Seven games
314 mins
Two yellows
Are you sure? Did you actually see him play any of those minutes?
Did Davies play against us for Rangers last season?
I think he did.
Nobody knows for sure.
He actually made a mistake for one of the goals.
What I’ve expected. Klopp would be open to give him a new contract. ‘But it’s in the clubs hands’
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It would be the morally correct decision, I think. He’s been a good servant to the club, would be bad form to chuck him out in the cold having suffered this injury. Hopefully he gets a proper send-off next season.
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Might also depend heavily on his capacity for mentorship. Notwithstanding my pessimistic take on his prospects, with some younger players coming into the position, having an old head around for a year might be a good thing.
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He should get a new contract if the club feel he can make a sufficient physical recovery and perform to the level required.
He should not be offered one on the basis of leadership or because he’s been a good servant to us.
We made the mistake of giving Henderson a big contract for those reasons and were fortunate the Saudis decided to shoot that albatross out of the sky for us.
It’ll be a massive shame if Matip never turns out for us again. He’s been a fantastic player ever since he got over that ankle issue he had early on here.
As we’ve seen time and time again, Klopp’s loyalty to players is both one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.
Matip came in on a free and has been one of the most important players in our recent successes and seems like a fantastic guy off the field.
For me, you have to look at the situation without sentiment though and put the ball in his and his agents court.
He’ll be 33 at the start of next season, coming off the back of a major injury. He could be 34 before he’s ‘back to his best’ - but bearing in mind natural decline for a player that age, it’s almost certain it will be diminishing returns from here on in.
With that in mind, any new contract needs to reflect that. Not saying he shouldn’t be offered one, but it should reflect his age and position as 6th choice CB in it’s length and value (VVD, new CB, Konate, Gomez, Quansah, Matip).
If that doesn’t work for him, and he thinks he can get a better offer elsewhere as a free agent either in terms of pay or playing time, then we should thank him, wish him luck and move on.
I’d be happy for him to get another year on his contract, but we 100% should not be planning for next seasons squad with Matip as one of the senior CBs and I’d struggle to justify his current wages for that role.
I don’t know. He’s not a kid and he’s already been paid incredibly handsomely. Allowing him to stay as part of the group to use the facilities and team to rehab is an incredibly decent thing to do. That would possibly require some form of minimal pay as you play contract to cover the insurance implications and could open the door to registering him to play if needed in January of 2025 (because he will not be ready to be registered by the start of next season). But a proper legit contract for someone who wont be available to play until then and will be 34-35 by then? That is a level of sentiment that I wouldnt imagine even the players think is reasonable.
Luckily, these decisions are not down to one man. Plus, who knows what’s behind the scenes.
If there were, who knows what our Klopp era would’ve been. Maybe getting Brandt instead of Salah, giving Bobby a new deal last season, etc.
Klopp said he deserves the club’s support, which of course any injured player under our contract (and maybe a bit post-injury, if he’s still free and can’t find a club) will get. That there is potential for a new contract, which of course Klopp won’t deny in an early December pre-match press conference. You never know what might happen.
I understood it that the club will fully back him. Maybe also even if his rehab somewhat surpasses the end of his contract and he needs more time next summer to agree with a new club. And give him a proper goodbye in May if it’s the end.
I don’t see the need to be more kind than that. Service works both way here, Liverpool and Joel Matip both served each other pretty well.
It’s not one of those horrible situations where he won’t be able to find a new club next summer, that his playing career might be in question here, etc.
Just thinking with his injury does this allow us to register another foreign player as we can remove him and add someone?
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https://x.com/daveockop/status/1733083640614060172?s=46&t=aLG9ncyUrtZ-QtZv0kz6SQ
Hopefully we don’t act like a charity. He’s finished now with this ACL.
This. I’ve grown somewhat cold to every person representing the club bar Klopp and a few selected players such as Alisson, Van Dijk or Mane, which is unfair on each and every one of the rest but I want what’s best for the club - and I don’t think that giving a pity contract to Matip is good.
He’s been a quality transfer for this club but his contract status, injury history, age and ACL rupture mean that it’s probably time to part ways. I have a hard time believing that club didn’t plan to replace him this summer, so depending on what happens over the next month or so, I think we should definitely bring forward the acquisition of a new centre back and hope that he can help us to trophies, especially if we’re still in the thick of title race come January.
The number of our own supporters who underestimate our team surprises me.
The only way we are not “in the thick of the title race” this season is if the refs keep shafting us.
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and injuries
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You and @GermanRed laid out both reasons why I have fears about our prospects - we’ve been maintaining a “one injury per match” ratio for a few weeks, and one of them was a potential career-ender for one of our players. Only Newcastle have a longer list of injured players than us. Given the form Konate was in, Matip was rightly keeping him out of the starting XI, so his absence will definitely be felt.
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Can we please wait and see how we do today and then move discussion to the expectations thread 