Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2015/16 (*EVERYONE READ MOD POST in OP)

Potential Underachiever wrote: »

If I didn't have Liverpool games to look forward to and then in turn wonder what I was looking forward to all week then I dunno how I'd fill the void.

Get a girlfriend/boyfriend?

Hangball Doughboy wrote: »

Get a girlfriend/boyfriend?

A hybfriend.

Potential Underachiever wrote: »

Very cute way to find out if I'm single, I'm not though. Try Grindr.

Xoxoxoxoxo

brevity wrote: »

I remember Reina saying that he tried to get Liverpool to sign Pellegrini but they decided to go with Hodgson.

Pellegrini wanted the job as well if I remember right.

Goal and assist for Luis Alberto tonight. Only caught the first half, but he was Deportivo's best attacking player without a doubt.

Mr Alan wrote: »

This place never ceases to amaze me.

Well! I met a friend of Messi's and he said he wanted to join Liverpool but when Rafa left he changed his mind!

Yeah but you're probably a liar, I'm not. HTH.

Hangball Doughboy wrote: »

Xoxoxoxoxo

Your surnames match...it's meant to be.

It is always tough for teams outside of Spain’s top two; even tougher for the managers who get the stick and then the axe for not being able to win as many matches as Barcelona and Real Madrid in a league that is generally divided into another sub-league for the rest of the teams. This is a story of the man who despite being an over-achiever in the sub-league still managed to get the axe. Unai Emery comes from a family with a history of producing professional footballers. He too had a short career in professional football, in mostly Spanish League’s second division. After a career-ending knee injury ruled him out from furthering his career, he moved into a managerial post with the club he was associated with as a player, LocaDeportiva. Over-achieving is probably his forte, as he guided Deportiva and later Almeria to promotions that were never before witnessed in their respective histories. This was the beginning.
There is no introduction required for the likes of Valencia, who have always been at the helm of Spanish football. They quickly seized the opportunity to sign a young Emery in the summer of 2008 to showcase his talents at a club that were struggling to keep pace with the rest of the clubs due to the financial problems surrounding the Mestella. Little did he disappoint. The boy from Basque, now a man, led Valencia from a torrid position in the league and finished sixth, earning them a Europa League spot for next year. This was a turnaround for the “che” club. Good days were ahead. The following season, Valencia now full of confidence and desire to achieve further success finished 3rd in the league. No one could have foreseen this. It was a golden period for Valencia who hadn’t seen this level of success in the previous few seasons. But as they say, all good things don’t last.
It was no secret that Valencia was a club ridden with financial problems. Hence the sale of players such as David Villa, David Silva, Juan Mata was always forthcoming. Despite all the problems, Emery was someone who could always come up with a solution. He did not let anything get in his way and built his team season after season, finishing third yet again in the 2010-11 campaign. He always had a way of setting his teams up. He would drill them; always make sure that they were competitive and tactically sound. He would never field the same eleven in back-to-back games, always leaving the opposition guessing. He belonged to the GuardiolaSchool in the way his teams played the game. But not everyone appreciated this style. The 2011-12 season saw Unai Emery become Valencia’s longest serving manager in the last 40 years. Valencia doesn’t usually have managers who last 4 years. A neutral would say that the feat was much deserved. But, the fans at the Mestella had seen the micro-managing Emery for far too long. They were again bound for a third place finish. Yet again, doing the best they could. But the fans were not satisfied. They wanted more. They were tired of the monotony that surrounded the club. They needed excitement. Hence, they spoke and the club responded by letting Emery go. Although, he hadn’t done too badly, securing Valencia champions league football season after season. But all good things do come to an end.

Unai Emery joined Sevilla in January 2013, after a small stint at Spartak Moscow which ended badly. Sevilla was very much like Valencia in the way the club was run. Financial problems are something that these clubs have gotten accustomed to over the years. In what little time he had for the rest of the campaign, Emery guided Sevilla to a 9th place finish. They qualified for the Europa League. The following season can be regarded as Emery’s best in management. Some of the players Sevilla had at the time were of top quality. The likes of Ivan Rakitic, Kevin Gameiro, Carlos Bacca, Jose Antonio Reyes always had class about them, but the managers before Emery could never really get the best out of them. February 2014 proved to be a turning point for Sevilla. All the hard work Emery had put in this group was starting to show. They started winning most of their games; and winning comfortably. The highlight of the season came when they beat Real Madrid in front of their home crowd at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, denting the Los Blancos hopes of winning the title. It was a moment of pure joy for the fans in Andalusia who instantly knew their club was on the right path. Although, they finished fifth come the end of the season, they gave Athletic Bilbao a run for their money for that fourth spot in the final few months.
They lost just 3 games after February till the end of the season, making them the team with the most points on board for those three months. And this was not the end. Emery’s hard work was to bear more fruits. And the result was a hard-fought win in the final of the Europa League against Benfica. The remarkable Sevilla under the guidance of Unai emery had made history. It was Emery’s greatest moment, and especially a much deserved one. After all the under-appreciation that he had previously received at Valencia, his former club would be kicking themselves for sacking him. Valencia are now back to life as it was before the appointment of Emery in 2008. The fans and the club have only themselves to blame. Whereas the high-flying Sevilla despite losing key men again; Rakitic Moreno and Federico Fazio, all having left for greener pastures over the summer, have made a splendid start to the 2014-15 season and are enjoying their football. In Emery, Sevilla have now found a manager who would stick and guarantee them results year round.




Deserves his chance at a big club like Liverpool.

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Goal and assist for Luis Alberto tonight. Only caught the first half, but he was Deportivo's best attacking player without a doubt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhOXWh3XGQI

Does anybody else think that............;)

While there's still time to save our season.



I'll pay for his new hat.

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Who else was available in the summer of 2010?

Sacking him to bring Hodgson in was mad stuff.

Talk was of big European managers from those that wanted Rafa gone.

I think most of these fans just weren't aware of how bad things were under H&G and just thought Rafa was to blame. Obviously none of us knew the full extent but the transfer dealings in the Summer of 09 gave an inkling something wasn't right financially.