Liverpool FC Forum

[The_Rock]

I don't think we played that well today, lost the ball far too many times and i don't think, whether we were playing bolton or birmingham we should have gotten away with that at Anfield. Long ball was an annoying tactic used mainly when crouch is around, who didn't have a great game along with most of the team, but i gotta say Reina and carragher protected us well and really kept us from being embarrassed at times...

Thats why i still don't like the signing of crouch. Yeah, he helped us out in some games....

But our attacking play has worsen as a whole since he's been here.

Under GH we hit long ball to owen. Now under rafa we still hit long ball to crouch. Crouch ain't no owen  .

Hope rafa brings in owen or/and david villa in the summer.

As far as i am concern, among the strikers we have, only fowler deserves to be retained.

[red_guy]

On this forum, everytime we play badly and Cisse plays, everyone says that Cisse was to blame.
Personally I think we played better with Cisse than Garcia. It made no difference having Garcia on instead of Cisse.

I'll be honest Crouch was as usual, and Cisse should play instead of him.

I would prefer garcia over cisse. we played well in the 2nd half with garcia as a replacement for cisse. Cisse can't  even keep the ball to himself, losing possesion all the time, bad first touch....and Crouch is definitely waaaay better than cisse!!

[oakton]

jesus! how can you guys say that goal was set up by Crouch?  He couldn't control the ball, he thumbles and the ball bounced off his foot and went to Fowler which resulted a goal, just becuase he was the last person to touch the ball it doesnt mean he had set it up.   if Crouch had controlled the ball he would have a shot himself, he doesn't even know Fowler was there cos his awarness is !

[LiverpoolMadman]

Thats why i still don't like the signing of crouch. Yeah, he helped us out in some games....But our attacking play has worsen as a whole since he's been here. Under GH we hit long ball to owen. Now under rafa we still hit long ball to crouch. Crouch ain't no owen  .

I totally agrees with you. The only thing that he knows is to carry Rafa "balls" or "suck up".

[LiverpoolMadman]

I would prefer garcia over cisse. we played well in the 2nd half with garcia as a replacement for cisse. Cisse can't  even keep the ball to himself, losing possesion all the time, bad first touch.

Cisse have a bad game but I will blame Rafa. He (Rafa) knows Cisse is a Striker but damn why he still plays him in RM or worst still played him on the LM.

As for Garcia, the first ten minute he made a impact but after that he goes "AWOL".

[red_guy]

It doesnt matter whether cisse has to play as a striker or RW, both positions need someone with a good first touch,  someone who  can control the ball. If you put him as a striker , but still with a very bad first touch, can you expect him to beat the defence and score on a regular basis? 1 goal permatch at least...?
Fine, if everyone agrees that we should offload mori because he can't score, ok then. But we have to offload cisse too because he can't do without a good touch and failing to keep possession. Personally, i just dont care in what position he should play or not, but the idea of having a 14m 'highly rated' striker who lacks 'footballing basics' as a liverpool player is very frustrating. I just dont think he's up to liverpool standard.

[TheoRacle]

It doesnt matter whether cisse has to play as a striker or RW, both positions need someone with a good first touch,  someone who  can control the ball. If you put him as a striker , but still with a very bad first touch, can you expect him to beat the defence and score on a regular basis? 1 goal permatch at least...?
Fine, if everyone agrees that we should offload mori because he can't score, ok then. But we have to offload cisse too because he can't do without a good touch and failing to keep possession. Personally, i just dont care in what position he should play or not, but the idea of having a 14m 'highly rated' striker who lacks 'footballing basics' as a liverpool player is very frustrating. I just dont think he's up to liverpool standard.

Sometimes I think a few of us have unrealistic expectations 

1 goal per game? Henry 'only' has 29 goals from 40 games this season - Definately not good enough for Liverpool! We need a striker who scores in every game!

I'm sure this belongs in one of the many "Cisse's Cr.ap", "What Striker will we have next season" or "Crouch needs heading practice" threads anyway....

Aw.. shucks... couldn't help myself...

Striker  mins played  mins between goals

Owen..........1152...............96.00
Fowler.........692..............98.86
Henry..........3368..............116.14
Crespo.........2112..............132.00
Van Nistelroy..3236............140.70
Cisse...........2581............151.82
Keane..........2274..............162.43
D.Bent.........3342..............167.10
Yakubu........3260..............171.58
Drogba.........2599..............173.27
Mido............2265..............188.75
Ashton.........3369..............210.56
Defoe..........1971...............246.38
Crouch........3155............262.92
Morientes....2596............288.44

Stats are taken from ESPN Soccernet and include all UEFA and International games.  What they don't show is how much time each player has played in which position ie Cisse on RW as opposed to CF.

So, yes we all think our strikers could do better but none of them are 'cr@p' otherwise they wouldn't be playing for us.

PS - I scored two yesterday, in my second game of the season.  That's an average of 1 per game - anyone got Rafa's number? 

[Woollyback]

to expect a striker to have a ratio of a goal per game is ridiculous. not even rushie/shearer/lineker etc got anywhere near that. 1 in 2 is a very good ratio for a striker

[LiverpoolMadman]

1 goal permatch at least...?

Even if Cisse can score 1 match per 1 goal or 1 match per 100 Goals, I think Rafa have already decided to get "rid" of him.

The Question is " Why did Rafa sell him in the beginning of the season, just like Biscan and the others? "

[dawson99]

how good was sami yesterday 

[Ciggy]

Cisse was awful yesterday, why pull it off in some games and in others not?
He spat his dummy out again by being played outwide, he was uneffective for the whole 45 minutes he didnt have a clue.
We play as a team and we could'nt afford to risk Sissoko yesterday incase he got a two game ban. So this is where the players are supposed to fit in as a team and play when a position needs filling.
Cisse done himself no favours atall yesterday and Ive never known Rafa to sub a player after 45 minutes without injury.
He let the team down yesterday and himself as far as Im concerned.

[SouthCoastShankly]

jesus! how can you guys say that goal was set up by Crouch?  He couldn't control the ball, he thumbles and the ball bounced off his foot and went to Fowler which resulted a goal, just becuase he was the last person to touch the ball it doesnt mean he had set it up.

Are you being serious?

If that wasn't an assist, i'd like to know you definition of what is!

No one can deny that crouch has played well this season, i was a critic of his from the start but slowly he won me over. He is arguably the most consistent striker we have. Cisse has scored the most but you never know whether he's going to turn up. Crouch will never be prolific but he makes more of an impact to the team that any other striker we have.

P!sses me off when uninformed fans make stupid comments just to be controversial and get some attention. Real fans ackowledge the players that make this team what it is, and in my opinion no one can deny what Crouch has given us this season.

if Crouch had controlled the ball he would have a shot himself

This one sentance proves how dim you really are. Answer me this, if you actually watched the game, how does a player shoot when he receives the ball from a header mid-air with two defender directly marking him?

One word = idiot

[bng89]

Well TheoRacle, i scored 2 goals and we have played only 2 games aswell, but mine where rockets from halfway, just like Stevie G. No lobs, chips, just a rocket and the other was from halfway but a chip

[RichardLFC1]

Crouch has played well this season and i will hold my hands up and say i wasnt a believer.But for me i see no fault in cisses play when he plays upfront

[Ciggy]

Crouch has played well this season and i will hold my hands up and say i wasnt a believer.But for me i see no fault in cisses play when he plays upfront

Thats the problem with Cisse he can only be utilised as a CF depending on the opponents, Boltons back four are never going to play high up the pitch they are yard dogs so Cisse cannot use his pace, to bomb ahead of them.
Infact theres not many teams that come to Anfield where the two CH go further than the box, Cisse is not versatile enough he has pace but he has no tactical skills what so ever and will be completly closed down and will lose the ball, maybe a lot is  physiological due to his injury that he wont go in for a tackle.
I feel yesterday was the final nail in his coffin and Rafa parading him in the shop window, well after yesterday we will be lucky to get 10 bob for him.
He is his own worst enemy, he got a BIG chance yesterday and failed miserabley.