LOLiverpooLOL - Next Season

[Victor Meldrew]

Liverpool's opening day defeat at WBA doesn't look quite so bad now after the much vaunted Everton also lose there.

[leon]

Liverpool's opening day defeat at WBA doesn't look quite so bad now after the much vaunted Everton also lose there.

that must make you feel a lot better

[Royal Rother]

How do you know RR took that from twitter and not another forum!?

You know me too well!!

The chances of me ever twittering are pretty damned remote.

Shame on you Victor.

[Victor Meldrew]

Liverpool's opening day defeat at WBA doesn't look quite so bad now after the much vaunted Everton also lose there.

that must make you feel a lot better

Did you really feel the necessity to post such a considered and well-thought gem at 1.00 on a Sunday morning?
Sad or what to be posting drivel on a football club's website about another football club that you have no interest in.

[No Fixed Abode]

LOLiverpooLOL 0 - 2 Arsenal

[Royal Rother]

Liverpool's opening day defeat at WBA doesn't look quite so bad now after the much vaunted Everton also lose there.

that must make you feel a lot better

Did you really feel the necessity to post such a considered and well-thought gem at 1.00 on a Sunday morning?
Sad or what to be posting drivel on a football club's website about another football club that you have no interest in.

OTT or what? The definition of rattLOLed right there.

[Franchise FC]

LOLiverpooLOL 0 - 2 Arsenal

Liverpool are in some serious trouble.

They don't look like scoring any time soon and have to go with what they've got until January (unless they can get Drogba or Owen of course).
Can't wait to see Bodgers interviewed this afternoon.

[Rex]

He will talk a good game, look slightly haunted, avoid eye contact and blame Arsenal.

[Royal Rother]

Not that I'm an avid watcher but they played as well as I've seen them play for ages today - except in front of goal.

I know the aim of the game is to score goals but tbh I thought it looked like the style was evolving into something quite promising for the future.

[Royal Rother]

Agreed. Can't stand him for any number of reasons.

[cmonurz]

Not that I'm an avid watcher but they played as well as I've seen them play for ages today - except in front of goal.

I know the aim of the game is to score goals but tbh I thought it looked like the style was evolving into something quite promising for the future.

Agreed that there is definitely something in the style that looks promising, but Liverpool are toothless up front - their most attacking option off the bench today was Downing, who has been told to be prepared to learn to play left-back this season.

One guy who stood out (difficult today in a midfield in which Diaby was absolutely immense) was Jonjo Shelvey. Not rated him much before, but that's consecutive weekends now where he has looked very comfortable indeed in a Premier League midfield.

Haven't seen Rodgers' post-match words yet, but I'd imagine he was as professional and diplomatic as his employers would expect. Behind closed doors though, he must be seething, he's been done up by FSG it seems - Carroll, Spearing and Adam out on the last day, with little doubt that he was asked to ensure those to afford Dempsey. The 'businessmen' didn't deliver.

[weybridgewanderer]

Not that I'm an avid watcher but they played as well as I've seen them play for ages today - except in front of goal.

I know the aim of the game is to score goals but tbh I thought it looked like the style was evolving into something quite promising for the future.

I seem to remember the same feeling when he was with us

Lots of nice neat possession football and no end product

[cmonurz]

Not that I'm an avid watcher but they played as well as I've seen them play for ages today - except in front of goal.

I know the aim of the game is to score goals but tbh I thought it looked like the style was evolving into something quite promising for the future.

I seem to remember the same feeling when he was with us

Lots of nice neat possession football and no end product

3 games.

That's 3 games.

And, if you were commenting from the perspective of having watched Liverpool play, you'd know there was a distinct difference between Liverpool this season, and Rodgers' Reading, the former are creating chances (13 attempts on goal today) - Reading under Rodgers were insipid and created very little.

Liverpool do share something with Reading this season though - no strength in depth at all. They'll be ok, and might, just might, challenge for a Europa league spot if they can keep their best players fit - Suarez, Gerrard, Borini, Sahin and Allen is a good enough nucleus to ensure that. But a couple of injuries and they are screwed. There are reasons young Adam Morgan played against Hearts, they'll need him later in the season.

[Royal Rother]

Haven't seen Rodgers' post-match words yet, but I'd imagine he was as professional and diplomatic as his employers would expect. Behind closed doors though, he must be seething, he's been done up by FSG it seems - Carroll, Spearing and Adam out on the last day, with little doubt that he was asked to ensure those to afford Dempsey. The 'businessmen' didn't deliver.

Very good point that. Rodgers seems to be delivering the goods in the improvement in style of play but the club haven't delivered the players to score the goals.

Rodgers will still get the blame of course.

[Ian Royal]

He never seriously had a chance of getting a player of Dempsey's quality though surely!? If they couldn't compete for Sigurdsson, no chance could they compete for a player who's delivered the biz for years if anyone else was interested.

[cmonurz]

He never seriously had a chance of getting a player of Dempsey's quality though surely!? If they couldn't compete for Sigurdsson, no chance could they compete for a player who's delivered the biz for years if anyone else was interested.

?

It's pretty well understood that Dempsey wanted the move to Liverpool, in fact SSN even suggested that Spurs fans might not be too enamoured at having signed a player who had little interest at being there until Liverpool wasn't an option.

That's also a strange comment in light of Rodgers persuading Sahin to join Liverpool over Arsenal.

[Royal Rother]

I think that was Ian's little joke.

[cmonurz]

Oh right.

[sandman]

He never seriously had a chance of getting a player of Dempsey's quality though surely!? If they couldn't compete for Sigurdsson, no chance could they compete for a player who's delivered the biz for years if anyone else was interested.

?

It's pretty well understood that Dempsey wanted the move to Liverpool, in fact SSN even suggested that Spurs fans might not be too enamoured at having signed a player who had little interest at being there until Liverpool wasn't an option.

That's also a strange comment in light of Rodgers persuading Sahin to join Liverpool over Arsenal.

Xabi Alonso was the one who told Sahin to go to Liverpool.

Nuri Sahin says former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso convinced him to join Liverpool.

The Turk completed his season-long loan switch from Real Madrid on Friday, after rejecting the chance to join Arsenal.

And the 23-year-old has revealed that Alonso, who spent five seasons on Merseyside before joining Real, told him to join Brendan Rodgers’ side.

“I spoke with Xabi lots of times,” Sahin told the Liverpool Echo.

“When he heard Liverpool were interested in me, he started telling me about Liverpool. He is still in love with Liverpool Football Club. It’s crazy how he was telling me about Liverpool.

“He was saying ‘go there, you will love it. The fans will take care of you and love you’ and things like that.

“He said Anfield is the best stadium in the world. Xabi won a lot of trophies here, and hopefully we can do that too.”

[cmonurz]

There was an interview conducted with Sahin where he said he met Rodgers and was thoroughly impressed with the man and his vision for the club.

From the Guardian.

Sahin, the 2011 Bundesliga player of the year with Borussia Dortmund, is clear that Rodgers's philosophy was the deciding factor. "The manager told me about his thinking, about how his team is going to play football and about how he sees me fitting into the team," the Turkey midfielder said. "We talked about football."

José Mourinho, the Real Madrid manager, was Rodgers's mentor at Chelsea when the Northern Irishman coached the academy, but Sahin denied Mourinho persuaded him to choose Rodgers ahead of Wenger: "I know that they know each other but he didn't tell me to go here or go there. He told me about English football and said that I would love the Premier League because it is the best league in the world. I made my own mind up about Brendan Rodgers."
"When I spoke to my family, I told them that Brendan Rodgers is a bit like Jürgen Klopp in the way he thinks about football. Dortmund and Liverpool are similar as well. The people are crazy about the clubs, the stadiums are fantastic and the way they want to play football with a high tempo and high-level passing is also similar, so that made my decision easier.

"In the first season when Klopp arrived we were sixth [in 2008-09], then the next we were fifth. Then we became champions and last season Dortmund were champions again. That's because of a long-term project and I think Brendan Rodgers will bring his mind about football to Liverpool. As a club, and with the supporters, there will be only one way and that is up."