Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

Win the next two games and only 4 behind Newcastle.

Optimistic and foolish am I.

Indeed, we'd be 6 points behind, with a game still in hand over them. Win our next 3, and we'll be 3 points behind with equal games played.

With their EFL final, Newcastle's schedule gets a bit weird. We're their next game, and they don't play another league game until March 4th (against City). Win our games in the meantime and we'd be level with them when that game kicks off.

How so?

We're 12 points behind them, with 2 games in hand - but one of our next 2 games is them. Win our next 2 and we'll have played 22, they'll have played 23, and the gap will be down to 6 points. We play our extra game in hand then, taking it down to 3 points - they won't have played in the meantime as they have Utd in the Cup. We then play again before they play a league game, so we'd be level, with a game more played.

All seems right to me 🤷‍♂️

Where do you see the error?

Been thinking about the Mount/Rice thing too... both about to enter the last year of their contracts as well. Rice has some sort of option for an extra year, but I don't know the terms of it. If it's club-triggered only, then it's basically an extra year and will affect his price a lot, but if its player or mutually triggered, then it doesn't mean much in this case.

Be mad to end up with the all English midfield of Rice, Mount, and Bellingham, with Hendo as the elder statesman, and Milner moving into coaching. Reckon it's all far too expensive to ever manage, but the potential contract situations do at least open the possibility of some of those playing out.

This midfield stuff just grows more annoying every week. Joao Gomes made his debut for Wolves today, looked good and energetic, and won the game for them with a nicely taken goal. Another one we were heavily linked with - and who basically publicly begged us to sign him about 2 months ago. Went to Wolves for 15 million in January.

I dunno about Mount, maybe it's doable, he had talent alright buy u find it hard to warm to him tbh. Rice though.... Where can he go really? Is Chelsea full yet - don't think City would go for him for themselves unless to hoard him against someone else using him, would United go for him?

Was great to actually watch some other football games this weekend, anyone else lose interest in football after our game on previous weekends.

Or defend

Oh yeah, for sure, I expect none of that to actually happen - was just an exercise in the maths of the situation 😅

Other than that everything is ok.

Thiago out for a month. Another big player out for a big run, just as we thought we might get a few players back fit. Number of injuries this season is crazy.

Cut our losses?

He's been the mainstay of our midfield all season.

He helped get us into the CL twice.

He helped us to two trophies last year.

Second in the league, the CL final.

What more do you want for a 2.5 years stint?

Thiago 'out for 4 weeks' :how many weeks is that really in Liverpool terms, 6 to 8?

We have to be doing something wrong with the fitness/medical side.

he is currently our best midfielder, hardly a priority to get rid of,if we weren't depending on him maybe we could limit his time to when needed but we don't have enough depth in midfield

We need to be a lot less reliant on Thiago, but we definitely shouldn't be letting him go. Keita, Ox, Milner, Fabinho all look done as far as starting midfield goes, with at least 3 of those 4 likely to leave. Henderson is going to step back to bit part player. Be mad to also dump Thiago. Would instead be buying 3 new starters, and managing Thiago's time so he's there when we need him.

Incidentally on Hendo, i think he still has the tools to play a major part - but needs two hard runners in midfield with him to work. We saw his importance with England, he's the best man to turn to to keep the intensity up, as long as those he's playing with are actually capable of intensity.

Yup, and on the note of a deeper position - in any of the remaining big games this season Hendo has to be the 6 I think. It can't be Fabinho, and Bajčetić playing 6 against the likes of Real Madrid is maybe a bit too much to ask of a kid.

I wouldn’t be playing Hendo at 8 - which is the position he plays when covering Trent - but he still has the tools for 6. We also simply don’t have a decent 6 option against genuine high quality opposition, so he’s the best of a bad bunch.

tbh that thing of covering Trent just looks dead in the water anyway, there’s just no-one there to do that. Naby probably the closest, but he’s poor when defending on the back foot. Elliott also is better pressing than coming back defending. Our options are just very limited right now.

There's no way we can give him a new contract,

So keep him until it runs out & then let him go, Fantastic footballer but he is a crock ,

The most annoying things is he has a habit of missing big games for us ,