Its now getting to the point where I feel unsure who the first choice team is - as yesterday I felt the kids played at least as well as the so called first team V Stoke a few days earlier. The great thing is we have lots of options for almost all positions now when all are fit - the 18 from yesterday +
Keeper - Bogdan!! (well maybe not!!)
Full backs - Gomez, Flanno, Moreno,
CBs - Skrtel, Sakho, Kolo
MF - Lucas, Coutinho, Firmino, Milner, Can, Hendo,
Strikers - Origi , Sturridge, Ings
= a squad of 34 with others on loan like Mario, Markovic, Luis Alberto and also the lad at Brentford, Fulton the keeper at Pompey and then there's Harry Wilson (is he back from Crewe?) and Kent who did well at Coventry so around 40 players. In fact the squad is so big that I am sure JK will sell some in the summer to create space for his own men - great!! - I look forward to it
Maybe the issue is most of the 40 are either just that bit below top level or are rated as young and likely to improve but have not yet reached their peak. Klopp does seem quite a loyal person and so I cannot see him ditching some of the underperforming stars in favour of any from yesterday which is maybe a fault but maybe a good thing as he will not chop and change too much. I hope when we recruit we try not to bring in more average players but try to bring in higher quality but that is easier said than done - and I do not necessarily mean spending mega bucks in the 40m+ range as that is no guarantee of quality at all. This is where the work of the transfer committee can make or break progress.
As many know I have banged the drum for Tex for a while and he was quite good again yesterday but for me the best was Brannagan - I especially liked his free kick delivery which is an area where we are weak and also Stewart did well too. My biggest problem is Benteke and the whole strikers issue as he is almost the only choice unless you play Firmino up front but I see Firmino more as a number 10 type striker. Basically we need an effective player to go up front with him. When fit I would see all 3 of the other options - Sturridge, Origi and Ings as a better bet than Benteke but as he is the only one fit it is almost as if he has to play. I do not see him playing to his strengths at all - strength being one of his best assets - at times he seems to be so easily bullied and not put himself about these days - he was never like that at AVFC. Many seem to have totally lost patience with him reading comments from fans elsewhere - I have not got to that stage yet but he does need to step up to the plate soon.
Btw I was fine with JKs selection yesterday - I would not even label it as down playing the FAC - if he had picked the same team as Tuesday I am not sure they would have done any better and maybe could have been worse. He is trying to manage his playing resources so that as far as possible we do as well as possible in all the comps we are in - our mistake if we have made one is still being in so many comps
- if we had been knocked out of the EL or the Capital One Cup we would not have had to face the dilemmas JK faced yesterday.
. The club should be announcing the official prices in the next few days. If this is true then it is disgusting to charge such an extreme amount.
