Liverpool v Aston Villa

[AvB]

Get rid of Johnson and Enrique, replace them with fullbacks that know how to defend. Then we will stop conceding soft goals.

[xerxes]

Get rid of Johnson and Enrique, replace them with fullbacks that know how to defend. Then we will stop conceding soft goals.

 

Both are excellent footballers. I agree that neither are conventional disciplined full backs. I totally disagree that we should "get rid " of them.

 

i have felt for some time that a 3-5-2 would suit the squad well.

[piscinin]

We have have never seen just one digit before our name in the league table under Rodgers, how fuckin shite is that?

 

You don't read the league table in hex? You've gone down in my estimation. Again.

[kalasoma]

Who started this match thread? Burn them!!

[kalasoma]

Great. Home just in time for MOTD and we're up now. Balls.

[DaveT]

Just back from the game ;in haste.

 

First, don’t panic. It was a poor performance, but Rodgers will still have a few more of these as he settles into top flight management. In the battle of the new managers, Lambert won, his greater experience told. Villa had their tails up after the league cup win and believed they could win, we went into the game with complacency. Our passing game, without penetration, encouraged Villa to think they could get something out of the game, whereas we needed to demoralise them from the start and not allow them to settle. Lambert’s German style three at the back did well, and is a formation which we might do well to look at ourselves when you look at our current playing staff.

 

Psychologically our dependence upon Suarez to score is becoming a problem and one which will not be solved by the purchase of one new forward. We are allowing the opposition so much time to get back that anyone will find scoring difficult. Too much of our passing was slow and predictable. Rodgers needs more goal scoring from midfield. Gerrard’s consolation goal was welcome.

 

I think that Allen is a decent player, but the pressure of a second PL season and playing at a better club is taking its toll, shades of Steve Sidwell. He needs a break. Henderson, encouragingly, is improving. It looks like Tom Ince is increasingly likely to return in January, a move which KK may find pretty uncomfortable . We may as well go for Sturridge AND bent. 29 shots, 21 off target, tells its own sorry story. I hope Rodgers fines Suarez for geting booked for dissent in the last minute. Totally unnecessary, it changes nothing, and only serves to hasten his next suspension. Very unprofessional.

 

Johnson’s defensive indiscipline continues to cause jitters at the back, going forwards, as always, he was sound. Reina might have done better with a few of the goals, but of greater concern was his failure to martial the defence authoritatively . Lambert has dropped the equally experienced Given in favour of Guzan, I anticipate a little run for Brad Jones in the near future.

 

Benteke’s performance, a £7m buy, was a reminder of the folly of FSG’s £11m sweetheart deal for Borini.

 

But it was a bad result. That is all. There is still all to play for in the league, Rodgers will get better, and overall there is plenty to be optimistic about. Apart from the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea, the rest of the league is unusually average. There will be plenty more twists and turns.

 

Agree with most of this except - ''Villa had their tails up after the league cup win and believed they could win''. After 20 minutes I was thinking that Villa were the worst team I'd seen all season, were nervous, not putting two passes together and we were ripping through them at will. After 25 minutes, I'm thinking - Villa surely can't continue to be so bad - we should have had three or four by then, but the final pass/cross was hopeless, and I'm starting to get anxious. 29 minutes Benteke scores completely out of the blue, shit defending, shit goalkeeping...and only THEN Villa started to believe. Having been on the ropes for half an hour, but still being level, then getting a goal totally against the run of play ....why wouldn't you suddenly think you had a chance. Only at that point did they start pressing & getting close to us & getting compact.

 

How to turn a potential 5-0 win into a 3-1 defeat.

[xerxes]

Agree with most of this except - ''Villa had their tails up after the league cup win and believed they could win''. After 20 minutes I was thinking that Villa were the worst team I'd seen all season, were nervous, not putting two passes together and we were ripping through them at will. After 25 minutes, I'm thinking - Villa surely can't continue to be so bad - we should have had three or four by then, but the final pass/cross was hopeless, and I'm starting to get anxious. 29 minutes Benteke scores completely out of the blue, shit defending, shit goalkeeping...and only THEN Villa started to believe. Having been on the ropes for half an hour, but still being level, then getting a goal totally against the run of play ....why wouldn't you suddenly think you had a chance. Only at that point did they start pressing & getting close to us & getting compact.

 

How to turn a potential 5-0 win into a 3-1 defeat.

 

I agree with you- my post was ambiguous. I meant that they came into the game with their tails up. You are right, we had the better of the first half of the first half.

[Red Banjo]

We were the better team. End of.

 

They had the referee and they took their chances doesn't mean they deserved to win the game - because they didn't.

[The Acolyte]

I said it in the match thread but I'll say it again.

 

People will blame the midfield and the defence, but if our forward players would get their fucking act together we'd be putting these games to bed with the possession we have.

 

Its fairly simple in my eyes, until we start killing games off we'll get nowhere.

 

And who might they be bar Suarez?

A just turned 18yr old? A midfielder playing up front (Shelvey) or are you referring to the two guys bought in the summer but have hardly kicked a ball in anger (Yessil and Assaidi). Dog shit communication between the dogs cunt owners and the not as smart as he thinks he is manager has left us so shone of players that can create a chance Saurez is trying to start and finish every opportunity. He will pick up more yellows and run himself into the ground just like, Owen, Fowler and Torres before him. When that happens and he sticks in a transfer request will the majority here give him the Torres treatment or will you slowly nod your heads as you knew it was coming?

[Trucker Paddy]

We were the better team. End of.

 

They had the referee and they took their chances doesn't mean they deserved to win the game - because they didn't.

 

No we weren't, they'd at least 5 excellent chances, they well deserved there win

[Red Banjo]

No we weren't, they'd at least 5 excellent chances, they well deserved there win

 

Considering we had 29 shots - how many good chances did we have then?

 

They defended well, i say well - but we still had 29 shots so they can't have defended that well. If they were superb in defence we'd have had about 3 shots.

 

They got lucky with one off the post, one of the most outrageous pieces of good fortune i've ever seen with that back heel and we were denied 2 penalties Manchester United would have got. Therefore they didn't deserve to win the game in my book.

 

Fair play to them for taking their chances and riding their luck, but i won't be falling over myself to congratulate them for an ace team performance because it wasn't one.

[Karl_b]

The result is obviously a major disappointment, there's nothing I can add to what's already been said - both about this game and our season as a whole - and it's hugely frustrating.

 

Is Assaidi injured, why isn't he even making the bench?

 

That Benteke looks a great signing and at £7m it shows that there are good value signings to be made. We just don't do it very often!

[Faustus]

Our deficiencies are pretty fucking glaring. We're really terrible in the final third. Appallingly so, even. If I had my way, Sterling would be made to watch the full 90 minutes of that and be told 'that's exactly why you're not getting 50k a week', because, frankly, for all the promise the lad has, he still has a long way to go to justify it and it's pretty much way an incentive based contract rising towards it would be the most sensible option.

 

Then again, it is football we're talking about and common sense long since left that planet, so if the lad left and went to City or United or wherever, I really couldn't give a shite.

 

Anyway, back to the match, played some great stuff first 10-20 mins, but as I said, we really are wank in the final third. Always seem to take that needless extra touch or play that pass that leaves somebody gammy footed. Villa today showed what taking your chances can do. When we were chasing the game second half, it was understandably stretched and that's why a lot of their chances were so glaring. It's kind of what happens when you commit everybody forward and get caught on the break.

 

And the refs can go and fuck themselves. Fair play to Villa for taking their chances like, but some of those decisions were scandalous. All people we want is consistency. If Allen is penalised for that handball last week, by right those two ones in the second half were pens. As Allardyce said in his interview, you have your hand away from your body, you run the risk of conceding a penalty. Just some fucking consistency, you utter gobshites.

[Paco]

gonna be a lllllooooonnnnnnggggggg week

[billypilgrimnz]

Villa were atrocious in the first 25 minutes or so, and we were swamping forward - but we simply do not have enough technique, vision, creativity or cool-mindedness in the final third.

 

Passes overhit, passes underhit, ball trapped under the feet, cross into first defender, cross flying over the top of everyone, dawdling on the ball, wondering what to do next, miscued shots, shots that go a million miles in the air, scuff shots that tamely land in the keepers hands.....and on and on and on and on. And its not just when we are pressing a compact defense - it is on the break as well. No composure, no skill.

 

And this will continue to happen until (a) our players do some training at all of that and get better, or (b) we get better players. Though Rodgers is hardly blameless in all of this (the set-up of the defense, for one thing), it doesn't matter who our manager is.

[DooooodekNo5]

The more we see of Allen the more i think what a total lightweight average at best footballer, him and Lucas should not start games together at home ever again.

 

Also amongst other things , fucked off the amount of times we have the opportunity to cross the ball into the box and choose not to , Suarez comes short nearly everytime a wideman has it meaning theres never any cunt in the box , just leave the wideman out there to do his job and get players running into the fucking box.[/quote

 

I'm not having a dig but didn't you want that useless cunt Joe Cole on in the first half. I spotted it somewhere.

Just shows how hard it is managing. As you have proved. Got your player to blame have you? Poor Joe. Bet he can't wait for Borini to return.

How fucking predictable.

 

Xerxes I don't always agree with a lot you say but I reckon you got it more or less right regards the game today.

 

 

I did say i cant believe im saying it , just that Sterling was so wasteful and the fact that Cole has made decent contributions when given the chance of late , im happy to see Cole out the door when the time comes but no-one can surely deny hes had way more impact in his few limited appearances than Raheem has lately.

 

Not as if we needed it but today yet again proves we need a goal hanging number 9 , Suarez aint no number nine , he wants to be involved to much to be a genuine 9.

 

What gets me is that when Suarez goes wondering none of our midfielders run in behind him bar Gerrard very occaisionally , it reminds me at home against shite when we used to play Lucas and Masherano , whats the point in playing to defensive mids at home against shite ?

 

Lucas's job is to sit in front and protect the back 4 and feed the ball forwards/keep possession , fair enough , top player when fit and on form.

 

Allens job and qualities i struggle to see , maybe im being thick, but he never runs beyond Suarez looking to get on the end of things , never makes a telling important pass/assist , crap at tackling just get shrugged off a lot of the time ........... so what is he there for ? what am i missing ? hes a spare part , hes looking more and more like a clone of Henderson with each passing game , and whatever anyone says thats not a good thing , its not what we need , we have enough nothing players.

 

Gerrard i dont know anymore with him , he looks quality in patches , he'll never lose that class but overall his contribution not even close to what it used to be , plus hes deep a lot of the time , surely hes meant to be getting right up there and in the box when were attacking when hes in a midfield 3 of him , Allen and Lucas ?

 

What is our midfield meant to be doing ? just rolling the ball left and right all game to our full backs, at home to fucking Villa ? surely at least 1 of them is supposed to be high up the pitch scoring/creating goals , really it should be 2 especially at home but i'ld settle for just 1 right now , our midfield is redundant , it has been all season.

Edited December 16, 2012 by DooooodekNo5

[Trucker Paddy]

 

Considering we had 29 shots - how many good chances did we have then?

 

They defended well' date=' i say well - but we still had 29 shots so they can't have defended that well. If they were superb in defence we'd have had about 3 shots.

 

They got lucky with one off the post, one of the most outrageous pieces of good fortune i've ever seen with that back heel and we were denied 2 penalties Manchester United would have got. Therefore they didn't deserve to win the game in my book.

 

Fair play to them for taking their chances and riding their luck, but i won't be falling over myself to congratulate them for an ace team performance because it wasn't one.[/quote']

 

So it's getting lucky if you score one off the inside of post? I'd say its a good finish. They had 5/6 great chances, we had 2/3, bar 1st 20 minutes they dominated us in midfield with aggression and continually broke well.

[Dougie Do'ins]

Considering we had 29 shots - how many good chances did we have then?

 

They defended well, i say well - but we still had 29 shots so they can't have defended that well. If they were superb in defence we'd have had about 3 shots.

They got lucky with one off the post, one of the most outrageous pieces of good fortune i've ever seen with that back heel and we were denied 2 penalties Manchester United would have got. Therefore they didn't deserve to win the game in my book.

 

Fair play to them for taking their chances and riding their luck, but i won't be falling over myself to congratulate them for an ace team performance because it wasn't one.

I don't remember their keeper making any save of note throughout the whole game.

[Captain]

You don't read the league table in hex? You've gone down in my estimation. Again.

 

Well, I laughed.

[Original202]

I don't remember their keeper making any save of note throughout the whole game.

 

Was just about to post the same. 29 shots but most of them being back passes.

[Priory Doctor]

Considering we had 29 shots - how many good chances did we have then?

 

They defended well, i say well - but we still had 29 shots so they can't have defended that well. If they were superb in defence we'd have had about 3 shots.

 

They got lucky with one off the post, one of the most outrageous pieces of good fortune i've ever seen with that back heel and we were denied 2 penalties Manchester United would have got. Therefore they didn't deserve to win the game in my book.

 

Fair play to them for taking their chances and riding their luck, but i won't be falling over myself to congratulate them for an ace team performance because it wasn't one.

 

Tremendously blinkered view."most outrageous pieces of good fortune ever seen"-for Christs sake grow up.Haven't we had about 4 own goals scored for us this season.Appreciate a great goal and movement for what it was.

[Red Banjo]

Tremendously blinkered view."most outrageous pieces of good fortune ever seen"-for Christs sake grow up.Haven't we had about 4 own goals scored for us this season.Appreciate a great goal and movement for what it was.

 

Shut up you whopper. Go give your head a wobble. We've scored as many own goals as we've conceded this season.

 

I'll appreciate a good goal when i see one - but having cursed our luck for hitting the post 40+ times since the start of last season, i'll be a little less dignified when it fails to stop the opposition from scoring like it does us.

 

And as for the back heel - it was good, but you rely on so many factors when even attempting something like that - and a slice of fortune is the biggest, he could have over hit it, mis-directed it, hit Agger, hit himself, missed the ball completely, etc. He managed to get it absolutely bang on - which is commendable but i can guarantee you if he attempts that another 10 times, it wouldn't come off. So as i say - it was outrageously fortunate. As lucky as it was good.

 

Funny word that luck, evens itself out over the course of a season doesn't it?

[Priory Doctor]

Shut up you whopper. Go give your head a wobble. We've scored as many own goals as we've conceded this season.

 

I'll appreciate a good goal when i see one - but having cursed our luck for hitting the post 40+ times since the start of last season, i'll be a little less dignified when it fails to stop the opposition from scoring like it does us.

 

And as for the back heel - it was good, but you rely on so many factors when even attempting something like that - and a slice of fortune is the biggest, he could have over hit it, mis-directed it, hit Agger, hit himself, missed the ball completely, etc. He managed to get it absolutely bang on - which is commendable but i can guarantee you if he attempts that another 10 times, it wouldn't come off. So as i say - it was outrageously fortunate. As lucky as it was good.

 

Funny word that luck, evens itself out over the course of a season doesn't it?

 

You really want to let it go mate."he could have over hit it, etc, etc" .You can use that logic for every goal we have ever scored or conceded -it was a great bit of skill and finishing-something we lack at the moment.I am as pig sick as the rest of us on here,but looking to disregard some fine play from Villa to cover for our inadequacies is daft.

[Red Banjo]

You really want to let it go mate."he could have over hit it, etc, etc" .You can use that logic for every goal we have ever scored or conceded -it was a great bit of skill and finishing-something we lack at the moment.I am as pig sick as the rest of us on here,but looking to disregard some fine play from Villa to cover for our inadequacies is daft.

 

Benteke was widely lauded as a donkey by most (including his own!) fans, until yesterday - then suddenly he produces a flash of magic and he's now known for his great skill? I work with a few Villa fans - and they were calling him the new Heskey all week. What does that tell you? They told me we had nothing to fear with him as he tries all this flashy stuff he obviously see's Eden Hazard do when they go away on international duty - and guess what... he always fails. Now suddenly he plays us and he's the best striker in Europe for the weekend.

 

Yes i am pig sick. Utterly fucking disgusted by the fact we manage to fuck ourselves in the ass game after game. It would just be nice if the luck and decisions we fail to get week after week, actually stop the opposition for once - but guess what, it hasn't. Yet again.

[Priory Doctor]

His own manager has been impressed enough to leave out a £20 Million striker for him.

The Villa Season Ticket holder I work with has been praising him for his performances for a couple of months now.

Either way, I think we can agree that yesterday was a bad day all round.