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

Extremely dissapointing to see what sakho done yesterday, i dont see why the manager dropped him out of the squad but take it on the chin man. I do worry that we will sell him and he will go onto have a very good career meanwhile we stick and persist with skrtel.

Its pretty paramount we get sturridge and balo on the same pitch, i think sturridge will thrive off balos hold up play.

Childish by Sakho to leave the stadium, always think it shows good team spirit to see players at games even when not involved. I do wonder who bought Sakho, is there a power struggle between Rodgers and the transfer committee?

8-10 wrote: »

Ah here you're a Liverpool fan, we ALL know it was £35m, only a couple of years ago and discussed to death since. Pretending to not remember so you can inflate the figure to £50m to suit your argument is a bit ridiculous! I'd be genuinely surprised if a Liverpool fan thought we'd ever spent 50m on a player, we've never spent more than 40m on one!

£35m for Carroll is firmly etched in my brain

Carroll for 35 grand would have been horrendous, you know what he meant anyway

garra wrote: »

Carroll for 35 grand would have been horrendous, you know what he meant anyway

I know what he meant I just wasn't going to let him get away with flippantly inflating the figure for his argument. As you say, 35 is bad enough, no need to say 50, especially in a thread where everybody knows it was nowhere near that figure.

I actually think that it's unfair to compare any signing to the Carroll one because of the time that was in it - last transfer window before FFP came in. By using his signing you're basically saying that any signing less than that (Lallana, Markovic, Sakho etc) cannot be criticised as 'at least it's not as much as Carroll'

Time will tell but I'm already worried about Markovic

Bowlardo wrote: »

it's not about winning it's about winning the champions league

Fyp

I think the midweek game will tell us whether we're ok or if were going down the 2010 road.

For Ludogogrets read Debrecen who we struggled to beat.

I'm hoping Basle don't equate to Lyon!

Not in the oppositions box enough. Last year we were the team with the most touches in the oppositions box and it contributed our high penalty count.
Mario likes to drift and when he does the box is underpopulated, the difference currently is he is on his own up front and I can't understand why Borini wasn't even on the bench yesterday. As Limted as he is, he will be in and around the box.
When Sturridge is back, I hope he is played in conjunction with Mario for the majority of games.

Right now the team is struggling but the greenshoots are there. Yesterday, I felt that the pressing in the oppositions half made a return. It wasn't to the same level as last year but it's returning and Mario did well in tracking back a few times.

When Henderson plays well, the team plays well. Need to get the most out of him and yesterday he played some lovely passes.

Markovic needs a boot up the hole.

Moreno needs to calm himself when tackling and Manquillo likewise. Thankfully we have good cover with Enrique but we are a bit light on the right. Miss Flanno.

The lack of quality on the bench yesterday was questioned in Regards to how much was spent in transfer fees. Mario, Lazar, Moreno, Manquillo, Lovern and Lallana were all starters yesterday and new signings. Last year the complaint was that signings were only squad players, now it's that there isn't enough quality in the squad. Can, Allen, Sturridge, Flannaghan are all injuried and would all be great options and be in the first eleven making the bench stronger.
The first eleven, That's where most of the budget went and it does take time for them to gel. Not just for the new signings to bed in but also for the established players to gain confidence in them. Sterling held onto the ball yesterday when passes were available and ultimately the attack broke down. Not his fault, he is playing well, but the more they play together the more they all will get comfortable with each other.

It is a worrying start but we are far from out of it at this stage. Anyone who had thought this team could win the league was deluding themselves. We are competing with Aresnal, Utd, Spurs and Everton.
With another few transfer windows with similar backing in terms of outlay, then we can compete and should be looking to win. Our signings from here on though should include some proven at the top level players.
Last year was a freak occurrence, sorta like how the Spanish monarchy came to gain a massive worldwide empire. The conditions were all perfect for them and they were in the right place at the right time. Ultimately we didn't achieve the goal (the league/the Americas) but we need to consolidate and push on not over extend too early and go into terminal decline.

To be honest, the only thing that matters to be is getting the prediction of the match outcome correct and I achieved that. Hopefully I can keep it up for the Basel game.

Soft Falling Rain wrote: »

I'm sorry but that doesn't fly with me. Sturridge being fit shouldn't be the sole condition of Balo playing well. He needs to prove his worth to the team in his own right. If he can't lead the line in the absence of Sturridge then I would be very unhappy and would question the point of signing him.

He is simply not a good enough finisher as exemplified by that glaring miss from six yards yesterday. Inexcusable.

K388550 wrote:

D.o you mean the one Howard touched onto the bar with his shoulder?

He didn't do much wrong there...fantastic save.

From that range the net ought to be bulging. The managers reaction on the touchline said it all.

8-10 wrote: »

I know what he meant I just wasn't going to let him get away with flippantly inflating the figure for his argument. As you say, 35 is bad enough, no need to say 50, especially in a thread where everybody knows it was nowhere near that figure.

I actually think that it's unfair to compare any signing to the Carroll one because of the time that was in it - last transfer window before FFP came in. By using his signing you're basically saying that any signing less than that (Lallana, Markovic, Sakho etc) cannot be criticised as 'at least it's not as much as Carroll'

Time will tell but I'm already worried about Markovic

Yep I'm worried also. The thing is, I wouldn't be so worried if we had lashed out only 10m on him. What bugs me is the fact that we spent the same money on him - in the knowledge that he will potentially be a good player - that other teams were spending on fully developed good players. We are on a hiding to nothing with him, in other words.