in fairness to me, coates bottled so badly skertls effort as was a releif in comparison. the league one imo doesn't come into it. its a big brute in route one action and all a player can do is man up one on one with that.... mind you skertl got a pasting of drogba every time he played him. cost us big time.
oh an i broke the papa story first... not some german sky ****e. ok ok i admit it i got it off ja606... sue me f'ers.
I agree about the 'all the player can do is man up' but isn't that supposed to be Skrtel's strength? Many a good players as been made to look silly by Drogba, that is not such a bad thing IMO. Who has Matt Smith terrorised since?
Ban, I saw him whoring himself out posting over there Nothing to do with anything but PSV have hit the post 4 times tonight in their Champs League qualifier. When does that happen!
Fat Sam apparently inquired about taking Sterling on loan for the season today; subsequently told no. We've been sniffing around Konoplyanka, but nothing concrete with regards to expressing an interest to the club about taking him. Papadonkasaurus really picking up speed in the gossip rounds now; German SSN apparently claiming we've agreed a 16m euro deal...
That'll be pisstake, I bought Papadopolous for £16.25million in Football Manager 2013 and we're supposedly getting him cheaper in real life! He still turned out to be incredible..
I think the most talented is Mirko but don't think he fits BR system ( but so quality on his day). Giovinco probably fits the style the best and is still young and has flashes of that brilliance he can provide. Matri is pre-madonna and Quagliarella I wouldn't say no to but would see who else we could get first.
Not disputing that Skrtel played poorly in that match. I was talking about that one incident where he showed a bit of fight and sticking up for a teammate - a trait that I find commendable. Who else in this current squad would do that? Kuyt and Bellamy were vocal players - sometimes it looks as if we miss that bit of steel. In addition, how do you handle a physical player? If the player is bigger and stronger than you, he will always win the ball. The key is to cut off his supply which means the rest of the team need to close down the opposition to prevent from hoofing the ball to him
That Ukrainian geezer is supposed to be a top prospect - haven't seen him personally but a few journo's and 'experts' do rate him highly.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spor.../liverpool-fc-agree-lorenzo-melgarejo-5387071 Nothing new - just confirmation from Echo
yu are right. closing down faster would have unsettled the hoofers into rushing the pass.... however there is one thing any defender CAN do with that guy.. and that is get in front of him. You need to trust your partner at the back to cover you first then you get out in fornt and let him be the one barging you not you trying to come from behind... coates simply sat back and let the guy chest it, head it, play with it etc... skertl tried jumping with him.... neither had the sense to station themselves such that this lump had to foul THEM to get it. Everyone failed that night IMO you are right. but it'd still be f off coates in my mind having seen how poorly he manned up.... oops i'd get fired out of anfield for that!
Coates is a funny one - came with a glowing reputation and with good international experience (winning the Copa America and being the young MVP of the tournament). He's showed flashes of great defending combined with the odd mistake. Is he worth persisting with? Yes - I think he has the talent but lacks the confidence. Does he play for the u21's? I don't think so, so a lack of competitive games at any level is harming him. However, I won't be crying if we sold him.
