escape2victory

Goalkeepers - keep as they are. Schmeichels contract runs out 2023, I think one more season and then going seperate ways would be good for both parties. If a silly offer comes in for Ward then sell, but if not, keep as it is. Full backs - best we can hope for with Bertrand is a loan to a championship side who might contribute some wages. Other than that, happy to go into next season with Castagne, Ricardo, Justin and Thomas. Centre Backs - happy to drive Soyuncu to the airport, sell to whoever is daft enough to take him on. Need to recruit a new CB who is ready to slot in alongside Fofana straight away as can’t rely on Evans to stay fit for a season these days. Have Evans, Amartey and Vestergaard as the back ups. CM - The Tielemans replacement I’m happy to be slightly more defensive minded as may suit the 4-2-3-1 better alongside Ndidi, with KDH, Soumare and Choudhury in the squad. Mendy to sell for his own benefit really. Wingers - try and have Lookman on a perm deal if the price is right. Recruit a new Right Winger, so have Lookman, Barnes, new winger and Albrighton for those 2 places. Perez try and sell but due to high wages, loan is prob best bet. Attack Mid - Maddison as the main man, Iheanacho as the back up, KDH also able to play the role. Strikers - Vardy, Daka and Iheanacho is great quality to be fair. So I’d try and recruit a CB, CM, RW and Lookman on a perm. Sell or loan Tielemans, Soyuncu, Perez, Praet, Mendy, Bertrand

Before we sign anyone I think it’s important they settle on an identity and system they want to play and recruit personnel based on that. I really don’t like the idea of constantly changing formations game on game. It’s what was worrying me with the De Ketelaere links, no doubt a very good player, tactically flexible and the right age, but don’t see where someone like that would fit into the Rodgers preferred 4-2-3-1 system with the personnel we already have.

Yeah don’t worry I wasn’t meaning a Ndidi Mendy double pivot masterclass, more along the lines of a Loftus-Cheek type, maybe not actually him but that type of profile. It’s an interesting one regarding the centre backs. You would hope with Evans being eased back in April, having a decent pre season, he will be ready for next season, but I don’t think you can rely on him to get through a season or 2-3 games a week, which is why I think we need someone who can start alongside Fofana and have Evans, Amartey and Vestergaard as the back ups, after selling Soyuncu in the summer. The purchase of a CB, CM, RW and Lookman should be through the sales of Tielemans, Soyuncu, Perez and Mendy with the club putting in £20-£30 m as they normally allow for a summer net spend

A CB who can slot in alongside Fofana and is first team ready straight away, so I’d say age range between 23-27 with decent experience of playing in one of Europes top leagues. Nikola Milenkovic ? The Tielemans replacement I wouldn’t mind being slightly more defensive than Youri, as it might give us better balance playing the 4-2-3-1, allowing us to have proper attacking wingers and freeing up Maddison even more. A proper left footed right winger which we have been asking for every summer window Lookman on a permanent for squad depth. Possibly a full back if either Ricardo or Castagne leave.

To be fair the guy might be in the know regarding French players, but to suggest he knows the number and positions we are targeting is a bit of stretch ! No way are we signing 3 ‘central’ midfielders (DM, CM, ACM) !

I’ve been one of his biggest critics for 18 months or so, his gormless face always chewing gum annoys me ! However he was ok today, some decent long diagonals in the first half and generally fairly solid. The performance of Soyuncu was the least of our worries today

Such a strange second half from Rodgers, actually felt a bit sorry for the players having to follow those tactics. It felt like a second half where we were down to 10 men and having to hang on. thought first half we were decent, got the goal beginning of 2nd half, then for some reason he reverts to a 5-3-2 immediately and basically for the whole 2nd half we were hanging on. Those tactics played straight into Brighton and Lampteys hands, giving him the freedom of the right hand side. Would of been better to stick with the 4-2-3-1 as could of pinned him back more…….seriously strange management from Rodgers that

Schmeichel Albrighton Amartey Soyuncu Thomas Soumare Tielemans Dewsbury-Hall Maddison Daka Lookman

Agreed. A mini overhaul is definitely on the cards due to the number of players who come the summer will only have 12 months remaining on the contract, and due to the lack of speculation around extending these players contracts, it seems the club are planning/expecting this

Schmeichel Ward / Jakupovic Justin New CB Fofana New LB Castagne Evans Amartey Thomas Vestergaard New CM Ndidi Soumare Dewsbury-Hall New RW Maddison Barnes Albrighton Iheanacho Lookman Daka Vardy

Big decisions ahead in the summer with lots of players out of contract in 2023. Out: Tielemans, shame but clearly doesn’t want to be here so get what we can in the summer. Soyuncu, 12 months left on contract in summer. Would benefit both parties if he left. Ricardo, 12 months left on contract, unfortunately too injury prone, get what we can. Perez, 12 months left, not good enough, get what we can. Mendy, sell Bertrand, season long loan in the the championship is the best we can hope for, then release Vestergaard, probably a loan to the bundesliga is the best we can hope for Praet, sell to Serie A Hamza, would be tempted to offer new contract as decent squad player but not going to get the game time especially with no European football next season Would bring in a CB to play alongside Fofana. Evans and Amartey as back up. A left footed left back to compete with Thomas. Obviously a central midfielder to replace Tielemans. Lookman on a permanent and a right winger

Fingers crossed a random bundesliga club comes in for Vestergaard and a season long loan to championship side Reading has Bertrands name all over it, or QPR, in fact I had to check Wikipedia to make sure Bertrand hadn’t already played for QPR, it seems like he should of at some point

More than anything I want players coming in that suit the system and formation we play. I think in the summer they need to sit down and work out exactly how they want to set up next season whether that be a 4-2-3-1 or a back 3 and actually recruit players that are specialists in those positions. It’s looking more and more likely that a fairly big summer rebuild is on the cards with the contracts of Tielemans, Soyuncu, Ricardo, Perez, Bertrand all expiring in 2023, and I’d get rid of the above as either not wanting to be here, too injury prone or because they are crap.

Can we not just go back to the same system/formation that beat Newcastle 4-0 and what we went to 2nd half vs liverpool and won ? Or am I being too simplistic ?! Solid three in the middle, Maddison free role coming in from the right and either Lookman or Barnes giving us width on the left. I have seen teams above that have Tielemans, KDH and Maddison as the 3. I think last night showed us that we need a defensive midfielder in there, Spurs had 27 goal attempts ! Too easy to get through

Sounds like right back could be a bit of an issue, start Albrighton and then give Justin 20-30 mins. Try and get a similar shape and line up to the Newcastle game and 2nd half vs Liverpool. Solid 3 in the middle, Maddison free role coming off the right and either Barnes or Lookman giving us width from the left. Schmeichel Albrighton Vestergaard Soyuncu Thomas Choudhury Tielemans Dewsbury-Hall Maddison Daka Lookman

Let’s not write him off just yet. Scrap this season for him, no point trying to rush him back, do it properly, get him fully fit for pre season and see how he goes. I know Tarkowski isn’t the most creative of suggestions but the signing makes so much sense and if Evans did blow up again next season, slotting Tarkowski alongside Fofana I think would still give us that experience and organisation and would be a better fit than the Soyuncu/Fofana partnership

Contract up next summer so this summer realistically last chance to get a half decent fee. More than happy to sell, some of his defending has been comical over the years

Not sure what to make of this really. Is definitely the type of profile we should be looking at and what has made our recruitment successful over the years, and if we were crying out for a forward or a number 10, then I’d be all over it. We are well stocked with forwards and Maddison as our 10, can see it possibly to replace Iheanacho in the squad if we are selling him ? Ive heard people say he can play across the forward positions and do a job out wide. A winger for me is a priority position for this squad and I’d prefer it if we got more of a specialist winger for the position

Schmeichel Castagne Amartey Ndidi Thomas Soumare Tielemans KDH Maddison Iheanacho Lookman

Surely diamond is the worst possible tactic against Robertson and Trent ?!

He has had a fair few soft tissue injuries to be fair though. I absolutely love Ricardo and he was brilliant, but for me he is just too injury prone and when he has played, is quite some way off being the player he was, and can’t see him ever getting back to it. Hope I’m wrong

I know and I’m still annoyed at that contract we offered ! There is being a good/classy club and looking after players but that has to be balanced with business sense too and well I hope I’m wrong but offering an injury prone Ricardo a new contract in my opinion is poor business

Very big summer ahead and key decisions to be made with Amartey and Lookman expiring this summer and then Tielemans, Soyuncu, Ricardo, Perez, Bertrand, Evans, Mendy, Vardy, Choudhury, Schmeichel and Benkovic contracts all expiring in 2023, so realistically this summer will be the last window where we can get a fee for them. For what it’s worth I’d do the following: Amartey: offer new deal, is a decent steady squad player. Not sure if he wants to be 4th choice, but if happy, offer new deal. Lookman: try and buy if it’s a decent fee. Good squad cover for both left and right wing. Tielemans: unfortunately sell as clearly not signing a new contract so get what we can Soyuncu: Sell. Turned into a comedy defender Ricardo: sell unfortunately. Injuries and poor form, can’t see him ever getting back Perez: sell, get whatever you can Bertrand: a loan to the championship probably best bet, and then release 2023. Evans: offer new 1-2 year deal Mendy: sell/release whatever Vardy: new deal for as long as he wants to keep playing. Choudhury: Sell, get whatever we can Schmeichel: let him run down contract and then go our seperate ways in 2023. Benkovic: sell/ release whatever. So this summer I would sell Tielemans, Soyuncu, Ricardo, Perez, Bertrand(loan), Mendy, Choudhury, Benkovic…….clear the decks

Not convinced he will be here next season. Contract runs out in 2023, so this summer is realistically the last where we can get a fee for him, albeit a small fee. The ACL and the Fibula are bad luck but it’s concerning the amount of soft tissue injuries he keeps picking up, plus his general lack of form makes me lean more to us being a little ruthless and getting what we can in the summer. Been a brilliant player, one of the best full backs in the Prem in his pomp, I just can’t see him ever reaching those levels again

31 in August, no thanks