Liverpool FC Forum

[The Manhattan Project]

Manhattan correctly predicted a 1-2 victory for Liverpool too!

[lio]

Manhattan predicts Aston Villa 0 Liverpool 1

sorry manhattan, thought only women allow to change their mind.

[RedBlood]

also loved reinas reaction to the gerrard free kick

pure passion

love the guy

it was class looool i loved it too

i thought we were very good today but yet again failed to put our chances away but i think we willbe more clinical this year with the new additions

i was very impressed with torres today his moment, pace and ability to create chance for himself is what we have lacked for a while now

[RedBlood]

am i the only one that notices carra and agger struggle with opposition forwards that are strong in the air?

I like torres and kuyt partnership... they are a handful and they seem to link up with one another quite well...

didn't really like babel on the right wing... he didn't look comfortable on the ball at all...

arbeloa seems to be doing better and the rest... nothing much to say... gerrard still the best player on the team...

overall the team seems to be playing more directly and put pressure on the opposition... 3.5/5...

what a ti,t you are

anybody is going to struggle in the air against carew hes like crouch on steds

and the first thing babel did on the wing was run nearly the length of the pitch with the ball play a nice 1 - 2 and fire a good shot inches away from the top corner,
to say he didnt look comfortable on the ball is an absolute joke

[The Manhattan Project]

Manhattan predicts Aston Villa 0 Liverpool 1

sorry manhattan, thought only women allow to change their mind.

That was Manhattan's half-time prediction.

[Sarge]

am i the only one that notices carra and agger struggle with opposition forwards that are strong in the air?


didn't really like babel on the right wing... he didn't look comfortable on the ball at all...

u talk sh!t and know nothing of football.

[matrix]

gerrard what more can we say...

  how many of you thought that free kick would end up in the back of the net...

  did you c stevie's  face before the free kick, it was like how can this team be drawing with us...     

[JoeTerp]

After watching the game and then rewatching the highlights, I really think we should go with a 4-3-3, with Kuyt wide right and Babel wide left. Most of Kuyts attack came from that sort of position anyway and he created a lot of good chances, we just couldn't finish (luckily they could   )  Gerrard belong in the centre, so does alonso, but I think Masherano does as well, and Riise belongs back at LB

[skatesy]

I thought Torres showed how dangerous he is going to be this year. Torres and Kuyt looked great together, and it looks like through this game and the preseason that the group of strikers that we have will all work well together. It seems to me that the likes of Benayoun and Mascherano are probably being saved for the match against Toulouse on Wednesday because Arbeloa on the left was not cutting it for me, although he did not play poorly.


And Gerrard...what more can I say - Gerrard.

[The_Rock]

After watching the game and then rewatching the highlights, I really think we should go with a 4-3-3, with Kuyt wide right and Babel wide left. Most of Kuyts attack came from that sort of position anyway and he created a lot of good chances, we just couldn't finish (luckily they could   )  Gerrard belong in the centre, so does alonso, but I think Masherano does as well, and Riise belongs back at LB

We already somewhat lack width by playing 4-4-2.....If we are to play 4-3-3 with kujt and babel (who are not good in crossing) as attacking wingers than our attacking play will become very narrow.

Think we should not screw around with kujt. He is very clinical in the opponents penalty box (just look at his penalties). He just concerntrate on scoring goals instead of running around everywhere in the pitch...... He just does not have the techique to play as a support striker or anywhere in midfield......

Kujt should play upfront.

[JoeTerp]

We were most effective when Kuyt got the ball wide right in an advanced position and then drove closer to goal and then passed it up to Babel or Gerrard when the defence collapsed on him and torres threatening on the far post. If we had Mascherano and Alonso both in midfield (with Gerrad) than finnan and riise could both have some freedom to bomb forward to provide the deeper crosses.

I don't know what Kuyt you have been watching but he is not someone who stands in the 6 and pokes em in.  He is going to want to drift back and get involved and work his off, so might as well plan for it.  Babel from wide left will provide a goal threat by drifting inside and firing his right footed shots at the far post, and by running at defenders drawing attention and laying it off for Alonso, Gerrard, or Riise to have an open shot from distance.

[Anfield rapper]

Its great to get a win on the first day but we were very lucky to get that freekick after watching MOTD its clearly not a free kick but we'll take it. Torres looked good and should deffinatley have scored but it eventually went in as an own goal so no bother. Well pleased but for a few minutes i thought we had thrown it away by not being able to finish them off. Hopefully Chelsea will lose and pick up some injuries today and then we can look forward to giving them a hiding next.

[cpc4eva]

http://www.sportingo.com/football/gerrard_rescue_yet_again_but/1001,4378


Gerrard to the rescue yet again - but why did Benitez ignore Benayoun's creativity?
Sun, Aug 12, 07 09:37
Tom Harness


Liverpool got off to a winning start against Aston Villa - but it was more about luck than skill. And if Rafa Benitez's team selection is a sign of things to come, then another disappointing season could be ahead for the Reds.

What amazed and then shocked me about Liverpool's team selection at Villa Park was that even though we had spent nearly £50 million in the summer on players - mainly attacking ones - the only new face on show was that of Fernando Torres.

The Spanish striker is the newcomer who cost the most, but he has shown in pre-season that not only does he need time to gel with his new teammates, he also needs to adjust to the pace and physical aspect of the Premier League.

Where was Yossi Benayoun? He looked like our biggest improvement during pre-season - a player who might finally solve some of our creativity problems. He also knows the Premier League, but instead of the Israeli's creativity, Benitez opted for basically the same team that failed so badly and finished so many points away from the top two last season.

I have never really questioned Rafa's managerial skills as he came with a great reputation and led us to success in the Champions League and FA Cup. But one has to wonder about his latest team selection. He has gone on all summer about how important a good start to the season is, and then he ignores most of his new signings in our first game.

And believe me Liverpool were lucky to win against Villa. But for Steven Gerrard once again saving us, it was two points lost. This is not how teams with title aspirations work, relying on one man to rescue them in every game.

I really hope that the team Benitez deployed against Martin O'Neill's men was some sort of tactical ploy because if he thinks that to solve our problems he can play last year's side and add in a striker with a good reputation, then we have bigger problems.

His defensive selection was good but I would have put John Arne Riise at left-back and used a more natural left winger. And as I said before, Benayoun should have started on the right. Up front, Rafa made the right decision - but if Liverpool are to truly take a step forward this year, we are going to have to employ a more attacking style of football. Benitez seems to have realised this, but at the first hurdle against Villa he seems to have backed away and gone for the same old system of defence first, which has caused so many disappointing seasons for the Anfield faithful.

If Liverpool really have aspirations of winning the league, then they need to start to play a lot braver football, and not let the other teams dictate their team selection or way of playing. Because you can be 100% sure that when Manchester United and Chelsea arrive at Villa Park, their team selection will have nothing to do with the opposition - they'll just pick the team and let Villa try to deal with it.

[Igor Zidane]

What the poster fails to recognise is that we picked up 3pts in our first game for the first time in 5yrs , that answers the team selection argument .

[tubby]

Hey guys i just finished ripping the goal. Im uploading it now. Check the goals section in the next 5mins...