Liverpool FC Forum

[OneHotRed]

Watched footy first and to be honest (I dont know if it was the editing, we didnt play TOO badly, although a few key players didnt look interested.  Torres again looked dangerous only didnt convert this time, I still thought he had a good match.

As for Benayoun, I've been a semi fan of his since the cup final where he kicked the out of us single handed (well kinda), defo an option for me now.

Not great performance but still getting the victory (although I believe wigan lost it themselves today) is great, roll on next match please!!!

[LittleHobo]

im suprised torres is being slammed for missing chances?

the acrobatic kick was hardley easy

the one when he burst through, his own pace created that....none of our other strikers would have got in that position

[maguskwt]

again it confuses me why kuyt continues to get selected, his first touch is abysmal and his finishing even worse.

Its getting pretty hard just to see him play..... He really looks woeful now. I thought last season he was average...But this season he looks worse...

1)He has lost even more pace
2)Looks a little chubby
3)His 1st touch is worse than cisse


Its time to play crouch more often....I know crouch ain't the best...but he does score goals... (he has done it in champions league, world cup...u name it).

Except Crouch has looked abysmal whenever he's come on the pitch this season bar the game against Tolouse at Anfield. [He missed sitters left and right in that game as well though].

Well...at least crouch is getting in the right positions to miss them...

But Kuyt doesn't even look like getting any chances to score...so how is he gonna score goals ?

I don't mind strikers missing chances...because you know they will put one of those chances away.

very harsh ppl...

[Sabre]

I've seen some minutes of the first half, and the whole second half. The guy who uploaded the match chopped the first half for some reason.

I expected to watch a worse game than this, as the comments were quite negative.

IMHO we had on front a team that if they play like that always they won't drop points often. Yesterday they could have perfectly draw the game, and they could have scored in an off side that was given and it wasn't, IMO.

But I say Liverpool is the fair winner. Wigan made a valiant game with high intensity, but our squad was more able to maintain the rythm all the game. Before the goal, we were really playing well and sieged their goal. We were playing better.

I liked Mascherano and Gerrard, and I liked both of the CBs, Hyppia has shown as that we were wrong considering buying a CB for these games.

Riise was poor when he was used LB in the second half. It's true that Benayoun roamed a lot and didn't help that much to have the wing closed but he broke the off side on more than one occasion and could have done a lil bit better. Pennant's and Arbeloa's games were average on both cases.

I didn't understand well to play Voronin when we were 0-1. It's true Kuyt's work was tremendous but I would have preffered to have Sissoko at that moment of the game, as Wigan was moving well the ball and we should have attacked the source of their attack.

So I liked most  Reina, Mascherano, Gerrard, Carra and Hyypia and of course Benayoun. I liked that the team as a whole was able to bring 3 points against a serious opposition. Torres was lively and useful, but he didn't do his best match. Aurelio needs matches and this minutes are handy, he'll be important this season.

Benayoun's goal was class. He made an impressive oriented control, turned quickly as he know where his control was aimed, faked to shoot with his right foot but instead cut the ball and prepare it for his left foot and finnished superbly. After the goal he worked a lot too. Great signing.

[account deleted by request]

Only really saw the highlights on M.O.T.D. as streaming was very poor yesterday, but from the little I saw Kumas(sp) was outstanding for Wigan and really showed why we were rumoured to be interested in him a while back. I think people are being a bit harsh on Torres, again from the little I saw he did little wrong, Kirkland made a great save and while the sissors kick maybe wasn't the best option he could have taken, if it had gone in we would have been over the moon with him. 

I think Elano off Man City showed us what we are missing at the moment, if anyone saw that game.

[LittleHobo]

Only really saw the highlights on M.O.T.D. as streaming was very poor yesterday, but from the little I saw Kumas(sp) was outstanding for Wigan and really showed why we were rumoured to be interested in him a while back. I think people are being a bit harsh on Torres, again from the little I saw he did little wrong, Kirkland made a great save and while the sissors kick maybe wasn't the best option he could have taken, if it had gone in we would have been over the moon with him. 

I think Elano off Man City showed us what we are missing at the moment, if anyone saw that game.

yeah defo

elano is that 2nd striker type link man who can thread a pass through and win games with his flair

kuyt tries to do this but he hasnt enough flair in my opinion

[Mikz]

Agree totally Saint...Torres will always be Torres, and by the end of this season we can look back in amazement.

Elano yesterday...bloody hell where did they get him? Combined with that Petrov dude, they ripped Newcastle apart, a masterstroke that by ol Sven.

[Bad Bob]

Okay, I've just seen the second half and found it to be a fairly entertaining spell of football, with some open play at either end.  Yossi's turn for the goal was wonderful and what a crucial goal it was too.  I also think that Stevie had a better game than many gave him credit for.  He and Torres nearly combined several times and his pace and power were there in abundance.  It's a shame Torres didn't quite have his shooting boots on or we could have cruised home but them's the breaks.  Kuyt, I thought, should a nicer touch around the box than I'm used to for him and he was unfortunate not to score from the Gerrard pull-back.  He wasn't spectacular, mind, but he didn't stink the place out either.

Where we were worrying, for me, was in the fullback positions.  I thought Aurelio was okay but Riise was definitely poor at LB after the Brazilian went off--how many times did he let a cross get put in from a standing position?  On the other side, Arbeloa had a few naive moments against Koumas, who managed to glide past him and get some dangerous crosses in.  Finnan's still first choice RB for me, with Arbeloa and Aurelio battling it out for LB at the moment.

[maguskwt]

I think people are being a bit harsh on Torres, again from the little I saw he did little wrong, Kirkland made a great save and while the sissors kick maybe wasn't the best option he could have taken, if it had gone in we would have been over the moon with him. 

well torres wasn't really anonymous... but it was just not his day to score... for me I don't really mind his half chance misses and the scissor kick miss... but I minded his 1 on 1 misses...

the first was a toe poke that went straight to kirkland... IMO he could have done a bit better... the second was even worse... he was through with plenty of time and space and somehow he didn't control the ball well and fluffed it in the end... didn't even manage to put an attempt on goal... just too casual there IMO...

having said that he's still our best striker so I would still play him week in week out...

[66-1112520797]

I've only been able to catch the second half, and didnt see the first.

From what I saw which was only half I cannot understand the negativity about us really. In saying that though we could of paid the price for not putting Wigan out of sight. If I was a Wigan fan I'd be fuming, as for me their second half goal was legitemate.

Again going forward we stuggled, I said in another thread I think its down to the fact mostly we're playing to narrow. Our wide men, Pennant and Aurelio never ran the flanks and stretched their defence accross the pitch. Aurelio did have a few decent crosses into the box, but never got to the byline, and IMHO thats not his game, I think both him and Riise dont offer us the real threat we need down the left. Their more defenders IMO, but it was nice to see Aurelio play, but like Riise he tends to cross in from a deeper angel rather than getting round the back. Pennant lately has come inside alot more and at times things looked congested, he needs to mix it up a bit as he has the ability and natural game to hug the touchline and stay wide.

It got to narrow and like Birminghan Wigan congested the middle of the park, which let it hard for us to play through and open up spaces for Kuyt or Torres. Which helped Titus Bramble look like a half decent defender.

Yossi's goal was nice, good technique and a clever little flick to turn onto which gave him that bit more space on the turn. He then turned Bramble again and slotted nicely sending Kirkland the wrong way.

For me the defence looked shaky at times, but then again it was a defence made up of Arbeloa, Carra, Hyypia and Aurelio. Hardly our recognised defence, I'd like Finnan to slot back in at RB and leave Arbeloa to fight it out with either Aurelio or Riise for LB. On current form though I'd have to go with Arbeloa as he has really impressed me. Hyypia got turned once or twice, and is ever so slow but we knew that anyway, against the likes of Tottenham, ManU and Everton I can see him raising his game, although at times he may of looked slightly off the pace.

A good victory a decent perormance just happy with three points TBH.

[112-1077774096]

If I was a Wigan fan I'd be fuming, as for me their second half goal was legitemate.

well bent was onside but to be fair reina stopped and made no attempt to save it

[66-1112520797]

If I was a Wigan fan I'd be fuming, as for me their second half goal was legitemate.

well bent was onside but to be fair reina stopped and made no attempt to save it

Yes 

[woof woof !]

Watched footy first and to be honest (I dont know if it was the editing, we didnt play TOO badly, although a few key players didnt look interested.  Torres again looked dangerous only didnt convert this time, I still thought he had a good match.

As for Benayoun, I've been a semi fan of his since the cup final where he kicked the out of us single handed (well kinda), defo an option for me now.

Not great performance but still getting the victory (although I believe wigan lost it themselves today) is great, roll on next match please!!!

Haven't posted in this thread but now having watched three reruns of the game I have to agree with OneHotRed
Not a great performance but by no means as dire as some have described. We may not have turned on the style or took all our chances but we did come away with all the points. Job done, hopefully the next game sees a more convincing display and an even better result.

[Sabre]

I want to make a post match comment about a comment I read during the match.

Jeff Capes

if rafa wants all his strikers to get games he should look at manus treble season.

the 2 main strikers was andy cole and dwight yorke.

they started all the important games, but the other two strikers always got atleast 30 minutes at the end.

with rafa he will sometimes only give people like crouch 10 minutes, or sometimes none.

or in bellamys case not even in the squad.

what sort of clown logic does this man have.

he says he wants torres fresh later in the season, obviously to run riot against tired defences.

my logic would be to play torres now and get as far ahead in the league now the weather is not too cold.

we don't know how well torres body will react to the cold and being kicked at the same time, so its best to get the most out of him while you can, and then use these other great strikers that benitez seem to think we have.

in his mind having torres on the bench makes him feels like he is in charge of of a squad of superstars bigger than the other top 4 sides .

but the truth is they genuinely can leave a rooney on the bench we cant.

1.- Since I was born, I've never thought Liverpool are a one-man team. Nowadays, Liverpool ARE NOT a one-man team, and Benayoun's appearance and goal proves that.

2.- Your logic is based on stereotypes. Mind you, Sabre has been caught without umbrella today in the "Sunny Spain" and was well wet, as there were unexpected rain showers. There IS winter in the "sunny Spain". There ARE games suspended due to snow and flooded pitches. There are games with negative celsius temperatures.

3.- We are not Manchester United. Liverpool has won it 5 times.


So your concerns and logic are wrong. Because as much as I like country mates doing well in a foreign league, this team won't be a oneplayer-team never, and for the description you make about cold, you must think Spain is like the Caribe.

[stmichael]

That was a superb bit of skill and goal from Yossi, maybe we should try him "Between the Lines" behind Torres for a few games.