Where Do You Need To Strengthen In The Summer?

[LFCMadLad]

28 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

Accepting players of Clyne's level as 'fine' is why we've finished between 6th and 8th every year bar one in the last six or seven years.

Oh stop being so ridiculous Mike. Blaming Clyne (one of our most consistent performers since joining) for us finishing lower than we should?  

Its far more likely that us underperforming in recent years is down to a number of things such as Hicks & Gillette setting us back years by almost taking us into administration, hiring managers such as Hodgson, still having goalkeeper issues since Reina, still having CB issues since Hyppia, constantly losing our best players (Alonso, Mascherano, Torres, Suarez) meaning we start again from scratch. 

Blaming Clyne is just laughable but not surprising really coming from you lately. His stats since joining (in the areas that matter) stack up brilliantly. Consistently one of the best RB's in the league, so what are you basing your opinion on? 

You dont rate Clyne and that's your right but plenty of people do, including Klopp and I'm pretty certain he's a better judge than you. So if you're hoping he's replaced this summer then you are in for a very disappointing wait because Clyne is 100% going nowhere. 

[The Liquidator]

Liverpool Gents

You have far bigger needs than to argue the toss over Clyne ~ At least he is an actual full back, unlike the bloke playing the opposite side after 3 windows for your current manager.

[LFCMadLad]

9 minutes ago, The Liquidator said:

Liverpool Gents

You have far bigger needs than to argue the toss over Clyne ~ At least he is an actual full back, unlike the bloke playing the opposite side after 3 windows for your current manager.

Milner has actually been excellent this season, despite playing out of position. Agreed though that we need a natural LB and also agree that Clyne isn't an issue. 

[Spike]

Clyne is one player. Teams needs players like Clyne to absorb the minutes and get the hard-work done. There aren't an abundance of fullbacks in Europe and it is rarely a position that makes or breaks a season. 

[LFCMike]

8 hours ago, LFCMadLad said:

Oh stop being so ridiculous Mike. Blaming Clyne (one of our most consistent performers since joining) for us finishing lower than we should?  

Its far more likely that us underperforming in recent years is down to a number of things such as Hicks & Gillette setting us back years by almost taking us into administration, hiring managers such as Hodgson, still having goalkeeper issues since Reina, still having CB issues since Hyppia, constantly losing our best players (Alonso, Mascherano, Torres, Suarez) meaning we start again from scratch. 

Blaming Clyne is just laughable but not surprising really coming from you lately. His stats since joining (in the areas that matter) stack up brilliantly. Consistently one of the best RB's in the league, so what are you basing your opinion on? 

You dont rate Clyne and that's your right but plenty of people do, including Klopp and I'm pretty certain he's a better judge than you. So if you're hoping he's replaced this summer then you are in for a very disappointing wait because Clyne is 100% going nowhere. 

You think I'm literally blaming just Clyne? I said players, as in him and others. He's one of far too many average players we've signed in recent years who haven't improved us. Which is why i named so many other positions that need improving upon in my original post.

I base my opinion on watching him play football not some meaningless stats like yourself. I don't need stats to tell me that he's regularly caught out at the back post. Or that his technique isn't very good. Or that he offers no outlet for the keeper or centre backs. Or anything in the final third

Clyne gets away with murder because he has this reputation of being a steady Eddie type. But he's bang average and could easily be improved on

[True Blue]

Think we will look into a new reserve keeper as Begović is far too good to be on the bench. The back line is pretty solid if we keep the back three, we also have Zouma, Ake and probably Christensen so we are stacked at CB. The midfield is pretty solid if we keep Chalobah and Loftus, but i can see one of them probably Loftus on loan, so one more in the midfield would be great. We also need options for wing back cover, no way that Alonso and Moses can keep up the entire season with Europe. The attack is probably the most concerning part. If Costa leaves we are left with Michy and Solanke who is off. It is very clear that Conte doesn't rate Michy at all so i could see him being sold or loaned. Costa is on and off so if he leaves we would need two brand new strikers and bring back Tammy.

[Devil-Dick Willie]

9 hours ago, LFCMike said:

Accepting players of Clyne's level as 'fine' is why we've finished between 6th and 8th every year bar one in the last six or seven years.

 

While I agree with the others that RB is not where you need to strengthen most, I agree with the sentiment. You guys suck way more than you think.

[LFCMike]

7 minutes ago, Tanksie said:

 

While I agree with the others that RB is not where you need to strengthen most, I agree with the sentiment. You guys suck way more than you think.

Don't get me wrong, it's not the very first position I'd strengthen but it's still one that I'd be looking to do. Our fans overrate so many of our players

[Storts]

48 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

Don't get me wrong, it's not the very first position I'd strengthen but it's still one that I'd be looking to do. Our fans overrate so many of our players

 

Yes they do, but you're far from the only club guilty of that. For what it's worth I agree with you on Clyne, but also see where Madlad is coming from. For me though, Clyne is that 6-8th sort of player you described. Good, but not never great, and unlikely to ever really improve.

Unfortunately there are a dearth of quality full backs in Europe at the moment, so upgrading won't be as easy as you think. Makes me so grateful for Walker/Rose - we are spoilt really.

[SirBalon]

Obviously this thread was created with the mischievous reason in mind to get Arsenal fans to post in it. 

Was it? 

[LFCMadLad]

2 hours ago, LFCMike said:

You think I'm literally blaming just Clyne? I said players, as in him and others. He's one of far too many average players we've signed in recent years who haven't improved us. Which is why i named so many other positions that need improving upon in my original post.

I base my opinion on watching him play football not some meaningless stats like yourself. I don't need stats to tell me that he's regularly caught out at the back post. Or that his technique isn't very good. Or that he offers no outlet for the keeper or centre backs. Or anything in the final third

Clyne gets away with murder because he has this reputation of being a steady Eddie type. But he's bang average and could easily be improved on

Bang average? Stop talking bollocks. 

[LFCMike]

2 hours ago, LFCMadLad said:

Bang average? Stop talking bollocks. 

He is average. 

Your full backs can be a big difference when teams sit deep and go out to just defend against us. Clyne doesn't offer anything in the oppositions half of the pitch that will have teams worried.

[LFCMadLad]

42 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

He is average. 

Your full backs can be a big difference when teams sit deep and go out to just defend against us. Clyne doesn't offer anything in the oppositions half of the pitch that will have teams worried.

He doubles up with Mane countless times every game! Do you even watch us play? Mane gets a lot of the plaudits because of his quality when given space but without Clyne overlapping and doubling up he'd get barely any space at all. Clyne is also sound defensively. He's fast so he can regain position easily, he's strong 1on 1, he reads the game well. Ok he's been beat a few times at the back post but tell me a FB that hasn't? We hardly get attacked down our right side because basically Clyne gives them fuck all. 

Im not saying Clyne is the best RB in the world but you are seriously under-rating him and to say he's average is laughable. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

17 hours ago, LFCMike said:

Accepting players of Clyne's level as 'fine' is why we've finished between 6th and 8th every year bar one in the last six or seven years.

I think it's the inconsistent players, rather than the consistently good Clyne that are holding us back. Even when we're looking totally shite, Clyne generally plays well and it's not as though he's routinely making mistakes that cost us. He's one of the better fullbacks in the league. It's the players that turn up for the big games and then play like shit against smaller clubs we should be worried about imo.

[Cicero]

With Costa probably leaving, a striker is required. Either Lukaku or Belotti seem to be the main targets. But it's recently been reported that Sanchez will be our main transfer target, so unless Conte plans on using Sanchez in the ST role? 

Wing Back depth is probably the most crucial. Love Moses and Alonso, but I feel we can upgrade on both. 

An upgrade on CM to partner Kante is a necessity as well. Seems like we have Bakayoko all but wrapped up. Also reports that we are in pole position for Van Dijk. (Zouma is most certainly gone then). 

 

[LFCMadLad]

26 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I think it's the inconsistent players, rather than the consistently good Clyne that are holding us back. Even when we're looking totally shite, Clyne generally plays well and it's not as though he's routinely making mistakes that cost us. He's one of the better fullbacks in the league. It's the players that turn up for the big games and then play like shit against smaller clubs we should be worried about imo.

Exactly this! It's like Mike watches our games with his left eye shut so he can't see the right side of the pitch. 

[Dickie]

1 hour ago, Cicero said:

With Costa probably leaving, a striker is required. Either Lukaku or Belotti seem to be the main targets. But it's recently been reported that Sanchez will be our main transfer target, so unless Conte plans on using Sanchez in the ST role? 

Wing Back depth is probably the most crucial. Love Moses and Alonso, but I feel we can upgrade on both. 

An upgrade on CM to partner Kante is a necessity as well. Seems like we have Bakayoko all but wrapped up. Also reports that we are in pole position for Van Dijk. (Zouma is most certainly gone then). 

 

Whatever happened to Zouma, I remember him being tooted as the next big thing for CB's.

[Cicero]

Just now, Dickie said:

Whatever happened to Zouma, I remember him being tooted as the next big thing for CB's.

Suffered from every footballer's worst nightmare. Torn ACL

[Dickie]

11 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Suffered from every footballer's worst nightmare. Torn ACL

That explains it.

[LFCMike]

4 hours ago, LFCMadLad said:

He doubles up with Mane countless times every game! Do you even watch us play? Mane gets a lot of the plaudits because of his quality when given space but without Clyne overlapping and doubling up he'd get barely any space at all. Clyne is also sound defensively. He's fast so he can regain position easily, he's strong 1on 1, he reads the game well. Ok he's been beat a few times at the back post but tell me a FB that hasn't? We hardly get attacked down our right side because basically Clyne gives them fuck all. 

Im not saying Clyne is the best RB in the world but you are seriously under-rating him and to say he's average is laughable. 

He's fast and because of that he's strong 1 on 1. That's all I'll agree on. His quality in the final third with the ball is not good enough. You mention about the space he makes for Mane. Any full back in our team would do that because of how high the full backs push up. It'd be nice to have one that offers something with the ball at his feet too.

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I think it's the inconsistent players, rather than the consistently good Clyne that are holding us back. Even when we're looking totally shite, Clyne generally plays well and it's not as though he's routinely making mistakes that cost us. He's one of the better fullbacks in the league. It's the players that turn up for the big games and then play like shit against smaller clubs we should be worried about imo.

I don't think he's consistently good though. He's consistently average and he's had some really poor performances since the turn of the year. Let's just say if Alberto Moreno had turned out some of those performances he'd have been lynched by now.

I think Clyne's in that bracket of ones who might have a good game against the bigger teams and their true level shows when they come up against the dross in the league. A full back with better quality on the ball against the poorer sides would make us so much less predictable than we currently are. 

[LFCMadLad]

1 hour ago, LFCMike said:

He's fast and because of that he's strong 1 on 1. That's all I'll agree on. His quality in the final third with the ball is not good enough. You mention about the space he makes for Mane. Any full back in our team would do that because of how high the full backs push up. It'd be nice to have one that offers something with the ball at his feet too.

I don't think he's consistently good though. He's consistently average and he's had some really poor performances since the turn of the year. Let's just say if Alberto Moreno had turned out some of those performances he'd have been lynched by now.

I think Clyne's in that bracket of ones who might have a good game against the bigger teams and their true level shows when they come up against the dross in the league. A full back with better quality on the ball against the poorer sides would make us so much less predictable than we currently are. 

Predictable? We are the leagues top goal scorers with multiple goals coming from all over the pitch, from multiple players. What are you talking about? Seriously Mike, it's as if you've been spiked!

[LFCMike]

3 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

Predictable? We are the leagues top goal scorers with multiple goals coming from all over the pitch, from multiple players. What are you talking about? Seriously Mike, it's as if you've been spiked!

You don't think we've become predictable since the turn of the year against some of the mid to lower table sides and teams worked us out to a degree?

[LFCMadLad]

24 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

You don't think we've become predictable since the turn of the year against some of the mid to lower table sides and teams worked us out to a degree?

No, I think we had a six week period after Christmas that saw us struggle badly due to multiple reasons. Our lack of squad depth was shown up badly when injuries mounted up and we lost our most influential attacking player to the ACON. That combined with certain players suffering a drop in form and also players struggling to get their form back after serious injury (Coutinho). Also players playing with longstanding injuries combined with the loss of our Captain.

All that and we still sit 4th having scored the most goals in the league despite having the thinnest squad by far out of the top 6 clubs.

I think it's fair to say that the above are all more likely reasons why we saw ourselves drop off in Jan/Feb rather than your theory that we have been 'found out' and 'Clyne is bang average'. 

[LFCMike]

3 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

No, I think we had a six week period after Christmas that saw us struggle badly due to multiple reasons. Our lack of squad depth was shown up badly when injuries mounted up and we lost our most influential attacking player to the ACON. That combined with certain players suffering a drop in form and also players struggling to get their form back after serious injury (Coutinho). Also players playing with longstanding injuries combined with the loss of our Captain.

All that and we still sit 4th having scored the most goals in the league despite having the thinnest squad by far out of the top 6 clubs.

I think it's fair to say that the above are all more likely reasons why we saw ourselves drop off in Jan/Feb rather than your theory that we have been 'found out' and 'Clyne is bang average'. 

Time will tell i suppose. We were lucky to beat the worst away side in the league in our last home game. We have a run of games after Everton that are against the sort of sides we were struggling against a month or two ago. Let's hope we go out and prove ourselves

[LFCMadLad]

12 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

Time will tell i suppose. We were lucky to beat the worst away side in the league in our last home game. We have a run of games after Everton that are against the sort of sides we were struggling against a month or two ago. Let's hope we go out and prove ourselves

Well we'll not get a better chance of securing top four with the run in we have so if we don't get it, we won't deserve it.

I'm looking forward to the summer though regardless. I've a feeling Klopp's going to proper improve our squad both in terms of first 11 and in depth. That though will be a whole lot easier with CL football.