04 Jul 2024 17:26:28
Who’s everyone’s preferred signing this summer? Do you think we go for a name mentioned so far or pull another rabbit out the hat. hard to gauge how are team sets up next season. Hoping we pull off a couple of good signings to replace the weaker members of the current squad and the ones who’ve left. I'd like Inacio and I would’ve said Kimmich a few year ago but not sure on DM but definitely needed imo. I’d like bakayoko and definitely keep salah.
04 Jul 2024 18:34:44
Kvaradona, Ederson, Pacho/ Hincapie and a backup goalie (no idea about backup goalies so I don't have any suggestions) would be a dream of a transfer window, but probably unattainable. I guess Gordon, Ederson, Pacho/ Hincapie and a backup goalie would also be fine.
04 Jul 2024 18:45:13
Ederson for midfield.
Inacio or Yoro for centre back.
A right winger to eventually replace Salah. Not sure who would be available and good enough.
04 Jul 2024 18:49:01
Simao is currently without a club.
04 Jul 2024 19:04:10
Think Dom'll play the No.10 so a starting 11 midfielderr to partner Mac in the double pivot.
04 Jul 2024 19:09:57
Slots been heavily likened to Pep stylistically but in a 4-2-3-1. So I think we need a midfielder who suits the total football philosophy. Kimmich would be an unbelievable signing with that in mind but not at £400k a week. He’s not worth breaking our wage structure. I like Koopmeiners, Ederson and Rabiot too as they can all play DM/ CM/ AM and carry the ball out but not sure I’d say they’re preferred signings. We just need a Rodri type who can do the dirty work, but also stride forward to score/ create goals. Kimmich is probably the best on the market but he’s been playing RB a lot recently. I hope the scouts get this signing right.
I think I’m in the minority who doesn’t care about a CB. Ironic as everyone thinks I hate Gomez. I like Quansah and Virgil as starters, and Konate is very good competition to keep them on their toes even if he is a bit rash. Gomez is an acceptable 4th choice option. I think you should always prioritise signing players to strengthen the starting XI, but If there is money/ time this summer I’d ideally like a younger left footed CB like Murillo, Pacho etc. I’m of course assuming Van den Berg has burned all bridges here.
LB I’m concerned if Tsimikas or Gomez have to play there again. Tsimikas doesn’t look up to the highest level unfortunately as I love his passion and desire. Gomez is not a LB and our whole attacking play suffered when he played there and blazed 30 odd shots last season off target after cutting inside. I’d much rather if Beck could become Robbo’s understudy and eventual successor but who knows if he is good enough.
I do want another winger and I think this is a priority. I think Diaz will go and I suspect Salah doesn’t suit what Slot wants from a winger now his pace is fading. I’d also imagine Jota is not winger in the mould Slot prefers out wide. He and Salah are very much Klopp style wide forwards who play narrow and close to the goal. So another versatile winger allowing Salah and Jota to play centrally would be nice. Gordon is the best we’ve been genuinely linked with by any reputable sources.
Lastly I think we will lose Kelleher and with Alisson’s injury record, signing a top No.2 is vital. I’ve heard good things about Jaros but never seen him play in men’s football. So I’d like to see him in pre-season. If he’s not up to the level needed though, this could end up being the most important signing to get right. Kelleher was called on nearly 30 times last season because of Alisson’s injuries. I’ve no idea who we’d look too though. Marmardashvili has looked good at the Euros but who’s honestly heard of him 4 weeks ago ?.
04 Jul 2024 19:59:12
Marmadashvili would be brought into replace Alisson, so that's not going to happen. He's only 23, so would want to be first choice.
04 Jul 2024 20:35:48
That’s my concern Rome. Going to be very hard to replace Kelleher given Alison’s injury record. You don’t normally have to be too concerned about the quality of your second keeper. Normally they played about 5-10 games a season in the domestic cups! But we can’t keep Kelleher here against his will and he’s publicly stated he wants to leave.
04 Jul 2024 20:37:32
Slots giving his first LFC presser tomorrow. Maybe he might give some clues on planned formation and Trents position etc.
Looking forward to hearing what he says as it feels like an age away until our first pre season game.
04 Jul 2024 20:41:14
Everyone keeps talking about Slot preferring a 4-2-3-1 formation but is it possible that he formulates a formation to fit the players he has?
I certainly hope so because if we’ve just signed a manager who can only play one way I don’t hold out much hope.
Incidentally I love the phrase ‘double pivot’ it really makes it sound like you know what you’re talking about. If I ever apply for a management position I’m just going to wow them with a double pivot. That must be how Roberto Martinez keeps getting top jobs.
{Ed025's Note - its the biggest myth in football the double pivot BP, its actually an ice dancing move mate but its a load of bull made up by people who want to sound clever when really they haven,t got a scooby.. :)
04 Jul 2024 21:12:22
Ederson is the signing that changes things in the same way that Fabinho did. Above all other signings a top class defensive dominant defensive midfielder is a must. None of this nonsense about a “versatile”‘midfielder like Koopmeiners, or a right back with midfield delusions like Kimmich, or a waster like Rabiot.
{Ed025's Note - and i thought i was opinionated.. :)
04 Jul 2024 21:22:36
You think that’s harsh Ed, you should have heard what I said back when we signed Paul Ince, it was beyond savage. There are some players not fit to wear the shirt.
{Ed025's Note - and we love you for it VV..
04 Jul 2024 21:29:13
I don’t think that’s fair on June Nkunku, Ed025. It’s just a way of easily describing a sitting midfield 2 where players alternate who goes forward and who sits back. If you don’t understand or simply dislike the new age football terminology that’s fine, but no need to insult those who embrace it. You were equally as critical of the false 9 and inverted fullback phrases (tactical approaches which won Liverpool nearly every trophy under Klopp by the way) . Tactics have always been given snappy names to make headlines. Who can forget tiki taka and gegenpressing. Or false 9’s and inverted full backs. The media and managers coin these phrases and people should be allowed to quote them without having their intelligence questioned. Who even knows where no.6 and no.10 came from? Half the players who play those positions don’t even wear those shirt numbers!
{Ed025's Note - now iv got a headache MK.. :)
04 Jul 2024 21:41:41
Even someone like me who barely cares about tactics know's what a double pivot is, it's not rocket science.
{Ed025's Note - no Thunderbird...its quantum physics mate..
04 Jul 2024 21:58:35
Thing is rodri is a rarity, in that he can defend and attack. The vast majority of midfielders now do one or the other. So if you're signing a defensive midfielder you will very likely be weakening your attack. Also I think it sends a negative message that your scared of the other team. If you have the ball (as slot likes to do) that defensive midfield destroyer everyone is crying about won't be much use. Better to get another Mac who is half decent in all areas of the pitch or someone with great first touch and passing range to keep and recycle possession.
The defensive guy will only be needed against city etc al when we might get less of the ball, so for the 6 games a season he'll be needed endo will do for a year.
04 Jul 2024 22:00:32
“Football is a simple game, complicated by idiots”.
{Ed025's Note - i agree Ron..
04 Jul 2024 22:09:42
I’ve got some bad news for you here, VV. as per transfermarkt, Ederson has played 111 games as a CM, 56 games as a DM and 20 games as an AM. Not to mention the odd game at RB, RM, CB, LB and LM. Also, don’t try to give me tomorrow lies that he converted to DM last season. Because last season he played 39 games as a CM and just 14 as a specialist DM.
Do you deliberately out yourself, or do you just not care about so brazenly making things up? Ederson in fact is one of those nonsense “versatile” midfielders you just said you hate. I mean if you’re going to keep pretending you watch every footballer in Europe on the regular, do yourself a favour and just fact check your lies first. At least make it hard for people to see through the BS. And have the balls to call me out directly when your reply was so clearly trying to mug me off on every point I personally made.
To clarify, you’re wrong as a matter of fact. Ederson has played nearly twice as many games in his career at CM than he has in DM. And nearly three times as many at CM last season alone than he did at DM last season.
Just so you’re aware as well, Koopmeiners has played 159 career games at DM, Rabiot has played 75 career games at DM and Kimmich has played 239 games at DM. All more than Ederson. Do you actually have any shame? ??♂️.
04 Jul 2024 22:14:33
Thanks MK, that's all i was doing. Have heard it used to describe What i was trying to say so just threw it in there?wasnt trying to be professor footie ed.
{Ed025's Note - i know that june mate, im just too old now for all these new fangled terms for players positions...what the hell is a false 9?...its beyond me..
04 Jul 2024 22:25:35
Ederson is neither a Rodri nor a Fabinho. He is more of a Kante. He is not a stopper nor a sitter. Good engine. He is going to vacate his space and run forward and we are back to the same issue.
04 Jul 2024 22:33:04
Double pivot ???
“Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball, and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple”. Everything we were built on and he was right.
04 Jul 2024 23:19:19
Yoro, Ait Nouri, Ederson, Kudus - not much to ask for is it haha.
04 Jul 2024 23:42:44
If anyone can understand rocket science it's Thunderbird 2.
04 Jul 2024 23:00:24
Stick to the false teeth Ed!
05 Jul 2024 05:07:47
I’m curious as to why VV doesn’t respond to posts taking him up as to why he might be mistaken about his assessments on players, if you’re so assertive on what you think about their strengths and (more often than not) crippling weaknesses, shouldn’t you be willing to defend your view when discussing the player? Or is spewing hyperbole for likes all you’re interested in? I don’t have an agenda against you or anything, I’m just wondering, because debate would be nice, at least more welcome than savage panning or praise of players.
Ederson isn’t a pure dominant defensive 6 either and he didn’t even play like one against us so it’s not like you had to watch a serie a game to notice.
05 Jul 2024 06:22:31
last time a team of mine used a double pivot was the All Blacks and that was a nightmare.
I don’t think we can go into a season with Dom and Macca as two CMs/ CDM behind a CAM. It negates their strengths. If we play that was then surely we play one alongside an Endo type.
05 Jul 2024 08:29:37
Mamardashvili was pegged by many as being Georgia’s second best player after kvaradona mk, lots of folks think he has the potential to be a world class keeper. Given that I don’t watch Valencia at all I don’t really have any idea about whether that’s true but he’s certainly been good this tournament. A quick search before the tournament started revealed that he turned down a move to Newcastle because they couldn’t guarantee he would start ahead of pope.
05 Jul 2024 09:45:17
PB, spot on. He goes in to hiding when he gets tied up in his lies. It probably is just for likes, as you say. In fact he's probably liking his own posts half the time because how's he got 4 likes on a comment saying Ederson is a proper DM, but 3 players who've all played there more than him are not ? Kimmich has 300 career games in CM/ DM and only 127 at RB so calling him a "right back with midfield delusions" is ironically, completely deluded. Rabiot has over 200 appearances for the biggest club in France and over 200 appearances for probably the 2nd biggest club in Italy, winning 6 league titles and 16 domestic cups, yet he's a waster?
I don't care if people want to question whether Kimmich/ Rabiot are the right players for us, or if they have attitude concerns, or if they're the wrong age profile etc. But don't just make stuff up for a quick soundbite. They're two of the top midfielders in Europe to such an extent it's barely even subjective anymore, and their longevity at the very top under some of the best managers in the game, proves that. If we go for Kimmich we'll be up against Man City and Pep. If we go for Rabiot we'll be up against Real Madrid and Ancelotti. The two best teams in Europe manged by the two best managers this century are interested in them. That should tell you all you need to know about their level as players. But Victor knows best.
05 Jul 2024 10:59:07
I would really like Joao Neves from Benfica. He'd be too expensive so no chance we're going for him but we're just talking hypothetical cases we'd want.
He's young, maybe a bit inexperienced and probably super overpriced, but I have a feeling he's going to be world class. I think he'd be absolutely perfect for us.
05 Jul 2024 11:48:59
Good wind up merchants don't respond.
Like a good fisherman, they sit and wait for the bites.
05 Jul 2024 12:28:27
Kimmich is a right back who was converted to a midfielder, and he looks like one too, he played most of the games at the end of last season as a right back as even Tuchel could see he isn’t a defensive midfielder, and it is very telling that Bayern have actively been seeking a new defensive midfielder since last summer, he obviously that reason is because Kimmich really isn’t that good there, he’s been found lacking because he doesn’t have the ability to hold onto the ball under pressure, or the vision pick the right pass under pressure or the ability to snuff out danger or attacks, his positioning is suspect in defensive situations (sounds familiar) and it shows in the same way that it does with Trent. Consequently he’s been throwing his toys out of the pram at Bayern because he can’t play where he wants. He’d get rinsed in the premier league and we’d be no better off than we are now, all we’d have is a right back at the wrong end of his career on a huge salary putting in poor performances week after week that we’d struggle to get shot of. He’s already demanding to know where the new manager at Munich is planning on playing him with the inference that he’d be off if he’s being asked to play at Right Back. Absolute prima donna behaviour.
As for Rabiot, he’s a well known trouble maker along with his big mouthed mother. Nowhere near good enough to be midfield anchor. One of the laziest and most ineffective footballers I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen Naby Keita.
Surely watching Man United waste big money on over the hill supposedly “world class” players (Schweinsteiger, Varane, Casemiro, Falcao) should serve as a warning, even ourselves wasting money on Thiago who was also at the wrong end of his career (and injury prone) provide red flags. There are better, younger, less problematic players out there who would be better fits for the squad and provide longevity, neither of these players fit the squad and neither provide any longevity.
There is absolutely no logical reasons to sign these players. It was evident last season we were still weak in midfield and these players do not solve that problem.
{Ed001's Note - I am sorry but Rabiot is not lazy or ineffective. He is also not immobile like you claimed recently. His mother is a problem, I agree, but he has never been a problem, quite the opposite. You are just making stuff up regarding him. He is very well liked by his coaches, always has been, but no one wants to have to deal with his mother.}
05 Jul 2024 13:06:49
So Pep Guardiola, Hansi Flick and Carlo Ancelotti all played Kimmich primarily in midfield and absolutely dominated the Bundesliga.
But you and Tuchel know better than them? Just to be clear? That's the Tuchel who just failed to win the Bundesliga at Bayern for the first time in about 10 years (probably because he had his best midfielder at right back) and scraped the league on the last day of the season a year ago? That's the same Tuchel you think knows better than Pep, Ancelotti and Flick? I'm just trying to establish an understanding here of where your head is at.
05 Jul 2024 14:13:10
I wasn’t trying to insult anyone by calling out the ‘double pivot’ users but I do cringe every time I see someone use it.
It reminds me of Brendan Rodgers and his infamous interviews when he tried to blind us all with diamond formations to hide his incompetence.
Fortunately I’ve seen in Slot’s presser today he has debunked the 4-2-3-1 notion that everyone seems to have and didn’t use the phrase ‘double pivot’ at all. Not once.
I have a good feeling about this guy.
05 Jul 2024 15:45:31
Ok, getting back to the original question.
The player I wanted looks to be on his way to West Ham. Max Kilman. The club never declared interest, I just think he's a good player. Of the players we've been linked with, I'm not particularly excited about any of them. They're all good players, but none of them feel right. The club wanting Gordon is genuinely puzzling to me. Decent player, but he's quite the tool.