03 Sep 2024 19:39:40
Reports that we are still pushing for MZ. Who would you rather have him or RG.
03 Sep 2024 20:17:16
Both.
03 Sep 2024 20:23:08
Both.
03 Sep 2024 20:45:48
Jinx. exact same too with big B and fullstop.
03 Sep 2024 20:53:58
Who and who?
03 Sep 2024 22:49:39
MZ can FO as far as I’m concerned.
You snooze you lose.
03 Sep 2024 23:29:52
Both with bajcetic coming back next year move on Jones and Endo.
04 Sep 2024 00:22:49
Happy that we missed out on Zubimendi. Not desperate for him as we have Macca who I think he is more similar too.
Rather have someone like Grav play the role as he is now because he has great balance of key attributes that we need in PL. - good with ball, physical, powerful runner, good in air etc
Not sure Zubimendo would bring the same athleticism that he’d need to thrive in PL. maybe playing next to someone like Grav then he could do well similar to how it helps unlock Macca.
04 Sep 2024 01:38:42
I have not watched Zubimendo, and if he is considered as similar to Macca, I would say no thank you.
Sometimes, Macca shortcoming, ie his lack of speed is causing heart in mouth moment. Too many of that is no good for supporters.
04 Sep 2024 05:23:21
I trust Slot to make the best choice.
04 Sep 2024 07:08:59
West Derby Wanderer3-Exactly. They know a thing or two about the game and what would enhance the side.
I imagine that Zubimendi provides options that the others don't and or that it is likely, as the Ed's have suggested, that Alexis may be off next summer due to a release clause.
04 Sep 2024 07:23:11
You can never have too many good footballers . I wonder if by jan if sociedad are nowhere near European spots and no mega contract he was promised has materialised whether he will agitate the move or the mountains are just that nice he’s their forever.
04 Sep 2024 07:25:57
@vango if that’s the case I’d be getting Mac-Ali a new contract as he is just pure class loads got the plaudits on Sunday but thought he just done everything with minimum fuss and flair and was excellent.
04 Sep 2024 10:43:48
Adam Wharton.
04 Sep 2024 11:01:43
Think i can remember there's NO release clause in Macca's contract.
04 Sep 2024 11:54:50
Eds have mentioned 2025/ Real Madrid on numerous occasions in relation to Alexis.
04 Sep 2024 12:23:23
I'm not really interested in Zubimendi anymore. Regardless of what the truth is in terms of what happened behind closed doors to kill the deal.
The absolute abundance of joy Chiesa showed throughout the whole process of interest first being shown by us right through to him posing for media duties was a breath of fresh air. If players aren't that desperate and happy to join us in future, then I don't want them!
04 Sep 2024 16:55:23
Just because Real Madrid might be interested in Mac-Allister doensn't mean we are willing to sell him. We will probably issue a hands off warning or ask a very very high fee because there is no release clause in his contract pricing out of a move basically!
Tchoumeni, Camavinga, Valverde, Bellingham, Guler + others.
Where does he actually fit in? Maybe he prefers to be a key player and a starter for us, rather than a bench warmer in Spain, but i don't know him personally!
04 Sep 2024 17:47:33
Zubimendi and Gravenberch actually would have similar functions in the team, which would be to turn defence to attack in a heartbeat, Zubimendi has the same knack of creating space with one touch and then having the composure to decide what the best play would be, to carry the ball or pick the best available pass forward. Gravenberch to me seems more of an athlete, Zubimendi more of a playmaker. I think Zubimendi is an absolute top class player, but at this rate if Graveberch keeps going on like this he would perform the same function at the level we need.
The only reason to buy Zubimendi is so we can rotate them or so we can play them both in the double pivot with Mac Allister playing Szoboszlai's roaming 10 role, though Mac Allister doesn't have the same pace, power, strength and mobility as Szoboszlai to play that weird 6/ 8/ 10 role that he's been playing, he would be closer to a specialist 10 with shades of an 8, like Elliott.
04 Sep 2024 19:39:47
If MacAllister wants Madrid then cool, let him go.
Trust the club would insist on Tchoumanieni or Giles or Rodrygo plus cash in exchange ??.
04 Sep 2024 20:32:40
I know Endo is out of favour these days at Liverpool, but that performance he put in against Man City at Anfield was one of the best I've seen from a defensive midfielder in a while. De Bruyne just couldn't get on the ball and Guardiola had to make the decision to sub him.
I'm really looking forward to the Liverpool Man City games this season. With Klopp and Guardiola it was always chaos versus control, and I think Klopp just edged the head-to-head record between the two. Slot versus Guardiola with this new look Gravenberch midfield is going to be fascinating.
04 Sep 2024 20:45:21
Gravenberch is probably tasked with being the most disciplined positionally, and with his athleticism he's able to cover a lot of ground, he's leggy and long in stride, so is able to break lines in a way that isn't ideal for someone in that position (the best ones are usually shorter in stature, scurriers, who don't stride out of position so they'll leave space behind them) - but this Liverpool are a bit different, and everyone has to work hard to get back - there is no onus just on Gravenberch in the way there is on Casemiro for United, where Fernandes, Rashford, the blonde lad who is decent going forward, none work backwards much - and when they do it is more for effect and their own 'see I just did that' to the crowd (Fernandes does this a lot, and it is utterly, utterly pointless), than as part of a pattern of play. Viera wasn't just a destroyer, he was a good player in his own right, and there is a bit of that by lazy comparison.
I still think Liverpool will miss a top drawer no.6 in the biggest of games. They have only played Ipswich (will be fighting relegation), Brentford (solidly mid-table at the end of the year) and Man Utd (around top 8, they'll hope for top 4 but unlikely) - against Arsenal, City, and Spurs/ Villa/ Chelsea it will be more of an ask of Gravenberch.
What they were doing offering £100m+ for Caicedo though I've no idea. Genuinely believe apart from very vey rare exceptions, there is no good business done in leathering out those sort of fees unless you KNOW a player can transform your team (Van Dijk for example) or they are Lionel Messi. - In todays game it's very rare an individual can have that sort of disproportionate effect on a team - a Suarez effect if you will. Who was also extraordinary.
{Ed025's Note - extraordinarily cannibalistic you mean Vango, he was a stain on Lliverpools reputation mate and a complete and utter scum bag...or did you mean in some other way?..
04 Sep 2024 21:18:48
In a footballing sense, Suarez could elevate a team single handledly, like few can. I reckon most reds would have been happy to see him and costa play together for a few seasons, had David Rogers not opted for Benteke instead.
A bad apple yes, a bit like maradonna in some ways, but beautiful to watch in full flow.
{Ed025's Note - a "bad apple" Vango?...no mate a bloody orchard full, very good player i will give you that but thats far outweighed by what a low life piece of crap he was as a human, not a bit like Maradona my friend, more akin to Hitler, Pol Pot or Idi Amin to me..
04 Sep 2024 21:44:23
HAAA. Its true that there have been few humans in the game as poorly behaved as he was-he mkes vinnie jones look like a a blue peter presenter.
Costa was an ass too, can you imagune what that would have been like as a pairing. Rogers might actually have won something had he opted for costa over benteke.
{Ed025's Note - it would be like Dracula and Frankenstein as a front 2 mate.. :)
05 Sep 2024 01:53:14
Suarez was a great player for us but a total prick also.
Not a patch on Maradona who was the nearest thing to a “one man team”. No footballer compares to him.
05 Sep 2024 06:57:25
Ed025's Franenstien had a heart at least. That would have made Dicks and ruddock look like the crankies.
{Ed025's Note - good point Vango..
05 Sep 2024 10:30:57
In answer to the original post, Gravenberch has worked his arse off and it is evident that he’s desperately keen to show what he’s made of. Fair play to him.
Whereas Zubimendi would rather gaze longingly at some mountains and play for a mid table side in Spain than take a chance. F that guy.
05 Sep 2024 13:48:00
Just weighing in on the Suarez thing, it is possible to gauge a person on their positives and negatives separately, one doesn't necessarily need to detract from the other.
Utter T@? Yes. One of the most talented and exciting players to ever wear the LFC shirt? Also yes!
05 Sep 2024 14:15:00
@Victor, is that you saying you were wrong about us signing RG then? I believe he was, before he was played in his proper position and had three good games, that you basically thought that he was useless?
Your one sentence summary of a life choice on an individual who (having won the European Championship with Spain) let’s not forget) is settled and happy where he lives, makes you sound like a little boy stamping his foot at the lolly shop when his mummy wouldn’t buy him what he wanted.
05 Sep 2024 19:49:53
How does that sound like a spoilt child? I’m saying why waste any energy or time on a player who messed us about in the summer (initially telling us he was keen to move then changing his mind after we’d gone and briefed the press), who clearly has no interest in playing for us, nor has the mentality to play for us. Pining for him to sign for us or demanding the owners do something about it would be acting like a child having a tantrum. I’m saying leave him be, don’t waste any more time on him. F him.
As for Gravenberch, it’s absolutely true that he failed at Munich, he was also a player under the wing of Mino Raiola, with was never a good sign (see Sancho and various others) . He was indifferent last year, which is being generous, so the signs weren’t good for him and playing such a crucial role.
However, he’s stepped up and shown what he’s made of, which he deserves enormous credit for. I’m happy that he’s proven me wrong and I’m happy to change my view on him and I can only repeat the words of the economist John Maynard Keynes, “When my information changes, I change my mind. What do you do, sir? ”.
06 Sep 2024 08:26:26
The answer to that final question is "I don't talk crap in the first place".
How about our invisible midfield that gets walked through?
How's that working out?
06 Sep 2024 08:53:42
It’s been 3 games FLR, for goodness sake. Just enJoy the results and how we are playing. If it was a marathon we wouldn’t even have passed The mile post. Relax.
06 Sep 2024 10:16:47
Relax Mark? I'm one of the most chilled guys on the site.
Viktor was posting 20 times a day about how certain players were crap and we had a non existent midfield that would repeatedly be walked through like he was some sort of bona fide football oracle.
When he's completely wrong it leaves him open to ridicule.
There's a lesson there for anyone who posts negative crap obsessively.