Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014 - Mod Note in OP, 1/09

Pilsbury Doughboy · 04-09-2014 11:12PM

Very soothing music on that vid!

Harry Palmr · 04-09-2014 11:14PM

Sterling is da man

Liverpool's Sterling is shining light for England Telegraph.co.uk 22:57

Build the England team round Raheem Sterling even if it shackles Wayne... Daily Mail 22:48

Are England building a team around the wrong man? Sterling again looked... Mirror.co.uk 22:44

Arsenal legend: Sterling is England’s best Touchline Talk 18:06

Why Sterling - not Rooney - is England's star man Goal.com 09:28

Why England should build their team around Liverpool's Raheem Sterling Metro.co.uk 08:27

Raheem Sterling is England's best player and his connection with Daniel Sturridge... Daily Mail 22:01 Wed, 03 Sep 2014

Fire destroys Sterling fertilizer plant The Washington Times 06:20

Pilsbury Doughboy · 04-09-2014 11:21PM

'Arry, what's the pic of the two lasses all about? I don't geddit!

Kess73 · 04-09-2014 11:43PM

Pilsbury Doughboy wrote: »

'Arry, what's the pic of the two lasses all about? I don't geddit!

They are dressed as flappers from the 1920s or 1930s

ush · 04-09-2014 11:44PM

Well they're not a pair of keepers.

Kess73 · 04-09-2014 11:47PM

Very good

A tidy play on words is always appreciated

5starpool · 04-09-2014 11:51PM

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Sterling is da man

He'll be gutted about the fertilizer plant I'd say.

Kerrigooney · 04-09-2014 11:54PM

5starpool wrote: »

He'll be gutted about the fertilizer plant I'd say.

He's already fertilized every woman in Liverpool if some stories are to be believed.

daithijjj · 04-09-2014 11:56PM

dobsdave wrote: »

Any idea how much a train from Manchester aiport to liverpool is?
website showing 17 return, but I presume thats a web only.
a bit hesitant to buy in advance in case the plane is delayed,

Thanks

You can get an anytime return ticket for under £20 with London Midland.

Muahahaha · 05-09-2014 12:46AM

I do think Valdes is a decent keeper but I also think people are over rating him because signing him provides those of us who believe Mignolet always looks just a brain fart away from disaster with a bit of well needed relief. I think Mig is a good shot stopper but otherwise he can look like a liability, his decision making at split second moments is sometime suspect and thats what makes many fans nervous about watching him. But that aside I dont think we should see Valdes in a more favourable light just because his arrival gives us all some relief. Though Valdes is a very decent keeper he is also 32 and is far above the average age of the squad. So while he could very well turn out to be either our no.1 or push Mig to improve his overall game I think in the long term we're going to have to look elsewhere. I hope to be proven wrong but I think Migs limits have been reached and Valdez wont be around forever, it wouldnt surprise me if he stayed a season or two and then took a payday with some club in the American league.

So while I welcome the addition of Valdez at the same time I hope Brendan Rogers is keeping his eyes out long term. If we're serious about mounting sustained title challenges we need a Schmeichel, a Buffon or a Noyer. We need the calibre of keeper that is literally worth 10-12 points a season with the saves they make. In a competitive Premier League a keeper like that can be the difference between winning the title and not winning it. I can remember ManU winning leagues of the back of some crucial Schmeichel saves, a goalkeeper of that calibre is worth his weight in gold so while adding Valdez is great and everything I think its important to realise that he is not the end of our goalkeeping problems. He's a stepping stone, but not a final solution IMO.

pmy.murphy · 05-09-2014 01:26AM

Valdes is a very good signing I think and will certainly challenge mignolet for a starting spot

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 05-09-2014 01:56AM

bur wrote: »

Valdes never makes mistakes, especially with the ball at his feet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3x_VxF1Za8

So it's David James Mk 2 as an "upgrade"?

~Rebel~ · 05-09-2014 03:21AM

Muahahaha wrote: »

I do think Valdes is a decent keeper but I also think people are over rating him because signing him provides those of us who believe Mignolet always looks just a brain fart away from disaster with a bit of well needed relief. I think Mig is a good shot stopper but otherwise he can look like a liability, his decision making at split second moments is sometime suspect and thats what makes many fans nervous about watching him. But that aside I dont think we should see Valdes in a more favourable light just because his arrival gives us all some relief. Though Valdes is a very decent keeper he is also 32 and is far above the average age of the squad. So while he could very well turn out to be either our no.1 or push Mig to improve his overall game I think in the long term we're going to have to look elsewhere. I hope to be proven wrong but I think Migs limits have been reached and Valdez wont be around forever, it wouldnt surprise me if he stayed a season or two and then took a payday with some club in the American league.

So while I welcome the addition of Valdez at the same time I hope Brendan Rogers is keeping his eyes out long term. If we're serious about mounting sustained title challenges we need a Schmeichel, a Buffon or a Noyer. We need the calibre of keeper that is literally worth 10-12 points a season with the saves they make. In a competitive Premier League a keeper like that can be the difference between winning the title and not winning it. I can remember ManU winning leagues of the back of some crucial Schmeichel saves, a goalkeeper of that calibre is worth his weight in gold so while adding Valdez is great and everything I think its important to realise that he is not the end of our goalkeeping problems. He's a stepping stone, but not a final solution IMO.

32 is young for a goalkeeper - most only start hitting the peak of their powers at that age. Would expect him to have 5 top level years in him.

Frankly I don't really care which of them is number 1. Both are more than fine, neither are incredible, but this signing would mean that there is no individual position where one injury/suspension/form-dip effectively ruins the season. We'd have quality depth in every single position. That could prove to be huge for us.

Dickerty · 05-09-2014 08:51AM

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

So it's David James Mk 2 as an "upgrade"?

Thjat is probably over 10 years of first team football though, where every game is televised, so every mistake get's captured.

But like Kess (and as I said yesterday), he doesn't fill me with confidence.
He's always looked prone to a howler...

Underpaid Mike · 05-09-2014 09:07AM

Origi last night v Australia. God he is not shy about tackling

Underpaid Mike · 05-09-2014 09:14AM

Tony Evans being a grade A twat on a webchat yesterday for those who havent seen it

Tony Evans is in the midst of a webchat on The Times site. Some LFC snippets coming up
Tony Evans on Valdes:
"He's a free agent and coming back from injury. LFC looking for a better keeper. "LFC have not been impressed with Mignolet. They would like one who commands his area, directs the defence & distributes better. The lack of confidence in the keeper runs throughout the club "
Evans: They (LFC) are disappointed with Can who "strolls" too much". "Early days,It could change. It's rare to come in fully formed but it's fair to say they (LFC) expected a bit more from him"
On Markovic "has a burst of pace they (LFC) love "but didn't see it in preseason". Overall Tony reckons LFC did "good business"
Evans on Balotelli "Rodgers didn't want Balotelli initially but the price was too good."
Evans on Rodgers: He's been much better at not running his mouth over last year & his tactics have become more flexible and vibrant."

Markovic played 45 mins pre season and Can was probably our most dynamic player in the US. What a load of BS

Dickerty · 05-09-2014 09:18AM

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Origi last night v Australia. God he is not shy about tackling

Looks like Welbeck with better vision and better holding up the ball.
Delighted to have him already signed up.

Brad Smith came on at left mid in that game...

Dickerty · 05-09-2014 09:23AM

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Tony Evans being a grade A twat on a webchat yesterday for those who havent seen it

Markovic played 45 mins pre season and Can was probably our most dynamic player in the US. What a load of BS

I am sure they are also lookin at Markovic in training, but he had a niggle, so that explains a bit.

Apart from that, I'd say it's about right.
All the noises from Rodgers are that Balo is a risk, but too good a price to ignore.
The lack of confidence in Migs has been spoken about a lot.
Can didn't start any of our first 3 games, so it's clear that he has to impress a bit more.
And we can all agree that Rodgers has dropped the Brent-ism and become far more tactically flexible...

Speak Now · 05-09-2014 09:32AM

Evans on Rodgers: "He's been much better at not running his mouth over last year & his tactics have become more flexible and vibrant."

It's a shame the same doesn't apply to Evans.

Francie Barrett · 05-09-2014 09:37AM

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Evans on Rodgers: "He's been much better at not running his mouth over last year & his tactics have become more flexible and vibrant."

It's a shame the same doesn't apply to Evans.

The irony is lost on some people.

Kess73 · 05-09-2014 09:41AM

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Tony Evans being a grade A twat on a webchat yesterday for those who havent seen it

Markovic played 45 mins pre season and Can was probably our most dynamic player in the US. What a load of BS

Would pay no heed whatsoever to what comes out of his mouth. He is one of the journos whose access has been seriously diminished with regards to the club in recent years and it has shown in his often bitter sounding "reporting"

Boom_Bap · 05-09-2014 09:49AM

After watching that Origi video, I like him even more.
-holds up the ball
-trys to retain the ball
-chases it if he loses it
-pace
-not afraid to try skin his man
-nutmeg
-decent shot
-no rolling around after being assaulted
-lays the ball off

Kess73 · 05-09-2014 09:53AM

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

So it's David James Mk 2 as an "upgrade"?

Think a similar video could be made for the majority of keepers. Saw a video last night made up of only his great saves and it made him appear like Neuer.

I would not see him as a massive upgrade on Mignolet though. One thing that Mignolet has proven to be since joining the club, is a keeper who will win more points for the team than he costs. Yes he has moments during the course of a season where he is at fault for a goal, and costs the team points, but those moments are far less frequent than those that see him make game saving stops.

Even this season we have seen this from Mignolet. He was at fault for a goal against city (but then so were some of the outfield players when the other city goals are looked at) but against Spurs and Southampton he made saves that were massive in the context of the game (the late save against the Saints that almost certainly stopped a win from turning into a draw, and the save at 1-0 against Spurs when Lovern cocked up by attacking the ball/player that was already being marked by Sakho)

Mignolet is not a perfect keeper, very few goalkeepers come close to being so, but I do think that a lot of his genuine weaknesses get blown up sp much by folks that they overshadow what he brings to the team.

He is replaceable, but a genuine upgrade on Mignolet should be someone who can at the very least match everything that Mignolet is excellent at, and who then is superior in the aspects of keeping that Mignolet is not so good in. On that front Valdes is not that man, but he would be good enough to put Mignolet in a position where he would have to up his game.

But there are very few keepers whose all round game is excellent. Those Peter Schmeichel or Oliver Kahn level keepers are a rare breed indeed with only two keepers springing to my mind who are at that level or looking like they are well on the way to getting there.

BenEadir · 05-09-2014 09:55AM

Sterling's early season stats are seriously impressive.

Ben

kop77 · 05-09-2014 10:02AM

^^^^^

all I see is........ :pac:

osnola ibax · 05-09-2014 10:02AM

BenThere wrote: »

Ben

That's really irritating

Osnola

BenEadir · 05-09-2014 10:03AM

Kess73 wrote: »

Peter Schmeichel or Oliver Kahn level keepers are a rare breed indeed with only two keepers springing to my mind who are at that level or looking like they are well on the way to getting there.

Neuer and Coutrois?

osnola ibax · 05-09-2014 10:04AM

BenThere wrote: »

Neuer and Coutrois?

Much better

Osnola

BenEadir · 05-09-2014 10:06AM

osnola ibax wrote: »

That's really irritating

Osnola

Ooooh, sorry to have spoiled you day. Signing off notes/correspondence is an old habit drilled into me at a young age but especially for you (and in recognition of the fact that communication protocol may have changed over the years) I'll drop signing my posts.

Happy now?

Ben :P

MD1990 · 05-09-2014 10:08AM

Valdes is a better 1v1 shotstopper than Mignolet(something he is very good at),better with the ball at feet,Not stuck to his goal line & will encourage our defense to push up which is vital. Both wouldn't be great at crosses but Valdes is the better GK. He is a more vocal keeper too as it is mentioned Mignolet is very quiet in goal too. It all depends on how well he recovers from injury.

Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014 - Mod Note in OP, 1/09

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