The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - #DankeJürgen

[laoislad]

Main problem is that I cannot see Sturridge being able to fix all their ills. When is he due back?

Dunno but he is due to get injured again in January.

[mb80b60]

All ifs buts and maybes..... Utd had the better strikers on the pitch to put away the chances that were presented to them, Liverpool didn't. Had Liverpool done so (a better striker would have) then the scoreline would have been different.

The difference from last year is crazy... One striker. Had anybody the choice they would have channelled all that money into a like for like player

Choice wasn't as straightforward as that though - they had to add considerable bodies to the squad due to CL commitments, they were playing with 13/14 players Feb-May last year! Money had to be channelled into the squad, although obviously a chunk should have gone to a proven striker!

This is also true. It simply was not going to be possible to play this season out with 13/14 players, including the likes of Aspas and Alberto. They had to get in quantity at a certain level. They've got the quantity, but the level has not been good enough, yet at least.

But one thing bugs me about this investment. They were going to have to spend that money anyway, they acknowledged that, even if Suarez stayed you'd need more defenders, midfielders etc. Even when I was bitching early in the summer about buying the likes of Lambert, Lallana and Markovic, it was still in the knowledge that they were going to have to supplement the squad.

When Suarez left, there was no plan B, and that's a bad sign. I don't think it was a case of replacing Suarez OR adding to the squad. I think they had to add to the squad regardless, and when they got the Suarez money, that should have triggered a big spend on a proper striker. I know people say who is out there, but I think you could have prised Benzema or someone like that.

[laoislad]

Besiktas in Eurpoa League.

[deiseach]

One of the stranger memories in LFC's European history...

[AZOffaly]

did we hammer them 9-0 or something?

[Captain Obvious]

did we hammer them 9-0 or something?

Besiktas board member Ahmet Nur Cebi said: "Liverpool should be more concerned about us than we are about them. We will knock Liverpool out of the competition. There is an account which wasn't settled in England from previous years. Yes, I mean that 8-0 defeat. We'll settle the account now."

[deiseach]

did we hammer them 9-0 or something?

Besiktas board member Ahmet Nur Cebi said: "Liverpool should be more concerned about us than we are about them. We will knock Liverpool out of the competition. There is an account which wasn't settled in England from previous years. Yes, I mean that 8-0 defeat. We'll settle the account now."

They settled their account. With Betfair.

[AZOffaly]

Zing!

[Armamike]

People say they should have bought a 'proven' striker but how many proven strikers are out there??

Who else could Liverpool have went for? Jackson Martinez perhaps but is he a goal machine?

Not too many world class strikers out there who would come to England (London) never mind Liverpool but if you look at even the sides in the bottom half of the table there are a hell of a lot better strikers around.  The likes of Boney, Benteke etc, and even the likes of QPR have a striker who's bagged 5 or 6 league goals this season, which is approximately 5-6 more than Ballotelli, Lambert and Borini combined!

The lack of balance (physical and positional) in that Liverpool line up yesterday was desperate.  Rodgers has to take a lot of flak for that at least.

[rodney trotter]

Danny Ings and Charlie Austin 2 decent players, who would be more realistic targets at the minute for Liverpool

[TabClear]

Danny Ings and Charlie Austin 2 decent players, who would be more realistic targets at the minute for Liverpool

That says it all about how far Liverpool's stock has fallen in such a short period. Two decent players as you say but at the summer the names being linked were Falcao, Benzema, Sanchez, Cavani

[CD]

The major component Liverpool are currently missing is confidence. All the other things, goalkeeping, poor defending, scoring goals, are symptoms of this. They are not a poor team. They are not poor players. They are a squad who need a bit of luck and a turn in their fortunes. The catalyst could be the return of Sturridge, it could be a few wins or it could be a change of manager. History tells us that a change of manager is the most likely outcome when a team is in a spiral like this but Liverpool should win 5 out of their next 6 and it could save BR's job. There is no reason why they couldn't go on a run like Newcastle or Utd have recently and turn their fortunes arouNd.

[under the bar]

So what's the word on this fractured dressing room?   I'd say Sterling wouldn't be far away from the bickering!

[Milltown Row2]

The major component Liverpool are currently missing is confidence. All the other things, goalkeeping, poor defending, scoring goals, are symptoms of this. They are not a poor team. They are not poor players. They are a squad who need a bit of luck and a turn in their fortunes. The catalyst could be the return of Sturridge, it could be a few wins or it could be a change of manager. History tells us that a change of manager is the most likely outcome when a team is in a spiral like this but Liverpool should win 5 out of their next 6 and it could save BR's job. There is no reason why they couldn't go on a run like Newcastle or Utd have recently and turn their fortunes arouNd.

Surely with the season they had last year confidence wouldn't be a problem??

[supersub]

Very interesting take on the transfer dealings and ultimately the squad Rodgers has at his disposal

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=827249320668378&id=398614653531849