klopp knows when it's right to introduce his players to the team so we will have to patiently wait.
Oh he can play a role alright. There are certain moments in certain games we need, what people refer to as 'fresh legs'. Henderson can do that perfectly fine. Help us see out games. Help keep our other players fit and fresh.
But he shouldn't be starting any more. Certainly not in the big games against opposition who are miles better than him. Again, like hardcore above me, I think he will start less as time goes on.
It looks like you'll be waiting a fair amount of time though, because Hendo-Gini-Milner is the default midfield Jürgen turns to, for the more difficult games. Fabinho mostly plays when he has time to create, and Keita usually plays when he has the space to show off his nutmeg skills, e g. Bournemouth etc. For games where we have to defend for a fair amount of time, such as City (a), he and Fab won't be anywhere near the starting XI. Ditto the European trips. Jürgen likes to take his time introducing players and there's merit in that, but Robbo only got in the side on a regular basis because Moreno came off injured against Spartak Moscow. Before then Robbo was a bit part player while Moreno was smashing plates on a weekly basis.
Are there upgrades on Hendo and Lovren? Yes of course, but I don't know where exactly we will find them. After Brexit, freedom of movement ends, so signing players from abroad will be that bit more difficult and restrictive. That leaves us with having to sign players from clubs in our own league. The top clubs won't sell players to us, so that leaves us with more Southampton level players at inflated prices, who may not be the next Mane's and VVD's. And when they don't turn out to be like them, people will be here asking "why did we even sign him? He's a poor man's Hendo".
Lovren played because we had to play him, so there is little point slaughtering him after every goal that goes in. He's a decent back up option, unfortunately he has the tendency to nod off at a time we can least afford it, but that's nothing new. He's now out for the foreseeable future, so you can forget about his ability to keep the opposition out, for a while.
Logged