08 Dec 2025 09:49:10
We have two enormous issues, Hughes and Edwards clearly renewed Salah knowing they could still recoup their outlay from the Saudi league if Salah flopped (as he has), what they didn’t bank on was Salah exposing their get your money back plan. The second is Slot is clueless and deserves to die on the Gakpo hill that he continually stands on. Diaz is twice the player, to prefer Gakpo over him shows a ridiculous bias and the same goes for Robbo and Kerkez, he doesn’t want Robbo so he persists with Kerkez despite Kerkez being clueless.
It is also clear that VVD uses every opportunity to blame Kerkez on the pitch, displaying public exasperation with him in every game. I think Slot has made it clear he’s over seeing a changing of the guard and the old guard are fighting him … VVD, Salah, Robbo, Alisson and probably Macca as well. It’s a total shambles.
08 Dec 2025 10:34:31
As supporters of the club, I assume we'd be happy that Hughes and Edwards managed it that way, if indeed that is the case. They secured a two year extension for Salah which is what every Liverpool supporter wanted based on his performances last year, whilst potentially also retaining the option to sell him during the first 12 months of that 2 year extension if his form fell off a cliff, as it has.
I'm sure they're not getting everything right behind the scenes but I don't see an obvious route to blaming Hughes and Edwards for the current situation, at least not in terms of how they've managed transfers in and out. They secured the extensions for two out of three big players who were out of contract (and reality appeared to be that there was no way Trent was ever going to stay), they sold, for good money, most of the players who most of the supporters had on their "Out" lists, and they brought in new players that had most fans and journalists quoting "if Carlsberg did transfer windows". All fans were cock-a-hoop with us getting Isak, Wirtz and Kerkez and pretty happy with also bringing in Ekitike as (so we thought at the time) back up to Isak. Personally the only concerns I had were Frimpong who I was never convinced by, and the fact that we didn't bring in another senior centre-half.
08 Dec 2025 10:43:02
But Diaz wanted to go. Him and his dad had been pushing for a move for ages. The issue would be not replacing Diaz because Rio isn’t ready or not giving Chiesa a chance.
08 Dec 2025 10:49:39
When you hear hooves, don't always think zebras.
08 Dec 2025 10:49:53
By all accounts, Diaz has been agitating for a move / pay rise since he arrived, although you are dead right about him being 3 x the player Cody is.
Edwards/ Hughes/ senior pros/ yes men / no men - the inevitable power struggles that occur amongst most groups of humans., Peterson calls it climbing the dominance hierarchy pyramid, and suggests that it is the norm for our species and most others.
Edwards is ultimately in charge, whoever comes and goes.
08 Dec 2025 10:51:58
I'm almost at the point where team selection is irrelevant cos the tactics don't work. So selection based hills that Slot us dying on sort of don't matter.
Gakpo scored 18 goals last season. That's absolutely fine as output for an LW at this level. It's not his fault he's being told to play really slow tempo footie and hope to bore the opposition into falling asleep this season.
08 Dec 2025 10:54:28
Diaz was 29 looking for a big contract, knowing how the club works and the huge price Bayern were willing to pay we were never going to give him what he wanted. Gakpo had a good season last year, is 3 years younger and to all appearances was on an upward trajectory. I think he still has a lot to offer, but he needs somebody to rotate with.
Also calling Kerkez clueless is incredibly harsh, he is 22 years old, at the beginning of his Liverpool career, playing in a system and role he is unfamiliar with and which don't utilise his strengths (though he has been getting the ball on the overlap lately and showing more of what he can possibly do) . Has Robbo played better than Kerkez in the games he's been on? I would venture to say that he most certainly has not.
08 Dec 2025 11:27:14
Mr Brightside you’re probably right. This is an old versus new power struggle, a transition problem. Change is one of the hardest things to get right in any business or relationship, and in elite sport it’s obviously really tough. Probably no surprise that Utd, Arsenal and now us are struggling after our iconic leaders left, hopefully our struggles don’t go on much beyond this season.
Arne probably isn’t the best change leader in terms of personality, but maybe as someone else said he’s the cold clinical interim one who’ll transition out the old and essentially take the blame before the longer term solution comes in.
Or maybe that’s giving the directors too much credit, and they genuinely think we’re playing some good stuff and have been unlucky, and our tactics are fine.
I’m talking myself into the Something Red school of thought. That’s why these forums are great, everyone’s perspective is interesting. Agree with Pat on Kerkez also.
08 Dec 2025 11:45:51
I think people forget how frustrating Diaz was at LW last season. Gakpo rightfully took his spot from Diaz and forced Diaz to play CF, and only then because we had injuries to Nunez and Jota. Although, I think Diaz would suit Slot's tactics better this season since he is a left footed winger who loves to play wider on the wing.
Gakpo needs to play further infield and closer to goal to have more of an impact, like how he did last season.
08 Dec 2025 12:32:50
While I have no idea what is going on, but we spent a lot of effort to make us the destination club, an environment that players wanted to thrive in and where the club, players and fans are all in it together as one.
The Saudi sales have been convenient in fixing some bad decisions from the past. However, it looks like we are now going beyond that and now pricing them into our own footballing model.
We need to be careful on how this might effect our culture as it is the senior stars that contribute as much to the culture as the coaching and technical staff do.
08 Dec 2025 12:42:10
Diaz gave us an out that we no longer have (and miss) he was a battler, and could create something from nothing.
Gakpo is one dimensional, and despite his goals, a Mane like player over there would serve us much better in my opinion.
08 Dec 2025 12:43:15
Weren’t Hughes and co getting stick for allowing Trent to leave for free? What was it? Bad management or something like that.
Now it’s sw kind of ploy?
lol can’t make this stuff up man.
08 Dec 2025 12:55:30
We did replace Diaz Longthing he was a CF last season and was Slot’s preferred choice even when Darwin and Diogo were fit.
You simply can’t blame Edward’s and Hughes for any of this they have literally gone out and got best in class in every position they were asked to fill. They lost out on Guehi but they had got the deal done and it was Palace who pulled the plug. By all accounts though the player still wants to come and will likely be signed in January.
This is still an ongoing process though as we transition from VVD, Robbo, Salah etc to a new team. If Edward’s and Hughes continue in the same vain as they did in the summer when replacing VVD and bolstering the midfield we’ll have some team.
It was always going to be a tricky process as we try to build a new squad and none of us expected it to go this badly wrong but I’m completely calm about the whole situation because I know, with the players we have and with the ambition shown in the summer this will come good and we’ll be a force across Europe. We just need to get through this period of transition.
I don’t think the long term manager will be Slot as he’s shown his shortcomings this season but I also don’t think we should sack him without a worthy successor. Once again we should show the same ambition and go and get the absolute best manager available rather than jumping at Iraola or Glasner because they’re attainable now.
This rebuild has to be done with the long term interests of the club in mind not just the next 6 months and so far I can’t fault Hughes’s transfer business even if it has pushed Salah’s nose out of joint. He’s not the future so he needs to step aside and allow the new crop to come through.
08 Dec 2025 13:16:27
To go from Champions to a mid-table team in transition would make a lot of sense if we were like say Mourinho's Inter team with a load of older players. But we were not an old team.
Dropping out of the CL places is unacceptable as is losing at home to the worst United side in decades, 0-3 to Forest and 1-4 to PSV.
And if you zoom out a bit, the results in the calendar year are history making - not in a good way.
Slot has to go. And Hughes has to take half of the blame for it. The squad was left badly unbalanced and misaligned to Slot's tactics.
08 Dec 2025 13:44:26
In what world is Diaz a left footed Winger? Jesus christ its like some of you have never watched us play ever.
08 Dec 2025 14:09:35
All the people saying Gakpo scored goals last season are the same ones that wanted “keep Salah at all costs” when their overall contributions to the team dissipate when they aren’t scoring. The pair of them lose or waste goalscoring opportunities more than any other forwards in the league. I said Kerkez is clueless but to be fair to him every single time he overlaps Gakpo he is either ignored or Gakpo hits it out of play. No wonder he’s not getting any crosses in. Slot seems to have Gakpo one of the first on the team sheet and that’s BS, probably one of the reasons why Salah said what he said. Anyone that goes the games every week or watches us on tv can see Gakpo stinks the place out, he still starts the next game.
Chiesa has been treated appallingly as well. Ekitike is our best attacker but knows when Isak is fit Slot will always pick Isak over him and flat refuses to play them together. I’m in the Slot and Salah out camp. If and when Guehi comes in, VVD can go as well. We require open heart surgery now, we lost 8 players from the squad that won the league last season, a new playing style with more intensity and running is also needed. Every team we play covers more ground than us, that is unacceptable. Rant over ….
08 Dec 2025 15:00:18
"I'm almost at the point where team selection is irrelevant cos the tactics don't work. "
My sentiments exactly.
@ArneSlotsBarber, in the world where Diaz being a left footer does not exist.
08 Dec 2025 16:08:26
Aplarently Slot wanted Diaz to stay but was overruled by Hughes.
08 Dec 2025 20:58:17
Florian, that happens all the time. Klopp wanted Milner to stay and was also overruled hence, he went to Brighton.
Also, Diaz had been agitating for a move for 2 years prior so he was always going to go regardless of what Slot thought. We all knew that, as well.