The Football Thread (6 Viewers)

[CheesePlease]

Re: The Official Football Thread

cech is still world class after head injury, just his defense let him down, Also note RVP's is top5 in the world striker and his strikes hurt. Walcott is a winger their strikes are pretty quick. Doubt any of the midfielders would have beat Cech.

Regardless, a keeper at that level shouldn't really ever be getting beaten at the near post. Don't get me wrong, the defense was schoolboy, but so was Cech.

Also Liverpool kinda suck after all their hype.

Eh, the whole title thing was just a lofty dream to begin with. However, assuming Newcastle will drop away, they are only a point away from Chelsea, and a Champions League spot which I think they'll probably still be fighting for come late in the season. They've dominated most of the games I've seen really, some fantastic keeping was the only thing stopping them from getting full points against Man U and Norwich. And they've done most of it without Gerrard.

 

[slyhunter]

Re: The Official Football Thread

cech is still world class after head injury, just his defense let him down, Also note RVP's is top5 in the world striker and his strikes hurt. Walcott is a winger their strikes are pretty quick. Doubt any of the midfielders would have beat Cech.

Metersacker is settling in the Arsenal team and is really providing stability, he was good against Marsillee this morning. With Varmelean back arsenal for a change have some fit defenders. And my Jenkins has done well for a kid who didnt even play a league last year to be playing in champions league and doing well. Santos is a shit left back, and it seems he would rather play midfield or maybe thats just the Brazilan way.


Also Liverpool kinda suck after all their hype.

Cech's good but clearly fallen behind the levels of the likes of Hart and Reina. And Walcott admitted himself he'd be rubbish without his pace and I have to agree.

Come on mate, Livo is still a work in transition, you can't expect them to mesh together immediately and they've done pretty well mind you, bar their performance against Tottenham

Regardless, a keeper at that level shouldn't really ever be getting beaten at the near post. Don't get me wrong, the defense was schoolboy, but so was Cech.

Eh, the whole title thing was just a lofty dream to begin with. However, assuming Newcastle will drop away, they are only a point away from Chelsea, and a Champions League spot which I think they'll probably still be fighting for come late in the season. They've dominated most of the games I've seen really, some fantastic keeping was the only thing stopping them from getting full points against Man U and Norwich. And they've done most of it without Gerrard.

This is true. Once Gerrard returns, Livo will be a lot more dangerous, although that's not saying Adam and Lucas have been shit at all.

 

[Dubstep]

Re: The Official Football Thread

cech is good... but now is kinda a has-been just like the squad from the Mourinhio era e.g drogba, malouda, ashley cole...

 

[Isho]

Re: The Official Football Thread

Will challenge title.

Dalglish has like 50+ mil to spend

lol'd.

BRILLIANTLY splashed 50 mill on crap.

 

[slyhunter]

Re: The Official Football Thread

lol'd.

BRILLIANTLY splashed 50 mill on crap.

Give them time to mesh lol

 

[Izzay]

Re: The Official Football Thread

nanananana van persie, van persie

 

[AussieVesti]

Re: The Official Football Thread

Liverpool spending 35m was the best thing which ever happened to us.

Good on you Dalglish.

 

[slyhunter]

Re: The Official Football Thread

Liverpool spending 35m was the best thing which ever happened to us.

Good on you Dalglish.

Taking the money we got from Torres, we didn't actually waste that much money.

 

[AussieVesti]

Re: The Official Football Thread

Taking the money we got from Torres, we didn't actually waste that much money.

I'll admit that with Torres & Babel out for Carroll and Suarez in, you guys basically broke even. Think about it though. The prior season Carroll did well enough in the Championship but he didn't win the Golden Boot. Once we were promoted, he scored 11 goals in 19 games. Fair return I must admit. After signing for you guys, he's only scored 4 goals in 19 games. Putting that into perspective, we signed Ba on a free from West Ham and he has scored 9 goals in 12 games for us and 7 goals in 12 games for a wretched WHU side. I don't know how you can argue that you did not waste money on Carroll considering other upcoming players you could have spent it on would have been more proven. You can't justify not wasting money because Chelsea wasted even more. It doesn't work like that.

Carroll only played half a season consistently in the Premier League and suddenly he's rated as the most expensive English player of all-time. What a farce. How are Henderson and Downing doing for you guys? Whether it was Dalglish (Hodgson RE: Carroll) or Comolli sanctioning these transfers, you guys need to fix your shit up. Your best buys have clearly been Suarez and Jose Enrique and you paid reasonable amounts for their services.

Regardless, we ended up laughing our way to the bank and we're above you guys in the table. Where to now?

 

[slyhunter]

Re: The Official Football Thread

Suarez was originally brought in to partner Torres, however when he left, LFC was left was 2 recognised strikers, Suarez and Ngog. We needed another half decent striker asap because the depth was gone and should injury have hit any of those two, we would have been screwed. Now I'll admit Dalglish's policy of bringing in talented home grown players is a bit far fetched in today's game (especially considering we could have easily nabbed Mata over Downing) but that's his way of doing things and we can only hope but trust it.

Out of the strikers in the EPL, at that point in time, Carroll was one of the only strikers who had scored a fair number of goals (11) and had a good chance of being sold. 35 million is an excessive amount for a striker of his quality (he's probably worth around 15 imo) but there was no choice for us so we had to buy him, whether it was to partner Suarez (increasingly unlikely) or at least to provide cover. He is looking like a flop so far, but nowhere near the likes of Torres or Shevchenko at Chelsea. And in the end, we broke even and that's the important point to mention, no net money was wasted and that's a good thing.

You're above in the table, but there's no denying LFC have been extremely unlucky with results, especially at home. 4 consecutive home draws, 3 of which really should have been won (denied by world class goalkeeping) like the 1-1 result with Man City. Season isn't even half over yet so there's plenty of football to be played.

Edit: Downing hasn't been spectacular but you can't really call him a flop, he's been solid enough. Henderson is still young and considering his performances at Sunderland, he has bags of potential and huge resale value if he can reproduce those performances. Considering our financial power, it's not a big deal for us and consider this as well, overall we spent around 30 million (taking into account the money we got for Meireles, not bad for a guy hitting his 30s) to get what, 5 players or so. Doesn't sound that bad now.

 

[AussieVesti]

Re: The Official Football Thread

1) Was it necessary to bring in a striker from the EPL? Many other clubs have brought in strikers from overseas leagues and come through with success (e.g. Torres from Atletico). Of course the common argument is that players in the EPL are accustomed to the style of play but there have been a multitude of flops if you look at domestic transfers (Keane to Liverpool anyone?).

2) I'm not disregarding the fact you broke even. I can see that was an important factor in filling in the space and the cash left by the Torres sale. I still don't believe it is a valid argument when discussing whether Carroll was an astute buy. I'm sure there were many other strikers at the time who were more prolific than Carroll and would have cost less.

3) Do you think Liverpool thought about how he could be played? When he was at Newcastle, we used him as a target man and had our players supply him with the ball. He has struggled with you guys because this style was not in place for him when he arrived. Of course many people suggest that players like Adam and Downing were brought in for these reasons. What's your perception of Liverpool's scouting network? From what I see, a lot of your purchases are based on reputation and what is said in the media rather than their ability to fit into your team. You have to face it, Downing was performing at a level suitable for Aston Villa's usual position in the final table while Henderson was extremely average in a mid-table Sunderland side. I feel that Liverpool are a victim of the over-hyping common within the English media for their players.

Let me make it clear that this isn't an attack on Liverpool. Many of the mistakes Liverpool have made recently may be coming to bite other clubs on the arse now. I just think that despite Liverpool failing to win anything for decades, you still have the reputation to pull players. Isn't it time to start making an effort to pick up the correct players. Honestly, your scouting network could be doing much better than it already is. Where is the imagination?

So what do you think will happen during the January transfer window? Do you expect any incomings or outgoings? Is squad depth a problem in certain areas?

 

[slyhunter]

Re: The Official Football Thread

1) Like I said, it's Dalglish's way of doing transfer business and all we can hope is to trust him. Consider also that Carroll was injured for a while and hasn't got a run of game consecutively for a while now (I'm talking 15 games ish plus in a row). He needs time. Keane I thought at the time would have been okay at the very least, something happened between him and Rafa but yes, he's a flop.

2) I'm not saying he's an astute buy, there's plenty of arguments going against that. The point is we broken even whereas other clubs would have easily been in the red. We easily have the potential to repair this whereas other clubs don't have that luxury. Let me repeat again, he was the only striker at the time who was English and for sale.

3) Downing, Adam and Henderson were bought for a solid reason, they provided a load of assists for their old teams. They were all in the top 10 for players for providing highest assists in the EPL so we didn't buy based on hype or media representation, statistically at the time, they were sound buys. Downing, whilst not as good as say Mata or Young, is capable of playing at the top level and some of his performances, especially for England, have shown that. Henderson was Sunderland's player of the year last season so I don't see how that is remotely average. Dalglish (and Comolli) know what they're doing. He faced criticism when he was managing Liverpool before and he proved them wrong, it's his way of doing things.

Our scouting network is good, we already have a deal bringing Marco Bueno next season, labelled the next Chicharito, and are forerunners to sign the 19 y.o wonderkid Lucas. I don't see massive issues there. I think you haven't understood the point yet, Dalgish is focusing on bringing domestic players.

January window? Definitely another striker is a priority and I think everyone knows that. We've been linked with a few world class strikers but nothing's concrete and I definitely think there will be no outgoings. Our squad is pretty deep, our forwards are a bit lacking in that department, but that'll be fixed up.

 

[AussieVesti]

Re: The Official Football Thread

I can't understand why English is a requirement for being signed? It may be Liverpool's strategy and fair play that they have a strategy, but I get the feeling that this will just result in over-priced purchases. Bargains are to be found outside the league rather than inside. Perhaps rather than spending all this money (considering the club's wealth), you could start feasible looking at expanding Anfield? Do you guys usually sell out your games? Liverpool are a famous club and there is a better outlook for growth with those types of investments if you guys truly have that much money.

Sunderland are a very average side so PotY isn't really anything much. He did have good games, but for many of them, he was fairly quiet. Not Liverpool standard, nor worth the price tag. Love how Bruce cocked it all up on his purchases.

 

[slyhunter]

Re: The Official Football Thread

Like I said, it's Dalglish's way of doing business and all we can do is trust. He had to rebuild a squad top to bottom, so it's unfair to give a full criticism of the side right now, he needs time. This is looking like a year of transition for LFC and the only goal right now for us is to regain a spot in the Champions League. Obviously local players will always been overpriced compared to overseas players but like I said as well, we've been linked with most overseas players now since our homegrown players are now bought and established. And don't forget the requirement that every squad needs at least 8 homegrown players with 4 trained at the club.

Sunderland finished 10th last season so PotY is still an achievement and for a lad like him who was what, 20 at the time, that's a huge achievement: to break into the first team so young and make an impact.

 

[Izzay]

Re: The Official Football Thread

torres-gerrard of 07/08 > suarez, carroll, adam, henderson, downing etc until eternity

 

[nedzelic]

Re: The Official Football Thread

I reckon Brissie vs Syd will be a good game

 

[AussieVesti]

Re: The Official Football Thread

I reckon Brissie vs Syd will be a good game

The prospect of playing Norwich next week with a backline composing of: Simpson Perch Santon R.Taylor seriously frightens me.

 

[LOL™]

Re: The Official Football Thread

Sunderland finished 10th last season so PotY is still an achievement and for a lad like him who was what, 20 at the time, that's a huge achievement: to break into the first team so young and make an impact.

One good season at a midtable club does not justify the fee you paid for him. He was rubbish at the U21 euros and has stayed that way for first half of this season. You could argue that you were buying potential but for that price, there were much much better players available

 

[AussieVesti]

Re: The Official Football Thread

One good season at a midtable club does not justify the fee you paid for him. He was rubbish at the U21 euros and has stayed that way for first half of this season. You could argue that you were buying potential but for that price, there were much much better players available

I should add the Darren Bent was miles ahead of the rest of the players at SAFC in regards to quality but he obviously wouldn't win PotY because he left mid season. Sunderland were absolute shit after he left so Sunderland coming 10th does not give a good picture of how Henderson actually performed that season compared to similar players in the league. When you look at it, Henderson was PotY for a club with relegation form.

http://i.imgur.com/6dXKN.jpg

 

[slyhunter]

Re: The Official Football Thread

I reckon Brissie vs Syd will be a good game

2-0 gg

One good season at a midtable club does not justify the fee you paid for him. He was rubbish at the U21 euros and has stayed that way for first half of this season. You could argue that you were buying potential but for that price, there were much much better players available

I should add the Darren Bent was miles ahead of the rest of the players at SAFC in regards to quality but he obviously wouldn't win PotY because he left mid season. Sunderland were absolute shit after he left so Sunderland coming 10th does not give a good picture of how Henderson actually performed that season compared to similar players in the league. When you look at it, Henderson was PotY for a club with relegation form.

http://i.imgur.com/6dXKN.jpg

So what justifies a 20 million fee these days? Always bear in mind that 20 million was a penny drop in the ocean for Liverpool.