Iskaral Pust Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Mark Antony said: Alisson deal confirmed. Great news. It seemed to drag quite late into the evening UK time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Fucking ridic amount of money for a keeper. However if it gets them closer to ending the parade of man city next year I'm ok with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Well, I guess they needed a top-class keeper and a better CB and they have really thrown the money at it quickly, so you can't blame them. If only Wenger had been so responsive to Arsenal's defensive midfielder needs (and top-class striker, though he did do that eventually with Aubameyang). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 A friend sent me this article about Liverpool signing Alisson. It shows some of his stats that I didn't know. Apparently, Alisson is ranked third among big 5 league keepers when it comes to save percentage. Probably the biggest change for Liverpool would be: Perhaps most crucially of all, though, Alisson did not made a single error leading to a goal in the Italian top flight in the previous campaign. I mean, if you aren't dreading colossal keeper mistakes while watching Liverpool are you even watching Liverpool? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Antony Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Milan’s European ban overturned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 8 hours ago, BigFatCoward said: Fucking ridic amount of money for a keeper. For a keeper who only played one full season as starter at Roma, if I am not mistaken. 8 hours ago, BigFatCoward said: However if it gets them closer to ending the parade of man city next year I'm ok with it. That, I don't see happening. You'll probably have to endure those parades a bit longer. If those deals work out the way they hope (and should), it will cement their status as top four team, and increase the likelhood of a cup win. Not a bad feat, but I think for unseating City they need something more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 @Notone Don't forget that Alisson is not the only signing Liverpool made this summer. Fabinho and Keita seem like good signings and if Fekir joins as well, it just might be enough. Not saying it will definitely be enough but it might. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 From what I've seen and know of Keita he's a great signing and could be the one to genuinely push Liverpool into contention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 27 minutes ago, baxus said: @Notone Don't forget that Alisson is not the only signing Liverpool made this summer. Fabinho and Keita seem like good signings and if Fekir joins as well, it just might be enough. Not saying it will definitely be enough but it might. I am not forgetting them, that's why wrote deals. However I think you are selling City a bit short here. They walked the league last year with record goals and points. If Keita, Fabinho and Alisson are working the way they are supposed to, that will definately strengthen Liverpool, but I don't think that will turn them into a 100 points team. Ok, whether City will post a 100 pointer again, that is another question, but I'd think you'd probably need a 90 points +x season, if you hope to win it. To stay in that metric (of hypothetical league points), I think Liverpool might be in the bracket to post a 80+ season. Which should be good enough to finish ahead of any team in the league, bar City. And I think top four team is an improvement over top 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Well played Liverpool. Spending a shitload of money but cleaning up some areas they need to clean up. Should be a great squad this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 @Notone First of all, Liverpool ended in top four for two seasons straight now so they are a top four team at the moment. We'll see if they remain a top four team after this season. There's a lot of questions regarding every single team and that's not limited to Premier League. The transfer window is still nowhere near finished and a lot of teams will sign a lot more players so everything can still change and change significantly. Will Hazard and Curtois leave Chelsea? What will the new manager make of Arsenal? Will Mourinho have his dreaded third season once again? Will all the key players remain healthy and fit for key matches? Will they hit form and when? How will new signings adapt? Will City players maintain the level of motivation they displayed last season when they bossed the competition? How drained will players who had long runs in the World Cup be? If we knew answers to all of that, who would bother watching the matches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 29 minutes ago, baxus said: First of all, Liverpool ended in top four for two seasons straight now so they are a top four team at the moment. We'll see if they remain a top four team after this season. Yes, but they weren't a pre-season lock on a top four finish. They were in the runnin for it (no less, but also nothing more), with the two Manchester teams being better on paper, and then it was a bit of a toss up between Chelski, Spurs and Liverpool - with Arsenal losing some ground. I think they are now safe bets for a top four finish and on level with United. But I still think City is ahead of either team. So Liverpool should be a stronger team than they were for the last two years, but I don't see them on even terms with City. Pool can prove me wrong, obviously, but that is my pre-season view of them. Feel free to quote me on that if Pool managed to win the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Manchester City remain the team to beat, everyone's still chasing them. They obviously have by far the most attacking firepower in the league, but the only teensy bit of weakness I can see in City is that Fernandinho is now 33 years old and they don't seem to have much cover in defensive midfield or that 'workhorse' type of position. I'm not completely familiar with their whole squad though, so I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Antony Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 2 hours ago, polishgenius said: From what I've seen and know of Keita he's a great signing and could be the one to genuinely push Liverpool into contention. The most excited I’ve been for a signing since Torres. Seems like the perfect midfielder for Klopp. Still think Ox being out the entire season will be a huge blow. Ox/Keita/Fabinho would’ve been my go to midfield with everyone fit . Maybe Lallana will have a resurgence. 34 minutes ago, Jeor said: Manchester City remain the team to beat For sure. Peps domestic record is ridiculous and they haven’t gotten weaker by any means. They just addded Mahrez for depth lol. Makes me wonder which two wingers out of Bernardo/Sane/Sterling and Mahrez will get the most game time. How Spurs kick off the season will be interesting to see. Loads of first team players who went to the semi finals in the WC plus no transfers yet at all. Could be a rough August/September for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 I’m glad Liverpool have strengthened but a title challenge would require some fortunate alignment of stars. Not impossible but not probable. Both Leicester and Chelsea won their last titles with a big slice of luck: no European distractions, surprise effect until opponents learned to counter (Leicester’s counter-attacking style, Chelsea’s switch to 3-4-3), unusual efficiency in close games, very few injuries, perhaps some helpful refereeing. This time World Cup fatigue could be the wild card. City walked the title with record points and goals. Perhaps it’s unsustainable at quite that level but it looks pretty sustainable overall. They’d need to fall by at least 10 points for anyone to challenge them. Liverpool need to gain 10-15 points just to get into that neighborhood. A 25 point swing is a huge ask. Perhaps City won’t have so few injuries to key players, or get so many late winners from Sterling. But they have a large margin for error. Liverpool started last season tipped for fifth and outperformed, especially when you count the CL distraction. They could have been a comfortable third. But they couldn’t see out their head-to-head race with Utd, never mind keep City in sight. I’d love to see a repeat of 2013/4 where the chemistry is just right and magic happens, and hopefully with just enough more in defense and mental resilience to clinch a title. We’ve improved our odds of that happening soon, and we’ve improved our odds of staying in the top 4 and creating some separation from Chelsea and Arsenal, but it’s still all unpredictable and a title challenge is still low odds. Fun times and bitten nails ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 I'd say that Liverpool have moved ahead of United. Fred adds some extra depth to the midfield but Dalot is still a youngster who only made a handful of appearances at Porto. Valencia and Young will still be our 1st choice fullbacks which severely restricts our attacking play. Liverpool have as much depth as United does but the really big difference is the brand of football. United are in that bracket of fighting just for a top 4 finish, something we've only managed to achieve in 2 out of the last 5 seasons. Chelsea are a bit of an unknown right now as Sarri brings a very different brand of football that may take some time to implement plus Hazard's future is up in the air. Arsenal have addressed some areas of the squad but it also remains to be seen how quickly Emery can stamp his authority on the squad. Spurs will be missing a number of key players for the start of the season and Son will be going to the Asian games as well. They could be playing catch-up right off the bat. City are clear favourites. I don't think they will manage another hundred point season but it's still probably going to take a 90-95 point season from someone else to challenge or take the title off them. Liverpool are the team best positioned to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 1 hour ago, Soylent Brown said: ETA. Also, I really hope Sturridge can stay fit and play a useful role for us this season. His link up play with Keita so far has been really good. Danny has me suckered in again. He looks fit, sharp and hungry in preseason, finally making runs behind as well as dropping deep. He looks like he could be a potent alternate for Firmino, especially with Solanke and Origi looking terrible. But I know, I absolutely know, that he’ll have another injury by September and be in and out and off form after that. 15 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said: Liverpool's window isn't done yet too. I'm hoping the talk I've seen of Wijnaldum moving on is true, and that we find a Fekir alternative. I’d love it but I think Klopp made some comments last night about not expecting any further signings. Perhaps he’s just downplaying any hype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 I think City will probably revert to the mean a bit, almost everything went right for them in the league last season, but, like most people, even with teams adjusting to them and them having a bit less luck I think they're probably getting 90 plus points. Without doing anything dramatic Liverpool should be able to make a solid improvement in our points total by sustaining the defensive improvement from the second half of last season and having a bit more squad depth. To catch City we'll probably need to really click though. It could probably go either way for the other top 6 sides. On the plus side for United if they get Pogba performing at the level he can for the whole season alongside Matic and Fred they could be significantly better. On the downside they really heavily overperformed relative to their expected goals scored and conceded last year, to the tune of about 18 points, if De Gea has a bad year it could get grim. Spurs just look like they're going have a really tough start to the year with their players' workload at the World Cup plus Son missing for the Asian Games. They could probably do with making some good signings. Chelsea and Arsenal are interesting with both new managers probably looking to change their style of play. Arsenal have made some solid looking signings but they've got the most ground to make up. Chelsea have a lot to do with probably changing to 4-3-3 and maybe losing Hazard and Courtios but they beat City to Jorginho and Sarri looks like he's going to be fun anyway. ETA: Just now, Iskaral Pust said: Danny has me suckered in again. He looks fit, sharp and hungry in preseason, finally making runs behind as well as dropping deep. He looks like he could be a potent alternate for Firmino, especially with Solanke and Origi looking terrible. But I know, I absolutely know, that he’ll have another injury by September and be in and out and off form after that. It's the hope that kills you. Sturridge always looks class when he's fit, then he snaps his hamstring bending over to tie his shoelaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 For the majority of us who support a top-6 team, we should choose or be assigned another team to represent here. Kind of like the WC threads. Nothing too manic or affected, just tracking that team’s perspective and injecting it here. Sometimes our discussions here treat the rest of the league as NPCs. I’m going to give mine some thought before I decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 13 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said: For the majority of us who support a top-6 team, we should choose or be assigned another team to represent here. Kind of like the WC threads. Nothing too manic or affected, just tracking that team’s perspective and injecting it here. Sometimes our discussions here treat the rest of the league as NPCs. I’m going to give mine some thought before I decide. I might as well start talking more about Watford, since I always have half an eye on them anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.