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General Football and Sport / Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD - 2023 (FSG posts = get muted) - No Mbappé
« Last post by Peabee on Today at 08:42:06 am »We should sign Kudus just for the headline "Kudos ad Kudus" after a winner.
Recent Posts
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Media and Arts / Re: Dave's TV Snobbery Topic with added Low Brow Self Indulgences
« Last post by kaesarsosei on Today at 08:42:02 am »Finished S2 of Kin over the weekend. Without giving away too many spoilers, it feels like it could continue into a S3 - has there been any word of that? Bren Kinsella is a magnificent bastard in that show I have to say. Its not the best show I've watched but it's decent. Reminds me a bit of Ozark, but I think Ozark is better.
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Liverpool FC Forum / Re: Darwin Núñez (Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro)
« Last post by Shankly998 on Today at 08:41:49 am »Nunez needs a sports psychologist to help him out. There's no way Klopp and the coaching team wouldn't be telling him to take a deep. breath and place it in the corner rather than blasting it but he's not doing it for whatever reason clearly he can finish see that lovely chip he scored earlier this season it's just a mental block where he gets a chance seemingly panics and just blasts it often just straight at the keeper. It's not like he isn't hitting the target he just needs to be a bit more composed. Let's see if he can get over this. His first touch unfortunately isn't going to get noticeably better at his age I've seen players finishing improve but not their first touch usually you see this in physically dominant players who bully the opposition and don't need to work on their ball control as much to generate chances.
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General Football and Sport / Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD - 2023 (FSG posts = get muted) - No Mbappé
« Last post by Mr Dilkington on Today at 08:39:50 am »He is playing under David Moyes though?It's true, and is likely playing some role in his numbers - not enough to be confident he'd be worth the money though.
Firmino, Mane, Salah, Jota were all guys with big xG numbers who were underperforming in front of goal, making them undervalued by the market. Kudus is the opposite of that - he is massively overperforming his xG this season and as a result is likely to be overrated by the market.
In terms of who he will go after, it's really difficult to say. There is no obvious slam dunk option ala Mane or Salah. I think we can be reasonably confident that if we sign a wide forward it'll be someone between 21-24 and someone from one of the top 5 leagues (this was a clear Edwards preference we moved away from with Diaz, Núñez and Gakpo).
When I look around the player that seems to fit most categories is Olise at Palace. But he potentially has hamstring issues so he might be off their board so to speak.
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News and Current Affairs / Re: UK GE and Local Elections, plus polls, and policy.
« Last post by Red Beret on Today at 08:39:47 am »There's something in my head that if the Tories don't do as bad as expected the half pint minister may pull the trigger on a GE. Unless he seriously expects this Rwanda plane to win back the "red wall"
It depends on what qualifies as "not as bad as they expected". Think they have something like 1,000 councillors up for re-election, and most observers anticipate them losing around half of those. I'm not sure only losing 300 will be much to cheer them up.
I think they're really just out to spite the nation at this point. I don't even think it's about milking the finances to the last drop, or fucking things up even more for Labour. I don't think it's physically possible to fuck the economy up anymore than it already is without actually bankrupting the country.
Common sense would have you think they would want to be put out of their misery at this point. But as usual their ideology - let's face it, dogma - won't countenance it. They are the party of government, and they can't conceive of going from a majority of 80 odd seats to potentially double digit MPs after the next GE. How dare the people do that to them, after all the Tories have done for them?
It's sheer fucking ego at this point. Nothing more than wounded pride and bloody minded stubbornness. And likely most of the backbenchers scrabbling around trying to find another job, because "being part of the government that crashed the UK economy" doesn't exactly look good on a CV.
The last Electoral Calculus poll was released on March 29th, which was showing them with 90 seats at the GE. We should see another one out before Thursday. Let's see how bad it is. They could count themselves lucky if there's no change.
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RAWK Announcements, Feedback & Questions / Re: a question for one of the mods
« Last post by Elzar on Today at 08:39:47 am »A separate board for players threads might be worth it, easier to lock as a whole for a period after the game, leaves the main board for actual topics of interest and discussion, rather than just having 18 player threads bumped every week.
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Liverpool FC Forum / Re: Mohamed Salah - Best in the World *
« Last post by Rush 82 on Today at 08:39:11 am »Liverpool can help Arne Slot by selling petulant Mohamed Salah this summersaddens me that a moment of weakness from Salah has allowed the media to besmirch him like this - they've been sniping at him ever since he got here and has been labeled a 'diver', 'weak', ignored by officials when fouled, and many other things - to think that right at the end they've been given a final opportunity to the boot in.
Ugly row with Jürgen Klopp on the London Stadium touchline shows the Egyptian’s focus has waned
Sun 28 Apr 2024 11.27 BST
When it comes to picking one image to symbolise the end of an era at Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp’s quarrel with Mohamed Salah on the London Stadium touchline will take some beating. This is what happens when power slips away. This, sadly, is the way that it ends.
We will have to speculate about the specific reason behind the row that grabbed the attention after Liverpool’s deflating 2-2 draw with West Ham on Saturday. West Ham’s equaliser had arrived before Klopp, who had been waiting to make a triple substitution, was able to introduce Salah, Darwin Núñez and Joe Gomez. The manager seemed miffed and appeared to admonish Salah, whose angry response made it very clear that he had zero interest in listening to any criticism.
It was quite the scene. Salah clearly did not regard Klopp as a figure of authority. Instead of holding back, the Egyptian had to be held back by two of his teammates. Later, as he made his way out of the stadium and walked past reporters, he declined interview requests and said there would be “fire” if he stopped to speak.
Say no more, Mo. We get it. Klopp had tried to play the incident down during his post-match press conference, but Salah lit the fuse. The Egyptian winger was hardly acting as the model of diplomacy, even if his remark was delivered in a jokey way. Far more preferable would have been Salah providing the same kind of spark on the pitch during a spell that has seen Liverpool’s season go up in smoke.
It was not supposed to go this way when Klopp announced that he was leaving. Liverpool won the League Cup final and targeted a quadruple. But something shifted when they went out of the FA Cup to Manchester United last month. The physical and mental challenge was too much. Defensive flaws were exposed during the Europa League quarter-final defeat to Atalanta, the attack malfunctioned in several winnable games and the title challenged faltered.
Salah, who has been short of sharpness since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, could not provide the inspiration. He has 24 goals in all competitions this season – hardly a poor return – but there is a sense of a player whose powers are waning. Salah is 32. His contract expires in a year and there are suggestions that he will move to Saudi Arabia this summer. Maybe Klopp’s impending departure allowed Salah to erupt. Or maybe Salah’s impending departure allowed Salah to erupt.
Either way it would be shame if the relationship between two of the greatest figures in Liverpool’s history is broken. Salah has been the standout player of Klopp’s reign, the genius in attack, the driving force behind so many famous wins. But the mind goes back to Mr. Ferguson announcing that the 2001-02 season would be his final year at United. Uncertainty set in, motivation dipped and United lost the title to Arsenal. Ferguson had given his players an excuse to let their standards dip.
Thankfully for United, the Scot ended up staying and oversaw a new era of domination. Klopp, though, is not going to change course. He looks emotionally drained. He sounds as if he cannot wait for the season to end. It has to have an impact on the team. The mentality monsters have disappeared.
There have, of course, been shows of petulance from Salah in the past. None, though, as big as the one on Saturday. None, surely, that would have occurred if Klopp was staying. Nobody who worries about a backlash from their boss behaves like that.
But this is an unfocused team, overseen by a weary, distracted, unhappy manager. If they were on their game, Liverpool would have smashed West Ham after going 2-1 up. Instead their title challenge fizzled out in a blaze of missed chances and shoddy defending.
Salah, of course, is part of the malaise. His goals will not be easy to replace but perhaps it would help Arne Slot, who will soon be confirmed as Klopp’s replacement, if he does not have to worry about managing a player whose ego appears to have spiralled out of control next season.
Not that the rebuild will be easy. Away from Salah, questions also hang over the futures of Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold. But there is another lesson that Liverpool can take from Ferguson, it is about how to deal with a disrespectful player. One or two individuals aside Ferguson always knew when someone’s race was run. He never let anyone become bigger than the club. Klopp, though, is not in a position to tame Salah.
The fear is gone. It evaporated during this most dispiriting of run-ins. Klopp does not have the stomach for it any more and his best player has smelt weakness. Looking to the future, Liverpool have to help Slot by reintroducing discipline. Klopp goes, but so does Salah.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/apr/28/liverpool-arne-slot-selling-petulant-mo-salah-this-summer?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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The History Board - 1892 to 1994 / Re: On this day in LFC History: Personal Memories
« Last post by Boston Bosox on Today at 08:38:34 am »April 29th
1950 - We lost our second FA Cup Final, this time 2-0 to Arsenal with Reg Lewis scoring in each half, the last of his five strikes against us, despite the reds having beaten the Gunners twice in the League that season. It was to be another fifteen years before we finally won the famous trophy. We had to wear blue socks in this match, due to a mix-up over changing from the usual red ones to white, with neither side playing in their regular home strips.
1972 – We lost the second leg of the FA Youth Cup Final at Anfield 4-2 to Aston Villa, having already been beaten 1-0 in the first game. The reds included Brian Kettle and Phil Thompson.
1975 - A testimonial match for Bill Shankly was played at Anfield. Emlyn Hughes and Jimmy Case both bagged braces, with Alan Waddle and Tommy Smith also on target as the reds beat a Don Revie Select side 6-2.
1978 – Terry McDermott and David Fairclough struck as we won 2-0 at West Ham United.
1992 - We took part in a testimonial, drawing a benefit game for our former reserves forward Wayne Harrison 2-2 at Oldham Athletic. Don Hutchinson and Ronnie Rosenthal were on the scoresheet. Harrison had signed from Oldham for £250,000 in January 1985 but never made a senior reds appearance before he retired due to injury in the summer of 1991, aged just 23.
1995 – Steve Harkness struck the first of his three reds goals early on at Norwich City, with Robert Ullathorne equalising soon after. Ian Rush grabbed the winner as we won 2-1, with City on their way down to the Endsleigh League.
2000 – We lost 2-0 at Chelsea with George Weah and Roberto Di Matteo both on target inside the opening quarter of an hour.
2006 - Fernando Morientes scored his twelfth and final reds goal, which was our 300th against Aston Villa in all competitions. Gareth Barry equalised with one of his four goals past us to date before Steven Gerrard struck his twentieth and 21st goals of the season to hand us a 3-1 victory in our last home game of the season. This brought us to 48 points from home League games that campaign, our highest ever tally in a 38-game season. Djimi Traoré made his 141st and last reds appearance in this game.
2010 – We were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League at the Semi-final stage on away goals by Club Atlético de Madrid, the third time in our history we had fallen foul of this rule in Europe. Alberto Aquilani opened the scoring just before the break with his second and final goal for the club, with the tie having to go into extra time. Yossi Benayoun scored his 29th and last reds goal early in the additional half hour, but Diego Forlán then bagged a crucial away goal, the last of his four past us. Philipp Degen played his thirteenth and final reds game.
1950 - We lost our second FA Cup Final, this time 2-0 to Arsenal with Reg Lewis scoring in each half, the last of his five strikes against us, despite the reds having beaten the Gunners twice in the League that season. It was to be another fifteen years before we finally won the famous trophy. We had to wear blue socks in this match, due to a mix-up over changing from the usual red ones to white, with neither side playing in their regular home strips.
1972 – We lost the second leg of the FA Youth Cup Final at Anfield 4-2 to Aston Villa, having already been beaten 1-0 in the first game. The reds included Brian Kettle and Phil Thompson.
1975 - A testimonial match for Bill Shankly was played at Anfield. Emlyn Hughes and Jimmy Case both bagged braces, with Alan Waddle and Tommy Smith also on target as the reds beat a Don Revie Select side 6-2.
1978 – Terry McDermott and David Fairclough struck as we won 2-0 at West Ham United.
1992 - We took part in a testimonial, drawing a benefit game for our former reserves forward Wayne Harrison 2-2 at Oldham Athletic. Don Hutchinson and Ronnie Rosenthal were on the scoresheet. Harrison had signed from Oldham for £250,000 in January 1985 but never made a senior reds appearance before he retired due to injury in the summer of 1991, aged just 23.
1995 – Steve Harkness struck the first of his three reds goals early on at Norwich City, with Robert Ullathorne equalising soon after. Ian Rush grabbed the winner as we won 2-1, with City on their way down to the Endsleigh League.
2000 – We lost 2-0 at Chelsea with George Weah and Roberto Di Matteo both on target inside the opening quarter of an hour.
2006 - Fernando Morientes scored his twelfth and final reds goal, which was our 300th against Aston Villa in all competitions. Gareth Barry equalised with one of his four goals past us to date before Steven Gerrard struck his twentieth and 21st goals of the season to hand us a 3-1 victory in our last home game of the season. This brought us to 48 points from home League games that campaign, our highest ever tally in a 38-game season. Djimi Traoré made his 141st and last reds appearance in this game.
2010 – We were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League at the Semi-final stage on away goals by Club Atlético de Madrid, the third time in our history we had fallen foul of this rule in Europe. Alberto Aquilani opened the scoring just before the break with his second and final goal for the club, with the tie having to go into extra time. Yossi Benayoun scored his 29th and last reds goal early in the additional half hour, but Diego Forlán then bagged a crucial away goal, the last of his four past us. Philipp Degen played his thirteenth and final reds game.
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Liverpool FC Forum / Re: Mohamed Salah - Best in the World *
« Last post by Qston on Today at 08:36:01 am »Seems a bit like...
JK: "You ready to go on?"
MS: "Sure whatevs. About fucking time"
JK: "You don't sound ready..."
MS: "Pfff what do you want me to say? Bit late innit" *waves arms like stroppy teen*
JK: "You wanna go back on the bench?" *adopts Dad tone*
MS: "Dude..." *jogs on pitch*
Sounds familiar
Dad "Can you just put your phone down for 1 minute while I talk to you"
Daughter "Just let me reply to this"
Dad "You have been replying for 10 minutes, just give me 2 minutes"
Daughter "God, you're so annoying"
Dad "It's rude you know, and I pay the bill"
Daughter (Huffs) "For god's sake, what do you want ?"
Cue it being blown out of all proportion when reported back to mother.
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General Football and Sport / Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD - 2023 (FSG posts = get muted) - No Mbappé
« Last post by Barefoot Doctor on Today at 08:33:07 am »He's been at West Ham under Moyes' negativity but he's not done anything to suggest he's worth more than what West Ham paid for him.
I thought he'd looked pretty good? Is it just a consistency thing? Think Paqueta is the true gem there but seems he'll be off to City depending on what happens with the gambling charges.
Looking at Mats Weiffer stats, he seems to be a complete midfielder. Seems to be excellent in defence and his attacking numbers are great too. I know it’s only the Dutch league and you need to be cautious with a player over there but the numbers are impressive. Wonder if he’ll be on the shortlist if (hopefully) we target a number 6 this summer.
https://fbref.com/en/players/4876c9ab/Mats-Wieffer
Wouldn't trust FBREF numbers for Dutch players. I remember looking at someone like Sangare, whose numbers (if they were in England) would have him in the world class bracket...
The way FBREF works, it splits mens football into two groups. The first is PL, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La Liga (and CL and EL) - so if you're a player in one of those leagues, you'll only be compared with players across those leagues/competitions. But if you're in Holland, you get compared to players in lesser leagues, so you end up looking great by comparison. It's basically all the second divisions of the big five leagues, plus top divisions in Portugal, Belgium, America, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil...
If you compared Wieffer to a holding mid in a top five league I'd imagine loads of those greens disappear... although maybe not!