02 Feb 2026 20:55:06
Might be a daft question but as Alonso is apparently nailed on, is he being asked about the players we have signed?
02 Feb 2026 20:59:33
Most likely if we're signing cbs isn't like us to just sign a cb in the summer when he's most likely to come.
02 Feb 2026 21:03:58
The DOF and team make the signings, with guidance from the coach. JJ is rated as one of the top young CBs on the planet, and we are now in the business of collecting the best younger players that we can.
Guehi and Semenyo may be battle ready for the prem, but they were not good value wage wise.
Diomande and JJ will be on much less wages than those two.
02 Feb 2026 21:34:55
Hughes gave Alonso a stack of 52 playing cards with players faces on. The Spaniard says YES NO MAYBE as Hughes held each card up in the Zoom call. Jacket was a YES, Gertrude a MAYBE and HeeHee was a NO.
Hope this helps.
02 Feb 2026 21:44:52
Exactly my thoughts fat Spanish waiter. Both younger and will have resale value whereas in 5 years Guehi and semenyo wrong side of 30.
{Ed025's Note - i suggest we wait and see how they perform in a red shirt before we start discussing sell on values KP..
02 Feb 2026 21:58:25
I've read somewhere on how directors set directions, then buy players based on that directions (with certain levels of inputs from the coach), and hire the coaches based on these directions too, so that disruptions and changes required are at minimum every time there's a change with the coaches/ managers mid-way.
02 Feb 2026 22:06:19
Ah come on Keegan.
Thats the most clutching at straws reasoning I've ever heard.
By that reasoning we should only be buying 20year olds as any player 25 is not good value.
End of the day mate, if this transfer window had ended with us signing both Guehi and Semenyo, most fans would have been happy with that and not here thinking, I hope we don't lose too much on them in 5 years.
02 Feb 2026 23:00:53
Ed025 I was happy in the summer to get Guehi but did I ever think he was top class cb no. As for Semenyo Ed at 26 I do think he is at his peak now and do I think he is going to get to Salah numbers no or be at the level of Saka probably not.
As for jacquet I've not seen him Ed so I can only guess they would say he had a higher ceiling than Guehi. Maybe there is younger wide players out there with higher ceilings than Semenyo.
I don't think it's been the players who have come in Ed that has made us so poor this season because I would say every player that has come in is better than the one they have replaced it's been down to Slots tactics and his plain stubbornness to not change. Because the points dropped to teams near the bottom we should not be dropping them and with wins against them Ed we would be top of the league even not playing good at all.
{Ed025's Note - for me its been an accumulation of things Grino, the changes in playing style, the new recruits and the fitness of the players, for me the main problem has been Slot because he is the guy in charge so the buck stops with him mate..
03 Feb 2026 03:05:39
I think semenyo is capable of getting saka numbers over a season, saka in terms of output really isn't impressive. He's one of the more overrated player in the league.
03 Feb 2026 07:07:44
OP, who said XA is nailed on? Urban myth had Guehi and Semenyo 'nailed on'.
03 Feb 2026 03:29:01
ed025, I think that is one very fair assessment.
The buck has to stop with the boss.
And I would add that he put through too many changes right from the start when he doesn't have to.
Frimpong instead of Bradley, Kerkez for Robbo, and force fitting the team for Wirtz.
I think had he introduce the changes (of personnel) gradually and then change of style to follow, outcome would have been very different.
03 Feb 2026 07:45:33
Xabi is being linked again with city today. Guardiola is not expected to stay beyond this season. Make of that what you will but it's looking less of a sure thing that we're going to be making a change during the summer.
03 Feb 2026 08:07:25
Semenyo is already better than any version of Saka that has ever existed. That kid is a myth. He went over a year without a Premier League assist and last calendar year (2025) he scored 4 league goals. He's never been top class. He's just a Gabby Agbonlahor level player who happens to be at a top club so he gets more hype and media attention. Yes he is fun to watch because he is quick and likes to run at people, but he has no brain and is a dreadful finisher. He's honestly not even Walcott/ Sterling level.
If Arsenal win the league it is because of the 7 deepest player in their team (Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice and Zubimendi). They've all been top top class this season. The less said about their front 4 the better, and that is why they're such miserable to watch Champions elect.
Any way, sorry for the slightly off topic rant. Just does my head in seeing people gush over Saka. Salah (9 g/ a) has better numbers than Saka (7 g/ a) THIS season and most people are saying Salah is washed. He even went to AFCON for a month and fell out with the manager for a few weeks before that, yet he's still had a better output!
03 Feb 2026 08:31:36
Saka gets the hype because he's English that's it and I wish he would stop the limp he does constantly.
03 Feb 2026 09:24:58
Sailor Jerry - that's a mental outlook. Saka is fantastic, one of the few players were G/ A isn't everything, and to be honest you'r ejust basing that on this season. He has a field day against us every single time. If he were in a side that wasnt so functional and set piece based, he would be one of the top players in the world.
Semenyo is class and an output machine. And to the person who said 'in 5 years he will be the wrong side of 30. ' so what? That's five years.
03 Feb 2026 10:20:59
Again, @Hugo, did the club or XA, or his representatives say that his managing Liverpool was a "sure thing".
There was / is speculation that he'll manage Liverpool and some people who hope he'll be the manager assume that what they want will happen.
Of course, if it doesn't happen then they will blame the club, even though the club have never made an official statement about bringing him in as a manager,
It happened with Amorim before we brought Slot in.
03 Feb 2026 10:55:13
Agree with @Hugo, feel it's more likely we stick with Slot even if we finish 5th/ 6th, once the team demonstrate a few more performances similar to Saturday night and would be confident of putting some form of CL and FA cup run together for another round or two - enough to show hope under Slot in a transition season. FSG / Edwards' mantra is continuity and to be fair, long run success in a club usually does stem from this.
Alonso will have his pick of clubs so unless LFC are prepared and have already made their decision (thinking very unlikely), an educated guess tells you this likely won't happen.
03 Feb 2026 11:16:51
Can't help but feel you're over exaggerating a bit MK, Saka isn't as productive as he is made out to be but he is their most important attacking player by far, everything Arsenal do in open play go through him (and when he's not on the pitch, his direct replacement Madueke), when he's not on the pitch they are a worse team and create nothing (not that they create lots from open play anyway as it stands). I don't think he's the best right winger in the world like Arsenal fans make out but he is a very very good player.
Rice is probably the best and most influential player in the prem right now though, he is the one obvious player for Arsenal that is clearly world class. Timber and Raya as you have said have also been top players this year.
03 Feb 2026 11:24:26
There are certain things that are/ were out of Slot's control so for me he bears no responsibility for them.
•The disruption to pre-season training
•The haphazard, feckless recruitment in the summer.
Don't underestimate the importance of pre-season training to a squad which includes multiple new first team players. It's not something you just overcome after a few weeks. The PL is relentless, being underprepared means you're always playing catchup.
People say "we spent £450m so it's our best window ever". I disagree. Any muppet can spend £450m of someone else's money. The players are all good/ decent players but that doesn't mean they're the players we needed as a priority. Buying 2 world class strikers for example, to replace Darwin and Diogo. Darwin and Diogo barely played 38 league games a season between them.
Although we won the league last season, it was clear our midfield was weak. We were blindsided by Gravenberch having a purple patch. Yet no midfield reinforcements.
We'd basically managed central defence with Virgil and "any tall fella stood next to him". We had no quality next to an ageing Virgil.
We needed 1 striker, at least 1 midfielder, a left back, a right back and a central defender who were ready to perform in the first team.
Frimpong struggles to defend (in the premier league) but he was unlucky with injury. Kerkez - similar profile but he's better and has recent PL experience. Wirtz as a replacement to Diaz - well they're totally different players but I'll let that slide. We were unlucky with Leoni but that highlights our lack of depth and he's a kid from a slower league, what did we expect?
People talk about the central spine of a football team - keeper, central defence, central midfield, strikers. We went heavy on the strikers but ignored central midfield and central defence.
So on Slot, I'll say he failed in his remit to integrate this collection of players into a functional high performing team ; BUT he was given an unbalanced, under prepared squad to work with.
03 Feb 2026 11:32:03
Slot is not suddenly going to develop charisma and the ability to deal with immense pressure. As a human being he is simply not built to manage a big club. He lacks man management skills and aura.
Alonso has all of that, and a deep connection withe the city. His first child was born here and supports lfc from memory.
03 Feb 2026 11:35:37
Felix Fischer has previously suggested the Spaniard could be made for the role, saying: "He is not only a genius tactician and in terms of how he prepares his team, but he is a gentleman. Everything he does, he does right.
03 Feb 2026 12:44:49
What a load of crap FatSpanish, he doesn't have the Aura? next you'll be telling us he's not a Alpha. I'm not a massive Slot fan but whiles he's at the club I'll support him he came in after Klopp and won the league man he has to have something about him to even get a sniff at that.
03 Feb 2026 12:57:24
How do you know he lacks man management skills, FatSpanish? And "as a human being he is not built to manage a big club"
With respect, I disagree. My memory may be fading, but I could've swore that we won the PL last season. I will stand corrected if we didn't.
And, forgive my ignorance, but who is Felix Fischer?
03 Feb 2026 13:58:11
i think we beat Newcastle in spite of Slot rather than because of him, he was on the sidelines teeling everyone to calm down and slow it down when in fact evreytime we played quicker we were dangerous why can't he see this?
03 Feb 2026 14:22:06
OK worzal, so when we play crap, it's down to Slot, but when we play well it's down to the players. Sound logic.
03 Feb 2026 15:28:35
Does anybody posting "Slot out" - "Alonso in" - sack the board etc ever take a look at things from a larger perspective.
This week we've seen Konate put in a man of the match performance in the week his Dad died. If you looked on this site three weeks go you'd have Konate in the stocks at the pier head. Now we see a human grieving and we have a slightly less harsh appraisal.
Or I'd hope we do. But to extend this, how long has Ibous Dad been ill, how long has this been affecting him? Did we think a defender who was a vital part of a title winning side that had a great defence had suddenly, at 25, forgotten how to defend?
Obviously that's daft it what it should illustrate is across the club there are things happening that we don't see, don't know about but could be hugely impactful.
We lost a treasured member of the team, I can point to five players who still seem deeply affected. We have to create a team for post Mo world, that's tricky. Naturally it might be Arsenals time, City are better, Villa are good, this league if full of great teams who can beat each other any game.
So my waffly point is, it might not just be a case of "manager bad" or "Hughes do no work, he in office, have champagne". It's a bit more nuanced isn't it?
03 Feb 2026 15:33:19
PB, I think you just proved my point mate. Arsenal are dreadful to watch and poor from open play. As you quite rightly pointed out, most of their open play moves go through Saka at some point. It's quite an obvious correlation in my opinion that he is a part of the problem. He's just a bang average Premier League footballer. He's very quick and strong but he hasn't developed technically or in terms of his decision making at all since he was about 19. Maybe it was Arteta's dreadful coaching/ tactics that stunted his development, but I guess we'll never know.
Ultimately, Saka has 45 non-penalty goals from 216 Premier League games (0.21 per game). Agbonlahor has 73 non-penalty goals from 322 Premier League games (0.23 per game). Gabby played in a shocking Villa team as well, by the way. I like the players in my front 3 to score goals, first and foremost. If they don't I at least want them to be creative, not go a full year without creating a goal.
03 Feb 2026 16:29:30
Why0why I've been making the same point since Ibous sad news. On Saturday he looked like a player with passion doing it for his family and the memory of his Dad. None of us know how long his father was ill but it's affected him as it does anyone in work, then missing Guehi and any other targets Ibou couldn't have a break.
Diogo was heart breaking to all and the start of the season was going to be difficult. Freak luck early on has made everyone more fed up as the realities of the issues unfolded.
New players have took time and Slot has had to find the best and Virgil has been culpable and looked to casual at times and his pace has started to deteriorate.
Injury to Isak and not being ready when came had an impact as I believe Hugo is Gakpo upgrade.
Kerkez is now good, Frimpong can be fire and I think in 7 years we will be talking about Wirtz being a once in a generation perhaps alongside Hugo and Isak.
£55m + on Jacquert shows intent is still there to build a phenomenal squad. Diomande and Bastonj for me in summer keep Alexis as don't think RM want him and with a trio of French including himself I think Ibou will sign.
As an additional squad player I'd take Bowen who could do the Salah job as Salah jinks and passes now as young full backs have him in there pocket. 3/ 4 years of Bowen will be like a Milner in Salah position. Chiesa and Gakpo to go.
The question is whether Slot gets longer than summer. If he wins a trophy and gets runner up in the Prem how can you sack that? Beat City Sunday (I was at the Ethihad and we need revenge for that mauling) then we will perhaps be 5 points adrift of the runners up with plenty to play for.
Arne Slot, Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah and so on!
03 Feb 2026 17:04:40
"He doesn't have aura"my jaysus?.