02 Sep 2026 00:38:39
I'm looking forward to the season, of course, but it's hard to feel anything other than disappointment at the way things are now. I'm excited about the new signing - top quality, them. It's the club I worry about. Since Klopp came in, and the club showed some direction, I've held faith that things are just well run at Liverpool. This window has shaken that faith. I don't think the club is run as well as I believed.
The biggest issue, for me, is they're not backing the new coach in. They've given him a threadbare squad, and if he fails to make the CL at the end of this campaign, the board will blame Andoni. Signing a new coach and not strengthening the squad in any meaningful way is just unprofessional, as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway, let's get things going. Maybe they're planning on a rebuild of sorts, and thinking it'll take a season for AI to get things running smoothly. Who knows. Now I've got that off my chest; let's move on. Window shut, let's go.
02 Sep 2026 00:59:27
The club is very obviously not well run, and the myths of Liverpool being "the smartest men in the room" and "laughing on deadline day while other clubs panic buy" become more laughable each year. The clearest evidence of us not being well run is that, despite all the advantages the club has (enormous revenues, global support and prestige), we win about 4-5 trophies a decade - far fewer than we could if we were more efficient.
It's frustrating because Liverpool have everything that 99.9% of clubs dream of having - we could do so much more with it.
02 Sep 2026 01:02:18
How have we not strengthened the squad? How have they not backed the coach when they’ve just spent £123m on a player?
I honestly think you are allowing last season to cloud your judgement. There were mitigating circumstances for our poor performances last season, but it doesn’t make the previous season's champions suddenly crap players. Even if we’d signed no one, we would’ve been better than last season.
As it is we’ve significantly strengthened the defence and have got 2 wingers in. One has started really well and the other is one of the best out and out wingers in world football.
Rio is a year older. Isak and Wirtz have had a year to settle, and the former looks like he’s getting back to full fitness after a really unfortunate broken leg curtailed his season last year.
The midfield will be fine; we just need to find the right balance like we did in 24/25 with the same players.
Iraola will have to work with the fullbacks to improve them both defensively and offensively, but that can be done.
Most of all Iraola needs to get the confidence back in the players. They all look a bit beleaguered after last season and seem to be questioning themselves, which causes hesitation.
A few good results will help with that and I’ve a strong feeling they are just around the corner.
We’ve got a really good squad which, with a bit of work, could end up being a great squad.
Have some faith.
02 Sep 2026 03:31:48
Kerkez was crap last year, and looks crap this year, and there are quite a few other players who could have the same accusation thrown at them. Gravenberch continues to dine out on having a good 6-month spell nearly 2 years ago, Szobo produces moments of magic but zero consistency, Frimpong keeps pretending to be a football player, Isak saunters around like he’s a Messi regen rather than the Benteke regen he is. If we get serious injuries this season and/or currently injured players (Bradley, Ekitike) don’t recover sufficiently, do we have a squad that can compete for the league, let alone CL and FA Cup? We clearly do not.
The club has let Iraola down, and this season is going to be a big wake up call after the years of progress under Klopp. The owners have history of this though - even when we were looking excellent under Klopp we under strengthened instead of pushing our advantage (like Arsenal have). The club has Michelin-star ideas but doesn’t want to pay Michelin-star prices. They may be good at generating revenue, but if that revenue isn’t put into strengthening the team then what is it all for?
{Ed666's Note - Couldn’t agree more seano..Bring on the Bhattia era..
02 Sep 2026 06:46:17
Alonso backed
Mersesca backed
De Zerbi backed
Arteta backed
Iraola needs to improve the players.
02 Sep 2026 07:10:39
The answer is simple, Seano
FSG is an investment company.
Looking to make a return on their capital is what they do. People seem to forget that. If the club keeps making money, then great for the owners.
If it gets to the end of the season and Linda can put her red dress on and walk around the pitch, then it’s an added bonus.
02 Sep 2026 07:19:33
I wouldn't say Arsenal pushed their advantage and strengthened. I think the only top club that had a good window was City.
Arsenal - light up top
Chelsea - light in the middle (injuries dependent)
Man Utd - light in defence (ageing/injuries)
Us - RW, full backs, at least 1 cm.
However, Munoz, Gakpo, Szobo and Frimpong can all cover RW for now. Our main issue is the bench. We have players who can rotate between positions within the main group, but our bench has always been pretty light.
02 Sep 2026 07:43:18
Alonso backed
Mersesca backed
De Zerbi backed
Arteta backed
Transition! Or is that only a Liverpool thing? ?
02 Sep 2026 07:54:10
Rio “We have a great squad” did you see our bench the first two games? Like every pundit out there said bringing in Barcola doesn’t solve our issues, so I’d take your rose tinted bins off with that. You can allude to injuries, but these injuries are not simple knocks.
They’re long term and we’ve opted not to do anything about it. Not replacing Jones was criminal for me.
Also, these myths about us being a well run club have been dismissed now. It was clear Klopp was the mastermind during that golden era.
02 Sep 2026 08:49:23
Doesn’t really matter how well or badly we are run. By next Summer it will be a totally different crowd overseeing things. Why would FSG’s eyes be on the ball when they are moving on?
02 Sep 2026 09:18:16
We won the League in 2025 and then spent over £400m. Most of us thought we had strengthened. Hindsight is proving, and may continue to prove, that that isn't the case.
We can also use hindsight to judge the strengthening done by Arsenal, City, Spurs etc.
I will also add that Arsenal and City are well run clubs. PSG, too.
As well run and wealthy clubs, they are also expected to challenge and win trophies.
Maybe more so than we are.
02 Sep 2026 07:59:04
When was Arteta backed??
They needed a top striker and a top left winger and got a defensive mid and a cb who are no better than what they already have. Probably not as good as what they already have actually.
02 Sep 2026 09:50:32
Is there a rule that says if you buy hundreds of millions you are guaranteed to be successful?
02 Sep 2026 09:53:02
Good points Sir Bob and Rigsby.
I genuinely think after Arne won the league in his first season they were all basking in glory, and the smartest men in the room god complex took hold.
FSG put too much faith in Edwards and Hughes, and Arne, and allowed them to make huge investment which they thought would see us good for years. They probably thought only a few minor squad tweaks would be needed in the next five years after that. They thought they had the keys to the kingdom, it was a huge investment but they wouldn’t need to do it again. Ali's and VVD's successors were in, the attack was set, and Mo was unstoppable.
What they forgot to factor into the model was human things.
The Jurgen impact on squad building, fitness etc, and that year one wasn’t all Arne.
They also vastly overestimated the judgement and ability of Hughes and Edwards in the market, and gave them way too much leeway.
The squad churn should have been done more gradually.
Easy to forget after the stroll of our Premier League win how truly competitive Premier League football can be.
There are clever and ambitious people employed at clubs across the country, from Brighton and Brentford to City and Arsenal. Never mind PSG, Real, Barca etc.
They’re all battling for their position, and the Premier League has been hoovering up all the talent from every continent for years, making any match against a top 10 team quite unpredictable from one season to the next.
We’ve seen that already in the first two games, games we should have easily won on paper, but tellingly we only have two points.