Game Thread: v Steaua (h)

[Gary Mac Legend]

Well, that was refreshing.

[paulie1969]

Great to see the team attacking second half.Much better than we had to watch so far this season.Roll on Sunday.

[king]

Pacheco should of been on as soon as we were 3-1 up he needs games. No use throwing him on with 6 minutes to go.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Did Collymore just call Liverpool Vs Man Utd the Lancashire Derby? The geographically challenged prat.

 

Well up until 1974 it was one of them.

[Kurt]

A very much improved 2nd half, when we started closing them down. In the first we allowed them to pass it around, which always are dangerous against Romanian sides, who always are good on the ball.

 

Cole where much more involved, and you could also easily see the improved performance from Maxi when players around him starts playing quicker passing, and moves around.

 

The positives where Cole, Spearing, Meireles and Maxi in the 2nd. And another 2 goal from N`Gog. I thought he was awful up to the penalty, and it seems that goal lifted the world from his shoulders.

 

Defensively I felt we were all over the place whenever they put any pressure on us, so there is plenty room for improvement there. And how ace was it to see Pepe as captain??

 

Hopefully we can start playing with more urgency and passion from the first half soon, as we are so much better when we put our opponents under pressure and we attack with purpose.

 

It was very very nice to see us score som goals again, and long may it continue.

[Trumo]

Honourable mention for Lucas: what a hit son, what a hit!

 

I can't understand why he doesn't put his lace through the ball more often when he shoots. When he does do it, you can gets end results like tonight.

[Guest Captain Jonjo]

^ he scored some screamers in similar fahsion for gremio, so he defently has a thunder strike in him.

[usernameunknown]

Finally, a half of football to enjoy, amazing what happens when we play with some sort of tempo in it?

[Kevin D]

It's not inconceivable that Ngog could get 20 goals this season. And when that happens, how we Ngogites will celebrate long into the night.

[Chinandeler Bong]

Well played 2nd half. Still cant play well in the 1st half yet, which is weird.

But overall a good team performance.

[Redzawi]

xabi alonso : Well done Reds!!

 

Xabi Alonso (XabiAlonso) on Twitter

[Pidge]

It's not inconceivable that Ngog could get 20 goals this season. And when that happens, how we Ngogites will celebrate long into the night.

 

I think double figures is a good step forward for him, let's not get carried away though.

[edge of darknes]

xabi alonso : Well done Reds!!

 

Xabi Alonso (XabiAlonso) on Twitter

 

And a message for Carragher too.

[Irishlad]

xabi alonso : Well done Reds!!

 

Xabi Alonso (XabiAlonso) on Twitter

 

Nice one Xabi.

 

Is this Lucas one real?

 

Lucas Leiva (LucasLeiva87) on Twitter

[Pidge]

I believe it is.

[sir roger]

Bit sticky when we lost confidence after their goal, but generally I thought we played well & the second half was probably the best 45 mins of the season.

 

In hindsight it couldn't have gone much better.

 

- Excellent result & a few goals to boot

- Fringe players & youngsters got good run outs

- Carra / Stevie / Nando got a rest

- Napoli / Utrecht drew , so we are in command of the group

 

I am hoping that after the way we played second half , Roy has realised we are much better putting a ' full court press ' on the opposition & not doing this passive sitting-back type defence.

 

As an aside I was surprised that Raul played all 90 mins & wonder if this means he won't start on Sunday.

[Lubeh]

Great result but I gotta know who shot Kyri for the pen!

 

Great goal by Lucas, good awareness from Cole for his goal, and Ngog's 2nd was well taken, defence actually looked like they could defend which is a bonus (imo Agger and Kyri better combo than Carra and Skrtel atm).

 

Kelly playing better than Johnson aswell it actually looked like we had a RB for once, and Konchesky was a solid 7/10 again.

 

Meireles did well for his debut and Joe looked to be linking up well with the other players, Spearing apart from a few mistakes and his slip was pretty solid aswell and appeared to be telling others where they should be, not really sure of Maxi I think I would much prefer Pacheco or Babel down the right.

 

Kinda feel for Babel in some respects he wants to play upfront, but not allowed then get shafted to the left which he aint too hot on. ( I think he will be gone in January).

[sir roger]

Babel hardly ever gets put on the right, but when he does he immediately looks twice the player as he is using his better foot to ping the ball in & he is able to get outside where he is likely to cause more trouble, rather than the right back yawning while waiting for him to check back inside from the left wing.

 

It is one of them maddening things that to the layman seems really obviously worth a try, but class managers won't even seem to contemplate it for some reason.

[Torvald Utne]

.

[Son of L8]

figures the one match im not able to watch is the one where we arent mind-numbingly rubbish...

 

maybe i ought to have a lie-in on sunday?

[Torvald Utne]

not mind-numbingly no.

[Juan Galonso]

Enjoyable game that tonight. Spearing was excellent and did everything Lucas as a much more senior member of the squad should be doing more of like getting his foot on the ball and demanding it keeping it simple and looking for the forward pass when it is on. I think he touched the ball more than anybody tonight and his passing was nearly always neat and precise. I enjoyed his performance. He just shades MOTM over Cole to me who I was impressed with not just for his work rate but his undoubted quality in possession and linking the play up.

 

Kelly had a unfussy solid game at full back and I would have no qualms about putting him in over Johnson on current form if I am being honest, it could be the kick up the arse Johnson needs. Thought Konchesky was solid again and again the balance in both full back positions tonight was really good. He is a marked improvement on anything we have had there over the past couple of years.

 

Meireles had a steady game and he will obviously improve as he gets more games and on the same wavelength as the rest of the team. He seems neat and tidy in possession and will be a good addition I think. Maxi showed some good flashes of class at times and was much more livelier than the subdued performance he game at Birmingham, I think being in the same team as Cole helps his game as someone who plays between the lines and isn't just about being part of a rigid narrow midfield like we have seen when Lucas and Jova have played so far this season.

 

Ryan Babel, where to start, yes he worked hard but I thought most of the time he was chasing back for mistakes he had made, just basic fundamental errors like losing out on recieving the ball from throw ins and sloppy passes. I could see Cole getting a little frustrated a couple of times as the game went on with his wastefulness and the uncanny knack he seems to have of nearly always making the wrong decision when in possession in the final third. I would either play him up front or not at all if I am honest. At least up front he can just play on the shoulder of defenders and get shots at goal. I just don't see what is to be gained playing him on the left hand side achieves to be honest. He maybe could play on the right a bit more and trying and get on the outside of people with his pace but I just don't think he will cut it here.

 

N'Gog was basically N'Gog, I have to hand it to the lad, he was very average tonight but the lad gets goals, nothing was sticking to him tonight and attacks were breaking down a lot through him but his finish for the 2nd goal was excellent and his penalty was cool.

 

Hopefully we can get a good performance on Sunday and whilst the result is obviously important, even if we lost but there were signs of a progressive performance and something to build on after tonight then I could accept that. We are capable of getting a result at Old Trafford but I don't expect us to but if the performance is of the right kind and not the dull fare witnessed in the league in every game apart from the Arsenal 2nd half then fair enough.

 

Someone made a good point on the way home from the game tonight on the radio when they said United won't close us down like Birmingham did and it won't be that type of game like Sunday just gone. That will suit us more than playing somebody of Birminghams ilk so fingers crossed we can go there and have a bit of a go as this is probably the best time to play United I suppose even if my head is telling me they may just shade it.

[Guest the boy]

Spearing was all over the place first 45 minutes: there was a spell following their goal where he shouldn't have been anywhere near the pitch. I'm no champion of Lucas by any means, but you need your xenophobic old head examined if you're suggesting he rise above Lucas in the senior pecking order. Spearing is to a mid-level Championship side as Lucas is to a mid-table league side. Lucas is at least functional if nothing else.

 

United's a tricky one: figure they'll pack they'll midfield as that's been their failing the past few games. Interesting to see how it pans out. Real barometer of where we are as a team right now.

Edited September 17, 2010 by the boy

[Lubeh]

I can see Roy reventing back to type with Lucas and Poulson as DM and with Jova back in and we will get hammered, I think the only way to beat Man Utd is too attack them and if the same team as was playing against Brum play we could be in for a big loss. I am no football manager but surely playing both Lucas and Poulson is a major error of judgement, one or the other (or neither) not both.

[Unrighteous]

N'gog has a good attitude, works hard, and is scoring goals right now... plus he's hung like a baby elephant.

 

I think he's finally starting to show that he can succeed here.