Liverpool only have ‘three world-class’ players – and they will help Slot get the sack by Easter

Darwin-Nunez-Virgil-van-Dijk

The Liverpool discourse continues as one fan struggles to accept the culture of negativity around this season, while an Arne Slot sack prediction is made.

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Manchester City and inevitability

Welcome to the Man City Title Chase after party

. Liverpool fans have been guests for a fair few seasons.

Albert, London LFC

Struggling to understand the Liverpool fan reaction

Being a glutton for punishment- or maybe it’s just habit- I eventually read the site yesterday evening after a recent chastening derby. I was surprised to see several letters from supposed reds calling out every man and his dog. I guess I have read these things a million times for other teams but it feels different when it’s your own doesn’t it.

Assuming it’s not arcane trolling, I think the modern trend of blasting your own teams and players in public forums as a performance piece feels like a slur to me. Maybe it’s just the modern slant in the grand tradition of Saturday evening phone-ins, but at least those were an outpouring of emotion; typing things out seems more calculated for me.

You even have a little market for it on twitter/x now, these negative engagement farmers. Pay for a blue tick, say **** Klopp, hope you get clicks and a bit of ad money. Does it exist everywhere now, feels a bit Arsenal fan tv, Mark Goldbridge…

Odd behaviour, I think; unless you’re being ripped apart by a parasite owner- and lord knows there’s a lot of those- I was raised to stick behind your club?

As for the derby and Klopp’s last run, I think if you truly appreciate a bit of Premier League Years and understand the nature of English derby narrative then it’s easy to see the Liverpool loss as inevitable: weird late night midweek game (the 4-4; God, i’m old), Everton battling for survival and falling apart financially, all the bluenoses on the ale straight from work and Goodison finally deciding to cheer them on instead of booing them off. A poor Nunez on a poor run and Salah crocked by AFCON for the 3rd time I think? How could we ever win it. & fair play, they had our number. Maybe if Gakpo or Jota were on the pitch we’d have took our chances.

I think sadly the team performances recently have mirrored Klopp’s announcement; we are running out of Energy. By that I don’t mean they’re tired but that the momentum, the joie de vie of running around as a team, has ebbed away as Klopp’s exhaustion has poured through finally. The lad looks like he’s exhausted, he needs a good year on the ale in the sun and fair play to him. But the squad must sense it and it will seep through.

I could never slag Klopp off publicly to you lot, maybe in rooms full of reds you can question a decision or two, but the man has brought so much joy to us over the last few years that as much as today feels sh*t, it’s just a byproduct of the effort that the fella has given us his all for these last few years and it’s worn him out. He’s working his notice, the squad have apprehension about the new manager, a lot of them are in their first season in the prem. So be it.

I will show my age here but I started going the game properly when Souness was manager and I remember the losses at Goodison quite vividly from those days. Even the Moyes days against Benitez and eventually- talk about horrible memories- Hodgson. It used to be a horrible place to go and it felt like it last night, for the first time in ages. I pass Bramley Moore occasionally when I’m back and heading into town and it’s a massive thing. I don’t like it but the north end of the city is changing, maybe it will fit in eventually. End of a few eras really.

I am really glad I wasn’t in the city for it.

I have plenty of thoughts about Klopps legacy to us/me, and maybe you’ll hear them one day, maybe not. What I will say is that the massive negativity around some odd elements of our fanbase after all we’ve had over the last few years is quite sad really, but I guess it’s the way the game is going to some. We’ve won a cup this year!

I suppose a long way of saying wind your neck in lads.

Paul (Scouser on the road)

Liverpool’s simple reason for not having won the title

I know there would be very little to talk about if we rounded up everything into such a simple open and shut case but there is one reason and one reason only that Liverpool are not going to win the Prem and have essentially thrown away a great chance to have done so – and that is they have missed too many goal scoring opportunities. A ridiculous amount of. End of analysis (sort of).

As with any game of football no-one would be analysing the style of play, the tactics, blaming this and that on the manager, or defence, whatever – if you actually knock in a couple of sitters and win the game instead of missing 20, 30 or 40 chances every game and losing or drawing then no-one is concerned about how or why you did it. Did anyone question Real Madrid the other week when City essentially gave them a battering without putting the ball in the net enough and then losing on pens? No-one can say Real Madrid had that game under control – they just somehow came away with it as winners – again. So then no-one really questions their performance – because they won.

I don’t think Liverpool have played brilliantly this season but they have managed to create tons and tons of chances every game. Which suggests the team and the management/coaches have been doing the right thing – all with quite a lot of injury issues to juggle. The ones who havent are the guilty individuals who are paid to put the ball in the net – which tbh if you are on quilions of pounds a year should be anyone who is actually on the pitch. If you score 3-4 out of 30 chances (which City would have) then if your defence do make an error that leads to a goal – which over the course of a season is going to happen no matter how good you are – then its less costly. It is so wrong to blame a defence for one error when essentially the attackers are making numerous amounts in one game by missing chances.

So yeah – in short we havent won because we have missed too many guilt edged chances to score. Sounds obvious but is the main and basically only reason. All the other excuses are simply irrelevant and would not be mentioned if the goals had gone in.

Shunt LFC

A bizarre season

So let me start this by saying if I was told we’d finish third and (semi) threaten a title challenge at the start of the season following the lavia and caicedo sagas,(lol Chelsea) I would’ve bitten your hand off. The season has played out in such a bizarre fashion. We’ve ridden our luck countless times, looked fragile constantly against sides our top three counterparts have made look like schoolboys, and still, somehow, we had a shot at the league until very recently.

One could argue that if decisions (spurs, y’all know, and that arsenal handball) had gone our way, we’d still be in it. But luck goes both ways I suppose. When klopp announced his impending exit, I felt like a close family member died. Which I’m fortunate enough to not have experienced but I imagine that is how it would feel. I was miserable. But also glad that we were in a position to give klopp a good send off. Naturally that’s fallen apart. Us being Liverpool and all. I was pro-Nunez and now have run out of patience with his misses and lack of composure. That being said, he does have time to grow on his side. Unluckily for us, we were relying on him being star man now. Not next year. It’s been painful watching us miss chance and HUGE chance. Only to concede an easily defended goal. That feeling of inevitability we all recognise.

I feel a big summer is coming. A few of the right signings (please an alternate striker) will come in. And a few stalwarts (looking at you Curtis) such as salah will go. But we need rejuvenation in all aspects. Maybe auwl Arne is partially the answer. Time will tell. Klopp gave us reason to dream and it’s been an amazing few years. I respect him for recognising it’s gone stale and leaving a legend. Excited for next year.

Sean (Dublin)

Liverpool only have three world-class players

If you want to win the title you need a top quality of player in 75% of the positions on the pitch to be in with a chance. There has only ever been one anomaly to this rule and that was Leicester’s title win in 2016 where arguably they had only 2 world class players playing regularly (Mahrez and Kante) and for that reason, it is why it has only happened once in 22 years.

For all the Liverpool fans (which I am one of) moaning about how we have bottled it this season, I don’t think we have. Our league position is probably just about reflective of our ability. As F365 have said we have been punching well above our weight all season. If you take title winning teams from the past and compare them to the current Liverpool team player for player, we are nowhere near that requisite quality. Who would you rather have?

Szboszlai, Mac Allister Curtis Jones and Endo or prime Lampard, Essien, Matic, Keane, Scholes, Viera, Petit, Gilberto, Fabregas, Bernardo, Rodri, De Bruyne etc,

Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz or prime Yorke, Cole, Shearer, Van Persie, Henry, Bergkamp, Haaland, Drogba, Hazard, Mane, Firmino, Anelka, Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez etc.

You get the point.

Liverpool only have 3 world class talents in the current team (Allison, Van Dijk and Salah) and one of which is woefully out of form. And before I get people responding saying “what about Robbo and Trent? – they’re world class”. Robbo was possibly world class 3 seasons ago but has been way past his best for some time and Trent has some world class attributes but in equal measure has some huge holes in his game. So many Liverpool fans convince themselves that our players are good enough, but realistically, they are not. Both City and Arsenal have better quality in more positions on the pitch than Liverpool currently which is why they are where they are and where we are where we are.

What should be hugely impressive is the fact that Jurgen has managed to squeeze this much juice out of this team for this much of the season. Let’s all just relax a bit and have some perspective.

Andy

Slot sacked by Easter

Poor Arne Slot, he’s got a rough 12 months ahead… Scratch that, probably 8 or 9.

You see, no club has quite such a cult of personality around their manager than Liverpool do. Theyre not English, they’re Scouse and the manager is the prime minister of that bleak and fethid land. Klopp understood that particular brand of bullsh*t better than anyone and played to the gallery perfectly. The only other manager they’ve had in recent times that really got it was Rafa.

The thing is though, even if Slot does understand it, he won’t be accepted. He won’t be Jurgen, leader of the Merseyworld. No one can be. It took a good few managers for them to get Rafa out of their system and Klopp was far better at the job.

So the poor sap Arne will find himself out on his arse with the team in 8th by Easter. I can’t wait.

Lewis, Busby Way

The next Roberto Martinez?

I’m not basing this on another expected City win but when can we start talking about De Zerbi being over rated.

Took over a well drilled Brighton and rode the wave to a good first season. Given his own rein this season, they have dropped back significantly.

Really don’t understand the basis for him being linked to so many jobs near the top.

Has the same feel as Roberto Martinez when at Everton. Media darling but not much to back it up.

Discuss.

Paul

Sportswashing

I’m sure I’m not the only one to notice this, but very funny that Simon NUFC has basically given a textbook definition of sportswashing while trying to defend the Saudi takeover of sport:

“They want the money, glory, success and global recognition”

Maybe it’s worth asking why they want that global recognition for sporting glory as opposed to, I don’t know, misogyny, homophobia and executing dissidents. This is as much laundering your reputation as the Sackler family trying to launder their reputation for creating a horrific opioid crisis in the US by funding hospitals and cultural institutions, or slave traders supporting the poor at home while exploiting people abroad.

Of course no premiership club is morally perfect – at best they do some good for their communities while also conveniently ignoring the many issues of their sponsors and owner. But let’s not be wilfully stupid eh.

Cheers!

Will