The Artful Dodger

Can tell you’re American. Spend loads of money!!! Chelsea fans are just bitter because all their success is completely morally bankrupt and nobody cares about it. Liverpool proved that even giant clubs can win fair and square.

I think you’re giving your owners too much credit there. You CAN spend but ultimately that would mean less profit for your owners. They are here to make money for themselves, nothing else. You’ve got arguably the best manager in the world and he will win things for you, they won’t spend unless they think it’s essential to increase revenue. That is all they care about...making money. You’re facing opponents who literally don’t care about that; they have so much it doesn’t matter. This is the erosion of football’s soul caused by Chelsea and Man City. They are literal cancers on our game. Just like their small time fans who know nothing about the history of the clubs they support. Liverpool should be better than that, they are a far bigger club and part of the pantheon of football history which neither of those clubs can ever hope to reach.

I’d be surprised if any side reaches nearly 100 this year, it’s going to be a tough year and in some ways that may be a leveller. You just feel Liverpool rely on a fit first eleven and surely that will give at some point? Wouldn’t write them off though, Man City are susceptible to mental fragility and Chelsea could go either way.

Manchester United rose to the top at a time when English football was at the worst it has ever been. Showing my age a bit but mid 90s English football was the absolute pits in terms of quality (a whole lot of other things were better about it though). Liverpool are not going to dominate at all.

I imagine that's not Barcelona's choice, who would take him?

And telling them to be 'cunts'.

On episode 4, it's alright but I was hoping for more of the Poch era, I suppose as soon as Mourinho came in it became more marketable with him in it. Still feel like you're never really seeing the true picture, everyone is different with a camera around. That bit when Son got sent off and he just stared despairingly into the middle distance All a bit contrived.

I'm not denying their strategy has been right so far, and financial prudence should never be sniffed at. Just some of the disappointment from Liverpool fans is odd given we know full well who these people are and how they operate. With Klopp you have every chance of being winners again next year, but with such a crammed fixture list I think it's an incredibly tough ask given the squads Man City and now Chelsea have.

Your owners aren't benefactors, they're businessmen like any other and they bought Liverpool to make money. It just so happens to success on the pitch leads to money off the pitch but they are not going to be funding when they see it as unnecessary. Let's not forget their attempts to raise ticket prices, furlough staff etc, it's only because of Liverpool's relatively belligerent fanbase that they've changed course on these things. Football clubs will never properly a part of the community until we have part fan ownership.

As I've turned over a new leaf, I shall refrain from engaging in any further childish nonsense. We will see how the season pans out.

Switzerland, Jamaica and Czech Republic added to the quarantine list. Just know Greece is going to get put on the day before I go.

You really are a bizarre individual. Just because you have no interest in football outside of it being some sort of prop for you own ego doesn't mean everyone else is like that. You've been upset ever since the Wilian transfer, I suspect it's because you're deep down a little bit annoyed that you're in the market for 30+ players and Chelsea are fishing in the pool for Europe's top talent. With Arteta at the helm there's no reason you can't get top 4 this season, and then you'll be able to compete for the best players again. It's a building process.

I don't know why you're going around attacking everyone, I understand you're uncomfortable with Arsenal's inability to compete for the best players but you've done ok for your level this season. Given the drought of football we had over the summer I imagine everyone with some interest in football is reasonably familiar with Havertz. I didn't even know Chelsea had signed him, there must be plenty of competition. The Chilwell signing is questionable at that price, but given what Lampard is trying to build I don't think it's absurd. Money is not worth thinking about anymore really.

Havertz is superb, right manager could make him world class. Is Lampard that man though?

What even happens in America, is there any equivalent to furlough? I can't imagine there is, surely that would be communism?

Hard to judge goalkeepers, remember when De Gea was unassailable? I feel all goalkeepers will have rough spells but the very top will come out of them quickly. De Gea seems to have been caught up in his but I still wouldn't write him off entirely.

Be interested to see how Barcelona go from here, as much as I understand Messi's frustration etc I don't think it would be healthy for Barcelona to bend over backwards for him to stay, one player cannot, ever have so much power. Losing him now will see some short term pain but they can rebuild properly and look to build a team rather than an individual with several good players around them.

You're right. I am putting too much stock in getting back to 'normality', I am very apprehensive about what happens at the end of October though. Sunak is already getting a lot of stick from within the Tories for being so 'generous'.

I've got many things wrong, will do again and I'll hold my hands up. I hope your blase attitude about 'sandwich shops', presumably from a sofa in North London, is correct and we do bounce back no problem. I disagree, some of us should be shouldering more risk than the others. Just like in terms of economics, when times are hard the well off should cough up more. When times are hard here the healthy should be prepared to take steps outside to help us going forward. This is not an equal opportunities killer and we should be spreading the risk to those that can most afford it, not just hoping it goes away.

My Office is 25%, that's far too low. How many small businesses rely on footfall? So, so many. You walk around nearby my office, decimated by the fact office workers are not returning. They won't recover from this. The forecasts I've seen have been for a depression which may even surpass the 1920s, we don't really know until October when millions of people will lose their jobs. The 'V shaped recovery' has largely been dismissed. It's very easy for the comfortably jobbed middle class to say 'Nah, I'm fine staying at home' but we need these people more than ever to keep society functioning. At the moment it's basically the poorly paid going into work, whilst the rest stay at home. That has to change, otherwise the prospect is very grim. I think a lot of people enjoy thinking they're in 28 days later, but the reality is this is not a disease of anything like the potency in the more conservative estimates were saying at the beginning. It's the opposite of libertarian to ask society to think about everything and ask some of us to live with a little bit more risk so that the outcome of all this isn't as terrible as it might be. Another thing which the world stopping is doing is knocking back far more lethal diseases like Malaria/AIDs/TB in Africa, they must wonder what the hell we're worrying about as they deal with diseases which wipe out half a mill children every year. https://www.health24.com/Medical/Tuberculosis/News/the-forgotten-killers-covid-19-destroying-gains-made-in-the-fight-against-malaria-tb-20200817-7

I didn't say if you're healthy you are fine, but the chance of serious illness is incredibly low as numerous studies show. The idea that worrying about the economic impact of this all is 'libertarian's is nonsense, I despise the likes of Delingpole all that mob as much as anyone, but we cannot carry on like this. Whole towns/cities will have great chunks of unemployed people. We have been brought up to think life has no risk, healthy, young people should be shouldering the risk here. Cowering inside only prolongs this. It's not going away, it's fanciful to think it will. We've got ourselves into something we may never recover from. With social distancing in place, masks commonplace I do not see why we should not be operating at 75% capacity in most places. As it stands, the UK will have not only the worst death rate in Europe but also the worst economic impact. It's a complete catastrophe.

Tammy Abraham still in there too, christ.

The Spanish Flu was a catastrophic illness and far more lethal than this disease. Coming right off the back of the first world war, it ravaged an already dehabilitated society but I'm not sure society stopped like it is doing here. People carried on, I see no reason that healthy people should be quarantining now, it makes no sense. In Europe infections are rising but serious illness is not, there is growing evidence that this disease will become like the Cold/Flu another disease which we have to live with. It's not nice but we are human beings, being alive is a risk. I think some people want us to have 100% certainty they won't get ill before doing anything, that's not going to happen. Now that's not to dismiss people's concerns, of course we should be protecting the vulnerable (I wouldn't require anyone with a health condition or who lives with someone with one, to return to work etc) but the rest of us should be prepared to take a bit of the strain here. We need to keep things going otherwise there are going to very serious repercussions and may lead to far more death than we are seeing now. If the depression is as big as the 1920s then I guarantee you we will see a return to far right/far left politics in Europe. We were already heading that way, a massive depression will just tip it over. I don't mean to sound crude, I absolutely respect people's worries but I fear the 'cure' is going to be just as bad as the disease. We fucked up at the beginning (I hold my hands up in being as much of a fool as anyone) but I don't see any forward thinking now. Why haven't we got a quicker testing? If we could test results in a hour or so it would revolutionise what we could do.

That defence and midfield is pitiful. Can the forwards carry the side?

Started to get the train to work again, deserted when it would usually be rammed. How long can our transport infrastructure survive this? We're on the verge of a total collapse if we don't try to get society moving again. Never mind the fact we need more people to use public transport if we want to get anywhere near our carbon output targets. I think a lot of people will look back with a lot of regret of how this has been handled, scaring people to death with hyperbole will only result in worse results down the road. Young, healthy people need to be back out working as normal now, taking the supposed risk away from those more at risk. The amount of things that rely on us just going back our daily business are immeasurable. So many people's livelihoods will be gone, I wouldn't be surprised if we have another Nazi party on the cards in Europe over the next decade, so great is the depression going to be. And for what? Human beings have always lived with risks and far greater ones than this virus represents, we need some fortitude now.