Central Defence

To put it into context City who are struggling a bit as is have 5 experienced CB's, plus Walker and Fernandinho who have also played a number of games in this position.

We started the season with only 3 experienced CB's plus one non CB in Fab who can fill in effectively.

We should not have to rely on kids to start PL or CL games at CB in October I'm baffled some here think this isn't an issue.

I think everyone thinks its an issue. But its rare to lose 3 central defenders 2 weeks apart to be fair. And nowt we can do for the next 8 weeks about it.

Whose to say that Williams wont be called into the next England squad based on how he goes for us in the next few games?? Im exaggerating but the point is he could show to be boss a chance he wouldnt get with no injuries...could save us millions...its almost exciting to see how this goes

Id rather have Rhys Williams in there than Tyrone Mings thats for sure.
Remember Shanks telling a young Kevin Keegan, I see Bobby Moore is carrying a nock. I just saw him limping, just run at him son,  he won't have a hope with that bad ankle......  Or words to that effect.. Keegan went out and ripped him a new one  The psychologist that Shanks was. Moore wasn't injured.
Come on Jürgen, have a word with Rhys.

Regardless of what we may think about hindsight this is a perfect example of why some people should calm down with the ''So you know better than Klopp and his staff eh?'' arguments which are ridiculous about 8 times out of 10 on a fans forum like this one.

Yes Klopp and his staff are humans and can be wrong and yes some fans on a forum can spot a potential problem without having to do their UEFA licenses or having played 15 years of professional football.

I wasn't one of those screaming about the Cb situation before the season started but like everybody now, I think going into the season with 3 Cb's was not a good idea from the get go even when you factor in Fabinho. If you've watched our last 2 seasons you know Fab is top 3 in the world in his position and is a huge part of how we play. This, effectively, means that whenever you have to plug him in another position than CDM you are dealing a massive blow to how we play because the whole pressing game, ball recuperation in midfield as well as the link between the back line and the rest of the team is very different.

My point is that even if VVD was healthy and that Fabinho had to be plugged in alongside him while Gomez and Matip were out it still would've been a sh*t situation with a significant impact on how we play because you can't just take a world class CDM out of the team and not expect it to be a bumpy ride especially in the PL and the CL.

Edit: as far as I am concerned, I will be hoping Thiago is back for this weekend's game, that we put him in along side Hendo at CDM and Gini as the other CM and that we control the tempo of the game by retaining the ball as much as possible, create in front of what I expect to be another low block and win back the ball as fast as possible when we are dispossessed in order to give the 2 guys at the back, whomever it will be, the smoothest ride possible. 

Id rather have Rhys Williams in there than Tyrone Mings thats for sure.
Remember Shanks telling a young Kevin Keegan, I see Bobby Moore is carrying a nock. I just saw him limping, just run at him son,  he won't have a hope with that bad ankle......  Or words to that effect.. Keegan went out and ripped him a new one  The psychologist that Shanks was. Moore wasn't injured.
Come on Jürgen, have a word with Rhys.

Same here, and it's obvious Klopp felt the same way and preferred to keep him as 5th option over bringing in someone else to further block his path. And bringing someone else doesn't mean that player would not have gotten injured, or that he would be as good as Rhys has been when he has played, and would need time to learn our system.

I think everyone thinks its an issue. But its rare to lose 3 central defenders 2 weeks apart to be fair. And nowt we can do for the next 8 weeks about it.

Whose to say that Williams wont be called into the next England squad based on how he goes for us in the next few games?? Im exaggerating but the point is he could show to be boss a chance he wouldnt get with no injuries...could save us millions...its almost exciting to see how this goes

Correct. What we are going through right now with 3 defenders down in 2 weeks is rare and just shitty ass luck.

Phillips is old enough now (23) where we pretty much know he's not going to be more than a squad player and better off moving to a small club to get playing time, but Rhys is 19 and is showing lots of potential, which he cannot realize if we further block his path to the 1st team by bringing in "in case of injury" players. I much rather Rhys get the opportunity to shine than have brought in another Steve Caulkner.

Correct. What we are going through right now with 3 defenders down in 2 weeks is rare and just shitty ass luck.

We're two defenders down and one midfielder down.  And one of those defenders has probably been out for about 50% of last season as well. 

The fortnightly injury to Matip and a hamstring for one of our midfielders are issues that have now become bigger issues because our reliable centre-back is out for the season.

Or maybe the poor kid has a few bad performances and supporters get on his back and it stunts his growth or destroys him. I hope you are right but he’s just a kid, there will be a ton of pressure on him to perform to a possibly unrealistic level.





Maybe...
But it doesn’t matter if you’re a kid or not. Supporters get on everyone’s back. Look at Adrian. Or origi. You can score the winning goal in a champions league final and some supporters will get on your back.
It may be that empty stadiums will help these youngsters. The groans and moans will be silenced to everywhere apart from social media.
But I have confidence!
I think you have to. Otherwise you watch each game almost waiting for certain players to make a mistake.

Trent AA was ‘Just a kid’ when blasted onto the scene, and look what happened there, Rhys has a unexpected opportunity to do something similar, if you remember Trent was as green as F**k in his first few outings, but look at him now, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever that young Rhys can’t hit the ground running,
He will of course make mistakes that’s part of his learning curve, it’s how and what you learn from those mistakes that make you what you are, he has been impressive from the time he’s had pitchside and doesn’t look out of place,

Different kettle of pigeons in the EPL but sometimes being chucked in at the deep end can be the best thing for him, he’ll soon learn, but what we mustn’t do is get on his back, let him mature without the constant ribbing, let him develop in his own time, cos you never know, in a few years up the pipe he could be another Virgil, but with years of experience on his still young shoulders.

Good luck to the lad.





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I thought it could get dangerous if we didn't sign a defender but that had nothing to do with Lovren.  I felt with Lovren he could only cover for the odd game hear and there.  We had a similar situation last season and it took a few games and then we hardly so him for the rest of the season.  My point is we didn't need cover for Lovren as he didn't give much cover in the last couple of seasons, unfortunately he was damaged goods. 

We needed another defender as 3rd Choice because Matip is heading down the same road as Lovren and Agger.   The problem we are in is massive but we have been short in other positions the forwards that we got some cover in the last 2 windows at left back we got cover for it. 

We have done fantastic in the transfer market our recruits have been absolutely on the money.  I don't want the club to change that strategy they are doing brilliant no need to change.  We could have signed a defender and not a left back it could have been Robbo that got injured. 

The situation we are in we just have to take it to January and lets see the decision of the transfer team.   You'd expect them to get someone in whether that be a short term or a player for the long term.  We have only 1 fit experience centre half lets all hope one of the youngsters take their opportunity with both hands starting with Rhys Williams.

Tough one - I'd put Hendo back to CB but we'd probably miss him too much in the middle.
So many f**king injuries, and not just that but the front lads haven't really been doing it.
Somehow been getting the wins, through sheer determination almost.
Hindsight is a great thing, but we should've signed a CB in summer when Lovren left.
The way things are going can't see that we have any choice but to go into the transfer market come Jan.

If the front lads could just knock in a few more that would take some of the pressure of the back, and maybe Klopp might not feel like we need to go 4-2-3-1.

Fab should be back after internationals apparently

Why is that risky? Trent and Robbo have barely gotten a break and they run miles more than the CB's in any game.

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.

It’s not just the missing players that holding us back, I think the 4-2-3-1 isn’t helping, we seem to have adopted that formation to squeeze players in, but it’s contributing to us losing the mid field.
If you’re weakened by injury, at least play the way everyone is comfortable with. Think this new formation is adding to the problem myself.

It’s not just the missing players that holding us back, I think the 4-2-3-1 isn’t helping, we seem to have adopted that formation to squeeze players in, but it’s contributing to us losing the mid field.
If you’re weakened by injury, at least play the way everyone is comfortable with. Think this new formation is adding to the problem myself.

Certainly looked very confusing v Sheffield which may have something  to do with lack of training ground time .

Its not just CB that were struggling for Injuries tho is it, this is just a mad season. Look on the physio room page, every team has some serious injury issues.

Konstantinos Tsimikas   Thigh Injury   Oct 23: "Kostas, who gets closer and closer but is not at all in contention for this game or the next one."   31/10/2020   None   50%

Naby Keita   Other   Oct 19: "He looked very good yesterday in training, to be honest. In the moment, I would probably rather expect him to be involved but I don't know it."   31/10/2020   None   50%   

Thiago Alcantara   Knee Injury   Oct 23: "Look, in my situation, I don't want to rule anybody out until someone tells me and so far, nobody told me."   31/10/2020   None   50%   

Joel Matip   Other   Oct 23: "But for me, everybody apart from the three I mentioned are in contention until somebody tells me different."   31/10/2020   None   50%   

Fabio Tavares   Thigh Injury   Oct 27: "He felt a hamstring, and that's not good. He said he could have played on but no sprints, which doesn't help. We will see, we will know more after a scan."   No Return Date   Currently Being Assessed   25%   
 
Virgil van Dijk   Knee Injury   Oct 18: "Further assessment on the injury has revealed an operation will be needed. No specific timescale is being placed upon his return to action at this stage."   No Return Date   None   Ruled Out   

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain   Knee Injury   Oct 19: "Oxlade is obviously in a long-term rehab, but looks good and is in a good mood usually."   No Return Date   None   Ruled Out

Just throwing this out here

Rhys Williams- Gomez - Wijnaldum back 3 ?

Not the formation of choice for Klopp obviously but for Saturday it could offer a bit more protection. Having Henderson and Thiago in front of it would be great too. It’d be up to the front 3 to win the game for us then.

I think Antonio would have a field day on Williams if Antonio is fit so having that extra body back there would help. Gini did ok at centre back that time down at Brighton. Any suggestion of Henderson at centre back worries me for two reasons, 1 is he looked lost when he played there vs Monterrey and the second is we’d miss him that much more in midfield.

It’s not rocket science.

Williams and Gomez if Matip can’t make it.

Wijnaldum and Henderson need to do an excellent job at protecting those two

Just throwing this out here

Rhys Williams- Gomez - Wijnaldum back 3 ?

Not the formation of choice for Klopp obviously but for Saturday it could offer a bit more protection. Having Henderson and Thiago in front of it would be great too. It’d be up to the front 3 to win the game for us then.

I think Antonio would have a field day on Williams if Antonio is fit so having that extra body back there would help. Gini did ok at centre back that time down at Brighton. Any suggestion of Henderson at centre back worries me for two reasons, 1 is he looked lost when he played there vs Monterrey and the second is we’d miss him that much more in midfield.

I wouldn't be against a back three to be honest but don't think it'll happen.

Allison

Williams      Gini      Gomez

Trent      Henderson      Thiago      Robertson

Salah    Firmino    Mane

Not a million miles away from how we normally play just the driving midfield player in the defence as opposed to in front.

Could still struggle bro control midfield though which has been an issue with the 4 2 3 1.

It’s not rocket science.

Williams and Gomez if Matip can’t make it.

Wijnaldum and Henderson need to do an excellent job at protecting those two

Agree, but if there is one thing we have, it's a hard-working midfield. Thiago being available would also be great for protection as he is fantastic in recovering the ball as well.

Klopp has said he could use Hendo or Robertson as centre backs also if need be.

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.

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.

I wouldn't be against a back three to be honest but don't think it'll happen.

Allison

Williams      Gini      Gomez

Trent      Henderson      Thiago      Robertson

Salah    Firmino    Mane

Not a million miles away from how we normally play just the driving midfield player in the defence as opposed to in front.

Could still struggle bro control midfield though which has been an issue with the 4 2 3 1.

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.

It’s not rocket science.

Williams and Gomez if Matip can’t make it.

Wijnaldum and Henderson need to do an excellent job at protecting those two

One of them needs to be more or less playing as CB/DM, very deep.