12 Aug 2017 07:09:52
Morning all

Match day so should be positive but can't help think we are going into the new season weeker than last season with negatives all around us with our bad handling of trying to sign players, our best player wanting out and so on.

Another concern is our potential target to replace pipco in Diego Laxalt, having looked him up he played 37games last season most pf which from LW or LB scoring one goal and a couple of assists. He is not a play maker doesn't take the free kicks or corners and seems average. How a player with these attributes is being considered a replacememt for Phil is beyond me.

Anyhow 3 points today is a must and will lift some of the gloom but we need to strengthen in key areas as at the minute we will be well down the pecking order imo.

1.) 12 Aug 2017
12 Aug 2017 07:49:44
I'm sure many of us said that when we got pip from inter for a measly 8.5m keep the faith!

2.) 12 Aug 2017
12 Aug 2017 08:07:09
@Once

But we don't have 6 years to let a player become good this time. We need to buy anyone who will bring quality right now.

3.) 12 Aug 2017
12 Aug 2017 08:18:21
I think people are over exaggerating way over the top. Yes Coutinho's ability may be missed but he played on left of the front three for majority of last season. It is only towards the end of the season he moved into midfield.

We have Mane who will now play on the left and Salah on the right with our midfield which did not feature Coutinho last season when he played left of the front three.

The window is far from over and we still do not know whether the club will decide to hold onto Coutinho. Irrespective of what happens with PC, new faces will be arriving before the window shuts.

For me, the loss of Coutinho will impact us but not on the scale of the loss we had with Suarez. We may not have another player in midfield with Coutinho's explosiveness but if he was hardly playing in midfield last season and the addition of Salah has negated the problem we had with a lack of pace then I reckon we will still be ok.

4.) 12 Aug 2017
12 Aug 2017 08:30:08
Match day an it feels crap with the pc situation an very few new faces as promised.

5.) 12 Aug 2017
12 Aug 2017 09:04:43
Agreed Max.

Coutinho last season bagged 14 goals and 9 assists playing primarily on the left wing.

Salah last season (in a league much better defensively, but possibly in a slightly better team than Liverpool) scored 19 goals and created 15 more.

It is pretty clear Salah is a better winger than Coutinho and thus we have improved our team of last season. The disappointing factor is that Salah freed up Coutinho to play deeper where he is better than Lallana or Gini. So whilst signing Salah could've improved the front 3 and the midfield indirectly, it will now only improve the front 3. Solanke certainly improves our depth up front though. He looks a real handful.

Do not forget though that our midfield was basically missing Henderson and Grujic last season, and our defence has gained Robertson, Gomez and TAA.

The reason it feels like we've not improved is because of the ridiculous money being spent by United, City and Chelsea. In a normal summer we'd have been pretty pleased with signing a 30 goal/ assist a season winger, a left back and the one of if not the best u21 striker in England.

Keep the faith. I can see us dismantling Watford in style today.

6.) 12 Aug 2017
12 Aug 2017 10:28:04
Well said Adam.