Liverpool

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Most of the time it is not that big a deal if you go into the international break having just lost a club game if I am honest, as teams lose games frequently.

That is just the life of a professional footballer. You have to be able to cope with disappointment as an individual and as a team.

‌Admittedly, players will sometimes say that they want another domestic game quickly, but it is almost always specifically after a 'bad' defeat as opposed to just a run-of-the-mill loss.

‌However, if the team has genuinely played terribly, or lost a game they were expected to win comfortably, you will commonly hear the phrase "we want to have a chance to get back out there and put it right quickly".

‌Players who have had a stinker, even if their team won, might also want to get out again as soon as possible to put it right in front of their fans, or 'reset'. The 'reset' argument is just current football jargon to say, "we will try to get it right next time, and we blew it this week, sorry".

‌The international break can also have the beneficial effect of taking your mind away from a bad defeat. This is not to say that you don't care, it is just that you must compartmentalise your thoughts and feelings. Footballers are among the best at this.

‌You simply cannot go to play for your national team and spend the time brooding about what happened against Brentford last week. That way lies madness and another poor performance, only this time in front of the entire nation.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Real Madrid are considering a move for Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, 35, as the Dutchman will become a free agent at the end of the season. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish), external

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Manchester City have responded to the Premier League's confirmation that the club has been found guilty of breaching 115 financial rules.

City have until Friday to appeal the decision but in a statement said: "Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today.

"The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. The club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.

"The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.

"The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.

"The club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete."

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Manchester City arranged "sham contracts" with a number of its commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830m, the Premier League says.

The League confirmed that City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

An independent commission found that, during that time period, the club arranged the "sham contracts" as well as "relying on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs".

The club continues to deny any wrongdoing and has until Friday to appeal.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: "The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.

"It also vindicates the Premier League's decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

"It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.

"This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history. There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. Now we have the Commission's decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans."

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In this week's edition of BBC Radio Merseyside's Red Kop, the team discuss the impact of Manchester City's financial case and look to their rivals visiting Anfield when the Premier League returns next month.

Presenter Paul Salt said: "If you were Brendan Rodgers, you have an argument to say, 'my Liverpool team would have won the league in 2013-14 and that would have obviously enhanced my reputation as a football manager I may have been given more time to turn it around at Liverpool'.

"There are even players who would have got win bonuses."

If that's not enough, Salt, Carl Woodward and Mike Hughes also chat about the season so far and international injury woes, with Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak affected.

Watch a clip below for more chat around Rodgers' Liverpool team, and listen to the full edition above or on BBC Sounds here

Liverpool remain interested in Real Madrid's France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni - even though the 26-year-old signed a new long-term contract with the La Liga club in the summer. (Teamtalk), external

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Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Unbelievably, sensible and well-informed people are seriously discussing Manchester City getting a huge points deduction or being demoted or kicked out of the English leagues completely.

‌There is also reasonable talk about them being sued by just about every other major club in the domestic game, and a few beyond that. That is before you get to the concept of titles being stripped and trophies retrospectively re-awarded to others.

There is still an appeal to be heard, but they have been found guilty already. Serious consequences must be considered. Following the draconian punishments handed to Everton and Nottingham Forest, among others, City might find they don't just have the book thrown at them, it is the entire British Library lobbed in their general direction.

Those other clubs cooperated in the process. City have faced more charges and they involve larger sums and over a longer time period. In short, things are not looking good for the club that dominated English football for almost a decade.

This may be the biggest story in the Premier League's history and it is going to run and run.

Other serious considerations will follow hard on the heels of the Blues' dilemmas – specifically what long-term effects will this have on the Premier League? They will not all be good ones.

Some reasonably argue that the financial rules City have been found to have broken shouldn't have been put there in the first place. They were brought in to safeguard the financial security of the clubs and the league, but try telling that to many City, Everton and Nottingham Forest fans just now.

Newcastle and Aston Villa have plenty of financial backing, but these rules have hurt their ability to grow and stay competitive with the legacy clubs. This all feels unfair if you are a supporter of those two.

The money that will now be frittered away by the English game on lawyers and legal fees is eye-watering, and it will grow exponentially as the litigation increases.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

BBC Radio Merseyside have continued their series on an 'A to Z' of club legends at Liverpool.

The BBC Sounds series hears from fans, the Radio Merseyside team and key interviews on how significant figures shaped the club.

For Liverpool's letter 'M', Paul Salt, Ian Kennedy and Mike Hughes focus on Terry McDermott, Ronnie Moran and Jan Molby.

Here's a taster from Kennedy on "local lad" McDermott: "He was a fantastic player, and he came from Newcastle.

"He is a local lad from Kirby, and he came back to Liverpool and never looked back really.

"He had this period from 1977-81 where he was one of the best midfielders in the country. He had a tendency of scoring the goal of the season."

Hit play below to hear the first episode in full or listen on BBC Sounds here

Chelsea are monitoring Crystal Palace's England left-back Tyrick Mitchell, 27, but may face competition from Liverpool and Manchester United. (Caught Offside), external

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Liverpool striker Alexander Isak has returned to his club after picking up a minor injury while on international duty with Sweden.

The 27-year-old will not be involved in Sweden's remaining three matches in this international break and will be assessed by his club's medical staff.

He played the full 90 minutes and scored a goal in Sweden's 2-1 win over Romania in the Nations League on Friday.

"He's got a small problem with his thigh. It's not a big one but because of the amount of games we've got in a small space of time, he won't be able to make those," Swedish coach Graham Potter told reporters.

"Not a big one, but frustrating for him, and obviously for us."

Isak has started the season with four goals in five Premier League games for the Reds.

His first season at Liverpool last year - after a £125m move from Newcastle - was hampered by injury and he was limited to 14 Premier League appearances, scoring three goals.

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We asked you to rate Liverpool's start to the season and tell us what Andoni Iraola should be focusing on during this extended international break.

Here are some of your comments:

Johnnie: Solid away from home, fragile at home. Fans need to play their part and make Anfield a fortress. Defence looks sharp with the new additions, the middle looks imbalanced as we persist with Florian Wirtz. He needs to be benched and Ryan Gravenberch start to let Dominik Szoboszlai bomb on. I feel Wirtz may be more effective against tired sides later on, so he gets some confidence back.

Gareth: Let's face it, we were spoiled in Arne Slot's first season. Nobody expected us to win the league with a new manager, particularly when following a club legend. Therefore, this start under Iraola is very typical and totally expected. I think there are good signs and with each game we are shaking off the turgid rubbish that was evident last season. I'm very optimistic.

Ste: A steady, unbeaten start. Iraola is still finding out about players and who will fit into his style of play. Having had a reasonably quiet transfer window, I'm expecting a couple of new signings in the next window.

Joseph: Unbeaten in all competitions. In the right part of the table after five matches and a win against Manchester City would put us three points off top. Nothing to complain about so far. Decent start for Iraola.

Andy: Underperforming. Too many players are not good enough. Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong are both hopeless. Wirtz and Alexander Isak are a bad fit for us. We look better than last season, but the quality of football is very average.

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Liverpool will return from the international break to a "real test", says BBC Radio Merseyside's Chris Coughlin.

The Red Kop team discussed Liverpool's start to the Premier League season and how much more difficult it is going to get for Andoni Iraola's side with the upcoming fixtures.

Coughlin said: "After the international break, Liverpool have Manchester City at home, Brentford away, Brighton at home and Arsenal at home - that four-game run is arguably against the four top teams in the Premier League at the moment and the four most in-form.

"Liverpool are going to have a real test after this break so that's why it's important to go into it off this good run.

"I think eight points is fine [from those four fixtures], because that's two wins and two draws; against good opposition I can see that being a reasonable points tally. I think anything more than eight is a really good return."

Listen to the full edition of Red Kop on BBC Sounds here

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"Liverpool fans were naturally expecting the finished product to arrive and Florian Wirtz probably isn't that just yet," says Liverpool podcaster Josh Williams, who also admits the 23-year-old isn't living up to his £116m price tag.

Wirtz has made 55 appearances for the Reds, scoring seven goals and contributing 11 assists, since penning a five-year deal to move to Anfield from Bayern Leverkusen in June 2025.

However, the attacking midfielder is yet to find the target in 404 Premier League minutes this season.

When asked if Wirtz is as bad as the recent criticism he has received, Williams told BBC Radio Merseyside: "If you look at his performance against Bournemouth, yes. It was a disgrace. I get it might happen here and there, but it isn't supposed to happen to a £100m player.

"The credit he has got in the bank is largely from his Bundesliga days. It has been over a year since he arrived in England but we aren't seeing a player that grabs the game by the scruff of the neck - and I suppose a £100m player should do that.

"It is a difficult one because he is still really young and there are tactical reasons why he didn't succeed last season. We are only six games into Andoni Iraola's reign as well, so I would encourage patience with Wirtz."

On whether Wirtz being crowned Bundesliga player of the year back-to-back brought even more expectation, Williams added: "It obviously did. I absolutely understand why there's expectation there.

"I'm reluctant to defend him and make out that he has actually been a worldie because what we've seen so far hasn't been that great."

Hit play below to hear the full discussion or listen on BBC Sounds here

Liverpool are considering a move to bring 23-year-old midfielder Tyler Morton back to the club from Lyon, with Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Brighton also monitoring him. (Teamtalk), external

Juventus could be set to reignite their interest in goalkeeper Alisson, whose future at Anfield is in doubt. (Football Italia), external

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Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

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Liverpool are expected to appoint technical director Julian Ward as their next sporting director, succeeding Richard Hughes, who left to join Al-Hilal after the summer transfer window.

Reds owners Fenway Sports Group has spoken to a number of external candidates, including former Crystal Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman, now at Saudi Pro League side Al-Diriyah.

Brentford technical director Lee Dykes was also approached.

BBC Sport reported last Friday that Ward was a leading candidate to fill the role, with FSG minded to make an internal appointment.

It is understood Ward's promotion at Anfield is now in the process of being finalised.

As we enter the season's first international break, we want to hear your thoughts on the opening five games of the Premier League.

Liverpool are a work in progress for new manager Andoni Iraola, but the Reds are unbeaten, with two league wins and three draws to sit in sixth position.

Iraola has picked up his first Champions League win, with a victory over Atletico Madrid, and also progressed in the Carabao Cup.

The Reds have found a more solid defensive formula in the last three games too, and while Florian Wirtz has yet to fire, Alexander Isak is behind only Manchester City's Erling Haaland in the goalscoring charts.

How do you rate the Reds' start to the season and why? And what should Iraola be focusing on during the extended break?

Get in touch with your views here