5 time European Champions vs The Red Dabbers

Don't call me James wrote:Actually I'm happy. We get an extra day after the international break. Coutinho and Firmino will be clocking a lot of flying hours. Plus their sleep schedule is absolutely *bleep* at the moment. I think they played their games at like 3am or 4am British time so need to readjust.

It's good for us.

Dat build up to Liverpool v Man United. "Sleep schedule is *bleep*. Oh dear."

They are humans after all.

we better win this one because I am already getting sick of waiting for the game

Its another 5 days ffs

Lallana expected to make this game.

If Lallana makes it, would it still be Hendo Lallana and Coutinho midfield or rather Hendo Lallana Can, then Coutinho in the front three ?

I would play the second one.

Definitely would rather Can come in for Gini.

Coutinho and Lallana just doesn't have the muscle to fight Fellaine's elbows and Pogba's physicality as well.

In another day I would be fine with that but this game Can or Grujic would be better.

Emre deserves a start by now anyway, I'd start him over Wijnaldum even if both were fit.

Art Morte wrote:Emre deserves a start by now anyway, I'd start him over Wijnaldum even if both were fit.

you are kidding right ! Emre doesnt have a close controll like Wij and neither the intelligence to get into those positions inside the box. Emre is good but still he tends to misplace the passes. Imo he will desrve to start ahead of Wij only if he improves in that B2B role ahead of Wij.

When exactly did Wijnaldum establish himself as the better player compared to Can? I certainly missed that. Wijnaldum's done OK, that's all. Emre deserves a chance to show what he can do in the team this season.

well saying 'he deserves a chance' is something else than saying 'start him over Wij when both are fit'
all that matters is the present form and whenver i saw Emre in this season he lacked same energy as Wij and also looked a bit rusty. And Emre desrves to start over Wij only when he proves himself in this one month.

I still don't know what Wij provides to team that other decent guy can't.

he is simply used as a better version of Allen

can gives away a lot of free kicks and man u will play for them with screech and ibra in the team. I like can but what is he. he don't creat and score goals so not a forward thinking mf player. and he does get cought out going back and like I said gives away far to many free kicks.

Unique wrote:can gives away a lot of free kicks and man u will play for them with screech and ibra in the team. I like can but what is he. he don't creat and score goals so not a forward thinking mf player. and he does get cought out going back and like I said gives away far to many free kicks.

Agreed.

Can is not fit enough to play against United, I'd rather Lucas starts over him this game if his sole purpose is defending.

Lucifer wrote:I still don't know what Wij provides to team that other decent guy can't.

Watch a game he's played recently and just focus on him. He's a tempo setter (like Henderson actually) but he's also a constant threat off the ball and is probably our best player at receiving and moving the ball under pressure. He rarely puts a foot wrong and while he's not doing spectacular things on the ball his off the ball work has been fantastic, and as I said he's a very important piece for dealing with pressing and pressure on our team.

His offensive influence will also grow, IMO, as he becomes more used to the team. Really he's already made some big contributions there and is really smart in the final third, could have a goal or two already if not for some big saves and a little better finishing.

He's basically a 2013 Henderson right now, Will only improve under better coaching. Agreed.

Lucifer wrote:I still don't know what Wij provides to team that other decent guy can't.

He's been the silent unappreciated killer in our midfield. He runs his socks off. He makes amazing runs off the ball. He arrives into the box on time and gets into good positions. He plays smart 1-2s. He's very good on the ball and very rarely loses the ball. He never dwells on the ball always moving it quickly and keeping the rhythm. He can create chances by himself. He's a great presser. His physically very gifted. Quick, agile, and with plenty of stamina. And he's all around smart to cover defensively for his full back. And as we know from last season he can score goals (he's missed a few good chances for us though)

He's essentially doing what Hendo was doing for us in 2013/14 when we challenged for the title. The one key difference is Gini is better offensively and on the ball than Hendo was.

I don't think Can can replace what he brings because he's just not very smart on or off the ball. Runs into blind alleys. Holds onto the ball too long. Doesn't have Gini's agility or pace. Doesn't make smart offensive runs into the box. The difference is that Gini is an AM who is very good all around player. Can is a defensive minded box-to-box/DM who has played a lot on defensive positions in the past 3 years for both club and country.

I think Grujic can do it though. Grujic has very good offensive instinct and is even better on the ball than Gini. He's just very young and his tactical understanding is not as good as the rest of the players he's competing with. He'll be a beast in the future though. 6'3 agile strong technical CM with plenty of raw attributes.

For this game I wouldn't mind Can at DM and Hendo playing box to box where he's best at as proven in 13/14 and 14/15.

Yeah I can see some similarities between Henderson and Gini. The biggest differences being that Wijnaldum has an incredible first touch and is great under pressure as well as actually being really efficient in the final third while Henderson has a better defensive workrate, is worse on the ball but has better long range passing and crossing.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Can drop deeper but maybe Lucas would be the better choice for this game. Not sure, they both give up a lot of fouls. I wouldn't mind seeing Henderson behind Grujic and Coutinho in midfield, but Can will almost surely get the nod ahead of Grujic. They should just call up Ejaria.

it wont really matter who Liverpool play as a deep MF player. man u will bypass that with the long ball anyway. if Liverpool are to win this game it will be up top. man u will park the bus and hit it long and then play for corners and free kicks.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-midfielder-wijnaldum-injury-details-12022901

Big news lads, WIJI's injury is a hip injury and he could make the bench if he doesn't start.

Echo now saying Lallana is expected to miss out.

If you wanna kill sometime before kick off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNnsv88Ea6s

Amazing results today ffs, Bound to drop points now.

There's no way we're losing at home to these in the league this season.

They've been getting scrappy lucky wins at Anfield way too often in the league in the last few season.

At worst I can see a draw if they get lucky.

Nishankly wrote:Amazing results today ffs, Bound to win 4-0 now.

Another 31 hours to the match