Liverpool FC Forum

by **Toffeehater** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:53 pm

3-0 , rooney , brilliant ball by johnson again . What a game johnson is having

by **tubby** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:59 pm

Against a team ranked lower than Bangladesh.

I suppose you can only play who they put in front of you. Good assists though.

by **Toffeehater** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:02 pm

Still i think he has been fantastic so far . His crossing has been brilliant , something that has been lacking from arbeloa this season

by **Greavesie** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:10 pm

I dont think we can give an honest assessment of anyone tonight, its only Andorra

by **Toffeehater** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:24 pm

Still i think it does look like the glen johnson we've seen over the course of the season . Just popped over on the manu forum , they're acting like rooney has scored against brazil , :censored:

over him , bunch of sad :censored:

by **tubby** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:27 pm

1-1 in the Charity Sheild.

by **tubby** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:32 pm

Ha ha Evra was down and Utd wanted Chelsea to put the ball out of play but they carried on and scored. Look at rubberlips moaning!!!! :laugh:

by **tubby** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:53 pm

Rooney scores in injury time. 2-2

by **Greavesie** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 5:07 pm

Chelsea win the shootout, Evra's penalty is amazing! :laugh:

by **Greavesie** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 5:50 pm

surprise surprise, Whiskey's making a big song and dance about Chelsea's second goal. Don't know if anyone's seen it (or if anyone cares) but Evra clearly gets elbowed in the chest and goes down holding his face. Chelsea counter and score

by **aCe'** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 5:59 pm

yea... ref should have stopped the game... was a foul he missed.. then a player on his :censored:

holding his face meant the ref according to the rules should have stopped play regardless of the other teams progress on the ball... was a harsh decision on manutd but they were on the backfoot for most of that second half and should have lost the game in 90mins rather than the shootout...

end of the day its just another preseason game imo but still good seeing ManUtd looking average and lost for ideas so early on.. they will definitely miss Ronaldo throughout the season and unless Ferguson decides to rebuild the side around Rooney then i dont think they'll have much of a shot at winning any major honours this time around tbh...

by **aCe'** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 6:01 pm

yea... ref should have stopped the game... was a foul he missed.. then a player on his a$s holding his face meant the ref according to the rules should have stopped play regardless of the other teams progress on the ball... was a harsh decision on manutd but they were on the backfoot for most of that second half and should have lost the game in 90mins rather than the shootout...

end of the day its just another preseason game imo but still good seeing ManUtd looking average and lost for ideas so early on.. they will definitely miss Ronaldo throughout the season and unless Ferguson decides to rebuild the side around Rooney then i dont think they'll have much of a shot at winning any major honours this time around tbh...

by **Toffeehater** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:41 pm

The first rule of football is to play to the ref's whistle? Manu didn't do that and chelsea did what everyone in that circumstances would do , counter attack .

by **Tim LFC** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:18 am

Man U looked poor and they will definitely miss Ronaldo! This can only open up the gap for us. Anyway Chelsea looked good but not much goal threatening. I think this season Torres will certainly be up there with best player of the season. With Ronaldo gone many people will look to Torres. I also think Gerrard will be up there.

Anyway Man U looked poor. Midfield looks like they'd struggle against Arsenal and Us. Rooney i just can't see him scoring 15+ goals this season and same with Berba. Nani looked good but he's now injured. Valencia looked poor. Defence looked solid though. All around Ronaldo leaving has dented quality and confidence in the team.

Chelsea looked good but definitely look again. Drogba looks good but i just don't think he has it any more. Anelka looked threatening though. Lampard looked good as normal. Midfield looked strong as normal. Defence looked good albeit a little unsettled. To be honest both teams i thought would do better especially Man U. But it has outlined to me how much of impact Ronaldo leaving has caused. And Fergie has his work cut out now.

by **LFC2007** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 2:12 am

I know it's early etc.. etc...but I'm not convinced with the setup Ancelotti employed, despite the victory. The diamond with Mikel anchoring, Essien on the right, Malouda to the left and Lampard near the top doesn't seem to have adequate balance. Malouda isn't someone who can play on the inside to any great effect and that's what he has to do when they're out of possession, otherwise Mikel is left exposed. I don't think Malouda can shield well enough to play there. Granted when they're in possession he can push wide and gallop down the left but between that and tucking in is a considerable margin for error in getting caught out, and I just don't think he has the concentation levels or awareness to strike a reasonable balance in that capacity. It would be sort of like playing Nani in the same position & system but on the right; they're quite risky types of players as conventional out-and-out wingers let alone when they're on the inside left/right.

On the other side is Essien, a much better player for a start but I think you take away a certain amount by asking him to provide width down the right. He can of course do the tucking in and shielding part, but when he has to show for it he will at times be forced wide - as he was today - and it just isn't his best position; he doesn't look particularly comfortable there. He's best when he's in the thick of it, and that's when he's more central - a position he's more used to. He's more of shielder anyway, he likes the tackle, the physicality, the taking command of the central areas and he's pretty good on the ball too, but less so when forced into wider areas and that's mainly I think because the types of passes and movements are quite different from being deeper and central. In a nutshell, he likes to be facing opponents directly, which he doesn't get as much in this more ancillary role on the right. If Ancelotti endavours to stick with this sytem he ought to take Mikel out of it and let Essien - a much better player - anchor the whole thing.

Finally there's Lampard who seems to have less space to run into playing in this system; it seemed a bit more congested through the middle with two forwards competing for the spaces he likes to run into - particularly in regards Anelka's movement. He's generally been at his best when he's had that space to run into, with wingers in support, in a 4-5-1 and I think it has the effect of limiting his time on the ball and space to run into.

Personally I'd ditch it and have Essien anchoring with Ballack and Lampard ahead of him, with - as is more conventionally known - two wingers and Drogba providing the outlets. It's not necessarily doomed at all, but on first impressions it didn't seem to strike the right balance, and considering the players they have and what we know they can do in a 4-5-1 I think I'd have stuck with that generally speaking.

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