Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/2014

Kess73

Soldado over Sturridge? Eight and a bit months ago I would have laughed at any sort of comparison as I was dead set against the signing of Sturridge. Can remember Daithi and I being at opposite ends of the spectrum with regards to signing him.

But 11 goals from 16 games, and a string of performances where I saw him do things on the pitch that I thought were not a part of his game , soon had me seeing the prospect of having to tuck into some delicious humble pie.

I still see a lot of flaws in Sturridge's game, and still have a few reservations about him, but he showed a hell of a lot of positives since joining Liverpool.

Ignoring the goals, he showed strength I did not think he had, he showed himself to be a beautiful shielder of the ball, he showed wonderful movement, and he at times displayed a propensity for an absolutely gorgeous first touch when an angled pass was played quickly to him.


January 1st 2013 would have seen me scoff at the idea of Sturridge over Soldado, but 15th August 2013 has me liking the idea of adding a high quality wideforward/winger/AM to the same team that Sturridge plays in rather than hypothetically replacing Sturridge with Soldado.

slingerz

Liverpool are still a team youd want to take over in football manager terms though purely for the amount of transfers youd need to make before you could ever be happy with the squad

Raif Severance

daithijjj wrote: »

You arent getting the point at all tbh. My intention is not to belittle the players we have signed before playing a competitive game, my intention is to bring up the reasons why we cant seal deals on the level Spurs currently are doing.

Seal the Deals? The only 1 we Failed to Sign is HM.

The only Reason here, is that you prefer Spurs' Signing to ours.

But did it ever occur to you that our Transfer Committee might not fancy anyone Signed by the Spurs?

Vicxas

Well, thats that then.

Tottenham and Liverpool have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Christian Eriksen with his agent saying the Ajax player will only move to a Champions League club.

The Rooster

Dickerty wrote: »

Aspas is sure to start in the absence of Luis, he's shown far more in pre-season than Borini.

And I would start Allen ahead of Sterling. We need to control the game, put ourselves about. Allen is not a big guy, but he's a battler. I'd feel better with him in CM than Coutinho. Sterling, Borini and Ibe are all game-changing types, great from the bench.

Mignolet

Johnson Toure Agger Enrique

Gerrard Lucas Allen

Aspas Sturridge Coutinho

Subs: Jones, Wisdom, Kelly, Henderson, Borini, Sterling, Ibe
(That means Alberto, Skrtel (inj), Assaidi all miss out...

Agree there's absolutely no chance of Borini starting and I even think Alberto would get the nod for a bench place ahead of him.

Personally I think Allen and Aspas's performances against Celtic could cost them a starting place v Stoke, with Henderson and Sterling (or even Ibe if BR thinks Sterling is not right after his recent troubles) getting the nod instead.

daithijjj

Dickerty wrote: »

But he's not comparing like for like. We already had Lucas and Gerrard, so didn't need to sign 3 CMs like Spurs have done. We signed Allen cause we were planning on a quicker, possession & passing game.
We have a point striker in Sturridge, so Soldado was considered not the right type of attacker.
And we were planning with Johnson, Skrtel and Agger last summer, so weren't in the market for Vertonghen.

Yes, they have made some good signings on paper, but let's see how the seasons goes before making judgment.

I was comparing like for like, our set up and Spurs set up. Was other folk who went of on tangents about individual players.

El Inho

I'll just leave this here....

http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/soccer?iso=20130817T1245&p0=301&fg1=ea0606&fg2=b3b3b3&msg=LFC+V+STOKE

So we're nearly there. Likely line up:

---

Mingolet

---

---

-Johnson

---

Toure

---

Agger

---

Enrique-

---

---

Lucas

---

---

---

Allen

---

Gerrard

---

---

-Aspas

---

Myself

---

Sterling-

---

---

Sturridge

---

I'd expect Borini, Henderson and maybe Ibe to get the nod off the bench around the 60, 70 and 80 mark respectively, depending on how things are going of course.

Prediction is most likely a narrow LFC win, or relatively boring draw.

I'm going to call it as a LFC win, 2-1, Sturridge and myself scoring, most likely leading, stoke leveling and then a 75th minute winner with a very nervous close to the game.

smileyj1987

Vicxas wrote: »

Well, thats that then.

For a player that so many rate it seems funny not one club has come in for him yet .

Boom_Bap

Kess73 wrote: »

Soldado over Sturridge? Eight and a bit months ago I would have laughed at any sort of comparison as I was dead set against the signing of Sturridge. Can remember Daithi and I being at opposite ends of the spectrum with regards to signing him.

But 11 goals from 16 games, and a string of performances where I saw him do things on the pitch that I thought were not a part of his game , soon had me seeing the prospect of having to tuck into some delicious humble pie.

I still see a lot of flaws in Sturridge's game, and still have a few reservations about him, but he showed a hell of a lot of positives since joining Liverpool.

Ignoring the goals, he showed strength I did not think he had, he showed himself to be a beautiful shielder of the ball, he showed wonderful movement, and he at times displayed a propensity for an absolutely gorgeous first touch when an angled pass was played quickly to him.


January 1st 2013 would have seen me scoff at the idea of Sturridge over Soldado, but 15th August 2013 has me liking the idea of adding a high quality wideforward/winger/AM to the same team that Sturridge plays in rather than hypothetically replacing Sturridge with Soldado.

Sturridge for our system is a much better option. Soldado does most or if not all his work in the box, whereas Sturridge is alot more versatile. If anything, he needs to improve his poaching prowess, and get into the box quicker, which Soldado has in abundance. If he does that he would be much better player.

mike65

smileyj1987 wrote: »

For a player that so many rate it seems funny not one club has come in for him yet .

Maybe, just maybe scouts don't rate him.

djPSB

The Rooster wrote: »

Agree there's absolutely no chance of Borini starting and I even think Alberto would get the nod for a bench place ahead of him.

Personally I think Allen and Aspas's performances against Celtic could cost them a starting place v Stoke, with Henderson and Sterling (or even Ibe if BR thinks Sterling is not right after his recent troubles) getting the nod instead.

So many question marks over our attacking options in general.

Suarez: Suspended and wants to leave

Sturridge: Just returning from injury and lacking match fitness

Aspas: Not a whole lot of experience at this level, remains to be seen how he'll adapt to the PL.

Borini: Injury ravaged first season, hasn't shown alot so far.

Alberto, Sterling, Ibe: Young with very little first team experience.

daithijjj

Raif Severance wrote: »

Seal the Deals? The only 1 we Failed to Sign is HM.

The only Reason here, is that you prefer Spurs' Signing to ours.

But did it ever occur to you that our Transfer Committee might not fancy anyone Signed by the Spurs?

I must have dreamt the Costa thing. Perhaps i was just day dreaming while slurping on a Raspberry and white chocolate iced blend from there and got it all wrong. (I thoroughly recommend them by the way, they are what you might call, Boss).

Is there a single person who thinks LFC have had a better window?. Really?. Im the only black sheep in the flock?.

5live

El Inho wrote: »

I'll just leave this here....

http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/soccer?iso=20130817T1245&p0=301&fg1=ea0606&fg2=b3b3b3&msg=LFC+V+STOKE

So we're nearly there. Likely line up:

---

Mingolet

---

---

-Johnson

---

Toure

---

Agger

---

Enrique-

---

---

Lucas

---

---

---

Allen

---

Gerrard

---

---

-Aspas

---

Myself

---

Sterling-

---

---

Sturridge

---

I'd expect Borini, Henderson and maybe Ibe to get the nod off the bench around the 60, 70 and 80 mark respectively, depending on how things are going of course.

Prediction is most likely a narrow LFC win, or relatively boring draw.

I'm going to call it as a LFC win, 2-1, Sturridge and myself scoring, most likely leading, stoke leveling and then a 75th minute winner with a very nervous close to the game.

I am going for a Pool win, especially as we can field 12 players:D

Raif Severance

daithijjj wrote: »

I must have dreamt the Costa thing. Perhaps i was just day dreaming while slurping on a Raspberry and white chocolate iced blend from there and got it all wrong. (I thoroughly recommend them by the way, they are what you might call, Boss).

Is there a single person who thinks LFC have had a better window?. Really?. Im the only black sheep in the flock?.

Here's a Quote from Amiable, saying we never made an approach for Costa.

amiable wrote: »

James Pearce of Echo and Tony Barret of the Times reporting it along with Ben Smith of BBC.

Apparently Liverpool never made an approach for Diego Costa

LuckyLloyd

shamrock55 wrote: »

Id have sturridge anyday over soldado he proved in the little time he had last year he knows where the goal is, if he had played from the start he could have got close to 30 goals,as someone said soldado is 28 and has only scored 20+ once in la liga its a no brainer for me

Soldado definitely knows where the goal is, have no fear of that. He has a lot more form to draw on than Sturridge imo. Rubbish like the above serves to give Liverpool fans a bad name around here tbh.

Dickerty

I believe we did make an enquiry for Costa, Rodgers did mention him in a Presser, but I think his agent used us to get a new deal for him...

Pilsbury Doughboy

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Soldado definitely knows where the goal is, have no fear of that. He has a lot more form to draw on than Sturridge imo. Rubbish like the above serves to give Liverpool fans a bad name around here tbh.

And claiming Celtic would be relegated or that we should sign Hulk helps matters does it?

P.s would this weeks game be a big enough fixture for you to view or will you wait until the united game?

Dickerty

slingerz wrote: »

Liverpool are still a team youd want to take over in football manager terms though purely for the amount of transfers youd need to make before you could ever be happy with the squad

I don't pick them cause the budget is always rubbish.

And that WAGE bill...

daithijjj

Raif Severance wrote: »

Here's a Quote from Amiable, saying we never made an approach for Costa.

Okay, lets assume that's a fact.

"Now what's important over the next three to five weeks is improving the team." Brendan (5 weeks ago, and 2 days after Mkhitaryan singed for Dormund).

Do you think we have bid for anyone in that time?.

Nuri Sahin

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Sturridge for our system is a much better option. Soldado does most or if not all his work in the box, whereas Sturridge is alot more versatile. If anything, he needs to improve his poaching prowess, and get into the box quicker, which Soldado has in abundance. If he does that he would be much better player.

Soldado works the channels and is good when it comes to link up play, certainly more awareness of those around him in the box than Sturridge.

Sturridge has age on his side, is versatile and has pace to burn.

Who's the better finisher at this moment? Well that's a question that doesn't need answering.

GTR63

Vicxas wrote: »

Well, thats that then.

Damn him!

whatawaster

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Soldado works the channels and is good when it comes to link up play, certainly more awareness of those around him in the box than Sturridge.

Sturridge has age on his side, is versatile and has pace to burn.

Who's the better finisher at this moment? Well that's a question that doesn't need answering.

Who will score more goals is a question that does need answering though

5starpool

I haven't seen anything more than very idle speculation that we ere actually interested in Erikson anyhow.

daithijjj

Kess73 wrote: »

Soldado over Sturridge? Eight and a bit months ago I would have laughed at any sort of comparison as I was dead set against the signing of Sturridge. Can remember Daithi and I being at opposite ends of the spectrum with regards to signing him.

But 11 goals from 16 games, and a string of performances where I saw him do things on the pitch that I thought were not a part of his game , soon had me seeing the prospect of having to tuck into some delicious humble pie.

I still see a lot of flaws in Sturridge's game, and still have a few reservations about him, but he showed a hell of a lot of positives since joining Liverpool.

Ignoring the goals, he showed strength I did not think he had, he showed himself to be a beautiful shielder of the ball, he showed wonderful movement, and he at times displayed a propensity for an absolutely gorgeous first touch when an angled pass was played quickly to him.


January 1st 2013 would have seen me scoff at the idea of Sturridge over Soldado, but 15th August 2013 has me liking the idea of adding a high quality wideforward/winger/AM to the same team that Sturridge plays in rather than hypothetically replacing Sturridge with Soldado.

You should listen to me more :pac:

Still not the finished article but from his comments the other day he knows this. Still has a few greedy habits from trying to impress too much at the moneybags clubs imo. Time can improve that.

Raif Severance

daithijjj wrote: »

Okay, lets assume that's a fact.

"Now what's important over the next three to five weeks is improving the team." Brendan (5 weeks ago, and 2 days after Mkhitaryan singed for Dormund).

Do you think we have bid for anyone in that time?.

We made Inquiries, but Bid? No.

Like I said before, I think we gave Suarez and his Agent a Deadline Date and we won't move until we're sure if he's going to leave or here to stay. As to the Deadline Date, my guess is Aug. 19, Monday.

Super-Rush

whatawaster wrote: »

Who will score more goals is a question that does need answering though

Well whoever answers that can give us the lotto numbers while they're at it.

Kess73

daithijjj wrote: »

I must have dreamt the Costa thing. Perhaps i was just day dreaming while slurping on a Raspberry and white chocolate iced blend from there and got it all wrong. (I thoroughly recommend them by the way, they are what you might call, Boss).

Is there a single person who thinks LFC have had a better window?. Really?. Im the only black sheep in the flock?.

Reads more like you think Liverpool had the better window, than the point you are actually making.


But to your actual point, plenty on here have admired the signings made by Spurs, this summer in particular, and many have said that they have added more quality/strengthened better than we have.

Was it not only last week or so when you yourself replied to me when I was musing about the quality of their signings and how I thought they were superior in the centre as a unit to any of our signings? So yes, plenty do think they have had a better window in terms of quality of signing, and I would imagine that most would think that given the quality of their signings that they have a better chance of quickly being effective signings than a number of our signings.


And no, you are not a black sheep at all, you just might need a wash. :P

Sappy404

Vicxas wrote: »

Well, thats that then.

I don't know who or what you're quoting, but considering Liverpool have no interest in Eriksen, I'd ignore any more quotes from them.

Kess73

daithijjj wrote: »

You should listen to me more :pac:

Still not the finished article but from his comments the other day he knows this. Still has a few greedy habits from trying to impress too much at the moneybags clubs imo. Time can improve that.

If I did that then both of us would be wrong most of the time. :pac:







I am jesting of course.....or am I? :cool:

5starpool

Raif Severance wrote: »

We made Inquiries, but Bid? No.

Like I said before, I think we gave Suarez and his Agent a Deadline Date and we won't move until we're sure if he's going to leave or here to stay. As to the Deadline Date, my guess is Aug. 19, Monday.

That's a pretty random, finger in the air assumption to have made, especially in light of recent comments from the club.

Kess73

Super-Rush wrote: »

Well whoever answers that can give us the lotto numbers while they're at it.

2,9,25,27,29,40

Raif Severance

5starpool wrote: »

That's a pretty random, finger in the air assumption to have made, especially in light of recent comments from the club.

Believe what you must.

But if Real Madrid or any Foreign Club came in with a Decent Offer, Suarez goes.

Vicxas

Sappy404 wrote: »

I don't know who or what you're quoting, but considering Liverpool have no interest in Eriksen, I'd ignore any more quotes from them.

Well it was a rumor, and in the spirit of the thread name I was merely obliging.

LuckyLloyd

Pilsbury Doughboy wrote: »

And claiming Celtic would be relegated or that we should sign Hulk helps matters does it?

P.s would this weeks game be a big enough fixture for you to view or will you wait until the united game?

Your hate sustains me.

Kess73

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Soldado works the channels and is good when it comes to link up play, certainly more awareness of those around him in the box than Sturridge.

Sturridge has age on his side, is versatile and has pace to burn.

Who's the better finisher at this moment? Well that's a question that doesn't need answering.

I think the answer to who has been the better finisher to date does not need answering.

But if Sturridge can show the same sort of application this coming season as he has done since joining Liverpool, then it might prove to be a much harder question to answer as we head towards the business end of next season.

Would not have said no to Soldado, but I really do think a front three of Sturridge, Suarez and a high quality wide forward/winger would be more balanced than one of Soldado, Suarez, and Sturridge.


Of course the problem right now is thatwe don't have that high quality wide player.

DrumSteve

Kess73 wrote: »

I think the answer to who has been the better finisher to date does not need answering.

But if Sturridge can show the same sort of application this coming season as he has done since joining Liverpool, then it might prove to be a much harder question to answer as we head towards the business end of next season.

Would not have said no to Soldado, but I really do think a front three of Sturridge, Suarez and a high quality wide forward/winger would be more balanced than one of Soldado, Suarez, and Sturridge.


Of course the problem right now is thatwe don't have that high quality wide player.

That new fella for west ham looks decent.

GTR63

The rodgers press conference on LFC TV now

Kess73

DrumSteve wrote: »

That new fella for west ham looks decent.

Only if they have signed a new striker in the last day or so.

Vicxas

GTR63 wrote: »

The rodgers press conference on LFC TV now

Can you give any interesting things a note down, probably wont be able to see it.

RasTa

Anyone care to give me 5/1 for €20 on Swansea to finish above ye?

daithijjj

Raif Severance wrote: »

We made Inquiries, but Bid? No.

Like I said before, I think we gave Suarez and his Agent a Deadline Date and we won't move until we're sure if he's going to leave or here to stay. As to the Deadline Date, my guess is Aug. 19, Monday.

Well it all makes sense now, bid for nobody, we get nobody.

Why would Suarez have any baring on anything?, we have to wait for Suarez to go before we buy a CB for example?. A forward signing sure, but a CB/LB/DM?, is that what we have become now?, slaves on and off the pitch to one man?. We are 5m in the red this window, plus whatever wages have gone, a decent lump id say. Id be amazed if we hadnt low balled for at least 3 or 4 players at minumum in the last month. Wtf are we doing if we arent?.

Pilsbury Doughboy

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Your hate sustains me.

I did not enjoy the pomposity of your previous post, you seem very condescending towards fellow fans, just pointing out you have made a few 'rubbish' posts yourself that would give us fans a bad name

Dont be at yourself

Liverpool vs Spurs: midfield options

Suarez or Bale
Coutinho or Dembele
Gerrard or Paulinho
Lucas or Sandro
Allen or Chadli
Henderson or Capoue
Sterling or Lennon
Aspas or Siggurdson
Alberto or Holtby
Ibe or Carroll

There's nothing in that, especially when Bale's odds-on to leave, and Suarez is odds-on to stay.

Nuri Sahin

Kess73 wrote: »

I think the answer to who has been the better finisher to date does not need answering.

But if Sturridge can show the same sort of application this coming season as he has done since joining Liverpool, then it might prove to be a much harder question to answer as we head towards the business end of next season.

Would not have said no to Soldado, but I really do think a front three of Sturridge, Suarez and a high quality wide forward/winger would be more balanced than one of Soldado, Suarez, and Sturridge.


Of course the problem right now is thatwe don't have that high quality wide player.

Well, that's what I was getting at with the time on his side comment.

I eased off Soldado, I kept somewhat quiet during the time it seemed we had a chance of signing him a few weeks ago at least compared to the previous two or three years of quite regularly rambling on about him and wanting us to sign him because of Sturridge performances so far in his time at Liverpool. That's not to say I'd wouldn't have wanted Soldado here this summer!

I'm not downplaying Sturridge ability or potential, even while I didn't want him signed originally and make no bones about that, I never doubted his ability.

I'm still concerned about his injury issues throughout his career up to now and including the couple he picked up last season with us however. Hopefully over time, things like his awareness of players around him improves. You'd like to think so. That and being able to go through a season without missing a few weeks here or there.

Grayditch

Spurs will finish ahead of us, but it'd be nice if they were 3rd and we were 4th.

T-K-O

cson wrote: »

Going to pull you up on this.

Sahin was rode, for want of a better word, by Rodgers. Everything Kess said above is correct.

Watch him this season for BVB and come back to me in May and see if you think the same. The guy is quality.

So you're telling me he was good enough to start for Liverpool? I don't think so.

Im sure he will perform next season and good luck to him. When he returned to BVB he sat on the bench just as he did for us.

If anything we got rode, signing a guy who wasn't up to it / fit.

SlickRic

Grayditch wrote: »

Spurs will finish ahead of us, but it'd be nice if they were 3rd and we were 4th.

right now, I can't realistically hope for more than 6th. maybe 5th at a real push, but that's stretching it a lot.

If Lucas regains his previous form, if Gerrard stays injury free, if Coutinho and Sturridge deliver, and if Suarez actually does stay, and actually does play like he always has for us, then we have an outside shot at 4th. but honestly, only an extreme outside shot.

it would take a shíte season from Spurs, with that squad, to not finish above us. and Arsenal are still better than us, even though they've not strengthened.

Grayditch

"It'd be nice" is... you know wishful thinking. We're not going to get 4th.

Nuri Sahin

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Liverpool vs Spurs: midfield options

Suarez or Bale
Coutinho or Dembele
Gerrard or Paulinho
Lucas or Sandro
Allen or Chadli
Henderson or Capoue
Sterling or Lennon
Aspas or Siggurdson
Alberto or Holtby
Ibe or Carroll

There's nothing in that, especially when Bale's odds-on to leave, and Suarez is odds-on to stay.

Makes no sense to compare them. I've no idea where Carroll plays so can't comment on that one.

Paulinho is 25 and Gerrard is 32(?). Just sayin'

Holtby is a German internatonal, one who has played in the Champions League
Alberto is a player who has mostly played in Spain's second tier.

Nuri Sahin

T-K-O wrote: »

So you're telling me he was good enough to start for Liverpool? I don't think so.

Im sure he will perform next season and good luck to him. When he returned to BVB he sat on the bench just as he did for us.

If anything we got rode, signing a guy who wasn't up to it / fit.

Is that all he has done at Dortmund so far?