If Can is available to start then I wouldn't play Milner in CM.. I'd go.. ------------------ Mings -- Clyne -- Lovern -- Kolo -- Moreno ------------ Can -- Lucas/Allen ---- Milner ---- Coutinho ---- Lallana ---------------- Sturridge Firmino looks off the boil, but with him Allen (if he doesn't start) and Benteke, we at least have some options from the bench.
yeah.... firmino has the knack of knocking in the scraps but v a massed defense i've not seen him really cut anyone open. It will be interesting to see how we go. coutinho doesn't look rights so he might not start.
Goes to show how far the lad has come on (or how ****e the rest of our strikers are) that we miss the lad Origi.. He'd get the nod ahead of Sturridge if fit.. But right now, we need Sturridge to be at his best, if so, we may have a chance to get the right result. Also, Coutinho needs to get out of his little dip, but I believe he will..
he's done well for sure... might have struggled to keep it up has he been asked to play week in and week out at his age but did well. I think klopp lost the league cup by picking sturridge over him and said so at the time and was laughed at.
live echo feed from conference happening now, lovern is out with klopp... waffling on about last game and crowd.. Lovren: "We were disappointed to concede in last minute. We need to be clever & patient. We will have our chances. I believe in this team." Lovren: "It would be a dream for me & for the fans. We could save this season with a final but we have to play Villarreal. It's a big step." Lovren: "Jurgen is a big manager..... Klopp jumps in 'tall!'...... He's brought a positive energy into this club. Doubters to believers."
Klopp: "Emre Can is ready to return to the squad for sure. Hendo in a good way for England, not sure about for #LFC. Not on pitch yet."
ok thats big.. henderson therefore looks no way fit for even final of this comp. Can ready to return is straight out telling us.
“It’s a normal result. In Europe you can lose away. “We have thought a lot about our game. We know their strength. Our skills, quality, passion, readiness together with the atmosphere at Anfield , that’s what I’m looking for.”
“We know we have 90-something minutes. It’s not about being patient, it’s about being patient with a clear direction. We have to know about the game, not with pressure, only with joy. “It’s only playing football. Football is a fair game. If we play our best then we can go to the final.” ... waffle YAWN. Klopp being asked whether he needs to keep a lid on emotions. Some delay as he tries to work out what a lid is that should be funny to see. .......... Klopp: This game is a big opportunity in a difficult season for Liverpool.
“When I think about my team I nevewr have a limit where it could go. I don’t know how far we are. I’m not interested. “players have given me a lot of positive signs about their quality. We don’t have to think too much. We are ready. All we did is to be perfectly prepared for a game like this tomorrow.” more waffle.
Klopp asked if Sturridge will start?: "I was waiting for this question. He could be, 100%, but I've made no decision yet about the line up."
Klopp on Anfield atmosphere: "I don't have enough words for this. It's one of the things in life you cannot buy. It's most special." blahhhhhh... ****ty questions being asked...
“Unbelievable job. I’m not surprised. It’s a special club. “It’s a small city, with a very successful football club. “If we don’t (stop them) there will be a lot of Spanish teams in finals. “Hopefully we can go there with the English flag.”
Klopp: "I don't want to make it too big. It's only football I know but this is a moment for the whole Liverpool world."
“We know about the style of Villarreal. They are a really good, tuned team. They changed eight players and won at Valencia. That’s not too easy. “A lot of people thought we could have done more, but if we had been more offensive we would have opened space for them. In other games they have more chances. “it wasn’t a good result, but a good feeling.”
It’s about the celebrations of Villarreal: “If they wouldn’t have celebrated something would have been really wrong. All I thought was ‘half-time’ - they have to come to Anfield. “I am still feeling this. I feel more the chance than I am afraid of something.”
I think tomorrow will be make or break for some Liverpool careers. If Sturridge just mopes around, not putting a shift in in biggest game, he will be a goner.
As usual we are left to carry the flag for England in Europe. Last in bitches... just cos we play last doesn't mean anything ok....
Last Liverpool FC European semi-final marked an end, win or lose Villarreal is just a start For a career that was founded on magnificent European nights at Anfield, how wicked it ended on such an occasion. Rafael Benitez left the pitch, the Kop already emptying, the phone-ins already lit. The light had just been put out on the Spaniard’s six-year Liverpool reign. In truth, the Europa League defeat to Atletico Madrid was never make-or-break for Benitez; he was already broken. This merely confirmed it to those who did not wish to believe it. This was not the memorable evening that Liverpool had become accustomed to under Benitez – indeed, since Gerard Houllier’s UEFA Cup run nine years earlier – but then, this was not that Liverpool. This was a Liverpool in turmoil, on and off the pitch. The vice-like grip of Tom Hicks and George Gillett had started to squeeze the club’s money and, with it, its identity. Protests against the owners were, rightfully, taking place; some supporters were forced to focus more on balance sheets than league tables. The club felt toxic and Benitez had found himself in the firing line, Liverpool’s poor season blamed on him, his departure an inevitability. In the first leg of the Atletico tie, it was alleged Christian Purslow, then the club’s managing director, gestured to the away fans housed in Vicente Calderon that Benitez was on his way out. It was unsavoury but, ultimately, unsurprising. The 2-1 win over the Spaniards at Anfield saw them knocked out on away goals, Diego Forlan’s extra time strike sending the La Liga side through. Alberto Aquilani had sent the tie past 180 minutes; the goal by Yossi Benayoun sending the stadium into rapture. It would not last. As confirmation came with the referee’s whistle, there was no defiant roar, no show of solidarity. There was disappointment without pride, a far cry from other valiant efforts of years past. But then, this was a time of uncertainty. After years of success and stability, what now? Questions reserved not just on the pitch, but off it too. Benitez shuffled off, his head bowed, never to truly return. The fear was the same could be said of Liverpool. Klopp will walk off the pitch with the full support of everybody in the stands - Reds are on the rise Jurgen Klopp will make that same walk on Thursday night. His head could be bowed, though it is unlikely regardless of the result, given what we know of him so far. It is almost certain it will not be a shuffle off the pitch, win or lose. No matter. Klopp will depart the Anfield pitch after a European semi-final second leg, something all the club greats – Kenny Dalglish excepted – have experienced. He will not do it, however, to the sound of disappointment, and little else. He will not do it to a rapidly emptying Anfield, the fans’ disgruntlement tangible. There will be no fear about his future, or that of the club’s. Klopp’s Liverpool face a similar scenario to Benitez’s back in 2010. A 1-0 defeat in Spain – Forlan then, Adrian Lopez now – leaves the Reds with a tough task, but with a chance of redemption on Merseyside. But as the German takes aim at his opportunity, their two situations could not be any more different. Liverpool could well be eliminated against Villarreal. It could well be in circumstances that, in theory, are nowhere near as grievous as the Atletico exit in 2010. But it will still be Liverpool, and that is perhaps the most important thing of all. Supporters are not unanimous on how successful the ownership of Fenway Sports Group has been, but no one will disagree with their credentials compared to the previous incumbents. Not everybody is sure on the strength of the squad, but the bench will be a lot stronger than it was six years ago, when Nabil El Zhar, Daniel Pacheco and Philipp Degen were the three called upon to save the tie. Now, everybody is united behind Klopp, and he will walk off that pitch with the full support of those in the stands. The semi-final against Atletico Madrid was very much the end of an era, the final limp of a spent force, fatigued by so much dysfunction. This, however, feels like the start of one. Klopp has found himself in two semi-finals in his first season at the club and is a two-goal victory away from two finals, too. It is far too soon to herald the return of Liverpool, but the Europa League ties against Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund were a reminder of what the club is capable of. Klopp is responsible for that. Liverpool, of course, could progress against Villarreal. The Reds boss seemed confident enough in the aftermath of defeat at El Madigral. But regardless of the result, it is a club now on the rise, rather than in a freefall, and most will believe in its direction. What a difference six years, a change of ownerships and four new managers can make. It should be the club’s goal that it is never faced with such instability again. With Klopp at the helm, it won’t be too hard.
