Liverpool could sign £129m Salah replacement and Arsenal would still win the title
Marcus Rashford is ‘cooked’ and probably not the £129m Mo Salah replacement Liverpool would need. Nor can he stop Arsenal winning the Premier League title.
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The future’s bright
The thing that must please UTD fans more than anything is the obvious high standards he is installing in the players from the outset.
When interviewed straight after the final whistle, Hojlund was asked if he was happy with his nights work, two goals and a win, his reply was “yes and no, we got off to a bad start”……..was he expecting them to score in the first 30 seconds? High standards indeed.
Howard (how old is Mats Hummels?) Jones
READ MORE: Hojlund can solve one big problem for Man United – and make fixing others easier too
So, new manager, decent result but certainly plenty of questions and concerns. There are positives for United for sure, the biggest for me being that Amorim appears to – for now – have the power in the dressing room. His formation, his changes, his vision. And if we’re honest, it already looks more clear than whatever it was ETH was trying.
The good: a reminder that if he gets involved, Hojland is a really talented striker, especially at his age. If he stays fit, Mazraoui will be the bargain signing of the summer. Ugarte looks good in a system built for Ugarte. Mason Mount looks good in a system, period. And the squad is starting to get fit, which feels like some weird pipe dream. Shaw and Malacia available for the same elven? Gotta be two years.
The bad: Rashford is cooked, he’s not coming back. Dalot’s regression this season has been impressive. Casemiro is still good for creating at least one, often two excellent chances for the opposition each match. The players aren’t fit enough, so the last 10 minutes are ridiculously nervy as they run out of steam. Bruno is not a 6, and never will be, and is the captain. We have no wing backs for a system that requires two wing backs.
The conclusion: it won’t happen, but we have to give Ruben time. Like actually do that. No articles about the system, the fit, the players or anything for at least a few months. 9 matches in December means very little time internalising system changes, so it’s not going to happen quickly. Problem is, if there is one thing the coverage of United has never and will never have, it is patience.
Ryan, Bermuda
Well done, ref
Watching the Chelsea – Heidenheim game right now, and the ref has just denied Chelsea a pen, got told to go to the screen by VAR, saw what looked like a dive by Mudryk, and stuck to his guns! This is the first time I have EVER seen a referee do that after the introduction of VAR.
I celebrated that like a goal! Absolutely fantastic stuff and finally a referee with some basic brains and the courage to back himself. It should never be a given that just because VAR asks you to review it, you change your mind. Excellent work.
Cheers
Aman (The pen was a close call, but just the right decision at the end I think)
A Manchester City bottling?
If Man City finish outside the CL top 8, they will have to play two extra games in Feb, a month in which they play Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool and Tottenham in the PL. They are going to have an Arsenal-esque ‘season over’ Feb, notwithstanding their traditional easy FA Cup draw.
Shappo
Slightly giddy
Firstly, at what point do we decide a player isn’t all that? Delle Alli, Joe Hart, Robhino all had a few years of being quite marvellous, and then form declined and they were deemed as sh*te.
What’s the biting point with that? Rashford is there for sure, and as a mailbox contributer has pointed out, Mbappe shows all of those signs as well. He’s fast for sure, can finish, but Bradley had him on toast.
Secondly, tongue in cheek articles like the LFC/Still Not Played Anyone Good always brings out the humourless chumps in every fan base. LFC has as many of them as the next team. Personally, I won’t be happy until science recreates the Brazil 70 team and we lamp ’em.
Thirdly, I’m a little giddy now. A win against Citeh and I will concede we’re in with a chance. Though I’d be concerned for Peps self-harm if we did win (seriously, what was with those scratches? Worrying).
David (Lads, it’s Madrid) Molby, Shrewsbury.
But Arsenal will win the league
The detailing of this idea may wreak havoc in the minds of many Liverpool supporters who are, understandably, on Cloud 9 at the moment and the tribal outrage that it may provoke could be beyond imagination, especially as Salah and the gang have just swatted aside an awfully depleted version of the Champions League winners.
Good luck to Slot and his team, but I have reason to believe that it is Arsenal’s season. I will preface this by stating that the only form of loyalty I have to Arsenal is that Gabriel and Raya are in my Fantasy Premier League team, while Saka soon will be, and I also own Salah, along with around 6 million others and my 0.000017% share is more often than not my trustworthy captain. Mo Salah, you little dancer!!
Liverpool are obviously very good. That’s a non-negotiable. I really hope Mo Salah is given the recognition he deserves – he really is one of the most incredible players I have ever seen in my 41 years and I don’t believe that he is valued quite as highly as he should be. The fact that he has had a hand in 16 of 23 Liverpool league goals thus far is, however, as concerning as it is impressive. There will be a lean patch or an injury, given the nature of the busy schedule. They did cope well last season, but Salah’s absence aligned with fixtures versus Luton, Bournemouth, Burnley and a pre-improvement Chelsea. Diaz is a very streaky player, Nunez is erratic, Jota’s fitness travails will always undermine him and Gakpo is a reliable 7/10 player. Speaking of sevens, that number of Liverpool’s December league fixtures seems remarkable. Considering they include Man City at home and trips to Newcastle, Everton, Tottenham and West Ham, plus Girona in the Champions League, this period could prove to be the biggest indicator of the strength of Slot’s squad.
Curtis Jones provides a lot of hope. To both Liverpool and England, as he is an excellent technician. He scored the winner as Liverpool edged past Chelsea, but this was a game that demonstrated a lack of physicality in the midfield that Caicedo intermittently exploited. Out of Liverpool’s last six league wins, five have been by one goal margins. Last season, prolonged control of games didn’t really materialise due to the lack of a dominant number 6. Gravenberch has been a huge success story so far, but Liverpool have been on the right side of some chaotic fixtures, playing seven of the bottom ten, and question marks have to be raised as to whether it is sustainable. A lot centres upon Virgil Van Dijk’s capacity to remain fit.
While Arsenal have already managed a lengthy injury and suspension list, they have defenders who can play in several positions and probably have more scope to cope over time. Quansah, Gomez, Bradley and Tsimikas are not quite at the level of White, Tomiyasu, Zinchenko, Kiwior and Partey. A similar situation in midfield is apparent, where Partey, Jorginho, Nwaneri and an inverted Zinchenko provide more flexibility than Szoboszlai, Elliott and Endo.
It is fair to note that Arsenal have had quite an unremarkable start to the season, on face value. Considering the top four’s current variance in points though is not a million miles from irrelevant, as it is heavily skewed by the fixtures and arbitrary events at this stage. However, the 2024 calendar table shows Arsenal in second place to Man City with a game in hand and a far superior goal difference of 54, to City’s 43 and Liverpool’s 38. Furthermore, Arsenal have already played away at City, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Chelsea and Tottenham and at home to Liverpool and Brighton. Eight of the top eleven teams of the year. Red cards in three winnable games have cost up to seven points and injuries to Gabriel and Timber (alongside Saliba’s suspension) allowed Liverpool to snatch a draw at the Emirates Stadium. In spite of these teething problems and tough schedule, Arsenal have only conceded four more goals than Liverpool and scored three less.
As much as the aforementioned praise for Jones is thoroughly deserved, I really wish Martin Odegaard was English and Arsenal fans will be immensely relieved that is now available after a seven game absence. He is the Rodri to City, the Kroos to Real, the Optimus Prime to the Autobots. Nine goals in three games since his return and seven different scorers. He remains absolutely crucial to the Arteta gameplan and quite clearly elevates the level at which Bukayo Saka operates, as well as the team as a whole. Timber looks excellent and Calafiori and Merino are huge physical presences who should improve as the season progresses and they familiarise with Arteta’s methods. Think Havertz last year. With short city trips to West Ham, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Brentford coming up and home fixtures against Man United, Everton and Ipswich, a strong run could propel Arsenal to the New Year summit.
It will certainly be interesting to see how things stand at the beginning of January and let’s hope for a breathtaking multiple horse race as there is, of course, Manchester City and Chelsea to consider. While Rodri isn’t going to be around to fix City any time soon, Chelsea do probably deserve further analysis as an outsider, but for now my crystal ball indicates an Arsenal ascension.
AC in Milan
The new Champions League format Means More
There have been numerous discussions, including comments in the mailbox yesterday from Aidan and Graham about how the new Champions League format means that games mean less. “Both teams will reach the knockout stages (with an extra game or not) anyway.” etc. I disagree.
I feel like people are living through massively rose tinted glasses when thinking about the old Champions League format. Because if it were the case that Madrid and Liverpool were drawn together in the old format, would it really be any different? No. They would have comfortably finished 1st and 2nd in the group, probably with a game to spare. People talked about this all the time. Whether through the mailbox or staff articles, we were constantly being told about how boring and predictable the old group stage was.
When under the old format did we ever get a truly seismic shock? When Madrid, Bayern or a top level Liverpool or Man City, didn’t make it through? I can’t remember any. Just some examples from last year:
Madrid and Napoli were drawn together. Madrid won every game, and Napoli finished on 10 points, 6 ahead of 3rd place. Bayern (in an admittedly weak group) got 16 points. Inter and Real Sociedad qualified 8 points ahead of 3rd place. City won 6 from 6 and 2nd place Leipzig finished 8 points ahead of 3rd place. Like it or not, the old format was predictable, and qualification for the big teams was done and dusted by the end of game 5 or even game 4.
This year has already given us shocks and some brilliant matches. Now as we get into the later stages, results actually matter. The fact that 8 teams go straight to the last 16 means there will be intrigue right to the end. Because although everyone says “Oh yeah, well they’ll qualify anyway” there is a huge difference between having an extra playoff match and not. Not just 2 extra ties in a busy season, but it’s another chance to get knocked out. We could yet see any combination of Milan, Madrid, Man City, PSG, Bayern, Atletico, Juventus and others, meet in the playoff round. I am sure that is something they would really want to avoid. It will really matter for most teams, right to the end.
It’s also worth pointing out that teams who previously finished 3rd (the equivalent of 17th-24th) still stayed in Europe. But dropped down to the Europa league, which was a terrible system that devalued that competition. This new system prevents that.
Criticise the format if you wish, but please let’s move away from the fantasy that the old group stage format was anything other than repetitive and predictable. I for one welcome our new big table overlord.
Mike, LFC, Dubai
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Contracts killer
Everyone knows and it may irritate some that Liverpool is generally a professional and well run club.
Such a club would, given the sensitive nature of three stars contracts being under negotiation, conclude all three deals (however they go) before announcing anything.
So expect this business to be tidy and respectful. Life doesn’t always need to be intriguing and scandalous.
One press conference, three announcements, no departures
Chris
I’ve read numerous articles and mailbox posts about why Liverpool should, and shouldn’t, offer Mo Salah a new deal. So for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts. Offer him another two years with an option for another year at whatever he’s on now, say £350k a week. He’s going to bang in around 30 goals this season, a return any striker would take. And there’s no reason to think he won’t do the same next year. Even if he dropped off 30%, he’s still good for 20.
£350k a week is £18.2m a year in wages, two years is £36.4m. If you could buy a player who could guarantee you goals like Salah, he’d be north of £80m easily, plus wages of at least £250k a week. So for the same return (over three years) Liverpool would need to spend £129m on a new player versus £54.6m on the tried and trusted Salah.
So unless there’s a gem in the academy we know nothing about (unlike Bradley, what a player!) just give Mo the money. And Virgil whilst you’re there.
I’ll get back to work now.
Steve (LFC) Cirencester
Savage garden
It should be illegal for TNT to have Robbie Savage commentate on games and not offer the Amazon Prime feature of turning off voice and only having stadium noise.
Neil, Man Utd.
Robbie Savage has made two careers out of winding people up.
Now he wants to keep his head down and be left alone, you can’t just expect the fans he’s been winding up for 27 years to respect that.
Thanks,
Ian.
READ MORE: How unhappy to do you have to be to scream abuse at Robbie Savage?
Not even his name, mate
Neil Raines, always love to see a mail from a fellow Villa fan in a mailbox that’s usually dominated by Man U and Liverpool fans. However, I’ve got to pick you up on this one mate….
Jeff G, West Brom Villan (Careful, he might get injured easily but he’s still a big unit you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of)
Largely agree with Neil Raines’s Villa analysis, but Leon Bailey “starting to look good again”? Er, what? Every time he gets the ball (which is usually too deep anyway) he fannies around with it and either loses possession or falls over and gets a slightly fortuitous free kick. He’s been doing it all season.
I liked him a lot last year, but he must have had too many Covid boosters or something because he seems to have regressed to the level of a not terribly talented eight year old.
Matt Pitt
Oh Ken, Cork
A pre Madonna?
That’s Cyndi Lauper, right?
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London
Primma-donna Ken not before Madonna which is maybe ABBA.
Andrew, Wexford
