Liverpool FC Forum

[Eazy-E]

Reina- Only made one mistake in the whole game. He seemed to live up to his reputation. Claimed most of the high balls.

Finnan- I thought he was only okay. He seemed to be quite slow. He improved in the second half as did the whole team.

Carragher- Good. He was his usual self. Tidying up.

Hyypia- He won most headers. I thought he was good as well. Played a bit too many long balls for my liking.

Warnock- I think he is a really good player. He comes forward well and can stay back when he has to and he did that today.

Luis Garcia-  I did not think he played well. Gave the ball away far too often. I think he might be in for a tough second season. It showed how bad he was because Rafa had to bring on Cisse as a winger which is a big no-no.

Sissoko- Excellent. He was a key player today and for future away games. He wins the ball back and breaks up the oppositions flow of play. Brilliant.

Gerrard- One of those days. He was unlucky not to get a couple of goals. Still he was a key figure.

Alonso- I don't think he played that well but he still had quality balls. Boro closed him down quick.

Zenden- Only okay he was lively and defended well.

Morientes-  This guy frustrates me big time. He is too slow. I like pace and this guy has none. Still created a good chance for Stevie G.

Cisse(SUB)- Right wing not his position. Enough said.

Baros(SUB)- Good. Played a clever through ball for Stevie and got his head up. Its nice to know he is still fighting for Liverpool even though Rafa will probably sell him.

I thought it was a good defensive first half and a dominating second. We should have won. But it was that type of day. Still it was a good performance compared to the $*i*e last season. I'm pleased and i can't wait for this season to really get started.

GAME 2: Anfield
Liverpool vs. Sunderland  3.00pm

[Gareth G]

Mine would be this:

Reina: Had a good solid game, made one mistake but kept his head screwed on afterward's and made two important punches to clear the ball.

Finnan: Was a bit quiet but he never really put a foot wrong, most passes where tidy as usual.

Carragher: Went in with some nice clean and accurate tackle's. Was very tidy.

Hyypia: Won almost all challenge's he was in, had a good solid game.

Warnock: Thought he played great, very good distribution and had their winger in his back pocket.

Luis Garcia: Really frustrated me, held on to the ball way too long when he could have been putting people in. He also wasted a good oportunity when he cracked a shot too early, gave the ball away too much and had Stevie G chew the bollox off him.

Sissoko: Had a great game, think we are onto a real winner. He put himself about everywhere and broke down Boro's play very well. He is so calm on the ball even with player's breathing down his neck, it's refreshing to watch him play as he's never hurried.

Gerrard: Was instrumental as usual, could have easily had a hat trick today but it just wasn't to be. I've no doubt he would have put the ball in the net had he not been fouled by Ehiogu.

Alonso: Bit of a quiet game too, still knocked some nice ball's around and showed good skill at time's.

Zenden: Again, was very quiet and didn't do much.

Morientes: Can't really blame him for being quiet, he was up front on his own - that role for player's with no pace just doesn't work. Thought he was reasonable considering the lack of supply / help he had.

Cisse: Thought he done good when he came on, certainly done a lot better than the man he replaced. He whipped in some awesome crosses, one from which Gerrard should have scored. He showed that he still need's some work on his first touch, but also showed the potential he has in regard's to that.

Baros: Was very quiet when he came on, main highlight for him was his through ball to Stevie, it was weighted perfectly.

Over all there is only a couple of minor negative's. But the positive's are, we kept a clean sheet with Boro only having two shot's on goal, so that highlight's our solid defensive display. Our midfield absolutely bossed the park, our posession was awesome and we dominated the game. We just lacked a little sparkle up front.

[The_Rock]

Thats the thing, why was morientes playing as a lone-striker in the 1st place..... Baros got blasted by ppl here for not-scoring enuff when he playing as a lone-striker in most of our games.

I am afraid, morientes will face the same fate if rafa persists in playing him as a lone striker.....

It is not a dig at morientes. Its just that, for him to suceed, he has to have a strike partner or wingers who can get behind defenders and put in decent crosses (and morientes will score loads of goals).

As for garcia, we shouldn't be too harsh on him. He is playing out of position. He is juz not cut out of right wing.

Right winger is a top priority now....

[liverpoolrich]

reina:played really well didnt let any goals in despite some strong attacks 9/10

finnan playing really well at the rb postion and pushing up to the rw postion 8/10

carragher again played very well but a few mistakes 7/10

hyypia didnt notice him much but when i did see him ver strong 7/10

warnock played cvery clever linking up with zenden 6/10

zenden played excellent despite all the stick from the boro fans in my ming put him off but still deserves a 8/10

gerrard my man of the match he did everything but score
and some great captain words to garcia 9/10

alonso didnt play to his full potential but did some great passes 7/10

sissoko played well lost it few times he deserves a 7/10

garcia played quite well lost the ball constantly though 6/10

morientes really slow but holds the ball up well if cisse had started with hoim it would of been a good game for them 6/10

subs

cisse came on the rw role not his position but coped with it and played some great balls 7/10

baros came on looked promising but didnt see to much 6/10

[dosserboy]

All played well except for, Finnan - worst game I have seen him play.
                                   Garcia  - lost / gave the ball away to often, AGAIN!
                                   Zenden - I expect more from him.
Special praise for Sissoko, thought he ran all game and battled for 90 mins.

[PinkPantha]

The only two players that seriously disappointed me were Luis Garcia and Morientes

[Luis Garcia]

Gerrard 9/10?

you bum licker.

the amount of chances he had, couldnt score.

Sissoko was the real man of the match. his tackling is fantastic.

[Gareth G]

My one and only dissapiontment was Luis Garcia, it's very unfair to critise Moro as he didn't have any support for most of his time on the field.

Oh and Luis Garcia, get off your high horse dude!!

[Reinas No.1 Fan]

Riena 7 (had nothing to do really but did well)
Finnan 6 (Wasnt at his best)
Carragher 7 (Usual carragher but he came forward a few times)
Hyypia 7 (his usual rock self)
Warnock 7 (for a player as new to the side as he is I was very impressed)
Garcia 5 (gave the ball away a lot but got involved in flowing moves well)
Gerrard 8 (MOTM (Southgate:"He was heading his own crosses"))
Alonso 7 (Got laid out a few times held up the ball and passed well)
Sissoko 8 (bonus point for his 1st game (Benitez:"could be new viera") shows promise)
Zenden 6 (Didnt do alot in the whole game but played his part well)
Morientes 6 (Didnt do much but again played his part well)

Baros 6 (Played his part in the team and found gerrard with a nice pass)
Cisse 6 (NOT A RIGHT WINGER)

boro had there strongest line up out 2day and were also at home and to be honest a point is good to claim especially when we lost last season. A tesement to how good we were, boro tried to waste time by the corner flag in the last minutes and they were at home.

boro went 1 to 10 men after Ehiogu was sent off, how ever those 10 men were on the goaline.

I look at the positives in that game, as a team we showed promise and created lots of chances.
Good game well played boys.

[red_guy]

Luis garcia was very poor. Zenden was average,and personally, i would prefer riise over there. Rafa has to stop playing 1 striker system. Like last season, our strikers didnt score much and most of the goals are from the midfielders. There's no use of getting strikers if we depends on midfielders to do the job. And for me, Nando played ok,great ball for gerrard in the box. Put him with with another striker upfront(Owen maybe?)and you'll see the best of him this season.

[Espionage]

I thourght that Cisse did quite will on the right wing, he was getting behiend the defence and putting in good crosses, there was just no one forward.
Garcia was sh!t no other comments on him
I have been very critical of Morientes but i thourght that today he did fine, the lay off for Gerrad in the first half was pure class, and when you think of the amount of crosses he got ( how mnay corners did we have in the first half... no more then 2, that shows that the wingers are not doing their jobs) he got few opportunities to make an impact
I thourght that we needed Owen back, but last night was a joke!!!
I thourght that we needed Owen back F^ck Owen, buy a right winger, i know that we are waiting for Gonzales, but this is a serious problem that needs addressing
Sure we play well with the ball coming through the middle of the park with balls from Xabi and Gerrad etc but that is so predictable and teams realise that. We need to play to our strengths, we have several players that are good in the air and nobody that can whip in a cross besides Gerrad and Cisse (which are needed elsewhere on the pitch)

[A.B.]

[list]
[*]Reina: 7
[*]Finnan: 7
[*]Carragher: 7
[*]Hyypia: 6.9 (stop hoofing the damn ball)
[*]Warnock: 7
[*]Zenden: 6
[*]Gerrard: 8
[*]Alonso: 7
[*]Sissoko: 7.5
[*]Luis Garcia: 6
[*]Morientes: 6.5

Team Performance : 7

[76-1115222408]

A.B, you crack me up....6.9!!!   Is it really worth it? And stop using .5, to sit on the fence, only whole numbers mate!!! 

[A.B.]

A.B, you crack me up....6.9!!!   Is it really worth it? And stop using .5, to sit on the fence, only whole numbers mate!!

Hyypia got under my skin with the pointless long balls, apart from that he was solid but I had to take away something.

[Chelsea forever.]

IMO the only players worth rating are

Gerrard - 8 ... only for determination, but i should take a point away as he missed a zillion chances
Sisoko - 7 ... nervy start but was very influencial after .. good buy and good performance for his 1st game
Alonso - 6.8 ... was always avaliable for support and did what was asked of him
Carra - 7 .. stuck in .. a lot of tackles.


I thought the rest had a woeful game.

Of the strikers .. baros got the least amount of time but looked the best. He was moving .. running around players .. passing. Fernando was and Cisse was like a lost child.

Like I had said ... the one thing Liverpool lack is creativity which only Zenden and Garcia can provide, Garcia had a terrible game, Zenden was a little better than Luis.


Rafa said he had brought on Cisse to run along the right flank and float crosses in, if you want to float crosses in for someone to head then why take off the best header in the game - Fernando?

However good away performance, Boro played better than i thought .. Boating was all over the place.

Cheers