The Winds of Change

[miller0863]

But but but … he won you the league

[Insidious]

When Slot made his comment about needing to sell to buy that depressed me. Sell Chiesa & Endo for a max of 20m?Sell our homegrown quota of Jones,Elliott & Gomez?Sign Senesi on a free?We are in the shit here & our coach is making negative Hodgson like comments as if we are outsiders

Will depend what format it takes, the extent to which it will depress the fans. For the record I am not over the Moon about it - I know there is a perception at times on here that I agree with every facet of every fibre of how the club run things in the FSG era.

If we sell Chiesa and Endo for £20m with the cash coming in immediately and use that £20m as 1/4 of an £80m fee on a quality player who gets paid for in four annual installments I don't think anyone minds.

If it's sell a bunch of our youth just to buy one over-the-Hill player to bolster squad depth, we're going to be pretty pissed.

He may also have been speaking from a perspective of Champion's League participation having not yet been guaranteed, aka it's "sell to buy" if we finish 6th or lower - and we may yet finish in the top five.

More concerned about whether or not Slot is still in charge than the finances - some of our best work has been done when the budget was limited.

[KingCanny]

Will depend what format it takes, the extent to which it will depress the fans. For the record I am not over the Moon about it - I know there is a perception at times on here that I agree with every facet of every fibre of how the club run things in the FSG era.

If we sell Chiesa and Endo for £20m with the cash coming in immediately and use that £20m as 1/4 of an £80m fee on a quality player who gets paid for in four annual installments I don't think anyone minds.

If it's sell a bunch of our youth just to buy one over-the-Hill player to bolster squad depth, we're going to be pretty pissed.

He may also have been speaking from a perspective of Champion's League participation having not yet been guaranteed, aka it's "sell to buy" if we finish 6th or lower - and we may yet finish in the top five.

More concerned about whether or not Slot is still in charge than the finances - some of our best work has been done when the budget was limited.

But how many players do we need?A replacement for Mo, a number six,a reliable right back,an extra cente back,a replacement for Mac who is bang average, another striker to fill in for Ekitike (and Isak who wont manage a season). A year's time Allison & Virgil are gone & who are our senior players?Its a mess.

[Insidious]

But how many players do we need?A replacement for Mo, a number six,a reliable right back,an extra cente back,a replacement for Mac who is bang average, another striker to fill in for Ekitike (and Isak who wont manage a season). A year's time Allison & Virgil are gone & who are our senior players?Its a mess.

No disagreement from me that the situation is far from ideal.

I think we can recruit much of what we need though. With the attacking players it might depend on set-up.

I always like cover for each position. With a 4-3-3 you need six attackers. With a 4-4-2 Diamond or a 3-5-2 you need two 10s (Wirtz and a returning Elliott) and four forwards/strikers. That might be the plan. When you look at the profile of Frimpong and Kerkez, plus our aim to acquire Guehi, plus the profile of Isak and Ekitike I do think that might have been the plan. Whether people see that as a good plan or not, another matter.

- Anyway, if it is a front two and a system with wing-backs, we won't need the Mo replacement. Obviously if we don't go down that route, then we will. A huge ask. Olise won't be available.

- A six we absolutely need. A good one. If we are tight for money (?) I'd sacrifice Mac Allister given his displays this season to help part-generate funds, with a view to perhaps pushing Grav up the pitch a bit. You still want cover, but it would be a start.

- Right-back I am crossing my fingers that Tottenham have contract stipulations that allow players to leave for reduced prices if they are relegated. I'd be all over Porro in such a circumstance. Otherwise we might be looking at a lower cost player. As of now I'd take anyone who can produce 7/10 performances most weeks who was regularly fit.

- Mac replacement may come from within (Grav?) if we sell Mac to raise funds.

- Another striker in a World where strikers are so expensive could be a sticking point, but hopefully there's a club out there happy with amortised payments. Many clubs are. The thought of buying someone (let's say for £100m) in five £20m instalments across 5 years doesn't seem impossible if we retain a Champion's League presence (still up in the air) and know that certain wages are coming off the books sooner rather than later (Mo, Van Dijk, Alisson) as 5 years of Mo's wages not having to be paid actually covers that fee, before sales.

By no means am I saying that my very loose, speculation-led blue-print is perfect as it most certainly is anything but. I think we need to settle in a system we are aiming for, figure out what we have for it and go from there.

[teesred]

When Slot made his comment about needing to sell to buy that depressed me. Sell Chiesa & Endo for a max of 20m?Sell our homegrown quota of Jones,Elliott & Gomez?Sign Senesi on a free?We are in the shit here & our coach is making negative Hodgson like comments as if we are outsiders

Totally agree. This is what he's done.
He's ripped everything up, gotten rid of almost everything that has a semblance of resemblance to Klopp because he's a pathetic jealous prick.
Trying to put his stamp on things and it's set us back years now.

What he did to Robertson on Tuesday was unforgivable. Denied him the last few mins of a CL game at Anfield on front of fans who've adored him.
The guys a fucking useless blathering, nonsense talking arsehole and I can't wait to eventually see the back of him. He can fuck off right of as far as I'm concerned.

[Ravo19]

Not bothered about comment as its common sense to sell to raise funds.
Chiesa,gapko,(mac or jones)gomez,elliot,endo (even wirtz if moving away from 4 2 3 1)

[Steveo]

It is inevitable that with our fall from grace the focus for many shifts … but for me the root cause has always remained. While people are arguing over Slot’s tactics or his failure to motivate the squad - they’re missing the woods for the trees. Slot is just a yes man being asked to bake a cake without the ingredients. And while he tries the owners count up the record £703m in revenues.

This "money is tight" narrative is a total joke … it’s actually insulting to the intelligence of the fanbase. People need to wake up and see the FSG model for what it really is - pure venture capitalism. They aren't "custodians" of a 130-year-old institution … they’re asset managers using the club as a high-yield investment vehicle. If Slot has "failed" this season - it’s because he was set up to fail by a board that for years had stiffed Klopp and refused to refresh a stagnating squad despite the coffers being full.

The reality is that we - the fans - are essentially paying for the infrastructure upgrades…. upgrades that only benefit FSG at the point of sale. Every extra seat in the Anfield Road stand and every brick at the AXA was funded by our ticket money and TV revenue … yet when the owners eventually flip the club for a 1,500% profit … we won't see a penny of that.

They are using our pockets to build up their own business valuation and status - while at the same time - crying poverty- as every transfer window approaches.

It’s a corporate cancer that’s eating the soul out of the English game. At least the state-owned clubs or the old-school oligarchs actually inject their own capital to see the team succeed on the pitch - F$G just sucks the blood out of the club’s earnings to ensure the balance sheet looks good for their eventual exit.

They’ve turned this club into a self-sustaining spreadsheet where "success" is defined by a profit margin… not a trophy cabinet - a sodding profit margin. We caught lightning in a bottle because of the genius of Klopp … but long-term they are doing irrevocable damage by treating a community institution like a franchise in what they hope to make a closed-shop league.

It's the worst type of ownership in football history because it’s entirely extractive … it's just blood-sucking business dressed up in a red scarf.

At some point - as with the fact that last season's title was the creation of a man already departed - people will realise that no manager can overcome this level of institutional greed. It’s not just the manager that needs changing … it’s the parasite at the top..

Don’t forget, it’s 2026 - summer approaching and to date it’s just the 1 (one) “senior” (France u21) CB signed since 1st January 20 effing 18!!!!

THINK… 🤔

[miller0863]

Another terrible performance against a weak Chelsea team on an awful run of 6 consecutive defeats scoring only once in the process. Same when Spurs came.
Same when Forest came and won 3-0, same when Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland came.
This has been the worst season of football from LFC that I can EVER remember

[teesred]

Another terrible performance against a weak Chelsea team on an awful run of 6 consecutive defeats scoring only once in the process. Same when Spurs came.
Same when Forest came and won 3-0, same when Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland came.
This has been the worst season of football from LFC that I can EVER remember

Agree. The only highlight has been a double over the Bloos.
It's been turgid throughout. I can't even contemplate August. We can only hope they're seeing out the season before he's on his way.
He's ruined everything we were good at, the recruiting team and players aren't blameless in it but another manager gets more out of that squad than he is/does.
There's not one single thing to be positive about with him,I honestly can't think of one thing at all he's good at or that is showing any promise for the future. I really dislike him,I don't like the way he's treated some players and I don't like the way he hasn't bought into the culture of Liverpool. It's just a job to him and like Rodgers and Hodgson they didn't last very long because they were the same.

[miller0863]

Completely agree

[Steveo]

Agree. The only highlight has been a double over the Bloos.
It's been turgid throughout. I can't even contemplate August. We can only hope they're seeing out the season before he's on his way.
He's ruined everything we were good at, the recruiting team and players aren't blameless in it but another manager gets more out of that squad than he is/does.
There's not one single thing to be positive about with him,I honestly can't think of one thing at all he's good at or that is showing any promise for the future. I really dislike him,I don't like the way he's treated some players and I don't like the way he hasn't bought into the culture of Liverpool. It's just a job to him and like Rodgers and Hodgson they didn't last very long because they were the same.

We don't have a 'manager' under the current 'setup'. Slot has been abject but H'edwards are getting away with murder.

[fiordearg]

We've been abject in the worst EPL in 30 years.

[sydenham red]

If Slot goes will macca stay? Or will he go anyway? If he shines at the WC we get a better fee but we'll also know he's still got top class form in him......

[Insidious]

If Slot goes will macca stay? Or will he go anyway? If he shines at the WC we get a better fee but we'll also know he's still got top class form in him......

I can't say I've looked at the new format in any way closely, but certainly under the old format reaching the Final would mean a sample size of 7 games.

Too small a metric for me, irrespective of the lack of cohesion and energy we have seen under Klopp.

Macca was absolutely wonderful last season. He has not been at all right since his recovery from the hernia and (understandably) the death of Diogo.

It makes judging these things rather tricky but even at his age (plenty left in the rank on paper) I do find myself wondering if a sale might be merited. Dare I say it's reminding me a little of the Fabinho situation, albeit not to anything like the same extreme just yet?

It'll all come down to circumstances and availability, but if I thought we could attract a player who ticked some of the boxes of taller/Home-grown/quicker/younger and a received few for Mac Allister would cover a big chunk of it then I would definitely be tempted.

Very much not in "kick him out the door" territory, but we have a lot of business to do this Summer.

Salah is leaving, Ekitike won't be back until January or so, we know Isak's injury record is poor and Chiesa is likely leaving, so we are going to be needing forward options and we know how expensive those are. Champion's League qualification (which isn't a certainty!) will definitely help, but whatever budget we have, we will need to recoup some funds as well if we want to progress this side.

Already I feel like we could do with three (?) forward options (talking the whole "front line" here, not three number 9s) a defensive midfielder and a right-back if we possibly can.

[miller0863]

Agree Sid. Got your eye on any No6 in particular?