Liverpool FC Thread

by **Crimey** Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:10 pm

First topic message reminder :

Liverpool FC

Transfers in:

Fabio Borini (£11 million)
Joe Allen (£15 million)
Joe Cole (return from loan)
Oussama Assaidi (£2.4 million)
Nuri Sahin (on loan)
Samed Yesil (£1 million)

Transfers out:

Dirk Kuyt (£1 million)
Maxi Rodriguez (Free)
Fabio Aurelio (Free)
Alberto Aquilani (£7 million)
Craig Bellamy (Free)
Andy Carroll (loan)
Jay Spearing (loan)
Charlie Adam (£4 million)

by **Crimey** Thu Aug 02, 2012 7:41 pm

Make that four.

by **Crimey** Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:10 pm

Same old problems.

Nobody getting into the box, lack of penetration, lack of concentration on the ball.

Skrtel has been awful, never looks as good without Agger beside him. Gerrard looks really unfit and pretty poor, seems more interested in getting free kicks. Jose Enrique is the only player with any drive.

by **Crimey** Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:23 pm

An hour gone and still playing very, very poor.

We deserve to be behind by a few goals to be honest.

With just 9 days to go, Rodgers hasn't installed his style onto the team at all. No creativity at all.

by **Crimey** Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:26 pm

Stewart Downing has scored an absolute screamer!

by Liam Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:28 pm

Liverpool just don't have the players to play the way Rodger's wants to play. At swansea, he had technically good players who were combfotable on the ball, and could play little short sharp 5 yard passes and made the opposition chase the ball.
e.g. Allen, Brittion..

Then, once they had dragged the opposition out of position, they had pace on the wings who could really punish the opposition in Sinclair and Dyer, with the play maker in behind the striker e.g. Sigurdsson

Liverpool don't have that, they have Gerrard and Spearing in the midle who are unable to dictate the pace of the game. Out wide, Henderson does posses much pace, and in fact, I don't really see what Liverpool saw in him the first place. Downing is a shadow of his former self. Personally I think he'd be more suited to the RW position where he can cut inside and cross/shoot.

Cole is in the play maker slot tonight but whether he can produce the form he showed at Lille last season is another story.

I think Liverpool need a couple of wingers, one of them should have been Hoillet but they were never interested for some strange reason. I've heard Juan Manuel Vargas has been linked, good player with a superb left foot and quite quick. Allen is on the cards but they'll have to pay allot more than maybe he is actually worth, and then there's the need for a RM, who that is I don't know.

by **Crimey** Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:33 pm

Henderson isn't a winger...he's a central midfielder, he occasionally played on the right last year, but he is a central midfielder, he was played there out of lack of other options rather than it being his position.

Downing played more on the right last year and was totally ineffective, constantly wasted time by having to pull it back onto his left. His best performance was in the Carling Cup when he played on the left, and he always performed better playing on the left wing.

Cole was playing as a winger tonight, he was useless as ever. He just always looks so unfit, is easily pushed off the ball, runs into dead ends and has a poor final ball. Really disappointing to see somebody who was once such a good player get worse so badly.

Really need to sign some wingers, Ramirez would be a good start, not sure Vargas who is more of a wing back would suit the style. Ramirez is a player who is quite fluid and could play the same role as Sinclair/Dyer. Another central midfielder is probably needed as well.

by **Crimey** Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:44 pm

I don't think the players or manager can be proud of this performance, I hope Rodgers treats it as such. Liverpool have been very, very poor.

I know it's still only early, but there are only two weeks until the start of the season. Two more games after this one, the return leg and Bayer Leverkusen. Expect a major improvement for the home leg.

Bright spots have been Sterling and Enrique having alright games.

Worrying signs are the lack of fitness, lack of skill with the ball, lack of penetration, Skrtel playing awful, J. Cole playing pretty poor and going off at 23 minutes....

And now Lucas is injured. Crying or Very sad

by Liam Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:45 pm

you haven't really got anyone who can get on the ball in midfield and dictate the game like I said, that's going to be an issue if Rodgers wants to play the same passing game as he did with Swansea.

by **Crimey** Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:46 pm

Probably why he rejected us twice.

by **Crimey** Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:59 pm

So we scrape past 1-0.

B Jones 6

Gomel's poor shooting was the reason he didn't have to make that many saves, dealt well with what came. No way will he challenge Reina.

G Johnson 6

Did very little in the half he played. Tried to be an attacking threat down the right.

M Skrtel 4

Struggled without Agger beside him, the ball was constantly going over his head and behind his back.

J Carragher 5

As the veteran at the back I hoped more from him, didn't hold the line very well, one good last ditch tackle.

J Enrique 7

Probably Liverpool's best player (not saying much), got forward well but too often he didn't have a good enough final ball.

S Gerrard 5

Really poor showing from the vice-captain on the night, willing to get the ball but too often gave it away, good runs were ruined by attempts to get freekicks/penalties. Looked unfit.

J Spearing 6

Failed to impose himself on the game, gave the ball away a few times. Offers little going forward. Failed to be a shield for the defence.

J Henderson 6

Some nice passes, the best of the midfielders. Not really that impressive, continued his form from yesterday.

S Downing 6

A great goal for Downing will hopefully give him confidence, but anonymous for the rest of the game.

F Borini 6

Hard to give him a low rating considering it was a lack of service (per last season) which meant he didn't have anything to work with. The jury is obviously still out with him.

J Cole 4

Only had twenty minutes on the pitch, but in that time he ran into dead ends, got pushed off of the ball, a poor cross and then went off injured. Same way he started with Liverpool last time around, this time I will have a lot less patience with him.

Subs:

R Sterling 7

Very bright on his time on the pitch, made runs, beat his man, was very quick and skilful, too often he couldn't give a good final ball due to a lack of people to aim at.

M Kelly 6

Anonymous in the second half, a few times he was beaten for pace, hopefully that's just down to a lack of fitness.

L Lucas 6

Not a lot of time to make his mark, not spectacular, not poor.

by **Kenny** Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:09 pm

I caught most of the game , got to agree we looked shocking

only plus for me was Sterling

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:11 pm

Well from what you guys are saying, it is not looking good for you. I thought it would take Rodgers time to settle in, his style doesn't get ingrained overnight. I mean when he took over at Swansea, he was taking over a team that played pretty much his style with Paulo Sousa in charge, but at Liverpool he has far more work to do to get his style imprinted on the team imo

by GSC Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:12 pm

Paulo Sousa the most negative manager of all time.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:13 pm

GSC wrote:Paulo Sousa the most negative manager of all time.

Yes but he played nice football. Rodgers just had to make it a bit more attacking

by **hampo17** Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:01 am

Olly wrote:Well from what you guys are saying, it is not looking good for you. I thought it would take Rodgers time to settle in, his style doesn't get ingrained overnight. I mean when he took over at Swansea, he was taking over a team that played pretty much his style with Paulo Sousa in charge, but at Liverpool he has far more work to do to get his style imprinted on the team imo

Don't agree with this at all Olly. It's always a potential banana skin to go somewhere like that, seen a few big teams slip up over the years and to come away with a win and most importantly a clean sheet is good news. Last year we played well and drew or lost, last night we weren't great but won.

by nasisillmatic Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:38 am

People need to calm down with the negativity, we played poor away from home against a team who are in the middle of their season but we won, something that we stuggled with last season.

While playing good football is a bonus, winning is what matters and that's what we did.

by **Kenny** Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:06 am

Having slept on it , im happy with the win and clean sheet . Miracles dont happen overnight it will take time

by **Crimey** Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:56 am

The problem is that we didn't win and keep a clean sheet because of our good play, we only managed to win because Gomel couldn't get their shots on target. We gave up 3-4 good chances, and had none ourselves.

by Guest Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:58 am

We played some lovely football last season and walked away disappointed on numerous occasions. Man Utd stank the place out on accasions and got the three points. Ultimately, I think I'd prefer the result than the performance. We KNOW they have the potential to play well, we need to see them go that one step further and transform the good stuff into wins, but if winning ugly is the alternative....I'll take it.

by **Kenny** Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:29 pm

Aquilani has completed his move to Fiorentina

by **Kenny** Tue Aug 07, 2012 11:58 am

Boy am i sick of Sky and the BBC inventing storys !

" Liverpool would consider selling Agger " states Sky

? I have watched the last press conference with Brendon Rodgers , and when he was asked about how transfers and how much money was available he replied that no limit had been given to him and that the owners were willing to back him for the right players at the right price and also any money from player sales would be made available .
When asked about Agger he said he was very much part of his plans and he was expecting to hold talks with him along with every other player to judge if they wanted to be part of the things he was hoping to build at LFC .

How do you put 2 and 2 together and make 5 ?

Agger may leave Skrtel may leave Suarez may leave but at least get some facts before reporting it .

Bellamy could also be allowed to leave for family reasons , with him wanting to move back to Wales .

by **Crimey** Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:00 pm

I'd be gutted if we lose out on Bellamy, one of our better players last year. He also clearly wants to do well at Liverpool after the disappointment of his first run.

I'm hoping Juventus get Van Persie, their interest will cool on Suarez.

by liverbnz Tue Aug 07, 2012 1:54 pm

To be fair Kenny, Ben Smith does the reporting for the BBC and he does have links to the club, as does Tony Barrett who has reported the same thing in the Times. Personally I think Agger is on his way, as is Bellamy (wants to go back to Cardiff to be with his family). It's just a matter of time for both.

by GSC Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:02 pm

Man City enquired and Liverpool quoted them 22m

Thats all thats happened so far. And tbh 22m for Agger is pretty decent

by **Crimey** Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:22 pm

£22m is only decent if we can bring in a good replacement. It doesn't fill me with confidence when the reported replacement will be Ashley Williams.

by liverbnz Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:56 pm

It seems everyone's favourite Uraguayan has penned a new long-term deal at Liverpool. That should put to bed those Juve rumours.

by **Crimey** Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:59 pm

He posted on Facebook that he was glad to be back training with Liverpool which is positive. Hopefully he has signed a new contract, which would be great news.

by GSC Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:05 pm

Ashley Williams is class

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:05 pm

Ashley Williams is nowhere near the level of Daniel Agger

by GSC Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:07 pm

I wouldn't say nowhere, not as good granted.

But then he isn't going to cost anywhere near 22m either, funds Liverpool need to improve the front 6 players

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:09 pm

Sorry but Ashley Williams isn't good enough for a Top 6 team, or a team that hopes to challenge for a Champions League place

by GSC Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:10 pm

I'm sorry but Liverpool's squad in general isn't.

by Soldier_Of_Fortune Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:18 pm

GSC wrote:I wouldn't say nowhere, not as good granted.

No sorry but he is no where as good and we already have better options then him

by **Crimey** Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:18 pm

Daniel Agger is a world class centre back. His only problem is his injury record.

Ashley Williams has had one good season at Swansea. He doesn't even have youth on his side.

by liverbnz Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:37 pm

I don't think we'll be chasing any further Swansea players after/if we sign Joe Allen. I think Jenkins is pretty annoyed with us as it is. I'd rather we promoted Coates to be honest and looked at someone else for back-up.

by **Crimey** Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:57 pm

Suarez has confirmed the contract signing.

Not disclosed how much money he was on or how long, other than saying it's long term.

by liverbnz Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:59 pm

Seems to be the policy under these owners not to disclose the details.

by **Kenny** Wed Aug 08, 2012 12:11 am

I like the fact things a kept in house

by theundisputedY2D2 Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:52 pm

First off great news about Suarez signing his new contract - now for Skrtel and Agger! - but has anyone heard if he extended the duration of his previous contract (which had 4 years left to run) or if it was a case keeping it at 4 years and upping his pay?

Excerpt from Brendan Rodgers' press conference today:

Meanwhile, the manager revealed he has held conversations with Carroll and admits to having been impressed by what he has seen from the young England forward so far.

"When I first came in I had a conversation with him about where I thought he was at," said Rodgers. "I've got to say Andy has been terrific. He knows exactly where he stands. He's like every player - he'll have to fight for his position.

"There are not many clubs you can go to and be a guaranteed starter. I understand Andy wants to play games but he also really enjoys it here and I have had a number of conversations with him.

"So we're just seeing how that develops but by the time the window shuts, whatever players are being speculated about, everyone has to be focused purely on being here. And certainly with the likes of Andy, from what I have seen, that has been the case."

Asked by reporters about the possibility of Agger moving away from the club, Rodgers replied: "Daniel is a top player and any manager will tell you that they don't want to lose their best players.

"But I suppose at every club, and we've seen it throughout (football), every player has a price.

"For me he is a top-class professional. I've really enjoyed working with him and speaking with him over the last number of weeks since he's been in. You're always going to have your top players linked (with moves away).

"But certainly for me, I'm not forced to have to sell anyone, which is important. Daniel is a very, very important player for us here. We'll see what happens between now and the end of the month but for me he is getting back up to speed.

"He's a good guy, he loves the club here and he loves the supporters. He's been here seven years now and he's really focused on his work here.

"But like I say, you can never say never and I'm a realist, so we'll see where it goes between now and the end of the month."

by **Crimey** Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:56 pm

I think he's starting to change his stance on Carroll because he misjudged it, particularly the fans' reaction which has been positive towards Carroll which I doubt he expected, but the last few months of the season and his sort of success with England have made him a popular player with Liverpool supporters. I'm not convinced whether he really does rate him, but it's more positive than the previous press conferences.

I know that he's trying to be a realist with the Agger situation, but I think it shows that he is still adjusting from his time at Swansea. I realise that Liverpool aren't a huge club, but I think in press conferences Rodgers need to be more aggressive, make it clear that he will do his utmost to keep the best players and will not be bullied. Need to make it clear that they're not a club that will sell their best players.

by liverbnz Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:32 pm

Rodger's quotes on Skrtel a few weeks ago, "I will fight as hard as I can to keep the players that I want here and he is one of them".

Bit of a difference in that and his quotes on Agger. Frankly, I think BR has realised that he can no longer raise funds through the Carroll route as Newcastle will just wait until the final day of the transfer window, so it's now Agger who is in the shop window.

by **Crimey** Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:39 pm

The thing is, selling Agger to fill a different hole will only create an even bigger hole in the back four.

Argh, the build up to this season has been so stressful.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:48 pm

I don't see why you would disrupt your back four tbh. It was the only good part of your team last season

by **Kenny** Wed Aug 08, 2012 3:50 pm

Suarez has apparantley extended his contract by a further year but not sure ? as the same report says he has trebled his wages too £120,000 a week which would mean he was only on £40,000 before which i dont think is right

by Soldier_Of_Fortune Wed Aug 08, 2012 3:55 pm

Kenny wrote:Suarez has apparantley extended his contract by a further year but not sure ? as the same report says he has trebled his wages too £120,000 a week which would mean he was only on £40,000 before which i dont think is right

He was £35k apparantly!

by GSC Wed Aug 08, 2012 3:56 pm

Somehow I suspect a 20m striker isnt on 35k a week.

by **Kenny** Wed Aug 08, 2012 3:57 pm

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:
Kenny wrote:Suarez has apparantley extended his contract by a further year but not sure ? as the same report says he has trebled his wages too £120,000 a week which would mean he was only on £40,000 before which i dont think is right

He was £35k apparantly!

No wonder we needed to renegotiate it then , christ Hull City were paying Jimmy Bullard £45,000 a week to go fishing !

by **Crimey** Wed Aug 08, 2012 4:54 pm

With Bellamy almost certainly leaving, Rodgers needs to seriously get moving in the transfer window and bring in two wingers. If we hung on to Bellamy we could cope with just one, but I am seriously worrying about the lack of movement to secure wingers.

by **Kenny** Wed Aug 08, 2012 5:11 pm

I know we have said that our business will be done behind closed doors , but i agree we should of secured some signings by now .. all this is just making fans question what is actually going on

by **Crimey** Wed Aug 08, 2012 5:14 pm

10 days until the start of the season and our transfers look like this:

In:
Fabio Borini (£11 million)

Out:
Alberto Aquilani (£7 million)
Dirk Kuyt (£1 million)
Maxi Rodriguez (Free)
Fabio Aurelio (Free)

Where are the replacements for Maxi and Kuyt? I fear that Rodgers is going to gamble on J.Cole who I think is a lost cause, even then we still need at least one other winger to have a strong first 11.

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