Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

TitianGerm

https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0126/1428863-daire-gorman-jurgen-klopp/

Strong words from Daire on Klopp. It shows how much he has affected fans lives since he's been here.

"The fact he spent so much time with me and dedicated his whole work day to give me the day I dreamed of and all the glory he given Liverpool and all the trophies he has given Liverpool, its sad to see him go, its sad to see him go.

"I've shed a few tears today. He means the world to me."

I have to respect its for personal reasons so i have to respect it but I am still devastated. It meant everything that he hasn't forgotten me. That he remembered everything about that day,"

K-9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121678557#Comment_121678557

I suppose you can't really force him to stay against his will either. Well you could, but if he says he doesn't want to do the job anymore.

K-9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121678599#Comment_121678599

That journalist is going to regret that one.

JP Liz V1

I hope Klopp is ok, not sick, he is very likeable and proven a great manager for Liverpool, tough days for the fans

I thought Stevie Gerrard's name would come up to take over

brevity

Xabi is doing well though and has a wealth of knowledge from working with some excellent managers. He has set his team very well and they were in an awful spot before he arrived.

Any manager is going to be a risk and there aren't any others around that would fit the bill really.

The club will be going through a massive overhaul but Alonso will inherit a talented squad and he will get time and resources to set things his way.

K-9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121678950#Comment_121678950

He said himself he has nothing to worry about healthwise, just hard to keep up the same energy and enthusiasm.

Gerrard was on track for it 2 years ago, things haven't gone great for him since.

Charlie19

Massive shock with the news and very disappointed but I can't condemn his decision.

He did say a few years ago that he would rebuild the squad before he left and he has certainly lived up to that.

TitianGerm

One thing I'm sure of is that there will be serious rounds of Jürgen Said To Me for the rest of the season in Anfield.

My tickets fell through for Sunday earlier this week as well so absolutely gutted I won't get to be there now and even more so after the news today.

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121678950#Comment_121678950

Yep for sure, he is liked throughout the world of football and beyond. And for the Liverpool fans aged 1-12, Jurgen is all they've ever known, they don't remember anyone but Klopp being their manager, so for them it's particularly crushing.

JPup

Alonso and Wirtz in the summer could be a nice two for one deal. Probably as good a Salah replacement as we can reasonably expect/afford.

joebloggs32

Im amused at those posters saying thartXabi couldn't possibly do the job when he's only had 18 months as a manager.

King Kenny managed to take over as a player with zero experience, while still continued playing and the titles kept coming.

Its not give it to Giggsy stuff. Xabi is showing real promise. Like the King, Xabi has played under some real masters of the craft. Kenny learned from Stein, Paisley and Fagan, Xabi from Rafa, Jose and Ancellotti.

All evidence so far indicates he knows what he's doing and there are no other credible candidates (sorry StevieG) out there who would have the Liverpool DNA already running through them. He already knows the club culture and on the other hand he has some credit in the bank for when the inevitable first sticky patch comes along. Remember Jurgen too took a while to settle in.

Sometimes the answer to a question is the most obvious one.

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679290#Comment_121679290

Xabi played for Pep as well.

giveitholly

In other news,thiago was doing outside training today on the pitch. Not sure if it was team training or individual training

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679053#Comment_121679053

Is Gerrard a candidate ?

As a primarily Irish forum we know Gerrard's links to Dublin criminals and he was pictured with them. I don't want Gerrard as manager for that very reason. His Villa tenure was poor. Rangers doesn't count for me in a 2 horse race. Neither does the Saudi gig.

De Zerbei at Brighton has done wonders but is that the policy at the club or manager ? He has to be up there as replacement. At least he knows the PL pressure on a manager from the press albeit at a different level at Liverpool.

Alonso has the link to the past but management experience might hamper him. But he has been at huge clubs with top management as a player and never a passenger. That has to count.

The team is close to recycle time with Salah and VVD going soon but I think we are very strong on replacement for VVD with Quansah but Salah won't be easy to replace. There are replacements coming through now across the rest of the squad so I think it's in a good place going forward for now. It's not the dreaded Daglish to Souness handover all those years ago.

giveitholly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679442#Comment_121679442

No Gerrard is not a candidate? And his name should never be mentioned for the job. Because he was a Liverpool legend its just easy for journalists and rival fans to throw his name out there

Widdensushi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679437#Comment_121679437

Individual I would think, the last update I saw was him and bajetic might be training with the team next month, obviously we ain't far from that but I don't see him ever being ahead of schedule...

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679442#Comment_121679442

No chance it’ll be Gerrard.

De Zerbi is the most credible of the more experienced guys, was excellent with Sassuolo and Shahktar before Brighton, and really evolved Brightons play rather than just carrying on from Potter.

Him and Alonso are the two front runners for me. The romance of Xabi getting it is huge though, and he’s really doing an unbelievably incredible job in Germany - I believe it’s the best start to a Bundesliga campaign ever.

machiavellianme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679442#Comment_121679442

Of course he's a candidate. In the same way as I am. I'd say we've about an equal chance too, the only difference is that I haven't had as many dismal results in my managerial career.

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679707#Comment_121679707

Can't wait for your tenure 😃

Ikozma

We need a manager who gets the club and the fans and xabi fits the bill,if he gets it right he could be manager for the next decade and that's what we need, none of the so called big managers would stay more then 3 or 4 seasons and that's no good

Ikozma

What's Rafa up to these days

BorneTobyWilde

Klopp looks stressed out, easy to see it, knowing you are burnt out ,and taking action is vital in order to protect your physical and mental health. Who knows what is going on in his head, I know no one knows what is going on in mine.

Widdensushi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679890#Comment_121679890

Your getting a bit predictable to be honest Toby, entertaining always xxxxxx

MurDawg

As a united fan I thought I'd be happy lads

I'm actually pretty upset. What a man.. what a legend.

Enzokk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121678340#Comment_121678340

I thought it was fair and balanced. I was expecting worse when I saw your post. I think the negatives, or what I would say is perceived negatives is what you are focusing on, but the positives in there count more, like this part,

"Liverpool are not my club and Klopp has never been my manager, but perhaps the greatest tribute you could pay him is that sometimes I wished he was."

Just as an example for the above, I don't know if I would say this about Guardiola as an example.

Remember this was a piece written almost like a matchday report, on the final whistle with little time to compose and polish. Klopp is iconic for us, but for many other fans there are times where he will have rubbed them off the wrong way. We are all raw right now and will be for some time, due to the love and respect we have for the man and the uncertainty this announcement creates.

dogbert27

Get Zidane in and Mbappe will follow....

Here fishy, fishy, fishy 😀

steve_r

Had an awful nightmare last night that we got to the end of the season and Klopp said "You're job now is to get behind the new manager" and Moyes took over and then we were rubbish forever

rob316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679774#Comment_121679774

You won't get a manager of that longevity, 3 or 4 years is the best you can hope for. Klopp is a generational manager.

happyoutscan

Grand this morning, it is what it is.

I think it a better scenario now with him leaving and the squad in fairly great condition. Plenty of top pro's, some fantastic young players and an academy that is thriving. Think it would be harder for Klopp himself if he was leaving a depleted squad behind.

This is all about Klopp. He has earned our plaudits and I can absolutely emphatise with him needing a break. He has family, wealth and his health and I would assume they need to be able to enjoy him for a short while while he is relatively young and healthy. He's a workaholic and sometimes you need to enjoy life and allow the mind to unwind.

Think he summed it up well when he said he's only 'operating on 3 wheels' or something to that affect (effect?).

I saw him play for Mainz (I assume as I was full of BitBurger), saw him at Anfield (only once) and hopefully will see him again (at Anfield).

The guy has given us a phenomenal few years. Absolute gentleman.

Girly Gal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679664#Comment_121679664

I'd agree that De Zerbi and Alonso look like the front runners at this stage. There's pros and cons to both, De Zerbi has no real experience of a club like Liverpool, while Alonso is inexperienced. The one thing I'd say about Alonso is that while he hasn't a huge amount of managerial experience, he still has more than Gaudiola had when he took over Barcelona, that turned out OK.

Ultimately if Alonso is good enough he'll be fine, he'll have the backing of everyone at the club from day one and has credit in the bank from his playing days, he's also spent most of his playing career at the elite level so knows what it takes and how elite players think.

It's almost an impossible task to follow Klopp, similar to Fergie at United, Wenger at Arsenal and we know from experience how long it took us to recover from Dalglish's shock exit, getting the right man in is a tall order. We could be lucky and the next man in might be the right fit and keep us competitive or it could take us a few goes like after Dalglish before we got the right man!

rob316

Suddenly without Klopp I don't think the squad is as strong as it is. Key players will leave, interesting times ahead.

martyos121

For me, Alonso is simply the obvious choice and no other option makes as much sense as him.

That doesn’t guarantee it would be a success, or that we’d even manage to take him off Leverkusen. There just isn’t an outstanding, world class manager and character available this time like when we brought Klopp in, but if you’re going down the list of realistic appointments, Xabi ticks far more boxes than any other.

It just makes sense. I really hope we can pull it off.

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121679974#Comment_121679974

I've quoted the 3 main issues tbh.

They weren't balanced out by that piece you quoted imo

theoneeyedman

Can I ask if one thing in this search for a new man, we quit with the BS about 'links with the club' or 'Liverpool DNA' or that type of thing. This is the type of crap that keeps clubs mired in the past and prevents them moving forward - the famed 'boot room' is what left us with the likes of Souness and Roy Evans, and we've also seen United suffer for years both pre- and post Ferguson with the same problems, Old boys like Bobby Charlton and Ferguson hanging around the club like a bad smell and interfering behind the scenes. The best thing Houlier did was break this up, started to change that old boys culture and allowed the likes of Rafa and Klopp to do their thing. It's to Kenny's immense credit that he's never been seen to interfere or criticize in the clubs affairs when he's not manager, perhaps with the exception of the Hodgson debacle.

We need to look to the future and not the past. If xabi is the man then so be it, but let him prove it for what he's doing now and can do in the future, not what he's done with us in the past.

atilladehun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121678678#Comment_121678678

This is the all too common problem of looking to the bookies for insider information. Bookies don't know. Alonso is the shortest odds because a rake of normal people have put a surge of small bets on Alonso in the last 24 hours. Like millions globally. If a load of punters bet on Zidane on Monday he will become the shortest odds. Even though all the bets on Alonso still stand. Nothing will have happened in the background but the odds will change to minimize potential payouts while also promoting the idea of gambling. That's the only sense behind gambling odds.

brevity

https://youtu.be/q-tMawfeCOw?si=vCzUbgvQ2vNmm3rn

Good video on Alonso's style of play.

I think he would be a great person to play under and could keep the older players too.

dogbert27

Leverkusen are 14 points ahead of 3rd place and 4 points ahead of Bayern.

February 10th is a big game to see Alonso against Bayern. Win that and I think it would have to be a Dortmund level if implosion last season to lose the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen are probably pissed off right now with the distraction this will cause them.

dogbert27

With the news our summer transfer window is completely up in the air for ins and outs until the new manager is known

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680469#Comment_121680469

Alonso isn't linked because of what he's done in the past. He was a player then, not a manager ffs 😂

He's linked due to his potential as a manager. Too soon imo, but I know as much as the next internet pundit!

antimatterx

There are a few Leverkusen players I'd love him to take with him.

Frimpong, Wirtz in particular.

jacool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680564#Comment_121680564

Conversely Leverkusen might think "This is our only chance now". Their nickname is Neverkusen, as they have never won the Bundesliga.

Girly Gal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680596#Comment_121680596

Agree, Alonso is only being linked now, because he's doing an outstanding job at Leverkusen. He'd be linked even if he had no connection with Liverpool, in fact it would be odd if he wasn't being linked! Probably is a bit early, but, there aren't many other obvious candidates for the job.

Nagelsmann might be in the mix. Not sure of his intentions after the summer.

Were Utd linked with him too?

noodler

I really don't think Alonso would be linked right now if he wasn't ex Liverpool.

18 months and no trophies wouldn't have him on our radar imo

klose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680825#Comment_121680825

Slim pickings if we are going down the experienced trophy winning route, mourinho/conte/emery fit the bill but would you have them? Think you look at Alonso like you like at a young up and coming player with the world at his feet (hyperbole I know). Do you get him in now or leave it, he goes on another level and Madrid snap him up?

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680825#Comment_121680825

I think he would be, in the same way he was also linked to Spurs even just on the basis of his first season.

There is no more reactionary ‘what’s hot right now’ business than football, and the guy who was already a highly rated youth team and reserve coach, who then goes on to exceed all expectations taking a previously struggling team to the best start in the history of his league - and keeping them top - is always going to be linked to every bigger job around.

He’s the stand out managerial story in football right now, and that’s always going to get attention as everyone looks to get in on the next big thing.

awec

I struggle to think of a single viable alternative to Alonso to be honest.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680940#Comment_121680940

De Zerbi would be the obvious one. Hugely impressive in how he took an already decent team and made them even better again. Forward thinking, tactically inventive, and has made the players he’s working with better.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680968#Comment_121680968

True.

But outside of that, it's slim pickings.

ArmaniJeanss

I'd be wary of Brighton managers - there's a decent bit of growing evidence that the clubs success may owe more to the genius of Tony Bloom, their scouting policy, analytics work and strong background team rather than the coach. The subsequent records of the two previous managers of the Bloom era (Chris Hughton and Graham Potter) wouldn't inspire confidence.