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Ratings! (Blackburn)

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Squiggles

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Reina (7) - Assured as ever.

Konchesky (7) - Decent today

Skrtel (7) Same again

The Greek ( 8 ) Broke the deadlock and got us on our way. Constant threat at set-pieces, should have had a penalty. Our most dangerous player today. Defended quite well too.

Carra (7) Did really well at RB. Good crossing and some fine defending.

Lucas (7) Some good passing and got stuck in. He was more positive than usual and it was good to see.

Meireles (7) Got stuck in and helped dominate the midfield. Offensively he was pretty average today.

Maxi (8 ) That's more like it. As ever he played well when the team's playing well - he's certainly not sort to drag you out a relegation battle, but hats off for today. Well done.

Gerrard (8 ) Best player on the pitch. Superb.

Cole (6) Dangerous at times, but still finding his feet really.

Torres (7) Good attitude today and bagged a goal. He can only improve from here.
 
I thought Meireles was way more influential. Smart, tidy, and very busy player. We finally have a competent replacement for Alonso even if he is a slightly different player.

Thanks for buying him Roy. You can still fuck off though.
 
Yep Mereless had a good game.

Good movement, and assured passing. He was effective in applying pressure and doing his share defensively as well.

I would like to see if he is able to dictate the tempo of the game, and take control of things.


He is a good player, and he can play. He has to play as a CM, not further forward or out wide....it was ridiculous to play him in those positions.
 
As they say on X Factor ' In no particular order '

Meireles was very good today

The Greek was really good

Gerrard as ever gave his all
 
Maybe I'm underrated Meireles, which is odd for me because I've been singing the lads praises ever since he arrived.

Bump him up to a 7
 
[quote author=My_Blood_Bleeds_Red link=topic=42400.msg1204884#msg1204884 date=1287938369]
The Greek 7 ?

He was immense today. Won all headers in the air.
[/quote]

Huh?
 
Joe Cole shows again, why he should not be playing on the left side of midfield.

I quite like him as a player.... but not on the left.
 
It was a big improvement today all round although I'm still concerned about our defence. However, one swallow does not make a summer and we need to keep improving
 
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=42400.msg1205128#msg1205128 date=1287960433]
It was a big improvement today all round although I'm still concerned about our defence. However, one swallow does not make a summer and we need to keep improving
[/quote]

I hear ya.

The defence bothers me. Greatly. There's only one of them that can;'t actually defend - Konchesky - so, given that we have 3 other pretty competent ones, a fantastic goalkeeper, and a decent shield in Lucas - we shouldn't be under the pressure that we are.

We're too deep, we're too flat, we're too welcoming. We give every team we play against the chance to score against us. 'Here's the ball, don't worry, we'll give it to you all day long too. We're just gonna sit here on the edge of the box for 90 minutes and try to keep you out'. Every team in England could plausibly score against us.
 
I thought the defence looked much happier today not having two midfielders sitting on top of them helping them out.
Part of our defensive problem is Lucas continually giving daft free kicks away in dangerous areas, and Carra's brainless clearances coming straight back at us when he plays in the middle. The former was not quite as bad and Carra had a decent game on the right.

Some of our midfield and attacking play on occasions today was as good as I have seen from us for a couple of years, the movement and interchanges were sweet.
Cole, Miereles, Maxi, Gerrard played like they can play, and were allowed to play in a more expansive way, there is still plenty of room for improvement, but above all because those four were buzzing, Torres has started awaking from his slumbers

At least there seemed some shape , people knew their roles and started having confidence in their own and each others ability, I thought today was a bit of a light-bulb moment


regards
 
Well, yes, one swallow and all that, and it was just Blackburn. Let's just hope it's the first step on a new journey.

regards
 
Yet to be convinced. The last 20 minutes was painful to watch after Torres scored.
 
[quote author=Ryan link=topic=42400.msg1205130#msg1205130 date=1287961001]
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=42400.msg1205128#msg1205128 date=1287960433]
It was a big improvement today all round although I'm still concerned about our defence. However, one swallow does not make a summer and we need to keep improving
[/quote]

I hear ya.

The defence bothers me. Greatly. There's only one of them that can;'t actually defend - Konchesky - so, given that we have 3 other pretty competent ones, a fantastic goalkeeper, and a decent shield in Lucas - we shouldn't be under the pressure that we are.

We're too deep, we're too flat, we're too welcoming. We give every team we play against the chance to score against us. 'Here's the ball, don't worry, we'll give it to you all day long too. We're just gonna sit here on the edge of the box for 90 minutes and try to keep you out'. Every team in England could plausibly score against us.
[/quote]

Ha ha ha. What a load of rubbish. He is an awful shield at the best of times.
 
I think everyone would agree that Lucas raised his level significantly against Fat Sam's team over the weekend. The question is, can he play at this level or better against all opponents in the league consistently? So far the evidence is against him....so i would appreciate it, if posters did not dish out the 'I told you Lucas was brilliant' humble pie yet.

Our midfield performing very well is fundamental to this formation working well for us. Meireles and Lucas performing well was a major reason for the improved show. But it was Blackburn, and we only narrowly won by a goal and we were hanging on to it for the last 20 minutes. So some perspective would be nice.

Anyway, this cannot be used to absolve Hodgson and Lucas from their past shitty performances. Let's see this repeated against Bolton and Chelsea. But as far as Hodgson is concerned, i wouldn't mind it at all if he lost his job even before that. I have seen enough.

But i have seen a couple of things from Lucas, that he has definitely worked on. So credit to him for working hard on his weakness....it's just that he started from rock-bottom.
 
[quote author=Vlads Quiff link=topic=42400.msg1205152#msg1205152 date=1287967502]
I thought the defence looked much happier today not having two midfielders sitting on top of them helping them out.
Part of our defensive problem is Lucas continually giving daft free kicks away in dangerous areas, and Carra's brainless clearances coming straight back at us when he plays in the middle. The former was not quite as bad and Carra had a decent game on the right.

Some of our midfield and attacking play on occasions today was as good as I have seen from us for a couple of years, the movement and interchanges were sweet.
Cole, Miereles, Maxi, Gerrard played like they can play, and were allowed to play in a more expansive way, there is still plenty of room for improvement, but above all because those four were buzzing, Torres has started awaking from his slumbers

At least there seemed some shape , people knew their roles and started having confidence in their own and each others ability, I thought today was a bit of a light-bulb moment


regards
[/quote]

I pretty much agree with this Vlad apart from the defensive aspect of things. I thought it did certainly appear if something had been switched on yesterday and we played some really nice stuff at times. There were vastly improved performances - Maxi worked really hard and showed some nice touches. Merieles had another decent game and looks a talent. Gerrard put in yet another great shift. The Greek was simply awesome in our box and Blackburn simply didn't have an answer for him in theirs. He owned them in the air. Torres looked a little sharper but still a yard short of pace, which is worrying - but at least he was working most of the time. And it has to be said Lucas had a very decent game indeed.

So, yes, lots of encouragement but not everything was rosy. Skrtel and Konchesky worry me in defence and always appear prone to mistakes. Carras distribution again could have been better. And, for reasons unknown to me, whatever switched was flicked on was flicked off. We went deep again and invited the pressure on from a poor Blackburn team and in a game we were thoroughly dominating. Call it tactics, tiredness or nerves it was worrying. Hopefully, though Roy and the players have woke up a little and see what a bit of positivity and attacking play can bring. We could have been several goals up in the first half with some better finishing. There were some great balls been played into the box - even corners were improved.
 
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=42400.msg1205261#msg1205261 date=1287996202]
So, yes, lots of encouragement but not everything was rosy. And, for reasons unknown to me, whatever switched was flicked on was flicked off. We went deep again and invited the pressure on from a poor Blackburn team and in a game we were thoroughly dominating. Call it tactics, tiredness or nerves it was worrying.
[/quote]

It did appear that way. May be Roy has changed tack from 'keeping it tight and nicking a goal late on' to 'nicking a goal early and hanging on to it?'. I guess we should be thankful for it.
 
[quote author=keniget link=topic=42400.msg1205268#msg1205268 date=1287996961]
We often did that under Rafa as well. It's nothing new.
[/quote]

True. But it was just so obvious. It was like going from night to day within a minute. Like, "what the fuck just happened?"
 
Good encouraging performance by most.

It has to be said though that Blackburn looked the poorest team we've seen at Anfield so far this Season. And without Samba, Nelsen and Nonza-whatshisname their one only potent weapon - standard situations - were severely weakened.

Yet we invited them on for the last 20 minutes and kind of looked like we'd concede any minute. I'm affraid that a half decent team would've scored more than one against our shaky defense yesterday.

That said we got the three points and after a nervy and abysmal start the first win would always be a shaky one I reckon.

Onwards and upwards from here at least were only 3 points from Europe now.
 
[quote author=KHL link=topic=42400.msg1205284#msg1205284 date=1287997968]


Onwards and upwards from here at least were only 3 points from Europe now.
[/quote]

Hahahaha. Forever the optimist eh mate ?
 
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=42400.msg1205302#msg1205302 date=1287998475]
[quote author=KHL link=topic=42400.msg1205284#msg1205284 date=1287997968]


Onwards and upwards from here at least were only 3 points from Europe now.
[/quote]

Hahahaha. Forever the optimist eh mate ?
[/quote]
Trying my bestest mate.
 
I'm all for a bit of optimism at the moment. We've been mired in misery and despair for too many years now. I'm hoping we've hit the trough now and the only way is up !! Onwards and upwards as you say. We need 3 points at Bolton.
 
Re: Ratings! (Blackburn)

Better performance but the main. Criticisms remain. Too narrow, too deep, asking for trouble, over reliant on set pieces and Torres and lacking in pace in key areas. Very happy that we won but we're a long way from Kansas
 
[quote author=StevieM link=topic=42400.msg1205356#msg1205356 date=1288001360]
Better performance but the main. Criticisms remain. Too narrow, too deep, asking for trouble, over reliant on set pieces and Torres and lacking in pace in key areas. Very happy that we won but we're a long way from Kansas
[/quote]

Yes we are but I don't think we were that narrow yesterday. We actually found a bit of width for once. We weren't deep until the last 20 minutes either. We still need to be more creative though I agree and we're still defensively suspect.
 
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=42400.msg1205361#msg1205361 date=1288002129]
[quote author=StevieM link=topic=42400.msg1205356#msg1205356 date=1288001360]
Better performance but the main. Criticisms remain. Too narrow, too deep, asking for trouble, over reliant on set pieces and Torres and lacking in pace in key areas. Very happy that we won but we're a long way from Kansas
[/quote]

Yes we are but I don't think we were that narrow yesterday. We actually found a bit of width for once. We weren't deep until the last 20 minutes either. We still need to be more creative though I agree and we're still defensively suspect.
[/quote]

I was about to take issue with exactly the same pieces of that - we actually looked like we were okay staying out wide, and tried to play a higher tempo game MUCH further up the pitch than we have done for months.

Lack of gas at the back is a constant worry....
 
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=42400.msg1205261#msg1205261 date=1287996202]
[quote author=Vlads Quiff link=topic=42400.msg1205152#msg1205152 date=1287967502]
I thought the defence looked much happier today not having two midfielders sitting on top of them helping them out.
Part of our defensive problem is Lucas continually giving daft free kicks away in dangerous areas, and Carra's brainless clearances coming straight back at us when he plays in the middle. The former was not quite as bad and Carra had a decent game on the right.

Some of our midfield and attacking play on occasions today was as good as I have seen from us for a couple of years, the movement and interchanges were sweet.
Cole, Miereles, Maxi, Gerrard played like they can play, and were allowed to play in a more expansive way, there is still plenty of room for improvement, but above all because those four were buzzing, Torres has started awaking from his slumbers

At least there seemed some shape , people knew their roles and started having confidence in their own and each others ability, I thought today was a bit of a light-bulb moment


regards
[/quote]

I pretty much agree with this Vlad apart from the defensive aspect of things. I thought it did certainly appear if something had been switched on yesterday and we played some really nice stuff at times. There were vastly improved performances - Maxi worked really hard and showed some nice touches. Merieles had another decent game and looks a talent. Gerrard put in yet another great shift. The Greek was simply awesome in our box and Blackburn simply didn't have an answer for him in theirs. He owned them in the air. Torres looked a little sharper but still a yard short of pace, which is worrying - but at least he was working most of the time. And it has to be said Lucas had a very decent game indeed.

So, yes, lots of encouragement but not everything was rosy. Skrtel and Konchesky worry me in defence and always appear prone to mistakes. Carras distribution again could have been better. And, for reasons unknown to me, whatever switched was flicked on was flicked off. We went deep again and invited the pressure on from a poor Blackburn team and in a game we were thoroughly dominating. Call it tactics, tiredness or nerves it was worrying. Hopefully, though Roy and the players have woke up a little and see what a bit of positivity and attacking play can bring. We could have been several goals up in the first half with some better finishing. There were some great balls been played into the box - even corners were improved.
[/quote]

I agree about sitting deep after we scored the second. I think it was a combination of Blackburn having to go for it, and the team being nervous. I don't think it was a concious tactic by Roy as he went as far as putting another striker on, possibly in order to cement the idea we should not sit back.

Nerves played a huge part in things. Up until we scored the crowd were very quiet , you could hear a pin drop at times, things exploded a bit with relief when we scored, only to go very quiet again in the last fifteen minutes or so. I think the crowds nerves transferred directly to the players.

I also agree about Skrtel there is always a yahoo waiting to happen once a game, Benjani skinned him for their goal, and then there was that horrific back pass Pepe did well to deal with. I said in the other thread I would rather have Agger.

regards
 
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