Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 12/13

Cartman78

SlickRic wrote: »

Dear Stevie,

I'm sorry I thought you might be just about finished at the top level.

I was wrong.

You definitely still have it.

Yours sincerely,

Slick.

Did you cc Jamie Carragher on that letter as well?

darced

This post has been deleted.

opr

Morzadec wrote: »

So what's the consensus? Are we still in the race for top 4 or not?

I think we are (just about) but we'll know more by mid-march, after the Tottenham match. We need a win in that, and a minimum of 7 points from the other 3 games which look winnable on paper.

At the start of March, other than our game against Spurs, Tottenham play Arsenal and Arsenal play Everton. So there will be dropped points here (hopefully draws) and a chance to make some ground.

Everton have some really tough fixtures from now until the end of the season and I would be surprised if we don't eventually overtake them.

Of all the clubs we have the best fixtures and a suggestion of form picking up.

Overall I think 9 points is a big ask and probably too much. But if Spurs drop points against Arsenal and we beat them then the gap suddenly looks closeable.

In a way I think it's in our hands in that we have a bunch of winnable fixtures that will put us well in the race if we win them. But obviously we will probably not have the consistency to do this.

Also Chelsea need to be included in this. They are only a point ahead of Spurs and have to go to Liverpool, Man City and Man United.

By the 10th of March things should be clear - if we are at the same gap as we are now we can forget about it. If we have closed it to about 4 points we've got every chance.

I wouldn't write us off yet.

I think the gap will prove too wide to make up even if we hit a real purple patch of results. We do though have by far the best run in.

Srijandeep Das ‏@jeremy_LFC
Spurs have to play Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea, City, Swansea and Stoke away. 9 points away from #LFC

Srijandeep Das ‏@jeremy_LFC
Everton still have to play United, Arsenal, City, Stoke, Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool. 6 points above #LFC

Srijandeep Das ‏@jeremy_LFC
Arsenal have to play Tottenham, Everton and United. 5 points above #LFC

Srijandeep Das ‏@jeremy_LFC
#LFC face Chelsea, Everton and Spurs at Anfield, other 10 being against teams in the bottom half of the table. Tough. Possible.

Massive long shot but still a glint of hope. (Chelsea might even get dragged back into the fight)

Opr

SlickRic

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

eh what?

Turtyturd

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I don't think it was up to you to accept it.:pac:

On apologies...I would like to apologise for likening Sturridge to Danny Welbeck, while I believed it at the time I can now see it was hurtful, and disrespectful to put him at that level.

segadreamcast

5starpool wrote: »

We really make far too many mistakes at the back, it's ridiculous at this stage. Been the same for the last few years and it is bloody irritating. Much as I like Skrtel and Agger, it might be time for some new blood in there, and Reina as well, although it pains me to say it.

What would people think of Toby Alderweireld from Ajax? He's someone I've been watching for a while and - must have missed the rumour - but a quick google shows he was linked with Arsenal extensively enough in transfer window (I really a defender linked with Arsenal is often a bad sign though ). Seriously though, given how ill-suited Coates seems to be, maybe this is a route to go?

super_furry

I'm more confident now than at any other stage under Rodger's reign. We were great in the last two games and while two points isn't a fair reflection. It's an indication to me that we're on the right track and even more I believe Rodgers can see what we need to fix and he will, given time and resources, fix these issues.

What's most encouraging for me is that he sees the problems and addresses them - dropping Skrtel for Carragher in the last two games was a brave call and proved to be the right one. He's not frightened to drop his own signings - Allen for example - and has helped Downing and Henderson improve and rewarded them for doing so.

Turtyturd

super_furry wrote: »

I'm more confident now than at any other stage under Rodger's reign. We were great in the last two games and while two points isn't a fair reflection. It's an indication to me that we're on the right track and even more I believe Rodgers can see what we need to fix and he will, given time and resources, fix these issues.

What's most encouraging for me is that he sees the problems and addresses them - dropping Skrtel for Carragher in the last two games was a brave call and proved to be the right one. He's not frightened to drop his own signings - Allen for example - and has helped Downing and Henderson improve and rewarded them for doing so.

While yesterday was a great performance I wouldn't say the same about Wednesday...it really was a missed opportunity, and we dropped two points against what really is a poor Aresnal team.

mike65

Like a used car salesman he is willing to haggle on the team selections and formations so he can close the deal.

joe123

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

He can't cross a ball and for a pro footballer that's shocking.

Fkin Reina and Agger, two senior players making mistakes like that is just unacceptable. I've love Reina over the years but honestly, see you later pal. Agger needs a serious kick up the hole too he's looking like a seriously average player of late..

This kind of attitude is gas. Fans constantly complain about loyalty yadda yadda yadda...yet fans dont realise how easy they are to be like "yeah thanks but no thanks". Fans showing no loyalty.

Why do fans think players should show loyalty to a club they have no real affinity for if the fans are just as quick to forget about players whos form drops.

Just a thought for the next time Suarez or someone joins Barcelona/Read Madrid etc.

Morzadec

opr wrote: »

I think the gap will prove too wide to make up even if we hit a real purple patch of results. We do though have by far the best run in.









Massive long shot but still a glint of hope. (Chelsea might even get dragged back into the fight)

Opr

Those tweets sum it up nicely.

I would say long-shot, but not massive long-shot (not to be pedantic :pac:).

Certainly stranger things have happened.

Despite being so far behind it's largely down to our form as there will be dropped points and a lot of teams due to play each other.

Do we have the consistency to beat decent teams like WBA and Swansea at home and beat relegation-battlers away?

Do we have the quality to beat Spurs, Chelsea and Everton at home?

Will the other teams stutter?

The fact is there's probably not a single match until the end of the season where we don't go in as at least slight favourites (form dependent). Keep the slip ups to a minimum and we'll be in with a shout.

I would agree though that if I had to predict it, even with a good end of season run we would probably fall short by about 3 points.

SlickRic

Sturridge is very promising indeed.

i'm going to wait for a bigger sample size before I make any call on him though. if he keeps up what he's doing, we've a brilliant player on our hands.

Suarez had an off day yesterday, and without Sturridge, we'd have lost because of that.

Lucas is getting there. he bugged the píss out of Silva, but a lot of the game is still passing him by. he needs more time, and we should be willing to wait, with Allen being used to provide at least some respite for him at times.

Henderson, while still not quick enough in attack, is getting better with every game. his positioning and awareness are coming on leaps and bounds - he's not hiding anymore. superb signs going forward.

we need a CM, DM, GK and a winger in the next window or 2, but I'm encouraged generally by what I'm seeing. my worries about Brendan getting nervous in the hotseat the other week were unfounded i think. but we'll see after the next couple of home games.

6 points is a must.

Rekop dog

Can't believe I watched that whole tunnel cam vid, it was utter garbage heh.

Luckycharms_74

Jordan Henderson (England Under-21 Player of The Year)
Steven Gerrard (England Player of The Year)

Cartman78

Morzadec wrote: »

Those tweets sum it up nicely.

I would say long-shot, but not massive long-shot (not to be pedantic :pac:).

Certainly stranger things have happened.

Despite being so far behind it's largely down to our form as there will be dropped points and a lot of teams due to play each other.

Do we have the consistency to beat decent teams like WBA and Swansea at home and beat relegation-battlers away?
QUOTE]

2 critical games - if we fupp them up we could be back in 9th/10th by the start of March.

Will be a good indication of whether we've made actual progress or if the performance y'day was a flash in the pan. I don't believe it's the latter and would expect two relatively straightforward home wins

Luckycharms_74

Teams in the Premier League concede an average of 18% of their goals by error. Liverpool's is 31%. But Arsenal are at 45% :eek:

Grayditch

All goals are conceeded through error.

:cool:

Luckycharms_74

Rekop dog

Grayditch wrote: »

All goals are conceeded through error.

:cool:

Yeah wonder how the stat is calculated. Villa being bottom of the list is funny, they're arguably the most disorganised team at defending set pieces in prem history, a major error in my book.

LiamoSail

Rekop dog wrote: »

Yeah wonder how the stat is calculated. Villa being bottom of the list is funny, they're arguably the most disorganised team at defending set pieces in prem history, a major error in my book.

It's a percentage of each teams total conceded, hence villa could have conceded more due to error then ourselves, yet have a lower percentage

Raif Severance

I couldn't bring myself to Post yesterday, was too Livid at Reina and needed time to calm down. It didn't help that I'm Sick as hell, and still is.

I echo the sentiments of others, it's time for Liverpool and Pepe to partways in the Summer.

SlickRic

Pep shouldn't have been there.

but I'm sure when he ran out, the worst he thought that would happen would be a cross into the middle, under pressure, that his defenders might clear.

that Aguero hit was ridiculous.

i wouldn't use that as a reason to sell him. i'd use his generally inability to make big saves over the last couple of seasons. he still does pretty much all of the routine stuff very well, but he doesn't stop the shots he used to.

PRAF

Turtyturd wrote: »

While yesterday was a great performance I wouldn't say the same about Wednesday...it really was a missed opportunity, and we dropped two points against what really is a poor Arsenal team.

Lets look at the facts here
- Champions League football every season for the last 16 years
- 9 years in a row they have got to the round of Last 16 or better
- Star studded team full of internationals and peppered with really good players such as Walcott, Cazorla, Wilshire, Arteta, etc.
- This year alone they comprehensively beat us, trounced Spurs and also hammered Newcastle

Are they as good as the Manchester teams. No. Are they as good as previous Arsenal teams. No. Are they a "poor Arsenal team". Not in my opinion. They have weaknesses (e.g. CB) and are a little inconsistent (like us). However, they are far from being poor

missingtime

Is Coutinho going to replace Downing or Henderson do ye think?

Would prefer him to replace Downing, everything he does seems so labored or something.

Melion

To be honest, i would keep Pepe if possible. Bring in someone to provide competition to him, someone who he knows will take his place if he doesnt get back to the form he had 3-4 years ago. Something similar to Cech and Courtois would be perfect IMO. Pepe knows, that no matter how his form dips, Jones will never take his place as the #1.

googled eyes

I think we all reckon Pepe is gone in the summer. I think talk of Barca has his head turned 180.
The biggest thing about the situation and how it reflects on our club, is who we replace him with. I think this will be the most important move we make.
We could have went for Butland in Jan and promised him 1st team from the summer. Thats the move he basically took anyway.
So I think and hope that they have a real target sorted out.

And please let them just get it done early if it is gonna happen

PRAF

Melion wrote: »

To be honest, i would keep Pepe if possible. Bring in someone to provide competition to him, someone who he knows will take his place if he doesnt get back to the form he had 3-4 years ago. Something similar to Cech and Courtois would be perfect IMO. Pepe knows, that no matter how his form dips, Jones will never take his place as the #1.

In an ideal world, perhaps. However, my strong preference would be to get a new no.1. Sometimes having two strong keepers vying for no.1 can be disruptive (e.g. Hart vs Given) and can leave one of them unhappy and looking for a new club anyway. Also, FSG may not be happy with seeing a 100k a week goalie on the bench.

I think we should sell Pepe in the summer and replace him with a top keeper who is just coming into his prime. Don't ask me who because I haven't the foggiest. I know others have mentioned Ter Stegen as a possibility or perhaps Mikhailov

Oranage2

I wouldn't be surprised to see de gea going to barca and beg to united.

Morzadec

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

He's showing a lot of qualities that I think a lot of people didn't know he had - the most important one being an ability to hold up the ball and bring others into play. He has serious strength for his size, and that low centre of gravity makes it very difficult to knock off the ball.

Another unknown quality he showed glimpses of yesterday was great vision and execution of a pass. I think a lot of people had him pegged as a one-dimensional, head-down, greedy type of player (what Dunphy would call 'brainless'), but he showed intelligence, good decision making and a couple of impressive passes.

Added to this, he has probably surpassed expectations in what we knew he was good at - shooting and quick feet. We knew these were his strengths, but perhaps weren't expecting him to demonstrate them to such a high standard.

Yesterday was a complete performance by him and hugely encouraging.

I posted a couple of matches earlier that it would be far too early to say people have been proven right/wrong regarding Sturridge, but the signs are very encouraging.

The making of him will be whether he is able to put in a performance like that on a consistent basis, and particularly, whether he finishes consistently.

But certainly a lot of the doubts about his mentality, intelligence and experience appear to be ill-founded based on the few games which we've seen.

Mr Alan

Morzadec wrote: »

Another unknown quality he showed glimpses of yesterday was great vision and execution of a pass. I think a lot of people had him pegged as a one-dimensional, head-down, greedy type of player (what Dunphy would call 'brainless'), but he showed intelligence, good decision making and a couple of impressive passes.

I gotta hold my hand up & admit I was one of those.

missingtime

Mr Alan wrote: »

I gotta hold my hand up & admit I was one of those.

Yup, me too.

I'm sick of the sight of humble pie, which is a good thing I guess.

joe123

missingtime wrote: »

Yup, me too.

I'm sick of the sight of humble pie, which is a good thing I guess.

The more humble pie the better! (Was pretty happy with the Sturridge signing but Henderson is definitely making me have my fair share of pie at the moment)

I'm still annoyed that Ngog never made me eat some.

Super-Rush

missingtime wrote: »

Is Coutinho going to replace Downing or Henderson do ye think?

Would prefer him to replace Downing, everything he does seems so labored or something.

I'd hope so.

Downing has shown signs of improvement against the weaker teams but is completely anonymous against the big teams. We might as well play with ten men.

opr

I haven't cheered quite so loud watching a ball ripple the corner of the net in quite sometime. Yeah it was partly because our play deserved the lead but more than anything it was a memory of something past stirred inside which seemed lost. Just read this ....

If I can be a little sentimental, that Gerrard goal is one of my favorite footballing moments in recent memory, perhaps ever.

The ball drops and he just settles the world. Then that right foot hits it and you see the future arc of the ball and time goes all gluey like a Dali painting, and for a second there's a twenty year old Steven Gerrard and your younger self cheering him on through the prism. His big smile fades in and the net is shivering and Joe Hart's trying not to look grateful for the privilege of being that close to greatness.

God it'll be sad when that's gone.

Football won't ever be the same for me when a Liverpool team is lining out without him.

Opr

Mr Alan

Gotta admit, I never really had any doubt that Henderson could turn into a very good player for us.

Melion

opr wrote: »

I haven't cheered quite so loud watching a ball ripple the corner of the net in quite sometime. Yeah it was partly because our play deserved the lead but more than anything it was a memory of something past stirred inside which seemed lost. Just read this ....



Football won't ever be the same for me when a Liverpool team is lining out without him.

Opr

It will be the first time i will see a club legend retire having watched his entire career. It will be a sad sad day.

Super-Rush

opr wrote: »

Football won't ever be the same for me when a Liverpool team is lining out without him.

Opr

Its something that i've been thinking a lot about recently. We need to be looking for Gerrards replacement now.

Melion

Sir Alex Ferguson wrote: »

Its something that i've been thinking a lot about recently. We need to be looking for Gerrards replacement now.

Whisper it very quietly but could Shelvey do the job?

Nobody will EVER do the things Stevie has done for the club so looking for a perfect replacement is a waste of time IMO.

NabyLadistheman

opr wrote: »

I haven't cheered quite so loud watching a ball ripple the corner of the net in quite sometime. Yeah it was partly because our play deserved the lead but more than anything it was a memory of something past stirred inside which seemed lost. Just read this ....



Football won't ever be the same for me when a Liverpool team is lining out without him.

Opr

Must admit it I went strangely mental when that ball went in. Thing it must be that our performance was that good that we deserved to be ahead & to win

Super-Rush

Melion wrote: »

Whisper it very quietly but could Shelvey do the job?

Nobody will EVER do the things Stevie has done for the club so looking for a perfect replacement is a waste of time IMO.

Wash yer mouth out


Seriously though i've thought from time to time that Jonjo would turn into a fantastic player but he won't. He's way way too slow, can't tackle and has no positional awareness whatsoever. He will never make it at Liverpool or the PL for that matter.

Melion

Sir Alex Ferguson wrote: »

Wash yer mouth out


Seriously though i've thought from time to time that Jonjo would turn into a fantastic player but he won't. He's way way too slow, can't tackle and has no positional awareness whatsoever. He will never make it at Liverpool or the PL for that matter.

I strongly disagree. I think he will be an England regular after the world cup next year if he gets the right loan move this summer. He needs regular gametime to improve his match "intelligence".

murpho999

Melion wrote: »

Whisper it very quietly but could Shelvey do the job?

Nobody will EVER do the things Stevie has done for the club so looking for a perfect replacement is a waste of time IMO.

Shelvey is nowhere near as good as Gerrard.

Look at how Gerrard was already an automatic 1st team choice and international at Shelvey's age.

He's a one off and we'll be hard pushed to get his like again.

MD1990

Sir Alex Ferguson wrote: »

Wash yer mouth out


Seriously though i've thought from time to time that Jonjo would turn into a fantastic player but he won't. He's way way too slow, can't tackle and has no positional awareness whatsoever. He will never make it at Liverpool or the PL for that matter.

he going through a bald bad patch
he is still a very good prospect
still only 20 years old
i think he can be a very good player for us in a few years

Melion

murpho999 wrote: »

Shelvey is nowhere near as good as Gerrard.

Look at how Gerrard was already an automatic 1st team choice and international at Shelvey's age.

He's a one off and we'll be hard pushed to get his like again.

Thats what i said.

Stevie was an automatic starter at that age because of a lack of options i think. If he was to break through nowadays then he would have a role similar to what Sterling had this season.

Knex*

murpho999 wrote: »

Shelvey is nowhere near as good as Gerrard.

Look at how Gerrard was already an automatic 1st team choice and international at Shelvey's age.

He's a one off and we'll be hard pushed to get his like again.

Gerrard is one of the greatest players in Liverpool's entire history. I'm not so sure you can go about comparing Shelvey to him.

googled eyes

Sir Alex Ferguson wrote: »

Wash yer mouth out


Seriously though i've thought from time to time that Jonjo would turn into a fantastic player but he won't. He's way way too slow, can't tackle and has no positional awareness whatsoever. He will never make it at Liverpool or the PL for that matter.

Ive also at times thought Jonjo has great potential...
His problem is he thinks he's there already. Like has been said. He needs a good loan spell playing week in, week out

Super-Rush

Melion wrote: »

I strongly disagree. I think he will be an England regular after the world cup next year if he gets the right loan move this summer. He needs regular gametime to improve his match "intelligence".

I'm still hoping that he'll go on loan and do a Danny Murphy.

Lets hope i'm eating humble pie in a few years.

SlickRic

i knew Sturridge had the vast majority of the qualities he's showing.

what i questioned hugely was his intelligence, as well as his consistency. bar the Oldham game, I can't really fault his consistency, and his intelligence on and off the ball has been way beyond what I expected.

head up when crossing the ball.
holding the ball up and linking play.
holding the ball up, looking up, and playing crossfield balls.
awareness of people around him at all times (THAT dummy for instance).
on the same wavelength as some of Suarez's ability.
working immensely hard for the team.

these are all things I was hoping for, but wasn't at all expecting.

also, i haven't seen this arrogant, selfish streak yet, which he had been painted with having many times over the past few years. he seems a decent sort.

maybe he just really wanted to play regular football? yes, ok, maybe he expected it a little before he was ready, but to be fair to him, if you're watching Torres be as shít as he has been, you'd be wondering why you aren't playing more games.

gafferino

England striker Daniel Sturridge has been ruled out of Wednesday's friendly international against Brazil at Wembley due to a thigh injury.

Sturridge reported for duty at St George's Park on Sunday evening with the remainder of the squad but was unable to take part in training on Monday morning and returned to his club Liverpoolfor further treatment.

The 23-year-old was injured during the first half of Liverpool's 2-2 draw at Manchester City, shortly after scoring the Reds' opening goal, but was not substituted until the closing stages of the game.

Sturridge's withdrawal leaves England boss Roy Hodgson with only two fit strikers at this stage - Manchester United duo Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck - after Tottenham's Jermain Defoe pulled out with an ankle problem, although Hodgson does also have the option of playing Theo Walcottup front.

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick also dropped out on Sunday with a hip injury.

Only 12 England players trained normally on Monday morning as the remainder who were in action on Sunday did a warm-down session instead.

gafferino

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says he will wait until the end of the season before making a decision on the future of Andy Carroll.

The striker scored just the second goal of his season-long loan from Liverpool, which has been badly disrupted by injury, in Saturday's 1-0 win against Swansea.

Hammers co-owner David Sullivan confirmed on Friday that an agreement had already been reached with Liverpool to sign Carroll on a permanent basis, although they were yet to agree terms with the player.

But despite praising Carroll's ability, Allardyce admits he is uncertain whether the club will be able to secure the 24-year-old's signature permanently.

"You always want a top class centre forward," Allardyce told talkSPORT.

"There are not many of Andy Carroll's type. The sad thing for football is that it now seems unfashionable to have a big centre forward in your team, which really disappoints me."
Sam Allardyce
Quotes of the week
"I know he's been short on goals and he's had a disrupted season, but he'll only get better if he's got a settled future, whether that's with us or not [I don't know].

"It would be a long process though. We will have a conversation at the end of the season with Andy and Liverpool. It all depends on how he feels and what he does between now and the end of the season.

"It's also about where Andy thinks his future lies. He hasn't thought about that yet, he just wants to play as much as he can.

"There are not many of Andy Carroll's type. The sad thing for football is that it now seems unfashionable to have a big centre forward in your team, which really disappoints me.

"It excites people when you see him rise above everybody else to get the ball in the back of the net.

"I've known him since he was a youngster. I could see the talent that he had and that talent flourished very quickly into Liverpool paying £35million for him. It didn't work there for whatever reason but he's such a young man, who's desperate to play football and do well."