dayokanu: Almost everyone on your team is average to mediocre now. The star is gone and replacing him with a dozen average player wont cut it especially in Europe.

You no longer have the surprise factor Last season most teams never considered Liverpool a threat until like March when it was too late.

You have a resurgent Man Utd, a wounded Chelsea, and a spending Arsenal to deal with and you are buying Lovren, Lallana and Lambert (Southampton v2) added to Origi. Remy is a good buy for that amount

I think those in charge of decision making in Anfield are not serious minded folks. I would think they can get better players outside England for cheaper. someone like Quintero

Reus wont come to Liverpool unless you splash serious money. In the current European club standing Dortmund would be regarded as a higher club with a better chance of winning the CL. So why do you think Reus would want to step down and play with Sturridge and Lallana?

Reus options would be big club only with a good chance of winning the CL. Since that would be his reason for leaving Dortmund if he does

Reus is heaven and earth better than Shaqiri

To some extent I agree with your comments.
1. But Liverpool has always been a club that creates stars. Dalglish, Rush, Fowler, Owen, Torres, Suarez, Alonso were all made at Anfield. Mascherano was rehabilitated at Anfield
2. Rodgers philosophy is to rely less on stars and more on team work. So far his signings have been hit and miss.
3. The players signed so far are decent in my opinion but then again, perhaps I am optimistic as a fan and you are probably more objective than me.
4. Like last season, we start again as underdogs. Everyone is expecting Citeh or Chelsea to win the EPL ad Manutd and Arsenal to complete the top four. We have lost our best player and we aren't sure how well we will do without him.
5. I hope we get Reus, he ll definitely be a game changer.

I guess I will re-assess Liverpool's chances again at the mid way point in December. As a fan, I can't but be optimistic.

dayokanu: Lambert, Lallana and now Lovren

Is it because Liverpool also starts with L or you are desperately trying to be Southampton version 2

We had a thin squad last year. Since we are in the ECL this year, we need a bigger squad. To avoid making the mistake spurs made last year, Rodgers is after players who are proven in the EPL. And since we may not be able to get players from the top 4 sides, we have to look at other clubs such as Southampton and Newcastle. Lallana, Remy, Lovren are the best outside Chelsea, Arsenal, Citeh. Lambert is a short term option, certainly better than Aspas. Plus we are signing other good players from other leagues.

What is your opinion on Reus? Do you think he ll come to Liverpool? What do you think he is worth? Is Reus better than Shaqiri (whom u chaps refuse to sell to us)?

dayokanu:

Maybe because Bayern fans have a better view of the game than most epl fans who don't see anything else aside their mediocre English league.

On this forum insane comparison have been made by epl fans and even last world cup Andy Gray an English journalist was telling us only 2 German players would make the English team, these are people who form the opinions of most epl fans.

Here we've seen ppl tell us Rooney is better than Muller, Joe Cole is better than schweinsteiger, comparing Ashley Cole and evra to Phillip Lahm. Less than a week ago someone quoted a post that Joe Hart is better than Neuer and cleverly is better than Reus abd Gotze.

When I tell you Ferdinand is garbage and at his best was never as good as Boateng you can take it to the bank

That there is what irks you.

I guess each to his own.

dayokanu:

Ferdinand to Nesta? That's the kind of hype and comparison that makes England remain trophy less for like half a century.

In comparison to Italian defenders Ferdinand would rank with Mark Iuliano and Birindelli. A 17yr old Nesta sodomized Paul Gascoigne so bad in training that he fled Italy.

No defender in the history of English football can hold a candle to Nesta. As good as I think Boateng is, I won't compare him to Nesta.

In the last twenty years Maldini Nesta Sammer Kohler Canavaro are my top ranked defenders.

Ferdinand at best would be in tier 4

Forget your beef with England or its press for a second. England hyping its players doesn't mean England has not produced great footballers. I don't disagree with your list of great defenders but your anti-England bias makes you hate everything English.

A40:
Who are these useless players? These things even out at the end of the day. Djimi Traore won a CL medal and vanished from the face of the earth the next season.

Ronaldo De Lima scored over 60 goals for his country was the World Cup all-time highest scorer till recently and also has a World Cup and Golden Ball to his name. I think your comparison is a stretch

Boa-TANK is better than Rio he has proven this for club and country already! Forget the old cliche and urban legend the English press and fans stay trying to gas themselves and players. They are painfully average and this has been exposed too many times before in International football

Again football is a team sport. Rio has done it for club and country as well but Germany is a much better footballing nation than England and as such, Boateng will win more national trophies than Rio. Forget about trophies for now; Rio and Boateng are not mates. You are a Bayern supporter and probably biased. Apart from Bayern fans, Boateng is not heralded as one of the best defenders in the world; Rio was during his prime.

A-40

Football is a team sport. So there are times when great players don't get to win and useless players get to win. Djimi Traore has a ECL medal while Ronaldo has none. Boateng, whom I like, has won more global titles than Rio but that doesn't make Boateng better than Rio.

This weekend was not bad

Bought Remy for £8M
Sold Borini for £14m but Borini does not want to leave. Can we get volunteers to drive him to Sunderland?
£16m deal for Lovren

Remaining deals
LB - Hopefully Moreno signs this week but I would prefer Rodriguez who scores more and has more assists
Attacker - Hopefully Reus

Breakthrough players I would love to have more playing time this season
Jordan Ibe - 3 assists in 2 games
Ilori - lets see how good he is.
Rossiter

Players to leave
Lucas
Borini
Assaidi - hopefully the news of £6m from Stoke is true
Allen - if stories of Isco are true

dayokanu:

Performance in big games is what distinguish average players from great ones. Rio when the stakes get high becomes pure trash.

Before Boateng became a pro I've always said Ferdinand is rubbish just a product of the British hype machine. Scholes one of the real talented players from England is actually the one not insanely hyped

Ask the average epl fan they would be talking about Lampard and Gerrard when Scholes is the real don. Which shows many don't know football

Dayokanu

Clearly you have something against Rio

In the last decade, the closest defender to Rio is Nesta. Vidic is similar to Terry and Campbell; although very good but he was raped regualrly by Torres when Torres was at Liverpool. Rio, in my opinion, was the complete defender. The issue many have with Rio is that he defends with ease. The best defenders eliminate goal scoring threats well before relying on last ditch tackles. I will never forget how Rio caught up with Aghahowa and eased him off the ball before turning and passing the ball. gra gra defenders would have just cleared Aghohowa beyond the line.

ashdigital:

We need to build a new team now that Suarez has left. Lallana and Markovic are good signings but we need one more big name signing. Maybe Benzema or Reus.

New team? We can't build a new team. I think we will play 4-3-3 with DS as the arrowhead of our attack with Sterling and Markovic in a 3 man attack. Reus would be the better option as he can slot into that system. Benzema would mean a change of formation to possibly 4-4-2 like we did when Suarez was around. That could also be a good thing. Well I trust Rodgers anyway. The defense still needs some work. I am glad about Can since Gerrard doesn't really have the legs to be an anchor over many games. Moreno/Rojo would be excellent LBs and Lovren would be a good upgrade on Skrtel.

Hey fellow Reds; new season is upon us and Suarez has left.

What should be our goals for this season?

How should we play now that we don't have Suarez?

What should be our first 11?

Pataki:

You are walking alone this season mate!

Nothing new there; we still waiting to end our drought.

People support teams that can never win but they do nevertheless.

Not much changes around here. How can Smalling and Jones be better than Boateng? Or Nastasic for that matter.

Cahill may have been at fault for the Balotelli goal but that shouldn't remove from him as a quality defender. He is easily an underrated defender. All top defenders are at fault at some point in their careers. Baresi was at fault for the Houghton goal Ireland scored against Italy at USA 94. I use Baresi because he is considered one of the best central defenders of all time.

It is almost impossible to win the WC or any top tournament with a bad/average defense. The German defense was solid throughout and Boateng was very good.

Boateng is no passenger and he certainly was one of the best players at the WC.

Pataki: Get in Wenger!

Welcome Alexis.....welcome home son!

Where is my good friend katsumoto? See the brilliant chess move by Wenger?! Now you know what we are smoking here at the Emirates stadium!

Gunners well done. You stole Sanchez from me.

Assnal 1 - Liverpool 0. I agree that was a great result for Arsenal but only because Sanchez wants to live in London.

GustavoFring: It's raining like mad here in London.

But when I drove by the Emirates few minutes ago, the crowd outside is massive.

Finsbury park is alive in red and white.

Too bad won ma je iya la le yii...

Why you dey lie? You drove by!!!

Or you were on bus 259 to Edmonton?

GustavoFring:

Lalaboi

1.)What is the point of a manager?
2.) When does the manager deserve credit?
3.) When does the manager deserve to be jeered at?

Players are credited for their individual abilities but manager gets credit for success or failure of the team. The magnitude of such credit is dependent on the resources at the disposal of the manager. Martinez would be more lauded if he wins the premiership than Mourinho if Mourinho were to win.

A-40:

Akinbiyi lohun lohun? O maa kala gaan oh! Oduamadi is also available

pickabeau1: Suarez signs new contract at Liverpool!

Can ASSnal afford 100 Million Sterling in January?

ASSnal better go and tempt Ade Akinbiyi out of retirement.

debosky:

Ever heard of reciprocity? No homeless folk allowed - those guys can come here because they have homes they can return to and vice-versa. We don't entertain the destitute homeless any longer, heck even DK has a home so go find yours.

Reciprocity ko procreation ni.

debosky:

No fight at all - just end of year clear out - returning all and sundry to their homes.

And who cleared you out of the Manure and Chelski threads? Or don't you comment on their threads? Abi ASSnal don acquire Manure and Chelski ni?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Why so emotional? Na fight?

debosky:

I don't know who asked you for your gay packet stat analysis. In case you've forgotten, both Gerrard and Sturridge are out for the rest of the month - Liverpool is and will be primarily dependent on Suarez for the upcoming series of festive fixtures.

Gerrard being equal with Ozil on assists means what exactly? How many games has Ozil played compared to Gerrard? A player in his debut season signed on deadline day compared to someone who has played donkey years in the EPL for the same side? What are you comparing exactly?

Is 10 games more statistically significant than 5? Which set would be given greater credence and against what quality of opposition? Better you stick to drinking sake and chasing flat-chested women.

Liverpool are a one man team at the moment - if you don't like it go and do what Adams Oshiomhole told the widow.

I think we've entertained you scabby scousers for long enough on this thread - go and revive your dead home and stop squatting.

Egbami

You made a statement I deemed to be subjective. So as to crystallize the debate, I supplied facts to counter your opinion.

In addition to the facts supplied earlier; will Suarez be the goalie, striker, midfielder, defender all on his own?

Dobosky you can do better than that.

What's going on here?

Someone say it aint so. Did Sunderland really beat Chelsea?

So many idiots on Nairaland.

Someone else's culture doesn't have to make sense to you.

If the people of Akure have this tradition, who are you dunderheads to question it?

Was Mandela's body in the morgue when it was lying in state for 3 days?

They make fun of African culture but are quick to imbibe American culture even when many of them have never stepped on a plane before.

debosky: Dunno why Bayern or even transfers are being talked about - we have some crunch games in the next few weeks that may decide whether we're even in any shape to be talking about winning things next year.

By the time Bayern comes up who knows - we could be abysmal in the league that we put all our focus on the game, or doing well in the league that we're leaning towards fielding a weaker side in the CL.

As for Liverpool, it's all well and good harping about their play and Suarez when you have over a week to prepare for league games against a team that played barely 3 days earlier - it's a different kettle of fish playing midweek and weekend all through the season.

I'm not knocking Suarez, but what we need is a quality back up 9 that can deputise for or even replace Giroud - we definitely don't want to become a one man team like Liverpool who sink or swim on Suarez' performance.

Without Suarez LFC has 3 wins, 1 Draw, 1 Loss. With Suarez LFC has 7 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses.

Without Suarez Liverpool had a points ratio of .66. With Suarez, Liverpool has a points ratio of .69.

Is there a huge difference? No. Liverpool is scoring more goals in games but a 1 nil win is the same as a 5 nil win = 3 points

Suarez is the best player at LFC but LFC is not a one man team. Gerrard is equal with Ozil on number of assists. Sturridge is 3rd on the scorers chart and has missed 2 games. Pass completion of the LFC midfield is one of the highest in the EPL. Abeg go siddon

Hope you guys enjoyed watching a good liverpool team.

we shall be giving a similar goal feast at old trafford.

coogar:

diving is pre-planned.
anticipating a contact or deliberately leaving a trailing leg knowing contact would be made & then jerking forward to exaggerate the contact made. it's a pre-planned move not all the ones you have showed us here.

arturo vidal, suarez are not different to players claiming a ball that went out of touch knowing their own team mate put the ball out of touch. this is also dishonesty no one seems to talk about.

watch when a corner is put into the box & 2 opposing players contest & put the ball out of touch. all the players in the box then raise their hands claiming goal kick or another corner kick. how's that different to vidal pointing to the spot?

Come on Coogar

Kicking the turf and subsequently pointing to the spot is not different from diving to win a penalty.

And it certainly is different from players who instinctively raise their hands and point to the corner for a freekick or goal kick.

That was no penalty.

Dayokanu

Bayern alone can not make up a German league. The German league is shiite when compared with the big boy leagues Seria A, EPL, La Liga.

The results in this year's ECL and all time records prove so.

Purist:

He might be a complete ässhole, but you really can't question his class, attitude and commitment to the job.

How many classy midfielders enter the pitch wanting to fight everyone?

superstar1:

which nonsense model professional. he is an agbero without class. simple.

he thinks being a manager is that easy, well it is easy but being in a successful one is the one that is not easy. he saw how easy it was in his stint at managing a championship team.

You nailed it.

Keane always played ball like he was going to fight everyone.

I would have loved if football allowed fights just like in Ice Hockey, just for Vieira to have taught him a lesson. Just once.