Grabber and Lobster

Haven't seen this posted elsewhere, so...the boss being *awesome* - "the best 30 seconds of post-match interview, complete with F-bomb". I get the impression he's the most popular manager in football, by a mile. https://twitter.com/TheMengisKhan/status/952613396704382976

Today this thread is full of truth.

This, always this. So Pepe had started gettting beaten at his near post more than he should? Right, but he was still pretty good at: catching high balls, organising the defence, sprinting out to sweep up through balls, intimidating strikers in 1-on-1s, starting counter attacks quickly and accurately, and being in the right place to actually save shots that you'd hope a goalie would 80% of the time. So on balance, would be nice to have a goalie who still did THOSE things with any regularity.

€42m so probably £35m isn't too far off. Though there's meant to be add-ons which could yet push it up a bit, it still looks like a ridiculous bargain.

signature-worthy. More of this sort of thing in the transfer thread!

Anyone know if football is somehow exempt from contract law? If I as a contractor just stopped turning up for a gig I'd signed to, my client would rightly a) stop paying me b) sue me for breach. How does this not happen to footballers who 'go on strike'?

But our defence is not a problem, it's great, only gives up a few shot per game so all is well. As some on here would have you believe.

Norravin' that. Sami didn't make errors. Repent for your heresy! Agree completely that top class defenders shouldn't be making "wtf are you doing??" mistakes more than once a year. Sure they might get beaten or bamboozled by an individual piece of pace, strength or technique, but they just shouldn't regularly make decisions that are blatantly going to be a stupid or risky thing to do.

That was epic. At the end he should have grabbed the mic off the nobhead, just so he could drop it, and then they both walk away.

Obv this will jinx it, but this stream's working for me, although it took 2 mins to get going: http://ripple.is/football/1226-liverpool-vs-west-bromwich-albion Oh yeah, seems there's horrible russian ads every 10 mins or so that interrupt the video. Ugh.

Yeah but all that says is that your brother's mate could afford not to give a toss about losing £100. Which might mean the six and a half grand wouldn't mean that much to him either

I was thinking that; if this was FIFA, you'd be turning up the difficulty cos Mo's scoring rate isn't realistic

It's *slightly* tongue in cheek, but he has been the goalie coach present for the non-progression and often regression of our keepers over the past god knows how long.

Achterberg communicating badly and being indecisive and/or timid? You'd never guess from his coaching of Ming and Karius.

80 is generous.

Yeah thought the same, and that Karius was pretty good overall. Don't think Ming make either of those saves.

Sadly of all people Roy Keane has just nailed it on the highlights show. Said the system is fine, Klopp is great, but we have 2 defenders who aren't good enough (Lovren, Moreno) and that although they can have good games they'll fold under pressure or in big games. Was scathing about Bertie.

And all those interviews with Bertie about how he'd fixed his head, and stopped doing daft sh*te. <sigh>

Exactly. I even think Klavan knows his limitations and attempts to play within them. Lovren believes he's the second coming of Baresi, and can't believe it every single time he makes a mistake. Which is several times a match, hence his perpetually stunned expression.

Well that's the thing - compared to those two, tonight he looked much better positionally, is quicker, calmer, and a good passer. Seems custom-made for the way we play.

Outstanding tonight against one of the best forward lines on the planet. Um, Jurgen, you know how our centrebacks haven't looked all that so far this season...

Just read this. Properly brilliant tribute to one of the best songs ever, and undoubtedly the worst manager.

...and compared to the incumbent left back he was Paolo f'king Maldini.

Completely this. Especially the bold bit. I'm pretty sure when JK was a player he would have sacrificed limbs to stop the oppo or win a ball - Masch mentality. No idea why he tolerates cowards now.