12 Aug 2026 09:13:50
Ed do you know who might look to if Jones leaves for Inter please?
{Ed001's Note - no, sorry.}
12 Aug 2026 10:19:45
I'm guessing Trey has forced his way into that support role now with sheer hard work.
12 Aug 2026 10:26:57
I have to say I've never really seen why Nyoni is rated so highly by the club, but in this preseason he has really impressed me.
He looks to have come of age and found his position at the base of the midfield. His passing through the lines has been exceptional. I could see him replacing Jones's minutes this season and wouldn't be against it.
12 Aug 2026 10:39:37
Trey deserves it!!! Hope he gets it!
12 Aug 2026 10:40:34
I agree, Silvered. If Jones leaves, we should be replacing him with Nyoni, given Jones is probably the 5th choice in midfield behind Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Mac Allister and Gravenberch. Nyoni is ready to be the 5th choice of the 6 main options (with Endo 6th choice).
However, if Mac Allister also leaves, I think we'd absolutely have to go and sign someone. Ideally someone of a different profile like Camara.
If Endo leaves, then Iraola has a decision to make on McConnell and Bajcetic. I personally do not think either is even up to being a 6th choice midfielder. I think you'd struggle to find a decent midfield player willing to come in and sit behind Grav, Dom, Wirtz and Macca as well.
But if you signed one who would start, then you're going to create an issue with whichever one of the 4 who becomes a sparsely used squad player.
A lot of people are overlooking the importance of keeping players happy. Jones is a local lad, and even he is fed up sitting on the bench behind that quartet. I personally think we should keep Endo and Nyoni as the backups and then rotate the 4 starting options through the 3 positions to keep them all fresh.
Squad management in real life isn't like it is on FIFA. They're real people who can cause you real problems if you do them dirty and waste a year of their already very short career.
12 Aug 2026 10:41:58
Absolutely going to happen.
12 Aug 2026 10:44:09
Nyoni will get minutes this season, and rightly so, but we really don't know yet if he can handle the amount of minutes Jones covered last season. If Jones goes, I'd really hope we bring in someone. Doesn't need to be a superstar. Surprised we never pushed for Joao Gomes tbh
Gravenberg, Dom, Macca, Nyoni, Wirtz to cover 3 positions seems one player light.
I know we've Endo, Mconnell etc, but they don't appear to be good enough.
We would be one bad injury away from another disaster if we don't replace Jones imo.
12 Aug 2026 10:48:55
Still think if you're trying to build a squad to go at four comps over a hard slog of an English season, then Trey replaces Endo. Jones and, most likely, Elliott should go towards funding a MF signing, so you would have Dom, Grav, Wirtz, Macca, new signing and Trey.
Obviously, if Macca goes, we replace him also. We'll have likely 60 games this season. Everyone will get plenty of game time.
12 Aug 2026 10:58:14
I would also be mad if MacAlister from last season was in front of me in the pecking order.
Jones also didn't help himself with his performance. I mean, you praise new manager (Sloth ;)), and then you play bad.
Also, he wanted to be captain or be second or third in line for the armband. That fight with Tsimikas was probably the day he decided to leave. I mean, in what universe does Tsimikas get the armband????
12 Aug 2026 11:04:26
Wirtz is now very much part of an attacking 2 partnering with Isak up front, and it seems to be working.
That leaves Szobo, Grav, Maca and Nyoni to cover the 2 midfield positions.
But it begs the question as to who covers Isak and Wirtz?
I don't see Szobo or Elliot being able to do what's currently asked of Wirtz.
Possibly, Gakpo could do it at a push, but there's question marks over his future.
Jones leaving means another home-grown goes.
12 Aug 2026 11:07:07
If we play all kids in Carabao and FA Cup, we may well play just 48 games, Florian.
12 Aug 2026 11:12:56
Ginger, I'd say that if Isak gets injured, then right now Gakpo, Chiesa or Munoz would play up front. If Wirtz got injured, then it would probably be Szoboszlai or Mac Allister who cover behind the striker.
I'm not sure he's ready, but Koumas also seems to be well liked by Iraola, and technically Elliott hasn't left yet either.
12 Aug 2026 11:12:56
I reckon there was a bit of miscommunication in the armband situation: "Give the armband to Curtis" could have been interpreted as "Give the armband to Kostas" with all the background noise etc.
12 Aug 2026 11:15:59
Honestly didn't get the hype with Nyoni but has impressed in the preseason.
12 Aug 2026 11:37:08
There is defo no way MacA could do what's being asked of Wirtz.
He doesn't have the legs.
There is no indication that Chiesa or Munoz could do what's being asked of Isak either.
12 Aug 2026 11:40:05
Fatwallet, there is something that most teenage midfielders tend not to have and that is pass appreciation. They will just hit the ball in the general direction of a team mate regardless of whether it plays them into trouble. As long as the pass reaches them, they'll consider it as a good pass, and a pass completed.
Nyoni has a rare skill with his passing. He always tries to play his passes with the right weight, he typically plays them to a team mates stronger foot, he also plays the pass ahead of them when it is needed or to their feet when that is more sensible, and he rarely ever hits a pass which is bobbling or bouncing awkwardly.
Players with this ability make everyone else look better because it's easier to take a first touch from a good pass, which then opens up the game for others. Even when Nyoni looked physically way off senior football I always picked up on this skill of his, even though at youth level his team mates often weren't good enough to take full advantage of how much Nyoni could open up the pitch for others.
Liverpool have not produced a midfielder in my memory with this level of pass appreciation. It's typically not something England are good at, but something Spanish midfielders have been the best at in recent times. The last teenager in the Prem who I saw with this level of pass appreciation was Cesc Fabregas.
Nyoni obviously still has no guarantees. No kid does and this may be a very exciting skillset, but you need so much more to make it as a midfielder in the very unforgiving Premier League. If Nyoni doesn't apply himself, he'll still fail to make the grade. Getting the right coaching and the right advisors around him is crucial still. Not to mention a lot of luck with injuries and physical growth. Luckily for us, he seems like a well grounded kid and Iraola seems like a good coach so unless his body lets him down, I think we've got a real player on our hands with Nyoni.
12 Aug 2026 11:43:08
Ginger, that's why a good coach doesn't ask players who come in as cover to do the same things. We can't realistically have a player who can do everything Wirtz can or everything Isak can sat on the bench, can we? If Haaland gets injured for Man City, who do they have who can do what he can do?
12 Aug 2026 11:51:58
We're likely gonna wanna play a 60/70 game season.
Wirtz and Isak can't play every min of every game.
The football we're gonna play is gonna be much more intense.
Options are very much required.
I'm not talking exact like for like replacements, im talking about players with the same/similar skillset, fitness, ability, mindset etc etc etc.
They are not currently in the squad.
Ekitike could very well do it but we're not gonna see him until 2027.
What Im seeing suggested over and over again across multiple positions is "sure he can cover that a bit".
That house of cards will come crashing down very quickly.
12 Aug 2026 11:57:20
The problem is Ginger, what I said right at the start of this thread about squad management. Say you sign another striker with a similar skill set to Isak and Ekitike. That's what, £50m minimum? £150k a week minimum? What are we doing when Ekitike is back and we have 3 strikers who all want minutes?
Sometimes you have to find solutions within the squad to cover for injuries.
You can't just have 3 starting quality players per position in case of an injury.
12 Aug 2026 11:59:33
True, Rome. ? Look, I'd settle now for 5th if 5 teams are getting in the CL, quarters of the CL, and no domestic cup trophy. Anything more is a bonus for me this season. But I also won't be on here moaning like a lunatic if we are struggling, like loads of people will. If someone is happy to have six players cover the 3 MF positions, and two of them players be Endo and Nyoni (two players with less than 500 league mins between them the last 2 seasons btw), then good luck to them.
But we would be a coupla MF injuries from really struggling. Having to run the remaining top class midfielders into the ground.
12 Aug 2026 12:07:39
A good coach at a top club is provided with the tools to compete.
We have no idea when in 2027 Ekitike can play again.
Ekitike, I believe, could play either position, but as previously mentioned we've no idea when that is.
We barely have a squad to find solutions.
We were light last year and it hasn't improved much.
Again, as mentioned previously, we're gonna play a 60/70 game season. Plenty of game time for everyone even without injuries.
Currently, we do not have the squad to compete.
12 Aug 2026 12:32:51
Ginger, I think we still need a natural RW option for sure.
Other than that, I'm pretty calm. I'd be happy to swap Gakpo for Barcola, but I can live with that not happening now we have Munoz to push Gakpo for his place.
I'd also like to swap Macca for Camara, but again I'm not desperate for that.
The clear gaps in the side were mostly rectified.
We lost Jota to tragedy. We've signed Munoz. We missed out on Guehi, we've signed Jacquet. We lost Konate on a free, we've signed Araujo. Robertson left for free, we've recalled Tsimikas. If Jones does leave, we can promote Nyoni.
Everyone has been replaced except for Salah. That has to be the priority for me.
12 Aug 2026 12:40:02
Pass appreciation - is that when you admire one of your own passes?
Regardless of names, you need one midfielder in your ranks who can win duels when things get ugly, smell a game, slow things down when needed, and close down threats/put fires out.
Other than Endo, we have nobody with any interest in this kind of thing. And Endo was bought as a stop-gap 3 years ago. A great attitude is not enough in this Premier League.
12 Aug 2026 12:46:23
FPF, I think Macca is more than happy to put a boot in and do the ugly work. He just hasn't looked fit enough for about 18 months. Ideally we sell him and sign Camara. If he stays, we have to hope Iraola gets him back to his best.
At his best, he works very well alongside Grav, as we saw the year we won the league and only narrowly lost out to PSG in the last 16 on penalties.
12 Aug 2026 12:47:17
The only RB we have is Frimpong, who's actually a wingback.
Again, we see the old "but Araujo can cover there".
Can he, though?
He's played less than 15 times there in 4/5 seasons, mostly for a very specific job against a very specific player, namely Vini Jr.
There's no right sided attacker.
We need to build a squad not just an XI (which we don't have).
There's very strong links for loans/moves for Ramsay, Scanlon, Morrison, Ndukwe, McConnell, Chambers, Koumas.
Where's the squad?
Where's the options?
I'm not even going into the strength in depth.
12 Aug 2026 10:42:25
A question for Ed001 and Ed025 please. Could you ever see TAA coming back to Liverpool and if not where would he go instead?
{Ed001's Note - I don't see him coming back, but you never know these days I guess, it just seems unlikely the club would want him back. I can't think of anyone that is likely to go near his wage demands to be honest.}
12 Aug 2026 13:24:22
Good question Barry, and one I've pondered given that we need a RB.
For what it's worth, if Trent desperately wanted to come back, I wouldn't be against it, but I think it would be a difficult one for both sides - with fairly hefty slices of humble pie to be swallowed.
12 Aug 2026 13:55:54
If Jones is sold, I would be more than happy to see Nyoni step up and take his minutes. If we can get £35m or close to that for Jones with a year left on his contract, that is good business. Nyoni has been very good in pre season, and looks to have developed well physically. He's looking strong enough and quick enough. His passing has been positive and accurate, and, along with Koumas and Ndukwe, he has really stood out during pre season.
Other players in the squad, I'd be happy to see moved on, would be Endo, Elliott and Chiesa. As much as I have a soft spot for all 3 of them. They just aren't going to get the game time, and we could look at getting some money in for them, saving on their wages and freeing up 2 non homegrown squad spaces.
So we could move on Jones and replace him with Nyoni.
Move on Chiesa and replace him with Koumas. Then we could look at bringing in another midfielder to replace Endo like Camara from Monaco. We could look at replacing Elliott with a versatile attacker who can cover the wings and 10 position.
If possible I wouldn't be against signing someone like a Guela Doue who can play right back and centre back areas where we could have issues if injuries occurred to right backs or centre halves, which is a concern. Ramsey could then be moved on, and I think he may have taken up a non homegrown space last season. I could be wrong though.
Or we could even target a Neco Williams, who can cover right and left back, is homegrown and club trained, and we could move on Tsimikas and Ramsey.
12 Aug 2026 14:11:19
Macca cares more for his mate and hairline than he does doing the dirty work. Even for Argentina, De Paul was the one protecting him.
12 Aug 2026 13:46:56
Rat has run his course, last person i ever want to see in our famous shirt, please don't start conversations on this.
Fluent Spanish on his Madrid intro when supposedly he didn't know what he was doing for the whole of his last year, kept us all hoping he'd stay when he new he was leaving on a free, konate just followed his lead, probably cooked it up between them and followed it through with no intention of signing a new deal.
Not bitter just don't like the urine being taken out of fans and club when undeserved.
12 Aug 2026 17:16:41
I don't agree with that narrative whatsoever. He gave his all whilst here, was one of the best players in one of the best Liverpool teams, managed by one of our best managers, during one of our greatest times, playing some of the best ever football during our best ever days and nights at Anfield and beyond, and winning all that could be won during the above.
He'd improve our team immeasurably, and I'd have him back in the morning. The other RBs currently here are not fit to lace his boots, as the old adage goes. 'Rat' and 'not bitter' don't seem to gel, somewhat, imo. That's my take anyway.
12 Aug 2026 17:50:25
Cheers for the insight on Nyoni, mk.
12 Aug 2026 19:51:59
Wharton for me.
12 Aug 2026 22:50:29
Before deciding if we're ok with TAA or not, the question is... is he as good as when he left?
He looks a shadow of the player he was.