Six wins out of six in Europe & Salah for another two years?
52:56 Share

Welcome to Naughty Yachting. Next on Naughty Yachting Island. I knew I deserved so much more, so I left. I finally switched to Metro and got what I was looking for. Get one line for only $25 a month with auto pay. Just bring your phone to Metro and experience all the data you want on the largest 5G network. That's Naughty Yachting Yachting, only at Metro by T-Mobile. First month is $30. Bring your number and ID. Offer not available if with T-Mobile or with Metro in the past 180 days.

At Sierra, you'll always find apparel, footwear, and gear for 20 to 60% less than department and specialty store prices. But right now it's clearance time, so you can save even more on everything you need to get active and outside. Visit your local Sierra store today. The Athletic FC Podcast Network. ♪♪

All right, Reds, Tony Evans here with Walk On, your Liverpool podcast from the Athletic. I'm here with James Pearce and Simon Hughes. Liverpool are top of the European Super League, oh sorry, Champions League, top of the Premier League. It's a good time to be a Reds, isn't it? It's all right, things are going well. Well, we'll talk about the victory away at Girona, talk contracts and discuss how Liverpool fared last weekend in the Premier League, despite not playing. I tell you what, can we not play every week? It turns out great, doesn't it?

And we'll look forward to Fulham at Anfield on Saturday. Of course, if that game goes ahead, because, you know, we could not play and all our rivals will drop points. That'd be good. I'd like that. Yeah. No, actually, I want to see Liverpool play football. But we'll start with those three words. Sigh. Thanks. Alison the Great.

I feel guilty, Tony. The other week I was saying about Quivine Callagher. Oh, maybe he could play ahead of him. Now he is a good goalkeeper. You've changed your tune, haven't you? He is a great, he is an excellent goalkeeper, Quivine Callagher. But I do think that the game against Girona reminds us that Alisson is on another level. Yeah, without a doubt. And while we all have sympathy for

For Kelleher, you know, you've got to say, the boy Alistair's brilliant. Well, James, three words from you, just back from Spain. Catalonia, actually, I should say. Who's your three words? Get back, Jotter. Yeah, well, yeah, we need to talk about that. We need to talk about... But before we do that, here's what you're saying. Lee Taylor, second gear victory. Nigel Surgeon didn't look rested. Oh, I don't know, Nigel.

Gary Simpson, Wales' best keeper, well, yeah. And Alex Fogarty, knee-jotter back. To join our community of listeners on Facebook, just search Walk On Podcast and join the group. Six wins from six Champions League games, another goal from Salah. It wasn't the best performance we've seen from Liverpool, but James, it was all right, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's probably more a measure of...

You know how good Liverpool have been for most of this season so far that you can almost turn your nose up at a hard-fought away victory in the Champions League. You get a tiny little ground. I mean, it's not very often you're sat watching a Champions League game like I was last night and there's over 9,000 fans. I think the travelling cop only had just under 500 tickets.

It almost had that feel of like going away to like a League One or League Two club in the FA Cup. You could feel almost romantic about it until you read that the ownership is the City Group, Manchester City's owners. Yeah, that's where the romance ends, I think, of Girona's fairy tale. But yeah, it was, you know, and of course it was a huge deal for them to have Liverpool in town.

And they raised it. I think you've got to give Girona a fair amount of credit. In the first 10 minutes, I thought Liverpool were going to steamroller them. They had a couple of really good chances and they didn't take them. And then fair play to Girona. They really, really came back into it. And of course, as we'll come on to talk about, Alisson...

Was exceptional. Yeah, it wasn't polished. I quite like the fact that despite the win, Swat had a right pop of them afterwards. In his press conference, basically said, I'm not happy at all with that performance. He said, we didn't press well enough. I didn't like the lack of control. Bit better second half, but still not good enough.

And that, yeah, that's a measure of the levels that he expects. But it's not a bad position to be, isn't it? To like be reflecting on a, you know, and picking holes in a flawed performance when you've just made it six wins out of six in the Champions League. I think virtually mathematically nailed on a place in the last 16. And of course, the benefits of that is, you know, you get to bypass that playoff round, the two legs in February and,

And, you know, Liverpool on course to finish first, which, you know, is good for the seeding in the knockout stages too. And five successive clean sheets in Europe to boot. Let's talk about the Alisson performance there, Si, because I want to just go back and I'm going to read from a piece of paper some of the things you said about him a couple of weeks ago in the pod. He's a bum. Sell him.

He's useless, injury prone. That was you. The bit about injury prone might have some substance to it, but the rest of it is absolute rubbish, as you know, Tony. But yeah, I mean, that is the frustration with Alisson, that he has missed a lot of games recently.

over a relatively long period of time now, which I do think for any goalkeeper, you need him available. Basically, I mean, any player, but particularly a goalkeeper. But... Some Simon Hughes wisdom. Players need to be available. This is the thing that football is full of great players who are injured all the time. You know, I would put Thiago in that category, Tony. It was...

Very good player. Absolutely rubbish Liverpool signing, I would argue. Well, you know my feelings on him. We won't get into the whole Thiago debate, but when he's not injured, he's passing sideways. So carry on. I think he's a better player than you think. No, no, I think he's an absolutely brilliant player. All the skill in the world, but he was doing the wrong thing for various reasons. Well, this is about Alison Toney, so I don't know why... This is not a Thiago podcast. The Tony Evans Thiago podcast. LAUGHTER

I suppose the thing is, is this, is that it was obviously very encouraging to see Alisson back and performing so well. It was less encouraging to see him so busy. And I think that will be what, you know, slot was concerned about. Certainly the last two games, Liverpool,

let the opposition have too many chances really get sight of goal which only two weeks ago or certainly after the Man City game I was saying what's really impressed me about slots Liverpool is the way they defend you know they don't give many chances away very solid whereas they haven't looked as solid in the last two games against Newcastle and Girona that might be a consequence of some of the changes ultimately you know the right backs being chopping and changing Virgil van Dijk and

has had different partners alongside him. I actually thought Joe Gomez was quite good yesterday, much better than his Newcastle performance. But Alisson, when available, when at his best, I think he is the best in the world. I mean, again, a very obvious thing to say, but he makes...

Very good saves. I'll just leave you on that one. This is the kind of insight that's not available anywhere else. I know, I know. Shall I just get off now? Let you two carry on. We need you, we need you because sometimes, Si, when things that people miss in football, the simple truth. Well, I'll tell you what, another fact, Tony, another fact is that Darwin Nunes doesn't score goals.

So we'll get on to him as well. We'll come on to him. But first of all, James, was it a penalty? Do you know what? First of all, I thought no. Because the other thing I thought when I first saw it, I thought that Diaz...

was kind of already slipping before there was some contact. But then he does actually, by stepping on his heel, he does remove his boot, doesn't he? So I don't know. I think it's one of those ones that fits into that bracket of if it goes your way, then you're buzzing and you say, yeah, I can see what was given. But if that had happened at the other end, let's be honest, you'd have been...

we'd have been fuming about that today. And the one thing that surprised me, because I haven't seen it in real time, the ref was right there and he was adamant the way that he kind of responded to Diaz's protest that it wasn't. And then, then of course goes across to the screen and, and changes his mind. So, so yeah, I can understand why Girona weren't happy about it. I think it was like a 50, 50 call really. Yeah. I mean, it looked to me, it could have gone either way.

Initially, I was the same as you. I didn't think it was a penalty. You know, you get them and they go against you. I have my view, Tony. Clumsy, very clumsy from a player who failed at both Manchester United and Everton and an action from somebody I would not expect anything less from from a player who couldn't get into either of those teams. Let's forget about the rules here. His historical record suggests to me that he's capable of doing silly things.

Or could it be something else? Could it be like, you know, he's going to Manchester United for big money, then he goes to Everton, you know, and it's one of those things where...

He didn't get a chance. So he ate both of those clubs. So he's like, you know what? I'm a red deep down. That Girona lineup was like some weird, like, hodgepodge Premier League, like, 11, wasn't it? You're looking through the... There was Dan Juma up top and Romeo in holding midfield. Daley Blintz, James. Daley Blintz. Yes. I actually thought he was a good player for United. Of all the absolute...

let's face it, that United have signed over the last 10 years. I actually thought he was half decent, him. And yet they let him go. When I saw Romelu, I always have this memory of him from the Southampton League Cup semi-final where he played a real... He gave a really horrible performance. So when I saw him, I thought, oh, I didn't quite fancy Liverpool. You know, he's a difficult player to play against. Actually much better than people think.

I remember him early on in the season away at Southampton when we really struggled in the first half and scored before half time and he was excellent in the first half and you know I thought he's going to be a player well what

That's what I mean. When I say horrible performance, he was just really difficult to get past. He was breaking up the game. This is obviously going back some years now. What year was it? 2017? I'm not sure. But I always just think of him in that game. So when I saw him again, I thought, oh no. But it didn't quite work out that way. But you know what? Any win over Manchester City, oh sorry, Girona, is good. You know, let's just say it. The City group are a mess at the moment, aren't they? Oh, yes, absolutely.

Yes, I think that... Do they have a battle on to qualify for the Champions League this year, Tony? I hope so. Yes. Well, two of them are battling. Derwin Nunes.

He's battling against, really, the expectations of the slot and the fans, really, isn't he, James? Yeah. I mean, I do have some sympathy for him because I don't think it's through a lack of effort. I don't think there's a lack of will or desire there.

You've got me inside, try me inside before it's a side. I know, I know. And of course it becomes like a bit of a pylon, doesn't it? But the problem is the evidence is pretty irrefutable. And of course, you know, the first...

few months of the season. He didn't get much of a look in. It was pretty obvious he was going to have to make some pretty major adaptations to fit the way that slot wanted to play. And of course, he was having to play second fiddle to Jota. And then, of course, Jota gets that chest injury against Chelsea in October. And you thought, what a stage this now is for Nuno. He's going to get that regular game time that he's craved. But he scored once in his last 10 appearances now.

And we're talking about the most expensive sign in Liverpool's history. And we're in the middle of December and he's got three goals in all comps this season. And of course, because of Salah's awe-inspiring brilliance and, you know, Gagpo's been chipping in, Diaz as well, it's kind of masked Nunes' struggles. But...

Yeah, I think the problem for him as well is in the last few games, there hasn't even been other elements of his performance that you could cling to. I mean, I think back to when he came on actually for Jota against Chelsea, I thought he impressed. He got the assist, didn't he, for Salah down at Arsenal to salvage a point. At Newcastle last week, he was just so out of sorts.

And then again last night. And it's not hurting Liverpool results-wise at the minute, but it's not sustainable. That's the issue. Yes, I... What can Slott do to get more out of him? I think he needs to say, watch the video of the Arsenal performance.

And that is what you've got to do more often than not. So in that game, I felt it felt like he was turning a bit of a corner actually, because he didn't charge around, but he occupied the two centre-halves throughout the game, put them in a physical battle, took a lot of kicking himself, ended up putting one of the Arsenal centre-halves out of the game by his own physicality.

and created space for other players around him. I thought it was a really good centre-forward performance. Okay, he didn't score, but as James said, he set up a goal and put himself in a position to set up that goal. I think if he plays more like that, it doesn't matter whether he scores or not, but he did play a role in that game. I think he contributed greatly to the outcome. With him, I think he needs to learn that less is more in terms of he doesn't have to be involved all the time.

He has to play the game slightly differently. Since then, he just seems a bit lost and obviously missed a lot of chances. I think when you miss chances, it obviously ebbs away at the confidence. I mean, there is an irony at the moment that you've got Mohamed Salah who's scoring every single week, who signs a contract, this big whopping contract that he signed in the summer of 2022, and

Only a couple of weeks or around the same period that they signed Nunes, who, let's face it, Liverpool, I don't think will be able to shift at the moment. You know, one player's future is in doubt. The other one is not. And where would Liverpool be without Mohamed Salah at the moment? I mean, I don't want to say...

you know, certainly not a one-man team, but he is scoring an awful lot of goals in big games and deciding the outcomes of games. Meanwhile, you know, Nunes could not hit a barn door at the moment. So, you know, that,

There is an irony about that conversation. Arguably, they overspent on Nunes. The club might feel that they've overspent on Salah. I would argue that the evidence is that that is not right because he's obviously contributed so greatly towards Liverpool, not just this season, but in the past as well. But yeah, I think I agree with James. It feels a bit like

A bit like last season where Liverpool were falling behind in games and then getting back into them. And everybody was like, yes, it's great. Look at this team's got, you know, this team will recover from a bad position. It knows how to deal with adversity. You can only sustain that over a certain period of time before it becomes a little bit of a problem actually.

And it's a bit like that at the moment. I felt at the start of the season, Liverpool keep Jota fit. It could be the difference between winning stuff and not winning stuff because he will score goals. And unfortunately, you know, he hasn't been available. So again, Tony, he is useless if he's unavailable. Well, he is. So we've got useless if you're unavailable in Jota and we've got useless if you're available in Nunes.

I see how that works. And you had Liverpool on top of the league. You know what? To be fair to Nunes, I sometimes think we look at his performances and go, you know, he hasn't played well. But the team play well with him in there. Maybe I'm being a bit too soft to others, which is not like me. Very soft, that Tony. I think there just comes a point, doesn't there, where when you think of the amount of money Liverpool paid for him,

Like, can he really take Liverpool to where they expected and need him to go? Because, you know, Simon said that about Salah. Salah's numbers are insane, aren't they? You know, 16 goals, 12 assists by the middle of December.

But there's going to be games where it doesn't happen for Salah. And that is when you're going to need your number nine to deliver and ease the burden on Salah. And at the minute, Nunes doesn't look capable of doing that. And it's kind of, I know some people say, well, you know, it doesn't matter because Jota's on the verge of a comeback. He's back in team training this week. We're waiting to find out whether Fulham on Saturday will come too soon for him or whether that will be the day of his comeback.

And, you know, and obviously I think it's inevitable he regains his starting place quite quickly. And Nules is relegated to, you know, impact player off the bench. But of course, with Jota's injury history, there's no guarantees how much of a role he's going to be able to play between now and May. And, you know, you look at Chiesa's issues. He didn't travel to Spain. Who's Chiesa? The lesser spotted Chiesa. Arthur Chiesa. Yeah.

Yeah, it is a worry for me. And I just feel as if Liverpool are heading towards a really big decision next summer on Nunes. Because, you know, there's only so long you can have this ongoing debate about, you know, is it going to happen for him? You know, can you iron out those rough edges? Or at what point do you just accept this is him? You know, yes, he's going to be capable of the spectacular at times. But unfortunately, he doesn't look able to consistently do the kind of routine things you would expect from

from a striker playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world. So, yeah, as Slott looks to put his stamp on that squad he inherited over the next few windows, it just wouldn't surprise me at all if another number nine was featured pretty prominently on his shopping list. Well, we mentioned Sauer. It's time for Contract Weekly.

Actually, before we get into that, we had some feedback from a listener who said, why do you talk about the contracts every week? It's boring. I'm like, I don't know what to say about that. I mean, you know, it's only... Well, aside from winning the league and being top in the Champions League, it's only the biggest issue we've had for, I don't know, for a long time. But anyway...

Si, David Ornstein said they've made an opening offer to Mohamed Salah. This was reported on, let me just check my notes, Sunday the 8th of December. I mean, you've written a brilliant book about Salah and Jason Salah in all good shops for Christmas kiddies. You know, the 8th of December, opening offer. Am I on crazy pills? Yeah, well...

The thing is, what we don't know yet, and I genuinely don't know the answer to this, is the details of that offer. Now, you know, Liverpool, if they have been taking their time formulating an offer, I would assume if they want to keep him, they're going to make a realistic offer that will encourage him to stay.

but we don't know the details of the offer yet. So that is the key here. Does it give both parties room to progress the talks, basically? And until we know that, we don't know whether this is a good development or a development that doesn't really mean anything to some degree. Because I think Liverpool probably have to make an offer to Mohamed Salah because if they don't make him an offer, it looks very bad given how he's done this season.

And the unfortunate reality is, I know you mentioned that the listener there, this is going to be a conversation that will run on and on and on because we've got obviously the three players that we speak about regularly whose contracts are up next summer. We've also got, is Diaz's contract up next, the summer after that, James, is that right? 2027, I think. Oh, is it? All right, so I take that back. So maybe we won't be discussing about Diaz's contract.

for much but ultimately we will be but he will I mean but sorry just sorry to cut across but obviously I think if you go back to all the noise around Diaz last summer I think it's fair to say a lot of that was because he expects and wants

new terms essentially that recognizes his development since he's since he's joined Liverpool so I think yeah I think it's fair to say that although he's not nearing the end of his contract he will still expect a new one well so yeah exactly I mean so that the conversation will at least start up anyway um about about his future and then as we discussed already Jota and Nunes

Is that combination of players going to work for Liverpool in the future? How long is it sustainable with one player who gets injured a lot and another one who doesn't score actually that many goals? Maybe Schlock thinks it can work. I don't know. So yeah, it's something we're going to return to. And you know, funnily enough, I've been watching The Last Dance again on Netflix recently. And there are so many parallels really with what's going on at Liverpool at the moment, whereby...

You've got a season where there are several players whose deals are up and they all seem massively determined to prove that they're still at it. You know what I mean? And they are worthy of a new contract. And I agree with you, Tony. I mean, a new offer, the first offer being made on...

At the start of the month, which ends with the possibility of him leaving, certainly doesn't leave a great deal of wiggle room if the offer isn't up to spec. Because, I mean, we've reported this already and it's pretty obvious, but Mohamed Salah can and will negotiate with other clubs from January the 1st if a deal at Liverpool hasn't been concluded. So there's a risk.

Yeah, very much so. And for those who don't know, the last dance is about the Chicago Bulls and the Michael Jordan team, which in the mid-90s, which they let the contracts lapse and the Bulls have not won a championship since then, which is an ugly lesson. So, James, the three contracts there.

There's Trent and there's Virgil. Where are we? You're the man who knows. And if you don't tell us, we're going to come round to your house, meet all the listeners, and we're going to boo you. Boo! We want chapter and verse. Can I just join in? Boo!

Oh dear. Yeah, unfortunately, I don't think there's anything more to add at this stage than there was obviously the report in one of the national papers, wasn't there, at the weekend that Salah's deal was effectively done, which...

I'm told that is not the case. Obviously, as we've reported, there has been that opening offer, but that doesn't mean there's a big difference between an opening offer and getting a deal done. It feels like that process is still very much ongoing, Salah-related, and the same with Van Dijk. I think with both Salah and Van Dijk, there doesn't seem to be

any kind of noise now around the length of the contract. I don't think that's the sticking point. It will be the actual, you know, financial terms themselves in terms of the elements of what is guaranteed and what is performance and bonus related. And of course, you know, Trent,

Again, there's been radio silence there for a while now. I asked Trent if he'd stop and talk after the game against Girona and he kind of smiled and said no thanks because I think as we've talked about, he made it very clear that he wanted this to be

you know, done privately out of respect to Liverpool. And yeah, I think it's genuinely too, too close to call. You know, I still, I still think out the three Van Dijk would be the one that I would, I would be most confident about staying put. I mean, the other two, I'd almost say a 50-50. Um,

It's, you know, the noises have been positive from Salah in terms of wanting to stay. But of course, until there's those financial terms on the table that him and Rami Abbas are happy with, you can't be certain about anything. Anyway, let's talk about a weekend of no football, which turns out to be a very, very satisfying period for...

Si, sometimes not playing is the best thing you can do. Yes, well, me and James were in communication after the game, or the derby got called off at the weekend, and I thought instinctively this is good for Liverpool, mainly because they look so tired against Newcastle. Obviously, a couple of players absent.

Also, the fact that Everton won against Wolves, that's a good win, which would have given the team a bit more confidence and the fans. So I thought it's not a bad thing for that derby to be postponed. And win suits bad sides. Yes, yes, exactly. So the interesting thing is when that derby will be played.

you know, looking at the gaps in the fixture list, there is one between the second to last and last game of the season when there's no Champions League football, which could mean,

that the derby would be played would be the last game ever at goddison park now i'm sure the tv companies will be determined to make that happen based around the idea that everett is struggling in the premier league and that liverpool might win it i mean can you imagine can you imagine um what a scenario will be a scenario yeah i mean i remember when in 2020 when liverpool were obviously going for the title and seemed destined to win it and

A good Everton friend of mine was willing to give me his ticket in the Gladder Street because there was a chance the way it was aligning that Liverpool could win the league at Goodison Park. There was a possibility, but obviously the pandemic got in the way of that. Now this would have extra implications because of what it might mean for Everton, both in terms of the league and obviously in terms of the ground, leaving Liverpool.

which we spoke about last week. So that would be a very dramatic end to the season and the TV companies love drama. So I'd be amazed if they weren't looking to make that happen because at the moment, I think Everton's last game at Goodison is Southampton, which is,

I don't know. I mean, that could be a big game in terms of relegation as well. It's whether they haven't managed to pull themselves away. But anyway, so yeah, Liverpool really benefited from not playing and obviously some of the teams below them, Manchester City, Arsenal, drop points again. Chelsea,

are getting a bit of head of steam at the moment. You know, I know there's a sort of belief that they could potentially have a go at the title this season. I'm still not 100% sure about Chelsea. I still think that the threat is more likely to come from the other two teams, but it was a perfect weekend for Liverpool, really. Yeah, James, you know, it's... I mean, Arsenal drop points. There's just a conspiracy against Arsenal, isn't it? You know, everyone is...

The wind conspired against Arsenal. Tony, I hope you didn't take any pleasure out of that late Arsenal winner being disallowed by VAR. Well, yeah. Poor Mikel's having that smile wiped off his face. Yeah, I mean, which leads us on to Fulham, who are a difficult side to play against. But yeah, I mean, it's... I think there's a sense of entitlement over in North London that perhaps...

they're not quite ready for. And last weekend's was very satisfying in that respect.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think the thing that struck me watching the games at the weekend after the derby was called off, and I agree with Si that it was a blessing in disguise for Liverpool, undoubtedly with McAllister being banned, the injuries, the signs of fatigue at Newcastle a few days earlier. Also just those conditions, because Dyche would have been absolutely licking his lips at the prospect of Everton launching it long in that wind and rain at Goodison. So,

that was a bonus for Liverpool and then you could sit back and watch the fact that all of their competitors for the title have got their own flaws that's the thing it's not like I think because we've been so used to especially in the Klopp era almost having to be perfect if you want to win a title because you know as Liverpool have found 90 odd 95 96 points wasn't enough

And that's just not going to be the case this season. There isn't a team out there that's going to, you know, another team is going to put together that kind of points hall. And I just think, I think Arsenal as well, you know, they're just, they're far too emotional, I think. I think, you know, emotion can be good at times, but there's other times I think where you've got to rein it in. And I don't think they're able to do that. Yeah.

City, of course, their issues are absolutely glaring as we saw at Anfield recently. Chelsea are probably emerging as the strongest contenders, yet you look at that Chelsea back line and the goalkeeper and is that really a title winning team? I know they've got an unbelievable amount of firepower and so they should because of the one and a half billion or whatever it is that's been thrown at that squad internationally.

in the last couple of years and Cole Palmer, you know, I absolutely love watching him as a footballer. I know there's this weird thing in football that you can't, you're not really supposed to admire players who play for other teams, but, you know, just to have the gall to do what he did with that Penenka penalty against Tottenham, he's, I just think he's an absolute breath of fresh air. At Tottenham, you can do silly things because you know you'll get three other chances.

But it was, I thought Tottenham are just so naive, aren't they? I mean, Postakoglu, I mean, it just felt like he made such an impact initially, didn't he there? But then, you know, there comes a point, a bit like we talked about with Russell Martin before we went to Southampton, where you think surely a bit of pragmatism has to kick in.

But let's hope it doesn't between now and Liverpool going to Tottenham in a couple of weeks' time. But yeah, I think at the minute, you'd have to say Chelsea look like the biggest threat. And if that remains the case, then I very much fancy Liverpool to stay out in front. Si, what about Nottingham Forest? You know, only two points behind City and more European titles than City. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Yeah, I'm not sure. I mean, the Nottingham-Forest-Liverpool rivalry was a little bit before my time. So I never sort of grew up with that resentment that some fans do have. Not resentment, but that sort of sense of rivalry, traditional rivalry that some fans do have with Forest. I sort of remember them from the 90s onwards when they were sort of relegation fodder. And then obviously beyond that, just struggles. I mean, to be fair, I mean, Forest had an awful lot of criticism of

for the amount of transfers that they made, certainly sort of 18 months ago. But, you know, they've got to a point now where they just look like a really good team. And again, Nuno Espirito Santo isn't a very popular manager, I would say. Like, certainly not

amongst rival teams I think that's largely both teams that come up against him I think that's largely because he's not afraid of trying to upset the opposition a little bit I remember when he went to Tottenham didn't last very long there wasn't very popular I remember he was in line for the Everton job at one point they interviewed him I think Everton decided against him because the amount of staff that he wanted to bring you know a lot of Evertonians were like I don't like him anyway you know don't do something they don't like about him but

I thought at Wolves he did a really good job, obviously with a bit of cash behind him. But he made them a team that were difficult to beat. Look at where Wolves are now. They're nowhere near where they were under him. So I actually think he's a half-decent manager of a club of a certain size. Got some great results this season. It's almost reaching the point now where if they don't qualify for Europe, it will be a bit of a disappointment because...

of the way they've played, how convincing they've been. And also the quality of play that they've got. I think they've got quite a few very good players. They're quite like the Brazilian centre-half, Murillo, who I think will end up playing for one of the big clubs. He's a real unit who people can't seem to get past. Very good in the air, good on the deck. And they've just got a nice mix in the team. You know, they look like a really confident team that is well-structured and...

will give, as Liverpool found out, some of the top teams a run for the money. James, what are we expecting from Fulham on Saturday? I think it's a dangerous game. You think back to the fixture at Anfield last season where...

Marcus Silva's team gave Liverpool a hell of a scare. Those two late goals, wouldn't they? I think Trent got the winner really late on. Just watching them against Arsenal last weekend, they limited Arsenal to very few chances. Despite all this noise around how unbelievably good Arsenal are from set pieces, but in open play, they created hardly anything. And they pack a punch going forward on the counter-attack for them. And especially when you look at

how open Liverpool were at times, both against Newcastle and against Girona when obviously Alisson came to the rescue. I think that'll be something that slot will be really wary about. You know, obviously Harry Wilson's been in decent form for the money, you know, coming back to his old club, you know, Raul Jimenez, who, you know, he, it feels like he's had a bit of a strange career Jimenez because obviously before we got that bad injury, he was absolutely flying. And then it's taken him,

you know, a long time to get anywhere close to where he was, but, you know, took his goal so well against Arsenal. And yeah, I think Marcus Silva is,

has proved himself to be a proper, properly good top flight manager with the, with the job that he is, he's done down there. And you only have to look at their results in December so far, you know, drawing at Tottenham, they've beaten Brighton, which, you know, that's, we know how good Brighton can be. And then to take a point off Arsenal as well. So yeah, it's the kind of game I think where it's laced with a bit of danger because, you know,

A lot of people will be looking at it and think, oh, nailed on, home win. But I think Liverpool are going to have to improve from what we saw in Girona on Tuesday night. Yes, I mean, I live quite near Craven Cottage and see Fulham reasonably often. They're not a bad side and they'll cause issues for even the best in the league.

Yes, they're not to be underestimated, certainly under Marco Silva. And I'm in full agreement with James. I think he has most certainly proven himself as a solid Premier League manager. Where did I see him before? I know. Well, this is the thing, isn't it? It's like, I remember when he got the whole job,

He obviously, he got a good result for Hull against Liverpool. I think it was Jürgen Klopp's first season when everybody was like really saying, who is this Marco Silva? I remember some notable pundits speaking of their outrage at this sort of very low key Portuguese manager.

Had got the job ahead of some British managers. Okay, I think Hull went down that season, but they put up a fight from a position of being really down, if I remember correctly. Obviously, he got the job at Watford and I remember played some great football at Watford and then off the back of that, went to Everton where...

Again, I think it just shows really how difficult it is to manage Everton because I think the thing that he possibly lacks, which certainly for one of the big clubs, is that charisma. You know, like the way he speaks. He's very, he can be a little bit dour. He doesn't get particularly excitable. But I do think his team's given time and a bit of money. He can put together a decent side.

Fulham always look well coached to me. I think he obviously knows what he's doing on the training pitch. I think for Everton, I think he just maybe struggled to make that gap between the culture around the club. I think he made it so that he was just judged on the results. And when the results turned, people weren't really willing to be patient with him. Obviously, the results in the derby at Anfield, the 5-2, was a real...

chastening experience for him although weirdly on that night Everton did create quite a lot of chances I remember thinking the two centre forwards for Charleston Calvert-Lewin really really had a go at Liverpool strangely it was just the rest of the team were awful there was talk about him maybe being in line for the Man United job I just don't know whether he's got that

That's, as I say, the personality to really carry not just the expectations of players, but a whole fan base as well. I wonder whether that's what holds him back. Maybe Fulham, a Watford, a Hull. He might be the sort of manager who can exceed our clubs with the interest that those clubs have, if that makes sense. But yeah, always a tough game. I always think...

when I know he's involved it's going to be a pretty pretty tough game and I'd expect it to be the same at Anfield I agree with James if people just think that Liverpool are going to rock up and perform if they perform like they did against Girona they'll hit some problems I think yeah definitely James who are you going to see in the side I think it would be a very similar team

to the one that faced Girono, I think with the gap, it's a decent gap, isn't it? Tuesday night to Saturday afternoon. And I think also the fact that Liverpool flew straight back after the game with it being an early kickoff. They were back in Liverpool by midnight Tuesday night. So I don't think the demands of midweek will really figure too much in slots. Especially with the derby being off last weekend and having that unexpected six-day gap.

And I think the reality probably is with the injury situation, he hasn't got too many options to move it up. Anyway, maybe Gagpo will come back in. I think he would probably be the most obvious change for me. Maybe Gagpo and then maybe...

maybe leave Nunes out and play Diaz through the middle. You know, it'd be great to see Jota on the bench and hopefully, you know, get 20, 25 minutes, ideally ahead of a potential start in midweek. We'll see Salamson in the Carabao Cup.

coming up after that. You know, Harvey Elliott, you'd imagine, might be in contention for some more minutes. But yeah, I don't think he'll change too much. But I think what we do know is he'll be demanding that the bar is raised because, yeah, he wasn't best pleased with what he saw in Girona on Tuesday night. And he'll know that if Liverpool are going to maintain that cushion they've got at the top of the Premier League, then,

They just can't be as open as they were against Girona because Fulham have got the players to punish them. Yeah, and so one final point is that the great thing about the game against Girona and the last week or so is that what it does, it's going to give Slott loads of flexibility after the new year, isn't it? You know, when the games come thick and fast, he's going to be able to essentially just play his best team

for the league games and you know the Champions League you can put out you know put out lesser teams the FA Cup well I mean depending on how things are going you know the early rounds but it does the victory over Girona gives them flexibility doesn't it it definitely does yeah the two interesting things coming up well certainly one interesting thing is the team he selects against Southampton in the League Cup

against Russell Martin and his principals. I wonder... James is in contention, isn't he, to play up front, isn't he? Yeah, I actually think James might score. But, you know, we'll know more about how seriously he's treating that competition, I think, obviously, because if you get through this round, you're getting sort of closer and closer to the final then. And he might think, well, I sort of need to win a trophy in my first season. I personally think there's a real chance Liverpool, obviously, the

I think that they're definitely in contention for the Premier League. I think that there is a chance that they could go for the Champions League as well. I mean, I can understand why Jurgen Klopp in years gone by has gone for everything. You know, it was really exciting to follow that and exciting certainly for fans to dream of this possibility. But I just think, you know, if Liverpool got a real genuine chance of the two big ones, they should just go for that really this season and the other two, you know,

don't matter so much I mean you've got a good draw in the FA Cup we haven't spoken about the FA Cup of course we've got Akron and Stanley at home

Who are they? So in case listeners don't know, that's a joke from the 1989 advert where two kids are advertising milk and there's mention of Akron and Stanley. And note that one of the kids has never heard of Akron and Stanley before. And it's linked to Liverpool because the two kids are from Liverpool and one of them is wearing a Liverpool kiss. Anyway, after that brief explanation, I feel like I'm duty bound to explain that for American readers.

But yeah, Accrington obviously in League 2, at the bottom end of League 2, I think they got a gate of 1,500 in the last round. They're not doing particularly well this season. Arnott's certainly can afford, I would say, to rest a few players in that game, which is handy because it's at the beginning of January just after the Christmas rush. Yeah, I think the new year opens up lots of possibilities for Liverpool and I do.

I think we should all be excited about it. But first, we've got to get past Fulham this weekend. So let's hope for a successful day on Saturday. And that's all from Walk On, your Liverpool podcast brought to you by The Athletic. Thanks to James and Simon for joining me and you two for listening. We'll be back next week, hopefully with another three points in our pockets. The Athletic FC Podcast Network.