Malfunctioning Midfield

It's not hard to see that Liverpool have failed to recruit properly in midfield.  Here's how old the Liverpool midfield are/will be at the end of this year.  The only two lads who are in their 20's are arguably the least useful of the lot.

Milner (37)
Henderson (33)
Thiago (32)
Fabinho (30)
Oxlade-Chamberlain (30)
...
Naby Keita (28)
Curtis Jones (22)
...
Harvey Elliott (20)
Stefan Bajectic (19)

Take four years off those lads (Shaqiri and Wijnaldum also were in their 20s at the time) and you get to the much healthier position we were in in 2019.

Ox's age is largely irrelevant because he's a peripheral player who would not even make the bench most games. The age of those that were expected to be the core players (who would rotate to start the majority of the games) is a good mix of young, prime years and older experienced players.

Fab 29
Thiago 31
Hendo 32
Elliott 19
Keita 28

That we would suffer so many injuries and so many players have such a large, sudden decrease in form, all at the same time, is not something anyone was expecting.

Don’t think age can be the only significant factor to point too


Look at Modric - 37

Fabinho at 30 should still be in his Prime


But it could come down to the intensity the manager needs the players to play at week in week out taking a lot more out of the players - hence why last season has taken a lot out of them - plus the shortened pre season , then the World Cup etc

Add a couple of players in the summer - give the others a proper rest to recouperate and you will see Fabinho being back to his self

Agree age should not be the only factor. Even City has players like Walker (32), Gundogan (32), KDB (31) and Mahrez (32) playing tons of games every year but somehow our players are the only ones burnt out at the age of 29 like Fabinho.

The only midfield regular whose decline wasn't foreseen is Fabinho. All the others were a mix of aging/injury prone/young and unproven or simply not good enough.

Our players play virtually every week if available - that’s the downside of having a small squad - players are going to get burnt out sooner esp under a coach who plays heavy metal.

Our players play virtually every week if available - that’s the downside of having a small squad - players are going to get burnt out sooner esp under a coach who plays heavy metal.

Is the squad size no different to the rest of the Prem 🤷‍♂️


23 players have played double figure games or more this season so far

Is the squad size no different to the rest of the Prem 🤷‍♂️


23 players have played double figure games or more this season so far

Why do you think the midfield looks like a bunch of 45 year olds in a testimonial atm?
Do you think they can be return to the levels of yesteryear?

Is the squad size no different to the rest of the Prem 🤷‍♂️


23 players have played double figure games or more this season so far

Klopp has stuck with his favoured 11 more often than not.

He has been forced through injuries and loss of form this year, you just need to go back to previous seasons.
Hey you are the one telling us he likes a small squad 😂😂

Why do you think the midfield looks like a bunch of 45 year olds in a testimonial atm?
Do you think they can be return to the levels of yesteryear?

The effects of last season , the shortened pre season , World Cup , niggling injuries and the intensity that Klopp likes to play at


I think Fabinho with a rest in the summer can - Henderson more bit part next year


Add in two midfielders will give it a different dynamic

Thoughts haven't changed much since end of last season.
Tired of saying sell AOC and Keita, two years too late.
Curtis is a toss up, hasn't had a good run, but has had plenty of time and isn't really pushing for a place. If had to come down one way or other, sell.
Milner, hard to say move him on when I'd play him right back in the current team. Old, but keep himself so well.
Hendo would keep, but play less next season.
Fab, you can't sell him after one bad season.
Thiago, looking ahead reckon he could be out as much as he's available, so would probably move him on while can get a fee.
Bajectic has been a bit of a revelation, staying.
Carvahlo seems out of favour, not sure if Jürgen fancies him, but maybe deserves a bit more time to prove himself.

So keep Milner [utility], Hendo, Fab, Elliot, Bajectic, Carvahlo
Sell AOC, Keita, Thiago, Jones
Bring in three.

The effects of last season , the shortened pre season , World Cup , niggling injuries and the intensity that Klopp likes to play at


I think Fabinho with a rest in the summer can - Henderson more bit part next year


Add in two midfielders will give it a different dynamic

I think so…

If we can go into next season with Thiago, Henderson, Fabinho and then Bellingham and mount and Bajcetic with Morton as 7th pick id fancy our chances again.

Thoughts haven't changed much since end of last season.
Tired of saying sell AOC and Keita, two years too late.
Curtis is a toss up, hasn't had a good run, but has had plenty of time and isn't really pushing for a place. If had to come down one way or other, sell.
Milner, hard to say move him on when I'd play him right back in the current team. Old, but keep himself so well.
Hendo would keep, but play less next season.
Fab, you can't sell him after one bad season.
Thiago, looking ahead reckon he could be out as much as he's available, so would probably move him on while can get a fee.
Bajectic has been a bit of a revelation, staying.
Carvahlo seems out of favour, not sure if Jürgen fancies him, but maybe deserves a bit more time to prove himself.

So keep Milner [utility], Hendo, Fab, Elliot, Bajectic, Carvahlo
Sell AOC, Keita, Thiago, Jones
Bring in three.

I still think jones would benefit from a loan move.

Jones won’t be going anywhere - he does need to get through the growing injuries he keeps getting but he certainly won’t be sold

Jones won’t be going anywhere - he does need to get through the growing injuries he keeps getting but he certainly won’t be sold

Yeah I don’t think he should be sold. But a loan could benefit him. Like it did Elliott.
Although if we end up in next seasons europa league or conference league he could probably get game time there.

I still think jones would benefit from a loan move.

Probably would. Was only saying if had to say one way or the other as it stands.

Probably would. Was only saying if had to say one way or the other as it stands.

He’s also only 22 (I think) and homegrown which is an advantage…

How much do you think we would get realistically though?

Yeah I don’t think he should be sold. But a loan could benefit him. Like it did Elliott.
Although if we end up in next seasons europa league or conference league he could probably get game time there.

Think he is past the point of a loan now

Think he is past the point of a loan now

I dunno. I think a season long loan to somewhere like Celtic would be great for him.

Our players play virtually every week if available - that’s the downside of having a small squad - players are going to get burnt out sooner esp under a coach who plays heavy metal.

Agree, and I would add quality too, or lack thereof from our perspective, Citeh have older players like we have but the quality from their bench is better, intensity is lower than ours so their elder players stay fresher, and will invariably last longer both on the pitch and indeed for the season .

I think we can get caught out thinking a major overhaul is needed with five or six leaving but on further looking 2 top quality CM could make all the difference but they need to be the right players.

If you take it Keita and Chamberlain go in the summer for definite and possibly Milner if we add the right two we still have a strong midfield.


Someone made the point, think it was JD, that Fabinho could have a resurgence in him next season and that is still a possibility even given his dire form this season and on form he's as good a 6 as any.

Add Declan Rice and Barella for example to the following and we look back in business again:

Rice
Barella
Fabinho
Bajcetic
Thiago
Henderson
Jones
Elliott

I think we can get caught out thinking a major overhaul is needed with five or six leaving but on further looking 2 top quality CM could make all the difference but they need to be the right players.

If you take it Keita and Chamberlain go in the summer for definite and possibly Milner if we add the right two we still have a strong midfield.


Someone made the point, think it was JD, that Fabinho could have a resurgence in him next season and that is still a possibility even given his dire form this season and on form he's as good a 6 as any.

Add Declan Rice and Barella for example to the following and we look back in business again:

Rice
Barella
Fabinho
Bajcetic
Thiago
Henderson
Jones
Elliott

If we don't get a little more consistency and steel in our defense, our midfield may still struggle a bit. Virgil has looked off of it and Konate can't stay healthy. Matip is likely to decline and Gomez certainly isn't everyone's favorite. Could it be that our defense is actually as big a liability as our midfield but no one is really talking about it?

I think we can get caught out thinking a major overhaul is needed with five or six leaving but on further looking 2 top quality CM could make all the difference but they need to be the right players.

If you take it Keita and Chamberlain go in the summer for definite and possibly Milner if we add the right two we still have a strong midfield.


Someone made the point, think it was JD, that Fabinho could have a resurgence in him next season and that is still a possibility even given his dire form this season and on form he's as good a 6 as any.

Add Declan Rice and Barella for example to the following and we look back in business again:

Rice
Barella
Fabinho
Bajcetic
Thiago
Henderson
Jones
Elliott

Yep 👍

The club aren’t going to let 6 players go and bring in 6


It will take time to replace the players and will prob do it over 3 seasons

Yep 👍

The club aren’t going to let 6 players go and bring in 6


It will take time to replace the players and will prob do it over 3 seasons

And I think we should be looking to tweak to a more 2-1 midfield along the lines of 4 2 3 1 given the make up of our attackers now so the amount of actual CM playing any given games doesn't always need to be 3 as we have been in the past.

If we don't get a little more consistency and steel in our defense, our midfield may still struggle a bit. Virgil has looked off of it and Konate can't stay healthy. Matip is likely to decline and Gomez certainly isn't everyone's favorite. Could it be that our defense is actually as big a liability as our midfield but no one is really talking about it?

It's low-key just as big an issue as well I agree.

That's why 2 CM and a CB are a must this summer for me.

Don't need to think about the front line.