NEIL ATKINSON is joined post Cup Final defeat by John Gibbons, Paul Senior and Gareth Roberts to pick the bones of Manchester City’s win over The Reds for this week’s free podcast.
Neil keeps trying to go front to back from Liverpool’s first team but John, Paul and Gareth are all determined to stop him.
Elongated discussion of Simon Mignolet, the full backs and too many issues in too many places. Sturridge, Origi and Henderson are all also discussed.
The Reds lost the game and hearts are broken.
*Apologies for some early sound gremlins during studio rebuild.
I couldn’t agree more with Gareth about Ming, its beyond a joke now and i hope Klopp does the right thing in the summer.. he has cost us time and again this season!!
In my opinion Mignolet shouldn’t be talked about negatively or positively in relation to yesterdays game. He shouldn’t have conceded the goal but he cancelled the mistake out with 3 top class saves you don’t expect him to make. If aguero scores that goal that mignolet tipped onto the post and simon saves fernandinhos goal then no one would be signalling him out but it would’ve been the same performance
Not a Mignolet fan but he made 3/4 top top saves to keep it at 1-0 then 1-1. Absolutely devastated with the result but it was not down to Ming.
That said, a new keeper should be our priority in the summer.
Lucas as CB! Unbelievable performance. Good from Klopp to get Moreno off, he was being caught out down his side time and again and looked the most likely player to get sent off after his first yellow.
Aside from Lucas’s performance and Coutinho’s goal (that had me on the table in the pub) highlight was Sterling’s miss. It was always missing from his game when he was with us and it’s good to see he’s not picked up at City.
Europa League is the priority now (didn’t we lose the Carling Cup final in the 04-05 season? We go again! YNWA
You both miss the point. If he makes that simple save and it stays 0-0 then everything thereafter changes. We may have gone on to lose 4-0 or we may have scored next and held on. We simply can’t say. What we can say with hindsight is we didn’t win so the City goal takes greater importance. It was a game changer. Again!
I’m not worried in the slightest about Mignolet or his new contract. It’s clear how it’s gonna pan out. Klopp is not a fool. He isn’t watching games and not noticing. I’m convinced he’s said early on he’s not accepting that and the club have done what they felt was sensible for business. We’re not a club who’ll put up with this. We’ve showed it with Mario, Lazar, Carroll and soon, Benteke. Expensive players loaned out or big losses because they’re not for us. There’s no way on earth Klopp is thinking this is the man who can help us win the league. He’s just not. He’s certainly not thinking ‘ok he costs us hugely but he’s a nice kid so he can stay’. He’s finished however we look at it.
The new contract enabled Klopp to try and boost his confidence as he knew he was his number 1 until the end of the season. I agree, January is not the time to look for keepers. Good keepers are still in the Europa at least or competing for the title. If you try and fail and it’s all over the press it’s even worse than it is now.
With 18 months left on his contract and with Liverpool having just bought a new expensive keeper Mignolet becomes worthless. He wants out, we want shut and we’ve no bargaining left on his contract. We’d be lucky to get £2m.
With his new contract, he feels more secure but then we buy a new expensive keeper. Ayre comes out with ‘when a keeper like this comes on the market we’re naturally gonna have an interest and he’ll challenge Simon for the number one place. Mignolet doesn’t accept 2nd place, like when he made a knob of himself in the Belgium squad, and starts looking for a new club. His agent finds a club interested and Liverpool say we want 2 strong keepers. Well, at that point our hand is clearly strong. I’m convinced there’ll be a Prem team who he’d be an upgrade for. With the new money £5m or £6m is not unreasonable for a first choice keeper. 2 teams might come in and we make another mill. Either way, we get more than his extra wages from his new contract date till the end of the season/summer by far.
There’s only one thing that could go wrong. No one wants him or he won’t go. We can rule the latter out. He won’t be a number 2 by choice. If no one wants him then we keep him for a year. He still has 4 years left and we can still say we’re happy to have him. It’s inconceivable that another summer could pass with no interest in Mignolet at £6m in the current climate. We still make, just, and we’ve had a season with strong back up for the keeper. We can’t lose. No way will he be our number 1 at the start of the season.
A new keeper could cost upwards of £15m. The chance to get an extra 3 or 4 (or even more) mill extra for the gamble described above with the new contract is one worth taking, There’s almost no risk of losing out.
You don’t just boost a players confidence by giving him a new 5yr deal with a pay rise especially when he had 2 and a half yrs left on his current deal.
That’s just a ridiculous suggestion!
What you on about? Of course you do. The fans are screaming for him to be axed and Klopp was able to use the situation to show he backs him (whether he does or not). That show of support is a boost to his confidence. To suggest otherwise is a ridiculous suggestion.
Not even sure where you’re coming from tbh. Explain what you mean. Why does the new manager backing him not make him feel more confident? Seriously mate, the amount of shit I’m seeing posted on here recently is incredible.
Put down the gin mate, it’s too early in the day to be drinking that.
All this talk about buying older, more experienced players, “we bought Clyne but that was his first final”, surely everyone has to have a first time in a final, we can’t expect to buy everyone that’s been in a final?!? Man City’s first final in donkey’s years was the FA cup 5 years ago, pretty sure that was Joe Hart’s first final but he’s not bad is he!?
Most of our best buys over the last 10 years or so have all been under 24 when bought. Alonso 23, Mascherano 23, Torres 23, Suarez 24 (that month), Coutinho 20, Sturridge 22… My point being we’ve made better purchases when the players have been younger than older. Of course there are always exceptions (I believe both Hyypia and Hamann were 25 when they signed) but some of our older, more established stars just didn’t work out. Just ask Robbie Keane.
Always raw after a cup final defeat and everyone wants to vent their frustrations and pick holes in every performance and bit of play but give Klopp and the players time. Some will come good, some won’t, but that’s the way it’s always been.
Agree about the keeper though. Ter Stegen in, keep Mignolet but only as number 2.
Really enjoyed the content except for apparent ability of Gareth to know that Migs gives the defense a lack of confidence. Risible guessing on that but worse then goes and questions the back four. Which is it? Migs affects the back or what is obvious that this back four should give any GK the willies.
We need to replace all four that played yesterday. Lucas played okay but got toasted by Aguero time after time. Moreno still hasn’t gotten back into position. Toure? Um, no.
Clyne may be salvageable with Klopp but doubtful.
Defense is team game and to lay this all or mostly on Migs ( who is at best average) is dreaming.
Another real insight into your thoughts, as scousers!
Ridicule if you like but I’m a plastic Liverpool supporter and I really enjoy your content!
I was at Wembley at the weekend and I also agree, I didn’t think we would win that game until it got to pens’
Your continual reference to Clyne surprises me. Yeah, he is good defensively but every time he gets the ball he looks nervous unless there is an easy pass on. Maybe a repercussion of the confidence and the trust they have with each other as a team!
For me, and the discussion was who is the most reliable in their position, was Lucas, not in his most reliable position. Shit pen by the lad but hey ho!
A fit Sturridge, Phil + Ferminio, and Hendo getting over whatever is going on with him sorts out a whole load of problems….
What’s Klopp gonna do?
A great day spiolt by the inevitable result!
YNWA
Mignolet is good enough to be our reserve keeper and bad enough to settle for being #2, as long as the #1 is unarguably a better player. I don’t think it’s a problem that he isn’t being sold. He was an appalling keeper, 18 months ago, but now he’s just mediocre. Our reserve keeper is going to be mediocre, at best.
If he couldn’t accept being number 2 to Courtois then he’s unlikely to accept being number 2 to the keeper we get. He’ll want out.
He was a much better player, back then (although not great, obviously). There won’t be a great deal he can do, if dropped, surely? Other teams aren’t likely to come running for him. If they do, it will be someone like Villa, Newcastle, a Championship side or a weak team on the continent. It’s hard to think of any type of team that he wouldn’t create problems for immediately, if he played for them.
A tad harsh on Danny Ward, I never believe the whole ‘he must be a crap trainer’ and I’m not sure Butland would improve us. I’d love to see Ward get a run. He won’t and I assume he’ll leave in the summer.
Regards the Origi/Lallana substitutions, very clearly on the tv Klopp is screaming at Henderson that they were going to a Diamond formation. After that we looked a far better side.
Good chat though, fully onboard with Lucas becoming captain too.
I think as a team there doesn’t seem much intelagence out there. Players doing the same mistakes over & over again. Moreno is like a dog chasing the ball, his positional sense is 0. The challenge for the penalty was Sunday league, embarrassing!!! Lucus has put in the best CB performance for us this season try him for the rest of the season. Nothing to lose. We look so much better with 2 up top, the players we have are more suited to a diamond imo.
A lot of players playing for their LFC future, not sure Klopp realised how average we are. But total confidence in him to get it right.
Can’t believe we’re having to play City again tomorrow night… Shouldn’t be allowed. I don’t think it’ll be like after the Chelsea final because City have got more to play for.
I’m yet to bother with watching any highlights back. Although you could tell which City lad was ex-Liverpool (and not just the booing). From memory, Sterling should have buried us with those chances. City learnt their lesson from the league; played a smart if cautious game.
Been saying this for a while but for me to get excited about the rest of our league games I need to be seeing Ward get a chance, Flanagan back in (at left back) and some decent league minutes for Ojo. Can’t see it happening though. Never want to see Mignolet again and Moreno’s on thin ice now as well tbh.
Disagree with John. The likes of Yaya and Aguero probably would score regardless but penalties aren’t taken in a vacuum. Milner has to take the second to get us two up and ratchet up the pressure. Thought we would win it after the first pens too.
Mignolet can not be our no1 going into next season. He can make the odd great save but that’s all meaningless if he can’t save the ones he should be saving. He can’t be relied on. How or why we gave him a new 5yr deal with a pay rise when he still had 2 and a half yrs left on his current deal and has been performing as he has is simply beyond conprehension. I don’t buy this “to protect the asset” arguement either. Protect him from who?? It’s not like there’s a queue of clubs waiting to get him. We could have easily waited until summer for Klopp to have a long look at him to make a decision on his future. He would’ve had 2yrs left on his contract then so if we wanted to sell could still receive decent money. As it stands now he’s not good enough to be our no1, he’s on massive wages for a no2 and if we did want to sell his wages and length of contract is gonna be a problem for the buying club. It’s a ridiculous situation.
Moreno is a failed winger who’s been moved into full back and can’t defend. He still has the mentality of a winger and so is frequently caught out of position. Some of his “tackles” verge from the galactically stupid to simply absurd. He is a liability and all the running won’t make any difference. I’d much rather have a solid 7/10 player like Clyne or Flanno any day. Full backs need to defend first, everything else is a bonus.
I noticed also how deep Sturridge was coming to get on the ball. In one particular instance there was a strange situation when Sturridge came deep to receive the ball, turned and picked Milner out, who had made a diagonal run into the box, but the shot came to nothing. I couldn’t help but think “Shouldn’t our midfielders be picking our star striker out in the box instead of the other way round?” Strange.
What about playing Firmino up alongside Sturridge with Coutinho as the sole no10? Coutinho has 2 players to pick out and Firmino and Sturridge can play where they are most dangerous.