Liverpool banter 7

28 Oct 2026 10:33:15
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 8 - Quick Round Up

28 Oct 2026 12:16:35
Superb, Ed01 👍.

{Ed001's Note - thanks mate.}

28 Oct 2026 09:56:14
Hi Eds/Reds,

I see some differing posts on Nyoni lately. One or two questioning his positioning, one or two very positive.

I have to say i am in the latter camp.

Every time i watch him he's looks absolutely excellent. Intercepting potential attacks, his ability to move out of trouble and find the right ball, almost every time. I'm a huge fan tbh.

I'm not sure on his pace and sure, he's still lightweight, but for me he doesn't look at all out of place, in fact, looks more comfortable than some of his more esteemed colleagues.

I'm not the oracle, so would love to hear your thoughts guys.

Is he ready? Should he be starting more? What happens if a Camara type comes in?

28 Oct 2026 11:09:56
I think he's doing ok, Molby.

He always seems to find space to be available and his choice of pass is usually good.

Also seems composed and able to sense danger and play the right ball to diffuse it - bit of a calming presence which we desperately need at times. I was screaming for us to keep the ball for 2-3 passes against Brighton and Nyoni helped with that

I was also encouraged by his commitment in the tackle, possibly buoyed up by Big Ron's contributions.

But yeah, work in progress - youth in his side and potentially going to build up strength as he gets older - good prospect 👍🏻.

28 Oct 2026 11:18:44
He's been excellent when called upon so far. As you say, he's got a ways to go to fill out a bit, but technically, he looks more suited to the two midfield positions than some of the others.

As for Camara types; assuming you mean midfielders that are more defensive minded. As it stands, other than Endo and arguably McConnell, we are lacking that profile. It would be logical to add one.

There are question marks over Macca (contract), Endo (final year of contract), Grav (tactical fit), McConnell (is he good enough? ) and dare I say it, maybe even Szobo's tactical fit. Midfield overhaul is not out of the question unless a couple of the guys on big new contracts can evolve their game/instincts to play in a two.

28 Oct 2026 11:23:03
Not an ed, I think Nyoni is very good on the ball and is good in the tackle. He is still developing and at times is out of position but I think currently both him and Macca give us the best combo. Though he is a little young to play every game.

We should be signing a camara type regardless, I don't think it will have much impact on Nyoni's playing time.

For me, I would be looking to move Grav on but with his wages that might be hard.

28 Oct 2026 13:36:38
He is a very very good player. What's most impressive about him is his positioning off the ball and his awareness of what's around him when he does get the ball, his decision making is almost always on point. Early days yet but maybe the decision to let Curtis go so Nyoni could get more minutes wasn't such a bad one.

Not sure it's fair to expect Nyoni to get Curtis' minutes, Curtis played a lot last year, but he looks like he might slowly get there.

28 Oct 2026 13:43:26
Nyoni has done ok without pulling up any trees.

The best compliment you can give him is that I don't think too many would be too worried if he had to come in and play a few games.

He's progressing nicely.

28 Oct 2026 18:02:54
Nyoni has all the tools to be a far superior centre midfielder than Jones was and will ever be. His use of the ball is better, he doesn't needlessly hold on to it and quickly looks to move it on intelligently, he's also alert to danger and isn't afraid of getting his boots dirty, there's no way Jones would have made that challenge that Nyoni did at the weekend (which was a goal saving challenge too btw), Jones would have been day dreaming.

28 Oct 2026 18:04:44
If he gets a bit quicker and a bit more bite in his game he could be a real player. Trust Iraola to bring it out of him.

28 Oct 2026 18:07:51
Nyoni hasn't looked out of place when he's been on the pitch this season. He's a slender young lad in the most physical football league out there and he's coping well. As long as he doesn't have bad luck with injuries he has a huge ceiling in terms of potential.


It's early days but this could be a breakout season for him, it's going to be fascinating watching him develop.

29 Oct 2026 08:07:11
@Vik, Jones doesn't play for us anymore, you might as well compare him with Jan Molby, for example, he doesn't play for us anymore either. If you want to slag Jones off, just do so and stop dressing up with pointless and irrelevant comparisons with past players you don't rate.

28 Oct 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Shappy has posted a new article entitled, Carrick, Injuries, and United's Bigger Mess

28 Oct 2026 07:42:14
Yay, the return of one of my heroes!

28 Oct 2026 08:37:25
"Eat, sleep, sack, repeat".

28 Oct 2026 09:16:11
And wind is windy & water is wet 👌.

28 Oct 2026 09:58:39
And Let The Beat Go On, Robbie23.

Loving it.

28 Oct 2026 10:15:37
I don't know why you do it Shappy!??

28 Oct 2026 11:04:20
He's right, Carrick is a very limited manager and many managers could get better results with this squad, but it's not just about the manager and the squad. It's much bigger than that, it's the culture there from the higher executives.

They need to go on a rebuild. They need the right people leading the way. They need to accept it's long-term and if you get amazing results for 6 months don't assume all the problems have been fixed.

28 Oct 2026 11:55:30
Quelle surprise. A Jim Ratcliffe owned club in a shambles.

I must say its impressive that the entire footballing fanbase predicted that Carrick would be out before Christmas after he signed his deal as permanent manager.

Calling Sir Gareth Southgate!

28 Oct 2026 12:14:19
Apparently according to something I saw on the BBC, which might have been a second hand piece of 'news' was that the only thing 5hat kept Carrick in the job was they couldn't agree on a replacement. Whatever, good to see the sincere, but out of his depth, Fischer keeping the job. I see Eddie Howe was touted as an option. I'd be happy with that as a longer term 'solution'.

Like I say though, the manager and players are the effect, the Glazers and Sir Jimmy and Sir Dave are the cause - they are all just in it for the money. The Glazers are clueless and the Ineos boys are out of their 'safe space' in football ownership and operational management. Lots more soul searching and wringing of hands from Shappy 'before the day is done', as they say.

29 Oct 2026 08:09:57
Anybody got any idea who 'Fischer is??! Time for me to have my medications checked out 😳🙂.

28 Oct 2026 06:35:32
Just thinking of options at LB, has Leoni ever played there?

28 Oct 2026 06:57:53
I think I'm definitely in the minority but I don't see anything majorly wrong with Kerkez as our first choice LB. We do need a backup though and I was hoping that either Chambers or Beck can make the step up but disappointingly due to a variety of reasons, I don't think they would be able to.

28 Oct 2026 08:04:52
Owen Beck turns twenty-five before the start of next season, I agree he has not given any indication of succeeding at Premier League level, unfortunately.

28 Oct 2026 08:08:53
Does anyone have any thoughts on Alejandro Balde, initially on a six month loan? He won't be getting any game time at Barcelona and the last lad we signed from there has been decent!

28 Oct 2026 08:21:16
I'm with Drac on Kerkez, were much more solid at the back with Araujo at RB so I'm happy with having a more attacking option on the left side, no need to put another CB there. People forget Kerkez is still only 22.

28 Oct 2026 09:59:17
Pompey, why are we looking at playing a CB at LB, exactly.

Serious question.

28 Oct 2026 10:34:02
100% agree Drac, Kerkez is having a decent season and is improving all the time I don't see people's issue with him.

The main thing he needs to improve on is in the attacking third and I don't see how playing a CB at LB improves that.

28 Oct 2026 10:59:18
Just wondered if anyone knew if Leoni had any experience playing LB? That's all Oli

I also can't fault Kerkez attitude, God loves a trier - and any deficiency in his work in the final 3rd doesn't lay solely with him - there needs to be an understanding with the LWer, and that's clearly still a work in progress.

While I appreciate Gakpo this season he grinds my gears at times with his distribution, maybe BB, Kerkez and Wirtz can figure it out on our left at some point.

28 Oct 2026 12:00:45
Kerkez has the shirt for the season. I expect we'll replace Tsimikas in the summer.

I have to admit the last two performances from Kostas (LASK and Villarael) showed up the technical deficiencies Kerkez has on the ball.

As for who, Carra has suggested here that we are serious about Joaquin Seys. We play Club Brugge on 25th Nov so we will get to see him in action against us.

28 Oct 2026 12:17:05
Speaking of the CL, one of our old boys has just (temporarily) taken over as coach at Fenerbahce. Nice timing @Dirk 🙂.

28 Oct 2026 01:04:33
Ed01 - Some of us are eagerly looking forward to reading your match reviews! unless of course they are posted in a different section of the site?

{Ed001's Note - sorry mate, I wasn't able to watch the Brentford game as I was busy with family stuff so that one wasn't done. I will do the Brighton one as soon as I finish the match day round up. Just got the last few matches from Sunday to get through now. Then I will go back,rewatch our game and write it. It will be posted up on here as usual.}

28 Oct 2026 05:24:18
I'm getting Southampton vibes lad's 🤭.

28 Oct 2026 09:49:15
🤣🤣🤣 cheeky Barry.

27 Oct 2026 19:32:43
Question for ed1 do you know much about Andrii Fedchenkov?
Is he well liked.

{Ed001's Note - I don't know much about him at all, sorry. He has a good rep but that is all I know.}

28 Oct 2026 08:17:24
Cheers Ed.

{Ed001's Note - very welcome.}

28 Oct 2026 00:57:22
The Premier League doesn't carry players even luxury players that score goals.
This talk of trent is nonsense. Forget his history, a fee or fans reactions, the lad doesn't have the legs!
Andoni wants a physical athletic team especially in the full back positions. Trent was jogging about in many a match in Spain and it never went down well.


This Mourinho talk is also nonsense as an excuse. Alonso didn't fancy him, tuchel didn't want him and now Mourinho doesn't have plans with him included.
Liverpool and klopp accommodated* this lad. The odd pass doesn't cut it anymore in the modern game over 90 minutes.

28 Oct 2026 02:25:30
Do we really need to exaggerate the point with Trent?

"the odd pass"

snooze..moving on.

28 Oct 2026 06:53:29
Why is there a thread every day by (probably) grown up men who don't want him to comeback and / or don't want to talk about him. Seems like an awful waste of Kleenex to me.

28 Oct 2026 10:01:13
Spot on, Faith. The Trent stuff is jut a waste of time.

28 Oct 2026 09:35:58
I'd imagine Trent is fed up of the Spanish fans and would be looking forward to a warm homecoming.

28 Oct 2026 12:18:29
City have Haaland. A natural goal hanger but a luxury item most of the time.

27 Oct 2026 23:17:44
Not related to Liverpool per se, but one for football fans and who enjoy a good, old fashioned cup tie. Cold, miserable weather, a less than perfect pitch and the massive under dogs getting stuck in and giving it a good go.

About a million miles away from Infantino and Mansour and his 'sponsors'. Great to see that proper football isn't dead just yet.

27 Oct 2026 23:58:16
Agree WDW - good cup tie and enjoyable watch being a Kidderminster fan for the night!

Interesting set of games tomorrow night and I've a feeling we'll beat Chelsea? If a few of the other ties go favourably the competition really opens up for us if we do go through?

I know it's the bottom of the list as far as our ambitions go but getting into the last 8 would be a great incentive for the manager to go & win his first trophy for us.

28 Oct 2026 00:19:28
Kidderminster drew nil- nil away to The Robins. They weren't. in the EFL Cup.

28 Oct 2026 06:38:10
Yep - sorry! Late night post!

Fleetwood!!

28 Oct 2026 09:04:25
Wouldn't mind Fleetwood in the next round if tonight goes to plan and Dowman getting a red helps for the weekend. Good night all round 😁.

27 Oct 2026 15:10:43
Greetings Ed001, trust you are well. Question for you.

Quite a few people here and in social media have suggested that Wirtz and Szoboszlai cannot play together. What is your view on this?

My view is that it's very possible as long as Iraola defines their positions clearly to them so that there is no overlapping of roles. Funnily enough, I remember last year when Szoboszlai missed games, many said that he was crucial to our midfield. He ended up being the best player for the season. Now the tide seems to have turned now that Wirtz has seen some uptick in form.

{Ed001's Note - I am sure they can work together fine. It just takes time.

27 Oct 2026 19:06:26
Sob needs to show he is coachable. So far this season he has lacked discipline. If he shows more discipline then the combo will be exciting to watch.

27 Oct 2026 21:22:58
Question doing the rounds now, are we a better team without Szobo in it?

{Ed666's Note - He needs to be in the team just for his free kicks!!

27 Oct 2026 21:32:26
We're a better team without Szobo playing DM/CM If we can fit him in elsewhere I'm sure he'll be a positive.

27 Oct 2026 21:32:47
will be interesting to see the outcomes if both flo and dom are selected to start together in the future, the "DOMA-hawk" missiles, set pieces, corner kicks and new penalty taker, also can fill in at RB if needed are several key advantages for dom over flo, who'd be a manager? obviously the team overall must benefit the most not the individual.

YNWA Andoni.

27 Oct 2026 22:34:56
Dom out injured for a few games, we get a couple of good results and all of a sudden it's Dom's fault it wasn't working in the first place. Some people are hilarious. Nothing to do with the natural progression you might expect for a team eploying a new system under a new manager.

Same Dom everone hailed as the best player in the team last season, by a country mile mind you.

27 Oct 2026 22:45:14
Unfortunately it seems to make the team worse when they play together. Does any team in the league play with 2 similar attack minded midfielders who seem to get in each others' way? Szobozlai lacks discipline, for me at the moment he doesn't walk straight back into the team when fit, unless Wirtz is injured.

27 Oct 2026 23:24:08
We played 12 games and had a number of injuries already, potentially we have another 40/50 games to go. I think the 'problem' may well resolve itself through loss of form, fatigue and / or injuries. We need a big squad and if everyone happens to be fit the the coach will earn his money by playing in a way that can beat whoever the opposition is with the players selected who can best execute the match plan.

I don't see the need to rush people out the door, particularly those who have specific strengths that the squad may / will need.

28 Oct 2026 00:08:57
Szobo was doing really well and the team looked great against Brentford before he went down. I actually thought that was the best we played but it turned for a while after him going off.

You do know we have Grav, Wirtz, Macca, Szobo and Trey. It's quite possible they all turn out great in the system and we just rotate and have options.

I agree with everyone that an out and out mobile DM would be a great addition to the squad and one i'd like to see us make. But in the meantime I'm enjoying all the above adapt and improve in the systems and style that Iraola wants.

To my eye, they are all improving. Of course a ways to go. But everyone of them looks better now than earlier in the season. got to give it time.

28 Oct 2026 00:09:19
Not sure if you guys share the same observation but I actually think Szob had regressed since joining us.

Yes he scored a few free kicks banger last season, but in terms of overall play, he had not kicked on as much as hoped.

- checking back and slowing the play down during counters when there are space to run into
- trying to dribble past 2-3 players and losing the ball during desperation times
- standing still high up the pitch instead of making off ball runs in behind
- soft in tackles

When he first arrived, there was an aura about him and his play. I was thinking we he could be the all action powerful midfielder similar to Gerrard.

But now that aura is not there, and there is a sense of arrogance (in a bad way), the backheel that lead to the goal conceded, shoulder shrug at fans when the team is booed.

I hope AI can coach him back to his game, and he takes the game by scruff of the neck, instead of letting it pass him by.

28 Oct 2026 10:05:53
Indeed, Jari. Szobo is a very good player and we need him. That being said, there is a decent amount of evidence that Szobo and Wirtz don't work esp. with both in the final third.

When Szobo hasn't played, Wirtz has more space to work with because Szobo is not in his way and the other mid's hold their positions, don't crowd his space and let him cook.

Grav had that issue too but clearly, that is starting to get better because he is playing the role he is supposed to play a lot better. Meaning? Grav is being coached to hold his position.

Szobo needs to do the same thing Grav is doing as in, get coached to play his role and let Wirtz do his job which right now, he is doing well and continuing to improve overall.

28 Oct 2026 10:58:06
OP
Szob was our best player last season in many people's eyes because he ran a lot- whilst everyone else looked out on their feet

Covering distance is a basic for a midfield player so that shows how poor we were

I'm in the camp and have been for a while that Dom is not disciplined enough for a midfield 3, he vacates the central area to go chasing the ball. Looks great in many eyes but half the time it's a waste of energy and leaves is exposed.

28 Oct 2026 11:46:23
Davey, i'm not sure Szobo is improving. He is still doing the same things he was doing last season and is still getting heat for it. In a team that was doing next to nothing, he was able to rise.

So if that is true for the sake of discussion in my observation, does that not mean that his being "our best player lasts season" is not the flex a lot of us think it is?

Cos in my book, it seems like the rest of the midfielders are slowly but surely, improving while he is essentially stagnating.

Why? because Szobo is getting heat this season, for the same things he was being hailed for doing last season. Just my take.