Liverpool FC Forum

[welsh wizzard]

Agree with you 110% bigmick, I'll tell you something as well sissoko is a quality player in the making have you noticed now he is not jumping into tackles and stays more on his feet, he closes players down so quick and covers so much grass its unreal, another couple of years and he will be some player i feel we have a star in the making there, Viera mark 2,
We are missing a goal machine to play up front and we will be champions, morientes and cisse just can't hack it, Morientes just needs to much time on the ball in spain its slower, He is getting in the positions to score but no end result, he has had long enough, I would swap morro and cisse for Torres, now thats a good deal.

[TheoRacle]

I thought that in the main we were excellent tonight and a shade unlucky not to win by 3 or 4. Morientes (though I think he is garbage) had his best game for a couple of weeks IMHO and people are barking up the wrong tree slagging him tonight. The man for me this evening was Sissoko who I thought had by far his best game in a Liverpool shirt. When you see him play like that and consider his age 5 million looks like a superb piece of business. He would walk into both the Arsenal and Manure teams with performances like that.
As a footnote it was also nice to see that complete waste of space (sarcastic) Luis Garcia come off the bench onto the right wing and score the vital goal. I always go on about movement and intelligence and next time you see the goal, marvel at the cleverness of Garcia. Note how when the ball goes back to Hamann he actually takes two or three steps backwards so to give himself space to run into without going offside. Then as Hamann pulls the trigger Luis is on his bike, the only person on the pitch who is mobile. Players like this will always, always score goals because they get themselves open in the box. THis is one of the reasons I'm not too disappointed with Morientes tonight. He did at least get himself open in the box once or twice which is a big improvement. He is still not up to it but tonight was a shade better IMHO.

Good post Bigmick.

Agree we played well tonight and Nando is getting too much stick as he is certainly putting in the effort.  Again he was in the right place at the right time today but the ball just wont go in the net for him! He was unlucky with his airshot IMO as I think Cenderos(?) just got the slightest of touches on the ball and stuffed up Nando's timing.  He got his head on to two crosses, one inch perfect (from Gerard) the other not so - (Robbie's - a bit low and behind him)  but didn't test Lehmann with either.  If he was getting four or five crosses like Gerard's each game then I think he'd be able to show his aerial ability a bit more. And finally, if it was Carra nicking the ball off Henry's boot in the middle of the six yard box in the 84th minute we'd all be shouting "Briliiant defending by Carra" not "what a miss by Henry!" yet according to some here Nando failed us yet again.

Anyway enough about Nando...starting to sound like I think he's perfect which of course he's not. Just frustrated at the amount of cr@p so called supporters give some members of the team.

Back to the game analysis...

Holding Arsenal to just 6 shots and only 2 on target while creating 20 shots of our own just shows how well we are playing even if the goals aren't coming.  I really can't see Chelsea or United dominating Arsenal in the same way we did tonight. We should have won by 3 or 4 if it wer not for Lehmann's superb game.

Our midfield were awesome without even making it look like an effort. Defensively again, we were spot on.  Riise kept Freddie quiet and contributed to our attacks well.  Riise too gets a bit of stick but I think the only other player who I'd swap him for who is able to both defend and attack on the left hand side would be Heinze and he's probably not as good coming forward as JAR.

Poor old Stevie Finnan - he's just so consistent - poor guy hardly ever gets a mention.  Vastly underated by many I think.

One thing that does concern me though is our defence at corners and set pieces - probably the only times we looked vulnerable tonight.  I know the argument is that zonal marking has helped us keep a record equalling number of clean sheets this season but by I think that that argument is flawed.  If it were not for the fact that we've conceded a very low number of corners and free kicks in dangerous positions this season I think the zonal system would have left exposed  more often and those clean sheets wouldn't be there. Just a thought.

Bigmick's spot on about lil' Luis - great anticipation and intelligence.  We have really missed him.

Finally ( no really this time), what is it with lowering Stevie G's rating becaused he didnt score his penalty? Apart from the fact that this was a soft decision in our favour anyway, I dont think SG did much wrong.  There was planty of power and his placement was good, only 18" or so low inside the post. Lehmann made (another) fantastic save. You cant blame SG for that one, sorry.

[Espionage]

Dudek - 7 - didnt have to do much
Hypia - 7.5 - Did well, lol i was hoping for his back heel goal off the corner to go in, f#cking Ljumberg on the line
Carragher - 7.5 - Same old Carragher, solid performance
Riise - 7 - defended well but seemed to not be supporting Kewell very much, i think that Rafa doesnt have much respect for Lehman as Riise must have got told to shoot on sight, but he never looked dangerous.
Finnan - 8 - Similiar to Riise but act forward a bit more and allowed Gerrad to roam. Where was Pires in the first half lol, nice job keeping him silent

Alonso - 7 - a little below his standards, put some nice balls for Kewell and Gerrard to run on to but didnt stamp his mark on the game
Gerrard - 8.0 - looked a little bit out of the game towards the start, didnt seem emotionally in the game but turned it around. He put in some nice crosses and was providing good width for fowler and Morri.
Kewell - 8.5 -  I thourght that Kewell was really great tonight, i always backed him and it is so good to see him on the way back to where he should be, how many nice crosses did he put in for Morri, nothing more can be asked of him, i felt that he needed more support as he seemed to get isolated a bit.
Sissoko - 8.5 - great game for him, completely owned Febregas and Gilberto, they had no real impact as momo ran them off the pitch, fantastic work rate. I think that we looked so dominant due to the fact that Arsenal could not keep possesion in their midfield long enough and that was mainly due to the constant harassing by Sissoko.
Morrientes - 6.5 - I think that people are being a little harsh on him today, sure he missed MANY chances, but how many good scoring opportunities did he create for himself... If he keeps on working hard and getting into the right areas, he will start to score. No one can question his effort. He did everything right except put it in the back of the net
Fowler - 6 - Very similiar game to Morientes except didnt seem to get to as many balls as he probably should have, I still think that he looked a bit sluggish and doesnt seem to want to get in positions forcing/waiting for mistakes.

Subs:
Cisse - 6.5 - Seemed to use his pace to good effect down the right, but failed to really create an impact.
Hamann - 7.5 - Came on and with him and Sissoko bossing the midfield, we spent even more time in our offensive third, nice shot to create Garcia's goal
Garcia - 8 - Did exactly what he was sopossed to do, add something different to the attack, goal poach and run after everything, great goal! Really happy for him

Overall our performance was quite pleasing, i think as a team we rated at about 8 but I think that had a bit to do with some of the injuries. In the long team this game could be extremely significant as Arsenal could struggle to make that Champions league spot unless Tottenham dont slip up. Maybe they should jsut win the Champions league instead and forget the premier league  

[Small John]

hey, here from ireland...


ting is, against the big guns, you aint gonna get many chances to score. If you squander them time and again...thats even worse!

[el_stinger]

Agree with you 110% bigmick, I'll tell you something as well sissoko is a quality player in the making have you noticed now he is not jumping into tackles and stays more on his feet, he closes players down so quick and covers so much grass its unreal, another couple of years and he will be some player i feel we have a star in the making there, Viera mark 2,
We are missing a goal machine to play up front and we will be champions, morientes and cisse just can't hack it, Morientes just needs to much time on the ball in spain its slower, He is getting in the positions to score but no end result, he has had long enough, I would swap morro and cisse for Torres, now thats a good deal.

He still needs to know how to strike a ball at goal though. Someone give the lad shooting practice 

[el_stinger]

Unfortunately for us and the club, Mori hasn't had his fair shar of luck yet.

Faith people, keep the faith.

I know but come on how long does he want to get it right?

It'll come brotha, it'll come....

Just hope all the boo boys will leave the hisses and boo's for after this season ends, give him that much. Hell Cisse has had more chances than Mori in the first team, not necessarily this term.

Mori has been given opportunities to score and make assists, as long as one of those is paying off, then Rafa is happy. Cissy had been given that option earlier on, and didn't take it.

Crouch needs to know the people he is playing around to know what to do, and adapt. Time is needed.

Fowler needs to start kicking em in. He has played a brilliant game Vs. Arsenal, and to his credit, has formed an unlikely partnership combo with Mori. These two players can and will adapt, and we will see the rewards for our patience this season. If not, I'll eat my hat!

[115-1073096938]

Why do people feel the need to give a 7.5? What the that? Its either a 7 or 8. 

Tonight i thought the performance was very good. We should have had five goals. Gerrard's penalty, Morientes' header, Fowler's lovely touch then snap shot and Morientes from Gerrard's cross on the left and the goal itself.

The team played well, those slating Morientes i notice aren't match goers... I was there tonight, EVERY PLAYER on that pitch in our side gave 100%. They all played ok.

Fowler's movement, link up play and quality in certain parts of the game was sublime, he's still got it, no matter what 7_Kewell and Nigel Worthington say.

Hyypia was superb aswell as Sissoko.

Dudek - 6. Had nothing to done, what he needed to do he done adequately.

Finnan - 7. Used the ball well, created space and attacked well, didn't get to the byline as often as he should have but defended well and was his usual self.

Carragher - 7. Solid as ever. His ability to sweep around Sami is excellent.

Hyypia - 8. Solid, won everything and stopped everything, read the game well and covered Carragher and Riise.

Riise - 7. Full of energy, defended well and tried to get forward. Definately more determined and aggressive this season.

Gerrard - 6. His passing was awful tonight. He gave the ball away far to much and is passes weren't always the right ones (tactical) he played to many ahead of the play. He did run his balls off as usual and made some good tackles and crosses though.

Sissoko - 8. Made his usual 3 or 4 shocking passes, had a cracking game though. Tackled excellently and generally involved in everything good we done. Shown a lack of awareness at times, but i can't nit pick. His best game for the club, more of the same.

Alonso - 6. Tired, jaded, sloppy, needs a rest badly. He's obviously a class act, his ability shines through all the time and he'll always do good things, just failed to be at his best for a number of weeks now.

Kewell - 7. He's winning me over with every performance, positive, confident, good passes, battled, still lacks that creative edge but its coming back to him. He needs to throw in a match winning performance alround to convince me he's back to his best, he's definately getting there though.

Fowler - 7. Excellent movement, good touches, clever link up play, worked hard. Still lacking match sharpness but the save he drew from Lehman in the second half proves he's still got loads to offer, the touch and the movement across Senderos was world class, the finish wasn't bad, it was a great save.

Morientes - 6. Worked hard, should have scored twice, a massive improvement though, kept the ball better, made chances for himself and looked a slight threat. Should have done better with the chance in the second half from Gerrard's cross, was unlucky with the header in the first...

Subs:

Hamann - 7. Changed the game with his shot, kept the ball and looked strong as always.

Cisse - 6. Actually controlled the ball, made a couple of runs. Pleasantly suprised.

Luis Garcia - 6. Everything he done was positive and the finish was clever.

[Liverpool 4 EVA]

Why do people feel the need to give a 7.5? What the that? Its either a 7 or 8. 

Tonight i thought the performance was very good. We should have had five goals. Gerrard's penalty, Morientes' header, Fowler's lovely touch then snap shot and Morientes from Gerrard's cross on the left and the goal itself.

The team played well, those slating Morientes i notice aren't match goers... I was there tonight, EVERY PLAYER on that pitch in our side gave 100%. They all played ok.

Fowler's movement, link up play and quality in certain parts of the game was sublime, he's still got it, no matter what 7_Kewell and Nigel Worthington say.

Hyypia was superb aswell as Sissoko.

Dudek - 6. Had nothing to done, what he needed to do he done adequately.

Finnan - 7. Used the ball well, created space and attacked well, didn't get to the byline as often as he should have but defended well and was his usual self.

Carragher - 7. Solid as ever. His ability to sweep around Sami is excellent.

Hyypia - 8. Solid, won everything and stopped everything, read the game well and covered Carragher and Riise.

Riise - 7. Full of energy, defended well and tried to get forward. Definately more determined and aggressive this season.

Gerrard - 6. His passing was awful tonight. He gave the ball away far to much and is passes weren't always the right ones (tactical) he played to many ahead of the play. He did run his balls off as usual and made some good tackles and crosses though.

Sissoko - 8. Made his usual 3 or 4 shocking passes, had a cracking game though. Tackled excellently and generally involved in everything good we done. Shown a lack of awareness at times, but i can't nit pick. His best game for the club, more of the same.

Alonso - 6. Tired, jaded, sloppy, needs a rest badly. He's obviously a class act, his ability shines through all the time and he'll always do good things, just failed to be at his best for a number of weeks now.

Kewell - 7. He's winning me over with every performance, positive, confident, good passes, battled, still lacks that creative edge but its coming back to him. He needs to throw in a match winning performance alround to convince me he's back to his best, he's definately getting there though.

Fowler - 7. Excellent movement, good touches, clever link up play, worked hard. Still lacking match sharpness but the save he drew from Lehman in the second half proves he's still got loads to offer, the touch and the movement across Senderos was world class, the finish wasn't bad, it was a great save.

Morientes - 6. Worked hard, should have scored twice, a massive improvement though, kept the ball better, made chances for himself and looked a slight threat. Should have done better with the chance in the second half from Gerrard's cross, was unlucky with the header in the first...

Subs:

Hamann - 7. Changed the game with his shot, kept the ball and looked strong as always.

Cisse - 6. Actually controlled the ball, made a couple of runs. Pleasantly suprised.

Luis Garcia - 6. Everything he done was positive and the finish was clever.

Great post and excellent analysis.

At last, one of the few people on here that actually talk fu(king sense.

Especially the part about Morientes, I'm fed up of the slating he's getting.

[Espionage]

Gerrard - 6. His passing was awful tonight. He gave the ball away far to much and is passes weren't always the right ones (tactical) he played to many ahead of the play. He did run his balls off as usual and made some good tackles and crosses though.

Luis Garcia - 6. Everything he done was positive and the finish was clever.

Agree with almost everything, though i thourght that these were a bit harsh.
Gerrard was a bit isolated early as everything seemed to be going through Kewell. If took a while but after about 30 mins Gerrard could be found all over the pitch and seemed to provide a spark that created several opportunites for Morientes and Fowler (which unfortunately didnt end up putting any away). This was when he changed to more of a roaming role. I thourght that he was at his usual high standards. He was also listed as the Man of the Match of liverpoolfc.tv

I think that subs like Garcia (impact subs) should be judged based on how they impacted on the game in the short period of time that he played. He was sharp, alert chasing everything and put away the only opportunity that he had without really making an error. Surely he deserves at least a 7.5 

[LiverpoolMadman]

Morientes - 6. Worked hard, should have scored twice, a massive improvement though, kept the ball better, made chances for himself and looked a slight threat. Should have done better with the chance in the second half from Gerrard's cross, was unlucky with the header in the first...

Stu, you are very kind to give 6 . But I will give him 4.5. He NOT poor but he is "disaster"

[115-1073096938]

Gerrard - 6. His passing was awful tonight. He gave the ball away far to much and is passes weren't always the right ones (tactical) he played to many ahead of the play. He did run his balls off as usual and made some good tackles and crosses though.

Luis Garcia - 6. Everything he done was positive and the finish was clever.

Agree with almost everything, though i thourght that these were a bit harsh.
Gerrard was a bit isolated early as everything seemed to be going through Kewell. If took a while but after about 30 mins Gerrard could be found all over the pitch and seemed to provide a spark that created several opportunites for Morientes and Fowler (which unfortunately didnt end up putting any away). This was when he changed to more of a roaming role. I thourght that he was at his usual high standards. He was also listed as the Man of the Match of liverpoolfc.tv

I think that subs like Garcia (impact subs) should be judged based on how they impacted on the game in the short period of time that he played. He was sharp, alert chasing everything and put away the only opportunity that he had without really making an error. Surely he deserves at least a 7.5 

Gerrard gave the ball away needlessly four times. His passes were often ahead of the play, he shown tactical naivety that he hasn't shown for years tonight. His forward bursts were timed wrongly aswell.

Luis Garcia deserves a 7 or 8 for 8 minutes on the pitch? Get fucking real.

[115-1073096938]

Morientes - 6. Worked hard, should have scored twice, a massive improvement though, kept the ball better, made chances for himself and looked a slight threat. Should have done better with the chance in the second half from Gerrard's cross, was unlucky with the header in the first...

Stu, you are very kind to give 6 . But I will give him 4.5. He NOT poor but he is "disaster"

[el_stinger]

Morientes - 6. Worked hard, should have scored twice, a massive improvement though, kept the ball better, made chances for himself and looked a slight threat. Should have done better with the chance in the second half from Gerrard's cross, was unlucky with the header in the first...

Stu, you are very kind to give 6 . But I will give him 4.5. He NOT poor but he is "disaster"

The Blue Pill Neo. Take the blue pill............

[Espionage]

Gerrard - 6. His passing was awful tonight. He gave the ball away far to much and is passes weren't always the right ones (tactical) he played to many ahead of the play. He did run his balls off as usual and made some good tackles and crosses though.

Luis Garcia - 6. Everything he done was positive and the finish was clever.

Agree with almost everything, though i thourght that these were a bit harsh.
Gerrard was a bit isolated early as everything seemed to be going through Kewell. If took a while but after about 30 mins Gerrard could be found all over the pitch and seemed to provide a spark that created several opportunites for Morientes and Fowler (which unfortunately didnt end up putting any away). This was when he changed to more of a roaming role. I thourght that he was at his usual high standards. He was also listed as the Man of the Match of liverpoolfc.tv

I think that subs like Garcia (impact subs) should be judged based on how they impacted on the game in the short period of time that he played. He was sharp, alert chasing everything and put away the only opportunity that he had without really making an error. Surely he deserves at least a 7.5 

Gerrard gave the ball away needlessly four times. His passes were often ahead of the play, he shown tactical naivety that he hasn't shown for years tonight. His forward bursts were timed wrongly aswell.

Luis Garcia deserves a 7 or 8 for 8 minutes on the pitch? Get fucking real.

If you are not going to give a fair representation of how he played then why give him a rating at all? I just think that he should either get a 7.5/8 or a not applicable.

[115-1073096938]

Gerrard - 6. His passing was awful tonight. He gave the ball away far to much and is passes weren't always the right ones (tactical) he played to many ahead of the play. He did run his balls off as usual and made some good tackles and crosses though.

Luis Garcia - 6. Everything he done was positive and the finish was clever.

Agree with almost everything, though i thourght that these were a bit harsh.
Gerrard was a bit isolated early as everything seemed to be going through Kewell. If took a while but after about 30 mins Gerrard could be found all over the pitch and seemed to provide a spark that created several opportunites for Morientes and Fowler (which unfortunately didnt end up putting any away). This was when he changed to more of a roaming role. I thourght that he was at his usual high standards. He was also listed as the Man of the Match of liverpoolfc.tv

I think that subs like Garcia (impact subs) should be judged based on how they impacted on the game in the short period of time that he played. He was sharp, alert chasing everything and put away the only opportunity that he had without really making an error. Surely he deserves at least a 7.5 

Gerrard gave the ball away needlessly four times. His passes were often ahead of the play, he shown tactical naivety that he hasn't shown for years tonight. His forward bursts were timed wrongly aswell.

Luis Garcia deserves a 7 or 8 for 8 minutes on the pitch? Get fucking real.

If you are not going to give a fair representation of how he played then why give him a rating at all? I just think that he should either get a 7.5/8 or a not applicable.

He was on the pitch for 8 minutes. How can he get a man of the match rating for that? He didn't exactly score a hatrick, he played a couple of passes and scored a goal. Hardly man of the match criteria, thats like saying if you have a player who starts for 8 minutes, scores, goes off injured then the team loses 8-1 and they all get 3/10 that the player who scored deserved an 8.

Clueless bastard!