Liverpool Banter Archive November 07 2015

07 Nov 2015 19:01:30
I have to ask Eds/Reds what do you make of Vardy this year. Absolutly grabbing his chance with both hands. Mahrez ain't too shabby either.

{Ed002's Note - Try the Leicester page.}

08 Nov 2015 01:02:40
Reminds me of Craig Bellamy. Looks good running for 90+ mins and scoring. Put him in a club where he has "better players around him" would be look as good?

08 Nov 2015 02:24:02
Obviously nowhere near as technically gifted, but I think he has a bit of Luis suarez in him the way he goes about. His work rate and passion for the game are fantastic, just look at his celebrations, and he's got a bit of fight in him as well.

08 Nov 2015 09:23:15
Harsh on Bellamy, Gazza.
Vardy vs Suarez 😆.

07 Nov 2015 16:37:58
Just wondering if one of the eds, (probably ed001) could tell me who from academy over the last 10 year or so had the most potential but wasn't managed right or left too soon. I. e. Someone like klacaniklic? (Obviously not the best but could he have been a better player today had he stayed and developed with us? ) thanks eds.

{Ed001's Note - to be honest, most should have left sooner, rather than later.}

07 Nov 2015 19:19:42
Slightly unrelated but I'm glad Nemeth has found himself a good career in America, I know it's a poor league but he's doing well for himself.

07 Nov 2015 21:11:59
Mikel San Jose who plays for Athletic Bilbao used to be in our academy, he has done very well and has played some games for the spanish national team as well. Gabriel Paletta used to be in our academy as well, he hasn't done as well as Mikel San Jose but he has played for AC Milan and got 3-4 caps for Italy, he is curently at Atalanta on loan from Milan. Antonio Barragan was in our academy for a season but never got a chance, he now is a key player for Valencia, a decent RB.

08 Nov 2015 05:03:30
Insua plays first team football in Germany for Stuttgart, alongside Sama who has not yet stated a lot of games.

It's difficult to say how some players would have developed if they had stayed on at Liverpool as their situation and exposure would have been different IMO.

{Ed001's Note - to point out, with regard to Barragan, he was unhappy in England, which is why he went back.}

07 Nov 2015 17:15:50
Is Sheyi Ojo developing well enough to be fighting his way towards the 1st team next season?

07 Nov 2015 17:31:00
He doesn't seem to be getting many starts at Wolves which won't help him. He shouldn't have been loaned there IMO but he does get quite a few cameos off the bench and he does score so he is at least gaining some experience.

07 Nov 2015 17:34:39
Bit early I would say, but he seems to be doing ok so far not getting to much game time recently due to club issues.

I do like him though, fingers crossed for the lad.

07 Nov 2015 17:37:02
He is progressing, but I would say let him take his time. He has been a regular sub for Wolves so far, and his aim should be to become a regular starter next. As it stands, I don't think he is ready for the first team squad next season.

07 Nov 2015 13:33:56
Hi Eds, ayoze perez is young, mobile, technical player who score goals when given a chance in any game. Any reason why he is not on liverpool's radar?

{Ed002's Note - It is exactly the same reason as Borja Iglesias is not on Liverpool's radar.}

07 Nov 2015 17:20:09
Fair enuf. But Ayoze is bpl proven and he fits the profile fsg is looking for isn't it?

{Ed002's Note - What "profile" would that be?}

07 Nov 2015 17:40:35
I don't think Ayoze Perez is PL proven, but 10 goals in 46 PL appearances is not too bad, and he does work hard. Does he remind you of a certain Italian we sold to Sunderland last summer?

07 Nov 2015 11:29:17
Let's suppose we finish in the top four and Flanno and Sturridge are both back and playing well And fit! . Rossiter has signed a new contract and he and Teixera are both looking good when they get games. Ibe has continued to improve and our defence looks much more secure.

Juergen says that next season he expects to see two or more of our youngsters break into the first team.

FSG say to Jurgen that the money is available to sign one top top player: who do you go for?

My first thought is Lewandowski given that the hardest thing in football is to put the ball in the net on a regular basis but what do you guys think?

07 Nov 2015 13:02:02
A really top keeper is a pretty urgent need, but the sad truth is that sturridge will probably never stay fit long enough to play a meaningful number of games, and benteke gets injured regularly, it has to be a top class proven and prolific striker for me.
But where on earth do you find one of those creatures?

07 Nov 2015 14:03:13
Klopp is known to shun established stars. So lewandowski is out. He like undiscovered gems or those that need polishing.

07 Nov 2015 14:15:46
A keeper or centre back to partner Sakho.

07 Nov 2015 14:50:09
aubameyang for me. how he is allways overlooked is beyond me! That has nothing to do with klopp. Just like watching him play quick and exciting!

07 Nov 2015 16:22:22
"Sturridge is fit".

Why do you want another finisher? Ings is a great backup. I think a fit Sturridge is a better bet than Lewandowski because Sturridge has done it in the premier league.

Defence is where we have problems. Either a central defender or a keeper or defensive mid.

07 Nov 2015 16:32:04
I think Ings is going to turn it on for us next season. Him and Benteke with a decently trained Origi. We will certainly have goals in us. With or without Sturridge.

07 Nov 2015 20:40:59
We have no chance what so ever of signing Lewandowski. He would cost north of 50 million € and wages of over 200 000 £ a week and if Bayern made him available something they won't do, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United, Barcelona, PSG would all look to sign him, we can't compete financially against those teams.

07 Nov 2015 09:49:27
Hi Eds, quick question, don't know if its stupid one and the answer is simple but here goes anyway. If the Liverpool team weren't arriving back from Russia til 4 in the morning, there won't be training on Friday surely. If that's the case, wouldn't it have made sense to stay in a hotel, have a good nights rest, fly back late morning and then another good nights rest so rejuvenated for training Saturday?

{Ed002's Note - It is simply a plane ride away - no benefit to be gained from doing that. Players are like babies and puppies and can sleep during the day.}

07 Nov 2015 10:35:35
The game didn't finish until nearly 11pm Russian time, the players wouldn't have slept until the early hours anyway. They could train late Friday afternoon.

07 Nov 2015 00:32:31
Hey ed001

It seems that our academy has had quite a load of young talent recently. Just watched footage of Ryan Kent with his goal yesterday and his nutmeg, and then some academy footage on youtube. Really talented guy. On top of him, we've had Flanagan, Ojo, Brannagan, Ibe, Teixeira, Rossiter, Sinclair, and more I've forgotten about or just don't know. Sure, some of these players were brought from other clubs, but they still continued academy development at Liverpool nonetheless. Maybe not every single one of these players will become a star, but the potential is there.

Do you think the quality of our youth production line is quite above par at the moment, or is this normal for a lot of clubs? And who do you rate as the biggest prospect out of all those names mentioned?

{Ed001's Note - it is one of the best in Europe at the moment, which is something Rafa can take a lot of credit for, as he brought in the guys who revamped it initially. Without doubt, the overall level is the highest I have ever seen at Liverpool. The problem is the difficulty for any one player to stand out, as they are all at a much higher level than in the past. In the past we had one player head and shoulders above the rest, who would then get nurtured with great care because they stood out. Now the club struggles to cope with all the good players coming through.}

07 Nov 2015 04:14:45
I agree, lots of players that have potential for regular first team in the future, particularly Rossiter, Chirivella, Ojo, Brannagan, Canos, Gomez, Illori, Teixera among others.

Hopefully Klopp is going to be a particularly positive influence in helping bringing them through in a measured way. Agree with Ed 2 we probably need a better and more structured way to approach development loans.

07 Nov 2015 06:51:23
I reckon the likes of Southampton and West Ham get more credit for their youth partly because they are much more reliant on them, i. e. they don't have the same budget to spend money on players, and instead cherry pick from their talented academy. Perhaps also because quite a few of their graduates have gone on to star in teams elsewhere, e. g. Bale, Walcott, Lampard, J. Cole, plus many many more.

I agree, that's the thing these days Ed. We recruit so many external players that once we step back and look at our squad, we find it hard to find room for any academy graduates whom let alone are difficult to find a standout amongst.

07 Nov 2015 07:06:24
Hello Ed
I would like to ask about Axel Ingelthorpe. He has been two years in Liverpool as Academy Director, so it is enough time to judge. I really liked Borell, we see fruits of his work today in many players mentioned above. Do you think Axel improved something in our academy, can we expect similar quality players in the future? Thaks for your reply.

{Ed001's Note - Alex has been there two years, you are right, but you are wrong in that it is not enough time to judge. It takes about ten years for the full effect of a change in an academy to really show itself. So far he seems to be doing well, but it will be a while before we know how well and if things are improving, which they seem to be, or not.}

07 Nov 2015 07:25:40
Thanks Ed, I understand your point. So we will wait and see. But I am also satisied that you see his current work as good job done. I think academy is one of the most important factor of successfull club and I would not like to lose it in Liverpool. The other problem is the loan system of our youngsters but I believe we will improve in this area as well. YNWA.

{Ed001's Note - that is the big weakness, our loans. We have made a complete mess of those so far.}

07 Nov 2015 10:31:50
This is where we need to give the youngsters a chance.

Some won't step up to the level of playing for Liverpool but others will.

Gomez didn't brilliant for me worth off a chance a long with teixera.

if we don't give these kids a decent run in the starting 11 then we will never know if they can make it.

07 Nov 2015 12:51:46
We all want to see youngsters break through but it's really tough for the richer teams. You look at a player and think 'in three years time this player may be good enough for the first team, do I bring in a fully matured player now to do the job or put this youth player in and hope he makes it? '

Clubs need success now so they'll always bring in ready to play talent. Texeira seems pretty good but whose place is he going to take to get game time? Coutinho's? There's no way we drop a proven talent for a youngster.

Gerrard and Sterling got into the team because they were better than who we had or who we could get, even as untested youngsters. Carragher was good enough to be a first team player playing regularly in different positions (fullback) and proved he was good enough to take over from Henchoz when the time came.

I very much doubt that Texeira will make it at Liverpool, he's good but he's not an improvement on anything we already have.

07 Nov 2015 16:26:14
I think Tex is absolutely an upgrade on what we already have.

He has composure, he's a passer like Alonso and Molby. He has a certain amount of "grace" when he's playing and looks like he has all the time in the world.

Which of our midfielders has that? Lallana? Milner? Hendo? Lucas? Can?
I'm not counting Couts or Firmino because they are more forwards than midfield passers.

Tex is a link up player. He is a fraction away from starting regularly IMO.

07 Nov 2015 16:45:03
Muscatred

It is hard for players to break through at bigger clubs because it's easier to go out and buy.

Sterling brought us speed but I still believe a few years back that if we had bought konoplyenka in the January then sterling wouldve seen his game time drop.

Teixeira may not be better than what we have but he's a young lad who with game time will improve and may be better than what we have.

I know it's hard but if you don't try them how will you ever know.

07 Nov 2015 17:22:06
Hey Lavers. I agree in principal but it's easy for us to say give him a game, it's not our neck on the line if it doesn't work. If Coutinho leaves tex may get a chance but otherwise I see no route to the first team.

07 Nov 2015 17:59:15
It's especially hard when you have such a bloated squad.

We've seen it year after year buying players for the sake of it and bloaking the route to the first team for young players.

I know a lot of the young players won't make it but for some like teixeira give him games in the cup he didn't disgrace himself last time out.

07 Nov 2015 18:14:12
I think we're all forgetting there's a certain amount of rotation required in cup games. Teixera will hopefully get his chance in those, as will others. Overall I like the way Klopp seems to be doing it, namely rotating a small number of the team at a time, so we give 1st team players a rest every now and again but the overall team stays strong and youngsters get to play in s nearly full strength side with plenty of experience around them.

07 Nov 2015 22:52:10
Teixeira is an upgrade on Joe Allen.

07 Nov 2015 01:31:30
I only managed to catch the second half yesterday (poxy Sky Sports pause button only allowed 45 mins) .

I thought Frimino's touches were really good - different class sometimes.

Also good to see Jordan Ibe starting to find some form.

Its good to start enjoying football again - not thinking what the f*** is he doing picking players like that / playing that way.

The way Klopp is with the team is amazing as well - I really couldn't be happier with his impact - we look a different team now and improving on things game on game!

{Ed007's Note - Ooofffttt it's a good job you didn't see the first half! ;)

07 Nov 2015 02:15:27
That bad Ed007? - oh dear!

07 Nov 2015 13:32:55
First half wasn't that bad, we just looked a little disjointed is all.

Could be worse though, eh Ed007?

{Ed007's Note - I was only pulling his leg, I only seen some highlights of it.}