Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

~Rebel~

KevRossi wrote: »

I would have thought to keep Kabak and Nat. Send one out on loan with the option to call them back in January if things are dicey with injuries.

Nice in theory, but it means not spending 18m elsewhere.

Fitz*

If Konate proves to be a top class centre half, then spending £35m on him rather than the £18m on Konate will be the correct decision. Spending that bit extra can be a big difference in terms of quality. Especially if the scouting department identified Konate as the man.

A lot of transfers, for multiple different clubs, in the past have been twinged with some regrets as the buying club could have spent a few million etc for a better target. eg Liverpool buying Pennant for £6m because they couldn't push the boat out for Dani Alves at £8m.

Agent Coulson

Konate cost less than Ake who is City's 4th/5th choice CB so there is that part of things when you are competing against Oil money.

Damien360

Talisman wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprised to see Southampton, Tottenham, Leicester or West Ham try to sign him.

We play too high a line for his lack of pace. Kabak is perfectly good for any team that sits deeper. He is a decent player, just as has been said, doesn’t suit our style of play.

robwen

"Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip are on course to return to the fold during different stages of pre-season, with Gomez the most advanced in terms of his rehabilitation."

From James Pearce Athletic article earlier today, i thought Joe would of been behind Virgil, I guess he's gone largely under the radar with all the focus on Virgil

martyos121

Would Joe’s young age and relative lack of miles on the clock compared to VVD have any impact on how quick he’d recover? I know they’re very different injuries but I’d imagine it should be easier for Gomez to recover given his age, correct me if I’m wrong though of course.

corcaigh07

Fitz* wrote: »

If Konate proves to be a top class centre half, then spending £35m on him rather than the £18m on Konate will be the correct decision. Spending that bit extra can be a big difference in terms of quality. Especially if the scouting department identified Konate as the man.

A lot of transfers, for multiple different clubs, in the past have been twinged with some regrets as the buying club could have spent a few million etc for a better target. eg Liverpool buying Pennant for £6m because they couldn't push the boat out for Dani Alves at £8m.

If we had better owners, Rafa might have been able to get David Villa to partner Torres in 08/09. Instead, we got Robbie Keane who he didn't want and got rid in 6 months.

TitianGerm

https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/1398362212180369410?s=20

If Konate partners VVD the sheer size of them is going to worry opposition attackers, nevermind their ability.

cj maxx

martyos121 wrote: »

Would Joe’s young age and relative lack of miles on the clock compared to VVD have any impact on how quick he’d recover? I know they’re very different injuries but I’d imagine it should be easier for Gomez to recover given his age, correct me if I’m wrong though of course.

I know its probably not cool , but I've never rated Gomez. He wouldn't be a big loss , imo, if he was got rid of

noodler

corcaigh07 wrote: »

If we had better owners, Rafa might have been able to get David Villa to partner Torres in 08/09. Instead, we got Robbie Keane who he didn't want and got rid in 6 months.

He really wasted Keane.

7 goals and 5 assists in half a season despite the grudge or whatever it was.

1o059k7ewrqj3n

noodler wrote: »

He really wasted Keane.

7 goals and 5 assists in half a season despite the grudge or whatever it was.

Was it Gerrard that didn't want him, or was it that Benitez saw him playing the same role? idk

atilladehun

Steyr 556 wrote: »

Was it Gerrard that didn't want him, or was it that Benitez saw him playing the same role? idk

Definitely Benitez. Keane tells b lots of stories of how Benitez criticised him from the get go.

RonanG86

Allegedly Rafa thought Keane was too fond a pint at the time he was here.

Gerrard reckons it was that Keane was best playing off another striker (ie. Torres), which is where Gerrard was playing.

Charlie19

Steyr 556 wrote: »

Was it Gerrard that didn't want him, or was it that Benitez saw him playing the same role? idk

I cant imagine Rafa allowing a player to dictate on what new signings came in.

I actually thought Keane done fairly well in the appearances that he made but from what I remember it was Benitez that didn't want him and after Robbie doing a bit of show boating and missing a sitter is what resulted to be the final straw for the manager.

Damien360

I have memories of a stupid flick to miss an open goal against Athletico Madrid. Never liked him at Liverpool and that just finished it for me. Rafa has said in interviews that he did actually want him but not in a central role, as that was the mighty Torres position. He put him on the wing I think and Robbie is not a playmaker. In my opinion, he was a tap in merchant, so anywhere other than centre was a career ender.

Connavar

cj maxx wrote: »

I know its probably not cool , but I've never rated Gomez. He wouldn't be a big loss , imo, if he was got rid of

Think he was a big part of our long unbeaten run last season. Yes van dyke and fabinho were immense but Gomez was part of it

Charlie19

TitianGerm wrote: »

https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/1398362212180369410?s=20

If Konate partners VVD the sheer size of them is going to worry opposition attackers, nevermind their ability.

He's bigger than Virigil:eek:

He must be an absolute monster.

RonanG86

Damien360 wrote: »

I have memories of a stupid flick to miss an open goal against Athletico Madrid. Never liked him at Liverpool and that just finished it for me. Rafa has said in interviews that he did actually want him but not in a central role, as that was the mighty Torres position. He put him on the wing I think and Robbie is not a playmaker. In my opinion, he was a tap in merchant, so anywhere other than centre was a career ender.

He only became a tap-in merchant from around 2011-2012 onwards imo. At Spurs he dropped in around the half spaces between the oppo defence and midfield quite a bit and did that at Liverpool in his first few starts when he was played alongside Torres, until the latter picked up an injury and he was put right up top and eventually dropped.

One of the Echo journalists (can't remember which one, but he crawled right up Rafa's arse during his tenure) reported Rafa wanted Keane as an 'inside left' in a 433 as part of a plan that'd include Barry & Gerrard as the left and right midfielders to use their crossing and distribution from deep in the channels to hurt teams. But I think in the end Rafa actually only used him on the left once or twice. Maybe cos he had no Barry to execute the plan.

Fitz*

robwen wrote: »

"Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip are on course to return to the fold during different stages of pre-season, with Gomez the most advanced in terms of his rehabilitation."

From James Pearce Athletic article earlier today, i thought Joe would of been behind Virgil, I guess he's gone largely under the radar with all the focus on Virgil

Oh that is interesting. I was full sure that Gomez would be the last of the 3 to recover tbh.

rob316

Philips might feel he is well down the pecking order now but I hope he stays. Realistically matip and Gomez will miss large amounts of games so he's probably closer to 3rd choice.

Talisman

corcaigh07 wrote: »

If we had better owners, Rafa might have been able to get David Villa to partner Torres in 08/09. Instead, we got Robbie Keane who he didn't want and got rid in 6 months.

It's not that Benitez didn't want Keane. The player didn't follow instructions and wanted to play his 'natural' game. There were also issues around him taking younger players out on 'sessions'. He failed at Liverpool because he believed he had made it and hadn't realised that he needed to actually start to work. The whole experience was a serious blow to his ego and Benitez was right to get rid of him as quickly as possible. The showboating in the Atletico game was the highlight of his Liverpool career.

Talisman

Talisman wrote: »

The showboating in the Atletico game was the highlight of his Liverpool career.

That certainly didn't help.

Bowlardo

cj maxx wrote: »

I know its probably not cool , but I've never rated Gomez. He wouldn't be a big loss , imo, if he was got rid of

Never rated? Jesus

TitianGerm

cj maxx wrote: »

I know its probably not cool , but I've never rated Gomez. He wouldn't be a big loss , imo, if he was got rid of

Can you name a CB in the PL who was better than him at 22?

willowthewisp

Robbie Keane was a very very good (but not great) player, but I could never understand how Rafa signed him. His time at Anfield was always destined for failure.

But Rafa did choose to sign him and ultimately he should have at least gotten a full season.

Girly Gal

Regarding CB next season, I think we might hold onto 6 CBs at the beginning of the season (VVD, Konate, Gomez, Matip, Philips and Davies) just to cover for any potential reocurrence or setback in VVD, Gomez and Matip's recovery. Williams will probably go out on loan to help his development, might be worth sending him over to Bundesliga 2 like Philips the season before last. Davies might be kept around until January, just as cover in case any or all three of VVD, Gomez or Matip have any setbacks or recurrence of their injuries. In any case I would expect at least one of the returning trio to be fit for the start of the season and would expect them to start with Konate. I think Philips will also see some game time in the initial few months as the returning trio's time will have to be managed carefully.
We don't really know at this stage how Konate will adapt to the PL, but, as the season progresses and assuming no injuries I expect VVD and Konate to be the first choice pairing with Gomez and Matip rotating in and out. If by January it's clear that the trio have gotten over their injuries we might see Philips either go on loan or sold as his game time would be very limited at that stage.

GiftofGab

cj maxx wrote: »

I know its probably not cool , but I've never rated Gomez. He wouldn't be a big loss , imo, if he was got rid of

I disagree....Gomez is a fantastic player especially for his age. Rarely makes a mistake or caught out of position and got the pace to keep up with most premier league strikers. He never panics either or makes rash decisions. Maybe he doesn't have to same presence as a Van Dijk but still a great player.

machiavellianme

Girly Gal wrote: »

Regarding CB next season, I think we might hold onto 6 CBs at the beginning of the season (VVD, Konate, Gomez, Matip, Philips and Davies) just to cover for any potential reocurrence or setback in VVD, Gomez and Matip's recovery. Williams will probably go out on loan to help his development, might be worth sending him over to Bundesliga 2 like Philips the season before last. Davies might be kept around until January, just as cover in case any or all three of VVD, Gomez or Matip have any setbacks or recurrence of their injuries. In any case I would expect at least one of the returning trio to be fit for the start of the season and would expect them to start with Konate. I think Philips will also see some game time in the initial few months as the returning trio's time will have to be managed carefully.
We don't really know at this stage how Konate will adapt to the PL, but, as the season progresses and assuming no injuries I expect VVD and Konate to be the first choice pairing with Gomez and Matip rotating in and out. If by January it's clear that the trio have gotten over their injuries we might see Philips either go on loan or sold as his game time would be very limited at that stage.

If we didn't play Davies in the last few months when we had no defenders, why on earth would we keep him around when we have a bunch of fit and partially fit ones?

TitianGerm

machiavellianme wrote: »

If we didn't play Davies in the last few months when we had no defenders, why on earth would we keep him around when we have a bunch of fit and partially fit ones?

He was injured.

KevRossi

TitianGerm wrote: »

He was injured.

Thing is we've no idea how good or bad he is, but we do know that Williams makes an excellent stop gap. I'd prefer to see Philips and Williams stay and play them occasionally along with VVD, Joel, Gomez or Konate so they can learn from them and gain experience.

noodler

Damien360 wrote: »

I have memories of a stupid flick to miss an open goal against Athletico Madrid. Never liked him at Liverpool and that just finished it for me. Rafa has said in interviews that he did actually want him but not in a central role, as that was the mighty Torres position. He put him on the wing I think and Robbie is not a playmaker. In my opinion, he was a tap in merchant, so anywhere other than centre was a career ender.

Involved in 12 goals in half a season but one flick turned you against him?

Wish we'd had him going forward. Might have won something that season.

Guy:Incognito

TitianGerm wrote: »

Just came across this breakdown of our season on Reddit.

The goals really dried up in the December to March period. Managed to average 0.8 goals per game!!

Are my maths right that if that 0.9 ppg period was even 2.2 ppg like the first 14 games (so an extra 1.3ppg) , thats 18 extra points and the league was lost by 17.........:(

~Rebel~

KevRossi wrote: »

Thing is we've no idea how good or bad he is, but we do know that Williams makes an excellent stop gap. I'd prefer to see Philips and Williams stay and play them occasionally along with VVD, Joel, Gomez or Konate so they can learn from them and gain experience.

I’d say Phillips makes an excellent stop gap... Williams I’d rather not be dependent on again. He was thrown into the deep end and did his best, but he was demonstrably not good enough. In some games the opposition punished that, in others they failed to. I don’t even think it’s fair on him to put him in that situation again - it’s better for him that he gets to go develop out of the limelight for a while.

Davies is fine (he may not have played for us, but he’s a seasoned pro in England... it’s not like he’s just been birthed as a footballing question-mark). As 6th choice he’s not likely to play much anyway, before we sell him on for a tidy profit.

Girly Gal

machiavellianme wrote: »

If we didn't play Davies in the last few months when we had no defenders, why on earth would we keep him around when we have a bunch of fit and partially fit ones?

I don't expect him to play tbh, possibly league cup, just a break glass option until January in case the returning trio have injury setbacks. Williams needs to gain more experience by playing regularly at a decent level, he won't get games at Liverpool next season, so better he goes on loan.

robwen

Let's hope Konate doesn't go to the Olympics with France, he'd miss most the pre-season

cj maxx

GiftofGab wrote: »

I disagree....Gomez is a fantastic player especially for his age. Rarely makes a mistake or caught out of position and got the pace to keep up with most premier league strikers. He never panics either or makes rash decisions. Maybe he doesn't have to same presence as a Van Dijk but still a great player.

Never rated was harsh ,but maybe it that long since he's played I've forgotten

Girly Gal

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Are my maths right that if that 0.9 ppg period was even 2.2 ppg like the first 14 games (so an extra 1.3ppg) , thats 18 extra points and the league was lost by 17.........:(

The season would have played out completely differently if we held our form over the January/ February period, so very hard to know for sure if we would have won the league as City clearly stepped off the gas once they knew the league was wrapped up so, that gap could easily have been more than 17 points. Having said that our drop in form in early January certainly gave City a boost in confidence that ultimately propelled them to the league title.
Our form in Jan/Feb certainly cost us any chance of challenging City for the title, I think that period certainly could have been handled better at the time, but, I don't think we would have been able to hold off City, as the injuries would have caught up with us at some point in the season.

brevity

I thought the story behind Keane was that Parry bought him even though Rafa didn’t want him? Rafa wanted someone else, the name escapes me now.

Girly Gal

brevity wrote: »

I thought the story behind Keane was that Parry bought him even though Rafa didn’t want him? Rafa wanted someone else, the name escapes me now.

Thought that too, wasn't a great fan of us signing Keane in the first place, but, thought he should have gotten the full season, he could well have made the difference to get us over the line that season as I seem to remember that we hadn't that many options up front in the second half of that season.

ush

brevity wrote: »

I thought the story behind Keane was that Parry bought him even though Rafa didn’t want him? Rafa wanted someone else, the name escapes me now.

Gareth Barry?

brevity

ush wrote: »

Gareth Barry?

The infamous Gareth Barry

Cyrus

cj maxx wrote: »

I know its probably not cool , but I've never rated Gomez. He wouldn't be a big loss , imo, if he was got rid of

If and its a big if he can stay fit he is a very very good cb with years ahead of him.

Getting rid of him would be madness.

pm1977x

brevity wrote: »

I thought the story behind Keane was that Parry bought him even though Rafa didn’t want him? Rafa wanted someone else, the name escapes me now.

Kenwyne Jones? :pac:

Vicxas

brevity wrote: »

The infamous Gareth Barry

Was that not for Xabi Alonso

My god, what were they thinking

Agent Coulson

Looks like City have put Sterling up for sale from reports this afternoon.

I wouldn't mind seeing him back.

internelligent

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Looks like City have put Sterling up for sale from reports this afternoon.

I wouldn't mind seeing him back.

Couldn't afford him on that wage.
Will Elliott be back with the first team next season?

Damien360

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Looks like City have put Sterling up for sale from reports this afternoon.

I wouldn't mind seeing him back.

Mahrez, Laporte, Jesus, Sterling all for sale. Shows you the strength of their squad. I’d take Jesus in a heartbeat.

Remember the days of Clint Dempsey?

~Rebel~

internelligent wrote: »

Couldn't afford him on that wage.
Will Elliott be back with the first team next season?

Hard to know... huge step up to the premier league. Had a pretty poor preseason before his loan especially, and didn't do much in his league cup etc appearances last season. I'd say a lot will come down to his preseason this year, and how much he can show he's improved. I don't think we should keep him if he's gonna be behind 5 or 6 other guys - would only hang onto him if he's gonna get meaningful time.

I think ideally, he'll go on another loan to either a really good Champ side (Swansea might be a good option if they don't win today), or the right Premier League club (has to be somewhere that he won't be stuck doing thankless channel running with no possession though). And even more ideally - we do what we did with Phillips a year ago, and bring him back to play over January when the lads are off at Afcon, before he rejoins his loan at the end of the month.

Damien360 wrote: »

Mahrez, Laporte, Jesus, Sterling all for sale. Shows you the strength of their squad. I’d take Jesus in a heartbeat.

That's mad, Mahrez seemed one of their standouts this year.
Jesus could work in our system alright as a Bobby backup.

Gbear

internelligent wrote: »

Couldn't afford him on that wage.
Will Elliott be back with the first team next season?

If we signed Elliot from Blackburn we'd be pretty excited in general, and would expect him to go into the first team squad. We wouldn't expect him to start straight away or anything, but we'd be excited to see what he could do.

Obviously it's not quite the same because he's under contract now and we have more flexibility about what we can do with him, but I don't think any concern about his position in the squad is about his immediate quality, but rather about what's best for his development long term.

I'd be happy to see us with the front 4, him, Chamberlain, and one of Minamino, Keita or Shaqiri as attacking options, so long as we add goals in midfield.