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

MD1990

Strongbow10 wrote: »

Off topic, but Eder Balanta is signing for Sampdoria for £5 million I see.

Will be worth 4 or 5 times that in a couple of seasons.

Love to see us have signed this guy and loan him out for a couple of seasons like we are doing with Ilori.

We can't sign every talented youngster in the world lol. We have Sterling,Coutinho,Manquillo,Moreno,Can,Markovic,Ilori,Flanagan,Wisdom,Ibe,
Alberto,Origi,Suso all 22 & under.

ush

Strongbow10 wrote: »

i'd tend to agree with you but BR was very adamant not so long ago that Balotelli wouldn't be a Liverpool player.

So confident was he of landing Falcao or Cavani.

BenEadir

ush wrote: »

Ah, you tease you. What is correct then?

I'm only on the wind up. Two things incorrect

1, There's no such thing as 12pm (or 12am). It's 12 noon (or 12 midnight)

2. Monday isn't this weekend.

Ben

ush

MD1990 wrote: »

We can't sign every talented youngster in the world lol.

Oh yes we can. We can just loan them back.

Agent Coulson

Lad i'm at work what happen on LFC tv at 9pm?

ush

BenThere wrote: »

I'm only on the wind up. Two things incorrect

1, There's no such thing as 12pm (or 12am). It's 12 noon (or 12 midnight)

2. Monday isn't this weekend.

Ben

My head hurts.

BenEadir

Strongbow10 wrote: »

i'd tend to agree with you but BR was very adamant not so long ago that Balotelli wouldn't be a Liverpool player.

Maybe because the price being asked at that time was to high? Wasn't Berlusconi touring a price of €35m earlier in the summer? Once the price dropped BR jumped at the value to be had. He did after all say in that same interview that Balotelli was a superb player. What manager doesn't want a superb player if the price is right?

Ben

Tuisceanch

whatawaster wrote: »

If Balotelli signs

Gerrard/Lucas/Allen/Henderson/Can/Coutinho/Lallana/Markovic/Sterling/Sturridge/Balotelli/Lambert

12 players for 6 positions. We have never had this kind of quality in depth, so that's exciting. That's excluding Suso and Ibe, who I'd imagine will go out on loan.

I personally think Ibe should be given a chance this season to play some games for Liverpool. I think he's a big talent and well worth keeping in the squad.

BenEadir

ush wrote: »

My head hurts.

Sorry, I couldn't resist!

BenEadir

kfallon wrote: »

we will make a profit on Borini, it's a no brainer to get rid!

Whilst emotionally I'd like to see Borini given a chance in domestic cup games to show what he can do from a businesses perspective you are correct and the right decision for the club would be to sell him to Sunderland for £14m and perhaps give Ibe a few extra run outs in the cup games.

If Borini stays and doesn't perform in the cup games his value could drop by £6m and that's not a risk worth taking when a profit can be made now.

Ben

NukaCola

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Lad i'm at work what happen on LFC tv at 9pm?

Mario kicked in the door, holding an ice bucket, threw it over his head while setting off a firecracker. Everyone was shocked in silence until Claire said "Who do you nominate Mario" and Mario just stared at her confused, furrowing his brow.......but really nothing happened i think.

ush

Borini was surely only being kept around until another striker was found.

cunnifferous

Happy with Balotelli. The way I see it if we had to consistently rely on him as our main striker we would be in trouble, as he will inevitably drift in and out at times. I think he will be used as occasional cover for Sturridge if he gets injured or as WF, an area we have various good alternatives in should his temperament/form wane.

Basically if he plays well he will be an immense asset for the team and if he loses the plot or goes awol temporarily, we have other players capable of coming into the team to replace him.

Thanx 4 The Fish

My ten year old has just told me "Beast mode Balotelli will smash the league".

That's that then!

5live

Tuisceanch wrote: »

Well since I applied for access to this thread i thought I should post something.

I have to say that I'm quite thrilled that we have signed Mario Balotelli for only 16 million particularly having seen that clip posted yesterday of his spectacular goal.

Having watched the pre-season games i was impressed by the organisation of the team but the lack of presence in the box was glaring.

The match against Southampton didn't fill me with much confidence as Southampton played far more as a team whereas we had a few good individual performances. The passing lacked sharpness and they struggled to find any space. I'm sure that they are much better than that and i can only presume that there might have being a bit of lethargy after their recent travel. However what do I know anyway.

I have supported Liverpool since 1977 which doesn't mean I know much but only that I have lots of memories!

Noob....:p

Talisman

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Lad i'm at work what happen on LFC tv at 9pm?

Nothing of note - Claire Rourke did the ice bucket challenge and nominated Jason McAteer, RobbieFowler and Matt Critchley.

livinginkorea

Talisman wrote: »

Nothing of note - Claire Rourke did the ice bucket challenge and nominated Jason McAteer, RobbieFowler and Matt Critchley.

She's still hot.

That is all.

Tuisceanch

5live wrote: »

Noob....:p

Sorry I don't communicate in nonz:pac:

Augmerson

(To the tune of Don't You Want Me by The Human League)

You were playing for Berlusconi in Serie A when we bought you
We picked you out, spunked the cash and flew you around into John Lennon Airport

Now you're 24 years old you've got the world at your feet
Success has been so easy for you
But don't forget it's Brendan who believes in you now
And we do too

MARIO BALOTELLI
MARIO BAAALLOOTELLLLLI
MARIO BALOTELLI
MARIO BALLOTELLLLII

ratracer

Augmerson wrote: »

(To the tune of Don't You Want Me by The Human League)

You were playing for Berlusconi in Serie A when we bought you
We picked you out, spunked the cash and flew you around into John Lennon Airport

Now you're 24 years old you've got the world at your feet
Success has been so easy for you
But don't forget it's Brendan who believes in you now
And we do too

MARIO BALOTELLI
MARIO BAAALLOOTELLLLLI
MARIO BALOTELLI
MARIO BALLOTELLLLII

I'd say Gerry Marsden is sh1tting himself at the thoughts of that replacing YNWA at game time.

Kerrigooney

i heart chewy louie wrote: »

Name change suggestions? :P

i heart Fanny.

Amirani

16 million for Balotelli is fantastic business by Liverpool.

Washington Irving

Talisman wrote: »

Nothing of note - Claire Rourke did the ice bucket challenge and nominated Jason McAteer, RobbieFowler and Matt Critchley.

Video: http://instagram.com/p/r-YOXDNuIj/

Utopia Parkway

Diego Simeone wrote: »

16 million for Balotelli is fantastic business by Liverpool.

Not according to Johnny Giles. Said he wouldn't take him for free on Newstalk this evening. Not a fan of Mario to say the least.:D

Blondie919

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Not according to Johnny Giles. Said he wouldn't take him for free on Newstalk this evening. Not a fan of Mario to say the least.:D

What does Giles know about football anyway?!

smellmepower

If Shane Long is worth 12m in today's inflated transfer market then getting Mario for 16m is a decent bit of business.

Talisman

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Not according to Johnny Giles. Said he wouldn't take him for free on Newstalk this evening. Not a fan of Mario to say the least.:D

Johnny Giles isn't a fan of football, he just spouts nonsense.

daithijjj

The 'S.A.S' has evolved....

daithijjj

daithijjj wrote: »

The 'S.A.S' has evolved....

Hopefully it's not SOBS come may!

billymitchell

spiritcrusher wrote: »

John Giles on the Balotelli transfer on Newstalk: "I wouldn't take him for nothing", "It's a disastrous signing for Liverpool", "To me it looks like Rodgers is not in control of signing the players". I like Giles, well I used to, but he hasn't a clue here. Rodgers not in control of the signings... Ridiculous.

Balotelli is not giles' type of player, Borini is. But you'll win nothing with a team of borinis

Todd Gack

Talisman wrote: »

Johnny Giles isn't a fan of football, he just spouts nonsense.

I do like Johnny but he's well past his sell by date at this stage, it's not his age just the fact he doesn't bother to research any players ever bar those he happens to see in the premier league and reverts to spouting the same old nonsense i.e. re Balotelli

Great bit of business for £16m, at worst he doesn't pull his weight and/or has a few disciplinary issues but can still be shipped off at about the same price given his ability and age. He's never seemed to have any dressing room issues with other players, always seemed to be well liked which makes him far less of a risk in my view

spockety

The reality is somewhere between Giles' assertions, and the prevailing wisdom on this board.

Don't let your giddiness dull the fact that Balotelli is a f****g headbanger. The 16m fee in addition to the fact that Milan are grand with offloading Italy's line leader only a week before the transfer window closes is very telling.

If there was a way to measure it, and Paddy Power had a market on "Will Liverpool end up ruing the day they signed Balotelli", it would be interesting to see what odds you'd get. 50/50?

Obviously I hope he is amazing and drives us to trophies, but he could be blockbuster for other reasons.

Can't wait to see him in action.

Corben Dallas

This is maybe best signing of the new season, Balotelli is possibly the only player that could be described as a replacement for Suarez. (hes that good).
plus 16m is good business.

***Usual Super Mario Desclaimers apply ie... that he actually focuses on the playing football bit and not the other stuff (fireworks in the loo, shooting air rifles etc) either way its going to be entertaining.

Rodgers will just have to show how good a man manager he is to get the best out of Mario.

greendom

billymitchell wrote: »

Balotelli is not giles' type of player, Borini is. But you'll win nothing with a team of borinis

You'll get relegated with a team of Ballotellis.

Agent Coulson

Balotelli will bring tv with him you can imagine Sky and BT wanting to show Liverpool games now just to see the whole sideshow that goes with him.

We were shown more than any other last season and got more tv money that any other and I can see the same happening this season now.

Tuisceanch

Adding the 16 million for Ballotelli bringing the net spend to 38 million and if they then recoup 14 million for Borini then you're looking at a net spend of 24 million. That seems like a fantastic bit of business

Combined Totals £751,305,000 £441,470,000 £309,835,000 1425 Players Purchased Fee Players Sold Fee Net Total Points Position Season 14/15
Emre Can £10,000,000 Armin Hodzic Free
Rickie Lambert £4,000,000 Jakub Sokolík Free
Adam Lallana £25,000,000 Luis Saurez £75,000,000
Lazar Marković £20,000,000 Conor Coady £500,000
Dejan Lovren £20,000,000 Pepe Reina £2,000,000
Divock Origi £10,000,000 Martin Kelly £1,500,000
Alberto Moreno £12,000,000



PTS POS
£101,000,000 £79,000,000 £22,000,000

Augmerson

daithijjj wrote: »

The 'S.A.S' has evolved....

Here Origi is still playing with Lille you may change that. Here's one I made earlier



DROP THE BASS MOTHER****ERS

kfallon

spockety wrote: »

The 16m fee in addition to the fact that Milan are grand with offloading Italy's line leader only a week before the transfer window closes is very telling.

They've been happy to get rid of the likes of Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Pirlo in recent years too so getting rid of Balotelli doesn't suggest anything tbh

SM01

billymitchell wrote: »

Balotelli is not giles' type of player, Borini is. But you'll win nothing with a team of borinis

Utopia Parkway

On a football level what is this going to mean practically?

Sturridge and Ballotelli up front as a pair?
Either one of them up front alone with 3 attackers behind them?
Ballotelli up front with Sturridge wider as part of a front 3?

It might take Rodgers a while to find the most effective system for the squad he has.

spockety

kfallon wrote: »

They've been happy to get rid of the likes of Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Pirlo in recent years too so getting rid of Balotelli doesn't suggest anything tbh

Not in the last week of the transfer window they didn't.

Harry Palmr

ITK

James Pearce
‏@JamesPearceEcho
@cn83lfc No truth whatsoever. There's more chance of the manager registering Colin Pascoe to play.

Vicxas

Harry Palmr wrote: »

ITK

Whos this for?

Knex*

machiavellianme wrote: »

What on earth is he doing with Glen Johnson so?

You should see his sums though.

Washington Irving

Vicxas wrote: »

Whos this for?

For Balotelli on loan last Saturday.

https://twitter.com/JamesPearceEcho/status/502570815486185472

Charlie19

Harry Palmr wrote: »

ITK

NOOOOOOooooooooo

I've just started to like the idea of having Balotteli in the team.

I hope this wasn't just Mario himself being on the windup, rumor has it that he's supposed to be a bit of a messer.

Iused2likebusts

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

On a football level what is this going to mean practically?

Sturridge and Ballotelli up front as a pair?
Either one of them up front alone with 3 attackers behind them?
Ballotelli up front with Sturridge wider as part of a front 3?

It might take Rodgers a while to find the most effective system for the squad he has.

A lot of rotation Id imagine but Id say our first choice front 6 will be a diamond of
Gerrard
Hendo llallana
sterling
ballotelli sturridge.

Great options on the bench coutinho, markovic, lambert, allen, can.

Knex*

I bet Mario will get a song before Sturridge does, if he does sign.

Harry Palmr

Mario Balotelli is poised to make a remarkable return to English football providing he agrees a Liverpool contract with several stringent clauses regarding his behaviour. Brendan Rodgers, who categorically stated he had no interest in the problematic striker less than three weeks ago, performed the volte-face after concluding Milan’s £16m asking price was too tempting to refuse.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/aug/21/mario-balotelli-liverpool-behaviour-clauses-milan-brendan-rodgers