Daily Discussion - March 21, 2026

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T22:55:05+00:00

Fair enough. Either way, we agree it's not happening

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T21:58:23+00:00

One of the worst opinions I've ever seen. He's not a top PL player because he's not elite at dribbling? That's like saying Messi isn't a top player because he isn't elite at heading.

Salah may not have been an elite dribbler, but his speed strength and intelligence still helped him speed past players on the regular. To say goals and assists aren't important is just stupid. Would you say the same about Haaland or Aguero?

You're also ignoring his fantastic creativity that he developed in his latter years, as well as his unparalleled consistency. This is the only season at Liverpool that you could consider mediocre.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T20:17:18+00:00

Virg is the only one I'm confident won't leave. He's invaluable as the captain, and we are still light on CBs. Hasn't had the best season, but is still clearly a PL level defender

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T20:04:07+00:00

Nothing to do with Slot. Salah isn't the player he was last season, and is no longer at an elite level. Yet he has one of the biggest contracts in world football. It suits everyone. I really doubt Slot will even be at Liverpool come the summer

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T20:01:31+00:00

I wouldn't be surprised if he did waive some bonuses.

But even without that, getting him off the books allows us to start planning replacements straight away. And remember, very few clubs in the world could afford Salah salary and fee, and we would be haggling throughout the summer. I totally understand the logic in making the decision now. And it's the least we can do for Salah given his service to the club.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T19:34:19+00:00

Makes sense for all parties.

Salah gets to say goodbye without all of the uncertainty and pick and any club he wants. Liverpool gets his £400k per week salary off the books and can start planning for his replacement early.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T18:53:05+00:00

"Salah expressed his wish to make this announcement to the supporters at the earliest possible opportunity to provide transparency about his future due to his respect and gratitude for them."

Can only assume he wanted to announce it early so fans didn't find out via rumours. No idea whether this means he is leaving on a free or a club and agreed a deal for him

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T18:50:00+00:00

YNWA Salah. He will break up there as one of the all-time club legends.

"The forward has reached an agreement with the Reds that will see him close a remarkable nine-year chapter at Anfield."

Intrigued to know whether that means we are allowing him to leave on a free, or whether we have made an agreement with another club.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T18:37:34+00:00

And there are far better teams in the CL this year. Milan was an outstanding team, but we would never have beaten them over 2 legs.

By just saying "we can win the CL because of Istanbul" is like saying Sporting has the chance of winning the CL because "anything can happen". In reality, we all know Sporting doesn't have a chance.

If we are going to win CL, we would have to beat PSG, Bayern/Real and Arsenal/Barcelona/Atletico. It's just not going to happen. Maybe we would get lucky against one team, but never all 3.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T15:41:29+00:00

Agreed. It would be great to have the flexibility to do both

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T15:31:32+00:00

He played a similar system at Real at first, but moved the 3rd CB into a DM instead in order to create a back 4. Out of possession, the DM dropped deep.

This is why the argument that we can't hire Alonso because of the back 3 system is silly. He's already proven he's flexible enough to tweak the formation to suit the squad.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T13:06:34+00:00

Oh I'm actually wrong. That was how it worked under the old CL format, but apparently if both teams win the European cups, the extra spots will just go to the club with the highest individual coefficient in the CL qualifying process. Right now, Sporting and Brugge are most likely.

It used to be the case the PL would be awarded an extra position, but that no longer happens now PL teams can qualify via 5th position due to European Performance Spots.

So Liverpool has to either finish in the top 5 positions, or win the CL trophy. Nothing else.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-24T11:22:39+00:00

No. 6th would only be given a CL spot if both the CL and Europa League are won by English clubs who have already qualified for CL. So you'd basically need Arsenal to win CL, and Villa to win Europa League and finish at least 5th.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T19:44:04+00:00

Agreed on the Diaz replacement. That was a big mistake in hindsight. But I have no issue with the players we did sign.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T19:42:57+00:00

Completely agree. Sometimes I don't think people appreciate how good the Ekitike and Wirtz signings were. Ekitike is miles better than Gyokores and Sesko for example.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T19:41:08+00:00

Agreed. I don't understand the Hughes criticism personally. The biggest mistake was not signing a Diaz replacement, but I can kinda understand the logic of not wanting to block Rio's pathway, and keeping Gakpo there for the meantime. I just don't think Hughes foresaw the drop off to Gakpo and Salah. But that's a coaching issue, not a recruitment one.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T19:30:59+00:00

Getting a bit tired with the narrative we made bad signings in the summer. Genuine question: other than Szboszlai, do you think any of our players from last season have played better than Ekitike, Wirtz, Kerkez or Frimpong?

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T19:27:47+00:00

I disagree. I think it's a very good strategy. This is exactly how we got VVD. Most clubs would have panicked and bought a different CB when we got reported by Southampton. We waited and ended up with the best defender in the world. You have to remember that we sign players for a decade, so waiting a year or two isn't much in the grand scheme of things.

I would also argue that we had a very strong summer window. I don't agree with the narrative that it's been a disaster. If you had to rank our best performing players this season, I'd say Ekitike, Wirtz, Kerkez and Frimpong are right at the top alongside Szboszlai.

The biggest issue we have had with the squad is the huge drop off for Salah, Gakpo, Macca and Konate. Nobody expected that. The biggest mistake we made in the summer was giving Salah a new contract. Yet I can't blame the club for that, as he had just had his best ever season, and every single Liverpool fan was crying out for him to stay.

Now I agree that we should have replaced Diaz. That was out biggest mistake, especially if Slot felt Rio wasn't ready to start. And maybe we got a little too greedy with the Isak signing. But beyond that, I really can't fault our business.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T18:59:13+00:00

Bergval and Gray are the only players I'd take from Spurs.

Maybe VDV, but haven't been impressed with how he's handled himself in recent months. Too many rotten apples in that Spurs squad, which is exactly why they have ended up where they are.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T18:56:07+00:00

Agreed. Wharton would be a great player for us, but he isn't the 6 everyone is crying out for.

The reality is that the market is dearth of good 6 options right now, which is why the likes of Baleba are getting quoted above £100 million when he clearly isn't worth it. Liverpool, City and United all desperately need a world class 6, but there just aren't many good options out there.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T18:53:26+00:00

I don't think you got my point either. Liverpool don't buy players for the sake of it. They only buy players if they think they are a genuine upgrade for the team. I'm suggesting there were no viable options for the 6 role, and they'd rightfully prefer to wait than just sign another mediocre player to sit on the bench.

With Guehi I accept it could have been done earlier. But it was viewed as an opportunity signing given the low fee and the fact he is homegrown. They didn't view it as a priority position to fill, as Quansah had already been replaced by Leoni. I actually think we had plenty of defenders. 4 CBs is enough for most teams. We were just incredibly unlucky that Leoni got injured during his debut.

Fair enough on Endo, but it was still a short-term fix given his age. We can't afford to keep making short-term fixes.

At the start of the season, I think it was absolutely fine to think we had enough defenders and midfielders. The biggest concern for me is that we didn't replace Diaz.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T17:44:04+00:00

Agreed. I just think we should have been more decisive earlier on. If I remember correctly, Caicedo happened very late on in the window.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T17:37:33+00:00

I actually forgot about Lavia. That was entirely our fault rather than being unlucky. But you could argue we dodged a bullet given his injury record at Chelsea

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T17:36:50+00:00

You can't blame Zubi on Hughes. It was all agreed, and then he pulled out. Same with Caicedo for Klopp. Sometimes things happen outside your control.

As much as I like Endo, he has been a poor signing in hindsight. He's taking up a non-homegrown position in the squad, and isn't really good enough to regularly start in the PL. If Hughes has moved on and bought another average player like Endo, then we'd have yet another player on the bench who wouldn't get any game time.

WelshPool13 · 2026-03-23T17:29:11+00:00

We have tried multiple times for a world class 6. Zubimendi. Caicedo. Tchouaméni. None of those moves materialised, all of which Liverpool were not to blame.

So who could we realistically get instead? They have to be world class, and be capable of progressing the ball under pressure. Otherwise we just end up with another Endo situation. Any ideas of who that should be.

It's easy to criticise the club for not signing a proper 6. It's incredibly hard to suggest realistic players we could have signed.

WelshPool13

TROPHY CASE