The Liverpool FC Thread XII

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I don't think anyone would have expected him to miss half a season though. But sometimes that is the rub of the green.

We obviously had Balotelli, Lambert and Borini as backup. Let's not forget that Rodgers tried to sign Sanchez which would've been the perfect signing who could play with Sturridge or as his replacement.

There wasn't that many options on strikers in the summer. I think the most disappointing thing is that he didn't try and sign a like-for-like with Sturridge. It's obvious how key he is for us and how we can set up the rest of the team behind him. Yet we bought two strikers who don't have his mobility which led to Sterling playing up front and now he's finally realised Borini can work in some respect.

That's a completely valid point, but everyone who watches football knows Sturridge has a terrible track record with injuries. To not sign a striker who can emulate Sturridge's role within your system is unforgivable though.

Lambert is a decent back up plan if I'm honest. He can partner Sturridge or provide you with something completely different, as well as coming cheaply. Balotelli shouldn't have been signed at all though. Even taking away his diabolical track record with negative press and causing to be a problem for morale, Rodgers only had to look at his performances with Milan and City to know he just would not be able to work in a system without Sturridge. Fair enough, he tried to sign Sanchez but that's no excuse for moving on and failing to find someone else of similar style. There are certainly better options out there than Balotelli.

It's a difficult position to be in if Sturridge gets another injury though. Sterling looks like he's been asked to take on too heavy a burden for his age, a little like Chamberlain for us this season due to injuries, and Borini looks like he is out of sorts at the club.

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Reply 9041

Mackay

Original post by samir12

He would be an upgrade but he would probably paper over the cracks as our attacking play wouldn't function properly. It's not about buying better players and throwing them into your side, it's about buying the right players for the right system. That being said, would have taken Bony over Balo.

It wasn't about Remy being fit enough, it was about the risk. Chelsea can easily afford the risk, we can't. In hindsight we should have taken the risk though.

Balotelli was nowhere near a good fit for our system, though. That was clear as day. He was so far away from what we needed.

It would have been better to get Bony imo. Even if it was a temporary solution.

Reply 9042

samir12

Original post by Mackay

It's easy to say that in hindsight but at the time of Balo's signing, we all were happy with it myself included, even some non Liverpool fans said it was a good signing. We just didn't realise how important a mobile pacey striker like Sturridge was to our system until we saw how out of place Balo and Lambert were.

Reply 9043

username1214455

Original post by samir12

~I wasn't happy with it~

I warned you all. I did. I said we had no pace to replace Suarez.

No-one listened. Now look where we are.

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Reply 9044

Mr Pink

Original post by Lúcio

i see it both ways.
rodgers was foolish not to buy either an attacking midfielder or striker; star players like isco or benzema - two examples that i feel we could have signed had we shelled out around 40m. (srs)
but how can you not say your best player being out for half a season isn't bad luck (even if he is injury prone)?

who is Ricky Lambert?
it's Rickie mate, get it right :cool:

you say it as if i have at any point defended rodgers and the club for the consistently poor level of transfer decisions and negotiations that we so frequently partake in.
do you know how it feels to know that your club constantly overpay for players based seemingly on form alone?
we wasted so much money; money that we won't get back if we fail to make top 4 this season.

as a fan, the fact that we paid stupid amounts of money for lallana and lovren, along with sturridge being out for half a season is kind of frustrating.

I honestly couldn't see either Isco or Benzema movig to you last summer. Benzema being a integral part of a Madrid attack who had just scored the most combined goals in world football. Isco would have had a choice between Liverpool and Madrid last summer, with no disrespect to your club, do you really see him turning down the Champions of Europe and biggest club in the world when you lost out on a star player in Sanchez to us? That's not to say there aren't great players out there that you could sign, there certainly are, just not those particular two.

I'll agree there is a certain element of bad luck to miss half a season but with a track record he has I would put more blame on Rodgers poor planning. Didn't he also suffer a setback in training during his recovery? You could possibly argue more care needs to be taken with a player of his mold.

I can only go by what I see from your post as I don't really post on here that often. Fair enough if you have been critical of Rodgers this season though, I have felt the frustration at times with Wenger but the guy is a class act.

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Reply 9045

doobucks

Original post by samir12

I did say Sturridge was vital to your system and the second he got injured your form took a dive.

Reply 9046

Mackay

Original post by samir12

It was clear that a mobile, pacey striker was needed. Of course it was clear. Suggesting it wasn't is nonsense.

Suarez/Sturridge were so brilliant last year because they were high-pressing, nippy, intense and quick. Lambert was clearly only ever going to be a second option for when games were tight and we struggled to break teams down, and it was clear from game two that Balotelli wasn't a viable option up front on his own if Sturridge got injured.

Bony or Remy would have rectified that.

Reply 9047

SA-1

Original post by realcloud

Liverpool sign Lambert and Lallana with CL football

Manchester United sign Di Maria and Falcao without CL football

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Not tryna fire shots or anything but in terms of goals.. How many has Lambert got compared to Falcao? (Serious q)

Reply 9048

Lúcio

Original post by SA-1

Not tryna fire shots or anything but in terms of goals.. How many has Lambert got compared to Falcao? (Serious q)

They both have 3 goals this season.

Hilarious when United fans (SR90 lol) make fun of us having Lambert when their main striking acquisition on £250k a week has just as many goals.

When you consider how Lambert is meant to be a reserve and Falcao is "world class", it just gets funnier...

Reply 9049

doobucks

2 goals in 586 mins for Lambert. Falcao has 3 goals in 694mins of action...

Reply 9050

SA-1

Original post by jam277

2 goals in 586 mins for Lambert. Falcao has 3 goals in 694mins of action...

Hehe aww, that's cute

Hey, at least they're trying

Reply 9051

SA-1

Original post by Lúcio

Wouldn't say Lambert was brought in as a reserve - but yeah it's a joke how Falcao is practically no better than Lambert.

Reply 9052

username927016

Just wondering what Liverpool fans think is more likely this season, top 4 or a EL win?

Reply 9053

Lúcio

Original post by jam277

2 goals in 586 mins for Lambert. Falcao has 3 goals in 694mins of action...

In the league, yes.
Lambert also scored a cup goal :biggrin:

Glad you found the actual minutes though; I'm sure Lambert has way more appearances but that's only because he'll come on for the last 15 minutes in most games.

But seriously, that's laughable from Falcao and United.

Reply 9054

Lúcio

Original post by SA-1

Wouldn't say Lambert was brought in as a reserve - but yeah it's a joke how Falcao is practically no better than Lambert.

Well he was a plan B striker that we bought for 4m.
Sturridge, Balotelli and maybe even Borini were to be ahead of him in the pecking order.
Personally I'd call him a reserve but regardless of that, he certainly isn't a first teamer.

United's efficiency in the transfer market is almost as bad as ours - they just spend massive amounts to cover up and paper over the cracks.

None of their signings have been great.
Shaw, Rojo, Herrera and Blind have been "okay" but nothing more.
Di Maria has been a disappointment for the money spent.
Falcao is a bigger joke than Balotelli.

Reply 9055

WeOnlyLiveOnce

Original post by Lúcio

You spent 35 million on Carroll, 25m on Lovren, 20m on Downing.

Blind has been outstanding btw if you watch our games as has Rojo who has been a mainstay in our backline. Shaw has been injured but in the games he has played he has been solid. He was great against Chelsea and City (the game in which he and DDG were our defence). Herrera has barely been given a chance.

Agree with Di Maria though. Early season he was outstanding but seems to have tailed off. Falcao has been a huge disappointment.

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Reply 9056

SA-1

Original post by Lúcio

Ha, and you all laughed at Welbz.

Tbf to united, the players they brought in could have been utilised better. LVG just decided to troll everyone and starting doing it like he wanted to.

You guys just didn't shop well enough. Let's be honest here, the players you guys brought in weren't going to take you higher than second, something you should have been looking to do after last season, and somewhere decent in the CL.

Rodgers has been found out, I've said this millions of times but it's his team that's made him look better than he actually is - especially SAS. If you look at him from when he was at Swansea, his style of play was completely different. It was much slower, nothing like Liverpool showed last season. He adapted to the team so to speak, rather than it being the other way round. The players presented him with something that happened to work and he kept it. This is why you guys lost the league last season, he showed his nativity at the Chelsea game at Anfield and just didn't bother changing his tactics. A better manager would have known when to sit back and play for a point because that was essentially all you needed. Instead you went all out and got done over by Mourinho.

Back in Sept, just after your harder run of fixtures, I remember saying that from then till Novemberish you have a relatively easier run of fixtures that you should have won, even with Sturridge out - if you do you're back in business but if not it's a looooooong ass climb.

It's looking really rough for you guys at the moment, and your fixture list is pretty excruciating. I think you need to prioritise now. Do you play harder in the league or in Europe?

Reply 9057

SA-1

Original post by WeOnlyLiveOnce

It was expected from Di Maria tbf, he wasn't going to last the whole season - especially with LVG trolling with his tactics.

Like I said above, your signings have been decent and could have been utilised better by a different manager.