Chez

Of course he does...

I can understand us dropping deep (its not like we have been playing well), but this Liverpool side ain't all that. We ought to have a bit more confidence in ourselves and push up a bit.

forget the partnership, Diallo just ain't good enough to play CM at this level full stop.

Every keeper in the country lets goals in like that. Schmeichel, Pickford...they all do. We don't care about those goals though.

No.

Tella simply can't control a football. Having another mare so far.

Lovely. Not only a wonderful goal, put probably a foul too, just to piss Klopp off more. COYR.

The BBC website headline says "Reds defeat will hand city title"...ha

Yep. We have therefore filled the side with a few of our own Jimi Traore.

except for that Exocet missile at Newcastle

wasn't that admittance of selection error more to do with playing three up front, than the five at the back? Small ain't up to it yet. Still incredibly young, but I got terrible Ramsey vibes when I saw him in that Cov game. Neither CB nor fullback. Is Perraud injured? EDIT: yes. Sounds nasty. Good time to happen though. Can get it right for next season. Just shows how thin we really are at full back.

I wont be. That's exactly how I see the summer and the future panning out under the current owner, which is absolutely fine.

What is the alternative?

If we spend that kind of money early on in the window, then it would point to someone like Salisu going to Newcastle for £40m or suchlike (as was reported he was going in January) later on in the window to balance the books. I'd be very surprised if we spent that without any sales. You never know though.

We made £30m profit? Do you mean in player sales over the summer or in general for 2020/21? The 2021 accounts suggest a £14m loss, all in.

Isn't high in relation to other Prem sides, but what are their incomings, how much do their owners give/lend them and how much debt are they carrying? We lost about £75m over the last two years - and that's with our low net transfer spend and `low' wage bill. Very little player sales in that time (those figures doesn't include last summer's round of sales/buys). Of course the COVID issues played a major role too. It will be interesting to see how the next set of accounts look and whether we balanced the books with the sales/buys made last summer.

a `backs against the wall' display against a top side can often look better than a `toothless' display against a far lessor team. Expectations are much lower, so when you don't touch the ball for five minutes, never mind create a chance, no one is moaning. After Brentford though, any kind of performance would probably look good. We should not forget that Liverpool are possibly the best side in the world right now. They have spent a few bob putting the side together and their wage bill is three times ours. It's very much like playing a side from a different division when you come up agains these CL teams

what's Liverpool record like without Sala? He's obviously been a tremendous player for them, so it goes without saying that they are better with him in the side, than not, but whenever he doesn't play, they seem to be a hell of a lot less scary. They still have players that win games of course, but when things are tight, its often him that scores out of nothing. I guess the same question applies to Van Dijk. He doesn't miss too many games, but are they vulnerable without him? yeah, I'm daring to think we might do something. Why not? Until we kick off its 0-0 and all to play for.

Realistically, how much do folks think we will have to spend this summer - before any player sales are factored in?

Net spend (maybe over a three or four season period) would be better than just spend and then combine that with wages over that time period and that would give a pretty fair reflection of expected league position. Knowing the current debt (minus monies in bank) is also worth knowing. Its all very well spending these funds, but some clubs have to work to an actual budget and can't just build up the debt level. City, West Ham and Brighton (maybe an owner paying for it doesn't count?) got a pretty free ride when it comes the cost of the stadium.

Do you think he fancies a change? Who is buying him? We'd want a certain amount to make it worth our while - and a transfer fee for a player that can walk for free next summer will always be appreciated - but who has the funds to cover that fee and his wages?

we could probably match the wages they'd offer, but they are on a different level in terms of prestige. Transfer funds an issue for us too. If they sell their striker for £50m, they will have funds to buy another. Who are we selling this summer to fund our incoming transfers?

I guess a lot will depend on the percentage of the £65m loan they have to pay back this summer (should they go down), how much money is now left in the bank (the Chris Wood sale/Weghorst buy will have helped) and what kind of suitors they find for Pope, McNeil and Cornet.

How much do you think Burnley would want to allow Nathan Collins to leave, assuming they go down? Probably a number of other players they will sell well before letting him go, Cornet being one of them.

As you say, we need to go younger - especially as we have a financial model that relies on selling players. Having three keepers, none of which will/can ever be sold, doesn't support that model. He ain't going back to Celtic. They have Joe Hart on a three year deal. They are not paying both.