Liverpool Banter Archive October 22 2013

22 Oct 2013 19:45:56
"I'm one of the few who felt Gerrard was not a top, top player. When Keane & Scholes were in our team, he seldom had a kick." I am don't believe that for one moment, I can remember him being interviewed and saying the transfer of Figo to Real Madrid from Barcelona
caused uproar, but a transfer of Gerrard to United would cause an earthquake, and he would love Gerrard in his United team, it sounds like a bitter comment because he
knew Gerrard would never sign for United

But he also thought Djemba Djemba and Bebe would be good players, so I wouldn't let his judgement get to you too much

Haha didn't get a kick against scholes and keane? Ask him how he felt when he rifled a 30 yard screamer past barthez at anfield or when he scored at cardiff in the league cup in 2003 against his stellar united side! He would have loved steven gerrard in his team, he is just too much of a bottle job to admit it!

Ian the red

SAF said Gerard seldom has a kick when Scholes and Keane played, he obviously wasn't watching in March 2001, one of Gerard's best goals….against Man u and both these guys were playing

Wait, did no Steven Gerrard mention once that Gary Neville tried to lure him to come to United when they were on England duty.

He also wasnt watching when he slipped a stunning ball through to danny murphy at old trafford who comfortably chipped barthez with ease to win 1-0 with both of them playing!

Ian the red

He's got old and is losing his senses by the day. Have another wine grandpa and pull your tartan blanket up, ya' don't wanna catch a cold. :)

Gerrard became one of the best players in the world and one of the most consistent performers, he has long been celebrated as one of the finest players this country and group of islands called Britain, as a whole has ever produced and has been coveted by many a manager. Few players are held up as a standard of excellence by the game of football, Gerrard is among good company in this small and select crowd.

I'd like to hear/read what Sir Ferguson would say if asked about Frank Lampard and every other non-United English player that has scored, made an assists or helped capture points and won cups against Ferguson's teams from over the years. Just out of interest, to see if he is consistently sour and bitter lemon like. :)

Heck with it, i'm going Saiyan! XD
Truth is, Captain fantastic Steven Gerrard, in the 2005 Champions League final stamped his name into the footballing history books forever more, he has become immortal in that sense. Gerrard, that night in Istanbul was the catalyst for something that poured steaming hot wee wee over United's comeback against Bayern Munich in 1999 and was still being talked about by the footballing community worldwide, and for long after, even after United beat Chelsea in the Champions League final in 2008, no one cared excluding the two teams and sets of fans involved and of course those that enjoyed watching the ''Terry tears'' in good Graeme Le Saux fashion. XD

Echoes of that Istanbul final are still to be heard. That is the game many have said is the greatest game of football ever witnessed by the world and guess what Sir/Mr Alex Ferguson, it was Steven Gerrard inspired, just like so many other games he's been involved with, but that game was on centre stage, planet football was watching and no one could believe what happened, it even took time for those that had watched him for years to comprehend and grasp. Liverpool stunned the world and did it with Gerrard leading the way.

That one act of wild and irrational emotion and genuine heartfelt belief after Liverpool got a goal through a Gerrard header, when he threw his arms up at the sea of red shirts and scarf's throughout the Stadium and broadcast around the world, that was felt by millions of Liverpool fans and won over millions of neutrals worldwide, the roar was so loud it was as if the very gates of heaven shook and the gods of past awoken out of their deep and deserved slumber, with divinity shining it's timeless face down upon the Earth for only a moment and re-wrote destiny and granted wishes deemed to be worthy and deserving; realised as reality.

Liverpool battled like warriors and belief was restored, faith was never stronger, the dream was alive it was almost as if destiny had been re-written and a beautiful madness took over. On that fabled night people were genuinely humbled into believing that nothing is impossible and that miracles do happen. It was biblical, the stuff of scriptures. The most spiritual and auspicious match ever seen. Football became a religion.

Fergie can say/write whatever he likes, but then so can i. XD Gerrard plays for Liverpool and long may it continue. YNWA!

The cheek of alex ferguson coming out with a quote like that deliberately trying to muddy the waters, then going on to write an article for the club website today stating "100 goals from midfield? Incredible" under the pseudonym 'Ian Rush' is extremely arrogant. Pathetic! {Ed002's Note - You need to suck it up and move on.}

22 Oct 2013 14:46:59
can anyone tell me if we are looking to buy a strong, quick, defensive midfielder who can protect the lightweight Coutinho and the ageing Gerrard?

Is that a no confidence vote for Lucas then?

Fensh did I mention Lucas? he is a very good player but not the quickest is he?
and when is the last time he scored? or assisted? good, but not a beast, which is what we need.

The post lost all credibility when you said Lucas is not a beast. Have you seen the win percentage when he is in there as opposed to when he isn't? Lucas is a beast, and shouldn't be judged on goals and assists as a DM. It isn't his job. I don't care if he runs around with a tootoo and a clown wig. If we get wins with him in. Play him.

You don't realise that playing with the one defensive midfielder that if lucas were to go up field if the other team break then we are screwed, he can't attack and defend, he is the most profesional player we have, perfect for that role.

23 Oct 2013 06:20:38
I doubt there are areas of the field we neglect to look for players to occupy however the issue is assigning priority to specific areas.

Lucasis okay, we have to play him because we don't have anyone else to play in that position. but people have to realise there are plenty of players better than him in that position. when we had Stevie G, Alonso and Mascherano in 2008, each was arguably one of the best (top 5 easy) in their respective positions. Lucas isn't.
I'm all for supporting our players but there is nothing wrong with wanting 'better' . Having better players, wanting to improve gives more chance of success.
As for a holding/defensive midfielder not being required to score, have attempts, provide assists is nonsense. the best defensive players often score crucial goals even if not very often.

23 Oct 2013 13:10:31
Yaya toure would do everything (execpt against bayern muich)

Rafa is always linked with trying to sign lucas my question is how much would you take for him? 20 million more less what is his value to Liverpool fans

The only one I can think of is Diame, I know his attacking play is good but is his defensive work enough?

22 Oct 2013 13:04:07
Does anyone else think that our midfielders aren't contributing enough goals- we don't seem to have the midfielders (apart from Gerrard -pens) that can get 10-12 goals a season to help us to that top 4 finish.

If we look at how many goals our midfield players have scored you can literally count them all on one hand. Hendo doesn't get enough, Lucas hardly has a shot and Allen didn't get many when he played.

I don't know what others think but I think this is a major weakness in our team.

I agree totally and thought of posting a similar theme earlier. Look at where the goals are coming from at Chelsea and Arse. We have 2 wonderful forwards / strikers but the problem is that if such a high percentage of the goals come from them (which they do) then that makes it easier for opposing teams to nullify our goal threat.

This isn't a moan as BR has made great strides and the team are far better than a year ago but this is an area we should work on.

It's because Rodgers is only playing with 1 attacking midfielder, Coutinho when fit and recently Moses (not his position and shouldn't be playing there)
If Gerrard or Henderson were playing as the AM in Coutinho's absence it would make much more sense
I don't know what Rodgers is thinking and it concerns me

As posters have said before, the management did pursue more attack minded midfielders e.g. Mkhitaryan and Willian but they ended up elsewhere. I guess Moses has been brought in as a short term option for now, he would provide his fair share of goals over the season I presume and with Coutinho coming back, he should help provide more goals if not score many himself.

Hey mate I agree totally seems you have been reading my post just check my earlier post. We need goal scoring wingers and midfielders or we doomed, just look at teams that are being successful like Bayern, Barca and even Arsenal they all have mid and wing pounding in the goals while we only have a pen taker in Gerrard which ain't good enough. Ramsey from arsenal is one of the top scorer in the league.

It's been obvious for some time we are not scoring enough from midfield, even when given the opportunity to shoot we can't hit the target! (Newcastle a prime example) I remember the numbered shooting boards used at Melwood for practise by Shanks, do we still have them? if we do we should dust them off!

22 Oct 2013 14:50:11
It depends up on the system we play.
4-2-3-1, is the ideal system for us, And I don't think Gerrard or Lucas needs to start scoring much in this system, But the front three Suarez mosses and countiho should contribute goals.
Allen isn't a scorer, Nor he is the one to provide those killer balls into the box, Lucas is typical DM (actually a a 3rd CB), Gerrard can only score If he is played as ACM,
Henderson is just a good player, who has lots of energy and no much end product, he brings tempo and hard work, doesn't have the brilliant technical abilities. He cannot break the defence
I am countig on Alberto and countinho to provide assist,
The worst case is when sturrdge and suarez drop deeper to collect and start attacks. that happens when your Attacking midfieders are Useless.

I read with interest all the other posts but I really think that it is important that the rest of the team chip in with their share of goals- even the defenders from set pieces can get a goal or two (like other teams seem to do against us).
Only then will we be able to sustain a strong challenge for Top 4

22 Oct 2013 16:18:21
Harry, Henderson has Phenomenal technical ability. Did you watch the skill videos? In particular doing kick ups with a tennis ball. He topped the charts and it wasn't scrappy, he kept tje tennis ball under close control and used both feet one after tje other. There is a video on youtube somewhere of him keeping up a tennis ball with Oxlade-Chamberlain. You are confusing techical ability with vision and flair. Hendo, having come through Sunderlands academy has clearly had flair coached out of his game. Its a real shame. But you cannot win a football match with 11 Coutinhos. You need a Henderson in the team. He may not be that creative but he is very capable in pass and move football.

YNWAdam

Harry Scousser, I couldn't disagree with you more.
I don't believe a system with 2 DMs suits us at all and I wish Rodgers would stop doing it
I hope he will see its unnecessary soon

22 Oct 2013 17:26:13
YNWA Adam

Harry, Henderson has Phenomenal technical ability?

He has got phenomenal stamina and will run through the pitch whole day.
I haven't seen those Phenomenal technical ability on pitch?

Or Is it because we are still targeting another Midfielder in Jan?

Adam who cares what he can do with a tennis ball when pressure on in a match he isn't grate on the ball high up the pitch especially on the wing killer ball means killing Liverpools attack

22 Oct 2013 19:17:18
Should have kept Sahin and played him at DLP and sold allen long back.

I couldn't agree less with u Harry.

23 Oct 2013 06:34:49
I prefer 3 points over midfield goals

22 Oct 2013 12:34:37
"Welshboydave, not sure if you are getting at adam or not?
eg.
Morgan; poor, sloppy, awful
Ngoo; wasteful, poor, woeful, very poor, weak"

I saw this recent reply from you Alanhuyton.

Yes I did indeed say most of those things about Morgan and Ngoo. But you are taking those words out of context. I not once said "Morgan is poor". I in fact said "Morgan was poor", "Ngoo's finishing was woeful" etc. The difference being 'was' instead of 'is'. To say 'is' suggests that is my overall opinion on the player in general, but to say 'was' suggests that was just my opinion on that aspect of his game in this particular match. It was constructive criticism. I was not slating them as players, but slating their performances. I cannot give you a player report without being honest? What was I supposed to say? "Morgan hit a shot 4 yards wide and 10 yards over, but in fairness the power behind it did knock a steward out?". I was giving an honest review of each players performance, not their general ability.

Anyway, good to see Wisdom has gone on loan to Derby. Let's hope he can show his true ability in centre back. Toure will need to be replaced in the next couple of years and it would be nice to have a Vocal centre back the right side of 30 years old.

YNWAdam

I get it Adam, but as I said I wasnt sure if welshboydave was being sarcastic or not because the negatives (whatever the tense) were obvious but he ended the post with praise to you.
As you will know I have voiced my opinion on Hendersons performances (past tense) and my opinion on wether he is going to be worth a place in the starting line up in the future and received stick for doing so but I reserve the right as a long time supporter, 45 years +, to do so and it has never been spiteful or disrespectful as I always add that I like the lads attitude and commitment and generally like him, its just my opinion. At the end of the day I am not in the habit of slagging our players I just disagreed with someone and it went from there, they made their points and I made mine.

22 Oct 2013 13:26:49
Its cool man. I do not resent people contrsuctively criticising our players so long as they provide a coherent argument. Which you do Alan. I only replied because I thought you were suggesting I was indeed writing off some of our youngsters. Sorry if I misinterpreted your post.

YNWAdam

23 Oct 2013 06:42:59
Often when a player has to make an on-field decision - which happens all the time - there will be people who believe another decision may have been better. Kind of like when my woman decides driving my truck is a good idea.

22 Oct 2013 11:25:02
Hi eds I know it's still early days but do u guys have any idea about the positions in which we have interest for January. I remember one of u having mentioned a central defensive midfielder as a priority {Ed002's Note - Read the posts please.}

22 Oct 2013 00:58:04
just thinking out loud here chaps, I would like to know when some of the U21's are going to get a chance to impress? Teixeira has been excellent and could have done a job with Coutinho injured, Mclaughlin could have been given a game when Johnson was injured, so why are they ignored? are the powers that be so scared of not making the top four? if I was as talented as them I would not join Liverpool or City etc. your chance's seem very limited, Sami Yesil is another player who would grace the top teams, will he get a chance? or will he get fed up and leave? I know Yesil been out for a while but Aspas is injured why not put Yesil on the bench in his place give him some time near the end of games if we are doing well? my fear is these young players will become disillusioned and leave the club, any thoughts from other fans.

Jack mate I'm going to have to disagree with nearly all of that, the fact that Liverpool have the second youngest team (I could be wrong) in the league would suggest it is a very suitable place for youngsters to come and get a chance in the limelight. Texiera is not long back from injury and is very young, as is Samid yesil. Ryan is also a very young player now I know raheem and ibe are getting a bit of a chance but any thoughts of us competing with a team of 17/18 yr old players is a bit absurd. Most of the guys you mentioned will get a chance even toward the end of the season but their development would be halted sitting on a first team bench when they could be readying themselves as they are and very rapidly at our underage teams.

If they are good enough, they will force their way into the team. If they aren't good enough then why should they get a chance in the first team. We have given a lot of youngsters a chance since Roy Hodgson left.

All 3 you mention have only had a few games back in the U21 after long term injury. They aren't really match fit at that level so are not ready for 1st team at this point in time. Maybe unlucky in timing for some as they might have got a shot if they were playing regularly and well. Texeira needs to get stronger, his loan to the lower leagues will have opened his eyes to the need to earn the right to show his great movement, vision and technique. Yesil has been tearing up youth football in Germany and will surely get a chance but he is in the very early stages of playing after a knee injury as is McLaughlin who I think will be a fantastic successor to Johnson.

Thanks for your replies fellas, I did say I was thinking aloud, I can't disagree with the comments you make but it irks me to think we are going to spend millions in January when we have so much young talent waiting for a chance, I know they have been out injured and need to get stronger etc. but how long must they wait? if some of our young players are not going to make it they should be sold, players like Suso may not want to come back, who could blame him, Pacheco is another one, Tom Ince???