Liverpool FC Forum

[Kukilon]

Cisse and Sissoko played really well.

I'm gonna cry if they let Cisse go. He has so much potential and you could even see that last season while he was recovering.

[Raoul]

How I saw it:

Jose Reina - 6

Partly at fault for their goal I felt, some dodgy distribution at times, apart from that a good game.

Gonzalez Josemi - 7

His performance was one of the highlights for me.  Good game.

Jamie Carragher - 7

Solid as always, in truth he wasn't asked many questions.

Sami Hyypia - 7

Solid.  This guy wins a lot of the ball in the air doesn't he?

John Arne Riise - 6

Indifferent, tentative first half.  At fault (I think) for playing them onside for the first goal.  Disappointed to see him subbed though as I was enjoying what I was seeing more and more as the game went on.

Steve Finnan - 5

Expected more from Finnan today.  Didn't play wide enough for my liking.

Xabi Alonso - 6

Surprised he didn't influence the game so much.  I guess playing against a packed defence limits the space he has to pass into.  Perhaps he is a victim of a poor first half by the whole team?

Dietmar Hamann - 7

Did everything you'd expect, nice to see him play the full match, as we were playing today because of him as much as anyone.

Boudewijn Zenden - 6

I thought he played well, especially as he filled more than one role tonight.  Solid effort.

Sanz Luis Garcia - 5

Credit for the goal, some nice touches, and cool hair, but he needs to value the ball a little more, and aim for the goal sometimes.

Fernando Morientes - 7

Plenty of classy deft touches, pleased to see him drop deeper and get involved towards the end of the game too - a good reminder of the value of an old head, despite what all you young fellas on here say 

Florent Sinama Pongolle - 7

Nice to see him back.  This young guy impresses me everytime I see him play recently.

Mohamed Sissoko - 8

Worked hard, tackled well, gave us the bite we were missing for large parts of the game.

Djibril Cisse - 8

My man of the match - I look forward to seeing him start many more games in red.  (Rafa, that was directed at you).

Hand of Djibril - 10

[mighty mo]

what about cisse and owen upfront

[Alonso14]

Morientes needs to play off a stirker, lone striker doesnt seem to suit the guy at all. The combenation of Cisse and Morientes would be a great partnership, espically if he gets a deadly right winger.

[drummerphil]

The reason Nando dropped back as you say,is because he was knackered and couldnt keep up....nothing more

[lakes10]

Morientes should go
cisse SHOULD STAY
we should buy Owen

[lakes10]

Morientes needs to play off a stirker, lone striker doesnt seem to suit the guy at all. The combenation of Cisse and Morientes would be a great partnership, espically if he gets a deadly right winger.

as i said the day he come to liverpool , Morientes is well past his best

[Raoul]

The reason Nando dropped back as you say,is because he was knackered and couldnt keep up....nothing more

Maybe, but his contribution at that point was worthwhile, and he had Cisse, Flo and Garcia all running around, so I don't think his age/speed is a problem.  I see a place for him in the team, though he might not get as much game time in my team as he does in Rafa's...

[Alonso14]

The reason Nando dropped back as you say,is because he was knackered and couldnt keep up....nothing more

Yeh, but he doesnt have the pace to stretch the defence, with both of them the defence wouldnt know what to do, Push foward but then be afraid to be broken by cisse's pace or stay deep and get exposed by morientes' heading abilty.

But these fu.ckin reporters need to give it a break seriously, talk about the game not about someone 100's of miles away.

[skipper]

Cisse has to stay.  That was a fine performance.  He showed that he's capable of scoring, especially in crucial times.

[7_Kewell]

i'd get rid of Mellor first....then bring in Owen and use 4 strikers in rotation.  Cisse, Crouch, Nando, Owen....that would be some stikeforce!

[H_K_LFC]

Cisse cnt leave after that performance.I reckon him and owen up-front will be deadly.Sissoko again is showin signs of class and again josemi another decent first half but then got fatigue and cudnt keep up.

well in carra to go and lift the cup....about time aswell... deserves it

[Alonso14]

i'd get rid of Mellor first....then bring in Owen and use 4 strikers in rotation.  Cisse, Crouch, Nando, Owen....that would be some stikeforce!

Yeh but rafa's seems reluctant to play two fowards, and having 4 would b pointless if he pursits to play with 1 stirker, but maybe his just waiting to bring a decent right winger and then maybe he'd adopt that formation.

And we still got Sinama.

Give Cisse n Morientes a Chance.

[Woollyback]

overall a mediocre performance, sissoko again stood out as a potential superstar for us, as each game goes by he goes even higher in my estimation. cisse obviously did well, provided the cutting edge and URGENCY which we've sadly lacked so far this season, good on the lad and i sincerely hope he stays

other points of note:

good 1st half from josemi, sadly found lacking in the 2nd

zenden was again, looked like he was just having a practice kick-about. not good enough.

morientes - i'm rapidly losing patience with him. had some very good touches but just looked as though he couldn't really be a*sed

garcia - reminded me very much of early last season, giving the ball away far too cheaply and going for a fancy flick when a simple pass would've done better

carra was his usual no nonsense self, alonso looked head and shoulders above anybody else on the pitch

So not a great performance at all against a fairly weak moscow side, we've got a lot of work to do if we're gonna do chelsea over and indeed a very strong betis side

[neilE]

what the fck is going on between Cisse & Rafa? Cisse is one of the best young strikers around. More importantly he loves our club - he's totally committed to us - he was close to tears in that interview facing questions about having to leave. I don't understand why he has to go to accommodate Owen. I want Owen back as much as anyone, but if Cisse gets forced out to make it happen then my pride in the club is gonna take a hit. Did he have a hissy fit about playing right wing to upset the boss? Can't see it myself.
As for the performance it was a lesson to all and sundry about where our faults lie. Yeah OK, it wasn't the most important game we'll play this season, but we still should be good enough to beat a 2nd rate defence based side. We MUST get cover in defence, or better yet someone ready to take over Hyypia's spot as 1st choice centre back. Josemi - I said at halftime an alien had turned him into a decent player. Well that alien decided to leave him to his own devices 2nd half That bloke cannot be part of any title challenge - including the reserve league league FFS! And we ABSOLUTELY MUST have someone who can play right midfield. And I don't mean Stelios, I want someone with LFC type pedigree
And most of all  - Rafa - DO NOT SELL CISSE if you want to win things this season. Yeah he was lucky to get the run for his 2 goals. I'm sure some of you out there believe like me that the best strikers score goals- any old how, it doesn't matter how they go in. HE came on 10 mins from the end, when we were looking at getting beat for the 2nd time in a week by a 2nd rate team. because of hiom, we won the game easy. The cross at the end that even lightweight Garcia couldn't miss - total class. A lot of strikers trying to make a point would have ignored assists, to get the glory for himself. Not Cisse! DO NOT SELL CISSE  DO NOT SELL CISSE DO NOT SELL CISSE  DO NOT SELL CISSE