: Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:31 am  

it was very clear that the fans and some of the players were totally frustrated last night!! liverPOO's passing was awful! villa played very well with sidwell&petrov doing a fine job in midfield and davis&cueller(sp) having great games at the back and along with agbonglahor and young always a threat. and as good as a player he is torres is one of the biggest moaners i've ever seen he never shut up all through the game! and along with his compatriots reina(who was calling the ref a 'f*****g w@.n.k.e.r) when he gave a corner(which it was) leading to davis's goal on half time. and benitez who started moaning at the 4th official the frustration that was apparent from some of the players(and manager) and then transfered to the fans made the 'reds' play the way they did i.m.o i cant remember the last time i've seen them pass so badly....

: Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:10 am  

watching it on lfc.tv now shocking defence

: Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:14 am  

If you take the same three Liverpool fixtures from last year they got four points, now they have three. So in effect they are only one point worse off than last year. The crunch will be can they put a run together and can they do the double over Chelsea and Utd again?

According to reports Anderson is on his way out at Utd, that would be a huge blow!

: Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:27 am  

A few worrying aspects last night. 5 goals conceded this season, 4 from set pieces. Playing with 2 defensive midfielders at home is criminal as well. LUcas has hopefully played himself out of the starting XI now until Aquilani is fit. He was good in preseason and decent agaisnt Spurs and Stoke but he was abject last night. We need Gerrard to drop back and play Benayoun off Torres with Riera coming onto the left.

Villa were superb last night though and I was extremely impressed by Cuellar in particular. A great counter attacking display and what we would give for the threat from Young and Milner down the flanks.

: Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:47 am  

we look died going forward

cant we play 4-3-1-2

gerrard

kuyt and torres

: Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:51 am  

Villa were not superb at all, they were very average.

The most glaring facet of the game is Liverpool's inability to adapt. Sure, when their tales are up, Kuyt, Benayoun, Johnson, Insua, Lucas and the lot can be good players.

But in the face of adversity, we lack the ability to claw our way back it seems.

The amount of times Lucas and Mascherano were sat in their own half when we were chasing the game defied belief.

I fear that Liverpool have been found out this season. We have no plan B when the 4 2 3 1 isn't working.

Hopefully the start to the season will force their tightarse Yanks into giving Rafa more cash to play with.



To be honest, we're pretty stuck when it comes to personnel. But, we definately need Riera back in on the left to provide us with some width.

If Rafa is going to persevere with Lucas, I think he and Gerrard have to swap around. Not many know this, but he actually prefers the position Gerrard plays in. Gerrard will be equally at home in the middle.

But, I'd go with this team for Bolton.


-------------Reina---------

Johnson Skrtel Carra Dossena / Insua

---Mascherano-- Gerrard

Kuyt----Benayoun------ Riera

----------Torres-----

: Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:54 am  

Sthelens RLFC wrote:

A few worrying aspects last night. 5 goals conceded this season, 4 from set pieces. Playing with 2 defensive midfielders at home is criminal as well. LUcas has hopefully played himself out of the starting XI now until Aquilani is fit. He was good in preseason and decent agaisnt Spurs and Stoke but he was abject last night. We need Gerrard to drop back and play Benayoun off Torres with Riera coming onto the left.

Villa were superb last night though and I was extremely impressed by Cuellar in particular. A great counter attacking display and what we would give for the threat from Young and Milner down the flanks.

What I don't understand is we dealt with the ones against stoke and they must have had 3 times more corners and free kicks than villa.

: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:05 am  

One thing they did point out on the radio last night was that nearly all of Liverpool's width this season has come from Johnson at right-back. He was taken up looking after Ashley Young last night, hence the lack of width which caused the problems. Now, I didn't see the game, but does that sound plausible?

It also gives merit to a story I heard a year or so back, that in modern football the full-backs are right up there as the most important people on the pitch.

: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:47 am  

richardviking wrote:

But, I'd go with this team for Bolton.


-------------Reina---------

Johnson Skrtel Carra Dossena / Insua

---Mascherano-- Gerrard

Kuyt----Benayoun------ Riera

----------Torres-----

So you'd put Steven Gerrard, one of Liverpool's best 2 attacking players and scorer of some of the most important goals in club history, sitting in front of a back 4...against Bolton Wanderers?

Riiiiiight....

[Wanderer]

: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:52 am  

If we get anything out of the fixture I will be gobsmacked. On current form Liverpool will only need to score once.