Liverpool banter 10

22 Jul 2026 12:45:29
Robbo and Carra etc.
Is the club not prioritizing or seeking at least one top midfielder to go straight into that midfield?!
Sobs carrying grab and especially Macca.

22 Jul 2026 14:01:20
That midfield won the PL just over 12 months ago and then we signed Wirtz.

Whilst I would love another top quality DM and would happily upgrade Macca, I do think that last season's problems were primarily because of tactics and setup rather than the quality of the players.



A right winger has to be the priority as we needed one of them before we let Mo go.

22 Jul 2026 14:03:48
@Ron, you need to send an email to Hughes and A.I asking them what their plans are.

22 Jul 2026 14:04:25
Would love Guimaraes but looks like he's bound for Arsenal.

22 Jul 2026 14:22:47
I prefer Joelingtin.

22 Jul 2026 16:44:49
I think prioritising the forward line, which was gutted last window, is the right thing to do. We also really could do with moving on some players we don't want.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see Macca leave and a more defensive midfielder arrive. Would leave us with 4 senior options (Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Jones, +1) for the 2 positions, plus we have Nyoni and McConnell who we need to give minutes to.

I would be fine with that, but I think the club will prioritise that above forwards unless they receive a good offer for Macca.

On the forward front, I'm slightly underwhelmed by Akliouche, as I don't think he has what we're lacking. I could be wrong. I hope Iraola is being well consulted on what profiles he needs on the wings. If he wants Akliouche then I'm fully behind it.

22 Jul 2026 12:43:33
I sighed when I heard Iriola wants Macca to stay and stating we're light at cb/RB. We have Virg, Gomez, Leioni (Italian kid) and the newcomer Jaquet. I can understand a versatile cb/RB option but we do not need two players. Move Gomez on then if you're getting another cb. Ridiculous though he's a great guy having him and he's never available.


I thought our priority would be midfield. We've got ran through and were weak there. Macca was slow and appalling in the final. The same Liverpool Macca, slow on the ball, dithering then losing possession.
You can forget about competing for anything next season if we put the same midfield as last. We need two top midfielders.

22 Jul 2026 13:57:11
I think most of the issues from last season defensively were structural and I’m hoping Iraola will fix them by fixing our pressing.
The same midfield we had last season, we had the season before when we won the league.

22 Jul 2026 14:01:30
Crazy how a coach as good as Iraola is, he seems to be defending Macca and wanting to use him. Unless he's lying.

22 Jul 2026 14:02:44
Why would Iriola tell the press we want rid of Macca? Keeping his cards close to his chest. Pretty sure the club will be looking to move Macca on and bring in a more mobile talent.

22 Jul 2026 14:05:12
@Ron, It seems that your thought might have been at odds with what the club are thinking.

22 Jul 2026 14:05:49
Italian kid is coming back off a serious ACL tear and won't be available for the start of the season; he'll need his minutes managed on return, and we don't know how long it might take him to find form if everything does go well. Jacqut, too, is coming back from 4 months off with a shoulder injury, less concerning for sure, but still has to be taken into consideration. Gomez spends more time on the physio table than the pitch.

We could definitely do with a reliable senior CB.

Same goes for RB, both of which are coming back from missing half a season due to injury, Bradley, with serious knee damage, won't be available for the start of the season and Frimpng with repeat hamstring issues that are more than likely to flare up again. If we don't do something about it now we'll be looking for 2x new RB's next Summer.

22 Jul 2026 14:19:19
I thought Macca had a good World Cup, and was a good player pre Slot. I would give him until Jan before thinking of getting rid.

22 Jul 2026 14:42:29
Agree, apart from final, had a very good World Cup, and covered most ground. Had a bad year last year, as did most teams, think with tactical changes he improves massively next season.

22 Jul 2026 14:51:18
Macca was a victim of Slot messing the midfield up by allowing Grav to go further forward and leaving Macca isolated. We know he doesn't have great pace, and clearly wasn't 100% fit for part of the season, so even more reason not to make the changes that were made.

22 Jul 2026 15:01:47
Macca is so slow and immobile, even in the World Cup, he's just not suited to a dynamic style of play. Argentina were ponderous, hardly created any chances, and stifled the opposition with the dark arts and breaking the flow. That's not what we need, surely.

22 Jul 2026 15:13:48
We don't need 2? VVD is 35 and is declining. Leoni had a season out injured, and still is. JJ also had half a season out, new to the league, both inexperienced. Joe Gomes is almost always injured. Bradley is months away, and again another bad injury. We need 2 or 3 tbh.

22 Jul 2026 18:49:00
What do you want Doni to say? That Macca is crap and he will get shot of him even if he thinks so? Seriously, when has a manager ever said something like that to a player they don't even rate? People need to wake up and stop hanging on to every word a manager says.

At the end of the day, we will see what happens with Macca under Doni.

Doni may actually like him and have an idea how to use him. Or he may not rate him and would like to get rid but prolly feels he can't do that this season and will hence make do. Again, no one knows. We are gonna have to wait and see, as said above.

22 Jul 2026 20:14:11
"Iraola wants rid of Macca"
You're never going to see a headline like that.

22 Jul 2026 12:26:03
So Fabhino has been let go by his Saudi club.

Might just be that the Fabhino replacement we needed was Fabhino all along.

22 Jul 2026 14:01:36
Fabinho was knackered when we sold him. Not sure he'd be up for regular PL footie again. Unless we brought him back as a rotation option. But I imagine his wage demands would be a bit much for that.

22 Jul 2026 15:02:28
Fabinho was great when he could get about the pitch a bit. His legs had gone, that's why we sold him.

22 Jul 2026 15:24:51
If anyone watched the World Cup and Brazil, you can see Fabinho is toast.

22 Jul 2026 18:58:33
If Fab's legs were gone 3 years ago, why would they have suddenly come back stronger after he got let go by the Saudis?

22 Jul 2026 12:07:47
Statement from the AI in Chicago.
“You have to be always open to new options to improve the squad. There are obvious situations that we know where we need to sign players. A winger, for example – we definitely need to sign a winger.

“There are other situations that we will have to analyse what the market gives you, what’s the cost, how we also see the players we have.

We have some tricky positions where we have injured players that we trust but is still not the ideal situation, so it will depend on a lot of things.”
Wonder is the second position a RB due to Conor's injury record or a forward with Eki out and Isak's injury record?

22 Jul 2026 14:10:36
I can see Gakpo filling in up top rather than splashing out for temporary cover players. AI hasn't hardly worked or seen the existing squad yet. I imagine any meaningful changes will happen in January or even next summer.

22 Jul 2026 18:59:21
I don't pay too much attention to what managers say for the most part. This is one of those parts.

22 Jul 2026 11:48:06
We were once linked to Ousmane Diomande. He's off to Forest for under £40m. Surely we should hijack that deal if possible.

22 Jul 2026 14:08:14
@Kloppiche, why should we want to hijack the deal? If the club have had a look at the lad and decided not to make an offer, that should tell you something.

22 Jul 2026 15:51:33
He's quality and under £35m. Like Munoz swoop in, we need a CB.

22 Jul 2026 19:00:05
Kloppiche, you know we can't sign everyone, right?

22 Jul 2026 11:55:55
Edd 001

Are we nearly there yet?

Are we nearly there yet?


Can we get a Mc Donald's??

{Ed001's Note - nearly.}

22 Jul 2026 14:26:53
*Other unhealthy greasy burgers are available.

22 Jul 2026 11:15:57
Chelsea have a £65m bid for Alex Scott rejected.

22 Jul 2026 11:55:44
A good player, but don't see where he slots in for Liverpool without being an expensive bench option.

Need someone with bite. A younger Endo would do in all honesty.

22 Jul 2026 11:56:45
Love Scott, good player.

22 Jul 2026 12:43:52
He's better than Macca!

22 Jul 2026 19:00:36
He is not what we need. Not arsed.

22 Jul 2026 10:54:14
On again, off again, on again, off again. The Diomande transfer is beginning to look like the relationship of Ross and Rachel from Friends.

Hope it gets sorted out soon one way or the other.

22 Jul 2026 11:31:31
I personally think the energy is wasted where a right back, another forward, a dm, a cb could be a better use of their time.

22 Jul 2026 11:46:05
"We were on a break!!!!"

22 Jul 2026 11:58:32
He looks a good player, but I do worry that even if he does sign, his agents will be ready to hawk him elsewhere soon after.

Would be good if we can sign the lad with some agreement that he drops his agency.

22 Jul 2026 12:12:24
We just won't Pivaaaaaaaaaaat away, it seems.

22 Jul 2026 13:29:43
Good one, FPF. Great episode. A lot of folk won't have the faintest idea what we're talking about! Beats talking about football, which I've never been keen on.

22 Jul 2026 15:03:34
Personally, I hope we don't sign him, if he is successful at Anfield, we'll probably get 2/3 years max out of him before he jumps ship. And if he's not, it will be an expensive mistake. I'd rather get a cheaper workhorse who can provide quality service to Isak whilst we develop Josh Abe, who will be looking to break into the squad over the next 12 months.

Sure, making him our go to is still a couple of years off, but a right footed winger to focus on excellent delivery for our 'very much in need of some assistance star striker' might be easier to find than a 'Salah replacement', could be the smarter option too.

(Yes, I know Diomande's right footd.)

22 Jul 2026 16:19:01
If he's successful after being signed for £100m then let's face it there's only two or three clubs on the planet that could realistically try to take him away. And if them clubs are willing to pay us double what we paid for him I would be ok with that.

I'd gladly enjoy the 2 or 3 great years and then let him fund our summer window in a few years time.

22 Jul 2026 10:39:36.
Watching Souness commenting on Rice, saying he is not a world class centre midfielder because he runs too much with the ball. Thinks instead he should take at most 2 touches and then progress the ball.

Have to say when I coach I prefer my cm to release it quickly to open up the play. But then again I’m nowhere near Arteta's level.

Still goes to show why footy is so good - so many different ways to play the game.

22 Jul 2026 11:33:43
I like listening to Souness and he does come out with good stuff.

My favourite from that specific interview was where he described what is wrong with modern football.

He states, back in the good old days, the forwards and mavericks used to have the most touches of the ball, and now centre forwards are getting less than 20 touches a game, and the players with the most touches are centre halves.

22 Jul 2026 12:11:21
I've never understood the love for Rice.
He reminds me of a poor version of Henderson.
Even if he does take only 2 touches, he still takes too long to move the ball, and 90% of the time it's a sideways pass.
Henderson was a fantastic captain, but was also limited on the ball, but head and shoulders above Rice.


Both worked really hard, but for some strange reason, Rice seems to get so much more praise than Henderson ever did by the media.

22 Jul 2026 12:28:20
I don't think Rice is a bad player, but he's nowhere near the level the media like to gas him up to be... Difficult to say how much is down to his ability or Arteta's negative tactics, though.



I don't think he is disciplined enough or a good enough tackler to be a 6, and he doesn't have the vision or passing range/quality to be a world class 8... Hendo clears him atm, but he's still young.

22 Jul 2026 12:39:20
I posed this question recently. Comparing him with a peak Henderson. Rice is excellent at his best. He's a level below "world class".

22 Jul 2026 13:00:11
There's nowt wrong with constructive criticism from Souness.
Souness was better than Rice, but Rice is better than Henderson.

22 Jul 2026 13:34:26
Souness is right, Rice isn't World Class, not in my book anyway. Very good player, no doubt about it. He's overrated by the gooners, in my opinion, but look, I'm sure they feel the same way about us and Henderson.

What Henderson may have lacked in ability, he more than made up for with his leadership. I'm not seeing that with Rice at the moment; maybe that will change with time and experience.

22 Jul 2026 14:04:07
Rice and Henderson both have the same amount of PL medals, and both equally failed to rally England enough over the line in regards to leadership.

I suppose the only people who could answer the question of who is a better leader are the ones who have played with both.

22 Jul 2026 14:16:39
Sadly for me, Souness' opinions are tainted by the lacklustre job he did managing us.

22 Jul 2026 14:56:14
Souness managed us in a very difficult period for a lot of reasons.