Liverpool FC Forum

by **Sabre** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:33 pm

LFC2007 wrote:Gerrard was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch, he drove us forward and created most of our openings of which there were few.

I agree. Gerrard is world class as RM. World Class as CM. World Class as attacking midfielder.

The example of the latter today. Out of nothing, he created a lot of danger, and that's only done by the top attacking midfielders.

Other days many played well and I had doubts to say who was the best, today there was no contest.

I liked Arbeloa and Alonso too, but at a distance of Gerrard.

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:34 pm

We can’t afford to leave Riera out simply due to the fact we have absolutely no one who can play on the left accept him.

by **NANNY RED** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:41 pm

Is match of the day on

by **account deleted by request** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:46 pm

Just started

by **DanAn** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:48 pm

LFC2007 wrote:Gerrard was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch, he drove us forward and created most of our openings, of which there were few.

I'm absolutely over the moon with the result, but I feel relieved more than anything else. I didn't like the line up from the beginning. There was no real need for Lucas to play. Gerrard and Alonso probably would've sufficed in the middle, and Keane or Benayoun could've played up top alongside one another or alongside Kuyt (who had a bad game I thought). I didn't think Babel offered much at all in the way of cutting edge either and often came inside, on the other side, Pennant was very poor, did nothing.

Fairly sound at the back bar the odd moment where we failed to pick up players in the box.

Overall, the intensity wasn't there, the balance wasn't there, and Gerrard pretty much carried us to victory; one which didn't look like coming in all honesty.

Gerrard was very good but can't see how you can say he was head and shoulders above Hyypia.

Hyypia almost scored from a corner on the left, won a penalty from a corner on the right. Shut down Crouch and basically didn't give Portsmouth a look in all game. What more could he do?

I agree with your sentiment regarding Lucas not needing to play but I reckon Benayoun would have been monstered up front. I would have liked to see Babel as a 2nd striker with Reira on the left personally.

While I agree Gerrard was vital today I think Rafa move of bringing in Hyypia was the master stroke which won us the game.

by **lakes10** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:58 pm

not happy about the way the team was set out tonight, not sure some of our players should have started,
Once again we get lucky when we play like :censored:

.

Not that i wish to have a pop at Rafa tonight but he got or team sheet wrong and almost mad the weekends 3 ponits have no meaning.

we musy do a lot better when we play Spurs.......its nor going to be a very very hard game.

by **metalhead** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:59 pm

That was a frustrating game to watch, again, the lineup was a bit of surprise to me, no disrespect to lucas, but he shouldn't have played today. However, he was ok (his passing and positioning), but didn't influence the game at all and lost a couple of balls at the end.

Kuyt was ineffective, so frustrating to watch him today, completely lost the ball every time he had it with his poor touch. I don't think he is good enough to play against teams that defends deep! Gerrard and alonso had good games, arbeloa was solid, though his defending at times were a bit dodgy. Reina was untroubled most of the game, the same with Hyppia (other than the scare at the end) and Carragher. Aurelio was good, good shot that led to the corner, which led to the penalty, which led to the goal. Pennant, I thought was decent, put in some good crosses, but no one really attacked those crosses! Babel showed some nice pieces of skill in the first half, looks he got a bit of a knock in the second half when that biatch(forgot who) went on a high challenge. Benni and Riera added a bit of spark.

The thing is, we are having trouble at home this season, I fear that most teams will go to anfield sit back and defend and won't let us play football, which will be really frustrating for us because sometimes we looks really flat and we end up not scoring. It wasn't a poor game, but it wasn't our best at all.

3 points in the bag, roll on spurs.

by **metalhead** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:00 am

lakes10 wrote:not happy about the way the team was set out tonight, not sure some of our players should have started,
Once again we get lucky when we play like .

Not that i wish to have a pop at Rafa tonight but he got or team sheet wrong and almost mad the weekends 3 ponits have no meaning.

we musy do a lot better when we play Spurs.......its nor going to be a very very hard game.

we didn't play like :censored:

! if we did then we would have lost!

we had alot of possession, but had over 2 or 3 clear cut chances. Pompey defended superbly.

by **LFC2007** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:00 am

DanAn wrote:
Gerrard was very good but can't see how you can say he was head and shoulders above Hyypia.

Hyypia almost scored from a corner on the left, won a penalty from a corner on the right. Shut down Crouch and basically didn't give Portsmouth a look in all game. What more could he do?

I agree with your sentiment regarding Lucas not needing to play but I reckon Benayoun would have been monstered up front. I would have liked to see Babel as a 2nd striker with Reira on the left personally.

While I agree Gerrard was vital today I think Rafa move of bringing in Hyypia was the master stroke which won us the game.

I thought Hyypia put in a sound performance, I just thought Gerrard was the best player on the pitch tonight by some distance. He was at the forefront of every dangerous opening. A couple of excellent through-balls for Benayoun and Kuyt (one which resulted in our best opportunity), he was always looking to get on the ball and set someone up or get the strike in. I didn't think Hyypia coming in changed the game in any significant way.

I wouldn't be so sure about Babel as a second striker either, he hasn't enough awareness, his first touch isn't good enough, and he's not the type of player to link up play in and around the box. He's a very good impact player though.

by **lakes10** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:04 am

metalhead wrote:
lakes10 wrote:not happy about the way the team was set out tonight, not sure some of our players should have started,
Once again we get lucky when we play like .

Not that i wish to have a pop at Rafa tonight but he got or team sheet wrong and almost mad the weekends 3 ponits have no meaning.

we musy do a lot better when we play Spurs.......its nor going to be a very very hard game.

we didn't play like ! if we did then we would have lost!

we had alot of possession, but had over 2 or 3 clear cut chances. Pompey defended superbly.

2 or 3 clear cut chances??? yes and we did not take them, thats due to us not playing well, i take is you saw the game, if you was happy with that nothing game (could have fallen aseelp at one point) then good for you.

i am happy with the point as i knew it was going to be a hard game but we still need to play a lot better.

by **The Manhattan Project** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:18 am

What was Diop doing?

It looked like he was trying to fly like Superman or Supergirl.

by **metalhead** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:20 am

lakes10 wrote:
metalhead wrote:
lakes10 wrote:not happy about the way the team was set out tonight, not sure some of our players should have started,
Once again we get lucky when we play like .

Not that i wish to have a pop at Rafa tonight but he got or team sheet wrong and almost mad the weekends 3 ponits have no meaning.

we musy do a lot better when we play Spurs.......its nor going to be a very very hard game.

we didn't play like ! if we did then we would have lost!

we had alot of possession, but had over 2 or 3 clear cut chances. Pompey defended superbly.

2 or 3 clear cut chances??? yes and we did not take them, thats due to us not playing well, i take is you saw the game, if you was happy with that nothing game (could have fallen aseelp at one point) then good for you.

i am happy with the point as i knew it was going to be a hard game but we still need to play a lot better.

Yeh I saw the game, and we weren't cr@p! but we weren't at our best either! we didn't give the ball away for 80 minutes, we kept possession but we didn't have a killer instinct. We didn't take our chances because its either down to our players being not good enough in the final third against teams who defend deep and park the bus!

by **NANNY RED** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:26 am

Im killin meself laughin here did anyone see Rooneys head on match of the day :laugh:

by **Sabre** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:28 am

The Manhattan Project wrote:What was Diop doing?

It looked like he was trying to fly like Superman or Supergirl.

You probably noticed how at some point Diop faced Alonso like asking something and Alonso made gestures like "go away idiot".

The actual conversation was: I want to be the Liverpool Goalie.

Alonso didn't deem the proposition serious.

Then Diop tried to prove himself as a keeper in that play.

:laugh:

by **Kharhaz** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:28 am

NANNY RED wrote: Im killin meself laughin here did anyone see Rooneys head on match of the day

Before I started laughing my head off, for some reason I started singing "Hey now, your an all star!"

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