Liverpool vs CSKA Sofia (scores)

Jivin Turkey

Liverpool:

Carson
Finnan
Josemi
Hyypia
Warnock
Potter
Hamann
Sissoko
Riise
Ciise
Morientes

Good to see two up front.

Back line lacks a bit of pace, I hope it isnt exposed. I really think that RB should be playing his strongest backline and keeper to get them to gel. Its not like its going to be a big work out

Looking forward to seeing Sissoko again.

I think we are going to see goals tonight. I think that the team can play in a different way when Gerrard isnt there. 3-1.

eirebhoy

I watched the pre-match talk on TV3 for the first time I can remember and while Toshack gets stick on these forums, he seems to be a decent pundit to me. Really knew what he was talking about which only Trevor Steven seems to on Irish TV. One of them should have known that Potter is a central midfielder though.

jonny68

Go On Sofia

jubbly

I saw potter put one good thru ball to Cisse but over hit it. Can potter play anywhere else but the wing ? we have so many of those

segadreamcast

Great stuff Liverpool. Good start. 1-0.

jonny68

Goal CSKA a super strike,one more and they win on away goals..come on CSKA

jonny68

NoelRock wrote:

Great stuff Liverpool. Good start. 1-0.

Are you on drugs CSKA just scored not Liverpool :eek:

jubbly

cant see liverpool throwing this one away but a bit of a scare for the liverpool b team.

Pacifico

jonny68 wrote:

Goal CSKA a super strike,one more and they win on away goals..come on CSKA

Eh Liverpool have 3 away goals....

Liverpool are all over the place atm.

Necronomicon

Can't see Sofia scoring another 2, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a substitution at half time, it hasn't been comfortable at all for Liverpool.

Shred

Sofia are looking dangerous and Liverpool are very wasteful with the ball and keep inviting Sofia on. Changes at halftime me thinks :rolleyes:

super_furry

Potter looks terrible - totally out of his depth. Hamann is having a big off day - can't tackle to save his life and Riise is showing why he started the season on the bench.

The only bright spots are Cisse and Sissoko.

mike65

I'm not panicing - seen it too often before!

Pool unlucky not a to be ahead, the goal scored was due to a basic defensive error, Sofia look decent alright but nothing to suggest a 3-0 win.

I agree about Potter looks like Eircom League.

Mike.

super_furry

Reminds me very much of last season's third round qualifier at Anfield - we lost that and went on to win the thing.

eirebhoy

jubbly wrote:

I saw potter put one good thru ball to Cisse but over hit it. Can potter play anywhere else but the wing ? we have so many of those

As I said above, Potter is an attacking central midfielder. Doubt he'll make it at Liverpool though.

Cutie18Ireland

I can't believe how bad Liverpool are playing tonight. Cisse and Morientes can't even link up with each other.

segadreamcast

jonny68 wrote:

Are you on drugs CSKA just scored not Liverpool :eek:

*Slams sarcasm button*

super_furry

Potter's off for Garcia thankfully.

segadreamcast

P.S. Bye bye Potter.

jubbly

Potter off, no surprises there ..

jubbly

Cutie18Ireland wrote:

I can't believe how bad Liverpool are playing tonight. Cisse and Morientes can't even link up with each other.

When did Cisse ever start doing that ??

Necronomicon

What a shot from Riise.

jubbly

You wouldnt think thats the European champions playing out there

Necronomicon

Well in fairness it isn't nearly their best 11 but there's enough good players out there to be beating Sofia.

el rabitos

i wonder how long rafa would have his job if gerrard was injured for a year

Necronomicon

Ohh Morientes did well to round the 'keeper, should have put it away.

jonny68

Necromomicon wrote:

Well in fairness it isn't nearly their best 11 but there's enough good players out there to be beating Sofia.

CSKA definetly the better team so far,i hope they go on and score another

PS-Separated at birth Francie Brady and Risse

jubbly

Cisse off...good for liverpool IMO

I think they would do well to get back owen.

el rabitos

if i see cisse in red again it'll be far too soon.

Necronomicon

jubbly wrote:

Cisse off...good for liverpool IMO

I think they would do well to get back owen.

el rabitos wrote:

if i see cisse in red again it'll be far too soon.

Great to see Liverpool fans get behind their team and players
Pretty poor performance, Sissoko was unlucky to hit the bar near the end.

galwaydude

lads we are in the league stage now so thats all that matters but pretty bad result tonight though.

Bring back owen asap as we cant buy a goal these days

mike65

Who was watching ITV? The commentator (Clive Tildesley?) spent most of the game desperatly tring to inject some drama and tension into proceedings with his wittering about goals and time left. I know its ITV but you'd swear it was Liverpool that needed 3 goals to go through.

I thought the Sofia defence was exellent, the number of times the two CBs got in the way of Cisse, Morientes and co was impressive.

Mike.

jonny68

The mickeys can consider themselves lucky tonite,no way can i see them getting past the group stages this year TBH

Ronan|Raven

I want those 90 minutes of my life back

Good goal by CSKA that was about it. Poor game, the lack of a creative man in the middle showed. Sissoko played well enough though. unlucky with his shot. Ya have to love the media and the whole Owen malarky.

jubbly

league stage ??? group stages even.

Liverpool have a decent first 11 but dont have much strength in depth obviously. They will be doing well to get fourth in the EPL IMO.

mike65

jonny68 wrote:

The mickeys can consider themselves lucky tonite,no way can i see them getting past the group stages this year TBH

If you'd seen the AK Graz game this stage last year you'd have said the same thing!

Mike.

super_furry

They said the same thing about the CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE when they lost to AK Graz at the same stage last year and continued saying it all the way up until the 60th minute of the European final.

Some people never learn.

cregser

You didn't honestly expect nuetral football fan entertainment tonight did you? CSKA needed 3 away goals to stand a chance. It was the type of game only Liverpool fans would be interested in seeing the other players who don't get their game. Now we see why. When you make Garcia's ball retention skills look good you're not doing well.

Sissoko - was lively but his first touch was woeful and choice of passing questionable.
Hamann - didn't know what he was doing in the first half and settled into his annonymous clean-up role in the second half.
Riise - looked sharp in close control of the ball but couldn't create anything while in possesion due to lack of movement.
Josemi - did alright but I'd keep looking for that replacement centre half Raffa.
...
I'm not gonna bother going through all the players they all had a below par game. Morientes started off bright and promising but man did he go downhill.

I think this is one of the worst performances I have seen under Raffa. Any decent team would have hammered us tonight. Raffa is supposed to be a god among managers but he just can't sort out the performance level of his players.

galwaydude

jonny68 The mickeys can consider themselves lucky tonite,no way can i see them getting past the group stages this year TBH

what a load of RUBBISH mate!!!

now we have the anti liverpool fans rubbishing liverpool yet again. We are european champions for gods sake and last season we struggled at the same stage.

Theres no pleasing some ppl.

evad_lhorg

both Liverpools strikers are awful and they have nothing to back them up!

I am not a huge Miachael Owen fan and think he is over rated but he is miles better than morientes and cisse.

just somethin about liverpools team that just seems so crap. Once Gerrard isnt playin theyre screwed.

galwaydude

alonso wasnt playing either was he, alot of players tonight arent first team players

carson, josemi, potter, theres a case for zendon, hamann arent first team players.

Cisse looks lost and doesnt look like a 14 million pound striker, more sunday league, same for moro.

What rafa needs is better replacements. We thought liverpool would fall apart when owen left, now gerrard has that mantle. Rafa will get it right after he won 2 spanish league titles and a eufa cup for valencia in 3 years and then a champions league for liverpool so the man certainly knows he stuck,How many managers have done that. Certainly not ferguson lately or wenger so the anti liverpool fans give liverpool time and rafa will get it right.

In rafa we thrust

cregser

evad_lhorg wrote:

just somethin about liverpools team that just seems so crap. Once Gerrard isnt playin theyre screwed.

Garcia was bought as an offensive midfielder but is playing RW because we have nobody else to fill that role. At the moment, Gerrard is our only OMF and Alonso, Sissoko and Hamann are our defensive midfielders. If/When we get a decent RW, Garcia can hopefully concentrate on his favoured "hole behind the strikers" role that Gerrard is playing now (he wasn't always). I can see Garcia and Gerrard interchanging positions mid-match to confuse defenses.

Anyway, my point is our team is lop-sided yes, but with 05/06 Champs league money coming in now I woudn't say were screwed. Raffa is said to be bringing in 3/4 players in the next week. A winger and a centre half apparently. That'll make us less lop sided.

AS for Gerrard's influence on the game and vital goals. Well he's a class player, what d'you expect? Alonso and Carra are also very influential. But goals are a problem right now.

fred funk }{

I thought we were terrible tonight. The jury is still out on Morientes he doesnt look sharp at all. Sissoko doesnt look like anything special but he's new so we should give him some time to settle maybe.

It was a bad night of football but we got the job done even though we lost so we should draw a line under it and move on.

HashSlinging

We played much better in the second half, they were all over us in the first and deserved the goal. over the last couple of games I've watched I havent seen great football from liverpool, even when he (gerarld) is playing. I can't see us playing any better with owen,I still dont want that little FRICK playing for us, I think crouch will make by far a better impact on games like these, but I think overall it was a good game for liverpools cup squad, I hope they can learn something from it.

Pongolle making a come back to the squad is welcomed also.

evad_lhorg

fred funk }{ wrote:

I thought we were terrible tonight. The jury is still out on Morientes he doesnt look sharp at all. Sissoko doesnt look like anything special but he's new so we should give him some time to settle maybe.

It was a bad night of football but we got the job done even though we lost so we should draw a line under it and move on.

Sissoko doesnt seem like the best of players but saying that he at least tried to make somethin happen and his shot at the end was so damn close!!

the lad who scored for them was by far the best player out there. he was oning in defence.

mada999

I'll say it again....morientes is not up to the job and he needs to be sold....he turns like an artic truck too sluggish and he doesn't even use his strength to shurk off tackles...I was expecting great things from him when he signed

Don't think Cissé is up to much either...maybe he has lost confidence....

I think we need a new striker before we need anyone else....3 games 0 goals from outfield play not good enough....i hate to say it, but I'd be happy to take owen back. He is a proven goal scorer.......and garcia still gives the ball away too much (as did many of the liverpool team tonight.)

I'm still impressed with sissoko, he seemed to be everywhere and he's gonna be a legend! He has the heart and the desire needed. I wish others in the team would have the same mentality.
But he did give away the ball alot too...that was his only downside tonight... unlucky with the shot that hit the crossbar!

~Rebel~

I still have time for cisse, he's in a rut, but hopefully, playing with crouch might make life easier, cause Moro aint doing it! I was so optimistic about Morientes signing, was sure this would be the one that brought us to another level, but obviously not. Was he always that slow?! maybe when crouch comes back we could put moro into the reserves and say "you cant come back till you score 10" and see how he does.. delighted Pongo is back - great young player!

On last nights game, what was the story with all the Liverpool players running into each other?! happened a rake of times! Seemed very little understanding, though i suppose lots of that team have never played together before..

redspider

What a poor display. ok, we dominated the game chances wise, 19 shots to their 3, and they got a goal out of the blue as our defence was asleep, but nevertheless, we failed to score.

Some say the jury is still out on Morientes, well, I'm casting my vote now. He is just not up to the grade. This is an example f Benitez making a mistake, like he did with Josemi and Nunez. He is trying it out, hoping that somehow Morientes will score many goals, but it just aint going to happen. Last night when he was running for a ball on the edge of the box, he got beaten to the ball by two defenders, however, the gods shone their luck down on him as they miraculously lashed into each other, fell on the ground and left the ball at Morientes's toe with only the goalie to beat. What an opportunity, yet he failed to capitalise.

I can understand that we need a CB. I didnt see enough of the game to know who was playing as CB last night. Was it Josemi? ie: was the back four:

Finnan - Josemi - Hyppia - Warnock

What happened with the great hope of Whitbread being a good CB? Also, dont we still have Diao who to me is a very good CB, if we bloody played him there and gave him a chance. That defensive line-up was asking for trouble. I realise we need yo keep an eye on the match on Friday, and this game was more or less sown up. But if this was the line-up, it was not a good selection. Can someone confirm it for me?

Riise got on the pitch, probably should have played on Sat, and showed why he should be in the 1st team. He was doing a Gerrard and was involved in everything.

The display shows how weak we are in terms of depth of squad. There are too many average players that just dont make the grade.

I'm not a fan of Cisse, he just doesnt have the ball control. Nor Zenden, not up to it I'm afraid. Smicer was just as good as was Biscan.

Hamann can still do a job.

Sissoko, he still needs development. He should be groomed as a replacement for Hamann. He needs to lean the cover role, and not leave that role on the shoulders of Alonso, who should be allowed to move forward and use his passing skills.

Boy, we missed Carra bad. If he gets injured .... well, say adios to any trophies .... and 4th place.

redspider

StickyMcGinty

we were shockin poor alright, and i think your right about cisse - very poor. i cant see any of our forwards getting more than 15 goals this season, i reckon our goals will come from all over the team rather than just from one/two players. thats if we actually score any

mike65

I reckon Rafa could do worse than buy the Sofia CBs as cover! I thought Josemi actually did a decent job, the main problem last night was no wingers and two central midfielders who still don't know each other.

Mike.

~Rebel~

josemi wasn't actually bad. In fact the defence itself was fairly alright, itw as midfield that was torn apart, hamann and sissoko were very poor positionally and left people unmarked for every breaking chance Sofia had. one problem of the night was warnock and finnan not being in line with the CB's leaving people onside which from a better team would have punished us dearly. Thought Hypia and Josemi did alright together and Finnan had a fairly good game. I guess it was a chance to at least try them out without too much risk having bought josemi as a RB that could also play in center.