01 Sep 2026 16:25:43
One of the biggest sticks used to beat Slot with was his reluctance to engage with the academy and give our young lads chances. Iraola has come in and wants to do just that with the likes of Rio, Chambers, McConnell, Nyoni and Koumas.
Now there’s a new thing to moan about though, that we’re putting too much faith in them and leaving ourselves short. Is there a touch of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” about this?
01 Sep 2026 16:48:00
Personally, I'd stick Nyonyi in as a DM (Assuming we're playing one) and see how he gets on. He looked good when he came on against Forest.
01 Sep 2026 16:51:07
There is a difference between giving them a chance and relying on them. If they are good enough, they should get a chance, but if you are relying on them, you are setting them up to fail.
01 Sep 2026 16:53:52
Couldn’t agree more, mk. I think personally slot and his reluctance to use young lads was his biggest downfall and square pegs in round holes, it made him look out of his depth and probably contributed to him losing his job.
01 Sep 2026 16:54:04
I’ve also been surprised to see a number of people advocating for Szobo at RB. Something else that Slot got pelters for.
01 Sep 2026 16:57:16
Was it really one of the biggest sticks, mate?
Around Anfield last season, the biggest moans I heard were how slow the team were in and out of possession, the lack of running in and out of possession, the fact they dropped lots of points at home and looked like they were unable to defend set pieces.
Not sure I heard anyone mention the youth solving those issues.
01 Sep 2026 16:57:19
Last time I looked, we don’t have a right back in the academy ready to promote. We sold Stephenson. I had hoped we might move for Daniel Banjaqui, but alas. Not this window.
McConnell has looked way out of his depth in pre-season.
Perhaps I’m missing something there. I’d be flabbergasted if he ever plays at the highest level.
Koumas, Chambers - good to keep them around this season.
Trey and Rio will get more minutes.
01 Sep 2026 16:59:56
Thought the same, MK. Not sure all of them can get much game time given the results so far, but I’d give Trey a chance. If he plays for a while and isn’t cutting it, fair enough, take him back out, but so far he looks pretty good in there when he gets game time. He’s maybe not shiny enough to please a lot of fans.
01 Sep 2026 17:00:32
If you're good enough, you're old enough, but also bed them in slowly.
01 Sep 2026 17:04:09
Who's relying on them, Fifth?
Not one of those named has started both games and two of them haven't even featured.
01 Sep 2026 17:11:21
I see what you mean, MK. You can't make everyone happy.
If Nyoni continues to play anything like his cameo from the weekend, I don't think anyone will have complaints. He completely ran the show when he came on and completely embarrassed much more senior midfielders imo.
01 Sep 2026 17:13:12
Trey at the moment deserves to be in the starting XI on merit.
He did more against Forest than Gravenberch did and Gravenberch should not even have started after the Newcastle horror show.
Szoboszlai also needs to be careful. He is not as good as he thinks he is.
It’s about time we had a ruthless manager. Let’s see how it pans out next game.
01 Sep 2026 17:17:06
If you offered Iraola a good LB and RW at the expense of Chambers and Koumas he’d bite your hand off.
01 Sep 2026 17:20:54
We’ve played two games, Rigsby. Wait until December when we are playing two games a week and we have five injuries. I guarantee some will have to start then.
01 Sep 2026 17:40:16
JK23, you probably get to more games than me. I only watched 2 at Anfield last season. Both times, though, there were people moaning about Slot not trusting Rio enough and refusing to drop Gakpo no matter how badly he played.
If you read this site and other forums regularly, you’d also have seen hundreds of different usernames all questioning why Slot didn’t trust Rio/Ramsay, why Slot went on holiday during international breaks instead of working with the kids, why Slot never attended academy games etc.
It was a pretty big stick in the ground and online.
01 Sep 2026 17:56:48
@StEitienne,
"And Gravenberch should not have even "started" after the Newcastle horror show"
He never "started" as he came on the field as a substitute with Nyoni after 71 minutes.
Andoni's way of punishing players is to either bring them off as a sub, hence Wirtz after 60 mins versus Newcastle, and not even starting Gravenberch versus Forest as a punishment for sloppy passes leading to the last time an LFC player made contact with the ball, till Becker picked them both out of the net.
You get no second chances with Andoni, don't pull ye weight, off ye Pop?
01 Sep 2026 17:59:05
Koumas could surprise us.
01 Sep 2026 18:01:40
Three of the five you mentioned weren’t at the club last season though they were rightfully out on loan. The other two, Trey and Ngumoha, got about the minutes they were ready for at a top club defending a title.
Apart from them, there was no one else near Premier League ready. I hope they all get minutes this year, but hopefully not because we’ve had several injuries to senior players.
01 Sep 2026 18:13:57
And now Rio's playing, we are all seeing why Slot didn't pick him, MK. Ramsay has now gone. Again, Slot must've known something. Elliott's gone. Again, Slot must've known something.
I wanted Slot gone, but last season he was being blamed for everything. Some of his decisions are now being proved right.
01 Sep 2026 18:26:00
Rio did about as good as any 17-year-old winger would do, in fairness, Rome. The craziness was leaving just him and Gakpo for the left wing. He’ll have benefited from the game time he’s had. This is what happens when ye have to promise a kid the moon and the stars to get him out of Chelsea.
01 Sep 2026 18:34:53
I'm not knocking Rio, FM, I'm simply saying he's not yet ready. His time will no doubt come.
I'm looking forward to seeing Barcola and Munoz flying down the wings. They are the immediate future.
01 Sep 2026 19:01:00
Oh, so we'll be relying on them in December, Fifth? You could be right on that and we might get to see whether they can be relied upon or not.
Ramsay's not a kid; he's 23 and has played one game for us.
A 3-0 defeat at home.
It's evident that Slot didn't trust him but neither did the managers of Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic or Kilmarnock.
01 Sep 2026 19:26:20
Hundreds of different usernames. I think you’ve overshot that one, Mk mate.
Def agree on the Slot holidaying, and I do remember Rio getting calls to be playing more games, and Ramsey did for about a week, but it definitely wasn’t hundreds of usernames.
Nyoni, Rio & Ramsey weren’t changing last season's awful performances or results.
However, looking forward to seeing what the youngsters can do this season because it’s clear we’re not strengthening again this window and we’re about to hit the 2-3 games a week schedule and then a 3 week international break, so the youngsters will def be needed.
01 Sep 2026 20:33:41
JK23, to be honest I was being conservative with my estimate of hundreds. As I said, across this site “and other forums”, it would not shock me if it was over 1000 different people I saw complaining about just Rio not starting over Gakpo.
Instagram, Threads, Facebook, X etc. They were gunning for it everywhere.
This isn’t the only place on the internet where people discuss football.
01 Sep 2026 20:48:33
Ok mate I’ll take your word for it then.
Considering there’s an estimated 500 mill LFC fans worldwide, hundreds or thousands, as you’ve put it, is still the minority.