Liverpool FC Premier League Champions 24/25 - Talk /Gossip/Rumours

But it was the officials who made that call,look I hate Real as much as anyone but they did nothing wrong in that shootout and certainly didn't cheat

I saw the slip, not the double kick. Ball didn't move during the slip, unless ball hit the sliding foot after he struck it, but didn't catch that either in replay. Dunno what they saw so easily

Jones took the final penalty against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup a few years ago. I think the first shoot out that Kelleher was in and saved one. As far as I remember, he changed with Origi be the fifth penalty taker and there was talk of his cockiness afterwards. And it was a very good penalty so I thought he was a decent option but it was a bad penalty. Nunez looked like he wouldn't have scored if the goal was twice as big. Also I remember in Pep Ljinders book, they used an outside agency to help pick the order for the 2 penalty shootouts in advance of both finals with Chelsea. I'm not sure if we are still using them. Their help may all be moot if most of your first penalty takers have been subbed through extra time. Maybe if Alisson saves the first penalty that he gets a hand to, it gives us the bolt of energy and that transmits to our takers, who knows. I think we planned for penalties but we couldn't control all the variables and came out the wrong side this time.

Núñez would have been one of the 5 for sure. He's taken penalties for us before in games. Easy to write it off knowing he missed, but if he's on the pitch he's going to take one, as he should- he's our number 9.

Yeah, I was thinking last night is Chiesa to Slot what Robbie Keane was to Rafa.

Looked like Slot really didn't want the player and is proving a point before the summer transfer window opens, "only sign who I want to sign".

Could be the same for Mamardashvili.

Slot's comments last week about how he's never had the opportunity to work with the best goalkeeper in the world and Allison is the best goalkeeper in the world. That could be taken that Allison is still number 1 at the start of next season despite the money spent last summer on a new keeper.

Lot of teams complain that we have not had injuries, yet this is what cost us on Tuesday. Yes, we have not had injuries to starters like Van Dijk or Salah, but we have had injuries to other players this year. We had Van Dijk fit, but Konate, Alison, Tsmikas and Bradley were all injured at the same time. We have had Salah available but we had Chiesa, Jota and Elliott injured at the same time. Yes, I know, Chiesa has not been great, yet not having him available means more minutes for other players.

One area Slot deserves criticism, he only started playing Endo late in the season and trusting him. We could have taken minutes off Gravenberch earlier in the season and given Endo more to help, but like Klopp in 2020/21, he just didn't seem to trust the obvious player to replace the starter until sort of forced into it. We could have been more comfortable in 20/21 if Klopp played Williams and Nate Phillips earlier than thinking Fabinho and Henderson are better options at CB.

So, that is how our injuries have hurt us, but also having Gomez and Bradley out at the same time means Quansah needs to go to RB when Trent is injured. This means he cannot replace Konate at CB and we have to move Endo to CB and keep the midfield that is tired for longer instead of replacing them with midfielders. But that is how it goes, as I said before you need luck to win the European Cup and it just wasn't with us on Tuesday, just like it seemed to gravitate to Real last night.

We needs full backs and another midfielder, replacements for Jota Diaz Nunez Chiesa. Salah and VVD were instrumental in the league win and will be instrumental in the team rebuild for next year and with Allison’s position unclear their leadership in the group also essential.

It would be done a long time ago if they were looking for one year contracts!

Judging Salah over the two PSG games is nuts.

I'll stick to using his league performances to judge him.

Ya, I think a lot of fans don't live in the real world. Although I still haven't finished the Ian Graham book, it's Liverpool's data/analytics and their "transfer committee" that got us VVD and Salah in the first place.

VVD a world record price for a defender because theyh hd crunched the numbers and their model told them that even at that price that he would improve the team so much that they would be more successful and he would be worth the money.

I'm sure that model has spat out a contract length/wage/total package value for each of the 3 players and Liverpool won't budge on it.

Their model has been right in most cases so far so why go against it now?

The model was correct with Henderson and then Klopp's sentiment came into it about contract extension and soon after his form went down rapidly. He was on big money and we were blessed when Saudi came in for him.

Look at Fabinho, was world class. Until he wasn't.

I think Kyle Walker is another good example, his phenomenal pace got him out of so many situations. Until it didn't.

It's 5 months till the start of the season. Salah's legs could be completely gone in that time. The same that happened Fabinho. And then we are stuck with an ineffective player on massive wages.

The one thing we can all be certain on is that VVD and Salah need to be replaced at some point.

The club have struck gold with the vast majority of transfers over the last 10+ years. They have made the correct decisions and have proven to be right time and again over the last 10 years or more. Not always, but mostly.

I trust that they will make the right decision for the club, whatever that is. All this "give him what he wants" is pure sentiment/emotion. All you have to do is peep over the wall and look where "give him what he wants" gets you. You can't get rid of past it players.

Of all 3 I would like to keep VVD as I think he can keep his levels higher for longer and is a leader. I fear that Salahs decline could be very sudden and rapid. Trent looks like is already gone.

I'm certain the club have lots of replacements lined up. The only constant is change.

Also fans saying that the players "want to stay" or "are desperate to stay" are wrong. They are happy to stay IF the club give them what they want. Big difference. If they really wanted to stay they would have signed already, but of course they are perfectly entitled to go for a better package elsewhere.

Yep saying the judging him on the PSG game one of the best sides in the world should be a SIGNIFICANT part of the assessment is nuts

Those saying open the cheque book and let Mo put in his own figures are exactly the type of people that got United into serious trouble.

Look at them now (Glazers aside) they are caught out paying too much to failures or those that have gone into a steep decline. You can’t have Mo on huge money when he’s 35/36 and suffering the inevitable.

It’s sad, a bit like the time you realise Santa isn’t real. Reality bites. And like it or not poor financial decisions WILL impact team performance.

Thats not to say Salah isn’t a top notch player… he’s still subject to the aging process.

Whether to give him an extra year is kind of like gambling on the Saudi market being relevant

I get that we don't really know if he likes Saudi (I think he has Qatari friends in high places) but I still don't see a scenario in 2 years time where he's playing like de Bruyne is now, and Saudi clubs don't still want him

I think they'll be desperate for him whenever we want rid, there's near zero risk that we're going to be paying him 350k a week because he can't find another club.

But I still think those Qatari links make PSG a strong possibility this summer.

Plenty also said we should sell Salah last year because his legs are going, we wouldn't have won the league this year if that transpired.

Adding a few more thoughts from the players' point of view.

Trent is 26, has played for his hometown club all his life, he has yet to see "what lies behind those hills". Totally understandable he wants to leave, he prob has Bellingham telling him how brilliant Madrid is.

Just think of you in your hometown and then your mate starts telling you how amazing their J1 in the States was or their year in Oz was, of course you might want to leave. LMAO

Virgil is older, at almost 34 you might not be arsed moving. I moved abroad at about that age and it just wasn't the same as it is when you are Trent's age.

Plus a crucial thing with both VVD and Salah is that they have young families. That will play a huge role in their decision, much like Klopp spoke about Ulla being happy in Liverpool so that made his decision easier.

Who knows how their wives feel. They may want a change for themselves, may want their family to experience a different culture, or they may hate the idea of uprooting their children from school and their friends.

We will see what happens in the coming months.