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

Osmosis Jones · 20-09-2014 08:13PM

Sturridge can't come back quick enough, get him and Balotelli up top together and things will be looking a lot better.

This is all I want to see once everyone's fit.

Panthro · 20-09-2014 08:13PM

El Inho wrote: »

needless to say that's an angry man. I think he made some very valid points. In particular the passing and composure. There is a little confidence crisis going on...did we get rid of the psyche psycho guy?

Yeah, I think ye sold him for a nice few bob.

20-09-2014 08:14PM

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Sturridge can't come back quick enough, get him and Balotelli up top together and things will be looking a lot better.

This is all I want to see once everyone's fit.

Gerrard wont be dropped. Zero chance of it happening.

duffman13 · 20-09-2014 08:19PM

mikeym wrote: »

The Starting XI that played today wouldnt be able to beat Middlesborough this Tuesday.

Bit of a stretch! A dose of reality is required at some stage! Liverpool just don't look as dangerous without Sturridge and Balotelli needs time to settle! Keep Calm

K4t · 20-09-2014 08:21PM

Soft Falling Rain wrote: »

Coutinho has been poor since the first competitive game. I'd rather try and bed in Lallana and Markovic right now over him.

Not going to improve by not being played. He's class.

Along with Sterling, he's the only player I'd like to see at Utd. (not that we're stuck in that department). But I think he has the potential to be better than Mata.

20-09-2014 08:25PM

Lallana ahead of Coutinhio for me

DVDM93 · 20-09-2014 08:26PM

I am very upset.

20-09-2014 08:29PM

K4t wrote: »

Not going to improve by not being played. He's class.

Along with Sterling, he's the only player I'd like to see at Utd. (not that we're stuck in that department). But I think he has the potential to be better than Mata.

I give credit to a lot of Liverpool players, Coutinho however is someone I've just never seen the fuss about. He's not going to come up big and take over a game when things aren't going well and only shows his skill when given acres of space. Lack of shooting ability and some odd decisions make him redundant in a lot of games. When he's flowing some of his passes are great to watch but that's not very often these days imo.

20-09-2014 08:30PM

Liam O wrote: »

I give credit to a lot of Liverpool players, Coutinho however is someone I've just never seen the fuss about. He's not going to come up big and take over a game when things aren't going well and only shows his skill when given acres of space. Lack of shooting ability and some odd decisions make him redundant in a lot of games. When he's flowing some of his passes are great to watch but that's not very often these days imo.

I dunno, when on form he's incredible, space or no space. He's just not got the consistancy yet.

ebbsy · 20-09-2014 08:36PM

A dogs dinner of a performance with no redeeming features whatsoever. Highly paid professionals should be switched on from the start. You would think going in at 2-1 down would be enough to trigger a better challenge in the second half. What happens ? Nothing for at least 20 minutes. No pinning West Ham back. No first to the ball. No juice.

It's lads just going through the motions, collecting their paychecks, and on Monday I will open the paper to read some Liverpool player singing another player's praises.

4 th place ? No chance boys if you d'ont start producing and working harder.

Benimar · 20-09-2014 08:36PM

rarnes1 wrote: »

Gerrard wont be dropped. Zero chance of it happening.

I think it might. Gerrard will be dropped when the stage is reached that by picking him, it will damage Rodgers.

I think that stage is very close. Many questioning if Rodgers has the cojones as it is.

redbaron_99 · 20-09-2014 08:39PM

United fan, not on the wind up. But I think Liverpool need to drop Gerard. His legs have gone and he looks tired mentally.
It will take a lot of guts for BR to do it, but it needs to been done sooner rather than later.
Feels like the system and the selections are being picked to accommodate him.

BenEadir · 20-09-2014 08:42PM

If we don't win four and draw one out of the next five PL games we're fcuked and may not make 4th place this year.

Chelsea and City will be 1 & 2, there's little doubt about that. I genuinely fear if we don't radically re-shape our midfield asap we are in danger of giving Arsenal, United, Everton, Spurs and Southampton such a head start for 3rd and 4th we won't be able to catch them.

We have more games to play this year, teams have clearly worked out how to deal with our system (including man marking Stevie) and Stevie himself is a year older and slower. We can't have Stevie in the team AND have the offensive setup we have, it leaves our defence totally exposed and that's only made worse with Ming in goal as the defence have no confidence in him.

Stevie needs to be phased out starting with playing him in all CL and home PL games only. It's less likely CL teams will man mark him and at home the PL the opposition will be more defensive giving him a bit more room to do his thing.

Allen and Can need to be phased into the DM role away from home the PL with Stevie on the bench for the last 30 minutes if needed.

Robson99 · 20-09-2014 08:42PM

Augeo wrote: »

To be fair the man is 34 years old, in today's premier league (last 5 years) there aren't many examples of 34 years olds playing in midfield with huge success, its a very tall order.

Scholes and Giggs managed it

BenEadir · 20-09-2014 08:45PM

redbaron_99 wrote: »

United fan, not on the wind up. But I think Liverpool need to drop Gerard. His legs have gone and he looks tired mentally.
It will take a lot of guts for BR to do it, but it needs to been done sooner rather than later.
Feels like the system and the selections are being picked to accommodate him.

You're right. Time catches up with all great players. Not too many 34 year old midfielders in top 4 teams in the PL. In fact I can't think of a single one who is a regular starter.

20-09-2014 08:45PM

Gerrard needs to be managed properly, like daithijj mentioned earlier. Play the right guys beside him for a start. Everyone here knew him and Lucas doesn't work, how come BR didn't!!

Rodgers is the one that has to shoulder the blame today on the whole. A shambles.

Another few quick defeats and he'll be another some pressure. A win is needed asap starting next Saturday

BenEadir · 20-09-2014 08:47PM

Robson99 wrote: »

Scholes and Giggs managed it

Not recently and Giggs was an exceptional athlete. Stevie doesn't have Giggs physical attributes.

Robson99 · 20-09-2014 09:00PM

BenThere wrote: »

Not recently and Giggs was an exceptional athlete. Stevie doesn't have Giggs physical attributes.

What you mean not recently???. Both played a fair bit on the league winning team the season before last

BenEadir · 20-09-2014 09:00PM

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Sturridge can't come back quick enough, get him and Balotelli up top together and things will be looking a lot better.

This is all I want to see once everyone's fit.

You can't have Allen and Can starting and no Lallana on the pitch. Allen and Can should be fighting it out for the DM spot, especially away from home in the PL.

redbaron_99 · 20-09-2014 09:00PM

Robson99 wrote: »

Scholes and Giggs managed it

Not exactly true. Scholes never depended on pace and power, so he was the type who could play on and on like pirlo has been able to.
Giggs was a pacey winger who had to be moved into midfield because he lost his pace, and uniteds midfield suffered greatly because he was played in the middle with the likes of carrick.

Gerard might be able to continue but the team around him need to be very active and mobile with lots of pace up front. The team at the moment couldn't be described that way.

BenEadir · 20-09-2014 09:04PM

Robson99 wrote: »

What you mean not recently???. Both played a fair bit on the league winning team the season before last

You mean the 2011/2012 season before last when they both made 14 appearances? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_Manchester_United_F.C._season

djPSB · 20-09-2014 09:10PM

Had a game myself, so missed the game.

Anyone feel like giving a very brief synopsis? Who was good/bad?

BenEadir · 20-09-2014 09:15PM

djPSB wrote: »

Had a game myself, so missed the game.

Anyone feel like giving a very brief synopsis? Who was good/bad?

All bad. Sterling and Lallana showed glimpses but that's it. Everyone else had a mare.

Time has caught up with Stevie/opposition have figured out how to neutralise him and the defence have no confidence in Ming.

It was a total cluster fcuk.

4th is not looking good, even at this stage.

redbaron_99 · 20-09-2014 09:15PM

djPSB wrote: »

Had a game myself, so missed the game.

Anyone feel like giving a very brief synopsis? Who was good/bad?

Liverpool were bad. West ham were good.

(Sorry) I'll get my coat.

Gbear · 20-09-2014 09:16PM

BenThere wrote: »

You can't have Allen and Can starting and no Lallana on the pitch. Allen and Can should be fighting it out for the DM spot, especially away from home in the PL.

Neither look like DMs at all.

Going on his performance for the Germany U21s and his general style of play Can is a pure box to box midfielder, capable of doing it all but a touch on the reckless side and with more quality in the final third than a player that seldom goes too far outside their own half.

Allen can do a job there but he's far more useful as a body close to the 10 who can give us meaningful possession in very tight spaces.
His pace, strength, tackling and range of passing are nothing to write home about. His agility, short game and ability to hang on to the ball while under pressure suit a more advanced role.

There's no particular reason why we need any specialised DM in the starting 11. Having a more fluid midfield of 3 of Lallana, Can, Allen and Henderson where all can track back, press, run with the ball and are, to varying degrees, useful in possession could mean we don't need a pure destroyer at all.
Or at least we can get by without one in most games.

20-09-2014 09:18PM

Robson99 wrote: »

Scholes and Giggs managed it

I did say not many

League wasn't as competitive when Griggs was 34 too .....

20-09-2014 09:21PM

Gbear wrote: »

.
There's no particular reason why we need any specialised DM in the starting 11. Having a more fluid midfield of 3 of Lallana, Can, Allen and Henderson where all can track back, press, run with the ball and are, to varying degrees, useful in possession could mean we don't need a pure destroyer at all.
Or at least we can get by without one in most games.

Indeed, the position is purely to accommodate the captain in the starting 11.

Robson99 · 20-09-2014 09:28PM

Augeo wrote: »

I did say not many
League wasn't as competitive when Griggs was 34 too .....

Fair enough on part A.
But league was as competitive 6 years ago and he was also playing in a team whigh was one of the best in Europe

Guy:Incognito · 20-09-2014 09:39PM

Milkers wrote: »

Over the last couple of years there have been so many premature cries of "Gerrard is past it" but at some point he actually will be past it. I'm gonna go ahead and throw my hat in the ring now.

If the team were playing great and flourishing but carrying Gerrard there might be a bit of truth but the reality is the whole team is playing poorly so to pick Gerrard out is wrong. A 25 year old Gerrard might be playing in a different position and scoring a few goals but we'd still be playing poorly and shipping them at the other end.

daithijjj · 20-09-2014 10:03PM

If Gerrard is the first name on your lips for that shambles today you need to have words with yourselves.

Same tired arguments trotted out for around 3 years.

And the weird thing is, we still dont have a player or 2 better than him to play there right now.

Sick reading posts about him being not as effective as he used to be. Talk about stating the bleedin obvious, he has moved 40 yards back towards our goal. I thought he was great v City myself.

We have arguably 4 players to play there, Gerrard, plus 2 injured plus the worst player in the squad imo, who started today. Henderson should never ever be used there, he is simply wasted doing anything other than pressing high. Only way i would remotely entertain Henderson there is if there was a plague of biblical proportions with injuries.

If you are expecting 33/34/35 year olds to do the donkey work then you dont know football tbh, especially ones who are alien to that concept for the majority of their careers, you need players beside those players to do it for them. To use as an example, 2 seasons ago City sold De Jong, Yaya had an indifferent season through having the lack of coverage behind, the like we need for Gerrard. City bought a DM the next season, Yaya flourished, and then bought another one this summer. Lampard has had Ramires, Matic etc.

LFC have done nothing for this position, we have bought Can, and he is the only one since we lost Mascherano that justifies what i would call a 'strong' def mid to 'horse' the midfield and carry the ball.

It's been glaring in this team. Remove what we did in the attacking half last year and its even more glaring. This deficiency will come to pass this season and the only way it changes is if its addressed in January.

But it probably wont because it seems out of the comfort zone of certain managers to obtain these types of players. I'd include Wenger in that and seemingly Rodgers.

A ready replacement for Lucas would be Schneiderlin for example. He would be a good signing for this team.

As much as it pains me to say it, Mourinho recently replied to a question about his squad.....to paraphrase, 'we assessed what we needed, identified the players, and bought them'. Now thats easy financially for them but the thing, is, as much as i like the look of Markovic, there was no necessity for that signing. He may turn out to be great in the future but it told me the club saw no issues in defensive midfield and that is the blind spot for us imo. Has been for years. Gerrard was pencilled in to move back but the Xabi role needed Mascherano beside him.

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

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