15 Jan 2026 08:04:30
Trying to figure out and assess the clubs strategy with the defence… Starting with Joe G - great fella but not the future, more a versatile clubman providing cover across the whole back line (if he can stay fit). Potential replacement at the end of the season? Fullback strategy was clear; Maybe in time we'll see a more consistent version of Kerkez but who will provide competition next year? And RB? I like Bradley but his style makes injuries and suspensions likely. Hopefully Frimpong has a strong 2nd half of the season but I'd also like to see Ramsey involved with Frimpong staying at RW. So, replace Robbo and Tsimikas next season with new competition for LB and hope RB solves itself? Virg another year older and no longer looking infallible, the decline had to come sometime.
Was Leoni bought as the long term Virg successor - was that the thinking there Ed? Then there's Ibou running down his contract with no indication he's staying, plus very shaky form. We thought we had Guehi for 35M (? ) in pre-season, so the intent at that point was clear. What I struggle with is why we don't go straight back in for him now…we're either not sure he's right or playing high stakes jeopardy for the Summer. Even if that pans out, do we need 1 more? So in summary, could this be the strategy for next year: Kerkez + new LB? Virg / Leoni Konate / Guehi Bradley / Frimpong / Ramsey Joe G as a cover all ?
{Ed001's Note - Leoni was the long term replacement for Konate, Guehi is to replace Virgil. We need more, even at his best Konate is brainless and prone to idiotic and stupid fouls, he has to go.}
15 Jan 2026 10:36:34
What would you do with the RB position Ed? Seems like Frimpong wants to be more forward so would probably be suited to a back 3 with wingbacks to be utilised to his max. Bradley seems tough to rely on with his injuries and how he'll return after the season out.
Would you look to sign someone else with bradley and ramsay as cover? Guess you could probably leave robinson and kerkez on the left, and hope for a u21 as extra cover.
{Ed001's Note - we need to sign a right back as we can't rely on Bradley and Frimpong is not really a full-back. I am not in the slightest convinced by Ramsay and Slot clearly is not going to give him another chance anyway.}
15 Jan 2026 10:37:35
The biggest question I have is, would Liverpool be interested in signing Marc Guehi if he was not out of contract in the summer? I fear the answer is no. Personally, I saw Guehi as an opportunistic replacement for Joe Gomez's role in the squad - can play across the backline. I see Leoni as one potential Virg successor but there is no guarantee, especially given his injury robbing a year or more of development time. The signing of the young Austrian CB is an interesting one. Like Leoni, he has the physical stature of Virg. With Ibou Konate looking unlikely to stay, Jereme Jacquet or Ousmane Diomande are the most obvious like for like replacements - both likely to be on the move in the summer.
If you don't go like for like, then Joel Ordonez would be a good fit. With Robbo being out of contract, a LB/ LCB hybrid would be a sensible investment - eg Schlotterbeck (will have a year left on his deal in the summer), Lukeba or Hincapie if doesn't make his move to Arsenal permanent. Gomez out, Guehi/ Ordonez in
Konate out, Jacquet/ Diomande/ Ordonez in
Robbo out, Schlotterbeck/ Lukeba/ Hincapie in Leoni and young Austrian lad to be given the opportunity to step into Virgil shaped hole in a couple of years.
15 Jan 2026 10:39:09
Morning Ed001, I've mentioned this problem numerous times on here. In reply, Leoni, long term injury, can't play. Vvd, great, but can't do it on his own. Guehi, not our player. Konate, not signed his contract and very much out of form.
Bradley, long term. Gomez, injury prone. Yes, we need more and a blind man can see its been needed for a long time. I say again if we don't buy this month it is a dereliction of duty.
15 Jan 2026 11:06:13
@FPF, I thought the club were willing to pay for Guehi in the last summer transfer window and the press had it that the lad was on his way for a medical when Parrish caved in to Glassner's blackmail. Seems to me that we wanted him and were willing to pay.
15 Jan 2026 12:05:51
WDW - yes they were willing to pay ~30m for player going into the last year of his contract. Do they like him enough to pay his market value had he been say 2 years into a 5 year contract?
15 Jan 2026 12:09:16
Even if Gomez was to stay injury free I don't think his body is capable of playing 2-3 games a week over a sustained period.
15 Jan 2026 11:13:28
Which top flight CB's are out of contract over the next year or so? you won't go far wrong with that list when it comes to our CB targets i'd imagine. Think i remember seeing Schlottarbecks and Van Hecke's contracts were up next year.
15 Jan 2026 11:49:29
For me a RB only makes sense if Chiesa and Ramsay are sold, and Frimpong is seen as Fede's replacement further forward. In that case it makes sense to sign a new RB to compete with Bradley long term. If Ramsay is not being sold, he needs to be used. If Frimpong is considered a RB even short term because Chiesa is staying, then we already have 2 and he should be the one to start at RB, with the academy being turned to for short term cover to Bradley's injury. You don't sign 3 senior players per position in case of injury. That's literally how academy players get their break most of the time; by being 3rd choice. I'm sick of Slot treating squad/ academy players so poorly. It's a world cup year and a lot of players will have wanted to try and earn a spot on the plane, but the likes of Endo, Gomez, Ramsay, Chiesa etc have been totally hung out to dry. If you don't value them remotely, then sell them. Slot's answer to the Harvey Elliott question the other day was an awful and very public display of his lack of man management skills. He literally could not have cared less that Elliott's career ahs been turned upside down and said words to the effect of 'speak to Emery about a Villa player'.
He isn't a Villa player. He's a Liverpool player until that clause is activated (which it clearly won't be) and a little bit of compassion for his situation and the fact his world cup dream is in tatters, wouldn't have bloody hurt. I honestly hate the way Hughes and/ or Slot are managing the squad right now. Klopp built a togetherness that kept the squad players and the academy engaged and committed to the project. These clowns are dismantling that family feel and I hate it. I honestly don't even recognise Liverpool anymore. Our manager doesn't even want to live in the City. It gives the same vibes as when Mourinho was at Man United and he used to stay in a hotel because he wanted to live in London. I'm ranting again now and deviating from the topic, so sorry guys. It's just that every discussion that comes up nowadays highlights something else I dislike about Slot. He's not a long term solution if he doesn't even want to live here. Rafa and Klopp were Liverpool through and through. I want that again. Imagine if Klopp had gone and signed some German RB instead of giving Trent an opportunity! It's just not the Liverpool way. We're acting like more Man City or Chelsea nowadays.
15 Jan 2026 12:35:00
I have to agree 100% with you there Adam ?.
15 Jan 2026 12:55:38
Correct me if I'm wrong but the infallible Jurgen Klopp rented a flat with his family when he first came to Liverpool. It's the life of a football manager that means jobs are often temporary. Buying a house, moving the family etc for a temporary job is not always that easy. I respect a man that puts his family's happiness before a (temporary) job.
A 3 year contract is not a ringing endorsement from the club either. Would you up sticks and disrupt your kids education for a 3 year contract? He could have moved his family over to Liverpool for a 3 year contract then lost his job after 12 months and may lose it after 24 months. So maximum disruption of his kids education for a 1-2 (max 3) year job?
15 Jan 2026 13:14:04
The point Slot is making when he keeps saying"you'll have to talk to Villa"is because the club don't have a recall option. Villa have to take the initiative in this instance so for all intents and purposes for the rest of this season he IS a Villa player. How do you know Slot doesn't want to live in the City? He's living where he is so its easiest for him to be able to get home and see his family. Its ok saying move them over but they have to be willing to move. what's he supposed to do? not see them? The club would have known this situation when he first got the job.
Then onto Trent, sick to death of saying this but for kids to be put in the first team they have to be good enough. There are no trents at the moment ready to come in besides maybe Rio. People will say you don't know with the kids until you give them the chance but trust me, none at the academy especially the defenders are near good enough to be facing Premier League attackers.
15 Jan 2026 13:14:20
Ron, I understand your point and it is a very good point very well made. However, if he didn't back himself to make it a long term stay in the first place, maybe he was never the right man for the job or on the contrary maybe it was never the right job for him. Slot's not even renting with his family in Liverpool. They're in Holland. That's not the actions of somebody planning that job to be for the long term. If his family weren't all in from the start then it was doomed to turn sour from the get go, just like it did with Mourinho.
When things get tough, people want to see full commitment to the turn around and Slot can't give us that from another country. What was the plan? Wait a couple of years then move the family over? Because he could just as easily get sacked after 30 months rather than 24 months. There is no right or wrong time to uproot your family in football because things move very fast and it is a fickle industry. So if you and/ or your family aren't suited to that high risk nomadic lifestyle, just stay in your comfort zone. That's my opinion on the matter, anyway.
15 Jan 2026 13:15:12
MK I might be wrong but I think Frimpong is already ahead of Chiesa in Slots right wing pecking order.
15 Jan 2026 13:25:46
The club often help out with this type of thing. Not sure whether they own some of the houses, or just help players source them, but as you say it's a transient life so no harm in renting if that's what they prefer. I also agree on the family relocation thing, it'd be nice if they could be together but there may well be good reasons why that's not the right thing for them to do.
With the value of some of the properties involved rental or sale they're so expensive who else could realistically take them. Particularly from a purchase point of view if they did need to move on unexpectedly they can be left holding an expensive asset that no one other than another player may be able to fund.
15 Jan 2026 13:37:13
If he stayed in his comfort zone, we wouldn't have won the league, mk, comparing him to Jose's reign at United is a bit disrespectful I think. Surely he didn't win the league half assing it. I get that people are disappointed with this season but the way folks talk it's like he was a disastrous appontment.
We are still one of the best and biggest teams in the world, we didn't fall off a cliff like United and arsenal did.
15 Jan 2026 14:16:46
Surely the questions are did he win the league half-assing it? Or has he lost enthusiasm this season? There is no question that our style of play in the league dropped off a cliff after January and we staggered over the finish line.
He binned off the FA Cup. Nearly stole a victory versus PSG when we got battered over two legs and didn't show up in the Carabao Cup final.
15 Jan 2026 14:30:13
I agree, PB. Slot may have lost a ton of credibility and rightfully so, IMO. However, let's not get carried away by making such unbalanced comparisons esp. with how absolutely terrible Jose's time was at Utd. And even at real Madrid, to be honest cos his time there was even more toxic, IMO.
Slot is not a disastrous appointment either so again, let's tone down the rhetoric here. Man dog-walked the league last season when next to no one thought he could so give him his flowers. Has he mad costly mistakes? Yes. Terrible decisions? Yes. But again, let's take a chill pill, is all Im saying really.
15 Jan 2026 14:34:00
Is it fair to say that Bradley hasn't improved in the past 2 seasons? His heart and drive are unquestionable. Is he another player being used wrong and coached against his natural ability?
15 Jan 2026 14:49:33
Burgher, why is it disrespectful? Mourinho did an exceptional job at Man United initially winning 2 trophies and finishing 2nd with a deteriorating squad. Once things got a bit tough, he couldn't get the fans back onside though and part of that was because he never fully invested himself in Man United or Manchester as a long term thing.
15 Jan 2026 14:50:08
From the turn of the year last year we didn't lose a league game until April.
15 Jan 2026 14:54:38
How do you know we wouldn't have won the League? Klopp left an excellent team that only fell short the season before. Who knows what another coach could have done.
15 Jan 2026 15:00:28
Clearly illegal streaming highlights wasn't a thing when Mourinho had an absolutely terrible time at UTD. As MK pointed out whilst not great it certainly wasn't terrible. Probably time for some to put their keyboards down and go and watch some football rather than follow it on the internet.