Liverpool FC News/Gossip/Rumours Summer '15

The players were 'outstanding' according to Brendan.

Ah, never change.

So we're above Chelsea now. Focus on keeping above them in the table and the league title will be ours. It's that easy.

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Pretty poor performance but will gladly take a dirty win in the opening game of the season.

Yep, great three points.

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Lombardi

You hold all that without being a petulant dick when you lose, which was the point of the discussion.

Great win. Nobody beats Stoke at the Britannia with style!

how will this team not destroy arsenal next?

Kerrigooney wrote: »

Further proof that we're **** at 4-2-3-1. We were pretty crap until Can came on and the formation changed. Henderson got further forward which helped...he was way too deep in the first half.

Stoke away is a horrible fixture whenever you play them so I'm delighted with 3 points.

Only downside is Skrtel was garbage. Lovren was decent but should probably have been sent off. He got lucky there.

We seemed to be better at stopping counter-attacks and keeping the pressure on with the extra player in midfield (or on the pitch, given that having Lallana was pretty much like playing with 10 men), but I can't see where the goal was going to come from without Coutinho stepping up to the plate.

Winning games is going to be more down to getting the right balance, form and fitness in the front 3 than anything else - having Can or someone further forward will be much of a muchness until 3 of Benteke, Firmino, Sturridge and Coutinho get their act together.

emo72 wrote: »

how will this team not destroy arsenal next?

By playing Bournemouth.

I love the collection of players we have, but i have very little faith in Rodgers getting the best out of them tbh.

Kerrigooney wrote: »

He was decent today but you can't blame anyone for being worried about him. He's been **** in a Liverpool shirt 90% of the time.

Everyone wants him to turn it around. Nobody wants him to fail you know?

How could anyone want him to turn it around when they don't want to see him being given a chance in the first place? I was quite happy for Lovren to start, since Sakho was unavailable apparently. I'd always prefer Skrtel and Sakho to start our matches, but when Lovren comes in, I'm fully behind him and I don't expect him to let us down much this season tbh.

Kerrigooney wrote: »

He was decent today but you can't blame anyone for being worried about him. He's been **** in a Liverpool shirt 90% of the time.

Everyone wants him to turn it around. Nobody wants him to fail you know?

It seemed to suit him.

Not a huge amount of play facing his own goal or 1v1 defending on the deck, and lots of headers to hoover up.

Maybe he could be a great defender that spends a lot of the time in his own box with midfielders to do a lot of the more nuanced work for him but he's always going to have a lot more responsibility at Liverpool.

So far it really hasn't suited him.

Hopefully the sensible people pointing out the effects of Sakho's kid being born are correct and not only is that why he was out today, but also why Rodgers has played Skrtel and Lovren together so much in pre-season - because they were always going to be the starting pair for the first few fixtures.

As a better footballer in a team that should be seeing most of the ball, hopefully Sakho can and will slot back into the side seamlessly.

Early days for Gomez in particular but him and Clyne look like big upgrades on Johnson and Moreno from last season. Wasn't actually in a panic when the ball went anywhere near our full-backs.

Kerrigooney wrote: »

Forgot to mention Lallana in my post...he was brutal today. He can't seem to play a first time pass...he needs too many touches and slows everything down. Very disappointed with him so far tbh.

He seems like the perfect example of a luxury player.

Hopefully he can shine against deeper defences, or smaller, more technical teams, that'll stand off him a bit more.

Then we'll need fewer decisive thundering runs down the middle against teams off balance and a bit more deliberation on the ball.

3 points against Bournemouth now please and at least Arsenal isn't a must win match.

Sideshow Mark wrote: »

Still don't understand why they bought Milner when we have Henderson, and I've no idea why both would start. Having watched Arsenal and Chelsea this weekend I feared the worst. Thought the performance wasn't bad all things considered. Quite impressed by the team once Can came on, Benteke put a decent shift in, even still I'm glad it's Bournemouth next.

Milner brings in the experience the team lacks