Jim Boardman and Jay Reid are back and so is the proper footy, as Liverpool get the new season and the new Arne Slot era underway with three points on the road against Ipswich.
That first game was brilliant for Reds fans, or at least Reds fans who missed the first half. As discussed by Jay and Jim, it was a game between a side still getting over its summer holidays and one that was playing in game it’s been waiting years for.
As rusty as it was to start with, words at half time, along with a substitution, seemed to make all the difference as what used to be Jurgen’s Reds started to get used to a new set of instructions from a new boss.
The return to Premier League action doesn’t mean the end of silly season though, unfortunately, with the transfer window running a little while longer yet. Unfortunately for Reds fans hoping for a strengthened squad, Liverpool’s window seems to be made with one way glass.
Talk of a new Reds No.6 has died down since the much-publicised breakdown of the last attempt to bring one in and talk of signings seems to have shifted to a new goalkeeper – but one who won’t actually join any of the club’s squads for at least a year.
Meanwhile, players are being allowed to leave, in most cases youngsters that maybe weren’t realistically going to be a regular part of Slot’s plans and would sooner or later stop counting as youngsters in the squad lists submitted to the Premier League and Champions League. Joe Gomez is a more senior name reportedly set to depart, leaving the Reds painfully short of centre-back cover.
As Jay and Jim discuss, it’s a long campaign and whilst there are still many youngsters at the club who could provide cover in an emergency, nobody wants to get to the point where a certain centre-back has to be called back into the first team.
The long campaign includes Champions League football, but not as we know it, with UEFA showing those Super League upstarts how money shouldn’t come first, by adding an extra two games per club before the knockouts start. Jim tries to explain the new format briefly, but it isn’t a format that wants to be explained briefly.
Next up for the Reds is Slot’s first real game at Anfield as Liverpool boss. The recent friendly gave him a taste of what it’s like at Anfield, but as Jay points out, it’s a slightly different type of crowd that goes to a friendly than goes to a league match. And as Jim points out, there’ll be away fans at this one.
As always, there’s something to chuckle about from across the park, as Jay and Jim wonder what will happen to Everton’s trophy cabinet when they move to their new stadium.
