Topic: Our Attack - meaning people at the club now - not players you fancy signing

[Kenny's Jacket]

Thanks for the clarification. I disagree. I don't think Balotelli has been playing poorly. He simply has not been able to convert. It happens to the best of them (at some point, it happened to Suarez, as well).

As I said if he carries on as hes started his price will plumit. As you've agreed he couldn't hit a barn door at the moment, or to put in your words hes not been able to convert.  Add the fact hes so immobile, and hes not adding any real value.  His agents also said he's in the last chance saloon.

As for the people waiting for January, who are we going to sign that we didn't/couldn't sign in August?


We had a bad Summer Transfer Window and people now realize this. 

[Solomon Grundy]

We had a bad Summer Transfer Window and people now realize this. 

 

[killer-heels]

As I said if he carries on as hes started his price will plumit. As you've agreed he couldn't hit a barn door at the moment, or to put in your words hes not been able to convert.  Add the fact hes so immobile, and hes not adding any real value.  His agents also said he's in the last chance saloon.

As for the people waiting for January, who are we going to sign that we didn't/couldn't sign in August?


We had a bad Summer Transfer Window and people now realize this. 

How? Moreno, Manquillo, Lallana have all been good and certainly Markovic, Can and Lovren have the talent. Any questions marks are over Lambert and Balotelli.

[ScouserAtHeart]

People do realize it's simply not a matter of throwing, say, 40 million at Costa? Wages are far more important than transfer fees. We may have been willing to pay 35 million for Carroll, but that's not the same as being willing to pay him 200k a week. (just as an example)

It's also part of the reason why we spent 110 million or so on 8 players instead of on 2-3 world class ones with huge wages. I get that we had to fill up the squad as well, but now that we have, and assuming we have 50-60 million to spend again next season, don't be surprised if we didn't sign the likes of Reus/Draxler/whatever flavor of the season from Spain/Germany. That's not how FSG operates.

[killer-heels]

People do realize it's simply not a matter of throwing, say, 40 million at Costa? Wages are far more important than transfer fees. We may have been willing to pay 35 million for Carroll, but that's not the same as being willing to pay him 200k a week. (just as an example)

It's also part of the reason why we spent 110 million or so on 8 players instead of on 2-3 world class ones with huge wages. I get that we had to fill up the squad as well, but now that we have, and assuming we have 50-60 million to spend again next season, don't be surprised if we didn't sign the likes of Reus/Draxler/whatever flavor of the season from Spain/Germany. That's not how FSG operates.

We wont sign many more players now. We have lots of talent and just a handful of gaps in the squad.

[Solomon Grundy]

The Remy deal falling through has been a disaster for us so far, for both us and the player himself. He would've been getting regular game time playing for us and we would've had another striker in the Sturridge mould we could've relied on. There wouldn't of been as much pressure on Sterling or Balotelli(if we had still signed him) to perform either.

[6BigCups]

With Sturridge injured our attack is reliant on Balotelli; who can't play up top on his own, or Rickie Lambert; who makes Sami Hyypia look like a speed demon.

We're fucked.



.

[Kenny's Jacket]

How? Moreno, Manquillo, Lallana have all been good and certainly Markovic, Can and Lovren have the talent. Any questions marks are over Lambert and Balotelli.

Weve improved the full backs 100%.  Lallana also looks good. Lallana is basically an extra body, he isn't however a massive improvement on what we had. i.e Steling and Coutinho. 

Weve spent 20m improving the LCB position and ended up no better off. We should have signed a DM who can fill in for an ageing Gerrard. Please don't say Lucas, as much as I love the lad.  However up front has been a disaster.  Weve replaced Suarez with Sturridge who as expected, gets injured a lot. Weve replaced Sturridge with Balotelli.  Square peg in a round hole.


So in short we;ve improved the FB positions, added depth and similar quality to out AM options and massively downgraded on Strikers.  Not to mention spending 20m on a CB he has not improved us.


Ive not really included Markovic.  He obviously been poor, but he may come good. 

[Solomon Grundy]

I'd honestly start playing Fabio up top with Mario now. He isn't the greatest, but his movement is good and he will press the opposition and work his socks off.

[edeyj]

Time for Borini to be paired with Balotelli....worth a try imo.

[Kenny's Jacket]

I'd honestly start playing Fabio up top with Mario now. He isn't the greatest, but his movement is good and he will press the opposition and work his socks off.

Im not sure how tired he is, but Id give that job to Sterling before Borini.  Borini lacks ability and probably confidence. 

[Solomon Grundy]

Weve improved the full backs 100%.  Lallana also looks good. Lallana is basically an extra body, he isn't however a massive improvement on what we had. i.e Steling and Coutinho. 

Weve spent 20m improving the LCB position and ended up no better off. We should have signed a DM who can fill in for an ageing Gerrard. Please don't say Lucas, as much as I love the lad.  However up front has been a disaster.  Weve replaced Suarez with Sturridge who as expected, gets injured a lot. Weve replaced Sturridge with Balotelli.  Square peg in a round hole.


So in short we;ve improved the FB positions, added depth and similar quality to out AM options and massively downgraded on Strikers. 


Ive not really included Markovic.  He obviously been poor, but he may come good. 

We've improved our fullback areas.

Lallana is class and was needed given all the games we will probably be playing.

Emre Can was brought into replace Gerrard in the long term. Too early to judge yet, but he did look good against Spurs.

Lazar Markovic, although he hasn't set the house on fire, is very highly rated around Europe. I'm sure he'll come good, just needs time to adapt.

Upfront I agree, we made a massive mistake not bringing in another mobile forward.

The transfer window has hardly been as bad as you've made it out to be though.

[Solomon Grundy]

Im not sure how tired he is, but Id give that job to Sterling before Borini.  Borini lacks ability and probably confidence. 

Sterling really does needs to be rotated. More for his mental state more than his physical state really. There is too much pressure, too much being said about him at the moment. He needs to be taken out of the limelight from time to time. And the only way Fabio will ever get his belief and confidence up is by playing games.

[goalspaytherent]

He's not a lone striker though.

No but he is a striker and upon what he will be judged is goals ....up till now , he has one .... That's not going to be good enough to get us where we want to be even if the other players do chip in . The next month just became a significant one for Mario , his games so far could almost be excused as his pre season fitness , now we need him to start scoring goals.  I like his contribution and work rate so far but that needs to have a cherry on the top .

[Clayton Bigsby]

Nothing wrong with our transfer window at all

We just needed a Remy type player (wide forward/striker) for it to have been perfect. Now, I have full faith in Liverpool medical team so if Remy was not the one so be it, but he cant be the only wide forward/striker hybrid in Europe.

I don't watch anything except premiership so no, I dont have any suggestions

[Pistolero]

Combo of bad luck, bad judgement and mingebagging has left us as threadbare as Rigsby's cardy.....time for fringe players to stake a claim

[Redman0151]

Thanks for the clarification. I disagree. I don't think Balotelli has been playing poorly. He simply has not been able to convert. It happens to the best of them (at some point, it happened to Suarez, as well).

This isn't poor form for balotelli though, without penalties this is pretty much the same as his conversion rate at Ac Miln. Balotelli isn't a great goalscorer

[Timbo's Goals]

Combo of bad luck, bad judgement and mingebagging has left us as threadbare as Rigsby's cardy.....time for fringe players to stake a claim

 

The image cheered me up for all of a few seconds till the reason for the metaphor quickly re-established itself at the forefront of me bonce. Thanks all the same for the momentary relief though P

 

[mikey_LFC]

Whether Sturridge was for or not, I believe we would have played at a similar level for most of these games. Obviously he would have added something and it might have been goals and points like he did last year in the first few games and clearly the most important thing. However, this doesn't change the fact that many of our key players are bedding in and teams tend to start the season slowly under Rodgers. The difference last year was that we got points while we played badly at the start.

Sturridge's injury is significant but as can happen, especially after a good performance in the Tottenham game, his importance may become overstated. It may be a case of him and his importance being hyped up more in his absence than he ever was when he played.

Certainly for me, the more worrying aspect and change from the Tottenham game is the form and confidence of Sterling. In the first games he was not at all afraid to try things in the final third or shoot when given the opportunity. Recently he seems to want an extra touch every time he gets in a decent position. He is so good when on top form that any dips have a huge impact on the team. One factor that may reduce this impact is the form of Lallana who has grown in stature with each passing game which could well ease the pressure being placed on the likes of Sturridge and Sterling.

I can't wait to see our full strength first XI in action. It really could be as frightening for teams as last year.

[Mattastico]

No, it's not harsh. Rodgers himself said that this was probably going to be his last chance to prove himself at a big club, and if he doesn't improve his goal tally in the next couple of weeks (granted he's had a tough task, but also missed a few sitters) he really isn't going to be doing himself any favors either.

Ok, I obviously got the wrong end of the stick, thought you meant the next few weeks were his last chance. Had a few beers mind...

It does raise the question of how long he gets before he gets chucked out of the saloon, but now Is not the time for that IMO.

[Kenny's Jacket]

We've improved our fullback areas.

Lallana is class and was needed given all the games we will probably be playing.

Emre Can was brought into replace Gerrard in the long term. Too early to judge yet, but he did look good against Spurs.

Lazar Markovic, although he hasn't set the house on fire, is very highly rated around Europe. I'm sure he'll come good, just needs time to adapt.

Upfront I agree, we made a massive mistake not bringing in another mobile forward.

The transfer window has hardly been as bad as you've made it out to be though.

I said we addressed the FB areas. Not sure I see Can as a Gerrard replacement, not slight on his ability, I like what I see so far, but for me he's more like Henderson than Gerrard.

I hope Im wrong and eating humble pie come May, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We wont get near a title challenge this season.

[Kenny's Jacket]

Sterling really does needs to be rotated. More for his mental state more than his physical state really. There is too much pressure, too much being said about him at the moment. He needs to be taken out of the limelight from time to time. And the only way Fabio will ever get his belief and confidence up is by playing games.

I agree on Sterling, but unfortunately we need him.  Neither Markovic, Mario, Lambert or Borini are playing anywhere near the level we need. 

Plus he the most Sturridge like player we have.

Also agree on Borini not improving without games, same goes for Markovic. However do u risk loosing points now whilst you wait for their improvement.

[Kenny's Jacket]

Is there any possibility of recalling Origi. Give Lille a few million quid.

[Solomon Grundy]

Is there any possibility of recalling Origi. Give Lille a few million quid.

Nope.

[Solomon Grundy]

I said we addressed the FB areas. Not sure I see Can as a Gerrard replacement, not slight on his ability, I like what I see so far, but for me he's more like Henderson than Gerrard.

I hope Im wrong and eating humble pie come May, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We wont get near a title challenge this season.

When Gerrard eventually retires we wont have a deep lying midfielder as such imo. All 3 CM's will be asked to press an defend. That's what Emre Can was bought for.


Oh and only the most deluded of us actually thought we'd be winning the title this season. This season was always going to be about consolidating a top 4 spot and hopefully winning a trophy. And as it stands we're still on course to do so.

[Solomon Grundy]

I agree on Sterling, but unfortunately we need him.  Neither Markovic, Mario, Lambert or Borini are playing anywhere near the level we need. 

Plus he the most Sturridge like player we have.

Also agree on Borini not improving without games, same goes for Markovic. However do u risk loosing points now whilst you wait for their improvement.

I'm afraid we are going to have to rest him from time to time if we want what's best for the player and the club. It's time for the others to step up.

[killer-heels]

Weve improved the full backs 100%.  Lallana also looks good. Lallana is basically an extra body, he isn't however a massive improvement on what we had. i.e Steling and Coutinho. 

Weve spent 20m improving the LCB position and ended up no better off. We should have signed a DM who can fill in for an ageing Gerrard. Please don't say Lucas, as much as I love the lad.  However up front has been a disaster.  Weve replaced Suarez with Sturridge who as expected, gets injured a lot. Weve replaced Sturridge with Balotelli.  Square peg in a round hole.


So in short we;ve improved the FB positions, added depth and similar quality to out AM options and massively downgraded on Strikers.  Not to mention spending 20m on a CB he has not improved us.


Ive not really included Markovic.  He obviously been poor, but he may come go
od. 

We needed a body of Sterling and Coutinho's class in the squad. He didnt need to be a massive improvement as its not like those two are run of the mill players. Lallana thus is a player we needed. Last season our options were Moses and Alberto and now its Lallana and Markovic.

We will get a dm. Lovren will come good. You cannot sort it all out at 1 time.

[indlfc]

We needed a body of Sterling and Coutinho's class in the squad. He didnt need to be a massive improvement as its not like those two are run of the mill players. Lallana thus is a player we needed. Last season our options were Moses and Alberto and now its Lallana and Markovic.

We will get a dm. Lovren will come good. You cannot sort it all out at 1 time.

This should sticked here some where.

Some people are looking at Chelsea or United that they brought proven world class players and improved straight away. We doesn't have the resources to do that.  I don't think even Fergusen would have able to win title with our squad this season. When they sold Ronaldo, they were a perfectly oiled machine. And a manager with tons of experience and have won a lot of things. Our manager is so young and only here for a little time. We have to give him time to find a new system to make use of the different type forwards from last season. We already saw one in terms of pushing Hendo further up so that the deep lying striker will be able to pass to the mid field runners.

[arab88]

I would play with Borini and balotelli upfront.

Fabio desearves a chance he's a good young player that has shown all his capabilities and strengths with Roma in Serie A.

Balotelli said he prefers to play with another forward instead of alone......

So this is the time to try this.

[killer-heels]

This should sticked here some where.

Some people are looking at Chelsea or United that they brought proven world class players and improved straight away. We doesn't have the resources to do that.  I don't think even Fergusen would have able to win title with our squad this season. When they sold Ronaldo, they were a perfectly oiled machine. And a manager with tons of experience and have won a lot of things. Our manager is so young and only here for a little time. We have to give him time to find a new system to make use of the different type forwards from last season. We already saw one in terms of pushing Hendo further up so that the deep lying striker will be able to pass to the mid field runners.

Chelsea had 1 or 2 gaps in their squad which they filled. Utd still need a shit load more players.

Anyone thinking we didnt need 7 or 8 players is delusional. As it stands there are probably 2 or 3 gaps in the squad which means we can do something like what Chelsea did this summer.

[alfonso]

I think we will be lucky to score 50 goals in the league this season.

[Chris~]

I think we'll be fine with Balotelli if we can get support around him like we did with Gerrard against West Brom. It doesn't have to be another striker either, Coutinho, Lallana, Sterling could all do it. Also could do with more goal from other areas, which again was something we saw against West Brom.

[Keith Lard]

Wouldn't surprise me seeing Stevie pushed further forward for a few matches.

[ac]

Daniel Sturridge is always fucking injured. We fucking knew this and lost Suarez and didn't buy good enough replacements. Entirely our fucking moronic fault

Correct. The criticism of hodgson marsk are inept attempts to replace Suarez last summer

[Wernerred]

Can we recall Iago Aspas?

[gregorio]

Yep, we messed up. Perhaps someone should ask how come Remy passed Chelsea's medical and not ours?

Someone already did - and another someone already answered it , a few pages back in this thread

[gregorio]

Correct. The criticism of hodgson marks are inept attempts to replace Suarez last summer

Those criticisms stand , regardless of whether we had Messi & Ronaldo or Jason Roberts & Steve Claridge partnering Sturridge

[Kopenhagen]

Time for Borini to be paired with Balotelli....worth a try imo.

We tried it against West Ham and Borini looked lost.

[ScouserAtHeart]

Can we recall Iago Aspas?

Nope. I don't recall anything he did

[indlfc]

Nope. I don't recall anything he did

That Corner?

Funny that we have 35m+ plus worth strikers besides Sturridge and 17m worth strikers on loan. Yet some people are complaining about lack of spending  .