Liverpool Banter Archive October 20 2014

20 Oct 2014 22:06:28
Eds any idea where may my post about playing without a striker went up, or if not could you please put it up on banter cause I really would love some opinions on whether that would work from EMS and the like

{Ed002's Note - If it is about formations it will be on the team page Toddy.}

Nowhere to be seen there Ed

{Ed002's Note - Then I can't help.}

21 Oct 2014 12:25:27
Presume you've searched your own posts in your profile? ;)

20 Oct 2014 20:33:43
Just wondering how a team that finished above Chelsea last season can be so far behind them this season we've spent a lot more money than them difference is they bought quality over quantity Brendan's record in the transfer market is shocking to say the least

Chelsea spent circa £90 million in the Summer. Hardly lose change!

20 Oct 2014 21:06:34
But the wages they can offer is much more than us so just except that we can't get the finished article like them although you have to say Costa was a bit of a risk looking at him at the world cup but he definately is an improvement on their former number 9, now just for a small comparison of the 2 teams this year and last they got rid of I think Torres, ba, lampard.And brought in Costa, Remy, fabregas.We got rid of Suarez, agger and replaced them with ballotelli, Lambert, markovic, lovren, Moreno, manquillo.also they have replaced cech with one of the best keepers in the world we have mignolet his number 2 at Belgium.if we get top 4 this season I will be pleasantly surprised but I predict whoever comes third will be at least 10 points behind city r Chelsea in second.

20 Oct 2014 21:28:36
We lost the player we built our team around. Chelsea bought one of the most in-form strikers in the world and a former premier league player who earned world class status whilst at Arsenal.

They bought incredibly well, filled the positions they needed. Us on the other hand, have just bought random players with no idea of how to fit them in.

We needed someone who can do the Suarez role. Someone with passion and fight. Someone who would run their heart out. Someone in the same mould (obviously not going to be as good as Suarez) who can slot in and do a similar job.

We failed to do that and actually ended up going for the complete opposite. Incredibly stupid. The committee who scout and buy these players seem to be at war with each other. Trying to get the best player possible without any reason or any actual scouting. They're trying to get a gem and that isn't what we need.

Firstly here's hoping we start performing well and getting the results; after such a crap start we are still 5th!

After this summer's spending I would think that we will be buying maybe 2 - 4 players max per year.

Obviously there will be occasions that this changes but we have an incredibly young team and would expect minor changes rather than a complete team in and out; similar to what Chelsea have done but not spending as much due to Chelsea's stronger financial situation.

20 Oct 2014 22:37:31
The annoying thing for me , the player I thought we should've gone for in the summer to replace Suarez scored twice against us yesterday. I thought Vargas would've been a very good replacement , he is not the finished article but I think he have it in him to be a special player, and we Liverpool have it in us to turn special players to super starts. But our beloved committee did n't even look at him

Also we couldn't have just picked up 2 or 3 top draw players even if they would have come to us as we had a small squad and needed much better depth. Our starting 11 last season punched above their weight largely due to the brilliance of the front 2. We mainly played one game a week and had a good run with injuries. Add CL footy and a few injuries and you can see the comparison with Chelsea is unfair.

Simple answer - we sold one of the best forwards in world football over the break. Chelsea brought one in.

20 Oct 2014 20:26:19
Wisdom playing brilliantly for WBA vs the mancs, oh how I wish we had given him the chance to play in our first team consistently.

Solid defensively first of all, then useful going forward as shown by a brilliant ball for Sessegnons goal

20 Oct 2014 20:46:10
He will get his chance when Johnson leaves, just with a season of prem football under his belt rather than sitting on the bench.

I agree entirely. A player playing at a good level in the PL who is out on loan and we loan a right back with no PL experience? Totally baffled!

He hasn't been playing very well so far this season for baggies

20 Oct 2014 21:33:30
Sorry but if you think Andre Wisdom is good enough to be winning titles with Liverpool, you're delusional.

20 Oct 2014 21:53:19
Eusebio

He is every bit as good as manquillo going forward and much better defensively, maybe if we called him Andrinho Wisdomaldinho and gave him a shiny card on FIFA you would rate him more highly

I watched the whole game and IMO. Wisdom was solid and crisp. He even had an assist in Sessegnon`s goal (a belter). Most of all, he defended Di Maria very well which is no mean feat. All in all, he should get his chance especially if Manquillo doesn`t pan out and when GJ leaves. However, WBA play a diff defensive system which does NOT require the fullbacks to bomb forward and that might explain why he`s doing good. As for this game tho, he was solid, no-nonsense in his defending and good going forward whenever he had the chance.

As Jl red says, is Manquillo much better! It was a pointless piece of business in my opinion.

20 Oct 2014 22:41:37
Wisdom; tonight was his best game so far this season. hard to judge from one game. I think the loan will do him very good and possibly that's the reason why we did n't but a RB and instead borrowed one for a season.

More to the point, when have Liverpool been winning titles?

JPLred, I don't agree that he's as good as Manquillo going forward. I think he'll make a good solid centre half one day, possibly at Liverpool, probably not IMO.

I think that Manquillo has a better touch, better technique and is a bit more creative going forward, though probably not as good a defender.

I've watched Wisdom quite a lot at right back and I just don't think his skills suit that position best.

Is everyone forgetting flannagan who will I hope be first choice right back when fit

20 Oct 2014 19:53:13
well done to the manager and team, we have lulled RM into believing it will be an easy game. Now we need to go out and take the game to them.

20 Oct 2014 22:43:16
I love this optimism, there is always a master plan for the good behind every bad move

20 Oct 2014 17:42:04
Could anyone please tell me have LFC stopped showing the under 21'as and youth games on LFCTV Virgin XL package, i either keep missing them or they have stopped showing them or have decided to charge money to watch, trying to contact the club to find out is impossible, unless you want to BUY something! can anyone help me with an answer, thank you in advance

20 Oct 2014 18:22:10
Hey Jack, I don't have the Virgin package (worst luck, MUCH better than Sky but no cable in my area) but I get the lfc.tv channel. I'm not aware that any content on the channel is PPV, so you may have just kept on missing them.

Alternatively, they may only be streaming the games directly via the website, in which case you'll have to pay the £50 per year (or whatever it is!) to get the video content.

They've stopped airing youth games. I've heard they were unprofitable to produce so they've stopped and I've also heard they are working on moving to HD. No idea which is true.

There is a lot of speculation and rumours doing the forums about what is, or isn't actually happening to LFC Tv, but unfortunately nothing solid or concrete from the club/channel itself, which certainly doesn't help.

Initially the channel released a mini statement saying that it was "revamping" but what this actually meant was left unsaid.

G

Continued (hit "send" by mistake).

The rumours doing the rounds range from - the channel is going to start transmitting in "HD", staff have been laid off, the are looking towards making it a "subscription" channel (like LFC "GO"), they are advertising jobs, etc, etc . in truth it would appear that nobody outside the club/channel really knows what is going on.

From a viewers perspective you would think a further press release from the channel would be issued "enlightening us", as it does seem a little unprofessional.

For what it is worth I tuned into the channel today and noticed that according to the "guide" LFC news was scheduled, but wasn't aired, presently they are showing yesterday's comedy, aka our game against QPR.

Thanks everyone that replied, if it is the case they want to make it a subscription channel then i will cancel my Virgin XL package the only thing of interest is the LFC channel and i'm tired of very old repeats and undying adverts, and i don't like being ripped off, LFC are becoming greedy same as football in general, seems they would sell granny if they could. LOL

20 Oct 2014 16:58:12
Ok, the QPR game is over
We won, we played badly and everyone knows it including the players, let's move on to the next game

I would play the team that can close down Real's spaces the most efficiently. Also, the team which is used to the shape which can keep constant and maintain a high pressing formation without relying on the striker to do the job from the front, which has been a problem this year.

I would start with the QPR back 5 except replace Enrique with Moreno. I just feel Johnson will concentrate because it's Real and will have the big match temperament to trust himself going forward to create. More so than Manquillo who can be bought on later to shore up the defence

In the midfield, play a diamond with Gerrard deep, Allen and Hendo either side and then Sterling at the tip. Allen's understanding of the system has been missed as much as Sturridge. When he came on, he was able to free up Coutinho and Sterling into their favourable pockets of space. Play Lallana as an interchangeable second striker with Sterling at the top (the Suarez role) and then Balotelli can feed off their running and energy.

Once we have worn out their midfield as much as possible we can bring Coutinho on to release the counter

The only reason I would persist with Balotelli is because he can bully the Real defence more than our other strikers. And the only way he'll get his confidence back is by playing well against Real. If he can't do it on the biggest stage possible then bench him going forward.

There is literally no point in being pessimistic because if we take that pessimism as fans into the match, the players will feed off that and drop their heads. They'll need all the support they can get

Let's give them hell!

Spoton, NextGen!

I agree with everything but i'd start coutiniho over allen

20 Oct 2014 14:35:50
As many of you will no doubt remember, I was one of the people who really thought Rodgers would get the best out of Balotelli. I will admit that so far I have been wrong, but I would also call on people not to write him off just yet.

I strongly belive that the pressure of being "Suarez's replacement" is getting to him. He looks really desperate to score a screamer so everybody will love him. He try's over ambitious shots, he is trying to run through people himself (let's not forget as well he actually got past the whole QPR defence yesterday only to be wrongly pulled back for a shoulder to shoulder challenge which sent the QPR man flying. Otherwise he was one on one from about 4 yards out), and he just seems to rush all his chances. Right since the Tottenham game when he tried that first time volley because Lloris was off his line from the open goal yesterday where he had time to bring it down and place it home. He looks deperate to score and it's having an adverse affect.

Stop hammering him and saying he's a flop after 8 games. Crouch took half a season to score his first for us (Which Balotelli has already done in the CL). He has the whole of Italy and England on his back right now. Don't let that become the whole of Liverpool as well. I strongly believe he should be dropped for Lambert against Real Madrid. We can't just keep on playing him when he is clearly out of form; it'll just wreck his confidence even more. However I'd put him on the bench and start giving him 20-30 minutes to come on and prove he should be starting. People are forgetting he is 24 years old with a pretty rocky past. He isn't messing about off the pitch now, and irrespective of his 'body language' he is putting in a shift on the pitch. Nobody can justify his lack of form, but he is showing the right attitude. Yesterday against QPR his decision making and final ball/finish was terrible. It happens. Even Suarez had off days. I strongly believe he will get better when Sturridge returns. Against Tottenham (still the only game they've played together!) they looked to be a good potential partnership.

So yeah, in the short term perhaps he should be dropped for somebody in better form. Borini and Lambert are in the squad for a reason. However that does not mean we should write him off as a complete failure because he has stuggled in his first 6 games back in the premier league.

I am still strongly of the belief that our teams problems all stem from poor tactics and too many changes at once. The management has to answer for that. Not just Rodgers, all the coaches and all of the transfer committee.

In spite of all of this, we find ourselves 5th, level on point with 4th place, with Southampton and West Ham enjoying fortunate starts to the campaign as a couple of smaller clubs always do at the start of the season. They will eventually fall off the pace and leave us, Man United and Arsenal chasing the two places they currently occupy and if you ask me, we're looking far better than Man United and Arsenal. Okay so United could go ahead of us tonight, but look at the teams they've played. They had by far the easiest start in the league and yet they're still making a dogs ear of it! In contrast we've already been away to City and Spurs and played Everton and Southampton. I don't know how we've done it, but somehow we're right up there. City and Chelsea look pretty much set to run away with the league now thanks to us and Arsenal starting so poorly, but we're still well within reach of that top 4 spot. I'm personally hoping Rodgers gets the team playing properly again and then I genuinely think we'll kick on and finish 3rd. If we win our next two games (Hull and Newcastle) we'll be on 19 points from 10 games. Last season at the same point we had 20. It could be worse lads, but i do accpet it could be better.

I took a bit of a semi-break from the site due to some struggles in my personal life that were resulting in me perhaps over reacting a bit on here and being far to critical of the management (calling for sackings etc). I'd still been posting on the odd occasion but nowhere near as much as I used to. It was a good step back from things though. Because when you look at our current situation with some persepctive, things really aren't that bad!

{Ed001's Note - you do realise that this is just Balotelli's way of playing? He does these things with or without pressure. It is just the way he plays, not a reaction to being under pressure. He has always taken on ridiculous shots when there is an easy through ball to play etc.}

Let's just hope our coaching staff can improve him then Ed!

He is best shadowing a out & out centre forward. I will judge Balotelli after a consistent run with Danny, still think he has the potential to be a very important player for LiverpooL I think this period has been a lesson to LFC, we can’t keep relying on Sturridge. If City loose Aguero, they put in Dzeko or Jovetic, if Chelsea loose Costa they have Remy or Drogba, clearly he doesn’t believe Borini or Lambert can do a job. The situation must be assessed in the winter, there is absolutely no way we can carry on the season the way were going. Either sell and buy or give those in the squad a chance.

20 Oct 2014 17:11:29
No doubt about it, he has never been good enough.

Now, unfortunately, he signed for our club.

What is it that people see that I can't?

EMS, it looks like we don't have a coaching staff, Defense is as bad as ever.
Strikers, Mario has been shocking, playing with someone up front or not a striker should be able to find space for himself, he should be able to get into positions to be found by our midfielders, he should be able to hold the ball and find the easy pass to one of our players and he should be able to make a nuisance of himself to the defenders.
Unfortunately Mario doesn't do any of this and in 3 months our coaches haven't improved this either.
Lambert has said he needed a harder training program to get up to the speed Liverpool play too, has this happened? Obviously not or BR would have him playing.
Borini, young fast tries damn hard and has scored last season but the guy can't get a kick of a ball from BR so just sell the guy for whatever we can get as it's not how LFC should be doing their business.

Sorry that just doesn't cut ite. It;s the fact he's playing without a clue. I have no idea what runs he's making, he doesn't even seem close to understanding any of the others in the forward line. He's throwing away opposition, and I actually don't even think he's working that hard any more. This isn't even including the wasted gifts in front of goal

Balotelli reminds me of Collymore and Babel. Pace, strength, enough talent to be up their with the best but aren't anywhere near being mentally capable.

20 Oct 2014 13:20:41
The earlier reference to Dirk is a painful comparison to Balotelli.

I loved old Dirk attitude but he struggled at first out there was never any doubt about his fantastic work rate. As all romantics do I thought Balotelli would seize this opportunity and fulfil his potential
with us. He may yet prove me wrong
but he has natural ability but that is not enough. His decision making is shocking. His awareness and positional play is poor and can not seem even to kick a ball straight.

He has been massively over indulged by anxious clubs desperate to show they have not made a mistake in buying him. The contrast is poignant with Ricky Lambert who we are all willing for it all to work out for him.

I think personally balo is an immature feckless spoilt young man who I wouldn't let any where near the club

This is a question as I do not always read all the papers.

Has Balatelli as yet shown any of his previous traits whilst he was at Man City off the pitch?

I think he has been poor but tbf apart from Sterling who has been playing well for us?

We miss Sturridge badly; the runs and his movement creates a host of chances and space for the rest of the team; Balotilli is not that type of player so expecting him to be is an error by the people who bought him.

In the summer when it was announced i had hoped we would've bought the West Brom England U21 player as i think he would've fit our style more - then again i would've expected everyone to moan and say he wasn't worth the money etc. like we do and why didn't we buy Costa (forgetting he never wanted to join us)!

Ed033 Note: The Liverpool Player Ratings page has been updated to the latest Liverpool match.

You can also vote on Man of the Match for the latest game using our Liverpool Man of the Match Polls page.

20 Oct 2014 09:48:42
Just a thought here lads but a lot of people are divided about Balotelli and are also saying he's only worth 10-15 goals a season,
Dirk Kuyt would have got that many and made everyone look daft with his work rate whether he's 34 or not,
Also we missed a big trick with not getting Xabi back, he'd have been perfect to get a grip on games like yesterday
Just a thought
YNWA

The biggest problem with ballotelli is he gets thrown up front by himself. He is not a lone striker.
He will improve as soon as we play 2 up front every game!

20 Oct 2014 11:23:37
Completely agreed with MikeD86. Talks of selling him in January are ridiculous. Like many players, Balotelli is a confidence footballer. Once he gets his first league goal, he will put a good run of form together.

His slowness to react to the quick free kick for the first goal is a fine example of how he hasn't quite adapted back to the speed of the Premier League. He will get there.

I don't know if he will play better with a strike partner. Everyone keeps saying this but in my opinion at this level he should be able to play as a lone striker. It seems like another excuse for his poor displays.

Red Rum

20 Oct 2014 12:20:24
Not sure it's correct to blame your form on that. He's still a striker missing open goals.

The problem with your assertion that he isn't a lone striker is that, when every1 quoted the stats of his goals for AC milan, he was playing as a lone striker. So you have the stats that every 1 clung onto about his goalscoring in the serie A, indicative he can do it alone, then you have the argument, he only gets goals when he's playing along side another striker. see the contradiction there?

Have to agree with red-rum on this one. What use is a striker that can only play with another striker feeding them scraps to score goals from?

20 Oct 2014 06:27:00
I don't understand this "Balotelli works hard" comments. Working hard is a pre-requisite if you want to be a professional footballer, let alone pay for LFC. He was terrible yesterday and I have not seen a worse performance form a LFC striker back to the dark days of David N'Gog playing up front for LFC. He needs to start scoring goals, or be dropped.

Enrique p11sed me big time yesterday. We all know he has this penchant for holding on to the ball even though usually there is an easier pass on. He does this regularly, just as if to show off his physical strength, and invites challenges and puts us in trouble over and over again and yesterday was a classic example of how incompetent his play is.

The defending in general was pathetically poor, and has been for quite a long time. 1 clean sheet in 17 games? Managers have been sacked in shorter number of games! Whatever BR and his buddies are doing regarding the defending, it is clearly not working. If he keeps procrastinating the issue (he did do it last season, and could afford to because we had Suarez and Studge up top.), it could well be his undoing.

We were very lucky yesterday, and barring Sterling, Coutinho and Allen, I thought everyone else was decidedly average (Enrique was amateurish). That was our 11th game of the season, and we have only performed well in 1 of them. Nevertheless, a win is a win and it is quite incredible that we find ourself in 5th place in the table, still in the League cup and in a half decent position in our CL group.

Now that we have won 2 in a row, here is hoping some of the players pulls their pants-up and the manager starts screwing around and fixes issues which have been inherent.

In all honesty, I would take what we have now, which is playing badly and getting results, than playing well and finishing with nothing like Swansea are. Obviously I want us to perform well and get 3 points, but I'd rather the former than the latter.

20 Oct 2014 09:58:35
I agree but I wasn't that impressed with Coutinho or Allen. They were both caught in possession a few times. Admittedly, Phil scored (a deflected) goal and it was lovely ball for the third but he doesn't always do enough for me. And Allen's the same.
We need more leaders, all over the park.

20 Oct 2014 10:58:37
Nice one Real AG.

Allen had no impact on the game whatsoever.Don't turn on balotelli so soon ag give him time

Brilliant from The Real AG. Enrique, the incredible pirouetting footballer.
He is like a dog chasing his tail.
He has a nice simple pass on but why do that when you can do a 360 degree turn and then give that same simple pass. It slows everything down.
Awful. but sadly yesterday he had loads of his teammates in that same category of shizzle!
Stick that in the "we played crap but won section and never speak of it again"

To be fair Coutinho came on and changed the game. He wasn't amazing but we looked better when he came on. Hopefully we will put in a good performance on Wednesday. I am a tad nervous though.

Red Rum

If it was up to me he'd be treated exactly the same as Borini and Lambert, regardless of cost and experience. Whoever performs better should get selected. I find it difficult to believe that Balo is trying the hardest in training and I hope BR isn't frightened to drop him.

Red Rum

Red-rum, BR dropped balo for the previous game. Lambert played and didn't set the world on fire. I think both Will come good, just need to stay in the top 4 mix whilst we adjust.

I just find it somewhat humorous that many constantly slag off Borini as 'not good enough' and that he only offers 'working hard' to the team, yet Balotelli 'works hard' (which is debatable) and is praised for it.

Added to which in a little over 1,000 minutes played for Liverpool, mostly as a left winger, Borini actually has 2 goals and 1 assist, while Mario after 600+ minutes has 1 goal, 0 assists.

20 Oct 2014 00:15:31
Was at the game today in with the QPR fans. first time doing that. was frustrating holding my emotions in but tbh by the end i felt sorry for them as really they did deserve the win overall.
Ugly as sin win. haha. oh well 3 points.

positives. Raheem was good, Coutinho looked hungry again and changed the game, loved his throughball just before the winner, really hope he can get back to the confidence he had preseason. hopefully he's been lifted by his brazil recall, Allen coming back is a big boost to the squad.

we've got a prob with balotelli though as he obviously needs confidence and needs gametime but while he got in the box a bit more, his attitude was really poor today, terrible face on all game, head going down, whinging if the ball wasn't put right at his feet and you can see it affect the team spirit. which is what defined us last season.

it's a shame as i think the team were all gearing up for sturridge's return and 2 up top so that must have been a big blow to the squad.

i don't know why mario's so afraid of smiling in games as his smile is world class and would cheer anyone up and bring something to the team. !
so my solution to spread good vibes is for the fans to try and make him laugh haha

i know he's not playing well but i really think if we keep getting on his back it's going to be really bad news for the squad so i say support the lad, he will score in the league soon and will hopefully grow into the club. he's been rushed into being a focal point earlier than anyone would have intended and it's not his natural game.

anyway meandering over. hope you had a good weekend eds and reds.

I agree but if he dared to smile most people would probably take that as more of a sign that he doesn't care. Balotelli did not become a bad player overnight. Once the system clicks I'm convinced he'll do well.