greydos

Joelinton is too strong for football. I feel so sorry for many midfielders this year who’ll come off the pitch thinking they played rugby, such will be the humping he’ll dish out. Bruno is class as a 6+. Basically he’s a DM who’ll get 6 goals and 5 assists which is madness. Longstaff decent as the right CM but would be so much better with him second choice and Paqueta in there. My heart sank every time Dummett got the ball. Why wasn’t Lewis given a go?

Yes please!!

I adore this Paqueta video! Want him even more now!!!

We will have a Joelinton with an Eddie Howe pre-season. Chances are, we'll be seeing a Joelinton who can play a bit more next year.

He signed his contract with a Bic biro, wearing a plain white t-shirt. He’s the most solid and dependable full back we could ask for. Delighted!

Great joke about Pickford’s T-Rex arms. Whooshed loads talking about Picky being England’s number 1 etc etc. nice

The names Bruce. Steve Bruce.

He can be our Henderson in a few years time. Keep head down and learn from Eddie. Set the standards of professionalism. And you can bring energy to a steamboat midfield of cultures Brazilians

Totally agreed. Think about Joelinton’s performances, and then remember what we got from Sissoko and Wijnaldum in a relegation fight. Absolute night and day

He should live, he just won’t play for us

Who is it that argues with you about the best defender you have seen?

He looks great in this video. Loves a dinked finish one-on-one. I wish Youtube also had videos such as "Nkunku - all fluffed goals" and "Nkunku - all dispossessions" so we could do more thorough youtube scouting worthy of the full Dennis Wise title.

I tend to judge most of our rumoured transfer links through 3 lenses: what’s their ability, what’s their attitude, and what would Bruno think? Bruno would be disgusted playing with Tarkowski for a year, the non-technical donkey clogger. But I think Bruno would get onboard with Lingard and see we were building towards Europa League and up

If this is like your “Bruno may flop” gut instinct then I’m withholding my trust ;-)

The thought of Maguire stepping out from the back and bypassing Bruno instead of just looking to play it simple to Bruno is revolting!

Yes, as I acknowledged above. The point stands though. Klopp can rely on a player playing right back who has never scored a goal, in one of the most difficult and legendary end of season run-ins of all time. If this Liverpool team can play a non-scoring player at fullback to get results against mid-table teams and succeed, so can we.

I’m not so sure we need pace so much as players with a high technical ability and a Diesel engine. We lack players who live moving into space off the ball when we’re in possession. They don’t need to sprint, just to be constantly in motion, aware of their marker’s position and scanning for pockets of space. The Italy midfielders in the final of the euros had no pace between them. But the ability to constantly move positions in passing lanes and triangles means they played through England at will

I think it works in that for 2 years he’s first choice like I said. In year 3 he can try and fight to keep the shirt. At that stage (2024-2025 season) lots will hopefully have changed: (1) he’s 29/30, so getting on; (2) we’re a big team going places in Europe with high-calibre players; (3) he’s been demoted to squad player by both us and Villa in the last few years, so he may be resigned to it/accept the fact he’s reached his ceiling; (4) he might view 20+ games as acceptable in our “Project” which will be much more visible and enticing than it is now; (5) Southgate’s told him playing for us alongside his England colleague Tripps will see him in the squad for the euros (ok so the last point is pure fantasy!)

I think there’s good news for next year. Before Howe was appointed I was concerned whether he could organise a defence, which was his historical weakness. He’s proven he can do that, even with cheap parts. Now our issue is can he build our attack? Well, that’s his strength, and he’ll have loads of money to do it. So it’s all positive for me. His defence will comfortably keep us in the league next year. The success of his attacking coaching will dictate how high up the league we can go

Yes, so the job he did at full back is comparable to the job I say Targett can do at full back. Who cares if Gomez is a centre back? Does that mean Klopp didn’t play him at full back today? Does it mean Gomez attacked and overlapped today? No. He played fullback, stayed defensive, held position alongside the centre backs and Liverpool won comfortably. Targett can do that job for us

Yes. I’m saying Targett should be a starter for 2 seasons and then for seasons 3-5 move to the job Gomez does for Liverpool now. Fill in 20-odd games a season when your first choice fullbacks need a rest and don’t let standards slip. At the business end of the season having a deputy fullback who defends as a priority and perhaps doesn’t offer so much going forward is really valuable. Sometimes you need to churn out 1-0s to keep momentum going in between the “big” games. Gomez has helped Liverpool do that. Targett can do that job for us in 2024-2025 when we’ll be going after champions league, perhaps alongside a europa league campaign

I don’t think Joe Gomez has a goal in his life and he’s on the verge of winning the Quad, having played 70-odd games for Liverpool. He didn’t get forward today either. I’m fairly certain Targett can do a similar job for our team/squad the next 5 years.

Today feels like the kind of day we look back on in 2 years and are grateful. Howe will learn so much about how to counter the top teams and what we need in the transfer window. Another technical baller in centre mid, and a couple of comfortable in possession wide players to go with Tripps and Targett

The referees love protecting Liverpool! The Bruno shoulder on Mane is a foul but Jota’s thigh on Almiron isn’t? Where’s the consistency? That’s what we want ultimately. We can get at these second half I feel

I’d like: (1) a minimum of 55 points, (2) a style that sees us with more control against other mid-table teams (like how Brighton and Southampton dominate the ball against mid-table clubs), (3) a cup run, (4) at least 2 wins against top 4 opposition, preferably one away from home, (5) to finish above Manure, (6) to do the double over the PFM managers in the league (Frank, Gerrard, Allardyce/Pulis when they inevitably show up) and (7) the amazing development of a player ala Joelinton this year. Say Murphy finding his shooting boots and being an in-behind threat grabbing 12 goals, or Billy Elliott starting 15+ games, grabbing a few goals and assists. The last is almost most important to me. I love the idea Eddie gives us added value by taking an ordinary player and making him exceptional. Imagine the fewm from everyone else when we have unlimited millions but don’t need to spend them all because our manager is an alchemist!