29 Jan 2015

Thommo: Liverpool must sign 'lethal' £30m striker or 'excellent' £12m attacker. Agree?

Earlier today, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers once again confirmed that Liverpool will not sign any new players during the current transfer window, a decision that is sure to disappoint a large section of Reds fans, who want the club to sign a new striker. One of those disappointed fans is likely to be Anfield legend Phil Thompson, who maintains that Liverpool need to sign an experienced goalscorer.

Speaking to Sky Sports on Tuesday, Thommo noted:

“With Brendan playing Raheem up front on his own, I would like to see an experienced striker come in, like Gonzalo Higuain or Ezequiel Lavezzi. They’ve always been my favoured targets".

'Excellent' Lavezzi and 'lethal' Higuain have been repeatedly linked with Liverpool over the last two years, and both are allegedly on Brendan Rodgers' transfer wish-list. The most recent links:

* 13th Jan 2015: The Daily Express claimed that Liverpool are planning to activate Higuain's £30m release clause 'before the end of January'.

* 27th Jan 2015: The Daily Mail alleged that LFC scouts watched Lavezzi on Sunday night, and PSG are willing to sell for £12m.

Lavezzi is the more realistic option of the two, but according to Rodgers today, Liverpool are not planning to sign anyone before the end of the transfer window. He told reporters:

"I've always said that the likelihood is that we wouldn't do anything in this window, and that will probably prove to be the case."

I don't know where it comes from, but I have a feeling that Liverpool will pull off one or two deals before the transfer window shuts. They'll probably be loan deals and/or one mid-range permanent deal (Lavezzi, perhaps), but whatever happens, bringing in another regular goalscorer is surely be a priority.

Indeed, despite the club's recent resurgence, Liverpool have scored only 31 goals in the league all season, which is the lowest total of any team in the top-eight.

It's tantamount to footballing suicide to rely on Daniel Sturridge remaining fit, and if he gets injured yet again - and Liverpool haven't signed a new striker - then it will cause big problems yet again.

Author:


72 comments:

  1. Lavezzi, good a player as he is, would do nothing to ease the goalscoring pressure on Sturridge. He's not clinical.

    What do you make of the supposedly imminent move for Danny Ings, JK? If Tony Barrett is to be believed (a faith he is usually due) then we plan to sign him and loan him back to Burnley.

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  2. lavezzi we don't need him,

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  3. i have been seeing rumors that we want to sign Danny Ings and then loan him back to Burnley??? I wanted to cry but i am going to Spartan up and ignore such stories and hope that this article is where the truth lies and we sign one of the 2 mentioned above :)

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  4. I think Ings is more realistic than the other two, can't see either joining us at the moment.
    1. I don't think we have any cash.
    2. I don't think we are looking like a secure prospect.
    3. Will BR still be here come summer himself.
    .
    I believe any outgoing cash will be saved until summer to see how the Manager is travelling.

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  5. I think he'll be cheaper than £10m. Especially if we loan him back to Burnley. Otherwise they're basically just guaranteeing they'll lose him for nothing in the summer. I think £4-5m would do it. Nothing changes for Burnley, so I see no reason they wouldn't accept.

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  6. The so-called transfer committee is desperately poor.

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  7. I'm not JK but I'll offer my opinion anyway. Ings had 25 goals in 46 games across all competitions last season. Yes, it's the Championship, but what matters is if the player can raise their game and produce similar figures in a better league. 7 from 19 in the Premier League is not far off and Burnley are not exactly an attacking force. If he steps up a bit more he could have 15 for the year. I think that's pretty damn respectable. JK will point out that he's British (overpriced) and has limited experience in the top tier. Neither of these things mean the player is destined to fail and given his contract situation I'd not be surprised to see Burnley end up with change from 10 million. It could turn out to be a good deal. He's not the 20 goal a season striker that everyone is looking for but if Borini goes then there is a spot in the squad to fill.

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  8. I don't see not signing any players in January so much of a "decision" as simply the reality of the situation. Liverpool need a keeper and a striker but only proper top quality players will do and what club wants to let go of their best players mid way through the season? Lavezzi is probably the only player who seems to still have enough quality to be worth the money and has a club that might be willing to sell. I think the pickings are very slim. Rodgers said specifically that of course he would like to make one or two additions, so the intent to sign someone is clearly there. It's just that getting the right player for the right price in January is a challenge so the club have tried to keep expectations down knowing that it would be hard to get any business done.

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  9. If we do get Ings, it would signal a clearing out of our forwards. We already have Origi coming back in the summer, and with Ings that would be two incoming forwards, which means we will probably sell 3 (2 at the club + Aspas). It wouldn't be a stretch to see us buy another legit striker and ditch the last one currently sitting on our bench.

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  10. meant to read 'evolutionary', not revolutionary psychology... although I don't mind the mistake, cos it could be a Freudian slip since we could do with a revolution in the front third!

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  11. I agree, but...
    1. We most certainly have cash. FSG just don't have any confidence in BR to spend it.
    2 Yeah...pretty much.
    3. If we make Europe (including Europa League...so top 5) I see BR staying.

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  12. competely agree there is slim picking around, hence we are unlikely to do anything major. My only issues is that I want us to be ready to go from the beggining of next season, and i think that means us looking to bring in a keeper, 1 but probably 2 CM's, 2 strikers (1 being Origi granted but hopefull 1 high end striker) plus possible defensive recruitments (especially if Johnson leaves as expected. My concern is that is too much to do in 1 window (plus selling a fair number of players to accommodate the new signing), so i would like to have seen us sign a keeper and a midfielder this window as i think they would have been do-able.
    I dont see us signing Naeur or De Gea type keepr therefore i think our targets would be gettabe in this window. Someone like Matt Ryan. As for the midfielder, again i dont think we will be signing a Pogba type but perhaps a defensive midfielder who could be a longer-term replacement for Lucas (who i expect we will cash in on in the Summer despite recent good form) would be useful.
    I just want us to be in a position to start next season far better than we started this season and i worry about us having to conduct so much business in 1 transfer window!

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  13. Yeah Borini is not wanted and Lambert is not getting any younger anyway. Can't see Balo lasting.

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  14. How about appointing a striker coach who can actually make a difference to LFC's prowess in front of goal. Getting tired of watching industrious play up to the last third, only to lack the cutting edges of swift movement and telepathy between players and/or the unpredictable and unexpected bodily movement, clever touch, and visionary through balls at that precise moment en route to goal. As for avoiding all the shenanigans I propose in and around the box, why not just shoot better from the edges? I mean, we've seen Coutinho's desperate and paltry efforts thus far, but at least he's now taken the initiative to stay back and practice more on his shooting... not wide, high, or even straight at the keeper. Learn to kick it around the luminous keepers Guernsey, but within and beneath the sticks. One significant reason Keepers are so brightly dressed, revolutionary psychology would argue, is because we are hard-wired to hunt, so brains are trained on the target and when they're and the brighter the target, the more likely we are to aim for it. Hmmmm... perhaps a striker coach could double as a psychologist? If we miss out on another striker this time around, perhaps saving the money and training our current crop to up the striker training may not be so bad.

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  15. Yeah, I reckon we'll probably sell 2 or 3 strikers in the summer. I'd probably keep Lambert. Not a world beater, but passionate and not many Prem proven players are willing to warm the bench. Balotelli is on trial effectively until the summer. Borini is on borrowed time. Aspas is certainly finished.

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  16. I think it would be nice if we started our season in August, rather than January. Anyway, I still think FSG are on a watching brief with BR, not ready to commit any more funds until something looks like working.

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  17. LIverpool clearly has the cash and not scared to spend BUT TOP players do not want to play at Liverpool at the moment for what ever reason ? The only option to BR is to buy young up and coming players .

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  18. I agree ;look at Sothhampton .
    Sold their so called best players and making Liverpool look silly this season !

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  19. FSG has cash frozen Brendan after the summer spree and CL elimination.
    Can't really blame them. tbh.

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  20. Give the players at least one season to settle, then judge them.

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  21. Liverpool have a good scoring record away from home.

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  22. Markovic, Moreno, Lallana and Can were good signings that took a little time to settle. Lambert & Mario were horrible buys because they don't suit us. Lovren will come good imo.

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  23. I really think LFC needs another striker (someone like Suarez) to receive passes from Sterling and Courtino. Both are doing well but not finishing well. FSG has to start thinking if they want LFC to finish top 4 (real possibility) then they have to bring in someone to partner Sturridge or play the scoring role. Sell Balo, Borini and Lambert. Save on their salaries. Keep Sterling 100K per week, he is better than De Gea. Many good names have been linked to LFC, make the commitment early.

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  24. He also said that there was no chance of liverpool signing Ballotelli,
    and we still signed him. So dont know how much we can read into this.
    On another note, with all the talk of our transfer comittee is this confirmed.
    Why i ask is because i read on another site that Rodgers did not want Ballotelli but wanted bony, but was overuled by the transfer comittee... if that is the case then i think all the criticism on rodgers is a little unfair.

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  25. 4eva LFC, LFC 4eva7:27 am, January 30, 2015

    Once again LFC supporters have been led to believe that we actually had a chance of signing someone in this window, when FSG/BR knew from the start they were never going to do any bussiness this January, and again they will hide behind the "we do bussiness behind closed doors here at Anfield"
    All that needs to happen is that ther club make an annoucement on the club website saying that they will or will not be buying players, that's it.
    All this bullshit about we are looking at him, oh LFC made a bid for him is just that utter bullshit.

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  26. We are being associated with DANNY INGS this morning with loads of fans moaning BUT I remember us signing a 28 year old who had only ever scored in the lower divisions and would never make it - his name was JOHN ALDRIDGE - Ings for a small fee makes good sense to me - got 7 in 19 Premier League games in his first season for Burnley

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  27. Our Football last season was brilliant to watch and B R is starting to repeat the dose - STICK WITH BREN - THE GOOD TIMES ARE COMING - HOLD YOUR NERVE JOHN HENRY - YOU HAVE THE BEST YOUNG MANAGER OUT THERE

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  28. we do need another striker, despo. But Big Dan back, an fitter than ever, forever. Hopefully. We can all understand if we don't sign anyone this window. Top 4, then start next season like we (hopefully), finish this one
    YnWa

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  29. I Agree. I think stick with BR for one more season at least. He is young, so will make mistakes. As long as he corrects them, the good times will roll. And The "committee" F*** O** haha

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  30. So Jaimie, you can tell me I am an apologist, but I can't tell you that?

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  31. Not sure what your point is here really. BR is the only one from the club who has spoken about January business and he has been quite clear and consistant from the outset that there is unlikely to be any business done, unless something specatuclar happens.
    Why would the club (or any club) put out an official statement saying they will or will not be signing anyone? The world just doesn't work like that

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  32. And Baztech could be NGCTC?

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  33. It's clear and simple negligence. It's throwing in the towel. There is no way we will finish inside the top four if we dont have a goalscorer and a keeper. I can fully understand FSG not wasting any more money by giving it to the people who have been wasting it for the last three years but then that should have been addressed in October so we could improve the team at the start of January and maximize our chances of a top four finish.

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  34. the first name on the list ;-)

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  35. Your first post came just after Sheik took off, so you are being watched!

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  36. as sheikh is NGCTC it could be pretty much any name that appeared on this side in the last month

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  37. Yeah I agree about Lovren, I don't know why but I still think he'll come good. Bit of a kick in the teeth from BR the other night though, putting Johnson on instead of Lovren when Sahko got injured. Johnson must have photos of BR doing something inappropriate with all the game time he gets despite being so poor.

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  38. Can see us starting next season with, Sturridge (great), Origi (if he is any good which I doubt, will take time to settle), Balotelli (because he won't leave) and Lambert (still plan B). This line up doesn't inspire confidence, we need a Costa type but there ain't one out there who would come to LFC.

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  39. Everyone's a suspect. Remain vigilant. Lock your doors and windows. Look out for suspicious misspellings such as Stirling, Courtino and Andre Scurlle.

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  40. All the talk is about buying Danny Ings....what do you guys think? I am not sure.... but if LFC gets him for 8 mill or less, then why not. But then not sure how hemight fit in with big club mentality. And yes, I up-voted myself.

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  41. All is say is remember the last time we signed a man with 6 months of experience in the league.

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  42. Did you know with certainty that Aldridge would play as well as he did. I do not think so. Same with Ings. You do not know how he will perform. Of course he could be great but we are not in the position to take yet another gamble.

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  43. How come Suarez never bit a keeper then?

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  44. Ings? As a replacement for Borini or Lambert, then he's clearly an upgrade. He's not a player who's going to take Liverpool to the next level, though, and if he signs, it'll mean the Reds have one from Suarez to Lambert and Ings in the space of a year, which doesn't inspire confidence.

    If Rodgers' plan is to start next season with Sturridge, Ings, and Origi as the club's main strikers, then it's a negligent plan that lacks ambition.

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  45. In any case, Suarez's tendency to bite seems to be anomaly and peculiar to him as a professional footballer, so far as I know. Moreover, we tend to hunt with our arms (spears, guns etc) and feet (football) and not with our mouths. Therein, Suarez is an unusual animal...

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  46. I would have thought the luminous keeper was more about gathering than hunting. Most animals are not bright coloured and it is movement that is more necesary to see. Luminous things tend to be fruit. Also on a personal note I prefer to go bibs when I play five aside. I find the luminous colors easier to see. Perhaps this means that it's hard not to think about the keeper when shooting as they are the focus when the goal should be the focus.

    Amateur neuro-psychologist to anyone who wants my advice.

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  47. lol... that's a funny yet very interesting observation, Mike. I suppose he evades keepers either way; that is, biting and scoring. I think his level of intelligence and guile has enabled him to evolve beyond the norm as a player, even at this level, (bar the barbaric gnawing) to know how to score above, beneath, around, over and even through the legs of a keeper. Probably well-drilled and consciously trained to score this, way but for the best part probably an innate skill that he shares with others like Messi, Ibra, etc... I think the trained part can ve learned by our attacking midfielders for example, but they have to be conscious and dedicated to develop such valuable elements of a tiki taka style in the top third.

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  48. There have been other biters but as far as I know no one has done it more than once. Certainly not more than twice.

    Also I doubt Mike expected a straight answer to a joke question.

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  49. Also an interesting point Jay Jay, but I think the hunter partly aims to kill but also aims to protect himself from threat/harm. In footballing terms, the keeper is often the ultimate source of threat to the hunter/scorer as he nervously or assuredly heads for the net with only the bright one to beat. The luminous colour serves to accentuate the threat in a big, bold manner. In any case, a more suited psychologist in this area would be evolutionary, rather than neuro, in training :)

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  50. well, the joke's only funny if it fits the point but hve you known humans to hunt with their mouths?

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  51. Yes that point you make is interesting. I think (just throwing out my silly theories) that s there would never be a prey or predator as brightly colored this could be a way of exploiting different evolutionary traits in one instance. The gatherer in us is more hard wired to see bright clours. Spotting fruiting plants in forests and undergrowth but in nature a fruit is never going to be as large as a goalkeeper. This added to our hunter instincts (and prey instincts) of seeing movement even in the periphery make the keeper more visable and strange for the brain to put in to context. Especially as the hunter/goal scorer instincts are taking over. The more visable and this larger looking keeper could seem more like predator than prey. Disorienting as the information of colour has to pass through areas of the brain that process motion and shape before the colour. This may mean that the keeper is perceived even bigger than they are.

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  52. Martin Skrtel is a LFC's best defender, but doesn't lead the back four. So how can he lead the team?

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  53. None who were not feral and brought up by dogs or something.

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  54. oh yeah, and apparently man's obsession with the remote control spawns from the same evolutionary psychology theory. Some academics in this area believe that flicking channels is akin to shooting the target!

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  55. The remote being a de facto spear you mean?

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  56. Maybe I am an apologist but That trio(if Ings continues to up his form) with Ibe, Sterling, Lallana and Couts can win the Epl...

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  57. 4eva LFC, LFC 4eva2:26 pm, January 30, 2015

    Your right and i probably expect too much in regards to information passed on to the supporters, i just think that instead of hearing all the bullshit news from the press and all the hear say, that maybe our club could show the same loyalty to its supporters who are there through all the bad times and the good, by clearing up the rumours floating around about who they are looking at.
    Instead of just posting thoae same bullshit headlines on its website.

    Let me oppologise for wishing.

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  58. Ings isnt comming to us, he cant

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  59. Yeah, we'd certainly need more than those three. I suppose a lot depends on if Mario comes good between now and the end of the season. If he does, Mario and Sturridge plus two younger strikers wouldn't be too bad. If not, I think we'd need a top quality replacement for Mario as an alternative/complement to Sturridge.

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  60. Well let's hope Rogers signs no one. Still remember jk's damming of everyone he's has sign barr a few. Don't want another markovic, or can

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  61. Why Liverpool lost to Chelsea was because BR thinks Sterling can score and win Liverpool games. Gerald was free but Sterling decided or does not know that in this game of soccer he is the eleventh man therefore he must play as a team. A simple pass to Gerald will have killed Chelsea but what does he do he tried the Messi and lost the ball. The other issue Liverpool will never sign a quality player as long as BR is there. My fear is that quality players are not willing to come to Anfield because BR. This to be signed that to be signed by Liverpool but no one put pen to paper. Liverpool must change the coach to attract top quality players.

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  62. Higuain is worth it but not Lavezzi

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  63. Higuain is not coming. His brother said it himself months ago, and Lavezzi is a risk deal.

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  64. He is a piece of trash like Allen,Borini et al....IMO any sane manager except BR would keep him in his playing 11 forget about Captain's armband

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  65. keep the figures to yourself. We know how much difference Cout and Sterling make to a game. Keep these 2 out of a game, and count the number of assists your Henderson makes that day.

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  66. And this guy has started making the mockery of free kicks by taking them. Today laughed so much that I feared I would break a rib or two.

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  67. Great Jay Jay, we've well and truly merged onto the same path, here. I agree with your initial point about the importance of fruit being bright to attract our attention... particularly when we were roaming to find food-laden lands in our cave days. I also agree with your suggestion that the brain (instinct/hard-wiring) confuses the goal-scoring situation as a case of either 'picking' or being 'picked' (meaning humiliated at worst for missing the opportunity) by the 'colorful' keeper, Well even back in the day, the best food hunters will have led from the front, just like they do today in footballing terms... eg. Sturridge (did it again last night!) How is it that players like Coutinho and even Sterling require an inordinate number of opportunities to score for proportionately low returns (forget about Lucas, even though I respect the guy), yet Sturridge appears to readily pick a spot around, over, or even under the keeper to bring home the bacon? You can see this scoring ability in kids, so like many other traits evident in young human beings, goal-scoring at Sturridge's level appears innate and can't be learned. But, I do believe some improvement in goal-scoring can be learned, such as understanding that the keeper should be feeling like he's the prey and not the other way around. I think Sterling could do with some of these classes, because he has missed some howlers with only the keeper to beat in the 6 yard box! The course would be called, 'Hey Sterling, you're the picker, not the picked! Classes would be about confidence-building and the art of training and scoring. Do this over and over again in order to re-wire the brain and suddenly we're feasting on bacon on the table headed by the new SAS!



    Ps. Yes, I suppose Evolutionary Neuropsychology as a sub-discipline of Psychology would be interested, for example, in wiring up Sterling's brain to measure the fear vs reward centres in his brain while going for goal... especially when missing from within the 6 yard box! I mean surely he has the skill to score (probably does it so many times and so easily in training, but on the big stage he, like most, would more likely miss. So, if the miss can't be attributed to his physical abilities, it must be attributed to his brain. So, psychology (deals directly with matters of the mind) could be used to train the brain ( a primal organ dealing with instincts) away from fear by shifting the neural pathways into a new direction of picking rather than being picked, And wella, it's called confidence!

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  68. That's unfair Henderson never got tired of fighting would you say we strip Gerrard's captaincy because he slipped last season which effectively cost us premier leage title

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