Liverpool Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014 - Mod Note in OP 28/8

rob316

So important to win that but we really should of lost, that 2nd half was abject.

Couple of things,

Lucas is finished and if he isn't don't ever play him with Gerrard again. The difference Allen made was night and day.

Coutinho is ineffective in these tight games far to easy to mark out, put him in an open game and he will wreak havoc.

Sterling - the lad has stepped up to be one our most important players an absolute nightmare to play against.

Concerns over Gerrard still our defence is two easy to get at.

Lovren - he is a top defender so calm and assured reminds me of Agger but only better.

tomaussie

Vinz Mesrine wrote: »

Thank god for Shane Long and his amazing finishing ability.

I'd rather thank Mingolet for an amazing save.

Bloc Party!

Cant be the only one who thought Skrtel should of been MOTM. He was a monster today. Had a fantastic game

viper006

Similar to last season when Mig saved the peno, that save on to the crossbar again ensured he played a huge part on our season kicking off the right way.We were very lucky to win that but delighted we did with 2 very hard away games to come.

Alarming that allen and lambert are the options off the bench when we need to change things up but in fairness allen at least drove forward and got us up the pitch vs lucas today was so so poor.

With Suarez gone, i thought sturridge cut an isolated figure today and he id much rather see us with 2 up top and the diamond midfield. Sterling again, it just so exciting to watch, his pace is incredible. Louvren hopefully will continue to put in these rock solid displays.

Get Moreno into the team, lallana and markovic fit and a new striker and it will be fascinating to see what we are like in afew games time.

K-9

Mr Alan wrote: »

Blessed today. Delighted to start with a win.

Need for a top quality striker more apparent than ever. Get it done!

The need for a top class, boss, controling CM becomes even far more apparent. Sick saying it for 3 or 4 years at this stage.

Agent Coulson

I have being saying all summer we need to buy Clyne and dump Johnson and after today I will say it again.

Washington Irving

Big similarities to last season's opener. Unconvincing 2-1 win with a massive let off at the end against a red and white striped midtable team.


Mignolet had a few nervy moments but was one the bigger factors in our win.

As we already knew, Johnson is terrible and really should not be playing against any half decent side, or preferably, not at all.

Lucas was poor, injuries seem to have ruined him. Allen made a huge difference once he came on.

Lovren, Skrtel and Manquillo looked good.

Glad Sturridge got the goal, wasn't playing too well up to then. Moreno, Lallana, Markovic, Agger, Flanagan and Enrique still to return. Feeling positive going into these two big games.

5starpool

Sterling looks like great craic in his interviews. Perhaps someday he will say more than just the basic standard answers. I suppose he is still just a kid though.

Nervy, poor display, but the 3 points is the important thing of course. Southampton deserved something from the game, but glad they left empty handed.

Mr Alan

K-9 wrote: »

The need for a top class, boss, controling CM becomes even far more apparent. Sick saying it for 3 or 4 years at this stage.

We will never go there while Gerrard is still around.

Pilsbury Doughboy

Yeah that save from Mig was sensational, two years running he bailed us out on the opening day, hopefully this will spur us on for a similar season.

rob316

Bloc Party! wrote: »

Cant be the only one who thought Skrtel should of been MOTM. He was a monster today. Had a fantastic game

He was good.Playing with lovren shows how inferior he is, that is a top defender the best I have seen at Anfield in a long time. Could be as good as sami.

livinginkorea

K-9 wrote: »

The need for a top class, boss, controling CM becomes even far more apparent. Sick saying it for 3 or 4 years at this stage.

+1

We need that more than anything else. No point having strikers if they don't get the ball for most of the game. We need someone to control the game.

Charlie19

livinginkorea wrote: »

Allen played well I think. He wasn't so bad last year either. He's good to play off the bench and for lower teams I think.

He has to do a bit more for me, cant fault his work rate but its when he gets into the final third that I find he has to be more clinical.

tok9

I don't think I want to see Gerrard and Lucas in CM again. Maybe it was just because we needed someone who could help out more with the attack.

Mignolet made some fantastic saves. It's just so frustrating to see how poor he can be commanding his area and passing.

He's been a fine signing but you get the feeling he'll never be a top class keeper.

Anyway less of the negativity from me.. delighted with the win. Delighted we have a LB in Moreno coming into the team and hopefully markovic/Lallana are back soon.

Next week is going to be a different level.

Mr Alan

Pilsbury Doughboy wrote: »

Yeah that save from Mig was sensational, two years running he bailed us out on the opening day, hopefully this will spur us on for a similar season.

Thought he was poor today. He looks like a man who has zero confidence.

darced

This post has been deleted.

Seamu$

Thought Lambert did well enough, allowed us change system and that made a huge difference. Good to have options. Need another striker and, with Lallana & Markovic to come in that should give good options & flexibility.

Agent Coulson

Sergio Romero in as a number 2 keeper to push Mignolet.

Let Lucas off to Napoli and get Song in a muscle.

Get rid of Johnson and get Clyne in.

Get a top class striker in.

Gbear

Charlie19 wrote: »

He has to do a bit more for me, cant fault his work rate but its when he gets into the final third that I find he has to be more clinical.

We badly needed someone able to receive the ball and keep it.

Without that it's just lumping the ball randomly at the front and hoping for the best.

Coutinho, Sterling and Sturridge need people close to them to make them shine. They can't always be playing off the last shoulder. That doesn't work against a set defence set up to hit us on the counter.

Also, I hope it's down to early seasons leggyness but our counter-attack was atrocious today.

Seamu$

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Sergio Romero in as a number 2 keepr to push Mignolet.

Let Lucas off to Napoli and get Song in a muscle.

Get rid of Johnson and get Clyne in.

Get a top class striker in.

This ^

Can't see No. 3 happening this window though.

MD1990

Thought Lovren was superb. Manquillo improved as the game wore on and will be a good RB for us. Midfield was poor. Too easy to get in the hole with our midfield. We obviously need another top class striker.

tomaussie

Mr Alan wrote: »

We will never go there while Gerrard is still around.

We will if that is going to be a regular formation.

Soft Falling Rain

I do not want to see Lucas start another game for this club. A liability today, worse than Johnson.

Mr Alan

tomaussie wrote: »

We will if that is going to be a regular formation.

Have we been linked with a top midfielder all window? Rodgers is clearly happy with his current midfield options.

Fescue

I thought we looked a little more assured when we went back to the diamond.

Positives were definitely Skrtel, Lovren, Sterling and Henderson. For his debut I thought Manquillo played well.

Lucas I thought was excellent in the first 30 minutes but he did fade after that. Gerrard likewise was ineffective.

I wouldn't read a huge amount into the performance so early in the season.

Tipsy McSwagger

Garbage performance, garbage atmosphere, but 3pts will do nicely.

Talisman

Washington Irving wrote: »

Lucas was poor, injuries seem to have ruined him. Allen made a huge difference once he came on.

Gerrard was also poor, he sat too deep and it created the space for the Southampton midfield.

Given that Lovren can distribute the ball from the back, there's really no need for the "quarter back" in the line up. The team need energy in midfield and today both Gerrard and Lucas were passengers for the most part.

tomaussie

Mr Alan wrote: »

Have we been linked with a top midfielder all window? Rodgers is clearly happy with his current midfield options.

I think Alex Song has been linked.

Harry Palmr

Good to see the people finally copping on to Gerrard as part of the problem

Devilman40k

Mr Alan wrote: »

Have we been linked with a top midfielder all window? Rodgers is clearly happy with his current midfield options.

Alex Song is the rumour doing the rounds

Mr Alan

tomaussie wrote: »

I think Alex Song has been linked.

Has Rodgers not said how he's looking for 1 more player, a striker to go straight into our first team?

SlickRic

phew.

tomaussie

Mr Alan wrote: »

Has Rodgers not said how he's looking for 1 more player, a striker to go straight into our first team?

I'm not privy to what he's said or what he wants. I'm just passing on the speculation that's out there. I don't believe a word of anything I hear or read.

We only know it's real when it happens.

K-9

Mr Alan wrote: »

Thought he was poor today. He looks like a man who has zero confidence.

Its going for too long, I'd worry it's a mental thing, he definitely needs competition. Anyway the positive is we've players to come back to give us starting and bench options, which is the minimum a top 4 club needs. Just a little more quality than Eto as a striker and I'd bre confident enough that we can get top 4.

Fescue

We found a way to win depsite playing poorly, that's a big positive. I would expect much more from the team in the future.

I expect Lallana to make a big difference to our midfield when he comes into the team.

Credit to Southampton too who were excellent.

baldbear

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Good to see the people finally copping on to Gerrard as part of the problem

Gerrard has another 2 years left in him yet. Having him with Lucas wasn't a great idea. 15 yrs a Pool player. Pure legend

5live

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Good to see the people finally copping on to Gerrard as part of the problem

If only Mike was here, he would thank that post:)

Gbear

Mr Alan wrote: »

Has Rodgers not said how he's looking for 1 more player, a striker to go straight into our first team?

I think he kept it pretty vague and said "a few signings".

Super-Rush

Thought Lucas done OK tbh. Broke up a lot of play and made interceptions, you know the things a DM is supposed to do.

He was caught ball watching for the goal but the huge hole left by Johnson trying to be a 3rd centre back.

Agent Coulson

Super-Rush wrote: »

Thought Lucas done OK tbh. Broke up a lot of play and made interceptions, you know the things a DM is supposed to do.

He was caught ball watching for the goal but the huge hole left by Johnson trying to be a 3rd centre back.

The thing with Lucas now is he doesn't have 45 minutes in let alone 90 minutes at the pace Liverpool want to play anymore.

Fescue

Super-Rush wrote: »

Thought Lucas done OK tbh. Broke up a lot of play and made interceptions, you know the things a DM is supposed to do.

He was caught ball watching for the goal but the huge hole left by Johnson trying to be a 3rd centre back.

I thought he faded quite a bit after half time.

I didn't think I'd be saying this but the diamond formation looks more solid than the 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1 we started with. But to continue with that system you need a top quality forward to play up front with Sturridge.

Jako8

Secret message on the L'pool bench.

mav79

Another game, another goal for Sturridge. The guys strike rate is absolutely phenomenal.
Sterling just looks to be getting better every game.
And a very good performance from Lovren.

Moreno for Johnson and LB should be ok.
There is still work to be done in midfield, Gerrard and Lucas leave the forwards too isolated, Hopefully we see Gerrard with Henderson and Allen starting the next game.

Kerrigooney

Gash performance but no harm,3 points is 3 points. Onwards and upwards.

Gbear

Super-Rush wrote: »

Thought Lucas done OK tbh. Broke up a lot of play and made interceptions, you know the things a DM is supposed to do.

He was caught ball watching for the goal but the huge hole left by Johnson trying to be a 3rd centre back.

Lucas used to be happy to get the ball on his own in midfield and start us playing. He could handle pressure from even 2 or 3 players trying to press and he could run or pass his way out of danger, break the press in doing so and give us momentum.
Nowadays he seems to need Gerrard or someone else to take it off him and make them start the plays for him. That leaves nobody next to Coutinho and generally very little staying power in the opponent's half.
That's what Allen did so well when he came on. He didn't have to run through half a dozen challenges or play a blind backheel throughball off his arse. That's what our other attackers are for.

Lucas' defensive contributions don't outweigh the negatives; nothing provided in possession and, when paired with Gerrard, gaping holes left all over midfield.

Against a midfield with Schneiderlin and Wanayama it just seems like suicide. Hopefully it was a fitness thing with our other midfielders - Can came off at half time against Dortmund, Allen seems a bit delicate in general and obvious Lallana wasn't available.

murpho999

In line with the new rules here's a gif of Henderson's great pass to Sterling for first goal.

Fescue

Anyone else feel Sterling could be a good option as a second striker with Sturridge? Seems to love operating in the middle.

Roanmore

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The thing with Lucas now is he doesn't have 45 minutes in let alone 90 minutes at the pace Liverpool want to play anymore.

He never really drove it forward, passing sideways or back. Allen make such an impact because he went forward.

daithijjj

The problem today was the following, it wasnt anyone else. Nobody knows what these two players are going to do and it interupts everything else imo.

Squawka Football @Squawka · 24m
Glen Johnson and Lucas Leiva didn't win a single tackle between them for Liverpool against Southampton today. #LFC

Fescue

daithijjj wrote: »

The problem today was the following, it wasnt anyone else. Nobody knows what these two players are going to do and it interupts everything else imo.

Squawka Football @Squawka · 24m
Glen Johnson and Lucas Leiva didn't win a single tackle between them for Liverpool against Southampton today. #LFC

I clearly remember Lucas winning a tackle high up the pitch in the first half.