David Hodgson

Coutinho is a very do-able deal right now for us. I’ll buy that Klopp’s not spending ‘cos Fsg are skint/tight’ line for a second , but I’m not having it that they’d block Coutinho coming back on loan . If you are trying to get away with a year of ‘fiscal restraint’ , then the chance to get a £140m player on loan is such an easy get out of jail card. If we don’t go back in for Coutinho it’s because the manager doesn’t want him. And if he ends up at f***ing Spurs we can rage all we want , but this one’s on Klopp.

Truly awful.

I’m using it as an example , as a zenith of sorts . Ffs.

It’s simply not a fair comparison . How is it complete nonsense ? It’s literally an example of Liverpool prevailing without 2 of our front 3 in as hard a test as you could imagine . Obviously in isolation it isn’t proof positive but it’s definitely admissible evidence . What is absolute nonsense is to think you can just rule it out. Cos dramatic .

Oh piss off mate. I’m not using that as a reason we don’t need to strengthen . I’m just citing it as an example of how it’s not that binary . It was hardly my entire case / theory . I like the cut of his spoofing gib. He’s writing a big cheque isn’t he. He sounds like he’s convinced himself . On the spoofometer, I quite fancy this spoofer to come through . Well, obviously I don’t , but he feels less terrible than most.

Ha ! Never change. As if that’s any comparison . Fabinho was signed into a midfield that was far from settled . Lallana was f***ed , as was chamberlain , Milner not a certain starter and neither was Wijnaldum. And Emre Can had just left.

Brewster and ox could be better than Mahrez. Playing two up front with Keita at head of a 442 diamond could be better than mahrez . Who knows . Maybe the manager . Let’s see.

Ok mate. Or, it’s the ultimate example of how Klopp can and will find solutions within his squad .

They’d have had that conversation months ago and he’d have said, if I sell some lads I don’t really need can I spend the proceeds and they’d have sad ‘sure, we’ve always let you do that in the past ‘. Anyway you riddle this, the manager has come down on the side of not making a big investment (unless something unexpected happens before Thursday). I think it comes down to the following , in klopp’s mind : The only way I adequately cover Salah or Mane is by buying someone I know is going to be as good as them. That player costs a fortune and doesn’t want to sign to play second fiddle. He’s not satisfied that he’ll merely ‘get games’. So that £100m plus guy is a non starter. Then you look to the market for the next tier down . You look for a Mahrez. Those kind aren’t ten a penny either. Also their quality is in doubt. Lots looked at Mahrez but there was no stampede for him. Again , at this tier, some will join for money, others won’t for fear of being second picks. If you sign the guy who’ll take the money it has knock on effects across the squad and ends up being a very very expensive deal. And for a questionable buy. City can afford to do this. We can’t , and there’s no disgrace in that. All the while Klopp is going through this thought process he’s looking around his existing squad. He’s saying to himself ‘would I rather have Riad Mahrez but starve the likes of Brewster and chamberlain of games ?’ We saw yesterday how the squad can be used. Liverpool ended up dominating a game against the best opponent they’re likely to face all season. That with only one of the front 3 on for the whole game. And it’s not about can Origi play as well as Mane. Of course he can’t . But can he do a job that maybe allows the threat to come from elsewhere . That perhaps allows Keita to be more of a focal point. Also, see Barcelona at home . No salah, no Firmino , but lots of fresh ideas .

Then we buy someone . We do kinda have to trust Klopp here. I’m good with whatever he thinks is for the best.

Yes.

I think if he is that player and looks it pretty soon, then it closes the debate.

And yet we had the better record against those sides last season. Out of 28 games against the bottom 14 we only dropped 6 points. Losing none. They lost 3 times, dropping 11 points. Me too. Big game.

We fannied about in a few games but just because the odd win comes late it doesn’t mean it’s not deserved. Also there were plenty of games where we did enough to win but didn’t get the rub of the green - Leicester home (that blatant pen), Everton away (all those chances), City away. I watched every minute of all of City’s last 12 games bar one. They made heavy weather of it in plenty of them. They were an Ineacho finish away from losing the title. They were not convincing in beating Watford at home , Bournemouth away, Burnley away, Everton away, Leicester at home. They were lucky to beat us at the Etihaad. They also lost 4 games and deservedly so. We lost just once, unluckily. I’m not having that they deserved their 98 and we fluked our 97.

Not at a reasonable price you can’t . Say Klopp wants sancho. That’s not a fanciful idea. He wanted and waited for the best defender (Van dijk) he felt was out there and midfielder (Keita) . The club also went for and got the world’s best keeper. The idea that Liverpool don’t and can’t go for the very best belongs to the past. We can argue til the end of time about whether or not Coutinho was actively sold to fund transfers but the ambition shown in the type of player pursued surely can’t be questioned. I don’t think we are planning to get Mbappe , but I don’t think the idea that we could work on a long term plan to get him is that far fetched. Klopp has also said something akin to ‘maybe this isn’t the year we spend big money’, with an implication that next year may be is. But anyway, if it’s simpler than all this and we just dont have the money then why hang on to saleable players who are unlikely to see much action ?

Ah quotes from bygone times. Everything exists within a context. The context now is that we’ve just had a 97 point season and won the European cup. But....I want us to buy another front 3 player. I think I’ve said that pretty consistently. I think the funds are there to do a significant deal for one if he becomes available . Least of all because there’s plenty of sale-able deadwood in the squad to raise money if it were truly needed . So to repeat, I don’t think a lack of activity will be down to the coffers being bare. Lack of activity could be down to : the right player not available , being prepared to wait for that player , we’re about to sign that player (or trying to). I don’t think Klopp is taking anything on the chin for the club. I think he likes to work in parallel worlds . One where he is making the absolute best of his existing squad and one where he is looking to strengthen it. Doing this enables him to not make panic buys. He seems to want to be very sure about who he brings in . We know that . In terms of this summer, I think Klopp is genuinely feeling that chamberlain, Brewster and (to a degree) Keita can effectively be like new additions to his squad . Knowing that has made him feel less pressured into adding to the squad. I’ll concede there’s a scenario where things are as Klopp stated, that this is the year to ‘pay bills’ and that maybe the money isn’t there to do a decent deal this summer . If that is the case, then that is what it is. The club have been throwing out big new contracts to existing players like confetti . I think another good season from our star men and further pay increases will be due. When your players go up levels you effectively have to buy them again . I’m typing all this and still thinking that if Klopp felt it was vital to have a new attacker in who cost £70m that he’d just have flogged Origi, Lallana , Lovren , Wilson etc . It’s not like he’s ever been denied proceeds of sales in the past.

I think we’re in for some lads . Coutinho , Zaha, others .... We’ll probs get nought but yano ....

If we don’t get Coutinho back, and he’s genuinely available on loan, it’ll be because the manager doesn’t want him. Phil would want to come back to us ahead of anyone in the premier league . I really hope Klopp wants him.

I think there’s hints that a few will be getting sold . I can see Lovren going. I can also see a late window signing. I think the wider club strategy with selling and buying is to make sure we do both when conditions are most favourable for us. So, don’t put yourselves under pressure to buy or you’ll make mistakes or overpay. Only go into the market when all conditions are perfect . Likewise , never be in a position of needing to sell. Sell only if the right offers come in . I think it’s it’s possibly an FSG doctrine that gels with how Klopp thinks naturally .

Being good again. . Hoping they’re not.

Still two rounds in the European cup to make up for them. Swap it round . What are we saying ? We’re just not getting this IMO. Institutionalised.

Exactly . If ever there’s a time to just bask and buy into what we’re about under Klopp it’s now. We’re all in it together . Let’s assume all come in good faith . It’s healthier. Imagine Klopp on this forum now. What’s he saying ? On paper , hun. On paper . In reality we have the best manager, the best foundation, the best unit, the ‘mentality monsters’. We had a better season than City. They topped us in the league by a point. We saw them off by a distance in the one they wanted to win. They’re playing catch up .

They might be about to lose one of them. They are also prepared to pay ridiculous wages to back up players . And when did City’s ‘model’ suddenly become ours ? I mean in financial terms. I think we should try to get another top forward . Again I can see that and also accept it’s not an easy thing to achieve. We’ve been broadly buying in to Jurgen’s ‘I’d rather wait and get the correct guy’ approach for a couple of years now, because we’ve seen it work , but all of a sudden we’re back to ‘for the love of good but someone, anyone ‘ ! Their’s is the most expensively assembled squad in the history of the game . Despite that, our squads are comparable . We have as much depth as them in most positions.

Leroy Sane wants out at Man City because despite getting a number of games he’s not feeling like a first pick. Of course teams have squads , who the f*** said they didn’t, but it is obviously a tougher sell to a top player when they can see their path to the first team significantly blocked . It’s also why we haven’t got another good left back in yet. You think every left back we approach doesn’t say ‘hang on a sec, what about Andy Robbo ?’

I think it would help hugely if the rest of the top 6 were better. They won 7 out of 8 games against 3rd-6th. It’s not a red herring. Yes there will be chances to play but you’re talking about players who consider themselves world class , or potentially so. They come to be top dog, not to play the games Sadio Mane doesn’t fancy. They’d arrive knowing that in the biggest games the manager has already picked his attack . As you say, anyway , getting that player is the hard part . An equivalent of a Southampton Mane now costs you £50-60m, and he definitely worries about his game time behind this Liverpool’s Mane. So then you consider a £20m outsider . But he may just not be anywhere near the level . A real outside bet. We need the player but it’s tough to get him. And I agree , I wouldn’t bet on Origi either . But I’m not Klopp.