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

Nerdlingr

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I wouldn't count on it!

We haven't done a good job replacing most of the experienced players we have sold over the last number of years.

Lucas would be down the list of players at the club that need replacing and upgrading.

Gerrard, Johnson, Lambert, Balotelli, Borini, Jones & Mignolet all need to be replaced or upgraded before Lucas.

I dont think we have to replace seven players before we get to Lucas.
We have three right backs in the squad when Johnson goes.
Mingnolet can drop to number two when Jones goes.
A Keeper, striker, DM and AM for me... in that order.

D'Agger

NukaCola wrote: »

I may be harsh here but going forward he is very very ordinary at best. He cant cross the ball. Manquillo is faster, at least as competant passing and much better and comfortable going forward IMO. Flanno more solid, stronger and has better defensive positioning.

I disagree here Nuka - when we signed Manquillo I expected him to be solid going forward and slightly dodgy at the back. What I've seen has been the complete opposite, he's quite solid at the back but isn't exactly full of ideas going forward. I think he'd be a good signing and a player, like Flanagan, who will develop, particularly if they're in competition with each other for a starting berth, I really think you'd get more out of Flanno this way

So far I have Manquillo shading it going forward, but only just, I don't see him offering much more than Flanagan in this dept. I'd have them level for tackling/blocking and I'd have Flanagan ahead for awareness & positioning.

I can't wait for him to come back because he flies into tackles and, to his credit, doesn't tend to make stupid fouls, little moments like that tackle on Soldado last season really help a team and get the crowd going, particularly when it's a local lad. Fingers crossed for his return.

ricero

Anybody know when flanno will be back fit ? Also what injury did he pick up ?

Francie Barrett

klose wrote: »

Assaidi officially off to dubai for twice what we paid for him, somehow.

Great, had no future here anyway.

ush

Assaidi was bought to be moved on. The club knew they could sell him on at a profit. He was never meant to be a LFC player.

Luckycharms_74

NukaCola wrote: »

Now 9.

Its between De Gea and Courtois anyway.....

Lloris is very underrated, he's much closer to those two than many realise or recognise.

I voted Lloris

5starpool

gafferino wrote: »

True. Im a big fan and dont want him to go anywhere.
From his point of view he didnt get much of a look in last season and only got in this season when things were pear shaped. I think its clear he is not in Rodgers long team plans and I think he knows this.

This is why I wouldn't blame him if he is actively looking to leave. I think last summer or the end of last season he was told that he wasn't in the long term plans. Just speculation really, but around that time he removed the picture of him in a Liverpool kit from his twitter and instagram I think, and given the lack of game time and some of the abuse he was receiving on social media, I think he had decided he could do with a different challenge if the opportunity came up.

OwaynOTT

NukaCola wrote: »

Not a big Flanagan fan but do recognise that last season he was very good.

I may be harsh here but going forward he is very very ordinary at best. He cant cross the ball. Manquillo is faster, at least as competant passing and much better and comfortable going forward IMO. Flanno more solid, stronger and has better defensive positioning.

In conclusion I prefer Flannagan but he isn't a threat going forward, which is no slight on the lad, he is a FB after all.

Neither are great crossers of the ball, we missed that at right back since Finnan really.

Agent Coulson

Nerdlingr wrote: »

I dont think we have to replace seven players before we get to Lucas.
We have three right backs in the squad when Johnson goes.
Mingnolet can drop to number two when Jones goes.
A Keeper, striker, DM and AM for me... in that order.

Do you really think Mingnolet will want to stay as a number 2?

This is after being dropped for Jones and with what the manager has said about him I'm the last week.

He has been slaughtered by everyone I just can't see him wanting to stay as a number 2.

I think we will be looking for two keepers in the summer.

OwaynOTT

Actually, I think Flanno's ability to find a good pass and to help link up play is at a very high level for a defender.
I also look forward to him coming back.

Agent Coulson

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Do you really think Mingnolet will want to stay as a number 2?.......

Hopefully not

Raif Severance

MR NINE wrote: »

Regarding Borini, I dont think anyone claimed hes a world beater. The people who are calling for him to start games, myself included, are thinking of him in comparison with Lambert and Balotelli. None of em are scoring goals and, imo, borini is the most useful when played as a lone striker. I dont think theres a single person on this message board who believes Borini is good enough to be a regular first choice striker for a Liverpool team competing in the cl and for epl titles. However, there are a few of us who feel he is our best option to start up front on his own when Sturridge is absent.

Lambert has been hopeless whenever played and our football turns to ****. Similarly with Balotelli it often feels like playing with ten men. With Borini, although he may lack the talent balotelli has, he is still effective. He creates space for others, he works hard, he actually moves which is considerably better than what Lambert offers and hes been known to pass the ball from time to time which is a damn sight better than what balotelli offers.

I think we can all agree our striker options arent good enough

This.

I can't believe People here are Stupid enough to use Fabio to have a Dig. Just goes to show how Small-minded some are.

Objectively speaking, Fabio is the Best of the 3 Strikers we have right now. It's not a Compliment, but a Realization that without Sturridge we are Dire in the CF Position.

Lambert for all of his Heart, just not Fit the System.

And Balo may have the Talent, but he lacks the Guile. Everything he does is Telegraphed. All a Defender has to do is keep in front of him. Because sooner or later, Balo is going to Shoot, no matter how Ridiculous the Range nor the Angle.

Because Balo is so Predictable, that we as a Team is also becomes Predictable and Easy to Defend.

There's a Reason why BR went with Raheem at CF in the last few Games.

noodler

Raif Severance wrote: »

This.

I can't believe People here are Stupid enough to use Fabio to have a Dig. Just goes to show how Small-minded some are.

Objectively speaking, Fabio is the Best of the 3 Strikers we have right now. It's not a Compliment, but a Realization that without Sturridge we are Dire in the CF Position.

Lambert for all of his Heart, just not Fit the System.

And Balo may have the Talent, but he lacks the Guile. Everything he does is Telegraphed. All a Defender has to do is keep in front of him. Because sooner or later, Balo is going to Shoot, no matter how Ridiculous the Range nor the Angle.

Because Balo is so Predictable, that we as a Team is also becomes Predictable and Easy to Defend.

There's a Reason why BR went with Raheem at CF in the last few Games.

I don't even believe Ballo has the talent.

I think he coasted to a few goals as a bit-part in a team surrounded by Silva, Toure, Aguero, Dzeko, Nasri etc and thats about it. He is like that 5=aside player who wants no one to tackle him and gets pissed off when they do. Borini got so much stick here in the first few minutes against Sunderland for getting hot headed but what he contributed (as little as it was) was night and day compared to what Mario did.

The answer can't be Sturridge obviously - we cannot allow ourselves to be one injury to an injury-prone player away from this situation. I don't care how many Daniel scores before summer - I hope we get the additional class striker that we should have been planning on getting for nearly two years after Suarez and the Arsenal situation.

Charlie19

smileyj1987 wrote: »

Turf lambert or Mario out the door , at least with Fabio he moves and makes space . So it means the likes of coutinho , sterling and markovich can actually get into space to take shots .
Playing with him will make the team abit more comfortable when Danny retuns too aswell !

I agree, he'd be my choice over the other two but he's still not up to our standards and if he was to make way for a new signing, I'd have no problem seeing him go.

Turtyturd

NukaCola wrote: »

Now 9.

Its between De Gea and Courtois anyway.....

Lloris is very underrated, he's much closer to those two than many realise or recognise.

Would have Courtois and Lloris as 1 and 2 myself. De Gea has been massively overhyped recently, particularly since the game against us. There was also a popular saying around here a while back that a team finishing in 7th position couldn't have a world class goalkeeper.

jcsoulinger

noodler wrote: »

I don't even believe Ballo has the talent.

I think he coasted to a few goals as a bit-part in a team surrounded by Silva, Toure, Aguero, Dzeko, Nasri etc and thats about it. He is like that 5=aside player who wants no one to tackle him and gets pissed off when they do. Borini got so much stick here in the first few minutes against Sunderland for getting hot headed but what he contributed (as little as it was) was night and day compared to what Mario did.

The answer can't be Sturridge obviously - we cannot allow ourselves to be one injury to an injury-prone player away from this situation. I don't care how many Daniel scores before summer - I hope we get the additional class striker that we should have been planning on getting for nearly two years after Suarez and the Arsenal situation.

I can't agree, They are both crap at the moment but at least There's a chance Mario will find some form, Fabio is just not good enough.

jcsoulinger

Turtyturd wrote: »

Would have Courtois and Lloris as 1 and 2 myself. De Gea has been massively overhyped recently, particularly since the game against us. There was also a popular saying around here a while back that a team finishing in 7th position couldn't have a world class goalkeeper.

Yep and against us it was poor finishing rather than great goal keeping that stopped us scoring.

Ballotelli, Borini and Lambert aren't good enough for Liverpool.

Lambert would be a handy backup to have if you played to his strengths. We don't so he's pointless. Borini just isn't good enough. Ballotelli isn't suited to our team and I think he's overrated anyway.

Sell them all

smileyj1987

Charlie19 wrote: »

I agree, he'd be my choice over the other two but he's still not up to our standards and if he was to make way for a new signing, I'd have no problem seeing him go.

Oh I agree that he isn't good enough !! I do think he is the best of a bad bunch . At least he will run and make space like I said .
Lambert is never gonna be a world beater for LFC and you need to play diagonal and long balls to him and LFC can't play that way .
Ballo has the talent but he is a complete waste of space regards to commitment and attitude . For every one brilliant game you will get 9 or so games of laziness and no commitment .

rossc007

ush wrote: »

Assaidi was bought to be moved on. The club knew they could sell him on at a profit. He was never meant to be a LFC player.

Have any info on this or are you just guessing?

niallo27

I would still like Mario to get a run with Sturridge if it ever happens. I think they could link well together.

I'm excited to see Sturridge, Sterling and Markovic together

Turtyturd

Could also be a very frustrating disaster considering both consider kicking it into row z a better option than passing the ball most of the time.

Magico Gonzalez

niallo27 wrote: »

I would still like Mario to get a run with Sturridge if it ever happens. I think they could link well together.

Wishful thinking, neither would pass to the other. Mario trying so hard to prove he's not the Italian Ade Akinbiyi and Sturridge not overly fond of not shooting and dribbling whren faced with goal. I wouldnt pass to Balotelli, looks to have the touch of a drunk rugby player.

Hidalgo

When's Arda Turan signing.

mosstin

Hidalgo wrote: »

When's Arda Turan signing.

Paper work almost completed apparently. He'll be with us from the beginning of the 2010/11/12/13/14 season. Can't wait.

smileyj1987

Hidalgo wrote: »

When's Arda Turan signing.

When pigs fly !!!

MR NINE

I thought flanagan was very good in attack last season. He made a lot of bursting runs forward last season and would often be one of the men breaking forward for a counter when we turned over possession. There was countless times hed pop up on the edge of the box or even sometimes the six yard box and id be wondering what the **** he is doing there, though not in a negative way. His crossing has never lookd particularly impressive but he seems to be very smart for a player of his age in terms of knowing where to be and when. His tackling is a bit rash but seems to work out surprisingly often. I always feel hes at risk of getting a red but it just never seems to happen. He also has a great engine and seems to be capable of sprinting up and down the line all day, a good trait for an attacking full back. Also, his enthusiasm and determination is infectious.

Morzadec

MR NINE wrote: »

Regarding Borini, I dont think anyone claimed hes a world beater. The people who are calling for him to start games, myself included, are thinking of him in comparison with Lambert and Balotelli. None of em are scoring goals and, imo, borini is the most useful when played as a lone striker. I dont think theres a single person on this message board who believes Borini is good enough to be a regular first choice striker for a Liverpool team competing in the cl and for epl titles. However, there are a few of us who feel he is our best option to start up front on his own when Sturridge is absent.

Lambert has been hopeless whenever played and our football turns to ****. Similarly with Balotelli it often feels like playing with ten men. With Borini, although he may lack the talent balotelli has, he is still effective. He creates space for others, he works hard, he actually moves which is considerably better than what Lambert offers and hes been known to pass the ball from time to time which is a damn sight better than what balotelli offers.

I think we can all agree our striker options arent good enough

Despite weiting him off in a red shirt, there's a significant part of me that wants to see Balotelli start. He's shown glimpses recently and obviously has a lot of talent. I admit I'd be excited and hopeful if I heard he was starting.

But i think it's telling that Rodgers doesn't play him anymore. He just can't be trusted to work on and off the ball, to make defenders life difficult when he doesn't have the ball at his feet, either by pressing or by making incisive runs to create space for others. And his desire to impress and his inflated sense of self belief when he does have the ball leads to numerous broken down attacks as he tries the impossible.

Feeling like you're playing with 10 is a good description and it's hard to argue with any of the above.

You can do a lot as a striker without the ball and play a part in setting up goals without even touching the ball. Borini offers this. Who knows, with a few consecutive starts he might even get the flow and confidence to start scoring a goal or two.

If Lallana were fit, I'd still say that Sterling was our best striker option at the moment. He offers a goal threat. But we probably need him in the attackinh mid role now and i think Borini showed his merits on Saturday. Much more suited to our fast paced attacks with the ball and intense pressing without it. Should be given the opportunity to build on a useful (if unspectacular ) performance against Sunderland

S. Goodspeed

ush wrote: »

Assaidi was bought to be moved on. The club knew they could sell him on at a profit. He was never meant to be a LFC player.

After all fees (signing and selling) and wages I doubt they made much of a profit, if any.

ush

S. Goodspeed wrote: »

After all fees (signing and selling) and wages I doubt they made much of a profit, if any.

I was thinking Stoke were paying his wages. I may be wrong about the whole idea though.

ush

ush wrote: »

Assaidi was bought to be moved on. The club knew they could sell him on at a profit. He was never meant to be a LFC player.

Given the timescale and the figures involved I'd like to think that's not true, that's a polite way of saying.....

jcsoulinger wrote: »

I can't agree, They are both crap at the moment but at least There's a chance Mario will find some form, Fabio is just not good enough.

I was actually happy enough with Mario signing, I'm still struggling to appreciate how bad he is. Looking at the chances against Man Utd, all credit to the keeper, but seriously, he had to stick one of them away.

burrenguy

In regards to signing a DM, what would ye think of signing Nigel De Jong? Featured in most of Milan's games this season, who are currently 8th in the league. Not the flashiest of players, but he's a solid presence in midfield and had a good World Cup.

ush

Augeo wrote: »

Given the timescale and the figures involved I'd like to think that's not true, that's a polite way of saying.....

Or maybe it didn't work out as the club had planned.

Agent Coulson

burrenguy wrote: »

In regards to signing a DM, what would ye think of signing Nigel De Jong? Featured in most of Milan's games this season, who are currently 8th in the league. Not the flashiest of players, but he's a solid presence in midfield and had a good World Cup.

He's older than Lucas and not as good imo he would want similar wages to Lucas so no for me.

Ardent

We won't be signing anyone lads, at least not until we sell first.

Kerrigooney

Ardent wrote: »

We won't be signing anyone lads, at least not until we sell first.

Lets just hope we don't sell Lucas.

Yes,I'm late to the debate but I had a busy day ye dossin bastards.

Ulysses Gaze

ush wrote: »

Assaidi was bought to be moved on. The club knew they could sell him on at a profit. He was never meant to be a LFC player.

And Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto?

niallo27

Magico Gonzalez wrote: »

Wishful thinking, neither would pass to the other. Mario trying so hard to prove he's not the Italian Ade Akinbiyi and Sturridge not overly fond of not shooting and dribbling whren faced with goal. I wouldnt pass to Balotelli, looks to have the touch of a drunk rugby player.

Suarez and Sturridge were very selfish players as well. I am not saying Mario is anywhere near Suarez's level but it could work.

Sappy404

Ardent wrote: »

We won't be signing anyone lads, at least not until we sell first.

We've sold Assaidi for £4m+. Could land us Delph or Origi this window instead of the summer. Hopefully the latter if either.

ush

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

And Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto?

Assaidi was loaned out directly.

It's fair to say the "surnames beginning with A policy" wasn't a huge success

klose

Isint aspas' loan one of those ones with an obligation to buy? He seems to be their cup game striker, 7 goals i think in the cups. Rarely if ever seen in the league though.

ush

rarnes1 wrote: »

It's fair to say the "surnames beginning with A policy" wasn't a huge success

Borini, Balotelli

brevity

rarnes1 wrote: »

It's fair to say the "surnames beginning with A policy" wasn't a huge success

"Surnames beginning with a B" isn't proving much better.

BMJD

rarnes1 wrote: »

It's fair to say the "surnames beginning with A policy" wasn't a huge success

Balotelli, Borini.....

Benzema to break the chain of misery!

Harry Palmr

João Carlos Teixeira - unused sub
D. Origi - Sub on at 58 mins in 1-0 win.
J. Ibe - 86 mins in 1-0 win away to Ipswich Town
A. Wisdom - full game for WBA in 1-0 win
Tiago Ilori - 56 mins in Coupe De France win (injured again).
L. Jones - full game in 2-0 loss for Cheltenham
K. Stewart - full game in 2-0 loss for Cheltenham
J Dunn - full game in 2-0 loss for Cheltenham
I Aspas - unsued sub in win for Sevilla


Luis Alberto started for Malaga away to Levante - currently 2-0 at HT (do they go to bed at all down there?)

Jordon Ibe highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5WhVpjGjAo

googled eyes

Useless Downing

BMJD

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Luis Alberto started for Malaga away to Levante - currently 2-0 at HT (do they go to bed at all down there?)

Levante now 3-2 up, still 3-4 on aggregate to Malaga with 5 minutes to go. I haven't seen much of Alberto in the 30 minutes or so I've been watching.

Dirty Steve

Glad to see some people are coming round to the fact that Borini offers more than the other two.
I got laughed at during the weekend game for saying that Borini fits best into the team with what he offers.
Too many people basing things on reputation (which is crazy because for me Balotelli has always offered litte) and not watching these players when they're on the pitch.