Liverpool Banter 4

25 Mar 2026 19:47:27
Ed001 when we lose to city in the fa cup and psg in the first leg of the champions league do you think they might finally grow a pair and try to save the very last part of the season or will part time slot keep going.

{Ed001's Note - if that were to happen, they would still be looking at a top 5 place.}

26 Mar 2026 06:57:51
Disgusting that the club are gambling on this season and essentially the future of the club to back that fraud.

26 Mar 2026 07:08:07
Remind me the last time a top club got rid of their manager with a handful of games to go in a season?

26 Mar 2026 09:22:31
@Frode, I had been saying it. The fact that these two clowns backed Slot in that Roundtable debacle, it meant that they literally didn't care if CL footie was not achieved because frankly, that was a more than logical outcome IF the manager didn't buck up his ideas in the PL. That much was clear with the way the results and perfs. were going, no?

But as many like ED01 had said, these are stats guys to the core and to them as long as we were in the CL places despite poor results, all was good.

How anyone can put their heads that far down in the sand (stats) and put our ambitions in jeopardy is beyond me. I guess this is what you get when you have mates running the show and no one is accountable to no one for anything, IMO.

25 Mar 2026 19:00:39
Some sick individual has been posting on Twitter that Kevin Keegan only has a few days to live - it's fake news, thankfully. He's actually responding well to treatment which bodes well.

25 Mar 2026 21:33:29
I don't know why people do it. They must be wrong in the head. I saw a King Kenny post a while back saying he had passed away and I fell for it. Some really bizarre people about these days.

{Ed025's Note - i do despair at people sometimes..

25 Mar 2026 22:52:12
Good to hear he's responding well, MM.

25 Mar 2026 22:21:35
Ed025, what did you think of Keegan as a player? He was the reason I became such a big football fan personally.

{Ed025's Note - i was a massive fan of him stone, i actually named my first son after him after sharing a cup of tea with him mate...true story..

26 Mar 2026 07:11:18
I'd love it if that was true Ed, love it!

26 Mar 2026 09:23:39
@Incredible like you, I don't know where these types of people come from. Really sad.

26 Mar 2026 10:14:29
KK was my hero as a kid, was on the Kop the day of his last game for us, always a special place for him, hope he gets over this terrible thing that has taken so many people too soon.

26 Mar 2026 10:50:40
would love to hear that story Ed. Maybe on the next podcast you could talk about that?

{Ed025's Note - i was working in Hawke st near Lime st station on the paving in the late 90,s stone, Kevin was walking along to get the train to London for the home internationals v Ireland mate and one of our gang asked him if he had time for a cuppa, he said yes and sat with us having a cup of tea for about 20 minutes and actually insisted he had a cup without a handle, we were talking about football and Liverpool in particular and he was asking us all about our families in this old minty caravan..it was surreal, he was very nice and seemed really down to earth and i was so impressed i named my first born after him..true story..

26 Mar 2026 14:47:35
Brilliant Ed. Makes me like him even more. Thanks for sharing.

{Ed025's Note - no problem mate..

25 Mar 2026 18:18:27
Ed025
Kelleher is better than Pickford all day long.
Did you rate Pickford against Arsenal last week did you?

{Ed025's Note - lay off the drugs Hughesy, Pickers is miles better than Kelleher mate, all goalies will make the odd mistake that goes with the territory..

25 Mar 2026 19:25:28
Ed025 the blue tint on your glasses is very strong at times.
I mean you still think Lucas Digne was a better left back than Robbo.
Pickford is far too erratic he is like Ramsdale always making the simplest of saves look like Gordon Banks save against Pele.

{Ed025's Note - come on Grino...credit where its due mate..

25 Mar 2026 20:34:59
I will accept Pickford is better than Kelleher, but Pickford isn't that great either.

{Ed025's Note - hes not perfect Tom...but he is very good mate..

25 Mar 2026 20:44:56
Hessel, I find it hard to judge, to be fair, because this season is Kelleher's first season as a number 1, but from what I've seen, I think he has had a good season. I don't remember any bad matches for him.

25 Mar 2026 20:34:01
Ed025 am just not a fan of Pickford I find him far to rash. I feel while you have been struggling for a most of his time at Everton that sort of makes him look better than he is because he has been busy most of the time.

The very best keepers don't have a lot to do and then they pull of the saves out of the blue but as I said earlier Ed he is to erratic to be that I feel the best keepers can make the defence in front of them feel calm.

{Ed025's Note - he is a match winner Grino, yes he will have the odd wobble but the top 20 saves of the season all include him mate..

25 Mar 2026 21:20:48
Both are not bad, but only one has Red Blood.

{Ed025's Note - and one is world class Peter.. :)

25 Mar 2026 21:35:18
T-Rex better than Kelleher? That's a bold statement right there.

{Ed025's Note - yet a totally true one..

25 Mar 2026 21:25:32
I think Pickford is a terrible keeper. Just my opinion. No dig at you ED25. I'd have Karius before him and that's saying something.

{Ed025's Note - hes Englands No1 for a reason SG...hes the best in the land mate..

25 Mar 2026 22:11:17
Pickford is a good keeper. Would he get into a title challenging team? Probably not. However, the Karius shout must be a wind up.

Kelleher, on the other hand, is a much closer call, and, now that he is playing regularly, will probably go on to have a similar career to Little Arms. I mean, he already has more trophies ;).

{Ed025's Note - but would he get in a side challenging for a CL spot...breaking news...hes already in one.. :)

25 Mar 2026 22:41:13
If only he had average sized arms.

25 Mar 2026 22:51:47
Both JP and CK are suspect under crosses.

25 Mar 2026 23:18:27
To be fair, Pickford is probably in the Top 15 goalkeepers to have played the 2025-26 season ever.

26 Mar 2026 09:54:02
Very much WY. but JP is still horrendous ED25. Just because Tuchel has him in goal doesn't make him good.

{Ed025's Note - its not just Tuchel SG, every England manager wanted him in, and thats because hes world class my friend..

26 Mar 2026 10:14:16
Ain't no shifting you ED25! And I mean your opinion, not as in a good Fri night!

{Ed025's Note - im very set in my ways SG, and being right all the time does not help me one little bit mate.. :)

26 Mar 2026 23:50:53
World class is a stretch.

{Ed001's Note - depends on what kind of deluded world you live in, if you think Prickford is class of any kind! He makes a simple save and we get told it is the best save of all time, when it was the kind of save a Premier League level keeper should make in their sleep. He made one the other day, he was already moving the same way and the ball was hit right at where he was going, but the commentators were having orgasms about it being a great save. It was not even a good save. But he turns round and celebrates it like he had to reverse direction and fling himself full length to get to it. It is embarrassing to watch such dross being worshipped and held up like a top class keeper. Neville Southall must get so annoyed watching this hero worship of someone not fit to lace his boots.}

25 Mar 2026 18:17:08
Amidst all the messages about Mo (all fully deserved), a thought for a hero of a different era, as I've just seen the sad news that John Toshack has been diagnosed with dementia.

I hope he gets the care he deserves.

All the best Tosh.

25 Mar 2026 18:28:48
Tosh the Bosh was my hero when I was a kid. Doesn't get mentioned in the same way as Rushie and God, but he was a titan who left it all out on the pitch.

We need players like that in every side. Saw him in the mid 70s and he was like a bull, bosh bashing away. Pride in that la.

25 Mar 2026 18:32:04
I second that, Tuzza. One of the best managers we never had.

25 Mar 2026 18:44:50
Crazy how Toshack never got offered the job for Liverpool, managed Real Madrid twice and a host of other clubs, when I was a kid, an older fella who lived by me, had two dogs called Toshack n Keegan, obviously one was tall n the other small n curly.

25 Mar 2026 18:50:14
KK & Tosh up top were brilliant together - telepathic understanding.

Keegan, for me, was undoubtedly a world class player, but Tosh done such a lot of hard graft for him.

25 Mar 2026 19:36:29
If I remember right, Strom, Tosh believed he should've succeeded Paisley. I'm sure you remember him wearing a Liverpool shirt when he was manager of Swansea after Shankly died, when we played Swansea at home. We will never know how good he would've been as our manager, though things didn't turn out too bad under Joe, then King Kenny.

25 Mar 2026 22:42:20
Rome, yea you're right, he was expecting the job after Paisley, it looked all set up for him... Yeah, not bad was Joe n the King for us, were they.

25 Mar 2026 23:20:46
Toshack was still a great manager when we opted for Souness, if my memory serves me right. The nineties could have been so different.

26 Mar 2026 09:56:11
Absolutely, Darwin and Rome. Should have been our manager instead of Souness.

26 Mar 2026 10:19:00
Souness bashing again, always ignore the circumstances around that time.

26 Mar 2026 21:26:58
Apologies to offend you, sp62, however, I actually was around at that time, and at that time I had the opinion that Souness was not a good manager nor should he have been the LFC manager. Certainly he's one of my all time Liverpool first 11 as a player.

As a manager he wasn't very good. That's not bashing. That's just fact. Toshack was my personal choice. He had the better attributes than Souness. Unfortunately no one will know one way or the other whether he'd have fared any better or not.

25 Mar 2026 15:08:03
Ed. See them player profiles you do
Fancy putting Salah at the top of the list for all of us?

{Ed001's Note - good idea.}

25 Mar 2026 17:36:08
Oh brilliant, great shout. Looking forward to this one Ed001. Hope you are keeping well Ed001 mate.

I must say this is the most disinterested I've ever been in watching us play. The joy and pure emotion we had under Jurgen has just been sapped out of the team, it's incredibly disheartening.

{Ed001's Note - it is a difficult watch now.}

25 Mar 2026 20:18:30
Ed 001 I'd love if you'd take a look at yan diomande (spelling may be wrong) n give us your opinion on him please

{Ed001's Note - ok mate.}

25 Mar 2026 21:39:04
Thanks a million, pal.

25 Mar 2026 13:48:47
So the club it seems happy to let both Robertson and Salah walk for free (allowing thrw player to choose)

So any one else thinking this time next year VvD and Alison will be the last of the Klopp signings out the door. (main ones, not the last window he had)

I think I'm most worried about Alison. I know he can't go on forever. But surely we keep him til he's old and with a walking stick?!

We can't go back to rubbish Gks.



Dudek was good for a year. Reina was good but let's face it the defence he had in front him helped. Then we went through some very dark years. And the ray of sunshine that is Alison arrived.

Great Gks seem to be in very short supply. Perhaps I'm too blinkered. But just don't see anything out there.

25 Mar 2026 14:41:18
I can see VVD and Alisson going on a free next year (albeit I can see an extension to VVD depending on how the newer CBs settle in).

Although it's not the way I do it on CM or FIFA, but it's the right way to deal with long standing servants.

I agree on the GK issue. Let's see what the next couple of windows bring...

25 Mar 2026 14:47:46
You're right, there's not too many great options out there, anybody really worth considering is too old or tied down, in all cases, we're lookin at a downgrade. Ali has been plagued with injuries, can't see him pulling a Buffon, I wouldn't be expecting him to hang around too long. He seems like the type of bloke that's happy to walk away when he feels he can't give 100% any more.

I don't know if the club views Georgi as a possible successor, but his lack of footballing ability does worry me, decent shotstopper and could improve with gametime, but I think he lacks in confidence and that affects his decision making. He's nothing on Ali, it would be a considerable step down.

25 Mar 2026 15:25:44
I don't think VVD is going anywhere anytime soon. He has probably lost a bit of pace, but his fitness is still impeccable. With a more defensively minded midfield, he can play for another 3-4 years easily. Also, his impact in the dressing room is huge. Every one of the videos the club puts out on YT, all the players call him the leader.

Also, it is good to continue to have some title winning know how in the team. As for Ali, unfortunately I think he leaves at the end of his contract. His fitness is continuously declining and as a result he seems to have lost a bit of explosiveness. Definitely the best GK I have seen though.

25 Mar 2026 15:28:38
VVD is just as bad as Konate this season. I definitely would not extend his contract. I would still want to keep Ali though. If Ali goes, bring back Kelleher.

25 Mar 2026 16:16:56
Me neither, @Red_in_hk. Vvd can stay and play out his contract, and then he gets the legendary sending off he deserves, and ciao, ciao.

25 Mar 2026 16:17:54
I think the club has invested in 3 decent keepers in Mamardashvili, Jaros and Pecsi. The hope has to be that with one more season from Alisson, one of these 3 can step up to be more than just decent.

If you look around Europe, looking for a top quality keeper, it is so few and far between. Raya, Alisson, Neuer, Oblak, Courtois, Martinez, Maignan, Sommer etc are all top keepers, but they're also all 30-39 years old. Neuer and Alisson can't even stay fit anymore.



I think Donarumma is massively overrated too, by the way. He's only 27 years old but I just don't rate him. The one advantage is that everybody is going to struggle with finding a top keeper in this next generation because they're just so few and far between.

Big things are expected of Pecsi though. He was previously nominated for the Golden Boy award which is good going for a goalkeeper. Maybe he can be our ace in the hole?

{Ed025's Note - if only you could find a Jordan Pickford like keeper MK, but they only come along every Preston Guild im afraid mate.. :)

25 Mar 2026 16:27:21
I fully expect Ali and Virg to leave next summer.

Both are legends, but as the op says, I think the club will complete the transition to the next generation of Liverpool team. Both are, unfortunately, beyond their peak and (certainly in Virg's case) on big wages.

Both will be extremely difficult to replace, but I think Ali will be the hardest.

25 Mar 2026 16:40:22
Khelleher for me.

25 Mar 2026 16:57:06
Yes, Jones, should have kept Kelleher, but if wanted to be number '1' you can't blame him for moving.

25 Mar 2026 17:18:41
To be honest, the whole team has been crap this season, and the fitness is appalling, so for a lot of players I'd be keen to see how they get on next season. Of course, there are a few (Konate and Mac, for example) who I'd drive to Madrid if they let me.

25 Mar 2026 17:40:44
I thought a Pickford type goalkeeper went extinct millions of years ago Ed025?
He only exists today because he broke free from the Ignen lab on that island.

{Ed025's Note - he gets a lot of stick CR but hes a fine keeper mate, 100 clean sheets in the prem is not to be sniffed at..Alisson can only dream of that..

25 Mar 2026 17:47:29
I can see Virg here after Alli. The club has a 1 year with Alli to next year, wouldn't surprise me if he's only here next season because he's contractually obliged to be. No inside info on it, just the feeling I get with Alli these days, like his heart's not in it and he'd rather be back in Brazil.

With Virg, just get him a decent partner who's head is actually on the pitch and an un-injury prone RB and he'll be fine.

25 Mar 2026 17:52:05
Trent left basically on a free, now Mo, Robbo, and apparently VVD and Alisson to leave for free. Add Konate as well to the list, possibly.

That's some serious amount of money to simply give up...

Yes, it's a great gesture, and they deserve to go on their own terms, but so many in such a small amount of time is quite a hit... although some nice savings on wages as well.

{Ed025's Note - do they really deserve to go on their own terms JLC?, these guys are paid millions and i think letting them go for free is criminal, their signing on fee when they join another club for free should really be going to the parent club i think mate, its a business not a charity..

25 Mar 2026 17:56:15
Think you're wrong there Ed. I think Alisson had reached 100 clean sheets at some stage last season.

{Ed025's Note - oh right then i must be mistaken mate..sorry..

25 Mar 2026 18:21:51
Ah no worries Ed. I'm normally wrong 99% of the time Mate. Well so my missus keeps telling me anyway.

25 Mar 2026 18:31:59
They're some great lads, but I'd play some youth and let them mess up together. Sticking with Virg is a bit weird. I don't think he plays great for an Anfield legend and top defender. Get Leoni and Javkef in, and let them learn with Ali.

25 Mar 2026 18:32:16
100 clean sheets and at least twice as many goals. 🤣🤣

{Ed025's Note - come on Irish give Englands No1 the credit he deserves mate, one if not THE best in the world at the moment..

25 Mar 2026 18:57:08
Pickford, the best in the world hahahaha because he made that one save.

25 Mar 2026 19:07:44
Alisson 100 clean sheets in 250 in Premier League. 137 in all competitions and no karate kicks.
Pickford 98 in 355 in Premier League. 100 in non-league and cup games and one karate kick.

25 Mar 2026 19:13:10
Ed25 you been out in the sun too long?!

You rate Pickford over AB? !

Yeh he's a decent keeper but come on. Behave

If AB was English. he'd be between the sticks. not Pickford.

OR let's put a different spin on it. if Pickford was Brazilian. AB would still be #1

{Ed025's Note - i think Alisson is (or maybe WAS) a great keeper MR, unfortunately he seems to be a bit of a crock these days mate and his kicking game seems to have gone downhill faster than a fat kid on a slide, thats all im saying..

25 Mar 2026 19:28:40
Edd25 but Ali can polish his trophies prickford can polish three for a bob

{Ed025's Note - hes been a great keeper Albey and i have always said he was the best in the world mate...but now hes a dried up old prune im afraid.. :)

25 Mar 2026 21:01:40
I think ed025 is bored and trying to get a rise out of you all. No way he's being serious here.

{Ed025's Note - im not you know mate..i am very serious..

26 Mar 2026 09:57:50
Life is better when ED25 is about. 🥳💥🥰

{Ed025's Note - cheers mate.. :)

25 Mar 2026 13:21:25
Who should be on penalty duty once Salah leaves next season?
It's Szobo for me.

25 Mar 2026 13:35:06
I would imagine Isak, if and when fit. Szob is an excellent penalty taker, but I'd always like my main goalscorer to be taking the penos.

25 Mar 2026 13:35:09
Omg. I was just thinking that this morning.

Not sure about that. You gotta think Isak or Ekitike, whichever is on the pitch.

25 Mar 2026 13:37:00
Definitely not Curtis.

25 Mar 2026 13:37:35
Szobo makes sense, but I guess it depends who we recruit and how well they do in training.

25 Mar 2026 13:57:30
Dom all day, no question, maybe Isak in time, but right now Dom.

25 Mar 2026 14:05:24
Szobo took the pens when Salah was at AFCON. He only missed one vs Burnley, btw.

25 Mar 2026 14:07:36
I've said on here, before, I've never been confident with Mo taking pens. No one was ever going to take them off him, though!

Isak or Szob will do for me.

25 Mar 2026 14:20:37
How many he take, Oli? Be Isak for me.

25 Mar 2026 14:25:39
Same here, Rome, for someone so good his penalties were terrible.

25 Mar 2026 14:55:39
Konate? 😂

25 Mar 2026 15:00:34
Has to be Joe Gomez surely?!

25 Mar 2026 16:30:31
Whoever happens to be the best penalty taker. Who knows, it might turn out to be somebody that we sign in the summer!

25 Mar 2026 18:25:06
Forgot Isak played for us, to be honest, Robbie, but that's a good shout.

25 Mar 2026 19:13:15
If you are going to take penalties, you will miss some. Shearer holds EPL record for penalties scored, 56. Also holds record for most missed, 11.

25 Mar 2026 19:45:30
Le Tissier scored 47/48. Not bad.

25 Mar 2026 11:02:08
Ed1 were do you think Salah ends up now club wise? I personally can't see Saudi happening be interested if he goes back to Italy or stays within Europe?

{Ed001's Note - I have no idea mate, sorry.}

25 Mar 2026 11:36:57
He was very complimentary about Galatasaray fans when we played them away. I wouldn’t be shocked if he was to stay in Europe. That was an option.

On a side note, Liverpool as a club must have some serious money. Didn’t picture us letting Salah leave on a free.

We didn’t dip into the January market to attempt to nail top 4 and Champions League.

We seem to be relaxed about not changing the manager even though we’re slipping down the league. Letting players leave every summer with no fees. 🤔

Something behind the scenes? Maybe those FSG selling up rumours might have some truth in them.

25 Mar 2026 11:43:59
Half think he has no intention to go to Saudi and would have likely stayed.

Can only assume, not many, if any, clubs would be prepared to pay a fee and wages.

Case of cutting losses and getting the wage of the bill.

Does all seem strange, but can understand for both parties why it works.

25 Mar 2026 11:45:03
Just think, getting him off the wage bill is seen as good enough. We might have got £50-60m max for him, and thats only if he went to Saudi. And out of that we probably would have had to pay up his last year of contract.

25 Mar 2026 12:02:58
Let's hope it doesn't mean the Slot rot will continue into next season. My first match was Borussia Munchengladbach in the early 70s, but I won't be watching next season if the partimer is still at the club.

25 Mar 2026 12:18:38
Salah is staying in Europe, imo. He has had chance after chance to go to Saudi and literally write his own pay packet in terms of his wages and has always told them to kick rocks and chosen to stay with us a way lower wages cos he still thinks he can win things and perform. One bad season will not change that, imo.

25 Mar 2026 12:39:56
Saudi makes no sense to me. Salah is a family man, and Saudi laws will not suit his or his wife's lifestyle.

I have no inside knowledge at all, but my gut instinct says he'll end up somewhere like Juventus, Galatasaray, Basel, Roma, or Fenerbache. Either a top team in Turkey, a nostalgic return to Roma/Basel, or an outside chance of a team like Juventus who just love an aging superstar.

Galatasaray, Basel and Juventus especially all offer legitimate opportunities for domestic silverware and the chance to continue playing Champions League football.

25 Mar 2026 12:43:23
We were on a roll there, we actually managed four posts.

25 Mar 2026 12:51:52
Out of all those teams, MK, probably only Gala can afford to pay his wages, and they're probably hamstrung with the likes of Gundogan, Sane, and Osimhen on big money. Unless he's willing to take a massive pay cut, I can only imagine him going to the MLS, but that seems impossible for somebody as competitive as he is.

25 Mar 2026 13:01:28
Miami would be nice for a couple of years. Roma is a good shout in fairness, but like PB says Mo'd probably have to accept a few quid less to get his return there.

25 Mar 2026 13:12:54
I personally hope Napoli.

We, as fans, deserve to see De Bruyne and Salah link up.

Ta.

25 Mar 2026 13:19:27
Salah will go back to Chelsea...
. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

25 Mar 2026 13:21:57
Good shout, Carra. Napoli are in that similar bracket to Juve. They regularly take on aging superstars and they'll also give Salah trophy opportunities and CL football.

25 Mar 2026 13:38:00
Galatasaray - and Yildaz will come to us.

25 Mar 2026 14:06:23
Napoli is not a bad propo, Carra. Very interesting, indeed.

25 Mar 2026 15:01:43
If we got 9 years and productivity out of every £30 million footballer, the club would be rolling in it. It's out of respect that the club let him go for free.

25 Mar 2026 15:21:02
Carra,

Can you imagine them two at Napoli together?

I could what a dream that would be.

Jose would be salivating over what should have been, had he not been so blind to what he had in front of him....

25 Mar 2026 17:58:38
Not that Jose was blind, but more about his preference to not trust youngsters, just like a certain someone.

I cannot recall a player who Jose took as a youngster and turned into a great player... Jose mostly worked with quality players in their prime.

25 Mar 2026 19:22:48
You mean he was a cheque book manager.

25 Mar 2026 20:21:07
Well, none of the major European clubs came in for him when he was at his peak so it'd seem unlikely he'll end up at one of those clubs now. Maybe back to a club like Fiorentina on much reduced wages?

Otherwise, I think the only realistic destination for him is Saudi or America.

25 Mar 2026 10:54:04
With us linked to Olise, his stats for last season and this season are the following.

24/25
Played 55
Scored 20
Assisted 23

25/26
Played 39
Scored 16
Assisted 27

Apparently his value is €140m but Bayern want to get €172m.

25 Mar 2026 11:45:12
His stats are great, but he is just not the right type of player for us at all. When Wirtz gets his head up, he needs runners off the ball. Olise will constantly be coming short to collect it, and trying to create in the half space between the defence and midfield. Exactly like Salah does now, his legs have gone, and he can't run in behind or beat a full back. We need to build a functional team, not a team of individuals. Rio looks good because he's exactly what we need to bring more balance to the side, not because he's already a good player.

He's 17, and if you actually watch him, his execution and decision making is nowhere near the levels needed. We're still a better team with him on the pitch than not, though.

If Olise signs, I'll back him to the hilt and hope he finds a way to dovetail with Wirtz and Isak. Just feels like the wrong player to me, though. Great player for sure, but not what we need.

25 Mar 2026 11:48:13
Insane money, but I do think he's the only one out there capable of filling Mo's boots right now. Diomande is very promising, but he's only a kid, having his first good season right now. I don't see him as a ready replacement for Mo. He's also right footed and can play from the left, which is where I would prefer to have him. I think we need to sign both as we literally have nobody capable on the wings right now.



Yes, Rio is promising, but he's a kid and his end product needs a lot of work. Frimpong is also promising, but he's nowhere near Mo's level. He was brought in as RB and that's where he needs to be played. Chiesa, nuff said. And Gakpoo... When you think of the fact that we had Salah, Bobby and Mane in a front three. We are miles off it. Serious investment must be made come Summer.

25 Mar 2026 12:22:23
Mks, I've always seen Olise (very good player, btw) as a wide 10 who likes the ball at his feet out wide to come short and create. Kind of like Cou was when he played on the left when we were on the come-up under Klopp.

To me, he ain't a wide player like Salah, Mane or even Diaz is, guys who are runners that get in behind and create/score goals, his stats be damned.



Like you, I'm not sure he is the profile we need if, indeed, we are looking at Klopp-like wide players, for ex.

25 Mar 2026 12:38:23
Maybe Xabi wants him to play in a 3-4-2-1. 🤔

25 Mar 2026 12:46:50
Have to agree with MK here, we don't need somebody to replace Salah's goals and assists necessarily because Isak, Ekitike and Wirtz are there for that.

We need complementary pieces to what we already have, wide players who can beat their man for pace or skill, and can create dangerous situations for our 9 to finish. Diomande is the right kind of profile for what we need.



That being said, I did imagine that Salah was going to reproduce his form from last year playing as a right sided 10 like he did last year, with Wirtz on the other side causing havoc and our 9 mopping up whatever easy chances came their way. So maybe that's the thinking, with two withdrawn 'wingers' and the fullbacks providing the width.

25 Mar 2026 12:51:52
I completely agree, Oli. A left-footed Coutinho is actually not a bad comparison at all. I feel I should keep reiterating that I do not think for one second that Olise is a bad player. I think he's bloody brilliant. I just don't think you need Olise and Wirtz in the same team; and Wirtz works harder. Olise will score goals because he's got a wand of a left foot, but you're right in that he won't be running in behind or hugging the touchline. Nor will he be pressing.

I look at it mainly from the perspective of Isak, and needing to get the best out of the £125m CF we've signed, but also Wirtz and needing to get the best out of the £116m AM we've signed. Isak thrived on wingers like Gordon and Murphy running at the full backs and driving the ball across, so Isak himself could run across the front or off the back of the CBs to poach goals inside 6-12 yards. Whenever I've watched Bayern, Olise is not doing that. He's coming inside and either floating crosses into Kane (who is strong enough to make the most of that) or fizzing passes into Kane's feet (which again he is strong enough to back into the CBs and either roll them or play a give and go under pressure).



Wirtz thrived at Bayer Leverkusen because every time he got his head up, Grimaldo and Frimpong were bursting in behind or down the wing. When Wirtz gets his head up in our team, Gakpo and Salah are both running towards him or stood wide and deep because they want it to feet so they can try and cut inside.

Kane was the ideal set up at Bayern for him. If you think about his best years at Spurs it was with Eriksen on the RW and Son on the LW. Son to give him a selfless runner off his shoulder, and Eriksen who could thread an eye of the needle pass/cross into him. Diaz and Olise are his new Son and Eriksen; Diaz the selfless runner and Olise the magician to find a pass into him. A good sporting director/manager will set the team up around their main goal threat. We simply have not done that for Isak so even when he is fit, I'm not anticipating him to change our season miraculously unless Rio and Frimpong start playing LW and RW, because their style of play is what Isak wants. But then are they actually good enough to play week in week out as wingers in the Premier league?

25 Mar 2026 12:53:24
So confused by this site. on one hand, people think Slot is the problem but then on the other hand, our players are terrible and serious investment is required.again.

Gakpo is terrible, Rio is young, Salah's legs have gone (and he's literally gone in the summer), we have no CDM, Konate is useless, Virgil is past it, we have no true RB, our GK is always injured, our LB is clueless, Wirtz is weak, Macca spends more time on the ground than on his feet.on and on.

If Slot is working with this bad a team, then why is he at fault? Now I know the next thing coming will be "Slot made them all terrible with his awful system and lack of conditioning".

Which brings me back to my first point - is it bad players or a bad coach??? If it's Slot, then stop having a go at the players until we see what a proper coach can do. If it's the players, then lay off Slot for a bit. But I don't see how it can be both.

Do we need to upgrade in certain areas, of course. For me, the priorities are to replace Salah; replace Macca; replace Konate; then assess who else leaves and whether or not their minutes can be filled with someone from the squad or a kid from the academy. We don't need an overhaul.

25 Mar 2026 12:38:47
MK, OilRed, pure drivel lads, give it over.

"Not the kind of player to create/score goals"

OilRed, Right yeah, cause 40+ goals & assists in his last 2 seasons just doesn't count. I thought Florian was the only one talking nonsense on here.

25 Mar 2026 13:19:31
That kettle's back out, I see, Chewy.

25 Mar 2026 13:30:49
Chewy, you get very rude and obnoxious when people don't agree with you, don't you. This isn't the first time you've lashed out. You can always block me if you don't like my drivel? Look, I like Olise, I think he's very good and maybe even world class. I just don't think he compliments Wirtz, Ekitike and Isak. In my mind if we pay circa £150m for Olise we just have a £450m front 4 that don't really compliment each other. Olise and Isak do not press at all, and Ekitike is pretty average at pressing, so I think that makes us easy to cut through.

None of them offer blistering pace or directness to get at a full back either, which means a low block will still be a problem for us. The balance just looks off to me, at least on paper. You could always explain how/why you think that front 4 will work, instead of just throwing personal insults about. Maybe you'll change my mind.

25 Mar 2026 14:15:12
Chewy, throwing out insults makes you look and sound weak. Sad for you.

For me, Olise is a bloody good footballer (don't need stats to prove any of that) however, he has to fit the way we want to play and if he doesn't then, his stats mean nothing, IMO.

Now you can always try to argue your case against my opinion like a grown up rather than engage in childish, weak-toast insults BUT clearly that is not your strength, based on your own words.

Again, sad for you

25 Mar 2026 14:31:30
And look up the definition of personal insult, will you.

25 Mar 2026 14:49:20
Chewy, in your reliable eagerness to insult and mock others who you imagine to have a different view from your own, you somehow neglected to read Oli's post properly. He clearly said he isn't the kind of player 'to get in behind and score goals', and rather that he likes to come short to score and assist.

The kind of player he wants is one that stays wide or runs in behind the defense ala Sadio and the Mo of yesteryear.

Of course, you're going to come at me now, it's fine though because I expect it from you going forward. Would prefer if we were nicer to each other though.

25 Mar 2026 14:58:26
"Insult and mock" by saying the word drivel?! You lot are something else, knickers well and truly in a twist over nothing.

25 Mar 2026 15:33:53
Not a fan of Olise.

Too lazy, not an 'Alonso player' in my opinion.

Let's sign players who are prepared to work hard?

25 Mar 2026 14:26:49
MK Scouser, rude and obnoxious? Hold on to your handbag lad will you?! Because I said stop talking drivel, which you were clearly doing, that makes me rude and obnoxious?! My own grandmother woldn't call that rude and obnoxious for crying out loud. Get a grip mate, this site is for rumours and banter, if you can't handle somebody casually challenging your opinion I suggest taking up a hobby that presents less opposition, like crosswords.

Balance is the key, not everything works season after season, in spite of Slot's overuse of the excuse, there has been a large shift to a low block this year and constant pressing from the front line when not in possession is not always the solution, we actually started the season off doing that, we were getting pulled out of position and with our weak midfield the opposition was walking through the park, yes, your right, that does make us easy to cut thorugh, if we let it. Everyone just thinks the gegenpress is the gold standard because of Klopp and how he used it, but it's not the only effective tactic.

Look at City and how they dealt with Arsenal, absolutely no pressing from forward positions, forcing Arsenal to play through an overly condensed midfield or go long, they looked clueless, City completely shut them down. It's a tactic I suggested we employ back in December. Anyway, I'm not going to get into a discussion on tactics because any good manager should have a whole range of them in all sorts of variations at his disposal, and no one single approach is the ultimate solution.

But telling me you don't want the best RW in the world right now because you don't think he's very good at pressing is a load of nonsense. As if the ability to press outweighs 40+ g/a a season, come off it.

25 Mar 2026 14:44:33
Oh and Florian, settle down, mate. because I know for a fact you ain't talking considering your record when it comes to talking utter bollocks on this forum this season.

Like I said, settle down.

25 Mar 2026 15:49:30
Chewy, your lack of self awareness is hilarious. Your responses genuinely make it sound like you've fully lost your head whilst myself, Florian, Oli and Patrik are just pretty calmly talking about football. I've asked quite politely for you to explain how/why you think Olise will work with our current attackers and so far you've come back with nothing that adds value to the discussion. You've just insulted me and Oli by saying we're talking drivel, then followed that up by saying that along with Florian, the three of us talk nonsense on this site, then really gone for broke with a classic sexist remark about twisted knickers aimed at Patrik!

Can you not see how this looks like 4 grown ups enjoying talking about football and one angry little kid shouting at us all to stop having a good time?

25 Mar 2026 17:14:56
I haven't seen enough of Olise to have an opinion one way or the other, but he's certainly hot property at the moment. My query, though, is about Diomande, is he not meant to be our number 1 target and us his? I haven't seen enough of him either, so I could not compare one with the other. Just looking for others' opinions on him.

25 Mar 2026 17:21:50
Having two players that don't press (Isak, Olise) and one that has a massive amount to learn in that regard (Ekitike) leading the line is not good for any team. We already saw what happened when you put Isak and Salah together in the front line this season.

City didn't press Arsenal from the front because they knew Kepa wouldn't be able to progress the ball the way Raya does, and White and Hincapie are hardly very dangerous players for him to get the ball to anyway. It worked for that game, they're hardly going to do the same thing every game.

Our front press has honestly been crap this season, so not sure why you think it was more aggressive at the beginning of the season.

The pattern this season has been a half hearted front press from two of the forward players (or Dom plus one forward player, with Salah not involved and Gakpo retreating to make a plus one in defence), and everybody else retreating to a mid block.



Once the crap front press is bypassed, the midfield and defenders don't push up, retreat, and allow the opposition midfield time to pick a pass. There's always a massive gap between the front press and the midfield line. It's not simply that we have a 'weak midfield'. A good deal of the problem is tactical.

The best games we've played this season have been with a high press, with the entire team pushing up, Konate pushing up to engage the midfielders, and, because the players are so much closer together, we can swarm the opposition when we lose the ball. To me, this is evidently still the most reliable way to create dangerous opportunities for us.

25 Mar 2026 17:31:37
With respect, how do we know how we want to play, when we don't know who our new manager is going to be? Regards to Olise, I can't see us splashing that much cash out on one player, this summer, anyway. I'd be chuffed if we were to get him, though.

25 Mar 2026 17:58:24
Olired, are you off your tablets or something? How the duck did I get brought into that? The only interaction I had in this entire thread was with Chewy who brought me into it outa nowhere. I responded to him in jest. I certainly had no interaction with you. This place gets crazier by the day. 😆

25 Mar 2026 18:00:31
Good point, Rome. If Xabi did come in, we could be playing wingbacks and Dom and Wirtz in behind Isak/Ekitike as double 10's for all we know.

25 Mar 2026 19:26:52
Olise has fantastic numbers in the Bundesliga. So did Sancho, Bellingham and others. Wouldn't take a chance on him.

25 Mar 2026 19:28:02
I'm actually siding with Florian for a change, Chap did nothing. You's lot are something else. Throwing false accusations around like confetti.

25 Mar 2026 19:51:39
Florian, think Oli and Chewy have both lost their heads now. Not sure how we got to this haha.

25 Mar 2026 19:51:48
Starseeker, Olise's record was decent when he was at Palace. Certainly good enough for Bayern to buy him. We bought Wirtz on the back of him having a good record in the Bundesliga.

25 Mar 2026 20:26:44
We could use another Wirtz type for him to play. If we've got likes of Ekitike / Isak up front, Frimpong/Kerkez bombing forward, a more dynamic LW, and runners like Dom from midfield, then I absolutely think we cannot have an Olise type in type team.



It's less likely that we are going to run past teams anyways. So we need to pass and trick our way through the defense.

25 Mar 2026 22:14:42
Me neither, Mk. Ah, not to worry, people are stressed. 😆

26 Mar 2026 08:25:14
Geez, my post is a mess lol.

Olise would fit fine in our team alongside Wirtz.