Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 2017/2018

davyboy1975

Lovren normally plays well against lukaku (I know I have jinxed it now ) so thats maybe a positive and we also normally get up for the big games so hopefully this sparks our season, which hasnt bern too bad in fairness.
As for the lineup I would go with coutinho central with salah on the left just for balance abd the ox on the right to also help whoever is right back up against rashford.
Would maybe go for gini over can just on the basis that he maybe keeps the ball better but its a toss up between them tbf

Barnavave

Knex. wrote: »

Start Brad Jones.

Still preferable to Karius

x43r0

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Something unexpected is needed to win this game

I got just the thing

ballyargus

A few days before a big game and the Barca bullsh*t machine is in full force again

ballyargus

ballyargus wrote: »

A few days before a big game and the Barca bullsh*t machine is in full force again

Meaningless really. Phil knows that FSG/LFC will only sell him when they deem it an acceptable time and for an acceptable price. The coming window is unlikely to be that time

BorneTobyWilde

Barca need to get real with their bids. 40m and 150m in add ons if he becomes Ms Universe in 2018 is just not cutting it.
They can't afford him I think. Needs to be 160m up front and 30m in add ons to have any chance. Best thing Liverpool can do is price him in the summer, at least put that price out there. The first part of any sale is the selling club actually pricing the player.

citytillidie

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Barca need to get real with their bids. 40m and 150m in add ons if he becomes Ms Universe in 2018 is just not cutting it.
They can't afford him I think. Needs to be 160m up front and 30m in add ons to have any chance. Best thing Liverpool can do is price him in the summer, at least put that price out there. The first part of any sale is the selling club actually pricing the player.

They have priced him in the Summer, he is not for Sale

BorneTobyWilde

They priced him? I never saw that, all I saw was ' not for sale''
We all know he is very much for sale this summer.

sword1

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

They priced him? I never saw that, all I saw was ' not for sale''
We all know he is very much for sale this summer.

Not for sale is the strongest bargaining position. If we had put the price most people thought he was worth at the start of last summer he would be long gone. If we put a price that is the maximum and most likely we meet in the middle.

Tusky

Mane out for six weeks :eek:

sword1

Tusky wrote: »

Mane out for six weeks :eek:

Are you itk?

Harry Palmr

Rhian Brewster with a cracking free kick goalio in the England v Mexico 3-1 win (keeper was a bit dozy mind you)

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/918087920967471104

eyerer

FFS I thought with Coutinho being cup tied in CL they would stay away til next summer

mosstin

eyerer wrote: »

FFS I thought with Coutinho being cup tied in CL they would stay away til next summer

They will.

I think Barca release these rumours just to upset a few lads on this thread. It always seems to work.

Rumple Stillson

I wonder what effect Catelonian independence might have? Might not be the best time to be moving to Barcelona.

That said if Keita came this way during January I could accept Coutinho leaving.

mosstin

Rumple Stillson wrote: »

I wonder what effect Catelonian independence might have? Might not be the best time to be moving to Barcelona.

That said if Keita came this way during January I could accept Coutinho leaving.

Keita and Coutinho are completely different players. The two together could be wonderful for us.

Rumple Stillson

mosstin wrote: »

Keita and Coutinho are completely different players. The two together could be wonderful for us.

Well I imagine Keita will play in the midfield 3, where Coutinho is currently playing for Liverpool.

It'd be great to keep both but there seems an inevitability about Coutinho leaving.

passremarkable

Are the tv fixtures for December been announced tomorrow ?

~Rebel~

Rumple Stillson wrote: »

Well I imagine Keita will play in the midfield 3, where Coutinho is currently playing for Liverpool.

It'd be great to keep both but there seems an inevitability about Coutinho leaving.

Yeah, but they occupy totally different roles within that midfield 3. Keita would likely replace the Can/Henderson position. He's box-to-box, while Coutinho is transition to final third.

martyos121

mosstin wrote: »

Keita and Coutinho are completely different players. The two together could be wonderful for us.

They're not completely different players, not by any means. They share a lot of the same qualities, accurate passes that cut through defences, excellent ball control and dribbling, and Keita is well able to fire one in from long range too (though it's not a dominant feature of his game like it is with Phil). The biggest difference between them is that Keita is the better defender of the two and can last the full 90 minutes easily. Not saying he's the better player, but he's much more well-rounded for a central midfielder, which happens to be Coutinho's new role in the team.

To say they're completely different players is very strange indeed tbh.

Agent Coulson

I know I said it before but I always thought Keita was being brought in as Coutinho's replacement.

Osmosis Jones

They're not that different. Keita is a lot like Lallana, more so than he is Henderson/Can anyway.

Harry Palmr

We're going to max out this thread with the fall out from the Utd game aren't we?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I know I said it before but I always thought Keita was being brought in as Coutinho's replacement.

Same here - get the replacement in before you sell. That way, no one holds out for extra money because you've just brough in a 100mil or so.

Jayop

Harry Palmr wrote: »

We're going to max out this thread with the fall out from the Utd game aren't we?

Or the celebrations.

I'm getting nothing done today. Awful hard to concentrate on anything when you have this to look forward to at the weekend.

Any decent final line up predictions from you guys? Had a gander at the last two pages and didn't notice anything.

Osmosis Jones

Jayop wrote: »

Any decent final line up predictions from you guys? Had a gander at the last two pages and didn't notice anything.

My guess is:

Mignolet
Gomez-Matip-Lovren-Moreno
Henderson
Can-Coutinho
Salah-Firmino-Ox

Ox and Coutinho may be swapped, or they might rotate during the game, assuming Herrera's plan is to stick to Coutinho all night I could see him drifting to the left and swapping a bit.

Rumple Stillson

The game at the weekend is enormously important in my opinion. If we lose at home to United, then I think it can have a very negative impact on the team for the rest of the season.

Jayop

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

My guess is:

Mignolet
Gomez-Matip-Lovren-Moreno
Henderson
Can-Coutinho
Salah-Firmino-Ox

Ox and Coutinho may be swapped, or they might rotate during the game, assuming Herrera's plan is to stick to Coutinho all night I could see him drifting to the left and swapping a bit.

I just don't see anyone being given a man marking job. I know that Herrera doing that on Hazard last year was kinda a big deal but that's the only time I remember him ever being given a man marking job. It's a very rare tactic these days strangely enough because it is damn effective when there's a single key man on the other team. Man marking Coutinho wouldn't be as effective anyway I don't think because he tends to drift whereas Hazard just stood in the same place. Also, you have other threats, Salah in particular from a similar area in the pitch.

I think if I was a Pool fan I'd like to see that young lad Woodburn (sp?) getting this game in place of Mane. I know he's young and inexperienced, but the lad looks fearless.

mosstin

martyos121 wrote: »

They're not completely different players, not by any means. They share a lot of the same qualities, accurate passes that cut through defences, excellent ball control and dribbling, and Keita is well able to fire one in from long range too (though it's not a dominant feature of his game like it is with Phil). The biggest difference between them is that Keita is the better defender of the two and can last the full 90 minutes easily. Not saying he's the better player, but he's much more well-rounded for a central midfielder, which happens to be Coutinho's new role in the team.

To say they're completely different players is very strange indeed tbh.

It isn't. Proffering Keita as Coutinho's replacement would be like suggesting Lallana fill in for Henderson. Keita is blessed with a skill set for beating players but if you were to leave him to do Coutinho's job, we'd immediately miss Coutinho's subtlety. Keita will win the ball, provide it to our truly creative players and then, hopefully, win it back again once we've lost it.

Osmosis Jones

Keita does have more successful dribbles this season and more successful through balls in 2017 than any other player in the league.

mosstin

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Keita does have more successful dribbles this season and more successful through balls in 2017 than any other player in the league.

I haven't said that I don't think he can shoot, pass and dribble. He can't do it to Coutinho's level over a sustained period, nor will he be expected to because that's not why we bought him. He is a superb player, from what I've seen, an outlier but he isn't Coutinho's replacement.

martyos121

mosstin wrote: »

It isn't. Proffering Keita as Coutinho's replacement would be like suggesting Lallana fill in for Henderson. Keita is blessed with a skill set for beating players but if you were to leave him to do Coutinho's job, we'd immediately miss Coutinho's subtlety. Keita will win the ball, provide it to our truly creative players and then, hopefully, win it back again once we've lost it.

So you want Keita to win the ball, pass it to himself and then win it back again the next time the opposition has it? That's a bold strategy. :pac:

Seriously though, if you're saying Naby Keita isn't going to be one of our "truly creative players", I'd question how much you've seen of him. He's one of the Bundesliga's most creative players, never mind one single team in England! The fact that he runs for the whole game and can intercept the ball at a high level (his tackling needs a lot of work still) means he's often labelled as a box-to-box midfielder and isn't given half enough credit for the work he does in the final third.

Also, I'm not running down Coutinho or anything of the sort, he's a better player without a doubt, I'm just disagreeing with your comparison of the two and what you perceive Keita's main strengths to be.

So keita shall replace coutinho... brilliant.
Fingers crossed klopp has a can replacement in mind

redzerdrog

I can't ever see Naby playing on the left of front 3 for us and don,t think we will even see him as CAM much, Likewise I don't think we will see much of Coutinho in the a 2 man midfield or as DM in a 3 man midfield (might not see much of Naby there either but it's still more likely)

So although they may possess some samiliar strengths I do think they are very different players

mosstin

martyos121 wrote: »

So you want Keita to win the ball, pass it to himself and then win it back again the next time the opposition has it? That's a bold strategy. :pac:

Seriously though, if you're saying Naby Keita isn't going to be one of our "truly creative players", I'd question how much you've seen of him. He's one of the Bundesliga's most creative players, never mind one single team in England! The fact that he runs for the whole game and can intercept the ball at a high level (his tackling needs a lot of work still) means he's often labelled as a box-to-box midfielder and isn't given half enough credit for the work he does in the final third.

Also, I'm not running down Coutinho or anything of the sort, he's a better player without a doubt, I'm just disagreeing with your comparison of the two and what you perceive Keita's main strengths to be.

It is the very fact that he runs for the whole game, the very fact that he intercepts, that he's often labelled as a box-to-box midfielder that I say he's a completely different player to Coutinho. He shares some of Coutinho's skills, sure, but will be called upon to contribute to the team in a much different way.
I've seen plenty of Keita - I wouldn't feel comfortable discussing his merits unless I had.

martyos121

mosstin wrote: »

It is the very fact that he runs for the whole game, the very fact that he intercepts, that he's often labelled as a box-to-box midfielder that I say he's a completely different player to Coutinho. He shares some of Coutinho's skills, sure, but will be called upon to contribute to the team in a much different way.
I've seen plenty of Keita - I wouldn't feel comfortable discussing his merits unless I had.

I agree that he's likely to be used in a different manner, the only thing I really took issue with is him being labelled a completely different player to Coutinho. In my opinion, that's not the same thing as a player being used by a team in a completely different way, but that's not really a debate worth having as it'd be purely pedantic.

My assessment of Keita for what's it's worth, is a player that can currently do nearly everything Phil can, but at a slightly lower level across the board (shooting from range maybe a fair level below him tbf). His gas tank and ball-winning ability is a huge bonus when you compare the two players like-for-like, but deployed as a more defensive midfielder than Coutinho is, he is of course a different player and those attributes become much more relevant to his job. The thing is, it remains to be seen how he's going to be used, and it'll probably heavily depend on whether Coutinho and Can are still around next September.

corwill

Chris Kirkland, interviewed about his struggles with depression - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/11/chris-kirkland-depression-interview Hope he stays well.

Rumple Stillson

Rumple Stillson wrote: »

The game at the weekend is enormously important in my opinion. If we lose at home to United, then I think it can have a very negative impact on the team for the rest of the season.

I'd weigh in and say not much. You've been here before where you beat Utd one week and the next week you lose to a team in the bottom 3.

I'd argue consistency against struggling sides is ultimately what Liverpool need to work on the most which they consistently struggle with including adpating the teams tactics as opposed to playing the same way against every team and then Liverpools weaknesses are exploited.

Thanx 4 The Fish

corwill wrote: »

Chris Kirkland, interviewed about his struggles with depression - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/11/chris-kirkland-depression-interview Hope he stays well.

Sad times, not the first and definitely won't be the last. They are living in a cut-throat environment.

citytillidie

Harry Palmr wrote: »

We're going to max out this thread with the fall out from the Utd game aren't we?

This thread will be maxed out before kick off, i mean it is a big game

Osmosis Jones

Augeo wrote: »

So keita shall replace coutinho... brilliant.
Fingers crossed klopp has a can replacement in mind

"Keita is similar to Coutinho" =/= "Keita is Coutinho's replacement"

BorneTobyWilde

sword1

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

So di Maria is cans replacement?

Osmosis Jones

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

"Keita is similar to Coutinho" =/= "Keita is Coutinho's replacement"

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

"Keita is similar to Coutinho" =/= "Keita is Coutinho's replacement"

Cheers, Osy, was a thinking out loud response to the likes of below.........

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I know I said it before but I always thought Keita was being brought in as Coutinho's replacement.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Same here - get the replacement in before you sell. That way, no one holds out for extra money because you've just brough in a 100mil or so.

johnpatrick81

corwill wrote: »

Chris Kirkland, interviewed about his struggles with depression - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/11/chris-kirkland-depression-interview Hope he stays well.

Mad that he got left behind in Istanbul (he was watching from the crowd with his wife due to injury), missed the homecoming parade, and had his medal given to someone else! Even though he started 4 group games. Would love to hear how the club left him in Istanbul.

5starpool

citytillidie wrote: »

This thread will be maxed out before kick off, i mean it is a big game

If we lose, the next thread won't last too long.

This thread will be dead today.

bennyineire

5starpool wrote: »

If we lose, the next thread won't last too long.

This thread will be dead today.

This thread has been dead of any intelligent discussion for a long time now, when you questions such as

"do the top 2 qualify for the knockout round in the champions league group"

"why haven't we bought more wingers to provide cover for Mane"

And of course the hysteria that goes on here every time "disaster" happens.

It really is tiring and I think the only reason I keep coming back to have a look is some sort of weird mental self flagellation that subconsciously I inflict on myself

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

bennyineire wrote: »

This thread has been dead of any intelligent discussion for a long time now, when you questions such as

"do the top 2 qualify for the knockout round in the champions league group"

"why haven't we bought more wingers to provide cover for Mane"

And of course the hysteria that goes on here every time "disaster" happens.

It really is tiring and I think the only reason I keep coming back to have a look is some sort of weird mental self flagellation that subconsciously I inflict on myself

"if we win the next game we'll have a 2.1/2/1.85 ppg and we'll only be 3/5/7 points behind fifth so all will be grand!"

citytillidie

Talk of Arsenal V Liverpool at 1:30pm on Christmas Eve, guys you have to do your Christmas shopping on the 23rd this year

dogbert27

bennyineire wrote: »

This thread has been dead of any intelligent discussion for a long time now, when you questions such as

"do the top 2 qualify for the knockout round in the champions league group"

"why haven't we bought more wingers to provide cover for Mane"

And of course the hysteria that goes on here every time "disaster" happens.

It really is tiring and I think the only reason I keep coming back to have a look is some sort of weird mental self flagellation that subconsciously I inflict on myself

I came for the football, I stayed for the pandas.