Liverpool banter 10

09 Mar 2026 09:01:58
Scary scenes from Ibrox yesterday. Bans and severe punishment a must!

09 Mar 2026 09:44:21
The sad thing for me was the fact that many of the fans who made it onto the pitch were wearing masks. Clearly, they had gone to the game hoping or planning for some kind of trouble.

09 Mar 2026 09:46:44
Absolutely. Let's see how the authorities react to that.

09 Mar 2026 05:26:48.
I see Stephen Warnock is in the tabloids again with some nonsense claims about Houlier being 'jealous' of him and blocking his transfer back to Liverpool from Aston Villa. What is it with this guy, zero class. I wish some former players didn't have a platform in the press!

09 Mar 2026 05:48:07
Obviously still very bitter about being omitted from the 2005 CL final squad, thus missing out on his win bonus. 🙄

09 Mar 2026 06:51:29
I'm sure there's plenty of adjectives Houlier would or could have used to describe his feelings towards Warnock, but 'jealous' wouldn't be on that list.

09 Mar 2026 10:05:47
The guy seems to like the sound of his own voice in the media these days.

His co-commentary in the Wolves FA Cup game was a bit clueless at times, imo.

09 Mar 2026 12:09:38
Why does any broadcaster think that anyone apart from Stephen Warnock cares about what Stephen Warnock thinks?

09 Mar 2026 02:18:19
Hi edd 001, maybe it has been done previously.
Would you be able to give a little memory jog on ian rush? I ask as i was just a little young for him but know he was one of the most prolific of his time, but i never hear his name talked about in detail like a lot of others, which i find strange given his numbers.

Was he different gravy or just very good, it doesn't seem he's beloved. wanted to ask this for a long time, thanks in advance.

{Ed001's Note - different gravy mate, he was a fantastic goal scorer and the team's first line of defence. I have no idea why he gets a bit forgotten, he deserves better.}

09 Mar 2026 06:57:50
Agreed ed001 especially when the bitters binned him off as a youngster and he made it his mission to make them pay! Boy didn't he just!

09 Mar 2026 08:38:47
Ian Rush was absolutely fantastic, not only a record goalscorer but a workhorse as well. Never let the defenders rest. I remember a game he played against Terry Butcher, who was a great defender. He had him up the wall. I think Butcher wrote about it in his book.

09 Mar 2026 09:06:47
The number 1 Liverpool number 9. Zero debate. His goals total for the club will never be repeated.

09 Mar 2026 10:00:55
Rushie was an absolute machine! Could run and chase for two games at a time.

09 Mar 2026 10:09:44
Ian Rush was levels, man. Absolute levels. As for him making the Toffees miserable as his personal mission in life, Big Divock prolly did the same thing after Funes Mori's disgraceful behaviour following that horrendous tackle.

09 Mar 2026 10:25:30
At his peak, Rushie was the best British striker I have ever seen - bar none.

09 Mar 2026 11:30:31
He had an impressive moustache too!

09 Mar 2026 14:20:06
I went to watch his first game for Liverpool reserves at Anfield and said that this fella will be a great player.
I have said the same thing about Hugo Ekitike.

09 Mar 2026 13:55:02
I remember being at the 89 FA cup final. Rush came on as a sub. Everyone knew what was going to happen next. Sorry ED25.

09 Mar 2026 15:05:51
Never seen a cf close down players as much as Rush did, especially in those days. Some player.

09 Mar 2026 15:46:23
The nearest to Ian Rush i would say is Harry kane but Rush was 3 levels up on Kane.

Rush would stroke the ball in to the net and when he missed a chance to score it was a talking point.

To Sum Ian Rush up, he is up there with the very very best and very little injuries.

In short world class goal scorer and much more.

08 Mar 2026 21:18:44
Ed001 have you done a player profile Maradona if not can you add it please.

Also ed001 and everyone else who's your Mount Rushmore of players in your lifetime.
Maradona
R9
Zidane
Messi.

{Ed001's Note - I have added him to the list. Zidane and Messi would be nowhere near it for me. Messi has the best publicity machine of all time, but he is nowhere near a goat. No player who vanished in every big game can be considered among the greatest.

Maradona.
Pele.
The Real Ronaldo.
The King Kenny Dalglish has to be there for all he has done.
Cruyff.}

09 Mar 2026 07:48:21
Just curious, Ed1, when asking about the Mount Rushmore of players in our lifetime, most people usually name attackers. Defenders or goalkeepers rarely make the list, no matter how good they are.

If you were to do the same for defenders and goalkeepers, who would be on your list? And would any of them come anywhere close to making the Mount Rushmore list you mentioned in the original post?

{Ed001's Note - sadly people only really see skill when it is obvious, when it beats a man or puts the ball into the net. Often when a defender does well it goes unseen - positioning is the most important thing but fans and pundits rave only about last ditch tackles, which are something the best defenders rarely made. Flashy saves like Pickford makes are the same, they are usually bad saves made to look special as he is out of position and forced to go full stretch. Whereas a good keeper (like a defender) makes it all look easy, so they don't get the hype.

Defenders would be:
Hansen
Maldini
Baresi
Thuram (Lillian)
Desailly

Goalkeepers would be:
Alisson with long hair
Alisson with short hair
Alisson with a beard
Alisson without a beard
Alisson with medium length hair.}

09 Mar 2026 07:54:12
Yeah with me not watching Pele Cruyff Ed did not want to add them but yeah if I did I would probably put Pele 1 3 world cups and kicked out of the one win won so would it have been 4. Would love to have seen Messi and Ronaldo deal with that kind it treatment.

{Ed001's Note - I can't have Messi as a world great - without favourable refereeing and cheating, he struggled throughout his career. I am sure if he had not had the favourable refereeing and cheating in his favour that he would have developed into a great player and coped with it, but he never experienced it, so he struggled when it happened. It is a shame as his legacy is always going to be extremely questionable. Let's be honest, he should never have even been allowed to play professional football in the first place after the growth hormones, so you have to question him.

Cristiano was a great player, without doubt one of the greatest individual players, but he was not enough of a team player in a team sport to be ranked in the top echelon imo.}

09 Mar 2026 07:58:08
I'm similar Ed but I've got Bestie in there in place of Kenny!
Sorry!

Hope all is well mate

{Ed001's Note - I never saw Best play at any kind of top level, so simply can't include him sadly. I did see him many times away from the pitch performing at a top level though!}

09 Mar 2026 08:53:11
I love all the defenders that you listed, ed, and have Milan jerseys with Desailly, Maldini, Baresi and Costacurta printed on them (despite never being a Milan 'fan' so to speak), but I honestly do feel like Virgil belongs up there with the very best I have ever seen in his pomp. Opposition fans love to go on and on about how we overrate Virgil as a fanbase but at his best he was a one man defense who seemed like he could cover an entire half on his own (with Ali of course) without ever getting caught out of position, getting beat for pace or going to ground, plus he had every kind of pass in his locker as well.

09 Mar 2026 10:37:31
Virgil was, in 2019-20, probably the best centre back I've seen. And I saw all the 90s greats in the flesh in Italy. Baresi, Nesta and Thuram were my favourites.

09 Mar 2026 10:21:31
Ed, I must say. I love the Allison part of your comment and I agree. Ali is one of the greatest GK's to ever do it, IMO. For me, he is the best the PL has ever had. Why? because he could play in any era. The others couldn't play in this modern era. Just my take.

As for others you could add, I would place the great Marco Van Basten. He was my idol at CF. Up until that baby-face alien life form that originally landed undetected in Brazil, appeared out of nowhere in "O Fenomeno" Ronaldo.

As for Messi and CR7, they can kick rocks. Personally, I always thought Iniesta was better than Messi as a footballer while He will never be better than Diego for Argentina. Same goes for CR7. There is NO way on this earth that CR7 is a better player than Figo, Rui Costa, Paulo Futre and obviously, the original "Black Panther" Eusebio.

09 Mar 2026 10:23:34
The Alisson list made me laugh Ed. Definitely our best but special mention to Clemence who was outstanding.
Hard to argue with your defensive choices. Loved Baresi especially. Always loooked like he'd just gotten out of bed, but what a player.
I remember we were linked with Desailly back in the Roy Evans era, before he went to Chelsea.

09 Mar 2026 10:28:52
You missed out Alisson with the Magnum style moustache, Ed.

{Ed001's Note - dammit I knew there was one I missed.}

09 Mar 2026 12:05:29
He had the mustache for like 1 game, didn't he?!

As a Liverpool player... If your name isn't Rush, you don't grow one. You gotta be kinda special to pull off a moustache.

09 Mar 2026 11:32:20
Ed your are so right about positioning. As a kid I loved Hypia and it was because he always seemed be in the right place. Cara's game improved immensely playing alongside him.

09 Mar 2026 13:32:11
Figo and Rui Costa were brilliant players (Rui Costa could disappear in games, though) and Futre was a level below (I remember him being injured all the time), but surely Ronaldo is a level above any of them, Oli. I dislike Cristiano immensely, but his longevity and consistency has been quite ridiculous.

09 Mar 2026 13:57:16
Zidane is the best player I've seen imo.

09 Mar 2026 15:11:10
I would have Bestie in there on looks alone. Any wonder he had the problems he did. 💚

09 Mar 2026 12:39:18
Ed001 have you ever done a profile on Bobby Firmino? Would love to see one. Think he's still my favourite player from the last ten years. Was such a joy to just watch all game round.

{Ed001's Note - I don't remember, but I will add him to the list if not, I can do an updated one from what I saw of him this season.}

09 Mar 2026 17:38:41
Maradona was the best player I've ever seen. Got chopped in half by mad defenders and got up again and again. Scored some unbelievable goals, skilful, fast, strong as an ox and carried Napoli and Argentina to titles. The man was a genius. All these Messi/Ronaldo fans must be younger, because if you'd ever seen Maradona play, you'd know who was the GOAT.

08 Mar 2026 19:22:28
Hello ed1 hope u well. Hearing good reports on will wright, a lot of people think he can go far. Have u seen or heard anything yourself on him? Haven't seen anthing myself bar clips of some of his goals.

{Ed001's Note - heard a fair bit but not seen him yet.}

08 Mar 2026 20:26:57
Predictions for the next round of the FA Cup?

We'll most likely get Chelsea away whilst Arsenal will host Port Vale

City will get Leeds.

08 Mar 2026 22:05:27
I've a hunch for Chelsea away as well.

08 Mar 2026 22:09:16
Most likely? We have a 1/7 chance of getting Chelsea. Same as we do with Port Vale. Let me guess, they will heat the balls as they are absolutely determined that Arsenal will win it all this season.

08 Mar 2026 23:03:38
It's gonna be a big 6 candidate. You can just feel it.

08 Mar 2026 23:07:23
Southampton away for the Reds.
Arsenal will play Chelsea.
City will get Port Vale, and will still have 115 charges dangling in no man's land without a care in the world.

08 Mar 2026 23:57:08
Think JLC is spot on with Arsenal. It might have gone under the radar that the Gunners got Wigan then Mansfield. Football gods looking after them, so they will get Port Vale.
Liverpool to get Newcastle away, Chelsea to get Southampton, we don't want Chelsea having to travel too far, City to get Sunderland at home.
Oh, forgetting Leeds.

09 Mar 2026 00:26:51
If we get Newcastle away, is that the same as getting a bye, seeing as they're no longer in the competition?

09 Mar 2026 06:13:32
Sunderland are out, Kop That.

09 Mar 2026 09:01:26
No conspiracy - the Emirates FA Cup draw favouring Arsenal, who play at the Emirates Stadium.

Hmm?

09 Mar 2026 10:24:04
Kop That, many Arsenal fans used to berate and troll City fans for this exact same thing. Notice that now they ain't talking?

09 Mar 2026 12:06:34
Gonna say ....
Away to Southampton.

09 Mar 2026 14:14:06
Ha ha, sorry lads, I had a few drinks too much and got that a bit wrong.
Still, main thing is that Liverpool will get another Premiership team.
While City will get another easy game.
Arsenal will get another non Premiership team.
Oh, them Football Gods.

09 Mar 2026 14:46:01
The draw for the quarter-finals is on at 7:05 this evening before the game. Going to say, fingers crossed, but not sure if that will work tonight.

08 Mar 2026 19:45:41
Well even the Legends have had enough.

Jan Molby Liverpool legend reveals the hard truth about Arne Slot’s playing style as Liverpool Search for Tactical Identity.

08 Mar 2026 22:45:46
Well, I would listen to and trust Jan's point of view more than nearly every commenter on here, on account of his having played the game for us for years at top level. What has everyone on here done to get even within a hundred miles of that?

09 Mar 2026 06:44:33
There are quite a few who have played at the top level - even for us - whose opinion I don't trust:
Carragher & Hamann immediately spring to mind.
Then there's the likes of Gary Neville.

So I wouldn't say they know what they're talking about just because they've played the game at the highest level.

09 Mar 2026 09:05:37
They know what they're talking about if they say what you want to hear, are idiots if they disagree with you. 😆

09 Mar 2026 09:14:25
Carra and Didi don't get anywhere near Molby's 'top level', Ron, I'm sure you will agree!?! But you're on the money regarding them as pundits. They're horrendous. An immediate 'press mute' on the remote.

09 Mar 2026 10:39:07
22 goals from midfield in 1985-6 means Jan is way above Carra and Didi.

09 Mar 2026 12:15:17
Nice to see Jan taking some time out from the Greeters Guild.

08 Mar 2026 15:41:10
I might be wrong, but I think we have changed our wage structure, which means some form of investment is coming in. Again, it's just me putting things together cuz I can't see it any other way.


It's good though; if we want to remain competitive, we need to offer top salaries. It's just that we need to make sure we give them to deserving players like Szobo this year.

08 Mar 2026 16:37:44
I agree with your last part, hence why I don't like the extension to Grav for the salary quoted (if true), because he is a great 6, but he hasn't been playing like that this season, nor do we know under which tactics he is going to play next season, so I feel we are paying too much in a framework of too much uncertainty. With Szobo, that uncertainty is less, hence why I wouldn't oppose a contract similar to what Grav supposedly signed.

Now, regarding investment, I fail to see the relation. FFP measures how much a team can spend (includes wages) within the club's resources.

We can be backed by the richest families and it wouldn't matter, because what is important is what the club produces on its own (revenues, player sales, some accounting shenanigans, etc.), not by funding. So, unless the investment is to increase the capacity of the stadium, for which I don't know if they have approved plans, I fail to see how more investment is going to help. Mind you, I think when you said investment you were talking about getting more investment into the club and not player investment.

08 Mar 2026 17:09:48
Maybe the women's team will be sold to the Boston Red Sox for a few billion.

08 Mar 2026 17:14:40
I don't think investment is coming in that regard from outside sources. The club are probs going to lose Mo, Mac, Ibou, Fede in wages at the end of the season, 770k in a week. If the likes of Grav and Szobo get 100k rises to 250k, it makes sense financially.

They are more important to the team than Mac and Salah right now and for the future. Now, personally, I would like Ibou to sign again, but it is what it is.

08 Mar 2026 18:13:09
When investment comes in via deals, it's money coming into the books and, hence, counted as income.
Yea, I don't like dishing out big contracts to players, but it's better than losing them for free or next to nothing.
I just want us to have certain players get those deals, and not every Tom, Dick and Harry on 250k++.

08 Mar 2026 06:44:06
Hi all and eds hope you are well. I'm struggling to understand why we are so sluggish starting games, we don't seem to turn up till the second half? Now it's seems like the the players are being asked to play it slow, conserve energy and then go for it in the second half.

It's strange. I'm not saying they are being told that, it just seems it with the way we are playing.

08 Mar 2026 10:04:26
Heard an interesting take on it the other day. It questioned why Slot is setting the team up to play so slowly. If he isn’t, then it means the players are going against his wishes, and are choosing to play this way despite him, which would make it even worse.

08 Mar 2026 10:09:45
The style of play we've adopted over the last year has just flattened everything.

The players can't be enjoying this kind of football. Most Liverpool fans give up in November. The club didn't sign any players in January, or change the manager, so that's (sort of) an indication of their ambitions this season.



It's basically a lost season. It seems like the season has been written off, in my opinion, and next season we'll see the excitement come back, and, hopefully, like you say, start the games better too.

08 Mar 2026 10:36:13
It's the system Slot tried to develop to prevent injuries because he felt, for some reason, he didn't have enough depth and energy in the squad to last a whole season. So he decided to train slow/less, start games slow, score a couple of goals, and kill the game at a pedestrian speed.
It kind of worked in the first 6 games of the season when teams were slow and getting back into the groove, to give Slot a false sense of security and belief, and then fell flat on its head because this is not the Eredivisie. Unfortunately, despite his players' disagreement, Slot never moved on from it, and it kept getting worse and worse to the point where now players are getting more injured than in the past.


Slot realised it, but decided to blame everything from ball boys to the cow that gives the milk at AXA. It was then too late to make changes. Now he accepts his mistake, but his team can't start hard as they don't have the legs, as they never trained.

It has a flipside though. It helps us in the CL if teams are cautious against us and slow, but we've not been good against smaller teams (Gala and PSV) that are not into mind games and just come to play okay football.
Ironically, we drew Gala in the round of 16.

08 Mar 2026 11:01:28
It's an intentional tactic: we start the games slow and then build up pace in the second half. Same as we started the season, slow and build up the pace in the second half. This way we get very few injuries.
Except for Allisson. And Gomez. And Bradley. And Leoni, Isak, Endo, Konate, Wirtz, Chiesa and Jaros.
Apart from them.

08 Mar 2026 11:34:44
Another day, another whinge about Slot.

08 Mar 2026 12:00:46
Maybe Wdw... just maybe.

People aren't happy with this season, how it's gone, the football, the atmosphere, the players... Everything positive that they have been used to for the best part of a decade is being swept away in front of their eyes over the course of a calendar year.

And, this platform gives them a chance to air their opinions, maybe share a conversation with like-minded supporters...



Maybe they are driven by the fear that our much loved club is blindly heading back to the 90s/00s era, where we could look forward to a title chance every 5 years and it would be gone by December.

After all, we all want the same thing, don't we?

08 Mar 2026 12:07:50
Hi WdW, this wasn't me having a moan about Slot, mate. Just trying to work out what is going on with us this season.

08 Mar 2026 12:28:23
Slot was asked this last week and he said he doesn't ask them to play that slowly. Read into that however you like.

If you spent 80% of first halves using a press-baiting tactic, you end up with standing/walking football if the opposition doesn't take the bait.

The players are so worried about losing the ball and getting countered on that they default to slow and safe telegraphed passes. The concept of counterpress is now alien to this team and squad of players.

08 Mar 2026 12:55:28
The team won the other night. That keeps me happy until the next matchday. Enough time for negativity when we actually lose a match.

08 Mar 2026 13:26:59
Florian arriving at the back post to tell everyone how to feel about the s***show of a season.

08 Mar 2026 13:44:14
@Pelican, that was hilarious, I must say. For me, I'm over this whole thing with the tactics, Slot, etc., for the most part. No point questioning the tactics cos Slot will say whatever suits him in the moment, depending on the framing of the question.



Just watching the season play out, and hope the team can get some good stuff out of an essentially lost season, as someone already said.

08 Mar 2026 13:55:06
I simply said what keeps me happy, Fly. Couldn't give a toss how you lot want to feel. I get the impression that very little in life makes some of you happy anyway.

08 Mar 2026 22:47:05
Most Liverpool fans gave up in November, did they? Well, they must be the absolute best fans out there then. Ffs, what kind of people are you?

08 Mar 2026 23:17:08
I can't be doing with the doomsday merchants. People don't half exaggerate.

Yes, it's a poor season but there are reasons behind it. Reasons which you obviously don't understand or choose to ignore. This isn't Liverpool drifting into obscurity or ruining everything Klopp built, blah, blah, blah.

Bad seasons happen for a variety of reasons, we'll be just fine.

09 Mar 2026 00:01:01
Sure, we will be fine. Football on a Thursday night is still a midweek match.