January transfer window/End of summer

[redebreck]

However the whole team visibly wilted after Karius chucked the second one in, don’t think there was any chance after that.

Indeed, it was a nightmare for us but an absolute tragedy for him. I will always feel desperately sorry for the lad, it effectively destroyed his career.

Salah was taken out too - rendered us more impotent - Phil might have had a big say.. who knows.

Wasn't Karius ALSO assaulted by Ramos?
Could his "brain farts" have been the result of concussion?

[LFC vs PFC]

Depends on Coutinho, do we get the little Brazilian genius, or does he still have back problems?

[Steveo]

Wasn't Karius ALSO assaulted by Ramos?
Could his "brain farts" have been the result of concussion?

Yes - he was also culpable a few other times but never on that scale. Virgil was often seen blasting his positioning in games.

Think he was just an ok Keeper - better than Mignolet was at that time, but the type you don’t win titles with. Alisson is a huge factor in both number 6 and 19

[Insidious]

To mean that not having Coutinho ( we didn't let him go either - we made a fooking mint outta him ) equated with us becoming a better team.

I get what you're saying.

For clarity, I'm not saying we were better "because" - Coutinho left per se, but that we certainly went on to become a great side and we didn't need him when we took that next evolutionary step.

Thus I see very little need to bring back a man who is a shadow of his best, when we managed just fine despite losing him at the peak of his powers.

There are definitely options out there for us and I don't think Coutinho is the man we "need" right now. If Klopp chose to bring him back I'd trust his judgement, but would find it very surprising.

[Steveo]

Fair do’s.

There is a definitely a good chance he is done as evidenced by the last few years. Bayern thought him good enough to get game time but didn’t want to keep him.

Does make it look like there is an underlying physical issue perhaps - something seen on scans or simply on the training ground.

He hasn’t looked happy since the end of the season he left us.

I wouldn’t be wanting to pay a big fee for him but a loan? Seems a reasonable idea to me. Wouldn’t expect the Phil we had either but think would see more invention from behind the front 3 than we see at present

[teesred]

Perhaps he is done - we don't know though. He would be of more use to us even as half the player we had - than Keita or Oxlade.. IMO

100%.

[LFC-DPG]

Wasn't Karius ALSO assaulted by Ramos?
Could his "brain farts" have been the result of concussion?

People forget that as we need some to blame other than Klopp.

[fagin]

Fair do’s.

There is a definitely a good chance he is done as evidenced by the last few years. Bayern thought him good enough to get game time but didn’t want to keep him.

Does make it look like there is an underlying physical issue perhaps - something seen on scans or simply on the training ground.

He hasn’t looked happy since the end of the season he left us.

I wouldn’t be wanting to pay a big fee for him but a loan? Seems a reasonable idea to me. Wouldn’t expect the Phil we had either but think would see more invention from behind the front 3 than we see at present

They haven't managed to find any takers with him in the 25 mill pound range so i think any team wanting to take a chance on him could do it very cheaply.They were also offering to pay half his wages.

[justme]

Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United are all eyeing Monaco and France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, 21, who is valued at around £40m. (ESPN)

[CCTV]

Indeed, it was a nightmare for us but an absolute tragedy for him. I will always feel desperately sorry for the lad, it effectively destroyed his career.

Salah was taken out too - rendered us more impotent - Phil might have had a big say.. who knows.

It would have been nice to have Phil on the bench for that final but I think you are overestimating him for a few reasons.

1) Mane's form fell off a cliff after Phil's theatrics to get his move.
It returned rapidly after Phil fooked off.
So I'd posit Phil and his backstabbing ways grated with Mane in particular.

2) Phils own performance and output hit a peak in those few months, once his dodgy back cleared up. Seems he performed best whilst trying to get his dream move, and I wonder how long before the despair of being stuck at Liverpool surfaced or he blamed the club for ruining his dreams.

3) as nice a footballer as Phil is, an area of a footballers skillet which seems to set you salvating, we can look at Phil as a great back up, good sub option (as with that final).
But he wouldn't have improved our first 11 and we would be weaker defensively as a team with him innit.

Light weight, not as fast on the sprint as our widemen. Firmino is stronger in the tackle and an important part of our defending set pieces too. As a sub or for rotation a great option if his head was here. But not the man for a final.

In midfield he has the ability to add some slick in the middle but he turned over ball too often and again weaker physically in defensive aspects, positioning in particular.

Remember the fear at the time Phil left, but I gave my reasons as to why we would be stronger.
One main reason was the addition of VVD at Cb being far more important than Phil in the side.

The other reasons were based as above.
A theory about Manes form and an aversion to rats. His form then picked up.

A prediction about how our side would defend better.
A prediction about how our build up would improve. Less through Phil and no-one taking as much out of the ball as him.

Got his just deserts imo.

Ironically his dream move will always be associated with this slump or demise of fc Barcelona.

Versus a loyalty pathway that could have seen him idolised