This is an excellent post that highlights probably our biggest unknown/undefined conundrum at the moment. As you say all of our central midfielders (maybe with the exception of Lucas) are jack-of-all-trade players.
Henderson and Milner are decent at essentially everything, but hardly great at anything.
Allen is good at recycling possession, but again hardly great at anything and I don't think we can afford the luxury of having someone who can do that before we can work out the rest of our issues.
Can is a decently talented player, but he gets flustered easily, and completely lacks tactical discipline and positional sense - not sold that we could go into the season having him as our first CM on the team-sheet.
Grujic looks good in the limited time I've seen him, but again early signs point to him being more like Can than what we actually need, but he does seem to have a bit of a sharper mind and more composure this far.
I believe that we are serious about two formations:
1) 4-2-3-1: a 2-man defensive midfield, with a 3-man attacking midfield, and then a striker. This is the go-to for Klopp and fortunately is similar to what our players had become used to (although tactically they were thrown around in just about everything under the prior manager).
What it takes to make this work is discipline, positional sense, and adequate communication from the 2 CDM's.
Ideally, they would work it out as right and left and one of them would work themselves out as the holding midfielder who will sit just in front of the backline, probably biased a bit toward his side. Ideally you want someone with grit here, but also with great tactical and positioning sense and discipline along with concrete defensive capabilities. But given the 2-man system, he should be good on the ball, extremely responsible with his passing, capable of picking out long balls or spreading it wide, and even of the surprise run up field when the opportunity presents itself and when he's completely covered by the other midfielder. This is the heart of your team - consistent, responsible, necessary. Think De Rossi, Khedira (for the NT), Matic. Lucas would be our best current player for our role. Can has all the necessary attributes for it, great build, was solid as a CB, more than capable on the ball, but he completely lacks the brain to do it. If Klopp can install that into him and build a disciplined, intelligent player out of him then we could have a real gem on our hands. But again, not sure I'm sold on going into the season with him as our man there.
The other is more of a ball-playing, box-to-box, all around type of role. This is where you would want your Gerrard, a jack-of-all-trades type of player, but whose actually great at just about everything, not just decent. They are the connection between your attack and the rest of the team, a goal threat from distance or through runs, responsible and constructive with his passing, disciplined and hardworking enough to get back into shape next to the other CDM when the opposition attacks. If the holding CDM is the heart, then this is your soul. Hendo, Milner, Allen, possibly Grujic would be our midfielders who can play here, but again I'm not sold that any of them are good enough to do it.
If you want to see how this formation is supposed to look with these players, then I'd recommend watching Germany play and paying close attention to the Khedira-Kroos or Khedira-Schweinsteiger pairings in any game against any opposition. The first half against Slovakia in the Euro would probably be a good watch for it. Then go ahead and watch Can-Schweinsteiger in the match against France and note the differences. Or even in the 2011-12 season when Jürgen led them to Dortmund to league victory with mixes of Kehl, Bender, Sahin, Gundogan, and others making up that partnership.
2) 4-1-2-1-2: a defensive specialist, 2-man central midfielders who work into the wider areas as well but mostly attempt to hold central, an attacking midfielder who stays central and feeds just under the forwards, and 2 strikers up top.
What it takes to make this work is an extremely disciplined specialist as your #6 player in the CDM role who sits just in front of the backline. Then two central midfielders who are well communicated, situated on their sides and in their roles, and capable of adapting to whatever the game situation calls for. Ideally, one of them can be more attacking-minded with an eye for creativity and goal-scoring while also supporting the CAM, while the other is more focused on box-to-box duties, recycling possession, helping everyone around the pitch, keeping things ticking smoothly, and controlling the overall tempo of the game through his actions.
The #6 needs a sharp mind, talented defensively, decent on the ball, intelligent positioning to break down attacks before they arrive, and the ability to mark man-to-man wisely when the situation is called upon, but otherwise lock down his zone in front of the back four. Think Masch, Busquets, Kante, and many more. As it stands, we've got Lucas who could do a job here but not sure he's got the legs for it. Emre can also fill here if needed, but would be contingent on what was said above for him to become good at it. I think Matip or Joe Gomez also would excel in this role to be honest, and as it stands I think if fit I'd have one of them there in this formation above others.
Then there's the two other midfielders. Your box-to-box, tempo-controlling CM should be intelligent, jack-of-all-trades, efficient on the ball, and fully capable of controlling the game while contributing to just about everything. He usually puts in a consistently good display, but tends to fall under the radar of people who (frankly IMO) don't fully understand this position or it's importance to the game. Here I would say to think Xabi Alonso, Xavi, and Joao Moutinho. Hate to say it, but I think Joe Allen might just be the best we've got in this dedicated role. Hendo, Milner, and possibly Grujic could all possibly play here, but again not so sold on any of them there.
Finally there's the more free-playing, creative, licensed to do anything CM. Ideally could do everything really well, especially his attacking duties. A good shot on his boots, smart and constructive passer on the ball, makes great surging runs, and has a bit of grit about him when getting into tackles. Here I'd say to think of Gerrard, Iniesta, or Fabregas back in his better days. Again here I think we could use Hendo or Milner. Maybe Firmino could even do a job here if he was committed to learning the role.
Looking more into this type of play in this particular, I'd say you could find a great commitment and tactical usage of this from Portugal in the most recent Euro with Danilo or William Carvalho in the #6, Joao Moutinho or Adrien in the tempo-controlling CM, and then Renato/Joao Mario switching in and out in the other role and the CAM. If you're interested in how those three player types work together in a midfield, but not necessarily in this formation, watch us in the Masch-Xabi-Stevie days or go watch Spain or Barcelona with Busquets-Xavi-Iniesta.
There's a lot of work to be done before we get to where we need to be. I don't think we've got the set personnel to succeed as of right now in our central midfield. Too many like players and nobody who has shown to be outstanding in any particular role. Being said, I think Klopp can potentially do a job in taking our current players and molding them into these specific roles and producing something special out of it. He did it in 2011/12, Fernando Santos and Chris Coleman did it in this Euro, and many other managers have done it in the past as well. What it boils down to simply is that there is a lot of work to be done, but whether the work is done on the training ground or in the transfer market is what will be interesting to see.
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