Liverpool Banter Archive February 06 2018

06 Feb 2018 21:19:22
Ive just read the club are set to announce the expansion of the Anfield road end and bring the capacity to 61,000. Just wondering if any of the Eds can confirm this? thanks in advance.

{Ed002's Note - 60k was the agreed limit

06 Feb 2018 22:03:28
Not seen this. Is it confirmed then ed mate and do you no when its being done please?

{Ed002's Note - I have no idea.}

06 Feb 2018 22:40:20
Apparently their gona announce it in the next few days and hope to have it finished by May 2021? No start date given. Here's hoping anyway.

06 Feb 2018 23:12:52
And people moan about our owners lol. They get nothing but respect from me, even if this doesn't go ahead (which I think it will) they have done nothing but help us out in every way possible. Fair play to them.

07 Feb 2018 01:54:26
Sorry Salah but you're deluded if you think the owners are 'helping us out'. They seem like responsible business owners but don't think that a single decision is based on anything other than financial gain.
Fortunately, smart business decisions often benefit us as fans too but a stadium extension has nothing to do with keeping the supporters happy.

07 Feb 2018 05:01:49
Sounds like nothing will make you happy mate.
Good on em, hope they handle the PR side of the ticket prices better than last time.

07 Feb 2018 08:24:16
It wouldn't make much sense to go over the 60k limit for an extra 1000 seats with all the extra costs it would accrue.

07 Feb 2018 10:00:40
Good on the owners to do that if confirmed. A business is there to make a profit, end of story so I don't understand why people get on the owners' back for running LFC as a business. LFC IS a business and is there to succeed and make profits off of success on the pitch and provided we don't need to sell to survive which is the case right now, we are a very healthy business and hopefully we will be successful trophy-wise soon and keep growing. They do have to handle the ticket costs issues right tho. Not a difficult thing to grasp.

07 Feb 2018 11:12:13
It could be 75,000 seater and it would still be a nightmare to get tickets lol.

{Ed002's Note - That is not going to happen.}

07 Feb 2018 11:05:08
Sorry red lorry but you are too cynical dude have some optimism. Of course the owners know they can make more money with 10000 new seats but mate, how much money are they really making? 100.000 a year. That is peaanuts to the guys who bought a 75 mil defender and sold a 140.000.000 player. It is the fans who benefit the most. We are a big club but our ground is falling behind to arsenal, utd and spurs and chelsea.

07 Feb 2018 11:17:25
BRover, I agree 110% mate with all of your post.

RedLorryRedLorry, you think I'm deluded that's ok, I won't even get into the debate with you mate because it's pretty evident you have no idea what your talking about.

07 Feb 2018 12:48:04
All i said is that FSG are not in the business of ‘helping out’ fans. Maybe they are registered as a charity and i was unaware. Maybe they are not planning to profit from extending the ground. Bloody nice chaps if that’s true.

07 Feb 2018 18:21:51
Monty Python, " what have the roman's ever done for us. "

"Well roads, schools, drains, clean water, safe streets, ect".

Does feel like that regarding FSG on here sometimes, saved us from bankruptcy, new stand, perhaps another, manager we all wanted, most expensive defender in the world, Salah, Mane, Firminio, and Keita on his way, playing some of the most exciting football in Europe.

But apart from that what have FSG done for us. Jeez.

06 Feb 2018 17:26:43
Not LFC related but It is just very surprising to see Conte falling from grace.

They were unstoppable last season but it seems like his system has been found out and that his players have lost faith in him.

Asking for public backing from the club he manages is not a very good sign for him. He has also been having digs at the club in the media about his future.

The one thing I like about Klopp is that he does not hang dirty washing in public. Yes he caused some huge problems regarding the VVD and Keita deals but fact is that he got both over the line.

Klopp may act like a bit of a clown but he does take his job seriously. He has hardly mentioned FSG either which seems to suggest that they are happy with him, irrespective of some of his antics and fully backing him financially.

I have read stories where Klopp skipped the bus after a loss while he was at Dortmund and would rather walk home pondering what went wrong with the result.

Fingers crossed, he gets things right at LFC.

06 Feb 2018 18:01:31
As much as I do like to see a rival struggling I think that's a little rose-tinted about Klopp.

He has done plenty out in the open which didn't need to be.

Talking about the GK situation being the main one. There was no need for him to say GK was 1st choice, or announce when he'd changed his mind or anything like that.

Talking about players from other clubs is another one, let's not kid ourselves that lots of the VVD mess was Klopp's own doing.

This is not Klopp bashing at all, i think he's a great manager and is definitely right for Liverpool and is making improvements (although results are yet to show the full extent of these improvements yet) .

I think Klopp is getting better and better with time and long may it continue.

06 Feb 2018 18:20:07
Klopp does his talking on the pitch. That is where the talking is supposed to be done. He has had spats with players on the pitch but does not drag it into the media.

The GK situation has been the biggest mystery to be honest. How Mignolet was awarded a new contract was beyond everyone. That is a fact.

Klopp does seem to want to get the better out of most the players that he took over from Rodgers. Look at how Joe Allen improved under Klopp but even a blind man could see he was never going to be good enough. Even Lallana became bit of a Superman under Klopp.

Firmino has absolutely flourished under Klopp and is twice, thrice, 100 times the player he was under Brendan.

It is not like we are tracking back under Klopp. Took over from the mess Brendan left us in and now we seem to be becoming a top 4 team again.

Silverware the only thing missing now.

06 Feb 2018 18:44:32
Spot on, Max. RD, I see your points as well. Klopp is an open book and tho, he is to blame for the GK situation, he does things his way and we may disagree at times BUT he is who he is. As you say, he is getting better and long may it continue.

06 Feb 2018 19:27:24
Fun fact, the last 5 managers to win the Premier League before Conte all left their clubs within two years.

Mancini (11-12) was sacked. Mr. Ferguson (12-13) retired. Pellegrini's (13-14) contract wasn't renewed, and Mourinho (14-15) and Ranieri (15-16) were sacked. And now there's speculation about Conte.

I wouldn't bet on Guardiola being at Man City in 2020.

06 Feb 2018 19:39:13
Nice post Something Red.

Money has taken over the game but you wonder who City will call on if Guardiola implodes next season :-o

Who will Chelsea going to hunt next.

07 Feb 2018 00:27:40
Fully backing him financially? Hahaha 😂😂. Haven't laughed so much since my last enema. Sounds like your more of an FSG fan than the team.

07 Feb 2018 05:42:46
Classic Waro spouting gobbledygook again.

07 Feb 2018 12:41:30
He talks about the gk situation because he is asked about the gk situation. i've never seen him slag our Players. He is very good at defending the boys. He always has an excuse for any mistakes the boys make

I'd rather have klopp than conte all day. There is no one I would rather have.

06 Feb 2018 14:56:54
did anyone notice that our new left back Tony Gallacher made his U23 debut last night, and played well, in the same game, we went down to 9 men, Lallana and another were sent off, so some good and some not so good news,
the 3 match ban does not cover the premiership games .

06 Feb 2018 17:13:57
in my opinion it should cover the first team games that was just ridiculous behaviour.

06 Feb 2018 20:14:43
No excuses, but we've all seen the underage or 3nd div players have a niggle when first teamers come down for a game! WHether that is the situation here or not, lallana would have had being taken out that at the back of his mind.

07 Feb 2018 00:39:50
It was very very poor from Lallana, perhaps a poor challenge but I didn’t see it even being that bad, maybe the camera angle missed something though.

07 Feb 2018 06:00:07
It was a nothing challenge, perhaps a little heavy handed, but nothing that doesn't happen in pretty much every game you see. Don't know what Lallana's problem was but he was bang out of order and had no reason to react the way he did, the club should punish him for setting a bad example and failing to control himself - gripping a 19 year old youth player round the throat is not on, especially when the lad did nothing particularly wrong.

07 Feb 2018 08:19:53
To the op, why worry about something you can't change, plus worrying shortens your life.

06 Feb 2018 14:17:47
Good Afternoon Redmen,

Lots of activity from the reds over the last few days of the window means we have nice long list of players on loan :)

Lazar Markovic (Remember him) completed a loan move to Champions League chasing Anderlecht who drew 2-2 with KV Mecchelen on Sunday.
Markovic was not in the squad.

Another player to get a loan late in the window was Harry Wilson but not before he signed a new deal with the reds if I remember correctly?
Wilson has been scoring goals for fun for the u23 and hopefully he will carry this form into the championship where he has joined relegation threatened Hull.
It was not the ideal start for Wilson however as despite a late sub appearance he was unable to prevent Hull losing 2-1 away to Preston.

A former cult hero but now destined to leave the club Jon Flannaghan moved to Bolton on loan on the last day of the window. Another relegation threatened club.
Jon was on the bench Sunday as Bolton beat Bristol 1-0.

Ejaria found himself loaned to Sunderland late in the window and thrown straight into action as Sunderland desperately fight relegation!
He started in a 3 man midfield alongside the talented Lee Catermole. but could not help Sunderland avoid defeat losing 2-0 to Ipswich.

A player we all want to see do well is Danny Sturridge who found himself loaned to West Brom late in the window.
Sturridge started for West Brom at the weekend but was subbed off afer the hour mark for a pretty subdued performance as West Brom lost 3-2 at home to Saints.

Awoniyi came off the subs bench as REM lost 1-0 at home to GENK.
REM sit comfortably 10 points above the drop but 11 points below European spots. The true definition of midtable mediocracy.

Apollon and Allan had the dream start in their top of the table clash with APOEL taking the lead after 20 minutes, however in the space of a crazy 15 minute spell in the second half they conceded twice and got a red card eventually losing 2-1.
They now sit 2nd 2 points behind their rivals with 4 games left to play.

Origi started and scored the opener as Wolfsburg faced Stuttgart at home.
Unfortunately Stuttgart equalised after and hour with the game finishing 1-1.
As things stand Wolfsburg are only 4 points above the drop.

Chirivella played for 70 minutes as Willem II lost 1-0 to bootom of the table Sparta, the goal coming from the fantastically named Fred Friday.
The result was not ideal for Willem as they now sit just 1 point above the drop zone.

Connor Randall played for 45 but got subbed at half time due to a slight knock as Hearts beat St Johnstone 1-0.

Ojo again sat out through injury as Fulham beat Nottingham Forest 2-0.

Naby Keita got an assist and scored an 8.2 on Opta stats as RBL won 1-0 away to B M'Gladbach.
The win sees RBL move to 3rd 1 point above Schalke in 5th. The Bundesliga is even closer then the prem with only 4 points separating 2nd and 8th!

Corey Whelan was an unused sub as Yeovil beat Cambridge 2-0.

Virute did not make the squad as Notts County beat Crewe 4-1.

Ryan Kent played the full 90 as promotion chasing Bristol suffered a shock defeat to Bolton. His stats for the game suggest his was the worst player on the pitch scoring a lousy 5.2 on Opta.

Grujic seems to of settled into life well at Cardiff and has been an ever present in their midfield since his move.
Grujic played for 80 mins at the weekend as Cardiff beat Leeds 4-1. He picked up a booking for his troubles.
Cardiff sit 4th in the league just 3 points and a game in hand behind Derby who hold the second automatic promotion spot.

And that's your lot Redmen.

06 Feb 2018 14:56:39
"the talented Lee Catermole" - that really made me chuckle

Amazing review though Carra, nice one!

06 Feb 2018 15:08:35
Surprised Pep hasn't come in for some of them!

06 Feb 2018 16:17:16
Thanks Carra top man.

07 Feb 2018 08:24:04
Excellent thanks carra.

06 Feb 2018 12:02:15
It's such a strange feeling to be a Liverpool fan right now. At the start of the season (and probably at the mid-point of the season too) we would have happily taken being 3rd in the EPL above Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal with a third of the season to go and to be in the knockout stages of the ECL. We've added a colossal defender in VVD and have seen the steady improvement of Firmino, Gomez and Trent-Alexander. We have also seen the dynamite impact of Mo Salah and the slight improvement at left back with Robertson and Moreno. However, I think what unnerves me personally is that it seems to take multiple windows to address one problem position whilst poor squad/ recruitment planning leaves us adding more problem positions to deal with. ie we fix one position, and two more positions become a problem. I understand Klopp giving everyone a chance but by the 3rd window he should have addressed GK and CB positions. Our midfield has regressed severely this season with a mix of sales (Phil, Lucas), poor form/ consistency (Emre, Gini) and injuries (Hendo, Lallana, Grujic) and despite Keita incoming in the summer it feels like we still need two more there at least. Add the fact that Mane has been playing below his ability it's pretty incredible that we're in 3rd place! So yeah, I am feeling a bit schizophrenic about LFC at the moment.

06 Feb 2018 13:32:21
Welcome to football in the real world!
Players come and players go. Players get injured or ill and lose form, some players live up to the expectations, some don't. Players can be deemed good enough until an upgrade suddenly becomes available (ie VvD) .
It's filled with constantly changing variables, that's what makes it exciting.

06 Feb 2018 14:18:49
Colossal vvd? Ha remind me how many clean sheets does he have? Not hating on vvd he's a good player but I don't think he's going to turn out to be the messiah, bit like klopp.

06 Feb 2018 14:54:32
I reckon once this coming summer transfer window is complete, we will have a squad capable of challenging for the title.

Keita already done, we will sign another CM as Can is leaving. We are looking at GK's and probably we will get another RB as Clyne's days are looking like coming to an end and another forward.

Finishing top 4 this season, getting as far as possible in the CL will be progress for me.

Next season we will need to see some silverware delivered though.

06 Feb 2018 15:13:52
maxlfc - like your optimism but the last 4/ 5 windows suggest we won't fix GK, CDM, CM and playmaker positions in a single window. That means we'll be carrying at last one or two of these weaknesses into next season.

dublingunner - colossus means giant, not messiah.

06 Feb 2018 16:20:58
Pelican

Our squad is finally taking shape since Klopp took over. Compare it to the squad Klopp took over from Brendan and it is like night and day.

This coming summer the club will spend big again on bringing in the players Klopp wants.

The one thing that makes me confident is that Klopp makes use of the players he signs unlike in many, many, many previous windows where we have seen players arrive with no positive outcome.

This summer is going to be a massive on for LFC to add the missing pieces to the puzzle. Hopefully Klopp is the manager to finally get things right.

06 Feb 2018 16:25:12
FlyP - it will be a different transfer window than the last few. If we get in the top 4 we will make some quality additions. VVD and Keita were last summers deals (or they better be) . So I expect us to try and solve all our remaining issues, starting with the keeper, midfield and maybe 1 defender. I also fully expect many players to leave.

06 Feb 2018 18:52:41
Dub, in, I did not know VVD plays defence, CDM, and GK by himself so how is he responsible for us not keeping a clean sheet? Also, no one is saying VVD or Klopp is the messiah. We are just happy to have a manager who is making us relevant again, one your own manager can't beat, and a player who will help us get better defensively.

06 Feb 2018 19:03:22
Max - as I said love your optimism. But I don’t think there’s ever been a transfer window at LFC whereby 3/ 4 problem positions have been resolved in one fell swoop. We may have the money but evidence of our recruitment suggests we go into next season with at least two major weaknesses unresolved. ‭

Mark - as above.

Do you really believe LFC is capable of executing a window that would recruit a no1, no6, no7 and a no8?

06 Feb 2018 21:02:52
once VVD has a much needed pre - season, he will be brilliant, Kieta will be brilliant, if we can bring in an elite Keeper, he will be brilliant,
you see where I am going with this,
Liverpool will be brilliant next season .

06 Feb 2018 22:17:55
Keita will be number 8

so a keeper and 2 top outfield players is very possible.

07 Feb 2018 01:14:29
Should go and sign Doucoure from watford. He is what we need in the middle alongside Kieta.

06 Feb 2018 07:44:13
I know a lot of our fans aren't terribly happy or confident with the team this year especially due to our very inconsistent performances. But with 12 games of the season left and just United and Chelsea to play of the big 6 we are in 3rd place this is despite Spurs apparently having a great season. Chelsea were league winners last year and spent again. United look far from formidable especially given the money they've pumped in. I'm sure most our fans would've taken this position at this stage of the season. Yes we're still quite a few pieces of the jigsaw short, Goalkeeper, left back, centre back, midfielder or 2. So are we over achieving with what we've got in which case Klopps doing a fantastic job, and if this is the case let's home Milner and co can keep over achieving and push for second. I don't see why not.

06 Feb 2018 10:26:57
Ibiza, I agree that fans are not happy as nor confident BUT I think it is mostly due to recent history. Many of our fans have suffered too many false dawns so after every poor result, a self-defeatist attitude sets in and people start to project the worst as a way of emotional self preservation so if we were to falter in the end, the emotional toll is not that bad. That is what needs to change, IMO.

Klopp says we must turn from doubters to believers. That does not mean we believe blindly. It means we believe based on how far we have come since say, when he took over. The fact of the matter is that we are much better and way ahead of where we were where Klopp arrived. Before he arrived, we were NOT anywhere near the neighborhood of the Chelsea's, City's, Utd's and even Arsenal or Spurs and fading fast into midtable redundance. Now, we are smack in the middle of their block and had it not been for the turn up of the level of the EPL with City, 51 points a few seasons ago will get you 2nd at this point.

That is the big picture that should NEVER be lost in the midst of criticism and frustration, IMO. We should always remember who we were and now are and stop comparing ourselves to teams like City and Utd (Spurs, and Chelsea are now our equals and Arsenal are seeing our dust atm) who are ahead of us for now. We'll get there slowly BUT surely and we must persevere in the right direction regardless of result cos instant gratification and quick fixes will NEVER work for us. Why? We've tried it for the disaster we now know of. Or you can be Chelsea right now who are a basket case with NO end in sight. Keep the faith, lads!

06 Feb 2018 10:42:13
The problem is we lose against the lesser teams. If we had 12 big games left id feel more confident. Same old story. We came 2nd under Rodgers and got to a few cup finals we haven't come close to that under Klopp but somehow we have improved lol. Where do you guys get this from?

{Ed001's Note - what cup finals did we get to under Rodgers?}

06 Feb 2018 10:58:39
Oh dear Slimz, just oh dear!

06 Feb 2018 11:06:38
I actually genuinely think we are closer to consistency under klopp, than we ever were with Rodgers. Look how the squad has changed in such a short time. I believe VVD will actually help bring out the best in Lovren. Hopefully Keita will be the player we believe he can be. Yes we need more players but as Klopp has said why go buy players for the sake of players I for one am happier that he waits and he actually gets the targets he wants that he believes fits the team. He’s done quite well with his signings so far and believe we will be stronger again next year unlike Rodgers who was like a kid in a candy shop when he got the money from Suarez. And I believe it was king Kenny that took us to the cup finals in the season Rodgers was sacked and klopp has taken us to 2 aswell no? Obviously an up coming CL final too!

06 Feb 2018 11:14:58
As far as i see it, we are 3rd in the league with 12 games to go, only Man City have lost less games this season, and we're in the knock out stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2009.

The only game I'm still annoyed about this season is the FA cup exit as i really wanted silverware this year. Klopp played a strong team though and frankly, they let him down.

We are a team on the rise and I genuinely believe we can finish 2nd and reach the CL Quarter finals at least; I have given up hope of winning it yet!

People will always think the grass is greener. It is human nature. The only team in England who have a better position than us to kick on and compete is Man City. Spurs will be hampered by their wage structure. United will be left in a mess by Mourinho as is standard throughout his entire career. Arsenal are already in a mess thanks to Wenger. Chelsea are a total mess.

I think people are reeling over losing Coutinho and now potentially Salah. I'm not even worried if we lose Salah as we'll just go and get someone like Malcom or Bailey and turn them into the next superstar. That is the Liverpool way.

Never make a player bigger than the club. We made that mistake with Gerrard and it set us back 15 years. What did we win after refusing to sell Gerrard in 2005? An FA cup and a League Cup? Oh wow, thank god we didn't sell and gave Gerrard more power than every manager he played under after that! He literally refused to play were Rafa wanted him in the team because we made him bigger than the club, then Rodgers had to shoe horn him into the team because of his status, just to take penalties. Maybe if we'd sold Gerrard, Rafa would've been allowed to reinvest in Silva, Villa and Alves and we'd have some league titles to talk about. Maybe Rodgers could've played Lucas at the base of the diamond and he would've actually protected the defence that year. Gerrard even had a say in tactics and transfers apparently!

Moral of the story is, never make one player bigger than the club because the team is more important than an individual. If Salah wants out, let him go. We replaced Keegan and Toshack, with Dalglish and Rush. Dalglish and Rush, with Barnes and Aldridge. Then Barnes and Rush came back. Then Fowler and McManaman. Then Owen and Gerrard. Then Torres and Gerrard. Then Suarez and Sturridge. Then Coutinho and Sterling. Then Firmino and Salah.

Am i worried about losing Salah? Not in the slightest. I don't even care if we're a selling club to some. Every team loses players they don't want to lose at times. The fact of the matter is, Liverpool makes you great. You don't make Liverpool great. Our future is exciting and I'm not going to be negative because we lost two games a week ago and the almighty Spurs needed to dive on 3 separate occasions to steal a point.

Nor will i be negative if Salah wants to go to Real Madrid to find out that Liverpool gave him the freedom to succeed, whereas at Madrid the fan pressure will crush him like it did with Rodriguez, Benzema and Bale. You have to be arrogant beyond measure to believe in yourself when nobody else in the stadium does and therefore succeed in a team which constantly wants to replace you with a new Galactico. In 3 years time he'll be begging to return like Owen did.

We are Liverpool, and i am already a believer.

06 Feb 2018 11:27:14
People's expectations are unrealistic, that is the simple problem.

Certain people think we should be challenging for the title as soon as a new manager comes in and a summer transfer window passes.

It's unlikely and it's unrealistic and even if we had a fluke season and somehow won the league last season, we'd be "struggling" this season in 3rd/ 4th wouldn't we?!

A manager's job is an impossible one today more than ever, people just have zero patience and everything is about the now, when what we need is to build for long-term success of some kind - Klopp in my eyes is trying to do just that.

06 Feb 2018 11:39:43
Feel a bit too much blame is being put on Gerrard there. The man gave is all for the club. Maybe he had too much power, personally I have no idea what went on. I can only judge on what i know which was he was fantastic for us on the pitch. Speaking to most of his ex colleagues, he was highly thought of (except Diouf) so from the outside it seems like he was a positive influence.

Our lack of titles should not be attributed to him. Rick Parry appears to have played his part where he blocked a number of moves. And then generally there was poor investment from our managers. Houllier, Rafa, Rodgers all invested poorly.

Our two best title challenges also came in season he played very well.

I agree with your overall point that if we sell Salah, we'll move on. But since we've began selling our best players, where has that got us? We may replace great players but we're not kicking on and winning trophies. If we do sell Salah, I feel its further prolonging the wait for a major trophy.

06 Feb 2018 11:44:11
I'm sorry MK, I have to fundamentally disagree with a lot of your post, it's too long to give my opinions on each point, but I have a totally different vision of the club, not an unrealistic one but for example - Salah, if Madrid bid for him in the summer and we let him go, I'll be extremely angry with the hierarchy of the club on this occasion.

I've accepted it previously when Suarez, Torres, Sterling and Coutinho left as they were here a few seasons and worked hard mostly while turning out for us, but Salah hasn't even finished a full season and people are already talking about him being sold.

We should not allow ourselves to be seen as a stepping stone, it's that simple - we are a huge brand ourselves, but by allowing players like Salah to leave that quick would be ridiculous and prove to me many that the club aren't interested in success at all, only financial reward.

Stepping stones have no positives attached to them, they only get walked on (pun intended), Liverpool need to wake up now and take control of situations like this one which is clearly brewing in the background.

Selling a player after one good season for profit, it's totally unacceptable for a club like Liverpool to even consider it.

Not like we need the money badly right now either.

06 Feb 2018 11:46:34
Agreed Reyrey1.

06 Feb 2018 13:13:51
Unfortunately the player holds all the cards now not the club. Madrid and Barcelona are the biggest names in world football and whether we like it or not if either come calling most players would turn their heads, just like all the Southampton players who have come to us in recent yrs. They are professional and they will have ambitions.
I think fans are blinded by their own love for their club. The players, Managers and Owners are business men. It's their job. We should just enjoy the players while they wear our shirt and wish them luck if they don't.

I have no problem with a player moving on if he wants to. I have come to terms with accepting that in terms of what we can offer a player in terms of winning trophies, paying wages and location, we are a stone to the top of the mountain.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are the top whether we like it or not. We have been a platform for a lot of players to head to Spain, so why not accept it.
I am not going to say stop playing out of your skin Salah, you are going to interest clubs from abroad. Keep going Lad while your playing out of your skin I am watching a top player performing for my club. Come On You Reds.

06 Feb 2018 13:52:47
Kev, it isn't about selling for profit. It is about building a team of eleven players who are all fully committed to Liverpool.

If Salah wants to leave and we deny him that, we will end up with an unhappy player eventually (again) . I agree we should try and convince him to stay. But forcing him to stay is a bad idea.

06 Feb 2018 14:41:19
Kev and MK, your both right, we want and need a squad of players fully committed to LFC, but if Salah really wants a move to Real Madrid, we should want one more season of the same, then we should let him go in the summer . too difficult to get a repacement in the winter window,
that way, we would come to an agreement, and Salah would give us another big season,
we are Liverpool .

06 Feb 2018 14:44:45
I am not at all bothered about Salah going, for me he is over performing because of klopp tactics .
He certainly isn’t Ronaldo (fat) and definitely will have second season syndrome .
we can replace him and kolpo can make them work and lift the team to more heights .
We need to see how well we are progressing with klopp.

06 Feb 2018 13:49:45
I wasn't blaming Gerrard at all. I was blaming the club for putting a player into such a position of power, to the extent that he was called Mr. Liverpool.

Gerrard cannot be blamed for being put on a pedestal and maximising his own importance, therefore protecting his interests. Anybody would do the same, King Kenny aside.

06 Feb 2018 16:37:28
If we sell Salah in the summer after one season it says to all supporters and all our players - We have no chance to win the title. He has 20 league goals and we are third, how do we replace those goals and Coutinho's goals and assits.

It is just going round and round. We are going to build a team not dismantle. I wouldn't sell Salah for £150m NO CHANCE. Which top players would want to come to Liverpool if our best players are leaving?

06 Feb 2018 19:02:29
Brilliant thread here, guys. MK, I agree with your first post esp. about SG. The club gave him WAY too much power and it backfired big time. As for Salah like Mark08, we should do ALL we can to keep him AND Bobbie. If it takes Sanchez-like wages then so be it. As for him going to RM, MK is spot on. Those fans will destroy him as they have destroyed greater players than him. He is such a nice guy and a true gentleman, a recipe for disaster if you are a RM player. All in all, LFC is on the rise, no question so we should dust ourselves off from the weekend where the media darling Spurs and their perennial loser manager, needed to dive and cheat to get a point, not a win, a point. Now that is progress in itself.

06 Feb 2018 19:44:44
I think you misunderstood me MK.
I also think it's about building a team but we can't do that if we allow players to leave after 12 months because they'll chuck their dummy out of their prams.
He's only with us 7 months and by the end of the season it'll be 11 months.

Nobody forced him back to England or to come to us so he should have no legitimate reason to leave after 1 year except for pure financial greed or easy and instant success in Spain.

He knew full well when joining us that this is a project and he clearly accepted it. If an offer comes in, we need to stand our ground with a firm no, maybe try again in Summer 2019.
End of story and that's it.

06 Feb 2018 21:13:54
Kev, that's what I have been trying to say over the last few posts, right now Real Madrid are on a downward slope, while we are on a slow but constant rise,
we need at least two seasons from Salah,
I can see next season being a huge one for us, we should have an elite Keeper, and the spine of our team will be so much stronger,
we will be top two for sure .

07 Feb 2018 00:44:18
We could have easily challenged City for the league had we bought better players in the summer or in January. We are short of a world class midfielder. Heavily relies on Salah and firmino. No real threat from the midfield and defense has been vulnerable all season. We are slowly but regretting the signings of Wijnadlum and AOC. I wish we bought a better CM last summer, someone like Doucoure ( Head and shoulders above AOC and Wiji )
Take out Salah and we are pretty average. FACT.

07 Feb 2018 09:29:01
That is certainly not a FACT!

Take a Salah like player out of any team and they too are going to be fairly average, but replace him with an adequate player and suddenly you have a decent team again.

We didn't have Salah last season but got top 4 in the most competitive league in world football - please explain that FACT lol.

That was with a dodgy keeper and awful back 4 as well, now there's a FACT :)

06 Feb 2018 04:25:02
Hi Ed001,

I was wondering if, when you are doing the match review, you can add a paragraph or two on spurs' 2nd half changes. I thought they played much wider and with longer passes, and they seem to station Davies, and trippier to a certain extent, very close to the touchline. I'm guessing this is basically them "stretching the play".

On the same note, I seem to also recall you mentioning that we tend to not stretch the game when we're facing deep defensive teams; is that deliberate you think?

Sorry if it's a lot. Thanks ed!

{Ed001's Note - I was going to do that about Spurs anyway, as it was one of the things which changed the game, glad to see you spotted it.

I just don't think we have the players to do so, they haven't the sense to think that way. Klopp has often tried to get it by switching the wingers over to opposite flanks, so the left pegger is on the left and vice versa on the other flank, so they do stay wider. It has not worked well for us because the players just do not often move the ball quickly enough and only Henderson, other than the centre halves, seems to have the vision to spot a pass that is more than 10 yards away!}

06 Feb 2018 04:49:13
Thanks ed. Not blowing my own trumpet or anything but I have been playing Fifa and championship manager since 03 so you know, just waiting for one of them big clubs to give me a call any day now 😜

Yeah I was stoked to see Hendo pinging the passes out wide again in the first half, think we definitely missed that when he was out.

Looking forward to reading the review mate!

{Ed001's Note - sorry I didn't get it done yesterday, had to catch up on all the stuff I had put off in January due to lack of time. Trying to find time for a second watch is the difficult bit.}

06 Feb 2018 07:32:00
I was also shocked at how when we moved to a back 3 we somehow ended up with them having even more space out wide? What happened to TAA as he seemed caught between covering the wide player, or having to cut inside to cover a midfielder that previously had been picked up by Milner. it was not our finest move defensively even if we didn’t deserve two penalties against.

06 Feb 2018 14:51:20
yes Erikson was all on his own out wide, but his cross was very good, and we just didn't deal with it, bringing on an extra defender should have pushed our two full backs out a bit, as they were too close to the centre backs,