Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12-Jan 2012 onwards

Sir Gallagher

Kess73 wrote: »

Maybe the club is looking at players for other positions, but I think that along with needing a striker who can actually score, we need a quality player for the wide right position, and defo need some quality in the CM slot, the sort of quality that can add steel as we have nobody in the squad bar Lucas that give a bit of steel in the centre.

Yeah i agree i just think we'll be waiting until the summer to reassess the squad, which could be the right thing to do instead of panic buying this month.

Kess73

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

Yeah i agree i just think we'll be waiting until the summer to reassess the squad, which could be the right thing to do instead of panic buying this month.

To be honest if it meant getting the right players rather than overspending now, then I would prefer the club to wait until the summer as well.


But having said that, I would be happy to see the club go after the likes of Hoilett now.

Sappy404

I thought the Granero talk was all but dismissed as Kedhira's been injured and Mourinho's convinced he needs to stay.

If it's true I can only imagine that Kenny wants Gerrard to stay in a withdrawn role (a mistake IMO) and wants this lad ahead of him and Shelvey. That, or he wants him as a utility man, playing wide right or as a CAM/support striker as needed. All in all I'd be surprised if we signed him even on loan.

gafferino

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11669/7450679/Smalling-No-thoughts-on-Reds


oohhhh I would LOVE IT if we beat them :mad:

Sir Gallagher

gafferino wrote: »

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11669/7450679/Smalling-No-thoughts-on-Reds


oohhhh I would LOVE IT if we beat them :mad:

Thats fine by me, the same attitude got them knocked out of the Carling Cup by Crystal Palace.

DrumSteve

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

Thats fine by me, the same attitude got them knocked out of the Carling Cup by Crystal Palace.

He's a bit of a mouthy ****er isn't he?

Crazy Horse 6

Smalling should concentrate on his own form not talking sh1te.

Sir Gallagher

DrumSteve wrote: »

He's a bit of a mouthy ****er isn't he?

He's just a bit dense i would suspect. The comments are just silly when you take into account how they fared in the CC and the CL.

Hoki

Kess73 wrote: »

mixednuts wrote: »

I see your point but IF it did happen it would only be a loan and £8mil for two players .

Anything is an improvement on what we currently have .

One I can understand in that he is striker for the future, but then again we need someone who can score now rather than a player that might be good in two or three years time. Seeing as Carroll gets defended as being a player that might come good in a few years do we really right now need to be buying another player (who is three or four years younger than Carroll) that might be good in time.


But Granero puzzles me. In his best position we currently have Gerrard, Shelvey, Henderson, and even Suarez. Do we really need to be adding another CAM?

What we've been missing most this season is a creative presence in the final third of the pitch , I don't know anything about granero but if he can provide that link between midfield and attack then I'm all for going after him. Ideally we need another meireles type player - an unselfish assist machine who always plays it to the player in the best position . I don't think Adam or Henderson are capable of this consistently while Gerrard has yet to find his feet after a long layoff.

LuckyLloyd

mike65 wrote: »

I don't know enough about either but one is cheap and the other is "free" and both would appear to offer more than Carroll and useful cover esp if Kuyt is being shipped out as rumoured for a while.

City down to two strikers then, and one is Dzeko.

Who could ****ing do us if it goes near clicking for him on the night. There's not a single player in their first team rotation who can be disrespected. Savic is the weakest link and even he is definitely Premiership quality trying to acclimatise.

opr

Reserves are playing Blackburn today. K.O. - 2pm. Nacho should be in the running for his first start since he got injured.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/1-30pm-reserves-v-blackburn-live

Opr

Sir Gallagher

Hoki wrote: »

What we've been missing most this season is a creative presence in the final third of the pitch , I don't know anything about granero but if he can provide that link between midfield and attack then I'm all for going after him. Ideally we need another meireles type player - an unselfish assist machine who always plays it to the player in the best position . I don't think Adam or Henderson are capable of this consistently while Gerrard has yet to find his feet after a long layoff.

A Spearing Henderson Gerrard triangle with Gerrard providing that link coupd work but i think Kenny wants Gerrard at CM which is decreasing the threat of Gerrard and whoever's up front.

Kess73

Hoki wrote: »

What we've been missing most this season is a creative presence in the final third of the pitch , I don't know anything about granero but if he can provide that link between midfield and attack then I'm all for going after him. Ideally we need another meireles type player - an unselfish assist machine who always plays it to the player in the best position . I don't think Adam or Henderson are capable of this consistently while Gerrard has yet to find his feet after a long layoff.

But he is not a creative presence in the final third say in the way the likes of Shaqiri is, and I would really have doubts if he would be an assist machine in the Premiership tbh.

Personally I think he is not a whole lot better than what we have in the squad right now if at all.

And when Suarez comes back, then Granero is light years behind him in terms of creativity and impact in the final third. Would it not make more sense to play Suarez in the position he is at his best in, and buy a quality finisher to play in front of him than to bring in a player who would not really add a lot to the quality we have already.

D'Agger

DrumSteve wrote: »

He's a bit of a mouthy ****er isn't he?

I genuinely don't think there's anything really wrong with what he's said

I think United, as most teams should imo, are taking one game at a time and he's laid out the obvious by saying it'd be nice to beat Liverpool at Anfield

SlickRic

Smalling didn't say an awful lot wrong.

he'd literally just finished the Arsenal game by the look of those quotes (i.e. "hoping to do them like we're just done Arsenal here".?

saying he's just been told by Ferguson to enjoy the football for the next while is actually not a bad piece of advice.

to say he's not thinking about the Liverpool game yet is not disrespect, it's called coming off a big win, and looking forward in general to the next few weeks ahead.

those quotes look a little out of context. i don't see any disrespect to any opponents. just a guy looking forward to his football.

some people really take offence a little too easily

i still would fúcking love to beat them, but that has nothing to do with Smalling.

Will I Amnt

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

DrumSteve wrote: »

He's a bit of a mouthy ****er isn't he?

He's just a bit dense i would suspect. The comments are just silly when you take into account how they fared in the CC and the CL.

"It'll be nice to do them on their own patch, just like we have done (to Arsenal) here."

Comments obviously made at the Emirates,so any thoughts would have been on the Arsenal game up until that day.

No harm in a bit of confidence and needling anyway.

MD1990

in the summer i think we should go for Soldado
just the striker we need

Leiva

Ahh come on someone have any news ?

Outkast_IRE

mixednuts wrote: »

Ahh come on someone have any news ?

You have been told no news until the 31st

DrumSteve

cambo2008 wrote: »

"It'll be nice to do them on their own patch, just like we have done (to Arsenal) here."

Comments obviously made at the Emirates,so any thoughts would have been on the Arsenal game up until that day.

No harm in a bit of confidence and needling anyway.

I meant in conjunction with his comments about City crumbling...

Don't mind it myself as such. It'll just be nicer when we hammer them.

MD1990

ive seen Granero plenty of times
he isnt creative at all
he justs Shoots all the time
poor player

daithijjj

Reserves game here.

http://www.firstrow.tv/watch/103870/1/watch-liverpool-res-vs-blackburn-res.html

Blatter

DrumSteve wrote: »

I meant in conjunction with his comments about City crumbling...

Don't mind it myself as such. It'll just be nicer when we hammer them.

Again, I would say it's the press making something out of nothing.

He probably meant that if United keep winning, City will surely slip up eventually. Crumbling may have been the wrong word he used, and the press jumped on it - which does happen.

I obviously don't know him personally but from what I've heard from him in interviews he doesn't come across as particularly cocky or arrogant.

Will I Amnt

DrumSteve wrote: »

I meant in conjunction with his comments about City crumbling...

Don't mind it myself as such. It'll just be nicer when we hammer them.

Sure you sound worse than him

What did he say about City by the way??
Never heard anything about that.

Edit:Nevermind just seen Blatters post.

Sir Gallagher

SlickRic wrote: »

Smalling didn't say an awful lot wrong.

he'd literally just finished the Arsenal game by the look of those quotes (i.e. "hoping to do them like we're just done Arsenal here".?

saying he's just been told by Ferguson to enjoy the football for the next while is actually not a bad piece of advice.

to say he's not thinking about the Liverpool game yet is not disrespect, it's called coming off a big win, and looking forward in general to the next few weeks ahead.

those quotes look a little out of context. i don't see any disrespect to any opponents. just a guy looking forward to his football.

some people really take offence a little too easily

i still would fúcking love to beat them, but that has nothing to do with Smalling.

Well you've changed the original quote there which was, "It'll be nice to do them..." which is a bit presumptious and disrespectful. Not that i'm offended by it, i just think it's a silly thing to say.

opr

Tom Werner at the reserves game.

Opr

Kess73

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

Well you've changed the original quote there which was, "It'll be nice to do them..." which is a bit presumptious and disrespectful. Not that i'm offended by it, i just think it's a silly thing to say.

The same interview is on other sites with "it would be nice to do them" instead of the "it'll be nice" that is in the article in this thread, so there might be some creative liberties being taken by the media outlet.

SlickRic

"hoping" versus "it would be nice".

not much of a difference tbh.

Chucky the tree

SlickRic wrote: »

"hoping" versus "it would be nice".

not much of a difference tbh.

There is a big differnece in "will" and "would" though.

DrumSteve

cambo2008 wrote: »

Sure you sound worse than him

What did he say about City by the way??
Never heard anything about that.

Edit:Nevermind just seen Blatters post.

Ah not that much worse :pac:

Kess73

Just found out I can get back home twice this week.


Two games it is then instead of just making the United game.

Sir Gallagher

SlickRic wrote: »

"hoping" versus "it would be nice".

not much of a difference tbh.

Well the quote in the article was "It'll be nice" which would suggest he's presuming they'll beat us. Now he may well have been misquoted as we all know what journos are like.

Jayob10

questionable sourch but seems that the Shaqiri move to Gala still hasn't happened, really love if we nipped in and signed this lad

http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2012/01/sign-him-liverpool-can-beat-gala-to.html?

daithijjj

If Benny Hill did reserve games, HT 2-3.

LuckyLloyd

Getting a little pang of adrenaline / nerves for tomorrow evening already.

If Spearing is good to go this is what I would start with:

---

Reina

---

---

Skrtl

---

Carragher

---

Agger

---

Johnson

---

Spearing

---

Enrique

---

Gerrard

---

Henderson

---

---

Kuyt

---

Bellamy

---

Tomorrow is a night for the warriors from the last decade so I'd get Kuyt, Gerrard and Carra on the pitch. The above also keeps Downing, Carroll and Adam off the pitch. The above should be a lot more solid defensively than Saturday's debacle.

amiable

Kess73 wrote: »

But Granero puzzles me. In his best position we currently have Gerrard, Shelvey, Henderson, and even Suarez. Do we really need to be adding another CAM?

Didn't Granero play for Getafe as a defensive midfielder?
The link to signing him doesn't fill me with great confidence either TBH.

LuckyLloyd

Also, Gerrard needs to bring it tomorrow. Captaining a team managed by the King infront of a packed house against the league leaders for our first cup final in nearly five years. We need a performance.

Dirk aswell. They were both shocking by their standards on Saturday, and this has to be the game. No excuses.

Gerty

4-2 down in the reserves now. 20 minutes left. Blackburn have definitely been the best team today.

Pelosi is coming on first his reserve debut though, interesting to see where he plays, doubt it will be LB again.

Edit- also hit the post twice. Sounds familiar. One was a Sama forty yard strike which was an incredible effort.

SlickRic

agreed LL.

Gerrard in particular escaped a lot of flak from fans on Saturday purely because of who he is and what he's done at the club. and that's fine, i'll excuse him the odd performance.

Adam got absolutely pilloried though, by me included, when Gerrard was as bad.

we need a performance from Stevie. a real swashbuckling one. if we can get this cup under our belts somehow at the end of tomorrow night, and after a final, then it could be just the psychological boost we need.

SlickRic

SlickRic wrote: »

agreed LL.

Gerrard in particular escaped a lot of flak from fans on Saturday purely because of who he is and what he's done at the club. and that's fine, i'll excuse him the odd performance.

.

I don't think he did.

Gerrard was poor but Adam was worse. Both deserved criticism.

Tbh, I'd give Adam a break for a few games. He's played nearly every match and I'd say when he was signed that wasn't the plan. Injuries have given him a lot of game time.

He's a decent player and had some excellent games for us but he's not consistant enough imo and the pace in certain games doesn't suit his game.

I'd have Spearing back in the team immediately, and move Henderson back to the middle. Gerrard can play alongside him and let Spearing deal with defensive duties, which he's very good at.

Gerrard needs to be further up the field. What good is Gerrard in our own half? Doesn't make any sense. He's a goalscoring attacking mid, play to his strengths. Himself Bellamy and Suarez could be an excellent trio imo.

I'd also be willing to see Shelvey get a bit of a chance. He's looked decent when given a run since he came back.

daithijjj

SlickRic wrote: »

agreed LL.

Gerrard in particular escaped a lot of flak from fans on Saturday purely because of who he is and what he's done at the club. and that's fine, i'll excuse him the odd performance.

Adam got absolutely pilloried though, by me included, when Gerrard was as bad.

we need a performance from Stevie. a real swashbuckling one. if we can get this cup under our belts somehow at the end of tomorrow night, and after a final, then it could be just the psychological boost we need.

People shouldnt expect too much too soon, Gerrard is only back from 9 months out, it will take 6 or 7 full games to get match fit after that length of time. Its not an excuse for the Bolton game but he might as well have been playing on his own in there the way Adam was playing.

daithijjj

daithijjj wrote: »

People shouldnt expect too much too soon, Gerrard is only back from 9 months out, it will take 6 or 7 full games to get match fit after that length of time. Its not an excuse for the Bolton game but he might as well have been playing on his own in there the way Adam was playing.

Yeah, he looks like after 60-70 mins he's knackered atm.

That's the time to replace him until he's fully match fit.

Chucky the tree

People shouldn't be surprised. Gerrard's an average central midfielder when asked to play deep, always has been and always will be. When you pair him with another average CM then you'll simply get roasted. He really needs to be play further up and I'd rather see Henderson and Adam in the centre then Gerrard.

LuckyLloyd

To be honest lads (and accepting that many will disagree with me), I think tomorrow is absolutely vital for Kenny's second reign. An exit tomorrow will be absolutely crushing, and put an unreasonable amount of pressure on Saturday's game. By contrast, a win could deliver a trophy and a massive boost to the psyche. It would also leave us nice and lose going into Saturday.

Just a huge, huge game tbh.

Sappy404

Chucky the tree wrote: »

People shouldn't be surprised. He's an average central midfielder when asked to play deep, always has been and always will be. When you pair him with another average CM then you'll simply get roasted. He really needs to be play further up and I'd rather see Henderson and Adam in the centre then Gerrard.

Hopefully Hendo and Spearing tomorrow. I don't fancy Adam at all against that City midfield.

Vudgie

For the first few weeks oh his comeback I would have liked to see Gerrard used as an impact sub...a 'plan B'. He was devestating against Newcastle and I think with half an hour to go you could send him on depending on how things are going and give him free licence.

I think he is professional enough to cope with coming off the bench until he is fully fit and also to prevent any relapses.

mormank

amiable wrote: »

He's on twitter too and you'll probably get a swift reply from him on twitter if you are on it too?

I'm a day behind reading this but anyway, I'm not on twitter. I'm gonna keep reading tho, there might be a reply a bit later on...

Chucky the tree

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

To be honest lads (and accepting that many will disagree with me), I think tomorrow is absolutely vital for Kenny's second reign. An exit tomorrow will be absolutely crushing, and put an unreasonable amount of pressure on Saturday's game. By contrast, a win could deliver a trophy and a massive boost to the psyche. It would also leave us nice and lose going into Saturday.

Just a huge, huge game tbh.

Win tomorrw and lose the final would be even worse for him.

D'Agger

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Win tomorrw and lose the final would be even worse for him.

I don't think so - were we to get to the final and lose, no matter how insignificant people make the trophy out to be, we'd still be able to say 'well at least we were in a final again' and look forward to a future where we're on the road back to where we feel we should be - competing for trophies.

mormank

manual_man wrote: »

The same one who brought in Igor Biscan, Djimi Traore, Josemi, blah blah blah

If you want to get into a debate about every single transfer, go ahead. I'm not a*sed. I simply stated he pushed Alonso out the door, which he did. It was disgraceful how Xabi was treated

I hate this argument because I always think if we didn't have a sell to buy policy at the time this would never have happened. Some of the blame has to be put on the owners doorstep for not properly backing Rafa at the time. Imagine a world where Rafa didn't have to worry about selling Alonso to raise the funds for the likes of Gareth Barry, we'd never have to listen to this tired argument for a start!!