Liverpool FC Forum

I didn't think Sunderland looked a poor side today and the stats certainly don't suggest that. On another day they could have easily have won that game. Thought Lucas did some really good work - bit harsh mate

Its comforting to know we can go to places like Sunderland and battle hard for the control of the game, and then let our undoubted quality upfront show.
I thought this was a good gritty display if not exceptional ,Lucas was superb in quelling Sunderland's Cattermole ,and Sturridge looks like he's slowly
returning to the form we saw earlier in the season. ....Henderson was still charging the ball down in the 90th minute ,the kids energy is infectious.
Toure was imperious at the back and his tackling faultless ,Skrtel and in particular Sakho won everything in the air and marshalled the very physical
Altidore with aplomb.

Suarez with two well taken poachers goals ,but his overall fitness still a concern ,looks like he's a had a few too many home cooked meals.Moses being
substituted for Sterling was a complete mind fuck for me ,I really struggle to see what Sterling brings to our game except maybe his tracking back
and helping Toure out ,maybe that's it   

Anyway 3 priceless points in a quest for a Champions League spot and 2nd in the League
YNWA
   

devaney » Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:35 pm wrote:I didn't think Sunderland looked a poor side today and the stats certainly don't suggest that. On another day they could have easily have won that game. Thought Lucas did some really good work - bit harsh mate

I've never rated Lucas so can be tough on him I admit that.

Now we are playing with 3 centre backs I am not sure we need someone to protect like you would
with 2 so its a chance to put someone in there who offers different things and especially at home.

Not a lot to choose from though as we still lack numbers.

Toure was brilliant again today and a smart bit of work on a free and I like this Sakho.

Boocity » Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:25 pm wrote:

metalhead » Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:01 pm wrote:Mignolet - 6 - nervous dealing with crosses, poor for conceding the goal but his distribution ala Reina for the 3rd goal was excellent and of course his save in the first half.
Kolo Toure - 8 - He is boss end off
Sakhou - 6 - nothing special, barely troubled, did ok.
Skrtel - 6 - should have done better closing his feet, passing was awkward but did okay in general
Enrique - 6 - I thought it wasn't his best games, forced too many errors, but generally did well going forward.
Gerrard - 7 - good game from the captain and his pass to Sturridge was world class.
Lucas - 6 - decent, intercepted well in the first half but did nothing else and offered nothing else
Henderson - 4 - Poor overall, his first touch was awful, his end product was awful and couldn't get any of his crosses in. No influence on the game whatsoever.
Moses - 4 - Same as Henderson, dallied with the ball way too much and ends up losing it, looked to me he was very selfish and showed no game intelligence.
Sturridge - 8 - 2 assists and a goal, what more do you need, fantastic game.
Suarez - 8 - HE IS BACK!

Subs
Sterling - 6 - did ok

All in all good win, Sunderland are just shyte, but 3 points in the bag and 2nd in the league!!!

Don't agree with your marks for Moses and Lucas MH, I would have given moses the 6 I thought he played well up until he came off. Lucas I would have given the 4 mainly for his 2nd half display, gives too many stupid free kicks away and just goes missing after half time

Didn't think Moses was all that good, lost the ball way too much for my liking and his link up was awful.


How's Abu Dhabi mate? I really miss that place, thinking of going for a visit to see some old faces

The most encouraging sign was how we reacted mentally after conceding the goal ,typically we would panic and start defending deep,this time we just started pressing and taking the game to Sunland side and by that saved our game.

Personally I thought Lucas and Gerrard were poor again and Hendo/Jose sloppy and ineffective.

metalhead » Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:01 pm wrote:Mignolet - 6 - nervous dealing with crosses, poor for conceding the goal but his distribution ala Reina for the 3rd goal was excellent and of course his save in the first half.
Kolo Toure - 8 - He is boss end off
Sakhou - 6 - nothing special, barely troubled, did ok.
Skrtel - 6 - should have done better closing his feet, passing was awkward but did okay in general
Enrique - 6 - I thought it wasn't his best games, forced too many errors, but generally did well going forward.
Gerrard - 7 - good game from the captain and his pass to Sturridge was world class.
Lucas - 6 - decent, intercepted well in the first half but did nothing else and offered nothing else
Henderson - 4 - Poor overall, his first touch was awful, his end product was awful and couldn't get any of his crosses in. No influence on the game whatsoever.
Moses - 4 - Same as Henderson, dallied with the ball way too much and ends up losing it, looked to me he was very selfish and showed no game intelligence.
Sturridge - 8 - 2 assists and a goal, what more do you need, fantastic game.
Suarez - 8 - HE IS BACK!

Subs
Sterling - 6 - did ok

All in all good win, Sunderland are just shyte, but 3 points in the bag and 2nd in the league!!!

Why not bring the ratings threads back? I used to enjoy reading those.

metalhead » Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:59 pm wrote:

Boocity » Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:25 pm wrote:

metalhead » Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:01 pm wrote:Mignolet - 6 - nervous dealing with crosses, poor for conceding the goal but his distribution ala Reina for the 3rd goal was excellent and of course his save in the first half.
Kolo Toure - 8 - He is boss end off
Sakhou - 6 - nothing special, barely troubled, did ok.
Skrtel - 6 - should have done better closing his feet, passing was awkward but did okay in general
Enrique - 6 - I thought it wasn't his best games, forced too many errors, but generally did well going forward.
Gerrard - 7 - good game from the captain and his pass to Sturridge was world class.
Lucas - 6 - decent, intercepted well in the first half but did nothing else and offered nothing else
Henderson - 4 - Poor overall, his first touch was awful, his end product was awful and couldn't get any of his crosses in. No influence on the game whatsoever.
Moses - 4 - Same as Henderson, dallied with the ball way too much and ends up losing it, looked to me he was very selfish and showed no game intelligence.
Sturridge - 8 - 2 assists and a goal, what more do you need, fantastic game.
Suarez - 8 - HE IS BACK!

Subs
Sterling - 6 - did ok

All in all good win, Sunderland are just shyte, but 3 points in the bag and 2nd in the league!!!

Don't agree with your marks for Moses and Lucas MH, I would have given moses the 6 I thought he played well up until he came off. Lucas I would have given the 4 mainly for his 2nd half display, gives too many stupid free kicks away and just goes missing after half time

Didn't think Moses was all that good, lost the ball way too much for my liking and his link up was awful.


How's Abu Dhabi mate? I really miss that place, thinking of going for a visit to see some old faces

Abu Dhabi's great, new places to go and things to do every year. Let me know if you're coming over, we could watch a match at Coopers

only me » Sun Sep 29, 2013 7:03 pm wrote:The most encouraging sign was how we reacted mentally after conceding the goal ,typically we would panic and start defending deep,this time we just started pressing and taking the game to Sunland side and by that saved our game.

Thought this as well. Showed a bit of character.

I thought that we'll panic like usual, especially since it was in the second half, where we haven't shown up this season. But we actually controlled the game for some time and even kept the ball at our feet for a change.

Sunderland were not that poor but are just triers without any real quality. It was a game we should be winning and we did exactly what had to so happy. Will face tougher sides but have Crystal Palace next at Anfield and I'm expecting us to rout them.

Then Newcastle, West Brom and Arsenal. Hopefully by the time we face Arsenal we will have collected plenty of points and face them with confidence and Suarez will be firing on all cylinders

no away fixture in the prem is a cakewalk and we often struggled to win up there even under rafa so it was good to get the 3 points.
okay it wasnt a vintage performance but maybe we`ll start to play better as the season progresses a la man united last season.
thought the back 3 played really well, sakho was tremendous in the air and he was up against a big arkward customer too.
the midfield just dont dominate games for me though. last season the center of our defence was our achilles heel and it`s increasingly looking like the center of our midfield is taking over their mantle.
suarez and sturridge are as good as anything in the division.

[quote="Boocity » Sun Sep 29, 2013 6:19 pm

Abu Dhabi's great, new places to go and things to do every year. Let me know if you're coming over, we could watch a match at Coopers [/quote]

What's cooper?

I've definitely missed out on a lot! did Salam street officially open?

For once (this season) I thought we looked better in the second half than we did in the first. Possibly because (despite conceding a goal) instead of looking to sit on our slim lead we continued to look to score more ?

woof woof ! » Sun Sep 29, 2013 7:15 pm wrote:For once (this season) I thought we looked better in the second half than we did in the first. Possibly because (despite conceding a goal) instead of looking to sit on our slim lead we continued to look to score more ?

i thought sunderland put that much effort into the first hour for once we found a team more knackered than us 

Parchpea had a good point a few posts back.  If we're going to play 3 central defenders then we don't need 2 sitting in front of the three.  It caused some congestion and limited options playing out from the back.  Especially on the left, Enrique, Moses and/or Saurez got in each other's way.

I enjoyed watching us play today. I agree with everyone that Toure is a rock and it was great to see a Carra type attitude to get back on the pitch once they'd popped his shoulder back in 

I personally like Moses. I think he offers a bit of flare and danger that we've been lacking on the left and he's not easily knocked off the ball. Sahko looked good for me too as did Enrique. Sturrfide and Suarez go without saying that they were great.

Have avoided commenting on Hendo for a long time, but he seems absolutely lost in this team and we struggle down the right. I don't understand why we pulled Moses and not him to be honest for Sterling. It would be good to see Sterling down the right and Moses down the left. The breakaway goal was an excellent example of the speed and mobility we have now (I know Hendo moved too and helped make the space) and I think we could use more of that. Sturridge looked like he found another gear today, mostly likely due to Suarez giving the defense something else to think about. If we have 4 players up top that can do that, we'll pull people apart more with our passing.

I'll stay off Lucas's back, but will finally say that unless the team clicks and the penny drops for Stevie how to fit into his new role, I think he's going to become a problem for the team (long pass or no long pass). At the moment he looks vulnerable with the players who should be backing him up. Hopefully that can be solved in January as I really don't like seeing him like this.

As for the opposition, yes they're bottom of the league and they've just lost their manager, but they're bottom of the league and they've just lost their manager  . This game could easily have been a banana skin, especially after the last 2 games, but we got fairly convincingly over the line with room to spare and we're back into winning ways which can only be a good thing. I would have taken 2nd in the table with 13 points from 6 games and Suarez back in the team and I think most of you would too. It's early days, but we're more than 1/2 way to the magical 10 game threshold where we'd judge just how good our chances are and so far, we're holding our own. End of the season is a long way away, but if we can keep ourselves in the upper echelons of the league by  the Jan window, we might be able to sneak a cheeky bit of quality into the team that was perhaps on the fence in the summer and push for a strong end.

Interesting times........