"Shelvey and Gerrard were in my opinion played in the wrong positions. It have been Gerrard pushed further forward with Shelvey playing alongside Joe Allen. Joe Allen compared to his usual high standards was pretty average." I would agree with your Joe Allen comment a few loose passes today and not up to the standard of previous games. But everyone is allowed an off day and hopefully he will be back to the standard he has shown so far this season against Utd.
This season is going to be tough. New manager, new system, some new players and alot of adapting for the older ones - combine that with a loss of some senior players and the influx of alot of youth and the best we can hope for is some positives to carry into next season (Sterling being one, Allen being another). That said, BR can use all the excuses he wants (lack of scouting network over the summer is the latest) but the fact remains he weakened the already weak part of our team and HE needs to fix that fast, HE needs to kick some supposed senior players up the backside about their effort/performance levels and HE needs to be brave in picking players who can play the way he wants the team to play, not pigeonhole players into unsuitable roles (Borini wide right, Downing anywhere near the pitch, Gerrard sitting deep). Also, Johnson was crap today - even moreso than normal. Especially when he thinks he's Scholes and tries to pull off 30yard screamers...The sooner Enrique is back (first half of last season type performances) and we can use him+Kelly, the better. Hopefully BR has the bollocks to drop him and tell him to improve considering he's "Englands #1 rightback".
Right..... Pepe, bit **** again, poor judgement for their goal, dived when he was nowhere near the ball, so was stranded for the actual shot. Played better with his new boots. Glen - Man of the Match, but faded a bit at the end Dagger - solid enough, but was also in no-man's land for the goal Turtle - solid, but meh! Kelly - meh! Allen - his pass success rate gets tired, quickly, need more from him, than the nearest safest pass, no point being a safe passer if we get nowhere with it. Slaphead - Total **** today, absolutely no grasp on position (either his own, or those around him) got dispossessed so much it started getting funny. Made a drinking game out of it, now blind drunk. Stevie - Why's Sahin not playing again? Sterling - Started a bit quiet, but was fully into it by the second half and deserved his place. No. 7 - Can't question the effort he makes week in, week out. Need to send a video to all top flight officials, showing how HE DOES NOT DIVE!!! The great Borini - looked uninterested, if I'm harsh. Punched the air when he was taken off, even though Downing was coming on! Downing - Better than borini. Overall. it was boring to watch, but maybe when they get use to the system, they might play with a faster tempo - Happy with the result, considering how it looked like we didn't give a ****.
Lads......... can Gerrard actually play further forward, does he have it in him to do what he did 3 years and more back?
Have to agree. Pretty harsh assessment that. Reina - Poor for the goal. Otherwise good, but largely untroubled (no shots to deal with ffs). 5 Kelly - Average. Dealt with McClean on most occasions but didn't get forward effectively. 5 Skrtel - Solid throughout, made himself a good chance at the other end. 6 Agger - Perhaps caught out for the goal but otherwise fine - passed well. 5 Johnson - At fault as well as unfortunate for the goal, but was arguably our best attacking outlet. Hit the bar and always looked lively. 7 Allen - A decent performance; a few missed passes this time round. Needed better play from his midfield partners. 6 Gerrard - Frequently looked lost in a deeper role. Should have buried his chance, however close he came. 4 Shelvey - Full of energy and tried to get forward. Few decent attempts but lacked the quality to really test the goal. Rarely caught on the ball, however. 5 Sterling - My MOTM. Always lively, terrified their defenders. Constantly fouled but didn't mind at all - assisted the goal. 8 Borini - Took both his chances well but saw them well saved. Otherwise not involved to any extent. 5 Suarez - Struggled to get into the game until the second half. Took his goal well but wasn't at his best. 5
Reina - solid, was left stranded by the defence for the goal. 7/10 Johnson - decent enough in defence and attack however poor "tackle" that lead to the goal. 6/10 Agger - Poor positioning for the goal but solid apart from that. 7/10 Skrtel - Solid enough but should have done better for the goal. 6/10 Kelly - Decent in defence, didn't offer much attacking threat though 6/10 Shelvey - Passing was average, had a couple of efforts, only 1 of which was of any real note. 6/10 Gerrard - Was average. Needed to play further forward where he could link with Suarez more. 6/10 Allen - Not as good as previous performances, nothing wrong, but nothing spctacular. Passing was bit off 6/10 Sterling - Game of 2 halfs, apart from 1 run, Rose had the better of him in the first but the second he really shone. 8/10 and MOTM Suarez - Took his goal well, showed glimspes of quality and should have won a penalty and was unfortunate to be booked for diving. 7.5/10 Borini - Looked the most dangerous in the first half and had 2 chances which the keeper made good saves from. Faded in the second half though. 7/10 Downing - Had the beating off his man but once he had there was no one to cross to. 6/10
Couldn't be arsed doing a logical player by player so I'll just pick & choose. And I'm going bad with this post but will do a good one. Skyrtl: looked like the safe but donkey he is, get behind him wide (that's not his fault) & cross to make him turn? 2012 Owen will beat him. Johnson: great going forward on a good day except he can only turn in & back. Doesn't deign to race back when it's lost forward & loses 1 on 1 way too often when he does. But he's not good enough as straight midfield. Agger can't cover a slow skyrtl at CB & a slow Skytrl covering Cb &either rb or lb & 2 cb positions. Oh & Agger is suppose to go forward. Or is he these days? Shelvey: too raw for the job he's replacing. He's not Gerrard 2. To keep expecting him to be the young savior in a **** result team like SG? Why? We got lucky with young SG; that's not normal. Gerrard: he's no longer Gerrard 1. Which detrimental effects are x2 if he's Captain. Everyone round him keeps waiting: they have done for 3 years. Nothing or at least something rarely happens other than another photo op. Borini: doing all the right things except scoring which is his job or is it? he's not prima Donna And he should be. He pulls the trigger. That's his aim. But he's playing & feels 2nd fiddle which means he's worthless. Suarez: sigh of relief that the star scored? I watched him do his job 10-13 times today, then not shoot, not pass but try to go again. And he's greedy to the detriment of the team: its running at defence, commits the defender & this would be where better players play a teammate in. Suarez however always plays his team mate behind & wide. Why? To force the team mate to play it back to him. That's just stupid. Or beats defender,nothing on? Play it back? No; he'll try to go past the other 2. And that's when he hasn't done all the hard work then fell to the ground (even when a legit foul) whining at a ref he knows won't go his way. That's just thick. Principals don't win games. Suarez could be Fowler if he used his brains to trust his team mates rather than go for the 70 degree shot or fall over again, I'll think about it like I do & tomorrow I'll state the positives. Even with these players.
He's Roy take two. Roy used to compliment how well we played after we would lose or draw to a team we should be beating if we want to consider ourselves a top team (no offense Sunderland). Quite frankly we're in a mess. I know Rodgers needs time to improve and change the players- but I'm not noticing any improvements. It's one thing if we keep dropping points but there is visible improvement in performance... we're not getting better. Not happy so far. He still needs time before we judge too harshly but so far BR get's a negative grade from me. I'm not angry that we have two points from 4 games... well I am... but I am angry that we are playing so poorly and seem to be getting worse from the summer euro games.
