Marcus Rashford or Phil Foden replacing Mo Salah at Liverpool makes sense if we ignore that neither will happen. But Anthony Gordon might…
The debate over Mo Salah’s legacy rumbles on in a Mailbox also featuring an Everton fan pleading for just one season of feeling… nothing.
As ever, get your views on any topic into theeditor@football365.com…
Logical transfers that won’t happen
Had a fascinating read with regards to the upcoming Newcastle transfer decisions as well as who will replace the irreplaceable Mo Salah. There are many times in football, where there are transfers that everyone knows can never happen, but would make a lot of sense if they did. So here is a list of sensible transfers, that will never happen because they just won’t.
1. Gordan to Liverpool in exchange for Isak + 30m:
There are a million reasons that this would never ever ever happen. Liverpool & Isak will have to swallow their pride at a bad transfer decision and book a massive 50-70m+ loss (Pricing Gordan at a 100-120m), Newcastle fans will have to forgive Isak as well. But this transfer makes massive sense as Newcastle get their best player back with a cool 180m in pure profit with some accounting shenanigans (sell Gordan for 120m and buy Isak for 90m after selling him for 150m last year after originally buying him for 60m or so) while Liverpool get a Salah replacement who is top quality and still relatively young, for basically 30m extra this year (What’s done last year with Isak is last years problem)
2. Rashford to Liverpool:
At 30m or so, he is quite the bargain this season for a team looking to fill in their right wing troubles. Won’t happen cause there will be pig heads thrown the next time Liverpool face Manchester United and the level of racist & hateful comments may just break twitter down
3. Trafford to Chelsea:
This one actually could happen cause it makes a lot of sense. Chelsea are in need of a top keeper, Trafford needs time at a top team, City can turn a profit by selling him for 80-100m or so to the stupid BlueCo. But I highly doubt it will because City will directly & massively strengthen a competitor by giving them a piece that they are missing so desperately
4. Foden to Liverpool:
Loss of trust/playing time/form at City and can easily be the replacement for Salah that they are on the lookout for, and he is still quite young. But I highly doubt it will happen as he is literally the only local boy City have & would cause an uproar amongst the 23 original fans that City have.
5. Isak to Arsenal:
Arsenal have the worst attack I’ve seen from a team leading the table. Isak as their striker would be life changing, but why would Liverpool sell to them, and why would Arsenal pay 120m+ for an injured tantrum throwing striker. Will never happen, but makes absolute sense and will take Arsenal to another level if they get him.
6. Kane to Spurs:
Won everything at Bayern, and comes back as the local hero to save the club and take them back to the CL/European places. But won’t happen because of the same reason no one would stab themselves in the eye while jumping off a balcony from the 1st floor. Cause why would you put yourself through that level of pain and hurt.
7. Nunez to Villa/Newcastle:
Villa are a predictable, boring and quiet crap in attack this season with an off form Watkins. They need a long term solution, and who better than Mr. Chaos in the box himself Darwin Nunez. Along with Morgan Rodgers, he can form a formidable attack that will scare the opposition and Emery both cause no one will know what’s happening. Maybe available at a bargain after being binned by the Saudis. Same goes for Newcastle.
8. Olise to United:
A forward thinking Manchester United could take a massive risk by selling Bruno at the top for 100m+ and buying Olise who is very capable of replacing him. But won’t happen because it’s too much of a risk + Bruno is currently in the form of his life & the fans would have a meltdown bigger than Chernobyl if this doesn’t work out.
Let me know if you guys can think of more sensible and obvious transfers that will never happen.
Cheers
Aman
MORE: Next Salah? Ranking 10 Liverpool options tipped to replace legendary winger after exit announcement
FFS, Everton
I must be the only Everton fan who is not completely happy with how the team are doing. You see…my only wish for this season is to not have to worry about relegation (and at best to fluke ourselves into the Conference League). I am happy that we have not been featured in any Big Weekend or 16 Conclusions. After years of relegation PTSD, I just want a season free of any worry or hope to reset my mind. And now that the players and the manager are talking about the possibility of a place in the Europa League or even the Champions League, I can predict what is going to happen. We will come back to earth soon – back to where I was hoping we would be, but now with a sense of disappointment.
Nick
Salah > Suarez is nonsense
Minty, LFC wrote in to the Mailbox, saying “I think I can say with some confidence Mo is the best I’ve ever seen play.” This makes me wonder, did Minty choose not to watch Luis Suarez? Or did he forget Luis Suarez? Or has he somehow truly concluded that Luis Suarez was not a better player than Mohammed Salah?
Cards on the table, I have always appreciated – but never loved – Mo Salah. There has not been a single moment in the last 9 years when I would have picked him as my favorite Liverpool player. Last season is the only one where I would have picked him as the best/most important player in the team, either because I am very much a Sadio Mané man, or because I considered Virgil and Allison more fundamentally irreplaceable than Salah.
But I can acknowledge that all of that is just my own ‘left-field’ opinion. What I cannot wrap my head around is that anyone with two eyes and a brain would say that Luis Suarez was not a better player than Mohammed Salah.
On another note, Rohit, Abu Dhabi wrote in to the Mailbox appreciating Salah for his many wonderful qualities. He praised Salah for being a devout Muslim, as so many fans and media outlets are wont to do.
Rightly so. I just always find it curious and sad that Sadio Mané, Ibrahima Konaté, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri don’t get the same praise. I don’t recall Momo Sissoko getting much recognition for this either.
Oliver Dziggel, Geneva Switzerland
Why Salah is better than Suarez and not a snake like Trent
Few shouts in the mailbox saying Suarez was better and why aren’t we all upset with Mo for angling for a better contract or are we all going to be annoyed like we were with Trent.
These are all nonsense and let’s break it down:
Mo wanted to get paid to reflect his value as one of the best goal scorers of all time. Fair play. He didn’t do what Rooney did at Man Utd; waiting for the club to be at their lowest ebb before pulling their pants down (twice) or trying to sign for their main city rival (sorry Everton). He signed contracts when the club was always in a position of strength. He also always delivered stunning output so it’s hard to argue he wasn’t value for money. I assume all Man Utd fans reflect that Rooney was a total snake not a club legend right…? Oh.
Suarez was better…maybe but probably not. Suarez had one truly great season whereas Mo had about 7 in his time. If you remove that data from Suárez super season he scored 51 and assisted 34 in 100 games which is definitely elite but it’s not Mo levels.
Finally, of course Mo won’t get hate like Trent. Trent kept saying nothing himself whilst leaking stories to the press in his final season. Mo is leaving on his own terms but he saw Liverpool as a destination whilst Trent and Suarez saw it as a stepping stone. Mo probably made Liverpool a destination in itself during his time.
I’m glad Mo has said early that he’s leaving. There’s no more reason for all the gossip columnists to write articles every week and the fans can to soak him in whilst they still can.
Also I was at the ground on this day.
Proper wholesome fun.
Minty, LFC
Salah or Shearer?
My two cents on the Salah in the (subjective) hierarchy of Premier league greats. He showed great consistency to go as long as he did at such a high level. Some may say the trophies speak for themselves but do they? I thought the question was about him as a player, not the broader team he played in.
Klopp’s Liverpool in their pomp stylistically were a real joy to watch, but that shouldn’t confuse the debate about top players. Surely Suarez on pure ability and Gerrard on leadership and pure single-mindedness. But vs other greats? No chance.
Henry as a player, a work of art, Shearer as a goalscorer. People forget Shearer playing some of his career before the Premier League was formed and had two major injuries with significant periods out. But most of all, for a LOT of that time Newcastle were pretty terrible, it wasn’t all Keegan and Sir Bobby…..
If anything when we look at greats we should look beyond trophies and ask how they did THAT in THAT team. But then I would say that….
Tarqs NUFC, Walthamstow
Six above Salah
The Mo Salah debate regarding him being the best EPL player suffers from recency bias I think. In no particular order I propose the players below are greater than Mo.
I am a Man Utd supporter, for full disclosure.
Alan Shearer, goals.
Thierry Henry, goals and all round brilliance.
Ryan Giggs, 26 Trophies.
Dennis Bergkamp, as skilful as any.
Steven Gerrard, one of the two greatest midfielders.
Paul Scholes, the other of the greatest midfielders.
Cheers
Ged Biglin
Hashtag awks
You guys know me — I usually kick things off with some long-winded pop culture analogy that somehow loops back to the sport I love with my whole chest.
But… f*** that.
This one’s simple.
There is nothing — and I mean nothing — more awkward in football right now than VAR.
You’ve all done the debates already, so I won’t go there. But that moment… that horrible moment… when a player is halfway through a knee slide, fists pumping, crowd going mad — and then everything just sort of… stops because someone’s d*** was offside?
Awful. Properly awful.
The celebration dies. Teammates don’t know whether to keep going or slowly peel away. The crowd makes that confused groan. The player has to do that little jog back like nothing just happened. It’s painful.
It got me thinking — football is full of these little awkward moments.
Here’s my list:
1. VAR
2. When a player starts celebrating but then clocks the assistant referee and just… fades out of it
3. The delayed offside flag after everyone’s already sprinted 40 yards and had a shot
4. Players rolling their socks down like shin pads are optional
5. A defender leaving the ball thinking the keeper’s got it… and the keeper absolutely does not
6. That one teammate who knows the goal won’t stand and is waving everyone down mid-celebration
7. Managers losing their heads on the touchline, then the replay shows the ref got it right
8. Players crowding the referee like they’re about to negotiate a deal
9. Someone appealing for a foul while the other team are already breaking away
10. The keeper putting his hand up for offside instead of actually trying to save it
11. The announcer calling the goal while everyone else is still waiting for VAR
12. That slow walk back to halfway after a goal’s been ruled out — nobody making eye contact
Football’s meant to be messy and emotional. That’s the whole point. VAR was supposed to clean things up, but instead it’s just created a new kind of awkwardness — where you’re not even sure if you’re allowed to enjoy a goal anymore.
And honestly, that might be the worst part of it.
Cheers,
Gaptoothfreak, Man. Utd., New York (Gee Tee mothertrucking Eff)
Dreading the long goodbye
Jo, happy to explain: Klopp is lanky. Whilst he is a very, very, good manager, 8 years and one PL makes him somewhat of a chancer in my book if Liverpool is the illustrious super club your lot are endlessly telling us it is (and it is).
Can’t speak for others, but I certainly won’t be maintaining a running commentary of how sh*te Salah is. Who knows, he might even pull some of the old magic out of the bag before he departs. What I was referring to is a repeat of the kind of syrupy nonsense every home game on every media channel when Klopp was off. Everyone thinks their wife is the best looking, but your lot take it to ridiculous levels. Always. It’s tiresome.
You may well win the league after he’s gone, I’d rather you didn’t, but I don’t actually have any major issues with the club/players/staff if they do bar the normal back and forth, it’s the fans. Not all, but f*cking loads and more than any other club in my experience. You just don’t hear anywhere near as much of the kind of nonsense your lot constantly indulge in elsewhere (although Gooners are having a good go at the mo tbf). Salah doing one on a free with hearts and flowers vs Trent getting grief is one example out of many. Don’t bother explaining, I’ve heard and comprehended all the reasoning, it’s all infantile bollocks. The rest of us understand, you don’t need to be a Liverpool fan/resident to “get it” because there’s nowt to get, and the rationale is selective, hypocritical, nonsense, as per usual.
Ironically, the actual Scouse Liverpool fans I’ve met tend to be the most sane(ish). You may be one or both, my apologies/sympathies if so. Guess the rest of you just need to try harder.
RHT/TS x (We’re going down, ta Kev)