Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 15/16

rob316

This game really seems to be a big deal for Augsburg

Buford T. Justice XIX

rob316 wrote: »

This game really seems to be a big deal for Augsburg

Yeah, they're really looking forward to it. I've been following them on twitter for the last 2 weeks and they come across as a great bunch of lads.

I find myself looking for their results each weekend:o

Harry Palmr

rob316 wrote: »

This game really seems to be a big deal for Augsburg

The biggest game they have ever played in terms of international interest.

10 years ago they were a Regionaliga side, 5 years ago they were in Bundesliga 2

citytillidie

rob316 wrote: »

This game really seems to be a big deal for Augsburg

Mixture of them being a smaller team working their way up the German ladder and Liverpool still being a big name around Europe

ricero

Hopefully we get the job done tomorrow and can rest a few next thursday ahead of the league cup final. Hopefully we can keep the same side from the villa game

theoneeyedman

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

The Chinese Govt want to broaden their economy to be less reliant on manufacturing and property so are promoting investment in services and entertainment and having a world class football league is one way they can demonstrate their economic muscle.

Good article here - http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10154676/the-chinese-revolution-explaining-the-explosion-of-moves-to-china

It's also the pet project of the prime minister of the moment. I'd expect when he gets replaced/ousted/sent to a salt mine his replacement might have other ideas and it might not be in anyone's interests to be involved with the old man's project.
There is also a theory that this is an excellent way of getting around the restrictions on moving money out of China.

Knex*

He's always looking to do something to help somewhere, in fairness to Sakho.

https://twitter.com/LFC/status/699973112859725824

OwaynOTT

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Yeah, they're really looking forward to it. I've been following them on twitter for the last 2 weeks and they come across as a great bunch of lads.

I find myself looking for their results each weekend:o

They're trying to be all pally pally, hoping we take it easy on them. I hope we stuff them, not going to win me over with loads of thanks.

marklazarcovic

he seems to have a heart of gold that lad(sakho)

DrumSteve

OwaynOTT wrote: »

They're trying to be all pally pally, hoping we take it easy on them. I hope we stuff them, not going to win me over with loads of thanks.

kfallon

Top man Sakho

https://twitter.com/ItsJurgenKlopp/status/699993953865744384

Turtyturd

He's milking it now.

murpho999

marklazarcovic wrote: »

he seems to have a heart of gold that lad(sakho)

Yes, Jermaine Defoe thinks so too.

Agent Coulson

Gundogan say he won't be signing a new contract at BVB.

I can dream he will follow Klopp to Liverpool in the summer.

54and56

Lavezzi moving to China and earning €500,000 (yes, HALF A MILLION QUID) A WEEK http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/other-soccer/footballs-top-earner-psg-star-ezequiel-lavezzi-moves-to-china-for-more-than-500kaweek-34462137.html

I know the Chinese have decided to invest in building their league but this looks like they have decided all the trillions of US$'s they are holding aren't worth a damn so have decided to start spunking it all on a hobby :eek:

How happy is Lavezzi's agent tonight? He's earning more than a lot of good PL players per week

~Rebel~

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Lavezzi moving to China and earning €500,000 (yes, HALF A MILLION QUID) A WEEK http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/other-soccer/footballs-top-earner-psg-star-ezequiel-lavezzi-moves-to-china-for-more-than-500kaweek-34462137.html

I know the Chinese have decided to invest in building their league but this looks like they have decided all the trillions of US$'s they are holding aren't worth a damn so have decided to start spunking it all on a hobby :eek:

How happy is Lavezzi's agent tonight? He's earning more than a lot of good PL players per week

It's just so much money it's insane! Like, surely, he'd have gone there for much less than that. I mean, 200,000 would still have been absolutely astronomical and much more than he'd get anywhere else - 500k is just taking the piss.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Lovren isn't in the squad for the EL match due to a family illness

https://twitter.com/JamesPearceEcho/status/700017811842822146

Utopia Parkway

Irishmale0399

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Gundogan say he won't be signing a new contract at BVB.

I can dream he will follow Klopp to Liverpool in the summer.

The last word hasnt been spoken on this matter. Heard at the last home game that his family are trying to push for a big money move so they can cash in (father and uncle are his agents) but the lad seems to be happy where he is and is aware of what happened to his close friends Nuri Sahin, Schweinsteiger, Gotze.....when they made their big money moves. If he moves it will be due to family pressure according to a former team mate.

TitianGerm

Knex. wrote: »

He's always looking to do something to help somewhere, in fairness to Sakho.

https://twitter.com/LFC/status/699973112859725824

That's great. Looks like he did it off his own back as well rather than been asked to attend by the club.

Seems a real nice guy off the field and you can see the Liverpool fans really liking him for his work away from the game.

dogbert27

MD1990 wrote: »

Apart from Teixeira. China hasn't signed any players in there peak. All players who are looking for one last big paycheck.

There's still mileage in Ramires and Jackson Martinez. Lavezzi too. We could be seeing a swing away from European teams.

~Rebel~

dogbert27 wrote: »

There's still mileage in Ramires and Jackson Martinez. Lavezzi too. We could be seeing a swing away from European teams.

only to a small degree though...they have a limitation on the number of foreign imports per team, so it's never really going to gain a lot of traction. The quality of the league will still be well below what good players aspire to, with money being the only real draw.

brevity

https://twitter.com/RedsOrDead/status/700087012238434304

Harry Palmr

brevity wrote: »

https://twitter.com/RedsOrDead/status/700087012238434304

Look up a few posts!

Rumours or fact? Likely in any event.

#LFC Team (Paul Joyce)

Liverpool (4-3-3): Mignolet; Clyne, Caulker, Sakho, Moreno; Milner, Henderson, Can; Firmino, Sturridge, Coutinho.

Magico Gonzalez

dogbert27 wrote: »

There's still mileage in Ramires and Jackson Martinez. Lavezzi too. We could be seeing a swing away from European teams.

Lavezzi is 31 and a perennial sub for PSG, same for the national team. Way down the pecking order.

Used to be Dubai, now it's China. Good luck to him. Few years and he'll turn up playing for whatever teamed he left behind in Argentina swearing his heart never left. They all do, and they're always half sh1te.

K-9

8-10 wrote: »

Flanagan and Illori not in the EL squad

Was Flanagan not called up a couple of weeks ago?

topmanamillion

I think there's more potential in the Chinese league than there is in say the MLS. Theres a saturation of professional sport in America so it will always be limited but that's not the case in China.
If there is a concerted effort to invest heavily in marquee players crowds will inevitably increase and so will it's reputation. In this transfer window alone they've signed better players than the MLS has managed over the last 10 years. They've paid a premium but they can obviously afford it. It will be very interesting to see if there's more big name signings in the summer.
We aren't far off a situation in Europe where middle of the road players start earning in and around 500k a week, China are probably just 5 years ahead of that. I remember not too long ago (about 10 years ago or less) people were debating whether players should get 100k/week.

~Rebel~

K-9 wrote: »

Was Flanagan not called up a couple of weeks ago?

Nope, he wasn't included, Klopp said it was because he was quite limited still in the number of games he could play, so it made sense to keep him for domestic games.

~Rebel~

topmanamillion wrote: »

I think there's more potential in the Chinese league than there is in say the MLS. Theres a saturation of professional sport in America so it will always be limited but that's not the case in China.
If there is a concerted effort to invest heavily in marquee players crowds will inevitably increase and so will it's reputation. In this transfer window alone they've signed better players than the MLS has managed over the last 10 years. They've paid a premium but they can obviously afford it. It will be very interesting to see if there's more big name signings in the summer.
We aren't far off a situation in Europe where middle of the road players start earning in and around 500k a week, China are probably just 5 years ahead of that. I remember not too long ago (about 10 years ago or less) people were debating whether players should get 100k/week.

The US is going for a different approach altogether though after the failure that was the NASL. The MLS is more based around building local talent over time. They still bring in their foreign imports to raise the profile, but are only spending a fraction of what China has already spent. The current US system seems a lot more sustainable without the need for billionaire patrons throwing money at it.

I daresay the Chinese system is entirely built upon benefactors - the league itself isn't generating anything like enough money to support those kinds of wages. I know what you're saying with the ever increasing wages, but that happens when there's surplus money floating around within the game, which isn't the case in China yet. They're taking a pretty big gamble by putting the cart before the horse. Maybe it pays off, maybe it doesn't. (the latter is probably more likely)

inforfun

Plus the US has the benefit that quite a few players actually (always) want(ed) to live there for, at least, a while so why not do it at the end of a career.
I imagine that will be a bit different for China.

dogbert27

The Chinese Super League has signed a 1.25 billion pound tv deal. 9 of the 16 stadiums have a capacity of over 50,000.

The Chinese have invested in teams like Man City, Atletico Madrid, Espanyol, Slavia Prague and they have bought French team Sochaux and Dutch team De Haag.

It will be interesting to see how it develops but I believe it has the potential to surpass the MLS in attracting players from Europe.

Knex*

Looking forward to the game tonight. Would have loved to been at it.

Gas how, even knowing how bad Villa are, I'm far more optimistic for tonight's game, and the Final in 10 days time, than I was prior to last weekend. What a difference Sturridge and Coutinho make, really.

I imagine with the weekend off, a strong team will be played again. Lucas might come back in, but I don't see many changes outside of that.

I want to see the team display some character and resolve. We always look sadly lacking of backbone. We're a real confidence team, which is why Coutinho and Sturridge make such a difference. They can put you on the front foot in an instant, and while Firmino is playing outstanding in recent times, I believe those two are still our most important players. That Southampton game when we were going nowhere before Sturridge flipped the game on its head, for example.

That type of stuff happened loads the year we came 2nd, actually. The Norwich game when Suarez scored the volley from 45 yards, and three other insane goals, we were actually horrific for 30 minutes plus. Sturridge is not not on that level, of course, but when fit, he's one of the top players in the PL for sure.

Anyway, stopping the tangent, I want to see a defensively solid performance. A typical Liverpool away fixture of years gone by. Win the 50/50s, fight for everything. Play responsible, tough football, and capitalise on the opponents mistakes.

I don't want to see calamity defending and then us relying on the lads up front bailing us out. That is not a successful platform for success for us.

djPSB

dogbert27 wrote: »

The Chinese Super League has signed a 1.25 billion pound tv deal. 9 of the 16 stadiums have a capacity of over 50,000.

The Chinese have invested in teams like Man City, Atletico Madrid, Espanyol, Slavia Prague and they have bought French team Sochaux and Dutch team De Haag.

It will be interesting to see how it develops but I believe it has the potential to surpass the MLS in attracting players from Europe.

I would say it is a much bigger threat than the MLS.

The MLS was attracting players looking for a final payday. Beckham, Henry, Gerrard. All well past their best when they went there.

The likes of Teixeira, Ramires, Lavezzi are all players who are still very much in their prime.

Knex*

djPSB wrote: »

I would say it is a much bigger threat than the MLS.

The MLS was attracting players looking for a final payday. Beckham, Henry, Gerrard. All well past their best when they went there.

The likes of Teixeira, Ramires, Lavezzi are all players who are still very much in their prime.

It really comes down to how sustainable it is, and what the experience of this current batch of players is like.

I'm not so sure many European or South American players will want to spend more than a year or two in China, but then again, having that much wealth probably circumvents a lot the issues, so we shall see.

If it is the case that they want to leave after two years, how much power do they have. Say Liverpool decide they want Texeira in 18 months time, and he wants to leave China.

He's just played 18 months in a far inferior league, but aside from that, his team will want a return on the investment. They'll have spent a 100 million euro plus, in terms of wages and transfer fee, and he'll be their main attraction. It could end up being worse than dealing with Shakatar themselves.

If that becomes the norm, then I can't see the league advancing much from the scenario of the MLS, a final payday as you approach retirement. Although, it could end up being a preferable option to spending a few years in a **** hold in Turkey, or some other place on the fringe of European football.

Ultimately, its really hard to tell, but damn, its gonna be interesting to watch how it plays out.

dogbert27

djPSB wrote: »

I would say it is a much bigger threat than the MLS.

The MLS was attracting players looking for a final payday. Beckham, Henry, Gerrard. All well past their best when they went there.

The likes of Teixeira, Ramires, Lavezzi are all players who are still very much in their prime.

Also the coaches can start having an influence on attracting players.

There's Scolari, Sven Goran Erikson, Dan Patrescu, Dragan Sotjkovic.

The most well known managers in the MLS are Bruce Arena and Owen Coyle. There's Patrick Viera now but he only started last month.

The Chinese have a 10 year 50 point plan. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

Kerrigooney

Lads I hope I'm not being a dick because I enjoy the way everything gets talked about in this thread but there's a dedicated thread on China already.

Harry Palmr

Anyone fancy stopping me staring a match thread by starting a match thread?

MonkeyTennis

ill do it.. gimme a min.

Knex*

Biggest game in Augsburg history, according to Klopp. Hopefully the match thread represents the occasion (no pressure).

Prime time Thursday night viewing, as well. We'll have all the lads in, although we'll only actually notice them if doing crap, of course.

5starpool

Kerrigooney wrote: »

Lads I hope I'm not being a dick because I enjoy the way everything gets talked about in this thread but there's a dedicated thread on China already.

Jeez, who invited this drag along? Pfft.

5starpool

Knex. wrote: »

Biggest game in Augsburg history, according to Klopp. Hopefully the match thread represents the occasion (no pressure).

Prime time Thursday night viewing, as well. We'll have all the lads in, although we'll only actually notice them if doing crap, of course.

Depends how their big game goes before ours as well I guess.

rob316

Looking forward to watching Sturridge, Firmino and Coutinho continue up front.

Kerrigooney

5starpool wrote: »

Jeez, who invited this drag along? Pfft.

Off work today so I think I'll hang around and ruin everything for everyone.

Knex*

Kerrigooney wrote: »

Off work today so I think I'll hang around and ruin everything for everyone.

This must be what having kids is like.

Kerrigooney

Knex. wrote: »

This must be what having kids is like.

Heh heh. Spot on.

djPSB

Kerrigooney wrote: »

Lads I hope I'm not being a dick because I enjoy the way everything gets talked about in this thread but there's a dedicated thread on China already.

I hear you're a racist now father.

DrumSteve

Kerrigooney wrote: »

Lads I hope I'm not being a dick because I enjoy the way everything gets talked about in this thread but there's a dedicated thread on China already.

Disappointing lack of Kate Cohen.

MonkeyTennis

pandas? china? Coincidence?

Kimbot

MonkeyTennis wrote: »

pandas? china? Coincidence?

Panda-mania is back

Dickerty

djPSB wrote: »

I hear you're a racist now father.

I'm not some guy who hangs around in a full kit and compare the current team to Kenny's double winning team................more drinks!