Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

TitianGerm

https://twitter.com/_pauljoyce/status/1783945351415714102

Looks like Slott could be the man. Big boots to fill but hopefully he can hit the ground running.

I'll be very interested to see how our injury record goes under a new backroom team.

breffni bogballer

With a bit of luck, we'll be Slott Machines next year,I'll get my own coat on the way out

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068156#Comment_122068156

I can't say I have watched him a whole lot tbh, but didn't he score against us at Anfield a couple years ago? Has a great goalscoring record in the Championship this year, out wide albeit on the left side where he seem to be stacked with options.

brevity

Slot's backroom team:

Hulshoff is praised by many and people kind of want to see him take a shot at being a manager. They were even saying that they should have promoted him if Slot was to leave. Ruben Peeters (head of performance at Feyenoord) is also going with him.

Hulshoff has been Slot’s assistant at Feyenoord since 2022, when he was promoted from the role of U21s manager, while he has also held the same role for the Netherlands national team since the start of 2023.

That means the 49-year-old has already worked closely with the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo, with the Liverpool captain praising Hulshoff’s impact.

“Of course I didn’t know Sipke Hulshoff before this,” Van Dijk told Voetbal International during Hulshoff’s first camp with the national team.

“You have to get to know each other. You see what his qualities are and I personally certainly like that.

“Hopefully he can continue that well. He is very clear and tactically strong.

“I like the moments when he leads a training session. I think I also speak for the group. We’re only four days into it, but it’s a good start.”

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068143#Comment_122068143

He's another who prodominantly plays on the left though. There's a rake of strong left-wing-forwards out there, but a real shortage of decent right sided ones. He might be able to be effective on the right, but with a position as important to us as that I'd rather be going for someone for whom that's their primary position. We've already seen with Jota and Gakpo how poor left sided lads can be when put out on the right. A slightly under-the-radar and cheaper option (if the money needs to be spread around) might be Orsolini at Bologne. Pace, and scores goals from the right. Always a worry with Italians at Anfield though!

Summerville could be a decent option to replace Diaz potentially if he was sold though - although in that case I'd actually rather stick with Nunez, Gakpo, and Jota as options there and buy a new centre forward who could ideally be an option on the right too.

brevity

From my the odd few videos I have watched and articles I have read, Slot will not want to get rid of Diaz. He loves wingers apparently.

Will be interested to see how Szobozlai develops...I feel like there is a great player there

Mostly I just hope there is a reduction in injuries. It's absolutely killed us this season.

SuperTortoise

Anyone know the extent of our backroom people leaving with Klopp?

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068531#Comment_122068531

Pepijn Lijnders, Peter Krawietz and Vitor Matos are all leaving for sure anyway, to be replaced by Slot's assistant coach Sipke Hulshoff and head of performance Ruben Peeters. Hopefully the likes of Mona Memmer (nutrition) and Andreas Kornmayer (fitness and conditioning and Klopp look-alike) stick around.

SuperTortoise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068567#Comment_122068567

We got so much right with our backroom team it would a shame for them all to go, those last two you mentioned are they the ones we signed from Bayern Munich, it was a bit of a big deal to get them at the time.

Girly Gal

Can't believe so many want to get rid of Mo, he has been our best player for most of the time he's been with us and with the exception of this season, has rarely missed a match due to injury. I know he's been atrocious since coming back from injury, and the timing couldn't have been worse, but, that has only been for about 10 games or so, after a long layoff from injury, something he's not used to. He has plenty of credit in the bank from the rest of his time with us, I hope we get one more season with him, he'll still score and create goals, he's just completely out of form right now.

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068567#Comment_122068567

Sipke Hulshof is also current assistant manager at the Dutch national team. So he should be familiar with VVD & Gakpo. Lesser so Gravenberch

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068711#Comment_122068711

Yeah, Virg said some nice things about him back when Hulschof joined the national team setup. The Dutch angle with the new staff is one that makes me think Virg will sign a new deal as well.

BorneTobyWilde

I dunno what happened to us, we were brilliant all season up to these past few weeks, players feeling sorry for themselves ,but we were going for the quad, and now we have no fight, we need to snap out of it, and go for it these last 4 games, get back to what we were, and play with spirit and desire. Pep wants our one PL title to be seen as a fluke.

https://youtu.be/Q9ki9JvBeec?si=fiqgDE0VOqMJPjoD&t=99

brevity

Would ye prefer Ange or Slot? It seems like if Slot went to Spurs and Ange stayed at Celtic, Liverpool would have gone for Ange?

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068804#Comment_122068804

I don't know enough about Slot to be honest, but Ange would've been down my list. His whole "this is just how we play" schtick is a black mark against him for me. As we saw with Klopp in the early days, blood and thunder attacking is fun, but it has a ceiling that will never win - or even really challenge for - a league. Ange, Howe, and Klopp all got to a certain level in the PL with that style - but Klopp realised that's as far as it would go and swiftly adapted to have more control of games and hit a whole new level.

Ange seems a fun guy, and is good to have in the league, but until he shows he can play a different game he's a non-runner - he's not been at Spurs long so there's time, but he had the same problem in Scotland, wiping away the league but really struggling in Europe because of sticking to a game plan that doesn't work at a higher level.

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AklcgjNt5G0

Klopp looks so down, he's lost The Eye Of The Tiger, so many times in these past weeks in interviews he has openly said '' i don't believe'' in a sentence .

We've gone full circle, Doubters to Believers and back to Doubters

BorneTobyWilde

Km's traveled last 15 days

Fulham 26kms

Brentford 45kms

Burnley 68kms

Chelsea 271kms

Man City 325kms

Villa 500kms

Liverpool 1600 kms ( another 700kms tomorrow) there and back to West Ham

Wrecked, and good reasons to be.

Zak Flaps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068777#Comment_122068777

I dunno what happened to us, we were brilliant all season up to these past few weeks

We weren't brilliant all season.

happyoutscan

I like the signing of Slot.

Girly Gal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068945#Comment_122068945

I agree, we weren't brilliant all season, in fact since mid February we laboured in most matches, but, yet, with 7 or 8 games to go ( after City drew with Arsenal) we were top and had it in our own hands, 3 points clear of City, 2 clear of Arsenal (who themselves dropped another 3 points), so the complete collapse and lack of conviction and belief in the team over the last few games is hard to understand.

The fustrating thing is that in the United and Palace games we created enough good chances to win both matches, but, absolutely terrible finishing on our part killed us, it wasn't really anything the opposition did in those matches that cost us points, we shot ourselves in our own feet with terrible finishing. Some of the chances Nunez, Diaz and Salah and others missed in those matches were unbelievable and have cost us dearly.

Since the United cup game, I think Klopp has also made some very poor team selections in that time, continuing to pick out of form players like Nunez and Szobo, while players in better form like Elliott and Gapko weren't given enough game time in that period and even the likes of Danns could have been given the last 10 Mins in some of the matches, as he seemed confident and able to finish in the few minutes he got.

The Everton game was a disaster, but, can't understand why Klopp didn't keep the team ( bar Jota and Gapko) that beat Fulham at the weekend, bringing in Szobo, Jones and Konate who haven't played well recently was asking for trouble. I don't know what happened after that United cup match, but, it's like the belief in the whole squad and management just died, it's like up to that point they really believed in the fairytale ending for Klopp and that setback killed them, then the way the league match against United went a few weeks later really killed any fight and spirit left in the team and that led to the poor performance against Atalanta at Anfield. What once looked like a fairytale ending for Klopp has turned into a nightmare, which is a real shame.

Always felt we would come up short in the league, yet, we still let a great opportunity slip through our fingers there, but, was hoping we might win the EL and we could definitely have made the Fa Cup final, so to have nothing left to play for is really disappointing. We should be grateful for Klopp's time as we were back challenging for the major honours again, might be awhile again before we are serious challengers for the major honours.

Fitz*

Salah not starting again today.

I'm starting to wonder if he is even fit. He doesn't look fit as his physical levels are really off since coming back from injury.

Talisman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069111#Comment_122069111

In a way, the season falling apart so spectacularly will take the pressure off the new manager. Three domestic cups in the past two seasons is a lot less daunting to follow than the prospect of taking on the mantle if Klopp had delivered a clean sweep of trophies before leaving Liverpool.

The team was brutal last season and we didn't look much better at the start of this one. I remember watching the opening game against Chelsea thinking how screwed we were if Enzo Fernandez was able to single handedly boss our entire midfield.

The team hasn't really evolved in the past 4 years. We have more technically competent players in midfield this season but when we hit a rut it has been the same story as before. When the wheels just fell off, Klopp didn't have an answer and the subsequent team selections were a sure sign that he was out of ideas.

I feel sorry for Klopp when I see his media appearances, he definitely needs to recharge.

LuckyLloyd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068645#Comment_122068645

So we get one more season, what happens then? He leaves on a free? You ask him to take a pay cut? You extend him for a couple of years on huge money for his age 33 - 35 seasons?

You can love what Salah has done while seeing that this is likely the right time to get rid of a 32 year old months out of form who is on astronomical wages. If PSG want to try and replace Mbappe this way, I want to let them. Time is undefeated.

Talisman

It seems Amorim screwed himself out of the possibility of becoming the new manager.

https://twitter.com/brunoandrd/status/1783987284817125705

Translation:

Without Xabi Alonso, Ruben Amorim has become Liverpool's strongest target. Yes, he was interviewed. There were also talks with his agent Raúl Costa, who, behind the scenes, was confident that the process would continue positively, as was the coach himself.

Amorim was highly rated by the Reds, but the situation didn't progress as everyone had hoped. It was never about financial issues. It was really on stand-by.

The English club wanted to hear more names: they started with Gary O'Neil (Wolves) and then Arne slot (Feyenoord), who, in turn, was rated even better internally.

After days of waiting, Ruben Amorim and Raúl Costa decided to listen to West Ham. The agent opted for a face-to-face conversation, aware that it would eventually be made public. He even believed that this might put pressure on Liverpool and "wake them up".

It went badly. Not only did the trip to London fall badly on the Sporting scene, but Liverpool understood the strategy and, the very next day (!!!), counterattacked: they accelerated negotiations with Slot and, unlike in previous cases, didn't even want to prevent the story from reaching the press.

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069442#Comment_122069442

I wouldn't believe that based on the fact that they mention Gary O'Neill when the Liverpool journalists have said he was never in the picture.

bdmc16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068645#Comment_122068645

Losing a player that could be potentially worth 80m on a free end of next season would be an absolute disaster in my opinion. We don’t have the funds to just write that off and hope he gives us another decent season.

He an absolute legend beyond doubt but a whole new era is beginning at the club and salah either needs to be tied down to an extension( even 1 year) of his contract or be sold this summer and the funds/his salary put towards his replacement.

We tend to leave too many players leave for nothing at their end of contracts but I really hope salah either commits another year or just be sold in the summer than having leaving on a free when he’s worth so much especially to the Saudis

noodler

Right team imo.

Salah Nunez and Konate all our.

kingshankly

West Ham 4/1 lols a big price

Fitz*

Pretty deflated going into this game but it's where we are. All we can do is apply pressure really.

Yeah I agree with Klopp in the players that he has back on the bench again.

It's up to the players who were chosen to start to step up again now. Gakpo our best route to goal atm.

McDermotX

Awful from Trent

Just concentrate on the basics. You're not as good as you think you are

Osmosis Jones

Paqueta yet another challenge as bad as Jones' red card

ShamoBuc

Ref 5 yards away, unobstructed view of a Yellow card challenge and he doesn't even speak to Pacqueta - a joke.

Guarantee Liverpool players get a joke of a Yellow later by comparison.

McDermotX

Clear foul on Diaz....nothing

SlickRic

Taylor ignoring the foul purely because Diaz got a terrible shot off under massive pressure.

theoneeyedman

Taylor is just trolling at this stage....

McDermotX

Ridiculous from Elliot

These lads just don't learn

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069763#Comment_122069763

Unreal tbh

BorneTobyWilde

No replay of the Diaz penalty appeal, no VAR check either, that's a first in PL History

WTF

McDermotX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069776#Comment_122069776

Don't think it was a pen, but need to see the replay again. It's the manhandling just outside. There's no way Diaz is not impeded

Osmosis Jones

They haven't shown a single replay of it

kingshankly

Jesus lads it wasn’t a penalty

Endo very slow in a defensive transition

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069784#Comment_122069784

yES, Clear foul outside, and would love to see a replay of the pen appeal

McDermotX

Excellent from Quansah

BorneTobyWilde

Diaz needs to be going down when people are barging into the back of him, but he just stands and pushes back, and then loses ball, our opponents fall when barely brushed

505_

Shame we don’t have a few more defenders. VVD could do with a seat on the bench too.

kingshankly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069794#Comment_122069794

certain foul and yellow by van dijk why we not complaining about that 😂😂

SlickRic

Quansah the only positive so far.

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069809#Comment_122069809

That was a clear foul, but there was a great advantage to WH to be played, so he let it go

Osmosis Jones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069820#Comment_122069820

Grav playing well imo

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069789#Comment_122069789

Jesus.

It looked a clear foul before getting into the box.

That's the main issue but we can't see without a replay