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Transfer Rumour Thread

Unless we're expecting to move much further along this time around, in which case it may be another 9 games, if we get to the final. And if we're planning on taking EL seriously, then we should be planning on 9 games.
 
alekaras said:
What is Bentaleb's better position? A lot of folks claim he's suited to playing more forward. Others see him as a DM. Which one is it?
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One of his best ever performances for us was at left back

It's quite hard to tell sometimes with young players, but I see him as the deeper one of a double pivot, like he's played nearly all his first team games for us.
 
glorygloryeze said:
Just to clarify i feel that we are lacking somebody to perform the more defensive-minded duties that Dier has been - of he is away from the team (like next Saturday).
Do you SERIOUSLY believe Mason and/or Bentaleb can perform to even half the level that Dier has been in terms of DEFENSIVE-minded play and awareness, based on previous games?
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To be honest I'm not sure I would want to judge just yet. From what I have seen Dier is playing to different instructions to how Bentaleb was playing last season. It seems as though we have changed our shape and game-plan a little and now gone with a true holding player, whereas last season Bentaleb seemed to be given more license to join in with attacks. That might be because Bentaleb just didn't have the defensive discipline or it could be due to instructions from Pochettino,

I'd like to see Bentaleb play in this team now to be able to judge whether it is driven by ability/discipline or team tactics.

Equally Mason has always played the more advanced box to box role for us. However I think he has the work-rate, tackling ability, passing ability and intelligence to be able to play as a holding player. Of course he lacks a bit of strength compared to Dier, but again I wouldn't mind seeing him play there to judge him in that role.

At the start of the season we all seemed to think we needed to bring in one defensive midfielder, that was before Dier's emergence. Now that Dier has emerged as a good option for that position I don't see why we still need to bring in a defensive midfielder?
 
Finney Is Back said:
To be honest I'm not sure I would want to judge just yet. From what I have seen Dier is playing to different instructions to how Bentaleb was playing last season. It seems as though we have changed our shape and game-plan a little and now gone with a true holding player, whereas last season Bentaleb seemed to be given more license to join in with attacks. That might be because Bentaleb just didn't have the defensive discipline or it could be due to instructions from Pochettino,

I'd like to see Bentaleb play in this team now to be able to judge whether it is driven by ability/discipline or team tactics.

Equally Mason has always played the more advanced box to box role for us. However I think he has the work-rate, tackling ability, passing ability and intelligence to be able to play as a holding player. Of course he lacks a bit of strength compared to Dier, but again I wouldn't mind seeing him play there to judge him in that role.

At the start of the season we all seemed to think we needed to bring in one defensive midfielder, that was before Dier's emergence. Now that Dier has emerged as a good option for that position I don't see why we still need to bring in a defensive midfielder?
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Dier is a CB, the big difference between him and a Bentaleb/Mason (and potentially in the instructions they are given) is how we play the DM

- For Mason/Bentaleb they were always in front of the back two CB's, - which to me meant a long ball over top still caught us out, still left two CB's alone against 1-3 attackers
- With this seasons system & Dier, Dier actually drops into the backline at times (almost 3 CB's), our FB's are less suicidal (Davies over Rose, and Walker stays home more), so even a long ball over midfield very rarely leaves our back line in 1:1 or 2:2 type scenarios ...

Can Bentaleb play that way? in a pinch I'm sure, but consistently? that may answer if we need another DM option.
 
glorygloryeze said:
We should then also not forget the weakness of our defending that happened very often with Bentaleb and Mason playing last season as well.
Those four players all have good variation of CM abilities, but NONE of the other 3 have Dier's defensive awareness/capabilities and to me there is no denying that....
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This for me as well, our CM last season with them as a pairing was wide open and we suffered for it on many occasions. Toby has helped our defence no doubt but Dier has strengthen us through the middle.
 
Raziel said:
Dier is a CB, the big difference between him and a Bentaleb/Mason (and potentially in the instructions they are given) is how we play the DM

- For Mason/Bentaleb they were always in front of the back two CB's, - which to me meant a long ball over top still caught us out, still left two CB's alone against 1-3 attackers
- With this seasons system & Dier, Dier actually drops into the backline at times (almost 3 CB's), our FB's are less suicidal (Davies over Rose, and Walker stays home more), so even a long ball over midfield very rarely leaves our back line in 1:1 or 2:2 type scenarios ...

Can Bentaleb play that way? in a pinch I'm sure, but consistently? that may answer if we need another DM option.
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Great overview.
 
I think another question regarding the DM role is whether the mandate of that player has changed this year. Was Bentaleb asked to perform a different role last year to the one Dier is doing this year?
 
Cochise said:
I think another question regarding the DM role is whether the mandate of that player has changed this year. Was Bentaleb asked to perform a different role last year to the one Dier is doing this year?
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Yes, that is what I was trying to get at. The positions that Bentaleb was taking up last year look to be quite different to the position that Dier is operating in. I don't think we can be sure yet whether that is completely due to the respective players or instructions from the coach. We'll see as the season progresses.
 
Finney Is Back said:
Yes, that is what I was trying to get at. The positions that Bentaleb was taking up last year look to be quite different to the position that Dier is operating in. I don't think we can be sure yet whether that is completely due to the respective players or instructions from the coach. We'll see as the season progresses.
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More likely when Bentaleb plays in place of Dier. Is he fit for the scouser game, by the way?
 
This isn't transfer talk. It's beginning to sound a lot like OMT talk and before you know it the OMT gods will be mighty displeased. :(
 
Or just start a proper OMT. It's Liverpool, I'm sure we can think of something to fill it with...
 
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