Liverpool banter 7

05 Sep 2026 08:52:49
To think Gakpo was nearly sold, makes you wince it really does.

05 Sep 2026 09:50:54
We appointed a very good head coach. The most significant signing of the window.
I think he will improve a few players, a sign of a good manager.
It must have been difficult to turn down Alonso, but Mick & Dick got this one right.

05 Sep 2026 10:00:36
I really wish we could have seen one more season of Mo. I think he would've worked well with Iraola.

05 Sep 2026 10:15:37
I was so fed up with his constant switching to his right foot… and his inability to link up with whoever was playing down the left. However, if we had just signed him for £80m we’d be raving about what a buy he was, and how daft Man C were to sell him.

05 Sep 2026 11:17:25
Taurus01, Mo is a true legend but he does absolutely nothing off the ball nowadays, mate. I paid extra attention to him in the WC (obviously) with a neutral eye, not in a Liverpool game, and he is a net zero off the ball. Seems like the opposite of a good fit for Iraola's system to me.

05 Sep 2026 10:49:11
Seams to have improved everyone in 3 games SS, agree with what ed1 said on a post about vvd's improvement. He actually went in for a tackle last night and won the ball.

05 Sep 2026 11:53:17
Ekiticake, he was carrying an injury at the World Cup tbf, so his movement was hampered.

I still would rather we let him see his contract out as he would have played given we don't have an out and out RW. Maybe could have been a decent option down the middle when Isak is not playing?

05 Sep 2026 08:02:00
Very impressed with the start to last night's game.

Epitomised by the first goal- decent press, everyone front foot and ready to “jump” on the forced pass and Kerkez starting the goal off.

Understandably, intensity dropped after 18 months of walking football, but that first spell winning the ball back reminded me of pre-Slot approach to games.



Onwards and upwards from here. Clear to see the message and approach is getting across from the coaching team.

05 Sep 2026 08:34:55
First half was so good, it felt satisfying to watch.

05 Sep 2026 08:40:06
First half was the best I've seen us in absolute ages. Not perfect but a huge step on the dross I watched last year. At times it was superb. And it was a good team performance. Everyone was contributing. Yes, you could pick this and that but everyone stepped forward in their performance.

The second half was a huge drop off. But to be honest, I much prefer to go all out from the off and tire than start slow and build. Eventually our fitness will build up to sustain it longer.

Very positive after yesterday's game but we need to build on that now. It's about setting a standard and improving. Not false dawns. But gotta say, I was happy with that last night for where we are at right now.

Don't want to say nothing bad about any player because they all worked hard.

Most impressed with Isak's performance and work off the ball. The goals were fantastic.

Munoz's work rate was fantastic.

He really works up and down that wing. So raw but that's fine right now. He causes issues for the opposition.

Araujo, maybe my favourite performance. He has absolute brain melts sometimes but I love that he is absolutely all in on defending. He seems to absolutely love tackling, blocking, heading clearances. I think it's almost infectious watching him. It must rub off on the others. You see Kerkez amped up making tackles. You see Van Dijk engaging and high diving. Jacquet almost getting a red card engaging. I put a lot of that down to Araujo's infectious desire for the battle. Just for the love of god, stay fit Ronald. And don't get injured. Ditto for Isak.

And of course Gakpo. Two amazing assists and worked his butt off. Like nothing happened in the last days of the transfer window. What a pro and says everything you need to know about the man.

05 Sep 2026 09:58:36
I loved Araujo's performance, mate. In the second half he tracked back and blocked a cross from the right and just gave a shout and a fist pump to himself. Just loved seeing that. Good start from him, hope it continues and he stays fit.



Just some stats from the game:
He won 3 out of 4 ground duels, 6 out of 6 aerial duels, and made 7 clearances without being dribbled past once. Nice one from Big Ron.

{Ed025's Note - is that counting the massive slice he put in row Z that went for a corner.. :)

05 Sep 2026 11:26:22
Sure is. When you pay attention to the small details ED025, it warms the heart because it shows you really care mate

{Ed025's Note - he has done ok mate..

05 Sep 2026 10:14:04
I read your match post from the Forest game Ed - and knew to look out for how VVD was defending. Not sure I would have spotted that but for your article and I agree! Maybe obvious to others, but it wasn't to me.

I could see he kept running backwards trying to steer the player to either side but not that he wasn't stepping up into the attack.

{Ed001's Note - glad it helped mate:

05 Sep 2026 07:31:52
Ed1, I know it's early and we've only played 3 matches, but which player or players have impressed you so far?

I think Gakpo has been very different from what he looked like last season. Araujo also doesn't look as disastrous as Barca fans made him out to be.

I've seen some Barca fans on social media cry tears of joy when it was announced that we had loaned Araujo.

{Ed001's Note - Gakpo is sharp, but what has really impressed me is Virgil. He is clearly listening to Iraola because he is becoming more front foot by the game. First game he was the weakest link, second game he was improved and this game he was good. He was on the front foot looking to win the ball, rather than running away and waiting for an error. He has been attacking the ball in the air and is holding the line again.

I have to say, he is also looking more like a leader too. Just some little signs like not blaming others, just getting on with it and trying to fire them up and give instructions. I always like to see a player prove me wrong, as I was thinking he was too old to recover from the malaise under Slot.

Also, very much enjoyed Nyoni's performances, though they are only short bursts, he has looked like the best of our central midfielders for that deep-lying role.}

05 Sep 2026 07:55:09
Also liking Munoz. I didn't know what to expect, but he is fast, direct and looks horrible to play against. Something we've missed since Diaz left. He has a bright future.

05 Sep 2026 08:17:52
Great shout, HamannPineapple. Munoz looks a steal at that price. I always love direct quick players. The comparison with Diaz is spot on. Ipswich didn't offer much. But our defence looked decent apart from Kerkez.

I live in hope for him to produce his Bournemouth form. He seems to want to twat the ball too hard all the time when he should time it and get the contact between foot and ball right.
He just needs some confidence.

05 Sep 2026 08:37:24
Mate you haven't told about Munoz, who just keeps on working and working and working. If we get the rw sorted out with what we have and they perform well, then we would need dm and maybe rb only, right? I would prefer to start Araujo with Pongpong, at least against Atleti with their counter attacks. Both of their pace would be really useful.

05 Sep 2026 10:24:00
I thought Kerkez did ok yesterday, Chrisy. Their main threat was on his side and he dealt with him well, even stopping a few crosses, which is a novelty for Liverpool as Robbo didn’t stop a single cross in 8 years.

He has one rash moment when he dived in, but otherwise I thought he was ok.

{Ed025's Note - maybe you didn,t watch the same game as the rest of us RSO..

05 Sep 2026 11:05:37
Oh stop it ed025, he was just fine yesterday mate.

{Ed025's Note - i suppose it depends on your standards ASB, after having Robbo and us having Baines...he is not on the same planet mate..

05 Sep 2026 13:53:08
Kerkez was weak defensively in my opinion. He let Fattawu cross every single time in the first half. Much improved in the second half though, but I really expect more from him. You can never fault his effort, but he plays too much like Nunez. All heart, little brain. Can do great sometimes, but you know that they have so much more in their locker.

05 Sep 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Liverpool v Nottingham Forest - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

05 Sep 2026 08:04:06
Nice review Ed and podcast too.
Looking foraa was rd to your thoughts on the Ipswich game as I wasn't able to watch

{Ed001's Note - thank you mate.}

05 Sep 2026 10:44:52
Ed1 great improvement too last season hey, thank goodness, just to ask, I uploaded a post after the game, was approved but can't see it anywhere? ?

{Ed001's Note - I don't know sorry. Ed33 is the one to ask.

05 Sep 2026 07:24:53
A win, a clean sheet, signs that Iraola is getting his message across, and that he’s not afraid to make the big decisions. And yet, the usual suspects on here seem to do nothing more than moan and complain, and highlight the negatives. I really hope that if any of those particularly downbeat posters are parents, managers, carers etc that they aren’t like that with their children, staff or friends etc, it can be a very bad, and damaging experience to be told that you're doing everything wrong all the time, especially when you’re clearly trying to improve, as our current crop of players clearly are.

Another example for me of how the internet, and social media in particular, has ruined people’s ability to interact positively with each other.
In other words, cheer up you miserable buggers, we won, stop trying to find negatives in everything you see, it’s really bad for you and those around you. Peace out.

05 Sep 2026 07:41:52
Hopefully you keep that positivity till next May.
Was a good win. Some great play, but the middle is still clueless without the ball.
I’d be starting that back line all the time if possible too!

05 Sep 2026 07:43:29
Cap

You can’t please everyone. It wasn’t perfect, but in my 25+ years of watching footy I’ve only ever seen a few games where I think a team has been almost perfect. It just doesn’t happen.

05 Sep 2026 07:53:25
Perfection in anything is actually impossible, but striving to be better and improvements, however small, are to be celebrated. Negativity only leads one way: backwards. Positive steps, even small ones, are always forward. 'An inch of movement is better than a mile of intentions'.

05 Sep 2026 08:01:00
Spot on @TC.

05 Sep 2026 04:27:08
Virgil Van Dijk continues to be the best centre back in the world - for me (1996) he is the best I've ever seen play the game. I can't get over the guy's quality - he's 35 years old! We will miss him when he's gone like no other of the Klopp players.

If this is his final season in red, it'll be a privilege to watch it, and to watch how opinions on him age like a fine wine. My captain.

{Ed666's Note - better than Baresi? Hansen?

05 Sep 2026 09:40:47
Stick Maldini in the shout.

05 Sep 2026 10:43:03
And Franz Beckenbauer.

05 Sep 2026 09:09:05
Has 1996 in his post Ed, think from then on he means, the more modern era

I loved Hansen and Baresi and then watching Italian footie channel 4 on a Sunday morning, man there were some great defenders playing in Italy: Maldini, Thuram, Cannavaro, Nesta etc etc

{Ed666's Note - Golazoooooo…what a time that was to be alive..

04 Sep 2026 18:31:34
Eds great review as always, enjoyed that-apologies if i was being pushy b4, just look 4ward to reading them.
Thanx?

{Ed001's Note - no worries mate, it was very late this week.}

04 Sep 2026 23:36:39
just fall back on the Southampton match review if all else fails Ed

05 Sep 2026 03:09:03
The legendary Southampton review. ? Nice one Stone. ?

04 Sep 2026 21:58:12
A decent performance & a first win of the season. Isak showed why we brought him - snapped up the 2 (3) chances he had. Just need to get the ball to him in the box.


Once Barcola is up to fitness I’d not be averse to putting Gakpo in the 10. He’s stronger than Wirtz, seems to have an understanding with Isak & can get up & down the pitch.

04 Sep 2026 22:11:44
Up to fitness? Barcola isn't a player that likes to press for most of a game or track back. This is well known. It will be interesting watching him going forward.

04 Sep 2026 22:14:07
The team is making progress, the performance was better overall.
It’s Ipswich, but it’s also an away win with a clean sheet.

The signs are there. The manager and his coaches will keep them progressing. It’s early days, a lot of room for improvement, but I believe it will come.

{Ed666's Note - Agreed mate

04 Sep 2026 22:25:52
Good performance. Happy with that. The new players are settling in very well. Araujo, Munoz and Jacquet all played well tonight.

04 Sep 2026 22:30:26
The Duality of Ron.

04 Sep 2026 22:30:49
Isak's first half is what I badly needed. Chased the ball down. He'll never be a pressing monster but if he chases to that level in the first half, he'll be alright in this system.

Man, he tired a bit second half, but that was an excellent first half. More fitness, and who knows. I've given him a lot of crap. Please stay fit now and keep it going and for longer.

04 Sep 2026 22:35:15
Liked Araujo. Not sure about Jacquet yet. Played some really good passing against Newcastle, but has been caught a few times in last 2 games. Not sure what we were doing last 20 mins. Looked like a back 5 to hold on to win.

04 Sep 2026 22:38:09
Much better performance and I liked Araujo giving us a bit more solidity in defence, and I felt Szoboslai sat a bit deeper and played very well too. Isak and Gakpo were on fire tonight.

If we can keep the team balanced, we have the quality to compete.

04 Sep 2026 22:46:35
Araujo was brilliant, I thought. Alright. Gave us a bit more sturdiness and an old school defender who loves defending, blocking crosses, winning headers. That'll do for me, lad. Tougher tests to come, of course, but hard to argue with a clean sheet and away win.

Delighted for Isak. Confidence is huge for strikers and that'll do him the world of good. Let's hope we can keep him fit and he'll score plenty!

04 Sep 2026 23:01:41
Nice confidence booster for a few of the lads, particularly Isak; just what he needs right now. Couldn't have come at a better time. Linking up well with Coady too. Good football in the first half, unlucky not to put 4 away.

Still, the second half left much to be desired at times, although that's to be expected at the moment, against a better team we would have conceded. Plenty of positives to take away and something to build on.

{Ed666's Note - Isaks play looked clean and sharp. His passes were crisp, bodes well for the future.

04 Sep 2026 23:52:07
Gakpo played well, he'll have to compete with Barcola and Isak. Don't see the value of him playing 10 other than he popped into a deeper position to play those passes, which he can do coming from a wide starting spot.

Let's not pigeon hole players because of a couple moments in a match.

05 Sep 2026 00:01:08
Made up with Ron tonight, solid performance that probably went a bit under the radar as Isak & Gakpo probably stole the headlines. I think he should stay at RB.

Good to see Victor using his pace again as well as Bradley. Those two are going to give defenders some sleepless nights.

I've been guilty of losing my s*** a bit over transfers and imbalance of the squad, but feel happier after that. Lots of other positives to take away. A great start to the weekend!

{Ed666's Note - I think ‘solid’ is appropriate mate. Certainly a performance to build upon

05 Sep 2026 00:39:16
We started off brilliantly; they just couldn’t cope with our press and Isak’s movement and the defence pushed right up and pinned them in for long periods.

Then we reverted back to Slot ball in the second half with Virgil sitting in his own half, so leaving too much space for them to play through us. When we do that we can only win the ball back in our defensive third, which makes it much harder to work up the pitch quickly and get the ball to Isak and Wirtz in space.

I’ve noticed too that when Virgil sits deep we pass it across the back and maybe into midfield or out wide, but it stops there. They look up and rather than try the forward, more risky pass, they see Virgil on his own and just pass it backwards and start all over again.

I’ve been banging this drum for most of last season; Virgil needs to get higher up the pitch so we can squeeze them in. We did it ok in the first half an hour but then he slowly retreated backwards and it made it so much harder to get control of the game and create chances.



This system needs front footed, aggressive defending. Otherwise we just can’t get a proper press on because we’re not close enough. The open spaces in midfield are not down to the midfielders not being good enough, they are down to the defence sitting too deep and leaving the midfielders with too much space to cover.

All in all though we have to be happy with that. Isak’s first brace with 2 good finishes even if the keeper should’ve done better with both. A clean sheet and our first 3 points of the season.

The first 30 minutes were a good blueprint of how we need to be for 90 minutes. I’ve been saying this team will get better and better as the season goes on and a title push is not out of the question. This game just solidified my belief.

05 Sep 2026 01:53:12
Nice one @Chewy - brought a smile to my face... When was the last time anybody called Gakpo by his first name? ??

04 Sep 2026 23:37:41
Not only that Ed, but he looks happy, which is dangerous for the league

{Ed666's Note - he owes us mate..let’s hope this is the start of something special

05 Sep 2026 07:56:12
A lot to like in that game. Few things not to, but nothing of note.

Loved Isak pulling left; their centre halves didn’t know what to do, creating spaces is what this team is all about and you can see we are getting closer to better fitness and used to putting more effort in again.

Munoz mazy run. I just wish the lad scored from that as that was a goal of the season contender if he did. There's enough games for Gakpo and Barcola to play to keep it healthy competition this season.

05 Sep 2026 08:40:39
It was a decent performance against a team that will probably get relegated. There will certainly be harder games, that’s a given.
The positives: our main forward scored 2 goals, we didn’t concede, no injuries and the much needed win that was required. Something to build on for sure. ?

04 Sep 2026 20:15:51
Maybe a rumour, not sure about the recent chat, but, Kerkez is the worst 'footballer' I have ever seen.

04 Sep 2026 20:38:50
OK mate... Not seen much football then, have ya?

04 Sep 2026 20:39:23
You haven't watched Zirkzee at Utd then?

04 Sep 2026 20:59:42
Agree with OP. useless him

04 Sep 2026 21:38:39
Why do people bother with this?

04 Sep 2026 21:54:48
Trent gone. Frimpong dispatched to the bench. Tsimikas not getting a game. Guess the cry arse supporters need another fullback whipping boy to wet their beds about.

We have a lot of imperfect players in the squad. But we should focus more on their abilities and less on their limitations. I'm sure that's what the manager is doing.

Unity and togetherness are essential to Liverpool Football Club. We should never lose sight of this.

04 Sep 2026 22:00:57
Pls, you guys calling yourself fans are pathetic. He is 22 and Will come good, he was 100% not terrible today. He will only improve with time

04 Sep 2026 22:08:01
Isn’t it past bedtime for kiddies to be playing on the interweb?

04 Sep 2026 22:08:08
I like where your heart is at Richie Red. Struggling to find what case I can make for Kerkez at the moment. Quite liked him at Bournemouth is all I've got.

04 Sep 2026 22:06:50
So basically, OP, you've seen nothing.

04 Sep 2026 22:14:13
Kerkez has this season to show if he's good enough. There's no getting 3 seasons to show if you can do it. He's extremely lucky his competition is Tsimikas. As is Tsimikas to be in his position.

04 Sep 2026 22:15:17
You'll Never Walk Alone, Milos.

04 Sep 2026 22:23:42
He was 100% terrible today. Awful player.

04 Sep 2026 22:29:09
He's had a difficult start with us, 03beef, no doubt. But given that he's now working with the manager he thrived under at Bournemouth, I'm hopeful he can return to form.

He's only a young lad still, and look at the mess he walked into last season. Club was an absolute shambles. And the way Slot humiliated him against Burnley was shocking. No wonder the boy lost all his confidence.

It's down to him now to put in the work and raise his level. And no one is above criticism. But the way he's talked about and scapegoated is ridiculous.

05 Sep 2026 00:18:35
The OP should change his username to Mr Magoo.

05 Sep 2026 00:44:52
Kirkez, the worst? Paul Konchesky literally exists.

05 Sep 2026 00:55:13
He can be a bit of a headless chicken, but I expect him to improve now under Iraola.

05 Sep 2026 01:55:40
@Ron F, Is there anything you actually like about the team or club that, I think, you support?

05 Sep 2026 08:12:28
Give him a break. He puts in a shift in every match, fitness is great and he doesn't seem to get injured. Let Iraola coach him back to his Bournemouth Premier League team of the year form.