cheers page, wasnt on last night so missed all the potential bollocks on this thread lol. i bet we had a few silly comments for the whole minute when they equalised. that's the trouble with rival fans on here, they don't come on to discuss the game like an adult, its usually wum intended.
They were celebrating on the matchthread on our board and on the CL thread on their own board when Ludogorets equalised. Well its the nearest they'll ever come to CL footy at Southampton so let's cut them some slack.
To me it looks like we are very reliant on having both Sturridge and Sterling in the team. They give that pace and movement, and suits the midfields passing range. Balotelli is very different to Suarez but I think he could be the perfect player to pin our attack together and give Sturridge and Sterling freedom to play. I'd like Borini to start at the weekend and have a good at being Sturridge. I can see Origi in that role in the not to distant future. Moreno and Manquillo are very refreshing to watch. We have real width and energy in the fullback positions! They are putting crosses in the box. Hopefully Balotelli can get his head on more of them.
We missed Allen (yes Allen) at the weekend and again last night. We very obviously miss Sturridge too. Coutinho isn't playing too well and seems to be suffering from no-one making early runs onto his passes. On a plus note I'd almost forgotten how tense watching Liverpool in the CL is. Regardless of the madness yesterday it's great to be back. The last ten minutes are what makes us football fans after all.
Not odd Jenners, or even difficult to comprehend. My point is that of course finishing 2nd warrants a CL spot, but surely failure in the CL shouldn't be rewarded with yet another european competition for the failures to make even more money from undeserved entry into yet another european competition? Its just UEFA protecting the 'big' clubs so that they stay big. I'm not bitter, just fed up with the system that just protects the likes of Liverpool and other 'big' teams season after season after season ad nauseum. The sooner a European League starts up the better, you lot can naff off and England can see a football league with healthy competition again. Take a look at the Legia Warsaw banner for which they got fined £42,000.00, sums it up nicely. The really sad thing is fans of the big 5, just don't get it, you don't want competition you just want to win. Try your local teams, that's football.
The money from the draw of United, Liverpool and then Chelsea, Arsenal filters down the league. The PL wouldn't have the money it has without these clubs. That means less TV money between clubs (because your level of club takes money United + Liverpool predominantly make), less transfer fees for you to reinvest, smaller parachute payments for relegated sides... less and less money which would over time greatly diminish the quality of any alternative league you envisage. Do you enjoy seeing the likes of Tadic playing for you? Then you need us EDIT: on the Europa point. - I don't mind the Europa. It can throw up some interesting match ups and allows a wider range of European clubs to play each other. This sort of thing adds to the European history of a club. - The CL teams come in to add quality and add drama to the later rounds. Do they merit being there? You could say no because they've been eliminated from the CL already. But the Europa isn't a straight knock out cup like the CL and shouldn't be viewed as such. Personally think the CL teams joining in gives the competition a unique selling point. - The availability of a CL place for the winner is a great idea, much needed.
Or its flagging because its the same old same old? Denying supporters who have never had the excitement of european competition can't be the way forward. I was reading how contemptuous of the EL Celtic supporters appear to be? Contemptuous? Saints feeder club contemptuous! Beggars belief. Hull City fans are loving it. UEFA aren't trying to boost anything, they're protecting.
fair enough, wasn't sure of your point but totally agree with that, it is a farce that you fail in one comp but get rewarded by going straight into the lower comp, how chelsea won the eufa cup wasn't it? think so (that had nothing to do with rafa as they was already out by then) and i do get your point about the top5 clubs, trouble is would you care as much if you was one of those top 5 clubs. we all agree it should be fair for all, well i do lol, but while we have a corrupt fa and a useless eufa and fifa, not going to happen any time soon.
The only thing UEFA are interested in is money. Which clubs draw a bigger? As I said, trying to boost a flagging competition by giving it some bigger names to pull in the spectators. You could say that they are protecting the clubs already involved but I guess thats the same thing really since they're the ones that pull in the money too!
FFS Yoda are you serious? We only have Tadic because some cheque book wavers came along and turned impressionable heads! Fans don't want the money, fans want successful teams. We had a super one in the making until CL money came knocking.
Played ****e (worse than ****e at times) but still won, soft Pen IMHO, esp. considering they "could" of have had one in the first half. +tive's the FBs, Hendo and Balotelli getting his first goal, that was about it.. Mignolet, great shot stopper, but where the phuck was he going? He did the same thing against City away, good thing it didn't cost us points, he really needs to sort this part of his game out! Have to agree, Ford does lack that movement in front of him that would benefit from his through balls... Balotelli is more static than the likes of Sturridge and Suarez was, he needs another person up front with a bit more movement, until Sturridge is fit, I'd play Borini there, more mobile than Lambert, doesn't stop running so should free up a bit of space for Balotelli to work in.. Go back to the Diamond, with hopefully Allen back in for the game against West Ham, Sterling at the tip of the Diamond. If he's fit, I'd get Skrtel back in too.. Yesterday the midfield got caught the wrong side of the ball way too many times! If Stevie is gonna play the holding role he's gotta make sure he's doing exactly that! We were 1-0 and still had Moreno bombing on, sometime Rodgers just needs to reign that in bit and learn to kill games off by being more disciplined rather than trying to out score the opposition, then again, this was his first game in the big league, he'll learn! If (and a big IF) we manage to pickup a result against Basel (I'll take a draw) then that should set us up well for the double headers against Madrid!
Wasn't very impressed with Lallana and the amount of time he spent getting in Balotelli's way - it seems everyone's desperate to score but not actually managing it. Also think the sooner we can get Valdes [what's the latest on him] or a decent back up to give Mig some competition, the better, his positioning is seriously suspect a lot of the time - some good catches but their goal, what was he thinking.
I know I've moaned about Balotelli and people probably believe I have a vendetta against him but, despite the signature, I genuinely don't. I am more than willing to give him a chance. Its not even the lad himself why I was so verbal about it. It is about how he fits into the side. The last few games I have seen us lack ideas and movement at times. This was my concern. Mario isn't the most mobile or energetic players, he stays central so the other players effectively have to play around him. Basically, Mario being in the side stops us playing the free flowing stuff we saw last season imo and that is what I don't like!
You're right but I was talking more about his positional sense and awareness. There was a certain telepathy between Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling, whichever pair played together or when all three played. You can't expect to replicate that because Suarez was a special kind of player in every way but in what I'm talking about, he has a natural ability, maybe call it openness to read others minds and always be one step ahead and in-synch. Balotelli isn't that kind of player, he's in his own little world and goals from him will come more in the form of individual genius than from working in a pair or trio I'm guessing but I would like to see Lallana work with more harmony than he's showing and yes it is very early days for him - we watch and wait!
Oh yeah I agree. I like Lallana but paying £25m was ridiculous - it may not seem like it now but Coutinho is far superior to Lallana in everyway. It's a fresh new attack which will take time to rebuild - but the key thing is to get Sterling and Sturridge together back in ASAP. Losing Suarez was bad enough but to lose Sturridge will hurt us.
Not, in this case. f**ing clear pen that, had it been for The s**te at Woodison, would have had your boys pelting the linesman with coins and bottles had it not been given (which they do if it's not clear anyway, tbf). They should have had a pen too in the first half, but that doesn't make the Manquillo one 'iffy'.
