I agree that I don't think we can be to critical at this stage. It needs to be said that I think part of the results the past two weeks have been the pure and raw emotions woven into the fabric of the games. One being the grieving of Jota for the first game back at Anfield with his family in attendance, and the other because of the opposing fans being juiced through the roof with hate and vitriol because we are trying to buy their best player and the way he has acted. I think the emotions around these two games have been beyond even what we have seen, and that has been a huge part of the insane swings in momentum in both. I bet those guys and those coaches are looking forward to playing Arsenal because it'll be the most normal environment they've played in, in months.

The things I think we can be somewhat critical of is Konate being dog crap to start the season (either give him a new contract or get him gone), lack of build up to get the front guys the ball, and an overall lack of cohesion whether that be due to injuries, new bodies etc. Cohesiveness was maybe my main concern coming into this season because from the get go I felt like we were turning over a huge amount of this team, which I don't disagree needed to be done but always felt like it was going to take some time and we are seeing that play out in real time. Just take Ekitike passing the ball for example; he's just whacking it up there right now and has almost no clue where guys are going to be because he doesn't know their tendency's yet.

Kerkez is the only signing I feel like has been "poor" so far, although I thought he was way better today than Bournemouth. Ekitike and Frimpong I think have been great, while Wirtz is incomplete. I know he's going to get some flack for the start to the season, but we gotta give Wirtz time. We've been so bad at getting him the ball in areas to let him operate that I really don't' think it's fair to judge; same could be said for Salah. On the positive side I thought he competed physically much better today and was willing to throw his body around more etc.

We need more though. I don't really care what it is at the moment but they need another attacker and defender minimum.

If healthy (which I think he is), would y'all start Joe Gomez at CB over Konate for Sunday? There's some arguments either way I think.

We won't bench him, but he's been absolute garbage over the last 10 or so matches going back to last season. He's the slowest person on the pitch in every game and his transition defense is awful. He's not even great in the air. He's turned into pre-Klopp Hendo and immediately back passes 50 yds to Alisson when there is a defender within 10 yards of him. I'm a hard no at $200K/week.

I though Dom was excellent last night playing RB. Someone touched on it earlier but our midfield is not able to control matches at this point and continues to get run through. I think that gets better when are able to play Macca and Gravy together, but it's a concern. Kerkez so far the least impressive signing. Wirtz will be fine. He wasn't great yesterday, but I thought he was good against Bournemouth. He was everywhere. He needs space and he had none yesterday. Wild match though. We need more signings asap!

You have to start Ibou. Joe may be "healthy", but is he match fit? Last game he played, he was on for 20 minutes and then couldn't train for 3 days. Thats not what you want to roll out vs the chief title challengers.

Ibou wasn't great yesterday, but we would have viewed his performance better if he wasn't left completely exposed by that ridiculously high line we set. In a post match interview Slot even commented that in retrospect it was a bad idea. I think the idea actually came from the bench, so that one might be on Arne.

In general, Newcastle cause us great problems with their physicality. We lost a cup to them in a neutral venue last year and playing in SJP is always a beating. Last year Robbo gave up tons of big chances because he couldn't compete for headers on the back post, they obviously had the same strategy this year.

A note on Kerkez. One of the reasons he is struggling is that there is literally no room for him to operate offensively. The left wing has become incredibly clogged, either on purpose or not. There is regularly at least one person hugging the touchline and another in the channel. As such, he is basically just a 3rd CB. If we don't adjust our tactics, we basically bought a ferrari to go offroading.

Idk...I'll push back some here. Ibou has been probably the worst player in both games to start the season, and I thought he played that ball straight down the middle really really poorly. You play the high line in that scenario so the Giants of Newcastle aren't already just camped inside your box and all they have to do is get a head on it. Ibou cannot let that ball hit the ground, and if he does he needs to be whacking it into orbit. It's easier said that done, but that ball cannot hit the ground under any circumstances, and that's been his biggest issue. He's not attacking the ball, he's losing duels, he's tentative etc.

On Kerkez I agree, he's being forced to play a defensive game and that's not his bread and butter. My concern for Kerkez is that he doesn't appear to be near the athlete that I thought he was. I understand Elanga is a rocket ship, but the way Elanga flew by Kerkez raised my eyebrows a bit.

I personally think it was far too much space to cover. They had tons of free kicks in our end and they only beat us once in the box. That opportunity didn't exist until we set that line. I understand the logic for setting it so high, but we hadn't defended a single free kick like that in the entire game. We just arbitrarily changed our game plan and it burned us.

Ibou hasn't been great, but I still think he is our best option on Sunday. If he is struggling, we can do more to protect him while he gets his game right. Joemez is just too much of a wild card to trust in such a big game at this point.

As for Kerkez, I know the exact play you are talking about and it pissed me off when lost that foot race too. I agree that his top speed doesn't look that great, but he is a relentless athlete. He may get beat for pace, but he works hard. We'll have to see if he is able to carve out a niche on that flank. Lets give him time though. Keep in mind that Robbo, who I once thought was the best LB in the world, could not displace Alberto Moreno when he first arrive at Liverpool.

Crazy stat here; Arne Slot mentioned after the game yesterday that the ball was only in play for 40.8% of the total time in the game. Meaning set piece after set piece and long throw after long throw. That would be the lowest since 2010.

I actually thought about this some over the first two weeks, but I absolutely hate the long throw and it's going to be a major point of contention this year. Slot himself mentioned this offseason that we needed to get better at it ourselves. But for me it's not within the spirit of the game and wastes an inordinate amount of time. You waste 30+ seconds if not more with a team like Newcastle just lumbering up to the box when the ball is half way to the end line and midfield. It's ridiculous. Just like they have done with the goal keeper not holding the ball for 8 seconds, I think they are going to eventually need to introduce an 8 second rule for throw ins, almost like an inbounds play in basketball. If you don't get someone on the ball and get rid of the ball within 8 seconds the other team gets it.

Looking like a game of chicken on both Guehi and Isak. It's going to go down to the wire.

Doesn't surprise me all that much imo. Some of the only leverage selling clubs have is the deadline. Running deals till the end of the deadline allows them to squeeze every last penny out of the buying clubs. It also gives the buying club time to facilitate getting a replacement for them.

Bajcetic is staying at Liverpool. I hope he can get healthy and earn some decent minutes. I still have hope he can become a good player.

Champions League draw today ….Real Madrid at Anfield again. Not as spicy with TAA being benched though….

Not a bad draw!

#LFC's Champions League fixtures..
Real Madrid H
Inter A
Atletico Madrid H
Frankfurt A
PSV H
Marseille A
Qarabag H
Galatasaray A

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) August 28, 2025

#LFC's Champions League fixtures..
Real Madrid H
Inter A
Atletico Madrid H
Frankfurt A
PSV H
Marseille A
Qarabag H
Galatasaray A

Every team except Qarabag on that list is interesting. Should be a fun Champion's League season.

Newcastle have signed a No. 9. I repeat, Newcastle have signed a No. 9.

Woltemade from Stuttgart for 85 million. Which is preposterous money.

Tksymm7 said:

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Newcastle have signed a No. 9. I repeat, Newcastle have signed a No. 9.

Woltemade from Stuttgart for 85 million. Which is preposterous money.

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Yes, but they'll refill their coffers from us

Still need a CB though

Looks like Guehi is still on track

Palace finished their Conference League Qual today and advanced. Guessing they probably wanted to keep Guehi in the fold for that. He was a monster today btw.

Guehi would be cup tied if he moved now, right?

I don't think qualification rounds count for that. I'm pretty sure Eze and Guehi can both play in UCL.

I've been thinking about Guehi, and while we'd be giving up some aerial prowess (Guehi is only 6'1"), I think it could really help this team with moving the ball up the field. At this stage in VVDs career he's more of a sit back, win aerial duels, take great angles and ping long balls type of defender. Guehi is very much the opposite of that; he can run with the ball, is a very good link up passer etc. Might be a nice change of pace.

Trent dropped from the England squad! I will be honest, this all feels a little much. He hasn't even played 10 matches in a Madrid shirt and he can't get into the squad over Djed Spence or Jordan Henderson?

I get the sense that Madrid are turning him into a full-time midfielder, and because of that England wants no part of it until he's a finished product.

Ollie Glasner is doing his best outward lip service to keep Marc Guehi. We'll see what happens over the next 24 hours or so. Stuff needs to get done here pretty dang quickly on all fronts.

In terms of the game for Sunday; I'm really excited. I think it'll be a good game and glad it's at home. Might be the most "normal" game we have played in months. As good as Szbo has been recently, and considering Maca has been in and out of the lineup with a slow preseason build-up, having a kid etc., would you go with a midfield of Gravenberch and Szbo or Gravenberch and Maca? I say this fully believing that Wirtz is starting and there's about zero chance you take him out even though an argument could be made.

Tksymm7 said:

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I get the sense that Madrid are turning him into a full-time midfielder, and because of that England wants no part of it until he's a finished product.

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This is exactly what is happening.

Also, I'd start Gravy and Macca. We need more stability and defensive cover against Arsenal. Dom was basically playing RB on Monday and Curtis was playing more central so I think Curtis and Dom go to the bench (Dom was fantastic btw). Macca 60' and then Dom for 30' depending on game flow.

Id start Dom at RB again to be honest. Id like to see Bradley get back into game shape against a lesser opponent.

You're probably right. I have to imagine that someone would have mentioned that by now if that were the case.

Keep an eye out today. I think we're going to get the "here we go" from Romano on Isak while we're watching college football.

Yep, trending that way it seems

Word on the street is that the deal is all but done at 130M. Just waiting for timing to introduce Woltmade and after Newcastle's game.

Liverpool have submitted a new bid of 35 million pounds worth a 10% sell on fee for Guehi.

So reading the tea leaves this morning, Gomez to Milan if an only if we get Guehi.

Isak…who knows. Reports of it going either way.