NEIL ATKINSON, Rob Gutmann and Andy Heaton lump it into town for this week’s podcast on a gloriously miserable Sunday morning to celebrate another away win to nil. #WTRWWAW
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West Ham United 0 Liverpool 5: The Anfield Wrap
The Anfield Wrap’s free podcast looking back at another thumping Liverpool victory in the capital as the Reds put five past West Ham.
Neil Atkinson hosts John Gibbons, Phil Blundell and Beth Lindop.
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30 December 2024
27 December 2024
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Well done for getting up this morning and getting this done. Respect!
I was a bit like your guest, couldn’t be bothered getting out of bed till midday. Just wanted to read about every aspect of our big win yesterday. In fairness though I’m up far too early in the week and yesterday I was up early to referee a kids futsal tournament. Jesus! Never again will I criticise a ref. It was meant to be friendly but my head had gone so much from the abuse off the parents I was getting that, although I was watching the matches, in my head I was mulling over the abuse and my performance level plummeted. It was that bad that I even have a new found respect for Lee Mason.
I feel I can understand most things I come across but I’ve never understood the ability of people to get up in the morning and go jogging. I would love to be that person but by now I accept I never will be. It’s just so weird.
Yesterday was strange. There seemed to be an outpouring of emotion when Lambert scored. Not just talking about those unbelievable scenes in the ground. I know how I felt and the reaction of mates I was in contact with during the match. I think it was a big match. After last season we came into the season full of anticipation and hope and when it went sour it hit us all hard, like a realisation that actually, we’re not on our way back into the elite, we just had a good season. Yesterday was like those days in Jan and Feb last year when we were even winning all our away games. The celebration was like last season. I don’t think it was so much about the 3 points. It was about the momentum of winning again (is that a paradox?) If you win 2 out 3 with a draw it’s good but fairly standard. When it gets to 4 from 5 and a draw and 3 aways on the bounce, all with clean sheets then it starts getting exciting and I think yesterday we crossed into those realms. The Lambert goal was that realisation.
It’s not just about the run of form per se. We know what our problems have been and sometimes you can’t see any hope. It’s been a bit like that. Now, a lot of us can see hope all over the place. I mean, fuckin hell, we’re talking about our defence like it’s world class and the truth is, it feels like it is at the minute. We wouldn’t swap Lucas and Henderson for anyone. We’ve got Coutinho and Sterling. Markovic looks exciting as does Lallana. We’ve got Gerrard and Allen. As we go deeper into the reserves we’ve got Balotelli. With Sturridge to come back in it’s truly exciting. I’ve seen loads of comments on here, on Twitter and some of my mates have put it saying ‘the reds are coming up the hill’ and that’s how it feels. The feeling I got yesterday is what life’s all about. I feel alive and I’m looking forward to Tuesday then Saturday.
Out of interest, does anyone here think either of Gerrard, Lovren and Baloteli should be in our first 11 when available from here on in?
Lovren, obviously not. Gerrard still has a role to play further forward and although I’m finally coming round to the idea Balotelli will never work for us, I’m still intrigued to see him with Sturridge again. It’s difficult to see the team as a first 11 now but I’m guessing you mean if we reached a cup final and wanted our strongest team. In that case I’d say no to all and I’d be surprised if you found anyone who does.
No. @_@
Not in league games.
No. But Gerrard could be a useful impact sub, though. Give him 30 minutes at the end of a game to give it his all with no need to save his energy could be enough to open a stubborn defence if he plays behind the front line and nowhere near the CBs.
“guessing you mean if we reached a cup final and wanted our strongest team. In that case I’d say no to all and I’d be surprised if you found anyone who does.”
Rodgers, for one. 100%. Absolutely no way Gerrard would not start a cup final, rightly or wrongly..especially the Birthday FA Cup Final…
Ok, apologies. I didn’t realise Rodgers was included and yeah, if it was a cup final Gerrard would certainly play and I think everyone would want him to. I thought we were talking our strongest team on merit. I’m sure a lot would still want Gerrard in but I’ll put my neck on the line and say there isn’t a Liverpool fan in the world who’d include the other two. Ok, maybe a few in Croatia or Broadmoor.
Gerrard in a final makes more sense than in one of 38 league games. Managing his legs over the course of a season is one of Rodgers’ more difficult jobs, especially when leadership on the pitch seemed to be the most pressing need.
Turns out it wasn’t – pace and mobility up front trumped leadership. Bringing in Borini, no matter his limits, allowed the other players to do what they do best. And they are all very, very good at what they do best. Henderson illustrated this best, playing with majesty in a central role and Lucas behind to keep him from playing with two minds.
We can only lick our lips anticipating when Markovic and Can find their best position. Wonderful that they are getting time on the pitch to play themselves into the league.
Any thoughts on where Joe Allen finds a place in this formation? I rate him, but not sure where he fits. Replacing Lucas? Henderson? Unlikely at the moment. Seems like we’ll have to change set ups for him to make sense.
Allen’s a good squad player. Happy to sit on the bench but will give you a solid performance when he’s needed. I really like him. It’s like I was saying above, if we’re nailing it down to first 11 as it our absolute best 11 on a given day then he simply can’t be in it, especially given Lucas’s / Henderson’s importance and even with the form Coutinho is showing. The reality is, we can’t have a first 11. We have to have a first 16 (and I think Rob G made the point that we have). So, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of games coming for Allen but when circumstance dictates we need him. More so when Sturridge returns but we’re gonna have some big names on the bench.
Spot on Robin.
We can’t afford to have £16mil squad players.
I think you meant to say that we can’t afford not to have 16 mil squad players. It doesn’t buy you anything these days.
For the record, I really like Allen and reckon he makes a lot of sense the way that Rodgers wants us to play football.
i wo nde r if having allen was the end for Suso.
not convinced he should have gone out on loan when we had such a small squad but with the lack of games and his age that’s what happens.
however for all of alans qualities i can’t help thinking that suzhou would provide more end product lot more creativity.
Coutinho still isn’t a 90 minute player in all games he should Have been rotated with Suso all this time to let both of them develop. perhaps he would have stayed.
Why not? If we can meet his £45k a week wages then we can afford him. The transfer fee is dead and buried now. Part of another years accounting. It just leaves his wages. Do you think we can afford his wages? Or better still can you enlighten me as to how we can’t afford Allen on the bench?
We can’t afford it because we don’t earn enough money as a club to leave a financially valuable asset on the bench most weeks.
I don’t think we can afford to have £100k a week players on the bench but then we don’t pay players £100k. If we can’t afford a £45k a week player being on the bench then we might as well call it a day. We can afford Joe Allen, he’s not on high wages. That’s what I mean by perfect squad player. Good and cheap. (Just to pre-empt you, forget about the transfer fee. It’s gone. Irrelevant to anything, Joe Allen is cheap at £45k a week).
The transfer is spent but it’s not gone.
Allen is still an asset, an asset we paid £16mil for. An asset we can still sell and recoup some if not all of the initial transfer fee.
Say we recoup £14mil for him, that £14 could be used to buy a better, more effective, more efficient and regular starter than Allen……or maybe even 2.
Or the £14mil could be put towards buying another top notch striker where the money is gonna get you a better return on the pitch.
If we’re looking to raise decent money by selling players, Balo and Allen would be near the top of that list.
Right, I see what you’re saying now. Doesn’t really work for me though because I can’t think of a team who would pay anything close to that. He was always a £10m player that we paid too much for. With him not being a regular and not in demand we’d do well to get over half his £10m valuation. Wouldn’t get a better squad player for £5m. Just keep him innit.
Spot on Robin.
Allen provides cover for the positions in a 2 or 3 man midfield. Playing with Lucas and Henderson he was part of a couple of the best performances by the Liverpool midfield last season. Shipping him out just gives Rodgers the headache of replacing him and a time when the team would also be losing Gerrard.
Did you think anyone was gonna offer us £14mil for Borini??
I’m not advocating getting rid of him right now but he’s a saleable asset that wouldn’t be missed a great deal.
Come the summer we could be losing Gerrard, Jones, Johnson, Kolo, Enrique, Coates, Wisdom, Ilori, Aspas, Alberto, Borini, Balotelli which brings in a lot of money and takes a huge amount of money of the wage bill.
BR’s surprise for Jose? Why do you think Ibe was recalled? Gave “Dave” big problems when they played Derb. Will probably make it a flatter 3-4-3 as well, him and Sterling either side of Balotelli. Could be fun!
Ibe’s cup tied for the League and FA Cups, mate.
Aaah, that’s a shame! Would have been a nice idea in theory….
It may be that Sturridge holds the key to the entire attacking football universe. Suarez does not seem to be playing as well as he did with us and his best form came when Sturridge arrived. Sturridge somehow managed to make Mario look like a proper player, during the brief time they shared the pitch. Maybe he can do the same with Borini and Lambert?
I can think of very few games where Sturridge played and we didn’t look an incredible attacking force. Does anyone know if there are any laws to prevent us offering Sturridge a multi-million pound annual bonus for not making himself available for any England games whatsoever? If not, then that would be 3-5 million quid a year well-spent. Actually, he can name his price.
It’s a FIFA law that players must play. Probably why we call it international duty. Injury and retirement are the only way they can avoid it, I think
Could he not retire from international duty then? (Can’t see it happening as he seems to love playing for them but in theory)
Looks like the steward wants it right off, too. A stray right hand…