Assuming Agger is banned ( although there may be an appeal) and assuming rest of squad is fit ( Cole will not be but that is no loss ) I would like to see the team as below Reina Johnson, Carragher ( need him to organise defence despite his lack of speed ), Skrtel, Enrique. Assaidi, Lucas, Gerrard, Allen, Suarez Carroll Subs. Jones, Shelvey, Sterling, Henderson, Coates, Borini, Pacheco I would hope that today's performance was just a bad day at the office and a s*** referee. I am worried that the ref's may have it in for Suarez this season and he will be a marked man. I do not mind if we lose and have played to the best of our ability but today was one of the worst performances I have seen in the 40 yrs I have been watching LFC.
I'd play that team too. No way Rodgers will. It'll be exactly the same if not Assaidi on the bench over Shelvey or Hendo. He worried me in his post match interview, saying he thought the players were excellent for their effort, which is bollocks, they barely tried. Downing is a waste of space, shouldn't even make the bench. The bench you've put is stronger than todays, yet somehow Rodgers is yet another manager who thinks Downing and Adam are better than Suso/Sterling/Pacheco, the last of which should get a chance ahead of Borini IMO, as he was excellent in the two preseason games he was allowed to play.
I agree in theory with your sentiments about Carragher but judging by today's performance and tactics we need some pace at the back to avoid the problems that we faced today, so I would pick Coates. Possibly Carra alongside him instead of Skrtel, but definately not Skrtel and Carra together. For me it should be Reina Johnson Coates Skrtel/Carra Enrique Lucas Allen Suarez Gerrard Borini Carroll Only reason I'm picking Borini is because I would be hoping to rely on his supposed similarity to Kuyt
Genuine question - why wouldn't Agger be banned? It looked like a foul and he was the last man, i realise there's disagreement as to whether it was in the box or outside but that doesn't affect whether it's a red card or not. I can't see what the appeal would be regarding.
Suggestions that the red card was the wrong decision, ie it should have been yellow. Also bans dont always start straight away.
There is the option to appeal. Yes Agger was last man, but was the challenge hard enough for Long to go down? I don't think so. Usually when it comes to body checking, the defender gets the benefit of the doubt. There was challenges made by WBA players that didn't even get yellows. So in my opinion Dowd was harsh.
They do since last season , you've 24 hours to appeal and if you do the hearing will be within 48hours otherwise its an immediate ban.
Was contact minimal? Yes. However, was there contact? Yes. The red/yellow argument is moot - last man = red card (or should do by the letter of the law). I don't see how they can overturn the card really, unless the FA are going to start defining how hard a challenge is too hard.
It was mild contact and that does make it a very soft foul but it really did look like a foul to be honest. I'm pretty sure that no referee is going to give a yellow in that situation, you either don't give the foul or you give a red card as he's the last man - if it was one of my teams players I'd know it was a soft one but I'd be expecting the ban to come along. Same thoughts on the second penalty by the way, soft decision but probably the correct one. Though its worth noting that it was going down to 10 men which ended your game, not the penalty decisions (in my opinion) as once Agger went it was pretty much one way traffic.
Bang on, the only way i see Downing being effective is in the closing stages of a match where the opposition might be tiring, sad indictment but he cant be relied upon to take responsibility on the pitch. Providing Enrique is fit then I´d suggest exactly the same. Suarez needs to be moved out to a wide position that is something we should have learned from last season, he cant be relied upon as a number 9. Glenn & Borini put perfectly weighted balls into him unmarked and he fluffed them both ! I couldn't help but look around the Prem at Demba Ba, Lukaku & a bit closer to home Andy Carroll and wonder if they would have put one of those away ! I fully believe they would have put both of them away. The worry for me is I thought BR had recognised this & bought Borini in to operate as a number 9 pushing Suarez out wide so we can make the most of his talents at the same time masking the obvious deficiencies, but it was the other way round. Hopefully he will use this as a steep learning curve & not make the same mistake again unless Injuries permit. Suarez is quality but teams like Liverpool who will face teams that sit back, HAVE to take their chances and that is a commodity Suarez cannot regularly give us, sure he will have 1 out of 5 games where he will bang in 2 or 3 but the team is the most important thing & we require someone who can bang 1 in 2, i hope we are not pandering to his ego by playing him as the number 9 & BR honestly thought he would be the best option upfront. If thats the case then fair play, you learn about your players every game adn he will not want to make the same mistake again, if its the former however, then it could be a long season. Still on wards and upwards.
Aguero is out injured by the look of things. Carra will play sadly. Can't see us getting anything out of the game, really need to get the 1st win as soon as possible or team morale will plummet.
Yeah, hadn't read this but I said another thread to play kelly at CB. Can't see ANY argument about not banning Agger. Appeal is a waste of time. Was outside the area, but I remember Spearing getting one like that about a year ago. Not that which I berate Dowd for (though I think the second pen was really harsh - how the frook was Skrtel to know he was there?) it was the 101 decisions accumulating with Carroll being booked for being fouled that infuriated me. So yes, we fell to pieces after the DESERVED sending-off and it wasn't Dowd's fault we lost at all (credit to Clarke and WBA, they were simply better in the second half) but Dowd shold be cooked in his own considerable fat anyway.
I would be worried about playing Carra in central defence. Unfortunately time is catching up with him. I remember him struggling on pace on a few occasions. Lukaku went past him as if he was not there. Kelly even though he is not really a centre back?
Kelly has always been a centre back, from the age of 12 up until his first stint in the 1st team. He's better at CB than RB. I still think i'd rather have Wilson there.
