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jod23

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Excerpt from Suarez's biography, on facing Agger, Skrtel, Carra & Flanagan in training:

The football there (England) is strong, hard, quick. It was good for that to happen to me at the very start because it meant that there was no doubt in my mind about what was required. That first touch was the first lesson.

I could see it in training too. In the first few sessions, I was wary of Martin Skrtel and Danny Agger because they are very aggressive defenders. Martin can be particularly brutal. Even a couple of seasons later, if he ever wandered over to my side of the pitch then I would wander off to the other side to get away from him. And the same with Danny. I told them both in the first few sessions: ‘Don’t worry: I take it easy in training, so you take it easy’. Then I nutmegged one of them without really meaning to and so the gloves came off.

‘I thought you were taking it easy? Okay, now we’re playing for real’ I don’t think they ever believed me after that. But our training battles were always in good spirits, as team-mates. The only team-mate it ever got heated with was Jamie Carragher. I think he was frustrated about not playing much and the fact that he was coming towards the end of his career, so there would be a few lively moments but we would always shake hands at the end of the session.

We never fell out on or off the pitch, but I did have to get used to how he was in training. I never train with shin pads and I would say to myself: ‘How can a team-mate make a challenge like that in training that could easily have injured me?’ Some of the other players said it to me: ‘That’s how Carra is, so make sure you’re always on the move or he’ll hit you hard’. I’d expected it from Martin and Danny, but I didn’t know Carra so well so I had to learn fast. I’m aggressive in training as well. But not to the point of injuring a team-mate. I appreciate that it’s more difficult for a defender – they have to go in hard to show the manager that they should be in the team and it’s not always easy to strike that balance.

As they said, that’s how Carra was. He was more of a shouter, a complainer, than Stevie Gerrard. He always demanded more: he was the typical tough, aggressive defender. He played the games with an intensity that I don’t think I have ever seen from another defender – he lived the game.

I loved his commitment. Sometimes he flew in and I thought, ‘How could you make a tackle like that?’ But I’m not sure if he would have achieved so much, or gone so far, if he had not had that character. That’s what drove him on and made him a better player. It was all about personality.

I wouldn’t say that during the final season I missed him as such. We never really had a very close relationship; we were team-mates rather than friends. But I did miss the way he spoke, the way he lead, and I admired him. Every time he spoke, I listened.

He was closer to Stevie and the staff at the club than some of his team-mates. He had been there for so long, given this club so much, while other players came and went. Clubs need players like that: people who have been there all their lives, who know the club inside out, who get it and can lead others. They’re the ones who keep the identity going. People like Jamie Carragher are the club.

I think Liverpool have a new Jamie Carragher too, and that’s Jon Flanagan. He’s very, very similar. He has the same personality, he’s aggressive on the pitch. He may be limited in technical terms, but he knows that and plays to his strengths. When Carra played as a full-back, if he went up the line he knew what he had to do and what not to do. Flanagan is the same. He knows. He has the spirit and hunger that Carra had, the same ambition to squeeze every last drop of talent out of himself. He’s going to go a very long way. Players like that will always go a very long way. People may say, ‘he hasn’t got this, he hasn’t got that’, but a player like him will succeed. He’s not easy to face in training either.
:(

I miss him.

Frustrates me now as we have players ready to burst onto the scene like Can and Ibe. Firmino coming in. Lallana is classy and would have worked well with Suarez with his touch and link up play. Our squad now add Suarez. Title challenge. :(
 

darth_timon

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I'm going to the Leicester & Arsenal games lads. Spewing the Utd game is on the day I fly back down under. Trying to delay the return flight but it is an absolute nightmare.
Give me a shout when you're here (and whereabouts) and we can do beer!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 

ADL9798

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Suarez on Coutinho & Sturridge:

The new boys, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, were making a huge difference. Philippe was incredible. He changed us completely. He's the one that gave us faith in having the ball because his technical ability is so good. You knew that he wouldn't lose it, you knew that he would produce the right pass. He got tired very quickly in his first games for the club and had to be substituted because he had come from a league that is not as physical and he was not playing that often, but you could see straight away that he was different. We were all hugely impressed with him from day one.

Meanwhile, Daniel was about to become the best partner I'd had in my career. I had seen Daniel play at Chelsea, although truth be told I didn't even know that he had been at Manchester City. I also had no idea that his dad had been a player. But I had watched him play and I liked him a lot. I could see that he could make a difference. When I watched him in training, my appreciation for his ability grew. I knew that he was quick but the way that he could finish really struck me. Every shot went in. Every time. He had the talent and Liverpool offered him the opportunity and continuity that he hadn't had at Chelsea. He had the ambition to make sure that if he was given that, he would perform. The first time I spoke to Daniel at Melwood, he surprised me because he said to me: "Together, you and I can do something big here". It's natural that players can feel that a new signing is coming to compete with them for a place and I'm no different. Nor, I assumed was Daniel.

It's not normal for a new player to be quite so bold as Daniel was that day, and I did momentarily think, "What's this guy saying that to me for?". But right from the start, he saw it as the two of us going out there together. Daniel would have been entitled to be worried, to think to himself: "Luis is the number 9, I'm not going to get many chances here either, just like at Chelsea". He probably thought that, initially, he would have to wait for his chance, rather than necessarily to play with me all the time. And to start with we didn't always play together. But Brendan wanted us both to be in the team and Daniel knew that we needed that help. We knew it too
 

Zidane98

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While he wears the shirt you cheer... Remember the season Luis had after he came to melbourne?
Lot of parallels with that season. Supposed want away player, Australian pre-season tour, fans from opposing clubs saying we had no choice but to sell our want away players and that their position at the club was untenable.

Unfortunately Sturridge won't be fit at the start of the season though. 1 minor difference :(
 

Leiviathan

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Excerpt from Suarez's biography, on facing Agger, Skrtel, Carra & Flanagan in training:

The football there (England) is strong, hard, quick. It was good for that to happen to me at the very start because it meant that there was no doubt in my mind about what was required. That first touch was the first lesson.

I could see it in training too. In the first few sessions, I was wary of Martin Skrtel and Danny Agger because they are very aggressive defenders. Martin can be particularly brutal. Even a couple of seasons later, if he ever wandered over to my side of the pitch then I would wander off to the other side to get away from him. And the same with Danny. I told them both in the first few sessions: ‘Don’t worry: I take it easy in training, so you take it easy’. Then I nutmegged one of them without really meaning to and so the gloves came off.

‘I thought you were taking it easy? Okay, now we’re playing for real’ I don’t think they ever believed me after that. But our training battles were always in good spirits, as team-mates. The only team-mate it ever got heated with was Jamie Carragher. I think he was frustrated about not playing much and the fact that he was coming towards the end of his career, so there would be a few lively moments but we would always shake hands at the end of the session.

We never fell out on or off the pitch, but I did have to get used to how he was in training. I never train with shin pads and I would say to myself: ‘How can a team-mate make a challenge like that in training that could easily have injured me?’ Some of the other players said it to me: ‘That’s how Carra is, so make sure you’re always on the move or he’ll hit you hard’. I’d expected it from Martin and Danny, but I didn’t know Carra so well so I had to learn fast. I’m aggressive in training as well. But not to the point of injuring a team-mate. I appreciate that it’s more difficult for a defender – they have to go in hard to show the manager that they should be in the team and it’s not always easy to strike that balance.

As they said, that’s how Carra was. He was more of a shouter, a complainer, than Stevie Gerrard. He always demanded more: he was the typical tough, aggressive defender. He played the games with an intensity that I don’t think I have ever seen from another defender – he lived the game.

I loved his commitment. Sometimes he flew in and I thought, ‘How could you make a tackle like that?’ But I’m not sure if he would have achieved so much, or gone so far, if he had not had that character. That’s what drove him on and made him a better player. It was all about personality.

I wouldn’t say that during the final season I missed him as such. We never really had a very close relationship; we were team-mates rather than friends. But I did miss the way he spoke, the way he lead, and I admired him. Every time he spoke, I listened.

He was closer to Stevie and the staff at the club than some of his team-mates. He had been there for so long, given this club so much, while other players came and went. Clubs need players like that: people who have been there all their lives, who know the club inside out, who get it and can lead others. They’re the ones who keep the identity going. People like Jamie Carragher are the club.

I think Liverpool have a new Jamie Carragher too, and that’s Jon Flanagan. He’s very, very similar. He has the same personality, he’s aggressive on the pitch. He may be limited in technical terms, but he knows that and plays to his strengths. When Carra played as a full-back, if he went up the line he knew what he had to do and what not to do. Flanagan is the same. He knows. He has the spirit and hunger that Carra had, the same ambition to squeeze every last drop of talent out of himself. He’s going to go a very long way. Players like that will always go a very long way. People may say, ‘he hasn’t got this, he hasn’t got that’, but a player like him will succeed. He’s not easy to face in training either.
I hope the Red Cafu can live up to that praise. Huge for Suarez to have praise like that for him.

Is there better footage of pure joy than his first goal? I could watch it on loop.

I miss Luis too.
 
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Lot of parallels with that season. Supposed want away player, Australian pre-season tour, fans from opposing clubs saying we had no choice but to sell our want away players and that their position at the club was untenable.

Unfortunately Sturridge won't be fit at the start of the season though. 1 minor difference :(
Suarez wasn't available for the first 6 games of that season.
 
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While he wears the shirt you cheer... Remember the season Luis had after he came to melbourne?
I'm pretty sure we're the main reason he played that hard and that emotional for us in 13/14. World Cups are one thing, but having your name chanted by 90,000 and then having a fair few of us hang around post-game to cheer on his running back-and-forth - that's the real reason you play football.
 

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craigos

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My heart breaks every time I read Luis talking about Liverpool. He genuinely seemed like he loved the club and still does.
I remember when he came to Melbourne all the fans would shout "please stay Luis". He was one of the players along with Stevie G who genuinely appreciated the fans turning out everytime I saw/stalked them.
 
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someone said bacca to italy and benteke to lfc cant remeber who but seem spot on
Perhaps some of the below posts will jog your memory.

Maybe not, though, since they're only from the last week:
telegraph linking us to illara, bacca and illore...they also say we are off the benteke train given villa want 30m hope its true and silly chance for firmino.
bacca would be amazing not sure if hed want to come
the only real reliable source for lfc transfers says we are off benteke bandwagon and looking at rondon,firmino and bacca.
theres a bit of suarez to him, I never thought he would consider LFC though
problem is how many quality strikers are available? bacca is about the only one being linked to us.
bacca says he wants to leave but doesnt say where to
Rodgers apparently wants a gun AM and Gun Striker (firmino and bacca) are the favs.
Bacca is off to England apparently with us and United favs.
someone said firmino will be sterling replacwment but they want bacca or rondon as the suarez replacement.
bacca says he wants epl united and lfc favs i would have thought city were.
have to get a quality striker like bacca, according to reports we are favourite for him
bacca and rondon
nah dont agree i think firmino was always on the cards, if we get bacca as well then that guarantees sterling will be sold
out of the snippets im reading i reckong we are real chance for bacca.
some suggesting firmino is a replacement for sterling and we are still looking to replace suarez with bacca or benteke fav
sterling will go with bacca or benteke to come in imo
barrett thinks bacca will end up in italy and we will end up with benteke
we will end up with benteke imo bacca will go to italy.
DiMazio saying bacca will go to roma or Milan :(
dimazio saying bacca will end up at roma or Milan, and barrett saying benteke is still our no.1 choice for striker :(
#LFC registered their interest in Bacca but have yet to decide whether to trigger his £21.3m release clause. (James Pearce)
illarra and kovacic would be sweet. why we are going for benteke over bacca is beyond me.
 

LFC2010

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I think we're dodging a massive bullet with Bacca.

but at least we're actively looking for strikers which isn't a bad thing.

Question now is, who'll be the next one we target? Fingers crossed we don't get sucked into Benteke.
 

FAITH

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I think we're dodging a massive bullet with Bacca.

but at least we're actively looking for strikers which isn't a bad thing.

Question now is, who'll be the next one we target? Fingers crossed we don't get sucked into Benteke.
Hernandez would be really good for us but would united sell to us?
#BentekeDestiny
 
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