Liverpool Fc @ Anfield - Reds Supporters Gatherings

[28ahken]

Hey guys! newbie here! and a fan of the reds since 1996!

hopefully the arrival of maxi rodriguez can help add some quality and dept to liverpool wings!

[Snow-Wolf]

Its away to wolves tonight (at 3.45am). Another must win game in the quest for 4th....!

My suggested starting eleven for tonight (with injuries to Torres, Benayoun and Johnson) :-

4-4-1-1

Reina

Carragher - Skrtel - Kyrgiakos - Insua

Maxi -Mascherano - Lucas - Riera

Aquilani

Kuyt

Subs:-

Gerrard (he's just back from injury and I would not take the risk of starting him, but i will consider to bring him on later as an impact substitution only if necessary), Diego, Agger, Aurelio, Babel, Ngog and Darby (or Spearing).

What do bros think? Any other recommendations on the formation tonight?

[Ninja_Assassin]

Originally Posted by 28ahken

Hey guys! newbie here! and a fan of the reds since 1996!

hopefully the arrival of maxi rodriguez can help add some quality and dept to liverpool wings!

Maxi is a quality player....... but unfortunately his fitness is not up to BPL standard yet ....... will need another 3-4 weeks of training before we can expect to see him play on a regular basis. At present he probably will spent most of his time on the bench.

[Xgenre]

Originally Posted by Ninja_Assassin

Maxi is a quality player....... but unfortunately his fitness is not up to BPL standard yet ....... will need another 3-4 weeks of training before we can expect to see him play on a regular basis. At present he probably will spent most of his time on the bench.

What makes you think so he isn't fit? May be too early to judge if he has the fitness for the BPL. He looks fine so far (30 mins into the match), hopes he lasts. He may also need to get used to the pace of the BPL and the horrible weather. I like how we are attacking now. Much more positive. Our guys are hungry!

Hope to read more about your views. We do need more ninjas and assassins.

[Xgenre]

Why did I bother to wake up? I seriously think Rafa just want a draw. Got to be kidding me, we only had 3 shots on goal and 3 shots away on goal playing away at Wolves. How do you explain the benching of Aquilani after his display with Spurs? We were horrible, just pumping long balls one after another. It's not as if there is any targetman on the pitch. Imagine watching a match where Wolves pump a long ball at us. We pumped a long ball back to them. They pump back to us and so forth. Imagine this going on for 10 mins. Nobody remembers how to pass the ball on the field anymore.

Skrtel is lucky to remain on the pitch, after a reckless 2 footed tackle. Insua keeps getting turned. Ngog has little game intelligence. He's another version of Milan Baros. Take the ball and run fast, often blindly without spotting the runs of his team-mates nearby. If we got to rely on him till Torres returns... can't see how we will finish 4th... Gerrard is just terrible. His crosses are 'imaginary'. Cross without looking at where our players are, just cross and hope someone's there. I think Gerrard should be dropped for a few matches to wake him up. We don't lose much attacking edge with him so off-form.

I'm really worried about our team. Rafa used to keep talking about the strenght of the spine of our team and how young our squad's average age is. Well, Gerrard, Carragher, Benyanoun, Kuyt and Riera's average age is close to 30. These players are hard to replace and I really don't think we have the budget to.

Sigh... It's 1 thing to complain we don't have the budget to buy good players. It's another thing to not use your best players when they are fit and available. Can't explain why Benyanoun or Aquilani doesn't play sometimes. Especially when the 11 players on the pitch are lacking attacking ideas.

[rahl]

Originally Posted by Xgenre

I'm really worried about our team. Rafa used to keep talking about the strenght of the spine of our team and how young our squad's average age is. Well, Gerrard, Carragher, Benyanoun, Kuyt and Riera's average age is close to 30. These players are hard to replace and I really don't think we have the budget to.

Yup it's no longer true and Rafa realises it - that he has to build a new group of younger players already - the plus here is that we are ready to some extent, with the young players already in our setup.

[sex crusader]

Ask uncle RAfa the stubborn bull!Why is he always like to put Lucas to make up the 11? I think it's time for him to shut up and deliver results.Fourth place is slipping away fast.....

[Snow-Wolf]

Well, another two points dropped against a team battling for relegation!

Obviously the result is dissapointing to say the least, but what gets to me the most is the manner in which the team played last night. I mean if we played well and still got beat or drew because we had no luck or any rub of the green as they say, then thats one thing; but when the team plays like a bunch of conference league footballers....then bollocks!!!

We just weren't up for it last night. It was a totally scrappy game and we couldn't even string 3 or 4 passes together. There was no width, we gave the ball away too much, there was no creativity and hence, no penetration whatsoever! Even Gerrard had a really poor game by his own usually high standards!!!

We were once "THE TEAM" to beat but where are we now? In truth, nowhere. What can I say, fighting for 4th place??? Even that is not a gimme as it appears that 4th place is drifting away with each game and there really aren't many games left to simply drop points due to totally insipid performances on the football pitch.

Where are we now? Frankly, nowhere. This season had been a complete nightmare and a total disaster albeit due mostly to events happening off the football field! Nevertheless, on account of last nights' performance, the players have to take some criticism as well. Even if we are facing financial problems brought about by the stupid yankee owners, even if we have a bull-headed manager who makes inexplicable choices for his starting eleven and even if we have lost no less than 3 first team regulars to injury, anyone (except the bookies, of course) would have expected no less than 3 points against wolves last night.

Credit to wolves obviously for putting up a spirited performance to gain a share of the points. However, it cannot be said that they were so good on the night that we were denied the win. In my view, we looked like any oridinary mid-table team on the basis of last nights' performance.

Here's the big picture : I am really starting to fear that we will fail to qualify for the Champions League next season and with that, we lose our top stars like Gerrard and Torres, when they leave to find greener pastures and greater honours with the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona and Inter-Milan for example. If that happens, we will definitely fall away into mid-table mediocrity or worse!!!!

I am ever hopeful that we go on a great run and put together a 8 to 10 match winning streak. It remains to be seen whether I hope in vain.

Any bros have comments on this to share? Most importantly, do you see us winning the race for 4th place? Please share your viewpoints...? Thanks.

[asspanker]

with all honesty and possiblity, its gonna be a reality if the team continues playing like some mediorce team.

i just cant get a grip on why rafa keeps playing his 'undroppable' players aka lucas, even SG when they are in poor form, or just recover from innjury.

there are still games to be played verus the top 6 or 7 teams left but seriously.... not getting 4th spot.. is avery real thing to happen...

[Regaine]

Originally Posted by sex crusader

Ask uncle RAfa the stubborn bull!Why is he always like to put Lucas to make up the 11? I think it's time for him to shut up and deliver results.Fourth place is slipping away fast.....

This is my main worry. If we do not even get the 4th spot we will see an exodus of players in the summer. I wonder how long must we wait for the EPL title ???

[Frankiestine]

Damn the owners are going to offload Yossi......looks like the team is heading south...fuck those damn yankees....nothing good has come out since they bought over the team...

[rahl]

Nervy win over Bolton and we had some luck that we never did in the first half of the season.

Once we scored the second, we looked much better as a team and should have hammered them.

AA was off form but finally got to see Maxi involved in the attacks.

Likely we sign Jones in the last minute of the window?

[bochapsing]

Originally Posted by Frankiestine

Damn the owners are going to offload Yossi......looks like the team is heading south...fuck those damn yankees....nothing good has come out since they bought over the team...

not only they pocketed the money from sale of dossena & voronin, now they still want to offload yossi..!!!

Originally Posted by rahl

Nervy win over Bolton and we had some luck that we never did in the first half of the season.

sick of those commentators, keep talking abt how lucky we're to score teh gols and not to concede tat 1-on-1 by tat korean of bolton...

it's abt time for us to enjoy some luck liao....

Originally Posted by rahl

Likely we sign Jones in the last minute of the window?

nooooo.... hope it's just a rumour... really can't see anything in him...

[GeMiNiZzzzZzz]

Originally Posted by bochapsing

nooooo.... hope it's just a rumour... really can't see anything in him...

Somewhat agree that Jones would not really fit into the striker's division in the class of Liverpool.

However - are we going to depend on Babel OR Ngog to lead us during Torres's absence ?

Its worth a try now as we are struggling to fight the the final CL's position..

[rahl]

Originally Posted by bochapsing

nooooo.... hope it's just a rumour... really can't see anything in him...

Well we do need someone to hold up the ball, free up space for the wingers. Ngog can't do it and Kuyt will work all day but is not athletic enough against a determined defender.

If Jones comes, he will be here as a rough diamond to develop.