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United States9977 Posts
On January 01 2025 00:46 WombaT wrote:Show nested quote +On December 30 2024 02:24 Jockmcplop wrote:On December 30 2024 02:20 DropBear wrote:On December 30 2024 02:01 Jockmcplop wrote: Take a look at that table, lads. I haven't seen much of Forest (or anyone honestly) this season, what's behind this? Anyone in particular starring? And why didn't Murillo play, I brought him into my FPL Murillo was injured in the warm up today . Forest have somehow developed this knack of winning every single tight, close game . Its less about individuals, although Murillo and Milenkovic have both been incredibly good. Nuno is the main reason. Tactically he is as good as anyone in the EPL. Not to be a pessimist, can they sustain that? They’ve definitely stepped up their level this season, but for me they’ve made a jump to the best of mid-table/challenging for top 6 level, they’re just getting 3 points more often than not in the 50/50 games. Hey I’d love to see them maintain this kind of position, and it’s part of the beauty of the game that intangible qualities can overcome various odds. You know looking at the age of the team, they're actually quite a young team (outside Wood and Sels who are first choice). But they play very calm and composed like a veteran team. Perhaps the floodgates will open at some point and they'll start dropping points in those close games. But regardless, it's been a fun watch for them (except for us >:c)
Also wtf do you do if you're United right now? I feel like they've made the wrong decision over the past several years at every possible choice they've made. I still don't understand wanting Amorim in the middle of the season with a squad built for a different system of play. They legitimately made the worst possible choice they could've. If they had just sacked Ten Hag at the beginning of the season and used the money to allow Amorim to build the squad the way he wanted, they wouldn't be in this situation. Or just let Ten Hag play some ugly, but results based football to be a stable mid-table team, then bring in Amorim afterwards with a fresh checkbook to rebuild the squad the way he wants.
The Amorim move fucked both United and Sporting. Talk about making both teams worse lol. It really feels like they're going to need 3-4 straight years of good decisions to offload all the mess they've accumulated and reach a point where they've shed the past several years.
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I'm really conflicted about Forest because on one hand it's a return to form for a great institution, with a lot of underdogs and players unfairly written off showing the haters how wrong they are and it's great for the fans
On the other hand Marinakis is an evil c***
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On December 31 2024 22:34 sharkie wrote:Show nested quote +On December 30 2024 13:27 Jockmcplop wrote:On December 30 2024 13:09 FlaShFTW wrote: Forest remind me of Mourinho ball. So rock solid on defense and can put away chances. Our rematch will be glorious in 2 weeks. Slot needs to put this one to bed. I'm worried about what he'll do if he can't lol. He must have mentioned that loss about 10 times since in interviews. The easiest way to explain it is that we had Wood in this kind of form last season, but we sucked because our defending was shit. Introducing Milenkovic and giving Nuno the preseason is what has changed since then, our attack is exactly the same as it was last season. Wood scored 14 in 31 last season. This one he has 11 in 19. Isnt that much much better?
Yeah its better, but of those 31 last season a bunch were substitute appearances, and Wood only started scoring when Nuno took over, which further backs up my point that its more about Nuno and tactics than it is purely about Wood.
Don't get me wrong, I love him and he's a fantastic striker - unbelievable ability to find a yard or two in the penalty area -, but you need your team to be able to put the ball on a plate for him because he's not Ronaldo and he's not going to do it all himself.
On January 01 2025 00:46 WombaT wrote:Show nested quote +On December 30 2024 02:24 Jockmcplop wrote:On December 30 2024 02:20 DropBear wrote:On December 30 2024 02:01 Jockmcplop wrote: Take a look at that table, lads. I haven't seen much of Forest (or anyone honestly) this season, what's behind this? Anyone in particular starring? And why didn't Murillo play, I brought him into my FPL Murillo was injured in the warm up today . Forest have somehow developed this knack of winning every single tight, close game . Its less about individuals, although Murillo and Milenkovic have both been incredibly good. Nuno is the main reason. Tactically he is as good as anyone in the EPL. Not to be a pessimist, can they sustain that? They’ve definitely stepped up their level this season, but for me they’ve made a jump to the best of mid-table/challenging for top 6 level, they’re just getting 3 points more often than not in the 50/50 games. Hey I’d love to see them maintain this kind of position, and it’s part of the beauty of the game that intangible qualities can overcome various odds.
I can't really be objective when it comes to our chances. What I will say is that our success has been built on a really solid defence, the stats bear that out. The good thing about building on a solid defence is that even if your luck runs out and you lose a game or two, your defence will keep you competing in every match and there's always going to be the opportunity to kick on again after a loss. Our squad is super well balanced and has okay depth, but if Gibbs-White and Anderson get injured, we're absolutely fucked, or if Wood gets injured and Awoniyi can't make the step up (I trust him tbh).
Anyway that's all future talk. I'm just enjoying every win as they come. Its an amazing feeling for my club to be back where we were when i was a little kid.
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On January 01 2025 01:36 FlaShFTW wrote:Show nested quote +On January 01 2025 00:46 WombaT wrote:On December 30 2024 02:24 Jockmcplop wrote:On December 30 2024 02:20 DropBear wrote:On December 30 2024 02:01 Jockmcplop wrote: Take a look at that table, lads. I haven't seen much of Forest (or anyone honestly) this season, what's behind this? Anyone in particular starring? And why didn't Murillo play, I brought him into my FPL Murillo was injured in the warm up today . Forest have somehow developed this knack of winning every single tight, close game . Its less about individuals, although Murillo and Milenkovic have both been incredibly good. Nuno is the main reason. Tactically he is as good as anyone in the EPL. Not to be a pessimist, can they sustain that? They’ve definitely stepped up their level this season, but for me they’ve made a jump to the best of mid-table/challenging for top 6 level, they’re just getting 3 points more often than not in the 50/50 games. Hey I’d love to see them maintain this kind of position, and it’s part of the beauty of the game that intangible qualities can overcome various odds. You know looking at the age of the team, they're actually quite a young team (outside Wood and Sels who are first choice). But they play very calm and composed like a veteran team. Perhaps the floodgates will open at some point and they'll start dropping points in those close games. But regardless, it's been a fun watch for them (except for us >:c) Also wtf do you do if you're United right now? I feel like they've made the wrong decision over the past several years at every possible choice they've made. I still don't understand wanting Amorim in the middle of the season with a squad built for a different system of play. They legitimately made the worst possible choice they could've. If they had just sacked Ten Hag at the beginning of the season and used the money to allow Amorim to build the squad the way he wanted, they wouldn't be in this situation. Or just let Ten Hag play some ugly, but results based football to be a stable mid-table team, then bring in Amorim afterwards with a fresh checkbook to rebuild the squad the way he wants. The Amorim move fucked both United and Sporting. Talk about making both teams worse lol. It really feels like they're going to need 3-4 straight years of good decisions to offload all the mess they've accumulated and reach a point where they've shed the past several years. at this point theres nothing to do but pray that the saudis buy out the entire club. ive previously said that i would prefer ratcliffe over the saudis because hes born and raised in manchester and a united fan. hes not only got so many decisions wrong relating to the actual team, but what hes doing in the background with the club is atrocious and despicable. i thought he would have more sense than that as a local but i was so wrong. nowadays im neither happy nor sad when united win or lose. just emptiness and dread for whats to come
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51301 Posts
if you'd have given me 2-2 at anfield before the game i would have taken it in a heartbeat. frankly i was expecting another 7-0.
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United States9977 Posts
United came out very very strong and full of energy. Probably their best game of the season so far. So props to them for turning up when they needed to. But god was Trent just awful today. Giving the ball away then walking/jogging without really putting any defensive pressure on the ball carrier was unacceptable. Both goals came from his area too. That's unacceptable display from him. Idk if his head's already in Madrid and he just doesn't care anymore or just a really bad game for him, but man that was a dreadful display when he didnt offer one typical Trent-like pass the entire game. Bradley should've been subbed on far earlier but I'm guessing that Slot wants to protect Bradley since he's coming back from injury.
Good stuff from Onana too, almost saved the pen and also made some critical stops. He somehow always manages to turn up against us.
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Northern Ireland23406 Posts
On January 06 2025 14:58 FlaShFTW wrote: United came out very very strong and full of energy. Probably their best game of the season so far. So props to them for turning up when they needed to. But god was Trent just awful today. Giving the ball away then walking/jogging without really putting any defensive pressure on the ball carrier was unacceptable. Both goals came from his area too. That's unacceptable display from him. Idk if his head's already in Madrid and he just doesn't care anymore or just a really bad game for him, but man that was a dreadful display when he didnt offer one typical Trent-like pass the entire game. Bradley should've been subbed on far earlier but I'm guessing that Slot wants to protect Bradley since he's coming back from injury.
Good stuff from Onana too, almost saved the pen and also made some critical stops. He somehow always manages to turn up against us. If I was Trent I’d definitely consider heading to Madrid, aside from the obvious reasons he gets an inordinate amount of stick and scrutiny.
Not really sure why, the English can be quite strange in this regard. Kane gets it constantly from some quarters too, and I’d argue that those two are amongst a few genuinely world class English players, as opposed to merely very, very good. In Kane’s case it’s this irritating combo of years of ‘where are his trophies?’ banter, and as soon as he joined Bayern that tune switched to ‘well anyone can win trophies there’ (I know he hasn’t yet mind!) Like no shit, same with ‘Pep isn’t a great coach because he only coaches the best teams, he should try it with [insert lower league team here]
Scrutiny is fine of course and he did have a bad game. But with Trent he can put in a string of solid performances and folks have made up their mind he’s a defensive liability, and the second he has a poor game people just jump on the lad.
I also think this lazer focus on Trent has maybe seen Robertson go a bit under the radar. He’s still bloody good don’t get me wrong, but he’s maybe not quite the player he was half a decade ago. As a Northern Irishman myself it’s great to see Bradley emerging we’ve very few legit Prem class players, never mind potentially very good Prem players. That said,
Not to come across as a big whinge, but I think those who dwell and follow UK socials/media know what I’m on about.
Totally fine for Liverpool fans to find him occasionally frustrating, or avowed anti-fans being myopic, part of the game! But if one is of the neutral persuasion I don’t really get this obsession from some in replacing him with a more orthodox full back. He’s a wonderful, wonderful player to watch when he’s on it, and quite a unique one. There are more subtle, probing playmakers but very, very few players in world football who can ping Hollywood passes like he can. There was a certain aesthetic grace to how David Beckham struck a ball and I’m enjoying seeing something similar
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United States9977 Posts
On January 07 2025 08:06 WombaT wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2025 14:58 FlaShFTW wrote: United came out very very strong and full of energy. Probably their best game of the season so far. So props to them for turning up when they needed to. But god was Trent just awful today. Giving the ball away then walking/jogging without really putting any defensive pressure on the ball carrier was unacceptable. Both goals came from his area too. That's unacceptable display from him. Idk if his head's already in Madrid and he just doesn't care anymore or just a really bad game for him, but man that was a dreadful display when he didnt offer one typical Trent-like pass the entire game. Bradley should've been subbed on far earlier but I'm guessing that Slot wants to protect Bradley since he's coming back from injury.
Good stuff from Onana too, almost saved the pen and also made some critical stops. He somehow always manages to turn up against us. If I was Trent I’d definitely consider heading to Madrid, aside from the obvious reasons he gets an inordinate amount of stick and scrutiny. Not really sure why, the English can be quite strange in this regard. Kane gets it constantly from some quarters too, and I’d argue that those two are amongst a few genuinely world class English players, as opposed to merely very, very good. In Kane’s case it’s this irritating combo of years of ‘where are his trophies?’ banter, and as soon as he joined Bayern that tune switched to ‘well anyone can win trophies there’ (I know he hasn’t yet mind!) Like no shit, same with ‘Pep isn’t a great coach because he only coaches the best teams, he should try it with [insert lower league team here] Scrutiny is fine of course and he did have a bad game. But with Trent he can put in a string of solid performances and folks have made up their mind he’s a defensive liability, and the second he has a poor game people just jump on the lad. I also think this lazer focus on Trent has maybe seen Robertson go a bit under the radar. He’s still bloody good don’t get me wrong, but he’s maybe not quite the player he was half a decade ago. As a Northern Irishman myself it’s great to see Bradley emerging we’ve very few legit Prem class players, never mind potentially very good Prem players. That said, Not to come across as a big whinge, but I think those who dwell and follow UK socials/media know what I’m on about. Totally fine for Liverpool fans to find him occasionally frustrating, or avowed anti-fans being myopic, part of the game! But if one is of the neutral persuasion I don’t really get this obsession from some in replacing him with a more orthodox full back. He’s a wonderful, wonderful player to watch when he’s on it, and quite a unique one. There are more subtle, probing playmakers but very, very few players in world football who can ping Hollywood passes like he can. There was a certain aesthetic grace to how David Beckham struck a ball and I’m enjoying seeing something similar I think a lot of Liverpool fans like myself are just burnt out from the constant contract talks and the fact that the RMA media is basically non stop linking Trent to inking a new deal with them. I think the majority of the fanbase has already sort of come to terms with Trent leaving, giving him a 90% chance that he's gone in the summer. So when he has a performance like this, it just makes us question if it's just as bad game or there's some other influence on him to be playing this poorly.
Normally, when Trent has some major defensive errors like today, he would offer at least a few world class passes that might lead to a goal or at minimum a decent chance. This game didn't have that at all, hence why he got more flak than usual. I would say that overall this season his defense has improved, but if we want to be a world class side and contest for the double at minimum, he needs to lock in consistently.
Robbo is over the hump. Really pains me to say that because he's so loveable but I would 100% be looking for a new LB at this point. His legs are gone, when the ball goes in to the RW that he's marking, it looks like he's running in slow motion trying to keep up with his man, and he's given up quite a few mistakes and goals as a result of just not being quite as pacey and agile as he once was.
In terms of more conventional fullbacks and Bradley's performances, I think Slot has a much less reliance upon a guy like Trent, while Klopp built his team and his structure around Trent's influence on the pitch. That's why a lot of his are saying how, ok, if you want to go, fine, we'll pick up more conventional fullbacks to fit into Slot's system. I just hope that Slot gets the backing in the summer window, because our recruitment team has been a bit too quite in terms of key areas of the pitch that need some reinforcements.
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Northern Ireland23406 Posts
On January 08 2025 00:27 FlaShFTW wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2025 08:06 WombaT wrote:On January 06 2025 14:58 FlaShFTW wrote: United came out very very strong and full of energy. Probably their best game of the season so far. So props to them for turning up when they needed to. But god was Trent just awful today. Giving the ball away then walking/jogging without really putting any defensive pressure on the ball carrier was unacceptable. Both goals came from his area too. That's unacceptable display from him. Idk if his head's already in Madrid and he just doesn't care anymore or just a really bad game for him, but man that was a dreadful display when he didnt offer one typical Trent-like pass the entire game. Bradley should've been subbed on far earlier but I'm guessing that Slot wants to protect Bradley since he's coming back from injury.
Good stuff from Onana too, almost saved the pen and also made some critical stops. He somehow always manages to turn up against us. If I was Trent I’d definitely consider heading to Madrid, aside from the obvious reasons he gets an inordinate amount of stick and scrutiny. Not really sure why, the English can be quite strange in this regard. Kane gets it constantly from some quarters too, and I’d argue that those two are amongst a few genuinely world class English players, as opposed to merely very, very good. In Kane’s case it’s this irritating combo of years of ‘where are his trophies?’ banter, and as soon as he joined Bayern that tune switched to ‘well anyone can win trophies there’ (I know he hasn’t yet mind!) Like no shit, same with ‘Pep isn’t a great coach because he only coaches the best teams, he should try it with [insert lower league team here] Scrutiny is fine of course and he did have a bad game. But with Trent he can put in a string of solid performances and folks have made up their mind he’s a defensive liability, and the second he has a poor game people just jump on the lad. I also think this lazer focus on Trent has maybe seen Robertson go a bit under the radar. He’s still bloody good don’t get me wrong, but he’s maybe not quite the player he was half a decade ago. As a Northern Irishman myself it’s great to see Bradley emerging we’ve very few legit Prem class players, never mind potentially very good Prem players. That said, Not to come across as a big whinge, but I think those who dwell and follow UK socials/media know what I’m on about. Totally fine for Liverpool fans to find him occasionally frustrating, or avowed anti-fans being myopic, part of the game! But if one is of the neutral persuasion I don’t really get this obsession from some in replacing him with a more orthodox full back. He’s a wonderful, wonderful player to watch when he’s on it, and quite a unique one. There are more subtle, probing playmakers but very, very few players in world football who can ping Hollywood passes like he can. There was a certain aesthetic grace to how David Beckham struck a ball and I’m enjoying seeing something similar I think a lot of Liverpool fans like myself are just burnt out from the constant contract talks and the fact that the RMA media is basically non stop linking Trent to inking a new deal with them. I think the majority of the fanbase has already sort of come to terms with Trent leaving, giving him a 90% chance that he's gone in the summer. So when he has a performance like this, it just makes us question if it's just as bad game or there's some other influence on him to be playing this poorly. Normally, when Trent has some major defensive errors like today, he would offer at least a few world class passes that might lead to a goal or at minimum a decent chance. This game didn't have that at all, hence why he got more flak than usual. I would say that overall this season his defense has improved, but if we want to be a world class side and contest for the double at minimum, he needs to lock in consistently. Robbo is over the hump. Really pains me to say that because he's so loveable but I would 100% be looking for a new LB at this point. His legs are gone, when the ball goes in to the RW that he's marking, it looks like he's running in slow motion trying to keep up with his man, and he's given up quite a few mistakes and goals as a result of just not being quite as pacey and agile as he once was. In terms of more conventional fullbacks and Bradley's performances, I think Slot has a much less reliance upon a guy like Trent, while Klopp built his team and his structure around Trent's influence on the pitch. That's why a lot of his are saying how, ok, if you want to go, fine, we'll pick up more conventional fullbacks to fit into Slot's system. I just hope that Slot gets the backing in the summer window, because our recruitment team has been a bit too quite in terms of key areas of the pitch that need some reinforcements. Aye fair, can’t disagree with any of that really!
Was mostly venting over how much stick he gets more generally over here in the UK, but I suppose you have to be here to get that exposure. From what I gather he (as well as Kane) are generally much more universally admired abroad than in their native land
The impressive part of this Liverpool, and one that goes beyond having two quality coaches back-to-back is the recruitment. At present I can’t really identify areas they need to reinforce now. There’s of course the trio with contracts imminently expiring, and more general future-proofing to consider, but in terms of the squad for this season, unlike some of their competition I’m not really seeing an area they’re somewhat deficient in.
It’s how they were able to be there or thereabouts for the last 6/7 years and I think goes a bit under the radar, over here we’re still somewhat inured with the cult of the manager and suspicious of folks like Directors of Football or recruitment teams.
I personally think that’s wrong, but it’s something of the football culture over here. Ultimately coaches/managers don’t last all that long these days so letting them call all the shots can leave your club in a bad spot in the medium/longer term. Even the great Fergie was somewhat guilty of this as his last title-winning side was really set up for him to get that final title but Moyes inherited a side built for that last push and in dire need of a big refresh.
To go toe-to-toe with City and Europe’s best Liverpool basically needed most of their signings to be hits, especially if big money was involved, and they mostly have. Keita and Thiago didn’t quite come off in this span, and mostly down to injury issues.
Conversely City have been able to just eat a Kalvin Phillips or a Mattheus Nunes not working out, Liverpool couldn’t really afford to make many mistakes, and largely haven’t. Or for a textbook case of bad recruitment look at Man United.
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Liverpool and Elon Musk rumours :0
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United States9977 Posts
On January 08 2025 20:38 sharkie wrote: Liverpool and Elon Musk rumours :0 Almost certain those were some random BS rumors that some twitter user started just because Musk's family had some minute connection to Liverpool.
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I'm pretty sure Liverpool as a city is against everything Musk stands for so that would be a weird choice.
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On January 09 2025 00:41 FlaShFTW wrote:Almost certain those were some random BS rumors that some twitter user started just because Musk's family had some minute connection to Liverpool.
Musk father gave an interview. So its not random BS...
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Northern Ireland23406 Posts
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Can you imagine Musk coming up against PSR rules? He'd throw a fit if he wanted to spend his money on Liverpool but couldn't because of rules.
edit: What the hell just happened to Bentancur?
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Hopefully John Henry isn't in a rush to cash out. He's 75 and Musk has shown he's willing to pay overs in the past.
If a stupidly large offer came in, it would be very tempting.
That would probably be it for me as a Liverpool supporter if it happened though, probably as a Prem watcher too
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United States9977 Posts
On January 09 2025 04:45 Jockmcplop wrote: Can you imagine Musk coming up against PSR rules? He'd throw a fit if he wanted to spend his money on Liverpool but couldn't because of rules.
edit: What the hell just happened to Bentancur? Looks like he goes for the header, overextends and does something to his neck, then as he's coming down, his arm hits the ground awkwardly and snaps back and hits him in his head as his neck is trying to right itself and he knocks himself out. Lot of moving body parts that should not be moving like that. He's ok now but probably going to be out for a while after something like that.
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On January 10 2025 02:08 FlaShFTW wrote:Show nested quote +On January 09 2025 04:45 Jockmcplop wrote: Can you imagine Musk coming up against PSR rules? He'd throw a fit if he wanted to spend his money on Liverpool but couldn't because of rules.
edit: What the hell just happened to Bentancur? Looks like he goes for the header, overextends and does something to his neck, then as he's coming down, his arm hits the ground awkwardly and snaps back and hits him in his head as his neck is trying to right itself and he knocks himself out. Lot of moving body parts that should not be moving like that. He's ok now but probably going to be out for a while after something like that.
I've seen people speculating that he had a stroke, apparently he was making weird faces just before the cross came in. Crazy anyway, I've never quite seen anything like it.
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51301 Posts
past week we've seen lopetegui out for potter at west ham and dyche out for.... baines and coleman (for now) at everton
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What have I been saying about Arteta...
Another season over
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