He faced a very dangerous attacker who has given him fits in the past and kept him pretty quiet. I had to be reminded yesterday evening that Martnelli even played. And in addition his passes created our two goals.
I didn’t see the game just MoTd highlights. What stood out from that for me was two things.
One Martinelli spent much of the time working closely with Timber to shut down Salah. It was only when Timber started struggling due to fatigue that Salah started isolating him.
Secondly, Robbo’s side was targeted by Arsenal who I think pushed an extra player wide. Mac appeared caught in the middle as to who to pick up leaving the left side of defence a bit more exposed than usual.
One of the things I am looking forward to seeing is how Arne does against teams second time around, because he strikes me as the sort of coach who will learn from his encounters and develop effective plans to counter them if faced again.
Watching Bradley with NI is not the same as watching him with Liverpool first team. You don’t play as a right back in isolation, you play with a team structure and teammates that can significantly boost your ability to contribute.
Would you have the same impression of what you have of our prime Robbo had you keenly observed his time with Hull City? I suspect not.
Similarly, going by England matches, TAA is a far inferior player than he actually is.
Yeah though I’ve watched all his games for Liverpool too. He’s great but he’s no Trent (yet)
He had 3 woeful passes in that 2nd half and it just SEEMED with how bad they were that he had thrown the toys out of the pram and couldn’t be arsed as he is going.
I have highlighted the seemed as that was my thought at the time, because all 3 passes were poor especially from what we know Trent is capable of.
Maybe some of us are putting 1 and 1 together and getting 3 with all the speculation.
Yes, there’s so much wishful thinking about youth players who come in to the first team. Only Trent and, to an extent Jones and Elliot have established themselves in the last decade. In that time there have been dozens of ‘next big things’.
Hopefully Bradley will come good, but it’s just as likely that he won’t. We certainly shouldn’t be betting on him to seamlessly replace TAA.
Sorry to be a pisser but seems a bit hard to reconcile these …
I have absolutely no respect for the English language.
Weekend
The longer it drags on without signing the more likely it is that he is off. It is touch and go and my best guess is he will leave for Madrid. Trent has won the lot with us. He could stay and try to win more titles, and hopefully become the captain. It’s all there for him.
But if he has any sort of yearning to spread his wings and try another city/lifestyle/culture, he will surely leave. I can respect that.
If it is Real Madrid, even though the balance of their team is off at the moment and there are a few issues, they sit at the pinnacle of the game. Huge club, stadium, global fan base, and they will always be at the sharp end to win La Liga and the CL on a regular basis. The money will be great and there appears to be a vacancy.
If Trent decides to leave we will be fine.
What I would like to see is him sign a new deal with a modest release clause, to ensure the club gets a payday. MacAllister was always going to leave Brighton, but he signed an extension so they could get a 40M payday. The going rate for him at the time of the signing was probably 60-70M, and the clause ensured a win-win-win and everyone got most of what they needed from the deal.
If Trent sticks to his guns and leaves on a free, it’s just the business of football, so I won’t be too upset, but I can well understand if at that point he slipped way down in the affection of Liverpool fans. He should expect that too. We gave him his chance. We made him the player he is, coaching him, nurturing him, and guiding him up through all levels of the game. To my mind there’s a sense in which getting us a payday to reinvest in the squad seems like the right thing to do, if he is leaving.
If he goes on a free it will be win-win-lose (Real Madrid get the win as he will be on a free, Trent gets the win as he will be paid well and will get a huge singing bonus, but LFC will be the losers, as a very valuable asset walks out the door for free).
What will be will be.
I hope he signs a new deal, but the stars seem clearly aligned for a move to Real Madrid to me. I just hope Trent engineers it toward a win-win-win, but I won’t hold my breath.
Inevitable when a local lad in his prime walks away, for a fee or for free…
Like others in the team that Jurgen assembled, he played to their strengths, and thus they flourished… It is unlikely RM will afford TAA the same luxury, for they have too many others that need to be catered for in a special way also - I would like to see Trent remain at Anfield and progress as a player, but I too feel his head has already been turned to pastures new… Downside to all this, there is absolutely no guarantee he will be a success, nor that he will enjoy working for his new employer - hope it doesn’t turn sour for him, he is, still one of our own, no matter what.
If it comes to this, he can still come back the season after that, just like Rush did. No shame in that.
If he goes for free… Can’t see that RM will let him head back for free though…! - On a world stage, don’t think Michael Edwards/Hughes will want to touch him if they have to pay. This would be the pain of not securing any funds for him in Jan…!
You wouldn’t anyhow. Whatever clause we could get in there will be lower value than what he is potentially sold for anyhow.
I wouldn’t be saying sell him and then buy him back for at least double.
I feel his form has been rather poor in comparison to the other two.
If he goes he goes and he won’t return until he is potentially a free agent again.
As others have said, nyet. Real do these to profit and it would be like lil Mickey Owen all over again.
Yeah, fair enough lads. No quick return possible indeed.
I think this is more a heads I win, tails I don’t lose scenario. I think they do want to have him play for them, but there is not so much downside risk if he doesn’t fit in and perform. Sylistically, he is a much better fit for their team than Owen probably was and doesn’t have someone like Raul in the team.
Just wondering how the position in real Madrid might change if someone like Xabi was given the job.
Sure Xabi might find a use for Trent as a wingback in his tactics. But he’ll find it very very tough to integrate all the others in too (with the typical Perez pressure of having to integrate all the galacticos including Mbappe/ Bellingham.
Not to mention the existing guys in the midfield like Tchouameni, Valverde , Camavinga.
That pales into comparision when the defensive rebuild is needed too.
Trent is someone who demands to be given the ball. In Madrid , he won’t have the same freedom.
Cadena SER (which, if my memories serves me well, isn’t a bad source) are certain that Trent won’t extend with Liverpool.