Liverpool v Molde is on at 6pm tonight. Hopefully we'll get a good result against them tonight, although I think neither Flanagan or Robinson will be involved again because chances are they'll be in the match squad on Saturday.
Good stuff from Spurs. Liverpool also seem to have got into gear. Man City yet to play and Villa lost their first game. http://www.nextgenseries.com/FixturesResultsTables
i think we'll see very inconsistent results as there seems to be a widely varying standard of teams at this point. We got rightly handed our heads last time out and to be honest we don't seem to have a settled sdie at this point of the evolution of reserve football as demands above and below the level are creating issues.
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/rodolfo-happy-with-nextgen-win Rodolfo Borrell was full of praise for his youngsters after they produced a terrific display to beat Molde 4-0 in the NextGen Series on Wednesday night. Toni Silva netted twice and Conor Coady and Raheem Sterling were also on the mark as the Reds claimed their first points in this tournament.
A 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg leaves us second in the table. Liverpool needed a late own goal to salvage a point as they were held to a 1-1 draw in a keenly-contested NextGen Series clash with Wolfsburg on Wednesday night. The young Reds had looked like suffering a second defeat in just three matches in the competition when Hendrik Hansen converted a right-wing free-kick deep into first-half stoppage time. However, an own goal from Marvin Kleihs four minutes from the end gave Rodolfo Borrell's side a fortuitous but deserved share of the spoils. The result means Liverpool have taken four points from their first three matches and they will now be hoping to step it up a level in time for next week's return game in Germany. The Spanish coach had gone into the Anfield clash warning his players to beware the wounded beast following Wolfsburg's disappointing start to life in Group 2. The Reds had themselves recovered from a heavy defeat against Sporting Lisbon on Matchday One and it was no surprise to see Borrell stick with the same side that overwhelmed Molde last time out. Indeed, Liverpool were clearly eager to put on a show in front of their home crowd and they almost stole ahead on 10 minutes. Suso picked up a loose ball 25 yards from goal and fizzed in a low shot that bounced inches past the far post. It would prove to be the best chance of a patchy first 20 minutes and a lengthy injury to Nils Winter did little to help the flow of what was proving to be a very tight encounter. Liverpool were lacking their usual cutting edge in the final third but almost changed the complexion of the game when Craig Roddan teased a ball out to the right for Toni Silva on 24 minutes. The Portuguese winger shimmied beyond his marker and clipped a delightful effort beyond Wolfsburg stopper Patrick Drewes, only to see Jonas Sonnenberg clear from underneath his own crossbar.
In that game against Wolfsburg, Borrell got the tactics wrong. We kept lots of possession but nobody ever got up. Silva and Sterling could race down the wings and they always beat their markers, but there was nobody to pass it to. At one point Sterling was stuck for a minute with 5 players around him with nobody to pass it to, he just danced around trying to keep the ball. 2 DMs is the not good for an attacking side, both DMs were superb but neither of them went up! Suso was ineffective; Adorjan was the man of the match imo, see that skill at the end? Our very own kaka. Rodden was really good as well, and I'd like to see him in more of a CM role and less of a DM role. Sama had an awesome match as well, he knew how they played. Overall, not impressed with a vast majority of our performance, but as always a few people stood out and the tactics were all wrong.
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/we-need-our-best-display-so-far 'We need our best display so far' Rodolfo Borrell has called for Liverpool Reserves to produce their best display of the season when they face Wolfsburg in a crucial NextGen Series encounter in Germany tonight. The Reds needed a late own goal to salvage a point when the two sides locked horns at Anfield last week, leaving Group 2 wide open. The Spaniard feels it is too early to claim that the clash is 'must-win' but accepts his team will have to step up a level if they are to come away with a positive result. Borrell told Liverpoolfc.tv: "I think it's more about it being a 'must produce a good performance' type of game. "Anything can happen when you play against a team with such a strong squad. But we have a very good team too. "We still have two more games in the group after this one. It's more about putting right what we did wrong in the previous game. "If we come away with a win then obviously we will be in a much better situation. But it's an improved display we are looking for first of all." He added: "I think Wolfsburg are very strong but I'm just focusing on my own team. "They are very well organised. German teams are often like this and I'm expecting a very difficult game, just like it was at Anfield. "They used two players from their first-team set-up in the 1-1 draw last week, so we know what we will be facing." Liverpool, Wolfsburg and Molde are currently locked in a battle to secure the second qualifying berth after Sporting Lisbon opened up a five point lead at the top of the standings. Borrell acknowledges that the Portuguese outfit have been a class apart so far and expects the fight for second spot to go to the wire. He said: "Sporting Lisbon are better than the other sides in the group. I think they must be up there as one of the favourites to win the whole competition. They have massive quality. "The rest of the group is very tight. The three squads - the Germans, the Norwegians and ourselves - have different characteristics but we are all better and worse in different areas. "It will be tight. Okay, we beat Molde away but they also beat Wolfsburg who then drew with us at home. "It will be close but I think it is important for our players to face these different styles. You can only get positives for your club and for your team." Borrell remains tight-lipped as to who could feature in his starting XI in Germany but insists that whoever puts on the red shirt will only have one objective in mind. "We have some physical problems with some players but we will have to wait and see," he added. "Whether we are missing players or not, the lads I send out there will be going out to give a great performance."
We have been nothing short of useless in this comp. Must win the next game. Wolfsburg Liverpool 2 - 0 Güleryüz 48' Millemaci 54' Venue: Volkswagen Arena Date: 21 Sep 2011, 18.00 CET Wolfsburg: Line-up: 1. Patrick Drewes, 5. Jonas Sonneberg (C), 6. Nils Winter, 7. David Chamorro, 8. Philip Hauck (84), 9. Andac Güleryüz, 10. Maximilian Arnold, 11. Giovanni Millemaci (76), 14. Marvin Kleihs (71), 15. Murat Bilderici, 23. Hendrik Hansen Subs: 22. Paul Büchel, 2. Steffen Dieck, 3. Nicklas Eilbrecht, 4. Michael Thielke (71), 19. Andrea Rizzo, 24. Maximilian Sauer (76), 25. Dennis Strompen (84) Cards: Liverpool: Line-up: Tyrell Belford, Raheem Sterling, Jesus Joaquin Fernandez Saenz de le Torre, Toni Brito E Silva, Craig Roddan, Conor Coady (C), Bradley Smith, Andre Wisdom, Stephen Sama, Ryan McLaughlin, Michael Ngoo (66), Subs: Matthew Mcgiveron, Jamie Stephens, Adam Hajdu, Adam Morgan (66), Joshua Sumner, Kristoffer Peterson
The compeition's not much more than a learning experience really. Playing semi-regularly against other sides from around Europe with different playing styles is a great challenge for the players and in some ways if they struggle they may learn more from it than if they don't. It's also important to remember that academies aren't run like a first team, they're not going to sign a player because they're weak in an area so the results are not going to be an indicator of whether you've got a couple of players who could make the step up in a couple of years time. All in all, I wouldn't worry about it.
