5 Times European Champions vs. Best Team in London

ExtremistEnigma wrote:

ynwa wrote:

ExtremistEnigma wrote:

You are some hater, aren't you? If you see the Oldham game, as soon as Downing came, we began to play wide. While Borini, Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez were on the pitch, we were playing very narrow and such attacks can be easily predicted by the opponent. Downing is getting chances because he can pass the ball without much hassle in the final third (unlike Sterling) and provides natural width. Not to mention, he can track back.

First of all, Sterling isn't in the team because he's played too many games this season. He's played 30 games in his debut season, that's far too much. Raheem kept Downing out of the team week in week out when he was playing. He also kept Downing out of the squad so bad Downing had to change his position and play LB and RW.

Second of all, bringing up Oldham is arugably the worst thing you could do. They're a 2 division side (why? we lost to them, didn't we?) and Downing hardly changed the game that day. It was Gerrard. Downing struggled to past his fullback, and the few times he did past him his cross was cleared for a corner.

Also, Suso etc can all track back. Their job isn't to track back. Their job is to create a problem for the opposition. But keep getting stupid traits like tracking back and defending to help and try an attacking players form.

The Oldham game was just an example and Downing didn't change the game that day? Agreed, Stevie was the main guy after he came on but you can't neglect Downing's contribution. After he got on, we properly began to exploit the flanks which we couldn't do when the other four were on the pitch and our attacks became unpredictable. I don't even like him but you can't neglect the fact that he has worked hard this season.

Suso can track back? Dear god, he's so lightweight he'll get bullied by Shaun Wright-Phillips.

"Their job isn't to track back. Their job is to create a problem for the opposition."
Who are we, Barcelona? Is that why many people (I don't) want Downing to start against Tottenham, ahead of Coutinho?

Downing contributed absolutely nothing in that game. lol

Suso does track back. Again, the only reason Downing is in the team right now is because he's the only player at the moment that can play there. He also tracks back to cover Glen Johnson's runs. He's the most useless player in our starting XI. He doesn't fit in and provides nothing to our game.

Also, we're Liverpool. A player in that position is supposed to be a threat. What does Barcelona have to do with this? That's just like saying a strikers main job is to defend because we're not Real Madrid...

In the last 12 games, they've scored 20 and conceded 8. Won 8, drawn 4.

In our last 12 games, we've scored 32 and conceded 11. Won 6, drawn 2, lost 4.


Less than 7 hours to go. CMON YOU REDMEN, YNWA!!!

ynwa wrote:
The Oldham game was just an example and Downing didn't change the game that day? Agreed, Stevie was the main guy after he came on but you can't neglect Downing's contribution. After he got on, we properly began to exploit the flanks which we couldn't do when the other four were on the pitch and our attacks became unpredictable. I don't even like him but you can't neglect the fact that he has worked hard this season.

Suso can track back? Dear god, he's so lightweight he'll get bullied by Shaun Wright-Phillips.

"Their job isn't to track back. Their job is to create a problem for the opposition."
Who are we, Barcelona? Is that why many people (I don't) want Downing to start against Tottenham, ahead of Coutinho?

Downing contributed absolutely nothing in that game. lol

Suso does track back. Again, the only reason Downing is in the team right now is because he's the only player at the moment that can play there. He also tracks back to cover Glen Johnson's runs. He's the most useless player in our starting XI. He doesn't fit in and provides nothing to our game.

Also, we're Liverpool. A player in that position is supposed to be a threat. What does Barcelona have to do with this? That's just like saying a strikers main job is to defend because we're not Real Madrid... [/quote]
I don't believe Downing has been totally useless. He's really begun to regain some of the level of play he had at Villa in his last few seasons. Believe it or not, I think he's actually filling a valuable role within the team. He's the only natural width we have in the attack. Coutinho, Sterling (on the left), Suso, and Suarez will all look to come inside from the wide positions. While playing Downing on the right makes him slightly more of an attacking threat, he's still going to want to get chalk on his boots and stay wide first and foremost. This is important as it stretches the defense and gives more space for Suarez, Coutinho and Sturridge to move in the middle.

Don't get me wrong. If we can upgrade in the summer, I think we should. Downing is a player that was purchased for a very different style of play, namely to provide service for Carroll. He's a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. The thing is he's managed to shave down the corners to fit into the position. What you're pointing out are the gaps around the edges that he simply can't fill. He's not a Coutinho, a Hatem Ben Arfa, or even a Tom Ince.

Personally, I am loving the rumors Soufiane Feghouli. He would be a player capable of providing that width, but also providing more going forward in the way of a goal threat and beating a defender.

Whatever, but I am really keen how BR manages it this time

LFC v Tottenham: Jones, Johnson, Enrique, Agger, Carragher, Lucas, Gerrard, Downing, Coutinho, Sturridge, Suarez.

LFC subs: Gulacsi, Wisdom, Skrtel, Henderson, Allen, Shelvey, Sterling

WHAT HAPPENED TO REINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

& no Assaidi AGAIN!!!!!!!

Tottenham starting line up: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto; Brave Scotty Parker, Livermore; Sigurðsson, Bale, Dembélé; Defoe

Spurs subs: Friedel, Naughton, Caulker, Gallas, Huddlestone, Carroll, Holtby

Coutinho, Sturridge, Suarez all three starting
livermore, dembele and Brave Scotty Parker all three starting is it 4-4-2 or something !!!

Reina has a calf injury, apparently. This worries me a bit. While Jones is less likely to make the spectacular mistake, he's far less likely to make the wonder saves that Reina is capable of. This will also mean Reina's organization will be crucial.

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:Coutinho, Sturridge, Suarez all three starting
livermore, dembele and Brave Scotty Brave Scotty Parker all three starting is it 4-4-2 or something !!!

4-3-3 maybe?

with no lennon out there, my eyes will be on enrique too!!

ooooooohhhhh, what a gem!!!

FFS I hate conceding right on half time. Absolutely kills me.

But I felt we controlled the game. We sit back when we want to and we go up when we want to. Mike Oliver has been shite. He's calling stuff taht aren't even close to being fouls.

SUarez DAT goal though Coutinho

enroque for that goal

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:FFS I hate conceding right on half time. Absolutely kills me.

But I felt we controlled the game. We sit back when we want to and we go up when we want to.

Seriously?

Tottenham have had the middle of the park all to themselves. We've gone for the long ball way too often or then managed to advance through Coutinho's flank, but Tottenham have been the one in control. We should bring in Henderson for Sturridge.

We're playing defensively on the counter. Thus the long balls. We did look better when we moved up the field with short passes though

IF HE's GOING TO f*Cking GIVE A CARD, then it should be a RED. We were through on goal ffs.

GERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS

I KNEW IT. I FELT IT ALL WEEK LONG.

downing

Phew.

Do you suppose Suarez 'n Sturridge having some sort of cold spell!!! Suarez 'n Coutinho seems far dynamic.

Downing must have had a long chat with Kuyt.

ynwa where are you???? Downing You are not allowed to hate on him for the next week.

honestly saying i understand downing dislike but hating and saying that he is shit was little too much...it can be still argued even now. As i had said earlier, people should not be surprised if he stays here for next season too.

To be COMPLETELY honest I have warmed up to Downing. I wouldn't be mad if he stayed next season.

iftikhar wrote:Phew.

Do you suppose Suarez 'n Sturridge having some sort of cold spell!!! Suarez 'n Coutinho seems far dynamic.

I don't like it how playing Sturridge up front seems to push Suarez to the flank - he's just so superb through the middle that he really should be playing there and not be accommodated anywhere else just because he's that versatile! Just go straight for the 4-4-1-1 and not that 4-3-3 where Luis can occasionally come into the center.

Anyway, really happy for the win!
Suarez was great once again and now every goal he scores feels double good for his top-scorer challenge.

Downing scoring in two successive games

Coutinho was good, too.

My criticism goes towards our team-selection as it was risky to go with only two CMs against a team of Tottenham's quality and it showed, too, with them having more and better possession than us. Also had twice as many shots on goal as us. But especially since we've suffered from a few defensive mistakes this season, it felt good to see that stuff working for our favour this time around.

Oh, and Glen Johnson really must be the worst defender in the league when it comes to defending high balls... But nothing new there.

Anyway, great three points, but personally I'd like to see a couple of little tweaks to our line-up and formation in our next match.

We have all celebrated this illustrious win but I do have some qualms in our fashion that we went onto prevail in.

It was rather unnerving to see us dominating continually and perpetually throughout the match as initially I had the idea that BR's plan was to counter but through the inconsistent positioning on the wide areas and continual pressing, it wasn't. Back on that.

-First goal was a pure master class and reminiscent of the wondergoal vs Swansea. Countinho's backheel was sublime and a testament to his genius. Initially I felt Jose was a little lackadaisical in his ball possession within the box when traversing towards Suarez, yet his timing of release followed by Suarez' needle-point finish was one that has characterised Luis's improved finishing over the season.

-Tottenham's first goal was poor marking. Agger left his zone too early and Johnson was caught watching the ball and not covering his zone in which Vertoghen capitalized finely on. His positioning to mark the man in his zone disgusts me at times as the concentration problem, while improved rears its ugly head again.

-Tottenham's 2nd goal conceded was sickening. Gareth Bale made a meal of Lucas simply touching him in the face, followed by the influenced Michael Oliver falling for his wicked ways. By then his pinpoint FK led to Vertoghen once again exploiting Johnson's zone, this time where Glen for some reason fell down, Vert once again capitalized on another mistake by him. Carra was solid all game but at fault for the poor clearance.

-Our 2nd goal scored was a moment of excellent clinching of a baffling error by Tottenham. When I saw Downing on the ball to shoot it past the zonal CB, I thought he would miss. Thankfully, he actually managed to score and although it was straight at the CB (nutmeg if you call it), it managed to get us back in the game and galvanize us enough for Tottenham to lose their signature composure which kept them to dominate the game.

-3rd goal? I was confident that through Lloris' poor penalty record (since he is basically just an acrobat without much sense of positioning) along with Gerrard's confidence in front of the Kop (West Brom miss aside) It was bound go in.

From there, that is when Rodger's actually decided to go for the counter. We immediately caused a phalanx in 2 banks of flat fours to lock down Tottenham's threat with Lucas and Henderson marking the dangerous Dembele. And it worked perfectly as from there, Spurs created little to nothing.

-What bothered me is why we did not press the midfield when we needed to. Lucas had below-par defensive performance but the pressing as a whole was focused far too much on latching on to one man instead of screening the opposition which left numerous gaps in our defence, to which somehow Tottenham did not exploit. Rodger's sub to bring in Allen for Coutinho worked because Allen at least got us to have some semblance of midfield control, but how baffling was it to have our best player of the game subbed off? Couldn't it have been Downing who had little influence bar his routine track backs for Glen? What would have happened if Tottenham did not make the error which lead to Downings goal? Would we still have gotten the vital control of the game which lead us to win?

It is rather relieving for us to finally win a big game for the first time this season, yet many issues are there which must be addressed. One is our dis balance of which side we continually attack on, with Gerrard the only one seeming to know how to switch play. The other is our inconsistent gameplan which switches on a go, far too adaptive of the other teams play.

Great win, great to beat Spurs, but we have a long way to go. Nonetheless, Praise be to Rodgers.

GERRARDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

I really do felt Henderson should of started. We were dominated in the middle of the pitch and Henderson's work rate would of put us on the front foot as we would of been able to dictate play instead of deciding to play on the counter.

Sturridge I felt was poor. Downing bar his goal was the same. Coutinho and Suarez were incredible for us in the first half.

Skrtel should be playing ahead of Carragher. Jamie's not too great in the air and you can see Spurs targeted him. Both their goals came from Jamie's inability to clear it in the air.

Bale's a wanker. If he was foreign he would struggle in this league. Both the "fouls" Spurs received just before both their goals were from nothing. He gets protected and gets fouls from absolutely nothing like those week in week out. Which pisses me off.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:To be COMPLETELY honest I have warmed up to Downing. I wouldn't be mad if he stayed next season.

What is wrong with you? :X

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:ynwa where are you????
Downing You are not allowed to hate on him for the next week.

I'm right here...?

He did f*ck all lol. And he's still a waste of space. He did nothing bar the goal and was lucky Walker, Vertonghen AND Lloris gifted him the goal. He nearly missed it too... but we got the 3 points. He still shouldn't be playing, mind.

@JamesPearceEcho: The GK coach had put together a montage pre-match which showed that Lloris always dives to his right at pens. As a result Stevie went left.

Explains why he celebrated with Achterberg.