The Liverpool Club Thread. **No Spoilers**

Soldato
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Problem is with Klopps high tempo game plan we are a lot more susceptible to injuries than other teams, some players might be fine and not get injured playing the way other teams do, this is why I wish he'd use subs a bit more, he can't moan about not having 5 subs etc. and then not use the 3 he's allowed until 93rd minute or so.

Possibly trying to make the point that we can win without 1 sub let alone 5, so it actually would be more for fitness than tactical.
 
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Do you not think Klopp and his highly trained medical team know this already? Perhaps you should try contact them because they might have missed that one.

Each player has their own individual training and recovery plan. When it's a busy week players do not train, they recover. They know what players bodies can handle.

We have never seen this in Klopps time, we have just been mega unlucky this season
 
Don
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Possibly trying to make the point that we can win without 1 sub let alone 5, so it actually would be more for fitness than tactical.
He wasn't trying to prove a point, he was trying to win a match which seems to have been forgotten about in all the debates around 5 subs.

We had next to no options on the bench that would have improved our side or given us something different to help us win the game and even from a fitness point of view, look at the options we had on the bench and which first 11 players needed resting. The front 3, Jones and Trent didn't need resting - they've all had periods out, either enforced or otherwise and our front 3 are proven to be highly durable. Putting Origi or Miniamino on neither solved any fitness issues we had nor improved the side. Had we been 3-0 up then no problem, give Mane 30 mins off but with the game in the balance you don't weaken your side for a marginal fitness gain.

The players that need resting are Hendo, Gini, Fabinho & Robertson but we had little or no options on the bench to rest them. Neither Ox or Keita are going to play holding roles in midfield and both are no where near fully fit - Ox has only just returned to full training having been out since last season and Keita missed the weekend game having suffered a recurrence of an injury that kept him out a few weeks. And you're not taking Fabinho and Robertson off for Phillips and Neco Williams.

Hopefully we're going to be in a better position moving forwards. Klopp said in his press-conference today that Thiago, Milner and Shaq could all be back in full training next week, throw in an extra weeks training for Keita and Ox and we'll then hopefully have more first team options that will allow us to make changes without sacrificing results.
 
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Lets no forgot, we had something like 76% possession. It was quite an easy game for us in terms of energy spent. We didn't appear to need fresh legs imo.
 
Caporegime
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Not a surprise, I wouldn't be too sad if that was his last game for us. Great servant, phenomenal ability to maintain his level after each injury but can't be relied on.

Club obviously knew about this a few days ago which is why they signed 2 rather than 1 defender.
 
Soldato
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Matip was excellent when fit, the problem was that he hasn't been fit to play back-to-back games in the last 18 months and I really don't think we can rely on players that ware that prone to muscular injuries.
 
Don
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Just thinking about his injury record since being with us and it really wasn't that bad until 18 months ago. He had a few smaller issues but he also strung together long runs in the side too but it just looks like all those smaller injuries have caught up with him and he cannot go 10 minutes without picking up a knock. There's no chance that we'll be able to sell him in the summer so he'll still be around but he cannot be anything more than 4th choice moving forwards and I don't think that's such a bad thing. If he's not required to play so often he can hopefully focus on being getting match fit before he plays and those few games per season when he does play, you're not getting a better 4th choice CB than him.
 
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Thinking about it, we're lucky he was injured when he was. The club clearly thought they could rely on him staying fit, which explains the lack of interest in signing defenders until the last few days, but had he been injured next week we would've been screwed.
 
Don
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Thinking about it, we're lucky he was injured when he was. The club clearly thought they could rely on him staying fit, which explains the lack of interest in signing defenders until the last few days, but had he been injured next week we would've been screwed.
It certainly explains the fact we've gone for 2 CB's but it's clear the club have been working on deals long before this injury and Klopp genuinely seemed hopeful that it wasn't going to be too serious before the West Ham game.
 
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I'm not too sure about that. The fact we only announced the length of the injury after the signings suggests we didn't want to be held to ransom.

As it is, Kabak will have to quarantine and both Davies and Kabak will need a few weeks to improve their fitness so I don't think we'll see either play until March.
 
Don
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I don't think he will have to quarantine - elite sportsmen are excempt iinm. And Klopp was very open that he wanted and we were trying to do a deal for a CB for weeks.

Agree we weren't going to announce the news until these deals were done and as said, I'm sure we've signed two because of it but Klopp's an amazing actor if he was lying before the West Ham game.

edit: I guess the Matip news guarantees that Fabinho is playing CB for the rest of the season. I'd guess Davies will be used similarly to Phillips, as and when they're needed - either when Fabinho breaks his leg in two weeks or is forced into midfield when Thiago does his ACL.

On paper at least, it seems like Kabak will compliment Fabinho at the back. From what I'm reading he's a bit of a monster physically but not the greatest on the ball. Fabinho (and Henderson) can compensate for VVD's passing out of the back but we've lacked a real physical presence in the side without him. Hopefully Kabak can fill that void.
 
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Man of Honour
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Hopefully Kabak isnt too much of a monster, I dont want another Skrtel giving away free kicks on the edge of the box, penalties and getting booked every game.

Curious to see Davies though, not seen Preston so havent seen him play before but by all accounts he's a ball player, so will be interested to see what he can bring to the table.
 
Caporegime
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Hopefully Kabak isnt too much of a monster, I dont want another Skrtel giving away free kicks on the edge of the box, penalties and getting booked every game.

Curious to see Davies though, not seen Preston so havent seen him play before but by all accounts he's a ball player, so will be interested to see what he can bring to the table.
A nice warm bench seat from next season onwards and a couple of games in the cups then likely a loan somewhere. I’m sure he’s under no illusion that VVD and Gomez are the first choices, Matip should be moved on IMO, too unreliable injury wise. Then it becomes Phillips and Davies as backups.
 
Soldato
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A nice warm bench seat from next season onwards and a couple of games in the cups then likely a loan somewhere. I’m sure he’s under no illusion that VVD and Gomez are the first choices, Matip should be moved on IMO, too unreliable injury wise. Then it becomes Phillips and Davies as backups.

Whats actually wrong with Gomez? Theres no guarantee VVD comes back the same player he was prior to his injury. There could be hiccups and reoccurrences as well so I imagine they will be played more then people think.

Listening to podcasts about Davies this morning makes me think we have got a bit of a bargain...
 
Caporegime
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Whats actually wrong with Gomez? Theres no guarantee VVD comes back the same player he was prior to his injury. There could be hiccups and reoccurrences as well so I imagine they will be played more then people think.

Listening to podcasts about Davies this morning makes me think we have got a bit of a bargain...
Knee injury he picked up on England duty. Unlikely to be back before the end of the season apparently. VVD might though!
 
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