The mid-season review thread

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moreinjuredthanowen

moreinjuredthanowen

Mr Brightside
Jun 9, 2011
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The story so far for lfc:

Currently residing in the 7th place on 30 points Liverpool are 2 points and one place better off than last year and sit 5 point off 4th and 9 off the top but have a massively inferior goal difference. In other competitions better news for local fans came with progress in league cup and Europe league.

This is after spending 80 odd million on players and recouping about 60, mainly on sterling.

As a result Rodgers finally got his marching orders to join his staff he dismissed in the summer.

The exciting news of the arrival of the highly regarded and eccentric Jurgen klopp followed this sacking so fans have a transfer window to enjoy now.

And elsewhere?

Chelsea and Leicester have played pass the parcel and have ended up swapping positions in the league. Leicester look like contenders while Jose mourinho gets his....

City look poor but talented across the front line, Tottenham look like it's their time and arsenal finally look like spendingoing to go for a title as Ozil shows his class.

Villa are toast and fat same looks like he's finally bitten off even more than his father gob can chew.

Oh and Manchester's second club has royally screwed up

The best players?

For Liverpool this is not hard as they all have been poor. Sahko has been the biggest responder to Klopp while coutinho has continued to be inconsistent. Lucas has seen a mini career revival as a special mention

Elsewhere mahrez has been the star of the show so far, aguero got 5 in one game but as usual ended up injured. Ozil has been awesome also.

The highlight?

Very few and far between for Liverpool but beating city 4-1 has to be it. Stonking goal scored by coutinho from firmino pass. The 6-1 in St Marys comes close but Southampton lost their heads while at city we had to fight for it for 90.

Elsewhere arsenal trashing United has to be up there for the performance arsenal gave but Leicester have provided several amazing moments.

The low light?

Unquestionably losing badly at under for me but Newcastle game was worse. Watford game was poor too.

Chelsea have served up the worst dross but there you go.

Player ratings
Goalkeepers
Mignolet - B-, too many errors first me.
Bogdán - C, bad bad game v watford. Great pen shot out was his highlight

Defenders
Clyne - B. Solid but I feel inhibited in final third.
Enrique - F. Totally worthless
Touré - D- injured in every cup game. Klopp favored lucas at cb ffs.
Lovren - B-, too many early disasters. Decent recently.
Gomez - B. Solid start for young man, not an lb but did OK. Unlucky injury too
Sakho - B, solid but since coming back from injury he is taking too many risks for me.
Moreno - B-. Marginal this, really trying after Rodgers mugged him off and he gave up. Needs better end product
Skertl - B-. Very very deep and retreats so much.
Flanagan -NG. Been injured needs to do something.
Smith - one game, did OK, return from long injury. We will see.
Randall - C+. Pretty good start for inexperienced player.

Midfielders
Milner - C. Hard working but flat. Not really getting it done.
Coutinho - B. Very up and down. Some big goals and moments
Firmino -C. Only gets a c due to two games. Otherwise has struggled to adapt
Henderson -C. A lot of injury time off. Has not reallyet hit any high spotvyet
Lallana -C. Trying but largely ineffective.
Lucas - B. Having looked gone in August he has revitalised himself. Solid
Can - B. Perhaps the guy most enjoying Klopp. Needs to calm down shouting at refs and learn to pass it faster. Would be a b+ if he'd release the ball.
Allen -d. One or two decent cameos but otherwise....
Brannagan. Good debut for the kid, not rating yet
Ibe -c+. Needs to pass it faster and do more for me.
Rossiter -c. Rated as he played a few before injury. Did OK. Inexperienced type game from him. Can get better
Tiexteria -d. Left out of Europe so has done nothing so is likely done. Pity due to technical raw ability
Chirivella no rating but great little start.

Forwards
Benteke - B. A solid b for a first season. Despite the biased abuse he's done just ok
Sturridge - E. Really frustrating. Scored when he did play but never played.
Origi - solid B. Good couple of games for a raw player and responded well to Klopp so far.
Ings - C. Did OK before injury but missed a few chances which is kind of his bag. A worker but we will see.
 
Think Sakho, Can, Moreno and Lucas are the ones who have improved the most or best suited to Klopp's demands.

We'll see if Lovren can continue to improve.
 
Lovren has looked better in his last few appearances, got to be honest. But the standard for improvement isn't exactly much since he was so dire all the fookin time under Rodgers.

Best players for us so far this season: Lucas, Can, Coutinho (when he's on it), Clyne, (Sturridge in that one game <laugh>)
 
Club rating: should be doing better, especially since other top teams are crumbling leaving space at the top. Disappointing season so far. C-


Managers: a lot has been said about. Rodgers last 10 games having same # of points as Klopp's first 10. It should be pointed out though that Rodgers gained 5pts due to officials making mistakes whereas Klopp has lost points. Also Klopp faced tougher teams, has been more convincing in cups, and walked into an injury ravaged side.

Rodgers F. Klopp C+.



Playerratings
Goalkeepers
Mignolet - C. Sometimes good sometimes bad. Can stop a shot
Bogdán - D. Looks like there is talent there somewhere but he's pretty shaky at times.

Defenders
Clyne - B+ : a good signing. Done all that is asked.
Enrique : unfair to judge
Touré - D. : his time has passed
Lovren- C- : recent improvements but still shaken.
Gomez - B. : good start. Shame he is injured.
Sakho - B. : looks awkward but performs well.
Moreno - C+ : decent if unspectacular. Occassional has defensive woes.
Skertl - C+ : generally solid but makes some changers.
Flanagan. : unfair to judge. Probably seen last of him.
Smith. :unfair to judge
Randall. : unfair to judge

Midfielders
Milner - B- : Lacks end product but is a bulldog retrieving ball .
Coutinho - B- : very inconsistent. Frequently anonymous occasionally world class.
Firmino- D. : Terrible start. Shown glimpses of what he can do but usually poor.
Henderson - C-: nothing spectacular this season
Lallana - C: after a very poor start is improving.
Lucas - C: sometimes solid. Sometimes weak. Has an affinity for cards of yellow colouration.
Can - B. : potential to be great but inconsistent at the moment.
Allen. C- : seen little of him post Rodgers. He has a beard.
Brannagan. : unfair to judge.
Ibe. D+ : pains me to give him such a low grade but he has been sloppy this season.
Rossiter. : unfair to judge
Tiexteria. : unfair to judge
Chirivella. : unfair to judge

Forwards
Benteke - C- : scores goals under the right circumstances which is a huge plus but he is dreadfull elsewhere.
Sturridge - : I'm not giving a grade. He's been amazing when fit but I'm not sure how much of his injuries are real.
Origi - C- : had two good games but been dire the rest of the time. Seems to be improving rapidly though.
Ings - A- : I'm glad I get to finish on an A. Ings, the only player deserving of an A. Shame about his injury but whilst fit looked fantastic even when the rest of the squad looked awful.
 
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Jeez I thought people wanted this after last game cos I'd not have bothered <laugh> if I thought I'd have gotten away with not doing it
 
All the 'big' teams have been poor or shall we say inconsistent, while the 'smaller' teams have managed to take advantage of that.

I I think the money in the league has helped the smaller teams, no longer are they having to sell their best players when the big clubs come in, meaning they are either spending more money on foreign players which is riskier and putting extra pressure on.

I think come the end of the season the top 7 will have a more familiar look to it, however someone like Spurs won't get a better chance at making a real attempt at the title this year and teams like Leicester Watford palace won't have a better chance of getting Europe.

For us, we've just been as inconsistent as the rest. Klopp came in and steadied the ship at the back and after the initial lift the team got, we've gone back to previous results albeit looking slightly more threatening up top.

Player wise, probably been unlucky with injuries to key players like Hendo and Sturridge who would form part of our best spine to a team and the replacements haven't quite lived up to expectations.

despite this, because the league has been so 'average' in terms of real quality at the top, the gap isn't huge and you can see what 4/5 good or bad results can do, easily moving someone from mid table to top 4 challenger or title challenge to mid table in uniteds case.

If we can get key players back and keep them fit, with all the big teams having to come to anfield we certainly have it in our own hands to push on and put in a proper challenge for top 4.

As as with everyone, we just need consistency. Consistency in the team selection as well as the standard of play. Beating city 4-1 then losing 3-0 and 2-0 to Watford and Newcastle isn't good enough.

As as klopp says, when we are average we get beat. To be a top team, when you are average you need to be winning scrappy or at least drawing and maybe we've done that the lastly couple of games.

Annoyingly I think this season is possibly a learning curve for klopp while he puts his ideas across, but it's also our best chance of top 4 with Chelsea nearly out of it and United struggling.
 
The only problem with the last couple of seasons is there's so blatantly a handful of absolute ****e clubs that the likes of Everton and Chelsea never need to actually fear relegation despite how long they spend down that end of the table

Even now with half the season left 2/3 of the relegated clubs looks to be decided unless there's a [HASHTAG]#greatescape[/HASHTAG]
 
Right now I agree there is onlying a small relative gap between the top and the rest of the clubs.

The league itself is barely third best in Europe but awash with cash. You are right in that this is why it's close.

It seems to me if any team are not right on it in this league they can get a thumping. We've seen teams get beat after Europe with regularity and teams struggling to rest anyone to actually play in Europe while their opponents can due to their own leagues being far less competitive.

Liverpool have to turn up ready to go not just half able to go.

For this reason if a team has a day extra preparation time or like Leicester no midweek games at all they've got a huge advantage don't they.

I reckon lfc will get beat by West ham this week as a result.
 
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