A big summer for... Liverpool

18:51Mark McAdam:But Liverpool fans, I guess, would be encouraged when you look at him losing three of his four defenders last summer and still producing the performances they did, interning Junior Kruppi and Ryan into two of the most exciting teenage talents in the league. So whatever his approach is, It seems to be working pretty well.

19:08Peter Smith:It's phenomenal. You know, this is the amazing thing. You know, Bournemouth sold 200 million pounds worth of player last summer. And they sold their best player in January, Anton Semenyo, to Man City. And still finished sixth in the Premier League. That tells you a little bit about his quality as a coach, his qualities to improve and develop players. You know, Anton Semenyo was a nine when Andoni came in. And he said, no, no, no, you're not a nine. You're a winger. I'm going to make you a better winger. And look what happened to him. He scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final. the same with you know a number of other players ryan christie came in you know wasn't expensive playing as a as a 10 or as a winger and and only said no you're a six i'm gonna i'm gonna bring you back further back down the team but you're gonna take the ball higher up the pitch for me so he's got that ability to spot something different in a player and get something out of a player and you mentioned people like rayan you know rayan has a right now 100 million euro release clause if he goes to the world cup as he is with brazil scores two or three goals someone will trigger at that.

20:07Peter Smith:It doesn't actually come into effect until next summer, but the same with Kruppi. Now, on his debut season, the youngest scoring teenager in Premier League history. Better than Robbie Keane, better than Robbie Fowler. This is a young lad from France that no one had heard of, and suddenly you've got teams like PSG and Real Madrid and Barcelona and Arsenal and Man City watching him, thinking, right, is he the next superstar that we go and get? And Andoni and his back room team all take credit for that. The one thing I will say is, these are young players that no one's heard of. there's not really any young players at Liverpool that no one's heard of.

20:40Peter Smith:You know, these are all superstars already. So you've got to create a superstar from an already existing superstar. And that's the difference.

20:47Mark McAdam:Yeah. So Dan, when you're hearing that and the question marks that are there, obviously all the encouraging signs, but that sort of a grey area that we're still not sure about. And we're excited and interested to see how it will play out. I was at the FA Cup final when Chelsea, having just lost to Man City, announced Xabi Alonso as their new manager. and he was going to come in and overhaul the complete culture of the club. He's given this huge remit at Chelsea. And we ran a poll on the Sky Sports website that night saying, Liverpool fans, how do you feel? Do you feel sticking with Slott is the right call?

21:18Mark McAdam:Or do you feel like, oh, we've just seen Xabi Alonso go to Chelsea. We should have moved quicker and got him in. And overwhelmingly, Liverpool fans wanted Xabi Alonso in and Slott to have gone at that point. Now that FA Cup final fell before the final weekend of the Premier League season, before Liverpool even secured Champions League football definitely for next season as well. But what was your take on this then in terms of a manager being there available a month or so ago who'd done what he did at Bale Leverkusen that incredible unbeaten season, gone to Real Madrid, okay, it didn't work out, but it had that taste of superstar players and a huge, enormous club to then going with Arreola now.

21:58Daniel Morgan:For whatever the reason, whether it be style of play or the head coach model at Liverpool have implemented, they clearly do not see Xabi Alonso as a fit for them, for whatever reason that might be. There's been two opportunities there now. I think in terms of the supporters, there was a clamour because obviously there's a nostalgia there, there's a romance to it. And I think since Jürgen, there's an element that the crowd needs something to cling on to, a sense of identity, because he was just so overwhelming as a presence. For 10 years almost Liverpool didn't have to worry about the manager in any way, shape or form.

22:36Daniel Morgan:And this also plays into Slott a little bit. It's something we've been saying on the Anfield Rap recently, which is Slott was ultimately really bad at losing. And there's a sort of quiet skill in being able to lose well as a manager. And I'd say Jürgen lost really well. He lost some really, really big games, Champions League finals. But he was always able to come back. in his worst seasons at Liverpool he would always be able to post a 10-11-12 game unbeaten run at the end of that season which gave you hope to the next season now Vinny speaking before about the sort of change over the last week or so with Liverpool and the last few games of the season I think it really did spook Liverpool his performance is there Villa away is a farce like if you go back and watch that 90 minutes it's an absolute farce every goal they concede is the goal you do not want to concede against Villa and so the way in which it unfolded at the back end of the last season I think Liverpool thought okay this is not fixable now with other managers Jürgen it was always fixable to come back to your Alonso point they clearly don't see him as a fit for them what I would really love to know the answer to the question of with Erayola is because Liverpool when they mentioned when they sack slot they mentioned about the change in the Premier League the league has changed you know we're dealing with a different landscape now so what have they seen in an Iola that tells them that he is the answer to that solution because I think a misdemeanor we've got now and a misconception we've got now with Liverpool is that they've always had and craved for a type of football that was the type that they had under Jürgen Klopp high intensity you know, high turnovers teams that run and run and run it's simply not true under Gerard Houllier, under Rafa Benitez as Liverpool teams were very attritional, quite physical, and at times would bed in and would win games by a single goal to nil if they had to.

24:32Daniel Morgan:And Liverpool fans got behind that. So if Liverpool's board identified someone like, let's say, Unai Emery this summer and said, he's our guy, we've seen the way the league's going, he's our guy to deal with, you know, throw-ins from the halfway line that are getting launched into the box, that's our way forward. Liverpool fans would have got behind that. granted Emery's a winner and he would have continued winning at Liverpool and they had the belief he would have done that. Now when you look at Bournemouth's numbers not great in terms of set pieces against. So what is it that they've noticed, what is it they've seen, what is it they've identified in at Iola that shows that is the way forward in this changing league that they've mentioned I don't really know the answer to that.

25:17Daniel Morgan:I just don't think it's simply a case that he is a Jurgen Klopp style manager so we bring him in. There's got to be more to it than that.

25:26Peter Smith:I think two things you mentioned Dan that's really interesting there. The Xabi Alonso thing, like you say, there has been a couple of opportunities where Liverpool could have gone to the table and said right and whatever they've decided, clearly he isn't the right fit for them right now. Xabi Alonso is a positional, possession based football manager. So players stay in their position, you keep the ball and pass the ball to death until you work an opportunity through. Obviously, very similar in Arna Slott's style. Be more purposeful, keep the ball, don't give it away, and then work your way through the pitch.

26:04Peter Smith:And Donnie wants to get the ball forward quickly. He wants to create that chaos. He came into Bournemouth and called it chaos football. And I think he got told by the bosses, don't refer to it as chaos football because it's almost a bit self-defecating because actually, it's actually really clever. It might be chaos to the opposition, but you know with your team what you're trying to do. So in that sense. But that high energy, that high intensity, I guess Bournemouth fans will now say, we want Andoni Raola style football. So Jurgen Klopp's created that best team, that best style that people have seen for years.

26:40Peter Smith:So now that will always be the benchmark until someone comes in. For Bournemouth fans, it was, oh, we want the Eddie Howe style of football. Before that, it was, we want the Sean O'Driscoll style of football. And now it's we want the Andoni Arreola style of football. So Marco Rosa is going to have to create a style of football that suits. And I think that's the key thing there is that that style change is what Liverpool now want to go down. Bournemouth have competed in the Premier League with not the biggest budget, not the biggest squad, not the best players, but they've shown that that style of football in this sort of modern era of physicality or high intensity is perhaps where teams want to go.

27:19Peter Smith:Now, maybe Liverpool have said, like, we look at the data and actually being like Arsenal, and there's nothing wrong with Arsenal because they've won the Premier League, but being defensively resilient and then scoring 30-plus set-piece goals a season is one way. But actually, it's probably a bit more exciting in to do this high energy, high intensity, get the ball forward, get the ball forward with pace, be more dynamic. So let's go and try and be what the fans want and what we feel we might be able to get out of this group of players.

27:46Mark McAdam:Well, we're just going to pause there, catch our breath. So much to get into, isn't there? But when we come back in about a minute or so's time, we'll be talking about Iriola's transfer market shopping list and how he's going to reconnect the fans with this team at Anfield.

28:05Vinny O’Connor:Major championships, tour playoffs and the Solheim Cup. There's so much amazing golf to look forward to over the next few weeks and months. Jamie Weir here, host of the Sky Sports Golf Podcast, where we'll have it all covered. Join me every week to get the best analysis from the top pundits and to hear from some of the world's star players. Can Scotty complete the career Grand Slam on what will be his 30th birthday? can a freed up Rory surpass Sir Nick Faldo and become officially the most successful European golfer of all time and what about Tommy Fleetwood perhaps lifting the claret jug just a stone's throw from where he grew up at Royal Birkdale and can Charlie Hull inspire Europe to claim back the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands that's the Sky Sports Golf Podcast listen and give us a follow wherever you get your podcasts find us through your Sky TV or watch us on YouTube Thank you.

29:31Vinny O’Connor:homes. Hire the right pro today.

29:38Mark McAdam:Interesting you mentioned the set pieces, Dan. 20 conceded by Liverpool. The most in the Premier League, but level with Bournemouth, who also conceded 20. And Crystal Palace as well. So, Aaron Briggs, the set piece coach, left Liverpool in December, didn't he? So I wonder if that might be on their shopping list this summer. But Vinny, what else might be on their shopping list? Because I've made a little list here. And Feel free to jump in. But as we go through the pitch, obviously, you've mentioned a Salah replacement. That would be nice. Well, they certainly need pace in the wide areas. Pace in the wide areas with, obviously, you mentioned Cody Gakpo as well and the poor season he had last year.

30:12Mark McAdam:But Rio, young Rio coming through and is looking promising. Up front, so obviously, Izak and Eketike. I think this time last summer we were thinking, how are they both going to get in the team? Well, we've had Izak who broke his leg at one point during this season. Eketike is out for a long time with an Achilles injury. Do they need some cover at centre-forward? Centre midfield, Alexis McAllister felt like he had a big drop-off this season in his performances. At right-back, Conor Bradley's had injuries. And is Frimpong really the right fit at right-back for Liverpool? At left-back, obviously, Robertson's left.

30:43Mark McAdam:Presumably Simakas comes back to back up Kyrkos. But then you've got this Alisson Mamadishvili questioning goal. At centre-back, Kanate's just left. Yeah. So it's an extensive shock.

30:53Vinny O’Connor:I was talking about this on Sky Sports News yesterday As I went through the list, I'm thinking, God, they really do need an awful lot of work here, more than I thought. Look, I think Ananas Slott actually alluded to it before he left. He felt that they possibly needed to get covering at centre-forward as well because of that injury to Eketike because feasibly, OK, Gakpo can play through the middle. But at the minute, if Isak's fit, they're starting with one fit central striker as your focal point of the attack, and that's probably not doable. So, yeah, you could argue they need to get covering there.

31:23Vinny O’Connor:I think the key area for me, I keep going back to it. Okay, we look at centre-half. They've got Jacquet coming in. Leone's coming back from an ACL. Both young lads, but they've still got Virgil van Dijk there. Is there an argument to say that they need to bring in experience cover at centre-half? Because you don't know how much game time you're going to get out of Joe Gomez for the season. But ahead of them, that defensive screen, you've got Ryan Gravenberg, and no one else who's really filling that position. McAllister's been tried there. Going back to the days of Jurgen Klopp, McAllister's been tried there, but I don't think he's great as a six.

31:53Vinny O’Connor:his form had dropped off last season as well but you look at the workload that Ryan Gravenberg has had over the last couple of years and I think his form suffered in this past season because of it as well I think you need to get a proper defensive midfielder in there and I think, as I spoke about it as I said on Sky Sports News yesterday and the reaction of fans was oh yo we've been saying this for ages well I think it's fact Liverpool need to go out and get an out and out number six to give them the platform to play the way that Irayola wants to play as well He likes to play with two sixes. I mean, in theory, you could have Shiboslai alongside Gravenberg, for instance, but you need extra cover in there.

32:30Vinny O’Connor:Shiboslai's a bit more... He hasn't quite got the discipline, I don't think, because he works here, there and everywhere, gets around the pitch. But he's got that engine on him, which means he can get back. So he can probably fill that kind of role because he has played as a number 10, of course, as well. But, yeah, you mentioned right back. I think, yeah, you definitely need to get cover in there. so there's a lot of work to be done on this squad I think Dan would probably agree as well

32:54Daniel Morgan:Yeah look I think Liverpool's midfielders got made a fool out of last season a lot of the time by the way they were set up and the gaps that were just everywhere and you know if Iriola comes in and creates a more compact shape I think you'd see a much better McAllister for example so but the point taken there's massive surgery that needs to be done there if you look through Liverpool's squad and you look through Arsenal's squad as a comparative of, I would say Arsenal have got 22 players who across Premier League season could start 20 plus games. I had a look at Liverpool's yesterday a count of 15.

33:27Daniel Morgan:Now I'll take a case example from that. I'm not counting Rio Ingamoa as a player who can start 20 Premier League games for Liverpool next season because I don't want him to. I think that's detrimental to his development at 17. I think you're in big bother if he's starting 20 plus league games next season. There's seven players. Now I'm sure Mark will agree Iriola might come in and say I I need those players, by the way, for the way I'm going to play, for the fact that I'm going to be having 20-plus games a season more to deal with, the fact that I'm not going to be able to get on the training pitch, the fact that I might have three games in eight days where it's recovery, play, recovery, play.

34:03Daniel Morgan:He's going to need those options. So there's seven players on top of what we've got now, say, for example. But then you've got massive question marks around the squad still. What's going to happen with Curtis Jones? I think you've got a massive question over Dominic Saboz. There's an argument to Celso about us this summer if Liverpool don't want to be in a position like they have been with Canata, Alexander-Arnold over the last few years. He's 25, he's got two years left on his deal. He either needs to sign a contract this summer or Liverpool need to have a real think about that. Because he's going to be the next cab off the rank in terms of someone winding the contract down and getting off for not on all little money.

34:40Daniel Morgan:So even when you're sort of looking at what needs to come in, there's still water coming into the ship massively from other parts. And so they've left themselves with a lot of work to do.

34:51Peter Smith:And that's one of the interesting things because Andoni Arayola will say, like you said earlier, Dan, wingers are key to his team, you know. And often you'll see him change both wingers at 60, 65 minutes. And he'll say, look, if my wingers aren't tired by 60, 65 minutes and I need to make a change, they haven't worked hard enough. So often you'll see him change both wingers at the same time because he just wants that fresh leg, that fresh impetus down each channel. And those wingers are key to the way he sets his teams up and the way they press and the way they get forward. They're such a massive part of his philosophy.

35:24Peter Smith:So for him, and even at Bournemouth, Bournemouth had probably five or six wingers. Some of them could play as tens, but you had five or six players that could all play out wide because he needed at least four every game. And then if you've got an injury or two, you know, you're going to have to go into, you know, the depths of the squad. So, yeah, wing play is so important for him. And having that strength and depth in those positions is vital as well.

35:46Daniel Morgan:I think there are players they can go and pick up. Someone like Sharda at Brentford, I think, is a good option in terms of he could play through the middle and he could play off the wing as well. So you could go and get him, for example, if you wanted and say, OK, there's a body who maybe can fit two positions. And like Vinny says, with the issue at right-back, maybe it's time Liverpool do start getting those Arsenal-type signings where you buy a centre-half who can also play full-back. But again, we know that Aeola loves flying full-backs. so again what they've got to buy for him so it's going to be interesting

36:20Mark McAdam:In hindsight Dan looking back at last summer how much confidence does that give you that the Liverpool board will get the signings right this summer for Iriola?

36:31Daniel Morgan:I can't be a hypocrite and say I wasn't excited last summer I love Alexander Isaac as a player I was worried for years that if Alexander Isaac went to Arsenal that would sort of complete them so when we signed him absolutely made up. Now, Florian Wietz, one of the hottest properties in football, these were not things that Liverpool did. And I think there was an element of Liverpool definitely building from a position of strength. But when you listen to Schlott talk in the back end of 24-25, his whole sort of conversation and narrative was around, we're already sort of at the top, we just need to make games a little bit more comfortable for us.

37:13Daniel Morgan:Like he was quite frustrated that Liverpool were leaving games quite late. So in his mind, I think he was buying and the club were buying with the idea of we can be more comfortable here. Like we can control substitutions a bit more if you like in games. So the way the league has gone in Liverpool's form has thrown everyone off. And I think that's massively cast a different shadow over the business that they've done. I think for me, they've got to look at what they've done in the market and make it work. Now, someone who was a good example of that is Jeremy Frimpong I've got no problem with Frimpong starting right back for Liverpool against the bottom 10 both home and away next season no problem at all but what's the other alternative to that I don't think it's time to start sort of casting these players aside some of them are going to have massive futures for Liverpool and that includes Ekotike in that who was a real bright spark last season but they've got to make these players work now and I think when he's doing the interview when he's pitching and it sounds like it's gone well to be fair one of the questions I'm sure he got was what's your Florian Viet's plan here mate because we spent 120 million quid on this player probably the same with Alexander Isach you know what's your Viet's plan because we've got a builder around him going forward

38:26Mark McAdam:yeah too expensive to fail those players really Vinny aren't they

38:29Vinny O’Connor:could help Viet's though as well because when you look at him sometimes it's just like just move it quicker what was the game we were watching and I think it was last game of the season and it looks like he's going to drive towards the edge of the penalty area and then decided to turn full circle. You can hear the groans around Anfield at that point. What are you doing? Whereas maybe Iriola will bring it out of him. We actually move the ball quicker, pop it off, go. You see that, the way that Bournemouth at times move the ball, that quick one touch and then go and heading towards goal. It's exciting.

39:00Vinny O’Connor:It's really good football to watch.

39:02Peter Smith:That's one of the key philosophies. Get the ball forward. Be direct. Be purposeful. Move it forward. Drag the ball forward. Take the ball forward. Just make them almost turn their back to goal and cause that problem where you're in behind and you can play that one-touch football. But everything is done with such pace and energy. And that's key. And that's absolutely what you'll see from this new Liverpool side is players that are free to go and express themselves, not thinking perhaps like, maybe like Pep or Arnie, oh, and I've got to do this. I've got to make sure we do this pattern of play. And, you know, no, no, no, no, no.

39:40Peter Smith:There's no patterns of play. Get the ball forward, be expressive, be direct. If Vandone sees you getting the ball forward with pace, that's what he's going to want to see. That's the key thing.

39:51Mark McAdam:How big's the gap, do you think, Mark, for Liverpool now to make up? I mentioned in terms of points them being closer to relegation than Arsenal, but obviously we'll start on zero points in August. So how far are they away, do you think, from Iriola challenging for big honours in his first season?

40:06Peter Smith:I think there will be five clubs that are all looking at the Premier League right now and saying, we've got one team to beat. That's Arsenal. So everyone will be saying this is an opportunity now for us to go and compete for the Premier League title because we don't feel that the strength perhaps is there across the board. Arsenal are the team to beat, but I think everyone else is very level. And now that Pep Guardiola is not in Manchester City, that brings them back into the pack. And there's a lot of unknowns with Michael Carrick and Xabi Alonso. We don't know how Chelsea and Manchester United are going to be.

40:39Peter Smith:So you'd absolutely say this is an opportunity, this is a chance to go and really cause chaos. I think the one thing that we've only ever seen from two managers in the history of the Premier League is that there are two managers that have been able to create a side that remain hungry. And Sir Alex Ferguson, because Manchester United always were hungry, they'd win a Premier League title and then they'd go, right, how can we win another one? And you saw it with Pep Guardiola, the same. but you look at the successes that Chelsea have had with Ancelotti or Conte they have one season and then it falls away you see it in Man City with Pellegrini or Mancini falls away Jose, two years of success and then it falls away and Liverpool under Arnest Lott, success falls away how do you create a side that can constantly be hungry to win multiple titles back to back and that's what Liverpool have suffered this season almost feels like they won the Premier League last year and then everyone's just taken the foot off the gas now that's that that's the one thing that Andoni has to discover he has to discover a hungry group of players that want to be successful and not just win a trophy in and have a good season but to have two or three or four or five good seasons so I think that's that's the challenge the gap is obviously huge at the moment but I think this is you know this is a new era this is a new broom this is a new group this is a new philosophy this is a new style and hopefully and only can go into Liverpool and bring that energy and intensity and get everyone on board and get everyone believing that this is a season where we can go and achieve something you know if Arna Slott can win a Premier League title in this first season then why can't Andoni Arayola you know no one expected Arna to walk in and do what he did so you know it is it is possible you can do it um and like you say I think the the recruitment is going to be key um but the players have to buy into this new era.

42:34Peter Smith:And that's probably, for me, going to be the most significant thing as to whether Liverpool have success or failure this season. What do you think the expectations are, Vinny, from up above at Liverpool?

42:43Vinny O’Connor:The expectation will be to challenge. Always is. And that's why, ultimately, Arnaslott's job has gone. Because Liverpool did not mount a significant challenge on all fronts this season. And, you know, it's interesting what Mark's saying there. Because for what we were saying as well about recruitment this summer. Yeah, you look at that squad, but even still, when it comes to challenging, I think in terms of the recruitment, they're probably two wingers and a defensive midfielder away from having a squad that can challenge as long as you're keeping everyone fit. You get two wingers in and you've got the ability to bring Rio Ingramoa off the bench as well and manage his game time like that, like Dan was speaking about earlier, then you're in a great position.

43:25Vinny O’Connor:You've got a defensive midfielder in there. You've still got Van Dijk there. Get solidity. at the back, again, you're in a strong position and that allows that forward line to do its job as well. So, yeah, I know when we were talking about recruitment, there's almost like this bit of doom and gloom around Liverpool, but you make three significant signings this summer, you've got a really good chance of moving forward. And I think if you get the right players in as well, that helps Andoni Iriola with the current squad as well. Those players are already there because they'll see his ideas and that allows people, gives them the better chance of buying into what he's trying to bring to the football club.

44:02Vinny O’Connor:Dan, how ambitious should Liverpool fans be then?

44:06Daniel Morgan:Tremont needs to come out and set the barometer here. And that should be Richard Hughes, in my opinion. He should be telling us what to expect here because if it is the challenge, like Vinny says, then it's the challenge and we're under the same umbrella of what we're going for. It's not as simple as when Jürgen walked into the club and he's doing his 2D laugh and he says in four years we'd probably win a league and everyone goes great because we haven't won one in 25 by that point. But the expectations are so muddled right now. There will be a lot of Liverpool supporters who think next season they should and could go and win the league and they're right.

44:45Daniel Morgan:It's an 85 point league. This is not Guardiola's Man City. It's not 2018 when Liverpool finish with 97 points and still don't win it. So it can be won. But what the expectations are need to be dictated to us. If this fella needs time, someone from Liverpool needs to come out and tell us that he needs time. Just needs a bit more management of the supporters now, I think, more than anything.

45:08Vinny O’Connor:I think, sorry, I was going to say, will they give more time then as well because of the way this season's gone? Will the fans kind of say, OK, right, we've had to make this change, we've been unhappy at performances, but if we see an improvement in performances, we can get behind that no matter how things go in terms of league position?

45:25Daniel Morgan:I don't know. this is the thing is like you know Anfield has been divided last season as it has been in over 10 years and I think that's where the expectation needs to be set from above you know if this is going to be a body of work then we need to be told it's going to be a body of work we need to be able to see under the bonnet a little bit more the same as you know the club can and I think I think to get that unity back Liverpool need to be saying to us okay you know look mistakes have been made we're starting again a little bit here there is a minimum expectation with Liverpool there always is but this might take a little longer than we anticipated now

46:04Peter Smith:The biggest compliment I can play Andoni Araiola is he made Bournemouth fans fall in love with the team they loved loved going to watch games at Vitality Stadium, they saw the identity, they saw the philosophy and even at the beginning where things weren't going so well and results weren't there, they could see what was happening and they knew it just needed time and even though Bournemouth didn't win a league game in his first season until the 10th match so a quarter of the season in they're in the bottom two and everyone's going what have you done you've brought in this Spanish guy that no one's ever heard of and you know we look like we might go down they weren't calling for him to be sacked because they could see that it was building they could see that they were creating something and that's the biggest compliment you can pay any head coach if Liverpool fans love going to Anfield they are in love with their team they love the style of football they love what they're seeing then they will go okay we can see what's going here we need to we might need to give a little bit of time to go where we want to go in terms of winning nine out of ten games and challenging for the Premier League yeah but I am starting to fall in love with this group of players in this philosophy and that's what and only did he built he built a really clever group of players he built bridges with the supporters and everyone just loved him and what he was doing and that was the biggest compliment and in the end you've got bournemouth fans that go into games against liverpool and arsenal and man city going we'll win today and even if we don't i know that we're going to be brilliant to watch and i think that's the key thing and i think if and only can bring that little little bottle of magic that he had with bournemouth and take it to liverpool and create that atmosphere.

47:44Peter Smith:I went to Anfield twice this season and both times it was like being at a library and I was shocked. I hadn't been to Liverpool for over 10 years and what I remember was that it was one of the most incredible atmospheres I'd ever experienced and I went twice and I'm going, hang on a second, this is not Liverpool. This isn't a group of fans that are all on board. This isn't a group of fans that are in love with the team, that are excited for the game, that have got a buzz about the place. It was flat and I think that will be the first thing that Andoni has to do is, I'm going to make you fall in love with this team and I'm going to build bridges and if I can do that then the rest will start to follow.

48:14Peter Smith:And I do hate to compare

48:15Vinny O’Connor:it and mention Jurgen Klopp but that's exactly what Jurgen did when he arrived at Liverpool and that emotional connection is something I think that Liverpool fans have been missing certainly this season because they never really had, I don't know Dan how you feel but it seemed that emotional connection was missing between Liverpool fans and Arna Slott and that didn't necessarily help the atmosphere either at Anfield.

48:38Daniel Morgan:No I mean look Arna was getting the Paisley comparisons to Klopp Shankly and the reason why he was winning if you're winning all is forgiven right in football it doesn't matter how you do it if you win you know you can spin a narrative any way you want when you stop winning as both the guys have said then you start picking holes in what's going on on the pitch and I think you know the thing that excites me from what Mark's saying is I want to go back to Anfield and feel like we're putting teams in the washing machine to use that arteterism again you know and no matter at how he does it because it is going to be different from Bournemouth.

49:13Daniel Morgan:The spaces that he had at Bournemouth just aren't going to be there. What happens when you go and press something and there's nothing to press because the team hasn't gone past the halfway line. So he's going to have to figure that out but I do want to see that energy return. That's what Arna's been saying all season.

49:29Mark McAdam:Well, can Iriola bring that bottle of magic that Mark mentioned from Bournemouth to Liverpool and return the glory days back to Liverpool and Anfield again? 11 weeks to go guys until the start of the new Premier League season so we've got a World Cup in there as well to think about as well we'll be covering it all of course on Sky Sports website Sky Sports app Sky Sports news and we've got a special World Cup podcast on the way as well so look out for that but guys thanks for joining us plenty to discuss we said that at the top and there was plenty to discuss we could have kept going I think for a bit longer but appreciate your time and good to see you and we'll see you next time

50:10Vinny O’Connor:Hi, I'm Tamsin Greenway. And I'm Tracey Neville. And we've teamed up this season for Sky Netball's Off the Court podcast. Join us every week as we shoot through the hottest topics in netball.

50:23Daniel Morgan:We'll bring you everything you need to know from the Super League to the Super Shop, all building towards the Commonwealth Games. Open up your book of great sporting moments

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