Anfield Roar - October 2014 by Anfield Roar

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Hey! We’re a week early this week (due to our team heading off to India to enjoy a bit of winter sun), but normal order will be restored next month. It means that you’ll have to wait for an extra week to get Anfield Roar in November, but conversely, it means you get to enjoy an extra week of hype ahead of the next Champions League game, which is against a small Spanish team called ‘Real Madrid’! Games don’t come much bigger or much better than welcoming the current European champions – and a host of the Worlds’ best players - to Anfield. Just the thought is already sending shudders down my spine! Perhaps the thing I’m most looking forward to is having the chance to see Ronaldo without having to give him the boo’s that are obligatory to any United player! What a player he is! Last month, we predicted that Mario would have won over all the fans by now, but as it has transpired, that has not quite been the case. The jury is still out there, but I would urge every LFC fan to continue to support him: he is a genius of a player, and will get us goals, but he needs to be loved to play to his best, so keep on cheering him on. We will need him to be at his brilliant best this season if we are going to have any chance of competing to win the league. This month, we’re not only hyping up the Real Madrid game, but looking at what is affecting our performances to date (Europe? England injuries? Stevie G?), and there’s brilliant profiles of the rising star Manquillo and fading glory (?) of Phillipe Coutinho – amongst all the usual favourites. Enjoy this issue! JNWA

Message from the Editor

The season starts now!

Postbox

Fan rants and opinion

We Go Again

Another month of disruption, injuries, and disappointments. But there is hope

The England Problem

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve really missed Daniel Sturridge since he got injured on international duty...

Brendan Rodgers

Is Brendan holding the team back? What do you make of his tactics?

Steven Gerrard

Would Steven Gerrard be in your first XI? The fans are divided...

Whats wrong with Coutinho? A few off-colour performances have got the pundits asking questions...

Joe Hart vs Simon Mignolet

George Way takes a look at just how important the goalkeeper can be...

In Breach?

Will LFC be hit in the pocket after breaching the Financial Fair Play rules?

Introducing… Javier Manquillo

He’s only 20 but he’s already knocked Glen Johnson out of the first team!

The Month Ahead

We preview the big fixtures, and predict the results (and we’re only slightly biased!)

Real vs Liverpool

Ahead of the biggest match in years, we compare & contrast our histories

Best of Youtube

We’ve scared ourselves silly - just have a look at these clips of Ronaldo, Bale & Rodriguez!

As Clear as Day Injuries have cost us, but with players returning, there is a glimmer of hope...

We asked ‘What’s wrong with Liverpool? Rodgers? Gerrard? Balotelli?’ Dear Anfield Roar, Balotelli was clearly an end of the transfer window buy, a calculated risk that was the best the club could do at the time. He obviously wasn't top of the list, or even on the list, ideally. Sturridge's injury was unfortunate, but it did expose the problems with Mario's signing immediately. A player like that will always, always lead to friction. Balotelli may be a nice guy and all that blah, but he's a loose cannon, unpredictable and unprofessional. To my mind he's absolutely what Liverpool did not need, and I think he's going to ruin the system in all kinds of ways. Welbeck would have been a far superior buy. The defence is disorganised and frankly lacking in quality. Mignolet is suspect - good shot stopper, but positionally he can really mess up. On top of that, Gerrard's transition into a veteran player is being mismanaged. He's no DM. A defensive mid isn't just a slower attacking mid. Sure it's early days in this season, and big changes take time to bed in. However all of these problems are down to Rodgers to sort, and most are his fault. I respect the guy a lot, last season was tremendous, but he isn't without his faults. Couch Slob, London

POSTBOX Dear Anfield Roar First of all Suarez is one of those once in a generation players, the forward you get you just cannot replace. Its fact, some Liverpool fans thought he would not be missed. Some of it was naive and other was bravado. The truth is however hard you try it is impossible to keep a player sometimes. Rodgers went out to rebuild a team that had an amazing season, he didn't look to tweak it, which in truth was all it needed. He didn't appear to make a striker a priority even when he knew Suarez was leaving, other than Remy, who I think he should of persevered with. Balotelli is a big risk, though he is capable of suddenly waking and Brendan needs risk banging goals in. You get the feeling even Rodgers had mixed feelings about this signing. Lovren played in a defence that was commanded by Fonte and Buroc at Southampton and he had a sweeper in front of the defence. So he probably got a lot more cover than he does at Liverpool. Liverpool have missed Sturridge but they have missed Suarez more and the loss of both of them has been a hammer blow. Rodgers said when he bought Lambert that he bought him to give Liverpool the opportunity to play a different way. He has had opportunities to do that and hasn't. He could play Lambert out front, with Lallana and Sterling just behind. A system he played at Saints with Lallana and Rodrigues which was worth 41 goals. Okay its not the hundred Liverpool scored but it was effective and in the short term would of covered Sturridge's absence. Lambert is a good one touch player, who reads the game holds the ball up lays off and can finish as well as create assists. He would also give Steven Gerrard a front player to lay off to which he seems to lack at the moment. SaintGeorge2012, Liverpool 7

POSTBOX Dear Anfield Roar, Chelsea, fair play to them, have had just the start a team of their calibre should have, but then there is everyone else, all of whom are suffering variations on an identity crisis, doubts abut the overall strengths of their squads (and, more and more, their respective managers') and mixed on-pitch form. Even allowing that City will wake up properly sooner or later and cruise into top 2, and that Arsenal have the know how and experience to achieve top 4, there's still a remaining CL spot open to the currently equally mediocre Liverpool, United, Spurs and Everton (Though I wouldn't put it past Southampton.) I've seen nothing from those other three to suggest they are going to pull away from the rest of that pack imminently - though on faith of LVG's reputation (his self-designated three month 'integration' period is pretty much up) and the fact that his club will not be afraid to spend big again in January, I'm assuming United will be the strongest 'threat' to that 4th spot. Everton and Spurs have 'regressed' as much as us (Arsenal look no better than usual either) and both have the debilitating cycle of Thursday night football to 'enjoy' for the next few months too. We have problems, and even if we improve (and in each season so far, Rodgers has built momentum on relatively slow starts) this is likely going to be much more of a slog of a season. For me, Rodgers of course deserves a chance to sort out our problems: I only bring up Not showing up by implication the possibility his position is under threat because the usual deluded minority have come out deciding he is now (in the handful of weeks since a pristine 3 nil demolition of Spurs) suddenly failing standards the club has not consistently kept in a long time (this being our first CL campaign in over half a decade: its nice to have the lineage and 8

POSTBOX history, but we were a bloated, ugly mid table side when Rodgers came in, and had been since Rafa's final season.) He, Martinez and Pochettino, were media darlings last year -young, audacious, unafraid to try things - and made the more established likes of Wenger, Moyes and even Mourinho to a degree look like they were under-achieving. (I’m only referring to last year of course.) These same three are all struggling a bit this year, but they all deserve time. And especially in our case, to play devil's advocate, who in the hell would we get in to replace him? Anyone who says Rafa, Dalglish, or Jamie Carragher is on another planet. Klopp is the only big European manager of pedigree who would be a remote possibility, but, handily for the purposes of my argument, Dortmund have started exactly as lethargically as us. IsAllAboutAttack, Liverpool ————————————————————————————————-Dear Anfield Roar, For me, the slump can be attributed to a number of factors which can be filed under two categories: self-inflicted and factors beyond their control. Factors beyond their control: • Sturridge injured most of the season so far, last thing they needed after Suarez leaving •

Injuries to Can and Allen at a time where Gerrard really isn't playing very well.

•

Injuries to both first choice full backs from last season meaning that they are having to blood the two new Spanish boys earlier and more frequently than they probably would have preferred.

Now for the self-inflicted:

POSTBOX •

Show some ambition, and at least compete. Instead, they've spread the resources too thinly on pointless squad filler (Lambert, Manquillo, etc) or development players like Moreno, Markovic, Lallana etc

•

Mario. Mario, Mario, Mario. Why? And no, this isn't a pop at his work rate or his lack of goals. This is a simple observation that they brought in a striker totally ill suited to their style of play. He hasn't been great, but it's not all his fault. Liverpool needed someone who played a similar way to Suarez

•

The centre of defence was a problem last year. Rodgers knew this. Yet, aside from Lovren, nothing's changed. Skrtel goes to pieces under stern examination. Sakho is a bloody joke. After that you're onto Kolo Toure and, well...... Gross negligence if you ask me, especially with £120m in his back pocket to do something about it.

•

Mignolet. Was suspect last season, especially in big games away to City and Chelsea where he looked as if he couldn't really handle the pressure and made silly mistakes in both. He doesn't command his area at all well, and as Gary Neville's rightly highlighted this week, he seems to have a big problem with his starting position when facing up to shots from distance. Maybe the expected signing of Valdes might address this problem, but really, to go into the season without serious competition for Mignolet was a big mistake.

So in summary - basically everything that could have gone t*** up, either through their own making or sheer bad luck, has gone t*** up. Bad times at Anfield. GaryTheNoTrashCougar, Liverpool

WE GO AGAIN! Aizaz Sheikh talks about Europe’s disrupting abilities with the Premier League and routine’s at Liverpool... My article is supposed to be about Brendan Rodgers, a man who I admire, blaming the European campaign as a disruption. I didn't remember him saying it. And I couldn't get my head around it. So, I Googled it, and didn't find much. What I did find was The Guardian's Sachin Nakrani writing an article in the aftermath of the defeat to West Ham in September. The article was entitled: "Brendan Rodgers says Europe is ‘disrupting’ Liverpool’s routine". I thought I hit the jackpot, and clicked immediately. The disrupting in the title was not just disrupting. It was 'disrupting'. Yes, I was on to something. Upon clicking, I clicked command + F (that's control + F to the old school) and typed out disrupt. Safari found six matches. None were Rodgers saying that. Strange! Now I am not saying that Brendan never said it. But, not only would I have been disappointed hearing that, I couldn't find it. By the way, of the six matches, one was in the title (apparently a direct quote!), and one in the body, but not a direct quote. The others included a paid ad on the right, and three were in the comments. Very strange! 11 11

WE GO AGAIN I clicked back on the browser, and realized that all the other top hits had scraped Sachin's article. And the ones lower down were quoting Brendan talking about the Balotelli signing. And how it wasn't disruptive. (No comment based on my last article!) I went to LFCTV GO, and found all the West Ham post game footage. I watched Brendan's reaction, and he never said that. But it was all club's coverage. Maybe they edited it out. I went to Sky Sports, and I found the post-game interview. Surely this time. But like a Lazar Markovic shot, I didn't find my target. Interestingly, what Rodgers DID say was, and I quote: "It's something we have got to get used to because we have got plenty more Champions League games." Even stranger!

I watched Brendan’s reaction, and he never said that. Back to Sachin Nakrani's article. In that article itself, he said that Rodgers stated that being in the Champions League is likely to prove “mentally draining” for his squad. I never heard or saw that either. Now, I don't want to say Nakrani made this up. I really don't, he is a credible journalist. A passionate Liverpool fan, and I am not here to bash him. But if Brendan didn't say it, then I think Nakrani’s words epitomise us right now. As a club, as a team and as fans. And, what I will say is that until I hear those words myself, I refuse to believe them. Let me categorically state something. Loud and clear. There is NOTHING disrupting about our European campaign. The sensationalist British media is disrupting. The fact that our new players are not settling in is disrupting. The injury to Daniel Sturridge, Mr ‘I scored more goals in 50 Liverpool games than Rush, Fowler, Owen, Torres and Suarez, but I don't have a proper song’, is disrupting. Our awful defending is disrupting. Having a borderline calamity goalie, again, is disrupting. And, the ridiculous expectations of our fans is disrupting. (We were winning the league at the start of the season, were we?) 12

WE GO AGAIN But the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE is disrupting? Are you crazy? And if he did say it, is Brendan Rodgers crazy? Look, we didn't wait five years for this. We didn't will Manchester United and Chelsea to draw major teams and get knocked out asap, for THIS. (Sorry Tottenham, Arsenal and Man City, like us this year, we really didn't expect you to go that far anyway!) What we need to do right now, on the pitch, in the stands, behind our TV and computer screens is wake up. Wake up! I am NOT being an optimist. We were rubbish tonight. We have been rubbish this season. And we will not qualify from this group, nor requalify for this oh-so promised land if we keep this up. But we did not get that five-times patch by being absolute losers. By moaning in The Kop. By calling BBC 606 and asking for our manager's head after 9 games - yes, that happened tonight. Listen to the podcast. On the pitch right now? We are losers! Off the pitch? We are losers! The Champions League is not a distraction. WE are a distraction. Wake up. Snap out of it. And if you see a Liverpool fan today, shake him, her, or it We’re distracting ourselves. out of this. Then, camp outside Melwood and shake our players out of it too. Everything about us looks and sounds like a defeatist bunch. Suarez left us. So what? We picked up 7 points from 18 in the Premier League. So what? The fact is that we are back at the top table, and we suddenly have this major insecurity problem. On the pitch, we are not fighting. We are not playing. We are crap. Off the pitch, it's doom and gloom. “Sack Brendan”. Blah, blah, blah. 13

WE GO AGAIN

You can't only support Liverpool when we are winning. Don't believe me, then listen to what Shankly, wink, wink, supposedly said: "If you can't support us when we lose or draw, don't support us when we win." Liverpool fans, listen up. And if there are players somehow reading this, you listen up too. The only disruption right now is from WITHIN the club. And only we can put that right. Fix up that mentality. Our whole outlook is demoralising right now. And we are a product of our own gloomy, negative thoughts and performances. Tomorrow is a new day. Our next game is a new game. At the end of the storm, there's a golden sky, where we start again. And, of course, when the lark sings that sweet silver song, WE GO AGAIN. #YNWA

Time to start smiling? Expertly written by: Aizaz Sheikh Feedback? Send your feedback to : 14

The

England Problem Paul Mcfarland talks about the problems with letting players play at an International level... We've recently been dropping points because some of our players got injured on international duty: is that fair? Should there be some sort of compensation? Should we ban our players for playing internationally, orâ&#x20AC;Ś? The club versus country debate has been well and truly reignited in the wake of Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge's latest injury. Depending on who you listen to, or what paper or website you read, the compensation received by Liverpool will vary: some say a ÂŁ200,000 one-off payment, some say ÂŁ100,000 per week. But does it really matter what the payment is? Brendan Rodgers or the Liverpool fans won't care because it's not going to do us any good on the pitch. What makes this case worse is the fact that Daniel wanted to sit out the training session but Hodgson refused to let him. So what is the answer? Players at the top will, usually, want to represent their country. So I don't think the answer is to dissuade them from international duty. But surely there must be some way to prevent them from going to those pointless friendly international games?

ENGLAND I know the England manager (or any other international manager) will want to look at how up and coming players perform while wearing their country's shirt, but you can't tell me he needs to take a look at the likes of Sturridge, Henderson, Sterling, etc... Surely he already knows what his regular players bring to the game - so why keep picking them? Part of me thinks it's the fear factor of losing a friendly, and it comes from a lazy attitude that screams â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;get all the usual players in and get this game out of the wayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. I can remember when England had a B team - why can't they go back to that formula (and let them play these friendlies, if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about being experimental?) More young players coming through would have a chance to show what they can do, or if a seasoned international was coming back from a lengthy injury and hadn't been in the England set up for a while then he could use the B team to ease himself back in to the Time for a B team? international team without all the added pressure of a full international. Some people will say if England bring back their B team then it'll just mean more games for international players. I disagree, one of the ways around that could be if you have, say, five senior England caps you're ineligible to play for the B team, unless for one reason or another you have missed the last five senior internationals then you're allowed a B team appearance. My point is, there has to be some way of tried and tested international players being able to sit out pointless friendless and not having to run the risk of annoying the England manager! From what I can see England are not the only team to have this 16

ENGLAND problem, all the home nations have their fair share of club v country rows. I know for certain Northern Ireland do, but that's usually always when the friendlies come up. You usually get five or six first choice players picking up â&#x20AC;&#x153;injuriesâ&#x20AC;? a couple of days before the match. But, for the Northern Ireland fans and press that really isn't a problem for us. It seems England and the other major international teams don't like their players rightly or wrongly throwing a sicky when it comes to the national team so the players and their clubs are under pressure for them to be available.

For me the other option would be to scrap friendly internationals during the league season altogether and just have them when the league finishes on the build up to the European championship and the World Cups. For me the other option would be to scrap friendly internationals during the league season altogether and just have them when the league finishes on the build up to the European championship and the World Cups. That way, the international manager can decide which players are tired and need a rest without it affecting the players, clubs and managers during the season. That would also let you know how much the players are committed to their national team as how many would feign injury on the eve of a major competition? Expertly written by: Paul McFarland Feedback? Send your feedback to : editor@anfieldroar.com

Brendan Rodgers Michael Reid talks us through the main man at Liverpool and what Rodgers can do this season... He is the man who led Liverpool to a surprise 2nd place finish in the 2013/14 Premier League season, indeed only 2 points behind top spot, even when most people laughed at Liverpool fans’ talk of their team finishing 4th at the start of said season! He is a man with dreams of one day managing at the highest level of football; Real Madrid or Barcelona. He is a man whose dream had a chance of becoming reality at the age of just 41, baby years in managerial terms; the Barcelona job became vacant after their ‘below-par’ campaign last year under then boss Tata Martino, and rumours arose that the Northern Irishman was a prime candidate for the Catalan clubs top job prior to Luis Enrique’s appointment. But even with his vast, and, one might add, deserved acclaim from last season, Rodgers’ has shown cracks in his managerial ability in the early stages of this campaign. Uncharacteristic cracks, but cracks nonetheless. Whilst this season may only be in its youth, Rodgers’ is highlighting that he still has much to learn about managing a 18

RODGERS world renowned football club. Many of you may be questioning such a statement but it is one not made without evidence. For starters – and this is not actually a recent gripe associated with the Reds boss – Rodgers’ handling of the media leaves much to be desired. To quote an example, speaking after Liverpool’s miserable 3-1 defeat away at West Ham United, Rodgers stated that: “We've shown in my time here, my team will get better in the second half of the season.” So are we writing off the first 19 games of the Did I really just tell them that? season? Are we rendering 57 points as meaningless? Liverpool fans do not want to wait half a season for results. No team would. Liverpool fans, particularly in a league as competitive as our Barclays Premier League, want results from the first game to the last. Not only this, but Rodgers insight is most definitely false. Last season, Liverpool were top of the league come Christmas Day, after the first 17 games of the season. Admittedly this was not the case after the next 2 games leading up to the half-way point, but surely being top at Christmas and being one place lower in 2nd come May is not the results indicative of a team who “get better in the second half of the season”. To make things worse, Rodgers stuck his neck out again when speaking after the shambolic Basel defeat: "We had to improve the squad and unfortunately we've lost a number of our key players to injuries. It brings us into a little period of transition again." Yes, he used that word. That horrible word - “Transition.” This is an age old excuse for many a team – Liverpool in particular since we dropped out of our then accustomed Champions League places back in 2009/10. The long and short of it is that to say we’re in such a “phase” only 5 months after a second place finish, our highest since 2008/09, is frankly unacceptable. Even with the 19

RODGERS departure of Luis Suarez, any truly top manager, and certainly any manager of Liverpool FC, would simply not use the excuse of having a “new squad of players.” After the hundreds of millions of pounds Liverpool owners FSG have invested in 2014 alone, I think they, as well as the supporters of this great club, deserve the on-field levels of performance to match such great expectations. And such great promises that Rodgers himself has given. Our manager from County Antrim was also very keen to point out that Raheem Sterling was dropped from the team that faltered to a 0-1 home loss against Aston Villa as he was thinking of future matches; planning ahead, if you will. Four games into a season and he is already resting players? Admittedly Sterling is only 19 years of age and has had no real break after a summer at the Brazil World Cup, but even so, to rest arguably your best player at a stage of the season where tiredness should not be an issue does seem illogical and ill-advised to say the least. Particularly a player who then played 120 minutes of a 3rd round Capital One Cup match against Championship side Middlesbrough barely 10 days after his “rest.”

Tactically, it has been remarkably difficult to understand what Rodger’s team is doing. And it is not just Rodgers making mistakes in what he says during his interviews and press conferences. It is obvious that Liverpool fans across the country will agree that performances this season, the Tottenham victory aside, haven’t quite hit the highs they reached last season. Tactically, it has been remarkably difficult to understand what Rodgers’ team is doing. Last season, Liverpool were all about pressing high, playing quick, simple passes, and winning the ball as high up the pitch as possible. This season, there has been a distinct lack of all of this. Balotelli, albeit mainly playing alone and isolated upfront, does not chase defenders the way Suarez and Sturridge would last season. Midfielders and forwards seem more content to run into tight corridors and get tackled than to play a pass – in fact it can go one

RODGERS further than that and be said that players do not seem to be looking to receive a pass as readily as last season. Henderson is seldom making his bombing runs up and down the pitch which make him such a great player – instead he is forced to sit back and protect Steven Gerrard, who hasn’t got the defensive mind-set and, sadly, no longer the legs to be consistently in the right position. Full backs Javier Manquillo and Alberto Moreno are being made to push far too high up the pitch too early, thus restricting the space that forwards and wide men have to utilise for themselves. Skrtel is up to his usual tricks of dropping back too far compared with the other defenders and midfielders – indeed you could write an entire PhD on the problems this causes the team! Rodgers must go back to the basics of what was so successful in the 2013/14 campaign. He must forget which players have left and how many new players have arrived. He must forget all this over-thinking of tactics and team shape. He must forget about thinking 5 games ahead. Rodgers must remember to play to his teams, and his own, strengths; to stick to what he himself is good at, and coach Liverpool back to success. He must take it one game at a time; focus on winning the next game with the resources he has available for then. The future can be worried about when it comes around to it. The time to worry about the busy Christmas period is at Christmas itself. Brendan Rodgers is a fantastic coach - of that there can be no doubts. And if anyone can turn Liverpool’s form around quickly, he can. Liverpool fans should, and shall, stick with him through thick and thin. But whilst there are flaws in his game, there are flaws in Liverpool’s, and that needs changing. Fast.

Expertly written by: Michael Reid - you can send your feedback to us and we’ll pass it on - editor@anfieldroar.com

On the topic of

Gerrard Ross Webber discusses whether Gerrard’s time is really up or whether he can continue to perform for the club... Whenever things go badly at Liverpool, heads usually turn to Steven Gerrard to get them out of a slump or a sticky patch. The Reds have endured a disappointing start to the season, but instead of relying on the captain to discover the reasons why things are going wrong, pundits and fans alike have claimed that the captain himself is behind Liverpool’s poor form. So is Gerrard finally losing his touch, or has such criticism been unwarranted? Well, to solely blame Liverpool’s slump in form on Gerrard would be absolute madness. Lest we forget that the Reds have suffered a number of key injuries this season to the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Joe Allen, lost one of the best players in the world in Luis Suarez and with so many new signings, that Liverpool are still gelling as a squad. Of course there are also a number of other faults within the camp regarding the player’s desire and character, as questioned following defeat to Basel. Therefore, using the excuse that Gerrard is the catalyst for the poor form Liverpool have suffered is quite ridiculous. The captain’s retirement from international duty was a clear indication that age was beginning to creep up on him. In addition, his newfound role midway through last season also suggested that he could no longer affect a game the way he perhaps used to. 22 22

GERRARD However, this is not to suggest that Gerrard can not still control the course of a football match. He proved on a number of occasions in the second half of last season that switching to a holding role was a positive move for the captain, with his passing ability cracking open defences at will. He may not have performed up to the standards that he produced last season so far, but that can be said for the majority of the squad. In addition to the fact that he hasn’t had the quality of Sturridge and Suarez’ movement ahead of him for the majority of this season. Of course at the age of 34, he will no longer be able to make those gut busting runs from box to box playing three games a week and it’s to be expected that with every year that goes by, Liverpool are having to take some of that reliance off of the shoulders of Gerrard. Nevertheless, the captain still remains a key component to the Liverpool squad and not just as a player: His role at the club in terms of his influence and passion are second to none. Players want to play with and for Gerrard simply because they want a taste of the desire and love that the Liverpool captain shares for the club. He is a model professional and a perfect example for the youth at the club as well as the first team players around him. On top of all this, his professionalism allows him to produce the quality he still manages at the age of 34. It can be assured that Gerrard isn’t in the team purely based on the sentimental value of having him there, but because he still plays a huge role at the club and fully deserves his space in the first team squad. Criticism has been wrongly directed at Gerrard this season and he responded in perfect fashion by stroking in his free kick against Everton. Hopefully those who were pointing the finger at the Liverpool captain now realise they were wrong in doing so and that he still has the quality. Expertly written by: Ross Webber - you can send your feedback to us and we’ll pass it on - editor@anfieldroar.com

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What’s wrong with

Coutinho? TJ Jordan talks to us about the problems Coutinho is facing and how Liverpool should be playing him... When an exciting young Brazilian emerges onto the European circuit, fans can be forgiven for instantly believing they’ve got the new Pele, Zico or Ronaldinho. That apparently inherent South-American flair and charisma, engrained by the Samba streets of Rio and Sao Paulo, is an immediate turn-on for supporters whose teams are of course now going to be playing with a sense of skill and swagger that has previously been seen only in a yellow shirt. But this is sometimes translated into a slightly tenuous adoration from the football masses. Unfortunately, the next Ronaldo often isn’t – think of Robinho, Kleberson, or the Denilson that you probably haven’t heard of for any reason other than his world record £21 million transfer to Real Betis in 1998. Soon enough, they’re on a plane back to the obscurity of South-American club football, perhaps seen now and again in the background of a semi-viral YouTube video claiming to feature ‘the next Neymar’ flicking the ball over the heads of what look suspiciously like Sunday league defenders. And so the cycle continues. 25

COUTINHO Our very own Philippe Coutinho moved from the Rio-based Vasco da Gama to Inter Milan in 2010, hoping to be one of the few exceptions to this conveyor belt of distinctly average Brazilian ‘stars’. Worryingly, he fills some of the relevant criteria to join this category. Although seen as “the future of Inter” by a certain Rafael Benitez in 2010, he was never quite settled in Milan, and his transfer to Liverpool three years later was met with quiet suspicion by some outside of Merseyside: why would a top European club allow their brightest talent to depart for just £8.5 million?

Philippe Coutinho moved Vasco da Gama to Inter in 2010, hoping to be an exceptionsto the conveyor belt of distinctly average Brazilian ‘stars’. Fortunately for us, a fairly successful year and a half at Anfield has followed. The 22-year-old has 15 assists and eight goals in 57 games, his winner against Manchester City in April being the highlight of both his Reds’ career and perhaps Liverpool’s 2013-14 season. So, it would be very harsh to place Coutinho in this bracket of failed Brazilian prodigies. Wouldn’t it? Having been used to a traditionally slow-paced and defensive Italian style, the attacking midfielder is certainly diminutive for the quicker and more physical Premier League. Many attackers have coped with this handicap in the English game – Zola, Fairly successful? Scholes and Owen were all within an inch of Coutinho’s five foot seven inches. But these were world-class players in their time. Does the Brazilian have the quality to outweigh this setback? 26

COUTINHO This is debatable. Because for some, Coutinho is not only lightweight physically, but also in a wider sense: though capable of neat touches and a nice pass, he often lacks the ruthless incisiveness needed to unlock a defence that is regularly found in his positional equivalents in the league such as Cesc Fabregas, David Silva and…Raheem Sterling. (Why not? The former QPR trainee has been one of the best players in England, if not Europe, so far this season, and irritatingly Real Madrid seem to have noticed. This has partly been due to his gradual evolvement into a ‘tip-of-the-diamond’ player). But if we have one of the best players in Europe playing exactly in Coutinho’s position, as well as a £45 million pair of alternatives in Lallana and Markovic, then where does that leave our former South American prodigy?

Too much expectation?

For Brendan Rodgers, this is the type of problem a manager relishes. Depending on how well we perform in our cup competitions this year, we could be playing around 30% more games than last season – evidently a squad of depth is needed. This is where Coutinho fits in. He will be vital to Rodgers’ squad-rotation plans, and will certainly play a healthy chunk of games this year. The manager does seem to have faith in the quality of the little Brazilian, and at just 22-years-old, it is too early to discard him back across the Atlantic. For now, then, Philippe Coutinho has time, but he must begin to show substance as well as style if he is to feature regularly in one of the most competitive squads in the league. Expertly written by: TJ Jordan Tweet us your thoughts - @anfieldroarmag

Joe Hart V Simon Mignolet George way weighs up Mignolet against the keeper considered as the best in the English League currently.. Who wants to be a goalkeeper? An old football phrase, but does this question bear more significance when it is applied to the man between the sticks at Anfield. It is clear that you are not defending any old goal – you’re defending the goal behind which stands the Kop. Furthermore, never has it been more important to prevent the opposition – as was outlined by Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher recently, at a club such as ours, keepers really should be making the big saves, in big games. But who fits the bill better; Manchester City’s Joe Hart, or our own Simon Mignolet. This question has been raised following speculation linking Liverpool to the England shot stopper in the media. At first glance, it would seem only obvious to take on a keeper of Hart’s ability. Nevertheless, following last season, people seem to place less and less faith in the young goalkeeper, and so in light of this story people are wondering whether Rodgers would be better to stick with Mignolet. One thing that Hart has that the Belgian doesn’t, from the start, is big game experience. Yes, Mignolet was involved in a title run in last year, but Hart has experienced title chases of that ilk for 28

MIGNOLET almost his entire City career. Not only that, but he is, as a result, a natural winner – in spite of City’s enormous fire power last year, had it not been for some of his saves at the back, they would not have won the league. These saves perhaps cost Liverpool the title, what may have had a direct influence was the lack of outstanding stops our own goalkeeper made. For instance, against Manchester City at the Etihad, Mignolet failed to stop a Negredo effort that he maybe should have made. Also, mistakes against Aston Villa and other minors mishaps cost points here and there for the Reds, all of which added up to the disappointment at the end of season.

These saves perhaps cost Liverpool the title. Having said that, there were, of course, saves Mignolet completed that Joe Hart wouldn’t have made. And of course, during last season there was the infamous ‘Pantillimon’ era at City, where Pellegrini didn’t think that Hart was up to it. So, if he’s not completely number 1 at the champions, who says he would be the best choice for last season’s runners up. It has not only been Hart that has been linked with a switch to Anfield – Victor Valdes was the man between the sticks during Barcelona’s recent glory years, winning in Europe and Spain for fun. The likes of Valdes would almost certainly be a welcome addition to the squad, whether it be to step into the first team, or maybe (due to age) as a backup and mentor to Mignolet. One thing that can be taken from all of these rumours is clear; Rodgers is in the market for a keeper. The implications, and general opinion on this, is generally mixed, but the main question at the moment is who – if anybody – will be signing at Melwood in the coming months? Expertly written by: Ivan Emanuel You can tweet Ivan at @emy_2good

Liverpool In Breach Of Ffp?

Paul baker brings our attention to the Financial Fair Play Rule and how Liverpool might be affected by it… After making a welcome return to the top tier of European football this season, Liverpool football Club could be set for a significant fine from UEFA. Relating to losses made by the Club in the last two seasons, the FFP penalty could be as much as £7 million – though the cash would be held back from any prize money due to the Anfield side (as opposed to being a payment from LFC). The case is ongoing as LFC prepare to provide further details to UEFA throughout the next two months. There are currently Financial Fair Play rules in place in: UEFA competitions (for all clubs wishing to take part in the Champions League and Europa League) The Premier League (from 2013/14) & the Championship (with punishments from 2013/14). The UEFA guidelines state, that teams who qualify for Champions League or Europa League football come under the FFP spotlight and must limit losses to an agreed amount - in order to meet Financial Fair Play regulations Clubs must not lose more than £35.4m over a period of two seasons.

FFP The losses in question were of £49.8m in 2012-13 and £41m in 2011-12. Last season 76 clubs were deemed to be "at risk" of sanctions by UEFA, but in the event only nine were punished. Manchester City and PSG Were among those affected, and they have suffered from fines and a reduced squad when playing in Europe. With the risk of losing millions from this seasons prize money pot, the Club will no doubt wish to argue their case and attempt to prove that the losses incurred were justified and not down to reckless spending in the transfer market - they are allowed to make a loss as long as it is down to investment in facilities or the academy. The Reds would have a strong case, as they have a top youth set up and are in the advanced planning stages of the redevelopment of Anfield and the surrounding area.

With the risk of losing MILLIONS from this seasons prize pot, the Club will no doubt wish to argue their case and attempt to prove that the losses incurred were justified and not down to reckless spending in the transfer market. Clubs can also use projected revenues when arguing their case and Liverpool's figures for the current year are said to be very positive. Liverpool are confident they did not breach FFP regulations having signed a series of lucrative commercial deals over the past 18 months. Another area where the Club can fight the figure is the £35 million that was spent on the aborted plans by the former co-owner Tom Hicks, for the proposed new stadium on Stanley Park. This should be able to be written off and not included in the assessment.

FFP Talking about FFP, Liverpool Manager Brendan Rodgers said: "It's obviously something that will be dealt with by the directors. "It's something we're comfortable with because we're great advocates of Financial Fair Play. It's ongoing with the club." Liverpool are “very relaxed” about any potential fine, however the Club have made no official comment. The fine would be somewhat of a blow to the Club, who will be hoping to use the increased revenues from playing in the Champions League to help to pay for the on-going project - if the fine is upheld, it may well affect the Clubs ability to fund Brendan Rogers transfer market plans (although, let’s face it, £7m is neither here nor there in the transfer market). It would also be unfair, as for many seasons now, some of the top English and European Clubs have consistently overspent, without any impact. While this is something for the Club to worry and deal with, most supporters are more focused on seeing an improvement on the field.

Rodgers remains relaxed

The performances so far, how not been good enough and the new players have yet to light up Anfield. This will of course take time, but the risk is, the side will lose pace with the other teams looking for a top 4 finish - in which case, we won’t need to be worrying about FFP next season.

Expertly written by: Paul baker Got any questions? Tweet Paul at @paul_baker

INTRODUCING…

Javier

Manquillo Ivan Emanuel introduces us to the 20 year old who’s already on his way to becoming a star… I don’t know how many footballers can boast about playing for Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Liverpool during their career.You can probably count them on the fingers of one hand. Well, this fella I’ll try to tell you about has played for all three of them at the age of just 20! Ladies and gents, I present you one of the most promising defenders in Spanish football: Javier Manquillo. Born in Madrid on the 5th of May 1994, Javier Manquillo Gaitan’s first notable contact with football came at the age of 10, when he started playing youth football for Real Madrid in the same team as his brother, Victor. Three years later, when ‘Los Blancos’ released his brother from the club, ‘Javi’ decided to leave as well, despite the fact that the club wished to retain his services. 33

MANQUILLO As soon as the twins parted ways with the Bernabeu club, they were quickly snapped up by Real’s city rivals, Atletico Madrid. His senior debut came in the late 2011, at the age of 17. From then on, he was used in a few domestic cup matches, but most of his appearances came while playing for Atletico’s B team. During that same time, Manquillo represented his country at different levels from Under-16 to Under-20. In the summer of 2013, as David Villa was bought by Atletico from Barcelona, the Camp Nou side wanted to make Manquillo a part of the deal, but the two teams could not reach an agreement.

“Javier Manquillo is only 20 but after arriving here, he went straight into the team because he showed up so well in training. It’s never about the age for me, it’s about the talent and the commitment to playing.” – Brendan Rodgers A couple of months later, in February 2014, Manquillo’s hopes of forcing his way into Atletico’s first-team contention were dented after he collided in the air with Cristiano Ronaldo and landed awkwardly on his neck during a Copa del Rey tie against Real Madrid (his seventh game in 23 days). He was fortunate to escape with a fractured vertebra that was supposed to rule him out for six weeks, although he did not play again in the 2013/14 season, as Atletico won La Liga and progressed to the Champions League final. Accordingly, Liverpool’s staff didn’t had much on which to judge the Spaniard’s performances.

Young talent 34

MANQUILLO But the lack of experience won’t necessarily be a liability for him, as Rodgers likes to give youngsters a fair chance. Regarding his style of play, Manquillo is an attack-minded full-back with plenty of pace and the energy to run up and down the right flank all game long. Not much of a surprise if you take into consideration that he has learned his trade in Spanish football. Cheesy Grin He signed a two-year loan deal with Liverpool, but reportedly Atletico can break the loan arrangement and recall him for a fee next summer (believed to be certainly higher than £5million).

And who knows, if he continues to develop at this rate, he could make us forget about Suarez a whole lot quicker than we thought we could. Liverpool have an option to buy him permanently in 2016 for up to £5million; a fee that depends on his number of appearances. Nevertheless, it seems that Manquillo has his sights though set on Liverpool, as he told the club’s site that he hopes to secure a place in the first team in the 2014/15 season and stay at Anfield for years to come. Bienvenida a Anfield!

Expertly written by: Ivan Emanuel You can tweet your responses to @anfieldroarmag

Gary McPanaby gives us the rundown on the next few matches and what we can hope for... Ok, so things haven’t been great for the first couple of months, but this is the month where the team finally gel, everyone starts to love Balotelli, and everything comes together. QPR - Sunday 19th October It starts fairly straightforwardly with victory over QPR away after the international break: obviously, this will be without another 4 first team regulars who will have picked up the mandatory injuries from meaningless fixtures against the Faroe islands or Crewe, or whatever other sorry shower they can pitch themselves against. But anyway, another three points secured against dirty Harry, and it’s all smiles so far. Real Madrid - Wednesday 22nd October But no one is thinking about QPR now anyways – all eyes are firmly on welcoming Real Madrid to Anfield in the following mid-week. The best players in the world will be playing on the Anfield pitch, and, yeah, I suppose Ronaldo and Bale will also be there. The big match! We have never lost to Real Madrid in a competitive match, and I don’t see why that should change this year…?!

FIXTURES Hull - Saturday 25th + Swansea - Tuesday 28th The players will be brought back down from those stratospheric heights with a bump as we go on to play Hull and then Swansea (in the League Cup). Dull battles which we will hopefully conclude with Red victories. Newcastle - Saturday 1st Nov November sees a real spectacle of football: first up is Newcastle away – always an entertaining fixture, and one that I look when the fixtures are announced. They’ll likely still be in an Alan Pardewinduced slump when we play them, so 3-0, thanks. A hopeful dream Real Madrid – Tuesday 4th Nov Then Real Madrid. I’ll deal on a 1-1 draw away from home, though it would be a shame to lose that winning record… Chelsea - Saturday 8th November And finally, a top of the table six-pointer against Chelsea, at Anfield. Jose will come to park the bus, but by then Mario will be firing on all cylinders, Sterling and Sturridge will be back, and we’ll be going again! Happy times ahead! Comp Prem

Opposition QPR (a)

Date Sun 19th Oct

Time 13:30

Predict WIN

Real Madrid (h)

Wed 22nd Oct