Liverpool Banter 3

06 Jun 2026 13:29:05
Is it not tapping up if true that Bayern have agreed terms with Rio? If he's not for sale.

06 Jun 2026 14:42:26
Rio is going nowhere, it's nonsense, don't worry, just move on.

06 Jun 2026 15:16:01
It is when we do it match. Totally immoral. But grand when it's one of our players getting approached.

06 Jun 2026 16:21:08
BeKind, I've been saying it. Whoever put this info out into the ether is getting exactly what they asked for: Unnecessary attention, which he/she/they craved from the off.

Rio is going to be here next season. Enjoy the WC, lads.

06 Jun 2026 17:23:40
Wouldn't you consider selling him, if he has already agreed terms? Yes, we need to take it with a pinch a salt, but if there is any truth in it, I would say Auf wiedersehen, lad.

06 Jun 2026 12:58:37
The level of criticism of the current crop of players makes me wonder where the fan base is at. There is always a difficulty between the team and criticising individual players but the current crop going from hero to zero in one season in their entirety feels like something those from the other end of the M62 would engage in.
The general view on here seems to be -
Not good enough/always injured/past it - Alli, Marma, Bradley, Frimpong, Vvd, Gomez, Macca, Jones, Elliot, Isak
Limited ability/one trick pony -
Gakpo, Grav, Endo, Chiesa
Unproven at our level/in our system -
Ngumoha, Wirtz, Kerkez, Leoni, Nyoni, Jacquet
Good but likely to leave -
Sobozlai
Decent but unavailable -
Ekitike

In the past a couple of players would be singled out, not it's everyone.


Apparently you can end up walking alone.

06 Jun 2026 14:37:32
You can't tarnish everyone with the same brush. Everyone has different opinions.

Some even believe Liverpool fans are better than every other fan worldwide. But it's just opinions.

06 Jun 2026 14:52:02
What's wrong with saying Grav, Macca, Mo etc were excellent last season and crap this season? Seems like common sense.

06 Jun 2026 15:04:34
Why should we not criticise them, we pay to go to the games, we know when players are playing well or putting a shift in. If they don't do these things, they need criticising. All this nonsense of blindly supporting players is ridiculous, at the end of the day, 90% of them couldn't give a shiny big one for the fans.

06 Jun 2026 12:37:50
Re Joe, not many players can play in 3 different positions in one match as he has done. The surgery he has had would halt most people's careers; similarity The Ox's knee surgery, especially on heavier, taller players, places huge stresses.

I seem to remember from my studies 4x kinetic force with each step i.e. a 80 kg player = 132 kg.
If Jones goes then I’d like to see Manu Kone brought in; has the nod ahead of Carravinga for the WC; has played with Hugo before

06 Jun 2026 13:34:18
Joe Gomez is the ultimate utility defender and HG. He may even count as club developed, as I think he joined us when he was 18. I think we need to keep him.

06 Jun 2026 13:48:54
Recognise and appreciate Joe, but to say he is the ultimate utility player could not be further from the truth. The lad is always injured and, when we actually need him, he will get himself injured almost immediately. Every single time.

He is our break glass option, who also just happens to be made of glass. So, when we break said glass, we break Joe along with it.

He should have been sold a long time ago, when we could have actually received a decent fee. It is too late now, however, and we have too much to do in defence to even consider letting him go.

With Konate gone, he will need to cover at centre back.

I honestly can't remember the last time Joe had a string of 5 matches without issue, let alone a good 5 matches in the last 5 years. I do appreciate people eulogising him, but he has been a walking sick note and drain to us, not just to our hopes but financially too.

Might be a little harsh, but I don't think Joe has earned the right to be so catered to by the fans. Probably just me, though.

06 Jun 2026 14:14:10
I agree. All these posts to keep Joe, Jones, Endo, Chiesa and even Bradley will be foolish.

Arsenal won the league because they had depth. Even with injuries, they had cover. The above list, barring Jones, need to be moved on. We cannot rely on them, because if we do, come Feb 27, we will be angry because they will not be available due to stress related injuries and then the sentiment would be "we should have sold them". Sell them now.

Jones hasn't progressed in 7 years.

I can't count 5 games where he was the MoM. He's not better than Alex Scott or Adam Wharton, and shouldn't be kept because he's a Scouse. Garner overtook in England, ffs.

Endo will not be the same after that Sunderland game injury. He too will break after a few games. Yes, injuries are part of the game, but we cannot go into next season with 5 players being "injury" prone.

Bradley will never be the same. I worry for Ekitike too.

06 Jun 2026 15:45:58
Always makes me chuckle when people act as though an injury is career changing/ending, considering modern sports and medical science. Nobody, even the people on the Liverpool medical team, know for sure what an individual's recovery will look like.

I tore my ankle ligaments at 21, and due to not getting the top of the line surgery, it took me 5 years to run again without pain. Then, at 28, I absolutely obliterated my elbow (full dislocation, shattered radial head and complete tear of the lateral collateral ligament). I had to have full reconstructive surgery including a radial head joint replacement and a synthetic ligament.

I was told I'd never be able to use my right arm properly again without pain, I'd never regain full strength, there was a very slim chance of paralysis of the arm if the surgeon nicked a nerve, and very worst case even amputation could be on the table if it didn't heal right or my body rejected the joint replacement.

The doctor said it was the worst dislocation he'd seen in 30 years in medicine. 4 months after the injury, I was in bicep curling the same weight on both arms with 90% of my range of motion regained and zero pain. The surgeon even made my surgery into a case study because he couldn't believe his own work. I wasn't supposed to ever recover that well. I was told years of physiotherapy might get me back about 70% strength and range of motion with pain.

I guess what I'm saying is no two injuries or recoveries are the same. Without surgery torn ankle ligaments took me years, but with an incredibly gifted surgeon and potential amputation or paralysis was a near full recovery in mere months. So let's not pretend we're medical experts on Endo, Bradley, Chiesa, Ekitike etc. There's no linear path to full recovery.

06 Jun 2026 16:24:59
You simply cannot get rid of everybody in one go. That's not how this thing works. You're gonna have to bide your time here. For ex., you can't get rid of Bradley cos he is badly injured. Neither can you get rid of other injured players like Endo & Ekitike.

Also, to get rid of un-injured players like Gomez, Chiesa and the like, you need suitors for them, and need to get a suitable fee someone is willing to pay, which may not be the case.

And who says these players wanna leave to begin with? Again, relax and see what happens and what can be done in actual reality.

06 Jun 2026 16:35:41
How on earth did you get such a horrific elbow injury, MK? That is some story.

06 Jun 2026 17:02:28
Pretty sure Endo was on the LFC bench last game of the season and in Japan World Cup squad.

Perhaps YouTube highlights don't show match day squads.

06 Jun 2026 17:11:27
PB, I slipped as I tried to hit an acrobatic volley so I didn't get high enough off the ground and the force of the rotation spun my body, but my hand caught in a divot in the boggy ground. It hyperextended my elbow by about 60-90 degrees the surgeon reckoned.

Literally tore everything apart as it twisted the bone out the socket.

Adrenaline got me to the hospital, morphine and gas kept me semi-conscious haha. Moral of the story; don't try to be a show off in Sunday League football, and my surgeon is a genius.

{Ed033's Note - Adam, if you think about doing anything reckless, you're supposed to say, "I have The Power!", first. :)

06 Jun 2026 17:43:53
Unfortunately Ed033, the "power" stayed in my early 20's. Now I have a face like Skeletor to go with my beer gut. I really did think I still had a scissor kick in the locker though!

{Ed033's Note - Davy Jones' locker. :)

06 Jun 2026 11:40:03
How are you ST? I always enjoyed your posts. Hopefully your around more. Id love Joe to stay as he can play all across the back 4. When fully fit I'd have him starting at centre back.

06 Jun 2026 12:49:52
I can see the club getting another experienced centre back this window. Iraola, apparently according to podcasts, expects a lot from his centre halves out of possession, so I don’t expect Virg to start another 50 games next season, and Leoni and Jacquet have never played a PL game.



Could be an ideal opportunity for Joe despite him playing most of his games in recent seasons at full back.

06 Jun 2026 10:37:54
Lads, straight question: was Slot really any better than Rogers? I don't want to hear this "oh he won us the league" waffle. That league win should go down against Klopp's name - end of. But the football was better under Rogers and had we not lost points to Palace at the end of that season we won have won that league.

06 Jun 2026 10:45:15
Sorry, but I just think that is disrespectful to Slot and Klopp.

06 Jun 2026 10:55:25
First off, let us stop with the pathetic loser narrative of taking away someone's credit just cos you don't like how they fared after they were successful. Lame as hell.

And yes, he was better than BR. Slot had a chance to win a title and he won it by dog-walking the entire league and only took 6 months to wrap it up.

On the other hand, BR had a chance to win the title and bottled it vs a pretty shambolic City team cos he was too busy trying to tell everyone how smart he was rather than focus on actually doing the job of winning a league title that was ours to lose.



Oh then after he lost it, he started telling everyone how he saw himself at RM or Barca and that he thought of taking Spanish lessons. Trust me, the BR regime is not one I would like to go back to, so comparing him in any way to Slot or Klopp (they won, he bottled it) is just lazy.

06 Jun 2026 10:56:34
You have to take the man into consideration, understand his psychology. B-rod and Slot lacked in that department. Andoni shows up differently, which counts for a lot, way beyond anything data can highlight.

06 Jun 2026 11:17:37
Well said, Oli. 👌

06 Jun 2026 11:21:16
The football was only better under Rodgers for 6 months when he abandoned his own philosophy in favour of Bielsa ball.

People are desperate to diminish what Slot did, and it lacks class.

He won the title, not Jurgen - this is a fact. Saying Jurgen won it is nothing more than an opinion, and a tenuous one at that.



Thanks, Arne, for the 2nd league title in my lifetime, but last season was gash in comparison and you've rightly been removed from position.

Can we all just move on from bitching about Slot? He's history now, Iraola is our future.

Choose optimism and positivity, we've all got what we've craved for months.

06 Jun 2026 11:23:49
League was given away against Chelsea under Rodgers. Against Palace, we needed to win and City to lose.

This season was a very hard watch as a plastic fan going to games, but 100% credit goes to Slot for last season's league title. Klopp is a legend, and left us in an amazing place, but he didn't pick the team and set it up for 38 league games in 24/25 season.



As bad as the football was this season, Slot leaves having won a title and gained CL football in his 2 seasons.

I wish him all the best in his future endeavours, but am glad it's not at Liverpool moving forward.

06 Jun 2026 11:35:39
This infuriates me.

Slot's 2nd season was a disaster and he deserved to be relieved of his duties. However, his first season was incredible and he made all of the correct decisions in the Premier League and won it comfortably. Klopp had absolutely nothing to do with it. Nothing. I'm sure if you spoke to Klopp he would say exactly the same.

Rodgers was in a different era with different players.

I really don't see how you can compare it with Slot's tenure, and quite frankly, who cares?

Slot brought us number 20 and we should be thankful for that. Last season he had a lot to deal with and he did it very badly but that doesn't and shouldn't detract from his achievement.

Now we have Iraola and we all need to get behind him. End of.

06 Jun 2026 11:51:54
Palace game was irrelevant. Unless we won something like 14-0, City were always going to be champions due to their superior goal difference. The Chelsea game, the week before, was where the league was lost.

06 Jun 2026 11:56:23
Stopped reading at "I don't wanna hear this he won us the league waffle". 🥱

06 Jun 2026 12:33:57
I mean yes, Slot is quite literally better than Rodgers because he won the league. Trophies have been the barometer of success since the 1800s and rightly so. Sometimes you don't need to overcomplicate things.

06 Jun 2026 12:34:37
I agree with all Oli has said.

06 Jun 2026 12:41:13
Slot won the league. Managed from start to finish. It's his league.

He was a more successful manager than Rogers and brought us a league.

I preferred watching Rogers team to what Slot produced last season.

Overall though, Slot is the better manager.

06 Jun 2026 13:23:32
What a pointless question. Different managers, different squads, different contexts. If you don't rate Slot, just say so, but don't dress it up in some random comparison.

06 Jun 2026 13:37:13
The football under Brenda was only good for one season, after he attended lectures given by Bielsa. Once we nearly won the league, his ego was even more inflated and he proceeded to abandon everything he'd learned the year before.

For all of Slot's faults, he did win us the league.

06 Jun 2026 13:39:24
One thing imfins a bit odd. When Slot was appointed, everyone said it would be difficult to replace Klopp, and getting into CL plus a decent cup run would be success for a first season. This was what happened in the second season, after winning to EPL in the first one.

Seems like if the seasons were reversed he would be regarded as a great manager now. As Bananarama said, it ain't what you do....

06 Jun 2026 13:39:30
We only played well under Rodgers for less than a season. Most of the time, our football under him was poor. We only mostly remember the time Suarez, Sturridge, and Sterling were on fire, but once Suarez left, our football was extremely dire, and I daresay was way worse than what Slot ever had us play.

06 Jun 2026 14:24:30
Not really getting involved in the who was better debate, however 1 thing I really have an issue with is the league title we won under Slot. Yes it's his and yes he won us it, however he changed very little in the majority of that season, and the players played to Klopp's fundamentals up until Slot changed it to his tactics, and we were awful from that point on.

Yes, Slot won it for us, but he was clever enough to not rip up Klopp's hymm sheet right away, and then, when he did, that's when the wheels fell off.



Sounds like a bit of a dig at a man who won us the league, but honestly it's just the truth of how it all unfolded for him.

I do feel sorry for Slot because he had a hell of a lot to contend with during his last season with us, but ultimately he couldn't find the answers and the fall off was so severe that it was time for change no matter what.

06 Jun 2026 16:28:53
"People are desperate to diminish what Slot did, and it lacks class."

This!!

06 Jun 2026 10:35:01
All this Rio talk has got me thinking of Cristiano Ronaldo's debut season for Man Utd at 18 years old, 4 goals and 4 assists in 29 appearances for a team that finished 3rd under one of the all-time great managers. Often labelled a show pony who did a million step overs.

Rio at 17 has 2 goals and 1 assist in 19 matches this season past. Now I'm not saying he will get anywhere near Ronaldo levels but for a kid, he is doing more than alright and should flourish under Ireola.

06 Jun 2026 10:57:20
No.8, or we can just wait and see what happens and how Rio progresses, cos these comparisons do not help at all. Rio isn't good enuff right now, plain and simple, and for good reason. He's young. Let's just relax and watch the progression under "Doni".

06 Jun 2026 11:01:05
People have no perspective.

We all want Diomande and think he's a superstar in the making.

Diomande was playing college football in the US at 16 while Rio was getting game time in the FA Cup.

Diomande was in 3rd division in Spain at 17 while Rio got 1000 minutes in the EPL for one of the biggest clubs in the world against top defenders/grown men. He would've likely gotten more minutes under a better manager.



Sure, Rio is far from the finished product, but imagine where he could be in 2 years time when he's the same age as Diomande and Ryan, who people rave about.

Wanting to sell him is crazy talk, especially when 20% of profits would go to Chelsea. Would be totally stupid to sell him now for 40m or whatever a 17yo kid would cost.

06 Jun 2026 11:14:12
That's exactly what im saying, Oli, it's more of a perspective than direct comparison. As I said, im not saying he's Ronaldo MK2, but strongly believe he shouldn't be sold.

06 Jun 2026 11:24:53
People criticising Rio is like the reverse of match of the day fever.

He's a kid. Give him a chance before we shoot him down from behind our keyboards after watching some highlights of him.

06 Jun 2026 11:48:09
To say that 'Klopp's team' won the league is disingenuous towards Slot, that team the previous season struggled into 3rd and got battered in Europe, lest we forget, not only did we canter towards the League title, but we finished unbeaten in the new CL format too, that can't be underplayed either.



Yes, it all fell apart, arguably, last summer, for many reasons, but you can't say he's anything like Rodgers. We nearly won the league in spite of him, I've always felt.

06 Jun 2026 13:11:09
Rio is a 17 year old kid with bags of potential.

For me, his flaws are exactly what I would expect from a kid his age.

I think with the right coaching he could easily become a class player. I also think he is about to meet the right manager at the right time for his development. We would be mad to sell, in my opinion.

06 Jun 2026 13:43:17
With young kids, you never know. Their body is not fully developed and the physiological strain of being in the spotlight and suddenly being rich is not easy. And many burn out after a few years (Sterling?) But he has potential. That's all that can be said. We need to keep players like him even if a lot of them won't make it.

06 Jun 2026 16:30:14
No.8, we are on the same page. All good.

06 Jun 2026 10:22:51
Guys, does anyone know of DN coming back on a free an actual thing?

Like has one of the ITKs mentioned this?

I'm not saying good or bad idea, I'm just wondering if it's actually being considered?

06 Jun 2026 10:35:47
I'm trying to start a movement for it to happen.

06 Jun 2026 10:40:46
As much as I loved Nunez, and still think there is a player in there somewhere, I doubt this has any substance.

But I wouldn’t be totally against it, especially with Ekitike out and question marks over Isak being able to play consistently. We do need another forward, as Gakpo as the focal point is as bad, if not worse, than Nunez in my opinion.

06 Jun 2026 10:43:20
Scouse, I hear you can get medication for that! 😜

06 Jun 2026 10:43:45
He could not make it in Saudi. Why would anyone seriously want him back? Some LFC supporters have this very odd obsession of wanting old players back. Move on.

06 Jun 2026 10:54:39
Gordy, there's no medication left, Isak has taken it all.

06 Jun 2026 10:58:03
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. His concentration, emotionality, and incredibly inconsistent finishing suggest a hard No, but I did love his effort on a good day.
On a free, id take him and sell Gakpo.

06 Jun 2026 11:03:57
Embrace the chaos!

I'd take him as a backup on a free and reasonable wages, unless we have a versatile forward lined up already.

06 Jun 2026 11:26:27
I've heard the FA are in for him to act as Strength and conditioning coach for their linesmen.

Today's workout, you're going to flag every time Darwin makes a run and is offside.

4000 flags later. Good work, ladies and gents.

06 Jun 2026 11:54:03
So after wanting him gated, fans want him back. 😆 Fickle crowd! Before he was gated, I had to keep watching clips of all his balls up, sitters and howlers, go back and watch them and leave the past in the past.

06 Jun 2026 12:00:07
Amazingly, Darwin's and Isak's running stats over 90 mins are quite close in Darwin's last PL season and Isak's same season at Newcastle.

Isak averaged around 9.6km and Darwin 9.8km over 90 mins.
Both averaged 17 sprints a game.
But Darwin's top speed was faster than Isak's, though.

Crazingly, Ekitike averages 10.1 km over 90 and 18.4 sprints.

06 Jun 2026 12:37:13
We had Nunez. He wasn't that good. Repeating the same mistake would be another mistake.

06 Jun 2026 13:50:24
Nunez offers something different and might suit Iraola's system very well. Nobody here would have Evanilson near the Liverpool team, but he did the job Iraola wanted.

06 Jun 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Seano_ has posted a new article entitled, Liverpool Squad Assessment and Summer Priorities

06 Jun 2026 08:52:46
Good read, Seano.

I understand we won't have an abundance of money to buy what is necessary to revamp a tired and ineffective squad, and this I presume is why you have decided we should keep certain players that other posters would think of getting rid of. I personally agree with most of your decisions, as we all know we don't get huge transfer fees for our fringe players, so it will be hard to generate the necessary funds needed to buy a rb, an experienced cb, at least 1 cm and a rw. Maybe the transfer funds are there, and with a few sales of fringe players we might just be able to buy what's needed, added to that the promotion of some youth players, and hopefully we have a better balanced squad with more pace and guts about it.

Just to add, you never mentioned Elliott in your list. What's your feeling about what Iraola will do with Harvey? I like the chap, been f***ed about last season, and deserves better. Whether he gets that at Liverpool next season, I don't really know. Anyways, interesting times ahead in the next few months, looking forward to it with great anticipation.

All the best

Notsozippy.

06 Jun 2026 09:02:25
tbh, I'd be surprised if we didn't have money to spend.

Given we spent roughly $390m net since summer 2023, and roughly $530m net since 2020, I would have thought we remain in a solid position.

06 Jun 2026 09:16:47
Faith, we most certainly have money to spend. We've been outspent by clubs like Villa and Newcastle. We are healthy financially and I wouldn't be surprised if we spent £200 + player sales. We need 4/5 players, as it stands, and to replace players if they leave, like Gakpo.



We also need to be smart, Nunez on a free makes perfect sense to me and hopefully the £85m weight off his shoulders and the appointment of AI we could see the best of him.

06 Jun 2026 09:21:28
I hope we keep Elliott and Tsimikas. We need strength and depth in the squad, and we haven't got that. We can't keep letting players go unless they want to leave.

I would like us to look at bringing in some free transfers to bulk out the squad a bit and use the kids more.

I'd like to bring back Nunez as well.

06 Jun 2026 09:21:47
I didn't say we wouldn't have money to spend, Faithinworks, mate. What I meant, as did Seano, was that if we were to get rid of, say, Mama, Gomez, Tsimikas, Frimpong, Jones, Endo, Cheisa, Gapko, etc., that we would find it very hard to replace everyone of them and that our squad is already weak, so unfortunately some of the players we need to move on might not be moving.

We have been well run as a club, but we won't be spending anything like we did last summer and we would probably need to be spending £250 million plus to get what's really needed for the 1st team right this minute.

06 Jun 2026 09:45:14
Elliot is a decent squad player, but I'm not sure who he replaces in a starting 11. I imagine the club will go quite big on the Salah replacement, so he's up against that player or Wirtz.

Don't think Elliot or Chiesa have started a PL game in 12 months, and not sure how many both started the 12 months prior.



Nunez has been out of his Saudi league squad since Jan and has been released on a free.

Nothing against the 3, but if they aren't deemed good enough by previous or other managers then I can't see much changing under the Iraola.

{Ed001's Note - you really think Slot's judgement is sound? I give up, people spent months whining about him and then want to back his idiocy.}

06 Jun 2026 09:50:53
I do wonder if we can save some money through cheeky... I.e., Carra said we're exploring Zabarnyi on a loan, and I wonder whether West Ham might need to reduce their wage bill, meaning we could put in a loan offer for Bowen.



Then we can spend money on Diomande, Paelstra, and Camara. We can add depth by bleeding through McConnell and Nyon.

With sales of Elliot, Macca and Marma, we could also probably buy another forward or midfielder too.

06 Jun 2026 09:54:06
If anything, Iraola will be looking for mobility and ability, so Harvey and Chiesa will struggle. I'm expecting both to go.

06 Jun 2026 09:56:52
I agree with Faith. We got money to spend. We may not ahve 450m like last summer but by Ed01's last comment on the club's financial muscle cirrently, he said the dough is there to sign the actual players we need. The issue is whether we should let Rich Hughes do the spending. That's another matter.

As for the players we should keep, I don't think we are keeping players many think should go just because of lack of enuff finances. It is because we simply cannot sell them. Take Gakpo and Grav. Both just signed new deals over the past year. Those guys aren't getting sold, anytime soon except something insane happens. Gakpo's transfer request? Yeah, I'll believe that being acted upon when I see it.

As for the squad of fringe to young players, I don't know who we can keep but if you are Elliott or Tsimikas (you can add youngsters like Ramsey, Rio, MacConnell etc.), "Doni" is going to be looking at everyone because it's a clean slate (with no favorites nor cast-away's) so we will have to see what happens. i'm excited, personally.

06 Jun 2026 10:02:15
The lack of depth this season showed we can do with an English lad on low wages on the bench for backup. Harvey loves Liverpool, I'd keep him since there is 0 chance we will get a big fee for him right now.



What harm is it to keep the lad for one more year and reassess? I'm sure it'll be better for him too compared to his last season!

06 Jun 2026 10:08:10
Ed001 I said other managers mate

Klopp (to a certain extent with Harvey & Darwin) Emery & whoever the Saudi teams manager are implied in my comment.

Perhaps Iraola unleashes Chiesa and Elliot next season and brings Darwin back and I'm proved wrong.

Only time will tell 🤷🏻‍♂️

{Ed001's Note - Klopp has said he made a mistake not playing Harvey more and Emery was not playing him because it would have made the obligation to buy kick in.}

06 Jun 2026 10:08:43
JK23, I agree with you. Elliott, Chiesa, simply not good enough. Slot is irrelevant to the debate. As for Nunez, for crying out loud, when will we ever stop mentioning him. Brains of a sheep, headless chicken, choose whichever comparison you want. They both fit.

06 Jun 2026 10:47:19
They tried to replace Harvey and Darwin with Wirtz and Isak, hasn’t worked, has it? Harvey, Chiesa and Darwin are all good enough squad players. Harvey and Darwin would jump through hoops for us.

Looking at some of the players last year, they gave up during games. Those three wouldn’t. I’ve it to end of October, and a £1 bet Isak will have sat out more games than he’s played in.

06 Jun 2026 10:51:53
Good read, Seano. I agree with a lot of it, not everything, though.

I'd keep Tsimikas unless one of the younger guys like Chambers etc. was ready to step up and was good enough. Keeping Tsimi would be more of a thing if we have enough areas to address in the window.

I'd get an experienced CB on a free or loan like Senesi or Zabarnyi, who have been mentioned. Gomez can fill in at CB or full back.

I wouldn't mind Bowen on loan like someone mentioned above. Top professional, experienced, chips in with plenty of goal contributions, a leader, can be backup RW and false 9.

Mama is fine as 2nd, but we need a plan for a number 1 when Ali leaves.

Mama is not it.

A few players coming back from loans you missed that I wonder if they'll get a look in under Iraola:

Elliott, MacConnell, Stephenson and Koumas. I think they'll all feature plenty in preseason.

I'd keep Elliott and use him as a sub for Wirtz. Like I said above, we wouldn't get much for him after the lack of football last season, and I think Iraola would get his confidence back and make him better. Reassess later if he stays longer or not.

MacConnell could be a handy player if Endo leaves. Koumas and Stephenson have good potential, not sure if they're ready to be in the squad though.

06 Jun 2026 11:06:30
Rome, Elliott played a lot of games under a top manager like Klopp, so I ain't subscribing to the idea that Elliott is not good enuff to play for LFC just cos Slot lacks anything remotely related to sound judgement on young players' abilities and literally had no interest in playing him or playing young players in general, period.

Now, before you respond, I'm not saying Elliott is a sure starter nor the savior or whatever. However, he started his fair share of games under Klopp and did well for the most part even tho Klopp did say he should have played more.

That's a top manager confessing he messed up with Elliott. So to me, the kid is good enuff by that standing alone, imo.

Now that player is still there, and what I'm saying is that if he decides to knuckle down and give things a right go in preseason, then "Doni" will give him his chances to impress cos the lad is a hard worker, very technically sound and is living the dream of playing for the club he supported.

06 Jun 2026 11:23:06
Nunez had one anomalous season in Portugal where he scored a lot of goals and we signed him off the back of that.
Other than that one season, he has struggled.

The question is - what do we prefer?
Loads of chances, all being wasted?
No chances, boring football?

However, I want to see Isak playing regularly before I start panic signings like Nunez.

06 Jun 2026 11:28:13
I'll happily bet anyone £50 that Elliot, Chiesa and Darwin don't start 20 PL & CL games for LFC between them next season.

That's 10 each if Darwin doesn't sign or 7 each if he does. Surely that's a sure fire bet for someone who is backing them.

06 Jun 2026 11:31:12
I don't have a problem with Elliott coming back and making up the numbers, because that's all he'll be doing. What has Slot's judgement got to do with Elliott? He made 26 appearances during our title winning season, albeit 22 of those were as a sub.

Slot would've seen enough of him to have reached a conclusion. None of us were crying when he left for Villa.

Like I say, I will welcome him back, but, barring injuries, he will be nothing more than a bit part player.

06 Jun 2026 12:31:58
I think he's in the last year of his contract, so sell this summer and recoup some fee. Or, if Leipzig still show interest, sell him there as part of Diomande deal.

06 Jun 2026 12:41:18
I certainly wouldn't welcome Elliott or Tsimikis or Nunez back to the club. They are not good enough. They've gone, and rightly so. There's better out there than them. This nostalgia in wanting them to return, and somehow expecting them to be any better or different, is nonsense. They're not here anymore for a reason. Move on.

06 Jun 2026 16:34:56
Rome, Slot does not have anything related to sound judgement and last season is all you need to know. End of.

Furthermore, I don't nor claim to know what Elliott will be should he come back to the team. Neither do you nor anyone else.

Hence, why I said we should wait and see, and like I said, he is a squad rotation player cos, well, that is what he has always been and still performed a ton of times under Klopp while being that.

05 Jun 2026 20:56:38
I just noticed that the new Liverpool manager is a year younger than me. I officially feel old now.

05 Jun 2026 21:26:51
They have yet to hire a manager younger than me, but this man got close.

I'm getting there.

05 Jun 2026 22:35:13
Don't feel old, feel privileged!

05 Jun 2026 22:47:41
I had the realisation with Slot....

05 Jun 2026 22:54:39
I had the realization with Klopp.

05 Jun 2026 23:55:55
Brenda for me.

06 Jun 2026 00:10:53
If someone comes on here and says "Shankly for me" then they have definitely won the internet!

06 Jun 2026 05:53:08
George Patterson for me.

06 Jun 2026 08:32:08
I went to school with John Houlding.

06 Jun 2026 08:49:59
I had that realisation when I got older than Ed001 somehow despite him being born before me.

06 Jun 2026 09:23:29
Iraola is the first Liverpool manager that is younger than me, but you know what. I'm ok with that. :)

06 Jun 2026 09:53:02
Me and Slot are the same age, suppose Iraola for me as well!

05 Jun 2026 21:45:08
Wait until you get to mine and Ed025's age! : )

06 Jun 2026 02:14:35
Zed, that will be ed025

06 Jun 2026 02:37:19
Have to wait for Ed025 for that Zed!

06 Jun 2026 12:39:01
Zed, Ed025 may be able to say that