NEIL ATKINSON is joined at the tower by Andy Kelly, Mike Girling and Jim Boardman to discuss Raheem Sterling’s interview with the BBC and its likely knock on effect with the club. They look at the likely reasons for Sterling’s decisions and analyse how Liverpool have got into this situation.
Also discussed is Liverpool’s likely approach at Arsenal. Should they be cagey or go after the game.
Top of the tower, The Anfield Wrap has all its bases covered.
Have to say that I didn’t enjoy this pod as much as the others I have been enjoying in the last couple of weeks.
I just don’t think the guests brought much to the table and a lot of what they said would not have sounded out of place on the Match of the Day sofa.
I prefer it when it is just the usual lads. They seem more capable of thinking outside of the box and that is what makes it such a great show usually.
I thought the conversation regarding Sterling just showed a great deal of outdated thinking. Only Neil seemed to understand that taking a ‘You’re at a big club now lad, so keep your feet on the ground’ approach to elite young players like Sterling is going to get us nowhere.
Sterling can write his own ticket right now and we are the ones that need to prove we are good enough to be on it with him. We might not like it, but that is where we stand. If he was agitating for a move from any other club, we couldn’t afford him and he wouldn’t want to play for us anyway.
‘If he was agitating for a move from any other club, we couldn’t afford him and he wouldn’t want to play for us anyway.’
No, but he is at LFC though isn’t he. And his fucking dickhead agent has got him to do an interview independent of the club sounding like Owen in about 03/04 having won nothing unlike Owen winning the cup treble, being awarded the Ballon d’Or and being the main man at England for about five years.
Why is it all these great players like Alonso, Mascherano, Torres and Suarez (nevermind McManaman or Owen who have came up through the system) end up at Liverpool? One of those world class heads is luck, a good few of them is because we’re a fucking massive club. If Raheem genuinely believes in his heart of hearts that he’s going to develop more under Mourinho and/or whoever the City manager is going to be (he’s not ready for Real/Barca yet and much like Suarez in 2013, Arsenal is a sideways step), over the next couple of years as much as I like him as a player and a lad, let him go. Mike Girling nails it all over the shop on this show, by the way.
Tom, virtually all of those players were World-class stars when they left, but not when they arrived or began as trainees. Torres is the only real exception and I don’t think we would be realistic contenders for his signature, if he was an Atletico player in his early-20s right now. When we bought him, we had a World-class Spanish manager and had recently won the Champions League and made it to another final.
Sterling’s rating amongst the top clubs is similar to Torres back in 2007. Arsenal may be a sideways step in terms of prestige and likely honours, but they are in London and that’s where most players want to live if they are in England. They also qualify for the Champions League every year, have a shiny new stadium and play in front of bigger crowds.
Looking at the whole picture, I would say that Arsenal is a step up from Liverpool right now. We sit between Arsenal and Spurs and are, sadly, closer to Spurs than we are to Arsenal.
Just on the game; would love to see Flanagan come back in as a fullback that’s a part of a back 4. Don’t know whether he’ll be ready after being out most of this season, but after coming back in to the fold in this fixture last season it’d be great to see him.
Was more confident for any Liverpool/United game ever the other week and we got beat so hoping the rightful pessimism has the reverse effect. Literally never remember seeing us win at Arsenal ever. Camara’s winner in the green kit was my first cognisant season but I don’t recall the game at all (rewatched the goal on Youtube just before – give a guess who played the ball through for him?) and I must have been out the night before and too hungover to be up for the win early in Kenny’s season 2011/12. I heard Meireles was decent right before getting shipped out.
Generally, I agree with Neil but on the Sterling issue, I think he’s off the mark. Eighteen months ago, people were saying Sterling should be loaned out and that Ibe was the better prospect (this might still be true). Since then, he’s had one good year of football with these last few months again not very inspiring. So, because he’s had a decent year he should be paid as much as perennial match-winners and should be calling all the shots? I think he’s lost perspective, if he ever had it.