Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 2018

SlickRic

Talisman wrote: »

Did you think we weren't going in the right direction before? Not looking to snipe at you, just find it a curious phrase to use in relation to Liverpool given the progress the club has made since Klopp was appointed.

if we're nitpicking my post, I should've put 'continuing in the right direction'.

i don't think anything Klopp has done has brought us anything but forward.

Talisman

doc_17 wrote: »

Finally FSG are doing what is needed to give Klopp the best possibly opportunity to challenge. We had a wonderfully promising season last year and there are doing exactly what is needed now.

I think they learned from their mistakes in the past and are now doing exactly what many of us thought was needed. If you don’t spend you fall behind.

It was not necessarily their mistakes, unless you consider appointing Rodgers to have been a mistake. Rodgers didn't have the pedigree to attract the players to the project.

The club is now pressing their advantage over its rivals while they can - in the summer of 2014 we were unable to do so but it's a different landscape now.

murpho999

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I think its disappointing that in all your years watching football you've yet to realise that players often come from poor leagues looking like world beater to fail in the Prem,
Fabhino could be great but he could also be a failure and I doubt it would surprise people as it happens time and time again like Di Maria, Falco , Ballack, Shev, Veron , Pogba (so far)  so many top players have failed in the prem
Phil was our best player for 3 season so is obviously a huge loss, Can I believe is very undervalued by Liverpool fans and there's a reason he ended up at Juve,
I think Keita looks odds on to be a proper player but we don't know till we see him in the Prem,
I just think people are getting excited a little early,

We got to a champions' league final without Can and Coutinho.

They're gone and we have made serioussignings this summer. Every reason to be optimistic.

ricero

Rumours Mane is to sign a new 5 year contract and is to change his squad number from 19 to 10.

yourdeadwright

murpho999 wrote: »

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I think its disappointing that in all your years watching football you've yet to realise that players often come from poor leagues looking like world beater to fail in the Prem,
Fabhino could be great but he could also be a failure and I doubt it would surprise people as it happens time and time again like Di Maria, Falco , Ballack, Shev, Veron , Pogba (so far)  so many top players have failed in the prem
Phil was our best player for 3 season so is obviously a huge loss, Can I believe is very undervalued by Liverpool fans and there's a reason he ended up at Juve,
I think Keita looks odds on to be a proper player but we don't know till we see him in the Prem,
I just think people are getting excited a little early,

We got to a champions' league final without Can and Coutinho.

They're gone and we have made serioussignings this summer.  Every reason to be optimistic.

murpho999 wrote: »

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I think its disappointing that in all your years watching football you've yet to realise that players often come from poor leagues looking like world beater to fail in the Prem,
Fabhino could be great but he could also be a failure and I doubt it would surprise people as it happens time and time again like Di Maria, Falco , Ballack, Shev, Veron , Pogba (so far)  so many top players have failed in the prem
Phil was our best player for 3 season so is obviously a huge loss, Can I believe is very undervalued by Liverpool fans and there's a reason he ended up at Juve,
I think Keita looks odds on to be a proper player but we don't know till we see him in the Prem,
I just think people are getting excited a little early,

We got to a champions' league final without Can and Coutinho.

They're gone and we have made serioussignings this summer.  Every reason to be optimistic.

Different ball gaming trying to win the Prem than a cup competition

garra

murpho999 wrote: »

I fail to see how people can argue that Can is a big loss, I think he's been overrated by many here.

I'm not just saying that because he's gone. He disappeared in far too many games for my liking.

Clearly for Klopp too as he would have made sure we kept him if he was that good.

Would have to agree, Can is not as good as he thinks he is. For the amount of shouting and gesticulating to team mates during games, he gave away the ball far too often and never seemed to be aware of what was going on around him.

Never seemed a really comfortable midfielder with composure, he was all blood and guts except without the end product of a top midfielder.

He will do a job for Juve as a destroyer, but I doubt we will be truly disappointed with our loss in a years time.

yourdeadwright

Talisman wrote: »

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I think we are all getting excited a bit prematurely.
We have lost Cou and Can recently are Keita and Fabhino really that much better ?
We have no idea how Alisson will turn out but iagree surely he can't be worse than Karius and the other player we bought is Sharqi who will be on the bench and a good squad player ,
At right back is still weak Trent is still very raw, We are one injury at LB or CB or CF from scraping the barrel to replace them ,
I think we serious need to bring in Fekir or a player like him ,

Careful now - there are some that get agitated with people voicing such concerns.

Keita is a much better fit than Coutinho although he's not a like for like replacement.

Fabinho seems a much more mature player than Can and that is what we need in midfield.

Left back is a concern for me - Robertson can't play every game and Moreno has proved to be an unacceptable replacement.

A centre back we have Van Dijk and Lovren - Gomez and Klavan are fine for backups. Lovren played a lot of minutes at the World Cup so he will need to be rested during this season. I would gladly see the back of Matip and replace him with a utility player that could fill in across the back line.

Right back is covered - Clyne, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez and Fabinho can cover the position.

The backup for Firminio is a concern - the options are a mismatch in terms of suitability for the role or experience. Ings, Origi and Solanke need regular playing time to prove themselves, Sturridge has the quality but lacks the energy and fitness levels required.

Gomez has never played CB in the prem and any time he has in the cups he hasn't been great ,Ragnar is a decent 4th choice but I wouldn't fancy him having a long run in the team if someone picks up a bad injury ,
Right back : people are serious looking at it with rose tinted glasses, Trent has so much to learn and gets targeted because he has issues which is ok he's a kid learning the game but  Clyne is awful and should be sold

murpho999

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Different ball gaming trying to win the Prem than a cup competition

Ok whatever, sure weren't you convinced we'd blow the second leg against Roma and not got top 4?

Potential Underachiever

Fabinho hopefully won't turn out to be like Bakayoko, I'm sure he came with a big reputation too.

Tipsy McSwagger

Well I’m not happy one bit. How in the hell have none of our new signings not beaten the Hungry Hungry Hippos record yet?

Boom_Bap

murpho999 wrote: »

We got to a champions' league final without Can and Coutinho.

They're gone and we have made serioussignings this summer. Every reason to be optimistic.

No we didn't, they played games that got us through the earlier stages and were influential in those games. That can't be overlooked.


The squad adapted when they weren't available in the later stages and there was a serious sense of relief when Can was available for the final given the injuries we had.

Talisman

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Fabhino could be great but he could also be a failure and I doubt it would surprise people as it happens time and time again like Di Maria, Falco , Ballack, Shev, Veron , Pogba (so far)  so many top players have failed in the prem

I would argue that Di Maria, Veron and Pogba were/are mismanaged - shoe horned into roles which didn't/don't suit them.

Ballack was an arrogant ar$ehole who played when he felt like it - Beckenbauer, Effenberg, Rummenigge and others had the same criticism of him in the Bundesliga.

Shevchenko was well past it and couldn't live with the pace and physicality of the league.

The Premier League was the wrong place for Falcao to begin his recovery from a serious ACL injury.

ricero

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Gomez has never played CB in the prem and any time he has in the cups he hasn't been great ,Ragnar is a decent 4th choice but I wouldn't fancy him having a long run in the team if someone picks up a bad injury ,
Right back : people are serious looking at it with rose tinted glasses, Trent has so much to learn and gets targeted because he has issues which is ok he's a kid learning the game but  Clyne is awful and should be sold

Jasus to call Clyne awful is way over the top and not for me. I think he is a very solid full back and i actually expect him to start more games than Trent. Hes looking good in pre-season so far.

Talisman

Potential Underachiever wrote: »

Fabinho hopefully won't turn out to be like Bakayoko, I'm sure he came with a big reputation too.

He'll need time to adapt to the league all players do.

Talisman

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Gomez has never played CB in the prem and any time he has in the cups he hasn't been great ,Ragnar is a decent 4th choice but I wouldn't fancy him having a long run in the team if someone picks up a bad injury ,
Right back : people are serious looking at it with rose tinted glasses, Trent has so much to learn and gets targeted because he has issues which is ok he's a kid learning the game but  Clyne is awful and should be sold

Gomez has played primarily at fullback because we have more senior players available for the central roles. Pair Gomez with Van Dijk and he will develop in the role quickly with a solid defensive unit around him. Generally young defensive players aren't going to develop their potential in a make shift defence where they have to just figure it out for themselves - they make mistakes and need others to help them out so that they don't prove costly.

Clyne is the best right back at the club - you're just being silly.

yourdeadwright

murpho999 wrote: »

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Different ball gaming trying to win the Prem than a cup competition

Ok whatever, sure weren't you convinced we'd blow the second leg against Roma and not got top 4?

No I said it was possible,
We support Liverpool to think after the summer we will suddenly win the league is mental ,

yourdeadwright

Talisman wrote: »

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Gomez has never played CB in the prem and any time he has in the cups he hasn't been great ,Ragnar is a decent 4th choice but I wouldn't fancy him having a long run in the team if someone picks up a bad injury ,
Right back : people are serious looking at it with rose tinted glasses, Trent has so much to learn and gets targeted because he has issues which is ok he's a kid learning the game but  Clyne is awful and should be sold

Gomez has played primarily at fullback because we have more senior players available for the central roles. Pair Gomez with Van Dijk and he will develop in the role quickly with a solid defensive unit around him. Generally young defensive players aren't going to develop their potential in a make shift defence where they have to just figure it out for themselves - they make mistakes and need others to help them out so that they don't prove costly.

Clyne is the best right back at the club - you're just being silly.

Who is the last CB to be giving there first chance of playing  CB at one of the top 6  ?
Clyne is the best right back at the club hence why we are not covered at right back in my opinion

Utopia Parkway

I think we are set up pretty well for the season ahead. Would be very surprising if we do not concede less goals with a full season of VVD, Allison and a more dedicated DM in Fabinho in place.

We're a lot stronger in midfield now with both Keita and Fabinho.

The chances of success though do depend on keeping the front three fit and healthy. We were lucky that none of them suffered any serious injury last season. They might have missed the odd game here or there but none of them was out for a couple of months at any stage.

Gaillimh1976

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Who is the last CB to be giving there first chance of playing CB at one of the top 6 ?
Clyne is the best right back at the club hence why we are not covered at right back in my opinion

Fabinho played a lot of games at RB for Monaco

SlickRic

Zaha could be on his way out of Palace.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/wilfried-zaha-asks-to-leave-crystal-palace-after-rejecting-new-contract-as-tottenham-everton-and-a3892381.html

Depending on the price, I'd be all over that. he's a superstar in waiting. he just needs to get consistent in his end product. he can cover the entire front 3, including (vitally) Firmino.

Agent Coulson

Palace want £70m for him.

No thanks.

PhiloCypher

The biggest + for me aside from:

His Fashion sense
Best beard in world football
Not being Karius or Migs

Is that at 66 mill he's our undisputed No1 come hell or high water. No more undermining our keepers by chopping and changing because they drop a clanger.

doc_17

Chardee MacDennis wrote: »

???

martyos121

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Palace want £70m for him.

No thanks.

We might be able to tempt them with £50m plus Sturridge given his deceptive preseason form. I’d take Zaha at that price any day. We’ve already flogged one declining striker to them in the past two years, why not another?

paulie21

Mane has swapped to the number 10 jersey

BorneTobyWilde

We're likely to line up pretty much the same this season, with two out field changes. I can only assume Keita starts as does Fabinho, rest is the same olde same olde. Will it be enough to challenge.

Knex*

Gbear wrote: »

Poor Karius. He must've had such hopes.

He can't even go now. He'd be better off geting a midtable club in France or Germany on loan, but Mignolet really does need to go, and if Ward's gone as well, Karius will have to stay put, constantly reminded of how it's all gone wrong.

The club really needs to support him. I worry for his health.

At the end of the day, he came to a club where Mignolet was the number 1 keeper and he couldn't establish himself as any better.

Charlie19

I hope Alisson takes the Number 66, it be a major statement of I'm here and i dont give a F**k how much i cost.

54and56

Ardent wrote: »

Yup he needs to leave to restart his career. That was crystal clear as soon as the final whistle blew in Kiev.

A year out of the limelight as #2 would give him the time and space to recover mentally and work on fixing his weaknesses alongside Allison every day which could only be a good thing for him.

It would also enable him to play some league cup games which if went well would go a long way towards demonstrating his rehabilitation and enable him to get a decent move next summer.

If we assume Ward is gone and Migs will go (why would he stay with zero chance of being #1) then keeping Karius as #2 this year could be a win win for him and the club as we need some continuity and would likely get a better fee for him next year.

Agent Coulson

martyos121 wrote: »

We might be able to tempt them with £50m plus Sturridge given his deceptive preseason form. I’d take Zaha at that price any day. We’ve already flogged one declining striker to them in the past two years, why not another?

Actually Ings and Migs and some cash might tempt them I'd be alright with that kind of deal.

Roy owes us for his 6 months as boss.

Dickerty

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Palace want £70m for him.

No thanks.

I'd offer £40M, Ings and Ming, and Ojo on loan...

Utopia Parkway

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

A year out of the limelight as #2 would give him the time and space to recover mentally and work on fixing his weaknesses alongside Allison every day which could only be a good thing for him.

It would also enable him to play some league cup games which if went well would go a long way towards demonstrating his rehabilitation and enable him to get a decent move next summer.

If we assume Ward is gone and Migs will go (why would he stay with zero chance of being #1) then keeping Karius as #2 this year could be a win win for him and the club as we need some continuity and would likely get a better fee for him next year.

Pretty sure Migs and Ward will go and Karius will be kept as number 2. Hopefully he can build up his confidence again away from massive crowds who are all waiting for him to mess up again.

OwaynOTT

paulie21 wrote: »

Mane has swapped to the number 10 jersey

FSG's best bit of business this summer.

fyfe79

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

We're likely to line up pretty much the same this season, with two out field changes. I can only assume Keita starts as does Fabinho, rest is the same olde same olde. Will it be enough to challenge.

Same olde same olde... apart from Allison, Keita and Fabinho - that's a sizeable chunk of change to the first XI!

Plus, importantly, that's only since January. Compared to the start of last season, we are also different with Robertson and VVD in the team. The only negative since last summer is losing Coutinho from the first XI (I don't include Can in that).

So, only keeping in mind our excellent form since January (and nothing before then), we have added Allison, Keita and Fabinho and lost nobody. Are those 3 additions, coupled with our 2018 form to-date, enough for a title challenge?
In my opinion, absolutely.

Muahahaha

Talisman wrote: »

Clyne is the best right back at the club - you're just being silly.

The Clyne / TAA debate will be a feature this season. Its been a more than a year since Clyne had a proper run of games for us but my recollection of 2016/17 was that he was pretty solid at the back but going forward he lacked the conviction of a killer pass into the box, his end product was always poor and he was reluctant to take on his man instead preferring to pass the ball back to Coutinho.

TAA on the other hand is solid at the back but can also ping some superb crosses in. Also I remember the build up to the CL Man City first leg and all the talk was about how City were going to target TAA as our weak link, this was because in the previous games he had shouldered the blame for being out of position for goals we conceded vs. Utd and Palace. Sane was going to run TAA ragged they said. Instead what happened is TAA had Sane in his pocket the whole game and turned in what I consider to be a world class performance that night. He answered all his critics and won man of the match.

Clyne is a decent footballer for sure but IMO we are seeing inklings that TAA could turn out to be a world class RB, Ive never seen the same from Clyne.

SlickRic wrote: »

Zaha could be on his way out of Palace.

Depending on the price, I'd be all over that. he's a superstar in waiting. he just needs to get consistent in his end product. he can cover the entire front 3, including (vitally) Firmino.

Im a big fan of Zaha, he is superb at pressing and harrying when Palace dont have the ball and he has a decent eye for goal too. Its been said though that he is a bit of a messer in the mould of Sakho. If he could be kept on the straight and narrow and got for 35-45 mill then hed be a great signing.

BullBlackNova

Muahahaha wrote: »

Im a big fan of Zaha, he is superb at pressing and harrying when Palace dont have the ball and he has a decent eye for goal too. Its been said though that he is a bit of a messer in the mould of Sakho. If he could be kept on the straight and narrow and got for 35-45 mill then hed be a great signing.

Would be absolutely stunned if anyone managed to get him for that price in this market. Sigurdsson went for 40m+ last summer and Zaha is as important, if not more important, to Palace's play than Sigurdsson was to Swansea's.

Given that he's got a long-term contract, Palace could well and truly dig their heels in and make it very uncomfortable for the buyer. Don't see him striking or anything given that he's local.

All you have to do is look at Palace's form with and without him to see how important he is...

Otherwise, agree with what you say. Good player, fits a lot of positions but presume that wherever he goes, he'll want to be in the first team. Arsenal or Spurs I'd say but I reckon he's more likely to remain at Palace for the next season.

DrumSteve

On a side note, watching Fabinho attempting to tap up Mbappe is good craic.

Jaysus, Mbappe in that front line.... Lordy.

TitianGerm

Muahahaha wrote: »

The Clyne / TAA debate will be a feature this season. Its been a more than a year since Clyne had a proper run of games for us but my recollection of 2016/17 was that he was pretty solid at the back but going forward he lacked the conviction of a killer pass into the box, his end product was always poor and he was reluctant to take on his man instead preferring to pass the ball back to Coutinho.

TAA on the other hand is solid at the back but can also ping some superb crosses in. Also I remember the build up to the CL Man City first leg and all the talk was about how City were going to target TAA as our weak link, this was because in the previous games he had shouldered the blame for being out of position for goals we conceded vs. Utd and Palace. Sane was going to run TAA ragged they said. Instead what happened is TAA had Sane in his pocket the whole game and turned in what I consider to be a world class performance that night. He answered all his critics and won man of the match.

Clyne is a decent footballer for sure but IMO we are seeing inklings that TAA could turn out to be a world class RB, Ive never seen the same from Clyne.



Im a big fan of Zaha, he is superb at pressing and harrying when Palace dont have the ball and he has a decent eye for goal too. Its been said though that he is a bit of a messer in the mould of Sakho. If he could be kept on the straight and narrow and got for 35-45 mill then hed be a great signing.

TAA is far from solid at the back. Hes prone to being out of position and can have lapses in concentration.

Clyne will play against the big teams and TAA against the teams who sit deep.

murpho999

yourdeadwright wrote: »

No I said it was possible,
We support Liverpool to think after the summer we will suddenly win the league is mental ,

Who said we're going to win the league?

After the money we have spent though it's fair to think and expect that we should be challenging for it.

The team is way better than you give it credit for.

Harry Palmr

DrumSteve wrote: »

On a side note, watching Fabinho attempting to tap up Mbappe is good craic.

Jaysus, Mbappe in that front line.... Lordy.

We're signing Jaysus as well?! Top stuff. Not sure about Lordy though all show and no go I suspect.

Seriously though, the amount of "Agent (insert name here)" stuff going on with Mane, Firmino and Salah is probably not hurting at all. Like a tradesman, a good job and word of mouth goes a long way. If Liverpool are playing exciting
football, looking like a team on the rise and raking in the cash then players like Mbappe may not be always out of reach.

Ste-

Harry Palmr wrote: »

We're signing Jaysus as well?! Top stuff.

Great backup for the front 3. Does be great on the end of a cross.

DrumSteve

Harry Palmr wrote: »

We're signing Jaysus as well?! Top stuff.

He must be out of contract at Citeh soon?

Dickerty

Ste- wrote: »

Great backup for the front 3. Does be great on the end of a cross.

Would hate to see him in goal!

Agent Coulson

God, Mohammed & Jaysus imagine that front line all playing together.

Boom_Bap

Agent Coulson wrote: »

God, Mohammed & Jaysus imagine that front line all playing together.

Only one would be a nailed on starter

MaceFace

TitianGerm wrote: »

TAA is far from solid at the back. Hes prone to being out of position and can have lapses in concentration.

Clyne will play against the big teams and TAA against the teams who sit deep.

I think you are over estimating TAA being out of position. Sure, he got caught out in a couple of big games last season but he was excellent in many others. It's part of learning the game and developing the confidence required.

Clyne is firmly second choice and won't get a look in until TAA needs a rest. Clyne is still too defensive for our play so invites the opposition to attack whereas when TAA has the confidence to go up field, it pushes the wingers and full backs of the opposition back removing their attacking threat.

Dickerty

MaceFace wrote: »

I think you are over estimating TAA being out of position. Sure, he got caught out in a couple of big games last season but he was excellent in many others. It's part of learning the game and developing the confidence required.

Clyne is firmly second choice and won't get a look in until TAA needs a rest. Clyne is still too defensive for our play so invites the opposition to attack whereas when TAA has the confidence to go up field, it pushes the wingers and full backs of the opposition back removing their attacking threat.

And with Fabinho sitting between the CBs, we need our FBs at half way at least. It's not that Clyne is defensive, but Trent is a midfielder at heart, he's most comfy there...

garra

Ste- wrote: »

Great backup for the front 3. Does be great on the end of a cross.

Only needs 3 days to recover from crucifying matches too

NukaCola

DrumSteve wrote: »

On a side note, watching Fabinho attempting to tap up Mbappe is good craic.

Jaysus, Mbappe in that front line.... Lordy.

Imagine our starting front 3 Mané/Firmino/Salah......:pac:

Never gets old.....IMO .

NukaCola

ricero wrote: »

Rumours Mane is to sign a new 5 year contract and is to change his squad number from 19 to 10.

His new number is 10, but he is surely up for a new contract......very important to tie him down to one.....that will be our front 3 tied down to deals, and while that doesn't guarantee they'll be here for the duration it does protect us a bit, not that I want to think about such things atm.