Do Liverpool Need a Dynamic Midfielder Like Newcastle's Moussa Sissoko?
After Sunday's FA Cup exit at the hands of Aston Villa, and the bolstering of Manchester City's top-four hopes at their expense, Liverpool are looking at another major squad overhaul in the summer, but would adding a dynamic midfielder like Newcastle United's Moussa Sissoko be a wise move?
This is likely the continued belief of former Reds midfielder Danny Murphy, who in January told talkSPORT that the Frenchman should be made a top priority, along with Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin.
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“Moussa Sissoko and Morgan Schneiderlin are the two players Liverpool should go for," Murphy declared.
"Sissoko is a box-to-box midfielder, who has looked absolutely terrific since going centrally. He's only 25 and a France international. His wages aren’t going to be an issue. He's going to be a brilliant signing for somebody."
Liverpool's reported interest in Sissoko seemingly dates back to 2011, with the Daily Mail suggesting that the then-21-year-old Toulouse star "[looked] destined for Anfield in the summer."
Since Sissoko has made his way to the Premier League with Newcastle, the club has stagnated, with a slew of high-profile departures hampering any progress made.
Should Brendan Rodgers aim to make Sissoko the next?
The Theory
Losing 2-1 to a depleted, but hard-working, Villa side in their Wembley FA Cup semi-final, Liverpool perhaps evidenced one of the main reasons behind Rodgers potentially looking to strengthen his midfield in the summer.
The manager switched from a 3-4-2-1, to a 4-2-3-1, to a 4-3-3, to an eventual, desperate systematic mess as he looked to stymie the threats of Fabian Delph, Christian Benteke and Jack Grealish.
This saw his midfielders, namely Jordan Henderson, Joe Allen and Steven Gerrard, shifting roles with harmful regularity—Gerrard played as an inside forward, a No. 10, and a deep-lying playmaker.
Delph and Grealish were allowed, then, to drift between the spaces left in Liverpool's ill-disciplined central area.
This was made exponentially worse with a clear disparity between defence and attack in the buildup—with Henderson effectively absent from the encounter and Allen toiling to little avail, the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling were isolated and ineffective.
Rodgers needed a driving force—a role he may have hoped Gerrard could emulate, with an ill-advised nostalgia perhaps clouding his view.
The captain will leave for LA Galaxy this summer, leaving a void perhaps more in terms of numbers now than genuine game-changing quality.
So signing a midfielder that can drive his side on, win battles in the midfield and support the attack with efficiency and frequency could be made a priority this summer.
Would Sissoko fill that remit?
Moussa Sissoko
In terms of Premier League midfielders, Sissoko is an interesting proposition; he is a rare, highly powerful box-to-box midfielder who can perform in a variety of positions.
The 25-year-old averages more successful dribbles per game (2.4) than any other regular central midfielder in the English top tier. He also makes as many key passes per game (1.2) as Manchester City's Yaya Toure, for example.
He is able to burst through the midfield with exceptional pace and close control.
In spurning Liverpool's reported interest in 2011, Sissoko claimed: "I had contacts with English clubs, notably Liverpool, but I preferred to commit myself to Toulouse, the club where I have been educated, to get more experience. It is up to me to go on improving, to become a world-class player."
After a season of lacklustre grasps at success, Liverpool supporters will expect world-class reinforcements.
However, while Sissoko is an accomplished Premier League player, he hasn't reached that level since his move to Newcastle.
With just three goals and two assists in 30 league games this season, Sissoko's end product is lacking substantially, and his 78.7 percent average passing accuracy highlights a recklessness in possession.
His deficiencies were perhaps most evident of late in Newcastle's recent 2-0 loss at the hands of Rodgers' side, in which Sissoko was wholly ineffective throughout, before receiving a red card for a studs-up lunge on Lucas Leiva.
With Sissoko failing on that stage, it can be argued that a more suitable player, of similar attributes but of much higher, malleable potential and evident, top-level class, is already in Rodgers' squad.
So why look elsewhere?
Liverpool's Real Midfield Priority
Emre Can was another player on Sunday who switched roles as regularly as Delph was allowed to dance past Gerrard in midfield; he played at centre-back, at right-back and as an advanced midfielder.
Can has become a victim of his own versatility at times this season, with the 21-year-old as monstrously effective in defence as in midfield. However, next season the German should make the permanent move into midfield, assuming the role that Gerrard once filled so dominantly.
This is a situation that Rodgers recognised for the long-term following Can's successful initiation on the right-hand side of Liverpool's back-three defensive system in Boxing Day's 1-0 win away to Burnley.
"If you asked him his profile, he likes to be in that sitting role where he can play and dictate the game as well as be physical in the challenge and duels," the manager told Liverpool's official website. "Him coming on gave us that assurance in possession and also physicality when we didn't have the ball."
Following continued praise, Can outlined his vision of the game in March, as reported by Andy Kelly of the Liverpool Echo: "In the long term it’s definitely my goal to play in the midfield positions. I always have this kind of drive to take me forward offensively no matter which position I'm playing."
Can clearly sees himself as a box-to-box midfielder, and the player who can link Liverpool's defence and attack. Henderson has also performed this role with regularity this season, as has Allen, although both had disappointing off-days when it came down to it at Wembley.
As Rodgers plots for the future, he should have this area covered—it is elsewhere that he should be looking to strengthen.
Murphy's other transfer suggestion, Schneiderlin, was perhaps more salient; the Saints midfielder averages more tackles per game in the league (3.7) than every Liverpool player apart from Lucas (4.4).
Leiva's absence on Sunday, while not unexpected due to his long-standing injury issues, was a significant cause for Liverpool's lack of bite, and Rodgers should make a defensive midfielder, rather than a dynamic, box-to-box player, his priority this summer.
Schneiderlin should be joined by his team-mate Victor Wanyama, Lyon's Maxime Gonalons, Feyenoord's Jordy Clasie and Bayer Leverkusen's Lars Bender on a list of suitable targets.
Signing a midfielder of the profile of Newcastle's Sissoko should not be a priority this summer, as Can is the player to fill that void. Instead, Liverpool must strengthen their midfield with a tough-tackling defensive force.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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