Liverpool Banter 2

02 Sep 2026 10:34:02
Is Hughes gone yet? I really hope he sods off as soon as possible. Despite still needing many players to have a squad that can compete on multiple fronts, Liverpool still managed to somehow be the most spending team this summer again (net spend) don't understand this ed woodward approach at all. Its so idiotic.

02 Sep 2026 11:32:47
Last summer we were the biggest spenders but way down in net spend. This season we are top like you said on net spend but that's because we didn't sell any valuable assets. Last season the media hounded us for our huge investment but failed to take in net spend. Will they do the same with City who spent just under half a billion?

02 Sep 2026 12:58:46
Jones, Bajcetic, Salah, Robertson and Konate all gone for a combined fee of £26m... Hard to have a good net spend with such stellar business.

02 Sep 2026 14:10:40
BJ, where did Baj go to?

02 Sep 2026 14:39:00
Celta Fortuna in the Spanish Segunda Division, hopefully he can get over his injuries and get his career back on track, but it seems a massive step down from what we all expected he could achieve.

02 Sep 2026 10:19:58
One to watch is Dario Osorio who has gone to Palace on loan with obligation to buy for £22m. We will see if he's a hit or miss.

02 Sep 2026 10:19:11
So deadline has passed.

It is what it is, Andoni is going to work his magic, the more time he has with the players the better it will be. You can already see it's better than last year.

My question is now when is Hughes being announced as leaving the club?

02 Sep 2026 09:51:06
Thank Fowler that's over - time to focus on what we've got now and see what AI can do with the squad.

Personally I don't think our first 11 is bad at all and a bit more coaching, getting used to AI way of playing and more discipline from the midfield we will give anyone a game.

Individual mistakes, injuries etc are a worry but I think we have enough to get us through to January at least - Arteta has built a decent squad but his style of football is painful to watch, Maresca is tinker man tastic, United are bobbins apart from the rat, and Chelsea blew £200 million on CDM's and ship goals for fun - I concur we ideally need a bit more but apart from maybe City I'd take our squad all day everyday.

02 Sep 2026 09:42:41
Criminal not to sign a right back, right winger or central midfielder.

Still looking forward to watching better football under aa. Hope Ekitike, Bradley and Leoni are fit sooner rather than later.

02 Sep 2026 10:46:33
You’re right, he is the 4th emergency service.

02 Sep 2026 11:37:03
Eki won't be back potentially till late this season or next season.

Tearing your Achilles tendon is no joke and we cannot afford setbacks.

02 Sep 2026 07:50:38
Honestly we could give out about our window but my word, Evertons was rough.

So rough, I don't even mean this as a banter or a jibe.

I think you ll be ok in terms of survival Ed25. Moyes is good at that galvanizing. Us against the world type mentality. I fancy ye to be ok. 15th I feel. But my word.

You don't have to if you don't want to post anything on it, but was wondering if you could sum the window up for ye and how you think ye'll fair this season?

{Ed025's Note - shambles, disaster, 5hit show?..take your pick Davey, im gutted mate, there is light at the end of the tunnel though...unfortunately its a train coming the other way mate..

02 Sep 2026 10:55:26
Cheer up, Ed25. You got rid of one of the few good players you had in Ndiaye, but hey, at least you got Jack Grealish back. He'll be the senior player guiding all your other players into a new dawn.

{Ed025's Note - thanks for that..

02 Sep 2026 11:09:11
Just curious Ed, why did your club decided to go back to Grealish? Did he do good last season? If I'm an Everton fan, I wouldn't want him anywhere near the club. Especially around young players who just started to get featured in the 1st team.

{Ed025's Note - hes a good player Mfahmee and really wants to play for the club mate, we are desperately short of players and we could do a lot worse than Jack i feel..

02 Sep 2026 11:28:30
God, every window you look for that quality to move the club forward but in your case it's just the sheer lack of quantity now also. You don't have the numbers.

I think there genuinely needs to be a post mortem at Everton after this window. The levels of disappointment and then there's flat out undeniable failure. The club needs a rethink on how they operate at the top and what the plan is to progress the club in a sustainable way.

No fans deserve that s*** show as you put it. I was shocked.

How hard is it to pick up a few 15-20 or 25 mill decent young players? Seems Brighton and Brentford are able to get them. And they do not have the size and history that Everton have. Feel for ya bud. Gotta get the right men at the top.

And as much as I read Everton fans are not overly joyed with Moyes, you'll be glad to have him managing in this situation. No better man to get the most out of a squad. He does his best work when it's chaos behind the scenes.

When you sort out the transfer recruitment/ leadership, that's when it's time to find a more progressive manager.

02 Sep 2026 09:19:31
I think we must face the inevitability that the recurring theme of the season will be that we get together in this forum after most matches and bemoan our full backs and lack of defensive cover in midfield.

3 x £100m attacking players + Munoz + Gakpo + Ngumoha + Ekitike to come will hopefully mean we carry a threat when we get the ball in the right areas of the pitch but with dodgy full backs on both sides and a midfield that you can drive a bus through, I just don't see how we're going to consistently shut out the opposition.

Two matches so far, both 2-2 draws. Probably the sort of scoreline we should get used to.

02 Sep 2026 10:16:45
I think we will improve as the season goes on. Rb will be an issue, no doubt. Frimpong has never looked the part for me. I'd actually start Araujo there against Ipswich. Midfield is sorely lacking defensive nous, but I do feel ai will get midfield working better as the season goes on. Kerkez at lb I do still have a lot of faith in; hopefully he settles down and shows what he is capable of.

I've seen a fair bit of him at Bournemouth and he certainly does have a final ball. I think he's just lacking confidence at the min. Obviously it's getting to the stage where he has to start showing it.

02 Sep 2026 10:29:22
Dom
Is an excellent RB. Let’s see which of the young players can step up. They have a great chance now - which would
be less
the case had we bought a load more players.

02 Sep 2026 11:39:55
Let the excitement begin.

02 Sep 2026 11:55:14
OP, your first sentence says a lot more about the forum than it does about the players and club. I'm really looking forward to the first 'I'm entitled to my opinion' now that the window has closed.

02 Sep 2026 12:35:06
Not sure I follow you, WDW. Evidence from the first couple of matches, and all of last season, is that we'll continue to struggle in the full back positions and in defensive midfield. If that is the case, then I expect that everyone is going to continue to be frustrated about that and it will be a recurring topic of conversation in this forum (and also in the stands, in the pubs, or anywhere else where Liverpool supporters gather).

If it turns out not to be the case, then we'll all be very happy as it will mean the perceived weaknesses weren't weaknesses after all and we'll move to a much better place, less goals conceded, more wins, better chances of winning trophies.



Digger: I agree, Araujo could be an option at right back. Must admit I've never seen him play before this season but if he's a defender who is comfortable on the ball, I'd almost say it can't be worse than the current option.

Swampdonkey: Agree, Szoboszlai turned in some decent performances at right back last season but I assume everyone would recognise it's sub optimal to be playing your best midfielder out of position at full back having not taken the opportunity to address the problem in that position.

02 Sep 2026 13:09:57
At the very least, we will see a lot of goals this season. We nearly fluked a title in 13/14, winning games 6-3 and 4-1, and Iraola is a much better manager than Rodgers.

I have very low expectations, but it could be a lot of fun.

02 Sep 2026 08:21:04
Who at Liverpool would have been speaking to Camara's camp telling them to wait till 2027?
Hughes surely wasn't the guy was he? He won't even be there
With such uncertainty regarding who takes DOF role next, how can we be certain Camara will even be a target?
This is really confusing. Or am I missing something?

02 Sep 2026 10:17:06
I think a lot of this stuff is just fantasy. I mean I could possibly understand if a player wanted to go to a certain club but even that we’ve heard before they sign for some other team. Anyway, time will tell I guess but Liverpool would need to start negotiating in November to have the deal done by the end of January. 😜

02 Sep 2026 12:10:40
There's nothing stopping us from agreeing a deal now actually. The only thing is that the registration can only be completed in Jan once the window opens. So we don't need to tell them to wait when we can do the necessary steps to finalise the move now.

02 Sep 2026 08:16:56
Glad that's all finally over. We can now concentrate on what we have available and see what Iraola can get out of them. Come January, he'll have a much better idea where we need to strengthen.

02 Sep 2026 10:32:34
Totally agree.
Iraola and his team got that rabble of misfits at Bournemouth to improve year after year and finish 5th last season despite having horrific transfer windows. Selling their prize assets and signing ‘nobodies’.

Let the transfer window go, it's in the past.

Becker - still arguably the best in the world at a premium position.
Kerkez - get him back to his Bournemouth form.
Frimpong/Bradley - AI’s position as a player, if they can learn from anyone it’s him.


Jacquet - adapting to Premier League well.
Virgil - Incredibly experienced, needs younger legs alongside him to cover his ageing body.
MacAllister - needs re-motivating.
Grav - get him back to his 2024/5 form.
Dom - in form.
Barcola - potential worldie.
Munoz - already looking good.
Isak - on his day the best finisher in Europe.

We have so much talent, it needs to be optimised and organised, which is Iraola’s M.O.

Ok, we “lost” the transfer window. Let's win on the pitch.

02 Sep 2026 11:41:14
That's the spirit, Ron.

Fully agree.