So when in those 3 years did he play at LB? The only time he's played LB under Klopp was last season and yes had some good games.....so? Jon Flanagan has his fair share of solid games at LB too. Why would you want to keep an injury prone squad player if £45m was on the table? You'd be bonkers.
Also Sam where do you find a quality cb willing to be a fifth choice in the pecking order? Its either going to be a Nat Phillips type or a young Quansah type.
First of all, I don't agree with you about how bad Gomez has been. At all. So that might explain some of the disconnect... Additionally, no one is buying Gomez for 45M. In fact it seems to me a proposed deal which was Gomez +45M for Gordon, who as far as I can tell is valued by Newcastle at 75M, that swap deal didn't get done. So the reality is, Newcastle doesn't even value Gomez at 30M. That's the deal I'm pushing back against. And there's an additional element at play here! Which is FSG's habitual inability or unwillingness to get proper cover in, even when selling/losing players. It's happened again and again over the years. So this idea that you seem to suggest, that they'd get "45M" for Gomez would then be used to get a starting caliber CB or DM... unfortunately everything in that statement seems wrong! - Gomez isn't fetching 45M from anyone - There is lots of evidence of FSG selling players and not replacing them So, your math isn't working out on any level as far as I'm concerned. If someone came in tomorrow for 45M for Joe Gomez, and we were assured that full amount would be put right back in to defense this summer... I'd say that's a great deal! But there's no reason to think that any of that is going to happen.
He's been at fault for a lot of poor goals over recent years, if your memory can't recap then that's not on me I'm afraid, he dwells on the ball far too much and he switches off far too much. This isn't the same Gomez from 2017-2019 and even now his only saving graces are his recovery pace and versatility. You're probably right when you say he doesn't fetch 45m from anyone, I wasn't coming from a place where we'd rejected such offer.....I simply stated it'd be crazy to see fans upset if we did because he's been an injury prone squad player for almost 5 years now. You snap the hand off anyone who's mindless enough to do such a thing. As far as your argument that FSG don't replace players, it's not for FSG to say who needs replacing or which positions we need to focus on, they wouldn't have the first clue which is why they have people employed to do just that. When we were crying for a midfield to replace Fab and Hendo yet we preferred to spend £40m on Gakpo for whatever reason, you think that was on FSG? No. This "evidence against FSG" is something you've just fabricated, I don't even know why you're bringing them into this.
First of all, I don’t take the 45 million fee seriously. I don’t think anyone besides Newcastle would pay that kind of fee for him. If a swap deal was agreed for Gordon, they were playing games with the accounting to help Newcastle with their PSR problems. At the same time, you’re undervaluing how good Gomez was last season. There is no getting around the fact that Liverpool was better when Gomez was in the team. Right back, left back, it didn’t matter. When Gomez played, we were winning. Centerbacks who play fullback are the new trend in football. City spent a record fee on Gvardiol only to use him at left back. City spent most of last season playing with 4 centerbacks. Arsenal have used a centerback, Ben White, at right back for the last two seasons. Arsenal’s big signing this summer is a centerback who can play left back. Gomez can play any position in the back four. That’s extremely valuable. If we were to sell him it would leave a ton of work to do in the transfer market to sure up our back line.
I didn't actually say that... but I'm glad that even though you're attributing to me things that I didn't say you can at the same time acknowledge the thing I'm talking about. FSG (generally) is sometimes guilty of too often allowing the squad to get somewhat thin in key positions without actively replacing outgoing players via like-for-like expenditure. IMO your cited example isn't the best, because technically they did bring in 3 mids that summer which some would argue is 2 out, 3 in for a net +1... but considering Fabinho was the best (only?) senior 6 & Hendo the captain with 12 years at the club, yeah I'd say it applies. And this has been a behavior, for whatever reason, that has reared its head a number of times at this point. So that thing you wrote -- "get 45M for Gomez and then buy a top CB or 6" -- is not necessarily a statement that is a reasonable expectation of this group, all things considered, is what I'm trying to say. That doesn't mean I'm holding "FSG", aka John Henry's ownership group or whatever, 100% responsible for that reality... but it's still a reality this club and its supporters have been made to deal with.
I only asked the question if you think that was on FSG? because and I quote "There is lots of evidence of FSG selling players and not replacing them" (if I said you said something I'll put to you in inverted commas like this) even though it's nothing to do with FSG who we sign let alone the position we sign players for. It's one thing if you don't believe they do enough in the market to strengthen (a discussion for another day), and another to believe they have any involvement over who we sign. As far as my example goes, it doesn't need to be the best....but it's a valid point notwithstanding. The summer we all called for new midfielders, our recruitment team decided to use our entire budget to sign Nunez, Ramsay and Carvalho......followed by Gakpo 6 months later. Subsequently we go onto having 1 of our worst seasons under Klopp. Where does any of the blame lie with FSG here?
I just mean under FSG, colloquially... as in, during this modern era of the club. I'm not trying to say that it's directly due to "FSG" or John Henry or whatever... In fact it probably has/had as much or more to do with Klopp than it does "FSG". However, in general, it has still happened a number of times under FSG's watch. That's all I'm saying.
🚨(🌕) @MiguelDelaney: Liverpool are now looking for a centre-half, a defensive midfielder and a wide forward, although potentially two of the latter.💪The most high-profile of those is Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon, who has long been hugely keen on the move.⏳️👀 pic.twitter.com/OiycAeFeOs— LFC Transfer Room (@LFCTransferRoom) August 2, 2024
Word is that there will be "concrete offers" made for some of our targets within the next ten days. Considering how long negotiations usually drag out, I expect we won't know what our squad will look like until right at the end of the transfer window. Then there will be the "bedding in" phase for all of the new signings while they learn Slot's methods. Of course, they won't be too far behind some of our presumed starters in that regard!
Read that as some of our players then, was starting to get a bit excited we'd finally see some players moved on that need moving on. Football is a simple game, it tends to be overstated how long players need to learn a new system and it varies from player to player as ultimately you're either good enough to or you're not....if anything the more challenging will be getting to terms with the PL.
Yep, the reason I wouldn't be too worried about Gomez leaving is that right now he is the fourth cb in the pecking order and if we buy a new cb as many want then he'll arguably be the fifth choice. Somehow I can't see Gomez being content to be fourth choice never mind fifth. So I think sometimes a squad needs refreshing and some good players will go and hopefully replaced by new good players. Hughes and Slot are on the cusp of a new project and though I don't expect a massive rebuild I do think they are fully entitled to tweak the squad to adapt it to a new coaching reality.
It's sort of been mentioned above - putting aside the direct positional needs of any team - often new players are a key to keep a squad fresh and to make sure people know they are fighting for their spots. Liverpool are in an interesting spot because we don't need a lot, and we have several youths knocking on the door - but if a ready-made player is available - I do hope we pull the trigger.
Newcastle have approached Crystal Palace over the potential signing of Marc Guéhi. He's been regularly linked with Liverpool too so I assume we're looking elsewhere.
Liverpool’s pursuit of Johan Bakayoko is about to head into the next phase as Reds plan bid for star. The Reds can’t yet be ruled out of making an unlikely move for Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton. “We know Sepp van den Berg is very likely to leave because there’s not going to be enough minutes on offer for him next season even though he’s been doing a good job in pre-season,” Lynch told Born N’Red. “I think the manager’s been really impressed by what he’s done and thinks he absolutely could be part of this first-team squad. But he is very ready to make the move now and play more regular football. So, I think he’s going to push for that later in the window and once Liverpool have got the squad back together the opportunity for him to go and do that when they don’t need to play friendlies will be there.” Liverpool are reportedly ready to meet Sporting Lisbon’s asking price for Viktor Gyokeres in a huge blow to Arsenal. Liverpool are reportedly keen on selling youngster Owen Beck this summer, amid interest from Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers. Beck is also attracting interest from clubs in the Germany, the Netherlands and closer to home in the Championship. Celtic have also registered their interest in Caoimhin Kelleher, who hopes to leave Anfield this summer so he can become the No 1 goalkeeper for a different club. Fabio Carvalho will not be loaned out again this summer as the Merseyside club look to field offers for the young star. Liverpool are expecting interest in the player to materialize late in the window. A media report invites Liverpool to consider pursuing Inter Milan midfielder Kristjan Asllani to fill their midfield gap. Liverpool will be keeping a close eye on Tottenham’s pursuit of Dominic Solanke as they could be set to earn a healthy fee if he signs - up to 20% of the fee. Isn't usually the profit and not overall fee? They did not want to lose Quansah, which prompted Newcastle to see if Liverpool would part with Gomez. A proposed framework of the deal would have seen Gomez head to St James' Park for $57m (£45m/€52m), with Gordon heading in the opposite direction for $96m (£75m/€88m). Liverpool is said to be interested in Eintracht Frankfurt center-back Willian Pacho. The 22-year-old Ecuadorian could become the first signing Arne Slot makes this summer. I'd personally rather see us sign someone with more experience, a la 26-30 yrs old, than another youngster at CB.
Don't encourage over-worry...! With Sepp and Quansah It would actually be an age(s)/experience of near exact similarity with the first season when Saliba and Gabriel played together, believe it or not....
Can't see us being willing to let all these squad players go (Kelleher/Gomez/Sepp/Beck/Fabio), given our lack of activity.
Twitter post saying Liverpool have turned down an offer of £6M from RB Salzburg for Bobby Clark. That would be Pep coming back for him . I like Bobby Clark and think he's going to be a good one.
Tidy little player but where is the game time coming from? The pathway is too congested. He's not just competing against the likes of Harvey Jones Mac Szobo & Grav but also Morton, Nyoni, Mcconnell, Bajcetic. No room for all these kids to come through at once. RBS are renown for producing some cracking young players, we should use this opportunity to seek an exchange.
I do too - but figuring out who is going to be Jamie Redknapp good or Jay Spearing good is always devilishly tricky at that age for midfielders... and I tend to also think this.... in this particular case