Right you lot, before you go accusing me of listening to morrisey in a darkened room all weekend get over yourselves. My opinion will be unbiased, air and frank and I will never sugar coat anything. So that said; here's my review. 1. Tactics. Kenny got it right on the day. I am undecided right now whether kenny simply decided carrgher was not ready or he stuck with the guys in possession of the shirts but it was the right one. Drogba has beat up on carragher for years, but we4 also have torres to think of and this was the right pairing in my mind. Further up the field the decision to go for work rate up top was a good one and dropping downing is also a good call, maxi did ok even if he was angry to come off. 4-4-2 seems to suit as we coped with chelsea by playing narrow and using bellamy as a willing work horse. 2. First half we did quite well overall in the first half, we hassled, kept a good line and easily matched chelsea.... we pushed the defensive line higher which carragher would have prevented, lucas played well and we harried thier defensive line into errors. Over all a good start to the game and the goal if lucky cech was stupid well bellamy and suarez created it well. Maxi has a habit, like benayoun did, of knowing where to be in the box to get a chance and he tucked it away. 3. Second half. what can i say? poxed. terrible after the break really. the line was too deep and the midifeld isolated the forwards by dropping back and back. As a result chelsea dominated possession. Cheslea were not good. We got lucky in the end of it. 4. Individual performances. Reina- world class save when he was needed and he berated the team time and again for being too deep. NOt one error that I saw. Johnson - how on earth did he get MTOM, was the game that bad? the guy failed utterly to makr malouda and let every single cross in. On one occasion he jumped out of the way of mata while holding his own crotch for some reason. He was by far the weakest of our defenders. That said in the first half he was very positive going forward and of course scored late on by taking advantage of coles mistake. still not MOTM material though. Skertl - he was actually very good. he took on the role of sweeping up and blocking and really didn't do anything wrong. Seeing johnson was so poor he had a lot of covering to do! Agger - solid performance here, not much to say other than he competed well with drogba when required. Chelsea's 4-3-3 suited us here. enrique - handled most everything that did gcome his way if a little bit too calm and casual when clearing his lines. Lucas - hard working and competitive, no mistakes either. Adam - decent if still ball watching and i just feel lucas carries him. He worked hard but it's a long way off perfect. Kuyt - the usual hardworking game form kuyt, thouh i felt he missed a trick or two chasing back at times but not following runners. nothing much to say about him going forward though.... which is as per when we play this type of game plan. Maxi - worked hard, contributed and took up good positions. Not everything was right but after not playing it was a good showing of his experience and ability. Squarez - fiesty but below par. Sorry but the trip out to SA for internationals does take a lot out of him and he was not at his best. He was still hard working but his touch was not as fantastic as it can be. Was a bit wasteful. Bellamy - fair play to the guy he sacrificed himself a lot by defending like mad and really hassled chelsea all day. I'd have given him MOTM personally. Henderson - didn't see much of it to be honest but he worked too so.... .............................................................. 5. the result. A good 3 points no question but we have to say that while we deserved something for the first half alone we could easily have lost this one with the amount of territory and possession we gave up in the second half. reina saved us and in reality while johnson let every single ball past him chelsea really didn't get on the end of any of them. Thye'll be very dissappointed. I actually am a bit angry over it cos while it went our way Johnson really really annoyed me. Why? examples, he gave a free kick late in the first half when he could have simply hooked it away given the late timing of the half. He jumped out of the way of mata ridiculously and he was just awful as right back when defending. Then there were lot s of frustrating cameos up fornt where we just kicked the ball away too easily and suarez really looked out of sorts too. He's looked that way after each international so i think we can be pleased to get out of the birdge with 3 points and now a share of 4th with the big boys...... Hopefully v city the performances will improve again especially suarez as our talisman. (and here's hoping gerrard can replace adam soon)
Very decent review there, however I do feel you've been a little kind to Enrique there. On more than one occasion he kept giving the ball away due to trying to skill his way out of trouble just outside our penalty box. Johnson imho got the MOTM simply due to that last minute goal (personally think Adam deserved it more). Maxi and Bellamy impressed me again and it's no coincidence that we have our better games when Carroll is on the bench. Centre Backs actually looked solid for the first time this season, and I think it might be time for Carragher to realise he isn't helping the team anymore. Anyway, great review mate
I think you have been a tad overcritical here, I personally thought it was a great team performance we outplayed Chelsea in the first and managed to contain the threat in the second. I Dont think you can ask for much more epecially away from home and it was nice to see us putting away the chances we made aswell!! The only player I thought didnt have a good game was Suarez, he couldn't do anything right the whole game, but i think I'll let him off on this one.
I think Adam was a lot more mobile in this game, he was closing down well and really getting stuck in which helped us score the first goal. Enrique has that Spanish mentality of being calm and playing the ball on the ground as opposed to hoofing however he will get caught out occasionally as a result but I will accept this. I was expecting the Chelsea backlash in the second half but we were under a lot of pressure for most of the half which I wasn't expecting as they had taken a midfielder off and we could have exploited the extra space. Suarez was disappointing because he seemed quite slow when it came to decision making especially when he makes the final ball. However, his work rate is brilliant and the way he fights for every ball and gets annoyed when others aren't chasing is inspiring. As good as Kuyt has been over the years, (and what he lacks in technial ability and pace he more than made up with his fair share of goals and assists) he just isn't contributing IMO. He will always have the knack of picking up a goal here and there but he's a passenger in the games. The signs are looking good for Henderson and he's showing a lot of promise. My concern is that we play really good football when Suarez and Maxi play (this was evident last season and last night) as well as Bellamy. Both Maxi and Bellamy (and Kuyt) are on the wrong side of 30 which means they won't have long left to play.
was very pleasantly surprised by Adams performance, had a fair few tackles, didnt lose the ball much, hit a lovely ball to Johnson for the goal, except the set pieces were horrible. Enrique and Johnson I felt were a bit slack with the marking, Mata, Sturridge and Malouda didnt have to do much to get free to the back post to get to crosses. Also neat run by henderson towards the end to set up that chance for Kuyt, thought he had a good game in the limited time he had
When I saw Maxi start I said to my mate that 'he will get on the score sheet if we score tonight'. Dropping Downing was the right choice and I wonder wether Carroll will start vs city after his last performance against them.
MITO, I'm glad that you weren't lisening to Morrissey as then the review you've presented would have been even more negative. No performance is ever going to be perfect but I believe that your appraisal misses the mark in a number of areas. TACTICS. In this instance Kenny called it perfectly. Chelsea's attempt to play a high line was cruelly exposed by Maxi, Suarez and Bellamy in the first half and even in the second looked vunerable to the counter (as was ultimately proved by the 2nd goal). You do have a point about the 2nd half as the midfield did drop back too far. However, when you watch the match again, it is clear that Chelsea played a lot in front of our defence with little true penetration. If you want to look for flaws then I believe that we failed to respond adequately to Mata's move in-field in the 2nd half. As for Adam. What more do you expect from the man? His defensive play was vast improvement on his previous performances. He tackled and he covered and yet still had the ability to either seek a forward with a pass of calmly play a short ball. The ball that he gave Johnson was delivered with pinpoint accuracy. He did appear to have problems with the corners and they were not to his usual standards. Having said that he was trying to deliver to a strikeforce that was totally dominated when it came to height and heading ability. Did you actually watch the match? Johnson did a workman-like job defensively. You are totally wrong about his letting every cross from Malouda in. I think your prejudice against him is showing just a little too much. On this occassion I think you have managed to talk yourself into "telling it like it isn't".
A decent review of the game Reina faultless for the goal and a stunning save second half. Flipped on his defendefs for playing too deep and rightly so. Johnson was excellent first half but poor for first half hour of second allowing Malouda to get onto his left far too often. Superb goal though (further confirming my suspicious that it could be worth trying Kelly at right back and Johnson in front of him) Enrique looked ok in the main but some shocking distribution let him down and should have been covering Sturridge better for the goal. Been solid all year (but ffs learn that your right leg isn't just for standing on) Skrtel was pretty decent in fairness and seems to be enjoying playing with Agger. Even ventured over the half way line at one point earning a free kick and booking for the Chelsea player. Agger as with Skrtel looked decent and seems to be bossing the defence although needed to push the line up higher second half but the longer we can keep him fit the better off we'll be. Adam was excellent first half and his anticipation earned us the first goal but over run second until Hendo came on. Great pass for the goal and all in all positive signs. Lucas solid as always. Not perfect but has just learned to do the basics very well. Kuyt worked his usual game and was delighted to see him in the starting 11 for this one. We all know his faults but his energy is endless. Hardly his finest hour yesterday but his enthusiasm was as always infectious. Maxi I felt faded second half (hardly surprising) but was very influential in the first. Suarez seems to bring out the best in him and could well be pushing Downing for a regular start which can only be good for us. Bellamy fought, battled and scrapped for everything. Great reverse ball for the goal and even though he didn't get on the scoresheet was just what we needed in that game not giving Chelsea defenders a minutes peace. Suarez again at times suffered from poor final balls in and around the box but as always was lively and it's obvious how unsettling his presence is to opposition defenders. Henderson I felt actually changed the flow of the second half. Was a wise substitution and really helped stem the flow of balls that were cutting through our midfield. Carroll and Downing didn't do anything wrong in their short time on the pitch. Really big result this and a performance the lads can be proud of. Kenny picked IMO the right starting 11 and made good substitutions although he does need to polish up his half time team talks Yes this game could have gone either way but I felt apart from a couple of tricky moments that we did enough to warrant 3 points YNWA
Flimsy at best Moreinjured. Must try harder. No mention of Adam in the first goal? So that was Suarez n Bellamy that created it, was it? Adam played a bigger part in spotting the chance to squeeze and by winning the ball. He has a great brain. A big asset. Charlie Adam has been steadily progressing into his new duties as a Liverpool man. Steadily - at the jobs that a lot of fans don't notice. Shame on them. He's arguably been our best player this season.
fordeck... 1. insulting. 2. of course i WATCH the game. how dare you.... i call on you to take that back. 3. go watch a replay yourself if you think johnson was even adequete at the back. Yuo dare to accuse me of bias when i prasied the lad for his work inthe first half..... god. 4. as for adam. I think I'll repeat myself "decent if still ball watching and i just feel lucas carries him. He worked hard but it's a long way off perfect." we was only decent... only. nothing more. if gerrard ever steps onto a field fit again like he can be he'll put that adam performance in context. as for teeling it like it isn't... I think again insulting and making it peronsal comes to mind. I'm entitled to an opinion on the game after all. had you simply said I don't agree on this guy or that and not resorted to "Did you actually watch the match?" "I think your prejudice against him is showing just a little too much." "On this occassion I think you have managed to talk yourself into "telling it like it isn't". " I might be inclined to not respond but seeing you decided to take that tack then fine.
Well if you were listening to Morrisey then 'Everyday Day Is Like Sunday' will be fine as long as we keep getting results like we did yesterday...!!! As for the game that 1st half performance was outstanding from whistle to whistle. We deserved the lead and it came from great team work. I suppose my only complaint in the 2nd half was that we all expected a different Chavski in the 2nd half, we got one, and i was just disapointed that we sat back to much and encouraged them onto us... But the game changer was the world class of a save off Pepe to deny them the lead and in all probability the 3 points. They were just getting a head of steam after their opener and i think had they got that 2nd they may well have got back all their confidance... But Pepe's save really knocked them... They had some half chances but we always looked like we had a counter attack goal in us. A few misplaced final passes didnt help but the winning goal was classic counter punching at its best... I must admit i didnt think Glen had his best game or in deed his worst but i have to agree with what what Neville said in awarding Glen the MOTM... That was the one peice of skill that deserved to win any game, and much so because of when it came... Thats what we have come to expect from Glen and i think it will do his confidence no harm in scoring the winner in such a big game for us... Long may we continue to play like we did... Now to transform that back to Anfield... A great result, a great perfomance and great day to be a Red today...
the first goal For spevin 1. cech made an awful error passing it out and yes the tackle was by adam. If thats all it takes to finish the chance fine but if you want me to heap praise on the guy for closing down quickly thats one thing. but to then say he's arguably our best player of the season... well its fiar to say if you made a poll on that topic i think more would agree with me that others have had a much bigger impact on our season (suarez, reina, enrique, lucas, agger to name but a few) 2. I simply cannot get away from comparing the job that alonso used to do, the job mascherano used to do and yes the job lucas is doing to what adam is doing. I feel he gets passed around far to easily, isn't actually putting as much hard work in as luas beside him and I'm watching lucas do a ton of work as a result. 3. i'll give him credit when credit is due, same for johnson. If you take the goall out of it there is no way on earth that was a MOTM performance and i felt that was fair to say, i also praised him and nowhere did i write i want kelly in for him. that's not actually the case. On the other hand i've written clearly if gerrard ever gets back fit adam will be the first off the team sheet in my view. I don't see anything wrong in saying that whatsoever. Once he really plays well in my eyes then I'll praise him, but i can hardly hand a guy praise cos others say so. It'd not be my opnion then. Tell you guys what you go write a thread praising him if you like and see what others think.
MITO!! Hello. 1. No. But by simply not mentioning Adam's contribution in the first goal - at all - you made yourself look a fool. If you can't see that the ballwinner's merits are worth a mention in that goal then your lack of understanding of positional sense...and a general misunderstanding of what a team's movement means to create space and keep posession of the ball...sad to say, schoolboy stuff. he made his mind up to leave the player he was marking and hunt down. Lost on you, clearly. 2. You continually "compare", in your weeny mind's eye, to Alsono n Masch because you don't seem to have much of a capacity for subjective thought or to give anything a fair hearing on it's individual merits (with a different team, with different personnel, in a different game etc...Mr "if he can make up stats to prove this n that, then I can too"...Oh dear. Heh. 3. I'm not even sure what you're trying to say.
MITO in fairness he isn't ever going to be Alonso but I can remember many occasions when Alonso got caught ball watching and Masch had to tidy up...also bear in mind Alonso, Masch and especially Lucas all took time to settle into the club and none could be described as fantastic in their first six months. Lucas used to get "passed around" more than a rent boy at a Barrymore pool party. I was happy with Kenny signing Adam simply because I think he's the kind of player Liverpool have always had in their successful teams. Were Ray Houghton or Ronnie Whelan (just as examples) as good as Alonso? Probably not individually but did they learn their respective roles and play them consistently week in week out? Yes and I honestly think Kenny sees those same attributes in guys like Adam
Well done Billy. Thank-you. In the same token, I'm sure now that Adam has facets to his game that better Alonso's. Likewise, Alonso has superiority in other areas. Hey, guess what!? Different attributes - diferent player. Houghton different to Whelan different to Alonso??? Ya don't say!... Individual comparisons of players will always be the thickheaded resolve of the X-box armchair loudmouth. P.S Your "passed-around" anology is class. Gave me a little monday grin that did.
well I for sure know that alonso had a lot in his locker but was not perfect himself. many called him very slow as a player for instance. One must make comment though comparing lucs at 19 to adam at his age. Ok If I want to cut adam some slakc i can for sure say he didn't play at as high a level until blackpool came up so one could say he's got a learning curve to go through. that is a fair point to come up with Billy... Whelan was as good as alonso in fairness. thats my opinion comparing an 80s player to a 00s player. whelan was a superb passer and midfielder IMO. houghton played RM so he doesn't compare but would compare very favourably with kuyt as i feel he was technically a bit better and quicker than dirk but both have/had good engines... again my opinion. Perhaps I expect more from a player who is about to turn 26 perhaps and perhaps seeing billy has made a consise and reasoned point ican think on it a while and see how what i see can marry with this and if indeed i might or might not change my view..... you see insults and being short with people as your first tool especially when they go to the trouble of writing the thread doesn't do much for debate. billy on the other hand wrote two spearate peieces on this thread so I can see his point of view. I'll think about it billy but I'm not sure I'll agree with the learning curve in the end.
Compare compare compare compare...there he goes again. Don't you get how completely redundant phrases like these are MITO? "houghton played RM so he doesn't compare" - HE WOULDN'T/SHOULDN'T WHEREVER HE PLAYED!!! Giving up now.
Mate I gave Lucas some serious **** when he came over and lets be honest he deserved a fair bit of it but now look at him. All I'll say is that CA has done ok so far but fair to say he could have a **** next 6 months or get better and better so cut him a bit of slack for a season at least I loved Alonso and was gutted with the way we let him go but he ain't coming back so we move on and hopefully Adam will keep improving and get a good relationship built up with Lucas over time.
