Our Squad

I'm not expecting those Southampton and Aston Villa away ties to be easy, either. It's a difficult time of the season, these last two months, to be playing those teams who are fighting for their survival, especially at their own grounds. They'll be throwing the kitchen sink at us.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:I was too, but that was before they sacked McDermott. Awful decision that.

They sacked McDermott? When was this? lol

Art Morte wrote:I'm not expecting those Southampton and Aston Villa away ties to be easy, either. It's a difficult time of the season, these last two months, to be playing those teams who are fighting for their survival, especially at their own grounds. They'll be throwing the kitchen sink at us.

Well, obviously. No game is a guaranteed 3 points in this league. But like I said, if we do perform and not play half-arsed I feel we'll have enough quality to beat them. The confidence is high and squad morale is good. We're making chances and taking our chances which is key. Our defending is a little skeptical but there's definitely a positive mood around the club.

This is also coming from someone who said Aston Villa would beat Liverpool at Anfield I also said the same against Wigan. So I'm not all "pro Liverpool" but yeah. Just a feeling we'll get 10 points from the next 12.

ynwa wrote:

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:I was too, but that was before they sacked McDermott. Awful decision that.

They sacked McDermott? When was this? lol

It was fairly recent. Think it was yesterday.

Well then I'm quite optimistic we can get 12. Wouldn't be surprised if Diame spoils the party at Anfield though.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:Btw Suarez can only get 1 more yellow card in the next 4 matches, any more and he'll get a suspension (for 2 games since he already got suspended earlier in the season).

vs Southampton
vs Aston Villa
vs West Ham
vs Reading

Let's hope he's a good boy and doesn't get booked more than once.

Considering our form right now and our form with the bottom teams of the PL, i don't see why we can't get 12 points here. If we can't get at least 10 min, we really don't deserve to be playing in Europe TBH.

Quite confident we will get 12 though, expecting sturridge to come back and score a few against these scrubs.

ynwa wrote:Well then I'm quite optimistic we can get 12. Wouldn't be surprised if Diame spoils the party at Anfield though.

No way, West Ham are utter crap on the road. We'll win something like 3 - 0 or more.

just saw the EPL table, there are 5 teams on 33 points..quite amazing !!!

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:just saw the EPL table, there are 5 teams on 33 points..quite amazing !!!

Yeah, it's nice
I'm one of those nutters who get excited even about those mid-table positions. At the same time, though, there's a big 7 point gap between 9th and 10th. Looks like mid-table will be left quite far behind the higher finishers...

yeah many of midtable matches in bundesliga are quite thrilling to watch..but it is not always possible to see them all.

But in EPL last time mid table teams also finished very close to each other.

Just read the news that Allen will need a shoulder surgery, sooner or later, LFC will decide when will be the appropriate time to do it. Really dont know how he is managing to play

Potentially out for 3 months. Very unfortunate for him. Looked like he was starting to pick up some form again. He should start getting himself ready for a massive 13/14 season.

Art Morte wrote:

ynwa wrote:Well then I'm quite optimistic we can get 12. Wouldn't be surprised if Diame spoils the party at Anfield though.

No way, West Ham are utter crap on the road. We'll win something like 3 - 0 or more.

Joe Cole will score against us.

I thought Henderson lost his place unfairly in the past couple of weeks. Hendo is definitely the first man off the bench if he isn't starting now that Allen is out. I don't think Allen's absence would hurt us much in the next 9 matches as we've got sufficient cover in that area.

As for Allen, I think he'll return a better player from his injury next season. Same with Kelly and Borini.

ynwa wrote:Potentially out for 3 months. Very unfortunate for him. Looked like he was starting to pick up some form again. He should start getting himself ready for a massive 13/14 season.

I think our CM situation for next year is going to be great. With Henderson coming around this season and Allen hopefully using the summer to get back to where he was in August/September, we're going to have a high-quality rotation of players. Even if Gerrard falls off a little bit from his form this year, a fully fit Lucas, with Allen and Hendo on form and Shelvey available in a pinch, we'll have some quality depth in rotation. I like the look of it.

As gerrard is becoming old season by season, I hope soon we can find someone like wilshere (bar from injuries), dembele or yaya toure, even schweini or gündogan

I think the 2014 World Cup will keep Gerrard going strong next season, too.

Gerrard won't regress any further imo. He won't lose his footballing ability (passing, vision, touch, etc) as he ages. The only thing he will probably lose will be his physical attributes. His new role in the team doesn't require to be a physical beast, remember Alonso. Stevie will play at this level for a long time, thank the football gods

Btw Rodgers said in an interview that he's pondering sending Suso on loan. And that by the end of the summer he's hoping to have 2 quality players competing for every position. Not counting the youngsters.

I feel like this kind of sheds some light that we could possibly be looking at a backup LB, DM, AM, and obviously wide forwards.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:Btw Rodgers said in an interview that he's pondering sending Suso on loan. And that by the end of the summer he's hoping to have 2 quality players competing for every position. Not counting the youngsters.

I feel like this kind of sheds some light that we could possibly be looking at a backup LB, DM, AM, and obviously wide forwards.

Yes, but they'll all be secondary to a (pair of) CB(s).

Going by the most recent reports an ideal summer would seem to be:
Williams
de Vrij/Indi
HBA/Eriksen
Markovic

And perhaps Iturra.

Whether those targets are realistic and appropriate could, and I'm sure will, be disputed. But they are the names consistently popping up.

I don't like the fact that Williams' name seems to be set on stone. First of all I hate dealing with Swansea and second I don't think he's good enough.

He doesn't have age or European experience on his side, certainly. However, he is definitely familiar and comfortable with Rodgers' style and he has arguably outperformed our CBs (bar Agger) this season... especially in terms of consistency. I would have no objection to him arriving as competition to Skrtel, though I would be cagey over him REPLACING Skrtel.

Honestly, the one name on that list I am most concerned about is Ben Arfa... I have doubts over his mentality and fitness. I would be concerned he could easily become another Joe Cole, though to a lesser extent.

I have a feeling that Newcastle's asking price will stop any potential move though, and this his wage demands could block it even if we somehow strike a deal with the Toon.

PLEASE DON'T SLATE ME FOR THIS

Ok just entertain this thought for a second. What do you think of Gerrard at CB??

Now, pleeeeeease don't get me wrong here and prematurely think that I'm saying let's play Gerrard as a center half. Just entertain the thought and give me pros and cons. I want to know the possibilities we could gain or lose playing him there.

RedOranje wrote:Honestly, the one name on that list I am most concerned about is Ben Arfa... I have doubts over his mentality and fitness. I would be concerned he could easily become another Joe Cole, though to a lesser extent.

I have a feeling that Newcastle's asking price will stop any potential move though, and this his wage demands could block it even if we somehow strike a deal with the Toon.

Thing about Ben Arfa and Newcastle is that we have a chip to play with. We have no need of Carroll whatsoever, it would be an absolute travesty were he to be loaned out again, and so if Pardew really shows interest than we would be crazy not to want to fill our weakest starting XI spot with a proven talent in the PL such as HBA. I would be completely against it though should we have to pay money on top of Carroll.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:PLEASE DON'T SLATE ME FOR THIS

Ok just entertain this thought for a second. What do you think of Gerrard at CB??

Now, pleeeeeease don't get me wrong here and prematurely think that I'm saying let's play Gerrard as a center half. Just entertain the thought and give me pros and cons. I want to know the possibilities we could gain or lose playing him there.

Gerrard's biggest weakness atm in my eyes is his tackling, so... no.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:Gerrard won't regress any further imo. He won't lose his footballing ability (passing, vision, touch, etc) as he ages. The only thing he will probably lose will be his physical attributes. His new role in the team doesn't require to be a physical beast, remember Alonso. Stevie will play at this level for a long time, thank the football gods

I have always maintained this. Stevie will only get better as he gets older. Since his legs will start getting weaker, he won't play much long balls but play his passes on the ground. His passing will just keep on getting better and better.