Stoke home matchthread

[LFC 6 Times]

every home games the same.

[Badix]

The problem is we don't have players who know how to create space either through a quick turn, dribble or one two, meaning the opposition's defensive block stays untroubled.

[Dani Pacheco]

Why ever play Kuyt in games where creativity is needed? He is so fucking diabolically shit it's a joke. No wonder we've won nothing with him in the team for 6 years, not many teams with him in their attack could.

 

Nice guy and I've met him, nothing against him other than his poor technique constantly slowing down attacks or losing possession year after year, some scruffy important goals in the past come nowhere near to make up for all his deficiencies.

[Frankenhooker]

Desperately lacking creativity, not much else to say, it's just a sorry state of affairs.

[Red Lad]

Not surprised at all at this result.

 

The whole world knew Stoke would come and park the bus yet we sent out a team that looked like we were playing for a draw. Five defenders and Kuyt on his own up front. FFS.

 

Awful team selection, awful tactics, awful subs and an awful amount of money spunked in the summer.

 

On the plus side, both full backs were excellent today.

[Alvaro1107]

Well we might as well start to say goodbye to the champions league, Chelsea has a 5 point lead now.

[kalasoma]

Half way through Suarez 8 match ban. It feels like an eternity. Kuyt... I just don't have the words anymore.

[diamondjoe]

Fill the team with bread and butter players and we get a bread and butter sandwich.

Kenny to blame, full stop. Don't like this creeping negativity, there's only so much of this shit you can watch before questions have to be asked.

Another season drifts by.

[Red '84]

worst fcuking groundhog day ever.

 

we have absolutley nobody in the team who just takes a gamble in the box and drifts into dangerous areas.

 

static and predictable i would say and cumbersome and careless when the big man is on the pitch.

[Delmar]

Stoke have big, slow defenders. We play in crosses after crosses, corners after corners. Unimaginative, predictable stuff. We need a midfield, Adam needs to be dropped, thediagonal balls are pointless in a game like this. Get Spearing fit, buy a DM, and play Spearing with Gerrard as the attacking midfielders. Sell Carroll, get some speed and forget about the 70s style football, it is not working.

[ngogswilly]

Well we might as well start to say goodbye to the champions league, Chelsea has a 5 point lead now.

 

Doesn't matter how many points they are ahead. They could be 9 points ahead but if we went out and bought 1 or 2 good attacking players tomorrow we could catch them.

[Badix]

Why do we always start games off in such a lethargic fashion? by the time we build up any momentum its fucking half time.

[Chinandeler Bong]

Kuyt is woeful. Been saying it for a long time. He offers us nothing most of the time.

Yes yes yes he works hard blah blah blah but his first touch is DISGUSTINGLY SHIT.

 

We look static, no imagination, nothing.,

[Il Fenomeno]

Can't believe we sold Ryan Babel and then bought Downing for more than double the price. They are identical players just that Babel had a bit more end product and could actually score a couple.

[aRdja]

It was clear at around about the 10 minute mark that we didn't need the extra defender. I wonder what made Kenny persist with 3 at the back and a lone striker, especially when we were looking for a goal?

[TheResonator]

Tactics were dreadful today. On paper it looked like we were set up to keep it on the deck, but then all of our attacks were coming from the wings and we had nobody in the box. We were basically playing a line-up that suits Carroll, without Carroll.

 

None of Henderson, Gerrard or Adam wanted to get in the box: they all look like they want to play facing the goal. That's not a problematic quality in a player, but when you have three of your five attacking players nowhere near the penalty area and you're chucking crosses in it just doesn't work at all.

 

Henderson looks way too shy. He plays the ball too quickly. He doesn't look like he wants to try and make anything happen, he hasn't developed the intelligence to change the tempo of the game, he can't play the holding role, and he's not getting in positions to score. He is miles away from justifying a place in the team and generally looks like he is nowhere near ready to step-up to what's required of him.

 

Our best attacking player today was Glen Johnson, by a mile. Our wing-back. That says everything you need to know about how we were set-up up top.

 

Carroll's cameo was horrific. It's becoming almost comical. He came over, fell over about 15 times, claimed about 5 penalties he didn't get when he should've been challenging for the ball, it was just terrible stuff.

 

Not that that was the worst thing. Our deliveries into the box have been fucking shocking all season. If our crosses aren't blocked, we never hit our man. Our men in the box seem bereft of all intelligent movement. We are really, really bad playing in off the wings, and yet that often seems to be our gameplan.

 

Good to see Stevie back and I thought Skrtel had a good game. Coates wasn't bad either. On the whole, though, it was an atrocious performance from us.

[MLB]

It is worrying that the same problems have been evident all season and nothing seems to be being done to fix them. Kuyt has become a liability and we have far too many players who lack craft and guile. We can write off a top 4 finish unless we bring in at least two players this month.

[Strontium]

Even in injury time we had 6 or 7 behind the ball. Why, in case of a Stoke breakaway? Can someone remind Kenny it's 3 points for a win these days and that a draw is almost as bad as a defeat, so you might as well go for it. If you're in the 93rd minute and 0-0 you should have 7 or 8 in their third of the pitch, minimum.

[YNWAViking]

Pretty much shit all over today.

 

Kenny didn't start of us well did he, with an astonoshingly defensive line-up, with the #1 shithouse Kuyt flundering alone on top, mixed in with a team consisting of 5 (!) defenders. We played like they wanted us to; hoofing the ball up to a lone man, letting their mountain defenders easily take care of every high ball.

 

Kuyt was so bad tonight. He looked like a Dutch poodle on the pitch. Didn't do anything right. Amazed that he played more than 45 minutes - even more so the whole 90 minutes. Really really shit. As usual, I'd say. Please get rid asap.

 

We just didn't get enough chances today. 5 shots on target is probably around 15 too few for our uneffective team to be able to score a goal.

 

Today we should have started of with a normal 4-4-2 with Carroll and Bellamy on top - mixing Carroll's height and Bellamy's pace & smartness should have been enough to get a win vs Stoke. Kuyt alone, on the other hand, was a recipie for disaster.

 

Fucking livid tonight. The performance was so poor & the game so boring I'd keel over sleeping if I wasn't fuming.

 

Regards to the fans that payed to watch the game at Anfield tonight. Especially the one's travelling from abroad. What a waste of money. Good riddance to you.

 

I'm amazed that we seem unable to analyze the Stoke team, and see that their main strength is height & strength.. And their weakness the opposite; pace & smart movement between the lines. We had zero of the latter today. Thus we ended up with a fucking poor point.

[BCM]

Said to my mate, its like watching a pre season game, players making poor runs, players not on same wavelength, poor control, no impetus or dynamism.

 

Oh another point, where Gerrard and Adam having a competition of who could hit the most hollywood passes today....... not sure who won.

 

We have no identity as a football team, no mantra. Its just 11 players chucked together.

 

The cups are going to be the only bright spots this season.

[christhered]

Horrible by Kenny im afraid to say, how we can play 3 central defenders and 3 central midfielders who had no interest getting into the box, I just can't explain it, fuck knows where Downing was playing and well Kuyt upfront says it all.

 

I know its sacrilege to criticise Dalglish but on this occasion he is at fault every step of the way today, I just dont understand anything about todays game.

[J-V]

Fill the team with bread and butter players and we get a bread and butter sandwich.

Kenny to blame, full stop. Don't like this creeping negativity, there's only so much of this shit you can watch before questions have to be asked.

Another season drifts by.

 

Is right.

 

Can't say any of this is a surprise though. Dalglish made a rod for his own back when He/Commolli went on a buy average English players for big money rampage.

[Dani Pacheco]

If we're still starting Kuyt after 6 years of such obvious weaknesses and deficiencies in his game, then we deserve everything we get, i.e. nothing. Seriously how many times has he been the main culprit in slowing down our play and contributing little other than a tap in, leading us to getting a draw against shit sides, time after time for years.

 

Meh, I'm too angry now to contribute anything of note, just very poor today, never deserved to win that match, which is frustrating.

[MLB]

Henderson looks way too shy. He plays the ball too quickly. He doesn't look like he wants to try and make anything happen, he hasn't developed the intelligence to change the tempo of the game, he can't play the holding role, and he's not getting in positions to score. He is miles away from justifying a place in the team and generally looks like he is nowhere near ready to step-up to what's required of him.

 

 

Henderson treats the ball like a hand grenade. He shouldn't be in the team right now as far as I'm concerned as he offers less than pretty much every other centre mid we have, Shelvey included.

[Evil_Ways]

Played fucking badly as hell there.

Though Stoke are a fucking sickening disgrace of a football side, we knew that going in, and failed to do fuck all about it. So with Suarez missing, and Gerrard not coming up with the goods and we are clueless. We should be fucking desperate in the transfer market. We are lacking so much attacking quality it's depressing.