Sky Sports is reporting Coutinho just arrived at Melwood. Done deal. Giggity.

Seems like a very good signing for Liverpool. More so than some previous ones.

I'm looking forward to seeing him play, mostly next season.

I don't wish to get too excited as yet but great gaining another attacking style player - as we know SerieA differs very much to EPL here's hoping he takes to us and the game just as Luis did :)

Big game tomorrow morning. We need a result.

I really hope Gerrard-Lucas-Hendo start in the midfield.

yep going to be a large one alright - yes re the mid but more so Pepe and the backline are ready to hold their own, the mid and front will do their jobs :p looking forward to it !

Fuckin' A.

Gerrard, Lucas, Hendo in midield. Sterling, Suarez and Sturridge drifting and interchanging up top and the usual suspects down back. We could do some serious damage if we bring out A-game.

I'm pretty excited about Coutinho. He could be a game changer for us.

Shocking.

People complain about Rafa, but at least he didn't break records for sucking.

2 questions.

What the fuck was Reina doing for Theo's goal :lol:

And what was Rodgers doing, you've got Sterling and Borini on the bench, and yet you choose to keep Downing on against Santos. I mean, seriously?

Reina should have done better.

I can understand, he wanted Downing's defensive work which Sterling doesn't get you. And Borini is hardly tricky.

You should be asking what Sagna and Vermaelen were doing for Suarez's goal :lol: And Per and Santos for Hendos.

Don't you know that Rodgers is getting better at adapting? At the start of the season everyone thought he was a cookie cutter manager with no Plan B. Now we can clearly see how he's smart enough to adapt to circumstance.

Fuck me, if this goes on then I hope we end up with a Celtic-Dalglish-Barnes deal and his mentor ends up coming in to clean up his shite.

There was nothing wrong with Downing staying on - everything wrong with bringing Enrique on for Sturridge.

This is happening so often with so many different people in that team, that it's starting to get personal.

All we ended up doing for most of the game was desperately defending, and it's clear that was the plan from the beginning. Gerrard sat so deep that Lucas became irrelevant, fucking Suarez way back on the left, no one in the box for corners. We could have taken that Arsenal side apart, but it was totally bottled. It's hard to see the positives from such a horrible, negative performance: both goals involved a significant amount of luck, although you can't take away the persistence. Both Arsenal goals, however, involved a horrendous inability to defend on our part.

Coming out for the second half, you knew the way it was going to go after ten minutes. The Henderson goal was entirely against the run of play. The longer this goes on, the more untenable Rodgers position is.

I'm sick of hearing this American bullshit spin coming out of the club about a rebuild and the rest of it. It's not a rebuild: it wasn't broken, and the passing style isn't any fucking different to what we've always had. It's bullshit propagated by the comms people at Anfield. It's called a rebuild to justify shit performances. After a while, your players have been working together for months and it's no longer a rebuild or vague attempts to get used to a new style: it's just a manager who can't manage his team.

I don't care if we can slap Norwich down at home: that's all we've been able to do. All we're doing now is rewriting the books on Liverpool's worst performances since before Shanks, and making excuses for bullshit on the field.

You have some merit in your post dizzy.

You could see early 1st half BR's plan was conservative, we were compressed and deep soon after the fortunate Luis goal. Counters the game plan :) but left us short most times.
I actually agreed taking off Sturridge - his touch was not good from the get go, that perfect Luis cross behind the goon defense early should have been put away or least make the keeper having to save but why not finally giving Borini the run or Sterling, mind you Enrique had been in great form prior to his injury but again as I said a conservative choice when the goons were not much better but for us letting them have the ball.
Downing makes you wonder at times, down the left flank early in the game he had plenty of time where to put the cross - flies it deep over the box to no one.
Dizzy, a bottled performance in general as you say, this was a chance not to throw caution to the wind and go for it - after the cup defeat and having rested the main squad I expected an all out attack in the hope of stepping up.

:lol: I enjoyed the sagna F up.

All in all, if you were offered a 2-2 draw for a trip to london before the kick-off, you'd have taken it with bells on.

That said, giving up a 2-0 lead is absolutely unacceptable.

This

1) Damn right

2) Damn right

I watched this game again immediately afterward. It felt like a 2-for-1 autopsy.

Jesus Dizzy. Bit pessimistic :lol:

It's a good result. We dominated in the first half and then sat too deep in the second. Simple.

How can you piss and moan about Suarez being on the left and then piss and moan when he gets put up front?

I thought the Enrique sub was perfect - albeit about 15mins too late!

City away will be tough too.

We only dominated because Arsenal were catastrophic in the first half. That's why we can only win against teams below us in the league.

For the record, I never complained about Suarez being up front. Suarez being that far back is just a symptom of the defensive mindset we walked into that game with. Suarez can be where he needs or wants to be - and I'd prefer a fluid set of attackers that can play where they need to be, rather where they're put. Just don't walk into a game with the come at me mindset.

It should have been settled by half time: even when it was clear that Arsenal were a shambles, we played the same game and gave them the ball and space.

If we play like that against City, we're going to get mauled.

Arsenal are regularly awful in the first half. Teams try to come out and give them hell in the first half and take advantage of that. We did that well. But as usual we failed miserably at protecting our lead.

Sterling charged with assaulting a women

Kid seems like a bit of a wild one, but hopefully these charges are BS.

On the pitch
Suarez: Diving, handballing, cheating, racist, disrespectful, lots of yellow cards
Sterling: Quiet, few minor fouls, no controversy, runs a bit funny.

Off the pitch
Suarez: True family man, loyal, allegedly a really nice bloke
Sterling: Woman beater.

This is going to sound bad, but I genuinely hope he gets on the wrong end of Jamie Carragher around the training ground. Nothing could pull his head in faster.

Absolutely terrific article. You should all read.


There was a moment very early into Jordan Henderson's Liverpool career that would shape the subsequent 18 months of it. In fairness, Stoke is not the place most would choose to hang from the cliff-face.

With Liverpool 1-0 down but looking likely for an equaliser, Henderson broke through from midfield and, with ball at feet, approached Asmir Begovic. One shot, saved; a second shot, saved; a third shot, with unerring predictability, saved, this time by a Stoke defender. With each shot, a fresh limb seemed to sprout before him; with each block, more confirmation to those who originally baulked at the signing.

The young midfielder knew it. His mouth opened wide, trying to exhale the disappointment, his neck craned towards the sky, but the sky simply laughed back at him. An elongated blink, a rub of the eyes. This was no dream, but reality in all its deadening brutishness. It was at that moment he realised what an unforgiving, unrelenting gallery he played before. From Sunderland captain to overpriced Liverpool flop in a flash. There's no place like home, but this wasn't Kansas. It wasn't even Wearside.

Henderson had it difficult at Anfield from that moment. It was not necessarily the trident of misses that burst the bubble, but simply what would follow. An equaliser at a ground so notoriously difficult for Liverpool would have handed him two goals in his first four games, and at a time so vital too. Instead, Henderson would be characterised as the quintessence of cowardice, a midfielder brought in for big money who returned little in the things that truly matter. He would not score again until the final home game of the season.

This was always going to be the issue. Now more than ever, in this generation of Internet highlight reels with backing tracks of trance music, people measure everything in goals, assists and pretty balls with spin, pizzazz and wallop. The distances run or number of interceptions matter little, for a million beads of sweat are worth one convoluted goal celebration. If people wanted to watch good movement set to strobe lighting and thumping music, they would visit the dance floor.

Do not let hindsight lead a merry dance, for there should be no suggestion Henderson was wrongfully denied the Ballon d'Or after his first season with Liverpool. He was anonymous for a number of games, struggling to make any sort of impact. He offered little defensively, nothing going forward and not much else in-between. He was a player bereft of the confidence or self-belief, though hardly surprising given the malice bandied about the stands.

But he did not spend the season as an abomination, either. Those who long for the past will only ever see things in black and white.

This was a quiet youngster not far removed from his teenage years who sometimes played as if there were 16 million millstones around his neck. He was not responsible for his gigantic fee, nor was he responsible for playing more than any other Liverpool player last season. The running man of the squad was simply run into the ground.

He made 48 appearances in total last season, and few of them in a role he was comfortable with or fully briefed for. A youngster who could barely grow hair on his face was expected to grow extemporaneously. The more he played, the pricklier the resentment grew - so too the expectations on him to impact a team floundering in mid-table.

You know how this story goes. You already know the next chapter. You know how he was dangled out of the summer transfer window, like roadkill from a lamppost, for any lower-half scavengers to devour. You know how perception began to change, ever so slightly, after an impressive substitute appearance against Wigan in November.

But it's a tale worth reliving, because after a youngster is written off so sourly, the road to redemption tastes that little bit sweeter. It's happened many times before, it will happen many times again. For years, Brazilian glottal stop Lucas Leiva suffered from a similar affliction. It is not something limited to Merseyside either.

He is not in the clear yet. There is an inclination from many to subconsciously totalise good things and bad things throughout a career. Until the good outweighs the bad, there will always be caveats to the praise; likewise, before all is engulfed by hysterical inferno as a world class player suffers a few bad games, there is the dampening reflection of all that came before.

They have a point. Even the most ardent believers of Henderson will admit defeat over last season, irrespective of who could be blamed. A few good months this season, coupled with signs of promise and little else the season before, does not prove everything. He still has a lot to do to justify his fee, as unfair as that notion is. He also still has a lot to do before he convinces those who focus on the bad to shift their focus to the good.

He's making a good attempt at it.

Perhaps it was the realisation of how close he was to becoming an expensive flop and the Kop's very own selfish-fulfilling prophecy. Perhaps it was the move further up the pitch by Brendan Rodgers, allowing his best attributes to truly show. Perhaps it is simply that a young player needed a year to acclimatise to playing before the bear-pit of expectation.

Whatever the reason, the 22-year-old has been magnificent recently. After months of kaleidoscope-twisting by Rodgers to find the perfect midfield pattern, it appears his eye should have been cast elsewhere. The midfield only truly looks balanced with Henderson at the apex of the midfield three, rantipoling around the pitch, not allowing the opposition time on the ball and making sure Steven Gerrard has time on it.



Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
The people who used to clamour for his removal now clamoured for his presence against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Those who lamented his short passing as safe now lavish praise upon it. Given he made his first league start of the season in November against Swansea, the revival has been as quick as it has dramatic.

That is not to suggest there has been a sudden shift in mentality from those watching and waiting. Goals, assists and pizzazz still matter. But now Henderson has started to add those to his game, the things he has always possessed - energy, intelligent passing, ball retention - are looked at more favourably.

He scored the goal that would ultimately confirm Liverpool's progression in the Europa League in Udine in December, before scoring the goal that would ultimately remind the Liverpool supporters what he was capable of. His powerful, swerving, long-range effort against Norwich in January brought him his biggest Anfield cheer, his biggest celebration, and his biggest moment in that burdening red shirt. From then, everything he touched was applauded, every blade of grass scurried across appreciated. Every pass, in full onomatopoeic glory, had Norwich in a stupor.

And so to the Emirates in midweek, where he let everybody into this secret renaissance. Henderson has been the subject of much scrutiny since Wednesday evening, receiving more column inches and interview requests than he has in his previous 21 years. But a goal and an assist against a Champions League side, albeit probably not much longer, will do that for a player.

His goal was a checklist of all that has been levelled at him since signing for Liverpool. No longer did he appear physically lacking as he bustled past two Arsenal defenders; no longer did he seem mentally fragile as he drove towards goal with intent. His composure and goalscoring ability could not be questioned, if only for that one moment, as he stroked the ball into the net and put his side 2-0 up.

It is hard to tell whether his overall performance would have been noted so enthusiastically by the watching world if not for that goal. But for once, the little things were noted - the tireless running from first kick to last, the impressive turn of foot, switching defence to attack rapidly, the movement off the ball and his intelligence on it.

As Henderson celebrated his goal, all inhibitions departed. Thoughts turned to that afternoon in Stoke a season-and-a-half previous. Once again, his mouth was wide open - but this time he inhaled the adulation of the small pocket of Liverpool fans in the corner who had transformed into an amalgamation of limbs. Once more, his neck craned towards the sky - but this time, he stared out to the vast arena he had just claimed as his.

And he ran. He has for the majority of his career. But this time, his running was the centre of attention. He ran along the goal line, along the touchline, freely, joyfully. He ran without hindrance, for he no longer had so many hurdles to jump.

There is a chance all this is too much, too soon. One swallow does not make a summer, nor do a few months shape a career in either direction. But there can be no denying Henderson offers Liverpool something few others do: balance. In a midfield of many similarities, it is the balance he brings on the pitch that makes him unique, verging on indispensable. It is his balance off the pitch that will ensure that he will keep his humility and feet firmly stationed, even if others around him don't. His debut season at Anfield will always serve as a brutal reminder.

There is always one anecdote that lingers with Henderson. During an interview for the local newspaper, he asked the journalist to divulge a few of the things fans criticised him for. He listened intently, and then agreed with some of the replies.

Proof, if nothing else, that the last person who will think the narrative ends here for Henderson is Henderson himself. But he will do his utmost to make sure it will have a happy ending.

Great game, even if it was ruined by Reina being an idiot.

What a goal from Captain Fantastic.

When Gerrard plundered that in I went crazy.

Another error from Pepe though. If the interest from Barca is genuine I'd get rid sadly.

Sturridge and Hendo were tank too. Everyone did good.

Thanks imno on the Henderson bit, have to say he sure is stepping up now.
We all judge too quickly but its the nature of the beast we all are expecting to see every player play above themselves from the get go.

Arrrrgh I fell alseep mid first half !
Watch the reply once I see it on fox but as the score shows and the comments we have let go another 3points for the 2nd in a row !

Decent article on Henderson but I have always felt he was set to cop it there. There were 4 English players on the market and United beat Liverpool to both with Liverpool having to settle for Henderson and Downing instead of Young and Jones. Downing and Henderson were always going to get it rough from the media after that window, especially with their early performances.

Oh and cheers for the help this morning =d>

Seriously, what the fuck was Reina thinking.... #-o

Fucking sigh. Another winning position surrendered. Good signs and such. And if you offered me two draws last week for Arsenal and City away I'd have bit your hand off.

All that said, we've got to do something about this defence over the summer. Bring in that commanding CB. Part of the reason Reina's had such bumbling form over the last season and a half is because Skrtel and Agger simply don't work together. No idea who to bring in though.

How would the table look if we didn't fuck up leads?

Agree with that. We make less errors with Carragher back there, but his age is clearly starting to show these days. Coates was crap against Oldham. It's really something we should have filled in the window.

August 26th, v Man City, concede in 80th minute. 2-2.
October 28th, @ Everton, concede in 22nd and 35th minute. 2-2.
January 30th, @ Arsenal, concede in 64th and 67th minute. 2-2.
February 2nd, @ Man City, concede in 78th minute. 2-2.

That's 4 games where we've surrendered a winning position to draw. That's cost us 8 points and we'd be on 44 points, right on Tottenham's arse in 5th.