The Invisible Man

I work on event travel for my job (not in Liverpool), and there are a lot of issues with Liverpool that aren't easily resolvable. City manage their buses probably the best of everyone, with they way they fill up a fenced area with the right number of people, but they still suffer from the issues of getting people to have the right money etc. Even if you get it working more efficiently you're limited by road space (which is a lot more limited compared to the Etihad) and the quick build up of traffic. In an ideal world, you do what happens in Germany and offer free travel from the ground to the city centre. The issue with this is, there would be an increase in efficiency but you'd need more buses because of the likely take-up and it's difficult to have the necessary number of buses in a built up area like Anfield. Then you add increased pressures on other forms of transport. For example, instead of driving from Warrington to Liverpool you take the bus and the train but there are already significant issues with the likes of Northern Rail in terms of reliability and capacity. I've no doubt that transport infrastructure is one of the major issues with the Anfield Road extension. All the grounds over 60,000 that I can think of (barring the atrocious Stadio Olimpico which is rarely at capacity) have some sort of rail/tube. Adding 5,000 seats might not seem much, but where do these new visitors park? Can Lime Street handle extra capacity? Stats show that the difference between travelling during school holidays and in term time is only a 10% traffic reduction. Adding 5,000 seats with the Anfield Road end could add another 10% of traffic onto an already at-breaking-point network.

Report that we've enquired about Dybala https://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/serie-a/esclusiva-tmw-juventus-contatto-liverpool-mascardi-reds-su-dybala-1131100

With Reina moving to PSG

Liverpool have rejected a bid of 100 million euros (£90m) from Barcelona for Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40882299

Makes me laugh that they were more than happy to let Qatar be the first team to sponsor them and accepted all that cash, but now they're paying money for Neymar they're complaining. Barca have become worse than Madrid for their bitching and double standards.

Wonder if we'd consider Matuidi as an alternative to Keita, now that the PSG firesale is about to begin.

If Lucas goes, that makes Jon Flanagan our longest serving player doesn't it

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

The club would have to use some common sense and let people move around when they sold the season tickets, as it kind of exists now with the Auto Cup Scheme. The problem you have now is that people want to stand with mates but can't because of the ticket situation, and the atmosphere is often better in the 300s so people congregate there. And it's in seats which makes it more unsafe.

Below is a list of the approximate release dates for each broadcast selection cycle: August to September matches - 10 July October to November matches - 11 August December to January matches - 12 October February matches - 12 December March matches - 25 January April matches - 26 February May matches - 6 April (Round 38 matches selected after all clubs have played 37 matches) Round 3 - Tue 19 Sep/Wed 20 Sep Round 4 - Tue 24 Oct/Wed 25 Oct Round 5 - Tue 19 Dec/Wed 20 Dec Semi Finals - Tue 9 Jan/Wed 10 Jan and Tue 23 Jan/Wed 24 Jan Final - Sun 25 Feb

Think these new requirements by the Premier League were announced after the work had begun.

With Burnley's FA Cup draw this will probably move again

An unmitigated disaster? Really? Like Hull or Leeds or even Manchester United? They may not have splashed £60 million on a player and we've not won the league but an unmitigated disaster is absolute b******s. We've got a nice new stand, we've spent decent money on players like Mane, Firmino etc. We have one of the best managers around. We're currently doing well in league and could be in another final. Most fans would kill for owners like ours and the position we're in. City, PSG, Chelsea are bankrolled by billionaires who don't care what happens. But this can just as quickly turn sour, if they were to pull out. What happens when they get bored and they're stuck with players on vast wages. Look what has happened to Leeds and the way they were still paying the likes of Fowler years after. Look at Malaga, Valencia or Anzhi. Yes they've made f***-ups but so has every owner. City are charging minimum £60 for the top games now. PSG's owners got rid of their best and most dedicated fans. Madrid sack managers on a whim. They're not perfect but people forget how f***ing s*** it was under H&G. We're making steps in the right direction and we'll be back in the Champions League and able to compete for the top players even more.

But the manager has to be conscious of keeping all the squad happy. You can't have 22 great players with no European football. Our six would for central midfield would be Wijnaldum, Can, Henderson, Lallana, Lucas and Stewart. Chelsea's is hardly much stronger; Kante, Fabregas, Matic, Chalobah, Loftus-Cheek.

It happens at every club though. Mistakes are made, players could have been signed, not let go etc. United let Pogba go. Spurs missed out on Willian. Real let the likes of Mikel Alonso, Mata, Eto'o all leave. Arsenal should have signed Yaya Toure or Ibrahimovic as youngsters.

Yes but you have to be sensible. If we paid Draxler, say £250k a week, then justifiably Coutinho, Mane and Firmino would want the same. Going from 150k a week to 250k is an extra £5m a year. So you would be paying £30m for Draxler, £13m a year, and then you would have several more players expecting to earn the same, which could add another £15m a year to the wage bill. Now bear in mind you'd be doing it over 4/5 years. So that then becomes £120/150m outlay on wages, plus the transfer fee. Our wage bill is around £165m, so one signing could easily increase our wage bill by 20%. Arsenal are in the same boat with the likes of Sanchez and Ozil wanting more. Barcelona are in a difficult position now with Messi's contract. I'm all for going after big players, but it's not as simple as "we didn't spend massively in the summer so there's loads of money left".

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

And if he fails? Torres, Shevchenko, Di Maria, Carroll, Benteke, Ibrahimovic all did after big moves. No guarantee that he succeeds and you have a player on enormous wages who you will struggle to offload. I would love us to sign him but it's not realistic. The last time we were in a Champions League knockout game was 2009, and with 2018 the earliest we could be back in one, people need to realise that we are a million miles away from the likes of PSG, Real, Barca and the Manchester clubs who can afford to spend that money and attract those players.

And it's not so simple. The clubs who have spent that money have an annual income of £200m a year more than us. Let's say we got him for £65m and he wants £300k a week to come to us. So that's a £78m contract over five years. A total of £143 million And then we do alright, and Coutinho says he wants the same wages. So we go from paying him £150k a week, to a new five year deal on £300k. Another £39m more. Then Firmino, Can want more. So then you're paying them £200k a week. And then you're wage bill is suddenly £50million a year more and not sustainable.

So if Barcelona want Coutinho and offer us £50m we should just say yes, here you go? Because that's what you're implying Monchengladbach should do. They're going into the Champions League group stage, have money from the Xhaka sale and no reason to sell. They've said no and so we signed Wijnaldum. We can target whoever the f*** we want, but doesn't make signing them a formality.

Illori, Wisdom, Balotelli and Markovic to go? Maybe Ings and Brannagan out on loan?

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

Why do the BBC always put transfer gossip related to Liverpool from that rag

Drew Burton away. To be played week commencing 22 August

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.