Liverpool banter 8

07 Jan 2026 14:58:30
Waiting until the Summer to reinforce the squad is a huge and not unfamiliar gamble for LFC!

If they miss out on Champions League qualification it will be cheaper B list targets so why not show some ambition while there is time and opportunity to salvage the season?

07 Jan 2026 16:33:25
With all the changes over the summer, it seems madness to create more by playing Grav in a different position to last year. He was brilliant there and, while some may think we need more of an enforcer in midfield, if he could do it once he can do it again.

I don't get it. Implement changes to the playing style, whatever, but keep something of worked so well before.

07 Jan 2026 16:58:34
He's playing his position from last year just with more of a licence to get forward more. The difference is he's just not playing as well as last year.

07 Jan 2026 18:16:47
That's my point FM. He's still nominally the 6 but the licence to get forward means he's not playing the role he did last year so effectively.

07 Jan 2026 18:52:37
So if he has the license to get forward then, who is minding the shop at DM in transition? That would be either nobody or Macca who can't run, both of which is damning on Slot.

Grav is not the only one struggling to play in a way the manager wants and is struggling at it. Slot had Kerkez inverting which made NO sense (the kid struggled mightily) until he changed it. Why is the manager not making things easier for Grav who is also struggling like Kerkez did? Again, it's all down to the manager. Nobody else, IMO.

07 Jan 2026 13:30:49
Hi Ed,

Why do you think we pulled out from the race from Semenyo? I am sure money was not the issue. Was it that due to the uncertainty around Slot, the club do not want to go for big moves?

Cheers!

{Ed001's Note - I don't know mate sorry.}

07 Jan 2026 15:02:41
Maybe we just preferred waiting to go for Barcola in the summer?

07 Jan 2026 16:06:48
Hope not. Another lightweight player with no Prem experience and doesn't like tracking back.

07 Jan 2026 13:29:15
Hi ed001

I wonder if you think the same. But Slot looks like a broken man. He doesn't look well physically to me. As we know that job takes its toll so much on Liverpool managers.

{Ed001's Note - I think he looks fine, but lost.}

07 Jan 2026 14:42:22
Not a great situation, his family still living in Holland, so much be a bit lonely, still he will easily get another job at his home town and return to his family home,
He does look a bit lost, so we might give him a break and let him go home.

07 Jan 2026 14:49:54
All the lights are on and nobody is home.

07 Jan 2026 15:00:07
Hahahaha! class!

07 Jan 2026 16:05:16
He looks tired, but that's often the case when the pressure is on. He answered the questions well in the media today about the style of football, at least they were asked.

It's hard for anyone to find the right answers right now, only good performances will relieve the pressure.

The players need to also bring their best form onto the pitch. Arsenal will have their tails up though, we often forget there's two teams on the pitch and sometimes the other one is in a better place.

08 Jan 2026 09:02:13
It's a huge pressure managing a club like LFC. You are responsible for the happiness of millions of fans and it takes its toll.

Look at Klopp when he joined Liverpool vs Klopp when he left. He looked about 25 years older in 9 years!

I think Slot looks tired, like he's just got out of bed in every press conference. He's probably not sleeping properly which in turn is probably affecting his performance.

07 Jan 2026 13:24:23
Ed001 I see a post that you said Gerrard really wants the job and will be most likely and you said that ok if it's short term.
But do you think if he gets the right team around he could do a good job, am sure I heard Dalglish say that about when he took over he had Bob in the background for any advice needed and when he came back he got Stephen Clarke there basically to sort the defence out because that was not one of his strong points.


That is something Fergy did very well too and when his number 2 left and he did not get one in straight away United did struggle.
One thing I would be confident of if Gerrard was long term manager because of his love for the club he would put the club first and not let players over stay past there best.
If you said before that he is a good coach but tactics is his week point.

{Ed001's Note - I wouldn't want him for the long term. I don't think he has the right personality.}

07 Jan 2026 16:01:50
I do believe if Garrard were to come in for any longer than a few months, his success would be heavily dependent on who he's got behind him. Stevie gets instant respect in the dressing room and would be great for boosting morale, passion and drive. He would be more open to adapting our game and playing fast direct football too, but that's kind of where the benefits end.

He would need a tactically exceptional number 2 on top of a collection of experienced, top quality assistants/ specialists to make up for his shortcomings.

07 Jan 2026 18:01:07
Have you seen his sit down with Ally McCoist? He spoke about this exact thing, he knows he has to have the right team around him to succeed.

07 Jan 2026 18:54:10
Think every manager needs a strong team around them . Klopp always praised his staff and he trusted them.

07 Jan 2026 11:51:08
How in heaven's name have we fell apart like we have we win the league we buy several top class players spending a lot of money a manager that won the league at his first go and now we are being told there is animosity behind the scenes between the manager and R. Hughes this needs to be sorted before it goes to far . YNWA.

07 Jan 2026 12:29:15
Because the manager has tried to fully implement his style which doesn't suit our players or the premier league.
Salahs and Vvd legs have gone.
Mac Callister is not as good as we thought.
Sold or got rid of all our high energy pressing players.

Elliott, Nunez, Diaz.
Bought 2 number nines and no winger.
Signed no experienced centre backs or full backs.
Other than that we should have been fine.

07 Jan 2026 12:35:48
It happens, you only have to look at Artetas Arsenal project which has been 5 years in the making. There have been a lot of personel changes and a change in playing style. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. If things get worse we will no doubt try somebody new.

07 Jan 2026 12:39:55
Did winning the league go to Slots head.

07 Jan 2026 12:43:17
I'm a pedant for punctuation.

07 Jan 2026 13:40:40
"I want to win as many trophies as I can but I think I'm also known for the fact that my teams always try to play attacking football and can only say that we are trying to do so. "

He's not watching the same games as everyone else.

07 Jan 2026 14:08:16
The high energy pressing players we had were either deemed not good enough or wanted to leave. Nunez was getting a lot of stick in here and many wanted him gone. Diaz, while energetic, has been wanting to leave for two seasons now.

It was a mistake not to get a speedy LW and one other CB but I don't think it was a mistake to sell the players that we did.

07 Jan 2026 14:24:38
Jimmy Boy you do realise that you've named 3 player we got rid of but 2 of them weren't first choice. In Elliot's case he barely played and my Nan could press better than him anyway.

It seems to me the worst decision Slot made was to take the shackles off Gravenberch. It made the whole team lose structure but he thought with Wirtz and Ekitike/ Isak in the team we could just steam roll teams by pushing 9 men forward.

When that backfired badly he's now gone too far the other way to stem the bleeding leaving us with no attacking threat whatsoever because he's too scared to commit players forward with pace.

That coupled with a ridiculous lack of fitness which I had attributed to the disrupted preseason but the longer the season goes on it's becoming clear that the players aren't getting any fitter.

For me I think Slot is being guided by the medical staff way too much who are always going to be cautious with a players fitness and susceptibility to injury. He's always 'managing minutes' or leaving players out as a precaution. Sometimes you just have to play these players into fitness. They'll never be able to complete 90 minutes if you keep taking them off after 70 minutes and it's not as if they run all out for the time they're on the pitch anyway.

It's noticeable that we always have a lot of possession but our final ball almost never find a player in red but conversely the opposition can easily pass around our box unchallenged, finding their team mates at will.

We need more fitness, more aggression, more composure, more quality.

On the upside we all know that all of these players are much better than they are currently showing and we are unbeaten in the last 9 games and are 4th in the league. Imagine what could happen if these players do start playing as well as we all know they can.

07 Jan 2026 14:30:53
Just because we signed players for top dollars, we don't have a divine right to blow teams off and win the league at a canter.

This unrealistic expectation is the reason why we have so many disgruntled fans.

It was always going to be a challenge integrating half a dozen players and move away from a set/ running template and start implementing a new template.

We are where we are because of wholesale changes.

07 Jan 2026 17:01:08
Totally agree Dracred.

07 Jan 2026 18:54:29
Kopcat26, you can definitely argue that.

07 Jan 2026 19:28:17
I don't know why we changed what was working last season and slowly integrated the new players like Klopp used to do.

07 Jan 2026 11:29:58
I know it will be never happen but tomorrow I would love to see us set up to counter attack with Wirtz at 10 and Rio and Frimpong flying down the wings.

07 Jan 2026 12:13:20
If only.

07 Jan 2026 12:36:48
I wouldn't be surprised if we s#! thoused a win against them y'know.

Been in playing badly and somehow pulled results against good teams before. Won't be pretty though.

07 Jan 2026 15:04:55
True SR. imagine we pull a Villa or RM result tomorrow night

It could happen you know!

07 Jan 2026 11:16:04
Liverpool spent a hell of a lot of money
But even with everyone fit it still looks weak
Especially defensively and we don't have any aggression, pace out wide, not winning tackles or headers and so many times highlights show how lazy the defence is by being pulled everywhere expecting midfield to do it instead of shifting across the back line (stopping goals like Wilson the other day) can't stop crosses and awful at defending set pieces and our press is weak

- the team still needs more investment but the biggest concern is either they don't like the manager or he doesn't do much of the above in training

Today is looks bleak cos Arsenal look hungry and lfc look like a wounded lion. why does this team look behind so fast after spending so much … worrying times.

07 Jan 2026 11:50:41
Because we have a gutless weak midfield and one decent centre back out of a squad of 25.

07 Jan 2026 12:20:30
We're as soft as diarrhoea in midfield and equally as bad in central defence, no real pace up top and we're predictable and one dimensional when we do attack.

{Ed025's Note - yeah but besides that.. :)

07 Jan 2026 12:37:41
Konate falling off a cliff and Grac being instructed to start getting forward all the time have had a big impact.

07 Jan 2026 13:12:23
It's just sad to see it's looks like such a mid managed set up that every fan who don't get paid that much would have done a better job at recruitment.

07 Jan 2026 13:14:16
Correct. Win the battle in midfield and you control the game!

07 Jan 2026 13:40:57
I remember struggling to believe what I was watching for the entirety of the 22/ 23 season.

The excuse from that season was that the midfield's legs had collectively gone.

There was also a suggestion that the preseason fitness and conditioning programme had been changed to accommodate the winter World Cup tournament.

The reality is, we never really got started that season and ended up outside of the Champions League places.

As for this season, I am not suggesting it is the same as 22/ 23, but I do worry that if we continue without backroom changes, we will drop out of the Champions League places again - which is more lucrative than it has ever been before and something our business model relies upon. I just don't believe it is a case of "waiting for it to click".

07 Jan 2026 18:58:47
@Pelican in the 22/ 23 season, Klopp (he said so) wanted to go all possession football which simply did not suit the players cos after the huge exertions of the Quad-chasing season, they wanted to allow the boys to feel their way thru the start of the season.

What they didn't realise was that as you said, the legs in midfield were gone and it showed. The whole team collapsed and the signings well, the less said the better cos by the next season ONLY Darwin was left and he just about was decent, nothing more. That terrible to the point that Klopp contemplated leaving and then, decided to give it one more go.

07 Jan 2026 10:17:07
Hey Ed001 would appreciate your input if possible. There seems to be a ground swell at the moment that Guehi will be off to man city, as they want him now, with their defensive Injuries.

I know he was virtually a done deal in the summer with us but do you expect him now to go to city or will he wait and see if we come back in for him?

Do you think it will be a missed opportunity if we don't land him or do we have definite targets outside of Guehi?

Thanks for your input as always.

{Ed001's Note - it will be a personal decision for the lad, so impossible to do any more than guess. He did give his word, but we are in a bit of a mess so I wouldn't be surprised if he backs out and goes there.}

07 Jan 2026 11:53:34
We need at least one CB and a hard, no-nonsense, defensive CM.

We need to fight for every 50/ 50 and not allow teams to believe they can walk through us unchallenged (which they are at the moment) .

Could be an embarrassing scoreline tonight. Wouldn't be surprised to see a record defeat.

07 Jan 2026 12:01:49
Are you sure we will lose tonight?! I guess we're that bad we lose a full day before playing.

07 Jan 2026 16:21:11
Some utter pedants on here today lol.

Will stop work and check the fixture list next time. Thursday night football? Are we that bad already?

07 Jan 2026 10:31:28
So our head physio has taken Hugo Ekiteke out of his fantasy football team. Strange way to find out he's not available tonight 😂.

07 Jan 2026 10:48:29
Good job it is tomorrow we play then isn't it Jimmy 😂

Sorry to be pedantic but if true. Absolutely far from ideal going into what is one of the biggest games of the season. Tomorrow.

07 Jan 2026 10:49:53
Hahaha classic!

07 Jan 2026 11:03:31
We don't play till tomorrow.

07 Jan 2026 11:32:16
He has missed training all week so I think he is unlikely to play - at least from the start.

07 Jan 2026 11:42:21
Apologies typo l was to say tomorrow night.

07 Jan 2026 09:49:57
Salahs goal against city after putting several defenders on their asses Alisions header Roberto goal against Manchester United 7-0 Nunez back heal against RM.

07 Jan 2026 10:21:03
Mané debut goal against Arsenal. VVD debut goal against Everton.

07 Jan 2026 11:02:23
The good old days. On match days I might avoid watching the current BS and just watch us in out pomp instead.

07 Jan 2026 09:44:11
It kindae got lost a little but further down the page there is a discussion with ed1 talking about the tolerance for Wirtz goal and him being offside.

I think we would all be furious if the goal was given against us. I agree he looked very much offside. I even agree with having a 50mm tolerance to give the benefit of the doubt to the attacker and promote more goals.

What I cannot understand is how this seems to be the first time it has been used in the four years since in was introduced.

07 Jan 2026 10:03:29
If there is a tolerance then surely it needs a linesman decision equivalent like Cricket?

I was always led to believe it was black and white. But one thing football was lacking is officiating grey areas so it's great to see one added to the game.

07 Jan 2026 10:07:22
Definitely looked offside to me.

07 Jan 2026 10:07:51
Can't help but feel the technology failed and rather than admit that they just all pretended it was onside and everyone's eyes don't work.
VAR continues to be both sucking any fun out of the game and a complete joke at the same time.

07 Jan 2026 10:08:29
My guide dog says it was never a goal in a million years,

07 Jan 2026 10:13:20
KD7, I knew about this feature a couple of years back but simply did not know what distances they were using.

As a result, I don't think it is the first time it is being used. I think it was already being used prior esp. since all the clubs knew about it and approved of it.

The fact that us fans are hearing about it fully for the first time does not mean it wasn't being used esp. with the semi AI offside system being used now, which incorporates this feature. Just my opinion.

07 Jan 2026 10:45:03
At least 4 inches off, absolutely no doubt. If that goal was given against us I'd be furious.

07 Jan 2026 11:05:23
This goal was discussed by Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd on referee watch. The guidelines have been in place for I think for 4 years. If I remember correctly there is also a tolerance as to the exact time of the pass.

as we never see the pass just the players position. Also this is not the first time the rule has been implemented.
Another thought we tend to use the lines in the turf as an indicator, but how accurate are they.

07 Jan 2026 11:13:57
Well either the lines on the pitch were off or the technology was off because it looked clearly offside if you go by the lines on the pitch.

I've often thought this though, we tend to judge offsides by the cut of the grass as we assume this is perfectly parallel to the goal line. But what if the groundsman has made an error and his lines are slightly off? I know Ed1 has said the tolerances of the lawn mowing is less than the tolerances of the technology but what if the bloke mowing the grass has simply made a small error? I have seen a picture (not sure if it was doctored) that shows the cut of the grass is not perfectly parallel to the 6 yard line suggesting that Wirtz was at least level.

I thought Fulham's first goal looked extremely tight too using the lines on the pitch but the technology had him clearly onside.

I do agree though if that goal had gone against us we'd all be fuming but wasn't there one with Haaland a few weeks ago where the technology showed his foot in the air and onside but the still pictures showed has foot was planted and offside?

The semi automated offside is obviously not fool proof which is a shame given there's a load of fools operating it.

{Ed001's Note - they said it was offside but within tolerance. Personally I think they should go with the decision on the pitch if they are not sure. I know that would have ruled it offside, but they have said they think it was off too but just not by enough to be sure of the tech.}

07 Jan 2026 11:25:34
I actually don't mind it being given and wouldn't if it was the other way around, I think there should be a tolerance and the benefit of the doubt given to the attacker, more goal in games is a good thing.

What I do care about is the inconsistency, I have never heard of this tolerance before and we fully know that other goals of the same amount will be given offside in other games.

07 Jan 2026 11:29:47
For those of us who remember Diaz disallowed goal against Spurs, VAR mistakes are just part of the game now.

You win some, you lose some.

They should be using AI and VAR should only be used by manager appeals looking for specific errors.
Everything else should be as per on the field.

07 Jan 2026 11:42:20
I have never understood the idea of tolerance on what should be black and white decisions. All you are ever doing is moving the point of offside but you will still have marginal contentious decisions regardless.

Like all the people who say ah it was only his toe that was off so we should allow for that, okay so we move the line and then next ah we'll it is only part of his metatarsal that is over the line that should be given. It would just repeat over and over.

I am still with others that looks plain as day offside but it is close and in fairness the offside part of VAR has been 99+% accurate apart from the couple of obvious noteworthy blunders. I don't think it is anywhere near the biggest problem in football currently from a refereeing or rules stand point.

07 Jan 2026 11:57:34
We should not compare the accuracy of a line drawn by a man pushing a lawnmower versus a line drawn by a person computer using a grid. It should be a no brainer.

Unfortunately, the persons using VAR draw lines akin to Mr Messy.

{Ed001's Note - you do realise they don't mow like that any more? They have GPS steering the mower, so it should be accurate within millimetres.}

07 Jan 2026 12:17:23
Ed, they should have simply said it was offside based on the feature in place and moved on rather than with the way you said they described it. Just causes too much chaos and loose ends, IMO.

07 Jan 2026 12:46:52
I think they should just scrap var altogether, its ruining the game.

07 Jan 2026 15:17:44
Yes VAR shld be scrapped.

It just feels like it is fueling corruption, with PGMOL coming out with new terms to justify the shocking decisions week after week.

The old offside system, at least they still shows the process of drawing lines. Although where they draw the lines is debatable. Armpit offside, toenail offside canes to mind.

But now they do not even show you the lines. The 3D images shown, they can just conveniently show us what they want us to see.

My personal opinion but I believe there is definitely some form of corruption in the game.

07 Jan 2026 16:17:03
The var for Wirtz goal shows a line but it does not show when the ball left Jones boot the var is when the ball reaches Wirtz . and the ball has traveled several feet . You are not offside until the ball leaves the players boot! YNWA.

07 Jan 2026 09:37:28
I know it would never happen Ed001 but would you take Guardiola at Liverpool?

{Ed001's Note - yes.}

07 Jan 2026 10:42:35
Interesting. I was actually expecting a NO from you Ed1 concerning taking Guardiola.

I guess since we are spending big now, he fits the bill.

07 Jan 2026 11:31:28
People who say they would take him would be lying.

07 Jan 2026 11:32:37
Who wouldn't take him?
He's a serial winner.