Liverpool Banter Archive August 25 2015

25 Aug 2015 22:06:44
Re : Irish Rover - absolutely brilliant post and right on the money !
Waro won't like being caught out, but I'm sure he's man enough to realise how right you are in this instance.

25 Aug 2015 23:10:27
I'm the first to admit when I've gotten something wrong my mate, and on this i'm 1000% right. Your obviously part of the deluded crew and that's your choice but I will always call you lot out when your embarrassing Liverpool supporters. You need to read the earlier posts and my last post again, and if you can't understand that CELEBRATING a 0-0 at Arsenal like a victory as apposed to finding the result satisfactory is embarrassing, then there's no hope for you.

26 Aug 2015 03:29:32
Spot on, Waro! It was a satisfactory result but NOT worth celebrating, for sure.

26 Aug 2015 07:05:40
i agree with waro on this one.

this is winning mentality were talking about. decent result at a difficult place, bt celebrating a draw against arsenal is probably what teams in the relegation zone do. we should celebrate getting 3 points, not a point no matter who we are up against.

maybe irish rover is right, we're no longer thinking like we did back in the 80's, you know, when we were dominating? cause that's what teams like barcelona do currently, they're dominating. maybe that's why we're not winning anymore, cause we can't even think like a winner.

26 Aug 2015 08:05:25
Your abit off there Kaizer.

Can I just ask do you think our success back in the 80's was because the fans had a winning mentality?

And that the reason were not successful now is because we don't have a winning mentality?

26 Aug 2015 08:06:24
It's relative versus absolute. Waro is right from an absolute point if view. Beating Arsenal 5-1 is worthy of celebrating whilst a 0-0 draw is just a draw.

From a relative point of view, we got stuffed last year by Arsenal and our form was terrible. Monday was a sign that our coaches are working, the defensive set up is improving and that all in all we are on an upward trajectory (relative to last year). Perhaps that is worthy of celebration. Baby steps should be encouraged as well as giant leaps.

This lost was sponsored by sittingonthefence.com

26 Aug 2015 08:22:18
Waro, no I'm deluded. You are 1000% right that nobody should be celebrating a draw. Most of your points are well thought out and I agree with a lot of them. But do you not feel Rover is saying That we are where we are, we all thought we'd get beat, we were happy enough with the draw as something to build on (including yourself). So it's a case of people coming on here saying "this is encouraging, let's move on", not "ok we drew, let's all go on the Arsenal page to rub their noses in it"

26 Aug 2015 09:27:51
no free speech. my last paragraph was talking about liverpool sitting back being happy to take the draw in the second half unlike in the first half where we were evidently attacking when we have possession.

the second paragraph, about the winning mentality was only responding in agreement to waro's statement. he didn't say the results were bad. he was just saying people are celebrating the draw.

26 Aug 2015 09:46:41
Speak for your self when you say we thought we'd get beat. Before the team sheet I was a bit nervous but when we put our best team out were very capable of beating anyone.

26 Aug 2015 10:39:13
I didn't think we'd get beat but then I never do 😉

26 Aug 2015 10:41:47
Molby, the op were this came from was iranred putting arsenal fans down and appearing elated with a 0-0, now that for me is how the good folk at Walton fc behave after that type of result and it's to our clubs detriment that A LOT of our fans seem to have the same attitude, I was brought up on success I agree, and a lot of the new breed haven't seen or been to the places I've been to and I understand that, but they haven't exactly been starved of success in the last 25 years have they? We've won every trophy apart from the premier league in the last 2 and a bit decades including a treble,and almost won the league a few times, so to say they've been success starved as some posters have suggested is an out and out lie, these cups may not have been as frequent as the 70's and 80's but they've still happened.

So in my eyes, people celebrating like evertonians who have won 1 trophy in the same period I'm talking about above is IMHO shocking!!

26 Aug 2015 11:07:34
Waro, that's fair enough and I know your very passionate about the club, rightly so, but my point wasn't with regard to Iran, but with regard to Rover, who makes a very valid argument.
We're coming off the back of a disastrous season, we want three points, but Irish Rover wasn't celebrating, he was saying "I'll take the draw" . It's all relative to where we are and where we want to be.

26 Aug 2015 11:17:23
Don't worry Ron, I've got a few mates who were exactly the same, took me years to straighten them out, now there far more realistic in there thought process.😉

26 Aug 2015 12:05:15
But molby, I didn't make that comment toward irishrover, he involved himself in the thread because some of the points I made must have resonated with him and he took offense to them I'm guessing, so I didn't accuse him of anything. This is why some people need to read a post a few times and not flick through it and make a snap judgment.

25 Aug 2015 20:31:48
Seems to me Henderson's injury was a blessing in disguise. Lucas wouldn't have played otherwise. My point is we need Lucas especially in away games.Tactically we were almost perfect yesterday and we're more effective going forward with Firmino instead of Lallana though Lallana would have been a better substitute than Ibe. My question to Ed001 is what you think of Firmino's full debut yesterday? Still early to make judgements but it seems to me he can cope with the pace of Premier League.

{Ed001's Note - I liked what he did, he created space for Coutinho to operate and caused Arsenal a few problems. Lots of potential there I thought.}

26 Aug 2015 00:52:59
So did I and he's not even fully fit yet.

25 Aug 2015 23:42:56
He kept and recovered the ball well uses his body to good effect, I don't think he'll struggle with physical demands of the league, a few more games with the team and he will be influential

26 Aug 2015 02:51:25
i thought he showed a good football brain; i am however worried that he is lacking pace.

26 Aug 2015 10:43:26
I don't think he lacks pace at all, in fact Firmino is pretty quick, as redohio said, he is not fully fit. He didn't have a pre season so he is behind most of players fitness wise.

26 Aug 2015 11:06:37
Hi PowerLFC,

I initially thought about his pace, but I think it's more sharpness. I saw enough pace when Milner put him through to suggest his pretty quick, not lightning, but fast enough.

Once he is up to speed and a bit sharper, he'll look a lot quicker over the first 2,3 yards.

27 Aug 2015 05:19:29
My only concern with Firmino was his reluctance to press in defence however it seemed the whole team were trying to drop a bit deeper, whatre your thoughts on that point eds? Have to say though i did like him going forward and as an attacker that is his primary role

25 Aug 2015 18:54:44
I see one of our more esteemed posters thinks that celebrating a draw is the new type of Liverpool fan. My question is how long ago was the old Liverpool fan. Must be 20 plus years because the reality is we haven't done a great deal in between. So should we be happy enough to go to the Emirates and get a draw? One win in 15 i think! Seems to me a draw is a pretty decent result. I would certainly take it again at Citeh, United and Chelsea. Maybe there is a new type of Liverpool fan, but there might be a few deluded ones who think we are still the team of the 80's.

25 Aug 2015 19:13:06
Well done bro, simple fantastic post! Respect :)

25 Aug 2015 19:15:01
We got 1 point away vs the top 4 last year, so 4 points would be much better, yes we drop 2 but arsenal would drop 2 points at home

25 Aug 2015 19:38:02
Yep. I think that's where we're at. in fact the Premier League is such that Chelsea, Citeh and United would also likely be happy with a point at the Emirates.

We need to get to a stage where the top 4 fear coming to Anfield.

25 Aug 2015 19:42:40
Irish rover that's post of the day in my opinion.hopefully over the coming seasons we can be taking 3 points off the teams you mention and them being pleased taking a point

25 Aug 2015 19:52:00
Personally, I think people need to actually think more critically about what goes here after results and stop using every bloody word as leverage to sling insults at each other and elevate themselves into some sort of status as a "better" fan than someone else.

No one really celebrates a draw unless it results in their team winning something, do they? You could satisfied with the performance, positive about certain aspects of the performance, accept a point at the Emirates as a good result (no team wins 38 Pl games a season, don't forget) and maybe be pleasantly surprised because based on the last two games you were expecting to watch a bad defeat. But I don't think anyone here ran around punching the air in delight and went on an all night celebratory binge because we drew at the Emirates.

Likewise, no Liverpool fan actually wants to see Liverpool lose when they predicted that we would just so they can say: "Ha! Told you so!" on a internet forum or discussion board.

Regarding last night I think we showed good graft and spirit, were tactically on the button in the first half, there were some impressive individual performances which I'm happy with, but we didn't have enough composure on the ball to punish how slack Arsenal were. Actually lack of composure on the ball and cohesion in midfield has been an issue since last season and has been fairly apparent so far this season too. We need to improve on that irrespective of last night's result.

25 Aug 2015 19:57:11
considering you want to challenge for top 4 you need to be grabbing wins at these venues especially given arsenals performance,they were worse than when against westham in the first half. we are not going to be winning every game,we will certainly drop points,We deserved to vs bournemouth. I'm sorry but Waro is NOT the deluded one here. It doesn't matter about the history of the fixture,this was not the arsenal invincibles.

25 Aug 2015 20:41:35
There's a difference between being happy with a draw ( which I'd of taken before the game and was satisfied with at the end ) and actually celebrating a draw like it's an achievement, you have a small team mentality and you are a small team. If that's how you want to think then that's your perogitive, it's not my idea of what a Liverpool fan should think is an achievement worth celebrating!!

25 Aug 2015 20:49:53
I would suggest the 15 matches that we have only won 1 was well after the invincibles.

25 Aug 2015 22:00:05
How far do you want to go back? 20 years we weren't doing too well, 30 years? We were winning everything. 40 years?

SkyTV has been the game changer, literally. Fans, clubs, players have all changed beyond recognition.
I don't think we ever "celebrated" a draw but back in the day we always supported the team and were knowledgable enough to know a good result.

25 Aug 2015 17:06:33
No one seems to think Skrtel is a good defender and no matter how many blocks, tackles or headers he wins in a game people only see the faults and bashes him to the ground. Once you get a fix on a player which for some reason you hate nothing he does impresses the lot, as for me that three clean sheets with an "awful" defender and the only way he'll get credit for it is if he can make magical sparkles shoot from his nose it seems. All I'm saying is stop finding so much negatives to kill the guy and support him as he put his body on the line for the team as much or even more than most. Many will disagree with my view probably all and honestly i don't care but who is this perfect defender that makes Skrtel so bad??? Every one makes defensive errors but they also do things right and for me three clean sheets is doing something right.

25 Aug 2015 18:27:16
Spot on!

Red Rum

25 Aug 2015 18:28:40
Shouldn't really be 3 cleans sheets though, the arsenal goal was wrongly offside. He destabilises the whole back line for me, he does the things you mentioned really well but that's only half the job of a defender, it's the other half (keeping your position, leadership, being vocal) he's really poor at.
Suppose he probably looks good on match of the day making these last ditch tackles but unless you actually watch him properly, especially when the ball is further up the pitch you can see how poor certain aspects of his game is.
Hopefully the new management can help iron out these errors and his positional awareness

25 Aug 2015 18:32:56
The fact is skrtel is an absolute boss defender, his tackles are almost inch perfect, unfortunately his mental attributes let him down. When he's confident with a partner though he's easily in top 5 in premier league. let's hope he has one of those brilliant seasons like he did when Jamie and agger were here

25 Aug 2015 18:36:54
i agree. I won't say he doesn't drop too deep or that he fails to communicate well but i do think, against popular opinion of my fav ed01 and many others that he saves us far more than most our other defenders recently.
At least he puts his body on the line and will score a few goals throughout a season.
I'm not saying sakho shouldn't play but i actually may be one of the only who thinks he isn't quite as great as others make out

25 Aug 2015 18:47:16
By far our best centre back

25 Aug 2015 19:11:48
Every fan is different, every fan has a different level of tolerance for mistakes and bad play. It is reasonable to assume that some fans see Skrtel make the same mistakes repeatedly and call for change, while some say he's doing his best, that's fine. I watched a 5 minute highlight video of the Arsenal game and for my first time I noticed what many posters have spotted and highlighted ages ago. When playing offside 3 of our defenders step out, Skrtel goes back towards goals. Now if posters have seen it enough to comment, then surely opponents see it, plan for it and use it against us. Therefore no matter how much a player puts his body on the line, this one area of bad play, poor communication hurts the team. Is it too much to ask that the player, fellow defenders, managers, coaches fix this? Everyone has a price. At what stage does each individual fan say, I've enough of seeing 3 defenders go 1 way and Skrtel the other. Address it and 99% will be happy, ignore it and even the die hard Skrtel fans will get fed up, eventually.

25 Aug 2015 19:12:02
Errors leading to shots last season he was second only to Lovren. If you want to say you rate him or he's had a good start to the season great. But he is worthy of the reputation he currently has. It's up to Srktel to change that.

25 Aug 2015 22:19:47
Nah, not spot on and i won't elaborate as it will be for deaf ears and blind eyes! Skrtel is the worlds best defender and Emre is the new Ronalmessi! But in all seriousness, play Skrtel in anything other than a very deep parked bus and he is terrible.

25 Aug 2015 22:55:36
Skittles has a great work rate and is a very strong, physcal presence at the back. He's a very good defender.

But. I think one has to admit that, had it not been for a couple of questionable official decisions and a little bit of opposition luck and we could as easily have a very poor record. I feel he's used a little too much luck so far this year.

He is consistently playing attackers onside and that, for me, is a huge worry. At some point our luck will turn and there are going to be a few games lost as a result unless he finds a way to improve that part.

Don't get me wrong, I really love his attitude and work rate. Both are top notch. However there are enough holes in his game to be quite worrisome.

And then there's Louvren. While he has made some improvements this year, he's still shocking back there for me. But that's a whole other story.

26 Aug 2015 01:08:28
Mikey, Malak and Colin are spot on. Red Rum, you need to watch the games properly like many of us, have done instead of highlight reels. Putting his body on the line, commitment and the rest are only part of the job of a CB. Does Kompany, Ramos and the like lack any of these? NO! Are they of the same level of Skrtel? Heck NO! Hence, you are giving him credit for having the basic requirements. Sorry bro, but basic won't and should not be allowed at LFC. His errors are there for all to see and even yesterday, he was covering Ramsey for the disallowed goal. If he can't fix his faults then why is he still here? because BR has no idea of what a good CB looks like. Pa my, the fact that you think he's our best CB, may be your op but has no basis in reality.

25 Aug 2015 10:22:24
Gday Ed,
I've seen you mention a few times that our squad is too big to register for 15/16. Am I correct that Premier League squads can have 25 players over 21? By my count we have 24 players over 21 including Balotelli, Borini & Enrique who will hopefully be gone by the time of registration. Gomez, Ibe, Markovic, Origi and Can don't count in the 25 right?
So I'm just checking, we seem to be AOK on that front no?
Thanks a mil

{Ed002's Note - See previous answers.}

25 Aug 2015 16:01:58
Dependant on when they have their bday but not 100% sure. You are in fact correct though

25 Aug 2015 16:40:16
I checked that actually yes, born on or after 1st January 1994, so Can makes it by 11 days! :)

25 Aug 2015 15:06:25
Balotelli on his move to AC Milan "I just have to work and not talk" let's see how long that attitude lasts

25 Aug 2015 19:38:50
Well he can tweet & instagram without talking. I just hope he has a good season so somebody buys him next summer. Hopefully he scores a lot more goals and pulls a lot less sickies than he did for Liverpool.

25 Aug 2015 14:42:49
Why is everyone moaning about rossiter coming on for Lucas?!

25 Aug 2015 14:53:19
Coz, Rossiter should be played alongside Lucas.

25 Aug 2015 15:08:06
So Can should have been taken off? I wonder if most people here realise how many players are allowed to be on the field per team. I read most posts here, and people want Can to start, they want new players to come in, they want players that are here to play, they want players from youth to be played, they want world class players to come in, but not to interfere with youth players coming into the side. Everyone wanted Can to start, Lucas to start, Henderson to start, Milner to start, Coutinho to start, Firmino to start, Ibe to start, and a few youth players to be promoted and to play and a few new midfield players to come in as well.

25 Aug 2015 15:08:09
What week in week out EG?

25 Aug 2015 15:08:53
And who would you leave out Harry?

25 aug 2015 16:07:58
did i mention the lad should play every week? its logical to play a cm alongside a dm. the kid is 19 and you need an experienced dm alongside.

redal

wh would you drop for henderson next week?. it would be lucas to shorn milner-henderson in the middle.

25 Aug 2015 16:29:11
EG I still don't think Milner and Hendo are a bad pairing,as ed001 says they're both similar,they both try to do the same work. It may end up being a Gerrard Lampard situation,it may end up being that 1 of them begins to slot into a holding role,it may end up they both do the defensive and offensive duties.
What I didn't like lastnight at time was lucas almost acting as a third centre back.Often Lovren and Skrtel parted and he sat between them. essentially making us a 532 since Clyne and Gomez were pegged back. I'd have preferred a 4-3-2-1 in terms of holding lines,to stop their number 10's getting on the ball so easily and coming central. If we're going to play lucas almost as a 3rd centreback whilst playing 2 deep wingers,I don't see the point in playing him

25 Aug 2015 17:06:57
Harry its easy, drop Milner. Or alternatively just keep Henderson on the bench.

Not saying it will happen but that's what I think should be done.

25 Aug 2015 17:17:25
I wouldn't drop anyone Harry. I'd pick the same 11 if fit. The incentive should be there that if you play well you keep your place. Now who would you pick mate to play alongside Rossiter and Lucas in midfield.

25 Aug 2015 17:36:41
If I had my way, I will drop Milner for Henderson.

25 Aug 2015 17:41:55
I would love to call them just a good old fashioned central midfielder again.

25 Aug 2015 17:51:37
I thought you wanted Lallana to play central midfield alongside Kovacic, Scheiderlin and Illaramendi?

25 Aug 2015 18:03:54
AG.

You got that mate. lols

25 Aug 2015 19:17:25
What is the s in the end of your lol for?? It doesn't make sense! Is it laughing out loud slowy? Or laughing out loud stupidly?

25 Aug 2015 22:59:05
'Sarcastically'
'Suggestively'
'Salaciously'
'Sardonically'

26 Aug 2015 00:11:26
Nice one Ronnie ;) I bet you harry doesn't know what sardonically means without googling it :p just kidding harry!

25 Aug 2015 14:16:22
Hi Ed001,

If you're around (I'm relatively positive you are omni-present, like Ed002), a question regarding yesterday's match.

Didnt you feel we played too narrow a game? I thought getting narrow while defending was a good tactic as it suffocated Arsenal's expansive game.

But even in attack I felt both Firmino and Coutinho were primarily attacking the space between the centre-halves and the full-backs, as opposed to the full backs.

I thought this might have been the case of playing styles, so when Ibe came on I thought we'd stretch Monreal out wide, but again Ibe was stationed to attack the space 'between' the CB's and the FB, which might explain why he kept losing the ball (getting outnumbered by having no space to attack).

My question is, do you think Ibe (or we in general) should have played wider in attack. I only remember Coutinho getting even close to the by-line. Might have gotten Benteke better crosses to attack, given he was winning almost everything in the air.

Thanks a ton!

{Ed001's Note - I do think that was a problem, I would have liked to see someone, such as Milner or the fullbacks, attacking the space out wide and whipping in a few crosses. Can I would have liked to see bursting into the box looking to get on the end of the crosses and Couts and Firmino picking up the bits and pieces around the edge of the box.}

25 Aug 2015 17:55:42
Ed001, ideally yes, it would be best to defend as a narrow unit, and attack as an expansive one.

Do you think it is possible though? To use one system to defend, and a rather radically different one to attack? Do you think we played narrow just to make sure we were never caught out by Alexis and Ozil?

I personally think the narrow-ness has been the major factor why Ibe who was so amazing in pre-season has suddenly looked like Babel or El-Zhar.

{Ed001's Note - yes, that is exactly what most teams do.}

25 Aug 2015 18:32:43
I don't know what it was like on TV ed but at the game last night Emre was tracking back like Bambi on ice, did you notice it? Very very lazy, when Rossiter was warming up i was sure Emre was the one coming off.

25 Aug 2015 14:05:08
It honestly amazes me how people can claim we were terrible last night! The team worked so much better as a unit then most of last year and while we did concede possession and retreat in the second half, there was absolutely no way we could have maintained the pressure we were putting on them, for the whole match. We had 3 players making their first starts of the season!

Let's put some perspective on this. we've now played two teams away who last season between them scored 10 goals in those two matches. we have conceded none and got 4 points. Only a complete imbecile would say we haven't improved!

25 Aug 2015 14:28:47
we did concede though didn't we. twice,and got 2 attrocious reffing decisions,then we got another 1 at the other end. Could it get much worse performance wise than last year? Not really. We WERE terrible in the second half. I feel too many have been watching Carraghers abysmal analysis last night and have the rose tints on.

You don't have to maintain the pressure throughout the entire 90,but you certainly don't have to sit on a 0-0 draw with 10 men behind the ball,at least when cheslea do sit,they have the audacity to go 1-0 in front.

25 Aug 2015 15:10:36
Bobatron, if we went offensively in that sencond half, we would have conceded, our game plan was to hit them early and that was in the first half. We where unlucky to get a couple of goals and they were unlucky to have one which was wrongly disallowed. In the second half everyone knew arsenal would come out playing fluent football and they did, they played quite well around our box, and if they did that with less lfc players defending they would have easily scored. Second half was about being solid defensively away at the Emirates a place we hardly ever get positive results from. Emirates and Stamford bridge are two places where a draw is like a win for us. We never do well at these grounds. So stop with the nonsense. We do not have the strength and the tactical prowess (mourinho) of Chelsea to pull of 1-0 results like that.

25 Aug 2015 16:22:19
We allowed them to play that football though. we offerd them so much room to operate. You don't have to maintain the work rate the entire 90 minutes. Also if you want to see out a game,the best thing you can do is control the ball and the tempo. Simply giving up posession was not part of the plan arsenal forced that because we were so deep and unable to get out of our half due to Benteke being so isolated. Both teams were unlucky not to score more I agree,but once again re iterate.One team scored. it wasn't us

25 Aug 2015 22:43:45
so we were so poor in the second half Bob. how many goals did we concede? Exactly none. Arsenal have some of the best attacking players in the league and they couldn't break us down.

Our defending has been our Achilles heal since BR took over and arsenal have regularly scored against us. We need solidity and we're getting it. Everyone played to the system last night and we didn't concede. I saw a post earlier where you were talking about the penalty they should have had, but you seem to forget the rugby tackle on benteke at the same time.

You've clearly pinned your colours to the mast that BR can do no good and you are unwilling to be open to seeing improvement when it's clearly there. I wanted him gone at the end of the season and I'm still not sure if he's the man to bring us forward but how many times last year did we hear people on here say "I don't want him sacked but he needs to learn". well maybe he is!

We're definitely not playing as well as we could or as well as we might hope but given who everyone else has started, I'll take where we're at right now

26 Aug 2015 01:25:38
We should never have sat deep and allowed them to come on to us as much as we did because it almost cost us and doing that, plays right into their hands. Lessons need to be learnt even after having a good result away at a rival's ground.

26 Aug 2015 10:30:49
i think that's exactly it redohio, the management staff do "seem" to be learning. sometimes by consequence more than by design but learning all the same. I honestly didn't expect to see such a strong influence from the back room staff as quickly as we have!

Who knows. maybe even Skertal will learn and become a better team player!

25 Aug 2015 13:34:02
Emre can and firmino looks very similar in running and short passing. did any one notice that?

25 Aug 2015 14:23:15
Yeah I did, I think it's because if you say Emre Can really quickly it sounds like Roberto Firmino.

25 Aug 2015 14:42:44
Yeah I thought that too but then realised it was probably due to them wearing the same coloured boots.

25 Aug 2015 16:34:34
Yes, I noticed that, but the stream I was watching. I could only make players out by their boots. Haha.

Red Rum

25 Aug 2015 13:12:02
Confusing and conflicting comments from Rodgers on Lucas. Is he still expected to join Besiktas because "every player wants to play every minute of every game and you can't guarantee that." Or not? Since when asked if he is he still expected to be a Liverpool player next Tuesday he said "YES!" Wth lads, I honestly think this is a vital thing for our season. Not just for his importance on the pitch but also among the squad, I really think Lucas staying or going could have a big impact on our top 4 ambitions.

25 Aug 2015 14:05:17
Just read that Lucas was due to be on a flight to Istanbul this morning, but his transfer is now in doubt. Besiktas officials were in London to finalize the deal but were surprised to be informed he was starting last night's game. I guess it's going to come down to his choice whether to stay and sit-out some games or move and start every week. Please stay, please stay, please stay. We love you Lucas!

25 Aug 2015 12:12:44
What a game of two halves, very impressed after 3 games, still improvement to be made but showing signs that we should/could have a good season.
Gomez what a player for his age, wouldn't have believed his age after last nights performance, more game time and hopefully can learn to cut down on having to make rash challenges earning yellows, 3 in 3 games. Blinding player.
Chances we created in first half will cost us if we carry on dropping deep in second half in future games, Cech and migs making great saves but we should've taken the lead.
Great to see rossiter put into the game, looks so young but did well while on.
All signs so far are good, just need to stop dropping off in the second half and hopefully over next few games ta should really start to click.

25 Aug 2015 11:57:08
I've read all the posts about the game with interest. I'm not going to add my views on the actual game because nearly every perspective has been covered.

What i'd like to say though is that people - quite naturally, have their own views on who should and shouldn't start a particular game.

Well, I'd just like to remind people that the extensive demands of the premier league require a manager to utilize the entirety of his squad. And it seems to me that Rodgers is doing just that. And so far - doing it well.

Admittedly, if he hadn't have started Lucas last night then i too would be questioning him - as i believe this game DEMANDED Lucas play (still not sure why he took him off though - I'm assuming tiredness/injury).

Anyways, over the course of the season i think they'll all get their chance to play. I think its time for us fans to get off BR's back and support him.

If he fails - then he's out. But for now let's give him a chance.

25 Aug 2015 11:45:26
Some people on here after the game say we played badly and quote statistics like possession, shot allowed on goal, uncompleted passes etc.

Yet when I use statistics to analyse a player it's often dismissed as statistics are an invalid method of analysis. You can't pick and choose when to apply them? You either apply them to all arguments or none not just when it suits your argument.

I didn't see the game last night, nor have I looked at the stats but before the game I was happy with a draw at a ground where we hardly ever play well or get any luck and we got it.

Had man utd got this result last night people would be saying scraping points against teams that you struggle against is how you win titles. Why can't we apply the same logic and just be satisfied that we got one more point than any of us expected to get and move onto the next game.

25 Aug 2015 12:15:47
Nevada I personally use statistics to back up a point,for example,when I say we were getting overloaded on the left clyne vs Monreal,and that we shouldn't have sat back and invited pressure,and to show that we offered nothing in the second half going forward. This isn't an abuse of stats its teamed up with an analysis of what was actually happening on the field that I have described.

It's not just a blind stat for example,skrtels the best defender because he completes 77% of passes etc etc. there is some I HOPE TACTICAL discussion it backs up. I don't think any one who watched the game tactically or statistically can deny they kitchen sinked us in the second half.

As ED001 said Man utd thumped teams and won as well as winning when poor.we've played poorly and won 2 games and drawn one,2 of which we shouldn't have got those results,but did on poor reffing desicions. I haven't seen a man utd chelsea City Arsenal esque title winning performance yet in our opening 3.

If we start dictating the play,tempo,passing ,and look incisive in the final 3rd ill say we are playing well. we aren't at the moment

25 Aug 2015 12:17:50
Because they never satisfied in here Nevada, I agree with you, it was a good result, heck its a very good start to the season. Yes a little disappointment , Arsenal were there for the taking in the first half, we could n't score, but we were very lucky their goal was deemed offside (I don't think it was).

25 Aug 2015 12:36:16
I watched it and i'll give you an unbiased of our performance as best as I can.

The first half we played some nice football, Coutinho and Benteke linking up well, Firm showing some promise for his first game. If it wasn't for Cech, Coquelin last minute tackles, the woodwork and slight early season rust we could/should of been 2/3-1 up.

With Lucas in midfield we were defensively sound except for the "offside" goal that should of stood, due to Skrtle being a yard out of position playing Ramsey on. He also went on and got a needless yellow however his interception in the second half that could so easily have gone in his own goal (now idea how it didn't, it's Skrtle after all!) made up for it, as without that touch Walcott was in.

Lovren and Clyne were both steady, doing their job with Gomez standing out (what a buy).

The midfield trio worked hard and well together and we were fairly balanced.

Second half Arsenal woke up and were pounding at the door, we did well to defend it with only the odd attack, maybe with Sturridge back and Can/Ibe with a few games under their belt the counter attacks will be more promising.

Moreno came on and ran off with the ball again, if he could sort his final pass/decision making he can make a great impact sub.

Mig made a couple of great saves, missed one punch on a cross but otherwise did well.

Overall, before the game a draw at Arsenal is a good result, however once their CB partnership were both out of the game we needed to be ruthless with our finishing and we'd of won it on the first half. It is still early in the season.

25 Aug 2015 13:51:18
Logical

What a wonderful way to have a go at Skrtel. Brilliant. The lad shouldn't touch the ball at all.

25 Aug 2015 13:51:59
I can understand your point Bob, I even agree with some parts of it to a certain extent (my original post was not aimed solely at yourself by the way). I too would like to see us keep up a high and aggressive tempo for 90 mins. This however assumes some rather large things.

1. That the other team is either incapable or unwilling to prevent us from doing this.

2. Our team has the skill and energy to enforce this.

Did we take our foot off the gas or did arsenal do that? I don't know because I was unlucky enough to miss the game, ED001 suggested a little of both. I think it's naïve to assume that a team of arsenals quality would not be able to do anything to prevent us from playing that way the whole game so I'm inclined to say that it's not possible (against good opposition) to do that.

There is a phrase that keeps getting thrown around this forum a lot (which I'm not overly fond of) that seems appropriate in this case "There is only one statistic that matters - how many games you win" It's simplistic but apt in the correct context.

Thanks for chipping in everyone, intelligent and civilised debate is always positive.

25 Aug 2015 13:28:11
Bob has it bang on, stats should be used to enforce an argument alongside other information and should not, as some posters seem to do, just be plastered about with no reference as to where they came from.

25 Aug 2015 14:26:20
To be fair though Bob, I haven't seen a "man utd chelsea City Arsenal esque title winning performance" yet in the opening 3 games of Man Utd, Arsenal or Chelsea.

I agree we are not playing as well as we would all like to see, but I don't see why we should be any more worried than we would be if we supported these teams. And nobody expects them to have a poor season.

People, pessimistically but quite fairly, said wait and see how the defence holds up against Arsenal before we celebrate the clean sheets.

We came away with another, so let's have a break from the moaning and save it for when we're not third in the table.

25 Aug 2015 14:53:25
87.3% of all stats are made up on the spot.

25 Aug 2015 15:15:49
Joe you've certainly seen it from City though.

25 Aug 2015 21:42:09
Boba you should say: i use stats whenever they suit my argument!
Arsenal had 19 shots you say, 5 of them only on target and 1 hit the post so 6 shots on target. While we had 8 and hit the post twice so 10 shots on target so these stats say we were the more dangerous team and certainly the stat of Peter Cech being Motm suggests we could have won. I can't stand this nonsense about when we play well its other teams that are awful and vica versa, it defies all logic.

26 Aug 2015 08:33:42
Malak how about that other stat. arsenal also scored a goal. we didn't

26 Aug 2015 09:30:33
That stat is in your head, Arsenal did NOT score and the game ended 0-0! So move on with this nonsense.

25 Aug 2015 11:13:57
Had a little chuckle hearing Rodger's say that our best defensive midfielder is Lucas. He is our only DM, and he's great! Why don't you play him then?

Honestly, I don't believe Rodger's is stupid. He knows what he's doing when he didn't play Lucas against Bournemouth and Stoke. But he did play him against Arsenal where he had the fear of being dominated and he knew the importance of being defensively sound and organized and Lucas brings that. But then again, if Henderson was fit would he have played in place of Can or Lucas last night? I fear that Rodgers would have decided to play him in place of Lucas and we would've been rattled all over the pitch.

Credit where it's due, last night was an amazing performance. My man of the match was Lucas, but maybe its because we're missing a defensive midfielder so much that we rate Lucas so much. No doubt, he's an outstanding player but I believe the problem Rodger's has is not with Lucas. The problem he has is with playing a defensive midfielder. He needs to realise that playing 3 box to box midfielder or 2 box to box and an attacking one does not make sense, especially when you have your full backs bombing up the pitch to provide width. You need that extra protection that a defensive midfielder gives you.

I love how Benteke is fitting into the team and how almost everyone is playing exceptionally! As long as Rodgers gets it into his head that playing a defensive midfielder aka Lucas is necessary, we can easily make top 4!

25 Aug 2015 11:39:42
Spot on. It's not Lucas, he just usually doesn't want to play a DM as he's reinvented the wheel supposedly. Hopefully he's learninj from SOD and Gary Mac. i'd say playing a DM is just as important at home, as the Bournemouth game showed.

25 Aug 2015 11:40:23
Lucas did well last night but no way was he even close to man of the match! I am one of Skrtels biggest critics but he was our best player last night, but its no shock he is a very good defender for a team that defends very deep but otherwise he struggles big time. Lucas should play more but Milner was promised to play centrally, personally i would play Milner on the right side with Lucas-Hendo-Coutinho midfield.

25 Aug 2015 11:46:44
You are far from reality. There are two reasons he don't play Lucas.

1. He doesn't believe in a true DM

2. There are no place for Luxas unless one of Hendo / Milner / Can are injured.

25 Aug 2015 11:50:01
Gomez man of the match for me - Was absolutely solid all game and he only had coutinho for protection really who isn't defensively minded and its credit to him that arsenal wanted to attack Clyne more than him - Just shows the job he did that even Sanchez swapped sides in the game

25 Aug 2015 12:41:53
@Cialbray, Gomez had a great game but Coutinho's work rate was far higher than Firmino's so maybe that's why they went down our right flank more.

25 Aug 2015 13:24:59
Harry calling someone far from reality.
Lol.

25 Aug 2015 15:15:57
Sanchez played on the left. That's why Clyne was under more pressure. But I do agree Gomez had an outstanding game. My man of the match could have been any of our back four, who really were up against it in the second half when Arsenal began to bring on fresh legs in Ox and Walcott and looked very good. So, I'll give it to Lovren, who didn't put a foot wrong that I could see and has been much more settled the first three games than all of last season. (Not perfect, but tons better)

25 Aug 2015 10:31:23
I wonder how many seasons it'll be before City or Chelsea bid for Gomez. Looks a class act.

25 Aug 2015 11:31:17
Yep, but he's very young and prone to mistakes just like every other kid.

25 Aug 2015 11:49:54
Next season as city clearly need an upgrade on Korolov.

25 Aug 2015 10:10:00
Only caught the last half hour (damn parents wanting to be sociable) so missed all the best parts but hoovered up everything on this site, in the media and in the highlights.

First of all, absolutely delighted with the result. Second of all, I'm well aware that in another world where the luck went against us we're sitting on 1 to 3 points. I have to agree with Fanobip that our new defensive posture, although effective, is overbalanced in favour of keeping shape at the rear. Maybe that was just a 'second half at the emirates' thing but at times we played that deep against Stoke and Bournemouth as well and sooner or later we'll have to actually be better than the opposition rather than just try to contain them and win 1-0.

I continue to be chuffed with Benteke who, with a bit more sharpness would be on three goals already this season. When the juices start to flow I have every confidence he'll be that 20GaS man we want him to be. I also want to give a big shout out to Mignolet, this guys was seen as a disaster over the summer, I won't argue he's faultless but he's just so hard to beat and he's won us at least a couple of points this season already.

Finally, about Lucas, always want him to stay but I agree with Rodgers that he's a man for certain games and not every game. If he'd prefer to be a leading player somewhere else than a bit player at Liverpool then we should help him find the perfect club and make his transfer as smooth as possible, we owe him that.

P.S. Chuffed that Rodgers had enough faith in Rossiter to bring him on in such an important role and in such a high pressure situation. Good for the academy, great for the lad.

25 Aug 2015 09:55:42
Right, Gentlemen (& ladies), which one of us is going o eat our hats first then?!

Well done Rodgers, started Lucas and set up the team very well. And before everyone comes rushing out saying it was O'Driscoll etc. can we all take a moment and just congratulate the team and Rodgers?! I thought we were very god first half, Arsenal were very poor too though.

Benteke, wow. What a miss. Good all round play though. Firmino looked good but faded later on as expected.

Now, I have one major gripe. Ibe was shocking when he came on. He was flat-footed and constantly los possession. You could see numerous times other players shouting at him. He di not contribute at all and seemed to walk around in a daze when off the ball.

Migs was solid, Skrtel and Loven were ok, got caught a few times out of position as usual.

Milner was his usual hard-working self. Coutinho was on fire again. not long until Real and Barca come calling I suspect.

Glad to see Lucas on the pitch again, decent game considering he hasn't played too.

25 Aug 2015 11:59:25
Great Post - Agree with Ibe didn't seem too interested in defending it seemed when ultimately that's what was needed and thought Firmino chipped in massively and helped Clyne until he was tired

25 Aug 2015 12:46:44
I haven't got a hat 😉

25 Aug 2015 13:38:32
Coutinho surely goes to Barca next year. I also believe that Firmino sees Liverpool as a direct route to Barcelona or Madrid.

26 Aug 2015 04:15:58
Your post makes no sense. We got a point in a game we should have knocked them silly in the first half before they woke up in the second half, and you come here to gloat, right? About what exactly are you gloating about? Getting a point? Here's a cookie for your troubles. Now come back when you have something real, to talk about.

25 Aug 2015 09:26:58
3 games in and migs has yet to pick up the ball from the back of his net.
Well done to migs and the defence as a whole (and that linesman).

25 Aug 2015 10:09:00
im not to sure about that! you can't discount that arsenal scored a perfectly good goal that was wrongly disallowed,and as it turned out,it would have been the winning goal,football! "its a funny old game"

25 Aug 2015 10:20:11
He did last night but it was ruled off side 😛

{Ed001's Note - and against Bournemouth but it was disallowed for a non-foul....}

25 Aug 2015 10:41:19
Fair play to Migs yesterday he was good. Not brilliant just good, Cech on the other hand was brilliant!

25 Aug 2015 10:41:55
That was a foul against Bournemouth. The guy put both hands on Lovrens shoulders. How can he jump? I also think it was stupid as he was going to win the header without fouling him, and maybe it was soft but 100% a foul in my opinion.

{Ed001's Note - he could have jumped, but he was making no attempt to do so. Both hands resting lightly on your shoulders does not stop him jumping.}

25 Aug 2015 11:02:33
So word, you're saying that if the goal in the 5rg minute had stood it would have been the winning goal and nothing would have changed in the remainder of the game? Way to spin things around to suit yourself. that's not how football works however

25 Aug 2015 11:26:47
one negative for me was his positioning on crosses. He was to far back from the near post IMO. a decent cross and he's beaten front post all the time. His other issue was his lack of power or physical presence on crosses. He missed a few coming out whether it was to punch or catch, and needs to bowl over whoever is in his way. Bit more aggression would be nice. All in all he has improved slightly from last season. Maybe its the confidence of the defence or working together in training but long may it continue

25 Aug 2015 11:49:43
Loathe to disagree with ed001 but there's no reason for the Bournemouth playing to put his hands on Lovren. Would even have been a foul in rugby near enough!!

{Ed001's Note - I never said the player was right to do so, simply that Lovren could and should have headed the ball clear anyway, instead of ducking under it.}

26 Aug 2015 04:19:25
I've seen those given all the time, Ed so well have to disagree there. The player did not need to put his hands on Lovren if as you say, Lovren made no attempt to jump. He did that because he thought Lovren would jump and he was going to get an advantage by using him as a lift to get better elevation. He was caught cheating and the foul was a legitimate one. That is given in any league in Europe although, not all the time.

{Ed001's Note - he put his hands out because it is natural to do so, it is not always a foul, and it was clear that he never used him for elevation at all. The trajectory of the leap was not one of a person pushing down and gaining lift from an object underneath. As for those are given, very rarely are they given, if ever, in recent years. What Lovren did reminded me of what used to annoy me about Teddy Sheringham, as he would do that exact same move time and time again when a defender jumped anywhere in his vicinity and buy free kicks with it.

To be honest, to me the major issue is that irrelevant of all the blinkers you all wear making excuses for Lovren, the point is he should have defended the ball first and foremost, not curled over like a baby allowing a free header.}

25 Aug 2015 08:22:27
An excellent game of football and the apt result in the end - both teams did not deserve to lose. First of all, fantastic defensive play from the team, not just the back 4, but the midfield 3 were also excellent. Clyne handles Sanchez very well and Gomez has looked brilliant, while Mignolet did most everything that was asked of him; one miss pass to Gomez really is the only thing I can remember. Skrtel and Lovren continue to form a better understanding and I have to say we look so mcuh better from corners when defending, we don't look like we concede, excellent defensive organisation all around.

I was skeptical of Benteke, but he was outstanding yesterday, albeit with a poor miss. His movement is excellent and he won almost everything punted up to him. His strength is obvious and he ate Chambers for supper. Encouragingly, there is already good link up with Coutinho and this brings me to the main man in the team - Coutinho; I said at the beginning of the season that his performance will be key for LFC this season, and so far the signs are that he is improving. His finishing is getting better and he looks sharp and incisive. Milner, Lucas and Can had excellent games and Can's forward runs helped, though I still think he is not 100% fit. Firmino showed signs of adjusting but you could see he was a tad slower in his play than the others and that is down to his adjusting. Rossiter and Moreno did what was asked when they came on and if Lucas leaves LFC now, he will have guven everybody a very good reminder of what he brings to this team. The only player I can really criticize is Ibe - he almost looks scared to do anything and gave away the ball amateurishly. Perhaps couple of games on the bench will help his gather his thoughts.

While it was really good game, once again the officials continue to disappoint. The Ramsey offside was not offside, but Michael Oliver needs to get a grip. The yellow card on Skrtel and Gomez were a joke, and the one on Can was harsh. This is not the first time I have noticed how he is easily influenced by the crowd. Gabriel and Chambers were practically kicking Benteke off but fouls weren't given and of course Benteke had a clear case for penalty when Gabriel blatantly pulled him back from a corner.

Our best performance of the season so far.

25 Aug 2015 09:12:42
Good post Bro :)

25 Aug 2015 09:49:40
That was the best all round team performance I have seen for a long time. It's a pity we didn't take advantage of our superior play first half, but when Arsenal improved second half we stood firm and kept a clean sheet with everyone contributing in defence. Overall a draw is fair and a good result, so much better than last season. An encouraging start, something solid to build on.

25 Aug 2015 08:16:48
I'm actually embarrassed that I've woken up to read posts about it being a good performance. It was the exact same shambles we had in our first game last year,neither side held onto the ball well.
We barely saw inside arsenal half in the 2nd stanza. What game were people watching?

We hit the post twice,well done,we stilll didn't score,they however did score a legitimate goal and once again the linesman comes to our rescue. we've garnered 3 points from poor decisions. we shouldn't be relying on poor linesmanship to win.

I am actually lost for words people think you can play well conceding so much space possession and shots in a half of football.

25 Aug 2015 08:28:25
How strange

25 Aug 2015 08:36:27
Well no one really cares if your embarrassed so if supporters want to be pleased with a point away at the emirates when our record over the last 12 years there has been poor then so be it
7 points from a possible 9 including arsenal away an stoke away I don't see the problem but what ever

25 Aug 2015 08:40:42
Your deluded . 4new players in that side going to the Emirates and should have been out of sight . Perfect away performance almost .

25 Aug 2015 08:41:46
Go look at stats from every team that goes there . They concede possession. It's a given . Get over yourself black cloud

25 Aug 2015 08:45:26
Can you tell me how many points we have won or clean sheets we have kept at the Emirates?? It may not have been the greatest performance but the team played as a team. We can all nitpick and say we would have liked something done differently in the match. I bet a pound to a penny that if you offered the result to every fan before the match they would have taken it.

Go back to preseason predictions on the opening fixtures and what everyone thought would happen. It's looking more and more positive as the games come and the more we have the more this team will gel and play better.

The futures bright, the futures orange (Brendan) for now.

25 Aug 2015 08:51:11
Give it a rest mate. It was a really good team performance - last season we'd have been sliced to bits, but it was actually nice to see the team defending to a plan and not all at sea.

Pessimistic, whinging bugger.

25 Aug 2015 09:02:49
Arsenal had 2 good chances all game! The Sanchez one and the Giroud one.
A fair result of last night game was 2-4 to Liverpool and iam counting the wrongly disallowed goal! The only embarasment are fans like you who need to get a grip! Absolutley pathetic post! (BR's biggest hater here btw) And clyne was brilliant, let in 2 crosses all game with Ozil, Sanchez and Monreal at him all game!!!! The danger really came with the very very useless Ibe yesterday came on. I'm going to school you son!! What has happened to Ibe btw? I have watched Ibe 80 times at least and these last couple of games are the worst i have ever seen from him! I don't get it, BR needs to take him out of the team and the lime light! Liverpool fans sat next to me at the Emirates last night were going mental about Ibe's horrendus performance, i was telling some of them to pipe down, he is a kid but then he continues to give the ball away time and time again and didn't complete 1 pass, i have to admit i started getting really annoyed with him aswell. The only player who didn't do well yesterday! I don't know how it looked on TV but from where iam sat Emre has to be one of the most lazy players ever tracking back!! Just wow, like bambi on ice when he is running without the ball back home.

25 Aug 2015 09:05:49
He'll come on about the disallowed goal blah blah . We still played superb even if we lost one nil . 2nd half tiring we kept shape and didn't give them much . Bodes well . Sturridge to come in and fitness of firmino will improve . Looks like defensively we are set . And as weeks go on we will improve offensively . You always have one guy who thinks he knows better , and doesn't realise that the other side are a very gifted side

25 Aug 2015 09:10:47
Oh dear bob, did you have a bad day yesterday. I only saw the highlights and from what i saw i was encouraged that we are at least making improvement. Couts looked unplayable, best player on pitch by a mile.

Have to give credit to rodgers for bringing in backroom staff, for now.

25 Aug 2015 08:54:45
The reason we barely troubled Arsenal in the second half, We went to the defensive mode for absolutely no reason in my head. We took them apart in the first half

Liverpool play brilliant when we press high and release it quick. We don't keep the ball and knock around. that's simply not our strength. The only missing link in our system is a pacy winger to take Ibe role.

If you really thought we would win at Emirates, Then I am sorry mate, I don't remember Liverpol winning at the Emirates in my distant memmory.

That Back 4 for were against some of the very best attacking players in the league.

I said 24 hours ago, Would have taken a defeat given we perform well.

If you have kept, Sanchez, Carozola, Wlacottt, OX, Ramsey and Ozil quite for 90 mts at emirates, You have done pretty well IMO.

25 Aug 2015 09:11:55
It wasn't a good team performance though was it.

it was a good result as Ron loves to bash on about.

But they scythed us open for a goal.

We only looked so good in the second half for me because Chambers was son uncomposed on the ball he invited us to have possession. in their half. even then we often squandered it and gave it back.

I've never seen us give away posession so cheaply as we did last night, Lucas Can Ibe Milner Clyne Gomez were all guilty of this. So much I feel has been lost in the excitement of the game that people actually think the performance overall is good.

What's good about allowing 19 shots,giving away a goal that's wrongly disallowed,allowing them to hit the post,and dominate the second half and invite pressure onto ourselves,we should have attempted to force the Arsenal backline into conceding the possession cheaply again. not sit at the edge of out 18 10 men behind the ball. in doing that we've become like the relegation fodder. I personally expect more from Liverpool than that.

I would love to know how many times each team turned over posession.Liverpool had a real chance to put a stamp on tonight with Koschielny and mertersacker out,and we didn't take advantage,and after 45 we were happy for a point.

I'm not going to sit here and delude myself the team played well,it didn't. I will accept we got a result,but I still see no great reason to be joyous in the performance. What's especially annoying is that people on here said Man Utd were playing terribly last year,but now don't see our own team playing poorly.

25 Aug 2015 09:13:08
no one gave you that hug then Bob? Life isn't that bad dude! Cheer up

25 Aug 2015 09:14:22
Ron
What the hell are you babbling on about? do you think that Arsenal are an easy team to play against? the tactics that we employed were spot on for such a game. it shows that the management team are improving. after getting home from the match at 3.15 this morning and then watching the whole game on t.v. yes, their goal should of stood. we should have scored 2 or 3 goals in the first half but we didn't. I should of won the lottery but I didn't. let's just be content with what we have got. a point down there is a good point. the team is improving, its a pity some of our fans are not doing the same. ah well. off to bed now happy with what I saw last night and this morning, apart from the negative views from some er fans?

25 Aug 2015 09:16:43
sorry. my last post was in reply to bobatron not ron

25 Aug 2015 09:23:38
Holy cr*p Bob, give it up. As they say, denial isn't a place in Egypt.

25 Aug 2015 09:34:57
The team isn't really improving though is it. It will be another lacklustre performance next week where hopefully a decision goes our way from the linesman again. This isn't about me being in a mood,there were positives to take out of it.

But I don't see sitting back an inviting Arsenal to give us pressure as a great tactic. They hit the post in that time and had a clear penalty decision disallowed for lucas tackle on Giroud. It was tactically naive. what Liverpool needed to do was play the same brand of football in the first halfnot sit on the 18 and lump it to benteke.This is the football we all hate from stoke westham and bolton,Liverpool are Better than that kind of football.

I'm not going to sit there and praise Clyne either when Sanchez drifted past him too easily in the second half time and again just like ramsey did for his goal that was ruled out.

I have no idea why we even brought Ibe on sitting so deep when the game called for better protection,we were never going to counter with Benteke so isolated,and his back up so entrenched in our half.

25 Aug 2015 09:36:03
instead of just analysing the result,analyse the game.

I actually can't believe some one has said they watched the highlights and said it's an improvement. SMH

25 Aug 2015 10:07:01
Yes bob 30 yrs of watching football allowed me to make an assessment of the performance based on extended highlights that you are moaning for the sake of moaning.

3rd game of the season. Pespective is a wonderful thing bob.

25 Aug 2015 10:45:21
I am embaressed aa well, but not by Liverpools performance last night but by this hilarious nonsense! Well done bobby, you're a comedian i must say!

25 Aug 2015 10:51:05
Sorry John but no amount of watching football allows you to get an understanding of a match through highlights,you want to know why.the word HIGH is used not the word low or average. If you think you can make an assessment of a game through 5 mintues of footage your deluding yourself

25 Aug 2015 11:04:02
Bob

Hate to break it to you mate, but teams will score against us. Being "scythed open" by arsenal once and getting away with it I'll take.

Sanchez did get past Clyne a couple of times, but I lost count of how many times he stopped him. And this is one of the best players in the league last season.

One thing it wasn't, was tactically naive. We set up how every single person on this site wanted us to.

I don't know what your problem is, but at least try to be a little balanced. You can't berrate our team for conceding a shot that hit the post and gloss over the fact that we did that twice plus we made the best chance of the match.

25 Aug 2015 11:27:43
Bob so all the other posters who watched the match and come to the conclusion that we are at least making improvement are also deluded. Perspective bob, perspective. Yes improvements are needed but to say the team went away to arsenal and peppered their goal first half and came away with a creditable draw was a poor performance is disingenuous.

25 Aug 2015 11:38:55
It wasn't once though was it. or Sanchez wouldn't have gotten in behind on several occasions int he 2nd half.

I mean you even admit that in your second paragraph!

I'm talking about the second half being tactically naive inviting the pressure where once again I will re iterate they hit the post and had a penalty turned down,(which was a clear penno) they absolutely battered us and we had no answer.

I am not glossing over anything I said in my other statement I wanted us to pressure more like the 1st half and close the spaces down and force their 2 very inexperienced centrebacks into making passes. It was naive to stop this play and let them come at us.

Please atleast read into what I'm writing. fact is we were saved blushes once again by a poor decision. This just ins't good enough going forward.

how can you say you made the best chance of the match? when the other team scored vs our keeper and we didn't score vs theirs?!?

25 Aug 2015 12:21:07
Bob, I think your expectations are crazy high, and not in a 'we not good enough for a top 4 finish' kinda way but in a 'why aren't we better than Barcelona' way. We were playing Arsenal away, a team that can beat any other team in the world on their day. We will never stop them having any chances at all. We will never stop Sanchez beating his man on occasion, he's world class.

What we did do is restrict their chances and have a number of our own at the other end. That’s almost the best we could hope for and we achieved it. We should be delighted with last night's performance and disappointed with the result.

25 Aug 2015 12:31:12
Well maybe they scored in yoyr imagination because the gane ended 0-0! The lines man decided it was offisde and nothing can chage that! Bentekes chance was the biggest chance all game, Coutinho his the bar and the post and if it wasnt for Cech we would be leading 3-0 at halftime. Obviously if you know your football you would know that Arsenal wouldn't play 2 halfes like that and that our energy levels would drop after the first half shift we put in. Arsenal started dominating once Firmino was taken off. But they created 2 chances worth metioning, Sanchez hitting the post and Giroud falling on his Arse which was a huge chance. Obviously Arsenal are the strongest team we have met so far and going by the performance in the first 2 games if you can't see that yesterdays performance was a huge improvement you have problems!

25 Aug 2015 07:51:41
IBE has been a passenger in ALL 3 games so far he has offered absolutley nothing,
INGS should be given a chance and play him with BENTEKE up front with Firminio Milner Caan and Coutinio behind.
Still don't like Bodgers Still believe he doesn't have a clue and Lucas needs to stay, why play Rossietter in a game of this magnitude these poor decisions in bringing IBE and the young lad could of backfired.

25 Aug 2015 08:09:15
I would personally give Markovic a chance as he offer pace and clever movmemet on the flanks. Ibe has been the victim of social media syndrome.
With fans constantly labeling him to the next sterling has put a massive pressure on the lad.
He is trying to emulate sterling. He has to enjoy his game and stick to what's his best attributes are.
I wouldn't be surpried if he doesn't score 20 goals like Sterling, because He is a winger and Wingers assist more than they scores.

Rossiter was bought to give Lucas the lsat time wave good bye.

I am no big Lucas fan, But admitt I had tears when he was subbed off.

25 Aug 2015 08:11:17
That Rossiter sub was bizarre

25 Aug 2015 09:04:14
Lucas was not subbed for his final wave. We were getting overrun through the middle of the park. He idea I believe was to get Ibe to sit on the byeline so we could have and outlet and stretch Arsenal players. Lucas is not 100% fit and so we needed fresh legs. Unfortunately for us Ibe could not keep hold of the ball but the the idea was correct. The same on the opposite side with Moreno. Have 2 fast players on and stretch the play on the counter.

As for Rossiter I believe it was a good decision and correct. We now know that our young players can come in to big games and play a part in the team. Hopefully we stop spending so much on players like (dare I say it EG) Markovic. The matches don't get much bigger than the Emirates and Rossiter must feel 10 foot tall this morning. All the team deserve praise.

Last week the club got slaughtered for not bringing in younger players and giving them a chance, now they get slaughtered because They did. Give your heads a wobble. Sentiment has nothing to play with that decision last night. I for one hope Lucas stays.

Apart from that I'm buzzing about result. First half when we pressed the centre backs and keepers we almost looked like the team from 2 season ago. Was hoping we would do more in the second half but with it being a new team and the fitness not there I'd happily take a point. In fact if take a point if we were 100% fit. How many times have we got a good result here??

25 Aug 2015 09:08:33
Leta not sugar coat it, Ibe has been very very bad in the first 2 games and yesterday coming off the bench i thought he would run riot, the most awful performace i have seen from a LFC player for the last 3,5 years! He needs to get his head sorted or sent out on loan to league 2! that's his level after last night! I am sorry, i do love IBE but i never thought i would see such awfulness! Ever the queit relaxed Skrtel went mental on Ibe after him loosing position for the 15th time in 3 minutes. Ibe came on at 61 minutes and from then Arsenal started creating some decent opportunites!

25 Aug 2015 09:32:50
Way over crytical Malak. He hasn't played well, i agree. Maybe he is trying to hard. Its not easy coming into a top PL team on a regular basis. I would bench him for the time being, bring him on again gradually. Hopefully when we are winning games. He will be fine in the long run.

25 Aug 2015 10:10:58
Jasus the man can't win, you lot moaned all fecking summer that the kids are not getting enough chances and when they do you bloody complain.

Im no brendan sicophant but this is ridiculous

25 Aug 2015 11:29:03
Where did i mention BR? I am talking about Jordon Ibe who can do a hell of a lot better and we all know it.

25 Aug 2015 07:02:56
Ed 1, am I right in thinking that Joe Gomez and Nathaniel Clyne are our full-back positions sorted for the next decade?

Plus Flanno to come back from injury(hopefully) and a not disastrous back-up in Moreno.

7/9 is a great return, considering we've visited the Britania and the Emirates.

Oh, and three clean sheets.

Brighter days ahead, surely?

{Ed001's Note - Gomez might well end up at centre back in time.}

25 Aug 2015 07:48:40
Moreno is knocking the door and should get a place in the team. He offers immense pace.

25 Aug 2015 08:05:53
He might offer immense pace but he is not the better defender imo. Personally i would stick with Gomez for a while longer.

25 Aug 2015 08:09:59
Would have made more sense than bringing Ibe on last night for sire

25 Aug 2015 08:22:11
Moreno might have a chance in this team as the new coaching staff seem to be improving their defending - at times last night when we were attacking it was if we had a back 3 as only one full back attacked the other stayed back; therefore if Moreno can be disciplined he may still have a good chance of being in the LB position.

25 Aug 2015 08:39:50
Changing that back 4 would be stupidity NOW. They are confident and effective and are working well. Gomez has 3 yellow cards in 3 games (the yellow card against Arsenal was a joke of a decision by Michael Oliver), and at this rate, Moreno will get his chance very soon.

25 Aug 2015 05:08:56
Congrats to the team. So many people were thinking Arsenal would just walk all over us.

Few points:

1.) Maybe this is a little too late but we are a better team with Lucas in there. But the problem is who too play : Hendo, Milner, Can, Lucas and Rossiter(?) . I guess all of them can't start which is where the problem is as they expect to be playing all games (except Ross).

2.) Team looks organised, more so defensively. More often then not I would have said that we were lucky but not this game. It was obvious we worked hard on our game plan.

3.) Question for the Eds or another poster who can analyze. Why do you think we were not able to carry the momentum through to the 2nd half. Did Arsenal change or we did.

PS. Lucas's last game?? let's hope the club can come to some amiable terms and he stays!!

{Ed001's Note - Arsenal stepped up in the second half, with our attitude clearly being to sit back and contain them, it was always going to happen when they stopped giving the ball away needlessly. We still never really looked like we were stretched by them which is good.}

25 Aug 2015 06:10:45
That baffles me in the second half. BR took a U turn to sit and defend. We should have pressed the same way we did in the first half.
Can we finally have Markovic on the flanks. decent player and excellent pace. Why don't we play a winger when the opposition play against our full backs??

For all those who bought up skretel playing Ramsey onside, Skrtel was coming back from the back and was coupe of millimeter out from the line, who in this page would do better than Skrtel?

The whole back line were nothing short of Heroes for me yesterday and I am not a big fan of Skrtel at all.

{Ed001's Note - we didn't press in the first half, we put pressure on the ball, but there was still no press. Not that I am complaining, as we looked good last night.}

25 Aug 2015 06:11:59
Ed01, Y did he subbed Lucas?
I thought Can should have been off for Rossiter and who is dropping with Hendo coming back?
I fear it's Lucas on the bench to accommodate the list of attacking players we have got.

{Ed001's Note - I fear Lucas was waving goodbye personally.}

25 Aug 2015 06:27:24
Very happy with the point although 2 half we rode our luck a bit . 7 points out of nine is a good start in my book , now keep it going is the next challenge .

25 Aug 2015 06:32:11
Every system has its own drawbacks.

press high and play high line some one would hoof up the top or escape the offside trap.

Sit deep and counter, you invite pressure and somehow the opposition sneak inside or try a long range from distance.

Press high and play high, you have a better chances to score.

We need pace on the flanks and Walcott / Sanchez shoes what we miss.

25 Aug 2015 06:37:06
Looks like Rodgers is going to give Rossiter a bit of first team action this year. That unfortunately leave Lucas short of opportunities.
Could be Pip Linders influence?
Either way, opportunities do need to be created for youngsters.

{Ed001's Note - Rossiter deserves the chances, but it would be best alongside Lucas to talk him through the games and provide a bit of protection so he can make mistakes.}

25 Aug 2015 06:51:12
Hi Ed001

Just picking up on what youve said that you feel Lucas was waving good bye? Do you honestly beleive that's it and he is off? Ed002 indicated he's less likely to leave because of Hendo injury. We don't no how long Hendo is out for do we?

{Ed001's Note - I really hope he stays, but it did look ominously like a goodbye. Brendan will have his work cut out persuading him to stay.}

25 Aug 2015 07:01:26
A CM alongside a DM.

25 Aug 2015 07:09:57
I think/hope this might be the plan going forward that older players are going to be replaced by youngsters coming through. We have 4 established centre backs, but only Lovren and Sakho have any longevity in their legs now. Skrtel and Toure are not going to play every game and are not going to maintain standards for many seasons.
This will allow natural space for Ilori to come through.
Seems to me Rodgers, O'Driscol and Linders have looked at last seasons squad, strengthened it and plotted a route for all our 18-21 yr olds coming through.
Perhaps this is why Sinclair is off. He wasn't quite ready so Ings and Origi came in.
It is a reason for optimism and we might just get away from daft purchases of overpriced British squad players in the near future

25 Aug 2015 07:53:03
Well, BR has only himslef to blame for the mess. He has cleary udnerstood, we need a DM and None of the three Milner/Hendo/Can could do a Job.
But with assuring roles and position to all the three players. Lucas simply cannot start unless someone is injured.

25 Aug 2015 09:27:06
Ed01 am I missing something. BR said Lucas will not be leaving this transfer window. We desperately need to keep hold of him. Considering Lucas has had little game time, I thought he had a good game protecting the back four. YNWA

25 Aug 2015 04:01:35
I'm really disappointed. Not with the team of cos. Good performance.

I'm disappointed that all the pessimists who predicted we'd be run over by the Gooners haven't come on here and continued their pessimism. Haa

I'm happy with the performance. We would have won if goalmouth were six inches wider.

Clyne n Gomez deserve a lot of credit and u suspect Gomez may soon get a call from Woy if he keeps going like this.

I'm really happy with the 7 points. But it's too early to be too optimistic. One game at a time.

I'll start getting optimistic if we're 2 points from the top (or 4th) on New Years day. :)

But I really must say - best right back we've had since - dare I say it? . Rob Jones?

Ok I've said it.

And if Woy ever plays Phil Jones over Clyne again, it's probably time to get a new England manager. :)

YNWA

25 Aug 2015 06:20:48
A bit of a disservice to finnan that. But yeah he does look good.

25 Aug 2015 06:37:40
Babbel was a top right back

25 Aug 2015 00:48:46
Can I just congratulate the young Mr Joe Gomez.
I personally thought he played a blinder tonight. My MOTM, and he's ONLY 18. He's only going to get better and I can't wait to watch his development.
He should hold his head very high :D

24 Aug 2015 23:26:19
Never understood the hate for skrtel so I kept quiet, think we have four very decent cb and getting rid of our most consistent cb hen spending £15-£20 on another one to flop it typical of fans that don't really know too much about physically playing football. I think too many of you guys just take what ed1 says as gospel although he has a lot of correct opinions, I think the hate for skrtel is purely on his inability to organise and be a leader (communication) but his defensive abilities are better than the others, and today proved that. I still agree sahko should be our first cb but the hate for skrtel is ridiculous, and only really exists on this site ironically. Lovren has had another good game and I think defensively we have reverted back to the traditional style of 4 at the back, and the Rb, LB positions don't push up all the time and spend more time defending, which is what we need with no real DM consistently playing.

Great result, a draw was probably the right one. Firmino had signs in the first half and with lallana out, he will be starting now. Ibe should not be starting games, he is far away from being first team ready and should be an impact sub for now. He just shows a lack of composure and just repeats the same thing, which should improve with coaching. Markovic should get his chances, as I think he would do more at the moment. Everyone was pretty solid, and I liked rossiter coming in, he needs to be in an around the team ahead of Allen.

I know this is a pretty ruthless post, but you have to be real and not let sentiment blind you.

25 Aug 2015 08:07:57
"Correct opinions" doesn't really make sense you mean it just differs from your opinion?

24 Aug 2015 22:52:44
7 points out of 9, we all would have been happy with
3 clean sheets aswell✔️
Also young Rossiter getting a run✔️

24 Aug 2015 23:55:27
Don't think Clyne's getting enough credit, Sanchez is one of the top players in the league if not world and we came away with a point today as Clyne kept him as quiet as humanely possible. I'd argue we have the best right back in the league there.
Other positives Lucas obviously, Can after the first 15 minutes looked a machine, Benteke did everything but score, hardly needs saying that Coutinho's a class above, Lovren looks like he's turning over a new leaf, I often criticise him but bar a couple of odd decisions Skrtel was very solid, Mignolet too mostly, Gomez is one hell of a talent, Firmino showed enough quality to get me excited for when he's fully fit and Milner was largely magnificent. In short a great team performance.
Only real disappointments Ibe's lack of a touch/ game management and Rossiter looked a bit of a headless chicken at times. Oh, and we didn't score!
Can't have everything though.

25 Aug 2015 09:45:14
No toddy apparently it's because sanchez didn't play well rather than Clyne doing well lol

Clune was fantastic tonight.

Forgot what its like to have a good rb

24 Aug 2015 23:40:32
well played to the team and all the player's who played , another clean sheet for a defence that was so leaky last season and so nervous and had no confidence , i hope the defence continues to grow and keep solid , the change of coaches seemed to have had the desired effect , a lot of fans were not happy about the way we played against stoke in our first game , i said at the time it was a good result because we won and kept a clean sheet and that it might give lovren the confidence he was lacking last season ,

We should have won tonight with the little magician being the man of the match again ,a lot of other fans from other team's in the prem thought we would have got beat tonight they would not of expected us to play so well and nearly beat them on their home soil ,so you have to give credit where it is due ,also if cech was not on form we would have got the 3 point's , the bar the post and 2 finger tip save's was the difference from 1 point to 3 point's and a great result and 2nd in the prem but for me this all started with our hard fought ugly win against Stoke in our 1st game

what will do my head in is that all the pundit's will say Arsenal where unlucky because they had a goal dissalowed , they won't go on about the way we tore them apart in the 1st few minute'sand that we had our chance's or moment's in the game to take the lead and that Arsenal were the better team in the 2nd half, they won't givev us the credit that's due ,

Couthino has been really good for us since he has been here but the last 2 season's he has been really good i just hope he get's the recognition he deserve's , i can't wait for the team and Benteke to hit it off , if we use him peoperly then he will get many goal's for us , Couthino is trying to make a partnership with him and i hope in training another partnership form with him and sturridge , so that when Benteke win's the headers and flick on's sturridge will be on his toe's ready for the ball and if that happen's we will be in the top 2 come the end of the season because up to now Benteke has shown me he is unplayable at time's and he is so strong if we have not played to our best yet i can't wait till we do

25 Aug 2015 03:43:25
Top 2? Really? Lol

Buddy, really good start to the season but it's too early for that.

Nice to have optimistic posts though. :)