A thread for us to discuss line ups, tactics, score lines, first goal scores etcââ¬Â¦ Iââ¬â¢ll start. Iââ¬â¢d like to see. Reina Carragher Agger Wilson Kelly__________________Johnson Meireles Spearing Lucas Cole Kuyt Dirk Kuyt to score first and a 3-0 win or a 4-0 with no Gerrard in there I'd opt for Spearing and give Lucas a more free role and see how he gets on. I think Cole is ready to put in a performance and what better chance than now. We are struggling up front with no Carroll or Suarez available and N'gog really sucked the other night so I'd like to see Kuyt running around with Cole feeding of the scraps.
Not a bad line-up and the 3-5-2 worked a treat against Chelsea,but are Sparta all that physical.?I wouldn't think so.How about going 4-1-2-1-2 With a flat four,Lucas sitting,Mereiles and Spearing in midfield and Gerrard playing the free role behind Kuyt and Ngog.
---------------Reina------------------ Kelly--Carragher----Agger------Johnson-- ----------------Poulsen----------------- ---------Meireles-----Lucas------------- --Maxi-----------Kuyt-------Cole------- Can't really see us going 3 at the back vs Sparta. Hopefully we keep a clean sheet for Pepe but I can see them nicking a goal, 3-1 to us.
I like your line up Shanks, with the exception of Maxi but there is no one else really. King, I don't think Gerrard is playing as much as I'd love it to be the case... Personally I think we need him or at least someone with some spark hopefully Raul can be that man again or maybe even Cole if he's feeling up for it!!
I'm thinking 3-1 Liverpool. Kuyt, Cole and Meireles to get the goals. If we can get the first couple of goals early, I could see some of the youth getting 20 minutes at the end.
Just about did enough. It wasn't a classic but the capacity crowd went home happy enough, with dreams of Dublin still well and truly alive. We'll need to play better than this in the next round, but we should have Gerrard and Carroll back for that. They can't return soon enough based on this. We defended well, but going forward we were workmanlike but badly lacking inspiration. The first half was crap. Hardly a surprise, as we've seen on numerous occasions what a midfield pairing of Lucas and Poulsen is like, and we also know that Ngog just doesn't cut the mustard as a lone frontman. Our biggest attacking threat in the opening 45 minutes was our right back. Kelly was superb, bombing forward and once again displaying that excellent crossing ability he has. He produced a series of good deliveries into the box, the best of which should have resulted in a goal for Meireles. For once though, he failed to direct his half volley and the ball sailed over the bar. Kelly was just about the only bright spot in a dismal first half, but he was forced off at half time with what is hopefully only a minor injury. Ngog had a good opportunity too, when Agger won the ball in his box, advanced forward and then dropped an inch perfect ball over the shoulder of Repka and into the path of Kuyt. He took it on his chest and then cut it back for Ngog, but his shot was parried into the air by the keeper, and Cole wanted no part of challenging for the rebound. He took a bit of stick for that from some sections of the crowd, but it didn't bother me I have to say. I don't think he was going to score even if he'd throw himself at the ball, but there's every chance he'd have been clattered and given the injury problems he's had in recent years, I can't castigate him for thinking twice about it. As in the 1st leg, Sparta didn't pose much of a threat, and that made for a pretty uneventful opening 45 minutes. Not a typical Anfield European night that's for sure, although it's a good while since I've seen so many scarfs on show during YNWA. I'd imagine the owners will have been delighted with a full house, especially given the unusual kick off time. Just a pity the football was so dull that it dampened the early enthusiasm from the Kop. It got better after the break despite the absence of Kelly. Clearly something had to be changed, and Kenny opted to go 442 when the 2nd period got under way. It was a sensible move, as it played to the strengths of the players on the field. Ngog can't play on his own and Dirk was doing nothing out wide. Going with two up front allowed us to play more in their half, as the ball just hadn't been sticking up there in the first half. Ngog actually got even worse after the break, but Kuyt looked much more comfortable and he was a big factor in most positive things we did, including the goal of course. We created several good opportunities to score, but the finishing wasn't good enough. Meireles saw a shot go just wide from distance, Cole had a tame strike easily saved and Ngog completely missed his kick when well placed. Other opportunities went begging, such as when Kuyt did ever so well to get away down the right, but put too much on his cross and it sailed over the head of Cole on the back post. As time ticked away, it wasn't looking great for us. In addition to having to send Carragher on for the injured Kelly, we'd also seen Spearing come on to replace the ineffective Poulsen. With Maxi and Pacheco both still to call on, Kenny will have been pondering what he could do to try and win the game, but then that option was taken away from him when he had to use to his final sub to replace Agger. Skrtel had been preparing to come on for Kyrgiakos, who'd taken a few knocks to his face during the game and had been forced off into the dressing room for some running repairs. It appeared that Skrtel was about to come on for him, when Agger went down under a challenge and came up hobbling. I like to think that the physio asked Kyrgiakos if he could carry on, and the big man yelled 'THIS IS SPARTA' before legging it back up the tunnel and onto the field. With King Leonidis back in the battle, Kenny was able to replace the limping Agger, but it meant there was no longer anything else he could do to freshen things up in attack. The introduction of Spearing had helped, his crispness and speed of passing had helped our attacking play, and he was light years better than the ponderous Poulsen. Jay is very close to making a real breakthrough, as he's performing well every time he's called upon now. With extra time looming, we had some potential problems. Ngog's socks had been down since around the 75 minute mark, and Cole was blowing for tugs too. Had it gone to extra time, we may have been in trouble. Thankfully it didn't. Meireles whipped in a brilliant corner, and Dirk was on hand to nod it in. Very similar to the goal he scored in the derby last season, where he lined up in front of the keeper and then just steps out a couple of yards to meet the ball. The goal was just reward for the non stop effort he'd put into the second half. Cole deserved a goal too, he improved as the game wore on and despite clearly being knackered he never stopped working. His moment looked to have arrived as the game entered stoppage time. He showed great feet to work an opening for himself, but just as he was about to pull the trigger Ngog nicked it off him and saw his shot saved. Cole was understandably livid. A minute or so later though Cole had an even better chance. With their last throw of the dice, Sparta sent almost everyone forward for a free-kick that was punched clear by Reina. Spearing collected it and kept a cool head as he advanced forward. Cole made up a hell of a lot of ground as he ran through the centre, and Spearing waited until just the right moment before playing a perfectly weighted ball into his path. Cole was running at full speed and his first touch was a little heavy. He was being closed down by a defender, but he still reached the ball first but he didn't have any accuracy on his shot and the ball went a foot wide. A pity, I was desperate for him to score as it would do him the world of good. Still, there were signs of improvement from him and the 90 minutes will have done him the world of good. Overall, it wasn't great but there are things to be positive about. The defence were largely untroubled, with Wilson getting another first team game under his belt and showing some promise. He's not a left back, you can see he's reluctant to cross the half way line, but he's a good defender and a tidy enough footballer. It's early days, but I wonder if Wilson and Kelly will be our centre back pairing of the future? For now Kelly looks to have that right back spot nailed down. He's simplistic in his approach, and he only runs in straight lines. There's not much jinking in and out is there, he just sees space and then bombs into it at full speed before delivering a quality cross. Defensively he's very good too, and it would appear that the only thing that can stop him becoming a regular is fitness, as he does tend to pick up injuries quite often. Had he played the entire game he would almost certainly have been the star man as his first half performance was so good. Dirk's second half performance made him a candidate, whilst Agger and Kyrgiakos both played well. Spearing was class in the 25 minutes he was on, but for me Meireles was probably our best performer over the full ninety minutes. It's Braga next, they've reached the last 16, so they are no mugs. We will have to improve on how we played in both games against Sparta, but having Gerrard and Carroll back should give us a lot more firepower, and the final in Dublin is a real possibility for us now. Team: Reina; Kelly (Carragher), Kyrgiakos, Agger (Skrtel), Wilson; Lucas, Poulsen (Spearing); Kuyt, Meireles, Cole; Ngog:
