2023-24 Season - Discussion Thread

[YayNJ]

RIP Luigi Riva

[mfw13]

Algeria lose to Mauritania 1-0 and crash out of AFCON bottom of their group....

[kellmuff]

been some unbelievable results at AFCON this year.

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by kellmuff

been some unbelievable results at AFCON this year.

Yep....Ghana, Algeria, and Tunisia all failed to make it our of the group stages, and the same Morocco side which beat Spain & Portugal on the way to the World Cup semifinals just over a year ago were held to a draw by the DR Congo.

And you've got Nigeria/Cameroon and Senegal/Ivory Coast matched up in the R16, so two more big names will exit in short order.

[kellmuff]

The host Ivory Coast got slapped 4-0 but Equatorial Guinea too.

[mikee1186]

Sad day for Liverpool fans on the Klopp news. It had to happen at some point but it’s still hard to take. Club must do everything possible to bring in Xabi Alonso in my opinion.

[fadster]

I expect to see Xabi Alonso at Liverpool and Klopp take over Germany after a little rest

[YayNJ]

Good, he's an absolute tosser.

He was likeable at first, with his 'heavy metal football' but the years haven't been kind to him and he is probably the most self-entitled victim in Premier League history.

[chiefs]

Originally Posted by fadster

I expect to see Xabi Alonso at Liverpool and Klopp take over Germany after a little rest

Does Xabi want that job? I look at the roster and if Salah goes to Saudi I'm not sure I want to coach that group. Plus the Red Sox ownership group is cheap and wants to make profit so its not a guarantee you can go get whoever you want.

[Gin&Juice]

Originally Posted by chiefs

Does Xabi want that job? I look at the roster and if Salah goes to Saudi I'm not sure I want to coach that group. Plus the Red Sox ownership group is cheap and wants to make profit so its not a guarantee you can go get whoever you want.

Even without Salah, it is a pretty well constructed roster. Depth, balance, youth, experience. And, it's an iconic club where he is held in high-esteem. Seems like a no-brainer. Life is good at Leverkusen now but Wirtz, Tapsoba, Frimpong, Hincapie, Boniface will all be gone in the next 1-2 years.

[YayNJ]

I would have thought that De Zerbi would be top of their list tbh tbf

Originally Posted by Gin&Juice

Even without Salah, it is a pretty well constructed roster. Depth, balance, youth, experience. And, it's an iconic club where he is held in high-esteem. Seems like a no-brainer. Life is good at Leverkusen now but Wirtz, Tapsoba, Frimpong, Hincapie, Boniface will all be gone in the next 1-2 years.

Alonso will be waiting for Xavi to get sacked at Barcelona. Won't be long now.

[Gin&Juice]

You think? Why would a Liverpool/Real Madrid guy prefer Barcelona, which is in complete disarray and financially hampered for the forseeable future, over Liverpool, which is well-run (at least comparatively) and is better setup for the future?

[YayNJ]

The same reason that any player on earth would join Barcelona over Liverpool.

It's a privilege, even despite their generations of corruption, fiddling and gear pulling. Liverpool are going to need a total overhaul. Their squad is set up for Klopp. Salah will be leaving, and aside from that, being as objective as possible there's nobody there that gets the blood flowing.

Szoboszlai & Gravenberch are the types of player you bring in when you are trying to get rid of your last chunk of change on Fantasy Football.

[Gin&Juice]

Interesting. I like Szoboszlai quite a bit. I guess I view that roster different than most.

[mikee1186]

Lots of extra silliness from Yay today as Liverpool sit top of the table and in 4 competitions. The roster is in great shape and only lacking depth in a couple areas. There are very few in the world who could ever replace Salah as he ages out, but this roster is set up nicely for continued success. Any manager would be thrilled to work with a young guy as talented and well-rounded as Szobo, a massive young defender like Konate, a world class talent like Trent, and a diamond in the rough like Darwin the chaos monster, just to name a few. Yes I’m a fan but get real, this is a massive job at a massive club with strong young talent. I’d bet that Xabi Alonso will be on his way shortly.

[YayNJ]

Originally Posted by mikee1186

Lots of extra silliness from Yay today as Liverpool sit top of the table and in 4 competitions. The roster is in great shape and only lacking depth in a couple areas. There are very few in the world who could ever replace Salah as he ages out, but this roster is set up nicely for continued success. Any manager would be thrilled to work with a young guy as talented and well-rounded as Szobo, a massive young defender like Konate, a world class talent like Trent, and a diamond in the rough like Darwin the chaos monster, just to name a few. Yes I’m a fan but get real, this is a massive job at a massive club with strong young talent. I’d bet that Xabi Alonso will be on his way shortly.

It's not that simple, really.

That entire squad has been created in Klopps image. All they know is Klopp. Salah will leave, Virgil will likely leave, I wouldn't be shocked to see Trent moving on too. Fabino, Thiago, Gomez and Matip have moves to Saudi written all over them, Gakpo and Gravenberch don't look high end Premier League quality. Whomever comes in will have a lot of work on their hands - with owners treading a fine line with the fans.

Look at Wenger leaving Arsenal, and Sir Alex leaving Man Utd. It's nigh on impossible to replace a legacy manager.

[chiefs]

I'm Liverpool I lost to real Madrid in the final in 2022 and then Madrid destroyed me at anfield second leg 5-2 in round of 16 in 2023. I failed to qualify for the tournament in 2024. They may be top of the premier League table right now but man city is going to make their second half thrust like they always do and we'll see what happens. Maybe this Liverpool team pushes it to win the league for klopp but I wouldn't bet on it.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[Gin&Juice]

Xabi would be nuts to go to Barca.

[YayNJ]

Originally Posted by Gin&Juice

Xabi would be nuts to go to Barca.

The problem at Barcelona is Xavi.

The squad they have is far better than the results he's getting out of them.

[Gin&Juice]

Agree that there is enough talent on the roster for him to be doing better, but the pieces don’t really fit. Kounde can’t play RB, Lewandowski doesn’t mesh with anybody on the roster (except, maybe, Pedri), De Jong is a slightly-better version of Michael Bradley, Cancelo can’t defend, and Araujo isn’t good enough to cover for the rest of the weakness in the back. I don’t see anyway that this team really competes with Real over the next few years.

[mfw13]

Leverkusen begin choking away the Bundesliga title, drawing at home to Moenchengladbach to allow Bayern Munich to pull within two points.

[YayNJ]

.. and just like that, Xavi is stepping down as Barca manager.

[YayNJ]

.. and just like I said..

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said he is unsure if he will be part of the post-Jurgen Klopp era at the club.

Klopp has surprisingly announced that he will leave the Reds at the end of the season.

Van Dijk was signed by the German from Southampton for £75m in January 2018 and the 32-year-old defender's contract at the club runs out in summer 2025.

Asked whether he saw himself being part of the next era, Van Dijk said: "That's a big question. I don't know."

[kellmuff]

Originally Posted by YayNJ

Good, he's an absolute tosser.

He was likeable at first, with his 'heavy metal football' but the years haven't been kind to him and he is probably the most self-entitled victim in Premier League history.

Co-sign. I cant imagine anyone but Liverpool supporters like the guy.

[bjho852]

While unlikely in reality, I can't imagine if Girona becomes La Liga champion and Manchester City fails to defend the Premier League crown....City will not be eligible for Champions League.