Football 2025-26

[kaosmark2]

4 minutes ago, lost said:

 

Well sounds like he's been dropped from the squad to face Inter. I'm still not convinced Slott is going to outlast him though. What ever the reasons, the optics of having last years top premiership scorer and last years second top premership scorer on the bench whilst Liverpools form has been so bad isn't great.

I think the next few weeks will impact that a lot. If Salah's in great form for Egypt and Liverpool lose to Inter and continue to struggle in the league, you can see a change being made to try and secure CL qualification (both to knockout stages this season and in the Prem for next season). But I can't see any new manager being backed massively in January - they might get one, maybe two defensive signings and that's it.

[thetime]

20 minutes ago, lost said:

 

Well sounds like he's been dropped from the squad to face Inter. I'm still not convinced Slott is going to outlast him though. What ever the reasons, the optics of having last years top premiership scorer and last years second top premership scorer on the bench whilst Liverpools form has been so bad isn't great.

 

Well if Liverpool do not make top 5, he probably will be gone. Which with utd, Newcastle and Spurs as bad as Liverpool they should be walking into the top 5. 

 

 

[Skip997]

19 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

Well if Liverpool do not make top 5, he probably will be gone. Which with utd, Newcastle and Spurs as bad as Liverpool they should be walking into the top 5. 

 

 

With the talent they have available Liverpool should be in a battle for the title. However, if you look at the form table for the last 10 games, they’re in relegation form. Regardless of various extenuating circumstances, this is on Slot. 

[charlierc]

5 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Crazy after last season and the career he has had at Liverpool, Salah will more than likely never wear a Liverpool shirt again. 

 

Very Roy Keane. 

Am I right in thinking the transcript of that Roy Keane interview in 2005 where he essentially wrote his own P45 has never been released?

 

Quite something it was a preview of things to come with the vicious takes and curmudgeon vibe he gives off as a pundit tbf.

 

I'll be intrigued to see if that translates to the screen with that film based on him and Mick McCarthy's falling out before the 2002 World Cup that's out in a few weeks.

[charlierc]

4 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Well if Liverpool do not make top 5, he probably will be gone. Which with utd, Newcastle and Spurs as bad as Liverpool they should be walking into the top 5. 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Skip997 said:

With the talent they have available Liverpool should be in a battle for the title. However, if you look at the form table for the last 10 games, they’re in relegation form. Regardless of various extenuating circumstances, this is on Slot. 

Eh. Football would be boring if what happened in theory always translated to what you saw on the pitch.

 

Villa's seeming emergence as a title dark horse complicates things a little, but my suspicions remain that we could get to the other side of the Christmas/New Year glut of football and still not really be that much closer to seeing whose European bids are the strongest. There's a lot of a much-of-a-muchness, which is perhaps why we have a scenario where Palace in 4th to Bournemouth in 13th is just 6 points.

 

Given Salah is left out of the squad for Inter tomorrow and will probably be left out of the last game before he's meant to be heading to AFCON, it's enough to wonder if he'll be sold in January. Maybe not for the £150mil a Saudi club allegedly offered in 2023, but still for a fee.

 

It seems as though they want it to work with Slot but I'm aware such a shot across the bows from a star player is adding to the sense of turmoil over there. Whether changing the manager can bring in somebody that can fashion out of a Liverpool squad now seemingly full of square pegs in round holes is another matter.

[charlierc]

5 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

I mean, Salah fell out with Klopp 4 months before Klopp left because he wasn't doing the pressing work. I got slated here a year ago for saying Salah isn't contributing 80 minutes of a game, it's just being papered over because in the other 10 he usually scores or assists.

 

The bad form from March onwards arose from the exact same midfield 3 being played twice a week for the entire season, while having to do the defensive work of Salah on top of their own, and then they just ran out of energy.

 

They then spend £450m on the rebuild and shift to a new system that no longer puts Salah as the focus, while simultaneously offering him a 2-year contract on huge wages. Salah, Isak, Wirtz, Ekitike all promised the chance to be the main man. Meanwhile Diaz, the attacking player who naturally did the most pressing and defensive work gets sold, and no dedicated DM gets bought to free up all these box-to-box talents that were already there.

 

Szoboszlai is still playing brilliantly tbf, but MacAllister looks a shadow of the player he was the last 2 seasons.

I don't think it was wrong of Liverpool to try and refresh the squad - they had the PSR/FFP headroom, the squad clearly ran out of steam in the last few months last season and Slot clearly felt the PSG tie was a sign that there was an argument for building something different.

 

But yeah, like you say, it's asking a lot of Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai to go again, and even moreso for the last of them given he seems to have been asked to play in 4 different positions this season. Although it's quite something for the flow of this season that I thought it was embarrassing for Harvey Barnes to struggle against him, yet a few weeks ago he went on a hot streak for us.

 

It's just a lot of square pegs in round holes imo - Frimpong for me feels like a deep-lying winger asked to play a position he's not comfortable with (and struggling with fitness too), Kerkez would've been a better fit for last season's Liverpool than the current one, Wirtz is struggling, Isak functions better with wingers that are oriented around him rather than this current dynamic, Ekiteke went off the boil for a bit when they tried to integrate Isak (I know he scored 2 at Leeds but still) and the decision to have only van Dijk and Konate at CB is ageing like milk.

 

Plus yeah, no replacement for Diaz with Gakpo not really being as effective and the lack of someone younger than Endo as a challenger at DM isn't working either.

 

Salah's a separate issue imo. I'd forgotten tbf that his relationship with Klopp ruptured just before the end of Klopp's time there. Maybe he's just one of those players who takes a my way or the high way attitude.

[charlierc]

Tbf, for all the noise and hysteria around Liverpool, and I've contributed to it with these posts, shout-out for Leeds, no? This week of Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool looked brutal for a team as out of form as they were, yet here they are taking 4 points, which could've easily been 5 as they gave Man City a lot of problems.

 

I will note Sunderland giving Liverpool problems and nearly winning at Anfield but for Chiesa's block shows another team that aren't going to just roll over. Or maybe that's something for us to worry about given the hysteria that a Tyne-Wear Derby brings at the best of times. Warming up for it by sort-of half-arsedly beating Burnley is an odd way to go about that. Bruno's goal from a corner going in - nice. Nearly conceding an equaliser to 10 men and a team in woeful form - less so. Plus I guess it depends who has the energy to go again after going to Leverkusen in the Champions League on Wednesday.

[kaosmark2]

31 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I don't think it was wrong of Liverpool to try and refresh the squad - they had the PSR/FFP headroom, the squad clearly ran out of steam in the last few months last season and Slot clearly felt the PSG tie was a sign that there was an argument for building something different.

 

But yeah, like you say, it's asking a lot of Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai to go again, and even moreso for the last of them given he seems to have been asked to play in 4 different positions this season. Although it's quite something for the flow of this season that I thought it was embarrassing for Harvey Barnes to struggle against him, yet a few weeks ago he went on a hot streak for us.

 

It's just a lot of square pegs in round holes imo - Frimpong for me feels like a deep-lying winger asked to play a position he's not comfortable with (and struggling with fitness too), Kerkez would've been a better fit for last season's Liverpool than the current one, Wirtz is struggling, Isak functions better with wingers that are oriented around him rather than this current dynamic, Ekiteke went off the boil for a bit when they tried to integrate Isak (I know he scored 2 at Leeds but still) and the decision to have only van Dijk and Konate at CB is ageing like milk.

 

Plus yeah, no replacement for Diaz with Gakpo not really being as effective and the lack of someone younger than Endo as a challenger at DM isn't working either.

 

Salah's a separate issue imo. I'd forgotten tbf that his relationship with Klopp ruptured just before the end of Klopp's time there. Maybe he's just one of those players who takes a my way or the high way attitude.

Oh me neither. It's more where they reinforced and how they bought a lot of star attackers without adding a defensive midfielder or centre back, and after giving Salah the huge contract.

 

Funny though.

[charlierc]

15 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Oh me neither. It's more where they reinforced and how they bought a lot of star attackers without adding a defensive midfielder or centre back, and after giving Salah the huge contract.

 

Funny though.

Well I saw some Liverpool fans suggesting they brought a new Galacticos and it's something to see it resemble the odd Galacticos at Real Madrid circa 2003-06 - lots of glitzy fancy parts but a lack of a cohesive system to get them together and too many players who want to be the star at once.

[Skip997]

15 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Oh me neither. It's more where they reinforced and how they bought a lot of star attackers without adding a defensive midfielder or centre back, and after giving Salah the huge contract.

 

Funny though.

I was “crying out” all summer, that they needed a defensive midfielder and centre back and that chasing Isak was madness. 

[kaosmark2]

20 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

I was “crying out” all summer, that they needed a defensive midfielder and centre back and that chasing Isak was madness. 

Yep you were. I think I mentioned the recruitment looked lopsided but I was trying not to focus on that to reduce emphasis of the bitterness.

[charlierc]

59 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

I was “crying out” all summer, that they needed a defensive midfielder and centre back and that chasing Isak was madness. 

 

38 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Yep you were. I think I mentioned the recruitment looked lopsided but I was trying not to focus on that to reduce emphasis of the bitterness.

Aye I remember Skip saying he wanted Guehi more than Isak. A transfer I think they would've got done had they not been distracted by the Isak fun and games. Selling Quansah has also not aged well as it took away a PL-level back-up option.

[charlierc]

FA Cup Third Round Draw threw up some curious ones. I can't say Bournemouth at home excites me as a Toon fan given all-PL ties are a bit meh and our record against Bournemouth is honking. Spurs v Villa was also an FA Cup tie last season too, so it's hard to be excited about that. To say nothing too of things like all Championship ties, which I can imagine both sides approach with a real "what's the point" feeling.

 

A few ties look like better potential for fun though - Macclesfield v Palace feels like a decent tie for a home side that are rebuilding from liquidation, Portsmouth v Arsenal is like a throwback to late 2000s PL days, Charlton I seem to remember had a good record against Chelsea back in the day, Wrexham v Forest feels like it'll have a TV company sniffing around it, I guess Exeter get a financial boost from going to the Etihad, etc, etc. Not sure where ethe upsets are necessarily coming from though.

[Skip997]

17 minutes ago, charlierc said:

 

Aye I remember Skip saying he wanted Guehi more than Isak. A transfer I think they would've got done had they not been distracted by the Isak fun and games. Selling Quansah has also not aged well as it took away a PL-level back-up option.

It felt like we’re going get this done just because we can without any real consideration of what to do with him or how to use him. Felt especially weird when Ekitike was doing so well. 

[charlierc]

On 07/12/2025 at 15:05, thetime said:

At least its kept Amorim out of the headlines, until we lose to Wolves. 😂

Banana skin avoided there huh. 

 

Somebody will lose to Wolves eventually but right now they just look broken and pretty much bound for the Championship already. That first Man Utd goal yesterday had some spectacularly hopeless defending. 

[thetime]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

Banana skin avoided there huh. 

 

Somebody will lose to Wolves eventually but right now they just look broken and pretty much bound for the Championship already. That first Man Utd goal yesterday had some spectacularly hopeless defending. 

 

Only managed to catch last half hour,  as I was working.

 

As my 2 boys are wolves fans, very much a relief. 😃

[pink_triangle]

It feels strange to me as a Wrexham supporter that we could beat a premiership team (likely a second string Forest team) and I wouldn’t be surprised. As said previously the saddest thing about the third round is those teams who are level at 90 minute won’t get that well deserved replay.

[charlierc]

7 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

It feels strange to me as a Wrexham supporter that we could beat a premiership team (likely a second string Forest team) and I wouldn’t be surprised. As said previously the saddest thing about the third round is those teams who are level at 90 minute won’t get that well deserved replay.

Certainly I'm aware a lot of lower PL/Champ sides often get picked off in Round 3 upsets, so the chances are not zero.

[charlierc]

Given Liverpool beat Real Madrid and last night won in the San Siro against Inter, maybe the system they're trying to put together works better in European games or something. Although it was a fairly soft penalty given in their favour (I think it was one tbf, but still soft, even if it's more on Bastoni to not to do that, and I'm aware of the lengthy debate about whether it was or was not a handball before their disallowed first half goal).

Edited December 10, 2025 by charlierc

[kaosmark2]

Can we stop conceding after the 85th minute please? Starting to get very irritating.

[charlierc]

9 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Can we stop conceding after the 85th minute please? Starting to get very irritating.

Agreed. Third game in a row that's happened, to go with multiple times earlier in the season. It's becoming a regular habit and not a very good one. 

[gary1979666]

11 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Can we stop conceding after the 85th minute please? Starting to get very irritating.

If you could do that on Sunday, that would be marvellous!

 

[kaosmark2]

5 hours ago, charlierc said:

Agreed. Third game in a row that's happened, to go with multiple times earlier in the season. It's becoming a regular habit and not a very good one. 

Saw a model that if PL games ended at the 85th minute this season we'd be 3rd. Most game-changing late goals conceded and fewest scored. There's bits of just accepting some of these but this is now a frustrating pattern.

[kaosmark2]

3 hours ago, gary1979666 said:

If you could do that on Sunday, that would be marvellous!

Feels like it'll be a close game. Your form has dipped and ours improved, but with these late goals we've been conceding I doubt there'll be a morale thing for it. Last game before 1/3 of your squad goes off to AFCON right? How are you thinking about the packed xmas schedule while playing with a thinner squad?

[Comfy Bean]

Scotland getting less than 4000 tickets for our opening WC game. It’s so bad it’s almost funny. Looking like similar picture for everyone. Slight increase in the bigger stadiums.

Prices also way higher than uefa charged in Germany