Last year from the beginning to end plus national games, had a lot of impact to Gerard. Thats why i think his decision to move is correct.
For yesterdays match i was happy from what i have seen from the squad.
The Liverpool Thread
- Thread starter Steve*
- Start date
- Replies 44K
- Views 3M
Last year from the beginning to end plus national games, had a lot of impact to Gerard. Thats why i think his decision to move is correct.
For yesterdays match i was happy from what i have seen from the squad.
LFCMarshall
YNWA.
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2009
- Messages
- 14,836
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
We've got Lucas, Henderson and Can for that central role.. If we can strengthen with a CB and another CM in the summer i'll be happy
discounting Allen at the moment.
I think it's the right decision by Rodgers to tell Gerrard he won't be playing as much, and it's probably the right decision by Gerrard to continue his career elsewhere if he still feels he has more to offer. Can't really blame any of them, and judging by the last few months I certainly find it hard to blame Rodgers. Gerrard is almost 35, and it shows. Still a good player, but obviously nowhere near the world class he once was.
I'm fairly sure Can is intended to play as DM in the future, a role I think he could make his for a decade. I'd still like to keep Lucas for another year or two though. Allen is a decent squad player, but I just can't see him ever becoming "an integral part of Liverpool" as Rodgers claimed numerous times. It's Can and Henderson for me, in that central duo. But I would definitely like to see a top class CM come in the summer. I've seen fans begging for the likes of Pogba and Koke, but that doesn't sound realistic at all.
Thing is, if Can is moved up to DM, we might need another CB unless Lovren surprises everyone(?) by actually living up to his price tag and hype.
I'm fairly sure Can is intended to play as DM in the future, a role I think he could make his for a decade. I'd still like to keep Lucas for another year or two though. Allen is a decent squad player, but I just can't see him ever becoming "an integral part of Liverpool" as Rodgers claimed numerous times. It's Can and Henderson for me, in that central duo. But I would definitely like to see a top class CM come in the summer. I've seen fans begging for the likes of Pogba and Koke, but that doesn't sound realistic at all.
Thing is, if Can is moved up to DM, we might need another CB unless Lovren surprises everyone(?) by actually living up to his price tag and hype.
To be honest i think the problem of the team is way deeper...I think the main problem of the team is the transfer strategy. I like the fact that we buy young players and develop them but this is not really showing any great results. I mean we can't expect to buy three-four 19 years old players(Can, Markovic etc) and expect from them to get us on the top or among the Big 4. If they don't want to spend 40£ and buy world class players at least they should try to buy players with good previous seasons and a little bit older. Torres was 22 when he came into Anfield with a great previous season, Same for suarez, Sturridge hadn't a great season but again was 23. The only exception is sterling but he is from Liverpool's young teams. If we want to compete with United, Arsenal, Tottenham etc we should change that. I accept the fact that they bought Lovren and he does not seem so far to be so good but I will wait for him next year, cause he might need some time to get adjusted.
Again I believe is easier for a 22 years old player to carry the weight of the team than a 19 years old boy with none great season or experience.
Again I believe is easier for a 22 years old player to carry the weight of the team than a 19 years old boy with none great season or experience.
Last edited:
I agree to an extent, but not for the same reasons.
First of all, FSG is still a pretty "new" owner. They have a strategy, a long-term plan. They haven't been here long-term yet, so it would be premature to make any judgments on their long-term plans. That doesn't mean we can't discuss them, or even claim it's the wrong approach. Personally I think it's the right approach. We don't have the financial muscles of oil-rich City or the blood-money ridden Chelsea. We also don't have the sponsorship deals, revenue and commercial success of Manchester United. So we have to be smart. And buying young talents is, in my opinion, smart.
But it's only smart if we're actually able to keep them beyond their breakthrough. If we end up creating top class players of Markovic, Can, Sterling, Ibe, Coutinho and then sell them as soon as the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern München come barging in with their cheques, we won't achieve anything in the long term. But it's not that easy. Take Luis Suarez for example, he wanted to go to Barcelona and they allegedly activated a transfer clause. You can't force players to stay, at least not for long.
In my opinion, the big challenge is the lack of competence that has set this club back for two decades now. When Manchester United started dominating in the 90s, their commercial success was a huge part of it. What did Liverpool do? They sat idle and watched as their hegemony was demolished in a matter of years. We've been reminiscing ever since. But FSG can't be blamed for that, it would be unfair.
The players we have now are in general very young. Gerrard is leaving, Touré's contract will be up, and Johnson might be leaving on the end of his as well. That leaves us with Skrtel and Lucas as the experienced players in our team (yes, I'm dismissing Lambert, Enrique and Jones) and Skrtel - being the oldest - is only 30. Take a look at our presumably best 11 at the moment:
Mignolet
Can-Skrtel-Sakho
Markovic-Henderson-Lucas-Moreno
Coutinho-Sterling
Sturridge
Now let's replace their names with their ages:
26
21-30-25(in 4 days)
20-24-28-22
22-20
25
That's an average age of less than 24. Of these players, I believe only Mignolet, Skrtel and Lucas are in danger of being sold/replaced the next year or so. That's the 3 oldest players. With that in mind, it seems pretty obvious to me that Rodgers - in line with FSG's strategy - is building something here. But we have to be patient. Speaking of Rodgers, he's barely 40 years himself.
I know patience is hard to come by in football these days, but we've waited 25 years. Surely we can wait 2 or 3 more? If we're not challenging for the title on a consistent basis by then, things will have to be reevaluated. But until then - barring any stupid decisions like selling Sterling and Coutinho - I will try to be patient. And I hope others will be too. Besides, what other choices are there? Sack Rodgers and hire who? Get rid of FSG and be taken over by whom? Some filthy rich sugar daddy? No thanks, it's not even viable anymore with FFP anyway.
But I'd like to add that I hope we're done with the shopping sprees for a while now. We do need experience in the side, especially if players like Lucas and Skrtel are leaving (though I doubt Skrtel is going anywhere any time soon). So in the summer, I'm hoping we focus our attention on 2-3 top players and 1-2 talents, instead of 7-8 young talents and no top players. If we do that, I think we could have some very good years ahead.
LFCMarshall
YNWA.
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2009
- Messages
- 14,836
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
Lucas facing a month out with a thigh injury. Huge blow as we don't have a similar player who can do that job
LFCMarshall
YNWA.
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2009
- Messages
- 14,836
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
People can moan about the transfer strategy but look at all the players we have actively tried to sign and failed.
We are not an elite club when it comes to challenging for players signatures - we cannot offer regular silverware yet and we cannot offer huge wages so we have to target the bracket below world class or youngsters who could become world class
It is without doubt the hardest division in the world to win mainly because of the money available to the top 3/4 clubs
Someone please remind me why we didn't sign a backup defensive mid in jan? There are certain players in our team we rely too heavily on.
Also FSG don't get anywhere near as much criticism as they should. They're only at the club to make money they don't give a **** about Liverpool. They use Ian Ayre as a scapegoat as well for their terrible transfer strategy and their stingeyness.
Also FSG don't get anywhere near as much criticism as they should. They're only at the club to make money they don't give a **** about Liverpool. They use Ian Ayre as a scapegoat as well for their terrible transfer strategy and their stingeyness.
This is exactly the sort of nonsense that is truly meaningless. Not only do you just blurt out hopeless statements, you don't even have a single argument to back it up with. There's no logical rationale behind what you're saying, you're not even offering one.
How do you know we didn't try to sign a backup defensive midfielder in January? How do you know the players we were interested in just weren't available? How do you know Rodgers didn't consider it as a priority, as we have Lucas, Allen, Can and Gerrard who can all fill that role?
What do you expect from FSG? To cash out world class players? Make us fail FFP and be punished by UEFA? Yeah that'd be real intelligent and not damaging to the club at all. And where's the proof of this Illuminati-like conspiracy of yours?
Allen couldn't fit that hole. Apparently he can play there. Apparently he's a professional footballer as well.
Theatreof Dreams
Member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2013
- Messages
- 11,821
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
Great game! End to end stuff. Both keepers were unlucky, and both teams giving away mistakes. Hope it continues 2nd half really enjoyable match!