30 Jan 2013

Confirmed XI vs. Arsenal: BR dumps 4 regulars. Plus, post-match discussion...

Reds manager Brendan Rodgers has sent a clear message to to Liverpool's Oldham flops by dropping four regular first-team players for tonight's Premier League game with Arsenal.

As predicted, Martin Skrtel drops to the bench after his FA Cup no-show, and he's joined by Joe Allen, Fabio Borini and Raheem Sterling, all of whom were mostly ineffective against the Latics.

FULL TEAM: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Carragher, Wisdom, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Downing, Suarez, Sturridge.

SUBS: Jones, Enrique, Skrtel, Shelvey, Allen, Borini and Sterling.

It's interesting to note how things have changed over the season:

* Carra has been out of favour for months, and now it seems he's replaced Skrtel as first choice partner for Daniel Agger.

* Stewart Downing warmed the bench for most of the first half of the season, but now he starts every game.

* Jordan Henderson has gone from squad player to regular starter.

* Joe Allen, who many believed to be untouchable, now seems to be slipping down the pecking order.

It's a welcome surprise to see Jose Enrique back in the squad, and hopefully, he'll be able to continue the great form he displayed prior to getting injured.

Unsurprisingly, Sebastian Coates doesn't even make the bench.

PROBABLE FORMATION

-------------- Reina

Wisdom -- Agger --- Carragher -- Johnson

---------- Lucas -- Henderson

-------------- Gerrard

----- Downing -------- Suarez

------------- Sturridge

LFC legend Mark Lawrenson believes that the Gunners are 'starting to hit a good run of form at the right time', and he's predicted a 2-1 victory for Arsenal. Lawro told the BBC:

"This is probably Liverpool's biggest game of the season so far. They have not beaten anyone above them and if they can go and win at the Emirates, it will show people that they can beat the better teams".

Jaimie Kanwar NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


150 comments:

  1. liverpool4life5656:52 pm, January 30, 2013

    Happy hendo playing he gives us the right balance..... Also he hard working,.

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  2. Shocking lack of talent in midfield. Result of 4 years of ridiculous man- and transfer management.

    Anyway, hope the midfield doesn't get overwhelmed by Arsenal - that is always key against them.

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  3. My biggest fear is carra, he easily could get sent off and give away a pen as for sterling allen and jones they all deserved to be dropped but this looks an average team againts arsenal, not feeling too confident tbh

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  4. i dont have worries about the midfield with lucas in there to partner Gerrard.

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  5. I'd flip Hendo and Gerrard the other way round to maintain better pressure on Arsenal, especially when we want to keep the play out of our half!

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  6. No surprises to the starting eleven. I kind of hope to see Enrique on at some point. Was the only team he could pick to be honest. Arsenal's defence is a bit suspect so don't be surprised to see a win go either way today. Fingers are now crossing....

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  7. This could be either the making or the breaking of our season. A win here would be a great achievement as Arsenal have been playing some amazing football at times, this term. If we don't hit the ground running and start with an aggressive, attacking philosophy, then we could end up with a hiding.

    A win would be great and I expect us to pull something out of the bag in every game but I wouldn't be too disappointed with a draw if we're under the cosh for long periods. If we're all over them or have more chances, then I'll fully expect us to win and will be disappointed if we don't. 

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  8. If Enrique is available I prefer him from Wisdom. Even Skirtel is better then Carra. I go for our best and normal back 4 , and the remainder of the team is good. Hope for the best and we will reach the gunners to keep climbing that 4th important post.

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  9. Well that's probably our best team right now so we will see how this match goes. 

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  10. Agree we can't afford to go behind early on, that could be a catalyst for bad things to happen....

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  11. Wisdom away at Arsenal won't work ... expecting a hammering.

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  12. Hmmm.... Hope Carraghers lack of mobility is not shown up by Arsenal. I would have preferred to have seen him start vs Oldham. A game more suited to his current strengths I would have thought.

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  13. odds from some asian betting company shows it would be a difficult game for us. bless for a good result.

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  14. Tough fixture this but i think with the squad we have we could give Arsenal a pretty good run for they're money. People seem concerned about our midfield but i think with Gerrard Lucas and Hendo we should be able to hold our own if not dominate a little at times esp if Gerrard gets a good grip on the game.

    Anyway, looking forward to tonights game, really hope we show up for this as has been said already it could be the making or the breaking of our season, time for our lads to step up and show what the fcuk they're made of.

    Bring it on!

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  15. This is the best line-up we could field of those available I think. I worry about Arsenal isolating Carra v Walcott (I haven't seen their line-up but assume Theo is in the side). That said, we need Carra's savvy.

    I also would switch Gerrard and Hendo in your line-up JK, because Gerrard seems to be thriving in that deeper role and it lets Suarez drop deeper and get more involved.

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  16. I'm calling it - Allen has to move into the front 3 to get the best out of him (and the team).

    Forget about hoping he'll be our Xavi, and start hoping he'll be our Iniesta!

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  17. I was just saying to my son we need to hope JC isn't left alone to deal with a ball over the top to Walcott, or a threaded pass where pace is needed. That's where we are definitely vulnerable.

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  18. Jamie, what took your first post so long? Heard the Coutinho deal is sealed, so I guess the work permit will be sorted out or has it? Granted Coutinho's is a welcome addition but IMO it'll mean Suso will get less game time.

    I hope we pull through at the Emirates though! YNWA

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  19. The work permit was obtained this afternoon.

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  20. I Just wanted to take a break for the day. Plus, I've posted a lot of stuff about Coutinho over the last couple of weeks that I didn't want to repeat myself. 

    I have a good feeling about tonight's game. A win could really set the club up for an all-out assault on the top four. A defeat, and it'll all be doom and gloom again...

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  21. btw, if we're having to play Carragher away against Arsenal, this must show a complete lack of faith in Skrtel, and hopefully we'll finally be upgrading over him in the summer

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  22. This one can go either way. Hope we can somehow win this one to get some positivity back into our camp.

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  23. Now that is an interesting call.

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  24. Fielding Skrtel wouldn't fill me with any more confidence to be honest, even though I share your fears concerning Carra.

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  25. What we dont want is the attitude we had against man ure in the 1st half, arseholenil are nothing to be afraid of, agree with the dropping of those 4 players, hope we go out & have a real go!!

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  26. Seems we are pressing right from the off. Good.

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  27. Form wise that is probably the best eleven. I have to say i agree with Carrager over skertal. Though with his advanced age we probably have dip into the transfer market for a defender, maybe not in this window but at least in the summer. 

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  28. Tut, tut, take a break? Next thing you,ll be driving round in a bentley * demanding 100 grand a week, footies gone to the dogs, lol

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  29. God , i can see your one of lifes optimists, lol

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  30. wernt city willing to pay £15mill plus for skrtl last summer?

    I feel like we will have to score 3 to win this, they look good coming forward.

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  31.  Agreed ...except for a fit enrique...we are a match for most with this team

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  32. im calling it - Allen has to move to another club ,hes not good enough

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  33.  carra is there on merit all i ask of rogers is he plays form players and drops out of form players....its that simple...no one has slated carra like me at times (but touch wood JK,s Head ) hes found decent form...

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  34.  hendo has bulked up lately ...hes begining to have presance

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  35. At long last people seem to be waking up to something that has been evident for a long time, except for one season. Skertel is a liability

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  36. Imagine what trouble we'd be in now if they'd have let Agger go!

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  37.  Looking good so far. Henderson and Downing performing well again, Suarez great when we haven't got the ball, definitely feeling positive

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  38. First half didn't look too bad. Mistakes on both sides but Arsenal are there for the taking if we put our chances away. Sturridge should have definitely put us 2-0 up.....If we don't concede early in 2nd half then Arsenal could start to panic. We need that 2nd goal to kill them off.

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  39. liverpool4life5658:42 pm, January 30, 2013

    True, if he adds more goals into his game then we have a good midfielder on our hands :)

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  40. Positivity is much needed right now...

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  41. He actually is so bad that he is second only to Arteta when in comes to total passes. And now hold your breath. Out of those top five passers in the league he is the one with most forward passes and least backward passes. He's been badly out of form recently, but he is a lot better than some people think.

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  42. Good first half. Disagree about Henderson and Downing though. They've been okay, but their passing needs to improve big time in the 2nd half. Lots of good situations wasted by those two with crap passing.

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  43. I don't want to imagine this, too depressive. Besides, today it was my turn to depress people :-)

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  44. im confident as long as rogers doesnt try and introduce allen and borini on to the field

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  45. 1-0 up at half time...i'll take that for now but Arsenal are looking very dangerous going forward. Some very good counter attacking play from our lads, could have had 1 possibly 2 more goals had Hendo been a bit more clinical, but at least he is getting into some good positions and providing our attack with much needed support...

    Looks like we are going to scrap this one out, its up to Arsenal to try and break us down, seem to be doing a fairly good job of holding them off so far just hope we don't drop too deep......Kinda feel as if we're inviting them to have a go at times which is bound to be costly unless we can get another goal.

    Come on the Redmen!

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  46.  I think it's one of the biggest differences between BR and KD. This season players get games based on performances, last season it was based on their price tag and nationality

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  47. Get in Jordan!!!!!!!!!

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  48. GET THE FCUK IN HENDOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

    :-)

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  49. bollocks!!! 2-1. 

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  50. Spineless chokers and serial letdown merchants, they build you up and knock you down, again and again and again....

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  51. 2-2. lol WTF!!!!!!!!!!!! 

    Time to step it up again....

    Come on the Redmen!!!!

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  52. fuck off reina. seriously. fuck off. our defence is shambolic too i've been waitingo for that capitulation. don't know how we were winning 2-0

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  53. jesus christ another reina stuff up

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  54. now i wish we signed walcott. he's on fire. what the hell is a liverpool boy doing in their team! and why did he take sturridge off!?

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  55. looking tired, keep walcot off the ball !!!

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  56. yeah great leadership gerrard, go in for a stupid tackle with the game in the balance

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  57. OLIVIER GIROUD- CHEAT SERIES

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  58. and Wilshire the ref bought that one and looked what happened !!

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  59. Absolutely pathetic. So angry. Depressed too at the gulf in class.

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  60. OHHHH SHIT THAT WAS CLOSE. what a chance to steal the game...

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  61. Gutted....

    Plenty of positives but still....

    Just gutted.

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  62. you keep watching the stats while ill watch the player

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  63. What's pathetic about it? 2-2 at the Emirates is no disgrace. Could've won the game easily if chances had been put away. Prior to this game, I wanted 4 points from Arsenal and City, and that's still possible. Rodgers bottled it by taking off Sturridge; that negativity and willingness to accept the draw is what bothers me.

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  64. Gave away 2 points there. Gutted!

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  65.  we where always going to leak goals at the back...but at least we scored a couple and could have had more...we have about 5 players who we really need to move on and replace

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  66. why do arsenal always up their game against us? against man utd- forget it. liverpool? at least a draw...

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  67. We defended, for the first 60 minutes, better than we've done all season. I think Sturridge could have had a hat-trick tonight and his & Suarez's link up play was very encouraging and just needs a little bit more fine tuning. 
    Well done Henderson for not giving up and bagging the second.

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  68.  with carra at the back we have to defend deep...thats just the way it is

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  69. Reina is a WASTE!

    Both goals against us were within reach. Why do we have to put up with a dunce like him.

    Get OUT REINA!!!

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  70. Gutted, still cant beat a team above us, everton winning, when your 2 up away from home you hope for the win but once they got one back you could see another coming, iam sick of hearing about positives, we need wins

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  71.  henderson was our best midfielder by some way jaimie...hes head and shoulders over  Allen and lucas at the moment literaly

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  72. Oh, and we need a top goalie from somewhere, now!!!

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  73. that just killed our chacnes. absolutely no momentum on the go-forward with counter attacks or just regular build up of play, but arsenal were in our half majority of the second half, as well as the first. in a way it's pathetic because we quickly blew a great 2 goal lead, i was so pumped when hendo scored, i thought that would kind of kill the game by dampening arsenal's spirits after all their failed onslaughts

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  74. I would have taken a 2-2 draw if someone had offered it before the match, but being unable to hold on to a two goal lead is hard to take.

    Reina looked his old self in the first half making some good saves, but reverted to his new self in the second half. His goals to shots ratio must be really bad.

    Arsenal were very vulnerable at the back and we should have taken more advantage of that. We didn't and gave them too much of the ball in the second half and too much space as well. That's calling for trouble. We are defensively too weak to soak up a lot of pressure. At times we were all over the place.

    Now I can see what those who weren't too convinced about Sturridge meant. He has some qualities, but he is making many very poor decisions. Whether this is down to a lack of match intelligence, which could be eradicated, or the lack of general intelligence I don't know.

    Wisdom has real pace. This became evident when we wasted another corner and Arsenal countered. He overtook everybody racing back.

    Our corners have been woeful for ages. Since Sami left we pose no real threat in such situations and for years I've been wondering why Gerrard persists in taking them. He is a big lad, he should be in the mix and he's not very good at taking them. Hopefully Coutinho knows how to do it.

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  75. talk about it. walcott's shot went to the far post from a tough angle for god's sake. it just bristled past reina, easily within reach.

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  76. Doing one of these doesn't rule out doing the other too. This piece of advice is free of charge.

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  77. Can you provide me with some tonight? Ah well, we didn't lose, but we surrendered a two goal lead. Don't know whether I can be too positive about this.

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  78. I simply cannot get my head around how cheaply and promptly... we threw away that 2-0 advantage....

    So much hard work straight down the pan, its just bloody demoralising really, was Reina at fault? was Walcott just too good? 

    What i do know is that allowing them 2 goals in quick succession was almost akin to self harming.....

    Tough game, which feels like a loss....Reina deffo hardly moved for Walcotts shot....but WTF its either Reina or Jones......

    Don't matter though because the window will close soon and we will wank our way through the second half of the season much like we have the first....

    Keep throwing away games we could have won, keep losing our confidence and consistency....

    Which reminds me nice to see Enrique back....him and Reina sure do make a formidable impact on our games...

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  79. This hurts man, gave away two goal lead because of agger and reina then the tragic story began rodgers playing for a draw that was so sick to watch just terrible, why mancs can always hold on the lead and win even when they play poorly but we cant, all i hoped was this game, city will trash us, is rodgers going to defend like that again?

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  80. Carragher instilled some order to the back line, but we still made too many mistakes at the back and could easily have lost the match with the missed chances Arsenal had. At the same time we could have retaken the points at the end but it wasn't to be. 

    Can't help feeling disappointed, but if we can reproduce the positives against City, a win could be possible there.  I think Henderson was one of our better performers and deserves to keep his place against City.

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  81. The positives are clear (IMO): We went into a 2-0 goal lead away from home, and even though we surrendered the lead, there were still ample opportunities to win the game. The team didn't just capitulate, and if Sturridge was still on the field at the end, he would've probably banged in that rebound from Suarez's shot.

    Rodgers has to take most of the blame for the failure to win the game. Gerrard was also anonymous for most of the second half, and Lucas didn't protect the back four enough.

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  82. Sturridge didn't impress me too much tonight to be honest. He makes a lot of silly decisions and kills opportunities by doing so. His work rate is pretty good and causes havoc basically due to his industriousness. His runs create space for others, but when you look for a goal against a top team, Suarez, who can beat a few men, is the better option.

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  83. He still is a lot better than the other keepers we have.

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  84. I thought Sturridge played really well. His hold-up play is superb, but he barely got any decent service. He's the type of player who can be under the radar for 20 mins and then pop up with a goal, and if he'd stayed on till the end, I think he would've scored. I'm very happy with his signing.

    Gerrard and Lucas were far more ineffective IMO.

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  85. wisdom,downing,henderson played very well, all the team did in fact, should reina been on his toes a bit more for Walcott?? think so.
    not clinical enough with passing at times, but good effort and energy.
    midfield needed to be a bit tighter together for me.
    still bit weak at the back especially in the air............oh how we still miss hypia !!
    Johnson just class, he really should be considered to play winger sometimes, why Enrique went infront of him il never know.
    same again against city and we got another chance for 3 points against a top team.
    good game and result, almost perfect considering

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  86. I think we were riding our luck most of the game the way we defended. If they had van Persie instead of Giroud, they'd have been out of reach at half-time.

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  87.  im happy with sturridge at least he looks dangerous.....i agree about gerrard why hes not in the box is beyond me...halleluiah rogers has given hendo some credit.....the same guy who tried to use hendo( our best midfielder by some way ) as a makeweight for dempsey... 

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  88. I wouldn't waste your beath mate, ive been saying the same for a long time now and its been falling on deaf ears.....

    We would much rather sacrifice yet another manager than deal with our issues...

    Its just pathetic and cowardly...

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  89. agree he played well, still finding his feet being a regular. needs to look up more see whats going on around him.
    maybe sterling might of been a better replacement despite recent form

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  90. i agree JK .....i would have bought jonjo on for downing and tried to go for it

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  91.  reina has serious trouble saving thses types of shots ...he looked like his boots were nailed to the ground

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  92. heres one for you....dont eat yellow snow

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  93. Lest we forget that at that time most Liverpool supporters would have been happy to see the back of Henderson. Kudos to Rodgers for not being stubborn and giving him his chance even though he didn't rate him at first.

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  94. we really should got jonjo on in midfield to try and stir thing up

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  95. I agree. We started the 2nd half amazingly, then a strange inability to play came over us and Arsenal dominated. 
    But with both defences so suspect and each side capable of scoring, I too would have left Sturrdge on in the hope he would have been the one player in the box in the final minutes to get the tap in..

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  96. Yep. Needs to keep his place for City, definitely.

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  97. For my take on Sturridge, see above.

    Thanks, though for the positives. True, the team didn't just capitulate, there were chances to win the match, but there were more chances for Arsenal to win it either.

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  98. LFC 1892-2009 then we died10:14 pm, January 30, 2013

    Sturridge storming off the field when substituted doesnt look good,refusing to shake Rodgers hand.Maybe loan him out to QPR tomorrow we still have time and pay half his wages until the end of the season then sell him and get llorente on a free in the summer.,i would play Borini as the lone striker,Borinis attitude is first class he just got the injury at the wrong time.Henderson is starting to fulfill his potential but i feel Suarez will be on his bike now in the summer,we wont get top4 now,we will be so demoralised that City will pick us off easily on Sunday and thats our season over,because dont forget in Rafas last season he lost a european semi final in injury time and still got the sack.

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  99. Yes, as I've said, he has a few qualities and he isn't a bad player. His decision making though is what worries me.

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  100. dont count me with them ive always rated the kid ...he played an entire season out of position under kenny...but the pace of the game was to much for gerrard and lucas ..they looked lost in the second half ...imagine bringing diame or a similar player on for either of them

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  101. "We have about 5 players who we really need to move on and replace"
    True, we've had that problem for 20 years or so.

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  102. couple of half decent but bog standard saves from reina .then when push comes to shove and he is called to make a match winning save he fucks up once again .sell asap. wtf was he doin with that cross shot .the man costs us big time in every big game and has done for the past3 years.  there were players dead on their feet after 75 mins wtf did rodgers do f"ck all fresh legs were needed. an at a loss

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  103. ive posted numerous times we will conceed goals from set pieces as agger always seems wrong side when balls are whipped in...two big defenders who can get there head in first is a priority...as well as a goalie...who doesnt just do hollywood saves  

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  104. I started defending Henderson myself at some stage during last season as too many people were on his back, though I was never sure he would really turn the corner. Now it seems he did and long may it last.

    Gerrard made some very poor misplaced passes. Well, all of our players did, but when he does it, it sticks out as we expect him not to do it. Lucas is still not fully match fit, and while he has improved a lot in recent years and is a decent player, he isn't even close to world-class.

    Now that M'Vila and Sissoko aren't available anymore, Diamé should be top of our shopping list.

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  105. A point at the Emirates isn't bad, but as it stands, our season still hasn't picked up and we're still in an insipid holding pattern (3 full seasons and counting!).

    Agger needs to learn how to mark on set-pieces. It is getting ridiculous. I've said it before, but I think Rodgers needs to get a defensive specialist (a la Steve Clarke) in because BR seems to have no idea how to organise his side when they are off the ball. If you look at all of Rodgers' sides, none of them were sturdy defensive outfits.

    The major positive I suppose would be the sudden upturn in not only Hendo's form, but his end product. Should have done better when he had Szczesny scrambling but he still did well. Can't argue with a goal and an assist. Good to see Suarez still scoring with Sturridge in the team.

    Disappointing that Rodgers subbed Sturridge, but to be fair, he wasn't working hard enough for me. He was right to occupy the centre-halves and stay further forward, but he just loped around for the most part. I'd have taken off Downing myself, but in fairness to Stew, he played some decent stuff after DS went off.

    Nice to see Enrique back.

    Serious mental problems with this side. So few teams go 2-0 and don't close out the game (though funnily enough Chelsea did it tonight) but we've managed to do it twice in two seasons at key points.

    Lucas is a long way off from where he used to be. I'm not sure if we might be better off playing Allen/Gerrard/Henderson until he can get fitter. Gerrard seems to play worse with Allen though.

    I hope we get a bruiser in at either centre-half or centre-mid before the window shuts, but I'm not holding my breath. We need someone to organise, galvanise and securitise (difficult to think of a third one) the team.

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  106. Sturridge is still finding his feet at the minute and the fact he scored those first goals so quickly for us, has maybe had us expecting him to be on it a bit more than he is.
     I don't think he was bad tonight and had Rodgers left him on, there were a couple of late opportunities where I think he would have been in the box at the right time for a tap in. 
    When Enrique came on I genuinely thought it was for Wisdom; pulling Johnson over to the right to have a go at their player who was apparently weaker at the defensive side of his game. At 2-0 up, why wasn't this put to the test?
      With fresher legs, I thought Enrique would have then been instructed to try and keep Walcott in his pocket, as he became a big threat as the 2nd half went on.
     Cannot for the life of me work that substitution out......

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  107. Spurs drew, chelski blew a 2 goal lead, would have been a great night if we,d won, had a chance to make a real statement that we were going for 4th, then as usual we fu**ed it up

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  108. Is billy the fish still available, s.o.s., top goalie needed

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  109. we seriously could have pulled off a man utd-esque win today (winning away from home despite fewer chances and general control of the match). from the minute it started though, i was never confident about the shaky defence. walcott had a great chance immediately after suarez's goal, and there were just gaps everywhere. you'd think that henderson goal would have deflated arsenal after they dominated the play with chances, but our defence was just too wobbly. I would have been contempt with a 2-2 draw before the match, but with the way it panned out, I'm really pissed off as it was easily up for grabs after hendo's goal. it should have been that moment when liverpool rallied together to mount the pressure on arsenal and kill the game, but to arsenal's credit, they didn't let that disheartening goal dampen their spirits. Now, if we win at city, that just gives a major advantage to man utd and almost certainly guarantees the title is going to old trafford. but if we want to stop man utd's dominance, we need to place the initiative into our own hands and get into the top 4, starting with a win at man city, so we can strengthen a top 4 squad to finally reclaim our perch. 

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  110. We weren't 2-0 long enough to put it to the test.
    Enrique has been really good going forward recently and it made sense to me to bring him on and push Suarez in the middle at the same time. I thought Suarez would be the more likely player to score than Sturridge.
    Actually, I am very taken by the shift Suarez put in today. One would think that such a talented forward player would not like to defend at all, but Suarez was really everywhere on the left today. Glad I start finding positives myself again :-)

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  111. get it right its billy the cat and the answer is yes

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  112. or as i known during my playin days THE CHINESE LAUNDRY > clean sheets every week!!!!!!

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  113. Utterly gutted... Was screaming my head of at 0-2 but how we let that lead slip was heartbreaking. Why didn't Reina get down for the 2nd goal? We need a goalie, one that can dive all day, we also need a defensive midfielder (a destroyer). Why didn't we bid for Bayern's Luis Gustavo?! He's like Sandro but cheaper, plus he's been at the bench most of the time at Bayern. We seriously need a midfield lynchpin, Lucas is a DM but we need a patrol man to protect our back 4... Johnson, Reina, Lucas and Gerrard were far from 100% today.

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  114. we're just like another man city of old; 'typical liverpool'.

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  115. Ha, ha, ha. That cheers me up. Some people portray Rafa as the most tactical astute manager this planet has ever seen, and then he can't organize a team that cost hundreds off millions to assemble to hold on to a two goal lead at struggling Reading.

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  116. I wouldn't bank on a win at Man City.

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  117. no player should be untouchable.  no player.

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  118. Your right mate, trouble is as quick as we get rid of one dud we spunk a few mil on another, its rapidly looking like the 25mil plus that we blew on allen & borini has been another waste of serious money

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  119. Because Suarez was doing such a good job, that's why I thought Enrique behind him, subduing Walcott would give him that little extra room.
     Taking Johnson to the right would have allowed us to press more down that wing.
     Wisdom was okay but is far from the finished product when going forward especially. And I thought he was caught out of position defensively a couple of times. He should have made way for Enrique IMO.
     Sometimes attack is the best form of defence, so they say; we needed to keep them on the back foot as their defence was worse than ours! 
     When Lucas started to go off the boil, it seemed to drag Gerrard down with him and they both lost out too much from then on. That's when we need decent back up for Lucas.
     My turn for a little pessimism I'm afraid! 
    That's the trouble with being a modern day LFC fan, it's one major, emotional rollercoaster  :-)

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  120. Medication time, medication time, medication time

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  121. Lol :) billy the fish was a legend mate :)

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  122. Joe Allen's relegation should illustrate to everyone that Rodgers doesn't play favourites. The idea that a manager would continue to use a player in a form slump merely out of a sense of stubbornness or determination to prove that it was a good signing is pretty daft. When it counts I think we can clearly see that Rodgers puts together the team that he thinks will produce the best result. That's how it should be, so the weird conspiracy theories really need to be put to bed. Managers obviously have their own ideas on team selection, god knows Rafa made some decisions that were difficult to understand, but I never thought it reasonable to assume a manager simply had players that he liked more, regardless of what form they were in. 

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  123. Constant barracking from your own fans doesn't exactly breed calm and confidence, though.

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  124. Seriously...lets be real about this, we are NOT going to get into the top 4, there is no way that this squad of players will perform consistently well enough, its just NOT going to happen.

    This season IMO was a complete write off from the summer where we again failed to address our issues....

    AND we will fail again in this window....

    Unsurprisingly. Almost like "we" want to fail...

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  125. my thoughts too. I don`t think Allen is that bad at all, just been a bit out of form last few games, of which Rodgers seems to have picked up on, so fair dues to him.

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  126. @DecDec89:disqus - I agree, that Lucas seemed to be pulling Gerrard deeper by going off the boil as you put it, thats why we were sitting so deep and allowing Arsenal to come at us....Gerrard could not get forward, Hendo had to link up the play with our forward line....AND cover Gerrard when he did actually manage to get forward....

    I was amazed at h/t that they hadn't actually equalized.... this is another one of our long standing issues that hasn't been addressed....

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  127. To be honest, I thought we played ok. We did wobble a bit after letting two in, but Arsenal at there own ground, can be pretty hard to play against. A win would have been awesome, but like you said 2 goals there aint to bad (getting the lead). 

    I don`t think we are top four just yet, but we are improving, and by next season I can see us having a real crack at it.

    I think our attack is looking pretty great now. So much nice movement etc. Hendo played brilliant again, and downing was good too, which is nice to see.

    I think in the summer now the attack is a lot more sorted, it will be time to work on the defense, and get in a new LB and maybe CB plus DM. with my prefered order being DM, CB then LB. I know there never the most exciting players to get in, but if we can get some top players in those roles in, we will be really set up for trying to get top four next season.

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  128. I thought Sturridge did well, and actually thought Suarez could have looked up and passed to him a few more times than he did as Sturridge was open and ready, but instead Suarez went for a shot.

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  129. agreed about the corners, we hardly ever score from them now

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  130. reina has serious trouble saving any shots!

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  131. I don't agree he didn't get the service. He should have scored two at the first half from wonderful opportunities that were laid to him and he scuffed the shots.
    Expected more from our central front man, but I do agree that his movement creates space for others.
    I thought Lucas was aweful today.
    We need to strengthen our entire defence. We need another world class defender to challenge Skrtel and Agger for a spot(how does a 35 year old player playing better than them is beyond me, but well done to Carra for finding his form) and a good defensive midfielder to challenge Lucas for a spot.

    I also hope our youngsters will start to realise their potential. It's too early maybe, but IMO if the talent is there, it's just about the mentality. That's how Pato, Messi, Balotelli, Isco, Muniain, Suarez, Torres, Ronaldo and Jovetic(just some examples) has stepped up at a very young age.

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  132. The way we played today...I'd bet on us.  We should have been up 4-1 at the half.  We also could have won the game twice in the dying minutes.  We played a great game away from home against a fired up Arsenal.  I'm sad we let ourselves get caught, but the way the game was going, high tempo from start to finish, we were bound to get tired at defense. I'm happy for the point.  I was a bit worried to see Gerrard limping late.

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  133. we usually have a decent game against city. and second what @e39bf11d90ffc028870ef6f56cbbdc0e:disqus said.

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  134. they also aren't in the greatest form

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  135. Hm, the way you put it, it makes sense.
    We didn't attack them enough for my liking, to call it a form of defence. That's what I found worrying almost all night. We lack the defensive composure to just sit back and soak up pressure. And if our passing would have been better on the counter, we could have been out of sight before they knew it. But then they've missed some very clear cut chances, too.

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  136. Your optimism is commendable! The first half was very much an open affair and we could have been 4-1 up at half time, had we taken our chances, but we could have been 2-1 down either had they done it. And they, too, could have won the game. A draw probably is a fair result.
    Man City's attacking players are in a different league to those of Arsenal (who aren't bad either). If we try to soak up pressure against them, we might be in for a hiding.

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  137. I don't think it has any impact on Rafa's confidence.

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  138. Disappointing to give away a 2 goal lead but I'll take a draw at the Emirates and at the Etihad too. 

    The co commentator (I forgot who) made an interesting point in that the fancy passing game Rodgers claims to have is no where to be seen and fans will question where it is. 

    Rodgers played a 4-1-4-1 and really restricted Suarez and Downing but we played on the counter, we never intended to control the game. It's interesting to see how we approach the 'big matches'. In this game we (tactically) were not interested in keeping the ball. 

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  139. Yes, I mentioned previously too that I don't see any improvement in style nor passing - in fact, I think we played more attractively last season. However, are we getting better end product now? Maybe.
    Also, we are 'in transition' so that's another way to look at it. Heh.
    Or BR is now demonstrating that he has something other than Plan A.

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  140. we have been in 'transition' since 1991. maybe we have to just hold our hands up and say "ok, we are an average side, who aren't as good as we would like to be."

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  141. Rodgers pleased me with his team selection and along with most people I would of gone with a counter attacking approach like Rodgers did. He used a 4-1-4-1, I was happy with that. 

    The problem is there is a great emphasis on Rodgers and his 'style' or his 'philosophy' and IMO that goes down the drain when we bend over and play on the counter and not look to keep the ball when Rodgers is all about that. 

    But if that is his Plan B which was his Plan A today, I'm fairly happy with that. 

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  142. jaimie  i tought hendo was man of the match

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  143. referee was horrible imo liverpool were hounded and pushed of the bloody ball referee didn make a call pss of friend

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  144. Rogers should watch City's last few matches where they haven't been clinical either ,so i'm a bit optimistic as well against City and hoping we can get at least a point ,a three would be better though.

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  145. Yep, it seemed like we settled for a draw...
    How can you settle for a draw in a match you were 2 nil up?!?! 
    Should have substituted downing instead of sturridge...

    But i feel yesterday, our left side was too vulnerable...

    We badly needed enrique back! Thats the positive part of yesterday!

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  146. Rodgers should of made Suarez and Downing switch wings when Santos came on. And Henderson despite the goal and assist was poor he could of had much more

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  147. Well, I hope we trash them, but I fear the opposite. A draw at Man City would be a good result.

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  148. but we have a keeper that thinks the ball is untouchable!

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  149. Shame we dropped points in the end but I think we have a lot to be positive about when we go to the Emirates and dominate play for so long. Arsenal are a team that will always attack and are always likely to score but I think by attracting players like Sturridge and Coutinho, Rodgers has shown that he's not the type of mananger who sits back and tries to sneak a win on the counter attack. I like the directness in our game these days and with the right support in the summer from the board, to beef up our defensive strength and further expand on our attacking options I feel very good about next season.

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