Liverpool Banter

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07 Nov 2025 21:39:48
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07 Nov 2025 18:25:02
I like how Slot mentions that City come to play football and not time waste and "these sorts of things. "

We need more managers calling out what we all see week in week out with the gamesmanship, time wasting and i'll say it, blatant cheating.

Slot did the same on a few occasions last season and, as far as I know, he's the only manager I hear doing it.

That's why I'm in the "never Arsenal" corner as their brand of football is in so many ways all what is wrong with football today.

07 Nov 2025 19:45:14
I have to agree Redflyer. I always liked Arsenal and that side with Bergkamp and Henry was one of the best teams I’ve ever seen. They had absolutely everything.

This Arsenal though, I really can’t stand anything about them. The worrying thing is we are seeing a growing number of teams copying their blueprint and it’s completely ruining the game as a spectacle.

It’s more like American Football now. A series of ‘plays’ where everyone has a choreographed role. Blockers, grabbers, spoilers all designed to get the wide receiver free to head the ball. We have set piece coaches out on the touchline at every opportunity conducting the play.

Teams play not to score goals but to win set pieces so the football we see is very stop/ start and is of a very low quality.

07 Nov 2025 19:49:35
It’s not going to make any of the teams change anything though is it. He probably has the best squad in the league to work with now and would rather he concentrate on working up solutions to beat the low block or whatever it is the other teams are doing than complaining about it.

07 Nov 2025 20:10:19
Robbo, set pieces and time wasting are the "great equalizer". It disrupts our flow, frustrates the players and can result in us "forcing" the play and then mistakes, lack of concentration, etc. creep in and we can lose momentum or struggle to find it from the off.

FR, change is brought about by being vocal and calling it out for what it is. Slot will not be in the majority unfortunately but changes need to be made to prevent increasing time wasting. Staying silent won't change anything. Wenger harps on about time wasting and comes up with solutions that would exacerbate the problem rather than going back to what previously worked; typical "politician. "

07 Nov 2025 20:19:37
I have no idea what Slot is talking about here cos Pep and City engage in time-wasting and faking injuries all the time esp. when Arteta was his cone man.

Now, Arsenal do the exact same thing falling over holding their faces, feigning injuries and flopping to the ground as soon as a player walks by him even all. Again, not sure what Slot is talking about here or maybe he is just buttering City up to beat them. Just my observation.

07 Nov 2025 20:40:44
Oli, I don't watch City much these days but I wouldn't put them in that category. All teams do it at times ie Macca with us. I think City for the most part come to play football and we've had some good ding dongs over the years with them. Hoping Sunday is remembered for that. Maybe that's what Arne is hoping for.

07 Nov 2025 20:51:27
What does my head in is the constant time-wasting. faking of injuries, all day over a set piece beit a free kick r throw in, it's got to stage where it more like American football than football.

I appreciate all teams, including lfc, time waste at certain times I. e when u a goal up in injury time, but it shouldn't a template on How to play all the time.

07 Nov 2025 21:16:40
Football is dying. And has been for a long time. 90% of the changes they make actually harm the game we love.

Arsenal are obviously horrendous to watch, but they play that way because the Rules suit.

{Ed025's Note - its gamesmanship LFC8 and all clubs are guilty of it mate ....and yes that does include Liverpool..

07 Nov 2025 13:12:15
Tell you what, glad we didn't sign Romeo Lavia! He's worse than Darren Anderton! Any posters got players that they are glad we put bids in for but didn't sign?

07 Nov 2025 14:23:00
Lee Bowyer.

07 Nov 2025 14:27:49
That will take some beating, Victor.

07 Nov 2025 14:52:17
Andy Carroll. . . Oh wait.

07 Nov 2025 14:55:42
Nabil Fekir, Alex Teixeira, Clint Dempsey, Yevhen Konoplyanka, Loic Remy, Carlton Cole.

07 Nov 2025 15:01:19
It was a narrow escape but I do feel for him. When he is fit he is a great player but if they haven't already, these injuries are likely to have a long term impact. He is sadly likely to be another one to join the list of players who never reached their true potential for one reason or another.

Timo Werner is another. Don't think it got as far as a bid but it might have if not for Covid.

07 Nov 2025 15:06:42
Naby Keita. Oh, hang on.

07 Nov 2025 15:08:09
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has got to be up there. Carlton Cole as well.

07 Nov 2025 15:28:16
Lavia is a fantastic player when I saw him play at S'hampton vs Chelsea and away at Arsenal. The kid was outstanding and vs us at Anfield last season, we couldn't get near him either, IMO.

The only reason I am glad we did not sign him is cos he is severely injury-prone, something I did not know prior to our interest in him.

07 Nov 2025 15:42:27
Don't know if we ever put in a bid, but we were rumored to be in for Benjamin Mendy when we ended up with Robbo.

07 Nov 2025 16:23:10
Very very good player Lavia, I don't remember him picking up so many injuries playing for Southampton, wonder what happened.

07 Nov 2025 16:41:24
Yep I 2nd mk there, carton Cole.

07 Nov 2025 16:52:48
Imagine if we had Caicedo as well as our 3.

07 Nov 2025 17:37:28
Don’t think we bid but was we not interested in Brandt ahead of Mo?

07 Nov 2025 17:56:19
The german winger (cant remember his name ) who Klopp wanted. we got Salah instead.

07 Nov 2025 19:01:34
Thomas Lemarr.

07 Nov 2025 19:16:25
On the flip side, the two that inexplicably slipped away when they were ready and willing to sign were Anelka and one of my all time favourite players, Michael Laudrup. There was word that a young Ronaldo wanted to join Liverpool before going to United, not sure how true that is, but if it is, it must count as the biggest miss of all time.

07 Nov 2025 19:48:13
Wasn’t there a rumour that Klopp had earmarked Anthony as a Salah replacement if he’d left a few years ago? I can’t remember if that was a true or if it’s just a recurring nightmare I have.

07 Nov 2025 19:57:13
Karel Poborsky.

At the time I was disappointed and I still think the lad was a good player, but Paddy Berger settled better at Liverpool and was a very underrated player.

07 Nov 2025 20:21:43
Gabi Batistuta was also open to a move to LFC, I read on here once.

07 Nov 2025 19:33:15
@D-day, apparently that slipped away was Heung Min Son, Klopp still feeling the pain to this day.

07 Nov 2025 10:38:44
Little prediction for the weekend, Sunderland grab a draw at Arsenal we beat City 2-1.

07 Nov 2025 14:34:03
I just can’t see Arsenal dropping points this weekend . They’re a well oiled machine at the moment - a bloody boring one but a machine nonetheless!
Even if they win I’d still be more than ok with a point at City but I actually fancy us to win .

Arsenal will stutter more than once this season and Arteta will revert to type and overplay / flog his best players when the pressure builds Like he’s always done.

07 Nov 2025 14:53:51
Sunderland are quite a big, athletic side, and they also like to play a bit of football, so hopefully this is arsenal's equivalent of us facing a low block and they drop some points.

07 Nov 2025 15:30:56
Arsenal with the way they are playing, will need to have a bad day while Sunderland are going to need a perf. of the ages (as some damn luck) to drop points.

That being said, we have seen teams drop points in these same situations in the past.

As for the City game, I'll take a draw. Not a must-win for me this early in the season. Arsenal will have their issues. We just have to keep focusing on ourselves.

07 Nov 2025 15:41:22
Would love Sunderland to take a few points of them, even just to hamper their momentum. I said a draw against City so I’ll stick with that but just to mention I think I’m on a run of not getting any of my predictions right!

07 Nov 2025 17:14:36
Arsenal are not great they’ve just had a much easier run of games. That’s why the premier league ebbs and flows because it depends on how the games fall.

We’ve had a poor run yes but Arsenal could easily drop points at Palace and Chelsea away and even Utd at home like we have.

Seriously have a look at the games they’ve played compared to ours. I guarantee you if the fixtures had been reversed we would still be top by at least 5 points but probably more.

07 Nov 2025 20:14:34
I see Neville has copied my predictions for the weekend, let’s hope we’re both right 🙂.

07 Nov 2025 10:23:22
Genuine question.
Is there a harder worker than Szoboszlai in the prem? He is an absolute machine.

{Ed001's Note - Wirtz covered more ground than anyone on the pitch against Madrid. He is a grafter as well. Szobo was second in distance covered in the stats they put up after the match here.}

07 Nov 2025 11:05:49
The defensive stats won't show what a massive effect szobo has had on games, but he is a one man dynamo pressing the keeper, the center halves and the midfielders on his own, the awareness that he has of where his team mates are in the press and whether he should jump back or forth is insane, plus he has the pace and engine to eat up the ground pressuring a player even if he is many yards away. Dom was a big reason why Madrid couldn't pass the ball out the back, he smothered the center halves when they got the ball, and when they did manage to pass to a midfielder he smothered that midfielder.

Right now I shudder to think what would happen if he got injured, last year grav, Ali and Salah were by far our most important players, I would say Dom has probably become top of that list now because of the special profile that he has of having technique, physicality, intelligence and tactical awareness. Helps that he has great passing range and is excellent on set pieces, too!

It's interesting that the position he is best in (the 10) isn't his favourite position, he has said that he prefers being a tempo setting deep midfielder spraying passes.

07 Nov 2025 11:08:32
Ye can't understand why wirtz isn't getting the same plaudits for the amount of work he puts it.

07 Nov 2025 11:12:23
Ed001, you are correct I saw the same figures as you the other day. Wirtz covered 11.37km in 90 minutes. Szoboszlai covered 10.61km in 97 minutes. They were 1st and 2nd for distance covered with Tchouameni coming in at 3rd with 10.51km.

Remarkable from both of them to be honest, but Wirtz especially. What I would say about Dom is the intensity of his running is incredible. He doesn't just cover a lot of ground, the speed at which he covers it is astonishing.

07 Nov 2025 12:02:46
"Wirtz covered more ground than anyone on the pitch against Madrid. He is a grafter as well. "

Ed, I didn't even know Wirtz outworked Szobo which is mad on its own. This is why anyone who says Wirtrz is "weak" and is not good defensively either does not watch him play or watches him with preconceived notions about him. Wirtz is as great a baller as he is a grafter. Typical two-player, as they say in the NFL.

Shout out to Szobo as well. One of the best performing midfielders operating in Europe right now offensively and defensively, as well.

07 Nov 2025 12:05:59
2 x number 10's Vs City or the exact same line up and formation as Vs Real?

07 Nov 2025 12:12:16
Wirtz is the same age De Bruyne was when he joined Chelsea, people writing him off are insane. He has all the tools and most importantly he works hard, he's going to be an absolute megastar.

07 Nov 2025 12:57:55
Same lineup for me, we need Grav, Macca and Szobo in the midfield, City's midfield is very slight compared to ours, especially with Rodri a doubt for the game, let's bully Reijnders and Cherki off the park, those two hate the physical side of the game.

Get them out the game and there will be no supply to Haaland. Play Wirtz on the left wing and give him a free role again.

07 Nov 2025 13:15:38
Wirtz will come good.
He is a fantastic player, definitely overpriced but a great midfielder all the same .

07 Nov 2025 13:16:51
This is why I’m so bullish on Wirtz.
He is immaculate technically, his footballing IQ is about the best there is with the mentality to match, and he is one of the hardest workers.
There isn’t a single doubt in my mind that he becomes our main star and, probably, the face of the league in due time.

07 Nov 2025 13:51:20
I’ve watched the game back on the LFCTV channel and Ray Houghton was commentating. He said something about Wirtz which I really do agree with. He’s constantly on the move, coming short, going past the attackers, always looking for space. Sometimes I want to see him just stand still and the space will open up for him.

The problem with always moving is that you are always prompting a react from the defender. If you dart to your left, he will moved to cover you, if you come short he’ll either come with you or pass you on. That’s great for creating space for your team mates but means that you are always being marked.

If you just stand still sometimes then the defenders will get distracted by someone else’s movement and leave you in space. He looks to be so desperate to get involved that he is perpetual motion which I don’t think is always helping him.

07 Nov 2025 14:05:07
As long as it’s graft with a purpose and not just headless chicken graft, then fine.

07 Nov 2025 15:34:02
Avitohyes if you think Wirtz is a headless chicken then, that's your opinion. I would simply say that you need to watch im closesly whenever he plays and if you are honest, you'll ses how good he is in and out of possession.

07 Nov 2025 17:04:22
It was an observation for any player oli I didn’t focus on anyone.

It’s one of many spurious stats we have to endure these days. How far someone runs doesn’t reflect their impact on a game. it’s football not a half marathon.

07 Nov 2025 20:29:03
Avitohyes, I disagree. In the old days, you would be absolutely correct. The great Columbian monument Carlos Valderrama never picked a spring in his life on the pitch with all the mayhem that happens in midfield. The ball moved way faster than him cos the guy played at walking pace near all the time. Absolute maestro and one of the best South America has ever produced.

Valderrama wouldn't have a career today cos he would be considered slower than me cos he never ran. In this day and age of running stats, km's covered, no. of sprints per game etc., it IS a marathon hence, these things would not be measured if thay he no "impact" on games. Just my observation.

07 Nov 2025 08:37:30
Something Sir Alex did and Klopp also did that I believe is key for the team.
Integrate new players slowly into the team as too many new players at once creates uncertainty and chaos. It also creates low confidence in the whole team.
I believe for now until Becker is fit and playing, we shouldn't play the new players in defense, we should integrate Wirtz, Isak and Ekitike.

Once they are up to speed we should bring in either Kerkez or Frimpong but one at a time until they are UpTo speed.

07 Nov 2025 10:12:37
So out of the 5 players you mentioned, we should integrate 1 as frimpong is injured and has hardly played so far. 🤔.

07 Nov 2025 10:33:23
You could argue Wirtz and Ekitike have had plenty of playing time to settle, Kerkez will depend on Robbo's fitness, Frimpong is out anyway and might be looked at for Mo's position during AFCON.
Hopefully Isak isn't rushed into playing until fully ready.

07 Nov 2025 10:39:02
I don’t think Klopp did that at all. He did it with Robbo and Fabinho but there is a much longer list of players who went straight into the first team.

Ali, VVD, Salah, Mane, Nunez, Keita, Thiago, Gini, Matip and probably more that I’ve forgotten about were all thrust straight in.

You don’t sign Wirtz and Isak for the money we’ve paid and then not play them.

I agree on Kerkez as we have Robbo so there’s no need to force it and he’s struggled, same goes with Frimpong but we need to find the right balance with Wirtz and Isak on the pitch because they are world class players and are the future of this team just as Ali, VVD, Salah, Mane etc were the future of Klopp’s team.

07 Nov 2025 11:10:41
It's pure logic that i expound already for many weeks.

07 Nov 2025 12:17:42
BTS and logic do not fit in the same sentence.

07 Nov 2025 12:40:56
Bertrand Russell would have been so proud @BTS.