Liverpool Banter Archive February 26 2015

26 Feb 2015 22:13:22
I wonder how many top players were watching us tonight and want to join us?

27 Feb 2015 00:20:32
I am not sure many top players are watching EL last 32 games.

27 Feb 2015 01:36:38
Ryan Babel was watching the game! XD

27 Feb 2015 07:55:53
Think Ollie has answered that question. Then again Jack, how many watched City, Chelsea and Arsenal and want to join them after their most recent round?

27 Feb 2015 08:09:51
English football has gone down somewhat, results show this i'm afraid, Chelsea maybe get through to next round but no guarantee.

26 Feb 2015 21:44:00
Can I play Devils advocate here and Stoke up the fire again?
did we just lose to Besiktas? Are we aiming for frequent latter stage Champions league involvement? Are Besiktas the level of team that we should see as standard fodder dismissed en route to this objective? Have we just been knocked out of another competition? Are we going to win the league? Have we spent more money on transfers this year then any other in history? Are we 6th in the league?
Question? Does BR deserve to divide fans as he doesn't? Is being the form team in 6th place really good enough? If he finishes 4th n trophy less? Is this a better achievement than KK winning a trophy in half the time?

26 Feb 2015 22:05:38
I don't think you are playing the devils advocate mate - as you seem to suggest that BR is the devil in this case and you definitley not being his advocate.

It was a really poor evening that will not add to BR's credit, that's for sure. I said all along that he sould have brought Coutinho and play him assuming he is fit, especially given all our injuries. And also not the time to make experiments with Mario starting etc.

As to what is or isn't good enough we will have to wait until the end of the season.

Besiktas are not a bad side and they have a very good manager. He did to LFC what he did to England with Croatia. But yes if you can't win them what is the point in trying to play in the CL, I agree.

I think BR is doing OK with our defence but maybe now needs an offensive coach to work with him.

27 Feb 2015 00:19:01
BR is not to blame here. Is it is fault that Studge/Raheem can`t pass to a teamate in better postions? At some point, players have to take responsibility and those two killed us today. The defence played well and I will not fault BR for this. Had we scored on those couple of chances in the 1st half, tie over.

27 Feb 2015 06:43:16
Ok I get it now.

If the team is performing well its nothing to do with Rodgers, its all down to the players.

And if the team performs badly its all down to rodgers, not the players.

27 Feb 2015 07:47:08
Nail and head lavers

27 Feb 2015 07:58:39
redohio - is it his fault? In a word, yes. He is the manager. He has ultimate responsibility for what the players do. If they aren't doing the right thing consistently and keep playing, then of course it's his fault. We had plenty of strikers and forwards on the bench, if them not passing was damaging us that much then drag one off!

26 Feb 2015 18:48:21
Encouraged so far. A little concerned with Lovren's distribution and don't you just wish Studge would hit it 1st time sometimes? Mignonet looking ok. Allen looks all right. And Can looks mature & cool as f&@k. Would've been tempted to hook Mario after his yellow but he seems focused - is that allowed?

26 Feb 2015 21:59:30
then it all turned to muck

26 Feb 2015 22:08:51
"don't you just wish Studge would hit it 1st time sometimes?" that's our star striker you're talking about, the one we couldn't do without, our saviour! who has played ok for 30 mins in his first game back and done nothing since apart from fall over and appeal to the ref. and yes i am angry to lose tonight to an inferior team.

27 Feb 2015 00:21:59
W/ you Jack. He was aweful and not because he needs match sharpness, it`s because he NEVER did the simple things and become a team player because the result is what mattered and he played solo for the whole game. Balo worked his sucks off BUT Studge just strolled along like he was the man and the rest of the team should do al the work. Very poor attitude!

27 Feb 2015 09:11:35
I posted that at half time when we were still going through and were still participating with the odd attacking threat. I was also thinking that a nil - nil might have to do as those missed 1st half chances could turn out to be our best chances all night.

Then, we defended for the next 75 minutes. We were bullied and muscled out of the game. We looked leggy / punch drunk. We were obviously creaking before Lallana came on - could've done with the subs on 5 mins earlier. Could've done with Lucas!

But completely agree Jack and Ohio - Sturridge AND Sterling could have done a lot more to help ease the pressure. Why can't Studge see that if he has drawn 3 opposition players to him then the clever thing to do is to release the ball to where they're not? Them 2 both got a lot to learn.

26 Feb 2015 18:38:06
Lovern, Skrtel and Touré looking solid at the back tonight, communicating well, positionally good and generally playing the right ball out from the back. Also seeing a good understanding from our front trio starting to develop, lots of things to be positive about.

26 Feb 2015 18:48:38
Lovern and Allen having a very solid game each tonight
Barry inLouth

26 Feb 2015 20:02:02
Allen has been terrible

26 Feb 2015 20:45:24
Allen was not terrible, the team passing him the ball in bad spots was terrible.

26 Feb 2015 21:02:59
You guys need to remove your Allen hate goggles and watch the game. Sturridge and Sterling had a howler tonight. Moreno ran his tail off, and Allen was put in awful situations on several occasions.

26 Feb 2015 21:10:20
don't now what game you were watching but Allen is the worse midfielder I've seen in a red shirt, i'd say he was totally useless but that would be paying him a compliment.

26 Feb 2015 21:25:46
Scouse Pride you probably said the same about Lucas and Henderson. Allen had a decent enough game and certainly shouldn't be made the scapegoat in this defeat.

26 Feb 2015 22:00:47
The hatred that Joe Allen gets is similar to what Lucas received for years. Joe Allen is a player that likes to play short passes rather than Hollywood balls preferred by the like Stevie G. The worst players on the pitch were Raheem Sterling & Daniel Sturridge but I am sure that Dejan Lovren will be slated. People need to lose all preconceptions and prejudice when watching us play to see who exactly is to blame. Brendan Rodgers has lifted the moral around Anfield after our abysmal start to the season and our 2 defeats in 2015 have been after full time over 2 legs. In the summer we will address our weak links and bring in stronger reinforcements. I believe we will finish top 3 and hopefully win the FA Cup.
The Real Scouse_Pride

26 Feb 2015 22:58:30
Lovern, Skrtel, Allen and Moreno played very well tonight. Disappointed with the loss, but I'm further disappointed with Sterling tonight, the first half when I originally posted we looked solid and had a few opportunities which we squandered. The second half was awful we looked out of ideas and effort, but when it really counted Sterling passed off his responsibility onto Lovern(who played well and had the balls to take a penalty)that as an attacking player is poor, the best available players should take penalties and there is something seriously wrong if anyone could believe that Lovern is a better penalty-taker then Sterling.

27 Feb 2015 00:25:41
Leave Allen and Lovren alone. Seems they are the scapegoats tonite. If you are looking for the true culprits, look no farther than the Showman Studge and the show pony Raheem. Could not pass to a teamate in dangerous positions to save their lives. They were aweful and their attitude needs to b addressed because that is not good enuff at all.

27 Feb 2015 08:16:38
Joe Allen is poor, end of, you lot need to put your goggles on, he gives the ball away more than anyone, when he does pass its backwards or sideways 3 yards or so, you reckon that's a good player?
Hes so lightweight he makes my 12 yr old daughter look like Hercules.totak waste of space and money.
Only one Scouse pride nipper and it ain't you i'm afraid.

26 Feb 2015 17:08:24
So Baloteli and Sturridge starting together, Toure and Lovern at the back and Can playing with Allen in midfield. Which mean that in addition to all those who stayed at home Lallana doesn't start. Clearly BR's goes with a very attacking mindset, the logic being that as long as we score even 1 they have to score 3. I personaly would have been happy with slightly more stability in the back and letting Mario make a difference from the bench nut let's hope I am wrong and BR is right (will not be a first).

26 Feb 2015 16:53:35
Not entirely sure why we are playing both balo and studge from the start. Surely with a 1-0 lead and Man City less than 72 hours later this is where you play borini and bring on another striker late on if needed. mb the brodge is looking to get an early goal and take players off. we shall see - good luck red men!

26 Feb 2015 18:26:10
He might be trying to kill it early instead of extra time which would be awfull for Sunday

26 Feb 2015 15:49:26
I wanna say good luck for this evenings game! I'm thinking a 3-1 win for us,

Where my fellow reds watching the game?

26 Feb 2015 16:42:28
At home with my 2 week old son in his new Liverpool baby grow.He's been a lucky charm so far.
Barry inLouth

26 Feb 2015 17:13:09
I'll be in the car scanning the radio channels for match updates. Hope to be home for the last 10-15 minutes of it.

26 Feb 2015 12:26:18
Can anyone give a brief review of Illori's season so far? How often has he played, is he playing well, has he been injury free, is he fast? is he strong in the air etc. Know next to nothing about him and there's a good chance he'll be knocking on the door next year with any luck. BTW - if he does look like a prospect for next year's 1st team, there's another feather in the management teams cap.

26 Feb 2015 12:55:27
In a sentence, he's looked pretty impressive when he's played but was injured for a long time and for a lot of the bigger league games, which is a shame. Could be an option for next year but unless Lovren is sold, couldn't see who instead of

26 Feb 2015 13:12:50
I would think that if Toure isn't offered an extension then that would be Ilori's place in the squad.

26 Feb 2015 13:12:58
Well Kolo could be off leaving a defensive squad place couldn't he? Also, GJ and Enrique - I know they're wide players but still defenders - someone's got to provide cover. And thanks for the info.

26 Feb 2015 13:33:32
Can could be moved out and into midfield and if we continue playing three at the back then I'm sure a quick CB has a good chance of getting games.

26 Feb 2015 13:57:55
Agree with Sean Ireland. Ilori would likely be a good fit in Can's place, provided Rodgers continues to play this formation next season. If we really are concerned about FFP we would let Toure's contract run down, sell Lucas in the summer, play Can in what's arguably his more natural position in CDM and there would be two defensive roles opened up in the squad. Could see Enrique being moved on as Flanagan will return as well as Wisdom.

26 Feb 2015 14:15:08
Be happy to see Flanagan return but not so sure of Wisdom.Didn't look great the last time I saw him

26 Feb 2015 14:15:20
Amerigo

if we can help it I don't think we should be selling lucas, and especially for 6-7mil.

Lucas at DM with a midfield of Henderson and can.

26 Feb 2015 15:13:59
Amerigo, why would u want to sell Lucas without signing a replacement? U honestly think Can will play 50-55 games a season on full form and fully fit? What happens if Can gets a serious injury? Play Allen there which would cause outrage among the supporters? I say we keep Lucas, Hendo and Can as options for a midfield 2 and use Rossiter and Williams as squad players. Sel Allen and only sign a replacement CM if funds permit.

26 Feb 2015 15:15:06
I'd agree with Lavers on keeping Lucas, I think Can could learn absolutely loads from him, especially positioning.

Be glad to see Enrique go alright though and Johnson without any replacement purchases.

Wisdom seems to have been dropped so hopefully he'll buck up as he could learn loads defensively under Pulis.

26 Feb 2015 16:52:22
Completely agree with the majority above. Lucas is a must keep.

26 Feb 2015 11:10:04
Retro question, just watching past matches in the middle of the park for the reds was Souness, I didn't realise who good the man was, did anyone ever see him play live and was he that good? Also seen Ray Clemence on TV and he was raving about him, was he that good?

26 Feb 2015 11:59:02
Souness oozed quality as a player he was a fierce tackler, could pass a ball like stevie an hit a shot like it was fired from a cannon, he also drove on the players around him to greater heights, until stevie came along souness was the greatest midfielder we've had imo, as for Clemence he was a great keeper probably the best we've had and we've had some beauties, if it hadn't been for Shilton Clem would've played over 100 times for England.

26 Feb 2015 12:21:38
He was simply the best of his generation

26 Feb 2015 12:57:31
Ray Clemence was my hero and as said above if it wasn't for Shilton who also was a great keeper Ray would have had many more England caps.

26 Feb 2015 13:14:43
I saw him play live and he was the best I've ever seen. He had tactical nous, hard as nails, never shirked a challenge and was a superb footballer technically.
To put it simply, the best centre midfielder to ever play for the club and streets ahead of anyone else.

26 Feb 2015 14:19:58
Second best midfielder we ever had behind Gerard. If he was as good a manager as he was a player he would have won numerous titles and cups

26 Feb 2015 17:01:12
Souness was a very skilful, clever player with a great shot (he scored an amazing hat-trick in the European Cup, I think against CSKA Sofia?), but his personality made him stand out. He was a winner, totally committed, sometimes very dirty, the sort of player you would be scared of letting down but you would rather he was on your side than the opposition. I would say he was the best central midfielder we've ever had, a truly great Liverpool player. It's a pity that his tenure as manager tarnished the esteem we held him in.

26 Feb 2015 10:27:56
One for Ed002 if he is about.

With the recent discussions in Qatar re holding the World Cup in Nov/Dec and the rejection of any form of compensation to the clubs from Fifa despite agreeing they made a mess up of the whole process, do you think this might push the top clubs to accelerate the idea of a European Super League and moving away from UEFA and Fifa bureaucracy

Cheers for any reply!

{Ed002's Note - It won't change the situation - the breakaway will happen when the clubs are ready and commercial agreements have been reached. A number of the clubs involved are meeting in Switzerland on March 20/21.}

26 Feb 2015 11:57:47
Eds what would this sort of league entail? Instead of the champions league for the clubs involved in discussions or the domestic leagues? Would domestic leagues be able to move outside of fifa/uefa if a breakaway occurred?

{Ed002's Note - Without going in to too much detail: (a) A number of clubs take the opportunity a once or twice a year to discuss various issues including changes in rules, television rights, the power of UEFA, exploitation issues for new technology streams, etc.. These discussions, the next will be on March 20/21, also always turn to the possibility and structure of a breakaway pan European league. Several are ex-G14 clubs, several are not, and some clubs decline involvement in such discussions. (b) The plan is that at some point a number of clubs would break away from their national leagues and UEFA. They accept that they would be banned from all existing club competition and the players would initially be banned from all FIFA competitions as well, but know that FIFA would be looking to negotiate in any case. It would be the end of UEFA in all probability and UEFA are very aware of this. It would also result in a restructuring of many of the national leagues. (c) The clubs would renegotiate their television rights, rights of distribution via other streams etc.. (d) It remains the greatest fear of UEFA and all major national authorities that one day this will happen.

There is every likelihood that the big money from television, sponsorship etc. would go with a breakaway league. It would completely rupture the operations of UEFA and I would expect it would require national associations like the FA to restructure their leagues. Nobody wants this but it is the eventual consequence I would expect. If I had to speculate, I would think (1) you might eventually see something like five or six EPL teams leave for two-tier pan European league; (2) the Premier League would be disbanded as an organisation; (3) the FA would restructure in to two 20 team divisions with lower leagues regionalised as they were many years ago; (4) FIFA would ban all players from the breakaway teams from International football - perhaps rescinding that position to stop FIFA breaking up as well. I could also see many teams lose their professional status. I would think we are probably 10 years away from any significant move at this time.

I hold a reasonably strong view in terms of the need to restructure football in Europe in any case. For me an eventual a breakaway pan-European league would force the restructuring of many of the national leagues, possibly resulting in a British league with perhaps only a couple of professional tiers and then regionalised amateur leagues below that. Financially I do not see that so many pro sides can be sustained within the sport which, like it or not, will see more and more money going in to the highest levels of the game. Governments will ensure that grassroots sport get funding but everything in the middle (Southern, Northern, Conference, Division 2, Scottish Divisions 1-3, League of Wales will not get the funding needed to continue on any sort of professional basis.}

26 Feb 2015 15:08:19
What's the main reasons for a split from uefa and fifa? Is it mainly the big clubs looking after their own interests i.e money?

{Ed002's Note - See above.}

26 Feb 2015 08:56:14
Hi Eds.
Do you reckon there's any hope of jack Dunn breaking through?
He looked a great prospect a few yers ago .bu

{Ed001's Note - there is always hope, it only takes an injury crisis to give them a run of games, even if they look to be leaving, and they can break through.}

26 Feb 2015 10:19:40
It seems if your not blessed with lightning pace its harder to break through.

Jack Dunn seems to pick up injuries.
But in the beginning so did Stevie G.

I live in hope Dunn repeating that wonder goal in front of a full kop.

26 Feb 2015 12:34:45
No chance not good enough plagued by injuries and greedy. He's also all left foot without the ability of coutinho to drop the shoulder so well so no there's no chance for him without literally everyone else being injured

26 Feb 2015 14:59:43
Dunn is right footed.

26 Feb 2015 16:29:31
Look for his Interview after the pre season friendly in Ireland. Dunn scored a goal with his left foot and afterwards spoke about how pleased he was to get one with his weaker foot.

Disagree all you like but facts are facts. It's hard to take your assessment of the player seriously when you wrote as though you watch him all the time, but don't even know he is actually very right footed and nothing like Coutinho. More like Lallana if I was forced to make a comparison. Hard working with a good shot on him. Coutinho is more about flair and creativity.

25 Feb 2015 20:40:14
A quick question for ed001 or Ed002 or anybody else actually if they know?

I remember hearing something a while ago that lfc & efc couldn't play home matches in the same day? I don't know if this is true but it leads me onto my question, what happens if we both go through in the europa league tomorrow & both get drawn home legs on tbe same day?? would they swap days or would they reverse they alternate the legs?? Many thanks guys

{Ed001's Note - good question, usually they just change the days, but not sure what would happen in Europe.}

26 Feb 2015 06:59:26
Why can't they play the same day? Traffic issues? or concerns about fans meeting each other on the way to the game?

{Ed001's Note - police can't cover both.}

25 Feb 2015 19:13:12
Hi Eds,

This question is probably better directed to ED001.

How do you see the best way to see progression for next season. I know we get linked with copious amounts of players, but what 1st team players to think we need to really push on for next season.

A previous poster has just mentioned a link to De Buyrne, who although is a fantastic player will restrict game time for Ibe, Markovic etc. Do you see the need for additional quality players, where we have exceptional talent?

So given the squad now and assuming we don't lose or sell any players (other than those that are nailed on to leave) could you tell me your view on what (who as well if you have preference) we need to push for the title.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

{Ed001's Note - we don't need to do much to progress, for me we just need 2 players in the summer, a striker and a goalie. Put every penny we can get into those two positions and give academy players a chance to fill any other gaps that appear throughout the season. There should never be a need to buy more than two players if we plan ahead.}

26 Feb 2015 07:09:45
Have to agree with ed unless lucas leaves we only need 2 and 2 big signings would be awesome 2 strikers (cheap ings and maybe 1 more of people leave) if ballo and borini lambert even all linked to move away but basically ed is right with our players out on loan we should be fine

26 Feb 2015 08:26:04
We definitely need a goalie.
Not sure about anyone else.
I would like to see people leave before wading into the market to be honest.
Origi is here in the summer and Sinclair should get an opportunity.
Ojo should go to Derby on loan for the season.
Maybe give Rossiter a go in midfield. or Williams to see if they could step up next year.
We need to sell sell sell first.
I like to get a trading places quote in wherever I can:)

25 Feb 2015 22:04:46
Hi Eds, I know that its a long way off, but is Kondogbia a candidate for that CDM spot if allen/lucas leaves? Cheers

26 Feb 2015 12:07:22
He will be expensive I reckon