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PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:36 am
by Rush Job
We look a much improved unit with Riera in the side.
We have missed him as much as anyone this season IMO.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:46 am
by Lando_Griffin
Rush Job wrote:We look a much improved unit with Riera in the side.
We have missed him as much as anyone this season IMO.

With the exception of Alonso, you are indeed correct.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:32 am
by The_Rock
Great performance....great result. Couldn't ask for more.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 4:10 am
by Bad Bob
Absolutely essential win and a great battling performance from the lads.  We lacked quality at times and invited Spurs onto us far too much in the 2nd half for my tastes but to a man the players stood up to be counted tonight and finally got a result.  Made up for Dirk who showed real leadership up top and picked an absolutely fantastic match to get back on the scoresheet.  The Grok did an excellent job on Crouchy, I thought Skrtel looked more solid than he has in a while and my God Riera was a breath of fresh air, with his ability to put his foot on the ball when needed and his foot through it on occasion as well.  I thought Aquilani got stuck in much more gamely tonight and of course did beautifully to link with Kuyt for the first.  My only concern was Degen...have a shot son!

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 4:44 am
by made in UK
I've just watched the full 90 mins and before the game I had a feeling we'd get a result largely because of our fans.

Anyway the grit, determination and character showed tonight/yesterday was fantastic, lets be fair out of the two teams Spurs were capable of playing the better football. But if I may say this without being lambasted this mediocre side of ours pulled out a sterling team performance. Hopefully the football will come not to long in the near distant future.

And what we don't need now is to loose against Wolves next Tuesday!

Well in lads, special mention to Reina who again held when called upon was quality and reliable as ever. Mash was good. Lucas okay. Aquilani showed some nice passes and there definately seems to be technical qualities in his locker. N'gog did well when he came on, Kuyt plugged away, Riera was okay and the Greek had another decent game.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:24 am
by Ciggy
fuck you Sky and Richard Keys 6 seconds they where saying that Reina had hold of the ball, what about when we play Stoke drying it with a towel and Friedel the biggest time waster in the game.

Just frig off

Only just realised we won 2-0 I was bladdered  :D

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:28 am
by The Good Yank
Ciggy wrote:fuck you Sky and Richard Keys 6 seconds they where saying that Reina had hold of the ball, what about when we play Stoke drying it with a towel and Friedel the biggest time waster in the game.

Just frig off

Only just realised we won 2-0 I was bladdered  :D

I was shocked they were able to talk.  Can't be too easy to commentate on a game with 'Arry's Knob in their mouths.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:38 am
by shawnk
Lando_Griffin wrote:I thought Aquilani showed some touches of class tonight, and gave us all a glimpse of what should be to come. He linked very well with Kuyt and definitely has an eye for a through-ball.

I just hope the whining scumbags can see it, too. (But then, Alonso wasn't very good, now, was he? :laugh: )

Great spirit from the boys and we dominated apart from a couple of spells on the back foot. (Nothing new there.)

Good games from Degen, Kyrgiakos, Lucas, Carra, Insua, Reina, Riera and, of course, Dirk - what a guy!

Well in, Rafa - your not so sh*te afterall...

Who hacked into Lando's account?  :laugh:

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:42 am
by Ciggy
Villa pitch invasion small time knobs

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 8:24 am
by Owzat
JoeTerp wrote:Also on the move that earned the penalty, that was Darby, to Maxi, to N'gog, all 3 subs combining.

Rafa spoke of "fresh legs", just imagine what subs could do if he gave them more than 5-10 mins! Wasn't that Darby's league debut, makes him the 28th player used by us in the league this season. That isn't down to injuries, just getting on random picks by Rafa with no less than EIGHT playing no more than three times and counting 14 apps between them. Kyrgiakos and Degen made their fifth leage appearances of the season, most of Babel's have been at sub but he didn't feature last night.

Much needed win, didn't think spudz wouldn't win at Anfield given they ain't won in the league here since the early seasons of the Premiership (August 1993?) As much as some people like to dismiss stats as irrelevant, that one is significant.

Of course we were helped by a bit of luck, the ball breaking from a challenge on Aquilani to Kuyt and his edge of the box finish was good, but required a bit of luck in terms of just sneaking in and the keeper not getting to it. Good finish though, Kuyt won us that match with his hard work and could have had a hat-trick - well he did score three times, the original penalty had to be re-taken. And there was no small amount of luck in Defoe's goal being chalked off, the offside rules are now so complicated it makes it a lottery as to what will and won't be allowed. He was originally offside, to me that means offside and if they kept it simple there'd be no controversy, but once our player had touched it then he went from "inactive" to "active" in a new phase of play or some such convaluted claptrap

Rule makers, he's not got two opposing players between him and goal and is looking to gain an advantage, why on earth would you let him? To me there might be some justice if the refs applied the old offside rules, ignored the "interfering with play" elements altogether, but they'd probably get hauled over the coals for it. Who was it who said "if he's not interfering with play, what's he doing on the pitch?" (or something like that)


Ciggy - you talking about the time the keeper is allowed to have the ball before release? If the commentators are picking up on that then they are pathetic, I've seen plenty of games where the keeper has it way longer, where throw-ins take way longer once 'ready to throw' and a lot of keepers whose release of the ball from hand when kicking is FAR TOO CLOSE to the edge of the box.

Anyway, this result puts us in a decent fighting position for fourth.

4. Tottenham P22 PTS 38 (GD +18)
5. Man City P21 PTS 38 (GD +12)
6. LIVERPOOL P22 PTS 37 (GD +14)
7. A Villa P21 PTS 36 (GD +11)

We're a couple of goals worse off for and against than spudz so that isn't too hard to rectify, although we have played Burnley, Hull and Stoke at home so goalfests may not be too easy for us to achieve.

NEXT SIX GAMES

LIVERPOOL

Wolves (a)
Bolton (h)
Everton (h)
Arsenal (a)
Man City (a)
Blackburn (h)

MAN CITY

Portsmouth (h)
Hull (a)
Bolton (h)
Stoke (a)
Liverpool (h)
Chelsea (a)

TOTTENHAM

Fulham (h)
Birmingham (a)
A Villa (h)
Wolves (a)
Wigan (a)
Everton (h)

A VILLA

Arsenal (h)
Fulham (a)
Tottenham (a)
Man Utd (h)
Burnley (h)
Hull (a)

Bar Arsenal away and the crucial Citeh game at COMS, we should be looking at winning the other four games, with or without Torres, Gerrard, Benayouna and Johnson. Three at home against sides mid-table or in relegation danger, and the other away to newly promoted Wolves who are out of the relegation zone only on GD.

Citeh have a reasonable run of winnable games until our crucial meeting at COMS with them and then Chelsea away the following weekend. That's not to say they won't win the last two in that run, but you wouldn't rule them out picking up 12 out of 12 then maybe 0-2 out of six

Tottenham have a run of games they could and maybe should win all of, but I can see them dropping points. For all their spending they are too inconsistent with a nothing special defence and an attack that can thump Wigan 9-1 but equally fail to score against Hull at WHL.

villa's next three games are all games we lost so by no means easy, then the mancs at home won't be easy so they're in for a testing run of games.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 8:45 am
by Johnny Boy
Was at the game last night, the Greek was great and I can see him becoming a cult hero and hard to leave him out at the moment.
Riera gave us some balance and quality on the left and looked like he has gained something from his lay off, I thought he looked a bit stale earlier in the season.
Team worked really hard and Carra was a good leader on the night.
Just a little sloppy in midfield at times, Lucas looks like he needs a rest.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:54 am
by GRAHAM01
i thought are boys did fecking well, really showed the fight that we need for the rest of the season now let us push on and stick it up the fecking noses of the sky kn*bs and show them what we are made of

the support at the ground last night was second to none, many a sore throat this morning, well do to you all  :bowdown  :bowdown

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:04 am
by Espionage
Johnny Boy wrote:Was at the game last night, the Greek was great and I can see him becoming a cult hero and hard to leave him out at the moment.
Riera gave us some balance and quality on the left and looked like he has gained something from his lay off, I thought he looked a bit stale earlier in the season.
Team worked really hard and Carra was a good leader on the night.
Just a little sloppy in midfield at times, Lucas looks like he needs a rest.

Sounded like quite the atmosphere over the tv all the way over here in Australia - I wish I was there.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:05 am
by Homebooby
Lots of plusses to be taken from the game last night...for a start it was a pleasure to see everyone united and fighting for the win and the club in general. I don't know who was responsible for the rallying call, but Carra led from the front and you can't fault that. It's a case of drag the team into winning ways and then when the confidence is there again, the pretty stuff will start to happen.

Agree on the positive comments for our heavy metal defender...he looks rock and is showing signs of becoming as solid as one as well  :D

Kuyt looked like he did last season and I agree that Riera seemed like a breath of fresh air for us as well. We did look a little more balanced and fingers crossed we'll be able to keep building on it.

I am gonna call out N'gog as looking like he is growing up in spades at the moment. I never thought he would stand chance when I first saw him playing for us, he seemed to repel the ball and the game was just too fast and physical for him, but he is looking sharp, very pacey and has good flare too...he was dangerous and significant in the problems we gave them in the last 10 minutes. He's also looking a lot more capable of dealing with the physical nature of the premier league and was putting himself about well.

We needed the win, we needed to see everyone together and fighting, we needed the fans supporting the team and it all happened. Long may it continue.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:23 am
by tonyeh
First game I haven't watched all bloody season and Liverpool win it....typical.

Kuyt's goal was very well taken and noce to see a bit of luck go Liverpool's way re: Defoe goal.