I haven’t been impressed really, but I’m very hopeful Klopp will turn him in to a World beater.
Liverpool 2018/19
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I haven’t been impressed really, but I’m very hopeful Klopp will turn him in to a World beater.
Had a great season 2 years ago and Torino president was asking 100m for him, last season was pretty disappointing (even due an injury)… probably this year will be a good challenge to come back. Best italian striker of the last years was Immobile btw.
Fabinho will be a good signing once he settles in and gets used to the league, I’d have been all for us signing him. Think keita will also be a quality signing and is a huge upgrade on the scousers existing midfielders.
Hate to say it but their transfer business has, on paper, been excellent.
Hate to say it but their transfer business has, on paper, been excellent.
Fabinho has not looked sharp from what I've seen of him so far, he missed a penalty tonight but in other games he's done some strange passes and let people pass him easily resulting in fouling. I think Klopp is going to have to ease him into this team like he did with Robertson. It's frustrating to resort back to Milner/Henderson/Wignaldum playing there but I don't see him starting too many games early in the season, a bit like Moreno/Milner playing at left back last season before we saw Robertson's quality blossom in that position.
Or... Fabinho just isn't the right player and you've finally bought a dud. Has to happen at some point. They can't all be Salah. 
I am sort of looking forward to seeing Henderson playing off the back of a pre-seasonr rather than an injury. Think he will be a breath of fresh air there.
What a horrible idea that would be.
Fabinho doesn't seem the type of player for Klopp's style or maybe even English football from what I've seen. There's a reason he was touted around Europe for a couple of seasons and Liverpool was the only one that bit.
He'll need Klopp to work his magic on him before he shines, I think.
Not expecting more than a squaddie for the first six months.
Brilliant ball by Shaqiri to Sturridge.
God I hope Sturridge can stay fit. Been brilliant pre-season.
Probably right. Also he can play right back so maybe if TAA has a bit of a dip/2nd season syndrome he can slot in there if need be.
looks like he actually fits our patterns of play for the first time under klopp.
reckon his sad fling with wba was a good wakeup call for him about how life looks at a dead-end club.
He'll be behind Clyne there, I think.
Klopp is big on players needing to train for the positions they play. Also why Chamberlain didn't get to play midfield for the first few months.
So far TAA seems to be growing in stature though.
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Been impressed by Shaqiri so far this preseason. He’ll be quality to have as an option on the bench and less of a drop-off in quality compared what we had to bring on last year if one of our front three is tired/injured.
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, CB, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Keita, Wijnaldum; Mane, Firmino, Salah. Hoping we’ll start like that on Sunday but I think it might be too early for Henderson and perhaps TAA. Definitely wouldn’t mind to see Sturridge start ahead of Firmino either, or even Jones/Lallana for Salah.
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, CB, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Keita, Wijnaldum; Mane, Firmino, Salah. Hoping we’ll start like that on Sunday but I think it might be too early for Henderson and perhaps TAA. Definitely wouldn’t mind to see Sturridge start ahead of Firmino either, or even Jones/Lallana for Salah.
Now were giving out early xmas presents? 
Sturridge has had a great pre-season, so I expect him to be injured by Sunday morning.
wtf happened here
Sturridge has been brilliant in pre season. New role suits him.
They've reached the point where they realize he's too good to stay much longer, so they're trying to start hedging their bets.
Sturridge has looked brilliant all of preseason, admittedly I haven't seen every game but Salah and Firmino both looked quite off pace tonight.
wut?
They both still did better than any of their replacements tonight. Sturridge did well, but they are another level at this point.
Firmino had 45 minutes since coming back before tonight. If he looks like he's off the pace it's because he is. And still scored! Salah has been working his balls off in training, I think he'll be rested a little bit before the start of the season now. Klopp drives his players really, really hard in pre-season. Fabinho is still getting used to the way we play, no doubt about that. He has some real quality moments and others he's not quite up to speed. It was the same with Robbo when he first joined. It might take him a little bit, but ruling him out as a dud before he's ever played a competitive game is... premature.
I'm not ruling anyone out, pretty confident he'll come good.
But re: Firmino, I wouldn't mind seeing Sturridge start, I'm sure he'll bag one if he plays.
Yeah, I was meaning the general consensus on here regarding Fabinho. Most LFC fans like him a lot.
As for Sturridge, if he can stay fit he's a massive bonus over the boy Solanke.
So, as the pre-season is over, we can assess the squad and their performance in friendlies.
Compared to the last season we lost Ox (hopefully, not for long) and Can. On the other hand, Lallana and Clyne are back, while effectively not playing last season.
Clyne is fit to play, but he's not a threat going forward compared to TAA. TAA really impressed me, as he's quick and relatively accurate on the ball, does great deliveries and actually improved his defensive play with nice reading of the game and timely interceptions. He should definitely start ahead of Clyne.
Lallana has been poor so far. He's good technically but fails to put that into use. Maybe that's partially because he's not been utilized in his optimal position. He's a squad player so far.
Fabinho has been OK, not more. Like last season's Henderson, but with less long range passes and a bit more through balls. I expected more, but too early to judge.
Keita was really good until the sore throat thing, and slightly less so after he came back, which is strange. But he's quality clearly and will make things click with his vision, through balls and agression. Definite starter.
Shaq is a beast. His deliveries into the box are amazing actually. I expected he'll be more of a dribbling guy, but so far he's been one of the main creative forces in the pre-season. He can geniunely compete for a place in a 10 position if we play a scheme with one. Plus he's an adequate RW option. Really happy with this one.
Alisson was not tested yet, but shown good ability on the ball, precise delivery and general calm confidence. Good to know he's not the most expensive GK in the world now. Didn't last long
Sturridge seems to be on fire this summer. He hasn't had a chance to play full game, so hard to assess his fitness, but he's very sharp, his long and short range passing is on par with Coutinho, and he clearly knows how to get into a scoring position, when to make a run, etc.
Origi and Solanke failed to impress. The latter at least shown some good link-up play, but Origi looks really underwhelming. Hope we can get some cash for him.
Grujic has been good when called upon. Unlike Henderson, after receiving the ball he can actually turn around and move/play forward. That's something Can offered before he left. He lacks that energy, workrate and commitment of Henderson though.
Jones has been impressive as for his age. Quick on the ball, can do a few tricks, does relatively good on a few different positions. He can definitely play cup games.
CB is a worry. Apart from VvD all are either injured or not reliable enough. Gomez will probably be the one who starts the season alongside VvD while Lovren is regaining form.
Overall, I'm optimistic about the squad we have and our perspectives. It's not "our year" but I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it. We still don't have the squad to go for all 4 trophies, so will have to prioritize (only City has the squad to go for everything, imo). Some trophy would be nice, while top 4 and good CL run is expected by default.
Compared to the last season we lost Ox (hopefully, not for long) and Can. On the other hand, Lallana and Clyne are back, while effectively not playing last season.
Clyne is fit to play, but he's not a threat going forward compared to TAA. TAA really impressed me, as he's quick and relatively accurate on the ball, does great deliveries and actually improved his defensive play with nice reading of the game and timely interceptions. He should definitely start ahead of Clyne.
Lallana has been poor so far. He's good technically but fails to put that into use. Maybe that's partially because he's not been utilized in his optimal position. He's a squad player so far.
Fabinho has been OK, not more. Like last season's Henderson, but with less long range passes and a bit more through balls. I expected more, but too early to judge.
Keita was really good until the sore throat thing, and slightly less so after he came back, which is strange. But he's quality clearly and will make things click with his vision, through balls and agression. Definite starter.
Shaq is a beast. His deliveries into the box are amazing actually. I expected he'll be more of a dribbling guy, but so far he's been one of the main creative forces in the pre-season. He can geniunely compete for a place in a 10 position if we play a scheme with one. Plus he's an adequate RW option. Really happy with this one.
Alisson was not tested yet, but shown good ability on the ball, precise delivery and general calm confidence. Good to know he's not the most expensive GK in the world now. Didn't last long
Sturridge seems to be on fire this summer. He hasn't had a chance to play full game, so hard to assess his fitness, but he's very sharp, his long and short range passing is on par with Coutinho, and he clearly knows how to get into a scoring position, when to make a run, etc.
Origi and Solanke failed to impress. The latter at least shown some good link-up play, but Origi looks really underwhelming. Hope we can get some cash for him.
Grujic has been good when called upon. Unlike Henderson, after receiving the ball he can actually turn around and move/play forward. That's something Can offered before he left. He lacks that energy, workrate and commitment of Henderson though.
Jones has been impressive as for his age. Quick on the ball, can do a few tricks, does relatively good on a few different positions. He can definitely play cup games.
CB is a worry. Apart from VvD all are either injured or not reliable enough. Gomez will probably be the one who starts the season alongside VvD while Lovren is regaining form.
Overall, I'm optimistic about the squad we have and our perspectives. It's not "our year" but I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it. We still don't have the squad to go for all 4 trophies, so will have to prioritize (only City has the squad to go for everything, imo). Some trophy would be nice, while top 4 and good CL run is expected by default.
Not much to add to that apart from Gini Wijnaldum will probably start against West Ham based on what I've seen, he's been pretty good in pre season and with Fabinho occupying the DM role he can get forward a bit more and make good use his timing of runs into the box, which he's quite good at. Also special mentions to Curtis Jones and Rafael Camacho who impressed me a lot when they played.
I beg to differ. Fabinho has not looked good to me when we have been defending. He won't run his ass off like Hendo or Kante when chasing the oppo from behind. He just jogs down and does not get to position. His forward playing is better than Hendo or Kante but as a CDM I expect him to run to defend like hell.
I thought it was a one time thing but in all the pre-season games he has been lazy coming down as fast as possible leaving our defence exposed momentarily. Just take note in the next game of this. Bad sign..
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It's preseason, maybe they got instructions from Kloppo to take it easy.
I think that's mainly down to perception, he just seems to get about the pitch a lot easier than say Henderson who can look a bit like a cat chasing a laser when closing down an opponent, though I'd agree he's probably the signing that's gonna have to adjust his game more so it might take more time, but he's looked ok so far to me.
It's so obvious. They've had a busy window to be fair.
Liverpool will struggle and find it tough against WHU. The outcome may depend purely on opening day luck, for both teams.
They are going to win everything this year, for me Premier League and Champions League, both.
Trying to play Robin Hood and lower expectations after 3 years of squad building, a CL final and lots of signings is not gonna work. This is no longer like brave Dortmund challenging Bayern. Liverpool are rightly 2nd favourites and no silverware again would be a blot on Klopp's CV, though I daresay LFC are happy for now just being Top 4 regulars.
Classic United fan, every year is their year.
Classic United fan, every year is their year.
I see what you did there.
So it is actually exactly like brave Dortmund challenging Bayern?
Lot closer. If Barca and Real finish 1st and 2nd, doesn't mean one is Bayern and other is Dortmund level.
Liverpool are favourites to finish second but also favourites among those who could potentially upset City. And they are so due to their lavish spending as opposed to the likes of Dortmund.
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