The Football Thread 2017-18

[Photek]

Mo.

[Photek]

Bobby makes it 3. Nice.

[Drumstick]

Just tremendous today. Finally some breathing space down at the bottom.

[TigaSefi]

Bye bye Alan Pardew you utter banana split!

Great win today. Even giving the weak teams a beating now.

[Finiarél]

We look a much better team without Coutinho.
So much more balance to the team, Don't think I'd swap any of our front 3

Up to 2nd now, Wouldn't be to arsed if United win tomorrow as it would push Chelsea further back.

[TigaSefi]

Niaby replacing Can right?

[Photek]

We look a much better team without Coutinho.
So much more balance to the team, Don't think I'd swap any of our front 3

Up to 2nd now, Wouldn't be to arsed if United win tomorrow as it would push Chelsea further back.

Oddly enough, yeah, without Coutinho it’s more of a Klopp type team. Heard West Ham sat back, if that’s true then great to get 4 goals.

[darksideby182]

Goalie in the bundesliga had a nightmare this afternoon.

[BOR]

Goalie in the bundesliga had a nightmare this afternoon.

Indeed.

I think it was the same goalkeeper who missed the kick when the ball was rolling backwards.

[Finiarél]

Niaby replacing Can right?

Nah I don't think so. I'm still kind of hopeful that Can will stick around. Buzzing for Nabby to be in the squad next season

Pjoyce is saying that we are going after Jorginho from Napoli and still want Alison from Roma.

West Ham United, Anfield: a team and a venue which conspired to create a moment Loris Karius could hardly forget.

It was in the corresponding fixture last season that the Liverpool goalkeeper’s first attempt to establish himself as the club’s long-term No 1 duly unravelled.

The manner in which he was beaten by a long-range Dimitri Payet free-kick during a 2-2 draw served to amplify the background noise produced by the German’s very public spat over his form with the Sky pundit Gary Neville. Liverpool were back in action three days later - Karius was not.

This, then, could be seen as Redemption Day. When Karius got his fingertips to Marko Arnautovic’s brilliant chip and the ball kissed the crossbar, rather than nestling in the back of the net, the visitors were denied seizing the lead after 15 minutes.

Another save from the same player three minutes before the interval then kept Liverpool’s lead intact, their 100th goal of an increasingly promising campaign arriving when Emre Can headed home Mo Salah’s corner from inside the six-yard box.

Karius had little to do in between despite West Ham initially making it difficult for the hosts, but then that is the life of a goalkeeper at Anfield. By making the saves when he needed to, he is doing his future prospects little harm.

Jurgen Klopp will buy a goalkeeper this summer with Simon Mignolet set to leave, having been usurped in the battle for a starting jersey by his 24-year-old rival. A No 6 and a replacement for Philippe Coutinho are also likely.

The wish list in the first two instances could take the Liverpool manager to Serie A. Napoli’s holding midfielder Jorginho would be the Merseyside club’s first choice, the problem being that the Brazilian-born Italian international would be the same for just about every elite side in Europe.

AS Roma’s Alisson is the preferred target for goalkeeping reinforcements, although Liverpool have backed out of the chase for his signature for the time being.

They are unwilling to pay a huge ‘Salah-tax’ to the Italian club for Alisson simply because 12 months ago they secured the Egyptian for a £36.9m fee that has been shown to be a steal.

If Alisson and his representatives fight to ensure his price tag is not prohibitive – and the latest figures range from anything between £60m and £90m – then Liverpool could return to the negotiating table.

As it stands, Karius has the opportunity to continue to impress Klopp. By the time he was beaten just before the hour-mark by substitute Michail Antonio’s angled drive, Liverpool had put daylight between themselves and David Moyes’ side.

Salah’s seemingly obligatory strike saw him match Luis Suarez’s haul of 31 goals from the 2013-14 season in the same amount of games (37) before Roberto Firmino beat the on-rushing Adrian to Can’s through ball and made it six goals in eight games.

An extra layer of gloss was added by Sadio Mane with 13 minutes remaining in a move which carried Liverpool from one end of the pitch to the other.

Karius, who had almost sold Virgil van Dijk short with a pass seconds earlier, recovered his poise to start a sweeping attack which flowed through James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andrew Robertson before Mane applied a deft finish.

sO Liverpool moved back into second place in the Premier League for the first time since a 4-0 victory over Arsenal in August. They will do their best to stay there, just like Karius is trying his hardest to show he should remain in goal.

[Pell]

Went to Anfield today with my (Hammers fan) dad as a treat to him for his birthday. (Hospitality, which weren't cheap!) Great day but it really felt like Liverpool never got out of 3rd gear, which makes the result even more impressive.

The thought of how awesome we can be when properly firing on a cylinders makes me very excited about the end of the season - and the Champions League.

I know Can scored and I've been a fan of his for a while, but he's been one of our weakest players for a couple of months. We look so much better with Hendo or Gini.

[Shaun2k5]

We look a much better team without Coutinho.
So much more balance to the team, Don't think I'd swap any of our front 3

Up to 2nd now, Wouldn't be to arsed if United win tomorrow as it would push Chelsea further back.

Coutinho became a huge distraction. He didn't want to be a Liverpool player and I can imagine he was insufferable behind the scenes to other players.

Him leaving may have been the best thing to happen to team morale.

[Photek]

I’m not sure Pell seen Can against Man City and several other teams...

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I love how Klopp mentioned how happy he was for Huddersfield winning in his interview, David Wagner was Klopps best man at his wedding.

[Denster]

Liverpool look to be peaking at the right time. No one will want to draw them in the next round of the CL.

[bear]

A few quick points.

-Liverpool aren't better without Coutinho. They looked really good yesterday and have played some lovely football since he left but the option of a player like Coutinho either off the bench or as a starter would make the overall squad stronger. Even this season he had 7 goals in 14 league games for Liverpool.

-Çan will be a big loss when he goes to Juventus. He is still a flawed player but you'd still be looking at the guts of £40million to bring in someone as good as him.

-Van Dijk is better than gamerforever thinks

[Hypes]

Good to actually play at 3pm for once and also win before other teams have played to put pressure on and not ruin my weekend

[Blue Eyes]

Liverpool bastards!

[Hypes]

[Photek]

He’s such a Troll.

Mane doing the kung fu kick celebration was hilarious!