Liverpool in ‘do or die season’ with ‘unproven’ duo as ‘it’s curtains’ for Arsenal if there’s another ‘failure’

Liverpool and Arsenal are in ‘do or die’ seasons for very different reasons as Mikel Arteta faces becoming ‘the new Brendan Rodgers’…

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Do or die seasons for Arsenal AND Liverpool…
The upcoming seasons are make or break for a lot of teams, but specifically for two teams, their near future depends massively on it, and they are Arsenal & Liverpool for two very different reasons.

We all know why Arsenal. A billion spent, 5 trophyless years and some of the worst fans in the world combine to create an atmosphere of stress, fear & hatred which will blast open wide if Arsenal are more than 8-10 points behind the leaders come christmas or fail to win either the league, the champions league or do a domestic cup double, its curtains for Arteta and Arsenal. On the flipside, if they win then it’s going to be their best season in 21 years and blast them into the “top club” conversation & Arteta into the “top manager” conversation. He could be the new Brenden Rodgers or the new Pep Guardiola depending on how this season goes. Fired with no job or a bumper new contract. It’s do or die.

Liverpool on the other hand face a very different challenge. Two unproven players in Wirtz & Ekitike or 120m for a proven Isak) for an outlay of around 200m, with massive wages to match, means they cannot afford these deals to be a disaster. It’s not a long shot to imagine Wirtz or Ekitike joining the likes of Andy Caroll, Shevchenko, Alexis Sanchez, Lukaku, Hojlund, Antony, Grealish, Mount, Casemiro etc etc by failing to perform in the EPL. This would load the club with a financial burden with no ROI as well as completely mess up the excellent dressing room vibes that are currently there. The failure of this transfer window would have huge repercussions in setting the team back years, while on the flipside if the transfers shine through as massive successes, this will be the year they cement their recent legacy and be competitive for the years to come! A lot is riding on these new buys, and the owners have gone all out to give the fans & manager what they want, and much respect to that. But just like anything in football, its a massive gamble as this kind of spending will not be seen against for a few years for a club like Liverpool unless they maintain their top dog status. Honestly, i see them competing well for a while so odds are this ends up

Also, for the inevitable “But what about United, City, Chelsea etc”. Well:
– United are already broken, unless relegated, this season is a write off no matter how good or bad their new signings play, they aren’t in the top 4 conversation.

– If everything fails, City & Chelsea can always throw another billion at the problem and sort it out, so this one season doesn’t really affect them the way it would Arsenal or Liverpool who actually spend the money they earn rather than scam their way through the league.

So many new marquee players for so many teams. So many chances for someone to become a legend and someone to be crowned the worst transfer. So many storylines and so much to look forward to this season. There is a lot on the line, let’s see who manages to make their mark for the 25/26 season.
Aman

READ: Ekitike submits stupidest ‘transfer request’ ever to ‘force Liverpool transfer through’

A theory on Liverpool signing a defender…
This might seem crazy but in my mind it’s probably more important to recruit attackers first in a transfer window because it’s probably easier to settle into a defence so you don’t need as much preseason together to find good rhythm.

I wonder if that’s why Liverpool seem to have about 7 defenders in total right now but nobody seems too fussed internally. 7 would probably be fine if Gomez wasn’t virtually nailed on to miss at least 6 months through injury and Konate wasn’t going to spend January to June fluttering his eyelids at Madrid.

So my best guess is that after we nail down Ekitike (and Rodrygo…surely not?) then maybe we try to offload Nunez and Diaz and bring in a central defender.

Even if it doesn’t happen…this has been the best business I’ve ever seen Liverpool do in a transfer window. Just wrap VVD in cotton wool after every game and all will be well.
Minty, LFC

#FSGIn…
Reading the mail bag and various online communities, I’m drawn to ask one question:

What more can the club do to prove they know what the heck they’re doing?

To save this from being a dissertation, we can acknowledge that it took FSG some time to find their footing. They aren’t perfect but have done a reasonable job of learning from their missteps and their active management of the club from an on field perspective has been near flawless since the Klopp appointment.

The Klopp era found the club get into a groove. They had a philosophy, recruited for it and hardly ever went for ‘plan B’. Not every transfer hit, but the miss rate was a lot smaller than in previous generations.

When Klopp decided to go, the club rebuilt their own structure and then when it was clear Alonso was going to stick around and wait for Real to call, they avoided going with the biggest name to instead find somebody compatible with our philosophy and culture.

The negative supporters were out then. Critical of the team for not showing ambition. Even when it was clear from the first few friendlies in the summer that we had a coach that has something to it, there were still questions. When we didn’t move onto a plan B after Zubimendi decided to stay in Spain, these same fans were all doom and gloom. They railed on the frugal club with no plan, ignoring that this was the plan

These same supporters spent the entire season griping about Salah, VVD, and Trent taking every opportunity, even while we began to canter to the league title to push doom and gloom scenarios. Instead the club sold the vision of the next few years to VVD and Salah and ensured the right side was sorted out pretty quickly with Trent’s departure being inevitable.

Even while we have spent this summer strengthening our squad to push on next year, they continue to gripe about the lack of plan, the lack of this, the lack of that.

In my eyes, the club ownership and the people they have put in charge of the day to day dealings have shown they are not chancers, they aren’t lucky, the make thoughtful decision based on factors that even I as a keen fan may not be completely aware of. Their actions (and sometimes lack of action) have shown them to be shrewd operators with a plan. In that regard they deserve the faith of the fanbase.

So my message to my fellow supports is just, have some trust and enjoy the ride. At this point it absolutely looks like we need a CB and my gut tells me that they would not have sold Quansah if they did not have a plan in place. That plan may or may not be apparent or imminent but the club should have built up enough good will by now that we should stop questioning them.

TL;DR: Stop complaining and enjoy. The club is not going to spend all this cash and let Quansah go if there is no plan at CB. They’ve earned our trust.
Mark LFC (I may need to buy EAFC 26 just so I can start a career and not need to do a complete overhaul)

MORE LIVERPOOL COVERAGE ON F365…
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I reckon I agree with Al (A.I.) Liverpool about going for the Swedish striker instead of securing the centre of defence.

Today’s football landscape is about having very good squad depth when injuries hit. Liverpool’s central defensive area could do with two top quality additions.
I think Jurgen went after Colwill when his Brighton loan was at an end . Now the other England defensive regular is touted. A VvD injury = no realistic title defence.

I would see Rodrygo as a better addition to Slot’s style than Isak anyway.
Peter ( Florian + Salah + Diaz + Gagpo ) Andalucia

Stead’s ‘odd’ Liverpool argument…
I read Matt Stead’s article on Liverpool and the quadruple should they sign Isak and frowned at the line that Liverpool MUST win the quadruple given the investment. Couldn’t help thinking about Rice going to Arsenal for 100 million, Grealish to City for 100million, Antony to United and various other signings for huge figures. It seems Liverpool are being held to this new standard by Matt because they’ve been financially prudent and have money to spend.

Obviously Rice to Arsenal has gone well (although as an aside, I do think his two frees against Madrid were down to poor positioning of the wall more than anything), Grealish to City was a somewhat qualified success and Antony to United…well we know how that went.

Should Liverpool get Isak or Ekitike, then yes you’d absolutely expect them to be dominant again. But given Salah’s age, you’d imagine these signings are coming in with a view to giving him a rest when need be as well as playing with him. A successful season, in my opinion would be defending the league title, getting to the business end of the Champion’s League – last four or better, and winning a domestic cup.

But, Arsenal will have strengthened, ditto City. Who knows what version if Chelsea we’ll see. Newcastle will and Villa will impact the top end of the table (no idea what will happen with Spurs). In Europe, PSG are still a force, obviously despite the Club World Cup loss and you’d expect massive improvement from Madrid and Barcelona. This isn’t to get excuses in early or anything like that but saying Liverpool must win a quadruple when using the example of United splashing out on Veron seems…odd.

Either way, should be an exciting season although I imagine the money being spent is giving Johnny Nic a migraine.
Alan, RIP Diogo.

Another Aston Villa rant
I’ll add my rant to Villa Kevin’s rant and reply to Liam’s rant that was in reply to Kevin’s rant.

I’ve tried not to read too much about Villa’s summer transfer ‘activity’. It was clear it was going to be a tricky summer for Villa. Missing out on the Champions League was not ideal, but in my understanding, wouldn’t have helped with the potential PSR breach this summer. I’m no fan of it, but selling the women’s team has meant Villa don’t have to sell anyone… Unless they actually want to buy anyone (of note) that is. I can understand why the headlines and articles sort of make out Villa to be the bad guy in all of this and point to ‘trouble’ ahead.

What have Villa done wrong though? Revenues are up, losses were down. Players have had to be sold. The big ‘risk’ was loaning two players on high wages. Villa have had two and a half wonderful years under Emery on the pitch, and improved things off the pitch. The North Stand is about to be revitalised in a £100m investment from the owners. Owners that can afford that. The club is debt-free. The potential ‘trouble’ ahead is not financial. There is no danger of Villa going under. The trouble will be maintaining performance on the pitch unless, due to the ludicrous PSR rules, revenues can be dramatically improved. And you know who pays for that via ticket increases and eye-watering replica kit prices, right?

At their highest point in 30 odd years, Villa are essentially forced to stagnate because… uh, well, no real reason. Okay, some clubs naffed it all up a few years back but that’s just not applicable here. The PL wouldn’t even consider a rate of inflation increase to the allowed losses in a 3 year period. The £105m figure has not changed since 2015/16. Whether intentional or not, it really does protect the (financial) Big Six. Before anyone says Villa signed up to these rules, they didn’t. They really really didn’t. Villa have consistently voted against them from the start, or least contested large parts of them.

There absolutely should be some financial restrictions/rules in place to deter reckless spending, but PSR is not them. Being forced to sell (academy) players to comply with financial rules (when you have no financial issues), so you can continue to compete, is an utter nonsense. Maybe being successful under Emery is what Villa have ‘done wrong’?

I’m generally a pretty level-headed fella, and it takes a lot to irk me. This is about as ‘angry’ as I get. Best I nip off for some meditation and a massage.
Gary AVFC, Oxford (Bailey and Digne make most sense. Maybe Onana too)

READ: Ranking and reassigning Aston Villa’s ten most valuable stars amid transfer window stasis

Could Crystal Palace have won the Europa League?
Stu, Gooner in France asks, “But, be honest, does anyone genuinely think Palace could win the Europa League? I’ll await the bullets….”

Palace played last year’s Europa League finalists in the Premier League last season, winning and drawing against the runners-up, and beating the winners home and away. If you look at the list of teams that have qualified for the Europa League, then there are certainly more PRESTIGIOUS clubs (Roma, Lyon, Porto, maybe even Besiktas,) but there’s not one of those clubs that I would say would wipe the floor with the Eagles.

I’m making myself a hostage to fortune because a tempting release fee exists, but I’d argue that Eberechi Eze is better than any individual player at any of these clubs, and Wharton, Mateta etc would walk into any of their sides too. So, I wouldn’t necessarily have said they were FAVOURITES, but they’d probably be in the top four or five, odds-on to get through the group stages, then in a good place come the knockouts.
Dara O’Reilly, London.

Can Palace win the Europa League? Let’s think about this. The holders are, checks notes, Tottenham Hotspur. Yes, Palace can win it.
Matt Carr, Spurs, Wilmington, NC

Women’s Euros
I’ve been keeping an eye on the women’s Euros this week, and have been surprised at how much I have enjoyed it. The skill levels are much higher than they were a few years ago, the games have been exciting, but the thing that I have enjoyed the most is the sheer joy expressed when players score, and the absolute ecstasy shown when a team progressed to the semifinals. It’s been a delight to behold, and I am basically a cynical and grumpy middle aged man who spends most of his life frowning.

The men’s game has lost much of this joy I reckon, it’s uber professional these days and not necessarily the better for it. I haven’t enjoyed men’s international tournaments for years, you would never have caught me watching a QF between Italy and Norway if it was the men’s game.

It’s hard to explain. The men’s game is clearly more athletic and technically proficient, but it’s also lost its soul in the process.
Mat (I am sure this will be met with universal nodding approval)