Saintslfc13

I almost feel sorry for them. Almost.

Saved the day with that and I didn't think he was poor at all bar the one error for their 2nd (which could just as easily been pinned on Sahko as they had both not done enough there). The commentary heard here suggested he should cut in more when he goes wide but I thought that was an unfair criticism of a largely defensive player playing in his first league game after having been injured in the first few minutes of his previous outing.

Well he would have actually tried to tackle that's for sure. Not sure he'd have done much more going forward than Henderson but I believe he'd have put Cabaye on the ground at the least before he got that shot off. I do think he'd be looked at in higher esteem in Spain or Italy though, simply because he'd get more time on the ball and thus would offer more going forward more often. He's shown the ability to make great passes just not the ability to consistently do it despite the pressure on him. I thought he'd get there but with the injuries seeming to have taken their toll, at this point he probably is what he's going to be. Obviously I hope I'm wrong though.

Never watched newsroom, looked shit to me just from the previews. Besides that I figured that since I get sick enough with the "real news" watching a show about the "news" would just be some masochistic endevour to partake in for the sole purpose of making me want to punch the next journalism (or more specificially broadcast journalism) major that I meet right in throat. The walking dead however I was hooked from the first episode but started losing interest around midway in season 3 and only caught a few episodes after that point. I think the show was in danger of taking itself a bit too seriously at times over the last two seasons with the peak of that, for me anyway, being right around when I stopped watching. Of course everyone I know that did watch it has said that the finale and the couple episodes prior were excellent. Still, I settled for a few summary articles. Watched the season 4 premiere though and quite enjoyed it, it was supsenseful again (something I thought had been seriously lacking even as far back as the second half of season 2) and the zombie-bashing was prominent. The psycho woman was, in my opinion, a positive way the show can take itself seriously without seeming overly contrived or "ticky-tack" if you will. I wouldn't have done what Rick did though.

fuck boston

So they were worse the season they went 16-0 then? right.

Do you really think they look anything like they used to?

Not really. They're a shell of their former self they have a great coach and great QB (who's not even been at his best this season) and then a bunch of cast-offs. The officials held their hand all game, missed a blatant holding call on that last play and I think only called 3 penalties on them in full the whole game. Even picked up a holding flag because "the defender played through it" which to me says "if the defender took a dive we'd have to penalize them ten yards but he acted like a man instead of a pussy so it's no reason for that", in all my years of both playing and watching this game I've never heard of a holding call being picked up because it didn't work. Like I said, Brees was off today he looked like a kid on a sugar high despite our o-line having it's best game of the season, and Payton had some very questionable playcalling. Most of the loss is on them because if they do their job it doesn't matter what bullshit the officials cook up but it's still a valid point.

Brees was off today, Payton was too conservative for his own good, and the refs didn't like throwing flags on the home team. Even gave them an extra timeout, bullshit all-around but sure plenty of it is on the Saints too.

So be it, take the secret footballer into custody. I am the secret footballer.

I think you have a point if you qualify your statement with the word "athletically". Techinique wise speaking Lucas is far and away our 2nd best midfielder after Gerrard, he just doesn't have Gerrard's athleticism (certainly nowhere near his old athleticism anyway), shooting ability, and his range of passing isn't consistently as good though he certainly is capable of hitting accurate long balls through the air and on the ground.

Completely agree, especially about Enrique, not so much defensively but then it's palace, but on the attack he really let us down in my opinion. Crosses that had no real hope of reaching our players and more importantly his knack for having to take one touch too many. I will say that I believe he just doesn't have the ability we need from that position right now and it's really no fault of his own, he works hard and isn't what anyone could call lazy but he makes too many mistakes nonetheless. I feel like under Rafa he might have been perfect but the way we play now we need better going forward there as we're more reliant on the fullbacks for width than we ever were under Benitez. Which is saying something because it's not like we ever had a world class winger, bar Gerrard who doesn't really count anyway*, when he was here. * - I suppose you could add Kewell when he would turn up AND not be injured but obviously that was short lived for many reasons.

For me it was the same as it's been all season. First half was a very good outing, second half not so much though I will say that it was probably the best second half we've had in the league this season. I haven't seen the post match but apparently Rodgers criticized the second half performance so at least it's not down to him telling them to take the foot off the gas, of course on the other side of that you have to wonder why we've not kept our level of performance high throughout the full 90 minutes if it's not deliberate, especially given we've got no CL or Europa to drain our energy levels. After the first 20 minutes you'd have thought we might have a chance at getting to that 9 - 0 scoreline from '89, and at the half I still thought we would add at least one more. As the second half carried on I was sure we wouldn't score, until they did, then we responded well but didn't take the chances we created. Still very much a work in progress but it certainly wasn't a situation where we won in spite of our performance which you could say about a couple of our wins so far.

As far as Lucas goes, play Henderson next to him and Gerrard in front of both while Coutinho is unavailable. Assess how that goes during said timeframe and then it's up to Rodgers to make a decision on how to best fit Coutinho back into the team. It's hard because I see no natural partner for Gerrard in our midfield options, not one. I could argue that I've never really seen one and the closest we have come to it was Mascherano (as you know he primarily paired with Alonso). Lucas and Henderson however I could see forming a partnership but one of them would have to be more attack minded. That's not currently Lucas role and Henderson's balls only drop a few times a season. If Rodgers would allow Lucas to be free of the defensive shackles (hard to conceive as he's the only one capable of it consistently in our team); or Henderson shows he can consistently take command then it would work. Allen is the wildcard. He's got more balls than Henderson but always gets bullied physically, it's too bad the two weren't just one player because that's what we need.

I actually do think Eriksen was there for the taking, despite the links we just didn't seem that interested in him. As much as we all know players seek CL football, I only think it's a huge issue when it comes to players in their prime. Sure if a team that has CL football comes after a young up and comer he's likely to go there [even when it's potentially to their detriment ex - Lukaku at Chelsea (he did state he was a fan long before he moved there to be fair) and basically and young player Real Madrid buy] but us and Spurs are on the same level at the moment. The reason I think we weren't interested is that Eriksen's only role is Coutinho's best role. He doesn't offer the versatility that Coutinho does because he's not got the same pace and arguably dribbling ability. I wanted us to buy him, I'm not saying we shouldn't have, I'm simply saying that I think that's why he was never a real target for us.

I think that's a pretty fair assessment. Your point about Henderson is, for me anyway, why he should be playing deep with Gerrard starting just behind the attack. Maybe the thinking is that his confidence will grow if deployed further forward but his industry and reactions are quite good so why not play him where they are more useful? He's also got the legs and ability to make driving runs from deep with the ball (though the ability is inconsistent at this point) and runs into the box from deep without it. With Coutinho available he's the best player we have for either behind the attack and it's where he can have the most influence on a game but with him out it makes little sense not to play Gerrard there. Someone made the point about Gerrard possibly being preserved by playing deep and I hope that's not Rodgers idea because to me it takes far more mobility and energy to be counted on in defense and expected to join the attack whereas in the free role Gerrard could still track back but not have to be relied on and therefore expend more energy setting up and scoring goals.

Agreed. You and me however were discussing the merits of certain players and team selection which I believe logic should play a part in conclusions about.

Didn't mean to rep you, thought that might have been the quote button on the mobile version. That said I see you what your saying but for me it seems as though it's a bit illogical. Lucas done his job well, especially in the first half, while the others didn't but it's still Lucas' fault? It doesn't make sense to me. While I think Gerrard and Lucas has worked well at times, I'd prefer to start Gerrard more advanced, and put Henderson next to Lucas. Gerrard doesn't have the legs anymore to go box to box for the full 90 but he doesn't need them to be a playmaker from an advanced role and chip in with a few goals. I don't doubt Gerrard's ability to tame himself and be more disciplined and patient in the deeper role as he's shown he can do it when we're attacking well as a unit. The problem arises when things aren't going our way and he starts trying too hard to make an attacking impact from that position. That isn't wholly bad but given his age and our second half woes he's usually knackered by the time it starts happening so it comes less in the form of the driving runs with the ball of his youth and more from long balls to players that often times either don't get to them or can't control them if they do. For these reasons he should be starting in a free role behind the attack, especially given Coutinho's absence*. I also think that, no matter anyone's personal opinion on Lucas the sad truth of the matter is that we need to start searching for a player capable of taking Gerrard's place over the next 3 years, even if we replace Lucas. Maybe that Rossiter at the academy is the second coming but I've not seen more than a few YouTube clips of him and I've not seen anyone who can pay attention to the academy players make the comparison. * - You can also argue that Coutinho is the essential cog that makes a Gerrard and Lucas partnership capable of working. He's smart, has the vision, pace, and ability to dribble or pass through the opposition and also provides an outlet for both of them to go play it forward. Perhaps Suarez can offer the same for now and we don't need to have this conversation for a while.

Bizarre deployment, shit game, shit ref. Sakho is a centerback, if one of our two left footed CB's have to play LB then it should be Agger. Sakho is the more physical of the two and maybe have more pace but is not at all comfortable attacking whereas Agger has done a job for us at left back before and doesn't mind having the ball at his feet. When does Cissokho get back anyway? First half we looked way better than in the second but still wasn't good enough. One thing I don't get though is the Lucas criticism, second half sure you can pick a man and chastise him except Mignolet but if the first half I thought Lucas was great at his job. Broke up play well, covered the defense, and had composure on the ball. Even in the second he was still tracking back and was probably our most composed midfielder, at least until Henderson went to rightback, which makes him a defender anyway. Aspas I think tries to be too cute at times, for example his little flicks into space without recognizing that the player he expects to get on the end of it isn't even looking for that. He definitely needs to hit the gym but perhaps more importantly needs to develop an understanding with his teammates. Alberto was guilty of the same thing for me but his time on the pitch wasn't a exactly lot to judge him on. I thought maybe he'd get a chance to start with Coutinho out but apparently that wasn't in Rodgers plans. Sterling is another one who needs to hit the gym, but for me his lack of composure is the most damning thing. I know he's still very young but he showed a lot better at the start of last season whereas too many times today he was rushing himself and it lead to bad passes and losing the ball. If we had depth then I'd be in favor of loaning him out to get more first team starts under his belt. Rodgers needs to sort out whatever is causing the second half dips though. I don't know if it's a tactical thing or he's just running them too hard in training but it's the negative of the season so far and needs to be stopped. The referee was terrible, missed a clear pen for us as well as at least three free kicks we should have had. The only card of the game was for time wasting? Fuck off. As long as referees continue to allow that the game plan against us will be press them hard and then kick them if they start to beat you. We've already had it result in a draw (though that result could have stayed the same) and the loss of one of our best players for 6 weeks when Williams took Coutinho down at Swansea. That should have been a red and there should have been at least 3 Southampton yellows in this game.

I'm not sure they would have held after that 35 yard Brees to Colston play but nonetheless them missing the FG made it easier. Also agree that Schiano is a cunt but we've seen head coaching changes affect defense before so I'm not certain it's a given that they'd be better off without him. He's a good motivator, just not the best X's and O's guy. They would benefit from a better offensive coordinator in my opinion. Also I agree about Vaccaro, he's a stud in the making and hopefully will be a defensive leader for us in the future.

I've just nearly died as a result of that Saints game. FUCKIN 'ELL

What was controversial about it? I didn't watch any of the undercard but the reactions to that fight have left me wishing I had. Also I do agree with you about the main event, I didn't see the fight as an outright blowout like some did but the draw was still criminal. Unless boxing is really that different of viewing from a TV to ringside, and considering there's only two people to watch, 3 if the referee seems dodgy, I doubt that very much. Obviously things like hand speed, footwork are more impressive in person but neither of those things were going in Canelo's favor in this case and even a viewer that's just semi-educated on the sport could pick those things up on a television anyway. I don't know about the reaction over there but it's been par for the course for recent Mayweather fights here. People that like him claim he's the greatest thing since the wheel and people that don't think he doesn't fight just runs around. I get the latter opinion, but it's rather annoying having someone make the point that "If he stood still for just a little Canelo would have knocked him out" when clearly that's the whole reason Floyd doesn't stand still. Overall, I think my main reason why Canelo should have waited to challenge Mayweather was spot on. While the tools were there, from a technical standpoint he even made Floyd bite on the feint enough times to capitalize but he didn't pull the trigger in those crucial seconds, the know how wasn't. Lack of execution and/or recognition that likely wouldn't have been a factor had Canelo been more experienced. For some Mayweather will have been the clear best for a while, for me I feel like it's a case of what might have been had he fought Pacquiao when both were at their peak.

Apparently he's a she.

Have to agree with you there, not a fan of Mayweather for many reasons but he dominated today. Didn't want him to win but when they announced someone had it as a draw I couldn't believe it. What the fuck was that about?

Could I get a pm? streams are jumpy