Nice result especially after the City game. Thought Gerrard improved in the second half, did less of the long passing and went for the easier option. Balotelli looked promising for his first outing. Against Villa at home I would like to see the same starting 11 with Can or Coutinho instead of Allen Hopefully GJ will only get back into the team due to others being injured, or league cup to give others a rest
Keep the diamond then?? Balotelli looked good, but getting sterling in the middle makes the difference imo.
Definitely think we look better with two upfront. I think Sterling is like Gerrard was... you could play him almost anywhere and he'd look good.
Yeah I prefer how we look with the diamond. Only problem with it is you have Coutinho, Lallana, Markovic and Sterling all competing for that number 10 slot. At a push maybe Coutinho or Lallana could play deeper, but I think you need Henderson and Allen/Can to strengthen the middle if you're playing Gerrard as the deeper midfielder.
Ignoring his goal, Moreno was fantastic. A lot of pace and he is always up supporting the attack. Now the goal, Bale could score that and be called world class, but because Moreno doesn't look like the monkey I doubt it will. I was really impressed with Can when he came on, clever player. Looks slow, but is fast when up to speed and keeps everything simple.
like others i was twitchy pre game but now i'm almost disappointed we didn't get more really impressed with the full backs, in particular Moreno obviously Glad to see the centre of defence improve as the game went on as in first half they gave me nervous palpitations. Is Sterling now our most important player ?
Brilliant 3 points after a defeat! Spurs actually created nothing themselves, whenever they had a goal scoring opportunity it was down to shocking little mistakes which hopefully will be ironed out as the season goes on and confidence grows. Standouts today were sterling and Moreno but Baloteli was also very impressive for his debut and should have marked it with a goal from one of his headers. So glad we can play the diamond again with 2 up top, it suits us perfectly
Rodgers on Sterling: "He was exceptional today. But I had to laugh when he almost scored the fourth. He dribbled through the Spurs defence like Ricky Villa, but his finish was more like Ricky Gervais." Harsh but fair!
You don't mind at 3-0 game over and a couple if subs on.... It was controlled enough All in all we didn't fade and it was easy enough in the end as we nullified their attacking 3
You don't mind at 3-0 game over and a couple if subs on.... It was controlled enough All in all we didn't fade and it was easy enough in the end as we nullified their attacking 3
I do agree it seems to take Gerrard out if the firing line and suits sterling a lot I think there will be competition for Allen's slot with lallana and coutinho wanting a go and also for of course can and markovic too But it's important we didn't fade out of it.... We did the same many times last year, just got the game over and then controlled Much relief
Think lallana will add a lot once fit and would see him in Allens position although Allen did ok today. Thought defensively we were excellent and that goes for the midfield too. Kept pushing spurs back when they then had to go wide and start slinging hopeful balls in which sakho and lovren dealt comfortably with. That's 180+ minutes at WHL where the home team have mustered ONE shot on target. Good stuff. Thought can looked good too when he came on.
It was a good performance and a big win but there's still room for improvement. I hope we can get to play the same back four for a good run of games, otherwise our defence is still going to be problematic. Pretty satisfied with our forward players though, and I thought Allen and Henderson played really well too.
Well you have a point that if it's a choice then Henderson can't be the one so then at some point that pasture I have will look quite inviting though Allen for Gerrard? Nah but if judged solely on today,..... Well yeah
I agree quite a few areas. Like bad on telly actually getting it on target... Still he did try to give a good effort and he did help the press quite a bit which is vital
