Liverpool Banter 2

08 Aug 2026 22:22:50
Good old Luis Garcia, (he drinks Sangria).

Article on BBC Sport talking about facing his good mate Alonso in their last friendly...

"I wish him all the best [at Chelsea], but even though I love him, hopefully he ends up second to Liverpool next season."

He came from Barca to bring us joy.

08 Aug 2026 23:30:59
He's 5ft 7, he's football heaven.

08 Aug 2026 23:36:35
That header against Anderlecht, the other one against Fulham, the volley against Juve, the 30 yard screamer against Charlton and of course the ghost goal. The lad had some fantastic moments.

09 Aug 2026 00:10:08
Please don't take our Luis away.

09 Aug 2026 01:16:52
Chewy,
Don't forget the volley v Chelsea in the semi at Mold Trafford. ✔️

09 Aug 2026 08:54:57
Good stuff, Ron. I remember when he arrived, dressed cool as f***, hipster chique. And didn't he bring us some Iberian joy? He was my password for more than 10 years.

09 Aug 2026 10:03:33
That volley against Juve.

08 Aug 2026 21:36:32
Outside of losing big players in Robbo/Salah, their places in the first team needed replacing anyway, I think the thing that could and already appears to be having the more significant impact is their leadership and their standard setting.

It appears with players like Jones, who is nothing more than a squad player, but now without anyone in that midfield really pulling up any trees or being a particular leader/standard setter. It’s giving him a sense of entitlement, as in I’m as good as those around me so I deserve to be in the first team.

Losing that mindset of I’ve got to be fighting to reach the levels of the likes of a Robbo/Salah turns you into what we are seeing now. Players meandering, lack of drive or fight, putting more effort into their TicToks than their performances.

Feeling as though you should have a captain's armband when in reality Jones being anywhere near captain tells us exactly where we are as a squad, barebones.

I have no real opinion on Araujo, of the little bits I’ve seen, he gives me Romero/Porro vibes, but for me, having a slightly older head could be a positive dependant on his personality. We’ve not had a real dog (fighter) in defence for a while, hopefully he has a bit of that in him.

Don’t get the whole ‘Marquee signing’ nonsense, we don’t need marquees, we need damn hard workers, players who fill the obvious gaps in our squad. I’d bet a high % of our fans would say they would prefer a lesser name we could turn into a superstar than a ‘marquee signing.’

08 Aug 2026 22:06:13
" A team can pull one man, one man can't pull a team."

08 Aug 2026 22:16:12
Unless it's Maradona.

08 Aug 2026 22:18:49
Maradona and Messi have made good efforts for Argentina.

08 Aug 2026 22:25:52
It's funny, when Jones scored that lovely goal against Everton all them years ago and said afterwards he wants to force his way into the starting team and be an important player for us, he was applauded for that bit of ambition and arrogance, almost.
I can't blame the lad for still wanting to be the first name on the team sheet for the club he supports. I totally get that he wants to be captain, of course he does.

I'd be disappointed if he didn't.
His ability doesn't match his ambition, though, sadly. He's never going to be that player. He's always gonna be a squad player for us. So I think he needs to make his mind up now what he wants, first name in a mid table team or bit part player for us.
I really want the lad to do well and just hope he puts in 100% and gets better under Iraola.

08 Aug 2026 22:41:56
1. I don't think Jones ever had the "fighting to reach Salah level" attitude you mention to begin with.
2. He isn't anywhere near the captaincy, so no, it doesn't tell us anything about the squad being 'barebones'.

Not only is he nowhere near it, but his recent antics just proved without doubt that he never should be, and you can bet your bottom dollar everyone now knows it, including Iraola.


007. Tell that to Gerrard.

09 Aug 2026 03:19:06
Are we talking about football, @007. Put me in mind of a funny story Rodney Marsh used to tell.

09 Aug 2026 03:22:42
I think we are all overdoing this on the captain piece. Since the time of Klopp, after captain and vice captain, the philosophy used to be that the player who has been at the club longest wears the armband.

Jones may have felt entitled because of that and not because of some entitlement that he is the best player in the team.

I agree he is nowhere near captain level, but we don't have to take two and two to make it 5 :).

09 Aug 2026 05:15:33
Yeah, I get the exact same sense with Jones.

It's almost like he has a sense that by virtue of being there longer than others that they should naturally look to him.

Whereas Milner, Hendo, Robbo were leaders because of who they were and how they led.

08 Aug 2026 21:08:57
Well, 2 weeks before the season starts, we are certainly leaving it late to bring in the needed numbers? Bar cola must surely be announced soon as it was done, but PSG didn't want it announced yet?

08 Aug 2026 22:10:26.
Interesting to see Araola's team selection and subs tomorrow.

180 mins of football left before the season starts.

Last season we started well, (results wise), winning the first 5 games, and collected 25% of the season's total points tally, and we still only ended up 5th.

Can the club afford a slow start this season?

09 Aug 2026 05:16:56
JK23, looking forward to the season!! It'd be really interesting to get people's thoughts or just see the reactions. Like if we play really well for 5 games but don't win any or come away with something like 7 points.

Iraola needs results from day 1.

09 Aug 2026 06:02:38
Think it's 270 minutes, JK23, mate, we're playing Como twice (once behind closed doors!).

I'm off to Anfield today for the Monaco game and can't wait. Should really start to see a semblance of the real 11 from here on in.

09 Aug 2026 06:14:58
Changing, you managed to sort the membership account then for the tickets today 💪. Going with the old man if I remember correctly.

Didn't realise they were playing Como twice, but if I wanted to be pretentious and argumentative (which I never am 😉), one could argue that players will unlikely play in both, so technically all players have max 180 mins of pre season football left to impress Araola.

09 Aug 2026 06:28:41
Impressed with the memory on that JK!

Yes, mate, taking my Dad today and sat in the Kop.

Buzzing.

09 Aug 2026 07:04:10
Quality mate.

Hope you both have a class day and it's a good game to watch. 🤜

08 Aug 2026 20:41:39
Ferran Torres to PSG gives Barca the funds now to get Rodri, which then means one of their midfielders will most likely be out the door for some first team football (Thinking of VD’s mystery marquee midfielder).

With Ferran at PSG, Barcola is more likely leaving as well due to the front line minutes, along with Mbaye most likely departing too.

Could be the one transfer to unlock us getting a few deals over the line.

08 Aug 2026 22:11:37
City close to signing the young Moroccan kid Bouaddi apparently.

08 Aug 2026 21:54:21
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new video entitled, C U Next Time - The Missing Members Edition}

08 Aug 2026 18:44:12
Mbaye just scored against Man Utd. Hope he joins us and continues to make this a habit.

08 Aug 2026 20:09:48
Would be a very good signing.

08 Aug 2026 23:39:22
I think so too, FM.

08 Aug 2026 18:39:48
Did anyone watch PSG vs Utd?

Any views on Mbaye up against an EPL defence (of sorts!)

08 Aug 2026 19:15:37
He was ok.
PSG were missing a lot of players, but he had a decent 1st half.
He's pretty quick and scored a decent goal, but had to turn it off though as the MANUTV commentators were literally unbearable.

08 Aug 2026 19:33:20
I think there is some confusion over the rumour. Richard Hughes thinks we've been offered Mbaye because when he called PSG's sporting director for the 17th time this week to say he was "preparing a bid", he immediately put the phone down after saying "hmm bye".

08 Aug 2026 18:30:46
To get off the Araujo posts for a minute, I see Mbaye scored against the Mancs, we definitively have to go for him now.

08 Aug 2026 20:11:04
Indeed, McGoveb. We defo cannot miss out on him after that goal, lol.

08 Aug 2026 18:19:31
I think there has been an interesting debate recently on here, the idea that you shouldn't criticise any Liverpool players and they should get full support all the time.

This is both correct and incorrect in my opinion.

Criticism is fine when it's both constructive and civilised. The problem is when it's derogatory and/or personal (I hate seeing people refer to players as 'deadwood').

I know in coaching from the ones I've seen and worked with that criticism is actually encouraged. Part of my job is helping players accept criticism and process it correctly.



There's nothing wrong with being skeptical or critical of a transfer or performance etc. Express it the right way though.

Neverending cheerleading is just as unhealthy as unwarranted or personal criticism.

There's a balance somewhere and people need to find that. At the moment it's the extremes on here with half people saying (for example) Araujo will be replacing Van Dijk and he should get endless praise while the other side are being too harsh and definitely too personal.

08 Aug 2026 19:06:54
How can he get any? Praise or criticism? He hasn't played a minute for the club yet! What I will say is that he is nothing like the previous loan signings of Kabak, Caulker or Davies etc, as this guy played 34 games last season at a very top level club with some exceptionally good players.

08 Aug 2026 20:00:20
@Nevada: "This is both correct and incorrect."

Oh no! We're back to Schrodinger's cat again!
(The alive & dead one in the quantum physics analogy).

08 Aug 2026 20:14:07
Nevada, I think your points are well perceived. In the end, anything that goes to the extreme on any issue becomes toxic, whether it be positive or negative.

The issue here is that it seems like there can be no middle ground on things like signings. It seems it has to be OTT on either side, and that is what breeds toxicity.

08 Aug 2026 20:26:33
Nice one, Clay. 😁👍

08 Aug 2026 21:39:51
Like everything, there is a middle ground.

I don't think it's either bash the player or big him up like prime Messi is coming.

I don't think I've seen anyone be overly positive other than actually just be positive about the merits of it.



But, on the "bash" him side, you'd think that this was the worst defender in history arriving.

So, in terms of extreme reactions, I think the "bash him" guys take the win.

08 Aug 2026 22:27:36
What's the most extreme reaction you've seen on here, Faith?

All I've seen is people mention Facebook and insta reactions, which is hardly relevant to this site.