Rumours of a release clause kicking in for Rayan next summer, and we love a release clause.
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I think macca has enough credit in the bank to warrant one more season.
Footballers do have bad seasons. And how much of that is due to slothball and how much is that due to the footballers.
I think thatâs the big question, maybe more so with Mac than anyone else. I could be convinced either way, I donât have a strong opinion about whether to sell or keep. As long as he has the structure around him and doesnât have to defend big spaces, I think heâll be fine. And I think as long as heâs fine in that phase of the game, heâll be good.
The overriding question for me is if a midfielder who canât move his feet quickly can play for a top team now. Does he become a weak link we canât afford to have?
Thing with Mac Allister is he has two years left on his deal and turns 28 in December.
We know the club are only giving big contracts to players of that age if theyâre integral to the team like Virgil and Mo. You wouldnât say Alexis falls into that bracket so if thereâs any doubts around a new contract or his legs then now is the time to sell him.
But then if thereâs the possibility weâre also selling Jones do we want that much disruption in midfield or could we perhaps spend the money we get for both and buy Wharton and then make more use of Endo, Elliott and Nyoni to make up the minutes.
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Absolutely, some good points to consider that.
I like it when Liverpool buy players, so I wonât be against it if they decide to change things up in midfield by selling the pair of them. Would be nice if they kept Jones, Iâd prefer that, but if he has decided to leave then it is what it is.
If we accept that macca is never going to be the defensive midfielder that we need and instead play him in a much more advanced role where he has to still press , but he doesnât need to cover the entire length of the pitch as the main defensive man , I think heâll be fine.
28 is basically him entering his prime as a footballer and selling him on what has been just one bad season really doesnât speak well.
He could well turn out to be unsuited for Iraolaâs brand of football but that can only be gauged by the coach.
Whatâs not deniable is that we need a CDM. Weâve been crying for it for a while (ever since Fabinho started his decline) and all the club has done is to force coaches who had to play the likes of Henderson , gravenberch, macca , Dominik , Jones because we werenât decisive enough force moves. In tandem with misguided pursuits of people like Caicedo which ironically meant we missed out on Lavia.
And we could have easily gotten the likes of Rice / Wharton. Rice , a couple of seasons before Arsenal started to show interest in him. The potential was there for all to see. And we were much ahead of arsenal in terms of the team etc
I think we can only let one of Jones or Macca go this window, and would need at least a replacement player, assuming Nyoni and Bacjetic are in the squad.
Whether Macca becomes integral will depend on Andoni and where he sees him fitting in.
The age thing is more in relation to his contract than anything else. Right now, would you be offering him a 2-3 extension on his current deal with a pay rise to be amongst our top earners? If not then selling him has to be an option weâre open to.
Best case is he starts the season with a return to form, agrees a couple year extension and we have him tied down for four years on whatâd be his last big contract. Worst case is he shows last season wasnât merely a blip, we keep him another year and then try and sell him next summer for half what weâd have got for him this summer. Or worse, he struggles on for another two years and goes on a free like everyone else seems to.
I want the good Alexis back but if a really good offer came in and we thought we could replace him with a Wharton or Camavinga or someone else that helps balance that unit a bit better I think weâd have to consider it.
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You clearly didnât see the news yesterday that Jay Spearing extended his deal by another year 
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My theory on Macca is that he has more left in the tank than he showed last season. In a world where we canât do it all, as we arenât physically capable, one legitimate reading of his form last season is that he was pacing himself, to make sure he had enough oomph for a big World Cup.
In some ways I donât like saying this, as it means he had another prize in mind greater than LFC, but my strong suspicion is that he could see what a state we were last season, so he âpreservedâ himself a bit, as we werenât going to win anything at LFC either way. In the end we got the bare minimum done in CL qualification, but Slot paid for a poor season with his job.
Moving forward I can see both sides of it with Macca. If he stays, and plays to his potential, he is a great asset. At that point we will still have to set the team up so there are no large spaces through the middle, as he isnât an elite athlete. Thatâs not his forte, even if there are other very good parts to his game when he is at his best.
The other side of it is that a decent enough bid comes in that we accept it, and all parties are reasonably satisfied. I can live with that, too. So what will be will be, and we will see in the next few weeks.
There are other midfielders we could sign, and in addition to that I think Nyoni is making a great case for himself too, as a young player forcing his way into the first team squad. My hope is that Bajcetic - who is a fair bit older but has missed a lot of football - can do likewise.
Good luck to MacAllister, but in a world where he is sold and we buy, say, Wharton, to give us some great passing from the midfield to hit our forwards and wingers in Iraola-ball, where it quickly goes âverticalâ (I like the word âforward.â But vertical is the current lingo) then bring it on.
Iâm chilled and waiting to see what happens.
The midfield is the third area of the team to address for me, after sorting the wing and defence.
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Tells me that you donât watch la Liga; certainly not closely and are just fronting hereâŠ
Whatâs with his mentality? Just curious, Iâve only watched him very sporadically, the odd game here and there over the years. Heâs been on my radar just recently after seeing he had a breakout season in terms of goals and assists.
You have to be trolling
First he was unable to deal with the pressure of playing for Barcelona. But in fairness, so have others..
2nd, loaned to Osasuna in 2022-23, he fared no better than the previous season.
The last season at Betis is really his only productive one. Pellegrini has helped him a lot.
But even here, his inconsistency remains. In crossing, defensive work, etc.
Reminds you of GarnachoâŠ
He responds very poorly to physical and aggressive tactics.
A good example of this are in games at AFCON and especially against GetafeâŠ
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Bit of an odd take considering Muñoz was (harshly) known in Spain for choking in the Clasico when he was at Real Madrid.
An academy player in the classico, whose entire Madrid career was 4 matches.
And the claim of choking is the 1v1 miss in the final minutes of the classico, having come on in the 88th minute.
Stop fronting about La LigaâŠ
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Trent not being there is huge. Thatâs another threat that the opposing defence donât have to focus on. Macca isnât good when the opposition zero in on him.. Grav can turn but is shockingly bad at consistent passing. Szobo can run and press but often loses the ball at dangerous spots.
Wirtz is too far up front to do the job that Trent did. We need a deep lying passer
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Hence, Wharton
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But that was point. You made some odd comment about Abde choking but Muñoz is known for that here in Spain. Arguably why they got rid of him, is the narrative.
So by the same logic youÂŽd write him off.
As I said, it was harsh he is known for that, but he was and so it seemed odd that would be your logic to say Abde is viewed worse.