dont think theyve got any strikers behind the main two though, so should expect occasional appearances

comment by There'sOnlyOneReds (U1721)
posted 54 minutes ago
comment by Koo Tee Neo (U9135)
posted 7 minutes ago
Sinclair set to sign for Watford
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Strange choice for him, their forwards are doing well so I can't see him getting a look in any time soon. I think he will make a decent Premier League striker, one who could have made it for us but it isn't to be.
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Shame, I liked him, fairly clear he won't be a world beater but can see him scoring quite a few at the highest level.

He doesn't want to be here though so on your bike son.

His choice was made the moment he signed with Ward.....

comment by There'sOnlyOneReds (U1721)
posted 39 minutes ago
comment by Rauben_Hoody (U6374)
posted 17 minutes ago
Yes the big games are a difference I feel. It's a poor analogy but sometimes things go wrong in any relationship and just can't be put right.
I found BR's management a bit convoluted towards the end. Personally I wouldn't want to change systems so dramatically from week to week and they were. I've seen it three times in one game, which although technically admirable, is very hard to implement.
The system under Klopp needs wide forwards I feel. I can't imagine for one minute he wants to play with a false 9.
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I agree it needs wide forwards but the same was true before Klopp came in, I was baffled why we didn't sign anybody after Sterling went and then again when Markovic was loaned with no replacement. I really feel, judging by the comments on this board many disagree, that few tweaks to the squad and it will all come together. If we had one wide forward going into this season we'd being doing a lot better in my opinion. Of course injuries have played their part also.
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I agree but not entirely because I feel our biggest problem is not in attack but at the back. Not to say we don't need to improve going forward. For instance, a winger would be ace as you say, but would that solve our defensive deficiencies? It won't help in the set piece department either. We can't defend set pieces and failing that we are prone to fatal defensive howlers. We are also mentally weak to some extent.
We could change to any formation (and we have over the last year or so) and still be average because of these deficiencies. Even Klopp is doing some tweaks but it's the same shortcomings doing us in just about every single time.
That's why I doubt that a few tweaks could change much for us. Improving us is a process, as LVG would say. I think we will gradually improve throughout this and the next season.

"but it's the same shortcomings doing us in just about every single time."

that's why I think attack is the biggest priority. You can score your way out of mistakes

Kaiser can you really? In our title challenge season it was the defensive record that did not reflect a title winning team. We scored 100 goals, no? It was the defense that let us down. I think all the league winners have had solid defences.
In the end it has to be a balance between the two and excelling in both wins you trophies and gets you in the top 4.

It's easier to learn how to defend set pieces than to frequently outscore the opposition.

You really have to ask why we are so bad at defending set pieces.

There's nobody else in the league that even comes close to conceding as regularly as we do, we are the worst by an absolute country mile, and to top it off, we are absolutely categorically useless with our own set pieces as well.

19 other clubs in the league are able to concentrate 80% of the time, and fair enough they concede now and then as you'd expect and they're disappointed when it happens but that's football and they learn from their mistakes to avoid it happening next time.

We concede practically every game, it's utterly pathetic.

BBC are saying Sinclair wants to explore the possibility of a move to Spain. Not sure where the Watford link has come from?

Watford have a Spanish manger?

So do Everton...

comment by Mamba - Can't leave JA alone the game needs me, Haters want me clapped and chromed (but) it ain't easy, Cops wanna knock me, D.A. wanna box me in, but somehow, I beat them charges like Rocky (U1282) (U13041)
posted 56 minutes ago
Kaiser can you really? In our title challenge season it was the defensive record that did not reflect a title winning team. We scored 100 goals, no? It was the defense that let us down. I think all the league winners have had solid defences.
In the end it has to be a balance between the two and excelling in both wins you trophies and gets you in the top 4.
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The team that scores the most goals nearly always wins the title.

Our defence didn't lose us the title, most of those goals were all racked up in 4, 5, and 6-3 wins. What ultimately cost us was not having anyone other than LucAs, aspas and Allen on the bench when we needed a goal and ended up dropping points. A plan b or some other forward v chelsea would have been preferable to beating bottom half sides 2-0 instead of 5-3

And city scored more than us and were just better anyway.

comment by Koo Tee Neo (U9135)
posted 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
It's easier to learn how to defend set pieces than to frequently outscore the opposition.
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So teach set piece defending and buy goalscorers, it's not one or the other. I think attack is more important from a transfer strategy standpoint is all. It's much easier to coach corner marking than scoring goals. If that wasn't true most matches would end 5-5

The team that scores the most goals nearly always wins the title.
Our defence didn't lose us the title, most of those goals were all racked up in 4, 5, and 6-3 wins. What ultimately cost us was not having anyone other than LucAs, aspas and Allen on the bench when we needed a goal and ended up dropping points. A plan b or some other forward v chelsea would have been preferable to beating bottom half sides 2-0 instead of 5-3
And city scored more than us and were just better anyway.
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It's true the highest scorer often wins the league, but the league winners are also always at or near the top of defensive records. Our defence did lose us the title.

http://bitterandblue.sbnation.com/2013/2/7/3954010/best-defense-or-the-best-defense-win-the-title

We conceded 52 goals that season, City 37. They scored 102, we scored 103. They were better defensively only not all round. Clearly we scored enough but lost out because we conceded too many. It would have been better to beat Hull 1-0 than lose 1-3 etc. That much isn't debatable IMO after looking at those figures. I think the most goals conceded by a prem winner is 41.
When you talk about needing a goal, it was most often a second or third goal we were looking for, having already scored and then gotten pegged back. We were fine in attack.
I guess the point is that in order to get anywhere you must be at least decent in both and cant over rely on one aspect while the other flails as it won't take you all the way. We currently won't be doing anything significant while conceding in the manner and quantity that we are.

comment by The Kaiser's Trainers (U5676)
posted 5 hours, 19 minutes ago
comment by Koo Tee Neo (U9135)
posted 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
It's easier to learn how to defend set pieces than to frequently outscore the opposition.
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So teach set piece defending
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I'm sure Kopp wishes it was that easy.

and buy goalscorers, it's not one or the other. I think attack is more important from a transfer strategy standpoint is all. It's much easier to coach corner marking than scoring goals. If that wasn't true most matches would end 5-5
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I think circumstances dictate that defense is more important at this point in time. Our attack is ailing mostly due to injuries, which you have alluded to yourself so I don't see it as a priority over fixing our defensive issues. We can improve attack with Origi, Strurridge, Ings but we concede even with our best defenders on the pitch. I don't think we should sign a striker on a permanent basis this January unless it's undoubted quality.

Perhaps a winger if available.

Our defence didn't lose us the title, we couldn't have scored as many goals as we did if we weren't so open. Our squad had no right to be challenging for the title but our style of play and how the players fitted into it, how we scored so many goals got us there.

I wish we had abandoned that style against Chelsea and been super defensive but there are two ways of looking at that. Should we play a different style than the one that had brought us success, it would have been a massive risk, in hindsight we should have as we lost but going into it many would have opted against it. We certainly wouldn't have had that choice had we not been all out attack for most of the season after Suarez came back.

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I wont be the same without RAP

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Who could improve on these already high standards?

For example, if we'd scored goals this season we'd be up there. It shows that considering we're second for chances created and first for shots.

Yes maybe five goals would have been cut out but for stupid errors from set pieces but we'd have scored a lot more simply with a striker who works in the system, which would have won us a lot more points than the silly goals would have lost us.

I agree tbh, lack of attack exposes defensive frailties.

Since Suarez left we haven't replaced his goals properly, but at the same time we have been extraordinary unlucky with injuries...

I hope sturridge proves his fitness soon? Apparently been training alone for a good while?

I can't agree we lost out because we conceded too many. I agree the conceded stat is very high but the overwhelming majority of those were because we didn't give a monkey's if we leaked 2 or even 3 goals because we knew scoring more than that was a near certainty.

All my frustrated memories are of the days when we needed a goal because the XI was a bit off and looking at the bench full of defenders, DMs and aspas.

Any sort of a sub with any sort of goal threat would have seen us with 3 more points that year. Maybe even the draw with Chelsea would have been enough.

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