tajjuk

Yeh basically this, our style actually suits playing against better teams and probably playing away from home more. Cardiff parked the bus and we lacked the creativity/clinical finishing to break them down, the kicker though was that they scored from two set pieces, pretty much their only chances of the game which shouldn't happen. But it was still lucky.

Other teams keep giving us chances, so we need not to f this up. Have to agree fail to win tonight and we are down IMO.

If we don't win I think its pretty certain relegation, its one thing struggling at home to park the bus the Cardiff who fluke a couple of set pieces, but Fulham cannot defend at all so if we can't score more goals than them we just deserve to go down.

No recognised striker

Well the important thing is they both lost, so Arsenal is a free hit, get anything from the game and its a bonus, but lose and we are no worse off but need to make sure we beat Fulham which will hopefully overtake Cardiff. You'd think a 5-1 smashing at home might dent Cardiff for their next game.

If there is a top 6 side right now that is probably there for the taking, even away, then its probably Arsenal, maybe Chelsea, neither are in good form and have issues. Their results have not been great recently, lost at Borisov, only just managed to beat Huddersfield and Cardiff, lost to City, lost to Utd in the cup, and lost to West Ham. Their only real convincing win of late was at home to Chelsea. We also seem more set up for games like this, than breaking down deep defences like Cardiff, so I fancy us for a bonus point here. Presuming we pick up no injuries this week, I'd presume almost everyone bar Ings is available, maybe even Lemina might make it back to training this week and Ings might hopefully be available for the Fulham game.

Eh?

Probably because he was poor and had a LOADS of chances over the last two years to do something, but never did. He has been bad for like two years, started this season better but still didn't contribute anything of note, and only really started having an impact under Ralf. Which also happened for several other players as well, like JWP, who has improved under Ralf. Redmond IMO has got far less slagging off then JWP has over the years IMO, despite JWP getting far less opportunities and doing more with them as well and IMO having a better attitude on the pitch as well.

No Bertrand in the videos from what I can see. Obafemi seems to be back in full training though, as is Armstrong. No Lemina or Ings obviously.

He's finally showing some form after nearly two years of contributing very little, so I am not going to get carried away. If he continues it then great, but its far too early to tell if he has genuinely started to reach his potential and mature into a good player, or whether this is just a purple patch of good form and he'll return to the ineffective player he was. I mean for all his improvement, it should be noted he has the same amount of league goals as Ward-Prowse and Armstrong have in more than twice the game time.

I'd also reckon we are probably stronger away with our set up, we have performed better against team that try to play us, i.e Arsenal, Everton etc. hopefully we'll have an improved performance against West Ham as well who are very beatable. Getting Ings is key. I don't really care about anyone else, more than enough winnable games there. I'd also reckon Brighton might be worrying a bit, they are going into poor form at the wrong time. You especially have to look at those last 5 all winnable IMO. Plus I fancy us for upsetting another top 6 team, the way we play suits someone that attacks us and I think we could surprise one of those teams there, Utd and Arsenal are the likeliest candidates for bonus points, also maybe Spurs at home.

The over reactions on here are hilarious, we've been on pretty much mid table form since Ralf took over, mid table teams don't win every game. Cardiff played with zero ambition, they parked the bus and fluked two goals, it happens, to better teams than us. Yes it was careless to concede late like that and yes we should have done better to win the game before that. But only one team in that game tried to win and really only one team deserved to win and that was us. Cardiff did sweet FA, literally they are so crap they barely put a man in our half, it worked this one time, so what? They are not going to stay up like that, showing that little ambition. People just need to calm down. The damage was done in the first half of the season under Hughes. If we go down it will be because of that and his terrible management that Ralf hasn't been able to rescue. But I still doubt we will go down, we have played well enough to show we will pick up points elsewhere and probably against better teams.

Away to a top 6 side as a relegation threatened team is a bit different to being away to a team you could go above if you win and in a relegation 6 pointer

They are parking the bus completely, zero ambition which is a bit pathetic IMO considering its a 6 pointer. Just need to remain patient and keep pushing for a goal.

Seems to say he's back.

I'm sure Bertrand is fine and is just getting back up to full fitness which is probably these days a higher level than previous managers. He was out a long time and not training a long time, seemed like there were complications with his injury and with a back injury I doubt he could do much light training so his fitness probably dropped off quite a lot.

I've always liked Klopp, I just think the pressure is getting to him and probably that is causing the whinging. All managers will at times in their careers moan about referees and decisions, pretty much every damn player does, some are better than others but most of these highly competitive people are generally bad losers. At least it is looking far less certain than it was before, would love Spurs to come out of nowhere and win the league overtaking a bottle job Pool, but I doubt that will happen, but Liverpool seem to be getting their sticky patch and Man City seem to be coming out of theirs. It's weird but despite how good Liverpool have been this year, I thought last year they looked much better and were more exciting to watch, they seem to be relying a lot more on not conceding rather than outscoring their opponents. Which might possibly end up hurting them if a few injuries in the defence happen and some more errors keep creaking in, because aside Mane, neither Firminho or Salah looks near the level they were last year so I don't think they are going to start scoring goals with ease like City are doing most games.

Apparently into space according to some supporters here.

The first hmmn, IMO the ref has judged he has kicked the ball too far away from him, there is of course contact but is it enough to make him go down like that? not so sure, he is IMO looking for it because he's going too far away from goal, not as clear cut as many are making it out to be IMO, but I would also not have massive complaints if it had been given. I am also pretty certain there was no need for McCarthy to come out like that, he was never really going to get into a good position to score a goal he was too wide. 2nd one is a pen, but of course its also a foul in the first place, so what happens after is irrelevant. VAR, hopefully would have looked at it and seen that, awarding a foul for us. Plus to be honest Barnes is a despicable footballer, I am not surprised refs don't give him stuff, its karma for how he treats them, he should have been sent off for his reaction to the assistant. I am also not surprised Burnely don't get many free kicks, again because they are a dirty, whinging, horrible football team, they give refs hell over every little thing.

Disappointed to lose 2 points, but overall a good point away from home against an in form team that are generally hard to beat and were unlucky not to beat a Utd side that had won 8 in a row previously. Plus with Ings down, that was essentially Ings, Bertrand, Lemina, Hojberg and Yoshida out of the team, all of whom would improve that team. We need to go beat Cardiff and Fulham at home now, and that will pretty much ensure safety as we will be on 30 points. Oh and sounds like the pen was harsh as a foul on Stephens, the absolute slating some people are giving him here is completely over the top IMO.

So we are back to a team with no Ings, Bertrand, Lemina and Hojberg, looking short on quality again.

Maybe, though he's always been a bit of a inconsistent player, I mean he's just come off a loan spell with Valencia where he has scored 1 goal in 15 I believe. But we have already played Palace twice and I don't think they are going to get relegated, so them being stronger and beating teams below us probably helps us. We were never going to stay up at the expense of Palace IMO. Most of those players though are probably surplus to requirements at their clubs, much liek ours who have gone out on loan were, the targets we were reported to be in for, the likes of right back, mepham, adams were first choices at their club and would need to replace them. Only probably Augustin was the the one that might have been able to be loaned in as he is not a regular as Leipzig.

We spend every summer. We spent like over £50 million last summer and agreed to spend another £20 million on Ings Makes sense that we had a transfer budget for the season based on our income (largely TV money) and that most of it was used up in the summer, and that when fresh income comes in, i.e new TV money, we would have a new budget. IMO pretty much every outside top 6 PL club can afford to spend about £30-40 million on transfers with little issue just from the TV money they rake in as long as they are not servicing massive debts. Plus there is the whole FFP thing and I think in particular the wage bill, IIRC you can't increase your wage bill more certain amount each year to comply with FFP, so that is probably another restriction on us. Big bloated squad on long term contracts. As for Fraser Forster I have a slight worry we might have a Jack Rodwell situation on our hands where Fraser might just sit on his contract unwilling to take a pay cut to go somewhere lower, which looks likely as his only destination at the moment as his stock has fallen.

Yes we have to sign Ings, I doubt we are going to find an upgrade on him and he fits Ralfs way of playing. My conservative estimate would be that the summer transfer budget is about £30 million, maybe £40 million considering the wage bill regardless of who we bring in should be lower because the squad will be smaller. The money from the Gabbiadini sale and likely sale of Cedric, will cover the £20 million for Ings. Then it is raising as much as possible from the sales of Forster, Boufal, Carrillo, Hoedt, Clasie, Austin. Which if we estimated an average sell there of lets say £8 million, would raise another £40 - 50 million. IMO these players need to either go or be used, no more loans. Plus I reckon some from the likes of Gallagher, Reed, McQueen, Hesketh, Sims, Lewis might be sold as well as they are probably surplus/not good enough and you could maybe raise another £10 - 15 million there. Plus there is Elyounoussi, who I can't see much use for either. Forster, Clasie, Austin, Gabbiadini, Cedric, Davis, Boufal, Carrillo, & Hoedt off the wage bill could also free up probably £500k a week in wages, or £24 million a year as well. Leaving us with around £80 million to spend and a lot of room on the wage budget. Which we would need IMO - - New pacey centre-back - New first choice right back. - Pacey attacker - Pacey striker - Target man but mobile striker.

Why is Bertrand still out? He's been training with the first team for 3 weeks now.