Liverpool 2016/17 - Performance and chat thread.

Surely if United win the Europa League to add to the EFL cup and Liverpool finish in the top four, both fans are entitled to be satisfied with the progress made?

I think we'll both be looking forward to next season if that happens.
 
TheBiggest said:
Grow up lads.

Neither of our clubs can class this is a memorable season. Measuring dicks about it is tantamount to measuring micro penises. Neither United fans or Liverpool fans should be taking their dicks out this season.

We are Man United and Liverpool, the two most illustrious clubs in England, yet we are both have our finger tips clinging on to top four finish in mid-April (although United have, in fairness, done really well in cups). No set of fans have anything to shout about, certainly not league-wise anyway.

You both look a little bit pathetic in this forum.
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TheBiggest said:
We are practically neck and neck with Liverpool and City in the league, yet we have won the League Cup and are in the very deep stages of the Europa...yet our season is deemed a failure in comparison to theirs?

Liverpool are having a great campaign and we are not? Please! Liverpool had the exact same number of points we have right now with the same games played and were dumped out of each cup early doors. They've had a full week to prepare for every game while we've been parading around Europe...Anyone thinking they have been better than us is deluded.
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:lol:
 
Who's had the the better season until now is debatable. Style of play, luck/bad luck, injuries, money spent, etc., doesn't count in my eyes.. Results is what matters. A trophy is a trophy, and you already have one in the bag, and quite possibly another one. We are in a better position in the league though.

I find it hard to say, who has had the better season. It depends on, how the rest of the season unfolds. If you end up winnning the Europa League including CL qualification, I would say, that you definitely have had the better season, even though you were to end 5th or 6th in the league, and we were 3rd or 4th.

But if you fail to qualify for CL, and end up with a League Cup including EL qualification, and we get to qualify for CL, then we definitely have had the better season imo, even though you won a trophy..
 
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LFC-Fans said:
Clubs set out the season with different objectives. While one team may try to avoid relegation, another may want to win the league. But if both of those objectives are met by the respective clubs then it's a success for both.

For this reason I personally believe we could have a better season, because of our original aims. We set out for a CL spot and are still competing for that.

You set out to win/compete for the league. You did. United fans couldn't hold in their excitement when the signings of Pogba and Zlatan were announced in their triple figure million Black Friday esque shopping spree. And you got Mourinho too, the quick fix, instant success, always wins the league in the second season manager.

On top of that you had a good start to the season so there was double optimism. Halfway through however things started to falter, and you had to re-evaluate your aims, convincing yourselves that after the debacle of LvG a CL spot always should have been the objective and it was silly to think you could win the league straight away.

Yes you've won a League Cup and may even add a Europa league to that too. But at the end of the day had I told you (if this happens by the way) you'll end up 6th with a League cup and Europa League you'd of been a bit surprised considering the money spent and manager brought in. Although maybe you could of been convinced to accept it because of the Europa league. I don't know you tell me

However, if you told me we'd be knocked out of all the cups but end up 4th. I'd be happy. (Cups would have been a bonus but hey, 4th was always the aim).
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Clubs set out the season with different objectives yes, and as you've pointed out, those objectives can change. With no European football, Liverpool's objective was top 4, and in all likelihood, a cup. Then you found yourselves 2nd and looking like the only team that could catch Chelsea, and the objective, at least from most fans, seemed to have shifted to a title challenge. Within a month you found yourselves out of the title race, and out of both cups, and suddenly it was back to "if you'd told me at the start of the season..." giving yourselves a big pat on the back because you'd managed to finally a win a league game in 2017 a month and a half into the year.

United fans were disappointed when the expected league challenge evaporated at the start of the season, but the fact we're now 22 games unbeaten in the league, have won a cup already, have a chance of winning another, are still in contention for the top 4 after beating the champions' elect very comfortably, and are, in the minds of many, playing much better than we were under our previous two managers, is something to cheer about.

This "if I'd told you at the start of the season..." bargaining is just pure nonsense, that unsurprisingly is coming largely from Liverpool fans as they try to convince themselves that yet another trophyless season is a "success" because they may finish above United in the league. Besides, if we're going to to play that game, I think most United fans would have accepted two cups and Champions League qualification as a pretty successful season, with the aim remaining to challenge for/win the league next season.

I also don't get this satisfaction with winning nothing and finishing 4th. You've won one trophy in the last 10 years, and as I pointed out to redman, have only looked like qualifying for the Champions League in the last 8 when you've been able to play without European distraction. People have been critical of Wenger for years because he's been happy with winning nothing and finishing 4th, with each and every Champions League campaign being just as lacklustre and disappointing as the one before, and now the fans want his head. You qualified for the Champions League for the 2014/15 season, then gave up trying in the Champions League to...err...try and qualify for the Champions League. What's the point? Where's the endgame here?

There's no point being in the competition if you can't give it your full effort because you need to focus elsewhere just to qualify for it again. Top players don't care about being in the Champions League, they care about money and winning it. If you've got a squad that's used to fighting on multiple fronts, then you've got a squad that with the right improvements, could challenge for both the league title and the Champions League. United currently have such a squad, whereas Liverpool seem to be still stuck in this "if you'd told me at the start of the season..." mode that makes excuses for failure.

Last season it was "if you'd told me at the start of the season that we'd have made two cup finals..." as an excuse for finishing 8th. This season it's "if you'd told me we'd be in with a shout of 4th with a 5 games left..." as an excuse for bombing out of the title race and both cups.
 
Liverpool aren't playing very well at the moment but are managing to get away with wins, and that's what will see them over the line in regards to the Top 4 this season. Next season though I think they will struggle big time, as they have a good first 11 but a very mediocre squad. With 3 games a week with the Champions League and Klopps pressing tactics, they will be in big trouble unless they add 4-5 good players in Summer which I'm not sure they will be able to do. Add the fact Coutinho could also leave also.
 
JoaquinJoaquin said:
Liverpool aren't playing very well at the moment but are managing to get away with wins, and that's what will see them over the line in regards to the Top 4 this season. Next season though I think they will struggle big time, as they have a good first 11 but a very mediocre squad. With 3 games a week with the Champions League and Klopps pressing tactics, they will be in big trouble unless they add 4-5 good players in Summer which I'm not sure they will be able to do. Add the fact Coutinho could also leave also.
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I think Klopp will build a bigger squad. The current squad size is related to not having Europe.

Klopp's challenge isn't to grow the squad, it's to buy equivalent quality to what already exists. So if Lallana or Mané get injured then can they be replaced well.
 
Interesting that we're unbeaten with Lovren and Matip starting as the two CB's.

We could have done with keeping Sakho or buying someone better than Klavan as cover.
 
PickledRed said:
I think Klopp will build a bigger squad. The current squad size is related to not having Europe.

Klopp's challenge isn't to grow the squad, it's to buy equivalent quality to what already exists. So if Lallana or Mané get injured then can they be replaced well.
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I think you should look to improve your starting XI. Get in a proper left-back and decent centre-back, and then you've got decent cover/rotation options in Milner and Lovren. As good as Lallana has been in the middle for you, I think you could do with something better there too. And a forward. Depends on budget for you guys really, but I'm not sure you're going to gain much from another summer of buying squad players.
 
Alex99 said:
I think you should look to improve your starting XI. Get in a proper left-back and decent centre-back, and then you've got decent cover/rotation options in Milner and Lovren. As good as Lallana has been in the middle for you, I think you could do with something better there too. And a forward. Depends on budget for you guys really, but I'm not sure you're going to gain much from another summer of buying squad players.
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I agree that it's about buying players ready to play regularly not just filler. I've no issue with Lallana - think he's been very good all season until his injury. Certainly a Klopp favourite.

The actual notion of a First XI is possibly not helpful when playing CL and PL. Having 16/17 very strong players is needed with some more peripheral players.
 
PickledRed said:
I think Klopp will build a bigger squad. The current squad size is related to not having Europe.

Klopp's challenge isn't to grow the squad, it's to buy equivalent quality to what already exists. So if Lallana or Mané get injured then can they be replaced well.
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Do you think he will be given the money to get 4-5 quality players though? Certainly won't be cheap. Plus they will have the issue of who to get as the obvious big names probably won't go to Liverpool (no offence with that).
 
TheReligion said:
I think it was ridiculous as you lot seemed to try and put your treble on par with ours.

That's what made it daft.
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You can try & dress it up how you want, but the fact still remains you tried to ridicule & play down a side's achievements of winning 3 major trophies in one season.

That's not just daft, it's embarrassing beyond belief.
 
JoaquinJoaquin said:
Do you think he will be given the money to get 4-5 quality players though? Certainly won't be cheap. Plus they will have the issue of who to get as the obvious big names probably won't go to Liverpool (no offence with that).
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If you choose to believe the Liverpool ITK journo's, Klopp's going to be given a lot of money to spend in the summer.

I don't know how much exactly but it's said to be more money than we've had to spend in any other window.

The trick is not to waste it on nothing players like we've done so often in the past.
 
redman5 said:
You can try & dress it up how you want, but the fact still remains you tried to ridicule & play down a side's achievements of winning 3 major trophies in one season.

That's not just daft, it's embarrassing beyond belief.
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Anyone would play it down. Liverpool supporters at the time were (cleverly) trying to suggest it was only a notch or two below United's treble in 1999.

In reality without winning your own league, any treble isn't even worth comparison.
 
redman5 said:
You can try & dress it up how you want, but the fact still remains you tried to ridicule & play down a side's achievements of winning 3 major trophies in one season.

That's not just daft, it's embarrassing beyond belief.
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It was obviously a good achievement, and one you can look back on fondly.

However, it was being talked about by a large number of your support, and by certain members of the media, as if it was on a par to United's treble, thus the backlash against that sort of talk was therefore a bit too dismissive of the achievement.

I think both the initial reaction from Liverpool fans and subsequent response from United fans were down to the fact that it happened so soon after United had won an objectively superior treble. Liverpool fans were eager to prove that they were still a force in football, a theme common throughout every season since you last won the league, and United fans were still a bit tetchy about playing catch up on your all-time trophy haul. I also think that the response from United fans was exaggerated by the fact that we'd won another league title and you lot were trying to steal our thunder.

The fact that there are members of your own support in this very thread mocking the only bit of silverware you've won in the last ten years is testament to how daft football fans can be about their rival's achievements.

Should United win the Europa League this season, we'll have had a good season. However, I'd happily swap anything we win this season and the FA Cup from last season to be sat top of the league come the end of May.
 
Minimalist said:
Anyone would play it down. Liverpool supporters at the time were (cleverly) trying to suggest it was only a notch or two below United's treble in 1999.

In reality without winning your own league, any treble isn't even worth comparison.
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This is in response to one or two people on here getting a bit uppity because someone made a tongue-in-cheek joke about United fans suddenly seeing the league Cup win as a worthwhile trophy. I'm certainly not trying to play down that win, because I'm old-school in the sense that I still believe that a trophy win equals a good season. However, the hypocrisy is laughable when you consider a United fan actually went to the trouble of making a banner trying to mock us winning 3 trophies in one season. It has nothing to do with the fact that United won 'The Treble' as opposed to our cup treble. & trying to justify the mockery by saying Liverpool fans overplayed that achievement, well that's nearly as bad as the banner.
 
Winning three trophies in a single season is impressive if only due to the sheer number of games you've got to not lose over a long period of time. It was also in the days when the UEFA Cup was very strong. Liverpool beat Roma and Barcelona to win that thing.

Is it better or equal to United in 1999? Of course not, but it's still very impressive.
 
redman5 said:
This is in response to one or two people on here getting a bit uppity because someone made a tongue-in-cheek joke about United fans suddenly seeing the league Cup win as a worthwhile trophy. I'm certainly not trying to play down that win, because I'm old-school in the sense that I still believe that a trophy win equals a good season. However, the hypocrisy is laughable when you consider a United fan actually went to the trouble of making a banner trying to mock us winning 3 trophies in one season. It has nothing to do with the fact that United won 'The Treble' as opposed to our cup treble. & trying to justify the mockery by saying Liverpool fans overplayed that achievement, well that's nearly as bad as the banner.
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Liverpool fan/s went to the trouble of making banners about Ron Atkinson having AIDS and other unsavoury things.

Does that mean that's the opinion of the whole fanbase?

Not really sure where you're going with this.
 
TheReligion said:
Liverpool fan/s went to the trouble of making banners about Ron Atkinson having AIDS and other unsavoury things.

Does that mean that's the opinion of the whole fanbase?

Not really sure where you're going with this.
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So how do you come to the conclusion then that the Liverpool fanbase as a whole tried to suggest our cup treble was as good, or nearly as good, as your treble 2 years earlier ? Let me remind you that you made an attempt to justify the banner/plastic treble jibe a few posts back, so I think you know perfectly well where I'm going with this.
 
redman5 said:
So how do you come to the conclusion then that the Liverpool fanbase as a whole tried to suggest our cup treble was as good, or nearly as good, as your treble 2 years earlier ? Let me remind you that you made an attempt to justify the banner/plastic treble jibe a few posts back, so I think you know perfectly well where I'm going with this.
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See @Alex99 post
 
TheReligion said:
See @Alex99 post
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I've read it & it doesn't give me anything new, just the same old thing about Liverpool supporters in general supposedly making a like-for-like comparison with United's treble in 1999. I'm certainly not saying that there weren't a few nutters on football forums trying to put it on par, but from my own experiences Manchester United's achievement was never even discussed. I, along with most other Liverpool supporters, were just delighted that after going 6 years without a trophy we were lucky enough to win 3 in one season. I do agree with something Alex said though, & that's the fact that having won the league yet again, we somehow stole a lot of United's thunder that season. So I think that's probably a lot closer to the truth than trying to say other factors were the reason why you guys tried to play down our achievements. I feel sick to bone seeing United even win the Charity Shield, so I know how much it would have hurt United fans seeing us win 3 cups in one season. There's no shame in admitting that. & as far as that banner is concerned, I pissed myself laughing when I saw it because it only emphasised how much pain the bloke must have been feeling.
 
redman5 said:
I've read it & it doesn't give me anything new, just the same old thing about Liverpool supporters in general supposedly making a like-for-like comparison with United's treble in 1999. I'm certainly not saying that there weren't a few nutters on football forums trying to put it on par, but from my own experiences Manchester United's achievement was never even discussed. I, along with most other Liverpool supporters, were just delighted that after going 6 years without a trophy we were lucky enough to win 3 in one season. I do agree with something Alex said though, & that's the fact that having won the league yet again, we somehow stole a lot of United's thunder that season. So I think that's probably a lot closer to the truth than trying to say other factors were the reason why you guys tried to play down our achievements. I feel sick to bone seeing United even win the Charity Shield, so I know how much it would have hurt United fans seeing us win 3 cups in one season. There's no shame in admitting that. & as far as that banner is concerned, I pissed myself laughing when I saw it because it only emphasised how much pain the bloke must have been feeling.
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Well done. I'll pat you on the back for your treble. Good achievement.

Now can you imagine how we felt when we won THE treble? :drool:
 
TheBiggest said:
Grow up lads.

Neither of our clubs can class this is a memorable season. Measuring dicks about it is tantamount to measuring micro penises. Neither United fans or Liverpool fans should be taking their dicks out this season.
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TheBiggest said:
That's no comparison. That's me having a genuine football opinion, not sniping at some other fan, measuring dicks.
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Between this, and your username, I'm spotting a theme...
 
redman5 said:
I've read it & it doesn't give me anything new, just the same old thing about Liverpool supporters in general supposedly making a like-for-like comparison with United's treble in 1999. I'm certainly not saying that there weren't a few nutters on football forums trying to put it on par, but from my own experiences Manchester United's achievement was never even discussed. I, along with most other Liverpool supporters, were just delighted that after going 6 years without a trophy we were lucky enough to win 3 in one season. I do agree with something Alex said though, & that's the fact that having won the league yet again, we somehow stole a lot of United's thunder that season. So I think that's probably a lot closer to the truth than trying to say other factors were the reason why you guys tried to play down our achievements. I feel sick to bone seeing United even win the Charity Shield, so I know how much it would have hurt United fans seeing us win 3 cups in one season. There's no shame in admitting that. & as far as that banner is concerned, I pissed myself laughing when I saw it because it only emphasised how much pain the bloke must have been feeling.
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It wasn't all of your fanbase, and may not have been the majority, but there was certainly a lot of noise about you lot winning the treble, as if it was the same as when we'd won the treble. Carragher especially likes sounding off about it every few years.

That said, it was embarrassing calling it a "Mickey Mouse" treble, just like it was embarrassing when a decent number of our fanbase called the League Cup a "Mickey Mouse" cup.

Our clubs have such a deep rivalry that even when we were surpassing your league title haul and you were wallowing in the mid-table, we were still taking joy from your lack of success. Likewise, when you found yourselves on the cusp of a league win the other year, you were basking in us being 7th. It's just how it goes, and both sets of fans are guilty of trying to diminish the achievements of the other club. Some just happen to go a little too far with it.

As I said, for a long time, despite our great amount of success and your relative lack of it, the number of leagues and cups won was still a bit of a sore-point for a lot of United fans, and it wasn't really until we hit 18/19 league titles that we stopped giving a shit about your lot taunting us over it.
 
Alex99 said:
It wasn't all of your fanbase, and may not have been the majority, but there was certainly a lot of noise about you lot winning the treble, as if it was the same as when we'd won the treble. Carragher especially likes sounding off about it every few years.

That said, it was embarrassing calling it a "Mickey Mouse" treble, just like it was embarrassing when a decent number of our fanbase called the League Cup a "Mickey Mouse" cup.

Our clubs have such a deep rivalry that even when we were surpassing your league title haul and you were wallowing in the mid-table, we were still taking joy from your lack of success. Likewise, when you found yourselves on the cusp of a league win the other year, you were basking in us being 7th. It's just how it goes, and both sets of fans are guilty of trying to diminish the achievements of the other club. Some just happen to go a little too far with it.

As I said, for a long time, despite our great amount of success and your relative lack of it, the number of leagues and cups won was still a bit of a sore-point for a lot of United fans, and it wasn't really until we hit 18/19 league titles that we stopped giving a shit about your lot taunting us over it.
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TBH we called the League Cup the Mickey Mouse Cup back in the 70's when Everton got to the final. Funnily enough it became a worthwhile trophy to win when we won it for the first time.

Football supporters eh.
 
redman5 said:
TBH we called the League Cup the Mickey Mouse Cup back in the 70's when Everton got to the final. Funnily enough it became a worthwhile trophy to win when we won it for the first time.

Football supporters eh.
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It's just a matter of perspective really. When you've got bigger fish to fry it looks insignificant, but when nothing's been added to the trophy cabinet for a while, it starts to look a bit more appealing.
 
TheBiggest said:
Grow up lads.

Neither of our clubs can class this is a memorable season. Measuring dicks about it is tantamount to measuring micro penises. Neither United fans or Liverpool fans should be taking their dicks out this season.

We are Man United and Liverpool, the two most illustrious clubs in England, yet we are both have our finger tips clinging on to top four finish in mid-April (although United have, in fairness, done really well in cups). No set of fans have anything to shout about, certainly not league-wise anyway.

You both look a little bit pathetic in this forum.
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Says man who's obsessed with cocks.

Not really sure how their season even compares to ours if we win Europa League. Should we miss top 4, win EL, they get CL through top 4 then we've both achieved our goal which is CL but we've got two cups on top of that.
 
Klopper76 said:
If you choose to believe the Liverpool ITK journo's, Klopp's going to be given a lot of money to spend in the summer.

I don't know how much exactly but it's said to be more money than we've had to spend in any other window.

The trick is not to waste it on nothing players like we've done so often in the past.
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What areas do you think need strengthening in particular? Or do you think it's a few extra faces I.e. quantity given potential more fixtures next year? Defence was an issue earlier in the season but as you said in your other post, Matip and Lovren look pretty solid and if Sakho comes back in the same form, there's a bit of depth there.

I watched the bulk of the game yesterday and considering Mane, Henderson and Lallana were all missing i thought you played well and again, shows a bit of depth.

The big thing that looks to be missing is a quality striker, but not easy to find.
 
Klopper76 said:
If you choose to believe the Liverpool ITK journo's, Klopp's going to be given a lot of money to spend in the summer.

I don't know how much exactly but it's said to be more money than we've had to spend in any other window.

The trick is not to waste it on nothing players like we've done so often in the past.
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You guys had a lot of money in the season you sold Suarez along with Champions League. You still struggled to really get anyone of worth that season.
 
M Bison said:
What areas do you think need strengthening in particular? Or do you think it's a few extra faces I.e. quantity given potential more fixtures next year? Defence was an issue earlier in the season but as you said in your other post, Matip and Lovren look pretty solid and if Sakho comes back in the same form, there's a bit of depth there.

I watched the bulk of the game yesterday and considering Mane, Henderson and Lallana were all missing i thought you played well and again, shows a bit of depth.

The big thing that looks to be missing is a quality striker, but not easy to find.
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I'd say we need a CB, a LB, a midfielder, a winger and a striker. I'm not sure on the goal keeper so that's a maybe. We need quality more than quantity though. Players coming in should be expected to improve the starting XI.

We looked more solid than anything else yesterday which was encouraging.
Skills said:
You guys had a lot of money in the season you sold Suarez along with Champions League. You still struggled to really get anyone of worth that season.
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I'm hoping we'll learn from those mistakes, although we did try to sign Sanchez that summer.
 
I was thinking that more playing time for Moreno would be good. Unlucky not to score yesterday I believe.
 
Klopper76 said:
I'd say we need a CB, a LB, a midfielder, a winger and a striker. I'm not sure on the goal keeper so that's a maybe. We need quality more than quantity though. Players coming in should be expected to improve the starting XI.

We looked more solid than anything else yesterday which was encouraging.

I'm hoping we'll learn from those mistakes, although we did try to sign Sanchez that summer.
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I think that this could be your problem. You might have the transfer budget to afford some high-calibre players, but you're unlikely to attract the absolute best because, from what I can gather, your wage structure doesn't allow for it.

Additionally, you're simply not that big of a draw anymore. The name doesn't mean quite as much as it used to, and you've fallen onto that second rung with Spurs, and I think now, Arsenal. I'm a bit worried that we might find ourselves there soon if we don't sort ourselves out in regards to regular CL football and title challenges. I'm optimistic we'll manage that though.

Back on to you guys, I do think you need a star. Coutinho, Firminho and even Lallana have been good, but they aren't as feared by opposition teams as you need your key attacking players to be. I don't see any of them being a feared gamechanger in the way that Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan and Pogba are for us. Since Suarez, Gerrard, and even Sterling, have gone, you've not really got that fear factor you need at the top. I thought Sturridge might have been that man, but he's been really disappointing in the last few seasons.

Chelsea have Costa, Hazard, Pedro and Kante, City have Aguero, De Bruyne, Silva and Toure, Arsenal Sanchez and Ozil, Spurs Kane and Eriksen, and even Everton have Lukaku. I don't look at your team and think "we need to make sure he's kept quiet," and I think you need to bring someone in that makes teams scared. Mane could be that guy with another good season, but I'd still say you'd need another.
 
There might be a decent wedge of cash available if Coutinho goes to Barca. Fenway usually get a good price for the departures.
 
Agreed with everything you say @Alex99. We can't afford that 'one' player like you say. Nor are we the draw anymore. But we could be going into the summer with CL football to offer the next tier down or no CL. I'd rather improve our chances and offer CL.

Klopp needs bodies he can trust in his 'system' rather than an Ozil, Pogba or Zlatan which would hinder rather than help. We are the highest goalscoring team in the league. Not Spurs with Kane, Alli and Son. Not Utd with Zlatan, Mikhi, Martial, Rashford and Pogba. Not Arsenal with Ozil and Sanchez. And not Everton with Lukaku. Costa, Hazard, blah, etc.

What matters for us is to get another couple of Lallanas, Firminos and specially defenders in that won't turn to jelly. Star players (mercenaries) is not high on our agenda. Though I wouldn't kick them out of bed obviously.
 
Dumbstar said:
Agreed with everything you say @Alex99. We can't afford that 'one' player like you say. Nor are we the draw anymore. But we could be going into the summer with CL football to offer the next tier down or no CL. I'd rather improve our chances and offer CL.

Klopp needs bodies he can trust in his 'system' rather than an Ozil, Pogba or Zlatan which would hinder rather than help. We are the highest goalscoring team in the league. Not Spurs with Kane, Alli and Son. Not Utd with Zlatan, Mikhi, Martial, Rashford and Pogba. Not Arsenal with Ozil and Sanchez. And not Everton with Lukaku. Costa, Hazard, blah, etc.

What matters for us is to get another couple of Lallanas, Firminos and specially defenders in that won't turn to jelly. Star players (mercenaries) is not high on our agenda. Though I wouldn't kick them out of bed obviously.
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I'm not saying you necessarily need to buy one, although obviously that's going to be the quickest fix, but you need a couple of players that make your opposition really think about how they're going to set up. Whether they're brought in already established or step up is neither here nor there. I personally don't think any of Lallana, Firmino and Coutinho are going to be that sort of player. They're good, and are working very well in Klopp's system (at least at the top end of the pitch), but none strike me as capable of being a real gamechanger. Mane has that look about him at the moment, and another good season would cement that, I feel.

You're top scorers by one goal to a team that's got a game in hand on you and has conceded eighteen fewer goals. You've been one of the better attacking teams, certainly, but it's no good if you can't keep them out at the other end. As you say, defenders should be the real priority for you.
 
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