red till i die!! » Sun Oct 28, 2012 7:53 pm wrote:Boxscarf » Sun Oct 28, 2012 7:52 pm wrote:I slated the team in the first-half for their poor mental aptitude, but credit to them they came out in the second-half having regrouped and looked a lot more composed. Last season that probably wouldn't have happened and we'd have gone on to lose the match, so credit where credit is due.
In man ways I'm delighted that the likes of Suso, Sterling and Wisdom experienced the Merseyside Derby at such a young age, it will no doubt put them in good stead for the future. It's a tough fixture, a fixture which gives invaluable lessons to young players playing in them and I think they will all benefit from such an exposure relatively early into their careers.
One thing that really concerns me though is our defence. Last season for the first six months it was rock solid and was the third best defence in the league, this season it has to be ranked as one of the worst. We have gifted umpteen teams invaluble goals and inevitably invaluable points due to our costly errors at the back and today was no different.
Reina came out a week or so ago and said Skrtel and Agger is the best defensive partnership in the history of the club and I laughed because I remember Hyypia and Henchoz being a much better partnership at the back. That's what we need at the back another Sami Hyypia.
we deputised 5 kids in that starting line up and they did well enough to help us go 2 up.
the 2 goals we cheaply gave away were gut wrenching but the warning signs were there.everytime they put it over the top our players followed the ball and the front men in leaving room for either osman or naismith to push on for a half a$$ed clearance which they got.
gerrard cant continue in that role as its past him now.he hasnt got the legs to go forward and support and track back at the same time.he needs to be in a forward role with almost a free licence to roam for us to get the best back out of him.I never thought id hear myself say this either but the sooner lucas comes back and this can happen the better.
2nd half we defended much better but sacrificed our creativity in suso and sahin but the occasion needed those changes and fair play to rodgers for realising this. I was one of his biggest critics last season for never having a plan B to shut up shop as swansea often threw away points for being gung ho till the end.
on to the mighty newcastle next

yeah, maybe rodgers is learning to be a bit more pragmatic. his basic philosophy is the right one but there`s nothing wrong with mixing it up sometimes. i think our late 80`s team had the right balance, they played some stunning stuff but they were also prepared to throw the ball into aldo in the middle.
i still think there`s a place in this team for andy carroll, he wouldnt score bucketloads himself but i think the likes of suarez and even sterling could really benefit from his presense in the team.
sterling doesnt look like a stereotypical winger to me, he likes to play on the last shoulder (a bit like michael owen did when he first broke into the team) and he`s got goals in him that lad. i think he`d cause havoc working off carroll.
after chrimbo i`d like to see us try this line up.....
reina
johnson skrtel agger enrique
lucas allen
sahin/shelvey
sterling carroll suarez