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

Fescue

Much better from Liverpool today albeit without the goal. Better defensively and look a real threat going forward.

The two full backs have been great.

Markovic is struggling at the moment. Balotelli needs to get himself into better positions but his hold up play is good.

jesus_thats_gre

I think Markovic is going to take a good 12/18 months to settle in. Lallana, thankfully, seems to be starting to settle in nicely though. Been quite impressed with him today.

Mignolet causing a fair bit of uncertainty again when he was unwilling to come out and collect the ball.

Gbear

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I think Markovic needs to go on the same bulking up and work out programme that Sterling started about this time last season.

He seemed to talk himself up a lot when he got here but he looks completely unwilling to back himself on the pitch.

ASOT

Suso to get the winner.

Fescue

Disappointing result not to win but a much better performance. Looking forward to Sturridge return.

You get what you deserve in football.

Strikers are needed in January.

ratracer

Sickened..... again

Vicxas

Can't really fault our performance today.

klose

Much better stuff today, bitter blow at the end but that was a worldy of a strike in fairness. Need sturridge back ASAP

smileyj1987

Vicxas wrote: »

Can't really fault our performance today.

I don't think you can at all . I'm happy with how they played .

Kerrigooney

So so sickened by that. Never looked in any trouble at any stage during that match. Hell of a goal tho.

Agent Coulson

Laurel and Hardy would do a better job in defending than our defenders. Slapstick.

kevohmsford

Absolutely sickened by that result. Was some finish by Jagielka though. We need Sturridge back badly.

Gbear

Vicxas wrote: »

Can't really fault our performance today.

Plenty of individuals put a shift in and created a few bits of quality.

The system just doesn't work though.

It really feels like I'm taking crazy pills this season. Why is Rodgers persisting with this system that doesn't work? If I had any notion about what the **** we are trying to acheive on the pitch and we were just failing at it I'd find these results an awful lot easier to take.

livinginkorea

It was some strike in fairness

We let them back in. We don't have a good defense so why play every man behind the ball with 15-20 minutes left to go?

Raif Severance

Should have Won, but Balo unfortunately Hit the Post, instead of burying it.

Sad we got a Draw, but that was a Wonder Goal, so can't Complain much.

Can't wait for Sturridge to get back.

Fescue

Thems the breaks, you would like to be more clinical and not leave yourself vulnerable to a late strike.

In my opinion, thats the shape we need to stick with going forward. Balotelli will drop to the bench when Sturridge is fit.

darced

This post has been deleted.

5starpool

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Laurel and Hardy would do a better job in defending than our defenders. Slapstick.

A couple of minor things you could nitpick at, but not a lot wrong today I thought. That's the best the defence has played all season I think.

Lallana had a good game too, and Gerrard much improved as well.

Fescue

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Laurel and Hardy would do a better job in defending than our defenders. Slapstick.

I don't see how you can say that, I thought as a whole they defended quite well. Certainly an improvement. I hope we stick with that same back four as much as possible.

viper006

smileyj1987 wrote: »

I don't think you can at all . I'm happy with how they played .

Balotelli had 10 shots, 0 on target,. I thought he was extremely poor and such a huge downgrade from Suarez. The chances he had should had put us outta reach before the equalizer. Sturridge cant come back soon enough as we simply losing points hand over fist at the moment.

Utopia Parkway

Sums up the season so far. A wonder goal deep in injury time means we drop another 2 points.

Gbear

Fescue wrote: »

Thems the breaks, you would like to be more clinical and not leave yourself vulnerable to a late strike.

In my opinion, thats the shape we need to stick with going forward. Balotelli will drop to the bench when Sturridge is fit.

We do that and we can kiss goodbye to the CL.

This setup doesn't work. Creating maybe 2 proper chances from open play against one of the worst defences in Europe isn't good enough and sticking Sturridge in there won't magically fix things.

5starpool

viper006 wrote: »

Balotelli had 10 shots, 0 on target,. I thought he was extremely poor and such a huge downgrade from Suarez. The chances he had should had put us outta reach before the equalizer. Sturridge cant come back soon enough as we simply losing points hand over fist at the moment.

The one that hit the bar was on target as it was going in for sure if it didn't hit Howard. Just because a corner wasn't given doesn't mean it wasn't on target.

Pilsbury Doughboy

Conceding late goals is the new thing then, ffs, Ludo, Boro and Everton now.

ratracer

The result is a sickener, but the team played well today, just really issuing the killer finish in front of goal.

Mignolet had a few dodgy moments today again, very inconsistent with his decision making.

It's getting better though.

Fowler87

In all fairness with the way the team had performed up to today, that was a big improvement. Defence looked disciplined for most of the game and the balance between the midfield/defence was better too. Hendo was MOTM for me

Pyjamarama

viper006 wrote: »

Balotelli had 10 shots, 0 on target,. I thought he was extremely poor and such a huge downgrade from Suarez. The chances he had should had put us outta reach before the equalizer. Sturridge cant come back soon enough as we simply losing points hand over fist at the moment.

Not saying he'll reach close to the level but in his first season Suarezs goals per attempts ratio was shocking.

Mario will be a much better player with Danny up top with him. We really need another striker in january.

If BigSam could get something at old trafford today that'd be great. thats 2 points dropped today but we played better at least.

Fescue

Gbear wrote: »

We do that and we can kiss goodbye to the CL.

This setup doesn't work. Creating maybe 2 proper chances from open play against one of the worst defences in Europe isn't good enough and sticking Sturridge in there won't magically fix things.

If we play Gerrard on his own at the base of the diamond, we will be lucky to finish top half of the table.

Utopia Parkway

Nothing wrong with Lovren's header. He cleared it under pressure. Just can't legislate for a centre-half volleying in from 25 yards off the underside of the bar.

SlickRic

Can't be relied upon to score more than 1 against half-decent opposition without Sturridge, and can't keep a cleanie.

Delightful.

Fescue

All in all, many more positives than negatives.

donfers

7 points from 6 games, looks like our typical "transition" season after coming second the previous year is in the offing

Substitute balotelli and markovic for sterling and suarez and that's an easy win

Same old throwing away leads late on in games, we've conceded late in almost every single game this season - a wonder strike I'll grant you but this recurring pattern of late goals suggests mental fraility - we just sat back in the last 10 minutes and got punished

1 point from 9, when all three games were eminently winnable, just very very disappointing right now and relying on the same few players to bail us out time and time again is never going to be a sustainable strategy

only bright-spot is Lallana looks to be an excellent addition, everything else pretty gloomy at the moment

tok9

That's a real sucker punch. Can't really fault the overall performance, thought we were the better team by far but that's how it goes sometimes.

On Balotelli, I thought his general play was excellent but I do hope he improves his shooting. I'm not even talking about the Howard save but he took 10 shots and a load were pretty speculative.

Gbear

Fescue wrote: »

If we play Gerrard on his own at the base of the diamond, we will be lucky to finish top half of the table.

Just like last season.

The best we've played since the Spurs game have been the little snippets of games where we've played the diamond.

And that's with all the negatives that Gerrard brings and a striker as bad as Borini up front.

viper006

5starpool wrote: »

The one that hit the bar was on target as it was going in for sure if it didn't hit Howard. Just because a corner wasn't given doesn't mean it wasn't on target.

Your right actually.1 shot on target out of 10. I still thought he was so wastful. hoping up top with sturridge will suit him more rather than being the only lone figure. Markovic i thought was very poor also.The goals seem to be a problem for us at the moment. After such exciting football lasts season i think we have regressed hugely as an attacking theat. The excuse of early season rustiness and new players bedding in is getting old now after 7-8 including games especially when sanchez, fab, costa and di maria etc are ripping it up.

Osmosis Jones

Conceded in the 88th or later in 4 consecutive games now.

Fescue

Gbear wrote: »

Just like last season.

The best we've played since the Spurs game have been the little snippets of games where we've played the diamond.

And that's with all the negatives that Gerrard brings and a striker as bad as Borini up front.

We got away with it somewhat I believe last season due to the incredible form of Suarez. We conceded so many goals. That is not sustainable.

We need to find a way of being secure defensively. Simply, its essential.

ush

viper006 wrote: »

Balotelli had 10 shots, 0 on target,. I thought he was extremely poor and such a huge downgrade from Suarez. The chances he had should had put us outta reach before the equalizer. Sturridge cant come back soon enough as we simply losing points hand over fist at the moment.

Balotelli worked hard. Very hard. Dispossessing Besic by the Main Stand, shielding and keeping the ball in over by the Centenary. The shot he took from way out will work another day. He saw the cross for the header in the first half a bit late. Howard saved his shot from close range. He played with a smile on his face in a physical derby. In fact, I don't think he should have come off. Keeping him on the field gives Everton more of a headache than Lambert gives. Great to see him get the applause, but still. If he keeps putting in performances like that, we'll reap the rewards.

Gbear

Fescue wrote: »

We got away with it somewhat I believe last season due to the incredible form of Suarez. We conceded so many goals. That is not sustainable.

We need to find a way of being secure defensively. Simply, its essential.

If that involves scrapping our attack than that's a ****ty compromise.

The only way to get both is by not playing Gerrard. Seeing as that's not going to happen, the only thing we can do is make an attack that works.

8-10

donfers wrote: »

Substitute balotelli and markovic for sterling and suarez and that's an easy win

Yeah 2 Sterling's in the team would help a lot

5starpool

viper006 wrote: »

Your right actually.1 shot on target out of 10. I still thought he was so wastful. hoping up top with sturridge will suit him more rather than being the only lone figure. Markovic i thought was very poor also.The goals seem to be a problem for us at the moment. After such exciting football lasts season i think we have regressed hugely as an attacking theat. The excuse of early season rustiness and new players bedding in is getting old now after 7-8 including games especially when sanchez, fab, costa and di maria etc are ripping it up.

Balotelli certainly isn't threat that Suarez was for us, but very few would be. Most of his shots today were from well outside the box, but he should have done better with a couple of the others I agree. Markovic again was not very good, but early days, although I'd rather give someone else a chance rather than him until he does show some signs of improvement.

It's getting to the stage where it's worrying alright, but I'm not writing anything off yet or pressing the panic buttons. The positive was a better all round performance, even if the cutting edge was still lacking a bit. IT remains to be seen though if that's part of an overall improvement or a derby bump. We don't have long to find out anyhow with the CL game on Weds and then West Brom at home again next Saturday.

Montroseee

viper006 wrote: »

Your right actually.1 shot on target out of 10. I still thought he was so wastful. hoping up top with sturridge will suit him more rather than being the only lone figure. Markovic i thought was very poor also.The goals seem to be a problem for us at the moment. After such exciting football lasts season i think we have regressed hugely as an attacking theat. The excuse of early season rustiness and new players bedding in is getting old now after 7-8 including games especially when sanchez, fab, costa and di maria etc are ripping it up.

These are world class players though, Liverpool didn't buy a world class player or anything close to it this Summer, which was a huge mistake. Small improvements all over the park never negate the loss of a WC player like Suarez, it just doesn't work. For the price of Balo and Markovic, Pool could have had someone like Mandzukic, I know he's not WC but not that far off.

Fescue

Gbear wrote: »

If that involves scrapping our attack than that's a ****ty compromise.

The only way to get both is by not playing Gerrard. Seeing as that's not going to happen, the only thing we can do is make an attack that works.

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

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.

Soft Falling Rain

Anyone giving the defence grief for that game are just looking for a handy scapegoat. By far their most cohesive performance thus far and were just undone by a freak goal from a player who won't even come near to scoring another one like it.

I think the frontline for once are the ones who have to take a long hard look at themselves. Markovic was very poor, Sterling was wasted out wide for much of the game and Balo, while producing the odd class moment, also showed his petulance at its worst. Lallana and Cout when he came on are the only ones that made or tried to make a genuine difference.

Harry Palmr

That was actually much better bar Balotelli not finding the goal and not finding the right positions to score a goal too often, generally much tidier in possession. Lallana will be a fine buy for us, you can see what he brings. The back line generally tidy, no one was stopping that from Jags, little else was of genuine threat.

Utopia Parkway

Still can't believe that Jagielka strike. I'd say he's never hit a ball so well and never will again. Even in training or his back garden. To do it deep in injury time in a derby is just crazy.

jesus_thats_gre

Not going to read too much into the result. We would have won the match only for that freak goal and a subset of fans would have been jumping up and down in delight. I thought we played well enough today if I am honest.

5live

Gbear wrote: »

We do that and we can kiss goodbye to the CL.

This setup doesn't work. Creating maybe 2 proper chances from open play against one of the worst defences in Europe isn't good enough and sticking Sturridge in there won't magically fix things.

Lets worry about the ManU game a little bit closer to that game, eh?;)

Tipsy McSwagger

Should have beaten that Everton side easily but another awful attacking display put heed to that.