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

Morzadec

Watching the 2nd goal again...

The attack starts from a beautiful cross field ball from Gerrard to Manquillo, the type of ball that few players in our squad could pull off with any consistency. That's what opened up the play and gave us the space to get the cross in.

Gerrard's influence is still vital, can't fathom the calls for him to be dropped. Even in a so-called 'poor' performance today, he played a key part in the winner

Agent Coulson

To go with the jig from last season! Hendo's reactions are pricelees.

michael999999

billymitchell wrote: »

Where is flanno these days? Havent seen his name mentioned much in the last few weeks

Still injured. Should be back this week I think along with lallana!

Vicxas

michael999999 wrote: »

Still injured. Should be back this week I think along with lallana!

And markovic. Looking forward to that

Washington Irving

Seems we have a new youth coach coming from Wigan.

https://twitter.com/timlees10/status/501116113103900672

klose

billymitchell wrote: »

Where is flanno these days? Havent seen his name mentioned much in the last few weeks

Injured, back soon i think.

LuckyLloyd

Morzadec wrote: »

Watching the 2nd goal again...

The attack starts from a beautiful cross field ball from Gerrard to Manquillo, the type of ball that few players in our squad could pull off with any consistency. That's what opened up the play and gave us the space to get the cross in.

Gerrard's influence is still vital, can't fathom the calls for him to be dropped. Even in a so-called 'poor' performance today, he played a key part in the winner

It's even stupider than that. Getting emotionally invested in starting lineups this year (before Christmas at least) is silly. Right now we have five central midfielders:

Gerrard
Henderson
Lucas
Can
Allen

Good enough as a group to win a league / CL? Probably not. All required? Yes. I'd love us to sign a Song but until that happens the above is what we've got and they're all going to see game time.

Pulsating Star

Kess73 wrote: »

Based on our squad as it stands today, where do people think we will finish in the league this season?

Will always be more of a reader rather than poster but thought I would give this a shot..

City.
Arsenal.
Chelsea.
Utd.
Lfc.
Spurs.
Everton.

City's away form at the start of last season gave everyone a chance, can't see that happening again. Arsenal cant be so unlucky with injuries as last season plus they have gotten the " no trophy " monkey off their back. Jose will get the bullet. Seen the first half of today's game, which was reported as our best half , and we looked very nervy.

dundalkfc10

Pulsating Star wrote: »

Will always be more of a reader rather than poster but thought I would give this a shot..

City.
Arsenal.
Chelsea.
Utd.
Lfc.
Spurs.
Everton.

City's away form at the start of last season gave everyone a chance, can't see that happening again. Arsenal cant be so unlucky with injuries as last season plus they have gotten the " no trophy " monkey off their back. Jose will get the bullet. Seen the first half of today's game, which was reported as our best half , and we looked very nervy.

I feel you have wrote that more in hope than expectation. No chance he will be sacked

I think Liverpool will finish 3rd behind Chelsea and City, Arsenal 4th

Utd are average again and Arsenal are well Arsenal

SlickRic

The biggest thing to come out of today?

Moreno can't come in quick enough so Johnson is benched.

Utterly shíte, and lazy on top of it.

LuckyLloyd

SlickRic wrote: »

The biggest thing to come out of today?

Moreno can't come in quick enough so Johnson is benched.

Utterly shíte, and lazy on top of it.

Great goal saving tackle though.

Vicxas

SlickRic wrote: »

The biggest thing to come out of today?

Moreno can't come in quick enough so Johnson is benched.

Utterly shíte, and lazy on top of it.

He had one good manoeuvre. then he just fell apart.

Muahahaha

That was a nervy performance today, I don't like how easily Soton opened us up on several occasions. Given how many goals we shipped last season I'd hoped sorting the defence was a priority. It's early days of course but watching that today doesn't fill me with confidence for the away game to Man City coming up next.

martyos121

After seeing how we played today, a draw next week at the Etihad would be a miracle. Sterling is a terrific talent, but we can't be relying on him too much, Rodgers needs to use him wisely because overplaying him at this stage of his career will lead to injury problems in the future.

murpho999

martyos121 wrote: »

After seeing how we played today, a draw next week at the Etihad would be a miracle. Sterling is a terrific talent, but we can't be relying on him too much, Rodgers needs to use him wisely because overplaying him at this stage of his career will lead to injury problems in the future.

Different game, different circumstances and team will be a week further along in training and probably have a different line up.

I think we have a good chance of a result there, very tough game though.

People should not see first games of the season as a marker for the rest of it.

billymitchell

martyos121 wrote: »

After seeing how we played today, a draw next week at the Etihad would be a miracle. Sterling is a terrific talent, but we can't be relying on him too much, Rodgers needs to use him wisely because overplaying him at this stage of his career will lead to injury problems in the future.

With the purchases of lallana and markovic, cout and sterling will see some rotation. Need somebody similar for sturridge

Dickerty

Well, 3 points is 3 points, we never win comfortably on the first day. Can may well come in next time, we'll need more energy in midfield against City. And hopefully Moreno to cope witrh the pace of Navas out right, who made a mug of Robinson when we played in the US.

Rodgers suggested max 2 more players, which WILL be a striker and maybe Romero as sub goalie?

kfallon

Performance yesterday was pretty poor, I'd say no player was worthy of more than a 6/10. It's all well and good putting Johnson forward as the fall guy but there were plenty in the team who were also poor. It was flashes of brilliance from Henderson, Sturridge, Sterling and Mignolet that won us the game but at the same time I couldn't say any of them had a particularly good game either. Mignolet is still a disaster waiting to happen with balls into the box! Southampton deserved something from the game, they were excellent in the second half. Ward-Prowse seemed to be running the show, surprised we didn't put a bid in for him during the game

It's only the first game and it's to be expected that with more games our play will get better (it can't get any worse tbh). I'm not too worried, technically we're 3 points up on last season already.

rob316

Dickerty wrote: »

Well, 3 points is 3 points, we never win comfortably on the first day. Can may well come in next time, we'll need more energy in midfield against City. And hopefully Moreno to cope witrh the pace of Navas out right, who made a mug of Robinson when we played in the US.

Rodgers suggested max 2 more players, which WILL be a striker and maybe Romero as sub goalie?

If Alex Song is available and there is takers for Lucas I would hope we wouldn't pass that transfer up.

We should of signed Diego Lopez surely we would have been a more attractive place than AC Milan.

Get that striker in, the best we can find.

Podge2k7

Kunkka

We need one more decent striker if Sturridge gets injured we're in trouble. Happy enough with the performance though it was a typical opening game and three points is all that matters.

dogbert27

I agree with people not to take too much away from yesterdays performance with regard to going to City.

As much as Southampton got at us yesterday Newcastle also got at City and carved them open on a few occasions and if they had a natural goal scorer should have equalized before City got the second.

It will be a tight game with City and being at the Ethiad I think it will be a draw.

djPSB

SlickRic wrote: »

The biggest thing to come out of today?

Moreno can't come in quick enough so Johnson is benched.

Utterly shíte, and lazy on top of it.

I'm not sure he's lazy. He's just sh1te.

djPSB

murpho999 wrote: »

Different game, different circumstances and team will be a week further along in training and probably have a different line up.

I think we have a good chance of a result there, very tough game though.

People should not see first games of the season as a marker for the rest of it.

The bookies odds of 19/20 on City are a bit off imo.

Think City should be a bit shorter than that all things considered.

rob316

Yesterday was proof that we cant play with one striker, as soon as Lambert came on he was in the box, he didn't have to do anything but just be another body in the box to create space for Sturridge and Sterling to setup and score.
It was a very good sub from Rodgers, his entrance really lifted the place too.

BoardsMember

Morzadec wrote: »

Watching the 2nd goal again...

The attack starts from a beautiful cross field ball from Gerrard to Manquillo, the type of ball that few players in our squad could pull off with any consistency. That's what opened up the play and gave us the space to get the cross in.

Gerrard's influence is still vital, can't fathom the calls for him to be dropped. Even in a so-called 'poor' performance today, he played a key part in the winner

I'd agree with this, but I would dearly love to see him taking some interest in attacking midfielders running past him. It happened quite a lot last season, and happened several times yesterday. He needs to track players sometimes, not just occupy the space in front of the back 4 without actually doing anything. Another worrying thing was, when we went 2-1 up, he seemed to be taking up his most attacking positions, being swept along with the crowds excitement, when he should have been demanding the ball, and controlling the game.

whatawaster

rob316 wrote: »

Yesterday was proof that we cant play with one striker, as soon as Lambert came on he was in the box, he didn't have to do anything but just be another body in the box to create space for Sturridge and Sterling to setup and score.
It was a very good sub from Rodgers, his entrance really lifted the place too.

Our problems yesterday were in the other 2/3 of the pitch. We had a passenger at full back and our midfield was a mess.

One game doesn't prove anything with regard to 1 forward or 2 forwards. We routed Dortmund with 1 up front. We have a great record with Sturridge as a lone striker.

Podge2k7

Podge2k7 wrote: »

Pretty incredible record.

I thought he was poor enough yesterday overall tbh but he won us the 3 points so can't be too harsh on him.

He definitely needs more quality up there with him.

Sterling was head and shoulders above him and Coutinho, the latter having little influence.

Dickerty

Once Moreno is in and Manquillo retains his place after a good start, teams are going to attack us down the middle because that's our soft underbelly. We showed last season that we can be hurt there. The sooner we have Can in to help hunt down players in that area, the better. Even Allen is better at tracking runners than Lucas, and Stevie does it sometimes but doesn't have the legs to do that for 90 mins. Silva and Nasri will really hurt us there...

Dickerty

rarnes1 wrote: »

He definitely needs more quality up there with him.

Help is on the way!

Vanolder

Johnson should be flogged now while we can still make £1m on him. Maybe some competition will do him good as he has had it way too comfortable for both club and country but he is a liability at this stage.

gafferino

Dickerty wrote: »

Once Moreno is in and Manquillo retains his place after a good start, teams are going to attack us down the middle because that's our soft underbelly. We showed last season that we can be hurt there. The sooner we have Can in to help hunt down players in that area, the better. Even Allen is better at tracking runners than Lucas, and Stevie does it sometimes but doesn't have the legs to do that for 90 mins. Silva and Nasri will really hurt us there...

Thought Manquillo had a good debut vs Dortmund but was caught out yesterday a few times. Will probably take him a while to settle in.

Harry Palmr

On this day Liverpool signed Ian Rush for the second time (26 years ago) and er Dirk Kuyt (8 years ago)

Chip Whitley

In previous years I would be nervous about playing against Man City after a performance like yesterday but I think last year this team showed they can switch things up from game to game and once someone more mobile like Allen is in the middle then I think we'll find a groove again and will naturally be up for the City game anyway. Feck the jinx!

Francie Barrett

Dickerty wrote: »

Well, 3 points is 3 points, we never win comfortably on the first day.

Exactly - also I don't think people were giving any respect to Southampton. Yes, they've lost players, but when I look at their first 11 and the performances they gave, I saw a very solid team there that will almost certainly take points from other teams in the top 4. Also have to remember that we have Markovic, Lallana and Moreno all to come in, as well as another 1-2 players (hopefully).

Boom_Bap

Illori was at the Bordeaux game over the weekend. Looks like that one is going ahead.

OwaynOTT

whatawaster wrote: »

Our problems yesterday were in the other 2/3 of the pitch. We had a passenger at full back and our midfield was a mess.

One game doesn't prove anything with regard to 1 forward or 2 forwards. We routed Dortmund with 1 up front. We have a great record with Sturridge as a lone striker.

We routed a serverly under strength Dortmund in a friendly, the value of that is questionable.
With Sturridge as the lone striker at the start of last year we didn't exactly score much.

brevity

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Illori was at the Bordeaux game over the weekend. Looks like that one is going ahead.

I don't know why we didn't just leave him on loan at Sporting....

Slattsy

Manquillo had a very good debut. Really like the look of him and already showed more than Johnson in one game. He seemed quite comfortable on the ball and made the right decisions and can play it simple when nothing is on.
Was caught once of twice but it was his first game and will improve as confidence grows. Be great when Moreno is in too. We'll be much more solid at the back.

Delighted with Lovren also. He could be signing of the season.

whatawaster

OwaynOTT wrote: »

We routed a serverly under strength Dortmund in a friendly, the value of that is questionable.
With Sturridge as the lone striker at the start of last year we didn't exactly score much.

Again, look at how the rest of the team was functioning at that time - ie: not at all well.

Suarez was out, Coutinho was struggling, Moses hadn't yet come in to save us. Aspas wasn't a goal threat.

Could just as easily point to the end of the 12/13 season when Sturridge was up front on his own and we (and he) were scoring lots of goals.

whatawaster

whatawaster wrote: »

Again, look at how the rest of the team was functioning at that time - ie: not at all well.

Suarez was out, Coutinho was struggling, Moses hadn't yet come in to save us. Aspas wasn't a goal threat.

Could just as easily point to the end of the 12/13 season when Sturridge was up front on his own and we (and he) were scoring lots of goals.

When Sturridge was running wide and deeper to pick up the ball there we were short up front.

Lambert coming on made a difference imo. It gives defenders more to think about, gives Sturridge more space to play and obviously adds another goal threat.

Chip Whitley

Today FM playing Depeche Mode, first time I've actually thought how odd it will be to never see Suarez in a Liverpool shirt again.

D'Agger

I think Lambert & Allen had a big part to play in us getting the winner yesterday. Lambert didn't finish the game well but he put himself about and drew pressure away from Sturridge who was then freed up to drift on to the wings more.

Allen pressed high and did very well. I criticised Lucas during the match thread and while he was fine in the first half - he was poor in the second. If you compare either himself or Gerrard to Fernando for City yesterday - neither came close to doing the job he did yesterday - you'd think Lucas should take the brunt of criticism for that, given that he supposedly has a better defensive game, however, from what I saw, he was rushing in and being played around - he failed to put any authority on the match which is what's required in the middle of the park.

gafferino

Brendaõ wrote: »

Today FM playing Depeche Mode, first time I've actually thought how odd it will be to never see Suarez in a Liverpool shirt again.

I actually turned it off when it came on the radio.

Daemonic

Since we won anyway I'm, kind of glad Lambert didn't put away the chance he had a couple of minutes after coming on yesterday. Looking forward to seeing him go mental when he gets his first goal and I think he would have felt conflicted yesterday between celebrating his first Liverpool goal and respecting Southampton.

Boom_Bap

D'Agger wrote: »

I think Lambert & Allen had a big part to play in us getting the winner yesterday. Lambert didn't finish the game well but he put himself about and drew pressure away from Sturridge who was then freed up to drift on to the wings more.

Allen pressed high and did very well. I criticised Lucas during the match thread and while he was fine in the first half - he was poor in the second. If you compare either himself or Gerrard to Fernando for City yesterday - neither came close to doing the job he did yesterday - you'd think Lucas should take the brunt of criticism for that, given that he supposedly has a better defensive game, however, from what I saw, he was rushing in and being played around - he failed to put any authority on the match which is what's required in the middle of the park.

Switching to 2 up front with the diamond made the difference.
Another great example of Rodgers being able to change a game with tactics and personnel changes.
Ricki done exactly what we needed him to do, draw out the defensive and get in the mix.

Another thing that went relatively un-noticed was how Gerrard and Lucas were deployed. The 2 of them were interchanging and dropping into the QB role in the first half. Lucas is obviously not as effective there, but made us more flexible in our build up from the back.
Lovrens range of passing is also sensational. I would expect that he will absorb the Gerrard QB role quite a bit, freeing up on of the DM positions. It looks like he has the ability to do both.

Bacchus

Lambert also was the one that chased down that loose ball that was half cleared by Southampton. 30 seconds later the ball was in the back of the net. Our attack would have broken down only for that. It's a simple thing but he did it and showed the strength and presence of mind to chase it down and keep the attack going.

Knex*

Brendaõ wrote: »

Today FM playing Depeche Mode, first time I've actually thought how odd it will be to never see Suarez in a Liverpool shirt again.

Username, signature, and "Playing with 11 men".

Lolz.

:pac:

Utopia Parkway

OwaynOTT wrote: »

We routed a serverly under strength Dortmund in a friendly, the value of that is questionable.

They weren't that understrength. 9 of them beat Bayern Munich handily in the German Super Cup a few days later. Still only pre-season though.

Chip Whitley

Knex. wrote: »

Username, signature, and "Playing with 11 men".

Lolz.

:pac:

Can't tell if sarcasm, or...

I know my profile must seem like a pisstake, but I'm a big Rodgers fan, the sig is just to be funny and the 'playing with 11 men' is just classic innuendo :P