I still wouldn't be against going in for Charlie Austin if he was cheap enough. Berahino seems a bit pricey but if we can get a good deal there I'd be okay with it. They could be one-season wonders, though. And then there's the issue of stepping up to a bigger club with all the pressure that brings.
We should've gone in for Bony. Maybe he was considered too expensive, or maybe the club were hoping to wait until the summer for him.
Ings is more likely as his contract is up in the summer - someone WILL try and test Burnley's resolve as the deadline nears.
I still wouldn't be against going in for Charlie Austin if he was cheap enough. Berahino seems a bit pricey but if we can get a good deal there I'd be okay with it. They could be one-season wonders, though. And then there's the issue of stepping up to a bigger club with all the pressure that brings.
We should've gone in for Bony. Maybe he was considered too expensive, or maybe the club were hoping to wait until the summer for him.
£28m plus £100,000+ per week wages. not a chance liverpool could have signed him.
cant see QPR selling austin. no time to get a replacement and basically telling the fans they have given up on staying up.
dont think pulis would have taken the WBA job if he he was told beharino was going!
Didn't see the game but it sounds like it was a harsh result for the team.
That being said, read we were lucky not to concede a penalty, and I've heard that Diego Costa confused both Can and Skrtel with the ball.
Hopefully, he gets a retrospective ban.
We're still in the F.A cup at least There's definite positives this season.
I too didn't see the game but after reading some of the information regarding the match I don't think I would have brought on Lambert and Ballo, maybe one with Lallana who has scored this season and is intelligent with the ball.
I read also Henderson missed an open goal - not just picking on him, we may not have our top striker playing Sturridge but the other players have to do better, the idea of having such an attacking midfield was for them to also contribute, which they have not been doing...
£28m plus £100,000+ per week wages. not a chance liverpool could have signed him.
cant see QPR selling austin. no time to get a replacement and basically telling the fans they have given up on staying up.
dont think pulis would have taken the WBA job if he he was told beharino was going!
I already said Bony might have been considered too expensive. But the £28m and £100k wages doesn't mean much when it's City that bought him. If they and Chelsea didn't show an interest in him and we did I think we could've got him for a lower transfer fee than that, and a lower starting wage.
If Liverpool went in for Austin, and Austin wanted to come, he'd come. Might not be cheap but he wouldn't be impossible. Though with them needing money they'd probably hold out for a decent fee. And then there's transfer deadline day where they can get a replacement. It'd be difficult but not impossible.
Pulis might have enquired about the possibility of Berahino before signing for them, to make sure he had one before he signed.
I did think of Ings, and I know his contract's up soon, but I don't watch Burnley so I can't form an opinion on him.
Didn't see the game but it sounds like it was a harsh result for the team.
That being said, read we were lucky not to concede a penalty, and I've heard that Diego Costa confused both Can and Skrtel with the ball.
Hopefully, he gets a retrospective ban.
We're still in the F.A cup at least There's definite positives this season.
UEFA as well. And I'd hope we'd give it a decent run given it's a CL spot for the winners.
Same as last week - had to go out so recorded it and watched it as if it was live from about 9.45 - so for me the match did not finish till about 12.
Disappointing to lose, we played pretty well and gave CFC who are prob the best team in the country a run for their money - apart from the penalty last week they did not have a shot on target in the tie till half way through the second half tonight whereas we had a few last week and some in the first half tonight. This should tell you how the tie was going. We were a bit unlucky not to score but compared to how we were playing in about 20 of the first 25 matches of the season (in all comps) this was very good. I now think we stand a decent chance of 3rd or 4th.
My biggest want in the window is a new keeper (or it was), but as Mig seems a bit better maybe even that is not a priority and won't happen - if not it is not the end of the world - not sure I want him as the LFC keeper long term tho. Strikers? - I think FSG will say to BR you have 4 (2 brought in the summer) and another to come in when his loan ends making 5 for next season so we are not paying out for another one. Too bad if bad choices were made - if you want another one you have to sell one we already have. After Strurridge for me Borini is the best bet to play as striker but as well as having shots and testing the keeper he has to start scoring a bit - that's his job!!
Ref decisions tonight? - Oliver could not have seen either Costa stamp so you cannot blame him but hopefully the FA will take action but I will not hold my breath. The 3 decisions which some may say went in our favour I must admit I was worried over when they happened but I think a case can be made for all of Oliver's decisions and overall I regard him as the best young ref by a mile who did very well in a high profile semi. There were no totally clear cut mistakes. The pen? - yes MS left his leg there and did not touch the ball and Costa went over it but to me Costa is playing for the trip and if he had wanted to could have avoided his leg. Hendo handball? - handball is not a yellow (despite what pundits tell you) and I think it was common sense reffing to just give a free kick - he almost could not have got out the way of the ball. Yes Lucas fouled when he had been already booked but to me it was a nothing foul and for that to be given as a red would have been harsh - must admit tho for all 3 I held my breath and can see why CFC wanted them given in their favour.
Anyway we go again V WHU on Saturday!! - hopefully the 120 minutes has not taken too much out of us - at least ours was the Tuesday not Wednesday match.
Two great games of football, overall I believe we deserved to go through as Courtois had to make more world class saves over the two legs add to the fact that we also hit the post and missed an open goal.
With regards to yesterday's game, a few points I like to make -
Substitutions - ironically, Fabregas getting injured and being substitued by Ramires worked out better for Chelsea as he plugged the gaps better and Coutinho had less space to work with. Our subs on the other hand, gave Chelsea the upper hand. Balotelli for Markovic was wrong for two reasons. Firstly, Markovic, although not great going forward, was actually very good defensively, Hazard was nowhere near as good when he was on the pitch and secondly, although Balotelli tried hard, he is nowhere near good enough to play our style of football. Johnson for Sakho was unfortunate, but I defended Johnson here after the Bolton game, but yesterday it was zombie Johnson again. Once Lambert had come on the shape and personnel of the team was all wrong. Should have brought on Lallana for Lucas/Hendo and that's it.
As for player performances, the keeper and original back 3 were decent. Gerrard, Lucas and Hendo were average. Moreno was very good, Coutinho again for me was MOTM. Sterling was frustrating again, sometimes his final pass or shot are really poor compared to the rest of his ability. The subs were useless as mentioned earlier.
Overall, in terms of progression, you can see how far we have progressed. In the league game, Chelsea battered us, we were lucky it was only 2-1. Rodgers deserves credit in finding a formation that is getting us back to playing like last season post Suarez. I like that about him, he played the diamond last year in order to accommodate Suarez, Sturridge, Coutinho and Sterling and he's done the same this year with the 3-4-3 formation. He's not a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 man, it's about the players and how he can make them gel - good manager!!
Same as last week - had to go out so recorded it and watched it as if it was live from about 9.45 - so for me the match did not finish till about 12.
Disappointing to lose, we played pretty well and gave CFC who are prob the best team in the country a run for their money - apart from the penalty last week they did not have a shot on target in the tie till half way through the second half tonight whereas we had a few last week and some in the first half tonight. This should tell you how the tie was going. We were a bit unlucky not to score but compared to how we were playing in about 20 of the first 25 matches of the season (in all comps) this was very good. I now think we stand a decent chance of 3rd or 4th.
My biggest want in the window is a new keeper (or it was), but as Mig seems a bit better maybe even that is not a priority and won't happen - if not it is not the end of the world - not sure I want him as the LFC keeper long term tho. Strikers? - I think FSG will say to BR you have 4 (2 brought in the summer) and another to come in when his loan ends making 5 for next season so we are not paying out for another one. Too bad if bad choices were made - if you want another one you have to sell one we already have. After Strurridge for me Borini is the best bet to play as striker but as well as having shots and testing the keeper he has to start scoring a bit - that's his job!!
Ref decisions tonight? - Oliver could not have seen either Costa stamp so you cannot blame him but hopefully the FA will take action but I will not hold my breath. The 3 decisions which some may say went in our favour I must admit I was worried over when they happened but I think a case can be made for all of Oliver's decisions and overall I regard him as the best young ref by a mile who did very well in a high profile semi. There were no totally clear cut mistakes. The pen? - yes MS left his leg there and did not touch the ball and Costa went over it but to me Costa is playing for the trip and if he had wanted to could have avoided his leg. Hendo handball? - handball is not a yellow (despite what pundits tell you) and I think it was common sense reffing to just give a free kick - he almost could not have got out the way of the ball. Yes Lucas fouled when he had been already booked but to me it was a nothing foul and for that to be given as a red would have been harsh - must admit tho for all 3 I held my breath and can see why CFC wanted them given in their favour.
Anyway we go again V WHU on Saturday!! - hopefully the 120 minutes has not taken too much out of us - at least ours was the Tuesday not Wednesday match.
Ref was poor - no matter how you look at it, he never saw the Costa stamp so fair enough but Costa should have had a penalty, I don't care if he was looking for it, Skrtel fouled him, Hendo should have been sent off, it was a deliberate handball, intending to stop Chelsea from attacking and Lucas should also have had a yellow, it was one of those fouls that deserve a yellow - stopping an attacking player going through with a cynical challenge.
I don't think any of our first 11 were average last night?
me neither, thought it was a good dogged performance from the team.
I did think Lallana maybe should have come on, was worried Lucas or Henderson were gong to be sent off as Hazard became more of a threat and they basically knew they couldnt touch him. Ballo again wasnt a useless sub, he showed some good touches, and out a couple of decent balls in, had some off touches/cross.
Alot of positives can be taken. Coutinho is in great form at the moment.
Also I do think that we were extremely fortunate with a few things but so were Chelsea.
Costa should have had a blatant penalty. There was no need to Skyrtel to dive in like that. However Costa shouldn’t even have been on the pitch at that point.
Henderson – those kind of handballs are almost always yellow cards and I do think had he not been booked he would have been got one. His hand, maybe through instinct, did move towards the ball so we got off lightly there.
Lucas – his foul would normally have got a yellow if he hadn’t been booked for that type of foul. Kind of cynical, taking one for the team because Ballo had sold him short. So we got away with that one.
I assume you posted that after his foul and yellow card? Sakho gave the ball straight to their player, Lucas "took one for the team". No liability at all.
The same happened with the other foul he did, Balotelli gave the ball away, Lucas was trying to rectify it!
He was immense last night - how anyone can think he was a liability is beyond belief!
We totally deserved to go through over the two legs, had we still had Suarez in our ranks I'm sure we would have. Finishing is all that we lacked. Moreno should have shot first time - but it was a good save, Coutinho made his own opening but perhaps should have finished - good save again, and Henderson - Hendo, really that was a bad miss, should have scored that one defo!!
Costa I hope is now banned, Mourinho saying Henderson should have been sent off, perhaps Lucas too, Costa should have had a pen. Well lets go in order shall we Moanerinho - Costa should have been sent off. Therefore he wouldn't have been on the pitch to get the pen. Yes Henderson & Lucas could later have gone too but had the initial wrong been righted the whole game would have played out differently. Mourinho should feel relieved not hard done by.
The players gave their all, well most of them. Have to admit to being disappointed with the subs, despite Sakho's dodgy pass when he was replaced by Johnson - boy did he suck! Balotelli was a waste of a sub really imo, Lallana should have come on.
Hope we can get one of the other cups for Stevie now.
Also I do think that we were extremely fortunate with a few things but so were Chelsea.
Costa should have had a blatant penalty. There was no need to Skyrtel to dive in like that. However Costa shouldn’t even have been on the pitch at that point.
Henderson – those kind of handballs are almost always yellow cards and I do think had he not been booked he would have been got one. His hand, maybe through instinct, did move towards the ball so we got off lightly there.
Lucas – his foul would normally have got a yellow if he hadn’t been booked for that type of foul. Kind of cynical, taking one for the team because Ballo had sold him short. So we got away with that one.
Well apart from Costa could have had 3 red cards ie the 2 stamps the dive early in the game together with the yellow he did receive, the ref was booking liverpool players but letting similar fouls go or even unpunished when Chelsea committed them.
I agree with what people are saying. Both teams were very lucky to finish with 11 players on the pitch.
As for our players.
I sill don't have confidence in our keeper. Although he's improved slightly.
what I did notice is. Johnson is finished I thought he was awful when he came on and were came under pressure from some of his mistakes.
Lucas has been playing well but in extra time his legs had gone and to keep him and Gerrard on for that out amount of time we were asking for trouble. So BR's changes have to be questioned. Sorry but Balotelli & Lambert are hopless
It looks like Sakho damaged his back in the warm-up and played but played on for as long as he could; I only hope he hasn't went and actually done some serious harm by doing that. He'll almost certainly miss the PL game against West Ham and probably the replay at Bolton; it'd be great to get him back for the Everton game.
So that'll be Lovren or Johnson on the left side then? Could Moreno maybe give it a try, I seriously doubt it. I think a big part of the game will be how Skrtel and Lucas handle our old boys Carroll and Downing, things could get spicy there. Then of course there's the Sturridge question: will he or won't he make an appearance?
It looks like Sakho damaged his back in the warm-up and played but played on for as long as he could; I only hope he hasn't went and actually done some serious harm by doing that. He'll almost certainly miss the PL game against West Ham and probably the replay at Bolton; it'd be great to get him back for the Everton game.
So that'll be Lovren or Johnson on the left side then? Could Moreno maybe give it a try, I seriously doubt it. I think a big part of the game will be how Skrtel and Lucas handle our old boys Carroll and Downing, things could get spicy there. Then of course there's the Sturridge question: will he or won't he make an appearance?
Dammed shame that Flanno still isn't fit, he would slot in anywhere, and proved himself very well pre injury. If Rodgers plays Glen my faith in him will diminish a fair bit.
Dammed shame that Flanno still isn't fit, he would slot in anywhere, and proved himself very well pre injury. If Rodgers plays Glen my faith in him will diminish a fair bit.
I'm getting a little worried about Flanno, it seems to be taking a lot longer to get him back than the original prognosis. I read an article last week that suggested contract negotiations with Glen had been reopened to try an keep him around after the summer, so I wouldn't be surprised if he starts at the weekend.
Comments
Hope the injury isn't too bad.
Ings is more likely as his contract is up in the summer - someone WILL try and test Burnley's resolve as the deadline nears.
£28m plus £100,000+ per week wages. not a chance liverpool could have signed him.
cant see QPR selling austin. no time to get a replacement and basically telling the fans they have given up on staying up.
dont think pulis would have taken the WBA job if he he was told beharino was going!
sakho is very effective in getting the ball to coutinho quickly!
really hope he just has a slight knock.
Even so we would be without him anyway due to African nations.
That being said, read we were lucky not to concede a penalty, and I've heard that Diego Costa confused both Can and Skrtel with the ball.
Hopefully, he gets a retrospective ban.
We're still in the F.A cup at least
I read also Henderson missed an open goal - not just picking on him, we may not have our top striker playing Sturridge but the other players have to do better, the idea of having such an attacking midfield was for them to also contribute, which they have not been doing...
I already said Bony might have been considered too expensive. But the £28m and £100k wages doesn't mean much when it's City that bought him. If they and Chelsea didn't show an interest in him and we did I think we could've got him for a lower transfer fee than that, and a lower starting wage.
If Liverpool went in for Austin, and Austin wanted to come, he'd come. Might not be cheap but he wouldn't be impossible. Though with them needing money they'd probably hold out for a decent fee. And then there's transfer deadline day where they can get a replacement. It'd be difficult but not impossible.
Pulis might have enquired about the possibility of Berahino before signing for them, to make sure he had one before he signed.
I did think of Ings, and I know his contract's up soon, but I don't watch Burnley so I can't form an opinion on him.
UEFA as well. And I'd hope we'd give it a decent run given it's a CL spot for the winners.
Disappointing to lose, we played pretty well and gave CFC who are prob the best team in the country a run for their money - apart from the penalty last week they did not have a shot on target in the tie till half way through the second half tonight whereas we had a few last week and some in the first half tonight. This should tell you how the tie was going. We were a bit unlucky not to score but compared to how we were playing in about 20 of the first 25 matches of the season (in all comps) this was very good. I now think we stand a decent chance of 3rd or 4th.
My biggest want in the window is a new keeper (or it was), but as Mig seems a bit better maybe even that is not a priority and won't happen - if not it is not the end of the world - not sure I want him as the LFC keeper long term tho. Strikers? - I think FSG will say to BR you have 4 (2 brought in the summer) and another to come in when his loan ends making 5 for next season so we are not paying out for another one. Too bad if bad choices were made - if you want another one you have to sell one we already have. After Strurridge for me Borini is the best bet to play as striker but as well as having shots and testing the keeper he has to start scoring a bit - that's his job!!
Ref decisions tonight? - Oliver could not have seen either Costa stamp so you cannot blame him but hopefully the FA will take action but I will not hold my breath. The 3 decisions which some may say went in our favour I must admit I was worried over when they happened but I think a case can be made for all of Oliver's decisions and overall I regard him as the best young ref by a mile who did very well in a high profile semi. There were no totally clear cut mistakes. The pen? - yes MS left his leg there and did not touch the ball and Costa went over it but to me Costa is playing for the trip and if he had wanted to could have avoided his leg. Hendo handball? - handball is not a yellow (despite what pundits tell you) and I think it was common sense reffing to just give a free kick - he almost could not have got out the way of the ball. Yes Lucas fouled when he had been already booked but to me it was a nothing foul and for that to be given as a red would have been harsh - must admit tho for all 3 I held my breath and can see why CFC wanted them given in their favour.
Anyway we go again V WHU on Saturday!! - hopefully the 120 minutes has not taken too much out of us - at least ours was the Tuesday not Wednesday match.
With regards to yesterday's game, a few points I like to make -
Substitutions - ironically, Fabregas getting injured and being substitued by Ramires worked out better for Chelsea as he plugged the gaps better and Coutinho had less space to work with. Our subs on the other hand, gave Chelsea the upper hand. Balotelli for Markovic was wrong for two reasons. Firstly, Markovic, although not great going forward, was actually very good defensively, Hazard was nowhere near as good when he was on the pitch and secondly, although Balotelli tried hard, he is nowhere near good enough to play our style of football. Johnson for Sakho was unfortunate, but I defended Johnson here after the Bolton game, but yesterday it was zombie Johnson again. Once Lambert had come on the shape and personnel of the team was all wrong. Should have brought on Lallana for Lucas/Hendo and that's it.
As for player performances, the keeper and original back 3 were decent. Gerrard, Lucas and Hendo were average. Moreno was very good, Coutinho again for me was MOTM. Sterling was frustrating again, sometimes his final pass or shot are really poor compared to the rest of his ability. The subs were useless as mentioned earlier.
Overall, in terms of progression, you can see how far we have progressed. In the league game, Chelsea battered us, we were lucky it was only 2-1. Rodgers deserves credit in finding a formation that is getting us back to playing like last season post Suarez. I like that about him, he played the diamond last year in order to accommodate Suarez, Sturridge, Coutinho and Sterling and he's done the same this year with the 3-4-3 formation. He's not a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 man, it's about the players and how he can make them gel - good manager!!
Ref was poor - no matter how you look at it, he never saw the Costa stamp so fair enough but Costa should have had a penalty, I don't care if he was looking for it, Skrtel fouled him, Hendo should have been sent off, it was a deliberate handball, intending to stop Chelsea from attacking and Lucas should also have had a yellow, it was one of those fouls that deserve a yellow - stopping an attacking player going through with a cynical challenge.
me neither, thought it was a good dogged performance from the team.
I did think Lallana maybe should have come on, was worried Lucas or Henderson were gong to be sent off as Hazard became more of a threat and they basically knew they couldnt touch him. Ballo again wasnt a useless sub, he showed some good touches, and out a couple of decent balls in, had some off touches/cross.
Alot of positives can be taken. Coutinho is in great form at the moment.
Costa should have had a blatant penalty. There was no need to Skyrtel to dive in like that. However Costa shouldn’t even have been on the pitch at that point.
Henderson – those kind of handballs are almost always yellow cards and I do think had he not been booked he would have been got one. His hand, maybe through instinct, did move towards the ball so we got off lightly there.
Lucas – his foul would normally have got a yellow if he hadn’t been booked for that type of foul. Kind of cynical, taking one for the team because Ballo had sold him short. So we got away with that one.
What a disgraceful post!
I assume you posted that after his foul and yellow card? Sakho gave the ball straight to their player, Lucas "took one for the team". No liability at all.
The same happened with the other foul he did, Balotelli gave the ball away, Lucas was trying to rectify it!
He was immense last night - how anyone can think he was a liability is beyond belief!
We totally deserved to go through over the two legs, had we still had Suarez in our ranks I'm sure we would have. Finishing is all that we lacked. Moreno should have shot first time - but it was a good save, Coutinho made his own opening but perhaps should have finished - good save again, and Henderson - Hendo, really that was a bad miss, should have scored that one defo!!
Costa I hope is now banned, Mourinho saying Henderson should have been sent off, perhaps Lucas too, Costa should have had a pen. Well lets go in order shall we Moanerinho - Costa should have been sent off. Therefore he wouldn't have been on the pitch to get the pen. Yes Henderson & Lucas could later have gone too but had the initial wrong been righted the whole game would have played out differently. Mourinho should feel relieved not hard done by.
The players gave their all, well most of them. Have to admit to being disappointed with the subs, despite Sakho's dodgy pass when he was replaced by Johnson - boy did he suck! Balotelli was a waste of a sub really imo, Lallana should have come on.
Hope we can get one of the other cups for Stevie now.
Well apart from Costa could have had 3 red cards ie the 2 stamps the dive early in the game together with the yellow he did receive, the ref was booking liverpool players but letting similar fouls go or even unpunished when Chelsea committed them.
As for our players.
I sill don't have confidence in our keeper. Although he's improved slightly.
what I did notice is. Johnson is finished I thought he was awful when he came on and were came under pressure from some of his mistakes.
Lucas has been playing well but in extra time his legs had gone and to keep him and Gerrard on for that out amount of time we were asking for trouble. So BR's changes have to be questioned. Sorry but Balotelli & Lambert are hopless
So that'll be Lovren or Johnson on the left side then? Could Moreno maybe give it a try, I seriously doubt it. I think a big part of the game will be how Skrtel and Lucas handle our old boys Carroll and Downing, things could get spicy there. Then of course there's the Sturridge question: will he or won't he make an appearance?
Dammed shame that Flanno still isn't fit, he would slot in anywhere, and proved himself very well pre injury. If Rodgers plays Glen my faith in him will diminish a fair bit.
I'm getting a little worried about Flanno, it seems to be taking a lot longer to get him back than the original prognosis. I read an article last week that suggested contract negotiations with Glen had been reopened to try an keep him around after the summer, so I wouldn't be surprised if he starts at the weekend.
Stevie G is 75% fit though.