Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

We can see the contact though... imo both should be pens.

For some reason there's always been this weird stupid thing that any late challenge that hits a player after they shoot is fine. If the exact same thing happens, but Mo has passed instead of shot before being taken down, it's seen as a late challenge and a foul. It's like it's accepted by refs that getting a shot away = advantage, which obviously is nonsense.

it's incredible.

at no point last night was I worried, because those two were absolutely sensational.

i feel as though Thiago has got to grips with the pace of the league now. there are far fewer moments where he gets caught taking a touch too many in the wrong area - as in I don't think it really happens now. and his positional sense is out of this world - Wijnaldum-like in how he can cover passing lanes, but then he has everything else about him that make him an absolute joy.

it is no coincidence that last night was comfortable when they were imperious, and Van Dijk looked truly back to his best. that is some spine. and when I say VVD was at his best, I know it was because he has that heir of someone who is actively getting angry at opposing players who are making him run.

i hope Curtis Jones has a look at how Thiago played last night, and how Elliott tried to play last night (wasn't quite as effective as the weekend, understandably).

Curtis has what it takes to be an important of the squad moving forward, but he was to learn when is the right time to hold the ball, and when is the right time to pass it. It has to be more instinctive. he takes far too long to decide whether to pass, dribble or dribble and shoot.

Tipical liverpool luck though.

Top team for years, slip up just at the wrong time when money starts to come into football and slip backwards.

Started to get it together and chelsea start spending a fortune. slip back.

Get it sorted, win the champions league in a miracle and have owners that havnt a clue miss out on the opportunity to kick on playing wise and financially drop back, nearly go bust.

Finally get it together again with the best manager in the world and up against a country and the most expensive squad ever assembled. missout on league even though our points total would have won it any other year .

Overcome that and finally win the dam league and cant properly celebrate it and benift financially due to covid.

Have a real chance of retaining it and get all our centre backs injuried.

But by gob I love watching this team, they are a joy to watch

Diaz needs to go on the weights I think! He looks very slim.

But needs to retain his speed and agility, something that can be difficult to do.

I thought he was plenty aggressive and well able to get stuck in. Don't think his frame was a problem, he will face better full backs though.

We would be ahead of City if we had Thiago fit, the control him and Fabinho give is world class when they play together. As far as I'm concerned he's the reason we got CL football last season as he remained fit. He could do the same for our title hopes this season.

Hopefully Origi will be fit for the CL Final 😁

Only got to see the first half of the match yesterday but we seemed to be fairly all over them, was it more of the same in the second half?

I think a big reason for the controlled comfort of old once we went ahead was the form of Fab, he was my man of the match last night and with Thiago beside him is just so composed when needed. If you look back at the Palace, Brighton and Chelsea games in particular. The Chelsea and Palaces games were Fab's poorest performances for us in a long long time and I think he missed the Brighton game. Add in then that Thiago was not playing for all those games and the midfield was way worse off for it.

I've also noticed over the past year or so that teams have kinda figured Henderson out in the middle. He's bar far our most aggressive presser around the middle but teams now know if they can beat his hugely aggressive press it can leave our right side wide open as TAA is often very high up the pitch at that point. How that is address in the long term I don't know but we looked so much better in the final 30minutes of the game with Thiago, Fab and Elliot on the right. It was safely the only time this season where I was comfortable that we weren't going to conceded.

The second half was more dominant than the first half really.

Jota joins an exclusive club.

After all the complaining over squad depth (including me), the squad is looking pretty bloody balanced right now.

you could argue we need proper competition for Trent and Salah, but you can't really replace pretty much the best players in the world in their respective positions - you may just have to find other ways to do it, like we did without Salah and Mane for a few games.

Fully fit, we actually can't complain about the depth. this management team saw Harvey Elliott coming this soon, and fair fúcks to them. people including myself couldn't believe we didn't directly replace him, if only for the amount of games he represented. but the management have stood firm to their strategy, and that's why they're pretty much the best in the world at this, and have proven it over a number of years now, and why i'm little more than a moany fan who is desperate for success 😅

The thing with the Salah one, for whatever reason ther're never given. I don't think I've every seen a player awarded a penalty for been taken out of it after he gets his shot away. The fact that it wasn't even discussed in commentary or in the studio after the game just highlights this even further.

Sterling one is always gong to be given, defender lunges in from behind and misses the ball. Contact is only slight but the fact the tackle is from behind and he doesn't get near the ball and makes contact with the player, that's a peno all day long.

I don't think even Gerrard looked as good when he broke into the team. Gerrard was full of energy and drive but lacking in other areas, Elliot has both of those but also seems to have a real maturity about him.

If he turns out to be half as good as Gerrard he'll be a great player to have.

At the same age Gerrard has more ability than Jones, more confidence than Jones , more spite than Jones & more drive than Jones

To compare Jones to Gerrard is unfair on Jones not many midfielders in world football can compare to Gerrard at any age, he was a real force of nature ,

Jones is more like a central McManaman , he has bags of talent but doesn't always show it, in my eyes he needs to become more urgent & direct & take less touches,

Steve McManaman is 50 today (!?)....fifty ffs....Jesus I feel old

I agree that Allison should be starting. But I don't think Klopp is going with Kelleher for sentiment alone. I get the sense that they think he is perhaps too good to be a number two, and if he doesn't get game-time he will leave.

I really don't get where this narrative off him bieng to good for number two comes from ,

He is great with the ball at his feet & at pens but his shot stopping is still not on the level required in my opinion,

His strengths may not be shows if he l eaves and goes to a club lower down the table or championship , he suits a team like us,

You could say that Kelleher is there on merit, not on sentiment. He did save the penos that got us to the final, and could face more of the same.

Aside from that you would have the backlash of publicly reversing a decision about a player's place in final. Ramifications of such a move are too risky for Klopp to countenance I imagine. So, the decision is not based on sentiment alone, by a good margin.

I would say it's more he's the right number two for us and in klopps eye's has earned this position.

He plays in such a way that the rest of the team is not affected. We saw the danger of that in recent years.

He wants to be part of the Liverpool set up but he has to show ambition. Klopp would want that ambition. If klopp cant work with that ambition then hes right to leave but if klopp works with his ambition then he seems happy to stay.

He's not as good as Alisson but a better keeper might not have the previous 2 requirements or could have some other issue that could disrupt the best keeper in the world.

Klopp likes what hes got in kelleher so klopp makes the call

Elliot has surprised me, he's looked brilliant, both physically and mentally precocious really, advanced beyond their years. A really exciting prospect, but has shown he can make an impact here and now.

Kelleher is similar, he's not as good as Allison but what goalie in the league, indeed in Europe is? He won't let us down, he's shown that, and long term for the club as well as the player he needs exposure to big games. I've no problem with him playing the League Cup games, including the final, he had a big part of us getting there, so don't pull the rug from under him, he's earned it. It's not sentimental, it's just fair.

100% - very exciting

I don't think anyone expected Jota to be as good as he is. I thought he'd be a good back up but he's well and truly a starter now. As others have said its gas i was one of the ones giving out about squad depth and all of a sudden we seem fairly well set in that regard