David Hodgson

I think it's 'Johnny' by the Fine Young Cannibals.

Yes. I’ve been telling people we’re the best team in the world and I think they think I’m joking . But we are. It’s only Barca and Man City in the conversation with us. Literally no one else even close. Barca - I think there’s daylight between us and them . City - harder to say. It’s close.

I was told by a journalist with the right sources , before Klopp signed, that Edwards was the one at LFC who was reticent about Klopp. If memory serves, I think he wanted Ancelotti. He might have changed his mind though.

Couldn’t Spurs still lose Erikssen and Alderweireld ?

Is right lad . Let’s get into these. Finally . Right at the death , I’m back with you on everything . Feels better.

Yeah, I hear you, but I’m taking the composite of our front 3 and our supposed dodgy seconds over their front 3 and their slightly more polished back ups .

He’s in their front 3 already .

They’re decent players but big drop offs. Mahrez is a show pony. He gives you nothing defensively and he’s not sensational on the ball. Jesus still looks potential at 22. He’s miles off Aguerro. Would you swap Mahrez for chamberlain? I definitely wouldn’t for the pre-injury version . Would you swap Jesus for Brewster’s anticipated potential ? Maybe on balance , but I wouldn’t do it lightly . And we have numbers - Shaqiri and Origi too.

City losing Leroy Sane is massive . Suddenly you look at their front options and they don’t look particularly richer than ours. Their front 3 back up is now Mahrez and Jesus. Ours is Origi, Brewster, Shaqiri and possibly Chamberlain. Suddenly it’s not night and day , in terms of relative attacking resources . We’d look seriously weakened if we lost Salah for a spell but they would equally if Sterling had a problem. At the risk of being the worst guy in the room , I’m going to say them losing Sane is the best new signing we could have made.

He sure is. I do wish this window didn’t shut so early for us though. The early games can be so instructive . Players seem vulnerable to a big injury early on, and with others you can just sense if it’s going to be their season or not . Take Chamberlain - he could look sharp and ready or he could look like a lad who isn’t going to get his mojo back for at least 6 months. Then there’s Brewster - he could ‘do a Michael Owen ‘ or circumstance could dictate he’s barely getting near the match day squads and he starts to disappear from view. The whole picture could look very different in 3 weeks time. I’m saying that whilst I buy into everything Klopp is saying , it would be nice to have 3 full weeks of evidence so that he could make doubly sure that what he’s certain of today is going to be sustainable . But this is a different subject really.

My view was that I’d have liked us to make one reasonable status attacking signing . I think that would’ve been funded had the manager insisted on it. Recently I’m swayed by klopp’s argument and that’s calmed me right down. I think we’ll be more than ok.

It is better. Trent is a year older - beginning of last season he was still regarded as ‘a bit raw’. Fabinho is ready . Start of last season it was said it would take him a while to get up to speed . As it proved . Chamberlain is available. Potentially a huge benefit . Origi is equipped to contribute . Was written off a year ago. Brewster is a big potential bonus we didn’t have then. Looking at last season as a whole : We can expect potentially more from Keita , Gomez and chamberlain. Those are massive potential pluses .

More quotes from Jurgen : "And making this team stronger, the starting line-up, that's really difficult and very expensive and we don't have that money. That's how it is. You cannot go out with £150m or £200m and just say, 'Yes, that's the guy we need and he can make us better'. "Because, also, that would only be if one of the others cannot play. These players, you can't really get, because they ask, 'When will I play?' and I have to tell them, 'When he is ill or when he leaves.' It makes it even more difficult. "It's the price you pay for success and for having a good team, and it's also why I say settle down, watch, work, improve - because we have to - and then find the solutions in the moments when you need them."

Yes. Exactly .

Assuming Klopp is being genuine in those quotes above (and it sounds like he is ) he’s possibly concluded that : - Keita / chamberlain can in their own ways match what a Coutinho or a Fernandes would bring . And may be better fits for his system . - Brewster is as good as any young pacy forward we’ve looked at, like maybe Hudson Odoi, Chukuweze, even Jadon Sancho, who he was very much on a level with pre-injury. - Origi is back on an upward trajectory and there’s no reason to think he can’t be as effective as a Zaha or a Pépé . - other interesting squad level players out there like a Ziyech aren’t any better than Shaqiri . We’ve been saying since January 2018 that we’ll definitely go backwards if we don’t replace Coutinho and just rely on solanke, sturridge , Origi , Shaqiri, Brewster , whoever , as back up to the front 3. But here we are, 18 months later, 2 European cup finals , current champions of Europe and all but champions of England . Jurgen makes his bed and then lies in it really effectively .

There’s a Seinfeld episode that deals with this. Obviously.

But he’s not a big buy, on loan . You really think if Klopp said to fsg ‘can I have Coutinho for a year, it’ll cost £15-20m plus his wages’ that they’d slam the door in his face ? Course they wouldn’t . Selling mignolet and Camacho virtually pays for the loan fee. Getting people like sturridge and Moreno off the books all but pays the wages. Unless you want to argue that FSG don’t , as an absolute minimum, allow Klopp to spend what he brings in ? You’d be arguing in the face of all available evidence . So have it your way - sell to buy - the fsg way = buying Coutinho on loan .....

Why would the owners block a loan deal for Coutinho if the manager really wanted him ? They adore Klopp . He’s made them fortunes . Ok the loan fee and wages for Coutinho aren’t small but they’re virtually paid for by the outs this summer ( mignolet , Camacho , Grujic , wilson , sturridge, Moreno ). If Klopp wants Coutinho he gets him .

Coutinho is a very do-able deal right now for us. I’ll buy that Klopp’s not spending ‘cos Fsg are skint/tight’ line for a second , but I’m not having it that they’d block Coutinho coming back on loan . If you are trying to get away with a year of ‘fiscal restraint’ , then the chance to get a £140m player on loan is such an easy get out of jail card. If we don’t go back in for Coutinho it’s because the manager doesn’t want him. And if he ends up at f***ing Spurs we can rage all we want , but this one’s on Klopp.

Truly awful.

I’m using it as an example , as a zenith of sorts . Ffs.

It’s simply not a fair comparison . How is it complete nonsense ? It’s literally an example of Liverpool prevailing without 2 of our front 3 in as hard a test as you could imagine . Obviously in isolation it isn’t proof positive but it’s definitely admissible evidence . What is absolute nonsense is to think you can just rule it out. Cos dramatic .

Oh piss off mate. I’m not using that as a reason we don’t need to strengthen . I’m just citing it as an example of how it’s not that binary . It was hardly my entire case / theory . I like the cut of his spoofing gib. He’s writing a big cheque isn’t he. He sounds like he’s convinced himself . On the spoofometer, I quite fancy this spoofer to come through . Well, obviously I don’t , but he feels less terrible than most.

Ha ! Never change. As if that’s any comparison . Fabinho was signed into a midfield that was far from settled . Lallana was f***ed , as was chamberlain , Milner not a certain starter and neither was Wijnaldum. And Emre Can had just left.

Brewster and ox could be better than Mahrez. Playing two up front with Keita at head of a 442 diamond could be better than mahrez . Who knows . Maybe the manager . Let’s see.