12 Oct 2026 10:31:42
I will be surprised if we don't go in for Scott.
If by the end of the season Wirtz does not improve tremendously, then we should cut out losses. Some players just do not fit in to your team and you need to accept that in as much as you want them to do well.
I will be talking to Bayern to see if a deal can be done either for a swap with Olise or an outright sale. We can add Frimpong too.
12 Oct 2026 11:14:23
You will be talking to Bayern? Are you Julian Ward by any chance?
12 Oct 2026 11:16:31
I will say it differently.
I don't think Wirtz improves Bayern in any way.
They have a great team, ran PSG close last season in the CL but were weak defensively.
When Wirtz played at Leverkusen against us, he never stood out.
Last summer was possibly the worst scouting and recruitment the club has ever seen, and I was around for the Diouf, Pongolle, Babb, Ruddock, Eric Meier, Aquilsni times.
Wirtz - Bang Average at best
Kerkez- Shocking and I always wanted us to avoid, I said he was a headless chicken and he has proved me right.
Frimpong- Simply not a defender
Isak- I had big hopes for and he is a great finisher, but not suited to our team
Ekitike- Ou Rd best buy by far, but got a shocking bad injury and I now fear he will never be the same.
We have a mountain to climb to be competitive again and we are shockingly weak in midfield.
Will take 2-3 windows at least.
12 Oct 2026 11:58:38
What did Kerkez do wrong last night?
12 Oct 2026 12:36:25
I didn't mention last night but I could point out a plethora of other games where he consistently weakens our team with his defensive weaknesses.
12 Oct 2026 13:18:13
Kerkez is not in the category of a bad buy and neither is Isak. Wirtz and Frimpong I agree with but let's not start to get carried away doom mongering. This seasons tranfers have been fine once Bradley adjusts. Our problem is we over paid and in the case of Wirtz and Frimpong bought the wrong players.
12 Oct 2026 14:29:29
Kerkez delivery into the box is consistently very poor. Defensively he looks slightly better this season, only slightly.
12 Oct 2026 15:20:04
I don't think Wirtz is the wrong player rather the players around him are playing wrong!
12 Oct 2026 15:23:32
Well considering we had three clean sheets before last night and Kerkez is an integral part of that back 4, I'd say that his defensive weaknesses haven't been too exposed this year, or am I just hallucinating?
12 Oct 2026 15:28:46
The whole ten of them Sanjit? is it the other players making the ball bounce ten yards off him? He needs to do better. its hard his confidence must be low but he's got to find a way or he won't be at the club much longer.
12 Oct 2026 16:33:33
I agree, Sanjit, we should sell everyone and keep Wirtz. Or was your post said with irony?
12 Oct 2026 17:25:32
It's always someone else's issue except Wirtz isn't it? Of course it is!! I posted yesterday prior to ko that this was a perfect opportunity for FW to show his worth. Step up to the plate! Then someone replied that he couldn't because Gravenberch was taking his positions on the field of play. It looked to me that RG stepped up and FW shrunk. I've said all along that I'm willing to give him until the end of the season but it's looking increasingly obvious that Wirtz is absolutely not the 'generational talent' he was applauded as being.
And I'm with shughes. Kerkez is not a good LB and as I've said before there's just a mistake in him each game. He's just unreliable just like Isak but for different reasons. We cannot compete with unreliable players. The 3 of those plus our choice of replacing TAA with Frimpong has been a complete waste of 300 odd big ones but I'll still wait until next May in case something miraculous happens to them between now and then.
12 Oct 2026 17:30:14
Kerkez is a headless chicken, goes to the floor way to quickly, goes diving in when it isn't needed, has no idea how to play with the winger in front of him be it Gakpo, ngumoa, barcola and he can't cross. He's a liability. If Wirtz had passed instead of shooting, Kerkez would have taken the chance off Barcola and missed anyway.
And not sure jumping up and down waving his hands in the air will help Wirtz already blown confidence. Slight chance he still comes good but doesn't look like he has the ability to learn so I think what we see now is what we get.
12 Oct 2026 19:54:31
We are a team of great individuals. The collectivism Andoni speaks of is going to take some time to implement.
How long did it take Jurgen?
For me, Wirtz is suffering with a confidence issue - indecision has crept in. When Eki was playing, they had a great synergy developing.
12 Oct 2026 20:10:57
I do genuinely think, currently there are five better teams than us at least. I think we will miss out on champs league and I'm not sure what that means for AI. It's not really his fault. He has a lot of work to do and will need a good few windows. I wonder how many more windows we will go before we replace Fabinho lol.
On a positive note yesterday, I know people were giving off about Barcola but I saw him back defending a few times, I didn't expect that if I am honest.
I like Koumas but he's not a striker, and he is a bit of a headless chicken similar to Kerkez, but Kerkez more likely to make mistakes or get sent off. Frimpong a disaster and the midfield needs looked at.
I personally don't know what Wirtz is or what he is meant to do, but he isn't doing whatever we bought him for. He looks really really really basic and his performances are starting to affect the rest of the team I think. He needs to be dropped.
12 Oct 2026 22:19:25
Inbeta: What 5 teams (at least) are better than us? I'm guessing City & Arsenal take 2 spots but be genuinely interested in hearing who you think the other 3 are (and any others)
12 Oct 2026 23:14:15
I don't see Wirtz as the problem. The real issue is that our players aren't finishing the chances he creates. On top of that, he works incredibly hard off the ball and contributes a lot to our pressing.
I think we should stop criticizing him and give him time. The constant injuries to our attackers haven't helped either.
Remember when Wirtz and Ekitike were playing together consistently? They started building chemistry, and we looked like a much better team.
I'm confident Wirtz will come good soon. We just need to be patient and trust him.
13 Oct 2026 01:10:25
Strengthen that midfield instead of gaping big holes and the team immediately tighten up, regardless of individual quality. I'm always baffled by the obsession of managers to all go for the same 4-3-3 nonsense. It's crazy how certain managers set a trend and the sheep follow. Klopp, Wenger etc, what happened to the arl 4-4-2?
13 Oct 2026 07:17:20
Hahaha Sanjit
I'm playing all the right balls, just not necessarily at the right time.
I really want Flo to click, but he is the Eric Morecombe of football right now.
13 Oct 2026 08:03:45
@Vakpa yes, I would love to give him time but there's also the business side of things.
If after two seasons a 100 million pounds player hasn't come good, then I really don't know how much time he needs.
Do you give him time until his contract runs out or when can you say it is enough?
13 Oct 2026 11:36:46
We can't blame the players around Wirtz for the fact his first touch bounces 20 yards and he runs like he's having a bad dream.
13 Oct 2026 13:39:26
There's a very good Robbo interview on the overlap talking about the impact of last seasons tragedy on the integration, training etc of new players and basically saying need to write off last season. Considering he was amongst it, and it's Robbo I take his word on it so have given all newbies a free pass on last year and judging them at the end of this season alone.
Not saying they will come good but it takes a while to adapt to prem. Glass half full here.
13 Oct 2026 14:06:25
I thought Kerkez played well. Completely nullified Ndiaye. He was the most attacking fullback in the league when we bought him.
Hopefully Iraola will bring that form back.
13 Oct 2026 14:57:40
Surely this is on the manager? Wirtz's quality is undoubted but he is playing with zero confidence. In fact I could point to a few others who are the same. Barcola, Rio, Gravenberch (until the game on Sunday).
I had my reservations about Iraola when we appointed him and so far he's done absolutely nothing to change my mind.
Isn't he supposed to be a manager who gets the best out of players? He's made Wirtz even worse.
Wirtz needs to take some responsibility here too as he needs to get himself mentally right and he's not doing that but ultimately it's the managers job to prepare the team and make sure they are ready. Iraola is not showing me that he has the ability to manage top players.
Wirtz's head is obviously not in a good place so either sort it or take him out of the firing line and coach him. Just chucking him out onto the pitch and hoping he comes good isn't working and is starting to look a bit amateurish.
I'm giving Iraola time and haven't fully formed my opinion of him yet but so far my initial fears are being realised.
13 Oct 2026 17:34:52
Kerkez came over well in the press conference today - hadn't seen him in front of the cameras before - I now think there is a chance he can improve / be a bit calmer when needed and use his brain on the pitch.
13 Oct 2026 17:48:55
@rios stepovers, are you making yourself dizzy with too many step overs, this is on Iraola?
So it's Andoni's fault for the red card?
AI was not able to pick his top goalscorer, and his top assists attacker so far this season, that is 2/3rds of his first choice attack, one who was making his first ever PL debut was Isak's replacement Koumas.
Throw in Conor Bradley, Leoni, Hugo, Dominic who AI couldn't select either, that's five starters denied if everyone was fit:Gakpo, Isak, Hugo, Dominic, Bradley, that is half a team, man cheaty had a full strength squad and yet for 60 minutes( the red card) the XG figures for LFC was.89% and was double citys at.42% and that is virtually with a B team.
As for Florian he has missed one game this season so far, which was a 3-1 win for LFC!
For all the stick Kerkez receives above, the three man city goals came from the LFC right back position, so he did do something right on the left!
YNWA Andoni.
14 Oct 2026 07:07:06
This is not only on Wirtz, none of the Liverpool players offer what Wirtz needs to excel - Wirtz shines when he can play quick one - twos, which almost none of the the Liverpool forwards invite to (except Ekitike).
Wirtz needs that the forwards does opposite movements, to open the space for through balls, or play a quick one-two. Just watch some Leverkusen games, and you will see why he have not succeeded in Liverpool.
14 Oct 2026 08:53:22
But that's the point isn't it. None of us are saying he's a bad player but if he can't tweak his game to suit the team then there was no point signing him / no point playing him as we are not going to buy a new squad to fit his style of pay so surely he will be the one that makes way.