Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

ThunbergsAreGo · 17-08-2013 03:07PM

Ah well top of the league was nice while it lasted

jesus_thats_gre · 17-08-2013 03:07PM

Jason Todd wrote: »

Am I right in saying Coutinho is now on corners, and not Gerrard? Good change I would think, Gerrard was surprisingly bad at them considering his free kicks can be so good.

I think Gerrard took a significant portion of them today, no?

Ardent · 17-08-2013 03:07PM

Lots of positive signs in that game today but let's not fool ourselves - to finish top 4 we need Suarez back AND two more top quality signings. Henderson and Aspas should be be squad players IMO, not first teamers.

Jason Todd · 17-08-2013 03:07PM

djPSB wrote: »

They split them today.

Gerrard's corners were excellent today.

Ah, thanks, I hadn't seen all the match, so was wondering.

Now, that's 4 posts from me in the new thread, I've already beaten my previous record of 3 from last time out! \o/

darced · 17-08-2013 03:08PM

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Dont be at yourself · 17-08-2013 03:09PM

Between Begovic in amazing form, conceding a penalty, having a goal disallowed and missing a hatful of chances, that was exactly the type of game that we would lost or drawn last season. I'm not sure if we can say that today's win shows a step forward in that regard, or was just down to luck.

Positives:
Mignolet's penalty save. He'd clearly done his homework on Walters.
Johnson and Enrique basically operating as wingers for much of the game.
Henderson's energy and pressing.
Coutinho, not just for the nice stuff, but for standing up to Stoke's physicality. Would have been an easy game to hide in, but he didn't.
Neat passing out from the back under pressure.

Negatives:
Our finishing. Aspas and Coutinho both could have scored.
Nerves on set pieces. Between Agger's handball and Mignolet floundering a bit, it really doesn't inspire confidence.

Hopefully now the lads can kick on and get a run of form going. We haven't had a good start to the season in years, and it would be nice not to already be playing catch-up in September.

jesus_thats_gre · 17-08-2013 03:09PM

Ardent wrote: »

A lot of you guys moan about Enrique but not much gets past him down the left hand side. Good game again today.

Defensive very very good in my opinion - still the most important attribute for a full back.

What I particularly like about him is his turn of pace over a short distance and his physical strength. Very very rare you see an opposing player get past him when stood up or out muscle him.

Yakult · 17-08-2013 03:09PM

Its a nice feeling to win on the opening day. Been a long time coming!

Ardent · 17-08-2013 03:10PM

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I think you're doing Toure and Enrique a disservice with those ratings.

slingerz · 17-08-2013 03:11PM

Kolo Toure is fast becoming a favourite player of mine! Wow, never thought I'd say that

jesus_thats_gre · 17-08-2013 03:11PM

joe123 wrote: »

Oh for **** sake. Enjoy the win lad and stop fretting.

Trust me, I am not fretting about that. I take particularly enjoyment out of seeing the minority, especially those that are effectively bullied by a larger majority, be proven correct.

Oh another note, fretting too much about glaring shortcomings trumps pretending that everything is fine and rosy.

murpho999 · 17-08-2013 03:11PM

I also think there is improvement showing in that they look more comfortable playing the ball from defence and turning into attack.

It's possession with more purpose compared to a year ago.

mike65 · 17-08-2013 03:11PM

Once more, its too good to get forgotten in the match thread.

Grayditch · 17-08-2013 03:13PM

The bad

Mignolet looked ropey in parts
Enqrique is still frustrating going forward
Henderson was missing for a lot of the game
Toure was going forward too much for my liking, we weren't up 3-0
Aspas needs to be much more accurate
We're still not focused and clinical enough up front.

The good

Gerrards corners were great
Lucas bossing again
Aspas' turns are a gift
Aspas' intuition running into space
Sturridge is back on point
Mignolet has been handed a huge confidence boost
Enrique did some decent defending
Coutinho is as great as ever
Henderson's shooting looks good

PhiloCypher · 17-08-2013 03:14PM

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

It's this blind optimism that I really don't understand.

We have not improved our defence. Hopefully Agger and Toure will improve with time but individual errors, based on today, still seem to prevalent in the starting 4 defenders and keeper. An injury to either Agger or Toure and we are in major trouble.

We have not improved our midfield at all. In particular, we are deficient, in particular, in terms of a defensively minded midfielders. An injury to Lucas again and we are fooked and an injury to Gerrard will cause us big problems.

We have improved our forward 3 every so slightly with the signing of Aspas - done well so far. We certainly creating enough chances but I am slightly concerned that we aren't take our them as much as we need. Another goal scorer would be nice but it should be way down the priority list relative to a CB and DM.

A few pages back

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Still only about 80% there. Stand by assessment that we could scrape top 4 if things go in out favour - as they did this evening with that penalty save. Still a little too shaky at the back for my liking.

Great to get 3 points from the opening game of the season.

Whats the difference between your guarded optimism and T.K.O's ?

shamrock55 · 17-08-2013 03:14PM

I enjoyed that and will continue to until our next game

Yawns · 17-08-2013 03:15PM

What, if anything, could happen to N'Zonzi. If that had been say Suarez (can of worms I know) who raised a hand and slapped another player, the media attention would be huge.

Pedalstool · 17-08-2013 03:15PM

Leaving aside the performance of individuals, the way in which we are trying to play is excellent in my opinion. There is a level of intelligence and ingenuity to how we play. Thats the most encouraging thing in my view.

Certainly, improving the quality of the first team is a priority. If we manage that, then I think you will see less defensive errors and more ruthlessness in front of goal. We should have won by three or four goals.

Mr Alan · 17-08-2013 03:15PM

Delighted with the win today. Pretty good performance overall.

Positives:

1) Toure
2) Lucas
3) Sturridge
4) Coutinho

Negatives:

1) Same weaknesses as last season
2) Sterling
3) Mignolet looks uncomfortable coming for the ball in the air & also with the ball at his feet

jesus_thats_gre · 17-08-2013 03:16PM

murpho999 wrote: »

FFS, I'd say you're a barrel of laughs.

We won a difficult first game against a team that took 4 points of us last season. That's improvement for me.

As for your comments about defenders, you do realise that all defenders from all teams make mistakes from time to time. Otherwise there would be very few goals.

Regarding Stoke this year versus last year. They are a somewhat different team this year. If that had of been a Pulis team, I suspect we might have had a slightly harder time. Still great to get 3 points at home - you can only play what is in front of you afterall.

Another stat that might interest you, and this was mentioned during the match, is that they haven't scored in 4 seasons at Anfield.

Our defenders, Agger in particular, are far too familiar with individual errors for my liking. Only for fine penalty save, we would have been having a very very different discussion on this thread.

You have to enjoy those breaks but you can't ignore their cause.

darced · 17-08-2013 03:17PM

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Grayditch · 17-08-2013 03:18PM

Joe Cole just scored.

Ah, the one that got away...

Milkers · 17-08-2013 03:19PM

Still plenty to work on and I don't think Stoke offered a whole lot today but at the same time lots of positives and let's not forget while we only won 1-0 Begovic was man of the match.

jesus_thats_gre · 17-08-2013 03:19PM

PhiloCypher wrote: »

A few pages back

Whats the difference between your guarded optimism and T.K.O's ?

Because my optimism is clearly guarded and I call out the glaring shortcomings that I believe exist in the spine of the team.

You gloss over them.

That is how I think they are different.

Francie Barrett · 17-08-2013 03:19PM

Joe Cole scored for West Ham

murpho999 · 17-08-2013 03:19PM

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Regarding Stoke this year versus last year. They are a somewhat different team this year. If that had of been a Pulis team, I suspect we might have had a slightly harder time. Still great to get 3 points at home - you can only play what is in front of you afterall.

Another stat that might interest you, and this was mentioned during the match, is that they haven't scored in 4 seasons at Anfield.

Our defenders, Agger in particular, are far too familiar with individual errors for my liking. Only for fine penalty save, we would have been having a very very different discussion on this thread.

You have to enjoy those breaks but you can't ignore their cause.

Well I think that this is a game that we could easily have drawn last year and we held on for the win, and that is progress. Albeit with a bit of luck with the peno save.

Regarding Agger, I have said on this thread before that he is over rated and prone to errors.

All in all, I'm happy with how we played, thought we played with good style and purpose and they showed a great attitude.

Pressure was on to start season with a victory and they have delivered.

All this micro - analysis here serves no purpose.

I expect them to improve as season goes on.

whatawaster · 17-08-2013 03:20PM

Mr Alan wrote: »

Delighted with the win today. Pretty good performance overall.

Positives:

1) Toure
2) Lucas
3) Sturridge
4) Coutinho

Negatives:

1) Same weaknesses as last season
2) Sterling
3) Mignolet looks uncomfortable coming for the ball in the air & also with the ball at his feet

Harsh on Sterling

mike65 · 17-08-2013 03:21PM

Mr Alan wrote: »

Delighted with the win today. Pretty good performance overall.

Positives:

1) Toure
2) Lucas
3) Sturridge
4) Coutinho

Negatives:

1) Same weaknesses as last season
2) Sterling
3) Mignolet looks uncomfortable coming for the ball in the air & also with the ball at his feet

Its a whole new ball game for him, so it would be optimistic to expect him to become silky overnight. He needs to command his area alright as I mentioned in the match thread. Still, that double save and the reaction to it will have done him no harm at all.

mav79 · 17-08-2013 03:21PM

Thats how to get the fans on your side.:D

Pedalstool · 17-08-2013 03:22PM

I think one of the reasons we signed Mignolet was because of his ability to make important saves. This was a case in point.

When was the last time Reina won us a match with a crucial save? I know the feeling was that he didn't contribute enough in this department.

Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

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