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The search for a new DM

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I can’t believe I’m doing this… because it’s you Binny - but our midfield options look much better than Utd’s & Newcastle’s and Chelsea look way shorter in numbers.

There’s a pile of players included there that are either shit, never heard of or both.

We’re one short in midfield - but there’s plenty of talent in there now.

Ehm... nowhere did I say our options are lousier/poorer...

(which was why I stated "Didn't really want to add Man Utd, Chelsea and Newcastle into the equation", "To reiterate/clarify, my issue is not just with bringing in of midfielders but rather the transfer window's performance on a whole" and stated the mins played & games missed in response to "other than numbers in department, there are other important factors like experience, quality/functionality and availability to consider too" I stated. + it was in reference/addition to what was mentioned here: http://sixcrazyminutes.com/threads/the-search-for-a-new-dm.197615/page-65#post-2247459)
 
Yeah that's not true.
Ya think?

The Journo’s in Brazil are just as clueless as the guys like Reddy, Pearce, Lynch and Jones.

Fact is no one other than the club knows what we’re gonna do, the signings of MacAllster, Szobo and now Endo prove that.
 
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I think other than numbers in department, there are other important factors like experience, quality/functionality and availability to consider too.

By strength in depth, I don't only mean coming in/on to replace players but also to change games/perform tactical switches.

Arsenal can still afford to play Partey out of position at RB, and loan out/sell Lokonga.

Man City have Phillips hardly getting games and are apparently loaning Perrone to Las Palmas soon.

Didn't really want to add Man Utd, Chelsea and Newcastle into the equation cos the first 2 aren't of the level we are aspiring to reach (?) while the last one is still a work in progress. Man Utd are obviously looking to add to their options. Even for Newcastle, having moved to Tonali-Guimaraes-Joelinton this season, in Willock (2517 mins) and Longstaff (2577 mins), they have 2 players who had 35 and 33 leagues appearances for them last season. In comparison, Jones (1039 min), Elliot (1613 mins), Bajcetic (527 mins).

Last season, Jones missed 10 games, Bajcetic missed 13 games, Thiago missed 22 games. Past experiences/seasons have shown that when rest cannot be afforded for the regular players, their injury-proness tend to increase and their form will suffer/inconsistency may set in. Fabinho anyone?

Then there's also the other club's willingness to dip into the market/strengthen when there's a need to and/or their spending power (e.g. Rice) and/or their recruitment success (e.g. Guimaraes).


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To reiterate/clarify, my issue is not just with bringing in of midfielders but rather the transfer window's performance on a whole

[article]With all due respect, Phillips being kept on is one example of how poor our planning has been ("easy and convenient" solution of CB cover and HG quota, despite the fee his transfer may fetch as well as allowing the player the opportunity to move on and get regular football he deserves, albeit at lower level). Thiago and Matip's contracts are expiring at the end of the season. The more we delay/waste each transfer window, the more work/issues we leave ourselves to do/address (sounds familiar?).

(Just getting by shouldn't be what a club of our stature should be doing. Effort and innovation seems to be lacking, unsurprisingly.)[/article]
I knew I could rely on you to give us the detailed specifics 😉

And yes I alluded to the fact that your post was about far more than just the midfield but I just wanted to highlight that aspect because some were claiming we still need TWO more so I did a little research (don't want to tread on the toes of a 6CM institution 😀) to see how we were in relation.

Your post actually just doubled down on my ascertion (but with pics - appreciated). But I also feel that in terms of the other important factors (quoting you)
like experience, quality/functionality and availability
we are also in pretty good standing, only issues being Jones & Thiago tend to have availability issues but we'll see if that still holds when they have fewer games that they start in.

So just to recap from your lists :

Arsenal : have 9 but that includes Elonga who won't be there and I'd dispute that Havertz is a midfielder first and foremost. So 7.
Chelsea : 8 on your list but only 6 are experienced and maybe only 2 are top level.
Newcastle : 13 on your list that includes a whole lot of non-enitities. You specifically mentioned Willock and Longstaff as the backups, with experience, to their starting three, I'd take any of Jones, Elliott or Endo over those two any day.
United : 10 in your list but half are youngsters, Eriksen is finished and 2 more are on their way out of the club.
City : Foden & Grealish aren't midfielders (according to Transfermarkt and I'd agree with them) so City have 7 (unless Paquetta joins them) with KdB and Silva on the injury table & Phillips and Perrone unlikely to even be in the squad. So possibly starting September with just 6 of whom just 4 are fit!

And we have 7 midfielders as it stands with at the very least the equivalent of a full PL season, as starters, under their belts plus a couple more handy youngsters in reserve.

Therefore to reiterate, I'm only comparing midfields and on that basis, as it stands, our starting three (Mac + Szobo + Thiago or maybe Endo for some matches) is better IMO than those of Newcastle & United and at least, if not better then on a par with Arsenal and Chelsea and only behind City but even that's debatable with KdB out for a long spell.

As far as the next 3 backup players are concerned : we are better off than any of them.
 
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I just hope I don't have to refer back to previous posts when we get knocked out of competitions early/go on a poor run/have a threadbare squad (but I am pretty pessimistic about that at the moment).

In summary, these were the type of signings that would account for a very good transfer window when we were still in our prime - refreshing/rejuvenating the squad. For one on the back of failing to make the CL and with increased competition in the league, I'm not sure.

Wrong thread for that discussion.

It went this way (transfer window rating rather than DM) from around pg 63 of the thread 😛

Anyway, back to the DM topic, anyone still holding out hope that we'll sign someone before the transfer window closes?
 
I just hope I don't have to refer back to previous posts when we get knocked out of competitions early/go on a poor run/have a threadbare squad (but I am pretty pessimistic about that at the moment).

In summary, these were the type of signings that would account for a very good transfer window when we were still in our prime - refreshing/rejuvenating the squad. For one on the back of failing to make the CL and with increased competition in the league, I'm not sure.



It went this way (transfer window rating rather than DM) from around pg 63 of the thread 😛

Anyway, back to the DM topic, anyone still holding out hope that we'll sign someone before the transfer window closes?
It's beginning to sound like the club are all in on Gravenberch (and Andre perhaps)? Though who knows, they could spring someone else on us (Thuram please!). I think there'll be one more.
 
Express (yeah I know - anyone know the reporter quoted)?

Liverpool 'agree Andre deal'
Liverpool have reportedly agreed personal terms with Fluminense midfielder Andre.

Brazilian journalist Emmanuel Luiz said that terms had been finalised between the player and the Merseyside club.

Manchester United attempted to make contact with the 22-year-old's representatives but were told Liverpool had already reached an agreement.

Andre wants to join Liverpool but Fluminense want to keep him for the upcoming Copa Libertadores quarter-final.
 
Express (yeah I know - anyone know the reporter quoted)?

Liverpool 'agree Andre deal'
Liverpool have reportedly agreed personal terms with Fluminense midfielder Andre.

Brazilian journalist Emmanuel Luiz said that terms had been finalised between the player and the Merseyside club.

Manchester United attempted to make contact with the 22-year-old's representatives but were told Liverpool had already reached an agreement.

Andre wants to join Liverpool but Fluminense want to keep him for the upcoming Copa Libertadores quarter-final.
This was reported a few days ago.

Personal terms only.
No fee with the club.

The release fee is €40m, Fluminense have repeatedly said he won't be sold unless that is triggered.
 
This was reported a few days ago.

Personal terms only.
No fee with the club.

The release fee is €40m, Fluminense have repeatedly said he won't be sold unless that is triggered.
QF is complete on 31st August but 03:30 1st Sept GMT - Fluminense are hot favourites to progress

Grandstand finish
 
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This was reported a few days ago.

Personal terms only.
No fee with the club.

The release fee is €40m, Fluminense have repeatedly said he won't be sold unless that is triggered.
In fact Fluminise would rather keep until after Copa Libertafores season has ended.
 
Just posting this link because I like this account



This guy is INEXPENSIVE and DUTCH so it already fulfils two of the three key criteria we use for evaluating players.

The only problem is that he's a pure Defensive Mid, which might tempt Klopp to instantly eliminate him. As a relative unknown, his signing would probably infuriate the fans, though which is definitely a factor that swings heavily in favour of us signing him.

Anyway, interesting article here that mentions him as a potential LOW COST replacement for Fabinho. He's golden really. Feyenoord signed him for €600,000 so if Schamdtke comes knocking they'll likely make a 10000% profit.Very well played.

[article]
While the suggestion of replacing Fabinho may raise a few eyebrows, it is important that the Brazilian turns 30 this year, and has produced a few poor performances this season. It is also important to remember that Liverpool may not have to dip into the market at all for this one with Bajčetić playing so well this campaign. Nevertheless, having a list of players ready to explore is a good idea. In line with Fabinho’s role, this segment of analysis will focus on defensive data, along with a brief analysis of on-the-ball efficiency.
We begin by getting some first impressions of the candidates to replace Fabinho. It goes without saying, whoever it eventually is has big boots to fill — and must excel defensively. The metric above, successful defensive actions, is what it says on the tin. It includes all defensive metrics, from defensive duels to interceptions and so on. As the chart tells us, Fabinho contributes 9.21 successful defensive actions per 90 minutes, which suggests that he keeps himself busy defensively despite Liverpool often dominating games.
A clutch of players boast a higher average than Fabinho, but the standout is Mats Wieffer of Feyenoord, who averages a whopping 14.09 successful defensive actions per game. Not only does this show defensive desire, but also consistency in success, a real solid individual in midfield. Not too far behind Wieffer is 20-year-old Johann Lepenant (Lyon), who successfully executes 12.29 defensive actions per 90.

Digging deeper into the defensive ability of the candidates, we will now provide analysis of their ability when it comes to defensive duels. While this metric would have been a factor in their successful defensive actions, looking at it this way also allows us to paint a picture of their tackling ability. Fabinho ranks at the lower end when it comes to the number of defensive duels he engages in (again, this is down to Liverpool’s game dominance), and ranks fairly average in the number of duels he wins, which currently stands at 59.65% for this season.
Wieffer and Lepenant stand out again, this time for the number of duels they attempt, but of the two, Lepenant’s success rate of 63.68% is superior. Looking elsewhere, we see strong contenders in Florentino Luís of Benfica and Azor Matusiwa (Reims), but the strongest of the lot is FC Twente’s Ramiz Zerrouki, who may rank below the group average for the number of attempts, but leads the way with his success rate of 67.25.

Breaking up the opposition play with an interception is an important ability for any outfield player, but an interception in midfield areas can really protect the defending unit. It is important to remember that the interception metric in the chart above is possession adjusted, to even the playing field in terms of the average amount of possession of each candidate’s team. With that in mind, Fabinho comes in with 6.7 (PAdj) interceptions per 90.
Mats Wieffer is really making a good impression of himself, isn’t he? To say he stands out here is an understatement, with the Feyenoord man averaging 11.28 (PAdj) interceptions per game — a significant increase on the record of any other play in the data set. Florentino Luís and Matusiwa show numbers than better Fabinho again, so we can’t ignore their contributions. The same can be said for Zerrouki.
[/article]
 
He's another boring but effective player from what I heard. We kinda need those

We need someone who can do more really, it's shortsighted to think we're top heavy with attackers, ergo we can afford to go for limited players who defend well, you just hit another issue further down the road. It's like going for someone like Nunez, who can score goals but isn't great at the press, which is as fundamental to us as scoring goals is.
 
Emmanuel Petit on Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia:

"Caicedo signed for Chelsea while he was linked with Liverpool, as did Lavia. I won't say anything stupid but we all know why they went to Chelsea. Sportingly, the best decision right now would be to go to Liverpool.
If I'm Caicedo or Lavia, I'm going to Liverpool instead of Chelsea because I don't see a clear plan of what's going on at Chelsea. 35 players? Come on. How many players do they need? It's going to be a nightmare, like what happened last season.
For me, the answer is very simple. If you ask anyone why Caicedo and Lavia decided to go to Chelsea, the answer is just money. Money speaks for the clubs and for the players."
1f911.png
 
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