Liverpool Banter Archive September 16 2014

 

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16 Sep 2014 23:27:08
I feel we are in for a long season and fear it could be over before it starts! Mignolet is awful, Lovren is really bad, Sakho is dangerous, Gerrard is not affecting games as he not sits deep, Mario is average. .I could go on. We couldn't stop Luis leaving but feel we could of done better in the market! 25 mill for Lallana, 20 for Lovren, 20 for Marcovic. . not great buys. United can still attract class even without Champs league. I think a big name manager helps attract big players, Rafa wouldn't of bought them just mentioned

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You need to pay top wages or be consistently in the CL to attract 'top players'. We have neither to offer, just the way it is.

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17 Sep 2014 02:53:05
I really have no idea where to begin with this. Mario was arguably our best player today. Lovren isn't really bad. He's played out of position. lallana isn't as much out of position as much as not in his usual position. We are two points ahead from the same fixtures as last year. Just try and be positive.

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We started last season in a similar vein, nervy wins with a single goal between them.

We beat Stoke, Villa, Utd 1-0 in our first few games. It wasn't until Tottenham away that we really started to pick our game up. Give it a bit of time. Also you seem to suffer from memory loss, Rafa wasn't exactly the best in the market either.
Aquilani, Dossena, Keane, Babel, Leto, Pennant, Josemi, Kewell, Jovanovic, Voronin, El Zhar ring any bells?

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U forgot Mark Gonzalez, Riera, Paletta, Antonio Nunez, Kronkamp etc.

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I hit disagree with ArmyRed and TjRed. ArmyRed it's obvious is massively over-reacting but I'm curious TjRed - Ballotelli was Ok before his goal which was taken very well so overall he was good but only just. Our better players, in my opinion, Manquillo and Henderson but mainly Manquillo.

Lovren is an excellent player but playing really poorly at the moment so hopefully he'll settle quickly. Played out of position though? No. He can easily play both LCB and RCB and I think he has been purchased for RCB to play alongside Sakho.

Lallana just isn't match fit. He hasn't been good but this is his pre-season. Positions wise he's fine.

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16 Sep 2014 23:24:47
Great result, great goal from mario and a lot of luck. But for very long periods today we looked really poor and it was not pleasent to watch, especially going forward. So little creativery, such poor passing and crossing. The shots from outside the box so weak and hopeless. And five games into the season I still wait to our first header or shot on target as a result of set piece (including corners). We miss Sturridge epserately, we miss Suzrez terribly and we need 2-3 months of work. Quite frustrating but at least we won.

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16 Sep 2014 23:15:31
Missed the first 40mins today along with about 100 others due to ticket cock-up so can anyone fill me in with how Sakho and Lovren played, just saw replay of their equaliser, mingolet poor and Lovren not much better in my opinion, maybevitvwas Skrtels positioning that caused the problem.

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For me Sakho and Lovren was good especially Lovren but the main problem was the midfield and especially Coutinho. They lost too many balls in the middle and cannot link up well with the attack but Mario was too static and offers little option for the midfielders. We should defo start with two strikers in the next game

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I agree with Salim on us needing to start 2 up top and the midfield were especially poor. For me Coutinho had a very poor game, Sterling was poor apart from being fouled quite a bit, Lallana isn't match fit yet. Defensively though Sakho was definitely better than Lovren. Lovren had a very poor game and he has been poor since joining. He'll improve and hopefully prove me right as I've been saying to friends he's one of the best CBs in the league!

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16 Sep 2014 22:24:29
Hi eds I hear we have interest in the young talent martin odegaard I have seen on the internet that he will agree a deal with Liverpool but I hear it is not guaranteed is this rumour true?

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{Ed002's Note - Try the search function.}

16 Sep 2014 22:22:24
Aaarrrgggh!

That was uncomfortable viewing.

Really got out of jail with that result.

Negatives:
• Defensively vulnerable
• Mignolet needs to improve his game

Positives:
• Mario took his 1st goal well
• Moreno and Manquillo are growing into their roles

This feels like it could be a long season.

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17 Sep 2014 00:10:16
Defensively vulnerable? The goal was completely Mignolet's fault who misread the situation.

Sakho, Moreno & Manquillo were Excellent tonight. Lovren was decent and perhaps could have done better with the goal.

For me the biggest negative was our total lack of end product for the first 80 mins, yes we created chances, but our striker was never around to finish it. I thought he had a very mediocre game (Balotelli).

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17 Sep 2014 02:54:24
What chance did Balotelli have besides the ones he created/ scored?

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We score. (i hug the dog)

They score . (i kick the dog and go have a smoke)

Come back in 2-1 up. (the dog gets a kiss and early dinner!)

He didn't like the palace game ha

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Had a several chances in the box but either snapped at the or his shots were blocked.

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Fornax - if Lovren wasnt ball watching, that goal would never have happened. Not defending Mignloets decision to advance either, but Lovren caused it by watching the ball and not the man. This happened more than once too, we were lucky to only be punished once for it.

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His movements was too static and he offers little option upfront and being the only striker he was well blocked by the defenders.

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16 Sep 2014 22:20:57
Lovren needs to improve for me. He has actually been getting a little worse each week. He is also painfully slow, which isn't a big deal if you read the game and position yourself well but he's not. I felt moreno was good and Manquillo was Ok, llallana coutinho and sterling were poor. We have too many players who's best position is central attacking midfield and not enough who play better in wider positions. Really only markovic has looked good playing wide so far. Coutinho always plays poor when wide, although tonight he drifted in a lot and was still poor.

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Nevada, has Lovren lost his pace since he signed for us or what? It's just I seem to recall a few posters saying we can now play a higher line due to the pace of Sakco and Lovren, are you wrong or were the posters wrong or has he lost his pace in 4 weeks?

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Alan for some reason all football supporters seem to equate a lack of pace with a poor game poor footballing ability, i'm not sure why, but lovren isn't slow at all acutally and I don't know what he's talking about.

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These fans must be either blind or cross-eyed. Lovren is not slow at all. I think the whole team was trying to do too much and along w/ the nerves of being back in the CL and trying to make up for that extremely dire outing against Villa, the team played with the jitters and were settled into any rythm or flow which allowed Ludogorets to exploit your gaps between the lines.

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16 Sep 2014 22:13:04
Very worrying that BR did not learn the lessons from saturday, what did he think might happen this time round! Puzzling. Its clear that without the movement from your main striker and ineffectual wingers the 433 just is not working. Anyways he finally got the message. btw ed01, do you know if we actually have a defensive coach and if we do why has he or she not been replaced yet?

Sturridge is looking more and more like the real deal as in he is world class, adds a whole new dimension to our forward play. We will miss him dearly, hopefully borini can prove the doubters wrong and provide the legs and some movement up top to create space for our creative players. Well, the only place to go is up from here I guess because we can't play any worse than we have been. Oh and I have to mention the crowd tonight, why was anfield so dead!

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17 Sep 2014 00:38:59
Yes why wAs anfield so dead. I was surrounded by people in the main stand who didn't sing a note. what's the point in being there if you're not going to get involved?

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Watch the game?

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People who go to the game and don't sing are like strikers who don't track back: they expect to be there for the glory but can be bothered to help create the right circumstances.

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16 Sep 2014 21:47:42
Eds, has anyone asked BR at a press conference why he isn't playing two strikers after the success the club had last year with that formation?

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Spot on, your post has got right to the heart of the matter. against spurs I thought we were sharp and losing sturridge was untimely for us. but we have borini and lambert to play up front with ballotelli and hopefully our manager will do that, still got the 3pts though and we should get 2nd spot in the group

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16 Sep 2014 22:48:16
great stuff with the win, what! what! old bean, pity about the performance, we got caught out by a better team in villa playing like tonight, let's hope this is the 1st step in our recovery of getting are confidence back

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16 Sep 2014 22:44:41
Rather than focus on the negatives (of which there were many) I will focus on the positives and say that both Manquillo and Moreno have been excellent since their arrival. Moreno made one big mistake at City and paid for it but really looks excellent. Manquillo looks very classy. They are both young and will get better as they fit into our style of play. I'm glad we have these players (and I'm glad we still have Flanno to return).

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16 Sep 2014 22:08:23
Glad Borini stayed now are you?

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Would rather got 14 million for him

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No, he's useless.

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16 Sep 2014 22:05:38
We won the game. Is a good start 3 points. I think this Liverpool team is a strong one. Maybe it'll take a bit of time to gel, and tonight we admittedly didn't play brilliantly but I think it will get stronger. It's great to be in the champions league though! ludogorets prove there are no bad teams in the competition. I thought the team showed some character and there are some good signs.

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16 Sep 2014 22:04:19
I think the reason we haven't played well in the last two matches is our build up from the back is just slow. Coutinho being out of sorts and Balotelli not being a threat in behind isn't helping, but I think the slow build up is the root cause.

Our build up starts with Gerrard, but I don't think he's badly in his own right. He just seems to be taking an extra split second to decide what to do with the ball when he gets it. I suspect it's because he's checking are any long passes on, which is what he's in the team to do, and the only player I've ever seen do that without any delay to making the pass is Xabi Alonso. Presumably because he has eight eyes or something. That's giving the opposition just a little bit of extra thinking time to make sure they're all where they're supposed to be.

Lucas doesn't have anything like the passing range of Gerrard, but playing in front of the back 4, he's quick and purposeful with his passing. His MO is to receive the ball, and if there's any short forward pass on, play it instantly. He doesn't check if a ball to Moreno or Manquillo in the corners is on because he wouldn't be able to pick them out. And as a result he moves the ball quicker than Gerrard making us more fluid and unsettling the opposition more. And I'm not talking about Lucas playing like that some nebulous time three years ago before he got that knee injury. He was doing it this time last year. You could see it even a couple of times when he came on tonight.

To do the Gerrard early ball thing effectively, we have to play at a very high tempo and have 2-3 players constantly making runs in behind to make up for the fact that the delivery is a little slower. Like we did at the end of last season. Then it works because the opposition have a constant sea of red shirts at them and eventually leave a gap that the likes of Gerrard, Coutinho and Sterling can exploit. But even with Coutihno on fire and Sturridge back in the team to threaten in behind, I don't think that's mentally or physically sustainable over a whole season.

To my mind, we need to either play Lucas in front of the back four moving Gerrard further forward or leaving him out in the process (I'd be inclined to move him forward at Coutinho's expense for the moment), or instruct Gerrard to not bother looking for long passes as much. I have no reason to believe he can't move the ball as fast as Lucas should he decide he's going for the shorter option the whole time.

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Great post mate; some excellent points there.

What about playing him (Gerrard) CB?

Sounds a bit mad, I know, but he's got pretty much all the qualities needed to be a success there?

Not the fastest, but over 10-15 yards he's quick enough (not slower than Lovren?)

Would also help Lovren and Mignolet (and the whole defence tbh) with their organisation/communication. Think we definitely need this.

I'd personally pick Can in his CM place, over Lucas.

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To be fair teams close Gerrard down very quick lately when they do that we find it hard to cope nobody closes lucas down because what's the point

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17 Sep 2014 17:31:42
I wouldn't pick Gerrard at CB. The raw attributes are one thing, a career of playing CB to develop instinct, positioning, reading the game etc. is another. Gerrard doesn't have the latter, and would probably get destroyed if put under any real pressure.

As for a replacement DM, Can probably does have the attributes, but I used Lucas as an example because I've seen how he plays for several seasons, whilst I've only seen a little bit of Can playing.

I should also point out that I'm not saying we should never play Gerrard at DM ever. I would think Real Madrid at home (as an example) would be an ideal game for his passing range instead Lucas' shorter approach, because the players will probably be fired up to 90 and will put in the running and tempo needed to make it work.

@ dezy Is that not case for Gerrard not just releasing the ball quicker and looking for the long ball less often? If I were a manager setting up against Liverpool I'd close down our DM regardless of who it is. So Gerrard has to be able to deal with that.

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Really can't agree with the point about Stevie having no instinct, positional sense or an ability to read the game.
Surely these are some of his huge strengths already?

It would take a little tweaking, but this is pretty much the position he takes up for the majority of our game anyway (sitting in between our 2 CB's).

It's not that I don't rate Lucas; I just think Can is a better, more athletic fit for our pressing and counter-attacking system.

I'd really like to see a 4-4-2 diamond with Mignolet, Manquillo, Lovren, Gerrard, Moreno, Can (DM), Henderson (RCM), Lallana (LCM), Sterling (AM), Sturridge (when fit) and Balotelli.

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16 Sep 2014 22:03:37
I thought we tried very hard tonight, credit to Ludogret they matched us and were unlucky not to get a draw, we were 99% perspiration 1% inspiration, got the breaks in the end and what a relief it was, I don't know what Mignolet was doing coming out of his goal like that, poor keeping, I hope he learns from it, still 3 points, my stomach is still in knots and slowly unwinding, well done lads for not giving up.

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16 Sep 2014 22:03:12
Plase Just Play The Diamond from now on every Tme we have two forward on Pitch we Look like a much better Team

and Couthinio to the bench he is not up to scratch at them moment

bit worrying when the comontater says nothing on the bench after spending 100 Million and I have to agree

at least we Won and agin They Plaed our Single! ;-)

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I'm not sure he was right in his comment about the bench KOB
We made the changes and owned the game.
But I fully agree with playing 2 up front, we should be playing this every week.
Why does he persist with 1 up top?

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16 Sep 2014 22:00:17
Thank god Allen is back this weekend. Our midfield is lacking a technically gifted player who can receive the ball in tight spaces and not concede possession. What has happened to Coutinho?

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17 Sep 2014 00:13:16
For me it might make sense to move on Coutinho, he's a magician, but it seems like Rodgers wants Sterling in the 10 role, Coutinho anywhere else just won't cut it right now, I hope he proves me wrong.

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16 Sep 2014 21:58:03
Banter please eds.
déjà vu there lads. Champions league football at anfield and Stevie pulling us out of trouble again! Always going to be a tough game but I do worry the creativity that we had last season isn't there and a little bit of Tottenham fever with all the new boys but I trust that Brendan will get it right in the end. Well done lads fingers crossed that gives us confidence going into the west ham game.

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16 Sep 2014 22:03:44
I don't know how much we have spend this season.
But a 20 year old on loan Monquillo and 12 mill pound Moreno has been the stand out till now.

They have no excuse of settling in to the new country and new style. Massive respect to both the players. I am loving both of them.

BR best signing so far.

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Agreed Harry, Moreno especially is fast becoming one of my favourites.

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Agreed, I've been impressed by Moreno certainly. I don't understand why athletico let manquillo go? Surely he must have been great back up for them if nothing else. I just hope either him or flanno can keep Johnson out the team.

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16 Sep 2014 22:01:15
Your Liverpool man of the match anyone?
I'll go with Moreno. Made some gut-busting runs down that wing, got back well, a few excellent tackles tracking back and covering other players, his crossing was decent and set up the goal. I also noticed a few long passes, one cross field and another down the wing to Sterling, which got the attacks started. He was probably our most unpredictable player all night. I'm glad he's got that confidence.
I'm hoping that quick, intricate, unpredictable passing around the box starts to click again soon otherwise I think the team are going to prefer playing away. But hey, three points, late winner, a penalty, we're back in Europe.

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16 Sep 2014 22:56:54
I'd go with Moreno too.

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Think it'd almost have to be Moreno. He was 99% excellent and had a few crucial tackles at one end along with being one of the only real attacking threats at the other.

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16 Sep 2014 21:50:06
A RB running 25 yards and winning a penalty at the 94th min out of nothing.

Never Ever Give up.

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16 Sep 2014 22:34:17
Agree Harry; but it was a gift of a goal. The opposition deserved more than they got tonight, but such is football.

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16 Sep 2014 21:49:24
Welcome to the champions league Liverpool.
They do not seemed to have learned from last season.
1-0 in game with 2 minutes to go, why are they still all bombing on?
Brendan and team need to learn fast.
Got out of jail tonight and hopefully have learned a valuable lesson.
On the plus side Balotelli scored his first goal of many I hope.

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16 Sep 2014 21:44:37
All about the result and all that jazz! Very poor though.

A few things;

Why have we stopped playing a diamond? We have 3 available forwards, play them.

Mignolet doesn't seem to inspire much confidence, at all!

Still can't defend.

Still can't get in behind.

Ludogorets are a better team than I think we all thought.

Onwards and upwards.

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We do get behind when we play the diamond, as one striker comes deep, whilst the other pulls the defenders back. Much more effective for us, but we need to be careful at the back.

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16 Sep 2014 21:53:57
We have to write a a letter to BR, on the formation. We looked better with 2 strikers and Sterling paying at the tip.

Lovern lacks pace, And that's not a surprise for me. He would be undone by many Speedy Strikers.

Attackers and Midfielders aren't going to replace Suarez goals. Strikers would do it.

Possitive

We have two wonder fullbacks. who knows better than some of our senior players.

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As well as the Diamond; Balotelli needs a strike partner on the pitch.

Not knocking the guy but shows how good Sturridge's movement is.

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You don't make it into the Champions League group stage unless you are a very good squad. Wish our fans would stop thinking other teams are inferior just because we once ran the world. We've come a long way since Rodgers' reign began, but every CL game will be a battle, and we have to go into games at Anfield firing on all cylinders to get the result. We were a bit fortunate there at the end, and hopefully the boys take it as a wake up call, especially after a loss at home to Villa.

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BR does not play the diamond because he thinks the players he has won't fit into that system maybe, I hate it when we play 1 up front at home it says we are weary of getting beat by the team we are playing

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IMO, He doesn`t play the diamond because Balo and Lambert can`t pla as a duo because they are too siilar. W/ Studge and Balo, it is our best formation ATM until the new players are bedded in properly.

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16 Sep 2014 21:43:08
Not a great game. Far too risky. But 1st game back. The most positive.

What a couple of full backs we have! Awesome

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More rubbish replies, first game back?
These are professional footballers, they've played for years, not being able to pass a ball, not being able to defend, not being able to communicate has nothing to do with the club being out of Europe for a few seasons.

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Yeah. They are professional, but there is a difference in in football in Europe and premier league.
It's like your being promoted at work. It might take you a few week or two to get a grasp of what you need to do.
End of the day we got the points and as mentioned. Moreno and manquillo were outstanding. Once the full team start playing together well. We will then see a lot more confidence. Remember. A lot of this team are new to playing together. We won't hit the road running

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16 Sep 2014 21:42:11
Why don't we ever do anything easily?
I am getting more and more disillusioned by Simon Mignolet's positional sense with every game that we play. Stevie was cool as a cucumber as he stepped up in stoppage time and added to his European goals tally.

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Yep I backed him numerous times but you can only go so far

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16 Sep 2014 21:41:31
Ok, so to be honest our defence has not improved in the slightest. We have managed to take 2 class defenders and make them look mediocre (Lovren and Sakho).

Does anyone know who at the club is responsible for this abomination of defending?

We won 2 - 1, but that was no victory I will celebrate. We are back to when Brendan first took over - all this after a very damaging home loss to a poor team (Villa).

I look forward to our learnings from this and to see how our team improves over the season as we have an excellent squad of players - one capable of challenging for cups, so let's win some!

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16 Sep 2014 22:06:21
You won't celebrate? Really? If they are the 2 points to get us to group stages you can bet I'll be celebrating

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Thank you for your response RedTwist, I am sorry to say that I am struggling to celebrate when all I feel is relieved! That was all too close to losing all 3 points.

Glad we got the 3 points and Balotelli got his 1st goal in front of Kop, but I can't wait to see when the squad has gelled properly.

Like I say, the squad is class and I fully expect to see us cruising again soon.

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16 Sep 2014 21:41:24
We'll done lads - a great victory on our first night back in Europe for 5 years. Impressive displays from Moreno, Lovren and of course Stevie G

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Moreno I thought played well, Manquillo also defended well and won a penalty; we look a better team when we play the Diamond.

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16 Sep 2014 22:50:11
Are there seriously still people on about Lovren? He was our worst defender tonight, and is consistently getting caught out of position in every match.

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16 Sep 2014 22:13:52
Wat game did u watch???

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Lovren?

He was sloppy.

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16 Sep 2014 21:38:55
Well if Ozone turned off when Borini came on he missed a treat ;). This is why you support your players no matter whatever's happened previously, he came on and our shaped changed and we won the game!

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Yes I left the ground when he came on. Did he score? No. If running about aimlessly gets you £95,000 a week, then the worlds gone mad.

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He played well enough for the bit part he had and limited time. Would it kill you to admit the kid played okay tonight, Ozone? Good header on target, nice flick around the defender before getting clattered, and he had a few other moments of quality in an overall relatively poor performance.

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Borini gave us a spark because his sheer presence allowed Balo more space in the box hence, the goal.

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Talk about disillusioned, good header on target. Don't you mean inch perfect delivery he should've buried but nodded it straight at the keeper. He couldn't trap a bag of cement. Useless end of.

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That's that then Redohio, although he's useless with the ball, in his mind then he must think that providing a spark these days means he can dictate where he plays and demand £95,000 a week. Have a word with yourselves. If Ted had anything about him he just throw him in the reserves. Just remember the crap he was posting on twitter about protecting himself. In other words he's a greedy arrogant get.

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17 Sep 2014 08:35:48
You're just as ignorant and naïve as Waro, I honestly don't see why you're still allowed to post, all you provide is unwarranted negativity. We gave the guy a contract, he has all right to see that contract through. If you were being paid £30k a year at your job and they wanted to get rid of you but couldn't just cancel your contract would you leave? No, of course not. Would you move to a smaller company that were on the verge of potentially making redundancies without demanding to be paid more than you currently are in the interest of protecting your future finances (the closest comparison I can make to a club being relegated)? No. So shut up and stop bitching about players, managers, staff etc. just because you're too disillusioned to see the forest through the trees.

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Go and read a Mills and a Boom novel TCotton.

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TCotton just listen to yourself. Your trying to put forward an argument about the man on the street and £30k a year. We're talking about an offer of £95,000 a week for someone who couldn't trap a bag of cement and he turned it down wanting a clause in his contract allowing him to be sold on for peanuts should a big club come in and offer him more than the £95,000. Get a grip lad, you shut up and get into reality.

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17 Sep 2014 13:33:13
The figures are by and large irrelevant. That is what footballers are on nowadays and you have to accept that. I am pretty sure QPR offered him more money than he's on here which makes your idea of him being a mercenary redundant (I apologise if this is wrong ed's). Maybe he feels he can add something to the team and deserves a chance. We are talking about a young player who needs the fans backing every time he pulls on the liverbird, not constant abuse.

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By the standard of every shot should be a goal otherwise you're rubbish, then I guess Balotelli, Lallana, Manquillo, et al were also all rubbish. I have no idea why you have so much hostility towards Borini, Ozone. It's really bizarre. No one is claiming he's Suarez incarnate, but he's nowhere near as poor as you make out either. Harping on about his wages when Gerrard makes more per week I'd imagine than everyone in the starting 11 of Ludogorets combined.

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16 Sep 2014 21:26:36
I think we should play borini alongside Balo in that diamond as he possesses the workrate Balo lacks. Sterling at the tip of the diamond. Hopefully that gives coutinho a kick up the backside.

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16 Sep 2014 21:44:50
I don't think Balotelli's work rate has been poor thus far; but I would say that Borini's is much better. Credit to Borini for changing the game; credit to Balo for getting one chance and burying it with some class. What a nerve-wracking performance though.

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Positives: we won. Gerrard, full backs. erm. that's it I think!
Negatives: mignolet, Lovren, Coutinho, tactics, one up front again!
I try not to bemoan refs when we get beat so in victory I'll say this one made Lee Mason look neutral! Making a tackle does not mean its free kick! He was so fickle, but maybe we need to learn to fall over every imaginary gust of wind!

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16 Sep 2014 21:57:19
That won't come untill I call BR a STUBBORN MAN ON HIS FACE. (no offence to the manager or other fans here).

So Does I call him Stubborn, He won't change it.

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Kman

couthino is not at the top of his game, but to be fair after seeing it for myself then I would not put all the blame on him, tonight in the 2nd half he had the ball and was running at the defence of luds there was about 5 players ahead of him who he could have passed to not one of them made a run for him to make the pass, so who's fault is it, not 1 out of 5 made a forward run for him, in the end I think he had a shot himself, but its unfair just to put the blame on him, make your own mind up after seeing it yourself,

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I said the exact same thing a few games ago. Diamond with borini up top. Nobody listens to me though ;)

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16 Sep 2014 21:11:01
What happened to our fast attacking football last season

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16 Sep 2014 21:13:03
2 Reasons

1. Changes in the formation and style of play

2. Suarez

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5 x new starters in the starting 11, complete new team and it shows.

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This new starter stuff is rubbish, Sanchez is having no problems as a new starter, Costa is having no problems as a new starter
If you good enough, hungry enough and aggressive enough you will exceed

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16 Sep 2014 21:45:24
Mcgoveb, Sanchez has hardly lit the league alight thus far.

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16 Sep 2014 21:59:51
curled.

Starer, you mean Lallana who played for Southampton?

BTW, Both the full backs were awesome.

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You are missing the point Mcgoveb, its the amount of new starters that is disrupting the team rather than each new starter not performing.

Sanchez and Costa have slotted into a settled team so they haven't disrupted the teams style of play and have been able to hit the ground running.

We have almost a new team on show so we need time to gel

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Well said Mcgoveb, spot on.

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I think rogers changed our tatics this season he must not trust the players to play like we did last season again

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I agree this new starter stuff doesn't wash with me, fans forget the players are on the training ground every day, if they don't know each other there is something wrong, and top players can play with anyone.

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What total nonsense. How do you equate Sanchez being the equivalent to five or six changes to a team? Sanchez is ONE player, Costa is ONE player so the 'TEAM' is not as effected as the rest of the team are used to playing the managers system. This is not about players being good enough but about the TEAM learning to play to the managers system!

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Wouldn't say Sanchez is having "no problems". Costa has been on fire, but could have had a red card or two by now. Most players have to acclimate to a new country, new teammates, new manager, new spotlight etc. etc.

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Soton have lost their best CB, their starting LB, part time RB, their captain, and their primary striker, yet they seem to be doing just fine. Certainly gave us a run for our money anyway.

For whatever reason it always looks like we have 2 players less than the other team on the pitch. Very strange start to the season, hopefully things improve and improve soon.

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17 Sep 2014 00:52:46
We've got a whole new defence lads remember. We've gone from Johnson (shudders), Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan to Manquillo, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno. On paper it's better and it is let's be honest, but it's going to take time to gel.

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16 Sep 2014 21:05:54
hi all

im watching the game and in the 54th minute Couthino had the ball there was about 5 players ahead of him and has he was running forward with the ball not one of them players ahead of him made any runs forward so his pass was blocked, so maybe its the froward players who are not giving Couthino a chance a making good passes, plus mario is a very static type of player, unlike studge where he runs wide and drags defenders out of position, like the villa game because of mario everything is in front of ludgrets defence because there is only one striker again at home for us, bad tactics again by BR, why not 2 strikers ffs this game is just like the villa game, the other team have been decent in defence maybe they will tire and we will score a late goal,

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Coutinho has been shocking this season and wasn't great at the end of last season either.
I'd rather see Lallana in the middle for a few games in a row and Coutinho on the bench until he improves his final ball and his terrible shooting accuracy.

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Mcgoveb,

a player who is supposed to supply the front players can only do so when the front players make a move, with suarez it was easy because he was always on the move making it hard for the defenders to defend against him or any balls to him, do I really have to explain how attacking football goes, if the attackers are standing still then they are easy to mark and any balls to them are easy to cut out ending in complete passes and for me I don't think lallana would do any better because of the same problem, let's see you say something when you see this and when couthino scores a goal, I was just trying to point out that couthino looks bad because he has nothing to work with and that will happen to anyone in the same position untill sudge comes back because he is the only one who has movement in him, plus I would rather have sterling there instead of lallana, if couthino has to be replaced, because he has proved he can play that position well, but we need players to have more movement up top to give options to the midfielders

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16 Sep 2014 22:47:33
Mickey

Could we sum up that Strikers score goals and we should have replaced Suarez with a world claas pedigree than 5 attacking players?

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Again spot on about Cout Mcgoveb. Not dire about Lallana though, personally not impressed at all.

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Coutinho, Coutinho, Coutinho,

his shooting accuracy is low and needs improvement. Yes he was unlucky vs Villa but in general he often misses the target.

He is great on the ball but also seems to give the ball away in positions that leave us vulnerable to counter attack, especially when he picks the ball up deep and other midfielders overlap.

Work in progress.

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16 Sep 2014 20:56:50
jorden is taking over from steve G .He looks the part now go on Jorden

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16 Sep 2014 20:42:11
I hope we score a goal and win this match.

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16 Sep 2014 20:41:19
Evening from Anfield,

Atmosphere is like a morgue tonight compared to normal.

Am I the only one who thinks Coutinho is poor?

He reminds me of Ben Arfa. Has one fantastic game in every ten. He can be so wasteful at times.

I am expecting a much better 2nd half performance. We need to pick up the pace and move the ball much quicker or I can see a 0-0

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16 Sep 2014 20:49:34
We have been close to Shocking till now. I hope let's not be an embarrassment and pick up a win.
First time in CL after 5 years and All I could hear the away fans singing.

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Coutinho is shocking, has been this season and for the end of last season, Lallana in behind the strikers for me every game

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CON6580, I've been saying this for a while, COUTINHO is a show pony, he does the odd pass here or there, I have yet to see this fellow dominate a game, he is no XABI ALONSO.

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16 Sep 2014 23:20:27
Atmosphere has been poor all 3 home games so far this season, feels like I am watching a match at the Emirates every time. The new signings have all been saying "looking forward to special Anfield atmosphere" nothing special thus far. Last season vs Man City was unbelievable it needs to be like this all the time, explosive start or not.

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Coutinho is having a bad spell and is lacking confidence. He needs our support because he had a decent season last year w/ all his goals and assists coming in big games. Let`s help him INSTEAD of slating him.

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16 Sep 2014 20:41:08
Ok, it's half time and 0-0. No major defensive mistakes but I do sense at least one to cone. Which if that does happen there can be no excuses. Mignolet, Lovren and Sakho all are class players a d speak fluent French. So no excuses please from anyone. I hate to tempt faith but it has to be said.

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The expression is "tempt fate" not faith, ha

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16 Sep 2014 20:35:19
Not sure what it is, but the recipe is totally wrong and some of these players clearly don't get the system. Coutinho is having a shocker by his normally high standards, balotelli doesn't have much movement for a striker and that is clearly our problem going foward. There is no more SAS making space for the midfield, and it could be different if we actually bought marquee signings in the summer. There's a reason why they are world class, because they can play in any team and do well. I guess it's just frustration but it seems we only do well when we get lucky in games, and that won't happen often. Maybe a 1-0 boring win today, unless something drastically changes at half time.

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16 Sep 2014 20:44:39
Everything creative that we've had thus far has come through balotelli. Everyone needs to get off the balotelli blame bandwagon. Coutinho has been very poor. lallana needs to be played in his preferred position of acm. And we need another striker. I hope coutinho comes off for lambert soon

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16 Sep 2014 20:58:53
TjRed

Lallana played in the wings for Southampton. Either He is a one season wonder or He needs time to settle in.

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If he had some supply Balotelli can score goals, unfortunately our tactics are ridiculous thus far and he has no supply.

Tactics are wrong or teams understanding of them is not there! Can't say which as I don't play for the club - just support them!

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To be fair, name some marquee signings who were actually available and we could have gotten?

Falcao, Costa, Fabregas, and Sanchez would all be in the 'no' column.

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We wanted Costa and Samchez and for diff reasons, they said no.

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16 Sep 2014 20:29:58
I can easily say the Liverpool crowd are too quiet and have been since Benitez was in charge . No idea why

Secondly coutinho can't play on the left and most of us know it's the middle for him or nothing at all!

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16 Sep 2014 20:28:50
Eds. Get Ready. lols.

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16 Sep 2014 20:26:25
No cutting edge with this 4-3-3.

Same as villa game

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16 Sep 2014 20:25:54
Does someone want to chip in with me to buy mario a pair of boots with studs in them?

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16 Sep 2014 20:19:53
Geeez, we are both poor and I hate to say but boring so far in this first half!

When did we decide to play boring tactics?

Is it 1 shot for us in the 1st half?

Sorry to slate our team, but I expect much better.

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16 Sep 2014 20:16:12
Coutinho playing a deep role is like Jennifer aniston wearing a burkha. Pointless.

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16 Sep 2014 20:13:20
Have we really bought lallana as a winger?

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16 Sep 2014 19:26:10
Oh my god! So excited it's good to be back! Ynwa

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16 Sep 2014 17:15:27
for anyone interested our group opponents in the youth league are on live now on Eurosport and also available on firstrow currently 0-0 between Basle and R.Madrid

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Half-time R.Madrid 1-0 up and to be fair, much like Liverpool were earlier in complete control. Basle offering very little going forward. Should be a good game between Liverpool and Real at this level and our young lads should have nothing to fear if they play to their best level.

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Match finished 2-0 to R.Madrid so the young reds lead the group on goal difference, just the start they would be looking for.

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16 Sep 2014 16:51:17
I knew the user name was too easy for you guys.
I'll be around. You just won't know it next time :-)

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Without sounding too condescending I wish you'd post about football instead of clogging up the site with this rubbish everyday it's becoming repetitive we've all had bad relationships get yourself on a lonely hearts website or something.

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16 Sep 2014 16:01:14
Total control again in the 2nd half from Liverpool with the away side offering very little as an attacking force. The tempo dropping from the intensity of the 1st half. Little in the way of chances from the home side in spite of their dominance of the football. Kent and Brannigan made way for Chirevella and Wilson around the 65min mark and Canos came on for a tiring Ojo on 79minutes.
Liverpool happy enough to pass the ball around without the cut throat penetration like late in the 2nd half. With the game edging towards a finish Harry Wilson won a free kick right of centre outside the box.
He hit a fantastic effort with his left foot that came back of the post. Jerome Sinclair was alive and brushed aside his marker to prod home his 2nd goal on 87mins.
All in all as the match petered out, a 4-0 scoreline didn't flatter this young side. A great debut for the competition and let's hope for more of the same from their senior members at Anfield later on.

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16 Sep 2014 17:23:48
Nice for the kids to also get their moment of glory on the BBC Sport news feed - check out the entry today at 17.19.

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16 Sep 2014 18:23:15
Ojo would be the next one to break into First team. Looks an excellent player in the making.

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16 Sep 2014 23:23:45
Watched Ojo vs West Ham too boom, he already looks too good for the u21s.

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16 Sep 2014 15:50:17
To the Eds - I ask that you be even handed and fair in your handling of posts on here because it is getting out of hand. There are posters who get away with abuse (calling the manager "stupid" and other things), mockery of other posters and their posts, biting sarcasm and just a general high handed and utterly child like behaviour. And then they get away with it by changing their name and avatar, while the rest of us (most of us) have to be mindful of other other people's sensibilities, on here. We all know whom I am talking about. If you're going to set flood gates then be strict about it, otherwise simply open them for everyone. I have no problem with the posts. I should be able to express my extremism too. That's it.

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{Ed002's Note - Why do the Liverpool posters constantly whine about things? And now you seem to be whining that I won't let you whine whilst I let others whine and you can't whine about them but they whine about the other posters who you want to whine about but I won't because I am sick of your whining.}

Calm down Ed. I have no love of whining, and my post history shows I don't do it. I'm simply saying that a lot of us refrain from the name calling that some regularly use, day in and day out. If that's okay, then let the rest of us join the party too, without deletions and mysteriously missing posts.

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{Ed002's Note - If I determine something needs deleting then I will delete it - it is nothing to do with you, other posters or other editors. As for the other editors, they will take the same position. All you are doing right now is whining and wasting my time.}

Hey, Ed . I ain't whining. The sun is shining and I am alive. No need to whine.

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16 Sep 2014 17:42:32
There may be no need to whine, Robbie, but if you're alive and the sun is shining, surely there's a need to 'wine'?

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Whats this whining craze all about? Has miley cyrus got a new dance out?
Or is it a new drinking craze.

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16 Sep 2014 15:20:37
To catch a different group (the Tuesday afternoon posters rather than the Monday evening posters) I'm re-starting the league prediction thread from SirShanks.

I'm going to say that I fully expect us to finish second again this season behind runaway winners Chelsea (much as it pains me as I am not a fan of Mourhinio) but ahead of the Mancs.

I expect City to finish third and United to scrape 4th after Arsenal have their usual capitulation in early 2015.

Spuds and Everton will battle it out for 6th & 7th, and I see Hull up in the top half along side Aston Villa and Swansea.

Newcastle, managed by the "Chosen One" will go down.

You heard it here first, boys n girls!

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16 Sep 2014 16:00:06
So All of a sudden UTD jumps from 7th to 4th?

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16 Sep 2014 16:12:58
Harry, what?

You do realise that teams can change positions year on year, right?

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16 Sep 2014 16:20:12
So a Liverpool team, that has barely improved from last year, having lost their one 'World Class' player, and who last year played out of their skin with less games than other teams, are going to finish 2nd, with more games and the likelihood that they won't play to the same level as last year? Not going to happen, it will be Chelsea, City, United, Liverpool/Arsenal.

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16 Sep 2014 17:36:56
We have an additional 6 games until February.

We have improved in depth, and I would argue that the overall quality of the first 11 (when fit!) has improved, although obviously Balotelli (or Borini or Lambert) are NOT an improvement like for like for Suarez.

So, yes, I do think we could get 2nd.

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Beating QPR is no big deal even if its by a 4-0 scoreline. Even under achieving Spurs did that. Manchester United fans need to tone down their expectations after one win against an extremely poor QPR side which will suffer many more thrashings as the season progresses. Manchester United could well get 4th place, but it will be touch and go. Chelsea or City to win the league with Arsenal possibly getting third and LFC and Manchester United to fight for 4th.

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16 Sep 2014 15:02:15
A gr8 start to the young reds for their European campaign. A completely dominant display restricting their opponents to a couple of breakaway chances on the counter attack.
Plenty of opportunities for the reds down the flanks from Kent and Ojo with just the final pass eluding the striker and midfield runners into the box.
The breakthrough finally came with gr8 link up play from Ojo on the left who slipped in Harte. He blasted across the box for Sinclair to tap in for 1-0 on 30mins.
Total control now for the reds, Cleary picked up the ball outside the box, a first time volley to the right wing picked out O'Hanlon. He in turn returned a pin point cross onto the head of Cleary who converts for 2-0 in the 38th minute.
Straight from the kick off Liverpool win back possession. Ryan Kent raced down the right, he passes with pace across the edge of the box. A clever dummy from Brannigan and a cool finish from the onrushing O'Hanlon makes it 3-0. A super 1st half from the home side.

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I'm very impressed with Ojo. We have another speedy skilful winger waitin the wings there.

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16 Sep 2014 14:11:15
Someone who can tell me why Chirivella, Canos and Wilson are not starting? Are there some rules that doesn't allow them to play all 90 minutes?

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Chirivella & wilson are just back from injury & canos isn't as good as Kent or Ojo or Wilson infact

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Ojo's quality

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16 Sep 2014 13:29:54
The underage team and subs is available on the teams page for the Ludogorets match.

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16 Sep 2014 12:42:58
Well done Hendo lad :)

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16 Sep 2014 12:38:02
Interesting that that Everton may be building a new ground, hmmm! Yet were looking into updating Anfield when F$G, can be arsed to get around to it.

Want to know why I hate F$G and want them gone, there's one of the many reasons why.

Good luck to the boys tonight, balotteli's first goal tonight I hope and maybe llanna, give them a little confidence. 4-0 lovren first goal.

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{Ed002's Note - The club has been putting a significant amount of effort in to getting the go ahead to get at least some of the new seating in place for 2016/17 but right now it is in the hands of planning and any locals who may wish to object. It is not the lack of effort by the owners.}

16 Sep 2014 13:48:10
I sometimes think that you are just a troll trying to wind people up as it's staggering how naïve some of your posts are.

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16 Sep 2014 14:04:17
Expecting Waro to see through his irrational and all consuming hatred to the actual facts of the situation? Come on Ed002, you know him better than that! We're talking about the guy who wouldn't cheer if certain players in the squad scores here

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16 Sep 2014 14:23:34
With respect to you Ed002, I've heard the bureaucratic bluster for far too long and not just with these owners so I lump them in with the last lot on that score, it doesn't wash, the objections fall down as an excuse when the only side of the ground with residents is across the road from the Kop and the wider borough ( not on the other three sides of the ground ) and trust me there will be many many Blues who live in the area who will object so no I'm not having that, and we all know what hold ups there can be with regards planning so why did they not move quicker on a decision on a new ground or redevelopment?

Day 1 of ownership and the wheels should have been put in motion about which way to go and swift action taken on the planning side at least, the ground issue must have been the number one priority on the day they purchased the club, how long have they owned us? I will leave it on that question!

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{Ed002's Note - The owners have been looking at the options since day 1. They had no idea of the amount of money the club would consume with a series of managers wasting funds on transfers, debt building up etc.. Whoever was in charge would have the same issues with planning and objections. Simply objecting with no rationale except being the supporter of another club will of course go nowhere. The club remain hopeful of completing the first phase of the updates in less than two years but I suspect that may not be possible. They will look to the money they can raise through selling the naming rights and they will look to additional sponsorship and, critically, to success on the field. I have no doubts that there will be an exit strategy based around that same date that can be executed if needs be. The club will never be in the possession of the fans so your great desire will not be achieved. Need to get on with it in the confines of what you have.}

Naïve TCotton? No that is you and the countless posters on here who just sit there like an obese kid at fat camp with a box of Twinkies on there lap being spoon fed info and NAIVELY excepting it.

Tell me hjikle, what are the FACTS I'm hating on? Show me the facts that your aware of and how you see them.

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16 Sep 2014 15:07:07
BTW, to add a bit of positivity, most people have missed your prediction of the game.

Wooooooow there, Waro! 4-0 is a bit racy, mate! I'll be happy with a victory and a clean sheet, after all of the expectation heaped on our fist appearance in 5 years! I actually would've loved to get the away leg to Madrid out of the way in the first game as anything from that fixture would be a bonus!

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16 Sep 2014 15:27:04
BTW, also posted a bit of history to the Everton and Liverpool stadia sagas, which didn't make it through. Maybe the Eds wanted me to edit the post a bit? If so, here it is!

The Everton saga has been going on since 1996, ours perhaps as long (not sure) but certainly we got planning for Stanley Park in 2003, and Hicks & Gillett promised spades in the ground in 60 days in 2007.

FSG took over in 2010, review options and decided in 2012 to spend £150m (as reported) on expanding Anfield instead of moving. This will give us 60k seats.

Everton's recently reported new stadium will be a 55k seater costing £200m (again, as reported).

I can't see what to criticise the owners over as regards their decision on Anfield, either as a stand alone decision or in comparison to the Everton plans.?

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{Ed002's Note - That is not how it is turning out for LFC.}

16 Sep 2014 15:49:32
Waro, Everton first announced plans for a new ground in 1996 - it is now 18 years later when it is moving forward.

Not sure when our owners first suggested a plan for a new ground (maybe you can help here?) but planning permission for Stanley Park was granted in 2003 and Hicks and Gillett made their famous 60 days comment in 2007.

FSG have been in place since 2010. In 2012 they decided to expand Anfield to 60k seats instead of moving.

The new ground for Everton will cost £200m (according to reports) and will hold up to 55k fans.

Our expansion to 60k seats will cost £150m.

The Eds (Ed002 I think) has confirmed in the past that expansion to more than 60k seats would be extortionate due to having to significantly increase the infrastructure around Anfield (roads, public transport etc) in order to be able to accommodate the extra fans.

I honestly don't understand, given this backdrop of information, why this issues provides you with more reason to hate FSG and want them gone?

What would you have wanted for them to do differently?

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{Ed002's Note - LFC are looking at making the stadium changes in two phases.}

16 Sep 2014 15:50:52
You're nothing short of an ignorant human being who cannot accept (not except) when you're wrong about something or someone. Your constant bashing of the owners and players is sickening, especially as your arguments have no weight to them, all your points are subjective opinions. Ed002's responses in this particular thread are examples of how to post something that isn't based on opinion, but has substance.

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FSG have actually come out with an achievable and realistic solution to the stadium issue and selling naming rights will help pay for that.

Everton wanting to build a stadium will become an albatross for them and will in all probability end up costing more than £200m and could bankrupt them if they then can't pay for it.

If you want to slag owners off, then feel free to direct your ire at Moores, Hicks or Gillett as their greed nearly destroyed the club.

But to slag off someone who has made actual steps to making Anfield bigger and have saved the club is ridiculous.

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16 Sep 2014 16:22:21
Ed002, do you mean that 60k is no longer on the cards, or that, as you stated a bit earlier, that the plans and phases will take longer than planned?

Thanks

Z

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{Ed002's Note - To minimise the disruption and any closures to stands during the season, and probably to keep the costs and increased debt to a manageable level, the club is looking to a two phase implementation: (a) Phase 1 - an increase to (from memory) just under 54k seats (including changes to the main stand and including all hospitality/exec box additions), (b) Phase B - later changes to the Anfield Road stand taking capacity to about 58.8k.}

Prefer to stay at Anfield anyway

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Waro, "fat camp" and "twinkies"
Didn't know you were an American

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{Ed002's Note - I understand that Jan Molby runs a fat camp in Liverpool Chris. You might want to ask Sparky what Twinkies really are - this is a family page.}

I know there are fat camps in the UK Ed but when you use the term alongside twinkies (the American snack cake) then it does lend itself to sounding American

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{Ed002's Note - You have a lot to learn Chris if you think a twinkie is a twinkie.}

17 Sep 2014 06:22:44
Remiss of you to bring up the Molby Fat Camp, Ed002, after the unfortunate cannibalism incident.

It wasn't Jan's fault that his 11am and 11.30am meals weren't provided as agreed, and the kid did look a bit like a liquorice allsort in his Newcastle kit.

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16 Sep 2014 12:00:26
I don't think Stevie will start tonight. It just seems weird to me that Rodgers announced his vice captain the day before the game. Almost as though he was planning on resting Gerrard all along, so needed to decide who would captain the side in his absence.

Perhaps I'm reading to much into it though. Just a theory guys, please don't attack me!

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Stevie should not be starting this game regardless of what else is happening around the club. Lucas is more than good enough to deal with Ludogorets, what is the point of squad depth if u play a 34 year old in every game knowing he will not be fully fit? BR needs to man up and tell Stevie he has to wait for his turn against Basel or Real.

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16 Sep 2014 14:26:25
Its been 5 years without CL, And you believe Steve won't start?

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16 Sep 2014 14:27:48
Indian

Have you ever tried to put you hand inside a Lion's mouth. National Geographic guys does it. BR unfortunatly isnt.
No ways Steve would be dropped.

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16 Sep 2014 10:30:53
Hi guys,
For anyone who can't wait for the match tonight, just a little reminder that the youth team are playing Ludogorets at Langtree Park, St Helens in the UEFA Youth League - and you can watch the whole game live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO from 1.45pm BST. The match is also being screened on Firstrow so I'm sure its available on other sites too.

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Thanks for the reminder Simon.

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16 Sep 2014 12:39:33
Is it like a Warm up match?

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No Harry it's the underage version of the champions league. We play the same teams as we face in the senior group mate.

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16 Sep 2014 13:19:02
Absolutely, Harry.

Other than the fact its going to involve different players and be at a different stadium.

Other than that, it is absolutely a warm up match :)

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16 Sep 2014 13:30:56
What a great concept - play a team in a 'friendly' at lunchtime, beat the crap out of them and then face a skeleton squad for the real game in the evening :P

Should be interesting - can't watch it due to work but I'd have thought we'd slaughter then - such a small budget usually means anyone decent goes to the senior team pretty quickly

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16 Sep 2014 10:02:43
Some great coverage in the Daily Telegraph today of Liverpool's return to the Champions League. There's a good article on what has happened in the five years since Liverpool were last involved, and the pressure Rodgers is now under to make sure we qualify again next season. Henry Winter (who I think must be a Liverpool fan) writes a nostalgic piece centred around Gerrard's late goal against Olympiakos in the 2004/05 season.

It got me thinking.

Until last season, Gerrard must surely have given up hope of playing in the Champions League again. We seemed so far off it until last season. Sure, he's not the same one-man force of nature as he was when he hit that famous goal against Olympiakos but I, for one, am delighted for him that he gets another chance to lead Liverpool out in the Champions league.

I think the draw has been reasonably kind to us, giving us a good chance to progress but also a "glamour tie" against a fellow legendary multi European Cup winner.

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Reasonably kind? I think that is almost like the perfect draw! I would be very disappointed if we don't make it out of that group, and I fully expect us to get through.

Tonight I think will be difficult, but I expect us to win.

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Lot of people on here seem to be under estimating FC Basel. Do not forget they put Manchester United and Chelsea in their place and shut them up. Under estimate them, and it could well be an early end to our Champions League campaign. IMO they will be as difficult an opponent as the likes of Juve or PSG could be. Basel players play with a lot of heart and passion, and we all saw what Villa did to us with average players. Basel could do a Villa, just hope BR keeps the boys on their toes.

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16 Sep 2014 13:20:18
Completely disagree with the Buzzer.

Basel, like any other herb, are going to be bashed and ground into a fine paste and then added to an Italian dish.

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16 Sep 2014 13:34:01
Buzzer - Basel are a decent team. But they have also recently lost their star players like Salah and not really replaced them in quality or depth. But most importantly - whilst still strong (it's the CL, of course they are strong) they are still among the weaker teams in pot 2 and therefore give us the best chance.

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At this level it is foolish to underestimate any team. All this talk of smashing these so called lesser clubs is naive and dangerous. I expect them to give us a difficult game - on paper we have the quality to triumph, what we really need is to show that quality on the pitch. As the Villa game proved that is never guaranteed.

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16 Sep 2014 07:28:42
12 hours boys, 12 hours! Then we get to see the one of the finest sights in world football, Hendo tearing up the champs league

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Thank god you didn't say Adrian Chiles!

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16 Sep 2014 13:34:27
It shorts and sandals

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16 Sep 2014 15:23:35
I can just look at my screensaver whenever I want to see that

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16 Sep 2014 05:44:21
I didn't want to post straight after the Villa game because I was annoyed, but having had a little time to mull it over I'm probably calm enough to do it now.

I think a little a bit of perspective is needed here. We ended last season incredibly well, 13 wins from the last 11 if i'm not mistaken. This is almost unheard of, we were spoiled as Liverpool fans and I think we got a bit carried away.

We lost of best player over the summer (ban or sale doesn't matter, we lost him) and we have reinvested heavily. I know Ed002 loves/hates the "transition" word, but I don't think it is that. I think it is just a period of bedding in.

Lovren and Sakho look solid 95% of the time, and then suddenly one of them loses their head (Sakho lost the ball and then a minute of so later gave away the corner for the goal), i'd like to think that this will become less and less common as they play more together and learn each other's game. This is only the second game they have played together!

Same for the midfield really. Lallana will take a little time to get used to things, as will Can and Markovic.

Mario and Sturridge looked very good together against Spurs but they won't be like Suarez and Sturridge straight away. Suarex and Sturridge weren't like that straight away.

We also need to look at injuries. Lallana basically didn't have a pre-season with us due to injury, Markovic similar. Can has been in and out, and Sakho was struggling and couldn't be rushed. Flanno is still struggling, Borini was in no-man's land, Lucas was injured, Sturridge is now out, Moreno joined right at the end of the window, as did Mario. The team hasn't had much time playing together as of yet. Give it time.

All that being said, let's look at the game so far.

Southampton (H) - 3 more points than last season
Man City (A) - same points as last season
Spurs (A) - same points as last season
Villa (H) - 1 point less than last season.

It's four games in, and we are 2 points better off against the same teams as last season. let's not get too hasty. If we are still struggling at Christmas then it might be time to be a bit put out, but for now, let's just see what happens.

Champions League tomorrow night anyway! It's been much too long since we were able to say that!

Have a great night all.

RedDawn

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Lovren and Sakho look solid 95% of the time is not true.
Before we fall behind Lovren and Sakho are constantly under pressure and made quite a few errors between them (Not saying entirely their fault).
The only reason they look more comfortable after the goal is villa are not pressing hard as after the goal

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16 Sep 2014 06:52:57
I make u right mate I dnt think anyone in world football has managed 13 wins from 11 games. :)

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You make some great points mate but be prepaired for the glass half empty brigade to come on and slate you.

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16 Sep 2014 07:49:40
Red Dawn

Comparison doesn't make sense mate, No assuarance we would beat City at home and Southampton away.

Without goals, which aren't coming, We are not going to win matches.

We won these kinda scrappy mathces last season due our devastating goal scoring abilities.

Everyone here were convinced, Reverting back to 4-3-3 in Suarez absence would do well and better. Just being 4 games and we loked out of deapth.

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I would have said we played well but in the first half hour probably I don't think 1 person made a run in behind. we had lalanna and coutinho dropping deeper and deeper and markovic and ballotelli occupying the wings and our play throughout the match just wasn't quick or clever enough to break through a deep sitting and well organized villa team. this happens.

On another day coutinho or even ballotellis deflected shot go in and we might end up winning. as dawn said give it time probably end of November at the earliest and then we can start to assess but at the moment we've played 1 bad game 2 meh and 1 excellent so let's just see where we go from here

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16 Sep 2014 15:34:32
Much as I love the comparison to last season, I think the performances are more of a valid comparison tool, and to that end I would agree with Shanek's analysis of 1 good, 1 bad and 2 indifferent.

We are taking a bit of time to click together, not helped by injuries, but the real barometer will come, as it did last season, after 10 games. If we're in the top 4 at that stage, I'll be happy.

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Mate your post was admirable till the very end where you did a comparison to last seasons results. It does my head in. The last season has gone - do you think we're going to stroll to victories against Stoke and Southampton away this year? I don't. Do you think we'll smash West Ham at the weekend? I don't. I am not saying we can't beat these teams but using last seasons fixtures as a comparison is just redundant, anything can happen: there are 34 more games to play and nothing is assured. We need to gel quickly and get ourselves up to the desired level because, as of yet, we haven't really been hitting the highs we should.

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17 Sep 2014 20:04:06
Cheers for the responses guys.

I appreciate why looking at last seasons results is a little pointless, but that was kind of my point, stats and comparisons can be twisted to show anything really (I seem to remember Steve Keen asserting that Blackburn had ventured into the opposition box more often than their opponents in their last 10 games. they were subsequently relegated). The important thing is sustained performances over a season, not a month

We are 4 games into the season, reading anything much into the results at this stage is a little redundant. Last season we started well and had a big blip over Christmas then finished strongly.

Who knows what will happen this season? We could romp through December and January with 30 points from a possible 30.

I think what I was trying to say was that whilst the performances aren't there quite yet, the potential is certainly there, and I don't think that the vast improvement suggested by some is required for us to be close to our best.

A few tweaks here and there and above all else confidence and time playing together. We have the naturally talented players to be a top quality team they just need a bit more time together (I didn't mention transition Ed002!)

Oh and if someone fancies offering Mignolet a once in a lifetime one way trip to the ISS this winter, that would be dandy! He's having a shocker so far, comes to something where I am actually hoping we sign a 32yr old, hobbled, Barca reject on massive wages!

Anyway, happy Wednesday everyone.

I've got £10 on Schalke tonight, anyone else think it's a sure thing? Probably not.

Cheers

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15 Sep 2014 23:16:51
Just wanted to have my say on the weekend, I waited a little bit for all the haters to get there say!

First though eds could we please have a poll for fun after every loss 'if you were the directors would you sack Brendan and his backroom staff?' and after a win 'do you think Brendan and his back room staff deserve a contract extension' I just think how fickle things are at the moment is a disgrace. 4 months ago were going for a title and now 2 loses and were a bad team and brendans a bad manager.

last year we were bad for about 6 months and not bad but nothing like the second half of the season, people seem to think we played amazing all season? we lost to arsenal 'when they were tipped for the title', drew to everton ' had to save it in the last minute', drew against newcastle in a dross game 'after last years international matches' lost to hull, lost to chelsea and man city, struggled against villa in both games, almost lost against fulham, blew it against palace! the season is full of ups and downs, end of the day you can lose 7, draw 6 and still finish on 81 points which is pretty much champions league football?

and quick analyse on Saturday, if ballotelli connects with the header markovic nicked off him, we could go one in front and then the games ares and as it goes we lose one early on which then gives them something to hang on to, it looked a poor performance but we could of played the same and with a bit of luck won, Lallanas chance and Coutinhos off the post? it was one of those days simple, doesn't make you a bad team haha the only constant in football is the fans - players, managers, results come and go but the support has to remain!

and very last thing this isn't the same as five years ago when we dropped out of the champions league, then we had an ageing team with torres of peak, gerrard slowing, no alonso, and the rest. this year we have a fabulous young squad with class oozing out so if we drop out this year next year we will be an abolsute force because this team has a title in them yet alone top 4 qualification, I guarantee we will finish in the top 4, super arsenal will suffer a normal bout of terriblness, united will not come back for atleast 4 transfer windows, chelsea will drop points and city already have dropped 4, with more to come, its a long hard season, its like no fan has ever seen one!

Liverpool fans need to get back to being the best in the world, we have it in us!

YNWA JFT96

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16 Sep 2014 07:53:38
Raj

We are certainly not a Bad team and BR not a bad manager.

But BR is an arrogant man who has cost us 6 points already due his stuppid formation and tactics.

BR also should take some stick on the players he has bought in 2 years.

Working without a DOF and having a mojority of the transfer dealings, BR should get it spot on.

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Thanks for the reasoned perspective. Agree with all of that mate - except that Chelsea will drop points ;) Can see them outdoing the invincibles this season

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Seriously Harry, do you never have anything positive to say? I have never seen so much negativity from any Liverpool fan! You make so many comments on here and 99.9% of them are criticism of one thing or another.

Seriously dude take a chill pill, in any given situation there are always positives; passion for LFC does not mean constant, non-stop, monotonous criticism; constructive criticism of a teams performance means you can evaluate the good and the bad; build on the good, and try to eliminate the bad.

don't keep looking and commenting on all of the negatives Harry; this will serve you well in everyday life too!

Peace out!

JFT96
YNWA

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16 Sep 2014 10:14:03
Red Sanity

Lols. what's the negativity in my post mate.

I mean. After watching that horrondus show against Villa, I couldn't stand up on my legs.

I have been really possitive about the coming season. 9 signings. I was over the moon TBH.

But Facts are Facts, You either take it or not.

Ronaldo is a LW, also plays off the striker.

What If I say He is a rubbish Deep lying Midfeidler.

Thats not Negativity. that's facts.

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16 Sep 2014 13:16:17
harry, you are talking she*p mate.

where is the negativity? calling BR an arrogant man? That is not fact and I would go as far to say completely incorrect. if you were to state he made mistakes in his tactics then that would be correct. losng to city isn't soley on rodgers head and anyone expecting us to beat them at their own ground would be closer to arrogance.

if you say you were over the moon with our 9 signings then why are you turning on them and rodgers after 4 games?!wind your neck in

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Oh Harry, Harry,

Just go through your posts over the last couple of day's mate and look at what you have typed!

I am not singling you out, there are other's too, but you are an ubiquitous poster, and it's always the same.

Peace out dude!

YNWA
JFT96

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