....and I'll be just as quick to apply praise. We were unlucky today; BR must be wondering what he has to do to beat a top half club after Arsenal & City. I've been critical of how he has sent us out to play recently but I have no complaints today, we were by far the better team and just plain unlucky. Sturridge looks a bargain at what was it? £12m? The midfield looks solid now that Allen has been asked to warm the bench and even Downing looks a different player.....although i did let out a loud chuckle when he went to dummy the player but forgot to take the ball with him Lucas seems to be slowly getting back to his best....and Gerrard is, well, Gerrard. Defensively we still look wobbly and we can't do anything with corners.....so still a lot of stuff to improve on but on todays showing, I'm a much happier man than i was 8 days ago!
Every corner we concede worries me,we do little on our own corners and our throw ins are painful to watch..defensively we look vey shaky BUT we do look really good in all other areas and Henderson has been are revelation the last few games. Sturridge is looking the type of player we have been crying out for and Gerrard looks like the Steve g of old...dominating midfield,creating and scoring (from outside the box). Our shooting seems to also have improved. So still a way to go but feeling a lot more positive now.
I said after the Arsenal game that we are useless with corners. We may as well just kick the ball back to Pepe and start again
Also, Carragher has been immense since his return. After all the abuse he's got over the last couple of seasons, it's good to see a club legend proving people wrong at the age of 35.
We seem to be good at long shots, so perhaps we should play short corners and work it around to a shooting position. Rather than kicking it in and seeing the opposition head it away.
Gerrard and Sturridge are, Suarez hardly ever shoots from distance though, he prefers to attempt to dribble aroung at least five players first
The good thing is that we are not far away from beating these sides. Its all small margins at the moment and we only require small tweaks in terms of players and tactics and we'll start closing these games out and picking up wins against these teams. It is crucial that we sign good players in the summer. A centre back to replace Skrtel (a proper leader and good in the air (someone in the same mould as Kompany)) plus a left back to compete with Enrique and a goalkeeper to replace Reina and we would definitely be looking good for a top four spot. If we don't get these players in then I'm afraid we'll still be inconsistent and struggle to be where we want to be.
Marc-André ter Stegen [TABLE="class: infobox vcard, width: 22"] [TR] [TD="colspan: 4, align: center"] please log in to view this image [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH="bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4, align: center"]Personal information[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Full name[/TH] [TD="class: nickname, colspan: 3"]Marc-André ter Stegen[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Date of birth[/TH] [TD="colspan: 3"]30 April 1992 (age 20)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Place of birth[/TH] [TD="class: birthplace, colspan: 3"]Mönchengladbach, Germany[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Height[/TH] [TD="colspan: 3"]1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Playing position[/TH] [TD="class: role, colspan: 3"]Goalkeeper[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH="bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4, align: center"]Club information[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Current club[/TH] [TD="class: org, colspan: 3"]Borussia Mönchengladbach[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Number[/TH] [TD="colspan: 3"]1[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH="bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4, align: center"]Youth career[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TH]1996–2010[/TH] [TD="colspan: 3"]Borussia Mönchengladbach[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH="bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4, align: center"]Senior career*[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Years[/TH] [TD]Team[/TD] [TD="align: right"]Apps[SUP]†[/SUP][/TD] [TD="align: right"](Gls)[SUP]†[/SUP][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]2009–2011[/TH] [TD]Borussia Mönchengladbach II[/TD] [TD="align: right"]18[/TD] [TD="align: right"](0)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]2010–[/TH] [TD]Borussia Mönchengladbach[/TD] [TD="align: right"]57[/TD] [TD="align: right"](0)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH="bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4, align: center"]National team[SUP]‡[/SUP][/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TH]2008–2009[/TH] [TD]Germany U17[/TD] [TD="align: right"]11[/TD] [TD="align: right"](0)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]2009–2010[/TH] [TD]Germany U18[/TD] [TD="align: right"]4[/TD] [TD="align: right"](0)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]2010–2011[/TH] [TD]Germany U19[/TD] [TD="align: right"]5[/TD] [TD="align: right"](0)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]2012–[/TH] [TD]Germany U21[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1[/TD] [TD="align: right"](0)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]2012–[/TH] [TD]Germany[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2[/TD] [TD="align: right"](0)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="colspan: 4, align: center"]* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:39, 14 December 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:05, 26 May 2012 (UTC)[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] The man to replace Pepe
Yeah, we need a new keeper, if not a number one then a of player of quality to act as a rival and get Reina focused again. He threw three points away for us today, not good enough and his mistake was made even more apparent since he used to be pretty much rock solid. Apart from that, class performance.
Its both a good and a bad thing. Yes, it is good that we are not a million miles away but bad because it is the small percentages that are hard to put right. I guess these are makes or breaks managers too
We are quiet a small team which probably doesn't help when it comes to attacking/defending corners. Our defenders are all around 6 foot including Reina which doesn't give them much of an advantage against tall strikers like Dzeko or other centre backs. Also we aren't a "powerful" team, with BR focussing more on technical ability as opposed to pure strength. It certainly has its advantages but just not when trying to defend set peices Reina - 6'1'' Johnson - 5'10'' Agger - 6'1'' Skrtel - 6' Enrique - 6' Gerrard - 6' Henderson - 5'10 Lucas - 5'7'' Suarez - 5'9'' Sturridge - 6'1'' Downing - 5'9''
Probably only going to get worse too. I assume you based that on today's starting eleven so I'll point out that Carragher started ahead of Skrtel
Well used the probable strongest 11, but Carragher is only 6 foot and Allen is 5'6'' Sterling is 5'6'' Suso is 5'8'' Coutinho is 5'6'' so looking at the bench it's also not very tall either.
Moussa Sissoko would've helped in set pieces, a very powerful presence, Newcastle have a bargain right their. I do feel we need to replace Reina and hope barca come in for him so it doesn't end badly between the player and club. I also believe we need at least one new CB maybe 2 if say Skrtel & Coates leave (although Wisdom, Kelly etc could fill in if needed) but I really can not think of whom would be suitable, maybe Shawcross?
Sturridge looks a bargain at what was it? £12m? Indeed he does. Thought that he would slot in at Liverpool, and I don't know if it's me, but........in that red shirt, he just looks RIGHT somehow!
