The Liverpool FC Thread XII

Hopefully they'll realise that if he keep up his trajectory, he'll be looking for a lot more than 100k by 2017.

And of course, if they lock him down now they can make a lot more money when they flog the asset...

should we just let him leave on a free when his contract runs out instead?

Don't think anybody is suggesting that.

no of course not
all i'm saying is that we can moan all we like but it's either give him what he wants (however ridiculous the demands) or lose one of our best and brightest players.

i understand the concern about giving a young player so much money, because in a few years he may want more and more, but all i'd say is that he's one of our most important players so he deserves a big wage rise.
considering how much glen johnson gets paid, why not?

Johnson's robbing a living, in truth. Enrique was bad yesterday - but, Christ, get Johnson gone.

oh god tell me about it!
i haven't read your analysis (but i will do later on), although i noticed you mentioned something about johnson.
if you were talking about him not understanding what a CB role is, i completely agree.
he was playing much more in his regular position, leaving a massive hole.
if bolton hadn;t have sat back for the entire game, they could've seriously exploited us there and maybe won the match.

do you think we're actually gonna sign a keeper this month?
me and somebody else (zerf i think) mentioned that ter Stegen on a short term loan would be a great option to tie us over to the summer where we could buy somebody for a reasonable price.
i don't see how that's unrealistic because he's out of favour at barca and he isn't happy about it.

Yeah, this is what I was saying basically. He was so out of his depth in a back three.

Ter Stegen would certainly be an astute signing - can't see it happening, though. Just don't think we're going to get anybody through the door, really.

Also, I remember we were linked with Vorm in the last transfer window - based on his howler yesterday, he wouldn't have been an upgrade on Mignolet.

he's way too attacking to be a CB and he doesn't have the strength to fill the role anyway.
sakho was an absolute beast for us and handled their strikers so well - i was very nervous about a back 3 of johnson, can and sakho but the lastter really dominated and hopefully he keeps performing well.

it surely wouldn't cost us more than a few million for a 6 month loan; i feel like it would be worth it since points are priceless towards the end of the season and another mignolet mistake or two could ruin our whole season.

we need a GK and a striker - those are the two essentials
not buying either of them this window would be severely disappointing.
i'm just worried that with our good form recently along with the sturridge return, rodgers will feel like we don't need to bring anybody in.

He's just devoid of all defensive qualities nowadays, unfortunately. I'm sure he'd offer something in a wing-back role, but Markovic/Moreno are first choices. He needs to move to Italy or Spain imo, when he'll have less intense pressure from clubs who are physical etc. With his AND Flanagan's contracts both up in the summer, we should be prioritising the latter's imo.

I can understand some thinking behind it. Sometimes a January transfer upsets the apple cart a bit, but yeah I agree, a striker/goalkeeper are two priorities next summer.

Probably outgoings: Gerrard, Toure, Lambert, Balotelli, Borini, Brad Jones.

the issue is that although he likes to attack, he isn't good enough to be a forward player at premier league level.
he really has robbed a career; it's disgusting to see how many caps he has internationally when MUCH better players never got a chance.

markovic is looking to be a really good wing back option for us when we need him.
he maybe doesn't have the defensive mindset but he has the commitment and the pace to track back and catch a player.

i think that rodgers hopes balotelli and sturridge will develop a partnership, even though almost everybody else has given up on him.
fair enough if he wants to give it a go, but we all know it'll be his head on the chopping block if it doesn't work out.
there really is no excuse for not signing a keeper though.
with mignolet publically shunned by the manager and brad jones injured, neglecting to sign a keeper (even on loan) this month could well be a fatal mistake.

Why can't Sturridge play up top on his own?

Balotelli and Sturridge will never work as a partnership. Balotelli has admitted he isn't a high-pressing, quick-thinking footballer. He just doesn't suit us - much the same way big Andy C didn't suit us. Galatasaray is the most probable destination for him in the summer.

A few lads around me in the Kop were very critical of Mignolet and wanted to see Ward start, but I disagreed. Makes sense to give Mignolet and the back three as much time as possible out on the pitch.

Mignolet
Can Skrtel Sakho
Markovic Lucas Henderson A. Moreno
Sterling Coutinho
Sturridge

that won't stop rodgers from trying though.
he has the ego; he wants to be that manager that made balotelli decent.
it's clear that sturridge up top with wingers/playmakers supplying him is the best set up for a rapidly attacking team like liverpool.

providing we don't sign a keeper (or a first team level striker), that would be the perfect team imo.
3-4-3 seems to work very well; everybody in that side knows their job and tries their hardest.
coutinho and sterling already have an excellent partnership; give sturridge a few weeks and they'll form a trio among the best in the league.

I have a feeling Balotelli was down to FSG, not Rodgers. Would make sense as to why Rodgers came out and categorically denied we were in for him a few weeks before. Would make sense that FSG wanted to take a punt - or a 'calculated risk' on him - given their moneyball approach, and seeing him as a bargain at £16m who could help replace a percentage of Suarez's goals.

And, yeah, the 3-5-2/3-4-3/3-4-2-1 or whatever you wanna call it is working a treat. We can't deviate. Can isn't a centre-half, of course, but he is likely to play there while he adapts to the English game and then he'll be a ready-made replacement for an injury prone and ageing Lucas.

Happy days.

He's only just turned 28!

With his injuries, though, he clearly has less and less mobility each passing year.

In terms of playing well, a lot of decent performances but no one was really standout for me. The only player who isn't raved about enough is Sakho imo. He defended well, shielded the ball and was solid. But then on top of that, what a player on the ball! Very composed and some beautiful passing. I think the reason we look a lot more fluid is because it's not just up to the CMs to pass out. Sakho fizzes the ball into the CMs or typically into Coutinho who has such an ability to kill the ball dead or turn on a strong pass. You compare that with the past where we had players like Carragher who would just hoof the ball

In terms of atmosphere, it was decent but nothing amazing. Some periods where the fans got involved but plenty of silent periods. It's a bit odd for the famous Kop and when you think about how loud our away fans are - what happens to these guys when we play at home?