Liverpool 2021/2022 Jurgen’s Comeback Tour

67YAZ

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Also rumours (the club is confident) of getting Salah tied down - which would be great.

It really is starting to look like one of Mane or Firmino (if not both) will be gone next summer.

The Echo is continuing to flog the MBappe rumours … whereupon he runs down his deal , leaves on a Bosman and somehow picks Liverpool. Would see fanciful given the wages he’s going to command … probably double what Salah is about to sign for.

Oh … and Ben Davies is going out on loan to Sheffield.
My guess is that Mane is sold and Bobby runs his contract to leave on a free. This depends, of course, on the form each players finds this season. But Mane has always been a streaky finisher, so I am expecting a good rebound this season after whatever happened last. That will juice his transfer value despite only having a year left in his deal.

Bobby is a trickier one. How many clubs run systems where his particular talents will be put to good use? and are his legs shot from leading the EPL in sprints per 90 for years on end? All that’s to say, it’s hard to see another team stumping up much of a fee for a guy who isn’t a classic goal threat and has been ridden hard between club and international play. That said, he has clear value to Klopp, even as a back up and an unorthodox #10 when Liverpool occasionally switch ip into a 4-2-3-1. It easy to see how a season of Bobby as back up is worth more than the £8-10m he might fetch.
 

67YAZ

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Robbo extends to 2026.

edit: I am curious where Liverpool will stack ip against ManU and City when all these extensions are done in terms or wage bill. If I recall, last year Pool trailed City by about £40m (£315m to £355m) and ManU was quite a bit beyond.
 
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67YAZ

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early report is a hamstring pull for Bobby, severity TBD.

disappointing not to take all the points from a rival for the league ag home on a day Anfield was truly raucous. Also a bummer that a a hugely entertaining first half became a hugely frustrating second half.
 

SocrManiac

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Mane’ is a problem. He’s generally been awful for a long time now.
He’s typically always missed the sitters and found a few of the spectacular. He’s lost his touch for the incredible and hasn’t found it for the mundane. He’s borderline useless.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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early report is a hamstring pull for Bobby, severity TBD.

disappointing not to take all the points from a rival for the league ag home on a day Anfield was truly raucous. Also a bummer that a a hugely entertaining first half became a hugely frustrating second half.
Even Klopp admitted the Red Card ruined the game. And an opportunity surely missed. That being said, Chelsea defended really well and after about the 65 minute mark Pool didn’t get a real chance.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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He’s typically always missed the sitters and found a few of the spectacular. He’s lost his touch for the incredible and hasn’t found it for the mundane. He’s borderline useless.
The fact that Mane’s rarely been mentioned this summer as a candidate for an extension is pretty damning. He’s the obvious candidate for getting a decent return next summer - if he has a half decent year.
 

67YAZ

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The Captain inks his new deal. Salah is next in line, and I’m sure his agent is eager to see what happens with Mbappe and maybe the final figure on a Kane extension, too.

For better or worse, the core of this team is tied down for another 4 seasons: Henderson, Alison, VVD, TAA, Robbo, Fabinho, Thiago, Jota, Konate, Elliott, and Curtis Jones. With Klopp at the helm, that should be an annual top-4 contender. Will they be able to supplement it with youth development and successful transfers to make it an annual title contender?
 

67YAZ

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And now Phillips inks an extension. Happy for him, but he’s a tricky career for Liverpool to manage well. Will he get have a higher transfer value than right now? Is he going to get much run in the starting XI during his prime years? Is a series of loans in his future?
 

PedroSpecialK

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FSG claiming there were no suitable midfield options while Saul goes to Chelsea on loan for a 5m Euro fee is... something - let alone them ignoring the glaring lack of attacking depth with Firmino shelved for a some period
 

Mighty Joe Young

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FSG claiming there were no suitable midfield options while Saul goes to Chelsea on loan for a 5m Euro fee is... something - let alone them ignoring the glaring lack of attacking depth with Firmino shelved for a some period
I can see the logic for not bringing in another midfielder. But the need for another forward seemed obvious and they did nothing. They can’t claim the excuse of no room on the roster for another foreign born player as they moved Shak .

Origi is going to be riding the pine all winter - if he even makes match day squad.

Booooo
 

Clears Cleaver

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it's pretty lame, honestly. I saw a tweet today that said that since 2017 Liverpool net spending was 9th in the PL behind the big 5, Everton, Villa, Brighton. If true, that is a huge indictment of FSG.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Liverpool seems to have made a calculated decision to keep pace with the biggest spenders in terms of wages, but not in terms of transfers. This is from before the whole series of new deals they just handed out this summer (second tweet, graph on the right).

View: https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/1387293092257091584


Its a reasonable strategy while you have a good core team together. But it obviously can't last as eventually you need to turn over the squad and to that you will need to spend money in the market.

Like many other clubs, I think to some degree Liverpool's longer term squad building strategy has been upset by Covid. My guess is that they planned to be more aggressive in selling a few key players these past two summers and reinvesting the funds, but they had to change course because there are basically no buyers for players like Mane or Firmino in football right now. Or at least no buyers willing to pay enough to make selling worthwhile.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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Of course the biggest transfer of all didn’t, in the end happen. Mbappe staying at PSG proving they don’t care at all about money - they can willfully piss away €180 million euros just so they can win a tournament - and of course sports wash their owners despicable image.

And now we’ll be subjected to weekly updates on how much he wants to play for Liverpool (in the Liverpool press anyways - the Echo is going to have a field day) .

yeah right … FSG are going to pay Mbappe £800k a week …
 

67YAZ

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This is a hard window to assess. Konate is a great addition for the long term, but it happened to early it feels old already. The outgoing were all flogged for good value. The contract extensions are fantastic, though we need to see where the wage bill ends up and what kind of flexibility that leaves for the next sporting director given FSG’s “no money in, no money out” approach.

they really do need another young option up top to rotate with and ultimately Mane. Mikel Damsgaard is an interesting possibility, but he was never going to come this summer. LFC have made two kinds of moves under Edwards - the extended courtship that drags out forever across the rumour mills or the out-of-nowhere secret until the last moment signings. Damsgaard was neither of these this month, but maybe ends up the former….

Ismailia Sarr and Jonathan David have also been floating around as possibilities, but I’m watching Nice’s Amine Gouiri. His statistical profile is very close to Mane’s (actually Mane’s top similarity on FBref), is only 21, and bagged 8 non-PK goals plus 7 assists last season. So far this year it’s 1 non-PK goal and 1 assist in 3 matches. The kid also has 6 PK goals the last 2 seasons, so he’s clearly Nice’s #1 there. He’s got 3 years to run in his contract, but Nice only paid £7m for him and Ligue 1 finances are a mess - a reasonable deal might be had.

ok. I’m done jinxing this.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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67YAZ

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Pearce made the key point in an Athletic column to day:

First, it’s an expensive exercise keeping hold of world-class talent. Second, for a long time, Liverpool struggled to hold onto their best players. No longer are heads turned as was the case with Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho.
 

Pesky Pole

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So what we all worried about has begun to manifest. The team was way too thin at forward (especially with AFCON coming later in the season). So first it was Firmino getting hurt and now it’s Minamino. Maybe it’s good that Origi wasn’t sold to the Turkish League this week.

 

67YAZ

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At his presser today, Klopp says VVD is good to go and Kieta has made it back safely to Liverpool, but didn’t train today. Bobby, Minamino, and Milner are injured, but Elliott is fit.
 

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Have to assume that we've seen the last of Elliott this season, so hopefully at least a couple of the oft-injured group of Henderson, Keita, Thiago, and Ox can stay healthy.

Fabinho may be the most important player in the side.
 

67YAZ

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I really like Jones. He’s very Gini to me - very well rounded game and always calm on the ball. But the TAA-Elliott-Salah right side was coming together into something creative and fearsome. Sad that this will be delayed.
 

67YAZ

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The club confirms Elliott requires surgery, so it’s going to be a long while.

At the hospital, Elliott was wheeled next to a kid who has broken his arm playing soccer. Harvey have the kid his jersey and a boot.

 

Nick Kaufman

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Liverpool seems to have made a calculated decision to keep pace with the biggest spenders in terms of wages, but not in terms of transfers. This is from before the whole series of new deals they just handed out this summer (second tweet, graph on the right).

View: https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/1387293092257091584


Its a reasonable strategy while you have a good core team together. But it obviously can't last as eventually you need to turn over the squad and to that you will need to spend money in the market.

Like many other clubs, I think to some degree Liverpool's longer term squad building strategy has been upset by Covid. My guess is that they planned to be more aggressive in selling a few key players these past two summers and reinvesting the funds, but they had to change course because there are basically no buyers for players like Mane or Firmino in football right now. Or at least no buyers willing to pay enough to make selling worthwhile.
Thanks for this, the Swiss rumble is always interesting, though my eyes tend to glaze over after the 5th chart.

From what I understand, at the end of the day what matters in terms of outlays is the sum of what you pay for wages and transfers and how it compares to your revenues. I guess my point is that though on first look you get the idea that LFC are the second biggest spenders in the Premier League, once you add transfer costs, they are really something like 4th or 5th. Which means that FSG is really spending their resources efficiently. Which isn't something you can say about Man U over the last few years.

What I always find interesting is that player wages are never above 60% for football teams. It seems hard to grasp where the other 40% is going, as you are thinking their one major expense is football players, though I guess teams have a lot of small expenses that add up + a lot of big infrastructure expenses as well.
 

67YAZ

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Jota sent home from Portugal camp with an undisclosed injury. Sounds like he did some training but the team decided he wasn't match fit. This weekend looks like a mishmash lineup with Alison and Fab out, Thiago and TAA still ailing, and now Jota a question mark.
 

Pesky Pole

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Jota sent home from Portugal camp with an undisclosed injury. Sounds like he did some training but the team decided he wasn't match fit. This weekend looks like a mishmash lineup with Alison and Fab out, Thiago and TAA still ailing, and now Jota a question mark.
At least Curtis Jones played yesterday (and had the game winning assist). It also looks like TAA may be ready now for Saturday (which would allow Milner to provide midfield depth as well). The Jota piece is a mystery - sounds like he practiced but wasn't match fit. Hopefully nothing major and he can play at Atletico to allow rotation. Confusion as well as to whether Allison/Fab can return to England and still travel to Spain (team seems to think that they can).
 

Mighty Joe Young

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At least Curtis Jones played yesterday (and had the game winning assist). It also looks like TAA may be ready now for Saturday (which would allow Milner to provide midfield depth as well). The Jota piece is a mystery - sounds like he practiced but wasn't match fit. Hopefully nothing major and he can play at Atletico to allow rotation. Confusion as well as to whether Allison/Fab can return to England and still travel to Spain (team seems to think that they can).
Well .. If Jota can’t go it’s Firmino that will fill his place … if he makes it back in time

Edit: misread your last sentence.
 
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67YAZ

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Athletic reporting this morning that Trent back to full training, is on track to start against Watford.
 

67YAZ

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Another plot line here is that this will be Ranieri’s first match. He’s an old pro, so we should expect a side that is energized, optimistic, and we’ll organized if maybe pretty simple in its approach. I’m sure Ranieri has put this window to good use - he knows the drill very well by now. This will be trickier for Pool than many are assuming.

also, welcome back to the EPL, Ranieri. His first 8 matches: LFC, @Everton, Soton, @Arsenal, United, @Leciester, Chelsea, and City. Thoughts and prayers.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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Another plot line here is that this will be Ranieri’s first match. He’s an old pro, so we should expect a side that is energized, optimistic, and we’ll organized if maybe pretty simple in its approach. I’m sure Ranieri has put this window to good use - he knows the drill very well by now. This will be trickier for Pool than many are assuming.

also, welcome back to the EPL, Ranieri. His first 8 matches: LFC, @Everton, Soton, @Arsenal, United, @Leciester, Chelsea, and City. Thoughts and prayers.
To be fair, there’s no managers gig in the Premier League less dependent on results that Watford. Rainieri could get them into the Europa League and he’d still get fired.
 

67YAZ

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And now Curtis Jones returns with a groin injury. And Klopp is pissed about it.

“When we talk about federations, Curtis Jonescame back injured from the U21s. So, great. That’s not OK as well,” he said.

“It’s really difficult to get proper contact even with the English federation, because they just do what they want.

“He didn’t train, was not involved in the first game, they didn’t do a scan.
 

SoxFanInCali

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Alisson and Fabinho just played last night for Brazil and Liverpool have the lunchtime kickoff tomorrow, so they would be doubts for the Watford game anyways, but since they were in the red list countries of Colombia and Venezuela earlier this week, they are subject to quarantine/isolation. Liverpool are sending them directly to Spain, where they are hoping they can play in the CL against Atletico, and will then return to the UK sometime next week after completing quarantine. Pretty ridiculous.
 

67YAZ

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So what number do we think Salah’s agent texted over to Michael Edwards after the match? Did start with a 5 or a 6?
 

koufax32

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So what number do we think Salah’s agent texted over to Michael Edwards after the match? Did start with a 5 or a 6?
So at what point do they decide that the team is better off selling high on Mo? He’s 29, after all.
 

67YAZ

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So at what point do they decide that the team is better off selling high on Mo? He’s 29, after all.
At the point they decide they aren’t resigning him.

if Salah has a season comparable to his 2017-18 and reaches the summer without a new contract, what’s his market value? There’s likely 2 clubs who’d be serious contenders - Madrid and PSG, both likely treating Salah as the consolation for Mbappe. But Salah could sign in a free in January 2023…so £40m?

But really, Newcastle will swoop in and offer £200m so the Saudis can employ the most popular Muslim in the world…
 

Mighty Joe Young

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I guess the question comes down to

Option A
Mo at 400k/week (or whatever he’s asking/demanding) for 5 years

Option B

Replacement (let’s call him Haaland) for similar if not greater wages plus the 100m fee) for 5 years

The latter is far more expensive but he’s younger and possible better. The former is more or less a known quantity.

Mbappe is a pipe dream , and will cost even more.

Option C - spread the cash around
Someone like Chiesa (who supposedly doesn’t like England as Chelsea found out)

Given the current state of the owner’s popularity I think the PR hit Pool will take if they sell him with no guaranteed replacement (which is highly unlikely - especially with Klopp’s departure edging closer) means they resign him

Get’er done John Henry
 

67YAZ

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The Athletic reporting that Kieta has a badly bruised and swollen ankle, not a major injury. Bullet dodged. Fuck Pogba.
 

SocrManiac

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Nice article on the match here.

Lost in the scoreline is the fact that Anthony Taylor put on a horrorshow. His lack of decisiveness dealing with United's antics could have had serious consequences. Keita got off easily. I'm not sure I agree with 5 red cards, but certainly three: Ronaldo and Pogba for violent conduct, Maguire for his tackle on Jota.
 

67YAZ

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Keita out for a bit with a hamstring pull because of course he is.

Fab is in line to start on Weds and Thiago is in the mix having been in full training since Thursday.