The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - #DankeJürgen

[cornerback]

It's prob too early to look at where you could strengthen the team for next year. But it's definitely shown a lack of depth in strikers. I'b prob hold on to Origi for another year but cut Sturridge & Shaq loose and try and bring in a younger prospect who will be happy playing 2nd fiddle to the front 3. Midfield is hard to know. You have Gini, Hendersdon, Fabhino (who has had a great year), Ox , Lallana, Kieta, Milner. So a good pool. I can't see Lallana staying but don't think we need too much coming in. Milner will be a bit part player next year you could imagine. But good cover.
Defense might need a bit. Would like to see Lovern and Moreno leave and a decent squad centre half coming in. I'd hold on to Matip. Gomez hopefully along with VVD will be the 1st choice. Would be good to see cover for TAA and Robertson coming in as well.
But the squad isn't in bad shape. Not City standard, but no overhaul needed.

Is Milner out of contract at the end of the season - could he return to Leeds if they get promoted?

[Estimator]

Origi has come a long way since this headline.

Liverpool striker Divock Origi named in Ligue 1 worst team of the season

Liverpool's Divock Origi, the Belgium striker on loan at Lille, has had the dubious honour of being named in L'Equipe's Ligue 1 worst team of the season.

Liverpool paid £10m for Origi last summer after a breakthrough season in Ligue 1 and a series of impressive performances at the World Cup but allowed him to stay at Lille in order to further his development.

Origi has scored only eight goals in 33 Ligue 1 appearances, which included a 20-game goal drought between October and March.

[imtommygunn]

Milner massive asset to Liverpool. Be mad to get rid of him. Imagine they'd only Moreno for left back cover last night. The game would have ended up about 3-3.

Origi does remind me of mellor against arsenal and Olympiakos that year where he scored two key goals in a week and was lauded. I still don't think, longer term like mellor, origi will cut it but fair play to him for the last week. ( and curses to him fo that late goal against Everton).

[AZOffaly]

Florent Sinema Pongelle scored against Olympiakos that night too I think

[GJL]

Lads Liverpool were fantastic last night no doubt but how bad were Barca? They could hardly string 3 passes together in the second half! Probably in shock!

[Tony Baloney]

Lads Liverpool were fantastic last night no doubt but how bad were Barca? They could hardly string 3 passes together in the second half! Probably in shock!

They have shown now over the last couple of years that they're very good when on the front foot but they are there for the taking if you go after them and crucially can get that early goal. Valverde looked really nervous when it went to 2-0 and whatever we say about Messi being the best ever, he's definitely not a natural leader and I think they suffered from not having someone to try to get some control last night. However, Liverpool didn't let them settle and when applied the high press had them really rattled from the first whistle. I'd usually be crapping myself for the last 5 minutes and usually don't watch the end of the matches, but last night I watched in the knowledge, that even with Liverpool playing deeper than I would have liked, I knew Barca didn't look like scoring.

[Armamike]

Lads Liverpool were fantastic last night no doubt but how bad were Barca? They could hardly string 3 passes together in the second half! Probably in shock!

They were poor yes, but they weren't given the time or space to do their stuff.  If Liverpool had sat off them maybe we would be talking differently about them.  They weren't allowed to play and couldn't come up with a solution.  Pundits have been talking about their midfield not having the athleticism to cope with Liverpool's energy.

[Taylor]

Lads Liverpool were fantastic last night no doubt but how bad were Barca? They could hardly string 3 passes together in the second half! Probably in shock!

They were poor yes, but they weren't given the time or space to do their stuff.  If Liverpool had sat off them maybe we would be talking differently about them.  They weren't allowed to play and couldn't come up with a solution.  Pundits have been talking about their midfield not having the athleticism to cope with Liverpool's energy.

Liverpool played a high line at the back allowing them to press every restart.
With little pace/balls over the top to stretch the Liverpool defence it meant Barca were constantly under pressure when in possession.

Fantatsic tactics by Klopp but it only works when your team is prepared to work their nuts off and Liverpool did this in spades

[Gabriel_Hurl]

The ball boys were under order last night to get the ball in quick after it was noticed last week how Barca tended to switch off after a decision went against them

[BennyCake]

Fair f**ks to ye, ye deserve something at the season's end imo. Klopp effect or whatever. Well done.

Fair play to you and a few other utd fellas to come on here, not sure I'd be able to do that if the roles were reversed.

On the Klopp effect...that's what won that game last night...the togetherness, desire, motivation etc etc he has brought to the club, players, and fans is undeniable. Many ridiculed him and Liverpool at the time (some still do) but imo this all started with the players going out to the fans after the WBA draw and has only multiplied since. Klopp knew he needed to make the most of every potential advantage he could to challenge city and other richer clubs, and he identified the crowd/fans as something that could make a difference.

What's the big deal? It's only football like, and none of us are Manx's or Scousers.

[seafoid]

Klopp deserves to win the CL. He missed it with Dortmund v Bayern and with Liverpool last year

[dec]

Defense might need a bit. Would like to see Lovern and Moreno leave and a decent squad centre half coming in.
   

Matthijs de Ligt ?

[trueblue1234]

Defense might need a bit. Would like to see Lovern and Moreno leave and a decent squad centre half coming in.
   

Matthijs de Ligt ?

Would be more than happy with that. But will they beat Barca to that signature?

[Hound]

Great entertainment and fair f**ks to Klopp to get his team to that level.

Reading the Hound's retrospective posts nearly as entertaining though.

In fairness, the view from behind my couch was feckin brutal!

[Hound]

To go back to my normal negativity  :

- Origi seems like one of the nicest guys around and has scored 2 absolutely crucial last minute winners in the league and has now scored 2 goals in a European Cup semi final against Barcelona!! Can't say a bad word about him, but he is still.... well, Derek. A super squad player to have, offers something different, but if/when he leaves, I'm not sure he's going to be much more successful than Solanke or Mellor were when they left.

- Gini is very talented but *generally* too cautious. Too many sideways / safe passes. Doesn't contribute enough and has definitely hidden in big games when the going got tough previously (i.e. clearly not wanting the ball). But what a difference he made yesterday! Magic header. Now do it more often!

- It's not his fault, but the praise Terence Trent gets from the English media is way OTT. TAA's not a good defender. Some feckin Cardiff winger made a show of him recently. It wasn't a mistake to drop him for the 1st leg as Gomez is a better defender and the only time JoGo struggled defensively was when he was outnumbered (which happened a few times in the first half and I think was down to us not reorganising correctly after Keita's injury, but was rectified in the second half). There's not a chance we would have been better defensively if Trent had started and we probably would have been worse. However, it was a mistake not to bring Trent on early in the second half when we were on top but needed better crosses. He is very talented going forward (I said before I think he'd made a great midfielder) and his corner was something else.

It's actually not easy to be remembered through history for something special done in a semi final (two that come to mind immediately are Giggs v Arsenal FA Cup and Diego v Belgium in 86). For Liverpool, the semi final moment that I remember most fondly is 1981 Ray Kennedy v Bayern. Hugely special and important goal. Trent's will equal that and be remembered forever. But only if we win the final, and there's a lot of work to be done yet to achieve that.