Football: “WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT”?

[Jordan La Cabra]

Paul Joyce saying Coutinho is done, could be announced tonight or tomorrow. £142m.

[Mark Antony]

I’m conflicted. I’m happy to have the snake who would fake injury to avoid playing gone but top four is gonna be a tough ask when you sell your 2nd best player halfway through the season. 

Hopefully we buy some replacements who can make a difference this season. Ugh 

[polishgenius]

Coutinho is obviously a really good player, but even in this day and age £142mil for him is absolute nonsense. Liverpool could probably buy three players of his quality for that. As could Barcelona. I have no idea why they're so set on him in particular.

[Consigliere]

Looks like the Coutinho transfer saga is over. £105m initial payment + £37m in add-ons which are expected to be paid. Coutinho due to fly out to Barcelona today for a medical.

[Consigliere]

4 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Coutinho is obviously a really good player, but even in this day and age £142mil for him is absolute nonsense. Liverpool could probably buy three players of his quality for that. As could Barcelona. I have no idea why they're so set on him in particular.

At least this might increase our chances of signing Griezmann assuming that we are still interested. I don't think Barca have the funds to pay his buyout what with the Neymar money (and more) all spent on Dembele, Paulinho and Coutinho as well as a crippling wage bill made even worse by Messi's new contract which included a reported €100m signing bonus.

[MercenaryChef]

9 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Coutinho is obviously a really good player, but even in this day and age £142mil for him is absolute nonsense. Liverpool could probably buy three players of his quality for that. As could Barcelona. I have no idea why they're so set on him in particular.

prices are particularly stupid in January. why does barca want a player who can't play for them in the champions league when they have the league locked up?

he is a great player who will for nicely in the system,  but did they really need him?

pool should offer some of that giant bag of cash on a truly great goalkeeper.  

[Mark Antony]

Just now, MercurialCannibal said:

pool should offer some of that giant bag of cash on a truly great goalkeeper.  

Absolutely should throw most of the money at Oblak  

this sucks

[Consigliere]

1 minute ago, MercurialCannibal said:

prices are particularly stupid in January. why does barca want a player who can't play for them in the champions league when they have the league locked up?

he is a great player who will for nicely in the system,  but did they really need him?

pool should offer some of that giant bag of cash on a truly great goalkeeper.  

I don't think Barca would have gotten Coutinho for any less at the end of the season. Worst case scenario for them would be Coutinho tearing it up at the WC which inflates his price even further. So while Coutinho is cup tied for the CL, it doesn't make any difference for Barca to pay this sort of fee now or at the end of the season. Plus Iniesta can now be rested in the league and kept fresh for CL. The only party that a January deal doesn't make sense for is Liverpool.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

The FA is investigating Holgate’s accusation against Firmino.  Considering the referee was right between them, I hope it’s resolved quickly.  I still don’t know how Holgate didn’t get at least a yellow for that dangerous shove on Firmino, nor how Rooney avoided a second yellow.  The typical shit-house clogging is back. 

Didn'T Firmino say something along the lines:

"Loco. Loco. Puta."

Not particularly nice, but kinda understandable after Holgate checked him into the boards, and not really racist - unless my vocaublarly of Portugese swear words needs updating.

[Iskaral Pust]

This timing doesn’t help Barcelona much and really hurts Liverpool.  Although Coutinho has played well this season and stayed focused, he also went on strike in August and again in January, and perhaps Liverpool was worried that strike might extend this time.  It’s one thing for the club to tell him that they won’t sell at the end of a transfer window, especially with Barcelona unable to meet the demanded fee, but harder to hold that line a second time when they’ve had plenty of notice and receive the demanded fee.

Considering he signed a 5yr contract only a year ago, I was hoping we’d just keep him for the remainder of his contract but that’s risky with a player who was willing to strike to get his move. 

We’ll definitely need a strong replacement.  Our midfield looks pretty ordinary.  Ox has been a good addition and Keita will be an excellent addition but Can is leaving (and was uneven in quality), Gini has declined this season, Henderson and Milner are only good enough for back-up, and Lallana needs to recover his form.  None of them are playmakers even on their best days. 

[Iskaral Pust]

Just now, Notone said:

Didn'T Firmino say something along the lines:

"Loco. Loco. Puta."

Not particularly nice, but kinda understandable after Holgate checked him into the boards, and not really racist - unless my vocaublarly of Portugese swear words needs updating.

Yeah, all the attempts at lip-reading suggest that.  There were cameras following the entire clash, and the referee was right there the whole time (and don’t they wear mics now?).  There’s no evidence yet of any racial slur but Holgate made the allegation so the FA will investigate.  I hope it proves to be nothing. 

None of that explains why Holgate had not already received a red card, or yellow at a minimum, for blatantly shoving a player, already out of bounds and not with the ball, over the hoardings and into the crowd.

[polishgenius]

2 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

 

None of that explains why Holgate had not already received a red card, or yellow at a minimum,

I'm not saying Holgate shouldn't have gotten a yellow for that (probably not a red, but maybe) but when exactly was the ref meant to have carded him between the shove and Firmino getting in his face?

Anyway, the questioning will presumably be over that bit of time where you can't see Firminho's mouth, just before Holgate reacts. Since 'are you loco, son of a bitch' is clearly what he says before that.

[Consigliere]

Stoke have sacked Mark Hughes. Not a surprise really especially after today's shit show against Coventry.

[Nas!]

Finally, Barcelona will start selling shirts in Brazil again!

I'm kind of sorry this happened, because a. I like watching Coutinho play, and have been enjoying the dynamic of Liverpool's front four this season, and b. I'm a bit concerned Liverpool will buy Manuel Lanzini, who is quite literally the only player on West Ham who can complete a forward pass this season.  

ETA: I'm expecting Shrewsbury to win tomorrow against West Ham's reserves.  Moyes has no reason to want to win this game.  

[polishgenius]

40 minutes ago, Nas! said:

I'm a bit concerned Liverpool will buy Manuel Lanzini, who is quite literally the only player on West Ham who can complete a forward pass this season.  

Word on the twitvine is that they've wrapped up Mahrez for 50mil or so.

On the one hand I still don't think he's the best like-for-like replacement like we were discussing before but on the other hand I do think he's a better player that they're getting for a third of the price, if that's true.

[BigFatCoward]

Shit manager odds on Hughes getting another job within 6 months? 

If Liverpool get mahrez for 30-40 million they have massively won this transfer. I'd take him on a straight swap.

[Nas!]

2 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Word on the twitvine is that they've wrapped up Mahrez for 50mil or so.

On the one hand I still don't think he's the best like-for-like replacement like we were discussing before but on the other hand I do think he's a better player that they're getting for a third of the price, if that's true.

Mahrez is an outstanding player, but surely he won't be playing in Coutinho's role?

[The Winged Shadow]

3 hours ago, Nas! said:

Mahrez is an outstanding player, but surely he won't be playing in Coutinho's role?

Depends what you consider to be his role as it changes a little bit based on his position (i.e. left winger, number 10 or 8!). Coutinho's role on the leftwing was always a bit awkward for Klopp's style because he lacked the pace of a proper winger (compared to Mane/Salah/Ox for example). So most of the time when he received the ball, he would cut in to the number 10 position and pool would almost play a skewed 4-3-1-2 with firmino and salah making runs into either posts. If the transfer rumours are any indication, Klopp obviously wants a more traditional winger (i.e. pace, trickery, shooting) as he has been after Pulisic, Lemar, Draxler or Mahrez (?).

I vaguely remember an interview by Klopp where he said he moved Coutinho out of the 10 position (where he played under Rodgers) because he was a lot easier to mark/cut off in that position and he didn't have the physicality to hold the ball when marked tightly by the opposing holding mids. By moving him to the left, he had more space and could be more effective at what he does (cut-in, shoot, create etc) as he naturally tends to move into the 10 role when he gets the ball.

Mahrez will unlikely to play the 8 role. But he can easily play on either wing or a 10 and Liverpool has been playing 4-2-3-1 quite a bit lately. I think he will primarily play wing and Salah may move centre in a second striker role or behind the striker. Hopefully leading to more goal scoring opportunities. I think Mahrez is decent with both feet (IIRC?) and is a good passer in counterattacking situations (i..e pass behind defense) due to the Leicester's system of play and Vardy linkup, which will suit Liverpool's style quite well.

9 hours ago, polishgenius said:

I'm not saying Holgate shouldn't have gotten a yellow for that (probably not a red, but maybe) but when exactly was the ref meant to have carded him between the shove and Firmino getting in his face?

Should've got carded before the resumption of play, which is what usually happens in this sort of scenario. Firmino could have been carded for his reaction too (potentially). But I think the ref held back because of Holgate's accusation, and it might not have looked too good if he carded the alleged victim of racial abuse.

11 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Coutinho is obviously a really good player, but even in this day and age £142mil for him is absolute nonsense. Liverpool could probably buy three players of his quality for that. As could Barcelona. I have no idea why they're so set on him in particular.

I agree. He isn't worth 142 mill. I could understand if they paid that for Silva or KdB. But for whatever reason, they really wanted Coutinho. He is quality, but can still be inconsistent at times.

Disagree about Liverpool buying three quality players with that money. They'd be lucky to get two. Anyone they are after, their price is gonna triple. Coutinho and Dembele's price when Barca showed interest is clear example of it. Everyone knows Pool has money now and the selling team will want a piece of that for sure.

[Iskaral Pust]

I’m pretty sure that Coutinho’s price was at least partially driven by Nike wanting a Brazilian star to sell Barcelona shirts.  Neymar’s departure must have created a void and it’s no coincidence that Nike had their marketing announcement ready before the deal.  I suspect some sort of financial collusion because otherwise Barcelona have looked a bit short of funds after signing Dembélé and agreeing Messi’s new contract. 

[polishgenius]

6 hours ago, Nas! said:

Mahrez is an outstanding player, but surely he won't be playing in Coutinho's role?

He's not the same sort of player but like Jordan pointed out earlier when we were talking about this a few days ago, he's been playing no10 a lot since Pouel arrived and that's kinda gonna have to be his position if he goes to Liverpool too, since he's hardly going to displace Salah on the right.