The Official 11/12 Liverpool F.C. Thread

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Locke

I think we'll see him slot in sooner rather than later. At the moment, I would wager that Skrtel/Coates would be a strong CB pairing.

Unfortunately, I hear that Arsenal are closing in on Per Mertesacker, who, in my opinion, is one of the best CBs in the world. That would be bad for everyone, but, then again, considering the rest of their defence outside of Vermaelen, shouldnt be too bad.

Mertersacker is a beast in the air, but he is a really slow player. I'm not entirely convinced thatche is as good as is claimed. I still think it's a solid signing for arsenal but he is no vidic IMO.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

Mertersacker is a beast in the air, but he is a really slow player. I'm not entirely convinced thatche is as good as is claimed. I still think it's a solid signing for arsenal but he is no vidic IMO.

I disagree, he might not be the fleetest of foot, but his positioning is incredible, one of the best. Him and Vermaelen are going to be massive for them, but Vermaelen is never fit, while Mertesacker is almost never injured.

That being said, Arsenal must have seriously opened their wallet with the Jaws of Life, otherwise why would he go there? They're not going to win anything...

[Locke]

By the way, a great article on Coates, here are some snippets:

the player doesn't hold an EU passport. That seems to be the main reason his transfer to Liverpool has been relatively drawn-out after being reported by some outlets over a week ago as a 'done deal.'

Those of us who'd seen Nacional in the Copa Libertadores weren't surprised. The Uruguayan giants went out in the group stage, but by the narrowest of margins; Brazilians Fluminense scored an incorrectly awarded penalty in stoppage time of their final group match against Argentinos Juniors, and Nacional went out on goals scored as a result. In six group games they conceded only three goals - two of which came in the opening match away to America de Mexico, a match Coates didn't play in. They only scored three, which was what eventually cost them, but Coates provided the final pass for all three. Not bad going for a central defender.


It goes without saying, then, that he's comfortable bringing the ball out of defence and breaking forward to join the attack whenever possible. His timing in the tackle is also superb, and whenever I've seen him for Nacional or Uruguay he's rarely been caught out of position. Defence especially is an area of the pitch where inexperienced players can be found out and lose confidence, but that shouldn't be a problem for him.

If Liverpool are making this signing with the idea of finding a medium-to-long-term replacement for Jamie Carragher, I struggle to think of anyone who'd have been a better pick, especially given the fee they've paid for him (around £7 million).

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns...erpool?cc=5901

[TopChed]

Craig Bellamy is back! Signed for 2 seasons, and will wear #39.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/lates...ellamy-is-back

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by TopChed

Craig Bellamy is back! Signed for 2 seasons, and will wear #39.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/lates...ellamy-is-back

Great depth signing.

[Locke]

Looks like they're expecting Stevie back in action against Spurs. So he wont be ready for Stoke, but it'll be great to have him back!

[Locke]

Article about Kenny's paranoia regarding the refereeing:

"Every one [of the contentious decisions] has gone against us." No matter how ambiguous the intimation, to suggest there might be a conspiracy against Liverpool by officials is a strong and bold allegation to make.

This is not isolated to Liverpool. Perhaps Daglish's comments were barbed, thought out to offer distraction - almost Sir Alex Ferguson-like - from a disappointing loss that was down to a lack of clinical finishing rather than penalty appeals.

The Reds having performed well in their last trip to North London when their passage to victory versus Arsenal was paved via an opener that was offside. Oh.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns...wansea?cc=5901

I think its just a distraction away from the team. Honestly, at Stoke their finishing was horrendous.

I always get a laugh about people who think that the first goal against Arsenal was offside when it clearly wasnt. Even the head of refereeing said so.

[Cheese]

well well...can we say that was a stinker?

[Locke]

That was pretty well the worst game I've ever seen.

[Locke]

And my biggest issue is where to assign blame. Spurs played really well and Liverpool didnt look prepared at all.

I watched the whole thing, and really I didnt have any complaints with the refereeing.

Liverpool started off badly and it got worse from there. What the hell Agger was doing is beyond me, he was hurt and by hurting himself basically conceded the first goal, but then he didnt get switched off.

All in all, a really poor game from Liverpool, and they have to be better than that.

[The Big Chill]

Looks like Agger is out for about 4 weeks with broken ribs. I guess Skrtel and Coates will be seeing some extra playing time for the next month, especially if Kelly isn't fit right away. Glen Johnson is also out for about a month.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

Looks like Agger is out for about 4 weeks with broken ribs. I guess Skrtel and Coates will be seeing some extra playing time for the next month, especially if Kelly isn't fit right away. Glen Johnson is also out for about a month.

Skrtel and Coates are likely going to be the partnership going forward and I'm okay with that. But Skrtel is suspended for the next EPL match.

Agger shouldnt have been screwing around during the match, but this sort of crap is exactly why they went out and bought Coates. Agger was going to get injured eventually. Hes so consistent that even Vegas bookmakers dont bet on it anymore.

I think what they need to do is either have Carra take over at RB until Johnson or Kelly are healthy again or hand over the job to Flanagan. Putting Skrtel there was a full blown disaster.

Kelly was on the bench last match so hopefully hes close. Seeing how Kenny lines them up on the weekend will be interesting.

Also, again, I cant comlain about the refereeing in the Spurs match, those were all pretty clear-cut bookings in my opinion.

The announcers were making a case that Adam's second yellow was 'harsh' and I completely disagree. 'He didnt mean to do it, his eyes were focused on the ball.' Okay, but he still put his studs into the guy's thigh, thats a pretty clear-cut yellow.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Locke

Skrtel and Coates are likely going to be the partnership going forward and I'm okay with that. But Skrtel is suspended for the next EPL match.

Agger shouldnt have been screwing around during the match, but this sort of crap is exactly why they went out and bought Coates. Agger was going to get injured eventually. Hes so consistent that even Vegas bookmakers dont bet on it anymore.

I think what they need to do is either have Carra take over at RB until Johnson or Kelly are healthy again or hand over the job to Flanagan. Putting Skrtel there was a full blown disaster.

Kelly was on the bench last match so hopefully hes close. Seeing how Kenny lines them up on the weekend will be interesting.

Also, again, I cant comlain about the refereeing in the Spurs match, those were all pretty clear-cut bookings in my opinion.

The announcers were making a case that Adam's second yellow was 'harsh' and I completely disagree. 'He didnt mean to do it, his eyes were focused on the ball.' Okay, but he still put his studs into the guy's thigh, thats a pretty clear-cut yellow.

Skrtel served his one match ban today, so I'm pretty sure he can play on Saturday. I think Carragher will partner Agger/Skrtel for the year, and then Coates will take over next year as long as his development goes to plan.

Gary Cahill still isn't out of the question either. I'm not really a huge fan of his though.

[Locke]

Was watching the Brighton Carling Cup game yesterday, first of all I didnt know that League bans could be served in the Carling, thats kind of stupid but whatever.

This Liverpool team have a lot of work to do. I dont know if its mental, I do know that part of it is mental, their attitude and work ethic is reprehensible. But another part of it is quality.

I'm watching them play against a Championship side, albeit a good one, and I noticed a whole ton of problems that remind me of the Spurs match.

They move the ball far too slowly, far too often in the air and hoof it far too much. These are seriosu tactical problems. Why cant they break down Stoke? Because when you take that long to move the ball the defenders get there and close you down. Make the same mistake against a club like Spurs and they take the ball and beat you to death with it.

This is an old Liverpool club, they've got quality in all areas but just not enough. hit the post 3 times against Brighton and the Albion put on a good performance but Liverpool really werent anything special despite a very strong lineup.

For the first time this season I'm looking at this squad as one that could honestly finish outside the top 4. They are nowhere near the class of Utd/City and thats saying a lot because they could be.

United proved it last season that you can win the league with a mediocre squad, but you have to win against the bottom 10-15 in the table. Not draws or losses but wins. They ended the season losing to Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, but it didnt matter because they'd thrash the bottom of the table teams and get points.

This incarnation of Liverpool have a lot of work to do. Maybe even in the January transfer market. At the moment I think too much hope is being placed on Gerrard's return.

[The Big Chill]

I think a major part of the problem right now is the teams inability to play with Carroll on the pitch. Kenny preaches pass and move, but whenever Carroll is out there the rest of the team resorts to hoofing it up field. Hopefully we can stop doing that, because it is really easy to defend against, plus it takes possession away from us.

I think we have build a really solid squad here, so hopefully we can get back into CL so we can attract some of the top players in the world again.

[TopChed]

Totally agree with you guys on all points. The Tottenham game really tempered my expectations, and watching Brighton boss us in the second half didn't help.

To me, there's been a few real problems with our squad the last few weeks. First is the revolving door of RB's, which led to Skrtel starting against Tottenham. That was never a good call against a player with pace like Bale, especially considering Downing started that game at RM.
Also, despite all of our options in midfield, it never seems like the players selected play well. Lucas, in my mind, has been awful the last few games. He's turning the ball over constantly, and then charging in with terrible challenges when the defence should be able to cope easily.
Then there's our CB situation. Carragher hasn't looked good at all, but Coates hasn't really inspired a lot of confidence yet. I don't think Kenny will take Carra out of the starting 11, but it has to be considered pretty soon.
I'm really hoping tomorrow's game against Wolves offers some good performances and a convincing victory, I need to regain some confidence in this squad. It seems like a front 2 of Bellamy and Suarez would be awesome to start off, and run defenders into the ground. Then bring Carroll off the bench and let him power through in the later stages maybe.

[Locke]

Right now the injuries to the back 4 are our biggest problem, but the creativity of the midfield isnt good enough.

Sum it up, the back 4 cant pass the ball around effectively, or sustain much pressure and the midfield cant move the ball to the forwards fast enough, so moving the ball from our back 4 up to Suarez or Carrol just isnt working.

[TopChed]

Great goal from Suarez, but I dunno what to think of that game. Take the win but didn't come easily at all.

[Nuje]

It was a weird one for sure. Adam and Skrtel's lack of speed killed us against Tottenham. It certainly didn't benefit us yesterday either. I don't think Skrtel and Carra should be allowed on together, just due to that.

With Stevie back in the fold, perhaps things will be different. A few things that bothered me was the all too constant hoofing up to Suarez/Carroll. Sure Carroll's tall and Suarez is capable, but that's more of a "we have 10 men and need a goal" strategy, than "we bought 3 midfielders this summer" one if you ask me. When we pass and move we do well, but for some reason we tend to stray away. It's a piss off for sure, and I'm not sure why it happens.

[Locke]

Not impressed at all with Suarez's reaction to being subbed off.