0:12

Hello Welcome back to essential questions from

0:14

scoring schools where we discuss the major

0:17

talking points from the Premier League and

0:19

beyond coming up on today's show is

0:21

on it. The right fit to slots

0:23

in Liverpool is gonna be a few

0:25

them coming up as the Reds turn

0:28

their attentions Sued the current Feyenoord boss

0:30

to replace your gun club. We find

0:32

out about the Dutch manager he wants

0:34

turn down the top and job as

0:36

a player. He also the past named

0:38

after him possibly looking were Liverpool go

0:41

this season after defeat to. Abbott's. An

0:43

open ended their title hopes. I'm

0:45

football journalists from Walker. Alongside me,

0:47

his fellow Sky Sports writer and

0:50

football expert Adam bag hire them.

0:53

Or wrong. Or. You've been

0:55

getting up close and personal in a sense with

0:57

the with on a Slope, specifically his background of

1:00

the last few days of money. Yeah.

1:02

Just on nonnarrative as the expert, but I've spoken

1:05

to a lot of last forty eight hours and

1:07

he had just trying to. Get

1:09

a suite of immersed myself in the world of on

1:11

the slots are hopefully I get some of that cross.

1:14

Yeah. And sounds like an interesting Weldon. And

1:16

looking back to last night to the present of

1:18

Liverpool before we we want to the future. I

1:21

mean. Everything's

1:23

win over Liverpool I think.

1:26

Well. It's potentially the death knell in the.

1:28

In the Premier League title hopes from From Apple if

1:30

he but did, Did you see that coming? Even with

1:33

a rejuvenated evident over the last couple of weeks. Knows

1:36

pool wasn't the other these going to happen

1:38

now when you're at a time rice with

1:40

to where the teams you can't be losing

1:42

to police on Everton the space of ten

1:45

days and to look at Liverpool fans. had

1:47

high hopes for the fairy tales and all

1:49

A birds are. Familiar. Failings

1:51

of cost them a little. I only just some

1:53

of those mrs last night from all three the

1:55

forwards. that's been the story of this last month.

1:57

The to. Alongside our.

2:00

Delighted to welcome back to the parts,

2:02

Sky Sports News senior reporter Melissa Ready

2:04

I'm Melissa, it's a another quite weak

2:06

the. There's

2:08

no such thing. Know keep the

2:11

case of England's. First thing is

2:13

I told and I started working

2:15

in football lays the world of

2:17

the for Never sleeps and I

2:19

have certainly definitely on that out.

2:22

Yeah. And I mean as one door

2:25

closes with only slot see me coming

2:27

in the Liverpool. The. Fire

2:29

Brady's even more. Us both up the road

2:31

have the have Trafford so that's for another

2:33

day I suppose. But but back with them.

2:35

Liverpool. For the moment. What?

2:37

Do we know first of all where we are with

2:40

honest loss at the moment as we record this on

2:42

says they also do so. It could be very different

2:44

by the time even goes out, but. As. Of

2:46

now, what's the situation? Yet

2:49

talks are continuing between Fine

2:51

Arts and Liverpool. Oh that

2:53

compensation it's we know that

2:55

and of the fools starting

2:57

point of any location yesterday

2:59

was seven Point Seven, Five

3:01

million pounds. Think the Dutch

3:03

Club want to try and

3:05

put that as close to

3:07

the ten million pound marked

3:09

as they possibly can because.

3:12

They. Would like to keep them. But.

3:15

They also appreciate that they stand

3:17

in the way of such a

3:19

big opportunity. so ultimately for them

3:21

it's just trying to get the

3:23

best possible deal and some sort

3:25

of the still looking. Strong.

3:28

And they did not just been

3:30

bullied by a Premier league side.

3:32

And that it's very very evident

3:35

that Slot lumped the job. I

3:37

mean for the club's to so

3:39

quickie even be. you know, talking

3:41

about a financial agreement signifies that

3:43

and. Also, you know you're saying.

3:46

It's Thursday afternoon. The As

3:48

sources in Holland keep saying

3:50

that this could move rapidly

3:52

just because it's determination to

3:54

take the job. Now.

3:58

says. Been. The things that

4:00

have been passing earlier this week when in a

4:02

library but I'm read might be in talks with

4:05

West Ham. There were few people coming

4:07

out saying arrival wireless posing as a. In.

4:09

Theory have the interest of the they never said it

4:11

in Xabi Alonso. Then we moved on to I'm Room

4:13

and now is into got to slot but behind the

4:16

scenes as it's been a lot more. Well

4:19

thought out and well planned. and in a.

4:21

It's me very quickly from an outside for the. Yeah,

4:24

the biggest thing for me and when us

4:26

or. The story

4:28

on Sky Sports is. When

4:31

you do this job long

4:33

enough and you are seeking

4:35

out information, you tend to

4:38

notice the language changes and

4:40

you get really good at

4:42

reading between the lines Now.

4:45

From the moment of clubs

4:47

announcement. Liverpool. When giving

4:49

anything away on who they were

4:51

looking at, we knew that data

4:53

would inform their choices. We knew

4:55

that they go through a very

4:58

thera process with kind of new

5:00

in terms of playing style and

5:02

such what they'd be going off

5:04

debt and you saw Flames didn't

5:06

feature on any of the lists

5:08

that. The. Media or

5:10

the fan base are talking about because

5:13

it's a little that often have an

5:15

outside look. They are difficile and so.

5:18

When we kept mentioning Savvy Alonzo

5:21

Liverpool never said anything about him,

5:23

but he was the obvious outstanding

5:25

choice. I don't think in terms

5:27

of levels profile per se, like

5:30

book or the playing style or

5:32

anything like that, but just looking

5:34

at a manager because he is

5:36

going to be the. right?

5:41

Out the I you he just

5:43

sort of time six to him

5:45

rather than make him fit you.

5:48

Then with Amran they said he

5:50

was one of. The. people that

5:53

was under consideration but at no points

5:55

every time and there was any sort

5:57

of story a suggestion that he was

6:00

the leading candidate, the club always pushed

6:02

back and said no, he's

6:04

not, there is no preferred choice

6:07

at this moment. Yet

6:09

with Sloth, the

6:12

language was completely different. Yes, he is a very,

6:14

very strong candidate, but there are other clubs looking

6:17

at him and Firenort

6:19

would like to keep him.

6:21

So the departure there

6:24

wasn't that he

6:27

isn't in there thinking or he isn't the

6:30

top choice, but external

6:32

forces could mean that Liverpool

6:34

don't get him. Right, that Liverpool

6:36

really wants him, but the external forces could

6:38

dictate what happens. And

6:42

so I think for them, he was always

6:46

very high up in their thinking,

6:50

yet they didn't want to say anything until

6:52

they knew that he'd want to

6:54

come and that they could negotiate with

6:57

Firenort. Yeah, I mean, I'm

6:59

interested to know what Melissa thinks actually about

7:01

the type of research that Liverpool will have

7:03

done, because I think there's a lot of

7:05

similarities between Sloth and Amurim in terms of

7:07

their CV, but not necessarily that the

7:09

playing style. So you look at them, they're

7:11

both outside the main five leagues, really

7:13

good job to help Lauren Braga get

7:16

a big opportunity in the home country, win

7:19

the title, end the long title drought, both

7:22

good communicators. So there's loads of similarities,

7:24

but then maybe you think

7:26

of Amurim, he plays a different shape

7:28

and maybe more interested in

7:30

Mourinho style than Guardiola, in terms of what

7:33

he's actually gone on the record and said,

7:35

liking that underdog football and that being part of

7:37

his kind of thinking. So

7:39

maybe when you think of the

7:41

pressing game, Klopp style, maybe it's

7:43

just easier to see that transition, you know, presumably

7:46

why they're bought to Baslai and people like that.

7:48

Maybe he's the guy who can take that forward.

7:50

So I was just curious whether that's something like

7:52

it's less about trophies. It's more about looking

7:55

at the stylistic fit here. Yeah,

7:58

because like you say, they're. Coaching

8:00

Cheney and their similarity boys

8:03

is very, very close and

8:05

there's a lot of them.

8:07

But the one major distinction.

8:10

Is. There. Football approach

8:12

and philosophy and would flow mode

8:15

playing Upheaval for Liverpool. You look

8:17

at the squad either capital, nations,

8:19

he can fuse and you also

8:22

look at things like. How

8:24

often do need when the ball

8:26

in the phone at said they're

8:29

actually top in Europe's A and

8:31

mean paid leave for that and

8:33

the team and second is Liverpool.

8:36

You look at their high time.

8:38

oh there's an their pressing numbers

8:40

and fit pretty much nearly America

8:43

for Liverpool and so. He

8:45

you're looking at it Me thinking this. Is

8:48

very easy. To

8:50

try and. Teleports. You

8:53

know, and transport. whereas I think

8:55

that would have been a lot

8:57

of work, For. The pay

8:59

is to adjust to hammer and

9:02

and potentially a lot of different

9:04

players needed to be recruited as

9:06

well to be comfortable in his

9:08

style. A know when you think

9:10

about how different never pull up

9:12

points you look and feel even

9:15

us have gotten so used to

9:17

club for Liverpool. I.

9:19

Think the last thing they wanted. For.

9:21

The players is to have. Also

9:25

this you know huge difference

9:27

in in pain approach and

9:30

thought process and getting all

9:32

of their or to my

9:34

a automation so. It.

9:37

Makes sense. That

9:39

the playing style quite similar

9:42

because remember Liverpool use that

9:44

same vision. All through their

9:46

age groups and. The. Recruitment

9:49

profile. that they look

9:51

for. Such. That first

9:53

team football but also all through the age

9:55

groups the players of the looking for follows

9:57

that same find a sick person. He

10:03

made especially. When we look

10:05

at the landscape of football and

10:08

the fact that you know when

10:10

we look at the Premier league's

10:12

profit and sustainability rules having real

10:15

keith How clubs wanting to introduce

10:17

ah a hard salary cap and

10:19

anchoring. That. Work

10:21

on the training pitch and how you

10:24

can. Put. That on a match

10:26

day. As that bringing threw

10:28

up young talents or less than

10:31

individual improvement Ethylene to be masses,

10:33

and he's shown a track record

10:35

of doing that. He. Oughta.

10:37

My feeling is that there is just the has

10:39

the best a little bit gruesome deaths and because

10:42

his job you will do not come from the

10:44

Buddha's we do is to and from a leslie.

10:46

And. That is a risk is a big circle. And.

10:49

I think is this I did I ever

10:51

would something clean. the country's never had any

10:53

file you. honestly they enough lending people's moods.

10:55

Oh and and Portugal so I'm in. Do

10:58

you think it's gonna work? Monsters is going

11:00

to be a success. Unit

11:02

the you the lead risk and

11:04

I think undoubtedly it is one.

11:07

And when I was looking after

11:09

the landscape this summer the managers

11:11

and thinking about who teams could

11:13

potentially employ like I said Shabby

11:16

Alonzo just because of what is

11:18

already achieved. Like a

11:20

a level above everyone else and but

11:22

that is banking on his future. Even

11:25

with him there's a great. Sense of

11:27

relief because you don't know leaky

11:29

can replicate what he's doing it

11:31

at the prison somewhere else. And

11:33

and then. I would

11:35

say. It's easily have such

11:37

a big chance it if it's a

11:40

scary one as well. From the outside

11:42

when you were saying it was. Like.

11:44

With spoken about you know their

11:46

the history of. Players.

11:49

And managers coming from Holland. To.

11:51

The Premier League. And

11:55

I think the only sort of

11:57

comfort and. Security.

12:00

Liverpool fans? Okay, is that.

12:03

They. Hardly get a big decision wrong.

12:06

When it comes to recruitment whether

12:09

that's recruitment office manages a players

12:11

and. Clock. Was

12:13

a masterstroke. right? But at

12:15

the time people were trying to

12:17

push ethical closer to hello and

12:19

see it as club the seen

12:21

as the prefer a wild card

12:23

and a little bit. Too

12:26

out there and like gregarious

12:28

and and Paula was seen

12:30

as more you know, respectable

12:32

and measured and. And.

12:34

Had a great set esteem to

12:36

see be. Assessing

12:38

the yeah the elements of risk and

12:41

have been concerned and oh you never

12:43

know, even when you think something is

12:45

a banker. It

12:48

might not be and put a thing is

12:50

just in terms of the the thing that

12:52

they were looking for. The fact is. He

12:56

does take them and a major

12:58

major major one off. They're

13:00

not being any upheaval to the

13:02

playing style and says what's already

13:05

been. Visiting.

13:09

This is our identity on the pitch.

13:12

That means I think they feel this

13:14

continuity. The pitch they

13:16

think we had. Structure lot

13:18

of people as on. The

13:20

pitch where they need the continuity and and I

13:22

think they feel like they've got their man for

13:25

that. Would you think

13:27

in terms of Liverpool fans lucky this

13:29

cocoons. You. Know when Jurgen club came

13:31

in he was one of the biggest names in Europe.

13:33

He was. To. Fill the gap even for

13:36

a soft top of of that size is

13:38

is slightly different. But then the woman who

13:40

that we do live in a little bit

13:42

of a different era that with the top

13:44

top level managers The. Or the

13:46

know available with the or the north of many. Fuck.

13:50

To having have those years of you

13:53

like you say so. Cast

13:55

for considered. recruitment

13:58

on the playing staff Now

14:00

with Michael Edwards back and leading the charge on the

14:03

recruitment of what looks like being slot Do you think that

14:05

Liverpool fans will you know? generally

14:09

Trust the club on this fresh from straight from the off It

14:13

depends there's a lot

14:15

of different categories. I think if you look

14:17

at the dialogue on Twitter Flot

14:21

is a very underwhelming appointment There's

14:25

annoyances anger. They think it's a

14:27

cheap option but if

14:29

you listen to San

14:32

media and their content and and

14:35

people who go regularly to

14:37

the games They're prepared

14:39

to trust Michael Edwards

14:41

and the hierarchy because they really

14:43

really get big decisions

14:45

wrong but I

14:48

think ultimately it's so difficult the

14:50

end club is Larger

14:53

than life and what he's

14:55

delivered to that football club not just

14:57

in terms of the trophies, but

14:59

the experiences and the emotional

15:02

journey everybody's been on together.

15:04

It's really hard to

15:06

imagine Life without

15:08

him football without him for the Liverpool

15:10

fan base And I

15:12

think the jabby Alonso

15:14

idea it was so Romantic

15:17

and something that you could so easily

15:20

buy into that it

15:22

seemed the only palatable Solution

15:26

to losing Yergin, but you've got shabby

15:28

Alonso the most exciting

15:30

outstanding young managerial talent in the

15:32

world who already has an affinity

15:35

to And

15:37

then from there I think

15:40

the fan base then re-calibrated and got

15:42

attached to our Maroon again, who's

15:44

probably an a more

15:47

exotic choice than slot,

15:49

but I think the fact that there's

15:53

been all

15:55

these emotional pulls in different direction

15:58

for the fan base, it's quite a Hi

16:00

You both are a more

16:02

logical. Small. Message

16:05

kind of choice rather than are

16:07

sexy exciting one. Mouth

16:10

talking on Sky Sports On Wednesday evening former

16:12

Liverpool Defend the Jamie Carragher gave his reaction

16:14

to on a Slot Big League with Me

16:16

from Fields kind of a similar vibe. Hear

16:18

his her what he had to say. Nothing.

16:21

For Feyenoord to Liverpool is a

16:23

huge drop. It is, and I

16:25

think it shows up this moment that there's probably. A

16:29

days of real. Soft. Manages. I'll

16:31

say when you look we'll have a provable

16:33

force when his be probably Samuel on so

16:35

that was on his face full season. As

16:38

a manager there was talk of our in

16:40

from a Sport Lisbon have any he says

16:42

he nine and now on Onslaught looks like

16:44

he's is is the favorite right now. So

16:46

yes. I.

16:49

Don't think it's. Like wrath

16:52

of a nice as cominit Ogaden cloth. Comedy.

16:54

Him and wrath of beneath his comment on

16:56

the bus of to La Liga titles anyway

16:58

for cook or getting clock boom bust a

17:00

comedy and on the in have been adequately

17:03

titles in the with considerable gets with Champions

17:05

League final A Liverpool were actually in a

17:07

different space than that was enough to seen

17:09

sitting. There are many says I was part

17:11

of way we would seem kind of qualify

17:13

for the thoughtful same he hadn't caught when

17:15

he came in for Liverpool as says it

17:17

in a in the vicinity and other acts

17:19

the fancy themselves the challenge to the premier

17:21

league every season on the next season something

17:23

the it expects. To go to the quarterfinals

17:26

at least so you know I think

17:28

it's a huge jump Both is opposite

17:30

a great coach but a great track

17:32

record and able to clubs that is

17:34

Hansel five days as out my i'm

17:36

fine or both. Yeah the say. Okay,

17:38

picking up from that. As as

17:41

Kerrigan said in a manager of

17:43

Feyenoord with with a great history,

17:45

that's one thing Liverpool. A. Whole

17:47

different kettle of fish. Not. A million

17:49

miles away from what we've seen with

17:51

a certain I X manager and his

17:53

spell at Manchester United. Adam. I

17:56

mean dissimilar sees it as. on

17:59

islam stats bald but

18:01

there's a lot of difference as well

18:03

isn't there between himself and Eric

18:07

Tenharg from from what from the people

18:09

you've been speaking to this week as well. Yes

18:12

so the last time I did this kind

18:14

of piece of the Dutch Magic was two years

18:16

ago speaking to everyone who knew Eric Tenharg

18:18

I could find trying to convince myself that he's

18:21

going to turn united around so I think

18:23

there are similarities beyond the lack

18:25

of hair but I think there are key differences too

18:27

that lend a lot of people I

18:30

spoke to towards being more optimistic because I mean

18:33

there is an issue with success in the

18:35

Netherlands translating to England there's no doubt about

18:37

that it's been a cliche with players for

18:40

years and for every sort of Lewis whereas there's a

18:42

Kessman or whoever and who struggled here

18:45

but the last four Dutch title winning

18:47

coaches who came to work in England

18:50

are Steve McLaren, Frank Deboer, Philip

18:52

Kocku and Eric Tenharg and it's

18:55

been pretty miserable really but having

18:58

made this point to people they tell me that

19:00

Arna Slott's communication skills are a completely different level

19:02

to all those guys and particularly

19:04

Tenharg and you

19:07

know they told me on property three different people

19:09

that this guy's a master of the media sort

19:11

of the king of the press room he convinces

19:13

players to come along the journey with him and

19:16

convinced his supporters and journalists to come along with him

19:18

too and I'm sure there's people listening

19:20

to the podcast who will tell you that

19:22

it's all about tactics and clearly that's a

19:24

big part of it right and then we've

19:26

understood that with the transition from from Kock's

19:28

style and we can talk about

19:30

that but the pressing game and all that but

19:32

I think Yergen Kock was a great communicator as

19:35

well and great ability to set the narrative and

19:37

make people believe and I think that's I

19:39

think Liverpool are probably conscious that's a really

19:41

difficult act to follow and they need someone who can

19:43

at least try to do that I think that's

19:45

something that counts quite strongly in

19:48

Slott's favour because he does have that

19:50

reputation he is someone who can convince

19:52

people. I think that

19:54

that's been a bit of Farrington Hugg's downfall as people

19:56

have talked about but it's almost

19:59

I feel like it's a was slightly more important

20:01

at Liverpool, that narrative around the club,

20:04

you know, you'll never work alone. It's,

20:06

I can't think of a club in England with more of a sort of story

20:09

to the way that they exist,

20:11

if that makes sense. No

20:14

club is probably enarmored with

20:16

their managers as Liverpool,

20:19

Sainz are with theirs, like

20:21

all through history. And I

20:23

think you really need a connector,

20:26

someone who is

20:29

able to regenerate or like

20:31

force a bond with supporters,

20:36

with people in the city, not

20:39

just, you know, ways of

20:41

saying, putting on club, it makes

20:43

a stand on major issues and

20:46

wants to improve the feeling

20:48

in the entire city, not just

20:50

around the actual club. And

20:53

I think there's definitely like

20:55

Adam says, echoes are doing

20:57

that. And one of

21:00

the things I was told, and one

21:02

of the words was energised,

21:05

he energised, fine

21:07

or he actually made them unrecognisable and he

21:09

made the fans fall in love with the

21:11

team again. So I think

21:14

that's obviously quite important. And it's

21:17

interesting as we're going through this

21:19

podcast, I'm thinking about when

21:21

club made his announcement

21:23

and we listed all the things Liverpool

21:26

would be looking for in

21:28

a successor. And we're slowly like

21:31

we're going through slot and we're

21:33

taking every one off. And

21:35

I think what

21:37

people also forget with club

21:41

was that he always outperformed

21:44

his resources and

21:46

the expectations. And,

21:49

you know, you were talking one

21:51

about club having a different

21:53

profile to slot when he

21:56

came in at Liverpool. And

21:58

that is. Hard because

22:01

everybody watch cops Dortmund

22:03

specifically and players were

22:05

excited. To play

22:07

for him in a team like that cause

22:10

I have seen what dortmund it in the

22:12

champions league that you don't have that would

22:14

slot but. I think what

22:16

we have this. If. You

22:18

scrub out that Dortmund stuff the

22:20

same sort of career trajectory where

22:22

you go to a club and

22:24

you make it greater than what

22:27

it it currently is a what

22:29

it has been for a few

22:31

years and you do that would

22:33

very limited budget just using your

22:35

tools. And said

22:37

stephanie shown that this you

22:39

can feel ready when you

22:41

lox and the clips. no

22:43

justice the team play but

22:45

of how he interacts with

22:47

his players. From the fans that

22:49

there is a real charisma there and

22:51

a death anything that's gonna be important.

22:55

Looking looking forward now how quickly decent Liverpool

22:57

would like to get this rock salt because

22:59

it's as we recorded programs in three months

23:02

tomorrow that he hadn't caught first announced that

23:04

he was gonna leave Liverpool and you'd imagine

23:06

the way that. Things. Work

23:08

Anfield. a sense of signings and so I'm. In

23:12

a that that operate somewhat outside of the

23:14

manages remit and you know what signs box

23:16

I'm how desperate will have a puppy to

23:18

actually get the set in stone of exactly

23:20

bother them in with to the almost a

23:23

month left of the season so are they

23:25

still fairly calm about it. They'll.

23:27

Always be com I think they. Are

23:30

Sunday. That diligent still

23:33

point that they know. Fine

23:35

or of other things in other shapes

23:37

have the right price. Plus we want

23:39

to. Play

23:41

Style This claim to be any

23:44

upheaval. Also like I said that

23:46

profile a player that they recruit for

23:48

the summer but wouldn't be any upheaval

23:50

in that either act was it would

23:52

be the same attributes they're looking for.

23:55

An. Email you say?

23:59

The friend. announcement was made and you've come

24:01

to the mens. Liverpool had known

24:03

since November. So work

24:05

will have already been done from

24:07

that point, even before any of

24:10

us had any inkling that that

24:12

jolt was going to come. They

24:15

will have been fairly clear in their

24:17

minds of which direction they

24:19

were gonna go in. And

24:21

like I said, the most

24:23

interesting thing about this is

24:26

that Liverpool were non-committal on

24:30

all the other names. The only one with

24:34

a strong candidate and

24:36

the goal of the key

24:39

criteria has been sluts.

24:41

So in my opinion, I think

24:44

if they, if Xabi Alonso said he wanted to

24:46

come to Liverpool, I think that happens because like

24:49

I explained, he's the one no

24:51

club would turn down. He is extraordinary

24:54

what he's already achieved in such

24:57

a short timeframe. But

24:59

I think beyond him, sluts is

25:03

their key candidate. Well,

25:06

we'll wait with bated breath to see what

25:08

happens by the time you're hearing this podcast. You might know more than

25:10

us. But you're listening to

25:12

Essential Football Questions. When we come back, we'll

25:15

be looking at Liverpool's immediate future before their

25:17

new manager and if their title race is

25:19

all but over. Welcome

25:26

back to the Essential Football podcast with me, Ron

25:31

Walker in the company of Adam Bay. I'm

25:34

afraid we've lost Sky Sports's Melissa Reddy, as she said, never a

25:37

quiet week at Sky Sports. And

25:39

on the pitch as well, let's turn our

25:41

attentions back to last night for the moment

25:44

and the Merseyside Derby, not

25:46

a great result for Liverpool beating 2-0 at Goodison Park.

25:49

Let's hear from a very angry, very

25:51

angry, very angry, very angry, at

25:54

Goodison Park, let's hear from a very angry

25:56

Liverpool captain, Virgil van Dyke, after that defeat,

25:58

speaking to Sky Sports. I suppose. Listen,

26:01

very disappointed in so many ways

26:03

and I think everyone has to

26:05

look in the mirror and look

26:07

at their own performance if they

26:09

really give everything and do

26:12

they really want to win the league and obviously we're

26:14

fighting and we still have

26:16

games after the night but we

26:18

play like we did overall in

26:21

the game today and not

26:23

winning challenges and giving the

26:26

ref to an opportunity to give a free kick

26:28

like he did many times then we

26:31

have no chance to win

26:33

the title and like I

26:36

said it's a tough one and obviously

26:38

we have to do much better against

26:41

the side that's playing against relegation and

26:45

now it's time to focus on a

26:47

12-30 kick off again. Well, no

26:50

punches pulled from the Liverpool captain

26:53

there Adam. I

26:56

mean the frustration you can feel it and you

26:58

can understand it as well can't you after a

27:00

really difficult couple of weeks for Liverpool? Yeah

27:03

I think there's two ideas at play simultaneously

27:05

with Liverpool at the moment. The one is

27:08

that they've overachieved this season because a title

27:10

push was not necessarily expected it was

27:12

seen as a rebuild season if

27:15

you go back to the start a

27:17

new team emerging and it only really started being

27:19

seen as an ending when Klopp

27:21

announced his exit didn't it and that sort of reframed

27:23

it as everything's got to happen now. But

27:26

the other thing you think about with Liverpool

27:28

this season is you look at the underlying

27:30

numbers and they've been outscored by Arsenal and

27:32

Man City but they've actually created far more

27:34

chances the expected goals telling you they should

27:36

have nine more goals than both of those

27:38

teams and I think you

27:40

get a real feel for what a wasted

27:42

opportunity literally it's been when you

27:45

watch games like Goodison Park

27:47

because Mohamed Salah has gone cold second

27:49

half of the season, Luz

27:52

Diaz doesn't score enough goals, Diogo Jota are

27:54

injured and I don't know

27:56

Ron what's left to say about Darwin Nunez. I

28:00

mean, it's the

28:02

unanswerable question of the universe, isn't it? Is

28:05

he going to come good because he had that bright

28:07

spark at the start of the season when he came

28:10

off the bench against Newcastle scored two, including that last

28:12

minute winner, and then you get

28:15

to things like last night, and is

28:17

it just going to be perpetually this level of

28:19

frustration until he leaves? Maybe. I

28:23

mean, he's at a good age. He's not young.

28:26

He's not old. He's not young. This should be

28:28

his peak years, really. I think Salah is

28:30

the more interesting question, isn't it, in terms of

28:32

thinking about slot in the future

28:34

and where they go with it. I mean, maybe

28:36

they had another midfielder where Toro Endo was a short-term

28:39

fix for that position, but you can see how they've

28:41

started to change that area of the team and

28:43

rebuild quite impressively. I think

28:45

they need more from the forwards. And

28:49

Salah, I mean, if you remove the politics of it

28:51

with Salah, given his status at the club, given

28:54

the Saudi option there in the background,

28:56

added temptation for Liverpool always to

28:59

sell, even if he was at the

29:01

peak of his powers and scored 40 goals, I think that would be on

29:03

the table. But just from a tactical

29:05

perspective, I think Salah is quite interesting because he's not

29:08

the pressing force that he was when he arrived.

29:11

And Jurgen Klopp has been making compromises

29:13

on that front because I think if

29:15

you were picking his team purely on

29:17

counter-pressing, I think you'd see Harvey

29:19

Elliott in that team most weeks. But

29:21

Salah's abilities, they demand compromise. And then

29:24

that's made certain shifts

29:26

in the team inevitable. But

29:28

under a new coach, a new start, new demands,

29:30

maybe that is another thing that

29:32

could be time for a change, time to cash in.

29:36

Do you think are those trade-offs

29:38

becoming less worthwhile as well? I

29:41

mean, we don't want to say

29:43

that the Salah regime is over.

29:46

It's always a dangerous one. But since the turn of

29:48

the year, his attacking output

29:51

numbers have dropped fairly

29:53

substantially by about a third, you'd say,

29:56

in terms of his goal involvement. Is

29:58

this the opposite of a purple? patch

30:00

or is it potentially, you know,

30:02

he's not a million miles off his 32nd birthday. Is

30:04

it something a little bit more long term at this point?

30:06

Does it look like? Yeah, I

30:08

will find that out. But will it happen

30:11

under someone else? They especially let the legs

30:13

go under the next club. I mean,

30:17

I know Jamie Carragher talks about Diogo

30:19

Jota being the most reliable finisher of

30:21

the club. I would probably still say

30:24

Salah over the others. It's

30:27

just been a really bad time for Interlused form

30:29

after that injury in the

30:31

winter. And I mean,

30:33

he's cost on this title, really that finishing from

30:36

all of them, there's too much responsibility on him

30:38

clearly. But I mean, you're

30:40

thinking long term, can you get back

30:42

whatever? This was about now, wasn't it?

30:44

This was a huge opportunity for Liverpool

30:46

to win a lot of trophies this

30:48

spring. And yeah, they've missed

30:51

that chance. Now

30:53

pick questions will obviously be asked about

30:56

the timing of Klopp's departure and whether

30:58

it's ended up overshadowing this, what

31:01

was for so long a title run. I mean,

31:03

I'd say if you look at the response

31:06

after he first announced it, you'd

31:09

say, of course the Liverpool players

31:12

reacted well. And you know, it's just been

31:14

down to things like you say, poor finishing

31:16

that have cost

31:18

them in the end. How do you see

31:20

it? Do you think that it has proved

31:22

an unwanted distraction or had it actually galvanised

31:24

Liverpool as we've got towards the final throws?

31:27

Yeah, I don't want to shut down the

31:30

question, Ron, but I don't know how often

31:32

you hear this from a Sky Spudges. I

31:34

just don't know. I just don't know. It's

31:36

really impossible to say, isn't it?

31:38

I mean, the dip, yeah, there's

31:40

been a dip lately. But like you say, they found

31:42

out quite a long time ago. And was

31:47

this always going to happen? You know, were

31:49

our expectations at the start of the season, they were

31:51

going to go blow for blow, we were sitting until

31:53

the end. Not sure they were. So

31:56

I think on the whole, you would take on balance if

31:58

you gave the end quite a Liverpool season. season of

32:00

Caravan Cup win and kind of where

32:02

they are, has it been a disaster,

32:04

has it been a massive underachievement? It's not been

32:06

anything like the Dortmund season, the ad at

32:09

the end. I don't think you can make any comparisons there. So,

32:12

yeah, it's really hard to say what

32:15

impact it's had. What you can say

32:17

is that there was talk of – Salah was talking about

32:19

the fitting ending and I think they were all had

32:22

this sense but it just hasn't

32:24

come to fruition. Now,

32:27

Jamie Carragher was talking about the future of

32:29

Mo Salah last night and you mentioned that

32:31

there may be interest from Saudi again this

32:33

summer. Are there any other problem

32:35

areas that Liverpool might look to move players on?

32:38

Do you think – I mean, not

32:41

to mention Virgil van Dijk in a

32:43

negative sense because I think since he's fully shaken off

32:45

at injury from a couple of years ago, he's looked

32:47

a bit more like his old self but he's going

32:49

to be 33 in a couple of months as well.

32:52

It's a funny one, isn't it, because there's young

32:54

players coming through, although still questions about

32:57

the longevity of that, but there's

33:00

a few bits that need addressing as well over the summer. Yeah,

33:03

I think so. I think areas

33:06

where – I'm in Andy Robertson even, he's not

33:08

getting younger. But I think – I don't see

33:10

that as such a problem in defence. I actually

33:12

think the age of a lot of Liverpool players

33:14

is quite a positive sign.

33:16

I mean, you think of those forwards, Gappo,

33:19

Jota, Nunez, Diaz, all at a good age.

33:21

The midfield rebuild has already been,

33:24

Canate is a good age, good

33:27

player. And then you get better as well. I

33:30

think Trent as well. So I

33:32

think there's a team there for someone to take

33:34

over and take on. I think Salah's probably the

33:36

most interesting one, just in terms of his status

33:38

at the club and maybe what the impact of

33:40

that is, tactically, for the club. Title

33:44

race next year, what do you think? It's going

33:46

to be a big ask for someone taking over

33:48

from club, isn't it? And especially when we're saying

33:50

that they were doing so

33:52

well to even be involved in the conversation this time

33:54

around. Yeah, I think so.

33:56

But back in the Champions League, it's an elite job.

33:59

It's a great opportunity. But yeah, a lot of

34:01

work to do. Well,

34:03

Liverpool are back in action this

34:05

Saturday at West Ham with

34:07

a 12.30 lunchtime kickoff, which they're not

34:09

best pleased about. But the

34:12

next day, it's all about the North

34:14

London Derby Tottenham facing Arsenal

34:16

at the Emirates Live on

34:18

Sky Sports on Super Sunday

34:21

Live on Sky Sports Premier League from 1pm

34:23

kickoff at 2pm before Man City travel to

34:25

Nottingham Forest for the 4.30 kickoff, which you

34:28

can also catch live on

34:30

Sky Sports. We've also got QPR against

34:32

Leeds, a massive game at the top

34:34

of the championship. And also make sure

34:36

you keep across Sky Sports News and

34:38

the Sky Sports website for all the

34:40

latest news. You can also find out

34:42

how to follow us on WhatsApp details

34:44

on the Sky Sports website for that.

34:47

But for now, thank you very much for

34:49

listening. For myself and Adam, have a great weekend.