Liverpool FC Forum

redshade » Thu Dec 27, 2018 5:50 am wrote:Do you guys feel this is the strongest we've been for a title shot??
I'm  talking about squad quality.
08/09 and 13/14 were good teams but i feel this one is almost the full package.

Definately just got to keep everything crossed we dont have a bad run of injuries

Long way to go and gods of chance can be very cruel but still you can really sense that belief in the team this time around

Onwards and upwards

For sure, we used to have a team, now we have a true squad.

The team now is far superior than the team in 08/09 - that team were Functional relying on the ability of Gerrard and balls over for Torres , they weren’t flexible and the manager wasn’t flexible. If you stopped Gerrard you stopped the team. The team was good in the middle but wasn’t massively creative

A great win with an impressive performance, however, it is too early to talk about the title let us get wins over Arsenal and M.City in the new two tough games first the six points what are count at present. M. City is no pushover that is for sure.
We are all happy the team playing well and winning games, and we all hope this will continue.

Good Luck lads for this tough and short fixture.

Mo has to be careful though - stupid dive yesterday which could have been a ban

Lallana in Pyjamas » Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:15 am wrote:The team now is far superior than the team in 08/09 - that team were Functional relying on the ability of Gerrard and balls over for Torres , they weren’t flexible and the manager wasn’t flexible. If you stopped Gerrard you stopped the team. The team was good in the middle but wasn’t massively creative

A game between this team and the 08/09 team would be very interesting, the 08/09 team would completely dominate the midfield, back in 08/09 Gerrard was a force of nature and he'd have way too much for Hendo et al, what I would say though is although Rafa's team had a very good defence which could absorb pressure for long periods none of that back 4 were particularly quick so this team would fancy their chances at getting at Carragher and Hyypia on the break.
That version of Torres v VVD would be a great battle to see as well.
Alas just like comparing great boxers from different era's none of us really know what would happen, we'll have to wait until they invent a time machine.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:28 pm wrote:

Lallana in Pyjamas » Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:15 am wrote:The team now is far superior than the team in 08/09 - that team were Functional relying on the ability of Gerrard and balls over for Torres , they weren’t flexible and the manager wasn’t flexible. If you stopped Gerrard you stopped the team. The team was good in the middle but wasn’t massively creative

A game between this team and the 08/09 team would be very interesting, the 08/09 team would completely dominate the midfield, back in 08/09 Gerrard was a force of nature and he'd have way too much for Hendo et al, what I would say though is although Rafa's team had a very good defence which could absorb pressure for long periods none of that back 4 were particularly quick so this team would fancy their chances at getting at Carragher and Hyypia on the break.
That version of Torres v VVD would be a great battle to see as well.
Alas just like comparing great boxers from different era's none of us really know what would happen, we'll have to wait until they invent a time machine.

Gerrard didn’t play in midfield though - he played higher up the pitch supporting Torres , they would just deny the space and VVD has controlled better forwards than Torres. You far underrate the ability of our midfield as well as overstating the impact of Masher and Xabi - both got better when they left the club . And the front three would rip the 08 back line apart

Lallana in Pyjamas » Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:41 pm wrote:

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:28 pm wrote:

Lallana in Pyjamas » Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:15 am wrote:The team now is far superior than the team in 08/09 - that team were Functional relying on the ability of Gerrard and balls over for Torres , they weren’t flexible and the manager wasn’t flexible. If you stopped Gerrard you stopped the team. The team was good in the middle but wasn’t massively creative

A game between this team and the 08/09 team would be very interesting, the 08/09 team would completely dominate the midfield, back in 08/09 Gerrard was a force of nature and he'd have way too much for Hendo et al, what I would say though is although Rafa's team had a very good defence which could absorb pressure for long periods none of that back 4 were particularly quick so this team would fancy their chances at getting at Carragher and Hyypia on the break.
That version of Torres v VVD would be a great battle to see as well.
Alas just like comparing great boxers from different era's none of us really know what would happen, we'll have to wait until they invent a time machine.

Gerrard didn’t play in midfield though - he played higher up the pitch supporting Torres , they would just deny the space and VVD has controlled better forwards than Torres. You far underrate the ability of our midfield as well as overstating the impact of Masher and Xabi - both got better when they left the club . And the front three would rip the 08 back line apart

Mascherano and Alonso were fantastic players here, the reason Real Madrid wanted Xabi was because he bossed their midfield in the Bernebeu. Do you honestly think Jurgen's go to midfield of Hendo, Gini and Milner would get the better of that 08/09 midfield? Plus our defence is good but if you think a prime Gerrard and Torres wouldn't give them serious trouble you are very mistaken, hell Newcastle should have had a couple yesterday, Mina should have scored in the derby too, clean sheets are not always down to good defending.
As I said Benny we can both argue until we are blue in the face but we'll never know.

Klopps midfield is full of options - he has 6/7 players that can be mixed and their is no real “go to “ - so far you have spent all season being very negative especially about the midfield - yet here we are all teams played , unbeaten and you can point out players from that season but as a team the current one is quite clearly showing that they are one of the best Liverpool teams in the Prem era - the defence is one of the best. The 08/09 relied  on one player regardless of others about - Gerrard , that season they failed many times to break down teams - 11 draws because they were one dimensional, all a team had to do was sit deep and in numbers and you nullified the threat of Torres , put numbers and deny Gerrard space and that was it - Reira and Kuyt or Babel weren’t game changers. Henderson and Co have played against better than Alonso and Masher and controlled them.

As been said you are still living back over a decade ago dreaming of a team that fell short because they had no real strength in depth and were very one dimensional- the manager and his tactics and squad are far better now

Masha struggled in Barca’s midfield and successfully rescued his career as a centre back. To suggest he was better when he left is another of Lallana’s dubious opinions. Alonso was brilliant for Liverpool. Maybe he improved at Real Madrid but that is not to say that any of our current midfielders come close to Xabi’s ability when he was at Liverpool.

I seem to remember Gerrard and Alonso won the CL in 2005 with Liverpool. As good as we look now in overall terms it still has to be remembered that they have won virtually nothing and your hero Henderson has a league cup medal to his name. Let’s get carried away and draw comparisons when we have actually won something.

devaney » Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:09 pm wrote:Masha struggled in Barca’s midfield and successfully rescued his career as a centre back. To suggest he was better when he left is another of Lallana’s dubious opinions. Alonso was brilliant for Liverpool. Maybe he improved at Real Madrid but that is not to say that any of our current midfielders come close to Xabi’s ability when he was at Liverpool.

Masher didn’t “struggle” - he was played in the backline because Barce had Busquets and Xavi. Masher was superb for Barce because he stepped forward into the midfield with the ball and was constantly clearing up - he was brilliant for them - 5 titles and 3 CL he ended up winning whilst playing week in week out - he was pretty a defensive mid for them. He won nothing at Liverpool

Alonso’s time at Liverpool wasn’t always great - he started well but then dropped off a bit to the point where he was looking to be sold and no one was buying for under £20 mil - remember plenty of talk of him being dropped and being replaced. He then had a very good last season pretty much playing for a move which he got

The 08/09 team was good but fell short due to various deficiencies within that team - it was rigid , lacked pace in the wide areas , lacked creativity and lacked depth - the squad over achieved with Gerrard playing superbly

Benny do yourself a favour - don't go around saying Milner, Henderson and Gini are as good as Gerrard, Alonso and Mascherano, I wouldn't like to see you get laughed at. It's alright having opinions like that on these boards, none of us gives a ***** on here but in the real world people would genuinely fall about laughing.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Dec 27, 2018 4:38 pm wrote:Benny do yourself a favour - don't go around saying Milner, Henderson and Gini are as good as Gerrard, Alonso and Mascherano, I wouldn't like to see you get laughed at. It's alright having opinions like that on these boards, none of us gives a ***** on here but in the real world people would genuinely fall about laughing.

Can you point out where I said that ? No one has said etc etc are better than etc etc as individuals- the team you praise constantly won nothing - they failed because the team couldn’t break down team after team - 11 draws they had.

devaney » Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:09 pm wrote:Masha struggled in Barca’s midfield and successfully rescued his career as a centre back. To suggest he was better when he left is another of Lallana’s dubious opinions. Alonso was brilliant for Liverpool. Maybe he improved at Real Madrid but that is not to say that any of our current midfielders come close to Xabi’s ability when he was at Liverpool.

I seem to remember Gerrard and Alonso won the CL in 2005 with Liverpool. As good as we look now in overall terms it still has to be remembered that they have won virtually nothing and your hero Henderson has a league cup medal to his name. Let’s get carried away and draw comparisons when we have actually won something.

Why are you going on about Henderson and his league cup medal ?

And the comparisons were started by the yakka bloke. And when talking about winning remember the 08/09 team that yakka can’t stop praising won nothing - Mascherano won nothing - etc etc

Just a little comparison of Alonso’s and Gerrard’s CL medal and Henderson’s league cup medal - didn’t think it was that tricky.

As I said when we have won something is the time to draw comparisons. The only true comparison at the moment is that both teams have won fk all !!