Liverpool v Brighton (H) PL

[Shaggy]

This is more or less wild speculation but something just feels wrong at the club. Some sort of disharmony. I wonder about Michael Edwards leaving and whether something went off there. Perhaps a fall out over something (Henderson's contract?). Maybe he knew what was coming and ****ed off before he got the blame. There's some talk that Nunez wasn't Ward's pick, that Klopp wanted him personally, which isn't how we've done things. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right.

[danperkins]

In our current setup under Klopp, the midfield was always key. You need guys who can do the hard yards and donkey work so that others can produce the quality. The legs have well and truly gone from that midfield, it has to be one of the slowest midfields in the league & it is getting ripped a new one in every game. When Trent and Robbo push high up, the midfield lads should be covering. I've lost count at just how many times the fullbacks have been caught high up (Mostly Trent in fairness) and midfield have not been covering them. That means the CB's have got to cover the wide areas too and you really don't want them getting isolated out there. That is the danger in the setup we play when you rely so much on your fullbacks for productivity & if you want to play that way you should expect to get caught out now and again ... but it's literally about 10 times per game now. On the flip side, you also need creativity and drive in the midfield to get the ball to the forwards or to make things happen. Thiago when fit is literally the only one that can recycle the ball quick enough to get it to the front line. All the others it's just side to side, slow passing.

I agree with the complacency comment earlier, absolutely spot on. Ah we'll be grand, we "x" amount of midfielders. Yeah that's great but alot are injury prone, some are past it, some are kids with potential and some are just not good enough. It was the most obvious thing in the world to bolster that midfield but we didn't and we have to wait until January to try fix it. Who knows what position we will be in the league. "Ah sure we'll get Bellingham next year, we are LFC we wait for our main targets", the naivety of it. It's all well and good waiting for who you really want but sometimes you have to go for who you really need. It's the here and the now that is the ****ing problem and getting a player in the future is no good to us in the present. Who knows what situation we will be in come next summer, there are no guarantees. Other teams have spent and we have rested on our laurels.

The midfield is not protecting the backline and the midfield is also not helping the front line .. it's so annoyingly obvious. In regards to players that should be sold, Milner, Ox, Keita should have been sold, huge mistake hanging on to them. I will say at least Milner is fit even if he is finished. There's so many players underperforming & something seems really off in the team maybe behind the scenes ... it's hard to see a positive at the moment. There is not a chance in the world the team are physically burned out, been saying this for ages now, if anything we look as unfit as they ever have under Klopp. We just don't have the legs in the team anymore to function in the old Klopp system. Gini, Hendo and Milner were vital in that engine room for us to be successful in the system which is brutal on the body. Why are so many of our midfield always injured? You just cannot have injury prone players in a team that needs to have elite level physical fitness. It just does not work and we see the result of that over the years with so many midfielders being injured all the time.

Short of a massive turnaround, we'll be duking it out for Europa or maybe 4th spot.

[RichC]

This is more or less wild speculation but something just feels wrong at the club. Some sort of disharmony. I wonder about Michael Edwards leaving and whether something went off there. Perhaps a fall out over something (Henderson's contract?). Maybe he knew what was coming and ****ed off before he got the blame. There's some talk that Nunez wasn't Ward's pick, that Klopp wanted him personally, which isn't how we've done things. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right.

It does feel like there's something wrong behind the scenes.

[danperkins]

This is more or less wild speculation but something just feels wrong at the club. Some sort of disharmony. I wonder about Michael Edwards leaving and whether something went off there. Perhaps a fall out over something (Henderson's contract?). Maybe he knew what was coming and ****ed off before he got the blame. There's some talk that Nunez wasn't Ward's pick, that Klopp wanted him personally, which isn't how we've done things. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right.

we clearly have personnel issues but yeah something doesn't feel right.

[Rich]

This is more or less wild speculation but something just feels wrong at the club. Some sort of disharmony. I wonder about Michael Edwards leaving and whether something went off there. Perhaps a fall out over something (Henderson's contract?). Maybe he knew what was coming and ****ed off before he got the blame. There's some talk that Nunez wasn't Ward's pick, that Klopp wanted him personally, which isn't how we've done things. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right.

The Mane hole.
Keita being bombed out.

[Mark79]

This is more or less wild speculation but something just feels wrong at the club. Some sort of disharmony. I wonder about Michael Edwards leaving and whether something went off there. Perhaps a fall out over something (Henderson's contract?). Maybe he knew what was coming and ****ed off before he got the blame. There's some talk that Nunez wasn't Ward's pick, that Klopp wanted him personally, which isn't how we've done things. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right.

Over the past couple of years we seem to have increasingly made decisions which seem out of keeping with what Edwards would have done, and now he’s left

I seen speculation about Pepijn getting more and more influence behind the scenes. I’ve mostly ignored it until now, but that Sam McGuire piece about us aping his failed NEC system and seeing the players clearly struggling with it is a worry.

[Shaggy]

I saw that yeah. Made a lot of sense - but why would Klopp cede all his ideas etc to a Ljinders plan that failed badly in the ****ing Dutch league?

[Mark79]

No idea, but I also don’t understand why Klopp would marginalise Edwards in recruitment and squad building decisions either. That part is largely speculation of course, but the Lijnders NEC system thing is tangible, which makes me wonder about the rest.

[Fierce]

In our current setup under Klopp, the midfield was always key. You need guys who can do the hard yards and donkey work so that others can produce the quality. The legs have well and truly gone from that midfield, it has to be one of the slowest midfields in the league & it is getting ripped a new one in every game. When Trent and Robbo push high up, the midfield lads should be covering. I've lost count at just how many times the fullbacks have been caught high up (Mostly Trent in fairness) and midfield have not been covering them. That means the CB's have got to cover the wide areas too and you really don't want them getting isolated out there. That is the danger in the setup we play when you rely so much on your fullbacks for productivity & if you want to play that way you should expect to get caught out now and again ... but it's literally about 10 times per game now. On the flip side, you also need creativity and drive in the midfield to get the ball to the forwards or to make things happen. Thiago when fit is literally the only one that can recycle the ball quick enough to get it to the front line. All the others it's just side to side, slow passing.

This is where I am too, I think

We were so devastating because of our full backs, and they were able to BE so devastating because of the midfield that covered for them

Fab is a shadow of the player he was, but I think he's being asked to do too much. At times he'd drop back to be a 3rd CB whilst a full back was playing as a wing back/winger for example. Cool when you've got someone to take his place, not cool when you don't

I'm not certain Bellingham alone is the answer to our prayers either. I doubt even if we could afford him, there'd be funds for other players too, and I think there needs to be other players

Laimer and Barella (Ⓒ Jaco) would give us back that midfield presence that would allow the fullbacks to do what they do, whilst also adding attacking threat too

Think we also underestimate how much work Mane did

Salah I think would be back to his best were we to function as a team, the way we did before

Unless of course, this is all part of a masterplan that is just not yet to fruition.....

[Charly]

All we need to do is sort out the right hand side and stop doing whatever tactical piece of genius it is we think we are doing.

That on its own will being us back to Arsenal's level.

[Maxiedge]

The season starts on Tuesday for me. No more excuses (injuries, internationals etc..). We'll have a good pick of fit and ready players for the first time since start of the season really.

If the issues persist, I'm willing to cede and go with the narrative that there's more to play here than meets the eye.

At the moment, I see it as City got their Haaland and we didn't get our Tchouameni. It's sad to think the season will go to waste because of one signing.

[Harv]

This is more or less wild speculation but something just feels wrong at the club. Some sort of disharmony. I wonder about Michael Edwards leaving and whether something went off there. Perhaps a fall out over something (Henderson's contract?). Maybe he knew what was coming and ****ed off before he got the blame. There's some talk that Nunez wasn't Ward's pick, that Klopp wanted him personally, which isn't how we've done things. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right.

Yep, just have to look at the way some of the players are strolling around the pitch. There is something clearly wrong behind the scenes. These guys haven't all just turned to complete **** in one offseason, remember we absolutely destroyed City in the Charity Shield, then in the space of a week we got our pants pulled down by Fulham.

The cynic in me blames Salah tbh, not some Pep tactics tweak or Edwards leaving. Mo held the club to ransom with this contract and got what he wanted in the end, he's playing like **** (and has been ever since his beloved AFCON) and no matter what anyone says about it, when a teammate puts himself above everyone else like that there will be some discontent in the squad. Plus that contract probably forced Mane out, and Mane really did seem like a loved squad member...so 2+2=itsallmo'sfault

[Harv]

Also Hendo's contract was a ludicrous decision by the club. He should be taking pay cuts at his age, not big shiny brand new contracts for superstar money.

I think the ego's in this squad have gotten too big tbh and Klopp's too nice to put some of these guys in their place now. Theyve all been together too long and its all too 'matesy'. Its very tough to hold people accountable when that happens.

[spud_gun]

In our current setup under Klopp, the midfield was always key.

I'd have said the fullbacks. Trent and Robbo are/were so integral to everything good that we did. Insane amount of assists for each of them in the previous 4/5 season.

No surprise that our form has dipped whilst Trent is playing the worst footballer of his career.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I'd have said the fullbacks. Trent and Robbo are/were so integral to everything good that we did. Insane amount of assists for each of them in the previous 4/5 season.

No surprise that our form has dipped whilst Trent is playing the worst footballer of his career.

The midfield doing crazy levels of pressing, covering and recycling the ball allowed the FBs to bomb on though.

The full backs bombing on and being the chance creators took the pressure off of needing a midfield that created a lot.

But lose the mobility and solidity in the middle and everything else either has to adjust dramatically or just go to **** if they try to do the same things as before without having the midfield to cover for them.