The Official Liverpool FC Thread [Vol 19]

[Adam.]

Flip Martian said:

Fulham are in the FA Cup ties I think.

That's a leveller, no game because Fulham are still in the cups

[SWoll]

Need goals. Mo and Jota useless and Cody barely in the game, so takes of Nunez after 60 minutes.

And what is going on with Trent? We all know he can't defend (just how many times can Vinicius Jr catch him by surprise cutting inside on his right foot) but apparently he can't pass or cross now either.

Absolute shambles, and starting to wonder as with his tenure at Dortmund whether Klopp has lost his mojo. Lost 14 league games in his 7th and final season there, if we lose the next 3 leagues games against City, Chelsea and Arsenal he'll be getting perilously close to a repeat..

[visitinglondon]

RowntreesCabana said:

We're toothless without Nunez

You were toothless with Nunez.

You’re toothless without Mane.

[visitinglondon]

type-r said:

Nice touch by Real to play YNWA.

Really, I thought they were taking the piss. Good of them for doing so, too.

[Flip Martian]

SWoll said:

Need goals. Mo and Jota useless and Cody barely in the game, so takes of Nunez after 60 minutes.

And what is going on with Trent? We all know he can't defend (just how many times can Vinicius Jr catch him by surprise cutting inside on his right foot) but apparently he can't pass or cross now either.

Absolute shambles, and starting to wonder as with his tenure at Dortmund whether Klopp has lost his mojo. Lost 14 league games in his 7th and final season there, if we lose the next 3 leagues games against City, Chelsea and Arsenal he'll be getting perilously close to a repeat..

Klopp's staff is almost totally different to the staff he had at Dortmund. He isn't the one thinking up every tactic and play - he's one of several that discuss everything. He makes the decisions of course but it's just a coincidence. Ultimately, we had a very busy campaign last season, a much shorter Summer break, few signings, a much shorter pre season leading to a whole raft of injuries which underlined the fact that we hadn't strengthened much in the Summer.

[Flip Martian]

visitinglondon said:

You were toothless with Nunez.

You’re toothless without Mane.

We were toothless with Mane sometimes too. He had his fair share of rubbish games. Not as many as Mo has now had I don't think...

[Drabbesttunic]

Flip Martian said:

visitinglondon said:

You were toothless with Nunez.

You’re toothless without Mane.

We were toothless with Mane sometimes too. He had his fair share of rubbish games. Not as many as Mo has now had I don't think...

I'd be ignoring that flip

[jammy-git]

Flip Martian said:

SWoll said:

Need goals. Mo and Jota useless and Cody barely in the game, so takes of Nunez after 60 minutes.

And what is going on with Trent? We all know he can't defend (just how many times can Vinicius Jr catch him by surprise cutting inside on his right foot) but apparently he can't pass or cross now either.

Absolute shambles, and starting to wonder as with his tenure at Dortmund whether Klopp has lost his mojo. Lost 14 league games in his 7th and final season there, if we lose the next 3 leagues games against City, Chelsea and Arsenal he'll be getting perilously close to a repeat..

Klopp's staff is almost totally different to the staff he had at Dortmund. He isn't the one thinking up every tactic and play - he's one of several that discuss everything. He makes the decisions of course but it's just a coincidence. Ultimately, we had a very busy campaign last season, a much shorter Summer break, few signings, a much shorter pre season leading to a whole raft of injuries which underlined the fact that we hadn't strengthened much in the Summer.

I think it's more like, with Klopp's style of football, he's able to extract about 4-5 years out of players at their absolute peak, but after that they're finished. Either injuries take them or they just cannot play at their peak for 2 games a week.

[type-r]

If that is the case, then Klopp needs to refresh and recycle the squad more frequently and not hand out 5 year contracts to players who are approaching 30 out of loyalty. Moving both Mane and Bobby are good examples of the right time to let go and should be the benchmark - regular piecemeal replacements so there is minimal disruption to the squad and allows any new player coming in the time to adjust and adapt. Easier said than done but possible.

We need a minimum of 3 new quality players to be brought in, all experienced and proven, that can help lift and transfer some energy to some of the underperforming players we currently have.

I just hope there is enough desire by some to really push for 4th.... or are they already thinking they'll be moved on anyway. That's what yesterday's flat performance felt like.

[NRS]

SWoll said:

Need goals. Mo and Jota useless and Cody barely in the game, so takes of Nunez after 60 minutes.

And what is going on with Trent? We all know he can't defend (just how many times can Vinicius Jr catch him by surprise cutting inside on his right foot) but apparently he can't pass or cross now either.

Absolute shambles, and starting to wonder as with his tenure at Dortmund whether Klopp has lost his mojo. Lost 14 league games in his 7th and final season there, if we lose the next 3 leagues games against City, Chelsea and Arsenal he'll be getting perilously close to a repeat..

We were never going to get enough goals without conceding yesterday, much less when Nunez went off. Some were saying we’re overplaying some of our team the other day. What would have been said if he got injured and was out the rest of the season?

Too many players have checked out or are just too burnt out. Lots of the things that make Klopp get his success with us now are being flagged as issues…

Amazing team spirit to get the absolute best from players - now it is holding players too long.
Persisting with some players through bad periods until they come good - same again.
High performance and energy levels - now too much and it kills players.
Carefully selecting a few key players to spend the money on - now he should have bought far more players.

Of course there is issues, but it will hopefully just be a few seasons of rebuilding. Every great manager has gone through those, it’s impossible not too. Suddenly he’s got so many issues and might have lost it because it’s 7 years? Should Dortmund not be a ‘warning’ to us - don’t write him off because of a poor 7th season - he’s shown just what he can do after that with his style of management and choice of players.

[worldwidewebs]

SWoll said:

Need goals. Mo and Jota useless and Cody barely in the game, so takes of Nunez after 60 minutes.

And what is going on with Trent? We all know he can't defend (just how many times can Vinicius Jr catch him by surprise cutting inside on his right foot) but apparently he can't pass or cross now either.

Absolute shambles, and starting to wonder as with his tenure at Dortmund whether Klopp has lost his mojo. Lost 14 league games in his 7th and final season there, if we lose the next 3 leagues games against City, Chelsea and Arsenal he'll be getting perilously close to a repeat..

I'd sell Trent in a heartbeat. And VVD actually - he's just not the same player he was before his injury.

The problem as we know though is that Keita, Ox, Thiago, Hendo, Milner and Fab are all either leaving, perma-injured or just getting older/slower. That's a lot of change that's needed in one transfer window and obviously won't happen. So next season will be worse I fear, but at least we get mid-week off

Edited to say, as a defender, Jota would never scare me. I don't really see him as a 'Liverpool player'

[epom]

Simple enough to analyze that really. Just not good enough. Comprehensively beaten by a better team ( its sport, it happens, no shame in that).

[Frimley111R]

worldwidewebs said:

I'd sell Trent in a heartbeat. And VVD actually - he's just not the same player he was before his injury.

The problem as we know though is that Keita, Ox, Thiago, Hendo, Milner and Fab are all either leaving, perma-injured or just getting older/slower. That's a lot of change that's needed in one transfer window and obviously won't happen. So next season will be worse I fear, but at least we get mid-week off

Edited to say, as a defender, Jota would never scare me. I don't really see him as a 'Liverpool player'

I think you've got a couple of transition years to go through as the old team move on and you build a new one. However it seems to happening very slowly....

[type-r]

It's funny how certain people say it will need a few seasons to rebuild, like we should aspire to start from ground zero every 3 or 4 seasons. Boom and bust mentality, rather looking at improving the peaks and troughs by moving on certain players sooner rather than when they get exhausted or unable to cope with Klopp's demanding play. Don't see too many peaks and troughs at City who've also had 5 or 6 hugely demanding 90+ pt seasons together with late stage CL appearances. Pep moves certain players on in the prime like Sterling, Cancelo, Sane... and still manages to maintain a consistent team to challenge every year.

And before anyone says City spend WAY more money than us, over the last 5 years they've actually spent LESS than us (net). Source: Transfermarkt

[Chris Stott]

worldwidewebs said:

I'd sell Trent in a heartbeat. And VVD actually - he's just not the same player he was before his injury.

The problem as we know though is that Keita, Ox, Thiago, Hendo, Milner and Fab are all either leaving, perma-injured or just getting older/slower. That's a lot of change that's needed in one transfer window and obviously won't happen. So next season will be worse I fear, but at least we get mid-week off

Edited to say, as a defender, Jota would never scare me. I don't really see him as a 'Liverpool player'

Yep, this is pretty much where we are.

VVD hasn’t been the same since Pickford poleaxed him, but could still be very valuable to a team that don’t play as high as we do… but as you say, the problem with selling him is we already need a CH to replace Matip/Gomez… and a complete new midfield… so it’s unlikely.

I think Jota will go… he’s worth good money and he’ll be behind Mo/Nunez/Gakpo/Diaz.

Not sure what’s up with Trent… he’s never been much of a defensive full back… got to hope he gets ‘it’ back with a more effective midfield in place. Can’t see him being sold as we don’t have a back up (and need a complete midfield).

We could improve massively next year, but we’ll need 3 top midfield signings… and then we’ll need to be in again the following year to look at the defence… not exactly brimming with confidence that FSG will stump up enough cash though.

Hope we at least get EL… the money is worthwhile when we need to spend as much as we do and it’s a slim chance of getting in to the ECL via the back door.

[Driver101]

type-r said:

It's funny how certain people say it will need a few seasons to rebuild, like we should aspire to start from ground zero every 3 or 4 seasons. Boom and bust mentality, rather looking at improving the peaks and troughs by moving on certain players sooner rather than when they get exhausted or unable to cope with Klopp's demanding play. Don't see too many peaks and troughs at City who've also had 5 or 6 hugely demanding 90+ pt seasons together with late stage CL appearances. Pep moves certain players on in the prime like Sterling, Cancelo, Sane... and still manages to maintain a consistent team to challenge every year.

And before anyone says City spend WAY more money than us, over the last 5 years they've actually spent LESS than us (net). Source: Transfermarkt

I think Man City have regressed as a team. KDB hasn't been the same player this and they'll have big issues replacing him.

Grealish isn't good enough.

I do wonder where Man City would be if they didn't have Haaland this season.

[Flip Martian]

epom said:

Simple enough to analyze that really. Just not good enough. Comprehensively beaten by a better team ( its sport, it happens, no shame in that).

This, really. Remembering also that Real spend big every year and seemingly have their pick of the best players around the world. We can’t compete with that, only for players who want to play with Klopp.

[SydneyBridge]

Least there is a 2 week break now, before

Sat 1st April, City A

Tues 4th Chelsea A

Sun 9th Arsenal H

Could do with winning at least 2 of those

[Flip Martian]

SydneyBridge said:

Least there is a 2 week break now, before

Sat 1st April, City A

Tues 4th Chelsea A

Sun 9th Arsenal H

Could do with winning at least 2 of those

In all seriousness, if we continue to pass as badly as we did last night, we won’t be winning any of them. How many blips can you get away with in a season.

Just looking forward to the summer break now tbh. New signings, see what happens.

[jammy-git]

type-r said:

If that is the case, then Klopp needs to refresh and recycle the squad more frequently

I know this topic of conversation has been done to death now, but I imagine this was the plan all along but we were completely fked over by the pandemic. Right off the back of winning the CL and then the league, we then suffered huge losses we were unable to fund buying the players we wanted.

Maybe as a club we also thought, with the right staff, that we wouldn't see the drop off in performances and rise in injuries that BVB saw in the last year or so of Klopp's tenure. I certainly can't imagine anyone at the club predicted the drop offs we've seen this year.

Although why we've persisted with Ox and Keita, and then signed Arthur of all people is completely beyond me.