Liverpool vs Lyon pre match discussion

[DannyMan2006]

In an ideal world were we had some money and the will to be a big club, we'd have kept Arbeloa to challenge Johnson at Rb, Sami would have stayed to give us the excellent cover in the middle, Alonso would have stayed and we still would have signed Aquilani, and we would have brought in the cover for torres!!! thats what a big club would have done had they just finished 2nd and wanted to push on

Exactly right. I think to the past and all the times we have spent heavily and had next to nothing in return in the summer. Yet we finally get to a top level where we need to be and the big spending stops!

This was the season we needed to back the manager above all others, yet we failed to do so.

[PTP]

Exactly right. I think to the past and all the times we have spent heavily and had next to nothing in return in the summer. Yet we finally get to a top level where we need to be and the big spending stops!

This was the season we needed to back the manager above all others, yet we failed to do so.

frustrating isn't it! - I always feel we are that one or two players short! - we will never win the league until we are willing to take that gamble and risk and spend the extra say £20m. Fortune favours the brave and sadly imo liverpool (whether it's the owners fault or the managers it doesn't matter) for the last at least 10 years i can think of, seem to do just the bare minimum to keep us competiting.

All that happens at teh moment is we will strenghten one area, at the expense of another! for example - we will prob end up signing a decent extra forward for £15m in the summer, but sell Mascherano and not buy a good enough replacement.

[Exiled_red]

Exactly right. I think to the past and all the times we have spent heavily and had next to nothing in return in the summer. Yet we finally get to a top level where we need to be and the big spending stops!

This was the season we needed to back the manager above all others, yet we failed to do so.

frustrating isn't it! - I always feel we are that one or two players short! - we will never win the league until we are willing to take that gamble and risk and spend the extra say £20m. Fortune favours the brave and sadly imo liverpool (whether it's the owners fault or the managers it doesn't matter) for the last at least 10 years i can think of, seem to do just the bare minimum to keep us competiting.

All that happens at teh moment is we will strenghten one area, at the expense of another! for example - we will prob end up signing a decent extra forward for £15m in the summer, but sell Mascherano and not buy a good enough replacement.

Unfortunately that seems to be the way it it is

[Exiled_red]

He is a very frustrating player who plays at his correct level in the big games. It is his motivation that needs addressing. I don't think it's intentional on his part though.

But as someone who isn't getting alot of game time, I'd have thought that the 'lesser games' are the ones where he could prove himself relatively easily to be a good player by having a major impact on the game, and forcing his way into the team

[DannyMan2006]

But as someone who isn't getting alot of game time, I'd have thought that the 'lesser games' are the ones where he could prove himself relatively easily to be a good player by having a major impact on the game, and forcing his way into the team

You would think so. But his record speaks for itself.

Goals against Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal and a fabulous game against Real Madrid at Anfield last year.

If he comes off the bench or starts against Lyon or Man Utd expect him to play a crucial role for us. It's Ryan Babel all over.

[lickedlollipop]

torres out again? **** :/

[RedSince1964]

jesus, if i was an lfc player, i'd bloody well hide if i saw you walking down the road!

[Marky]

Anyone getting a touch nervous? I am.

I'm confident we'll scrap a win but you can't be 100% sure with the way things are going at the minute.
Not to mention the fact our main man is still out.

[dww]

- On paper we have a good, in fact potentially excellent first XI, we i'd say half a dozen or so decent back players - The issue is for me, we lack say 2 excellent back up players - in the sense that say arsenal the other day started with Arshavin on the bench! **** me imagine being able to do that

In some positions I think you are right but I don't think we are too badly off in terms of non striker attacking options - Gerrard, Kuyt, Benayoun, Riera, Babel and El Zhar fight for positions. I guess you could argue that the last two offer little but babel has at times been an excellent sub and El Zhar open teams up on a couple of occasions early last season. One of the first four has to count as an excellent back up player in my view.

There is too much of a gap from the starting XI and the bench - an example of this is up front which is something i desperatly wanted sorting during the summer

Ok, we have torres - world beater, and Ngog i like the look of young raw potential - but we have nothing inbetween them! Voronin is shocking, Babel is woeful - you look at some of the other teams and there options and you shake ur head - Look away from the other 3 of the top 4 and maybe even city due to their financial clout! - Not saying we should sign or even could sign them but - there are players like Defoe, Crouch, Keane(who i think didn't get a fair crack of the whip) Carlton Cole, Darren Bent, even people like Kevin Davies, Kenwynn Jones, Abonglahor, Carew, ****ing heskey, etc - All of which I'd happily have over voronin to fill in that gap between Torres and Ngog

In an ideal world were we had some money and the will to be a big club, we'd have kept Arbeloa to challenge Johnson at Rb, Sami would have stayed to give us the excellent cover in the middle, Alonso would have stayed and we still would have signed Aquilani, and we would have brought in the cover for torres!!! thats what a big club would have done had they just finished 2nd and wanted to push on

I think the point about strikers is key. If Babel had stepped up as some hoped his hints of form meant he would then I think we would have been a different proposition. We need to be able to a/ be able to put someone in instead of Torres when he is injured and b/ have an option to throw on and 'give it a real go' at the end of games. I think a relatively limited but experienced hold up striker could make a big impact with us or anyone with strength and an eye for goal. Hopefully Ngog will grow into that player as the season goes on as his U21 form makes him look like he could.

Wholeheartedly agree about Arbeloa as well. I think it is a natural problem with foreign players though that they want to go home. This is another good reason why I feel that in the end we need to get a youth setup that can at the very least provide us with the Wes Brown/O'Shea type players that we lack and can't spend the cash on.

[cream]

I Personally think we could improve a lot on our main front four, I would like to see something like;

Torres

Silva
Gerrard
Higuain

with backup from Benny, Kuyt and Riera. Our attack is ****ing terrible without Gerrard or Torres, plain and simple.

[Marky]

I Personally think we could improve a lot on our main front four, I would like to see something like;

Torres

Silva
Gerrard
Higuain

with backup from Benny, Kuyt and Riera. Our attack is ****ing terrible without Gerrard or Torres, plain and simple.

It isn't really that bad, many times last season Yossi and Kuyt dragged us back into games. The Arsenal 4-4 match springs to mind. True, Torres scored 2 in that one but Kuyt and Yossi were on fire that night.

[cream]

Anybody else heard about Johnson being injured?

[cream]

It isn't really that bad, many times last season Yossi and Kuyt dragged us back into games. The Arsenal 4-4 match springs to mind. True, Torres scored 2 in that one but Kuyt and Yossi were on fire that night.

I like Yossi and Dirk, but I think we could do a lot better. We're too average without G+T, we lack the presence of a top class talent when one or both are injured.

[lickedlollipop]

tbh, i expect to see our captain flying over the pitch.

[Reece]

Anybody else heard about Johnson being injured?

Only what's been posted on RAWK. Will be a blow if it's true