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Liverpool's Road Ahead: A Preview of Tough Tests
35 Plays1 year ago
Join Adarsh Ramchurn, Jesse Sarwar & Michael Lake on the Daily Liverpool Podcast as they dive into Liverpool's upcoming fixtures in October and November. With a gruelling schedule ahead, including clashes against Chelsea, Leipzig, and Arsenal, the Reds face their biggest challenges yet under manager Arne Slot.
We discuss:
- Fixture Analysis: A breakdown of Liverpool's upcoming matches and the potential hurdles they may face.
- Slot's Test: How will Slot will handle the pressure of consecutive tough fixtures?
- Club News: Updates on transfer rumours, player injuries, and other off-field developments.
Don't miss this in-depth preview!
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Transcript
Episode Introduction
00:00:10
officialgspn
Hi everyone and welcome to today's episode of the Daily Leopold Podcast, brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network. I'm Adarsh Ramchand and on today's episode we will be focusing on Leopold's upcoming fixtures of head ahead of a tricky October-November for the Reds.
00:00:23
officialgspn
How will we fare in this tricky period, and will slots still remain top of the pop at the end of these grueling games? To help us analyse this all, I'm joined by our local regular, Jesse Sawa. Jesse, how are you doing?
00:00:33
Jesse
I'm very good. Looking forward to the end of this horrendous thing called the international break. um Yeah, just looking forward to getting back to proper football.
00:00:43
officialgspn
No, I agree, I agree. I think the international rate has been gruelling for all of us. um Although I did see that trend free kick the other day, which ah which just did make it very happy.
Meet the Podcast Team
00:00:51
officialgspn
um And we're also joined by our Liverpool newbie, Michael Lake. Michael, how's it going?
00:00:57
Michael
Yeah, great. Looking forward to having a good chat about what's coming, what has happened in the slot so far. I mean, that Trent Free Kick was was sublime, wasn't it?
00:01:09
officialgspn
Yeah, it was amazing. And by newbie, I mean new to the daily Leopold team, obviously. he's been hopeful finded
00:01:13
Jesse
how many How many episodes do you have to go through before you're not a newbie at all?
00:01:18
officialgspn
I feel like you have to get through an international race, right?
00:01:19
Jesse
Is there like a like a benchmark?
00:01:24
officialgspn
Like as in we went, we're two international racing as Leopold, as daily Leopold, right?
00:01:29
Jesse
Yeah.
00:01:29
officialgspn
I feel like once Michael gets through to the the November international race.
00:01:32
Michael
Okay, so, okay, so I've got to get to the new November International break and then I can not be called them in UB then.
00:01:33
Jesse
Really?
00:01:37
Jesse
days have meta and and He's a veteran.
00:01:38
Michael
thought
00:01:39
officialgspn
but got and
00:01:41
Jesse
Fair enough.
00:01:41
officialgspn
is that we're hitting in the localpo in the daily local team
Upcoming Fixtures Overview
00:01:44
Michael
Fair.
00:01:44
officialgspn
of But on today's episode, we're going to be looking at um our fixtures in October, November in part one and how we're feeling as fans. In part two, we're going to look at our first week of those fixtures, which is Chelsea, Leipzig and the Champions League and Arsenal away, which seems to be slots first tests in a difficult week of weeker fixtures. And then in part three, we're it's going to talk about some other news around the club, particularly some transfer rumors. So, um,
00:02:08
officialgspn
It's kind of been made apparent that Liverpool have got a really tough run of fixtures coming up. um A lot of sort of teams, the sentiment from other rival fans have been saying that we played some of the easier opponents in the Premier League so far. Jesse, first of all, what do you think of that sentiment? And second of all, how are you feeling given we've got a difficult run of games coming up?
00:02:28
Jesse
um Yeah, I think a lot has been made that we haven't played or we haven't had a ah tough running or or it's been very easy in this first part of the season. I'm not sure I agree with that. I just think that, you know, Palace away, Manchester United away.
00:02:45
Jesse
These are not easy games. They're by no means. I know you know everyone's laughing at Manchester United and long may that continue. um But, you know, Old Trafford is Old Trafford. um And it's not easy to go away at Old Trafford, completely dominate them and come away with three points.
00:03:03
Jesse
So whilst I wouldn't say that, yes, you know, it's it's the hardest start to a season that we've ever had, I just think that it's probably going to another extreme to say that we haven't had a test. I think we have. And I think that that test, um albeit as not as difficult as the one that's coming, I think keeps us
Challenges of Upcoming Games
00:03:26
Jesse
in good stead. I think that those victories a away at Manchester United ah and at Palace ah the way that we've we've been playing, the way that Slott has bedded in his his style of play and his system almost seamlessly, I think means that we're in a ah good place going into this next phase, let's say, of the preview of the Premier League season now.
00:03:50
Jesse
um Because the games, I think it's not just the fact that the teams that we're playing ah are going to be any more difficult, but I think that just the intensity and you know the games are coming thick and fast now every three days. So I think that's where the real challenge lies is just the ah number of games that are are coming up. um But I look forward to that and you know with confidence.
00:04:16
officialgspn
Yeah, actually, that was going to be my point, actually actually, because I think a lot of lot lot law fans would actually be quite jealous of us in this situation. like We're playing top teams in the next few games. We've got Real Madrid and Man City. I think at the end of November, obviously Arsenal coming up, Chelsea, Leipzig, Bayern, Leverkusen. So like these are really, really interesting, fascinating clashes. Michael, as a Liverpool fan, ah is it right to say that we should be excited about these games? like We weren't playing Champions League football last season, so there's something to look forward to, obviously.
00:04:42
Michael
I mean, of course, I mean, we've got we're getting good some good away games to Leipzig, Arsenal bright and Brighton coming up. We've got some really strong home games against Brighton and Leverkusen and Aston Villa and Chelsea, obviously just around the corner. Like they're they're all big games that the Anfield can really get behind those four big ones. And then the away games, we, we will as um in the last podcast,
00:05:10
Michael
in the arts and was talking about how we lost. Slot has been talking about how many games we lost away from home. I think these next few games are really important to get our home and away record kind of balanced out and make sure that another forest game doesn't happen where we're at home and we lose it by one. We need to be able to control these games and these bigger teams coming up are going to be a real test. And I think Slot and the boys will be able to handle it admirably.
Post-International Break Concerns
00:05:41
officialgspn
Yeah, I mean, I hope so. I think i think as well, actually, you make you raise a good point around forests because obviously they say up they set up to sort of and nullify us and sort of sit deep. But actually in the in the teams that we're going to be playing playing against, they'll probably will want to go toe-to-toe with Liverpool, which might actually suit us.
00:05:56
officialgspn
um Jesse, do you think do you see that do you see that as a sentiment?
00:05:56
Michael
Hmm.
00:05:59
officialgspn
Do you think that slot will actually prefer to face some of these bigger teams because it means that we can go toe-to-toe with them?
00:06:06
Jesse
Yeah, potentially. um I think going toe to toe with teams is one thing. I think i think going toe to toe with, um you know, teams like Real Madrid, you know, it's it's a different catfish.
00:06:19
Jesse
I think the biggest or the first concern that Slots got to address is the in the game immediately after the international break. um I think the one thing that if I could criticise him for is in the run up to that first international break, he really didn't change the team. He didn't really make any changes.
00:06:44
Jesse
And I just think that um immediately after that international break is where he should have made some changes because, you know, we've got big players who are playing all around the world, South America, and they came back and they just look quite lethargic in in that forest game.
00:06:59
Jesse
So I think that was a big learning curve ah for Slott. I think um yeah he's got to utilize that squad ah more than he has. And I think he will. And I think even if he didn't want to, I think he will he'll be forced to do that just by the sheer number of games that are coming up.
00:07:19
Jesse
And you know like you said, we're going to be playing teams that you would think are not going to play a low block, um even you know the likes of Chelsea, um Arsenal, and then the Champions League teams.
00:07:33
Jesse
um And so you would think that, you know, those games are going to throw out more opportunities for us to score goals, but at the same time, they're going to be at attacking us more. And we're going to have to be really, really switched on defensively, um you know, to make sure that we come away with ahs three points, whether it's in the Premier League or the Champions League.
00:07:52
officialgspn
Yeah, no, indeed. I think it's definitely going to be a test for our defense. We've got five clean sheets in the Premier League so far this season, which is obviously the most in the Premier League. But yeah, given the opposition that we place, ah played Palace, Wolves, um who else have we played, United, Brentford, like we have been able to sort of nullify those teams quite well.
00:08:09
officialgspn
But yeah, we're going to be playing some, some pre-advanced attacks in the next few weeks.
00:08:13
Jesse
I see you struggle to remember United Derridaush.
00:08:14
officialgspn
Particularly. I mean, yeah, because it was quite, I mean, it was quite.
00:08:17
Jesse
Yeah. it's it's It's easy to forget them these days.
00:08:20
officialgspn
Yeah, that is true.
00:08:20
Jesse
You know, they that they are...
00:08:21
Michael
they're They're in amongst that group of teams, the wolves, the crystal palace united, all the same sort of level nowadays.
00:08:25
Jesse
Yeah.
00:08:28
Jesse
And not even mid-table now. We can't even throw that at them.
00:08:30
officialgspn
Yeah.
00:08:32
Jesse
They're 14th. So, um you know, it's and it's it's it's ah it's an easy team to forget.
00:08:33
officialgspn
and
00:08:36
officialgspn
Hmm.
00:08:39
officialgspn
No, indeed I mean, they're not in the Champions League as well. So yeah.
00:08:42
Jesse
There's my United dig in there for the first 10 minutes.
00:08:45
Michael
There we go.
00:08:46
Jesse
Move on to Man City later on in the second part part of the yeah pod. yeah
00:08:50
officialgspn
Well, yeah, we definitely we'll definitely touch on Man City. Maybe not today, but in another episode. But we're going to move on to part two after the break, where we'll talk about Chelsea, Leipzig and Arsenal, which is our next week of fixtures for the
Fixture Difficulty Assessment
00:09:02
officialgspn
Reds. But we'll cover all of that after this very short break.
00:09:27
officialgspn
Amazing. So, um like I said, in part one, we're now going to touch on Chelsea, Leipzig and Arsenal. So we play Chelsea on Sunday, Leipzig next Wednesday, and then Arsenal on the Sunday that follows. Tough runner fixtures, um tough teams. But Michael, what what do you what do you what's your assessment of those three games? And in your opinion, what do you think is the tough ah the toughest game out of the three?
00:09:51
Michael
I mean, looking at them, you would say Arsenal is the toughest fixture just because of their record over the last few seasons, how controlled they've been. I mean, this season they've, they're still very, very good, but I don't think they have been as unbeatable as they probably were at some points last season. Like, um, I think Chelsea are actually a little bit of a dark horse in terms of the, the record they've started really the kicking on and Cole Palmer is just he's He's a freak of nature. he's doing He's doing so well. And I think being able to kind of control him, their threat kind of diminishes drastically. um So they can be get in that sort of way. Leipzig are, they're a bit, they're similar to us in the sense of like um high pace. They've got a lot of really talented youngsters like Javi Simmons, Noosa,
00:10:47
Michael
these sort of players that can really get get out here at the wings. like they're all all a lot of They're all very threatening teams, but I would definitely say Arsenal is still, like especially from set pieces. like they're all of it They seem to only the sign players above six foot or beat people in the air. like they they they They've obviously targeted that, and I think we're good at defending set pieces and attacking set pieces. Obviously, we scored a good number of goals from it.
00:11:16
Michael
um But I think that is definitely something we need to look out for against Arsenal. But I definitely wouldn't play down the other two, Leipzig or Chelsea, in terms of their threat and how easily they could get at us if we're not on our game.
00:11:31
officialgspn
Yeah, definitely. I think that's where, coming to you Jesse, we're going to definitely touch on some of those changes that you mentioned, um that in the first international break slot didn't really do. I mean against Chelsea, do you expect there to be some changes? I mean, I think Diaz has played um a lot of football in the international break. So as Nunez who's come back from that international band that he had, obviously Alison's injured.
00:11:52
officialgspn
but what How do you think slot will approach these games given that they are top quality top quality opposition but also the need to sort of rest and rejuvenate a lot of those players?
00:12:03
Jesse
Yeah, I mean, we've we've mentioned it before, and we've already mentioned it in the first part of the podcast that he's going to have to rotate a lot more now. He's going to have to utilize the whole of his squad now. um If you're going to play every three game every three days, and you're playing in the Premier League and the Champions League, um the intense intensity is just, you know, ratcheting up now.
00:12:26
Jesse
um Obviously, that you've got some enforced changes, like you mentioned, Alison is out for, you know, the the foreseeable now. And so I think, I think most of us are ah fairly comfortable with Kelleher as our backup goalkeeper.
00:12:42
Jesse
um And I think the most of our changes are going to be in that back line and then in the front three because I think in the midfield now I think what has become apparent is that there isn't that much there. I think that's an area that we um that we are potentially going to need to strengthen. And obviously that's why we we did go for Zubimendi, the main pivot, the main double pivot being Gravenberg and McAllister. That is his preferred duo. I think obviously you've got um the likes of Endo there, but I think Endo really is someone who's going to be played simply because he's a body. You know, I don't i don't think he's a slot kind of player.
00:13:34
Jesse
um So I think that you'll see most of the rotation in that front three and you know the likes of um ah Trent and and Connor Bradley um and then on the on the left back side as well ah with um Robertson and Simicas um But I think when he can, I think he'll play that midfield three of McAllister, Gravenberg and Sir Bosley. Obviously you've got um ah Jones who's there and hopefully Harvey Elliott is not going to be too far away now. I think he's a crucial element that's been missing in the last few weeks and I think as the games come thick and fast I think we're going to really really need that extra body in midfield.
00:14:22
Jesse
um So yeah he's gonna he's gonna ring the changes um but I think that he'll he'll do one or two changes per game as opposed to wholesale changes because I think it just affects the rhythm of the game.
00:14:37
officialgspn
Yeah, no, indeed. I think um i mean that is something that probably slot will take into account, given what you mentioned, Jesse, in that first international break coming, sort of come back cold against Forrest. And obviously against Chelsea, we don't really have that excuse to to do that this time. Obviously, Chelsea are a big big opposition and we're going to have to be on our A-game to get any sort of result. um In terms of slot's point of view, given that this is deemed as his first real challenging week as a local manager, what would be ideal for him to come out of this with maybe a draw away at Arsenal, winning as Chelsea, winning
Strategic Considerations and Ideal Outcomes
00:15:10
officialgspn
as Leipzig? What's the fixture that you're seeing as, oh, he needs to win that one? Because in my eyes, I think Leipzig away is a difficult game, but if he can get free wins out of free in the Champions League, kind of already cement sort of qualification early or be early contenders for that, that's a given. And then Chelsea at home, I feel like that's a game you can attack and then see what happens at Arsenal.
00:15:30
officialgspn
If that makes sense, what you were you guys thoughts on that? Michael, I'll come to you.
00:15:33
Michael
Um, yeah, I mean, ideally three wins out of three. Um, but I mean, to be sort of realistic, I think you could definitely see us grabbing a point from every game. Um, no matter what, I think we can beat Chelsea. As I said, they've got kind of, they've got Cole Palmer and obviously he's difficult to mark out the game, but if you can find a way to limit his sort of impact, then they are not as much of a threat, um, going forward at all.
00:16:02
Michael
So I think we can definitely win there, um especially with it being at home. Then we got Leipzig. I think Leipzig are one of those teams that like on their day, they could be spectacular. But I think we can also get three points out of it. And I just said, like once you once you're into nine points in this new group system, I think I've seen some some people saying, I think you need about 12 or 15. I think it's like you need there's There's some number where you get in the top eight, I think it is about 12. So if we can get to that point halfway through, and then we can kind of rotate a little bit more. Obviously, we've got the bigger games coming up like Real Madrid, but we've got games like Girona coming up in the future. Girona that we can um definitely tackle with a slightly rotated team. But yeah, I think Leipzig, we can definitely get a point out of it. um Arsenal, obviously, they're a lot more defensive.
00:16:57
Michael
Like they are defensively solid. They like to do a board draw if they feel like that's the only way they're going to get something out of it like they did against City last season. um But I think we could still get out of them, but I'm going to probably guess it'll be a draw most likely against Arsenal. I think they would just want to stifle our attack and try to limit as many opportunities as possible and not really have much for themselves.
00:17:23
Jesse
I think you you look at it in two ways.
00:17:23
officialgspn
Yeah.
00:17:24
Jesse
and You look at it from the fans' perspective, and you know we we want to win every single game.
00:17:27
Michael
Mm hmm, mm hmm.
00:17:30
Jesse
we'll We'll look at these block of fixtures and think, OK, look, if if we can come away with a a win here and a point here. But from Slott's point of view, he's you know it's it's boring to say it, but it is going to be each game as it comes.
00:17:44
Jesse
um I think that with the Chelsea game, I agree with Michael. I think they are. very unpredictable, you know, I think you could on any given day, you could probably score four past them, but then they can score four past you. So I think with Liverpool's new kind of, I guess, discipline under under slot, I think may maybe that kind of mitigates some of the kind of randomness in this in this fixture potentially.
00:18:15
Jesse
um But Leipzig, I think, could be interesting. I mean, you know, they're they're joint top with Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. You know, they're they're they're above Bayern Leverusen. But they haven't scored that many goals. They've only scored, um if you if you look at the table, they've scored nine goals compared to Bayern Munich's 20. Eintracht Frankfurt in third, they've got 14 goals.
00:18:43
Jesse
um And then you've got Leverkusen who've scored 16. So they haven't scored that many goals, but they haven't conceded. They've only conceded twice. And that's compared to Bayern Munich.
00:18:55
Jesse
the Munich have conceded seven.
00:18:59
Jesse
Leverkusen have conceded 12.
00:18:59
Michael
I think nine of Bayern's goals have come in one game though, so maybe he can take that with a pinch of salt.
00:19:03
Jesse
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
00:19:06
Michael
hood
00:19:07
Jesse
So, you know, I think um that could be a tricky fixture. And I think Michael's right. I think, you know, if if you get a point there, I think that could be seen as a decent result.
00:19:19
Jesse
I just think that this new Champions League format, though, Again, I think that kind of home and away thing has kind of almost gone now, where you think, okay, so in a way fixture, um you know, a point ah away from home is is a decent result because two of your home fixtures are now Real Madrid and Leverkusen.
00:19:28
Michael
Mm hmm.
00:19:40
Jesse
So it's almost like, okay, it's just, it's a new competition and you have to take each game on its merit. So if you've got a Leipzig, whether it's Homer or or away, you've got to you've got to really look to win that game. And then if you can get a point against Real Madrid at home.
00:19:57
Jesse
and even Leverkusen at home. I think that's that's um i think that's a good um a good result.
00:20:05
officialgspn
Hmm.
00:20:05
Jesse
But I think each game as it comes, I think obviously Arsenal are on the horizon. um But you know again, i'm I'm genuinely not afraid of any of these fixtures.
00:20:16
Jesse
i think we can I think we can beat Chelsea. I think if we stay disciplined, I think we can i think we can beat them. And I think we've got the game to go to Arsenal and to get a result, whether that's a win or draw. I think we can do that.
00:20:33
officialgspn
I mean, last season in the FA Cup we managed to win 2-0. Obviously we had that game in the Premier League, which we lost. But yeah, I mean, we've got a decent track record against Arsenal. um So hopefully we can continue that um when we play Arsenal in a few weeks time. In part three, we're going to talk about news surrounding the club and some transfer rumors, but we'll cover all of that after this very short break.
Transfer Rumors Discussion
00:21:32
officialgspn
Brilliant. So, um for part three, I've got a bit of a fun segment because I've got some transfer news. um I don't know if you both know these players I'm going to tell you, but they both play for Benfica. ah One of them is...
00:21:43
Jesse
this Is this made up transfer speculation a dash or is it genuine?
00:21:43
officialgspn
o This is true transfer rumors, and this is...
00:21:48
Jesse
Are these FIFA names or Provo?
00:21:49
officialgspn
ah not I mean, they they sound like made up for...
00:21:51
Jesse
They're not made up Provo names, are they?
00:21:54
Jesse
They sound like made up Provo names.
00:21:57
officialgspn
one. One of them actually used to play for slot. Ozang Kokku, who used to play at Firenord, who's at Benfica, a midfielder.
00:22:05
officialgspn
Michael, I'm going to come to you.
00:22:05
Jesse
Good player.
00:22:07
officialgspn
What do you think? Yeah, I've i've seen bits of him play
00:22:09
Jesse
Yeah, I like him. He's a good player. He's 23 years old. He's athletic. You can get up and down the pitch. um And, you know he's he's at a you know, he's had a decent start to season. He's scored four ah four goals, three assists in all competitions.
00:22:27
Jesse
And as as we mentioned ah before earlier in the um and the episode that so I think it is an area that we're shorting. We're sure in we totally okay now in terms of our forward line. We've got a top class forward in every one of those three positions now.
00:22:45
Jesse
but the midfield I think we do need to strengthen and I think um i think he would fit ideal ideally into our system and the kind of the profile of play I think is um is absolutely what we'd be looking for as well.
00:23:01
Jesse
So if that comes off, um you know, I'd be I'd be very happy. I'm not sure how much he would cost. ah of I've heard rumors of upwards over 100 million pounds in terms of a release clause. You know, whether Liverpool are going to pay that, you know, is always the is always the question.
00:23:22
Michael
Yeah, I mean, transfer mark has him at about 30 mil.
00:23:22
officialgspn
Yeah.
00:23:25
Michael
So yeah, so if you have if you have to pay 100 mil for him, it might not be as worthwhile as it as it could be if you could get him for around 30, 35 mil.
00:23:25
Jesse
Really?
00:23:36
Michael
Because he is ah he is a player, I believe he was the captain final when he used to play there under slot. So he's one of those players that like, he can he was a big part of one of the most successful slot teams.
00:23:49
Michael
Um, and he's, he, ah you would kind of describe him as a box to box kind of player. Like you can score a few goals, but he's also a bit of a workhorse. He, he gets plenty of minutes a season.
00:24:01
Michael
He, he can really, he could be a good, um, he's kind of a little bit in, in the mold of like a more experienced Curtis Jones. I mean, he is only still, I think he's like 23 or something like that.
00:24:14
Michael
So he's, he's. He's still young, he's still round the sort of kind of like just about to come into his prime, so he's already this good and he could ah he could really kind of kick on. his but All our midfielders are around the right age, or far end though, but um like Graham Burke is what, 22, Macales is 25, Jones is like 22-ish. So like we're we're really building a midfield that can kind of hold it down for the future. um And I think, yeah, he would be a great,
00:24:14
Jesse
Okay, it's my turn.
00:24:44
Michael
and it a great guy to have in in the team, and I think you could fill in in both the more defensive midfield role and the attacking midfield role, so it would just be a great sign. and not Maybe not for 100 million, but but for definitely youre a little bit less than that, you could you could really see him doing well.
00:25:02
Jesse
And you could see that term being a part of ah another kind of evolution of a slot midfield, ah because that main engine room, I think you know you you need to have legs.
00:25:02
officialgspn
Yeah.
00:25:16
Jesse
And I think bringing that the average age down, I think is going to be something that we'll see in the next you know two or three seasons where we will be signing 21-year-olds and 23-year-olds for the midfield positions.
00:25:30
Jesse
I mean, Gravenberg is still you know still young as well um because just because of the intensity um of that position in in midfield.
00:25:36
Michael
Hmm. Hmm.
00:25:40
Jesse
But I think also it also shows how crazy the transfer market is. is that you know I gave a valuation of around about 100 to 150 million, and then Michael comes in and just like slaps in 30 million pounds and just like, you know what what is going on?
00:25:56
Michael
it's not It's not me, as transfer marked it's
00:25:59
officialgspn
Of course.
00:25:59
Michael
but
00:26:01
officialgspn
I was going to say, actually, because um FSG and a member on the clock had a very so of strong policy around. Not strong policy, but clock wanted a lot of former players that he worked with at Liverpool. I remember he wanted Gertzer. I think it was links to Royce and other players. um obviously slot this Obviously, this is a rumor, but slot wanting Koku who used to play for him. Do you think FSG will buy into that? Will they stamp their foot and maybe point them to another target that might be better suited for the way that they want to play?
00:26:30
officialgspn
How do you think, how do you think slot will deal with that in terms of his, his desire to want to get a player, for example?
00:26:36
Michael
I think that, I don't think, I think those players that you're talking about, about Klopp wanting, they were just not really the fit for the club and the culture. I think Cocky, like regardless of if you played for slot in the past like he is a very very good player like he's only 23 he got a very good move to Benfica he's playing very well at Benfica like it's just kind of a it's a good transfer whether like Klopp had a bit of like a rogue shout in his locker if for transfers like even if they weren't former players like he copped wanted a Julian Brandt quite famously instead of Mo Salah like I think I don't know
00:27:13
officialgspn
Yep.
00:27:17
Michael
Because Arnie Slott is more of a head coach than then a manager, because that was Klopp's sort of, well, as you can see, he's moved into a more of an administrative role. He wanted that sort of control over the whole club. I don't think Arnie Slott has that sort of input in the same sort of way. I think he is very much focused on the football and then David Hughes is the, Richard Hughes, sorry, is the is focused on the transfer. So if this is a link, like a legitimate link,
00:27:46
Michael
I don't even think slot has a say in it. I think that this guy is being looked at as a talent and someone that they want to bring in for Liverpool as opposed to slot.
00:27:58
officialgspn
Yeah, and that that does make sense. And now obviously there is the added benefit of them working together in the past. But I think I would buy into that as well. I think there are benefits for hierarchy the hierarchy having control over the transfers. And I think Slop, I mean, he hasn't even made many transfers at Liverpool already. And look at the impact he's had with the players at his disposal. So yeah, I think that's often that's a good shout. I've got one more name for you guys. I think his name is Antonio Carreras.
00:28:25
officialgspn
I don't know if you guys know him, a left back for Benfica as well. um But Jesse, I wanted to come to you because you're not a big fan of Simicas. And if Simicas is on the move, maybe an alternative left back. You can provide competition. Obviously, Robertson's getting older as well. So do you see that as a position that Liverpool would want to strengthen?
Left-back Concerns and Transfers
00:28:43
Jesse
Yeah, I mean, you know, Robertson, you know, unfortunately, he's getting on as well. And and that this is this is a contract situation that's going to, you know, come over the horizon as well in the same way that it has with van Dyck and Salah. All these players that, you know, are approaching 30 or they're 30 now. i think I think Robertson will be 32 by the time his contract expires. And yeah I think I think having a 32 year old in the full back positions for Liverpool, I think is going to be different to having a 30 plus year old in the centre back positions.
00:29:27
Jesse
So I think like someone like van Dyck, just the way that he plays the game and the nature of that position, I think you'll see him
00:29:27
Michael
You.
00:29:35
Jesse
you know I'll be more than happy to see Liverpool give him a three-year deal because I think he's someone that can play well into his late 30s quite easily. Someone like Robertson, he's he's known for his his industry and just you know relentlessly running up down that flank, whether he's going to be able to do that as a first choice at 32, 33, maybe, but I think Liverpool will be looking to strengthen in those areas.
00:30:06
Jesse
And whether it's um whether it's Carreras, you know, I don't know, I'll be honest, I'm seeing much of him. But, you know, he's I think he's 21 years old, and he's quite he's quite young. um So obviously, if if the club have scouted him, then he's going to be decent. But so just as as a general thing, then yeah, absolutely. we We do need to look at cover for the fullback position or full backs. Bearing in mind that the Trent saga is still going on.
00:30:35
Jesse
um So yeah, we we we don't know whether it's gonna be one or two fullbacks that we'll be looking for at the end of the season.
00:30:42
officialgspn
Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:42
Michael
i I mean, I agree with Jesse in terms of like, Simicast is like, He's a very good player. I mean, we did sign him from, um, Olympiarchos.
00:30:53
Michael
Um, didn't we say he's, he's coming from a league that is a little bit of step down. I think he was always going to be a backup. Got him for what, 11 million. I think it was.
00:31:02
Jesse
Yeah.
00:31:02
Michael
So it it was good money. Like, and he's, he's a suitable backup, but when it comes to like Robertson kind of stepping back and having someone fill those shoes, I don't think simplecast can do that.
00:31:13
Michael
Um, can, can there is, um, I don't know how. ready he would be for that. um I think he's also got some links to Man United as well. um I think he came through there, or like he was bought, he was just sold from Man United to Benfica, so I don't know if anyone will have any opinions on on that being the case. um I think he might, yeah, it looks like he only moved in the summer um to Benfica. I think he was on loan last season. But I think definitely looking at his left back to come in and kind of fill those shoes from
00:31:48
Michael
um from from Robertson, maybe a more attacking left-back, I mean, or maybe a left-back in more of the mould of Trent of like a bit more of a midfielder slash left-back, who can control the play because within this new system where the fullbacks don't actually bomb on that much, and when they kind of help control the game and then push on when they need to, I think maybe having a different sort of style of left-back to Robertson might be a might be a good shout because Caseras seems to be more of the Alex Grimaldo sort of flying full back basically as a winger and maybe we should look at finding a different sort of alternative because Robertson and Simicas are fairly similar in terms of just run.
00:32:34
Michael
but
00:32:35
officialgspn
Yeah, that profile.
00:32:36
Jesse
Yeah, I agree. Simakas is not, he's not good enough to be number one. You can't rest that position on on him.
00:32:41
officialgspn
Yeah.
00:32:44
Jesse
I think he's decent as a backup, but just as a backup. So I think if we don't renew Robertson, which I'd be surprised, I think, you know, he's worth keeping, you know, even even if it's just a rolling one year contract.
00:32:59
Jesse
But if if Robertson goes and I don't see Simakas staying as a number two, so it could be a couple of left backs that we'll be looking for.
00:33:09
officialgspn
Yeah,
Episode Closure and Next Topic Preview
00:33:10
officialgspn
definitely. And I mean, the January transfer window is already on the horizon. um So maybe we'll be looking at sooner rather than later ah for ah small speculations that come between now and then.
00:33:16
Jesse
Lots more speculation to come.
00:33:21
officialgspn
I'm sure. um But that's it for today's episode of the Daily Liverpool Podcast. Join us tomorrow for Wildcard Wednesday, where we'll be discussing Slots start to his Liverpool reign as manager.
00:33:32
officialgspn
But from all of us at Daily Liverpool, we will see you soon and it's goodbye from us.