11 Jan 2018 19:15:25
Dear ED's and members. Do you feel a new keeper can take as long as a year to get adapted to a new club/ league? TX.

{Ed025's Note - not a good one angus..


1.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 19:20:43
De Gea looked very ropey for at least a season. I would now say there's an argument for him being the best in the world.

{Ed025's Note - maybe i should have said "how experienced" he was then dawn..


2.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 19:33:24
De Gea was a liability at times for 4 years before he hit what was still patchy form. Only for the last 12 months has he become the world class keeper he now is. So if De Gea can take nigh on 5 or 6 years to fully hit the heights, why not other young keeper just coming into a new country, league and language? Unless the keeper is already a peak performer and speaks English, then they will struggle initially in my opinion. A big part of goal keeping is talking to the defenders in front of you, and that's hard to do if you can't speak the language.

The Premier League in particular is very physical, so slender, cat like goal keepers such as De Gea take time to adjust, whereas as a stocky keeper who is more of an organiser and positionally clever (such as Reina was) will adapt quicker. He was the one of the best in the league within 12 months of joining, alongside Cech.

Anyway, it's just my opinion, but i regretfully have to disagree Ed025. Modern fans need to have more patience; not just with keepers, but with all players! Ed001 said the other day that Rush took 3 years to get his first goal. If we'd afforded say, Iago Aspas, that kind of time to adjust to top flight English football, maybe he'd be banging goals in for us instead of Celta Vigo and the Spanish national team? We'll never know though because he was binned after about 5 starts. Patience is a virtue. Sadly, it's a trait which is slowly deserting football clubs, managers and fans. Even players won't stick around whilst their team builds something. Everyone in sport wants everything, and they want it yesterday.


3.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 19:32:17
Everton linked with Walcot today ED. Can't think of a joke but I am sure there are 100's.

Everton must be able to aim higher than that mate. I get down sometimes about my team but as you said before its all relative and goes in cycles. My best mate is a Leeds fan, so I don't really have much room to complain. I am starting to get a good feeling anyway, I can see a top team shaping up at Liverpool.

{Ed025's Note - they need to improve the midfield first mark..


4.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:00:25
MK, that was a diff. time as you say when the manager stuck to his guns and allowed DDG to grow and built a team around him to protect him while he improved and the true fans trusted the manager and supported the player, without the fickle fans getting on his back if he did not kick the ball quick enough or where they would like.

Alas, those fans are not part of our fan base. Our fan base is now infested with a group who see patience and support for one of our boys, as poison and would not hesitate to thump a player or in this case a young GK in a new league who is not DDG after ten games. Even Reina took two seasons to get right BUT our fans supported him cos we wanted him to grow and we all know what he would become. Had Rafa binned him after his poor seasons and after nearly losing us the FA Cup v WH (yes, his blunders nearly did us in), would we have had the Reina he would later become? Not saying Karius will become Reina. Just saying he deserves a chance to prove us right or wrong, IMO.


5.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 19:50:56
join the queue Ed. Milner will be available soon mate so don't worry.

De Gea only been world class for 12 months? Madrid tried to buy him a couple years ago because he was top class. I am sure I read many people on here saying if it wasn't for De Gea they wouldn't be in the champions league.

He has been in premier league team of year for many years in a row. I think world class min 3 years.

{Ed025's Note - i think he said he was dodgy for the first 12 months mate..


6.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:05:30
Joking aside I think Everton played some decent football against us in the cup. They were more positive than I thought they would be. Still too many cynical fouls though. The trouble is most of Sams teams are built on survival so I’m not sure what they’ll do going forward. Can’t seeing them getting near top 6 though. (Bottom 6 more realistic😏) .

{Ed025's Note - to be fair sam has never had much money to spend razor so we dont really know yet, we will finish 8th-10th for me mate..


7.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:14:38
BRover you take it to the other extreme you think everyone is good or great, and you have very low expectations. You think we are having a great season because we are 4th. I see 4th as an absolute min requirement and next season we need to challenge for the title very strongly. We have 8 draws and 2 defeats in the league already. Chelsea dropped that many points in a whole season last year. There is a happy medium but you and many others on here need to raise the bar. Or what you get is Arsenal.

We are Liverpool.


8.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:19:39
Yes 12 months or 18 months poor but not 4 years.


9.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:25:15
David de Gea struggled in his first season but in his second season he was voted into the PFA team of the year, something he has achieved 4 times in the last 5 seasons, he may not have been world class when he was younger but he was always a very good goalkeeper and he had age on his side.

MK, Ian Rush scored 17 goals in his second season with Chester and 30 goals in his second season at Liverpool, I’m not sure where 3 years came from. You are right that patience is in short supply these days but sometimes a player doesn’t look suited to a particular league, that was the case with Aspas and also players like Forlan, sometimes you just need to cut your losses.


10.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:33:26
Where did i say he was poor markp08? I said he was a liability "at times". He was very error prone for his first 4 seasons, but still showed immense potential. People must have very short memories because everybody knew De Gea was shocking at dealing with high balls. Then he cut out most of the errors, and only made a handful for about a season, which is where i regarded him as top 10 in the world and when Real Madrid started showing interest, but his form was still a little but patchy. However in the last 12 months, he has been unbelievably consistent and effectively cut out all major errors from his game, which to me makes him world class (top 3 with Buffon and Oblak)

There is a very blinkered memory of De Gea's time in England though. People seem to have forgotten all of his mistakes and early deficiencies. Anyway, forget time frames and how long different people thought it took him to adapt, that is very subjective. What is less subjective is that De Gea (the current best keeper in the league) definitely took time to adapt, irrespective of how long people think he took. Which is my argument. People need more patience with new signings, especially goal keepers.


11.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:35:24
It’s easy to be patient when you’re winning trophies.
I’m afraid that’s the reality.


12.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:54:17
Yes Ron too true mate.

I wouldn't mind a player in the PFA team 4 out of 5 years. All keepers makes mistakes. But after his initial 18 months he has been top class for me. He has carried United.


13.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:56:02
I humbly disagree, Ron. IMO, You can be patient as long as you see that there is marked improvement and there has been under Klopp. Example, BVB. They were pee poor for years before Klopp (who just got relegated at Mainz the season before) came to them in 2008. They went 3 seasons w/ o CL nor a trophy until 2011 where they won the league BUT there was improvement before then as they made the CL the season before and the fans never got on his back before that happened.

Same with Atletico Madrid. They were a right joke until Don Diego came to them and gave them the mean streak they currently play with. They could not beat Real anywhere for years till he arrived and once he did, they changed and they were undefeated for 3 years vs Real. They went a couple of seasons rebuilding until they won the EL and Copa in 2013 and the rest is history.

Patience I agree with you, is subjective BUT for me, I choose to remember where we were before Klopp came to us and the mess BR left him and the improvements have been solid since then while the PL is 3 times tougher than when BR left. My thing is if I can wait 28 years to see LFC win the PL or 5 years to see us win a trophy, I am definitely able to wait for Klopp to get it done cos with him at least, we are way better than we were when he came to us and that is undeniable.


14.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 21:05:47
What happens if you don't start to win things asap then the next player wants to leave. Salah then Mane etc. Winning is almost everything the players as they get older won't wait. Forget the fans being impatient it's the players. Trophies Trophies Trophies.

If we haven't won the league or got very close next season players will want to leave. It is a ruthless business.


15.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 21:08:24
Mark, your "I'm a more demanding fan than you" attitude is laughable and shows how "high" you think of yourselves in comparison to the rest of us. Now please don't try to portray the rest of us who have a measured view on our season so far, as being satisfied with 4th cos you are gravely mistaken.

Make no mistake about it, I and many others want LFC to win every game we play and every comp. we enter, period, end of story. We know that is not possible and know that the PL is much tougher than before and we only get tougher moving forward with 2/ 3 teams outspending us, so we keep things in perspective. You have NOTHING to teach us expectations for our club. None whatsoever. I dream with my eyes open and that may be poison to you BUT I choose to see the world the way it is instead of the way I would like it to be.

Btw, we are 3 points off 2nd (we used to be 10 points off), and 2 off 3rd. Man City is ahead of everyone so they can't be counted. We are all in the same boat behind City so saying we are ONLY 4th is laughable under the circumstances esp. with the start we had. Get a grip, mate.


16.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 21:09:48
I’m not saying we should be impatient, I’m saying it was easy for ManU fans to be patient with Fergie and DDG because they were winning league titles. It’s harder when you’ve gone more than 25yrs without the title.


17.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 20:52:53
Cheers ED025. Nice to hear from you. A.


18.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 21:32:48
Hang on a minute BRover, you spoke about how patient you are compared to the rest of LFC fans. or however you worded it, but then as soon as mark talks about having higher standards than others you label him thinking he's above us. I'm reading this neutrally and you are doing the exact same thing you're trying to label mark doing as wrong. Laughable. people's double standards to suit their arguments on here is getting a little repetitive. Really really think about what you're saying before you post rather than tailoring words to try and suit your arguments as it's so obvious from a neutral perspective.


19.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 21:48:03
No offence MK normally I agree with your views but I’m not having this about DDG maybe he was ropey for the first season or two but since then he has saved them more points than Migs has lost us . and that’s saying something.


20.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 21:56:25
100% correct Ron.


21.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 23:11:42
Squizza, I've just always thought he was over rated when he first came, because he had the best highlight reels. He is the best shot stopper i've ever seen, and was already awesome in that respect from the day he joined Man United. Being a good keeper requires more than that though. His handling, organisation, positioning etc was all awful when he first joined. He was just incredibly agile and had sublime reflexes to make up for a lot of it.

Up until 24 months ago, I'd have had Courtois, Lloris or even Cech before De Gea. De Gea has never been a bad keeper, but he seemed to instantly be accepted as being better than he is. I fully accept most people disagree, and always will. But I'll always stick to my opinion. I won't change it even if nobody agrees with me.

Now De Gea has added the more technical sides of goal keeping to his game, he's right up there. Oblak and Donarumma will complete the best 3 keepers in the world with De Gea for the foreseeable future. Buffon is still the absolute best for now, but he's not got long left on the pitch.


22.) 12 Jan 2018
12 Jan 2018 04:47:23
MK De Gea signed for utd in 2011 and has since won their player of the season award 3 times. 2013,14,15. He had one bad season, one okay season and since then has been immense. He was not dodgy for 4 years ( Mignolet holds that record)


23.) 12 Jan 2018
12 Jan 2018 07:15:41
MK- You’re talking rubbish about DDG, he’s been easily the best keeper in the league for 3+ years now.

{Ed001's Note - I have to agree with you on that C666, De Gea was outstanding under Moyes and van Gaal, almost singlehandedly keeping the team in contention.}


24.) 12 Jan 2018
12 Jan 2018 14:30:45
Wow ddg was patchy for last 4 of 6 years, How does a patchy keeper get picked pfa team of the year for that period I wonder. He had an issue dealing with crosses in his first season post that it hasn't been a problem, he has been world-class since lvg's time and was in pfa ToY in Sir alex's last season. Also it's funny you call ddg patchy and then include lloris and cech in the list of better keepers.


25.) 12 Jan 2018
12 Jan 2018 20:36:57
TIA, read my post again as none of what you say is true. I said I and many others have just as high expectations for our club as any other person or fan, Mark included. BUT to say that cos we are measured in our appraisal of where we are as a club right now, we are settling for mediocrity, is again laughable. I am no more demanding of our club than you nor any other. I just look at this realistically and know what we can or can't achieve for now in the hope that we can in the forseeable future if we keep working hard at it. That is all. I will never say someone is settling for mediocrity cos I disagree with them on an issue. That is a very myopic way of thinking.