Liverpool rumours 2

22 Apr 2024 16:14:11
Hi Ed002,

A lot of talk about managers and player management, but who would be your choice for LFC manager next season, and based on that, what tactics would you employ, and based on that, what transfer business would you do (including outs)?

Cheers; sorry for the long question - just always interested in your opinion and insight!

{Ed002's Note - Arne Slot would be a good fit and is a very good coach and from the start he has looked a very good option.}

22 Apr 2024 17:20:54
I know it will never happen but would give Bielsa a one year deal. Love to see what he'd do with our younger players and seems to get the best out of Nunez.

22 Apr 2024 17:59:31
Purely twitter speculation based off him being in the crowd at our last game Ed002, but don’t suppose there is any chance of it being Mourinho?

{Ed002's Note - Always a chance but I rather doubt it.}

22 Apr 2024 20:30:38
I don’t think even Mourinho is so egotistical so as to not realise that he’d be as welcome as a fart in a crowded lift here. Surely even he gets we dislike him immensely. You don’t get to manage that lot at old toilet and turn up here for a pay day.

22 Apr 2024 18:05:04
Ed002 - grateful of any insight you can give as you’ve said since the get go regarding Slot being a good option. What would we be expecting in terms of tactical set up and is he very much focused on coaching rather than the whole set up with transfers etc. Ten Haag was the best thing to come out of the Dutch league not long back and it’s not exactly worked out for him at United so it’s a little worrying.

{Ed002's Note - Slot id perhaps not too dissimilar to Kloppp with the fast forward and press tactics. To me a good option, but we will see.}

22 Apr 2024 15:22:40
Hi Eds

So I'm seeing Ornstein is posting that Amorim is in talks with west ham and isn't likely to make our short list? . any updates on this please

This is becoming intolerable . I wish I didn't start following the new manager search and just waited to the end of the season!

Cheers.

{Ed002's Note - West Ham have spoken with his agent but it strikes me as an umlikely move.}

22 Apr 2024 18:08:02
I wonder if Smough has any leads on who our new manager might be.

22 Apr 2024 15:17:41
Over on the old internet it’s being said Liverpool are no longer in for Amorim and West Ham want him. Who therefore are we goi g for Ed’s?

{Ed002's Note - Ruben Amorim will still be first choice but the club and his agents could not come to any understanding. Kovac representatives have spoken with Liverpool. }

22 Apr 2024 16:59:49
I hope that was a short conversation with Kovac’s agent. His time at Wolfsburg was a disaster and he fell out with almost the entire squad. Not someone suitable for the job.

22 Apr 2024 17:17:21
Hi Ed 2

What kinds of things would they potentially disagree on? Is it transfers or salary etc?

{Ed002's Note - Typically responsibilities - salary won’t be a problem but Klopp still being involved in the transfer decisions might be - not for the first time.}

22 Apr 2024 17:35:47
Is there any new names that the club is considering? Other than the usual Amorim, De Zerbi or this Kovac guy. It doesn't look good if you're messing around with your preferred choice.

22 Apr 2024 18:03:56
It would suck not to get Amorim in my view. Prefer him personally to Arne Slot.

But the proof will be in the pudding. Just hope the club gets it right.

22 Apr 2024 18:17:34
Ed, can you expand on Klopp's continued involvement with transfers as a lame duck manager. Not surprising to hear this.

{Ed002's Note - The targets are Hunter, Klopp and Fallows targets.}

22 Apr 2024 18:26:16
Ed2. I am trying to understand this. I have previously asked why Klopp still has involvement in future transfer decisions, despite being on the way out. You informed me it’s because his opinion is valued. But, if we really wanted Amorim or another manager for that matter and this is causing problems in appointing them - then I’m scratching my head as to why Edwards and Hughes would allow that to continue. Wouldn’t common sense mean they would put a stop to that completely? I mean, great manager and legend he is, that is not in doubt. But talent spotting has reportedly never been his strong point. If I’m missing something here let me know because to me, it doesn’t make sense.

{Ed002's Note - Edwards and to a lesser extent Hughes do not pick the players. Hunter and Fallows do.}

22 Apr 2024 23:44:55
Isn’t Hughes employed by Bournemouth still?

{Ed002's Note - Yes, see above.}

23 Apr 2024 03:54:05
Ed2,do you reckon a compromise can be reach between Liv and Amorim? Or has that ship sail? Doesn't like it if we were messing with our preferred choice.

{Ed002's Note - Ruben Amorim (C) Manchester United may still offer an option - another option will be Liverpool, but he knows he was not first choice - but I think they will still move for him with Alonso not interested and I think he would be a good choice and a good fit, but persuading him to leave Sporting may be difficult. I understand that there was no clear understanding between the club and his agent regarding the scope of his responsibilities and Liverpool will need to be flexible. Do not rule out Barcelona but Deco has a preferred option whilst the board want to persuade Xavi to stay or to move quicky for Amorim. If needs force the situation and given the likely link between the club and Sporting, Chelsea may start pushing having spoken with Amorim before. West Ham spoke with his agent and Sporting to allow them to talk directly to Amorim, but it would seem an unlikely move for me and probably not one he would be keen on. They have a project to sell but will likely need to revert to the other potential replacements for Moyes that they have identified. Newcastle may offer a wildcard option and will pay the termination clause and the cost of terminating his staff but they again will not be an attractive option. Bayern Munich may also see Amorin as an option as they too struggle but he is not currently top-of-the-list for them.}

22 Apr 2024 15:24:57
The usually reliable David Ornstein just said it looks unlikely Amorim ends up at Liverpool.

Back to the drawing board it is! Just please don’t be De Zerbi.

22 Apr 2024 15:32:13
It's Alonso. Just said he is staying to get press off his back.

22 Apr 2024 15:36:50
Hodgson coming home?

22 Apr 2024 15:42:48
Time for a punt on Rafa at 66/ 1 odds?

{Ed025's Note - terrible manager SR..

22 Apr 2024 15:47:38
that whole article was weird. a short article surprising us with the link the west ham and then just 1 sentence stating he is unlikely to be preferred at liverpool without any justification. I am not saying he is wrong, but it is confusing. Anyway, I hope we get the right person for the job.

22 Apr 2024 16:31:30
Got a bad feeling it will be De Zerbi. Hughes supposedly a big fan of his.

22 Apr 2024 16:37:53
The pool of talent out there is shallow, and that’s being generous, if it’s not Alonso or Amorim then the only other remotely acceptable option is Slot. Beyond that every other potential candidate is awful.

22 Apr 2024 17:02:14
Hope Hughes can keep his De Zerbi fanboyism to just that. De Zerbi would be an unmitigated disaster.

{Ed025's Note - same here VV..

22 Apr 2024 17:59:52
Mourhinio was at Fulham match just saying.

22 Apr 2024 15:11:55
Ornstein saying Amorim to Liverpool looks unlikely, any idea who else Liverpool have on the list? Thanks.

{Ed025's Note - maybe Arne Slot Nella, personally i hope its Sean Dyche mate.. :)

22 Apr 2024 16:38:40
You can keep Dyche Ed. He is at least keeping you up in spite of the FA’s best efforts!?

{Ed025's Note - the thing is VV is that the supporters dont want to watch hoofball every week mate, we are pathetic mate and he is a dinosaur and going down would taste sweeter than watching that crap every week..

22 Apr 2024 16:49:48
Dyche not good enough for the under 12,s.

{Ed025's Note - i agree Ted..

22 Apr 2024 18:51:06
Not to be inflammatory Ed but how come Dyche hasn’t been getting pelters from the start?

Everton fans didn’t like Rafa’s football (really it was about him being former Liverpool boss, wasn’t it? ) but Dyche is even worse.

{Ed025's Note - i suppose we were happy that he kept us in the PL Paisley as that was his main brief, we were hoping that with decent coaching we could move up and go forward, turns out that his ethos is to play defensively and hoof the ball up front where a lone striker with no support is supposed to score goals, very archaic and boring just like the fat Spanish waiter in fact, we dont have good players or money to spend mate so its not an easy gig, so its all about coaching and bringing youth through and those 2 are unable or too scared to do that, fans want to be entertained in the end and those 2 dinosaurs are not fit for purpose im afraid..

20 Apr 2024 15:51:01
Ed2 are Liverpool actively courting the Saudi teams to bid for salah or is it his agent looking for the move?

{Ed002's Note - His agent is hawking him around for one last big payday - Saudi Pro League with the support of Michael Emenalo would certainly seem the most likely destination with Al-Ittihad.}

21 Apr 2024 05:02:15
Salah is KSA bound 100% but don’t expect to see bids of £150m as we did last summer.

21 Apr 2024 06:41:13
Take whatever we can get for him. Anything above £50m would be great.

21 Apr 2024 08:37:29
We will get well over £50m.

21 Apr 2024 00:07:48
Ed you're a fountain of knowledge thank you.

21 Apr 2024 08:09:37
Just out of interest eds2 how much is Salah worth now. I understand if you don’t want to get into it?

{Ed002's Note - I really don't know.}

21 Apr 2024 10:24:08
Just a 7 season wonder giving his knees a rest and his ability to build hospitals in Egypt a boost. let's hope he goes out with a bang, rather than a whimper.

21 Apr 2024 10:34:52
If I was on 350k a week I’d be actively looking for one last big day also.

Modern day struggles these footballers face daily.

21 Apr 2024 12:43:06
Still think he’s too good for Saudi.

21 Apr 2024 13:15:25
I’d get rid of any of Jota Nunez Diaz Gakpo before Salah.

21 Apr 2024 13:28:24
Thing is Liverpoolfc08, Saudi is the only place we’d get top dollar for him and as it’s fairly clear now that he’s in decline I think we have to take the money and move on.

21 Apr 2024 20:05:08
Jota has 1 goal for every 4 shots at goal taken. Salah has 1 goal for every 10 shots at goal taken. This season.

I love Salah but wanting Jota to leave before Salah is madness. Or simply having no idea how winning football works over an entire season.

21 Apr 2024 20:48:05
One kiss really? I mean really?

21 Apr 2024 21:11:25
Salah has been a phenomena but I’m definitely in the camp of getting money in for him this summer and bringing in another top quality forward.

21 Apr 2024 21:46:21
Imagine the fee will be over £50m but less than 100m.

21 Apr 2024 22:58:19
Some hawking outa his agent these last 7 years.

22 Apr 2024 00:25:38
It’s the most sensible time to sell.
New coaching staff, new system, Salah has lost his pace, every opponent knows it.
The new coach needs time to develop his system, he might not need Salah demanding the ball. It might be easier to bring new faces in.

Sell whilst the going is good.

22 Apr 2024 05:05:29
Agree with fuser I think the fee will between 50m and 80 mill, still not a bad price.

22 Apr 2024 06:17:04
Agree with Ron, this summer is a good opportunity for a clean break.

22 Apr 2024 08:49:22
I think it's time to let him go and I never thought I would say that 3 months ago.

22 Apr 2024 10:45:08
Jude I'd imagine his agent can't wait to retire. Probably the most overworked agent in the last 7 years lol.

22 Apr 2024 13:25:19
For the record, Salah has a 24% conversion rate (19% without penalties) .

Jota has a 29% conversion rate, so yes a better finisher on paper and also in my subjective opinion from watching the two play.

Source: BBC Sport

Don't let the truth get in the way of a good old dressing down of a Liverpool legend though. "1 in 10" haha. It's fractionally off being 1 in 4.

Generally agree though, right time to sell Salah this summer. Just don't think we need to lie to justify it.

22 Apr 2024 16:28:25
I’m not sure that’s right MK for this season, in the league anyway. 93 shots on PL website, 17 goals (both including pens) is a 18% rate. Take off the 5 pens and he’s down to 12%.

22 Apr 2024 16:54:47
Watching salah reminds me of gerrard in his last season with us . He offers nothing it’s like he’s getting picked from past achievements. Shame as well because he’s one of our greatest ever players, but all good things come to an end. At least we saw the best of him.

22 Apr 2024 16:36:49
Salah has never had a 1 in 10 conversion he’s been around 1 in 5 since he signed. He’s comfortably better than Nunez Diaz Jota and Gakpo he scores more and sets up more than most players in the world let alone those 4. He’s missed less games in 7 seasons than the others have in half that time. If we need to sell forwards he’d be the last to go. Every single season Salah has a couple of games not at his best we hear this nonsense about needing to sell him and then he makes anyone saying it look foolish every single time.

20 Apr 2024 11:39:54
Ed002 - Seeing a lot of people saying we need a rebuild. I'm not convinced we do. It's the tactics we need to change and use the players in their best position. Do you expect us to have a busy summer or use our academy lads more? I prefer the latter.

{Ed002's Note - The priority for Liverpool is the need to sort out the GK situation, add a CB to replace Matip, sort out a contract for Alexander Arnold and look to replace Salah who is still likely to leave. After that it will be driven by replacements for any players being sold, except those on loan who will not need to be replaced. Youngsters like Mateusz Musialowski would be replaced from within I would think.}

20 Apr 2024 13:27:49
Varela the latest name to be touted, again. With Endo on fire, and Baj appearing to be a top class prospect, if Varela is a target, what does it mean, tactically?

Dom looks like he could well be the Salah replacement, with this being his season of coaching more attributes into his game. Any word on the rumours of his unhappiness of late?

20 Apr 2024 13:29:02
Thanks so much again for responding. I see your suggestion of Arne Slot being a good choice starting to create some rumours. Hope it's true. Full credit goes to you if we do ha!

20 Apr 2024 16:14:01
There is clearly big work needed. Not a total rebuild but I reckon we need 5 players.

20 Apr 2024 19:23:44
I think we need very little. Let's first see how the players we have adapt to the new manager.

Like always some will rise, some will stay the same and some may fall. We had good players.

I'd prefer to add only one or two this season.

If we get Amorim, I certainly don't want to see half of Sporting at Liverpool. Our players are great with the right direction.

20 Apr 2024 20:14:01
We can’t compete if we make only one addition. You must think some of the players are better than they are Davey.

20 Apr 2024 16:30:25
Is the goalkeeper situation replacing keheller with Anthony Patterson?

{Ed002's Note - It is not entirely as simle as that. Decisions over Pitaluga and Jaros come in to play.}

20 Apr 2024 21:24:43
Replace Kelleher if he leaves, CB, replace Salah (Szoboslai? ) poss DM and replace any other outgoings. Wouldn't upset me to see Diaz and Nunez moved on.

20 Apr 2024 22:35:39
We not going to swap half a team in one window. One it’s disruptive and two we have never spent that kind of money.

21 Apr 2024 00:28:55
It’s a bit like a recipe isn’t it? An excellent chef can create a great meal with limited ingredients. At the moment we have lots of very good ingredients (players) but we don’t have the chef lined up. I know it’s fun for fans to speculate on which players will come and go but at the moment it’s probably even more difficult to predict in nearly all cases as we don’t know who the chef is going to be.

I say ‘nearly all’ because it seems done and dusted that Thiago, Matip and Adrian won’t be offered new contracts.

21 Apr 2024 06:57:45
I genuinely don't think we need that much, I think the problem is our tactics not players. Let's say Amorim does come in and we play 343.
GK -Ali first choice obvs. Probs need GK with CK and Adrian leaving.
CB - VVD, Gomez, Konate, Quansah. Give Sepp VDB a chance. Amorim central CB steps forward into midfield. Endo and Bajectic both play CB and CDM so perfect for them. Maybe a LCB needed. Matip to leave.
LWB - Have Robertson and Tsimikas.
RWB - Have Bradley and Ramsay. Night need Ramsay upgrade if injuries continue being an issue. Trent can cover.
CM progressive - Macca with Grav as cover.
CM Anchor - Trent for me, with Endo and Bajectic providing cover. Thiago to leave. Clarke coming through, maybe McConnell.
CF/ CAM - Amorim plays 2 of these inside behind the striker. Perfect position for Gakpo and Szob. Elliot and Carvalho could also play here as could Jota. Jones provides rotation options for all midfield positions I expect Salah and Diaz to both leave.
ST - Nunez, Jota. Danns coming through.

So with all the above in mind, we definitely need a GK, ideally a left sided CB depending on if SVDB is given a chance, maybe a RWB and that's literally it. I don't think this massively change that people are talking about it really needed. Give the current lot a chance in Amorims (fingers crossed) system as I genuinely think our tactics are the issue.

21 Apr 2024 08:31:17
I think we could see kelleher (game time) adrian, Stimykas, gravenberch, matip, thiago, salah and possibly diaz, so we could bring in upto 4 players, lcb, dm, no.10 type and a striker, maybe a keeper too if the new manager deems what back ups we have not good enough/ ready.

21 Apr 2024 08:34:03
Salah is leaving so that’s the first replacement needed and my goodness whoever comes in needs to be top class. The 4 remaining aren’t quite good enough, especially end product. I think we need 2 forwards, a gk, one cb, lb is also a worry for me. Midfield depends on Baj getting back to his best. I can’t see it being less than 5 additions.

Funds with mainly come from sales we still get min £100m for Salah. I would cash in on Diaz as well. Then big earners Matip, Adrian, and the blood sucker will all leave.

21 Apr 2024 10:25:32
Jota is lethal, although looks to be prone to a few longer term injuries here ans there.

21 Apr 2024 11:37:56
First season will be replacing sales and establishing the new systems and culture and player suitability with new systems. I expect a drop off, top 4 would be my target.
Subsequent seasons will be squad upgrades but unlikely to be in huge numbers.

21 Apr 2024 12:30:47
TAA as a midfield anchor, Westwood? Seriously? We’d get battered week in week out. He doesn’t have the skill set or defensive nous to play there. It’d be like offering teams a free run at our defence. On the right of a midfield three fine, or if we’re playing 343 he’s wide right midfield, but in the middle as the anchor is just opening us up too much. We need a specialist there and TAA just isn’t that player.

21 Apr 2024 12:50:01
Last 2 summers were the same. We needed a midfield overhaul, when we finally did it we got back within a few points of City as usual.

We now need a goal scorer, a centre back to replace Konate, a replacement for Salah if he departs, and a midfield general.

21 Apr 2024 13:16:12
Depends on your definition of rebuild. We couldn’t even get to the semis of the Europa league. If we want to try win the CL we definitely need at least 5.

21 Apr 2024 13:18:02
Westwood you have Salah Diaz Thiago Matip to leave all to be replaced by one CB. That’s making us weaker.

21 Apr 2024 15:03:44
I agree depends what your ambitions are. If you want to tread water one will do that.

22 Apr 2024 00:33:58
Agree to disagree VVD. I think he could and see no reason as to why he wouldn't be able to. He's not a destroyer type of DM but you don't need to be. Alonso wasn't and he's probably the best we've ever had. Sometimes just being a body in the right position is enough.
One Kiss - Thiago and Matip don't play anyway so we are not weaker by their leaving. Salah is playing rubbish and has been for some time to the point where he got dropped today. Diaz is a weird one but I'd Amorim does come in I think he'll be sold. RA doesn't tend to use wide his style of wide forward and we already have enough players in the CAM positions to start and cover.
I stand by my points.

22 Apr 2024 12:17:42
Alonso had mascherano beside him though.

22 Apr 2024 16:45:25
Matip and Thiago would still need replacing. Konate misses too many games and he doesn’t seem to fancy Gomez and CB. Replace Thiago with a top class midfielder who can keep fit and the midfield is looking good. Salah has not been playing rubbish for some time he’s scored 24 and set up 9 this season I’d hate to hear how you think the other forwards have performed if that’s rubbish. Need to bring in players to strengthen. It’s how you win.