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Transfers Summer 2022 Transfer Thread.

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One of the best around. He's transformed that Liverpool midfield from functional to a team much more capable of retaining possession & controlling matches. He may not be the man playing the 'final pass' often but he's the one making them tick in midfield or swinging balls out to Trent/Robertson.

I'd kill for a Thiago in our midfield.
Also helps that he's allowed to repeatedly hack down opposition players without so much as a warning from the ref.
 
One of the best around. He's transformed that Liverpool midfield from functional to a team much more capable of retaining possession & controlling matches. He may not be the man playing the 'final pass' often but he's the one making them tick in midfield or swinging balls out to Trent/Robertson.

I'd kill for a Thiago in our midfield.

By incorporating him (and losing Wijnaldum), their TEAM is not as good as it was a couple of years ago.
 
In incoporating him (and losing Wijnaldum) their TEAM is not as good as it was a couple of years ago.

With respect, nonsense.

The reason they've (arguably) dropped off slightly is because Firmino has massively declined and Mane's level has also dropped off a bit. The former was really important, at his best he was the perfect player to allow Salah/Mane to thrive.

And regardless, I contest that they're not as good. They've dropped off maybe 5 points in the league but before they were sacking off domestic cups early. This year they won two domestic cups, got to the CL final and lost the league by a point.
 
Or because .. he has eyes?

Thiago is a magical footballer. He's not a directly creative player, he dictates play. You don't judge him off g/a anymore than you would Luka Modric. Technically he is absolutely sublime, almost entirely pointless pressing him, but he's an incredibly intelligent footballer too. He was one of the best midfielders by far in the Premier League this season, and was one of Bayern's standout players.

Of course he's better than Bentancur. Nobody outside of a Spurs forum would say anything different.
I agree with everything you’re saying but I think you’ve lost sight of the discussion.

I think our midfield is as good as Liverpool’s now.

Klopp needs certain things from his midfield. And he has quality players to do this.

Conte needs certain things from his midfield. And he has quality players to do this.

I don’t think Conte is out here pining for a Thiago type player actually. Maybe one could argue that Conte SHOULD be looking for that kind of player but I don’t see that as necessary in a 2 man cm.
 
I agree with everything you’re saying but I think you’ve lost sight of the discussion.

I think our midfield is as good as Liverpool’s now.

Klopp needs certain things from his midfield. And he has quality players to do this.

Conte needs certain things from his midfield. And he has quality players to do this.

I don’t think Conte is out here pining for a Thiago type player actually. Maybe one could argue that Conte SHOULD be looking for that kind of player but I don’t see that as necessary in a 2 man cm.

Very questionable. Thiago is on a different level to anything we have & Fabinho is one of the top three defensive midfielders in the world. Henderson is very much functional, like Hojbjerg, but the other two are top tier.

Anyway, it's not the Liverpool thread. Bissouma should really help elevate us, I'm hopeful he's the bit of something special we've lacked in midfield beyond just having midfielders who do a job. Another midfielder would be nice but if Conte is happy with our options then move on I guess..
 
You’re saying that because he has a sexy name whereas Bentancur is like the name of some large industrial machine.

I don’t see Thiago as some crazy creative influence when I watch him with my eyes. Miles off an Eriksen and pretty similar to Bentancur. To keep it factual, Thiago has 4 assists and 1 goal in the PL all season. Bentancur has 4 assists in his half a season.

I’ll take Bentancur thanks.

Amazing how some folks seem to have a phobia about recognising facts such as goals/assists, must be a really bad allergy.

And also believe we should have an unlimited squad size - not be held back by the 25 man squad rules which imply 2 players per position plus a 3rd goalkeeper. Not to mention we have just added the 4th CM to replace Winks, and bought Kulusevski in January for a 3 man attack suggesting a 343 might be continuing for a number of matches next season ......
 
With respect, nonsense.

The reason they've (arguably) dropped off slightly is because Firmino has massively declined and Mane's level has also dropped off a bit. The former was really important, at his best he was the perfect player to allow Salah/Mane to thrive.

And regardless, I contest that they're not as good. They've dropped off maybe 5 points in the league but before they were sacking off domestic cups early. This year they won two domestic cups, got to the final and lost the league by a point.

Not so long ago they were steamrolling virtually everyone they played....... Including City on a few occasions. At their peak they would have wrecked Madrid in that CL final.

These days they don't press anywhere near as brutally and allow the oppo more of a footing in the game.

Maybe we're talking preference here; but it's not "nonsense"..... They don't hold the fear factor they once did
 
You’re saying that because he has a sexy name whereas Bentancur is like the name of some large industrial machine.

I don’t see Thiago as some crazy creative influence when I watch him with my eyes. Miles off an Eriksen and pretty similar to Bentancur. To keep it factual, Thiago has 4 assists and 1 goal in the PL all season. Bentancur has 4 assists in his half a season.

I’ll take Bentancur thanks.

Hmm I want to disagree but have no stats that will back me up : ostrich:
 
Not so long ago they were steamrolling virtually everyone they played....... Including City on a few occasions. At their peak they would have wrecked Madrid in that CL final.

These days they don't press anywhere near as brutally and allow the oppo more of a footing in the game.

Maybe we're talking preference here; but it's not "nonsense"..... They don't hold the fear factor they once did

Gonna have to agree to disagree here. Liverpool's press is still brutal. They completely destroyed us with it at Anfield, just couldn't then transition to breaking us down. We couldn't even get out of our own box most of the time.

They also pressed the shit out of Madrid and essentially had them on the backfoot the whole game, Courtois just had a 10/10 game & Madrid scored their only chance.

Maybe they don't but that's not due to Thiago, it's just a gradual evolution of a team which has a couple of ageing players & teams have adapted to their methods.
 
If Conte is happy to stick to 343 and roll with the 4 CMs the question becomes is he also happy to stick with 5 attackers for the 3 positions.

One will be Berg's replacement, lets say Richarlison, and one will be Lucas. Doesn't quite seem like enough for me.

I still think we sign:
- RWB
- LCB
- Versatile attacker x2

It doesn't make sense to me that Conte wouldn't want the option to play 352 at times so I think we sign a pure forward like Richarlison plus someone who can play wide in the front 3 or as an advanced CM - maybe he thought Eriksen couldn't do both roles. Paqueta possibly?
 
If Conte is happy to stick to 343 and roll with the 4 CMs the question becomes is he also happy to stick with 5 attackers for the 3 positions.

One will be Berg's replacement, lets say Richarlison, and one will be Lucas. Doesn't quite seem like enough for me.

I still think we sign:
- RWB
- LCB
- Versatile attacker x2

It doesn't make sense to me that Conte wouldn't want the option to play 352 at times so I think we sign a pure forward like Richarlison plus someone who can play wide in the front 3 or as an advanced CM - maybe he thought Eriksen couldn't do both roles. Paqueta possibly?

The purchases will given an indication of the system.

352 - we need one more CM/AM and one multi role forward. Paqueta and Richarlison maybe.

343 - we need two forwards, one a CF and the other perhaps a wide player. Raphinha and Richarlison maybe.
 
Gonna have to agree to disagree here. Liverpool's press is still brutal. They completely destroyed us with it at Anfield, just couldn't then transition to breaking us down. We couldn't even get out of our own box most of the time.

They also pressed the shit out of Madrid and essentially had them on the backfoot the whole game, Courtois just had a 10/10 game & Madrid scored their only chance.

Maybe they don't but that's not due to Thiago, it's just a gradual evolution of a team which has a couple of ageing players & teams have adapted to their methods.
There's no denying Liverpool seem much more beatable these days. They scraped plenty of 1 nil margin victories last season and were plenty frustrated by low blocks. Their cross spamming technique has generally been found out but it's just a numbers game and eventually one sneaks through.

Obviously there are a lot of factors:
- Aging team
- Firmino and Salah decline (yes I know he shared golden boot but he's not in the Balon D'or convo anymore)

They did great last season but I think that was an overachievement and I don't seem them repeating that next season, especially with Mane gone.
 
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