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

Few things I want to see for the West Ham game.

- 2 up top, does this need to be even said anymore, we are blunt with one striker.
- Sterling through the middle, he is wasted out wide, we all know he can beat his fullback, get him around the box that's where is most dangerous. Either up top as a sort of striker or in the no.10 role.
- Rest coutinho, he's like a fella playing blindfolded.
- Skrtel in for Sakho if he's fit, Skrtel is our best defender he needs to build a partnership with Lovren.
- Allen hopefully will start, as Gerrard won't get himself around the midfield Henderson needs help and Allen gives that balance.

Really we need 3 points badly Saturday anything less and we could find ourselves hovering around midtable for a while.:( Don't care about the performance just win.

My thoughts on Coutinhoo last night were that he was poor but because Gerrard was terrible at getting the game moving from back to forward and Baloteli's movement isn't great, it puts pressure on players like Coutinho and Lallana to try to force something creative to happen like a tricky pass or a dribble.

Strange how he's gone from on fire in pre-season to so off the boil so quickly. Next game I think he should certainly start on the bench but would like to see him come on and make an impact.

Super-Rush wrote: »

Is Gerrard capable of playing 3 games in 7 days?

I hope so or we will have Lucas in there most likely. He should be as he didnt play with England.

I actually didn't think Lucas did bad when he came on. It allowed Stevie to move up, and he moved the ball around tidy enough. We immediately looked better, and gave the ball away less with Coutinho off.

As with Hamann in Istanbul, sometimes bringing on a defensive player actually makes you better in attack...

Valdes can't be signed quick enough Edit: (Fitness permitting!!).

Manquillo and Moreno have been playing quite well imo. Manquillo walks around with a constantly surprised look on his face, but you would have to say he's done well considering his age, he's in a new team, new country etc. He looks to get the tackle in hard and fast (tee hee) and has pace to get back and make up for any errors. Pure determination and grit to steam in to the box and win that penalty so late in the game. Already an upgrade on Johnson.

Moreno has some pace. Will be giving wingers and full backs nightmares when he settles in fully.

Coutinho needs some bench time. Whether he is low on confidence or what I don't know, but he is giving away possession far too much, and Gerrard bawling him out over it last night said a lot.

Lallana tried and ran his arse off, but still doesn't look 100% match fit.

Last night was probably the hardest I've ever seen Balotelli work tbf. He gave away some stupid 'striker' fouls but a couple of times the ref was harsh on him I thought. He seems to be suffering the same problem that Sturridge was when playing up top on his own. He is coming too deep to get touches leaving no-one in the box.

It's nice to have complete confidence in the penalty taker, even in injury time, in the first Champions League game in 5 years, at home, after the blow of conceding a late equaliser a minute before.

Would have been horrible to even draw that game, so delighted with the 3 points. Coming off at the end the players looked like they had lost the game, they know it wasn't good enough.

hangballlouie wrote: »

To yourself?

Nah, to be fair, I've watched every game so far this season with other people.

That's not to say I wouldn't say it to myself though. I quite probably would.

Have to agree with you there Knex. Moreno is a beast when going on the attack. Pace to burn. He also gets stuck in when it comes to defending and instead of letting the cross go in he attacks the ball.

Manquillo may not be as good as Moreno going forward, but he's definitely a threat and pretty solid in the tackle too.

All in all two very good signings in my opinion, and it looks like Manquillo may be a steal if we choose to buy after the loan.

rarnes1 wrote: »

Ballotelli : Great goal but his work rate is shocking. Very static. Crowd didn't like this. When he gets the ball he looks threatening but I really don't know about him yet.

gafferino wrote: »

Rarnes just on your post about Balotelli's work rate - don't know if you have seen it yet but Gerrard post match was full of complements about his work rate saying thats what him and the lads want to see from him and he was 'relentless' last night.

I would have to say that there can be no way that Gerrard actually thought Ballotelli ran his socks off. Gerrard and Rodgers both seem to be singing from the same BS hymnsheet when it comes to Ballotelli which no doubt is an effort to take pressure off of him from the media and integrate him into the squad quickly.

No one can tell me that he worked his socks off last night because he didnt. He stood up like a statue, was caught out of position endless times and made no effort to get in the box over and over again when Moreno and Manquillo were crossing dangerous balls in. I think for the Henderson header chance Ballotelli was 20 yards outside the box looking for a short pass. What the hell he is doing that for when he is meant to be leading the line ill never know. More than even Sakho last night, he frustrated me the most. Loads of talent etc but how you expect to score 20+ goals a season when you spend half the match standing up outside the box ill never know. Hopefully he buys into the team ethos and starts to pick things up

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

I would have to say that there can be no way that Gerrard actually thought Ballotelli ran his socks off. Gerrard and Rodgers both seem to be singing from the same BS hymnsheet when it comes to Ballotelli which no doubt is an effort to take pressure off of him from the media and integrate him into the squad quickly.

No one can tell me that he worked his socks off last night because he didnt. He stood up like a statue, was caught out of position endless times and made no effort to get in the box over and over again when Moreno and Manquillo were crossing dangerous balls in. I think for the Henderson header chance Ballotelli was 20 yards outside the box looking for a short pass. What the hell he is doing that for when he is meant to be leading the line ill never know. More than even Sakho last night, he frustrated me the most. Loads of talent etc but how you expect to score 20+ goals a season when you spend half the match standing up outside the box ill never know. Hopefully he buys into the team ethos and starts to pick things up

On one hand you're right and the other you're wrong when it comes to Balotelli last night.

You're right in the fact that he should have been getting into the box more.
You're wrong in the fact that he was inside our own half multiple times helping the team out defensively. He wasn't busting his balls ala Hendo, but he wasn't just standing idly by outside the box either.

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

but he's injured currently, and couldn't have played.

Not that hard to understand, is it?

Why is it that i always feel a little bit more miserable after reading your posts?

K-9 wrote: »

Balotelli is the problem for Coutinho and also Sterling to a degree. He doesn't make the runs Sturridge does and it doesn't look like he has his game intelligence either. Having said that I think he did work hard and didn't give up, a 6/10 for me. His touch isn't great sometimes either which doesn't help in holding the ball up. A bit under whelming so far but as said so many times, early days yet.

I like the look of Lalana, can see him settling in nicely, nearly trying too hard at times!

The Gerrard conundrum still remains!

I think the real solution with Balotelli while Sturridge is out is to play Balotelli up top with Borini. Borini will make the runs like Sturridge would and will create more space for Balotelli. 4-3-3 just isn't working for us. I'm glad Borini got a run out last night because he really did help when he came on.