Liverpool Banter 2

16 Jul 2026
New image uploaded to the
Liverpool Player Sightings page entitled,

Click picture for larger image

16 Jul 2026 14:35:25
Would be the perfect incorrect response to an incorrect statement.

They are a British territory which would have been lost if it wasn't for the the sacrifice of the British Armed Forces.

16 Jul 2026 14:54:53
Better off not talking about this anymore. Not everyone on the site is British. I, like a lot on here, am Irish. Last thing I want to be doing is talking about British territories, in fairness.

16 Jul 2026 15:00:07
My sincere apologies, Florian. Last thing I would want to do is insult or disrespect. Not in any way the point of my reply. My fault for not thinking further.

16 Jul 2026 15:07:19
Then don't post on it, Florian, and scroll past.

16 Jul 2026 15:12:07
Probably a good reason why, in my humble opinion, we should not mix politics and football.

16 Jul 2026 15:19:55
I'm also non-British, but have no issues with this being posted.

Gives me an opportunity to do some research... but also to get the points of view from British people on these forums.

Everyone to their own, I suppose....

16 Jul 2026 15:14:48
Is it not their Island?

How does a country in the northern hemisphere have real estate in the southern hemisphere?

16 Jul 2026 15:40:46
Lots of history but basically we declared a sovereign claim over the islands in 1765 with a military presence there. We left the island in 1774 mainly because of economic reasons but placed a plaque claiming the island's belonged to the UK.

We re-established a presence in 1883 and have been there ever since. The islanders took a vote 2013 to remain part of the UK, 99% of a 93% turnout. Source CGPT.

{Ed001's Note - Argentina never existed until 1815 or so and never had any presence on the islands, which were uninhabited. I am not big on empire etc, but this just seems to be them saying 'it is near us so it must be ours'. Even though they never wanted it until it was a useful political tool.}

16 Jul 2026 15:44:02
Thatcher's govt were contemplating selling them to Argentina prior to the war. Even if the Argentinian Junta hadn't decided to go blowing things up the idea might have stalled had there been local opposition though.

16 Jul 2026 15:49:38
Starseeker, Google can answer this question for you. In simple terms, Argentina itself didn't technically exist when Britain started to inhabit the Falkland Islands so how they claim ownership is very odd. It's always been used by their fascist right wing governments to distract from troubles at home and is quite pathetic.

16 Jul 2026 16:26:07
A referendum was held whilst I was based there. The question was British or Argentinian. The natives who lived there voted and had their say on mass.

Of the roughly 4000 individuals, only 3 voted they considered themselves Argentinian. The rest wished to remain British citizens.

16 Jul 2026 16:28:39
My point remains as above, though. They are British, not English, hence the imagery is incorrect.

16 Jul 2026 16:49:25
Posters on here moaning about the British... you do know this site is British, LFC is English, could go on but think some will be offended as usual.

16 Jul 2026 16:56:56
Any chance we can talk about football again anytime soon, guys?

16 Jul 2026 12:59:34
Just reading the ThreeLions Reddit page, apparently Macca is getting it in the neck as being as bad as the others who behaved disgracefully, which I don't agree with at all.
Also us Liverpool fans are simping for him and will support anyone that can cross a ball!
You couldn't make this crap up.
Macca actually had some class and restraint unless I missed something.

16 Jul 2026 13:26:18
If I had it my way, all them cheating dirty Argies would be banned from playing in the Premier, happy to take our money while slagging us off in songs n banners

16 Jul 2026 15:08:36
I'm just hoping getting to the final means someone will buy him.

16 Jul 2026 15:58:05
The BBC have about 6 pictures of the incident and I didn't see Macca in any of those, but maybe you have seen other pictures.

16 Jul 2026 17:00:22
What's Macca supposed to do, subdue his delight at reaching a World Cup final just because he plays in England? The game was a war, figuratively and literally. It had a great storyline, lots of fascinating sub plots and historical bad blood on and off the field.

If I'd won the game in that manner, I'd be acting like a school girl at a Justin Bieber concert also.

16 Jul 2026 18:00:52
Equally surely, Argentinians are allowed to have a perspective on their national interests, even if that differs from ours. They just shouldn't bring it into football in the way they did. Too much politics in football. FIFA have sort of opened the door to it in recent years.

16 Jul 2026 12:06:38
Hi all,

As you can see, Joao Gomes is off to Villa. My understanding of the deal was that negotiations were never advanced. Remained tight lipped on that one as to not raise any hopes.

Barcola deal is advancing. No major developments but still all positive. Arsenal have essentially withdrawn from the race.

Szobo has agreed a new deal but I believe that's already broke in the media. I only heard about it early this morning.

Lastly, I predict Curtis stays this season. Positive discussions yesterday held with the gaffer have raised his spirits and desire to remain at the club. Unless Inter come in with a whopping offer, I expect him to stay and fight for a place.

16 Jul 2026 13:00:13
Cheers, VG.

Not upset about Gomes going to Villa, but we really do need to solve the midfield mix.

16 Jul 2026 13:08:42
Cheers VG, appreciate the updates.

Any clue on what's happening with Macca? 2 years left on his deal, so it seems as though it's a good time to sell if he's not planning on signing a deal or if the club are not offering one.

16 Jul 2026 13:41:55
Cheers Vic, nice to hear that about Curtis, I think Iraola is exactly the type of manager who can get the most out of a player like Jones, the holes in his game are easily sorted; he hasn't kicked on the way we hoped but the kid has a ton of invaluable experience, and it would be a shame to see our only scouser moved on.

16 Jul 2026 13:47:49
@chewy, I CJ but I think he will always be a bit part player. That is ok though because you need those in your squad.

16 Jul 2026 14:59:40
Wow, VG. That Gomes deal looked good to go. Not too mad at it. We move on.

If CJ stays, then I am all for it.

Keep the news coming, man. Much appreciated.

16 Jul 2026 16:01:09
The price for Gomes, approx 34m, seems like a good deal when you look at Anderson for 116m and Wharton being mentioned at 100m+, it seems like Gomes would be good business.

16 Jul 2026 16:31:33
I think I'd prefer Anderson for 116 mill, if I was in charge, Mcgov.

16 Jul 2026 17:19:41
Why is it that the likes of City and Arsenal think at least one specialist defensive midfielder is required, but our recruitment team don't. PSG play the system to good effect, and at international level France, Spain and others use one or two to help control tempo, break up and dictate play.



I don't mind who it is so long as they can play the position to good effect. For me, it's more a question of why wouldn't you play with one or two when virtually every successful side does.

16 Jul 2026 10:54:09
Another one scratched off the list. Got a bad feeling about this transfer window. I think it'll be spun as "giving Areola time to assess the squad". We know what we need, we've known for 2/3 seasons what we need. Kick the can down the road, then have an even bigger job to do next summer.

16 Jul 2026 13:08:25
How do you know what's going on behind the scenes?
Didn't Adoni say we need at least 3 signings?
So just chill and let the club do the work.

16 Jul 2026 13:13:33
The club needs two top midfielders. A top 6 and a significant improvement on Macca.

16 Jul 2026 13:43:50
Ron, if the club felt it needed a top 6, why did they just sign Grav up to a 6-year deal on £280k per week?

16 Jul 2026 14:18:39
Macca is still one of the most efficient midfielders in the world.. He needs to get his Argentina form to Liverpool..
How many times we see him arrive late in box for us..

Rare as he was asked to be no 6, which he is not..
Grav and Endo are more suited to 6.
Macca/ Jones are more to 8.
Dom can play anywhere.
Witz and Elliot as 10..

16 Jul 2026 16:17:45
It's Iraola, not "Areola".

16 Jul 2026 16:39:07
Macca himself said he sees his best position as one of two in the double pivot, or in a slightly more advanced role closer to a ten. Iraola does play a 4231 so he could fit in there.

I'd trust Iraola to at least get him fit. If he still doesn't perform under a different coaching and fitness set up, that would tell us it isn't going to improve, so offload him.

16 Jul 2026 10:43:20
It was a good tournament with a great group and no clicks or issues.
I still support Tuchel. The lads' legs were gone from the effort they put in the first 60 minutes. The bench options are average. Maybe question one or two subs. But if we got a set piece and burn scored, Tuchel would have been a "genius".
I think we lack depth in certain areas and I do worry going forward.
Who's coming up after Harry? Alarm bells in terms of lack of quality.
The wide players are decent at best. Saka is a very good player at his best. He's not a top player or game changer for England.

The rest are substandard for 90 mins.
Centrally, Anderson is England's future. You build around him and maybe Wharton if he gets his move and pushes on. We need a midfielder in there that keeps us flowing and clicking. Maybe that's Wharton.
Defensively we're ok. Fullback areas are good. Pickford has done well for us.
The England squad is completely overrated. We don't have strength and depth in certain areas and our current midfield is inferior to the better teams. Anderson though shines.

16 Jul 2026 13:10:55
Got to disagree on the Saka bit, he's good at the very best

He's another enigma, gets labelled world class more like back of the class.

16 Jul 2026 13:13:52
McAllister did well yesterday, didn't he?

16 Jul 2026 13:26:47
Florian. He got into some good attacking positions as he does for us. He missed an absolute sitter of a header.

16 Jul 2026 13:44:59
Unlucky with that I thought Ron, and the other time he hit the woodwork.

16 Jul 2026 15:00:38
@Fat, Saka has regressed massively, imo.

16 Jul 2026 15:09:24
Oli, totally agree regards Saka!
Another of our players totally hyped out of all proportion!

Apologies on my part though, as I posted last week that I felt a bit underwhelmed by Anderson - last night he was immense and if he continues that form then there's quite a player there!

16 Jul 2026 15:25:30
I agree with you, Oli. He was much better about two/three seasons ago. I think Arteta ball doesn't suit him.

It was a bad decision to take him to the WC. He arrived at the World Cup carrying an injury.

16 Jul 2026 16:21:55
Starseeker, if you gave Saka to Klopp 3 seasons ago as you mentioned, he would have been mint and gone up levels, man. Cos back then, he was my candidate to replace Salah cos he was that good even while being on the come-up.



Instead, Arteta has ruined him by overplaying him even while being injured. And, his muscle injuries, esp. his hamstrings, are now as strong as a bag of crisps, and the kid is not even in his prime yet. Really sad.

16 Jul 2026 10:58:41
I find it hilarious that Egypt gave Argentina a more difficult game than England. Hossam Hassan for the England Job!

16 Jul 2026 12:08:39
Not sure why there is this obsession to park it as a top team. I get it if you're small, but it doesn't play to England's strengths since the defence is dross.

Teams aiming to win the big trophy should be trying to win, not being afraid to lose.

Felt like a page out of Artitas' book.

16 Jul 2026 12:19:59
England are flat track bullies, and when they meet a good side they collapse. DR Congo, Mexico, Norway are hardly top teams.

16 Jul 2026 12:21:17
Egypt (overall) have players with better all-round technical skills than England... and that's a fact. Now let that sink in.

The FA needs to change the way kids are taught football. They've made some changes, but it's not enough.

Until then, England will never get by an Argentina, Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, Brazil, etc. You have to be able to control the game, and England are not taught how to do that at youth level like other nations are.

16 Jul 2026 12:55:46
When you say the FA need to change the way kids are taught, how many English players are in our squad, let alone starting XI?

16 Jul 2026 13:31:35
Rome, that's what we should sort out. Play only 3 or 4 foreigners in every Premiership side, let the lads who don't get chances at top clubs have a chance to shine or fade. We as a nation play football the same way for decades, last decent team we had who played attacking football was when El Tel was manager.

16 Jul 2026 13:32:31
@Rome, I get that, but players should only make the team based on ability and merit. You can't blood youngsters for the sake of it, if there is a better foreign player.

Regardless, the point I was making was that other countries introduce certain skills very early on in a player's development, in other countries. The onus isn't on winning, but mastering ball retention, spatial awareness, and developing skills.

They're also taught about dictating play and controlling the game.

Spain is the gold standard, but France, Netherlands, and other leading football nations also do this. The problem in this country is that the government just doesn't provide the funding the FA needs. If anything, we are closing down facilities.

16 Jul 2026 14:12:06
Strom, if we have less technical players in the club squads, mainly those from overseas, we see the same dross that we saw back when there were only 3 foreigners allowed in the squad.

International football has been a very poor relation to Club and European football for a long time now.

It's no longer the pinnacle of aspirations for a great many fans (and arguably a fair few footballers too).

16 Jul 2026 14:19:00
Spain are probably the gold standard right now in terms of how to control a match, but they aren't exciting to watch. They should beat Argentina though, so will probably end up as WC champions. France are the best team to watch when in full flow. Spain simply didn't allow them to play.

England don't have depth in many key positions right now, and also left a lot of the more talented technical players out of the squad. They went more with stability and physicality than flair.

That was a choice of Tuchel, and at the time many questioned it, but also many didn't, as there was a narrative going around that to question the squad pics would set the wrong tone.

Such is life. There's a few players coming through who can shake up areas of the squad, but still a dearth of quality centre forwards, defenders, and keepers. That makes the next Euros difficult, but maybe by the next World Cup we'll have a more exciting balanced team to watch.

16 Jul 2026 14:42:37
Salah, personally, I couldn't care less what nationality our team is made up of. As an Englishman, I'm disappointed that we lost, but first and foremost I'm a Liverpool supporter.

The question of coaching crops up after every tournament. The bottom line is, we lost yesterday due to pi** poor defending and keeping. That has nothing to do with the FA.

The trend nowadays is, and it's highlighted on this forum, whenever we are linked with an English born player it's "he's not good enough".

If we're linked with someone who's played in the Bundesliga, he's the best thing since sliced bread, or "the next generational talent". I can be guilty of this myself. A case in point was Spence. General consensus is he was a bag of cr*p. On the other hand, Palestra, who I know fu*k all about, we need to buy, we need to buy. Neither assessment is correct, but the bias is always towards the foreign player.

Anyway, I'm just going to enjoy the rest of the summer, till the stress of the new season starts.

16 Jul 2026 15:01:30
OP, Cape Verde did better than Egypt did, which tells you how awful England was v Argentina. Flat track bullies, indeed.

16 Jul 2026 15:31:35
Tuchel's tactics were the real villain. It would have been better to go toe to toe and lose than park the bus and defend like amateurs.

16 Jul 2026 16:22:57
Cape Verde and Egypt showed more courage and spine than the "mighty" England. Pathetic.

16 Jul 2026 16:53:05
Lofty, you mean the dross when Liverpool were winning everything in sight, with mostly UK n Irish players ...

16 Jul 2026 18:35:28
Rome,

There definitely was poor defending, but my point is that we cannot control games. It has always been like that. It's a cultural issue - we are taught a different brand of football that will not win tournaments. We cannot produce a creative midfielder comfortable on the ball and able to play between the lines. We cannot produce a midfielder that controls tempo. It's all safe side to side or backwards passing.

It is interesting that some people just can't see that in this country.

What is refreshing is that some English pundits are beginning to say as much, but the vast majority are sticking with the whole poor tactics angle and our players lacking courage. It's complete tripe.

We have had world class managers in charge of the national side and no one has got them playing fluent football. It has nothing to do with the manager (although Tuchel did shoot himself in the foot) and everything to do with a lack of technical ability in that aspect of the game.

16 Jul 2026 18:39:14
Btw, I'm not stirring, just really interested in how different people interpret things. Enjoy the rest of your summer! Really looking forward to the new season and seeing what Iraola brings to the club.

16 Jul 2026 19:43:56
Storm, I'm talking about international level, arguably in my lifetime (47 tomorrow), the national team was predominantly cack during the period where foreign players were at a premium, only bright spots were Italia 90 and Euro 96, despite the influx of overseas talent, English players have been massively overhyped by the press since then.

Football has changed, as much as you seem to not want it to, the bulk of the ones we've had haven't been good enough to win the league, shown out by Klopp buying exactly 1 English player who was a key part of the success with us (Ox).

Tell me which other English players who were available would have even been good enough to propel us to CL and EPL titles over the last 10 years?

16 Jul 2026 10:17:58
Joao Gomes just signed for Aston Villa apparently.

16 Jul 2026 11:04:21
Yep, he looks Villa bound.

16 Jul 2026 12:43:56
That's a shame!

16 Jul 2026 15:01:51
Yeah, I rate him but none too fussed.

16 Jul 2026 07:16:55
Tuchel 100% to blame last night.
Not just tactics after going a goal behind, but starting line-up too. Rodgers out of position, Rice clearly still not fit.
Even after going behind he takes too long to get some forwards on and then it’s clearly lump it and fingers crossed something happens.
Substitutions also dire, and not taking off Kane when you’ve decided to dig in was also plain stupid.

He can make things happen on the ball but off the ball he’s a passenger, especially if you’re parking the bus.
Then if you do get a chance to break he’s clearly not going to have the pace to get you up the pitch, but instead he takes Gordon off.
One of the most obviously poorly managed games I’ve ever seen and in a Cup semi-final. Very disappointing

16 Jul 2026 07:35:13
Ed's, would you be willing to look at the possibility of a page being created specifically for England or International football? Last 12 hours there's barely been anything posted about Liverpool on the Liverpool page.

No worries if not, I'm also happy just scrolling past the bore-fest about the bore-fest. Just seems like there is a lot of appetite to talk about England, Tuchel etc. Might also give fans of all clubs the opportunity to talk about it together.

{Ed025's Note - there is not much happening transfer wise MK so it gives posters the platform to vent i suppose mate, its basically all over now so im sure we will get back to Liverpool matters very shortly so i cant really see the point of changing things at this stage, but its certainly something to consider in the future..

16 Jul 2026 07:45:02
I didn't care who won match so speaking from neutral point of view I agree 100% with u.
What on earth was he at trying to hold on for 40mins after scoring, go and try and get a 2nd. Up until England scored it 50-50 game with v little quality in it, I felt whoever scored 1st would win but once England scored they just offered nothing, almost as if they sitting waiting to get beat.

Arg should've scored 4r5.

16 Jul 2026 07:57:48
Tuchel was absolutely to blame last night. Just a disastrous display of coaching after England scored.
However, until England show the same level of desire and pride at playing for the country as the Argentinians do, England simply won't win. England have been doing better in recent tournaments because the team is good and they aren't drastically underachieving anymore. That said, I don't think many people genuinely thought England would win it - they simply aren't desperate enough for it.

I get the feeling that, though the players are playing for the country, you could switch their clubs in place for many, and it would make no difference. For the Argentinians, when it comes to their country, they could not give a rats behind about their clubs. Just my opinion, probably wrong.

16 Jul 2026 08:00:29
Yep, have to agree with MK & Digger, I'm glad it's all over tbh as I've not enjoyed too much about the tournament - total bore fest & the same old same old, turgid insipid displays by a massively overrated England & also glad to not have to listen to third rate pundits & commentators (some absolute k**b called Mattyface?).


Back to the cricket season, Open golf and transfer gossip !

16 Jul 2026 07:56:56
Cheers Ed025, I think it would do well for you as a site. Even if you made a new page for each major tournament (e.g. "World Cup 2030 Banter") so fans of every country could get involved.

Like you say, It's almost over now so I wasn't expecting anything immediately!

{Ed025's Note - i will put if forward to the powers that be MK, maybe for the next Euro,s mate..

16 Jul 2026 08:26:38
Listen, being a proud Scot, I don't care who won last nite. Only England player to come out of last night with any credit, and hate to say it, was Pickford. Kept England in, with a should a bet now. Steptoe/Tuchel was wishing to took Trent with him. Now.

16 Jul 2026 08:37:32
Digger10 as soon as the team went in a low block right after scoring, everyone and his dog knew England. Argentina is a very talented team that has shown they can come back from going down one or two goals and England dared them to do the same.

Macca alone could have had a brace/hatrick and Argentina could have scored 5 goals last night and while all of this was happening, Tuchel said, "Thank you very much, Argies. Can I have more, pls? " England got what it deserved finally in this WC because we all know their comeupance was always on the cards.

16 Jul 2026 08:39:30
Whilst Pickford made some good saves (That's what he's there for), I think the first goal was poor from his point of view. He was in the middle of the goal, had a clear view, and still got beat by a shot halfway between him and the post.

When the shot was being taken, his feet were both up in the air. It was a side footed shot from 20 yards and not in the corner, and should never end in a goal.

{Ed025's Note - he was too far to his left for me Matt, if he was in the middle of the goal it would have been a routine save for me mate..it was only side footed..

16 Jul 2026 09:38:09
Pickford didn't use his feet, he pushed off from a standing start. Quick feet and push, he might have got there. Having said that, had England continued to play and not s*** the bed, he wouldn't have been in that position. Terrible coaching from Tuchel.

16 Jul 2026 11:01:58
100% on Tuchel this one. Parked the bus too soon!

16 Jul 2026 11:39:11
I think Pickford should have done better for the equaliser.
And I couldn't understand bringing on two centre halves and a full back when we couldn't get out of our penalty area. The lack of midfield options was staggering, as well.


My Missus, who doesn't watch football, noticed that Messi was "always in the same place".
Both their goals and some of their big chances came from where Messi was, and we didn't seem to do anything to stop him.

16 Jul 2026 11:50:32
After being hacked to bits non stop in the first half, which went completely unpunished, when we scored, we just sat back. A one nil lead is never enough, and we played to lose as soon as we scored. I said to people around me that we will lose this match because of the negative tactics, and we did.

Tuchel to blame 100%. Or was it the plan all along? Either way, I hope Spain tan the crap out of them. Cheating b*******

16 Jul 2026 12:16:24
Although the tactics were negative, Tuchel saw that England had absolutely no control of the ball, so he tried to shore up the defence.

He knows what I think everyone else knows deep down... England have good attackers, decent defenders, but absolutely no control in midfield. It's never been in the country's DNA.

Until the FA change things at grassroots to develop retaining the ball, receiving the ball on the turn, being press-resistant, etc, England will always fail at the last hurdle.

Happens in most tournaments. They have no control of the ball. It's either all out attack or sit deep. It's antiquated.

Every other nation has moved on and developed these types of players, but for some reason this country doesn't make the requisite changes for development at an early age. Probably comes down to funds and money, but that is what it'll take - they need a cultural revolution - it's not always about getting the ball to the attacker as quickly as possible.

16 Jul 2026 15:03:12
Pickford doing Pickford stuff. It is what it is.

16 Jul 2026 04:02:42
Ed001 and Ed025
With the prem start now on the horizon and the next few weeks being busy for the clubs to realign their squads, I'm interested to see what you would both be choose for your respective clubs if they could buy just 3 players.


My own choice for the reds would be Gomes, Barcola, Sadiki which means playing Jones or Szobo at RB but I'm only allowed three.

{Ed025's Note - its hard for me to pick 3 for Everton with Moyes in charge Hughesy, whoever we get will be stifled by boring tactics and playing not to lose rather than win mate..

16 Jul 2026 06:28:14
Moyes for England then Ed25.

Or Tuchel for Everton???

Different coaches, same philosophy

{Ed025's Note - i was having a drink with Tony Bellew the other night JLC and he was telling me that Anthony Barry (Tuchels No 2) is being lined up to be the next Everton boss mate...out of the frying pan into the fire comes to mind.. :(

16 Jul 2026 07:45:23
Did you tell tony he is "full of crap" Ed😊

Always comes off as a nice guy to be fair. Would probably laugh something like that off.

{Ed025's Note - i always do Davey, but he has never been the brightest bulb in the box mate.. :)