Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 2016, Mod Warning in OP, 10/7

TitianGerm

Augeo wrote: »

Sturridge's availability couple with Origi & Firmino finding their PL feet.
Add in Ings to that and a new striker to replace Benteke/Balotelli and 80 PL goals next season is not at all out of the question.

Upgrade on Mignolet and add the CM that is first 11 material and we are in a really good position without.

LB & CB would be #4 & #5 on the list after the 3 above imo.

Presuming Toure & one of Allen/Lucas are kept and Gomez is looking like an option recovery wise.

Mignolet upgrade is #1 for me as he's a total liability when he loses he head and given the element of pressure that will be on the team as the PL will be the main focus next season he really can't be trusted as every game will be important, no post euro matches slump excuse.

No LB should be an equal priority with a new Keeper.

We need to stop the blunders at the back and replacing Ming and Moreno will help bring down that number massively.

emmetkenny

emmetkenny wrote: »

No LB should be an equal priority with a new Keeper.

We need to stop the blunders at the back and replacing Ming and Moreno will help bring down that number massively.

I hear you
Before Thursday I reckoned Moreno was adequate enough for most of our PL games, Thursday was a total sh1tter of a performance but I think over the course of a season he's not as big of an issue as Mignolet.

I'd expect a better keeper to bail out the likes of Moreno more often that Mignolet does.

But I 100% see where you're coming from.

Harry Palmr

I suspect if you could find a season heat map for attacks against Liverpool there would be a trial of flames down the defenders left side

corwill

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I suspect if you could find a season heat map for attacks against Liverpool there would be a trial of flames down the defenders left side

Sure look at Wednesday, Emery had them set up to overload us on that flank from the word go. I can't understand an opposition coach who wouldn't.

NukaCola

Does Klopp get credit for keeping Sturridge fit as long as he has been? Not rushing him back, building up his minutes, managing his games........

Maybe Sturridge has just gotten over the injuries but I think Klopp has managed his recovery perfectly. Not an expert on sports injuries/science though.

NukaCola

Also, new GK and LB and a lot of our defensive frailties would be corrected, as others have pointed out.......not even spectacular signings are need there, just solid, calm, level headed replacements needed.

Turtyturd

NukaCola wrote: »

Does Klopp get credit for keeping Sturridge fit as long as he has been? Not rushing him back, building up his minutes, managing his games........

Maybe Sturridge has just gotten over the injuries but I think Klopp has managed his recovery perfectly. Not an expert on sports injuries/science though.

Yep I think he gets a lot of credit. He never proclaimed him as the saviour of our season to the media, he treated him like any other player and didn't just put him back into the squad when he declared himself fit. I think this led to an attitude change in Sturridge regarding his fitness.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Turtyturd wrote: »

Yep I think he gets a lot of credit. He never proclaimed him as the saviour of our season to the media, he treated him like any other player and didn't just put him back into the squad when he declared himself fit. I think this led to an attitude change in Sturridge regarding his fitness.

I wonder about Sturridge still, has his explosion of pace gone or is he still protecting himself?

A full preseason with Klopp, assuming Hodgson doesn't break him yet again, will be interesting for an indication of Sturridges future with the club.

Turtyturd

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I wonder about Sturridge still, has his explosion of pace gone or is he still protecting himself?

A full preseason with Klopp, assuming Hodgson doesn't break him yet again, will be interesting for an indication of Sturridges future with the club.

If you're jogging after a ball that would put you through on goal during a European final I'd hope it's cos your pace is gone.

NukaCola

Sturridge is getting faster with every ball he doesn't chase down :pac:

Buford T. Justice XIX

NukaCola wrote: »

Sturridge is getting faster with every ball he doesn't chase down :pac:

It will be interesting to see the reaction this summer if he does the same in an england game:)

Sturridge is 27 in September, he won't be getting any faster, he may sprint a bit faster than he has since his comeback but I wouldn't at all be surprised if he doesn't.

On the plus side he has a lot more to his game, great with both feet, great dribbling skills and trickery that enables him to go past people without relying on speed, he happily takes on 2/3 opponents at times.

He can be as effective as he is now well into his 30s imo, a serious asset if used correctly and apart from not playing him to any extent away to VR Klopp has been using him correctly.

Him losing pace isn't akin to Torres or Owen imo.

I would love to see him in a front 2 next season with Origi or Ings or AN Other with Firmino on the pitch too.

You look at Leicester's success with the classic 2 up top and wonder why not

I remember Roy Keane's comments regarding Van Nis' playing well into his 30s but not having played through injuries much in his 20s. Also look at Van Persie, a few injuty hit seasons and than he was the main reason Urd won a title in his first year as the club.

astonaidan

Sickened for ye guys, really wanted to see ye bring it home, Klopp showing his standard of management, next season will see a real Klopp team, as a fan of football I for one am excited

Pyjamarama

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Rubbish. You can win the league scoring 30 goals. Defence wins you leagues. Keeping clean sheets win you leagues. We should know that better than anyone after two years ago. Only one team in the league scored over 70 goals this season, and they finished 15 points behind the league winners. We need a goalscoring midfielder it's true, but saying we need 75 goals to compete at the top is rubbish.

The stats in no way back you up. And you mention two years ago but we didn't score the most goals that season... the team that finished ahead of us did.

06/07 Season
Most Goals - Man Utd - Champion
Least conceded - Chelsea - Runners up

07/08 Season
Most Goals - Man Utd - Champion
Least conceded - Man Utd - Champion

08/09 Season
Most Goals - Liverpool - Runners Up
Least conceded - Man Utd/Chelsea - Champion and Third place (also the same amount of goals scored)

09/10 Season
Most Goals - Chelsea - Champion
Least conceded - Man Utd - Runners up

10/11 Season
Most Goals - Man Utd - Champion
Least conceded - Chelsea/Man City - Runners up/Third place

11/12 Season
Most Goals - Man City - Champion
Least conceded - Man City - Champion

12/13 Season
Most Goals - Man Utd - Champion
Least conceded - Man CIty - Second

13/14 Seaspm
Most Goals - Man City - Champion
Least conceded - Chelsea - Third

14/15 Season
Most goals - Man City - Champion
Least conceded - Chelsea - Second

15/16 Season
Most goals - Man CIty - Fourth
Least conceded - Spurs/Man Utd - third and Fifth

For me those stats are impossible to argue with. You'll obviously do well if you have a good defense but if you have the best attack in the league then you're much more likely to win it and its not that close. Now tbh that may change as I feel a big part of that was in seasons past there was a HUGE gap between the top and bottom teams in the premiership and for a good 20 games of the season you'd play against teams that if you scored where unlikely to be good enough to come back. The playing field has evened somewhat tho. It'd be nice to have both but I'd MUCH rather have a world class attack and be a flat track bully. Remember when United won leagues because Ronaldo beat about 10 teams in the prem home and away on his own?

The above also shows what an anomaly this season was. Completely mental.
Also sorry about the lack of formatting above.

joe123

Would agree about Sturridge, losing a bit of pace won't hurt him near as much as the likes of Owen or Torres who really relied on their speed, Owen even more so.

Sturridge can still play on the shoulder but is excellent at carving out his own chances as we saw for his goal in the final.

Some more bad news is that Arsenal have just signed Granit Xhaka. We were linked with him. A great signing for Arsenal, exactly what they need (and us)

NukaCola

Without pulling any stats or anything I would think that conceding less than 38 and having a goal difference of around +38 spread out across the season would more than likely mean you will win the league and at the very least challenge for it....you cant really rely on either having a very good defence or having a very good attack when going for the league.

Agent Coulson

Sinclair leaving on a free and joining Watford.

corwill

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Sinclair leaving on a free and joining Watford.

Another career stunted by ambulatory manure-pile A**y W**d.

5starpool

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Sinclair leaving on a free and joining Watford.

At least we should get a reasonable tribunal fee, probably a couple of million. If he had gone abroad we would only have got 250k I believe.

8-10

Bowlardo wrote: »

Would you say rogers will get a loan of any of our players?
The likes of wisdom, Ilori, Ibe,Canos.
It would be some platform for them to play in front of 65,000 fans most weeks and european football.

Think you mean 45,000. Celtic won't get near that amount in home games and you won't get that anywhere else in the Scottish league either. They have the same average attendance as Liverpool

MD1990

Sturridge will not get his pace back imo. Plenty on here had similar worries a year ago too.
But he is an exceptional finisher & I think he will start more of the games against teams who sit back. Origi could be used more for games where we expect to counter more.

Vicxas

Looks like the deal for Karius will go through next week :

https://twitter.com/pjoyceexpress/status/733565546889781248

Talisman

NukaCola wrote: »

Without pulling any stats or anything I would think that conceding less than 38 and having a goal difference of around +38 spread out across the season would more than likely mean you will win the league and at the very least challenge for it....you cant really rely on either having a very good defence or having a very good attack when going for the league.

More than anything I would like us to concede at least 10 fewer goals in the league next season. That would be a mark of progress.

Conceding 40 or more league goals makes it difficult to challenge for the top 4. 2013-14 was an anomaly, we conceded 50 goals but finished second in the league. Teams that concede that many goals usually finish mid table as was the case this season.

Season : GA (Pos)
1996-97 : 37 (4)
1997-98 : 42 (3)
1998-99 : 49 (7)
1999-00 : 30 (4)
2000-01 : 39 (3)
2001-02 : 30 (2)
2002-03 : 36 (5)
2003-04 : 37 (4)
2004-05 : 41 (5)
2005-06 : 25 (3)
2006-07 : 27 (3)
2007-08 : 28 (4)
2008-09 : 27 (2)
2009-10 : 35 (7)
2010-11 : 44 (6)
2011-12 : 40 (8)
2012-13 : 43 (7)
2013-14 : 50 (2)
2014-15 : 48 (6)
2015-16 : 50 (8)

Talisman

Talisman wrote: »

More than anything I would like us to concede at least 10 fewer goals in the league next season. That would be a mark of progress.

Conceding 40 or more league goals makes it difficult to challenge for the top 4. 2013-14 was an anomaly, we conceded 50 goals but finished second in the league. Teams that concede that many goals usually finish mid table as was the case this season.

Season : GA (Pos)
1996-97 : 37 (4)
1997-98 : 42 (3)
1998-99 : 49 (7)
1999-00 : 30 (4)
2000-01 : 39 (3)
2001-02 : 30 (2)
2002-03 : 36 (5)
2003-04 : 37 (4)
2004-05 : 41 (5)
2005-06 : 25 (3)
2006-07 : 27 (3)
2007-08 : 28 (4)
2008-09 : 27 (2)
2009-10 : 35 (7)
2010-11 : 44 (6)
2011-12 : 40 (8)
2012-13 : 43 (7)
2013-14 : 50 (2)
2014-15 : 48 (6)
2015-16 : 50 (8)

Easy to see the years Rafa was here

joe123

Can anyone shed any light on how good the new keeper we are signing is? Is he going to be a solid back up/ one for the future or will he actually challenge Mignolet?

ricero

saw that koln are signing a new left back. Hopefully this is to replace jonas hector. I think he would be a solid signing

Kerrigooney

joe123 wrote: »

Can anyone shed any light on how good the new keeper we are signing is? Is he going to be a solid back up/ one for the future or will he actually challenge Mignolet?

At this stage a training dummy could challenge Mignolet.

Sorry for not being any help.

Harry Palmr

joe123 wrote: »

Can anyone shed any light on how good the new keeper we are signing is? Is he going to be a solid back up/ one for the future or will he actually challenge Mignolet?

Lets face it, you don't need to be De Gea to challenge Mignolet (just better than Bogdan!)

Profile comparison with Timo Horn here

http://bundesligafanatic.com/timo-horn-and-loris-karius-which-rising-bundesliga-keeper-is-better-right-now/


Just on Jerome Sinclair going to Watford, as he is Liverpool trained and under 24 presumably there will be a few bob coming in plus it might help smooth over the transfer of Zielinski from Udinese as both are Giampaolo Pozzo owned clubs.

I'm hoping he's not the last keeper we bring bring in this summer.

Mig should be moved on imo.

Talisman

joe123 wrote: »

Can anyone shed any light on how good the new keeper we are signing is? Is he going to be a solid back up/ one for the future or will he actually challenge Mignolet?

His stats suggest he's better than Mignolet. Squawka Comparison

corwill

The next signing after Karius I want to see is someone new to coach him.

ricero

Rumors that gotze has been offered 180,000 pounds a week

Buford T. Justice XIX

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Lets face it, you don't need to be De Gea to challenge Mignolet (just better than Bogdan!)

Profile comparison with Timo Horn here

http://bundesligafanatic.com/timo-horn-and-loris-karius-which-rising-bundesliga-keeper-is-better-right-now/


Just on Jerome Sinclair going to Watford, as he is Liverpool trained and under 24 presumably there will be a few bob coming in plus it might help smooth over the transfer of Zielinski from Udinese as both are Giampaolo Pozzo owned clubs.

An interesting mention of another supposed Liverpool target in that article, Jonas Hector....

FC Köln aren’t a team with a lot of great attacking talent, and their best defender is Jonas Hector, who likes to get higher up the pitch.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire or a left sided attacking outlet but better defender than Moreno?

Muahahaha

Watched the game again last night after coming home the long way from Basel. Undoubtedly Seville deserved their win but also we were very, very unlucky in that first half not to go in with a 2-0 lead, In the first half there were four contentious incidents of varying degrees but not one of them was given our way.

11 mins- Milner plays a dinked ball into Firmino on the right of the box and he controls it well with his first touch and then his second touch beats the LB by cutting inside the penalty area. But as he does the LB shoves his upper arm out very slightly but deliberately imo and instead of the ball landing on Firminos chest its deflected and the phase of play ends up with a free kick for Seville after Milner does a rashie in anger. The linesman behind the goal had a perfect view of this yet he never signaled to the ref

24 mins Clyne who is in his RB position breaks up their play by winning a 50-50 against Escudero (no.18). Clyne's interception goes perfectly to Lallana who runs into tons of space on the right and plays a great pass into Sturridge who shoots into the on rushing keeper. The save gets deflected up in the air for another 50-50 between Firmino and a centre back covering Escudero's position. The ball falls inside the box and Firmihno jumps and is going to win it till the CB(who doesn't jump) turns his back into an airbourne Firmino and totally upends him. Its clumsy as fcuk and if it happened anywhere else on the pitch it would be a free kick. But the ref bottled it and the sequence of play actually ended up with Escudero coming back for a late challenge on Milner and the ref gave him a free kick as he rolled around on the ground in agony. As I said anywhere outside the box this was a free to us, but inside the box nothing was given and it ended up in a free for Seville with Escudero breaking up the play by hobbling off for an injury. For me this was the stonewall penalty out of the three claims. It was cynical play because Firmino was about to head it over to Sturridge until he got absolutely 110% fouled inside the box

26 mins- Countinho chips a ball onto Morenos run into the box. Albert attempts a volley to get it across the box, he screws it and a Seviille player glances it out with the palm of his hand. It would have been a very unfair penalty but Morenos shout to the ref wasn't for a peno, he wanted a corner. A legitimate call that again we didn't get. 30 seconds later Seville had a corner themselves through Toure sweeping up Mariano.

33 Mins. Coke prevents Can from rising for a header. Ref rightly whistles immediately but this is in contrast to him earlier allowing the upending of Firminho to go unpunished inside the box.

34 Mins Sturridge scores a wonder goal with the outside of his left boot. Despite the Refs earlier calls momentous has truly shifted our way, the crowd is in full voice and we're playing with confidence

38 mins Sturridge interferes with Loverns header direct from a Milner corner. Offside by todays rule, fair enuff

40 Mins Milner doggedly hunts down a ball on the right touchline, it goes inside to Firminho to Sturridge for a quick 1-2 which results in a a clear handball by Kryzoviak. Sturridges ball back to Bobby was played on the ground yet it hit a low hanging hand, as Brian Kerr said "What was he doing with his hand down there? Was he trying to tie his laces?


A final is a final and these things happen. But I think as that first half went we were very unlucky not to go 2-0 in. At 2-0 it is a totally different game than 1-0, it puts huge doubt into the opposing team. Seville had won their last two Europa finals by coming from 1-0 down so the half time from them was 'normal' as Klopp would say. But if he had of got just one of those three penalty decisions 2-0 would have been a very different proposition. We didn't get what we deserved from the first half because of a ref who refused to award a penalty in a European final. He didn't want to be the big story so he shirked his responsibilities, at least twice but definitely once of the three shouts.

SuperTortoise

Like others have said it would'nt take a huge upgrade to shift Moreno or Migs out of the first 11, someone solid enough in those positions i'd be happy with.

CM for me needs to be a massive signing, and i don't mean we have to go out and spend 40m on a player(not really Klopp's style anyway), just someone that can control a game and has a good range of passing, he does'nt need to be all that fast or all that great at the defensive side, just someone who can link the play when the ball breaks down and we go on the attack, someone who can move the ball quickly and accurately, and someone who can control the tempo and pace of a game.

Not much to ask for then!

LFC CONNAUGHTON

Have any reputable sources been linking us with Hector? Would love to see him signed.

Agent Coulson

ricero wrote: »

Rumors that gotze has been offered 180,000 pounds a week

Well with Benteke and Sturridge both on around the £150k mark I'd have no problem giving a world class talent like Gotze £180k a week especially with one or both of the Benteke & Sturridge more than likely to leave in the summer.

If we sign Gotze he instantly become our best player.

Talisman

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

An interesting mention of another supposed Liverpool target in that article, Jonas Hector....

FC Köln aren’t a team with a lot of great attacking talent, and their best defender is Jonas Hector, who likes to get higher up the pitch.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire or a left sided attacking outlet but better defender than Moreno?

Not at all, he's an organiser and will sort out the left side of the defence. Koln play a counter attacking system, he offers an overlap when they break forward. He's the left back for the German national team and has been criticised for not being attack minded enough.

Spare a thought for Clyne and Lovren they might have to start learning some German - might be easier than expecting Karius, Matip and Hector to start organising the defence using English.

Kerrigooney

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Well with Benteke and Sturridge both on around the £150k mark I'd have no problem giving a world class talent like Gotze £180k a week especially with one or both of the Benteke & Sturridge more than likely to leave in the summer.

If we sign Gotze he instantly become our best player.

Not gonna be easy shifting Benteke when he's on that much.

Kerrigooney

Talisman wrote: »

Not at all, he's an organiser and will sort out the left side of the defence. Koln play a counter attacking system, he offers an overlap when they break forward. He's the left back for the German national team and has been criticised for not being attack minded enough.

Spare a thought for Clyne and Lovren they might have to start learning some German - might be easier than expecting Karius, Matip and Hector to start organising the defence using English.

A few lads roaring at each other in German should scare most forward lines.

Kerrigooney

Kerrigooney wrote: »

Not gonna be easy shifting Benteke when he's on that much.

Serious money in the league next season. I think he'll be snapped up easy enough tbh.

Talisman

LFC CONNAUGHTON wrote: »

Have any reputable sources been linking us with Hector? Would love to see him signed.

He mentioned it himself in an interview on Eurosport.

Kerrigooney

RoboKlopp wrote: »

Serious money in the league next season. I think he'll be snapped up easy enough tbh.

I keep forgetting that

You could be right.

Agent Coulson

Agent Coulson wrote: »

........especially with one or both of the Benteke & Sturridge more than likely to leave in the summer.

........

Benteke is probably 1/10 to leave, Sturridge 1/20 to stay imo.

Agent Coulson

Kerrigooney wrote: »

Not gonna be easy shifting Benteke when he's on that much.

I don't think there would be a shortage of clubs looking for Benteke to be honest at his age and his record of goal scoring in the premier league.He just needs a team to is built around him.

I think there will be offers for Sturridge as well this summer.

noodler

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I think there will be offers for Sturridge as well this summer.

I hope we recognise what he offered when he only plays a dozen or so games.

Difficult to replace that.

Glico Man

noodler wrote: »

I hope we recognise what he offered when he only plays a dozen or so games.

Difficult to replace that.

Agreed. Midfielders and defenders seem a dime a dozen, you can certainly find a good player handily enough, but top class strikers/finishers are difficult to come by.

Agent Coulson

Glico Man wrote: »

Agreed. Midfielders and defenders seem a dime a dozen, you can certainly find a good player handily enough, but top class strikers/finishers are difficult to come by.

Yet we haven't had an issue finding finishers over the last decade it decent defenders and commanding midfielders we have been finding hard come by.

We have been spending our dime in all the wrong places.

Harry Palmr

Benteke 32.5
Firmino 21.5 (rising)
Can 10m
Milner free.

Glico Man

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Yet we haven't had an issue finding finishers over the last decade it decent defenders and commanding midfielders we have been finding hard come by.

We have been spending our dime in all the wrong places.

Indeed. The money we have wasted makes me sad sometimes, considering the better players out there.