A full version of the LiverpoolWorld Q&A.
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00:00 So, Will, let's start by looking at Everton and their 6-0 thrashing at Chelsea.
00:05 I mean, it was a real damning result.
00:07 It's a result that, at the end of the day, we've spoken, they've had a lot of issues off the pitch,
00:11 but this is something that the fans are going to maybe start turning their heads at Sean Dyche's side
00:16 if they are getting turned over so easily.
00:18 What's your thoughts on this result?
00:20 And it makes the game against Nottingham Forest that even bit bigger now.
00:24 Yeah, and it was a bit embarrassing, to be honest with you, for Everton.
00:28 Chasing and sobering, all the words you can think of, negative conversations.
00:34 It was just an abject performance at Stamford Bridge.
00:39 You know, we know Chelsea have been vulnerable all season.
00:43 I think Everton tried to get at them at the start, and that better chance goes in maybe,
00:48 but to a man, they were pretty pathetic, to be honest with you.
00:54 I felt sorry for all the Everton fans who were going to Arsenal on a Monday night,
00:59 and they had to witness that.
01:01 I can't think of one good performance.
01:04 The midfield was completely missing.
01:11 The defence was shambolic.
01:14 Yeah, it's, you know, you might have maybe hoped that Everton had turned a corner a little bit,
01:21 thrown at Newcastle and then beaten Burnley, but that Burnley performance wasn't great,
01:26 and the Newcastle one, Everton turned up for the final half an hour and got a result via a penalty.
01:31 So, look, it doesn't matter when you get your points, to be fair,
01:36 and if Everton didn't have the points to suction, they'd be clear, the relegation zone by ten points,
01:41 but because of what's happened with the club and the way that it's been run off the field,
01:48 this is the position that Everton find themselves in.
01:51 Yeah, I mean, Sean's IT's not been dealt a good hand whatsoever.
01:54 We all know the problems, but is he getting the best out of these players at the minute?
01:58 You know, you look at a player like Amzun Arna,
02:02 who's supposed to be covered by some of the top clubs in the world and just isn't doing it.
02:07 Everton, attacking wise, they're struggling really.
02:10 You can't really see any patterns of play, and as you say, we're playing Nottingham Forest now,
02:14 and that's obviously a massive game.
02:18 The Forest are a point behind Everton, they've had their own points to suction themselves,
02:21 and if Everton were to lose that, then they're going to be right in the mix, aren't they?
02:28 And yeah, the thing about that Chelsea game is that it's still a hit on the goal difference,
02:33 and when a relegation battle is so tight, then, you know, goal difference is effectively,
02:40 you know, an extra point if it comes down to it.
02:43 And Everton, they've been pretty good defensively for a lot of the season,
02:47 but they just crumbled, unfortunately.
02:50 Some bad nights at the office, the John Pickford error, maybe he hasn't made too many errors.
02:56 Sharap Bramfite was an awful old game, but he's had a good season.
03:00 But yeah, Everton, they seriously need to improve against Forest, otherwise,
03:05 the distractors, I suspect, will be coming for Sean Dyche.
03:11 And we saw Dele Alli on Monday Night Football, you know, over the Everton game.
03:17 It was a bit of a strange feeling.
03:19 What's the sort of feeling around his Everton career and his future at the club?
03:24 He's obviously quoted saying he wants to be part of the England 2026 World Cup squad,
03:30 you know, quite high goals for him to set.
03:31 How does he work his way into this?
03:33 Obviously, he's quite thankful with the way Everton have, you know,
03:36 dealt with his situation and looked after him, really.
03:40 Yeah, I think Everton, as a GCK, they've done that, to be fair,
03:44 and that is something that Everton do really well for all, you know,
03:47 for all the problems that are in the club, they've done that really well.
03:50 They did the same with Andros Townsend, really, when he was injured for more than a year.
03:56 Dele's got, what, less than two months left on his Everton contract,
04:01 and can you see Dele Alli earning another deal at Goodson Park?
04:07 I suspect not, you know, he hasn't played for more than a year,
04:11 and yeah, he's saying all the right things,
04:14 and I'm sure there's a lot of people, you know, everyone would like to see Dele Alli get back to his best.
04:18 He was one of the top prospects in Europe when he was coming through at Tottenham,
04:22 but I don't think Everton are in a position to be taking risks on players that maybe he might get back to it,
04:29 you know, you might say, oh, look what happened with Ross Barkley, he's back to his best,
04:33 but Ross Barkley went somewhere where he, you know, rediscovers a talent,
04:40 so maybe where there's less pressure, and I think if Dele was to do it at Everton,
04:44 there would be a fair bit of pressure on him.
04:47 So it was good to see him, but Everton have got six games left now,
04:51 and at least that Everton don't have to pay the, you know, ÂŁ10 million to Tottenham,
04:55 because it was, you know, 20 appearances,
04:58 but for me in the future, it's difficult to see Dele in, you know, a new deal at Everton.
05:05 Will, looking at Everton and their season as a whole, obviously it's not been the greatest for them,
05:10 but there's been, you know, you look at Gerard Brantway breaking into the England setter,
05:15 quite an achievement there.
05:16 Who stands out for you to be the sort of player of the season,
05:20 a player that stood out, you know, had a good individual season at Everton?
05:26 I think the player that you just mentioned there, Gerard Brantway,
05:28 his head and shoulders being better than everyone.
05:31 He's had a fantastic breakthrough campaign in the Premier League.
05:36 He's rightly getting the applause that he deserves.
05:38 OK, Chelsea, he was poor, you know, but so was every Everton player.
05:44 Young lads are going to make mistakes as defenders,
05:48 and as a defender, your mistakes are punished, aren't they?
05:51 And there's more spotlight on them, but on the whole, he's been magnificent.
05:56 If you're trying to pick out any other players, then I'd be quite frank, it's slim pickings.
06:02 Abdoulaye Dakour on his first half of the season was a bit of a talismanic presence,
06:06 but since he's had two hamstring injuries and since he's come back,
06:10 he's really struggled for form, to be quite frank.
06:14 Tylee McAlenco hasn't done badly at left-back. He's been solid defensively,
06:22 but attack-wise, there's still a fair bit to be desired.
06:26 Jordan Pickford hasn't done badly at all whatsoever as well.
06:31 James Tarkovsky, OK, but his form's dipped in recent weeks.
06:35 Apart from that, you really are struggling.
06:38 The midfield hasn't been good enough for a lot of it.
06:40 Attack-wise, we know Everton's poor sea of goals.
06:45 So, yeah, I think Jarrod Bramfwaite is definitely going to sweep up the end-of-season awards.
06:50 I think there's going to be a lot of potential sucers in for him in the summer,
06:54 and given Everton's financial situation, are they going to be in a position
06:58 where they can turn down any potential bid for Jarrod Bramfwaite?
07:02 He might have to hold a nerve, hope that maybe a Bibbon Wall comes in,
07:06 but, yeah, it looks like Jarrod Bramfwaite will be sweeping up the end-of-season awards.
07:12 Yeah, and obviously we saw that John Stones had a similar start at Everton
07:16 as a youngster, as an English centre-back.
07:18 Do you see any similarities between the pairing there?
07:22 Yeah, and obviously there's a similar trajectory.
07:24 They both come from the Football League.
07:25 I have Lee Stones from Barnsley and Bramfwaite from Carlisle.
07:30 I mean, to be fair, it's John Stones when he started out at Everton,
07:33 he actually started at right-back, so that's what maybe you do with young centre-backs,
07:37 just because you're making a mistake there.
07:39 It's not as crucial as maybe in central defence.
07:46 It'll be interesting to see the trajectory he takes.
07:48 I think at his age, I think Jarrod Bramfwaite, to be honest with you,
07:51 from what I've seen, is a better player,
07:53 but obviously Stones has gone on to achieve absolutely magnificent things at Manchester City.
07:59 Maybe they're just a little bit different players, potentially,
08:02 but the ceiling is as high as Jarrod Bramfwaite wants it to be.
08:07 Well, looking at Liverpool, and they've been haunted in the past
08:10 when they were chasing the title by Crystal Palace.
08:13 It happened again on the weekend.
08:16 I mean, a massive, massive loss at home,
08:19 but it's also sort of off the back of a poor result against Man United
08:23 and then a shocking result in the Europa League, Anfield as well.
08:27 I mean, it seems that it's almost sort of falling apart at this back end of the season now,
08:32 they've got to pick themselves up, they've got a massive tie at Atlanta
08:35 and they need to go pretty much flawless now to be within a chance of the title.
08:41 Yeah, it looks like Liverpool were rightly lauded when they asked all the injury problems.
08:47 When Salah was absent, Alexander-Arnold, Subozla, Alisson,
08:52 and they kept going, grinding out results.
08:55 The youngsters stepped up, but it looks like the squad's been stretched
09:01 and it's coming home to roost now, unfortunately.
09:04 There's not a lot that Liverpool can do about it.
09:06 They just look tired against Crystal Palace, you know.
09:09 Players like Alexis McAllister, Otaro Enzo, they just looked eight yards off it.
09:17 I should say, it's come at the wrong time because Liverpool can't afford mistakes at this time of the season.
09:24 Let's be honest with you, does anyone expect Manchester City to drop any points?
09:29 Probably not. It's the initiative's days now.
09:31 Arsenal, albeit they've had a blip against Villa, maybe a little bit of a bogey team for them.
09:38 Obviously losing to Villa-Parc early in the season,
09:40 but what they've shown this season, it wouldn't surprise us if they won the rest of their games.
09:45 Liverpool have got to be perfect and even that mightn't be good enough to go to Atlanta.
09:49 Liverpool know all about European miracles.
09:53 The last two that have happened under the airing cloth have happened at Anfield.
09:57 Now they've got to go to Atalanta where it's going to be difficult and Liverpool have got to take the initiative to them.
10:04 I think what we've seen in the first leg, Atalanta will be quite happy to play on the counter-attack,
10:08 even though they're at home. I don't think they'll care.
10:11 It's difficult to see them not score. If they put in a performance like they did at Anfield,
10:16 yeah, it's disappointing the way it has unravelled.
10:21 But I keep saying this, if Liverpool fans would have been in this position at the start of the season,
10:27 these would have definitely taken it. Maybe not being 3-0 behind in the Europa League quarter-finals,
10:32 but in terms of the lead position, I think Liverpool have overachieved, to be quite honest with you.
10:38 And just looking at Liverpool's season as a whole and their players,
10:44 obviously we've touched most of their big names, their big stars over the last few seasons,
10:49 have been out injured at multiple stages this season.
10:53 Can you pinpoint a player that's maybe stood out this season?
10:57 Obviously it's not been quite normal for them, as Salah has probably been that main man for the last few years.
11:04 Is it him again or has there been a few others that might have crept in under the radar?
11:10 Yeah, the numbers have been good for Mo Salah, but in recent weeks, since he's come back from a hamstring injury,
11:14 he just maybe hasn't done enough and you've wanted him to step up a little bit more.
11:19 I say the numbers are fantastic, but maybe there have been players who have been a bit more important to the overall cause.
11:27 Virgil van Dijk has, for the most part, been the bedrock of the team.
11:31 He's been back to his best this campaign.
11:35 Alisson Becker, when he's been fit, he's been magnificent,
11:38 but he just hasn't played enough games to maybe win the Player of the Year award.
11:45 The Tyrone Ends have come on leaps and bounds after a stuttering start, a surprised arrival.
11:51 Adam Fields and Alexis McAllister have done great since he arrived.
11:56 He was asked to play a number six role, which is in his position really.
12:01 Everyone knows he's more of an attacker midfielder.
12:05 In recent weeks, when he's moved into the number eight position, he's done really, really well.
12:10 Curtis Jones has done fairly well as well.
12:14 Trent Alexander-Arnold, before he had his injury, maybe was in the mix up.
12:18 Playing in the hybrid role was superb, but he's missed too many games.
12:25 I think that if you look at it, in terms of it, you have to take into account injuries, etc.,
12:30 then you're probably looking at Virgil van Dijk, maybe Alexis McAllister as well.
12:37 Joel Jos has been injured too much as well. Dario Nunes has been unpredictable.
12:45 Luis Diaz, you can say, maybe hasn't got enough goals and assists for a winger.
12:50 Replacing Sadio Mane. But yeah, I think if you look at it,
12:55 you probably have to say that Virgil van Dijk is the one Alexis McAllister maybe takes the runners-up prize.
13:03 Just looking on the summer ahead, Mo Salah, and you know we've mentioned there that his numbers have been good,
13:09 but is it starting that you might be seeing now that Salah's coming to the end of his Liverpool time?
13:15 Klopp as well, obviously. Do you think Salah could be on his way this summer, possibly?
13:19 It'll be interesting. I think we've seen the heavy interest from Saudi Arabia last summer.
13:26 I think you'd be a fool to think that they won't pursue him again this time around.
13:32 Liverpool held the nerve, but Mo Salah's got a year left on his Liverpool contract.
13:39 You know, he's on big money. And if Liverpool get an offer on him, he's 32 in the summer,
13:48 are Liverpool in a position to maybe turn the money down?
13:53 Or do you think it's a good offer, clears up the wage bill for the potential new manager?
14:00 Go and get a replacement with him and start planning for the future?
14:04 He's been a fantastic servant, goes on as a Liverpool legend, a Premier League legend as well, Mo Salah.
14:09 But if he might not want to leave as well, he might think, "I've got another year in my contract, I fancy this."
14:14 And you never know what might happen in a year.
14:18 But yeah, I think in recent weeks, since he's come back from injury,
14:25 those who may be worse sitting on the fence may be persuaded it might be the right time for Mo Salah to move on.
14:32 Or players, sometimes that happens.
14:36 But as I say, he'll have a year left on his contract and it'll be his prerogative as well.
14:43 Personally, I don't think Liverpool, if a big money offer came in, would be in a position,
14:48 especially the way they run the club on a sustainable model.
14:52 I don't think this time around they'd be in any sort of position to turn down a big money offer for Mo Salah,
14:58 but it's certainly not going to be as much as they was last year.