Hammer blow - Jesus what an over reaction in that headline.
See @Dane’s question in Núñez’s thread.
I nearly just posted the news without any attribution.
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I didn’t like Morton against Accrington, that game needed someone who could control well from deep areas against that type of opposition, especially having Szobo alongside (I don’t like him at double-six). Bloody Accrington at home. But form changes, these are players who don’t play very often anyway. Hard to expect some sort of consistency. McConnell looked good in his last two outings. Interesting as it seemed Klopp saw him more as a #6, I think someone reported that Klopp thought he wasn’t quick enough for the offensive #8 positions. Under Slot, it might be a bit different, but we also play a different midfield structure. He gave him a good praise post-PSV, it sounded like Slot wasn’t surprised as McConnell apparently trained well. Nallo got a pretty negative review, for comparison.
Anyway, Morton will surely want to go somewhere where he can settle and play regular football. McConnell’s path continues, we’ll see if he can have a future here. Next summer decide what’s best for him, to be kept or loaned out.
I’m pretty sure the coaching staff are well aware that not playing often enough leads to those issues. I’m not sure Morton goes from a key player in a promotion-chasing Championship side to being unable to deal with a League Two side. That’s explicitly what Arne said about why he played the side he did against PSV.
Not everyone is like Endō who seemingly can come into a game cold.
Yeah, even with Endo, it depends. Had some good cameos to put the game to bed, but wasn’t good against PSV. Nothing against these players, but Endo and Morton will probably both be sold this summer. You don’t always get 2-3 games in a row to warm up (you rarely do, if we talk about these either direct backups or further backups on the periphery), you have to show up at this level, take it with both hands and then merit more. Everyone can have a bad game, that doesn’t mean it’s the end for them. But it’s how it goes. It’s first down to quality of the players, then the other circumstances.
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I’m not sure I agree with this. I don’t think the coaching staff would be placing too much emphasis on one or two games. I think for those on the periphery, it’s more what they do in training that matters.
I’m still not sure what people see about Endō that I’m not. Whenever he features, Arne is keen to talk about him and what he offers in a way that he doesn’t for any of the other players with limited game time. It’s almost as though he’s trying to coax Endō into not pushing for a move.
Morton, perhaps. But it wasn’t that long ago that he was highly-rated either. I think it’s recency bias for people to pick up on what McConnell did in his most recent game, without remembering that it makes sense that Arne would have said what he did given that McConnell has been injured for most of the season thus far and was deemed too far down the line that it was better to send him out on loan. It’s like Elliott’s case but also that he’s further behind in development/talent. I don’t think it necessarily means that he’s ahead of Morton or otherwise, or even that they would be competing for the same spots. For sure, Morton needs more game time, but I don’t think it’s a case that we don’t rate him enough.
Fans can miss a game or two, how someone played exactly, because it’s not our jobs. The coaching staff goes into much more detail than we do. Not only a game or two, basically every action of a player.
As for Slot’s quotes on Endo, it’s called keeping players happy about someone who is professional, does a dirty job for us, mostly in closing stages, while being a clear backup and probably won’t be here much longer. If we don’t watch football since yesterday, it’s clear what he’s doing.
Of course he’s not gonna say “he isn’t really my type of midfielder I want to build with and I can’t see a future for him here, he’s for sale”. He’ll give him praise, especially if he’s a good professional for us, trains well, is ready to come on for the last few minutes.
I said up there that form can change, it’s not like now McConnell is bound to have a successful future here because of a few promising outings.
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You’re completely ignoring the context of what else I’ve said about how he’s usually singling out just Endō for this praise despite plenty of other players being in a similar position, e.g. Gomez, Quansah or Morton, and even without being asked specifically about him.
You seem to want to believe that if they’re not playing every single game then they need to be moved on.
Do we have to go through these things again…
He’s praised Endo and he’s praised other players as well. Don’t know what type of game you’re trying to play with these Slot quotes all over the forum, are we heading towards measuring every word he said about someone? Do you think everything he says is exactly what he thinks?
What should he say about Endo other than something positive like he is. Okay, if Endo merits more and more often, that’s good. Still won’t change what happens with him in the near future.
I see how well someone is playing, what’s the quality like and other circumstances around. How often someone is picked. These are not 50-50 decisions, depending on which mood Slot woke up that day, the weather outside and what not. It’s for good and obvious reasons, mostly because of quality. Which Slot also often says: quality of the players.
Nobody is saying these players are total rubbish if they’re not starting at Liverpool. But there is selection on every day basis, there is constant activity in the transfer market, constant attempt to make us better as a team and as a squad. We might lose some players we don’t want to lose, but we’ll also move on players we judge are the weakest links, in order to make us better.
There’s nothing amazing or catastrophic in acknowleding or predicting that. Endo, Morton and a few others will most likely leave Liverpool at the end of the season, so what. It’s how the planet turns.
There are other players who are not playing every single game who I’m almost sure won’t be moved on.
No, you’re right. We keep going around in circles simply because you want to believe that there will be a lot more turnover than there usually is.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Morton go, but if you think that Endō will follow suit as well I think you’ll be thoroughly disappointed.
I said a few days ago that I actually don’t expect a lot of changes (what would be called a rebuild), but of course part of it also depends on the 3 key players with their contracts running out.
It’s really not a wild guess if I say Endo will leave this summer. Most of us know which players are closer or closest to the exit doors.
Slot saying how nice a professional Endo or some of these players are won’t change that. Praises and transfers also go hand in hand, what can you do. Praises and mostly not starting also. It’s nice, because at least he’s a good professional and has some quality, but we will want to improve and he’ll likely want to play more.
I don’t cheer for Endo to leave, I don’t hate Nunez. I don’t rate them enough as players, that’s true. I want all of our transfers to turn out successful. Which is impossible. Some of them aren’t quite good enough and they are usually the ones who are moved on, when multiple sides agree on the timing also (level of interest, etc.).
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How many seasons has it been that Gomez has been supposedly close to the exit doors, on his way out?
I don’t know, a good few I guess. Even if Endo remains this summer, at this stage of his career, I don’t see him improving to start playing more next season, if we don’t have a dramatic injury situation where we’re forced to do it. He probably leaves next summer or generally in one of the next few windows. It’s likely that a main trio of Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Jones (who is still used between two positions and it’s not like our #10’s are firing, by the way), players we mostly use as those double pivots, won’t be enough in terms of depth.
Seeing how young Gomez was when we got him, that he was high enough in the hierarchy in some seasons, had periods of proving he can absolutely be a starter here (which was in some of our best seasons of Klopp’s era, which is partly sad because it’s also a long time ago), is versatile, had injuries… yeah, that one went on a bit longer than most would imagine and is still going on.
Or it fooled a portion of fans, if they constantly thought he’d be moved on. There are also reasons why, health depending, for a number of years now, his status is where it is (right now I think he’s ahead of Quansah, 3rd CB and 3rd full back on both sides). It’s almost like he’s torn between remaining comfortable here as a backup and pushing to go somewhere to play more again (before it’s too late), not end his career as a Liverpool backup. Circumstances opened up a season at LB last year, maybe that made him appreciate it more again. He spoke about that, regarding that near departure last summer in the deal involving Gordon. We weren’t going to involve Konate…
No I don’t see him playing that much more unless our game play evolves in a direction that makes more use of his strengths, but he only has 2 years left on his contract after this season. At this stage, an extension to that is the most unlikely outcome, but you can well see him staying until the end of that contract since his wages are relatively low, or at least until we feel as though we have someone we want to bring in whom we could use that space for.
I think it’s likely that we see more of Endō before the end of the season, and he may well surprise to the upside. However, his recent comments in an interview (I think he said something along the lines of not thinking he can learn something) were rather disappointing. I’m not sure the relevance of Jones being used between two positions?
And that is precisely the kind of situation I’m referring to. We don’t need to turnover players for the sake of doing so. Players like Endō and Gomez will be useful enough such that they would not be forced out of the door, unless they force the moves themselves. It’s not as though they don’t work hard and just languish.
I know his age and how much he has on his contract, that’s one of the first things I look up when we sign players. 2 years is a lot of time in football and we will likely need an injection of added quality and competition. We were willing to do it last summer. Gravenberch’s form might not change it completely. We play with double pivots anyway, so a new player can also challenge Mac.
Jones is used a little bit as a #8 and a little bit as a #10. Which means that in double pivots, we do need a bit more quality and competition. Is it possible that Jones with time becomes a full time #8 and we look to sign a #10, to battle with Szobo? Maybe, but our recent activity and how Slot wants to play, I don’t think our evolution or depth in midfield done and dusted now with the “discovery” of Gravenberch. Further up the pitch, it’s likely that a new striker might be on our agenda pretty soon.
Gomez has versatility over Endo and a much more importance and experience (good experience) at this club, which bought more time here. We don’t have to go through transfer windows and list the amount of obvious names that were moved on, over which most fans would previously agree they’d move on. Media also helps us. Being a top club, we are the ones who will usually say “no” to players or “it’s time to go” rather than the opposite.
Nobody needs to be forced out the door or a player forcing to leave, most transfers are done in a completely normal way. Who knows if Endo is even willing to do this role for another season or two. That’s not something I want us to continue with, either. Rather get a replacement in, or a younger player of similar level, with room for improvement.
Endo doesn’t strike me as someone who would cry, moan or not understand if this summer he’s told he can talk to other clubs and we find a new solution for him.
Fabian Mrozek loaned to Forest Green Rovers
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Played last night and kept a clean sheet.
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Koumas with a brace against Cardiff in the FA Cup today.
https://old.reddit.com/r/LiverpoolFC/comments/1ikqlaa/great_finish_by_koumas_stoke_1_2_cardiff/
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