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LIVERPOOL VS WEST HAM UNITED - All the build up and reaction here
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:52 amby RichardLFC1
No Carragher
No Riise
No Warnock
and probably No sissoko
Our defence will be missing to key stars and a very good cover at left back.
Sissoko who has been great last season and to start this season will probably miss the game because of the injury he picked up against maccabi haifa.
West ham arent a bad team and although were at home we should not be looking for an easy game.
Pennant played well in the cl so i predict he will start on the right which brings Gerrard into the centre of midfeild ( YES ! )
probably partning alonso. With the strike force it will be intresting. Crouch, Bellamy, Fowler, Kuyt. I dont think rafa will go for fowler despite scoring our only goal at brammel lane he lacked fittness and it really showed. Bellamy has played well this season whether in the pl cl or pre-season so i think he should be giving a starting place. But to partner bellamy up front for me out of kuyt and crouch its difficult. Can kuyt adjust to bellamys game , he is an amazing player. Crouch on the other hand scored very many for southampton and some for us last year although it took 19 games and i think you could say is premiership proven but is benitez up for the big man little man thing. Me personally id go with
Reina
Finnan Hyypia Agger Aurelio
Pennant Gerrard Alonso Gonzales
Bellamy
Kuyt
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:05 amby el_stinger
Even though we are pretty thin at the back, I still know we have more quality on the park in your starting 11. Subs will be very thin though, and hopefully we can get out of the rest of te campaign without sustaining any more crazy injuries.
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:39 amby Kopite-Jud
1st game at home , we'll kill em 
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:53 amby stmichael
I just hope we don't see Stevie and Xabi getting in each others way if they play together in central midfield. Stevie has to assume the role of destroyer and accept that Xabi's the ball player in this situation, by all means let him get forward but he has a primary responsibility to play a midfield role now, not an attacking midfield role. No doubt he has the ability to do it though, and it can't be a bad thing having two exceptional passers in the middle provided they accept each others roles.
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:05 pmby XSD
Does it matter who we play, I mean have West Ham ever won at Anfield? lol
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:27 pmby 7_Kewell
RichardLFC1 wrote: Reina
Finnan Hyypia Agger Aurelio
Pennant Gerrard Alonso Gonzales
Bellamy
Kuyt
that's our strongest 11 and i would like to see them line up against West Ham. We still seem only 80% match sharp and i think we need to put our best 11 out until the Champions league gets underway.
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:36 pmby MilitiaRusher
Without Sissoko, looks like Gerrard and Alonso will be starting in the middle for this one but I still do see Rafa pushing Gerrard to the right with Zenden and Alonso in the middle because Pennant looked a bit knackered against Haifa while this provides more defensive stability with Gerrard's tendency to drift into the middle. Another variation is putting Zenden as left wing and Gerrard and Alonso in the middle with Pennant on the right. As for our left sided injury problems, with Kewell, Riise, and Warnock out, we have to thank the depth of our squad as we still have a relatively experienced and strong left side. This is the lineup that I'd like to see agasint West Ham:
Reina
Finnan Agger Hyypia Aurelio
Pennant Gerrard Alonso Gonzalez
Kuyt Bellamy
SUBS: Dudek, Crouch, Garcia, Zenden, Paletta/Kromkamp.
But I do see Rafa starting like this:
Reina
Finnan Agger Hyypia Aurelio
Gerrard Zenden Alonso Gonzalez
Kuyt Bellamy
SUBS: Dudek, Crouch, Garcia, Pennant, Paletta/Kromkamp.
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:02 pmby Kukilon
What I love is that our team still looks amazingly strong though we have four of our "first" 11 players injured.
None of those injuries are long time injuries either so hopefully they will be back with revenge on their mind.
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:05 pmby bigmick
As St Mike touched on in another thread, it's likely the defensive rotations are over for a while as we're running out of personel. It may not be a bad thing to be perfectly honest. We need a bit of cohesion back there and not only that, Agger and Aurelio have been in my opinion the two brightest sparks of the new season so far and more games in a settled line-up can only help.
Further forward you would think that Gerard and Alonso will almost certainly fill the central midfield slots for the next couple of games. This has been a partnership which despite looking good on paper has lacked balance in the past but my hunch is that the way the games of the two players have developed, it's about to become a very strong one indeed. Alonso plays a bit deeper than when he first came and these days is very much the sitter, while Gerrard seems to have finally come to the conclusion that he is more Bryan Robson than Glenn Hoddle (though obviously better than either) and seems to concern himself more with his explosive attributes and game breaking qualities than trying to hit seventy yard balls and show us all how clever he is. The combination will really work this time I think.
The two wide midfielders pick themselves from our injury ravaged ranks, though I remain deeply concerned about the progress or lack thereof of Gonzales. Given the way he plays I am at a loss currently to imagine a way in which he will influence games for us in a positive fashion but that is for another thread I suppose.
For now I would like to see both wide-men show much more willingness to come in off their flank when the ball is over the opposite side of the pitch. Both men have lots of pace and in the case of Gonzales and probably in Pennants case aswell a good shot so they should be providing more of a goal threat. I'm not referring to the type of goal Gonzales scored against Haifa (and however long he plays for Liverpool he'll probably never score a more important one) but to the sort of situation you had last night when Garcia shot accross the face of goal and the keeper parried it out. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh but I'd like to see Pennant on the move infield as Garcia pulls the trigger. Bust a gut to get into an area where you can score a goal, you ain't gonna influence play still stuck out on the touchline. Similarly Gonzales may find if he drops infield, sort of Gerrard style he can influence proceedings and maybe get a shot away to become more of a threat. Also in the case of Gonzales he needs to switch on a bit quicker when tracking back. He went to sleep a bit last night and on another night, him getting wrong side of the runner may have resulted in a penalty rather than the guy being booked for diving.
Uptop for saturday it must surely be Crouch plus somebody else. Personal preference would be for Bellamy as I think they are a natural partnership and having played on his own uptop against Haifa, and being paired with an unfit Fowler and having non-existent service against Sheffield United the fella probably deserves a go. My feeling is that if we are to excell this season, Bellamy is going to have to be a key player for us. The sooner we can get him scoring regularly and influencing games will the better for all concerned and hopefully he can score his first league goals in a red shirt on saturday.
Hopefully around the hour mark when we are 2-0 up, you can pull off the front two and we send on Kuyt so we can all have a look at him and Robbie can continue his march back to fitness. I have a feeling many of us are going to be pleasantly surprised by the Dutchman. Rafa's no mug and he's chased him for Two years. I take us to win 3-0, two goals for Bellamy and the final one from Fowler who whether he is fit or not is still the best finisher at the club.
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:00 pmby Bad Bob
bigmick wrote:Uptop for saturday it must surely be Crouch plus somebody else. Personal preference would be for Bellamy as I think they are a natural partnership and having played on his own uptop against Haifa, and being paired with an unfit Fowler and having non-existent service against Sheffield United the fella probably deserves a go. My feeling is that if we are to excell this season, Bellamy is going to have to be a key player for us. The sooner we can get him scoring regularly and influencing games will the better for all concerned and hopefully he can score his first league goals in a red shirt on saturday.
Hopefully around the hour mark when we are 2-0 up, you can pull off the front two and we send on Kuyt so we can all have a look at him and Robbie can continue his march back to fitness. I have a feeling many of us are going to be pleasantly surprised by the Dutchman. Rafa's no mug and he's chased him for Two years. I take us to win 3-0, two goals for Bellamy and the final one from Fowler who whether he is fit or not is still the best finisher at the club.
100% agree, Mick. Crouch is the form striker and we need to get Bellamy off the mark in the league and get him settled in the side. They need to start and we can have a look at Kuyt as a sub late on. After the international break, once he's trained with the team more, we can expect him to start a game.
The rest of the team, strangely, picks itself this week due to the injuries.
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:01 pmby Lando_Griffin
This could be a little tricky, tbh.
West Ham are a decent side, and with Sheringham up top, Agger will have to be at his best mentally to combat the old b*stards cunning play.
On paper, we'll batter them, but that could have been said for the FA Cup final. Yes they were obviously punching above their weight in that game, and lady luck definately favoured them for 89 minutes. The simple fact is, though - they gave us a fright, and only a f*cking tremendous goal by Stevie rescued us from defeat.
The defence is obviously going to stay the same as the one which finished the game in Kiev.
The midfield seems a no-brainer, but Rafa always throws up suprises.
Up top, I can't understand why anyone wants to drop Crouch. The lad's on fire, and will start IMHO. Bellamy will no doubt be his partner, with Kuyt being the first sub, assuming he is fit.
I'd imagine the lineup to look something like this:
Reina
Finnan Sami Agger Aurelio
Gerrard Alonso
Pennant Gonzalez
Bellamy
Crouch.
Let's just hope for a win and no-more injuries.
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:10 pmby aCe'
mmmm.... i agree with you BigMick.... i dont see Rafa dropping Crouch for Sat's game.... his form this season is pretty good and he scored last night so i dont see why we would want to drop an inform striker !
the way i see it, saturdays game is our chance of getting back at all those who critisized our start of the season...it has been a poor one i have to agree, and WestHam's game will prove alot harder than should be if Rafa doesnt start the obvious stronger side we can put out....
Wouldnt like to see Zenden out there, but wont be surprised if rafa decides to start him on the center of midfield along with alonso, with gerrard wide right.
My starting lineup:
Reina
Finnan Agger Hyypia Aurelio
Pennant Gerrard Alonso Gonzalez
Bellamy
Crouch
Subs: Dudek, Paletta, Zenden, Fowler, Kuyt
can see Kuyt comin on at 70mins or so for Bellamy of Crouch depending on the result.
My prediction: 3-1 (Bellamy, Gerrard, Pennant)
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:21 pmby thegreenred
i too think the hammers are a decent side and shouldnt be taken too lightly crouch and bellamy should start up top with robbie coming on if things are not going well, with the injuries to riise,warnock the left side worries me a bit so i would play zenden left as i feel hes more defensive minded than speedy and im in no doubt that gerrard and alonso should be the centre mid
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:23 pmby spion
Second league game of the season is a must win. With the derby coming up followed by the Chavski game it looks like we need a morale booster after the Sheff Utd opener & last nights good first half followed by a mediocre second. For us to win the league this season we need at least seven points from nine, but really need nine from nine.
Posted:
Wed Aug 23, 2006 5:06 pmby jkop
XSD wrote:Does it matter who we play, I mean have West Ham ever won at Anfield? lol
Dont know about winning at anfield but they gave us a run for our money in the fa cup final.