Liverpool banter 3

06 Nov 2025 14:19:14
I’ve just read an article about Marc Guehi and where he will end up. I don’t think it makes sense to sign him in January. In my opinion we need two more CBs and maybe even three in the next 18 months or so. For different reasons it does not seem like Gomez, Konate or VVD will be here too much longer.

The idea of spending £15-20m on Guehi in January does not make sense when the money could go towards another CB. The club may see losing Konate for free in the summer and getting Guehi for free as OK business wise. We may sign another CB in January but I don’t think it will be Guehi.

06 Nov 2025 16:55:05
Bastoni in Jan, Guehi in the summer?

06 Nov 2025 17:17:22
We are probably 1 CB injury from having a mini crisis particularly if Virgil was injured. 15-20m in Jan to shore us up can be made back by a run in the CL.

I don't understand how spending the money on Guehi doesn't make sense but spending on another CB does? I don't know much about Guehi but I do know a good CB in Jan or the summer will cost a lot more than 15-20m. So why not sign Guehi for 20m or so in Jan if he's a good fit? I think your logic is losing Konate for free so Guehi on a free evens things out?

06 Nov 2025 18:00:11
Why would Guehi, who never pushed for a move all summer, be willing to give up a considerable signing on bonus to join us in January? Especially if palace are still in Europe.

I can't see us paying £20m on top of matching his potential signing on bonus for the sake of 5 months. If we sign a CB in January, it will most likely be a young player or experienced cover.

06 Nov 2025 18:17:37
Bastoni would be awesome signing. Not going to happen unfortunately.

06 Nov 2025 19:35:46
RF69 - we cannot control what happens with Konate as his contract is up and it is his decision. We need more than one CB in the next year and if we have money earmarked for it say £50m, then spending £20m on Guehi in January means there will be only £30m left in the summer for the other CB. Alternatively, we have up to £50m in January for another CB and get Guehi for free in the summer.

Very basic and crude figures being used to illustrate the point.

06 Nov 2025 19:56:47
RP mate I would say that not all players are equally motivated by money.

So bring in someone for what 10-15m as a "stop gap" or (risky) prospect and potentially miss out on the later and more lucrative CL stages and maybe finish lower down the league. I'd rather the club pay 15-20m and a bonus of 10-15 to the player they know they want and make another 30m by getting to the CL last 8.

06 Nov 2025 20:03:21
KD, working with your numbers, a run in the CL to the latter stages will make up more than the 20m so we're back to 50. We can let Konate go, Guehi pays for himself and we still have 50m for a new defender! It's win-win my friend 🤣.

We've been here before and seen our season implode. We don't need a CB in Jan we need the right CB. We've been stuck loaning out CBs that we can't sell and paying their contracts for years.

06 Nov 2025 20:09:07
And for illustrative purposes only, we made 54m in the CL last season. PSG 105m. That's a "free player. "

06 Nov 2025 20:21:48
Why would palace sell guehi in Jan for 15-20m? A good shout of winning conference league, well placed in prem league and could give cups a rattle as well. Makes no sense financially or from a footballing angle for them to sell in Jan now with position they in.

06 Nov 2025 20:40:04
Digger, I would say the conversation is about what's right for the player and for LFC, not CP.

But to your point, the winners of the ECL can make 19m euro for a "flawless run"; I assume that means if you win every game. There are bonuses too so potentially 25m euro.

I would argue Palace would have to go all the way and win it to justify allowing Guehi to leave on a free.

But as you say, there are a lot of footballing reasons for the club to want him to stay.

06 Nov 2025 20:43:46
This all depends on what Palace promised him after blocking his move in the summer. To appease him they might have asked him to give them until January promising him the move.

My guess is he’s already agreed to join us in January and it was agreed as soon as the deal was pulled. That’s just me reading between the lines though I could be wrong.

06 Nov 2025 21:03:35
As I say I don't know much about the player only what I read on here. Seems the club think he's the right fit. Let's see what happens.

06 Nov 2025 12:37:50
The new Kenny Dalglish documentary on Prime is exceptional.

What a player, and an even better person!

I had the pleasure of meeting him once, a true gentleman with a fantastic sense of humour.

07 Nov 2025 00:55:51
Got it saved toon, I started watching it last night but got about 4 minutes in and had to rush off. I just love the man, an absolute legend of the club, will hopefully get to watch it the next couple of days.

06 Nov 2025 12:36:51
Interesting to hear Soboszlai say about keeping back to back clean sheets that they have been using a 5 second rule to get back behind the ball, simple and effective. Lose possession and your mentally thinking i've got 5 seconds to get back.

06 Nov 2025 13:48:29
@Ernest indeed, that was the rule they were using last season already cos Slot mentioned something to that effect in the interview he had with Gary Lineker that aired during last season when we were to everyone's surprise, top of the table.

06 Nov 2025 17:34:20
Makes you wonder why we stopped using it.

06 Nov 2025 21:46:55
If something works why change it?

06 Nov 2025 08:48:54
Off grid in Indonesia the past week. Logged back on to nervously watch replays of the villa and Madrid games. My wife left me to it and headed off to yoga, hoplping I wouldn't be drowning my sorrows at the beach bar when she returned.
What a difference a week makes. I'd suggest that's the best display of Slot's tenure.

Not because it's the best footy we've played, but the pressure on the team coming up against a very in form Madrid was huge. There were plenty on here suggesting we could get nothing out of villa, Madrid and city.
2 down, one to go.

06 Nov 2025 10:30:25
Hope you had fun over there, Burkeyboy.

06 Nov 2025 10:35:06
I agree Burkey, seeing the desire and fight is just what we needed.

06 Nov 2025 11:18:23
What a miserable existence eh Burkey, off grid in Indonesia, wife gone to yoga and you cudda been at the beach bar. celebrating 😉.

07 Nov 2025 08:57:44
Intel, you have no idea. I've fallen into a Zen period. Sold lots of bitcoin that I bought 13 years ago and have just retired at 52. Poor internet is the least of my worries, but you can't take the Liverpool out of a scouser and I'd give it all away to see us put 2 massive fingers up to all the doubters at the moment.


Sorry, that's not true, I'd give up maybe 25%, any more would involve a divorce.

06 Nov 2025 07:39:02
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 10 - Quick Round Up

06 Nov 2025 10:58:04
Thanks as always for the Round-Ups Ed.

{Ed001's Note - very welcome mate.}

06 Nov 2025 17:25:57
Thanks for the round up Ed :)

06 Nov 2025 00:55:00
Flo played well on the left but I still think his place is left of a midfield four like Coutinho used to play
We still need a wide player in my opinion and possibly two as Salah has been grim this season and will go this summer or next anyhow.
Barcola on the left and Olise on the right would be lethal.

06 Nov 2025 08:35:09
Wirtz is just one of those players who you need to give a free role too, otherwise you waste his talent by shackling him into a rigid tactical approach.

He will work as hard as anyone else for the team still, but you need to give him that freedom to go where the space is and crop up in all sorts of positions as that makes him impossible to mark.

We saw against Madrid, that although he was playing on the left on paper, he was regularly cropping up on the right to slide a ball across for Dom, or tackle Huijsen by the right corner flag etc.

At Leverkusen he played like this, on the left of a front 3 but with total freedom, and he was unplayable. It's about time we got him back to that. Yes, he can play as a 10 or a false 9, but those are not the roles where he is a £100m player. Those are just role he can do a job in.

Coutinho is a decent comparison to an extent because he also needed a free role to really thrive in possession. The difference is, that Wirtz is also a grafter, something Coutinho never was. He'll press, he'll track back, he'll fly into tackles etc.

We've seen many players like this down the years (Ronaldinho, Payet, Nedved, Hazard etc) who playing off the left with total positional freedom are absolutely world class, but if you forced them into something more rigid it stifled their game completely. Very few players like this work as hard as Wirtz though, which is what really sets him apart. You don't need to coach a player like Wirtz. Put him on the pitch and let him play. Mavericks should not be shackled.

06 Nov 2025 08:45:39
Coutinho was left of a front 3 when at his best at Liverpool. We signed Salah, moved Mane to the left and tried Coutinho in the midfield and he was shocking.

I do think Coutinho was more of an attacker than Wirtz is though. Wirtz has a better engine and can get about the pitch. If he improves his physicality he could play in our midfield. Think Macca with more ability on the ball.

His physicality was much better against Real but can he do it on a rainy Tuesday night at the Emirates?

06 Nov 2025 09:30:00
Flo will eventually be the 10.

06 Nov 2025 10:17:01
Back the squad as is.

06 Nov 2025 10:22:51
Great post mk, my sentiments exactly.

06 Nov 2025 10:35:45
I think Wirtz already had a free role overall vs RM even tho, he started on the left on paper. He popped up on the right combining with Macca and Ekitike as much as he was on the right combining with Szobo which led to him laying that ball on a plate for Szobo that Courtois saved.

Now I do agree that Wirtz will eventually end up centrally in the 10 as I think that he is starting wide right now to drift in-field to create and combine cos it suits our setup right now, IMO.

06 Nov 2025 11:47:09
The thing is that wirtz' favored position actually is out wide or in the left half space even though he might start as a central attacking midfielder on paper.

A lot of times for Leverkusen he was picking up the ball on the inside left channel or all the way out wide near the touchline and then coming inside, he would also drift right in his free role on occasion, but the thing is that he was playing with two central forwards in boniface and schick who would rotate with him based on where he liked to go, frimpong as a super wide wing back pushed up the field and grimaldo staying wide or coming inside or holding back depending on frimpong.

Right now starting him on the left does kind of make sense, because he won't be tasked with as much responsibility off the ball, and because Dom's way of playing the 10 is so critical to how we press right now, he is like a non stop pressing machine closing down the keeper, center backs, and midfielders all at once.

06 Nov 2025 13:13:37
The Coutinho comparisons should end.
Not only are they very different players, but Wirtz is MUCH better than Coutinho ever was, other than the long-range strikes.
I’m saying this to anyone who’ll kindly listen: Wirtz will be the best player in the league next season.

{Ed025's Note - big shout that Lowe, you do know that Grealish and Ndiaye will be in that league as well dont you mate.. :)

06 Nov 2025 13:52:49
"The thing is that wirtz' favored position actually is out wide or in the left half space even though he might start as a central attacking midfielder on paper. "


This is indeed very true, PB. As for being in defensive transition, Wirtz was very effective in his work rate and pressing at Leverkusen. So him running his legs off covering spaces and pressing effective vs RM, was no surprise to me, personally.

06 Nov 2025 13:47:00
Steady on @25, it’s not 100% certain that the “People’s team’ will be in the same league next season, let alone any of the players 😉.

{Ed025's Note - i would expect we will WDW, this season is just the start of the re-build mate and it is only going to get better from here.. :)

06 Nov 2025 14:01:19
Big fan of Ndiaye, Ed. He’s a quality player.
You never know, might even get a move across town someday ;)

{Ed025's Note - hes very good Lowe but needs a bit more help i feel mate, that will come i expect and he would be a great replacement for Mo but once this club has touched your heart there is nowhere else to go.. :)

06 Nov 2025 14:59:05
Will they be playing in Everton blue or city blue ed25?

{Ed025's Note - there is only one shade of blue that matters John...the royal one, its the colour of kings and queens mate.. :)

06 Nov 2025 18:56:11
As Derek Trotter famously said “This time next year …” @25 👍.

{Ed025's Note - i will feel like a millionaire on Saturday WDW, im going to my first game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium mate.. :)