Home v Stoke

[Guest davelfc]

KjgqgroXeBU

[Newport]

I just checked and Michael Ball got three games for his stamp on Cristiano Ronaldo five years ago. Let's see how the FA will conduct themselves this time.

[the walsh]

he needs backing in the januaray transfer window otherwise i dont think we will finish higher than 8th the kid,s have been excellent but we need a bite of experience and a striker i think a bad a transfer but jan is never a good time to get players in

[Randy Marsh]

Not too disappointed with today, maybe that's because I'm genuinely not holding out too much hope for this season. I resigned myself to days like today when the transfer window passed and the glaring flaw in our make up wasn't addressed.

 

There are 2 main issues with our play that are severely restricting our aspirations at the moment. One is lack of goals, the other a lack of ability to keep goals out coupled with the ability to shoot ourselves in the foot and serve up ready made chances to our opponents.

 

We cannot address the goal scoring until January. The defending we can work on and I suppose our first clean sheet today can be seen as a step in the right direction.

 

By and large we dominated today. Scrappy in parts but then a match against Stoke always will be. All teams struggle against that shower of talentless grocks. We started with plenty of youth in the side and the types of players on Sterling and Suso who previous managers wouldn't have given a look in against Stoke City regardless of form. None of them looked overawed and all competed physically and eventually imposed themselves on the game. Suso in particular was outstanding and MOM for me. Wisdom to looked like he had ten years experience under his belt.

 

I think as fans we have to be patient. I know it's tedious to say that but it's true. I say real promise and potential with this team. All I wanted to see this season was signs of progress and good sound reason to back the manager and his project going forward in coming seasons. I'm seeing that already. We are playing some absolutely fantastic football. We are integrating youth in to the side at a rate none of us would have ever anticipated. Yes we are left frustrated after results like today but I'm heartened by the fact that our flaws can be addressed with smart work in the transfer market, and some tightening up of the defence at Melwood. When we find the balance between playing it out of the back at the right times and emptying under pressure we will be a lot better for it. It's all a learning curve and we are at the very early stages of the process still.

 

I'm confident that we will be much healthier points wise in a couple of months time. As frustrating as it is, there is plenty to be positive about. I just hope we as supporters are patient enough to recognise that.

[dennis tooth]

Red fire make it burn

[TheHowieLama]

I think Rodney has done a fine job of breaking it down there.

Score more, concede less.

Simple, to the point, no fancy words.

[bonesman]

We have omly one experienced striker in the club and many are unconvinced that he is actually at his best played as a striker at that. If he doesn't score,where will the goals come from?

 

There were posters who said the total cock-up at the end of the window didn't matter much. In games like today it's obvious that at least one of FSG,Ayre or Rodgers fucked us up until at least January. We need to look deeper into what's happening at our club than the referees performance or how often we hit the woodwork rather than score.

 

This ...

[Sut]

We have players who wouldn't score in a brothel - and no attacking intent....

 

 

Recycle, recycle, recycle..... Zzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Midtable, that's what we are at the moment!

 

Great idea not to buy a striker in the summer, thanks FSG

 

To be fair, Liverpool would be loath to pay.

[Guest San Don]

Just back from the game- it was good to keep a clean sheet.

 

As a footballing spectacle it scored pretty much zero points with Pullis predictably identifying our weak points and exploiting them in an attritional stalemate. Our failure to impose our style on them was a concern.

 

Luis , by far our best player, could have scored from his run down the right, but his penalty box dive was embarrassing, and will only serve to ensure that he fails to get the benefit of the doubt in future calls when a foul has been committed. Reina looked very uneasy distributing from the back.

 

It was good to see JC resurrected from the stiffs, and it was also good to see Sterling, Suso and Wisdom given more experience. There will be more days like this. Everyone around me can and could see what Rodgers is trying to do, it will take time. But next time we are home to Stoke I may have to find something more interesting to do like creosoting the fence at Xerxes’ Towers.

 

You're a fucking mong.

 

We have omly one experienced striker in the club and many are unconvinced that he is actually at his best played as a striker at that. If he doesn't score,where will the goals come from?

 

There were posters who said the total cock-up at the end of the window didn't matter much. In games like today it's obvious that at least one of FSG,Ayre or Rodgers fucked us up until at least January. We need to look deeper into what's happening at our club than the referees performance or how often we hit the woodwork rather than score.

 

Correct there, Tommy lad. Rodgers was naive in wanting to ship Carroll out without giving the lad the opportunity to show if he can fit in or not. He was even more naive in finding himself in a situation of letting carroll go before it was agreed someone else was coming in.

 

That, rests soley on the owners. Ayres is just doing their bidding. I hope John henry and Tom Werner now realise the monumental cockup they have made and how this will impact the club beyond this season.

 

IMO, we will struggle to finish in the top half of the league. I dont believe we'll bring in a proven striker in january. I mean who will be available? Bent isnt getting games at Villa but they'll want in the region of £20m again off us and there's no way tom and john will fall for that.

 

No, as regards strikers this season, i think we're fucked. Hope Im wrong.

[ngogswilly]

I think we probably will struggle to get a good striker in January.

 

But I think we'll have to gamble. We didn't last year and it didn't help things.

 

I'd rather spend a few million on a gamble or bring in a loan than be told its better off waiting till the summer again.

[kalasoma]

Pulis is embarrassed by Suarez behaviour, but I'd be more embarrassed about that sorry excuse for a "football" team he manages

BBC Sport - Luis Suarez behaviour embarrassing - Tony Pulis

BBC Sport - Liverpool's Luis Suarez should be banned for dive - Tony Pulis

[Guest davelfc]

While I admire Rogers for integrating youth into the team, he's sort of been forced into that hasn't he, by the paper thin squad we have. Thank fuck they've actually stepped up and are showing real talent and hunger. More than can be said for some of the higher paid leeches we have. They're playing with confidence and impressing the hell out of me. But if we do not start to pick up points, (wins) soon then I can see that confidence draining.

 

Stoke must have puffed their chests out when they saw the 'Warrior' slogan "we come not to play" because in all honesty if ever a brand belonged to a team, then warrior belong to Stoke. It's not a game to them, it's a physical dirty battle. It all took me back to the 70's, world of sport, mick mcmanus, big daddy and giant haystacks, not forgetting kendo nagasaki. I even did a quiet 'ding ding, round 2' to myself when the second half kicked off.

 

They don't so much play football as punch and stamp it to death. No excuses though, we know mason is a twat and we know how stoke play their game. You don't get any surprises in this fixture and lee mason didn't surprise me in the slightest. He's fucking crap, he didn't cause us to draw but he did ensure our players were open to far more dangerous attacks than should be expected in a football game. Once stoke see they can get away with it they ramp it up, which is what they did.

 

If we think it's bad now just imagine how bad it could have been if the young lads coming in had not been bloody brilliant at times. Unlike Randy I genuinely fear for us being able to keep them at the end of the season, if we don't start getting wins then we may struggle to keep some of the best of them.

 

We're all pinning our hopes on getting a goalscorer in January, well I fucking hope it's the start and not the end because we have the mancs and arsenal away and the cheating mancs a couple of days after the window closes.

 

We should be fine, nobody knows we're desperate for a striker and it's dead easy to prize players away from clubs mid season. Plus everyone we buy hits the ground running don't they? Just tell them we've got red nets and they'll bust a gut to come here. Seriously though what the fuck are we going to attract if we're languishing down in the lower part of the league? Personally I hope that's not the case but for fucks sake we really need some points, ugly wins, anything.

 

Anyway, we're about where I thought we might be right now. Seven points was the minimum we needed from Norwich, stoke and Reading so now we can only hope the international break is kind to us and leaves us with no injuries so we can get those three points against Reading and build from that.

 

We can all see some lovely play, great passing and we've improved slowly and steadily. Rogers and the team will get patience from most fans, they'll even get time. But wakey fucking wakey, you don't get time in this league, there's no learners section, we don't get points for pretty football.

 

We had better start winning or we're going to end up in the shit.

Edited October 7, 2012 by davelfc

[ngogswilly]

Pulis is taking a page of his fucking mentor Fergiscum's playbook.

 

He knows if he kicks up a shitstorm over Suarez then no one will ask any questions about Huth's stamp and his team kicking lumps out of ours.

 

Can see the Suarez dive is already taking up headlines though, laughable the lengths the media go to try and fuck us over.

[DirkDiggledinho]

It's groundhog day all over again. People are now saying, "It will take time". we said that the first time we drew 0-0 with Stoke the season we finished second. Several seasons and a long slide down the table later, we're giving the same excuse all over again. It's definitely something psychological. We badly need to toughen up and grow some balls, because right now we look terrified of scoring.

[ngogswilly]

We had better start winning or we're going to end up in the shit.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

Sorta nervous a lot of the fanbase don't see that either which is not good.

[gumps]

Pulis is taking a page of his fucking mentor Fergiscum's playbook.

 

He knows if he kicks up a shitstorm over Suarez then no one will ask any questions about Huth's stamp and his team kicking lumps out of ours.

 

Can see the Suarez dive is already taking up headlines though, laughable the lengths the media go to try and fuck us over.

 

Just watched that and spot on!

 

I also felt the "interview" was pre-planned so to speak. The interviewer mentioned the 6 Stoke bookings which was a lead in to Pulis just casually mentioning how he was disappointed no LFC players were booked. Cue a suspicious pause and the interviewer says "care to elaborate?" which send Pulis off on his Ferguson copyrighted ( I bet all his cronies have an aid memoire document circulated) rant about diving.

[TheHowieLama]

Should really just close the thread:

 

 

Score more, concede less.

Start winning or end up in the shit.

[G Richards]

I was fairly encouraged by today's game. We took the game to Stoke and knocked on the door pretty hard throughout the match. Granted, a draw is a frustrating result, but I choose to be positive. We have been shipping goals all season and today we tightened up very well. They barely had a sniff and they are a dangerous team, especially from set pieces. Keeping a clean sheet was a job well done... at one end of the pitch at least!

 

We all know we are short up top, but most teams will find Stoke difficult to break down. It was a good day for Suso, Sterling and Wisdom; the latter in particular looking the part today. I'm keeping the faith. I think something special will emerge from all this.

[kalasoma]

International break and then we can get our season underway!

[KopOut]

We left Norwich with three points, and looked great, but, I indicated in that particular match thread, that the real test would be against Stoke at home. Well, we failed that test. gerrard himself targeted the game as a 'must win' but his contribution was, by his traditional standards, very poor.

 

In fact, I'm getting sick of all the rhetoric - oh yeah the big name players talk the talk (they take after the manager) but they and the team are failing miserably on the pitch when it really needs to count.

 

Either BR's plan is shite, or the players can't be fucked about BR's plan. Either way, the buck stops with the manager.

[Strontium]

Pulis is embarrassed by Suarez behaviour, but I'd be more embarrassed about that sorry excuse for a "football" team he manages

BBC Sport - Luis Suarez behaviour embarrassing - Tony Pulis

BBC Sport - Liverpool's Luis Suarez should be banned for dive - Tony Pulis

 

 

Pulis is part of Slur's cabal of vermin so not really surprising.

[torahboy]

Pulis is a complete mediocrity. A man whose main tactic for years has been fucking long throw-ins has no right to talk about players and teams who can play football.

 

I hope that fucking baseball cap fuses itself to his sweaty, baldy head, creating all manner of infection until gangrene sets in and his whole swede has to be amputated. Not that it would make a difference to his football thinking.

 

Sunday is a cunt of a day.

[Paco]

I met Pepe at Manchester Airport tonight. You know when you see someone you think you recognise but you're not quite sure? He came walking alongside me looking at his phone as we approached the security area. I did a double take and then went “what happened today then?” he either ignored me or didn't know if I was talking to him. He continued walking alongside me and I kept looking at him and thought it's defo him so I went “Pepe? Can I get a picture?” he says “sure” so we stop and I take a picture with my crappy 2007 nokia. I look at the photo and it's only him in it. I say to him “I'm not in it, it's only you” he shrugs and starts walking again. I say again “what happened today?” not aggressively more like how a father would ask his son what he got up to at school. “we drew” he says “not good” I reply. He doesn't answer. Probably sounds quite rude but it wasn't intentional. I feel bad I didn't even tank him for the photo that I'm not in. Never meet your idols or if you're me if you see your idols don't talk to them.

[mike23]

That performance actually looked better in the highlights than it did watching it at the time. The cheek of Pulis to moan about 6 bookings and Suarez diving after what his team got away with is incredible but he has a long history of doing it. Would be great if Stoke got relegated as they actually seem to be getting even worst in their style of play and what they get away with but unfortunately it works for them and they'll be finishing mid table and grinding out 0-0 draws at Anfield for years to come. At half time on Thursday I actually thought things were starting to really come together under Rodgers and we were heading in a positive direction but it just seems to be one step forward and two steps back at the moment and while performances have generally been better than results have suggested it's becoming tiresome moaning about hard luck stories and I can't help worrying about how things are going to go if we don't put a few wins together soon.

[Sandford]

Stokes spoiler tactics - awful, horrible to watch, I'm imagining even worse to play against.

 

Strong ref needed - epic failure on that score.

 

That being said i am a bit fed up of football snobbery.

All the whinging, whining and crying because of how Stoke play. Its as effective as it is frustrating for the opposition and their fans. What do people expect though? they're hardly coming to compete on a level playing field.There are many ways to skin a cat,I think Pulis deserves credit for the job he does.

 

As for his comments after the game they were as predictable as they were infuriating.

 

As for us - deja vu.

What worries me is were defensively frail and making errors whilst creating no more if not less chances than before and were still missing the majority that we do create.

we seem short in numbers in both boxes at times.

All this talk of controlling games and having technicians??

Best way way to control a game is by being 2 or 3 goals up and for that you need a goalscorer.