Liverpool Football Club Thread

[Adrock]

The BBC have reported he is close to signing for Liverpool, they only ever report on rock solid stories from my experience.

As I said earlier in the thread, he craves a central midfield berth so Rodgers must have promised him that. I don't see what else could have occurred.

[dogsout]

I think Benteke is a good Premiership striker, and frankly I'd welcome signing literally anyone if it means we won't see Balotelli standing around moodily for 90 minutes for us again, but I don't see how he fits into what I assume is still the intended style of play. For that kind of money we really don't need another square peg in a Suarez-shaped hole. As Sherwood (for once) astutely observed, the guy thrives on crosses and we put it one good cross every two months, and that was usually from Gerrard.

I think the plan could be to go back to what he spoke of when he joined the club. The vision he sold he club. I think the squad wasn't right for it when he joined and the plan essentially turned into getting the ball to Suarez as quickly as possible once Brendan realised just how good he was. That's obviously oversimplifying the approach just a bit, but still. I complained of the change in tactics many times during his first two seasons but kind of got to a point where the title charge hype drowned out my concerns in the second half of last season.

What I'm saying is, maybe the plan is to change the way we attack, rather than to try to find a Suarez-lite that fits into the way we've been playing in the last two-and-a-half seasons. Milner would certainly fit in with that as he's been key for City in executing those crazy overloads they love so much. I'm not saying that we'll try a Downing to Carroll approach again, before anyone makes that point. I could see the logic in thinking Benteke could be very useful for a more patient style of play than we've seen for the last couple of years. Then again, I could say similar about Balotelli and the fact that Rodgers didn't even attempt to make said changes after we had nothing left to play for doesn't really fill me with confidence.

[DeNeo]

Yeah, not really happy with him staying - how did he not put this 'comprehensive plan' into action during the past season?

But oh well. Let's hope we perform better in the transfer market this summer and get off to a much better start next season.

I still think we need a proper DoF steering things. We don't have an awful lot of top-level football expertise in any of our high positions at the club.

[Timbuktu]

It's all well and good to have a comprehensive 'plan' but we never get to execute Plan A or B when we missed out on all our top targets. We probably would have finished in the top four if even one or two of their top targets signed. They didn't and the third or fourth name down that list was never going to cut it.

[angel]

Rodgers probably pulled the same tricks with his interview as he does when cornered on tv.

[SMD]

Sorry but how exactly is the board meant to have any sort of insight into how the team plays? I don't see Tom Werner being clued up on possession football and in any case last season our best performances came with an entirely different set up to the one Rodgers had at Swansea and his first six months.

[Istanbul]

Rodgers is a master of words. He's the kind of guy everyone would hire after an interview...only to realise later on that he's all fart, no follow through.

They sacked Kenny for far, far less. And chose not to reappoint Rafa. All for Rodgers. This will be his last season I strongly expect. I hope he can turn it around, but I doubt he can.

The problem is, at least amongst a large proportion of the fans...is that they just don't like Rodgers. He seems a total ego maniac. Talks, talks and talks about how great he is when he winning, explaining exactly how he is doing it. Just shut up and get on with it. He also seems to crave the attention and love of managers that Liverpool fans absolutely hate...Mourinho, Fat Sam etc. Just sick of it all to be honest. The only Liverpool manager I've ever wanted gone in my life time was Roy Hodgson, I knew he wasn't right...and I'll admit, I'm less sure on Rodgers...but yeah, it just doesn't feel right at all now.

[DeNeo]

The big decisions are being made by a team that only came into football 5 years ago, with an MD who used to be the finance guy at Huddersfield and a manager who only had a year's Premier League experience before joining us. You'd think they'd be crying out for an experienced DoF to help us out. It's no wonder we've performed so poorly when it's come to completing transfers and getting contracts signed.

Also - what do our scouts actually do? The main 4 players we've been linked with would all do a job for us (although I can't see them pushing us on to fight for a top 4 position) - but I think anyone with half a brain could've identified them. What happened to unearthing hidden gems?

[Oh Danny Boy]

I like Rodgers. He definitely deserves another season. If next one is as underwhelming as the last then he should go but to go after one season in which he was handicapped by the loss of Suarez, the failure of the transfer committee and a dreadful time with injuries I think is very reactionary. Here's hoping that things go right for us and Rodgers over the coming year.

[Istanbul]

Balls, I seemed to have reached my neg capacity for today. Some of the crap in here yesterday deserves nuking, not just negging. Some right deluded whoppers spouting nonsense. Bring on the negs! Har Har Har.

[glb]

Nonsense or realism? The latter isn't in any way sexy but it's far from doom and gloom. With us paying out the 5th highest wage bill, par for the league is 5th. The correlation stats I could find put wages and success at 85% - for reference the NFL's is 14%. Meaning spend big on wages in England and you'll likely need to also buy some Brasso too; spend big in the States and you might only have a tonne of empty hotdog wrappers and some sad cheerleaders to show for it.

If more than a few players raise their game then 4th, possibly 3rd, isn't too far into fantasy land for a team most likely to finish 5th, and as we saw in 2013-2014, with a perfect storm of events even miracles can (nearly) happen. However, take that side and then remove the best player, coupled with long-term injuries to the next major goal threat thus reducing most of the attacking threat, and buy largely inadequate reinforcements and suddenly you have a shit-storm and last season. 6th, a bit below par. A bogey.

Fortunately, every year there's a magic reset button that gets pressed every time the league fixtures played reaches '38', and a whole raft of new fixtures get published and we all get to dance the football dance again. We'll still be the 5th-highest wage payers, but the hope is that Rodgers, who is still a relatively young manager after all, has learned some vital lessons in the last year. That's the hope. That's the hope that will fill most of us with early season optimism and have us banding around our predictions and dreaming of a return to Europe's top table, which would, given our current position, be a pretty good season. Damn, that pesky realism again.

[dogsout]

Sorry but how exactly is the board meant to have any sort of insight into how the team plays? I don't see Tom Werner being clued up on possession football and in any case last season our best performances came with an entirely different set up to the one Rodgers had at Swansea and his first six months.

Yeah, I highly doubt tactics were discussed during the meeting. The plan must obviously have been in relation to recruitment processes, powers and responsibilities of the committee and other staff, etc.

[Istanbul]

Yeah, I highly doubt tactics were discussed during the meeting. The plan must obviously have been in relation to recruitment processes, powers and responsibilities of the committee and other staff, etc.

I wonder if he, in effect, rolled over to keep his job for another year. Whatever we've been doing in terms of transfers, scouting and contracts, it hasn't been working. So I hope something was said, and something has changed.

I remember when FSG came in...they went on heavily about Financial Fair Play and how important it was...now that those rules are seemingly being relaxed...I wonder how they feel about their ownership of the club. I think they are good people, but would like to see a more visible presence on Merseyside...if only to give the impression that the club is in good hands on a day to day basis.

[Doomguy]

They sacked Kenny for far, far less. And chose not to reappoint Rafa. All for Rodgers. This will be his last season I strongly expect. I hope he can turn it around, but I doubt he can.

The problem is, at least amongst a large proportion of the fans...is that they just don't like Rodgers. He seems a total ego maniac. Talks, talks and talks about how great he is when he winning, explaining exactly how he is doing it. Just shut up and get on with it. He also seems to crave the attention

Had this exact same conversation with my mate. The 'get on with it!!' sentiment was shared by us both.

i.e.

He wins two on the bounce and he's talking about top four when they've been playing shit.

Wins four and he's on about the title.

It's embarrassing. Stop talking and get on.

[Gabe]

Nonsense or realism? The latter isn't in any way sexy but it's far from doom and gloom. With us paying out the 5th highest wage bill, par for the league is 5th. The correlation stats I could find put wages and success at 85% - for reference the NFL's is 14%. Meaning spend big on wages in England and you'll likely need to also buy some Brasso too; spend big in the States and you might only have a tonne of empty hotdog wrappers and some sad cheerleaders to show for it.

The NFL has the draft though, so no one team can grab all the best players and it helps level things out (including wages).

[JohnnyNolan]

The NFL is a very bad example. The entire league is constructed to make it competitive. Long runs of lack of success in that league are all about bad decisions at the top level regarding drafting and coaching. Financially it's a level playing field.

[dogsout]

The NFL is a very bad example. The entire league is constructed to make it competitive. Long runs of lack of success in that league are all about bad decisions at the top level regarding drafting and coaching. Financially it's a level playing field.

That is exactly why it's a great example. The point is football isn't truly competitive. How can it be when there is such a direct correlation between money spent and success? And before any of you usual numpties pipe up, I'm not just talking about gross (or even net) transfer spends here.

[JohnnyNolan]

True, I love that model as any team could go from awful to greatness and many have. I guess I would say that being a fan of that sport though.

Although I think we need to accept the reason that model exists for the NFL is they know completion and success is the only way all the teams will survive. They know the sport would be in trouble over there if one or two teams dominated every single year.

There are certainly teams that do better regularly and others that historically have been poor for long periods, but you can pretty much slap that right at the owners of those respective teams.

[kiroquai]

... and others that historically have been poor for long periods, but you can pretty much slap that right at the owners of those respective teams.

*sigh*

[DeNeo]

So the manager is staying, and though we may see a change in his coaching staff or the transfer committee, the main job now is to sort the squad out.

Who's on your Out list, and who's on your In list?

Probable Outs: Jones, Johnson, Enrique, Gerrard, Lambert, Borini, Balotelli, Aspas. (I'd also put Allen there, but I can't see that happening.)

If we were to set up with 2 up top (which, going by our targets, it looks like we will), our 'first 11' would look like this:

--------Sturridge---1.ST

--------------Coutinho

--------Henderson--2.MF

-------------------Can

Moreno--Sakho--Skrtel--3.RB

---------------Mignolet

While our 'second 11' would look like this:

---------------Origi---4.ST

-----------------Markovic

---------------Allen--Lallana

-------------------Lucas

Flanagan--Toure--Lovren--Manquillo

-------------------5.GK

With the futures of Coates, Ilori, Alberto and Sterling all up in the air, and the likes of Ibe and Wisdom providing backup.

For the In list, all our targets fit into most of the gaps I've identified:

1.ST - Benteke

2.MF - Milner

3.RB - Clyne

4.ST - Ings

But if that's the only business we do, I think we really need to go all out for the 1.ST position, a bit like Arsenal did with Ozil. And for me, that means going for someone who will give the squad a big lift - someone like Benzema. Benteke is definitely the most realistic option though.

Other than that, we could probably do with another LB, and to replace Lovren and Allen, but I can only see that happening if Sterling goes.

Speaking of which, who do we get should we need to replace him? Annoyingly, someone like Depay - someone who can score goals from out wide or through the middle. Maybe Pedro from Barcelona?

[tenrou]

After the disaster that was ballotelli I just can't see benteke working in the side. Origi and ings while so far not prolific fit the mould of hard working pacey players which Rogers seems to like.

I don't personally think sterling needs replaced, while maybe not as good just now, I see ibe being as good in the future. Plus with markovic and Milner occupying a similar position, it's and area we don't need to strengthen vs other areas.

The sterling money should go straight into a big name striker with pace. If we could persuade lacazette to give us a season to get into the champions league maybe him. He'd be 40 million euros or so but he's not small and has good pace.

[Sng]

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has hit out at the club for giving him an "unacceptable" new contract offer

Skrtel is out of contract next summer and his decision to go public with his disappointment at the new terms he has been offered casts doubt on his future at Anfield.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/11650544/Liverpool-news-Martin-Skrtel-hits-out-at-unacceptable-contract-offer.html

[Istanbul]

James Milner confirmed.

Turned down a bigger offer, from a Champions League club, who won the league 2 seasons ago.

To some in this thread....that shouldn't be possible.

[DeNeo]

A good, solid signing I think.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/33002472

[Istanbul]

A good, solid signing I think.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/33002472

Rumoured that he's coming to play in the centre, and that was a big factor in his decision. Which would fit your formation above as discussed.

[Chooch]

James Milner confirmed.

Turned down a bigger offer, from a Champions League club, who won the league 2 seasons ago.

To some in this thread....that shouldn't be possible.

Is that not because he thinks he'll be a bigger fish at Liverpool and so is happy to take a step 'down'.

EDIT: I think he's a great signing by the way.

[Naysonymous]

James Milner. One of my all time favourite Villa players. Hugely underrated as a pro, seemingly because someone made a 'parody' twitter account of him a couple of years ago.

[stefcha]

It's nice to see a player who actually wants to play and is willing to make a change like this to do so.

[Gabe]

That is exactly why it's a great example. The point is football isn't truly competitive. How can it be when there is such a direct correlation between money spent and success? And before any of you usual numpties pipe up, I'm not just talking about gross (or even net) transfer spends here.

Just to quickly pull it back to this, I read a book last year about the economics of football (I forget the name) which made the point using various stats that true competition would be a bad thing for the Premier League. I'm massively paraphrasing here, but it was an interesting read.

[Istanbul]

James Milner. One of my all time favourite Villa players. Hugely underrated as a pro, seemingly because someone made a 'parody' twitter account of him a couple of years ago.

That account is really quite funny. He actually did a video of it at Christmas were he portayed himself as true to the parody.