After two disappointing draws against Wigan and Blackburn, host Neil Atkinson chews the Christmas fat with Steve Graves, Rob Guttman, Phil Blundell, Andy Heaton, Gareth Roberts, Dave Mawer, super middleweight Prizefighter champion Rocky Fielding and a belated Kristian Walsh. The lads talk over the two draws, Newcastle, the transfer window palava, as well as Rocky’s boxing career and future plans.
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Direct link to Episode Twenty-Two podcast download
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The transfer talk was really depressing. Gaston Ramirez has been rumoured fairly consistently and would be a great addition. Same goes for Georginio Wijnaldum. A defensively strong midfielder would be excellent as well. Some agent claimed we bid for Lucas Moura but that doesn’t seem likely, at least for January. Is there a striker LFC can get that is worth buying?
I’m surprised none of you realised that Suarez is suspended for the Newcastle match. I’d imagine Carroll will be starting!
The transfer talk is indeed depressing. We need QUALITY! If we don’t get top 4 this season we’ll be going backwards as a football club.
Good listen.
It’s easy (and probably correct) to point out how much we miss him whenever he’s absent but the time that we’ve missed Gerrard the absolute most has been over the last few weeks. And all this talk of space in midfield and Adam’s form and which pairing is best and how much are we missing Lucas and if Enrique is actually that good are all secondary problems to three main ones, in my opinion:
1. Final ball. 2. Finishing. 3. Movement and bodies in the box.
Gerrard directly improves the first two through his own abilities and indirectly improves the third by giving confidence to players that their runs are going to be found. No one lays chances on a plate in our squad like Gerrard and Andy Carroll is going to learn that in the coming weeks.
I’m absolutely not casting the other issues aside or anything though. For example, I’m fearful we’re going to learn just how much we miss Lucas when we play City next week :S Hopefully they continue their slight dip and we get away with it.
I agree.Hope Gerrard is fit to play a full match vs City.Otherwise I cant make a story that end well.By the way, Kuyt is a player that is missing from the entire picture.He is the one that runs 90 mins without stopping.Here is my line-up:
Reina, Agger, Skrtel,Johnson ,Enrique ,Gerrard, Adam,Downing,Maxi,Bellamy,Kuyt.
There will be enough speed and creativity coming from Gerrard, Adam and Bellamy.Furthermore, Gerrard and Adam are good long range shooters.
Really hope that will get three points against Newcastle.
On the market, however, we could make one or two deals to will strengthen the team.A center forward is very much needed.Fernando Llorente(26), Roberto Soldado(26) or maybe Welliton(25) from spartak moscow.(I know that Welliton is a wild guess but once you have actually watched him he is a great player)
Good luck for the next fixtures. :)
The lack of finishing is the key. It seems that we are creating quite a few chances which says to me that we are close. We could easily be hanging around Spurs on the table right now and we are actually playing some good football on a consistent basis. We are just not doing what the Mancs do – win ugly alot of the time – think of their spell after losing against City.
What seems to be a bit of a unknown is how much money we actually have to spend – I’m assuming it is very little.
With figures like Zamora & Bent being linked with moves away from their current clubs are these the type of striker that might help us out in the short term? I know there will be comments about not being good enough for Liverpool, however, they are established Premier League strikers who have done reasonably well in mid to low performing teams…..
@Joseph C – the podcast was recorded an hour or two before the announcement of Suarez’s one match ban.
Danny Murphy commented after we had put 5 past Fulham at Craven Cottage in April that it might be harder for LFC to do that under the pressure of greater expectations. Sadly he was right.
According to opta stats we have had more goal attempts than any other team but one of the lowest if not the lowest chance conversion ratio in the EPL.
Everybody has been guilty. Kuyt missed 2 sitters against Wigan, Bellamy missed our best chance of the game against Fulham and Downing’s goal tally speaks for itself. Most infuriating is that Suarez has missed so many chances. I hate to criticise him because of everything he brings to the team and his never say die attitude. But contrast his performances for Liverpool with what he did in Uruguay’s last competitive match (4 goals all superb and clinical). According to opta stats – Andy Carroll has missed from all of his last 13 headed chances.
I am not sure if buying a striker is the answer. Maybe what we need is a mixture of mental coaching and relentless practice on the training ground. In Suarez, Bellamy, Carroll, Maxi, Gerrard, Adam, Kuyt, Downing and Shelvey on paper we have an impressive arsenal.
I’m assuming that the chaps on the podcast have “identities” on the various Liverpool forums. Does anyone know who is who in what forum?
Thanks