Liverpool FC Forum

[JoeTerp]

I think its a good sign that we can win 3-0 away even when Torres has a very off day on the scoring front.  Everyone had to know he was going to have a game or two like that this year where no matter how easy the chances it just wasn't happening for him, and we got away with one in that sense

[Owzat]

momo looked out of his depth and its surely time to move the guy on

If ever we could have got £10m for Sissoko we should have sold him, fortunately we played well enough and Newcastle badly enough that it only took 10 men to beat them comfortably. Newcastle were poor, their manager is a joke.

torres showed just how good he is despite his missed chances,

They weren't glaring misses, one shot hit Given's upper arm/shoulder, another hit the post and I think the others were fractionally wide. Normally Crouch. Voronin or Kuyt miss by more in ONE shot than the combined margin of all Torres' shots. Most fans would call Torres 'unlucky'

i never said they were glaring misses mate, i think torres is a class act, but they were chances and they were missed, on another day they would have gone in

I wasn't contradicting you, simply adding something to/expanding on your initial comment. Some think Torres was wasteful, he was very very accurate on his shots just not quite accurate enough

[DAV]

That was the best I have seen us play in ages. Well done lads well done RB.

[tubby]

FYI Here are the highlights.

MOTD Newcaslte v Liverpool
http://sharebee.com/03a884ba
credit to fred54

They are also in the goals section.

[mungi]

Lucas was great. dropped deep to get the ball and sprayed his passes well. didint tend to overpass something xabi tends to do. needs to get more in the tackle as sometimes he went in  but never got the ball. riise was shocking when he came on and is starting to lose confidence rapidly.

[dawson99]

its just good to see the players smiling. i know its not much, but it shows a togetherness

[ConnO'var]

I'll go against the grain here. I watched the match and though there was much to be happy about, keep in mind that this is a severely depleted Newcastle side who just cannot compete. We played well but lets not get over-enthusiastic.

The barcodes were pi$$ poor. It still took a free kick setplay to open the flood gates though.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that we won...... but there's really nothing of concrete evidence to indicate that the light at the end of this particular tunnel is still very far away.

Momo is playing poorly.... but Kuyt did well yesterday...... whether he's improving or simply down to a poorly managed and staffed Newcastle side is open to debate.

[account deleted by request]

I think you are being a little harsh with your opening paragraph Bob, I thought we competed well, won the right to play our football and then took over the game. Smith, Butt and later Barton are no "pussies" when it comes to putting their foot in, and we more than matched them.

I'm maybe being a little harsh, mate, but I really didn't like the way we lined up today and I thought we were all over the shop in the first 20 minutes.  Thankfully, Newcastle were even more disjointed than us and their formation did them no favours either.  Basically, it looked to me like we were playing a loose 4-3-3, with Kewell and Kuyt supporting Torres, while Gerrard, Lucas and Momo had more or less fluid roles in beyond.  What that seemed to produce, besides a fair amount of slack passing at first, was far too much of Momo on the ball in the final third...with the inevitable results.  What it also did was expose our right flank horribly, as Stevie was playing through the centre-left a fair bit and Momo was left to tidy up out wide.  If Newcastle had had the wherewithall to exploit our lack of balance, we might have had a more challenging afternoon.

As it was, however, we got the goals that demoralized the Geordies and ended the contest.  And, to be fair, Sissoko grew into the game and stopped being the kind of liability that might have cost us dearly against a better organized and spirited side.  Basically, what I'm saying is that I think just about any team and formation today would have seen off that Newcastle side but that I don't want to see any Big Mick style 'let's stick with it cos it worked' ( ) notions against Porto.

I don't think you need worry about Rafa sticking to the same team Bob  .

I think you will find Mascherano and Crouch will be back for Porto, maybe even Agger. Certainly I wasn't surprised when he brought off Kewell and Gerrard, saving a little bit for Porto, Kuyt on the other hand........?

[mkingdom]

Having not won back toback prem games this season yet, lets not get carried away with this result...

but...

From yesterday it is obvious that Torres is the real deal.

On a different day, we could have taken Everton's headlines, as we should have scored 8 or 9 easily.

Gerrard in that formation and mood is unplayable, and I hope Rafa sees that.

Kewell looked good....but how many false dawns with this chap....fingers crossed.

Lucas looked quality, as did Babel.

In a way I'm glad Torres missed all those chances as, if we had won by 7 or 8 everyone would be getting delerious and saying we'll win the league.

Six runs on the bounce and then we can say we might.

Enjoyed the game, and we just need to be consistent!

[66-1112520797]

Great result and a good performance, we were really in cruise control up at St.James' park. We never looked in trouble and apart from a few misses we could of racked up a cricket score. Efon Akkou ? Made me laugh when he said Torres' confidence has gone after missing his chances, Torres looked threatening all day and I couldnt see this supposed confidence drop in his game.

I thought we controlled the first half and did well enough, Momo had a Momo, misplaced passes etc. I critisesd him of late, but I am actually feeling sorry for him. Especially the first half hardly anything went right for him, he was playing with teamates who had much more confidence, it would be nice to see them helping him along a bit more, they probably do. Talking to him on the pitch and telling him to keep going etc.
Second half he was better, I bet if he had a decent run of games under his belt without being erh .. rotated we'd see a better Momo.
Kuyt partnered Torres well, and he looks alot better when playing alongside someone like Torres, than Voronin.   What about his goal though, it hit HIM and went in, the kind of fortunate goal I suppose a striker needs when out of form, goal wise.

Gerrard and Lucas played really well, Lucas looks a very accomplished young player it was a good opportunity for him and one he didnt let himself down on. Arbeloa another player I like, I think he had and excellent game and for me should be our left back regular. Kewell looked bright, he needs another 8-9 games though to really see him nearer to his best, in which time he'll probably get injured.
Nice finnish from Babel too.

That was good, and fairplay to the fans they were great up there in Geordie land. I think the Redmen have helped Rafa out a bit today. Really the results have to go his way if there is any truth into these rumours about him being sacked. That would be a ludicrous move by the Yanks if they did do that just yet.

  SamAlladyce has bitten off more than his fat head can chew, he's way out of his league there and Newcastle are still a dream club, there is no hope for them, they're $hit.

[JC_81]

I thought that was an excellent performance yesterday, with very little to criticise.  Perhaps the only downside (if you can call it that) is that we didn't put the 7 or 8 goals past Newcastle that their performance deserved.

Torres and Gerrard were fantastic and imo they should both start every game when fit.  Gerrard had licence to roam all over the midfield and he's unstoppable in that role when he's in form.  Torres took the mick out of their back line every time the ball went near him.  The fact he didn't score was unlucky and in fact doesn't really matter because his presence alone was enough to shatter the confidence of the Newcastle defence.

Lucas had a great game.  Good passer and a better tackler than I thought he could be.  Reminds me of Alonso the way he plays, kind of a deep lying playmaker, rather than a holding player or box-to-box midfielder.  Sissoko wasn't great, but as others have mentioned, he has no confidence at the moment.

The formation was strange, kind of like a 4-4-2, but with only one wide player in Kewell.  The other three midfielders were all central.  Kuyt didn't cover the right flank as other have suggested, he was central with Torres.  Kewell hugged the left flank, then switched to the right.  Whatever side Kewell was on there was a massive gap on the opposite side of the pitch as everyone else played through the middle.  We got away with it because Newcastle started with a back 3 with no fullbacks exploiting the space.  When they figured this out and changed it, it was too late as we already had them pegged back and had them under pressure.

[Avi Cohen]

"Torres is the business.  Sure, he missed a hatful of chances but he created those chances to begin with"

Just wondering what the reaction would be if Kuyt missed five goal-scoring opportunities.

[JC_81]

"Torres is the business.  Sure, he missed a hatful of chances but he created those chances to begin with"

Just wondering what the reaction would be if Kuyt missed five goal-scoring opportunities.

That's a daft statement mate.

For a start I can't remember a game where Kuyt's EVER managed to get himself into 5 goalscoring chances in a game, can you?  Let alone create the chances for himself like Torres does on a weekly basis.

Kuyt hasn't scored a goal with either foot all season from open play.  2 pens, one point blank header and yesterday's off the knee are his contribution to our goalscoring tally this season.  He seems a really decent guy and I want it to happen for him at Liverpool, but let's face it, so far it hasn't.  Torres on the other hand is the best striker we've had since Owen and Fowler in their prime.

[Avi Cohen]

It's not daft. Kuyt had a hatfull of chances against Blackburn and was crucified on this forum. Torres has a hatfull and he's a genius.

Don't get me wrong - Torres is a better striker than Kuyt and is a class act. Just think it's unfair the abuse poor old Dirk is getting is all.

[Bad Bob]

It's not daft. Kuyt had a hatfull of chances against Blackburn and was crucified on this forum. Torres has a hatfull and he's a genius.

Don't get me wrong - Torres is a better striker than Kuyt and is a class act. Just think it's unfair the abuse poor old Dirk is getting is all.

It's got a lot to do with the fact that Kuyt's underwhelmed for the better part of a year whereas Torres has scored at least three absolutely vital goals out of nothing already this season.  In short, Torres is looking like the kind of match winner that all title-challenging teams need while Kuyt looks more and more like a mid-table player every game.