Liverpool FC Forum

by **Leonidas08** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:51 am

I believe Finnan is one of the more consisten players in the backline and for the team, he does good on his runs up the wing to deliver the ball in.

by **tel** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 1:35 am

Espionage wrote:
tel wrote:Finnan misjudged the ball and the bounce, but what the fark was Reina doing going for a ball that barely bounced in his box?

Totally out of position.

Is what I wrote in the first page of this thread.
In all fairness Reina was in exactly the right position for defending the cross if the first man hadnt missed the ball. He had to do that, and rely that the ball wouldnt bounce and even make it to McCarthy.

If you analysis where Reina was when the ball bounced, he was in perfect position to defend if the first striker had controlled it. If Reina had stayed on his line and it didnt bouncehe would have been totally out of position. All goal-keeping if calculated risks, and I think that the chances of it bouncing over Finnan's head straight onto the foot of McCarthy were pretty low.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlFJr0sFGc4

He was out of position. There is no such thing as taking calculated risks as a goalkeeper. He's not Garcia on the sideline. He comes off his line when the ball is there to be won. Not when its 50-50.

One of his strong points is the speed he comes off his line. He just lacks confidence to have made the right decision.

Instead of trawling youtube, go buy a dvd of the best goalkeepers,. See how may times Dasayev, Shilton or Zoff came off their lines and didnt collect the ball. On the rare occassion they missed, they made sure they cleaned up the player Schumacher style.

by **Sabre** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 8:26 am

Instead of trawling youtube, go buy a dvd of the best goalkeepers,. See how may times Dasayev, Shilton or Zoff came off their lines and didnt collect the ball. On the rare occassion they missed, they made sure they cleaned up the player Schumacher style.

Those were good keepers. They wouldn't go to the border of the are to collect the ball when they could never reach it.

They would instead step up some metres to close as much as angle as possible just in case the oposition controls the ball.

by **jkop** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:52 am

Steve is an excellent FB, but maybe slacking just a bit if there was a bit more competion for his place (barring JC he is doing his part in the centre.) then maybe he would up his game. :nod

by **Bad Bob** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 9:47 pm

I thought Finnan was very solid against Bordeaux tonight. He even did well with some tricky balls in the air. Nice to see! :cool:

by **bigmick** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:39 pm

Bad Bob wrote:I thought Finnan was very solid against Bordeaux tonight. He even did well with some tricky balls in the air. Nice to see!

Agreed Bob he was much more like his old self. Hopefully it's the sign of a return to form.

by **Ace Ventura** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:53 pm

I also think he had a good game tonight, not just defensively but his crossing as well....he cant half play a great ball in between defender and keeper, the one in the first half where Hyypia was at the back post and misdirected his header was a peach of a cross.
Glad he looked back to his usual self tonight.

by **Bad Bob** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:09 am

He showed nice discipline tonight as well. The Bordeaux lads went to ground awfully easily--there LM in particular. Finnan had to have his wits about him and he managed to steer clear of most of the trouble. Ironically, he gave a way a few free kicks when Garcia was in the vicinity "helping"!

BTW, Carragher had a strong game as well.

by **red37** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:22 am

on the whole, the defence was the bright spot for me. although not that serious a test, they were under some pressure late on. stood up well though. the midfield....thats a different tale tonight unfortunately.

by **Raoul** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 1:46 pm

Bad Bob wrote:For those that haven't seen the goal, here's the link:

McCarthy Strike

It looks to me as though Riise (our LB in the first half, before he switched spots with Aurelio) was caught well upfield. Emerton produced a crisp pass to Bentley down our left flank, forcing Hyypia to charge across. Bentley's quick cross for Nonda (??) got over Carragher's head, bounced over Finnan's and fell nicely to McCarthy to slot home.

Finnan did get caught out of position, McCarthey was basically unmarked. But at the time I thought that Nonda actually got a foot to it and slightly changed the direction of the ball's flight, thus taking Finnan (who I presume was positioning himself to intercept the cross) out of play. If I'm right about Nonda (the youtube link isn't clear enough to see), it may have been a bit of bad luck for Finnan, who perhaps is only guilty of choosing to attack the ball, not mark the player.

by **jizz** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:00 pm

i think steve just hasnt found his form this season, i have watched him for ireland this season and as you know we have been playing very very very bad did i mention we are playing bad.? anyway his form for ireland has been prety much the same i think he will be back to his best if he gets a few good games under his belt when the whole team keep a few clean sheets and confidence is restored

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:30 pm

A settled back 4 and Alonso in front of them is the key to clean sheets. Never believed in rotating the defence unless it is absolutely necessary. The base should play every game.

Reina

Finnan Carragher Agger Aureilo

Alonso Sissoko/Gerrard

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