Presumably they wouldn’t be the ones being left out of the squad?
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The argument was (presumably from the sarcastic comment) that the league mattered more and because we could list an extra player or two domestically it doesn’t matter about the slightly stricter UEFA rules. I disagree. Anybody left off the UEFA list is going to be mighty pissed off and feel unvalued. Much better to put a squad together like (*for homegrown ¥for club developed and ^for B list/under 21’s);
Alisson, Kelleher¥, New 3rd choice Keeper*; Trent¥, Gomez¥, VvD, Robertson, Williams^, New CB/Kabak, New CB/Matip, Tsimikas, Davies/Phillips*; Fabinho, Thiago, Henderson*, New DM/CM, Milner*, Keita, Jones^, Wilson¥; Salah, Mane/New Forward, Firmino/New Forward, Jota, Elliott^, New CF.
That gives us 4 club developed players; Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez and Wilson.
4 homegrown players; New 3rd choice Keeper, Davies, Henderson and Milner.
3 under 21s on the B list/free; Neco Williams, Jones and Elliott.
And 15 of the 17 slots for foreign senior players filled.
May always end up with one or two we can’t sell or loan out. For instance we might get a replacement for Matip in the summer but he may not actually leave till he’s recovered from injury the winter or following summer. Or Origi/Shaqiri/Minamino may decide to stay and force their way into the squad. Or we might pick up an interesting bosman signing too good to turn down. Or we might not be able to get a homegrown Keeper so 3rd choice Keeper may be one of the 17.
Anyone who doesn’t make clear to have no problem with one year now EL can fuck off.
Can I sell the owners?
Can I sell the club to a sovereign well fund? I no longer care about money laundering, as long as the new owners pump money into the club - in fact, money launderers are more likely to do so.
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Looking at the squad there’s some major changes needed over the next 3/4 windows really or we will have a mass exudus the following summer (2023). Skip my suggestions if you want but hopefully the situation for each area of the pitch is useful for some people.
Goalkeepers by 2023;
Alisson (30) one year left but Kelleher (24), Karius (30) next year and Adrian (36) this year will have run down their contracts by then.
My suggestion would be to extend Alisson and Kelleher and let Adrian and Karius go with a new 3rd choice come in.
Centre backs by 2023;
Gomez (26), Matip (32), Van Berg (21) will have 1 year each, Van Dijk (32) and Phillips (26) will have had their deals expire that summer. For what it’s worth Davies (28) would still have 2 years left.
Suggestions; Extend Van Dijk and Gomez, let Matip go as and when an offer is made, same with Van Den Berg, Phillips and Davies. Need to recruit for the near future here, starters or potential starters, probably 3 over the next two years and ideally 2 of them this summer.
Full backs by 2023;
Alexander-Arnold (24) and Robertson (29) would still have a year left. Tsimikas (27) and Neco Williams (22) would both still have two years left.
Suggestions; Look to extend the deals for Trent and Andy sometime during the 2022/23 season. Wait to see who is ready for promotion from the academy before making any changes to the depth.
Centre Midfield by 2023;
Jones (22) two years left on his deal and Thiago (32) one year left. Grujic (27), Keita (28), Fabinho (29), Oxlade-Chamberlain (30), Henderson (33) would all run down their contracts that Summer. Milner (37) would have run it down the year before and Wijnaldum (32) this summer as everyone knows.
Suggestions; Wow this is where we need the most work. Fabinho I’d extend, Henderson too but more for him to move into more of a Milner style support role by then. Grujic, Keita and Ox have to move on before they get to the ends of their deals, can’t have them move on for free they’re all worth something but not earning contract extensions barring a miraculous change in fortune. Milner not likely to stay past his current deal, Thiago probably come to the end of his time with us around then and move on around that Summer before his deal runs out. Need to recruit our next generation of starters bringing them in as soon as possible to get them ready to be competing with Jones and Fabinho for starts within 2 years. Talking at least one this summer and one or two next summer.
Attack by 2023;
Origi (28) is the one of the only ones still going to be under contract as things stand with one year left, same for Minamino (29). Jota (26) with two. Firmino, Mane, Salah and Shaqiri (all 31) will have all ended their current deals that Summer same for Wilson, Awoniyi and Ojo (all 26) and Elliott (20).
Suggestions; Extend Elliott and probably Jota by then. Salah and Mane extend if possible and sell in 2022 if not (unless Mane is inclining to move this summer and his departure could be used to help bring in Mbappe). Firmino be open to buyers. Shaqiri, Ojo, Awoniyi and probably Wilson (unless something miraculous happens) try to move on before their deals expire. Origi and Minamino move on as soon as there are buyers they unfortunately wouldn’t be missed. If one of Origi, Shaqiri, Minamino or Wilson stay next year that player and Elliott are our attacking depth, if all of them move on someone needs bringing in for depth. As and when any of Mane, Firmino and Salah move on they need replacing with top line quality to start putting together our next great attack, so they should really be same age as Jota or younger.
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No, they’d get 4 billion for them.
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I know. It was a heat of the moment response. We could not ask for better owners. Although it’s hard to entirely trust them now.
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I’ve said this before, how does this trust actually manifest itself in a manner that they’ll notice?
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Fortunately, you don’t own it. So no you can’t.
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You can’t. Only thing they’ll take notice of is bad PR and hitting them in the pocket. The bad PR might make them roll back on a decision but it doesn’t seem to stop them making other poor decisions without any consultation with or consideration for the fans.
Hitting them in the pocket only hurts the club. Everyone could boycott a game but that’s not going to happen having been locked out for so long. We could not buy shirts or food at the ground but realistically it won’t do anything long term.
Personally, I think they’ve been good for us. A couple of missteps along the way before the Super League thing but generally I don’t think we’ve a lot to complain about before then. And if the Super League had gone ahead and we’d been valiant and opted out there would be huge outrage that they’d let us get left behind. I don’t mind us being in bed with that elite group and even exploring the idea but the way they went about it was crap.
We could be a lot worse off for owners. Gulf states, great for transfers but not great for the conscience. Same with Oligarchs. Both of who could pull back spending on a whim as we have seen with the likes of Monaco. Could have the Glazers who have siphoned off billions into their own pockets with the leveraged buyout.
They are good owners that have made some bad decisions which is better than bad owners making bad decisions or having owners you know are using your image to wash theirs.
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That wasn’t really a whim more a political gesture.
I still don’t understand why Shaqiri wasn’t sold last summer. He was excluded from the matchday squad because apparently talks were in advanced stage with Lazio/Sevilla, but nothing happened.
He wanted to stay till his new thatch was completed 
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Couldn’t agree more with this, and I’m despairing at the mindset of people like @Thomas1195 calling for an Oligarch or Oil State Ownership.
Oil States and Oligarch’s are the reason why football is in this state in the first place.
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It really isn’t though they don’t help!
Corporates like FSG don’t seem to help either.
The struggles between clubs (often from their familly owned and run status through to the present day) players, media fans and general public to what we have now with global tv, internet and self centered idiots. Non seem to really help, some associations keep a remnant of integrity however UEFA and FIFA need big reforms as well.
Breakaway entities like EPL created a lot of problems in themselves.
Don’t forget the Chinese, who are slowly, silently, but surely, clawing into European football.
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We need a shake up. If possible I would sell:
OX
Keita
Matip
Shaqiri
Origi
Grujic
Davies
Wilson
Leaving on free:
Gini
Loan:
R. Williams
H. Elliot ( depends on whether we need him for squad depth)
If all or most sold… Should be enough along with wages saved and whatever funds provided by FSG ( they owe us for esl fiasco) to do a bit of shopping this summer.
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If possible is where’s the catch is in this climate right now. Last summer already, this summer and we’ll see really how much back to normal in the summer of 2022. I predict an interesting period, loan moves, short term deals, not getting prices some clubs hope to get, accepting some lower prices if clubs really have to do it, some more important players waiting with a year or two left on their deals. More “risk” in the air. But yeah, surely our focus must be on shrinking the squad to be able to bring 3 good and fresh outfield players in. Very interesting to see what we qualify for, still 3 realistic options left: EL football, Conference football or no European football at all. Could also play a part with how large a squad we prepare the next season.
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