My opinion still stands: Letting Lovren go and not replacing him was a big risk and a bad decision imo.
May have been, but wasn't it he didn't play like 7/8 games in row for us due to injuy. Not replacing him was crazy.
I think we need to buy a CB now due to Matip’s most recent injury but if we had replaced Lovren would we be any better off point wise than we are now? I guess that’s impossible to answer but Fab has stepped in and been better than most CB’s in the league. If we had of brought in some type of replacement who knows if that player gets up to speed as soon as having Fab slot in back there. So in conclusion who knows if it was a bad decision or not. Klopp’s thinking no doubt was we have VVD (who never gets injured), Gomez, Matip, Fab (midfield heavily stocked so his absence would not be heavily felt) and 2 or 3 youngsters to step in if needed.
I thought that we needed to bring in another defender, before we got rid of Lovern, as a long term partner for VD. I now think we should be looking at bringing in two, qualify CDs, one as VDs long term partner and a second signing, as back up. We can't rely on Matip, for to regular injuries and Gomez needs to remain as understudy, for another year or two. Lovern was never going to be part of the solution btw, too many brain darts, over the years.
We can't compare it to potential points. We have done well to be where we are (top of the league). But the season is long and everyone expects us to go far in each competition, thus, which Klopp is aware of, the fixture frequency problem. Even if Van Dijk remained fit, a game every 3 days or so was going to need changes. All 4 CB's got plenty game time last season. Matip and Gomez are injury prone, we knew that before the season started. So it was likely we would need to bring back Fab, or bring in Phillips/Williams beside Van Dijk. And then they need a rest, even Van Dijk would have needed a rest. So what we would likely be facing is what we are facing now - a centre midfielder and a reserve centre back as the first choice pairing. It's not 'if needed', they are the long term partnership now. A player like Lovren would be much needed now.
Its not hindsight as I was saying it when people were crying out for him to be moved on, but it was obvious that Lovren leaving would leave us weaker at CB. We were never going to sign a better CB than him in the summer,so it was either an inferior signing or somebody stepping up. I'm not saying we were wrong to let him go,but that was always going to be the case. Whether the terrible luck we've had with injuries in that position sees us buy a CB in January,is anybodys guess. I won't be surprised either way.
Lovren wanted to leave and was let go, that's fine. But when letting a player go you have to assess what the remaining options are, which is what we did do 18 months ago and got Lovren to stay. We saw Koumetio in pre season, and Phillips alternating with Rhys Williams since. All 3 of them have played well, but I haven't seen enough from any of them to make me confident to have them partnering Fabinho in most of our games. I agree with you, I won't be surprise if we don't sign anyone.
I won't be surprised either way too. I think we really need to sign a centre back though as I believe given the injuries to Van Dijk and Gomez mean that signing another CB makes us more likely to win the league. Its a pity Matip is so injury prone, he's a fine player. I don't know who we might sign but he'd want to be a hell of a player if he is to replace Gomez as a starter long term.
I suppose there is another way of looking at this issue, about being short on CBs... We took a calculated risk, by not bringing in another CB, when we cut Lovern loose, with a clear financial benefit, as the reward... so far, we've kind of gotten away with it, when you look at our league position. Granted, we've had mixed luck, in terms of our injuries, but also the league results for some of our opponents, which have helped us look good, in terms of being in top place. Ultimately, was it worth the gable? I'm sure that the money men would say yes, and it's difficult to argue against them, while we're top of the table. ... However, is it now worth taking the same gamble again, for the remainder of the season?
You can multiply the Lovren money by two now and slap that premium on top of any centre back we may be targeting in January as every club and their dogs know they can have our pants down. For this reason I can't see us getting involved in January providing Matip will be back by the end of it. Not sure Klopp is in the business of bringing a lad in and putting him straight in at CB either he would see that as a massive gamble imo. (VIRGIL ASIDE) I dont think we will be signing anyone in January. I thought not signing a cb in the summer was a mistake at the time I certainly didn't foresee this crisis but the failure to buy one while I appreciate the reasoning and logic behind not doing so is the single biggest threat to us not retaining the title. Sure if Fab picks up a knock we can always give Steven Caulker a bell...
I'm in agreement with you in general but equally the money men must be aware an injury to Fabinho risks even a top 4 finish. As good as we are we can't compete with Phillips and Williams at CB.
It would be easier to gauge if we knew how close Gomez was to returning. We're a bit fucking weird when it comes to injury information. There's no way Thiago is out for that long with a bang on the knee if he didn't rupture,tear or fracture something,but we're constantly told it was just a bad bang. It doesn't make sense.
The other thing to consider is if we are intent on buying the deal is probably done and agreed already.
When I see the constant pics of vvd doing hes rehab while at the same time not hearing anything about gomez makes me worried , I had heard rumors when it happened that we may not see him until the start of next season at the earliest, the less I see or hear, the more I'm believing that. We need another CB in January to not get one is plain and simply negligence on the clubs part, any plans whether it be a young lad or a more established one need to brought forward and no money speared, even the dumbest money can see the long term implications if we don't, if at the end if we don't get one, they try to spin it that klopp didn't want one id really start to question both hes and fsg sanity.
The Wijnaldum scenario puts another spanner in the works regarding signing a CB. If we need to replace Gini then do we spend money on a CB and leave us without the option of buying a midfielder. If we do, for me we must buy a first choice to replace Gomez and Matip, putting them into backup position that their injury record seems to warrant. How many of them are out there and available? I don't see us making any rash decisions and if we are getting in a CB then I expect the deal is already done and we will know next week. If not then it will be looked at for the summer along with weighing up the needs in the rest of the squad.
While that makes a lot of sense, we can afford to go without replacing Gini a bit more than we can afford to go without another quality CD. I think that the large majority of players are for sale, subject to price. Granted, we'll be writing a big cheque, but it's appropiate, to bring in a long term partner for VD.
Talk of us trying to sign Sven Botman, a tall, pacy 20 year old Dutch centre back I've never heard of.