new liverpool thread - everyone loves them (2 Viewers)

[Hector Grey]

Now Liverpool are being linked with a move for.....wait for it................

Shay Given.

Title is in the bag, lads. You get a prize for sixth, right? A solid gold bust of David Moyes?

 

[oh shit]

bored of this now.
sunday will be interesting

 

[Jerry Twig]

That's very odd. Still, decent enough second keeper to have (on a free I presume)

 

[Hector Grey]

I can't see how he's better than Jones at this stage. Don't know where it came form, but nothing happening.

 

[dunderhead]

well i'll be damned. how long did it take us to rack up 9 points last year? into October, maybe? great start. not loving these dodgy hanging on for dear life second halves though/ still, 100% after 3 games. no complaining allowed

Henderson is having a great start to the season. energy-wise, he's young steven gerardesque.

 

[washingcattle]

well i'll be damned. how long did it take us to rack up 9 points last year? into October, maybe? great start. not loving these dodgy hanging on for dear life second halves though/ still, 100% after 3 games. no complaining allowed

Henderson is having a great start to the season. energy-wise, he's young steven gerardesque.

Yeah Henderson's best game before this season was against us in the FA cup semi final. He was full of running that day and he's showing that it wasn't a fluke at the moment. Fair play to him.

Some great partnerships down the spine of your side at the moment.
Gerrard looks great in his new deeper role him and Lucas look a seriously formidable pair. Agger and Skrtel look great together. and Coutinho and Sturridge have that telepathy thing going for them.

Not too sure what happens if Agger and Lucas do the usual mister glass act but at the moment you lot look top notch.

Mignolet is having a stormer.

 

[oh shit]

Immense performance from Skrtl. My big worry for the season was defence. Suddenly it looks ok. Top of the league and Sturridge is unstoppable (but still gotta learn when to pass it)
Ps
Fuck off moyes

 

[Cormcolash]

Sturridge was a big risk to sign

 

[Jerry Twig]

Happy birthday Mr Shankly, 100 years young

 

[Hector Grey]

Sturridge was a big risk to sign

There's nothing riskier than hope, i'll give you that.

 

[Hector Grey]

Do you hear that? A hum of contentment. I'm going to enjoy it for a while.

 

[oh shit]

Sturridge was a big risk to sign

Agreed. He always looked like he could become a great striker. He has everything. Risks are with his team play, tracking back, and decision making. So far it's all improved. Brendan can feel vindicated, so far, he's walking the walk.

 

[Hector Grey]

Agreed. He always looked like he could become a great striker. He has everything. Risks are with his team play, tracking back, and decision making. So far it's all improved. Brendan can feel vindicated, so far, he's walking the walk.

His tracking and work rate have been great. I worry that if he has too much time to think about it, he might scuff a chance, but you can't fault any aspect of his play at the moment.

Kinda wonder if Luis wouldn't upset the balance going on here, but on the other hand, Aspas isn't exactly setting the place on fire.

 

[Unicron]

but on the other hand, Aspas isn't exactly setting the place on fire.

Thought he had a really good game yesterday, stuck like glue to Carrick which was a big part of why United couldn't get going.

 

[Hector Grey]

Thought he had a really good game yesterday, stuck like glue to Carrick which was a big part of why United couldn't get going.

I thought it was more to do with Carrick being total pants. And his mate Tom isn't much better. Also, United lost their composure pretty quickly. Anyhoo, Aspas wasn't signed to close down Michael Carrick. I'm pretty sure one of the ballboys could have done that.

I like Aspas, he looks ten years old, I'm just wondering where Luis goes when he's available again, and it looks like it's Aspas's place that'll go. Wouldn't be surprised if he's dropped for Moses, in fact.

 

[oh shit]

I have to say I really, really like the look of Aspas so far. It looks like Rodgers wants him to play between the lines, similar to Thomas Muller (I know Muller's the hipster's footballer of choice at the minute - but I was into him in 2010, ok?).

Few things:
1. Statistically he's been our top chance-creator so far this season. Better than Coutinho. His movement in the box has caused real problems for defenders and made space for others.

2. He's intelligent, like Muller. There were signs of ityesterday and last week against Villa, moments when he'd ghosted into the right side of the box, on the inside shoulder of his marker. He's a left-footer. Had he received the ball he was in the perfect spot to score. He was visibly angry with Sturridge yesterday after a couple of opportunities like that were wasted by poor shots (which he'd earned, but that has got to change in the long run).

3. He dropped back into the middle and disrupted United's play, much like Muller does for Bayern. He was running the channels every time we won possession. He's tidy with his passes.

4. He's a big guy, taller than I thought. He was clearly rattled by the intensity of the match but he'll learn to cope with it and will put himself about.

So that's why I think Aspas will keep starting, and should become a bit of a cult hero for Liverpool, with a bit of luck.

I think Suarez will come back on the left, Coutinho in the middle, Aspas on the right with Sturridge up front. All the evidence is that we are playing better football without Suarez, we have options, for the first time in about 4 years. No bad thing, but I can't see us going back to the Suarez show of last Autumn. The two positives about Suarez's behaviour over the summer are that he has lost the right to demand that his team mates accommodate him, and that Rodgers has shown that he will assert himself as the gaffer, instead of just talking the talk.

 

[Hector Grey]

You're saying drop Henderson? He's the only midfielder with legs. Otherwise it's Lucas or Gerrard? There's a footballer out there that can do what Lucas AND Gerrard can do. We need that footballer. We need Gerrard to lead, so if we went by your plan, I'd drop lucas and get Henderson to run around and break up the play.

Upshot is: there's option there, and none of them are Jay Spearing or Stewart Downing. Things done look good all of a sudden.

(Also, none of them are Fabio Borini)

 

[oh shit]

Agreed! Henderson was immense yesterday. When sprinted 40 years with the ball in the 85th minute, it almost brought a tear to the eye. Fact is though we aren't playing United every week. My ideal front four is for the games where we might expect to keep the ball and score plentifully, not the attritional top-5 games.

As for that, I'd probably stick with Lucas (his best game in 2 years yesterday?) and Gerrard (much improved, still a bit sloppy sometimes). But Henderson could be replacing Gerrard in the starting lineup by the end of the season for a lot of games. Who knows.

 

[Hector Grey]

Agreed! Henderson was immense yesterday. When sprinted 40 years with the ball in the 85th minute, it almost brought a tear to the eye. Fact is though we aren't playing United every week. My ideal front four is for the games where we might expect to keep the ball and score plentifully, not the attritional top-5 games.

As for that, I'd probably stick with Lucas (his best game in 2 years yesterday?) and Gerrard (much improved, still a bit sloppy sometimes). But Henderson could be replacing Gerrard in the starting lineup by the end of the season for a lot of games. Who knows.

Ideally, we still need another central midfielder. Maybe Joe Allen will become great this year. Maybe not. We have 3 slots, and 4 players. But, like you say, for the home game against Hull, we might not need Gerrard AND Lucas.

To think our best player hasn't even kicked a ball yet and we're top. It's terrifying. Like we always say, it's the hope that would kill ya.

Anyone read Red or Dead yet?

 

[Jerry Twig]

sprinted 40 years with the ball

Jesus, that's some going