Oxlade-Chamberlain? Was doing that before he got injured and no doubt can be that player agaim when he comes back from injury.
Yep, freaking oath. I'm pleased to see at least some feel that way. I'm also one of those who are more than happy with Ox's development under Klopp and recognise how uniquely effective, like Firmino, he can be in our system. He still has some technical limitations, but that's fine if he continues to work hard in the press and take the opportunities when they're available (and when we desperately need him) to run at or past defenders.
The times we struggled in midfield most last year predominantly involved our incorporation of slow, predictable circulation of the football. Personally, I'm a big fan of possession based football tactics. But once you're dominating more than 65 percent of the possession, it's critical to potentially sacrifice some of that possession in order to change up the speed and directness of your play, otherwise you're dealing with a parked fleet of buses, not just one.
Man City seem to manage that change of pace well, luring opposing players out more often in order to minimise or weaken the bus parking. Circulation of the football is much faster (but still not reckless) and there is the threat of a killer run or pass from both sides of midfield at any moment, instead of a predictable insistence from Henderson that there is no chance of an opening and so the ball must be passed back to him or a defender only for it to be redistributed back to another attacking player way too slowly.
Ha and no, I'm not your typical Hendo basher, but do recognise he can at times negatively impact our potential in such ways.
Ox I think will serve us best against those teams that want to take us on (or at least come to play), where he'll be in a position to explode towards a defensive line after he or a teammate have succeeded in a high press, with the ability to shoot from range or draw a defender and lay off a pass to a forward running free on goal. I think a mid three of him, Fabinho and Keita (plus our front three) will consistently make life hell for any of the top 6 teams who'd dare take our intense counter press on.
But in games where we are excessively dominating possession (and if the inclusion of Keita and Fabinho doesn't speed up our circulation enough), then we're likely to need a player or two who can use exceptional guile and technique to take players on in midfield in order to draw them out of their excessively defensive positions and create better and more frequent chances for our team.
Both Fabinho and Keita will actually improve us a lot in that regard when starting counters deeper in our midfield, but a Lallana with fitness concerns is not enough to rely on further up the field when faced with ten defenders to beat in limited space.
That's why Fekir would've been great in our system. I'd also support other players like Harit and Malcom being brought in to be developed into that role in our system while also providing us cover for Salah and Mane.
But Ziyech is not one of those, certainly not at the likely 35 mil fee. We mustn't be seduced by luxury aspects of a player's game if what we specifically need most from their role is unlikely of the calibre we require. Considering the Fekir deal sure seemed to be seriously on at some point, it seems likely that Liverpool will be bringing someone in at that role at some point this offseason for us to love or hate haha.
