Henderson and Gerrard didn't exactly track back from those goals. And Cissokho just punted it forward from a throw on leading the Adams goal. Fullbacks were our problem and a dis-jointed midfield.
Post Game Thread - Stoke (A)
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I don't think Lucas will ever get used to that position. He doesn't have enough in his locker. If Gerrard keeps his role, then Allen will replace Lucas once he's back.
This was a must win game for us with all the other teams winning around us, loved watching us going forward but the defence wasn't much to be desired with score the line reflecting the performance, agger was a Big miss but the the return of sturridge was good to be seen by all, with a regular back four I can't see us conceding three again. Bring on villa. 7/10
SAS were awesome. Or is it now SASAS?
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interesting . I wonder why they've decided to do that now or was it always the plan for the season , did they worry about stevie's legs going into the second half of the season ? . Maybe it does have something to do with legs , before his injury we were moaning how shattered gerrard (and lucas) were looking after 60mins.
But then the question is will Lucas offer enough in that more advanced position ? Or will Allen now make that position his own .
Regardless we only have 4 of them for 3 positions . Rodger's obviously doesn't rate alberto at this point . We really could do with a new midfield signing.
Quite possibly.
Neither Allen nor Lucas and to some extend Henderson will be the same attacking midfielder as Gerrard was but they've got the legs, here's hope they can push on.
I'll have to take a look at it again. But the defence needs protecting and Gerrard did little of that. I expect more from him.
Toure poor? lol.
Cisshoko well taken shot? it was going out for a throw in!
Gerrard was easily more than a 4, he was very good in the 2nd half, vital interceptions and a scored a goal we desperately needed
What was the game plan there? Central midfield was the worst for go a long time. And Mignolet is a bag of nerves at the back- letting in scuffers and stopping worldies? What does Gerrard think he's bringing to the team, seriously because he's much better than what he did today. I'll take 3 points and the +2 goals, however.
You can't protect shite mate. He wasn't great, but our LBs are absolute crap. I just want them to learn how to defend basics. When Charlie Adam and fucking Geoff Cameron are skinning you, there are major problems.
Yes, Touré was poor. At fault for two goals
Gerrard scored a penalty, to me that doesn't change a thing. I've already said my peace regarding his performance don't need to repeat myself.
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RedZeppelin III
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our defence is wrecking my head but i get the feeling it's not going to get much better under rodgers . Well it will naturally if we can get a settled one , we've had too many changes back there .
I wouldn't lose too much sleep if both skrtel and agger left in the summer and were replaced by some no nonsense fucker .
I wouldn't lose too much sleep if both skrtel and agger left in the summer and were replaced by some no nonsense fucker .
Agger wasn't playing today, though. Those goals were on Sktel, Touré , Johnson Cissokho.
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RedZeppelin III
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oh and with suarez doing insane stuff and sterling playing well it was easy to forget how good sturridge is. He's 12 goals from 15 this season which in normal years would be amazing stats . He'll give us some great strength and power up front , it's a side of his game that's surprised and impressed me . Let's hope he stays fit .
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what ? agger didn't play ?
i was commenting more on the overall situation and our long term plans.
2 goals? not at all, yes he lost Crouch fair enough.
Did you not see all the blocks, tackles and headers he was putting in aswell as his sound distribution? did you see the stat on Stokes amount of crosses, he was there for them all bar 1, il'd love to see a montage of all his touches, to have him as our worst player is an absolute joke.
Gerrard was fine, he played well 2nd half and put a real shift in, 1st half he was off with his passing and energy but you can understand that a bit with him being out.
It never fails to amaze how we all see the games so differently.
The bit where Toure appeared underneath Crouch to stop him having a free header 4 yards out was quality
The miudfield looked more disjointed cos the options out wide were so poor apart from Sterling. every play to Johnson and Cissokho went backwards or out for their throw in for the most part. When we can spread the play more easily without losing the ball on the flanks the middle will look better
Coutinho needs to aim 2m to the right for every shot he hits
That walters goal was awful to concede from Mignolet but he had no chance on the others
Us stopping crosses coming into the box is a problem
Sturridge Suarez and Sterling will keep Coutinho on the bench at this rate
The miudfield looked more disjointed cos the options out wide were so poor apart from Sterling. every play to Johnson and Cissokho went backwards or out for their throw in for the most part. When we can spread the play more easily without losing the ball on the flanks the middle will look better
Coutinho needs to aim 2m to the right for every shot he hits
That walters goal was awful to concede from Mignolet but he had no chance on the others
Us stopping crosses coming into the box is a problem
Sturridge Suarez and Sterling will keep Coutinho on the bench at this rate
- Suarez was fantastic again, when the commentators said it could've been 5-5, they failed to note that it could have been 8-5 in our favor! Was unplayable at times, took his chances well.
- Sturridge was exactly what we needed off the bench, and his contribution down the stretch could give us the push that we need to make a real run at top 4.
- Sterling had a great game as he got on the ball quite a bit, where he is best, but could do with being a bit more decisive. Between being tiny and drawing some contact, he did well to draw the penalty, even if it was a bit soft. Looked like he was hobbling around a bit for 10-15 mins after the penalty, but he really took the fight to Stoke with some really good physical play. He's going to need a long ice bath after this one...
- Coutinho unlucky not to score, surely one of these chances has to end up in the top corner, and that should help his confidence. Did well to pick out a couple of incisive passes.
- Gerrard was poor for me, even in the second half. Playing in the deep role, he has to realize he can't play high risk passes. He probably caused half our problems with bad giveaways and the like. Said this numerous times before, we can't have him and Lucas playing together in the MF, Allen would be a much better option.
- Lucas did okay, I actually liked seeing him playing in a more advanced role. Didn't do much right or wrong for me, as is the usual of late.
- Didn't see much of Hendo on the pitch, but I thought when he was on the ball, he did okay.
- Johnson wasn't awful this time, but he certainly wasn't great, very average performance from him. Arnautovic is a quality winger, I wasn't surprised to see him giving Glenjo a hard time, and though he dealt with it okay.
- Skrtel was very poor for me, I hold my argument that he's a very "negative" defender. Instead of actually defending at times, he seems to try and impede the man, both on and off the ball. The worst bit for me though is his passing, he always puts Glenjo/Toure/Cissokho under pressure. We need central defenders like Sakho who can actually pick a pass forward into the midfield instead of just messing around with the ball around the back line. Seems often we push it out wide to the fullbacks, who in turn pass it to Sterling/Coutinho, but there isn't enough push from the midfield or space ahead to make anything of the attack and it dies out. Still due to concede a pen, and he kept backing off Adam, letting him onto his stronger foot to shoot, which he should especially know better having played with him.
- On that note, we have a fantastic aerial player in Suarez, a part of his game which is very underrated. Probably one of the best players anywhere at retaining possession off a long ball, something we should attempt a bit more often.
- Toure did better than Skrtel for me. A lot better on the ball and marking. Hard to criticise any issues he had with Crouch considering Toure's one of the shorter CB's in the league.
- I really wish Cissokho had any ability on the ball, as he's often in tons of space, and Coutinho can easily spring him if there was an end product. Thought he did okay in defence, Adam got a lot of the ball on the left, but he didn't do a whole lot with it. Still though, Enrique can't get back soon enough.
- Mignolet did well to get as close as he did on the first goal, had no chance on the second, and could've done better on the third. Had a couple of very good reaction saves at the end of the match, but his distribution was pretty good. Could've done better on a few crosses, but definitely did enough.
- Very important win for us, we have to keep taking points to keep pace. Surely Arsenal/Spurs are due to drop some points soon? Villa next Saturday for us, hopefully Sakho is back to deal with Benteke. I know he's been off form, but I'm terrified of Skrtel trying to defend him.
Its the full backs that are to blame for it, they really are a pile of shit, crosses coming it at will and just general play in that area nowhere near good enough for us, as mentioned in the match thread even Charlie Adam was skinning Cissokho, makes the centre backs job so much more difficult, obviously.
So you say that here and then in the other thread feel we need a new forward more than M'Vila 🙄
Very safe prediction considering Enrique is out for the season.
hehe, nice catch.
Still, Lucas is fit and he rarely gets injured. If he does miss a game we can play Allen or Hendo there temporarily but I still feel we're lacking in attack. I mean who do we bring on if we need a goal and Suarez, Coutinho and Sturridge are on the pitch?
Right now, only Sterling.
If we get to the CL we'll definitely need another defensive midfielder.
Sad state of affairs when fat boy is skinning anyone.
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