Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15

Benimar

My tuppence worth. I can understand Rodgers putting Henderson on penalties at the start of the game (who else was there really?) but the moment the kick was awarded he should have made the decision to put Mario on it. In fact, he should probably have made it clear that Mario was the penalty taker if he was on the pitch.

I really hope he wasn't on the sideline thinking it was a good idea to leave Henderson take it over Mario! Seriously, is there one person who didn't automatically think 'Mario is taking this' the moment the kick was awarded?

Oranage2

Benimar wrote: »

My tuppence worth. I can understand Rodgers putting Henderson on penalties at the start of the game (who else was there really?) but the moment the kick was awarded he should have made the decision to put Mario on it. In fact, he should probably have made it clear that Mario was the penalty taker if he was on the pitch.

I really hope he wasn't on the sideline thinking it was a good idea to leave Henderson take it over Mario! Seriously, is there one person who didn't automatically think 'Mario is taking this' the moment the kick was awarded?

Henderson

The Mario that we saw last night and last weekend is a Mario that the Southampton defenders won't be overly keen on facing imo, a small factor but throw in our recent defencive solidity, Mig's return to form and Sturridge being back and 3 points is looking like a realistic aim rather than a hopeful one.

brevity

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Mario was right, he's completely nuts and everybody will try and pull him to the ordinary mundane where everyone says and does the accepted thing, and it's as boring as fcuk.

Crazy makes the world go round, crazy stays up all night, crazy sees things the way others don't, crazy does crazy things sometimes good sometimes bad but always crazy.

Crazy doesn't get fazed, crazy just keeps going when others won't. There's different types of crazy, Suarez, Costa, Keane and Balotelli* are all insane and it can sometimes back fire and for some more than others.

We all need a bit of crazy and we need people who just think differently.

Mario Balotelli I salute you, you deranged gifted orignal footballer.







*not saying Balotelli is as good as those but he is as mildly insane as them though.

Thats why, at LFC, we're backing crazy.

Dickerty

plannerscanner wrote: »

Regrettably Lovren doesn't deserve it for the rest of this season. Best time for rehab will be next season.

He has a patchy first dozen games or so, and that puts him on the bench for an entire season???? Harsh...

plannerscanner wrote: »

Have a look at his yellow card last night. Got caught too far up the pitch with the ball on his side, then had to scramble back with his back to the ball and ended up clattering the lad who ahd already gotten the ball away.

Hmm- like Sakho's rugby tackle yellow last week?
Or Lucas' long history of silly bookings?
Or Skrtel's 6 bookings in the league already?

Every defender makes mistakes. He had 12 starts in the league when we were playing badly ALL OVER the pitch. He's now carrying the can for that, for the entire team it seems. Not Lallana, not Balo, not Gerrard, not Sakho.

Doesn't seem fair to me.

garra

flanzer wrote: »

Ibe has to be a starter.

Mario deserves a chance now. His demeanour has changed. I'll go as far as saying, he played better than Sturridge last night. Held the ball up well. Got past players. Found his man with his passing

Yep for the 15 minutes he was on the pitch, Balo contributed more than Sturridge in the second half. Studge was greedy and made poor decisions while Balo was electric and a team player. How great a pairing they could make if they worked at it? Speed, strength, skill, guile, finishing... It could be a marriage made in heaven with Ibe and Sterling committing defenders in the wide areas also.

garra

Midlife Crashes wrote: »

Sterling - Ibe - Sturridge look like they could be a Pokemon evolution chain

Or as someone else said, they look like the Russian Matryoshka dolls, Sterling popping into Ibe and Ibe into Sturridge. Balo needs to shave the tache and fix the hair in order to complete the set.

Sir Gallagher

Crash Bang Wall wrote: »

Im happy Balo took the penalty, but not the way it came about. Hendo stuck between a rock and a hard place.....he was bullied by Balo, but if he stands his ground and argues we are in the news for manager lost the dressing room, and all that boll**

A good leader doesn't need to stand there arguing, things just go his way. It's about having authority and commanding respect. Mario wouldn't have went near Gerrard in that situation. He tested Henderson, because he doesn't have have that kind of respect for him. Henderson should have looked him square in the eye and told him to fck off. But he didn't seem to know what to do, bad sign.

I feel for Henderson in that situation, it's not a nice thing to happen on live tv. The little tug of the captains armband after it made it look worse. It looked to me like a little subconcsious way of reminding himself he's boss.

One thing is for sure now is that next season if Lucas is still with us, surely he wont be happy with Hendo being captain over him? Lucas was never someone i seen as a leader before but over the past few years he has become more and more vocal. The character he has shown this year has been immense, really impressive. He deserves the armband.

This puts Rodgers in an awkward position, that he should have perhaps envisaged. It would be an awful thing to strip Hendo of the captaincy, but Lucas for me deserves it more, Henderson just isnt ready yet.

asdfgh86

Dickerty wrote: »

He had 12 starts in the league when we were playing badly ALL OVER the pitch. He's now carrying the can for that,

Carrying him? Being kept out of the team by him more like:pac:

JohnDaniels

Gerrard sounded liked an idiot last night. Just because he is a club legend doesn't make him any less prone to having the same brown stuff pour from his mouth that many of our past players seem to have a problem with. The fact though he is still playing for the club makes his comments carry weigh that means he should be completely avoiding controversial conversations like that. He should be playing down the incident on TV no matter what he believes privately. I thought it was very bad form from him and if anyone deserves a verbal blast from the manager in this whole thing it is him. Carra's comments on twitter are spot on, Balo was clearly the best penalty taker on the pitch and should have taken it last night.

jasonb

MonkeyTennis wrote: »

Has everyone seen this ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOkZOcMjBe4

Not only a great goal, but Molby really wanted that ball, didn't he? He chased down a couple of players to get it...

J.

Dickerty

asdfgh86 wrote: »

Carrying him? Being kept out of the team by him more like:pac:

I re-read that and thought "Someone will pick up on the Can reference!"

brevity

To me it seems as though Henderson wasnt really that bothered. In the end I think he just felt letting Mario take the penalty was the easier option. He would have looked worse trying to argue with Mario. Sturridge made things look worse almost telling Hendo to stand up for himself.

JohnDaniels

Just on Balo himself. I don't know whether it is stupidity, self confidence or major balls that made him so forcefully take that penalty for himself but fair play. Had he missed it is very likely it was the end of his Anfield career considering the **** storm that would have ensued.

Sir Gallagher

brevity wrote: »

To me it seems as though Henderson wasnt really that bothered. In the end I think he just felt letting Mario take the penalty was the easier option. He would have looked worse trying to argue with Mario. Sturridge made things look worse almost telling Hendo to stand up for himself.

Yeah that was bad to be fair, playground stuff. Still a bit of growing up to do for the boys yet. It'll be interesting to see if Rodgers gets an older head or two in this summer, it'll be needed when Gerrard leaves and i think Rodgers is on record saying he sees the importance of having bigger characters aeound the team.

Maybe Lovren can fill those captains boots like Carra said he could... :pac: jk obvs.

BenEadir

brevity wrote: »

To me it seems as though Henderson wasnt really that bothered. In the end I think he just felt letting Mario take the penalty was the easier option. He would have looked worse trying to argue with Mario. Sturridge made things look worse almost telling Hendo to stand up for himself.

I think Sturridge should have stayed well out of it also.

Balo wanted to take it, he asked Hendo for the ball. Hendo had a quick think and gave him the ball. Once that happened everyone should have just focused on letting Balo take the pen. If Hendo wasn't happy giving Balo the ball why did he? It's not like Balo wrestled it off him is it?

I can imagine the thought process going through Hendo's brain as he made his decision -> $h1t, Balo wants to take it but I'm the nominated penalty taker -> No doubt about it Balo is a better penalty taker than I am -> what if I refuse to give it to him and then I miss? -> Feck it, I'll let him take it.

If Sturridge had kept his gob shut and let Hendo make his own decision we wouldn't even be talking about it.

End of.

rob316

So impressed with Ibe, I watched a number of Derby games this season and he was good but I couldn't see him ready for Liverpool just yet. I'd have him as a starter now if I'm honest, rotating between him and Lazar is perfect for the right side.
He's a proper old fashioned winger, commits players and an excellent dribbler.
I know there is the Sterling comparisons but to be they are very different players, Sterling is more of a forward/no.10 and use his blistering pace to beat defenders.

Going to be a huge player for us in the future.

Harry Palmr

If I had been Hendo I'd have given the ball to Balotelli, I'd know which of us was the better dead ball player and not give a **** about "ego".

Re Ibe - I think he has probably taken Rodgers by surprise in his development. If a year ago he could see where he is now I doubt he'd have bought Markovic.

jcsoulinger

rob316 wrote: »

So impressed with Ibe, I watched a number of Derby games this season and he was good but I couldn't see him ready for Liverpool just yet. I'd have him as a starter now if I'm honest, rotating between him and Lazar is perfect for the right side.
He's a proper old fashioned winger, commits players and an excellent dribbler.
I know there is the Sterling comparisons but to be they are very different players, Sterling is more of a forward/no.10 and use his blistering pace to beat defenders.

Going to be a huge player for us in the future.

Ya I can't get over how good he is down the right side, he is equally good going out wide or cutting inside so defenders don't seem to know what to do with him, he left there left back in a hay penny place all night last night, should be a nailed on starter now for me.

Cartman78

BenEadir wrote: »

If Sturridge had kept his gob shut and let Hendo make his own decision we wouldn't even be talking about it.

End of.

I think the real 'issue' was Gerrard not keeping his gob shut.

Fair enough if Balotelli broke the code of the dressing room by taking the ball off Henderson but crapping all over a team-mate on live TV is a far worse offence imho.

Good to see Balotelli actually starting to look like a half-decent player at last...took some balls to take that peno in the way he did so hope this can be a springboard for him and that all the hoo-haa dies down asap.

Anyone else notice him sprinting like Usain Bolt into the box after laying off the ball to Ibe in the build up to the penalty (?) Basic stuff I know, but a marathon starts with a single step and all that

NukaCola

noodler wrote: »

I know you are trying to make it sound like having Toure in the team is some crazy idea but, based on his performances for ther club when he has played, I have no idea why.

Took me up wrong noodler, that was not my point. My point is IMO he is down the pecking order with Toure ahead of him

NukaCola

S. Goodspeed wrote: »

Are you really giving Mario the benefit of the doubt over Jordan Henderson?? I understand that Mario has his sympathisers but that is just delusional.

Personally I am more than happy to "speculate" that Mario overruled both captain and manager by demanding the penalty rather than assuming the captain's arm band went to Jordan's head and he suddenly went on some weird power trip.

What happened would have been all over the news whether Gerrard called him disrespectful or not. It was Mario Balotelli, playing for Liverpool, fighting with the captain and the team's top striker, over a late penalty to win a European match. It is the type of scenario the rags dream of.

I have no idea what your talking about as that is the point i made?

Also Gerrard added to the incident by giving the media what it craves. His quote is all over the "rags". A massive misjudgment on his part also completely unnecessary.

googled eyes

This is the last thing I'm going to type about penogate.

People now going on about Hendo not being captain material is bullsh!t. Being captain of a team like Liverpool is a big fcking deal and unfortunately for Jordan he will be learning on the job, on live tv in front of millions. The team respect Hendo, Sturridge stepping in to have his say, Can going to Hendo straight after celebrating with Mario.Even Mario pulling him into hug him after and had the sense to tweet a thanks right after the game.

Mario, he has history of doing that, just always wants to take a peno. I'd say he would have tried that with every other LFC player bar Gerrard .

You can't say that this means Hendo ain't a good captain. Stevie has been captain for more than a decade and has won almost every trophy there is. Hendo has, what 10 games played as captain? You can't compare the two scenario's



Although after all that. I laughed way too much at this.


https://twitter.com/ZIYAAD_LFC/status/568542750171369472

NukaCola

@googled eyes: That is quality :pac:

NukaCola

Oranage2 wrote: »

Henderson

I laughed way too hard at that :pac:

NukaCola

Harry Palmr wrote: »

If I had been Hendo I'd have given the ball to Balotelli, I'd know which of us was the better dead ball player and not give a **** about "ego".

Re Ibe - I think he has probably taken Rodgers by surprise in his development. If a year ago he could see where he is now I doubt he'd have bought Markovic.

Ibe is awesome....looks a quality player.

Just on Hendo, he did hand the ball over albeit in a glazed over kinda look, Danny got involved then at that point and made it all awkward. It was just weird really. If anything Danny and Gerrard made it bigger than it seemed.

flanzer

Just for the record, Mario Ballotelli never missed a penalty in his professional career until last year, when he missed 2 for AC. Hendo isn't even on the radar for penalty takers. From the Indo today

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/world-cup/world-cup-2014-the-10-best-penalty-takers-including-mario-balotelli-cristiano-ronaldo-and-yaya-toure-30329189.html

Mario Balotelli - Italy

Once hailed as the man who never missed, Balotelli’s 100 per cent record from the spot was lost last season when he missed twice for AC Milan. Even so, he remains one of the best penalty takers in the world at the moment. Technically perfect and with all the arrogance and nerve to slot home even the highest pressure of kicks. He had scored his first 26 in a row as a professional, never missing for Manchester City or Inter Milan. He scored the first in Italy’s shoot-out with England in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 and has fired in from the spot in World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup since.

Needless to say, I was delighted Mario took the ball, and should be successor the Gerrard as penalty taker

murpho999

Jaysus lads, pages of analysis of a minor dispiute.

2 players wanted to take a peno, one won out, scored. Team win.

That's it.

The players will just move on and won't be soul searching etc

LuckyLloyd

My thoughts: he ****ing buried the ****ing thing. Well done son.

Harry Palmr

I hear there's a game on Sunday.

MonkeyTennis

PhiloCypher

For my money the best penalty taker should always take the peno full stop. If Lambo was on the field I'd have had him take it over Hendo too. Hendo was de facto taker because we had no other recognised takers we could entrust it to on the field until Balo came on. Balo asked and Hendo called an audible and let him take it. I can somewhat forgive Sturridge for making more of it then he should have because he was probably having flashbacks of when he did something to similar to Gerrard against Everton(?) and ended up missing the peno. What I can't forgive so easily is our Captain throwing Balo to the media wolves like that just as he is beginning to contribute.

Kfallon at the fact that this is still even being discussed

Morzadec

I had very little doubt that Balotelli would stick it away.

As frustrating as he can be, one thing he can certainly do arguably as good or better than anyone in world football is take a penalty.

I would not have felt confident if it was Sturridge or Henderson over the ball.

plannerscanner

Dickerty wrote: »

He has a patchy first dozen games or so, and that puts him on the bench for an entire season???? Harsh...

Hmm- like Sakho's rugby tackle yellow last week?
Or Lucas' long history of silly bookings?
Or Skrtel's 6 bookings in the league already?

Every defender makes mistakes. He had 12 starts in the league when we were playing badly ALL OVER the pitch. He's now carrying the can for that, for the entire team it seems. Not Lallana, not Balo, not Gerrard, not Sakho.

Doesn't seem fair to me.

Skertl was dropped in a similar fashion at the start of 2013 and he came back a better player at the start of last season - he was clued in and on his game from the United match - clearly did him the world of good

Like Skertl, Sakho came back with his head right, put in good performances on numerous occasions and has probably earned the right to a few mistakes. Lovren had his a boo boo 10 mins into the game. Leaving Lovren out until he is ready to fight for his spot is the best thing for him right now

Nerdlingr

Amazing how Ibe has settled so well into the team. You could see from his time out on loan and the brief time he had in the team previously that he's a very intelligent footballer.
It's pretty exciting to think of the young team we have now and what they may become in the next few years. I know Rodgers took a lot of slack for our dip in form before christmas (and calls for his head were wildly excessive) but I hope the guy gets to at least see out the next few years and see the 'project' start to bear fruit.

Agent Coulson

Lets hope Derby don't get promoted and we can send a few more players on loan there next season

Chucky the tree

The problem with Henderson is that he's not a natural leader. It's almost like someone gave him a book on "Being a Captain for dummies" and he's read and is trying to implement all the ideas in it without actually understanding them.

NapoleonInRags

Chucky the tree wrote: »

The problem with Henderson is that he's not a natural leader. It's almost like someone gave him a book on "Being a Captain for dummies" and he's read and is trying to implement all the ideas in it without actually understanding them.

I've always thought that Gerrard wasn't a natural leader either - he kind of proved me right last night.

Buford T. Justice XIX

brevity wrote: »

Thats why, at LFC, we're backing crazy.

Laughed too hard at that, after the AIB ad just finished on the radio.

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Lets hope Derby don't get promoted and we can send a few more players on loan there next season

With the way Ibe developed there, we should send one there anyway next year if they get promoted.

I have to admit i was surprised he was brought back so soon as i thought he might be ready next season but fair play to the academy and scouts for picking and developing some excellent underage players.

Agent Coulson

I did say would prefer Ibe being brought back instead of paying extra for Origi during the transfer window so I'm a happy

noodler

NapoleonInRags wrote: »

I've always thought that Gerrard wasn't a natural leader either - he kind of proved me right last night.

Your bowl - it is hyper.

LuckyLloyd

NapoleonInRags wrote: »

I've always thought that Gerrard wasn't a natural leader either - he kind of proved me right last night.

He's been a brilliant Captain the last few years, really grew into the role. Remember him putting Mancini in his box or agitating against the sale of Agger? Unfortunately men of purpose sometimes say exactly what they think - for better or worse. Leadership is being who you are, not bull**** PC choosing your words and being riddled by indecisiveness

I think Henderson is a great leader.

Go watch him live and you'll see him constantly talking to players and encouraging those around him particularly the younger players.

He is without doubt captain material.

LuckyLloyd

rarnes1 wrote: »

I think Henderson is a great leader.

Go watch him live and you'll see him constantly talking to players and encouraging those around him particularly the younger players.

He is without doubt captain material.

He'll grow into the full role, just like Gerrard did

NapoleonInRags

NapoleonInRags wrote: »

I've always thought that Gerrard wasn't a natural leader either - he kind of proved me right last night.

Yeah and yet a good handful of club and country managers had him as captain. You could have told them and saved the club.

Seriously the stuff you read online sometimes!

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

He'll grow into the full role, just like Gerrard did

Exactly.

Picking out last night's incident and basically ignoring everything else good the guy has done is poor analysis.

Whoever made the rule that Henderson gets pens no matter who is on the pitch is the real culprit.

Gerrard
Ballotelli
Lambert


In that order.


After that they can fight over it

Kirby

murpho999 wrote: »

Jaysus lads, pages of analysis of a minor dispiute.

2 players wanted to take a peno, one won out, scored. Team win.

That's it.

The players will just move on and won't be soul searching etc

The dispute itself is nothing new and not that big a deal. A small spat that was soon forgotten about. I remember Drogba having an honest to god temper tantrum when Lampard wouldn't let him take one for Chelsea. He sulked for a good 20 minutes until he managed to score himself. This Liverpool incident is nothing in comparison and is more common than people realise. Lads argue over penalties, even at the professional level.

What is a big deal and is worthy of analysis as you put it, is Gerrard sh*tting the bed on television and criticising a teammate. Wtf is that all about? Way out of line and if he was anybody else or if Rodgers had more bottle, he'd be heavily reprimanded.

Muahahaha

noodler wrote: »

I do think this whole thing could have been dealt with with much less fuss if Gerrard had chosen different words.

This. Gerrard threw petrol on a fire that should have remained in the dressing room and is now out the door.

The entire problem though only arose because there was confusion amongst the players on who was to take it. Rodgers should have said Hendo is the pen taker except if Balotelli was on the pitch at the time of a penalty. That would have been the proper and best instruction to give for the benefit of the team as we all know Balo is excellend at penos. But it wasn't given and Mario took control of the situation and we won. Ultimately though if instructions from Rodgers were clearer than they actually were then the problem wouldn't have arisen in the first place.

Some on here are doubting Hendo's credentials as captain over this. I don't think that is fair over one small incident where he knew himself that Balo was the right man for the job. People tend to forget he is only 24 years of age.

Anyway what sort of form have Soton been on? After beating Spurs a victory over Soton would really send a message to those around us that we are serious contenders for top 4.

Chucky the tree

NapoleonInRags wrote: »

I've always thought that Gerrard wasn't a natural leader either - he kind of proved me right last night.

For me Gerrard just wasn't the type of captain I want or like.

rarnes1 wrote: »

I think Henderson is a great leader.

Go watch him live and you'll see him constantly talking to players and encouraging those around him particularly the younger players.

He is without doubt captain material.

But that's the thing. Anyone can read a book that details the things you should do to look like a great captain.


- Encourage players
- Stand up to the ref
- Stand up to the other players
- Be confident

Those are all fairly obvious "captain for dummies" type of things. The problem is great captains do this naturally. For a huge length of time Henderson didn't do any of this stuff. For his first season here he played poorly and he hid. Any time he played with Gerrard he was rarely out-spoken or did any of the things he does now. He look almost afraid of him. Where was his natural leadership? It simply didn't exist.

Great captains are confident, not arrogant. In the confidence chapter for Captains for Dummies Henderson has completely mis-understood what confidence is. He's become arrogant which is a sign of actually not being confident.


Henderson's first big test as a Captain and he's failed it miserably. As a captain any time someone challenges you authority you have to crush them. Henderson bottled it, badly. The worst part of it that he should have never put himself in the position in the first place, and if he was a good captain he'd realise that.