Liverpool FC Forum

by **tubby** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:03 pm

Don't worry everyone. These pre season friendlies are all part of Rafa's master plan to lure everyone else into a false sense of security.

by **tubby** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:03 pm

Redman in wales wrote:anyone know how carra is?

I heard he is a bit hungry right now.

by **heimdall** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:04 pm

burjennio wrote:LFC TV are showing the game now so for those of us who havnt watched it yet we can witness the horror

Wasn't really that bad, I didn't catch the first two goals but after that I thought we looked ok with some nice moves. The defence looked very shaky though.

by **heimdall** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:05 pm

bavlondon wrote:
Redman in wales wrote:anyone know how carra is?

I heard he is a bit hungry right now.

by **Scottbot** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:06 pm

woof woof ! wrote:Jeezuz, surely the poorest set of preseason performances in recent memory.

Whilst I'm looking forward to the season proper I can't say at this moment in time that I'm viewing it with any degree of confidence.

Ditto mate, I'm nervous as hell for the new season, we were poor in the pre-season two years back and had a shoddy year in the league (regardless of our champ league for that year). I wish to god Sami was still with the club

by **Bammo** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:14 pm

Scottbot wrote:
woof woof ! wrote:Jeezuz, surely the poorest set of preseason performances in recent memory.

Whilst I'm looking forward to the season proper I can't say at this moment in time that I'm viewing it with any degree of confidence.

Ditto mate, I'm nervous as hell for the new season, we were poor in the pre-season two years back and had a shoddy year in the league (regardless of our champ league for that year). I wish to god Sami was still with the club

Don't forget that we sacrificed a few league games (Fulham away for example) for the CL run. That distorted the gap between us and the winners in the league.

We have a better squad now so that should have less impact.

I'm not saying everything's rosy but it's not all doom and gloom. After all, that new midfielder looks promising...what's that...he's played for us for two years?
:;):

by **tubby** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:14 pm

How long is Agger and Skrtel out for?

by **Number 9** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:18 pm

Scottbot wrote:
woof woof ! wrote:Jeezuz, surely the poorest set of preseason performances in recent memory.

Whilst I'm looking forward to the season proper I can't say at this moment in time that I'm viewing it with any degree of confidence.

Ditto mate, I'm nervous as hell for the new season, we were poor in the pre-season two years back and had a shoddy year in the league (regardless of our champ league for that year). I wish to god Sami was still with the club

Player confidence is the worry for me!The ability to do well is there,no doubt!
Yes it has been a bit of a shambles but the results mean nothing.We cant really read TOO MUCH into the performances either as there were loads of subs made,players are holding back in tackles and all the rest.

I just hope the players feel ok in their heads before next weeks game at Spurs.Im sure they will,ffs friendlies are friendlies...thats all!
It would be nice to have beaten everyone 4-0,but I dont feel it would mean very much if we went and got two players injured overdoing it before they were fully fit.The available team as a whole will be ready fitness wise for Spurs...that is the result that counts!

Im nervous though,gotta admit!!
But I like being nervous and anxiety ridden when it comes to football.Away to Spurs is a big game especially on the first day when our main competetors are playing "cert 3 pointers"!
No law or rule to say we wont get 3 points and they both draw,thats football!

Bring it on

by **Ciggy** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:20 pm

We didnt play that bad actually their keeper and the cross bar helped them win, worried about our defence against Spurs hope atleast 2 of our regs are back.
I was just made up for the return of footie at Anfield it feels like years since we last played there

by **burjennio** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:21 pm

defending was really poor for the 1st goal, saying that Carra had just picked up an injury and Aguero may have been on Alaya's blindside

by **only me** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 6:08 pm

game was ok but that's the exact problem we are ok no more no less ,the 2 young CB subs aren't premiership level and we got ourselves in quite a problem with all the injuries.

Johnson and Inssua look good enough in there positions and i liked Kelly when he came up ,was quick and agressive.

Lucas is wasting our time and should be released ,Babel is another goat we should release ,we desperately need another man in the middle which is strong enough to defend but could also spread the play.

Torres looked a bit rusty and as he is the only striker we have at the moment we need him get his act together and start putting the balls in.

Performance was not bad but still a lot of challanges ahead especially with all those injuries and lack of midfield for the immediate future.

by **tubby** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 6:19 pm

BENITEZ PRAISE FOR IN-FORM LUCAS
Paul Hassall at Anfield 08 August 2009

Rafael Benitez hailed Lucas Leiva as Liverpool's star of pre-season after the Brazilian scored in Saturday's 2-1 friendly defeat at home to Atletico Madrid.
The Reds midfielder capped another fine display with a late strike in front of the Kop, and although it wasn't enough to earn a share of the spoils, the boss was keen to praise the 22-year-old.

"I said in my pre-match notes that Lucas has been best player in pre-season," he said. "He showed why again today. He is really focused, working hard and is showing quality.

"He knows Aquilani will need time. The players have to show the quality they have and when we decided to bring in Aquilani we knew he would be out for one month or so, so we analysed the squad and we think that with Mascherano, Lucas, Gerrard and Plessis we have enough."

First-half goals from Kun Aguero and Diego Forlan saw the Reds end pre-season with a home defeat and Benitez admitted it was a tough 90 minutes for his men.

"It was a difficult game," he said. "We conceded one when we were playing with 10 players and Mascherano was at centre back. It was really disappointing and after this we were a little bit nervous. We were playing against a good team and we had our chances but couldn't take them.

"They had spells when they were in control because they have players with quality who can keep the ball and pass it well. It wasn't easy for the young players to play against four offensive players with such quality.

"But we showed a good reaction in the second half and we were pushing - there were positives and negatives."

by **tubby** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 6:20 pm

Rafa plays down Carra concern
Carragher injury not serious
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is hopeful Jamie Carragher will be fit for next week's Premier League opener at Tottenham after suffering an injury scare.

Carragher was forced to limp off after just 15 minutes of Saturday's pre-season defeat to Atletico Madrid with an ankle problem.

However, Benitez has played down the extent of the injury and revealed Carragher was only withdrawn as a precaution.

"He's okay," said Benitez when asked about Carragher's fitness.

"He twisted his ankle and it was just a precaution to bring him off because we have had problems with the other centre-backs and we wanted to protect him."

Carragher's defensive colleagues Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger are both facing a race to be fit for the trip to White Hart Lane, but Benitez is confident all three could be available for the big kick-off, live on Sky Sports 1.

"We will have to wait now, the three players are injured, but improving so I think they will be fit for the next game," added Benitez.

by **fivecups** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:37 pm

Scottbot wrote:
woof woof ! wrote:Jeezuz, surely the poorest set of preseason performances in recent memory.

Whilst I'm looking forward to the season proper I can't say at this moment in time that I'm viewing it with any degree of confidence.

Ditto mate, I'm nervous as hell for the new season, we were poor in the pre-season two years back and had a shoddy year in the league (regardless of our champ league for that year). I wish to god Sami was still with the club

I was thinking about Sami during the match as well. It's a shame we let him go and I think we should look to bring in another central defender before the transfer window closes.

For me we missed Alonso today although we didn't have much control over keeping him. Neither Mascherano nor Lucas looked willing to take up the role of midfield fulcrum, the person who distributes the ball and sets up our play. I thought our balance suffered without him.

Is it just me or has Lucas shown small flashes of brilliance? Only small glimpses but you wonder if he gets his confidence up and is given more license to push forward and have a few shots if he could become a player?

by **Fauxy** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:22 pm

Lucas was good today and it was a good performance. I think we were very unlucky not to get a single penalty and we showed some good creativity.

The two CB's were obviously our weak points and if Carragher/Skrtel/Agger had been fit im confident we would have kept a clean sheet. They are very young though and had to deal with two class strikers. Aguero is amazing, but Torres is better, he was unlucky not to score today.

Oh and their keeper, Asenjo, is going to be the best keeper in the world one day.

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