2013-2014 Season

[barticus]

I STAND CORRECTED. I'VE SPENT THE LAST HOUR EATING HUMBLE PIE. I'M SORRY JORDAN HENDERSON FOR ALL THE HARSH WORDS YOU'RE THE MAN. A leader when we needed it the most. Easily my MOTM!!!

Wow!!! What a game. Surely this is the best since our 4-1 at OT. What a brilliant tactical game from Brendan Rodgers, what a fantastic performance of the red men. I'm in tears. Know it may sound a tad gay but that's how I feel.

We were soooooo fornicating much better against Spurs (AT THEIR GROUND) than were city at the Etihad. I doubt we can keep the energy level this well for the rest of the season but when we do we surely can beat any team. So proud, so happy. It should've been 4-0 at half time really.

I think Luis will stay beyond the summer. He knows pretty damn well this is the real deal. He'll never get this in Madrid.

What a masterstroke by Rodgers to hand him the armband. I really feel our manager deserves credit!

Need to stay focused against Cardiff. No fork up or this brilliant display i wasted.

Come on you redmen!!!!

Steady now, Martin. Keep the faith.

[Edward224]

Remember the time when people mocked Rodgers and his 120 page dossier?

Or his purchase of Allen?

Or his touchy-feely nature with the players?

Or his willingness to try to educate people on how he sees the game?

Or how he talked about making a game against Liverpool the longest 90 minutes of the opposition's life?

Remember how they laughed?

Everything Rodgers does has a reason. When it comes together, it looks like today.

Keep calm and trust the manager.

[Martinmarx]

Remember the time when people mocked Rodgers and his 120 page dossier?

Or his purchase of Allen?

Or his touchy-feely nature with the players?

Or his willingness to try to educate people on how he sees the game?

Or how he talked about making a game against Liverpool the longest 90 minutes of the opposition's life?

Remember how they laughed?

Everything Rodgers does has a reason. When it comes together, it looks like today.

Keep calm and trust the manager.

At the same time Ed mate, we both know we were right all along. No need to rub it in. Let's move on and stick together. This is the best I felt since we last won the title. I'm not gonna get carried away but for every game now the feeling infested by GH, Rafa, Hodgson and Kenny "we're gonna bottle it" is slowly fading.

I did, however, say at the start of the season we're gonna surprise a lot of people this year. 

[the dude abides]

Remember the time when people mocked Rodgers and his 120 page dossier?

Or his purchase of Allen?

Or his touchy-feely nature with the players?

Or his willingness to try to educate people on how he sees the game?

Or how he talked about making a game against Liverpool the longest 90 minutes of the opposition's life?

Remember how they laughed?

Everything Rodgers does has a reason. When it comes together, it looks like today.

Keep calm and trust the manager.

remember how I always said we were a far better team when Gerrard was not in the side?

remember how some people laughed and ridiculed such a notion?

keep calm and trust the dude.

[the dude abides]

I STAND CORRECTED. I'VE SPENT THE LAST HOUR EATING HUMBLE PIE. I'M SORRY JORDAN HENDERSON FOR ALL THE HARSH WORDS YOU'RE THE MAN. A leader when we needed it the most. Easily my MOTM!!!

Wow!!! What a game. Surely this is the best since our 4-1 at OT. What a brilliant tactical game from Brendan Rodgers, what a fantastic performance of the red men. I'm in tears. Know it may sound a tad gay but that's how I feel.

henderson was superb - and lucas too.

see what happens Martin when we have a strong and disciplined midfield in operation?

[the dude abides]

watched the game with a spurs fan who took it well...a really good all round team performance...gerrard was on commentary and must have though uh oh...could have been 7-0 at least....we kept it simple...thought the midfield of lucas, allen and henderson kept it simple and hugely effective...our defense was good as well...i was expecting a draw...and so well pleased...let's keep out concentration on...

I was expecting a draw at best too, Bart.

but like you say - a hugely effective midfield.  And that was the difference  IMHO

when do we ever totally boss the middle of the park, like we did today?

rarely, if ever.

I have always maintained that, we would only ever compete for the title again, when gerrard was at the end of his days (and minimally involved) or retired.

without him, we are more fluid, faster to break, more dynamic, more dangerous when in possession, more disciplined, and less predictable.

if we can go to grounds and play like this, we are going to there or there abouts.

but it is early days - this was out first away victory since September.

[Martinmarx]

I was expecting a draw at best too, Bart.

but like you say - a hugely effective midfield.  And that was the difference  IMHO

when do we ever totally boss the middle of the park, like we did today?

rarely, if ever.

I have always maintained that, we would only ever compete for the title again, when gerrard was at the end of his days (and minimally involved) or retired.

without him, we are more fluid, faster to break, more dynamic, more dangerous when in possession, more disciplined, and less predictable.

if we can go to grounds and play like this, we are going to there or there abouts.

but it is early days - this was out first away victory since September.

With yesterday's game still vividly clear, I can see your point re. Gerrard better now, Dude. It shall be an interesting festive period as it may give an indication as to the true potentional, or lack thereof, of our midfield. In the long run though, I think we need proper like-for-like replacement for Gerrard. I was, however, hugely impressed by both Henderson and Allen last night.

[Martinmarx]

henderson was superb - and lucas too.

see what happens Martin when we have a strong and disciplined midfield in operation?

I do indeed. Question is whether those players can keep that level of focus and energy for another 22 games? If they can, 4th should be in the bag by the end of April. Lets not get carried away here. First we need a good and solid win against Cardiff.

[the dude abides]

I do indeed. Question is whether those players can keep that level of focus and energy for another 22 games? If they can, 4th should be in the bag by the end of April. Lets not get carried away here. First we need a good and solid win against Cardiff.

exactly

we have turned Liverpool into a semi-fortress.

But this was out first away win since September.    If we can keep this level of work-rate up, and this form, we will walk into the top 4 spots, and will be within touching distance of the title itself.

But we have to be honest and admit that Spurs were woeful.   It was clear even from the first 10 minutes that they were badly organised.   We were getting in behind them far far too easily.   But AVB did not have the ability to identify the issue and change things.   

Regarding the title itself.   We do not have the squad depth of other top sides - but on the flipside, we do not have european games to tire our team out this season.

I do worry about City finding this run of form - where they are hammering teams for 6 each week.   That is a concern.

But we can only focus on ourselves and how we perform.

[the dude abides]

With yesterday's game still vividly clear, I can see your point re. Gerrard better now, Dude. It shall be an interesting festive period as it may give an indication as to the true potentional, or lack thereof, of our midfield. In the long run though, I think we need proper like-for-like replacement for Gerrard. I was, however, hugely impressed by both Henderson and Allen last night.

Glad that you see where I am coming from now, Martin re Gerrard.

Without Gerrard, we have always performed better, as a team.

Our midfield yesterday bossed the middle of the park.   Now I cannot get carried away because Spurs were dire yesterday.

I'f we could not get in a top midfielder in the summer (like Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan), then we should have brought in a stop-gap alternative - like a Gary McAllister type that could have done us a ob for a year or two.  I think someone like Gareth Barry would have been a superb piece of temporary business.

And look at how Barry has improved the Everton midfield this season.

It was a mistake, in not bringing him to Anfield.   He could have really pushed us on this season.

[Edward224]

Rumours are that we are getting M'Vila. Plus we are interested in Salah - his reps were at Anfield last week.

[Martinmarx]

Rumours are that we are getting M'Vila. Plus we are interested in Salah - his reps were at Anfield last week.

With work and family committments I've been restrained to be so and so updated on the PL only over the last couple of years. What's your take on those two players? Are they ready to step in and make an immidiate impact or will they need a year of gelling?

[Martinmarx]

exactly

we have turned Liverpool into a semi-fortress.

But this was out first away win since September.    If we can keep this level of work-rate up, and this form, we will walk into the top 4 spots, and will be within touching distance of the title itself.

But we have to be honest and admit that Spurs were woeful.   It was clear even from the first 10 minutes that they were badly organised.   We were getting in behind them far far too easily.   But AVB did not have the ability to identify the issue and change things.   

Regarding the title itself.   We do not have the squad depth of other top sides - but on the flipside, we do not have european games to tire our team out this season.

I do worry about City finding this run of form - where they are hammering teams for 6 each week.   That is a concern.

But we can only focus on ourselves and how we perform.

We shall see about City. I still don't think they're on the same level they were some 2 years ago where they combined individual quality with composure and urgency. Yes, Spurs were aweful but we should take pride from the fact we made tham look that bad. We managed to pull off the performance of the season when we needed it the most and it isn't beyond me, knock on wood an'all, we can keep this level of focus and energy for a couple of more games. It really is, in my book anyway, extremly important we keep the focus on Cardiff now. If we do that we have 4 wins on the trot meaning one point from the games against City and the Chavs wouldn't be a complete disaster.

Come on you redmen!

[Martinmarx]

Glad that you see where I am coming from now, Martin re Gerrard.

Without Gerrard, we have always performed better, as a team.

Our midfield yesterday bossed the middle of the park.   Now I cannot get carried away because Spurs were dire yesterday.

I'f we could not get in a top midfielder in the summer (like Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan), then we should have brought in a stop-gap alternative - like a Gary McAllister type that could have done us a ob for a year or two.  I think someone like Gareth Barry would have been a superb piece of temporary business.

And look at how Barry has improved the Everton midfield this season.

It was a mistake, in not bringing him to Anfield.   He could have really pushed us on this season.

I can see where you come from with that one Dude, but I'm not entirely sure I agree Barry would fit in well with the way Rodgers wants us to play. I agree however we need a quality midfielder to come in as even my Manc mate suggested maybe it's time for Gerrard to accept a role similar to what Scholes had for the lasts 2-3 years of his career. I agree more and more he's holding the development of the team back.

[Martinmarx]

With work and family committments I've been restrained to be so and so updated on football in general, besides the PL, over the last couple of years. What's your take on those two players? Are they ready to step in and make an immidiate impact or will they need a year of gelling?