Thread by @babuyagu

The thing is, it starts to get complicated with squad places. You probably carry 4 CB into a normal season. We need to go in with at least 5 but likely 6 next season. And if we take the same approach in midfield, and 3 goalkeepers (given Kelleher now needs a place due to age)

https://twitter.com/CalvLyfeson/status/1400149583070629891

then it all starts to add up. This is our squad from last season.

8 home-grown, 16/17 who are not

We need to add to this
Ibrahima Konaté (free space)
Virgil van Dijk (replace Gini)
Ben Davies (replace Hardy)

We have Marko Grujić coming back from injury who needs to be sold

or a squad place. You would imagine if we were to move on any of Adrian, Matip, Shaq, Taki, Origi - we get a like-for-like replacement. If we move on Ox or Phillips we need a homegrown player to replace them.

But this all makes manoeuvring in the market complicated as the

spaces just aren't there to make changes at the moment. And while it is all well and good saying to tell players they need to go as there is no space available - not only does that remove all leverage Edwards has in selling them, it also goes against how Klopp sees players as

human beings that committed his careers to him. If Shaq or Origi don't want to leave, then he will let them stay and honour the contract they agreed to with him. That is just how we sees the world and we are all the better for it as that sort of empathy and compassion wins you

more than it costs you.

WHich is why 'sell before we buy' happens. It isn't just a resources issue but a squad size one. And something which is rarely considered when people are making plans to replace Ox with Tielemans, or Philips with Kabak.

There is also the 'Webster rule'. It is complicated but essentially if any player outside the protected period of their contract wasn't registered in the squad (e.g. Shaq, Grujic) due to their being insufficient squad places, they could theoretically leave for the value of the

remaining contract. Essentially whatever remaining wages they would be owed. So if Shaq had a year left on his £50k a week deal, and on 1 Sept isn't registered in the squad, he could walk for a little over £2m.

Which is why loading up the squad with players we don't have space for, in the plan that we will make the sales after, in a depressed market that is bad for sellers - could ultimately see us close the window with 30 players for 25 spaces - and a lot of headaches.

* the Webster ruling is something that rarely happens in football and the above is merely my interpretation of it. Ultimately, the point is that by being unable to register senior players due to a lack of squad places we open ourselves up to legal challenge to void contract.

Sadly, none of this exists in FIFA - hence why we just see daft fucking shopping lists without any consideration for reality - followed by criticism when said daft fucking shopping list doesn't come to fruition.

https://twitter.com/babuyagu/status/1400165363556532228

Something else missed with the 'upgrade on Neco' crew. How? At the moment he isn't using a squad place. To upgrade him we take a squad place from where?

And that is ignoring the fact that from a resources pov, I would much rather hang onto a talented kid like Neco on low wages and not using a squad place - than needing to sign an international level player to sit on the bench 90% of a season like Tsimikas taking up a hefty fee,

wages and agent fee that could be better used investing elsewhere into a slightly better forward - for example.

It is a zero sum game. If we tying up resources in backups that rarely see the pitch, that means less resources are being used in improving the quality on the pitch.

Hence why, as an underdog manager throughout his career, Klopp has always had a very lean squad compared to his direct competition. He wants whatever resources he has in maximising the quality on the pitch - which can lead to a weaker bench than rivals.