Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

Osmosis Jones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123084380#Comment_123084380

I think it's more so just:

1. Danns plays striker and has scored 3 goals in about 100 minutes of professional football, all during a time where our other strikers have struggled.
2. Danns is actually at the club right now, if Doak was on the bench I'm sure there'd be plenty more talk and calls for him to get minutes too.

I'm not sure either will ever "make it" at Liverpool but I'd be disappointed to see either leaving the club within the next year or two.

Osmosis Jones

Anyway the real forgotten man is Stefan Bajcetic, barely a word on him all season.

CONSI

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123084413#Comment_123084413

Would imagine he gets sold in the summer..with Grav, Szob, Jones, Mac and how little we rotate in midfield I cant see him coming back in

Osmosis Jones

Posted this 5 months ago

As it stands Salah has the exact same amount of PL (175) and UCL (51) goals as Henry, while having 1 more UCL assist (17 vs 16) and 8 more PL assists (82 vs 74)

robwen

Salzburg away to Madrid tonight

Is Bajcetic still with Salzburg or did he go on loan somewhere else when Pep Lin got the chop?

Talisman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123084413#Comment_123084413

He hasn't enjoyed his time in Salzburg. He was fined for a few disciplinary issues and was reported to have asked Liverpool to terminate the loan agreement in December. There was some speculation that he was going to Real Betis on loan for the second half of the season but nothing has come of it. Given how quickly the club arranged a new loan for Calvin Ramsay, I think they are happy to let Bajcetic remain at Salzburg and have the opportunity to grow up a bit.

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123084406#Comment_123084406

On your first point, for comparison , Doak as well as his 9 goal contributions in the Championship this season, has helped Scotland (and from what I saw he terrorized) to big wins over Poland and Croatia.

Enzokk

This is the information I can find on prize money, we are guaranteed 11m euro for reaching the R16. Teams that lose in the knockout round only get 1m euro. You get 2.1m for every win in the league phase and 700K for a draw. As mentioned earlier you get 275K for every position in the league as well. So 36th will earn 275K and 1st will earn 9.9m euro.

So far we have earned 14.7m euro for the 7 wins and will earn at least 9.625m for at least finishing 2nd for a total of 24 325 000 for the league phase prize money alone. This will go up to 26 700 000 if we win the last match. This is before prize money for the competition, depending where we exit or even win it, or broadcast portion that is based off the England co-efficient and where we finished last year in the league.

https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/football/news/champions-league-prize-money-breakdown-ucl-winners-uefa/6e9cd9ee671ddd07fc6507ff

steve_r

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123084572#Comment_123084572

It's just my own opinion, but I always get the sense that Salah never gets the same degree of respect from the wider football world as the likes of Henry would have gotten. The other comparison people would make was with Hazards stats which I think he was ahead on.

He's never had Real/Barca etc sniffing around him as well - not complaining, but always found it odd. The likes of Suarez, Bale, Hazard etc all had their transfer sagas but I don't think Salah ever had. It's all worked in Liverpools favor but strange at the same time.

Osmosis Jones

Oh he absolutely gets disrespected imo.

Just a few weeks ago he broke the Premier League record for most Goals + Assists in a single month and didn't even win player of the month.

Last year he wasn't even on the 30 man shortlist for Ballon d'Or or the 10 man shortlist for African player of the year.

Then there's Sky who have ordained both Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak as "the best player in the Premier League" this season while saying nothing about the guy who leads the league in both goals and assists.

Electric Nitwit

Recently saw some crap about saying Mo was the greatest statsman of all time, obviously just trying to belittle his achievements by saying his all round play isn't there, or some crap

I think his sheer consistency counts against him in some ways, so he gets overlooked for the flavour of the month (eg Isak).

Even Curtis, in that TNT video said he preferred watching Hazard. I just don't get it, the only thing about Hazard was that he was a faster dribbler maybe, so it looked more exciting?

HenrysLeftHand

As it stands Liverpool will be playing one of Bayern, Juve, Real Madrid or PSV in the last 16 😱

wildrover444

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123086629#Comment_123086629

I really would prefer to place real Madrid over two legs with second leg at anfield rather than a once off game in a neutral venue and they are playing poor at the moment.

Charlie19

That PSG offside decision has to be one of the tightest calls I've ever seen.

Helped by technology but still, tight as f.

Utopia Parkway

Currently in 15, 16, 17 & 18th spot in the table. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus & Man City.

noodler

City out up unless they beat Brugge.

8-10

We now can't get City in the last 16

Ottoman_1000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123086971#Comment_123086971

They'll beat Brugge to go through. But they won't harm anyone in the latter stages this year.

They're absolutely woeful. Still the same issues despite a slight positive change in fortunes the last few weeks. They can score 3 or 4 against anyone, but they have absolutely no legs in either defence or midfield. They just get completely overrun by anyone that puts them on the back foot, huge gaps between their lines and they're all at sea in the full back positions. PSG could have had 8 tonight!

Utopia Parkway

Don't think City will get to 15-18th now. Even presuming they beat Brugge in their final game.

FernandoTorres

Could we end up in the perverse situation during the game where it would be better to let PSV win depending on how other games are going!?

8-10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123087004#Comment_123087004

They can't. 18th place is 4pts above them

8-10

We face 15 - 18th place team regardless of finishing 1st or 2nd, which are the only 2 spots we can finish in

So result v PSV doesn't matter, so no incentive to lose

citytillidie

Next week will be crazy as every goal matters.

FC Bayern München (GER) V ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK)

Stade Brestois 29 (FRA) V Real Madrid C.F. (ESP)

Juventus (ITA) V SL Benfica (POR)

Aston Villa FC (ENG) V Celtic FC (SCO)

Are the games to watch for the teams in 15th to 18th as it stands

Utopia Parkway

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123087065#Comment_123087065

Think Bayern will win anyway which will probably move them up out of the 15-18 range.

Brest away could be tricky for Madrid.

8-10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123087065#Comment_123087065

Also keep an eye on Dortmund who are 14th but only on goal difference from 15th by 2 goals. PSG could still sneak into the bracket also

Weirdly makes these games more impactful to our season than our game kicking off at the same time

FernandoTorres

Yeah but PSV are in that 15th-18th bracket so their position could affect which teams finish there.

Dick phelan

To be honest it's all about the league for me, besides we shouldn't fear anyone, we don't want to play Madrid, well you can guarantee they don't want to play us even more.

8-10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123087188#Comment_123087188

But there's no way of knowing who else would be there if they win

This is why all games kick off at the same time, you can't game it

Enzokk

UEFA make a lot of mistakes, but the new model seems to be working. Maybe this is a once-off only but there is a lot of interest from many teams still going into the last match of the group phase. You have 8 teams vying for 6 spots in the knockout and then you have teams that will be hoping to finish in the top 8 to go directly into the R16. There are only 2 matches that has nothing on it, Young Boys v Red Star Belgrade and Sturm Graz v RB Lepzig, where none of the teams can qualify for the knockouts. The rest of the matches has something on the line, even if it something as small as finishing top of the league. So for the 1st season I think the new format has been a success, but we will need to see if it is the same next year as well.

A lot better than the old system where you maybe had 3 matches that had something on the line, but most teams knew they were going to finish top of their group so would play weakened teams in the last match.

8-10

I can't see it being a lot better than a system that had 6 group games instead of 8 and another 2 games for most teams who stay in the competition before the last 16

It's a money grabber. 10 games to get to a last 16 is far too much. We're only going to have lost a third of teams by February after playing games since September

I hate it

Electric Nitwit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123088029#Comment_123088029

Even worse than a third, it's only a quarter of the teams out after 128 games. Ridiculous, I'm not a fan either

The Rooster

It’s a public entertainment business and it’s been entertaining. Definitely more interesting to play different teams each game rather than the same teams twice in the group stages.

Yes, we had two more games. But Arne chose to do feck all rotation, so that’s his choice. i’m glad we can’t get Man City or Arsenal in the last 16, but the draw will largely be pot luck from last 16 onwards. I think the ‘advantage’ of playing second leg at home is marginal at best.

Electric Nitwit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123088112#Comment_123088112

I remember reading something on this. Tried to look and found a Reddit post from 7yrs ago. So this allows for away goals and the knockouts were seeded so the "better" team played at home second, but... "In the round of 16, teams that played the second leg at home advanced 70% of the time, and 62.5% of the time in the quarterfinals."

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/8dc1oc/investigating_the_advantage_of_playing_second_leg/

8-10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123088112#Comment_123088112

You could still have introduced a system of 6 games against different opponents, you didn't also have to introduce a bunch more games to get to the same outcome in Feb: round of Last 16

The Europa Conference League managed to do it. Identical league structure to the Champions League, but they played 6 games each not 8 and now have the same playoff from positions 9-24 before last 16 v top 8

What's wrong with that approach?

Robert2014

I think Salah been disrespected is that he isn't as easy on the eyes as someone like Henry or Hazard. But he is an output machine in terms of goals and assists and impacting games and this is what I want in a player every day of the week. Someone may see he doesn't have the skills of a Berbatov, but he is a much better player because he scores goals which helps you win games.

Also on Bacjetic, an article in the Athletic right on cue, Liverpool seem happy with his progress there so most likely will stay for the rest of the season. I think a Championship load next season would be the next step to see if he can handle the cut and thrust of a season in England before seeing if he can make it at Liverpool or not.

facehugger99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123088068#Comment_123088068

It's the lack of jeopardy that's the biggest issue.

Ridiculous that MN City can still get through to the knockouts with a win when they've been so poor.

It's all about protecting the big teams and cramming in more matches..

emo72

I thought bajetic was going to be the next xabi Alonso. Hopefully.

The Rooster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123088175#Comment_123088175

Cheers.

Covers the period 07-08 to 16-17

Summary of findings:

In the round of 16, teams that played the second leg at home advanced 70% of the time - but teams who played second leg at home were seeded (topped their group), so you would expect more of them to go through

62.5% of the time the team who played 2nd leg at home advanced from the quarterfinals.

Only 20% of the teams that played the Semi Final second leg at home advanced to the finals, so 80% success rate for teams who played second leg away

Overall from 07-08 to 10-11, there was an advantage to playing second leg at home (% not given)

But from 11-12 to 16-17 it was 50%/50% overall so no advantage

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123088752#Comment_123088752

I've never really seen it to the extent of some others. Not being as crap as the rest in for a few games in early 2023 is most I've ever seen.

Its no slight against him per se but for some he seems to rise in stock the less he plays.

JPup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123088185#Comment_123088185

You're forgetting the context of where this came from. Several major European clubs wanted to break away to form a super league. The French, Spanish, Italians want more European games as it generates extra revenue. Otherwise, they just can't compete financially with the premier league.

8-10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123088822#Comment_123088822

Very good point.

Super League idea worked out very well for UEFA, they got to shape the tournament as they wanted because they saw how much fans rallied against the alternative

Talisman

According to the Deloitte Football Money League 2025 report, the club's revenue increased by 5% in 2024 and the wages/revenue ratio remained the same at 63%.

Summer 2023 Departures: Fabinho, Firmino, Henderson, Keita, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Summer 2023 Arrivals: Endo, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai.

How could the wages for the new arrivals have exceeded those of the players that left the club?

Electric Nitwit

Doubters to Believers trailer, hits Prime on Feb 28th

https://youtu.be/pwGIu0p2xwg?si=kUEXkzZg6rrXx6ZL

(couple of days old, apologies if someone's already posted it, I hadn't seen it though)

riddles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123085233#Comment_123085233

never really saw the sense in arguing one player is better than the other it’s pretty subjective in a sense you have your own opinions. All we care about is from now to May Salah’s goals help us win the league - everyone else can watch YouTube videos of Hazard and Henry if it floats their boats.

SuperTortoise

Got a months sub for nowTV before xmas with the extra games on TNT as well, anyway sub is up,

I liked the convienence of not having to hunt for streams and having to reload them every 5 minutes but ultimately i'm a cheap bastard and i won't be renewing at €70 odd a month, what other cheaper options are out there if any?

Electric Nitwit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123091076#Comment_123091076

Now tv can be got fairly cheap, you'll find codes in this thread...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058086783/now-tv-latest-deal-codes

Or you could go foreign and free (and legit) by looking at goldiefresh's wonderful playlist here...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058153263/premiership-f1-ufc-liga-bliga-nfl-nba-cev-2euro-month-see-op

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123091076#Comment_123091076

There's a lad on Boards on Bargain Alerts who seems to have links to most games.

ShamoBuc

That Now TV Bargains thread is fantastic, normally get Sky and TNT for between 20 and 25 a month for both.

citytillidie

I have been using Now TV for sports and keep getting deals to renew for 6 months at a time for £20 a month

icarus86

Hi, I'm just wondering is there any chance of getting a ticket for the game at the weekend outside the stadium? If this is against boards rules I apologise and delete mods.