Liverpool Banter Archive August 22 2016

22 Aug 2016 23:24:01
To say I am mystified is an understatement, with the news that Kloppp wants rid of Sakho. Sakho is by far our best centre back at the club and just because of some behaviour issues in America he wants to get rid off him with no replacement lined up, which leaves us with Klavan who is still finding his feet in a new team, system, and league. Lovren who is a woeful defender. Gomez is inexperienced and coming back from an acl injury. Matip is decent. We've conceded 5 goals in two matches already with our appalling defence. Top 4 will be a miracle if Sakho leaves.

23 Aug 2016 00:47:24
I too am shocked if the rumour is true of sackho going out on loan. He was imense at times last season, realy missed him in europa last few games. If he goes on loan he won't return iether, niether would i.

23 Aug 2016 00:58:58
Unless he is replaced.

Bottom line is we are a team, or we aspire to be a team. You can't have 1 rule for one and another rule for the rest. Whoever it is, in this case Sakho, you can't undermine the manager or the team through indiscipline and I imagine it's not one mistake either. He might be the best player/ defender but if he has a negative impact on the other 10 players then he's not worth it.
Who knows, maybe Sakho himself could make amends.

23 Aug 2016 01:01:16
Ya man, he was holding the defence together for most parts of last season, United away in the Europa league is a prime example where he solely carried the defence throughout the game.

23 Aug 2016 01:57:21
Ron, if he's replaced with somebody who is superior to him them I have no problem, with less than 10 days to go in the window I highly doubt we are going to sign a replacement. He is worth is when you compare to the other defensive options right now. This decision makes no sense, baffled by klopp if this actually happens. Defence will be a shambles once again.

23 Aug 2016 02:35:19
To the OP your name says it all really.

23 Aug 2016 00:53:57
Edds told us this a while ago, you don't know what's going on in the background what impact these past months have had on the player. If sakho is having a negative impact on the rest of the squad wouldn't that be a valid reason? You assuming it's what happenEd in America it could be a number of things why don't you wait to her the full story instead of throwing out out the entire season over one player.

23 Aug 2016 05:01:37
Zeppelin, ibrahimovic is by all accounts a turd of a human being wit an ego the size of his nose. Ronaldo is also an egomaniac who strikes fear into his teammates, Messi dictates who stays at Barcalona. The point being some of the best players in the world have profound negative effects on teammates through certain behaviours. But if you were offered any of those 3 or james Milner, a model professional, it would be a no brainer. If a player can make up for the negative effect they have on a team then they're worth keeping and Sakho, despite not being in the same bracket as those 3 is our best defender.

{Ed001's Note - that is so not true. Zlatan is nothing like that, nor is Ronaldo.}

23 Aug 2016 05:45:48
Sakho out on loan makes as much sense as what Klopp thought about Markovic being on loan with only Ibe left on the wings. Even more so because he's Sakho!

I so hope the person who released this story is into fairytales. I would understand Joe Gomez to an extent, with us having Lovren, Matip, Klavan, Sakho, if he stays Wisdom. But the best CB and ONLY left footed one at that. Come off it.

23 Aug 2016 09:09:37
The Lil Magician. All top players have huge egos I understand that, and although you mentioned you are not comparing abilities you comparing the best players in the world teams are built around these players Ronaldo is not even from this planet and has a winners attitude he works extremely hard to be at physical level he is. My point is the team is more important than any one player, it's not ideal but the original poster is saying our season is over because one player might leave. Why should wexpect have double standards on behaviour based on the status of the player? If klopp fails to deliver in 2 - 3 seasons I'd say the same thing the club and team are more importanthan than one man.

23 Aug 2016 12:16:54
Ed I stand corrected on the Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic fronts. Zeppelin, disagree with the op that our season over if we sell sakho, but it would weaken us. My point is that sometimes a player is THAT good their behaviour can be managed due to what they bring to the team although I didn't articulate it too well.

22 Aug 2016 22:27:39
When there was news Klopp signed for us, it seemed like 80% of our fans touched themselves. He stirred the whole fan base and gave lot of wonderful moments including two finals within 10 months.
Now into the new season we lost one out of first two games, the other one being a away win at Arsenal which happened only once or twice in last 25 years or so, and it feels like 80% of those fans are already starting to doubt him and judging him as stubborn and bla bla bla.

I mean, Seriously?! Our fanbase is seems to be getting worse and worse with jealousy and greed for success. and yes! . not hungry but greedy for success.

One of these days we will seriously turn into most whining fans in the world.

I feel we should learn to support better. This whining gives nothing but useless pain to ourselves. Getting hurt after a loss is normal, but when you whine about it all the time and keep reminding about it to others too, there is something wrong about it.

YNWA.

22 Aug 2016 23:24:37
Its just another season starting with the exact same problems after a 9 game intense preseason programme with plenty of time to work at these things. And ten months last season.

Yet once a team defend we can't break them down and that is part of why we finished last year 8th aswel as - yes we won - but the arsenal game last week with the inability to control from winning positions, think Southampton 2-0 to 3-2.

Lack of a top gk, were pinning all our hopes on a young boy when he doesn't deserve that much pressure on him. We haven't a competent lb nor a controlling the game, passing midfield (who fair enough we still never replaced when we lost Alonso) . We rely on coutinjo to win games, if the front 3 don't click then we don't win - we can smash city and then lose to west brom.

United are 10 times stronger than last year, city are, Chelsea are and we couldn't break into top 4 then yet we don't look any stronger, just the same as last year but abit fitter.

We wanted klopp to not only bring the press but the direct quick football, not the dilly dallying around. Its the same as Brendan, we batter a team and can't score and lose and its any other time playing like that we win. Its like just the same.

I said when he joined he doesn't want to be known as just this gung ho manager, he wants to prove himself as a tactician. His last year at Dortmund saw a change in style to a more controlling game and it took them to the bottom of the league, it wasn't until he went back to the formation that we want now when the results picked up.

He need to revert back to 4-2-3-1 but as he said after Burnley and times last year, he isn't just going to make changes or drop personal who he trusts. Also part of why he will struggle to build a dynasty like we want him to because he is too loyal, never moving with the times, bringing players back like sahin and Kagawa or sticking with players because he trusts them even if there not good enough because they work hard etc.

He needs to get ruthless and just say for example lallana, migs, Moreno. Gone not good enough for where we need to be.

Guad seeya Harty lad. Mourinho WR fee for pogba. Both top of the table.

Who does Klopp remind you off. Bit of Arsenw. How are they doing?

Listen this is an accumulation to all the disappointment of the past years, couple of wins and things will look up (maybe I am that fickle - or just after some. hope) its just hard watching what I believe is us cementing ourself behind the top 4 again, and not getting the opportunity of the injured horses to actually get in there since everyone one else - some needed tweaks - but all look like well oiled machines and us with the same problems

Same as haha what a waste of money pogba is, I wouldn't want to spend that I would rather give branno shot. Remind you of any of the other times we have said that whilst man u or someone else win the league and us sit with our Morales and happy minds, maybe I'm. glad we don't play like that, whilst there winning the league and were sitting. You know what i'm going to say. Just depressed, want ejaria back. Smash burton and then hammer spurs. Come on red men.

23 Aug 2016 00:03:24
I'll think you will find that fans of all clubs have a moan when their teams lose.
Arsenal is a great example of grumbly fans for no real reason.
I'm still choosing to remain optimistic and excited about this season right up until we aren't in the calculations for anything exciting. Who thought we would reach two finals last year after some of those dire performances under Brendan?

23 Aug 2016 23:44:02
You are absolutely right I am sick of the instant success everyone wants but the way they react when we have a set back is just ridiculous. We have a great manager in Klopp and I truly believe he will get it right but give the man time to work without jumping on his case every time it doesn't go exactly as you want! I get frustrated just like everyone else but slagging off all and sundry won't make it any better. I believe in the manager and the club so I am confident we will be successful again but if we're not I'll continue to support with the hope that we will. Surely that's why we are supporters isn't it?

22 Aug 2016 20:13:32
Was in Liverpool working earlier and seen Danny Ings jogging with down the front, guess he's definitely trying to get fit enough to play for the first team.

22 Aug 2016 20:37:45
Shows the character of the man. Probably trains more than most players already with the added physio. Yet he still goes out for a jog!

Top banana.

22 Aug 2016 21:33:28
Going the extra mile 😉.

22 Aug 2016 21:56:23
He was looking in really good shape to be honest.

22 Aug 2016 22:52:21
A player who shows that much dedication deserves success, massive respect to Danny Ings.

23 Aug 2016 20:42:24
I really believe he should be considering a loan move. Firmino is the striker Klopp prefers. He also have Sturridge and Origi at his disposal. Can't see the lad getting any chances atm.

22 Aug 2016 19:44:23
We are going to lose games lads! Get over it! Yes we should be beating burnley of course but it's not the end of the world like some of you are talking! Let's just get behind the team every single kick! Klopp can really build something here let's give him chance as there will be hiccups on the way, I for one trust him! YNWA.

22 Aug 2016 20:32:35
Well said!

22 Aug 2016 20:39:11
Bosco, a child can we have problems, we just have to solve them .

22 Aug 2016 21:11:05
We know we are going to lose games Bosco, this is why we complain. We were hoping to mainly win games this time around.

22 Aug 2016 19:31:17
Liverpool under 23s playing Chelsea under 23s .

0-0 20 mins played so far all Chelsea.

22 Aug 2016 20:04:22
Half Time still 0-0. The Polish Goalkeeper think he's 17 played great on Saturday when they beat man utd 2-1, he's playing tonite he looks the real deal he's huge but very agile.

They are holding on having trouble with chelseas 3-5-2 system we are playing 4-3-3.

Harry Wilson playing, Jordan Williams, ben woodburn, brannagan, joe Maguire, brooks lennon, adam phillips, Kane, matty virtue.

22 Aug 2016 20:35:23
Goal Chelsea 1-0 60 mins goalie no chance

Goal 1-1 Harry Wilson has just scored a Screamer from outside the box.

Goal 2-1 Chelsea with a deflection, FLUKE goal 65 mins played

Penalty Chelsea

Msgnificent Save from the new polish goalkeeper he is some goalie.

22 Aug 2016 20:39:59
Goal Chelsea 3-1 similar to Bogdans at Watford last season kicked it out of goalies hands ref allowed it.

22 Aug 2016 20:59:58
Goal Chelsea 4-1 in stoppage time, only for polish goalie would of been double figures. Final whistle.

22 Aug 2016 21:20:50
Thanks 007.

22 Aug 2016 21:32:52
Brilliant thanks very much 007.

22 Aug 2016 22:53:37
That Polish goalie sounds like something else.

22 Aug 2016 18:39:28
Wow I will pop back again in a couple of days thought the over reactors may have gotten over themselves by now 😄.

22 Aug 2016 19:47:40
Most people aren't overreacting, some are e. g. "the entire team need to be sold". But others are pointing out problems that have not been addressed. Left back: Moreno is pants and Milner does not look like the answer there, bottom line a left back is needed. Hendo does not look like a holding mid and playing there negates his strongest attributes, Can isn't good enough POSITIONIALLY to play there and kev stewart is unproven there so a holding mid is needed. Thirdly lallana and winjnaldum simply can't play in midfield. These are 3 very fair points.

22 Aug 2016 15:49:15
Eds how true are the rumour re Chinese investment, and is it for the club or just a stake.
Americans will always have a selling price. I think fsg have been good owners btw, steadied a sinking ship and all.
Hope it either full buy out or none at all. Fsg is already a consortium of sorts, and throwing another seems to makes decision making a complicated process. Strong leadership is important.

{Ed002's Note - RTP.}

22 Aug 2016 18:13:30
The trouble with Chinese investment is you always want another one after about half an hour 😉.

22 Aug 2016 19:51:09
Well at least we won't get anyone changing our kit as we already wear Red, see Cardiff if you don't get the reference.

22 Aug 2016 20:04:34
And trying to finish off them Prawn crackers.

22 Aug 2016 20:48:10
@TheLilMagician Cardiff don't have Chinese owners mate, what are you talking about?

They are owned by a Malaysian businessman called Vincent Tan.

22 Aug 2016 22:57:50
My bad just looked at the name without doing my research on him, in my defence he did link the colour Red to shirt sales in Asia.

22 Aug 2016 13:28:08
Ed 001 always respect your opinion and insight, what would you make of a Matip and Sakho partnership? Personally think it is our strongest.

{Ed001's Note - I would agree, but I haven't seen Matip play yet. Klavan might step up, and a lot of his mistakes could be due to trying too hard or a lack of a partnership, but he does not look like anything more than a back up to me. Lovren is not endearing himself to me at all, after initially raising his game under Klopp, he seems to be returning to the error prone defender he was under Rodgers. His positioning is hopeless at times, he has poor decision making and I would kick his arse all round the training ground for being a coward and turning his back on the ball. I could understand it in the old days, when the balls were leather, but these days you have no excuse for turning your back. Matip and Sakho have to be an improvement, or we are in serious trouble.}

22 Aug 2016 14:36:42
Ed1, didn't you or ed2 say that Klavan was bought to replace Sakho? Would be unfortunate for us not to even see the possibility of a Matip Sakho partnership. I'm in complete agreement that they would be our best pairing.

22 Aug 2016 15:06:55
Keeping Lovren and moving Sakho doesn't excite me. What's your take on it Ed01. Sakho is arguably the best one we have got.

{Ed001's Note - but he let himself down in the preseason, so I do think we have to sell him, it is just while he is there, we need to use him.}

22 Aug 2016 15:40:49
I feel we need a bit of composure back there Ed. Lovren, Clyne and Moreno are all far to rash for me. Klaven, more so against Arsenal at least showed some of that. A little bit ropey against Burnley but perhaps that's due to having those guys around him. Add the keeper to that and it doesn't give you much of a chance.

22 Aug 2016 15:52:11
When you say he let himself down . I understand he turned up late for flight, gatecrashed an interview, and was generally acting as if it was a holiday rather than a pre-season tour, but. I can recall a few infractions by other players that have been far worse and have been forgiven (kung fu kicks, vampire bites. ) . I am sure the suspension at the back end of the season counts against him a little too, but given some things we/ other clubs have forgiven in the past, were his misdemeanours on tour so bad that we have to get rid? Appreciate I probably only have a small part of the story, but given how bad we can look at the back, I have been surprised that we seem to be looking to get rid.

22 Aug 2016 17:53:52
Haha you have highlighted three reasons why we should sell him. I wouldn't lose sleep if he was moved on, can be excellent but also like Bambi on ice.

22 Aug 2016 18:11:53
Bambi on ice? You cannot be talking about the cultured footballing centre half who is Mamadou Sakho. 😀 True, I do always have palpitations whenever he has the ball at his feet!

Not seen anything from Klavan yet to think he is an upgrade, and Matip I have not seen yet so can't comment, but absent us having a much better CB in the wings I would be concerned to get shot of Sakho.

22 Aug 2016 17:00:25
Do you think Matip and Sakho are Klopps first choice ed? Or was should I say.

{Ed001's Note - that was the plan, but Sakho's no longer part of the plans.}

22 Aug 2016 19:37:54
Any way he could work his way back into the plans?

22 Aug 2016 19:59:49
Bloody hell such a shame imo but its his doing for not following player conduct. I do think we are left light at the back then ed if that's the case? Lucas could cover i suppose if he stays?

{Ed001's Note - that is why Klavan was bought.}

22 Aug 2016 21:43:51
Ok mate. Looking like Matip and Klavan partnership then. I would prefer Matip and Lovren at Left centre back. Hope Gomez is close to fitness as another injury and were down to the bones.

22 Aug 2016 12:33:34
After this weekend we're all trying to figure out how we can beat Arsenal one week then lose to Burnley the next. Most of us are concluding that this pretty accurately represents the state of Liverpool since Klopp took over, we beat the best teams but struggle against supposed weaker opposition. I wanted to check if this was perception or reality so I looked at the numbers. In 'big' games (The supposed big 4, Spurs, Leicester, Dortmund, Villareal and Sevilla) we average the equivalent of 1.63 pts per game under Klopp (8 wins, 7 draws, 4 losses), that's pretty decent. Against everyone else we average 1.69pts (16w, 11d, 8l) . Although that is better you would expect a much more significant difference than 0.06 pts so the theory is borne out, we aren't doing as well against supposed weaker teams as we would expect to.

Lets put this into some context compared to our ambitions. When Chelsea won the league two seasons ago they averaged only 1.58 pts against the next best 6 sides, Leicester averaged just 1.5 last year. Under Klopp we're better than that. Where we fall massively short is in comparison to Chelsea's 2.62 pts and Leicester's 2.42 against everyone else. This has been a long a laborious way of saying that we have to find a way of improving against the sides we're expected to beat.

How do we do that? I think the reason that Hendo is playing as the anchor is because Klopp thinks he may be the solution. Instead of having possession in the opposition half and attempting to put the ball through the eye of the needle he wants to hold possession deeper and draw out the opposition midfield giving more space for Mane and our other attackers to exploit. Hendo's job is to control that possession and launch the attacks. On Saturday this went wrong though, we tried to keep possession in our half, were hustled off the ball and lost the early goal. Once they were ahead Burnley refused to be drawn out and our plan fell through. This doesn't mean this plan is wrong, we just need to get better at it, success this season is reliant on us getting it right sooner rather than later.

22 Aug 2016 12:58:40
Good post muscatred and I agree. Would add that he needs to find a plan B even if we do get better at plan A. So far I haven't seen a change in systems or style when needed. Hope he learns and implements.

22 Aug 2016 13:18:37
Burnley was rigid, compact and tight at the back. They knew how to make us frustrate. Take out Coutinho and cut the supply of creativity. Coutinho shooting from distance was an indication he just couldn't pick the pockets between lines. Sit back and defend on numbers. Liverpool takes plenty of time on the ball which gives them amble time to get back into shape. And with us sending every man except Hendo and back 2 further up they hit us on the break and took Henderson out from the game completely.

If you ask yourself, there exist no midfielders currently who could put a decent Tackle. Now that's a surprise.

22 Aug 2016 14:17:48
If the opposition sits in a low block and gives you that much possession, you have little option but to create width from wingers/ fullbacks to stretch the play and then look to dangerous balls into the box until you eventually score. Our problem is Moreno, Clyne, Coutinho, Firmino aren't really that sort of player. We tried to play through the middle and failed miserably.

Mane will make a bit of a difference but we still could do with better delivery from our fullbacks and Origi upfront.

It's maybe not the Liverpool way but that's probably why we're not winning vs these sorts of teams.

22 Aug 2016 18:19:46
The key is not only stretching the game through width but length too. I'm no football tactician, but I know enough that if 10 men from the opposition are playing well below the half way line, you have to stretch them out to create the lines and channels for passes to go through. And this requires not only patience but also seeing when it needs to be done, before firing a pass forward when there's an advantage somewhere. Of course, the fans will boo and the pages here will get filled with complaints about our fullbacks passing it back and forth (like in the old Rodgers' days) but it's either stretch the opposition out to create more spaces or go forward into packed spaces and have no option but to fire long distance shots into the stands, and lose.

22 Aug 2016 11:43:12
Obviously gutted and shocked by the loss against Burnley. But on reflection I'd rather we lose to them as an unknown quantity, who could end up having a quality season beating a lot of top six sides. Burnley, just cause they're newly promoted doesn't mean they're not strong or decent.

If we were to lose against a Sunderland, who have constantly fought relegation, look poor and even the manager admits it's another crap season to look forward to, I'd be more worried.

Yes should have beaten Burnley, by the end of the season we'll see if that statement is correct (everyone should have beaten Leicester last season) . But lose to Sunderland or similar then we should start to worry.

22 Aug 2016 12:05:29
Is it fortunate, therefore, that our fixture list denotes we only play the supposedly stronger teams at the start of the season? The way I see it, we are just plain inconsistent and it doesn't matter how strong or weak the opposition are, when we have an off day we are rotten. If we can find consistency with our attacking play we will win more than we lose, but we do need to learn quickly, how to scrap and be a touch cynical when we are defending.

22 Aug 2016 12:24:02
I am not sure how do you defend a loss brining the name of any random club. This has been said before, We lost to a team who had a plan which we couldn't break it. Simples. There is no strong or weak here. The team under various managers over the years have struggled to break down compact deep defending teams. Burnley is just one of those names. I am more worried of Klopp doing nothing really from the second min when we went down. He was heavily relying on Coutinho to hit the top corner just like he bailed us out against Arsenal after having a poor first half.

if Klopp doesn't have a plan against such opposition then this would encourage more teams to come and sit back. Simples.

We don't score goals with head, Wr hardly score through Freekicks. It's easy to stop us.

22 Aug 2016 13:10:24
Or maybe give burnleg some credit. They have a great home record.

22 Aug 2016 13:16:24
I'm going to nominate you for the upcoming world championships in straw clutching.

22 Aug 2016 14:28:23
Thanks HoneyBadger. When are the finalists announced?

22 Aug 2016 09:39:21
HI Eds,

Thanks for all the hard work you all do and I hope you're having a good day.

I know you don't like to speculate or talk about money but can you at least confirm/ deny that the clubs are in talks with possible investors and this is the investors that Macca talked about a few months ago?

Once again, thanks.

{Ed002's Note - There was an offer in February that was rejected. Liverpool have said that the club is not for sale.}

22 Aug 2016 11:37:44
Not for sale, but have suggested very open to investment. Could be they purchase a % and then over time increase this.

FSG need to take this deal or watch them move on to buy another club leaving us further behind.

{Ed002's Note - It does not leave Liverpool behind if another club is purchased.}

22 Aug 2016 14:21:11
In fairness - Ed02 called a potential sale in 2017 months and months ago. Kudos.

22 Aug 2016 14:36:50
How so 002? We are behind both Manchester clubs and both Chelsea and Arsenal for funds. With Spurs doing ok and a new stadium lined, West Ham are tipped to sucess thanks to a lovely gift of a new stadium.

There are only 4 CL places, if we looked at those six above and the first four I mention as already unbeatable in the transfer market, if the same Chinese group bought Spurs, WH or someone else, would those funds catapulte them to tye Manchesters level? Am looking at funds to compete and then global recognition.

We've only once since FSG (who are good owners) managed top four, we sell our best or most up coming player each season. How would we not see at least five teams ahead of us if they invest in another Prem side?

This is purely to understand and for genuine interest, not to battle your answer.

Thanks.

{Ed002's Note - So if someone comes along and gives £300M for 40% of the club how does that help Liverpool?}

22 Aug 2016 15:43:31
I've understood it that firstly, the Chinese market for revenue. As they're state owned/ backed we would be the team most promoted. They are, like City, able to then say sponsor our team bus at a £100m if they want. This enables us to buy the top level of player, just as City were able to before to then push towards titles and CL football. They still do this now around FFP by sponsoring training kits etc.

Only Utd, City and Chelsea have really splashed the cash this window, without recouping. Arsenal have the funds and no deb, just choose not to spend. These are usually the top four. We are behind them. If the group buy West Ham for example, they'll elevate them with global branding and invest untold funds for on field sucess

That's now five teams ahead of us and four positions available for CL football, which seems to be the goal teams strive for, then trophies.

Isn't this how it looks? City and Utd are able to spend £200m almost each window if they wish, without selling to buy. Who is favourite for the title this season? One of those two. Chelsea we know are at that level, new stadium being built. These guys, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the ones buying £50m+ players each season. As much as FSG are great owners and we have spent £70m+ this window (big spending around thanks to this TV money), we have in this same window recouped £70m in sales. City can buy Stones, Sane etc without selling, Utd didn't have to sell before buying Pogba.

How can we catch these guys without this investment? They dwarf the City sheiks bank balance, so if purchase elsewhere are we not then further behind?

Thanks.

{Ed002's Note - I don't think you grasp the financial situation at all. The Chinese have not thrown money at Manchester City - why would they at Everton. You are also being extremely naive about the Chinese market. You also seem to forgret that Liverpool has been overspending and FFP implications exist.}

22 Aug 2016 16:44:46
What possible motivation would a minority stakeholder (if such an entity existed) have to invest more funds than the majority? If someone were to buy into the club, it's great for the owners and does nothing for the club.

22 Aug 2016 06:12:59
Ok, the disapointment from Saturdays game is all but over for me now.
And I can start to see more clearly. We did play fairly well. 2 "mistakes" cost us the game.
Still a little disapointed that we couldn't score even 1 goal.
But onto other things. 2013/ 14 was probably the best football I've seen us play.
There's glimpses of that game now as well.
And if I had a choice of finishing 2nd (getting Champions league football), or wining the league with boring football, to be honest I can't say for sure what I would choose (my heart says 2nd and best football ever) .
If you ask me now, top 4 and good flowing attacking football, or "buying the league", or boring football, I would choose top 4 finish with the way we play.
For us to eventually win the league, we may need to become big spenders (and we not, 35mil is not high in football anymore when you have players going for 100mil) .
But would that feel right? No!
At that point, if we do get there, I would block out fees paid for players and wages etc.
I still feel we can achieve top 4 this season.
We may even have a good run, and we'll all believe we can win the league.
But I do know this, we will all definitely enjoy the ride. The 2-0 losses will hurt, but the 4-3 wins will make us smile through the pain.

22 Aug 2016 06:54:56
We won't finish top 4 losing to teams like Burnley mate.
Suarez finished second not Brendan's Liverpool.

22 Aug 2016 07:01:13
Surely not . look mate against burnley we had all the possession but we couldn't defend whenever they attacked and we couldn't score against them. That is not the performance you expect after a 4-3 win. Surely after that 4-3 more emphasis should had been on defensive side of game. But as usual we made those silly mistakes. we can pin out single names or blame the team but the fact still remains we are not defending well as a unit for some time now.
I am sorry to inform you boring was our way and we were the most successful team on the planet when we were boring. I don't know why call it boring? Is football all about attacking and goals? does defending mean nothing? that seems the trend and that is why there is dearth of good defenders and fallible defenders like stones cost 55 millions. Football is the game of defense vs attack and more often than not teams that defend better come out good. same reason why Burnley won. We are not the Barcelona and Bayern of this world that attack will carry us off. We need to learn to defend as simple as that, unfortunately i don't see that happening any time soon. Yea 4-3 is thrilling and scoring goals definitely gives memories, but there is nothing more better and satisfying than a clean sheet win.
We won't be anywhere near top 4 with attacking football, because teams like burnley will continue to defend there skins off and beat us, unfortunately they have been for some while now.

22 Aug 2016 07:17:49
I don't think we played "well".
That was one of our worst performances since Klopp came.

22 Aug 2016 08:13:18
Rubbish Akshit, we were far from boring in our pomp. And i would also suggest there is heavy swing towards defending in heavy numbers and counter attacking right now.

22 Aug 2016 08:51:36
Played well? How?

22 Aug 2016 09:38:07
mate according to the OP winning by toiling and defending hard is boring. and that is what we did in our pomp.
also there is a swing in tactics as you say but now defenders esp full backs are wanted to contribute in attack and its all about ball playing defenders hence no genuine defenders are being produced. every team has this issue not just liverpool. The general level of defending is on the whole abysmal. and we were the best in closing out games and protecting our lead in our pomp days.

22 Aug 2016 09:39:39
Akshit, were you old enough to go to our games when we were the most successful/ best team in England and Europe? Because we were far from boring let me tell you, and if you want a snippet of some of the stuff we played back then can I suggest the 5-0 home game against Nottingham forest in 88. That's a terrible shout by you there fella👎.

22 Aug 2016 11:27:24
Waro, I think he is referring to under Rafa, 05 era where we reached two champions league finals.

I agree with your point waro but football has changed a lot since then mate.

22 Aug 2016 11:31:50
good god, i said the defensive style of play OP is referring to as boring was the style of play LFC played when we were kings. it is in context to the post. we never played all attack forget defense win 5-4 in our glory days. Defense was our bedrock, we hardly ever concede more than one back then. we could destroy teams back then and if the opposition put up a fight we could grind a result too by working hard defensively.

22 Aug 2016 11:43:44
The 87-88 side was far from boring. The 5-0 demolition of Forest received praise by Sir Tom Finney saying something to the effect that it was the greatest exhibition of football he had seen. But it wasn't just one game, the 4-0 win over QPR saw possibly one of the finest individual goals at Anfield, two fantastic goals in the merseyside Derby and two more against Arsenal. I would go so far to say that side would have been the best in Europe at the time. Amazing sides to match the greatest from any era. Agree with Waro, akshit, way off the mark mate.

22 Aug 2016 11:55:08
Thank you to putting context to your post akshit. Yes, not only were we blessed with attacking talent, we could also keep the back door shut. We needed both to go on the unbeaten run in 87-88.something like 28 games if memory serves me right.

22 Aug 2016 12:21:59
DBol this may fall on deaf ears (or blind eyes) but I'm pretty sure on December 3rd, 2013 we lost to hull city away 3-1 and lost away to arsenal 2-0 on November 2nd the same year.
That's the same season we finished second 2 points behind man city.

Our famous anthem is not "You 'll never walk alone unless you lose a game, then you 're walking alone until the next game. "

I get the frustration and anger after a loss but don't be such a pessimist and get behind the team.

22 Aug 2016 12:28:06
Correction, that's December 1st we lost to hull. Stupid me I had to go into detail.

22 Aug 2016 14:05:43
I didn't say defending is boring. But when teams defend with 10 players for most of the game, that's boring!
If a teams tactics is to only defend, then that's boring. A game needs balance, by both sides.
As much as people say money has killed football, this new tactic of sides just sitting back, or parking the bus, is also killing the game.
Football is meant to have both. Attack and defense. Too often, the "lower" sides just defend with all their players, then get "lucky" on the break.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not just talking about this game. Its been happening for a while now. Managers go out to just sit back, and if they get a break, they hope they score. If not, they happy with just defending and preventing the other side from wining the game. Its not like the draw means anything to them, its more like preventing the other side from wining means more.
And no one has to agree with me, but it has killed the game!

22 Aug 2016 17:09:58
It's up to us to find a way to counter ultra defensive teams, not complain about them defending.

22 Aug 2016 06:00:15
Its sad to see the amount of negativity on here after our first loss. If the bubble of enthusiasm has popped this early on then it was pretty fragile in the first place. i'm sure we will smash the Spuds this weekend and we will all be talking about the treble.
Regardless, i don't think there's any doubt that this is the season where we see how good a manager Klopp is. His first season had highs and lows having to use Rogers players and in a foreign league and i personally think it was a respectable, if ultimately unsuccessful first year.
He has now had two transfer windows; a preseason (slightly disrupted by Euros and Olympics) ; plenty of time to get his ideas and philosophy across, and almost a full year of experience in the Prem League. In addition, there's the advantage of no mid-week European matches.
Anything less than 4th should be seen as failure imo regardless of the other teams. I fully believe that Klopp is the right man to bring success to LFC but there should be no excuses if he under-delivers this season.

21 Aug 2016 22:27:48
Didn't finish last post properly. I can't understand why Ibe and Flanagan went and also I do not believe Benteke was given a fair chance. Also it was ridiculous to give klopp a six year deal. He hasn't even won anything. After six years how much profit have FSG made in comparison to how many trophies Liverpool have won. One solitary League Cup under a manager that was discarded like an old rag. These owners are pulling the wool over supporters eyes. It is time for supporters to wake up and smell the coffee. Moneyball or whatever they use is useless. The fans want results on the pitch not the balance sheet. I cringe when those teams in Manchester keep winning things. If FSG do not improve then sell the club and hand it over to winners not perennial losers.

22 Aug 2016 01:25:34
Most Bournemouth fans can't believe Ibe is their record signing. To be honest I think Ibe made the right decision.

The flanno move is a bit strange to me as well though.

22 Aug 2016 01:46:53
And if you think we are getting good results on the balance sheet you're mad.

22 Aug 2016 03:45:23
As of May 2015, FSG have made about minus £120M in profit. Guess they need to work on their profit taking skills.