Agree, I've been a bit dismissive of Liverpool's midfield but Thiago, at his best, takes it up several levels.

I on the other hand think he's going to flop massively in England. He's 29 and has never played a season without a significant portion of injuries in his career. I really hope they give him a massive longterm contract that comes back to bite them in the ass.

Klaus wrote:

I on the other hand think he's going to flop massively in England. He's 29 and has never played a season without a significant portion of injuries in his career. I really hope they give him a massive longterm contract that comes back to bite them in the ass.

I'm hoping for the same. He's a cultured player, but the injuries have really held hm back from being elite. 
I think Klopp is pushing for the back-to-back with this group while he can. This squad will need an aggressive rebuild after the 2021-22 season. Knowing how investment focused Fenway are, they'll probably start trying to sell pieces next season. 

Claudius wrote:

I'm hoping for the same. He's a cultured player, but the injuries have really held hm back from being elite.

Plus it took someone like Fabinho, who's a superior athlete, over a year to adapt to Liverpool's midfield and Premier League, and he was 24 at the time. Keita looks like he still hasn't figured it out. They need Thiago to hit the ground running in a much more physically demanding environment if they're going to get anything out if him, and I don't think he can do it. There's a significant risk he'll end up like Schweinsteiger did at United.

Klaus wrote:

Claudius wrote:

I'm hoping for the same. He's a cultured player, but the injuries have really held hm back from being elite.

Plus it took someone like Fabinho, who's a superior athlete, over a year to adapt to Liverpool's midfield and Premier League, and he was 24 at the time. Keita looks like he still hasn't figured it out. They need Thiago to hit the ground running in a much more physically demanding environment if they're going to get anything out if him, and I don't think he can do it. There's a significant risk he'll end up like Schweinsteiger did at United.

I used to want him on the team back in the back in the day. But he's 29 now. 
He's barely playing. He usually favours the left side of midfield. Depending on how Pool deploy their brutes, could see Wijnaldum being sacrificed. Could be a decent link-up with Mané and Robertson if it clicks but I hope it destroys their chemistry. Whatever they're doing works exceptionally well

Lord I hope they're dumb enough to sacrifice Wijnaldum. He's the glue keeping that team together.

LOL. For me the glue is Fabinho. That man is immense. Weren't we linked with him once?

Claudius wrote:

LOL. For me the glue is Fabinho. That man is immense. Weren't we linked with him once?

Yup - either about the time we signed Xhaka or not long after when he was struggling & AW was changing his ideas on where to play him or what role he was suited to.

Xhaka was £30-35m. Fabinho was £39m. Like they’re playing 2 different sports. He also took almost a season to adapt to Liverpool, but has been a gem since. Klopp is patient with his plan.

It goes against Liverpool’s strategy to sign an ageing player on the down. They would be better off signing someone like Aouar, who would cost about the same but with much more upside.

I think they have an 'all in' mentality at the moment to capitalise on the peak years of VVD, mane, and salah. Can't say its a bad approach when you're already on winning ticket. It may cost them when it comes time to rebuild, but they probably would've filled their boots with trophies by that point

Gazza M wrote:

I think they have an 'all in' mentality at the moment to capitalise on the peak years of VVD, mane, and salah. Can't say its a bad approach when you're already on  winning ticket. It may cost them when it comes time to rebuild, but they probably would've filled their boots with trophies by that point

They have to absolutely go for it again next year with this lot. They're highly analytical so I imagine they know what extra boost Thiago will give and who will shift between Henderson and Wijnaldum. In terms of shiftable assets, they could still move Ox and Keita for lots of money. Some idiot English club will buy Ox. And Minamino is still still to step up. 

35m for Thiago will be such a good deal, injuries or not.

If Sancho moves to United, they will be miles away from us. Bruno and Sancho are massive game changers

On the other hand they looked just as bad if not worse before they signed Bruno, so if it just take one player to transfer the side then I don't think you can say they'll be miles ahead.

One thing that speaks to our advantage is that we have a lot of young players who are going to improve rapidly over the next 12 months. You expect all of Saka, Eddie, Willock, Martinelli and Nelson to kick into another gear. We have a massive capacity for internal improvement. If we can just find that extra bit of quality meanwhile...

Plus Tierney will be adjusted to the league. Saliba has big potential too.

Our players will also be more familiar with the system and style Arteta wants to use.

Klaus wrote:

One thing that speaks to our advantage is that we have a lot of young players who are going to improve rapidly over the next 12 months. You expect all of Saka, Eddie, Willock, Martinelli and Nelson to kick into another gear. We have a massive capacity for internal improvement. If we can just find that extra bit of quality meanwhile...

Flip side of that is guys getting older like Auba, Luiz, etc maybe more depending on who's here.

Yeah for sure. We don't have years to waste on this. We need to sign two high-quality players who are ready next season, and they need to be the right ones. If we get them I think we have a shot at real, heavy trophies within 18 months. It should be doable. Things change very quickly in football. It's not like it took Leicester or Liverpool decades to build their title-winning teams.