Football 2014/15

[BlodwynPig]

The Barcelona - Suarez saga is odious maximus...

Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who completed his move to Barcelona from Sevilla on Tuesday, also praised Suarez.
He said: "The fact he has had the character and the strength to go in front of everyone and say sorry says a lot about him as a person.
"Not every person has that strength to admit they have done something stupid.

A real person would have apologised either immediately after the incident or after the match when the world's gaze was upon him. Waiting until he got the Barcelona deal is a sign of a malignant coward. Rakitic is a stooge and a cunt. "The strength to go in front of everyone and say sorry assault a fellow professional whilst pretending to be the injured party, says a lot about him as a person"

"Most people have the strength to admit they have done something stupid when faced with no alternative and a promise of a very lucrative monetary carrot to chomp down on"

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

We've signed the good de Jong. Very impressed with that and a good fee too.

Probably spells the end for Ben Arfa though :(

Not to worry, the guy was bobbins 80% of the time. I also like the look of the move, at least it will signal a change of plan tactically to last year.

[BlodwynPig]

It'll be great to see Newcastle finishing 11th in the Premier League next season...can't wait.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

It'll be great to see Newcastle finishing 11th in the Premier League next season...can't wait.

Well, Pards'll be gone if that's what happens.

[phantom_power]

Tee Suarez to Barca move is toxic on all levels. The fawning that Barca are showing towards Suarez for his "strength" is matched in its awfulness only in Suarez's contempt for a club that have supported him through thick and thin. Yes, I know they only did it because he was good at football and that's what makes the whole thing that much worse. Ability trumps morality it would seem

And yes, the club I support (and most clubs) are probably guilty of similar ethical dicknose behaviour but this just sticks out as particularly obvious shitfuckery

[mook]

so, will liverpool return to being ordinary in the coming season without old bitey bollocks leading the charge? 

i hope so, the fan meltdown is going to be glorious to watch.

[Utter Shit]

Suarez's contempt for a club that have supported him through thick and thin.

There's a reasonable argument for saying that if Liverpool hadn't encouraged Suarez's self-victimisation in the first place, he wouldn't have thought he could still get away with this sort of behaviour.

[chand]

so, will liverpool return to being ordinary in the coming season without old bitey bollocks leading the charge?

They'll be fine, they coped alright without him last season, and provided they spend some of the money wisely they'll be fine. Sturridge will get plenty of goals as the main man, powered by his chicken teriyaki subs with extra green peppers. I think they're capable of going toe-to-toe with City and Chelsea for second behind United.

[mook]

they're going to implode. 7th place and tears everywhere.

[Beagle 2]

Without Suarez's goals they would indeed have finished seventh last season, so they're going to need to spend that money wisely. Can't think of any obvious one-hit-wonder world cup stars they might think about panic-spunking on though. Mind you, that Tim Cahill goal...

[mook]

there's talk about sanchez going there. he won't get 31 goals and fuck knows how many assists though.

[chand]

Without Suarez's goals they would indeed have finished seventh last season

That's not really how football works though.

[mook]

it's near enough.

[phantom_power]

There's a reasonable argument for saying that if Liverpool hadn't encouraged Suarez's self-victimisation in the first place, he wouldn't have thought he could still get away with this sort of behaviour.

Possibly but it is more likely that he has no real control over that aspect of his personality and so is always a ticking timebomb. If he had got some sort of help after the second bite he might have been able to curb that part of his personality but it is all just pointless speculation.

[Beagle 2]

That's not really how football works though.

Is it not? Obviously I know, just this:

They'll be fine, they coped alright without him last season

Isn't true. They need to replace him with somebody who scores lots of goals. And they probably will, but they might not. Clive.

[chand]

it's near enough.

They're not just going to play with a gaping void where Suarez is meant to be, endlessly playing through balls and crosses to an empty space, dropping to their knees in despair and crying "Where's Luis? This is a nightmare!". Someone else will play in his stead, the focus of the attacks will change and adapt. When van Nistelrooy left United in 2006 everyone wondered what they were going to do without the 24 goals he'd scored the previous season. The answer was "win the league after three seasons of failure". When Ronaldo left and took all his goals to Real Madrid, United inexplicably scored more goals the following season. Arsenal sold Robin Van Persie after he scored 30 of their 74 goals in the league, and the next term they scored 72.

[doppelkorn]

I still hold some hope that Ruud van Nistelrooy drives a van with a big pair of tits on the front bumper.

[Utter Shit]

Suarez is an exceptional player and will be missed, the question from Liverpool's point of view is whether or not they can convince Barcelona to push someone their way as part of the bargain. When Bale left us last year, as irreplacable as he was individually £80m was enough money to strengthen the side elsewhere to cover his loss - the problem is, £80m is of limited use unless you're able to attract players good enough to offset the loss of your superstar, and we ended up buying a whole load of good players but no great ones (Lamela was expected to be in that category to be fair, but it didn't happen for him).

If Liverpool can convince Barca to part with Sanchez as has been rumoured, that would massively offset the loss of Suarez, with the fee on top of that (£40m at a guess?) available to be spent improving the side elsewhere. Rodgers' transfer success at the club is patchy to say the least, but if they can get Sanchez in then there's no reason that they couldn't end up with a better squad overall. Not sure there is anyone else Barca would be willing to let go that would offset the loss of Suarez in terms of giving them that X-factor for want of a less shit term, I love Pedro and they seem willing to lose him but he isn't that sort of player, Tello is talented but hasn't proved anything yet...Sanchez is the real deal and the only one they could realistically get that would come close to adequately replacing Suarez.

Bit confused at the lack of love between Sanchez and Barca tbh, they should be desperate to keep him and he should be happy to stay - even with Suarez coming he would play regularly. A strike force of Messi/Neymar/Suarez/Sanchez would be batshit fucking mental.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

All the Suarez money can't be wasted in Tottenham fashion. Apparently 30 million only gets you a mid 20s 'yeah not bad i suppose' top half Premier League player now, so only being able to afford 2 and a half of those in lieu of a Suarez seems like a bum deal.

So my view is they should burn 50m+ plus on a world talent and mother fucking go for it.

[BlodwynPig]

Even with that attacking force, Barca will still get battered 2-0 by Sporting Gijon

[chand]

Isn't true. They need to replace him with somebody who scores lots of goals.

I dunno, the examples I cited in my post above were cases where players weren't really directly replaced; United didn't find another Ronaldo or Van Nistelrooy, Arsenal didn't really replace Van Persie.

A lot of Liverpool's play flows through Suarez at the moment, but often even taking an objectively good player out changes the dynamics and allows other players to increase their influence. Obviously Suarez leaving could make them a lot worse, but I don't think the difference will necessarily be as huge as "Guaranteed 30-goal striker leaves" can make it sound.

[Utter Shit]

All the Suarez money can't be wasted in Tottenham fashion. Apparently 30 million only gets you a mid 20s 'yeah not bad i suppose' top half Premier League player now, so only being able to afford 2 and a half of those in lieu of a Suarez seems like a bum deal.

So my view is they should burn 50m+ plus on a world talent and mother fucking go for it.

To be fair Liverpool are better placed than us because they can offer CL football. We could have afforded Ozil, Di Maria, Coentrao etc last summer and by all accounts Madrid would have let them go as part of the deal (preferred to in fact), but without CL football you just cannot attract that level of players. In fact if any of them had agreed to join us, you'd have to seriously question their motivations. On the other hand, Rodgers' transfer record isn't especially good and he is quickly developing a reputation for overspending on players who are only 'ok', so there's no guarantee the money will be spent well. Again, this is why signing a proven top-level player like Sanchez is key, because the risk of him not being a success should be lower.

[Utter Shit]

I dunno, the examples I cited in my post above were cases where players weren't really directly replaced; United didn't find another Ronaldo or Van Nistelrooy, Arsenal didn't really replace Van Persie.

A lot of Liverpool's play flows through Suarez at the moment, but often even taking an objectively good player out changes the dynamics and allows other players to increase their influence. Obviously Suarez leaving could make them a lot worse, but I don't think the difference will necessarily be as huge as "Guaranteed 30-goal striker leaves" can make it sound.

I can't remember for sure but didn't Sturridge and Suarez's main scoring runs last year take place when the other was out injured/suspended? Sturridge clearly needs to feel like he's the main man, so it's reasonable to think that his performances could improve with Suarez gone. Not that this will make up for the loss of such a good player of course, but it could at least offset it along with the right signings elsewhere in the squad.

While acknowledging what I said about the Spurs comparison earlier, the other side of it is that with a relatively lop-sided squad like Liverpool's (great players like Suarez, Sturridge, Coutinho alongside pretty shoddy ones, mainly the defence and goalkeeper) there is huge scope for improvement - if Liverpool got £70-80m for Suarez, that money spent wisely could massively improve the defence, way exceeding the loss of one world-class player to an attack that is still very good without him.

So it works both ways. I was completely convinced when we signed Soldado, Paulinho, Eriksen, Capoue, Lamela and the rest that the improvements across the squad would outweigh the loss of one world class player, it didn't work out that way because none of them bar Eriksen were significantly better than what we already had, and post-Bale we ended up with a notably inferior first-eleven but the world's most impressive subs bench.

IMO Liverpool need to do what we couldn't, and make sure they take advantage of their CL status by ensuring they get in someone of real class to directly replace Suarez, THEN spend the rest improving the weaker parts of the squad. Easier said than done though of course.

[Cleaners From Venus]

Torres is the answer.


And I'm not taking the piss.

[Utter Shit]

If you're not taking the piss then you're just wrong. The pace, energy and sharpness that made Torres such a success at Liverpool are not gifts he possesses any more.

[Cleaners From Venus]

I disagree. He's just a guy with no confidence in a Chelsea shirt. Sure, he has a touch of the Michael Owen's pace-wise, but they'd pick him up for sod all. Worth a punt for me.

[BlodwynPig]

Has Heskey retired yet?

Edit: Playing for Newcastle Jets in Oz

The match against Melbourne featured "Heskey Cam", which allowed the viewer to track Heskey's movements with one camera throughout the match

[Utter Shit]

I disagree. He's just a guy with no confidence in a Chelsea shirt. Sure, he has a touch of the Michael Owen's pace-wise, but they'd pick him up for sod all. Worth a punt for me.

It's far more than just confidence. Being in a team that didn't play to his strengths didn't help and I'm sure if he leaves for a club that exploits his qualities better he will still score goals - but he'll never be close to the player he was at Liverpool.

[Neville Chamberlain]

he will still score goals

And ultimately, that's what football's about.

[BlodwynPig]

And ultimately, that's what footballs about.

Wrong..."it's all about the in-play"