Liverpool FC Forum

The acid test will come next week against Arsenal, if we go there and get a win or even a draw then the decision to adopt this new 'hard to beat' approach will have been validated.
If we go there and get played off the park though there will be one or two tough questions for Brendan to answer.

Well that wasnt great at all.
Like most have said at this stage the win is the most important thing but we did definitely get lucky with the key decisions.
I was very happy with Benteke and Clyne, both look like they will clearly improve the team.
Really think we should be playing 2 up top though, or at the least getting players close to Benteke.
Ibe for me isnt ready to be starting for us. He has plenty of raw ability but doesnt get involved enough or take up positions in which he will cause problems.
People who have compared Ibe with Sterling need to watch the difference in the off the ball movement, Sterling is on a different level altogether.
Firmino could perhaps be that player but at this stage is obviously going to take a bit of time to get his sharpness and used to the pace of the league.
Lallana done ok in patches but I honestly dont see how we get him in the same side as Coutinho. He's not a front 3 player for me and wants to play similar positions to Countinho. But obviously isnt as much of a threat in them.
I'd be looking to start Ings with Benteke and play a diamond against Arsenal with Coutinho at the tip. Milner Henderson and Can behind. If Henderson doesnt make it bring Lucas in. He would probably be a good bet at the Emirates anyway.

Agree with most of your post RBG. Maybe not the part about the defence being all over the place though. Despite the midfield being a complete shambles, the defence limited them to only a few half chances. Apart from Lovren getting skinned in the first five minutes down their inside right and beaten in the air for their disallowed goal we looked ok defensively. And to be fair to Lovren, who I don't rate at all, he settled and made a few good interceptions later in the game after his early wobbles. Last season he'd have folded after those mistakes so hopefully a sign of his confidence improving.

The Sakho situation is frustrating though. One issue I simply can't back Rodgers on.

Ben - completely agree about Lallana and Coutinho. The only thing we could try is if we had a diamond, one could play at the tip and another deeper as one of the two in the middle. We wouldn't get away with that against the better sides though.

It's clear that Lallana isn't a wide player. He's done absolutely nothing in these two games.

Lallana is a bit of a concern imo, he's 27 now and right in his prime, at this point in his career he should be putting his stamp on games. To be fair he did put a shift in defensively but for £25m you expect more than a honest grafter.

JC_81 » Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:47 pm wrote:Agree with most of your post RBG. Maybe not the part about the defence being all over the place though. Despite the midfield being a complete shambles, the defence limited them to only a few half chances. Apart from Lovren getting skinned in the first five minutes down their inside right and beaten in the air for their disallowed goal we looked ok defensively. And to be fair to Lovren, who I don't rate at all, he settled and made a few good interceptions later in the game after his early wobbles. Last season he'd have folded after those mistakes so hopefully a sign of his confidence improving.

The Sakho situation is frustrating though. One issue I simply can't back Rodgers on.

In that first 15 /20 minutes mate ,Gomez was pulled out of position more times than can be described as comfortable ,Skrtel looked indecisive alongside Lovren neither knew when to stay or move out with the ball , there's just seems to be no understanding between the two ,and the most successful CB's can read each others game. I thought Clyne was a breath of fresh air ,but he's the only one I had any real confidence in ,the lad looks like a real class act.

Lovren is evidently more comfortable with the ball at his feet ,certainly more than he is in aerial duels  ,so he needs someone to compliment those attributes in a similar vein as Hyypia and Henchoz ,arguably the best CB pairing since Hansen and Lorro.....Personally I would love to see Ilori come into that equation the lad just looks so composed and rarely flaps at crosses ,its a complete mystery how the lad hasn't yet been blooded ,especially when you take into account a player as green as Gomez being thrown in right from the off.

What galls me most is we have the players to be frightening going forward in Coutz ,Firmino and Markovic ,if all three play to their potential it would give us a thrust we haven't had since Suarez ,Sturridge and Sterling.... Lallana should be used predominantly as back up to Coutinho ,the two seem to vie for the same space.

As for Ibe he should also be a useful impact sub ,but as a wide man he needs to bring a whole lot more to his game.

RED BEERGOGGLES » Tue Aug 18, 2015 10:41 pm wrote:What galls me most is we have the players to be frightening going forward in Coutz ,Firmino and Markovic ,if all three play to their potential it would give us a thrust we haven't had since Suarez ,Sturridge and Sterling.... Lallana should be used predominantly as back up to Coutinho ,the two seem to vie for the same space.

As for Ibe he should also be a useful impact sub ,but as a wide man he needs to bring a whole lot more to his game.

Not so sure RBG, Coutinho is a great player but is very hit and miss throughout the season. Let's hope for some more consistency this season, so far so good.

Firmino is an unknown quantity at the moment, but I personally believe given game time he will add another important dimension to our game. Rodgers needs to play him ahead of Lallana, who has looked very average so far.

I'm far from convinced on Markovic, he was awful last season and at times seemed scared silly playing. If he continues that nonsense we should cut our losses and sell him at the end of this season. He needs to be given a few full games to show us whether he has it or not.

Couldn't agree more on Ibe, he is nowhere near the player we currently need out on the wings. The kid is too young and raw and needs to a lot more time before he is playing 90 minutes in the first XI, game in game out. We were all over the moon selling that little s**t Sterling but we now look very, very poor out on the wings. Not sure how that is going to work with Benteke wanting a constant stream of crosses into the box?

eds » Wed Aug 19, 2015 12:05 am wrote:

RED BEERGOGGLES » Tue Aug 18, 2015 10:41 pm wrote:What galls me most is we have the players to be frightening going forward in Coutz ,Firmino and Markovic ,if all three play to their potential it would give us a thrust we haven't had since Suarez ,Sturridge and Sterling.... Lallana should be used predominantly as back up to Coutinho ,the two seem to vie for the same space.

As for Ibe he should also be a useful impact sub ,but as a wide man he needs to bring a whole lot more to his game.

Not so sure RBG, Coutinho is a great player but is very hit and miss throughout the season. Let's hope for some more consistency this season, so far so good.

Firmino is an unknown quantity at the moment, but I personally believe given game time he will add another important dimension to our game. Rodgers needs to play him ahead of Lallana, who has looked very average so far.

I'm far from convinced on Markovic, he was awful last season and at times seemed scared silly playing. If he continues that nonsense we should cut our losses and sell him at the end of this season. He needs to be given a few full games to show us whether he has it or not.

Couldn't agree more on Ibe, he is nowhere near the player we currently need out on the wings. The kid is too young and raw and needs to a lot more time before he is playing 90 minutes in the first XI, game in game out. We were all over the moon selling that little s**t Sterling but we now look very, very poor out on the wings. Not sure how that is going to work with Benteke wanting a constant stream of crosses into the box?

I'm positive Markovic will be a huge asset to this club if he is afforded the opportunities ,as for last season I actually thought the lad done Ok as a WB certainly the more competent from the pick the manager threw there ,and when he was played as a outright winger he scared the life out of the Arsenal defence running at them at pace only to be mystifyingly withdrawn by the manager when he was the only runner we had capable of getting in behind their
back four.

Yeah I agree with that, I couldn't believe it when Brendan ragged him off at HT against Arsenal, he was actually one of our better players.