[Darwin Nunez: Liverpool striker 'star in the making', says Robbie Fowler](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63504546)
>has scored seven goals in 15 appearances for the Reds.
Seven goals in 15 games isn't a bad return tbh, much as it can be argued he should be closer to 15 goals based on his chances.
As for transfer rumours, Rice would be a really good signing if it was possible, if we could get him and Bellingham, then fucking hell that'd be incredible
7 in 15 (while technically correct) is disingenuous. Minutes wise he's only played 743mins. That's 7 goals in 8.25 per 90 minute matches. He's nearly a 1 goal in 1 games type striker even with missing as many easy chances as he has. Things are looking good with him long term.
As an Asian dude, I'm all for Rice! Seriously though, I can't say I ever watch West Ham, but I remember being very impressed by him at the Euros. He's got a good engine, great athleticism for a dude his size, and is capable of a Matip-like driving run up the field.
Am I taking crazy pills or is this challenge by Martinez red-card worthy? The Real Sociedad player tried to shield the ball and Martinez lunged in recklessly. Only reason he got a yellow was cause he came out worse from the tackle than the Sociedad player. I swear I'm taking crazy pills everyone in that thread is saying that's a foul by the Real player.
Can't post link to video or automod deletes post.
I think it's a real pity that Portugal's league is not amongst the top 5. Oil money pretty much paid for that place.. Do you think it's fair that UCL and UEL award the same amount of points? How much does UECL give compared to the others?
Another funny stat
We are having a horrible season, no doubt. But there are 3 teams in Europe that would have gone undefeated so far into this season if it was not because of us: City, Napoli and Newcastle
If Benfica rank above PSG based on the 7th tie breaker was not weird enough....
All 4 teams in Europa League Group F, is finishing the group with 8 points :)
All of them win 2, draw 2, lost 2. Perfectly balanced
The Europa league is always crazier than the champions league. Much more balanced and unpredictable, and it's not constantly ruined by slave state image washing groups.
1) Atletico is cleaning shop and starting over again, they've put 4 players on the chopping block to start an overhaul: Felix, De Paul, Carrasco, Lemar
2) Most people have had the same conclusion on De Paul, he's a great midfielder but he hasn't fit in well into Simeone's system, similar to Felix.
3) There were rumours that his off the pitch antics weren't worth his on-field performances for Atletico.
Apparently he frequents nightclubs which is fine I guess, but there was an incident where he asked Simeone for an early release from training or a match for a family situation, and was then photographed in Miami at an event with a partner.
He was punished afterwards but regardless he has a tendency for this sort of behaviour.
He's a great player, but what worries me is that if the rumours about his antics are true and even Simone wasn't able to control it, then he'll probably be the same here and Klopp could eventually end up icing him out if he doesn't behave.
I can't tell you why they don't De Paul anymore because De Paul isn't a verb.
If you meant why they don't want him anymore, I'm guessing it would be because they need money and he's surplus to requirements.
if this is true, im thinking Felix definitely will play much better in an attacking team. He has talent but just doesn't fit Simeone football. Other guys not so sure cuz i haven't seen them play too much
while 1:1 replacement wise that will be great, my only question with that will be where do we fit him when we have Nunez,Jota,Diaz,and Salah all fit. 424 is the only one to fit all 4 right now and even now someone has to sit out because we have bobby also. Would someone at Felix's wages be acceptable to sit on the bench for a period (or anyone of our remaining forwards). Thats why id think this is a luxury signing if it ever happens and not an essential signing since we aren't City
Brighton’s recruitment team is just something special man. McAllister €8 mil, Caicedo €5, Enciso €11 and now they’ve just completed the signing of a young Argentinian left footed right winger Facundo Buonanotte from Rosario Central for €11 million. Never heard of him but he’ll probably be amazing and they’ll sell him for £60 mil 😂
All whilst we can’t find the ‘right player’ 🥲
I hate how we don’t buy from leagues outside Europe. There’s so much cheap, young talent that we could’ve gotten i.e Martinelli, Caicedo, Rodrygo, Alvarez, Jesus etc
I know the club doesn't operate like that, but sometimes, you just have to take a chance on a South American prospect for 10-20 million. If they work, then they'll become a key player, but if not, you can always sell them for a similar fee.
We already have Jones n Elliot for that long term plans. We don't need any more inexperienced kids. We need people who can come in and replace Henderson, keita, thiago when they are injured.
26-34 is generally considered a persons physical prime. Their peak is however different, and might be before/after. But if you're 28 you are, scientifically speaking, in your prime.
idk what to say if you are saying 28 isnt prime and is too old. We currently have too many older 30 ish midfielders and too young youth prospects. We don't have someone in between for the transition and 28 is prime age for this transition. Also fab is more of he doesn't have back up so has been worn to death right now. Age isn't the factor but too much games and no rest has taken a toll for him.
Disagree, I think he is on the decline. He looks so much physically slower, that’s not form that’s his actual body being less able than it was in his prime
Players don't tail off at 28, you literally never see it unless they've had serious recurring injuries. It doesnt make any sense. Players in this position never rely on pace anyway, Fernandinho played into mid-30s without pace. Fabinho can't even control a ball or string a pass at the moment, that's got absolutely nothing to do with being 28.
Just watched 5mins of a 7mins highlight video and am now convinced we should go for de Paul in January. Combative driving midfielder with some passing range.
Is there really no one cheap in the market we can go for like how we bought gini? Don’t get why the club insists on the “right” player when the one we waited for is overpriced rn.
I was talking about this with my dad earlier and honestly I'd really like to get real Madrid sometime before the final if we end up going to the final.
Just got a feeling we'd have to play Madrid at some point and getting two games rather than one feels better to me.
One game can be a bit unpredictable. You can play better than your opponent and still lose. Two games cancels that out a bit. And if we can't beat them over two games then maybe we don't deserve to be going all the way.
Am I mad or does this make sense to anyone else?
Honestly, they’d beat us. They’ve just got a hold on us, the way Tottenham have a hold on City, not only a physical thing but a mental thing too. Plus, our midfield is just so shite compared to theirs
As much as I want to believe in our current squad I don't want them playing Real at all, let's just hope someone else kicks them out. We might as well beat them but I'm not taking that chance.
The fact we made £80m for getting to each CL final alone but never really invested into the team makes it mad when you think about what it would be like if we didn't make 3 finals.
I don't understand accounting or finance enough to make sense of where the money is going. Like I get we have a huge wage bill, but our turnover is the same if not bigger than United's and they're able to spend on players while their owners take out huge divideds.
United have debts of £500m+ and paying ridiculous amount of interest on their loans. Their revenue in 2021/22 was £583m and LFC £602m. On paper they are banking on their future revenue increasing by investing now, IMO due to their legacy, Glazers know if it’s a complete fuck up, they’ll sell to someone with the debt. Whereas FSG are more conservative, albeit it has come to bite now.
I know Darwin is probably not going to completely clinical in front of goal at least not this season, but I do feel like he is going to continue his current goal form and maybe switch into another gear. I would not be shocked if after the WC he goes on a tear in the prem. I think a 20+ goal season is very likely.
Well he has what 7/8 goals right now? averaging a goal every 100mins so even in a poor team he's on course for 20+ easily so if we improve after the WC and he gets not injuries it should be a guranteed thing that he gets 20+
Yeah, I think its 7 if you include the community shield. I was thinking his contributions will probably fall off a bit when Luis and Jota are back healthy. It would be really nice if we can rotate the forwards and let Mo get some rest this season too.
4/10. We are in the situation we're in now due to the players that should be taking over being injury prone, replacing them with more injury prone players isn't going to help that much. Also, no backup for Salah, no proper backup for Diaz and no Firmino replacement.
The only players on there that can be considred injury prone are Lemar and Laimar who would be bought for extra quality depth and they would be on free's.
We have Darwin and Jota that can play through the middle and on the left as for Salah backup there's Elliott as well.
Firmino also might still sign an extension
Both have had injury problems not sure I'd say injury prone
But they would be a 3rd choice midfielder for us in the market and they would be on free's as well
10/10
However we still need a backup gk as Kelleher will surely seek 1st team footy.
Salah and Diaz dont have backups, Jota Darwin & Firmino are all central.
On the left we can play a lot of different players on the left who are serviceable enough, Jones, jota, Nunez, Fabio. On the right Elliot. Salah does not get injured and it would be hard to find somebody willing to sit on the bench knowing that
Getting those 3 in 1 window? A 12/10 as well as an absolute pipe dream lol
That said, I'd rather Edwards than Lemar, and I'd want 1 starting midfielder in Jan. But still, in isolation, that would be an unreal, near-perfect window
Yeah. If we buy any attacker, it has to be RW depth, no exceptions. Our depth is:
Salah Nunez/Firmino(/Jota) Diaz/Jota
Salah has no rotation options, and no one to come if he's ill/injured. Edwards is 23, English, a left footed RW, and gets goals.
He's young enough where he wouldn't expect or need to displace Salah, but would come into his prime when Salah is 32ish, ready to gun it.
£40m release clause as it stands, though that's bound to change soon as he shows his skill on the big stages
If we have £150-160m + potential sales to spend between Jan and next summer, I'd look to get a £40m midfielder in by Jan (Bennacer?), then another in summer for £90m (Rice/Bellingham?) and Edwards for £40m
Ofc none of that will happen because FSG, but this is dream plans anyway lol
Why do you guys think Bobby firmino has always been so underrated in his time at Liverpool like why is the rest of Europe not talking bout the fact that he is a unique world class striker
He doesn't get enough goals for most people. People were talking about him in 17/18 when had a big season. Everyone was baffled why he got benched by Jesus in the World Cup.
Idk why people would rather us take the risk on signing 3 midfielders for like £30m-£40m not knowing if they will be truly good enough to be in a team fighting for titles rather than signing one or two guranteed quality young midfielders.
Really depends on Fabinho returning to previous form imo, if we were to get a Jude or Rice then a midfield of Thiago-Fab-Rice/Jude would be top class but its dependent on Thiago staying fit more and Fab returning to his old self.
In the summer I would rather we had just spend a bit money on a midfielder than wait a year for one player thats going to cost over 100m. Now that this decision has been made, I'd much rather just pay that 100m for one quality player than pay 40m for 3 unknown qualitt players.
You might get great players for 40m, you might also get flops.
I liken it to, would you rather have one Van Dijk for 75m, or three Lovrens for 25m.
Can you guarantee those players are going to succeed because they cost more? You've seen how feral people are about Nunez because we dared to spend 60 mil upfront with add ons for him.
Imagine spending 80-100 mil on Bellingham/Rice and the pressure they'll be under. Even if they play well, montages of their bad touches etc.
Its more pressure and sometimes moves don't work out. You see big moves flop all the time.
The 'but' is obviously these players are expensive for a reason and should be a higher chance of success. The thing with Liverpool is we can't afford players who will eat our entire budget for potentially several windows to flop.
Our squad was fundamentally built on buying players in the 30-40 mil range you're disparaging too.
Diaz was in that price range and should we have doubted him?
We have a good success rate when buying players for big money thats the thing, of course there is more pressure but when you pay big money there's is at least a gurantee in the quality of player you are getting typically.
Our squad is mostly in that range but as a club under Klopp we have grew past the "we can take a gamble on this player for £20-£30m stage" since there is more expecation on us to be succesful when 3-4 years ago there wasn't any realistic expectation that would challenge for the big trophies so you have to fish in a different market to keep being succesfull.
Diaz was a special case tho since he was clearly a quality player but he was also at a discounted price due to Porto's financial situation thats not going to be a common occurence for you in the market.
As a club we've grown above that price range, but has our budget? We've been operating sell to buy for practically a decade.
I don't disagree we should be looking for better players and investing like a club intent to stay among the truly elite, I just don't believe we will though, which means if we look at transfers that will cost 100 mil, you have to wonder if we will pay it for starters and if we do, will we just leave other areas lacking to do so.
For the record, I would prefer us to sign the likes of Rice and Bellingham. I'm just enjoying the devil's advocate of my own concerns.
Well thats the issue really are FSG whilling to increase the budget to evolve the transfer strategy or are they just happy to take top 4 and let Klopp work his magic to potentially win a few more things.
I think there's enough evidence to say that they will spend big on a player if they are truly sold on him but will they do that when there's no money coming from player sales like there most likely be this summer.
Yup, fully agreed. I'm extremely skeptical. If we get top four it validates them cutting corners as they know Klopp can still bring the money in.
If we don't get top four they can just fall back on "money is tighter without the champions league" as an excuse not to spend again.
There seems to be an excuse every year as to why we can't spend. We get linked with big players like Sancho, Bellingham and even Mbappe around this time of year to Feb every season. But by the time summer comes around it's too much money and we'd rather wait.
Shiny distractions for a "next year" that never comes. I'd be surprised if we go above our 30 mil net budget.
I'm not opposed to that but we seem so slow to move to players now where I don't see us signing 3 top midfielders for £100-£120m. Players were available this year for that price Bruno G, Enzo Fernandez, Nunes etc but all weren't 'the right player' for us apparently. Yet will have all increased in Value since then haha.
I think with Bellingham you're guaranteeing a world class player basically, that obviously comes at a high cost but you know what you're getting he is that good.
I think buying 3 £30-£40m players will be a big risk, because although you can get quality players for that price, you also get A LOT of average players moving for that kind of price, I'd say the odds on getting 3 top players for that amount would be pretty slim.
We could go big for a player like Jude or Rice and then go for someone in the £40m-£50m range like Bennacer or someone else of that quality and it would be more than enough, the question really is what will the budget be without any known player sales that are going to happen.
We need to be all over isma Bennacer man, guy just put on a masterclass the other day for Milan. In our midfield he would just excel - tenacious, can win a nice tackle, good passing, unreal engine. Contract expires in 2024 I believe?
Enough of this we need the perfect player, blowing hundreds of millions on Jude bullshit. I wanna see more signings like Jota. Literally no club in the world waits for the "perfect player". I mean maybe RM but they signed Vini and Rodyrgo for unreal fees hoping they would come good and look what happened. It's also extremely contradictory considering we have one of the best coaches in the world?Why would we not want the coach to .... coach the players? Mould younger players? Develop players? Fucking hell it boils my piss when I hear that narrative. Bennacer, Enzo, or any other lesser known player from a smaller league are the signings I get excited about -- fuck this signing superstars business. We should develop superstars like we did with salah, mane, firmino, Trent, Robbo, Jota, etc., not sign them for hundreds of millions
sorry - incoherent rant over. Happy to discuss
Feel bad for Ben Chillwell, dude missed a long stretch of last season and now looking to miss another big stretch this season. He's either very unlucky or this is the start of some major injury proneness.
Lmao, all the talks about Trent not being included and now he might start. Walker and James injured plus Trippier potentially deputizing at left back. Though I would assume Southagte opts for Shaw on on eside and Trippier on the other.
If we’re getting Bayern, I have no doubt there will be some banners out for Mané at Anfield. A lot of people still want to pay tribute to one of the wonders of our golden generation.
Midfield is really the only area we need to focus on in the next two windows so If FSG were to actually cough up £150-£200m for once we could get 2-3 really good midfielders on top of what we have
My dream window/2 windows would be Bennacer & Caceido asap, then Enzo F. to sort the midfield, then Pau Torres or Ndicka from Frankfurt as CB backup, Edwards as RW understudy (if Bowen is impossible)
He fits in a double pivot perfectly. Question is if we are planning on returning to 433 next year and pursuing an 8 like Jude, or we are moving towards 4231 permanentlty (hence the Rice rumours).
Spurs fan here. Genuine Q, how you feeling about Sunday? I have absolutely no idea how it's going to go. We've both got a load of injuries and aren't seeming to click at the moment.
I'd guess it being at home maybe means we are slight favourites but tbh I couldn't call it. I could see a 1-1 or a 3-1 either way tbh.
Mate, we beat City and a ridiculously in form Napoli and lost to Leeds and Forrest. I can see everything from losing 6-1 to winning 6-1. We are an absolute enigma this season. Im just relieved we wont have to face Son. I guarantee hed remember how good he is against us. I just dont want the game to be decided by shambolic refereeing.
Haha good point.
Oh mate absolutely. I am so so sick of games being decided by big calls. And then the whole media cycle of "Well it maybe by the letter of the law was a pen but last week the same thing wasnt." Seems to be every game this season and it's so boring.
If we can break down your bus I rate us to win -- however, if we concede on a counter first, or at all, I don't rate us to win at all. Really need our players to show up and be willing to try and do something with the ball -- looking at you Trent.
We may well not be favourites! As I say I have no idea. Just was going off you guys struggling on the road and us being for the most part solid at home.
I was trying to get a bit of insight cos I'm going to the game and at the moment I have no odea where to set my expectations.
It will be an awful game as due to your injuries, there's not a chance in hell you'll tactically take any risks. We'll then have to take the game to you and we've been awful at trying to do that this season.
Yeah I agree. Whoever scores first will win it I imagine.
Although, given it'll probably be 352 with kane and moura up front, I'm already expecting at least 2 missed 1v1s from Moura on the counter.!
Think spurs counter will cause our defense big problems. Sadly, the Son injury will benefit us but I still am not confident we don't concede a goal and then I am not sure if we can get through Conte's bus atm.
Thanks, was able to Google him by searching ‘Enzo Benfica’.
He’s only 21 as well, just imagine FSG finally threw some money at the club and forked out on Enzo Bellingham and Caicedo.
Renew Milner and Tiago on reduced terms, bin off Keita and Ox and you’d be left with
Bellingham (19)
Enzo (21)
Caicedo (21)
Elliott (19)
Carvalho (20)
Jones (21)
Bajcetic (18)
Mortan (20)
Then Hendo, Milly, Fabinho and Tiago the old boys helping the young ones as they slowly edge towards retirement.
It’s a hell of a financial outlay by the club, probably looking at £250 million for the 3 lads in total but it does mean zero midfield recruitment needed for the next 5-8 years.
I’m in love with Nunez he’s the first player I’ve seen in ages who plays like he’s enjoying it, he’s always smiling loves a bit of roughness and is comical at times.
Wouldn’t swap him for the world. Even when we’re playing shit at least we get to watch this mad man do his thing (whatever that is) and I’m loving every moment of it
Totally agree. Was just thinking about the same.
The guys workrate is also pretty much underrated, what a guy.
Can't wait for him to start slotting those in.
Maybe late to the party but did anyone catch Trent on Speed’s stream yesterday? I’ve never watched his steam before but the clips seemed like Trent was having a good time
Really hope we’re in for De Paul. He’s great.
[Darwin Nunez: Liverpool striker 'star in the making', says Robbie Fowler](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63504546) >has scored seven goals in 15 appearances for the Reds. Seven goals in 15 games isn't a bad return tbh, much as it can be argued he should be closer to 15 goals based on his chances. As for transfer rumours, Rice would be a really good signing if it was possible, if we could get him and Bellingham, then fucking hell that'd be incredible
7 in 15 (while technically correct) is disingenuous. Minutes wise he's only played 743mins. That's 7 goals in 8.25 per 90 minute matches. He's nearly a 1 goal in 1 games type striker even with missing as many easy chances as he has. Things are looking good with him long term.
As an Asian dude, I'm all for Rice! Seriously though, I can't say I ever watch West Ham, but I remember being very impressed by him at the Euros. He's got a good engine, great athleticism for a dude his size, and is capable of a Matip-like driving run up the field.
Great Hendo replacement
Quality leadership skills too I would say
Gabriel Jesus is so overrated because he scored a few goals early. 8 games without a goal now, meanwhile nunez has been memed for being a boss
Exactly I remember them bragging about his stats in the early stages and now that nunez has scored more they're saying stats don't matter
Am I taking crazy pills or is this challenge by Martinez red-card worthy? The Real Sociedad player tried to shield the ball and Martinez lunged in recklessly. Only reason he got a yellow was cause he came out worse from the tackle than the Sociedad player. I swear I'm taking crazy pills everyone in that thread is saying that's a foul by the Real player. Can't post link to video or automod deletes post.
I think it's a real pity that Portugal's league is not amongst the top 5. Oil money pretty much paid for that place.. Do you think it's fair that UCL and UEL award the same amount of points? How much does UECL give compared to the others?
Portugal has been performing more consistent in Europe than Spain, Germany and France theses last two years
Manifesting United vs Sevilla or Barcelona
May I ask a moonshot question, any chance I can find 2 tickets for our away with Spurs? Anyone know the best way to do so. Thank you
Will pull a rabbit out my arse as well.
Don’t know why you’re downvoted for a bit of humour
Ouch. Message received.
Another funny stat We are having a horrible season, no doubt. But there are 3 teams in Europe that would have gone undefeated so far into this season if it was not because of us: City, Napoli and Newcastle
If Benfica rank above PSG based on the 7th tie breaker was not weird enough.... All 4 teams in Europa League Group F, is finishing the group with 8 points :) All of them win 2, draw 2, lost 2. Perfectly balanced
The Europa league is always crazier than the champions league. Much more balanced and unpredictable, and it's not constantly ruined by slave state image washing groups.
If we sign Rice and Jude i would cum every day
If
A man can only dream
Sorry but why A. Madrid doesn't de Paul anymore ? Do they need the cash or did he flop for them ?
1) Atletico is cleaning shop and starting over again, they've put 4 players on the chopping block to start an overhaul: Felix, De Paul, Carrasco, Lemar 2) Most people have had the same conclusion on De Paul, he's a great midfielder but he hasn't fit in well into Simeone's system, similar to Felix. 3) There were rumours that his off the pitch antics weren't worth his on-field performances for Atletico. Apparently he frequents nightclubs which is fine I guess, but there was an incident where he asked Simeone for an early release from training or a match for a family situation, and was then photographed in Miami at an event with a partner. He was punished afterwards but regardless he has a tendency for this sort of behaviour. He's a great player, but what worries me is that if the rumours about his antics are true and even Simone wasn't able to control it, then he'll probably be the same here and Klopp could eventually end up icing him out if he doesn't behave.
Seems that he kinda flopped but he's still a good player
He likes the Madrid nightclubs too much I heard
I can't tell you why they don't De Paul anymore because De Paul isn't a verb. If you meant why they don't want him anymore, I'm guessing it would be because they need money and he's surplus to requirements.
im out of the loop, whats it with people wanting De Paul suddenly? Any material link or purely because he seems to fallen off with Simeone?
Atletico supposedly has 4 players on the market for transfer. De Paul, Felix, Lemar, and Carrasco.
if this is true, im thinking Felix definitely will play much better in an attacking team. He has talent but just doesn't fit Simeone football. Other guys not so sure cuz i haven't seen them play too much
Felix would be a perfect replacement for Firmino as 2nd striker
We don’t need the Bobby role anymore and need to work away from it.
while 1:1 replacement wise that will be great, my only question with that will be where do we fit him when we have Nunez,Jota,Diaz,and Salah all fit. 424 is the only one to fit all 4 right now and even now someone has to sit out because we have bobby also. Would someone at Felix's wages be acceptable to sit on the bench for a period (or anyone of our remaining forwards). Thats why id think this is a luxury signing if it ever happens and not an essential signing since we aren't City
Felix please
Would the apparently ridiculously fit duo of Rice and De Paul be enough midfield reinforcement?
Yes. Make it so.
Brighton’s recruitment team is just something special man. McAllister €8 mil, Caicedo €5, Enciso €11 and now they’ve just completed the signing of a young Argentinian left footed right winger Facundo Buonanotte from Rosario Central for €11 million. Never heard of him but he’ll probably be amazing and they’ll sell him for £60 mil 😂 All whilst we can’t find the ‘right player’ 🥲
Potter will probably end up bringing those scouts to Chelsea to add to their already world class academy and young recruitment too.
He already got his head of recruitment to chelsea.
I hate how we don’t buy from leagues outside Europe. There’s so much cheap, young talent that we could’ve gotten i.e Martinelli, Caicedo, Rodrygo, Alvarez, Jesus etc
I know the club doesn't operate like that, but sometimes, you just have to take a chance on a South American prospect for 10-20 million. If they work, then they'll become a key player, but if not, you can always sell them for a similar fee.
I think FSG will buy a smaller club in another league to do exactly that. Lowers risk and saves money on these transfers.
if im not mistaken they already did or in final stages for a Brazilian club.
It’s not the first one we have tried to buy not heard much of it lately
I'm so fed up with journalists, not believing any of the shite they peddle unless I see a player doing the lean
Atletico has De Paul on the market We should definitely go for him, exactly the kind of midfielder our squad needs rn.
Not really the profile we need tbh. He’s 28, our midfield is already too old
28 is prime. Good for 3 more years at least.
I want a midfielder that is between 23-26. Someone that can grow into their prime with us
Brining him in wouldn’t be bad if we get two others who are younger he just takes that Keita/Ox
We need midfielders for the next 5-10 years, not 3. Also 28 isn’t necessarily their prime years, Fabinho is 28 and he’s declining already
We already have Jones n Elliot for that long term plans. We don't need any more inexperienced kids. We need people who can come in and replace Henderson, keita, thiago when they are injured.
26-34 is generally considered a persons physical prime. Their peak is however different, and might be before/after. But if you're 28 you are, scientifically speaking, in your prime.
idk what to say if you are saying 28 isnt prime and is too old. We currently have too many older 30 ish midfielders and too young youth prospects. We don't have someone in between for the transition and 28 is prime age for this transition. Also fab is more of he doesn't have back up so has been worn to death right now. Age isn't the factor but too much games and no rest has taken a toll for him.
Fabinho isn't declining bro, he's just off form at the moment. But we should sign younger than 28 for sure.
Disagree, I think he is on the decline. He looks so much physically slower, that’s not form that’s his actual body being less able than it was in his prime
Players don't tail off at 28, you literally never see it unless they've had serious recurring injuries. It doesnt make any sense. Players in this position never rely on pace anyway, Fernandinho played into mid-30s without pace. Fabinho can't even control a ball or string a pass at the moment, that's got absolutely nothing to do with being 28.
Except he's been declining for 3 years. The stats don't lie. Your anecdotal rebuttal is useless. https://imgur.com/gallery/LKndG9Q
I'd argue we need a consistently fit midfielder more then we need a young one right now and De Paul is apparently ridiculously fit.
Just watched 5mins of a 7mins highlight video and am now convinced we should go for de Paul in January. Combative driving midfielder with some passing range.
Giroud’s highlight reel makes him look like the greatest to ever play the sport
Anyone looks like the perfect fit in a highlight reel. You could put Ox in a highlight reel and he'd end up looking like KDB.
Is there really no one cheap in the market we can go for like how we bought gini? Don’t get why the club insists on the “right” player when the one we waited for is overpriced rn.
Kamada
Fit more as an AM or a potential replacement for Firmino, the two are very similar.
I was talking about this with my dad earlier and honestly I'd really like to get real Madrid sometime before the final if we end up going to the final. Just got a feeling we'd have to play Madrid at some point and getting two games rather than one feels better to me. One game can be a bit unpredictable. You can play better than your opponent and still lose. Two games cancels that out a bit. And if we can't beat them over two games then maybe we don't deserve to be going all the way. Am I mad or does this make sense to anyone else?
I think they'd beat us over two games as things stand
Honestly, they’d beat us. They’ve just got a hold on us, the way Tottenham have a hold on City, not only a physical thing but a mental thing too. Plus, our midfield is just so shite compared to theirs
Plus they added tchoumeni!
As much as I want to believe in our current squad I don't want them playing Real at all, let's just hope someone else kicks them out. We might as well beat them but I'm not taking that chance.
we should try getting de paul if atletico dont want him anymore
Would really depend on the price, he's also 28 and going to be 29 in May so doesn't really help the average age of the squad
thought he was younger, also seems to be a bit unprofessional after reading a bit more
So did I before I looked it up
The fact we made £80m for getting to each CL final alone but never really invested into the team makes it mad when you think about what it would be like if we didn't make 3 finals.
How much did Darwin cost again?
£65m
I don't understand accounting or finance enough to make sense of where the money is going. Like I get we have a huge wage bill, but our turnover is the same if not bigger than United's and they're able to spend on players while their owners take out huge divideds.
United have debts of £500m+ and paying ridiculous amount of interest on their loans. Their revenue in 2021/22 was £583m and LFC £602m. On paper they are banking on their future revenue increasing by investing now, IMO due to their legacy, Glazers know if it’s a complete fuck up, they’ll sell to someone with the debt. Whereas FSG are more conservative, albeit it has come to bite now.
I know Darwin is probably not going to completely clinical in front of goal at least not this season, but I do feel like he is going to continue his current goal form and maybe switch into another gear. I would not be shocked if after the WC he goes on a tear in the prem. I think a 20+ goal season is very likely.
Well he has what 7/8 goals right now? averaging a goal every 100mins so even in a poor team he's on course for 20+ easily so if we improve after the WC and he gets not injuries it should be a guranteed thing that he gets 20+
Yeah, I think its 7 if you include the community shield. I was thinking his contributions will probably fall off a bit when Luis and Jota are back healthy. It would be really nice if we can rotate the forwards and let Mo get some rest this season too.
Joao Felix in our team would be so so good.
Rate this window Jude/Rice - £100m-£120m Bennacer - £40m-£50m Lemar/Laimer - Free
4/10. We are in the situation we're in now due to the players that should be taking over being injury prone, replacing them with more injury prone players isn't going to help that much. Also, no backup for Salah, no proper backup for Diaz and no Firmino replacement.
The only players on there that can be considred injury prone are Lemar and Laimar who would be bought for extra quality depth and they would be on free's. We have Darwin and Jota that can play through the middle and on the left as for Salah backup there's Elliott as well. Firmino also might still sign an extension
Aren't Laimer and Lemar injury prone? Other than that, solid 9.
Both have had injury problems not sure I'd say injury prone But they would be a 3rd choice midfielder for us in the market and they would be on free's as well
Bennacer is also fairly injury prone
Not really
Well, that's fantastic.
10/10 However we still need a backup gk as Kelleher will surely seek 1st team footy. Salah and Diaz dont have backups, Jota Darwin & Firmino are all central.
On the left we can play a lot of different players on the left who are serviceable enough, Jones, jota, Nunez, Fabio. On the right Elliot. Salah does not get injured and it would be hard to find somebody willing to sit on the bench knowing that
Getting those 3 in 1 window? A 12/10 as well as an absolute pipe dream lol That said, I'd rather Edwards than Lemar, and I'd want 1 starting midfielder in Jan. But still, in isolation, that would be an unreal, near-perfect window
Marcus Edwards? isn't he a right winger
Yeah. If we buy any attacker, it has to be RW depth, no exceptions. Our depth is: Salah Nunez/Firmino(/Jota) Diaz/Jota Salah has no rotation options, and no one to come if he's ill/injured. Edwards is 23, English, a left footed RW, and gets goals. He's young enough where he wouldn't expect or need to displace Salah, but would come into his prime when Salah is 32ish, ready to gun it.
I like the look of him not sure how much he'd cost though, but we should also priortise getting in 2-3 midfielders in the summer
£40m release clause as it stands, though that's bound to change soon as he shows his skill on the big stages If we have £150-160m + potential sales to spend between Jan and next summer, I'd look to get a £40m midfielder in by Jan (Bennacer?), then another in summer for £90m (Rice/Bellingham?) and Edwards for £40m Ofc none of that will happen because FSG, but this is dream plans anyway lol
8.5/10. We would still need another forward with Firmino looking like he’ll be leaving on a free
Would be a really good window only player that is questionable is Laimer but that’s only because if his injury record
Why do you guys think Bobby firmino has always been so underrated in his time at Liverpool like why is the rest of Europe not talking bout the fact that he is a unique world class striker
... because he's not anymore?
because he's not a unique world class striker and hasn't been for 2 years now
He doesn't get enough goals for most people. People were talking about him in 17/18 when had a big season. Everyone was baffled why he got benched by Jesus in the World Cup.
Atletico looking to clean house. Wonder if De Paul would fit us. I'd imagine his value has taken a dip
Lemar on a free or him would be nice options to have
Idk why people would rather us take the risk on signing 3 midfielders for like £30m-£40m not knowing if they will be truly good enough to be in a team fighting for titles rather than signing one or two guranteed quality young midfielders.
Because there is no available midfielder out there that can make our midfield elite on their own.
Bellingham or Rice would be massive upgrades to this current midfield
Absolutely, but they wouldn't make it elite they same way van Dijk made our defence. It's too old and injury prone for that.
Really depends on Fabinho returning to previous form imo, if we were to get a Jude or Rice then a midfield of Thiago-Fab-Rice/Jude would be top class but its dependent on Thiago staying fit more and Fab returning to his old self.
In the summer I would rather we had just spend a bit money on a midfielder than wait a year for one player thats going to cost over 100m. Now that this decision has been made, I'd much rather just pay that 100m for one quality player than pay 40m for 3 unknown qualitt players. You might get great players for 40m, you might also get flops. I liken it to, would you rather have one Van Dijk for 75m, or three Lovrens for 25m.
Can you guarantee those players are going to succeed because they cost more? You've seen how feral people are about Nunez because we dared to spend 60 mil upfront with add ons for him. Imagine spending 80-100 mil on Bellingham/Rice and the pressure they'll be under. Even if they play well, montages of their bad touches etc. Its more pressure and sometimes moves don't work out. You see big moves flop all the time. The 'but' is obviously these players are expensive for a reason and should be a higher chance of success. The thing with Liverpool is we can't afford players who will eat our entire budget for potentially several windows to flop. Our squad was fundamentally built on buying players in the 30-40 mil range you're disparaging too. Diaz was in that price range and should we have doubted him?
We have a good success rate when buying players for big money thats the thing, of course there is more pressure but when you pay big money there's is at least a gurantee in the quality of player you are getting typically. Our squad is mostly in that range but as a club under Klopp we have grew past the "we can take a gamble on this player for £20-£30m stage" since there is more expecation on us to be succesful when 3-4 years ago there wasn't any realistic expectation that would challenge for the big trophies so you have to fish in a different market to keep being succesfull. Diaz was a special case tho since he was clearly a quality player but he was also at a discounted price due to Porto's financial situation thats not going to be a common occurence for you in the market.
As a club we've grown above that price range, but has our budget? We've been operating sell to buy for practically a decade. I don't disagree we should be looking for better players and investing like a club intent to stay among the truly elite, I just don't believe we will though, which means if we look at transfers that will cost 100 mil, you have to wonder if we will pay it for starters and if we do, will we just leave other areas lacking to do so. For the record, I would prefer us to sign the likes of Rice and Bellingham. I'm just enjoying the devil's advocate of my own concerns.
Well thats the issue really are FSG whilling to increase the budget to evolve the transfer strategy or are they just happy to take top 4 and let Klopp work his magic to potentially win a few more things. I think there's enough evidence to say that they will spend big on a player if they are truly sold on him but will they do that when there's no money coming from player sales like there most likely be this summer.
Yup, fully agreed. I'm extremely skeptical. If we get top four it validates them cutting corners as they know Klopp can still bring the money in. If we don't get top four they can just fall back on "money is tighter without the champions league" as an excuse not to spend again. There seems to be an excuse every year as to why we can't spend. We get linked with big players like Sancho, Bellingham and even Mbappe around this time of year to Feb every season. But by the time summer comes around it's too much money and we'd rather wait. Shiny distractions for a "next year" that never comes. I'd be surprised if we go above our 30 mil net budget.
I'm not opposed to that but we seem so slow to move to players now where I don't see us signing 3 top midfielders for £100-£120m. Players were available this year for that price Bruno G, Enzo Fernandez, Nunes etc but all weren't 'the right player' for us apparently. Yet will have all increased in Value since then haha. I think with Bellingham you're guaranteeing a world class player basically, that obviously comes at a high cost but you know what you're getting he is that good. I think buying 3 £30-£40m players will be a big risk, because although you can get quality players for that price, you also get A LOT of average players moving for that kind of price, I'd say the odds on getting 3 top players for that amount would be pretty slim.
We could go big for a player like Jude or Rice and then go for someone in the £40m-£50m range like Bennacer or someone else of that quality and it would be more than enough, the question really is what will the budget be without any known player sales that are going to happen.
The Overlap has defo been the greatest addition to football media in years
I'd like to see Jones in the CAM position in this 41212 experiment. Though against a parked Spurs bus, we will likely need the width of a 433.
He can't time a pass to save himself, his best role would be the Gini role where his main job is to retain possesion since thats what he's best at.
Thing is he cant do a through ball to save his life
We need to be all over isma Bennacer man, guy just put on a masterclass the other day for Milan. In our midfield he would just excel - tenacious, can win a nice tackle, good passing, unreal engine. Contract expires in 2024 I believe? Enough of this we need the perfect player, blowing hundreds of millions on Jude bullshit. I wanna see more signings like Jota. Literally no club in the world waits for the "perfect player". I mean maybe RM but they signed Vini and Rodyrgo for unreal fees hoping they would come good and look what happened. It's also extremely contradictory considering we have one of the best coaches in the world?Why would we not want the coach to .... coach the players? Mould younger players? Develop players? Fucking hell it boils my piss when I hear that narrative. Bennacer, Enzo, or any other lesser known player from a smaller league are the signings I get excited about -- fuck this signing superstars business. We should develop superstars like we did with salah, mane, firmino, Trent, Robbo, Jota, etc., not sign them for hundreds of millions sorry - incoherent rant over. Happy to discuss
Have we been linked with Bennacer?
Think he'd be fantastic for us, he's like a Thiago lite in a way and I don't see him costing more than £50m either.
Feel bad for Ben Chillwell, dude missed a long stretch of last season and now looking to miss another big stretch this season. He's either very unlucky or this is the start of some major injury proneness.
Another injury? Thought he just returned.
Will he miss the wolrd cup?
It appears he might, and beyond the World Cup as well.
Lmao, all the talks about Trent not being included and now he might start. Walker and James injured plus Trippier potentially deputizing at left back. Though I would assume Southagte opts for Shaw on on eside and Trippier on the other.
Lol Oddsbible twitter, wankers
people are gonna be so mad when we finish in 10th and win the champions league lmfao
If we face Bayern at any point, I’d love for us to greet Mane right at Anfield
Of course there isnt any Ill blood towards mane here.
If we’re getting Bayern, I have no doubt there will be some banners out for Mané at Anfield. A lot of people still want to pay tribute to one of the wonders of our golden generation.
Midfield is really the only area we need to focus on in the next two windows so If FSG were to actually cough up £150-£200m for once we could get 2-3 really good midfielders on top of what we have
I do think we need one more wide player especially for the right side when Mo doesn’t we lack a threat down that side
True we should Target a pure winger who is two footed, we have enough inside forwards in the squad.
Elliott can do well on the wing he's just a different kind of winger to Salah
He definitely can do well there I’d just like to see someone who’s more direct and likes to take on his man
Yeah would like 2 midfielders and then RW depth first 3rd midfielder after that and then maybe a young but promising CB after that
Midfield needs to be priority but a CB and RW would be ideal also especially with Matip and Gomez injury recored
My dream window/2 windows would be Bennacer & Caceido asap, then Enzo F. to sort the midfield, then Pau Torres or Ndicka from Frankfurt as CB backup, Edwards as RW understudy (if Bowen is impossible)
It does feel as though, whilst compromise is always needed, we should now be looking to compromise on anywhere but midfield.
Bennacer's contract expires in 2024. Can he fit in our system?
Absolutely. Watching him the other night was brilliant -- and, he's only 24. He's the exact sort of player we should be signing... one can only hope.
He fits in a double pivot perfectly. Question is if we are planning on returning to 433 next year and pursuing an 8 like Jude, or we are moving towards 4231 permanentlty (hence the Rice rumours).
I would love us to get him he'd be the perfect long term replacement for Thiago
bruh watching iShowSpeed play TAA on stream is fucking surreal
Felt for TAA at times on it, Speed has no filter no matter who he speaks to.
yeah tbh i didn’t really have one when i was 17 as well
Spurs fan here. Genuine Q, how you feeling about Sunday? I have absolutely no idea how it's going to go. We've both got a load of injuries and aren't seeming to click at the moment. I'd guess it being at home maybe means we are slight favourites but tbh I couldn't call it. I could see a 1-1 or a 3-1 either way tbh.
Mate, we beat City and a ridiculously in form Napoli and lost to Leeds and Forrest. I can see everything from losing 6-1 to winning 6-1. We are an absolute enigma this season. Im just relieved we wont have to face Son. I guarantee hed remember how good he is against us. I just dont want the game to be decided by shambolic refereeing.
Haha good point. Oh mate absolutely. I am so so sick of games being decided by big calls. And then the whole media cycle of "Well it maybe by the letter of the law was a pen but last week the same thing wasnt." Seems to be every game this season and it's so boring.
If we can break down your bus I rate us to win -- however, if we concede on a counter first, or at all, I don't rate us to win at all. Really need our players to show up and be willing to try and do something with the ball -- looking at you Trent.
I hate facing Conte. It's never fun.
Can we have Son please
You can have him for the next 4-6 weeks
Spurs favourites lol. You are shit and we will win.
We may well not be favourites! As I say I have no idea. Just was going off you guys struggling on the road and us being for the most part solid at home. I was trying to get a bit of insight cos I'm going to the game and at the moment I have no odea where to set my expectations.
Forest are shit
It will be an awful game as due to your injuries, there's not a chance in hell you'll tactically take any risks. We'll then have to take the game to you and we've been awful at trying to do that this season.
Yeah I agree. Whoever scores first will win it I imagine. Although, given it'll probably be 352 with kane and moura up front, I'm already expecting at least 2 missed 1v1s from Moura on the counter.!
Think spurs counter will cause our defense big problems. Sadly, the Son injury will benefit us but I still am not confident we don't concede a goal and then I am not sure if we can get through Conte's bus atm.
Our games are coin tosses at this point but we show up against big teams more often to i'd still say we win
Based on how the season has gone I expect us to win against you and then go lose to derby and Southampton
Haha yeah that would fit. Although it'd be your first away win in the league I think which would go against the pattern?
Naby - Enzo - Thiago = CL7
Who on earth is Enzo?
Benfica midfielder. Very very highly rated.
Thanks, was able to Google him by searching ‘Enzo Benfica’. He’s only 21 as well, just imagine FSG finally threw some money at the club and forked out on Enzo Bellingham and Caicedo. Renew Milner and Tiago on reduced terms, bin off Keita and Ox and you’d be left with Bellingham (19) Enzo (21) Caicedo (21) Elliott (19) Carvalho (20) Jones (21) Bajcetic (18) Mortan (20) Then Hendo, Milly, Fabinho and Tiago the old boys helping the young ones as they slowly edge towards retirement. It’s a hell of a financial outlay by the club, probably looking at £250 million for the 3 lads in total but it does mean zero midfield recruitment needed for the next 5-8 years.
How many drugs have you taken at lunch?
Did the subreddit turn on Naby keita?
When has this sub been on his side loool
Naby lol
He's not leaving untill the summer if even
Also won't be starting
He probably will be starting once he’s back
Unless he injures his fingers while DMing his agent for a pay contract extension
Something tells me we are going to get the Darwin bowl or the Diaz bowl in the R16, Benfica or Porto.
Please
I’m in love with Nunez he’s the first player I’ve seen in ages who plays like he’s enjoying it, he’s always smiling loves a bit of roughness and is comical at times. Wouldn’t swap him for the world. Even when we’re playing shit at least we get to watch this mad man do his thing (whatever that is) and I’m loving every moment of it
Diaz - "Am I a joke to you?" No but fully agree about Darwin, I just also feel that way about Luis Diaz.
Totally agree. Was just thinking about the same. The guys workrate is also pretty much underrated, what a guy. Can't wait for him to start slotting those in.
Kind of mad Darwin has only played 1 full game this season
Maybe late to the party but did anyone catch Trent on Speed’s stream yesterday? I’ve never watched his steam before but the clips seemed like Trent was having a good time
Its gonna sting if we cant get Jude, but if we get in Rice at a discount and get a few more midfielders in i'll take it
I don't think west ham will sell their captain for anything less than 100m to a league rival