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

klose

We should ask andersonisgod to offer us an unbiased balanced opinion on valdes possibly signing for us.

Kirby

Andersonisgod wrote: »

As good as it gets! Victor Valdes supreme in the Barcelona goal, breathtaking double save for the La Masia product.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I do believe him to be one of the finest goalkeepers on the planet, he's proved it season after season and his trophy haul and the backing of his teammates and those at the club back that up

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I was literally at that moment watching the game on a tv in an off license when Valdesade the save, I gasped and then screamed an expletive and proceeded to tell the staff of the astonishing piece of goalkeeping I'd just witnessed. He's my favourite ever goalkeeper, a fantastic role model, a fiercely underrated goalkeeper on the world stage, the glue that holds the defence together. I love Victor Valdes for everything that he has done for the club and I desperately hope that the last image of him as a Barcelona player on the Camp Nou surface isn't of him being carried off on a stretcher in tears, he deserves more than that, I hope the club know that.

Is anyone actually surprised? :P

Utopia Parkway

Sakho played very well again. Seems slightly more assured playing for France. So far anyway.

Heard Origi played well for Belgium.

klose

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Sakho played very well again. Seems slightly more assured playing for France. So far anyway.

Heard Origi played well for Belgium.

@WhoScored: .@mamadousakho3: MotM vs Spain, Rating 8.63, Clearances 14, Tackles 4, Interceptions 4, Aerial Duels Won 4 @FFF

Harry Palmr

**** for Liverpool though Was Varane at his side?

Agent Coulson

Harry Palmr wrote: »

**** for Liverpool though Was Varane at his side?

Yes.

Kess73

Would be surprised if Valdes on a ten month deal was anything other than back up material, very good back up but back up nonetheless.


If folks think that Mignolet is gaffe prone, then they are in for a rude awakening with Valdes, yes he is a very good shot stopper but damn can he be a hell of a flapper at times, and for a keeper that has not been put under a lot of pressure he was prone to being a bit sloppy.

One area in which he is far superior to Mignolet is with the ball at his feet, but would have doubts if his reflexes and shot stopping ability are a match for those of Mignolet.

Maybe he will rise to one last big challenge if he arrives next month, but would imagine he would be more an up your game message to Mignolet than any sort of medium term first team signing.

Harry Palmr

So then



I'll let you decide who is who.

Kess73

Really wrong that I got that joke.


And Mignolet is the one on the left :P

bur

Valdes never makes mistakes, especially with the ball at his feet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3x_VxF1Za8

Pilsbury Doughboy

Very soothing music on that vid!

Harry Palmr

Sterling is da man

Liverpool's Sterling is shining light for England Telegraph.co.uk 22:57

Build the England team round Raheem Sterling even if it shackles Wayne... Daily Mail 22:48

Are England building a team around the wrong man? Sterling again looked... Mirror.co.uk 22:44

Arsenal legend: Sterling is England’s best Touchline Talk 18:06

Why Sterling - not Rooney - is England's star man Goal.com 09:28

Why England should build their team around Liverpool's Raheem Sterling Metro.co.uk 08:27

Raheem Sterling is England's best player and his connection with Daniel Sturridge... Daily Mail 22:01 Wed, 03 Sep 2014

Fire destroys Sterling fertilizer plant The Washington Times 06:20

Pilsbury Doughboy

'Arry, what's the pic of the two lasses all about? I don't geddit!

Kess73

Pilsbury Doughboy wrote: »

'Arry, what's the pic of the two lasses all about? I don't geddit!

They are dressed as flappers from the 1920s or 1930s

ush

Well they're not a pair of keepers.

Kess73

Very good



A tidy play on words is always appreciated

5starpool

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Sterling is da man

He'll be gutted about the fertilizer plant I'd say.

Kerrigooney

5starpool wrote: »

He'll be gutted about the fertilizer plant I'd say.

He's already fertilized every woman in Liverpool if some stories are to be believed.

daithijjj

dobsdave wrote: »

Any idea how much a train from Manchester aiport to liverpool is?
website showing 17 return, but I presume thats a web only.
a bit hesitant to buy in advance in case the plane is delayed,

Thanks

You can get an anytime return ticket for under £20 with London Midland.

Muahahaha

I do think Valdes is a decent keeper but I also think people are over rating him because signing him provides those of us who believe Mignolet always looks just a brain fart away from disaster with a bit of well needed relief. I think Mig is a good shot stopper but otherwise he can look like a liability, his decision making at split second moments is sometime suspect and thats what makes many fans nervous about watching him. But that aside I dont think we should see Valdes in a more favourable light just because his arrival gives us all some relief. Though Valdes is a very decent keeper he is also 32 and is far above the average age of the squad. So while he could very well turn out to be either our no.1 or push Mig to improve his overall game I think in the long term we're going to have to look elsewhere. I hope to be proven wrong but I think Migs limits have been reached and Valdez wont be around forever, it wouldnt surprise me if he stayed a season or two and then took a payday with some club in the American league.

So while I welcome the addition of Valdez at the same time I hope Brendan Rogers is keeping his eyes out long term. If we're serious about mounting sustained title challenges we need a Schmeichel, a Buffon or a Noyer. We need the calibre of keeper that is literally worth 10-12 points a season with the saves they make. In a competitive Premier League a keeper like that can be the difference between winning the title and not winning it. I can remember ManU winning leagues of the back of some crucial Schmeichel saves, a goalkeeper of that calibre is worth his weight in gold so while adding Valdez is great and everything I think its important to realise that he is not the end of our goalkeeping problems. He's a stepping stone, but not a final solution IMO.

pmy.murphy

Valdes is a very good signing I think and will certainly challenge mignolet for a starting spot

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

bur wrote: »

Valdes never makes mistakes, especially with the ball at his feet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3x_VxF1Za8

So it's David James Mk 2 as an "upgrade"?

~Rebel~

Muahahaha wrote: »

I do think Valdes is a decent keeper but I also think people are over rating him because signing him provides those of us who believe Mignolet always looks just a brain fart away from disaster with a bit of well needed relief. I think Mig is a good shot stopper but otherwise he can look like a liability, his decision making at split second moments is sometime suspect and thats what makes many fans nervous about watching him. But that aside I dont think we should see Valdes in a more favourable light just because his arrival gives us all some relief. Though Valdes is a very decent keeper he is also 32 and is far above the average age of the squad. So while he could very well turn out to be either our no.1 or push Mig to improve his overall game I think in the long term we're going to have to look elsewhere. I hope to be proven wrong but I think Migs limits have been reached and Valdez wont be around forever, it wouldnt surprise me if he stayed a season or two and then took a payday with some club in the American league.

So while I welcome the addition of Valdez at the same time I hope Brendan Rogers is keeping his eyes out long term. If we're serious about mounting sustained title challenges we need a Schmeichel, a Buffon or a Noyer. We need the calibre of keeper that is literally worth 10-12 points a season with the saves they make. In a competitive Premier League a keeper like that can be the difference between winning the title and not winning it. I can remember ManU winning leagues of the back of some crucial Schmeichel saves, a goalkeeper of that calibre is worth his weight in gold so while adding Valdez is great and everything I think its important to realise that he is not the end of our goalkeeping problems. He's a stepping stone, but not a final solution IMO.

32 is young for a goalkeeper - most only start hitting the peak of their powers at that age. Would expect him to have 5 top level years in him.

Frankly I don't really care which of them is number 1. Both are more than fine, neither are incredible, but this signing would mean that there is no individual position where one injury/suspension/form-dip effectively ruins the season. We'd have quality depth in every single position. That could prove to be huge for us.

Dickerty

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

So it's David James Mk 2 as an "upgrade"?

Thjat is probably over 10 years of first team football though, where every game is televised, so every mistake get's captured.

But like Kess (and as I said yesterday), he doesn't fill me with confidence.
He's always looked prone to a howler...

Underpaid Mike

Origi last night v Australia. God he is not shy about tackling

Underpaid Mike

Tony Evans being a grade A twat on a webchat yesterday for those who havent seen it

Tony Evans is in the midst of a webchat on The Times site. Some LFC snippets coming up
Tony Evans on Valdes:
"He's a free agent and coming back from injury. LFC looking for a better keeper. "LFC have not been impressed with Mignolet. They would like one who commands his area, directs the defence & distributes better. The lack of confidence in the keeper runs throughout the club "
Evans: They (LFC) are disappointed with Can who "strolls" too much". "Early days,It could change. It's rare to come in fully formed but it's fair to say they (LFC) expected a bit more from him"
On Markovic "has a burst of pace they (LFC) love "but didn't see it in preseason". Overall Tony reckons LFC did "good business"
Evans on Balotelli "Rodgers didn't want Balotelli initially but the price was too good."
Evans on Rodgers: He's been much better at not running his mouth over last year & his tactics have become more flexible and vibrant."

Markovic played 45 mins pre season and Can was probably our most dynamic player in the US. What a load of BS

Dickerty

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Origi last night v Australia. God he is not shy about tackling

Looks like Welbeck with better vision and better holding up the ball.
Delighted to have him already signed up.

Brad Smith came on at left mid in that game...

Dickerty

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Tony Evans being a grade A twat on a webchat yesterday for those who havent seen it

Markovic played 45 mins pre season and Can was probably our most dynamic player in the US. What a load of BS

I am sure they are also lookin at Markovic in training, but he had a niggle, so that explains a bit.

Apart from that, I'd say it's about right.
All the noises from Rodgers are that Balo is a risk, but too good a price to ignore.
The lack of confidence in Migs has been spoken about a lot.
Can didn't start any of our first 3 games, so it's clear that he has to impress a bit more.
And we can all agree that Rodgers has dropped the Brent-ism and become far more tactically flexible...

Speak Now

Evans on Rodgers: "He's been much better at not running his mouth over last year & his tactics have become more flexible and vibrant."


It's a shame the same doesn't apply to Evans.

Francie Barrett

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Evans on Rodgers: "He's been much better at not running his mouth over last year & his tactics have become more flexible and vibrant."


It's a shame the same doesn't apply to Evans.

The irony is lost on some people.

Kess73

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Tony Evans being a grade A twat on a webchat yesterday for those who havent seen it



Markovic played 45 mins pre season and Can was probably our most dynamic player in the US. What a load of BS

Would pay no heed whatsoever to what comes out of his mouth. He is one of the journos whose access has been seriously diminished with regards to the club in recent years and it has shown in his often bitter sounding "reporting"

Boom_Bap

After watching that Origi video, I like him even more.
-holds up the ball
-trys to retain the ball
-chases it if he loses it
-pace
-not afraid to try skin his man
-nutmeg
-decent shot
-no rolling around after being assaulted
-lays the ball off

Kess73

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

So it's David James Mk 2 as an "upgrade"?

Think a similar video could be made for the majority of keepers. Saw a video last night made up of only his great saves and it made him appear like Neuer.


I would not see him as a massive upgrade on Mignolet though. One thing that Mignolet has proven to be since joining the club, is a keeper who will win more points for the team than he costs. Yes he has moments during the course of a season where he is at fault for a goal, and costs the team points, but those moments are far less frequent than those that see him make game saving stops.

Even this season we have seen this from Mignolet. He was at fault for a goal against city (but then so were some of the outfield players when the other city goals are looked at) but against Spurs and Southampton he made saves that were massive in the context of the game (the late save against the Saints that almost certainly stopped a win from turning into a draw, and the save at 1-0 against Spurs when Lovern cocked up by attacking the ball/player that was already being marked by Sakho)

Mignolet is not a perfect keeper, very few goalkeepers come close to being so, but I do think that a lot of his genuine weaknesses get blown up sp much by folks that they overshadow what he brings to the team.

He is replaceable, but a genuine upgrade on Mignolet should be someone who can at the very least match everything that Mignolet is excellent at, and who then is superior in the aspects of keeping that Mignolet is not so good in. On that front Valdes is not that man, but he would be good enough to put Mignolet in a position where he would have to up his game.


But there are very few keepers whose all round game is excellent. Those Peter Schmeichel or Oliver Kahn level keepers are a rare breed indeed with only two keepers springing to my mind who are at that level or looking like they are well on the way to getting there.

BenEadir

Sterling's early season stats are seriously impressive.



Ben

kop77

^^^^^

all I see is........ :pac:

osnola ibax

BenThere wrote: »

Ben

That's really irritating

Osnola

BenEadir

Kess73 wrote: »

Peter Schmeichel or Oliver Kahn level keepers are a rare breed indeed with only two keepers springing to my mind who are at that level or looking like they are well on the way to getting there.

Neuer and Coutrois?

osnola ibax

BenThere wrote: »

Neuer and Coutrois?

Much better

Osnola

BenEadir

osnola ibax wrote: »

That's really irritating

Osnola

Ooooh, sorry to have spoiled you day. Signing off notes/correspondence is an old habit drilled into me at a young age but especially for you (and in recognition of the fact that communication protocol may have changed over the years) I'll drop signing my posts.

Happy now?

Ben :P

MD1990

Valdes is a better 1v1 shotstopper than Mignolet(something he is very good at),better with the ball at feet,Not stuck to his goal line & will encourage our defense to push up which is vital. Both wouldn't be great at crosses but Valdes is the better GK. He is a more vocal keeper too as it is mentioned Mignolet is very quiet in goal too. It all depends on how well he recovers from injury.

Kess73

BenThere wrote: »

Sterling's early season stats are seriously impressive.



Ben

They really have, and he is one of those players whose stats are so easy to notice when on the pitch.


It really is nuts how much he has improved over the past two years and he looks nothing like the reserve player I used to watch at ressie games and the likes years back.

There was a point about three or four years back where I thought he was going to turn into an Aaron Lennon style winger, but now it is hard to see him turning into anything other than a very high quality AM or even a very high quality .

I am convinced we are watching the emergence of the player who will become the next shining beacon of the English game. Lets hope that he lives up the the sort of hype that normally comes with that, because if he does we will have one amazing player on our hands.

BenEadir

kop77 wrote: »

^^^^^

all I see is........ :pac:

Everything has to be taken in context. Have a look at the radars for Messi, Ronaldo, Alonso etc on the bottom left of the http://statsbomb.com home page and you will see just how impressive Sterling's early season form is. Stats never tell the full story (e.g. what was the quality of the opposition or were they down to 9 men etc) but as an imperfect tool these radars do allow a relatively consistent comparison of players in similar positions across a range of games.

If you like what you see you should follow @mixednuts on Twitter. If you don't - don't.

osnola ibax

BenThere wrote: »

Ooooh, sorry to have spoiled you day. Signing off notes/correspondence is an old habit drilled into me at a young age but especially for you (and in recognition of the fact that communication protocol may have changed over the years) I'll drop signing my posts.

Happy now?

Ben :P

Tbh, I apologise for the post, I'm obviously easily irritated at the moment. No hard feelings. Sign away if you want to, it's no skin off my nose.

Kess73

BenThere wrote: »

Neuer and Coutrois?

Yep.


Can think of a couple more who *might* eventually get to a similar level, but the two you named are the only pair that I see as one already being at that level and the other looking well on his way to that level.

BenEadir

Kess73 wrote: »

I am convinced we are watching the emergence of the player who will become the next shining beacon of the English game. Lets hope that he lives up the the sort of hype that normally comes with that, because if he does we will have one amazing player on our hands.

I agree entirely. About two seasons ago he looked like he could end up being the new SWP, really fast and a bit tricky but nothing upstairs and no end product.

Different player now.

Here's Messi for the whole of last season



And here's Sterling for the first three games of this season



I'd like to have seen Messi's stats aged 19!!

BenEadir

osnola ibax wrote: »

Tbh, I apologise for the post, I'm obviously easily irritated at the moment. No hard feelings. Sign away if you want to, it's no skin off my nose.

Na, I know it annoys some people and It's not like readers don't know who's posting when it's written there to the left of the post!

I just needed a nudge and you nudged.

You are a bit tetchy today though

Let's keep the karma.

We have a great squad of players, a manager who is getting the most out of them and who wants to play exciting attacking football, good responsible owners (IMHO), a new season to look forward to and a soap opera to sit back and watch develop at United as they try to buy their way to 4th spot.

It's all good right now.

Kess73

BenThere wrote: »

I agree entirely. About two seasons ago he looked like he could end up being the new SWP, really fast and a bit tricky but nothing upstairs and no end product.

Different player now.

Here's Messi for the whole of last season



And here's Sterling for the first three games of this season



I'd like to have seen Messi's stats aged 19!!

Oddly enough I was just looking at his stats for the 2007/08 season ( Messi was 20 when that season started, and Sterling turns 20 during the fiorst half of this season.


Messi got 10 goals from 28 league games and 16 goals from 40 games in all comps.


Am not expecting Sterling to be another Messi, but looking at Messi's goal stats from when he was 20, I think that similar goal to game figures might well be attainable from Sterling this coming season.

kop77

BenThere wrote: »

Everything has to be taken in context. Have a look at the radars for Messi, Ronaldo, Alonso etc on the bottom left of the http://statsbomb.com home page and you will see just how impressive Sterling's early season form is. Stats never tell the full story (e.g. what was the quality of the opposition or were they down to 9 men etc) but as an imperfect tool these radars do allow a relatively consistent comparison of players in similar positions across a range of games.

If you like what you see you should follow @mixednuts on Twitter. If you don't - don't.

I'm not saying they don't.....

wasnt having a go at your either....... Its Friday!

you have me with the @mixednuts on Twitter tho,

Agent Coulson

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Tony Evans being a grade A twat on a webchat yesterday for those who havent seen it



Markovic played 45 mins pre season and Can was probably our most dynamic player in the US. What a load of BS

I also find it funny looking back now that during the American tour it was all about getting Remy as our striker, Then Rodgers was asked about Balotelli and he had to deny any links. Then suddenly we drop out of the race for Remy and we sign Balotelli a few weeks later.

I would guess we were always in negotiations for Balotelli and were using the Remy deal to show we had other options.

Dickerty

Kess73 wrote: »

but now it is hard to see him turning into anything other than a very high quality AM or even a very high quality .

You think he could be a high quality . ?
What font???