Liverpool are second in the Premier league table this afternoon after a hard-fought 3-1 win over Sunderland.
After a weekend of results that went in the Reds' favour, it was imperative that Liverpool capitalised, and for once, things went according to plan.
Some reaction from current/ex-Reds:
Didi Hamann
"Good result for LFC. Sturridge and Suarez linking up well.
"Skrtel immense at the back. Sunderland showed great character and will win soon"
Mark Wright
"Great result for LFC. Great players always bounce back immediately just like Luis Suarez with two goals"
Glen Johnson
"Great three points. Good to be back on track and roll on next week"
Victor Moses
"Buzzin with the win great result the lads were brilliant"
Mamadou Sakho
"I am very pleased with my first win with the #Reds ! I hope it is the beginning of a long series. The team was very strong this afternoon and our efforts have been rewarded"
A few observations:
* Still not convinced by the 352 formation. I hope Rodgers scraps this experiment sooner rather than later as it's built upon players being utilised in the wrong positions. Jordan Henderson is not a wing-back (!), and Victor Moses is not a number 10. Yes, they can play in those roles, but it's not (IMO) making the best use of the club's playing resources. Granted, it's possibly only a temporary thing. Switch out Henderson and Moses for Johnson and Coutinho, and the formation will probably be more effective.
* Five yellow cards in six games for Lucas? Not great. He now misses the next game, which will force Rodgers to use someone else in his role. Hopefully, whoever fills in (probably Henderson) will have a stormer and give the manager a selection headache.
* I still feel anxious whenever Sakho gets the ball; he seems a little wobbly in possession, and he played a few hospital passes during the game. Defensively, however, he is getting to grips with the Premier League.
* I agree with Hamann - Skrtel played very well again. It's amazing how things change in such a short space of time. The Slovakian's LFC career appeared to be in the toilet, and now he's probably one of the first names on the team-sheet. He should definitely keep his place for the next game, and if anyone has to make way for Agger, it should be Sakho (IMO)
* Gerrard pinged a few excellent long balls today, but he gave the ball away quite a few times, and got caught in possession a couple of times too. Still not enamoured with the Gerrard/Lucas partnership, but next game notwithstanding, it seems that we're stuck with it for the foreseeable future.
* Sturridge and Suarez linked up superbly well, and it's good to see the Uruguayan back on the scoresheet. Sturridge is clearly one of the best LFC buys in years; one goal and two assists - what a player.
Overall, it wasn't the greatest performance, but three points is all that matters, and as the cliche goes, winning whilst playing badly is the hallmark of a great side. Performances will improve as the team gels, and if the second half of this season is as consistent as the second half of last season, then who knows where the team could end up...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
After a weekend of results that went in the Reds' favour, it was imperative that Liverpool capitalised, and for once, things went according to plan.
Some reaction from current/ex-Reds:
Didi Hamann
"Good result for LFC. Sturridge and Suarez linking up well.
"Skrtel immense at the back. Sunderland showed great character and will win soon"
Mark Wright
"Great result for LFC. Great players always bounce back immediately just like Luis Suarez with two goals"
Glen Johnson
"Great three points. Good to be back on track and roll on next week"
Victor Moses
"Buzzin with the win great result the lads were brilliant"
Mamadou Sakho
"I am very pleased with my first win with the #Reds ! I hope it is the beginning of a long series. The team was very strong this afternoon and our efforts have been rewarded"
A few observations:
* Still not convinced by the 352 formation. I hope Rodgers scraps this experiment sooner rather than later as it's built upon players being utilised in the wrong positions. Jordan Henderson is not a wing-back (!), and Victor Moses is not a number 10. Yes, they can play in those roles, but it's not (IMO) making the best use of the club's playing resources. Granted, it's possibly only a temporary thing. Switch out Henderson and Moses for Johnson and Coutinho, and the formation will probably be more effective.
* Five yellow cards in six games for Lucas? Not great. He now misses the next game, which will force Rodgers to use someone else in his role. Hopefully, whoever fills in (probably Henderson) will have a stormer and give the manager a selection headache.
* I still feel anxious whenever Sakho gets the ball; he seems a little wobbly in possession, and he played a few hospital passes during the game. Defensively, however, he is getting to grips with the Premier League.
* I agree with Hamann - Skrtel played very well again. It's amazing how things change in such a short space of time. The Slovakian's LFC career appeared to be in the toilet, and now he's probably one of the first names on the team-sheet. He should definitely keep his place for the next game, and if anyone has to make way for Agger, it should be Sakho (IMO)
* Gerrard pinged a few excellent long balls today, but he gave the ball away quite a few times, and got caught in possession a couple of times too. Still not enamoured with the Gerrard/Lucas partnership, but next game notwithstanding, it seems that we're stuck with it for the foreseeable future.
* Sturridge and Suarez linked up superbly well, and it's good to see the Uruguayan back on the scoresheet. Sturridge is clearly one of the best LFC buys in years; one goal and two assists - what a player.
Overall, it wasn't the greatest performance, but three points is all that matters, and as the cliche goes, winning whilst playing badly is the hallmark of a great side. Performances will improve as the team gels, and if the second half of this season is as consistent as the second half of last season, then who knows where the team could end up...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
I appreciate their effort but i think Liverpool can improve on Henderson and Lucas.
ReplyDeleteStill in 2nd gear so plenty of improvement to come!!.
ReplyDeleteI rather have hendo at the back rather than wisdom, can't wait to get Johnson back we miss him. Also sahko? Few balls didn't go to someone but in he air he is impressing. Will only get better IMO. I wanna see Alberto play next game behind Suarez and Sturridge.
ReplyDeleteHistory is made - I actually agree with Mr Kanwar.
ReplyDeleteHAS HE BEEN TO SPECSAVERS ?.
would like to see henderson in lucas position ....maybe next game see kelly as wingback ? and lest try alberto instead of moses for all his pace and power moses is not really a slick passer and he tends to drift wide too often but credit to him he helped the defense as much as possible ..... we are gonna give chelsea a massively improved player ....lets hope they are willing to sell.....and we need to give sakho time agger and skrtel were not overnight sensations
ReplyDeleteSunderland played well, a lot of their players were playing for their future, and it showed. Toure again my Man of the match, he has an immense influence on the team, and organises everything.
ReplyDeleteThose two up front must scare the crap out of defenders, and Suarez looks like he is not as sharp as he will be in a week or two, and still scored 2 goals. Hard to find a fault with any player really, apart from Lucas, his house must be painted yellow by now.
I wonder will BR surprise us all with his choice of replacement for Lucas next week, I hope so.
Agree the 3-5-2 is not ideal. When Johnson comes back though i think that will revert to the 4-3-3. Sahko i have been questioning since the Swans game, but it was his most disciplined performance so far. Still looks nervy in possession, as if he's terrified of playing the wrong ball, but that i think will pass as he settles in with the team.
ReplyDeleteSkyrtle, there's only ever been one barrier to him being automatic first choice CB and thats consistancy, but his performances over the last 6 weeks have earned him that spot, for now. Hope i'm still talking about him this way in 12 weeks.
Gerrard et Lucas.... against better opposition would have been railroaded again i feel, a fix is needed there.
Suarez and Sturridge. Well anyone with sense will be terrified of that duo. Great displays by both.
A lot of positives to take, and the third goal was a thing of beauty.
But this was a 3 point game if we want CL, and the big tests will come Nov/Dec.
Encouraging, confident displays from most areas of the pitch.
Well done the team, and well done BR.
Lucas needs help for me.rodgers needs to sign a dm january.our next game sakho drops to the bench for agger.hendo moves into the midfield and wiisdom plays rwb
ReplyDeleteSpot on. I don't know how we're second in the league cos we haven't been great so far this season, but I'm not complaining!!! It will be interesting to see how we look without Lucas next week. I'm hoping it will mean we'll really get at palace, because I'm ready for a 4-0 stress free afternoon :-)
ReplyDeletewhat has alberto done to warrent a start
ReplyDeleteagger doesn't warrent a start he was hardly cooking on gas before he was injured until johnson comes back i think rogers will stick with 352
ReplyDeletethe problem with SG and LL is there is no fix apart from an injured joe allen and hendo who rogers will play in any position bar the position he is most suited
ReplyDeletewith our current squad we cant so get used to it unless rogers splashes out big on a midfielder in Jan and thats if there are any available
ReplyDeleteSo? He can unlock defensives, similar to coutinho. And we haven't seen much of him.
ReplyDeleteWasn't the team Liverpool were playing today bottom of the league, and yet to appoint a new manager?
ReplyDeleteGreat game...most convincing win yet...and we wore the purple, blue and white too...with those zebra striped socks! Maybe it's a sign and we should see more of that stylish combination.
ReplyDeleteSakho today: Missed only one aerial duel:
ReplyDelete47/49 96% passing 100% ground duel win (2/2) 80% aerial wins (4/5) 100% clearance success (8/8) 100% tackle win
You're right. Cant see an way to change that up either, thats why we were all calling for a DM in the summer. But its def the problem area. With coutihno out do we put Gerrard in behind. Let Lucas and Hend in mid with whatever mix of the trio up front?
ReplyDeleteStill it might be early days yet to rule out Ger and Luc together. But if its not right by the time we get to Arsenal away, it'll cost us.
Your point? We beat Manu 1-0 in the BPL...are you selectively choosing your data to support some conclusion?
ReplyDeleteGreat win by the mighty reds today! Suarez and Sturridge or SAS were deadly today and I agree with Jaimie, for once we capitalised on the opportunity of being in there with a fighting chance. Sakho and Skrtel dealt with the Altidore threat while you have to commend Toure for playing on from what looked like a Couthino type injury initially, the guy played out of his skin. Hendo in the Lucas position for me and was impressed with Moses as he seems to have an understanding with SAS and an end product! Onwards and upwards!'
ReplyDeleteHe was all over Altidore wasn't he? Even from behind he was getting his noggin on the ball when required. I was looking for the Inspector Gadget neck spring there for awhile:-)
ReplyDeleteHe was great today. He'll only improve.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe Coutinho can remedy this situation. He would be the beneficiary of good DM link up play...and it is the missing DMs that seem to be the problem.
ReplyDeleteFantastic display.. Seems to have really learnt from going to ground in the first half against Swansea. Such a good leap and progressive with his passing too (one poor pass first half that put us under pressure). Proper defender and encouraging after an equally impressive display at Old Trafford.. Agger beware
ReplyDeleteI wasnt suggesting Coutihno could remedy it. My point was as he is out injured for the next month or so, should he push gerrard into the no.10 role, and put Henderson in with Lucas(after his suspension) until coutihno returns to fitness. See if that works, would be my preference anyway.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about this. I would like to see SG as the AM if for nothing else than to put some younger, quicker, faster, more ambitious legs at DM to move confidently from defense to the attack. This is a problem now. Additionally he brings a long(er) range scoring threat that would open up more space for DS/LS. He also has the best field vision I've ever seen and with his calmer demeanor he could weight beautiful passes to DS/LS.
ReplyDeleteGerrard just doesn't have the pace or goal threat to play in that position these days. Personally I don't think he's got the tactical awareness for it -- either, he always gets drawn towards a man, which is what makes him better in a more defensive role. But I agree, thought we looked better once Henderson moved inside today.
ReplyDeleteHenderson's a lovely player, has everything, give him time.
ReplyDelete3 boys at the back were brilliant today
ReplyDeleteSakho best game so far. Toure was the
Best defender on the pitch. But the two boys
Upfront were excellent. Great to have ( LS )
back and silence those whispers before the
Game weather (ds)&(LS ) could link up. Great
The reds are back in the mix again. YNWA.
Jaimie Goal videos please :)
ReplyDeleteAdded :-)
ReplyDeleteAlso, credit to Suarez who bundled over in the box at speed under a bit of contact, but instead of laying there crying for a penalty he got up straight away and carried on. It'll take more than one game to repair his reputation, but I'll give credit where it's due.
ReplyDeletefwiw Southampton are a very good team - they had a slow start to the season, but are starting to look more like the team I expected now...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Agger needing to wait for his turn back in the team again, but this 532 really is not a good formation for us imo
ReplyDeleteHow can lacking pace and tactical awareness make a player more suitable to a defensive role than a free, attacking role behind the strikers?? :-/
ReplyDeleteI agree with pretty much all the points noted
ReplyDeletePerformances are better indicator of future results than results are though, and tbh, if we continue to play like this in this ill fitting, defensive formation and we'll be sliding down the table soon enough. Thank God again we've got two of the best match-winners in the Premier League to help plaster over the teams obvious failings in this formation though!
the most pleasing thing about suarez is his mental strength
ReplyDeletewhat a player, coming at the back of a10-match ban in STYLE
whit him in the side, we look like world class
in my opinion at least 70 million pounds
however, I really despise him:-)
Toure was brilliant. I even think he has had a positive effect on skirtel.Sakho is good in the tackle and in the air but nervy with the ball at his feet. It will take him time to get used to it. But when agger is fit i wouldnt be dropping either skirtel or toure.
ReplyDeleteIts clear that in BR's favourite system how vital johnson is. Without him we cant utilise anybody to make attacks from there. Hendo though industrious doesnt really have an end product- especially when given time to think!
We have some nice easy games over the next month and hopefully we can take advantage of them and not allow ourselves to fall out of the top 4.
Would mourinho sell us Mata?
Everybody smiley smiles.
ReplyDeleteGood to see LS scored 2 goals for LFC but that doesn't stop my questioning of his loyalty to LFC. I would certainly love to see him go, but only at a price that is good for the club. One thing I don't understand is why BR spent 6.8 mil pounds on Luis Alberto and at the end of the day, he can't even make the bench? Is he going to say that BS crap again 'oh he's a player for the future'? These are money that is wasted again, again and again by LFC's managers, be it present or past. It's never ending or has this become a heritage/tradition for the club. Fans will again complain at some point of time 'oh the owner is shite, miser bla bla bla'. As owner of a big soccer club, one certainly needs to have good 'kharma' to have a good manager that is capable to spending their money wisely and play the team well on pitch. Too bad, LFC is definitely not the destination for an owner looking for something like that.
ReplyDeleteWe are looking good in the league table right now but we have not been seriously tested against top-tier teams (Man Utd is in transition, big one). Wait till we play Arsenal away in Nov, 2nd to see how far are we away from a traditional top 4 team. But before that, please, no more rubbish such as the match against Southampton, at home.
I disagree i think 352 formation is the way forward especially when we get coutinho back it allows us to play Sturridge and Suarez in their natural positions plus we will be a much stronger unit in defence. The team are still getting to grips with the system but once they do i can only see positives
ReplyDeleteI really wanted Suarez to score a third goal... ...just to see if he had another t-shirt underneath.
ReplyDeleteWhy always me?
I agree. Custom made for Johnson, relieves him of some of his defensive duties and Coutinho should love the options up front
ReplyDeleteHe only misplaced 2 of 49 passes. Won 8 of 8 aerial duals, made 2 penalty area blocks and 3 interceptions. 100% aerial wins , 100% tackle success 96% pass success
ReplyDeletePretty damn good stats to be getting on with
He doesn't have imagination. Great in other ways, but little invention in his play.
ReplyDeleteNice win even though not a great artistic success. I am thrilled the Suarez Sturridge partnership picked up again quickly. Stevie looks slower and slower. He is great at penalty kicks and corners but his offense and defense was sad and lost or gave away possession numerous times again. I wonder if he is hurt. If he is healthy, maybe it time to just be a defending mid in place of Lucas.....I thought Moses played very well at the front and coming back on D. I love Sturidge but wish he wouldn't stop playing when he "thinks" he has been fouled. Danny, you ain't the REF! All in all very good win given this was exactly the kind of game we have blown over the last few years.....
ReplyDeleteJust watched the goals again here. I'm afraid I've taken DS for granted here today talking about the challenges at mid-field. DS was scintillating today. Those two assist were absolutely selfless, team oriented play. It would have been hard to miss those excellent passes.
ReplyDeleteJamie if Johnson and coutinho were available he would have played them so I don't really understand your purpose of saying that. If you have issues with 352 then you should talk about 433 or 4231 and how the players could fit in that.
ReplyDeleteIt's also great to get these early season wins without setting the world on fire, because you're not giving up points after points while trying to let the new players gel within the system. Usually, we'd see the team dropping points, some fans get impatient, while other fans cry "wait wait, just wait for them to gel and the results will come". Sure, the results may eventually start being produced, but the dropped points at the start of the season means it's harder to work back toward the season goal, since you're behind schedule. Liverpool conversely have built a nice cushion of second place, with 4 wins in 6 games, and can now look forward to getting even more points as they keep improving and getting better as a team.
ReplyDeleteIt was also great to see them bounce back after a loss against Southhampton. In years gone by, we probably would have let Sunderland get that opening goal, or we would have let them equalise, and come from behind and win. This should give them great confidence. I'm sure they were confident at Swansea after the Utd win, but the bad luck with Shelvey's fluke goal basically cancelled that out, and Michu's class didn't let them enjoy a hard fought victory after an early, unlucky setback.
Great to have the win,any win will do,But.
ReplyDeleteUntil Liverpool get rid of Henderson,Lucas,and bench Gerrard there will not be much progress.Unless luck keeps helping.Go luck.
MOTM : Toure
ReplyDeleteA change of manager is always a big thing for any football club, especially when we are talking about replacing someone like Alex Ferguson. Isn't it obvious Man Utd is still a top-tier club, I need to type it out huh? To me the more obvious thing is their recent results suggest that it is still not stable under David Moyes, not obvious to you? May I ask for how many consective seasons is Arsenal a top-4 club in EPL? 'Suddenly' becomes the key word here? Not a top-tier club in your opinion? So who, Everton? Southampton?
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, where is our Borini, Joe Allen, Assaidi and Sebastián Coates? Wow MAN, these are all potential 20 mil pounds, 'top class' players that are going to send chills down spines all over the football world!!! Though they are presently out on loan, injured or not making the LFC bench. Luis Alberto may just be added to this list, my 2 cents of course. Yup, maybe he is a potential TOP class midfielder in the making unknown to a layman like myself, highly possible.
Sorry for causing misunderstanding in the last sentence of the first paragraph in my last post, shamefully despite English being My native language. My sentence was 'Too bad, LFC is definitely not the destination for an owner looking for something like that.' and your reproduction of my sentence was 'ot being a destination for an owner like that'. Please kindly pardon my poor command of the language, boss, I cannot see the similarity here. Simply, I was saying though in status, LFC should be a self-sufficient club like Arsenal and Everton, but we always have managers that are/were throwing silly money for owners. Not obvious, examples citing? Look for that table talking about total spending by EPL clubs JK compiled some time ago. To me, BR looks frugal only because he has Kenny Dalglish as his predecessor. Anyway, KD will make most in the football world look like misers. Though I must admit BR did make some good buys in DS, Coutinho and Mignolet.
To conclude, beware of the rubbish I wrote. They might be hurting to your eyes. Also, please kindly correct my woeful English if possible. That will be greatly appreciated.
Suarez MOTM. He can bite whoever the f*** he wants.
ReplyDeleteJust kidding. Toure or Sturridge MOTM.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how Lucas played bad....Why do people expect him to single handily stop every opposition attack. In my eyes Steven Gerrard should be doing more to help out Lucas. You don't use only one player to cut out oppositions play.You are supposed to be using multiple players to hound down the opponents rhythm. My Dad who watched Liverpool in the 80's said this was something Liverpool were very very good at. Look at the last game vs Southampton and how they pressed Liverpool's midfield. Lambert, Shniederlin, Lallana all worked in tandem to halt Liverpools play. Theres room for improvement in controlling games when the score line is tight but other than that things are very very positive. Gerrard is immense on setpieces, but its clear that his defensive side of the game lacks mobility and bounce which is something Lucas has. He looked very zippy and on his toes on the first game of the season, maybe he needs a rest.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I saw of Alberto in preseason he looked decent enough. And he is 21 years old!!!! Why are people so quick to put him off. Just have a look at Ramsey for Arsenal. Alberto is not the finished article. He has vision and good control of the ball, I am under no doubt that he is undertaking a special training regime at Liverpool so that he can flourish in PremierLeague. He is a youngster from Spain where the style is a total opposite to the EPL. The player that worries me the most is Aspas. He is 26, being played out of position atm, and he is lacking that physicality that Moses, Suarez, Sturridge and even Henderson have. The problem is will he be able to turn that weakness into a strength when he has to give Suarez and Sturridge a breather if they are injured.
ReplyDeleteObviously Hendo is temporal. It will be great to have Johnson back.
ReplyDeleteAm so glad that Skrtel is still with Liverpool. Hope he stays for a long time to come.
ReplyDeleteHope Agger comes back in place of Sakho and Sakho moves up in the midfield for the next match as Lucas is suspended.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind Toure or Agger to play in midfield as well. Actually Agger would be my first choice since Toure and Sakho are doing great defensively and Agger is arguably better with the ball at his feet.
ReplyDeleteIn the first moment I thought it's the famous 'why always me'..
ReplyDeleteThank god I got it wrong there ;)
Yep thought the same - either hendo or agger in place of lucas, depending on how offensive we need Gerrard to play :)
ReplyDelete1.) No he can't
ReplyDelete2.) Toure and Sturridge showed much more than suarez
I don't know why people keep wanting centre backs to play defensive mid - it's an entirely different position and a whole different skill set is required.
ReplyDeletePlaying in the centre mid area is arguably the most difficult position to play. Sakho looks uncertain whenever in possession and he is prone to giving it away. Agger is better but similar. Both these players would not be able to play defensive midfield, they have never played there before and there's a reason for that.
i dont think any of our CB could cut it in midfield
ReplyDeletei agree about his effect on skirtal..i think skirtal needs to be told where to go on the pitch and who to mark
ReplyDeletethats because his form doesnt warrent a game,,its okay scoring for fun with the kids but its what you do in the real games that matters
ReplyDeleteThink it's a combination of the lack of defensive midfielders and our overload of CB's... We've got 4 top class centre backs, and some fans (myself included) wants to see agger in DM at least for one time :)
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, he didn't have that many chances until now - didn't he? What is worrying me is why did we loan out suso and bought Alberto for 8m? Where is Alberto and upgrade on suso? Both are great prospects. Don't get me wrong if one of them turns out to be the next xavi and the other one the next David Silva I will never complain about that again ;).
ReplyDeleteBut defensive midfield takes as much mobility as any position on the pitch, and more intensity, match-craft, concentration and tactical awareness than any of them. These are not Gerrard's strengths. But don't worry, he'll come strong again before the end of the season, which might also be the end of his career.
ReplyDeleteI agree -- he should be used from the bench, level the playing field a bit for him. But we won't have any serious alternatives until January, so that's that; make do and mend.
ReplyDeleteWe are 2nd in the league while Man utd is 12th. haha!
ReplyDeleteJK, you are spot on with all the points you mentioned. A few observations of my own:
1.Moses is a good player. Sometimes he can be seen to walk on the pitch but make no mistake, he is actually conserving energy and running when he has to instead of just running after the ball for the sake of it, like a headless chicken. He has good technique also.
2.Henderson is the archetype of the headless chicken. He just runs a lot for no reason. Sometimes this can help, as it put pressure on the opposition who may rush and miscue their passes, but most of the time its useless. Unfortunately it seems to be how english footballers tend to play imo,i.e with just energy but no brain! When he is in possession he fails to find the strikers most of the time. Maybe its because he is not comfortable on the right side...
3. Lucas is the Charlie Adam 2.0 minus the assists/goals. Already 5 yellow cards in 6 games. His challenges are not clean at all. They are clumsy and often rash. The opposition is always getting free kicks in dangerous positions because of him. Thank god he is suspended. Hopefully the player who will replace him will perform so well that lucas will have to earn his place back in the starting 11.
4. I like all of the players at the back. They are the one who work the hardest for the team everytime. Sometimes they look like they are in panic mode, but its down to our poor midfielders who cant seem to hold onto the ball for more than 1 sec or pick a decent final third pass. This puts the defence under constant pressure. No wonder they panic from time to time and may do some occasional mistakes.
5. We have potentially the best strike partnership in the whole league. Suarez and Sturridge are both 20+ goals/season strikers. If both stay fit throughout the season, nobody gets banned etc we can be very dangerous. They just need to be provided with good passes. When coutinho will be back and in form, we will start to see the best of our strikers.
6. Did i mention that we are 2nd in the league? Manutd is 12th!! lol
Jesus, I was saying this because Lucas is suspended. Temporary solution. I don't want Henderson to drop deep as he is not that good defensively and Toure was initially a DM anyway. Agger is more than able to play there IMO.
ReplyDeleteObviously, I would like us to buy 2 proper DM in January but just for the next match, Agger, surely. Allen still seems to be unfit.
That would be quite dull.
ReplyDeleteIf BR wants to see it as a potential switch position then he'll try it in training. Unfortunately that means fans will never see the result. That's the hard part about not being the manager of the team you love.
ReplyDeleteI remember a game a few years ago where we had lots of possession against Arsenal and seemed to be all over them. We had a ton of shots, plenty on goal, but only scored once. Arsenal created 3 chances and scored 3 goals, won the game easily. It was all about their quality in those brief moments when space was available. That's exactly what we did against Sunderland and it should not be lightly dismissed. Both goals from free play were almost flawless football and there was no luck involved. As much as we have plenty of areas to improve in the class of certain players in the team cannot be denied. I think as fans we're always more critical of our own team, perhaps in this instance we could worry a bit less and enjoy the victory. For me the positives absolutely outweigh the negatives and we actually deserve to be where we are in the league table.
ReplyDeleteagree
ReplyDeleteNot a brilliant performance but great to get 3 points and great to see Sturridge and Suarez combining so well, looking good. Toure brilliant again. For me, he has been our stand out performer after Sturridge this season. What a great free transfer (makes a change).He is so cool when we are under pressure and his body positioning is brilliant. Our young lads can learn a lot from watching him. Also very happy with Sakho today. Easily his best performance so far and really grew as the game went on. Looks very comfortable with the ball at his feet and his passing looks good. Hopefully we can go on a wee bit of a run now but the CM still worries me. SG played that brilliant ball to Sturridge for Suarezs goal but he was pretty average over the whole game and Lucas is still giving away those silly free kicks. At the moment, that is the only part of the team that really worries me but if we can stay close to the top and add 1 or 2 quality midfielders in January, we could be in for a very good season. Here's hoping.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see Ilori in as Lucas' replacement. He's a defender, but he has ball skills, is tall and apparently very pacey, something we lack in the middle of the park. If only to get him senior game time as well, he's already stated that he wants first team football and we paid a fair amount for him so why not give him his chance against Crystal Palace?
ReplyDeleteAll i can say is thanks god Lucas is out against Palace and not against any different team. Everybody who says we can do better than Lucas might be right come the day ends, but in reality we have no depth AT ALL in that position and Lucas is better then you think. You will notice that when is out.
ReplyDeleteLFC must kick it off and not drop ANY points until the Arsenal fixture at least, and keep this sort of momentum going until Jan.
If we want top four, which in my opinion means overcoming Mancs and Spurs in the leauge table threw the whole season, then we must raise above to stay at our current position at least until Jan and then raise above in the business department [We do that- we have every chance in the world with reality combined]; They got the money and the reputation and it's a HUGE HUGE advantage.
No other way for us to clime back to the top but to not make any mistakes and stay extremely focused for one game at a time technique; We can't arrive for a match light headed even a single time, which so far we have done okay, but not good enough. Hopes Rodgers sees that. Wait, didn't he say top6 until Jan? Hope he is lying.
We have a lot of options in center back defense. Not considering an approach who mainly fears aerial duels, i would go with Toure and Skrtel all day long. Sakho i believe can get there if works very hard to adapt to the PL intensity.
ReplyDeletePlus, Lucas is better then you think. Yesterday the judges were against him if to be specific. Next game if Palace is on to compete hard you will notice how bad we will need him. Unless Gerrard and Henderson top their game, dynamic composure wise and pressing wise , were in for trouble. Actually if he plays Toure for Lucas it will be interesting. Toure will have to come up with great confidence to play that front role [in his terms] good. But don't expect him to give away less free kicks than Lucas [relying that Palace show for the game sharp in theyre terms].
About letting Shelvey go: I get it. He was poor playing for us: made way to many mistakes it crucial phases of games. More than that, not bringing any proper replacement was arrogance or naivety from Rodgers's side in some ways [a side of him who comes back to hunt us many times and is the reason why we are still not a consistent side performance wise; lack of self criticism]. Again it's the reason why he almost doesn't discuss injured Allen that we know he really likes; to avoid well deserved criticism [i still like the guy and i know it's not easy under FSG but still]. He wanted Jorginho, that could have been a great great buy.
ReplyDeleteO, and don't take my comment personal, it was directed to most of the comment involving Lucas at this forum. It will be interesting to see how we do without him, it would have been even more interesting if it wasn't against Palace who can form less trouble than other opponents.
Lucas has always divided opinion... Some players aren't appreciated until they're not there - Johnson is another good example of this.
ReplyDeleteSkrtel looked confident on the ball which is a very refreshing addition to his play. Hope he keeps up this way.
ReplyDeleteHenderson just doesn't have the touch at the moment [ last season he did have some moments is which he looked better on this department]; I wouldn't play him first team at the moment, instead let him watch and think and settle his game as a conclusion - come back more whole - put a new approach for his training who are less dominant on the tactical side.
One problem who is getting really annoying on and off is Enrique; He is obviously good but not good enough. I wonder how Cissokho will do in this system, though i don't have high hopes he would do better than Enrique. We need about 6-8 players when you think about it.
I don't think Mata is going anywhere coming Jan unless he does a Bale. Chelsea are to rusty to let him go while he saved their guts against Spurs. If he does go, it wouldn't be our way. What we need to do is to overdo ourselves to land Pastore. We need to show him he would flourish in LFC more than in any other club. He is only 23, he wants to make it into Argentina for world cup, i believe i heard he wants PL move. Menez is good target as well for the wing.
If our starting point in the next 3 games will be the same as how we played the second half yesterday then it will be very good.
Johnson: Even when he's weak he is good.
ReplyDeleteAbout Lucas to conclude: Honestly i can't see him ever getting to his top form again.
your irrational dislike of Sakho makes increasingly less sense. great buy, stats back it up. time to admit you were wrong!
ReplyDeleteps- there's nothing at all offensive in this post, i appreciate it's a hard habit to break when you start deleting every single comment that doesn't pat you on the back or chime precisely with your opinions but give it a break and allow some discussion for once, yeah?
How can you slate Alberto?!! Liverpool4life is spot on, we need someone in the hole who can hold the ball, like couthino and split open defensive. If you know anything about Alberto that's what he's best at.
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't been given any chance to show what he can do, the game against Swansea was literally crying out for him, as know one could hold the ball.
"Real games" how can we tell if he warrants a start when we haven't seen him play! What your saying doesn't even make sense.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he cares about his family so they were tasteful - think he should multiple celebration shirts to every game!
ReplyDeleteI did not mean to belittle your post. Nor your English persay.
ReplyDeleteBut I also do not agree with most of your points. You have now either changed your tune, or decided that we HAVE been tested against a 'top tier' team in Man Utd. Citing Arsenal being constantly in the top 4 ( though not actually winning anything for 9 years now) as the reason for considering them the benchmark is to ignore Utd having WON the league several times in the past few years. The players are the same; are you now saying that Moyes becoming manager has relegated the current champions to a lesser status than Arsenal?
You can't have it both ways: if now, you're saying it's obvious Man Utd ARE a top tier side, then that directly contradicts your first point that we have yet to be tested by one. You said wait till we play Arsenal to see how far we are from being top 4. Therefore Arsenal are the litmus test.. personally, I would choose Chelsea or City.
As for your list of players, what have injured players got to do with anything? Only LFC players get injured? And loan players? What are you talking about? Borini and Assaidi are on loan to smaller clubs. What's wrong with that? Maybe Chelsea's Lukaku becomes a rubbish player too, since he has been on loan for two seasons now eh?
LFC ARE now a self sufficient club. They do not make as much money as Arsenal, but to quote Everton as an example of how we should be as a club? Laughable.
Thanks for the object lesson in sarcasm, I look forward to my next lesson with baited breath...
If he scores regularly I'm happy with that ;)
ReplyDeleteDude, did you even read the post I made above this one?
ReplyDeleteTotally agree on all points Jaimie, as ever an excellent article
ReplyDeleteAre you thinking about that game where Arshavin scored 4 goals from 4 attempts?
ReplyDeleteI think there is a tendency for us to be overcritical, but against better teams we cannot continue to concede the centre of midfield and allow players to run straight through us...
Not that impressed with our so-called top referee, I must say. He let much stronger challenges go on both sides during the Utd game recently...
ReplyDeleteFollow these rules and you will be on the right path.
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