Liverpool Discussion

[Rick]

Seen rumours of Barcelona offering us Coutinho if we “forgive the debt” they still owe us from buying him  Be hilarious if it were true, but since they still owe us 50m I couldn’t see us taking up the offer. 

[LFCMike]

4 hours ago, Rick said:

Seen rumours of Barcelona offering us Coutinho if we “forgive the debt” they still owe us from buying him  Be hilarious if it were true, but since they still owe us 50m I couldn’t see us taking up the offer. 

No idea how it would work from a financial perspective but I'd defo have him back if he was taking Shaqiri's place in the squad. I like Shaqiri but it would be a no brainer. Like I say though, financially it probably wouldn't be possible. His wages for someone who would be a squad player would be absurd

[Dr. Gonzo]

I think we could do with the £50m more than we could do with a player with noted back issues 

[Viva la FCB+]

Saw a few quotes from Nat Phillips about our boy Thiago. Take good care of him, hes a beautiful man.

 

[LFCMike]

Hopefully this is as third choice

[Rick]

46 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

Hopefully this is as third choice

HAS to be third choice. Kelleher has show himself to be much more assured. 

[Whiskey]

Not fishing, but is Karius still on your books?

[LFCMike]

9 minutes ago, Whiskey said:

Not fishing, but is Karius still on your books?

Yep still here. Was on loan at Union Berlin last season

[LFCMike]

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

So apparently we're not longer in for Neuhaus as our Gini replacement. The names Neil Jones have given are: McGinn, Bissouma and Renato Sanchez.

Out of those 3, I think Bissouma's probably the one I want the most. I've got massive question marks over whether Renato Sanchez would be good. McGinn... I think he's a good player, but the price that's been quoted for him is outrageous. Especially as I don't think he'd be the greatest replacement for Wijnaldum.

[Stan]

12 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

So apparently we're not longer in for Neuhaus as our Gini replacement. The names Neil Jones have given are: McGinn, Bissouma and Renato Sanchez.

Out of those 3, I think Bissouma's probably the one I want the most. I've got massive question marks over whether Renato Sanchez would be good. McGinn... I think he's a good player, but the price that's been quoted for him is outrageous. Especially as I don't think he'd be the greatest replacement for Wijnaldum.

Is Neil Jones a journo? Or someone in the club? 

Glad Youri isn't on the list. 

Bissouma is decent though. Definitely too good for Brighton. 

[LFCMike]

17 minutes ago, Stan said:

Is Neil Jones a journo? Or someone in the club? 

Glad Youri isn't on the list. 

Bissouma is decent though. Definitely too good for Brighton. 

He's the Liverpool correspondent for Goal

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 hours ago, Stan said:

Is Neil Jones a journo? Or someone in the club? 

Glad Youri isn't on the list. 

Bissouma is decent though. Definitely too good for Brighton. 

I want Youri the most tbh. But it’s an unrealistically expensive option

[ScoRoss]

Ball boy going pro

[Mel81x+]

Quite like the design here. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/437550-harvey-elliott-signs-new-long-term-liverpool-contract
 

New deal for Harvey Elliot. Do we thinks he gets a squad role this season?

[LFCMadLad]

6 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/437550-harvey-elliott-signs-new-long-term-liverpool-contract
 

New deal for Harvey Elliot. Do we thinks he gets a squad role this season?

I'd like to see him loaned out to a Premier league club because he's already too good for the Championship. 

[LFCMike]

4 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/437550-harvey-elliott-signs-new-long-term-liverpool-contract
 

New deal for Harvey Elliot. Do we thinks he gets a squad role this season?

Always difficult with players that age. Salah and Mane play pretty much every game when they're fit. He could end up with just a start in the League Cup and the odd sub appearance until January when Salah and Mane go to the African Nations Cup. I'd agree with MadLad about loaning him out again I think.

[Dr. Gonzo]

4 hours ago, LFCMadLad said:

I'd like to see him loaned out to a Premier league club because he's already too good for the Championship. 

The issue with loaning him out to a premier league club is loaning him out to a side that'll play decent football (to get the most out of his talents) but is in a bad enough state to need to loan in a player as a starter to improve that position.

Granted, maybe with COVID fucking up so many clubs finances - perhaps it's possible that'd happen. I've heard Brighton mentioned as a possibility for him to go on loan too - but that was months ago and I think it was from a Brighton journo saying they were hoping for a "loan to buy" agreement - which, for as good as the kid looked at Blackburn, I hope we don't sell him. He looks like a player where if he can make the grade here, we'd all fucking love him.

Sending him to a club where he'd start, but they're too shit to play football in a way that's going to help him develop as a player might stunt his growth tbh. So in some senses, I think loaning him to a good championship side would be better than loaning him to a lower table top flight side.

At the same time, looking at how so many of our options off the bench last season really... failed to change matches for us... I do wonder if maybe throwing him on off the bench instead of Shaqiri or Origi out wide might be the best thing for his development as a Liverpool player.

6 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

Always difficult with players that age. Salah and Mane play pretty much every game when they're fit. He could end up with just a start in the League Cup and the odd sub appearance until January when Salah and Mane go to the African Nations Cup. I'd agree with MadLad about loaning him out again I think.

But this is the counterpoint to that.

[Rick]

If we were loaning to Brighton, Brentford or even Norwich then I’d be supportive of the move if there was a recall option if he’s not getting played. 
 

Upper Championship would be good as well. He is still only 18, so there’s not a massive rush for him to be a starter for us this season or even next. I do think the lad is immensely talented and would also thrive under a full season in the first team squad here. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

@LFCMike @Rick @LFCMadLad @Mel81x @Burning Gold @Scousermum (and any LFC fans I may have missed, which btw if I've left you off... sorry)...

What do you think we'll end up doing with Naby Keita? I think he's certainly a talented player, but his injury record has meant he's constantly in and out of the side... and as a result, I don't know if he's ever really lived up to his pricetag.

Same question with the Ox, tbh - for all the same reasons. I know @Burning Gold thinks that we've sort of moved on as a side from needing the Ox as a squad player.

And who'd you all want as our Gini Wijnaldum replacement? Because... that's a big void that needs filling. I think he ended up being our midfielder with the most starts and appearances last season - which may have been why he faded pretty badly in the second half of the season. But I think he'll be a big miss, he was a very good player (and PSG are lucky to have him).

I think given how Thiago improved over the course of the season, out of the current side... I think we'd probably have our midfield look something like Thiago - Fabinho - Henderson; but considering Thiago & Henderson's own fitness issues, Milner getting on and getting I think the fewest appearances of his career last season (not 100% sure if that's true, but it felt like it) and the Ox/Keita looking pretty injury prone... do we lack depth at central midfield currently? I think ultimately Curtis Jones will replace the Ox/Keita (or both of them) in the squad.

[Rick]

Keita should be sold to a Bundesliga side who are willing to give us 25m. Ox is a player I like, but does he really bring much to the team when he comes on in games? I’m not sure he’s needed here anymore, and his wages are too big to be nothing but a squad player. 
 

I don’t want to doubt Edwards anymore, so I trust he is working on our midfield because without an addition we are just running the risk of an injury crisis again. These owners need to buy a little bit of goodwill after the super league shite, so they can pay up. 
 

Would like to see the back of both Origi & Shaqiri as well. Neither made any sort of impact last season, and we really need better players off the bench. Minamino get more time in the squad for me. 
 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Rick

[LFCMike]

I think prior to that game in Madrid last season I was always in the keep Keita camp. Simply because if he did only play 25-30 odd games in all competitions then there was nothing wrong with that, especially given he generally had a positive impact when he did get on the pitch. He was shocking that night though, don't think he played again last season after that and ended up on 16 appearances overall. I think we'll be looking to move him on.

Personally I'd keep Chamberlain. I think there's a good reason we didn't see much of him even when he was fit last season. Given the state of the defence, there was no room for him in midfield because we needed players there who'd offer the defence a bit more protection. Unless we were chasing a game, he'd always come on for one of the front three. He does frustrate at times but if he can chip in with the sort of tally he did in 19/20 then he's worth keeping around. He's versatile too. We may see more of him in the front three next season, especially if you sell Origi and Shaqiri. No reason why Chamberlain can't have Origi's minutes if he stays fit. I wouldn't be against him filling in for TAA if needed either. Technically I think he has the attributes to do that but it would be going the other way that might be a worry.

No idea on Wijnaldum's replacement. Got to bring someone in though. You can't let a player who played about 50 games a season leave without replacing them.

[LFCMike]

 

[Rick]

Letting Gini go was one thing, but we better not end up losing our captain because of this stupidity.