OK before your head falls off, hear me out.
This whole ‘we need an attacking midfielder’ fascination has been doing the rounds since last summer and to be honest, it’s getting right on my tits. I understand people were gutted about the Nabil F*kir deal (Yeah that’s right I’ve banged a * in there, it’s a swearword now) but it’s become a bit of an obsession for a minority of fans, mainly on Twitter and it needs to stop.
He can’t be the go-to answer every time Liverpool draw game or don’t wallop the opposition three or four nil. The fella has dodgy knees, move on. You wouldn’t spend big on a telly if you knew it was going to break a few years down the line. Why should Liverpool spend millions on him?
Things have been exacerbated by Jean Michel Aulas, owner and president of Lyon and a part-time attention seeking viable fart. He constantly appeared in the media when no one asked or cared for his opinion. I’d rather F*kir quit football and got a job at the ASDA to be honest. Just so we can all move on.
There are also several other elements to this argument. As we all know things develop quickly in football and nothing epitomises this quite like Jordan Henderson. A man that has divided the majority of the Liverpool fanbase for about two seasons, possibly longer.
Arguably, his best form was the 13/14 season and after suffering multiple injuries alongside a position change and a system change under Jürgen Klopp, some fans were still not satisfied with the Liverpool captain. If we are all being honest, some of the criticism was justified. He did have issues with form and consistency but a footballer doesn’t become horrendous overnight, the quality was always there, often surpassed by his energy, grit and determination.
Sure, he’s not Steven Gerrard, he isn’t known for scoring absolute screamers (except against Chelsea), he isn’t known for pinging balls left, right and centre and he’s also not known as a six. He did his job there. It’s not flashy, it’s not the glamorous role we aspire to when we are young. His job was to press, win the ball and recycle possession. Jürgen needed him and Gini to do a job whilst Fabinho got up to speed and they did exactly that.
Towards the back end of last season, Fabinho had settled and Hendo found himself back in his old, more advanced role. The rumours at the time suggested he went into Jürgen’s office and asked to play there. Balls out on the table (not literally) he knew he could do a job and guess what? He did. It’s almost as if he was boss at footy the whole time, who knew eh? I can almost put some of the assist stats to one side, our creativity comes from two of the best full-backs in the world, it’s sound, don’t worry about it.
Hendo contributed with goals, assists and some terrific performances as the reds pushed for the title and the pursuit of number six. We got number six by the way, not sure if anyone has mentioned it anywhere.
Liverpool to win the Champions League – 7/1
Jordan can play that role again next season, with Liverpool boasting a plethora of midfielders that can play multiple positions. If Fabinho is ever injured or suspended, Hendo can slot in, as can Gini – someone else who can play an advanced role. More on him later.
Something else which I think adds to my argument, which has turned into a bit of lecture, is the return of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. I am 100% not going to suggest he’s ‘LiKe A nEw SiGnInG’, because he’s not. He’s just been out for what feels like an eternity. Chambo was another name that appeared during the odd Liverpool draw. The videos of him scoring against City were doing the rounds on a regular basis across social media, as if he was the answer to all our prayers.
Optimism and/or fantasy got the better of me towards the end of the season, thinking he may play a significant role as Liverpool broke their best ever points tally and continued their pursuit for number six. We got number six by the way, not sure if anyone has mentioned it anywhere.
Sadly, that role wasn’t to be and after reaching 97 points and beating Spurs to Champions League glory, just in case you didn't know already, he only made two appearances totalling 19 minutes. Fair enough, why rush him back? With a full pre-season under his belt and more recovery time, Chamberlain can be that attacking midfielder we were all crying out for last season. You may think ‘Isn’t this similar to F*kir? Possibly, but Liverpool are secure in the knowledge that his leg has been put back together properly.
Gini Wijnaldum can interchange between defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder when needed, particularly when playing Barcelona. The Dutch international was arguably Liverpool’s most consistent midfielder last season; playing a total of 3,707 minutes, more than any other midfielder and bagging five goals. Yes, he’s not creative in terms of his passing but he doesn’t need to be, as I’ve already mentioned.
Naby Keita should hopefully have settled into life in England a bit better this season, as well as adjusting Klopp’s intense training regime. And with any luck, this whole Guinea debacle will come to a halt pretty soon, so he can just crack on with recovery and preparing for the 2019/20 season. James Milner does a job anywhere too, I’m convinced that man could play in goal and I’d be fine about it. I don’t need to say anymore on him.
If I’m clutching at straws, Bobby can play a much deeper role – which he often does anyway; either to collect the ball, pull defenders apart, to help out his teammates defensively or just to do some mad stuff, which I’m fine with, let the lad do what he wants in my opinion.
And if I’m clutching even harder at those straws, Adam Lallana can do a job there despite what people think. There was uproar when he started against Burnley and he was quality. Shock. Then there was uproar when he didn’t start then next game. Mental.
Yes, he’s not the Lallana of old and never will be. But Liverpool’s issue in recent years has not been not having a squad. He doesn’t need to play every game, even if he’s used for rotational purposes, then it’s all good. Replacing Salah in Kiev is tough for anyone, it’s not his fault. That’s just where we were at, you don’t build a team overnight. We’ve got big Div now.
As a collective Liverpool scored a total of 111 goals, made 72 assists and used 26 players in the process. We finished second in the league, won a Champions League – not sure if this has been mentioned – and we boast several players who collected individual awards on the way. It’s absolutely fine. We’re boss.
Yes, I can hear you, ‘City spend big every summer’. I get that, it’s a fair argument. It’s not the only approach though. If Klopp is happy then so am I. He has proven me wrong on several occasions. As has Michael Edwards. Spending big is sound, but there’s no point in doing for the sake of it or because that’s the thing to do on FIFA. There’s no repercussions on FIFA. You just start a new game.
Look at United, they spunk money like nobody’s business, doesn’t always work out. Unlucky.
As much as we hate it, football is a business. Smart decisions need to be made – again proven with the purchase of Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robbo and so on. The recruitment team are willing to wait for the right player at the right price and so am I.
In my opinion Liverpool are best investing that money elsewhere. Get some support for the front three, look to rotate them with quality players that will push them to new limits if that’s even possible, look to the future and push for domestic cups, continue to build a squad and continue being boss.
Liverpool to win the Premier League – 9/4
