Liverpool FC Forum

As far as I am concerned the rest of this season is now an audition for next seasons first 11.

This season has proved that we do not have any depth in this squad. Our first 11 has turned out to be mostly average when measuring quality over the longer run. We could not maintain a run in a single competition. Very poor!

You cannot build a top 4 side on a budget, so what do we do?

Do what Chelsea does, buy quality players, play the system that best suits your players, be professional when possible otherwise be dirty and do what it takes to win (Costa).

Knowing that will not happen here the alternative is to lower your expectations and embrace our status as 6-7th placed team. It's not so bad one you accept it just don't look back and it's ok   

Oh dear.

Penguins » Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:10 pm wrote:

redshade » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:17 pm wrote:Didn't catch the match so can't really analyse the performance.
However from the looks of it seems like our bad form continues.
I would have thought after the draw against Chelsea the lads would have put up a performance today.
We've got a really bad crisis going on.
Top 4? Lol will be lucky to finish 8th.
Mancs have been breathing down our necks and are very close to overtaking us.
Next few fixtures we've got are tough and the way things are going we will be possible 5/6th end of the month.

Since Rafa left we have not addressed our defense. Also like someone stated we have not replaced Macha/Alonso in DM.
Defensively were woeful and will be.
If you want success you begin at the back, solidify your team then work upfront.
We work in reverse we did it with Brendan and seems like atm with Klopp.

When Houllier came his first task he strengthened us at the back with Henchoz and Hyppia. Our defense was solid and had he made few more positive changes we would have done a lot better under him.

I envy Conte. He bought Kante to solidfiy the mid. What a beast of player. The iron shield of Chelsea mid.
David Luiz, another to cement the defense.
They deserve to be where they are and are worthy champions.

Just lovely these posts...
What the heck did Kante and Luiz cost ffs ? That would be a new record midfield and defender signing if we did those.
So Chelski spend 100 million and Conte is a superstar. When did LFC spend anything close to that without having to sell 1st...

You can't stand the heat, don't go into the kitchen. The PL is a big boy's league right now and we are still having a kindergarten mindset. Kante looks like he's going to pick up another PL medal in successive season with different clubs and there's a reason why. At the end of the day, he will be valued as an absolute bargain even at £40M, nevermind £28.5M. tbh at times I cannot see much difference on the field between us and Chelsea, but yet it is obvious that they have much better quality in most positions as well as a depth and a balance to their squad. Klopp have an opportunity to clean house and bring in quality players to start off his regime so why we have a net transfer earnings in the Summer I cannot understand? and yet refused to spend big in January to salvaged a potentially good season? whoever is calling the shot (whether it is FSG not bringing out the cheque book or Klopp being stubborn) will need to shoulder the blame and take a hike.

I am utterly appalled by the recent performance. The keeper and central defensive positions are a mess. Can have regressed and slowing down our play. We do not have a out and out striker that can sniff out that little gap and put the ball into the net. Milner (who was our best player yesterday) can't run forever, and Coutinho will packed off and go in the Summer after we missed out on CL, again. Who is our midfield enforcer and where is our "take no nonsense" leader on the pitch? We heard Hendo making the war cry a few weeks ago and I laughed at him. Looks like a few games later we are still playing spineless football. The squad seriously lacked depth so when games piled up, injuries, suspension etc hit us, we lose our shape and initiative...this is not going to cut it in the PL.

Suddenly the romantic thought of Rafa coming back is at the back of my mind, and I am a big fan of Klopp. We need a balanced side but with the exception of Rafa, our managers in the last 20 years seems to have forgotten the mantra of our success...build from the back. Stevie Wonder could see that we have a shitty keeper and a leaky defence, so why can't these managers see and fix this glaring issues?

I will be travelling and will probably miss the next few games, but in truth, I am NOT looking toward our next games and I have been supporting this team for the past 46 years. Sad and bleak time ahead with a lot of soul searching and heartbreaking among us

redshade » Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:31 pm wrote:Well thats what maybe we should be doing then lol.

Kante 30 mil luzi 29 mil.
Not that much money is it!.

Both are solid defensive players that are one of the main reason why Chelsea are strong at the back.

redshade » Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:37 pm wrote:Just to add one to your post conte players he bought cost £112.8 mil and players he sold £92 mill

Net spend in the minus 20 mill.

Sorry but i still have to applaud Conte.
He knew where he needed to solidify his team and did it well.

Exactly what I would say. Seems our years of mediocrity have made some fans forgotten what it takes to win again

btw they sold Luiz for £50M and bought him back for 40% less...it is obvious that both Conte (and most likely the suits in the office) are very prudent with team building and transfers and doing good business recently.

Santa » Sun Feb 05, 2017 3:49 am wrote:

Penguins » Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:10 pm wrote:

redshade » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:17 pm wrote:Didn't catch the match so can't really analyse the performance.
However from the looks of it seems like our bad form continues.
I would have thought after the draw against Chelsea the lads would have put up a performance today.
We've got a really bad crisis going on.
Top 4? Lol will be lucky to finish 8th.
Mancs have been breathing down our necks and are very close to overtaking us.
Next few fixtures we've got are tough and the way things are going we will be possible 5/6th end of the month.

Since Rafa left we have not addressed our defense. Also like someone stated we have not replaced Macha/Alonso in DM.
Defensively were woeful and will be.
If you want success you begin at the back, solidify your team then work upfront.
We work in reverse we did it with Brendan and seems like atm with Klopp.

When Houllier came his first task he strengthened us at the back with Henchoz and Hyppia. Our defense was solid and had he made few more positive changes we would have done a lot better under him.

I envy Conte. He bought Kante to solidfiy the mid. What a beast of player. The iron shield of Chelsea mid.
David Luiz, another to cement the defense.
They deserve to be where they are and are worthy champions.

Just lovely these posts...
What the heck did Kante and Luiz cost ffs ? That would be a new record midfield and defender signing if we did those.
So Chelski spend 100 million and Conte is a superstar. When did LFC spend anything close to that without having to sell 1st...

You can't stand the heat, don't go into the kitchen. The PL is a big boy's league right now and we are still having a kindergarten mindset. Kante looks like he's going to pick up another PL medal in successive season with different clubs and there's a reason why. At the end of the day, he will be valued as an absolute bargain even at £40M, nevermind £28.5M. tbh at times I cannot see much difference on the field between us and Chelsea, but yet it is obvious that they have much better quality in most positions as well as a depth and a balance to their squad. Klopp have an opportunity to clean house and bring in quality players to start off his regime so why we have a net transfer earnings in the Summer I cannot understand? and yet refused to spend big in January to salvaged a potentially good season? whoever is calling the shot (whether it is FSG not bringing out the cheque book or Klopp being stubborn) will need to shoulder the blame and take a hike.

I am utterly appalled by the recent performance. The keeper and central defensive positions are a mess. Can have regressed and slowing down our play. We do not have a out and out striker that can sniff out that little gap and put the ball into the net. Milner (who was our best player yesterday) can't run forever, and Coutinho will packed off and go in the Summer after we missed out on CL, again. Who is our midfield enforcer and where is our "take no nonsense" leader on the pitch? We heard Hendo making the war cry a few weeks ago and I laughed at him. Looks like a few games later we are still playing spineless football. The squad seriously lacked depth so when games piled up, injuries, suspension etc hit us, we lose our shape and initiative...this is not going to cut it in the PL.

Suddenly the romantic thought of Rafa coming back is at the back of my mind, and I am a big fan of Klopp. We need a balanced side but with the exception of Rafa, our managers in the last 20 years seems to have forgotten the mantra of our success...build from the back. Stevie Wonder could see that we have a shitty keeper and a leaky defence, so why can't these managers see and fix this glaring issues?

I will be travelling and will probably miss the next few games, but in truth, I am NOT looking toward our next games and I have been supporting this team for the past 46 years. Sad and bleak time ahead with a lot of soul searching and heartbreaking among us

The first paragraph is my sentiments exactly... The owner's transfer policy has unravelled spectacularly. The thing that hurts the most is that it's not that we cannot compete with other clubs to a certain extent, we could. I just think that there is something in the owner's transfer policy that is very restrictive and keeps us purchasing above average players or losing out on our targets. And the problem is that Klopp seems to be going along with the owner's policy. We have seen what a very restrictive transfer policy could do to a team's success (Arsenal). And yet we are walking into the same exact scenario. In recent history, only Rafa was able to build a squad that can be considered really talented and top 4 material. His downfall came about only when T&T imposed the sell to buy policy. Balancing the books is one thing, which I'm all for, but FSG and Klopp has to review why we are failing so miserably and why we have such a weakened squad. In football, you gotta spend money to make money...

Hull introduced Italian International Ranocchia as third choice centre back just before KO and we are wheeling out Lucas, more depth in Hull back line is a snapshot of how thin our squad is.

Santa » Sun Feb 05, 2017 11:49 am wrote:

Penguins » Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:10 pm wrote:[quote="redshade » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:17 pm"


You can't stand the heat, don't go into the kitchen. The PL is a big boy's league right now and we are still having a kindergarten mindset. Kante looks like he's going to pick up another PL medal in successive season with different clubs and there's a reason why. At the end of the day, he will be valued as an absolute bargain even at £40M, nevermind £28.5M. tbh at times I cannot see much difference on the field between us and Chelsea, but yet it is obvious that they have much better quality in most positions as well as a depth and a balance to their squad. Klopp have an opportunity to clean house and bring in quality players to start off his regime so why we have a net transfer earnings in the Summer I cannot understand? and yet refused to spend big in January to salvaged a potentially good season? whoever is calling the shot (whether it is FSG not bringing out the cheque book or Klopp being stubborn) will need to shoulder the blame and take a hike.

Sorry guys but I don't think a guy called "Billy Hogan" is the answer. A comedian or a wrestler maybe but the top man at LFC to take us back to he sorry... nope.

City 2-1 Swansea ...we are out of the Top 4. Not sure if we will ever get back?

Santa » Sun Feb 05, 2017 3:24 pm wrote:City 2-1 Swansea ...we are out of the Top 4. Not sure if we will ever get back?

United are right up our @rses as well only 1 point back, given we play Spurs next we could easily find ourselves in 6th this time next week. Even reasonable form post Christmas would have seen us comfortably in second but we've had a total ****** collapse. Swansea were rock bottom when we played them as were Sunderland and Hull yesterday were 19th before kick off, we've fallen apart against the worst sides in the division which doesn't say much for us atm!

Yup and next weekend United will overtake us and will be 6th, thats if we lose to spurs.

Santa » Sun Feb 05, 2017 4:24 pm wrote:City 2-1 Swansea ...we are out of the Top 4. Not sure if we will ever get back?

We've been kicked out like we don't belong there.
Its upto Klopp and the lads now to stop feeling sorry for themselves and take it up a notch.
We've got no excuses x1 game per week; full squad to choose from.
We're still in a better position to finish in top 4 but its all upto us.
Are we going to falter like lil whimps or become men and feking cement ourselves back into the top 4.

Falter.  Starting by getting our ***** handed to us by spurs next week.  But it'll be OK.  Klopp will still give a smile after the defeat like he's always has.

We will turn up against spurs and arsenal. Will be no surprise if we win both those games. I'm more worried about the trip to Leicester and Burnley at home to be honest.

Doeboy » Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:29 am wrote:We will turn up against spurs and arsenal. Will be no surprise if we win both those games. I'm more worried about the trip to Leicester and Burnley at home to be honest.

Given we have done so well against the better sides in the division I'd hazard a guess that our problems are mainly tactical.
We have played Chelsea twice, United twice and Arsenal, Spurs, City and Everton all once and haven't lost a single game to any of them! If we were truly shyte we wouldn't be able to remain unbeaten in 8 games against the best sides in the country.
Jurgen and his backroom team need to get their thinking caps on.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:25 pm wrote:

Doeboy » Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:29 am wrote:We will turn up against spurs and arsenal. Will be no surprise if we win both those games. I'm more worried about the trip to Leicester and Burnley at home to be honest.

Given we have done so well against the better sides in the division I'd hazard a guess that our problems are mainly tactical.
We have played Chelsea twice, United twice and Arsenal, Spurs, City and Everton all once and haven't lost a single game to any of them! If we were truly shyte we wouldn't be able to remain unbeaten in 8 games against the best sides in the country.
Jurgen and his backroom team need to get their thinking caps on.

Yep. If we don't score early against teams that get men behind the ball and crowd the middle out, we seem to panic and rush things and almost try too hard without putting too much thought into it.

I'm an advocate of playing the ball quickly but there is a difference between playing a quick, sharp, crisp ball with purpose compared to just moving the ball on quickly for the sake of it being a quick ball, with little thought put in to it.