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

MD1990

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Did you watch him in the lead upto the first og? He was wandering about with his back to the ball.

The shot he had where he just smacked it at the defender. There were things he could have done with that but the lazy option was to just swing a leg at it. He took that option.

So were alot of the players apart from Johnson & Sterling. I thought Balotelli was poor but he was trying just very low on confidence.

Agent Coulson

Brendan Rodgers game plans and in game tactics have to be questioned as well.

There is no questioning he is a very good man manger but he is showing huge signs of tactical naivety and no signs of learning form it from what most of us can see.

Mr Alan

Mr Alan wrote: »

At this point the defending can only be put down to Rodgers & his coaches. No one else.

While ultimately it has to fall at their feet I find it hard to believe they're being coached to let a ball travel through the air for 40/50/60 yards and not challenge a player who chests it down or have a go at a proper header at it.

darced

This post has been deleted.

MD1990

Deleted User wrote: »

While ultimately it has to fall at their feet I find it hard to believe they're being coached to let a ball travel through the air for 40/50/60 yards and not challenge a player who chests it down or have a go at a proper header at it.

The defense needs to push up higher imo. The reason they couldn't challenge Zamora too aggresively at times was that he was very near the box or in it.

Mr Alan

[Deleted User] wrote: »

While ultimately it has to fall at their feet I find it hard to believe they're being coached to let a ball travel through the air for 40/50/60 yards and not challenge a player who chests it down or have a go at a proper header at it.

I'm sure they're not, but whatever instructions & coaching they're getting is clearly making them play well below their level both individually and as a unit. It simply has to be addressed or last season will have to go down as a freak flash in the pan which came about due largely to the class of 1 player pulling the rest of the team along.

rob316

I am pie wrote: »

Seems to be a general confidence or focus issue. Suarez is a red herring, until we get beyond Gerrard as an automatic pick we are not going to resolve the problem at the centre of the pitch. Is BR "big" enough to address this?

Balotelli wont offer anything in a struggling side.

Pointing at Gerrard today for what we saw is a cop out, he was actually one of the better players.
Basic defending that you see on the park on Sunday wasn't there today. Two big defenders can't head a ball clear have no business playing pro football bottom line.
Something is wrong I watched loads of lovren last season as was delighted when we signed him but to be honest I wish we kept Agger now.

Guy:Incognito

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

He was 4 yards closer to the goal than the other defender just before its played because he was walking across the 6 yard box away from the play. The defender ran in to close the danger then stops when Dunne makes contact. He didn't have to get ahead of anyone.

segadreamcast

Bowlardo wrote: »

is the anything to be said for having sterling as the main striker

Suggested this the other night and was slated - think we could try him in a false 9 role and give it a lash. otherwise i'd revert to borini at this stage.

Ardent

Augeo wrote: »

13 points after 8 games (having played well for perhaps two games) and Hull at Anfield on Saturday, from a glass half full perspective it ain't too bad.

We need to get goals early though, tempo needs to be high from the off.

Hull will batter us.

bluefinger

segadreamcast wrote: »

Suggested this the other night and was slated - think we could try him in a false 9 role and give it a lash. otherwise i'd revert to borini at this stage.

Would certainly be worth a go on Wednesday. Bring on balo if it doesn't work.

Charlie19

Documentary about the 1981 CL winning side on ss1 now.

darced

This post has been deleted.

Roy left the game today with 10 mins to go



Must have been tired....

Benzino

As infuriating as Balotelli has been, I'm more annoyed at Rodgers for continuing to play him alone up front. It doesn't suit him and is just putting more pressure on him.

Knex*

Tried to pull an all nighter, then fell asleep here at 7:15 am, 15 minutes before the start of the game.

Fuck it anyway! :pac:

michael999999

Knex. wrote: »

Tried to pull an all nighter, then fell asleep here at 7:15 am, 15 minutes before the start of the game.

Fuck it anyway! :pac:

Lucky bastard!

Knex.

Knex. wrote: »

Tried to pull an all nighter, then fell asleep here at 7:15 am, 15 minutes before the start of the game.

Fuck it anyway! :pac:

You missed nothing.

Usual drab boring stuff.

cj maxx

rarnes1 wrote: »

You missed nothing.

Usual drab boring stuff.

Thats the killer
I dared to believewe wouldnt be drab & boring anymore

djPSB

Mr Alan wrote: »

I'm sure they're not, but whatever instructions & coaching they're getting is clearly making them play well below their level both individually and as a unit. It simply has to be addressed or last season will have to go down as a freak flash in the pan which came about due largely to the class of 1 player pulling the rest of the team along.

Any team that loses Suarez, Sturridge and Victor Moses is going to struggle.

klose

And aspas!

DVDM93

Not long finished work, missed the game and thankfully it would seem. Brother kept me updated by text and I genuinely thought he was taking the piss there at the end with the 3 goals in 90+ mins. You can imagine my different reactions every text message. From what he said we could have been 4 down in the first half and Facebook tells me that Balotelli is the new Heskey, but worse. Anything else I miss? Not looking forward to Madrid or Match of the Day :P

3 points though, 5th in the table and we are playing fcuking terribly. No signs it'll improve though.

djPSB

Benzino wrote: »

As infuriating as Balotelli has been, I'm more annoyed at Rodgers for continuing to play him alone up front. It doesn't suit him and is just putting more pressure on him.

Being played alone up front doesn't cause him to miss a sitter from 6 yards.

Being played alone up front isn't the reason he's taking shots from outrageous positions.

I agree that the system isn't totally to his strengths but my God a plastic bag would be more useful up fronta at the minute.

Benzino

djPSB wrote: »

Being played alone up front doesn't cause him to miss a sitter from 6 yards.

Being played alone up front isn't the reason he's taking shots from outrageous positions.

I agree that the system isn't totally to his strengths but my God a plastic bag would be more useful up fronta at the minute.

Strikers will miss sitters like that, yes it's frustrating but it happens.

It is very annoying when he does that, but I honestly think he is just trying to impress and get that goal to kick start his LFC career.

I don't think Balotelli is the player for Liverpool, and I can't see him been at the club in 3 years time. However, he is here now so let's get the best outta him. It's no concindeance that his best game for us was with 2 up front. When sturridge is back, we will be playing 2 up front anyway, so why not play it now? Rodgers needs to help Mario out here, take the pressure off him.

5starpool

I may have missed a post or so about it, but I didn't notice Johnson getting any credit today for telling Sterling to look lively and take a quick free which Johnson then crossed in for the first goal. I may be cynical, but if it was Moreno/Manquillo who did that I bet it would have been gushed over. He obviously had some dodgy moments as well, and Carragher/Phillips reckoned he could have been sent off just before half time (which I don't really agree with) but credit where it's due and all that.

Guy:Incognito

Benzino wrote: »

It is very annoying when he does that, but I honestly think he is just trying to impress and get that goal to kick start his LFC career.

.

Walking around disinterested isn't exactly the way to impress

J Mysterio

djPSB wrote: »

Any team that loses Suarez, Sturridge and Victor Moses is going to struggle.

:pac:

ebbsy

Rodgers on Emre Can -
“Emre can play in any one of those three midfield positions. He's a big talent, just 20 years of age but with good experience for a young player.
“He was never going to last the game, but I felt if he could get 60-65 minutes, I thought that would help him.
“He prefers to play in that holding “controller” role, but he's also got the power and the pace to run forward. He's a multi-functional player.
“He played centre half for Bayer Leverkusen, and played in the Champions League against Manchester United at left back. So he's a footballer who will do very well for us.”


WTF ?????

T-K-O

ebbsy wrote: »

Rodgers on Emre Can -
“Emre can play in any one of those three midfield positions. He's a big talent, just 20 years of age but with good experience for a young player.
“He was never going to last the game, but I felt if he could get 60-65 minutes, I thought that would help him.
“He prefers to play in that holding “controller” role, but he's also got the power and the pace to run forward. He's a multi-functional player.
“He played centre half for Bayer Leverkusen, and played in the Champions League against Manchester United at left back. So he's a footballer who will do very well for us.”


WTF ?????

Wha?

Grayditch

Does Mario Balotelli actually like football?

daithijjj

There are some common denominators with years of bad defending and they didnt walk through the door last summer or even the summer before (as dodge as Mig can be on his day sometimes).

We will never defend well with Skrtel, never. I will rejoice when he finally goes because, tbh, in his primary role is nothing short of sh1te.

There is a massive issue at the back and that is reflected as a whole most recently by 'Sakho in the car park'. He isnt the answer to everything but he is relatively new to the league in the grand scheme. Skrtel is there 6/7 years and makes some of the most irritating efforts at tackling i have ever seen from a CB at the club. Loose cannon on deck. We will never be any use at defending while he is in the team.

For me, we can criticise what we do but overall we should criticise what we dont do more. The first one is defending, all aspects of it. The 2nd is protecting that defence in the form of a starting def mid. The club has done fk all about that since Clark and Mascherano left.

I could have a spiel about attacking too but theres far too much 'Suarez gone' and i think there should be more emphasis on the player who has 37 in 53 or whatever it is these days. There is no issue for me up front when Sturridge plays. Balotelli simply isnt capable up there on his own, he was never any use at it.

All of the above and some Rodgers stubborness. It borders on negligent for me how the club hasnt brought in a standard of player to both ease Gerrard out of starting line up for us so much and also to compliment the player who is aging when he does start. Gerrard has done his fair share of 'carrying' over the years, the club has needed to return the compliment for at least 3 or 4 windows imo, and has done fk all bar sign a kid from Germany. I dont class anyone else on the payroll capable of what im referring to as DM. Henderson is only a temporary solution and is fundamentally wasted there anyway given what his particular attributes were for us over the last 18 months.

Demosthenese

daithijjj wrote: »

We will never defend well with Skrtel, never. I will rejoice when he finally goes because, tbh, in his primary role is nothing short of sh1te.

All of the above and some Rodgers stubborness. It borders on negligent for me how the club hasnt brought in a standard of player to both ease Gerrard out of starting line up for us so much and also to compliment the player who is aging when he does start.

I dont class anyone else on the payroll capable of what im referring to as DM. Henderson is only a temporary solution and is fundamentally wasted there anyway given what his particular attributes were for us over the last 18 months.

Ridiculous statement about Skrtel. Not his biggest fan but to blame and single player for our defencive inadequacies is just plain lazy and wrong. There is no single player to blame for the way we defend plain and simple. We defend as a team, as a collective and then as a back 4 or 5 ...

I do agree though about the Gerard situation, i cannot really remember us ever under Rodgers trying to sign a proper replacement for Gerard. Today we seen Can play in the Gerard role and BR deployed Stevie in the #9 slot that he has basically said he cannot do anymore since he arrived - incredible that he has flip flopped on that train of thought.


We lost Suarez this summer, he was 1 player. 1 world class player and one that we cannot replace. BUT ... it doesn't take 1 world class player to make the other 10 around him chase, tackle, put in 100%, close down after losing the ball and within a few seconds win possession back for your team. Thats just basic football that ANY team can achieve no matter if getting 100k a week or nothing.

We have lost our identity from last season. We have lost our hunger. We have lost our team willingness to attack the throat of teams once we win the ball back. This is not a "We added many new players, settling in time, GEL" situation. We have become such a different team from last season that it truly beggars belief.

BR for some reason cannot seem to get the max from his players. Very worrying now. This is not a blip anymore it is every game since Spurs and a few before! It is not about Mario, Glen, Skrtel ... this is so much more worrying.

Mr Alan

Skrtel has been been out of the team plenty over the last 2 years & our defending actually worsens when he's not on the pitch. He always cons back into the team on merit.

Blaming Skrtel is actually hilarious.

Kerrigooney

5starpool wrote: »

I may have missed a post or so about it, but I didn't notice Johnson getting any credit today for telling Sterling to look lively and take a quick free which Johnson then crossed in for the first goal. I may be cynical, but if it was Moreno/Manquillo who did that I bet it would have been gushed over. He obviously had some dodgy moments as well, and Carragher/Phillips reckoned he could have been sent off just before half time (which I don't really agree with) but credit where it's due and all that.

Oh I definitely think he could...

5starpool

That picture is great and all, but he kicked the ball before that and his foot then went high due to the way he was off balance and kicking. I wouldn't have considered it outrageous obviously if it was judged a red, but he did kick the ball first and it was just the follow through that was just a bit wild. There as nothing malicious in it, not that that's a requirement for a red card of course.

Kerrigooney

5starpool wrote: »

That picture is great and all, but he kicked the ball before that and his foot then went high due to the way he was off balance and kicking. I wouldn't have considered it outrageous obviously if it was judged a red, but he did kick the ball first and it was just the follow through that was just a bit wild. There as nothing malicious in it, not that that's a requirement for a red card of course.

I agree. I just meant I've seen players sent off for less. Wild lunge,both feet off the ground. As you say...not malicious but I still think he was lucky.

klose

Mr Alan wrote: »

Skrtel has been been out of the team plenty over the last 2 years & our defending actually worsens when he's not on the pitch. He always cons back into the team on merit.

Blaming Skrtel is actually hilarious.

Not a fan of skrtel by any means but id have lovren out of the team before him. Looks lost out there at the moment.

mav79

I always thought Skrtel drops too deep when defending and apart from last ditch defending I never have confidence in him to win a one on one either in the air or with a player running at him. But the main problem with the defense is the way Rodgers has not looked at how we are conceding but rather change personnel and hope that solves the problem. Completely agree that Lovren should be dropped first, haven't seen anything to warrant him keeping his place in the first team yet.

djPSB

Skrtel has been our best defender for the past couple of seasons.

One thing I noticed as well though, we don't seem to be getting as many goals from set pieces this season.

ebbsy

Grayditch wrote: »

Does Mario Balotelli actually like football?

Is he a professional footballer ?

Francie Barrett

8-10 wrote: »

Joint 4th with more points than Arsenal, Spurs, Everton and United (who have game in hand) having played absolutely muck to date.

Our year

That is one thing at least. We have been absolute dirt, but yet look at our league position. If Rodgers can get this team humming again, then the sky really is the limit.

shamrock55

Ah its nice to be back after a 3mth ban, ill try to be good this time;)

J Mysterio

Headline on Liverpool website is "Brendan: Emre will be multi-functional". FFS. That's taken out of context and just reads like a really bad backwards compliment.

daithijjj

Its ok, i dont expect everyone to see what i see in Skrtel.

Best game we played this season he didnt play. Last clean sheet, didnt feature.

I'd love to say i'd have confidence in the gaffer sorting out the defending if he left but.....

That's not to say Skrtel is the only issue. I'm just picking him out because he irritates the sh1te out of me a half dozen times per game................for about 4 years.

Lovren will prove people wrong, i have every confidence in him. Provided Skrtel leaves :cool:

For posterity ^^^

whatawaster

ebbsy wrote: »

Rodgers on Emre Can -
“Emre can play in any one of those three midfield positions. He's a big talent, just 20 years of age but with good experience for a young player.
“He was never going to last the game, but I felt if he could get 60-65 minutes, I thought that would help him.
“He prefers to play in that holding “controller” role, but he's also got the power and the pace to run forward. He's a multi-functional player.
“He played centre half for Bayer Leverkusen, and played in the Champions League against Manchester United at left back. So he's a footballer who will do very well for us.”


WTF ?????

Thought Can did ok today

Fowler87

whatawaster wrote: »

Thought Can did ok today

Solid first start alright. Tricky as he had to play two roles today in each half to accommodate Gerrard.

T-K-O

daithijjj wrote: »

Its ok, i dont expect everyone to see what i see in Skrtel.

Best game we played this season he didnt play. Last clean sheet, didnt feature.

I'd love to say i'd have confidence in the gaffer sorting out the defending if he left but.....

That's not to say Skrtel is the only issue. I'm just picking him out because he irritates the sh1te out of me a half dozen times per game................for about 4 years.

Lovren will prove people wrong, i have every confidence in him. Provided Skrtel leaves :cool:

For posterity ^^^

Maybe some day :rolleyes:

noodler

Benzino wrote: »

As infuriating as Balotelli has been, I'm more annoyed at Rodgers for continuing to play him alone up front. It doesn't suit him and is just putting more pressure on him.

I am not sure what more it will take for the rest of the fans to realise what an imposter he is. The lack of effort, walking the other direction when a trick doesn't work, shooting from ridiculous positions, breaking down attacks, giving out to other players for his own mediocrity.

djPSB wrote: »

Being played alone up front doesn't cause him to miss a sitter from 6 yards.

Being played alone up front isn't the reason he's taking shots from outrageous positions.

I agree that the system isn't totally to his strengths but my God a plastic bag would be more useful up fronta at the minute.

Yup.

Pretty much.

Although, most of my disdain comes from his lack of effort.

Raif Severance

ebbsy wrote: »

Rodgers on Emre Can -
“Emre can play in any one of those three midfield positions. He's a big talent, just 20 years of age but with good experience for a young player.
“He was never going to last the game, but I felt if he could get 60-65 minutes, I thought that would help him.
“He prefers to play in that holding “controller” role, but he's also got the power and the pace to run forward. He's a multi-functional player.
“He played centre half for Bayer Leverkusen, and played in the Champions League against Manchester United at left back. So he's a footballer who will do very well for us.”


WTF ?????

Definitely a Weird thing to say by BR.

If I run my BS FIlter on it, it would probably come out as: "I played Can there because I was going to try another Gerrard Experiment. It didn't worked out, so I had to subbed him, since I didn't have the Balls to drop Gerrard."

Good thing QPR is a Team full of Plodders, if they had someone like an Agbonlahor making a nuisance of himself against Gerrard, we would definitely have Lost.

BR needs to Wake Up. Alot of Clubs have Figured us out, and we don't have the Deadly Duo (Suarez, Sturridge) to Bail us out this time.

whatawaster

Raif Severance wrote: »

Definitely a Weird thing to say by BR.

If I run my BS FIlter on it, it would probably come out as: "I played Can there because I was going to try another Gerrard Experiment. It didn't worked out, so I had to subbed him, since I didn't have the Balls to drop Gerrard."

Good thing QPR is a Team full of Plodders, if they had someone like an Agbonlahor making a nuisance of himself against Gerrard, we would definitely have Lost.

BR needs to Wake Up. Alot of Clubs have Figured us out, and we don't have the Deadly Duo (Suarez, Sturridge) to Bail us out this time.

Why is it a weird thing to say?

He has spent the last 2 years praising players, especially young players