Match Day Thread Pre-season

As I said last night, all the goals we conceded (and there was a component of bad luck there as well!) were due to our full backs being poor defensively.
Navas (one of City's best players along with Jovetic and Fernando) opened us up time and time again on our left side. Navas was slightly worse in the first half, due to the pitch that side being ****e, but he still caused us no end of problems.

Adding my own tuppence-worth of observations on last night:

Johnson again showed he has no real defensive nous, when he came on in the second half, chasing a lost cause infield when he should have been bombing back into his right back position, and Jovetic had acres of space to run into when the inevitable pass came to him.

Overall, City looked better than us, but we created the better goals and did the job -- eventually.

Can looked very strong for his age when he came on. He even knocked Micah Richards flying and Richards is build like a heavy-weight boxing tank!

Enrique was poor defensively and in attack -- he still looks a few yards off match fitness and needs more games for a proper assessment.

Allen was poor. I want him to prove himself, but there was too many misplaced passes, which hardly ever happened when he was in a Swansea shirt!

Hendo put in a captain's performance. Just fantastic in all areas. I remember one wayward pass and one bit of sloppy control and that's it for the whole game.

Sterling again showing with his calmness and pace why he'll be one of our main stars this coming season. Just fantastic when he came on. Very unlucky to have his best finish of the night ruled out for being offside (very close, I'd need to see replays as I missed them!).

Sturridge was largely quiet but had his usual sparks of inventiveness. Great lay off for Robinson to burst into the box and he also played a part in both our goals and won some corners, etc. Awful penalty though.

Lambert was okay but, again, probably needs more game time to form understanding with our other attacking players. I didn't witness the great interplay with Sturridge, described by BR before the game, but I do look forward to seeing it develop.

Kelly didn't look great, but had a few good moments -- unlike Glen when he came on.

Coutinho looked as decent as ever. He probably would have been better with Ibe, Lucas or Suso with him rather than Allen, but played a very important role for us as the heartbeat of our team. He looked very tired towards the end and so might be still a little short of match fitness.

Toure and Coates looked pretty solid. Most of our problems came from the wings so the CBs did pretty good jobs.

Gerrard played okay, but it was far from his best game for us. He was unlucky to provide the assist for one of their goals when it (somehow!) squeezed through his legs near the goal allowing a simple tap-in.

 

If we beat AC Milan and Utd beat Madrid we will be playing them in the final


Group standings

http://www.internationalchampionscup.com/schedule/standing/

 

Is this likely? I suppose it depends what penalty takers are still on the pitch after LVG plays for 0-0 with 5 at the back

 

Think Madrid have been pretty ****e so far

 

Did you see his one at the Olympics? That was dreadful!

 

Just seen the highlights.

Really nice touch and goal from Sterling and Hendo's was nice too.

First good signs of the season.

Never bad to beat Man City and shout out to Minolet too who will feel much better from that.

 

Tossers keep ruining it






clearly joking, why would I come on here if I didn't want to know the outcome lol

 

Anyone got a link to the highlights?

 

My marks:

Jones: 6 One or two decent stops.

Kelly: 5 Was he really in the England squad only three years ago? Would have been at least booked had it been a real game.

Enrique: 5 As with Kelly, let's give some leeway to the fact that he's been out a long time.

Toure: 5 An oasis of panic in an ocean of calm, at times. Strong, but a thirty yard burst past three players completed by a hoof straight out of play and ten yards away from his nearest teammate sums him up.

Coates: 6 Slow. Very slow. despite what others on here say, I never saw him win any more headers than Toure.

Gerrard: 6 I was one who championed this quarterback/sweeper role last season. Looks confused and resorts to even more Hollywood passes. Mind you, remember the Villa home game last season when he first tried out the Pirlo role? Took a few games to get that right. Let's not write him off yet.

Henderson: 8 Functional in the first half, but became twice the player when Gerrard went off. Yes, his natural fitness would show even more at this stage of preparations, but nevertheless this isn't the first time Hendo has flourished in Gerrard's absence.

Coutinho: 7 Involved in everything, but not always effectively. Was impressed that his head never dropped and he never drifted out of the game as he sometimes does when the going is tough.

Allen: 6 Just hope it's the rustiness, as he played like he did last autumn and not as he finished the season. No WC _ he should have been one of the freshest.

Lambert: 6 Missed a good chance, but otherwise was a lot more mobile than I expected. Some desperate passes though.

Studge; 6 Never saw his pace in the whole game, and City's solid defenders never gave him much room.

Subs:

Mingolet: 7 started as he left off last season. Great in the shootout. I didn't see how he was at fault for the goals - indeed, he blocked Koralov twice when he walked past the non-existent right-back.

Johnson: 4 See above. I pray that the old feller has had a very hard summer and needs a few more weeks to get up to speed. So bad I was begging for even Kelly to come back on.

Robinson: 5 Hosed and hosed again by Navas. did occasionally get forward though. God, we need two full backs.

Sakho: 7 Didn't the defence look more solid when he came on? True, City really tired in the last 20 mins, but Sakho wins more balls, both aerially and on the ground, than he loses.

Lucas: 7 I take back what I said about replacing him with Allen. Not yet, on this showing.

Sterling: 8 Now Luis has gone he's our new main man. Too much of a mantle for a nineteen-year-old, so let's hope Markovich (sp) and Shaqiri can share the load.

Can : 7 Really impressed, especially with his physicality against a tough City. Already thinking of him and Hendo, with either Allen or Lucas, in a post-gerrard future that may be on us sooner than we were expecting.

Overall: 7 Enjoyed the game for what it was - a pre-season friendly in a foreign country on a converted baseball field. Let's not write off anyone on this showing, even Johnson, but also let's hope that cameos like Can's are not just flashes-in-the-pan. Fingers crossed.

 

Good, honest review that Donga

Agree that we need wing backs and I think a top quality striker.

 

http://www.101greatgoals.com/goals/...ights-manchester-city-2-liverpool-2-pens-1-3/

 

Thanks! I'll check that out later on.

 

What I like about Sakho is he doesn't wait for a midfielder to drop and take the ball off him, he just steps forward and plays a perfect pass to someone on the wing

 

Yeah I think him and Lovren could make a real could pairing.

Its just the wing backs now.

If Johnson is still our first choice right back then I may cry.

 

Johnson has just gone off a cliff over the last few years, no idea what the hell is up with him.

 

We are the most hiphop club supposedly....(Dont know if this has been done already.)

http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/07/why-liverpool-is-the-world-most-hip-hop-soccer-club/

 

Can as Defensive mid with Suso and Hendo infront sounds much better to me...has everything

 

Does any one have any real idea on what our best 11 at the start of the season will be yet judging on Friendlies.

Ignore short term injuries and include Lallana.

 

Not Coutinho or Lallana?

----------Can
Henderson---Coutinho

High tempo bosses.

 

I can rest easy now I know that Dr Dre is a fan.