@
honeykid
VVD has a lost a bit of pace. It was evident against Brentford too. A man who in the past casually caught up the likes of A Traore, Mbappe, Haaland, etc was struggling to keep up with Wissa (no disrespect to him).
That shouldn't be an issue. Hyypia was slow as a turtle & yet amazing. VVD still has good positional sense, but the biggest change in his game post injury is not tackling. He simply refuses to tackle. In the past he would bully people off the ball, even in the box. Now he tries to maneouver them away from the goal.
However, the reason we are struggling is the midfield - or the lack of it. Defence receives no protection from them.
It was the right time to bin Wijnaldum, but we should've moved on Milner, Henderson too. Fabinho's fall in form is worrying as well. Keita is a flop.
Curtis hasn't become the player we hoped he would. Elliott is good & shown really good potential but needs time, which leaves poor Thiago, who is still World class, to do a job of three.
We needed two new midifleders since the last three windows, but our transfer strategy of only signing our primary targets has ensured we are left hanging with none. Tchouameni & Bellingham were our primary targets. One chose Madrid at the last minute, & the other will do the same next summer.
It's baffling that club's unofficial mouthpieces like Melissa Reddy stated in the last summer that we also heavily scouted Enzo, Nunes & Caicedo, but decided to wait for Bellingham.
This strategy ensures you either get amazing players or no players, until you're forced to make emergency temporary loan moves like Arthur, or Kabak, etc.
Also, you are right, Klopp is no Fergie or Paisley, both of whom knew when to move players on. He is a bit too loyal.
I will be happy with a top four finish, but I won't be surprised if we miss out on it. You lot look settled under ETH & Newcastle seem to be playing with the same confidence as Arsenal (now) or Leicester (past).