MIDFIELD MELTDOWN: WHAT'S GOING WRONG AT LIVERPOOL FC?

Featured Image Credit: The Telegraph

It doesn’t take a genius to see that things aren’t right at Liverpool at the moment. The current team and performances are a far cry from Jurgen Klopp’s sides usual identity but what exactly is going wrong?

Liverpool have already lost six games this season in the league and face Real Madrid in the next round of the Champions League. A community shield victory over Manchester City in the summer gave false hope to Reds hoping for another title challenge, now they face an up hill battle to even make top four never mind a title charge.

Recently Jamie Carragher spoke about Liverpool’s lack of investment in midfielders over recent years with Thiago being the only real number 8 they’ve signed for the last couple of windows. Curtis Jones despite recently signing a new deal isn’t up to Liverpool’s standard for now at least and he looks like he’s really suffering from a lack of first team minutes in men’s football. Harvey Elliott has bags of potential and his quality is there for all to see, but right now he doesn’t look capable of playing number 8 in this Liverpool side, a position further out wide may be best for Elliott’s future.

Naby Keita is a signing that just hasn’t worked out and i think it’s time Liverpool cut ties with him. He’s had his moments and scored some important goals against the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, however, he’s averaging just 0.09 goals per Premier League match which just isn’t enough for an attacking midfielder and his injury struggles have stopped him from gaining any kind of consistency or momentum. Oxlade-Chamberlain has suffered similar struggles as Keita with injuries despite getting a decent amount of minutes recently, but unfortunately his best days are behind him. Undeniably a great servant for the club and a key component for Klopp’s side at times but his days on Merseyside should be numbered.

Henderson will have a role to play in the coming years even if his game time drops and Milner will probably still make sub appearances at 50. Fabinho alongside Thiago, Henderson, and Milner are all ageing and it’s showing with Liverpool’s ground covered this season being considerably less than years gone by, which is why teams like Brentford and Nottingham Forest have taken points off them this season - lapses of concentration at the back haven’t helped either.

In conclusion I think Liverpool’s biggest problems come from midfield with a lack of protection for the defence and not enough support goal and assist wise for the front three. But how do they fix this?

Reports coming out of Anfield are that Liverpool are willing to invest 200 to 250 million pounds in the summer which at the minute feels like they are just writing this season off already. If this actually happens however is a different story with FSG looking to sell the club and they tend to have an unwillingness to buy without selling first.

If he isn’t snapped up before the summer i think Orkun Kokcu would be a great addition to the squad and would put pressure on an underperforming Fabinho. The 22 year old has performed well for Feyenoord in the league and in Europe this season, he would fit perfectly in the ‘6’ role in Liverpool’s midfield three and his average nine progressive passes per 90 will give Liverpool the platform to move the ball up the pitch quicker. He also creates around 6 shot creating chances per 90, the Turkish midfielder looks like a much cheaper option over Enzo Fernandez.

Sticking with the Dutch connection, an ideal number 8 to bring in would be Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners who has caught the eye of a number of Premier League clubs. The Dutch international has made 17 appearances in the league this season and chipped in with 6 goals, averaging a rating of 7.01 in league games this season. At just 24 he has plenty of time to improve and develop into Liverpool’s system but he won’t be short of offers.

Manu Kone would be my final addition to Liverpool’s midfield. He would offer great attacking support to The Reds front three. Kone completed more take on’s than any other midfielder in Europe in 2022 and would be a fantastic player to transition play from defence to attack. Bayern Munich are current favourites to land his signature with Newcastle and PSG also showing interest. After coming back from his loan at Toulouse the 21 year old has played a pivotal role in Bor. M’gladbach’s midfield.

A good few players would have to depart Anfield before these players were signed but i think they would all add great quality to Klopp’s side and give them the platform to start challenging again.