Liverpool FC - Talk /Gossip/Rumours 25/25

Would you prefer to play Gravenberch & Szoboszlai in midfield with a new RW who scores goals?

Or a new DM alongside Szoboszlai, benching Gravenberch and have Chiesa/nobody playing RW?

Who did we just sign and where does he play while the club also paid over 100m for a player who plays on the left for his country so you to are being disingenuous using Chiesa

And there is no point in having all that attacking flair if the midfield can be walked through like it was last season. Wirtz has to play and if he is part of a two man midfield a DM is more important than a left winger. A Proper DM is the most important signing after Diomande/ Right winger.

Who are the current senior RW players at the club.

Not players who can fill in there. Fill in is last resort, not starting point for the season.

Forgot we had signed him to be honest.

Yep, I think there was genuinely a belief that we could turn Wirtz into an out-and-out No. 10, playing off and feeding a world-class No. 9 in Isak, with all the width coming from the full-backs.

Looking back, it was probably short-sighted, but it wasn't completely out of nowhere either. The Premier League has fully committed to this modern mid- and low-block style, but teams have taken it a step further. They're not plugging the gaps with old-school workhorse defenders anymore. They're filling them with 6ft-plus athletic freaks who can run all day, recover at ridiculous speed, and absolutely thrive in transition.

The game has become brutally direct once an attack breaks down. Teams are springing forward in numbers the second they win it back. Years ago, if a team sat deep, it was usually just hoof-ball up to a lone striker and hope he could either win it or hold it up until help arrived. That's not what we're seeing now.

This version is far more aggressive and far more dangerous, and I think it caught Liverpool completely off guard last season. If you remember the first five games, even though we were winning, it was all a bit gung-ho. There was loads of space everywhere and it always felt like a matter of time before we got punished for it.

The problem for me is that Slot never really seemed to come to terms with what he was up against because he'd convinced himself that this No. 10 plus attacking full-backs setup was going to be a game-changer. When it became obvious it wasn't working as intended, we ended up caught between two ideas.

That's why I don't think we ever really developed a clear identity or much variation in how we played. We spent the rest of the season trying to be a bit more compact and controlled, but in doing so we moved away from what Slot originally wanted the side to be.

The bigger issue was that he never looked fully convinced by the adjustment himself. It always felt like he was managing around a problem rather than embracing a new direction. When a manager doesn't fully believe in what he's asking the players to do, that uncertainty eventually seeps onto the pitch as well.

That's why, for all the results we got, there were long spells where it felt like we were searching for an identity rather than building one.

I honestly don't know how to fit Wirtz effectively within our side. But I do know it needs to happen.

There's plenty of money in the transfer pot. The transfer fee for Munoz would have been covered by the insurance payout for Jota.

Now that PSR has been replaced by the SCR regulations, there will be no more stockpiling cash and then splurging every few seasons. The club has to reinvest revenue in the team the season after acquiring it.

It has been estimated that Liverpool have a budget of over £300m plus the insurance payment and any additional sales revenue for this transfer window.

I had always assumed that any insurance payout would have only covered the wages, which the club are committing to Jota's family anyways.

Was there an additional payout?

No you would have the players actual value insured as well.

Agree on Gakpo. I think we should hang onto him unless we get a very generous offer. He's a decent player and a good option from the bench. As you say it's good to have different types of options too.

My 2c. Gakpo should be going nowhere unless crazy money is offered. He is hugely talented and is a great, versatile attacking option. He's exactly the type of attacking player we need to help with rotation over the season. Munoz and Rio are plenty for the LW position IMO. Raw, yes but they're not going to improve playing 2nd and 3rd choice to a new senior signing (3rd and 4th if they are directly competing with Gakpo also on that left wing). Add Wirtz as a "leftish" option too and we've good options on that side.

The #1 priority has to be sorting out the RW. I'd be happy enough with just one signing there, and Chiesa (and Munoz) for rotation. I'm hoping Chiesa can find a new lease of life under Iraola. After that it's about shoring up LB and DM with depth in quality. Anything else is a bonus as far as I'm concerned… RB and FWD being the next areas I'd look at but I really want to see if Iraola can bring some youth players along… don't think we have any strong LB prospects there though?