19 Oct 2013

Full Time: NUFC 2-2 LFC. Liverpool blow it against ten-man Newcastle.

After another tedious international break, Liverpool face a tough Premier League away trip to Newcastle United, and if results go the Reds' way today, the club could end the afternoon three points clear at the top of the table.

On the injury/personnel front:

* Joe Allen, Aly Cissokho and Glen Johnson are all fit again.

* Coutinho misses out through injury.

* Lucas's wife gave birth last night so he's expected to miss the game.

* Jose Enrique could be a doubt after allegedly undergoing an operation during the international break.

* Iago Aspas confirmed yesterday that he is also injured.

With the three aforementioned players returning, Rodgers had a potential selection headache on his hands, but the absence of Lucas and Enrique will make things easier for him. There's still the issue of Daniel Agger to consider, though. Will he remain on the sidelines, or will Rodgers cave-in and bring him back into the starting line-up?

Toure, Skrtel and Sakho all deserve to keep their places, and after winning the last game, it would (arguably) be a little unfair to drop any of those three. Rodgers is acutely aware of the importance of team spirit, and seems to buy into the philosophy of 'never change a winning team', so with that in mind, I expect to see the following:

------------------------- Mignolet

------------- Toure ------ Skrtel --- Sakho

------ Johnson -------------------------- Cissokho

------------------- Hendo ------ Gerrard

------------------------- Moses

------------------ Suarez ---- Sturridge

There's always the possibility that Rodgers could throw a few curve balls though.

* Joe Allen could come in alongside Gerrard to replace Lucas, with Henderson being pushed into the number 10 role.

* Allen himself could replace Moses in the more advanced role, which would be an interesting experiment.

* Gerrard could be rested after the international break, with Allen coming in to replace him. Extremely unlikely, but you never know.

Predicting a 1-1 draw, Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson believes the game today will be 'a lot closer' that last season's 6-0 drubbing, and warned the Reds to watch out for in-form striker Loic Remy, who has scored 5 goals in 5 games for the club. He told the BBC:

"This Newcastle team still has a lot to prove as far as I am concerned. I am going to back Alan Pardew's men to get a draw on Saturday, though. The Reds will be looking to pick up where they left off before the international break but they are away from home and a point will be a decent result."

In my view, a point would be disappointing, not a 'decent result', and Rodgers hopefully feels the same, and won't set his expectations so low. Reds hero Jan Molby takes the opposite view to Lawro, and expects the Reds to win the game. He told the Liverpool Echo:

"I fully expect Liverpool FC to pile on the misery at St James’ Park. There is a protest march against owner Mike Ashley before kick-off and you can understand why. All the unrest will work to Liverpool’s advantage. If we can start well, put them back on the back foot and get an early goal then the home fans will turn on their team like they did when we thrashed them 6-0 in April"

FULL TIME: 2-2








Author:


110 comments:

  1. Newcastle 1 - 3 Liverpool, we will score first!!!....................any Liverpool team is more than good enough to win again there!!!

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  2. NUFC have a pretty decent lineup on paper. Their defense is their major weakness, through the middle at least, but you have to get past quite an impressive midfield. If we manage to keep the pressure on them and get past their midfield, there is no doubt in my mind Suarez, Moses and Sturridge can unlock their defense. I say either 3-0 or a tedious 1-1 draw.

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  3. With Lucas and enrique likely not to feature, it shows that our squad now has more strength in depth which has been lacking for many years.


    Will Rodgers now decide to go with three midfielders Gerrard, Allen and Henderson in a 4-3-1-2 formation?


    --------------Mignolet---------------
    Johnson Toure Agger Cissokho
    --Gerrard--------Allen----Henderson--
    --------------------Moses--------------------
    -------Sturridge------------Suarez---------


    Remy, Ben Arfa and Cabaye are the the danger for us today. Three midfielders will give us control in the middle of the park plus the formation still allows us to counter attack which has brought the best out of the Sturridge and Suarez combination.


    Will be interesting to see which team Rodgers sends out today.

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  4. suarez sturridge
    moses
    sterling ,johnson at lwb
    gerrard henderson
    toure skrtel sakho
    mignolet

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  5. sterling at rwb
    johnson at lwb
    henso and gerrard
    and the usual friont 3

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  6. No Coloccini, Taylor or Gutierrez for Newcastle!!!

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  7. i think liverpool should and wilson and rossiter
    so they can get 1st team experience againts west brom
    suarez ,sturridge,wilson , rossiter,henderson ,sterling,johnson,toure,lloyd jones,agger and mignolet
    bench ward,sakho,mcclauglin ,allen , gerrard,ibe and moses

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  8. 1 point at any away game in the league is an ok result , I would not say a point at Newcastle would be a disappointing result ! But if we can reproduce the form we've been in lately I think we could get all 3 with a bit of luck on our side !

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  9. Are you serious sha ker Huss ain ??? We can go top if we win and you think put basically half of the reserve team out !!! Noooooooooooo

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  10. well its only newcastle

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  11. It won't be nil nil, thats for sure! We need to make a statement with the early kickoff and put some pressure on the rest. I'd definitely play Moses given their defensive troubles and think your team is spot on.

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  12. because st james park has been good to us over the years I always feel we have a chance of a win. But after losing 6-0 last april you would expect the newcastle players to put in one of their best performances this season. So I would be surprised if it ended up been a draw.

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  13. The league is tough and every team can beat you. I agree with your point of view JK but but would rather see other guys than Allen to spell Gerrard and Lucas......we have better choices including Suarez' young kid........

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  14. it is disappointing because we have harder away matches where a point would be OK. like emirates, bridge and etihad

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  15. Pull your whole head out dude, Newcastle have a talented squad. The "it's only team x" approach has cost us so many points over many years.

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  16. I'll continue to argue that Moses is a stereotypical wideman and is wasted in the No. 10 role. Allen would be better suited to the position than him or Henderson imo (but Gerrard would still be my first choice for the position atm)

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  17. i predict the line up will be
    22
    4-37-17-5
    24-8-14
    6
    15-7


    - no point rush glen (but on stanby mode )
    - BR may again fill in 4cb philosophy (i hope not repeat same mistake again)
    - of coz i know this is not the best. This is only my prediction

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  18. I'm fed up with Lawros low expectation of LFC all the time. We trash Newcastle last time we were up there and they are struggling at the moment so why can't we be confident of a victory this weekend? I expect a tighter game than last time but still an LFC win!

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  19. My hope is to see a return to the 433:
    --------------- Mignolet --------------
    Johnson -Toure - Sakho - Enrique
    -----Henderson---Gerrard-----
    ------------- Allen -----------------
    -Moses -- Sturridge -- Suarez


    If we are to persist with the 532, then I'd hope the team will be:
    --------------- Mignolet --------------
    -------Toure--- Skrtel --- Sakho ------
    Moses --------------------------- Enrique
    ------Henderson -- Gerrard -------
    ----------------- Allen -----------------
    ------Sturridge----------Suarez ------

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  20. woooooow! god what a shot by cabaye.

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  21. Rodgers needs to take of one of the CB's and bring on Allen in order for us to get some possession of the ball.


    Right now not much is happening.

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  22. we need to experiment some more long shots. the ball is just going to absolutely zoom off the pitch.

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  23. we were bound to score anyway. heaps of holes in the newcastle defence.

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  24. That's what I said, their weakness is their defense through the middle. I hope Cabaye has done enough now to be considered a January target finally.

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  25. Hhy the hell are the Newcastle fans booing? What on earth were Newcastle players protesting about and pointing at? Clear penalty, clear red card. Jeesh, i feel sorry for officials sometimes.

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  26. That is exactly what I've been saying - I don't see how anybody can argue this 5 man defence improves the team.


    We've conceded a ridiculous amount of shots and possession around the box ever since we made the switch, as well losing control of midfield far more than before also

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  27. Also a yellow card for Gerrard out of sympathy for Newcastle. But I don't think the ref is getting the stick, it's Suarez, though it's a clear penalty.

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  28. Really silly foul, typical cynical move from a defender to try and pull the striker off the ball, but he made the mistake of doing it in the box as the last defender. Can be no complaints, none at all, it was just a stupid foul.

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  29. I agree. 3-5-2 provides no platform for controlling the game at all. Sacrifice a centre back and get another mid in there.


    The pitch is wet and Moses and Suarez are trying to play quick one touch football and none of their passes are finding their targets. Allen would be useful.

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  30. He's the easy player to gave a go at when you need to vent some frustration.

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  31. Why are we playing the passing game in the box with the condition the pitch is in....JUST SHOOT!!!!!

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  32. Can't tell you how wrong that statement is.

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  33. I still believe two upfront is the route to go for SAS.

    I would go with the team i posted below.

    --------------Mignolet-----------------
    -Johnson-Toure-Agger-Cissokho-
    --Gerrard-----Allen----Henderson--
    ----------------Moses-------------------
    -----Sturridge--------Suarez----------

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  34. We defo need to push for the win here and continue racking up the points ahead of the tough run of games in Nov and December where it will be tougher to pick up the victories needed to keep us around the top teams...

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  35. If you're ever feeling down, give Suarez a big frown

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  36. ...What the hell are we doing? They're way too casual at the moment. We have one more player for heaven's sake.

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  37. YOU HAVE TO BE BLOODY JOKING. WHAT A JOKE LIVERPOOL! WAKE THE HELL UP. GAMES FOR FOR 90 MINUTES, NOT 45.

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  38. We have 3 centre-backs facing up against 0 centre-forwards - regardless of all the blogs over the past couple of weeks, there's still no legitimate justification for it for me

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  39. We need another player in our midfield. Simple. If Rodgers cannot see that then he deserves to take the blame for this loss. We have had no control of the game whatsoever.

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  40. Conceding a goal after being one man up and just dilly dallying around with the ball the whole time- disgraceful effort. gerrard

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  41. Gerrard needs to stand up and lead the team.

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  42. Make the bloody change Rodgers!!!

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  43. We brought on the wrong sub. So frustrating!

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  44. Sterling on for Moses and Allen on for Gerrard (due to yellow card) or Henderson (due to lack of impact) - we can't waste time waiting to make the changes, this is a must win game!

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  45. Why are the LFC vs NUFC matches always the most nerve wrecking?


    Come on boys, one more goal please!

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  46. So disappointing.


    Gerrard and Henderson against better opposition has not worked. Gerrard and Lucas also does not work.


    Solution = Go sign a proper box to box midfielder please.

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  47. Should have been a win. Conceding soft goals with the advantage we had is criminal.

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  48. oh well, top of the league.

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  49. Hats off to Newcastle but we were simply not good enough.

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  50. we were POOR today BR moses is NOT A NUMBER 10 my God what the heck were we doing today rubbish rubbish rubbish we deserved to lose 10 men and we couldn't win we were lucky to get a draw (THAT WE DID NOT DESERVE) who knows could be because of wcq we played so poor but still get your act together liverpool

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  51. I have to say though, they did look tired...

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  52. Not nearly good enough.
    Seems like some if not all of our players were thinking we just had to turn up. No urgency, poor passing. Rubbish defending and two goals conceded from nothing positions.
    Against 10 men? No excuse.

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  53. for now hoping for arsenal and tottenham to lose but doubt it sigh

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  54. We will still be in the top 4 though. That is were we need to stay.

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  55. The doom and gloom after every loss/draw on here is incredible. People rant on as if we're in the relegation zone. 'He's not good enough! That guy isn't good enough! Sell that idiot! We're not that good!' Come on guys, relax. I know I'm a bit of a hair dryer during games, but get some perspective after the game in reflection time.


    Every top team is allowed a few draws every season. In years gone by, I remember teams like Man Utd always having these types of days. They had one 2 seasons ago when Newc. beat them at St. James. Just catastrophic. There's still going to be a few glitches on the way. We're still not yet the perfectly oiled machine. It will come with time. Right now, we just need to hold our own and keep a top 4 place until January, when we can buy some heavy duty reinforcements.

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  56. Hendo wasn't great. He's working hard but doesn't have that fine level of skill that would make him a very good player. Another 10-15% on his game and he'd be exactly what we need, but at this rate better players will take his place eventually.


    Well done to Newcastle, they made us work hard to just get a draw when the win should have been a formality. LFC have some ways to go still.

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  57. Congrats to SG on #100...but it having to be a penalty is perhaps a metaphor for us limping to a draw. We are still lacking a creative attacking MF. Every time I see SAS looping back to play AM because the attack has stalled it screams frustration. We need PC back soon...and we need to look for another as well. Alberto needs to start just to see if he can make things happen from the get-go instead of trying to substitute in. I sure like that Yohan Cabaye though. Maybe he would be available in January. And we still suck at set pieces...offense and especially defense.

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  58. Few points...


    3-5-2 has to go.


    We defend set pieces like under 10's. Sakho and Cissokho were just ball watching.


    Moses deserves to be benched based on his last 3 performances.


    Skrtel had another good game.

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  59. A lethargic performance ,we never looked like taking three points anyway i hate these international breaks .The lack of cutting edge/killer instinct to finish off games may prove very costly.

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  60. Well there was one on the pitch today...but unfortunately his name was Cabaye.

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  61. true but still frustrating the win was there and we didn turn up at all

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  62. I'm kinda p'd off by that result tbh.


    Hopefully that spells the end of the experiment of the 5 man defence which has seen all midfield control disappear as well as any defensive stability.


    And I wonder what all the bloggers that have been arguing it is the way forward will have made of this latest underwhelming performance, where we just didn't have the result to excuse the obvious failings of recent games...

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  63. Fair enough but why highlight Henderson? His role is quite restricted in this formation. Someone else should partner Gerrard and Hendo should be in front of them.


    Moses was awful, barely made his passes stick and Suarez and Sturridge constantly lost possession.

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  64. I think our biggest problem at the moment is our midfield. We do not have anyone who can take the game by the scruff of the neck. Not Lucas, Gerrard or Henderson. Allen needs to be brought back into the team to dictate the play and we need to go sign a powerhouse midfielder in January.

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  65. the tough games start rolling around pretty soon and we don't have much of a head start on the chasing pack really.


    Maintaining a place in the Top 4 is going to be particularly tough if we continue to mess around with this predictable formation that lets even the worst teams in the league outplay us.

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  66. Moses did setup the second goal. The lack of support from our midfield is staggering.

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  67. Arsenal are due for their usual f*** up.

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  68. These are the games we are supposed to win...and just like last year we didn't do it. Those lost 2 points are going to be big later.

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  69. I agree about Moses, should have been swapped for Alberto or Allen. But it does show that Henderson's game is NOT as a DM

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  70. Well that's because we have 5 at the back and only 2 in midfield and Moses cannot cut it in the middle.


    I agree I think Allen can influence games but I don't think he would make any difference if we are playing this 3-5-2. This formation cannot control the game effectively no matter who is playing, Rodgers has admitted that it's more suited to counter attacking. It also doesn't help if Sturridge and Suarez lose the ball every time they get it.

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  71. AndWithSuchSimplicity3:01 pm, October 19, 2013

    God. I'm glad that's over. It was hideous to watch.

    When will players learn that if you start the match at walking pace then it's very difficult to pick it up later in the game. It was like watching a 5-a-side game. Moses, apart from his debut, has done nothing. His first touch is poor and he never seems able to change pace.
    I know we're top (until 5'oclock) but when the supporters bus leaves at 05:45 you're looking for a bit more than what was little more than a stroll.

    Waiting for a host of articles on Suarez 'diving' now, just to round of a shit day. :(

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  72. what compounds it is the inexperience on the bench or lack of creativity or whatever ...i'm pissed

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  73. Looks like Lawro got it right!

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  74. Why? What did Henderson do wrong in the game? There's masses of space in midfield for opposing teams when Lucas plays too. At least Henderson gets forward and offers something other than just defending.

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  75. I'll credit him for that but it's no coincidence the pass happened on the wing. He's not a central player and he misplaces so many easier balls.


    Midfield cannot support so much if there are only 2 in there who are playing restricted roles. Sometimes Gerrard was on the ball for like 5-10 seconds, there was no movement in front of him.

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  76. Agree re Moses. His job is to score/create goals, and he is not doing that.

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  77. Last year it was our defense and this season its our midfield. Lets hope this get fixed come Jan, but still a long way to go till then. We really need to drop the 5 man defense and play an extra midfielder so as to have at least some sort of control in the midfield. I really thought SG should've gone for the last FK as he has more power than Suarez in his kick, also the international break didn't help the players fitness levels. T


    his is really sad that it has come to this that we've to pray for our rivals to lose points rather than ourselves winning. BR is responsible for this and should accept now.

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  78. I felt Henderson was way too often in the wrong place during the first half when Newcastle were better than us by some way.
    By the way, he offered nothing but two wasted efforts going forward.
    I think Hendo deserves his place in the side for sure, but he didn't fill in as DM well today in Lucas' absence. He was hardly the only player below par of course

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  79. I've had the exact same criticisms when we've managed to win in spite of our poor performances.


    Ppl hyping the team because we win a few games are just as lacking in perspective as ppl who rant just because we lose/draw.


    The performance is what needs to be judged, and since we switched to a 5 man defence, imo they have not been anywhere near good enough - regardless of results.

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  80. Chelsea 1-0 down at home. Ha ha...

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  81. This was not to do with formation.
    The passing was slow and obvious, Moses completely failed for most of the match ( save the excellent 2nd goal) to provide the link between defence and attack, and they were fr too lethargic generally.

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  82. Performance so far this season: Poor.

    No excuses. I would be starting to look for other managers.
    And all the fans that are consoled by the league position; That's why our team look's the way it does for such a long time now. No ambition. No clear high sight. It makes me wanting us losing just so the picture will be clear for once. We got used to the most unstable mistakes makers managers the world has to offer.

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  83. Still they've a lot of time and players to turn that upside down and the ManUre match is so badly being controlled by Soton.

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  84. The manager is one of those fans. Nice guy, but come on... I hate to be a lab mouse. Liverpool team been messing up for to long now.

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  85. He is being played out of position i hope to see Alberto playing the number 10 next game if Coutinhos unavailable.
    May i add another poor second half performance too.

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  86. You sir, are a disgrace.
    Change managers again? You want us to lose?
    Non supporter.

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  87. Arsenal are 1-0 up after 18 minutes

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  88. Our strongest squad of the season yet couldn't even get us a win. How low can this be?

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  89. Hit the nail on the head there. Walking pace for most of the match.

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  90. Of course that's all to do with the formation - the passing is obvious due to the lack of options ahead of the ball with 5 defenders on the pitch.


    Moses is being played in a position to which he is clearly ill suited due to the change in formation, and it is made even more difficult for him with the lack of forward options in this formation (as mentioned above)


    The pressure on the ball is lacking as the formation is disjointed and doesn't lend itself to concerted team pressing high up the pitch.


    Defenders are scared to step out onto opposition midfielders and close down shots for fear of breaking the defensive line and so we are far more vulnerable to long shots, due to the change in formation.


    Most of the teams failings can be blamed on the change in formation really.

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  91. Maybe that was our strongest squad but it wasn't the strongest team selection - it can't be when you're sending out 5 defenders and a winger as your No. 10.

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  92. Never said it WILL happen ;) Note my wonderfully executed choice of words.

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  93. I disagree, if we had one midfielder that could actually take the game by the scruff then we may have seen a different result. Gerrard still has a great pass in him but the legs are gone. Lucas is also too slow and offers nothing attacking wise. If we had a player like Cabaye in our midfield today then in our 3-4-1-2 formation then we would have seen a totally different game.

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  94. Well, it was BR's work to make it happen for us than anything else. When he says we're coming back with our strongest squad then it should be seen to it that he fields a team which can make the maximum impact.

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  95. AndWithSuchSimplicity3:36 pm, October 19, 2013

    Trouble is, we do it all the time. Is it me, or does Moses just JOG through the game?
    If you play against 10 men then you must stretch them. Not sure how you can do that if you just walk around the pitch. I'm just glad it's over, tbh, I had a bad feeling about that game for the last 2 days. The last time I felt so nervy before a game was the Swansea match. Maybe I just don't like teams in black/white.... ??

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  96. AndWithSuchSimplicity3:38 pm, October 19, 2013

    I'd be laughing more if they were 1-0 down and it was 17:48.......

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  97. AndWithSuchSimplicity3:42 pm, October 19, 2013

    I'm not sure how you could ever "want" us to lose. We're top and haven't played well yet, so every cloud etc.
    Funny, cos every other time a team scrapes results after being poor we are told it's the "sign of a good team". Nobody has said that about LFC.
    Yet.

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  98. I look further than one game and i can ensure you i am far from being a disgrace of a fan or a person. You're narrow minded answer and the lack of creativity of thinking is THE disgrace of the human race. Though I'm sure my comment is the one whose gonna get deleted and not yours. Have a nice life you white conqueror perspective of a person. Don't be surprised at the final moment when the lamp in the room will look at you funny.

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  99. Plus of course the need of know is not the wheel of the whole. But are you settled enough to see that?

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  100. Ya, when i frustrated for a long time game after game i get the urge that we deserve to lose so we can get a grip together. Ya. It's like that. It doesn't mean i wouldn't have gone ballistic if Suarez had scored the final kick and that i wasn't praying.

    About your second argument. I believe we are not a good team yet and we had luck on our side so far this season, and my standards are much higher - i just can't help it i was born that way - with the current squad we can do much better. But looking at games it's labored passing and individual brilliance. Non once a period of easy to watch fluency.

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  101. The masterpiece comment has got deleted I believe; It mentioned your narrow thinking being the disgrace of the human race. Sorry it's disgusting when fans are satisfied by points and not by performance before all.

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  102. i missed the game due to work commitments whats the general opinion of our performance

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  103. Everything is subjective you narrow mind. Again, don't be surprised at the final moment when the lamp in the room looks funny.

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  104. See you've been warned.

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  105. Well, I am glad you didn't watch it and ruin your weekend because it was nowhere satisfactory. Drew the match by God's grace.

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  106. Another useless performance. When will BR kick this hopeless 3 5 2 into touch.We are conceding far too many goals to have any hope of getting anywhere near top four . Moses looks at best a championship player he needs to be playing as a winger that was what he was loaned for.Our passing today was rubbish Johnson and Sissokho contributed nothing that a totally average Newcastle couldn't handle. This was against 10 men for half the match let us not forget. This system was probably forced on Rodgers because of injuries lets pray this is so otherwise 7th or 8th is the best we are going to get again. Can you imagine what Arsole Man city and chelsea are going to do to us I hate to think.

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  107. Thank you for talking some sense around here...

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  108. Well I wasn't particularly directing the comment at you. The fact we've still nabbed wins however suggests there's something extra in this team this year to get us over the line and win more games, which wasn't there last year. That's why I said we need to kind of continue that until january.

    I don't really yet agree with people saying we can definitely challenge for the title, but then I don't agree with the face ached pessimists like Steve Nicole who just refuse to consider us even making the top 4. He's very hard to please. He said, ' If Liverpool are going to make the top 4, they need to go and buy a few more quality defenders'. So Liverpool went off and did that. But no, still not good enough for Nicol! We could definitely make the top 4 this year with this current team IMO, but if we bought a few more midfielders and a RB in January, and we're still in a great position, then we can start talking about the title.

    Look how far we've come from seasons gone by though. Mentioning 'Liverpool' and 'Title' in the same sentence after a couple of months in was a mockery. Now it's quite a consideration.

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  109. Yeah but nobody is able to take control to that extent in a two man midfield. Cabaye scored a wonderful goal but overall he didn't have that much of an impact on the game and we dominated possession (over 60%). However he was supported well by Tiote, a ball winner.


    3-4-1-2/3-5-2, it doesn't matter, 3 at the back is clearly not working and it should be scrapped. Neither formation is designed to control the game and counter attacking is not what BR is here for. Sacrifice a centre back and get on with it.

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  110. I'm not trying to give a balanced summary, it's just what happened to be on my mind. Poor overall team performance but I noticed Henderson more than the others. It's just me.

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