Liverpool 2010/11 Season Thread

[Adrock]

4-4-2 then eh. N'gog and Torres up top. I cant see either playing a more reserved role behind the main striker. If they do play either as a second striker in the hole it could be a big mistake, neither can do that role.

Should be very interesting indeed!

[mr_sockochris]

Man City amazingly playing tonight an even more defensive lineup than last week

[rafaout]

poor half

[Jebus]

Shocked at how good Micah Richards is tonight...also, holy crap what a big bastard he's becoming!

[Kongster]

Debatable pen, 3-0 to City.

[Nu-Eclipse]

(*shakes head*)

Truly, truly miserable stuff.

Moores & Parry, are you watching?

[Kongster]

Babel is coming on.

[hudson]

Got owned. Passed poorly. Looked static. Second to nearly every ball.

Hope we can just about make the Europa League again this season

[mr_sockochris]

Meh, that was just depressing

Too many 'squad quality' players in the starting eleven, there's just no spark.

Jovanovic is just a left footed Kuyt, hardworking but there's no magic. I don't want to be too harsh as he's just settling but the early signs aren't exactly promising.
Why Aurelio isn't playing LB I don't know, i'd feel far safer with Agger with Carra in the middle.
As much as I like N'Gog we really need a better striker.
Lucas again disappointed. Mascherano shut down Arsenal almost singlehandedly last week, we're already missing him and he hasn't even gone yet.


Oh, and 4-4-2 away to City? I'm not impressed Roy

[nakamura]

The tactics where laughable. Too many players in really ineffective positions, no width and no pace. Gerrard was so deep he was practically underwater! 4-4-2 was the wrong way to play.
Real shame as I was hoping for better tonight. Really like Hodgson, Gerrard and Torres and would like to see them do well.

[Adrock]

As much as I like N'Gog we really need a better striker.

I honestly dont understand how you've managed to pinpoint him as the problem up front tonight. Torres was a shell of what he is capable.

N'gog, every time he plays, gives 100% and is clearly improving all the time. Tonight I would have preferred us to start with N'gog up top with Gerrard behind and a Poulsen/Lucas partnership in the middle to help combat the 3 central players city employ.

Torres clearly isn't fit and N'gog has shown, against Arsenal, he is capable of leading the attack alone. I think Jovanovic is gonna struggle early on with the pace of the league, that was clear from his performance tonight.

Glenn Johnson was poor, Kuyt was too. Agger was up against one of the most promising wingers in the league in Johnson and he showed what he is capable of. Imagine Insua up against that

Aurelio has only just come back from a long lay off without training at any club and needs to get back into the groove, against Trabzonspor he looked rusty. Hopefully Agger and Carragher will reprise their partnership soon enough, they are the best pairing we have at the moment. But with a distinct lack of left sided options Agger will have to carry on covering, sadly.

On the subject of Lucas, the goals came from a cross, corner and penalty. Nothing was created through the middle by City tonight. Lucas did what his job was but nothing was happening around him, the width was non existent and the more creative player (Gerrard) wasn't hitting the intended target enough. Well, he was having to resort to long passes because his wingers were either too narrow or not showing for him.

All round the performance from the team was poor, so I think its unfair to pinpoint anybody particularly. This will be the story of the season, however, because there is no real quality out wide and the central midfield situation is not going to change any time soon. Unless Woy manages to pluck another Xabi Alonso type out of obscurity.

[SharkSkin-Man]

A truly frightening performance.

[Scythe]

Other than Jovanavic and possibly Johnson none of the players can be blamed for that I don't think, the system was wrong plain and simple with no plan b.
Why you would try and play 4 4 2 against the 2nd or 3rd strongest midfield in the country is beyond me, if his hand was forced by Masch then why is Poulsen on the bench if not fit to play?
Why play Ngog and Torres together when they essentially play the same way?
Why get rid of Aquilani?
Why play no recognised left back?

I was hoping my initial sceptisicm was unfounded but now i'm not so sure...

[Adrock]

I think the Aquilani move was done further up the club hierarchy. It doesn't make any sense apart from freeing up a spot on the wage bill. No manager would happily get rid of that kind of player, especially when Mascherano is clearly leaving. That now leaves 3 senior centre midfield players. Which, again, is something no manager would want to leave himself open to.

As for the rest of the team, I would consider Maxi to be a better player for our right side as opposed to Kuyt. With a reported 8mil on the table for Kuyt I'd take it, especially seeing as he is 30 now. Its only early in the season and Liverpool are gonna suffer due to World Cup exertions but last night was slightly worrying.

[Scythe]

Personally, I don't think getting rid of Kuyt now would be good, we need as much stability as poss, in normal circumstances I'd probably agree mind.
The lack of reinvestment over the last three seasons is really beginning to tell.