Liverpool Banter Archive August 11 2015

11 Aug 2015 22:56:45
All this talk about Rodgers messing players about has got me thinking. Steven Gerard, a lad that brought me so much pride and enjoyment as a Liverpool fan over the years. I was at Anfield the night he scored that goal against Olympiacos. Not to mention the countless other joyful moments of sheer brilliance he conjured-up over the years. For me, he should never, ever have been allowed to leave. He should've been groomed for manager. Compared to a Sterling, for example, he is an icon, a giant among men. And this is a fella that has Liverpool football club in his heart. He was with us since he was 8 years old! 8 years old!!!
This question then is to any of you eds. Did Rodgers have a hand in his leaving? I'm not bothered too much about Rodgers and his shortcomings. I've seen worse to be honest. But if he had a hand in my club disrespecting Steven Gerard - our leader, our saviour on so many occasions. Then for me that would be unforgivable. Did Steven Gerard leave because of Brendan Rodgers? Did Rodgers force him out? Or did our captain just fancy a change of scenery at the tail end if his career??? Please tell me it was the latter .

{Ed002's Note - Gerrard has said that the decision to leave was made when he was dropped against Real MAdrid.}

12 Aug 2015 01:18:06
I love Stevie and I don't begrudge him his time in LA. He has earned it. He had an awful season last year and maybe his time had come. Enjoy the sunshine fella you will always be a legend.

12 Aug 2015 02:09:02
As much as I disagree with rodgers decision, the whole 11 was basically dropped. Good job they all didn't decide to leave

12 Aug 2015 10:07:02
Bad decision to drop him but didn't Rodgers say he dropped a lot of them because they weren't putting effort in, like in the Newcastle game before it? Also our first 11 didn't exactly play well against Madrid in the first leg, so I don't completely disagree with what Rodgers did on that occasion.

12 Aug 2015 10:36:46
how may seasons did Stevie give good dervice to Liverpool they could have afforded him 1 bad one he is only human even though as fans we see him as so much more. I would have like to se him end up like Ryan Giggs did at man u where he finished his career at Liverpool and then went straight into management.Remember what he did in Istanbul.There were other clubs with world class players and everyone rated our players and mediocre but at the time Milan were very strong and not the manager but the captain rallied the troops to victory so i think him having great leadership skills wold be great if he was to be come Liverpool manager as Liverpool is always in his heart and blood just as mine even though i live in SA

12 Aug 2015 14:00:25
Great point, Zaak

11 Aug 2015 22:09:54
"Give me Lucas Leiva and 10 pieces of sticks, and I will win you the UCL" ~ Me
If we are actually looking to sell a player of Lucas' character and attitude, it is such a shame, especially after convincing him to stay in January. Lucas is a model professional, a player we have massively underappreciated and underrated and would have been one of the best holding midfielders if not for injury. I can only wish him all the best as I think he is fed up with such treatment now.
Eventually though, it may give the likes of Rossiter and Chirivella a much needed chance in the first team so could be a plus.

11 Aug 2015 22:33:48
assuming we don't purchase a slightly more experienced player ahead of them, as that seems to be the trend.

11 Aug 2015 22:46:10
I think 70% of liverpool fans don't agree with BR wanting to sell Lucas and I'm one of them, but even so if he won't play him then Lucas has to go really. As for possible replacements I can't see us going for a big price tag player, rather someone who will have a squad role because it would holt Emre Can's momentum in the team. Thiago Motta would be my choice, we wouldn't lose top level experience that way as well. illarramendi would be too much like a Allen/Borini/Lallana signing why buy a player you don't need at a price we don't need to spend to fill that role.

12 Aug 2015 06:11:54
Haych

I disagree mate. It's the position we should have made the best signing IMO. Such a crucial position in Football. A CDM / DLP is the spine of your team.

12 Aug 2015 07:18:56
I can't see us replacing him at all. Brenda is so determined to have creative players all over the pith and does not believe we need a dm. Why on earth would he buy another. If he was going to play with an actual dm in the starting 11 then lucas would not be getting sold, he would be happy as he would be playing more regularly. He should be the first name on the team sheet but unfortunately for lfc any type of dm is going to just rot either on the bench or in the reserves until we replace rodgers.

12 Aug 2015 07:39:43
Johnlfc

He wants a playmaker in that position someone who could defend also. There are very few in europe and that makes not looking at Morgan a bigger joke. If you could convince Frimino, You could have easily convinced Morgan.

Alonso would have been a very good signing.

11 Aug 2015 20:51:59
Question for ed001 we moved suso on who brendan spoke highly of at times and we delayed his career do you think the same will happen to texiera? Do you think we will keep him another year when ultimately he will be moved on
Ed002 can answer also as she never sugar coats the truth wich i think is the best policy

{Ed002's Note - It is hard to see how he will get a chance this season with so many similar players at the club - perhaps a run out in the League Cup. Moving forward a decision will need to be made.}

11 Aug 2015 20:35:33
Love your site Eds. great work

I just want to say that there appears to be people on here who will be disappointed if we do well this season because it will mean Rodgers survives! Surely our club challenging and winning is the most important thing. I appreciate that some of you have no confidence in Rodgers to achieve that but while he is the boss we should support and back him. If he fails then the owners will act.

Treating players badly? Where's the evidence for that? Players who left? Really would you trust the word of people who are trying to justify why they left or can't face the fact that they were not good enough.

We got a great result at Stoke now let's make sure we continue to support our team and let whatever happens happen

11 Aug 2015 23:01:51
I would trust the word of Daniel Agger over BR any day of the week, yeah.

12 Aug 2015 00:27:21
Cook ester, your attempt to absorb BR of blame on this issue has failed, miserably. We have the Eds to rely on for info on this issue and all you did in your post was make suppositions which have no basis in fact or reality. If you have better info, prove the Eds wrong on this issue or Combe back when you have true facts to debunk their information.

12 Aug 2015 07:24:35
What do you mean "if he fails the owners will act" he failed miserably last season and all the owners done was change his backroom staff. He has since continued to throw money around without reducing the size of the squad or the wage bill, continued upsetting players and going back on promises made. How many more times does he need to fail lfc before the owners act?

11 Aug 2015 19:31:42
Cont from previous post going back to Lucas the guy seriously deserves to be treated better if everything we read is to be believed.I still remember the Lucas that first came to the club with the long hair and the headband that couldn't pass the ball 5 yards who got dogs abuse at Anfield ( from myself included I have to say) but respect to the guy he got his head down and for a couple of seasons before the injuries started he was the best player of his type around.

Good luck lad if you do end up moving on.

11 Aug 2015 18:14:26
Well done harry for your ITK statement yesterday, you were actually right about this one.

Anybody sugar coating this and saying we're all using this as an excuse to have a go at rodgers, wow the hypocricy is maddening. You ask us to stand by the manager and accuse us of being disloyal, yet you seemingly don't care about the management and treatment of players.

Let me remind you the list of players (excluding the youngsters who we assume he screwed over) who have claimed to be mismanaged, mistreated and screwed over by rodgers are:

Sahin
Carra
Downing
Agger
Sterling
Lucas
Sakho

and even sinclair, a young player, has recently made such calims.

I think the evidence is there what the main cause of problems is at liverpool, but i guess some fans know better than the people who actually have to play under him.

11 Aug 2015 18:38:06
For the most part I agree but I feel Rodgers gave downing ample chances to prove himself.
Agger couldn't stay fit and even minor injuries kept him out for months.
I seem to recall Sahin refusing to play a number ten role for us.
Although sterling was mismanaged by Rodgers it would be unfair of us to lay all of that blame on him.
There are individual circumstances to each case. I don't disagree with most examples but I do think the total generalisation is a touch unfair.

11 Aug 2015 18:48:05
There are 2 sides to every story, just taking the players version at face value is naïve.
Movement is normal in football. Sometimes the clubs want the move, sometimes the players want the move. It should be done with dignity and discretion.
Sakho disrespected the fans and the club last season because he wasn't picked. He was totally unprofessional and is in no position to hand out opinions on people's actions.
Sterling is worse than Sakho, no respect for the club or the fans, just a selfish unprofessional kid.
Sahin was rubbish, not many will argue with that.
Downing also worse than Sahin. Where are they now?
Never heard Carra say Rodgers mistreated him or screwed him over, maybe you could give quotes and context?
Agger was moved on, it happens get over it.
Movement is normal. Paisley moved players on when he found better ones, it's no big deal. Sadly these social media times have turned it all into a children's playground with people playing the blame game.

{Ed001's Note - Paisley told players honestly when he was moving them on, not begged them to stay in January promising them all sorts, then dump them again in the summer. This is not normal, this is mismanagement.}

11 Aug 2015 18:52:49
Good post. People will turn a blind eye but there are far underlying problems at the club with the manager being the foremost
#negativeandpessimistic

11 Aug 2015 19:01:56
I am pretty sure you could add a couple more names by next summer. Markovic, Ilori.
Don't ask me what's their crime.

11 Aug 2015 19:19:22
I don't see why there's a problem, people seem to be desperately looking for problems.
As Ed002 would say managers (and players) are transient employees of the club. Some will feel aggrieved when they leave, so what? They're multimillionaires, I'm sure they'll get over it.

{Ed001's Note - it doesn't mean you should treat them like pricks. Give it a rest Ron, on this point only a fool can think it is a good thing to treat players like utter scum when we are already struggling to attract the ones we want. We need every selling point we can get, instead of more reasons for them to look elsewhere.}

11 Aug 2015 19:19:55
Entirely agreed with Ed001 on this. It's not just poor management in a footballing sense, it's poor management of people in general who are working for you. Players, like all employees, simply want to be told where they stand and BR is seemingly very, very bad at doing this part of the job. I don't particularly have a problem with BR thinking player X, Y, or Z needs to move on as fair enough, it's how he handles it (or doesn't) that massively needs to improve. I imagine he expects honesty and open communication from the board, perhaps he could give his players the same courtesy.

11 Aug 2015 19:35:31
Ron
I seriously think you should apply for the post of BR's press secretary.

11 Aug 2015 19:46:24
Do you know what the best part about this is?

Within 12 months (possibly after a certain transient employee leaves), we'll spend at least twice what we get for Lucas on another player to exactly the same job, and to do it no better than Lucas does.

11 Aug 2015 19:49:20
Ron, your post makes little sense. First you talk about how people need to be dealt with respect and dignity and that the likes of Sakho and Sterling deserves none from LFC, then you talk about Sahin and Downing being crap. So, just because they didn't perform, Rodgers can disrespect them and be unprofessional towards them? Like Lucas?

11 Aug 2015 19:50:48
I hope we have a good season but I am expecting Brendan to mess up sometime and then when John Henry pulls the trigger we can hopefully move on .

There are lots of positive aspects to the club with the stadium expansion a stronger squad and some good young prospects at the Academy.

The coaching staff also looks to have improved. All in all there should be a good base for when we get a first class coach/manager.

I just think that Brendan is the one big negative. At least we should not have to put up with his antics after this season.

We need to continue to invest in youth and as the Edda say we need to be so much better in managing their career paths so that they develop in a proper managed way.

How we can let Lucas go is beyond belief.

Rodgers clearly has no idea how to set up a side.

All he needs to do is view this site and follow advice from Ed001 and others and he would not make the stupid mistakes that are going to cost him his job in the end.

So bloody frustrating!

11 Aug 2015 20:14:36
Completely agree with Ed001 & RDL, it's clearly a problem that can do nothing but compound the poor reputation the club is rapidly gathering

11 Aug 2015 20:17:11
Oh and Woolback, let's not forget that our current captain would've been sold to Fulham for less than £10m had he not dug in and refused the move.

And Skrtel, like him or not, seemed to be days away from being sold after we signed three center backs in one window and made Agger into the vice-captain, but then he had to be pressed into service against Man U due to injuries and all of sudden was first choice again. And Illori, his replacement, never got a look in as a result.

Rodgers' man management is just plain terrible. I don't think it's intentional, or stems from an arrogant belief that he can do whatever with the players and get away with it. But there's an established pattern of not being able to correctly assess what he has and flip flopping over who he wants and when. He may genuinely believed he needed Lucas in January when he persuaded him to stay. But then 6 months later, he's decide he can do without - and without signing a replacement, so it's not a case that he saw Lucas play 2nd half of last season and decided he wasn't good enough.

If he doesn't sort this out, we will never be able to build a side that can consistently finish in the top 4 and challenge for the league.

11 Aug 2015 20:33:34
Rodgers is single handedly destroying the club, he's doing the incredible and making Van Gaal look like a good man manager. I hope he's gone sooner rather than later

11 Aug 2015 21:24:48
Ed1, genuine question.

Other than not playing these guys in what way has Rodgers treated them badly? In Lucas' case I understand he was promised game time which he got. The situation has now changed and he'll be allowed to leave.

That doesn't sound disrespectful to me. It sounds like giving a player what he wants and doing it twice for good measure.

Could you give me more detail on how Rodgers has treated these guys?

{Ed002's Note - It is poor behaviour by the club.}

11 Aug 2015 22:31:29
Ed2,

There must be more to the situation which isn't common knowledge. Everything I've heard about the Lucas situation points to the club respecting his wishes. He wasn't lied to last winter, he wasn't lied to this summer.

I can understand that people are upset that Rodgers doesn't rate their favorite players but that's our problem not his.

{Ed002's Note - It is not the done thing to stop a player from leaving with commitments about his future and then screw hime a few months later. The club has handled numerous players badly in recent times - including those on loan. It is unprofessional.}

11 Aug 2015 23:53:16
Think you're missing the point. Rodgers kept Lucas from leaving by promises of game time. I hardly think it was taken by Lucas to mean for the next couple of months only. It's like your employer giving you a raise to keep you from leaving when you have another opportunity then Turing around and sacking you a month later. It's just not right.

12 Aug 2015 00:11:42
Muscat, Rodgers is racking up an impressive level of player mis-use. Let's just take the really obvious on the surface stuff, that doesn't require any "ITK" knowledge, shall we?

Rodgers arrived and promptly froze out Enrique, Downing and Hendo before having to use all of them as first choice by December because his replacements weren't good enough.

The following summer, we appointed Agger vice captain, signed three other center backs, and Skrtel, who hadn't started the majority of our games for a few months previously, was practically gone. Then he had one good game and became first choice. Illori never got a look in as a result and a year later Agger left under a cloud. And then we bought another center back.

Same transfer window we loaned out Suso with no clear plan for his future development, and then signed Alberto who plays the same position. Alberto barely played and was loaned out himself a season later, but only after we had alienated and sold Suso.

We loaned in Cissokho and Moses, but ended using players we already had at the club (Flanno & Sterling) instead of them. Wouldn't imagine that did either of those players any good or made their parent clubs particularly happy. Not to mention the expense.

We trumped that last summer, by loaning out one right back and loaning in a far worse one. The fact that Wisdom signed a new contract after that is astounding. But I bet whatever promises have been made to get him to sign won't be fufilled if BR is still in charge when Wisdom returns from Norwich. Oh, and we cut short Manquillo's loan after barely using him. Another player and club no doubt ingratiated to Liverpool FC.

We loaned out Ibe, signed another player who plays his position for £20m, and then recalled him 5 months later.

We completely dropped the ball on Sterling and gave his agent a window to force a transfer.

Despite signing four center backs in two years we still managed to have to play a central midfielder and center back for most of the season, because the manager didn't rate all the CBs he'd bought.


Can it be any more obvious that BR can't make up his mind on what to do with the players he has and that has contributed to so many instances of the club mishandling players? There isn't a "situation which isn't common knowledge" on all of them, mate.

12 Aug 2015 00:18:28
RDL what was Lucas promised? Were you there? Has it been published? Has Lucas or Rodgers made a statement on the matter?

With due respect to the Eds they've given us no detail on any of this other than 'promises were made and have been broken' and I've seen nothing else reported on the matter.

I like to base my opinions on something more than rumor and outrage and given the evidence presented to me I couldn't even say for sure that Lucas was upset let alone was being treated badly.

{Ed002's Note - I explained it in January.}

12 Aug 2015 00:24:38
Some people seem to think that just because one is paid a lot of money that they have no feelings like every other god damned human being on this planet.

As for brendan and his management of this club. basically its a crying shame that a man of no morals whatsoever is in charge of this great institution and he is destroying the legacy of much better men than himself from within much like a cancer.

12 Aug 2015 00:40:43
Those trying to defend BR on this issue are just as disingenuous and morally dishonest as he is, IMO because there is no way any man with any self respect and dignity will endorse this type of treatment UNLESS he too, would have no prob treating someone else the same way. As for Ron, I think he is BR in disguise because he says the most incoherent things and makes the dumbest comments just to defend his BFF.

12 Aug 2015 01:41:14
This is nothing that doesn't happen at other top clubs something red. You keep hold of players until their value is at its highest then if they are not in your plans you sell. It probably is treating players badly but in this world of business it's a necessity. Take your example of Wisdom who in my option is a mid table premier league defender. Do we sell him now for £500,000 or do we send him out on loan, see if he is good enough for us and if not then he had premier league experience and we'll probably get 2 million for him. Makes sense to me.

12 Aug 2015 01:43:49
Regardless of the ability of the players does it not ring huge alarm bells that that many of them (many more i had forgotton about as well) cited the manager as being an imbecile and the sole reason for them leaving!

Players dissapoint like downing did all the time! And yes he did give him a chance, but downing still claimed he was managed poorly! Surely that says a lot!

And Something Red, the sktrel/agger debacle has baned our defence for what will be the third season in a row now. Yippee.

12 Aug 2015 01:57:36
That's a brilliant, albeit incredibly sad, summary of Rodgers' transfers Something Red. I don't know that I've ever seen a single manager buy or loan in so many players in such a fairly short amount of time. He's got to be near a record by now?

11 Aug 2015 17:30:32
Hi eds,
Any chance you can shed any light on why we didn't move for shaquiri? It seems strange that last year and in January we were interested but he was too expensive and now when he's available for 13.5 m we aren't interested
Cheers pud, great site by the way

{Ed001's Note - because he is trouble and has not played well in years.}

11 Aug 2015 18:41:56
Yeah his club form has been poor but still has been very consistent in the national team

11 Aug 2015 20:16:23
Not being funny, but his international form is irrelevant

11 Aug 2015 22:40:09
Yet when we didn't sign him you were all slagging BR and the club, Now he is rubbish and trouble.

11 Aug 2015 22:53:36
I don't think it's irrelevant it shows he can still be a top player playing in a team that he's happy with I think the loan move to inter didn't work and he was always going to struggle to really push into the bayern team . I don't want him at Liverpool but I think if he settles down and is happy he will be a very useful signing for Stoke . Some players just fit with certain clubs sometimes it's down to attitude of the player other times is just about getting the right fit . Switzerland play to his strengths and if Stoke do the same he should start to get back to becoming a quality player again at club level

12 Aug 2015 00:48:09
I didn't slag him off. I knew he wasn't good enuff and the fact that he's off to Stoke, proves my point. From Bayern to Stoke, defo a rise in the footballing world. Lol!!!

11 Aug 2015 16:49:07
Ed01, this one to you mate.
You said earlier in the window of bringing a top class CM to play alongside Lucas in the midfield. Who was your pick mate?

{Ed001's Note - I would have been happy with Kovacic, though my preference was Medel, as he could help with developing players such as Rossiter.}

11 Aug 2015 17:08:18
Given Lucas departs do you think we might add one?

{Ed001's Note - no.}

11 Aug 2015 17:13:20
I still hope we will try for Kovacic if we sell lucas ( 😢) but seems highly unlikely atm

11 Aug 2015 17:17:08
Brilliant, So more Milner / Henderson / Allen if Can picks up an injury.

11 Aug 2015 17:21:57
Ed1 it could lead to Rossitier having a few more opportunities, especially in cup games, is he ready for the step up?

{Ed001's Note - he is ready but we have a logjam in front of him, so it will make little difference to him.}

11 Aug 2015 17:41:22
Kovacic would have been a top signing, but Illarramendi would be a good option.

Red Rum

11 Aug 2015 18:02:04
Illaramedi is overrated IMO. Kovacic would have been an infinitely better option. I'd rather we give someone like rossiter a chance than go and sign Illara

11 Aug 2015 18:06:30
Kovacic would make the team more complete and balanced. No more Countinho dropping deep to pick the ball as Kovacic would do it perfectly in the middle.
A wonderful creative central midfielder.

12 Aug 2015 00:28:05
One of the rare occasions i agree with you Harry.

12 Aug 2015 00:49:19
Would have had him over Milner any day.

12 Aug 2015 07:54:31
We need a proper defensive midfielder like lars bender.

11 Aug 2015 16:08:31
Well I would have preferred it if we had lost at weekend then I could understand all the whinging.

Really looking forward to Monday night and a Bournemouth win.

11 Aug 2015 16:14:00
Arsenal game would be the real eye opener, unless you put Bournemouth in the top 10 clubs ( no disrespect )
Real character would be judged against Arsenal😎😎😎

11 Aug 2015 17:09:39
Think lavers is having a bit of banter there .
Jamesee

11 Aug 2015 17:13:56
You do realize that LAVERS was being sarcastic, Harry?

11 Aug 2015 17:44:37
Bournemouth will be a very tough team for a lot of clubs this season. Howe is a good manager, better than rodgers at that stage and talks a lot less.

12 Aug 2015 01:06:44
Prolly renegs on promises less than BR does, too

11 Aug 2015 14:04:25
Lucas for us has been as influential for us as Gerrard mascherano alonso hyypia carragher hamman etc. Perhaps not technically as good as these players. But he gives it his all on the pitch and is a solid player.
Within the current squad he should genuinely be the first name on the team sheet.

He has been a top servant for us. And it's not just him football which is great. His attitude on the pitch towards the opposition and ref is top, he just gets on with it. Brendan Rodgers genuinely doesn't have a clue.

He deserves to be treated with more respect, and I wish him all the best. I do hope he leaves so he can get game time and not be messed about any longer by Liverpool.

11 Aug 2015 16:07:50
Lucas has Not been as influential as Gerrard mate

11 Aug 2015 16:59:57
I think everyone at Liverpool would like Lucas to be in the squad, including Rodgers, but there is fair debate about whether he should be a first 11 or a squad player. Unfortunately for Lucas the guy who makes the decision is in the latter camp.

Lucas hasn't been treated badly, he was given plenty of playing time after the talks last winter. I expect he has been told that he will be 4th or even 5th choice this year and decided that's not enough for him and asked to leave. If that is accurate it is honourable on both sides, I will be sad he's leaving but I'll always consider him a red.

11 Aug 2015 16:24:20
Dbol no Lucas has not been as influential as Gerard. My meaning is that he's in that mould, a leader a battler etc. of course the talents are not the same.

11 Aug 2015 17:19:38
He should have been given the vice captaincy role at least and I am not a big Lucas fan either.

11 Aug 2015 17:39:24
Lucas should be one of the first names on the team sheet, unless we bring in a better holding midfielder.

Red Rum

11 Aug 2015 17:55:19
Muscatred, Lucas only stayed because he was told he would play. Apparently what BR meant was I will play when I have to do after we lose several games first. I really don't see how you could not think he's been treated badly- we convinced him to stay when he had a move away lined up, then dropped him like a bad habit when a new, shiny toy came along.

11 Aug 2015 18:11:40
Rdl, we told him he would play and he did. Now it appears the situation has changed.

Treating him badly would be not selling him and forcing him to sit on the bench.

11 Aug 2015 18:42:05
If the situation changed, why wasn't Lucas told he might should look for a new club weeks ago? Instead, he was dropped unceremoniously and, I imagine, quite unexpectedly from his perspective. It's really poor treatment of a player who doesn't deserve, same as happened with Agger and many others under BR. He seems to have real difficulty telling players anything other than platitudes in order to avoid confrontation and instead just winds up making them angry through his inability to communicate or manage (see Sahin, Downing, Carroll, Agger, Reina, etc. who have all largely said the same thing- Rodgers told them one thing to their face then did something entirely different behind the scenes).

I've had managers like that before and I absolutely hated them.

11 Aug 2015 21:34:27
Lucas to be given the Vice captaincy ?

And what has happened to our former vice captains pretty much since Fowler. Seems to be the sure stamp you are on the way out. I therefore wonder why it's given to Milner.

12 Aug 2015 01:20:55
Muscat, you are again missing the point. BR begged Lucas to stay and promised him game time because his defence and his DM SG and Joe Allen could not stop a nose bleed. Lucas comes in and we barely concede. Now that he thinks he has no use for him, he trashes him. Whether he is good on the pitch or not is a footballing matter. The issue here us that his treatment goes beyond football. It is now bordering on people's manhood and honour. Lucas has carried himself with dignity, honour and respect, all the things BR lacks based on his dreadful behavior. RDL is right. BR is a coward who can't look players in the eye and tell them the truth so he resorts to these underhanded and high school tactics to make his point. I will never respect a man who can't look me in the eye and tell me what he thinks of me which is why BR has been a failure since he's been here

11 Aug 2015 13:32:07
Well done lads on the Stoke win. It was a big pressure game and to be fair we looked solid enough defensively, Stoke is a tough away game for any team.
We created little, I put that down to Milner and Henderson being work horses and not creative enough. Hence why coutinho was drifted further back to get the ball and try make something happen.

Firminho looked very confident and really shows he'll be ready to have a go in this league. So I'm quietly confident with him.

Overall it's a win and a good start, I have no issues at all regarding our attack, it is solid and strong enough to compete with anyone.

The only thing that can hold us back is BR

11 Aug 2015 14:00:56
Milner and Henderson are never creative. They are box to box midfielders. Countinho ll keep dropping.

11 Aug 2015 12:41:39
We won! WE WON!! Get some perspective, lads. We won away at one of the most difficult places to travel to - and on opening day too!! I don't understand all this debate and discussion.
Compare the mindset of united fans. I been talking to a few since their opener with Spurs - they're delighted to have got their win - and it could be argued that they played worse than us (they were certainly luckier!). AND they were at home for Gods sake!
3 points is 3 points.
Citehs great performance last night gets them the same amount of points as our dogged, disjointed, hard fought 3 points away to Stoke.
I watched the game with my 7 year old son - and as Coutinho rattled that screamer into the Stoke onion bag we weren't thinking about BR's defensive midfield shortcomings nor his very white teeth nor how much he spent last summer: nope, we danced on top of our red sofa in the living room hugging and roaring our approval. Then we spent the next 4 minutes at our wits-end hoping Stoke wouldn't equalise and oh jeeziz how we loved it!!!!
I'm a Liverpool fan. And we won and I'm
over the moon! I can't wait till Monday night and Bournemouth. Me and the wee man will be on that red sofa again - proudly wearing our red shirts and the both of will be full of hope and expectancy.
At the risk of sounding condescending - for that's not my intention, let's get perspective lads! Enjoy it!! We won on the opening day of the season and we should just savour and enjoy it.

11 Aug 2015 11:37:40
i can't believe the negative posts about the game , i swear some on here would have been happy if we had played high tempo attacking football but lost

we won ugly and never conceeded get over it

we never played bad ,all the players played within themselves was this down to the manager and his tactics yes its possible ,

we win , we did not play like real madrid or barca but we did not play bad

we had a teenager playing out of position at left back and he played really well , firmino and benteke and milner will get better with games and understanding their team mates , lovren looked good as did mingolet and clyne could be the signing of the season , jordan ibe did not play to his best but it looks good for the link up play between him and clyne , as I've said not one player had a bad game , and fans still moan , look at arsenal they played nice attacking football , but ask them would they rather have 3 points

we will play better and lose so be careful what you ask for , we will also play better and win but not all the time

11 Aug 2015 12:15:09
We will see how happy every one is come the end of October.

Lets see how the enthusiasm for bad football plays out then when Coutinho can no longer produce a 30 yard stunner vs Chlsea, and Southamptons well drilled defences having already dropped points vs Man Utd and Arsenal

11 Aug 2015 12:21:47
being fair though, the team cannot just sit and be happy with the 3 points performing like that. they need abit of pressure to improve, they are at a club looking to challenge, not a club happy to stay up in the league.

the 3 points is a good thing, but for them to continue picking up 3 points, they need to look back at the game, identify areas of improvement.

{Ed001's Note - now that is exactly it Kaizer. Well said.}

11 Aug 2015 13:24:06
playing badly and winning is an art the likes of chelsea and united have mastered in their way to win titles . let's appreciate we got ourselves the 3 points out of a dull game and with most players being average.
We need hope, come on ; most of us did n't expect anything more than 1 point , we got all 3. let's stop having a downer on everything we do

11 Aug 2015 13:30:54
We will improve!
It was first game of the season!
People are so negative it's depressing!

11 Aug 2015 14:21:22
Never easy to win away to Stoke but a point would have been fair so let's be satisfied with an OK display and the three points. Yes, we will need to improve but all of the top sides will struggle with Stoke, West Ham and Crystal Palace. Take care of Bournemouth next week and we are in a good position for the run of truly tough games.

11 Aug 2015 14:28:52
No craig it's not negative.
It's not being delusional,posting utter tripe like some have saying
''Gomez was motm'',and it was a ''terrific performance'' ,''Skrtel had a great game'',''Bentake link up play was brilliant all game'' These are all quite frankly delusional statements,I'd rather be negative than delusional. Are we that far off the mark now,that we take 1-0 victories in poor performances as measuring stick for a ''great game''
We have a hard set of fixtures coming up in October and November,we needed to hit the ground running like City did. Instead any one who watched the game properly should already be wary that if the performance doesn't pick up drastically,by the end November we will be out of the title race,there was no improvement on that 1st game than what we got at the end of last year.A better side than a weak Stoke (who won't finish above 10th) would have beaten us yesterday

11 Aug 2015 16:11:13
I am worried because we said exact same 12 months ago against Southampton and we were terrible throughout.
It's very difficult for a normal person to trust BR.

11 Aug 2015 16:58:46
Equally, last time we won 1-0 against Stoke on the opening day of the season our keeper rescued us with a penalty save. One of our main strikers was out (suspended) and we continued to scrape good results for a few weeks.
Then we played the most entertaining attacking football we've seen for a generation and narrowly missed out on winning the league.

It's all about which example you choose to use.

11 Aug 2015 17:21:09
Ron

Is Suarez due in October? I have no problem then.

11 Aug 2015 17:58:06
Sturridge is due in October

11 Aug 2015 19:10:30
Bobatron and EG , like i said in my post we never played bad , we never played open attacking football maybe its because of the last result we had against them i'm just guessing as i don't know how the manager tset up the team or i'm not aware to how the manager told them to play , but where you use chelsea and southampton as examples of how we will get beat by them i will use the other side because there will be teams we will beat and easily beat so your opinion falls down there , it was the 1st game of the season and we got 3 points , so what's important to you really , is it playing well or coming away with 3 points , ask chelsea and man utd fans how many games did they play in where they never played that well but come away with 3 points and where them games the games that won them the prem league ,

like every fan i want us to play nice exciting attacking football and win games by a couple of goals but you will find its not that easy to do in the prem , so instead of looking at the negatives look at the positives , then think we can only improve on our 1st game of the season , that's the way i'm choosing to look at it , i will not concede defeat to any team in the prem like chelsea or southampton like you have bob , we always have good games against chelsea anyway , also with it being the 1st game of the season we can see where we need to improve and work on that so we do improve and just maybe if we get it right we can go on a good run , our fixture list has not been kind but we have to play these teams sometime this season and i prefer to play them away 1st because if we go to their ground and get a result then when we play them at anfield we will know any kind of result for us will give us the upper hand or if we lose we can make amends at anfield , but that's just me as i think we will beat these sides , i won't give up the 3 points that easy

11 Aug 2015 20:48:31
Sorry M brock I said we won't have countinho to pull out worldies to rescue us from blushes. we certainly did play poorly in areas and lacked any invention in the attack,that can't even be denied,it's a fact.
We came up with 3 points today but as i said against the big boys we will not. Stop trying to justify 3 points from 1 moment of magic as a standard for a whole season,we play that way for a whole season I guarantee we won't win many games and will be so far off the pace we will be a dot in the distance to our rivals.
I have no idea what you're on about giving up the 3 points that easily? what point are you trying to make it actually makes 0 grammatical sense.
I don't want us to give up any points,but it's going to happen if we don't start playing attacking football.

In all honesty I'd rather play well and win 3 points than play badly and scrape them.

11 Aug 2015 11:18:50
I get that we won and getting 3 points is cool. But that doesn't change the fact that we were not so good. If Rogers was in his first or second season, I'd have been over the moon with this result. Unfortunately, that's not the case. He's in his fourth season, and is still making the same mistakes. He changed the game alright, when he brought on Can. But why didn't he start the game to begin with.?What if Stoke scored us before then? Every team needs a DM. It's not rocket science. But we have badly played with one since he came and doesn't look like he's about to.

11 Aug 2015 12:49:47
You say he makes the same mistakes but fail to mention what those mistakes are. I don't know when so many people become such experts on football management but they come on here and instead of saying it is an opinion they have they make out as if it is a fact that they know better than our manager

{Ed001's Note - and you never explain your opinion either, so what makes you so special? All you do is say the manager knows best, when that is simply not true, which is why his coaching staff were shown the door and why we struggled all last season. His choices are questionable, as shown by our results, so try explaining why you think the choices he makes are good, instead of just saying they must be right because, even though the performances are shambolic and he is alienating players, he is the manager. Shanks and Paisley got our faith because they earnt it and deserved it, not because they were the manager.}

11 Aug 2015 19:04:23
Red since 64, I stated the problem clearly in that post. If you can't read, don't bother commenting.

11 Aug 2015 09:49:46
Does anyone know the fee involved with WBA for Enrique? I hear we're paying £2m but I think they'll ask for more.

Is Digne a possibility to replace him? I read he is available for only £5m. Would we still have funds for him after we've paid WBA?

11 Aug 2015 10:27:00
It would be a miracle if we convince any club to buy him

11 Aug 2015 11:38:48
Now Gomez is playing well, there's no need to buy another left back

11 Aug 2015 07:08:11
Not a good performance but good result, I think it should be left at that rather than peps saying we're not good enough and city look title contenders.
ITS 1 GAME! 3pts! Job done!

{Ed001's Note - or people saying it was a good performance? Because that is just the same.}

11 Aug 2015 09:53:32
To be honest Stoke are not an easy team to play against, we should be happy with any win against them

11 Aug 2015 12:31:43
It wasn't a good performance ed clearly not. But would you not agree that it wasn't a bad performance as in no player was awful just a bit lethargic at times. I think that there was enough there to build on going forward anyway.

{Ed001's Note - no player was awful, I agree, but no player was playing well either and that should worry us all. I would rather see one or two have an off game but the rest play well. If everyone is a 6 out of 10 every week, then we will struggle badly to win. There is always something to build on, even if it is a disastrous performance, you should be able to learn lessons from it. The problem is that this performance showed no signs of an improvement over last season's performances. So we have good reason to be worried. Though it does need to be put into context that it is a new season, so it can be understood, but the players need to improve next time out.}

11 Aug 2015 14:28:15
Completely agree ed my point was defensively we were better. Stoke weren't great but I doubt many other teams will give up so few chances there. We were also never really under threat. My hope is that the forward fluidity almost takes care of itself as lalanna and Ibe had off games compared to preseason and coutinho was quiet and benteke didn't get a sniff. so if we have somewhat more stability defensively my thought would be we just have to hope coutinho firmino lalanna ibe Benteke etc. Start linking up as they get familiarized and do what they're essentially there to do. providing and scoring goals

{Ed001's Note - I was worried by the ease that a ball over the top opened us up, I hope that is looked at because we will face better forwards, in terms of ability and form, as the season goes on.}

11 Aug 2015 14:31:18
I would also have to disagree as I'm of the opinion that you're only as strong as your weakest link and last season even when we did play well a couple of individual errors cost us games from one or two players having on off day. I would prefer to see us for the time being anyway hope for consistent 6 or 7/10 and then hope one or two players have a good day to push us over the line as a good start is key and don't think we could afford any 3 or 4/10 performances at the moment! Cheers

{Ed001's Note - but we should have consistent 7/10s plus a few 8/10s as well as one or two having a poor game. A consistent 6 out of 10 will lose too many.}

11 Aug 2015 16:02:42
Fair enough ed and yeah in the first half it did look like diouf would have a field day as I think you said somewhere else a better striker would have had chances. I guess I'm just the eternal optimist ha I don't disagree with your points at all most are pretty much coinciding with what I was saying just think you're a little more sceptical than I am which is fair enough. But if you offered that performance and result on Friday I would have taken it no questions asked. Not over the moon with it but I think it had the look of a potential step in the right direction for me! Good talking to you and hearing your opinions as always!

{Ed001's Note - I would have taken it too, especially after seeing the team sheet and fearing the worst!}

11 Aug 2015 02:11:59
Got to say I thought young Gomez didn't get overawed at all against Walters. He's a horrible player! I've watched him torture our more established defenders time after time and I thought he did great. Good on you lad

11 Aug 2015 00:03:58
I don't confess to know what makes a great footballer but I have a fair idea what makes a great person and Lucas is in my view a top man.

He has bought great credit on the club with the work he had done outside the club and is a great ambassador. I hope BR does not piss him about and if he now wants to leave ( and who could blame home) they don't stand in his way. My image of the year was him leaping into the crowd after Lambert scored. His face was a picture.

I don't know enough to say if he is a top DM but he didn't look any worse than anybody else and better than some.

11 Aug 2015 03:59:33
BR has been disgraceful to such a good LFC player and even a better man equipped with hon our, dignity and respect. It's a shame BR has none of those to reciprocate. As a man, BR can only wish to become such a great man of dignity that Lucas is. Whether he should play or not is not the issue. The issue is that he has shown time and again to show disdain, contempt, and disrespect to players like Sahko, Lucas, and Agger and said behavior is disgraceful.

11 Aug 2015 03:48:15
ill be sad to see him leave bt he needs to be playing.

11 Aug 2015 06:47:17
Ohio can't you just praise the player without using it to have another pop at the manager?

Lucas YNWA

11 Aug 2015 07:23:50
Well there'd be no point in Redohio posting would there Ron if he did that. I know it's hard for you to accept Ron but Rodgers has more faces than a town clock. He is a fraud of the highest order, a kids coach at best but more akin to a PE teacher. The one saving grace we have is that the squad is now half decent. When he eventually cocks things up again this season, an incoming manager should have no problem in putting things right.

11 Aug 2015 07:24:12
Ron Keague. Please do tell why should he not have a pop at the manager, In lucas situation manager is at complete fault, he was the one who made false promises of getting more game time when lucas wanted to leave in January, which he did with so many other better players than what we bought and let them rot on the bench or let them leave the club for peanuts, Ron it's better u accept the fact that rodgers is a good coach but he is a horrible manager with no man management skills, and please don't bring in your same old Cr#p that he is the manager of our team so we should back him up, we are backing our team also him, because we have no alternative to do so, he comes with in the package.

11 Aug 2015 07:28:51
Im surprised you haven't tried to excuse Rodgers from responsibility in this Ron.

11 Aug 2015 08:42:54
Ohio,just exactly how has BR disrespected Sakho, Agger and Lucas. Are you implying that it is disrespectful to a player not to play them regularly. I agree with Ron, you take every opportunity to have a pop at BR no matter what post you are replying to

11 Aug 2015 09:25:09
Personally I was hoping Lucas was still with us by the time Rogers was replaced. He's too good a player in his position not to be used, and to sell him for some trifling amount makes no sense at all. 'Napoleon complex' anyone? Certainly might explain the idea of players being 'Brendaned' for no logical reason.

11 Aug 2015 10:37:44
Disagree with Ron and Red since, Rodgers blocked the move for Lucas in January with the view that Lucas would play and to be fair he did. But he played really well and there is no reason why he shouldn't at least be in the 18. This isn't a needless pop at the manager this a real problem. Look at Agger rejecting moves from Barca and City due to loyalty and love for the city and it's fans, not to mention he was class. Agger was the perfect player for Rodgers system and yet he chose Skrtel, it's just mad. I know Carra wasn't happy with the way he was treated by Rodgers towards the end of his career. Lucas should get out while he still can because Rodgers has wasted about 6-8 months of his career through breaking a promise not to mention how he was treated before that. Sakho will be next. We're not having a pop at Rodgers for no reason he is ruining players careers, Ilori is another. I can list more if you want. All I can say is thank you to Lucas for all his service if he goes and I will be delighted if he stays.

11 Aug 2015 10:50:00
Red 64

You could call it as either ignorance or Arrogance. We/every team becomes stable and balanced with the right players at the right position. Lucas is the only natural DM we have got with us and there is no excuse tofield a team without someone who knows how to stop an attack.

I am not a big fan of Lucas either.

11 Aug 2015 11:23:26
There is a very valid reason why there is a new term used frequently when referring to how many of our players have been treated. That term is of course "Brendaned".

11 Aug 2015 15:12:34
I have missed brendaned as a term, the newest one being Lucas,promised to be an integral part of the plans in convincing him to stay and not go in January,only to be dropped.

Same goes for Wisdom,once again signs a new contract based on being given a chance in pre season,as soon as he signs,barely gets a run out in friendlies,and is shipped out on loan to Nowrich.

11 Aug 2015 17:08:57
i think it's disrespectful to Lucas to turn a positive thread about him as an LFC player and turn it into a negative thread about the manager.
I feel sorry for you all, you are going to have to do some serious back pedalling if we win the league. Perhaps you'd rather we didn't?