GWT: PL Matchweek (mostly) 27

[Savant]

They need to clean the deck first.

I’m still waiting for your list of replacements that are coming without CL that you could name easily.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Please do. Name them.

My dream scenario:

Harvey Barnes
Mikel Oyarzabal

My more realistic target:
1. Patson Daka
2. Eberechi Eze
3. Bryan Gil
4. Manor Solomon
5. Hirving Loazano
6. André Silva
7. Allan Saint-Maximin
8. Jonathan Bamba
9. Everton
10. Raphinha

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I’m still waiting for your list of replacements that are coming without CL that you could name easily.

I just provided it.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Selling salah/Mane for Barnes. Eze or Mikel seems like a knee jerk reaction that would set LFC back for awhile. I’d keep salah/Mane down seasons happen. Getting new blood to help carry the load would be a good idea tho.

 

[Savant]

My dream scenario:

Harvey Barnes
Mikel Oyarzabal

My more realistic target:
1. Patson Daka
2. Eberechi Eze
3. Bryan Gil
4. Manor Solomon
5. Hirving Loazano
6. André Silva
7. Allan Saint-Maximin
8. Jonathan Bamba
9. Everton
10. Raphinha

This looks more like a FIFA roster than anything realistic and there is no way the club will have money to afford and recruit the majority of this this. Nice try though.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Selling salah/Mane for Barnes. Eze or Mikel seems like a knee jerk reaction that would set LFC back for awhile. I’d keep salah/Mane down seasons happen. Getting new blood to help carry the load would be a good idea tho.

Might be a knee jerk reaction but they would 100% provide more than current form Mane/Firmino at 1/2 their salary. I also believe Barnes has already surpassed Mane but again I am probably the biggest Barnes fan in the world.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

This looks more like a FIFA roster than anything realistic and there is no way the club will have money to afford and recruit the majority of this this. Nice try though.

I never mentioned to purchase the whole list. I want new blood and player that are willing to take their game to the next level.

Liverpool can afford them 100%. More so if they can get some money by selling some dead weight.

When Klopp purchased Salah and Mane their were not the player they are now. LFC was even ridiculized to overpay for average player back then.

Just like Jota was consisered also an overpayment and he has outplayed Firmino when healthy. They need competition and player with desire to prove themselves.

Note: I would also keep one of Salah or Mane unless they both want out. Preferably Salah.

I am willing to give them another chance but they need player that challenge them and push them which has not happened with the current team. Mane has been unrecognizable since the new year, he has been so predictable, ball hogging and poor technique all around.

 

[les Habs]

Selling salah/Mane for Barnes. Eze or Mikel seems like a knee jerk reaction that would set LFC back for awhile. I’d keep salah/Mane down seasons happen. Getting new blood to help carry the load would be a good idea tho.

Everyone has their price. The problem for Liverpool is that nobody has any money or would meet that price. That said I agree they should keep both of them, especially Salah, but that also depends on the players themselves.

What Liverpool need to really consider though is getting some new blood and young blood at that. They have a lot of players at around the same age and this side will age pretty quickly:

Salah 28
Mane 28
Alisson 28
Firmino 29
Thiago 29
Matip 29
Van Dijk 29
Wijnaldum 30
Henderson 30

Consider those players' respective ages and the rest of the squad left after them. IMO that leaves them 2-3 years to reinforce the team with an eye to the future. Plenty of time, but they need to get it right too. Otherwise what could have been, and it looks like they could be at that stage, will turn into a flash in the pan.

 

[Halladay]

The pandemic has lessened the chances of Salah/Mane getting sold, unless they really go for a discount. Liverpool definitely need another number 9 and have to bring in another centerback regardless if Kabak stay or not. Matip and Gomez arent reliable enough to stay on the field. Elliot should be brought into the team, and I would think Milner will leave so probably need another midfielder. Keita and Ox are always hurt too. Getting VvD back will help immensely though of course. Chelsea were the better team, no quibbles from me.

 

[S E P H]

I understand that Liverpool is going through a ton of injury problems and that Murphy's Law is in their shadow, but they would be absolutely ridiculous to fire Klopp. I mentioned in the EPL season preview thread that Liverpool themselves should've been extremely fortunate to have been this healthy for all their seasons in the past. It was going to eventually catch up on them and equivalent exchange happened, which is what we're seeing now.

I still think they make the top 4, but they have to start beating the clubs they should be winning against on paper (which thus far has been extremely difficult). LFC is a weird built club though, their midfield was never really considered the best in Europe nor the EPL - they had great defence and unbelievable offence - and that's what's really hurting them now. Thiago is showing his age, Fabinho has to be playing CB because they got nobody, Ox is always injured (even at Arsenal), Henderson doesn't really create plays, and Wijnaldum wasn't that amazing of a player to begin with. Only one is Keita, but I haven't really noticed what has happened to him this year.

What Klopp can absolutely be blamed on is what happened to the offence? Salah is the only one scoring, but not at the rate in the past, Firmino isn't a player you can rely on consistently, and legitimately all the goals have dried up for Mane as he's stopped diving as much as in the past.

Liverpool won't miss Salah when he's gone because of Harvey Elliot. He obviously isn't on that level but he's a top player. Gerrard for Klopp. Elliot for Salah. Freshen it up.

Salah is literally the last player they should give up; allow Mane to leave to Barca to replace Messi and allow Firmino to leave wherever he wants to go and recoup those funds. Mane could get them at least 100 million easily even in the Covid market.

 

[Burner Account]

They need to clean the deck first.

Yeah. For starters it would be nice to have squad players who are healthy more often than they’re injured. I’m looking at Ox and Keita.

 

[Savant]

Yeah, I’m not clearing the deck but I’m getting rid of all the guys that can’t be counted on to play two games in a row.

 

[Chimaera]

Everyone has their price. The problem for Liverpool is that nobody has any money or would meet that price. That said I agree they should keep both of them, especially Salah, but that also depends on the players themselves.

What Liverpool need to really consider though is getting some new blood and young blood at that. They have a lot of players at around the same age and this side will age pretty quickly:

Salah 28
Mane 28
Alisson 28
Firmino 29
Thiago 29
Matip 29
Van Dijk 29
Wijnaldum 30
Henderson 30

Consider those players' respective ages and the rest of the squad left after them. IMO that leaves them 2-3 years to reinforce the team with an eye to the future. Plenty of time, but they need to get it right too. Otherwise what could have been, and it looks like they could be at that stage, will turn into a flash in the pan.

I agree that their window for top level is closing. That's clearly true. They're not the favorite for the EPL, and they won't be for the CL. I think it's likely they'll be competitive, but I think as long as City still spends like City, and keeps Pep, they will be the team to beat in England. Yet, Liverpool will be better next season. Maybe not last season better, but they should give teams a run. Some will depend on this summer, and they are getting older, though, both keepers and central defenders have been able to be pretty effective, even into their 30s. For Virgil, this injury will certainly be a question, and they have to develop something next to him, but it's not completely over. I think Alisson can have a career of top level for at least 5-6 seasons without too much concern. Will he be one of the best 3 or 4 in Europe? No I don't think so. But a top 10 guy? Sure.

Additionally, while I think the attack will need a refresh (in my opinion Firmino was probably set to make way or at a minimum see his minutes change) and I think there was justifiable hope that a big ticket purchase would have been feasible this summer. I don't know that the money will be there, even if by some miracle the CL / Europa is, so, that might not be the option it was. That really will change things a bit this summer if they don't have the same funding they thought they would.

I will say, that while a lot of their top level talent is getting older, there are some parts in the squad that are just entering peak, as much as others might be winding down. Jota, Fabinho, TAA, Robertson, Gomez (no matter how overrated he might be) should be entering their peak. I do question if some of the miles on Robertson will catch up, but he should still be a quality option. If you phase out Firmino, add in a quality midfielder to the mix (in the expectation that Henderson is getting older, Wijnaldum wants to leave), along with Jones and Fabinho, and that's still a pretty young nucleus. It's a lot easier to do if you can get ANYTHING out of Naby Keita or Oxlade-Chamberlain (jury is completely out on that, and I wouldn't wager on it). But I think the reason Gini is willing to walk, and the club doesn't seem that upset about it is the understanding that they need at least one or two new central midfielders to eat up some minutes (hard ones at that). Jones coming good will help in that process, but I don't think he is ready for those miles.

As for the attack, which is certainly the issue, I don't have problems with going again with Mane and Salah, and using both until they decide they want to leave. It's entirely possible that either player could have 3-4+ seasons of top level football, and certainly, the cost to bring in something equivalent that will be better is difficult to do. The club wouldn't get their value for them (well... maybe, but I think in COVID, they value them more than they're worth) and as long as they're happy, I wouldn't make a move. I think both Mane and Salah have at least a couple seasons where they're extremely good players, though, for me, a lot of this season is less on them, and more the fact that they've got nothing to push them. When Jota was healthy, it was going better, and the club was firing. Sure, Salah might be mad to get yanked, but work your ass off, and you keep the young, hungry player on the bench. Sure, you're a superstar, but there needs to be some hunger for it. I do wonder if one or the other wants a change in scenery. I've always rightly felt at some point, the climate of Madrid or Barca is a calling for most every top player, and it might make sense to see if a deal can be done for their benefit. I don't think Barca have anywhere near the money to get it done (though, I guess if Messi is off the books, there might be a few more dollars to go around), though honestly, I think for Liverpool, it's less what they would get, and more, making a move that they would feel like could help. Letting Mane or Salah go doesn't help you, but letting one go, while freeing up money, while getting younger and maybe a bit more hungry, would be a bit of a refresh at least.

I also think Harvey Elliott is going to be really good. Though, that's a wait and see, and I don't think he's ready to be a top contributor on a CL level side, but sooner, rather than later, he could be really good. I've also been on record saying that Curtis Jones is going to save Liverpool 30-40+ in midfielders. If you can get both of those players for the pennies they've invested, they have more money to go and make a massive upgrade to a winger, or a striker if that's where you need to do it. I think you'd know best that it's a lot easier to fill guys around some parts if you can count on developing, or finding some cheaper options, and getting top level players out of it.

 

[These Are The Days]

Whatever Klopp has to do with the blessing of management will have my support. I trust the man unconditionally. It was such a hell of a ride but the boys are done as they are.