11 May 2023 06:08:41
Hi ed2. I know there has been a lot of talk about Ugarte. Has anything changed? A lot of media saying we are ready to pay the full release clause? Also, with Mount, do you see that one happening? I think he'll stay at Chelsea and am hoping so but would be interested in your thoughts. Cheers.

{Ed002's Note - Ugarte will not be sold unless his release clause is paid in full. There have been discussions with Spurs but they want to offer less. Liverpool were forced in to declaring an interest in Mount. There is also declared interest from elsewhere. He will be sold if he continues to demand more than the club has offered.}

1.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 08:45:03
Are Liverpool keen? Reports saying we will pay the full release clause, which I believe is around 52 million? Thanks for the reply, appreciated.

{Ed002's Note - My understanding is they have spoken with Jorge Mendes but not Sporting as of this time. But there is interest from elsewhere.}

2.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 09:06:40
Thanks eds. That interest from Spurs?

{Ed002's Note - Not just Spurs.}

3.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 09:19:49
Cheers Ed. I guess it's a question of who will pay the release clause and offers the best package to the player. The release clause seems pretty reasonable.

{Ed002's Note - Other clubs see it as high.}

4.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 09:39:27
So I guess if we are willing to pay it we could get a deal done. Do you rate him?

{Ed002's Note - He is a very good player but perhaps Florentino Luis would be a better choice.}

5.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 09:55:52
For anybody that has seen ugarte play regularly, does he play as a no.6 all the time?

6.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 10:06:29
Cheers Ed. if you had to put your hat in the ring, who do you think we'll end up signing? Cheers.

{Ed002's Note - I am not going to get involved in guessing.}

7.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 10:09:52
I reckon Florentino Luis is way more expensive than Ugarte Ed?

{Ed002's Note - He has a higher release clause according to the TMS.}

8.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 10:12:05
Understood. cheers.

9.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 10:19:41
His biggest assets are his tenacity and desire. He makes ball recoveries all over the pitch - not just in the middle of the pitch. He's most like Mascherano for me. Enjoys recovering the ball and getting attacks started quickly again. I like that he doesn't like to dwell on the ball. He's intense.

His tenacity will rub off on his team mates, spark the crowd but probably also rack up the yellow cards.

He doesn't have the height or the long stride of Fabinho. Nor does he have greasy fast speed. Putting him and the diminutive Mac Allister in midfield together for example would probably mean we'd need the other picks to be taller and more athletic.

10.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 10:56:20
Digger from the bits I've seen of Ugarte, I don't think you could trust him as a sitting no.6 like say Fabinho, he seems to have an immense amount of energy and chases the ball like a madman. His energy, bite and attributes would def be a Klopp/ Anfield player but I just wonder where he would fit into our system. Maybe sitting next to Trent in this new "box midfield"? But I don't think he has the patience to sit. His stats are impressive.

11.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 11:20:10
funky061 - you are probably right that he isn't designed to sit and screen. He's aggressive and front-footed. There would be many possibilities to use his energy in our team.

12.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 11:32:28
I’ve never seen him play but I think we should pay his current club 50+ million, and pay him 250k a week on a 5 year contract.

13.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 12:01:09
WDW - while funny, it's also a position we have put ourselves in with our dithering and delay. There will be a desperation tax applied this summer.

14.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 13:10:44
Thanks for responses. Definitely sounds like type of player we need, I seen him against arsenal in europa and he looked v good, but that was only 1 game.

15.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 13:45:41
FlyPelican, a desperation tax? So you’re saying Sporting will ask for more than his release clause?

16.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 13:56:02
Thunderbird - no, more of a general comment. Everyone knows we are desperate for midfielders this summer so it'll be a seller's market.

17.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 14:03:40
WDW, usually like your posts mate but you are on the verge of sounding like a broken record! Becoming a little tedious my friend.

18.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 17:21:28
Do clubs need to enter into talks with his club if there is a release clause, seems to be a lot of talk in the media which could all be speculation but could Liverpool be sounding out his agent etc to see if he is open to the move and of personal terms are loosely agreed etc then notify his club of intention to activate clause? Liverpool seem to talk to agents quite a lot before discussing with selling club is this a common practice? Seems similar to what we are hearing about MacAllister with projects being discussed but no direct contact with the selling club. I know we have a history of tapping up players but is this standard practice amongst the bigger clubs firstly wanting to gauge a players interest before progressing to negotiations. Not condoning tapping up or anything just all seems very muddy to me.

{Ed002's Note - Tapping up is hardly common practice. If Liverpool want a player with a buy out clause a single payment of the full amount would need to be made. Other clubs will speak with the clubs involved to see if teens can be negotiated.}

19.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 18:04:53
I think WDW's posts are funny and on the money.
There's not enough of that subtle humour on this site, a few people take things and themselves far too seriously.
More of the same please WDW.

20.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 18:39:37
Can see WDW's point though, havnt youtube scouted in years but actually had a look of a video of Ugarte the other day. Yes he runs around making tackles but not a lot apart, put it this way i didn't see anything that say a Morton wouldn't be prepared to do for us. don't get me wrong he could end up being a great signing for somebody but after watching a video of what was supposedly his best moments i still don't know if he can hit a 20 yard pass and i'd imagine a lot of posters only have the likes of youtube aswell to judge the bloke yet everyone wants to pay 50 odd million for him.

21.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 19:12:10
As I said, I like WDW and his posts but a few lately have been a little samey. Opinions are like arseholes flash, everyone has one.

22.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 19:13:58
Jude. agreed but I haven't seem morton do anything worth writing home about. I don't think he's anywhere good enough based on what i've seen. might and hope I'm wring but don't see it personally.

23.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 22:57:47
Probably isn't marty, just saying that from looking at the video of Ugartes BEST BITS im not convinced he is either.

24.) 12 May 2023
12 May 2023 08:50:28
You're right there Marty, that's a stone cold fact of life.
But it's also a fact that those who object to people trying to inject a bit of humour into things are usually the ones taking themselves and things too seriously.

25.) 12 May 2023
12 May 2023 10:23:26
Hey Flash. Maybe I took his post the wrong way. maybe I didnt. I love a bit of humour and definitely ain't taking myself too seriously. Have a good weekend all.

26.) 13 May 2023
13 May 2023 06:59:24
The problem is Marty that for a banter site there isn’t actually an awful lot of banter. In lieu of banter, discussions about the club would be a reasonable expectation. The thing is there are basically three topics - buy midfielders, buy defenders and the TAA isn’t a right back / should play in midfield.

I understand why my posts might be ‘same old, same old’ at the moment but that is because the banter / discussion site is obsessed with the same three things.

There was a really good rumour the other day from a lad who’d heard from a mate who knows someone who gave him info about Gakpo a month before he signed. This rumour is about Mac Alister. Within three replies it started off about Caicedo being the better midfielder and that one was worth 50m whilst the other was worth 70m and we should buy both of them then someone said we should spend the 120m we are going to spend on the two on Bellingham instead. Then someone just started listing midfielders that they would prefer, and then we had the chorus start up with we need to buy Gvardiol and so on. In itself that’s a fair enough thread. The thing is we’ve been getting the same thread about three time a day, day after day for weeks now.

The best thing on this forum since Christmas is Mr Davey ‘71 pts’ Sulis, which is actually optimistic and amusing and has ramped up every time we win (and here’s hoping the spell lasts til the end of the season) .

What we don’t see is people being happy and writing about us having won 6 on the bounce and looking forward to the next game for the love of the game.

So, my thoughts are that people like to read the same thing over and over again and I’m just joining in. Of course most of the time I try to be humourous, which quite a lot of people seem to miss (maybe, like Alexei Sayle, I’m an alternative comedian) but it’s hardly worth trying to be serious these days as there is a widespread lack of distinguishing between opinion and fact.

Anyway, Big Sam’s Leeds to hold Newcastle to a draw, United bottling it against Wolves and losing 2 - 0 and us bearing Leicester 4 - 2 …. you read it here first.

27.) 13 May 2023
13 May 2023 09:23:15
Spot on again WDW.
The simple joys that 90 minutes watching the team have gone in favour of slag the players/ club if the team don't win.
The irony of it is that this season has seen the same posters post the same negative garbage day in day out, often several times a day, but apparently that doesn't count as repetitive.
It's only seen as repetitive if you buck the trend and don't follow the herd.
With the advent of social media the concept of what supporting your team means has changed. Rather than cheer something special done on the pitch, the preference is to dwell on the negatives which then leads to the slagging of the players, then the cream of the crop will sit and point out Klopp's mistakes with a point of moral superiority, like they know and could do better.
All harmless in itself, but when it becomes entirely predictable then THAT is repetitive.
Yet nobody calls it out. Herd mentality, if someone doesn't go with the flow then reign them in.
Never join the herd WDW, it would be a great loss to the site.