Stoke v Liverpool, 9/8, 4pm, SS1

super_furry

emo72 wrote: »

we're not really playing to bentekes strengths are we?

Not really.

No shape or fluidity to the side at all.

niallo27

Don't even think that was a free kick never mind a yellow.

googled eyes

Milner is going off on a stretcher after that.

Drexel

Stoke the better team here

Mumha

emo72 wrote: »

we're not really playing to bentekes strengths are we?

No, but at same time, benteke isn't overly active. We're missing someone with a bit of creativity.

SlickRic

Lovren has been our best player.

Says a lot.

Trond

Ibe needs to learn to look for a pass

Francie Barrett

How awful is Charlie Adam? Still expect him to score against us at some point though.

emo72

just see it out till half time, stoke have come into it a wee bit.

super_furry

This is piss. Getting overrun in midfield, nothing sticking up front, no movement out wide.

murpho999

People here seem to expecting a lot whilst forgetting it's the first real game of the season.

Kirby

Whelan with the control and keepy-uppies :P

Mumha

Lallana has been pretty anonymous, Firmino would be a better bet in the second half

MagicIRL

Do Liverpool have a recognized DM in the squad at all? Stoke are just waltzing through.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

murpho999 wrote: »

People here seem to expecting a lot whilst forgetting it's the first real game of the season.

Well, in all fairtless, winnign 6-1 again was a bit unlikely.

Osmosis Jones

First game of the season, players finding their feet. The result is more important than the performance.

super_furry

MagicIRL wrote: »

Do Liverpool have a recognized DM in the squad at all? Stoke are just waltzing through.

Lucas but Rodgers doesn't seem to like the concept of DMs and is happy to ignore the concept.

Francie Barrett

MagicIRL wrote: »

Do Liverpool have a recognized DM in the squad at all? Stoke are just waltzing through.

Not really - Lucas about the only natural one.

SlickRic

murpho999 wrote: »

People here seem to expecting a lot whilst forgetting it's the first real game of the season.

Some people seem to have really low expectations for the first game of the season.

citytillidie

Is that not a free kick, keeper had the ball in his hands had it under control and left it on the ground only to pick it up again

Trond

MagicIRL wrote: »

Do Liverpool have a recognized DM in the squad at all? Stoke are just waltzing through.

It was the same last season with Gerard in there. An odd area to ignore...

Harry Palmr

Cagey stuff, don't mind that to be honest as first game away to Stoke was unlikely to be anything like free-wheeling was it.

Washington Irving

At least it's not 5-0

emo72

stokes defence looks very comfortable. happy to sit back and very comfortable with the high balls. benny not getting a look in. gomez looks decent. noone else shining. maybe ibe.

Kirby

citytillidie wrote: »

Is that not a free kick, keeper had the ball in his hands had it under control and left it on the ground only to pick it up again

I noticed that myself.

The argument would probably be he never actually had the ball under control. Similar to the way a keeper blocks a shot, and then scrambles to pick it up.

super_furry

Best League in the World (TM)

GreNoLi

Thank God.

koppy

Mumha wrote: »

Lallana has been pretty anonymous, Firmino would be a better bet in the second half

Cutihno lallana ibe giving nothing.

Cutihno and lallana too easy to push off the ball

machiavellianme

That's it Lallana, don't shake hands, you're not there to make friends, love to see a bit of fight!

livinginkorea

Mumha wrote: »

Lallana has been pretty anonymous, Firmino would be a better bet in the second half

I expect Firmino will come on at some stage for Lallana

Agent Coulson

Dire stuff around

Heisenberg1

Well that was a steaming pile of shíte of half of football.

brevity

Grim stuff. Game needs a goal.

martyos121

What a shîte half of football. When Johnson has the best chance of the game, you know it's a bad one.

Bret Hart

**** on a stick football.

5starpool

murpho999 wrote: »

People here seem to expecting a lot whilst forgetting it's the first real game of the season.

When is it ok for us to expect a decent performance? Will we all get an email to let us know we've reached that point?

I can't remember the last time I was delighted with a performance from Liverpool, we're overdue.

Berserker

Fairly poor stuff from a neutral perspective. I was hoping for a goalfest. I think there is a goal in the game. Is Lucas injured for Liverpool?

Washington Irving

koppy wrote: »

Cutihno lallana ibe giving nothing.

Cutihno and lallana too easy to push off the ball

I've seen some poor attempts at his name in my day but that's right up there :pac:

Talisman

Hard to see how our attacking midfielders are going to get into the game when our attacking play seems to be lump it at Benteke.

monkey9

Happy enough with the first half. Sh!t game, but I like the we're soaking up the little Stoke have to offer.

I can see us nicking this one 1-0 and I'll go for Benteke to grab it,

murpho999

SlickRic wrote: »

Some people seem to have really low expectations for the first game of the season.

No but teams often take time to get in their stride. Look at Arsenal,Utd and Chelsea this weekend?

I also remember 2 seasons ago we struggled to beat Stoke at home. Mignonet penalty save. It gave absolutely no indication of the title challenging form that was to come.

If they get 3 points today in a scrappy 1-0 win I would be happy. First priority is not to lose. Then build on it.

BMJD

Lovren MK II has been decent enough, Ibe and Clyne looking good too. Other than that, zzzz

BorneTobyWilde

Interesting Stat: When it comes to distances covered in that whole first half Gerrard covered 0.000 miles, which was lower than any other player.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Washington Irving wrote: »

At least it's not 5-0

5 goals and 1 point better off than last season.

Huge signs of progress there.

Pyjamarama

Lallana is not really suited to a winger in 433. He comes deep and inside too much making it easy to defend for their back 4. Would like to see info come on for ibe and go with the diamond with Lallana at cam.

Gbear

A bit like a pre-season game but with a bit more kicking each other.

In a sense that's what this is.

A lot of games this weekend have looked like they've been between 2 teams that've had one their shortest breaks ever between seasons.

Don't give a ****e how we do it. We need points from these first few games.

Fluency simply isn't going to happen when we have Coutinho + a new attack.

Ibe, Gomez, Clyne, Lovren, Benteke have all been fairly good.

Maybe a bit too tough for Lallana, but he was probably still the best option.
Dunno what sort of shape Fermino's in. I'd imagine that'll be the first non-forced sub.

kingshankly

Lallana and Henderson have been terrible

garra

Tentative muck, Coutinho not up to the tempo and Llama struggling. Just need more dynamism in midfield to create chances. Great to see Johnson playing for the opposition and Clyne/Gomez doing well

BorneTobyWilde

I'm liking this approach from Liverpool. We have a bad record here and it's good to see us keep things tight, of course it affects our attacking but a result here is a great result considering we usually lose here.
I still think we can win today if we concede none and score .

JohnDaniels

God if we have a season of these aimless long balls to Benteke's head to look forward to it is going to be tough watching. We don't even have any runners off him if he wins the header. None of the three behind him like to make runs in behind. It is awful stuff all round. Midfield getting walked through.