Liverpool FC Forum

[devaney]

Eds personally I would have used the phrase "the teams I support

Do you ever stop whinging and moaning? You hardly ever post a positive comment. Honestly mate I would rather be deluded with my glass overflowing than a miserable patronising tw.t without a fkg glass !!

It's no wonder your being accused of being a blue nose. My bitter blue mates aren't even in the same whinging league as you. This forum has about half a dozen regular posters and is it any wonder when it is littered with your utterly depressing regurgitated shight !!!

Ffs have a beer or whatever it takes to put a smile on your miserable gob !!

You give the impression that you would be devestated if we actually started to play well !!

[Billy_5_Times]

1st obviously.

[The_Rock]

Gauging by the pre-season matches (I know I know....pre-season friendlies is for building fitness)... I just can't see us finishing top 4.  Its pretty easy to counter rodgers' tactics.....

a)Get the ball between the midfield and the centrebacks (a huge gap) when the fullbacks are way way way way way way way high up the pitch and this will cause a lot of chaos in our penalty box (sometimes resulting in goals)
b)If you are an opposition striker...just run between skrtel and lovern. one will wait for the other to track the striker and eventually both of them will lose that player...

that's it..... its so f**king obvious even the Malaysian players know how to play against rodgers' tactics.

a)Rodgers' aint' gonna play with a specialist DM. So Hendo and Milner will spend the whole game trying to do almost everytime (instead of concentrating on what they are good at ....Box to Box midfielders who like to get forward
b)Rodgers is gonna persist with lovern
c)He looks to go back to his slow building 4-3-3 Swansea formation (looking at how he has setup the team in pre-season). So "suffocation by possession" football....
d)He does not train the squad on set pieces so we almost need to depend on open-play to score goals.

I can list down more points... but shall leave it at this.

Arsenal looked pretty awesome against lyon. They don't waste their money on fringe players (as they use their youngsters as a backup).
Manure are identifying all their weakness by signing top-notch players.
Chelsea will always buy 1 or 2 key players so as to not disrupt their team's rhythm.
Mancity are buying more homegrown players to strengthen their squad...but their key players will start the next season
Add Spurs and Southampton (who were impressing in thrashing FC Groningen)

We look very average compared to our rivals. Yes Bentake, Friminho, Coutinho were not part of the pre-season tour. But with our team so unevenly balanced with attacking midfielders and Hendo/Milner axis guaranteed to start every game how is Rodgers gonna lineup ?

[The_Rock]

This article really articulates why i don't think we will ever have a successful season under rodgers (unless we have a suarez level striker with sturridge fit the whole season).



http://www.espnfcasia.com/#club/liverpo ... -liverpool

1)Teams who play with conservative fullbacks have to deploy a dedicated DM to protect the defence (Almost all the teams which plays counter-attacking football).
2)Teams who play with attacking fullbacks have to deploy 2 DMs to protect the defence (Juventus...etc)

Then you have the master tactician rodgers. Our fullbacks are even higher up the pitch than our strikers quite a number of times last season and he only had gerrard protecting the defence at times.

For this upcoming season, Lucas should be sufficient if are more conservative. Lucas & Allen/Can are needed if the fullbacks are "all gunho"...

But i get the feeling the hendo and milner will be doing this job....and they might do an average job (they are better with a dedicated DM behind them). It won't be enough to stop us from conceding over 40 goals though.......


The full article

There are various weak spots across the top Premier League sides, but when it comes to Liverpool many believe there is one area that requires more attention than most. Central defence has yet to get an upgrade amid all the summer spending, and the future of Dejan Lovren is certainly up for debate.

The might of the Malaysian All Stars XI ghosted past him like he wasn't there Friday, and in a drab and tired-looking 1-1 draw against the Asian minnows, Lovren continued to look fragile.

It was the kind of performance that made supporters wince, cross their fingers, and pray before the upcoming rematch against Stoke City in the opening league game. Lovren was actually an absentee for the 6-1 mauling at Stoke in May, but that hasn't kept much of the blame for another poor defensive season falling on his shoulders.


He's started a lot of the preseason matches, however, which points to manager Brendan Rodgers either being the forgiving sort or -- more likely -- being determined to prove that one of his expensive transfer choices (at a cost of £20 million) will eventually come good.
It's a sink-or-swim policy that believes persistence can reap its own rewards, although sometimes the player is not waving but drowning. Still, it was only preseason, and the main purpose of these games is to achieve full fitness in time for a new campaign and blow away the summer's cobwebs.

Some may say a lack of fortification in defence during the summer transfer window is a risky strategy; others may point out that for a while now successive Liverpool managers have depended upon Lucas Leiva as their sole holding/defensive midfielder in the squad.

The argument that Liverpool have not thoroughly protected their back four in recent years is a pertinent one. In the preceding decade, the holding role was filled admirably by Dietmar Hamann and Javier Mascherano, two of the best in the business. Momo Sissoko also had one or two productive years.

The statistics speak for themselves, with numerous goals-against figures of below 30 in the 12 years Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez managed the team.

Lucas has always done his best and has often received plaudits beyond his abilities for two reasons: the ludicrous level of vitriol others saw fit to pour down upon him, and the acknowledgement of his role as a vital one in the modern game.


His lack of creative ability has always held him back, and though Hamann and Mascherano were not exactly prolific in terms of goals or creativity themselves, they were not completely devoid of merit in those departments. Plus, they were masters in their primary role -- making sure the opposition rarely saw the whites of their defenders' eyes.

Liverpool currently have a number of talented individuals in their midfield, but few who play such a role efficiently. In the various touted formations the team is expected to utilize this season, there rarely seems to be an opening for such a player anyway without sacrificing other factors, width being one example.

There are plenty of attacking midfielders and old-style workhorses, but few all-rounders. Jordan Henderson comes closest to combining the required work rate and creativity. Emre Can still has the potential to get there, but for a holding role he currently seems too brash and adventurous to stay at his post for long.
When Lucas was tipped to leave the club, various targets were suggested to replace him. Some were wildly optimistic, like Real Madrid's Sami Khedira, while another chance of raiding Southampton -- this time for Morgan Schneiderlin -- has proven ironic as the Frenchman joined Manchester United.

It was Schneiderlin, of course, who protected Lovren for a couple of seasons at St Mary's. Since Southampton's defensive record actually improved after Lovren's departure last summer, one wonders if the French midfielder was a factor in the Croatian seeming so impressive that he persuaded Liverpool to spend lots of money on him.

The various names linked to Liverpool to replace Lucas have not been repeated recently. It's as if transfer gossip columns knew they weren't the sort of players who would interest Rodgers, and such columns risked stretching their readers' credulity to breaking point if they suggested otherwise.

The role of central defender in the current Liverpool team therefore will likely continue to resemble a tightrope walker working without a safety net, or at least one with holes in it.

Relying on the team's current midfielders to protect the defence by a concerted physical effort alone somehow seems just as risky as not investing in another expensive central defender, even though Mamadou Sakho continues to divide opinion, while Martin Skrtel's aggression doesn't always camouflage his own flaws.

Lovren's stated determination to make up for last season is admirable, though he also casually remarked that few others covered themselves in glory last season. Though true, that sort of deflection never plays too well with fans and may have added to his borderline pariah status, certainly if social media is any judge (which it shouldn't be.)

If Brendan Rodgers continues to seek excitement and adventure from his teams, and thus an element of danger too, it means all the defenders just have to get on with it.

Gone it seems are the days when Liverpool could concede a mere 25 goals all season, as they did in 2006 thanks to Hamann and Sissoko sharing the holding duties throughout.

Lovren was arguably the most disappointing of last season's buys, since it was a surprising letdown. Lazar Markovic could always blame youth, confusion over his role, and settling into a new country, while Mario Balotelli will always divide opinion anyway.

Since Benitez left Liverpool in 2010, the club have conceded 44, 40, 43, 50 and 42 league goals. It's a problem that was there long before Lovren joined the club, and if the big spending is now over, it looks as if it might be a problem once again.

[eds]

Eds personally I would have used the phrase "the teams I support

Do you ever stop whinging and moaning? You hardly ever post a positive comment. Honestly mate I would rather be deluded with my glass overflowing than a miserable patronising tw.t without a fkg glass !!

It's no wonder your being accused of being a blue nose. My bitter blue mates aren't even in the same whinging league as you. This forum has about half a dozen regular posters and is it any wonder when it is littered with your utterly depressing regurgitated shight !!!

Ffs have a beer or whatever it takes to put a smile on your miserable gob !!

You give the impression that you would be devestated if we actually started to play well !!

Couldn't give a s**t about semantics with the use of the word "support" Dev,

Funny you choose to only comment every time I have something "negative" to say but are completely AWOL when I have anything "positive" to say. But then again it doesn't suit your twisted bias riddled agenda.

I don't give a flying f**ktoid what you and the rest of the delusional lemmings on these forum really think.

You are a precious sad little lot complaining about people bringing up valid points that are shouted down by the very vocal airy fairy brigade.

Rather than post anything of merit you come on here screaming and carrying on like gimps and contribute NOTHING.

Guess what, we haven't won anything in a while and didn't even look close to finishing in the top 4 last season. Outside of Firmino our future looks pretty bleak.

A lot of supporters will comment on the reasons why this is the case, it's a f**king forum after all.

Do you expect every poster to say things are rosy, we just have to "be patient" and not address our current situation   

F**k me and I thought the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was science-fiction, but you are living proof that you can never drink enough Kool-Aid. I mean you said it yourself your glass is f**king overflowing with it........ 

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

The early home games against the likes of Bournemouth, West Ham and Norwich are going to be absolutely critical given how tough our first 7 away fixtures are. If we don't pick up maximum points at home against those sides we could easily be spending the first few months of the season languishing in the bottom half (which is exactly the last thing Brendan needs right now).

Our first 7 away fixtures -

Stoke
Arsenal
Man United
Everton
Spurs
Chelsea
Man City

It doesn't come much tougher than that.

[maguskwt]

That's a feckin tough away fixture alright... But if we can do well maybe win about half of them with a loss or two and the rest draws, well have an easy 2nd half...

[Soupyzrx]

I was trying to be optimistic about next season, but now I'm worried, and after watching Arsenal's demolition of Lyon last weekend, I'm very worried.
We're better off for strikers than last season, and Benteke will doubless get us some goals, but the impact of all the other signings remains to be seen.
If Chelski, Citeh and ManUre play with the fluency that ArseNil showed at the weekend then we will definitely be in the second stream of the Premier League, I can't see us competing at the top level.
Unless Brendan can instill a whole heap of confidence in the team which will (and should, frankly) still be reeling from the 6-1 humiliation by Stoke last season, and our numerous under-achievers step up to the plate sharpish, I think we could be struggling to make 6th at best.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

That's a feckin tough away fixture alright... But if we can do well maybe win about half of them with a loss or two and the rest draws, well have an easy 2nd half...

The thing is though mate beating Stoke and drawing with all the others would be decent going, the likes of United, City, Chelsea and Arsenal comfortably beat us at their places last season and trips to Everton and Spurs are never easy either so to come through all that lot unbeaten would be some going.
Even doing that though would only give us 9 points from 7 games which is near enough relegation form!
That's why our home form in the early months is going to be so important, we can't afford any of those frustrating 1-1's or 0-0's that we always seem to get against the Hull's, Wigan's and Blackpool's of this world at Anfield. A few early draws against  lesser lights like Bournemouth and Norwich could see Brendan shown the door.
Another reason why I'm a bit pessimistic is that baring a miraculous run of away results we are going to be tailed off a bit come November, history has shown we aren't great at playing catch up and even though we'd have a decent run of fixtures ahead of us I'm not sure we have the character to chase down sides as good as Arsenal, United etc.
The fixture computer has done us no favours at all this year.

[7_Kewell]

This season will simply go one of two ways:

1) We fly out of the blocks, winning our first 8 fixtures and staying in the top 3 chase right until May
2) We fall flat on our faces from the off, lose and draw our opening 8 fixtures, struggle to securing our first win in November and end up with a new manager before Christmas.

I heart says 1), but my head says 2). I'm hoping that we'll start this season well and the new lads will prove the BR doubters wrong. After all, footie is a fickle business and a good season is all that's needed to sway the modern fan.

However, no matter how hard I try, I can't shake the feelings I had at the end of the Stoke game. And those feelings are BR is not the right man for the job. As I say, I hope I'm wrong.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Something which really f**ked up our season last year was when Sturridge got injured on international duty and I see England have got games coming up in early September and October again this season.
What a complete waste of time they are, just as the season is getting going along comes an international break which basically means another fortnight without footy (I don't class England v San Marino as a proper game).
Probably the only bad thing about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent breaking up of some of the Eastern European countries and Soviet satellitte states was that a lot of places that used to have good footy teams (Yugoslavia, USSR, Czechoslovakia etc) no longer exist and what replaced them was a myriad of small countries half of whom can't kick a ball.
I mean do we really need to stop our domestic league program because England are playing Moldova or Slovenia or someone?
Years ago everyone used to watch England games but these days every time I ask one of my mates did you see the game yesterday they all say nah I went shopping or I did a bit of decorating or something. The World Cup draw is the same, bar the Scotland games all the others look boring as f**k.

[sniffy98]

[quote="[url=http://www.liverpoolfc-newkit.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=1260645#p1260645]
and after watching Arsenal's demolition of Lyon last weekend, I'm very worried.[/quote]

It's only pre season mate. Don't they always look good in July though, I seem to remember the same scoreline last year. And then the proper stuff started!

We need to focus on ourselves. I'm quietly confident. We now have a plan b. Just wish we were a bit stronger defensively. Also, along with the new players, don't forget this will be the second season for some of those players bought last year and I am expecting them to step up.

[damjan193]

Easy there yakka, you might offend someone with that

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Easy there yakka, you might offend someone with that

Imo mate international footy should be abolished, most of the games are little more than glorified kick-a-bouts with a 'pre-season friendly' type of air about them.
If the powers that be insist on having internationals then they should be played in a block either before the season starts or after it ends, stopping the league program for a fortnight just to accommodate boring, meaningless games that hardly anyone gets excited about is ridiculous.