Kai wrote: ↑Sat Aug 17, 2024 10:51 am
Still too much deadwood and too many happy pensioners on retirement plan contracts, all setting the manager up for failure.
Casemiro will catch most of the flak this time but like I said earlier after the same 3-0 prelude result in pre-season the squad seems full of pensioners and rejects from other big teams, ETH has assembled a team of overpaid misfiring misfits and nobody is surprised anymore, besides Gary Neville, who liked the idea of ETH throwing his staff under the bus for a contract extension and another crack at it. There is no fear factor any more on their teamsheet, Liverpool players were taking the piss after the third goal trying to showboat and walk the ball in (Szobbo), which I fully agree with Gary is disrespectful.
Everyone is biased one way or another but all anyone needs to do is look at United's price in every match, to objectively see where this is all going. They're a cup side now, like Liverpool was under Rafa etc, they will eventually sort it out but not under ETH imo.
But Liverpool aren't overly ambitious either, as shrewd as they've been with finances and identifying top targets there is a similar underlying lack of ambition, if anything United have shown more ambition with their spending. The fact Liverpool have made a profit this summer window speaks volumes, the priorities are always to maximize value instead of trying to win, and their best value play right now is to just let Slot coach/cook and develop the players. Their ideal scenario is to mould Ryan (Gravy Train) Gravenberch into a Rodri/Zubimendi level player, and Bajcetic into a defensive version of that to replace the experienced Endo.