Liverpool Banter Archive December 13 2013

13 Dec 2013 18:33:08
I think it will be a tough game against Spurs. Its always hard away from home in this league and we have had a few injuries in key areas the last few weeks. I think it will be a good test to see how strong our squad is. I don't really care about January right now or who might come and go. We just need the players we have got to put in a shift the games come thick and fast over xmas.

Agreed! It'll be a tough game but the repercussions of this game are fairly large! If we win, we'll prob be 2 points off top spot (as citeh will prob win) and it'll widen the gap to spurs (as Chelsea, Everton will also prob win). This could hopefully create in little breakaway group. with us in 2nd :-)
However, if we lose. we're 5th most likely, level with spurs & no breathing space or room for dropping points if we wanna stay in the mix by jan.
Lots of ifs and buts I know :-)

Tough game for sure. We don't play well at Spurs typically, and they have confidence after recent results. Intuitively we should be on a high after demolishing Norwich and West Ham, but reading BR's interview notes, I don't think he is alfl that confident. Complaining about squad depth is not going to help prior to a busy holiday schedule, even if he is correct. Surely the owners are aware, so I don't see the advantage of saying it publicly

All will depend on the formation setup that Rodgers chooses. If we play a 3-5-2 and Johnson & Flanagan are disciplined enough to focus on defense and tracking back after attacking runs, then a lot of Spurs' counter risks can be reduced. Their midfield is better than ours and speed in counter-attacks is their main threat. I'm hoping for an error-free game from Skrtel, a stellar performance by Allen & Lucas (the key point) and the obligatory pieces of magic from Suarez. A draw wouldn't be so bad.

13 Dec 2013 17:50:09
in summer I feel that rodgers was overly ambitious in chasing players like willian costa and mhkitryan who were always likely to have better placed suitors and demand cl football

i hope in this window rodgers is smarter and moves for the players who would love and opportunity to play for us

players like fernando reges, ivan rakitic, taisoon, douglas costa, montoya, moreno, mvila, salah

because I don't think the julian draxlers and kokes and luke shaws of this world are within our reach at the moment

I like the players you have named, but there was nothing wrong with trying to get Diego Costa, Mkhitaryan or Willian IMO. A major reason they didn't have could be down to Suarez staying.

And what`s wrong w/ going for these players?

13 Dec 2013 16:08:39
On what planer are you on draxler haha nearlyy every team has been hit with a stupid sum of money 40mil euros eds wasnt it?

Maybe he was looking at someone else playing for schalke or basel

Maybe it was smone who the eds have made us aware of since october
it only u had read the posts.

13 Dec 2013 12:20:56
Positions that need strengthening:
- Left Back
- Right Back
- Left Midfield
- Right Midfield
- Defensive Midfield
- Attacking Midfield

Transfer Criteria:
- Young players
- Inexpensive players
- First team ready players
*Players who are out of favour at their current club (advantageous)

Players who best match the Transfer Criteria:
- Martin Montoya (RB)
- Ryan Bertrand (LB)
- Cristian Tello (LM)
- Mohamed Salah (RM)
- Yann M'Vila (DM)
- Koke (AM)

Red Rum

Left back, Agreed. Right back, Agreed. Left Forward, Agreed. Right Forward, Agreed. I believe we only need one mifielder though. If we try and sign two in one window, it will compromise the quality we get. I believe Cissokho is a loan to buy deal which means we are still allowed one more player on loan unless they are from Valencia or Chelsea. I'd say we need:

Martin Montoya RB
Caner Erkin LB
Mohammed Salah/Christian Tello RF
Pedro (loan) LF
Blaise Matuidi/Xabi Alonso CM
Ivan Rakitic AM

I know Matuidi and Alonso are different players and if we could get 1 of them, it'd be excellent, but I think even 5 signings is pushing it in the winter. Bertrand is not better than who we already have. I'd rather sign one young wide forward, and onwe experienced. Salah and Tello are both around 21 and might not make an immediate impact.I think we may step up our interest in John Guidetti anyway due to the striking issues we now face. Our problem is, we have to many problem positions. The 6 you've mentioned are correct, but you could argue we also need a back up keeper and striker just as much. We will likely not sign more than 3/4 players, so let's not get too hopeful. Any Atletico Madrid player is a pipe dream right now. They have no need to sell urgently and they are going strong in every competition they're in.

I still hope we don't have an interest in M'Vila though. I like all the other players you've listed, but do you really see 6 U23's making that much of a difference? I think it'd be nice to get some expereince in to try and see us through the second half of the season.

YNWAdam

How do you think where going to get Matuidi over all the Champions league clubs that are already after him such as madrid and chelsea?

13 Dec 2013 13:38:41
- Martin Montoya (RB) - would eventually agree contract extension with Barca. The lad is pure quality and Barca would not sell him.

- Ryan Bertrand (LB) - I don't think we need to buy someone for the remaining 6 months, We should llok for a better one I the summer. For the next 19 games, I am happy with flanganan and Enrique.

- Cristian Tello (LM) - Good player. But there would be CL clubs Once he is availble, Possible option in the summer.

- Mohamed Salah (RM) - Cracking player and would walk straight into our team. But Chelsea, Spurs are interested. can't see this one coming through.
- Yann M'Vila (DM) - Good possiblity, But not better than Diame.

- Koke (AM) - The best Player after Daxler, He would be Simply Excellent, and Would Be IMPOSSIBLE to get him. He is on fire for athletico, Now ays we going to get him.

I see no chance of Tello, Pedro or Koke.

I would look at Fernando Reges, Hernanes and Montoya.

That is simply too much additions. It would disturb the team mentality and chemistry. Gradual development is key and I would not want us to sign more than 2 players this January. An attacking midfielder and a forward, on loan or permanent, whatever, provided we keep in mind the various players we have sent out on loan.

Martin Montoya - 6 months remaining on his contract and Liverpool can guarantee him playing time. He fits our playing style as he is an attacking fullback who can play on the left or right side. He may opt for a new contract at Barcelona, but Liverpool will be an attractive option to the youngster.

Ryan Bertrand - Not even second choice left back at Chelsea. He has recently said he will consider moving away to get playing time and would go straight into the team ahead of Flanno and Cissokho. He is a good defender who is also decent going forward.

Mohammed Salah - He would have no problem adapting to the EPL. He has blistering pace who tears defences apart. He would be perfect alongside players like Coutinho and Gerrard who can play the line splitting passes for Salah to take advantage of. He is not just all pace, he can also provide an end product.

Cristian Tello - He offers pace and end product. He will be desperate for regular playing time which Liverpool can offer.

Yann M'Vila - I like the way he controls the game from deep. As soon as he gets the ball his head is up and looking for the forward pass. He also defends excellently and at only 23 years old it would make more sense than bringing in Alonso.

Koke - He offers quality going forward in midfield. He gets bags of assists with his excellent passing and can also score goals. If it is true that he has a buy out clause of less than £20m he would be a very good option.

I don't expect all these signings to happen and I would be happy with 3 or 4 for now. The most immediate problems are at left back, attacking midfield and left or right forward. Therefore, I would be more than happy with Montoya, Salah and Koke. That would be a very good transfer window.

Red Rum

Koke is not going to leave in january playing the way he is, i'd personally be looking at lars bender although they too got through in the champions league maybe one for the summer. Salah and maybe a back up d/m would be perfect yet I can't see us splashing big money in january.

I think in January we'll look to bring in a CM and a LW, even though I think left back is our weakest position- both cissokho are very prone to lapses in concentration and stupid decisions (Enrique's deep crosses straight at the keeper often frustrate in particular!), and Flanagan is naturally right footed so, as a right back I understand, it is very hard to do a decent attacking job at left back whilst naturally right footed, meaning we offer very little from there going forward.
For the left wing position though I would love El Shaawary or Tello. Both would inject huge pace on that left- wing, as well as adding 10 goals a season. This would make us the most dangerous team in the league on the counter-attack, perhaps with City to be fair.
Then at central midfield I think we need an all-action, Gerrard of old midfielder, yet they don't come cheap! Personally I would kill for Barkley who is the player most similar to Stevie of any I've seen in a long while, but I sincerely doubt the toffees would sell us him, even for >£25m.
Either way I believe FSG will spend big on Stevie's long term replacement, and in this day and age, money tends to talk very loud.
I'm delighted with the rumours of Draxler, I doubt we will get him, but if we do it would show a huge statement of intent of our title aspirations, even if he's more a playmaker than the box-to-box midfielder I mentioned earlier.
El Shaawary and Draxler could cost £65m though so I'd be surprised if we spent that much.
For now I can see Tello joining and another CM for around £10m who will be part of a rotation system.

YNWAdam, The players you speak of, M'Villa, Saleh, Tello Matuidi would all walk straight into our first team if we were to sign any of them. Forget the fact that they are mostly under 23. Montoya and Bertrand would also walk straight into our first team. Any of these players would instantly improve our team.

13 Dec 2013 11:50:55
Brendan if you really want top three four. We must sign Diego costa along with a very good mid fielder!! YNWA

It would be nice, but won't happen.

Red Rum

13 Dec 2013 12:30:55
Diego Costa will not leave Atletico madrid. They are Champions league, and title contenders this season. He would be mad to quit that for a Liverpool team fighting for a top 4 spot. Don't get me wrong, I think we'll finish 3rd, but I'm an optimistic fan, Costa will likely be more pessimistic. Maybe next summer if we makes CL football, he will be a realistic option (as Suarez may leave anyway).

YNWAdam

13 Dec 2013 13:41:57
Diego Costa / Turan / koke. Atheltico are having their Best Seaosn in thier History. Not a chance these 3 would be moving out, I could see Koke moving of his Release clause.

We should have gone all out for Costa during the summer. Very slim chances of that now IMO.

Turan is available for the right price as are all players

13 Dec 2013 16:59:47
We did go all out. He rejected us. What don't people get, no chance of Diego Costa people here need to be more realistic and also they need to not believe effing paper talk. We have to trust the manager and trust that he will improve the team as he has said.

13 Dec 2013 09:38:07
Heard dembele is carrying a Hip Injury.
I would salute AVB If he drops Demebele and play Paulinho and Sandro. They will never score and would never press up.
Without Dembele, They would not Hit us. Take out Lenon and Townsend and play through the middle. Get Countinho Involved more into the game.

Suarez. Do this for us one more time.

Poor post. Sandro and Paulinho are excellent players and Sandro in particular is a very effective DM. Paulinho is good at getting into the box and scoring.

Poor poor post.

13 Dec 2013 14:31:27
Th Real AG.
Not Really though. they looked out of their deapth Without Dmebele. Paulinho is the slwest of the peck who slows down. Sandro Yes I agree is a real monster, But he doesn't score much nor he is a box to box midfielder.
Dembele on the other hand is a real gem who carry the ball well forward.
Look at their stats. without dembele (with Sandro and paulinho) and with Dembele.
Without Dembele they are a poor poor side.

Ag's right poor post harry

13 Dec 2013 16:42:57
The Holt.

OK. let's wait and see what happens on Sunday. Without Dembele we would beat them 3-1. with dembele, let's see where it ends.

YNWAdam.
Mate.
Get us all the stats on the game.

The First 5 games of the seaosn with Dembele on the bench. Spurs managed 5 goals 3 from penalties and had the least chances created.

you could ask any spurs fan. Who has more influence.

Dembele influences the game but Paulinho and Sandro makes a marked difference. Pulinho with his knack of getting into the box and scoring, and Sandro through the defensive aspects of the game.

Your defense on your original point doesn't make any sense to me. Let's wait and see if Dembele plays or not and if your theory works.

13 Dec 2013 00:32:10
Ed001 or 002

In your opinion, given it is still quite early on, how would you say Spurs spent the Bale money? I feel they've focused on areas that tehey didn't really need (signing about 11 center midfielders). Would you say they pose a valid threat to the top 4?

Also how would we, in your opinion or otherwise, spend the Suarez money (if he is sold). Obviously its guesswork to a degree, but have you any information about our strategy should Suarez leave?

And lastly who would you say poses the biggest threat in the spurs team, for me it's Paulinho, but interested to get another perspective.

Hope you are keeping well, and awesome job on the site (I'm an addict)

{Ed002's Note - Spurs made one error with a player (Lamela) in the summer - they'll be fine. If Suarez leaves he will need to be replaced but I am not going to start speculating who it might be. Perhaps Townsend will be the biggest threat.}

They could nearly loan him back to roma for the season get him back for a full preseason

13 Dec 2013 09:23:09
DezyBoy

Would not work. He needs to be loaned to another EPL team, end of the day He needs to adapt to English Football, Not the Italian, . No matter If he scores tonz over there and come back and struggle yet again.

Thanks for the reply Ed

13 Dec 2013 00:19:20
Hi Eds and reds I just like to say i'm sick and tired of negative fans I really am we could be top of the leauge 15 points clear and they would still find fault.people on here are saying tottenham are strong let's be honest thier not they have pace and a lot of failed/unproven prem players but I ask you this aren't we a strong squad even with the so called kids I feel we could give tottenham a hammering with the proberly the best striker in the world at the moment I used to fear spurs for one reason BALE and he ain't thier no more so c'mon guys get behind the team let's hammer the spuds YNWA