It would pointless for us to sign Mane when we've got Rashford who is the comparable player (pacy forward who attacks from wide) than Mkhitaryan the playmaker.
Decent and fair appraisal from Squawka on the best CB signings of the Summer (Bailly and Matip both come out of it very well) :
If I were a Liverpool fan I'd be a tad worried that once again in the transfer market the manager has gone in and spent all his time and money on potential rather than current quality. On current ability, will these players be good enough to reach top 4 this season? When you guys were linked with Götze I thought he was exactly the type of player who could lift Liverpool.
If mane keeps his con
I don't think we've spent it all on potential. I expect Karius, Matip and Mane to have first team impact
These players could be realistically better than what they have, it's not going to be hard to displace Mignolet, Henderson, Lallana etc. But do they lift the team to a level where they can confidently say they are better than at least one out of Man Utd, man city, chelsea, arsenal, spurs and leicester? Because that's what they will have to be to reach top 4. If these players aren't good enough to reach top 4 this season then it's still just potential.
Too early to say. Mane certainly looks the part so far. Matip looked impressive. No idea about Karius. Not being Mignolet is a massive step up already though.
I'm sure last season we would have said many of Chelsea's players were better than those in other teams vying for Top 4 too. And I'm sure that most didn't rate any of Leicester's players as worthy of a place in a Top 4 side.
I think you guys are at the same level as Spurs except Harry Kane may hit form again and in that case they will be better than you. 20 goals strikers usually end up close to top 4. The shake ups you're talking aren't actually shakeups, if anything those clubs will be more stable than last year. LVG chopping and changing all the time for us, Pep announcement in the middle of the season and Mourinho exploding for chelsea really hindered those teams. I don't see that happening at any of these teams again, at least not this season. Each of the teams have also improved their squads.
That's a lottery system I don't think any big teams would rely on. Those incidents were one-offs and most likely won't happen again for a few years, if ever.
Well the fact you talk of them in the plural is enough to know they are not 'one-offs', that just happened to occur in the same season. And with 11 players (++) in each teams case ? Whilst it is highly likely that one of the favourites for the title will take it this season there is absolutely no reason at all that a team not possessing a squad full of 'best in their position' as you call them, could not break into the Top 4.
You're missing my point here. I am in no way under the delusion that because we spent tons of cash that we'll walk it. Far from it. Last few seasons have humbled me a lot.
some fair points.
I'd love to see Klopp's stats vs top teams in the last 5 years. He's steam-rolled teams like Real, Bayern, City and now Chelsea, time after time. His weakness is obviously teams that park the bus. All that hard-running, team-work and brave passing becomes pointless. It's all about individualists and match-winners in those games. Liverpool don't really have that.
They have players like Coutinho who randomly decides he can't be assed sometimes and that costs them.
Tonight was one of those nights. I'm disappointed with Coutinho to be honest and thought he looked off the pace. Klopp's got Lallana looking like a very good midfielder all of a sudden though.
You'll beat hull by four or five. The Swansea one might be more tricky though.
Against Bayern it is not that good anymore since 2012 - that 5:2 in the Cup final was the last meaningful match Dortmund won against Bayern. The important duels since then Bayern won - atleast if you do not count the preseason Supercup as an important match.
Coutinho's work rate in the first half was excellent and he whipped a wonderful ball for the opening goal. He wasn't eye-catching but he did a shift and made a big impact.
He has too many average players in that squad. The likes of Lovren,Milner,Lucas,Henderson,Lallana etc is why they are finishing around 6th-8th regularly. They can game raise but over a whole season they will fall short.
Must be a hard call with someone like Coutinho because he can play badly then pull off a bit of magic so hard to know when to pull him off. He didn't look pleased getting subbed tonight.
When City play Liverpool he's the player I fear getting the ball the most, in spite of his inconsistency. He deserves credit because he might go missing in games but he can turn up regardless of the opposition. With players of his style you normally find they are flat-track bullies, yet Coutinho can almost single-handedly decide a game when he has a good day.
They're not average.
He's definitely a big game player. It's against the smaller teams he is sometimes anonymous.
Ah I forgot about his cross for the first goal which was very good. I think he struggled as the game went on though and looked tired in the second half.
I think that's a bit harsh on Hull, they look like a tough side to break down. Swansea are always good against the bigger sides at home so that's one I'm concerned about.
Definitely. When he's playing well he's one you'd hate to play against but he doesn't do it consistently enough for me.
