I want to make a case why Tsimikas should start against Wolves.
- With Champions League becoming more of a priority than the Premier League, we need to find opportunities to rest Robbo in some games. Robbo will probably play 2 games back-to-back for Scotland and then will need to come back and face Arsenal in 4 days time – he needs a break somewhere.
- Robbo's attacking contribution has been almost non-existent in recent weeks (because he's gassed); Tsimikas hardly can do much worse in that department and possibly will do better. He only had a couple of minutes run-out against Leipzig, but still managed to get in a shot and a dangerous cross – when a player is showing you signs of life, even in limited minutes, a coach has a responsibility to find out more.
- Where Robbo, even in current form, is definitely much more valuable than Tsimikas is in defense. He has made lots of vital defensive interceptions, helped out Kabak at LCB and even won some headers in the box. We will probably lose some of that solidity with Tsimikas; however Klopp's new system he tried against Sheffield (successfully) and Chelsea (not so much) would have him playing pretty much as a wing-back with less defensive responsibility than he would in a back 4. So he can mostly focus on the attacking, where he can hopefully make some impact.
- Thinking long-term, at some point we do need to give Tsimikas a proper chance (which means a few starts within a reasonable period of time) to help us decide whether we need to sign another LB in the summer.
- Finally, it might help Tsimikas's confidence that did play 2 games against Wolves in the EL for Olympiacos and did pretty well against Traore in particular.
Thinking about the shape for this game overall, I am wondering how we can take a system that worked well against 3-at-the-back Sheffield and strengthen it with players like Fabinho, Jota and Keita who have all returned from injury since. A reminder about the front 5 shape against Sheffield:
--------Jones--------------------Salah
Robbo-------Mane----Firmino------
Mane was the "false 9," always dropping into the space in front of the CBs (where he couldn't do much individually, but made them uncomfortable enough), Jones and Firmino played in the channels/half-spaces with Jones generally more advanced, Robbo and Salah maintained the width
a la Mahrez/Sterling, with Salah being pretty effective as the attacking threat and Robbo performing more of a functional role.
There are many options how to fill these roles with the addition of Jota, Keita and possibly Tsimikas, as I argued above. I would swap Jones for Jota, who is even sharper in making those runs in behind the defensive line. In the middle I would swap Firmino and Mane's positions; other than a fleeting element of surprise, it obviously makes more sense for the former to playmake and for the latter to make runs into channels than vice versa. If Klopp thinks Mane needs a rest, he can sub him for Keita, whose ability to glide past players is almost as good as Sadio's. Salah's role should not change; he looks happy having more space to run into on the wing.
So this is my team (attacking phase 3-2-5 formation or 2-3-5 when Trent switches to midfield 3 during the build-up):
--------Jota------------------------Salah
Tsimikas----Firmino----Mane--------
--------------Fabs----Thiago------------
-------Kabak-----Phillips----Trent-----
Defensive phase 4-4-2:
----------Firmino----Mane-------------
Jota-------------------------------Salah
------------Fabs----Thiago-----------
Tsimikas--------------------------Trent
------------Kabak----Phillips----------
