Sport Liverpool Football Club

[rjpageuk]

Best to just forget about this competition I think but Dossena really didnt do himself any favours. How much did he cost again?

[Das]

Best to just forget about this competition I think but Dossena really didnt do himself any favours. How much did he cost again?

7 mil. Bad fucking business.

We should have just played our entire reserves side last night, they won the fucking reserves league and are used to playing with each other. Would have done better than the mish-mash shit we put out last night. At least Spurs actually played well to beat us this time.

[V3zna]

Dossena is and has recently been Italy's first choice leftback under Lippi. There is surely a good player in there somwhere.

[Reynard]

You can't write players off that soon - especially ones coming from foreign leagues.

[rjpageuk]

You can't write players off that soon - especially ones coming from foreign leagues.

I wasnt writing him off! It is just disappointing as it was a good chance for him to stake a claim for a first team spot and I dont think he did himself any favours at all.

The same is true with Degen too although he was always going to be second choice for his position I think.

[Reynard]

Sorry, it was more of a general comment, but mainly prompted by Das' comment about the fee.

[Guest]

Oh god. Agger and Hyppia (mainly) as CBs again...

[Commander Jameson]

Oh god. Agger and Hyppia (mainly) as CBs again...

Probably the best option to let Carra play right-back as Arbeloa is suspended and Degen injured (surprise surprise). The only other choice would be to play Darby at right-back and Bolton away is probably not the best place for a youngling.

[dizogg]

Yeah I think they'll be fine in an experienced team. Even though Carra is on the right he'll still sort them out in the middle. Hopefully.

[Dandy_Sephy]

KUYT!

Cracking effort earlier too

[Sng]

Yeah, he's having a pretty good game as well Woop!

EDIT: Oh Keane, how did you miss that.

[Guest]

THAT. IS. A. BEAUT!

[Dandy_Sephy]

ouch @ agger smacking his shin into the post and kneeing himself in the chin - lost a tooth!

[Dandy_Sephy]

GERRO!

[Commander Jameson]

Kuyt goal

Gerrard goal

[Guest]

The second goal was pure class by Torres. Wonderful stuff.

[V3zna]

Todays match was just another example of Xabi Alonso being the player that makes us tick. It's not Gerrard, it's Alonso and if he can continue this form all season then hopefully he'll get some sort of recognition by his peers.

[dizogg]

I was watching the game with my brother-in-law and somehow we decided that Alonso has a watch that stops time like Bernards Watch called "Alonso's Watch". And everytime he did something good we said "Oh thats was Alonso's Watch". Erm. This isn't funny is it? Sorry.

Anyway good game, can't believe Keanes miss! He had no right to look pissed off that he'd been subbed, you need to be putting those away at £20m.

[Elliott]

ouch @ agger smacking his shin into the post and kneeing himself in the chin - lost a tooth!

Agger is like some kind of Ironman.

Broken finger? Just pop it back in.

Bruised shin? Fuck it.

Broken tooth? Somebody pick it up and give it to the physio.

Skrtel's a scary bastard but at least we know if he ever goes on the rampage that Agger will be able to take it and lose 4-5 pints of blood without going off the pitch.

[Elliott]

I was watching the game with my brother-in-law and somehow we decided that Alonso has a watch that stops time like Bernards Watch called "Alonso's Watch". And everytime he did something good we said "Oh thats was Alonso's Watch". Erm. This isn't funny is it? Sorry.

Anyway good game, can't believe Keanes miss! He had no right to look pissed off that he'd been subbed, you need to be putting those away at £20m.

Alonso's Watch = Positional awareness.

Something a lot of players lack, and evidenced by his old knack for catching the keeper off the line. He's always aware of where everybody is and surveying the entire pitch before he takes his kick. Distribution is brilliant and a very intelligent player. Words can't express how glad I am we didn't let him go to Arsenal.

[Takizawa]

Not just jumping on the bandwagon, but Alonso was superb today, and has been great all season. Just wish he'd get a few more goals, he has amazing technique and hits the ball superbly but never seems to have much luck.

My weird analogy of our midfield is that Xabi is an MMO pet-class character, and Macha is his pet who is on aggressive mode... Made sense in my head.

[Sng]

Gomes made 2 mistakes all night, OK they were big ones but the rest of the match he was doing fine.

And what about today? Regardless of how good a keeper is, if they can't stay tuned in for the 90 minutes then, well, you know.

[redbloodcell]

He only made 1 today (albeit amazingly terrible), and made 3 great saves Robbo would have never gotten near as well.

[Sng]

Yeah but if an error costs a goal and he makes a minimum of one error a game then it's at least time to give someone else a run out.

[dizogg]

You can tell theres a good keeper in there somewhere, but he is a fucking liability at the moment. I swear about half the goals tottenham have shipped have been his fault in some way this season.

[redbloodcell]

If Cesar was good enough he'd have been out there today after the last game, so IMO its pretty clear he isn't and we've got nobody else. He'll probably play the next match but I don't expect him to be any better.

Just another problem caused by the former management that we're having to live with now, we're far too short there and should have kept hold of Cerny.

[dogsout]

We've got quotes being attributed to Benayoun basically saying he'll leave if he doesn't start getting games. Babel has also spoken about his frustration at a lack of playing time but went on to say that he'll fight for his place. I'm not worried about Babel but I highly doubt that Yossi will force his way into the side so we'll more than likely be looking for another versatile squad player/young guy to bring through again soon.

I know I say it every time but I fucking hate internationals. I just want us to keep the momentum going now. We've been playing better and better as the season has gone on and I've been really impressed with our play recently. I made a post a while back saying the team had a touch of The Crushing Machine about it. The way we've been playing recently is very similar to Rafa's Valencia but at an even faster pace. We've been lightning on the counter-attack and Mascherano has been key to that at times. Andy Gray is constantly harping on about there being no need for two defensive midfielders and crying about us not leaving anyone up front when defending corners and, perhaps unsurprisingly, has failed to notice how much space that affords us to break into. Masch has developed a real knack for bringing the ball out of our half at pace and starting a counter-attack.

Kuyt was excellent again at the weekend, as was Xabi. It's great to see two of the players that were slated quite heavily last season upping their game and becoming invaluable to us this season. Torres looked great when he came on and his short cameo provided a reminder as to what we've been lacking in his absence. I expected him to be a bit hesitant to sprint for a bit after coming back but he hasn't been. He's still as quick as ever and we'll benefit from the rest he's had. I expect Keane to really start proving his worth to the side now that Torres is back as he'll be free to take up those positions between the lines he likes to drop into so much without it fucking up our shape, as it has at times when he's played alone upfront.

[V3zna]

We've got quotes being attributed to Benayoun basically saying he'll leave if he doesn't start getting games. Babel has also spoken about his frustration at a lack of playing time but went on to say that he'll fight for his place. I'm not worried about Babel but I highly doubt that Yossi will force his way into the side so we'll more than likely be looking for another versatile squad player/young guy to bring through again soon.

I know I say it every time but I fucking hate internationals. I just want us to keep the momentum going now. We've been playing better and better as the season has gone on and I've been really impressed with our play recently. I made a post a while back saying the team had a touch of The Crushing Machine about it. The way we've been playing recently is very similar to Rafa's Valencia but at an even faster pace. We've been lightning on the counter-attack and Mascherano has been key to that at times. Andy Gray is constantly harping on about there being no need for two defensive midfielders and crying about us not leaving anyone up front when defending corners and, perhaps unsurprisingly, has failed to notice how much space that affords us to break into. Masch has developed a real knack for bringing the ball out of our half at pace and starting a counter-attack.

Kuyt was excellent again at the weekend, as was Xabi. It's great to see two of the players that were slated quite heavily last season upping their game and becoming invaluable to us this season. Torres looked great when he came on and his short cameo provided a reminder as to what we've been lacking in his absence. I expected him to be a bit hesitant to sprint for a bit after coming back but he hasn't been. He's still as quick as ever and we'll benefit from the rest he's had. I expect Keane to really start proving his worth to the side now that Torres is back as he'll be free to take up those positions between the lines he likes to drop into so much without it fucking up our shape, as it has at times when he's played alone upfront.

Going on his cameo performances so far this season if the Benayoun comments are true then I'd like to see more of El Zhar. I've been really impressed by him from what I've saw so far. Good work ethic but has sublime ball control as well. Nice combination.

Andy Gray has been pretty fair to us so far this season. He called the blatant foul by Nolan on Reina wrong but beyond that he's been ok. Richard Keys on the other hand is a shit stirrer of the highest order.

There's plenty of esteemed pundits that rate Mascherano as one of the finest central midfielders in the world. I'll not argue with that but he's been overshadowed by the mesmerising Alonso so far this season. If the season ended now then no doubt about it, it would be between Alonso and Lampard for the footballer of the year award. Carragher deserves a mention as well as although he's probably not as naturally gifted as Skrtel and Agger, he's been better than both so far this season. If he could stop scoring for Spurs it would ideal but I suppose you can't have everything.

[Hoodedclaw]

Richard Keys on the other hand is a shit stirrer of the highest order.

glad someone else noticed this too

[dogsout]

There's plenty of esteemed pundits that rate Mascherano as one of the finest central midfielders in the world. I'll not argue with that but he's been overshadowed by the mesmerising Alonso so far this season.

While I agree that Xabi has indeed been fantastic and our best player so far this season, I'd just like to add that Mascherano's presence is a big part of what affords Xabi so much space. Opposition players haven't been able to drop in on him or double up like they used to because Masch is playing further ahead of him now, freeing Xabi up somewhat. Alonso's vision is unparalleled and takes their partnership to another level.