Stoke thoughts

[mark1975]

[quote author=robinhood link=topic=46823.msg1397584#msg1397584 date=1315738684]
[quote author=Ryan link=topic=46823.msg1397526#msg1397526 date=1315731700]
[quote author=robinhood link=topic=46823.msg1397485#msg1397485 date=1315707872]
Adam played some good stuff over the 90 mins.
[/quote]

Yep, he managed to walk out onto the ground in the correct strip.

That was it.

He was fucking HORRENDOUS.
[/quote]


Okay, you hate Charlie Adam. We get it.
[/quote]

I like Adam and rate him highly, I thought he was terrible yesterday though, he gave the ball away constantly and Suarez was getting more than a bit pissed off with him.

 

[robinhood]

He was involved with plenty of good bits of play though, which is what I was saying.


Suarez himself made quite a few fuck ups.


"Terrible" and "horrendous" are pretty OTT from my perspective, but whatever.

 

[mark1975]

Giving the ball away constantly when you're the primary playmaker - and alot of the time it was a fairly rudimentary pass that was on, is pretty poor. He wasn't the only one though. Lucas, Carragher and a few others were as bad.

 

[robinhood]

I'm inclined to say Stoke did well to stop our game, but to be honest, even though they did, we still created quite a lot, it just wouldn't go in.


I'm more bothered about the finishing than the playmaking. I actually think Adam etc did their midfield job well enough.

 

[Stulikesdrums]

Long grass? Am I really reading this? We are using LONG GRASS as an excuse for missing 3 one on ones, one open goal, having 2 strong and one medium penalty claim turned down? We played bad but we'll play worse this season and win.

 

[Sunny]

Long grass can chafe yer know

 

[Squiggles]

[quote author=Krump link=topic=46823.msg1397577#msg1397577 date=1315737375]
I think we did play like shit. I think it was a naive performance and we'd have been better hoofing the fucker to Carroll - I mean it was painfully obvious that all of our midfield was playing completely shit so we'd have got more joy bypassing them and letting Carroll nod it down to Suarez / Bellamy. That was the idea with 15 mins to go, but should have been the idea with 15 mins gone, or beforehand.
[/quote]

Completely agreed.

We thought we would be able to outplay Stoke, which we just don't have the talent to do. We should have fought fire with fire.

 

[red_maradona]

movement movement movement, there was not enough of it, and when it did happen it was too slow and predictable. The Hendo chance was due to the few moments of good movement off the ball.

i hate to say it, but Raul would HAVE made a difference yesterday, his movement off the ball.

 

[Hansern]

So, we play like shite but have 20 shots on goal. How many will we have when we play a good game?

 

[spider-Neil]

We did out play Stoke, we were in stoke's half pretty much the whole of the second half. Just because we couldn't finish for shit doesn't mean our overall play was shit.

 

[ankreds]

his hoofing is actually painful to watch coz he does it EVERY single time.

 

[KopPoNok]

Despite having most of the possession, we didn't really stretch their keeper that much, except the missed chances by Henderson and Adams. We still need to improve on the passes in the final third.

What's the point of having wide players that can ping some nice crosses but have no one to reach the end of it?

 

[Squiggles]

When faced with two lines of well drilled, disciplined defenders you either needs world-class play-makers and movement or to go towards a more direct approach.

I think we got our subs right on Saturday, but our starting line-up was wrong from the beginning.

 

[anfield8]

Very disapointing result and performance, even though the stats show lots off possesion, shots and corners the performance was far from pleasing. From carragher belting the ball up at every opportunity,Adam struggling and no real end product from our wingers the game was just a big let down. The team just looked tired and off the pace and at times we looked just as bad as it was under Hogdson. I do think Bellamy will turn out to be a good short term buy but we still are very short in quality attacking players that would help us maintain a title challenge. The squad has been improved greatly and the last two transfer windows have been a big step in the right direction, but the fact that Suarez was our only real threat on the weekend highlights the fact that our squad needs alot more quality up front and on the wings.

 

[Ryan]

[quote author=doctor_mac link=topic=46823.msg1397531#msg1397531 date=1315733144]
[quote author=Ryan link=topic=46823.msg1397526#msg1397526 date=1315731700]
[quote author=robinhood link=topic=46823.msg1397485#msg1397485 date=1315707872]
Adam played some good stuff over the 90 mins.
[/quote]

Yep, he managed to walk out onto the ground in the correct strip.

That was it.

He was fucking HORRENDOUS.
[/quote]

Did you watch the 90 minutes?

I haven't been about lately, but I'd suspect you haven't praised Adam's recent excellent performances. As soon as we get a negative result you can't wait to emerge from under your gloomy little bridge.
[/quote]

I did watch the 90 minutes. I watch every 90 minutes, so save yourself the fucking bother in future.

And if you're that intrigued, then have a look through my recent posts; you'll see I was positive about Adam, and mentioned his unbelievably good set-piece delivery. Several times. He's been nowhere near "excellent" in recent weeks either.

He was fucking brutal on Saturday too. I place an emphasis on ball retention. Most good teams do as well. Have you watched Barcelona over the last few years? Cherish the fucking thing. Charlie treats it like a fucking Big Mac meal and destroys the cunt.

I really want him to be good cos we aint got a lot of alternatives, but performances like that drive me, Luis Suarez, and every right minded football fan up the fucking wall.

 

[FoxForceFive]

Can everyone stop bleating on about the long fucking grass FFS.

These people are professional football players. If necessary I bet they could play the ball without it touching the ground 9 times out of 10.

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=46823.msg1397849#msg1397849 date=1315794695]
When faced with two lines of well drilled, disciplined defenders you either needs world-class play-makers and movement or to go towards a more direct approach.

I think we got our subs right on Saturday, but our starting line-up was wrong from the beginning.
[/quote]

I agree, all due respect to FFF but the long grass WAS a factor and we should have looked to play it long to carroll and then swamped stoke in the penalty box. the approach play was too slow (especially when kuyt insists on taking 10 touches before releasing the ball).
carroll should have started the game, no question about it.

 

[FoxForceFive]

Of course the long grass was a factor, but that's not my point.

It shouldn't be an excuse, if you cant play it along the ground, play it in the air, chip it to each other most of the time, play it very quickly & more often play lofted balls to feet so you know they wont get stuck in the grass.

These players should be able to adapt their game, in that respect we're singing from the same hymnsheet.

 

[Stulikesdrums]

It's really embarrassing you are using long grass as an excuse, Neil. Long grass is not the reason we lost on Saturday.

 

[King Binny]

24 shots, 7 on target, 8 blocked.

Passing accuracy v Stoke

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

Carragher has pretty much the same pass completion as Agger?

Does that mean Agger hoofs just as much, or that he's not very good at passing it short?

 

[StevieM]

Maybe Carragher's one if these players that suffers under captaincy.

 

[Ryan]

I'm with Neil on this; the grass was a serious contributor. When you're trying to play a quick passing game it doesn't help if you're playing in a fucking field.

 

[Avmenon]

[quote author=Hansern link=topic=46823.msg1397724#msg1397724 date=1315763086]
So, we play like shite but have 20 shots on goal. How many will we have when we play a good game?
[/quote]

When the onion bag's a'burstin

 

[Ossi]

[quote author=Modo link=topic=46823.msg1397347#msg1397347 date=1315680917]
[quote author=Gary25 link=topic=46823.msg1397335#msg1397335 date=1315680249]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=46823.msg1397329#msg1397329 date=1315680085]
Also I think bellemymis going to force his way up the pecking order as he is that good a player.
[/quote]

Wouldn't surprise me if he's a regular starter soon.
[/quote]
Nope wouldn't surprise me at all. He and Suarez understood each other it seemed.
[/quote]

Enrique and Bellamy seemed to understand each other (except for one time). Promising! Perhaps Enrique can sing as well.