Plenty have.
Lol we whine a lot but we forget how well the guys are actually doing.
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Regarding our forward line I thought this was thought provoking from Redmen TV and I do agree with it in regards to the 9 position, although one difference with us is that our 3 front men rarely interchange, especially on Mo’s side.
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With Quansah and Bajcetic, they are both at the age and stage in their careers where they need games. I have no doubt around either of their quality. If they can get games here, then I’d be all for that. But I think they are not going to benefit from occasional cup games.
Anyway regardless if whether it’s a new signing, or a loanee returning, I would be looking for a CB (Huijsen), a LB (Kerkez) a Versatile midfielder, and a striker (with Nunez departing).
I would not sell many lads, and in all honesty we shouldn’t need to. To pick out a few names I’ve seen mentioned…
Gomez - will need him to deputise Bradley when Trent leaves, also can cover across the back four, and home grown.
Endo - Slot appears to have grown to trust him to do that shoring up midfield and seeing out games thing. You can’t overvalue a lad who is happy to be here and willing to do five minutes of kicking people a week.
Jones - fuck knows why that name gets brought up.
Diaz - likewise
Jota - great squad option striker, and the only reason he has struggled is s bit of a freak injury.
Chiesa - would like to see what he can do with a pre-season under his belt.
I would be looking to move on Nunez and Tsimikas and a few kids.
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FIFY
Pep writing that book didn’t help either. Glad he’s gone from the club.
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Agreed but it depends on what happens with Mo and Virg. If either or both of these leave then we will need further replacements which may necessitate raising funds by, for example, entertaining offers for Luis.
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Yeah, most people on here seem to be assuming that Mo and VVD are staying. It seems to me that is increasingly unlikely.
If Virgil goes we need two CBs, if Mo goes we need a RW on top of the LB, CM, and CF we will clearly require.
I’d be very wary of starting a season with Bradley and Gomez as our RB options. Both are injury prone and it seems like a big risk.
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People need to get over themselves and remember he was an integral part of our success. Whatever one might think of him from their outsider’s perspective, it’s quite clear that Jürgen valued him, and his input was valuable for better or worse from 2018 onwards.
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Let’s say your assertion is true. That becomes functionally the same as sell to buy. We’re splitting hairs here.
Because he’s frustrating. All the talent in the world but inconsistent. Just when you think he has kicked on after a few decent games he regresses back to dwelling on the ball etc. Would you trust him over Mac or Dom? No.
Maybe he suffers when the team slows down in the first halves. It allows him to dwell. But he is questioned because his obvious talent and love for the club has not translated into consistent quality performances yet.
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We’re not at all, and no it doesnt. Other than last summer, the last time we had a surplus on transfer fees was 19/20 season. In the 3 or 4 years in between we had a deficit of £60m+ on fees each season (£110m in 23/24!).
What business we do is determined by a range of factors.
For example last summer Endo would have been sold if we got Zubimendi - but only because of the fact we wouldnt have games for him, and there was a concern that he didnt fit the way Arne wanted that position played, not because we needed to, to fund the move. We still would have brought Zubi in if any move for Endo fell through.
Furthermore, a sell to buy model implies you are willing to move regular starters on to simply fund new players - but we have rarely sold a starter unless they have asked to leave. If we did, its unlikely we would be at risk this summer of losing 3 key players on a free transfer.
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What do you mean we can’t buy 45 £100m players???
CHELSEA’S DOING IT DO YOU EVEN WANT TO WIN THE TRANSFER WINDOW???
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I feel like Jones is the most “continental” of midfielders that Liverpool currently have - he’s usually amazing with the ball at his feet and protects it like his life depends on it, and that quality on the ball is what Slot wants from his players. He is inconsistent, though, he sometimes dwells on the ball too much, and if the opposition presses like crazy, it can be a serious issue. PSG games are the latest examples of that (I felt he was good in the first and awful in the second leg).
I think it will take him another year or two to reach the levels of “at least 7/10 every week”. I definitely wouldn’t like the club to sell him, I genuinely don’t see a reason for that and there are plenty of other candidates for departures, who could raise a fair bit of cash.
Depending on outgoings (specifically Tsimikas, Gomez and Diaz), I wouldn’t be against the club signing Harwood-Bellis, Kerkez and Gittens. I have no clue about who might be the next centre forward, though, people mentioned Ekitike but I haven’t seen him play aside from one YouTube compilation (where he looks like baby Isak - and I mean it as a compliment).
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Endo being happy to help us see out games here and there and even for 5 minutes is cute, but we need more from someone who is, on paper, one of the direct backups at double pivot. And why isn’t he playing more, it’s because he obviously isn’t rated/trusted to play more. We need more, we’re battling on 4 fronts. Instead of doing a bit of picking scenarios when we can do it to give some rest to our main guys. You need 4 serious options there (2 per position) and then eventually a talent, an extra player, who gets some minutes here and there. Plus, who knows if he’s even happy to continue having this role next season.
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I expect he will want to play a season or two more regularly so I expect he will go.
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Got to be the dumbest trope going.
Squad limits, team harmony, wage bills and yes balancing the books are all considerations that need to be taken into account when buying new players.
Space needs to be available in the squad, the wage bill maintained at a sustainable level and the funds to pay for them have to come from somewhere. And then there’s the balance to be struck between squad depth and playing time.
You can’t just go drop £100m on Isak and keep Nunez and Jota so one would need to be sold. That isn’t “sell to buy” it’s just how it is. I’m at a loss as to how you can’t comprehend this very simple principle, every club does it.
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Unless you’re Chelsea?!
Your point stands. My shed is full of lawnmowers…I get a new one and still have all the ones I no longer use.
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But… why?
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Show me a player who isn’t occasionally frustrating? People were moaning about Szob earlier in the season. Diaz has had critics. Gakpo has had critics. Gravenberch was getting sold last year.
You can’t sell ‘em all.
Jones isn’t getting into a best eleven, but it’s OK to be the 12th or 13th best player in a team.
One frustration I have with fans is moaning endlessly about squad depth while simultaneously wanting to sell all our depth.
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The form of players also changes. Diaz started the season really well, in the last few months it was more Gakpo who took over on the left. Szobo has improved his form lately compared to early months of this season. Jones has started some games ahead of him in autumn. It’s not like we cannot imagine Jones pushing some players out, because it already happened a few times and in different positions. He competes for two very important positions. We have bigger issues to solve other than being somewhat frustrated with Jones’ development (long term, yes we can talk, who knows how far he goes at Liverpool). We ain’t gonna change almost the whole squad. Jones at Liverpool is all good, hopefully he’s niggle free, plays with more consistency and also adds more end product to his game. He’s also about to establish himself further on the international scene, because England are missing these control #8 type of midfielders.