Scouting for Liverpool's 'next Wijnaldum'

Once described by Jurgen Klopp as 'the architect of their success', why have Liverpool failed to replace Georginio Wijnaldum? Host Ali Maxwell is joined by The Athletic's Mark Carey and Liam Tharme - for a bonus podcast - to scout for some potential reinforcements from around Europe and in the Premier League... The panel dive into the data to produce a handful of midfielders the club could look to in the transfer market and revisit how good Wijnaldum actually was in Liverpool's title-winning season of 2019/20. Plus, how and why Klopp's midfield has evolved into a more 'creative' than 'functional' one and if the centre of the pitch is ultimately to blame for a downturn in results this season? Produced by Adonis Pratsides Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Om Podcasten

Hosted by Ali Maxwell, revered football tactics writer Michael Cox is joined by more of The Athletic's brightest tactics and data analytics writers to break down the tactical and technical details behind the biggest footballing stories each week - assessing the latest trends, systems, players, managers and all manner of statistics in order to give you a deeper understanding of the game.