And it gets worse.

IMO theyve made 2 BIG mistakes and had some bad luck too...Letting diaz go instead of offering a lot more than his mega low 55k a week wages (relatively mega low for top players  lol rashford was on 350k a week and diaz scored twice as many goals and 3 times as many assists)

and misisng out on guehi was just weird...they signed  the italian centre back but hes done his cruciate 1st game and is out for a year.

so now theyre trying to work out how to plug the midfield defence and centre backs but also want to fit about 6 attackers in too...isak looks rusty slah off form...ekitike is their main man atm..their new right and left backs also need time to bed in

slot has to find the right balance...but they do need a centre back

maybe fortress anfield will inspire them next time?

GPR Rocheser putting the knife in because Spurs have won a few games..

it won't  last  .

It's clear  with anyone with a modicum if understanding that Liverpool have been sailing near the wind since the start of the season. Winning several games in the last minute. It was never going to last.

Not only is large scale changes  going  to affect the dynamic of any side, but once several of incumbents struggle to find their niche , there are problems.

Both full  backs have struggled to settle, Fripong particularly  so.

 Wirtz is a super player, but the style of German league is slightly different to what he is experiencing now. Integrating him into a changed attaching format  has not been smooth, and will take time, but  he will be good

The ridiculous  Alexander Isak Saga has meant we now have a player with no pre season, and now  playing catch up . I reckon we wo'nt best of him until  next season. An expensive wait !

The most disappointing  aspect of all this was the failure  to  sign Mark Guehi. Here is a player of calmness, skill, and leadership. I witnessed some of this ,when he was at Swansea.

While Konate is probably considering either the case of a new contract, or  a new club. Guehi in my view would have provided the steel needed in defensive role, and leadership  in the future and as an England regular,  a guarantee of leading role in a top club would be as lucrative  as a financial  enducement 

 

Who do I blame for that Richard Hughes, director  of football , who was far too slow moving for Guehi , leaving Palace with no time to find a suitable replacement during the final stages of the transfer window.

He could still join in January  , or  for free, end of the season , but that still leaves  Reds very thin on cover at centre back, bearing Joe Gomez recent injury record. 

Mo Salah has had a very quiet start of a the season, considering the heights he scaledc a year ago, which adds to the issues 

I am confident  the side will gel, but it clearly seems that may 

take a while to replicate the fluency  and consistency of last year

Arsenal are my tip for the title this season

Just a bit of mischief Mark. Spurs are in a sightly false position from my point of view but they'll take it. If they are top 4 by Xmas I'd be surprised. Liverpool's recruitment has been a bit lop sided fo me. They also face the predicament of two great players getting to the age where  their legs may be going - Van Dijk & Salah. 

The Premiership is a very unforgiving league & the fitness demands are huge. I appreciate these players are paid huge sums but many can sit back, living at 80% efficiency, take the dosh but get found out by guys giving 100%.

This is where the art of management comes in. I look around at Rashford & Hojland scoring for fun, Napoli MOM almost every game McTimoney - all Man Utd cast offs. Crazy world. 

It's all bizarre.

You're not wrong Mark. Man Utd's win last weekend probably saved Amorim. Toss up between him & Ange who will be the next to go. Can't see Bournemouth holding onto Iraola for long. 

For me, that sums it up... there was too much time and effort spent on signing Isak when it was clear that reinforcements at centre back were needed. Only the great van Dijk has shone so far, with the new signings not quite stepping up (yet - I hope), or Bradley either... while Robertson is not getting any younger. It also wasn't the best idea in the circumstances to allow Quansah to leave - or Diaz either as Roy rightly points out. 

Last year, the team more or less picked itself for months and there was a lot of consistency in selection; with so many changes to personnel things haven't quite clicked yet this season. I think it will happen, but maybe not soon enough to win the league for a second season in a row. 

(Not sure if you know about my support for the Reds, which dates to 5 years working in Liverpool in the 1970s - when Ian Rush and the late Joey Jones were playing. The city was a fun place to be in those days.)

HAPPY  DAYS 

Even better reason  to meet up for a pint prior to a game( and after) at Parc.

I have  also supported  Reds since the 70's,  recognising that Liverpool as a place like Llanelli,  and  I went there,  totally identified with scousers .There was a radicalism in Liverpool  which appealed...so its wasn't  just the football .

I have always taken great  pleasure in seeing Welsh  boys like Rushie and Joey playing  for  Reds, and I remember talking to Dean Saunders in Swansea once,  talking enthusiastically about his time at Liverpool, it was a great insight 

The Welsh connection is interesting. It happened to me in the sixties with Spurs. Mike England, Cliff Jones & Terry Medwin. 

Oh, indeed. Apart from the political side of things, there was the Everyman theatre and also the Bluecoat centre which ran a film club. There was the Philharmonic pub with its listed toilets (!) opposite the Philharmonic Hall, the Walker gallery, the Irish centre etc. Plus all those pubs selling very good beer (Higsons)... The writer and journalist Stanley Reynolds wrote very funny pieces for the Guardian, detailing his escapades in the local pubs... 

Understandable. I remember those three... but I never lived in London. I did once go to see Spurs in the 1960s when Jimmy Greaves (who else?) scored one of their goals. 

Think your tip may be accurate Mark. Liverpool losing to Man Utd., is some comedown thats for sure. 

but losing a work horse like diaz was crucial. lost shape too

letting the ever reliable kelleher go seemed odd too

2 new defenders right and left back

losing the italian kid at full back too and allison in goal

theres surely enough firepower to start scoring goals again but slot doesnt seem to know his best side or shape atm 

you look at those gone TAA very talented diaz the late diego joto and even the livewire darwin nunez is missed for his workrate

this wont be as easy a fix as it seems imo they had a fortnight off and came back with same issues

you can forget retaining this title

theyll be happy just to regain some kind of pattern and form and sign a full back in january

Spending on Isak when they'd already signed Ekitike instead of bolstering the defence was a mistake I believe & perhaps relying on sentiment when extending both Van Dijk & Salah is beginning to look wrong. look at Pep's treatment of de Bruyne for a direct comparison. 

The Premier league is renowned as the most physically demanding & ageing players get found out quickly. 

Its still getting worse!!!!!!

 

What a day .

1)England,  its  humiliation within two days.  Exeeded all other test cricket hammerings  I have witnessed

2)Wales,  despite some promise still ship 50 pts against  NZ , at home

3) My other side in Red, Liverpool, lose 3-0 to a bottom  three team, 

 home at Anfield. Unbelievable,  5 months after wrapping  up Premier League

4) Scarlets lose by 40 points  to Harlequins

Not watching  the above either   LIVE or  on tv  is indeed a blessing.

As I get older,  I value my mental health  far above my sporting  loyalty .

Turning off  the television is far more preferable to my previous form of hurling objects at it in frustration .

Part of this  lies with Richard Hughes,  director  of football,  abd the man behind recruitment.  No one ever talks  about this guy, but he has failed abysmally. 

Losing Trent was a blow , but he was " replaced" by Fripong, who is not an experienced defensive  player,  but an attacking utility back. Kerjez , had great stats f8r Bournemouth, but has really been found wanting,  particularly  regarding  his defensive  duties.  Robertson still no 1 left back.

Weirtz, and incredibly  expensive  German, has made no impact, abd fitting him into the current set up seems impossibly difficult. 

Round pegs in square holes doesn't  work. 

Say no more about Isak, should never have been signed. 

Tontop it Al, the man they SHOULD  have signed, Mark Guehi,  slipped through the  net, all because Hughes left it far to late in the transfer window to allow Palace to sign a replacement. 

Its all absolute nonsense .

Liverpool  should offload the poor signings ASAP, abd take a loss.

The long term de stabilisation  on the team structure , will take a while to mend, abd I don't  think Slot is the man to do it. 

Slot should depart  with thanks,  Hughes with none

Sounds a bloody mess Mark considering the heights of last season. Defensively they look all over the place & the way Isak behaved  to Newcastle should have been a warning of his character. I am afraid today's pandered stars are bordering on untouchable such has become their contract positions etc. I would love to see what Sir Alec would make if it. 

Yes a mess . But nothing  that cannot be resolved with common sense, sadly lacking with people making decisions 

Stop posting reminders hoppy   for a God's  sake...I' m getting an ulcer .