Liverpool Banter 2

03 Sep 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - thefutureisoldgold3 has posted a new article entitled, Wolves Ratings at West Ham: Defence Below Standard

03 Sep 2026 01:11:51
Top 10 net spend this window;
Liverpool £200m
Spurs £173m
Ipswich £173m
City £162m
Arsenal £138m
Hull £133m
Coventry £123m
Utd £101m
Brentford £95m
Fulham £70m

Top 8 gross spenders last 3 seasons:
Chelsea- £849m
Liverpool- £678m
City- £650m
Spurs- £627m
Newcastle- £566m
Utd- £543m
Arsenal- £539m
Villa- £440m

Top 8 net spend last 3 seasons:
Liverpool £422m
Arsenal £404m
Spurs £403m
Utd £296m
City £175m
Newcastle £110m
Chelsea +£4m profit
Villa +£45m profit

{Ed666's Note - All this money spent And still at least 3 players short of challenging

03 Sep 2026 05:22:17
FSG don’t spend.

03 Sep 2026 06:20:44
3 of the top 5 most expensive PL footballers ever! Imagine that burden if they don’t work out. 😳

03 Sep 2026 06:41:19
Again, another post that makes me remember what legendary work Klopp did! When we spent, we spent carefully. Even players that were shifted were sold at a healthy rate. Switch to the present day, we sell TAA for 10, Jones for 30, zero for Konate & so on. When people accused him of deep loyalty for Hendo for giving him a new contract, he shipped him, Fabinho, & replaced the entire midfield in one go.

The guy was a generational coach. The best I have seen. It is not that he did everything but his presence made others do their job well. Someone like Edwards & maybe Lijnders even end up thinking that it is because of them but it was still Klopp. He made them do their jobs better. Truly a legendary leader. Hopefully AI comes close!

03 Sep 2026 06:59:13
Putting aside the 115, you’ve got to admire how City operate. Real quality in the door, never short of players, never short of quality, never any drama and apparently spend less than most net. 😂

Got to be some secret payments happening somewhere.

03 Sep 2026 07:14:03
Our sales are less because our fringe players are crap to the outside world (Endo, Chiesa etc). Klopp had to work with a shoestring budget at Liverpool. It was always about selling a first teamer to buying a first teamer. FSG has never had a proper 25-man squad for any manager. A good first eleven followed by a poor and weak bench (from Shaqiri to Chiesa).

03 Sep 2026 07:23:11
Stephen Caulker? Darwin Nunez? Naby Keita? Arthur Melo? Ozan Kabak? Ben Davies?

Some thought went into those transfers.

03 Sep 2026 07:27:30
I have seen this about spending, though I fail to see how it is so much this summer. £106m on Barcola, was it £34m Munoz and approx £35m on the two young players? Araujo loan and Jacquet were bought in January. Barcola's potential full fee can't be included as the extra isn't paid yet. When you minus the sale of Curtis Jones, surely the figure is closer to £140m?

Also worth noting the number of players on huge contracts that have left the club in the past few seasons.

This summer alone, I would guess that the wage outlay before purchases was reduced by something like 750k to 1m a week.

I'm not disputing that the club has pumped in money the last 3 seasons, but I do feel figures can easily be manipulated to suit a narrative.

Cheers

03 Sep 2026 08:05:46
Greggers, we agreed to buy Jacquet in January but the sale went through this summer so is included. You are correct about the huge wages saved. Plus, like others mentioned, a lot of the other teams have sold their assets very well.

03 Sep 2026 08:08:07
We’ve spent £84m net per window since Klopp left. I’d imagine a few teams have averaged more than that. When people see the money spent over the last three windows they forget the profit we made in the two before that. Makes the league win an even greater achievement.

03 Sep 2026 08:26:42
Well they should have spent some more in order to get the players we actually require.

03 Sep 2026 08:31:52
Excluding Salah, who else was on huge wages, compared to the players we’ve just purchased?

{Ed025's Note - VVD, Gakpo and Grav to name 3..

03 Sep 2026 08:53:08
We need to stop harking back to Klopp like he was some kind of messiah who never made a mistake. He made plenty of mistakes and I'm sure he'd be the first to admit it.

Let's not forget in the 2 seasons before he left we finished 5th and 3rd. In Klopp's 9 year tenure we won the title once.

Slot won the title once (I won't entertain anyone who says 'but it was Klopp's team'. Tell me you know nothing about football without telling me you know nothing about football) and he finished 5th once and got sacked. He had to lift a team who had just gone from the ultimate high to the ultimate low in the space of 3 months whilst trying to bed in a host of new players, some of whom had arrived not in the best shape.

Our main player and talisman was revolting against him in public because he was playing crap and deservedly got dropped.

I'm not saying he shouldn't have been sacked or that he was better than Klopp, he obviously wasn't but I'm trying to add some context to these posts about how great Klopp was and people's unrealistic expectations since he left.

Klopp is a genius and one of the best managers we've ever had. He's up there with Shanks, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish but even he got it wrong from time to time and needed patience before he got it right.

During Klopp's tenure we never once filled all the gaps in the squad in one transfer window. In fact I don't know of any team in the world who has ever done that. So why did we expect that to happen this summer?

Iraola has an excellent squad which is 100% capable of challenging for the title. He just needs to get them performing consistently enough to do it.

You don't need worldies in every position you're not playing PSG every week. You just need the team to be structured enough to beat the likes of Brentford, Bournemouth etc. with that bit of extra quality to get through the bigger and tighter games.

We have the extra quality but we don't have the structure, that's what Iraola was employed to bring.

{Ed025's Note - wow...i thought he was a great manager RSO and you not only won things but played some great entertaining football myself mate, this seems like a post an Evertonian would send.. :)

03 Sep 2026 08:54:09
They haven't left Ed

{Ed025's Note - oh sorry Irish i thought you meant that were still here..

03 Sep 2026 09:37:34
Indeed, Faith. These figures all came from the GoFundMe account the club put up years ago.

03 Sep 2026 09:42:02
Robertson and Konate were on £150k+, Elliott and Jones probably a combined £150k. Don’t forget Calvin Ramsey, the savings we will make on Irn Bru and haggis will be huge.

02 Sep 2026 23:26:02
Long-time reader, first-time poster.

I've been coming here for more than a decade, quietly reading from the edges of the conversation. There was always something comforting about it — familiar names, familiar arguments, familiar hope. In its own strange way, this site became part of the ritual of following Liverpool.

I never posted. Perhaps because offering an opinion to a room full of strangers can feel more exposing than it ought to. Perhaps because this place, like most football communities, can occasionally sharpen its elbows. So I watched, read, agreed, disagreed — and stayed quiet.

But after all these years, it felt time to step through the door.

And for a first post, there seemed no better place to begin than with gratitude.

To the Eds, and to the ITKs who continue to share what they hear: thank you. Particularly through another transfer window, when rumour, hope and absolute nonsense arrive in roughly equal measure, this place has always offered something different.

For those of us following Liverpool from the other side of the world, the club can sometimes feel impossibly close and impossibly far away at the same time. This site has often felt like a small window left open — a glimpse behind the curtain, a conversation overheard in the corridor, a way of feeling that little bit closer to Anfield.

I've taken more from this community over the years than I've ever given back.

So perhaps it's time I joined the conversation.

YNWA
RedPerspective

02 Sep 2026 23:43:01
Great post. Welcome aboard.

03 Sep 2026 00:01:19
Helluva post that redp.

03 Sep 2026 03:45:46
A well thought out, insightful post. It'll never catch on. 😁

03 Sep 2026 08:29:17
Agreed Burkey. Way too well versed for here 🤣!!! Keep em coming RP8 🥳🫵!!

03 Sep 2026 08:36:01
Excellent post, redp, welcome to the site or the mad house during the transfer windows.

03 Sep 2026 09:10:41
Welcome RP8.

If your first post is an example of your writing, then I look forward to reading more!

{Ed025's Note - me too Zed..

03 Sep 2026 09:38:58
"For those of us following Liverpool from the other side of the world, the club can sometimes feel impossibly close and impossibly far away at the same time. This site has often felt like a small window left open — a glimpse behind the curtain, a conversation overheard in the corridor, a way of feeling that little bit closer to Anfield."


All Facts, No printer.

Welcome aboard, man.

03 Sep 2026 10:46:58
What a lovely and classy first post, welcome aboard mate.

02 Sep 2026 19:57:56
Window is shut! Start backing the team. If you're in the ground, make sure you get behind them. Confidence is clearly low and the negativity towards the players won't help.
Just look at the Newcastle fans' response during our game against them. They keep losing their best players but still back their team.
Time for the fans to step up.

02 Sep 2026 20:56:24
Yes, it’s absolutely the fans' fault that our midfielders are soft as muck. 🙄

02 Sep 2026 21:06:25
We will win. 💪🏽

02 Sep 2026 21:22:27
After Stuart Twatwell in charge at Newcastle, Oliver on VAR foul throw fiasco, substitute non event, Darren England is the Ref for Friday Night, thank god there's no golf on the telly!

Elliot (Valencia) and Ndukwe (Levante) could play against each other in La Liga this season, Ndukwe has been an unused substitute so far after two La Liga games. Jayden Danns remains at LFC.

{Ed666's Note - thanks for this

02 Sep 2026 21:34:45
ArAy, has your sentence been commuted and will we see you back in the Chat? Hope all is good with you and your clan.

02 Sep 2026 22:22:08
Whose confidence is low? Assuming you mean the fans, cos I've not detected that from the players at all.

02 Sep 2026 22:12:24
Nope. I'm just going to boo everyone. Players, manager, tea lady, even the wheel chair section is getting it

Booooo

02 Sep 2026 23:42:00
I was going to say the same thing, LFC8. I can't stand these "put your pom-poms on" and "Let's all get behind the team" kind of posts, people acting like you're going to be booing from the Kop for 90 minutes just because you're giving out about the shortcomings on here.

03 Sep 2026 06:49:06
I've not been to the game for years, but what colour do we play in again?
Just so I know. I don't want to be cheering for the wrong side.

02 Sep 2026 17:58:40
Window closed, not what everyone wanted but we know the squad now. Our midfield looks a level below Man City and Arsenals but we still have quality and we will just have to outscore the teams we play. At least it won't be boring sideways passing!

Really hope Iraola gets them performing and proves to be our long term manager.

02 Sep 2026 18:29:36
I think everything for us now revolves around getting the press working at full tilt and effectively. Once that is in place, it will all click into gear for us.

I was speaking to a Newcastle fan today and he said Isak was excellent on the press before injuries. Kinda shocked me, as I didn't ever recall him pressing at speed. So perhaps it's still a fitness thing and about getting his confidence back.



If he can't regain it, we have to swap him out, even though he is a goalscorer. I think Gakpo could be great at leading the press.

The press is everything right now. We have to get it working and perfected. When we are regularly turning the ball over high up and covering the right spaces behind, the rest will fall into place.

02 Sep 2026 18:43:17
The press and the midfield balance… I don’t think too much is wrong. Both games were lost by poor positional play / defensive awareness. Players need to step up and develop an appetite for the hard yards and putting a foot in.

Too many players just want to play nice football and focus on the ball work… that is the problem, which is a mindset shift that will take time.

02 Sep 2026 19:13:20
Davey Sulls, if I was playing against our press, I would just drop long balls on our full backs, mainly Frimpong, and chase it down. Backing that up by then pressing our back 4.
Wouldn't be hard to do, mate.

02 Sep 2026 19:20:48
Arsenal have yet to concede a goal this season so far:
Man Cheaty Community Shield 3-0
Coventry 3-0 PL Home
Aston Villa 0-1 PL Away
LFC defence had its worst PL defensive record last year in the Premier: 53 goals conceded. Arsenal conceded 27 times; one more goal conceded and we would have doubled it.


Andoni doubled Arsenal with 54 goals conceded for the PL season 25-26. Bournemouth: W13,D18,L7. They scored 58 goals. GD=+4.
Attack is obviously the best form of defence for Andoni.
Strap yourselves in!

02 Sep 2026 19:52:08
Gegenpressing is dying not because teams stopped doing it but because sport science figured out that it burns players out by year 3.

Andoni is going to need all of the forwards inc Freddy Church as they will
be getting rinsed!

02 Sep 2026 20:07:55
Wouldn’t worry, Swamp. A lot of this lot will be gone in two.

02 Sep 2026 20:24:25
Great start on the positivity. We have only these players back them. I don't have the fortune to be in the stadium, so can everyone who is back the players as now is the time?

02 Sep 2026 20:25:16
If our back 4 weren't switching off, and a couple of cynical yellow cards in midfield, we'd be on 6 points today.

02 Sep 2026 20:43:43
Didn’t see Salah or Robbo burnt out by year 3.

03 Sep 2026 06:56:32
I don't mind boring wins. You can keep your 2-2 draws.
We could be boring and dominant in the 70s and 80s.
Goals and entertainment are for the other teams on a relaxing Sunday afternoon (as long as United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs are not winning).

03 Sep 2026 08:43:13
Think there will be big improvements over the next few games as players get more used to Ai's tactics and are fitter. Just trust the process and the team.

03 Sep 2026 09:44:21
I'm with Davey and @Man. It is now all about structure and balance, esp. in that defence/midfield combo. If we get that right, then the connection with the midfield and attack will also see some improvement.

Most importantly, there has to be a shift in mentality on this front and it will not be easy for Iraola to just flip a switch with these players, cos for the past 18 months or so, they have been playing in slow, easy mode with next to no running, discipline and structure, tactically.



They will need to grow a pair, be ready to do the hard yards and increase their concentration and focus levels to achieve better decision-making. If we get the majority of these things right, better days are not as far as we may think.

02 Sep 2026 17:38:40
"This is not the end of the world. It's one opportunity. For a player with his level of talent, I'm very confident he will soon have even better options and offers than the one he had yesterday."

Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro talking about them cancelling Camara's move to Chelsea. Note the phrase 'even better options'.

02 Sep 2026 18:27:06
Wonder if we have a deal for when stc has f***** off.
For January.

02 Sep 2026 18:44:27
What does STC mean? Everyone posts it, but I don't understand.

02 Sep 2026 19:05:00
Silver Tongued Charlatan was coined by The Fields (I think) based on interactions with Hughes that he's been told about by various contacts.

02 Sep 2026 19:41:57
Ah great, thanks Lofty. I feel like I have been missing out on an in joke. 😅

02 Sep 2026 18:51:03
Silver tongued charlatan- MOT.

Think one of the ITK's described him as that once and it stuck.

02 Sep 2026 20:25:23
I innocently thought it was Senior Transfer Committee!
D’oh!

03 Sep 2026 06:57:55
He might be a charlatan, but he's not the only one I know.

02 Sep 2026 16:48:45
One for E025 really

On about shambolic transfer windows you must be pretty underwhelmed at yours mate?!
I know you're not a fan of Moyes but he's been dealt a pretty shocking hand on this one!
Is he in for the long Haul Ed or will this make him think about his position there?

{Ed025's Note - im not his biggest fan BR and he only has the rest of this season on his contract mate, but he has been treated very shabbily and the rug has been pulled from under his feet so i do have sympathy for him, but who is going to replace him with this bunch of idiots in charge?, a top manager would not touch us with a barge pole...and who could blame them?..

02 Sep 2026 17:20:21
Would you take Howe, Ed, or are you not a fan?

{Ed025's Note - im a fan of Eddie BJ and him being an Evertonian would help, but if he struggled with the powers that be at Newcastle mate imagine what he would think of the shower of 5hite that run Everton?..

02 Sep 2026 18:04:06
Ed025, Jesus wanted to know if you'd take Howe as gaffer, not if you wanted a BJ. Good lord!

{Ed025's Note - im open to both MK.. :)

02 Sep 2026 18:46:37
I wonder how many times Ancelotti breathes a huge sigh of relief.

02 Sep 2026 18:21:31
Cheers for the reply Ed

I fear you'll have a painful ride this season mate

{Ed025's Note - me too BR..

02 Sep 2026 20:28:07
Ed025 - what's going on upstairs mate? Interested to understand what problems you're facing and if it's similar to piss poor management we've experienced since pre Christmas?

{Ed025's Note - its a lot worse than yours Ecogsi mate, i cant discuss it though mate as the Liverpool only police will be on my case..

02 Sep 2026 21:05:52
Please feel free to vent Ed025

{Ed025's Note - cheers Barry..

03 Sep 2026 02:23:44
I think we can allow one Everton thread 25. I did go over there for a quick read, but the mood is very blue. I had to leave as I started to feel ill after reading Anthony Martial's name a few times.

03 Sep 2026 06:59:57
Ed025 would take Rebecca Howe.
Cheers.

02 Sep 2026 15:00:12
Gravenberch slander is lazy analysis (just like the Isak slander concerning his few touches). We are talking about a box-to-box midfielder being paired with an attacking midfielder, namely Szoboszlai, in a double pivot. This is unlikely to work against any decent opposition. If there are midfield shortcomings, it's because midfielders such as Gravenberch are asked to fulfil unfamiliar roles that go against their natural impulses (example: asking a ball-carrying box-to-box midfielder to play the role of a destroyer).

One way to solve this problem would be to introduce Nyoni, and move Gravenberch or Szoboszlai out of the midfield pivot.

{Ed001's Note - didn't Gravenberch play exactly that role before his move to Bayern? He certainly isn't a box-to-box midfielder, which is the role he failed miserably at in Germany and initially with us, before being reborn as a holding mid. It was so unfamiliar that he won Prem's young player of the season playing there and was pivotal to our title win. The lazy analysis seems to be yours.}

02 Sep 2026 15:59:32
Gravenberch and all Liverpool's midfield got found out and exposed in the second half of Slot's first season.
Opposition teams initially targeted Trent and Konate and tried to hit us on the counter-attack.

They all then realized it was much easier to just run and drive directly through our midfield and onto our centre halves.


We have a squad of attack-minded midfielders, who don't like to tackle, don't like to head the ball and are not defensively minded.
Gravenberch was the biggest culprit.

02 Sep 2026 16:16:25
Gravenberch was good before his dad piped up and said he should get forward and score more goals.

02 Sep 2026 16:17:11
Maybe someone needs to either have a word with Grav and tell him to sit and stop shirking out of tackles or he gets replaced by Nyonyi to see if he does it better. 🤷‍♂️

02 Sep 2026 16:20:30
Gravenberch was also in the PFA team of the year as a DM, he also was used as a defensive partner for VVD last year, when Konate was subbed frequently. It will be interesting to see where he plays for a Jurgen German side in the next batch of Internationals (Flo as well).

Regarding Isak, Opta tells us he had only 13 touches of the ball in 90 mins. They are not an "Intuitive Principle" but Opta facts, like his passing accuracy at 63%, that's sloppiness or a careless attitude, his dribbling stat of 10% is horrendous, he's had 10 dribbles, and succeeded with one dribble (and that was probably a half time toilet), 14 apps last season, 3 goals, 1 assist, of course he was a permanent pick for Slot, as if Hugo had not been severely injured, he would be on the subs bench now, and he also bottled a penalty last week, he got away with murder with Slot, he won't get any days off with Andoni.

02 Sep 2026 16:23:57
I remember it well Molby, teams running through us at will on our way to 18 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses in the 26 games before we won the title against Spurs.

Seems like lazy analysis is catching.

02 Sep 2026 16:25:16
Grav has to revert back to the 6 role and the responsibility that comes with it. I don't really care what he wants to do going forward. His future at the club will certainly be at stake if he wants to be anything other than a 6.

He doesn't have the skill set for an 8 or 10.
Andoni can't be soft with some of these lads. None of them are superstars. Grav can be an excellent progressive 6.
Dom also has to improve as an 8.

02 Sep 2026 16:26:23
Double pivot, triple pivot a full pirouette — I don't care what way you want to describe their position, they're CMs, and if they can't understand "one goes, one stays," they need a kick up the arse, end of. It's no more complex than that.

02 Sep 2026 16:26:48
It'll be hard for Grav to play for Klopp's German side since he's Dutch. ;)

02 Sep 2026 16:37:21
Thanks Dracred,

As my old teacher often said, "Always check your work," Bond, but is it not a 50% success with reference to Flo? Although it is a job half done, I would confess.

02 Sep 2026 16:39:45
Like others have said it's simple. If Grav won’t do the job that needs to be done, the one he is actually good at, he will find himself out of the first 11. He didn’t do it last year; he got away with that because of the hatred for Slot. We're only two games in but so far he’s not doing it again this season.

I don’t mind him running with the ball but do it when you know your partner is behind you to offer protection if you lose it. Don't go off on little slaloms when you can clearly see both Dom and Wirtz ahead of you.

02 Sep 2026 16:40:26
007, he’s Dutch so not playing for Klopp's Germany.

02 Sep 2026 16:40:50
Professional footballers should be able to play any role or position on the pitch by the time they hit their 20s. It’s only football, not rocket science.

You’re only asking him to play the 6 rather than the 8 as well, something he can do, has already done to a high standard and should be doing now.

He’s either being instructed to go forward or he’s not listening to instructions to stay back. Either way it should be an easy fix for Grav.

02 Sep 2026 16:30:02
007 I will also be very interested to see where he plays in Jurgen's German side...
Seeing as he is Dutch.
But thanks for sticking up for him.
Too many on here slag off or players if they have a bad game.

02 Sep 2026 15:49:27
You can bring up Bayern Munich, and I can bring up Ajax and the Netherlands national team. Also, the role of a six in a three-man midfield differs from the role of a six in a double pivot.

02 Sep 2026 16:22:00
Agreed Ed001. The amount of people here with memories like goldfish is shocking. I wonder do half these posters watch football - they certainly don't understand it. Imagine writing something as daft as the OP and then talking about "lazy analysis". Face-palm worthy stuff.

02 Sep 2026 16:57:07
Riosstepover, I watch every game.
He doesn't tackle, doesn't win second balls, gets run past easily, doesn't win headers, doesn't pass very well and can't read the game defensively.
He does drop the shoulder and turn well with the ball, I will give you that.
He will definitely be nowhere near the team of the season this season the same as he wasn't last season.

02 Sep 2026 17:04:17
He’s the best drop the shoulder and turn weller in the world. 😂 Smooth as silk. It’s everything else that’s the problem.

02 Sep 2026 19:09:10
Pivot seems to be the latest buzzword.
Last season couldn't move for low blocks, thought I was in a game of Tekken.

02 Sep 2026 19:12:26
Exactly, Florian. The one thing he does really well and teams have sussed him out.

02 Sep 2026 19:43:04
I don’t think there was any player from Liverpool near the team of the season last term, not just Grav.

02 Sep 2026 20:08:57
Szoboszlai was. That's about it.

02 Sep 2026 21:00:33
That makes sense, Florian. 👍

02 Sep 2026 22:43:28
I disagree with most of that, Molby. I think it’s been more of a defence issue and in particular a VVD issue. It was telling that Szob and Iraola said after our first half on Saturday, we needed to be closer to the opposition (as in higher up the pitch) to get pressure on the ball.

If you watch that second half, VVD and Jacquet are pushed right on to the highest Forest player, which allowed us to condense the pitch which in turn allows us to get closer to the man in possession and win the ball back early.

Against Newcastle, we had VVD and Jacquet standing on the halfway line marking nobody when Osula picked up the ball halfway into his own half and had the space to run at them. If they’d been 10-15 yards higher, they could’ve tackled him immediately and got us back on the attack. As it was they backed off and Newcastle scored.

It doesn’t matter who you have in midfield if the gap between the defence and the midfield is as wide as we leave it.

Prime Makelele couldn’t patrol that space.

The CBs need to be much more front footed in their defending. Push right on to the last attacker and engage him in his own half, but VVD has been terrified to do it because he doesn’t want balls in behind that he has to chase.

The irony is if the CBs push up and be aggressive it means that we can condense the pitch and maintain pressure on the ball, which doesn’t allow the opposition to get their head up and pick a pass over the top. So by pushing up and leaving more space behind us we’ll find that we actually have to do less running.

Klopp’s teams did it and yes it meant that occasionally the opposition got in behind us but by and large the risk is worth the reward. It means you can win the ball high where our most talented players are and can do the damage.

02 Sep 2026 22:59:04
Gravenberch was a bit of a revelation when first moved to the 6, but he was at the base of a hard working midfield 3 that functioned as a unit. Now with Wirtz at 10 and a double pivot, we need another disciplined midfielder to sit alongside him, and I’m not sure at all that plays to Szoboszlai’s strengths? The problem is Szoboszlai is a big player for us and seems to be quite a prominent leader in the dressing room too, so very hard to drop.



It’s probably the biggest question for AI to solve IMO.

02 Sep 2026 14:54:00
McConnell and Tyoni. This is the greatest opportunity for them this season. I hope there's a Trent there in terms of taking the opportunity and showing their quality.
I hope at least one leaves a great impression this season. Both have the talent but they both need the confidence and to show it on the pitch.


Our lack of transfer activity in midfield is the greatest gift to both. I'd love nothing more than two academy lads to look like potential first team Liverpool players. McConnell is an extremely good player, very tidy. If he showed that on the pitch with some bite, it could be a great opportunity for him.

02 Sep 2026 15:45:26
Nyoni starting and sitting with Macca whilst keeping Wirtz and Szob fresh as 10s could unearth a weapon no one saw coming.

The idea of having Szob or Wirtz on the bench is, I agree, lunacy, but it solves the problem of them being in each other's space, a huge gap behind them and bringing a fresh one off the bench every game could certainly make us more balanced and threatening over 90 mins.

02 Sep 2026 16:26:39
I don't think Sob is a good 10 either. I'd want to put him and his energy on the right wing, slightly coming inside.

02 Sep 2026 16:29:44
Very much looking forward to seeing Nyoni kick on, he's clearly got the potential. Haven't really seen enough of McConell to make a similar statement, but yes, big opportunities there for the young lads this season, let's hope they make the most of it.

02 Sep 2026 16:45:21
Love nothing more than an academy kid taking his chance, Ron, so I’d love to see that too. I am disappointed we didn’t do the absolute minimum though and replace Jones.

02 Sep 2026 17:17:23
I said Szoboszlai should be wide right in his first season with us.
I can't see him being a "must start" in any position though. He's not dangerous enough to be a top wide right player, but it's more of a case of him doing a job there.


He could play as a ten but Wirtz is more creative if less athletic. Chelsea play with two quality tens but they play three at the back, and I can't see that happening, so it's wide right or covering Wirtz at ten, for me.

02 Sep 2026 17:41:47
I have said it a few times, Macconnell for rb. I expect Nyoni to be a midfield starter before the season's out.

02 Sep 2026 18:07:50
I don’t personally think McConnell has the potential to be a long term option for us. He seems to lack awareness of his surroundings. Top players have their heads on a swivel. I guess this is a coachable trait though.

I’m happy with McConnell as 6th choice in midfield though. You’re not going to get a good player to sign up to 5-10 domestic cup games.

02 Sep 2026 19:26:48
Does he even get 5-10 Cup games? Think he leaves in January when he’s hardly made a squad by then. Take Friday night for example. We’ve a few out injured but I still can’t see McConnell making the 20man squad.

02 Sep 2026 23:47:44
Wide right, alright Rigsby, wide right of the mark. We didn't just spend 140m on wingers to play Dom there instead.