The Liverpool FC Thread XIV

Rumours rife Newcastle could start three at the back as McClaren looks to try and find some stability in his back-line. Colback could start at wing-back, which I'd prefer than having him in the centre of the park. He seems to be the only one who actually cares whether Newcastle survive or die this season, in truth.

Reply 2262

Zerforax

OP

Coutinho to start on Sunday? I want to captain him in fantasy football.

Reply 2263

TaintedLight

20

Original post by difeo

Before

After

At least he is consistently wrong :awesome:

Reply 2264

Lúcio

19

Original post by Zerforax

Coutinho to start on Sunday? I want to captain him in fantasy football.

Klopp just said he isn't back to full fitness :frown:

Maybe he'll get a bit of time but I wouldn't captain him. I was in the same boat as you but I guess I'm going for Aguero now.

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Reply 2265

Gob Bluth

Original post by Lúcio

Klopp just said he isn't back to full fitness :frown:

Maybe he'll get a bit of time but I wouldn't captain him. I was in the same boat as you but I guess I'm going for Aguero now.

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Aguero's ruled out.

Reply 2266

Lúcio

19

Original post by Gob Bluth

Aguero's ruled out.

Jesus Christ.
My FF this week is gonna be dire :frown:

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Reply 2267

Pimped Butterfly

1

Original post by Mackay

I agree completely with the last part, but we weren't seeing evidence of him being a good player for his age earlier this season. In my post I clarified by saying he did a lot of things well, and I said he had a lot of decent attributes, but he needed a performance like the one at St. Mary's to truly arrive and teach us all that we had something on our hands that we could work with.

So, in terms of 'writing him off', I can't see how I did that.

You don't need to see evidence 24/7/365. That's the whole point. Young players have dips in form and that's expected.

What you don't do, during their dips in form, is look at them without context and compare them to David N'Gog.

Reply 2268

Original post by Pimped Butterfly

You don't need to see evidence 24/7/365. That's the whole point. Young players have dips in form and that's expected.

What you don't do, during their dips in form, is look at them without context and compare them to David N'Gog.

He'd been voted in the worst XI of Ligue I last season, and showed nothing in his first few matches for us. How were we to know it was a dip in form and not just his inability to succeed at the highest level? Sure, he has ability and raw materials, but so do a lot of players. He bagged a goal in the World Cup, but so did Diouf.

I saw him live against Carlisle, Sion and Rubin Kazan. He didn't offer a lot. That's three games I judged him on, admittedly, but one swallow doesn't make a summer. Thus far, there's been more evidence of his struggles (those three matches) than his successes (Southampton).

Reply 2269

Coutinho won't be available, Klopp says. He and Can miss out.

“I like optimism but with Phil, we were too optimistic,” the Liverpool manager admitted. “Sometimes it happens like this. There’s nothing to criticise about this. He tried everything he could. He trained nearly normally but he doesn’t feel comfortable with it.

“We have to take care of this. The muscle is a dangerous thing when you are always on your feet, and when you don’t feel comfortable then stop. He is training. We will wait. If somebody tells me he’s available for the next game, then he plays, no problem. But yesterday nobody gave me the sign. So today we have to wait again.”

Reply 2270

AR_95

Yaya ****ing Sanogo scored 4 against Benfica in a nothing competition too once upon a time..

Origi still has a lot more to prove.

Reply 2271

AR_95

Credit where credit is due but Southampton's back 5 were absolutely awful and any decent side would have shipped at least 4 to 5 goals against them.

Reply 2272

Zerforax

OP

Original post by Mackay

Coutinho won't be available, Klopp says. He and Can miss out.

“I like optimism but with Phil, we were too optimistic,” the Liverpool manager admitted. “Sometimes it happens like this. There’s nothing to criticise about this. He tried everything he could. He trained nearly normally but he doesn’t feel comfortable with it.

“We have to take care of this. The muscle is a dangerous thing when you are always on your feet, and when you don’t feel comfortable then stop. He is training. We will wait. If somebody tells me he’s available for the next game, then he plays, no problem. But yesterday nobody gave me the sign. So today we have to wait again.”

Lallana was in great form on Wednesday. In some ways I think he benefits from not having Coutinho in the same side being the creative player since he can then take on that mantle. We should be able to beat Newcastle without Coutinho. Sion is basically a dead rubber away from home so least he has another week to recover.

I think Henderson will come into the middle for Can so we'll see Lucas/Henderson partnership. Firmino, Lallana and Ibe behind Benteke?

Reply 2273

Original post by Zerforax

I think Henderson will come into the middle for Can so we'll see Lucas/Henderson partnership. Firmino, Lallana and Ibe behind Benteke?

For me, Klopp only has two options: use Henderson, if he thinks he's ready (I think he is - and I think he'll relish being thrown back in against his old boyhood rivals), or use Allen.

It's tough, because Allen's assist the other night and overall performance was excellent.

Lallana enjoyed one of his best games in a Reds shirt, so he'll definitely be deployed with Firmino behind Benteke or Sturridge I imagine. I don't think Ibe will start, but I may be proved wrong. I expect he'll get half an hour, if he is relegated to the bench.

Christ, we have good depth.

Reply 2274

samir12

16

Original post by AR_95

Credit where credit is due but Southampton's back 5 were absolutely awful and any decent side would have shipped at least 4 to 5 goals against them.

It wasn't even our full strength side whereas Southampton were fielding close to their first XI (I think?). Their defence was piss poor, Liverpool weren't as good as they were against City and yet Soton still managed to concede 6 goals, very unlike them but Koeman admitted he cocked up in the second half when he switched to the back 5.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2275

Original post by samir12

It wasn't even our full strength side whereas Southampton were fielding close to their first XI (I think?). There defence was piss poor, Liverpool weren't as good as they were against City and they still managed to concede 6 goals, very unlike them but Koeman admitted he cocked up in the second half.

I was gobsmacked by van Dijk's lack of quality. He really impressed me in the games preceding this, and he was being heralded as one of the signings of the season in some quarters. He was totally hapless alongside Caulker, though.

Reply 2276

Zerforax

OP

Original post by Mackay

For me, Klopp only has two options: use Henderson, if he thinks he's ready (I think he is - and I think he'll relish being thrown back in against his old boyhood rivals), or use Allen.

It's tough, because Allen's assist the other night and overall performance was excellent.

Lallana enjoyed one of his best games in a Reds shirt, so he'll definitely be deployed with Firmino behind Benteke or Sturridge I imagine. I don't think Ibe will start, but I may be proved wrong. I expect he'll get half an hour, if he is relegated to the bench.

Christ, we have good depth.

I guess we could always play Milner in midfield? :colondollar:

I forgot Ibe should be on the bench for Milner.

We can then send Origi, Ibe, Allen etc to play Sion. None of our first team should play on Thursday.

Looks like some decent depth but all it takes is a couple of injuries. At the moment I feel like we'd struggle if Lucas, Moreno or Clyne got injured.

Interesting to see what happens with Benteke if Sturridge is able to keep fit.

In some ways Benteke would suit playing Newcastle since he's so much closer to goal. I always thought that is why Suarez and Sturridge looked amazing together. Teams couldn't play a high line against Sturridge and when they played deeper then Suarez would destroy them.

Reply 2277

AR_95