Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014 - Mod Note in OP, 1/09

SlickRic

Lallana was a plus again.

Fescue

I don't know how reliable it is but rumour has it Sakho stormed out of Anfield when he found out he'd been dropped.

Utopia Parkway

SlickRic wrote: »

Lallana was a plus again.

Yeah looking better and better the fitter he gets.

On the other hand Markovic looks like he's going to need time to adapt. Just hasn't got up to speed with the pace of the game yet. Thought he bottled a couple of challenges today as well. Don't expect him to be a big tackler but you have to be able to take care of yourself.

Fescue

Fescue wrote: »

I don't know how reliable it is but rumour has it Sakho stormed out of Anfield when he found out he'd been dropped.

At least put up a link to the story

Fescue

rarnes1 wrote: »

At least put up a link to the story

Sorry it's mostly just Twitter chatter.

super_furry

That Gerrard freekick masked an awful lot of his deficiencies. He was totally anonymous in the first-half and not much better after that.

x43r0

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't the players usually find out in the last training session on the day before the game if they're playing or not?

Sounds like BS to me

Gbear

Fescue wrote: »

I think we saw glimpses today that it can work. Certainly Sterling, Lallana and Coutinho could form a great attack behind Sturridge.

It's obvious that we were never going to score as many as last season.

But how about 80? With that attack? No. Not a hope.
Maybe you'd get 65, but even then you're looking for 40+ goals from just Sterling and Sturridge. It's not impossible, but you're hugely reliant on their fitness and form.

And that would be fine if we had the best defence in the division to back that up, but that won't happen so long as Mignolet and Gerrard are on the pitch, never mind our CBs.

Fescue wrote: »

In an ideal world you would have a player like Mascherano that could play the role in front of the back four but Gerrard just can't do that. You have to put someone in there beside him.

I wonder if Can might be the guy to do it.

But that's the whole problem. We have 2 people doing 1 person's job.

Gerrard's current role in the team seems to be to be to make up for causing us to have no fluidity in attack and solidity in defence by causing a danger from set pieces.

Now given the fitness issues, today would've been difficult to line up with anyone else if we're playing the 4-5-1/4-2-3-1. But Borini wasn't even on the bench. We had no ability to change the game. The only option was throwing Lambert up front alongside Balotelli if we still needed a goal late in the game.

Slattsy

Just unlucky today lads.
What a goal. If it was Messi there'd be jizz everywhere.

henderson was awful. As was sterling and Marcovic. Very sloppy.
Mario was great apart from that sitter.
Lallana was main man for me. He's getting there.

All in all we were just unlucky.

Super-Rush

Fescue wrote: »

I don't know how reliable it is but rumour has it Sakho stormed out of Anfield when he found out he'd been dropped.

Isn't it amazing that a picture of him leaving is put out an hour after the game when he would be leaving the ground anyway.

Fescue

Super-Rush wrote: »

Isn't it amazing that a picture of him leaving is put out an hour after the game when he would be leaving the ground anyway.

To be fair those pictures were circulating before the game.

https://twitter.com/PanayLoukos/status/515815830710673408

Utopia Parkway

Can't wait for Sturridge to get back. We have no movement up front without him. Lambert can't move full stop while Ballotelli is very good at some things but making runs is not one of them.

Pyjamarama

I don't understand how people keep talking about us not signing world class players. We tried to sign some of the guys listed (Sanchez) but they don't want to come to us for various reasons. Mainly financial i imagine. We don't have the income to pay out massive wages like united can. Maybe if we can make top 4 again this season we can but not right now. This isn't new info tho. Its been posted here a million times before...

I do think we made a mistake not signing Remy. If he can pass the Chelsea medical then i don't see how he can't pass ours. We could really use him too.

Kinda fits the trend of the season following the last two 2nd place finishes

Utopia Parkway

Haven't gotten away with dropping points this weekend. Badly need to start winning some games now. Could be 5 points off 4th by this evening.

osnola ibax

I genuinely think having so many players in the England squad hasn't helped us, half our first team playing in South American world cup, they look tired, no pace or urgency in attack and picking up knocks (Sturridge with England).

Surely there is a better balance to the corporate side than playing pre season tournaments in America aswell.

All this combined with the extra games this season is going to lead to a frustrating season. I do think we will have a better second half to the season that will get us to fourth.

ricero

We played well and should of got the win but it was some strike for the equaliser. We will be fine I feel when Sturridge comes back and lallana is starting to play well. Hope we get the win against Basle midweek and have one foot in the door towards the 2nd round

Agent Coulson

A midfield of Henderson, Allen & Lallana with Sterling, Sturridge & Balotelli ahead of them is what I would like to see.

Then keeping them all fit for league games getting top 4 has to take priority this season even over the Champions League.

Harry Palmr

osnola ibax wrote: »

I genuinely think having so many players in the England squad hasn't helped us, half our first team playing in South American world cup, they look tired, no pace or urgency in attack and picking up knocks (Sturridge with England).

Surely there is a better balance to the corporate side than playing pre season tournaments in America aswell.

All this combined with the extra games this season is going to lead to a frustrating season. I do think we will have a better second half to the season that will get us to fourth.

I'm afraid to say that this kind of crap is now just part and parcel for the top clubs, whoring themselves to far flung lands for a few bob of extra tie in deals and replica shirts. Next summer they really should take a year out and just let everyone rest until the obligatory Scandi game and Shankly Trophy.

The kids are still banging them in U18s 5 - 1 Newcastle away this morning. No idea who played

NabyLadistheman

Slattsy wrote: »

Just unlucky today lads.
What a goal. If it was Messi there'd be jizz everywhere.

henderson was awful. As was sterling and Marcovic. Very sloppy.
Mario was great apart from that sitter.
Lallana was main man for me. He's getting there.

All in all we were just unlucky.

You obviously missed the first half

Henderson was far from awful.

Thought he did well. Best Liverpool player in the 1st half hands down

monkey9

Lallana has been our best signing of the summer so far. Looks really impressive in the few games he's played.

mav79

rarnes1 wrote: »

Henderson was far from awful.

Thought he did well. Best Liverpool player in the 1st half hands down

I thought Henderson had a good game, not outstanding, but I do feel he is wasted playing deep.
Impressed with Lallana and thought Moreno did well considering he was left on his own against Lukaku a lot.
A lot better performance than last week but it still feels bad after another late goal conceded.
Felt Sterling had one of his worse performances but at 19 he should not be expected to deliver week in week out. Hopefully Sturridge and Allen are back soon.

daithijjj

Henderson played deeper today. And as a result was less effective. The same 'less-effectiveness' that Gerrard gets aimed at him for being that far back in a midfield.

Taking Henderson from higher up the pitch rendered us short in the high intensity, higher up the pitch, department. Lallana did well though, im looking forward to seeing him when he is fully fit.

Ultimately, a fair bit of our make up needed to change from last year. We were never going to get a new Suarez so we needed to shore up a bit. That included buying a starting def mid to play with Gerrard so we didnt have to do stuff like pull Henderson out of his better position.

Banging on about it i know over the last while but it really is an awful mistake in my eyes. A team/club with ambitions, ambitions we should have had this season, wouldnt have let this happen.

The above plus Sturridge out has left us a bit impotent in too many areas. The domino effect of which is, coupled with too many new players, we look ponderous and we dont have that intensity that the team thrived on last year.

I think Sterling is better when played more central.

It's funny, after spending a ton of cash I looked at our bench today and didn't see anything special bar maybe Coutinhio who has been patchy this season.

mav79

Can't remember many selfless runs off the ball again today. They all seem to want to just stand still and receive the ball.

michael999999

Another goal for Origi!

Harry Palmr

Still look at it this way - Man Utd flaky as hell, City likewise, Arse/Spurs drew, Chelsea cruising as expected (by me at any rate).

Soton are the side to worry about! Only lost once so far and you could say they were unlucky against Liverpool

MightyMandarin

The most important thing for us right now is improvements in the performance. We got that today I thought. United and Spurs are our main rivals for top4 and neither of them have a better defence than ours, certainly not united. For this reason I think we'll get top4. Having Sturridge fit, means that Balotelli will be able to stay in the box more, while letting Sturridge and Sterling do the running. This is how we beat Spurs 3-0. Lallana looks much better now and Henderson is fast becoming one of the best midfielders in the league.

Getting the backline to be solid and composed is key to our success. Sort that out and we'll do well this season. We can't afford the luxuries that City, Chelsea and United can, so there's no point comparing. We have a young team and it'll be another 2-3 years before we hit our peak, considering how young our squad is.

On paper we have winnable league games coming up but we really need sturridge back immediately.

Mario doesn't like he'll be prolific and nobody else is chipping in. Worrying tbh:(

MightyMandarin

rarnes1 wrote: »

On paper we have winnable league games coming up but we really need sturridge back immediately.

Mario doesn't like he'll be prolific and nobody else is chipping in. Worrying tbh:(

The key is having both of them fit. Remember the first few games last season without Suarez? We only scored 1 or 2 goals a game with just Sturridge, but together we scored loads. Sturridge and Balo are different types of Strikers and will work well together I think. Balotelli will improve alot if Sturridge plays.

5live

mav79 wrote: »

Can't remember many selfless runs off the ball again today. They all seem to want to just stand still and receive the ball.

We really miss someone turning on his marker and running in behind looking for the ball.

It so absent from our game this year that i'm struggling to think of even one offside we conceded this season.

Sturridge back will open up sooooo many good options for us.

smileyj1987

rarnes1 wrote: »

On paper we have winnable league games coming up but we really need sturridge back immediately.

Mario doesn't like he'll be prolific and nobody else is chipping in. Worrying tbh:(

Honestly I don't think it's that bad at all !!! The team do need to start scoring more but the team that started played well and gave a good perfomance . They created alot and once you get the new players to gel it should get better . What BR needs to do is play the same team game in game out to get them to gel . I mean you had Lovren, Maquilo , Moreno , Lallana , Ballotelli and Markovic in the team from last year . Thats 6 changes to the starting 11 and it takes time for the players to gel .

Utopia Parkway

Origi scored. 3 goals in 4 starts.

ebbsy

rarnes1 wrote: »

On paper we have winnable league games coming up but we really need sturridge back immediately.

Mario doesn't like he'll be prolific and nobody else is chipping in. Worrying tbh:(

True, nobody else taking up the slack.

Harry Palmr

Admittedly its a very small sample size as Lille is so defensive minded.

LFC Fans Corner @LFCFansCorner · 22m
Origi has scored or assisted 57% of Lille's goals.Expand  Reply

LFC Fans Corner @LFCFansCorner · 24m
Origi has scored three goals in four starts for Lille.

Mr Alan

rarnes1 wrote: »

I think Sterling is better when played more central.

It's funny, after spending a ton of cash I looked at our bench today and didn't see anything special bar maybe Coutinhio who has been patchy this season.

Our business this summer is looking prett horrendous at the minute to be honest.

Some of the players may come good long term but for the money spent & for what Rodgers has said he was to do (improve the team & squad by adding genuine top quality players that are ready for here & now), it's looking pretty horrendous to date

kevohmsford

I thought there were alot of positives today. Both Lallana and Sterling were brilliant. Balotelli held the ball up well and should have really scored. So many new players this season was probably not the best idea but looking forward to getting Sturridge back.

mav79

Mr Alan wrote: »

Our business this summer is looking prett horrendous at the minute to be honest.

Some of the players may come good long term but for the money spent & for what Rodgers has said he was to do (improve the team & squad by adding genuine top quality players that are ready for here & now), it's looking pretty horrendous to date

I'm not overawed with the players that were brought in, but to call it horrendous is completely over the top imo. Both full backs are an improvement on last years and while Agger was one of my favourite defenders I would have Lovren over him now.

5starpool

If Sakho did go home in a huff I wonder was it because he didn't appreciate not starting, and that's why he wasn't on the bench even, or was it because he wasn't even named on the bench initially? No way of knowing I guess unless we hear more.

5starpool

mav79 wrote: »

I'm not overawed with the players that were brought in, but to call it horrendous is completely over the top imo. Both full backs are an improvement on last years and while Agger was one of my favourite defenders I would have Lovren over him now.

Obviously there is a big caveat that it takes time for players to gel, especially defenders, but from what we've seen the overall unit is no better than last season even though both full backs anyhow have impressed at times. We'll have to do without Moreno for a game soon anyhow I'd say as he's already on 3 yellows for the season.

flanzer

Sakho just confirmed he stormed off today

https://www.facebook.com/mamadousakho

I really want to apologise to the club, the supporters and every person who felt offended when I left the stadium this afternoon. I’m aware that it was a bad choice from my part to go isolating to watch the game !

Bad buzz if this sort of petulant behaviour starts with any player

mav79

5starpool wrote: »

Obviously there is a big caveat that it takes time for players to gel, especially defenders, but from what we've seen the overall unit is no better than last season even though both full backs anyhow have impressed at times. We'll have to do without Moreno for a game soon anyhow I'd say as he's already on 3 yellows for the season.

I'd say you could put Maldini in his prime in the centre of that defence and we would still concede goals. Today the back four did well but the whole team started dropping deep for the last ten minutes with only Lallana busting his gut to close players down. And even though the team dropped deep there were very few tackles made in the last ten minutes.

BenEadir

Mr Alan wrote: »

Our business this summer is looking prett horrendous at the minute to be honest.

"Horrendous" is completely OTT. Carroll for £50m or whatever it was was horrendous.

Lallana is coming back from injury, he looked very good today and will get even better.

Can is injured but will inject some steel into midfield when Stevie needs a rest and we are closing out a game.

Marcovic is feeling his way into a new league but it's clear he has bags of talent and all he needs is game time to get up to speed.

Baloteli is playing well and looks happy which is important for a guy constantly under the spotlight. We'll see the best of him when he has Sturridge alongside him. The lone striker role doesn't make the most of his ability.

Lovern just needs some stability at the back and a few games under his belt. There is no question, he is a class defender a la Vidic in his prime.

Moreno is already looking like the best right full back in the league.

Manquilo is better than Johnson and will only get better.

Lambert looks like he is struggling with the pressure he is putting on himself but he'll never be ground wanting for effort and as soon as the first goal goes in things will improve for him. He's too desperate to score. He needs to relax and let it happen.

We need to give these guys time to gel and we need Sturridge, Can and Allen back from injury ASAP.

Horrendous is totally wrong.

Agent Coulson

I kinda like he was pissed off that he wasn't picked.

Take his fine get back to training and show passion that he wants to play again.

Sakho won't last much longer at the club.

That sort of thing doesn't go down well with managers

5starpool

BenEadir wrote: »

Marcovic is feeling his way into a new league but it's clear he has bags of talent and all he needs is game time to get up to speed.

Just on this bit, he has shown nothing so far for Liverpool to suggest he has bags of talent. He may well come good, and I really hope he does. I've heard good things about his days in Portugal, but that's far from a guarantee he'll produce in England.

This isn't writing him off by any means, but I just don't agree with your point.

sword1

Feel better after todays performance,i Think it Depends ön markovic whether our transfers Will be judged a success in a years time ,Lambert wont be ,other than That ok ,created chances ,ballotelli might start putting them away,ifnot sturridge Will be back

Iused2likebusts

5starpool wrote: »

Just on this bit, he has shown nothing so far for Liverpool to suggest he has bags of talent. He may well come good, and I really hope he does. I've heard good things about his days in Portugal, but that's far from a guarantee he'll produce in England.

This isn't writing him off by any means, but I just don't agree with your point.

He is the only signing that hasn't impressed me yet. Lallana has looked good last couple of games. Mario will look a lot better with sturridge alongside him as will the team.

Fescue

Of our transfers, I think Moreno, Lallana, Manquillo have been good so far.

Balotelli and Lovren have been a little underwhelming but I don't doubt their quality if they can find their form.

Really the question marks are over Can and Markovic but its very early days for two 20 year olds in a new league and new country.