The Rounded Keeper - FPL Pub Talk & Matchday Banter 2017-18

[Maldini]

No UK visa renewal = no new stadium.

Interesting times at Chelsea.

[Zimmerman]

It's a blind spot, Klopp is loyal to a fault. Liverpool would do well to learn from the Sig saga down the road and leave off Allison if Roma want to string it out. Butland will surely be easier to sign this week.

This has previously annoyed me about Klopp (taken so long to sort out the defence and keeper). I’ve now come round to thinking that it’s not necessarily a weakness or loyalty gone too far; I think it’s more a rational business decision.

Is player A going to be £20m better than existing player X?

So I think he thinks no, so I’ll stick with what I have, even if he isn’t great.

After what’s happened, you’d have to say Karius can’t stay. He’ll be a broken man/player after this. There will simply be too much pressure on him to recover from this.

However, prior to last weekend I’m not so sure Butland or Allison would be worth replacements.

How much would Oblak be? Is he worth the fee? If he is judged to be, they should just go and get him and not dick about with another maybe/maybe not type of signing. Allison didn’t look that good in our semi finals.

[liquidfootball2]

If before the final Klopp thought Alisson the only keeper worth pursuing, and after Karius' nightmare they supposedly renewed their interest and pursuit of Alisson, it points to Alisson as being his main preferred option.

I know there's been speculation on others too, but if Klopp's past record with van Dijk is anything to go by, it would take a notable change to his normal modus operandi to look elsewhere or stick with the rehabilitation route.

[Zimmerman]

Van Dijk is a case in point. He took his time to get him. There was no plan B or an alternative (despite Lovren, Matip, Klavan so evidently in need of upgrading). So it was either a guaranteed upgrade or nothing.

Have they turned their attention to Allison again?
I’ve only dared venture in to here today following last Saturday (so definitely not looked at any papers/media). In fairness, not looked at a paper in about 10years.

My earlier opinion stands, based on the two matches he didn’t look the complete keeper. I’ve seen twitter articles on his ‘stats’ and the biased fans falling over themselves.

[liquidfootball2]

Van Dijk is a case in point. He took his time to get him. There was no plan B or an alternative (despite Lovren, Matip, Klavan so evidently in need of upgrading). So it was either a guaranteed upgrade or nothing.

Have they turned their attention to Allison again?
I’ve only dared venture in to here today following last Saturday (so definitely not looked at any papers/media). In fairness, not looked at a paper in about 10years.

My earlier opinion stands, based on the two matches he didn’t look the complete keeper. I’ve seen twitter articles on his ‘stats’ and the biased fans falling over themselves.

Yes there has been a renewed urgency to replacing Karius with the Roma man being their primary and perhaps sole target if several reputable papers are to be believed, they've all had it so it may well have been briefed.

[Tacalabala]

I think Klopp has got off very lightly, my feeling now is that there is a case to be made for Klopp pushing a player far beyond his level, basically a lamb to the slaughter. I find it hard to believe Migs would have made those kinds of mistakes.

I thought Van Dijk look very poor at times in the few Celtic game I saw, but obviously I wrong about that so don't let that form your opinion of a player. James Horncastle reckons he was the best player in Serie A this season gone.

[MoSe]

James Horncastle reckons he was the best player in Serie A this season gone.

googling it, I found one where he said best keeper

[Tacalabala]

James Horncastle reckons he was the best player in Serie A this season gone.

googling it, I found one where he said best keeper

I could have sworn he said best player on the Totally Football Show podcast

[blahblah]

I think Klopp has got off very lightly, my feeling now is that there is a case to be made for Klopp pushing a player far beyond his level, basically a lamb to the slaughter. I find it hard to believe Migs would have made those kinds of mistakes.

I thought Van Dijk look very poor at times in the few Celtic game I saw, but obviously I wrong about that so don't let that form your opinion of a player. James Horncastle reckons he was the best player in Serie A this season gone.

How many here rated Mig? I totally agree about Karius as he wasn't either, and is it any surprise that he..... admittedly not on quite that calamitous level.

VvD looked more than ok at Soton, imho and why not Oblak? I'm no expert etc,but whenever AM have played EPL clubs he has been very impressive. Can he not do the sweeper keeper thing? Could Karius?

[tarkens]

I'd throw 80m at Atletico and 150k a week at Oblak if that's what it takes to sign him

[liquidfootball2]

Liverpool stance on Alisson unchanged according to the Liverpool Echo

Italian news outlet Corriere dello Sport has claimed the Serie A side are already preparing for life without the Brazil international, who is set to appear at Anfield on Sunday for his national team in their friendly against Croatia.

It is suggested Roma sporting director Monchi has shortlisted both Bayer Leverkusen's Bernd Leno and Alphonse Areola of Paris Saint-Germain as a potential replacement for Alisson.

Roma have no intention of selling Alisson, nor has the player asked to be put up for sale.

However, they are putting in place a contingency plan should they been given an offer they would struggle to refuse, said to be in the region of 70 million euros.

Alisson has been linked with several clubs, with Chelsea joining Real Madrid as the latest rumoured interested party given the ongoing uncertainty over the future of Thibaut Courtois.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/f ... 731566.amp

[Zimmerman]

I'd throw 80m at Atletico and 150k a week at Oblak if that's what it takes to sign him

Me too.
I’d much prefer him to Allison.

[MoSe]

Italian news outlet Corriere dello Sport

just to put things in context ( I know you quoted Echo on that definition )
in Italy there are 3 major Sports Newspapers

►La Gazzetta dello Sport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Gazzetta_dello_Sport , based in Milan (and owned by Torino FC president, BTW)
but with the highest nationwide diffusion, and probably the least "local-biased" of the 3
     Historically printed on pink-tinted paper, and organiser of the Giro D'Italia (2nd greatest cygling tour event after Tour de France).
     whence the Giro leader jersey is the Pink Jersey, as opposed to TdF Yellow Jersey

►Corriere dello Sport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corriere_ ... %93_Stadio,
most diffused in the centre-south, and indeed also most focused, not to say biased, towards Rome two clubs, and other southerrn ones like Napoli.
     Historically the northern clubs have been the most succesful domestically, and CdS often took a kinda anti-establishment stance against them.
     some recent ex-directors were specifically campaigning against Milan (I mean AC) with incredibly biased and conspirationist claims
They're of course the most in-the-know about AS Roma affairs (official club site and fan clubs ones apart)
I don't know if ther website http://www.corrieredellosport.it/ could be technically defined as a "news outlet"...
maybe it's just me but it sounds a bit "belittling" on the online version of a full-fledged sportspaper

Alisson has been linked with several clubs, with Chelsea joining Real Madrid as the latest rumoured interested party given the ongoing uncertainty over the future of Thibaut Courtois.

indeed CdS today's article http://www.corrieredellosport.it/news/c ... er_morata/
confirms Chelsea are now planning to move for Allison (and Juve want to swap Higuain for morata )

►TuttoSport ("all" sport) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuttosport , 3rd in diffusion, based in Turin, focused (and if possible even more biased than CdS) on the two local clubs Juventus and Torino FC. Juve is by far the most domestically succesful italian club, not just now but also historically, and inevitably half of the paper feels like reading the club's media
______

do you have nationwide "sports only" specialist newspapers in England?
from wiki it does not sound anything comparable to our above 3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_n ... gdom#Sport
whilst I know there are for instance L'Equipe in France, Marca and As in Spain, A Bola in Portugal...

Our "general" newspapers only dedicate 4 or 5 pages to sports, not covering the same width and depth of Gazzetta and the other two
Maybe your main ones (say, I don't know, Telegraph or Guardian) dedicate more to sports, absorbing the need for specialistic ones?

[liquidfootball2]

I'd throw 80m at Atletico and 150k a week at Oblak if that's what it takes to sign him

Me too.
I’d much prefer him to Allison.

Maybe so but all the signs are that Klopp and Liverpool are focused on Alisson and after all that's all that really matters.

Perhaps if he proves unattainable he may look elsewhere, but basing it on recent precedent, maybe not.

Thanks MoSe very interesting to read on those different types of Italian newspapers with sports coverage.

[Kris_fiso]

I think it will be more easier to get Oblak than Alllison

[liquidfootball2]

I think it will be more easier to get Oblak than Alllison

It would have been far easier to get another centre back rather than van Dijk too.

Reports have suggested Klopp thinks Alisson the only keeper worth pursuing.

[blahblah]

I have been Oblak'ing for a few years......

Is he pants with his feet? He has certainly done well against England and English Clubs to be OK for the Prem, and as if AM have struggled in Europe...

I

[Zimmerman]

Obviously a moot point in terms of who liverpool are signing (if Allison is the route they are taking)... but aside from Peps game plan - how important is the keepers ability ‘with his feet’?

Is de Gea that good on the deck? He’s probably the best goalkeeper in the world and you wouldn’t expect him to be a sweeper keeper.

[MoSe]

Well, it's a general trend anyway, not just Pep's.
In the sense that there are more now than couple decades ago.
See Neuer at WC2014, the reigning champions keeper.

It depends on how the team plays and defends, keepers who can play with their feet have a plus, but of course the keeping part should be paramount

[liquidfootball2]

Well, it's a general trend anyway, not just Pep's.
In the sense that there are more now than couple decades ago.
See Neuer at WC2014, the reigning champions keeper.

It depends on how the team plays and defends, keepers who can play with their feet have a plus, but of course the keeping part should be paramount

Agree MoSe, you just have to see how Ederson adds to City's attacking threat and sparks off moves himself, either through long well aimed kicks or the ease with which he can accurately and quickly distribute the ball with hands or feet, to see what he brings to City.

Klopp also seems to prefer playing out through the keeper starting moves, even if it's to start a quick counter.

No team can afford to have anything less than a top class keeper in goal, and by that I mean in the traditional sense, but some managers will value any additional distribution skills more highly than others.

I suppose it's so dependent on the way the team is set up to play and how the manager envisages his plans going forward.

De Gea is such a great keeper any team would want him, but United have him and he's not for sale, so other managers pick keepers best suited to their own team's priorities and way of playing.

[MoSe]

Indeed, but I wasn't just thinking to distribution skills to start play.
Teams who play on the front foot and whose line defends high, can benefit from a keeper who can get out of his box to cover "the prairies" behind the defenders line, if needed.
And, when soaking the pressure, it's a plus if defs can have the gk who can manage backpasses as well, now that you can't collect them with hands.

[Zimmerman]

My point is that Ederson is the exception rather than the norm.

Yes a keeper that is competent with his feet is beneficial to one that isn’t.

A keeper that can sweep also has his merits (even going back to Bruce Grobelaar that was apparent).

But the whole phrase of ‘sweeper keeper’ is a misnomer.

Like my point above, de Gea is the best keeper in the world, how good are his feet or sweeping skills? Courtois? Lloris? Navas?

[liquidfootball2]

A manager must approach it from who can i get and who will best suit my requirements, and it's possibly from that point of view Klopp makes his decision.

They now have plenty of money and whereby before price may have been too big an issue, perhaps they're now willing to pay the asking price and get the best suited, that is at least from Klopp's point of view, if these reports are to be believed.

If he values some skills more highly he should go after those that have them, as long as the whole package is good enough.

(I'm not sure any of those keepers would suit Gaurdiola for example)

[MoSe]

https://mobile.twitter.com/NaguibSawiri ... 5806101506

Zidane offered €50m per year to manage Qatar till their 2022 home WC?

Oddly, the tweet author (if really official) is an Egyptian telecommunications tycoon, who also owned the same company I'm working for, few years ago (he took the money and left us his debts, the b*rd )

[MoSe]

England: Pickford, Trippier, Young, Walker, Stones, Cahill, Lingard, Dier, Kane, Sterling, Alli.

Subs: Rose, Butland, Maguire, Delph, Livermore, Vardy, Welbeck, Loftus-Cheek, Lallana, Rashford, Pope, Heaton.



Nigeria XI: Uzoho, Idowu, Ekong, Balogun, Onazi, Mikel, Obi, Shehu, Ighalo, Moses, Iwobi.

So Obi & Mikel are two players, not one?

[Kris_fiso]

England playing boring football as usual

[Zimmerman]

Anybody got one of those excel documents where you can plug all the scores in (and it works out the tables and knockout fixtures etc)?

[Tacalabala]

Anybody got one of those excel documents where you can plug all the scores in (and it works out the tables and knockout fixtures etc)?

There's loads on Google -https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=2018+ ... e&ie=UTF-8

[Tacalabala]

Locking this thread

World Cup chat - viewtopic.php?f=29&t=127607
Transfers chat - viewtopic.php?f=29&t=127687

[Tacalabala]

Before we start the new thread, I wanted to ask - do we think it's sending out the right message to be having 'eye-candy' in the OP? I'm far from a prude, but it does seem a bit wrong.