I dont get why clubs leave it so late?

For example, City have needed legs in midfield all season, they could have had someone lined up for 1 Jan but they only try at the end of the window?

It would have been nice to see some extra reinforcements come in, given how we have struggled over the line in recent seasons. mBut I guess we are waiting to see what we need to spend in the summer.

Not sure how we are able to make plans in an environment of such uncertainty though.

Would we want a world class 24 year old left back who runs like the Flash on a free? Gee, let me think. Yes.

Would he want to come to LFC and, crucially, would we show ambition and offer the package required to get him? No, never.

We've done this dance before, e.g. Mbappe, we know how it ends...

How can a player be sent off for DOGSO when Wilson was never getting the ball and the chance happened exactly the same as it would have without the foul?

Delivery is excellent and players with height able to attack the ball as well, but I think the main thing is the other players know to spoil and block a space off and create the opportunity.

It almost feels like Arsenal now go less for goal and more just to create corners

First season he was genuinely excellent, scored 20 plus goals and helped the buildup and work rate.

Second season onwards his scoring rate dropped badly and he was basically picked on the basis of his work off the ball and holding it up. Which is now what we are getting off Nunez - sometimes...

Reminds me of how we used to describe Heskey.

At least he helped in the build-up...

I think we loaned Beck, Ramsey, Stephenson, Chambers, Phillips and Williams.

Definitely feels a bit short in defence and midfield. I wasn't really hugely on board with loaning or selling so many kids in summer. I get they need games, but it means we've left nothing much in reserve.

Is there anybody like Quansah last season who might be ready to step up?

One of my favourites. Lots to like: Michelle Yeoh, a prescient plot, Dr Kauffman.

The next one is ok, but then you get the risible Die Another Day and then the very up and down Craig era. Not sure it's a fashionable opinion, but Skyfall and No Time to Die are two of the very worst Bonds IMO.

I can see the logic of deferring to the on-field decision. But this, when combined with the "high bar" for VAR, means we get maximum annoyance from VAR but less benefit from error corrections.

There just doesnt seem to be any consistency in how much scrutiny gets applied to an incident.

I noticed a few years back any time Salah got a pen there was an enormous fuss created about him supposedly diving. Perhaps that subconsciously affected refs, who decided they should only award him the most blatant of fouls? Media power FTW.

It still happens BTW, he just gets less pens awarded!

Excellent image, really brings it home how weird it is that Salah can have defenders hanging off him and dragging him back every single game and its somehow just allowed.

I thought it was a good summary of the situation.

The situation definitely predated Hughes arrival. We're not privy to the finances, circumstances or preferences, but from the outside the inertia is baffling.

If contracts cant be done, succession planning can still be. I just dont get why not.

Yeah, it seems we either get the player we want for what we consider a value price or make do. And on those rare emergency occasions when our hand is forced, the backups are usually so injured/bad we might as well have not bothered (e.g. Caulker, Kabak, Davies, Artur, with Endo the exception)

Plus, as Chiesa shows us if you sign players late then they might suffer from a lack of pre-season, so the window to do stuff to get ready for next season is even smaller

I dont know why we couldnt have been more proactive last summer to get ahead of the situation.

As it stands, next summer we will have to successfully replace three world class players just to stand still. Any improvements to other areas, such as DM, would have to be made on top of that.

We dont know what is going on behind the scenes, but from the outside it looks bad.

The one arrival has not played. Our squad, while good, does have issues and weak spots and these were not addressed in summer. That failure has put us at risk this season and stored up more jobs for next summer.

I suspect he wants to go out on a high and not be seen to leave the next guy a poisoned chalice.

A year extension removes any uncertainty and allows them to concentrate on doing well this year. I suspect if they win the league or CL again he might decide to resign anyway.