Scouser Tommies: Vamos

Jim Boardman and Jay Reid are back after a bit of a break and ready to get their pre-season underway. A new era is underway at Anfield, but it’s all kind of low key and behind closed doors as the international Reds slowly return from their exploits in Germany and the US.

As much of England reels from the latest tournament exit of their ‘brave’ heroes, this time without pens, many in Merseyside are smiling. Liverpool’s relationship with England – the club’s fans or the city’s people – has been strained for as long as most of us can remember, and not just for football reasons. But when we are talking football, it’s the same as it ever was, as Jay and Jim try to explain.

For those Reds stars playing for countries who do respect them it’s been a busy spell, although only Alexis Mac Allister will be arriving back at the Axa with a winner’s medal. Diaz and Nunez both had good tournaments, as did Euros joint top scorer Cody Gakpo, at least on a personal level.

Cody’s club and country skipper Virgil Van Dijk was interviewed in the aftermath of going out of the Euros to that struggling England side and asked about his future. His response, along the lines of needing to get some rest after an emotional season – and it was definitely emotional – has been twisted in some quarters. As you’d expect. However, as Jim and Jay point out, he does have some thinking to do, but it’s unlikely any of the options he has in mind including Anfield early. We’ll see.

It's been a quiet transfer window so far, but with the Reds starting their pre-season fixtures a couple of weeks later than usual, with no trips to the likes of Tranmere, Chester, Wigan or Wrexham, maybe it’s not worth panicking too much about it just yet. A new manager working for a boss who’s new to the club, not to mention the other changes to the structure, aren’t exactly conditions for having half a dozen signatures done before any of the players are back off holiday.

As seems to be the case far too often, Jay and Jim find themselves talking about a topic that relates to football but has little to do with what’s going on the pitch. The scenes in the Copa America, first of all with players worrying about the safety of their families, and then fans worrying about their own safety ahead of the final. Football absolutely has to fix this, as a matter of urgency, before football fans and their families once again have to pay a price nobody should pay to see a game of football. You’ve had 35 years to get this right, 35 years where you’ve found every possible way to squeeze every last cent out of the supporters, whilst doing little to look after their safety. FIFA, UEFA, CONMEBOL and each country’s FA should be putting measures in place to ensure events of this nature are handled properly. Jim and Jay have a few simple ideas that could reduce the risks we see. And stop blaming it on fans.

With news also breaking that FSG have binned their efforts to buy a French club, Jay and Jim discuss whether it’s right for clubs to be run by organisations with multi-club ownership models. There are pros and cons to it, of course, and done right it could be a boost to the sport, although as Jay points out, in one part of Merseyside any talk of club ownership is a touchy subject.

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