Surprisingly keen on this first lot of games.
Ole might deploy ZahALLAH. Villa are going to make us all proud and nick points off that sack of on-loan wankers. Newcastle are going to lose spectacularly.
Afraid of Hull ?
Yep. :-/
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Football Thread 13/14 |OT13| Top 15 finish for AC Milan: Sogno Possibile
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Yep. :-/
Makes me wonder.
16m isn't an insignificant amount, have to assume that the funds were there in the circumstances of panic-buying and simply rating Konoplyanka higher than Salah. Imagine we went for Salah as he was more readily available.
That money has to be added to the summer fund, rather than replacing it. A battleship is nothing without a sufficient warchest
I truly hope that Rodgers has some masterplan in mind to justify the lack of effort to bring a DM in. And hopefully not the type of masterplan he had before the Villa match.
The DM situation seems extremely clear to me, I'm surprised other people can't see it.
First of all, in the summer Liverpool's budget would probably be around £80million with Champions League.
There are 3 (well 4) positions that Liverpool will look to reinforce in the summer. Fullbacks, Defensive midfield & Attacker/Winger. Fullbacks are very rarely big money signings, and other than Luke Shaw there are no likely FBs that would cost much more than £10mil. Even if Liverpool buy both sides I don't see them spending more than £25million. Then you look at the attacking players Liverpool are going for, again not super expensive, they don't need to be when you're already struggling to fit Suarez, Sturridge, Stirling & Coutinho in a team.
That leaves a pretty large amount to spend on a defensive midfielder. This winter the money wasn't available, the players weren't available in that range. Sure, Liverpool could have bought in a decent option like Fernando or gambled on M'vila, but there is a very low chance that such options would turn out to be a drastic improvement on Lucas. In any case, most likely by summer Liverpool would end up with 2 fairly good, but not world class, DMs. By waiting until summer Liverpool can instead sign up a £30m standard DM and get someone who's a far surer bet of being the World Class midfielder Liverpool want.
The only real option for the position was a loan, but it's easier said than done. Clubs aren't rushing to loan out defensive midfielders of top 4 quality, far more likely you end up with another Cissokho.
RIP.
Gareth Bale
Member
Fucking Gus Poyet lost me £20 not selling Cattermole to Stoke
I hope you lose 10-0 at Wembley. Prick.
I hope you lose 10-0 at Wembley. Prick.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Who are these DMs who fall into the category between the realistic likes of M'Vila, and the unrealistic likes of Martinez, who weren't available in January but will be in the summer? I'm genuiely clueless as to a single player who fits into that category? Gambling on getting into the CL and that being sufficient leverage to sign a clear improvement on Lucas is a hell of a risk.
Eh? Once Liverpool are in the CL they'll have vastly more options, and clubs will be much more willing to sell in the summer. I don't really follow European football enough to know, but a few examples that spring to mind would be Strootman, Asamoah, L Bender or Rakitic.
Willkiller
Banned
I went on a date. Got really drunk, don't remember coming home, waiting on a text back to see how it went.
I'm not confident.
If you can't remember it, and there's no text yet, you've probably killed her. Unlucky mate. Always more fish in the sea.
Spent much of today scrubbing up my bike to sell it. In order to raise funds to live, if not like a king then at least like an obese baron, while I'm in the UK. I've just put "very good condition" on the advert, and I'll stare down any fucker who wants to say otherwise on inspection.
Got a paella on the go, and estimating I'll need about seven cups of tea and a pack of Delta Creams to make it through. Especially if Young/Giggs/Valencia/Jones/Ferdinand feature heavily.
This tends to bother me the most. I couldn't be arsed about the romance side of things by comparison.
Don't be hating on Phil or I'll fucking key your bike.
Willkiller
Banned
I better not have, I can't deal with 15 years in the can. I'd be everyone's bitch.
Is Marron 5 fit to play today?
The_Hitcher89
Member
Would you not agree that by declining the oppurtunity to bolster our DM options for the rest of the seson, we've pretty heavily jeapordised the chances of that becoming a factor though?
M'Vila would have fitted into any of 4 categories, 3 of which would have been satisfactory for the remainder of the season at least
1) Not good enough
2) Backup for Lucas
3) Competition for Lucas
4) Better than Lucas
Obviously it would have presented a problem in the summer as we'd probably still be looking to upgrade on either DM, and would need to probably lose Lucas or M'Vila to maintain a balanced squad/wage sheet, and that may have been difficult if we decided M'Vila was the more expendable of the two
I think that would have been risk worth taking to solidifiy our chances of finishing 4th or higher this season though.
Finishing inthe CL spot and signing one of the players you mentioned is the ideal of course, but I just fear it'll be irrelevant when we actually get to the summer if teams have the know-how to exploit our lack of a single bona fide DM in the squad
I always worry about this as well, I've just got such a skinny pasty hairless body I know my time would be split between shoe shining and felching.
Reckon he'll be on the bench. Clev and Jones, book it.
As a CB, he is largely golden. In midfield - why the fuck. It's like some hippy mother who wants to teach her toddler to sign instead of speak. Just get on with what he's supposed to be doing.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Apparently talksport were talking about us sending Flanagan on loan for the remainder of the season. Have to imagine that;s a case of crossed wires with the McLaughlin extension.
Flanagan's been our best rightback and leftback this season
Flanagan's been our best rightback and leftback this season
Gareth Bale
Member
It's a really stange feeling not remembering how you got home/the back of a strangers car after a night out. Never got used to it for some reason.
Willkiller
Banned
Truly, Hixx is great. Top bloke.
But today....fuck Hixx
But today....fuck Hixx
Agreed, but Moyes seems to have the same idea that I do (albeit I have it waking up in the night in sweats before deciding it's an inevitability); we have no midfield capable of playing football. Let's stop the other midfield playing football. Put a dirty rotter like Jones on the might of Charlie Adam today, stop the flow of intricate passing to Jon Walters. Innit.
Sal?
sal?
Cleverley? Fuck no. pls no.
Overall that seems like a solid idea, but I've got a slightly different opinion.
I think it was Wheels who mentioned this, but ever since Rodgers has arrived; we have only had one recognised DM. Sure we have Allen, but he's very much an all round player, same for Henderson and Gerrard really.
When we talk about Liverpool's attacking threat, we always have a fluid interchange between the SASAS, perhaps Rodgers thinks that instead of having recognised DM's, we can instead use a couple of CM's and have them also interchange on the defensive aspects of the game.
So overall, I've got a slight feeling that Rodgers would rather have a couple of all rounders to start a game and then perhaps bring a DM on once we start winning to slow the game down.
Otherwise, I agree with what you said except with Suarez. He'll surely leave this summer for a big fee (80m?) and that cash will be spent on getting a suitable replacement and strengthening our team.
Bla please. I long for the day we return to the Bobby Robson heyday - Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Newcastle. None of this 'two clubs from Manchester, two from London'. Utterly get fucked Spurs, two from North London is absurd.
I'll also accept Villa, Southampton, et al. Give us some diversity.
I'm not convinced that Suarez will leave us if we qualify for CL.
Well. no.
As I have implied in the past, I tend to have a lot of belief in statistical models for football prediction - as, it would seem, do Liverpool. These models, particularly since the Everton game, show a near enough overwhelming chance of Liverpool finishing in the top 4.
TeddyBoy said:
Rodgers certainly prefers the more traditional Defensive midfielder, as opposed to the destroyer type, but I wouldn't characterize him as not wanting to use defensive midfielders at all. After all, in the vast majority of games that Lucas has been available he has started. If Allen were a few years older then I agree that he would start over Lucas, but it would still be in a 'defensive' midfield position.
I would be surprised if Suarez left in the summer with Champions League. Why sign the contract, that appears to have no easy exit, if that was his intention? Liverpool would have pretty much had to sell regardless if he didn't sign a new one.
Wittgenstein: "The way to solve the problem you see in life, is to live in a way that will make what is problematic disappear"
Phil Jones: emissary from the footballing void.
FWIW, I still think we're favourites for 4th, even without a new signing. I had my doubts after the Villa game, but the derby performance has re-assured me of just how good we can be on our day. I definitely think we have the edge on United, Spurs and Everton at the moment, and Arsenal's fixture list is going to cause hell for them, especially with only Giroud and Bendtner to play up front.
We just have to hope and pray we get a bit of good fortune on the injuries front.
We just have to hope and pray we get a bit of good fortune on the injuries front.
Willkiller
Banned
Fuck that. You're putting too much importance on a DM, you have a defence, you don't need a DM. Just play the Keegan game, score more than the opposition, you have the quality going forward to do that!
Newcastle were so cool when Shearer was still playing :/ Then they got boring and lame.
Fernando Torres tells the story of Luis Aragonés before 2008 final. Kept calling Ballack 'Wallace' in team talk. Eventually, a player... [1]
...says: 'Boss, he's called Ballack'. Aragonés responds: 'I'll call him whatever I feel like'. In the tunnel before the game the two ... [2]
...teams are lined up. Players are nervous. Aragonés winks at Spain players and turns to Ballack and says 'good luck Wallace'. [3]
Fuck Ballack. Free Milchmonster.
...says: 'Boss, he's called Ballack'. Aragonés responds: 'I'll call him whatever I feel like'. In the tunnel before the game the two ... [2]
...teams are lined up. Players are nervous. Aragonés winks at Spain players and turns to Ballack and says 'good luck Wallace'. [3]
Fuck Ballack. Free Milchmonster.
Fletcher, Carrick, and Fellaini individually and collectively getting their shit together and giving our attack some security could boost us quite a bit. We won't even get 6th relying on Rooney heroics.
The_Hitcher89
Member
No chance Suarez leaves if we qualify for CL, unless it's for a wrold record fee (assuming he keeps some semblance of form between now and May. Especially if he has a decent world cup
If we're in the CL proper next season, and Suarez leaves, I'll
Do you guys reckon we'll play Allen tomorrow? I'd like to see the same 11 start tbh, bring Allen on if we need him, or if the game's wrapped up. Perhaps play Flanagan at LB and Kelly at RB if Kelly is up to it.
@Willkiller, I wonder how many teams over the history of football have said 'fuck defense, we'll just outscore them' and ended up failing to achieve their targets
Willkiller
Banned
Big word that
It's just an idea, but when we played a midfield three of Allen, Henderson and Gerrard, the interchange between them always seem to suit us a bit more than having Lucas in there.
You and Mastadon might disagree, but United fans had the right idea. Ronaldo signed a new contract with United before he left for Madrid to get a better deal out of him. For me it's the same kind of thing. Suarez is 27 now, which means as a footballer, he's just about to enter the peak of his career. What better time to sell?
Just saw Hitcher's post, I said around 80m! That's a good price for me!
Oh I don't doubt that. Needs to happen sooner rather than later though.
Big test tonight. Would be a good time for the players you mention to raise their games.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Sorry, but in a post-Bale world, 80m is nowhere near enough for a star player with more than a goal a game. And voluntarily selling a player at the beginning of their prime is silly. The guy has the quality to win us a few trophies and keep us high in the league. Fuck throwing that away just so we can get the highest fee possible, and take the massive risk of replacing him sufficiently
He's a cunt. A massive cunt. Perhaps the biggest cunt to ever play for us. But he's magic, and he's as close to priceless as players get outside of Messi and Ronaldo.
Them getting their shit together will mean nothing as long as Young or Valencia are playing and you just know 1 of them is definitely gonna be playing.
The_Hitcher89
Member
If Young hadn't played you'd have drawn against Cardiff. Give credit where it's Juve
The squad isn't a complete, title-winning squad like City, but I think even without January reinforcements we can finish forth. No idea what sohois' statistical models look like, but unless United and Spurs have a huge lift in form, their chances of finishing above us aren't looking too bright.
We tend to be our own worst enemies, so if we can defeat our own tendency to capitulate then we've got a legit shot.
We tend to be our own worst enemies, so if we can defeat our own tendency to capitulate then we've got a legit shot.
Willkiller
Banned
I'm so glad Wilbz is back. I remember when I called him Helen, good times
True. Fletch should be in decent nick. Dunno how fit Carrick actually is. Fellaini - sub appearance ?
Wilbs is probs correct about Jones.
I like Lugano a lot. He's a captain's captain. Too bad he's been poop the last two years.
Tonight really isn't that big a test for Utd. It's Stoke... They're terrible. The best we can hope for as Liverpool fans is a controversial 1-1 draw or something but I really don't see that happening. It might not be "easy" but Man U is taking this one no question.
Tonight really isn't that big a test for Utd. It's Stoke... They're terrible. The best we can hope for as Liverpool fans is a controversial 1-1 draw or something but I really don't see that happening. It might not be "easy" but Man U is taking this one no question.
No squad is as complete as City. It's ridiculous. For the next few seasons it's going to be a arms race between City and Chelsea as there owners play a boxing match with their football clubs.
Stoke are playing at home. Their home form is impressive.
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