EPL GOSSIP
Talk in a Belgian newspaper of Liverpool’s £10m Divock
Origi being available on loan has just about rescued a rotten gossip
column…
ORIGI AVAILABLE ON LOAN
Barely a year after buying him for £10m and just a few months
after bringing him to Anfield after a pretty terrible season in French
football, Liverpool are apparently ready to send Belgian striker Divock
Origi out on loan. Origi has only played 16 minutes of Premier League
football and was not even on the bench for
Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Norwich, with goalscorer Danny Ings preferred.
Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws says that Origi will be farmed
out on loan in January. Thank f*** for that because it has saved a
franlkly awful gossip column.
MENDES RESCUED ROJO
Super-agent Jorge Mendes stepped in and rescued Marcos Rojo’s
Manchester United career, claims the Daily Star. The Argentine was
offered to Monaco as part of the Anthony Martial deal after Louis van
Gaal lost patience in a player who missed the pre-season trip to the
United States because of a passport issue.
Rojo said in August: “I have received offers but my idea is to stay
here [United] and fight for a position because it is a great club. I’ll
try to play as much as possible. I talked to Van Gaal when I returned
and was upset by everything that had happened but he said he was
counting on me.”
Luke Shaw’s long-term injury is probably making Van Gaal rather glad
that Mendes took a moment to plead his case while in Manchester
negotiating on behalf of David de Gea.
ST JUSTE THE TICKET
These are desperate times in the land of transfer gossip and
desperate times call for desperate clicks on the Daily Star website,
where it is claimed that 18-year-old Heerenveen defender Jeremiah St
Juste is a target for Manchester United. He only made his Eredivisie
debut in January but has already played 17 league games.
Mails: Klopp, Klopp, Klopp (or Gunnersaurus)
Date published: Monday 21st September 2015 3:01
What’s The Problem? The Man With The Teeth…
I think
Minty, LFC
does a good job of articulating the thoughts of the more erudite and
less rabid Pool fan, and I’d like to expand on a couple of his points if
I may. The question is posed whether ‘it is Rodgers, the club or the
players’ – for me there are flaws in all three areas, and it remains to
be seen if the baby steps forward taken in the Norwich game can become
the giant leap of beating the (other) historical basket case Aston Villa
next time out.
Rodgers – such a weird bloke. Geniuses are weird, but so too, I
imagine, are tooth whitener salesmen masquerading as supply teachers in
overly tight suits. He deserves credit for getting Liverpool playing the
most exciting (but not best – no defence) football I’ve seen in the
Premiership, let alone at Liverpool, but also it has to be recognised
that he simply cannot coach a back line or give them the confidence to
not drop a complete bollock at least once a game. Also his fabled
flexibility is in fact the opposite – a slavish dedication to a failed
(post-Suarez) philosophy (spit) and spouting pure steaming manure every
time he opens his mouth. How does someone with his foot permanently in
his mouth make so much noise?
The club – supposedly ruthless enough to guarantee genuine progress,
but then appointed King (for so He ever shall be) Kenny for apparently
purely sentimental reasons, and then gave Rodgers another season despite
bringing Liverpool to the lowest ever point of losing 6-1 to Stoke.
Hopefully Klopp is already on a pre-nup and Rodgers is just minding the
shop like the Hovis boy in return for sweeties and pats on the head
along with constant praise to keep his positivity levels up. Have
unquestionably backed Bodge in the transfer market and are expanding
Anfield to bring in more long-term revenue, however could perhaps have
made Liverpool wealthier in terms of international marketing. Then again
it’s not their fault Liverpool don’t win enough to stand out next to
United etc.
The players – a double-edged sword, or perhaps more accurately
child’s playdoh plastic butter knife. I actually think our squad’s
pretty good, but hasn’t had the chance to reach full potential due to
selling the best player every year for too long (Torres, Suarez,
Sterling, Gerrard, Aspas – hehe). Too many new players every transfer
window while selling proven talent is never going to inspire enough
confidence in the squad to see genuine, consistent improvement. However,
it’s easy to claim that they haven’t been given the best platform to
shine – being played out of position, being asked to invite pressure at
the back by passing it around (despite having the coordination of a
milk-drunk infant), being dropped after good performances etc. Hard not
to feel that somebody else could get more from this bunch of players.
In conclusion, the club and players are not the problem.
Teams that are doing well this season are keeping things simple – not
in the Tactics Tim aversion to structure kind of way, but Leicester,
Crystal Palace, Swansea to name but three have very simple game plans
involving simple jobs which simple players can understand and thrive in.
United have a much-vaunted philosophy, but in actual fact it’s dead
simple – keep the ball, if that fails, lump it to Fellaini. Also United
have the spending power to bring in much better players. City do too,
and their simple approach is direct pace – run at people and fill the
space this creates with massively expensive, massively talented goal
machines. Liverpool on the other hand look confused, if they have a game
plan they can’t understand it or have forgotten it in awe of the round
bouncy thing that has just sailed over them and into their own net.
Norwich at home is as much a banker for Liverpool as any other
fixture; Rodgers has failed his easiest test. I like him, but barring a
ten-game winning run, surely it’s time for him and his philosophy to be
shown the door so that somebody can clear the air and make it easier for
players to fulfil their potential.
Morgan (the crowd at Anfield seems to agree) Goford
…How Rodgers still have a job is beyond Liverpool fans.
This guy has spent all our money garnered from our two luckiest bets
ever(Suarez and Sterling) and blows it all for a who-cares’th place
finish and no cups.
This guy has no credentials nor track record. He interviewed for the
job with a Powerpoint for God’s sake! He is a very good salesman.
You know what else with a good salesman? They sell you lemons.
And here we are, with a jalopy of a football club, after paying the whole farm. You had us there Rodgers, but time to GTFO.
Klopp ‘Klopp Klopp Klopp’ Klopp.
Vincent Pang
Sorry I missed the morning mails, and to keep to banging on about it, but here you go:
Watching Liverpool turn in another dross performance, I found myself
over and over again wishing that Norwich just had a bit more quality in
the final third to punish us. 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, all would have been ideal
scorelines because I believe until we bin off Brendan we can’t improve.
And we apparently can’t bin him off until we’re bottom of the table, so
let’s hurry up and get there. The players have clearly lost confidence
in something, and at this point wether it’s the man, the plan, or
themselves is irrelevant – something has to change, and the easiest
thing to change is the manager. Especially as we’ve already tried
changing the players and the plan. I never thought we’d get top four,
but now I can’t see us finishing in the top ten, and that really should
be unacceptable. I think we’re coming up against the American mentality
of our owners now – they have been raised on American sports, where the
fundamentally different player recruitment system means any and all
teams can go from dross to title challengers to dross and then back
again within a few years. They don’t understand football doesn’t work
like that, for better or for worse. They don’t seem to grasp that when
we went from seventh to second we actually did something pretty close to
impossible (Pulis and Palace’s 10th be damned) which cannot be repeated
without Luis Suarez. Until they do grasp it, we’re going to get
steadily worse as Rodgers flounders about for results but refuses the
obvious improvements (e.g. Sakho, 4-4-2 diamond, or even loads of
crosses into the box to make the most of Benteke’s head and hold-up
play).
A key problem is that Rodgers wants to be Mourinho, but has nowhere
near enough self-confidence (or ability) to do it – Mourinho, in
Rodgers’ position, would bounce crosses off Benteke’s head all day long,
and then when asked about it would deny changing his play style, then
admit he has changed it the next day, then the next say something like
‘my style is to win’. Rodgers has become so afraid of criticism he keeps
repeating the same passy-pressy game that worked with Suarez in the
hopes that one of our players will magically become him – he has so
little confidence in himself that he cannot bear to try something
actually new, because that would mean admitting he has been wrong, and
only deeply insecure people cannot face that.
It feels like sacrilege, but I’m honestly hoping we get battered in
the next three or four games, just done over good and proper, so Rodgers
has to be fired. I’m not expecting or even hoping for Jurgen Klopp to
join us at all either, I just want anybody who can either give a start
to Danny Ings next to Sturridge or tell our wingers to cross the ball to
Benteke rather than playing inside. The replacement could be a no-mark
from Azerbaijan who’s never seen a football before, in all honesty, or
the first ever female gaffer in the league, or fecking Gunnersaurus. I
genuinely don’t care – the key thing is that s/he/it wouldn’t be
Rodgers.
Matt (I’m not overreacting, it was Norwich at home. NORWICH AT HOME!) LFC
Rodgers Out So I Can Love Football Again…
I’m not normally one for shouting for a manager to go (except Hodgson)
but I am now fervently hoping that FSG decide to pot Rodgers.
I’ve come to this point due to seeing players run around with their
heads up their arses, seemingly not really knowing what the gameplan is
and for countless other reasons.
Mainly though, it’s because Rodgers has driven me to the point of not
actually caring about the results or taking any interest in the team I
have supported constantly since the 1970s.
I never thought I would actually lose interest in my team, so please
FSG (or Rodgers) do the decent thing, put this dog of a reign to sleep
and just let me enjoy football again.
Mike Swords, LFC? meh!, Warrington
Don’t Let Brendan Spend In January…
I feel very much like the dad in ‘A Christmas Story’ when his beloved
major award shatters in his hands and the only word he can muster is
“Not a finger!”
Watching Mignolet come for the ball yesterday, flap, and hand Norwich
the draw I felt like throwing my beer through the television. Brendan
Rodgers may not be able to control miss chances or on the pitch
defensive mistakes but he was the man who could have averted these
mistakes in the summer.
Goalkeeper, left-back, and a replacement for Gerrard should have been
top priorities this summer. What we got was Adam Bogdan (free),
18-year-old Joe Gomez (right-footed CB) (3.5 mil) and James Milner
(free). Instead of using his resources to reinforce key areas, Rodgers
spent 29 million on Roberto Firmino.
That is not saying Firmino will not come good, but money could have and should have been spent elsewhere.
There really is no point to replacing Rodgers right now unless his
presence stops fans from attending football matches (a la Hodgson).
However, Brendan should be nowhere near Liverpool when the transfer
market opens up again in January. (It should be noted that Liverpool
have not spent in the January market in the past two seasons).
Strap yourselves in Liverpool fans, this may feel like a longer season than last year. If that’s possible.
Brian (Liverpool has the worst midfield of the top five by a country mile) LFC
Liverpool v Norwich: A Different Perspective
Yesterday I got to take my son to his first ever match at
Anfield and he loved the experience. He got to see the trophies, met
Mighty Red and saw some players arrive (although he wasn’t impressed
with Jose Enrique – “He can’t be any good Daddy, he’s forgot his kit”).
He even managed to pay attention for the whole match which I was
impressed with, especially as I nearly gave up as Milner tried to
recreate the unforgettable Iago Aspas moment for the fifth time. However
he did come up with a few gems when the match was on which made it much
more entertaining:
“What happens if they kick the ball out of the stadium?”
“Why doesn’t our goalie like passing it to our players?”
“Why don’t they ever pass it forwards like we’re taught to?”
and best of all…
“Daddy, what is a w*nker?”
I’m now dreading what he’s going to say in school today.
Mike, LFC, Cardiff
Costa No Genius Or Master
How utterly depressing to read
Daniel Storey and
Sarah Winterburn eulogising about Diego Costa’s ‘genius’ and ‘mastery’ at the weekend.
Because, and this might be hard for some of you to take with the
narrative you’ve carefully constructed, Costa isn’t a master or genius
at all. On Saturday he simply benefited from appalling officiating.
There is no subtlety to what he does, no nuance. It’s all in plain
sight. He preys on incompetent, weak referees, empowered by a manager
with such a hold over the media he effectively commissioned his own TV
show/moan-athon when a few decisions didn’t go his team’s way last
season. His performances this season have been awful, and while he may
have won Chelsea the game on Saturday with his nonsense he’s been one of
the biggest causes of Chelsea’s poor start this season.
I guess ‘ref sees one incident but doesn’t see five others’ isn’t quite as exciting though.
Chris Bergin
…I know you won’t want to carry on the Diego Costa stuff too long,
but the praise he received in some quarters this weekend gave me the
hump. Not because I’m mortally offended by his antics – as much as he’s
clearly a c**t, I’m angrier with the officials for being such gullible,
spineless a***holes, and frustrated that Gabriel allowed himself to be
played so easily – but because his performance has been talked up as
man-of-the-match-worthy, when in fact, in a footballing sense, he wasn’t
very good.
Let’s be clear, Costa’s contribution to his team’s cause is as an
off-the-ball agitator, rather than as an actual footballer. He’s been
talked up as a throwback to the bruising centre-forwards of the past but
it’s total bollocks: remove the product of his gob****tery – and a
decent refereeing performance would go a long way towards that – and
you’re hardly left with a player who’s terrorising his markers when the
ball’s anywhere near him.
If you want to see a Chelsea striker who combined the dark arts with a
physicality that would have defenders quaking, you don’t have to go too
far. In fact, he was playing for them as late as last season. The gap
in quality between the Costa we’re currently seeing and Didier Drogba is
massive. And if you’re going to base all your praise in him for the
cheating, you really might as well give Mike Dean the man of the match
award for being the only one who bought it. The only hope is that his
carte blanche has now been rescinded, and the cartes rouges soon replace
it.
Will (seriously, Drogba is to Souness as Costa is to Savage) O’Doherty
…From the W&L column today, Costa is both a ‘glorious b*stard’
and'”someone you’d love to have in your team’. Given that several
Chelsea fans have written in condemning Costa’s actions, seems a bit of a
questionable assumption. Costa has also smartly taken a page out of
Mourinho’s book and used the controversy to conveniently cover up the
fact that he has one goal in six PL apps this year and has generally
looked a bit sh*t (including Saturday, even against 10). The general
glorification of Costa’s actions by ‘hipster’ writers sticks in the
craw. Nobody pays to watch football to see a grown man roll around the
floor and ruin what had been until then a quite entertaining game.
A word for Wenger, regardless of what you think of the man’s tactics,
generally handles himself with aplomb. Criticised his own player for
being suckered while correctly pointing out that Costa always manages to
get away with this sort of thing. Can only imagine Mourinho’s reaction
in a similar situation.
Alan, AFC
What Will Diego’s Legacy Be?
I think the biggest issue that may arise from Diego Costa’s
poo-housery last weekend isn’t so much what he does off the ball
(despite being a huge Gooner who’s extremely annoyed at what went on –
I’m equally as annoyed at Gabriel’s naivity) but the fact the refereeing
team clearly had no idea what he was doing off the ball. I genuinely do
think that ‘what Diego did’ may just result in TV camera footage being
used in-game to help referees officiate.
Mike Dean isn’t the best ref in the world, however he’s been left in a
position that can only severely undermine him. He is officiating the
game and millions are watching around the world, and the man officiating
the game on behalf of FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League is the only
person in the world who didn’t know that Diego Costa was playing
whack-a-mole with Koscielny’s face shortly before it all kicked off.
Whilst I admit I wouldn’t want to see the game stopped for video
evidence every two minutes, on this occasion there was no match being
played anyway – it was all squabbling and scuffling. I fail to see how
Mike Dean cannot quietly ask a video referee for clarification on what’s
happened, rather than trying to officiate blind, with a raging Diego
Costa goading him and Gabriel in to action.
The biggest decisions (goal or not) use technology, the second
biggest decisions (offside or not), whilst perhaps overly complex, are
generally called correctly. You probably don’t need, and wouldn’t want,
technology for things like throw-ins and corners and things like that –
besides I personally enjoy the outrage from a tight/wrong decision.
However the last of the big decisions are those which potentially stop
play anyway, be that bad challenges, or scuffles breaking out or penalty
decisions. These have to be right, and with the likes of Diego Costa
goading and scratching and diving all over the place, video refereeing
is the only thing to combat him.
It’s embarrassing for football that me, watching at home, can see what Diego Costa’s just done, but the referee can’t.
Dale May, Swindon Gooner
Defending Gabriel
The incident between Costa and Gabriel has been analysed by all
and sundry in the last couple of days. The general consensus is that a)
Costa is a bullying cheat who should have already been sent before
ultimately achieving his goal in getting Gabriel sent off and b) that
Gabriel was silly to rise to this and gave the referee a chance to send
him off.
I for one back Gabriel 100% in this instance. For far too long have
media outlets scolded Arsenal’s lack of leadership, of lacking fighters
in the ilk of Tony Adams or Martin Keown and Patrick Vieira. Get into
Arsenal and they will crumble has been the cliche rolled out by pundits
for the last 8/9 years. Now we have someone who finally stood up for his
mate, who wasn’t willing to stand and watch as his teammate got slapped
in the face and Sarah Winterburn goes onto say that ‘Peak Arsenal’ have
returned.
I can just imagine if nobody had stood up to Costa this would be the
first website questioning our lack of leaders and soft underbelly. Any
human being with any sense should know that Gabriel should not have been
sent off for his actions. I for one thoroughly enjoyed him getting
stuck into to Costa and despite what many people seem to think, I
believe we will be a lot closer to the title than many predict. With
Gabriel in at centre-half with his attitude I know we stand a much
better chance.
Peter (Would love to know what insults the players throw at each other), AFC
United Observations
I’m not going to try to get 16 but I would like to add a couple of observations about United yesterday.
1. At what point will Van Gaal actually consider dropping Rooney? How
bad does he have to get before he makes the call? It’s not that he did
anything particularly terrible or costly, it’s just that he didn’t seem
to do much at all; at times it felt like we were playing with ten men.
It’s not unreasonable to imagine that we’d be a lot more threatening in
attack if we had a player who was contributing in that role. It just
makes me wonder what van Gaal sees Rooney bringing to the team, other
than the captaincy, to warrant his continued inclusion.
2. The first 30 and last 15 were as bad as we’ve played this season.
The defence was disorganised and panicky and Southampton hit us in
exactly the right way. Which makes you wonder why, after taking the
lead, they seemingly changed their tactic and let us back into the game.
Conversely, the 45 minutes between that was some of the best football
we’ve played under van Gaal. The way we controlled the game while 3-1 up
was brilliant and the attitude we showed to get back into the game at
1-0 down was great. If we can start to play like we did at the half-hour
mark from the first whistle, and maintain that until closer to the end,
then we’ll really be a hard team to beat. ‘If’.
3. Mata was definitely offside for the first goal, the officials
really should have spotted it. Instances like that would have been
solved by having a linesman on both sides, rather than just one; having
eyes on both sides of the pitch makes a hell of a lot more sense than
using those good-for-nothings who stand behind on goal line in
international/continental competitions.
4. Some of the saves De Gea makes are just incredible. Performances
like that must make Real Madrid wish they’d paid the exorbitant fee we
were asking for and been done with it. He has to be incredibly close to
being the best in the world, if he isn’t outright.
5. I’m not convinced by Carrick and Schneiderlin together; there just
isn’t enough pace/urgency in carrying the ball forward. I think Herrera
would be better suited alongside of of those two or Schweinsteiger, but
I doubt we’ll see that too often because van Gaal seems unconvinced by
Herrera’s defensive side (which is way better than he gets credit for,
I’d say).
6. I’d still go for Rojo at CB with Blind on the left. Blind just
hasn’t got the physical presence to deal with players like Pelle,
whereas Rojo has a bit more strength about him (and he’s a dirty git who
gets away with it too). Shaw can’t come back soon enough.
I’m happy with the result and the majority of the football we played
but we need to start making better use of the possession dominance we’re
showing or we’ll come a cropper against the more clinical teams. Still,
plenty to be optimistic about.
Ted, Manchester
What The Actual F***?
Checking my Sun Dreamteam this morning I noticed something ridiculous.
Wayne Rooney is the third-highest scoring player in the league behind Gomis and Mahrez.
The third highest!!!!!
Bradley Kirrage
Defending Martial
Al, Liverpool wrote in this mornings mailbox:
‘Man Utd are poor and second because they take chances
(Martial can’t control or pass or dribble (his first 10 touches maybe
were all to give the ball away) but he can finish and that’s what
matters most.’
What game were you watching Al? I assume you were watching that
shower of sh*te team of yours struggle against Norwich and you
occasionally flicked to the United game for the sense of excitement you
don’t get with Liverpool games anymore. Martial’s first goal occurred
due to his fantastic control and deft flick to con the defender and
create space so I’m absolutely bemused that you can claim he cant
control the ball. Secondly, he won two free-kicks in dangerous positions
in the second half after going on superb runs using his dribbling
ability and pace.
If you didn’t watch the game Al, that’s fin,e but don’t make
ridiculous comments that portray you as a grade A chump. You wish you
had Martial mate.
Enjoy finishing outside of the top four this season you WUM.
Leon, Basel
Some Spurs Positivity
After all of the overblown negativity of our transfer window, maybe it’s the case that we will be okay after all.
Eric Dier
has been excellent since his move to midfield – exactly what we needed;
Dele Alli has exuberance in spades, and technique to match;
Alderweireld has added leadership and no little composure; Son’s pace
and directness has given our attack a new dimension. We also have decent
depth and options on the bench.
Still not the complete squad, but far from as bad as most made out.
We’re slowly starting to find our feet, and without any kind of pressure
of expectation (thanks, in part, due to the aforementioned negativity),
we can quietly go about our business. Roll on Wednesday.
Alex G, THFC
…Just wanted to express how impressed I was with Tottenham’s centre
midfield yesterday against Crystal Palace (and so far this season).
During pre-season I was a worried that 21-year-old centre-back Eric
Dier was being played as a defensive midfielder. Surely we couldn’t go
into the season with him there. His lack of pace and his inexperience
would be seriously exposed. But here we are, six games into the league
and he has been superb. He reads the game so well, making numerous
interceptions before any real danger can occur, loads of brilliantly
timed sliding tackles and growing up in a Portuguese youth system had
done him wonders as he always looks comfortable on the ball. I’m so
pleased to have been proven wrong.
Dele Alli is even younger than Dier, just stepped up from League One
football and doesn’t look out of place one bit. He is a monster of a
lad, powerful and skilfull and looks like has been playing in the top
flight for years. He also has that bit of swagger about him that
separates the top, top players from the rest.
Still early days for both I know, but the future looks bright for Spurs and England.
Westy, THFC
Worried About Lawro
I’m writing to express concern about the state of Mark Lawrenson.
His face and neck appear to have collapsed into his trademark
stripped shirt. It is disturbing to look at, especially in HD, and I’m
concerned it may be painful.
I’m also worried that praising Son Heung-min by stating “he must be
wondering what he’s doing at Tottenham” may not be sufficiently witty
and insightful commentary in the new world of TV punditry post-Gary
Neville.
For a guide to amusing punditry in this new era, Lawrenson only need
consider Martin Keown, for example his observation that Deli Alli
reminded him of Jermaine Jenas. Hilarious, and keep it up Martin!
Best regards,
Charlie, THFC, Somerset
On Your Bike, Timothy
The criticism of Tim Sherwood
in Winners and Losers
after him describing the next two matches ‘the biggest football matches
this club is ever going to have’ and subsequently losing the first of
those matches was spot on. The man can be a great motivational talker,
but you can only go so far with that.
In comparison, here in Finland, the relegation-threatened HIFK coach,
absolutely needing points from an away trip to upper mid-table Lahti,
promised his players he’ll cycle his way home if they win. Some 50
miles. They won 5-0.
Own a bicycle, Tim?
Samuli, THFC, Helsinki
Praising Alex Neil
To take a break from the weekly Brendanizing, it’s worth
mentioning that Alex Neil made a truly ballsy move in his team selection
against Liverpool. He left Wes Hoolahan, the team’s best player so far
this year, and the absolute heartbeat of the Norwich City attack, on the
bench. His quote after the game: “I just felt we needed more legs in
those middle areas. I wanted players who could eat up the ground and
shut off angles and Wes’ creativity might have become important for us
later on in the game, if we were needing to get a goal.”
It worked, but let’s face it, just barely. John Ruddy had a strong
game, Liverpool could easily have scored a few more goals, and Norwich
created only one decent chance from open play. But Neil is the sort of
guy who knows exactly what he wants, picks his team, and goes for it.
He’s easy to get behind. Unlike Bren…oops.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA
Victor Valdes won’t be joining Liverpool, Chelsea want
William Carvalho and have found Carlo Cudicini’s natural successor, and
‘several’ Chinese clubs are interested in signing John Terry…
Eden Hazard is wanted by Real Madrid, Barcelona are
targeting Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho, and the Reds are
interested in Croatia midfielder Marko Rog.
