Tottenham 0 Liverpool 0 (Oct 17 2015)

[tlw content]

A decent enough start I guess. Some of the same old failings were there for all to see, but so too were some of the things Jurgen Klopp wants to introduce, and a point at Spurs is never a bad result. The first 20 minutes were great, it was like watching a different team, but then it petered out somewhat and the lack of goal threat when Sturridge isn’t on the field was once again evident.
 
Speaking of Sturridge, I’m just not having it that the club “decided not to risk him”. He’s cried off hasn’t he? It’s what he does. Slightest little knock and he doesn’t want to know. I always remember Carragher saying once “some players won’t play when they’re not 100% fit. I’ll only not play when I’m 100% not fit”. No prizes for guessing what category Sturridge comes into. Some of you will think I’m being harsh, but I’m just sick of him. This has been going on for years, Rodgers was constantly having to try to persuade to him to play through minor injuries, and it’s no secret that a lot of people at Melwood think he’s a complete fanny.
 
With Benteke, Ings and Firmino all unavailable, it’s criminal that he sat this out with a bruised knee and left Klopp with only Origi and Sinclair to choose from up front. You can be sure Klopp has noted that, he’ll be figuring out who he can count on and he’ll have Sturridge’s card marked already.
 
I know it’s a different sport and so it’s an apples to oranges comparison, but I’m watching the NFL as I’m writing this and I’ve just seen Steve Smith, a 36 year old wide receiver for the Ravens, make a ridiculous touchdown catch, even though he’s playing with four broken bones in his back!!! Players in other sports just play through injuries, some footballers do too in fairness. Then there’s the likes of Sturridge, sitting in the stands in his big warm coat handing out fucking mints to genuinely injured players like Henderson. Yeah, I’m being a bit of a meathead about it but he does my fucking head in. He’s ridiculously talented and we need him, but he’s like the anti-Suarez isn’t he? 

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[navbasi]

Stevie mentioned about Sturridge in his book. We were due to play the Mancs and that he basically had to spend all day trying to persuade him to play because he wasn't 100% fit. He played and scored.

[Russ Atmosphere]

If Sturridge plays injured, breaks down and is out for months, the opposite blame game begins. People want it both ways.

[Trumo]

Klopp speaking positively about the players is something I remember Kenny doing when he took over from Hodgson. Maybe not to the extent that Klopp has done, but certainly he made it clear a number of times that he had an excellent squad to choose from. It gave everybody a lift at the time and we strung together some good results.

[Dr Nowt]

I'd go straight down the middle on it personally and say whether it's his fault or not is now academic. It's just how it is with him and we cannot afford to carry passengers.

 

For me this season we had to plan to not have him fit and treat any availability as a bonus. Unless there's a miraculous turn around in his availability and a sustained performance level from him I'd go another step on and be looking to get whatever we can for him in the summer, then buy a striker we can rely on.

 

Sad to say as he's sublimely talented but it's only half the battle and unless you can get him on the pitch reliably it's doing you no good. Saw some journo draw a parallel with Saha the other day and that's not the furthest away from it.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Sign Reus.

[Dr Nowt]

Sign Russ.

Egotistical but I'm on board.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Egotistical but I'm on board.

 

Ha. Reus Atmosphere name change promised if he signs.

 

[Section_31]

Didn't know sturridge was such a fanny, get rid.

[bossy]

I had no idea about Sturridge's fannying either. Doesn't bode well does it and perhaps explains why Chelsea weren't convinced by him. Shame as he can be brilliant on his day but we need hungry great players.

[Trumo]

I recall Redknapp talking about Bale's early years at Spurs, and how he was similarly mentally fragile as Sturridge seems to be right now. Any little knock in training and Bale wanted to stop and get treatment, it affected his focus that much. The coaches and physios started to leave him be after little training ground knocks, knowing that he'd have to pick himself up, dust himself off and simply get on with it, or just lie there like a fanny. After a week or two, Bale started showing more resilience in training and it helped him improve his game. Maybe Klopp needs to "test Sturridge's resolve" a bit. Not in the cack-handed manner of the England set-up but in a way that can tell Klopp whether the player has got the gumption without actually breaking down long-term.

[Bobby Hundreds]

He needs to taste his resolve with the back of his hand. 

[G Richards]

If we sell him we'll get very little. So I'd rather keep him, provided he can play something like 20 games a season and score 10+ goals. If the other options we have at the club can stake a claim then we'll be OK. If not, we need to go shopping for a striker in the summer. I think Klopp will give it the whole season to assess. 

[goose]

"Cunt-off" is a perfect description and the kind of quality reporting you just can't find in the national press.

[Mathewbet1]

whats the difference between a 'cunt-off' and a 'cripple fight'

[Paco]

Stamina levels will improve week by week.

 

We'll be flying after Christmas.

[scudger99]

He needs to taste his resolve with the back of his hand. 

Fuck no, he'd be out for the rest of the season.

[Josef Svejk]

I don't think Coutinho is fit. He'd just pulled out of a Brazil squad, after all. And he looks like he's struggling physically. So, I think it's a little harsh to criticise his form when he makes the kind of effort that Sturridge is apparently unwilling to make.

[s(k)aturation]

I'd go straight down the middle on it personally and say whether it's his fault or not is now academic. It's just how it is with him and we cannot afford to carry passengers.

 

For me this season we had to plan to not have him fit and treat any availability as a bonus. Unless there's a miraculous turn around in his availability and a sustained performance level from him I'd go another step on and be looking to get whatever we can for him in the summer, then buy a striker we can rely on.

 

Sad to say as he's sublimely talented but it's only half the battle and unless you can get him on the pitch reliably it's doing you no good. Saw some journo draw a parallel with Saha the other day and that's not the furthest away from it.

 

Sad but true.

If having your best striker on the field is a bonus, it's time to move on from that situation.

We can't be relying on bonuses.

[RoboRiise]

Given how much of his career Sturridge has already missed with long-term injuries, I can understand him being a bit nervous when he's carrying a knock, I mean he must shit himself every time he puts his boots on.  Not saying that excuses it, or that he's any use to us long-term with that mentality, just that there is an explanation for it other than 'he's just a shithouse'.

 

I agree that if he has pulled out though, he has surely marked his card with Klopp given the situation it left us in - shame because he is undoubtedly our best striker when fit but if it's genuinely the case that he won't drag his arse onto the pitch unless the moon was the right colour, his biorhythms are right and all that, he's going to be looking for another club in the summer I think.

 

As for Klopp though, I'm another who is pleased to see him bigging up the lads in the squad.

 

I already thought from his first press conference and interview that he seemed to be a genuinely pragmatic manager, someone who has mastered the difficult art of not worrying about things he can't change.  His comments about transfers showed that, saying if players don't want to come here fuck them and if we can't afford somebody, fuck them too, no point in talking about them.

 

With the squad, we all have a tendency to focus on what they can't do; I'm as guilty of that as anybody.  Klopp seems to have looked at them in terms of 'Ok but fuck that, what can you do? What can this player give me that will contribute to our performance.'  Considering that this is the squad he has until the January window at the earliest, it's the right approach.

[Erik T]

Klopp should have told Sturridge what Shankly told Tommy Smith: 

 

"It's not your knee, son. It's Liverpool's knee"

[alles ist gut]

whats the difference between a 'cunt-off' and a 'cripple fight'

A "cunt-off" is a disagreement between any two cunts; a "cripple fight " is a disagreement between Barclay and Rashid on Twatter. Hope that helps.

[Mathewbet1]

Thanks thats cleared it up for me.

[Newport]

With the history he's had with injuries it's hardly a surprise he is that way.

 

If we don't get rid of Skrtel soon he'll stay with us throughout his career. He's the least intelligent centre back this club has ever had. I don't care if he can make blocks and cover his own mistakes, the biggest part of being a good centre back is the ability to read the game and he has nothing in his tool box on it.

 

Btw, good without the ball was Øyvind Leonhardsen's handle in the Norwegian national team during the 90's. Or "best without the ball" as it's called in Norway, which I guess most of you know from having seen him play. He ran and scored goals, and our national team was as great as it hadn't been for sixty years ever since we kicked the arse of the Germans in the 1936 Olympics quarter final and Hitler completely lost it in the stands (allegedly the first ever game he attended).