Liverpool Banter Archive December 28 2014

28 Dec 2014 22:54:46
Do you think canos will be given a chance or is he still way too young

{Ed002's Note - I wouldn't think there is any chance.}

28 Dec 2014 22:04:28
I'm not sure what other posters' opinions are but the goalkeeping position is really worrying me. I was hoping we could rectify it in January but as the Eds have said we will look for pre-contract options unless someone becomes available.

A pre-contract would be fine, I have no qualms over Neto or Romero joining on a 'free' in the summer but only if we sign a goalkeeper in January too because we need one. This would of course mean the end for Mignolet and Jones but Mignolet has been hopeless and Jones hasn't stepped up to the mark either and staked a real claim (he's been marginally better perhaps in certain facets of his game).

I don't know what the answer is because money is tight, not many good (any) goalkeepers are available mid-season and I'm not sure Rodgers and the committee should even be trusted to bring one in.

Like I said, worrying!

You might want to take a hard look at the GK coach as well because IMO, Mingo and Jones are getting worse by the day and especially Mingo because he is a decent goalie whose faults are very coachable which begs the question: If our Gk`s are getting worse, why is the GK coach still in a job? He is a position coach and if players at that position are not performing then he should be held accountable, shape up or be sacked. We cannot keep blaming the GK`s because they do not coach themselves and frankly, even Neuer would struggle here with the shambles we have in terms of a defensive system and terrible GK coaching so all has to be considered befoer getting Romeroand those mentioned by the Eds are nothing but bandaids or short-term fixes who for me are STILL not good enuff. There are good keepers out there like Ruffier (Sainte Etienne) and Costil (Rennes) of just the top of my head BUT regardless, if that shambolic GK coach is still here then it really doesn`t matter who you get.

How do you coach a player to not let the ball run over the goal line before he kicks it up the pitch?
Intelligence, is where Mignolet let's himself down. (He should have been in Fargo).
We signed a keeper, who is only good at one aspect of goalkeeping. (shot stopping)
Surely if anyone is getting the sack then the scout who said he was good in the first place should be the one to go.
Surely the scouts must have been looking at Begovic as well?
What scout looked at them 2 keepers and thought Mignolet was better?
You have to have more raw material to be a great keeper than just being a good shot stopper.
I do agree with the point about Achteberg though.
I just don't think you can pin Mignolet on him.
I would like to see a new goalie coach. as well though to be fair.

{Ed001's Note - will people stop this crap about Begovic! As I said at the time, Begovic was the one we wanted but wasn't interested in joining us at the time. The scouts were not impressed by Mignolet, he was a last resort signing because of Reina's attitude. I don't know who it was that wanted him, though many are pointing the finger at Rodgers, as he did at the very least agree to sign him.}

So basically it was anyone but Reina?
Sorry to bang on about Begovic Ed.
I did not realize that we did try to sign him.

{Ed001's Note - I am sick of saying it mate, I must have typed it a thousand times now on here! Yes, Reina was being an arse and had to be replaced, unfortunately Mignolet was pretty much all that was available.}

P.S are you a scout Ed?
Thought I may have touched a nerve with questioning the scouts. ha ha

{Ed001's Note - no mate, I just thought it was harsh as I did say at the time (and took abuse for saying so) that the scouts were not impressed by him and recommended against him. I always wanted to be a scout though, especially seeing one kid I recommended a few years back to Swindon is now a Prem player with England talk, I think I could have been good at it.}

Austin. He's crap Ed:)
ha ha. I live in Swindon.
Why did you not spot me fella?
He is a really nice fella Charlie a real salt of the earth type of guy.
Pleased to see him doing well. Another lower league player done well for those who say there is no talent at lower league level.
That is my dream job Ed.
I would back my scouting against anyone else's. Even yours lad.

{Ed001's Note - I never thought he would make it to the Prem, he was at Poole back then. He was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch, but not Prem quality.

I wouldn't trust your judgement if you think Martinez has a clue.....}

Ha ha ha ed.
I am guessing Ed001 did not have the lie in this morning.
Grouchy.
It's all about opinions fella.
If he was a crap manager then he would not have gone up the league's.
He would have gone down them.
:) although he was going the wrong way with Wigan I will give you that.
Personally I think he would have happily left Wigan the season before he did.
By showing them some loyalty he won their first ever Fa cup but they did go down.
A good trade off?
Who knows.
I am a scouter of players Ed. I did not say managers!
Not even 100% on the players either to be fair fella.
I would also never claim to be in a position to fully judge a manager or player.
I am not in the loop so I appreciate that your opinion is a bit more informed than mine.
I concede that fella.
I am still right though:)

Also Ed.
Given your opinion on Martinez, would you personally rate Moyes over Martinez as a manager?
Cheers fella.

{Ed001's Note - yes, neither are much good, but Moyes is a better long term option. Martinez was able to get lucky having Moyes solid defence to build on, a defence he has now destroyed completely with his ineptitude.}

Will he sign Alcatraz's mate Gary Caldwell to shore up the blues defense.
I hope so.
Where would Rodgers be on your managerial ladder Ed?
Above Moyes?
Also Ed. I was not trying to be rude in any way.
I really do appreciate the comments.

{Ed001's Note - I didn't think you were trying to be rude mate. They are looking for a centre half, he does emphasis ball retention over defensive ability (and pace), but I am not sure who it will be as the purse strings are tight there too with a new stadium. Caldwell might well turn out to be the cost effective solution.....

Rodgers is difficult to judge. I would have to say it depends on the team and its ambitions as to whether Moyes would be better than Rodgers. Moyes is a better long term manager for a team with modest aims, that is for sure. Rodgers would be a better choice as a coach if you wanted to try and win things, but only as a coach as his transfer policy is woeful.}

If they sign Gary Caldwell then Martinez will have a mutiny on his hands.
Please sign Gary Caldwel Martinez.
You know it makes sense.

28 Dec 2014 21:21:29
ive been thinking about the way BR wants us to play and he is causing all the trouble with his tactics, because something stands out that much it only came to me watching the everton game, its his persistence of playing out from the back, which means the other team are pressing us high up the pitch from the start of the game, which in turn put untold pressure on our back players and goalie if there was not that many pass backs then mingolet would not be put under pressure, the same goes for the defenders because as soon as they try to pass the ball out of defence they are getting pressed and because of where they are on the pitch they are terrified of making a mistake which can lead to a goal so they start to panic as soon as they get the ball and the way the midfield is and with us being closed down then they panic which leads to mistakes that leads to shots on goal, they need a break in a game but because BR wants them to pass the ball out of defence they make mistakes which in turn wrecks their confidence , that's why he should change it the same is happening over at everton, last season mingolet had a few assits because he would kick it out to suarez who would get the ball on the right of the half way line and he would run and dribble and score, that's route one basicley but now because of the way he wants us to pass the ball from the goalie to the defender then sideways to the other defender then back to the goalie everyone knows what he want us to play like that's why we get over run in the middle because the ball is around our penalty area or the ball will get sent back to the goalie, if BR gave up on this tactic i guarentee that we would play better and that the players will get their confidence back and look like the players they where i could not be any worse than the way we and our players are playing at the moment this season i'm not confident of us beating any team at the moment because of the way we play and the way the players have no confidence, lovren has not become a bad player his and a lot of players confidence is shot, at southampton he was confident which showed him in his true light, the same goes for the other players i hope other fans have noticed this

28 Dec 2014 22:20:46
That contributes to the downfall, the problem stems in our midfield and attack. When in possession at the back our midfielders and forwards are so static, there is next to no player rotation to create spaces. And on the odd occasion sterling may drop deeper to recieve the ball, no other player goes into the space he vacates to give him room or find space themselves.

As much stick as we love to give our centre backs, if the players ahead of them are failing to create space for themselves and their team mates, we are forced to play into trouble. Or kick long and 9/10 give the ball away due to having few outlets and a small side.

Watch the way teams such as Chelsea build out from the back and the movement of their midfielders and forwards. They're constantly moving around the pitch; you'll see Costa running wider, hazard vacating the wing to recieve the ball deep and central which leads to space for fabregas or Schurrle / Willian (whoever really!) centrally. The options this allows and creates are substantial.

In summary. Lack of movement and player rotation leads to no options and unforced errors occurring.

The whole system is a shambles. We keep blaming the CB`s, FB`s anf the GK`s YET the suicidal system we play will make any good player struggle. People talk about how Barca play that way. Anyone with half a brain cell who watches la Liga knows that when Barca has the ball, the opposition drops off and allows them to play with serenity which is why their FB`s can play high up the pitch because the opposition is only trying to keep it tight and keep the score down to a beating in the low single digits. In the EPL, teams will come at you and pressure you which wreaks havoc in the defence and on the goalie which is why when our FB`s are up the field and we lose the ball, we are in danger almost every time. No other team in the EPL plays a more suicidal system. Our defenders are individually very good because they were at their former clubs like Lovren, Sakho and Toure (Skertl? No thanks. W/o Agger and Carra next to him, he is aweful) BUT they play in a system that leaves them constantly exposed w/ NO COVER from the midfield. Yet BR wants to convince us that SG and JA are DM`s. In the EPL as Chelsea and City have shown, a good DM (Matic for Chelsea, Fernandinho and Fernando for City) and a good defensive system are the bedrock of a title challenge YET BR is still trying to convince us of the contrary.

28 Dec 2014 19:55:22
Hi eds can I ask your opinion on a couple of players who I have been impressed with and if you think they would improve us and if any were attainable as I know we will have issues with spending unless we can cut quite a few from the wage bill. Victor wanyama morgan schneiderlin alex song Toby alderweireld. I know sometimes players can look good in poor sides and can't step up, just wondered your thoughts on these as alderweireld and song have particularly impressed me this season

{Ed001's Note - the only one of them I would touch is Schneiderlin. Wanyama has a poor touch, his passing is worse, but he is big and strong and rash, he does a job but looks woefully lacking in fitness every time I see him play. He always looks out on his feet by 65 min. Not sure if there are issues with him, but I have yet to see anything to suggest he would be good enough to step up, he looks to be a bit above his level now if anything.
Song is too lacking in self discipline for me, he gets caught out of position a lot, just because he can't be bothered working back. Reminds me a bit of this season's Yaya Toure, without the flashes of brilliance going forward. When in position he is a very good player, but he strays far too much for my liking.
I don't know on Alderweireld, I have seen him look so bad you can't imagine he is a professional, then other times look equally brilliant. I would want to look into his background before he would be considered. I would want to know what caused the poor performances, why he couldn't get near the Atletico side, even when he seems so suited and Simeone had been so desperate to get him.
Schneiderlin is an excellent player, he wants to move, he stayed because Southampton refused to sell him. I expect them to be open to sell him in the summer. Personally though I would rather we just gave Can a chance, and let Rossiter have the role of cover for him.}

Spot on, Ed! We need to stop looking at what other players can bring to our team and give OUR own players a shot. IMO, BR has this very attitude which has led to transfers that were never needed or are debatable because we will never know if our players are good enuff because they were never given a chance like Suso, Wisdom, Texeira and so on.

28 Dec 2014 19:14:55
Apart from Sturridge, what players from our squad would you be confident of scoring if they were one on one with the keeper? I know Sterling scored yesterday but I was expecting him to mess it up like against utd. Credit to him.

28 Dec 2014 19:45:24
I'd be confident enough about Lambert and Balotelli's finishing when they get a good chance. The issue with them is they haven't gotten into positions to get good chances rather than wasting chances they get.

Lambert, Balotelli, Suso, Lallana, Coutinho is who i'd expect to score one on ones. The others would surprise me if they scored.

28 Dec 2014 18:57:41
Eds, I'm hearing rumours that Jurgen Klopp has quit as a result of BD's poor form this season. I find it hard to believe, but it's possible I guess! Is there any truth to this? If so, I wonder whether Klopp is one Coach the Owners are looking at to replace BR?

{Ed002's Note - Some sort of elaborate ploy then?}

29 Dec 2014 13:01:14
Ok, thanks for the reply Ed002, thought it was to good to be true.

28 Dec 2014 18:01:59
Has interest in Konoplyanka disappeared?

{Ed002's Note - There are still a couple of clubs interested.}

28 Dec 2014 15:52:55
I was planning to dig up Brendan comments in the next few days, but then this comment from Mr Dennis "Ultimately it's going to take BR's sacking for this to happen."

Below few posts from around 1st June 2012 when Rodgers became our manager . there were hundred of positive comments, I selected few :

"Welcome to the family Brendan, once in, you can never leave."
"We've got a bright young manager who's going to get the lads playing attractive football. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship"
"Brendan is a man who can lead this club back to greatness, with dignity and professionalism.‎'Offensive, creative football. but with tactical discipline'. Brendan Rodgers - What's not to admire!? "
"Buzzing after watching Brendan Rodgers interview today. There is something about the guy and I have a gut feeling he is going to be very special"
"Does anyone else see similarities in brendans philosophy, persona and attitude to mr shankly. He comes across as supremely confident and kind of intimidating."
"with Brendan Rodgers known for using his youth set ups it could save us money "
"{Ed001's Note - Rodgers changed the style from all out attack with no defence, to a balanced possession style." -- This was in a post discussion what Brendan did at Swansea

And for fairness I came across this:
On 7th June I posted
"Rodgers may end being our Alex Ferguson or might be our Alex Mcleish, " -- who was at Villa at the time

And for me the best was from Irish Rover, aimed at the owners:
"I know people will say hiring Rodgers is a bold statement but so would trying to get a really top manager and the wages to go with it. . Rodgers is your choice, surely you should trust him. The responsability of top 4 lies at your feet, no one elses."


For me Irish's comment symbolises where we are today (or where we will be at the end of the season if and when Brendan told to go). To me there will be absolutely no point in sacking Brendan if the owners are not going to dig deep and find a truly world class manager . When the Moyes experiment failed at united, they went and got the absolute best available (thats why they will be back in cl next season). We should either do the same or stick with what we have, I had enough of changes and transitions every couple of seasons

Essentially if we stick with Brendan then we know that the clubs ambitions will be to become a midtable side selling its best player every so often to make some money and I genuinely think with Brendan in charge we may even flirt with relegation the way he goes about things and the players we will be having to settle for(because we won't be getting the Suarez types again, that is for sure). I hoped that Brendan might be a talented manager, but this season he has been shown as what he is and that is someone not equipped to manage a team competing at the top.

Our owners will never fund a top manager.

28 Dec 2014 18:31:46
Rover, why would you assume a top level manager would cost so much? Or based on FSGs signings (£35 million being the highest) why would you assume we would not go for him
if the oppurtunity was actually present?
They are not afraid to spend money.

Personally i can't see the owners forking out the £10^/15 million a year to pay a top manager but to be fair the very best managers wil have no interest in uss, such is our demise over the years. What i don't want Welshboy is another chance taken on a manager with no pedigree to manage a club like ours. That is the fault of the owners!

Top class managers are all taken and even the younger ones are taken as well so no point asking for what clearly, we cannot have. Mou, LVG, Ancelloti, Klopp and the like were not born top class managers. They were made. How? because in their youth, someone gave them a chance just as we did with BR or as BVB did with Klopp who had gotten Mainz relegated a year or two before. BR messed his chance up but the rest did not. IMO, coach is only part of the structural framework of a well-run club which is why everything within the club is being ripped up and revamped in order to fit the structure and vision the owners want (and BR will NOT be part of that). Like Chelsea and City, we need to grow from the ground up. Money helps BUT we have spent almost as much money as them BUT the diff is they have excelled while we have gone backwards because we lack vision and structure in our approach. Get that done then, you get a coach who will implement the vision of how you want the team to play. For me, De Boer is a good choice provided he fits the framework we want. He is humble and truthful (he declined the first time because he didn`t feel he was ready BUT now he is), he is experienced in the CL and has won trophies and competed against the very best as a player and coach. We need to stop looking at what we can`t have and make our own as BVB made Klopp, or Porto made Mou or Ajax made LVG. As for the Rafa brigade, come back when you have awoken from the past.

28 Dec 2014 22:27:38
Agreed on the untested manager thing mate.

29 Dec 2014 12:59:32
Hopefully the review that is being carried out will seem to put the club right.

Ed002 has written some excellent insights in to what's wrong and are well worth reading.

28 Dec 2014 11:24:43
I don't agree with many of the posters on here asking the Eds 'what striker are we going to sign in January?' or 'what midfielders are we interested in?'. As the Eds have said time and time again, we do not have the money to be buying yet more players after a summer of Brendan looking at a wish list of players and replying "I'll take the lot!"

We will always have certain posters on here working out who the club could sell and how much for in order to raise funds for he'llscorelotsaldinho who will most certainly fire us to the title this year, however I find it pretty boring.

Therefore, I have a slightly different request for January, apart from hopefully signing a decent Goalie (pre-contract or signing, don't mind), I believe January, if anything, should be a selling window and for once not spending a fortune on an unknown quantity. Not naming names but I feel that there are some senior players who are blocking youngsters development who would be doing a far better job than their senior counterpart. What I don't want to see is yet more players going out on loan for no good reason - it seems to be Rodgers' favourite thing these days, and in some cases it's moronic! I think our squad needs trimming of some senior players who haven't been performing for a while to give some promising youngsters a go.

I am not the biggest fan of Rodgers - his interviews are infuriating and we have been painfully dull to watch this year at times but the owners are clearly doing the right thing in taking their time over some very important decisions and as long as they're right ones at the end of the day, I am more than happy to be patient on this one.

Random rant over!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.

28 Dec 2014 13:48:43
apart from hopefully signing a decent Goalie
==========================
This is not just a reply to you ToonRed but to everyone who keep persisting we need a new goalie (including Rodgers) . Below few quotes from these pages when we were about to sign Simon:
"Mignolet is among the best GK's in the league"
"Mignolet all the way buddy, go l.f.c. Reds. "
"i love the prospect of mignolet(thought he was the best in the league last season)"
"Simon Mignolet, isn't known for his distribution but at 24 and being widely re-known as one of the best shot stoppers in the league I think its a very neat move"
"Mignolet is probably one of the best goalskeepers around at the moment and can only improve his big potential"

So how sure are you lot , if we are to sign a new keeper, he will be better ?

Nice Roy.

Would it at all be possible for you to post the comments of glee and joy and transfer anticipation concerning the following players?

Mario Bolotelli - very few negative comments now everyone realises what a burden he is

Ricky Lambert - Praised on here as a bargain, now criticised as being slow and a flop (although still an established England international player).

Minolet - enough said really, they despise him now, yet loved the signing.

Lovren - well, praised as the next big thing and a 'commanding' centre-back, now slagged-off and mauled as rubbish by the fickle on here.

The common denominator is that all these layers are decent, yet have become scapegoats to the poor form of late. With the exception of the Italian, they are still very good players in my opinion with bright futures at the club. It's a lucky thing that many of them on here live hundreds of miles away as to not spread their negative vibes at Anfield

Yes I agree Roy. In fact I'd say he still holds the potential to be a very good keeper. Appallingly managed by Rodgers and clearly woefully coached. Shot stopping's a natural ability, you either have it or you haven't, Mig has it and Reina didn't. You can coach what Reina had and what Mig needs to improve his game, so what's gone wrong?

In fact will any player with potential get any better under Rodgers. He seems to be a master at ruining careers as opposed to improving them at the moment.

28 Dec 2014 14:39:04
Might be off topic but davey during the balotelli transfer
this page was split right down the middle on him. I was unfortunately on the wrong side

I'm not convinced by Mignolet at all, however, he, just like the defenders in front of him, are put under constant pressure by the appalling tactics and weak midfield which should be protecting them, the midfield part is critical, for large parts of the season BR insisted on putting Gerrard and Allen as CM pairing which is a poor pairing for a multitude of reasons(neither being good tacklers, neither having pace or mobility, neither being physically strong and neither having any defensive ability.), this in turn meaning more pressure being put on the defence and keeper.

I would like BR to just go with Can and Lucas as CM pairing as they have enough between them to give some kind of protection, I'd love it if they stopped this nonsense of passing out from the back all the time as we end up giving it away all too often.

Ultimately it's going to take BR's sacking for this to happen.

28 Dec 2014 14:53:05
I know he initially tried to force him out Ozone but I'd argue that Henderson played the best football of his career under Rodgers last season, Sturridge too really.
Apart from those 2, I can't think about anyone Rodgers has really made better, and Sturridge unlike Henderson only really needed a chance, as did Raheem IMO so maybe just an honourable mention?

28 Dec 2014 14:56:05
Davey, I'll try to do the others in the next few days if and when I have time (it takes time going through the site's archives).But you know what I was trying to say. I did it for Simon in particular because he had a lot of criticism bordering on the abuse thrown at him in the last month or so , and the ultimate humiliation by his manager saying he is "dropped indefinitely" . In my opinion he done little wrong , as ozone said the keeper is being coached badly and I really think we can have Neuer in goal and we will still concede because the defensive element of the system we play is badly broken. I watched a replay of the away Madrid game recently and if it was n't for Simon we could've been 3 down in the first 20 minutes.

Spot on Roy. Bob Wilson was saying on that he's never heard of a manager disclosing that a teams keeper was to be dropped indefinitely. Disgraceful man management and nothing more than a passing blame exercise. Wilson also made that very point you illustrate using Neuer, he said Mignolet could make 10 fantastic saves out of 12 shots but behind a defence so poorly organised, any keeper would be vulnerable to conceding. Have people forgot Reina's last 2 or 3 seasons, he was woeful, especially near post and shot stopping. All Mig needs is to get on the weights, strengthen his back, command his area and improve his distribution. The coaching techniques have to be called into question.

Hindsight is a great thing, so is a good goalkeeping coach, there the problem seems to lie, reina went down hill when the new goalkeeping coach came, if we did get rid of mingolet i believe a 100% that he would be the keeper he was before he came here, the question that should be getting asked is when is the GK coach going to be sacked, if we had a better GK coach mingolet would be prgressing and we would ne be conceding that many goals a lot of fans have brought this issue up, because we all know no matter how bad the team plays if the goal keeper is on form then he won't let goals in, just watch the man utd game against us and you will see what i mean, also gary neville done a bit on him and pointed out his mistakes that led to goals and then he pointed out that these mistakes don't happen no more, could it be that simple

Valid posts boys especially from Ozone who I agree with completely. BR will damage a player`s reputation in public as a smokescreen to hide his own epic failures. Is he a coach or someone who plays one on TV? I`d say the latter. When players are off form, they need confidence from their coaches especially in the media. Mingo saved us a tonne of points last yr and BR praised him and took all the credit while failing to mention the disgusting system that exposes him as well as the defence to the constant pummeling from opposing teams. Nowhe hs ruined his confidence by humiliating him in public just so the media won`t focus on his failures of which they are many. Same with Balo. His assistants are YES men and nothing more. If not, how can one explin how our GK`s are getting worse every day YET his GK coach is still in a job? You can`t.

29 Dec 2014 12:58:15
The ones Ed002 has said are being looked at are all as poor as Mignolet(Neto, Ruddy, Valdez, Ochoa), so from that perspective it's pointless.

But facts are that between Mignolet and Jones they've shipped too many soft goals and made too many mistakes so something has to be done.

28 Dec 2014 10:08:20
Hi Eds, do you know if there is any interest in Papiss Cisse? Thanks in advance

{Ed002's Note - Liverpool has no interest.}

28 Dec 2014 09:01:07
'I thought we showed excellent character today, as I said, we'll be stronger in the second half of the season but I thought our character today was magnificent'
Win, lose or draw, Rodgers after tomorrow's Swansea game.

To all those who continually feel the need to slag off our team and manager in a childish, unconstructive manner I often find that the United page is a good starting point.

The constant whiny dirge on this page is becoming a joke.

This is not just aimed at you WelshBoy, even though i'm replying to your post.

Don't forget the 'resilience' as well .

Walton red, it would be funny if it wasn't so mind numbingly obvious BR is going to insult us further.

28 Dec 2014 12:31:22
Yes, Walton Red, yes.

28 Dec 2014 14:04:45
I don't think I was slagging him off at all Walton.
It was just a joke, nothing sinister, although I will concede that I should have mentioned our second half intensity picking up just to make it that bit more believable.

Walton, you talk a lot of sense many a time on these boards BUT I will disagree with you here. BR has shown his true colors as a decent manager with the ego and arrogance of Narcissus. He tlks a great game anas my mom always says, "When a man talks too much, he lies too much". He is a politician and an opportunist who will gladly take credit for anything good that happens to the team as quicly as he is ready to shift blame and responsibility to others when things don`t go his way. He has trashed the commitee, Balo, Mingo and who ever else he can in a bid to hide himself from the responbility of having to defend his aweful record on the field and in the TW. Balo is the one that annoys me the most. He is the scapegoat for all that is wrong with LFC YET BR ould have stood his ground and said NO to the signing. He conveniently let it happen and took all the credit for his good showing at the Spurs game. But ass soon as things got sour, BR now bashes him in the media and in fact talks more about Balo than even the media do. All in all, BR will b gone and I for one am fed up w/ him and his political and courageless antics.

28 Dec 2014 08:23:19
Ok so I've made a couple of changes to my earlier post is this more realistic?
27 Dec 2014 09:23:40
Ideal January
Sell Lucas buy Mulumbu
Sell Balotelli and Borini buy Martinez
Bring in Horn
Should be fairly easy for a club like ours to achieve this type of window but alas due to ridiculous spending already I know none will happen

I would much rather see us put all our efforts in to buying a goal keeper. If we can get Cech. If not then don't buy a keeper for the sake of it and hope Cech is available at end of year. Just think how much value for money the likes of Van Der Sa (excuse spelling) and Friedel were at 30 plus years old. Experience always helps with goal keepers it seems.

Our front line will benefit from more pace if we are to play like last season. Sterling up front has proved this already in 3 games. So is Bony the answer, I admit on current form he isa better like for like replacement to Mario and Borini may as well be sold best for him and the club. Or is a fit Sturridge and a replacement in Sterling enough? We have good quality to replace sterling out wide available anyway should he play at top? I think Markovic will come good in particular and I'd like to see Lallana playing regular too. Hate to say it but Gerrard needs to be used less regularly, akin to Gary McAllister in his time at LFC there will still be certain games he will be invaluable for.

Eds reds I said at the end of the summer that sterling could play uptop with sturridge, he's done ok on his own, would like to see the two together, and as pointed out, plenty of other p, ayers for outwide and number 10.

Difference between McAllister and Gerrard is that what McAllister list in the page in his legs, he made up for in his head and his feet, Gerrard isn't that clever a footballer to do that. Personally I would rather he be allowed to move on.

{Ed002's Note - He doesn't need to be "allowed" - it is 100% his decision.}

29 Dec 2014 13:02:31
Sorry Ed002, wrong choice of words, meant that the club do not offer him an extension to his current contract so he becomes a free agent.

28 Dec 2014 03:19:26
Can't get my head around one thing that I keep hearing on this site.
How Brendan Rodgers 'aparantly' promised the premier league title to the owners this season?
How? Was this prior or after selling the best striker in world football because if anyone at the top had the ambition of the fans, world class players would be at this club and not being sold off.
You don't come so so close and completely dismantle the team adding 8 players. Something is definately wrong with the clubs ambitions it doesn't make sense at all

28 Dec 2014 09:14:05
That's all great US saying we should keep world class players but when they keep getting in trouble imo on purpose and generally treating the club as a stepping stone to where he wants to be he had to go.Is this a sign that we r not as big a club as we once were probably but imo a few of the players bought in the summer will prove to be better than first thought maybe under a different coach though as a few people r suggesting recently.

27 Dec 2014 21:25:05
Ed1
I feel can' best position is in midfield getting forward, he looked top class against Chelsea, very good feet!
Now Rodgers has come out saying he's preferred game is defensive, is this a worrie for the lad?
It's good that he can play a few positions but I feel Rodgers is gunna waste his talents.
Your view?

{Ed001's Note - I haven't seen enough of him to judge him, so I will just have to hope the coaching staff have got to know him well enough to do so.}

I wouldn't pay too much attention to what Rodgers has to say anymore.

Can should play CM imo. He has a good touch, very good physically and a wicked shot on him. Making him sit deep to protect the defense would be a waste of his many talents. He reminds me of Toure when at Barca. Give him a bit of freedom on the pitch and we will have one of the most complete CMs in world football at our disposal. Hendo was brilliant last season for us in that box to box midfielder role, now just imagine a much more talented Ca playing there and how much it would benefit the team.

Ted clearly likes him on the right side of a back three. It's the usual spin to suit.

Only a clueless manager would play Can as a CB when clearly his talents would be better suited in the CM position BUT of course, the SG`s and JA`s have to play even tho every an and his cat knows they ae not what we need. B4 the SG worshippers slate him, I am am SG junkie to the point that I have an LFC shirt w/ his number w/ "LEGEND" inscribed behind it so keep your pants on. I am not foolish to the fact that he offers little to nothing in some games to the point of us playing a man short this happens when he starts). He just can`t cut it anymore and frankly, we need to move on as a club and do what`s best for the club. He is a defensive liability and gets attracted to the ball hence, loses his man like he lost Giroud for the Arsenal goal. He`s been a god here for years but hard decisions need to be made. As for Allen, he is a good player BUT doesn`t fit the high press system his teamates excel at hence, he slows us down and like SG, is not physically strong enuff to play the DM even tho BR has tried and failed at trying to convince us of the contrary.

In terms of the player we currently have; Moreno, Can, Lucas, Markovic as a midfield four would be ideal. But Gerrard and Henderson are captain and vice captain so….