Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread [mod warning #11145, #32140 (see OP)]

CivilServant

Well considering the great start we had last year and didn't win the title. If we don't start well this season we definitely will not win the title.

Jayob10

thebhoy wrote: »

lads,
PM me if ya want in the league, not gonna post the code and NOT gonna read through all the posts here to see who wants in, so far we have: -

username - team
thebhoy - The Damned United
wcarey1975 - the also rans
redzerdrog - redzers rejects
Crash Bang Wall - the Tangerines.
aaronh007 - Aaron's Red Barons
Brando_ie - KanesOldMan
SlickRic - The Aqualoving 11
SWAR - Abu Dhabi do Pool
Board@Work - board@worklfc

Code Sent to:-
Pyjamarama
alibabba
internelligent
slingerz


Unknown managers:-
WibblyWobblyWonders
Poul Road XI
Sheilas shop
Robert Mugabe XI
Back of the net
Igglephans

Robert Mugabe XI is my good self

darkskol

Im defo in once I get sent the code.

Bandit12

CivilServant wrote: »

Well considering the great start we had last year and didn't win the title. If we don't start well this season we definitely will not win the title.

Not true. We could start badly and still win the league. Think plenty of the top teams including us will drop points a lot more this season than last.

jesus_thats_gre

thebhoy wrote:

Back of the net

This is me.. Likely to change though

daithijjj

K-9 wrote: »

I don't think anybody would say Lucas is the best Brazilian player ever either! Even his biggest supporters agree he is young and has to improve this year.

Rafa and Lucas himself have both said this.

Kuyt got a lot of criticism last year and I wondered why Rafa always picked him. Think we know why now!

It's the people who just write the likes of Kuyt or Lucas off because they aren't a Gerard or Nando that are annoying.

Theres a huge difference between 'criticising' a player and 'pointing out limitations' in they're game. The problem lies in peoples individual perception of the two.

The day you think everthing is perfect is the day you begin to get left behind. Benitez knows that, he talks about 'we must improve' all the time. If the manager says we can improve, then as a counter, he knows in his head that there are things on the pitch that are not 'perfect', in his eyes.

It is my right and also anyone elses, to voice their opinion on where these improvements may come from. Its very easy to sit at a computer screen and dismantle a criticism. There are two 'schools' here. Those who know what can be improved and dont care to state it in detail, writing an esay in positivity with a small disclaimer at the bottom (but we could have done better), and those who who actually put their balls on the chopping block by suggesting allternatives.

The usual blah blah blah insues. Some folk just cant take even the mildest of criticism, preferring to take the position that anything even remotely negative is in some way a 'lack of respect'. Can any fan of the club actually come on here and say all the draws last season were just bad luck??.(we had plenty of luck too folks)...its total nonsense to dismiss peoples opinions of where things can be improved.

I have defended both babel and lucas last season when they were not good, i have also pointed out certain limitations (not criticisms) of other players such as arbeloa and kuyt, aswel as bemoaning the lack of time on the pitch for agger. Because i wish agger had more time on the pitch, this isnt an under-handed veiled swipe at carra or skyrtel.

I remember writing a post, in february i think, saying glen johnson would be a good buy for the club because he would give more 'ummph' and dynamism on the right, some pace with an attacking mentality who can hurt the opposition left back. I also suggested that this was not an obvious attribute in kuyts game and you end up getting pulverised because of an observation you feel to be true.

It appears that you are allowed to say, passion, determination, work ethic......10/10......but when you couple it with suggestions of what those attributes can be improved upon you get comments like, "your talking sh1te". Its childish and adolescent to say the least.

Some people nail their opinion to the mast and others hide behind stats and pontificate from the halls of wikipedia. The only agreement that can be made is that everyone wants the best for the club.

Pyjamarama

thebhoy wrote: »

Igglephans

Igglephans be meself!

Sir Gallagher

In other news, we are now being linked with a Japanese fella called Keisuke Honda who plays in the Eredivise, he's scored 3 goals in 2 games so far this season.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_5482864,00.html

Liverpool are reportedly keeping a close eye on Japan international Keisuke Honda.

According to Dutch reports, VVV Venlo chairman Hai Berden revealed several top European clubs have expressed their interest in signing the free-scoring midfielder.

Honda, who was Eerste Divisie's Most Valuable Player last year, has started life in the Eredivisie in style with three goals in his first two games.

In the season opener against PSV Eindhoven, his impressive display won him plaudits from opposing manager Fred Rutten.

"A number of top clubs are interested in Honda. Some of them are participating in the Champions League this year," Berden told Algemeen Dagblad.

Liverpool scouts have been watching Honda this term and the 23-year-old admitted he would not hesitate to move to England if the opportunity arose.

"Playing in a league as prestige as the Premiership would be a dream," he said earlier in the year.

"I would seriously consider any offers that come my way."

Mental Mickey

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

In other news, we are now being linked with a Japanese fella called Keisuke Honda who plays in the Eredivise, he's scored 3 goals in 2 games so far this season.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_5482864,00.html

Liverpool are reportedly keeping a close eye on Japan international Keisuke Honda.

According to Dutch reports, VVV Venlo chairman Hai Berden revealed several top European clubs have expressed their interest in signing the free-scoring midfielder.

Honda, who was Eerste Divisie's Most Valuable Player last year, has started life in the Eredivisie in style with three goals in his first two games.

In the season opener against PSV Eindhoven, his impressive display won him plaudits from opposing manager Fred Rutten.

"A number of top clubs are interested in Honda. Some of them are participating in the Champions League this year," Berden told Algemeen Dagblad.

Liverpool scouts have been watching Honda this term and the 23-year-old admitted he would not hesitate to move to England if the opportunity arose.

"Playing in a league as prestige as the Premiership would be a dream," he said earlier in the year.

"I would seriously consider any offers that come my way."

You must remember that Rafa bought Dirk Kuyt, who was a free scoring STRIKER in the Eredivisie, then turned him into a right winger. He'll probably put this guy in goal!!!!???

Eire-Dearg

According to Dutch reports, VVV Venlo chairman Hai Berden revealed several top European clubs have expressed their interest in signing the free-scoring midfielder.

3 goals in two games is pretty prolific alright. :pac:

You can say Honda will drive the midfield next season.




...i'll get my coat.

Sir Gallagher

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

3 goals in two games is pretty prolific alright. :pac:

You can say Honda will drive the midfield next season.




...i'll get my coat.

Early reports suggest he's got a great engine...

..grab mine too will you!

el rabitos

Mental Mickey wrote: »

You must remember that Rafa bought Dirk Kuyt, who was a free scoring STRIKER in the Eredivisie, then turned him into a right winger.

a pretty damn good right winger too

Headshot

tok9

With all this lucas talk.... i think he's a bargain at 5.0 for FF! He's a cert to start the first month anyway and from what i saw against atletico he'll be making a lot of forward runs...

At 5 million he's at least worth the bench... great cheap option!

wcarey1975

I'd love to put him in but I've gone for the three LFC players that I think will score the most points especially if 1) they stay fit and 2) they play aswell as last season.

Sir Gallagher

tok9 wrote: »

With all this lucas talk.... i think he's a bargain at 5.0 for FF! He's a cert to start the first month anyway and from what i saw against atletico he'll be making a lot of forward runs...

At 5 million he's at least worth the bench... great cheap option!

Never thought of that, don't know if i want to sacrifice Johno Stevie or Torres though!

deadhead13

Rafa on lucas today - "Lucas has been the best player in pre-season. He showed again why against Atletico."

Can't say I disagree with him.

tok9

I've got him, Gerrard and Torres in...

Really looking forward to this season... can't wait to see how the team plays v spurs... Massive opening game especially compared to the rest of the big 4.

Glico Man

Got Kuyt, Gerrard and Torres myself.

Hopefully all can stay fit and get the assists and hammer in the goals....


Hopefully

mayordenis

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

3 goals in two games is pretty prolific alright. :pac:

You can say Honda will drive the midfield next season.




...i'll get my coat.

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

Early reports suggest he's got a great engine...

..grab mine too will you!

According to fans off VVV we might be onto a winner here - He's really struck a chord with them.

2 puns? one sentance?
I'll take both your jackets.

dannydiamond

purple_hatstand wrote: »

Fink, a manager is probably not all that worried about individual opposition players in isolation as their own team has to play all the other 19 teams in the division. Twice. SAF will expect us to win most of our games and also that either of G&T (if not, both) will score lots of goals. The same could probably said for Benitez' thoughts on Utd's prospects for the coming season (insert Rooney, Berbatov etc...as appropriate).

Strikers don't compete directly against each other, but against the opposing team's defenders.

Liverpool scored more EPL goals than any other team last season and that was without G&T for long periods. They only started 14 EPL together last season. They will almost certainly start more games together in the coming season. This means they will likely score more goals than they did last time out.

The real difference last season was the number of similar types of games in which Utd gained 3 points while we gained only 1. IMO, we can turn this around because...

I believe that the addition of Aquilani & Johnson to our squad, combined with the return of Voronin and the fact that the likes of Babel, N'gog, Nemeth & Pacheco are all a year older (and thus better used to each other, other squad/First XI players, the management and coaching staff etc...) gives us even more attacking, chance-creating, goal-scoring options and, therefore, a better chance of lifting the EPL trophy next May.

Alonso will be missed but I believe the squad is strong enough to withstand the change (especially with a seemingly-resurgent Lucas) and I am confident about 2009/10.

I hope that helps.



Can I get the FF details too, please?

This makes sense to me and i'm not as worried about losing Xabi(great player that he is)than alot of you are,Masch would have been a much bigger loss overall imo.
In an ideal world we would have kept both, but there was no guarantees we'd get another season like that from Alonso anyway,there is one player who I think would complete our squad for the coming season,he looks a very good player rather than great,atm anyway.

Do you reckon Silva is still a possibility?

Edit to say, i'd like to see Sawcross coming our way too, if there's any truth in the rumours,he seems like a carraesque type of defender.

Luap

Mike, I doubt Silva is an option tbh, I think Benitez will go for Turner and pay a ridiculous amount for him:(

Karmafaerie

Maloney_o9 wrote: »

Mike, I doubt Silva is an option tbh, I think Benitez will go for Turner and pay a ridiculous amount for him:(

That's not Mike.;)

Podge2k7

Could someone PM me the details for FF?

Cheers.

4-age

Have seen Honda Keisuke play a fair few times and he is a solid midfielder, also has a peach of a left foot as can be seen in this free kick http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgo-Z91MfLU

livinginkorea

36% of FF players have picked Torres for their team!

whatawaster

livinginkorea wrote: »

36% of FF players have picked Torres for their team!

Hangeland is out on top with 41%, Gerrard second on 38% and then Torres on 27%

Fink Goddie

BastardPrince wrote: »

yet we were a two man team last year apparently...

not saying you said that btw, just commenting on the general opinion that suddenly Alonso was our most important player...

We won 64% of games when he was on the pitch and only 46% when he wasnt!

livinginkorea

whatawaster wrote: »

Hangeland is out on top with 41%, Gerrard second on 38% and then Torres on 27%

I went to 'Teams Selected by (%)' and Torres has 36.6%.

spockety

There was obviously more to this than just Mascherano's agent billowing in public:

Rafa Benitez says Javier Mascherano is now fully focused on Liverpool after being wanted by Barcelona.

Mascherano had been linked with a move to the Spanish giants earlier this summer after reportedly growing tired of life in England.

However with Xabi Alonso finalising his move to Real Madrid, Benitez says the Argentine has now purged all thoughts of leaving Anfield from his mind.

Benitez believes Mascherano, who has impressed in training over the past 10 days, has accepted his long-term future is as Liverpool.

"Javier knows he is staying," said Benitez. "He has accepted his future is here and that he is going to be a key player for us once more.

"Mascherano is now fully focused on us and what we might achieve together this season, I can guarantee that 100 per cent.

"We've spoken about his situation before and we spoke again. Before, it was difficult and he could see Xabi Alonso was on his way.

"There has been a significant improvement in his game over the past 10 days. He has been a lot more focused, and we are seeing the real Mascherano again."

whatawaster

livinginkorea wrote: »

I went to 'Teams Selected by (%)' and Torres has 36.6%.

sorry i meant 37%

mike65

Karmafaerie wrote: »

That's not Mike.;)

LOL! I demand exclusive useage of Sylvester!

~Rebel~

Fink Goddie wrote: »

We won 64% of games when he was on the pitch and only 46% when he wasnt!

to be fair thats only really relevent if he was the only variable, whereas in actual fact we were missing Gerrard and Torres for large parts of those 46%, and they were scoring winners in a lot of the 64%.

Alonso is a fantastic player, i love the guy, but there were 11 players out there, not 1. He wanted to leave, we got a good price, we've signed a replacement, lets just see how that goes.

spockety

Fink Goddie wrote: »

We won 64% of games when he was on the pitch and only 46% when he wasnt!

For 100% of the games we lost, Reina was in goal.


See what I did there?

jaykay74

Gerrard has pulled out of the England squad with an injury. No problems for the weekend though I'd guess.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8194165.stm

purple_hatstand

dannydiamond wrote: »

This makes sense to me and i'm not as worried about losing Xabi(great player that he is)than alot of you are,Masch would have been a much bigger loss overall imo.
In an ideal world we would have kept both, but there was no guarantees we'd get another season like that from Alonso anyway,there is one player who I think would complete our squad for the coming season,he looks a very good player rather than great,atm anyway.

Do you reckon Silva is still a possibility?

Edit to say, i'd like to see Sawcross coming our way too, if there's any truth in the rumours,he seems like a carraesque type of defender.

I would guess that Rafa is more concerned about defensive matters and making sure we've enough cover there than he is about attacking options.

We hope and expect that Torres, Gerrard, Riera and Kuyt will be fit and available for most/all of the season and that N'gog, Voronin, Benayoun and Babel can slot in as and when without there being too great a depreciation in the team's ability to create goal-scoring chances.

We might see a more direct style coming through the middle with Aquilani and Johnson's attacking abilities could be crucial.

If someone had come in with a proper offer for either Voronin or Babel, we might be welcoming Silva, but I think we've enough up front and I'd be surprised if Rafa doesn't also.

We need more cover at the back - we look thin-on-the-ground in all four positions. Rafa clearly sees more in Degen than we do. Aurelio is often injured, Insua looks great but young and Dossena could/should be on his way. At CB, we have 3 First-XI regulars and all are excellent defenders but all 3 are currently injured (although at least 2 of them should be back for this weekend's opener). I would love to see Dagger&Skittles as our CB partnership for years to come but injury-proneness might stand in the way of this. Rafa seems to be similarly worried; hence the interest in Turner and Shawcross - the latter of whom would probably suit our situation better.

Fink Goddie

~Rebel~ wrote: »

to be fair thats only really relevent if he was the only variable, whereas in actual fact we were missing Gerrard and Torres for large parts of those 46%, and they were scoring winners in a lot of the 64%.

Alonso is a fantastic player, i love the guy, but there were 11 players out there, not 1. He wanted to leave, we got a good price, we've signed a replacement, lets just see how that goes.

And who made the pin point passes to set up these winners? Alonso most of the time.

Yeh but not all 11 are brilliant players.
There were 11 players on the pitch for United last season but you cant deny the contribution Ronaldo made.

mike65

I'm willing to bet its "precautionay".

This Keisuke Honda fella look interesting, 21 goals in 52 goals for VVV Venlo

Weekend game 3-3 with PSV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NnyZCruNrg

Fink Goddie

spockety wrote: »

For 100% of the games we lost, Reina was in goal.


See what I did there?

Well done, that was marvelous! Do another trick for us will ya

whatawaster

Fink Goddie wrote: »

And who made the pin point passes to set up these winners? Alonso most of the time.

Yeh but not all 11 are brilliant players.
There were 11 players on the pitch for United last season but you cant deny the contribution Ronaldo made.

Actually Alonso set up very, very few goals.
Kuyt, Benayoun and Gerrard were our best goal providers. Not downplaying Alonso’s contribution in build up play at all

spockety

Fink Goddie wrote: »

Well done, that was marvelous! Do another trick for us will ya

We're all trying to make you disappear, but our magic skills need honing.

5starpool

Fink Goddie wrote: »

And who made the pin point passes to set up these winners? Alonso most of the time.

Yeh but not all 11 are brilliant players.
There were 11 players on the pitch for United last season but you cant deny the contribution Ronaldo made.

Go on, make up some more stuff just for the sake of arguing please.

~Rebel~

Fink Goddie wrote: »

And who made the pin point passes to set up these winners? Alonso most of the time.

Yeh but not all 11 are brilliant players.
There were 11 players on the pitch for United last season but you cant deny the contribution Ronaldo made.

Yes he was involved in the build up for some of them, but whats your point? Do you think he should have been forced to stay? He was a great player, i'd rather he was still at anfield, but he wanted to leave and id rather we had 30million in the back pocket then an unhappy player. We got a good deal. Thats life. We've signed a replacement, lets see how he does.

Fink Goddie

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Yes he was involved in the build up for some of them, but whats your point? Do you think he should have been forced to stay? He was a great player, i'd rather he was still at anfield, but he wanted to leave and id rather we had 30million in the back pocket then an unhappy player. We got a good deal. Thats life. We've signed a replacement, lets see how he does.

My point was replying to Bastard Prince, my point was that Alonso was one of our best players last season, in fact he came a very close second behind Gerrard as our best player last season.

Fink Goddie

spockety wrote: »

We're all trying to make you disappear, but our magic skills need honing.

Ah look its the pack mentality, even the mod is involved.

I'm sure there not the only skills you need honed love

Fink Goddie

5starpool wrote: »

Go on, make up some more stuff just for the sake of arguing please.

Not making it up, as i said the guy was like the puppetmaster on the pitch, everything went through him, which led to goals.
Alonso was the first player in the prem last season to have 1000 pin point passes.

whatawaster

Fink Goddie wrote: »

My point was replying to Bastard Prince, my point was that Alonso was one of our best players last season, in fact he came a very close second behind Gerrard as our best player last season.

Yeah, but he wanted to leave and we got an outstanding price for him, and have replaced him with 10m to spare. For all we know Aquilani could score twice as many goals as Alonso did.

Fink Goddie wrote: »

Ah look its the pack mentality, even the mod is involved.

I'm sure there not the only skills you need honed love

Stop looking for sympathy, seriously. It’s not a pack mentality, nobody is ganging up on you. it’s just that very few people agree with what you’re saying.

Headshot

Fink Goddie wrote: »

Alonso was the first player in the prem last season to have 1000 pin point passes.

Link?

Stimpyone

Fink Goddie wrote: »

And who made the pin point passes to set up these winners? Alonso most of the time.

Yeh but not all 11 are brilliant players.
There were 11 players on the pitch for United last season but you cant deny the contribution Ronaldo made.

Xavi's stats for last year, and just for the hell of it Johnston's too.

yom 1

mike65 wrote: »

This Keisuke Honda fella look interesting, 21 goals in 52 goals for VVV Venlo

He scored from a corner.............sign him up in double quick time!!:p