Thought our midfield was non-existent. Couldn't keep possession well, didn't press effectively and lacked ideas going forward. Sorry, and I've said this time and time again, but Gerrard cannot start in our midfield three any more. Even Allen, a worse player individually, suits our style better and raises the overall team performance when playing in that position. Johnson and Cissokho were awful. Kelly sitting on the bench all game must be wondering what he has to do to get a chance. Glad we pulled out a win, but their defending was awful. These were the type of games we used to lose or draw, so happy we're getting wins from them - even with a poor performance. Well played Sterling and Sturridge changed the game for us - his ability to hold up the ball and intelligence of knowing when to hold it and when to pass it makes a massive difference to our attack.
You time travelled forwards just to copy me. Shameful Gerrez... So Lucas played further forward. Could that be good going forward? With a DM on? ------------------M'Vila------------------- -----Henderson---Lucas---Coutinho-------- ------------Suarez-----Sturridge----------- M'Vila just an example.
Don't agree. We didn't have any control in the middle and after going 2-0 up those 3 should have kept the ball dictated the tempo and seen it out to at least half time. Henderson was partly at fault for the 2nd with his poor touch giving it to Adam as well.
I completely agree with you. Our entire back 4 bar Sakho need replacing/upgrading. I thought Henderson wasn't at his best - has he gone into his shell now that Gerrard is back?...
Well going on Gerrard s interview he's been told by br that he'll be playing that holding role from now on. Will be interesting to see what that does to Lucas.
it will be in summer Johnson,Skrtel,Cissokho will be gone in my opinion, not sure there is a lot we can do about it this window sadly.
Stand out performance from sterling. Thought Gerrard was our best defender today which means something ain't right, both full backs just not good enough (at least cissoko tries though!) ****ing forgot just how good Sturridge is as well - a massive welcome back Turning corners still as we would have lost this 3-2 normally
wipes brow... phew that was intense! a few points: -bringing off coutinho is a sign that rodgers knows what he is doing, everyone thought he would bring off sterling but the manager got it right. -watching liverpools attacking play has made me fall in love with football all over again, stoke tried their hardest to strangle us, but we rose above it -pretty please can we bolster our squad in january, johnson needs to be replaced pronto good win
Does that mean Rodgers DM targets are not available? Or is Gerrard truly a top DM? Or can Rodgers just not drop Gerrard?
why cant we have another Hyypia and Henchoz type partnership as our CB win the fecking league then. Sakho could be our new Hyypia but who is the new Henchoz?
I think it plays a bit of a part because they are both very left footed and very familiar with the left side. It is also a style thing. They both like to play with the ball, take the ball out etc. Finally, when our fullbacks attack our center backs spread out to cover the space a bit more. If we get a sudden counter attack down our right back area would you fancy Agger and Sakho in that area? If Rodgers thought it could work he would have tried it.
One of the things Skrtel does very well is getting across to the RB area and snuffing out an attack and he recovers very well from mistakes (either his or someone elses). Yeah, he's got problems in his game, but he's still been one of our better defenders. Sakho/Skrtel for me or Sakho/Toure, hopefully with Enrique back soon and a new RB or Kelly.
So it's a problem having 2 left footed CB's but not 2 right footed CB's? They both like to play the ball but Sakho doesn't come running out of defence in a similar way to Agger does. I'd rather have my two CB's comfortable on the ball. You see teams allow Skrtel to have the ball because he's not comfortable. This leads to him making mistakes by not having the confidence or skill to make the right pass. Your comment about cover down the right back area... do you feel any more confident having Skrtel there? Is yes, is it just because he's right footed? Skrtel is terrible out wide situations because he's beaten way too easily. His main strength is in the 6 yard box and that's why he was effective in the middle of a back 3.
Gerrard covered a lot defensively but our midfield was non existent. If Gerrard is going to play DM then there is no point playing Lucas further forward. Hasn't a clue offensively. Sterling did play well as did toure (at times) but Johnson and cissokho were awful. Stoke are such a difficult to play against though . Very physical and aBIG team. But Hughes has them playing a bit more football and I doubt we will have to deal with that many crosses into the box in all our remaining games together. This was a case of the result being more important than the performance, last season we would have lost it ( I know we did last season) etc etc. Good to see Suarez and Sturridge back together. With them playing we are always a threat. Just need to keep studge fit.
