The winner is awarded the right to play Tranmere for the title of Best Side On Merseyside. Bookies have Tranmere as favourites.
Careful, we're starting to sound like Everton supporters, when they say stuff like: if we can't win anything, then at least we can help stop Liverpool winning the title...........
Everton are hot, they actually won their last match, the first under Sean Dyche. They’re favourites for a CL spot now. According to one of their supporters.
Thiago is struggling with a hip injury. You can argue he’s been our most reliable player since the World Cup (not saying much). It never ends.
Alisson Trent Matip Gomez Robertson Elliott Henderson Bajcetic Gakpo Salah Nunez Does it even matter who gets picked?
I was wondering if he's been playing too much - given his love of injuries. But since had nothing else - needs must. it's also the reason that I keep saying we need 3 midfielders this summer. We need players that can stay fit - well until our medical department and training regiment gets a hold of them. and it's also obvious that we should have bought a midfielder in the summer and/winter given that Thiago is getting injured at some point in any given season regardless.
"I wish I hadn't bottled it because their performances just aren't there, in any department, which is a massive worry for them. "Reds boss Jurgen Klopp looks pretty broken in the dugout at this moment in time and I don't think he has the answers to his side's problems." This is from Chris Sutton's predictions this week on BBC Sport. I said something similar last week. It only takes one match to stop a bad streak and start a good run. I hope for your sakes that you win this one.
Unfortunate though it may be that the men in suits are leaving at the same time, it also gives an opportunity for another fresh set of ideas not necessarily all Pep Lijnders’s although they’re welcome. I have said this before but Klopp is in uncharted territory. I don’t think he’s ever had [consciously] to rebuild a side— Bayern perennially did that for him by plundering his best players. This will be the first time when he has needed to get rid of players before the decline had set in. And the first attempt has been nothing short of a mess. One could assume by the protracted negotiations for extensions to Henderson and Salah, in particular, and the fact that Klopp had to jump in and publicly call for these to be done that the data was already indicating decline and hence get rid or extend on reduced terms. But he’s got enough about him to get it right— he just needs the right setup behind him. Those calling for Klopp’s departure need to be wind their necks in. This summer will be huge.
What could have been a gradual process has now turned into an extensive rebuild. Yes, I agree this summer will be hugely important and we have to get it right with our signings. For years we seemed to hit gold with almost every signing, eg Mane , Salah , Gini , Robbo , Bobby etc . Recent business has not hit those heights so yeah this summer the scouts dept needs to shine.
I sometimes wonder if we’d been planning on moving one or both of Salah and Mané for big money but got blindsided by covid-19? That seemed to be our transfer model and would have likely have worked with Barcelona, Real Madrid or PSG coming for them in big money moves. Whatever the case, I think we’ve learned that although sports science is extending the careers of players well into their thirties, it’s unwise to have too many of them as starters or on the rota.
Covid definitely impacted on so many things so possibly it disrupted our succession planning too , who knows? Ultimately continuity planning has to be a important part of any successful club and I think whether it was covid or lack of financial resources or simply an over estimation of how long these players could continue at an elite level but something has clearly gone askew. That along with new players coming in have not hit the levels of the guys they replaced.
I've heard we are still using covid as an excuse now despite the record revenues (sure there is more to it - but still).
The thing is every other club also went through covid and many of our rivals have not suffered a slump the way we have.