There's really no danger of him being underrated with all the Scousers in the media going on about him. I personally think he'll struggle to reproduce his performances from last year, he'll get some goals, sure, but it's a different thing to actually play well. Hernandez is another player who just seemed to have a knack for goals, his record was very good despite almost always being used as a sub but once Fergie left and United lost their dominance he also struggled.
I would love Sturridge at Spurs for what it's worth. He's definitely one of the best strikers in the league. I get YV's point that he's not an Aguero in that he doesn't necessarily score such great technical goals as him but their goals to game ratio is very similar in the last couple of years and they played in the top 2 teams last year.
I guess that depends on how the relationship with Balotelli pans out - If it works, it could be deadly. If it fails, we'll struggle a bit and have to rely on all our attacking midfielders to chip in more than last season. I expect sterling to get 10-15 goals this season. Coutinho 5-10, lallana 5-10, Markovic about 5. Henderson about 10 (he's improved his attacking game so much). We'll wait and see. But if Mario and Danny can get anywhere near what Suarez and Danny did last season then we'll be just fine. I think the most important thing is we've strengthed at the back, it may take a few more games to take shape - but there is no way I can see us shipping in so many goals as we did last season - especially with the leadership of Lovren. Looks like our new LB Moreno will do well too, yeah he made a mistake against City, but other than that he played very well. I just pray that when Johnson is fit again he doesn't automatically get a place in the starting 11 as he is shocking these days.
Put it this way - I don't think our preparation with all the new guys will be enough to get a result against you today. I honestly think you'll win.
You seem to play a 4-4-2 without a holding midfielder against virtually every opponent though, Skylarker. That's assuming that Balotelli takes Suarez's place in the first XI, which appears to be the case. That's bound to result in the other side getting some chances, as Tim Sherwood has yet to recognise, for some reason. You've also got the Champions League to deal with, which is bound to take a toll on the squad, especially when you weren't in any European competition last season. The new signings will help to negate some of that impact, but probably not all of it.
It might well depend on Balotelli but when has Balotelli ever been reliable? I think people get carried away with his 1 performance in 10, he might improve on that ratio but it's really stretching plausibility to believe that he could remain at his best level, or near enough, for a season. I'd be surprised if you got such a good spread of goals between your midfielders too.
I honestly believe Rodgers will get the best out of Balotelli. He's a very good man manager - people were saying the same when we signed Sturridge (he's lazy, greedy, inconsistent etc etc.) he sorted him out. Sterling's had a lot of issues to deal with, Rodgers sorted that out. Suarez in his final year with us was well behaved and didn't cause any problems - yet as soon as he goes to play for Uraguay (a different coach) **** hit the fan. I just have the belief that Rodgers might finally be the manager to get Balotelli playing well on a consitent level. We'll see, but he's proven to be a very good man manager and that's exactly what Balotelli needs. Put it this way - for £16mil it was certainly a gamble worth taking imo.
"Suarez in his final year with us was well behaved and didn't cause any problems" Because the results were going your way. Whenever they don't for a team in which Suarez is playing, get the muzzle ready.
We always play with a holding midfielder - In the past it was Lucas, last season it was Gerrard. This season it will be one of either Gerrard or Can. Our formations are strange, diamonds, inside out wingers, false number 9's - Rodgers is very tactically astute and isn't afraid to change formations during games. I remember last season we changed formation 3 times during one game, and ending up winning 3-2.
Anyway I'm off - as I've gotta take the dog out for a walk before the game. Nice chatting with you chaps. All the best
He did get away with absolute murder at Liverpool, though. He should've been sent off in virtually every game that he played against us, for example, yet left without picking up a single red card. Kicked Dawson on the floor, booted Parker in the stomach and elbowed him in the face, dived all over the place, did some horrible tackles, made offensive gestures to opposition fans... He caused plenty of problems, he just got away with a lot of the stuff that he did. What was that stat? Something like 32 games worth of bans during his time at Anfield, without having ever been sent off, was it?
"Ajax were doing exceptionally well when he had his first vampire moment" When he is ON THE PITCH, and in his mad brain the game is not going to his satisfaction (result, personal battle with a player etc) , cue the muzzle.
Lloris; Dier, Kaboul (c), Vertonghen, Rose; Bentaleb, Capoue; Chadli, Eriksen, Lamela; Adebayor Subs : Friedel, Chiriches, Davies, Dembele, Holtby, Townsend, Kane. Poool : Mignolet, Manquillo, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno, Henderson, Gerrard, Allen, Sterling, Sturridge, Balotelli. Bib-tastic.
Yes it's written there, as journalistic prose, not a direct quotation. At no point does he mention Mourinho, he merely uses the word 'special' and as a result the journo thinks he has an automatic license to compare him to Mourinho. You need to learn how to tune out to this nonsense spun by the media to sell papers TMT.
Kaboul's captain? Interesting. I wonder if that'll stick? Still no Vorm and Holtby's on the bench today, despite being linked with a move away and not making the starting XI against Limassol.
