rgk_lfc

Klopp has been open about the fact that Salah was Edward's signing. The difference of opinion happened with contract renegotiation. Klopp wanted extensions for Hendo and Gini and Edward's didn't. On a different note, I read some of the suggestions that Howe wanted folks from Bournemouth as they were his mates. Irrespective of what you think about Howe, there are certain things we can agree upon. He is intelligent, talented, motivated, driven and absolutely wants to succeed. Why would such a person offer potentially the most important job after him in the organization to his mate amd not to the best available person?

Honestly, I'm unsure as to what really happened. I don't think we shifted to a manager-buying model. Maybe Klopp had more input? I can never really say. FSG is committed to having a bit of separation from manager and player purchasing. I do believe even though Edwards left, the underlying background team was still there, providing all the input. I wish I knew more. But other than gossip from journos, I don't think anyone has any real clue as to what happened other than Klopp and the team.

Multiple things can be true at the same time. Is this a win for Man Utd? Yes. Is this a short term loss for you? Yes. Will you be fine in the medium term? Absolutely. To me the DOF approach's success is more about the owners than the individual DOF. Brighton, Brentford- they all deem to do well even after important people leave. After Edwards left, there was a dip in our transfer hit rate but we seem to have recovered. Your owners seem committed to this model. So you should be fine.

City are a monster team in the second half of the season. They play almost perfect football in the PL. This season, the chance to pull away was when Haaland, KDB, and Rodri were injured. Now they are within firing distance, and a three to six-point gap is nothing for them.

Outside of the physical injuries, don't discount the mental effect of dropping out of the CL after giving such a good account due to obvious refereeing mistakes. When you get so near and miss out, it takes time to rebound from that. The mental effect of getting close to the quad and missing out was highlighted by several of our players last year.

Whether we create a gap or not will not matter. City now have Rodri back. At some point, they will get KDB back and click into gear and win 20 games in a row. We have all seen this movie multiple times.

I know it is not a popular opinion around here but Klopp is a brilliant manager. He has been luck or clever enough to pick jobs where he is supported by a brilliant back office infrastructure at Dortmund and Liverpool. Howe is a brilliant manager too but still figuring things out. He is at Klopp's Mainz or early Dortmund stage of development. You also have a brilliant background team but which is still establishing itself. When you are improving a club based on processes and innovative practice on and off the pitch, patience is required. It is not always linear.

What you are experiencing is exactly what we experience under Klopp when there are large number of injuries relative to fixture congestion. Once this eases, I have no doubt you will finish strongly. By the way, full press tactics is plan A and plan B and plan C. I remember Klopp stating if plan A is not working, then we fix it. You either commit to it 100% or you don't. It is not possible for a squad to commit to it, and then go back to a more defensive style and then return back to it. For managers who believe in counterparts, it is more of a squad ethos thing than just tactics.

Rumors that Everton are going to be hit with a 12 point deduction due to FFP breaches.

Give him time and patience, Poch will fix the mess that is Chelsea squad.

Oh please, sorry. Not supporting Klopp or Arteta but Neville acting like an elder statement after pushing every rule to the limits and crossing lines to gain a favor is a bit too much. Former referee Dermot Gallagher has lifted the lid on Sir Alex Ferguson's intimidation tactics. And, with figures showing 'Fergie Time' has been slashed since the Scot's departure, the official has revealed the pressure referees were under during Manchester United home matches. More here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2553037/I-know-3-1-call-Former-ref-Gallagher-lifts-lid-Fergies-influence-referees.html I have nothing against any team doing everything in their power to gain an advantage. But stop acting like a statesman for sportsmanship and releasing statements after spending your entire career doing nothing but that.

Mikel Arteta says the match officials deserve support in situations where errors occur. “They are trying to make the best decisions. We need to understand that mistakes happen.” Arteta's comment on the Diaz goal.

Forget temporary suspension, Darren England shouldn't be allowed to VAR a game anymore. The only reason I believe PGMOL hasn't announced his firing is that, potentially there are far worse out there who haven't been caught out like this.

Less than 5. Release clauses have to be paid in lump sum, no staggered payments. That is my understanding. That reduces the number of clubs in Europe to PSG and maybe Boehly.

You have had to face not just good teams; you had to face Emery, Pep, Klopp, and De Zerbi - who are in most opinions among the top 8-10 managers operating in Europe currently. Howe has always outperformed in practically 90% of the seasons he has been the manager. And he has done that by playing aesthetically pleasing football. The difference is this is the first time he is in the spotlight. His performance last season put NUFC on the map across Europe. Now managers and their teams will spend a lot of time analyzing his style of play, limitations, defensive positions, attacking patterns, how best to handle, etc. It is going to be interesting to see how he evolves when he is scrutinized to a higher degree than he is used to. Given the fact that he has always come out better in the past in response to challenges, I would bet on him being successful. Having said that, I don't expect it to be linear and there are going to be ups and downs. Whether your fanbase and owners have the patience for it, I cannot answer that.

Thanks

Sorry. Been very busy the past month. New job and recently became a dad . Football is a bit low on my list of priorities for the next few months. I honestly have nothing insightful to add other than bewilderment. I have no clue why we went all in for Caicedo. I have posted here that one needs to be careful about spending huge sums of money on players from clubs that play in well-defined systems, such as Brighton, Dortmund, RB, etc. There will always be exceptions, such as Haaland, Lewa, and Gundogan, but for the most part, they won't live up to the price tag. Caicedo is a great player, but not sure about breaking the British transfer record for him. The part I don't like is our consistent attempts at trying to sign players who are obviously going to other clubs - Tchouameni, Bellingham, Caicedo, and now Lavia also. I am very happy about the Mac Allister and Szoboszlai purchases. We still need a number 6. Endo can be a stopgap. We also have a collection of youngsters - Harvey Elliott, Bajcetic, Curtis Jones - who all have shown that they belong to the premier league but are still unsure if we rely on them over the season for a top 4 finish. Definitely expecting a season in transition.

Carra always caters to the fans who throw their toys out of the prams. We got two of our targets done. They weren't expecting the Saudis to bid for Henderson and Fabinho and they definitely were not expecting Henderson to push for the move. The transfers were also a bit protracted as both Henderson and Fabinho needed time to "think" about the move. Once that is done, they are now looking for replacements. I am not saying the LFC transfer committee or scouting is perfect or amazing, but it is definitely not as bad as it has been made out to be. Some of the journos who have inside sources have also said that the Saudi influx of money has sort of confused the market as several clubs are now in the mode of, do we accept or is there a chance of a big Saudi bid incoming? Southampton value Lavia at 50 million plus. Which is completely fair as he is their player. They can demand 50 million plus or 100 million plus. It looks like LFC values him around 40 million, according to journalists with insider knowledge. I have no clue how they come up with the 40 million. There is a dance going on now to arrive at a compromise. Often, we don't reveal bid details in public like this. I am betting it is the Southampton side releasing the information to get the attention of clubs like Newcastle, Man United or Chelsea. Again, not a criticism. They are using it to drive the price as high as possible.

Yes, he is declining, but Salah is still a monster contributor in goals, assists, and, more importantly, defensively. He is 31 and still presses and protects the right-hand side like a warrior.

Kagawa, Mkhitaryan, Keita, Sahin - there is a decent list of players going to well coached teams and not living up to their transfer hype.

Before Leicester, there was Southampton. Their owner died, daughter wasn't all that interested, the background team started leaving one by one leading to the current situation. As long as Bloom is around, Brighton will be more than fine. He is the best poker player among all owners in Europe. He pulled Chelsea's pants down with the Cucurella and Potter. At some point, they will stumble and maybe even get relegated. But in the long term, Brighton will be fine. I expect the same out of Leicester, by the way. I know the previous owner's son isn't as invested into Leicester as the previous owner. But they have put together a good footballing infrastructure. In a couple of years, they will be back up and established as a PL team.

In general, clubs should be careful about paying high prices for players from Dortmund, Brighton, RB etc. as they have very clearly defined style of plays and pick players who fit that mould. There will always be Gundogan or Lewa who shine in most systems, but a majority of these signings wont live up to their reputation once they are outside the system.

Bayern squad plus Kane, Walker, central defender from Napoli. Tuchel being manager. They are strong favorites to win the CL at least once in the next three years.

I think fans of every club are overly negative about the transfer misses and look at other clubs' transfers with rose-tinted glasses. We have had plenty of players turn us down. In general, I like that we have abandoned (either by design or after getting rejected repeatedly) trying for players Bellingham and Tchouameni and started focusing on the tier below that. There is a risk, but that is how we built the previous team. Given the upheaval in midfield, this coming season will be a bit of a transition. I like all the players we have bought and their potential. Mac Allister, Szoboslai, Jones, Bajcetic, Elliott, and hopefully Lavia - there is a lot to work with there.