Midfield

By Andrew Fanko (TTT Subscriber Arisesirrafa).

I think this probably the hardest area to decide on. I don’t think we can say that any of our midfielders have been desperately disappointing this season, but the feeling remains that we struggle to dominate games from the middle of the park. Will the current crop be good enough once Klopp and his backroom staff have been able to properly implement their ideas in pre-season, or is a recalibration of the engine room needed to take us to the next level?

I think it probably makes sense to put Coutinho and Lallana in the ‘Attack’ article, as they’ve played almost exclusively in a front three or a line of three attackers behind a lone striker.

NB: Remember I’m featuring only players who made more than five competitive starts (an appearance of 45 minutes or more) for the Reds’ first team in 2015/2016, so the likes of Brannagan and Chirivella will feature in the ‘Others’ section. PPG = points per game when starts; Win% = win percentage when starts; PGDPG = personal goal difference per game – any figure above the team’s average of 0.43 means Liverpool were effectively better balanced when that player was on the pitch, and vice versa.

Joe Allen / Age on 1 September 2016: 26 / Contract expires: 2017

2014/15: Starts: 28 / Sub apps: 4 / PPG: 1.36 / Win%: 39.3% / PGDPG: -0.19 / Goals: 1 / Assists: 1

2015/16: Starts: 20 / Sub apps: 17 / PPG: 1.7 / Win%: 45.0% / PGDPG: 0.88 / Goals: 3 / Assists: 3

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