Our Squad

Give Mario a chance.

Helmer wrote:If Hendo can be little better on the ball and have more technical abilities, Can and Henderson would have been so perfect for Klopps midfield. The problem with Can and Henderson midfield is, it will not have a partnership who can dictate the games for 90 minutes.

If Henderson were better on the ball (and fully healthy) he'd be world class. He fits in nicely still into Klopp's midfield even with Can if they're playing a 4-3-3. Henderson just really isn't that great in a 2 man midfield because he's not great on the ball, but he still needs the cover of a true defensive type midfielder -- it can work if playing a 4-2-3-1 where the CAM is dropping into midfield as an outlet and bringing the ball up but in general Firmino/Coutinho have acted more like secondary strikers from that position.

I actually don't mind any combination of Can behind two of Henderson, Lallana and Wijnaldum. I'd love to have another strong holding midfielder but I think for now Stewart and Lucas can deputize Can.

Mane taken to hospital after injuring his shoulder in training. That's him out for 6 months then.

Sometimes I wonder if shifting Coutinho out to the right side might be better for him overall. Just because he loves to cut in and take too many shots from the left, and he'd focus more on his playmaking I think from the right. Everything else would be pretty much the same, and he could still roam a bit. I love the 4-4-2 and I was thinking something like this might be nice to try:


Don't get me wrong I know it won't happen, but it's just something I've been thinking about. Then you can rotate in guys like Lallana, Sturridge, Origi, Grujic, Ings etc. pretty easily without losing the balance of the team.

Got my eye on Coutinho, Scored 9 goals from 2 games without him in the team and 5 goals from 3 with him along with a better stat of clinical finishing.

The most important stat imo is that out the 5 goals we scored 3 from inside the box, 1 was penalty. 1 was a FK and one was individual brilliance.

The 9 however, Burton 4/5 and Leicester 3/4 from inside the box.

The most important stat being the assists from these goals being passes from inside the box rather outside, Could you imagine Coutinho passing inside the box?

I would play Lallana, Firmino and Mane above him.

Food for thought imo Discuss imo

Curtinho is an important part of Liverpool

Sri wrote:Curtinho is an important part of Liverpool

He is but as a squad player imo not as someone who's nailed down to start every match regardless of his performance in the previous one.

Nishankly wrote:

Sri wrote:Curtinho is an important part of Liverpool

He is but as a squad player imo not as someone who's nailed down to start every match regardless of his performance in the previous one.

But I like @Curtinho - he is objective, rational, and not (too) biased.

Prank call on Coutinho at 4:37

He's so cute I feel sorry for him

From Klopp's comments this week, it seems that we are firmly in the market for an attacker (most likely winger, but possibly striker) in the January window. With Mane leaving for the Afcon and Ings now out for the season, we are at best missing a squad piece, and at worst missing a crucial element of our attack.

It not hard to deduce what we'll be looking for: a young, pacey winger/forward, with the end-game being to secure an understudy (and potentially an immediate fill-in) for Sadio Mane. The most obvious target is Christian Pulisic. Granted Pulisic does not have quite the natural striker instinct of Ings (or even Mane). However, he's obviously a long-term target for Klopp, and he has shown a nose for goal both in the Bundesliga and at an International level.

While I would personally be quite pleased to see Pulisic pull on a red shirt, I can help but feel uneasy about our pursuit of him. It feels like this might just be a window too soon to go hard for the young American International. Dortmund were unwilling to sell in the summer, and Pulisic has been getting a fair amount of game time this season. I would be surprised to see him depart Dortmund before the summer window, if at all. Therefore, I'm sure we will have alternatives being looked at. The question is: who are they?

If Pulisic cannot be lured in January, I would expect the aim to be to find as much of a like-for-like understudy for Mane as possible. This probably means looking at more of a striker-come-winger than a  natural wide player. This likely means targeting someone like a Breel Embolo (if he hadn't just move to Schalke), Inaki Williams, Keita Balde Diao, or Kylian Mbappe. (Julian Brandt could be another interesting option for us, even if he is less striker and more wide player.) Make no mistake... Due to the combination of youth and immense talent/potential, we'll pay through the nose for whichever of those options we pursue.

I'm curious to see what everyone thinks of the options above, or if there are others that we should be targeting.

Salah is essentially the same player as Mane. They have all the same physical attributes, play the same role for their clubs, get involved in attack, always moving, getting into goalscoring positions, scoring goals etc.

The problem is that Salah is also heading to AFCON. Now if we're merely looking for someone in January, obviously Salah is not an option.

But, in the summer if we are still looking for a Mane like-for-like to compete with him for the starting position, Salah would be perfect.

How would you guys feel if we got Draxler on loan with an option to buy in the summer? We get to see him for 6 months before deciding to splash the cash and he'll get his chance with Mane gone. I'm sure Klopp would love to dip into Bundesliga and I would love another German player.

Doubt Wolfsburg would agree to that idea of mine though but he's definitely gone in the summer and will be available for purchase.

I don't want us to buy him outright because I'm skeptical with what's going on with him. He's been awful for Wolfsburg this season and has played majority of their minutes. But if we can agree that loan-to-permanent deal it would be great for us. We'll get to see him for 6 months, he'll get a chance, if he comes good we'll make it permanent if not we won't lose anything by it.

donttreadonred wrote:From Klopp's comments this week, it seems that we are firmly in the market for an attacker (most likely winger, but possibly striker) in the January window. With Mane leaving for the Afcon and Ings now out for the season, we are at best missing a squad piece, and at worst missing a crucial element of our attack.

It not hard to deduce what we'll be looking for: a young, pacey winger/forward, with the end-game being to secure an understudy (and potentially an immediate fill-in) for Sadio Mane. The most obvious target is Christian Pulisic. Granted Pulisic does not have quite the natural striker instinct of Ings (or even Mane). However, he's obviously a long-term target for Klopp, and he has shown a nose for goal both in the Bundesliga and at an International level.


I'm curious to see what everyone thinks of the options above, or if there are others that we should be targeting.

I doubt we'll be in for a striker; we already have 3... 4 if you count Firmin(h)o in there. Ings is obviously out with another ACL, but even then we have Sturridge and Origi ready to come on / can't even get a game atm.

I agree with what you've said. We'll be in for another winger imo - we literally had nobody after Sterling left. Klopp addressed it in the last window by signing Mane, so we'll most likely get someone to compete with him / be an understudy / back up / rotation with Sadio. He brings soo much to our team that nobody else can offer. We've already attempted in playing Sturridge out wide, and also Firmino too but they're both wasted out there / hinder the teams performance.

Now I don't really watch football outside of Liverpool anymore but I'm confident we'll be getting someone adequate.

These were Klopp's comments on the issue:

“It’s not about about how many strikers. Three strikers is enough, I think. But when Sadio is away we will be without a winger. We do not have many wingers, I would say.

“Roberto Firmino could play as a kind of a winger which would then just give us two strikers. It is a long way to go from January onwards and that month of January is busy.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/klopp-ready-buy-january-liverpool-12128509

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Couple questions for you DTOR / others I guess.


What are your thoughts on converting Moreno to a left winger?
Do you think we'll move Milner back to a winger / midfielder / re-adjust the final third by sticking Wij further forward etc or do you think we'll just find a like for like replacement for Mane if we do pursue?

Moreno as a LW is not a bad shout because he has a powerful shot and can be a decent finisher also.

But in absence of Mane, there are follwing options:
1. Sturridge up front with Firmino on the right wing or Diamond with Sturridge-Firmino in front of Coutinho.
2. In Leicester game, Firmino did play as a wide forward and had a good game imo. So that option is always their, playing him on either wings with Sturridge or Origi up front.
3. Origi as a direct replacement for Mane.
4. Ojo as a direct replacement for Mane. Ojo is a winger and has the capability to replace Mane imo.
5. Sign a player from outside. I am not sure if it makes sense because the player who already knows the formation, Jurgens tactics and who has been already training under Klopp for long time might be more beneficial than signing a player from outside.

For me, the last options 3 & 4 are the most tempting ones. The fourth one will be really unpopular choice. I would still try one from options 3 and 4. I think the safest choice is diamond with Studge-Firmino or Origi on RW with Firmino on top.

It would be fantastic if Klopp signed Quincy Promes in the winter.

Helmer wrote:Moreno as a LW is not a bad shout because he has a powerful shot and can be a decent finisher also.

But in absence of Mane, there are follwing options:
1. Sturridge up front with Firmino on the right wing or Diamond with Sturridge-Firmino in front of Coutinho.
2. In Leicester game, Firmino did play as a wide forward and had a good game imo. So that option is always their, playing him on either wings with Sturridge or Origi up front.
3. Origi as a direct replacement for Mane.
4. Ojo as a direct replacement for Mane. Ojo is a winger and has the capability to replace Mane imo.
5. Sign a player from outside. I am not sure if it makes sense because the player who already knows the formation, Jurgens tactics and who has been already training under Klopp for long time might be more beneficial than signing a player from outside.

For me, the last options 3 & 4 are the most tempting ones. The fourth one will be really unpopular choice. I would still try one from options 3 and 4. I think the safest choice is diamond with Studge-Firmino or Origi on RW with Firmino on top.

1. I don't think we should change the formation. That's a bad idea just because the system is working so well for every single player, why ruin something that's so perfect right now. We do have the players for diamond and we played well in Cup against Spurs but 4-1-4-1(4-3-3) has been perfect so far and if one player (mane) is missing then we shouldn't have to displace everyone else. Firmino on the right and Sturridge up front maybe an option. But I personally prefer Origi to Sturridge if we're gonna start anybody but Firmino up top. He offers more.

2. Firmino did play on the wing against Leicester but that was for Coutinho, since he'd had just come back from international break flying like 30 combined hours. Mane still played that game. From what we gathered that game is that Firmino is a good backup at LW in case something happens to Coutinho. I think replacing Mane would require completely different set of attributes that Firmino just may not have to the extent that Mane brings.

3. Origi at RW is a very interesting one. I would love us to try this one over the rest of your options. Though ideally he'd be in the center we haven't really ever tried him as a winger to see if he can do it. He does have the attributes. I don't know how much he could bring in in terms of Mane's defensive duties.

4. Ojo is talented but he's not ready imo. This season is way too important to waste valuable points. He'll get his chances eventually in the future but we have legit chance of winning the title in a long time I would prefer someone ready right now.

5. I prefer this option myself. I understand your concern about not being part of Klopp's training and it will take time. But there are other teams that play counter pressing. There are other wingers that are very adept at the role Mane plays. These are professional footballers, if they have the attributes and qualities to play in our system then 1-2 weeks of training they will be fine with our system. The only concern would be if you signed the wrong player a la Benteke/Carroll and asked them to play tiki taka.

Curtinho wrote:It would be fantastic if Klopp signed Quincy Promes in the winter.

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2016/11/quincy-promes-man-replace-sadio-mane-liverpool-january/



Look at this beauty:

Coutinho to miss:

• B'mouth
• West Ham
• M'boro
• Everton
• Stoke
• Man City
• Sunderland

Good news. I was fearing something worse than this.

As long as Lallana can stay fit during this time (hopefully) we should be fine

Nishankly wrote:Coutinho to miss:

• B'mouth
• West Ham
• M'boro
• Everton
• Stoke
• Man City
• Sunderland

You left out the cup games

iftikhar wrote:

Nishankly wrote:Coutinho to miss:

• B'mouth
• West Ham
• M'boro
• Everton
• Stoke
• Man City
• Sunderland

You left out the cup games

Yeah just leeds right?

FA cup starts in Jan so he might miss that, That's the weekend after Sunderland, 5-6 days. Coutinho might make it.

League cup semi finals happen in Jan as well right?

It's ok. We'll sign Promes and he'll save us. Guy is money.

Nishankly wrote:

iftikhar wrote:

Nishankly wrote:Coutinho to miss:

• B'mouth
• West Ham
• M'boro
• Everton
• Stoke
• Man City
• Sunderland

You left out the cup games

Yeah just leeds right?

FA cup starts in Jan so he might miss that, That's the weekend after Sunderland, 5-6 days. Coutinho might make it.

League cup semi finals happen in Jan as well right?

Yeah after Sunderland there's the FA Cup third round and then right after the first leg of Semis in League Cup.

So there's a two week break between Sunderland and United which is our next league game. I think January 15th.

Coutinho is most likely 100% ready for that United match at earliest without risking him.

I think klopp will play this team in place of coutinho.

gini Henderson can

mane firmino Lallana

I doubt it. Lallana has been so much more effective in midfield. If anything he may try Wijnaldum out wide but my guess would be using Origi as the striker. Or I could maybe see him trying a diamond with Firmino - Mane at the top and Lallana playing behind them two.

I also would not move Lallana out of that CM position. I would rather start Origi or Sturridge, or even Ojo in absence of Coutinho. In the absence of Coutinho, we might create very less chances so we need good finishers who can finish with whatever limited chaces they get served.