24 Feb 2026 06:55:06
Morning Eds,
Assuming Slot does move on in the summer what would your view be on Fabregas as an option.
Would surely have respect of the players, seems to get his sides playing attractive football whilst being tactically flexible.
Not saying Xabi wouldn't be a good option btw just an alternative to throw into the conversation.

{Ed001's Note - no thank you. Has had a huge budget and wants older players, because he doesn't want to have to coach them to play the way he wants them to. He has barely even begun his career and you want him at Liverpool? Not a person I would want anywhere near the club thanks.}

1.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 09:10:11
Interestingly, we have spoken to him. Won't go anywhere. Ta.

2.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 09:40:32
Absolutely not. He'd have the respect of the players for about 5 minutes, until they realize he won't be leading them to success any time soon. And, regardless, Fabregas was a very good player rather than a great one.

Playing attractive football is an overrated addition anyway - it doesn't matter a jot if the team doesn't win. The best teams are multi-faceted units that win games just because they win games, no matter the style.

3.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 09:26:34
I think I remember you saying a while back, Ed01, you rated Sebastien Hoeness. Do you think he'd be a good fit? Apologies if I remember wrong.

{Ed001's Note - I actually really like what I have seen of Hoeness, but he has never had a proper tough spell to measure his ability against. He does look like he would be good, but it would be a risk.}

4.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 09:49:14
Next season, the Liverpool manager will be Arne Slot or Xabi Alonso. I just hope we use the summer to get the players in to play either system, because right now, we don't suit either.

5.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 10:01:25
I have no opinion of Fabregas as a manager because I've not watched Como play. But to say he was only good and wasn't a great player is crazy to me. He is probably the only player I've seen step into a Premier League midfield at 17 years old and immediately run the show. Literally no other midfield player in Premier League history has done that. He won multiple major titles with Arsenal, Spain, Chelsea and Barcelona. And, by the way, getting into those Barcelona and Spain teams of 2008-2014 as a midfielder took some bloody doing! I believe he is still 3rd in the all-time Premier League assists chart as well. That's absolutely staggering when you consider how much of his career was spent abroad compared to the likes of Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, etc. The only players ahead of him are Giggs and De Bruyne. Fabregas was an absolute genius of a player. He was a flawed genius, for sure. A bit like Pirlo or Scholes, he offered very little defensively, but he was, without a shadow of a doubt, not just a great, but a world-class midfielder and a creative genius.

People always sleep on his time at Barcelona for some reason and pretend he was not a key player. But his 3 seasons there were 1) 48 games, 15 goals, 20 assists. 2) 48 games, 14 goals, 13 assists. 3) 55 games, 14 goals, 17 assists. Those are absolutely insane numbers. Imagine playing in a team with Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets, but still managing to be the player pulling the strings offensively. 42 goals and 50 assists in 3 seasons. Then he came back to Chelsea and reinvented himself as a deep-lying playmaker alongside Kante and/or Matic. Honestly, you're either being weirdly bitter about a player who never played for a rival, or you're just too young to remember him. He was at the very top of the game from 2004-2018. From a young star boy at Arsenal, to a winning machine at Barcelona, to an experienced orchestrator at Chelsea. Most players dream of retiring with 4 league titles, a World Cup plus two Euros with their country, a Europa League, a Club World Cup and 7 various domestic cups. Revisionism at its finest and not a particularly good look on anyone, mate.

6.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 10:14:56
Lowe, I don't think you've been following most of the narrative on here about our style, then. lol

7.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 11:15:39
@rome, I thought I saw an article a few days ago about Hoeness and what a great fit he would be as he plays similar to early Klopp. (Not seen it, so I can't say I've seen his team set up.) I do believe the days of being rigid and this is how we play are going, if not gone already. An adaptable manager, not scared to change things and multi-formation tactics, is what's needed.

Which is why it is so frustrating watching what Slot has done this season. It was great last season watching us win games in different ways, having answers to what the opposition brings, unlike now where we can be beaten simply by working harder and having a low block! And him refusing to change.

8.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 11:54:17
Thanks for that, MightyR3ds. All the best.

9.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 12:18:22
Lowel, Playing style does matter, though esp. at a fundamental level.

10.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 12:22:41
MKScouser, Fabregas was an excellent player in possession of the ball. He had superb vision, and if the final pass was there, he genuinely made it 49 times out of 50. That said, he was a very good player rather than a great, and I stick by that. To be even half as effective as he could be, he needed a powerful, mobile partner (or two), doing pretty much all the donkey work. I don't point to Fabregas' time at Arsenal - he was very young for most of it, though Arsenal were much more soluble after losing Vieira and Gilberto Silva.

At Barca, he was the fourth midfielder in a team that played with three. He was nowhere near the level of Xavi, let alone Iniesta. His stats might look impressive, but Barca were utterly crushing the opposition most weeks, and, notably, their last CL wins were the seasons both before he signed and after he was sold. At Chelsea, he had a very defined role that he was certainly good at, but needed one of the best box-to-box midfielders of the past 30 years behind him. A very good player, but far from the pantheon of all time greats.

11.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 15:26:19
Lowe, with all due respect, you are objectively wrong about his time at Barcelona. In his 3 seasons there, he played 3327 minutes, 3251 minutes, and 3768 minutes. So it's not my opinion that he was a key player; he just factually was. By the way, I agree with you fully that he was the 4th best midfielder in their squad, but they found space for him to start by either moving Iniesta to LW/LM, or by playing a midfield diamond with Fabregas at the tip, almost like a false 9. Are you suggesting that Barcelona altered their system and moved a generational talent in Iniesta out of position to make room in the team for merely a "good" player? Fabregas made 110 appearances for Spain, by the way, in an era when his midfield competition included Xavi Hernandez, Andreas Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, David Silva, and Juan Mata.

I mean, what more can you say? To make 100+ international appearances for any team is a remarkable achievement, but to do it for the greatest Spain team ever (and probably the best crop of international midfielders ever) is absolutely incredible. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, mate. Fabregas more than earned his stripes, and will rightly be remembered as one of the best midfield players ever in both La Liga and the Premier League, as well as for delivering at major international tournaments for Spain. The 5 players with triple figures for Premier League assists are Giggs (163), De Bruyne (118), Fabregas (111), Rooney (103), and Lampard (102). That's some company for a "good" player to be keeping, considering the rest of them all played in the Prem throughout their prime years.

12.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 18:39:52
Agreed, MKS. He was fantastic.

13.) 24 Feb 2026
24 Feb 2026 20:23:13
Only LFC players are world class. The rest of them are all crap.