Yup. We will get the "everyone gets injuries" shite thrown at us, but imagine City missing Ederson, Stones, De Bruyne, Kovacic, Silva, Haaland, Alvarez, Foden all at the same time or Arsenal missing Raya, Gabriel, Odegaard, Rice, Jorghino, Saka, Martinelli, Trossard, Jesus for example. Thats the shite we're facing. Its not just about amount of injuries, its whose injured. Alisson, best keeper on the planet, as good as Kelleher is, missing Ali is huge. Matip, toss up between him and Konate as our second best CB Trent, most creative full back on the planet Szoboszlai, vital energy and creativity. Jones, arguably our best (toss up between him and Macca) midfielder this season Salah, one of the two best attackers in the league Jota, mr reliable, been superb this season Nunez, our nutter that scores, creates and causes absolute havoc These 8 (7 with Matip/Konate being a toss up) imo start for us 100% in our strongest XI Then you have Thiago and Bajcetic who'd be the first to replace either of these midfielders if fit. Tonights line up you'll be talking 3? absolute first choice players playing, with nothing at all on the bench Scoring will be a worry, of the fit players we have left, theyve scored a total of just 16 goals this season.
we will do fine. every injury is a chance for another player to shine Kelleher in the shop window and finding some form Bradely is launching his career konate or Quansah - that kid is class VVD is ok gomez has done so well coming back to form, we can protect robertson tonight Endo can come back in at 6 Maccalister can play advanced like most want Gravenberch gets his chance at CM again Elliott will get another shot at RW Gakpo has done well enough when he's player up front Daiz can continue at LW. I mean We are so lucky to have these kids come through and to have the squad to cope (right now) a lot of the injuries are short term so we will just have to get by and if that means we win both league games but lose to Chelsea then so be it. Szobolzai, jones, nunez and salah are short term little things apparently. Alisson is alisson but he will be back and we will get on with it. Trent is under pressure form a 20 year old and gomez can cover too. Jota is a big miss IMO but we have to get on with it now. Also the bench will be either konate or quansah, tsimikas and robertson or gomez, we will have mcconnell and clark who've done pretty ok in my book and we will have a couple new kids for the forwards. Its not nothing.
When I say nothing at all on the bench, Im talking game changing. We have no one you can look at and think he'll grab or create a goal if we're struggling, which given Gakpo, Gravenberch and Elliott in particular have a habit of being ineffective, I think we'll need. Clark and McConnell have a total of 1 start (cup game v Norwich) and a handful of small cameos (last 5 minutes or so) off the bench mate Im glad youre confident we'll get by, Im not, I foresee our form dropping off a cliff. Luckily we have three very winnable games (Luton, Southampton and Forest) mixed in with the final and before the City game.
those kids are decent. in thr end the injuries are bad but not at a terrible time. Luton and forest in the league and Southampton in the fa cup. I can only shrug about the leavue Cup final, it is what it is. a lot of the short term ones will be back before city. hopefully.
Liverpool are now OFFICIALLY the most successful English club ever, with or without the Charity/Community Shields United fans loved to use to inflate their total
Liverpool report pre-tax loss and debt increase amid new stand development Liverpool made a pre-tax loss of £9m in 2022-23 when their wage bill increased to £373m and turnover remained static at £594m, the club’s latest accounts reveal. Media revenue and match-day revenue fell in a season where Jürgen Klopp’s team made early exits from the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Liverpool’s turnover and finances remained stable, however, thanks to commercial revenue rising to a record £272m. A £25m increase on 2021-22’s figures means commercial revenue is the biggest revenue source of Liverpool’s three main income streams. Liverpool’s wage bill accounts for almost 63% of turnover and continues an upward trend that has seen staff costs rise by 79% from £208m to £373m since 2018. Media revenue fell by £19m to £242m and match-day revenue decreased by £7m to £80m as a disappointing season resulted in fewer TV appearances and fewer games at Anfield compared with the quadruple-chasing campaign of 2021-22.
Klopp says Jones back for Brighton after the break. Trent and Jota may be fit for United on the 7th. edit: Gravenberch back in training. Bajcetic expected to be back in training after the break.
Alisson also ready to return. All returning just in time for the final weeks, love it. Once they get up to pace there will be no "end of season" tiredness from them either.
I cannot wait for Jota to return. Had he played the city and United game we'd have won both imo. Hopefully he can hit the ground running, as his form was sensational.
Yeah we haven't half missed him, best finisher at the club. Would be a 30 goals a season striker if he could just stay fit.
It's been some breakthrough season for him, considering where he was last season in League One. Basically seamlessly integrated into this team, incredibly mature head on his shoulders & is so assured for someone playing at centre back who's only just turned 21. There's still plenty of challenges for him to overcome, but it's been one hell of an encouraging start to his senior career.
I was a big fan of his comment when asked about being given more minutes due to Matip's absence, saying t was always his plan to supplant him in the team. Cannot knock confidence, especially when they back it up.
It feels like we've been running with a three-legged horse since the start of January in this title race, so it's good to see some big names close to a return.
Its amazing we've kept in touch and now sit top of the pile with the injuries we've had since the turn of the year. Wonderful squad management by Jurgen and his team, also wonderful response by the likes of Harvey Elliott (people forget he's still only 20) and co who have stepped up when needed.
It's good timing for the run-in and so Klopp isn't forced into treating the Europa League with too little respect due to a lack of room for rotation. Off the top of my head with the players set to return in the next couple weeks (and no new major injuries) we have two strong 11s to mix and match from. Ali/Kelleher Trent/Bradley Konate/Quansah VVD/Gomez Robertson/Tsimikas Szobo/Clark Endo/Jones Mac/Gravenberch Salah/Elliott Nunez/Gakpo Jota/Diaz
