Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

I just cannot agree with this based on my viewing of the chance at the time.

Nunez was there first, well ahead of everyone, keeper or nearest defender, swinging his right leg at it was the obvious choice.

Nunez is going to score a ton of goals in a Liverpool shirt.

We've conceded the first goal in 7 of our last 8 competitive games (excluding pre season stuff) going back to the end of last season. We've gotten into the habit of going behind in games. Keep doing that and you are not going to come back and win every time.

The referee was very weak - It was a penalty in so far as once the referee had awarded it, there was no chance the decision was going to be reversed.

Late in the game one of the Fulham players (possibly Tete) threw themselves on the ground clutching their face when Liverpool intercepted the ball. That should have been a booking but the referee ignored it and awarded them a free kick moments later because another Fulham player was subsequently touched by a Liverpool player.

This thread was pretty quiet after yesterdays draw with no input from rival fans. Has that come to an end on the forum or am I missing something? I would have expected a bit of back and forth after that result.

Seems different after being gone for 6 months.

The only rival fans that do that are Utd, but they have their own issues. As they are playing today it was wise that they don’t cast stones in the glasshouse.

Could be worse lads...

If Jurgen really is happy with our numbers then I wonder who we were selling if we'd actually landed Touchameni to keep those numbers the same. Probably Ox and if that's the case we should buy one anyway cos he'll be gone next summer and probably barely play in the meantime.

that Utd result should put the Fulham result into perspective, even the biggest clubs can be humbled by minnows

I'm not expecting us too but by next summer we'll need Bellingham and another top class player. Clearly the plan was one this summer and one next summer. The one this summer went somewhere else so we can't do what we usually do and wait until we can sign our number one target, he's gone to Madrid. In this instance we must sign our second choice whoever that may be.

No way do I want Bellingham.

The only thing surprising about Brighton winning there earlier is that it's their first time at that dump.

Means relatively little in comparison to our poor showing yesterday, other than the oft-forgotten but basic tenet that if you fail to work as hard or harder than any PL opponent, you'll more than likely fail to get the result you want.

We only really showed up for 10-15mins yesterday and Fulham very much deserved everything they got. On another day, VVD wouldn't make a mistake leading to a pen and we might have gone for a winner given how the game was looking at that point, but I don't think anyone can complain about that final score.

They were pushing for an equaliser and man city broke to score their second. The amount of managers that will see that goal and know they can do something to at least avoid that. That goal alone will convince the next couple of managers to just sit deep. Won't be any use to us.

West Ham just weren't great. Nothing to do with effort.

And learned the hard way that room in behind on the counter will be a big no-no against KDB with Haaland.

It happens.

I agree they want to wait but I do think they'll get someone in short term.

Another body as a midfield option like Chelsea did with Saul Niguez last season has no real downsides. Keïta, Milner, Jones, Elliott, Henderson and Fabinho will get the starts while Thiago and Ox are out but with 5 subs having someone like Saul (not necessarily saying him but that level of experience rather than a kid) sounds sensible to me as a season long loan if the big targets aren't available

Florian Neuhaus is another I really like but think he just signed a new deal so wouldn't be available on loan

I think pretty much everyone here wants to see another midfielder come in, but I personally can’t see it happening. FSG just seem to flat-out refuse short term deals unless it’s a literal emergency like when Kabak was brought it. That frustrates me a little if I’m being honest, as they’re very focused on the long term (which is no bad thing) but we do sometimes pay the price in the here-and-now with their recruitment strategy.

I’ve blamed FSG here but it could just as easily be Klopp’s preference, none of us really know for sure what the balance of power really is in those matters.

I recall Sangare being mooted as a potential transfer target after we missed out on Tchouameni, and it appears he’s just signed a new contract at PSV so that’s him off the table at least.

Here's the thing, unless you win the final/league you are going to be second guessed. Had we changed our style and lost then people would have said he should have stuck with his philosophy and game plan that got you there.

Not within our control so we cannot be worried about it other than the 2 times we play against them. City have always scored lots of goals so one player scoring 45 and the team scoring 95 is less than last year so it would be a regression. Last season City drew 2-2 against West Ham, they had 78% possession and 31 shots and scored 2, West Ham had 6 shots and 2 on target and scored 2 goals. This season City had 75% possession, had 4 shots and scored 2 goals and West Ham had 6 shots at goal and scored none. The difference may be that West Ham scored on the break in the first half, because you are playing on the break if you have 22% possession in a game, and this time City kept them out.

What does this mean? I don't know, but City has always looked formidable at the start of the season. In their first 3 fixtures in past seasons they have had the following results for them, 2019 5-0 West Ham away, 2018 6-1 Huddersfield home, 2021 5-0 at home to both Norwich and Arsenal. All of these within their first 3 fixtures. They started slowly in 2020, but they had no pre-season as it was that weird season where they played CL in August and the season started in September. So we can disregard that. I will say they don't look as threatening with the pace of Sterling and Jesus on the wings. Grealish is not providing them width and neither is Maharez or Foden. Now Foden is better at it than Maharez but they are not the same as the 2 they are replacing. They will still create a lot and Haaland will score a lot, but even today it seemed a little one dimensional with Grealish on the one side.

All we need to do is focus on ourselves. I think we are still in pre-season mode, the fact we had a behind the doors friendly against Villa today says that much. We now have more than a week until the next match and then the big one against United. The long road to challenge has started with a bump, but there is a lot of upheaval to come still. The fact that some of our players will not be going to the World Cup and almost all of City's players other than Haaland should go will play a role as well in how the season turns out for both.

Just for one off games of importance. I recall Wenger doing it, just to prove a point, as he was see as a push over when it came to City. So he went there and did them on them.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/30874748

The friendly today v Aston Villa was cancelled because of the amount of injuries

I would be very worried for any team including Liverpool playing a high line against City with Haaland in the team. He is quick and very strong.