207th Merseyside Derby

Rockee

I sense a hairy last 5 minutes...ARGH! I thought Kuyt wrapped it up there actually. :P

LuckyLloyd

BOOM! Good performance. Should have scored more, meh. Everton were poor - offered nothing. But you can only beat what is put in front of you. Roll on Wednesday.

mayordenis

skrtel was immense in the second half i thought, was pretty impressed with kuyt aswell.

dobsdave

3 pts, didn't play well second half, didn't have to.
Everton weren't very good at all.I missed the first 15mins of the second half,
Did Everton have a shot on goal in the match?

Rockee

mayordenis wrote: »

skrtel was immense in the second half i thought

I agree, I remember one immense tackle in particular on the hour mark just outside the box.

PHB

Wow, what a shockingly boring game. Skrtel was very impressive, has pace too.
Liverpool looked decent going forward, but they were just lacking in quality. Kuyt was at fault for so many broken down attacks. Babel was inconsistant. Gerrard and Torres just understand each other.
Still, Liverpool really should have finished it off, but by god, Everton were just awful.

shotamoose

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Good performance.

Not really, that second half was dire. Very little imagination on display, just get it up to Torres, who was closely marked throughout, or to Babel, who routinely wasted it.

Mr Alan

why weren't carsley or hibbert sent off for dissent?

Xavi6

Skrtel was the only player who played really really well. Both sides were too one dimensional with the long ball to the lone striker routine.

Xavi6

Mr Alan wrote: »

why weren't carsley or hibbert sent off for dissent?

Why wasn't Gerrard done for a stamp?

Answer: Typical inconsistency amongst refs.

Mr Alan

actual, i only saw the stamp once and i thought it was accidental, am i wrong?

Tusky

Xavi6 wrote: »

Skrtel was the only player who played really really well. Both sides were too one dimensional with the long ball to the lone striker routine.

Youre joking me ? I thought Gerrard had a cracking game. Passing, tackling and shooting. Was unlucky not to score.

Skrtle was excellent alright. Ive been saying it for the past month. I think hes going to be an fantastic player for Liverpool.

Mr Alan

i thought Gerrard and Skertl were excellent.

Thought babel, Kuyt and even Riise were very good too.

Xavi6

Mr Alan wrote: »

actual, i only saw the stamp once and i thought it was accidental, am i wrong?

Well for me the tackle was over and both his feet came down on Carsley's leg so I don't know. People are going to argue about momentum and that and maybe there was nothing in it but my initial reaction was surprise at the lack of replays, commentary comments etc.

Mr Alan

so your annoyed at the non-existant reaction from sky? as opposed to the tackle?

tis the way it is with the English players, you have it to look forward to with people like richards and johnson over the coming years! (unless of course we take johnson off your hands in the summer!;))

Tusky

Mr Alan wrote: »

i thought Gerrard and Skertl were excellent.

Thought babel, Kuyt and even Riise were very good too.

I have no idea how anyone can say Babel played well. I like the lad, hes got lots of potential and he tried hard but he had a fairly poor game. Lots of bad crosses, miss controlled the ball and never really threatened the goal.

estebancambias

I think at the end of the 'Merseyside Derby' all the fans should hold hands and sing each others chants.:rolleyes:

Crap match and awful atmosphere.

mike65

Meh Everton forgot to turn up. You'd have thought they were midtable with zip to play for. Liverpool did all they needed to, on the few occassions in the second half when they upped the pace, Everton were exposed.

5 points and seven game remaining, should be enough.

Mike.

Mr Alan

Tusky wrote: »

I have no idea how anyone can say Babel played well. I like the lad, hes got lots of potential and he tried hard but he I thought he had a fairly poor game. Lots of bad crosses, miss controlled the ball and never really threatened the goal.

i'll rephrase that, i think he had an excellent first half, he faded a bit in the second like he always does. but he is still developing and getting used to the league.

maybe i'm just happy we have a player who looks dangerous and can run at players playing out wide

Xavi6

Mr Alan wrote: »

so your annoyed at the non-existant reaction from sky? as opposed to the tackle?

tis the way it is with the English players, you have it to look forward to with people like richards and johnson over the coming years! (unless of course we take johnson off your hands in the summer!;))

I'm annoyed at not being able to give the tackle a more scrutinised look as I thought there was something in it. It looked like a potential yellow card tackle to me but because Carlsey didn't make a meal of it play went on as if nothing happened.

Tusky

Mr Alan wrote: »

i'll rephrase that, i think he had an excellent first half, he faded a bit in the second like he always does. but he is still developing and getting used to the league.

maybe i'm just happy we have a player who looks dangerous and can run at players playing out wide

I thought he was poor in the first half as well. Didn't have a shot and put in maybe one good cross, max. Cant recall him beating his man either.

Mental Mickey

It was a bad tackle by Gerrard. He left a cut in his leg. He's a bit thick, that Gerrard fella at times?? :rolleyes:

And yeah, Skrtel is a bloody good player. Hyypia's been playing well lately too. He seems to have adapted his game due to the lack of the(little)pace he had. Glad Rafa is giving him an extra years deal.

MooseJam

very dissapointing by Everton , did they even have one shot on target

Mental Mickey

MooseJam wrote: »

very dissapointing by Everton , did they even have one shot on target

Don't think so??

thebaz

damn -- CL looks impossible now -- and worse , the talk is Moyes will go if we can't progress into the big time -- your always pessimitic being a blue

Mental Mickey

thebaz wrote: »

damn -- CL looks impossible now -- and worse , the talk is Moyes will go if we can't progress into the big time -- your always pessimitic being a blue

Won't there be an extra place up for grabs due to Spurs winning the Cup against Chelski???

DeadSkin

Happy out with the 3 points. Not a great game, but yeah good performance from Skrtle.
Babel frustrated me today, he looks good running with the ball and then nothin'. Ya get the feelin' he's still trying to get used to the Premiership, but he does show potential, lets hope he fulfills that.
Lucas looked dodgy at times, hopefully Mascherano won't get punished too hard from the FA.

Think Everton had one shot saved by Reina early in the first half from Arteta.

thebaz

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Won't there be an extra place up for grabs due to Spurs winning the Cup against Chelski???

barring disaster we're pretty much guaranteed 5th spot -- Spurs just go direct into UEFA cup

Mental Mickey

DeadSkin wrote: »

Happy out with the 3 points. Not a great game, but yeah good performance from Skrtle.
Babel frustrated me today, he looks good running with the ball and then nothin'. Ya get the feelin' he's still trying to get used to the Premiership, but he does show potential, lets hope he fulfills that.
Lucas looked dodgy at times, hopefully Mascherano won't get punished too hard from the FA.
Think Everton had one shot saved by Reina early in the first half from Arteta.

You can bet your life that the FA will come down hard on Mascherano!? Am I the only Liverpool fan who thinks he was an absolute MUPPET to get himself sent off!!??

DeadSkin

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Am I the only Liverpool fan who thinks he was an absolute MUPPET to get himself sent off!!??

Nope.

dobsdave

The Ref today is the most non trigger happy in the PL.
Hence the lack of cards.e.g.Gerards tackle and Yakubus dive in the box.

Jazzy

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Am I the only Liverpool fan who thinks he was an absolute MUPPET to get himself sent off!!??

nope

Dr. Nick

This guy is shaping up very nicely, takes no chances (he's no Hansen) but very, very solid.

oobydooby

dobsdave wrote: »

The Ref today is the most non trigger happy in the PL.
Hence the lack of cards.e.g.Gerards tackle and Yakubus dive in the box.

Not according to the guardian
http://football.guardian.co.uk/news/matchreport/0,,2269431,00.html

Desperate tussle for final Champions League spot
x
Card-happy referee Howard Webb (28 yellows and one red in last six games)
=
Political hot potato and potential diplomatic incident

PHB

Yakubus dive was actually hilarious, how bad can you get. If you're going to dive, at least do it well, jesus.

mayordenis

it was like one of those fainting goats he seemed to just seize up when he got scared.

dobsdave

oobydooby wrote: »

Not according to the guardian
http://football.guardian.co.uk/news/matchreport/0,,2269431,00.html

My bad. I was quoting Alan Parry.

jesus_thats_gre

Everton's performance today reminded me on Liverpool's performance against United last week. Just didn't seem up for it at all.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Well, we got the result we needed, winning ugly is just as good as winning while playing flowing exciting blah blah blah blah blah...

Melion

How the hell did Torres get MOTM today? He scored, fair enough but Sami Hyypia was absolutley immense. He was everywhere(shockingly) and i dont think he missed a header all game. He was excellent. JAR is a player who has been very very poor this year but was good today. Stevie showed what he can do when he's up for it, he was everywhere today/yesterday(havent slept yet). Alonso was the only poor performance from a player in red, he just didnt get into the game at all, some very sloppy passes and poor decisions from him.

mike65

Should mentioned Riise, thats the most effective I've seen him in ages. Lucas needs to learn that the Prem is not the place for strolling around.

Mike.

PHB

Riise was very good yesterday actually, really impressive.
Surely Gerrard or Srketle should have gotten MOM?
Goalscorer always gets the plaudits

zAbbo

PHB wrote: »

Riise was very good yesterday actually, really impressive.
Surely Gerrard or Srketle should have gotten MOM?
Goalscorer always gets the plaudits

Riise is a solid LB, especially against a team with no interest in attacking the wings, and who played one up front.

But how bad was Lucas, Anytime I've seen him he's been woeful, it didn't help when SG give him a bollocking for a poor pass, but all Lucas does is instantly pass the ball back as soon as he receives it, he's nowhere near premeirship speed and needs to kick on and get himself involved a bit.

I guess it's one of those things, you've got to give him games to get him adjusted, and next season we should start to see how good he is.

PHB

Lucas did show elements of his game that were top class, two passes to Babel I think in the first half spring to mind. He instantly passes the ball because he's Brazilian, it's all about one touch passing. He'll slowly adjust his game, but he seems to be having more difficulty to do it than Anderson, but that's largely imo because Anderson has a strong physical presence which always helps in the premiership. I'd say in 2-3 years the guy will be a very good player.

zAbbo

The game or two I saw him play in Brazil, he played more heads up football, I think he's afraid of someone clattering into the back of him, so he instantly passes it backwards or sideways.

Right now he reminds me of John Barne's latter days in midfield, when all he done was hit a 5 yard pass to Redknapp.

It could take a few seasons, but there's a risk that it doesn't work out

leninbenjamin

PHB wrote: »

but that's largely imo because Anderson has a strong physical presence which always helps in the premiership.

not to mention the fact Anderson has been in Europe for 18 months more than Lucas.

kryogen

leninbenjamin wrote: »

not to mention the fact Anderson has been in Europe for 18 months more than Lucas.

ahem, where he was out with a broken leg for most of that time.....

leninbenjamin

kryogen wrote: »

ahem, where he was out with a broken leg for most of that time.....

doesn't matter. he will have been around the training grounds, and been exposed to the different type of football, coaches, personalities. he will have had more time to adjust to living away from home, and adapting to new culture etc. It's not just first team football that forms the adjustment process you know...

herbieflowers

I don't think Anderson has been the overwhelming success that people make out, oftentimes he looks tired and off-the-pace. Certainly he's influenced games and looked a real prospect and physically he's well suited but suffers in many the same ways as Lucas. It's futile to compare the two at this stage of their careers, you can't judge how a player is going to develop from their first season in the PL.

PHB

Perhaps, but to be honest, Portugal is like Brazil, same language similar culture similar style of football. Manchester and English football is not at all like Portugal, just like its not like Brazil
Also, as I understand, while his family moved with him to Portugal, they did not move with him to Manchester.

Andersons plaudits came as a result of his defensive performances, more than his attacking performances. His physical presence made this possible to be honest. His passing and driving runs from deep god him good praise, but his ball winning was what won over most United fans. It's no surprise that since Scholes has returned, and Carrick has returned to form, that Anderson has suffered, because he's not playing as a part of a 2 man midfield anymore, he's playing as a support striker/3rd central midfielder. He's having to adjust again, and that's tough for anyone. Also he's quite clearly wrecked.