Liverpool Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread Summer 2014 - Mod Warning post #6893

5ForKeeps

I think Rodgers and the committee have moved on from Kono, been honest I think we could see Shaqiri in a Liverpool shirt come July.

Dozen Wicked Words

Agueroooo wrote: »

Ricky Lambert open letter to Southampton fans...

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/02062014-rickie-lambert-open-letter-1592317.aspx

He seems like a top bloke, hopefully he will get the chance to show Liverpool fans how good he is more frequently than just off the bench. Him and Suarez could be every bit as good as Suarez and Sturridge (though I'll admit I'm not a fan of Sturridge) and offers a different option up front for you, maybe for when teams Park the bus?

Hard to see anyone wishing him anything but success. A great example of how it's possible for professionals to go right the way through the league system to reach the very top. There's a great picture of him playing for Bristol Rovers against Kyle Walker who was at Northampton at the time.

http://twitter.com/FootballersLost/status/472715999507415040/photo/1

Morzadec

rarnes1 wrote: »

Moreno for what £16-17m would be fantastic business.

Good to hear that.

Like most on here I don't know a lot about him.

16-17m is an awful lot for a fullback even in today's market, so you must have a lot of faith in him to call it a bargain.

Certainly the fact he's a Spanish international at such a young age would suggest he's a good player.

And I'm glad we're investing heavily in this important area which we have struggled with for years.

I still rate Enrique however.

Would I be mad to suggest that Moreno will have a fight on his hands to make the left-back spot his own?

Either way, good to have cover, and Moreno could possibly also do a job on the left side of a front 3 perhaps? So more rotation/backup options too.

Seems like a good signing, but time will tell I suppose

Augmerson

mike65 wrote: »

I keep reading that Liverpool are in a battle with Manchester Utd to sign Yevhen Konoplyanka, I can only presume this is a struggle that exists in the minds of sport editors. As far as I can tell the trail has definitely gone cold and that in part is why Shaqiri is being sought.

The owner just won't deal with Liverpool. Tbh I don't think FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk will sell Konoplyanka. It's not like they need the money. Kolomoyskyi (dodgy, very dodgy man) is the President of Dnipro and one of the richest people in Ukraine. I think he funded a new stadium for the club back in 2005 which cost 40m euro. The whole project there is a bit like RA at Chelsea. I think he wants them in the CL and to do well. I'm not sure though because Dnipro ended up 2nd in the league this season gone and I'm not sure how many places Ukraine's FA gets in the CL.

I've already had United supporters gloating at me as they "steal away" our transfer targets. But then I remember these were the same people who were gloating about us ****ting it if United won the CL and we wouldn't get a place if we finished 4th

Agent Coulson

Dreams do come true! First interview.

Edit; Full Interview.

skywalker

For once zaff is the one who looks uncomfortable.

mike65

Rickie nearly has me in tears! :pac:

Ganymede Glow

Vinz Mesrine

When was the last time we had 4 very good options to play up front?

mike65

Who is the forth?

Vinz Mesrine

mike65 wrote: »

Who is the forth?

Borini.

Knex*

Ah Christ, Rickie.

Dem Feels.

Utopia Parkway

Hard not to love the Lambert story. He looks like he's on cloud 9.

whatawaster

Tracey Lambert ‏@TraCeyLambo 25h

Rickie Lambo's mum n dad cried when he signed for Liverpool. Mine did when Roy Hodgson signed

Ganymede Glow

Knex. wrote: »

Ah Christ, Rickie.

Dem Feels.

I am pie

That's it lads...sell Suarez. Lambert is on board!

In all seriousness it's not a bad move, post world cup seasons can be tricky when you players coming back tired. I'd say players who will be relatively fresh will be a big advantage. I wouldn't expect to see much of Saurez in August and would imagine there will be repercussions and rest time required after rushing to get himself fit for the WC.

murpho999

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Hard not to love the Lambert story. He looks like he's on cloud 9.

Agree totally.

Great story about how he was rejected but never gave up and now has his dream move.

Sentimentality aside, I think though that it is a good signing. He's got ability and knows where the goal is, and we were lacking cover up front in that area last season.

Vinz Mesrine

Hopefully he gets the number 9 shirt.

ricero

Vinz Mesrine wrote: »

Hopefully he gets the number 9 shirt.

Number 20 I heard

Morzadec

Kess73 wrote: »

I know stats are to be taken with a copious amount of salt, but saw a few opta stat comparisons between Shaqiri and Lallana last night that caught the eye.


Here is the statbomb comparison to save on having to put up a long list of comparison stats.





The tackle/interception stat is the only one that stands out like a sore thumb though, and is an indicator of the harrying and workrate Lallana shows off the ball.

I think that would mainly tell us that Lallana is first an foremost a centre mid, whereas Shaqiri a "modern wide forward" (don't think the term winger really works for this type of modern species).

I've made my feelings on Lallana clear, but I don't think it's really fair to compare the two here. It's not a million miles away from comparing Henderson and Sterlings stats - I'm not sure if it's a very relevant comparison.

They will be signed for very different roles, and I don't see why it would be a case of either/or.

But I would certainly be much more on board with the Shaqiri signing, I don't know a whole lot about him, but he looks to be in that category of players we I said we should be after at the start of the summer (players who would have been out of our reach without CL football)

Morzadec

By the way that's a fantastic idea for a graph. So much information, presented really easily, I'd like to see more of these. Could really see this type of graph taking off as a quick and easy way of comparing two players stats.

Still don't think it's particularly relevant here comparing two different players, but it's still a good way to look at it

Kess73

Morzadec wrote: »

I think that would mainly tell us that Lallana is first an foremost a centre mid, whereas Shaqiri a "modern wide forward" (don't think the term winger really works for this type of modern species).

I've made my feelings on Lallana clear, but I don't think it's really fair to compare the two here. It's not a million miles away from comparing Henderson and Sterlings stats - I'm not sure if it's a very relevant comparison.

They will be signed for very different roles, and I don't see why it would be a case of either/or.

But I would certainly be much more on board with the Shaqiri signing, I don't know a whole lot about him, but he looks to be in that category of players we I said we should be after at the start of the summer (players who would have been out of our reach without CL football)

He has played in the wide forward role (both flanks) and the CAM role for Southampton as often as he has been started in the centre for them. If you look back at Southampton's team sheets on a few of the stat sites, they started a hell of a lot of games last season with three CMs and then Lallana sitting ahead of them in either a wide slot or at the tip of the diamond (depending what way they lined up on a given day)

But I do agree that they are different types of player in terms of playing style, but they are players who have at least three playing positions in common, and I think if Liverpool were to get one, then they would not go and get the other. Also it makes sense to compare them in the context that we might buy one over the other, so a graph like the statbomb one is handy to see what they both bring in an attacking sense rather.


Not that it matters now as we are getting Cesc according to some outlets, and I think I like that rumour enough to discount the many good reasons as to why we would not get Cesc.:D

Gmol

Kess73 wrote: »

He has played in the wide forward role (both flanks) and the CAM role for Southampton as often as he has been started in the centre for them. If you look back at Southampton's team sheets on a few of the stat sites, they started a hell of a lot of games last season with three CMs and then Lallana sitting ahead of them in either a wide slot or at the tip of the diamond (depending what way they lined up on a given day)

But I do agree that they are different types of player in terms of playing style, but they are players who have at least three playing positions in common, and I think if Liverpool were to get one, then they would not go and get the other. Also it makes sense to compare them in the context that we might buy one over the other, so a graph like the statbomb one is handy to see what they both bring in an attacking sense rather.


Not that it matters now as we are getting Cesc according to some outlets, and I think I like that rumour enough to discount the many good reasons as to why we would not get Cesc.:D

I think they can play in similar positions but are different in Shaquiri is more suited out wide, I think both would be good options and I would prefer them too say Sanchez as I think they would be happier to rotate with Sterling and Coutinho throughout the season. It would give us 7 fantastic options for 3 to 4 positions. This kind of depth up front gets the CL positions.

brevity

Edit:

Tried to copy a link to a comparison on Squawka, failed miserably.

Basically,
Shaquiri for dribbling,
Lallana for interceptions/tacking & chances created/key passes,
Fabregas for passing accuracy & assists,
Sanchez for goals

All in all Lallana has done well for himself this season and keeps good company.

I am pie

The trend towards isolating a player's statistics in a one to one comparison completely fails to realise the team the context of the team they play for. That's one of the main reasons that an isolated statistical "moneyball" approach doesn't translate perfectly to football. It's a lot easier to make accurate passes in teams where space has been created and an opposition worn down by having to defend against pace or cede posession constantly. Better teams inflate the statistics of the individual players. You can't simply compare naked stats and state one player is better than the other without having a full picture of each game the respective players were involved in. Who were the opposing teams. Also, in the case of player in his breakthrough season you might argue that they are not singled out for marking or closing down in the same way that an established player would be.

Sometimes I think these isolated stats are too narrow are lense through which to view a player.

mike65

You can't beat watching players for real - scouts with a notebook will never go out of fashion.

Morzadec

I agree with both the above points, but really for the common man none of us have time to watch much more than Liverpool matches and a few other matches here and there, as well as highlight shows.

Stats can give a lot of information, can serve as a "shortcut" for those not in the know (which is most of us when it comes to players outside the Premier League or the giants of Europe).

They should always be taken with context, never be seen as the absolute definitive answer, but I believe they can tell you a lot, and the first thing I do when I see we are linked with a player I know little about is get onto Whoscored.

I believe you can form a decent idea of what a player is about if you watch them a couple of times and examine the most relevant stats (and try to interpret what they mean) in detail (e.g. I think I made a pretty decent appraisal of Aspas this time last year, based on just 2 or 3 games accompanied by looking at his stats).

But as has been said it's always great to hear what people who have seen the players regularly think too.

Agueroooo

Definitely agree that both players respective teams mould their stats somewhat, but for me it's about which player will take/make the move better for LFC.

Yes Lallana has all the attributes and has shown them in the PL, but all respect to Southampton it's going to be a bigger step up for him coming to LFC and the CL, than it is for Shaqiri who has more big team and CL experience.

Blatter

Morzadec wrote: »

By the way that's a fantastic idea for a graph. So much information, presented really easily, I'd like to see more of these. Could really see this type of graph taking off as a quick and easy way of comparing two players stats.

Still don't think it's particularly relevant here comparing two different players, but it's still a good way to look at it

This guy makes them. Go through his pics and you'll see plenty.

https://twitter.com/mixedknuts

Fescue

Agueroooo wrote: »

Definitely agree that both players respective teams mould their stats somewhat, but for me it's the about which player will take/make the move better for LFC.

Yes Lallana has all the attributes and has shown them in the PL, but all respect to Southampton it's going to be a bigger step up for him coming to LFC and the CL, than it is for Shaqiri who has more big team and CL experience.

Shaqiri has big team experience but he has not been a success. Thats why he is surplus to requirements. I think that should be accounted for also.