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

I think BR needs to rip up his formations and start again.

Current setup will finish outside top 4 quite easily and outside the knockout stages of the CL.

noodler

Can Rodgers do this without suarez?

Massive questions. Can he actually make a decent attacking unit without a world class attacker?

Jury is out.

darced

This post has been deleted.

slingerz

Devilman40k wrote: »

Sterling Borini up front vs West Brom for me....can't be as bad we have been .At least they will create movement and space. Lallana , Lucas and Henderson in mid....

I'd have Borini and Lambert up front and drop Sterling. With 5 at the back Gerrard, Henderson and Lallana can be accommodated in midfield and Manquillo and Moreno can get up and down the wings

Devilman40k

noodler wrote: »

Can Rodgers do this without suarez?

Massive questions. Can he actually make a decent attacking unit without a world class attacker?

Jury is out.

More importantly he can't do it without Sturridge

kingshankly

rarnes1 wrote: »

I think BR needs to rip up his formations and start again.

Current setup will finish outside top 4 quite easily and outside the knockout stages of the CL.

On current form that side won't finish top half

noodler

darced wrote: »

Jesus Rarnes you are really droning on about this Balottelli thing,give him a bit more time at least before proclaiming how you told us all.

He is 100% right.

It is not jus his own poor performances, it is the effect he has on the team spirit and his indiscipline with refs. Not to mention his selfishness.

He will be gone by next season.

martyos121

Ara Barca can't ye loan us back Suarez in January! Ye hardly need him with Messi and Neymar in the squad!

LuckyLloyd

rarnes1 wrote: »

I think BR needs to rip up his formations and start again.

Current setup will finish outside top 4 quite easily and outside the knockout stages of the CL.

noodler wrote: »

Can Rodgers do this without suarez?

Massive questions. Can he actually make a decent attacking unit without a world class attacker?

Jury is out.

Careful now, there's going to be plenty of people armed with long treatises about how Sturridge is out and new signings and bedding in and it's not that bad and who cares anyway cause we had a great season last year...

billymitchell

Mr Alan wrote: »

They're doing nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Ah here, lallana is coming along nicely, the full backs look promising,lovren could be better , markovic and balo need to up their game seriously.

Lets all calm the fcuk down, last year was a freak year, we got ahead of ourselves, our aim should be top 4 this year, and build again. The future is bright people. Believe

MD1990

noodler wrote: »

Can Rodgers do this without suarez?

Massive questions. Can he actually make a decent attacking unit without a world class attacker?

Jury is out.

Think your forgetting Rodgers actually greatly improved Suarez.

Francie Barrett

I feel sorry for Sterling in all this. He is a top, top class player, but all of a sudden he finds himself in a team where the other players just aren't on the same wavelength as him. When Sterling is looking to play the ball, none of the players around him are making the overlapping runs or pull players out of position. When other players have the ball, they aren't breaking forward quick enough and opposition defenders just have too much time to organise. As the weeks have went on, he's just looked a very frustrated figure and the whole situation has affect his confidence and decision making.

Right now, people can say Markovic or Balotelli have done well, but the fact is they have looked poor reflections on what we had last season (Suarez and Sturridge). It's obviously still very early days, but if our goal is going to be top 4 and a decent run in the Champions League, then Markovic and Balotelli both have to up their games.

Strongbow10

You need to be compact in Europe and we are wide open. Midfield is a shambles, teams run right through the middle of us. Too many players who are supposedly technically good on the ball (supposedly) but we are an absolute shambles out of possession, the lack of ability to win possession is frightening.

Rodgers may not be cut out to manage a large squad, having to tinker with the first XI to keep everyone fresh. He blundered last season when tinkering with the first XI on a few occasions, we steamrolled teams last season playing virtually the same team every weekend but it's a different story when you forced to choose how to use a squad and when the team doesn't pick itself.

His philosophy looks good on paper but our midfield is critically bad. The defence is exposed by lack of protection on top of their own frailties.

Steven Gerrard in his current role is redundant when the opposition have the lions share of possession, I don't care how many people remind me how good he has been for us, the lad is a liability in his current position. You cannot play this cavalier system against teams in Europe that have discipline tactically.

The blueprint is there now to stop us playing, get everyone behind the ball and stop us breaking quickly.

mav79

I'd like to see Couthino and Lallana on the pitch at the same time. Too many of our players are afraid to carry the ball forward. Gerrard and Henderson just seem to want to spread it wide even when there is no pressure on them.

noodler

darced wrote: »

Jesus Rarnes you are really droning on about this Balottelli thing,give him a bit more time at least before proclaiming how you told us all.

He is 100% right.

It is not jus his own poor performances, it is the effect he has on the team spirit and his indiscipline with refs. Not to mention his selfishness.

He will be gone by next season.

klose

noodler wrote: »

Can Rodgers do this without suarez?

Massive questions. Can he actually make a decent attacking unit without a world class attacker?

Jury is out.

Suarez became world class under rodgers in fairness, as for the rest we will have to see. 9 games is a fairly negligible sample size, sturridge is last seasons suarez, vital player.

Devilman40k

slingerz wrote: »

I'd have Borini and Lambert up front and drop Sterling. With 5 at the back Gerrard, Henderson and Lallana can be accommodated in midfield and Manquillo and Moreno can get up and down the wings

Gerrard and Lambert in same side. Might as well start with 9 men!!

Seriously though Sterling is better higher up the pitch. At 19 getting into the positions he got into tonight ...yes his finishing let him down but he was in the position.

I'd give Lucas 90 mins. We need a scrapper in there now.

Glock Lesnar

Hello, first time poster but long time admirer.

Decided to take UTD as my team when I started to follow football late last month, but still have interest in Liverpool as my Dad is from there (even if he walked out when I was 8)

As I understand the Liverpool sold Suarez and bought several players with his money, it seems to me that he should have been replaced by players with Uefa Champions league experience given that the Liverpool hope to mount a challenge on this tournament this year, why was he replaced by playes unfamiliar with european football?

All the best and respect to your club
GL

darced

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

In fairness you harped on about Lucas for years!

Look, I don't rate Ballotelli. Plenty don't. I was shocked when Rodgers signed him as he is so far from a Rodgers type player. If it was Lambert of Borini up there they'd be getting slaughtered by everyone.

Raif Severance

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Unpopular: Rodgers looking rather hapless lately

Well, he's going to Continue looking Hapless, if he's going to Insist playing Gerrard 90m every Game we have.

We can't Babysit Gerrard, specially not with this Attack.

5starpool

MD1990 wrote: »

Think your forgetting Rodgers actually greatly improved Suarez.

I think Suarez mostly improved Suarez.

kingshankly

Oh Jesus

Augmerson

I'm going to form my own football club with blackjack and hookers.

brevity

If one player could destroy the team spirit that easily then the spirit was never that strong enough in the first place.

MD1990

5starpool wrote: »

I think Suarez mostly improved Suarez.

So Henderson,Sterling,Flanagan & Sturridge all improved by themselves too?

NukaCola

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Careful now, there's going to be plenty of people armed with long treatises about how Sturridge is out and new signings and bedding in and it's not that bad and who cares anyway cause we had a great season last year...

So we should ignore this completely? Theres no middle ground is there.

Poor start to the season but plenty of reasons to think we'll turn it around. Some posters are ****ing clueless and jump on the team and manager all the time.

So just because I'm not starting from a negative point of view waiting to be proved wrong by our manager and new signings like yourself, it doesn't mean posters like me think everything is fine. Its just that i dont feel like bitching about everything negative all the ****ing time and have faith that the players and manager will get it right.

Fescue

I see two big problems with the team at the moment.

Our two defensive midfielders are not capable of playing as defensive midfielders.

Our lone centre forward is not capable of playing as a lone centre forward.

We lack pace, we lack power and worst of all we lack intensity.

Soft Falling Rain

One thing that really worries me is that Markovic just doesn't seem up for it at all. He just seems overawed or is just simply shrinking away for the fight. It's something that can be changed much like it was with Hendo mind, but obviously he needs to start showing more and soon.

And was it just me or did Coutinho blank Rodgers' handshake when he was subbed?

Bowlardo

Next Five league games are
West Brom (H)
QPR (A)
Hull (H)
Newcastle (A)
Chelsea (H)

You would hope the team is somewhere settled. sturridge will give us some pace when he comes back and he has to have a partner up front.
Johnson Lovren Sakho Moreno
Gerard
henderson Allen
Sturridge Ballotelli Sterling

kingshankly

Great thing about suarez is he wouldn't of tolerated that ****e he won't have tore strips of them
Gerrard only shouts when he's playing well other wise he says nowt

Kingdom

Augmerson wrote: »

I'm going to form my own football club with blackjack and hookers.

Screw the football. And the blackjack.

mosstin

slingerz wrote: »

I'd have Borini and Lambert up front and drop Sterling. With 5 at the back Gerrard, Henderson and Lallana can be accommodated in midfield and Manquillo and Moreno can get up and down the wings

The thing about getting beaten is that people get away with saying the most ridiculous things. Drop Sterling? Seriously? Practically the only player on the pitch tonight who had the cojones to want the ball even when everything was going against him. I like the guy even more after nights like tonight actually.
If Borini and Lambert are the answer, I, for one, am afraid to ask the ****ing question.

mosstin

MD1990 wrote: »

So Henderson,Sterling,Flanagan & Sturridge all improved by themselves too?

Sterling is **** now, where have you been?

LuckyLloyd

MD1990 wrote: »

So Henderson,Sterling,Flanagan & Sturridge all improved by themselves too?

Some players are on their way to greatness because talent trumps all. Suarez was just going to where he is now, Rodgers would have influenced it by degrees.

Sterling and Flanagan in much more formative years under Rodgers, his influence probably substantial there alright.

But who cares? Gotta win games. We haven't been doing much of that without Suarez unfortunately. Bottom line.

kingshankly

Soft Falling Rain wrote: »

One thing that really worries me is that Markovic just doesn't seem up for it at all. He just seems overawed or is just simply shrinking away for the fight. It's something that can be changed much like it was with Hendo mind, but obviously he needs to start showing more and soon.

And was it just me or did Coutinho blank Rodgers' handshake when he was subbed?

I'm pretty sure markovic is colour blind he should definetly get an eye test asap

brevity

Glock Lesnar wrote: »

Hello, first time poster but long time admirer.

Decided to take UTD as my team when I started to follow football late last month, but still have interest in Liverpool as my Dad is from there (even if he walked out when I was 8)

As I understand the Liverpool sold Suarez and bought several players with his money, it seems to me that he should have been replaced by players with Uefa Champions league experience given that the Liverpool hope to mount a challenge on this tournament this year, why was he replaced by playes unfamiliar with european football?

All the best and respect to your club
GL

Markovic at least was more involved. His final ball was quite poor at times though. He's so young and inexperienced.

Senior players & Manager are to blame for this mess particularly the latter.

mosstin

Soft Falling Rain wrote: »

One thing that really worries me is that Markovic just doesn't seem up for it at all. He just seems overawed or is just simply shrinking away for the fight. It's something that can be changed much like it was with Hendo mind, but obviously he needs to start showing more and soon.

And was it just me or did Coutinho blank Rodgers' handshake when he was subbed?

It was just you. None was offered so none was refused.

Hangballlouie

Glock Lesnar wrote: »

Hello, first time poster but long time admirer.

Decided to take UTD as my team when I started to follow football late last month, but still have interest in Liverpool as my Dad is from there (even if he walked out when I was 8)

As I understand the Liverpool sold Suarez and bought several players with his money, it seems to me that he should have been replaced by players with Uefa Champions league experience given that the Liverpool hope to mount a challenge on this tournament this year, why was he replaced by playes unfamiliar with european football?

All the best and respect to your club
GL

Did you know Martin 'The General' Cahill? Was he sound? Did the media paint him all wrong?

Regards

Hangballlouie

5starpool

MD1990 wrote: »

So Henderson,Sterling,Flanagan & Sturridge all improved by themselves too?

I'm not saying that none of it was down to coaching, but in Suarez's case I think he'd have become a beast under nearly any manager.

It's still fairly early in the season, but a lot of damage is being done so far. If we don't sort things out in the next month we could be in for a dismal season.

We can still turn this around but it seems obvious now that Sturridge is instrumental to how we are trying to play.

LuckyLloyd

NukaCola wrote: »

So we should ignore this completely? Theres no middle ground is there.

Poor start to the season but plenty of reasons to think we'll turn it around. Some posters are ****ing clueless and jump on the team and manager all the time.

So just because I'm not starting from a negative point of view waiting to be proved wrong by our manager and new signings like yourself, it doesn't mean posters like me think everything is fine. Its just that i dont feel like bitching about everything negative all the ****ing time and have faith that the players and manager will get it right.

Have I done that thus far this season? I think I've been pretty reserved all told.

This is now six poor performances on the trot. Forget about results for a second. Six subpar performances. I think six bad games in a row and only one really useful performance thus far this season is a reasonable point to start asking questions. This isn't 'Lloyd is a dick' time imo.

murpho999

Those thinking that Rodgers made Suarez world class are deluded.

Suarez was on his way before and Rodgers found a way to get the team playing around him that maximised his powers.

Special players like that will be great no matter who they are managed by.

Anyhow not the issue at hand. Big question is now what does Rodgers do with his current team?

Francie Barrett

mosstin wrote: »

The thing about getting beaten is that people get away with saying the most ridiculous things. Drop Sterling? Seriously? Practically the only player on the pitch tonight who had the cojones to want the ball even when everything was going against him. I like the guy even more after nights like tonight actually.
If Borini and Lambert are the answer, I, for one, am afraid to ask the ****ing question.

Sometimes I don't think we deserve to have good players at all with the way some fans treat them.

Sterling is the best player we have in this team and we're lucky to have him.

Augmerson

Can't remember what pizza tasted like.

Bring back Roy Evans.

NukaCola

MD1990 wrote: »

So Henderson,Sterling,Flanagan & Sturridge all improved by themselves too?

When Suarez was told to train alone for trying to force a move to Arsenal he hit a new level. If anything BR and the team hampered his progress.

Francie Barrett

rarnes1 wrote: »

Markovic at least was more involved. His final ball was quite poor at times though. He's so young and inexperienced.

He's also nearly a year older than Sterling.

MD1990

murpho999 wrote: »

Those thinking that Rodgers made Suarez world class are deluded.

Suarez was on his way before and Rodgers found a way to get the team playing around him that maximised his powers.

Special players like that will be great no matter who they are managed by.

Anyhow not the issue at hand. Big question is now what does Rodgers do with his current team?

You just contradicted yourself there.

mosstin

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Sometimes I don't think we deserve to have good players at all with the way some fans treat them.

Sterling is the best player we have in this team and we're lucky to have him.

It's the scattergun criticism which baffles me. Sterling sees lots of the ball, let down by a poor touch, sure, therefore he's ****. Ridiculous stuff. He was the only player for us tonight who looked like doing anything. The fact that he didn't doesn't mean that he was ****.

Charlie19

Rodgers was a one season wonder!

The dozen or so games this season has proved that he tactically inept.


Worst fans ever.

slingerz

Devilman40k wrote: »

Gerrard and Lambert in same side. Might as well start with 9 men!!

Seriously though Sterling is better higher up the pitch. At 19 getting into the positions he got into tonight ...yes his finishing let him down but he was in the position.

I'd give Lucas 90 mins. We need a scrapper in there now.

Lambert will be a focal point that Balotelli won't be though. Lambert did a good job for Southamptin last season so can't have dis improved so much over the summer

Sterling needs a rest really. I'd give Suso an outing too sometimes.

Playing with wing backs would allow us to use Moreno and Manquillo to the best of their abilities