FSG must cash in on 4/10 Liverpool dud who earns more than Diaz & Elliott

Liverpool are probably the best team in the world right now, certainly considered the team to beat in the Premier League title race and perhaps in the Champions League too, winning the group phase at a canter.

Arne Slot is a sharp tactical mind and his start to life at Anfield has been remarkable, but he’s not infallible. This was evidenced by much-rotated Liverpool’s defeat by Plymouth Argyle in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The Championship’s bottom-placed side deserved their win.

The harsh reality is that several first-teamers have been riding on the coattails of Slot’s superstars this season: Mohamed Salah, Ryan Gravenberch, Virgil van Dijk etc.

Champions League passage was secured with a game to go last month, and so Slot issued plenty of changes for the culminating fixture against PSV Eindhoven. Liverpool showed spirit but lost.

Against the Pilgrims, Liverpool’s fringe players were sent packing with their tails between their legs, with their futures under question again.

The players that might be leaving Slot’s Liverpool

Let’s forget about Liverpool’s encroaching contract-related culminations for the moment – such outcomes will become clearer in the coming months.

Slot boasts an immense first team at Liverpool, but there’s a genuine question as to whether Liverpool have sufficient depth beneath the surface level, with the Reds flattering to deceive from start to finish.

Looking beyond the pressing contract concerns, Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson will soon enter the final year of their deals, and efforts need to be ramped up in tying them down.

Caoimhin Kelleher is in the same boat, albeit he’s expected to depart at the end of the term given that Liverpool have signed Giorgi Mamardashvili (currently on loan with Valencia) to rival Alisson Becker between the sticks.

Plymouth were resilient and, frankly, they wanted it more in the FA Cup. The likes of Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott were among the worst performers, with their talent and standing in Slot’s squad surely making them perfect to take such a game by the scruff of its neck and push Liverpool away from a giant-killing. They did not.

Elliott, 21, has been linked with a move away in recent months after his peripheral role this term, but his future surely lies in Merseyside.

However, the 28-year-old Diaz is blowing hot and cold too often and will step into his penultimate year next year. Liverpool might want to cash in while they can.

FSG should sell £12m Liverpool talent

Diaz is not the only one, though. Liverpool should extend veteran Robertson’s deal, but must still strengthen at left-back to mitigate his load. That means that Kostas Tsimikas must be sold.

Tsimikas has been a loyal servant for Liverpool, never complaining despite spending large portions, if not the entirety, of his career as second fiddle, behind Robertson.

However, the Greece international has had chances to shine since leaving Olympiakos for a £12m fee in August 2020, one year after Alberto Moreno left Merseyside at the end of his contract.

He’s racked up 18 assists over 107 appearances, though this only averages 21.4 outings per campaign, a figure that is distorted slightly by the current campaign still being completed.

There have been some high moments, to be sure. The nature of Tsimikas’ covering role in the Liverpool squad means that he has played a big part in the three domestic cup triumphs over the past five years, actually whipping the last-gasp corner into Van Dijk’s path to win Liverpool the Carabao Cup against Chelsea last season.

The left-back’s biggest strength lies in the quality of his deliveries, ranking among the top 12% of full-backs across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 9% for shot-creating actions and the top 3% for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref.

A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent’s goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.

However, he has glaring deficiencies in his skill set, namely relating to dribbling and positional virtues. If Robertson is to remain at Liverpool beyond his current, soon-to-expire contract, the 28-year-old Tsimikas will have to go.

His Premier League career has never seen a sustained run of starts across the campaign, albeit playing relatively last term as Robertson battled with injury problems.

Pocketing a healthy salary of £75k per week, Tsimikas remarkably earns more than aforementioned players Diaz and Elliott and arguably plays a less important role than both of them.

Neither forward produced a great performance during the recent FA Cup exit against Plymouth, but Tsimikas was just as culpable, failing to grasp what was a crucial fixture for him to prove to Slot that he deserves a big role over the business months of the season.

This is Anfield branded the Greek defender with a 4/10 score, noting that he had blown a big chance given that Robertson has restored his first-choice status over the past few weeks.

As per Sofascore, he lost the ball 22 times and failed with nine of his ten attempted crosses, unable to summon the best part of his skill set when it mattered.

Liverpool are in the market for a new left-back, report The Athletic, and given that FSG will not want to have three senior left-backs in the ranks and Robertson, 30, is still capable of playing a big part in the team, it may well be time for Tsimikas to leave for pastures new.