Liverpool FC Forum

ConnO'var wrote:Agree with that but I'd probably drop Reina down to 5 as he really didn't play well at all..... misjudged the 2 Geremi shots which crashed he bar and dropped a couple of relatively simple balls.

I'd give Babel a 4 as he was far below average..... as said earlier, he doesn't deserve to wear the red of Liverpool.

Kuyt had a decent game I thought.... nothing spectacular but didn't do too much wrong either. Did his job reasonably well and deserved a 6 in my book. Else, I pretty much agree with the rest of your post.

I disagree with Kuyt playing well Con, did you see the one two Gerrard tried to play with him which he messed up?

The lads just rubbish mate. Much like Babel. Lucas is aswell, but today had a good game, which has never before happened in a red shirt.

Lets be honest though, how poor were Newcastle? No-one harrying the ball, no shape, massive gaps all over the team, no closing down, no organisation, no players even passing the ball to their own team mates... I really don't think we'll play a side worse than that again this season. They put up no fight and to honest, had it not been for Given it could have been a major embarresment.

Still, we took advantage of the fact they were so bad and didn't do badly ourselves, makes ya wonder though, had we had Keane and Riera in for Kuyt and Babel what could have been...

Fo Dne wrote:I disagree with Kuyt playing well Con, did you see the one two Gerrard tried to play with him which he messed up?

The lads just rubbish mate. Much like Babel. Lucas is aswell, but today had a good game, which has never before happened in a red shirt.

Lets be honest though, how poor were Newcastle? No-one harrying the ball, no shape, massive gaps all over the team, no closing down, no organisation, no players even passing the ball to their own team mates... I really don't think we'll play a side worse than that again this season. They put up no fight and to honest, had it not been for Given it could have been a major embarresment.

Still, we took advantage of the fact they were so bad and didn't do badly ourselves, makes ya wonder though, had we had Keane and Riera in for Kuyt and Babel what could have been...

ConnO'var wrote:

Fo Dne wrote:I disagree with Kuyt playing well Con, did you see the one two Gerrard tried to play with him which he messed up?

The lads just rubbish mate. Much like Babel. Lucas is aswell, but today had a good game, which has never before happened in a red shirt.

Lets be honest though, how poor were Newcastle? No-one harrying the ball, no shape, massive gaps all over the team, no closing down, no organisation, no players even passing the ball to their own team mates... I really don't think we'll play a side worse than that again this season. They put up no fight and to honest, had it not been for Given it could have been a major embarresment.

Still, we took advantage of the fact they were so bad and didn't do badly ourselves, makes ya wonder though, had we had Keane and Riera in for Kuyt and Babel what could have been...

I did see that but on the whole I thought he was ok. I can never figure out why he's never dropped or "rested" though. He must have the stamina of a horse. On ability though, we'd do better with Keane.... absolutely agree.

Absolutely agree with you on Babel..... Waste of space.

I think that if you watch him for a bit, Lucas may change your mind, Stu. He's got a bit about him that I've always liked and he may be suffering from a lack of confidence but is slowly working his head around it. I know you're loathe to do it but give him time mate. This boy may well surprise you.

Newcastle were horrendous but you know the old adage.... you can only beat what's in front of you.... Rafa gambled and it paid off... Gave  Riera a breather and watching him, he certainly seems to need it.... fitness doesn't seem to be quite there. Alonso got a nice break as well so it did work out this time. I hope he doesn't take this instant as a license to carry on with this "selectorial silliness" though. It could cost us a decent shot at the title.

The one downside to today's victory was the omission of Keane. The lad had scored 3 times in 2 consecutive games and a game like today would have done his confidence a world of good. I just cannot understand why Rafa did it....

Still, all in all, a good last 10 days to the year.

Fo Dne wrote:I give up on Lucas a long time ago if I'm honest. The player I saw today, was what I thought we had in the first place when he first signed and the one he'd settle into being. For me though, by now he's used his chances up.

His next five games in a red shirt have to be of that standard to prove this wasn't simply him playing well against a team that never turned up and they have to be commanding performances.

Fo Dne wrote:GK - 6 - Reina: Dropped a few and wasnt at his best but didn't really need to be.

RB - 6 - Carragher: Solid as ever and contributed going forward, nothing special but didn't put a foot wrong, was possibly party to blame for Newcastles goal.

CB - 7 - Hyypia: Quality again from Sami. Solid at the back, used the ball well scored a peach and could have had another. Largely untroubled through out the game.

CB - 7 - Agger: Again largely untroubled but played well. Shown composure and good ability on the ball and done what he needed to defensively.

LB - 7 - Insua: Again showing he's got the quality to make the position his own. Comfortable on the ball and aggressive defensively. Doesn't give the ball away much and looks to pass and move where possible. For me, our best option at full back.

RM - 7 - Bennayoun: These last few games he's looked alot better. Passing, moving and defending and showing some nice link up play. Played well again for me and should probably go on to make that position his own for the remainder of the season. Played a great ball for Gerrard to open the scoring after making a good run.

CM - 7 - Mascherano: Done really well today and made the first goal with determination and a well weighted pass which found a superb run from Bennayoun.

CM - 8 - Lucas: Yes, Lucas gets an 8. Unbelievable. Why he doesn't play like this on a regular basis is beyond me. He moved superbly, linked play and the assist for Gerrard's goal was a fantastic peice of play, firstly winning the header, spinning and asking for the return then the weight of the through ball for Gerrard to score. Alround passed well, harried well and had a good game. Shown an awful lot of qualities today which he didn't appear to have in any of his previous games for the club. Was also unlucky not to score at least one header. If the lad plays like that once every two games he wouldn't get half the flack he does.

LM - 5 - Babel: Still a complete waster. Scored a goal but to be honest done nothing else. Didn't try, didn't cause Newcastle problems, didn't look interested.

CF - 9 - Gerrard: What can you say? Absoloutely world class. Out of position, two goals and ran the show.

CF - 5 - Kuyt: Worked hard. And played one good throughball for Gerrard but everything else up because he's . One of the worst players in the squad.

Subs:

CM - 7 - Alonso: Came on an settled right into the game helping us keep control.

Ngog and Skertyl can't really be rated due to lack of time on the day.

For me "the boss" got very lucky today in the way that at 1-0 they had a perfectly good goal disallowed and the way his gamble of a team selection payed off. Certain players didn't deserve the chance they had today, luckily one of them actually took it and to be quite honest I don't think he could have failed against what I think is the worst opposition we've faced all season.

Lets make no mistake, they were woeful. To our credit though did take full advantage. The thing that worries me though is now "the boss" will feel justified in doing this more often and this sort of gamble doesn't work regularly which is why we find ourselves in the position we have done so many times in the past.

I think that is a very very fair assesment , well in stu , Balanced and fair post . Wouldn't argue with any of that.