Liverpool Banter Archive June 07 2015

07 Jun 2015 21:18:34
I know midfield isn't everyones first priority, as people want to see an attacker arrive. But it has got me thinking.

We have just brought in Milner and seems likely Kovacic will arrive from Inter. Both would be welcome additions in my opinion and I hope they both arrive.

I'm definitely expecting Lucas to leave this window along with Alberto. We've lost Gerrard as well. So I'm wondering with Kovacic arriving does this mean Allen may be allowed to leave?

If Kovacic does arrive that gives a midfield of Kovacic, Henderson, Milner, Coutinho, Lallana, Markovic, Ibe and possibly Sterling. If this is the case I can't see how Allen would even get a opportunity.

07 Jun 2015 21:37:09
If kovacic does arrive then that leaves Allen as the weakest link.

Milner can play anywhere up top so if we where to sell sterling would it be out of the question for him to play down the side? Although to me it makes sense to go for konoplyenka.

What does bother me though is looking at keepers just to sit on the bench, bogdan is never going to challenge mignolet so it just seems like a wasted 20 grand a week or whatever he's on. I will take 1000 a week and save them some cash if that's all they want.

Just hope Ings and origi aren't the only strikers coming in, we're desperate for a top goalscorer so hopefully we don't just concentrate on the midfield again.

07 Jun 2015 22:45:32
Would love it if Allen left, Welsh (cough) Xavi. He is up there with Sean Dundee and Salif Diao as possibly the worst player.

07 Jun 2015 22:47:29
Kono ain't worth a hundred grand a week as the reports say and if that is what he wants then he can jug on so we giveOjo and Ibe more chances. As for Kovacic, not needed as well because we have options there already in the team and in the academy. We need a top striker and failure to get that in or try to get that done will be a major blow. Get the striker we need cost all this other stuff about more mids comin in is just a distraction, IMO.

07 Jun 2015 22:56:19
best I heard on here I think? Welsh Jay Spearing

07 Jun 2015 22:59:39
Yeh but we all know that Allen will be first Name on the team sheet with Rodgers calling the shots

08 Jun 2015 08:22:43
I am not so sure LFC will be going for Kovacic now that they got Milner.

08 Jun 2015 08:57:43
Allen in the same bracket as Sean Dundee? Ridiculous comment, he's a decent player just not good enough for Liverpool and has in fact played many good games.

08 Jun 2015 09:25:13
I think that's a bit harsh putting Allen in the same bracket as Salif Diao. He isn't Liverpool standard unfortunately but there have been games where he's bossed the midfield, they've just been few and far between.

07 Jun 2015 19:20:26
Ibrahimovic. Zlatan. Probably Metro rubbish but nonetheless that made my day. Awesome.

The talisman we have been lacking.

Bring it on.

07 Jun 2015 21:13:32
Official opening of Silly Season 2015!

08 Jun 2015 08:33:08
Last season was silly season (Balotelli, This season is title season (Ibra).

08 Jun 2015 08:59:09
It's the head coach what? Why Zlatan won't come.
Yep that's the reason honest.

07 Jun 2015 17:40:50
Ed 001/002, Is there still interest in Luke Garbutt, or to your knowledge has it waned.
Thanks in advance for your reply
Ollivander

{Ed002's Note - I don't know of any interest from Liverpool.}

07 Jun 2015 16:57:00
People bagging Skrtel should go some perspective. Been player of the season twice, hardly injured and whilst has some faults, you can never fault his effort or commitment. Would not be against selling if right offer came in due to age, but the real problem is the others in defence, the terrible Dm (Lucas) and the coaching. Skrtel has been a quality purchase and has had a bigger impact than Agger.

Paying that amount for Lovern who is terrible is disgraceful. Should try and recoup half that now because he is only cost goals in the future. Nothing more than turnstile, no composure and turns like the titanic.

07 Jun 2015 17:10:00
watch skrtel for one game closely and you will see the deficiences in his game. he should be the first centrehalf out of the door. then watch lucas closely for one game and you will see the work he does for the team.

07 Jun 2015 17:40:50
Lucas was our best player this season behind Coutinho imo. Skrtel was our worst behind Balotelli. He is so difficult for defenders to work with and have you noticed that we never catch opponents offside because he sits so deep. Seems harsh on him but it's true

07 Jun 2015 19:19:33
The defensive coaching has been poor, but even when Lucas has not played, Skrtel has looked bang average.

07 Jun 2015 19:29:42
Actually i dasagree with most about Skrtel. I understand Ed i think 01 saying he lacks a lot, especially in terms of communication and knowing who has what responsibility but i also think, in fact its undeniable - that he has saved us more times last season than IMO any other defender we had.
He has issued for sure and he is probably too stuck in ways to change them now but he will always put his body on the line and bag a few important goals along the way.
Also, stop slating Lovren. he is not terrible at all. Give the man some time.
Sakho gets a lot more praise and sometimes he has been solid, but i feel panic everytime he gets the ball as loast man and is under pressure. He fumbles quite a lot but seems to get a lot more praise?

07 Jun 2015 19:32:56
Fa cup semi final. Cross field ball by villa over to their winger just inside our half out of no where skirts leaps to intercept. misses by a mile villa winger then takes control of the ball and runs at the heat of our defence which is left hole open as they say. Scores a few goals, would prefer if he stopped being at fault for most of our conceded ones.

07 Jun 2015 19:40:08
Craig, you have it backwards. It is Skrtel who cannot work with others within any system at all. I have watched Skrtel on many occasions closely and found that he is the worst of all our CB's because he is poor ability wise and makes others react to him when he goes missing on a wild goose chase due to his lack of communication skills. You cannot have a well drilled defence if one of the defenders is just free lancing and making it up as the game goes on. He is aweful and needs to go.

07 Jun 2015 21:49:58
gareth the reason Skrtel "saves" us so much is because he sits deeper than everyone else and ends up making a last ditch tackle that shouldn't need to make. I can't knock his bravery and he is good in a tackle but he plays on his own. He looks good on highlights but when you watch the full 90 it's a completely different story

07 Jun 2015 21:56:23
Defensive coaching and planning have been very poor. Skrtle has actually been our best defender this season but has , as said earlier , been exposed by a poor midfield. I cannot see this love in with Lucas who is so slow it is embarrasing.

07 Jun 2015 22:06:10
Never mind what you think about Skrtel, any post that contains the words 'Lucas is a terrible DM' is either just trolling for aggro, or shows a complete lack of understanding of the game.
People talk about Gerrard being a great passer of the ball (which he was obviously), but just watch how quickly Lucas spots a player and finds a quick forward ball when there doesn't seem to be any options on.
If he had stayed injury free and started every game, I think we would have made top four last season.

07 Jun 2015 15:26:23
Apparently we sent scouts to watch Angelo Ogbonna last night according to ESPN, I find this hard to believe considering how many cb's we have on the books, any truth in this eds?

{Ed002's Note - I have no idea where Liverpool scouts were last night, sorry.}

07 Jun 2015 16:02:25
Did he play? 7 scouts to watch a warm-up would give us a good idea of him!

07 Jun 2015 19:43:45
He's backup to Chiellini and Bonucci. If he didn't even get in ahead of Barzagli, the other backup then, no thank you. Besides, we don't need CBs.

07 Jun 2015 12:39:10
its been widely reported that there where 150,000 reasons why james milner opted for LFC,thats 7.8m a year,
utter madness if you ask me

07 Jun 2015 13:07:58
He's worth £15m easily so we have got a steal of a transfer there if you ask me!

{Ed002's Note - Plus:
(a) A very significant signing on fee to the player (possibly including non-reclaimable VAT if the player is VAT registered).
(b) Agent fees – this may be to one or more agents (as an example, Liverpool have spent well over £30M plus VAT on agent fees over the past three years leading to this window).
(c) Tax due on the agent fees – typically this is VAT at the local rate where the agent bills from – it is not reclaimable.
(d) Intermediary fees – this may be to one or more sponging leeches (what do you mean you have a super agent?) .
(e) Tax due on the Intermediary fees – typically this is VAT at the local rate where the Intermediary bills from – it is not reclaimable.
(f) Legal fees.
(g) VAT on legal fees which is reclaimable.
(h) Moving/relocation costs for the player.
(i) VAT on moving/relocation costs which is reclaimable.

07 Jun 2015 13:10:19
I would think that is distorted by the signing on fee being spread across his contract.

Besides, if you want top players you have to pay top wages. City offered him 165,000.

P.s. you spend way too long on our page trying to be funny. I've heard better banter from DaveyBlueBoy.

07 Jun 2015 13:22:42
If he wasn't a free, it would have cost more to pay a transfer fee and his wages. Think we had a good deal. When we lose out on players because we won't pay the going rate the club gets slated on here, and when we pay the going rate, you still slate the club. Just can't win

07 Jun 2015 13:23:35
With johnson,gerrard,jones leaving that's got to be nearly 300k in wages saved pw. 150k to milner 150k to ings bogdan and potentially clyne. So no loss there then. P.s ed2 please don't rip me a new hole on those figures haha.

07 Jun 2015 13:28:58
I'm excited by the signing. Perhaps we could justify the cost by looking at the reduced wage bill now Gerrard and Johnson have left. Plus, I'd much rather spend these wages on someone who a) has several years premier league experience and b) gives 100% in every match he plays. Too many players went missing in matches last year but I don't think Milner will.

07 Jun 2015 14:08:35
"if you want a top player "

He's not a top player and never was

07 Jun 2015 14:09:17
Yes but eds, we've still saved MILLIONS on a transfer fee. All those agencies that are due their fees would still have to be paid if we paid a transfer fee, that's what daredmen is on about, we've saved on a sizeable transfer fee.

{Ed002's Note - I understand perfectly the situation.}

07 Jun 2015 15:04:09
BY you giving the figures Ed02 are you more silently suggesting Milner is not worth it?? Just interested in your opinion

{Ed002's Note - There are no secret messages.}

07 Jun 2015 15:07:38
Sorry Potato. Clearly you're better at judging players than Pellegrini, Wenger, Mancini, Capello etc.

Vincent Kompany called him an inspiration but what does he know? It's not like he's been his team mate for half a decade, his captain for almost as long or like he's current captain of one of the top international teams in world football.

City only offered him 165,000 for a laugh.

07 Jun 2015 15:38:44
Thank you

07 Jun 2015 19:33:18
so let me get this right,most of you are happy to pay 150k pw wages to a good bread and butter player,so what happens when some of lfc,s top players come knocking on the door asking the obvious quest "how da feck his he on that when you pay me this" also don't for get JM was at the lower end of the pay scale at CITY the top players are on at least double,i wonder if the likes of henderson is as happy with his new contract now?,does this mean stirling is more likely to leave? i wonder what coutinho,s agent is thinking? not forgeting martin skirtyl,in the words of Nigel pearson,are some of you must be ostriches

07 Jun 2015 19:57:01
Don't really care what anyone says about a player. Use your own eyes and form an opinion. On that note, anyone who thinks Milner is a top player needs his eyes checked. He is not the player that will spark a team. He is not as skillful as Lallana or Can or Couts. Not a game changer like Couts and just as hardworking and high energy as Hendo, Lallana and Can. Hence, how is he a top player?

07 Jun 2015 23:38:05
sorry ems, have to disagree with you here. if milner is the definition of top player than we might aswell give up.

07 Jun 2015 11:06:12
Hi eds,
Rumours from metro are saying FSG have cleared the way for Tevez to sign, would be
A quality signing considering his record in
The premier league, also metro are saying we are offering a contract for cassikas i know these are only rumours but 2 quality captures they would be!!

07 Jun 2015 11:31:48
I mentioned this and got slated.

Tevez would be an ideal signing but I'm not sure he would come.

07 Jun 2015 11:34:03
The metro is is the worst rag out there

07 Jun 2015 11:37:40
I would avoid any transfer rumours in the metro tbh.

07 Jun 2015 11:51:43
As soon as I see 'metro' on a football rumour I immediately believe the opposite.

07 Jun 2015 12:16:09
The metro were also reporting this morning "Liverpool remain favourites for Swedish megastar Zlatan Ibrahimovic". wouldn't believe a thing they say tbh

07 Jun 2015 16:16:42
According to a Metro, we should sign half of Europe.

07 Jun 2015 08:49:46
I don't get it! There are people praising former players who desperately wanted to leave us and bashing players who are going to join us! So let's continue congratulating and supporting Suarez who was trying to leave us for 2 years, ruined our reputation and has absolutely no interest in coming back to us and keep claiming Milner, the ultimate professional, is not good enough to play for us. S--t is getting worse and worse!

07 Jun 2015 09:03:11
I don't think anyone is being overly critical of Milner's capabilities, it's more whether he's really needed.

07 Jun 2015 09:30:11
To be fair we do very well at ruining our own reputation, we can't handle anything the way it should be.

07 Jun 2015 09:33:56
He's a top four player. We need as many of those that we can get!

07 Jun 2015 11:09:12
Regardless of Suarez's personal aspirations, he always gave 100%. Do you blame Suarez for wanting to leave? I don't, we will be around fifth or Sixth for a long time now.
No one is bashing Milners professionalism either, he just isn't the brilliant footballer we desperately need.

07 Jun 2015 11:11:53
I don't think Milner is a top four player. If he was he would of had a regular place at City. Not only that, every England manager has only deemed him worthy of a bit part, always a substitute. Henderson is normally picked ahead of him at international level and don't see why it is not going to be the case at LFC. He's a grafter, will always give 100% but in terms of true quality he is 90% graft 10% craft.

07 Jun 2015 11:38:57
Suarez was a great player when he played but he was a complete moron and embarrassed/ insulted the club with his actions on and off the pitch.
I don't care what he does with the rest of his career.

Milner is a great signing. Those comparing him to Gary Mac are spot on in my opinion.

07 Jun 2015 15:58:12
Like all south americans his ultimate goal would be to move to madrid or barca. Just because his ambitions didn't fall in line with ours doesn't mean i am happy that he has achieved exactly what he wanted in the best way possible. I wouldn't expect him to join us and suddenly change his mind about what his lifelong goal was and stay at liverpool, that's just selfish thinking imo.

07 Jun 2015 16:03:09
Natural poolie,

How well have England done that you are using them as an example. Wow hodgson didn't pick him, must be a bit part player. You must be truly desperate for something to complain about.

07 Jun 2015 20:10:22
Natural poolie is right. Milner is not a game changer like Couts, not as skillful as Lallana and Can and just as hardworking and high energy as Hendo, Can and Lallana. Result? He is not better than what we already have so he is NOT a top player. He was a utility backup at City and will not spark our team the way many are making him out to be which in some quarters, smacks of desperation.

07 Jun 2015 08:00:47
Just wondering if this axe wielding is a ploy to get Rodgers to quit? Is there a surprise still to come?

07 Jun 2015 08:39:08
How many more people are going to come on here posting the same thing.Lets just wait and see what happens

07 Jun 2015 10:13:59
You have to think that if they wanted him gone they'd just sack him, surely?
Having said that, what is the reasoning behind sacking two right hand men, but not the senior man who chose them and managed them?
Is this a sign that they think rodgers has shown enough potential that it is worth persisting with him, but they think the remedy to the problems he creates is to take away the yes men he prefers around him, and install new coaches who will challenge him and develop him more?
I'm struggling to see how pascoe can be at fault enough to warrant dismissal, but not the mentor figure, ie rogders himself?
Either way, he is clearly on very thin ice.
You have to think that a poor start to next season will see him gone. It would be interesting to know how the owners will define a poor start, in terms of points won?

07 Jun 2015 12:41:04
Coaching the team in terms of fitness and defending has been major deficiency in the past 3 seasons. It makes sense to change this along with the other changes we probably haven't heard much about - scouting, recruitment etc.
Dealing with these issues also leaves Rodgers with no excuses. If the team fails to improve, he will be next to be moved on. It's sink or swim time for Rodgers next season.

07 Jun 2015 12:49:07
I see it more likely that the owners, for reasons best known to themselves, want to give Rodgers a second chance. They aren't going to accept nothing changing however, there certainly does seem to be an issue with the coaching. Rodgers is a good coach, and can improve players as well as most, however he is hopeless with the media and a simply awful man manager.

07 Jun 2015 13:06:22
Sink or swim time for Rodgers?

He was competing with submarines last season.

Let Pako take over, if we cannot get Emery.

07 Jun 2015 13:40:39
I hope I am wrong but I get the impression that quite a few on here want us to have a terrible start to the season,just so Rogers gets the sack. I want us to have a brilliant start and a terrific season,but sadly I don't get that from the posts of some on here

07 Jun 2015 20:15:33
Red, I'm not. I have been consistent in saying he should go and even if we had a bad start, it wouldn't be his fault. It would be the owners fault for not making the not so hard choice of sacking him. Instead, they plunked out and are now doing the dumbest thing by firing everyone else but him for reasons only they can say and which to me, will blow up in everyone's faces. Happy Times, eh?