Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

This is a wake up call to those still sleeping on where football is headed

Disappointed in the news on Henderson - I thought it was going to me more 'last dance' with him this season instead of last big payday.

Unlike many in here, I'm holding off pressing the panic button until I see who the club has lined up as replacements.

If we now have Thiago, Jones, Szob, McAllister, Elliott and Bajcetic then one one more quality midfielder might do it - especially if we have the option to play TAA as part of a double-pivot.

So that's one quality midfielder and a quality defender that ideally can do a job as a CB and a RB.

£120m should do this easily.

Some of the posters in here need to man the fcuk up and get a hold of themselves.

Yeah @facehugger99 I agree: some of the posters on here need to realise that being blindly positive and optimistic doesn’t change the cold hard reality on the pitch and in the financial world of the sport.

And it’s not like we don’t know what a championship calibre Liverpool side looks like. We had one as recently as 14 months ago.

The Henderson transfer seems more disappointing as he has served as a leader of Liverpool and England with distinction, and he seemingly has had no morel dilemma to wrestle with, jumping at the chance to go there.

But it’s a good reminder that at the end of the day, footballers are brands, and like multinationals sticking a pride flag on their regional twitter accounts, all of his support to LGBTQ groups is ultimately empty as he’s just saying what he’s expected to say.

Regarding SA, you can see the plan clear as day, it’s a similar template to what they’ve done with golf but they won’t be able to strangle football in the same way. I expect they’ll continue to stockpile players while asking UEFA to come to the table so all these players can compete together “in the interest of football”. Maybe it will start by them being awarded a CL final but within 10 years I think they’ll have teams in it, with Saudi officials awarded positions in the executive. Sport in general is only going one depressing way.

a strange way to phrase it. especially with the Saudis view on that lifestyle

I definitely think the Saudi's are a threat due to the amount of money they have behind them but I fail to see how they'll be an attractive long-term proposition to the majority of players other than ones looking for a payday for a couple of years. They can't do anything about the fact that they live in the middle of a desert and have a culture that a lot of people would not be happy to raise their family in.

You play to win the game

sure we may throw Alisson in there too while we're at it

I'm not playing it.

I'm watching it,

in an armchair,

with a beer.

Jones is going to play a lot of games this season and he deserves a spot based on his performances.

We've replaced Ox and Naby with Mac Allister and Sozbo. Two players who were rarely available with two who rarely miss a game.

Thiago is a brilliant player to have around. We overplayed him last season and he broke down. What we need to do with him is have him ready for 30 full games minutes wise for the season. That could be 15 starts and the rest made up as sub appearances but never playing a full 90.

Elliot will be Sozbos backup and that's perfectly fine. He needs a little more time, people forget he's still very young but the box midfield will suit his game best.

What we need is a DM and a LCB. If we don't get those then we will be very short. Once those two are done then we can look at another CM but I wouldn't expect that.

I think I'd go for a RB/CB if thats possible. Marcus Babbel style before the illness.

Could Pavard do that?

The other CBs we have can cover VVD at LCB.

I may be overly optimistic there but I think without being forced into having to play Thiago every game, he won't break down as easily and actually be more readily available.

There's been a few seasons lately where there has been 1 or 2 big contact injuries in CB or CM which has had a cascading affect on the squad which has forced the more injury prone players to play more, and eventually break down long term (see Matip 20/21, Thiago, Keita 21/22).

When there was more players available in their positions, those injury prone players were able to be rotated and therefore stayed fit full time.

Once Liverpool had a clean bill of health at the back, Matip was fit for every game after the World Cup last season, coming off of the back of missing only 1 game with injury the season previous. When there was big numbers of CB injuries (20/21 and first half of 22/33), he was overplayed and broke down.

Likewise in 20/21, Thiago had a long term contact injury but didn't have any other after that. In 21/22, when Liverpool had a nice amount of midfielders available, Thiago was able to be rotated and therefore was available the majority of the time - he played in around 70% of PL+CL games. He was able to start one, be subbed on in another and could manage his games more. He didn't break down. The 22/23 season is when Thiago's injury problems really came to the fore and he did break down as there was so many others unavailable meaning Thiago had to start 4/5/6 games in a row. He broke down. This also happened to Bajcetic.

Keita's best run of games also happened in the 21/22 season and has similar numbers to Thiago in terms of playing in PL+CL games. He was actually crucial in the run in that season too. Again he was not overplayed or rushed back resulting in further injuries. When he was rushed back and forced to play too soon because of a lack of other fit players (20/21 & 22/23), he completely broke down.

With a few new midfielders signed in McAllister & Szlobozai, Thiago won't need to play 240 mins in a week, and won't need to do the running to make up for Hendo & Fabinho. He can be dropped in and play his 70 mins in home games and come on to control games for 20/30 in away games while the young lads chase and harry and press. I think we'll see a better version of him now again. Provided the new guys don't break down!

So Thiago needs to go , any one else?

Since returning from injury in 2020, Ox has had one spell injured. That's it. He was actually available nearly the whole of the last 3 years. The manager just chose to not use him for large spells. A passenger as you put it.

I know that you have a bee in your bonnet for Thiago, but when he is not played past breaking point, he will be available more often and therefore be able to contribute a lot more, more often.

There's a difference between being a passenger and playing/resting/playing while not inside the redzone.

I think there might be some pre season blinkers on for the likes of Jones and Elliott. They're both fine as players to come in when needed but we can't rely on them. Jones has been very average for pretty much all of his career so far as well as injury prone. He had some decent games at the end of the season when he was fresh and was playing against exhausted players and he had a good U21 tournament. He's earned a place in the conversation again but God help us if we're relying on him as a regular starter.

Jones will have a breakthrough season, he deserves a chance.

I see Sadio is off to Saudi as well. Link here in French:

We got €32mill according to transfrmarkt, a great deal, he was poor for 18 months, then had a purple patch from Feb-May after AFCON. And then seems he was a disaster over there.

I think Fabinho will be a similar good deal for us, I just can't see him suddenly physically speeding up in August. With Hendo it's more his soft skills than physical skills we will lose, his leadership, mentality, managing a game from 60-75 minutes on.

Also from memory of a Klopp biography I read a few years ago I think his Dortmund team was gutted and rebuilt while he was there, let's hope he can do it again.

Mane is one of my favourite players from the last 20 years. Absolute warrior.

Waiting for a signing……..