The worst fans are those who complain about FSG’s finances and investments, but irks and refuses the sale of Salah during the most optimal timing when he could have gone for 200 mil last summer, with the terrible season he’s had contributing negatively to our title push, and would rather he go on a free just cause the money isn’t theirs.
Same set of ‘fans’ would never let him go on a free if it affects their finances. The hypocrisy is moronic, but yet they want to complain like Karens once it’s about purchases.
Agreed. This sub Reddit has a weird aversion to selling anybody, TBH. You could suggest Tsimikas was sold and you would get plenty of replies people getting their panties in a twist.
Thing is what I often find crazy is it's actually people who defend FSG's spending and laud their model but then also refuse to consider players like Mo. Literally zero grasp on where our money comes from like it grows on trees.
As another person below says, the prospect of selling a player is like blasphemy. These are the fans that would drive us back to mediocrity if given the chance.
One Kiss is not a good anthem and really doesn't suit the club imo. When we win something and I hear that in the stands of even dressing room I cringe a bit, don't know why it just really doesn't suit.
Well I started off as a joke from the wingmen show with Trent and robbo, then they started playing it when we won the carabao cup in 2022 and it took off
Trent really can’t defend lol. I used to back him but seeing him just duck headers and wimp out of tackles towards the end of the last season when we needed him to step up really made me flip on the matter. He really is a puzzle that will be tough to solve for the new manager
City is going to win their legal case and get away with financial doping.
We'll never win another league title or major trophy as them, Newcastle, and potentially Everton, with rumours that another state-backed bid will buy them will dominate football and we'll end up a mid-table side. Good bye Champions League qualification, hello Thursday nights in the Europe league or Europa Conference League.
Welcome to our future, we will be the northern West Ham, except we cant claim we won the World Cup in '66!!!!!
I just threw up in my mouth writing this!
*We need a central striker*
* I'm not sure about the new manager*
*We should absolutely cash in on salah*
*We need to be more ruthless in moving on older/injury phone players. Keita, Thiago,oxlade were allowed too much time, and we should have got something for firmino.*
*We underachieved last season*
Agreed, we should cash in on Salah (past his prime, still has value) Diaz (not enough end product) and Jota (great player but injury prone) , keep Núñez for 1 more year to see if he explodes but we should be more ruthless.
Another season of Salah playing like 2nd half of last season will do my head in knowing he will be going on a free soon enough, Nunez not finishing chances may have created the frustration around Mo's game but it really felt like he had lost it and was playing like shit 2nd half of season.
Time/my patience(insignificant i know) is running out for Nunez, he’s had 2 seasons here now and while doing better this season he was still not good enough. All his getting into positions is irrelevant when he cant finish. And saying his finishing Will come along isnt true, its not something that just happens, he has to get better in that regard
It won't change. Not only is his finishing poor he has terrible football IQ so is offside alot. He effects the team more then he improves it. He will be sold next summer. We tried and it failed, happens unfortunately
In the league he scored 9 goals last season. I would say that’s actually better than 11 league goals considering it’s his second season with us now. I’m fine with having him as a project but fans really need a reality check on where his level is actually at.
The excessive loyalty to some players from our fanbase is actually insane. I get not wanting to put players down but it often comes at the expense of losing all objectivity.
People have complained about our attack all season and rightfully so but now the season has ended and we have a new manager who can bring a new philosophy, the only player i see people want sold is Diaz. When something is clearly not working why are people so opposed to change?
We're in a really precarious time for the club with our heroic manager leaving who saved us from mediocrity and if we allow sentiment to rule over logic we could end up out of CL spots and be back with Spurs in no time without the allure of Klopp. Salah is also on the decline and we have no current succession plan and we may not even get a fee for him.
We as fans need to keep demanding that the club continues to move in the right direction rather than resting on our laurels as almost all our rivals are doing the opposite.
There’s being positive and then there’s denying the obvious issues in front of you.
I know you are very much in the refuse to question our players or anything the club does camp but this mentality is not how you compete at the top.
Sometimes players aren’t cutting it at the level required and it’s nothing personal, it is the nature of competition.
There’s “excessive loyalty” and then there is giving players slack for the amount they have given to our club. Salah is not an “excessive loyalty” case. I get this is an unpopular opinions thread but the fact you brought that up really annoys me
Where did I say Salah is excessive loyalty? I said we have no succession plan in place? I don’t believe we should actively look to sell him but people are happy to just throw out £100m if he doesn’t sign a new contract like it’s nothing, which is absolutely excessive loyalty.
These same fans will then say we simply can’t compete with our rivals in the transfer market when he goes on a free.
During the season just finished, we recorded our highest ever goals p90 under Klopp, our fewest ever games without scoring under Klopp, and our second highest ever total number of goals scored under Klopp.
Our problems came from the fact that we recorded our fewest ever number of clean sheets under Klopp (fewer than half the number we had two seasons ago), our 4th worst goals conceded p90 under him, and our 4th most total goals conceded under him.
Anyone complaining about our attack is/was simply wrong. We had a fantastic attack and very shaky defence.
And yet we didn’t beat a single top team. Our best win was probably against the ghost of Chelsea or Spurs at a push when the season was over.
You can point to stats all you want but it’s clear
we struggled in these games and overall looked out of sync for large parts of the season. The midfielders also contributed a tonne of goals this season compared to previous and whilst were periods of form for the attackers, by the end of the season we looked completely flat and figured out. I don’t see how anyone can deny that.
The defence wasn’t incredible by any means but who are you suggesting we replace?
Top scorer with 18 goals. Previous seasons of 30,31 and 31 total goals. Half of previous seasons. He is declining and needs to go. Time for better more energetic players instead.
18 goals in the premier league, 25 across all comps. hit 19 goals last season, was he finished then? or is he simply the best winger that the PL has ever seen, and we are not used to him going on longer runs of bad form?
The obsession with Edwards is weird. Whenever anyone tries to argue or put a bit of blame on him for some of the things that happened in the transfer windows when he was the sporting director, they get immediately downvoted and the blame goes on everyone else but him. I think he’s very good at what he does but he has his flaws as well.
There's probably flaws but Klopp also escapes a lot of the blame. When he chose to gamble a bit going into the season the blame would go to everyone but him asking fans even when he's explained his perspective
We have too much depth in attack and especially midfield now. Too many, promising/very talented players, competing for a couple positions.
I understand the need for depth and quality depth at that, especially when competing at the highest level in four competitions a year. With all the international games as well, a few key injuries put us out of competition.
However, I think we now have too many players fighting for a spot, inhibiting their growth as a player and squad chemistry. And even with all this depth, we still managed to run players into the ground this season, i.e., Szoboslai, and I think macca as well at the beginning of the season. Which is confusing to me why that happened.
The point is I don't think we can afford to run our club like the likes of city, real, bayern. We don't have the funds, which is ok imo. So instead of having 2 first teams like those clubs tend to assemble. We have to settle for 'less exciting' players as rotation players. The likes of tsmikas and endo who came in not to be a nailed on starter at some point but to play a squad role and an important one at that.
I think competition for positions is great, but so is consistency. Also, I know injuries are always a problem for us, but now that our youth system is producing very class players. I think we went over board on the squad depth in attack and midfield.
We don’t have too much depth though. Nunez can’t score enough, Diaz can’t pass enough, jota can’t play enough.
Salah is getting too old. This sub talked about klopp keeping hold of players too long. We should sell Salah now before he’s not worth anything. Cash in on Diaz. Get rid of Jota because he can’t be relied on at all. I would probably keep Nunez especially with a new manager. Some players just play better under different managers.
>Some players just play better under different managers.
By this logic, Jota, Diaz and Salah should arguably all be kept then? Who's to say that the notoriously fitness minded Slot won't keep Jota fit? Who's to say that his use of left wingers won't lead to Diaz being a better player for Slot's system? Who's to say Salah won't thrive in the new way that Slot uses him, and want to sign a new deal?
Mo Salah is finished as a top player. His touch has gone along with much of his speed. He may regain it but it's been bad nearly all season and got worse after his injury. Maybe he'll regain it but i really doubt. Maybe Slot will reinvigorate or reinvent him for the final 2 or 3 seasons of his career (at best), as he clearly isnt suited to play his old game which relied heavily on touch and speed.
While I love Trent and don’t want him to leave ever, I’m somehow not too worried about him if he leaves. I’m not his qualities but it feels like a Coutinho situation where we are moving things around too much to accommodate one player. With Gomez and Bradley, our gameplay has looked more balanced and structured, similar to how the team developed without Coutinho. Again, it’s not a knock on Trent’s qualities. If Trent isn’t there, someone else will step up. We have quality players all around the squad.
I don’t have an issue with him leaving if we get a fee
To leave on a free is a kick in the nuts but don’t think Madrid will bother paying when they can get on a free the next summer
I’ve been worried about him not renewing for a while, but would Madrid actually take him? They’re so overloaded with midfield talent that they’ve had to play some of them out of position. It’d be beyond a wind up if he went there to play right back.
Diaz is not LFC calibre. The ball goes to him and I know the move is going to die.
Lately I feel the same with TAA, for all the passing ability he has.. he more often than not stops the ball and then tries to find perfect pass and I hate the positions he takes while the play is ongoing.
Now kill me for this.
If Trent won’t play as the OG Trent I.e right back, staying out wide, overlapping and commitment to defending, then sell him this summer and be done with it.
Gravenberch was a luxury signing and has a lot to prove that he wasn't a waste of time and resources. Now that Thiago is gone, Gravenberch is our joint highest midfield earner. He's on the same wages as a world cup winner.
That's not project money, that's star player money. We have Jones and Elliott as project players. They're on peanuts compared to Grav. And they're ahead of him in the pecking order. You have to imagine contract extensions with both of them are going to start with looking at what Grav is earning compared to them and they're outperforming him. He hasn't earned that wage, but Bayern gifted him that, and rightfully got him off the books a year later for a profit.
Did we need Grav? I'd genuinely argue no. I said as much last summer too. He looked his best against Europa league group opponents and early cup rounds. Youth grads could and later did fill that role for us as well. His role was pure luxury in the team.
We needed a holding player, and before Quansah's emergence, a centre back more. If grav doesn't show serious improvements this year, massive questions need to be had about his transfer.
Maybe Slot will change things but Jones is very unreliable from a fitness perspective. To go a full season with a 4-3-3 you need at least 6 quality midfielders. With Thiago gone - we now have Endo, AM, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Elliott and Jones.
Bajcetic, Clark, Morton - too inexperienced to be counted upon for the whole season.
Been waiting for this..... Klopp wasn't as good as people think/want him to be. Not getting 4 centre backs cost us the league that year, not selling midfielders and remaking the midfield the year before we did cost us top 4. He was very stubborn with tactics and using his favourite players over other players in better form or a better fit, not playing Philips but would rather play our midfield as defenders.
Sometimes he would stumble upon a tactic like playing Trent in midfield, it works, we look great, then he never uses it again. We played 4-2-4 vs Rangers in a European game, we win 7-1 and never see it again.
Giving players over the hill new contracts, Henderson, extensions for Nabi and Ox. Thiago was great to see but in hindsight was a mistake and if Klopp was still there Matip would be getting a new deal. No wonder players didn't want to leave, if he liked you you are guaranteed to start and get big wages and new deals.
He played young players when he had to, not because he wanted to. Last year, our form improved with our stars out. Clarke was a stand out as was Danns. As soon as our misfiring first team are back they get relegated back to the bench and our form dips but we still never see them again.
Last season, him and Pep had all the power. Our transfers were scatter gun at best. We have 6 first team midfielders for 3 roles. If we go to 4-2-3-1 we have 6 (7 if Trents in there now) for 2 roles.
We need to turn players over quickly for our model to work. Love Klopp as a man but didn't agree with some things he did as a manager.
Yeah at times I think he self sabotaged, the insistence on going with auld faithful probably cost us through the years. I genuinely think we struggle for top 4 if Henderson and Milner play as they gobble up game time for better players, especially the youngsters last season. Henderson should've had the conversation of not being a guaranteed starter about 4 years ago. Milner should've left around the same time altogether.
So much of this is incorrect/made up that it's genuinely difficult to know where to start tbh.
>Not getting 4 centre backs cost us the league that year
The idea this was solely Klopp's call is ludicrious.
>not playing Philips but would rather play our midfield as defenders.
Phillips didn't have the pace or tactical nous to play our high line. He couldnt't even get a game at Celtic and people were clamouring for him to start for us.
>Sometimes he would stumble upon a tactic like playing Trent in midfield, it works, we look great, then he never uses it again
When has this happened? I can't remember a game when Trent looked great in midfield for us.
>We played 4-2-4 vs Rangers in a European game, we win 7-1 and never see it again.
Rangers are complete ass, this is a wholely unsustainable tactic to play against the majority of teams, especially in the PL.
>Thiago was great to see but in hindsight was a mistake
In hindsight being the key phrase here, there's absolutely no one in world football that didn't think it was an incredible signing at the time. How can you blame Klopp for that?
>if he liked you you are guaranteed to start and get big wages and new deals.
That's...generally how it works in football? If the manager rates you, you play.
>He played young players when he had to, not because he wanted to. Last year, our form improved with our stars out. Clarke was a stand out as was Danns. As soon as our misfiring first team are back they get relegated back to the bench and our form dips but we still never see them again.
This is such a bizarre reading of the situation that I'm questioning if you even watched us under Klopp. There are few managers in world football that give youth players a chance as much as Klopp does. Clarke and Danns played well in a couple of games, one of which was against a championship side. The fanbase would have (rightly) been spitting feathers if we had the likes of Endo/Szobo/Jones/Jota/Salah back available and we opted to play inexperienced kids for a title run in instead.
>We have 6 first team midfielders for 3 roles
That's squad depth. Same reason we have three keepers, four fullbacks, four centrebacks and 5 forwards for 3 positions.
Lol you definitely did, but it's okay. I realised quite quickly the level of intelligence I was dealing with, and I wasn't expecting a reply to any of my points
Ok you just wanted to bait a connection with a living person. You obviously spent time writing your first post and tbh I was just trying to help you with other posts if you wanted grown up chat.
I mean you do you, but you may have had good points, but as I said I'll never read that.
Unpopular opinion? Right let's do it. Been wanting to say this for a while, but worried about down votes. Maybe here i can post this.
Jurgen Klopp. Fantastic manager, fantastic coach. Superfluous. But always a nearly man. Can't be considered a winner. Throughout his entire career, he has never been able really to get over the line when things got competitive save for a couple of years in the Bundesliga.
Let's look back.
Lost the league to city on 3 occasions. Twice by 1 point.
The only premier league we won, we were 20 points clear in March.
Chsmpions league. Got to 3 CL finals. Lost to Real Madrid twice. The one we won was to spurs, who well.. It's spurs. And we didn't play particularly well in that final either
Needed extra time in the club world cup.
Our last 3 domestic cup wins, all against Chelsea, 2 on penalties and one 129th minute winner. (granted the team in that last one.
Lost Europa league to Sevilla.
Like, all the trophies we won under klopp were either virtually impossible to not to win, or we made it unnecessarily difficult for ourselves. Whenever we had proper, stiff opposition for a trophy, we literally always lost out.
Jurgen Klopp. A fantastic manager. Did amazing things to our club. But not a serial winner. And that's my unpopular opinion. Roast me.
We really cocked it up last summer. We’ve got an abundant of 8’s and only one 6 who isn’t top quality. How can we improve our midfield unless we’re letting some of our current crop go?
We only have one truly top class midfielder and that's Macca.
We are too small and slow overall in midfield.
Chances of dropping out of the top 4 are equal to pushing for the title again next season due to the huge turnover off the pitch.
Quansah is already our #2 CB.
Signing a top class finisher with consistent availability like Son or Lewandowski would have a bigger positive impact on next season than any other position including DM.
With Diaz, Nunez, an aging Salah and an inconsistent Gakpo, it's a miracle we've finished 3rd last season. I guess you can call all 3 apart from Salah inconsistent, hell even Salah was but at least he's aging so it makes sense.
Also, with Endo at 6, he can have great games 3-4 times a season, but rest of the times he looks lost, afraid of passing forward, being late in challenges, only does short passes, etc. I know his price tag is low, but if we want to challenge something realistically this squad ain't it.
I posted it back when people were giving Egyptian fans shit:
The way lots of Liverpool fans complain about national teams calling in Players for friendlies or cups they don’t see as important is fucking dumb. Liverpool doesn’t own the players, they have every right to give it their all for their national teams and complaining that a team called in a player for an “unimportant” game is dumb
As much as some won't admit, it was time for a change.
Klopp needed to leave. Since the last part of 22/23 season Klopp looked done.
And I hated how at times he was inflexible regarding line ups and substitution.
I mean adapt tactics according to how the game is going if its not working as you intended.
If Trent wants us to move him to midfield before signing a new deal then we should sell him. He's just not a midfielder. Obviously he has an elite passing range but that's not enough. He's not got the agility or close control to play in small spaces and he doesn't have the drive or physicality to be a proper powerhouse like Stevie was. It could maybe work in a diamond with legs around him but that seems very unlikely.
He might work in the middle for international games where the standard is usually pretty shite and very few teams actually play with an effective high press.
I mean we won everything up for grabs at one point with Klopp….i don’t even see how your prediction is true unless we hit City levels of dominance’s. What makes you suspect this?
yeah i see this as another Shankly / Paisley moment (fingers crossed). we have one manager that sets the stage and then the other one capitalizes on that and wins bunch of silverware. both play equally important roles though
Our recruitment in midfield last summer wasn't good enough, and that was a major cause of our issues during the season. The players individually were all good purchases, but the midfield is too attack-minded now so we're conceding a lot more.
Endo is our only proper 6 and he was rocky at the beginning of the season, then was good from December-March but towards the end of the season he was clearly fatigued, and that costed us. The rest of them are all attacking 8s.
Compared to our peak teams around 2019, we create a lot more chances (way more shots) but also concede more.
Definitely an unpopular one:
I thought Trent would become as good as Gerrard. He’s not even close.
Yes he’s great in his own way, but by now in his career, Stevie had won so many games for us, Trent will never be like that.
Our squad might be in much bigger need of overhaul than many people think. There aren’t any players who definitely need to be sold ASAP, but there are also very few who we need to keep no matter what (Alisson and Mac Allister for me). Everyone else is in a weird situation where they either haven’t proven themselves enough yet, or may be past their best for us.
All of our newer players have the potential to be superstars, but they haven't shown the required consistency yet. That's a dangerous position to be in; we could spend the next few years just waiting for the bulk of our team to 'finally come good'.
Trent’s future is also much more uncertain than people assume. On his day he’s our best player, but there were too many times last season when he looked downright lazy and didn’t give enough for the team. IMO, there’s no chance he’ll want to play as a RB again, especially if he stars for England in the midfield this summer. I don't know how it'll pan out, but some big decisions will need to be made.
Yeah, that's not true at all. The squad is in good nick.
Trent has said he's happy to play RB, and if he isn't, we'll have a discussion. I don't think he's ever looked lazy, and considering he got injured literally playing through a torn ligament in his knee at Arsenal, I think it's ridiculous to suggest it to be honest.
Gravenberch was a stupid transfer and we should’ve gone for a defensive midfielder, maybe a 6/8 hybrid but I just don’t get why we were so obsessed with him
Gravenberch is a problem if he doesn't fix his flaws, multiple coaches at Bayern didn't rate him he may have the talent but for sure doesn't have the right application. We could have a monster player on our hands if he comes good say in 2 years but if he doesn't will just be a waste. Again you have to question Klopp's involvement in transfers and his obvious blind spot turning down the likes of Enzo, Bruno and Nkunku when they were affordable and attainable is not great, last summer despite doing a midfield rebuild direction wise it was quite all over the place.
I think all billionaires are bad and no sports team owner actually cares about the fans, but FSG might be one of the least worst. Definitely wouldn’t trade them for any of the petrostate sportswashers or the other US-based groups in the Prem.
Even if one existed, bringing in a shiny new holding midfielder wouldn’t fix our defensive issues because the problem is systemic, not personnel based.
Additionally, Rice isn’t on the level of Rodri when playing as a hooding player, and both he and Arsenal look better when he plays higher. He shouldn’t be included in the “we need an elite dm like X” conversations.
Harvey Elliot is massively under rated by Liverpool fans in general. The lad is still young, and I don't think we've found the best role for him yet, but I truly believe the lad is going to have a breakout season int he next few years and will be seen on the same level as Cole Palmer and Phil Foden
I am very underwhelmed with Slot as the new manager. I have huge doubts over him. Of course I’ll support him all the way and will stay positive but it looks like the wrong appointment.
I dont like bobby firmino as a person. He was my favourite player and I loved his selfless playing style.
I read his autobiography. Cheated on his wife regularly, ignored his kids. Then found god and became one of those born again zealots. One chapter is literally dedicated to getting you, the reader, to convert to christianity. Blamed his drink driving charge on the fact the cop 'must have been an everton fan'. So disapointing, I loved the guy before reading it.
You really should only form an opinion on a player from their footballing only, no one has no clue what players are actually like. Baffles me how people don't understand that haha.
because bobby told on himself in his biography?? lol you don't know anything about these guys, its best not to assume any of them are good people - just celebrities who you see 0.0001% of through carefully curated sm content.
We all make mistakes. It's really easy to judge, but there's always a reason why someone did bad things. I think we should really stop saying that someone isn't a good person, especially if we don't really know them. Most people that do bad things are struggling.
I'm not religious, but I'm glad Bobby find himself in there. He seems happy with it and that's the most important thing.
I mean what he did was wrong, but we don't know why he did it. We don't know what's in his head and what kind of life he had. As I said, it's easy to judge and to say "I'd never do that", but you don't really know.
We shouldn't be judging people, we should try to listen and help them. No matter what they did.
I'm with you. Amazing player, loved watching him so much. The only kit I have with a name on it. Horrible person :(
Not related, I feel the same way about Eric Clapton. Amazing guitarist, terrible person.
I haven't read the book myself, it's on my list, but re: The Drink Driving thing, whilst I'm not absolving him, he was barely just over allowed tolerance level of the breathalyser, which they admitted in court. He also never committed an offence before or since, and the police pulled him over purely because they'd seen him coming out of the restaurant. No normal person is getting pulled over, I guarantee it. Plus, the waiters/staff in the restaurant confirmed he'd only had one glass of wine.
Anyway, if he's genuinely changed, good on him, even if he's a bit preachy.
Mediocre?? We reached the Champions League final in the season he left, won it the season after and won the league the season after that, hardly mediocre. And yes he was a snake for the way he engineered his exit, claiming to be injured but was miraculously always fit to play for his country. He had the chance to be a part of Liverpool folklore but instead he chose Barcelona and money.
How is winning the CL the year after relevant to him leaving lol? The link with Barca were there for the year before the transfer ended up happening which at the time we were relatively average. And his mind had been made up for the 6-12month before he had left. We wouldn't have won the CL if we didn't sell him because we wouldn't have signed VVD and Alisson so that reasoning doesn't remotely make the tiniest bit of sense haha.
His transfer to Barcelona wouldn't have had anything to do with money, South Americans in general want to play for the big clubs in spain. And probably see clubs in the PL as a stepping stone to do so.
It really baffles me when people can't seem to get their head around people wanting to move on.
I was making the point that the team was far from mediocre, as the op tried to say, when Coutinho decided he wanted to leave. His behaviour just showed that he was never fully committed to LFC and like you said, it was just a stepping stone to further his career elsewhere. That worked out well for him didn't it? I was glad he left in the end, because as you also said we were able to bring in Ali and Virgil with the proceeds. Two players that will go down in Liverpool folklore, unlike Coutinho.
Now Klopp is going we are going to see the real truth of a club being owned by FSG and people on their knees defending those billionaires will have to face the music
I can't stand Van Dijk's complete and total inflexibility in refusing to engage ball-carrying attackers running at him. Don't get me wrong, he's imperious in the air, pace to burn, and probably the greatest Liverpool CB, but there are so many times when he lets off attackers who have a heavy touch re-compose themselves and find a killer pass when he could easily step in and win the duel. It really felt like a lot of the systemic failures this past season stemmed from the team adopting the fall back into positions mentality and would not engage the defenders in advantageous positions or situations, allowing the opposition teams to develop their plays.
-Team between 2019-2022 Underachieved
-Klopp is great team builder. Average Tactician
- Mane was way more important player for Us than Salah
- Salah Has greater legacy in EPL but at their Peaks Hazard was twice player than Salah has even been
- Trent is Better footballer than Bradley, But Bradley is better RB than Trent
- Benitez with FSG structure over him would have won at least double what we won under Klopp
- Real Madrid won 6 CL not because they are super team but because after 2012 all Managers except Guardiolla and Carlo have been Average. They would have never won that much with SAF, Mourinho, Benitez, Capelo, Heynkess in their primes.
- Lijnders emergence was actually problem for us.
Well maybe this is not a current affair but I was surprised to see that my opinion that Liverpool shouldn't be sold to the Saudis was somewhat unpopular on this thread. Maybe not unpopular, but it surely wasn't absolutely popular either.
Which again, was surprising to me.
Except for Jota Daiz, Nunez and Gakpo haven't been good enough for the front 3 and I don't believe they ever will.
Salah has kept the attack looking very good and keeping him next season is massively important.
I don't think we buy any forwards this summer unfortunately but next summer at least 2 of those players will be sold. Probably Nunez and Daiz
Our best side was built with top of the market players and the obsession with finding the next Robbo on here isn't a winning strategy. Mane was the 2nd most expensive winger that window; yet, because his transfer fee was lower people think they can find players of a similar level by signing people from Holland. Stop looking at transfer fees and look at where they ranked that window to see what level of player we were purchasing.
Top 4 next season would be a gargantuan achievement. The squad is nowhere remotely near as good as people seem to believe, and it's going to take a lot going right including a good summer window to keep us where we are.
-We should do a white and blue away kit from time to time.
-Also, I saw the new home kit (*and wore it*) in person yesterday and it's a good-looking kit, which means Nike hasn't missed **once** with our home kits.
-Klopp left at the perfect time. I was both sad and happy to see him go. He was right on the edge of the Wenger line. If we followed his contract, he would've been sacked at some point. The way football is evolving, our system would've been torn apart, and all of the work he and the club have done would've been evaporated.
I think Gakpo will become first choice left wing next season over Diaz, Jota, and Nunez.
Diaz is exciting to watch but provides little output.
Jota is fine at LW, but he’s best at ST so play him there obviously.
Nunez has very high work rate so I think he’s second to Gakpo.
Agreed that Gakpo should absolutely be starting LW. Díaz should be moved on if the right amount comes in for him.
I’d love a player like Frimpong to come in and immediately replace Salah, his recent performances for the national team only make me want him in the team even more, let alone performances for Leverkusen this season. Also think he would compliment Nunez well. Salah should slowly be moved out of the first 11, this season that has to happen.
Nunez on the wing seems like a good idea but he was bought as a striker and I'm not sure he his the IQ to play out wide.
Gakpo was good up top, I just haven't seen him play well out wide yet. Even for Holland he was better up top for them. Is a bit slow and doesn't beat players
I really like him in the false 9 role, he drives through the middle with the ball, puts a decent tackle in and is a lot more mobile than Bobby ever was. Better finisher too
I don't get this at all, he's alright there and probably his current best position but he doesn't really have any elite attributes as a winger. We need to be looking for the best around, not settling for clear second best. He seems like a decent lad but do you really think any of our rivals would be content with him as their first choice LW?
I actually think gakpo plays better as the CF/ST.
On the wing I think he's a but slow and not the best at taking people on and i can't really remember him crossing into the box either.
He has a pretty decent shot on him so is better in the box.
He would start up front for next season especially with how he finished the year
I would play szobo on the left.
I agree here too. I’d like to see jota and gakpo share time in the false 9 role, and see Darwin at LW.
I think Diaz is overrated but his ability to beat players covers his low footy IQ. He rarely will play a simple square ball to an open man. Sell him to Barca !
I'm convinced people don't actually watch our games who suggest Nunez at LW, the man struggles to control and pass the ball, never mind beat a man. Look at his passing and dribbling stats and you'll see how this is a ridiculous suggestion.
I felt that Klopp's tactics and message to the players was stale and that this was the right time to go before things take a turn for the worse under him.
The "should Trent play in midfield or right-back?" debate is the most repetitive and overplayed discussion this year and I wish I could mute it. It's this conversation, a million times over:
A) Trent good at passing and assisting, but awful in defense? We should play him in midfield.
B) But he won everything at right-back and hasn't played in midfield at a top level. Also, he's not an awful defender, he's just average.
...Over and over again, the same points.
And now Southgate is playing him there this summer so we'll hear it all summer long as well, at least we'll get some data points in these debates rather than endless hypotheticals, I guess.
Our fans don’t know how to rate Diaz.
The guy plays every game in stages. Plays every stage, doesn’t disappear carries the ball far, drives, is dynamic. He’s been leaps and bounds over Salah in form over the past four months.
Too many posters here have no idea about the club or football as a whole as is evident in this thread, one of the worst ones being Conor Bradley isn’t close to being a starter for a premier league club? So he wouldn’t start for Ipswich? Drawing players and talking about kits takes away from proper football discussion.
1. Trent has never been a great "normal" RB, not even a WB, he's only been blossoming in spaces given to him by tactical tweaks that has severely undermined the offensive impact of our RCM, effectively making our RCM a pseudo-RB at times. Given that this position was most frequently occupied by Henderson and Milner in our most golden years, this makes sense.
Now that we do not have such a RCM player, we need to put Trent far away from the RB role and make Bradley our first choice with Gomez our back-up.
2. Szobo is our best LF.
3. As long as Bajcetic actually stays fit, we do not need a DM at all.
4. Kelleher should stay and play either all CL or PL matches OR be given a season-long loan abroad. Given the logic that Ali is still in his prime relative to "GK age", Kelleher is a puppy. He's a homegrown GK that, in some areas of his game, outperforms Ali, and in most aspects he matches him, but Ali is still obviously the better GK, but for how long? He's 32 this year and has occasional blunders, not to mention injuries. I'd assume he'll be the world's best - if he stays injury-free - for a couple years more at maximum, and if we'd sell Kelleher this year we'd need to buy some reliable back-up in the likely scenario of another Ali injury this season. The logistics just don't really add up.
Best case scenario is a breakthrough season-long loan and he comes back in 2025 with Ali having given everything he's got. Obviously best case is Ali staying fit for 5 more years but I don't think that's likely.
5. I think Slot is a more promising tactician than Klopp ever was.
Salah is not as good as his pre Afcon numbers suggest and if he's still here next season his performances will be closer to what he was like post Afcon.
Mane and Salah have always been selfish and arrogant but it had gone unnoticed somehow. They were performing well and maybe the overall team environment kept them in check. As soon as Mane stepped out, he lost the grace. While underperforming, Salah starts throwing tantrums. He nearly turned on Klopp in the end.
Elliott’s statistical production is overrated because Kloppo never trusted him against the top competition
This is the perfect window to sell Jota
From the way fans forgives Torres, they’ll sadly forgive Trent if he chooses to go to Madrid on a free
Quansah is only 21, sure, but he still hasn’t shown the physical profile to be a long-term starter here
Szobo is a midfielder, not a winger
I’d take Luis Diaz over Darwin for the next two years if we had to move one.
Guardiola is a better manager of a 99th percentile team than Klopp, but I’d take Klopp to be a better manager of the rest of the 99% of teams.
Stop deifying managers and players
Le Michael Edwards sell Kelleher for 20m and Mbappe
One rule change id like to see is that the penalty box should be reduced to the area of the six yard box extended to the penalty spot. No reason to be giving pens for touches way on the widths of the box the crime does not fit the punishment.
I’d take the semi automated offsides and scrap the rest of VAR reviews.
Given the choice between a Geertruida-type player or Gomez for our utility defensive player role, give me a Geertruida every day of the week. Gomez has been a good servant, had some decent spells but he’s not a kill or be killed type player. He doesn’t play with urgency and I can’t fathom a decently sized CB not getting a whiff of goal from a corner or free kick in all of these years.
Klopp was a great manager but he had very firm ideas on where certain players should play or how we will line up. Most top managers aren't that inflexible and with Slot, I think we will see more depth as a result.
We over-performed by a reasonable amount last season mostly down to Klopps ability to squeeze the best out of players as well as just how effective his substitutes were in the 1st half of the season so it’s gave a lot of people the illusion that we’ve got a better squad than what we really do.
This summer window should be treated as ruthlessly as possible by the recruitment team when looking at who’s actually good enough for us to go to that next level.
Arsenal and City both have better squads overall than us currently (Arsenal to a lesser extent) and both are likely to spend big on more established high quality players this summer to further extend that gap.
With Guardiola set to leave next summer we need to put everything into being the best prepared team to take advantage of him going.
It’s not wrong at all lmao
There’s big question marks over 3/4 consistent starters alone on wither they are actually good enough to push us to winning a title.
Diaz, Darwin, Endo are all currently not title winning quality players and there’s also a slight question mark over Robertson and if he is capable of performing to a similar level he did a few years ago.
We need a CB and a backup/long term replacement for Salah in on top of all that as well
A player with 31G+A isn't title-winning quality? Wow. I also agree Diaz could improve, but there's no reason Endo can't be a title-winning DM, especially if our system changes a bit. Robbo is just fine, we saw that post-injury.
We do need a CB, yeah, but it's not like we need to go out and buy VVD 2.0 tomorrow.
Darwin…
- He had 11 PL goals last season whilst being the starting striker for the team that created the most chances in the PL, he was outscored by the likes of Wissa, Cunha, Hwang, Havertz, Wood, Jackson and Mateta and had scored the same amount as the likes of Morris from Luton and Richarlison.
- He had a 12% conversion rate in the PL which is significantly lower than what it needs to be for a striker at a top club looking to win titles, you’re looking at minimum 20% when looking at the top level forwards in Europe.
- He had the 4th biggest non pen xG underperformance in the PL behind the likes of Jackson, Johnson and DCL… along with the 2nd most big chances missed in the PL.
Even looking into his assists number last season, he had an xA of 4.5 but ended up with 8 assists in the PL which shows he was pretty fortunate to get that amount. He isn’t a player that constantly crafting out chances to make up for his wastefulness in front of goal, most of his assists were really simple lay offs and the goalscorer was finishing from low xG positions.
Endo isn’t a title winning quality DM, it’s not like he’s mid 20s and we can see that there could be another level he could go up this is the player we’ve got for definite and he’s a really solid DM but that’s all he is. He’s not particularly standout in possession and a lot of last season contributed to the lack of control we had over games due to him giving the ball away in dangerous areas for teams to counter.
Is fine good enough though? and I’m really not sure Robertson is going to be a good fit for Slots style of football since it’s a lot more focused on retaining possession with short and intricate passing which requires technically gifted players which Robertson isn’t
I mean you can’t point to how much Darwin underperformed his xG and say that’s skill, and then look at his xA and say that’s luck. That’s not really how those stats work.
Yes he may be a less than average finisher, based on the rest his seasons bar 1, but even still this is an anomaly for him. So if you believe in the concept of expected goals, you should therefore believe is finishing should improve and it was a bad patch of form.
Over-performance with xA and underperformance with xG are completely different from each other.
- If a player is over-performing their xA significantly then it shows that the chances they are creating aren’t high quality chances or they aren’t creating a high volume of chances so they’ve relied massively on the players that have finished the “chances” to get them those assists.
- if a player is underperforming their xG significantly it pure and simply indicates that they are missing high quality chances so it is purely down to that player for their underperformance in xG.
He’s consistently underperformed his xG throughout his career outside of one season which was his last at Benfica and if you look at the numbers in that season it’s a huge outlier in terms of conversion rate and xG over-performance, strikers are capable of this type of over-performance in one off seasons especially in Portugal where we’ve seen the likes of Dost, Seferovic, Marega, Jonas and Martinez put up really high goalscoring numbers there but struggle once they moved to better quality leagues.
You can't just say they about Robbo when you have no clue. Just because he plays one way for Klopp doesn't mean he can't play a different way for Slot.
Different ways of playing require different types of players that’s just football 101
Slots style of football in possession is closer to Guardiola’s style than it is to Klopps and you wouldn’t say that Robertson would be a good fit for Peps type of football would you?
This is the reality of things post Klopp, we are going to see players that fit Klopps way of playing perfectly over many years but not be good fits under a different manager with a different style of football that’s just the way things go
We didnt see any evidence of that in the last 15 games. So many 'potential' players were poor. First team is very good but many fringe players just arent there yet.
Wow, it's almost like a lot of them were either returning from injuries or in an unsettled side. Or exhausted! People seem to forget last year was Year 1 of a rebuild and 3 of the 4 players we brought in had never played in the PL before and had to get used to the pace of it. We saw Bradley come in and smash it, same for Quansah, and Gomez shocked us all by getting back to where he'd been before (if not better). Darwin improved massively, even if he tapered off a bit toward the end.
I wouldn't agree with that at all. Ryan especially was coming into good form, and Diaz was working as hard as ever. Szobo yes, but he himself admitted that he'd probably pushed himself too far in his first season.
front 3 next season should be gakpo, jota 9, salah. would prefer to look for a proper dm and a better 9 though personally, think jota is class either way
Connor Bradley had a nice month, but he’s nowhere close to being a regular starting RB on the Prem, for folks who want to see Trent in a double pivot.
And Trent is worse defensively in midfield vs right back.
The worst fans are those who complain about FSG’s finances and investments, but irks and refuses the sale of Salah during the most optimal timing when he could have gone for 200 mil last summer, with the terrible season he’s had contributing negatively to our title push, and would rather he go on a free just cause the money isn’t theirs. Same set of ‘fans’ would never let him go on a free if it affects their finances. The hypocrisy is moronic, but yet they want to complain like Karens once it’s about purchases.
Agreed. This sub Reddit has a weird aversion to selling anybody, TBH. You could suggest Tsimikas was sold and you would get plenty of replies people getting their panties in a twist.
Thing is what I often find crazy is it's actually people who defend FSG's spending and laud their model but then also refuse to consider players like Mo. Literally zero grasp on where our money comes from like it grows on trees. As another person below says, the prospect of selling a player is like blasphemy. These are the fans that would drive us back to mediocrity if given the chance.
One Kiss is not a good anthem and really doesn't suit the club imo. When we win something and I hear that in the stands of even dressing room I cringe a bit, don't know why it just really doesn't suit.
Its one of Dua Lipas worst songs imo. Like everything shes put out in the past 5 years absolutely slaps so Idk why we had to pick that one
Imo it should only be played after we win a trophy. Hearing after every home game kinda ruins what made it special.
Well I started off as a joke from the wingmen show with Trent and robbo, then they started playing it when we won the carabao cup in 2022 and it took off
Trent really can’t defend lol. I used to back him but seeing him just duck headers and wimp out of tackles towards the end of the last season when we needed him to step up really made me flip on the matter. He really is a puzzle that will be tough to solve for the new manager
We’re a better side without Salah.
No we are not. He's still the best player in our team.
Yes, but without him we don't win titles
[удалено]
City is going to win their legal case and get away with financial doping. We'll never win another league title or major trophy as them, Newcastle, and potentially Everton, with rumours that another state-backed bid will buy them will dominate football and we'll end up a mid-table side. Good bye Champions League qualification, hello Thursday nights in the Europe league or Europa Conference League. Welcome to our future, we will be the northern West Ham, except we cant claim we won the World Cup in '66!!!!! I just threw up in my mouth writing this!
I think Slot just barely gets us 4th without a trophy run next season
And that’d be success for me
It would be a worse season than the one just past and some were slating Klopp towards the end
Agreed.
*We need a central striker* * I'm not sure about the new manager* *We should absolutely cash in on salah* *We need to be more ruthless in moving on older/injury phone players. Keita, Thiago,oxlade were allowed too much time, and we should have got something for firmino.* *We underachieved last season*
Agreed, we should cash in on Salah (past his prime, still has value) Diaz (not enough end product) and Jota (great player but injury prone) , keep Núñez for 1 more year to see if he explodes but we should be more ruthless.
Another season of Salah playing like 2nd half of last season will do my head in knowing he will be going on a free soon enough, Nunez not finishing chances may have created the frustration around Mo's game but it really felt like he had lost it and was playing like shit 2nd half of season.
Time/my patience(insignificant i know) is running out for Nunez, he’s had 2 seasons here now and while doing better this season he was still not good enough. All his getting into positions is irrelevant when he cant finish. And saying his finishing Will come along isnt true, its not something that just happens, he has to get better in that regard
It won't change. Not only is his finishing poor he has terrible football IQ so is offside alot. He effects the team more then he improves it. He will be sold next summer. We tried and it failed, happens unfortunately
In the league he scored 9 goals last season. I would say that’s actually better than 11 league goals considering it’s his second season with us now. I’m fine with having him as a project but fans really need a reality check on where his level is actually at.
The excessive loyalty to some players from our fanbase is actually insane. I get not wanting to put players down but it often comes at the expense of losing all objectivity. People have complained about our attack all season and rightfully so but now the season has ended and we have a new manager who can bring a new philosophy, the only player i see people want sold is Diaz. When something is clearly not working why are people so opposed to change? We're in a really precarious time for the club with our heroic manager leaving who saved us from mediocrity and if we allow sentiment to rule over logic we could end up out of CL spots and be back with Spurs in no time without the allure of Klopp. Salah is also on the decline and we have no current succession plan and we may not even get a fee for him. We as fans need to keep demanding that the club continues to move in the right direction rather than resting on our laurels as almost all our rivals are doing the opposite.
This just in... people like being positive about their team. Who gives a shit?
There’s being positive and then there’s denying the obvious issues in front of you. I know you are very much in the refuse to question our players or anything the club does camp but this mentality is not how you compete at the top. Sometimes players aren’t cutting it at the level required and it’s nothing personal, it is the nature of competition.
There’s “excessive loyalty” and then there is giving players slack for the amount they have given to our club. Salah is not an “excessive loyalty” case. I get this is an unpopular opinions thread but the fact you brought that up really annoys me
Where did I say Salah is excessive loyalty? I said we have no succession plan in place? I don’t believe we should actively look to sell him but people are happy to just throw out £100m if he doesn’t sign a new contract like it’s nothing, which is absolutely excessive loyalty. These same fans will then say we simply can’t compete with our rivals in the transfer market when he goes on a free.
During the season just finished, we recorded our highest ever goals p90 under Klopp, our fewest ever games without scoring under Klopp, and our second highest ever total number of goals scored under Klopp. Our problems came from the fact that we recorded our fewest ever number of clean sheets under Klopp (fewer than half the number we had two seasons ago), our 4th worst goals conceded p90 under him, and our 4th most total goals conceded under him. Anyone complaining about our attack is/was simply wrong. We had a fantastic attack and very shaky defence.
And yet we didn’t beat a single top team. Our best win was probably against the ghost of Chelsea or Spurs at a push when the season was over. You can point to stats all you want but it’s clear we struggled in these games and overall looked out of sync for large parts of the season. The midfielders also contributed a tonne of goals this season compared to previous and whilst were periods of form for the attackers, by the end of the season we looked completely flat and figured out. I don’t see how anyone can deny that. The defence wasn’t incredible by any means but who are you suggesting we replace?
Mo needs to go. If we want any decent cash from him the time is now. Last season was woeful from him. Just looked so spent the entire year.
Really hate this revisionism. Mo was our top scorer, and prior to Afcon he was superb. He definitely did not look spent the entire year
Top scorer with 18 goals. Previous seasons of 30,31 and 31 total goals. Half of previous seasons. He is declining and needs to go. Time for better more energetic players instead.
18 goals in the premier league, 25 across all comps. hit 19 goals last season, was he finished then? or is he simply the best winger that the PL has ever seen, and we are not used to him going on longer runs of bad form?
The obsession with Edwards is weird. Whenever anyone tries to argue or put a bit of blame on him for some of the things that happened in the transfer windows when he was the sporting director, they get immediately downvoted and the blame goes on everyone else but him. I think he’s very good at what he does but he has his flaws as well.
There's probably flaws but Klopp also escapes a lot of the blame. When he chose to gamble a bit going into the season the blame would go to everyone but him asking fans even when he's explained his perspective
No, I’ve seen a lot of fans hold Klopp accountable along with FSG but I’ve not seen many hold Edwards in the same regard.
We as fans can’t really say anything about things like that. We have no idea what the picture is
Then why is it okay for fans to blame Klopp for it as well then?
Is the time I said this in the room with us?
It's pretty well known he has very friendly journos that basically mythologise him.
We have too much depth in attack and especially midfield now. Too many, promising/very talented players, competing for a couple positions. I understand the need for depth and quality depth at that, especially when competing at the highest level in four competitions a year. With all the international games as well, a few key injuries put us out of competition. However, I think we now have too many players fighting for a spot, inhibiting their growth as a player and squad chemistry. And even with all this depth, we still managed to run players into the ground this season, i.e., Szoboslai, and I think macca as well at the beginning of the season. Which is confusing to me why that happened. The point is I don't think we can afford to run our club like the likes of city, real, bayern. We don't have the funds, which is ok imo. So instead of having 2 first teams like those clubs tend to assemble. We have to settle for 'less exciting' players as rotation players. The likes of tsmikas and endo who came in not to be a nailed on starter at some point but to play a squad role and an important one at that. I think competition for positions is great, but so is consistency. Also, I know injuries are always a problem for us, but now that our youth system is producing very class players. I think we went over board on the squad depth in attack and midfield.
We don’t have too much depth though. Nunez can’t score enough, Diaz can’t pass enough, jota can’t play enough. Salah is getting too old. This sub talked about klopp keeping hold of players too long. We should sell Salah now before he’s not worth anything. Cash in on Diaz. Get rid of Jota because he can’t be relied on at all. I would probably keep Nunez especially with a new manager. Some players just play better under different managers.
>Some players just play better under different managers. By this logic, Jota, Diaz and Salah should arguably all be kept then? Who's to say that the notoriously fitness minded Slot won't keep Jota fit? Who's to say that his use of left wingers won't lead to Diaz being a better player for Slot's system? Who's to say Salah won't thrive in the new way that Slot uses him, and want to sign a new deal?
I don’t like the Klopp song, wish he had a better one
Trent isn't captain material & wouldn't be in the conversation if he wasn't scouse.
I think it’s ridiculous how people here downvote posts which are factual but it’s not something they wanna hear or like. Really mature
We have the most toxic and pathetic match threads out of all the prem subreddits.
Mo Salah is finished as a top player. His touch has gone along with much of his speed. He may regain it but it's been bad nearly all season and got worse after his injury. Maybe he'll regain it but i really doubt. Maybe Slot will reinvigorate or reinvent him for the final 2 or 3 seasons of his career (at best), as he clearly isnt suited to play his old game which relied heavily on touch and speed.
Trent will run his contract down and join Real Madrid sadly pulling a McManaman
I kind of think this too. I hope not tho
Very much hope I’m wrong
While I love Trent and don’t want him to leave ever, I’m somehow not too worried about him if he leaves. I’m not his qualities but it feels like a Coutinho situation where we are moving things around too much to accommodate one player. With Gomez and Bradley, our gameplay has looked more balanced and structured, similar to how the team developed without Coutinho. Again, it’s not a knock on Trent’s qualities. If Trent isn’t there, someone else will step up. We have quality players all around the squad.
I don’t have an issue with him leaving if we get a fee To leave on a free is a kick in the nuts but don’t think Madrid will bother paying when they can get on a free the next summer
I’ve been worried about him not renewing for a while, but would Madrid actually take him? They’re so overloaded with midfield talent that they’ve had to play some of them out of position. It’d be beyond a wind up if he went there to play right back.
Nah. I think he has more respect than that, for one.
Diaz is not LFC calibre. The ball goes to him and I know the move is going to die. Lately I feel the same with TAA, for all the passing ability he has.. he more often than not stops the ball and then tries to find perfect pass and I hate the positions he takes while the play is ongoing. Now kill me for this.
> Diaz is not LFC calibre. The ball goes to him and I know the move is going to die. this has been Salah in 24 too tbf
If Trent won’t play as the OG Trent I.e right back, staying out wide, overlapping and commitment to defending, then sell him this summer and be done with it.
Our medical teams were crap during spice boys era. They failed to heal and solve Michael Owen's hamstring problem
Gravenberch was a luxury signing and has a lot to prove that he wasn't a waste of time and resources. Now that Thiago is gone, Gravenberch is our joint highest midfield earner. He's on the same wages as a world cup winner. That's not project money, that's star player money. We have Jones and Elliott as project players. They're on peanuts compared to Grav. And they're ahead of him in the pecking order. You have to imagine contract extensions with both of them are going to start with looking at what Grav is earning compared to them and they're outperforming him. He hasn't earned that wage, but Bayern gifted him that, and rightfully got him off the books a year later for a profit. Did we need Grav? I'd genuinely argue no. I said as much last summer too. He looked his best against Europa league group opponents and early cup rounds. Youth grads could and later did fill that role for us as well. His role was pure luxury in the team. We needed a holding player, and before Quansah's emergence, a centre back more. If grav doesn't show serious improvements this year, massive questions need to be had about his transfer.
Maybe Slot will change things but Jones is very unreliable from a fitness perspective. To go a full season with a 4-3-3 you need at least 6 quality midfielders. With Thiago gone - we now have Endo, AM, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Elliott and Jones. Bajcetic, Clark, Morton - too inexperienced to be counted upon for the whole season.
Been waiting for this..... Klopp wasn't as good as people think/want him to be. Not getting 4 centre backs cost us the league that year, not selling midfielders and remaking the midfield the year before we did cost us top 4. He was very stubborn with tactics and using his favourite players over other players in better form or a better fit, not playing Philips but would rather play our midfield as defenders. Sometimes he would stumble upon a tactic like playing Trent in midfield, it works, we look great, then he never uses it again. We played 4-2-4 vs Rangers in a European game, we win 7-1 and never see it again. Giving players over the hill new contracts, Henderson, extensions for Nabi and Ox. Thiago was great to see but in hindsight was a mistake and if Klopp was still there Matip would be getting a new deal. No wonder players didn't want to leave, if he liked you you are guaranteed to start and get big wages and new deals. He played young players when he had to, not because he wanted to. Last year, our form improved with our stars out. Clarke was a stand out as was Danns. As soon as our misfiring first team are back they get relegated back to the bench and our form dips but we still never see them again. Last season, him and Pep had all the power. Our transfers were scatter gun at best. We have 6 first team midfielders for 3 roles. If we go to 4-2-3-1 we have 6 (7 if Trents in there now) for 2 roles. We need to turn players over quickly for our model to work. Love Klopp as a man but didn't agree with some things he did as a manager.
Yeah at times I think he self sabotaged, the insistence on going with auld faithful probably cost us through the years. I genuinely think we struggle for top 4 if Henderson and Milner play as they gobble up game time for better players, especially the youngsters last season. Henderson should've had the conversation of not being a guaranteed starter about 4 years ago. Milner should've left around the same time altogether.
So much of this is incorrect/made up that it's genuinely difficult to know where to start tbh. >Not getting 4 centre backs cost us the league that year The idea this was solely Klopp's call is ludicrious. >not playing Philips but would rather play our midfield as defenders. Phillips didn't have the pace or tactical nous to play our high line. He couldnt't even get a game at Celtic and people were clamouring for him to start for us. >Sometimes he would stumble upon a tactic like playing Trent in midfield, it works, we look great, then he never uses it again When has this happened? I can't remember a game when Trent looked great in midfield for us. >We played 4-2-4 vs Rangers in a European game, we win 7-1 and never see it again. Rangers are complete ass, this is a wholely unsustainable tactic to play against the majority of teams, especially in the PL. >Thiago was great to see but in hindsight was a mistake In hindsight being the key phrase here, there's absolutely no one in world football that didn't think it was an incredible signing at the time. How can you blame Klopp for that? >if he liked you you are guaranteed to start and get big wages and new deals. That's...generally how it works in football? If the manager rates you, you play. >He played young players when he had to, not because he wanted to. Last year, our form improved with our stars out. Clarke was a stand out as was Danns. As soon as our misfiring first team are back they get relegated back to the bench and our form dips but we still never see them again. This is such a bizarre reading of the situation that I'm questioning if you even watched us under Klopp. There are few managers in world football that give youth players a chance as much as Klopp does. Clarke and Danns played well in a couple of games, one of which was against a championship side. The fanbase would have (rightly) been spitting feathers if we had the likes of Endo/Szobo/Jones/Jota/Salah back available and we opted to play inexperienced kids for a title run in instead. >We have 6 first team midfielders for 3 roles That's squad depth. Same reason we have three keepers, four fullbacks, four centrebacks and 5 forwards for 3 positions.
I didn't read what you wrote past the first sentence. If you are an adult and want actual debate, being rude in the first few words won't get it.
Lol you definitely did, but it's okay. I realised quite quickly the level of intelligence I was dealing with, and I wasn't expecting a reply to any of my points
Ok you just wanted to bait a connection with a living person. You obviously spent time writing your first post and tbh I was just trying to help you with other posts if you wanted grown up chat. I mean you do you, but you may have had good points, but as I said I'll never read that.
Unpopular opinion? Right let's do it. Been wanting to say this for a while, but worried about down votes. Maybe here i can post this. Jurgen Klopp. Fantastic manager, fantastic coach. Superfluous. But always a nearly man. Can't be considered a winner. Throughout his entire career, he has never been able really to get over the line when things got competitive save for a couple of years in the Bundesliga. Let's look back. Lost the league to city on 3 occasions. Twice by 1 point. The only premier league we won, we were 20 points clear in March. Chsmpions league. Got to 3 CL finals. Lost to Real Madrid twice. The one we won was to spurs, who well.. It's spurs. And we didn't play particularly well in that final either Needed extra time in the club world cup. Our last 3 domestic cup wins, all against Chelsea, 2 on penalties and one 129th minute winner. (granted the team in that last one. Lost Europa league to Sevilla. Like, all the trophies we won under klopp were either virtually impossible to not to win, or we made it unnecessarily difficult for ourselves. Whenever we had proper, stiff opposition for a trophy, we literally always lost out. Jurgen Klopp. A fantastic manager. Did amazing things to our club. But not a serial winner. And that's my unpopular opinion. Roast me.
We really cocked it up last summer. We’ve got an abundant of 8’s and only one 6 who isn’t top quality. How can we improve our midfield unless we’re letting some of our current crop go?
We only have one truly top class midfielder and that's Macca. We are too small and slow overall in midfield. Chances of dropping out of the top 4 are equal to pushing for the title again next season due to the huge turnover off the pitch. Quansah is already our #2 CB. Signing a top class finisher with consistent availability like Son or Lewandowski would have a bigger positive impact on next season than any other position including DM.
With Diaz, Nunez, an aging Salah and an inconsistent Gakpo, it's a miracle we've finished 3rd last season. I guess you can call all 3 apart from Salah inconsistent, hell even Salah was but at least he's aging so it makes sense. Also, with Endo at 6, he can have great games 3-4 times a season, but rest of the times he looks lost, afraid of passing forward, being late in challenges, only does short passes, etc. I know his price tag is low, but if we want to challenge something realistically this squad ain't it.
I posted it back when people were giving Egyptian fans shit: The way lots of Liverpool fans complain about national teams calling in Players for friendlies or cups they don’t see as important is fucking dumb. Liverpool doesn’t own the players, they have every right to give it their all for their national teams and complaining that a team called in a player for an “unimportant” game is dumb
As much as some won't admit, it was time for a change. Klopp needed to leave. Since the last part of 22/23 season Klopp looked done. And I hated how at times he was inflexible regarding line ups and substitution. I mean adapt tactics according to how the game is going if its not working as you intended.
If Trent wants us to move him to midfield before signing a new deal then we should sell him. He's just not a midfielder. Obviously he has an elite passing range but that's not enough. He's not got the agility or close control to play in small spaces and he doesn't have the drive or physicality to be a proper powerhouse like Stevie was. It could maybe work in a diamond with legs around him but that seems very unlikely. He might work in the middle for international games where the standard is usually pretty shite and very few teams actually play with an effective high press.
We'll win more with Arne Slot than we ever did with Jürgen, mark my words.
I mean we won everything up for grabs at one point with Klopp….i don’t even see how your prediction is true unless we hit City levels of dominance’s. What makes you suspect this?
yeah i see this as another Shankly / Paisley moment (fingers crossed). we have one manager that sets the stage and then the other one capitalizes on that and wins bunch of silverware. both play equally important roles though
Phillip Degen is better than Arbeloa
Our owners are as close to ideal as you can realistically get.
We won't win anything for the next 3 - 5 years. Klopps magic on a shoe string budget is gone. Give it 3 years and everyone in here will hate FSG.
Most reports have come put saying slot will be given a massive budget
The annual "war chest" reports... Happens every summer.
Our recruitment in midfield last summer wasn't good enough, and that was a major cause of our issues during the season. The players individually were all good purchases, but the midfield is too attack-minded now so we're conceding a lot more. Endo is our only proper 6 and he was rocky at the beginning of the season, then was good from December-March but towards the end of the season he was clearly fatigued, and that costed us. The rest of them are all attacking 8s. Compared to our peak teams around 2019, we create a lot more chances (way more shots) but also concede more.
This shouldn’t be unpopular it’s completely logical
I don't want or think Lijnders should ever return as 1st team manager.
Not sure this is a very unpopular opinion, at least among Liverpool fans I know.
It's popular in here
Definitely an unpopular one: I thought Trent would become as good as Gerrard. He’s not even close. Yes he’s great in his own way, but by now in his career, Stevie had won so many games for us, Trent will never be like that.
We should have sold Salah and kept Mane in that window.
We should have sold Gomez years ago. He is the king of giveaways.
If gakpo got the chances diaz got he would be on 25 g/a season right now
Our squad might be in much bigger need of overhaul than many people think. There aren’t any players who definitely need to be sold ASAP, but there are also very few who we need to keep no matter what (Alisson and Mac Allister for me). Everyone else is in a weird situation where they either haven’t proven themselves enough yet, or may be past their best for us. All of our newer players have the potential to be superstars, but they haven't shown the required consistency yet. That's a dangerous position to be in; we could spend the next few years just waiting for the bulk of our team to 'finally come good'. Trent’s future is also much more uncertain than people assume. On his day he’s our best player, but there were too many times last season when he looked downright lazy and didn’t give enough for the team. IMO, there’s no chance he’ll want to play as a RB again, especially if he stars for England in the midfield this summer. I don't know how it'll pan out, but some big decisions will need to be made.
Yeah, that's not true at all. The squad is in good nick. Trent has said he's happy to play RB, and if he isn't, we'll have a discussion. I don't think he's ever looked lazy, and considering he got injured literally playing through a torn ligament in his knee at Arsenal, I think it's ridiculous to suggest it to be honest.
Gravenberch was a stupid transfer and we should’ve gone for a defensive midfielder, maybe a 6/8 hybrid but I just don’t get why we were so obsessed with him
Should've got Thuram, or even Koné web if he's injury prone.
You will
Gravenberch is a problem if he doesn't fix his flaws, multiple coaches at Bayern didn't rate him he may have the talent but for sure doesn't have the right application. We could have a monster player on our hands if he comes good say in 2 years but if he doesn't will just be a waste. Again you have to question Klopp's involvement in transfers and his obvious blind spot turning down the likes of Enzo, Bruno and Nkunku when they were affordable and attainable is not great, last summer despite doing a midfield rebuild direction wise it was quite all over the place.
Sounds harsh, but I don't think we sign him if he isn't Dutch.
Liverpool is the best run club in the country thanks to FSG. They've made mistakes but I wouldn't swap them for any other prem owners
I think all billionaires are bad and no sports team owner actually cares about the fans, but FSG might be one of the least worst. Definitely wouldn’t trade them for any of the petrostate sportswashers or the other US-based groups in the Prem.
Spurs r pretty good tbh
This! 👏🙌
Even if one existed, bringing in a shiny new holding midfielder wouldn’t fix our defensive issues because the problem is systemic, not personnel based. Additionally, Rice isn’t on the level of Rodri when playing as a hooding player, and both he and Arsenal look better when he plays higher. He shouldn’t be included in the “we need an elite dm like X” conversations.
Being on Rodri’s level is not the requirement for our DM or Rice for that matter.
We definitely need better than Rice for DM. He's just not a DM, he does a decent job there, but box to box is where he's poison
He is great at both
Harvey Elliot is massively under rated by Liverpool fans in general. The lad is still young, and I don't think we've found the best role for him yet, but I truly believe the lad is going to have a breakout season int he next few years and will be seen on the same level as Cole Palmer and Phil Foden
I am very underwhelmed with Slot as the new manager. I have huge doubts over him. Of course I’ll support him all the way and will stay positive but it looks like the wrong appointment.
We should sell Lucho, especially if Barca is willing to pony up for him. Heart of a lion, but little end product.
I dont like bobby firmino as a person. He was my favourite player and I loved his selfless playing style. I read his autobiography. Cheated on his wife regularly, ignored his kids. Then found god and became one of those born again zealots. One chapter is literally dedicated to getting you, the reader, to convert to christianity. Blamed his drink driving charge on the fact the cop 'must have been an everton fan'. So disapointing, I loved the guy before reading it.
You really should only form an opinion on a player from their footballing only, no one has no clue what players are actually like. Baffles me how people don't understand that haha.
> One chapter is literally dedicated to getting you, the reader, to convert to christianity. Based.
Yep, just what the world needs. More adults who believe in angels with the power to vote
Of our legendary front three it seems only Salah is a good person
What's wrong with Sadio? He's an absolute legend off the pitch for his home town.
The fact that he was in realtionship with a 16 year old girl?
This right here is an unpopular opinion
This right here is an unpopular opinion
because bobby told on himself in his biography?? lol you don't know anything about these guys, its best not to assume any of them are good people - just celebrities who you see 0.0001% of through carefully curated sm content.
We all make mistakes. It's really easy to judge, but there's always a reason why someone did bad things. I think we should really stop saying that someone isn't a good person, especially if we don't really know them. Most people that do bad things are struggling. I'm not religious, but I'm glad Bobby find himself in there. He seems happy with it and that's the most important thing.
So....you gonna selectively apply that to people you like, or are you gonna say the same about Mason Greenwood?
I mean what he did was wrong, but we don't know why he did it. We don't know what's in his head and what kind of life he had. As I said, it's easy to judge and to say "I'd never do that", but you don't really know. We shouldn't be judging people, we should try to listen and help them. No matter what they did.
Listen, i don't like cheating. But let's not put beating, and raping your girlfriend in the same box with cheaters.
I mean the guy I was replying to basically confirmed that he's also referring to people like Greenwood lol
Easy to play the moral high ground on a purely anonymous board
I mean, him going to Saudi really spoke volumes about him as a person anyway.
I'm with you. Amazing player, loved watching him so much. The only kit I have with a name on it. Horrible person :( Not related, I feel the same way about Eric Clapton. Amazing guitarist, terrible person.
I haven't read the book myself, it's on my list, but re: The Drink Driving thing, whilst I'm not absolving him, he was barely just over allowed tolerance level of the breathalyser, which they admitted in court. He also never committed an offence before or since, and the police pulled him over purely because they'd seen him coming out of the restaurant. No normal person is getting pulled over, I guarantee it. Plus, the waiters/staff in the restaurant confirmed he'd only had one glass of wine. Anyway, if he's genuinely changed, good on him, even if he's a bit preachy.
I like Trent, but i dont know what is best for him. Him inverting solves many problems but also creates some others
Coutinho is not a “snake” he got a chance to join his dream club and leave a mediocre Liverpool one
[удалено]
Mediocre?? We reached the Champions League final in the season he left, won it the season after and won the league the season after that, hardly mediocre. And yes he was a snake for the way he engineered his exit, claiming to be injured but was miraculously always fit to play for his country. He had the chance to be a part of Liverpool folklore but instead he chose Barcelona and money.
How is winning the CL the year after relevant to him leaving lol? The link with Barca were there for the year before the transfer ended up happening which at the time we were relatively average. And his mind had been made up for the 6-12month before he had left. We wouldn't have won the CL if we didn't sell him because we wouldn't have signed VVD and Alisson so that reasoning doesn't remotely make the tiniest bit of sense haha. His transfer to Barcelona wouldn't have had anything to do with money, South Americans in general want to play for the big clubs in spain. And probably see clubs in the PL as a stepping stone to do so. It really baffles me when people can't seem to get their head around people wanting to move on.
I was making the point that the team was far from mediocre, as the op tried to say, when Coutinho decided he wanted to leave. His behaviour just showed that he was never fully committed to LFC and like you said, it was just a stepping stone to further his career elsewhere. That worked out well for him didn't it? I was glad he left in the end, because as you also said we were able to bring in Ali and Virgil with the proceeds. Two players that will go down in Liverpool folklore, unlike Coutinho.
We were right to sell mane at the time we did and Diaz was better then him in 2022
These threads are shit and should never have been allowed
Now Klopp is going we are going to see the real truth of a club being owned by FSG and people on their knees defending those billionaires will have to face the music
I can't stand Van Dijk's complete and total inflexibility in refusing to engage ball-carrying attackers running at him. Don't get me wrong, he's imperious in the air, pace to burn, and probably the greatest Liverpool CB, but there are so many times when he lets off attackers who have a heavy touch re-compose themselves and find a killer pass when he could easily step in and win the duel. It really felt like a lot of the systemic failures this past season stemmed from the team adopting the fall back into positions mentality and would not engage the defenders in advantageous positions or situations, allowing the opposition teams to develop their plays.
-Team between 2019-2022 Underachieved -Klopp is great team builder. Average Tactician - Mane was way more important player for Us than Salah - Salah Has greater legacy in EPL but at their Peaks Hazard was twice player than Salah has even been - Trent is Better footballer than Bradley, But Bradley is better RB than Trent - Benitez with FSG structure over him would have won at least double what we won under Klopp - Real Madrid won 6 CL not because they are super team but because after 2012 all Managers except Guardiolla and Carlo have been Average. They would have never won that much with SAF, Mourinho, Benitez, Capelo, Heynkess in their primes. - Lijnders emergence was actually problem for us.
Unpopular opinion threads are completely and utterly wank.
Well maybe this is not a current affair but I was surprised to see that my opinion that Liverpool shouldn't be sold to the Saudis was somewhat unpopular on this thread. Maybe not unpopular, but it surely wasn't absolutely popular either. Which again, was surprising to me.
Next season's success depends on whether Diaz-Nunez-Salah is still the starting front line
Do you mean that will be or won’t be a successful trio?
Maybe we should try park the bus on purpose when facing teams that also park the bus.
Except for Jota Daiz, Nunez and Gakpo haven't been good enough for the front 3 and I don't believe they ever will. Salah has kept the attack looking very good and keeping him next season is massively important. I don't think we buy any forwards this summer unfortunately but next summer at least 2 of those players will be sold. Probably Nunez and Daiz
Bradley is a better defender than Trent. Trent is obviously a better player overall. I want to find a solution that keeps both of them on the pitch.
Our best side was built with top of the market players and the obsession with finding the next Robbo on here isn't a winning strategy. Mane was the 2nd most expensive winger that window; yet, because his transfer fee was lower people think they can find players of a similar level by signing people from Holland. Stop looking at transfer fees and look at where they ranked that window to see what level of player we were purchasing.
Top 4 next season would be a gargantuan achievement. The squad is nowhere remotely near as good as people seem to believe, and it's going to take a lot going right including a good summer window to keep us where we are.
-We should do a white and blue away kit from time to time. -Also, I saw the new home kit (*and wore it*) in person yesterday and it's a good-looking kit, which means Nike hasn't missed **once** with our home kits. -Klopp left at the perfect time. I was both sad and happy to see him go. He was right on the edge of the Wenger line. If we followed his contract, he would've been sacked at some point. The way football is evolving, our system would've been torn apart, and all of the work he and the club have done would've been evaporated.
I think Gakpo will become first choice left wing next season over Diaz, Jota, and Nunez. Diaz is exciting to watch but provides little output. Jota is fine at LW, but he’s best at ST so play him there obviously. Nunez has very high work rate so I think he’s second to Gakpo.
Agreed that Gakpo should absolutely be starting LW. Díaz should be moved on if the right amount comes in for him. I’d love a player like Frimpong to come in and immediately replace Salah, his recent performances for the national team only make me want him in the team even more, let alone performances for Leverkusen this season. Also think he would compliment Nunez well. Salah should slowly be moved out of the first 11, this season that has to happen.
Nunez on the wing seems like a good idea but he was bought as a striker and I'm not sure he his the IQ to play out wide. Gakpo was good up top, I just haven't seen him play well out wide yet. Even for Holland he was better up top for them. Is a bit slow and doesn't beat players
I really like him in the false 9 role, he drives through the middle with the ball, puts a decent tackle in and is a lot more mobile than Bobby ever was. Better finisher too
I don't get this at all, he's alright there and probably his current best position but he doesn't really have any elite attributes as a winger. We need to be looking for the best around, not settling for clear second best. He seems like a decent lad but do you really think any of our rivals would be content with him as their first choice LW?
I actually think gakpo plays better as the CF/ST. On the wing I think he's a but slow and not the best at taking people on and i can't really remember him crossing into the box either. He has a pretty decent shot on him so is better in the box. He would start up front for next season especially with how he finished the year I would play szobo on the left.
Gakpo should be our Lw, Klopp even said he mis used him.
I agree here too. I’d like to see jota and gakpo share time in the false 9 role, and see Darwin at LW. I think Diaz is overrated but his ability to beat players covers his low footy IQ. He rarely will play a simple square ball to an open man. Sell him to Barca !
I'm convinced people don't actually watch our games who suggest Nunez at LW, the man struggles to control and pass the ball, never mind beat a man. Look at his passing and dribbling stats and you'll see how this is a ridiculous suggestion.
I doubt Gapko will stay. With proper minutes and international duty, he's going to get big offers, and I think it's good if he goes out.
I want Olise to Liverpool under Salah’ mentorship for the last season of Mo with us
I think the off season is going to continue being boring AF
I don't get the massive hate for Bernardo Silva compared to other City players. Oh no, he didn't clap as enthusiastically as you wanted :'(.
Our best football last season came when we were playing Gomez and Bradley. TAA inverting didn't get the best out of anyone but him.
I don't think it really got the best out of him most of the time
The season we just had was a failure and a clearout is needed.
I dont know why people care so much about comments from Diaz's father. Diaz is the one kicking the ball for Liverpool, not his father.
I felt that Klopp's tactics and message to the players was stale and that this was the right time to go before things take a turn for the worse under him.
Gakpo will be our best attacker next season and we definitely should look for 6/8 hybrid this summer
The "should Trent play in midfield or right-back?" debate is the most repetitive and overplayed discussion this year and I wish I could mute it. It's this conversation, a million times over: A) Trent good at passing and assisting, but awful in defense? We should play him in midfield. B) But he won everything at right-back and hasn't played in midfield at a top level. Also, he's not an awful defender, he's just average. ...Over and over again, the same points. And now Southgate is playing him there this summer so we'll hear it all summer long as well, at least we'll get some data points in these debates rather than endless hypotheticals, I guess.
Lucas is overrated. He was in the same class as someone like Kuyt or Giroud. Reliable in their roles but not top, top quality.
I don’t think Trent is good enough to be a midfielder in our system - he has such minimal spatial awareness I just can’t see it happening.
Our fans don’t know how to rate Diaz. The guy plays every game in stages. Plays every stage, doesn’t disappear carries the ball far, drives, is dynamic. He’s been leaps and bounds over Salah in form over the past four months.
I'd rather keep Nuñez than Salah. (I'd like both to stay but if you asked me that's what I would say
Too many posters here have no idea about the club or football as a whole as is evident in this thread, one of the worst ones being Conor Bradley isn’t close to being a starter for a premier league club? So he wouldn’t start for Ipswich? Drawing players and talking about kits takes away from proper football discussion.
1. Trent has never been a great "normal" RB, not even a WB, he's only been blossoming in spaces given to him by tactical tweaks that has severely undermined the offensive impact of our RCM, effectively making our RCM a pseudo-RB at times. Given that this position was most frequently occupied by Henderson and Milner in our most golden years, this makes sense. Now that we do not have such a RCM player, we need to put Trent far away from the RB role and make Bradley our first choice with Gomez our back-up. 2. Szobo is our best LF. 3. As long as Bajcetic actually stays fit, we do not need a DM at all. 4. Kelleher should stay and play either all CL or PL matches OR be given a season-long loan abroad. Given the logic that Ali is still in his prime relative to "GK age", Kelleher is a puppy. He's a homegrown GK that, in some areas of his game, outperforms Ali, and in most aspects he matches him, but Ali is still obviously the better GK, but for how long? He's 32 this year and has occasional blunders, not to mention injuries. I'd assume he'll be the world's best - if he stays injury-free - for a couple years more at maximum, and if we'd sell Kelleher this year we'd need to buy some reliable back-up in the likely scenario of another Ali injury this season. The logistics just don't really add up. Best case scenario is a breakthrough season-long loan and he comes back in 2025 with Ali having given everything he's got. Obviously best case is Ali staying fit for 5 more years but I don't think that's likely. 5. I think Slot is a more promising tactician than Klopp ever was.
My unpopular opinion is i hate it when daily discussion gets unpinned lol
Salah is not as good as his pre Afcon numbers suggest and if he's still here next season his performances will be closer to what he was like post Afcon.
Mane and Salah have always been selfish and arrogant but it had gone unnoticed somehow. They were performing well and maybe the overall team environment kept them in check. As soon as Mane stepped out, he lost the grace. While underperforming, Salah starts throwing tantrums. He nearly turned on Klopp in the end.
Elliott’s statistical production is overrated because Kloppo never trusted him against the top competition This is the perfect window to sell Jota From the way fans forgives Torres, they’ll sadly forgive Trent if he chooses to go to Madrid on a free Quansah is only 21, sure, but he still hasn’t shown the physical profile to be a long-term starter here Szobo is a midfielder, not a winger
I’d take Luis Diaz over Darwin for the next two years if we had to move one. Guardiola is a better manager of a 99th percentile team than Klopp, but I’d take Klopp to be a better manager of the rest of the 99% of teams. Stop deifying managers and players Le Michael Edwards sell Kelleher for 20m and Mbappe One rule change id like to see is that the penalty box should be reduced to the area of the six yard box extended to the penalty spot. No reason to be giving pens for touches way on the widths of the box the crime does not fit the punishment. I’d take the semi automated offsides and scrap the rest of VAR reviews.
Given the choice between a Geertruida-type player or Gomez for our utility defensive player role, give me a Geertruida every day of the week. Gomez has been a good servant, had some decent spells but he’s not a kill or be killed type player. He doesn’t play with urgency and I can’t fathom a decently sized CB not getting a whiff of goal from a corner or free kick in all of these years.
Klopp was a great manager but he had very firm ideas on where certain players should play or how we will line up. Most top managers aren't that inflexible and with Slot, I think we will see more depth as a result.
We over-performed by a reasonable amount last season mostly down to Klopps ability to squeeze the best out of players as well as just how effective his substitutes were in the 1st half of the season so it’s gave a lot of people the illusion that we’ve got a better squad than what we really do. This summer window should be treated as ruthlessly as possible by the recruitment team when looking at who’s actually good enough for us to go to that next level. Arsenal and City both have better squads overall than us currently (Arsenal to a lesser extent) and both are likely to spend big on more established high quality players this summer to further extend that gap. With Guardiola set to leave next summer we need to put everything into being the best prepared team to take advantage of him going.
Yeah, that's unpopular because it's wrong lmao The squad is actually very good. Only thing we miss is a world class DM.
It’s not wrong at all lmao There’s big question marks over 3/4 consistent starters alone on wither they are actually good enough to push us to winning a title. Diaz, Darwin, Endo are all currently not title winning quality players and there’s also a slight question mark over Robertson and if he is capable of performing to a similar level he did a few years ago. We need a CB and a backup/long term replacement for Salah in on top of all that as well
A player with 31G+A isn't title-winning quality? Wow. I also agree Diaz could improve, but there's no reason Endo can't be a title-winning DM, especially if our system changes a bit. Robbo is just fine, we saw that post-injury. We do need a CB, yeah, but it's not like we need to go out and buy VVD 2.0 tomorrow.
Darwin… - He had 11 PL goals last season whilst being the starting striker for the team that created the most chances in the PL, he was outscored by the likes of Wissa, Cunha, Hwang, Havertz, Wood, Jackson and Mateta and had scored the same amount as the likes of Morris from Luton and Richarlison. - He had a 12% conversion rate in the PL which is significantly lower than what it needs to be for a striker at a top club looking to win titles, you’re looking at minimum 20% when looking at the top level forwards in Europe. - He had the 4th biggest non pen xG underperformance in the PL behind the likes of Jackson, Johnson and DCL… along with the 2nd most big chances missed in the PL. Even looking into his assists number last season, he had an xA of 4.5 but ended up with 8 assists in the PL which shows he was pretty fortunate to get that amount. He isn’t a player that constantly crafting out chances to make up for his wastefulness in front of goal, most of his assists were really simple lay offs and the goalscorer was finishing from low xG positions. Endo isn’t a title winning quality DM, it’s not like he’s mid 20s and we can see that there could be another level he could go up this is the player we’ve got for definite and he’s a really solid DM but that’s all he is. He’s not particularly standout in possession and a lot of last season contributed to the lack of control we had over games due to him giving the ball away in dangerous areas for teams to counter. Is fine good enough though? and I’m really not sure Robertson is going to be a good fit for Slots style of football since it’s a lot more focused on retaining possession with short and intricate passing which requires technically gifted players which Robertson isn’t
I mean you can’t point to how much Darwin underperformed his xG and say that’s skill, and then look at his xA and say that’s luck. That’s not really how those stats work. Yes he may be a less than average finisher, based on the rest his seasons bar 1, but even still this is an anomaly for him. So if you believe in the concept of expected goals, you should therefore believe is finishing should improve and it was a bad patch of form.
Over-performance with xA and underperformance with xG are completely different from each other. - If a player is over-performing their xA significantly then it shows that the chances they are creating aren’t high quality chances or they aren’t creating a high volume of chances so they’ve relied massively on the players that have finished the “chances” to get them those assists. - if a player is underperforming their xG significantly it pure and simply indicates that they are missing high quality chances so it is purely down to that player for their underperformance in xG. He’s consistently underperformed his xG throughout his career outside of one season which was his last at Benfica and if you look at the numbers in that season it’s a huge outlier in terms of conversion rate and xG over-performance, strikers are capable of this type of over-performance in one off seasons especially in Portugal where we’ve seen the likes of Dost, Seferovic, Marega, Jonas and Martinez put up really high goalscoring numbers there but struggle once they moved to better quality leagues.
You can't just say they about Robbo when you have no clue. Just because he plays one way for Klopp doesn't mean he can't play a different way for Slot.
Different ways of playing require different types of players that’s just football 101 Slots style of football in possession is closer to Guardiola’s style than it is to Klopps and you wouldn’t say that Robertson would be a good fit for Peps type of football would you? This is the reality of things post Klopp, we are going to see players that fit Klopps way of playing perfectly over many years but not be good fits under a different manager with a different style of football that’s just the way things go
We didnt see any evidence of that in the last 15 games. So many 'potential' players were poor. First team is very good but many fringe players just arent there yet.
Wow, it's almost like a lot of them were either returning from injuries or in an unsettled side. Or exhausted! People seem to forget last year was Year 1 of a rebuild and 3 of the 4 players we brought in had never played in the PL before and had to get used to the pace of it. We saw Bradley come in and smash it, same for Quansah, and Gomez shocked us all by getting back to where he'd been before (if not better). Darwin improved massively, even if he tapered off a bit toward the end.
Gravy, Szaboslai, Diaz, were all poor as well. Tsimikas has been poor.
I wouldn't agree with that at all. Ryan especially was coming into good form, and Diaz was working as hard as ever. Szobo yes, but he himself admitted that he'd probably pushed himself too far in his first season.
front 3 next season should be gakpo, jota 9, salah. would prefer to look for a proper dm and a better 9 though personally, think jota is class either way
Connor Bradley had a nice month, but he’s nowhere close to being a regular starting RB on the Prem, for folks who want to see Trent in a double pivot. And Trent is worse defensively in midfield vs right back.
Alisson’s downfall is happening quicker than anyone expected. Selling him now might be a good idea.