Liverpool banter 3

16 May 2024 17:08:24
Question for Ed001, if you have the time to reply please Ed.

A couple of seasons ago you were of the opinion that if teams went at City then they could be unsettled, but that most teams would roll over for them and have their belly tickled, with managers setting up for 'damage limitation' instead of just going at them, which always resulted in City getting the points at the end of the day.

Do you think Pep has fixed this, and are they better tactically now?

Regardless of how they spent their way to get there, are they the perfect machine?

Thanks.

{Ed001's Note - there is no such thing as perfect, every team has weaknesses and this season they have lost enough points to show they are far from it. Haaland can be taken out of a game easily. Rodri is key as he needs to be shut down and have someone on him at all times. He is petulant and loses his focus when that happens. Walker is terrible defensively and can be tied up in knots, people normally avoid him because of his pace but he has always been a weak link. Diaz had him on toast. In fact their whole defence is a weak link when not on the ball. They defend by keeping it and then using tactical fouls. But if teams just stayed calm when they have the ball and not panic, you can just run them about for a bit and they have no idea what to do.}

16 May 2024 18:41:09
Interesting. Thanks for the reply Ed.

{Ed001's Note - very welcome.}

16 May 2024 20:12:06
I think our game at Anfield against City was testament to that. we completely outplayed them. I remember them time wasting at about the 40th minute with thrown ins and thinking - "These are supposed to be the best team in the world? "

16 May 2024 21:44:11
City have to have credit for being serial winners. It’s not easy to prove over 38 games, year after year that you’re the best in the PL.

Agree with ed1 tho. Pulling my hair out watching teams basically sit deep for a spanking. Far more chance of getting a result if you pressure them.

17 May 2024 09:37:11
The blatant fact of the matter is that if any team wants to learn how to get at City and make them useless, just go watch us play them under Klopp and esp. in the last game at Anfield a couple of months ago where we (with a depleted lineup, btw) made them look absolutely useless.

Everything that Ed said can be done to Rodri, Walker etc. was done to them in that game and we should have won that game at a canter had our finishing been on point. Teams don't get at them and try to give it a real go. Only Klopp does hence, the reason why he is the ONLY manager to take a title (battered them completely) off of them. Also, there's a reason Klopp's head to head vs Pep is phenomenal. If anyone had figured Pep out in his tenure at City, it is Klopp. Legend, I tell ya.

17 May 2024 12:50:54
We should have beaten City at home this season. Diaz missed a couple of very good chances, Nunez should also have scored and we could have had a penalty right at the end to win it.
City are unquestionably the best team in the league, if not Europe, but you beat them by being organised and working that bit harder to nullify their quality. Get the crowd going as well and unsettled them.
They didn't beat us because the difference in quality isn't as big as it with most other teams and we did a lot of the above.

16 May 2024 17:00:44
I don't understand why people are even considering selling TAA. He is an exceptional footballer with the bonus of being a local lad. Regardless of where he plays, he will only make the team better with his ability. We should be looking to get the most out of his abilities and not selling him for money that, let's be realistic, isn't needed by the club.

16 May 2024 17:15:55
Because it doesn't look like he wants to be here any more.

16 May 2024 17:49:20
Stuie, that’s just bring sentimental. Take a long look at it. He’s not good enough defensively to be a right back and doesn’t have the work ethic or all round game to be a centre midfielder. Aside from the occasional Hollywood pass and even rarer long range goal he doesn’t really offer much, if he wasn’t a local lad you’d be looking to move on. Bradley is a far better right back all round, we can do better in midfield, get some money and move on. And yes, we do need the money as we have a hand to mouth model.

16 May 2024 18:07:56
The TAA hate here is crazy. He is our most talented player, and was as pivotal as Salah and VVD in our success. And he is still just entering his prime years. He is probably the best passer in the league, and just before he got injured people were even calling him as one of our PotS. Alas, memory is short in football. He has been underwhelming since his return, but so have been many. The muddled tactics don't help either. In the right system, he was a great right back, and I believe in the right system he will again be great. Slot's new ideas might just be what he needs.

16 May 2024 18:43:29
It doesn't matter if you love him or hate him (I love him) . If he wants to go and live in Madrid rather than Liverpool then he won't perform for us (I would rather live in Madrid too) .

16 May 2024 18:43:40
If he’s happy to play right back/ wingback then I agree he’s a quality player.
The fly in the ointment is Connor Bradley who has had a few brilliant performances.
Bradley is good enough to start.
They can’t both start in that position.

That’s the problem to me, where does he play.

16 May 2024 19:31:40
If slot plays 4231 with us i would play trent in the midfield 2 and try and build a team around him, as i believe he is that good. Buy a physically dominant defensive minded midfielder and play them 2 together.
BUT trent will have 2 'up it' and be a lot more physical in the tackle and in the air. He also needs to stop this walking back to defend, villa 1st goal when watkins skinned quansah on outside trent just jogging back, if he hadve sprinted he may have got a block on cross. He has to improve that side of his game ad it just not acceptable. The other side of his game, vision, passing is absolutly world class, no doubt.

16 May 2024 20:19:51
What's wrong with having two top rightbacks, going to be even more games next year with the new Champions league format. They would both get plenty of football, we have always wanted squad depth, now when we have two genuine top options in a position people want to throw one out A player who has served the club tremendously.

16 May 2024 20:50:03
I agree with Digger here. Give him preseason in the midfield and work on his positioning in training and see if he can do it.

16 May 2024 21:26:39
He’s not good enough to start in midfield in my opinion. He's a luxury as a midfielder.
Midfielders have to do more these days than being passing machines.

16 May 2024 21:44:51
Have I missed something? Is Trent saying he wants to leave?

17 May 2024 01:41:31
“Trent hate” - honestly, grow up, mate. No one hates Trent.
Perfectly fair questions have asked about his role in the team going forward. Trent is not a midfielder in a Premier League team. In La Liga, Serie A, possibly Ligue 1, Trent would be a good midfielder.
So if he’s not a midfielder for us, and if Bradley turns out to be a better right back, what do we do with Trent?

{Ed001's Note - how on earth can you know that? When he played there in preseason he was excellent. This is unbelievable the amount of nonsense you are spouting about how he would be good in other leagues but not in the Prem. Such a crock of nonsense.}

17 May 2024 02:15:05
I come on here tonight to see the first few posts and suddenly people are talking about getting rid of our best players lol what?

17 May 2024 04:06:15
Ed, I disagree with you. Preseason is no barometer for how good Trent would actually be in competitive fixtures. The games are slower, the opposition often greatly inferior, players lack fitness and very little is at stake. Preseason matches are the exact type of games where Trent’s qualities in midfield are likely to shine.
I don’t need confirmation for what I can see clearly. If Trent can fix the issues he has, then perhaps he can be a midfielder.
We shouldn’t be selling Trent because it’d be daft to sell a player of such quality, but I don’t think this has a as straightforward a fix as it may seem.

{Ed001's Note - you can disagree all you like but you have no evidence just blind bias. So I will stick with what I have seen and having watched the lad come through the ranks he is a midfielder. The plan was always only to put him at full back simply because he was so good and there was a gap, but with an eye to moving him back to his proper place in midfield once a right back was brought in. He just did so well there that it has taken the emergence of a player so outstanding, in the shape of Bradley, that it makes it possible. But the whole reason we shifted to the inverted full back was to get Trent in midfield as that is where he is best.}

17 May 2024 07:21:31
VVV, the whole local thing is a bonus as I mentioned and holds no weight for keeping a player for me personally, I should have stated that. I think you're being overly critical there - the occasional Hollywood pass. he is rightly lauded as one of the best passers in the game. Maybe he hasn't been utilised correctly but for a player his age, showing that ability, if he was at another top team, people would be saying they'd want him at LFC.

I'm by no means a football expert, but in my opinion, you build your team's around players like TAA in order to get the most out of their skills.

17 May 2024 06:56:10
I have to say I agree with Viktor. Trent isn’t lightning fast, doesn’t have skill to beat a player, of course he has a wand of a right foot. I see him as a modern day David Beckham but he generally played in a midfield four which I think would suit Trent as well but who plays that these days🤷‍♂️. That’s not me saying we dump him, far from it but a change of formation is necessary to get the best out of him, so DM it is with a partner tho so it gives Trent that bit more freedom to influence the game. You have to get your best players on the pitch and given the right circumstances Trent is certainly one of them.

17 May 2024 07:42:28
He was a good enough right back to play a major role in a PL and CL winning team. This team is not as good so TAA doesn't look as good at right back. Make the team stronger and play him. If we strengthened the midfield he wouldn't be as exposed.
He's the second best passer of the ball in the PL (after de Bruyne), do we want to lose that? I wouldn't want to lose Bradley either because he's the best of the kids, imo.
I want to see both playing at Liverpool and TAA is more suited to playing another position.

{Ed025's Note - i just dont get this lets get Trent in the side under any circumstances Rigsby, yes hes talented and has a wand of a right foot but im afraid for me it stops there, i dont think hes a good defender and positionally at full back he is found wanting regularly, not good in the air and loses concentration at times as well, so do you put him in midfield?...obviously not as a DM because of the points i have outlined as well as his lack of tackling ability, that leaves him as a creative midfielder or a winger then, do you drop Macca for him?...not for me, so if he does not fancy all that running maybe you should give him a shot in goal..

17 May 2024 07:49:00
I really do hope new manager gives him a shot in midfield, we've really never seen him in midfield for 1st team bar bits here and there. Give him run at it and it up to himself then, i think it would give him a challenge that he may just need, he seems to have lack of spark at times last 2 seasons.

17 May 2024 08:50:22
Lots of ifs going on here.

How about we just see how the new manager sets up the team. Players perform differently in different positions, show aspects to their game not seen before when given a different focus etc

It’s like the insane nonsense that Firmino could play as a CM just cos he dropped deep and picked up the ball around halfway a few times.

17 May 2024 09:16:36
Trents contract needs sorting first bfr were we decide to play him . if he doesn't sign a new deal. then he got to be sold . can't have him running his contract down n we get nothing for him.

17 May 2024 09:39:39
Think he has enough of a challenge trying to get in the team at rightback in fairness Digger.

17 May 2024 10:08:12
Ed025, I recognise his weaknesses as you recognise his strengths.
He can play as a modern day right back if he had a Henderson in front of him. He'd still show his weaknesses but he'd also create and score goals. He will divide opinions and there is no right or wrong one.
You either go with what he can do or go against him for what he doesn't do.
Personally, I wouldn't drop Mac for him, I'd try to play them together.
Trent sitting in a two or one of a three in midfield and I'd try to get Mac further forward maybe even as a 10. They could both play in a three depending on the opposition but I wouldn't want either as a six regularly.
I also think that Mac has a lot of the weaknesses that TAA has; maybe even more. Trent is a better long passer and that's why I'd have him deeper than Mac wherever they play and in whatever system. Mac is more suited to shorter passes and interchanges in the final third and he has got a good shot on him.
TAA is not the answer to our flaky midfield problems but neither is selling him. We could add some steel to it and TAA, MacAllister and Bradley could all get some game time. Jones, Elliott, Gravenberch and Szoboszlai are hardly tigerish and they can't do what Trent does.
You never see them playing at right back though.

{Ed025's Note - i will be honest Rigsby i want the lad to do well, i like him and as much for the charitable work he does as what he does on the pitch but i dont know where he fits in mate, one thing i do know is that you cant waste a talent that he has so maybe he has to add a couple of more strings to his bow if he is to fulfill the promise he certainly has..

17 May 2024 13:16:46
I get what you are saying, Ed025.
He frustrates me at times and he can appear lazy. But that's him and you either let him to do what he's good at or you let him do it somewhere else.
I'd keep him and bring in other players that will allow us to play to his strengths. He's not an old fashioned full back but he's playing the modern role without the cover to compensate. I'd love him to have a bit of mongrel about him but that's never going to happen.

{Ed025's Note - i think it would be a mistake to let him go Rigsby, but he has to either apply himself better or work a lot harder to cement a regular spot in the team mate, he has it in him im sure, but we need to see him declare himself as someone the team can rely upon..

16 May 2024 16:58:45
Var works, people doing var don't work, so what's the answer?
I think it should be put in the bin not because var's not doing its job, but because the referees cannot do their job.

16 May 2024 18:42:14
So your argument is too. give the terrible refs just no chance to rectify their awful decision making? as if that would help.

16 May 2024 21:45:35
VAR is doing its job something like 90-odd percent of the time which is a far cry better than before.

17 May 2024 09:45:24
Iwellbeared bro, based on your last statements, you are literally saying it is the refs who should be put in the bin or did you not realize that? VAR works. So does semi automatic offsides so let's stop the cap.

Like Faith said, it gets a ton of stuff right BUT people overblow what it gets wrong which is FAR less. I remember the fist time it was implemented in the 2018 WC and I was amazed at how great it was.

Now in the PL specifically, it was implemented horribly (by design) and the PGMOL made it look bad cos and I maintain, they NEVER wanted it cos it took power away from them which Webbo and his bad of frauds were clutching their pearls about.

Oh and what do ya know? LFC have just voted to keep VAR.

17 May 2024 15:18:03
VAR itself is not the issue - the folks running it are

Thousands of us all see the same replays the VAR official sees. Even if it against our own team we all know a blatant penalty/ handball/ foul etc when we see it and therein lies the issue - none of the questionable VAR calls are 50/ 50 type calls, they are all blatantly obvious to the thousands upon thousands watching these replays yet the VAR official (whose opinion is the only one that counts) somehow sees something different.

I mean, you'd think given these idiotic calls happen every week, someone in the PGMOL would sit the VAR official down, show him the replay and just ask 'can you tell me how you thought this wasn't a handball, penalty etc' - but nah, just keep apologising every week sure.

It's a weird one for me, look the onfield officials will miss things, no bother I get that, the game moves too fast, players in the way etc, no bother but I just don't get how the VAR official misses it when he sees the same replays we all do?

Again though, it seems to be the same 5 or 6 on VAR every single time. It used to be 'well, the decisions even up over a season' - well they don't these days.

Also, look we have been hard done by, Wolves have been crucified too this season and almost every team has been at the wrong end, consistently too, of these crazy calls - all except City. Why is this? Think they have had one dodgy call, the pull back for a free kick when they broke away.

Just strikes me as weird that the same officials are always involved, weirder still that City just don't seem to get these idiotic calls against them and just absolutely inconceivable that the PGMOL have never actually investigated what these people are doing, but just apologise and move on or, even worse, come out and say the official got it right and explain how with a complete re-interpretation of rules, that they then twist again the following week to explain another call the official got 'right'.

16 May 2024 17:00:17
To get rid of VAR or not.

For me. just go look at the penalty decisions that Newcastle weren't given last night not the penalty that Brighton weren't given.

Yes the ref missed them. but why didn't VAR send the officials to the monitor

Another 2 scandalous decisions if you ask me. everyone and their dog says it's a penalty, except for VAR

Yes, the problem is those who are using it, but if they are going to get these calls wrong, then VAR must go. there is no point holding onto a system that can be brilliant, but is never used properly.

16 May 2024 17:1
I think the nail was in the coffin after the Diaz incident, it’s not improving and if anything, it’s getting way worse.

16 May 2024 21:46:43
We keep going around in circles on this. We know why VAR didn’t intervene and it’s because of the application of a clear and obvious error.

They need to amend that bit to give more rope to the VAR to intervene and for the ref to review their own decisions.

17 May 2024 09:54:08
JLC, you are making a case as to why VAR does not work in England whereas in other places and other comps., the system works a whole lot better. It's the people that need to get replaced, not the tch. which works.

Take the last AFCON, for ex. The VAR's have the power to call the ref. as soon as he misses something. The game was stopped and the check is happening. If they determine like they need him to come to the screen, they will tell him and he makes the screen/ VAR sign and Majority if not always all the time, the process worked cos everything was transparent.

The one time I saw where the decision was not "clear and obvious" to overrule and went to VAR the decision on the pitch, the on-field decision stood and NOBODY complained. Why? After multiple angles, they could not tell if the player handled the ball or used his chest hence, not enuff evidence to overturn it. Why? Cos there was transparency

That is why VAR was hailed a a huge success at the AFCON cos it was implemented correctly. Now the PL can do this as well, if they wanted BUT instead, they use "clear and obvious" to protect themselves and their feelings. See the difference now? .

16 May 2024 16:26:16
What do people think of this vote to scrap VAR? For me it’s never going to happen and the vote is being used to facilitate change.

This has got me thinking, what are the big changes that need to happen next season to improve VAR.

In no particular order;

1- Automated offside - these need to come in

2- playing the review live into the stadium so fans have a clue what is going on.

3- no decisions made by stockley park officials, the ref should be making all subjective decisions (except offside) watch the review on the big screen and make their own opinion up

4- removal of clear and obvious, if an error has been made it should be corrected and that responsiblity lies with the ref.

5- stop using so much slow motion replays, slow motion should only be used to confirm where a foul occurred ( inside or outside the box scenario) or where contact was made ( high tackle or to confirm if there was a handball)

6- cut the time for decisions, if something takes 3 or 4 minutes to review then it’s never going to please everyone and it is clearly a subjective decision so go with what you think is the correct call after reviewing the footage

7- remove Howard Webb, this man wants publicity and craves attention, scrap this Mic’d up rubbish with Michael Owen and get on with it

8- stop expecting perfection, we will never get 100% of the calls correct so stop measuring refs to this standard.

16 May 2024 16:58:26
VAR is just a qualified referee watching an incident multiple times on a tv screen, anything less than 100% success rate is unacceptable.
Ultimately fans can accept and move of from a referee on the pitch making a wrong decision but not from someone watching something multiple times and still making the wrong decision.
Get rid of it.

16 May 2024 17:52:45
I’ve dabbled with the notion of bin VAR too but where does that leave us, a terrible referee making a decision on their own! If they can’t make a decision with 100s of camera angles and a team of refs then it will only get worse on their own. I guess the big decision is, does the marginal increase in correct decisions coming from VAR mitigate against the negatives which VAR brings ( fan experience and speed of the game) .

16 May 2024 21:48:24
Multiple posts on this and not seeing any valid points about why it should be binned other than hysterics over the extreme mistakes.

Need to evolve and get better at using the technology.

17 May 2024 15:34:37
For me:

1 - offsides, let play continue then have the VAR check (as it is currently) but no lines to check millimetres. Only one still, when the ball is played and along the line and look with the naked eye. If he's on or off it's usually obvious, if you need lines to determine if his wee toe is offside then it's too close to tell and the benefit of the doubt/ advantage goes to the attacker - simples, and should be less than a minute to sort

2 - I too like the idea of the replays been shown in the stadium. It works in Rugby, something happens, a short delay and then the decision and the replay is shown backing that decision made - no bother, quick and the fans actually know what is happening and why

3 - I do not like this 'clear and obvious' nonsense. If the VAR official spots something the onfield refs missed, then direct the ref to the monitor, but it is his call and his call alone. If after watching he is happy with the onfield call then so be it, his call

4 - the time it takes annoys me too and seems contradictive to the purpose of VAR. If VAR only gets involved within the parameters of 'clear and obvious' well then it shouldn't take 5 mins plus should it? If it is clear and bloody obvious then you should kinda see it quite clearly shouldn't you? The thousands of us watching at home do.

5 - I dislike Webb as well, all about him - also, he has shown a complete negligence in managing this issue. Should it really take this long? Has he never managed a team before? Performance management/ corrective action? Really should not be alien concepts to a man in his position.

6 - VAR is a great tool but is being horribly mismanaged. Either that or we will find out that 6 of these guys have been bribed or are in a betting syndicate or something cos what other reasons are there for the same 6 or so experienced refs making ridiculous error after ridiculous error week after week after week and somehow face no sanctions for this? What other job in the world could you perform as consistently poorly and have nothing done?

16 May 2024 15:57:32
Genuinely I am not trying to annoy people but here goes.
For the last few years I've wanted klopp gone I've finally got my wish. I prey Salah is next to go with Diaz and Trent and a few of the lesser used players.
I think with these sales we can really do well with our incoming head coach.
I guess what I am saying is don't be too upset about klopp and players leaving. We all have good memories with the trophies we have won.
I am really excited for next season if my personal preferences regarding sales comes to fruition.
I am going to state right now we win nothing next season but the season after we will have silverware. If Slot gets 3 seasons minimum I think we win at least 2 premier leagues and hopefully a cup or two.

16 May 2024 17:49:19
Walter, mighty grand of you to concede we may get silverware in two years time.

16 May 2024 18:46:18
No need to pray for players to be sold.
I’m excited for the future too.

16 May 2024 13:47:07
Thoughts.
I reckon we should have a clean out off 4 main players. Salah, Allison, TAA. And Timikias. Reason we could get a small fortune. I wouldn't take anything less than 80 million for Salah. 60 million for Allison and 50 to 60 million for TTA. Throw in departures of Matip, Thiago, and Nat Phillips. Matip already made replacement Sepp, and thiago's is calvellia. No costs. potention revenue 200 mill + of player sales.

Plus any tranfer kitty, we could have a tidy some to re invest. Make Nunez the main man, he scored more while salah didn't play. And let's be frank our team is set up for Salah. We still have 4 main scorers still Nunez, cody, diaz and Jota. We have a right back already in Bradley. We could buy 5 quality players and still have change. Keep our youth and go again next year. Everybody cried when coultino left and that turned into a blessing.

And Play our players in their best spots. I don't think it will be all doom and gloom. Get Thurman, kloopminers, a cb and right back and a goalie at least. Slot hopefully is no mug. And move away from and players that play in the African conference. We always loose players during the period and l reckon that causes our players to run out of puff in the back end of the season.

16 May 2024 14:10:00
If we sell everyone then your name makes sense at least, unlike your post 🙈.

16 May 2024 14:12:44
Allison has to stay for me
Tsimikas can leave gives a lot of effort but not irreplaceable
Salah we may have seen the best of salah and a move in the middle may have to be the way forward with him if he’s to stay as he’s lost the ability to beat a man and offers little out wide now .
Trent is a whole conundrum that needs sorting imo
Is he a right back . Will he move to midfield or will he be the man to invert in slots system who knows . But for sure he has some serious quality and can make things happen but need to seriously work on his defensive side of his game and reading of the game as far to many times he let's men run off him and is too slow to react and get back .

16 May 2024 14:31:11
Top priorities must be LCB and DM (replacing Matip and Tiago in the squad) . Any other signings will just be replacing any other players who are sold. I expect Kelleher and possibly Tsimikas to go. Salah or Diaz could go but would not be surprised to see them both stay.
We just finished 3rd and were in the title race until late in the season. I don't expect a major overhaul - it would be madness!

16 May 2024 14:39:00
1. Why would you want to sell Alisson? He's 31. Keepers routinely last into their late 30s, so he should have at least 5 years left at the top, and he the best keeper there is. We quite literally cannot get a replacement who is as good.

2. I remain skeptical about getting figures of £70m or £80m for Salah. There seems to be an assumption that Saudi club will waltz in and offer him £5m a week, or whatever, that he "can't refuse", and he'll happily go there and play in front 600 people ever week. Either they failed to communicate such an irrefusable offer to Salah last summer, given that Salah made no public attempt to agitate for the move, or they weren't serious about the move at all. Certainly bidding £150m on deadline day, when they knew full well we couldn't accept it, cos we didn't have time to reinvest the money to me suggests the latter. Maybe they'll be more serious this year if they can get him for half of what they could have last summer, but given numerous European players are unhappy there and they're supposed to be concentrating on getting younger players in, I think it's far from a done deal that a Saudi club will bid £70-80m for Salah.

The only other place I could see him going for big money is PSG.

3. I agree that Tsimikas could be sold.

4. I'm not sure what to with Trent Alexander-Arnold either. I don't understand why he's such a massive defensive liability that we can't have at right back now when he was a defensive liability that we could cover when we were winning literally everything 3 or 4 years ago with him playing right back every game. I personally don't see why we can't go back to that (although Slot apparently prefers inverted wing backs), and if it is a case that he's not bothering, then someone needs to slap him. There is a case that we could use him in central midfield, especially with Bradley breaking through at right back instead. Alternatively maybe Slot will perfect the inverted wing back system here. At this point I wouldn't look to sell because he's by far the best passer of a football at the club, and maybe in the league apart from KDB. And if Slot likes possession football, then surely that's a talent set he'll make good use of.

In my opinion, we need to make decisions about van Dijk and Konate first, as well as making sure we have proper backup for Endo. I don't think van Dijk can play every game anymore without a dip in form somewhere, but he'll also want to play every game, which could be a problem. Konate is on paper our second best central defender and should be playing most games as van Dijk's partner, but he having injury problems and has lost his place to Quansah, who is going to make mistakes because he's 20. That needs resolving.

16 May 2024 15:34:38
Spot on Something Red. DM is the most important for me given how our midfield seems to have become so easy to bypass in the last few weeks. And I know Baj is back but let's be honest, he's not ready yet to play that role for a full season. One position where I'd advocate buying a seasoned top class Pro rather than potential.

16 May 2024 15:42:41
I agree with the op, bar Alison. Trent and Salah need to go for me.
Can get 3 or 4 quality squad players to improve our team.

16 May 2024 15:46:53
Trent doesn’t look fit enough half the time, jogging around, not tracking back, bypassed far too easily, blowing after 60 mins etc etc. I can’t take another season of that. I don’t care how good his passing is.

16 May 2024 16:02:31
One has to speculate has he fully recovered from the injury he got mid-season or if he has an underlying issue then WarMachine, cos he doesn't look like he's been on the pies.

16 May 2024 16:20:45
You don't sell your best players unless you improve on them. I don't see how we would.
TAA has his faults but he's also a match winner. Let him do his stuff rather than expect him to do things he's not good at. Make the team more solid and he'll be less exposed. He's not a typical right back.
Selling Alisson would be madness and Salah is still our top scorer.
It wouldn't be hard to improve on Tsimikas so selling him is easier.

16 May 2024 16:29:00
Getting rid of Allison would be a silly idea. One of the top ten keepers in world football and probably the best in the premier league by a mile. Go ahead and name me someone capable of replacing him?

I would sell Salah as his legs have gone, when you can’t beat Oliver Skipp in a race then forget it.

I’d also I’d move TAA on as well, last year of his contract, Bradley had shown he’s more than just potential and not only looks a better and more effective right back, but is backed up by stats, the reason TAA wasn’t as exposed when we were winning the league and champions league was because he had a functional midfield with a top class defensive midfielder to cover his shortcomings. Those shortcomings are horribly exposed by not only the midfield not being effective but also the tactic of him coming infield and inverting, consequently putting undue pressure on the right centre back. I don’t see TAA as a midfielder either, he simply doesn’t do enough and he’s definitely not a defensive midfielder as we’d get battered every week if we experimented like that, he doesn’t like tackling and doesn’t track runners or read the play. Given he’s got a year left, move him on.

16 May 2024 17:01:44
Stopped reading once I read that Ali should be sold.

16 May 2024 18:49:29
It’s a good point VV. I also think Jordan Henderson playing in front of Trent and barking at him all game really helped keep him switched on and put the effort in. Shouldn’t really be needed though.