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The Liverpool FC Thread XII

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Original post by IceJJFish(II)
Some of you posters should be embarrassed cheering so much a goal against 10 men bottom of the league.


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The same bottom of the league team that fisted United a few weeks ago?
Original post by A Mysterious Lord
The same bottom of the league team that fisted United a few weeks ago?


Knew somebody would say it, and it has no relevance to my post. But for arguments sake, yes the same bottom of the league team that fisted us.


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Lol United got fisted by Leicester City.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Anyway Liverpool are back.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by _Charlotte15
I know this has nothing to do with this thread but can someone tell me how I can make my own thread?


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There's an option at the top that says ''post new thread''
Original post by jam277
Lol United got fisted by Leicester City.

Let that sink in for a moment.


Don't care. I don't care.


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Original post by The.Joker
I honestly hope Gerrard doesn't revert back to DM, he and the team play so much better when he's pushed up the pitch. I hope he signs the new two year extension even if it means he's on the bench most of the time, I wouldn't be able to bear watching him play for another club.


Gerrard is a really interesting problem for Rodgers.

In his peak, Gerrard was such a complete player that he could pretty much play any position and still be good/a star. His decline now has reduced his energy, acceleration and movement but his technical ability on the ball hasn't fallen. Last season Gerrard looked brilliant because he could hit Sturridge and Suarez from deep.

You'd have to say that Gerrard now is no longer a "Rodgers type of players" who looks at quick, technical players. The Gerrard of today doesn't even fit into Rodgers' blueprint of how his team should play in any position.

1. The modern fullback pushes up the pitch
Gerrard's lack of pace makes it difficult to protect the CBs when he's playing the deep DM role on the break. Time and time again we've seen this be an issue.

2. The midfield controls the game
During his time at Swansea and his first season at Liverpool, we saw Rodgers try and print the idea of death by football. This meant the midfield would control the game with their short passing game. For this you need very technical players but also quick ones who can beat their man to beat the pressing from the other side. While Gerrard has the technical ability, his mobility means he'll more often look for the longer ball from deep bypassing the rest of our midfield.

3. The strikers just don't have enough quality any more
With no Suarez and Sturridge out injured for such a long period, the quality ball from deep becomes ineffective since none of our strikers can either run the channels or hold the ball up well or run in behind the offside trap. That negates the quality from deep.

4. The lack of intense pressing
We've now seen Gerrard play behind the main striker for a couple of games. He starred in this position for the peak of his career. With his lack of pace coupled with Lambert's, we lose that ability to press teams intensely high up the pitch as we did last season. Perhaps he'd be fine as an AM when we have a pacey striker up front to help cover his lack thereof or when we have more control of games but we saw last night that Leicester found it too easy to play out from the back while Lambert and Gerrard never really put them under pressure.

What's really interesting is that because Gerrard is such a legend, held in high regard and still has that technical ability, Rodgers can never push him out (and by all means, it seems Rodgers wants his technical ability and leadership on the pitch). Can this average Liverpool side afford to carry Gerrard for much longer? Is it fair to go otherwise considering Gerrard has carried this Liverpool side for over a decade?


Original post by IceJJFish(II)
Some of you posters should be embarrassed cheering so much a goal against 10 men bottom of the league.


Posted from TSR Mobile


Why bother with such moronic comments? What fan doesn't cheer when their team scores/wins?


Original post by jam277
Lol United got fisted by Leicester City.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Anyway Liverpool are back.


And yet we're still behind them in the table..
A Southampton/Arsenal draw and Spurs getting battered tonight would be good..
Original post by Zerforax
A Southampton/Arsenal draw and Spurs getting battered tonight would be good..


I'd be happy with any result where arsenal drop points.
Obviously we need to catch both of them but I see arsenal as the bigger rivals throughout the entirety of the season.

I expect (well I hope) soton will drop away to an extent and start losing needless points in the same way that Everton/Spurs tend to do, although fair play to them if they keep this up all season.

And obviously there's no catching chelsea and it's funny to see Spurs destroyed :colone:
The thing that impressed me last night was the way we responded to going a goal down. It was quite reminiscent of last season - and it paid dividends in the end.

Gerrard certainly looked reinvigorated by the rest, so Rodgers' decision to rest him at the weekend doesn't look so silly now. It was nice to win a game by a margin of more than one goal, too.
Reply 6209
Original post by Mackay
The thing that impressed me last night was the way we responded to going a goal down. It was quite reminiscent of last season - and it paid dividends in the end.

Gerrard certainly looked reinvigorated by the rest, so Rodgers' decision to rest him at the weekend doesn't look so silly now. It was nice to win a game by a margin of more than one goal, too.


Our defence is looking slightly more solid too. Seemed to be fewer mistakes and looked a lot more cohesive. Keep working on that then there's just the big problem of Mignoflap to sort out then
I think the criticism on Mignolet for their goal is a bit harsh, Johnson made a good run but typically lost the ball to them and our left side was completely exposed (like the Newcastle game only it was the right side). Mignolet should of saved that first shot better, Skirtle should of done better to head it away for a corner and Kolo should of closed down Ulloa and ladyluck punished us as a result. That being said we should of conceded earlier anyway due to Mignolet's standard brain farts and he needs some time out.
(edited 9 years ago)
Yeah, Mignolet was massively exposed for the goal - once again. Murphy's Law that it went in off his back, too.
Reply 6212
Original post by samir12
I think the criticism on Mignolet for their goal is a bit harsh, Johnson made a good run but typically lost the ball to them and our left side was completely exposed (like the Newcastle game only it was the right side). Mignolet should of saved that first shot better, Skirtle should of done better to head it away for a corner and Kolo should of closed down Ulloa and ladyluck punished us as a result. That being said we should of conceded earlier anyway due to Mignolet's standard brain farts and he needs some time out.


He needs to go back to a club like Sunderland, that's his level. He's made mistakes since he arrived just last year we didn't care as much as we could outscore nearly everybody by 3/4 goals. Now we don't have anyone to mask these mistakes and they have actually been costing us. It's not as if he's improving he's probably getting worse. He actually does not know how to kick a ball properly. Several times last he made to launch it seemingly down the middle to lambert only to slice it and it almost go out for a throw. He does not fit Rodgers' philosophy and will never improve to fit it. I'll be disappointed if he's still our number at the start of next season or even the end of january
The only difference between us and United is a bit of luck and David De Gea. He's saved them so many ****ing points this season. In their defence, they've had injuries. But arguably ours have been just as bad, what with losing our key player.

I think it'll be pretty hard to beat them to the top four either way. LVG has got a system of sorts going and their squad is too good to not get top four really.

Sunderland home, Burnley away, Swansea home. If we can get 9 points from them then we're relatively pressure free for the visit of Arsenal and the trip to OT. Points in either of those games is a bonus. If we can beat Arsenal then we'd close the potential three point gap to them right now. Last season, 07-08 and 08-09 are the only times in my life that I've ever expected anything from the trip to OT so I'm not too fussed about that.

9 points + 3 from Arsenal hopefully leaves us on 32 after 19. Which is a pretty good haul after the mediocrity we've seen. A decent 38-40 point return in the back end of the season with Sturridge around should have us getting top four. Even if we do, it'll have been an average season because of the wasted money on Lovren and Sakho, there's been some pretty poor management in the month of November from Rodgers but it looks like we just might be turning it around now.
I was never sold on Mignolet before he signed for us - I'd rather we took Begovic from Stoke, to be honest. That said, you look at the other rivals to the top four and we are nowhere near their level in terms of goalkeepers, with the exception of Arsenal.

Cech should be our priority signing, so this is encouraging: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/arsenal-not-interested-petr-cech-4714336
Don't think Mourinho is ever going give us Cech.
Begovic is pretty over-rated. Phenomenal shot stopper but he has mistakes in him.

Like **** are we ever getting Cech. He's got Madrid, PSG, Arsenal and probably an Italian team or two as a better option than us.
Original post by Zerforax
Gerrard is a really interesting problem for Rodgers.

In his peak, Gerrard was such a complete player that he could pretty much play any position and still be good/a star. His decline now has reduced his energy, acceleration and movement but his technical ability on the ball hasn't fallen. Last season Gerrard looked brilliant because he could hit Sturridge and Suarez from deep.

You'd have to say that Gerrard now is no longer a "Rodgers type of players" who looks at quick, technical players. The Gerrard of today doesn't even fit into Rodgers' blueprint of how his team should play in any position.

1. The modern fullback pushes up the pitch
Gerrard's lack of pace makes it difficult to protect the CBs when he's playing the deep DM role on the break. Time and time again we've seen this be an issue.

2. The midfield controls the game
During his time at Swansea and his first season at Liverpool, we saw Rodgers try and print the idea of death by football. This meant the midfield would control the game with their short passing game. For this you need very technical players but also quick ones who can beat their man to beat the pressing from the other side. While Gerrard has the technical ability, his mobility means he'll more often look for the longer ball from deep bypassing the rest of our midfield.

3. The strikers just don't have enough quality any more
With no Suarez and Sturridge out injured for such a long period, the quality ball from deep becomes ineffective since none of our strikers can either run the channels or hold the ball up well or run in behind the offside trap. That negates the quality from deep.

4. The lack of intense pressing
We've now seen Gerrard play behind the main striker for a couple of games. He starred in this position for the peak of his career. With his lack of pace coupled with Lambert's, we lose that ability to press teams intensely high up the pitch as we did last season. Perhaps he'd be fine as an AM when we have a pacey striker up front to help cover his lack thereof or when we have more control of games but we saw last night that Leicester found it too easy to play out from the back while Lambert and Gerrard never really put them under pressure.

What's really interesting is that because Gerrard is such a legend, held in high regard and still has that technical ability, Rodgers can never push him out (and by all means, it seems Rodgers wants his technical ability and leadership on the pitch). Can this average Liverpool side afford to carry Gerrard for much longer? Is it fair to go otherwise considering Gerrard has carried this Liverpool side for over a decade?


Great post Zerf.

I agree, Gerrard definitely isn't a Rodgers type of player but the thing is Gerrard is still useful for us if he is utilised properly. Technically he's still very good but like you pointed out his lack of pace and mobility is problematic. You could see yesterday how he still can make a nuisance of himself, especially in the second half. If he gets time and space on the ball he's able to bring others into play and even set them up especially when playing as an AM. Plus the fact he's up field he's able to latch onto loose balls in the box like Lampard and his late runs into the box and he still has a shot on him too.

Gerrard certainly doesn't have the right to start every match as no man is bigger than the club. But he definitely has enough to warrant him playing. I would say we should slowly phase him out of the team, first by him playing once a week and then bringing him on at 60/70 mins to change the game. A fresh Gerrard coming on for 20 mins as an AM will impact the game far more than him playing straight for 90 mins as DM, you can see he gets tired as the game goes on. Another thing is that Gerrard is our captain as he's essentially been 'Mr Liverpool' for 16 years. We lose a lot of experience if he doesn't start the match but I think Henderson is capable of stepping up to the plate and leading Liverpool. Hendo has improved loads since signing for us and he's looked good in the past two matches and hopefully he's found his form from last season.

Original post by samir12
Don't think Mourinho is ever going give us Cech.


If we offer enough money I'm sure Mou will let him go, especially as Chelsea are far, far better than us. We are fighting for 4th whereas they are trying to win the league as 'invincibles'.
Mourinho has a grudge against us, he's even spoken about it (read between the lines and it's because we chose Rafa over him). Never is he giving us Cech.
Surely there's more chance of him giving us Cech rather than Wenger?

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