LFC v WBA match thread

[spider-Neil]

That's down both to the quality of our front 6, and also the way we're set up. Both need to be changed.

I agree.

basically I think you need a midifield two, one holding and the other one of them with a brilliant engine who is about to link the midfielder and attack in an instant

and out wide you need at least one player who is about as direct as you can get, who isn't afraid to take people on, whose primary job it is to stretch the opposition and pull them out of position

on the other side you want an attacking midfield who is going to chip in with goals

then you have suarez and carroll

-----------------lucas----martinez----------------
gerrard------------------------------------hoilett
-------------suarez-------carroll---------------

on paper it's not much of a chance but you've introduced a central midfielder who will create far more damage when he goes forwards and has the engine to get back and defend.
and you've added an attacking midfielder that will be able to get behind the opposition defense, this means suarez can maintain his position AND and more space to work with so instead of having to take on 2 and sometimes three players he is taking on 1 or two before he is through on goal.

I've listed martinez and hoilett but we really we need players of that 'type' not a defoe or bent, i.e. a finisher that will add fuck all else.

 

[RedZeppelin III]

Dalglish said: "It's not just been one of those days; it's been like that seven or eight times here. After we won the Carling Cup, we came back and played Arsenal and we were brilliant. We got to the final last week after beating Everton and they came out today and were excellent again.
"It's great credit to the players that they continued to go at the opposition and they made chance after chance. The woodwork, again, wasn't our best friend.
"The players showed great resolve in the way they went about their work and because of that they made a lot of chances on goal but they just couldn't get a break.
"There's not much else that we can add to what we've said before so many times after a game at Anfield."

“We’re not trying to say that we’re happy with what is going on but equally there is nothing drastically wrong with what we have done.
“We’ve just not got the points that we deserved and I sound repetitive but I think it is pretty accurate.”

"It's not just been one of those days; it's been like that seven or eight times here," he said. "There's not much else that we can add to what we've said before so many times after a game at Anfield.
"I think you could go back over the old interviews and it'll be the same thing.
"They just need a bit of luck I think. It sounds repetitive but it's not an excuse.
"We're not running away from something. It's not as if there's something drastically wrong that we can't identify.
"It is just a piece of good fortune that we need."

i don't fully agree with kenny here . How long can you go on saying we just need some luck when it's obvious the whole team lacks the ability to score . It's beyond the point of ridiculous and something needs to be done to change it .

 

[RedZeppelin III]

oh and 3 wins , 3 draws and 9 defeats from the last 15 isn't down to a lack of luck .

 

[Woland]

Dalglish and Hodgson both have one Premier League win at Anfield in 2012!

 

[Judge Jules]

That's a bit cryptic though, no? Because you need to be a lot more than just a 'finisher' to bang in 20 a season.

With respect, I reckon you're overcomplicating this. We need someone whose main attribute is the ability to score consistently at the highest level. If they are proven in that respect it's not very likely that the rest of their game will be substandard, so at that level I don't see the kind of distinction between "finisher" and "striker" that you're arguing for.

 

[Red Astaire]

I would 'like' Wolands post but it depresses me too much.....

 

[Hansern]

I cant understand how players at this level can be so shite at crossing. Everyone floats the ball into the box, easy for the defenders and more difficult for the attackers.
Hit it with pace and not to high, its not brain surgery.
We'd be much more dangerous infront of goal if we started hitting them properly.

Oh, and I dont want to see Kuyt starting again this season.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Kuyt, unfortunately Hansern, is either finished or completely lacking in confidence ...

 

[Fabio]

Kuyt, unfortunately Hansern, is either finished or completely lacking in confidence ...

Yup

 

[LeTallecWiz]

I want to reiterate one point that Macca made though - we played some really good stuff today, and Suarez was incredible. We need to surround him with better talent and we can win. I want to be hopeful but this team is really testing my resolve ... **wants to believe**

 

[dmishra]

JJ, my larger point is that there isn't a particular type of player who can score consistently at the highest level. The semantics used here suggest that we need to be looking at a particular kind of player i.e. the kind of player who excels at hanging around the box, and finishing off the chances that are thrown at him. My issue with that kind of thinking is that we'll end up targetting a breed of footballers (like Defoe and Bent) who have proven to be good goalscorers at the highest level, but who otherwise have largely substandard qualities, or who wouldn't mesh well with our current crop of players.

The sheer variety of players who've proven to be good goalscorers in the PL in recent times (Rooney, Ronaldo, Drogba, Torres, Aguero etc. - all of whom are absolutely different in style and qualities - and I think you'd struggle to classify many of them as 'finishers') suggests that it'd be incorrect to think that we need to be looking for a particular kind of player.

 

[25_05_05]

Kuyt was obviously in the shop window today because surely he didn't start on merit. Unless, he came in for his experience in the absence of Gerrard and Carragher? I could have taken Henderson being on the right if Shelvey had started. And I'm not saying he would have worked miracles in Gerrard's absence. But against Blackburn - prior to the sending off of Doni - he was the bridge between Andy Carroll and the midfield. We had most of the possession today, but still we missed that driving force in midfield. Even when we started launching it, Henderson and Spearing sat deep, presumably because our tactics accounted for them catching us on the break. There is talent there, but this season has shown the team lacks impetus, guile and common sense.

 

[Judge Jules]

Mish: I can't speak for others, but I'm looking for the goalscoring attribute more than for any particular type of player.

Incidentally I don't think Bent or Defoe would qualify by the "consistency" standard. Defoe certainly wouldn't, while Bent (despite good recent scoring form) has blown hot and cold over his career as a whole.

 

[Fabio]

Kuyt was obviously in the shop window today .

With an asda "whoops" sticker on

 

[mark1975]

not really, johnson was one of the few taking the game to WBA, up to the fuck up had a good game.
a laspe of concentration but let's hang him out to dry.

You're missing the point Neil. It's all wood and trees. He may have taken the game to WBA, but that's just magnified because of our lack of quality out wide, his primary job is to keep things tight at the back and support. The result may well be an accumulation of many things but ultimately his momentary lapse cost us. It was easier to have one goal to aim for for the win, than to go a goal down and have it all to do. We might invite pressure by not being able to convert, but that's where your defense earns it's crust, and his efficiency as a defender is often unreliable and it was proven so again today. The team needs to do it's job, in games where you're struggling to score, you rely on your backline to keep you in the game, in games where your defense isn't upto scratch, you rely on your frontline to bail you out. The crucial point in the game was him fucking up, that's what decided the difference between a draw and three points, or a different mentality where we're still a goal away from a win. In a team with brittle confidence where a goal either way is a decider, players like him are a liability.

He's a poor defender and ultimately another bad high value acquisition.

 

[Fabio]

We would have drawn if it wasn't for johnson.

 

[Sunny]

We would have got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids

 

[mark1975]

I know that's tongue in cheek Fab, but games hinge on moments like that. Our mentality at the minute is shattered, so the minute we lose a goal, late like that, it's game over. Still being at 0-0 gives the side hope in the knowledge that a goal will probably be enough, go a goal down and it's a mountain.

I know it shouldn't be like that, but that's the way it is, his fuck up cost us. I know there were more contributory factors, but anyway.

 

[spider-Neil]

if we're ever going to evolve into a truly attacking outfit that crushes the opposition with wave after wave of attacks then johnson is exactly the type of player that is going to let something like that happen. playing the type of football we are playing is going to go through teething problems as we attempt to get the balance right and the easy response is to go into our shells but we have to keep at it even if we make fuck ups along the way because this type of football will reap divendens in the long run.

johnson made a fuck up today but imho was involved with most of the good aspects of our play.
maybe we shouldn't send fullbacks up field and then no one can complain about defensive laspes because we stand on the keepers toes and make sure there are no breakaway goals.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

So if we didn't have Luis Suarez we'd be higher up the league table? You've gone fucking bonkers Ross.

 

[Fabio]

I know that's tongue in cheek Fab, but games hinge on moments like that. Our mentality at the minute is shattered, so the minute we lose a goal, late like that, it's game over. Still being at 0-0 gives the side hope in the knowledge that a goal will probably be enough, go a goal down and it's a mountain.

I know it shouldn't be like that, but that's the way it is, his fuck up cost us. I know there were more contributory factors, but anyway.

I know I often post sarcastically, but I firmly do believe we would not have conceded today had it not been for glen Johnson pulling an Enrique.

 

[spider-Neil]

if gh was in charge we would have gone into our shell by now. I remember when we tried to evolve as a football team and fielded (from memory) a midfield of kewell, diouf, gerrard and can't remember the last guy and all it took was us to conceed some goals before we were defendinig en masse again. I think we at the same crossroad now with kenny having to decide if we continue to press but with us paying the price with virtually every counter attacker or if it's time to commit fewer bodies to the attack. each to their own but I know what I prefer.

 

[spider-Neil]

I know I often post sarcastically, but I firmly do believe we would not have conceded today had it not been for glen Johnson pulling an Enrique.

there was no way they were going to score without us fucking up. that is pretty much the same as last week, but for a distin fuck I don't think we would have equalised. hey, sometimes shit happes.

 

[Fabio]

I agree neil

But complacency of that nature has no excuse. It was fucking awful. Johnson cost us keeping pace with Everton (ffs). End of.

 

[spider-Neil]

I agree neil

But complacency of that nature has no excuse. It was fucking awful. Johnson cost us keeping pace with Everton (ffs). End of.

I'm not excusing it I'm saying we shouldn't hang him out to dry. put it this way I don't think at any point this season johnson's form has dropped to the depths that enrique's has and enrique has had a relatively easy ride from the fans.

 

[Sunny]

Suarez was head and shoulders our best player today. He fucked up at one point when he should have pulled the ball back instead of shooting though. I love the little guy though, he gives me a little hope for our future. What the fuck do I know though ? I'm a massively arrogant cock. I love our club though and still firmly believe things will get better next season. We've fucked up at times this year and we've been unlucky as fuck as well. Both ingredients end up with our league campaign being a pile of stinking shite and today hurt like fuck. Proper took the wind out of my sails because we should have won easily. But we never. Again. I felt like Victor Meldrew because I keep on finding myself saying " I don't believe it" far too often.

It's shite. But I still love our club. Blindly and stupidly perhaps. I'd rather be that way though than being an over analysing self appointed tactical genius who actually knows fuck all though. I've not got all the answers but I feel safe in the knowledge that those who think they do are probably more clueless than me. And proclaiming Suarez should go is fuckwittery of the highest order.

 

[Sunny]

I'm pissed too.

 

[spider-Neil]

personally speaking I think we're really close to finding the right balance, that x-factor (we should get cowell to manage us 😉) that will push over the line that turns defeats into draws and draws into wins. and I don't think it will take a lot of players to effect this change either.

 

[Sunny]

personally speaking I think we're really close to finding the right balance, that x-factor (we should get cowell to manage us 😉) that will push over the line that turns defeats into draws and draws into wins. and I don't think it will take a lot of players to effect this change either.

I love you sometimes neil. I'd love you more if you used capital letters though. X

 

[iseered]

Blaming Johnson for this result is lol. Though not quite as lol as saying we would be better off without Suarez.