So tired of this relentless nonsense. Sorry, if this is seen as a personal attack again, PNP, I'd be more constructive and go through the points he's raised but there's so many completely blinkered and unreasonable, I'd be here all day. He's everybit as bad as Holtelegends and only serves to wind people up with his ignorance and inabillity to know when he's just plain wrong. I can't think of a reason that he's still allowed on our board.
Totally agree. He's either a complete idiot, or a WUM. Either way, I'm getting tired of correcting his nonsense.
I`m quite happy with our squad of players and I think top 4 is a real possibility, even with a few injuries. Liverpools squad is marginally better than last year and Arsenals is undoubtedly weaker, also Chelsea`s squad is probably treading water with key players another year older. We certainly wont finish top 2 and probably wont finish top 3, but 4th is there for the taking. Spurs` squad is better equipped at dealing with injuries than Liverpool and Arsenal imo.
I think that Chelsea have addressed their weaknesses, actually. Liverpool selling them Mereiles was just stupid.
Yes. I really couldn't understand that. I had always thought Mereiles to be one of Liverpool's better players.
Really? Anybuyer gets injured, and we're left with Defoe or Pav to partner VDV... cos thats worked well before hasn't it? Parker gets injured whilst away on England duty this week, and we've got a midfield of Modric and Hudd/Niko, cos that works well too, right?? Gallas and King take longer than expected to recover, or come back and break down again, but thats just fine cos we've got Daws, Younes and/or Bassong to deal with things, yeah??? I'm sorry, but our squad now sucks, our first team may have improved but we lack any strength in depth.
Defoe hasn't really been given a run up front with van der Vaart. Modric and Huddlestone was the central midfield pairing that got us into 4th. I agree about the centre-halves to a point, but we've got enough defenders in the squad. Claiming that it sucks is just bizarre. If Arteta gets injured for Arsenal, which is hardly out of the question, then they're back to the side that lost 8-2. If Suarez or Lucas get injured for Liverpool, then they're struggling.
I think we got Bellamy for that reason , incase Suarez gets injured. We also have kuyt and Carroll upfront. Lucas getting injured is a non-issue - spearing is a direct replacement if needs be and was outstanding last season as well as other youngsters who stepped up to the plate last year like Kelly, Robinson and Flanagan.
Bellamy's fitness was very poor last season, Carroll has potential but appears to also have fitness and possibly attitude problems and Kuyt's largely been used on the wing for years. Good players, but a class below Suarez. Lucas really doesn't have back-up of anything like his quality. He's become a very solid holding player and Spearing just isn't that. A battler, sure, but he's a little rash and doesn't read the game anywhere near as well as the Brazilian does. Kelly and Flanagan both seem to be very good prospects, but possibly in the same position. Should force Johnson to up his game when he's fit, though.
Apart from the fact that the side that lost 8-2 didn't have a German centre half and a Brazilian left back. And the fact that without Suarez/Leiva there's still Adam, Carroll, Downing, Rodriguez, Kuyt and now frickin' Bellamy - not to mention Gerrard to return??? But I digress (not really) do you honestly think that Defoe and VDV can play together and be successful? Modric and Huddlestone got us 4th (mostly) when Liverpool were ****e and the blue Mancs disjointed, thats changed a bit now hasn't it. Enough players in defence perhaps - enough players that know how to defend? another story. We will not win any games this season in the league without either a Gallas or a King in the centre.
Of course no one would be a direct replacement for players like Suarez in terms of skill but there are replacements for the same position which will do, is what I'm saying. Any club would struggle without their top players so I fail to see how Liverpool are exclusively affected by a few injuries. I feel this season we have more quality in depth than we've had in a while tbh.
I still think it was the lack of cover for the defence from midfield, that cost us, rather than the defence, itself. Sandro is who we have missed badly - more than King or Gallas, IMO.
Dawson and Bassong had a very strong partnership in the season before last, when the Cameroonian played 38 times and we finished 4th. The two defensive signings for Arsenal are both untested in the league. Can't judge the Brazilian, as I haven't seen much of him, but the German had a trip to WHL last season. His team lost 3-0. How many of those Liverpool players would make it into our first XI? Can Defoe and van der Vaart work? I think so. The Dutchman needs to spend more time up the pitch, though.
I'd agree with that. I think that Adam for Mereiles weakened you a little though and you may struggle to keep a lot of your players fit and happy, without any European football (no slight intended).
How about this Gallas? Or this King? Speaking like Alan Hansen doesn't make you sound authoritative...
They're very different players though. Meireles is ****e when played deeper and his passing from deep isn't great. He's much better as a CAM but when Gerrard returns he will fill that role. So far Adam has looked every bit the player we needed and his range of passing has been superb. I don't ever expect him to be as good as Alonso but that's the role we need him to have. As for keeping players happy without CL, well we'll cross that bridge if and when we get to it - but as Torres leaving has shown: no one is irreplaceable or bigger than the club, we'll just keep on going and those who don't want to play for us (Meireles) can sod off .
I think that Adam would have been a very good replacement for Alonso, but I think that your system is a little different now and Mereiles suited it better than the Scotsman. Any news on Gerrard, by the way?
I don't think this would be too much of an issue for us, as you said earlier in regards to Spearing not being up to Lucas' quality...I think he is capable of doing the job for us when required, but haven't seen much of him on his own outside of the 'Spucas' partnership. But if we were to get a back up player of a higher quality then you may risk that player becoming frustrated and unhappy if he doesn't get enough games. As for Adam, I think he brings something different into the game, he can provide a good ball into the box from set pieces and I think he is a better passer than Meireles. I don't think we lost much quality if any at all.
