Liverpool Discussion

[LFCMike]

2 minutes ago, Rick said:

Davies may make the squad for tomorrow, but I’d expect it to be Henderson & Phillips again. Sunday, however, I would like to see Davies in there. If he is quick and reads the game well like people are saying, then I’d prefer him over Phillips. 
 

Do we know if Fab is meant to be back for that one? 

The last I heard on Fabinho was that he definitely misses Brighton but expected to be back for Man City

[Scouse_Mouse]

5 hours ago, Stan said:

I think expecting Matip to play any kind of run of games is over-expecting, in my opinion, so it's hardly that much of a bad break not seeing him play several games in a row. Having said that, an injury to anyone for up to 5/6 months is unfortunate. Surely look to get rid in the summer due to being unreliable?

Nobody is going to come in with an offer for Matip in the summer Stan.

All we can do is get the lad fit and give him the chance to get back in the side. 

If he bounces back then we will have the option to play him or shop him around.

[Scouse_Mouse]

4 hours ago, LFCMike said:

The last I heard on Fabinho was that he definitely misses Brighton but expected to be back for Man City

That seems to be the latest I heard too.

I'd be inclined to roll the dice a bit tomorrow, play Phillips and Henderson at CB then bring Davis on in the 2nd half and see how him and Phillips do.

If Fab is fit to face City I think everyone would want to see him playing in midfield.

 

[Stan]

14 minutes ago, Scouse_Mouse said:

Nobody is going to come in with an offer for Matip in the summer Stan.

All we can do is get the lad fit and give him the chance to get back in the side. 

If he bounces back then we will have the option to play him or shop him around.

Tempted to change your name to Mystic Mouse with insight like that  

[SchalkeUK]

14 minutes ago, Scouse_Mouse said:

That seems to be the latest I heard too.

I'd be inclined to roll the dice a bit tomorrow, play Phillips and Henderson at CB then bring Davis on in the 2nd half and see how him and Phillips do.

If Fab is fit to face City I think everyone would want to see him playing in midfield.

 

I have a feeling that Kabak will work brilliantly with young Trent - the way he has brought on another youngster - Becker - in the past few games has tightened up out right side - our serious fault is Left Centre Back where the old guy is well past it and Sead K is starting to sort that too!  We will miss Kabak!

[SchalkeUK]

25 minutes ago, Scouse_Mouse said:

Nobody is going to come in with an offer for Matip in the summer Stan.

All we can do is get the lad fit and give him the chance to get back in the side. 

If he bounces back then we will have the option to play him or shop him around.

Spoke with his sister yesterday and he is not going to be available for the rest of this season but no way wants to leave Kloppy and will try his damndest to get fit asap.  I know some think he is not the best in the world, but no one ever doubted his respect and effort to do what he was asked - one of the reasons why JK went for him in the first place.

[Scouse_Mouse]

3 minutes ago, SchalkeUK said:

I have a feeling that Kabak will work brilliantly with young Trent - the way he has brought on another youngster - Becker - in the past few games has tightened up out right side - our serious fault is Left Centre Back where the old guy is well past it and Sead K is starting to sort that too!  We will miss Kabak!

In all honesty I hadn't seen much of him, I did the Youtube searches last night, I know they can be misleading but it looks like he has got a lot to offer.

We have all discussed who (when fit) should partner VVD, Kabak could very well be that player.

At first glance a very good bit of business imho.

[LFCMadLad]

1 minute ago, SchalkeUK said:

Spoke with his sister yesterday and he is not going to be available for the rest of this season but no way wants to leave Kloppy and will try his damndest to get fit asap.  I know some think he is not the best in the world, but no one ever doubted his respect and effort to do what he was asked - one of the reasons why JK went for him in the first place.

I think Matip is absolute quality. Gutted he can't seem to stay fit because sooner or later a decision will have to be made on whether we keep him or not. 

Me personally... I hope he comes back next season with his injury problems behind him because when fit he is a proper asset. 

[Scouse_Mouse]

1 minute ago, LFCMadLad said:

I think Matip is absolute quality. Gutted he can't seem to stay fit because sooner or later a decision will have to be made on whether we keep him or not. 

Me personally... I hope he comes back next season with his injury problems behind him because when fit he is a proper asset. 

Not as skilled but the circumstances remind me of Martin Kelly, I really had high hopes before he got hammered with injuries too.

[SchalkeUK]

5 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

I think Matip is absolute quality. Gutted he can't seem to stay fit because sooner or later a decision will have to be made on whether we keep him or not. 

Me personally... I hope he comes back next season with his injury problems behind him because when fit he is a proper asset. 

He was one of the most respectful kids in skool when he was younger - despite the decision by mum to send him to 'council' school and his bro to a private one.  Never a moments problem and was always ready to listen - sure that made him a real mate to the other kids in the team and later with S04. I was told that his best time so far was being in Brazil when he was one of 5 from the same school and 4 of them played in the Cup winning side - that has to be a record which no other school will ever beat!

[Rick]

Do we really think Matip is ever going to get over these issues? 

[LFCMadLad]

5 minutes ago, Scouse_Mouse said:

Not as skilled but the circumstances remind me of Martin Kelly, I really had high hopes before he got hammered with injuries too.

Nah, Matip is far more talented than Kelly ever was in my opinion.

[SchalkeUK]

4 minutes ago, Rick said:

Do we really think Matip is ever going to get over these issues? 

Of one thing you can be sure - if he fails it will not be through any lack of trying to sort it on his part!

[LFCMadLad]

Just now, Rick said:

Do we really think Matip is ever going to get over these issues? 

No, more like hoping he can. He's a top CB and keeping him fit is in our best interests. As I said though, the time is ticking on his Liverpool career if he can't stay fit. 

[SchalkeUK]

There are many different opinions of Joel's style of play, but here's some food for thought!

How many centre backs - particularly experienced ones - do you see regularly playing the ball sideways and backwards when they are under pressure.  How many seem lost as to know what to do with the ball or where to send it.  Now watch Joel and see how many times he looks forward and actually finds a team-mate to advance the attack or even with the help of young Trent who then stays back to let him take it forward himself.  His biggest arguments used to be with young Draxler who sometimes seemed to forget which way he was actually playing - still does sometimes - but often the German kids used his first name to describe his game - 'Job done'!  I know Virgil changed that to 'Matop' which he liked - particularly as it came from a man for whom he has the greatest respect after Kloppy  aka Kloppo.  I'm sure he still has the same sense of dry humour which he developed with Benny Howedes and sometimes they would let a ball through after one or the other had said something which left each unable to concentrate from laughing together but he was always the tallest on the pitch and hated by other defences - particularly from corners. If you are on the other side just beware when his lowers his head and smiles at you - it's his version of the Rocky theme - the smile and the eye of the tiger! Great guy and still has lots to offer!

[Dr. Gonzo]

6 hours ago, Stan said:

Yes, you just signed 2 CBs who can do a decent job which means you can play Fabinho/Henderson in midfield. There's your break  

I think Fabinho's still first choice CB this season (unless Virgil comes back by some sort of miracle). One of our new CBs hasn't ever played in the top flight, although Preston fans all seem to think he's boss and the attributes they praise are sort of... exactly what Klopp looks for in a defender so that's promising. And the Turkish lad's got a bit of potentially, from what I hear... but is very raw.

And our manager isn't really the sort of guy that likes to give new signings too many chances until they've practiced with the side a lot - although this season he's had his hand forced with the injury situation. But I think he'll want to "protect" whichever of the new CBs he'll feel need "protecting" in any given week and as such, we're likely to see Fabinho still play at CB when he's back from injury... at least unless these 2 lads don't hit the ground running (I hope they hit the ground running).

As you say, though... I suspect Matip's on his way out, though. I think unless Kabak is totally crap, we're probably signing him considering our interest in him earlier in the summer. And that'd be 5 senior CBs between VVD, Gomez, Matip, Davies, Kabak. Gomez and Matip basically both guarantee at least 1 lengthy layoff a season - so we probably can't keep both of them around. I imagine Gomez has more value to us (through age and pace) than Matip at this point.

If these 2 lads stay healthy and hit the ground running, and we get a functional defense + our first choice midfield back, I think we've got a decent chance of actually putting up a fight against City in the title race.

So that's nice to not feel like 3 injuries haven't basically ruined everything nice I'd been hoping for.

[Dr. Gonzo]

54 minutes ago, SchalkeUK said:

Spoke with his sister yesterday and he is not going to be available for the rest of this season but no way wants to leave Kloppy and will try his damndest to get fit asap.  I know some think he is not the best in the world, but no one ever doubted his respect and effort to do what he was asked - one of the reasons why JK went for him in the first place.

Matip is a brilliant defender and anyone that says otherwise needs their eyes checked. He's quietly consistently excellent, you rarely ever get a shit performance out of him.

The only issue with Matip really is how unbelievably injury prone he is. But even then, it's not like he'd do the Lovren thing and need to be played back into form and put in a few horror shows after coming back from injury - he comes back after a lengthy layoff and just slots back in to being an excellent defender. 

If he didn't get injured constantly, I think he'd be considered one of the best defenders in Europe.

[LFCMike]

46 minutes ago, Rick said:

Do we really think Matip is ever going to get over these issues? 

No but I'm not sure how you'd go about getting rid given his injury record and the wages he'll be on. Transfermarkt has his contract expiring in 2024. Not even like you can say 'see the last year of your contract out and you're free to find another club next year' like with Sturridge in 18/19 for example.

I've no problem with him sticking around as a fourth choice, because what a fourth choice and as Gonzo says above he just slots straight back in after not playing for a while, but the finances won't work from the clubs point of view I wouldn't have thought.

[Scouse_Mouse]

1 hour ago, LFCMadLad said:

Nah, Matip is far more talented than Kelly ever was in my opinion.

I wasn't suggesting Kelly was, I was just comparing the circumstances. I wasn't the only one who had high hopes for Kelly, I loved the way he would bomb forward, pity he had such fragile hamstrings.

He wouldn't have fitted in today mind, what with Robbo and Trent.

[Scouse_Mouse]

27 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I think Fabinho's still first choice CB this season

He has been nothing short of spectacular at CB, if we are going to retain the title though we need him back where he is best though in midfield.

[Burning Gold]

Yeah, I don't have a problem with Matip as 4th choice. You can't rely on him for a run of games, but the odd one here and there is no problem and you know he'll put in a good performance as @Dr. Gonzo said. Even third choice I'd be happy with as long as we have a fourth choice as well

I do wonder if we'll try and shift someone in the summer though. I maintain 4 is a perfectly normal number of centre backs to have... but 5 is starting to get a bit crowded, and we know Klopp likes to keep a smaller squad. Matip's the obvious one in that regard for me given his age

Edited February 3, 2021 by Burning Gold

[LFCMike]

Gomez and Van Dijk included in CL squad. Matip left out

[Happy Blue]

One season wonders?? 

[Scouse_Mouse]

35 minutes ago, Happy Blue said:

One season wonders?? 

Enjoy it while you can mate, we both know that head to head both at full strength City would be struggling to stay anywhere close to us just like last season.

 

[Happy Blue]

20 minutes ago, Scouse_Mouse said:

Enjoy it while you can mate, we both know that head to head both at full strength City would be struggling to stay anywhere close to us just like last season.

 

Lets be honest here, both teams at full strength on form and you get hammered 4-0   ..we have won titles with a shit defence so losing  CB's is no excuse, Kompany lived on the treatment table