Liverpool Banter Archive March 30 2016

30 Mar 2016 19:54:53
With the style Klopp wants the team to play I think the only players we should be looking at are strong, intelligent and pacey players with the mentality to work hard and play with no fear. We may have that already at the club, who knows. I hope so.

30 Mar 2016 22:37:18
Full circle in one sentance haha.

30 Mar 2016 17:59:05
Neville sacked. Shame.

30 Mar 2016 18:43:41
I pity everyone here with a sky connection 😉.

31 Mar 2016 00:17:35
Sad to see Gary go, i really wanted him to succeed, at least until the end of the season. Made up for Pako though, he finally has been given the reigns in his home country. I really hope he can be a success there. YNWA Pako. Best of luck.

30 Mar 2016 19:55:12
Have to say one of the best pundits around.

31 Mar 2016 06:30:01
Classic case of "those who can - manage, those who can't just talk about it".

30 Mar 2016 11:43:28
Hi Ed's,

I've seen you mentioned brannagan might leave at the end of the season with our overload in midfield, my question is do you reckon we will see a number of our better youth talents wanting to leave to get first team football? it would be a shame to see him leave he has only impressed me when he's played!

{Ed001's Note - I expect the squad to be thinned right down, so that should no longer be a problem. It is just a bit too late for Brannagan, maybe.}

30 Mar 2016 16:00:25
Brannagan offers something a bit different, he should play more.

30 Mar 2016 11:34:55
Ed001- great update on the transfer front just as Ed002 gave us not so long back, with key areas being highlighted. There is a few new names on there one being Shkodran Mustafi I was just wondering if you had any insight into why Everton released him? On the few occasions I have seen him he has looked good and last season I thought from him and Otamendi he was the better of the pair.

{Ed001's Note - because Moyes preferred other players, he was just a kid at the time. I really do not think we will get him though, sadly.}

30 Mar 2016 14:45:26
Wouldn't be surprised to see him at Bayern if they were after a centre back, hopefully Matip will prove to be a good signing and maybe another if Klopp feels neccissery a goalkeeper has to be the main thing.

{Ed002's Note - Juventus, Real Madrid, Southampton, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona have had scouts watching Valencia's Shkodran Mustafi (who was at one time on Everton's books) this season - this is in addition to Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Juventus declaring an interest with his club. Barcelona and Real Madrid will likely try to negotiate a deal before the arrival of Ancelotti in Munich. They are however aware of the asking price and the reluctance of Valencia to negotiate. Juventus will ease away from being interest if they can persuade Bonnuci to commit his future to the club - which they expect he will.}

30 Mar 2016 07:33:31
HI eds, Banter please.

Is it just me or are we witnessing a dwindling number of world class players in the football world.

I look at this by assessing the so called `elite' national football teams.
Lets take for example the Italian national squad of the 90`s and the early 20`s compared to the current squad that we see today. Its heart breaking to be quite honest.

Same goes for Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands, France, England (though some would argue that its a better squad compared to the 'golden generation') even Spain is experiencing a downward fall in quality of players it had from 2007 to 2010
Ofcourse there are some national teams which have been able to maintain and even improve the quality of players that crop up example being Germany, Belgium, Uruguay, Chile and Colombia.

But my I`ve come to the conclusion that the world of football is indeed slowing down in producing the kind of quality footballers that I grew up watching.

Ynwa!

30 Mar 2016 08:06:28
I think it's more focused on the team and style as much as the players now. Spain, when they dominated international footballs for a bit, they had top top players, but the style won the game. Now with Germany they played Brazil off the pitch in the World Cup, but they didn't rely on one player to win it.
Also the general fitness levels and ability of players is higher than it was, because of training and technology advances. Smaller teams are at a lot higher level, and it makes a player need more talent to really stand out!

30 Mar 2016 09:28:14
I think the world class players are also spreading out and being less focused. Previously we had 50% of world class players at one time seemingly from one country. Means no national team can rely on their stars because they don't have enough - their stars are having to take more of a backseat to fit with the rest of the team.

30 Mar 2016 09:42:27
What about it being because standard of other players, has closed the gap?
In the 80s I would say Maradona was best player - however the rest of his Argentina side was plain ordinary.

30 Mar 2016 09:42:27
What about it being because standard of other players, has closed the gap?
In the 80s I would say Maradona was best player - however the rest of his Argentina side was plain ordinary.

30 Mar 2016 09:51:14
It's probably a mix of a few things:

1. There's too much football on TV. You can pretty much watch any player and any team whenever you like. It takes away the aura of the player and you can analyse them week in week out (as opposed to every 2 years with Euro's and World Cups etc)

2. The game is multinational. Players play from all over the place in pretty much every league. National teams no longer have an identity (Italians defensive, Brazilians creative, English passion etc etc) so the focus has become very very tactical and less expressive as players know the ins and outs of each other.

3. The bar is high. Watch a few kids games and you'll see a lot of them pulling off tricks and flicks and skills that back in the day, only a handful could do. The internet has paved a way for everyone to attempt to be a superstar.

30 Mar 2016 16:02:32
what is the definition of "world class" should be the question, we have far to many players labelled world class, when in reality they are above average, I blame the transfer fees that have no basis in reality anymore, hence the amount of £20-30m footballers we have in the game when they are more like £5-10m players, also the hype attached to anyone in form is ridiculous. The term world class has been so overused we have forgotten what a real world class footballer looks like, hence we think that there is a shortage, the truth being that we have elevated average into brilliant and brilliant into world class.

29 Mar 2016 21:43:44
Ed001 if you're around and have the time, not really Liverpool related but just wanted to get your opinion on Mario Gomez. I always thought that despite not being a player blessed with the greatest technique, he always knew where the bag of the net is and did a good job. Whenever I saw him for Bayern he did really impress me and I remember Liverpool once been linked with him in the past. It was a surprise to me first of all to see Bayern want to get rid and second of all the low number of takers, he attended up at Fiorentina, and is now playing in Turkey. I can't say I watched him every week but like I said the few times I saw him I was impressed, am I missing something Ed?

{Ed001's Note - he is a goalscorer, yes, but he is also a target man, which very few teams use these days. He lacks mobility as well as not being blessed with great technique, so he needs service to get the most out of him.}

30 Mar 2016 13:37:13
And Gomez doesn`t score enough goals either with Robben and Ribery supplying him which is why Bayern let him go at the time and got Mandzukic.