Liverpool Banter Archive February 28 2015

28 Feb 2015 19:07:47
Hi Ed001 if your about.Could you tell me more about Tom Saunders and Ruben Bennett please.I know they were part of the Bootroom and very well respected but I don't know what their roles where within the club or what the players thought of them.
Thanks Ed
Barry inLouth

{Ed001's Note - Tom Saunders was the modern equivalent of the head of the youth academy. He was the first of his kind in English football, supposedly, though I have no idea if that is true. He was 'Youth Development Officer', bringing through the youth players. He also did a lot of scouting and ended up as chief scout as well.
Reuben Bennett was basically the fitness coach. Again we were well ahead of the rest of England with that. That is why Shankly was so successful, he looked forward, always looking for new ideas to give the club an advantage.}

28 Feb 2015 23:18:49
Was only thinking of something similar the other day ed
Wenger changed English football with his out look I was thinking what could be improved to make players better like Wenger did with diets ect

28 Feb 2015 20:05:41
Just one last question please Ed.How did the players get on with them?I read a good while ago that they were really gentlemen but with very sharp football brains.Is that true?
Barry inLouth

{Ed001's Note - they were highly respected, and yes they were gentlemen with very sharp football brains, that is why we were such a successful side. It wasn't just Shanks and Paisley, they surrounded themselves with people who knew the game well and worked together as a team.}

01 Mar 2015 11:11:53
Thank you very much Ed I never really knew the full story about these two Bootroom greats.
BarryinLouth

{Ed001's Note - they do tend to be in the background of everything, but not a lot is mentioned about them. Shame as they were a huge part of the club's success.}

28 Feb 2015 16:43:05
Rodgers gambled and lost on Thursday, in the hope that we would get a result and then have a stronger team for Sunday.
It may be hard to accept but personally I would have preferred to play a stronger team in Turkey and simply accept tomorrow will be difficult with or without our main XI. We were one of the stronger teams in the Europa League and really could have pushed for the title. I know its hard as proud Liverpool fans to accept a difficult fixture at home but our push for Top 4 is not going to be governed by our results against Chelsea or City.
I hope that todays current scores will give the team enough inspiration to get a result tomorrow, and the prospect of progressing i Europe shouod have been enough to help them through the tiredness of a Thursday/Sunday fixture, but no need for whinging about fixtures in the past. All we have is what's coming so let's hope the lads can turn it on for tomorrow and continue this push for Champions League positions.

01 Mar 2015 00:06:36
I said it last month. We are shocking in Europe. 2 wins in 8 games against mostly mediocre opposition. We were never going to win it. 5 points off third is a gap we can close.

28 Feb 2015 16:27:32
So Qatar 2022 is going to be held in November and December.

Or for England, November

28 Feb 2015 16:11:57
Sorry this ones late I've been away.

The captain of the Costa Concordia has been given 16 years in jail for leaving a sinking ship.

In which case, how come Harry Redknapp isn't behind bars ?

28 Feb 2015 12:53:54
Does anyone know if Lucas is getting back to fitness yet, maybe pushing for the Burnley game? Same on Sak, don't know how bad his injury was. These 2 are looking more vital to the top 4 challenge as time ticks on

{Ed002's Note - A few weeks.}

28 Feb 2015 13:12:58
Ok, cheers deuce

28 Feb 2015 14:03:34
Lucas is currently jogging in South America, or to be more precise, around Gremio's training pitch in Porto Alegre .

28 Feb 2015 14:12:48
Ed is Sakho couple of wks away aswell

{Ed002's Note - I didn't say a "couple" - Lucas is 3-4 weeks away. Sakho may be available tomorrow.}

28 Feb 2015 10:53:24
Why struggle and worry about 4th place ? Is there money in it if we get dumped out in the early stages?

Surely it is better to concentrate on getting the team right ?

Whether it is the right players, right coaching and right tactics.

Wasn't the 'Boot room' philosophy all about that ?

28 Feb 2015 12:35:57
So let's not finish in 4th so long as we get the team right? What are we get the team 'right' for if it's not to compete in competitions???

28 Feb 2015 14:51:41
Souness got rid of the bootroom

28 Feb 2015 10:17:36
Don't know if you'll agree (or rather, I'm sure you won't for the most part), but I think Can is awful in midfield. I've been saying this (to myself, mostly) from the first games of the season, the last Besiktas match confirmed this for me.

He tackled exceptionally, but as a distributing midfielder he had nothing to offer. He needs planty of time to control the ball, then look around and decide what to do. If he doesn't have that time, he just passes it back to Skrtel or Lovren. He attempted several forward passes and they were almost all ill timed, ill prepared. I'm really not impressed by his decision making. Allen was not much better (although I like him more), and the forward players wasted all the chances, but I still believe Can was awful.

Now I don't want to say I don't see how good he is as a part of a back three - his tackles and attitude are telling there, and playing in the back line means he rarely has to look behind himself. That means he has time to aim and pass and if he has space, he can rush forward. I think that's a point in BR's favour, that he found him a new position.

What I really want to say is this - his is the name that crops out the most often when there's talk about replacing Stevie, and I don't believe he can be relied upon as a long-term solution. Henderson, yeah, and I'm looking forward to see Rossiter play more, but not Emre Can. I honestly think Emre Can't.

PS. And by the way, hi! I'm new here, I like the site, so I decided to participate a little.

28 Feb 2015 10:46:39
3-4-3 seems to be working, so I don't suggest to change that. But, if we had to then I'd like to see Can as deep CDM or even old fashioned sweeper

28 Feb 2015 11:12:34
Team spends more time shaped up like a 5-2-3 than 3-4-3 hence why we've been struggling for goals

28 Feb 2015 11:36:53
It seems more of a 3-4-1-2 than a straightforward 3-4-3

28 Feb 2015 13:07:22
He's 20 years old and has been played most of the season as a defender! Give him some time in that position(mf) and i'm sure he'll prove his worth!! We won't see him improve in that position until next season.

28 Feb 2015 13:37:48
You can't really use that match to judge him. The whole team was rubbish. Also the pitch was so bad that neither team could pass it around. Besiktas had to resort to long balls which we should have done as well by bringing Lambert on earlier

28 Feb 2015 13:39:06
10 good games, 1 bad game. Make sure you slate him.

28 Feb 2015 13:59:12
I had already disagreed with you post before this bit, but saying you like allen more than Can is the most bizarre opinion I have ever heard.

28 Feb 2015 18:03:26
One of the best attributes at this level is composure and Can definitely has it. He's not overly blessed with pace but he can be a cool and composed influence when the shrapnel starts to fly. The Besiktas game is not a great game to judge him on. They were all over us for 75 mins and we had next to no outball up top. His versatility also marks him out as one of Brendan's better acquisitions.

28 Feb 2015 18:10:45
Amerigo - it was 10 good games as a defender and 1 bad game as central midfielder. Thanks for agreeing.

01 Mar 2015 00:00:23
It doesn't matter. He had a poor match but its ridiculous to suggest he is a bad midfielder based on so little a time period.

28 Feb 2015 08:39:45
Hi eds,
Great site thanks for all the insight
Just wondering now the UEFA have said Liverpool aren't in breach of FFP, what affect if any will that have on the clubs ability to spend in the summer?
Thanks

{Ed002's Note - It won't change anything.}