Liverpool FC Forum

by **murphy0151** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 8:50 pm

I dont know how you can say Gerrard was the best player. Even John Aldridge said it on the radio but I thought he was shocking. Didint look interested at all. An to take Momo Sisissoko off was baffeling.

Do you no what I fu.cking hate international football.

by **account deleted by request** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 9:06 pm

Do you no what I fu.cking hate international football.

you are not on your own there mate.

by **Kuyt** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 10:34 pm

This is the way I saw it:

Reina: 6/10 . Silly error, although the games was already gone by then. generally good.

Finnan: 7/10. I thought he did ok, not too many mistakes. was the best defender IMO.

Hyypia 6/10. Competent, but not brilliant. gmaes like this where his pace is worrying.

Carra 4/10. Only the second shocker he has had for LFC in a long time. I blame Fitness.

Aurelio: 3/10. He was bad today, I was nervous every time a ball came in, he was leaving gaps on the left side, for Everton to Exploit. Free kicks never hit the target either.

Garcia: 5/10 Did not get into the game at all, he's a link up man only!

Gerrard: 6/10 (See previous!) should have played CM.

Alonso: 6/10 Inefective with passing today and tackling in CM. Should have started on bench with Stevie in CM.

Sissoko: 6/10 competant not brilliant, but overrun by 5 Everton Midfielders.

Fowler: 4/10 Did have one good free header which he wasted, he should have been the one left at home, not bellamy IMO.

Crouch: 6/10 Did ok. Probably tired from England Exploits, Should have been on bench in favour of Bellamy/Kuyt, to rest.

Subs: Riise 4/10. Did not contribute a lot up to injury. only ok.

Kuyt 7/10. Should have started, always hard to get into a derby starting second half.
Pennant 5/10. Was competant. Should have started also IMO as bit parts will not do him any good. I presumed he was our new full time right winger??

by **yckatbjywtbiastkamb** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 10:45 pm

john craig wrote:We were poor today, wouldn't give any of our boys over 7/10. Gerrard was our best player but as Mick says nowhere near his own best, while Alonso, Carra and Hyypia - 3 of our most consistent players - were all a yard off the pace today.

That said, Everton weren't great either and if it hadn't been for the worst refereeing performance of the season so far, we'd probably have drawn today at least.

Osman clearly pushed Finnan to the ground to allow Johnson to score their first, while Cahill's assault on Alonso was inexplicably missed and allowed Everton to carry on up the field and score their second. Fowler may hjave had a pen when Yobo clipped him early in the first half, while Yobo's shirt-pull on Hyypia at the corner and Hibbert's hand-ball on the line were both clear penalties.

When you consider that ALL FIVE crucial decisions in the game went against us, is it any surprise we lost?? You just get games like this from time to time. Riise getting injured after we'd made 3 subs and then Reina's freak mistake for the 3rd goal sums up our day.

I'm fu.cked off, don't get me wrong, but I'd be a lot more worried if we'd have lost to that lot fairly. They had all the breaks and they know it, fu.ck it I'm off to get drunk.

i agree with most of that john but i thought our best player today was sissoko, gerrard was unlucky on a few occassions in regards to shooting but he wasnt as dominant has he could be in general play.
its true what you say though, it was just one of those games and although i`m not one for stats we dominated possession, corners and shots attempted, its just a pity we werent ahead on the one stat that matters.
we`ve played worse at goodison and won in the past, but you cant make evertons job easy by defending like that.
the first goal was a foul but when the ball ran past finnan there were two everton players in the centre of the goal unmarked waiting to slot it home, they never ghosted in at the far post they were in the centre of the box. where the fook was our centre halfs and midfield?
the second goal was just an airshot by carragher, and the third probably reina would have threw over the bar if the game was tight.
games like that happen.

by **66-1112520797** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 1:56 pm

murphy0151 wrote:I dont know how you can say Gerrard was the best player. Even John Aldridge said it on the radio but I thought he was shocking. Didint look interested at all. An to take Momo Sisissoko off was baffeling.

Do you no what I fu.cking hate international football.

Agreed Gerrard was nowhere near our best player, not at all.

That goes to Momo, he played brilliantly and covered more grass played more balls made more tackles than anyother player. His teamates would do well looking at the effort levels he puts in, along with the quality.

I thought the back five had a shocker yesterday, and Alonso was dreadful very much unlike him. Its no good carrying him for another month or so, and waiting for him to find form. We need that from him asap, I'd consider dropping him for the Chelsea game if he's the same against PSV, Sissoko and Gerrard in the middle.
On the point of Gerrard, that will be the real problem at times this season out on the right. It will be difficult getting him into the game out there. Yesterday he had no influence out wide and TBH we could of done with him in the engine room.

by **bigmick** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:14 pm

"The best player" is always something of a subjective judgement so there's no point in falling out over it. From memory, Gerrard hit the post twice. He was just wide with a shot from outside the box, played Garcia in with a lovely little reverse pass (unfortunately Luis had strayed offside) and generally provided more threat to Everton in terms of us scoring a goal than pretty much the rest of our team put together.

There is always the danger when you are in posession of a truly fantastic player of expecting too much from him. He never won the game for us on his own as he did in the Cup final, but still every touch and pass dripped with the quality of a truly World-class player.

If people don't agree with me that's OK, it makes no odds either way. Infact a couple of the lads who went to the game said that in no way shape or form was he our best player which to my mind puts to bed once and for all the notion that only those there in the flesh get a true perspective. I personally think it's about time we looked at a game in isolation, as if we'd never ever seen the players play before. Under these circumstances, I wonder how anybody could possibly watch yesterdays game and come to any other conclusion than Gerrard was and is our best player by an absolute country mile.

As an aside, I think it might be nice if once in a blue moon Rafa made the point aswell. Gerrard occasionally gives the impression that he needs a bit of love in a football sense, to be told just how good he is. When you think that we almost sold him twelve months ago and some absolute numpties on here (me being one) advocated the sale. The mind really does boggle sometimes.

by **stmichael** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:21 pm

bigmick wrote:As an aside, I think it might be nice if once in a blue moon Rafa made the point aswell. Gerrard occasionally gives the impression that he needs a bit of love in a football sense, to be told just how good he is. When you think that we almost sold him twelve months ago and some absolute numpties on here (me being one) advocated the sale. The mind really does boggle sometimes.

i'm a self confessed numpty then bigmick.

http://www.liverpoolfc-newkit.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=12072&hilit=gerrard

i take it all back now by the way :oops:

by **bigmick** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:29 pm

At the time of the projected sale Mike pretty much everyone as I can remember was saying the same thing. The one dissenting voice I can remember was Leon. I remeber a post of his in which he basically said "So you want to sell Steven gerrard?" He then followed it with HA-HA-HA which filled the whole page, in big red letters.

At the time I remember being very impressed with the technical knowledge both to change the colour and size of the text, but with the benefit of hindsight he made a very salent football point as well. I ask you if Michael Carrick, he of the four goals a season, devoid of pace, but a nice tidy midfielder is worth 18.6 million pounds in todays market, then what on earth is our captain worth?

by **stmichael** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:32 pm

i never advocated selling gerrard the player. i was just fed up of gerrard the man. the circus which followed just got on my t#ts. at the time, as we were going through a rebuilding process anyway, i thought "oh f#ck it, just give us the £35m" and let us get on with it".

i'm glad i was wrong because last season was the best of gerrard's career imo.

by **Bad Bob** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:35 pm

Gerrard was certainly our most dangerous player yesterday and was just unfortunate not to score (the one that hit the post in the 2nd half really stung).

I thought Sissoko started slowly and grew into the game very well. There are those moments when the ball's up for grabs and he's in the vicinity when you just know he's the one that will emerge with it. What I loved about his performance yesterday was his composure on the ball once he'd one it and the intelligent way he distributed it to teammates. If some one could give him some pointers about having a crack from the edge of the area, he'd really develop into the complete CM.

Like you, Mick, I'm not sure why all the negativity with Aurelio. I thought he was solid if not truly spectacular yesterday. He never let the defense down, which is more than some of his more stalwart colleagues can say. He also showed good grit, by getting up and dusting himself off after being struck full in the face by cleared balls twice.

I would make the same comment about Alonso. I thought he had a decent if not spectacular game. He did his defensive work well and played the simple pass more often than not. In a clogged midfield with Neville nipping constantly at his heels it's hard to ask for too much more. Indeed, he didn't have too much to aim at, given that we had slow front men who aren't going to run the channels and the two wide men tucking in, switching flanks, etc.

Kuyt again looked very lively and dangerous when coming on and he will be some player for us. He must start against PSV and I hope he gets the goal his industry to date has deserved.

by **66-1112520797** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:41 pm

bigmick wrote:"The best player" is always something of a subjective judgement so there's no point in falling out over it. From memory, Gerrard hit the post twice. He was just wide with a shot from outside the box, played Garcia in with a lovely little reverse pass (unfortunately Luis had strayed offside) and generally provided more threat to Everton in terms of us scoring a goal than pretty much the rest of our team put together.

There is always the danger when you are in posession of a truly fantastic player of expecting too much from him. He never won the game for us on his own as he did in the Cup final, but still every touch and pass dripped with the quality of a truly World-class player.

If people don't agree with me that's OK, it makes no odds either way. Infact a couple of the lads who went to the game said that in no way shape or form was he our best player which to my mind puts to bed once and for all the notion that only those there in the flesh get a true perspective. I personally think it's about time we looked at a game in isolation, as if we'd never ever seen the players play before. Under these circumstances, I wonder how anybody could possibly watch yesterdays game and come to any other conclusion than Gerrard was and is our best player by an absolute country mile.

As an aside, I think it might be nice if once in a blue moon Rafa made the point aswell. Gerrard occasionally gives the impression that he needs a bit of love in a football sense, to be told just how good he is. When you think that we almost sold him twelve months ago and some absolute numpties on here (me being one) advocated the sale. The mind really does boggle sometimes.

I suppose it doesnt really matter who our best player was. It does matter though that the other nine or ten players who didnt perform, pick it up.
It was so unusual to see the likes of Finnan, Hyypia, Cara, Alonso, Garcia, Reina etc all have a bad day at the office. No matter how good your best player was there isnt a cat in hells of getting a result if the bulk of your usual performers arent at the races.

by **bigmick** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:49 pm

Bamaga man wrote:I suppose it doesnt really matter who our best player was. It does matter though that the other nine or ten players who didnt perform, pick it up.
It was so unusual to see the likes of Finnan, Hyypia, Cara, Alonso, Garcia, Reina etc all have a bad day at the office. No matter how good your best player was there isnt a cat in hells of getting a result if the bulk of your usual performers arent at the races.

True mate. Although despite everthing it's worth bearing in mind that we didn't actually play that bad yesterday ridiculous as it sounds.

by **Sabre** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:21 pm

Sorry to reach late, I wanted to see the game properly, and not posting when I was angry. I couldn't post earlier today.

Reina: 4/10 big mistake at the end, couldn't do much in the first goal, the second goal was scored from where it shoudn't come a goal on a one on one, the close post. Great keeper, I rely on him, just a bad game.

Hyypia: 3/10 The first goal was mostly his fault, first he didn't clear an aerial ball properly, then doubted wether to come back to the line or keep pressing, and then the goal came. It's true Finnan was made a foul (Poll seemed to leave the Areas as all is) allowed zones, but Hyppia made the main mistake.

Another thing I didn't like about our defence, and that was all defence's fault, is that Everton gave us much space, they were quite deep. And we chose to send long balls from the defence, without ellaborating with Sissoko and or Alonso. So if your choice is to send a long ball, they're waiting for you, and your pass isn't accurate, that means problems. It's good to play the derbies with passion, but also with a cool head.

Carraguer Some mistakes, some doubts, but still a better game than Hyypia 5/10

Finnan Not his best game. 5.5/10

Fabio Aurelio Not brilliant, not awful. 5.5/10

Alonso If he had stroken well the ball in that good counterattack lead by Kuyt, some people would have said he was brilliant, but he didn't and sent it high. Not a bad game, though. The team has to use him more 6.5/10

Sissoko Goog game. Countless tacklings, passion, and some decent passing, and with quite good composure for his standards. 7.5/10

Gerrard Best man on the pitch, just unlucky not to score 8.5/10

Luis Garcia Good first half, doing harm everywhere, in the left, in the right, lively. Seemed inactive and with no morale in the second half, but not a bad game. Perhaps there was a better option for a Derby. 5.5/10

Fowler He might not be what he used to be, but I know when I have a godo striker when I see it. Should have been conceded a penalty in the first half. Worked until extenuation, runs properly without the ball, and he knows how to deal with the ball when a counterattack must be made. Lacked the goal. 6.5/10

Crouch Not his best game 5/10

Kuyt He's going to give us tons of goals. He likes the physical game. He's very promising.

by **stmichael** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:16 am

I'm not buying this whole Xabi's been sh#te thing. He's made four appearances all season, one of which was as a sub. He's been off par, but his form is definitely being exaggerated. I thought he was fine yesterday; the sh#te team performance and result just disguised it.

I'm more worried about the tendency to play Luis out wide. If it were my job to mark Luis, I'd do all I could to push him out of the central zone where his erratic (sometimes) genius can, when it comes off, do real damage. By starting him out there, we seem to be doing the opposition's job for them - and making Luis look like half the player he is in the process.

by **Dalglish** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:18 am

It's always a tad different watching from the stands as opposed to the 32 SKY camera angles you get these days but as an attendee at the match I'd pick out Sisssoko and Gerrard as the only players who equipped themselves really. Finnan was his usual reliable self and Kuyt worked hard but a few players fell well below the standard required.

Garcia was ineffective apart from one shot in the fiorst half, Alonso had an unusually poor passing game and Hyppia was pedestrian.

As you watched though there just seemed an inbalance to the whole team and it simply didn't click. Saying thios we still created three times as many chances, hit their post twice and should have had a penalty. Its not clutching at straws because I'd still say Everton deserved to win for their willingness to work that little bit harder, chase lost causes and win most of the second ball......

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