Liverpool 2022/23: We Go Again

67YAZ

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Doesn’t 3 billion seem low?
The rumored united figure is 6-8.
I think United goes close to £7b, which pulls Liverpool up above £5b.

The sovereign wealth types are def in pole position here since financing has become more uncertain and expensive lately.
 

SocrManiac

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Get it done in time for Jude.

We’ll just need somebody else to stand in for him when Adams is around.
 

allstonite

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He’ll certainly have plenty of time now! I did think that was a penalty early in the 2nd half
 

SocrManiac

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He’ll certainly have plenty of time now! I did think that was a penalty early in the 2nd half
In a vacuum, I agree. I'm of the opinion that if your team's philosophy is to challenge the referee to make decisions at every opportunity, you need to be prepared to miss some calls that a team with a more straightforward approach would earn. If you want to win by shithousing, you'd better be ready to lose because of it.
 

67YAZ

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Liverpool are departing for a camp plus a couple friendlies in the form of a cup tournament in Dubai. They’ll match up with Lyon and Milan.

Not exactly sure on the fitness of the injured dudes, but Diaz, Athur, Jota, and Keita are in the traveling squad:

Adrian, Kelleher, Davies, Mrozek, Pitaluga, Salah, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Elliott, Tsimikas, Ramsay, Robertson, Carvalho, Bajcetic, Phillips, Gordon, Keita, Matip, Gomez, Jota, Arthur, Diaz, Thiago, Firmino, Chambers, Quansah, Clark, Frauendorf, Stewart, Doak, Cain, Corness.
 

67YAZ

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Keita's only traveling so they can accidentally forget him and leave him there.
James Pearce reporting that Keita is healthy again. Odds that he makes it out of Dubai that way?

There’s also hope Diaz can get into the friendlies and start getting some form back.

Nunez is getting a week off before joining up. And if Brazil goes out today, Alison & Fab will do the same. Players getting beyond the R16 will just head back to Liverpool once their tournament is over.

And speak of bizarre rules, each of the Dubai Cup matches will end with a penalty shoot out no matter the score. The winner will get an extra point towards deciding the cup winner.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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67YAZ

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A wonderful loss today! One less competition for a midfielder to get hurt in.

Boring James did his hammy, though he told Klopp it’s a slight tweak.

Bobby got kicked in training this week, so he was held out as a precaution. Should be good to go for Villa.

Same with Trent, VVD, and Ox. No specific return date set for Konate yet.
 

Granite Sox

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Ox had a fantastic pass to set in motion the second goal.

Nuñez was shit. Should’ve had at least two, probably three goals.

Joe Go was asleep marking Haaland on the first goal.

Not a good performance.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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It was such a weird scenario … club hadn’t played in two months … and they have to jump back in against City for goodness sake - minus VVD, AA, Konate and Allison, Firmino and of course Jota and Diaz.

They had their moments but were outplayed on the whole. If Nunez even converts one of those chances it’s off to PENs. The game had the feel of a friendly.

I don’t think their performance is any indication of what to expect going forward. One fewer competition to worry about. Concentrate on getting back into the CL places by February and hopefully they are back to full form by the time of the Real Madrid game.

Dream scenario … they miss out on the top 4 to ManU , but win the CL thus bumping them out of next years competition.
 

SocrManiac

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Nunez’s wastefulness feels like the type of thing that could cost a big one. He’s incredible at creating more chances than anyone else, but his conversion rate is dreadful. When you’re getting one or two good looks in a match… Well… Yikes.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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So - the January window is about open and it’s entirely possible LFC do something. With Ward’s imminent departure looming over this window it’s anyone’s guess who is calling the shots. It’s been rumoured Klopp will have a bigger role which, IMO is a good thing.

They need help primarily in midfield but could use another attacker given the extended absences of Jota and Diaz.

I was about to write a bunch of stuff but the Echo story neatly summarizes most of my thoughts

Liverpool best and worst case scenarios in January as Bellingham worry emerges
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-best-worst-case-scenarios-25791083?utm_source=app

- I could see Fernandez as an either/or to Bellingham but not both. I don’t see him fetching €100m from anyone - maybe €60-70m. The other guy mentioned is Amrabat but the WC bias scares me.

I love the idea of Pulisic on loan. Can’t see Chelsea doing that unless Pulisic forces it.

Could be quite a window. LFC has been very quiet in January despite glaring needs (the great CB crisis)
 

67YAZ

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Two difficulties…

First, Enzo is only 75% contracted to Benefica. The other 25% are held by investors in Argentina. This always makes for a messy deal plus drives Benefica’s price up.

Liverpool won’t offer Bellingham the highest wages, so he has to be sold on a vision. And that’s tricky when the club is for sale (or up for investors?), directors are leaving, and the club isn’t in UCL position at present. This will be a real test of the patented Klopp Karisma.
 

fletcherpost

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Liverpool won’t offer Bellingham the highest wages, so he has to be sold on a vision. And that’s tricky when the club is for sale (or up for investors?), directors are leaving, and the club isn’t in UCL position at present. This will be a real test of the patented Klopp Karisma.
Two things that gives me hope regarding Bellingham:

1. His dad is his agent, and his dad is his mentor. I reckon his dad will advise him to do what is best for his long term career. I think Liverpool can comfortably offer him £200k to £250K per week, throw in milestone bonuses, it's not too shabby. Is it enough, i dunno, but my hope is his dad has other values beyond who comes with the largest offer, and those values are shared by his son.

2. He'd be one of the first names on the teamsheet if he signs for Liverpool. He's a perfect fit. Hendo is getting on and LIverpool need a box to box midfielder, who could in a year or two become captain, and Bellingham is clearly captain material. Is he a better fit at City with the players they have and the way they play? I'm not so sure.

He can be a 'franchise player' at Liverpool and being back in England will be good for his brand, and thus he can stack up the 'Ps' big time IMO. He's so charismatic, well spoken, grounded in family values. Liverpool are a family club. And they win European Cups.

That's a lot of straws I'm clutching but I would dearly love to see Bellingham in a Liverpool shirt. He'd be a legend.
 

Zomp

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Fletch no disrespect but Bellingham will walk in to almost any team right now in the world. He’s captain material for any club he plays for.

If he goes to Liverpool it will be because of Klopp, imo.

Luckily, I think anyway, whoever misses out on Bellingham should be able to get a very nice plan B in the midfield as the 3 who should/could be available are all young and have the potential to be World Class. Bellingham, Enzo Fernandes, and Declan Rice. I think Bellingham is the clear number 1 option but I’d happily take either Enzo or Rice at United.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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A few more thoughts on Nunez after another, how shall we say it? Eventful game.

- He’s a complete force of nature .. a whirlwind coming through the channels creating chaos every time he touches the ball.

- Perhaps because of this he always seems slightly out of control , possibly leading to the miserable finishing , not to mention the frequent offsides.

I love watching him. He’s enormous fun if extremely frustrating. Can’t wait to see him when he grows up.
 

67YAZ

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Love this.

Gakpo is 6’4” - 2” taller than Nunez & 1” shorter than VVD. He’s a huge target and has the frame to be super-physical in his pressing.

We’ll see how quickly he can adjust to the speed and physicality of the EPL. The WC performance bodes well, but he’ll likely have even tighter windows to cut inside and a lot more scraps with FBs.
 

67YAZ

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A nice Athletic profile of Gakpo from a few months ago.

his father was a footballer in Togo, not a surprise. But his mother was a member of the NL rugby national squad.

I’m looking at his 2 matches vs Arsenal from the Europa League this season. Of course, Gakpo was the threat to key on, but he has a huge stinker on London - just invisible in a 1-0 loss. But he was much better in the return engagement, a 2-0 win - 2 shots, an assist, 3 key passes, and a dribble. The second match was against a half-rotated Arsenal side (the Gunners needed only a point to win the group), but Gakpo was lined up against Tomiyasu again. Gakpo should have more room to operate in Liverpool’s attack, though he will need to adjust to the step up in quality.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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The pessimistic case is looking and comparing numbers of wingers/attacking MFs who come from the Eredivise to the EPL. Steven Bergwijn, Hakim Ziyech, excellent Dutch production seems to take time to translate to the much higher competition level if it does at all. There are a few guys who might buck the trend but it is too soon to tell and they have not definitively done so yet (Antony, Luis Sinisterra).

The optimistic case is that Gakpo's game has risen a level above other recent imports (man has a seasons worth of G+A stats already) and that his elite physicality might play more in the EPL than the average Dutch League winger.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Gakpo seems like a good fit for Liverpool in that a lot of people seem to view him as a striker long term. He can play LW while Diaz recovers and then be slowly bedded into the striker position so that he provides an alternative if Nunez doesn't work out or just a backup to both Diaz and Nunez.

He is definitely a very different profile from the wingers/wide forwards Klopp has generally recruited - bigger, with a really impressive long range shot, but not nearly as quick and explosive as Salah/Mane/Diaz.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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The pessimistic case is looking and comparing numbers of wingers/attacking MFs who come from the Eredivise to the EPL. Steven Bergwijn, Hakim Ziyech, excellent Dutch production seems to take time to translate to the much higher competition level if it does at all. There are a few guys who might buck the trend but it is too soon to tell and they have not definitively done so yet (Antony, Luis Sinisterra).

The optimistic case is that Gakpo's game has risen a level above other recent imports (man has a seasons worth of G+A stats already) and that his elite physicality might play more in the EPL than the average Dutch League winger.
It was a awhile back but Luis Suarez didn’t have too much trouble moving from the Eredivise to the Prem. Just sayin’
 

Jimy Hendrix

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It was a awhile back but Luis Suarez didn’t have too much trouble moving from the Eredivise to the Prem. Just sayin’
It’s not outside the realm of possibility that Gakpo turns out to be one of the top 3 - 5 strikers of his generation, but I don’t know that’s where I’d put all my chips.

He’ll be plenty useful without becoming Suarez though.
 

67YAZ

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Some stats from today;

Henderson turned the ball over 15 times.

Thiago led all players in touches with 112 and won 12 of 17 tackles.
 

SocrManiac

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View: https://twitter.com/_pauljoyce/status/1610584437791637505


So, VVD's out for a spell with a hamstring injury. I wonder if the initial tweak was pregame because he was very not good against the bees.

Matip and Konate should be able to make a decent enough pairing if they mesh. So far we haven't seen them figure each other out.

Alisson can't really step up any more than he already has, but he'll need to shoulder some more burden of setting up his defense. Fabinho needs to snap out of it or take a sip from the fountain of a year younger.

I don't think you can point at any single root cause for all of Liverpool's muscle and ligament issues. Obviously life in the top tier of England is absolutely brutal from a scheduling perspective. Klopp is slow to (or just doesn't) rotate, and guys like VVD play in some lower matches that they probably should have off. Other teams have identically loaded schedules with lack of rotation, however, and we don't see (or I don't perceive) the level of minor (2-4 week) injury absences. I say minor, but 2 weeks out can mean 4 or 5 matches these days. What is going on with medical, physio, training, and nutrition working together to prevent this type of stuff? Is Liverpool a notch below the competition?

Top 4 is crowded, and in less than six weeks they take the field against Real Madrid. With no effective midfield to speak of right now, the current version of the squad gets bossed. Klopp has a helluva job on his hands, and this side is starting to look more and more like his last years at Dortmund. I love the guy and hope he can figure it out.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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View: https://twitter.com/_pauljoyce/status/1610584437791637505


So, VVD's out for a spell with a hamstring injury. I wonder if the initial tweak was pregame because he was very not good against the bees.

Matip and Konate should be able to make a decent enough pairing if they mesh. So far we haven't seen them figure each other out.

Alisson can't really step up any more than he already has, but he'll need to shoulder some more burden of setting up his defense. Fabinho needs to snap out of it or take a sip from the fountain of a year younger.

I don't think you can point at any single root cause for all of Liverpool's muscle and ligament issues. Obviously life in the top tier of England is absolutely brutal from a scheduling perspective. Klopp is slow to (or just doesn't) rotate, and guys like VVD play in some lower matches that they probably should have off. Other teams have identically loaded schedules with lack of rotation, however, and we don't see (or I don't perceive) the level of minor (2-4 week) injury absences. I say minor, but 2 weeks out can mean 4 or 5 matches these days. What is going on with medical, physio, training, and nutrition working together to prevent this type of stuff? Is Liverpool a notch below the competition?

Top 4 is crowded, and in less than six weeks they take the field against Real Madrid. With no effective midfield to speak of right now, the current version of the squad gets bossed. Klopp has a helluva job on his hands, and this side is starting to look more and more like his last years at Dortmund. I love the guy and hope he can figure it out.
There were a few stories from a few months ago about lots of turnover and power struggles within their medical and physio departments. Might have something to do with the plague of muscle injuries if everyone isn’t on the same page - or they are and it’s the wrong book.
 

67YAZ

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There go Nat Phillips’ transfer plans…again.

Konate, Matip, Gomez, & Phillips are a fine crew as along as everyone stays healthy…which is a BIG IF.

But if the midfield continues to be gasoline on a tire fire, it doesn’t much depend on who holds down the back line.

There’s smoke around Matheus Nunes again, but can’t imagine they could pry him away from Wolves after half a season for any kind of reasonable price.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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There go Nat Phillips’ transfer plans…again.

Konate, Matip, Gomez, & Phillips are a fine crew as along as everyone stays healthy…which is a BIG IF.

But if the midfield continues to be gasoline on a tire fire, it doesn’t much depend on who holds down the back line.

There’s smoke around Matheus Nunes again, but can’t imagine they could pry him away from Wolves after half a season for any kind of reasonable price.
They can’t sign Nunes in this window as it would be his third team in this term. Not allowed


FSG need to ask themselves question as Liverpool midfield issues become clearer
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fsg-need-ask-themselves-one-25894250?utm_source=app
 

Pesky Pole

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With all their midfielder "hopeful" business happening in the summer (Nunes and Bellingham), what loan options are out there right now? A Tielemans rental (is he fit enough)? Weston McKennie was rumored but not sure he's anything more than an American Harvey Elliott type? Rabiot? Who am I missing?

It's times like this that I wishfully think about having oil money owners (or Todd Boehly).