[Pablo]

Yep he's back in training

[Mark79]

[ame]https://twitter.com/jamespearcelfc/status/1567115473338212355[/ame]

[The_weatherman]

Poor Jones, always misses his chances somehow.

[Pablo]

What the hell is going on with Ramsey? Is he still not in training? That was a bizarre one.

[The_weatherman]

Something about his back and growing, similar to Gerrard maybe

[Tribute]

Be lucky to get a draw here. Milner and Spearing in midfield for this one…

[danperkins]

Thiago back is just huge for us, it changes everything. How long he comes back for ... well that's a different story. I think most LFC fans love what Milner stands for, his professionalism and leadership are great to have in a squad .. aswell as his experience. The problem being is he should be relied upon as much as he his as his limitations are very evident. Napoli are a good side and it's a hostile palce to go.

Coming on for the last 10 mins in a game to calm heads or maybe in the league cup etc is what I imagined his role to be this season. I bet he thought that himself & being an asset behind the scenes for young players. At this elite level, he is simply not good enough to be a starter for us. Trent has ben desperate for us so far and was having a shocker vs Everton but when Milner came on for him .. things nearly went sideways for us. It was an eye opener watching Milner lumber around. It's not to say that he can't do a job from time to time or even have a good game vs Napoli but we shouldn't have to be relying on him at this stage. It's on us that we are in this situation & don't be surprised if Napoli target him.

With Milner, Hendo, Ox and Keita we are paying a bit of a price for being so loyal, maybe a bit naïve. We panic bought at the last minute because injuries piled up in the midfield. It may turn out good, it may turn out bad but it was a panic buy nonetheless. The problem for me is, when have injuries not been an issue in that midfield? It's something that we knew already, ffs everyone knew and didn't address it as we want a specific player and are willing to wait .. which is all well good. The problem with that is the here and the now, it's a hugely competitive league and looks to be even more so this season. We will 100% get more injuries in that midfield, it'll be the same guys again as well .. history doesn't lie. Other teams has strengthened & the challenge of dethroning City has got even harder.

If we get Bellingham next season, that's amazing. But we have left ourselves short this season in the hope of making that happen. What if things got belly up, he may not want to still come here? We took a risk not shoring up that midfield, the same way we took a risk not replacing Lovren and it has back fired thus far. We are still a brilliant team, we still can beat anyone on our day, maybe we a team in transition up top but I do feel all of our issues stem from that lack of quality, pace and physicality in the midfield. They do not get the ball quick enough to the forwards, nor do they provide the adequate protection for the back line. We are literally banking on Thiago to stay fit for the season or Arthur to turn out to be a worldie. I have no doubts that every team we play will go about it in a similar fashion of dropping deep, packing the box and then breaking with pace. It's something we have really struggling with as the pace and physicality is just not there in that CM.

[frank the tank]

I hope milner starts to be honest. I think his experience in this stadium would be useful. More than that though, if it means our other players get much needed rest then that might be important too. If we lose away to napoli, then i dont think our CL season is over. Drop points to wolves on Saturday though, and then our following league game away to Chelsea becomes more critical.

[Scratch]

Is Artur (or is it Arthur) in the training pics? I take it he is in the CL squad? What odds him having a role in tomorrows match?

[Mark79]

Kind of hope we rest Fabinho at some point.

Maybe play Bajcetic? Sounds mad, but we did start Morton at San Siro last year with Ox and Taki either side of him!

[S-RED]

milner to start, with thiago & Harvey; swap out after 45mins or 60 latest for fab, arthur & bajcteic

[Pablo]

Is Artur (or is it Arthur) in the training pics? I take it he is in the CL squad? What odds him having a role in tomorrows match?

Yeah he's in the squad I think. I doubt he'll start but I do think he'll come on as a sub.

I think a loss here (and it is a difficult ground) would hurt our already fragile confidence. We need to get some momentum going sharpish.

[Paul12]

Yeah he's in the squad I think. I doubt he'll start but I do think he'll come on as a sub.

I think a loss here (and it is a difficult ground) would hurt our already fragile confidence. We need to get some momentum going sharpish.

It will take him some time to get used to us and to get his fitness up, so the issue is how and whether we will use him before then. I had thought we WOULD use him in this game, because we are more likely to be playing it tight, the game is likely to be slower, and he will have some knowledge/experience of Napoli.

[Irishnev]

Kind of hope we rest Fabinho at some point.

Maybe play Bajcetic? Sounds mad, but we did start Morton at San Siro last year with Ox and Taki either side of him!

We had won the group by then - it was a dead rubber

[Mark79]

We had won the group by then - it was a dead rubber

A dead rubber for us, but not for Milan. They needed a win to qualify in 2nd.

I know what you’re saying though, pressure was off for us.