Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 2018 (MOD NOTE: POST #2805)

TitianGerm

gimli2112 wrote: »

We're on a good run but some people remain unconvinced. I saw a small clip of Keane and Dixon (I expect they're not fans) talking about Liverpool. Keane said Coutinhos only gone a few months and we need to see if the transfer damages them in the long term. Dixon said they always have a Swansea or West Brom result in them.
Still though it's great to bask in all the positivity in here....... until the next bad result.

Or a Brighton, or a Newcastle. The big teams will always have a bad day every now and then.

beya2009

I saw on the sky sports website an article saying "Are Liverpool future champions?". Very interesting as we have the the players and manager to compete with city and it does look like we have improved defensively recently. Okay we're a country mile behind city this season but so is everyone as they have been unreal. For me our biggest challenge is being solid defensively for a whole season...if we can do that we surely have a chance. We need a world class goal keeper and for once resist the temptation of cashing in on our best players. We can't be a selling club to other big clubs in europe if we want to win trophies.

54and56

beya2009 wrote: »

We need a world class goal keeper and for once resist the temptation of cashing in on our best players. We can't be a selling club to other big clubs in europe if we want to win trophies.

Liverpool don't "cash in" their best players and isn't a selling club. The club don't want to sell their best players and are actively trying to build a squad and team that the best players will want to join. Great progress is being made in that regard ie:-

- Great manager who players love playing for.
- Exciting football players actually want to play.
- Well run club capable of challenging for the PL and CL next year and in the years ahead.
- Financially very stable and happy to pay the big wages albeit not the absolute top 0.05% e.g. Sanchez at Utd, Ronaldo at Madrid, Messi at Barca etc
- Fantastic history and global fanbase. One of the top 10 clubs in world football.
- Anfield.

Having said the above sometimes players want to leave for pastures new either to fulfil a lifelong dream of playing for one of two big Spanish clubs (Suarez and Coutinho) or because they've had their head turned by another "project" where they are promised a bigger role and/or better wages and/or better lifestyle (Can) and in those circumstances if LFC have done all they can to try and persuade the player to stay and they still want to go then the sensible thing to do it get as big a transfer fee as possible and let the player go with thanks for what he contributed and best wishes for the future. No point being small minded and slamming a door shut.

Losing the odd player to Barca/Madrid does not make LFC or any other club a selling club. Utd weren't a selling club when Ronaldo joined Madrid were they and they won't be a selling club if De Gea decides to follow him, similarly Barca aren't a selling club just because Neymar wanted even more cash and PSG were prepared to pay his €200m buyout clause or whatever it was.

If you want a good example of a selling club take out the LFC chequebook and look at the stubs for cheques written over recent seasons!!!

yourdeadwright

messinkiapina wrote: »

ElTel wrote: »

TAA hands down first choice for me at RB, Keeps them honest,

We've got control lately and plenty under the hood.

TAA all day for me too.

Not a huge fan of Clyne. He's so ineffective and downright wasteful in the opposition's half, he's infuriating. I think he creates more problems with his wastefulness in advanced positions than he solves by being relatively okay defensively. He's nowhere near good enough for a top 4 team imo.

I think AAT is currently our 3rd best RB but has a higher ceiling than the other two, its not a knock on him either I just think at the moment he makes to many sloppy errors,
None have lead to goal recently as we have had a run against pretty poor opposition ,He was easy the worst player for us on Saturday, I was at the Spurs game and you could see they constantly got the ball to Tripper to single out AAT,
Again I think he will become our number one right full in time,
I'd be starting Gomez ahead of him at old Trafford.
Also when Clyne gets fit he is our number one people have short memories he is far better at defending than the other two ,  Plus the back he is coming into now is far better than when he got injured, 
Karius, Clyne, Lovren, VVD, Robertson is our best defence,

citytillidie

Different table view. As you can see Arsenal have been cut adrift from top 4.

Chelsea almost but that can change next week if they win and Man Utd or Liverpool will drop points or both may drop points

78 Man City
77
76
75
74
73
72
71
70
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62
61
60 Liverpool
59 Man Utd
58 Tottenham
57
56
55
54
53 Chelsea
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
45 Arsenal
44
43
42
41
40 Burnley
39
38
37 Leicester
36 Watford
35
34 Brighton Everton
33 Bournemouth
32
31
30 Swansea West Ham Huddersfield
29 Newcastle
28 Southampton
27 Palace Stoke
26
25
24
23
22
21
20 West Brom

Dickerty

That's a great way to look at the table. City are streets ahead, and us, United and Spurs are rightly neck and neck. Chelsea should be closer but Costa put all his eggs in the one basket, Morata for Costa eile, and it's failed him.

If Hazard leaves, they will have to spend VERY substantially to rebuild that attack. I'm talking 200M.

ThunbergsAreGo

Dont think Chelsea are as far off as that indicates. they have very decent fixtures coming up

Thanx 4 The Fish

Dickerty wrote: »

If Hazard leaves, they will have to spend VERY substantially to rebuild that attack. I'm talking 200M.

And without a superstar manager in there and a league position that may be tough to maintain for CL spots to say the least who will they be able to convince to join who is of the requisite quality.

They will have to spend a lot of money just to replace a wantaway hazard and hope that they get a mercenary who is more interested in the wage than the football because without Hazard, despite them having talent in the squad, they have nobody to knit it all together.

BeepBeep67

naughtb4 wrote: »

Dont think Chelsea are as far off as that indicates. they have very decent fixtures coming up

The rank factor, Chelsea have one of the easiest run ins for the top 5.
Not out of the question that they could win their last 9 games, if they are arsed!

beya2009

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Losing the odd player to Barca/Madrid does not make LFC or any other club a selling club. Utd weren't a selling club when Ronaldo joined Madrid were they and they won't be a selling club if De Gea decides to follow him, similarly Barca aren't a selling club just because Neymar wanted even more cash and PSG were prepared to pay his €200m buyout clause or whatever it was.

I agree with a lot you stated but the difference is we have sold one too many of our best players in the past few seasons. If any of the top clubs continually sold their best players it would obviously be much harder winning trophies. I take your point...we're not selling enough to be considered a selling club but the players we have sold have been costly to our chances of winning trophies.

In the past 4 seasons we have sold Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and Luis Suárez. Only the 2016/2017 season we haven't sold anyone of note. The clubs you mentioned sell one of their best players the odd time. I just hope come the summer when the likes of Real Madrid come in for the likes of Salah we can hold firm. Time will tell.

Harry Palmr

Iused2likebusts

naughtb4 wrote: »

Dont think Chelsea are as far off as that indicates. they have very decent fixtures coming up

I think we have a better run in than Chelsea. Palace and Huddersfield at home the only handy games they have.

MD1990

https://twitter.com/PortuBall/status/970604755201511424

Porto missing a few key players tomorow Telles, Danilo, Marega and Soares.

Would like to see Firmino in particular rested.

yourdeadwright

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I can't see up ending up about +3 on last year , The home games against Everton, Westbrom, Chelsea and Arsenal all should have been 3 points and will cost us 2nd/3rd  place ,We will finish 4th

LuckyLloyd

Harry Palmr wrote: »

While it's very positive overall, does indicate that we need to be close to perfect in the remaining games for us to achieve a notable overall improvement relative to last year.

I'm very happy that we're 7 points clear of 5th with 27 points left to play for.

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Welcome to a crucial period now:

Southampton A W 0 - 2
Porto A W 0 - 5
West Ham H W 4 - 1
Newcastle H W 2 - 0
Porto H
Utd A

On the evening of March 10th we could be through to the QF of the CL and solidly in the top four with 8 league games remaining or we could be out of both with just 8 league games remaining to salvage the year. The stakes are very high now for the next four weeks. And if it goes well, they get higher again.

We can now afford a loss next weekend in Old Trafford and we're obviously through to the QF now.

Following bank of games will be:

Watford H
--International Break--
Crystal Palace A
CL QF Leg 1
Everton A
CL QF Leg 2
Bournemouth H

Dream scenarios involve us coming out of that block of games with a CL Semi to look forward to and qualification for next year locked up. But whatever happens, the next six weeks are a very exciting time to be a Liverpool fan. If they go well it starts to go beyond exciting...

Mr.H

beya2009 wrote:

In the past 4 seasons we have sold Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and Luis Suárez. Only the 2016/2017 season we haven't sold anyone of note. The clubs you mentioned sell one of their best players the odd time. I just hope come the summer when the likes of Real Madrid come in for the likes of Salah we can hold firm. Time will tell.

And how do you force players to stay and play well?

I mean from the three you mentioned we kept Suarez for an extra season and coutinho for an extra six months. But both clearly wanted out and were not prepared to play ball (excuse the pun) any longer.

Would you to get to the point where the player downs tools and starts upsetting the dressing room. Loads of examples with masherano Sanchez marez.

I know that players have contracts but that mindset needs a player to play without feelings and emotions and that can't happen. At least not if you want players with the kinda passion that is usually associated with top class players.

Listen if Salah said this summer he wants out I won't care. I'll hope we can get another season out of him but ultimately players move on for lots of reasons. We always replace them eventually. Rush, king Kenny, Fowler, Owen, Torres, Suarez, Gerrard and coutinho are all players who have left this club in one way or another. World class irreplaceable players who moved on. But we replaced them every time. Maybe not right away or in an obvious way but always there will be a new huge name that will stand out and be our best player.

Fwiw coutinho was world class but hasn't ever been our best player. This season before Phil left it is Salah. Last year it was Mane. The season before that you could argue he was but firmino and even sturridge had more of an impact. Season before that Gerrard was still here. Then Suarez before that.

My points yes we lost a great player but he was rarely if ever our best player.

rob316

beya2009 wrote: »

I agree with a lot you stated but the difference is we have sold one too many of our best players in the past few seasons. If any of the top clubs continually sold their best players it would obviously be much harder winning trophies. I take your point...we're not selling enough to be considered a selling club but the players we have sold have been costly to our chances of winning trophies.

In the past 4 seasons we have sold Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and Luis Suárez. Only the 2016/2017 season we haven't sold anyone of note. The clubs you mentioned sell one of their best players the odd time. I just hope come the summer when the likes of Real Madrid come in for the likes of Salah we can hold firm. Time will tell.

Barca or Madrid want someone they will get them if there is a desire for that player to leave too. Forget it, they might not get them this window but theyll get them the next. No shame in selling to Barcelona.
Sterling was a bad situation and to be honest at the time the money on offer was too good to say no to for a young raw talent.

If you consistently sell to your rivals I think that makes you a selling club. Arsenal are an example.

yourdeadwright

I just realised before the first game with United we had only won 1 game out of 7 and it was the one away where Vardy missed a late peno for a draw,
We are in so much better form now I really hope we can get a win it would be massive for our confidence in the Champions league ,
The Prem is about top 4 at this stage but the champions league with a decent draw could be very much up for grabs this year,

SlickRic

just to say, Klopp is fúcking brilliant, and we're goddamn lucky to have the crazy, talented bastard as our manager.

That's all. Just wanted to say that.

54and56

beya2009 wrote: »

I agree with a lot you stated but the difference is we have sold one too many of our best players in the past few seasons. If any of the top clubs continually sold their best players it would obviously be much harder winning trophies. I take your point...we're not selling enough to be considered a selling club but the players we have sold have been costly to our chances of winning trophies.

In the past 4 seasons we have sold Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and Luis Suárez. Only the 2016/2017 season we haven't sold anyone of note. The clubs you mentioned sell one of their best players the odd time. I just hope come the summer when the likes of Real Madrid come in for the likes of Salah we can hold firm. Time will tell.

Big dogs eat first is a good analogy here. We're top 4 club in the PL and a top 10 club in Europe so we feed off all the teams below us but the teams above us (size wise and in terms of likelihood of winning major trophies) will feed off us. In the PL that means the the very odd time a player like Sterling can force a move away to a club he perceives will be a better option for him and Coutinho and Suarez will move to Spain. That's just life and the best way to counter it is to build a squad and environment that exciting players will want to join and stay with for the journey. Klopp is doing that and making serious progress with the latest big statement being the VVD signing and Key8a to come in the summer.

Will we (or any PL team) be able to hold onto a player Madrid or Barca want? Not too often. Bale who at the time was akin to Kane today for Spurs went to Madrid, Ronaldo to Madrid, Modric to Madrid. We lost two to Barca and whilst that sounds bad I look at it another way. I look at it as a compliment to the club that we bought and helped develop a player who was so world class that the most successful European team of the last decade or so wanted them so badly they paid huge transfer fees for them.

I also don't agree that Sterling was one of our best players at the time we sold him. He had showed flashes of brilliance but was far from the finished article and I don't agree that losing Coutinho will make winning trophies harder. I absolutely 100% believe he's a great player and loved watching him but I equally believe the team is more balanced and more in line with what Klopp wants with Ox (or similar) in MF than a Coutinho type playmaker.

I don't have the stats but I bet if we look at the average points per game achieved for the # of games played without Coutinho over the last 12 months and those with him the average points achieved without him in the team will be higher. That doesn't mean Ox is a better player, it just means that Ox suits Klopps style of play better and the team play a better overall game now which is also why we won't be seeing a like for like replacement bought in the summer. Ox was his direct replacement, he was just bought before Coutinho was sold in order to make the transition smoother for when Coutinho eventually went to Barca.

Knex*

SlickRic wrote: »

just to say, Klopp is fúcking brilliant, and we're goddamn lucky to have the crazy, talented bastard as our manager.

That's all. Just wanted to say that.

2-0 up in the 92nd minute of a PL game.

SlickRic

i love how so many of his own bench are trying desperately not to utterly break their shít laughing at him.

Dickerty

SlickRic wrote: »

i love how so many of his own bench are trying desperately not to utterly break their shít laughing at him.

And rightly so! I want someone to remix that clip with some hardcore industrial...

aidanathome

Knex. wrote: »

2-0 up in the 92nd minute of a PL game.

If our placing comes down to goal difference, then decisions like that could be the difference.

noodler

aidanathome wrote: »

If our placing comes down to goal difference, then decisions like that could be the difference.

Right.

shamrock55

Agent Coulson wrote: »

For someone who doesn't watch any other football than a Liverpool matches not sure your the best judge of players who don't play for Liverpool

I've seen enough of him don't worry about that

BullBlackNova

The last minute non-decision will likely make absolutely no impact to our season anyway but Southampton (and the other sides in the relegation fight) should be furious over it.

Right decision would have been a free kick and a red card for Lascelles, meaning that Newcastle would be missing their captain and best CB for a crucial relegation tie next week (and the two games after that which includes Huddersfield, I think). Their record without Lascelles is awful, could be a very important decision in that context.

Also, what an utterly stupid decision by Lascelles to make that challenge given the context. 2-0 down with no chance of coming back in the last minute and he makes a challenge that should have resulted in a red card. He's a player I really like and was impressed by whenever I've seen him this season but had the ref made the right call, that would have been shown up to be an absolutely awful decision by the player.

johnpatrick81

Knex. wrote: »

2-0 up in the 92nd minute of a PL game.

In fairness I was reacting the same way watching at home. Abysmal stuff from the officials. One of the worst decisions I've seen in a long time, especially by the linesman. It was the most blatant push and red card ever. Maybe we are "pushable" seeing as Firmino got pushed into the crowd and no action was taken.

rgace

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

While it's very positive overall, does indicate that we need to be close to perfect in the remaining games for us to achieve a notable overall improvement relative to last year.

I would consider any improvement in our points total on last season a notable overall improvement taking into account the CL performance which we didn't have last season.

If we can maintain our current league form while competing at the business end of the champions league it will certainly bode well for next season.

Agent Coulson

robwen

https://twitter.com/BBCMOTD/status/970441243393122304?s=19


https://twitter.com/bet365/status/970668355202973698?s=19

BorneTobyWilde

noodler wrote: »

Right.

It was just a freekick though.

stuff.hunter

wtf
http://www.msn.com/en-ie/sport/football/ronaldo-wants-madrid-to-push-for-salah-deal/ar-BBJTHCb?li=AAmb2oK&ocid=ientp

garra

stuff.hunter wrote: »

wtf
http://www.msn.com/en-ie/sport/football/ronaldo-wants-madrid-to-push-for-salah-deal/ar-BBJTHCb?li=AAmb2oK&ocid=ientp

FFS. Give us 2 seasons of Salah for the love of Mohammed

Vicxas

Ah yes, the ever reliable MSN sport....

Riesen_Meal

Vicxas wrote: »

Ah yes, the ever reliable MSN sport....

Ah the RM manager Ronaldo...

Sure isn't he off to London next season as he wants to school his child there - what does he care who they sign in his place?

Riesen_Meal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm18pumtla4

Jimmy and Jurgen Presser

Trigger

The MSN article is quoting Diario Gol who are about the Spanish equivalent of the Metro/Express.. known bull****ters.. they are on the banned list on r/soccer too for good reason

Turtyturd

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

Back then it was no chance of Liverpool getting top 4. Klopp is a fraud. Hasn't improved Liverpool. He is a one trick pony and that trick doesn't work anymore. He should be under pressure for his job. The front four not all its cracked up to be. Fun times .

Annoying thing is that some supposed Liverpool fans were coming out with that rubbish. Some ridiculous stuff being spouted around the time Leicester knocked us out of the cup.

SlickRic

I always liked Roy Hodgson. Always rated him.

johnpatrick81

SlickRic wrote: »

I always liked Roy Hodgson. Always rated him.

That benteke lad too, immense :pac:

TitianGerm

I don't know how many times I've heard in the media that United are great defensive team and Liverpool can't defend. The big difference between the two teams was De Gea and he's not saving all their blushes as often anymore.

shamrock55

If utd lose tonight does that mean they're gonna really take it out on us on sat 😂

elbyrneo

TitianGerm wrote: »

I don't know how many times I've heard in the media that United are great defensive team and Liverpool can't defend. The big difference between the two teams was De Gea and he's not saving all their blushes as often anymore.

Utd play a far more defensive game, hence they concede less but score less too. Matic covers the defence well, and de gea is excellent, though the back 4 itself is hardly inspiring- the kudos they get is more due to their style.

Liverpool on the other hand play exciting risk taking attacking football. It does leave us exposed. In fairness the defensive unit was shocking in the early half of the season, lets not foget. Robertson and Virgil have brought stability and confidence of late. Trent is less error prone than Gomez. I am prepared to be slated, but I genuinely think Lovren will excel with Virgil. And Karius recent form is a bonus and will be interesting to see how this continues at the tail end of the season.

The difference of late is that leading in the last few games, that fear we all had of collapses is fading. The team looks solid and it feels they can manage a game.

Keita will be a game changer for us. Henderson shown glimpses of quick passing from deep midfield on sat eve, but not sure he can consistently play that game at that level. Keita excels here turning a defensive midfield position into attack very quickly. When he is feeding Mane, Salah and Firmin and they are interchanging on a retreating defence from a counter attack, it's a glorious recipe!

Watching a dull man Utd game here. Win lose or draw at the weekend, it's so enjoyable supporting an entertaining team who play together as such a great attacking unit.

Good times

Fromvert

shamrock55 wrote: »

If utd lose tonight does that mean they're gonna really take it out on us on sat ��

Mourinho will probably find a way to be even more defensive to try and avoid defeat! And will painfully get the draw or nick a painful 1-0 after De Gea makes 12 saves and we hit the woodwork three times.

TitianGerm

I will be bitterly disappointed if we don't get at least three goals next weekend.

~Rebel~

shamrock55 wrote: »

If utd lose tonight does that mean they're gonna really take it out on us on sat 😂

I really hope they try!

RainMakerToo

Fromvert wrote: »

Mourinho will probably find a way to be even more defensive to try and avoid defeat! And will painfully get the draw or nick a painful 1-0 after De Gea makes 12 saves and we hit the woodwork three times.

And they'll call it a Mourinho master class :mad:

shamrock55

WTF were Palace defence doing for that smalling goal

Vicxas

shamrock55 wrote: »

WTF were Palace defence doing for that smalling goal

Sleeping, mostly.

Hennessy is a terrible, TERRIBLE keeper.