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Liverpool Thread 2011/12


Rafalution

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That you say the stats prove nothing, yet you manage to derive from them that Downing has played well over a period of seven years.

eh? im saying its not surprising hes done well with relation to that stat given that hes played in the prem for 7 years, being a guaranteed start for both boro and villa in that time, especially given that most players dont last that long in the prem, never mind specifically wingers.

Probably not going to do that, but I'm off to Burger King in a bit so I'll bring you back some more straws to clutch at.

its not straw clutching. its pointing out that stats are stupid, particularly those taken out of context. i tried to run through who else would even be remotely close to downing in the past three seasons for crosses, but i cant think of many, if any, because most either havent been around for 3 seasons or dont play as a traditional crossing winger.

Basically, dont take stats at face value.

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I guarantee you that 'how many chances does he create?', 'how many crosses does he complete' and 'how many games does he play' would have been questions that were paramount in the minds of Comolli and co during their search for a winger. I'll take that bet though if you can dig up similar for Cole.

yeah, but theyll more than likely think it about it in an absolute fashion rather than a relative fashion over a time period that suits their argument. did downing make the most crosses last season for instance? how many PL chances did he create last season?

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fair enough, thats a useful stat though, because its comparing over a "fair" timespan that means most players within the premiership can be involved in the study. I would still question who his competition for that statistic is, given the lack of proper wingers out there at the minute. Of course, that can be negated if we're using this to say "hes one of a few wingers out there, why would we not have him?" which once again is fair enough.

where does 21% completed sit in the grand scheme of things? is that good? average? i have no idea. similar question for chances too, if anyone has that detail available.

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Another thing to take into account on that completed crosses in open play stat, is that Downing was injured for a fairly long time (6 months plus IIRC) and when he did come back from injury to play for us it was blatantly obvious he was no where near match fit. So over those 3 seasons you're looking at a season where he was in a Boro side that went down, one where he was injured for most of it and was adapting to a new team/wasn't match fit, and last season where he was playing in a shambles of a team ravaged by injury almost constantly, that struggled hugely and had 4 different managers over the course of the season.

Also, I'm pretty sure he was like 3rd or 4th in the league in terms of chances created for the season just gone.

Afaik, 21% completed crosses is well above average I think.

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Citation needed
Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli has admitted he is keen on thoroughly investigating player stats ahead of possible transfers...

"When you find yourself handling three of the biggest transfers in English football history in the last days of the market, precise figures allow you not to do that blind," added Comolli.

"You have to act quickly. For Luis, I asked scouts to make inquiries in Holland. I looked at his stats over the last three years - especially the number of matches played.

"With Luis, we took account of the number of decisive passes, his performances against the big teams, against the little ones, in Europe, the difference between his goals scored at home and away.”

link

2 out of 3 cited. But maybe you're right and they don't look at a potential winger's crossing stats too.

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If you're one who gets annoyed with Meireles pussying out of challenges, wait until you see Downing on the pitch. Thats my biggest concern with him.

I know people will argue that its not a prerequisite of being a winger, but you can argue the same about Meireles, being an attacking midfielder.

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I heard its very hard to get tickets this season and you can't buy tickets for individual games and one ticket per members card. I don't know if thats right, did you guys get tickets ok?

I can't wait for the season to start, got high hopes and think we will play great attacking football.

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can't get tickets for individual games? what are you on about?

On the Liverpool forum some people were saying you need to buy a membership card which is £30 and then apply for 3 or 4 games as you were not able to buy tickets for just one game, well that is how I read it, they didn't explain themselves too well.

Reading this it appears you can buy tickets for individual games although most of the games are sold out already. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/important-2011-12-ticket-news

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Downing is going to be great for us I think. Game intelligence, a natural left foot, good vision, good attitude. Silly money but who gives a ****? This time last year we had Roy Hodgson trying to get Carlton Cole on loan.

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as has been said i think it's pretty vital we get a solid left back in to make up for downings shortcomings defensively now. i had a sneaky feeling we were going with johnson lb and kelly rb before tbh but thats an accident waiting to happen now. god knows who we'll get as enrique doesn't look likely, will cry if its bridge.

someone like a left sided ivanovic or arbeloa (who did pretty great for us on the left tbf) would be good.

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Downing is going to be great for us I think. Game intelligence, a natural left foot, good vision, good attitude. Silly money but who gives a ****? This time last year we had Roy Hodgson trying to get Carlton Cole on loan.

I think he tried to buy him for £10 million. What formation would you guys play? I don't think we can play 3-5-2 with carragher and skrtel as they lack pace and 3-5-2 you need your centre backs comfortable on the ball which skrtel and carragher are not. I know we played 3-5-2 last season a few times but still don't think we can play it week in week out.

I don't think we can play Carroll as a lone striker so how we going to fit Alberto, Raul, Gerrard, Lucas and Adam in midfield? I left out shelvey and spearing as they will be further down the pecking order.

Henderson coming in hopefully means he will be on the right unless we are playing a team who will enjoy more possession than us in that case I will opt for kuyt while downing will be on the left. Maxi, Raul, Aurellio, Kuyt or Carroll and Skrtel on the bench and already you can see how much stronger the bench is.

I think we had shelvey, cole, jovanovic and ngog a lot last season.

I would sell Alberto and Raul if we got offers around £15 million, Cole £3 million Ngog £4 million, poulsen £2 million easier said than done as these players are on good wages which clubs will be unwilling to match but hopefully we can shift a few and buy a quality left back and centre back and our summer will be complete.

Ideal world would like to sign 2 left backs, back up striker, centre back and a creative pacey midfielder who can play anywhere in midfield.

What formation woud you guys play?

Who should be first choice midfielders?

Can we challenge for the title?

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I would only sell one of Aqua and Raul, i think having one of them as back up would be great. In fact we can probably afford to drop Gerrard now if he's out of form, I doubt it will happen but at least when he's injured we'll have plenty of options and a lot of variety.

As for first choice midfielders I suppose it will be four players despite what formation we go with because you would expect Suarez and Carroll to play most games and i can't see 3 at the back with the defenders we have. I would Lucas goes down as the first midfielder we need on the park followed by Gerrard and Downing leaving the right hand side open to Henderson/Kuyt/Maxi although i doubt it will be Maxi. However if we play we might go with Adam/Meireles/Aqua/Henderson in the centre with Suarez drifting wider but i'd prefer not to see that.

As for challenging for the title not a hope in hell we'll still struggle to be as consistent and ruthless as Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd as they're strengthening too or will strengthen before the season begins.

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Charlie Adam makes his first start for Liverpool against a Malaysia XI - watch the whole match live simultaneously on LFC TV and LFCTV Online from 10am BST.

Youngster Conor Coady is also involved from the kick off while Andy Carroll leads the attack.

Liverpool: Jones, Flanagan, Robinson, Carragher, Agger, Coady, Adam, Meireles, Spearing, Cole, Carroll. Subs: Gulacsi, Hansen, Maxi, Pacheco, Kyrgiakos, Kuyt, Wilson, Ngog, Poulsen, Shelvey, Kelly, Wisdom, Aquilani, Insua.

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I would only sell one of Aqua and Raul, i think having one of them as back up would be great. In fact we can probably afford to drop Gerrard now if he's out of form, I doubt it will happen but at least when he's injured we'll have plenty of options and a lot of variety.

In previous years you had gerrard/lucas/meirals (sp?) who were deemed to be 'good' you would then have to work out what fringe players were to play with them. Now we have some decent players who can provide width against teams that pack the midfield, players able to provide bit of magic, but also 'solid' players who are able to put their foot on the ball if under pressure. It seems to be a squad where you can pick the right players for the game, rather than pick the only good players you had available.

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Friendly kicking off now, don't know whether to watch on ESPN of LFCTV

Picture isn't great on either, but I'm being put off LFC TV by the commentator. He keeps talking about the game in China at the weekend, when surely it was played on Wednesday?! Today is the weekend. I struggle to trust anyone who doesn't know what day of the week it is.

Nice to see the Downing deal completed, he could be a very good player for us over the next few years. Now let's hope Kenny can bring in a few more players, left back obviously still needs sorting out.

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