Liverpool only have eight players who should ‘definitely’ be there to defend title next season
Liverpool are strolling to a Premier League title but it is ‘staggering’ how few of their players should ‘definitely’ stay in a predicted squad overhaul.
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The crappest of weekends
Morning all
Did I just witness the crappest weekend in the crappest of seasons?
Everyone was feeling fairly chipper going into the weekend, right? No proper football for 2 weekends, the sun was shining and usually April and May bring drama and interest. Not this time.
A bobbins mundane Manc derby. The commentators waxed lyrical about it being KDBs last. We all nodded off. Another 0 – 0 draw in another derby. Brentford have been a bright spark, lovely to watch, but not this time. When Fulham were scoring at will in the first half it felt like there was a complete lack of jeopardy. Thanks to a drab game at Goodison the day before. Totally expected and lackluster game at Spurs. Promoted clubs all going down with a whimper. Chances of Leicester getting anything tonight…zero. Any entertainment as always came from the cocky clubs on the rise – so thanks to Forest, Villa and Bournemouth for that.
This is meant to be the best time of year. Spring title chases and relegation battles. The current fare is dross. Greatest league in the world my arse.
Have a good week everyone,
Andrew
Villa holiday
So, I know there are bigger fish to fry with the pulsating 0-0 draw between the evil Manchester organisations, or Liverpool’s second loss of the season that means nothing, or Arsenal being boring. Again.
But over in Birmingham there was a brilliant game between 2 high flying teams which had chances, more chances, some great goals (and a deflected goal by that guy with the angry caterpillars above his eyes) and a nail biting finish. And Villa won. Marvelous. Seems to have passed most of the media by (including F365) in the chase for more Arsenal/Manchester/Liverpool clicks. So it’s left to me, bored on a Sunday night, to make a few points.
(MC – It passed us by so thoroughly we did a feature on Villa’s brilliant form)
This time last season we were on our arse. Barely eleven fit first team players, let alone some kind of team, limping and battling their way to a fourth place finish. Yesterday, and this wasn’t mentioned in much of the coverage, we pretty much played a second eleven. Completely different back four, different options up front, our best player (Kamara by the way) on the bench. We still competed with, and beat, 3rd in the league. We may have a terrible end to the season because football is gonna football but, by god, they got recruitment right this year.
Oh, and so you get more clicks, I will mention that Rashford is brilliant now he is out of that cesspool of a club. Sorry, Manchester United (just in case the algorithm is listening), it’s amazing how we have suddenly, after over 150 years of existence, become relevant due to loaning a player from Clickbait Disunited. Who knew.
I will continue to read and click and absorb all those lovely ads for you guys at F365 but my patience is wearing thin in all types of media at the moment, sporting, social and otherwise… Please spare a thought for those smaller clubs like 2 time European cup winners Forest and current Champions League quarter-finalists Villa. Surely there must be a little room in-between the Arteta in/out/shake it all about articles
Love you guys, even the Arsenal fans.
Funstar (If Rashford does not start or score, do Villa even exist?? Do I?) Andy
(MC – fourth in the European form table too, not that anyone cares)
Half-time Liverpool thoughts
I hope this half has shown just what an incredible job Slot has done this year.
To take this squad of players to 9/10 points clear is why he should be crowned Manager of the Year.
I honestly don’t care if we lost this 4 or 5.1 at this point, maybe the bigger the loss, the better.
We’re gonna win the league with a good squad, not even great, certainly not brilliant, but 3 or 4 players coming in COULD make us absolutely unstoppable next year.
It’s peculiar, when we lost to Citeh by a point or two, we had a phenomenal team, potentially one of the top 20 teams of all time, now we’re just ‘good’ but we’re gonna win the league.
Weird innit?
David (Now excuse me whilst I go to the comments section and bask in the salty tears of the one person-three profiles) Molby, Shrewsbury.
Liverpool should only definitely keep eight players
The electric form showed by LFC this year now has them a whole 1 point higher than Klopp managed last year in the equivalent fixtures, despite far fewer injuries and having lost the cup final Klopp won. This clearly shows…. something. We’ll make blanket conclusions each week based on the result.
Against Everton LFC were terrible in the first half and despite the obvious asterisk of the red card were ‘lucky’ to be level at the break. They were far better in the second half and reduced Everton to nothing, and ultimately won with a degree of comfort.
Against Fulham they were even worse in the first half. They won the second half 1:0 and had very, very good chances for Elliot (twice), Salah, and Chiesa (twice), but it wasn’t enough. The headlines from Everton were a deserved win, and the one for Fulham a deserved loss. The reality would be a draw in both would have been fair given they were the better side for 50% of the game(s), but the actual outcome is one point more than that. When your luck’s in, your luck is in. I’ve heard the claims for a penalty for Fulham, but I can’t for the life of me understand them, so I guess all this proves is getting het up by ref decisions at this point is a madness as no-one has a clear view on what ‘the right decision’ is anymore.
Salah’s form is possibly fatigue, but I think it might be a result of his knowing he’s lost the chance for a career ballon d’or. Last season, by Christmas 2023 LFC were title challengers, finalist of the league cup, overconfident odds-on with the bookies for the Europa, and Salah had a hope of winning Afcon. What happened was he got injured and missed Afcon; Injuries cost LFC the league; Idiocy cost LFC an FA Cup final appearance after a disastrous second half against United; Salah himself missed enough chances to overcome the first leg loss to Atalanta. What could have been his signature year ended up with a league cup medal for a final he didn’t even play in, and I think it was that slow clown-car collapse of a season that messed with Salah’s head. He never recovered form from that injury in January.
This year he was again incredible up to the PSG game(s), but going out to Paris effectively ended his hope of a Ballon d’or again and I don’t think he’s recovered mentally since. Slot says fatigue shouldn’t be a thing, and I agree with him. I think his head has gone. You have to think that’s his last chance missed for the biggest individual prize as a player, and it may be weighing on his mind.
Looking at the squad though, there’s a long list of players who the club should move on, but also a relatively long list of players who are mooted to be pushing for a move (Diaz, Konate), and a decent sized list of players the club shouldn’t be moving on but are seemingly interested in letting go (Elliot, Endo, Gomez etc), then of the remaining ‘they are definitely here next year’ I only make it about 8 players: Gakpo, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Jones, Mac Allister, and Bradley, Quansah and Mamardashvili.
Staggering really. In that sort of situation, I’d be inclined to over-pay for Salah to stay.
Tom G
A cheerier outlook
I’m sorry but Van Dijk & Salah are both allowed to have a few off days since both of them have been playing a lot of minutes. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt that it’s lethargy rather than their contract issues that are causing this decline in their performances towards the end of this season.
We don’t have reliable adequate cover for even 2/3 of the pair’s output for these last couple of seasons. They both must know that another league title anchored by them will cause this anti-Thatcher merseyside crowd to riot & they forever be etched in the immortality of LFC folklore. Who knows, we might even refer to them as Gods that replaces the immortal Fowler & Hyppia.
Surely they both want it more than anybody else in that squad as this might also be their last chance to stick it to this mafia-like PGMOL for all the abuse this incompetent group of merry-w*nker-men has allowed against our dynamic duo. (The solution is simple – let the professional UK female football referees have a go, tsk. )
Robbo is lethargic too. You try running up & down with not as much cover as TAA has on the other side. He has been the top 10 leftback in club football since he joined us & in his prime, easily top 3. Pound for pound, he is the best transfer bit LFC had done since the PL started and that says a lot.
Klopp has fantastically build our attack & midfield in his last 2-3 seasons. Whatever that has happened between him & Mike Edwards, they’re both bigger men than many of us. I am dead certain Klopp had given his approval when dear Mike Gordon tells him that we’re going to rehire Mike Edwards again. Richard Hughes & he will finish rebuilding this defence and we’re gonna compete for a few more seasons with Arne, who would probably has learned a lot more about this squad. I, no, we believe in this lot.
We’re still gonna win the league this season, that’s a given. We’re just giving this other group of merry-w*nker-men aka AFTV that teeny weeny bit of hope so that their misery will be ultimate.
Veni (you & whose army?)
The world of Cervantes
It has become abundantly clear that Don Quixote Maresca’s press conferences are scripted with the confines of Miguel Cervantes “Novelas
Ejemplares”. Selected actual statements for his post-Brentford press conference:
– we’ve controlled the game
– we should have won
– team selection was rational, and the caper:
– we’ve played a good game
The logical next: we shall win the Champions League even if we don’t qualify for it!
He must be Chelsea’s most pathetic gaffer ever, his only asset being utmost obedience to his Muddy Waters overlords.
OK, with the possible exception of another Don Quixote type, André Villas-Boas.
Radu Tomescu (“Conference League, here we come again!”)
Dr Death
Dr Tottenham, licensed to carry out euthanasia. Who knew?
Alexander Lewis