Liverpool FC Forum

by **aCe'** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 3:02 am

Number 9 wrote:
You are just saying what ya see mate,no bother!Like catch phrase in a way..aye!

Look at what you did to mister chips!

hey nice pic...
dont worry im sure one of the mods wont mind moving ur post to the "what you look like" thread...

by **Scottbot** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 3:04 am

Number 9 wrote:Now the same folk that were giving off about him being"not what we need" etc etc are practically licking his balls!

I should know coz i'm one of em! And very happy to be wrong too.

Top Quality player for me and a real difference maker for us this season. He won't win a game on his own like a Gerrard or a Torres and we don't depend on him like we do Carra or Reina but his presence in the side is VERY important. Remove him from the line-up and the current balance of the side goes completely and in some ways we would miss that just as much as having Stevie or Torres out of the line-up.

by **Number 9** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 3:35 am

Scottbot wrote:
Number 9 wrote:Now the same folk that were giving off about him being"not what we need" etc etc are practically licking his balls!

I should know coz i'm one of em! And very happy to be wrong too.

Top Quality player for me and a real difference maker for us this season. He won't win a game on his own like a Gerrard or a Torres and we don't depend on him like we do Carra or Reina but his presence in the side is VERY important. Remove him from the line-up and the current balance of the side goes completely and in some ways we would miss that just as much as having Stevie or Torres out of the line-up.

He's been great Scott!
I actually think Rafa is mad to play 5 there and its been fecking damn hard on Keane as well!
Robbie is a great player but he NEEDS someone up beside him.
Rafa has a very hard selection thought in the post,he has to play 4-4-2 IMO if we are ever gonna see the best of Keane.When Nando is fit should he..
1)Drop Keane
2)Drop masch or Alonso?
Cant drop Riera for anyone and there is NO WAY Kuyt should be dropped for Gerrard on the right!
What to do?

by **Owzat** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:31 am

Number 9 wrote:
Scottbot wrote:
Number 9 wrote:Now the same folk that were giving off about him being"not what we need" etc etc are practically licking his balls!

I should know coz i'm one of em! And very happy to be wrong too.

Top Quality player for me and a real difference maker for us this season. He won't win a game on his own like a Gerrard or a Torres and we don't depend on him like we do Carra or Reina but his presence in the side is VERY important. Remove him from the line-up and the current balance of the side goes completely and in some ways we would miss that just as much as having Stevie or Torres out of the line-up.

He's been great Scott!
I actually think Rafa is mad to play 5 there and its been fecking damn hard on Keane as well!
Robbie is a great player but he NEEDS someone up beside him.
Rafa has a very hard selection thought in the post,he has to play 4-4-2 IMO if we are ever gonna see the best of Keane.When Nando is fit should he..
1)Drop Keane
2)Drop masch or Alonso?
Cant drop Riera for anyone and there is NO WAY Kuyt should be dropped for Gerrard on the right!
What to do?

We should play 4-4-2 against opposition we should be beating at home, Torres up front on his own with Mascherano in a five man midfield when we're playing away or against the better Premiership sides. Keane has fluffed his lines too often and there's nowhere near enough evidence he and Torres work well as a pairing for me to subscribe to this automatically play 4-4-2 school of 'thought'

Is Riera the reason we're right up there? I'd say to a degree. He's given us a balance we sadly lacked and previous fillers of that position haven't. However I'd also point to Kuyt and Gerrard scoring seven goals apiece and that we seem to have that determination and resolve that has maybe been lacking before.

Did you know that last season was the least number of games we've lost in any Premiership season? Yet we also drew more games than in any other Premiership season. We have become difficult to beat, the difference this season is we're not scoring as many goals, BUT grinding out results.

Premiership Results 07/08

Lost : 4
Drew : 13

Won 1-0 : 3
Won 2-0 : 4
Won 3+ goals to nil : 6

Won (other) : 8

This season we've won just three league games out of 13 by 2-0 or 3-0, all SEVEN other wins have been by one goal margins - we won only eight league games by one goal margins all last season. The shift is more towards winning and less by large margins. We may get stiffed at the end of it for not scoring more goals, but last season we were 11 points adrift so extra goals counted for little as we finished fourth. At least if we keep winning we could force it to GD or at least come closer

by **Toffeehater** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:33 am

aCe' wrote:
rafa09 wrote:i want to start this post because i think this fella has had a profound effect on our form this season.He has given us so much width,but mainly he,s not afraid to take on the opponents and beat them.Also he can put in really good crosses. What a bargain for 8 million

he offers balance more than anything... his dribbling is great at times but i think he needs to get a little more involved higher up the pitch .. crossing from dangerous positions, cutting back from byline, slipping forwards through..etc etc

Think we'r yet to see the best of him ...
imo he'll shine in a 4-4-2 with Torres upfront running at defenders and pulling fullbacks deeper inside..
Seems to relish having space and time on the ball...seems up to taking players on and again.. with enough targets to pick out inside the opposition area i think he'll be chipping in with many assists from the left flank...

spot on mate

by **babu** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 1:47 pm

I like him. Does what you would expect from a good winger, most of the time.

by **roberto green** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 2:04 pm

He is the best winger we have had since Mark Walters........

Only kidding about the Mark Walters bit:D

by **Koptite** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 5:30 pm

Bargain....for the money we paid for him. with out setting the league alight the lad has done really well for us. Looks dangerous on the attack, maybe should get a few more goals but im sure that will come given time. Riera ohhhh Riera ohhhhh :laugh:

by **JoeTerp** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:29 pm

don't think we should get too carried away. I know that he looks good when you watch him and he is positive and lively, but the name of the game is scoring goals, and his role is to set them up, and we still haven't seen him cross the ball in and someone get on the end of it and score. That seems incredible to hear because it looks like he puts in dangerous crosses all the time, and I am sure its only a matter of time, but is it possible that our team is still not used to what he is going to do? It also doesn't help that there has been some shocking attempts at "finishing" on some of his better crosses that did find people. Also, just to be clear, I am happy with Riera and would not think about dropping him.

by **shakey** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 10:05 pm

I really like him as a player,he has given us a balance we didnt have before & adds a new dimention to our play.
He attacks the space & isnt afraid to get the ball & take players on!
All we need now is someone to do the same on the right! :cool:

by **Sabre** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 10:30 pm

JoeTerp wrote:don't think we should get too carried away. I know that he looks good when you watch him and he is positive and lively, but the name of the game is scoring goals, and his role is to set them up, and we still haven't seen him cross the ball in and someone get on the end of it and score. That seems incredible to hear because it looks like he puts in dangerous crosses all the time, and I am sure its only a matter of time, but is it possible that our team is still not used to what he is going to do? It also doesn't help that there has been some shocking attempts at "finishing" on some of his better crosses that did find people. Also, just to be clear, I am happy with Riera and would not think about dropping him.

Yeh, you shared this concern earlier and is a good example of how stats do not describe always a good game.

The important thing is that he breaks the defence and reaches there where a good cross can be delivered. For then, Kuyt is in the second post, Keane in the first, and Aurelio behind Riera. Then the cross is deflected and Aurelio receives the ball and makes the good cross, and Kuyt scores.

The final good cross was Aurelio's and the goal was Kuyt's but the situation was caused by Riera's play.

Also, with his shielding, he allows Aurelio to go upper more often. Then he breaks inside and is able to give deep passes like the one that was finnished by Keane with a tight angle. Another day that could be a goal. He also started with good criteria two counters. Not a great game stats wise, but good game nonetheless.

by **oakton** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:32 am

He has been fantastic, but he goes too quiet in the 2nd half. Always plays well in the 1st half, but fades away after half time.

by **dame** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:05 am

Riera definitely adds the width of our play. He may not directly cause a lot of goals, but he constantly caused panic and chaos on the left side, which lead to many foul, error or freekicks. Together with Babel, our left side attacking force looks promising. Riera kinds of disappear in the 2nd half very often though. Overall, very good and effective players.

by **JoeTerp** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:59 pm

Sabre wrote:
JoeTerp wrote:don't think we should get too carried away. I know that he looks good when you watch him and he is positive and lively, but the name of the game is scoring goals, and his role is to set them up, and we still haven't seen him cross the ball in and someone get on the end of it and score. That seems incredible to hear because it looks like he puts in dangerous crosses all the time, and I am sure its only a matter of time, but is it possible that our team is still not used to what he is going to do? It also doesn't help that there has been some shocking attempts at "finishing" on some of his better crosses that did find people. Also, just to be clear, I am happy with Riera and would not think about dropping him.

Yeh, you shared this concern earlier and is a good example of how stats do not describe always a good game.

The important thing is that he breaks the defence and reaches there where a good cross can be delivered. For then, Kuyt is in the second post, Keane in the first, and Aurelio behind Riera. Then the cross is deflected and Aurelio receives the ball and makes the good cross, and Kuyt scores.

The final good cross was Aurelio's and the goal was Kuyt's but the situation was caused by Riera's play.

Also, with his shielding, he allows Aurelio to go upper more often. Then he breaks inside and is able to give deep passes like the one that was finnished by Keane with a tight angle. Another day that could be a goal. He also started with good criteria two counters. Not a great game stats wise, but good game nonetheless.

although you can say he did a fair amount in helping the situation come about, the quality of Aurelio's cross and the quality of Kuyt's header were both high and both had nothing to do with Riera other than the fact that he allowed the situation to happen. Most of the skill involved in the goal was created in the last bit (because of how much still could have gone wrong and ended up going right)

And that is perfect for what we ask of Riera, we don't say you need to be the guy who puts in on torres head all game long because he needs a million chances to get a goal. Its always keep the left side open as an option to generally open up the play and be your positive attacking self and the entire team will benefit even if you don't ask you to be the provider of all the quality.

And like Sabre said, stats can be misleading, but they are important nonetheless, because all this "good play" doesn't mean anything if it doesn't get counted in the only way that matters in football, and for that I hope that the direct assists start to come for him, because if not, and god forbid we go on a goal scoring drought, then you start to ask where are our goals going to come from, who is going to create them, and who is going to finnish, and when they go round the room and ask Riera well, what are you going to do for the team, just saying "I will be a generally good option on the left" wont be good enough to cut it.

by **JoeTerp** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:00 pm

dame wrote:Riera definitely adds the width of our play. He may not directly cause a lot of goals, but he constantly caused panic and chaos on the left side, which lead to many foul, error or freekicks. Together with Babel, our left side attacking force looks promising. Riera kinds of disappear in the 2nd half very often though. Overall, very good and effective players.

that because he disappears to the subs bench

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