19 Jan 2025 11:22:08
For me it has to be tsimikas over Robertson right now.
Seeing complaints about Tsimikas yesterday but he was targeted and hadn't played a pile of football. Thought he did ok.
Also, people remember the corner against Nottingham Forrest but he made some vital defensive contributions in that game.
I trust Tsimikas far more at this moment in time and I would continue to start him.
Bringing Robertson on as a sub is also a bonus. He works better for me off the bench like Darwin does. Brining Robertson and Darwin in is like a shot of adrenaline if that is what the team is.
Robertson is an absolute legend and our best lb of premier era.
But for me, it's Tsimikas's starting jersey right now.
I will of course bow to the higher power that is Arne Slot and trust his decision.
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19 Jan 2025 12:01:29
Our main Liverpool site is our Liverpool Transfer Rumours site.
We do have a Liverpool FC Rumours page on this site though.
19 Jan 2025 09:27:51
If I could sign 3 players in the summer based on the current squad it would be Hincapié, Saliba and Zubimendi
Your thoughts?
19 Jan 2025 00:36:11
Delighted for Nunez today. Two well taken goals. Hopefully this kicked starts his season now and he starts banging them in.
19 Jan 2025 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Shappy has posted a new article entitled, Manchester United midfield and inside forward positions
18 Jan 2025 20:11:53
The whole day was a big big sucker punch to Arsenal.
Feels big today.
But next week everything will be forgotten.
Just got to do our our stuff next week and tag on another 3 points. Every single point counts. That's a big boost today. Players should be a great mood after that.
18 Jan 2025 13:37:07
Did anyone see the little scrap at the end of the 1st half between NUFC and Bournemouth?
Joelinton takes out Kluivert from behind, and then there's an exaggerated "You push me - I push you" cry baby scrap. only for the ref to eventually award a free kick to NEWCASTLE
What was that about?
Withbtbe linesman, 4th official and VAR, surely someone must have realized that it was a foul against NUFC
What is going on with these officials?
18 Jan 2025 17:01:50
It had to be Darwin! Great 3 points today and pressure piled on Arsenal for a difficult game against Villa…our 1st half’s are becoming a real problem and it really looks like we are underprepared and don’t have a solid game plan because once we come out after half time we are like a different side. Trent did well today and made the decisive goal with his driving runs forward.
18 Jan 2025 17:30:18
Really happy for Núñez, proper super sub and got us over the line. Will be really interested to see how he performs next game, but it's good to see he's still loved by the fans and his team mates too. Hopefully will quiet the haters at least for a few hours.
Puts the pressure on Arsenal too. Hope Villa can take some points off them.
18 Jan 2025 11:21:59
A simple question to posters.
If we bottle the league from here. How much blame would slot receive? Will it go down as “Manager not rotating the squad enough” or “FSG failing to sign players once again in January”.
18 Jan 2025 10:04:14
Been thinking of some players who we could realistically get if not in January then in the summer. The roles I think we need to strengthen or future proof are:
Centre forward
Right wing
Defensive/ centre mid
Left back
Centre back
The realistic criteria are as follows:
- Must be from the Premier League.
- Must be from outside of the "big 6" plus Newcastle and Villa as I don't think it's realistic to sign players from these clubs without overpaying.
- Max age 26 maybe 27 next season.
Would be good to see what others think and if there's any other players they could suggest that fit the criteria.
Heres my list:
Cunha - would fit perfectly into what we want from a centre forward. He can link up play, has a bit of flair, eye for goal. I don't think Nunez will ever be clinical and although Jota does fit what we want, we can't ignore his injuries. If possible I'd sell Nunez and keep Jota to rotate with Cunha.
Mbeumo - whether Salah goes or not it would be great to see Mbuemo come in. I think he's so underrated. He is direct, fast, strong and can score goals. He would also be more inclined to help his full back out which would make us a bit stronger defensively too.
Baleba - from admittedly a small sample size in the Prem he looks like he's been very impressive. Would fit what we need in the centre of the park and add a bit of steel. Still very young and could go on to be a top midfielder.
Kerkez - with Robbo seeming to be on the decline and Tsimikas not being quite up to the standard for a top club, Kerkez would be a great option. There are left fullbacks who could add more offensively but he's solid defensively and has played a bit part in Bournemouths great season so far. Robinson would be my second pick but given his age I don't think its realistic.
Murillo - absolute solid defender. Reads the game so well. I think Virgil and Konate are great together but with Konates injury issues and Virgils ages Murillo would be a great rotation option. He does lack a bit of height but he makes up for it woth his reading of the game and tenacity.
18 Jan 2025 02:15:40
Haven't posted in ages been away with work (not jail) lol. This season so far has been brilliant. Never imagined we would be in this position at this stage. I wouldn't let anyone leave this window no matter how much. Unfortunately I can't see any incomings. This is the best and most unpredictable league in years.
17 Jan 2025 20:20:09
Carrying on from Salahs theme about which was the best football team Liverpool have produced, So which goal was the best you've seen Liverpool score . my choice is Terry McDermott against Spurs in the 7 nil demolition, great pass from Johnson, even greater cross from Heighway and a great header from Terry Mac . sublime.
17 Jan 2025 11:08:47
Liverpool face significant challenges heading into next season, with several questions surrounding their squad:
Jota: Struggles with injuries.
Núñez: Yet to prove he's up to the required standard.
Díaz: Concerns about his consistency and quality.
Chiesa: Speculation that he may not meet expectations.
Salah: Future remains uncertain.
Elliott, Endo, Morton: Not rated or trusted by Slot.
Defensive midfield: Still vacant and a critical area to address.
Robertson: Form and contributions under scrutiny.
Van Dijk: Contract remains unclear and will be 34
Quansah: Lack of trust from Slot.
Trent: Contract remains unclear.
Goalkeepers: Kelleher likely to leave, while Mamardashvili and Alisson competing for the No.1 spot creates uncertainty.
A lot of work is needed if Liverpool are to remain competitive at the top level.
17 Jan 2025 11:33:31
City rubbing our noses in it pursuing multiple signings and securing their most prized asset on a crazy long contract (I thought the rules were going to prevent these really long contracts after Chelsea kept doing it to get round the financial rules) .
All of which tells me that whatever the financial rules are, they still don't really have the desired effect. A club where the maths of their finances is questionable to say the least, which has spent billions in constructing a squad with a £90m left back and a £100m striker who sits on the bench most weeks, has their first difficult spell on the pitch for years and at the very next transfer window goes on another spending spree to buy their way back into contention.
17 Jan 2025 14:39:33
This isn't a doomsday post just a probable scenario. At some point Grav probably won't be able to play to the same high standards for a period of time. It will force Slot to play Mac deeper and then Jones and Sob will start nearly every game. It's highly likely that one will break down as happened last year. Meaning Slot then has to bring in players he has basically intimated are not suited to his style. This becomes even more likely when the internationals start up again.
The squad needs help.
16 Jan 2025 14:30:53
A bit of nostalgia to break up the stress of the title chase and unresolved contract talks.
When people talk about the great Liverpool teams of the 70s and 80s, and particularly Dalglish's Liverpool of the second half of the 80s, which at times took it to a new level (won the double, came within an Aldridge missed penalty in the '88 Cup Final of winning a second double, and came within a dying seconds Michael Thomas winner for Arsenal of another double in '89, and would surely have won at least one or two European Cups in any other era, there is a player who you don't hear mentioned very often.
Steve McMahon was, in my opinion, one of the most under-rated footballers of that period. It's understandable I guess when his Liverpool team mates included some of the all time greats but when you watch clips of Liverpool from that period, he is a recurring theme of winning tackles, bursting beyond the last man to score, spraying passes around, smashing goals in from outside the box. Ok, maybe not at Souness or Gerrard levels but a more complete midfielder than most that I can think of.
McMahon left Liverpool too soon in my opinion, only 30 or 31 I think. From memory he didn't get much of a look in for England either, which I never understood.
For the young folks here, find a clip online of Vinnie Jones' tackle on McMahon in the opening seconds of the 1988 FA Cup final. Would have been a red card in today's game but not even a yellow back then. McMahon just jumped straight up. Proper hard man with real footballing ability.
16 Jan 2025 20:50:53
The Death Of Flair as Football Becomes Science
-------------------
Watching the forest game the other day and seeing them sit in their box for most of the game I was struck by how the modern game in the UK is missing two things now.
1. Players who break late from midfield to smash it in from the edge of the box like Gerrard or lampard
2. And genuinely creative and instinctual players who can unlock the defence with magic line ronaldinho.
As managers, mainly pep, have sought to reduce winnings to a repeatable science they have also squashed and eliminated the spontaneity of attacking football. It's all rehearsed patterns now, I've even heard this complaint from players themselves in sessions with them (I work as a sports psychologist for bundesliga teams) .
I'm not the only one to notice this as I was in Brasil last year visiting family and crossed paths with Fernando diniz (you won't see a more entertaining game than one coached by him) who mentioned that when he was caretaker for Brasil all the Brazilian players playing their trade in Europe didn't have any ability to play fluidly and move positions and the only one who retained any of that trademark Brazilian ingenuity was neymar.
He said this made coaching the team very difficult as the Brazilian based players could play the Brazilian way but the European ones were struggling to stay on the same page.
We see this too I'n the premier league. Grealish being a very obvious example but you can point to our very own Mohammed Salah too. Sure he does still score a lot of goals we have seen him a little less and take far fewer shots from outside the box. I don't think that's because he's got slower or rubbishter it's because jurgen wanted the team to make chances as close to goal as possible because it's the most likely to score. Which is statistically true. But i'd argue it also kills the creativity and spectacle of the game.
It's not a surprise that at every single club we don't see 'flair' players now. And when a team signs one they slowly become a cog in a greater machine.
Then I think of all that space on the edge of the box against forest. That same space which teams were terrified to leave when Gerrard was on the pitch. Today, they feel totally safe doing that. Like the game against forest because those players who exploit that space, are almost extinct.
16 Jan 2025 23:25:28
We are a sell to buy club, have been for years.
John Henry will not dip into those deep pockets.
If you've heard of the famous names available to buy then we are not interested.
Cheep, unheard of, young, with plenty of scale to earn a profit from.
There is no one to sell, well apart from Diaz, Gakpo and Mac and all hell will break loose if we sold any of them.
Owners have no ambitions other than milking and turning a massive profit on the club.
I hope I'm wrong but I think we'll come up short again this season.
Same owners, same outcome.
Owners not interested in winning, just profit and money.
17 Jan 2025 10:05:29
So city agree to sign maramosh and then tie Halland down to a 9&1/ 2 yr contract, this is the sort of contract that should have been offered to TAA being one of our own and in turn would make him a lifer and possibly a club legend, but alas while City continue to shop in Harrods we are counting our pennies to see if we have enough for a tin of beans in Aldi.
17 Jan 2025 10:17:05
I can't help feeling annoyed with the owners of whomever is in charge with contracts
But when I see Liverpool not jumping on these top
Players to keep them at the club it always leads to it's clear they will go because everyday is a simple opportunity to tie them down
And then I think what's the overall goal of the club because I thought it's winning trophies
No club in Europe would delay if they had vvd Salah or Trent.
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