23/24 Player review

AN ARTICLE BY MATTY

This is by far the most harsh I’ve been with these reviews. Perhaps the most objective as well. This team has failed many times under Klopp to achieve the trophy haul it should. With a new manager coming in, I think now would be a great time to significantly overhaul the squad. The attack has had two seasons now to sort itself out and frankly everyone we’ve signed to try and fix the situation has been a bust, outside of the occasional purple patch from Diaz and the occasional days Jota is healthy before he pulls another muscle or breaks a leg. Mo Salah is also declining, the Egyptian no longer capable of playing every game at a world class level. The midfield lost a lot of steam towards the end of the season and doesn’t really have enough quality behind the starting three and Harvey Elliott. The defense has been creaky, old and ineffective for much of the season, with Robbo and Alisson missing significant time, Konate only managing half a season of play because he’s always injured, and Trent not giving a shit about any responsibilities he might have. When Joe Gomez is your most consistent defender in terms of performance and availability, you have big problems.

It’s a squad in transition for sure, but I think not only should we continue to reduce the roles of the old guard and sell them if we can get significant cash in return, but also admit we failed on a few newer signings and rip the bandaid off on them before they continue to hinder the club’s progress back to the top. It’ll mean we’re splashing a lot of cash, and for me that determines what FSG really wants moving forward. Are they going to treat this club like a cash cow or are they genuinely going to go for it? Are the goals getting top four in the Premier League and reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League? Or are the goals winning trophies? If we want to win trophies, we have to be ambitious in giving Slot the best possible squad to play his style to perfection. I doubt that’s our goal moving forward now that Klopp’s gone. Our goal now will probably be to make sure the club makes as much money as possible. We’ll do what we can to contend for titles, but we likely won’t win them.

Alisson: Getting older, almost always seems to get injured at some point during the season, and coming off one of the worst defensive seasons in Klopp’s tenure, is it time to consider getting rid of Alisson? Especially with Kelleher waiting in the wings ready to take his place? I think the answer here is to keep Alisson for now, but make it clear to him that with a new manager in town, his spot as the number one keeper is up for grabs. I don’t think this season’s defensive woes are in any way Alisson’s fault, but he is approaching his age 32 season and has a rather significant injury history. This makes me think the decline is coming sooner than later for the Brazilian.

Caoimhin Kelleher: To stick or twist with Kelleher? Is he the successor to Alisson or merely a bridge to someone else who can take that throne? Will he want to stay if he isn’t given a chance at a starting job after impressing this season? He’s almost too good to be a backup, yes, but would you trust him to be our starting goalkeeper? This is why I think it’d be best to have a battle for the number one job. Either Kelleher raises his level above Alisson’s and proves he’s the man for the future, or he’s relegated to the backup role for another season and probably looks for a starting opportunity elsewhere. Either way, the club benefits.

Adrian: If Klopp was still here, I’d say Adrian’s a lock for a coaching role somewhere in the ranks at LFC. I don’t know what Slot’s going to want regarding his coaches and management team so we’ll see what happens. Adrian is a great character who loves the club and should be kept around in a coaching role.

Andy Robertson: Robbo’s in a similar position to Alisson in my eyes. He’s a brilliant player when healthy, but he hasn’t been all that healthy for the past 2-3 years, and age is catching up to him as well. I wonder just how much longer Andy’s gonna be at the top of his game. I would suggest the club start to look for his successor. Whether that comes from the transfer market or from developing someone like Owen Beck into a serious starting option, it would be good to be proactive and start scaling back some of Robbo’s minutes now so that he’s healthier for longer and can be at the top of his game for as long as possible.

Kostas Tsimikas: The Greek Scouser is caught in a bit of a weird spot where he’s a bit too old to be Robbo’s successor but he’s still a great locker room presence and Salah’s best friend. That being said, I would like to see us bring in a new option at left back or promote someone to the first team for reasons previously stated. That leaves Kostas in a bind, I would like to give him the opportunity to be a starting player elsewhere. Sell him to the highest bidder.

Virgil van Dijk: Virgil’s sharp nosedive in form towards the end of the season along with his failure to be the captain this club needs has me considering selling him with a year left on his deal. Before I continue, let me clarify my stance on the captaincy. I love that Virgil is a quiet guy who leads by example. That does not work if you’re the captain on the pitch. We all have our opinions on Henderson as a player but he was a great captain in that he was constantly shouting orders to everyone, making sure they knew the plan and where they were supposed to be. Virgil couldn’t do that, not just because of his personality but because as a defender he was too far back to see everything playing out the way a midfielder like Henderson could. He’s a strong player still, I do feel like he’s still got a good amount to give to the club. I don’t really think he should start every game anymore, let him play the games where he’s comfortable at the back. He deserves a proper farewell if the club decides not to renew his deal.

Ibrahima Konate: This is a prime example of new management, new standards. Konate is a brilliant player but he cannot stay healthy. At the top of the game there’s no room for players who can’t escape the medical wing. Sell him to the highest bidder.

Joel Matip: Let him rehab with the club if he needs to, give him a farewell package and a day at Anfield to remember his contribution to the club’s success in recent times. Good guy, good player, but another who couldn’t stay away from the medical wing.

Jarell Quansah: In my eyes, Quansah deserves a chance to start next season with a new world class CB brought in to lead him, much like what Virgil once did with Matip. Quansah made some major errors towards the end of the season, but he still has all the traits necessary to become a world class CB. The club needs to keep giving him opportunities without putting too much on his plate too soon. Rotating him with Virgil is the perfect way to comfortably work him into the starting eleven.

Joe Gomez: I’ll keep him only because he’s homegrown and versatile. But if he’s playing in anything other than cup games next season, we might be in trouble.

Trent Alexander-Arnold: A man without a position, has a year left on his contract that the club have not even begun to discuss renewing yet. To me that says there’s a possibility we’re either letting him walk for free next summer or selling him this summer. I say let him go to Madrid to play with his friend Jude. Let them figure out how to deal with a player who is too lazy to figure out how to defend and therefore doesn’t have the work rate to succeed in any midfield setup. He’s the modern David Beckham: incredibly creative, capable of otherworldly things with a football, but ultimately doesn’t have a position because he refuses to play within any sort of structure. And we can’t have that if we want to be at that top level, fighting for trophies. Guardiola cast Cancelo aside because he refused to defend and play within City’s structure. With a new manager in place, perhaps Slot believes it’s time to do the same with Trent.

Conor Bradley: Trent being sold would open the runway for Conor Bradley to take the RB job and run with it. Because of his youth and inexperience I would sign a more experienced player to act as a stopgap in case Bradley cannot handle the starter’s workload yet. But I would give every opportunity for Bradley to take that RB spot and lock it down for a long time to come. He’s earned it with his play over the second half of this season.

Wataru Endo: A player I admit I was skeptical about, due to his profile not being what I would want from a DM if he’s asked to stop attacks on his own. Foolish of me to doubt a Japanese warrior. He’s absolutely brilliant, and while he’s a bit older he’s a good fit for what I would want for a member of my leadership group. And seeing as I’ve already sent one of those leaders packing, there’s a space open for Endo to join that group. I think he’ll be even better in Slot’s system now that he’ll have another midfielder sitting deeper next to him, probably Mac Allister. Rodri was a brilliant player but became a world beater last season when he had Stones join him in a double pivot. I imagine something similar happening to Endo next season.

Alexis Mac Allister: Still a bit too rough around the edges to be a true controller of the midfield but he’s got everything you could ever want from a player. Good shot, brilliant passing ability, a never ending motor. He will thrive as a playmaker next season in a double pivot. And you can see he’s developing his instincts as a controller in real time. Keep playing him and watch him continue to grow into a special, special talent.

Dominik Szoboszlai: I think everybody was disappointed in the second half of his season, and his injury history suggests he isn’t going to be all that reliable moving forward. The potential is sky high with Dom, and we’ve already seen flashes of what he could be. He has to develop into being that guy on a consistent basis if this team is going to contend for titles. He’s our best chance of matching Odegaard and De Bruyne, he has to grow into being that type of game changer or else we have to keep searching for one.

Harvey Elliott: If Szobo is our De Bruyne, Harvey Elliott is our Foden. Elliott is the one player I think will benefit most from Arne Slot coming in. He’ll finally be given a chance to shine in his natural position, and he’s shown this season that he can be a star if given the opportunity to shine via consistent game time. He has to be starting next season. Or at the very least given a starter’s share of minutes.

Curtis Jones: Similar to Joe Gomez for me. Homegrown, versatile, good player for the cups but if you’re asking for anything more than that from him, you’ve got problems.

Ryan Gravenberch: The talent is tantalizing but I see now why his stay wasn’t long at Ajax or Bayern. He’s fairly injury-prone, not particularly impressive when he does play and how long before his attitude problems at his other clubs start showing up here? High potential player but his production hasn’t come anywhere close yet. If Slot wants midfield reinforcements, Gravy’s the first one out the door for me. Don’t like selling a player after one season though, that might be the only reason I might consider keeping him if I was in charge.

Stefan Bajcetic: Talent is there but I expect nothing from him until I actually see him playing with any sort of regularity again.

Bobby Clark: Similar to Harvey, I’d be intrigued to see if he fits better as an inverted winger than as a midfielder. I’m not sure you can get away with two small technical midfielders in the same starting group in the Premier League. Like the player, but I am a bit unsure of where exactly he fits in the new setup.

Thiago: I forgot he was here. There’s a saying in TV jargon called “jumping the shark”. It’s a saying that signifies a sudden and significant decrease in quality of a certain program, deriving from the show “Happy Days” when Laphonse literally jumped over a shark while on jet skis. The transfer of Thiago was this club’s scouting department jumping the shark. Since then we’ve been far less successful in the market, buying a fair few duds, while the club itself has struggled trying to fit the playmaker into the lineup while still keeping the same pressing style. An expensive mistake that brought the trophy collecting ways of Klopp’s Liverpool to a screeching halt. In the two years before Thiago came here, we won a Champions League, Premier League, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Since signing Thiago we’ve bottled a Champions League final, bottled two league titles, and only managed three domestic cups. Not bad, but could’ve been so much better.

Mo Salah: Mo Salah has jumped the shark. This is the fourth season in a row where his form has sharply dipped after January, and he’s another culprit for this club not being able to finish the job in the quest for major silverware after 2020. Can’t win trophies when your top goalscorer forgets how to score when the calendar hits January. If the Saudis still want to give us a boatload of cash for him, take it and run. He’s 31 and only getting older. You’ve gotten a lot of good years from him. Time to get younger and reshape the squad the way Slot wants. I will always thank him for what he’s done for this club, he’s a legend without a doubt. Symbolically, there’s no better way to signal it’s a new era than letting the talisman of the club leave on good terms with £200 million being paid for him.

Darwin Nunez: I gave this guy so many chances to figure it out, and there was a time when I thought he was figuring it out. But in the business end of the season, when goals matter that much more, when Salah isn’t firing…..HE MISSES TEN FUCKING SITTERS! MY GRANDMA COULD’VE SCORED HALF OF THOSE AND SHE’S BEEN DEAD FOR 4.5 YEARS! He is what he is, you can’t convince me he’s going to get better in year three. I don’t care if he’s a pest teams hate to play against, I don’t care if he loves the club, he’s a striker, put the ball in the back of the fucking net. He will never have the composure to be an elite finisher, and that will hold this club back for as long as he’s given the majority of the game time. The only way you convince me to keep him is if he’s used strictly as a bench piece. And even then, he’d be redundant with Diaz. Swap deal for Victor Osimhen, please. I’ve been patient for two years and I’ve seen enough out of Nunez. If he stays and proves me wrong, I’ll be happy to eat my words. I just don’t see it happening.

Cody Gakpo: Remember when I thought this guy was the replacement for Firmino? Fun times. He runs around a lot and occasionally scores. That’s about all he does. He’s tall, but he sure doesn’t play like it, ever. He’s not a great playmaker, we’ve tried him at striker and left wing and he’s been ineffective in both roles. Sell him, we need that type of Firmino skill set in the team but we know Gakpo doesn’t have it.

Diogo Jota: It breaks my heart to say this but Jota just gets injured too often for me to want to keep him around. Great guy, great player when healthy, but you just can’t depend on him at all. Sell him to the highest bidder.

Luis Diaz: I can’t completely make over the forward line in one summer, can I? Diaz is a good bench option, loads of pace to run at tired legs. Unfortunately I feel like that’s about all he’s good for. All pace and no end product. He tries hard, I like that. He’s the only one who gives a shit anymore towards the end of the Klopp era, and that means something.

I feel like we’ve got the bones of a great team in the making, but it needs so much more. The club won’t be anywhere near this extreme in the market, and that’s probably for the best. But I feel like we’re a lot further away from winning trophies than a lot of fans might think. Klopp papered over a lot of cracks, and I think now we’re seeing what happens without that man being fully committed at the helm of this ship. I think Slot’s system is a great fit for a lot of existing players. I just think the standard for those players needs to be even higher than it already is.

We know more than anyone how fine the margins are at the top of the table. We have to build a team that is so good that those margins don’t matter. There’s no salary cap, not yet. Time to go build a dominant, near-unbeatable unit of winning again. Klopp did it with his first crew of winners, then things kinda fell apart and didn’t go according to plan. Now that there’s a new plan, we need to make sure it doesn’t fall apart again. No room for injury-prone players, no room for wasteful forwards or lazy defenders. Everybody committed to playing with 150% effort to dominate, led by a manager with a game plan that can defeat anyone. Take all the factors that you can control and maximize them as much as possible.