We don't need a clone. We already have the real deal

I threw a fiver on him to get a hat-trick, got £45 back. Thanks Luis!

What's nice though is Messi had a penalty but instead of going for it he laid it off for Suárez to complete his hat-trick. Didn't even know you could do that.

We will never know what would have happened,but one thing people forget is the European football rule change (at that time) Clubs could only play a few non nationals in European competitions- That's why Souness replaced great players with younger (and in many cases not better) English players.
Souness sold a better team than than the one he put together ;-(

The point is we can't rely on him being fit for a whole season so need a player with similar movement and predatory skills to fall back on - unless Origi's goal output improves and Ings bonds back really firing.

The penalty he and Messi converted was ridiculous!

He's on 39 goals in 35 games this season but sadly he'll likely never be in contention for the Ballon d'Or because of his past indiscretions. Regardless, he is undoubtedly the world's best striker right now. Hopefully we can tempt him back one day.

Something that I haven't seen getting spoken about during people's reactions to the game is the fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet. A win seems a bit rare in this moment (as Klopp would say) but you could probably give your own odds for us to win with a clean sheet.

Apart from the fact he is always injured and can not be relied on.

He is a great striker when fit but has more injury prone that Michael Owen.

Villa were dire and played right into our hands. It was an impressive result but we've had a few similar games through the season only to revert to mediocrity or worse the next game. Too many false dawns. The key is being able to play like this at home against a side hell-bent on defending deep. Undoubtedly we have a great attack when everyone is fit but when just one of 3 or 4 key players is injured we're so much worse. Squad depth needs to be addressed. I completely agree we need another striker of Sturridge-like quality, in fact I've been banging on about it all season. Even if Sturridge does stay fit he cannot play every game so we need a quality alternative.

Key now is consistency. This season is unique in terms of inconsistency up and down the table. The LC is going to the bottom of City's priorities with a long away trip in the CL the Wednesday before and a trip to us in the PL the Wednesday after. If we can navigate our way past Augsburg and bag the LC our confidence should be sky-high which I think has been a big problem this season.

Origi and Ings are the alternative .

Where do you find a quality player like Sturridge who not only doesn’t cost a fortune but secondly wouldn’t even play when Sturridge was fit?

Those two are not good enough to lead our attack. We need world class strikers and them two are not that.

Do we?

Origi will get better and Ings I think would thrive in a Klopp system. Not forgetting we have Firmino as well.

I think new strikers are down the list of priorities.

There are reports that we're going to announce the Matip signing. He'll be coming in the summer on a free.

We need to improve our home form, only 4 home wins in the PL is poor, Anfield used to be a place where opposing teams feared to come, but now most will come expecting to get at least a point. Unfortunately 7 of our remaining 12 PL games are at home, hopefully the return of Sturridge and Coutinho will see an improvement.

I agree about origi but I will wait to see what Ings will do as I can see him being another benteke.

Firmino isn't a striker in a million years. He's a Coutinho #10 hole player.

But he can lead the line if need be.

Ings was the only player in form in rodgers last days, It is a pity he got injured when he did as we could have done with his grit and hard work all this time.

In an emergency, I agree. But he's unlikely to win us too many points, hence the need for a world class striker who's going to play 80%+ of games.

The problem with Firmino is he needs to play with Coutinho, but in an ideal world, they both occupy the same role. I would accept that as long as Coutinho's playing in the hole, Firmino could play up front as one of two strikers along side someone who's world class in the position, but he's two lightweight to lead the line on his own.

The question mark with Sturridge though ( apart form his legs of paper and bones of glass ) is what does he want? All those stories last week came from somewhere; there must have been something to spark it off. Just as with the Mourinho/ LVG stories didn't come completely out thin air, and Utd haven't been rushing to deny any of them, I haven't heard Daniel come out and rubbish the idea of him wanting to move back south?

Even if he does settle and stay, I believe his contract runs for another two seasons, until June 2018. what are the chances of him signing again? So between his fitness record and a possible desire to move on in life, I think Liverpool do need to think mid-to-long term about a striking addition or replacement for Sturridge.

Finding one is a different story though. Personally I'd sell Benteke, Balotelli and Lallana to fund a move for someone like Higuain ( there was a rumour not so long ago he's have listened to an offer from Liverpool ) though he might be difficult to get out now.

And now it's been confirmed. It might be worth me watching a bit of Schalke to see what we're getting.

I don't know enough about him and haven't seen him in action to make a judgment on happy to be about this. I wonder if we're signing him primarily as a CB or DM, and who will make way for him? Whatever, it should be a great asset to have another versatile player in the squad. I look forward to seeing him in the summer.

We seem to be doing our business early, that's 2 on the way here.

I think it's a serious point as to who we sell, what funding we have, and then who we can afford to buy - along with a consideration for wages.

Benteke has few chances left now to prove his worth, however, I did notice that other members of the team seemed to be reluctant to pass the ball to him yesterday - so he's getting scant options to even try. I actually feel very sorry for him, he has to be exceptionally despondent.

Allegedly, he's on £140k, Balo £85k, Lallana £90k - but I see the latter as a decent squad player who at least gives his all every time he plays, and if we end up next season with as many matches as this, he is a good squad player to have - unless we can find better, cheaper? We still own Markovic - do we see what he can do now when back off loan, or just let him go?

I'm sure there are a whole bunch of meetings going on in prep for next season, and
a lot will depend on if we are in Europe - in either cup. Just so long as Klopp rules the selections made, that's fine, I do trust him to do it as right as he can. Just have to get to the players before China does!

http://www.skysports.com/football/ne...liverpool-move

I'd be disappointed to see Benteke go, but if it has to be then I'll get over it. While you don't exactly want a £25m squad player Lallana is fine. Klopp seems to like him, he puts the effort in and does try his best. We won't be better off if we let him go.