Nah I just wouldn’t deal with these clubs.
Really no need, I can’t see players going the other way.
2 Likes
I wouldn’t want to see Liverpool play there, either. But- sadly- money talks. If, hypothetically, the Saudis offered £100m for a couple of friendly matches, do you think FSG would turn it down?
No chance.
2 Likes
Nah as long as it’s set up similar to this season.
Though it’s Euros next summer.
1 Like
Joyce:
Virgil van Dijk reeled off the concerns one by one: player exits, a dearth of new signings and familiar defensive frailties.
The Liverpool captain considers himself an optimist, spying opportunities where others may see only a potential ordeal, but he is aware of the murmurs of discontent from a portion of a fanbase who have gone from doubters to believers and now flipped back again.
“I can definitely understand it in some ways,” Van Dijk said. “I’m not a very negative person so, obviously, it’s not in my mind to think like that. But when a lot of players are leaving, when your captain is leaving, your vice-captain is leaving and, at the moment, there are only two incomings.
“And the way we have been playing, in possession really good but, defensively, when you concede goals it’s not as good, so I can understand some people having doubts.”
A positive result in the Premier League at Chelsea on Sunday would help restore some perspective, but it spoke volumes that Jürgen Klopp, the manager, was left wrestling more questions than answers as Liverpool ended their pre-season programme with a 3-1 victory over SV Darmstadt 98 on Monday.
The summer signing Alexis Mac Allister was the latest to be road-tested in the No 6 midfield role, which has become a problem position since the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to the Saudi Pro League and Southampton’s stance in rejecting three bids (the highest being £45 million) for the teenage anchorman Romeo Lavia, who would still be a project signing in any case.
Earlier in the friendly schedule Trent Alexander-Arnold filled in and Curtis Jones was also trialled as the pivot, but that the team balance is not right is disconcerting given the underlying issues that led to last season’s dispiriting fifth-place finish.
Liverpool allowed 370 shots at their goal in the league last season according to Opta, 73 more than the previous campaign and the most in a full season since Klopp’s arrival in 2015. They faced 103 big chances, the third-most behind only Leeds United, who were relegated, and Fulham (both 112).
Against Darmstadt a ball over the top allowed the newly promoted Bundesliga side to score, while it was evident in last week’s 4-3 defeat by Bayern Munich in Singapore how opponents target the right side when Liverpool switch to a back three in possession with Alexander-Arnold stepping from full back into midfield.
The fact that Klopp’s side have scored at will in pre-season — 18 goals in five games — underlines their offensive strength, but it is the number conceded — 11 — that is clearly a worry for a team that seems to be heading back to the you-score-we-score approach that characterised the manager’s early tenure.
Van Dijk refused to accept the upheaval in midfield as an excuse for being porous and revealed the coaching staff have already held meetings in an effort to address the matter.
“If you see it as very black and white, then obviously when you concede goals it is the defender’s or the goalkeeper’s fault,” he said. “We defend all together. It is not just the midfield or the strikers or just the defenders. It is about the way we try to put the opponent under pressure. If they are under pressure they cannot play the ball in behind so easily and you are prepared for it.
“It was a good meeting the other day. Very clear and very direct and that is what we need in order to be successful. It was very helpful. The way you are positioning and you have to be ready for the balls in behind. When teams smell the danger is there, they will go for it.”
Klopp has always stressed the importance of pre-season, but his team is not where he would want it to be ahead of a campaign in which, after Stamford Bridge, Liverpool face away trips against Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion in the first eight fixtures.
Instead, he recently felt compelled to ask supporters to “trust us” — which should be a given for a manager who, in recent seasons, transformed the club into Premier League and Champions League winners and the only team to seriously challenge Manchester City’s dominance.
Yet the Liverpool of today does not inspire the same confidence as the Liverpool of 2016-2022. Since the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid 15 months ago, the missteps have become more pronounced under the ownership of Fenway Sports Group and winning a little more difficult as a result.
Changes on the pitch have been mirrored by changes behind the scenes, with Jörg Schmadtke a temporary sporting director after Julian Ward resigned within a year of taking over from the redoubtable Michael Edwards.
The decision-making feels more fuzzy. The failure to sign a midfielder last summer exacerbated current problems with Liverpool opting out of the race for Jude Bellingham before he had made a final decision on his future.
The initial £64 million outlay on Darwin Núñez is still waiting to pay off and how Alexander-Arnold is used is set to be just one of many subplots.
Still, there is Mohamed Salah, Mac Allister looks an astute purchase and Van Dijk will seek to assume more responsibility having inherited the armband from Henderson.
“Let’s see if more players are coming in,” Van Dijk said, “and then we have to be ready again for a long season. We have to be confident, we should be confident and we should still be learning each and every day.
“There have been characters leaving, players who have played a big part in the success, but others have to step up. That’s a nice challenge in my opinion. We should be excited. I’m very excited, so let’s give it a go.”
2 Likes
Journalist stirs pot.
I doubt someone will be getting exclusives again.
4 Likes
van Dijk wasn’t saying he has those concerns, he is trying to say he understands if some fans have those reservations. They’re not ignorant of the general concerns of fans.
Funnily enough the article says how Liverpool faced more shots than they had since 2015 but also says losing Henderson and Fabinho are concerns as we don’t have a proper 6 now. Paul, mate, don’t you think the presence of those two players was a big part of us conceding so many shots?
Klopp may have wanted to keep Henderson and Fabinho, but we all know Klopp sometimes needs saving from himself and gets a bit too emotionally attached to his players. They were both fucking shite last season, we are better team simply for the fact we won’t have them on the pitch again.
2 Likes
Totally agree with this!
Still… liability or not (Re:Henderson & Fabinho) we need a proper DM before the transfer window closes. Holding off for Trindade in January might work if we are lucky but we should never rely on luck.
I don’t necessarily agree with the posters who think we needed a DM in two weeks ago. But I do agree with them that we need someone decent in.
Our teams in 2018-2020 is heavy base on physical. When they drop, its tend to massively. All of Mane, Gini, Origi are shit after leave us. Henderson and Fabinho was shit last session. And I think Gomez and Matip already same category and need to go next session. Move on those players alone is already improving the squad.
And unpopular opinion but Im happy move on salah next session too. He not really suits the new role.
German interview after the Darmstadt game
English subtitles available, enable subtitles and autotranslate
3 Likes
Cynically I’d say Joyce has played a blinder here. Pluck a few quotes here and there selectively from a fan favourite to write the article he already wanted to write. He knows that anti-FSG content is going to sell here, so why not stir the pot? Certainly seems to have people eagerly taking the bait…
1 Like
I’m not sure about Wijnaldum, but Mané averaged 119.25 minutes per goal contribution in the Bundesliga. His last season with us was 141.25. In the Champions League, it was 137.75, while he hit 137 in his last season with us.
Even taking his best seasons in each competition for us, he only managed 85 minutes per goal contribution in the Champions League in what was by far the outlier season (other seasons had 164.14, 157.75, and 178.75), and 101.85 in his best Premier League season (other seasons being 147.74, 128.58, 129.65, and 117.37).
So in terms of raw contributions, not a decline. Maybe his underlying numbers have declined, but I can’t be arsed.
I find it laughable that you think a player who played a total of 3498 Premier League minutes for us over 6 seasons is on the decline physically, or that his strengths were ever physical.
3 Likes
Is it anti FSG?
I don’t consider myself anti FSG, but most of it makes sense to me.
You can express reservations without opposing the whole thing.
1 Like
To be honest, scoring for Bayern in the Bundesliga is shooting fish in a barrel.
2 Likes
Is that the thing a journalist is supposed to do? Praising the owners and painting beautiful pictures for the fans.
Or speaking what he really sees and thinks, even if it means he won’t get exclusive news, because FSG will be unhappy someone is telling the truth…
1 Like
No, maybe adding something to the situation, he picked bits of a VVD interview added a whole of subjective information and ended up with this.
I could have just listened to the VVD interview and got more from it.
If you want to write a critical piece on a statement so be it, don’t pretend that VVD totally agrees with you.
Like half of that he doesn’t actually know it’s all guess work.
If truth be told I’ve not read anything decent whether positive or negative on us for a while. We get pieces that over egg that we have lost 8 players ignoring than almost 5 of them could easily be covered by a half able youth player.
4 Likes
I can’t say I’ve ever tried it, but I imagine shooting fish in a barrel is still quite difficult.
Edit, glad to see Thiago involved again but Darwin wasn’t to be seen.
Amazing uplifting video, players looking fit and fresh.
2 Likes