T dot. Raptors in the play-offs, Liverpool might win the league, how crusty is your handkerchief? 30 for 30 is on now ESPN if you are up.
Don't derail . I care only about Liverpool and that's all. Not one other sport besides the beautiful game, and unfortunately that doesn't include our MLS. Well, maybe an old soft spot for hockey. And tennis. (I kinda know what's going on all the major leagues though by sheer osmosis...)
Don't mind the hockey meself, Always been fond of the Penguins from back in the Lemieux and Jagr days. Tennis I don't mind but we have been so **** with the US players that it is hard to back sometimes. of course Nadal, Djoki, Murray, Federer, etc are all good but it was nice to have the likes of the US contingent in the mix. Going to try to get to LFC either in August or December time, all depends on the new job in Russian Georgia.
i never run out of puff lol to attack for 90 mins solid you need players with a lot of stamina, we have a few but not enough. maybe if we had better options from the bench (70 mins) we can get that intensity going for the full 90mins, but moses and aspas offer **** all and are ****e.
I agree, we haven't got the players. The other major problem with total attack is that you become too predictable. Now, in our attacking phases it is almost impossible for a defence to know from where and by whom the attack will start - let alone finish!
We are unbeaten in 16 league games. We've only dropped 4 points so far in 2014. We are 5 points clear at the top of the league and need 7 points from our last 3 games at most to win the league. And you STILL want to find something to complain about? Just enjoy it ffs.
Don't be touchy. We'll have to think ahead still. About the Chelsea and Palace games. So that we can actually win it. You would want us to play sitty-backy against Chelsea and Palace, perhaps?? If it weren't for your avatar and your intelligent past postings, that type of comment would make me see you for a zoloft gulping moist eyed oldie, good for nothing but patting the boys on the back and quick at getting his good ol' heart racing at any one plucking his chicken.
touche. Liv, gotta agree that it is way more exciting and we are at our best pressing, houding, penetrating, etc but we just don't have the stamina for it. Sounds a bit like me in the sack but that is a different story all together.
You think we deliberately sit back? We get pushed back by teams desperate to get back into the game. When teams press us high (at an intensity that isn't sustainable for 90 minutes) we struggle because our goalkeeper & defenders are not the greatest footballers in the world. Mignolet's passing is often poor & slow while our defenders (mainly Johnson) kept making the wrong decisions on the ball and losing it putting us under pressure. And in these situations we can't punt the ball upfield because Suarez doesn't even challenge for headers let alone win one and hold the ball up or win a free kick like a Drogba/Crouch would (not that I'm complaining). But I would like to see you make a positive thread for once. We went to a tough ground, scored 3 goals and took 3 points with all the pressure on us to get something with Chelsea dropping points.
Just for the hell of it I will presume that this comment is supposed to be directed at either me, saint or RHC as we are the oldest posters on here. Firstly that is insulting. It shows your lack of class and adds nothing to your claim to actually know anything about LFC, or football in general or even football strategy. Therefore on behald of the others and myself I will treat your comments with the contempt they deserve.
So quick to take offence, Dave , on behalf of others even. Don't worry, I really didn't mean it to refer to anyone here. 100%, believe me. Y'all do offer something significant besides chicken-clutching.
I recall having a similar exchange with you after the Fulham or Swansea game. We'll have to agree to disagree if you can't see my point. As I told Dave... Even if keeping with an attacking gameplan throughout a match is physically impossible (not so as we've done many a time this season, as has City, Arsenal, and Everton ), it still doesn't mean we have to pin ourselves inside our defensive third. Especially so, when we don't have the personnel to do it confidently! Plus, Suarez may not win a lot headers, but he's the best in the world at dealing with a long/high ball which the defence fails to properly clear. Coloccini and Dawson know smth about that.
Did you actually watch any of the games you reference or merely the edited highlights? In none of those games did we employ a constant attacking game plan. In all of them we did retain the ball in our midfield and release it to a forward player when they had time or space. The whole idea being to create the spaces and wear their side out chasing shadows. It seems to me that, on the whole, we have been rather good at doing that this season. On rare occasions we have come undone by retaining it either too long or too deep.
In those two games (plus WBA & Villa), we got lax/tepid going forward and at times were pinned back (though not for as long as v Norwich or City). I've watched every single league and FA cup game. And I have a discerning eye, as well, I assure you. And my debate with Lucaaas was his insistence (and my disagreement) that a team can't have the stamina to be on the front-foot all game. I disagree based on our own past performances, as well as City, Arse and Everton's. It's a matter of drive.
There is no way watching a tv screen that you an get a clear vision of what is happening across the field. The tv director is firstly concerned with where the ball is and what is happening to it. Attacking in the way that Liverpool do is a high risk strategy. It takes a lot of effort just to make the kind of runs that produces goals. There is no team on earth that can sustain that for 90 minutes. Not only are you demanding that the forwards bust a gut but that the midfield press higher up the pitch to collect any intercepts the opposition may have and the fall back quickly to press again around the halfway should the attack fail. Throughout this you FBs have pushed on and your CBs are trying to cover their attacker(s). That whole process is just too draining to even contemplate. Now there is a great difference between what happened in the City game where we were pushed back because we lost the midfield and therefore impetus and what was happening at Norwich. At Norwich the system ground to a halt because there was nowhere for Gerrard to safely or creatively play the ball from our half. Therefore Gerrard had to join the sideways passing and the pressure mounted on us. Now my rationale for that was because Lucas and Allen got sucked into the defensive pattern and there was no 10yd outball to a player who was moving forward. The system broke down because of the personnel. It was not a system flaw.
We've done IT. Many a time. And even if we can't do IT anymore (for whatever reason), that's no cause to pin ourselves back. Rather we venture forward lukewarmly at 80% of our capacity ala City or Everton, or even 60% capacity ala Arsenal. Or have the defence or Gerrard ping it forward. Better either of those options, than sit back imo. If Brendan meant it to be our defence mechanism, then I don't agree. If he didn't mean it, and we were pushed back by a hungrier Norwich side, then it's a shame. In either case, there were other better options.
I can see your point, I just don't think its something we can actually change or affect until the transfer window. And its not a conscious decision to drop deeper and deeper and invite pressure onto our defence. Its like when teams used to go to Old Trafford and go to the Etihad, Anfield or the Emirates. They drop deeper and deeper until they end up defending on their 6 yard line and concede because of that. Its much easier to say "we need to play higher up the pitch" than it actually is to do just that when you're getting pressed high up the pitch by the opposition. He is when they fail to clear, he did the same against Cardiff, but if you notice he never challenges the centre back, which is probably wise considering his height, he just anticipates the ball bouncing behind the defender just in case the defender makes a mess of the clearance.
