Hughes sack demanded as Liverpool ignoring ‘incredibly obvious’ signing and Barcola doubts raised
Liverpool supporters are growing sick of ‘Adidas puppet’ Richard Hughes, while FSG are ignoring an ‘incredibly obvious’ signing.
There are also doubts about new big-money signing Bradley Barcola.
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com…
Why Bradley Barcola doesn’t shift the dial for Liverpool
Here we go again then, Liverpool putting most of their eggs in an expensive basket, but I’m way more confident that Barcola will rip it up for them than I ever was with the wee German prima ballerina (with apologies to Dave LFC – chin up fella).
Barcola is rapid, 6ft2, and has a more impressive CV. Also way easier to drop a winger in than a 10 in and get output quickly. Not sure I’d be doing cartwheels yet if I was a Liverpool fan though, unless they address the holes in their first 11 + a few durable back ups before the window closes given Iraola’s playing style. They want to make sure they keep Ngumoha sweet too.
Doesn’t shift the dial much in terms of catching Arsenal though IMO, nor PSG/other favourites in CL either. Given Arsenal were in for him too, you probably have to question his motivations though, because he’s obviously got a much better chance of trophies there.
On a more general point, it’s looking more and more like clubs at Liverpool’s current level in the PL just behind the favourites are faced with a tough decision on transfers. Do they finally bite the bullet and shop in the same markets as the smaller PL clubs attempting to muscle in on the European places who have at least as well run a scouting operation, if not better? This means accepting flak from some fans who think they should still be rivalling the biggest, richest, current elite clubs for the best players, not to mention having to take on the likes of Brentford, Bournemouth, and Brighton and their aforementioned formidable scouting operations. More scope for mistakes being correctable though, as well as sell on potential and, particularly in Iraola’s case, more/younger bodies to cover the injuries/work rate that his style demands. Or do they continue with their current MO and accept they’ll get more knock backs than successes, as well as the impact on their budget for other areas that need improvement when they do splash 100m+ on one player.
This dilemma is neatly summed up in the Minteh price Brighton paid versus the price quoted to Liverpool now. Or the price some big beast will probably pay for Mamadou Sangaré in a year’s time. He went for €1.7m in 2024, and €13m last season. Not like he was a secret either, in the ligue 1 team of the year last term.
RHT/TS x
(If Liverpool get actual money for Gakpo though, then put whoever seals that deal in charge of signing new players)
READ: Liverpool ‘flapping’ in the transfer market and doomed to ‘long Spurs-like season’
Liverpool need Wharton more than Sarr
Watching Palace v City last night its incredibly obvious Liverpool need Wharton considerably more than they need Sarr. Whartons out ball is touching on the Xabi Alonso and he is far better defensively than Gravenberch. As is a traffic cone.
Patricio Del Toro
What the heck, Liverpool…
What da heck are the Liverpool board doing it’s an absolute shambles they’ve talked about buying this one and that one all season and bought players we didn’t need.
We need a midfielder and left and a right back asap go and bloody buy them, or take Trent back and buy Adam Wharton. FFS f***ing Spurs are making us look like sh*t.
Go out and buy Lamine Camara and Adam Wharton now before Chelsea buy them; they will be worth every penny.
Good luck Gerard YNWA
Liverpool need to sack Richard Hughes
Liverpool sack Hughes and get quicker replace with new sporting director. Liverpool should sign Mbaye, Sarr, Minteh, Nico Scotterbeck and many more players.
Pukar
READ MORE: Ranking the Big Six attacks as Liverpool set to secure Bradley Barcola
Richard Hughes is a puppet to Adidas
I’m a Liverpool fan for over 50 years and I have an itch that I need to scratch and I hope you can help…
I believe Adidas are pulling the strings on our transfer policy with Richard Hughes.
In 2025 Adidas sign the biggest deal with Liverpool a 10 year deal worth a reputed 60 million, predicted to be ( 600 million over 10 yrs)?
We win the league in 2025 then suddenly out of the blue we buy Isak, Ekitike, Wirtz , Kerkez guess what? All sponsored by Adidas… and all wear F50 boot- £450 million!?
The amount we spent in this window, and the profiles of these players are just not a Liverpool fit.
What’s the narrative now – worst transfer window in Liverpool’s history?
We are now chasing Barcola (Adidas-sponsored F50 boot) and Minteh (Adidas-sponsored F50 boot).
What deal has Richard Hughes done ? How can a great club have their transfer policy and ultimately future dictated by their sponsor?
Remember Ronaldo, Nike and Brazil? What chance did Slot have in moulding/ improving a team that is dictated by what boot they wear?
Are Liverpool going to have their fate for the next decade decided by a faceless commercial nobody?
Please expose and let every Liverpool fan know that we are buying players because of what is good commercially ( what Richard Hughes has agreed behind closed doors) and not for the good of the club football wise?
Liverpool FC belongs to the fans not a corporate company pulling the strings.
Billy Hunt
Actually, Liverpool fans need to calm down…
I recently used a certain social media platform (sounds like Head It) to express my thoughts on this season and some of the gripes of my fellow Liverpool fans. Needless to say, I was either utterly ignored or just down-right shouted down, so I’m going to try again here as the people who read this site are (for the most part) more reasonable.
A lot of Liverpool fans seem to think/believe we should be challenging for the title this year at best, or comfortably getting Top 4 whilst winning a trophy at worst. There has also been a lot of complaining about the transfers in and, more recently, the lack of a DM coming in. Allow me to address these issues with my own opinions.
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1) Replacing Salah. One of the greatest players of this generation cannot be replaced so easily. Lots of people complaining we have not bought anyone in to fill his shoes, no-one really suggesting who that player could be. Just who do you get in to replace a player of his calibre? A player like Salah comes around once in a blue moon. We are looking to buy all the wingers though and maybe one of them – looking at you Barcola – can do the business but I can guarantee that no matter how good he turns out to be, he wont be as good as Salah. But not replacing one of the greatest with someone similarly great is a stick with which to beat the club.
2) A lack of a DM coming in. Yes, our midfield was at fault for both goals on Sunday. Would a top quality DM fix that? Possibly/probably. However, Iraola has said he doesn’t want a DM, so why buy one? If he doesn’t want one for his system, there is zero point spending money on one.
3) Iraola himself. Terrible start to life at Bournemouth. It took a while for the players to learn his system and get up to speed with it, yet Liverpool players should be winning games immediately in swashbuckling fashion? This is going to be a difficult season for the Reds, for a number of reasons. One of which is fitness. Slot’s methods are antithetical to Iraola’s and it will take time for the fitness levels to build up so the players can maintain the high-energy needs of his system.
4) Transfers. Now, I do agree things have moved painfully slowly this summer with incomings. Targets should have been identified a lot earlier and replacements found for departing players, but there are mitigating factors. Chief of which was the World Cup, which always makes it harder to buy players. However, buy and large, I do agree with the criticisms. There is still time to get a few more players in and hopefully we will, but I fear the squad depth will be a little bit…um…shallow.
5) Season expectations. No way we were ever going to challenge for the title this season. With the reasons stated above (the main one being adapting to Iraola’s system) this is the transition season we’ve been expecting since Klopp left. It is going to take time to get up to speed and there will be several bumps in the road along the way. Iraola is a good manager and I hope he can do the business at a big club, but as has been noted a lot on this very site, his results are very streaky. I hope with a better quality of player (no disrespect to Bournemouth) that streaky streak eventually comes to an end. However, he is also expected to compete on 4 fronts now and will be under far greater scrutiny.
Liverpool fans need to wind their neck in and accept that this year will be very challenging. Forget about the title and/or winning the Champions League (not saying we definitely wont, just that it’s not likely). Hope for a Top 4 finish with maybe a domestic trophy but honestly? If we finish in a European place with signs that his system is starting to work and players are starting to come good (hello Wirtz and Isak) then I’ll be happy.
There are issues, the transfer team isn’t doing what we want it to but we’re one game into the season and people are whinging already.
Give Iraola time and don’t get on his back/start booing if/when we start badly. Be patient, support the team.
YNWA, Clive, LFC
Man City in broad daylight
I genuinely believe the league’s failure to punish City for their 115 charges, has resulted in a free for all.
I look at the business done by Chelsea and Villa. I’m sure people can make a sporting argument for why Villa signed Jackson for £65 million, £45 million for Garnacho and £7.5 million for Martinez. Which is nicely the £117 million Chelsea signed Morgan Rogers for.
To me, that is objectively sus. They are blatantly trying to circumnavigate the rules through loop holes and creative accounting.
But the league has all but endorsed it. No real material punishment for rampant cheating. Fines when the league spends over a billion every summer in transfers aren’t a deterrent.
John Matrix AFC
