Liverpool v Fulham (I've placed a bet on Fulham to Win)

mike65

That is an annoying tactic, like the sub 3 mins into stoppages...

Mike.

fade2black

You're supposed to space out your alloted 5 goals lads....

PiE

Nice confidence booster for the team, even if the scoreline was extremely flattering. Delighted for Fowler and Morientes of course, but that fourth goal was NEVER Crouch's, he should be ashamed to claim that one.

Davei141

What the hell are you talking about? If crouch didnt put it in the net it would of been a goal kick.

MonkeyTennis

a much needed and deserved win. Scoreline was a bit of a joke but weve had some rotten luck over the last few games so why not take a confidence boosting win. Glad for the strikers.

rondeco

Stekelly wrote:

I hate that short corner crap at teh end. Why not just whip a cross in and maybe get a sixth.

Jesus, some people are never happy..:rolleyes:

celica140bhp

My faith has been restored.....

Mark

1-0
1-1
2-1
3-1
4-1
5-1

mickey_t

Cheers for posting up the goals Mark.

Sports tonight on TV3 had conned me into thinking they were actually going to show the goals since they had "Liverpool thrash Fulham" as their main headline... They just cut straight to the West Ham v Bolton match after that..... typical.

Great to see Fowler off the mark.

Guy:Incognito

rondeco wrote:

Jesus, some people are never happy..:rolleyes:

It's not just tonight smartarse. They are always at it. it does my head in.

KdjaCL

Be happy people ......



http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41445000/jpg/_41445534_fowler203.jpg

^^^^^


He is .


kdjac

fade2black

All a striker needs is one goal to get the confidence up.

samb

Thanks Mark, good footage.

That short corner thing doesn't work well usually even if they intend to cross it. Straight in, everytime, if you ask me, often will get another corner anyway.

Good for the strikers confidence but they were the easiest goals. I agree with critics like dunphy that the strickers aren't great but crouch and fowler could make a reasonable strike force IMO.

Anyway:)

cousin_borat

Really shows how down Morientes is at the moment. Scores a goal albeit scrappt and keeps his head down. Hardly any celebration.

Shaque attack

Shaque attack wrote:

i reckon tonights the night fowler gets a goal allowed.... offside or not

i'm delighted with the result but more importantly fowlers first goal


oh and i'm delighted mike lost money betting against the pool as i'm sure he is himself

county

yes a whole 2 quid,calm down mike,think about the mortgage:)

eyerer

Shaque attack wrote:

i'm delighted with the result but more importantly fowlers first goal

really?

redspider

Liverpool 5-1 Fulham
Fowler 16 John 25
Brown Og 34
Morientes 71
Crouch 89
Warnock 90

A good and much needed result for Liverpool, both in terms of 3 points and to stop several psychological challenges, with players not scoring and the team losing games, etc.

However, lets not get too carried away with such a result. For one thing, Fulham have a very leaky defence and are a relegation candidate. They have the worst record away (as mike65 knows!), no wins and only 3 draws. So this was going to be one of Liverpool's easiest games of the season. And it turned out to be so.

Liverpool dominated the game, as they have done many other times this season, yet this time the goals came. But if Liverpool didnt get the luck in other games that they deserved, then this game the luck balance swung back as many half-chances went in.

The first was a good finish from Fowler from a corner (knock on by Garcia), but he was unmarked, it was all of 4 yards out and his header was very near the goalie. A better defence would have kept this out. At least Fowler looks half-sharp in the box and Liverpool's best striker. Its ironic to say such a thing since he is playing below the level that we sold him at when he was adjudged, and probably rightly so by Houllier, that he was not good enough.

The 2nd was an og, but in fairness, it was a good attack, it opened their defence and should have been finished by Garcia from 6 yards out. Liverpool are still mis-firing.

The third, well, Morientes, again a bit of a scramble in the box and he managed to toe poke it past a floundering defence from all of 5 yards out. His confidence, as others have pointed out, is so low that he was almost embarassed to be celebrating such a goal. He didnt celebrate. He knows that his time at Anfield is numbered. It must be, even after this display. He knew this was not even a good goal.

The 4th, well, again a bit of a scramble. Good work by Gerrard, who as usual was Liverpool's best player, a shot-cum-pass that was miskicked by Crouch on the apex of the 6 yard box and it squeezed in at the far post. Far from an exemplary finish. Crouch was also probably offside.

And finally, Warnock's goal. Good work by Finnan, potentially offside although it came off a defender, his shot blocked, it fell to Warnock who was 15 yards out and his mis-hit shot hit the ground, and bounced again before going past a desperate defender on the line.

So, all in all, the goals were flattering to deceive, but we'll take them all the same. Its about time we got the rub of the green, its just a pity it didnt come in matches where the goals were more deserving and more needed, such as against Benfica.

One thing about the defence. Agger was caught out badly for the John goal. He didnt step up to play the offside properly, was half asleep if you ask me, and didnt get back to make a challenge. A very easy goal to give away (it went through Reina's legs, so no blame there), and Carra did all that he could do by covering the far-post forward. Agger still needs a lot of development but has potential.

Warnock still doesnt do enough for me at LB, but he is good enough cover for Riise. Kewell is now probably doing enough to be a squad player for Liverpool, but I would like to see a new left sided midfielder.

mike65 wrote:

Fulham are the only team in the 4 'proper' divisons who have yet to win an away game. I have decided that tonight they are going to break that duck and have bet 2 euro on it happening. Sadly Ladbrooks are not quite as gloomy as me. 6-1 is the offer.

Ha! I knew my cunning plan would work!

It was a very cunning plan mike65 ;-)
Glad to see that you didnt bet the house on it!
Any tips for Cheltenham today ???


redspider


ps: btw, I spotted a thread about a Shevcenko rumour which I see has become locked. This seems a bit OTT, it seems to me, and the OP, midget lord, who I've had plenty of "discussions" with in the past, seems to have been unnecessarily lambasted by posters. Its a rumour! We have a Liverpool rumour thread with over 2,500 posts in it, so it seems unfair to me if a mod locks one rumour thread and not another one. My 2c worth.

Guy:Incognito

redspider wrote:

The first was a good finish from Fowler from a corner (knock on by Garcia), but he was unmarked, it was all of 4 yards out and his header was very near the goalie. A better defence would have kept this out. At least Fowler looks half-sharp in the box and Liverpool's best striker. Its ironic to say such a thing since he is playing below the level that we sold him at when he was adjudged, and probably rightly so by Houllier, that he was not good enough.

Have to disagree here. It was'nt like he was standing in the box and everyone walked away from him. He was on the lien with his marker, waited and peeled away when the cross came in to lose his marker.

Also, on his form before being sold, it wasn't bad at all. He scored a hat-trick in his last game before being sold. He was moved on for personal reasons on Houlliers behalf. He had a goal every 2 games that season, thats while being thrown on as a sub and being played intermittantly.

redspider

Stekelly wrote:

Have to disagree here. It was'nt like he was standing in the box and everyone walked away from him. He was on the lien with his marker, waited and peeled away when the cross came in to lose his marker.

Thats what defending/marking is all about. Yes, Fowler did have some movement in the box, which is good and we all like to see that, but a better defender and defenc would have been there to challenge him for the header. Better defences will do this against Robbie and defend such situations quite easily. Fulham have a terrible defence. As much as I would like to think it was Robbie's brilliance, it was more to do with bad defending than brilliant attack.

Stekelly wrote:

Also, on his form before being sold, it wasn't bad at all. He scored a hat-trick in his last game before being sold. He was moved on for personal reasons on Houlliers behalf. He had a goal every 2 games that season, thats while being thrown on as a sub and being played intermittantly.

Well, we probably all have our views on this. What happened to Fowler at Liverpool back then is probably a couple of things. The first is Michael Owen, who was also a finisher/poacher and when given the time was shown to be better than Robbie. Its hard if not impossible to play both of these players at the same time as they were similar in style, approach, build-up play, etc.

Also, Robbie, as being one of the Spice Boys let this approach get to his head and his game. He also got injured I seem to recall. He did come back into the team, but he was missing as many chances as he was scoring. He also had a problem with fitness and with weight. Remember the Uefa Cp Final against Alaves, for example. He missed loads.

Granted, he was better then than what we have now, I am 100% sure about that! And I take your point that at that stage he was not past his best-before-date. But Houllier who was clearing out the Spice Boys (James, McAteer, Babb, Wright, McManaman left on his own, etc) saw Robbie as part of the past and Owen as the future. Its a pity he also saw Heskey as the future, but thats the Houllier story.

Robbie is our best forward currently, which is hard to believe, and to me shows how bad a job Benitez has done with some of his signings!

redspider

rondeco

Stekelly wrote:

It's not just tonight smartarse. They are always at it. it does my head in.

Always at what? Playing it in the corner or winning 5-1. There are more important and worrying things from last night than just playing ball in the corner. What about the booing when fowler came off. That was a disgrace. The only complaint from last night is the fans. They disappointed me and shamed themselves. Morientes' treatment was wrong. As long as he is a red he should be cheered to the rafters. So forget that **** about playing in the corner and address the real issues.

yom 1

great result

about time too but did anyone else think morientes didn't really look that happy about scoring

el rabitos

Always at what? Playing it in the corner or winning 5-1. There are more important and worrying things from last night than just playing ball in the corner. What about the booing when fowler came off. That was a disgrace. The only complaint from last night is the fans. They disappointed me and shamed themselves. Morientes' treatment was wrong. As long as he is a red he should be cheered to the rafters. So forget that **** about playing in the corner and address the real issues.

real issues? its not a nuclear crisis going on ffs.

i agree with what he's saying about liverpool and the short corners, they've been at it since last season. playing juve and trying short corners then screwing it up and giving away possession, they do it so often its unreal.

morientes getting some boo's after a 1000 or so minutes of being **** is the least of my worrys when the team gives the ball away so cheaply from an attacking position like a corner.

astrofool

On the subject of Liverpool's striker, a while ago it was worked out they were averaging 1 shot every 80 minutes or so. Rooney at the weekend had 11 in one game, granted he missed 9, but he also scored 2. I wonder if Benitez has been giving instructions to hold the ball up too much rather than to just take a shot.

Thanx 4 The Fish

I doubt that your ststistic is correct and I would like you to back it up please. I would in fact go as far as to say you are completely incorrect and you could not be more wrong if you tried.


Liverpool take more shots than any other club in the league - 419. would be hard pressed to work out how they managed to say that liverpool strikers have only taken one shot every 80 minutes each and I would argue that you and whoever made up those stats are incorrect.

mike65

I would suggest 1 shot in 80 is actually going in! Great vids Mark. I was waiting for SSN to show them but could'nt be arsed to sit though any number of other items first! :Mad:.

Mike.

astrofool

i'll have to find the stats then! I think it was my brother who told me about it (pool fan), closest i've found so far has been:

http://www.anfieldstats.co.uk/2005-2006/player.php

which has Cisse as having 12 goals in 2200 mins in play (every 200 mins), and Crouch with a goal every 384 mins (every 4 matches), and thats every comp, not just premiership.

Also just found this: http://home.skysports.com/optastats.asp?clid=14&clubname=Liverpool&cpid=8 which would seem to indicate shots on target, and would work out about right, Crouch (for example) has taken 64 shots, 48% completion (on target i'm guessing), so 31 shots on target, which is 1.4 shots per match(22) on target (excluding sub appearances which would make it less). Given that it was a couple of months ago I heard this, I could well believe he was on about 1 shot on target every 80 mins. Anyway, I was just trying to say that it may be that the strikers are being told to hold the ball up, when they should be shooting more often (and potentially scoring goals).

zAbbo

But you said shots/min ratio not goals/min

Sounds like you pulled the stats right out of your ass

rondeco

el rabitos wrote:

real issues? its not a nuclear crisis going on ffs.

i agree with what he's saying about liverpool and the short corners, they've been at it since last season. playing juve and trying short corners then screwing it up and giving away possession, they do it so often its unreal.

morientes getting some boo's after a 1000 or so minutes of being **** is the least of my worrys when the team gives the ball away so cheaply from an attacking position like a corner.

Its a real issue compared to the 'problem' of holding the ball in the corner.

Yeah, those short corners really screwed us against Juve last season.

Getting SOME boo's? The whole stadium booed when fowler was taken off. Morientes is a confidence player and a foreign man in a foreign land. He was made feel real great I bet last night. Anyway, whats your next issue? Reina doesn't throw the ball long enough?:rolleyes:

PiE

rondeco wrote:

Getting SOME boo's? The whole stadium booed when fowler was taken off. Morientes is a confidence player and a foreign man in a foreign land. He was made feel real great I bet last night. Anyway, whats your next issue? Reina doesn't throw the ball long enough?:rolleyes:

You're sympathetic to a player who has been a complete flop in his ~18 months since he signed and worrying about his feelings for being indirectly booed? The fans would have booed no matter who was being left on in place of Fowler. He's a paid professional player who hasn't done the business for us, if he can't handle criticism he shouldn't be playing football, especially at a club as big as Liverpool.

On a side-note, I take back my criticism of Crouch claiming the 4th goal. I'd only seen it once on TV and it looked like he stole it, but having watched the videos here (thanks Mark) he did deflect it in.

el rabitos

Its a real issue compared to the 'problem' of holding the ball in the corner.

Yeah, those short corners really screwed us against Juve last season.

Getting SOME boo's? The whole stadium booed when fowler was taken off. Morientes is a confidence player and a foreign man in a foreign land. He was made feel real great I bet last night. Anyway, whats your next issue? Reina doesn't throw the ball long enough?

whats with the rolling eyes and throwing the handbag about?

because pool won that match against juve, constantly bolloxing up corners in future is ok?

Guy:Incognito

rondeco wrote:

Its a real issue compared to the 'problem' of holding the ball in the corner.

Yeah, those short corners really screwed us against Juve last season.

Getting SOME boo's? The whole stadium booed when fowler was taken off. Morientes is a confidence player and a foreign man in a foreign land. He was made feel real great I bet last night. Anyway, whats your next issue? Reina doesn't throw the ball long enough?:rolleyes:

Last I checked we were discussing a football team not the fans latest jeers/chants. I'm a lot more interested in what the team do than the fans so i'll sticjk to that and voicing my concerns about problems on the pitch.

redspider

astrofool wrote:

Also just found this: http://home.skysports.com/optastats.asp?clid=14&clubname=Liverpool&cpid=8 which would seem to indicate shots on target, and would work out about right, Crouch (for example) has taken 64 shots, 48% completion (on target i'm guessing)

I dont think that Rafa has particularly instructed the stikers to hold back. They are basically not getting into good positions and when they do, the direction of their shots/headers, etc, are poor. Crouch has had a huge number of shots, a lot on target, 48%, but we know from the visual evidence that many of these are weak and poorly directed. Maybe Rafa should be telling him to shoot less. I would just take him off the park completely.

In terms of Liverpool's stats:

Team LIVERPOOL League Rank
Games 29
Goals 34 11
Shots 419 1
Conversion % 8% 17
Passes 11891 4
Pass % 77% 4
Crosses 849 1
Cross % 31% 1
Tackles 927 5
Tackle % 72% 8
Fouls 363 20
Yellow Cards 39 16
Red Cards 3 4


You can see that goal conversion is nearly the lowest in the top-flight at 8%, ie: 17th. Passing is quite good, in 4th place. Its hard to believe that we cross the most but then with Crouch as a target man perhaps many of the upfield passes are counted as crosses. Tackling completion at 8th is not good enough I think.

We can also be proud in the fact that Liverpool are the team that foul the least, with only 363. This is a point which other fans seldom pick up on.

redspider

PHB

You see the thing about stats and shots is that they are decieving.
United in some games tend to only have 3 or 4 shots in the half, but thats because the style they play is trying to create clear cut chances, not half chances.
With Crouch up there, Liverpool will get a lot of shots, but get bad or very tough shots, so it makes the strikers seem really ****, while it's not necessarily the case.
Liverpool aren't scoring generally because of their style of play

rondeco

Stekelly wrote:

Last I checked we were discussing a football team not the fans latest jeers/chants. I'm a lot more interested in what the team do than the fans so i'll sticjk to that and voicing my concerns about problems on the pitch.

Ok so. Because the fans dont influence anything on the pitch. Ask chelsea about the champs lge semi final.

rondeco

el rabitos wrote:

whats with the rolling eyes and throwing the handbag about?

because pool won that match against juve, constantly bolloxing up corners in future is ok?

My point about the corners is that it wasn't an issue that should be causing concern. I made a point then that the reaction of the crowd, in my opinion, was more concerning than playing short corners when the game was won. It was then mentioned that we made a mess of corners against Juve last season and I pointed out that we beat Juve. So it didn't matter that we messed up the corners. Constantly bolloxing up corners is ok when you win the game. Both games mentioned we won or progressed to be accurate.