Benteke

[Grinch]

I dont even like him but you cant say he isnt doing his job better than the of the rest of the team almost to a man ffs - thats just stupid. He is supposed to put it in the net - he has. No one fuckin else has.

Prior to yesterday, he was behind Origi in the pecking order. That doesnt happen to someone whose been playing well.

[stringvest]

If he is in the team we have to play to his strengths, otherwise what's the point?  Goals win games.  Get him in the positions where he can score.  

[Anubis]

So Benteke had a 'man conversation' with Klopp.

 

 

[jimmycase]

If he is in the team we have to play to his strengths, otherwise what's the point?  Goals win games.  Get him in the positions where he can score.  

 

I think I can spot a major flaw in your proposition.

[stringvest]

He's better at putting chances away than any other available player.

[Kevin D]

He has a lot of chinks in his armour, but look at all that armour.

[eeyore]

If he is in the team we have to play to his strengths, otherwise what's the point? Goals win games. Get him in the positions where he can score.

Just not 20 yards away from goal with no keeper in sight

[Russ Atmosphere]

Just not 20 yards away from goal with no keeper in sight

Not 20 yards from goal with any arrangement of players in front of him. His strengths are quite niche really for a first choice Liverpool striker.

[Lee909]

I was watching a clip on youtube today,all of Torres goals for us. Seen another on Suarez. How standards have dropped

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Anyone else notice that when he has time to think and he decides to take many touches he'll fuck up almost every single time but whenever he plays one touch or strikes a ball first time good things tend to happen?

 

I feel like his best bit of link up play he's done here are the one touch layoffs to other players and almost all the goals he's scored bar the Chelsea goal have been first time finishes. 

 

Seems to me like he should just try to keep it simple and instinctive and he'll improve here. Despite him being a Rodgers buy, we should try to make it work for a bit imo.  

 

Yep, I've been thinking the same. His instinctive strikes are good, but when he has a clear sight of goal he struggles. Direct runs become overcomplicated, or even shots from eight yards out get lifted over; when the chances are more straightforward he seems to lose concentration. 

 

I agree we should try to make it work, but I'm not sure how we can. Our AMs aren't fast, so opposition defences don't run scared of them, their only threat is the ball they can play through to a striker making a run. If Benteke doesn't move, then things grind to a halt. The only option then becomes playing it wide, and our deliveries from those areas are poor.

 

Maybe playing a second striker is the answer, but then the midfield will look pretty anaemic. The squad was built for mobile strikers and to channel things through AMs towards them. Without one, we may score thanks to a decent striker (which Benteke is), but the whole often looks a lot less than the sum of its parts.

[TheHowieLama]

Lallana wide right is more useless than Dirk Kuyt.

[G Richards]

I view him as a back up option. Obviously we paid a lot for that, but that's not his fault. He weighs in with goals and is a decent option to have. The issue is what we have ahead of him in the pecking order - an injury prone, though obviously superior player who, if fit, would see the team improve by several levels. Just lately a raw youngster also appears to be getting the nod ahead of Benteke too - I like Origi's pace and the way he plays on the last shoulder. With a bit more directness and better finishing he could go on to have a good career here.

 

But as for Benteke, he's a decent back up option for me, an approximate one in two striker, but the main problem is higher up the pecking order.

[3 Stacks]

Yep, I've been thinking the same. His instinctive strikes are good, but when he has a clear sight of goal he struggles. Direct runs become overcomplicated, or even shots from eight yards out get lifted over; when the chances are more straightforward he seems to lose concentration. 

 

I agree we should try to make it work, but I'm not sure how we can. Our AMs aren't fast, so opposition defences don't run scared of them, their only threat is the ball they can play through to a striker making a run. If Benteke doesn't move, then things grind to a halt. The only option then becomes playing it wide, and our deliveries from those areas are poor.

 

Maybe playing a second striker is the answer, but then the midfield will look pretty anaemic. The squad was built for mobile strikers and to channel things through AMs towards them. Without one, we may score thanks to a decent striker (which Benteke is), but the whole often looks a lot less than the sum of its parts.

Yea, I think giving him a strike partner is probably the best way to go at the moment. Imo, it's not s good idea to make him backup or plan B or whatever. You simply can't pay the amount of money we did and just shove him on the bench. He scores goals which is always useful and when we inevitably buy a winger or two he'll improve.

 

Klopp is a loyal guy almost to a fault as well so if Benteke starts to play like Klopp wants him too, I doubt he'll get sold

[Red House]

Yea, I think giving him a strike partner is probably the best way to go at the moment. Imo, it's not s good idea to make him backup or plan B or whatever. You simply can't pay the amount of money we did and just shove him on the bench. He scores goals which is always useful and when we inevitably buy a winger or two he'll improve.

 

Klopp is a loyal guy almost to a fault as well so if Benteke starts to play like Klopp wants him too, I doubt he'll get sold

 

Jurgen doesn't have a history of buying out-and-out wingers. He could have given Lewandowski was pretty good in the air, but he clearly prefers inverted wingers like Reus, Gotze, Mkhitaryan, Kagawa who play between the lines. The full-backs are the ones who provide the width a la Schmelzer and Piszcek, or Moreno and Clyne as we've already seen.

 

So, I really doubt he's gonna sign 2-3 players just to suit Benteke, when he could more easily just replace Benteke. And, pretty much all the successful teams in recent years have used inverted wingers who prefer to cut inside (Messi & Neymar, Ronaldo & Bale, Robben & Ribery). The old school out-and-out wingers system is much inferior and only used by the likes of Pulis and Allardyce nowadays.

[3 Stacks]

I wasn't talking about out and out wingers. We need any kind of wide player at the moment seeing as we only have Ibe there. Any sort of player whether he likes to cut in or not would help Benteke because he works well with wide service and because the predictability and centrality of our attack doesnt do him or any of our other attackers any favors.

 

Also Benteke would absolutely thrive with someone like Messi or Bale because their deliveries when they cut in with their stronger foot is absolutely brilliant.

[Gym Beglin]

Benteke can do with a strike partner.

 

Lest we all forget the difference that Sturridge made to Suarez.

[TheHowieLama]

Benteke can do with a strike partner.

 

Lest we all forget the difference that Sturridge made to Suarez.

 

Yeah - Suarez really struggled without Sturridge....

[VladimirIlyich]

Yeah - Suarez really struggled without Sturridge....

Is Funeee JPs other account?

[Gym Beglin]

Yeah - Suarez really struggled without Sturridge....

Well, according to my flimsy research:

 

Suarez at Liverpool without Sturridge = 39 goals in 78 games. (0.5 goals per game)

 

Suarez at Liverpool with Sturridge = 43 goals in 57 games. (0.75 goals per game)

 

I think it's fairly clear that Suarez, when paired with Borini or Carroll wasn't as effective. Nor was he as effective when paired with the ageing Bellamy or Kuyt.

 

A good strike partner for Benteke would go a long way to improving his game, and our goals.

[Jairzinho]

Well, according to my flimsy research:

 

Suarez at Liverpool without Sturridge = 39 goals in 78 games. (0.5 goals per game)

 

Suarez at Liverpool with Sturridge = 43 goals in 57 games. (0.75 goals per game)

 

I think it's fairly clear that Suarez, when paired with Borini or Carroll wasn't as effective. Nor was he as effective when paired with the ageing Bellamy or Kuyt.

 

A good strike partner for Benteke would go a long way to improving his game, and our goals.

 

Lots of those games without Sturridge weren't with Borini, Carroll, Bellamy, or Kuyt. They were with Suso and Sterling either side of him, both of whom were about 12.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Coincidental stats that don't account for Coutinho either. Always better to use eyes in addition to stats.

[Gym Beglin]

Nah, WANKERS.

[TheHowieLama]

Well, according to my flimsy research:

 

Suarez at Liverpool without Sturridge = 39 goals in 78 games. (0.5 goals per game)

 

Suarez at Liverpool with Sturridge = 43 goals in 57 games. (0.75 goals per game)

 

I think it's fairly clear that Suarez, when paired with Borini or Carroll wasn't as effective. Nor was he as effective when paired with the ageing Bellamy or Kuyt.

 

A good strike partner for Benteke would go a long way to improving his game, and our goals.

 

 

I can help you here if you want as the big picture seems to be eluding you - Suarez is well better than a goal every other game regardless of who he plays with - for club or country.

 

Sturridge is closer to 1 in 4 without  him.

 

TBH I am just tired of people putting Sturridge in the same sentence much less any where near the same class - he isn't and never will be.

[Russ Atmosphere]

For a long time those with and without stats were showing us to be better without Suarez, yet still we wouldn't sell.

[Stickman]

Shite again.......And how easy is he to bully off the ball?