Liverpool vs Crystal Palace; Sat 5th Oct; 3pm

[The Birdman]

Sterling at RWB? Are you guys taking the piss?

He would be lucky to get anywhere near a start on Saturday IMO.

Why?

Go on, enlighten us.

[Tee]

Why?

Go on, enlighten us.

OK, I will try. To put it kindly he is not playing very well at all right now and he is not a defender. Would be a complete liability at RWB.

[SB]

Do we need him to be at home vs Crystal Palace?
I don't think so, we can tuck Enrique a little deeper, Toure still as the right sided defender so he can cover across and get Sterling to play wide.

like we should be worrying about what Palace are going to do at our place.

[The_weatherman]

I kind of feel we underestimated Southampton and even though Palace don't have a good team, I think we'd be wise not to do so again. Would love to see a mauling but I'll be pleased with three points in any way, shape or form.

[BigChief]

There is an ocean of difference between Southampton and Crystal P. From manager, all the way down to tactics and intelligent players.

I agree with your sentiment though.

[RedReet]

Stoke
Swansea
Villa (when they were the ****test team in the leage)
WBA
Wigan
Fulham
Blackpool
Wolves

Palace are ****, but with our record, I don’t think we can take anyone for granted.

[The_weatherman]

There is an ocean of difference between Southampton and Crystal P. From manager, all the way down to tactics and intelligent players.

I agree with your sentiment though.

Oh, yeah, I'm aware that Southampton actually have decent team and good manager, however lots of fans were saying, it's only Southampton at home no worries.

I think that this season in particular everything goes and any team is capable of result.

[Norbs]

Stoke
Swansea
Villa (when they were the ****test team in the leage)
WBA
Wigan
Fulham
Blackpool
Wolves

Palace are ****, but with our record, I don’t think we can take anyone for granted.

Over confidence undid us against Villa last season, I hope it's not a weakness of the manager. There are no mugs in the PL and we'll need to be at our best again and take no chances by weakening the side

[I, Ravel Morrison]

We shouldn't disrespect Palace but we should disrespect them in the scoreline.

[BigChief]

Its a fine line between disrepect and more respect than warranted. I hate players thinking they just have to turn up to win. But I'd be disappointed if we're not displaying an attacking intent in the team selection by playing Sterling as wingback instead of Wisdom, for example.

That's not disrespecting the whole of their left side. Its a signal that they better be ready to spend large parts of the game in their own half.

[Tee]

We shouldn't disrespect Palace but we should disrespect them in the scoreline.

You should be a rapper. Innit.

[I, Ravel Morrison]

You should be a rapper. Innit.

Word life. Word's life, life is word... ah I give up.

[MrMichael]

Sterling at RWB? Are you guys taking the piss?

He would be lucky to get anywhere near a start on Saturday IMO.

I agree, its a bonkers idea. Sterling can't tackle, is not tactically disciplined, does not work hard enough and definitely is not physical enough. And his crossing isn't even very good either. Even if his performances in the last 6 months or so hadn't been weak it would still be a dodgy idea, but currently it is much worse than that. We'd be better promoting McLaughlin if we didn't have any other options.

[I, Ravel Morrison]

I thought Sterling's performances as a makeshift wingback against Notts County and Sunderland under 21's merited at least a consideration for this match.

It's certainly between Kelly and him for me for the wingback berth. Wisdom hasn't showed offensively this season so far.

[Hemingway]

I agree, its a bonkers idea. Sterling can't tackle, is not tactically disciplined, does not work hard enough and definitely is not physical enough. And his crossing isn't even very good either. Even if his performances in the last 6 months or so hadn't been weak it would still be a dodgy idea, but currently it is much worse than that. We'd be better promoting McLaughlin if we didn't have any other options.

And Wisdom can't possess the ball or offer attacking threat, and McLaughlin's never so much as played in a cup game, didn't feature in preseason, and hasn't been training with the first team. It's a bonkers idea under normal circumstances, but pretty much all of our ideas are bonkers ideas at this point assuming we stick with 3-5-2. Playing Wisdom and Enrique as wingbacks essentially turns the back 3 into a back 5...against Palace...at home. Starting McLaughlin, in his first first-team involvement ever (last preseason aside) is at least as risky as playing Sterling there. The only other option is to keep Henderson there and play someone else in midfield, but with Allen not fit we don't have too many options there, either. Kelly would be ideal, if his fitness could stand up to 60 minutes with either Wisdom or Sterling coming on depending on what the game needs. Otherwise, we're picking between a variety of ideas that are crazy to varying amounts - there's an argument to be made that Sterling is the least crazy of those ideas, though I don't necessarily agree or really expect BR to start him.