" The curious case of Marko Grujic "

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" The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby Forever Blue » Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:02 am

The curious case of Marko Grujic - and what next for the Liverpool midfielder?



The Liverpool Echo

Wednesday 18th April 2018


As Jurgen Klopp has watched his midfield options deplete one by one of late, Liverpool's forgotten man has viewed from afar down in south Wales.

After seeing Emre Can follow Adam Lallana into the congested Melwood treatment room, Klopp's hand was forced at Goodison Park in the 231st Merseyside derby earlier the month.

Despite having more than one eye on the looming trip to Manchester City as Liverpool tried to negotiate their passage to a first Champions League semi-final for 10 years, Klopp had no option but to name two thirds of his Etihad midfield three days earlier against Everton, so sparse were the German's options.

No Can, no Lallana, teenagers Rafa Camacho and Curtis Jones were drafted into the squad to help bulk up a midfield shortage.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Marko Grujic was nowhere to be seen as Cardiff City were beaten 1-0 at home by Wolves in the Championship.

It's perhaps too simplistic to suggest that has encapsulated Grujic's time at Anfield, but it offers an indication of just how it has panned out for the Serbian since he became Klopp's first signing as Reds boss in January 2016.

Grujic has yet to start a Premier League game under Klopp and has appeared just once in a red shirt this season, turning in a forgettable display in a 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat at Leicester back in September.

Despite the stop-start nature of his time at Anfield to date, the combative midfielder's stint with the Championship side has generally been considered a success so far.

The Serbia international, who was 22 last Friday, has been key to helping Neil Warnock and his squad to the brink of promotion back to the Premier League.


Grujic has appeared in 13 of a possible 16 games since joining the Bluebirds back in January, and a big factor behind his decision to make the short-term switch centred around a desire to make Serbia's World Cup squad.

"Playing in the World Cup is one of the reasons I came," he said last month. "But the main reason was to improve my game, as a 21-year-old.

"The World Cup is one of the biggest events for every player but it will be tough to earn a spot. I’m 21 years old, it's great to play in the Premier League and the Championship already, I’m on a good run now."

Such ambition is to be admired, but it is hard to escape the feeling that Grujic's big chance at Liverpool is currently passing him by each week.

With Can and Lallana battling to return before the season's end and with Klopp surely likely to rotate domestically over the next few weeks, it is possible that Grujic - had he remained at Anfield - would have been given ample opportunity to force himself into the reckoning.

Klopp's engine room is set to undergo something of a renovation this summer, and it is difficult to predict where the former Red Star Belgrade youngster fits into the three-piece puzzle of Liverpool's midfield.

Emre Can is, regrettably, likely to leave on a free transfer with Juventus front and centre of the queue to snare the Germany international midfielder for nothing.

His departure is perhaps offset by the arrival of gifted Guinean international Naby Keita, but the Reds have been repeatedly linked with a move for the likes of Napoli star Jorginho among others, too.





It is likely that a Philippe Coutinho replacement will also be identified following his £142million switch to Barcelona in January, and that's before Grujic even casts a glance above him in the current pecking order at his parent club.

The evergreen James Milner and summer signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are arguably enjoying their best form in a Liverpool shirt at present, captain Jordan Henderson is well positioned and Gini Wijnaldum has now seemingly added the No.6 string to his midfield bow.

There can be no denying that Grujic has made a positive impact at Cardiff, he should be applauded for dropping down a division and making his mark so impressively.

What is less clear though, is just what the future holds for him on his return to Liverpool.
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" The curious case of Marko Grujic "

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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby OriginalGrangeEndBlue » Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:26 am

In answer to the question, I can see Grujic being nowhere near Liverpool’s first team next season.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby CaerphillyBluebird15 » Wed Apr 18, 2018 9:26 am

Hopefully Warnock has had a word with him and asked him to come back if he's not in Liverpools plans :ayatollah:
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby paulh_85 » Wed Apr 18, 2018 9:39 am

CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:Hopefully Warnock has had a word with him and asked him to come back if he's not in Liverpools plans :ayatollah:



wouldnt take him if we are in the prem
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby CaerphillyBluebird15 » Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:01 am

paulh_85 wrote:
CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:Hopefully Warnock has had a word with him and asked him to come back if he's not in Liverpools plans :ayatollah:



wouldnt take him if we are in the prem


Why not mate? I think he's improving every game.
Best centre mid we have surely?
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby paulh_85 » Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:39 am

CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:
paulh_85 wrote:
CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:Hopefully Warnock has had a word with him and asked him to come back if he's not in Liverpools plans :ayatollah:



wouldnt take him if we are in the prem


Why not mate? I think he's improving every game.
Best centre mid we have surely?



been absolutely awful of late while most people have it out for gunners, grujic has been worse.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby CaerphillyBluebird15 » Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:43 am

paulh_85 wrote:
CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:
paulh_85 wrote:
CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:Hopefully Warnock has had a word with him and asked him to come back if he's not in Liverpools plans :ayatollah:



wouldnt take him if we are in the prem


Why not mate? I think he's improving every game.
Best centre mid we have surely?



been absolutely awful of late while most people have it out for gunners, grujic has been worse.


Can't agree with you on this one :shock:
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby Savigma » Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:57 am

Grujic is Cardiff’s best player. I’m not saying he is the most consistent at THIS stage of his career. Ofcourse he was at fault for arguably 2 of our goals since he’s come in the side. But Bruno, Bennett, Hoilett even Bamba at a couple of occasions have been directly at fault for us conceding sometimes... I would still play them every game though. Grujic has done things that the typical “attack attack attack don’t pass backwards” fan wouldn’t appreciate. He is the best deep lying playmaker I have seen in a City shirt and I include Whittingham in that assessment too. He has everything... so let’s pay everything to get him. In my opinion...
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby bluebird58 » Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:02 am

He looks Premier League ready to me. I can’t see him being good enough for Liverpool at the moment, but I could see him doing a job for us whether we get promoted or not.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby CaerphillyBluebird15 » Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:05 am

Savigma wrote:Grujic is Cardiff’s best player. I’m not saying he is the most consistent at THIS stage of his career. Ofcourse he was at fault for arguably 2 of our goals since he’s come in the side. But Bruno, Bennett, Hoilett even Bamba at a couple of occasions have been directly at fault for us conceding sometimes... I would still play them every game though. Grujic has done things that the typical “attack attack attack don’t pass backwards” fan wouldn’t appreciate. He is the best deep lying playmaker I have seen in a City shirt and I include Whittingham in that assessment too. He has everything... so let’s pay everything to get him. In my opinion...


I'd have him over someone like Joe Allen every day of the week. :thumbright:
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby 2blue2handle » Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:20 am

Grujic is a funny one, before Gunner came back I thought he was doing really well, adds height to the team, generally works hard and isn’t afraid to try a more difficult pass.

However since Gunner has come back into the team it hasn’t worked at all, I think with them both in the team they are a little less sure of their job and maybe think one and other will cover. Im not sure but im pretty happy to only have one in the team and we know Warnock will pick Gunner ahead of him every time. My concern is he will try to fit them both in against Forest and it will backfire again.

IF we did go up he isn’t one I would automatically look to loan in especially not on the same terms as we currently do. I don’t think Warnock will either, I think he likes someone with a bit more power.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby davids » Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:47 pm

What I found curious was how he played a full game against Sheff United on Easter Monday (wasn't great but then none of the midfield played well), was then missing from the squad completely against Wolves on the following Friday and then started against Villa on the following Tuesday! :o

If he'd been injured against Sheff United to such an extent that he wasn't even fit for the bench on the Friday, how on earth was he fit to start against Villa three days later?

Shame he didn't play against Wolves as I think he could have made a difference in midfield.

I'd quite like us to sign him for next season if possible as I think he would be a far greater asset in the Premier League than Gunnarsson (assuming we get there of course!)
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby 2blue2handle » Wed Apr 18, 2018 1:00 pm

davids wrote:What I found curious was how he played a full game against Sheff United on Easter Monday (wasn't great but then none of the midfield played well), was then missing from the squad completely against Wolves on the following Friday and then started against Villa on the following Tuesday! :o

If he'd been injured against Sheff United to such an extent that he wasn't even fit for the bench on the Friday, how on earth was he fit to start against Villa three days later?

Shame he didn't play against Wolves as I think he could have made a difference in midfield.

I'd quite like us to sign him for next season if possible as I think he would be a far greater asset in the Premier League than Gunnarsson (assuming we get there of course!)


I agree about that, really hope he isn't offered a new deal, time to move on from him now.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby Bluebird Warrior » Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:47 pm

Savigma wrote:Grujic is Cardiff’s best player. I’m not saying he is the most consistent at THIS stage of his career. Ofcourse he was at fault for arguably 2 of our goals since he’s come in the side. But Bruno, Bennett, Hoilett even Bamba at a couple of occasions have been directly at fault for us conceding sometimes... I would still play them every game though. Grujic has done things that the typical “attack attack attack don’t pass backwards” fan wouldn’t appreciate. He is the best deep lying playmaker I have seen in a City shirt and I include Whittingham in that assessment too. He has everything... so let’s pay everything to get him. In my opinion...


He's a good player with a lot of potential but to say he's the best deep lying playmaker in a city shirt is wrong imo. Sorry but from the age of 21-30 Whittingham was consistent week in week out, picking out ridiculous passes and contributing at least 10 goal and 10 assists every season. Grujic hasn't added goal or assists to the team, his passing can be wayword and lulls on the ball far too long to be classed as our best DLP. But he's a decent player with a lot of potential but for me he's to hit or miss to "pay everything to get him." Still better than Gunnarsson though.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby CF23 Bluebird » Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:33 pm

CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:
paulh_85 wrote:
CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:
paulh_85 wrote:
CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:Hopefully Warnock has had a word with him and asked him to come back if he's not in Liverpools plans :ayatollah:



wouldnt take him if we are in the prem


Why not mate? I think he's improving every game.
Best centre mid we have surely?



been absolutely awful of late while most people have it out for gunners, grujic has been worse.


Can't agree with you on this one :shock:


Neither can i
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby Valley Lad » Wed Apr 18, 2018 5:25 pm

Hope to see Grujic in for Saturday, feel we play better football with him in team, but agree with others seems to struggle to play with Gunner in same midfield. Sheffield Utd we were all over the place with Gunner appearing to be playing on the left??
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby 2blue2handle » Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:34 pm

Valley Lad wrote:Hope to see Grujic in for Saturday, feel we play better football with him in team, but agree with others seems to struggle to play with Gunner in same midfield. Sheffield Utd we were all over the place with Gunner appearing to be playing on the left??


At villa I thought they both looked as a midfield two but neither sure of who was doing what.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby billy ronson » Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:34 pm

I would have him back !! :thumbup:

I think the game against Wolves wiould have suited him more than Villa BUT Neil Warnock knows more than I do about football management so who am I to question him! :bluescarf:
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby nubbsy » Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:43 pm

paulh_85 wrote:
CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:
paulh_85 wrote:
CaerphillyBluebird15 wrote:Hopefully Warnock has had a word with him and asked him to come back if he's not in Liverpools plans :ayatollah:



wouldnt take him if we are in the prem


Why not mate? I think he's improving every game.
Best centre mid we have surely?



been absolutely awful of late while most people have it out for gunners, grujic has been worse.




I think he's done a job for us overall, nothing special. But I think gunnar has a detrimental effect on the way we play whilst Grujic doesn't.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby #1ScouseBluebird » Wed Apr 18, 2018 8:48 pm

Grujic has bags of potential. Just turned 22. Skillful and a man mountain. Possesion play (at times), has been excellent. Hes got loads to learn about positiinal play without the ball. But hes a player - will only get better. Wayward passes etc - to be understood from a young player. Look, Gunnar is going, i suspect he’ll leave even if promoted. I’d love us to sign Grujic on a years loan if we get promoted. If we do get to the promised land then we’re going to need some canny midfield recruits. A permanent transfer is unrealustic. If we do go up NW will do some left field wheeler dealing for sure.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby paulh_85 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 6:34 am

#1ScouseBluebird wrote:Grujic has bags of potential. Just turned 22. Skillful and a man mountain. Possesion play (at times), has been excellent. Hes got loads to learn about positiinal play without the ball. But hes a player - will only get better. Wayward passes etc - to be understood from a young player. Look, Gunnar is going, i suspect he’ll leave even if promoted. I’d love us to sign Grujic on a years loan if we get promoted. If we do get to the promised land then we’re going to need some canny midfield recruits. A permanent transfer is unrealustic. If we do go up NW will do some left field wheeler dealing for sure.



a similar deal to this season, where he has to play the majority of games or we pay a fine, is going to make us look a little silly if he turns in some of the performances he has this season.

i'd probably look at a loan if we are still in the championship. Not sure hes the reliable player we would need in the prem though.
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Re: " The curious case of Marko Grujic "

Postby OriginalGrangeEndBlue » Thu Apr 19, 2018 6:44 am

paulh_85 wrote:
#1ScouseBluebird wrote:Grujic has bags of potential. Just turned 22. Skillful and a man mountain. Possesion play (at times), has been excellent. Hes got loads to learn about positiinal play without the ball. But hes a player - will only get better. Wayward passes etc - to be understood from a young player. Look, Gunnar is going, i suspect he’ll leave even if promoted. I’d love us to sign Grujic on a years loan if we get promoted. If we do get to the promised land then we’re going to need some canny midfield recruits. A permanent transfer is unrealustic. If we do go up NW will do some left field wheeler dealing for sure.



a similar deal to this season, where he has to play the majority of games or we pay a fine, is going to make us look a little silly if he turns in some of the performances he has this season.

i'd probably look at a loan if we are still in the championship. Not sure hes the reliable player we would need in the prem though.


After the big Grujic ‘love in’ on here, it’s refreshing to find somebody who agrees with my opinion on him.
There is something about him that could develop though but at 22 he needs to step up in my opinion.
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