LFC - You'll Never Walk Alone

[MichaelLee]

i jsut finish reading the match report from several web...my opinion (based on the match report) -

Dudek - not a true lunder but a keeper mistake..not too bad compared to the one kirkland conceded against everton.

gerrard - again man of the match..needless to say more.

Rafa - Wow...he has a great tactic last nite. Playing 4-5-1 againtst Portsmouth at home (i tot that supposed to be the formatation to play away..at home we can attack more with 2 strikers) . Starting with 1 recently-injured/not fully recovered striker and leave 2 on form strikers on the bench..

Superb substitution.. 2 minutes to go..and he sub in Josemi.. and one goal conceded. That move that led to the goal started on our right side again, naturally!

If this goes on, we will end up in UEFA Cup next season if we are lucky.

 

[nemesis32]

i jsut finish reading the match report from several web...my opinion (based on the match report) -

Dudek - not a true lunder but a keeper mistake..not too bad compared to the one kirkland conceded against everton.

gerrard - again man of the match..needless to say more.

Rafa - Wow...he has a great tactic last nite. Playing 4-5-1 againtst Portsmouth at home (i tot that supposed to be the formatation to play away..at home we can attack more with 2 strikers) . Starting with 1 recently-injured/not fully recovered striker and leave 2 on form strikers on the bench..

Superb substitution.. 2 minutes to go..and he sub in Josemi.. and one goal conceded. That move that led to the goal started on our right side again, naturally!

If this goes on, we will end up in UEFA Cup next season if we are lucky.

I think Rafa's intention is to control the midfield and determine the pace of the game. .

Substitution works at times but sometimes it backfires. I think in this case, it's prob a lack of concentration as Lua Lua pounce on the rebound. Again, this has happened many time.

I still feel liverpool is weak in terms of fitness and mental toughness. We do not go into matches confidently enough and panick too easily.

 

[MichaelLee]

what Josemi need to do is to prevent any good crosses from the wing..and he could not even manage to do that for 5 mins so the referee can blow the whislte and we are happy to hjave 3 points.

I think Rafa's intention is to control the midfield and determine the pace of the game. .

control the midfield ? yes we did.. we did that against Villa too.. We also control the pace of the game.. We did that against Villa and Arsenal ..

but the defender are letting goal into our net..

If we can look back most of the goals we conceded...from attack flow and not from set pieces like freekick nor corner... I am sure there is 40% of the goal is from our own right flank and when Josemi is playing..

with this joker...it made Xavier ( 3 years ago ) look like the best RB liverpool would ever have.. He even scored a goal agaisnt LiverCushion in the CL..and he gave away less freekick and collected less yellow card than Josemi.

 

[plinius]

Once again testing the patient of the fans and now Gerrard.......hope that he is a real patient man in nature...........

 

[totofile]

benitez should play gerrard as RightBack :bsmilie:


just joking ;p

 

[MichaelLee]

benitez should play gerrard as RightBack :bsmilie:


just joking ;p

no joke...Houllier did play him as RB during the first year Gerrard broke into the senior squad back to 1998/1999 season. Even Carrager did play a midfielder role before.

There is only 2 role that I can imagine Gerrard can not play up to an average standard..keeper and out and out striker... he is capable man..

btw..we might not feel so much pain/hit on the squad quality over the loss of Owen. Owen is a player..is a good player for player.

But Gerrard is a good player and a "leader" as well. He can single handed to lift up the team spirit.. After Kenny...he is the other "real" captian for liverpool in the last 20 years.

We will sure mourn for his departure if he decide to leave LFC...and we are worried that he would really leave us had we not able to qualify for next year CL (based on his statement before Olympikios match)..and sadly...the way we are playing...is working towards that direction. :cry:

 

[nemesis32]

no joke...Houllier did play him as RB during the first year Gerrard broke into the senior squad back to 1998/1999 season. Even Carrager did play a midfielder role before.

There is only 2 role that I can imagine Gerrard can not play up to an average standard..keeper and out and out striker... he is capable man..

btw..we might not feel so much pain/hit on the squad quality over the loss of Owen. Owen is a player..is a good player for player.

But Gerrard is a good player and a "leader" as well. He can single handed to lift up the team spirit.. After Kenny...he is the other "real" captian for liverpool in the last 20 years.

We will sure mourn for his departure if he decide to leave LFC...and we are worried that he would really leave us had we not able to qualify for next year CL (based on his statement before Olympikios match)..and sadly...the way we are playing...is working towards that direction. :cry:

Gerrard did played as a right back. If i not mistaken, he also got sent off on his debut? The way Gerrard plays is similar to player like Keane, Savage etc. They play hard (opposition hates them) but at the same time they play with passion. I believe Martin Tyler mentioned that when you combine Skill with Passion like Chelsea has, very few teams can beat them. I also think thats the reason why Real Madrid has yet to sweep away the competitions as they lack the passion as most of them are mecenary that goes to the highest bidder who don't supports the team.

This is why Liverpool teams in the past are so great as they are full of passionate players.

As for Gerrard leaving, i do think he's replacable but very difficult. Say if Arsenal give us Viera and 30m pound for Gerrard, i would take it.

 

[CHARBY]

I have grown to accept a fact.

When we expect Liverpool to win, They seem to struggle.

When we don't, they seem to conquer. Like they did against Arsenal and Oly.

So I have more or less learn to love them like a family member.

Win or lose I still support...even if Gerald is not around!

REALLY...at times I suspect Rafa's selection. Josemi should be long dropped.

 

[giddygoat]

ran out of things to say liao. awfully disappointed in the recent results. we still make things so difficult for ourselves. had chances but never converted them and the defence.....haiz :dunno:
well, i know what i'm gonna ask santa for christmas. all in all, the performances wasn't bad at all but we lacked belief and fire not to mention we seemed totally bereft of any luck. let's hope santa delivers.
hang in there guys, we'll get it right. i felt the team is actually playing better than they did last season but we just were not able to grind out the results like we used to. i think rafa will get it right sooner or later. although we had more or less the same players, we seemed to have more depth this season than last. excepting diao, i think many of the second string players gave a reasonable account of themselves, particularly traore.

 

[kop]

ran out of things to say liao. awfully disappointed in the recent results. we still make things so difficult for ourselves. had chances but never converted them and the defence.....haiz :dunno:
well, i know what i'm gonna ask santa for christmas. all in all, the performances wasn't bad at all but we lacked belief and fire not to mention we seemed totally bereft of any luck. let's hope santa delivers.
hang in there guys, we'll get it right. i felt the team is actually playing better than they did last season but we just were not able to grind out the results like we used to. i think rafa will get it right sooner or later. although we had more or less the same players, we seemed to have more depth this season than last. excepting diao, i think many of the second string players gave a reasonable account of themselves, particularly traore.

me too ran out of things to say liao but still love Liverpool very much. i'll support them all the way even if they drop to div 1......choy! touch wood, touch wood!

 

[MichaelLee]

what Josemi need to do is to prevent any good crosses from the wing..and he could not even manage to do that for 5 mins so the referee can blow the whislte and we are happy to hjave 3 points.

If we can look back most of the goals we conceded...from attack flow and not from set pieces like freekick nor corner... I am sure there is 40% of the goal is from our own right flank and when Josemi is playing..

I watched EPL last nite.what a superb goal/freekick Gerrard had scored for us. what a damfark Josemi had done for us. Slow, out of position, no sense of how to play as defender and defending. Josemi is not the scapegoat..he is the real culprit..the statistics had backed him up. But Am I the only one who always blame Josemi ??

Please click here to read more.

I attached what Josh maston write about him..

"Josemi: A Walking Disaster Area
Every once in a while a player comes along who makes you think that with a little more application and luck you too could have made it as a professional footballer.

The current player who fits the bill perfectly surely has to be Josemi. Maybe that knock on the head he got in Monaco has messed him up but at the moment he's not fit to lace Stevie G's boots.

On Saturday he started off with a comedy foul throw that you wouldn't see in under-9s football before destroying any momentum Liverpool were building up by going on a one man fouling spree and then locating the only Everton player on his radar with a routine clearance which ultimately led to Everton scoring their goal.

Last night he was brought on for the tiring - or should that be lazy - Nunez, for just three minutes to help steady the defence. You wouldn't think that would be enough time to screw things up again but he managed to displace the reliable Finnan from right back and then gave Taylor about an acre of space to cross the ball.

Thank God he's suspended on Sunday."

 

[MichaelLee]

i felt the team is actually playing better than they did last season

Interesting topic...we then look at the statistics. (u can refer to here)

And since Rafa is making priority as EPL, CL, FA and Leagu Cup. then we look at EPL first.

Comparing 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 season on the same period (same date)

2003/2004 2004/2005

Played 16 17
Win 6 7
Draw 4 4
Lose 6 6
Scored 23 25
Conceded 18 19
Points 22 25

No siginicant difference at all. Look at the results and I dun think Rafa had made Liverpool played better..Both period number of goals scored and conceded are very similiar..not to forget that this season on 14Dec..we played 1 more game, scored 2 more goals and conceded 1 more goal.

Then we compared the rest competition

2003/2004 2004/2005

CL not qualified reach knocked out stage
FA n/a n/a
League knocked out Semi final

 

[nemesis32]

Interesting topic...we then look at the statistics. (u can refer to here)

And since Rafa is making priority as EPL, CL, FA and Leagu Cup. then we look at EPL first.

Comparing 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 season on the same period (same date)

2003/2004 2004/2005

Played 16 17
Win 6 7
Draw 4 4
Lose 6 6
Scored 23 25
Conceded 18 19
Points 22 25

No siginicant difference at all. Look at the results and I dun think Rafa had made Liverpool played better..Both period number of goals scored and conceded are very similiar..not to forget that this season on 14Dec..we played 1 more game, scored 2 more goals and conceded 1 more goal.

Then we compared the rest competition

2003/2004 2004/2005

CL not qualified reach knocked out stage
FA n/a n/a
League knocked out Semi final

Brother...

3pts in the bag is better already! rem we missed out on CL on last day to Chelsea?

I do feel this team is better due to the following reasons:
1) The team is new and it has performed admirably compared to GH's team which he builts over 5-6 yrs;
2) The football is better except for the defence, which is leaky. However, surprising, it still compares well with last season;
3) We are still in the competition for all honours. We actually made it to semi of league cup this year, which bodes well as it's our youngsters that does it;
4) We score almost as many goals as last season despite the injury to Gerrard (our key playmaker), the leaving of Heskey and Owen (our key strikers), injuries to Baros and Cisse (Our new key strikers) etc.
5) More youngsters coming thru without compromising our chances;
6) EPL is tougher this year than last year. Last year, you dun have so many top teams that's outside the usual big5.

 

[Parchiao]

What's the possibility of Anelka joining Liverpool on a permanent move? How do you all rate him as an individual and as part of the Liverpool FC setup?

 

[MichaelLee]

Brother...

3pts in the bag is better already!

aiya..brother...on 15-Dec-2004 we played one more game than 15-Dec-03.
that could explain why 15-Dec-2004 is 3 more points than 15-Dec-03.

so far..i am convinced that the goal ratio.

but more dissappointed with our defence.
Again pls refer to my opinion on Josemi. besides of setpieces...his defending leaking 40% of the total goal conceded.

more tulan about Rafa prefer him rather than Finnan <sigh> he does not assist on attacking , crossing like Finnan..much slower..and he did not have a foul throw-in.

btw....I am not sure about Anelka..

but before we move to buy more players...I believe we should first sort out our first 11 sqaud number.. and play the player in their comfort position.

Even if u buy anelka..and let him to warn the bench with mellor and play kewell and garcia, it will not gonna help much besides to pump up the wage bill.

 

[nemesis32]

aiya..brother...on 15-Dec-2004 we played one more game than 15-Dec-03.
that could explain why 15-Dec-2004 is 3 more points than 15-Dec-03.

so far..i am convinced that the goal ratio.

but more dissappointed with our defence.
Again pls refer to my opinion on Josemi. besides of setpieces...his defending leaking 40% of the total goal conceded.

more tulan about Rafa prefer him rather than Finnan <sigh> he does not assist on attacking , crossing like Finnan..much slower..and he did not have a foul throw-in.

btw....I am not sure about Anelka..

but before we move to buy more players...I believe we should first sort out our first 11 sqaud number.. and play the player in their comfort position.

Even if u buy anelka..and let him to warn the bench with mellor and play kewell and garcia, it will not gonna help much besides to pump up the wage bill.

Yaloh brother... 1 more game and 3 points more is better what. Less uncertainty. Can you guarantee we can get 3 points for the next match? No right? :bsmilie:

As for Josemi, yes, i also not convince he is good. Problem with finnan is he don't tackle well and hard enough. As i mentioned previously, i must prefer Carragher at RB then CB and hopes we can get 2 CB, one experienced and one young (eventually replace the getting-erratic Hyypia).

As for Anelka, i have always feel that he plays well for Liverpool and the way GH plays actually suits Anelka. As for Rafa's team, i think Anelka can do well as he plays as a lone striker very well in MC despite their lack of talents (except for SWP). If we can swoop for SWP and Anelka in Jan, it will instantly solves our woes in RM and Striker. Kewell can then play as a LM or winger and Garcia as a supporting striker (i still not convince he's good enough actually). If it's up to me i will play Alonso and Gerrard in CM, Hamann in DM in a 5 man midfield for away matches and Hamann/Alonso with Gerrard & 2 strikers for home matches depending on opponents.

 

[MichaelLee]

Can you guarantee we can get 3 points for the next match? No right?

u are right...we are that bad... :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :bheart:

As i mentioned previously, i must prefer Carragher at RB then CB and hopes we can get 2 CB, one experienced and one young (eventually replace the getting-erratic Hyypia).[/

Carrager is good at RB..no doubt that. I would settle for Zuk Whitebred for this moment..Give him an opportunity to justify himself. he may not have the adequate skill, but he has the passion. He can study under Hyypia..his style very similiar to Hyypia. Every star need chance to show their talent...as Gerrard was brought in 1998 and Owen in 96.

when we are no good..we can;t just Buy Buy Buy as the way ESPN advice on any Nikon equipment. Unless u are MU and Chelsea. Must look at our own pocket first mah...Debt rising..record loss...unless we are able to offload some players...where got $$ to buy ?

Garcia as a supporting striker (i still not convince he's good enough actually).

For me..it is that simple... if a player is not good enough to play for his country..he is certainly not good enough for LFC. Josemi, Nunez, and Garica are average to me..albiet that Alonso is a real gem. He need to learn how to defend and help to protect the back four as Hamman and Gerrard, and he is only 22.

 

[nemesis32]

Ya... cannot just spend spend spend... but i think Anelka may not cost much. I read that MC owe 5m for his transfer so prob 1-2m pound more may be sufficient. As for the new signings, i agree with you that Alonso is a class act. However, to compare him with Gerrard and Hamann is quite unfair as they are very different.

Hamann is more of a DM that tackles and protect the front 4. Gerrard is a mix, he tackles hard (but not as well as Hamann), drives the team forward and make long passes. Alonso, however, and i feel is more of a playmaker that Liverpool has not had since Jan Molby? Jamie Rednapp comes close but he just injured too often. Alonso is the one that can match Gerrard for his vision and also have wider range of passing and tricks than Gerrard. Of course, he does not tackle as well but it's good enough.

Of course, we would like all 3 to be more complete, but that would be like to request alonso to be like Zidane (alonso?), Makelele (Hamann?) and Viera (Gerrard) all rolled into 1!!

 

[MichaelLee]

Alonso, however, and i feel is more of a playmaker that Liverpool has not had since Jan Molby? Jamie Rednapp comes close but he just injured too often. Alonso is the one that can match Gerrard for his vision and also have wider range of passing and tricks than Gerrard. Of course, he does not tackle as well but it's good enough.

I agree. He is another Jan Molby to us. He has the vision..and he had shown us some decent long range and pinpoint pass..but not crosses..it is ok...spanish dun cross so much as the english do...

Jamie Rednapp comes close but he just injured too often

before Jamie Redknapp is knee-injured..he was quoted by Venable as the midfielder who has the best and most accurate passing in England. Wasted talent that could not seem to get rid off the injury to return to his best form.. But had u seen his wife before ?? If u have ...for sure u will now why he has knee injury...(too much doggy style ??)...hahaha...oppsss getting a bit dirty here....

 

[nemesis32]

Hehe... Naughty naughty... anyway, in case those who don't know. They are the royal couple before Becks and Victoria.

I think she still sings but can;t recall her name....