Liverpool FC Forum

Excellent result. I didnt think we were that terrible to be honest. We obviously had a game plan and the players seemed to stick to it.
Clyne did well and so did Henderson. We'll need to figure out a way of getting Benteke a bit more involved and the solution might very well be Moreno and Clyne down the flanks.

With our set of fixtures, I'd look at going into the harder games with a similar gameplan of frustrating the opposition and keeping it tight at the back while looking to nick it somehow. Expect Lallana/Firmino to be sacrificed for these games.

At home, we should see more of Moreno, Firmino, etc. to add that extra bit of creativity.

Good start.

The lack of creativity was slightly concerning but to be fair Stoke is not an easy place to go, I think that's only our second win down there in the league in over a decade so can't be too critical I suppose.
We did look worryingly disjointed at times though, at one point in the second half I couldn't tell who was playing where, we looked all over the shop.

Reg » Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:53 pm wrote:Lots of ticky-tacky and ping-pong but NO penetration. Never looked like scoring apart from the one off unscripted goal.

Beneteke understandably wanted to be everywhere but that's not his job. Stevie picked out Torres 100 times because he knew where Torres was and Torres had the discipline to wait for his pass. Benteke will learn, but I hope he does by the Arsenal game in 2 weeks. If he runs all over the place like a spare pr!ck at a wedding thenthey won't know where he is and will have to delay the pass whilst they look for him

Benteke - watch some old videos of Torres and Gerrard.

Benteke is no Torres and we dont have a Gerrard in the side. It's not his style and I'm not sure asking him to adapt will do him or the side any good. We spent 32mill on the player knowing his strengths and what he brings to the table, if we didnt plan on utilizing his strengths then perhaps we shouldnt have signed him. I'll agree with him needing to remain more central more often than not but looking for runs behind the last defender isnt his game. If we want to keep our style and still get something out of him we'll need to figure out a way to get Moreno and Clyne into more advanced positions to cross the ball frequently to him.
Otherwise, we should consider having a Nolan-type making the runs to get on the end of his knock downs if we plan on having Skrtel, Henderson and Mignolet playing the long diagonal against defenses playing higher up. Coutinho and that 4-3-3 setup aren't made for that.

Opening day matches are always going to be tough especially away at stoke.
Fantastic win absolutely ecstatic we got 3 points. This can also be looked at as 2 extra poonts gained as it seemed we would come back with a draw.
Super strike from Coutinho.

Who was subbed during the game and did our formation change because of it, or was the difference purely quality of player?

It was a very dull match and Liverpool didn’t play well at all. Really you could see why BR is not a clever manager, his tactics were based on long balls to Benteke that it never got held up front and we kept losing the ball, Benteke had a poor game. It was same problem of last season no end product in final half, it Liverpool took 62 minutes to get the first shoot at Stoke goal!.. It was only when “Can” came on then the team has started to play in last 18 minutes.  A fantastic goal from Coutinho who had a quite game by his own standard due to the wrong tactics that was originally adopted by the useless BR, however Coutinho has won us the game.

The outstanding players were, the back four, a special mention to “Gomez” which I hope he will get better. Milliner very hard working, Henderson not so good, and he should have scored when he had the chance rather than passed it to Benteke.  “Can” should be in team regardless, Ibe did well but I like “Firmino” he give the team very good options and he has looked very lively, and he is more direct in his forward play.
Considering the team starting with wrong line up and tactics because of BR.. we got a win which it is more important, but we have to watch out the repeat of this shambles again, otherwise the team will get punished badly.

Homebooby » Sun Aug 09, 2015 6:22 pm wrote:Who was subbed during the game and did our formation change because of it, or was the difference purely quality of player?

Can came on for Lallana, which moved Coutinho out to the left, with Henderson and Milner staying in the middle....that didn't work much, so Firmino came on for Ibe and Milner moved out to the right wing to let him play in the middle. That opened things up a lot, which gave Cout space to take his goal.

Straight out of the Mourhino school of soccer but wins a win.

In Chelsea blue thats a solid defensive display then Hazard cuts in and whacks into the top corner late on.

Perhaps a change in style on occasion rather than simply attempting to smash everyone out of sight and ending up with nothing.

parchpea » Sun Aug 09, 2015 6:27 pm wrote:Straight out of the Mourhino school of soccer but wins a win.

In Chelsea blue thats a solid defensive display then Hazard cuts in and whacks into the top corner late on.

Perhaps a change in style on occasion rather than simply attempting to smash everyone out of sight and ending up with nothing.

Having two decent full backs helped a lot on this front. Johnson was shocking last season and Moreno looked lost half the time.

Can made a difference with his composure and Firmino showed quality for the short time he was on.

All the back 4 played well and it seems like a long time since that happend and keeping Stoke reasonably quiet is no mean feat particularly after the tonking we took there last time out.

It was tough to watch lets be honest but in Couthino we have a genuine star and I suspect another potential big money departure in a years time.

Hoping for a bit more of a champagne performance against Bournemouth and another 3 points.

Great away win. Wouldn't get too hung up on performances or over - analyse them just yet. This part of the season is about picking up wins until we start finding our rhythm.

Midfield didn't quite click til Can came on but I wouldn't write Henderson/Milner off as a pair yet based on one game. Full backs look a massive upgrade on last season, Gomez was naive at times but he looks a player and he'll learn.

Coutinho was quiet but what a goal. Good cameo from Firmino as a few others have said.

Benteke was a bit isolated but he's clearly not match sharp yet. We need to stop hitting the first man when we cross it, that was frustrating and needs work.

Lallana and Ibe had poor games. I think theyll both be out for the next game with Firmino and Can in.

Skrtel had a good game and Lovren, a few dodgy clearances aside, was solid enough.

Satisfying win.

Great result given what happened there in May and given that it's a place where we traditionally struggle. It was never going to be a game where we were going to go there and play silky football. We had to display different qualities. It was all about the result. United were awful but won. Chelsea and Arsenal were really poor.

Special mentions to Lovren, Clyne and Gomez who were all decent. Attack wise we struggled but that will come with time. Coutinho was average but who cares when you can produce a moment of genius like that?

Onwards and upwards.

A win is a win ask the bloosers, Arsenal or Cheatski

Postby Dundreamin is back » Thu Aug 06, 2015 11:35 pm
I predict a 2-0 win Coutiniho wonder goal and Millner

Almost but no cigar

Let's be honest Stoke didn't play well and did nothing to threaten most of the day.

We weren't that great but did enough to stay in the game with so many new players, how surprising that these results have usually gone against us with the opposition scoring a winner or equalizer late in the game.

Delighted we have a 3 points but its due to Coutinho's individual brilliance rather then anything that was really planned out by Rodgers. We were lucky and we move on.

Other positives were Milner working his socks off and Firmino's sublime pass which nearly led to a 1 on 1 chance. Benteke tried hard but we need to play to his strengths as he hardly threatened.