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

mylefttesticle

billymitchell wrote: »

Rodgers is not too happy with the Balotelli signing, really sounds like he would have preferred to get a different striker

He said it was an outstanding bit of business seems a strange think to say if he is not happy with him.

billymitchell

gafferino wrote: »

What did he say?

Basically said that Balotelli was a risk, the market was limited and Balo was cheap and available. It was just a bit of honesty you dont normally hear from a manager or footballer

Gbear

mav79 wrote: »

We are getting bodies back defending but it looks too easy to bypass players. Its like schoolyard defending where everyone is drawn to the ball. Not many players seem to cover the space.

For the entire first half up until the goal they looked very limited in their ability to create or exploit any of that space.

The defence disintegrated comically for the 2nd goal alright though and from then on we looked incredibly shakey.

I think we'll get better at defending as a team over the course of the season and I'm not overly worried about a few teething problems. We have another excellent CB in the squad and hopefully, not Johnson playing at RB as well.

Devilman40k wrote: »

He won't have any problems benching Balotelli if he doesn't want him there. Rodgers has shown in the past that with Sahin and Assaidi that he can and will give a player the cold shoulder

It's fine doing that **** with nobodies but it's too big an opportunity for Rodgers to be cutting his nose off to spite his face with Balotelli.

Edit: Hopefully the comments were about motivating or otherwise manipulating Balotelli rather that writing him off.

Soups123

billymitchell wrote: »

Basically said that Balotelli was a risk, the market was limited and Balo was cheap and available. It was just a bit of honesty you dont normally hear from a manager or footballer

I thought it very odd, wonder if he endorsed the signing.

Fescue

Lets give it up for Lambert also, has made a difference both times he has come on.

jesus_thats_gre

Disappointing match. City were very clinical though.

mylefttesticle

Francie Barrett wrote: »

All I can say is LOL at armchair pundits talking about putting Agger into midfield. People must be utterly deluded if they think you can just throw a 30 year old central defender who has the turning circle of a barge into an alien midfield position while playing against one of the best midfields in the world and expect it to work!

Who said play him tonight? have you a better alternative at the club you would choose? It has been done before successfully at other clubs.

billymitchell

Soups123 wrote: »

I thought it very odd, wonder if he endorsed the signing.

Hard to know. Then again, allegedly Rodgers didnt want Sturridge either. That turned out ok

Mr Alan

Should we try a bid for Peter Cech?

Agent Coulson

So what are people saying all good signings are Rodgers choice and all bad signings are the transfer committees?

Is that how it works?

Soups123

billymitchell wrote: »

Hard to know. Then again, allegedly Rodgers didnt want Sturridge either. That turned out ok

So who at the club would be making these decisions? The owners?

Really thought Rogers gave the impression it wasn't what he wanted!

Vicxas

It would be very easy to jump to conclusions about tonight. But we came up against a team that's probably one of the strongest in europe.

It was never going to be easy. But when its not your night its not your night. Roll on Sunday.

billymitchell

Mr Alan wrote: »

Should we try a bid for Peter Cech?

Peter Schmeichel would have done better for the third goal than mig tonight

Fescue

Soups123 wrote: »

I thought it very odd, wonder if he endorsed the signing.

He said he sat down with him for three and a half hours, I doubt he would do so unless his endorsement was necessary for him to sign.

I think he is letting Mario know that the ball is in his court and if he doesn't make the most of this opportunity, then they won't hesitate in sending him packing.

Devilman40k

Mr Alan wrote: »

Should we try a bid for Peter Cech?

Yes.

Soups123

Mr Alan wrote: »

Should we try a bid for Peter Cech?

He is wasted in a bench

Dont be at yourself

Mr Alan wrote: »

Should we try a bid for Peter Cech?

Don't think Mou would allow it, but I don't have much confidence in Mignolet.

Utopia Parkway

billymitchell wrote: »

Basically said that Balotelli was a risk, the market was limited and Balo was cheap and available. It was just a bit of honesty you dont normally hear from a manager or footballer

Well he is a risk. Liverpool might be selling him again in 18 months time if it doesn't work out. Probably not a big financial risk though.

Barely There

Reasonably happy after that.
Never thought we'd take anything from that particular fixture and we showed enough glimpses of what we're capable of.
Onward and upward.
A result against Spurs next weekend and everything's rosy.

The anti-Johnson tirade is becoming incredibly tiresome btw - what is it with some 'supporters' that there has to always be someone to be overly negative about?

tok9

I hope everyone stayed tuned for the analysis after the match. An absolute masterclass in analysis you wouldn't normally see.

Completely agree with Gary Neville that the good thing is we can see exactly where the problem is structurally and that can be rectified through training and experience.

Francie Barrett

Mr Alan wrote: »

Should we try a bid for Peter Cech?

Chelsea would rather give him away than sell to us.

tok9

Mr Alan wrote: »

Should we try a bid for Peter Cech?

Wouldn't surprise me at all if we did enquire and were told no chance straight away.

Soups123

Fescue wrote: »

He said he sat down with him for three and a half hours, I doubt he would do so unless his endorsement was necessary for him to sign.

I think he is letting Mario know that the ball is in his court and if he doesn't make the most of this opportunity, then they won't hesitate in sending him packing.

Yeah possibly but not the sort of thing you would expect to be done in public on day one.

Sure time will tell

Utopia Parkway

Lot of the problems came down the left side of the defence with Moreno/Lovren. Two players remember who have never played with each other before until tonight. Not a great night but far too early to be writing them off.

Fescue

Soups123 wrote: »

Yeah possibly but not the sort of thing you would expect to be done in public on day one.

Sure time will tell

More or less did the same with Sturridge when he arrived and that has worked out well.

SlickRic

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Don't think Mou would allow it, but I don't have much confidence in Mignolet.

I have pretty much none, unless it's a save that's completely instinctive like last weekend's save.

in every other facet, he's far too average.

the effort to save the 3rd goal was plain horrendous.

Gbear

Barely There wrote: »

The anti-Johnson tirade is becoming incredibly tiresome btw - what is it with some 'supporters' that there has to always be someone to be overly negative about?

It's better it being someone rather than someones.

The problem with Johnson is first of all, that he's shown he could be a high calibre full back, albeit one who struggled to stay fit.

For the past 18 months or so and including pre-season and the start of this season, his play has been atrocious. I don't think I've ever seen a player who consistently has such poor decision making in the attacking half of the pitch.

Given that it wasn't always that bad, you're left feeling that he's not arsed. That's whats so particularly annoying.

If you have a limited player you can get angry at the staff for signing/picking him but really, there's not much he can do about it himself.
With Johnson it doesn't feel like that at all though.

That's not to excuse people being dickheads to him on the street or abusing him on twitter, or even at the match.

Bowlardo

[QUOTE=Barely
The anti-Johnson tirade is becoming incredibly tiresome btw - what is it with some 'supporters' that there has to always be someone to be overly negative about?[/QUOTE]

Well it's pretty ****ing tiring watching the useless waste of ****ing space play for the year. he is dreadful going forward, slows everything down. if he was just **** it would be forgiveable but he actually has the speed the skill the shot and can cross but for some reason (probably because he does not give a ****) he has not done anything in the last year.

mylefttesticle

Fescue wrote: »

More or less did the same with Sturridge when he arrived and that has worked out well.

Yeah basically saying he wont take any ****e form him or he will be sold.

K-9

It'll take time to gel and 2 tough away games isn't going to help.

Sturridge needs more help and I'd say that's the reasoning behind Mario. Thought Sterling did ok, Coutinho tried but well defended against, Henderson also poor.

We need a settled back 4, Moreno showed enough for me, getting the best CB pairing will be key.

Hoki

Mr Alan wrote: »

Should we try a bid for Peter Cech?

If they refused to sell us Ryan Bertrand even though we met his valuation as had been widely reported then I can't see how they will sell us one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.

K-9

Fescue wrote: »

He said he sat down with him for three and a half hours, I doubt he would do so unless his endorsement was necessary for him to sign.

I think he is letting Mario know that the ball is in his court and if he doesn't make the most of this opportunity, then they won't hesitate in sending him packing.

He'd similar comments about Sturridge, last chance and stuff like that, so if they are half as successful as that well..

Fescue

K-9 wrote: »

It'll take time to gel and 2 tough away games isn't going to help.

Sturridge needs more help and I'd say that's the reasoning behind Mario. Thought Sterling did ok, Coutinho tried but well defended against, Henderson also poor.

We need a settled back 4, Moreno showed enough for me, getting the best CB pairing will be key.

I took a lot of positives from the game actually.

My biggest disappointment was Mignolet and Lovren. I expected more from Lovren.

We weren't going to go unbeaten this season. No shame in losing to City at the Etihad.

I wouldn't like to lose to Spurs though.

Key takeaways ....... Moreno didn't let the error bother him, he put in a very good display otherwise I think, not easy going to the reigning champions, fair play to him. Lovren's header........ you'd get away with that most of the time.

Two up front as others have mentioned is required, too often there was no one in the box, I was hoping Lambert would be on for Coutinho very early in the second half, wasn't to be. Lambert will do a decent job for Liverpool from the bench.

Wouldn't worry about the performance or the result, better to play not so great and get beaten by a very clinical Man City at the Etihaad than drop points elsewhere I think.

viper006

Soups123 wrote: »

I thought it very odd, wonder if he endorsed the signing.

Really a strange comment to make to be honest, implying Balotelli only here due to a summer worth of failed attempts to secure another striker. He is completely the opposite to the kind of player BR would like here but seems despite CL this season we had struggled an awful lot to get that truly world class, top rated player in.

Barely There

Bowlardo wrote: »

Well it's pretty ****ing tiring watching the useless waste of ****ing space play for the year. he is dreadful going forward, slows everything down. if he was just **** it would be forgiveable but he actually has the speed the skill the shot and can cross but for some reason (probably because he does not give a ****) he has not done anything in the last year.

Load of ****e.

He's going through a rough patch, it happens with lots of players.

I'm pretty sure he does 'give a ****'.

Sick of seeing every thread on here gloss over his good moments and focus on the bad.

Some 'supporters' always need a bogey-man on the team to vent their spleen on. Guess you're one of them.

Sir Gallagher

Barely There wrote: »

The anti-Johnson tirade is becoming incredibly tiresome btw - what is it with some 'supporters' that there has to always be someone to be overly negative about?

I'm struggling to pay my rent at the moment and the bould Johnner is being paid 100k a week to saunter around a pitch like a lost child in Dunnes for a club i've loved since i was a boy. Fck that.

Raif Severance

OT:

A Friend of mine just sent this Youtube Vid to me.

Our Strikers could certainly Learn a thing or 2, from Di Natale.

Agent Coulson

Rodgers is just as much to blame as Johnson because he won't drop a player who clearly is not and has not been in form to play top class football for the last season or so.

Vicxas

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

I'm struggling to pay my rent at the moment and the bould Johnner is being paid 100k a week to saunter around a pitch like a lost child in Dunnes for a club i've loved since i was a boy. Fck that.

Its alright. Looks like he'll be out for a bit.

Vicxas

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

I'm struggling to pay my rent at the moment and the bould Johnner is being paid 100k a week to saunter around a pitch like a lost child in Dunnes for a club i've loved since i was a boy. Fck that.

Its alright. Looks like he'll be out for a bit.

Demosthenese

Brilliant analysis from the 2 lads on our backline tonight - hope Brendan and his defencive coaches are paying attention!!!

Not too dissapointed after that result cos other than a lapse in concentration by Moreno for the first we were well in that game and looked pretty decent to be fair. The second goal was just a beautiful piece of football and sometimes you gotta hold your hand up and just acknowledge it. 3rd goal was embarrassing slightly as it made Lovern and Mig look like a pair of mugs to be fair.

Negatives were Hendo's performance not as dynamic as we've become used to and when he gets into the tight offencive positions he doesn't have the skills necessary to link with his team-mates, ALSO, noticed he took up quite alot of good positions between the mid and backline tonight and never received the ball - team mates lacking confidence in him? Still getting slaughtered at times with one of our flanks due to having the wrong balance in the team.

Positives, Moreno looks deadly going forward, as does Lazar from the few mins he got. Sterling gave Clichy a torrid game when he was given service and if we play like that away to City we'll win plenty of away games against weaker teams this season.

Barely There

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

I'm struggling to pay my rent at the moment and the bould Johnner is being paid 100k a week to saunter around a pitch like a lost child in Dunnes for a club i've loved since i was a boy. Fck that.

Yeah, it's definitely Johnson's fault you can't pay your rent.

Fescue

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

I'm struggling to pay my rent at the moment and the bould Johnner is being paid 100k a week to saunter around a pitch like a lost child in Dunnes for a club i've loved since i was a boy. Fck that.

If we throw Manquillo in there, are we likely to see what happened on the left of our defence happening on the right also.

I guess Spurs will hope so.

garra

Lord Trollington wrote: »

Not dominant enough for me. All well and good spraying 30 yard passes under little pressure. When the ball is on the deck around the middle he was found wanting.

Yaya controlled and bossed the game

Yaya will do that all right, but Gerrard was the least of our problems tonight. I reckon Can should start alongside Hendo in front of Stevie for Spurs

Francie Barrett

Fescue wrote: »

I wouldn't like to lose to Spurs though.

That is the key game really. Said at the season that City and Chelsea were the clear, clear favourite for the title and so far they haven't disappointed. Our battle is for 3rd/4th with United, Arsenal and Spurs. Arsenal have by no means impressed, United look to have some glaring weaknesses in their squad and Spurs will face stiffer opposition in the weeks to come. These are teams at very least we need to be getting 3 points from 6 from if we want to make top 4. If we got beaten by Spurs, maybe then I would start worrying.

Mr Alan

Fescue wrote: »

I wouldn't like to lose to Spurs though.

I know it's a daft thing to say but that's a huge game. We beat them so badly home & away last year. If we fail to beat them this year I'd actually be quite worried what it would mean.

What I took from tonight is;

1) Coutinho is so hugely over rated by some. He is not near the top tier of players in the league like some here want to believe. I'd start Markovic against Spurs, Cout has been our worst player in the opening 2 game. Yes, worse than Johnson.

2) Mignolet is poor. Medium term we need to be keeping an eye out for a new goalie. He makes the odd reactionary save that some like to cling to, but literally any professional goalie would do the same. Pretty much every facet of his game is not good enough for where we want to be

3) Moreno will take considerable time to settle. Positive signs tonight, but defensively he looks very very slack. Wanted to see more from Lovern too.

rob316

garra wrote: »

Yaya will do that all right, but Gerrard was the least of our problems tonight. I reckon Can should start alongside Hendo in front of Stevie for Spurs

Why not Allen he was faultless tonight probably our MOTM.

PhiloCypher

This and the spurs fixture have just come a little too early for us , we ideally needed a run of 5 or 6 bankers where we could establish the patterns of play until they became second nature to us while still picking up points. By the time we played Spurs and City last year we were already a well oiled attacking machine(albeit we still lost to city). We were just a little out of sync and out of practice today which is to be expected with the new players i guess. The sharpness will come , it will just take time.

Sir Gallagher

Barely There wrote: »

Yeah, it's definitely Johnson's fault you can't pay your rent.

Too right it is.