Liverpool Banter Archive February 05 2015

05 Feb 2015 21:25:53
Brendan is not perfect by any means but do people really believe that a different manager would be faultless?

He is a very young and inexperienced manager with a young team but I think he is learning from his mistakes and I only see his future trajectory to be a positive one.

We played half a season without either of our prolific strikers from last season. They were pretty much the top 2 scorers in the whole league last season.

In hindsight, I also think that for everyone connected with the club, the hangover and heartache of us being so close last season but missing out hit us harder than we'd realised. But we are all finally shrugging that off.

There will still be some bad times but I think they will be fewer and shorter lasting than we experienced between August and December this season.

I don't want more upheaval.

I don't want a new manager to rip the team apart and spend more time and money rebuilding whilst in transition.

I want this team to grow up together and get more experienced and better together.

I want stability and consistency throughout the club.

I want Liverpool football club to win football matches. consistently.

I agree, as I don´t think there are better alternatives available. Problem with BR is some of his comments, including the one where he promised the title this season. And half a season later he said that we never really was going to challenge for the title this season.
He has done the same thing to a couple of players, just read the interview regarding Carroll´s treatment at LFC.
The amount of money that was spent last summer was way too much on players that weren´t needed or not good enough.
The Champions league was a disaster, and we should at least have qualified for the next round.

If Rodgers gets sacked, which is likely, then I really fear that we get a manager in the same caliber of Hodgson.

Nobody really wants that, Sims! However, his methods in the TW, his faults and blundersare recurrent and show no signs of fading. In fact, it is getting worse depending on which Ed you wanna believe. Mistakes and faults are human. HOWEVER, one ust show a willingness to change and do things better. BR has shown that he is incapable of doing that. The probs we have in the team are still there AFTER his 3 years in charge. His blunders in the TW are getting worse and the club doesn`t have the money to overcome this due to our massive debt. Surely, something has to give because w/ the way we are going, we will NEVER win the PL. A manager doesn`t have to be "faultless". Many of us just want our manager to learn from his mistakes, show leadership, accept his faults and mistakes and learn from them and not act like he is perfect, immune to critcism, blame everyone else for his mistakes and embarass the club in the media like BR does. Is that too much to ask from our manager?

05 Feb 2015 23:33:13
Brendan Rodgers Liverpool where on our way to glory, built the team like shankly did and kids will have a story

He doesn't learn from his mistakes, unfortunately.
The eds have provided many examples of this over the last year or so.
Bringing in any manager is always a gamble and whoever we get won't be faultless, but do we just stick with a failing manager because he's got an excuse for everything and nice shiny teeth?

I would only be comfortable with him staying if he agreed to work under a DOF. Unfortunately, don't think that will happen.

Do you think that any manager who really wants to win the premieship, would, having sold his one world class player, who had amazing work ethic and goals scored, then replace him with the exact opposite, no work ethic and no premier goals,
having said that, I would still keep BR, but make him wise to his glaring mistakes, thus speeding his learning curve .

{Ed002's Note - Suarez wanted to leave and spent a year trying to get out.}

Am I missing something. I was under the impression that there was a transfer committee of which BR was only a part of, how can he be held solely responsible for all the transfer mistakes yet not get praise for the transfer success's, we as fans cannot have our cake and eat it if it's his mistake for the balotelli's and aspas's etc then surely it was to his credit that we paid peanuts for coutinho and sturridge ( iw ould also contribute a large amount of credit for how Henderson has performed under him as well!)

05 Feb 2015 20:31:59
I think Can is the reincarnation of Crazy Horse. The lad's got every chance of being a top player for us. .

Does that mean if we lose the FA cup he will blame it on the shirts being "too heavy" ?

Guess I am showing my age there?

06 Feb 2015 11:24:44
Prof, you certainly are. I was expecting Can to get men and women confused when they are covered in mud, so I guess I am aging myself to around 10-15 years younger than you, lol!

05 Feb 2015 19:20:58
So, another week has nearly passed with another glimpse of Liverpool's revival, and the haters are creeping back in to the pile of grapefruit in which they crawled out of, spewing it out of their mouths as they speak.

With the exception of a few loyal posters on here, I suspect many of you will be cringing by the end of the season considering some of the disgraceful comments directed at the manager, but it's allowed, of course, as it's the modern-day 'fan'.

You know, with loyalty it doesn't necessarily mean you agree with everything, it just means (when things are going bad, like everything in life) you are seen to being loyal, at least to show some moral support. Call it a kind of optimistic approach to a dire situation.

Definition of 'loyalty':

-A strong feeling of support or allegiance.

Many of you are certainly not and should continue to hang your head in shame.

Glory hunters - it's as simple as that.

05 Feb 2015 19:52:22
Ah for God sake mate, are you recruiting soldiers to the First World War? It is football, part of what fans are doing is moan when their team looks robbish and we looked awful earlier this season. Nothing wrong with fans who have high expectations for thier team. All these rightous declerations of how a real fan should behave are a bit childish.

05 Feb 2015 19:55:04
Agree some with what your saying, in that some of the abuse aimed at BR is too much. But BR isn't immune to criticism and am made up with results but can't say we've been convincing so if people have legitimate reasons to not be happy is far more then fair.

After what we spent this summer, last season, and how poor competitions been we should be sat 3rd minimum.

Aren't gusranteed 4th by a long shot (which is the absolute minimum we aimed for) and tbf haven't really beat anyone special to progress in the cups, but if he grabs one will be made up.

But even at that next summer there is far too much that needs to be sorted especially for what would potentially be his 4th as a manager (about 15-20 players going in and out).

Don't get me wrong gets us playing good football at times but still unconvinced with him to say the least - but will be the first on here to congratulate him and eat my words if he gets us into the CL by fourth or Europa league.

At the end of the day, we all want what is best for the club, DaveyBootle. Whether Brendan is that or not is a matter of opinion, not one of fact, and entirely a subject worthy of debate. Please don't fall off that high horse you seem to be sat on as it could well mean a serious injury.

05 Feb 2015 19:57:22
I read a lot but don't post very often but I agree totally with what you said, I actually stopped visiting the site for awhile because of way people were carrying on

After you with the blinkers Davey lad!

Thing is though RDL, there was a cabal of anti-Rodgers posters who weren't having a debate, they'd made their mind up and were just slagging him off every single day with the same old unconstructive nonsense.

Agree with dnlboy, I just stopped visiting the site on occassions as it was embarassing to read.

It's easy to support a winning team.

So let's all give ourselves a big pat on the back and share the no1 fan trophy?

Don't know, Walton. I didn't really see a lot of unconstructive nonsense. I saw lists of items many felt were being bungled/handled badly, sure, generally pointing out what were felt to be flaws. I just don't see that as a bad thing at all, to me it's backing up an opinion.

There were (and still are) the occasional 'Rodgers sux' type of trolling with little depth, but I generally think the Eds do a great job of curtailing the vast amount of complete nonsense.

As I said before, we all want what is best for the club, having disagreements about what that happens to be, whether it's a player, a transfer, or whatever is really nothing new and I see no reason to discourage people from having and sharing opinions about it, particularly if those opinions are explained well.

DaveyBootle - My strong feeling of suppert or alligiance are directed towards Liverpool Football Club and not towards Rodgers. No individual is bigger than the club.

I don't dislike him as such but i really wish he'd stop annoying me so much. He's getting under my skin with his thoughtless comments, stubbernness and death by football "philosophy". God i wish i loved him more. Maybe it'll change, i certainly hope so. Just don't think he's earned the time to do so. But we'll see. If/when he leaves it'll be with my best wishes.

But what you are preaching sounds a lot like blind loyalty. You've ever wondered about the danger of blind loyalty. To stay in the world of football, did you have a strong feeling of support and allegiance towards Hicks and Gillet when things where going bad? And did you "at least show them some moral support"?

Everything in life is about balance.
Davey, you are at one end of the spectrum and the fans you dislike are at the other end of the spectrum.
Who is right and who is wrong?
Who knows but the thing that draws people to this site is a love of Liverpool Football Club.
The Football Club is more than big enough to encompass all viewpoints.

Honestly Ed's, posts about what constitutes a "fan" should be banned from this site. Anyone who thinks they are more of a fan that anybody else is too full of their own self importance imo.

{Ed007's Note - I'd much rather start blocking people who think they can tell us what should and shouldn't be posted. People like that are just too full of their own importance, you would think with their expertise and knowledge of everything they would just start their own site where they really can control the content.

Oh I almost forgot the 'imo'.}

Comparing two people who nearly brought Liverpool FC to its Knees with a manager who finished within an inch of the league title in his second season is not very fair lavije in my opinion.

My support and allegiance is to Liverpool FC. Therefore if I see what I perceive to be something damaging the club, I will voice my concerns.

However Davey, I honestly cannot understand the negativity around the Bolton game. People are hammering Gerrard and Allen for no reason, calling out Lallana who created about 3 good chances Iin the first half, and moaning about the overall performance despite the fact we broke Neil Lennons record of being unbeaten at home despite Having shocking decisions go against us all game and yet another keeper playing a blinder against us! I wasn't ever in any doubt that we would win the game even after they scored because we were playing so well that something had to give. The officials couldn't rob us all game and their keeper had to get beaten eventually.

I will criticise Rodgers for things he does wrong because of my refusal to accept continuous failure in certain areas of his management. However, when we play will I will give him and the players credit. I think Allen and Gerrard in particular were victims of their own public opinions last night. Neither played remotely awful (Gerrard perhaps shot a bit too much but that's all) and co trary to what I've read on here, they dominated possession and constantly played positive forward passes.

BR is nothing but an employee of our great club who has been given everything he needed (IMO) this season and even tho many were skeptic and still are, he got my support because he is our manager and he needs time to succeed especially after his relative success last year of which he deserves all the credit (not Bielsa nor Suarez because Bielsa NEVER stepped foot at Melwood and Suarez doesn`t coach himself). His blunders are okay to have because he is human. What we CANNOT have is an employee wasting assets (players` careers, money and academy hopefuls) and commiting blunder after blunder w/o learning from them. Yet many want us to keep quiet just so we can look and seem like loyal fans. AIN`T going to HAPPEN! Didn`t do that in Rafa`s and KK`s tenure so BR has NO chance. BR is NOT a family member that we are stuck with and must love and support no matter what neither is he immuned to getting stick for his mistakes that IMO, will never learn from. He is an employee who if he is not meeting expectations after a while, he will rightly get the sack just like any of us would in our own jobs. Just my opinion!

Sorry mate - just a suggestion - didn't mean to come across like i was telling you how to run the site! Believe me, in no way do I think i know more about websites or LFC than anyone else, and in particular you gents who run this page. I will think harder before i type from here on in!

{Ed007's Note - Lighten up! (giggle)

05 Feb 2015 16:09:40
Like the new big red buttons, don't know why but they make everything much more stylish.

I have a question about the kit deal if anyone can help. The Echo's James Pearce said something about Liverpool now having the rights to produce a leisure range "and everything that goes with it" in addition to the lump sum from the kit deal. Can anyone clarify what this means, and if we can expect a significant amount of money from it?

{Ed002's Note - It means that there will be "official" bobble hats, tee shirts and small underpants. It will not bring in significant money.}

05 Feb 2015 22:42:09
the leisure range is what Mario was brought in for first and foremost. he enjoys football but fashion is his true passion. when the redevelopments are complete Mario will take up a role as head of fashion at lfc and will have his own office and production room which has sewing machines as far as the eyes can see.

06 Feb 2015 09:07:02
What date are the small underpants released??

05 Feb 2015 14:40:54
Hey eds just want to hear your view on coutinho.
do u think he can ever reach d level of iniesta or ronaldinho.
Because i for one hv always thought he has dat ability dat can mae defenders scared!very scared!!

{Ed002's Note - He is a decent player.}

Ronaldinho, no. Iniesta, yes. Iniesta is world class, but Ronaldinho was special. Probably better than Ronaldo or Messi in my humble opinion.

I strongly believe that in 2-3 years time, the four best attacking midfielders in the world will be Coutinho, Draxler, Goetze and Isco though, barring the emergance of somebody truly special in that time period. Thorgan Hazard is pretty good as well though!

Love Coutinho, but he has a lot of work to do to be world class. but there is definitely potential and plenty of room and time for improvement.

if he works hard he surely can. talent can bring you so far, but discipline and hard work could bring him to a higher level, with time of course.

05 Feb 2015 17:14:36
I think he CAN be at the level of both but struggle to believe he will be unfortunately. He'll be top level in the world one day though.

In fairness EMS, Eden Hazard, James Rodriguez, Bale, Ronaldo, Sanchez, Di Maria, Muller etc in 2-3 years will still be around their peak and worth a mention

Ronaldinho I don't think ever reached the level he could have, whereas Ronaldo and messi have. I'm not sure ronaldinho could have ever been better than them 2 if he stayed skinny.

Hijkle, Hazard, Bale, Ronaldo, Sanchez and Muller aren't attacking midfielders really in my opinion. Di Maria is grossly over rated if you ask me. He's already in his prime and doesn't really do anything for me. I actually find it baffling that United paid that much for him. His touch is poor, his finishing is inconsistent and he tries too many tricks. In fact he's so inconsistent that I've seen him stand out in a champions league final as the best player and then a month later break the world cup record for the highest number of times any player has ever conceded possession in a single game! Should a player of his age really be that inconsistent?

James Rodriguez I'll give you though. He is class. I've always considered him as a second striker but you could quite easily argue he is a No. 10 and in that case, he does deserve a mention.

Ronaldinho better than Messi and Ronaldo??
What do you think their smoking over at EMS's house Ed?

{Ed007's Note - Reality. Ronaldinho was a better all round player than Messi ever has been or ever will be now. Plus Ronaldinho and Ronaldo done it all by themselves without any outside interference or help.}

Glad you agree Ed007. Don't get all the Messi hype. He has never played in a team anything less than World class and the Spanish league has fallen to pieces in the last decade because of the way they split their TV money. Barca and Madrid will walk it nearly every season. Ronaldo showed in his time at United and when he first joined a relatively average Madrid side that he can win games by himself.

Ronaldinho was just magical though. Maybe he didn't score as many as Messi or Ronaldo but neither did Maradona. Anybody want to tell me he isn't as good as Messi or Ronaldo despite the fact he won a world cup single handedly?

Ronaldinho`s talent was there for all to see at age 16 at the U-1 WC in Egypt '97. He was a beast of a player and Messi will never be in his class nor would he be in the class of the Extra Terrestrial himself, Ronaldo Luiz Nazzario aka O Phenomeno. The best palyer I have ever seen in my 30 plus years of watching footie.

How can you compare Ronaldinho to Maradona?
I must have missed the world cup that he won single handedly.
I liked watching him, he was a great player, world class on his day.
For me though he is not in the same league as Maradona, Big Ronaldo, Best, Cruyff, Pele and from the modern era Zidane, Messi and Ronaldo.
He is on the rung of the ladder below the true legends.
He was great to watch though. Amazing at times but just not the very top of the tree.

06 Feb 2015 00:01:26
What a player draxler is, can't see him anywhere but the top. Our own little coutinho, contingent on improving his finishing, will not be that far behind.

I'll agree to disagree Jonny. He didn't win a WC on his own but he won a lot of games on his own. In 2002 he certainly helped Brazil to the WC with 2 goals, 2 assists and a place in the team of the tournament. Rivaldo and Ronaldo (the original one) certainly helped out, but Ronaldinho's contribution cannot be ignored. How many WC's have Messi or Ronaldo helped their teams win ;)

Ronaldinho is a damn good player.

05 Feb 2015 12:26:51
With numerous players leaving this summer including midfielders such as gerrard, lucas and possibly Allen, I would like Morgan schneiderlin in if we raise enough funds and if he's possible. can, Henderson, schneiderlin and maybe rossiter could be our central midfielders and then you have the likes of coutinho and lallana that can.players deeper if required.
The back line IMO should just require a gk and the likes of Johnson, Enrique and skrtl be moved on. Flanagan, Moreno regulars with youngsters challenging them and sakho, lovren, toure(an extension) and Lori brought back in.
Strikers, though they may be plentiful but lack real quality with the exceptions of sturridge. Ballotelli will be sold and Lambert looks a goner. Sturridge, origi(who I am not convinced by atall. Yesil etc would make the cut so another striker of quality is required. Whether we get one of quality with our limited resources is questionable. But if sturridge gets injured next season again we will struggle.
Our priorities this summer will be a GK, striker and midfielder. Whether we sign any of real quality is questionable if Rodgers remains
there's excellent players in Europe who won't cost excessive amounts of money

05 Feb 2015 16:55:06
Sorry. got to put it out there but why a keeper I agree a top reserve is required but Mignolet is coming good. He has been great the last few games. Also why get rid of Skytel?

We must replace Stevie with Quality (which may come from "Can") We need a good quality reserve first team keeper and another defender only when Lovren and Toure Leave. I would be happy with very minimal business this summer as it has seriously messed up the team signing so many players.

Thanks

05 Feb 2015 17:17:19
There is a suspicion Mingolet has improved with the knowledge that his position is under threat. Therefore we do have to maintain that threat

05 Feb 2015 10:37:43
With regards to something that Rodgers has tried taking credit for doing which to me was just personic, and I have no idea why he's getting props for it from fans and media.

He claims in some sort of tactical moment of genius he put Can further up the field for the press. I'm sorry this isn't a great tactic at all. It's just basic football. When you're going out of a cup with 5 minutes left to play you throw everything forward. People mocked Mclaren for doing it in the europa league years back.

I also think we were lucky in respct we weren't playing a better team and 111 men, because Bolton had several chances to counter but were knackered and not of the class of Chelsea. And on that point, we saw what pushing every one forward can do last year against a good side when Chelsea got their 2nd goal and sealed our fate.

For me this was not a genius tactic, it was desperate. It worked, but against a better team we will be found out, just like against chelsea.

05 Feb 2015 11:10:19
What does he need to do to get some credit when it's due? If you're going to slag him off when we're doing poorly, you need to give credit when we're not.

He could easily have gone more attacking whilst leaving Can in the back 3, then we probably don't get back on level terms. He did not, we changed to 2 at the back with Can ahead allowing him to dictate and get on the ball, like isn't possible.

If it's such a simpletons tactic when throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at them, why wasn't Sakho or Skrtel playing upfront? Throwing your big centre half up top for the last 5 is surely more of a standard move?

Sure, he gets some things wrong, but this wasn't one. Fair play I Rodgers, didn't panic, looked to quality we possess rather than desperation tactics.

As you said, it worked, it wasn´t a genius tactics, but we won.

You say we would get found out against a better team, but who says that Rodgers will employ the same tactics against a better team?

Considered that our midfield was below par, as Allen has struggled with injuries all season, Gerrard is out of form and Lallana is struggling to find form aswell, I´d say we did allright. But it was a necessity to field them, as Henderson and Lucas needs to be inform against Everton.

Well that's exactly what he did do though isn't it Big E in the game vs Basel Skrtel played up front for the last 10 and it got us no where.
We shouldn't be in positions chasing games like that, because sterling ins't a striker and we play Allen and Gerrard next to 1 another. He doesn't deserve credit for simply going gung ho and throwing caution to the wind so as not to have egg on his face .

I'm sorry but if any one thinks the tactics last night were something to be built on, then there's a serious lack of knowledge regarding football. BTW he did throw a centre back up there didn't he. wasn't can playing CB?

Red fuzz, he did the same vs chelsea last season. So yeah I'd say he would use the same tactics.He also tried it vs Basel.

Big E
I don't know who that giant was in Bolton's box for the last 10 mins of match, If it wasn't Sakho Stirling must have grown a bit.

05 Feb 2015 13:23:43
Can was pushed into midfield, hardly throwing caution to the wind with a cb up top. I'm also not claiming they are tactics to build on. I agree we should not have been in that position anyway, but when it does happen, you have to acknowledge the changes when they're made and work.


We had so much possession when pushing for the win, which lead to corners and free kicks, of course Sakho goes up for them, but he didn't stay there.

Not very linear this reply (sorry!). Against Basel like you say, it didn't work using Skrtel as a no.9, back to last night, we didn't panic and start lumping it up like that, we played football and worked chances. Hard to not give credit when looked at like this.

I think we'll likely have to agree to disagree ultimately here, but I do Rodgers deserve credit for last night. Positive, game controlling substitutions, a change of system and a win. We made it hard for ourselves due to not putting away any chances we did create but that can't be Rodgers fault, short of subbing himself on and scoring himself there's no blame on him for that.

I felt we controlled the game, conceded a soft penalty, struggled to score until late on, but ultimately won. So long as we keep getting the results and aren't being played off the pitch, I won't be nitpicking faults.

You like ponies, bobatron?

The flat out racing thing from the other site seems to have a mind of its own

05 Feb 2015 10:14:22
My observations on Liverpool - Bolton game

1) Finally we came from behind and won a game. What more, we scored in the added time! Oh, how I missed the feeling.

2) We tried to score the perfect goal much too often to my liking. To walk in the net works from time to time only. I have been screaming for a long time for someone to hit it hard and true. Can can centrally do it! What a rocket. More of the same in the next game please!

3) Markovic. I like the boy but I think his performance dropped a little bit in the last few games. He was caught ball - watching, especially in the first half. I want more. hmm. well. INTENSITY from his game, more aggression to close down players and a better final ball but that will come in time I hope. I think he needs more runners in front of him, fully fit Daniel will help to up his performance for sure.

4) I loved when Sterling said that he saw the gap between the keeper's legs and placed the ball there :) In truth he was watching the ball all the way down, nice try Raheem! :)

4) Brendan, never pair Allen with Gerrard in midfield again! It does not work and never will!

5) In the first half I asked myself a question: do Liverpool want to win that game at all?

6) Nice move from Rodgers to get Can playing further up later on! This is where he belongs. I just hope that next season he will play there more often. Very impressed with him!

7) Did you see that Coutinho face expression when he scored? Was he nearly crying? Was it just a relief? I don't know. What I know is that he cares and that is hugely important to me.

8) Out of all players I think Coutinho, Henderson, Can, Skrtel and Sturridge are the players who want to play for Liverpool the most and will be here for many years. Obviously I wish others to stay with us, too: Sakho, Sterling, Moreno, Markovic, LUCAS to name a few.

9) Daniel Sturridge needs much more time to get his sharpness back, it showed last night. But his presence changes the rhythm of out play drastically, he improves others around him as well.

10) Mignolet. His confidence is improving. What I like about his game now is that he is becoming a sweeper-keeper we all longed for. He punches the ball well and does not try to catch it if in doubt. Basically his decision making is much better than before. He seems to be a nice, quiet bloke and clearly he is learning to be more vocal on the pitch. There were moments (not in this game only) that I went: who the hell is screaming that loud? It was him most of the times. Believe me, it is very difficult to become more vocal and dominant if you are a quiet man like him and me. It requires a change in your personality (at least when needed) and constant conversations with your brain to be able to do that. It took me some time in the Army to learn to shout out orders, especially when the artillery made some of the privates deaf. Now I shout at my kids at will and I certainly did not loose that ability :). So Simon - onwards and upwards from now on!!


Overall I am very please that we concede less and score more!!

I agree Can should be played in midfield, I think he will be Gerrards replacement. . in time.

05 Feb 2015 14:04:05
I don't see how anyone can look at our defense and say that Skrtel gives us anything that Sakho doesn't equal and exceed

05 Feb 2015 09:33:33
Well we got there in the end. It took them being weakened to 10 men, and us taking it to the dying minutes to score, but a wins a win. What a scorcher by Coutinho.

05 Feb 2015 08:43:29
It seems that players who get 'Brendan' often come back better once they get an opportunity to play in the side:

Recently this seems to be the case with Sakho, Mingolet and previously we have seen it with Henderson, Sterling, Flanno.

Thoughts?

Lovren, Lambert, Allen, Borini, Enrique, Johnson and Balotelli. The other side of the argument. Maybe some players are just better then others? Care more? Want more? Try harder?

Where would you put Gerrard? A player also left out. Does he come back in better or is he surviving on history, cause he can sometimes be the worst player on the pitch.

05 Feb 2015 07:39:42
Am I the only one who thinks that Coutinho can be our new Gerrard? Not in the way they play, but in coming up with big goals (or assists) when the team needs them. I've started noticing this since last season with his crucial strikes against Fulham and Man City, while he has done it again today against Bolton.

He scored 3 goals this season and genrally speaking his shooting was poor. Good one yesterday (albeit with a slight deflection apperantly) but from this to see him suddenly as a great finisher (as Gerrard was) there is a long long way. A lot of his shots also lack power which is a again exactly the opposite from Gerrard.

Looking at Can motor through teams from CB and a shot that can break wrists, if he were finally played in the middle I think he's our important player, not like Stevie, but like Yaya Toure in his prime at City

05 Feb 2015 06:50:40
Mignolet is playing well lately people anyone agree

I agree with you but I can't help but think he still is cemented to his line on occasions.
Last night the Gudjohnsen header was a classic example.
When he headed it he was bang on the 6 yard line.
I want my keeper to boss the penalty area never mind the 6 yard line.
Having said that he has improved a great deal so fair play to him.

Settled back three and formation, Lucas a massive part too in protection. Mignolet has stepped up and as I've said for ages, he seems to be allowed to throw or roll the ball out. Thank God he's no longer told to kick out towards the dug out. what was that all about?

I thought the save from Gudjonson at point blank kept us in the game.
Thought Mignolet handled a physical side very well and is beginning to use his size to dominate, it does help having Lucas shielding the defence and a settled solid defence.
Hopefully if he continues, we will only need to look for a good back up keeper as Jones isn't reallu up to it(Although I think Ward should be given a chance in that role).

I said for ages if you put a settled defence in front of him his form will improve. The defence has basically thrown him to the lions time after time, although massively improved I still see him getting replaced. Although I hope he improves to the point of not needing to.

Mr Dennis, so do I.
It was a vital save.
But why not make things easier by just coming out and catching the ball on his 6 yard line?
Two things he can improve on.
1. Sticking his knee out when going for high balls.
People will soon learn that if they challenge him then they will get seriously hurt by doing it.
2. Catching more and punching less.
There were a couple of times when he should have just caught the ball and relieved the pressure rather than punch it away.
Both things are linked to each other.
If he sticks his knee out the consequence will be people moving out of his way and thereby making it simple to just catch it.
But like I said before he has improved over the last month so that is down to good coaching and his strength of will.
Keep it up Simon.

05 Feb 2015 05:54:59
The temptation for BR on Saturday will be to start Gerrard. His thinking will be. "Derby game. Need passion. Scouser.Ruffle a few wee feathers early on etc."
In my opinion, Everton are just another team we have to beat in our campaign. If it gets rough we have the referee and Lucas to step in.
I'm not anti-Gerrard but I do feel that others are more worthy of a starting-place at the moment.
If Rodgers and his elite team of coaches can recognise form they'll find jobs for Can, Markovic, Lucas, Lallana, Coutinho and Sakho.
We have all the ingredients to replace Luis Suarez but it'll just be a different cake.with Sturridge back we have another dimension to our team. And with Jordan Ibe back we have increased our options.
There's no reason why our decent run shouldn't turn into a record-breaking series of trophy-winning form.
We have the squad. Do we have the manager?
ANFIELDPETE

I agree that maybe Gerrard should sit this one out.
He was guilty of trying to force the issue last night.
We needed calm heads and everyone time he got it in the last 15 mins he was trying to do it all himself.
There is no point in playing a 40 yard ball against a team with ten men.
Make them work.
It nearly cost us but the team has grown up.
They passed it moved it wide and created space centrally as a result.
I fully expect him to start on Saturday.
Whether he should I am not so sure.
Hopefully my betrayal leads to a hat-trick from the skipper.
But a blind man can see he is not the player we all loved anymore.
Father time can be a bitch.

05 Feb 2015 09:32:46
Anfield Pete.we have the players but do we have the manager.I think you forget who brought the majority of those players to the club.From last night's starting 11 he brought in Mignolet,Can,Sakho,Allen,Markovitch,Lallana and Sturridge

The team without Gerrard has been better. Hendo and Lucas in the middle, our back 3 shouldn't change, it's settled and has clearly helped Mignolet.

Wing backs if fit should stay too. Only change to our side is Sturridge if fit play central and Sterling replace Lallana wide.

Concern is Markovic if not fit it's BR who likes to play Hendo out of position and then there is a place for Gerrard. Love Gerrard, but agree it's clear to see he's not the player of even a couple of seasons ago

Gerrard is far more affective than lallana in that role behind sterling, he lives for the big derby games and scores in a lot of them to.
If sturridge was fit then Gerrard wouldn't make the 11 but he's not so it's obviously going to be
Lucas hendo
Gerrard coutinho
Sterling

Gerrard is no longer worthy of an automatic starting place, that's a fact, he shouldn't get in on previous good deed. The reality is that we play better with him not in the side. This is a 35 year old Gerrard not a 25 year old Gerrard. Personally I think Can is the man to replace Gerrard, he's powerful and as strong as an ox, he has pace, skill and a wand of a left foot(and his right foot isn't bad either).
Again, no disrespect to Gerrard, he is a club legend, but times change and we all need to move on.

I agree he should be on the bench. not only is the team better without him, Everton will be expecting him to start and will likely adjust tactics to stop him.
Plus who better as a late impact sub?

Dennis, he is actually right footed! Sums up how good he is with his left that you thought it was his stronger foot though. A truly two footed player.

05 Feb 2015 21:24:41
I thought he was a lefty as he played left back for Bayer? Still, who cares he's got the look of a truly great footballer.

He's a two footed right footed player!!
Ambidextrous is the word I think?

05 Feb 2015 04:38:39
That ref was awful.
Blatant dive.
BBC trying to justify it saying it was a young lad and how well he played.
He cheated to win a penalty. simple.
How can someone touching your toe (if that) make you arch your back and swan dive on the floor.

Yes the lad showed a great attitude but he cheated.
Sick of diving from any player.
I can't remember the last time we played a game and did not have 20 shots on goal.
We deserved that win.

Bolton were dogged and determined but in my opinion over stepped the mark with constant shirt pulling, bad tackles, and blatant cheating with the dive for the penalty.
The referee was extremely poor.

Thankfully the reds kept going and earned poetic justice.
Coutinho is just getting better and better.
Lallana was not great again but still needed that game.
Phil Neville said he was great after half an hour? what game was he watching?

Overall happy with the performance although profligacy in front of goal continues to blight our season.
Ed002 spot on about Sturridge.
I think he got through the cameo against West Ham on pure adrenalin.

Tonight he looked like he is still 2-3 weeks away from full fitness which is to be expected.
I just hope we tread carefully where he is concerned.

Yeah poor ref, blatant dive and poor linesmen. My wish is video tech. Look how Hawkeyes improved the game for fairness.
The signal sent to the ref for offsides could be just as quick as Hawkeye if both sky and bbc can show a reply in seconds. Play on if it is outside blow up and if it's that far on or a close to goal moment of play, which results in the ball going in, disallow the goal. It takes seconds.
Last night we had 2 onside breaks leaving possible one on ones both called offside incorrectly.

I have always been an advocate of technology as well Omega.
There are people in the stands who can access what happens on the pitch on their phone within minutes and yet, the person who is controlling the game has no help at all.
I would have "match defining situations" automatically reviewed.

What do I mean by match defining.

A penalty, a sending off (straight red not two yellows) and every goal.
The only grey area for me is offside.

Do you let a player continue so he scores and then check for offside or do you still allow a linesman to have complete control over it?
That is a dilemma which I want to throw out there to the masses.
How do you solve a problem like technology and offside?

05 Feb 2015 00:40:47
I want to start by congratulating Stevie on his 700th game.
We won that is all that matters, just one thing we do need to put goals earlier in the game. SMS flaws but with reinforcements on the summer next year will be great.

04 Feb 2015 22:53:47
Ed2? I see liverpool have agreed a new kit deal with NB, always training kits as well, do you know if it is a financially better deal than standard chartered?
Thanks

{Ed001's Note - it is kits, not sponsorship mate. It is not a new deal, it is a change of name from Warrior to New Balance, who own Warrior.}

05 Feb 2015 01:31:24
I'm really happy to see that Sakho is finally getting his chance and cementing a place in the first team. Hopefully he will be able to continue this and develop into the top class defender we all thought he would become. However, I understand that it was previously believed that he had been "Brendaned" and the club was looking to move him on. Do you think that if he continues to perform he will stay and potentially keep his place in the team long term? Or will he still be sold or cast down again?

"Cast Down". That's a bit biblical for this time of morning.

04 Feb 2015 23:38:18
I can't be the only one who is completely perplexed why rodgers would have 2 right-backs on the bench ( Why, by the way?) and chooses to send on a striker to play at right-wing-back? It's these kind of decisions that make him infuriate me.

Seem to work though !!

05 Feb 2015 00:22:14
It isn't that cut and dry.
Johnson is capable of playing on the left, right and at centre back. Options.
When borini came on we were chasing the game, borini can operate from the side. An attacking player over a defender when chasing the game should not be perplexing to anyone.
Just because they're playing out of position doesn't mean it has any negative effect on the system.
Would Manquillo or Johnson offered more moving forward and chasing down from the front than Borini? Not in my opinion.
Players need to fit the system, not the formation.

05 Feb 2015 02:31:09
Your comments prove the accuracy of your name, I thought Borini did better than Manquillo and Johnson would have.

Borini came on and then Markovic got a knock.
It was out of necessity and not out of choice that Fabio had to play wing back.

Johnson isn't capable of passing to another player in the same coloured shirt! He is a poor defender and the sooner he goes the better if he can take Allen with him that would immediately make the club stronger.

Personic post.

We were camped in their half, and Borini received the ball in the wide forward position, and didn't get close to being a wing back for the entire time he was on. He was basically brought on as a winger, regardless who he replaced.