rgk_lfc

The official reason is new challenge as @Ikon posted. Lot of rumors linking him to various jobs around Europe. One of the articles also mentioned, he might be setting up his own statistical consultancy firm or something.

Michael Edwards, our DOF announced he is stepping down at the end of this season. He is a very close friend of Eddie Howe. A big loss for us.

Jiminez was 29 years old when we bought Jota. Jota was 23 around the time we bought him. Both would have cost approximately the same. Makes sense we went for the younger player. Even if both players were the same age I think most fans would have preferred Jota out of the two. Jiminez is quality, but I think Jota has a higher ceiling. It is not just the goals and assists. He has much better technique and a lot of intangibles . Of course, all of this is with the benefit of hindsight.

Rafa is very loyal to folks who show him loyalty and McParland and Owen Brown, IMO, are folks who used that loyalty to further their own career. McParland is good, don't get me wrong. He instituted a lot of programs which were well received. He is very good at communicating with youth team members, their parents, assuring them. When young players are let go, he keeps in touch with them a year or two after they are let go, helps them get jobs or spots in other academies. He also instituted some programs in our academy so that youth team players have other options if they don't make the mark. Basically, a downright nice person whom the parents and young players trust and reach out if they have issues. But not the most technically advanced coach and definitely not the type who keeps in touch with the latest developments in youth player development happening in Bayern or RB or Dortmund or Monaco and implement them here. I don't think he will get a job at any premier league club nowadays as an academy director nowadays without Rafa pushing for him. Owen Brown's influence on Rafa is puzzling. He has nothing to offer - not a great player, not a coach, not a great scout, doesn't have the connections or the influence among players. Not quite sure what he is doing in Rafa's coterie. He keeps on popping up in some form wherever Rafa gets a job. When things were not going well for Rafa at LFC, among the people who had inside knowledge, even his supporters were wondering why Rafa was associating himself with Owen Brown.

Nope. All it shows is that whether you are Everton or Barcelona, if you spend money without a strategy or theme you will be in trouble sooner or later. You are owned by an investment fund supported by a sovereign wealth fund. But it is still an investment fund and they will be looking at returns on investment. FSG bought us for 200 or 300 million and we are valued at 2 billion plus now. PIF bought you for 200-300 and the plan will be to raise your valuation to north of 3 or 4 billion in 10-15 years. The thing with being owned by investment funds is that these folks always have a strategy, long term plan in mind. Us fans we are emotional. Our state is often defined by weekends results. These folks think differently. Every decision your owners take will be with the medium to long term goal in mind. I have no doubt that the plans for your club will be a lot more focused. Everything will be targeted towards achieving success within a time frame and thus improving the value of the club.

Definitely his red card against City hurt us in the final two games. Not sure if I would label it as the main reason though. Truth is we had started to run out of gas. Suarez had 3 goals and 1 assist in the final 8 games of that title challenge. He had 28 goals and 16 assists in the previous 25 games. He was "pressed" out and we could see that in every player. And we could not rest Suarez, or Sturridge, or Gerrard or Coutinho due to lack of options. Henderson was a key player in the pressing football we played that season. His nonavailability against Chelsea was a factor, no doubt about it. But at the same time I am a bit hesitant to call it the reason we couldn't win the league. We put in a herculean effort but just couldn't cross the line. That's how I like to think about it.

Henderson is a technically above average player, has incredible stamina and most importantly can follow instructions to the letter. He is one of the best at leading the press from the midfield and can quickly control and release the ball. This makes him gold dust for someone like Klopp or Rodgers. He is nowhere even close to Kante but he is an important player for us. There is an element of right time, right coach aspect to his growth. But at the same time I don't want to diminish Henderson's contribution to his growth also. It is not pure luck. He is the type who puts in everything to maximize the talent he has. He has a clearly defined role for us and gives us 7-8/10 performances day in day out. In a non-counterpressing, more slow build up team like England, he is not a good fit. He is very impressive in the right system. At the same time, he is not that uber talented that his quality shines through in any system.

Given how the press likes to hype up every half decent talent, I am surprised at the lack of hype around Greenwood. From whatever little I have seen of him, he might be the best of the new age highly technical English footballers.

I am surprised in general at the lack of respect for Brendan Rodgers among general football fans. My thoughts about him and his tenure at LFC. Personally I think he is a brilliant coach, excellent developer of young attacking talents, has a sound idea about how football is to be played, open minded about modern techniques, and really knows how to coach attacking football. He is just a level below elite in my opinion and that is not a criticism. As a coach and as a manager, he is a work in progress still and as he develops further, he can definitely reach that elite status. He does have some issues to iron out. At LFC, for some odd reason, he pretty much was against the transfer committee DOF model from the word go and constantly fought with them. The reason why it was odd is that identifying players was one of his weakness. He tended to stick to players whom he coached at Chelsea youth teams, Swansea, or who were coached by network of coaches he trusted - Borini, Allen etc. He also did not have the pull to attract players from Europe and often asked Stevie G to text players or sit in phone calls with players. Given that was his weakness, not quite sure why he aggressively fought against the DOF model. It looks like he has overcome that at Leicester who run a similar setup to Liverpool. Regarding comparisons to David Brent. Yes, he does come across as self congratulatory in press conferences. But I can assure you one thing. During his tenure at Liverpool and even post his LFC tenure, not even once was he disrespectful or patronizing towards us fans. He has always interacted and talked about us with utmost respect and humility. He is unfairly criticized or made fun of using the portrait he has of himself at home. From my memory, that was portrait which a disabled Swansea fan gifted him and he hung that in his home as a sign of respect to that fan. Somehow, that was used as a stick to ridicule him with. He is similar to Rafa in the sense that he has quirks which makes it easy for opposition fans to make fun off, but he is a genuinely nice person. He is not given enough credit for the title charge we had in 2014. He constructed the Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling attack with Coutinho supplying assists from the front and reinventing Steven Gerrard as a deep lying playmaker. He was one good result away from becoming a LFC legend. The football his teams play at times are downright exhilarating. He is able to create teams which are more than the sum of the parts. He is able to develop players. His in game management is not at the level of Rafa or Conte. Often when things dont go well, his plans involve shifting to an even higher gear and going for broke which is brilliant for a neutral but not that good for the blood pressure levels of the fanbase. He still has to progress a bit more on that front, the defensive aspect and game management particularly in Europe. But the fundamentals are there. Personally think Ragnick DOF plus Rodgers coaching will be a brilliant combo.

Very impressive appointment by the way. Klopp rates him as a big influence. Ragnick appointment implies your ownership is interested in establishing a style of play, footballing identity rather than the Chelsea or City or PSG approach immediately after takeover which was buy every player available. If this goes through and if Ragnick is given control, expect your managers to be from the German Austrian gegenpressing school - Hassenhuttl, Klopp, Marsch, Nagelsmann rather than Rafa, Conte, Mourinho family. Potter and Rodgers could be two local names which fit within that ideology. Ragnick focuses on managers style of play and ethos rather than past trophies or successes. He wants successive managers to be of the same style of play so that there is continuity. Very similar to Rafa - believes in system above individuals, overall holistic improvement of all aspects of the club - youth team, diet, facilities, etc. Biggest difference is the style of play. I just don't see Rafa's pragmatic style of play fitting with Ragnick's footballing vision which is all about front foot, dynamic, in your face attacking football.

Congratulations !!! The PL will be a better place with a top quality Newcastle team.

Not quite sure if I share that opinion after watching them play closely this weekend. City have become a goal chance creating machine. A big part of this is that they are playing 5 technically proficient midfielders and a roaming striker like Jesus which means they are able to overload the opposition defense. Their floating midfielders are also very difficult to mark out of games when they are in full flow. Yesterday, Milner was in trouble against Foden. Normally we would move Matip or Henderson to back up Milner and help him out. But we couldn't because then that would take the attention away from Grealish and De Bruyne who could do the damage. If they had a traditional striker like Aguero, I don't think they could have created that setup or they wouldn't be able to create so many chances. Anyways, City were very impressive yesterday. Gave us a footballing lesson at times particularly in the first half.

Mane's form has deteriorated since last season. Well, at this point, not sure if it is loss of form or the natural deterioration of a player who relies on pace as he gets older. Salah looks as good as ever. He is Ronaldo level obsessed about fitness and diet. I can see him continuing to play at a high level for 3-4 years. Salah has 2 years left on his contract. We have extended the contract of pretty much everyone in our core over the last year - Allison, VVD, Henderson, Fabinho, Matip, Robertson, Trent. Reports are that extending Salah's contract is a top priority for this year. But I can also see Salah refusing to sign an extension and then try to force a move to Madrid or PSG next summer. There are also rumours that his agent wants slightly lower than Mbappe, Ronaldo level salary of 400-500k per week. I don't blame him for asking that. Given his productivity, he probably deserves that. I can see FSG choosing not to take on that level of salary burden and using that money to focus on the next star. Most likely this is going to be the last season Mane is a starter. Whether Salah also will be starting for us next season will depend on the contract, I guess. Anyways, the players on our radar for the wide attacking forward role according to reputable journalists are Harvey Barnes, Ismaela Sarr, Jeremy Doku, and interestingly Jarrod Bowen. I say interestingly because for the other three I can see them developing into elite players. I like Bowen and think he is a good player but somehow I don't see him developing into an elite player. I just don't see the explosive fear factor with him. But at the same time, Klopp and the transfer committee did nail the last three big money wide attacking player signings - Mane, Salah, Jota. So maybe I am missing something with Bowen. We would have moved for one of them this summer but ran out of money after Konate. Reports are that we could not raise as much money as we thought through sales. Also, the money for some of the bigger sales we had like Harry Wilson, dont come in till next summer.

Yup. Jota with significantly higher level of pace. Might be better in dribbling and going past players than Jota also.

According to rumors from several LFC connected journalists, Klopp thinks he will be England's best attacking player in a couple of years and is pretty much number one on his wish list. But also knows that we wont be able to afford him. If there is a big money sale of Mane or Salah, very high chance we will make a bid for him.

Rafa's team are almost always better in the second half. There is a final in 2005 which is a testament to that. His greatest gift as a manager is to sense the flow of the game and make adjustments in the 45-60th minute. Of course, that only works when he has good options on the bench.

To be fair in the Kane - Lewandowski comparison, Lewy had the opportunity to continuously develop under some of the finest minds in the game. I think his managers were Klopp, Guardiola, Ancelotti, Heynckes, Flick, Nagelsmann. You cant play under these guys without developing an allround game. I am not giving the credit entirely to the managers also, it is Lewy's hardwork, commitment, and talent which led him to be an elite striker. But if you are an attacking player who is looking to refine and evolve your skills, you couldn't pick a better set of managers. With all due respect to Spurs managers, outside of Poch, Kane did not have the opportunity to work with a similar level of managers. And as highly as I rate Poch, just from a purely attacking point of view or from the perspective of developing attackers, I would rate Klopp and Guardiola slightly above him. I feel that if Kane was in Lewy's setup and Lewy was in Kane's setup, by setup I mean the entire career path - Dortmund, Bayern,etc., Kane would be putting up Lewy numbers but Lewy would most likely not be matching Kane. Again, not trying to downplay Lewy's achievements which are incredible. It is more from the point of view of how highly I rate Kane.

Glazers have bought the Tampa Bay formula to United also, looks like. Mix a talented young squad with an iconic player and a couple of veterans with winning mentality.

I always thought I would do this, if I had the talent. It is not just the living in cool places aspect, playing under different managers, getting exposed to different training methods, the connections, etc - the knowledge would be useful in prolonging football career post playing days.

Has this been confirmed? Pep and City owners are throwing everything at trying to win the CL before 2023, then.

Was it Moyes who moved him upfront? Inspired move.

Yes, better than us. We have a steep drop-off in quality after Salah, Mane, Fabinho, VVD, TAA, Allison, Robertson which Chelsea don't have. We are more susceptible to loss in form due to injuries than Chelsea.

Potter is quality, isn't he. He is going to be the next Rodgers or even a better version of Rodgers. Brighton play like a top 4 team and barring injuries or loss of form to key players, should be in the top 10.

We were linked with him after his loan spell in the Championship with Leeds. Walked away when we were quoted more than 25 million pounds (all rumours of course, but from somewhat reliable journalist). When he played, always felt that Potters and Bielsa's systems made him look much better than what he is. Anyways, with respect to Arsenal, not quite sure what this axis of Edu and Arteta have achieved to get this much patience from their board.

I am not saying that is the only reason. That is why I qualified my post with "Not quite sure I ascribe to that but I can understand their point." I am not saying Kimmich is playing at a higher level fueled by the threat posed by the 2011-2012 Dortmund team. But at the same time, I can understand how the extra competition within the league gave them the jolt which helped them move to the next level. I don't mean just the players, the background operation, scouting etc.