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

martyos121

As bad as Balotelli is, if we don't sign a striker by deadline day, we're either going to end up spending £30m on an average one in a panic buy, or worse....Bendtner on a free transfer.

Vinz Mesrine

martyos121 wrote: »

As bad as Balotelli is, if we don't sign a striker by deadline day, we're either going to end up spending £30m on an average one in a panic buy, or worse....Bendtner on a free transfer.

Has Rodgers ever been involved in a panic buy?

Raif Severance

Vinz Mesrine wrote: »

Has Rodgers ever been involved in a panic buy?

None.

We actually Walkaway from any Deals, that didn't meet our Valuations.

garra

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

You're entitled to your opinionI suppose, but saying Balotelli has always looked 'very ordinary' is pure nonsense. It has always been clear that he is an immense talent (physically and technically) with screws loose.

People on here talk about youth and value all the time. The prices being quoted for Balotelli represent huge value. Most definitely a risk I'd be willing to take anyway. Having that X Factor in your squad can be huge.

So you would be taking a punt on Balotelli recovering his form and consistently delivering at 2-1 against? This is what you are suggesting if we could approximate his value at 30m if he had his head screwed on.
Well I suppose it's always easier to gamble with someone else's money.

In the interests of putting your money where your mouth is, I will offer those odds to you for a sporting bet IF he does ever sign

5live

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Id take Balotelli for 14m in a heartbeat. It's pure moneyball; his ability and potential are huge, and even if he's hot and cold, he'll outperform other strikers for the same money. We'd probably have to give Steve Peters a raise though.

I think we would have to clone Peters a few time to cope with Balotellis issues.

He reminds me a lot of Anelka, pure poetry when on song but absolute pants when not.

And like Anelka, he might have to drop down a level to adjust his attitude to come close to fulfilling his potential.

Honestly, i wouldn't take the risk if i was using my own money.

djPSB

KingJamsie wrote: »

Rodgers just said we are not in for Balotelli. End of!

What squad number will Balotelli get?

Harry Palmr

Well that's tomorrows Liverpool story sorted then.

billy2012

Rodgers said: "I think it was in the last press conference, I was asked a question on Mario Balotelli and I spoke about what a talent he is and what an excellent player he is. I think the next day, it was written as though we were signing him, which doesn't surprise me.

"I can categorically tell you, Mario Balotelli won't be at Liverpool.

"He's a wonderful player - an AC Milan player. He's at a great club. I just gave my perception on him as a player, so I don't think it should be transmitted into us signing the player."

.

Harry Palmr

billy2012 wrote: »

Rodgers said: "I think it was in the last press conference, I was asked a question on Mario Balotelli and I spoke about what a talent he is and what an excellent player he is. I think the next day, it was written as though we were signing him, which doesn't surprise me.

"I can categorically tell you, Mario Balotelli won't be at Liverpool.

"He's a wonderful player - an AC Milan player. He's at a great club. I just gave my perception on him as a player, so I don't think it should be transmitted into us signing the player."

.

The same can be said for dopes on message boards! :pac:

billy2012

Any word on Lacazette recently?

x43r0

Pilsbury Doughboy wrote: »

Is that Hulk lad still available, throw £45m at it, now's the time to get aggressive.

Are you serious?

martyos121

x43r0 wrote: »

Are you serious?

Of course he isn't, we should spend much more than £45m on Hulk, we're talking Suarez money here!

Pilsbury Doughboy

x43r0 wrote: »

Are you serious?

cj maxx

Vinz Mesrine wrote: »

I hope you don't mind me asking and I don't mean any offence but what has he done throughout his career to justify this kind of praise? He has always looked a very ordinary player who has a great game every now and again. His off field antics far outweigh his on field performances.

Ah now, who of us hasnt lit a wee fire in the house or forgot where we parked out ferrari ( for weeks)

Guy:Incognito

daRobot wrote: »

Ballotelli may be getting close to the realisation that he's going to end up somewhat unbuyable and finish up in a mid-table Italian team, if he doesn't sort out his act soon.
.

Hes already at Milan

tok9

rob316 wrote: »

Twitter isn't a source it's a medium. Plenty of good people to follow on it Barrett, Smith, pearce etc. Just ignore the Anfield mole, indykalia and anyone called agent or self confessed itk.

Sorry, my post must have been confusing.

What you said is basically what I was trying to say

Kess73

Probaly was mentioned earlier, but Reina is rumoured to have asked the club if his contract can be terminated by mutual consent.

Kimbot

Kess73 wrote: »

Probaly was mentioned earlier, but Reina is rumoured to have asked the club if his contract can be terminated by mutual consent.

I feel sorry for reina, he was unreal for us. Had a few bloopers but overall he was immense.

Harry Palmr

He should buy himself out if he wants to leave.

Agent Coulson

I'd have no problem with that.

Maybe Johnson will man up and do the same :pac:

murpho999

jonny24ie wrote: »

I feel sorry for reina, he was unreal for us. Had a few bloopers but overall he was immense.

Don't get this sympathy for millionaire footballers to be honest.

Either way he's on the decline and making him a free agent will make it easier for him to find a new club.

whatawaster

I doubt we will be able to sell Reina given his massive wages, so cancelling his contract might make sense. It's £10m in wages we wouldn't have to pay over the next two years

8-10

Reina should be first choice this year. He's paid enough for a start but in reality he's our best keeper on the books. Great distribution too. F*ck the wages crap and just play him

Kess73

To be honest after his flirtation with Barca, his goodbye letter last summer, and his little digs at the current management, I could not care less if he goes.

Him looking to get his contract terminated, if true, would only stink of him looking to ensure a nice big signing on fee as a free agent.

Maybe if he was more willing to take a pay cut, then he would have gotten the move away that he obviously has wanted since he was batting his eyelashes at Barca. The president of Napoli was the one that came out and said that Reina's wages would be too high for them, so if Reina loved it there so much then the ball was in his court to take a cut to get his move.

Was a top notch player for us at his peak, but if he wanted out so bad he could have chucked in a transfer request anytime he wanted to.

5live

cjmc wrote: »

Ah now, who of us hasnt lit a wee fire in the house or forgot where we parked out ferrari ( for weeks)

Sure i even forgot i HAD a Ferrari...

Gbear

8-10 wrote: »

Reina should be first choice this year. He's paid enough for a start but in reality he's our best keeper on the books. Great distribution too. F*ck the wages crap and just play him

He is in his hole.

He might be better with the ball at his feet but a keeper's first duty is to keep the ball out the goal and he just can't be trusted to do that anymore.

El Inho

We've not bought someone in ages

Kirby

The importance of keeper distribution is overrated, even in a system like Liverpool's. Is it useful? Absolutely but it's way down the list of needed attributes. Most of the time, he is going to be rolling it out to a defender 15 yards away from him under no pressure and a ten year old can do that.

Mignolet is a better keeper in every other area. It's a no brainer. The odd aimless punt into the stands that Mignolet does when put under pressure where Reina would pick out a 40 yard pass, doesn't make up for the 10 clangers a season Reina will give you.

5starpool

Neither Reina of the last few years or Mignolet of last season are good enough for me as a keeper right now. Mignolet is still young for a keeper though and hopefully will have less costly errors next season, but if not then next summer it's reasonable to think that we may be looking again for a new keeper.

Vicxas

5starpool wrote: »

Neither Reina of the last few years or Mignolet of last season are good enough for me as a keeper right now. Mignolet is still young for a keeper though and hopefully will have less costly errors next season, but if not then next summer it's reasonable to think that we may be looking again for a new keeper.

So far Mig doesnt look as volatile as last season.

Although its only preseason.

Underpaid Mike

Extended extended highlights of the AC Milan game

Francie Barrett

Apparently we've offered £5M for Dani Alves - http://www.mundodeportivo.com/20140803/fc-barcelona/posible-oferta-del-liverpool-por-dani-alves_54412718596.html

Would be a strange one.

Vicxas

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Apparently we've offered £5M for Dani Alves - http://www.mundodeportivo.com/20140803/fc-barcelona/posible-oferta-del-liverpool-por-dani-alves_54412718596.html

Would be a strange one.

Very, very odd.


Doesnt buy into Rogers Transfer policies.

~Rebel~

Vicxas wrote: »

Very, very odd.


Doesnt buy into Rogers Transfer policies.

Wouldn't know...Rodgers, and FSG's, policy is value.

For instance, sell Johnson for 5+ million, give a good chunk of his substantial wages to Alves and seal the Manquillo deal - we end up with a better fullback for the short term, and another with great potential as understudy, while removing a liability. All while coming pretty close to breaking even I'd imagine.

Very interesting move. Could see Alves having 2 or 3 good years left. Only worry is his propensity to come inside instead of overlapping, but he used to be great on the overlap, so could be again.

Underpaid Mike

Vicxas wrote: »

Very, very odd.


Doesnt buy into Rogers Transfer policies.

He is less bad at defending than Johnson and is more potent going forward
Wages a huge stumbling block id imagine so cant see this happening at all.
Pity as I would love to see him playing for us.

Meanwhile on Borini watch, looks like a deal will be done by Wednesday according to Sunderland newspaper

SUNDERLAND will learn within the next 48 hours if Fabio Borini will be returning to the Stadium of Light after further discussions with the Liverpool forward.

The Black Cats returned from a ten-day pre-season trip to Portugal last night and expect to know if the £14m deal, which has been on the table for weeks, will go-ahead very soon.

Borini has been recovering from a shoulder injury picked up on a pre-season tour of the United States with Liverpool and did not want to rush in to a permanent switch to the Stadium of Light.

He was understood to have told people close to him initially that he would prefer to play in the Champions League next season, believing he could fight for his first team shirt at Anfield.

But Sunderland’s interest has never gone away and they are the only club to have matched Liverpool’s valuation. A second season-long loan, after the success of the first last season, has also been mooted as a possibility, although the Merseyside club would prefer to sell. Poyet admitted Sunderland will have some good news on the transfer front to report before this Thursday’s friendly with Real Betis at Bishop Auckland. He was in no mood to discuss names at such an important stage, however.

When asked if Borini was one of the players that could be arriving, he said: “We’ll know in two or three days.”

The former Roma, Swansea and Chelsea man is just one of a number of transfer targets in Sunderland’s sights. Poyet wanted four players in by this Wednesday and he is confident that significant progress has been made.

Poyet, speaking on his last night in Portugal before flying back to the North-East with the squad, said: “There are plenty of things going on and I’m looking forward to things happening in the next few days, so it’s all positive. I think we have a great chance (of signing players), a great chance. People are going to be surprised, which is great. It’s all positive.”

The Sunderland boss was in high spirits after Saturday’s goalless draw with Vitoria, an indication that he is happy with the state of play on the transfer front after a frustrating few months.

The £1.5m arrival of Patrick van Aanholt from Chelsea recently is the only Sunderland purchase since the end of last season, although they have recruited free agents Billy Jones, Costel Pantilimon and Jordi Gomez.

There have been moves for players such as Cristian Rodriguez, Santiago Vergini, Marcos Alonso, among others, but nothing has been smooth to conclude. Alternatives have had to be considered, but Sunderland should have added to their list of summer recruits by the middle of the week.

Palermo’s Uruguay striker Abel Hernandez has also been offered to the Wearside outfit, but there is also interest in the powerful front-man from Southampton.

An area of the squad that Poyet does not need to strengthen is the goalkeeper position, following Pantilmon’s arrival from Manchester City.

The Romanian started his second consecutive game in Portugal on Saturday because of an illness to Vito Mannone.

The latter was expected to face Vitoria but will now start this Thursday’s friendly with Real Betis – provided he recovers from illness in time.

The Italian had the misfortune of having to stay at the team hotel on Saturday because of the bug, which meant he could not feature in the final friendly in the Algarve.

Pantilimon hopes to stay between the posts for the opening Premier League game of the season on August 16 at West Brom. Poyet will look to give Mannone an outing at Heritage Park against Spanish side Betis.

“It was a stomach issue that kept Vito out,” said Poyet. “It’s nothing serious. He had to be completely apart from the group on Saturday and when we travel on Sunday to make sure we don’t get any virus passing through the squad.

“I hope he is OK soon because he would have played on Saturday. He will play on Thursday if he’s ok. We decided with Andy Beasley that each goalkeeper would play one each in Portugal. We picked Costel on Wednesday and Vito for Saturday and in the end Costel played the two games. He knows how important he is for us, nothing more.”

Sunderland’s Under-21s, meanwhile, won 3-1 at Gateshead on Saturday. Seb Larsson, back home early from Portugal because his wife was due to give birth, Danny Graham and Mikael Mandron were on the scoresheet.

Francie Barrett

Rodgers rejected the change to work with Van Gaal has Director of Football when he took te job two years ago - http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/liverpool-fc-boss-brendan-rodgers-7556146

Francie Barrett

Hopefully the Borini deal gets tied up this week. Gives us the rest of the month to bring another striker in.

Vicxas

Papadopolus has signed for Leverkusen,


Remember when we were in for him.

Underpaid Mike

Vicxas wrote: »

Papadopolus has signed for Leverkusen,


Remember when we were in for him.

We have come a long way from being interested in Papadopolus and Will Hughes to Lovern and Markovic

joe123

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

We have come a long way from being interested in Papadopolus and Will Hughes to Lovern and Markovic

Papadopolus has the potential to be a quality player but he was cursed with a knee injury.

I'd like an upgrade on Mig if the truth be told.

He's better than current Reina but still a bit off Reina at his peak.

He'll need to move up a level this season.

Underpaid Mike

rarnes1 wrote: »

I'd like an upgrade on Mig if the truth be told.

He's better than current Reina but still a bit off Reina at his peak.

He'll need to move up a level this season.

Have to agree, would hope that its a case of he needed a season to find his feet and that his second season will be a lot more impressive.
I posted this here before but this is simply appalling.



He was single handedly at fault for 10% of our goals last season!


As a follow up Reina v Mingolet

5live

Vicxas wrote: »

Papadopolus has signed for Leverkusen,


Remember when we were in for him.

Only on loan, iirc.

I imagine we will be keeping an eye on him as he recovers from his injuries.

He has won us a lot of points to tbf to him.

I just think he really needs to step up another level if we aim to be competing for top trophies

gafferino

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Rodgers rejected the change to work with Van Gaal has Director of Football when he took te job two years ago - http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/liverpool-fc-boss-brendan-rodgers-7556146

Couple of interesting things in that article:

“Yes. Getting another striker in is crucial for us,” he said

Well at least BR is with us in that one.

Liverpool’s progress to the final at the Sun Life Stadium has banked the club an extra £2million in prize money and having come this far Rodgers wants the Reds to return to Merseyside on Tuesday with the trophy.

I've no idea what we earned in other tours but £2m is pretty good plus gate receipts I'd imagine.

MD1990

Mignolet is a great shotstopper & very good at 1v1's. But he is poor from crosses,ball at feet & is stuck to his line causing our defence to drop deep & leave huge space between defence & midfield. I would give him this season & if there is no improvement we should get a new keeper.

Kess73

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Have to agree, would hope that its a case of he needed a season to find his feet and that his second season will be a lot more impressive.
I posted this here before but this is simply appalling.



He was single handedly at fault for 10% of our goals last season!


As a follow up Reina v Mingolet

And how many times did he play a major part in ensuring points were not lost? Easy to say that he was responsibe for 5 of the goals we conceded last season, but his shot to save ratio was far above that of what Reina had managed in the previous seasons. As you said, it may just be a case of him getting settled at his new club.

He was also the keeper from the top four teams last season that faced the most shots and as such the margin for error would have been much larger for him than it would have been for a keeper whose defence allowed less shots at their keeper.

Mignolet showed enough last season to suggest that when it comes to keeping the ball out of the net, that he has the reflexes/agility to make that happen far more often than not.

I think if we get a settled and well drilled defence playing in front of him, one that has a proper leader in it, then we may see a Mignolet who gets to concentrate on dealing with a lower number of shots and I would expect his number of personal errors to go down as a result.

Harry Palmr

It should be pointed out that Skrtel beat Mignolet 3 times last season.

Some things are beyond a keepers influence! :pac:

Underpaid Mike

Harry Palmr wrote: »

It should be pointed out that Skrtel beat Mignolet 3 times last season.

Some things are beyond a keepers influence! :pac:

Own goals would be counted as Sktrels error rather than Mingolets

Harry Palmr

Don't ruin the joke :mad: