Reds Roundup – December 4, 2014

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Glen Johnson faints after realizing that he actually scored a goal

Stoke and Leicester

I’m going to skip right over this past weekend’s performance vs. Stoke since I refuse to praise Glen Johnson. Yes he scored, and I appreciate him putting his head in the path of danger to get the goal, but we can’t have him thinking that he’s our next striker. Every time I see him with the ball I feel like he wants to take off and shoot and that was something that carried over to Tuesday’s game at Leicester City. Thinking back on the game, I believe it was his marauding run down the field that left us vulnerable before the Mignolet own goal, right? He did have one nice move where he touched it to the left of the defender and passed by him to the right, but he also thought he could hit a half volley from 25 yards out. He cannot. He blasted the ball out of the stadium. Both of these wins were welcome performances after 3 losses and a tie in the last 4, and hopefully we can carry that momentum forward to Sunderland and then the big one. Basel. Tuesday. At Anfield. For Champions League knockout qualification. Sentence Fragments. This is (surprisingly) the one we’ve been waiting for.

Around the Interwebs

I think I’m just going to start bulleting (totally a word) the rumors and news from the past week since there’s so much Liverpool gossip on the internet, and this will be easier for you all to absorb (read: I’m lazy)

  • Liverpool beat Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal and 26 other teams to sign the new Messi! That’s right. We signed an 11 year old. And we can already tell he’s going to be the best in the world.
  • SFTB’s favorite 15-year old, finally takes his Anfield tour.
  • Balotelli in trouble again. No comment. 
  • Looks like Liverpool are showing interest in Arsenal’s Joel Campbell. After a great World Cup he has failed to impress for the Gunners, and everyone knows that Liverpool can use some more average-at-best players as we’re looking to build a great mid-table team.
  • LFC Xtra has put together a list of 11 signings Liverpool have showed interest in for the January transfer window, but Metro has reported an additional 3 that we’re apparently “ready to sign.” #1 on those lists is probably Petr Cech who could easily make a challenge for (read: win) the starting keeper spot.
  • Iago Aspas tried to prove that he’s not as horrible as last year.

Champions League Thoughts

What else can be said for what is the biggest game of the season so far. Only a win will do for the Reds if they want to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament.  The game is Tuesday, so make sure to show signs of sickness on Monday at work so your morning, “I’m feeling under the weather” email isn’t questioned (I have already taken the day off). This game may show if we’ve really turned this season around, or if we’re just pretending to be a top-4 EPL team, so get ready for the Reds to come out firing at home.

Saturday. Sunderland. Score please. 

Liverpool and Sunderland are teams headed in opposite directions as Liverpool are looking like they could turn this season around, while Sunderland has only won 1 of their 6 away games this season so far. No word on if Balotelli will be in the lineup, but Lambert has been the man during these last few games, so all signs point to Rickie leading the front line once again. This is usually the part of the preview where we tell you to get your defibrillators ready, but this week’s game is Saturday at 10:00 am, so we’ll have enough time for coffee and tea before sitting down for a relaxing win (3-1, 1-0, whatever) and as usual, lets go Reds!