The Official 12/13 Liverpool F.C. Thread

[The Big Chill]

Rodgers: "Andy has made it clear to me he hasn't played as regular as he wanted, I couldn't guarantee that here. We will replace him."

"We will replace Andy Carroll. We have a number of targets that we hope to conclude tomorrow."

[Locke]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

Rodgers: "Andy has made it clear to me he hasn't played as regular as he wanted, I couldn't guarantee that here. We will replace him."

"We will replace Andy Carroll. We have a number of targets that we hope to conclude tomorrow."

I'm pleased with the purchase of Samed Yasil. Hes a talented kid.

Also:

Sky Sports understands Liverpool are lining up a move for Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge before Friday's transfer deadline.

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers has identified Sturridge as the man to replace Andy Carroll who left on loan for West Ham on Thursday.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...-Sturridge-bid

[The Big Chill]

Should be an interesting day tomorrow. Yesil isn't going to be Carroll's replacement. It says that he is going to go into the youth team for now. He looks an exciting prospect though, and for 1mil its a pretty good deal.

I don't mind Sturridge, he at least has some goal scoring ability in him that we so sorely lack.

[Locke]

I'm going to say that I'm not particularly happy with the appointment of Brendan Rodgers as manager. This is why;

He wants to play the nice possession tiki-taka football which I honestly believe is a load of crap. Its boring, its stupid and it doesnt work.

Before anyone chimes in with "yeah but Barcelona and Spain!!!" they can save it. Yes, those teams have been successful by playing that style, but theres so much more to it. Not to mention, take Messi out of Barca and they'd be the most boring team in the world and have the worlds' most 0-0 draws.

Anyways, all of that is irrelevant. Love it, hate it, it doesnt matter, espousing the virtues of the success rate of one team using that style is absolute garbage and resembles more closely coincidence than any form of proof.

The real fact of the matter is that you cant take players and make them into something that they're not.

"Hey Joe Allen, go be Xavi...hey Henderson, could you dial up your Iniesta?"

Its so astonishingly asinine its practically insane. Hes trying to take something that isnt what he wants it to be and change it with little to no outside force. Hes not really bringing in a ton of more 'passing players' hes just releasing players that 'dont fit.'

Well, Brendan, they all dont fit. Cramming Jonjo Shelvey in there isnt the answer.

One of the things that I felt was really good about what Kenny did when he took over from Roy was that he was excellent at analyzing the players he had and setting them up to succeed against the team he was playing against. Why that skill seemed to have evaporated during his year in tenure I'll never understand.

In conclusion to my undesired rant; I'm against Brendan Rodgers for what hes trying to do, I think its naive and misguided but I'll support him because right now hes the manager and the guy in charge of making this team great again.

[The Big Chill]

I couldn't disagree more. For one thing, just because he wants his midfielders and defenders to be smart in possession does not mean he is trying to be like Spain. He plays with very direct, pacey wingers, which neither of those other two teams do.

Secondly, how can you blame him for not having all the players he wants? He has had one transfer window with a limited budget. He brought in Borini, Allen, Sahin and Assaidi, how many more changes could he have been expected to make in such a short time? He was also clearly expecting another player who could play in the front 3 to be brought in on deadline day but it never materialized.

Right from day one Rodgers has been about class, hard work, technical ability, and footballing intelligence. I strongly believe that given the right time and support that Brendan will be a very good manager, and I feel like we are going in the right direction for the first time in several years.

[Cheese]

^^^ relegation?

[Locke]

So, I watched the first episode of "Being: Liverpool"

Amazing show and I have to say that I really like Brendan Rodgers as a person and a manager. Intelligent, personable and pure class.

I stand by what I said though, I dont think hes going to be able to get it done. Its nice that they say that hes the 'long-term solution' but I dont buy that for a moment either.

At the beginning of the season it seemed pretty clear that the goal for this season was a Top 4 finish and Champions' League, and now the ultimate goal isnt so clear.

Anyone here still think that a top 4 finish is even reasonable for this squad? I know they've all been preaching patience, faith and hard work, and fair enough, its only been 4 games, but I dont see those virtues being enough.

What is the goal? What do the fans want to see? I dont think top 4 is a write off as of yet, but I realistically dont see this team making it.

What would be deemed success and what would be considered failure? Right now they are failing and doing so spectacularly.

[The Big Chill]

For me a successful season will not be so much about where we finish in the table, but moreso about how much we improve over the season. We new damn well going into this season that we would have a tough start.

I will be happy with the season if we can add a quality striker in January and have a strong 2nd half of the season to lead into next year. It would also be nice to get rid of the remaining dead-weight we have on the squad by the start of next season (Carroll, Cole, Carragher, etc) so that Rodgers has exactly the players he wants to work with going forward.

Above all, though, we need to start making Anfield a difficult place to get a result in once again.

[Locke]

After a pretty serious scare Rodgers is going to get his first win in red. I cant believe they were down 3-2 at one point, weak team and everything.

This game was fairly close at times and illustrated something interesting to me. Rodgers is under some serious pressure whether he wants to admit it or not. When the score was tight he was there arguing for every throw and foul. Thats not like him normally.

I prefer a calm manager.

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

Above all, though, we need to start making Anfield a difficult place to get a result in once again.

Far, far too many home draws.

[Locke]

I suppose I should be making fewer disparaging remarks about Jonjo Shelvey.

[Bagor]

2012 Premier League Stats.

P24 W5 D5 L14

Translates to a 32 Point season.

[Locke]

Great, they're in here too....

"It is down to referees to not judge him and give what they see -- if it's not a penalty don't give him one but if it's clear give it," Gerrard said. "He was booked at Sunderland but against United it was a penalty."

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...ng-rep?cc=5901

Sorry Stevie, but if you're a diver you dont deserve the benefit of the doubt and I dont blame any ref for not awarding Suarez penalties. The immense pressure refs are already under and then having to decide whether to award Suarez a penalty? I wouldnt do it either.

Reputation is a double edged sword, if you live by it you can die by it.

[Nuje]

Originally Posted by Locke

Great, they're in here too....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...ng-rep?cc=5901

Sorry Stevie, but if you're a diver you dont deserve the benefit of the doubt and I dont blame any ref for not awarding Suarez penalties. The immense pressure refs are already under and then having to decide whether to award Suarez a penalty? I wouldnt do it either.

Reputation is a double edged sword, if you live by it you can die by it.

Agreed. I was at a game where Lombardi absolutely steam-rolled Roloson on purpose, and the ref didn't see. Result? Roloson 2 minutes, diving. Refs typically won't call on reputation if they see otherwise (unless they're very corrupt), but if you don't see the situation clearly to say which way it went, you either call it on reputation, or do nothing. Don't give yourself a bad reputation.

[Locke]

Well. Thats just icing on the cake.

Liverpool striker Fabio Borini will be out of action for up to three months as he requires surgery on a broken bone in his foot.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...quires-surgery

So now our striking options are Suarez and.....

[mariners_fever]

Do we have the option of cancelling Carroll's loan?

[The Big Chill]

I don't think we can recall Carroll because West Ham paid a loan fee to get him.

Yesil was apparently not involved with the reserves game so I would guess that means he is likely to be on the bench against Reading.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by mariners_fever

Do we have the option of cancelling Carroll's loan?

As far as I know, no. And even if they had that option, I wouldnt do it.

Unfortunately when you commit to loaning a player for the season you should stand by that commitment, loaning players is a great way for them to get playing time, if you start recalling them then teams are going to be hesitant to accept your loaned players in the future.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Locke

Great, they're in here too....

Dry your eyes sweetie. Create a social group within the forum if you want to be all control freakie about who posts where.

Carroll can be recalled in January.

Anyways, that's what happens when the board decides to screw over the manager over a couple of million. Like it or not, the Dalglish effect is going to run for some time yet.

Borini's goals will be greatly missed ............

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Carroll can be recalled in January.

And how do you know this? Unless I have missed something then the terms of the deal are known only by West Ham and Liverpool.

[Bagor]

Brendan Rodgers has ruled out recalling Andy Carroll from his loan spell at West Ham, despite a remarkable injury jinx striking Fabio Borini once more.
Liverpool now have just one recognised striker available - Luis Suarez - compounding what has already been a difficult start to the season.

The former Newcastle striker can be recalled by his parent club in January, a situation the Hammers are keen to avoid, and one Rodgers isn't willing to entertain.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...=feeds-newsxml

West Ham on-loan signing Andy Carroll could be recalled by the club and manager Brendan Rodgers in January. However, in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, aired on LFC.tv, Rodgers alluded to that fact that the forward would not be returning:

http://www.examiner.com/article/live...triking-crisis

BRENDAN RODGERS has no plans to recall Andy Carroll to Anfield in January despite Liverpool’s striker crisis. The giant Geordie is on a season-long loan at West Ham but the Reds have the option of bringing him back to Merseyside in the next transfer window.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...n-January.html