Liverpool Banter Archive August 24 2016

24 Aug 2016 22:25:48
Despite them losing, wanna say congrats to Jon Flanagan for getting through 120 minutes!

24 Aug 2016 17:56:23
James? Please be true!

24 Aug 2016 18:23:24
Coutinho is better.

24 Aug 2016 19:24:32
two very different players, I guarantee James would be more efficient with shots:goals ratio amor outside box. Coutinho better in 1v1s so together would be fantastic.

Of course, I don't realistically expect us to sign James, SSN just scraping for rumours.

{Ed001's Note - James Rodriguez is far too slow for the Spanish League, mentally I mean, games keep passing him by, which doesn't help when you run like you have blocks of cement on your feet rather than boots. If he can't cope with the pace in Spain, there is no way on earth he would cope in England. Steer well clear. Technically excellent, but that's no good on its own.}

24 Aug 2016 20:29:37
And Who is he replacing at Liverpool? As much we could guess Coutinho will be replaced by Sofiano Boufal of Southampton next summer.

24 Aug 2016 21:06:00
Lol . We all know Reus is coutinho replacement .

24 Aug 2016 21:40:09
He will be replacing Balotelli 😎.

24 Aug 2016 21:44:47
Ron it's to hard to replace balotelli❤️.

25 Aug 2016 03:23:58
Agreed Reus, even the dumbest player around would be able to steal a living without messing up.

25 Aug 2016 15:45:21
Well I would let him take ALL our corners and share free kicks with Coutinho. 😎.

24 Aug 2016 15:53:32
Eds

with our left back situation looking as it won't be solved. I would like your opinion on who is out there that could fill the void at left back? I have seen that Marcos Alonso has done quite well in italy over the last year, he has played in england before and shouldn't take long to adjust. In my opinion i think we should be looking at someone with that sort of profile.

Any other thoughts out there?

{Ed001's Note - he was not good enough.}

24 Aug 2016 17:07:07
Probably get shot down for this but whenever I watch Van Arnult (spelling ) lb at Sunderland I'm always impressed.

{Ed001's Note - by the one full back in England that is a worse defender than Moreno?}

24 Aug 2016 17:23:37
There are hardly anymore Ashley Cole's left in England. Majority bombs forward sacrificing the defensive duties and hence all clubs has a speciality look after guy called CDM. Klopp trust Moreno's offensive attributes ( I don't know what are those ) But that's the reason he has never wanted an old fashioned full back who doesn't cross the half way line. His team at Dortmund had absolute pace down the flanks.
This is what I think.

24 Aug 2016 18:56:55
Van Aanholt is good going forward, but non existent defensively because he never goes back!

I have always maintained that Ryan Bertrand is the best left back in the Premier League (although that is no real accolade) and Azpilicueta is the best right back in the league. Although Bellerin is the only full back in England who I can see becoming world class, he is still a little inexperienced as shown this weekend just gone when he got too close to Musa on the wrong side and gave him an excuse to go down.

A while back I posted an article on this site and suggested that the best (realistic) option out there for us at left back was Sead Kolasinac. I would probably stick with that.

24 Aug 2016 21:09:38
So Ed001's sounds like the boy for us then!

24 Aug 2016 21:19:48
Got Van Aarholdt in my fantasy team "Keague Champions".
Wouldn't have him at LFC though 😄.

24 Aug 2016 23:50:45
A couple of big clubs are looking at the left back from Leeds United, Taylor I think his name is, in his last year of contract, not signing another, so he will move on soon, is he any good?

25 Aug 2016 03:33:33
Van Anholt? Good heavens! There are really no more LBs any more in PL.

24 Aug 2016 15:39:54
Hi eds, appreciate all the work you do. Is there anything in the James Rodriguez rumours coming out today? Feel we're stocked in attacking midfielder already but thought I'd ask, thanks.

{Ed002's Note - I have no idea what you are talking about - this is the Liverpool page.}

24 Aug 2016 15:51:31
Spanish newspaper.

24 Aug 2016 13:00:35
Enjoyed the way the team played last night with Can moving between the centre backs collecting the ball deep and keeping the attack going. If he's injured next game I would have Stewart or Matip in who looks very comfortable on the Ball in a similar position in midfield.

24 Aug 2016 19:27:09
If you take out Mingo and Lallana and add Karius and Coutinho, that is the first eleven that should start every game going forward, IMO barring injuries or until players like Studge or Wiji prove they can usurp them.

24 Aug 2016 11:51:55
So, hope everyone's feeling a bit more chipper this morning. Last night was about as positive a performance as we could have hoped for against that level of opposition. Struggled with my feed for the match so I wasn't able to see as much of the game as I'd like but I've watched the goals and there are a few talking points.
1. Whilst Mane is getting the plaudits Milner played a key role in three goals which was pleasing. Whilst he may have been way out of position for the fourth goal his link up play and movement looked really great. If he learns his defensive duties he may make a great left back.
2. Studge took his goals really well, his first goal was a classic poachers goal and it was great to see him making the effort to reach the back post (and the fact that he ended up face first in the net showed decent commitment) . His second was a bit of nonchalant class. I'm always slightly nervous when he looks grumpy and I'm hoping it was purely because scoring the 4th and 5th goals against poor opposition isn't much to celebrate.
3. The second goal was really interesting for a point that I don't think's been raised yet. Clyne makes an excellent run from deep to overlap Mane and provide a great cross for the goal. If you watch the replay you'll see he starts his sprint even before Mane intercepts the ball and is ahead of 7 Burton players by the time Mane controls it. This is classic Klopp asking his fullback to exploit changes in possesion but if Mane had bodged it (and his first touch was poor) and hadn't held possession then Clyne would have been completely out of position. This is the compromise Klopp makes with his fullbacks, when them bombing forward works it creates scoring opportunities, when it doesn't you get what happened with Arsenal and Moreno last week.

All in all a mood improving performance, now let's go and batter spurs.

24 Aug 2016 14:03:26
Also, Jordan Henderson had his best game in a long while. Good to see him looking and playing forwards more. He's learning that his job is still playing football, and not yelling at refs.

24 Aug 2016 14:08:07
James Milner bless him, you can put him in goal, he will still have the most touches of the ball in the opposition half, make 10 crosses, 8 of which will go to the skies but two will somehow become assists. I thought he was involved in two goals yesterday. What was the third, did he kick the corner leading to the own goal?

24 Aug 2016 14:41:50
yup, he took the corner. You've got to love Milner, he just gets on with it. It's probably just percepetion but he seems to have the best attitude of any footballer I've seen.

24 Aug 2016 17:01:39
Well muscatred judging by what you have posted it looks like moreno is the perfect LB for klopp system.
Get forward without ever thinking about what IF!

24 Aug 2016 10:29:47
Do feel for the lad llori. He really didn't get a chance with us. Was he really that bad of a player that he was constantly overlooked? I know he had injuries. Who's going to be our new messiah?

24 Aug 2016 11:23:08
Considering he's the best center back to ever grace the pitch, it makes no sense at all to sell him. We should be building a statue of him next to Shankly's.

24 Aug 2016 19:29:34
No one said he was the messiah or the best CB to ever play the game. All people were saying was that he might as well be given a chance as the others playing ahead of him couldn`t put a foot right. Was that an unfair request?

24 Aug 2016 10:22:58
Just a quick word to say congratulations to Brendan in guiding Celtic in to the champions league group stage . People may disagree but he's an ex red and I wish him well . Best of luck to Celtic in the group.

24 Aug 2016 10:42:26
Lol seriously they struggled to get past an unknown Israel team. That was the worst qualifiers in Celtic history.

24 Aug 2016 10:47:56
Well done to him, but Harry is actually right. They went through 5-4 on aggregate, their opposition missed a penalty which actually would've sent Celtic out on away goals!

At the end of the day, Celtic fans and the board won't care how they got there, just that they did. Sometimes you need a bit of luck I guess.

24 Aug 2016 12:56:41
Ronny Delia didn't even make it to the knockout stages, also against awful opposition, so Rodgers has earned some credit I think.

24 Aug 2016 13:19:35
Doesn't matter about the opposition, doesn't matter how the games went. Making it into the CL group stage is a big deal for Celtic and both the team and Rodgers deserve congratulations.

Good post Danfield.

24 Aug 2016 14:08:42
Ladies and gentlemen I give you MUSCATRED👏👏👏👏. Me thinks we were a little hasty removing sir Brendan, he's proving what a truly world class manager he is 😒.

24 Aug 2016 17:44:14
Have to say I never approved of the abuse BR got whilst manager here but I can't congratulate scraping through (in both rounds) against what is probably conference league standard teams. I genuinely didn't see what people meant about his press confs, but seeing them now whilst st Celtic, they truly are embarrassing. He praised his teams mentality in holding onto a 2-0 loss.

24 Aug 2016 23:48:58
We scrapped through our group stage in 2005 I seem to remember . The post was a congratulations on reaching the group stage to our ex manager. I was very happy to see Brendan go and more than happy to have klopp but just a little humility won't go a miss I just wish the guy well as I do most ex reds .

{Ed007's Note - Cheers, Dan. Ed91 is going to be running a live soap opera chat on CL night for the the bitters. :=D

24 Aug 2016 06:27:25
does anyone thinks that we miss Emre Can as much as we miss Mane? the way he power through and bring the ball out of trouble plus the way he close down opponent. most of our midfielders are a pass and move type whereas Emre can will dribble his way out of trouble.

24 Aug 2016 06:46:20
There lies the issue with him. He will dribble and charge forward without having a check the gap behind him. Hence Henderson bay sit alongside Can.
Once you are deployed to hold he midfield, you just stay there and break any opposition play. Indisciplined midfielder. He still has to learn to put in precise tackle without accumulation cards.

{Ed001's Note - no, that is what you work on in training, that when one goes forward the other drops in. There is no issue with Can taking opportunities to make a forward run, the issue is that he doesn't always get back as quickly as he should.}

24 Aug 2016 07:44:31
Coz that's not his natural style of play. You will have coach him to do that job and in between you will have many Sevilla games. I would rather more of a conventional player there who doesn't charge high up and does the simple things well allowing his midfield partner to run the show. Stewart, Matic etc. when Can stays in the middle Henderson will look great but when can charges high Hendo looks weak.

{Ed001's Note - you really are not getting this are you? It is the rest of the team's job to fill in when one player goes forward. Just like when Hansen used to make those runs from the backline, someone else dropped in to cover the gap. It is teamwork we need to develop.}

24 Aug 2016 09:20:32
Your point is well made Ed. no-one should be shackled, but when one bursts forward others have to cover. A couple of times Matip and Lovren came forward, there is no issue with this (Hansen and Aggee Spring to mind) others just have to respond to this and drop in and cover. I personally think Can and Hendo should be our CM pairing with Stewart and Grujic as cover. Would personally like to see Lucas stay and be in contention but that looks unlikely.

24 Aug 2016 09:49:05
Henderson really needs to work on his passing.
Add goals to his game and some assists. Big season for him he has to do more.

{Ed001's Note - when he has players moving to pass to, his passing is excellent and he racks up plenty of assists. Have you actually ever watched the lad play with your eyes open? Or is it difficult to do when you are only seeing him as a target to be abused?}

24 Aug 2016 10:18:08
I really do like Hendo, i admire his technique as well as his head for positioning and tactics. One of my favorite players in Liverpool at the moment, but its hard because its like having a favorite child when you want to love all of them, but some of them keep on getting into trouble.

The only thing I would like him to improve on is his presence on the pitch, i might be very mistaken but i don't see him yelling at people when they stuff up, or making them try harder not tell them need to try harder, make them, ala Caragher in defence. then again i don't have the honour of watching live games at the ground.

24 Aug 2016 10:26:09
He is not a target Ed01. He is a victim of having too many similar players in the team all capable of scoring or assisting more than Henderson. It is not his fault that club accumulated one Henderson every 6 months. Someone upstairs takes the blame.
Marko Grujic looks a better version for me atm. Always an eye for pass and ever present in and around the opposition 6 yard box. He is going to score goals of given proper chances.

{Ed001's Note - like who? The only player similar is Wijnaldum, to a degree, and he is not fit to lace Hendo's boots.}

24 Aug 2016 11:01:01
I think if we are to be successful, however that is, Henderson will be an integral part to that. I think Klopp is being a little naive (though perhaps Can and Grujic aren't quite ready to be selected just yet) in going for players that offer nothing in midfield based on them offering 'energy'. I think the team should be more balanced, Origi should start most games, and at least two effective mids should play (Stewart? ) . This begs the question why was Wijnaldum signed? That really makes no sense at all.

24 Aug 2016 11:12:43
Ed01, James Milner last summer and Wijnaldum this summer. We buy one each every summer.

24 Aug 2016 19:43:02
Spot on, Peace. Hendo already convinced me when he refused to take the easy route and go to Fulham. He stayed, fought for his place, convinced his manager (the one who would have loved to see the back of him initially), worked hard, was integral in our title run (many argue that his suspension contributed to costing us the PL), and became LFC captain.

He is a model of work ethic, determination and a true pro. He continues to improve and work on his game as he`s not cocky and is very humble. because he doesn`t do Hollywood passes like SG nor shoot from 30 yards or doesn`t show "presence" (whatever that means) on the pitch, many (who never wanted him here to start with) are always on his back especially when we lose yet he gets no credit when we win.

Yesterday, he sent a perfect SG-esque ball into the box to Lallana who later bottled the header. Don`t hear anyone acknowledging that pass, do we? Frankly, I`m over it. If you don`t like Hendo, that`s your opinion but stop the unfounded criticisms as they have no basis in reality.

24 Aug 2016 22:46:17
Henderson is the guy that create the quick attacks. Everyone else in the midfield likes to run and hold on to the ball. Hendo picks it up deep and tries quick cutting balls. Yeah atm some of his passes are going astray but some are coming off and these can be truly dangerous and lead to goals. Our attacks and build up can be too slow and lead knowhere (Burnley) and hendo is most of the time the only one trying to start risky yet potentially rewarding play.

26 Aug 2016 10:04:13
Love Henri and believe he is key to our season. However he need to step up as our captain.

A key area for improvement imho is his partnership with Can. At the moment Hendo seems to be playing too tentatively and is behind the learning curve in terms of position off the ball with respect to the his teammates.

There are also times with the ball where he defaulted to passing back, instead of turning and linking up with more advanced players. You can see some examples in this piece: goo.gl/DQ1y4Z

But Hendo proved he has the right attitude and work ethics to make himself even better, and I look forward to seeing a finished version of him dominating the midfield and play for us in years to come.

24 Aug 2016 00:21:58
didn't see tonight's game due to wrk commitments. glad to see a good result and by what I have read on the analysis of the game it was a surprisingly easy night, was this the case can anybody tell me? hopefully injuries to can and divok ain't too bad onwards and upwards to Saturday at lunch time now. YNWA.