I think Edwards came back because the FSG offer is sublime.
There is literally no point in ripping up two thirds of that team.
I’m sorry, yes changes may have to be made but if Edwards whole idea is to rip up the playing squad then there was really no point. As I point out he may sell Nunez and some will be told they are liable to circumstance but I don’t think FSG are planning on an overhaul. They will be delighted with how the youth system is working for example.
I think Edwards interests will lie more on this second club and how that works with Liverpool.
In fact an overhaul may happen next summer. This summer is very time constraint.
I’m not saying two thirds of the team but I could see Salah and maybe Nunez leaving with a new forward coming in. I think Gakpo could and should be given the CF role and just allowed to play, he’s class.
I wouldn’t put money on Nunez going but I can certainly imagine it.
Edwards will definitely have interest in a second club but that second club is also likely to be a pretty small in stature compared to Liverpool. I think his new role guarantees him final say over a coach, something he would have needed assurance of after what happened (or we assume happened) with Klopp.
A young LB to back up Robbo, a new starting calibre CB, a winger and possibly a DM. It’s not a massive shopping list but it would freshen up the squad.
Look at it this way, the squad was coached by arguably the best manager in the world and finished 3rd by a distance in the end. It’s unfair to expect Slot to be as good as Klopp, he needs some help in the transfer department to get close to challenging for the league again.
I love how the youth system is working too but Quansah and Bradley have been integrated already - the others I don’t think are ready yet. Chambers, Danns, Koumas and McConnell are the most obvious choices at the moment and I don’t think any of them are such clear cut first teamers right now. I would have at least McConnell, Koumas and McConnell out on loan next season.
They need to sort out contracts today. I think VVD and Trent are entering final 12 months.
It wouldnt suprise me if Trent joined his mate bellend-ham at Real. His tears yesterday in fromnt of the kop could be sign that he is off. Real wont be buying Davies this summer so will have the funds after buying Mbopp.
To be honest, if someone forced me to bet, I’d bet on Diaz leaving before Nunez, even if both leave this summer. The biggest issue with our front three isn’t their lack of composure in front of the goal - it’s the lack of chemistry. After watching the telepathic understanding of Mane, Firmino and Salah, any front three selection that a Liverpool manager can make at this moment looks like it’s playing together for the first time.
There’s also no obvious starting front three, which is a major worry, and I’m also not sure about the best positions of these players. All of Gakpo, Diaz and Jota seem to look better on the left, though Jota admittedly looks good centrally, too. To be honest, since Slot will be getting a clean slate, I’d take it a bit further and sell Diaz and Salah and subsequently invest in two wide players.
I think Nunez will go in the summer. He looked miserable yesterday, almost like he didn’t want to be there. I’d like him to stay, but maybe we’ve seen him for the last time in the red shirt.
The point I was making is I don’t expect many changes without big sales.
I can see one surprise but I doubt they will make more than 2-3 signings max, the suggestion in your original post was wholesale changes.
There isn’t the time and I think Slot and Hughes will have to assess firstly.
They report to him, he could have come back in his old role if he wanted it’s evident that he wanted something more and it isn’t to do a FM with Liverpool’s squad.
The response is the right one. Klopp is a world class manager, but one that clearly had run out of steam, and I’m not sure the level of autonomy and responsibility helped that.
You can’t replace Klopp, and I’m not sure we even want to.
For 18-24 months LFC was the best team in world football. Everything was working well - it was more than the manager.
What will be interesting to see is whether Klopp leaving has made it easier to move players on - when Edwards was last here we had summers where we struggled to sell players and therefore the funds to go out and buy more than the absolute minimum - and that was often thought to be Edward’s reluctance to reduce the price he thought a player was worth. Is he going to me more flexible on that, will players now want to leave now that Klopp has gone, will other clubs ‘smell blood’ and come for players?
A lot of the team is also new, evidently what finished our charge was too many players having to play too many minutes and others not stepping up.
That forward area is probably an area I’d consider looking at but I just don’t see an FSG project ripping up the squad which I said in my original post.
In fact if I was expect two to go it would be Nunez and Trent. I think the rest will be kept.
Notice how most of the fitness team is also leaving, that’s no coincidence.
In fact it’s probably where from an outsider we need to improve most.
Squad-wise we are not as far behind as the table would have you believe. I don’t know if we would have won it but we would have been up there right until the end without the injuries. We need some tweaks and a couple of additions and we could go all the way next year with better luck on the injury front. Of course, for that to happen Slot and his staff have to prove that they are able to cope with the demands of English football.
I have no expectation though of them being able to match Klopp on any level. That would be unreal and unfair to the rest of the league.
Have to say that thought crossed my mind yday. I hope not and that it was just genuine emotion on saying goodbye to the only manager he has known, and a father figure
There will be a few twists and turns over the next few weeks as Edwards and Hughes take hold of it, and Slot and his team move in.
Before a ball is kicked in the new season, the biggest thing on our minds will be player movement, outgoing and incoming.
We all know who is low on their contract. Some very big players, and it would seem remiss to let all those deals expire, although the players hold the cards.
Then incoming - we’ve all got ideas, I’ve said the four areas I would look at, but who knows?
I think a lot of that has had to do with tactics. Salah is being made to drift wider off late.
He’s made some telling contributions in a slightly wider deeper role but we don’t see him beating the last man often enough because he’s not playing off of the last defender.
Our attacks have also become slightly predictable, almost entirely involving Salah. Opponents have kept multiple men to crowd him out. Add that to freekicks not being given against him etc.
If Salah is to stay , I’d like him to be playing a more forward role as a impact sub.
I think it depends on what he values more: being the Liverpool captain and lifting the PL and /or CL, or being a Galactico and playing with his mate in sunny Spain.
Money might come into it, too.
But he’s a shoo-in to be the next Liverpool Captain. And someone who’s there as a long term captain. He’s already won the lot but there’s a different thing about winning titles as a captain.
Boyhood Liverpool lad. Liverpool academy player. He’s got his family there. Unless something goes seriously different in contract negotiations , he’ll be signing his extension pretty soon.
For people earning the money that Trent does. There’s not really a huge difference in their total earnings in football even if he manages to go to Madrid and spend some 5 years or so there.
Whatever they make in Liverpool, if the lot are guided in financial matters well , they’ll make a huge chunk of money with wise investments etc. Money won’t be the only consideration for him to leave.
Steve MacManaman was a Liverpool lad, albeit an Everton fan as a child, and it didn’t stop him from going to RM. Trent might feel that he’s got a greater chance of winning more honours at Real then he has at Anfield under a new boss who hasn’t proved himself at a top level club.
I sometime get the impression that Liverpool fans from outside of Liverpool put too much belief in the idea that any Liverpool lad would automatically want to spend his whole career at Anfield. That was more true in the past, but these days I think players think more about their careers and, if they can, they want to win as much as possible.
How much does Trent get at the moment anyway? I feel sure that he would want his new contract to put him on a par with what Salah is getting.
