The Winds of Change

[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?

[CCTV]

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......

Good questions....

I think MacA wants out to Real. In the 2nd half of last season there was a story about Real wanting MacA, and his dad and himself commented on it and were flattered. Talked about seeing out the contract like, but not talking about extending at LFC.
He looks like he might have reduced his transfer fee over the season.

[Insidious]

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

A few not all of them necessarily naturally lads you'd describe as a 6, but certainly there's a number of players I'd look at. Bear in mind I do prefer younger players - if they don't work out you often have some resale value, wages are often more manageable and if they do work out you are buying yourself time before you have to address that position again.

A few of them would be -

Anderson at Forest - 23 and Home-grown and excellent. He seems a great solution. The problem? They (Forest) allegedly want upwards of £100m for him, so watch him go to Man City for £70m with Forest getting some back-handers I don't see anyone but Man City being able to get him.

Mateus Fernandes at West Ham (just 21 I think) seems an obvious shout if they go down, but expect competition.

Alex Scott at Bournemouth is probably a less natural 6 but seems to be doing really well and has the look of an "all purpose" mid who could do a very capable job at 6 or 8 depending on the day, which appeals a lot - as does him being just 22 still.

Another 22-year old is Lamine Camara. His height might put people off but he has a quality I often describe as "waspish" and gets involved in a lot of duels which I am all for. We badly need that in our side. Anyone willing to set that sort of example in midfield and compliment Szoboszlai's work-rate would get my vote.

A "wild card" option for me (and not remotely ready yet, one for the future) would have been a really promising talent at Ajax called Jorthy Mokio. Seems to have his head screwed on, though potentially family issues. He's just 18 and had a huge falling out with his Dad, who was pushing for him to make a big-money move (I think PSG were scouting him which says plenty if true) but the son has ended up negotiating an extension of his contract with Ajax as he wishes to further his development. I like that sort of grounded maturity in a player. If he hadn't his heart set on staying with Ajax for now and if we had enough of a budget after buying what we needed, I'd have been getting him in, or trying to.

Of the slightly older players, the two I'd look at would be 25 and 26. If either came in, they have to hit the ground running.

Stiller (at Stuttgart) is 25 and I think he has a release clause which kicks in this Summer, which is £31.6m. For me that is an absolute no-brainer. He does "decent" work off the ball, but is more ab Alonso than a Masch - and I'd rather a Masch profile, but that's subjective. That is a "nothing" fee in the current market and we should be all over that.

Ederson (at Atalanta) is another that makes a lot of sense to me. His contract is running down - I think once this Summer hits he has one year left - and allegedly could be available for £40m or so. At 26 he is right on the outer cusp of the age profile I'd normally want us to look at, but there should still be 3-5 good years there, all being well, which would bring in immediate quality and buy us some time.

There are others (Wharton for example) that merit consideration, though I do feel Wharton is a tad slower than what I'd want here, just now. I'd rather create a midfield unit that are like wasps at a picnic than I would a group of pianists, but we don't know what Slot (or his replacement) and Edwards/Hughes might want.

If we speculate that Ederson and Stiller could be brought in for a combined £75m and if I thought we could get £50m or so for Mac Allister (is that too optimistic?) before the World realises he is showing early signs of having already passed his peak, then I'd be all over it.

I'd love to be able to bring those guys in AND someone like Alex Scott but budget will be an issue, given that we badly need forwards. People might think "three mids Sid? Seriously lad, this isn't Footie Manager" and I get that, but do bear in mind that Jones looks like he might leave and Endo certainly will - combine this with how lethargic Gravenberch has looked at times from having to play so many minutes and I don't think it's a bad thing to aim for, if we are able to do it.

In a perfect World I probably look at Scott and Camara as ideal due to the age profile aspect, but affordability you have to say that having a potentially affordable combo in Ederson and Stiller looks really tempting.

I'd certainly want two in, ideally three - depends a lot on the other positions we have to work at and on our budget. Amortised deals could be useful - if we got Ederson for £40m or so and it was four £10m instalments over the next 4 years, that's hardly crippling - and certainly enables a release fee for Stiller.

I can't see us going for two of the "older" players though.

If we pick one young and one old, then one of Scott/Camara and one of Stiller/Ederson is arguably the way to go.

If we had our forward problems sorted (we are miles off it there) I'd probably buy 3 of them.