I would like us to extend Becker’s contract by two years.
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Except when Araujo does do the said nonsense.
I do think he did good btw. Has enough leadership experience and still young enough that the calmness of Virgil can help him grow as a footballer. If he plays 40 games this season and helps us get CL , we might want to hold on to him
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I didnt see any of the game yesterday. How did we play? Who was good who looked poor?
Wirtz is a problem although talented. Its the same as Cherki at City. Its hard to get players who like to roam into the game in the Premier League.
I still think teams will walk through our middle if we don’t bring anyone else in which is looking like we wont.
Wirtz wasn’t poor. He lacked service against a team which was setup exclusively to target him. The other players came up well.
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Unfortunately that line between a good and a world class player is that the latter always find a way to get involved. Last season there are mitigating factors but this year, he needs to pull the strings. My own personal take is that he is a very good player but not sure where the generational talent that some are heaping on him. Hope to be wrong.
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Jacquet looks good despite the first game of pre season. If he stays fit, with Leoni and Araujo, we have a good quartet to go into the season with
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Wirtz wasn´t that poor and had a few nice touches that led to chances, but he wasn´t as good or decisive as you want from such a player.
He wasn´t getting the ball enough from midfield and to be honest, a lot of the time there wasn´t much ahead of him, but for that fee and with his talent you want to see him taking the game by the scruff of the neck more - making incisive passes, dribbling past players and getting shots off.
Sometimes he comes to get the ball and just bounces it back to the passer and runs off and I think he should be trying to turn like a top player could.
We shouldn’t forget that there was a very good team facing us. Italian teams are never very easy to get through, and as a natural consequence, Wirtz never had much room nor time to wave his magic. He still brought in Isak a few times during the first half, it could have led to goals. He struggled towards the end of the game, just like all the others.
We’ll see how it goes for him, but I expect him to vastly improve his game this season for us if he stays fit.
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It wouldn’t be a very effective use of over 100 million but maybe if opposition see him as the creative threat and double up on Wirtz making space for the wide players that is the sort of valuable contribution the stats wouldn’t show.
I’m not convinced about how a midfield 3 with a number 10 works with our current selection of midfielders though.
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Hello everyone, few days to go before a new, exciting era starts.
Many things to look forward to, in what I think will be an up-for-grabs season.
Arsenal for sure have the first say, so unless other teams test them, they are the team that knows how to do this right now. But I’m expecting (and hoping) that after their last season’s shenanigans, teams will figure them out, and refs and rules already changing to an approach that won’t encourage this kind of football will probably make it harder for them to rely on that as much as last season.
That said, now that they have already won it, they may be able to even play proper football. Maresca’s City couldn’t keep up the other day, but let’s see if the Charity Shield curse gets the champions.
Too much talk about Arsenal for this post, but they’re the team to beat this season.
Back to Liverpool.
The thing that excites me the most is the thing I’ve been missing the most these past couple of seasons, to watch our boys play with incredible (well, any, really) intensity. So I’m hoping we can see Iraola’s machine in full action as soon as possible. From the pre-season games and from Iraola’s comments it looks like it’s going to take some time, but the hope is that even before we see the full show, there will be enough difference to excite us and to bring results.
I’m really looking forward to see how different players will shine under Iraola. Wirtz, Ngumoha and Isak are the first ones that come to mind, but really looking forward to see the Iraola side of every single player.
I think there are challenges in every area of the pitch.
How well the defense can do, after leaking goals so easily last season, is one. I’m excited with the younglings in our defense, Jacquet and Leoni are impressive for their age. I think they can already be solid enough, and I think Araujo will prove to be a brilliant move, hopefully good enough to be bought at the end of the loan spell.
Kerkez and Tsimi fine on the left, with Kerkez ending the season well and expecting him to further improve under a manager he’s been so comfortable with. My worry is on the right, and it’s mainly an injury based concern, but that’s why we brought Araujo, so I hope we will always have one of the 4 players fit, so that we never have to see Szobo there again (or any player out of position).
Another big challenge is to find the right mix in midfield. With Grav, Macca, Szobo, Curtis (if he stays) and Nyoni as the primary options (Harvey and Endo there as well), both choosing the starting three and the way they’ll be played is pivotal to how well our season can go (assuming there that Wirtz will be played as a 10, and not as part of the front 3, so we’ll see).
If Iraola finds the way to make the midfield work, we may even be in a position to challenge for trophies sooner rather than later. And while the ingredients are there, it will be tricky to get right. I wish we could have more cover for defensive midfield, and I hope Iraola’s style will be an environment where Wirtz can both shine and evolve to the world class player we expect him to become.
Other than that, I hope to see last year’s Szobo, and the Macca and Grav of two seasons ago (where I thought they were our two players of the season - Salah’s extraordinary numbers vital too, but he’s not in the discussion right now).
Less worried in attack, but we’re a bit more limited until Ekitike returns, so I hope that Isak can get goals from the go, and that all forwards can perform well in this system - something I’m optimistic about.
Hope we see our squad strengthened with a couple more quality additions, and bring on Newcastle.
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He was outstanding second half and made some difficult saves look easy. It’s so important to try to keep him fit and as you say extend his contract.
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Hmm, you really think you can just waltz on here after the shitshow that was last season and think all will be fogiven?
PS. Welcome back mate
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Back line played really well defensively and going forward.
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Sounds like a certain player we sold last year who is 3 years younger, home grown and cost a fraction of what Muniz cost…
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Thanks mate 
Were you referring to the actual on-the-field shitshow, or the shitshow that was going on here? Honestly, not sure which one felt worse. At the time, I felt I could endure the team shitshow (not without pain, granted), but here was not the healthier place to do it. Let’s see whether I’ll regret my decision to return. Hopefully people will be willing to give Iraola time, and not pull out their guns at the first blip.
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I think maresca is a shit coach. Three of the arsenal goals went in because the right back was given conflicting info.
Arsenal got away with a cynical AF challenge too.
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And not to mention the disgraceful calafiori dive.
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I do think he’s a massive drop down from Pep, looking forward to seeing them drop away a bit finally.
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