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The Liverpool FC Thread XII

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Not as bad as King Kenny. Out of KKKennys signings only 2 were a success in Henderson and Suarez. Suarez was already scouted by Benitez supposedly. Henderson obviously was a young signing who wasn't getting a lot of gametime so he needed improvement.

Can needs time. Markovic needs time, Lallana has done ok for the appearances so far but I don't get why Shaqiri wasn't bought instead of Markovic.
Original post by Eboracum
it's the same as a number of top top football journalists are saying.

haha
Original post by jam277
Not as bad as King Kenny. Out of KKKennys signings only 2 were a success in Henderson and Suarez. Suarez was already scouted by Benitez supposedly. Henderson obviously was a young signing who wasn't getting a lot of gametime so he needed improvement.

Can needs time. Markovic needs time, Lallana has done ok for the appearances so far but I don't get why Shaqiri wasn't bought instead of Markovic.

Don't think Suarez was scouted by Benitez, but the club were aware of him. Henderson got LOADS of game time, he was just misused/young.


Markovic was bought as a prospect. He's not going to set the world on fire this year. In the coming seasons he'll prove his worth.

Shaqiri was the back up to Lallana, nothing to do with Markovic. Bayern didn't want to let Shaqiri go and when we went back in for him just after the supposed Lallana deal was rejected, we were turned down even though Bild said it was a done deal/Shaqiri wanted to move etc. Shaqiri's said in public a few times that Bayern didn't want to let him leave.

Can showed power and drive and fitted in last night.

I have no problems with any of our signings - except Balotelli. His signing is just a debacle and for all the bullishness I pretty much knew inside it would be lol. I laughed when Arsenal were linked to him.
Pedro/Griezmann/Turan/Shaqiri/Konoplyanka/El Shaarawy > Markovic, Remy > Balotelli, Eto'o > Lambert, Valdes > Mignolet.
Main issues with last night are sticking with Balotelli, although you can see why he did play him, and then also playing Glen Johnson (who was asleep at the far post agian). Then you have set piece goal, typical, and again, the Skrtel-Lovren-Gerrard triangle ****ing up for the first goal.

Not sure if Lovren is good enough really at this level, which is disappointing because of what we paid. Get Sakho in, Lovren to the right and then just wait for Ilori to return. Skrtel definitely isn't good enough at this level.

Madrid were like Fifa last night, their interplay was too good for us to handle. Especially because we have no defensive rigidity, system or ability at all. Hope Can is given a start in the return leg, he's a little erratic/raw but he's a winner, you can tell.
Balotelli is becoming a bit of a scapegoat tbf. We have much bigger problems than just him.
Original post by Mackay
Balotelli is becoming a bit of a scapegoat tbf. We have much bigger problems than just him.


True but his poor decision making, not good enough work rate and movement is still a big problem, we are toothless in attack with him upfront alone. Either he scores goals or he provides assists, he does neither. Don't blame him as he needs someone up top with him, so it's more Rodgers fault but he doesn't help himself when he makes poor decisions or misses sitters.
Original post by Shady's back
Don't think Suarez was scouted by Benitez, but the club were aware of him. Henderson got LOADS of game time, he was just misused/young.


Markovic was bought as a prospect. He's not going to set the world on fire this year. In the coming seasons he'll prove his worth.

Shaqiri was the back up to Lallana, nothing to do with Markovic. Bayern didn't want to let Shaqiri go and when we went back in for him just after the supposed Lallana deal was rejected, we were turned down even though Bild said it was a done deal/Shaqiri wanted to move etc. Shaqiri's said in public a few times that Bayern didn't want to let him leave.

Can showed power and drive and fitted in last night.

I have no problems with any of our signings - except Balotelli. His signing is just a debacle and for all the bullishness I pretty much knew inside it would be lol. I laughed when Arsenal were linked to him.

Shaqiri being backup to Lallana is probably the case but in reality Shaqiri and Markovic play in the same positions and are both young wingers with potential, Shaqiri was the better player. If Bayern decided to not sell to you lot specifically then fair enough can't blame Rodgers. But Shaqiri is definitely the better option than Markovic, at this moment anyway.

I was impressed with Can. Should really be in the starting lineup over Joe Allen. Think you're better off just trying to overpower teams in midfield and bully them with pace and power as you don't have the creativity at the moment to play your football of last season. Gerrard, Henderson and Can makes a mean midfield in terms of energy and power. Sterling and Coutinho behind Sturridge(when he's back)
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 4268
Just read that we've kept 1 clean sheet in 18 games. I knew it was bad, but for a team in the CL/meant to be challenging on all fronts that is horrific. We desperately need to get a defensive coach in or just completely change our training format.

Mignolet needs to be replaced. He is not commanding and is a huge coward. For their 3rd goal last night he should have dived on that ball not **** about trying to kick it
Original post by jam277
Shaqiri being backup to Lallana is probably the case but in reality Shaqiri and Markovic play in the same positions and are both young wingers with potential, Shaqiri was the better player. If Bayern decided to not sell to you lot specifically then fair enough can't blame Rodgers. But Shaqiri is definitely the better option than Markovic, at this moment anyway.

I was impressed with Can. Should really be in the starting lineup over Joe Allen. Think you're better off just trying to overpower teams in midfield and bully them with pace and power as you don't have the creativity at the moment to play your football of last season. Gerrard, Henderson and Can makes a mean midfield in terms of energy and power. Sterling and Coutinho behind Sturridge(when he's back)

Markovic is basically Shaqiri before his move, at Basel(?). Anyway, at this stage, I'd have took Shaqiri too, it's just that Rodgers saw Markovic as a prospect he HAD to secure, and Shaqiri was just the alternative to Lallana, and an alternative that we couldn't have got anyway.

Can has been out injured for 6 weeks and did start ahead of Allen at the weekend. He is getting chances and will continue to get them. Allen was just there for ball retention purposes. Everyone knows what Allen does and does not offer, and I would have started him last night just like Brendan did.

Going forward we're just about okay, even with Balo being a passenger. We're just a shambles in defence.
Know who we miss more than Suarez?

Mascherano. Legit.
I love how our defence is actually worse than last year, yet we've improved both fullbacks and "supposedly" improved one CB.

Screw over-paying for players like lovren.
Pay less and overpay for the best defensive coaches in the world.
Original post by Shady's back
Not sure if Lovren is good enough really at this level, which is disappointing because of what we paid.
He's interesting because of all your summer signings he seemed to be the best one of the bat. First few games he scored a goal against Dortmund, played out from the back really well. He was looking like a pretty good signing tbh.
Rodgers' no-nonsense management of Balotelli's going to backfire spectacularly.

Never seen a manager so eager to put a player in their place. Didn't he start off their relationship by saying Balo wasn't his first option?
Original post by Mackay
Know who we miss more than Suarez?

Mascherano. Legit.

Yeah he'd have helped.
Liverpool really missed out by not buying Alexis. Money spent on Markovic and Balo should have gone on him tbh
Markovic would have been bought regardless, so...
Original post by sevchenko
Liverpool really missed out by not buying Alexis. Money spent on Markovic and Balo should have gone on him tbh

You know they tried to sign him right?
Times like this I hope you all remember how good Liverpool were under Rafa. Too many take it for granted.

If only he had the cash that the washed up little rat of a man Brendan Rodgers has had.
Original post by Eboracum
Full of excuses I'm afraid. His number one target should have been Cavani, he'd have been a solid replacement for Suarez. There's a reason Balotelli moves club every week.

He bought poor poor players, it's another 100M wasted as King Kenny did. This isn't trolling, it's the same as a number of top top football journalists are saying.


So you're saying Brendan Rodgers should have used the £75m to buy Cavani, who would have cost them £50-55m+ (Cavani cost PSG £55m)? Are you nuts? Cavani isn't worth that much. Apparently he's the type of striker who needs 2 or 3 good chances until he gets a goal, that's not a mark of a clinical striker.

I understand what Rodgers was thinking. Instead of splashing the cash on one single player, he wanted to build a foundation for Liverpool by improving the whole squad, and so this puts them in a good position for the future. He was in a loss-loss situation, because if he bought Cavani for £50m or so, and he flopped, everyone would call Rodgers a muppet for spending huge money on one player instead of improving the whole squad.

I think he did the right thing, by buying players in the right positions, but the problem is that the players he bought aren't good enough. Just by looking at Balotelli's movement, you can tell he's a **** player and is the opposite of what Rodgers wants from a striker.

What I would have done with the £75m + the extra £25m is:

1. Buy a Matic-type CDM. If Chelsea bought Matic for £21m, then there's surely a good CDM out there as cheap as Matic was. CDM is NEEDED to cover the back four because Gerrard can't do ****.
2. Sort out the defence. Buy a CB and change defensive coach. Even Shawcross would have been a great buy for Liverpool, because he's a great leader at the back. He would have cost Liverpool up to £15m imo. They have bought Lovren, but the same results are happening. There's no organisation at the back. Maybe get Carragher in, give him a role in the club, and make sure the defence is organised. Buying left backs and right backs to replace Johnson and the others would have cost altogether around £30-£35m.
3. Buy a up-and-coming top winger. Someone with pace and tricks. Someone who can dribble and create chances out of thin air. They should have been scouting. It will cost them a good £30m, Hazard cost Chelsea £32m.
4. Play Sturridge as a lone striker, in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Play Gerrard/CDM, Henderson as the two, with Coutinho-Sterling-Winger
5. Buy a second striker, again, someone with pace, who can also dribble. Not expensive, something like £8m-£10m would do.
6. Buy relatively cheap squad players for the rotation of players like Sterling. Spain have a stack of them, Germany as well. Cazorla was bought for < £15m. So Rodgers should have been looking at those type of players as he likes to play that kind of football.

All in all, that's £21m (reliable CDM) + £35m (defence - Shawcross + LB + RB) + £32m (up and coming winger with pace) + £10m (for back up striker) + £15m (Spanish squad player) = £113m.

Rodgers spent £116m altogether.

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