Liverpool Banter 2

28 Aug 2026 20:27:18
It’s so depressing thinking that we are supposed to be excited over Sarr, Mbaye or Rayan as a replacement for Mo. Barcola is a replacement for Diaz.

28 Aug 2026 20:41:41
Have you not
Learnt how we operate yet? We avoid problem players (Isak aside). We won’t overpay unless we desperately want someone, and we would rather wait than get dragged into any of that nonsense.
There will be a target who wants to join and who is worth the asking price.

28 Aug 2026 21:26:32
The club don't overpay. They are happy to pay what they think a player is worth to them - hence the protracted negotiation with Isak last year and Barcola this year.

They weren't prepared to pay the amount PSG wanted for Mbaye so they walked away.

The perception of overpaying is really just something fans have, particularly if the fans don't particularly rate a player, currently Minteh and Sarr as examples.

Fans (including me) tend to judge a player in isolation and don't always see the player for the contribution he could make for the team and the style in which the team play. The old adage that 'the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts' is generally true of all the best teams.

28 Aug 2026 21:27:22
It's depressing we didn't sign Wharton.

28 Aug 2026 22:04:52
Ron did the Prozac run out? Special brew can be a stop
Gak.
Are you always this jolly?

28 Aug 2026 22:32:03
There isn't a replacement for Salah available in world football, that type of player just doesn't exist right now, we need to stop hankering after one and make what we have got - e.g. some very expensive supposedly elite players - do their jobs properly.

{Ed666's Note - My ideals to replace Salah were Diamonde followed by Olise, Akliouche, Mbaye..now I’d be happy with Craig Johnston 🤣

28 Aug 2026 22:33:50
We are not really replacing Mo, though, are we. We are changing the entire system for a new era. There is no replacement for Mo, so we replace the system.
The wingers we are looking at are completely different profiles to Mo, and they are never going to get the numbers Mo got.

The entire front line is going to share the load instead, especially Isak and Wirtz, or that's the plan anyway.

28 Aug 2026 23:53:04
Bring back Skippy Ed0666 😂

{Ed666's Note - skippy would start ahead of Frimpong tommorow mate

28 Aug 2026 20:16:34
What a terrible window this has been. There's no way you'd leave it this late to sign any player.
To also let Jones leave without a replacement is amateurish. We shouldn't be waiting on what a Jones or Macca wants to do. Their replacements should have been here already.
Not signing Adam Wharton for one, is a huge misstep. Homegrown and would have walked to get here. Palace would have negotiated a reasonable fee weeks ago. Then seeking a proper gritty athletic 6 should have been a priority.
There's no clever thinking behind any of this.

Hughes looks like a right buffoon.
We wanted Diamonde to replace Salah. The lad went to Madrid. How do you go from a 19 year old to Sarr nearly 10 years older when that also goes against our apparent transfer policy?
You can't and won't win anything with the midfield we have. I don't care if you signed Mbappe. That midfield can't be "coached" to win a league.
Also Conor Bradley, when's he back because there's a lot resting on his shoulders for the right back role.

{Ed666's Note - Up the meds till Tuesday Ron Funk you’re gonna need them mate

28 Aug 2026 20:39:39
Adam Wharton's passing is a joy to behold.

28 Aug 2026 21:08:55
Some said Wharton wasn't better than Macca 🤣, but when they watch him play again, such as tonight, his quality is there.
I've repeated myself all summer. Adam Wharton is top class and would have been a revelation for us.


Far too late in the window to bid for Wharton. Palace will say no because of timing. The lad wants the Liverpool move too. 22 and he's soo silky already.

28 Aug 2026 21:17:19
Camara incoming, but you'll
have to wait till
Tuesday morning.

28 Aug 2026 21:37:18
I love Wharton, but the idea that Palace would sell him for less than Anderson is fantasy. He is at Palace until someone pays £100m plus for him.

28 Aug 2026 21:42:20
If Macca was to go, then I certainly wouldn't be against Wharton as long as we signed another with him, but if we are only signing one midfielder, then it can't be him. We surely need someone a little more robust, not necessarily to kick lumps out of people, but certainly more physical and positionally aware.

28 Aug 2026 21:52:56
Am I watching the same game here? Wharton and Kamada have been absolutely shocking. Foden and Cherki are just waltzing through the Palace midfield repeatedly.

Wharton is not at all what we need. He's as tackle-shy as anyone in the league. The two times this game he challenged for a 50/50, it took him a solid minute to get up and limp back into position.

28 Aug 2026 22:07:21
We have enough soft lads who care more about hairdos and not getting injured - we need some grit.
Interesting that Andoni's two choices so far in Munoz and Araujo are edgy MFs who like to get stuck in. Do you think Andoni may have noticed
Something after Slot's tepid gruel
Was served up?

28 Aug 2026 22:12:26
The fact that Camara is next and is another player who loves to get stuck in tells
You are
You need to
Know. Barcola I'm not convinced by for this league, but he does win the ball
Back a lot in the final
Third.

28 Aug 2026 20:07:36
Anyone getting the feeling our business in this window is done.

{Ed666's Note - Hope springs eternal mate. It’s the most bonkers transfer window in living memory..anything could happen still. So I’m holding off the post Mortem till the end of the window snoots

28 Aug 2026 20:32:02
Usually if we are done the likes of James Pearce and Paul Joyce say we are done.

{Ed666's Note - Angel of doom Pearce

28 Aug 2026 20:32:49
I still think we'll sell Gakpo and sign a RW.

{Ed666's Note - I do t doubt that but the likely winger is Sarr mate. Something gives me the feeling we get Sarr and then Hughes buys him for Saudi next season when better right wingers are available! This is how conspiracy theories start 🤣

28 Aug 2026 20:34:42
It's been messy to say the least but the ultimate verdict has to be given after the window closes. Atm is a 1/10.

28 Aug 2026 20:59:18
I'd offer Palace, Endo, Chiesa and £130m for Wharton and Sarr, and just bite the bullet as this is getting stupid now. Our squad is weak.

28 Aug 2026 20:04:12
Wonder whether the plan is to sign an experienced rw and then wait until next summer for Rayan. Would make sense of the Sarr rumours (at least he won’t get his standard goal per game against us).

I might be naive but have to think there’s some kind of plan in place. You let Salah walk and don’t get that spot sorted for the entire summer, surely that’s not feasible?!

{Ed666's Note - did you say plan in place? 😆🤣🤭

28 Aug 2026 20:34:57
There's definitely no plan, this window is a s*** show.

{Ed666's Note - let’s just wait a few more days until we go scorched earth mate

28 Aug 2026 21:08:17
Definitely some outs and ins before the window closes, worry is who goes and who arrives. 😱

28 Aug 2026 21:13:41
Ed666, yep it will go mental

28 Aug 2026 19:54:05
Interesting report on YouTube from Romaine Molina, whoever he is, about Mbaye. It's in French. I can't link for some reason. It's basically said that PSG wasn't him or because of attitude issues, such as weight management and timekeeping, and because of his "entourage". They are demanding lots of unreasonable things according to his report, and it sounds very much like the reports from Diomande, such as wanting a foundation set up, 50% to his associates, family in meetings, building a school. Some sounds reasonable, some is ridiculous for an 18 year old with an attitude. He's had 3 agents in 12 months. Most of all, his father has repeatedly made demands of PSG, saying Mbaye is like Yamal and should be a starter, etc.

PSG are delighted to be getting a decent fee to get rid of him.

Perhaps this one was best avoided if all that's true. At the very least, it's copium.

28 Aug 2026 20:19:26
Best swerved like the clap.

28 Aug 2026 21:42:10
Let's hope it's not sour grapes and making up stories coz we didn't get a player.

28 Aug 2026 19:51:39
Don’t think there’s ever been a transfer window like this, it’s mentally taxing.

28 Aug 2026 20:11:19
Don't forget Edwards is a mastermind... Can we
Please dispel that myth for good.

28 Aug 2026 20:27:35
Edwards left.

28 Aug 2026 21:31:58
What's it got to do with Edwards.

28 Aug 2026 19:47:46
Is it just me who thinks we should sign that Julio Enciso from Ipswich?

28 Aug 2026 19:57:00
It's just you. ;-)

28 Aug 2026 20:06:29
Nope. You're all alone on that island, mate.

28 Aug 2026 19:14:15
I see Barcola is still not completed (not entertaining the word 'done').
We don't announce transfers on weekends.
Bank holiday Monday.

It's going to have to be a deadline day signing.

28 Aug 2026 19:59:14
It's not a bank holiday in France.

28 Aug 2026 18:53:11
Liverpool's problem is having 8 players who want to attack, this pushes other teams to go into a low block, if we lose the ball with a poor pass or blocked shot it's so easy for teams to counter.

This is the main reason Wirtz is failing because we don't allow him the space because our other midfielders are using it.



We got our fullback profiles all wrong last season, our average positions should resemble a 2-3-2-3 formation.

So in theory we need 2 full backs, a dm and a right winger.

28 Aug 2026 19:13:39
It's about getting players to recognize when it's their turn to cover. It needs some more coaching.

The squad could certainly do with a talented, more defence minded midfielder to compliment the group, because he would naturally look to be the cover, but it's not impossible the current selection put it together with more training and discipline either.

28 Aug 2026 19:41:07
Araujo will
own the RB spot so Kerkez can push on.
Camara should help with the missing bite. Our team of fancy fans seem to be more concerned with their hairdos and not getting injured. Lame.

28 Aug 2026 19:48:46
Kerkez, push on and do what?

28 Aug 2026 19:58:59
Wirtz "failing" is not because of
last season's excuse (Slot), nor this season's (our midfielders). He needs to step up, and seize a few games around the neck.

I really hope it happens for him, but so far he has looked totally lost, and the wrong player in the wrong league.

28 Aug 2026 20:13:10
"It's about getting players to recognize when it's their turn to cover. It needs some more coaching."

Spot on, Davey. This is the way Iraola plays and is currently undefeated in the PL in the last 18 games. In fact, in the last 17 games he coached at B'mouth last season, B'mouth were very good defensively, cos his midfielders worked hard off the ball whenever they lost it to protect the defence, hence why he does not use a typical no.

6.

As for Wirtz taking over games, that is not gonna happen cos he thrives within a system that gets the best out of him, something Alonso successfully did, and that Iraola is trying to do with his system. Even Bobbie, Salah, Mane, Coutinho, etc., worked within a system Klopp built. Neither of them were just free-lancing.

The whole "one player taking over games" and all that are no longer a thing, imo. It's all about systems now.

28 Aug 2026 20:13:51
Mark,
Hopefully he keeps running like Forest Gump and ends up in Scotland, which is about his level.

28 Aug 2026 20:26:24
The main problem hampering Wirtz to date is that he is not a No. 10. Never was. The only place he is a No. 10 is in video games.

I watched quite a bit of Wirtz when he was brilliant at Leverkusen. He played off the left, combining with an overlapping Alex Grimaldo to deadly effect. He was brilliant and his arrival softened the blow of Diaz leaving after our title win. We paid a fortune for him and all looked rosy...

Then, for some ridiculous reason Slot played him in central midfield positions, on the right and as what he called a "No. 10" - which Wirtz apparently wants to be - ripping up a title winning formation to do so.

The rare occasions Wirtz started on the left he looked a bit more comfortable - but was hamstrung by Slot's insistence that fullbacks stay deep and do not overlap (I will not miss his anti-football).

To recap. We signed the best young left-sided inside forward in world football for £120+, then seemingly promised him that he'd be a "No. 10" - in a title winning side that didn't play with a No. 10. The results speak for themselves. The stupidity was/is staggering.

Maybe Perhaps Wirtz can be a No. 10. Perhaps he personally thinks he'd be a great No. 10 - but there is zero evidence of that. Zero. It has never, even been a reality.

The crazy thing for me is that the pundits and "experts" never mention this in discussions about Wirtz. Obviously because they never watched him play at his best - so don't have a clue what he's supposed to be good at.

{Ed666's Note - Great post Lassic

28 Aug 2026 20:47:37
It was Edward's idea, not Slot's. He was calling the shots, not Slot.
Edward thought he could sort out Jurgens' problems. Talk about delusions of grandeur.

I can see a world Wirtz adapts to playing the Bobby role, but he needs a solid MF behind him. Alonso gets it.