Liverpool FC Forum

[SkippyRed]

He put Ings on the wing and Firmino away from him and isolated Benteke again. He needs these guys close to him.

What good is winning 16 headers if there is no one to capitalise on them?

[leeroy74]

Balotelli would have scored tons of goals for us if the team was setup right.

Balotelli career goals..

2006–2007 Lumezzane 2 (0)
2007–2010 Internazionale 59 (20)
2010–2013 Manchester City 54 (20)
2013–2014 Milan 43 (26)
2014– Liverpool 16 (1)
2015– → Milan (loan) 1 (0)

Nope, I'm not seeing how he'd score tonnes of goals, he never has and he never will.

As for Benteke, I feel for him. He's joined us and now he's been played out of position/isolated up front/ no support and as time goes on and he scores the odd goal or 2 over the season the fans will turn on him and he'll be branded a waste of money and it'll be cries for '[insert managers name] out'.

ruthless, f*cking ruthless.

[aCe']

Balotelli would have scored tons of goals for us if the team was setup right.

Balotelli career goals..

2006–2007 Lumezzane 2 (0)
2007–2010 Internazionale 59 (20)
2010–2013 Manchester City 54 (20)
2013–2014 Milan 43 (26)
2014– Liverpool 16 (1)
2015– → Milan (loan) 1 (0)

Nope, I'm not seeing how he'd score tonnes of goals, he never has and he never will.

As for Benteke, I feel for him. He's joined us and now he's been played out of position/isolated up front/ no support and as time goes on and he scores the odd goal or 2 over the season the fans will turn on him and he'll be branded a waste of money and it'll be cries for '[insert managers name] out'.

ruthless, f*cking ruthless.

Balotelli might not be a prolific striker. He might have off the field attitude issues that will stop him from realizing his true potential, but imo he's an excellent player and the only club he failed to show his talents was Liverpool. For me, he's on a similar level to Benteke; a grade above the likes of Ings and Origi and slightly below Sturridge. He came on as a sub in the Milan derby yesterday -in a match that featured forwards like Icardi, Jovetic, Bacca and Luiz Adriano- and he looked the best player on the pitch from his first touch of the ball. 

That is not to say that Rodgers is a poor man manager but last season, and so far this season, he has failed to find a system that gets the best out of his best players. When we had Suarez, he stumbled on that system. It nearly won us the league.

[devaney]

Can't stand the bloke but it is impossible to get away from the fact that he has scored 67 goals in 175 games which isn't great but it is not disastrous either. It is all about where he is best suited and that is obviously Italy. Serie A has zero strength in depth. It is a vastly different league to the Premiership. Let's face it Balotelli had only scored 1 goal in his previous 17 Premiership matches prior to joining LFC and he continued with that strike rate with us.Apart from his total lack of goals he is a fkg nuisance !!!!

[C-R]

Out for 2 weeks and struggling to make it for the merseyside derby

Lets hope Studge can stay fit and get his sharpness back quickly

[Doeboy]

Great header by the big man today and good to see him back. With Ings out for the season, Origi not upto the level required yet and Sturridge not being able to be relied upon with his injuries , very important to have Benteke back

[SkippyRed]

I was really impressed with him. His ability to compete and hold the ball is great. His runs were also threatening with purpose.

I will say this though, he should be embarrassed losing a header to Ramirez for their goal.

[maguskwt]

Wtf he's injured again...

[eds]

You will find that he is as bad as Sturridge. 

We can't rely on either of them, both very good players but too injury prone.

Klopp needs to go out and buy a reliable striker in Jan.

Over the winter break I would consider selling both of them and Origi to bring in a new front line.

Their days are numbered, this is f**king ridiculous. 

[SkippyRed]

I like that we are resting the guys with a knock. Should be back v Chelsea.

Def agree about a striker in Jan, but the quality will be hard to get.

[andy_g]

i mentioned this briefly in the player ratings thread. maybe it seems a bit harsh on a player that scored the winning goal and could have had more if it were not for marginal offsides - but i thought he was poor last night. if he would show a bit more determination, and especially anticipation, more often he would score a lot more goals. like in the city match when he was through on goal but decided to put the brakes on and wait for a challenge, or in the match last night when ibe put in a great cross and he wasn't making any great effort to get near it. several times last night i was exasperated by his lack of basic centre forward awareness, being caught flat footed, not making the run early enough, or making it too late. seems like he's the one player under klopp that still lacks belief. he'll never be a top player unless he looks like he wants to score.

[parchpea]

I can see Benteke just being used as an impact player under Klopp as he develops his squad.

Even this early its obvious Firmino and Lallana dont look as good around Benteke and need a moving target, more flexibilty, to maximise their stengths and I think that will happen.

Sturridge can play that role but the teams looked better overall with Firmino as the forward and there is no rhythm in the final third with Benteke.

Rodgers idea was to be more solid and use Benteke as an outlet but under Klopp we will go back to where we was in the title tilt season with good movement.

[redshade]

He does tend to slow the play down. I deffinetely agree a player like DS is more suited to play with Firminho, Coutinho and Lallana.
Benteke is more of a target man type. Good option to have imo.

[SkippyRed]

I can see Benteke just being used as an impact player under Klopp as he develops his squad.

Even this early its obvious Firmino and Lallana dont look as good around Benteke and need a moving target, more flexibilty, to maximise their stengths and I think that will happen.

Sturridge can play that role but the teams looked better overall with Firmino as the forward and there is no rhythm in the final third with Benteke.

Rodgers idea was to be more solid and use Benteke as an outlet but under Klopp we will go back to where we was in the title tilt season with good movement.

Completely agree about the impact sub, it id definitely the way forward. However, he needs some minutes with Sturridge as well.

[Reg]

Not sure whether we want to play 4-4-2 now Skippy, we have some great wide players and playmakers, think 4-4-2 is too rigid. Benteke is struggling to fit in because he's a 4-4-2 style man.