Central Defence

In terms pf a back 3 Id not hesitate to play Robbo onthe left of a 3 when Tsmiskas is ready, or vice versa, not sure if  Tsmiskas would be ready to play out of position yet

That might be a good approach, to play 3 CB's, it would certainly take some of the pressure off Rhys, but who are the 3 CB's, would you play Rhys, Nat and Joe or chuck a midfielder into the mix, tricky. I'd go with the 3 CB's and have Joe as the leader of the pack.

I've literally put the three I think that you quoted mate.

I've literally put the three I think that you quoted mate.

Great minds eh ? :-)

I never understand this, that a footballer can not perform for 270 minutes per week. As an example of other sports I refer you to Tennis where in a 2 week tournament a player will play every other day normally for at least 90 minutes per match, often a lot more. I get that tennis is not a contact sport but it is every bit as physical and demanding on the body as football.

Of course they could, but it's how fit they're in comparison to their contemporaries

What has happened to the young ranga Dutch kid Van der Berg? Always though he was nailed on to develop into the first team but looks like he’s behind Rhy Williams and Billy K.

What has happened to the young ranga Dutch kid Van der Berg? Always though he was nailed on to develop into the first team but looks like he’s behind Rhy Williams and Billy K.

Has deffo fallen down the pecking order, personally I thought he was slow on the turn and a bit cumbersome whenever i saw him play.

What has happened to the young ranga Dutch kid Van der Berg? Always though he was nailed on to develop into the first team but looks like he’s behind Rhy Williams and Billy K.

Doesn't seem to be training w the first team anymore, but has been playing regularly w the U23s. He came on at halftime in one of the preseason games, vs Stuttgart I think it was, and was noticeably dismal, giving the ball away etc. Jürgen took him off after 15 or 20 minutes.

Hopefully he can bounce back but as you say, he's fallen behind others.

Am I wrong to suggest that our CB woes are behind us, the three lads brought in to cover for Virgil have all performed admirably, and if Fabinho’s hammy not torn would we have lost out on potentially a very good CB in Nat Phillips, having sold Lovren was his replacement already at the club and we don’t need to buy anyone?

Young Rhys I expect will play tonight, but against Shitty Nat will be Jurgens go to man, and how well did he do against the hammers ?

Life without Virgil might not be as worrisome as we first thought, with Nat not being registered for CL duty it has created a situation where both players will be rotated keeping them both fresh, and when Joel is back he can rotate with Gomez too, Fabinho coming back after the international break offers more options but we might not need to if the young lads keep performing as they have, and I’d prefer to have Fab in the holding role,

When I think about it, we’re going to be fine, once those international’s are out the way, we should have Thiago back, Matip,  Fabinho, Naby too, the rest of the injured nearer to training, we are already top of the shop and could be 8 points ahead of Shitty come Sunday night, so after our wee soirée into the dark side suddenly everything looks a lot brighter, albeit without the big fella,


Altogether now....”Always look on the bright side of life, tdo tdo, tdo tdo tdo”




                                                                          Y  N  W  A

City game is the real big test hopefully we have Matip for that game.   Then we have Leicester first game back after the break hopefully we will have options of Matip and Fabinho. 

The way I see it is we are going to have to paper over the cracks till January because we can only realistic expect to have 2 good options for 2 positions and one of them is injured at the moment in Fabinho.  Matip has to be cover when these two options are available.   We have 2 or 3 youngsters hopefully one of them perform miracles but it is a big ask. 

Williams becomes an option in Europe and Philips maybe a option in the League but they need protection.  Maybe Billy might become an option too but these youngsters shouldn't be playing consecutive games just makeshift players for me.  They are too inexperience to be playing at the highest level in the game in this position.   Centre Halve and Goal keeper department is a position you need top experienced players ready not developing.    The good news is we have a GENIUS in charge and he will hopefully get us through this huge problem. 

Am I wrong to suggest that our CB woes are behind us, the three lads brought in to cover for Virgil have all performed admirably, and if Fabinho’s hammy not torn would we have lost out on potentially a very good CB in Nat Phillips, having sold Lovren was his replacement already at the club and we don’t need to buy anyone?

Don't know why is it that when a spot opens up on the roster the reflex reaction is to want to bring someone in from the outside, and if not done used as a stick to beat Klopp/management with, instead of giving our academy/depth players a chance.

Rhys and Nat have done better than you could have sensibly expected someone new to perform, given they would have had little time to adjust to our style of play.

The cries of "WE SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A CB" surely have silenced.

Am I wrong to suggest that our CB woes are behind us,



                                                                          Y  N  W  A

The short answer Billy Yes...

It's impossible that any club in England and posibly the whole of Europe can survive without a player of VVD standards. Absolute world class and arguable the best player in the world for his postion. How can any team think their CB worries are behind them with the ability he shows on the pitch.

You'll leak in more goals that's for sure, it's basically just a question of how well/bad Liverpool adapt to it.

The short answer Billy Yes...

It's impossible that any club in England and posibly the whole of Europe can survive without a player of VVD standards. Absolute world class and arguable the best player in the world for his postion. How can any team think their CB worries are behind them with the ability he shows on the pitch.

You'll leak in more goals that's for sure, it's basically just a question of how well/bad Liverpool adapt to it.

Your right Keith, Virgil is the best in the world in that position, and of course his very own standards will be very difficult if not impossible to replicate, however, we are talking about surviving the period of time he is missing and although that will be difficult enough it is by no means out of our depth,

We seen how Fabinho adapted in his stead and unfortunately suffered his hammy, all doom a fookin gloom then, but then young Rhys burst onto the scene and played admirably for someone with little experience, similarly with Nat Phillips he apparently was surplus hence his non inclusion in the CL squad,  but again he didn’t look out of place,

For me the key word is experience or lack thereof, now we all know that both of those lads are short of the experience required but how do you get that experience?

It would be folly if anybody thought that we would be error free with that lack of experience but before Virgil was assaulted mistakes were rife in and around our back 5 anyway, it is a massive blow losing the big fella, there is no getting away from that, but ready made replacement’s as we have mentioned simply aren’t available, so you make do with what you have, and what we have are two young hungry determined individuals who will give their all for Jürgen , their peers and themselves , and you can’t ask for anymore than that, the experience will come with time,


I think we will surprise those who think our season is done already, but who sits atop of the pile right now, yet , we’re yet to hit top gear, last two campaigns we have taken the one game at a time mantra, we will do so again this season, and as each game passes we get closer to having the big fella back, after the international break we’ll have Thiago back, Keita back, Matip back, Jota has settled quickly and will thrive in the coming months, you would be very silly to write us off, do so at your peril  !







                                                                          Y  N  W  A

Since VVD injury we have played 5 games. Conceded 2 goals, 1 a peno

Don't know why is it that when a spot opens up on the roster the reflex reaction is to want to bring someone in from the outside, and if not done used as a stick to beat Klopp/management with, instead of giving our academy/depth players a chance.

Rhys and Nat have done better than you could have sensibly expected someone new to perform, given they would have had little time to adjust to our style of play.

The cries of "WE SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A CB" surely have silenced.

I'll be that guy...I still think we should have bought a CB. I just think it's not ideal to have to move Fabinho from his best position to cover another position. Because then you've lost players in two positions, not just one.

I hope Phillips and Rhys can keep performing at an acceptable level. I must say I've been pleasantly surprised, but the question becomes, can they do it for the whole season?

I'll be that guy...I still think we should have bought a CB. I just think it's not ideal to have to move Fabinho from his best position to cover another position. Because then you've lost players in two positions, not just one.

I hope Phillips and Rhys can keep performing at an acceptable level. I must say I've been pleasantly surprised, but the question becomes, can they do it for the whole season?

Obviously no one knows and the only way to find out is to let the season play out. However, we need to realize that whoever would have been brought in as 4th CB option was not going to be a top-level talent. That type of player wants to be a regular and is not going to want to go to a team to sit on the bench (4 CB options often times don't even make the bench for games) and play Carabao Cup games and hope for injuries to get more playing time. So an external option was likely going to be a "middle of the pack" defender much closer to Steven Caulker than Kalidou Koulibaly who would be new to the team and system for whom the same question you have about Rhys and Nat would apply to.

Then we have Leicester first game back after the break hopefully we will have options of Matip and Fabinho. 

De Ja Vu, let's hope it's the same scoreline we get as we did when we came back as Club World Champions! 

De Ja Vu, let's hope it's the same scoreline we get as we did when we came back as Club World Champions! 

That would be awesome! 

De Ja Vu, let's hope it's the same scoreline we get as we did when we came back as Club World Champions! 

Might get a couple more if Brendan starts to flip triangles! 

That would be awesome! 

Oh hell yeah, that is one of the best away games I had the pleasure of watching from start to finish. No nerves were shot! 

Footballers were not meant to play three matches in a week, let alone do that 6 or 7 weeks in a row. The fact that the schedule is that congested doesn't make it wise, and the sports science people will tell you UNANIMOUSLY that such a schedule greatly increases the risk of injury, for any player. I would expect Trent and Robbo to be rested somewhere in this stretch as well. So no, Gomez should not play every one of these matches.

*sigh*

Wonder what Dejan is thinking?

Guess we're really gonna see what the two Williams boys are made of over the next few weeks.

Wonder what Dejan is thinking?

Who knows with the sh*t Dejan comes out with 🤣