Backup CAM

[jayffc]

So...With Andreas looking likely to be out for an extended period...

is this an opportunity for any of our U21s to step up and get some minutes?

Cairney one would think is most likely to start, Lukic is more of a CM by nature but may also feature, perhaps we also feature BDR there.

But who might be good enough for some bench time and maybe the odd minutes off of it?

Harris?
Sekuralac?
The late rise of Sonny Holton?

Are any of these guys good enough to give them a try?

[SerbianLad]

I think Cairney will start and if Willian isn't back from his injury Harris will take Cairney's place on the bench. If Willian is back/when Willian gets back from his injury, I'd guess BDR take Cairney's place on the bench and Willian comes back to the starting 11.

[H4usuallysitting]

Wouldn't Solomon start

[SerbianLad]

Wouldn't Solomon start

Maybe, with BDR as a 10. But Solomon seems to have lost his place in the starting eleven and is in quite poor form at the moment.

[alfie]

Wouldn't Solomon start

Maybe, with BDR as a 10. But Solomon seems to have lost his place in the starting eleven and is in quite poor form at the moment.

I'm beginning to think that Solomon is not as good as we were expecting.

[bigalffc]

Unfortunately, after scoring those early goals Solomon has been sussed cutting in from the left and getting the ball on his right foot to shoot, they all shut down that space. Looks like he was a 'one trick pony'

[filham]

Looking forward to seeing more of Cairney in midfield and Tosin and Diop looked pretty good at the back, Mitro and Willian are the players we are going to miss, our attack has lost its bite without them.

[TC's Sporran]

Looking forward to seeing more of Cairney in midfield and Tosin and Diop looked pretty good at the back, Mitro and Willian are the players we are going to miss, our attack has lost its bite without them.

knowing silvas reluctance to start tc as it then removes his impact sub option i reckon he will start lukic v liverpool. this is despite some saying tom was best player on the pitch for 20 mins v the best team in europe/the world. if silva starts tc then he doesnt have anywhere near the same kind of impact coming off the bench available to him. some young kid at the ground asked him why he doesnt start and he said idk ask the manager.  if he doesnt start in any of the remaining games then i reckon the rumours of him joining one of his former clubs next season wont sound as far fetched

[SerbianLad]

Looking forward to seeing more of Cairney in midfield and Tosin and Diop looked pretty good at the back, Mitro and Willian are the players we are going to miss, our attack has lost its bite without them.

knowing silvas reluctance to start tc as it then removes his impact sub option i reckon he will start lukic v liverpool. this is despite some saying tom was best player on the pitch for 20 mins v the best team in europe/the world. if silva starts tc then he doesnt have anywhere near the same kind of impact coming off the bench available to him. some young kid at the ground asked him why he doesnt start and he said idk ask the manager.  if he doesnt start in any of the remaining games then i reckon the rumours of him joining one of his former clubs next season wont sound as far fetched

I can't see Lukic starting as a 10 instead of Cairney. Lukic's best position, in our current formation, is where Reed plays.

If Lukic plays alongside Reed and Palhinha, we'd have to change to a 4-3-3 in my opinion. That's why I think Cairney will start, and if not, BDR will play as a 10, with Willian on the wing if Willian is fit enough (Kebano or James if he isn't).

[Ronnief]

Mention was made of Hilton a possibility for a back up role. He certainly possesses some mid field and set piece skills . He is a little small in stature and a bit light weight. Unfortunately he was injured in his last match so I don't expect him to play soon. Harris is most likely to be on the bench in place of periera.

[btffc]

Looking forward to seeing more of Cairney in midfield and Tosin and Diop looked pretty good at the back, Mitro and Willian are the players we are going to miss, our attack has lost its bite without them.

knowing silvas reluctance to start tc as it then removes his impact sub option i reckon he will start lukic v liverpool. this is despite some saying tom was best player on the pitch for 20 mins v the best team in europe/the world. if silva starts tc then he doesnt have anywhere near the same kind of impact coming off the bench available to him. some young kid at the ground asked him why he doesnt start and he said idk ask the manager.  if he doesnt start in any of the remaining games then i reckon the rumours of him joining one of his former clubs next season wont sound as far fetched

I can't see Lukic starting as a 10 instead of Cairney. Lukic's best position, in our current formation, is where Reed plays.

If Lukic plays alongside Reed and Palhinha, we'd have to change to a 4-3-3 in my opinion. That's why I think Cairney will start, and if not, BDR will play as a 10, with Willian on the wing if Willian is fit enough (Kebano or James if he isn't).

Didn't Lukic play a fair amount as a 10 with Torino? Not going to pretend I watched a lot of Torino but I thought I remember him being pretty advanced up the pitch in some of his highlights.

[SerbianLad]

Looking forward to seeing more of Cairney in midfield and Tosin and Diop looked pretty good at the back, Mitro and Willian are the players we are going to miss, our attack has lost its bite without them.

knowing silvas reluctance to start tc as it then removes his impact sub option i reckon he will start lukic v liverpool. this is despite some saying tom was best player on the pitch for 20 mins v the best team in europe/the world. if silva starts tc then he doesnt have anywhere near the same kind of impact coming off the bench available to him. some young kid at the ground asked him why he doesnt start and he said idk ask the manager.  if he doesnt start in any of the remaining games then i reckon the rumours of him joining one of his former clubs next season wont sound as far fetched

I can't see Lukic starting as a 10 instead of Cairney. Lukic's best position, in our current formation, is where Reed plays.

If Lukic plays alongside Reed and Palhinha, we'd have to change to a 4-3-3 in my opinion. That's why I think Cairney will start, and if not, BDR will play as a 10, with Willian on the wing if Willian is fit enough (Kebano or James if he isn't).

Didn't Lukic play a fair amount as a 10 with Torino? Not going to pretend I watched a lot of Torino but I thought I remember him being pretty advanced up the pitch in some of his highlights.

He played there for 6 months or so, two or three seasons ago. He likes to go forward wherever he plays. He plays exclusively as a DM for our national and still manages to score goals and make assists from time to time.

He could play there as well as in DM position, but we can get much more from him in a box-to-box role. He's very comfortable in possesion,excellent passer and can contribute in defence too.

One of the silver linings of Andreas' injury will be that Cairney and Lukic will get their chance to shine. Andreas will be an enormous miss, hopefully Tom and Sasa can step up.

[Pluto]

I feel Lukic will play there as he fits the system best. Cairney off the bench.

[hongkongfulham]

Looking forward to seeing more of Cairney in midfield and Tosin and Diop looked pretty good at the back, Mitro and Willian are the players we are going to miss, our attack has lost its bite without them.

knowing silvas reluctance to start tc as it then removes his impact sub option i reckon he will start lukic v liverpool. this is despite some saying tom was best player on the pitch for 20 mins v the best team in europe/the world. if silva starts tc then he doesnt have anywhere near the same kind of impact coming off the bench available to him. some young kid at the ground asked him why he doesnt start and he said idk ask the manager.  if he doesnt start in any of the remaining games then i reckon the rumours of him joining one of his former clubs next season wont sound as far fetched

I can't see Lukic starting as a 10 instead of Cairney. Lukic's best position, in our current formation, is where Reed plays.

If Lukic plays alongside Reed and Palhinha, we'd have to change to a 4-3-3 in my opinion. That's why I think Cairney will start, and if not, BDR will play as a 10, with Willian on the wing if Willian is fit enough (Kebano or James if he isn't).

Didn't Lukic play a fair amount as a 10 with Torino? Not going to pretend I watched a lot of Torino but I thought I remember him being pretty advanced up the pitch in some of his highlights.

He played there for 6 months or so, two or three seasons ago. He likes to go forward wherever he plays. He plays exclusively as a DM for our national and still manages to score goals and make assists from time to time.

He could play there as well as in DM position, but we can get much more from him in a box-to-box role. He's very comfortable in possesion,excellent passer and can contribute in defence too.

One of the silver linings of Andreas' injury will be that Cairney and Lukic will get their chance to shine. Andreas will be an enormous miss, hopefully Tom and Sasa can step up.

I think there is a very good player in Lukic, and trust your judgment as you will have seen him play plenty. I get the impression that he needs a pre-season with us under his belt and then I think we will see his best next year. Am quite thnakful we signed him when we did so he can bed in and be ready to push

With that said,  Cairney to start for me, he was unreal when he came on, deserves it

[Thailand Mick]

I said before the weekend that I thought it was more important to try different things and partnerships to see how we stand for next season than keep playing the same team all the time.little did I know that the unfortunate injuries to Ream and Periera has forced Marco to make those changes.My guess for the starting eleven for Liverpool is that Lukic will come in for Periera because Marco like to see us pressing the opposition from the start.I am a big fan of Tom but unfortunately I cannot see him running around and closing down for the ninety minutes and hes probably best used later in the game when it becomes a bit stretched and he is afforded more space against tired players.

[Bronaldinho]

Harris probably has a chance of moving up to the big squad soon, especially now we are safe.

Sadly, Sekularac hasn't really put up the numbers to warrant a promotion.

I imagine BDR will fill in though first or he'll try Wilson/Willian/Solomon as a ten.

But, should Cairney be fit I imagine he'll be the main option to replace Andreas atm.

[TC's Sporran]

I said before the weekend that I thought it was more important to try different things and partnerships to see how we stand for next season than keep playing the same team all the time.little did I know that the unfortunate injuries to Ream and Periera has forced Marco to make those changes.My guess for the starting eleven for Liverpool is that Lukic will come in for Periera because Marco like to see us pressing the opposition from the start.I am a big fan of Tom but unfortunately I cannot see him running around and closing down for the ninety minutes and hes probably best used later in the game when it becomes a bit stretched and he is afforded more space against tired players.

to be honest i dont want to see tc running around closing players down. i want to see him given the ball and for him to simply use it effectively and if not retain possession. not parker ball possession but with an aim to get the forawrds making runs and he can find them. a bit like v man city. i dont want our forwards whoever is picked to freeze tonight. i want them making lots of surging runs. even if they arent getting found. work their at times suspect defense.

[SerbianLad]

I said before the weekend that I thought it was more important to try different things and partnerships to see how we stand for next season than keep playing the same team all the time.little did I know that the unfortunate injuries to Ream and Periera has forced Marco to make those changes.My guess for the starting eleven for Liverpool is that Lukic will come in for Periera because Marco like to see us pressing the opposition from the start.I am a big fan of Tom but unfortunately I cannot see him running around and closing down for the ninety minutes and hes probably best used later in the game when it becomes a bit stretched and he is afforded more space against tired players.

to be honest i dont want to see tc running around closing players down. i want to see him given the ball and for him to simply use it effectively and if not retain possession. not parker ball possession but with an aim to get the forawrds making runs and he can find them. a bit like v man city. i dont want our forwards whoever is picked to freeze tonight. i want them making lots of surging runs. even if they arent getting found. work their at times suspect defense.

+1

[Lordedmundo]

Unfortunately, after scoring those early goals Solomon has been sussed cutting in from the left and getting the ball on his right foot to shoot, they all shut down that space. Looks like he was a 'one trick pony'

That is true to some extent, but I also think whilst Antonee making more of those deep runs down the line have been great for our attacking play, they have squeezed the space for Solomon - whose strength is direct running at goal from deep positions.

I think Willian and Antonee complement each other better, as the former is better at receiving the ball in tight situations further up the pitch, and then able to make space for himself from a standing start.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Well the good news is that if we cannot second guess for sure who the starting line up shall be.
Then Klopp will have not have much idea as well, which will not help his preparations and system of play.

All he knows so far is that there will be eleven of us on that pitch, not including me of course.