The depth of Liverpool FC's squad for the 2024–2025 season: Are We Ready for the Challenges?

The Albert
82

The fact we’ve been after one for three years is telling. As is Slot’s very limited use of Endo. We needed one so badly we were willing to break a transfer record for the position. When that failed we bought a stop gap to address the need.

That stop gap isn’t much fancied and isn’t the level required. As nearly every summer, people point to bodies and say we’ve got what we need, everything else is a want. Reality is it’s just semantics. We’ve needed a top number 6 for about three years. We’ve pursued four very expensive options and settled on someone who is less than ideal. We still want and need that number 6.

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83

Absolutely spot-on.

And the same principle can be applied throughout the squad. We have a squad that is capable of challenging for honours. We don’t need anybody, but if the opportunity arises to improve the squad then we will try to do so.

It’s not our fault that Tchouameni and Bellingham both chose Real Madrid over us, or that Zubimendi’s family didn’t want to leave Spain.

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84

We have played two league games.
Slots limited use of Endo isn’t an argument.
If thats the case his use of Gakpo is also for debate.

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85

He hasn’t used Kelleher yet either. Must mean he is also shite.

86

“He is.” - @Sweeting

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87

I was debating myself whether I should post that, but you did me a favour there.

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88

What an astute piece of analysis.

89

Like yours on Endo.

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90

Because you’d expect our backup keeper and the number six we bought last summer to see similar minutes on the pitch wouldn’t you.

Painfully bad argument to make.

91

You obviously have no faith in Gravenberch in midfield.
Poor argument on Endo.

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92

If we’d bought a lad who had just put in the three performances that Gravenberch has given, this forum would be creaming itself.

The clubs analysis was that Zubimendi was a player who was worth persuing. When it didn’t work out most clubs would have gone ‘right - who’s next on the list’. That’s what you’d want them to do.

But the sensible thing to do is to look again at your options, and ask ‘is the next one on the list a serious upgrade on what we have? Would the price make it worth doing’ The answer in this case is no.

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93

It’s a three game sample size. Yes he’s looked good but let’s not start checking that off as issue resolved just yet shall we. We were suitably concerned by it to spend £50m on someone just a month ago.

Then there’s the question of are we expecting him to play 50+ games there this season given Endo is a very different proposition there.

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94

I don’t know why this is so difficult.

I think ‘concerned enough to spend £50m’ is the wrong way of looking at it.

I think the club are continually monitoring the performance and transfer situation of dozens, if not hundreds of players, that are on the shortlist. They will know, through their analysis which of them represent an upgrade on what we already have. When it looks as though a player we have an interest in and upgrades us is available, we can move.

That’s what happened with Diaz (who was on the verge of a move to Spurs), Gakpo and Nunez, also (although less successfully) with Tchouameni, Caicedo and Zubimendi.

Zubimendi is a case in point here. The lad had resisted offers from a few clubs, but from somewhere we got the idea that he might be available. He is a player we like and think upgrades the squad. And we almost got him - save a last minute change of heart after an emotional club intervention.

That doesn’t mean three weeks ago we thought our midfield was shit and we just keep working down a shortlist until we land one. I mean, sure, there are number sixes available - Utd have just signed Ugarte - but that doesn’t mean we should have signed him.

The club still obviously think Mac, Grav, Jones and Endo are a good pool for the double pivot, and there are other options there as well.

Ian Graham has cited seven reasons why transfers fail, of which the top three are

  1. Current player is better than the new player
  2. The player is not as good as first thought
  3. The player does not fit the style of the team

Liverpool cannot afford the 50% failure rate that most transfers come with. Even if you are 90% sure on all Graham’s seven criteria, that still accumulates to a 48% success rate. So we will not move on players until we are certain on all of them. That’s how we’ve had such success in recent years with transfers.

If we were operating on a level playing field then maybe the club could take a few more risks, but honestly if we start taking a speculative approach to transfers then City are jumping for joy. What ever we speculate they can speculate more. We have to aggressively get that transfer success rate to as close to 100% as we can, even if that means we are more cautious in the market than fans would like. That’s the only way we can compete.

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95

There will be games where Endo is perfectly fine. I don’t think any player will ge expected to play 50 games.

It’s also worth remembering that we are in uncharted territory regarding player wear and tear under a new manager. Players regularly got injured under Klopp. Slot comes with a reputation for keeping players fit through less intensive football and resting in game. It might be that we need to see how this goes under the new manager.

96

You say I’m not getting it but really we’re just differing in our opinions.

I know what you’re saying. We’re pretty happy with what we have but something peaks our interest that eventually doesn’t work out and so we decide we’re fine. That’s your reading of the situation and it may be true.

But for that to be the case with Tchouameni, Lavia and Caicedo too seems a bit fanciful to me. We’ve pursued a number of players for that position and ended up signing one who doesn’t fit our type in any way shape or form who we’ve then been open to moving on from it seems.

To me that suggests they’re being more than just opportunistic and have instead been actively looking to recruit a player there for some time now with Zubimendi the latest candidate.

Call it need, want, desire, longing or whatever, our behaviour suggests it’s an area we think we can improve on. Maybe we were more comfortable walking away from Zubimendi and doing nothing than we were last summer when missing out on the lads that went to Chelsea saw us bring in Endo just a couple days later. But it doesn’t suggest to me that they’ve stopped thinking it’s an area we could and probably should be looking to strengthen.

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97

I think we’ve been a bit unlucky with midfield in that we’ve been dicked about a bit by lads who I don’t think were ever going to come. Caicedo (or his people) made it clear that he was interested until it turned out he was a bit more interested in Chelsea. Same with Lavia, although thank fuck that one didn’t work out. Zubimendi was also seemingly interested, until he had a change of heart about leaving his boyhood club (which suggests his heart wasn’t really in it).

But I don’t think this is just limited to midfield. We had a good run at Leny Yoro before being put off by his interest in Madrid and his demands. And we were definitely trying to sign Anthony Gordon earlier in the window.

I also don’t think there are that many quality number 6’s knocking about, which means they tend to be fought over a bit more. Apart from Zubimendi (which collapsed for very different reasons) I don’t think we’ve had a clear run at any of them.

Even the signing of Endo points to a methodology at work. Cheap, older player who won’t be on big wages and we can move on from quickly if the dream six can be got. And that’s under Klopp who played with a single six. It was much more necessary to get a bogus to fill in under Klopp that it is under Slot.

And let’s not forget that in the last year of Klopp there was a bit of vacuum where previously there had been strong strategic leadership. We didn’t have a Sporting Director, and ended up appointing Jurgen’s mate to apparently help him drive the recruitment.

I think they have that approach to the whole team. Our biggest signing this year is a goalkeeper we won’t see for two years.

But yeah, I think we can see a desire to improve on our deep midfield. But this doesn’t mean you undervalue what you already have, and risk throwing money away on a signing that makes us little better.

98

The more we continue playing like yesterday, the more attractive coming and playing in a Slot team will be.

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99

It will be interesting if Gravenberch continues to perform as well for the rest of the season to see how they consider strengthening that 6 role within the squad - do they still hold out for a quality player like Zubmendi, allow themselves to go for a back up player not as good who ticks enough of the boxes to make him worth signing. Alternatively, will Bacjetic do enough on loan to get that role himself or Morton from within the squad?

100

Was there any genuine source for that? Doesn’t make any sense to me at all, unless we were going to flog Diaz. Thank fuck that didn’t happen!

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101

Was reported by most of the big guns that they wanted Quansah as part of the deal and we refused. Newcastle basically leaked it to put pressure on Gordon to sign a new contract.