The Midweek Maxi #10: A Beautiful Midfield, Sphincter's End & Romeo's Stats

Our new Liverpool FC weekly compendium. News. Stats. Views. Debate. Links. Data. Insights. Delights.

To read about why we’ve replaced Free Friday with The Midweek Maxi, see the intro to the first edition.

So far the bumper weekly roundup is going down extremely well with paying subscribers:

This week:

• Excerpts and links to the different pieces we've published across the TTT Substack network, prior to the paywall kicking in;

• Then, some of the best comments from the site this past week;

• Next, Daniel Zambartas’ bumper LFC News, Media & Transfer Round-Up;

• And then finally, bit of Midweek Moby (the TTT stalwart, not the beautiful bald middle-aged man), for the third mini-article of new writing within this week’s Maxi.

Job done! (Oh, and it’s also a discussion thread for the issues raised.)

Note: the Maxi may exceed the email size limit on Substack, but the whole piece can be read online by paying subscribers.

TTT Network Roundup

Links and excerpts to articles on the various TTT sites, which are run by different people and require separate subscriptions to this, the TTT Main Hub.

The Zen Den

Here’s Paul’s latest look at the Reds’ new midfield.

The Birth of a Beautiful Midfield?

While a destructive defensive midfielder may still be sought, there are further good reasons that may obviate the need for a third midfield signing – including the extra 'defensive' work the Reds will get out of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, and the additional presence of Alexander-Arnold in the new box midfield.

While lots of teams are using the box midfield, there's not a better player around who is suited to the quasi-6.

And again, just playing as a conventional 6/8 for England, Alexander-Arnold has shown that he's also ready to just start games in the area; but Szoboszlai will be the right-sided no.8, and there's no need to move TAA given the success of how it worked last season.

Indeed, the new roles have showcased just how his game has improved, but where that light was partly hid under the bushel of the limitations of the standard attacking right-back role (which also involved his confidence being drained by sprinter-wingers doing him with elite pace, time and again; not that he himself is slow, and indeed looks a strong runner right now, but the big areas of the right flank allowed them to get ahead).

The biggest issue with procuring three brand new midfielders would be the lack of mutual understanding, and how long it would take to dovetail instinctively, as often requires a lot of time training together.

A bonus is getting the first two signings in before preseason training even starts. A good, intense six weeks will be vital, and speed up integration.

So, Alexander-Arnold as a quasi-6 and Jones as an option for any midfield role (now that he's showing the quality, energy and maturity) for Curtis Jones means still-improving players who are 24 and 22.

(Rather than "false-2", I think "quasi-6" better sums up what Alexander-Arnold does.)

This Red Planet

I had a look at the future of the sport, and in particular the sportswashing taking place and the need for authorities to react soon.

Football is Fucked: The End of Competition

No, the crux of my issue is THAT FUCKING SHIP SAILED A LONG TIME AGO! We’ve had FFP, we’ve had botched investigations and overturned charges, Super League suggestions, government White Papers, a waggle-of-the-bat-to-the-crowd century of financial irregularities; football has been trying to solve the potential problems to no avail. Frankly, we are now at the point where the elite ship has sailed and fallen off a flat earth into the abyss of eternal death.

Unless we ban transfer fees and bring in a wage cap the only way from here will be a Saudi Super League where all the best players play. It’s happening…

Crucially though can sportswashing work in reverse? Because the sport is so popular in the UAE, Saudi and Qatar could it drive important reforms in those countries? And why shouldn’t they have successful domestic leagues for fans in those nations, with players who have done enough in the Champions League or individual European leagues and want one final pay day? In fact, it should be encouraged! I’d certainly rather that than buying up English clubs and ruining the competitions through financial doping.

The Transfer Hub

Mizgan’s weekly article focused on the young holding midfielder at Southampton, especially after the strong links to Liverpool.

Scouting Report: What makes Roméo Lavia an attractive proposition for Liverpool?

R. Lavia - League Numbers Ranked

This section has the Belgian’s numbers in different metrics in the league last season, ranked amongst the defensive and deeper-lying midfielders. Players who played a minimum of 1000 minutes are included for sample size purposes.

Considering 2022/23 was his first full season as a Premier League player, those numbers and ranks are mightily impressive. There is a reason why he is tracked not just by Liverpool, but other top clubs in England and Europe.

The combination of excellent passing accuracy with a high level of defensive duel win rate is outstanding for a defensive midfield player. He does have a dribble or two in him too, as discussed briefly above.

The interception numbers are more than good and accuracy of forward passing isn’t too bad. All in all, a good package from a player who is at the start of his career.

Paywall time! The majority of The Midweek Maxi is for paying subscribers only.