Neighbourhood Watch
Liverpool are leaving themselves short. Like everybody else.
There’s a lot of focus on the transfer market right now. Things are getting heated on social media, with Fenway Sports Group being accused of not backing Arne Slot ahead of what promises to be a big few months on Merseyside. We’ve seen this before.
Liverpool need a left-back. Liverpool need a centre-back. Liverpool need a right-back. Liverpool need a striker. Liverpool need a midfielder. You’ll hear all kinds of opinions on the voids being unattended by Richard Hughes. Our inactivity is a crime, according to some.
But here’s the thing. The same noise is currently surrounding Mikel Arteta at the Emirates. Manchester City are short, too. Manchester United basically need a whole new squad. All is well at Nottingham Forest, or is it?
Sometimes, you can get caught up in your own head in this game. And sometimes, it’s healthy to have a glance over your fence to check out what your neighbours are doing.
So this post isn’t necessarily dedicated to Liverpool. It’s dedicated to our competitors, and it’ll hopefully act as a reminder that no matter what, you’ll always have to manage some form of void. And supporters will always expect that void to be addressed immediately.
Arsenal are an easy starting point here. Our only realistic threat, in my opinion. A very organised team, but since Arteta took charge, he’s bought more than three defenders for every one attacker that he’s signed.
We’ve got Trent Alexander-Arnold, they’ve got Jurrien Timber. We’ve got Alexis Mac Allister, they’ve got Declan Rice. We’ve got Diogo Jota, they’ve got Kai Havertz. All over the pitch, they’re just more defensive than us, and it often shows.
Right now, Gabriel Jesus is out for the season. Bukayo Saka, too, kinda. So they’ve got Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and on-loan Raheem Sterling for the final third.
The Gunners are desperate for goals. Bournemouth create more non-penalty xG per match. Yet Arteta is trying to land Martín Zubimendi because Jorginho and Thomas Partey both appear destined to leave the club this coming summer.
They might sign an attacker or two before the window closes. Cool. Who knows? But I’d rather be Liverpool.
City need much more. Their struggles this term stem from their recruitment decisions over the past few years. I wrote about that here. Their sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, is leaving the club soon, so it’s no surprise that he’s been slacking a bit.
Kyle Walker looks like he’s departing this month. They pretty much need a whole new midfield department. And they need somebody other than Erling Haaland to score goals, with guys like Jérémy Doku, Jack Grealish and Savinho more interested in stepovers than shots.
Key pillars such as Ederson, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva also seem to have relatively uncertain futures. Ultimately, Begiristain’s successor — Hugo Viana — could have quite a lot of business to conduct in his debut year at the helm.
City are buying players this month, sure, but I’m surprised by them. I thought Pep Guardiola might’ve moved past his project phase after Doku and Matheus Nunes, but it seems not.
Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Omar Marmoush isn’t how I expected City to start their rebuild. That really doesn’t feel like that much for around £120-150m.
They win things every year, to be fair to them. It’s normal to experience a decline here and there. But to make an immediate comeback next term, their business has to be excellent this year, and I think they’ve made a weird start in that sense.
Again, I’d rather be Liverpool.
United probably aren’t even worth talking about. But considering the amount of money they’ve spent in recent times, they should obviously have a much better squad than what Ruben Amorim is currently managing.
