Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 2016/2017

sword1

Klopp's ego?

A manager who often takes blame for defeats himself & someone who called himself the normal one.

I have no idea why you think he has an ego.

Would like to see Sakho back too but as you said we don't know all the facts.[/QUOTE]

A strong ego is necessary for managers I think, you need to believe that you are right when media, fans etc are criticising your philosophy. My comment was not meant as a criticism. If sakho came back and played even a few good games Klopp would be blamed for Liverpool not winning the league this season, If he brought him back and he did not perform he Klopp would be criticised also. A no win situation so the best thing is to rule out the possibility and hope we get a good fee for him.

ERG89

MD1990 wrote:

A manager who often takes blame for defeats himself & someone who called himself the normal one.

I wish he'd pay more attention to the defeats as we seem to be repeating the same mistakes in them, over & over since Burnley beat us

jcsoulinger

I would hope Klopp has a massive ego that hes doing a good job of hiding when dealing with the press, Your not going to be very successful in this game without one.

No one knows exactly what went on with Sacko but if Klopp deemed it necessary then I'm not to concerned even if he was used as a warning to the other players that It's my way or the highway it's fine.

How was Sacko during his time with the reserves?

Harry Palmr

jcsoulinger wrote: »

How was Sacko during his time with the reserves?

He and Ilori did their jobs, no suggestion of just clocking on for the sake of it or phoning it in.

J Mysterio

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

If he continues to play well at Palace for the rest of the season, displays some behavioural maturity and makes a genuine attempt to repair his relationship with Klopp it wouldn't surprise me at all if Sakho was given an opportunity to rejoin the 1st team squad for pre season and is given a second chance to stake his claim.

A lot will depend on whether Sakho's ego/pride will enable him to eat a bit of humble pie in order to get a second chance to play for LFC but if he does I can see it being a win/win for Klopp, Sakho and more importantly the club. There's no doubt he's a quality defender and he has that hard/nasty element in his game that we don't have enough of in the team outside Hendo. If anything it would strengthen Klopps position in that it would show he has zero tolerance for messing and will completely banish you from the squad until you take the medicine he dishes out and you genuinely repent otherwise you're out the door permanently.

I would love that to happen. Where are we going to get a better defender?

54and56

sword1 wrote: »

If sakho came back and played even a few good games Klopp would be blamed for Liverpool not winning the league this season, If he brought him back and he did not perform he Klopp would be criticised also. A no win situation so the best thing is to rule out the possibility and hope we get a good fee for him.

Totally disagree. The fact Sakho may play well on a reintroduction to the team does not equate to the fact he'd have played well if kept in the team and we'd have somehow won the league this year, not by a long shot.

Two issues:-

1. He needed to be taken out of the squad to give him the time and space needed to cop the fcuk on. Without that time out he'd more likely have become a massive distraction and a bad influence on others and if anything lead to a reduction in team performance below the level it has been without him in the squad.

2. Improving our defence alone wasn't going to win us the league this year. Our inability to break down Burnley etc is just as much to blame.

Also, if he does bring him back and he simply doesn't or can't perform I don't believe that would be a poor reflection on Klopp at all. He'd have given the guy every opportunity which would only increase the love and respect other players have for him knowing he's not the type of mourinho manager that throws players under the bus to deflect attention away from themselves when things aren't going well.

Francie Barrett

Sakho is not coming back, lads.

monkey9

There's something going on with Sahko that is not in the public domain. For him to be dropped like that, when the likes of Lucas and Klavan were being played at centre back suggests that Sahko will never play for Liverpool again.

54and56

monkey9 wrote: »

There's something going on with Sahko that is not in the public domain. For him to be dropped like that, when the likes of Lucas and Klavan were being played at centre back suggests that Sahko will never play for Liverpool again.

That is certainly how it looks from the outside, no doubt and if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck..........

On the other hand, Eric Cantona (from a purely nut job behaviour perspective) who survived a nine month ban to return to the utd team says hello!! I know he was far more important to that team than any CB is ever likely to be to us but it suits the point I'm making

J Mysterio

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

That is certainly how it looks from the outside, no doubt and if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck..........

On the other hand, Eric Cantona (from a purely nut job behaviour perspective) who survived a nine month ban to return to the utd team says hello!! I know he was far more important to that team than any CB is ever likely to be to us but it suits the point I'm making

... But CB is a very important position for Liverpool and Sakho seems to suit us so well. Hence this is causing so much dismay.

I have a feeling Klopp just didnt like Sakho. Clash of personalities. He certainly doesnt seem like a bad person.

Charlie19

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Reading v Liverpool U23 highlights package 6 goals in 1-5 thrashing and an awkward interview with Ben Woodburn! plus TAA (the sound is very low)

Can't wait till we get 100 million of City for that Brewster lad. ;]

Himself Ojo and Woodburn really stuck out.

Agent Coulson

The Sunderland Echo is reporting that we are scouting Pickford.

Gbear

monkey9 wrote: »

There's something going on with Sahko that is not in the public domain. For him to be dropped like that, when the likes of Lucas and Klavan were being played at centre back suggests that Sahko will never play for Liverpool again.

I'd say it was just several incidents showing that he doesn't have the right mentality.

Between storming off from a derby, taking medication into his own hands, whether it was legal or not, dicking around in pre-season and not turning up to training on time, it suggests that he lacks professionalism.

There may be more instances like that but they wouldn't need to be many more or any that are more serious. If Klopp just thinks he's a bit of a clown then that's enough to understand him being given the heave.

NukaCola

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The Sunderland Echo is reporting that we are scouting Pickford.

I haven't seen Sunderland much for obvious reasons, but this is my problem with young players in general. Pickford will definitely cost 20M+. By all accounts he's a good player but we'll be paying finished article prices for a young lad that may/may not get better. The value for young english players in general just isn't there.

NukaCola

Gbear wrote: »

I'd say it was just several incidents showing that he doesn't have the right mentality.

Between storming off from a derby, taking medication into his own hands, whether it was legal or not, dicking around in pre-season and not turning up to training on time, it suggests that he lacks professionalism.

There may be more instances like that but they wouldn't need to be many more or any that are more serious. If Klopp just thinks he's a bit of a clown then that's enough to understand him being given the heave.

Trust will be a factor also......once the trust is gone its a deal breaker for a lot of people.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Charlie19 wrote: »

Can't wait till we get 100 million of City for that Brewster lad. ;]

Himself Ojo and Woodburn really stuck out.

He definitely has potential but it's early days yet. So much can go wrong before they hit 18 with injury or complacency or just failing to progress.

sword1

NukaCola wrote: »

I haven't seen Sunderland much for obvious reasons, but this is my problem with young players in general. Pickford will definitely cost 20M+. By all accounts he's a good player but we'll be paying finished article prices for a young lad that may/may not get better. The value for young english players in general just isn't there.

If by 20+ you mean 30/40 maybe. Even though Sunderland will probably be relegated there will probably be a bidding war and he is in contract till 2020 unless there is a relegation clause in the contract.

NukaCola

sword1 wrote: »

If by 20+ you mean 30/40 maybe. Even though Sunderland will probably be relegated there will probably be a bidding war and he is in contract till 2020 unless there is a relegation clause in the contract.

Realistically it could be anything but guaranteed to be big money.

Osmosis Jones

So how much will we have to spend to get Mertens this summer?

~Rebel~

sword1 wrote: »

If by 20+ you mean 30/40 maybe. Even though Sunderland will probably be relegated there will probably be a bidding war and he is in contract till 2020 unless there is a relegation clause in the contract.

I think 25 - 30 would probably get him...still overpriced though. We'd be the biggest team in for him, and the logical choice for him personally as we have a clear weakness there.

All the other big teams have great keepers in place already.

Wouldn't be anywhere near my first choice though. We already know there's a huge difference between looking good for a team facing a constant barrage of shots, and staying focused for the 90 minutes and making that one top quality save when needed.

Mig, Begovic, Forster and countless others have been much vaunted because of these sorts of displays, but none are actually good enough in practice.

Would love to go for Oblak, or maybe Ruffier at St Etienne. They've an incredible defensive record this season, 3rd best in the league, a good part because of him. Would have the same worry with both though - neither are really giants, which seems more important in England than elsewhere. But shorter more mobile keepers seems to be a trend these days, so maybe that's just something i need to get over...

Agent Coulson

Just throw £40m at Milan for there keeper.

charolais0153

Does anybody remember the last Sunderland keeper we bought...think the Napoli president said he wanted 70million for mertens or insigne...i m fairly sure it was mertens and that lad is the Daniel levy of italy

Osmosis Jones

Think I mentioned it here before but Douglas Costa should be a serious target for us, exactly what we need and hasn't had all that many starts at Bayern.

J Mysterio

Jesus, Arsenal are in the sh1t. Terrible there. Lost 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern, 5-1 twice in a row!

I'd love to pick off Sanchez. £40 million and £1.

Wenger is on the way out and the team aren't playing for him anymore. Quite Ranieri-esque really.

ShamoBuc

J Mysterio wrote: »

Jesus, Arsenal are in the sh1t. Terrible there. Lost 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern, 5-1 twice in a row!

I'd love to pick off Sanchez. £40 million and £1.

Time to waddle over to their thread, should be interesting.
Sanchez would be unreal for us, won't happen but I think he would be perfect

I reckon arsenal will finish above us still though.

J Mysterio

Augeo wrote: »

I reckon arsenal will finish above us still though.

They've lost 5 of their last 7 games. The team know Wenger is gone at the end of the season and they have given up. There'll be a few players parachuting out of there in the summer I think.

J Mysterio

J Mysterio wrote: »

Jesus, Arsenal are in the sh1t. Terrible there. Lost 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern, 5-1 twice in a row!

I'd love to pick off Sanchez. £40 million and £1.

Wenger is on the way out and the team aren't playing for him anymore. Quite Ranieri-esque really.

J Mysterio

J Mysterio wrote: »

They've lost 5 of their last 7 games. The team know Wenger is gone at the end of the season and they have given up. There'll be a few players parachuting out of there in the summer I think.

Time will tell. Hopefully you are correct.

Do we really really want Sanchez though? "Smilegate" currently raging. Bad form if he actually didn't give a f**k on the bench towards the end tonight.

J Mysterio

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Do we really really want Sanchez though? "Smilegate" currently raging. Bad form if he actually didn't give a f**k on the bench towards the end tonight.

I think that's being taken wrong. You could see he was very frustrated. I'd say he wants out but i'm sure he will give it everything until he's gone.

martyos121

I thought the Sanchez speculation was a joke, I didn't think people actually wanted him. I would've had him a few years ago, up until the point he chose Arsenal over us. Doesn't strike me as the kind of character Klopp would like in the squad either, and we all know that he values character on par with talent, if not above it.

5starpool

J Mysterio wrote: »

They've lost 5 of their last 7 games. The team know Wenger is gone at the end of the season and they have given up. There'll be a few players parachuting out of there in the summer I think.

Arsenal generally do awful in Feb and Early March and then once out of the CL rally to finish strongly in the league, and unless the fact that Wenger is almost certainly in his last days means this season is different, they will probably do the same again this season. I hope not as it looks like they are by far the best bet to slip up and allow us into the top 4, but time will tell.

ERG89

Sanchez ain't coming he wants to walk into a winning team & pick up medals even if he doesn't contribute as much as he would at Arsenal or that.

5starpool

I've no idea why it's even being talked about.

Ulysses Gaze

ERG89 wrote: »

Sanchez ain't coming he wants to walk into a winning team & pick up medals even if he doesn't contribute as much as he would at Arsenal or that.

Rumours in Italian press that he is off to Juventus.

Zak Flaps

Just watching Bayern thump Arsenal. Why on earth did Benitez get rid of Alonso? I mean seriously.....what an absolute clueless clown!

J Mysterio

Cos... Gareth Barry.

Zak Flaps

J Mysterio wrote: »

Cos... Gareth Barry.

I repeat.....what an absolute clueless clown!

ERG89

Madrid came calling too & he wasn't going to ignore that call twice.
Is it a bad night to ask but didn't Wenger refused to pay more than £14m for him the previous summer(2008)?

daithijjj

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Just throw £40m at Milan for there keeper.

Pickford is our level in many regards now. Its not like he has been involved with England teams for 6/7 years or anything and were scouting him now :cool:

I honestly think we might be atrocious when it comes to acquiring players these days and should thank our lucky stars some of the good ones we got in actually fancied it. We have brought 7 keepers to the club since 11/12 and we havent improved on the position. I was thinking of this recently, a snippet from the open letter John Henry wrote.

"They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.

"But a summer window which brought in three young but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future - Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi - could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.

S. Goodspeed

Zak Flaps wrote: »

Just watching Bayern thump Arsenal. Why on earth did Benitez get rid of Alonso? I mean seriously.....what an absolute clueless clown!

Is the question not why did Alonso want to move to the richest and most winningest club in the world which, coincidently, is also based in his home country and massively improved his chances of playing in one of the most successful international sides of his generation? Blaming Rafa for the move is a nicer narrative though...

Jesus Wept

Zak Flaps

S. Goodspeed wrote: »

Is the question not why did Alonso want to move to the richest and most winningest club in the world which, coincidently, is also based in his home country and massively improved his chances of playing in one of the most successful international sides of his generation? Blaming Rafa for the move is a nicer narrative though...

Rafa wanted rid of him the previous season but he failed to land Gareth Barry so had to keep him!!!

klose

Je suis Mario wrote: »

Boards.ie original meme

~Rebel~

martyos121 wrote: »

I thought the Sanchez speculation was a joke, I didn't think people actually wanted him. I would've had him a few years ago, up until the point he chose Arsenal over us. Doesn't strike me as the kind of character Klopp would like in the squad either, and we all know that he values character on par with talent, if not above it.

Would have him in an instant. Couldn't give a toss that he chose Arsenal over us - they were the offer that better suited him on and off the field. I'm not going to hold it against a footballer to not feel the same about any particular club as their fans do. it's their profession.

As for character - he is the personification of a Klopp player. The reason he's having such issues over there right now is that he's raging at the lack of effort and heart shown by those around him. When every time he runs his balls off to muscle his way onto a loose ball in the corner, turns his man, and finds no one else bothered making a run into the box. Would absolutely thrive in a Klopp team.


<Edit>
****ing Alonso/Rafa again?! Jesus christ.

Right.
1) Alonso had just had the worst season of his career when Rafa was looking at Barry - go back and look at posts right here and you'll find people were agreeing it would be good for him to look for a new club to spark his career back into life.

2) On the back of the best season of his career the year after, he got the perfect offer from Madrid. He was going absolutely regardless what happened the previous year. As was said, the Rafa thing is a lovely narrative, and i'm sure it played a minor part, but let's not pretend he wasn't going to take the offer of being Madrid's lynchpin, almost guaranteeing him a starting birth with Spain to boot (he'd only been backup up to that point, playing in dead rubbers at Euro 2008). It was his dream move, and he earned it.

3) On all the distain of Barry - I ****ing wish we had managed to get Barry in to replace Alonso when he went to Madrid. Barry was both brilliant, and consistent at that point, and went on to play 35 league games in centre mid for a league winning Man City team.

noodler

Zak Flaps wrote: »

Just watching Bayern thump Arsenal. Why on earth did Benitez get rid of Alonso? I mean seriously.....what an absolute clueless clown!

Alonso had one half iffy season and Rafa was looking to replace.

He didn't want rid of him the summer he left though and let's not pretend what Rafa wanted when Real came calling.

martyos121

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Would have him in an instant. Couldn't give a toss that he chose Arsenal over us - they were the offer that better suited him on and off the field. I'm not going to hold it against a footballer to not feel the same about any particular club as their fans do. it's their profession.

As for character - he is the personification of a Klopp player. The reason he's having such issues over there right now is that he's raging at the lack of effort and heart shown by those around him. When every time he runs his balls off to muscle his way onto a loose ball in the corner, turns his man, and finds no one else bothered making a run into the box. Would absolutely thrive in a Klopp team.

Fair points, but I wasn't talking about his character on the pitch (which is second to none), I'm on about all the trouble he's involved in off it lately. What we hear from the media is that he's pissed about the effort the team is putting in and things along those lines.

Getting into bust-ups at training isn't the sign of a good temperament andI think it was Pep Lijnders that said Klopp is building a brotherhood (or something like it) within the squad, where the only focus is that every single player from the youth academy up is pulling in the exact same direction. Fighting your teammates isn't usually something a manager will like to see from a player he'd want to bring into this kind of environment, whatever the reasons for the fracas were. We've seen that Klopp doesn't tolerate certain types of characters with how he's dealt with Sakho and even Balotelli to a much lesser degree (they met once and Klopp told him personally it would be the last time they did, apparently)

So no, I wouldn't agree he's the "personification of a Klopp player" when you take into account that Klopp values off-the-field behaviour so highly. It's certainly not a signing we'd make anyway under the current regime (unless Arsenal miraculously valued him at under £30m) so none of us have to worry about whether he'd fit in or not.

For the record, I'll support any player who actually does join the club of course, whatever opinions I may have of them beforehand. Just had to get that in there in case something actually becomes of this mad speculation.

~Rebel~

martyos121 wrote: »

Fair points, but I wasn't talking about his character on the pitch (which is second to none), I'm on about all the trouble he's involved in off it lately. What we hear from the media is that he's pissed about the effort the team is putting in and things along those lines.

Getting into bust-ups at training isn't the sign of a good temperament andI think it was Pep Lijnders that said Klopp is building a brotherhood (or something like it) within the squad, where the only focus is that every single player from the youth academy up is pulling in the exact same direction. Fighting your teammates isn't usually something a manager will like to see from a player he'd want to bring into this kind of environment, whatever the reasons for the fracas were. We've seen that Klopp doesn't tolerate certain types of characters with how he's dealt with Sakho and even Balotelli to a much lesser degree (they met once and Klopp told him personally it would be the last time they did, apparently)

So no, I wouldn't agree he's the "personification of a Klopp player" when you take into account that Klopp values off-the-field behaviour so highly. It's certainly not a signing we'd make anyway under the current regime (unless Arsenal miraculously valued him at under £30m) so none of us have to worry about whether he'd fit in or not.

For the record, I'll support any player who actually does join the club of course, whatever opinions I may have of them beforehand. Just had to get that in there in case something actually becomes of this mad speculation.

I think it all depends on context really. Honestly, i'd love more players that would care enough to give out to others who aren't putting in the effort. I'm not sure this "bust up" (god i ****ing hate that term) would have occurred if he played at Liverpool. It seems like he's grown very frustrated at the mentality permeating the club. Very different from Balotelli and Sakho's issues, where Balo is just lazy and admitted only putting in 20% effort, and Sakho was a child. Sanchez is a winner, and wants to work with other people with his drive.

Sometimes, you need conflict. Sometimes a situation needs to be shaken up, and strong words need to be said. Just look at Klopp's face on the sidelines when things are going badly and tell me he and Sanchez don't share a common mentality. And I think it's hard to argue that the context over at Arsenal right now isn't one of those times, especially coming on the back of last season which was there for the taking for them if they'd shown a bit more heart. Those are exactly the times that should get players angry at each other.

Utopia Parkway

Zak Flaps wrote: »

Just watching Bayern thump Arsenal. Why on earth did Benitez get rid of Alonso? I mean seriously.....what an absolute clueless clown!

If I remember right I think Alonso had just had his poorest season at Liverpool and Rafa felt he needed a different option in midfield. Alonso ended up staying and had one of his best seasons afterwards. Madrid then came in for him and even though his relationship with Rafa wasn't as good as it once was I think he was always going to move home once one of the Spansh giants came in for him.