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

Underpaid Mike

Javi Manquillo | The Right Man For Right Back?

Moves to help curb the frailties of the Liverpool defence seem to be gathering speed now, as Liverpool seem set to sign Atlético Madrid full back Javi Manquillo on a two year loan, only a matter of days after signing Dejan Lovren.

For some, the name Manquillo will only bring back memories of the horrific neck injury he suffered in a recent Copa del Rey semi final against Real Madrid. For others, it will make them ask “who?”, with the 20 year old only having made six appearances for Los Rojiblancos first team.

Perhaps thanks to his stats, people who have not seen his play for the first or B team generally tend to have a wrong impression on the type of player he is.



Looking at his main strengths and weaknesses, it would be safe to make the assumption that he is more of a defensive right back, more of an Álvaro Arbeloa than say, a Glen Johnson for example, however this is slightly wide of the mark. According to Billy Edwards, a fan of Atletico Madrid, who has watched him develop from his youth days, he is actually someone who plays more like the latter, a player who bombs up the wing, exchanging little one twos with the winger. A fine example of this would be his impressive performance at the U-20 World Cup when playing behind Barça’s Gerard Deulofeu.

What this could tell us about him is he is an attacking full back, who possesses great strength, pace and power, who can actually get back and defend – Imagine.

Looking at weaknesses though, the fact that one of them is concentration is a bit worrying, and pairing that up with a slight rashness when it comes to tackling at times, which is probably why Diego Simeone hasn’t played him much in fear of creating a weak link within his La Liga winning outfit which boasted the best defensive record last season.

It also says that he is a very weak crosser, but according to Billy Edwards again: “He’s a good crosser in terms of technique but doesn’t always make the right choice, although will put in some fantastic balls from time to time.”

So how does he stand next to our current right backs?



Due to the difference in game time it is difficult to get an accurate comparison, but from these alone there is some room to be a bit excited, especially with him having time to grow with game time.

It is also a win-win situation for Brendan Rodgers because it is only a loan spell so should he not develop much then not a lot has been lost, but should he grow to the level which is being talked about, which is quite high, then the £6 million buy out clause which is rumoured to be included in the deal would prove to be a something of a coupe

Video of Manquillo playing for Spain U21

Underpaid Mike

Some quotes from BR after the penalties win over City last night

“It was an excellent game between two very good sides. I was delighted with the fitness of the players & we showed good character."

Rodgers on Henderson: “This year the big target is to get goals. I think he can get 10 goals plus.”

Rodgers confirms Lovren is training at Melwood and won’t be joining up with the squad in the US. #LFC

Rodgers confirms that "there is still some business to be done" by Liverpool before the transfer window closes.

Francie Barrett

murpho999 wrote: »

You could be right but you should not make full judgements based on meaningless pre season games.

He was the better player towards the end of the season, he was the better player at the World Cup, it's not just meaningless friendlies.

Underpaid Mike

The dirty little fúcker!!!

Liverpool flop Iago Aspas tells Alberto Moreno not to make £20m Kop move
LIVERPOOL flop Iago Aspas has urged Alberto Moreno not to join Liverpool.

By Jack Wilson/Published 31st July 2014

Aspas has joined Sevilla on a season-long loan and claims, despite being there less than a week, he already prefers life in Spain.

The Reds have been linked with a £20m move for Moreno as they bid to add competition to their left-back places.

Aspas said: “Alberto Moreno would never feel like he does in Sevillq at Liverpool.

"I’ve been here for three or four days. Now that I belong to Sevilla, I prefer he stays here.”

It's the second time Aspas has spoken out since leaving Anfield.

He previously claimed Fifa had treated Luis Suarez like a murderer after he bit Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

Aspas said: "There are murderers who pay less [for what they have done]. To not let him be presented [by Barcelona], to train or to enter the stadium is too much."

The Spaniard, 26, netted just one goal for the Reds in his season at Liverpool.

He can make his loan move to Sevilla permanent at the end of the season.

Harry Palmr

Raif Severance wrote: »

We actually look much better without Gerrard on.

BR shouldn't be playing Gerrard this much. He has Started most of last season and just came back from the World Cup.

I think he should just Rest him for all our Preseason Games, or maybe just give him a Half Hour here or there.

Its controversial but Liverpool tends to play better without Gerrard. Can can grab that place this season I think. Then we can hear Steveie moaning about how the last season was the worst of his life in May

Anyone got the goals? Also as of now

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Sterling

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/

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Sterling

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/----Sterling--Sturridge--Markovic

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Markovic

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/

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Sturridge---Markovic

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Sturridge

should be the front players.

Underpaid Mike

You guys mean the Steven Gerrard who got 13 goals and 13 assists last season as a deep lying midfielder and who created 66 chances for our strikers and whose assist for Sturridge was one of the greatest ever in the premiership ? He also got 5 man of the match awards including v Man U and City both games we won

Ya we really should be dropping him alright because he had one slip and had a horrible World Cup due to being isolated in a midfield 2 which he couldnt operate in back in his prime let alone now.

Luckycharms_74

Emre Can vs Man City

He only played 25 minutes but he was excellent by all accounts.

Raheem Sterling vs Man City
Best player by a mile. Still only 19. Good times ahead for LFC
Just watch and enjoy.

Cjs21

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

You guys mean the Steven Gerrard who got 13 goals and 13 assists last season as a deep lying midfielder and who created 66 chances for our strikers and whose assist for Sturridge was one of the greatest ever in the premiership ?
Ya we really should be dropping him alright because he had one slip against Man City and had a horrible World Cup due to being isolated in a midfield 2 which he couldnt operate in back in his prime let alone now.

Chelsea.

Maybe being "dropped" is the wrong word but he should not be guaranteed a place. Sometimes it feels as if he is on the pitch for sentimental reasons, then he does something magic, but are those pieces of magic worth more than consistency?

Harry Palmr

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

You guys mean the Steven Gerrard who got 13 goals and 13 assists last season as a deep lying midfielder and who created 66 chances for our strikers and whose assist for Sturridge was one of the greatest ever in the premiership ?
Ya we really should be dropping him alright because he had one slip against Man City and had a horrible World Cup due to being isolated in a midfield 2 which he couldnt operate in back in his prime let alone now.

ha, I never get that as an arguement - 9 of them were penalties. Gerrards dead balls are good (have come good - he used to be utterly mediocre at them) but Coutinho is excellent at them, Lambert and Can can take a peno (when he is on).

This Gerrards new life in a deeper role ****e is utterly facile, he offers sod all protection to the central defenders and he doesn't control the tempo of the game - that is self evident. Liverpools transitions are so fast he can't keep up and gets caught out when the team have to get back into a defensive shape. This is where Can will have the advantage.

Underpaid Mike

Harry Palmr wrote: »

ha, I never get that as an arguement - 9 of them were penalties. Gerrards dead balls are good (have come good - he used to be utterly mediocre at them) but Coutinho is excellent at them, Lambert and Can can take a peno (when he is on).

This Gerrards new life in a deeper role ****e is an utter facially, he offers sod all protection to the central defenders and he doesn't control the tempo of the game - that is self evident. Liverpools transitions are so fast he can quick keep and gets caught out when the team have to get back into a defensive shape. This is where Can will have the advantage.

Protection ? He is not Mascherano, he is not meant to be Mascherano. The team doesnt play a traditional 4-4-2 formation where we have one attacking and one defensive midfielder. The strategy instead is to control possession and not give it away. Lucas offers much better protection than Gerrard but he didnt play the entire second half of the season because he doesnt have the passing range to set up either counterattacks or else simply recycle possession.

As Alonso so famously put it, a midfielder should never have to tackle if he can avoid it at all

'Tackling is not really a quality, it's more something you are forced to resort to when you don't have the ball,'

'You would come across an interview with a lad from the youth team and they've asked him his age, his heroes as a kid, and his strong points. And he would say things like shooting and tackling. I can't get into my head that footballing development would educate tackling as a quality.’’

Colemania

I seemed to think that Emre Can was left footed yet he took a right footed penalty

Am I missing something?

Cjs21

Colemania wrote: »

I seemed to think that Emre Can was left footed yet he took a right footed penalty

Am I missing something?

Tekkers

mylefttesticle

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

You guys mean the Steven Gerrard who got 13 goals and 13 assists last season as a deep lying midfielder and who created 66 chances for our strikers and whose assist for Sturridge was one of the greatest ever in the premiership ? He also got 5 man of the match awards including v Man U and City both games we won

Ya we really should be dropping him alright because he had one slip and had a horrible World Cup due to being isolated in a midfield 2 which he couldnt operate in back in his prime let alone now.

Its not even about his ability although he has abundance its the confidence he can inspire as see so many times before......................

greendom

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

The dirty little fúcker!!!

What's sauce for the goose and all that

Underpaid Mike

Monaco in talks with Shakhtar Donetsk to sign Douglas Costa and Alex Texeira for combined fee of €65m (L’Equipe)

Thats about £40m quid for two outstanding players.
Cant help but we are missing a trick wth these two

Francie Barrett

Any lingering notion that we might see Aspas back has now firmly been closed. What a nasty spiteful comment that is to make.

Harry Palmr

mylefttesticle wrote: »

Its not even about his ability although he has abundance its the confidence he can inspire as see so many times before......................

Ah now this is nonsense , Gerrard is the problem with regard to confidence, if he isn't happy he transmits it like a radio station, the slumpy shoulders, the hands on hips, the furrowed brow and that definitely effects the whole team. Also as has been much discussed down the years other (young) players tend to defer to him regardless of circumstances. When he's not there they just get on with it Spurs at WHL was the ultimate example of this, a perfect midfield performance by Lucas, Allen and Henderson. Gerrard in the Sky Studio looked a bit worrried at full time that day!

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Can
---Hendo--AN Other (Allen/Coutinho/Lallana)

is the future

Cartman78

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

The dirty little fúcker!!!

That's obviously a reverse-bluff mind game masterstroke by Rodgers....he's told Aspas to go over there and talk cod, Moreno will think to himself "I'm not taking advice from this fool" and then actively seek a transfer to Anfield"

taidghbaby

What a difference a year makes! Roughly this time last year everyone was lauding Spurs for selling their best player and replacing him with 6/7 players!

This year we're all ****eing bricks that Liverpool are doing the same thing!!!

Underpaid Mike

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Ah now this is nonsense , Gerrard is the problem with regard to confidence, if he isn't happy he transmits it like a radio station, the slumpy shoulders, the hands on hips, the furrowed brow and that definitely effects the whole team. Also as has been much discussed down the years other (young) players tend to defer to him regardless of circumstances. When he's not there they just get on with it Spurs at WHL was the ultimate example of this, a perfect midfield performance by Lucas, Allen and Henderson. Gerrard in the Sky Studio looked a bit worrried at full time that day!

---

Can
---Hendo--AN Other (Allen/Coutinho/Lallana)

is the future

Agree it sure is the future. Its not the present though. Gerrard is 34 and will be first choice for this season and possibly next season too.
Can will play lot of games but he will have to fight hard for his place

Baffled how you think Gerrard is our problem rather than our goalie, full backs etc

Underpaid Mike

Cartman78 wrote: »

That's obviously a reverse-bluff mind game masterstroke by Rodgers....he's told Aspas to go over there and talk cod, Moreno will think to himself "I'm not taking advice from this fool" and then actively seek a transfer to Anfield"

mosstin

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Ah now this is nonsense , Gerrard is the problem with regard to confidence, if he isn't happy he transmits it like a radio station, the slumpy shoulders, the hands on hips, the furrowed brow and that definitely effects the whole team. Also as has been much discussed down the years other (young) players tend to defer to him regardless of circumstances. When he's not there they just get on with it Spurs at WHL was the ultimate example of this, a perfect midfield performance by Lucas, Allen and Henderson. Gerrard in the Sky Studio looked a bit worrried at full time that day!

---

Can
---Hendo--AN Other (Allen/Coutinho/Lallana)

is the future

You can tell Can is the future after a few glimpses in pre-season matches? I'll be taking your assertion that Gerrard is the 'problem' with a wee pinch of salt then.

mylefttesticle

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Ah now this is nonsense , Gerrard is the problem with regard to confidence, if he isn't happy he transmits it like a radio station, the slumpy shoulders, the hands on hips, the furrowed brow and that definitely effects the whole team. Also as has been much discussed down the years other (young) players tend to defer to him regardless of circumstances. When he's not there they just get on with it Spurs at WHL was the ultimate example of this, a perfect midfield performance by Lucas, Allen and Henderson. Gerrard in the Sky Studio looked a bit worrried at full time that day!

---

Can
---Hendo--AN Other (Allen/Coutinho/Lallana)

is the future

People always go on about what's wrong with him! perhaps you haventh watched him much over the last 15 years?

kfallon

Are Sky Sports showing highlights of last night's game at any stage today? They usually do an hour long programme for this competition the day after.

Underpaid Mike

Good read on BR. Its from a 2 year old book but is published in todays Guardian

The following is an extract from Philippe Auclair’s article from Issue Six of the Blizzard, published in September 2012. The Blizzard is a quarterly football journal available from www.theblizzard.co.uk on a pay-what-you-like basis in print and digital formats.

It’s not every day that the manager of a Premier League football club cuts short a lunch with the Queen to accommodate a journalist’s request to interview him. But this is what happened when, shortly before the end of last season, Brendan Rodgers made his excuses and left a Diamond Jubilee civic banquet held at Swansea’s City Hall in the presence of Her Majesty to drive back to the Liberty Stadium as quickly as he could.

A rather embarrassed Blizzard contributor had explained that, his train ticket being non-exchangeable and non-refundable, not mentioning First Great Western Trains’ pitiless fare policy for late bookers, changing the date of the agreed rendez-vous would entail gigantic costs neither he nor his employer could justify.

The remarkably friendly press officer of the Welsh club (“remarkably friendly’” being words which, judging by this visit, could be used for all members of Swansea’s staff, players included) passed on the message to Rodgers, who skipped the royal pudding and ushered the El Mundo correspondent Begoña Pérez and myself into his office, first apologising for his lateness, then offering water, coffee and biscuits to his guests.

It was very difficult to watch Swansea’s following game with neutral eyes after such a welcome. Since then, of course, Brendan Rodgers has moved on to what he hopes to be bigger and better things, which doesn’t mean he has moved on to a different way of thinking about the way football should be played. What he believed in and preached in Wales is what he will still believe in and preach at Anfield. Fortunately, that’s precisely what we talked about that afternoon.

******

One of the most striking aspects of your work at Swansea was the adoption of a possession-based type of football that many people thought was unsuited to British players — and with a playing staff that was overwhelmingly British...How did you achieve that?

¡Muy facil! All players, whether they’re Spanish, French, English, Welsh, want to play football. To play. We were favourites to be relegated but our biggest success has been our philosophy, our identity of football. The players have been incredible in their capacity to play our style of football. Of course, you’ve got to be effective, win games, but the starting point is the football. We have an idea of the “ideal football” we want to play and we work on making it a reality. All players want to attack — and our way of defending is to have the ball. Of course, you want the players to believe and you get to this by working on it every day on the training ground, with the ball at their feet. We’ve spent a lot of time at Swansea to polish this idea of football by working on tactics. Every way of learning is used. By working on the field, by watching videos ... everything we did on the training pitch, we did with the ball. You’ll never see a pianist run around his piano. People ask me: “why don’t you run through the forest, through the trees?” Well, I’ve never seen a tree on a football field. Our philosophy was to feel confident in a possession game and keep improving the players through video analysis, through talking, communicating ...

Where does this “philosophy” stem from? Barcelona?

I’ve been a follower of their model for many, many years. I was so enthused by it. [Louis] Van Gaal ... I just loved their way of playing. It goes back to my life as a young man. My father loved European football; he also loved the Brazilian team. His own dad loved the Brazilian team. So I grew up loving the technical game, and when I played as a young boy, I played in teams that were not technical. So I spent more time without the ball than with it. I always wanted to change that. But I had a very short career as a player, from sixteen to twenty [for Ballymena United in his native country, Northern Ireland, then, very briefly, Reading] . So my ideology then was, “Ok, I’m not going to have an influence on the game as a player, technically or tactically. Can I do it as a coach?” My objective was to show that British players could play football. That was the challenge.

To take up that challenge, from a very young age, you spent a great deal of time in Spain. How did that come about?

The experience of travelling, getting familiar with other languages, other cultures definitely helps. It makes you a better person. You respect more, you understand more what a foreign player is going through, you experience new ideas. There’s no doubt that my spending time in Spain made me a better person. I worked very hard to learn Spanish. Every day, I studied with a teacher who came from Madrid ... but my Spanish is not perfect. And my French, muy, muy mal! [laughs] My Italian, not so great ... I went to Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, clubs which had that tradition of playing and youth formation. I wanted to see the connection between the first team and ... the child. I wanted to see from close how the club worked on developing the Under-9s, how they put that ethos of technical continuity into practice. I didn’t just turn up at the gate of those clubs, of course. I made contact through coaches who’d been there. At Valencia, for example, there was a former player called Juan Sol, who also played for Real Madrid, who was a good friend of mine, and with whom I stayed when I went there ... There was also José Luis Albiol — the uncle of Raúl Albiol, the Real Madrid central defender — Alex Garcia, who was youth coach at Barcelona ... I had loads of contacts. I wanted to see for myself how this model worked.

Is there any particular reason why you didn’t try to do the same thing at Real Madrid?

No. I’m not sure why. My feeling was more for the canteras, the Dutch influence ...

You worked with José Mourinho for three years at Chelsea and often speak of him as a major influence. One thing, though, is that, in many respects, as a manager, he’s the complete antithesis to the “model” you love. He relies on established players, he’s not that keen to integrate youth players into his starting XI. So how can he be such an important figure for you?

He’s a different man from the one portrayed in the press and the media. He is a good man. He was a fantastic educator. What he gave me was responsibility and opportunity. I was very young then [Rodgers was 31 when he joined Chelsea]. I was brought in in September 2004 — José had joined in June. They wanted to put his tactical ideas in practice throughout the club — his two favourite systems — the 4-4-2 diamond, the 4-3-3 — and I was one of the few British coaches who walked that way. We connected straight away. From the moment I arrived, he always looked for me. No question: he put me under pressure. He took me to the big players. If it hadn’t worked, he wouldn’t have given me a second chance. But he gave me that opportunity to work with the big players. He guided me. He told me how it had been for him when he was a young coach coming through. Of course he wants to win, but our ideas about football are not radically different. The personalities are.

Rodgers and Mourinho
Brendan Rodgers and José Mourinho exchange words on the touchline in April 2014. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images
Almost every single player who’s worked with Mourinho has insisted on the exceptional quality of his training sessions. In what respect were they so good and what did you get from them?

José prepares hard and in great detail — but loads of coaches do. I’d say that one of his biggest attributes is his ability to respect. He respects every player, whether they’re playing or not. You cannot be another person — but one of the biggest things I got from José was respect, and seeing how he respects everyone. As to the details of the exercises ... I can use a black pen as well as José! [laughs] Or a red pen. Or an orange pen! There are many colours in the world and they’re for everyone ...

What about his attention to detail in planning training exercises?

I spend a lot of time preparing my sessions. My staff totally understands the training. And the images that they see ... [He rummages through folders, looking for drawings of training exercises.] I’ve left them at the training ground. But everything’s drawn here, the colours, the details. What goes on the field goes on here [showing a diagram of a football field].

But what did you take from him?

He’s a great man ... but I take from myself. You cannot be anyone else. I’ve learned from many good people. I worked with some fantastic British coaches. When you’re clever, you learn from everyone. The good things and the things that are not so good. My philosophy was already formed before I even went to Chelsea. What I was able to do at Chelsea was to experiment with some of the best youth and senior players in the world. By the time I finished at Chelsea, I had 15 years working as a coach from five-year-olds to the [Michael] Ballacks, the Decos, the [Andriy] Shevchenkos, the [Frank] Lampards. Then it was my time to go alone. You cannot take man-management from Mourinho: it has to be from you.

Are you still in touch with him?

Yeah. Every week. Real Madrid were fantastic last season. But look at José: the defeat against Bayern was his, what? Was it the fourth, fifth Champions League semi-final that he’d lost? He’s also learnt to lose. He’s not just a serial winner, he’s adapted to losing as well.

Talking about losing, seeing what happened to Barcelona and Bayern in the Champions League, are people starting to find ways to counter possession teams?

[Interrupting] No.

Well, with Swansea, you had 77% possession against Newcastle and still lost 2-0.

I will always defend the right to play attacking football: you’ll win more games than you will lose. You just have to keep finding solutions, yes, but the intent of my teams will remain the same. If you look at Swansea last season, it’s been incredible, not just the possession and the number of games we’ve won, but also the fact that we have learnt as much from the games we have lost. You mention the game against Newcastle: they were chasing a spot in the Champions League and we killed them here. But we couldn’t score. They have a £10m striker [Papiss Cissé] who gets two chances and scores two goals. Well done, my friend! If teams defend like that [against Swansea], they show the ultimate respect they can pay to our way of playing. As a coach, I’d never say: we play the right way and Newcastle the wrong way. All coaches want to win; I’m a coach: I want to win, but I want to do it in a certain style and I will never come away from that. I will have to try to find the solutions. For a club like Swansea, when we came to the Premier League, people said we were like Blackpool. Seven months later, they were comparing us to Arsenal. It shows how much we had grown.

Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers signs autographs for Swansea City fans in 2012. Photograph: Dimitris Legakis/D Legakis Photography/Athena
Could a Swansea ever step to the next level and play in Europe?

No sé. Football is such a short-term thing. It’s not by accident that the teams with the big money are there every year. Manchester City and Chelsea came to where they are now because they have money. A coach is not a magician.

What type of player do you look for? What is the first thing you look at when you evaluate a potential recruit?

Technique. I like to know that they can play football. Then, intelligence and, at this level, personality, the capacity to play at the highest level, but they also need to have the capacity to have the ball for nearly 75% of the game. Some players would rather not have the ball than have it. I need players who want to have the ball.

... and have the humility to accept constant drilling on the training pitch?

Big ego, ¡hasta luego! It’s a question of DNA, of a certain culture of football. I spoke with some players last summer. Big players. I was asking them to become part of our system, telling them I could help them be big players again. The first question one of them asked me was, “Where’s the nearest airport?” So he tells me straight away he wants to be away more than here. Then I ask another one, “What’s your training like at this other club?” And he says, “It’s fantastic, we normally get three days off!” Straight away, they tell me they don’t want to work. The personality is vital. I push my players every day, big demands, big pressure.

Would you agree that you also place big demands on the supporters of your teams? In England, most of them seem to prefer a high-intensity, box-to-box approach ...

At Swansea, when we played back, they clapped. Normally, in England, when you play back, phew ... Because they understood the football, that we had to go back to go forward. It’s education. In England, it’s difficult at times. But that’s ok. It’s education. Life is about educating and improving. This is my journey, from the time when I was a young coach, working with young players and telling them, “You can play like that.” “We don’t play that way in the first team.” “I don’t care, this is what I want, the way I work.”

Do you sometimes feel that your philosophy, as you say, makes you a lone ranger among British coaches?

I don’t worry. I used to want everyone to play football, bam-bam-bam, but I respect other teams, players and managers. But it’s very short-term nowadays, people will play as they see fit to survive. My way of working is different. It doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t make it wrong either.

ThunbergsAreGo

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Any lingering notion that we might see Aspas back has now firmly been closed. What a nasty spiteful comment that is to make.

Really dont see what the issue with his comment. By all accounts he will become a Seville player and wants them to keep their better players

x43r0

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Any lingering notion that we might see Aspas back has now firmly been closed. What a nasty spiteful comment that is to make.

What's this in reference to?

klose

Ah crap i turned off the game at half time last night, nice to see us come back from behind twice and win on penos. Will probably get to the final now.

ThunbergsAreGo

x43r0 wrote: »

What's this in reference to?

"The Spanish forward enjoyed an unhappy spell at Anfield last season before being loaned to Sevilla this summer.

And while Moreno has been linked with a move in the opposite direction, Aspas suggests he would be better off staying in Spain.

He told ABC Sevilla: "I have not yet spoken with Alberto about Liverpool.

"Yes, it is true that his teammates have had some banter with him on the topic."

darced

This post has been deleted.

Kess73

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Any lingering notion that we might see Aspas back has now firmly been closed. What a nasty spiteful comment that is to make.

If we signed a player and he came out saying something like that in our favour we would be saying good stuff and what not.

The full interview that he gave has been up on a few sites for a day or two now, and it reads nowhere near as badly as in the article that only has one actual line from the interview and one paraphrased line.

The gist of his interview was him saying now that he is a Sevilla player that he would prefer if Moreno stayed with Sevilla. Basically saying he wants the club's best players to stay there. He is just stating what pretty any player would say when asked a direct question (which he was), and is a pretty typical soundbyte from a player trying to get the supporters of the team he is with onside.

Would lay money if any of Lallana/Lovern/Can etc were asked in the morning if they hoped that Sturridge/Coutinho/Sterling would be at the club long term, then they would give an answer that was similar in terms of content to what Aspas gave.

Knex*

Colemania wrote: »

I seemed to think that Emre Can was left footed yet he took a right footed penalty

Am I missing something?

He is right footed, but is comfortable enough with his left. Not quite as two footed as say, Lallana, but good nonetheless.

I think the left foot impression might have come from him filling out at LB on occasion.

Raif Severance

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

You guys mean the Steven Gerrard who got 13 goals and 13 assists last season as a deep lying midfielder and who created 66 chances for our strikers and whose assist for Sturridge was one of the greatest ever in the premiership ? He also got 5 man of the match awards including v Man U and City both games we won

Ya we really should be dropping him alright because he had one slip and had a horrible World Cup due to being isolated in a midfield 2 which he couldnt operate in back in his prime let alone now.

I'm not asking for Gerrard to be Dropped, but he should be Rested as much as possible.

Everyone and their Mother knows, that Gerrard will be a Guaranteed Starter for us next season. And will likely play a large portion of our Games.

So I don't get why we have to play him in Preseason Friendlies for 70-90 mins.

Gerrard is already Old, He shouldn't be playing this much Football. Specially, after not getting much Rest, because of his Participation in the World Cup.

Kess73

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I think it would be fairer to say that he has reached the point where he is replaceable in the system we use.

But only if we were prepared to bring in a high calibre player as using one of our current players in the same role would not see an improvement in quality in the role.

And I do think the time to start replacing Gerrard is when he is still at the club and active. That way the new player gets the benefit of training and playing with Gerrard rather than just being parachuted into a Gerrard shaped hole.

Said it yesterday, but Strootman (if passed fit etc) in January would be my preference. Strootman would get from January to May to settle into the club and get used to his teammates, and we would still have Gerrard available for the same period to role share with Strootman. Plus there would be the fact that both could play in the same team at times. Then from the start of the 2015/16 season Strootman would be installed as the starter and Gerrard could assume the role of the experienced back up player (or maybe even retire)

Luckycharms_74

NEDDURC

Raif Severance wrote: »

I'm not asking for Gerrard to be Dropped, but he should be Rested as much as possible.

Everyone and their Mother knows, that Gerrard will be a Guaranteed Starter for us next season. And will likely play a large portion of our Games.

So I don't get why we have to play him in Preseason Friendlies for 70-90 mins.

Gerrard is already Old, He shouldn't be playing this much Football. Specially, after not getting much Rest, because of his Participation in the World Cup.

Did I read something a while back about having curtailed the amount of training he does (much more stretching etc.) and that he likes to play matches to keep his fitness up.

In fairness to him he looks like he is in great shape physically at the moment.

If we lose Agger on top of Reina and Suarez, I think we'll be left with a very young team and not too many natural leaders on the pitch. Hopefully Lovern will become a real leader at the back.

googled eyes

Who got MOTM last night?

Luckycharms_74

googled eyes wrote: »

Who got MOTM last night?

I would assume Sterling based on all twitter reports

Chip Whitley

When do the squad numbers traditionally get released?

googled eyes

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

I would assume Sterling based on all twitter reports

He can't be voted MOTM as he's too young to drink in the States ( Guinness sponsorship)

Maybe Hendo got it?

Knex*

The Incredible Hulk wrote: »

When do the squad numbers traditionally get released?

Usually the 2nd week of August, I think. Just before the league starts, anyway.

Should be able to make out player's numbers before then, though.

Raif Severance

NEDDURC wrote: »

Did I read something a while back about having curtailed the amount of training he does (much more stretching etc.) and that he likes to play matches to keep his fitness up.

In fairness to him he looks like he is in great shape physically at the moment.

If we lose Agger on top of Reina and Suarez, I think we'll be left with a very young team and not too many natural leaders on the pitch. Hopefully Lovern will become a real leader at the back.

Not in that Game. To me he look Tired.

There was 1 Incident in that Game, that really Irked me about Gerrard. He decided to Loop the Ball towards Hendo, instead of Controlling it and Laying it Normal-like. He was Under no Pressure when he was doing this, and Hendo was only a Few Yards ahead of him.

The Problem, is that Hendo had a Man City Player (Forgot who) near him. And when he Failed to Control it (it was not an Easy Ball to Control), the Man City Player stole the Ball and we got Counterattacked.

That should never have happened.

That's one of the Reasons why I wanted Gerrard, to be Rested as much. We don't want any of that Lazy/Casual/Tired Instance happening, once the Real Season begins.

Chip Whitley

Knex. wrote: »

Usually the 2nd week of August, I think. Just before the league starts, anyway.

Should be able to make out player's numbers before then, though.

Thank you good sir. Any idea what Can's number will be?

klose

The Incredible Hulk wrote: »

Thank you good sir. Any idea what Can's number will be?

Its 23, he confirmed it a while ago. Most numbers will be the same id imagine, only the likes of suso/tex/ibe etc may change theres

googled eyes

Emre Can folks

Harry Palmr

googled eyes wrote: »

Emre Can folks

Well that's no way to greet your new right back! :pac:

Agent Coulson

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Thats about £40m quid for two outstanding players.
Cant help but we are missing a trick wth these two

Tax free wages and Monaco harbour would be two tricks we are are missing out on.

brevity

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Tax free wages and Monaco harbour would be two tricks we are are missing out on.

And the fanny. Don't forget the fanny.

garra

Raif Severance wrote: »

Not in that Game. To me he look Tired.

There was 1 Incident in that Game, that really Irked me about Gerrard. He decided to Loop the Ball towards Hendo, instead of Controlling it and Laying it Normal-like. He was Under no Pressure when he was doing this, and Hendo was only a Few Yards ahead of him.

The Problem, is that Hendo had a Man City Player (Forgot who) near him. And when he Failed to Control it (it was not an Easy Ball to Control), the Man City Player stole the Ball and we got Counterattacked.

That should never have happened.

That's one of the Reasons why I wanted Gerrard, to be Rested as much. We don't want any of that Lazy/Casual/Tired Instance happening, once the Real Season begins.

I'll see your example of Gerrard tiredness and raise you a vignette of Gerrard's greatness..
During the warm-up for the Newcastle v Liverpool match at the end of the 12/13 season, the players were taking turns shooting on goal with the ball being rolled out to them by Colin Pascoe from the edge of the box.
No Liverpool player managed to beat Jones except for our captain, he scored with all 4 of his shots and hit every conceivable corner of Jones net in doing so.
Technically he is still our best distributor of a football, and this summer's transfer activity has not changed that. I hope he is saved for the big matches and gets 30+ games this year, there will be times when he gives the ball away but people are too quick to jump on his mistakes and seem to take for granted his technical abilities.

Raif Severance

garra wrote: »

I'll see your example of Gerrard tiredness and raise you a vignette of Gerrard's greatness..
During the warm-up for the Newcastle v Liverpool match at the end of the 12/13 season, the players were taking turns shooting on goal with the ball being rolled out to them by Colin Pascoe from the edge of the box.
No Liverpool player managed to beat Jones except for our captain, he scored with all 4 of his shots and hit every conceivable corner of Jones net in doing so.
Technically he is still our best distributor of a football, and this summer's transfer activity has not changed that. I hope he is saved for the big matches and gets 30+ games this year, there will be times when he gives the ball away but people are too quick to jump on his mistakes and seem to take for granted his technical abilities.

Well, I'm not questioning Gerrar'ds Greatness nor his Technique.

All I'm saying, is that Non-bearing Games such as last night, is where he should be Rested.

30-45 Min. Cameo will be alright to keep Fitness Up, but not the 70-90 Min.

No need for Gerrard to Expend his Energy in Preseason Games. Specially, when we expect to play him alot in the Season to come.

We don't want him making Silly Mistakes, because he got Worn Out playing alot of Football.