Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2015 Mod Note in OP 9/4

garra

Talisman wrote: »

Certainly not true. Ian McGarry would have made it known last summer. He kept talking about Rodgers wanting di Maria - the only offers Real Madrid received were from PSG and Man Utd.

Jaysus, dodged a bullet there. Taking wages into account, that move would have wiped out the "Luis fund" single-handedly. Not that we did much better with the shower we did buy, but at least some of them have potential (Markovic / Can / Origi / Moreno)

~Rebel~

Kirby wrote: »

Why 50 years? Why not 10, or 25 or 100 years? Seems a bit of an arbitrary number. I mean, if you are going to include the pre premier league era, surely you should include all of it.

Indeed, going for Post-WW2 would probably have made a bit more sense...though it's 50 years since substitutes were allowed, so maybe they decided that was the birth of the modern game.

garra wrote: »

Jaysus, dodged a bullet there. Taking wages into account, that move would have wiped out the "Luis fund" single-handedly. Not that we did much better with the shower we did buy, but at least some of them have potential (Markovic / Can / Origi / Moreno)

Wouldn't say that necessarily, he's obviously an absolutely amazing player. You never know how someone will fare in a different team and setup.

Harry Palmr

<-They chose 50 years with good reason.

shamrock55

Henderson signs a new long term contract and then says with this current squad and manager we can look forward to winning trophies, :eek: where the fcuk were you and this current squad and manager last sunday when we were 1 game away from winning the fa cup what a dumb thing to say in all fairness

Pyjamarama

Can't understand how people can still say we spend like a top club... We don't. Our players are on laughable wages compared to what Chelsea, city and Utd can offer. I imagine arsenals bill is higher too but closer, the fact they've been such a settled club for so long is their big advantage.

Transfer fees are only half the story folks. And tbh do little to attract the players. (Bar Ronnie obv!)

Harry Palmr

As of now (this minute) Liverpool have four players on 100k or more a week and two of them are about to leave.

mosstin

Harry Palmr wrote: »

As of now (this minute) Liverpool have four players on 100k or more a week and two of them are about to leave.

QPR - not the sharpest tool in the box.

mada999

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Clasie and Trippier would be the only ones that would interest me. Never heard of Wilhenna tbh and Deulofeu, Townsend and Hernandez wouldn't interest me in the least unless free. Krul as a backup keeper would interest me a bit but not as competition for Mig. I would hope for a better class of keeper if we are buying competition for Mig.
That's £30 million a year from the Standard Chartered sponsorship going to transfers each year not £90 million lump sum.

Though we will probably buy some lumps with it...:(

3 x £10m potential gambles...

Ferris_Bueller

I'd agree with Rodgers 'par for course' statement, maybe apart from Europe which was disappointing. In terms of players we are definitely a level below the current top four, so expecting us to finish in the CL positions is unrealistic IMO. Of course we should be expecting to challenge for it, and some seasons we will get it, but to class it as a failure for not qualifying isn't fair. My biggest issue with Rodgers has been his transfers, if FSG continually pump money into the club they have every right to demand the gap between us and the current top four gets narrower every season, but Rodgers signings haven't helped his case at all.

There is pressure on him to get the signings right this summer. I think he knows it and if we are in this exact situation again next year after spending a lot of money again this summer you will have to wonder if someone else could be doing a better job. None of us know whether it's him or the transfer committee who are in charge of the transfers but they need to be much better this summer, unfortunately I can't see it happening but we'll see.

marklazarcovic

LuckyLloyd wrote:

I also think Benitez or Klopp would get us into the top four with the current squad.

LuckyLloyd wrote:

Hence I think Rodgers could not complain if he was moved aside for a manager of that ilk.

You think either would have gotten us top four with the squad we have and hardly a decent striker all season?

Bit if a stretch without our main striker tbh

K-9

I'd prefer 7th and no Europa cup tbh so no arrogance whatsoever.

Be glad Lloyd that you consider this a poor season under Rodgers.

whatawaster

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Kenny was tasked with finishing in the top four too in 2011 / 12 and we were happy so long as we in touch for that. The season tailed off at the end and we were disappointed. His job would have been up for discussion if he had finished 5th, make no mistake about that, but the fact of an actual trophy and close run final might have been enough to sway it in his favour.

Also we don't have 5th locked up yet folks, the assumption that it is is arrogant imo.

Tailed off at the end? Relegation form in the second half of the season

Kirby

K-9 wrote: »

I'd prefer 7th and no Europa cup tbh so no arrogance whatsoever.

Be glad Lloyd that you consider this a poor season under Rodgers.

Surely winning the Europa league and obtaining a champions league spot is a big enough carrot now to take it seriously?

Hollister11

mada999 wrote: »

3 x £10m potential gambles...

I'd sign them. 30M for a good keeper to challenge migs, and keep him on his toes, a highly rated midfielder and a good quality ENGLISH full back. Clasie and Trippier both have a good potential re sale value.

gimli2112

Kirby wrote: »

Surely winning the Europa league and obtaining a champions league spot is a big enough carrot now to take it seriously?

I don't think the 43 games and trips to the far east of Russia on a Thursday are worth it. It's also easier imo to finish 4th in a relatively average league than to win the Europa, which was such a dire competition, UEFA had to throw in a CL spot to entice teams to play in it.

Polo_Mint

marklazarcovic wrote: »

You think either would have gotten us top four with the squad we have and hardly a decent striker all season?

Bit if a stretch without our main striker tbh

They would have probably looked at the team at the start of the season and dicided:

"Hmmmmm, I think we need to buy a Great striker"

monkey9

Kirby wrote: »

Why 50 years? Why not 10, or 25 or 100 years? Seems a bit of an arbitrary number. I mean, if you are going to include the pre premier league era, surely you should include all of it.

Since Shankly took over. I'd have thought that was fairly obvious.

8-10

K-9 wrote: »

I'd prefer 7th and no Europa cup tbh so no arrogance whatsoever.

Be glad Lloyd that you consider this a poor season under Rodgers.

If Arsenal win the FA Cup then we'd have to finish 8th to avoid the EL.

That would require something like losing all remaining games and having Swansea get a result against Arsenal or City and win all their other remaining games.

if Villa win the cup then 7th would do it. But Arsenal winning it and we've no chance of avoiding it

Vicxas

8-10 wrote: »

If Arsenal win the FA Cup then we'd have to finish 8th to avoid the EL.

That would require something like losing all remaining games and having Swansea get a result against Arsenal or City and win all their other remaining games.

if Villa win the cup then 7th would do it. But Arsenal winning it and we've no chance of avoiding it

Oranage2

Rodgers is a very talented and young manager, but I think he's rated better than what he is because of his confidence slash arrogance.

He's not good enough to get Liverpool competing for a top four spot unless one of the top 4 has a complete meltdown like united did last year.

This money ball fsg nonsense the fans sprout is a load of balls, if it was the case Liverpool would either spend 20m more on wages to compete with the top tier clubs for top four, or they'd knock 30million off the wage bill and reside with competing with the second tier clubs for Europa spots. As it stands fsg are doing neither so it'll be interesting to see what they do in the summer.

JB81

Knex. wrote: »

Clasie and Wilhenna would be decent additions, imo.

Best scenario from that list, we get Clyne, and Southampton get Trippier.

Definitely agree on Clasie. I just realised i posted a long post yesterday or the day before stating i would love us to buy Klaassen from ajax as i felt he would become a great player. I was actually meaning to say Clasie!!

However i would take either or both to be fair, but clasie could be the midfielder we need to attempt to replace gerrard..

Also mentioned trippier in that post and believe he could be a good addition, or as you put it give us clyne and let southampton get trippier...

murpho999

Oranage2 wrote: »

Rodgers is a very talented and young manager, but I think he's rated better than what he is because of his confidence slash arrogance.

He's not good enough to get Liverpool competing for a top four spot unless one of the top 4 has a complete meltdown like united did last year.

This money ball fsg nonsense the fans sprout is a load of balls, if it was the case Liverpool would either spend 20m more on wages to compete with the top tier clubs for top four, or they'd knock 30million off the wage bill and reside with competing with the second tier clubs for Europa spots. As it stands fsg are doing neither so it'll be interesting to see what they do in the summer.

So finishing second last year, not fourth as your argument proposes, is down to Utd performing badly and nothing to do with Rodgers or the team. Good logic that.

noodler

For those of you saying 4th was the target but that it was unrealistic to expect it.

At what stage is 5th or lower not going to be acceptable? And so warrant a change of manager?

The argument seems to preclude Rodgers being sacked for finishing outside the top four for years to come.

Oranage2

murpho999 wrote: »

So finishing second last year, not fourth as your argument proposes, is down to Utd performing badly and nothing to do with Rodgers or the team. Good logic that.

Come on man, it's pretty obvious that last season Liverpool finished second because of Suarez, not having any cup runs and united being shocking.

This season, united and arsenal started very badly, and city are in terrible form yet Liverpool aren't even remotely close to any of them. Yes Rodgers deserves some credit but Liverpool spend something like 30 million more on wages than their nearest rivals, just about any manager would be getting Liverpool 5th.

tok9

I don't understand the mentality of not getting into the Europa league and even more so now.

It's one way of getting into the Champions League.

Midweek games should prepare the squad for midweek games in the future.

If nothing else, it can be used to give fringe/youth players experience in Europe.


People who then complain that it affects the teams league form. As far as I'm concerned, if a team can't hack the Europa League then that's a good sign that they won't be able to hack the Champions League either so like Liverpool, they will just play it for a season and fall off.

We need the team to be consistently playing in Europe whichever competition that is.

0028673

Oranage2 wrote: »

Rodgers is a very talented and young manager, but I think he's rated better than what he is because of his confidence slash arrogance.

He's not good enough to get Liverpool competing for a top four spot unless one of the top 4 has a complete meltdown like united did last year.

This money ball fsg nonsense the fans sprout is a load of balls, if it was the case Liverpool would either spend 20m more on wages to compete with the top tier clubs for top four, or they'd knock 30million off the wage bill and reside with competing with the second tier clubs for Europa spots. As it stands fsg are doing neither so it'll be interesting to see what they do in the summer.

Fair enough United had a complete meltdown and you are right we can't depend on one of the Top Four having a meltdown every year....

But did we not finish above Arsenal and Chelsea last year and came very close to winning the EPL?

Iused2likebusts

Oranage2 wrote: »

Rodgers is a very talented and young manager, but I think he's rated better than what he is because of his confidence slash arrogance.

He's not good enough to get Liverpool competing for a top four spot unless one of the top 4 has a complete meltdown like united did last year.

This money ball fsg nonsense the fans sprout is a load of balls, if it was the case Liverpool would either spend 20m more on wages to compete with the top tier clubs for top four, or they'd knock 30million off the wage bill and reside with competing with the second tier clubs for Europa spots. As it stands fsg are doing neither so it'll be interesting to see what they do in the summer.

Liverpool also finished ahead of chelsea and arsenal last year so it had nothing to do with utd having a poor season. If utd didn't have a meltdown as you put it arsenal would've missed top 4.

TitianGerm

Oranage2 wrote: »

Come on man, it's pretty obvious that last season Liverpool finished second because of Suarez, not having any cup runs and united being shocking.

This season, united and arsenal started very badly, and city are in terrible form yet Liverpool aren't even remotely close to any of them. Yes Rodgers deserves some credit but Liverpool spend something like 30 million more on wages than their nearest rivals, just about any manager would be getting Liverpool 5th.

Don't forget Liverpool started the season poorly as well. We have also been missing our main goal scorer through injury for most of the season. Even if Sturridge had been fit he would have gotten 10/15 extra goals and that might have gained us a few extra points.
It hasnt been a terrible season in fairness. However after last year people expectations were up so we have been brought back to earth with a bump.
Myself I was optimistic that we could sneak into 4th at the start of the season but unfortunatly that doesn't look like it'll happen now. Loosing both our main goalscorers and integrating a lot of new younger players into the squad(many who are new to the PL) we lost our way and fluidity this year.
Hopefully next year the team will be more of a unit and with a few new faces who will slot straight into the first team we can push on and challenge for CL.

murpho999

Oranage2 wrote: »

Come on man, it's pretty obvious that last season Liverpool finished second because of Suarez, not having any cup runs and united being shocking.

This season, united and arsenal started very badly, and city are in terrible form yet Liverpool aren't even remotely close to any of them. Yes Rodgers deserves some credit but Liverpool spend something like 30 million more on wages than their nearest rivals, just about any manager would be getting Liverpool 5th.

So could I not say that Ferguson was only successful because of Ronaldo, or Keane etc? You can't blame a manager for having good players.

Also, they finished 2nd last year (should have been 1st) so even if Utd had been strong last season wouldn't Liverpool have finished in Top 4 anyway.

brevity

gimli2112 wrote: »

I don't think the 43 games and trips to the far east of Russia on a Thursday are worth it. It's also easier imo to finish 4th in a relatively average league than to win the Europa, which was such a dire competition, UEFA had to throw in a CL spot to entice teams to play in it.

Are you talking about the Premier league as being the league that's relatively easy to finish fourth in?

If that's the case surely Rodgers job is on the line...I thought the excuse was that the current top 4 are better run/have more money than us so its harder than ever to finish 4th?

If 5th "is our level" then we should make an effort in the EL. There is a substantial reward at the end and Rodgers and the team get more European experience which, on the evidence of this season, is desperately needed.

Oranage2

murpho999 wrote: »

So could I not say that Ferguson was only successful because of Ronaldo, or Keane etc? You can't blame a manager for having good players.

Also, they finished 2nd last year (should have been 1st) so even if Utd had been strong last season wouldn't Liverpool have finished in Top 4 anyway.

Well united were successful because they had those players Yes it's a valid argument, they could afford them because they're one of the richest clubs in the world.

Things aren't as straight forward as x+y=z but if Liverpool finish 5th and you take Rodgers average finishing position it's 5th. 5th in the wage league too. Rodgers isn't anything special.

brevity

Also, the guys on RTE the other night were saying that if English teams continue to fail in Europe we would lose the 4th place entry to CL. So only the first three would get in.

Its really in everyone's best interests that we make an attempt at EL.

Iused2likebusts

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

Liverpool also finished ahead of chelsea and arsenal last year so it had nothing to do with utd having a poor season. If utd didn't have a meltdown as you put it arsenal would've missed top 4.

As the initial point made little sense let's bring it on a bit and say if utd weren't as bad last year arsenal finish 5th. Wenger gets sacked a couple of there top players want out and sanchez goes to Liverpool over arsenal. So in hindsight its a pity utd were so poor last year.

murpho999

Oranage2 wrote: »

Well united were successful because they had those players Yes it's a valid argument, they could afford them because they're one of the richest clubs in the world.

Things aren't as straight forward as x+y=z but if Liverpool finish 5th and you take Rodgers average finishing position it's 5th. 5th in the wage league too. Rodgers isn't anything special.

Finishing 5th, 2nd and 5th does not mean your average is 5th.

Talisman

murpho999 wrote: »

Finishing 5th, 2nd and 5th does not mean your average is 5th.

Not the mean average (4) but it is the mode average.

Connavar

murpho999 wrote: »

Finishing 5th, 2nd and 5th does not mean your average is 5th.

Finished 7th his first season, not 5th

LuckyLloyd

marklazarcovic wrote: »

You think either would have gotten us top four with the squad we have and hardly a decent striker all season?

Bit if a stretch without our main striker tbh

Yes, I think they have demonstrated an ability to get more from teams over their career to date than Rodgers can.

Knex*

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Yes, I think they have demonstrated an ability to get more from teams over their career to date than Rodgers can.

Liverpool were expected to come 6th last year. Swansea were expected to be relegated in their first PL season.

While I'm not completely disagreeing, a bit of perspective is needed too.

Harry Palmr

murpho999 wrote: »

Finishing 5th, 2nd and 5th does not mean your average is 5th.

Connavar wrote: »

Finished 7th his first season, not 5th

Haven't finished 5th this season either!

LuckyLloyd

brevity wrote: »

Also, the guys on RTE the other night were saying that if English teams continue to fail in Europe we would lose the 4th place entry to CL. So only the first three would get in.

Its really in everyone's best interests that we make an attempt at EL.

Yeah, Italian teams have performed well across both competitions this year. Another season like this would see them overtake the EPL and 'top four' would become 'top three'.

Harry Palmr

Transfer news

Peter McVitie
‎@PeterMcVitie

Memphis Depay will weigh up his options after receiving information from Man United, PSG & Liverpool, ED (Eindhovens Dagblad) report. Expected fee of €30m+.

SocialRMadrid
‎@SocialRMadrid

MARCA | Liverpool want to sign Asier Illarramendi for £23M.
9:57 AM - 24 Apr 2015

J Mysterio

Brendan Rodgers wrote:

"Our ambition is to be better and plan forward, that means bringing in players in the summer. Plans to do that are well underway

Connavar

J Mysterio wrote: »

Plans are nothing until acted upon. Also depends on what players they are looking at

noodler

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Yeah, Italian teams have performed well across both competitions this year. Another season like this would see them overtake the EPL and 'top four' would become 'top three'.

I thought Sky or someone did a back of the envelope calculation on this and said it would take longer than a year.

Knex*

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Yeah, Italian teams have performed well across both competitions this year. Another season like this would see them overtake the EPL and 'top four' would become 'top three'.

Could have Italian winners in both the CL and EL this year, which would certainly bring the pressure next year for PL teams.

Even Italian finalists in both competitions, and its extremely likely in the EL, is not good. We could end up with Napoli and Fiorentina in the EL final, and Juventus in the CL.

Can't see that being good for England's coefficients.

Agent Coulson

That looks an ok me.

Sterling--Henderson---Illarramendi--Depay

---

Coutinho

---

---

Fit healthy Striker

---

Harry Palmr

----Can---Skrtel--Sakho

---

Illarramendi

---

Hendo---Pjanic
Sterling---Coutinho---Depay

---

Origi (hey why not?!)

Knex*

Depay and Illarramendi would be fantastic signings imo. However, I do feel that we may be left disappointed with Depay, ala Sanchez, etc

klose

Playing depay at wing back would be a horrendous idea (not that we are signing him....)

Vicxas

Knex. wrote: »

Depay and Illarramendi would be fantastic signings imo. However, I do feel that we may be left disappointed with Depay, ala Sanchez, etc

Yep, we'll play hardball and then get shafted again when Utd come in with massive money.