After 10 games, how do you rate our season! What's the way forward!! Our record so far: W4 D2 L4 GF14 GA 14.

We haven't scored many. While a lot of us are hopeful that things will improve on the return of Sturridge, it's questionable how much and how long he can carry us when three of his back-ups combined have scored one goal. But Sturridge is one of the best strikers in EPL and Balotelli too is likely to benefit playing alongside or behind him. So even if marginally, we are likely to be more prolific when the season resumes.

In the midfield, Lallana has shown glimpses of his old self in the last game. But I hope Coutinho sorts out whatever is bugging him during the break. We have sorely missed his creative flare and that led to squeezing all the juice out of Raheem. The return of Allen & Emre will definitely improve our midfield as we have been lacking in the pressing/possession as much as in creativity. Also, if these 10 games are anything to go by, we need to start thinking about replacing Gerrard in the deepest midfield position.

In the defense we need a stable CB-pair.

One Studge returns, his intelligence and runs will help others a lot. He will himself finish few chances and also will create much more for others. Cant wait to see him Play again, I hope BR has learned though this time something and uses it in the future in case Studge gets injured again

i will rate our season till now as 5/10. I am sure it will improve as the season progresses.

Alright so monthly evaluation of the summer signings. With August and September over, how would you rank our summer signings in terms quality they've brought in thus far.

For me:

1. Moreno
2. Lallana
3. Manquillo
4. Balotelli
5. Emre Can
6. Markovic
7. Lambert
8. Lovren

Lovren has been by far the most disappointing one.

Lallana would probably be first but he was injured for quite a while and he's had only a couple of games where he looks to have gone back to his Soton form.

Moreno has been very impressive. Can see him getting even better. Same with Manquillo, impressive but his age shows that he's still very inexperienced.

Mario we've already discussed a lot. His individual game has been very decent but definitely can and, I think, will get better with injured players returning.  

Emre has played very little and the injury was very unfortunate because he would've played a lot during this last month. But he's shown nice glimpses of good potential. More than Marko tbh. Who's age is showing. It's a complete new country and settling in for a 20 year old is probably difficult. Expecting a lot from both of them.

Lambert meh. I said it a million times and I'll say it again. If he wasn't scouse, he would not be here.

1. Moreno: Great signing. Makes me feel so comfortable that we have finally sorted our LB worries. Enrique and Moreno is very good depth at LB.

2. Lallana: As i said earlier in other threads, I still expect him to be our best signing this season. Adds another dimension to our playmaking with those immaculate and unforeseen turns, Always felt he would have flourished with Suarez, But i still expect him to do very well with Sturridge.

3. Manquillo: Doesnt Barcelona have the first refusal on him? Good for his age, Will only improve.

4. Balotelli: Okay here's the thing, Without another SS, He is inept at this moment to lead our line. Im ready to give him some more time.

5. Emre Can: Why did you get injured? NA on the ratings.

6. Markovic: Has absolutely 0 confidence, At this rate i still expect him to square the ball to a teammate after rounding the keeper. 20m tag putting on the pressure, But anything's possible with this signing.

7. Lambert: Too nervous, Keep shouting *bleep* off after every misplaced pass or shot or miss. He'll settle well once he scores. He actually tries to cross to Sterling in the box sometimes, He's that nervous. XD

8. Lovren: meh

Ratings after the little time they've been here:

1. Moreno - 8
2. Lallana - 8
3. Manquillo -6.5
4. Balotelli - 5
5. Emre Can - NA
6. Markovic - 4
7. Lambert - 4
8. Lovren -5

Remaining games in November:

November 8: Chelsea (Home/EPL)
November 23: Palace (Away/EPL)
November 26: Ludogorets (Away/CL)
November 29: Stoke (Home/EPL)

Is there another international break between 8-23!!! I guess Sturridge would be available (for some parts at least) for the Chelsea game.

I find it hard to really rank them. I'll just give them ratings from A to F.

Moreno - B - I think he's been good at times and really bad at times. Directly responsible for two of our losses at least, but he's also done a lot of good and shown his potential.

Lallana - B - Similar to Moreno in that he has shown some good and bad. His dribbling and ability to open up chances has been really nice, but at the same time his decision making and passing have been quite off at times as well. I think he's still settling in so hopefully he'll improve.

Balotelli - B- - I would actually say if Balotelli could have finished a few more times he would have been our best signing thus far. He's working hard (unlike advertised), he does well with the ball, he gets into space and looks to link up with his teammates...he's just not really much of a lone striker and he's been very wasteful in front of goal. I think that with two strikers we could see his value skyrocket on the pitch. Not sure why he hasn't been playing with Borini.

Manquillo - C+ - He's been ok. I think at the moment he's our best option at rightback, which isn't saying much, but I think he's done a solid job considering the circumstances. Defensively he's quite solid, and though he has shown some nice offence he is largely lacking there so far for me.

Lovren - C+ - I think he started off the season pretty poor and has been a mixed bag since then. However, over the last two or three games his confidence seems to be coming in and he has played quite well for me. Sometimes he makes some pretty bad decisions and other times he looks quite capable. I'm hoping Rodgers can groom some consistency out him because the talent is clearly there.

Markovic - F - I was really excited when we signed Marko and obviously he deserves more time as he is very young...but right now I see nothing of what he was highly touted for. He handles the ball like a grenade, he doesn't seem to have any confidence, he doesn't use his suppose lightning speed at all, and he's being beaten on his side far too easily. There's no battle there. Hopefully it's a transitional period for him and he brings more.

Lambert - F - I was never keen on this signing. Too slow, old and inept to be playing with us. Even as someone who can come in to change our formation a bit there were about a million better options out there. Really disappointed as he doesn't seem to be on the same level with anyone on the team, and doesn't bring much to the table for us. Would much rather have Borini or even Yesil playing.

Can - N/A (B+/A-) - Honestly if we could see a bit more of him at the current level he is playing I would say he's been our best signing. I like what I see...confidence, industry, and a no-nonsense attitude in midfield. He's a beast of a player it seems and still quite young. I think that he should be starting with Henderson right now until he shows signs of struggle or fatigue. However, the sample size has been quite small so I can't really give him a full rating.

If we compare the fixture list of rivals and us

Manchester United vs. Stoke City
Southampton vs. Manchester United
Manchester United vs. Liverpool
Aston Villa vs. Manchester United
Manchester United vs. Newcastle United
Tottenham Hotspur vs.Manchester United


Leicester V Liverpool
Liverpool V Sunderland
Liverpool V FC Basel
Man Utd V Liverpool
Bournemouth V Liverpool
Liverpool V Arsenal
Burnley V Liverpool
Liverpool V Swansea

Guys we are just two (EPL)-three fixtures(including all comp) away from facing ManUtd. The list of fixtures seems to be OK, but not so encouraging also. If we catch up with them till the end of December, it will a good month, but I cant see it happening specially considering that basel Fixture is right before the H2H game with Utd and an away fixture to Bournemouth before Arsenal game. I will be really shocked if Arsenal are not in top 4 by the end of the December considering the their fixture list as:

Arsenal V Southampton
Stoke V Arsenal
Galatasaray V Arsenal
Arsenal V Newcastle
Liverpool V Arsenal
Arsenal V QPR
West Ham V Arsenal

Okay let's assume that our season just started and we were docked a bunch of points and we have to start from midtable. Assume that we had Europa League league from the beginning and now we are in the knockout rounds. Assume we we re luckily given a free ride to Quarterfinals of the League Cup.

What would you consider a successful end to the season?
What would save Brendan's job in your eyes?
Does a certain level of performance come into play?

For me:

League: Top 7
Europa League: Win
League Cup: Win
FA Cup: Deep run (quarterfinals or higher)

And playing some decent football (this is a must).

That's the only way Brendan's saves his job for me.

Sacking a manager after one bad season when he's been great his first two. Yes, let's just play the manager carousel thing. That won't hurt the team at all.

A top 5 finish, a good showing against Chelsea in the Capital One cup, quarterfinals of the FA cup and quarter finals of Europa would be fine with me from here on out. But to be honest I have no expectations for this season. I see where Rodgers is going with this team and I'm on board.

I guess I will wait till the end of December

I do believe that we need to assess our situation and re-evaluate our expectations.

I think Top-Four finish is pretty unrealistic at the moment. However, I believe being in the Champions League is very important for the long-term survival & development of the club. So I would throw all we have got for the back-door (Europa League) option.

I also think we should take both the Cups seriously and try win both. As for league position, we should try playing rationally (and if possible, intelligently) which means selecting the right players and playing them in right positions, and see where that takes us.

*bump*

first priority, top 4, it is fine for me if we do that without any trophy...just imagine for a second, displacing one of the sides managed by LVG who has bought shit load of players like Di Maria, Falcao. Also who are already 3rd in the table and... the second team to be displaced is Arsenal, the team who has finished in top 4 from last so may years, so it is going to be very very tough !!

2. But in case we finish 5th, I also want a cup win, preferably Europa league...

what will be your best team when everyone is fit ? The team which you would like to see for the rest season after the Villa game. Because after Villa game, it is being predicted that Studge will be back. Let it come out guys

Now that everyone has given half a season for every player to settle down a bit, I am sure everyone has more idea about every player now:

If we go with 3-4-2-1

-------------Mignolet-------------
--------Can-Skrtel-Sakho--------
Markovic-Henderson-Lucas-Moreno
---------Coutinho-Sterling---------
--------------Sturridge-------------

If we go with 4-3-1-2

--------------Mignolet-------------
Manquillo---Skrtel-Sakho---Moreno
-----------------Lucas-
---------Henderson-Coutinho-
-----------------Sterling---------
---------Sturridge---Balotelli----------

OR

-------------Mignolet-------------
Markovic-----Skrtel-Sakho----Moreno
-----------------Lucas-
---------Henderson-Coutinho-
-----------------Lallana---------
---------Sturridge---Sterling----------

It is confusing isnt it

If we continue with the 3-4-2-1 (which we should) I would go like this:


I know that Rodgers also likes the 4-3-3, if we were to go with that:

in CB pairing El Cujo chooses Skrtel and Sakho

He changes ideal players and line ups every second day. lmao

I think 433 or 442 is more suitable to utilize the squad we have. After all, the main rationale behind 343 was to accommodate Markovic, Coutinho, Lallana & Raheem.

433

-----------Mignolet-----------
Manquillo-Skrtel-Sakho-Moreno
------------Lucas------------
-----Henderson-Coutinho-----
Markovic---Sturridge---Raheem

442

-----------Mignolet-----------
Manquillo-Skrtel-Sakho-Moreno
------------Lucas------------
-----Henderson-Coutinho-----
------------Lallana-----------
-----Sturridge----Raheem-----

343

-------------Mignolet------------
--------Emre-Skrtel-Sakho-------
Markovic-Henderson-Lucas-Moreno
---------Coutinho-Raheem-------
------------Sturridge------------

poor Balotelli no one wants him !!

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:poor Balotelli no one wants him !!

That's not true . I actually want to (and will, at some point) see him along side Sturridge.

But you didnt include him and that tells me what you think of him
Everyone else, can you please post your teams? I am really curious RA can you stop with your smartArse comments and post your team ?

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:But you didnt include him and that tells me what you think of him
Everyone else, can you please post your teams? I am really curious RA can you stop with your smartArse comments and post your team ?

But I keep mentioning him in the prediction thread .

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:what will be your best team when everyone is fit ?

or


     

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:But you didnt include him and that tells me what you think of him
Everyone else, can you please post your teams? I am really curious RA can you stop with your smartArse comments and post your team ?