Looking back at the results for Liverpool’s 2023-2024 campaign, it’s hard to argue that finishing 3rd in the Premier League, full qualification for next year’s Champions League, and the League Cup, was a downer. These are all fine achievements given the turnover and state of the club headed into the start of the season. In fact, I’d wager that most fans would’ve bitten off your hand if offered that return of results following the departures of James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, and, of course, the much beloved talisman, Roberto Firmino.
But with all of that said, the club does still have major aims. And so we’ll take a look at each department over the next few weeks and assess what might be done to get the club closer to bringing home more silverware. We’ll start with the group that saw the most overhauling: midfield.
Pre-Season
The incoming players didn’t wow anyone off of the bat - Alexis Mac Allister was the less flashy name among the Brighton midfielders (more on that in a second), Ryan Gravenberch looked a reclamation project, Dominik Szoboszlai looked a fun but young player, and Wataru Endo was a (lightly) derided value choice. Losing the likes of Milner, Hendo, and Fabs, the fanbase were desperate for a big name to come in with Jude Bellingham among the brightest names mentioned.
Liverpool identified Belgian international Romeo Lavia and then, when those talks seemed to stall, jumped into a bidding war against Chelsea in the hopes of landing Macca’s former Brighton midfield partner, Moises Caicedo. The transfer saga ended with the Blues landing both Liverpool targets and Kopites everywhere licking their wounds (and worse, if one were to take the response from the Red corner of Twitter).
But there was still a season to play.
Performance In-Season
To suggest that the midfield did their job would be an understatement. The new, incoming players seemed to gel almost instantly. Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Wataru Endo were, in particular, bright spots throughout the season, delivering reliable performances and providing fans with a reminder of what it’s like to have a functioning midfield.
I loved all of the newcomers (more on Gravenberch, specifically, in a bit) and it’d be fair to write a bit on all of them but I do want to highlight Wataru Endo’s season, specifically. To call the response from fans to Endo’s signing “skeptical” would give the Anfield Faithful far more grace than they showed to the Japan international but the midfielder managed to turn all of that around.
Taking a typically long time to settle in - remember that Fabs wasn’t making regular appearances for some time when he signed from Monaco - Endo provided stellar cover in the defensive midfield position. Which was important because while Macca had been called upon to man that role and did more than a serviceable job there, the whole team really sang when Endo was at the 6 and Macca was able to move further up the pitch.
When you add in the leap that Curtis Jones took - this deserves its own write-up - and the reliable growth of Harvey Elliott, it’s hard not to look at this department of Liverpool’s squad to be the deepest. Especially when you consider the return of Stefan Bajcetic and the promotion into the squad of Bobby Clark - my personal pick for Liverpool’s Next Big Academy Grad.
From missing out on Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham in consecutive summers - and getting doused by Chelsea in the race for Lavia and Caicedo - to turning in a crop of committed and talented players, midfield is a surprising source of strength for the Reds.
Squad Roles to Watch
It’s not all perfect, though. With Bajcetic back, Endo will no longer be the sole 6 in the club. But the talented Spanish midfielder is still quite young and will likely see some growing pains in the way of variance between performances. It will likely still be a priority for the Reds to sign another 6, perhaps once in the 25-28 age bracket to ensure that Bajcetic has the ability to grow but that quality does still exist to spell/rotate with Endo.
Besides that, there’s going to be an interesting bit on how Liverpool handle the further development of Ryan Gravenberch. The Dutchman slowly faded, but when he was on the pitch he gave decent performances. It seemed, though, that the extra level of quality one would expect from one of the most hyped young midfielders - one once signed by Bayern Munich - still hasn’t fulfilled all of that sky-high potential, as he was often closed down too quickly and seemed to be just a step behind the thinking of his teammates in attack.
Still, a healthy Bajcetic and a more integrated Gravenberch would be enough for most teams to look forward to and I think Liverpool won’t need to do much this year at all.
Conclusion
As mentioned elsewhere, there really isn’t much needed here. A reliable 6 to allow for more rotation and for the further development of Bajcetic, as well as to let Macca to play in their best position seems to be the only thing left. Which is great. Here’s hoping we get to identify that player early and get them integrated to the squad. For me, personally, I’d also welcome the full and fast recovery of Bobby Clark, so we can see a player whose confidence and skill seem to be very closely matched and primed to be in the top flight.
Now that we’ve worked through this, have your say! Leave a comment with what you’d like to see in terms of the midfield for next year.
