2013-2014 Season

[Tes]

TITLE CHALLENGES???

Jesus, I thought it would be deemed a good start to the season,
same way we had a poor one last season.

We've won 3 games 1-0 and not played particularly well in any of
them.

Tomorrow's game is interesting because we're top of the league &
hence there's a bit of pressure to stay there. Gives an indicator
of the mental strength and determination in the side. Things which
may be useful when we go up against the big boys if a challenge
for 4th materialises.

Eggzackerley.

It makes my eyes itch when I read any mention of the words 'title challenge(rs)' and us in the same sentence, but amazingly I'm seeing it quite a bit. Also we're now being listed with the Mancs, Chelsea and Arsenal in other comparisons and lists.

As you say Ed, it's just a good start, albeit only 3 games. If we have 15 points after 6 games, I'll be amazed. 12 from 6 would be a really good start in comparison to last year, where we had 5 points from 6 games and realistically that's what we still should be focusing on, a noticeable improvement on last season.  Looking to finish above any one of the two Mancs, Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal is still unrealistic at this stage, no matter our points tally after 3 games, as it would require at least a 20% improvement in our points tally, or putting it another way, very nearly 2 points a game, or every 2 game sequence has to be: W, D and a defeat means the 3 game sequence being: L, W, W. 

[Martinmarx]

Line up vs Swansea:

--------------Mignolet---------------------

Wisdom---Skrtel---Sakho---Jose Enrique

----------------Lucas----------------------

--------Gerrard-----------Henderson-----

------Moses---Sturridge---Coutinho------

Subs: Jones, Toure, Alberto, Aspas, Sterling, Ibe, Kelly

I don't know the in's and out's but if deemed fit I would've preferred Toure over Sakho for this one.

Come on you red men!!!

[Martinmarx]

Brilliant response to Shelvey's opener. Very happy with the first 30, we then fell back a bit. Moses looks very inspiring and so does Sakho minus a slight slip up here and there. Wisdom, I'm sorry to say, looks a liability and needs, IMHO, to come off for Toure. Hopefully we won't continue 2nd half as we finished 1st. We probably need a 3rd goal to win me thinks.

Come on you redmen!!!

[Martinmarx]

Liability indeed.

[Tes]

We probably need a 3rd goal to win me thinks.

Very prophetic, Martin.

Our inability to defensively smoother, as shown with Shelvey's goal, still means we will struggle to hold on to a lead with the slightest degree of comfort.

Eriksen already showing why it was a mistake not to go for him.

Still, this time last season we were on 2 points after 4 games, and the fact that we had the longest 100% record with a mere 3 games could suggest the league will be more competitive this season. Still, Chelsea also had the leagues only 100% record after 3 games last season, but the league after 3 and 4 games had a less familiar look about it than it does this season (except for us, of course  ).

[Martinmarx]

Very prophetic, Martin.

Our inability to defensively smoother, as shown with Shelvey's goal, still means we will struggle to hold on to a lead with the slightest degree of comfort.

Eriksen already showing why it was a mistake not to go for him.

Still, this time last season we were on 2 points after 4 games, and the fact that we had the longest 100% record with a mere 3 games could suggest the league will be more competitive this season. Still, Chelsea also had the leagues only 100% record after 3 games last season, but the league after 3 and 4 games had a less familiar look about it than it does this season (except for us, of course  ).

Wow, first of all hats off to Swansea for a fantastic 2nd half. I don't think they have 10 more of those in them this seasons. So in that sense I was very pleased with the resilience that won us a point. Although we were far more outplayed in this game than against Villa, I don't get the feel we panicked in this game to the same extent we did at Villa Park.

We do look a bit light weight in the middle of the park. I've said it for the last 3-4 years but unless Lucas brings authority and leadership to his gain I don't rate him as highly as many other do. This game was a good example of that as he struggled, in my opinion, heavily to find a proper position on the pitch.

I would suggest this point will have a similar effect on team development as our win against Stoke and for that I am very very happy. It is a pattern, nevertheless, we fade in the 2nd half and Rodgers really need to sort that out or we will be heavily punished.

Moses had a great first half but I feel he's more suited for teams who dominates games. Sakho was indeed very very impressive and astute. What a signing!

As for Eriksen. I don't know mate, it's one game and even if we got him there's no guarantee he'd do for us what he offer Spurs, se Coutinho for reference.

A tricky home fixture against a very talented So'ton awaits. If we can push them high and dominate the center of the part we'll be fine. 

[Tes]

We do look a bit light weight in the middle of the park. I've said it for the last 3-4 years but unless Lucas brings authority and leadership to his gain I don't rate him as highly as many other do. This game was a good example of that as he struggled, in my opinion, heavily to find a proper position on the pitch.

As good as Lucas is he can't help either his physical size or his amount of pace. We really do need to look for a physical ball winner, preferably with pace, so that in these sort of games, against a good footballing team, with a strong home record, that we can bring that player on to help disrupt the opposition's flow and see out a game when we take the lead.

We can't maintain a high pressing game for the entire 90 minutes so we have to learn to take possession and make it tell in the second half. I don't mean by necessarily scoring or even creating a bunch of chances, but by simply keeping possession of the ball for longer periods, not allowing the opposition to build momentum and confidence. We can give the ball away too easily sometimes by trying to force it too much.
It also less tiring moving about to find space for your team mate to pass to you than it is chasing the opposition and forever closing down. There will be times when the shape of the opposition is such that when we win the ball deep in our own half, that we can counter attack at pace, but other times it's a case of simply keep the ball and knock it around. The opposition will then either be happy to let us play in front of them, which also suits us fine as we hold the lead, or they will get desperate either flying into tackles, which breaks the game up with free kicks (again that suits us fine), or will lose their shape somewhat and we then need to take advantage of that by creating a chance(s).

[Juan]

We do look a bit light weight in the middle of the park. I've said it for the last 3-4 years but unless Lucas brings authority and leadership to his gain I don't rate him as highly as many other do. This game was a good example of that as he struggled, in my opinion, heavily to find a proper position on the pitch.

I would suggest this point will have a similar effect on team development as our win against Stoke and for that I am very very happy. It is a pattern, nevertheless, we fade in the 2nd half and Rodgers really need to sort that out or we will be heavily punished.

Moses had a great first half but I feel he's more suited for teams who dominates games. Sakho was indeed very very impressive and astute. What a signing!

As for Eriksen. I don't know mate, it's one game and even if we got him there's no guarantee he'd do for us what he offer Spurs, se Coutinho for reference.

A tricky home fixture against a very talented So'ton awaits. If we can push them high and dominate the center of the part we'll be fine.

Agreed on the middle of the park Martin. We look very lightweight but I dont blame Lucas. I think he breaks up play well which is why hes in there. For me our weak link in there looked to be Gerrard. He did nothing tonight, the odd long ball. He doesnt break up play, he doesnt get forward quickly, I'm not sure what his role is.

I had a completely different view on Sakhos performance, I thought he was shocking. He reminded me of Djimi Traore. Its only his first game and im sure it will get better.

Moses did well in the first half, tired not long into the second. Sturridge was dangerous, lovely finish again. Aspas frustrated.

All in all we have 10 points and we havent got out of first gear. For me Toure has to be nailed on with Agger as centre back pairing. Skrtel was indecisive and poor again tonight. Its fine being able to do it against United but he is consistently too inconsistent to be a starter for me. Toure on the other hand generally oozes composure.

One game to go before Suarez is back. It might be the catalyst we need to kick on again.

[Juan]

As good as Lucas is he can't help either his physical size or his amount of pace. We really do need to look for a physical ball winner, preferably with pace, so that in these sort of games, against a good footballing team, with a strong home record, that we can bring that player on to help disrupt the opposition's flow and see out a game when we take the lead.

We can't maintain a high pressing game for the entire 90 minutes so we have to learn to take possession and make it tell in the second half. I don't mean by necessarily scoring or even creating a bunch of chances, but by simply keeping possession of the ball for longer periods, not allowing the opposition to build momentum and confidence. We can give the ball away too easily sometimes by trying to force it too much.
It also less tiring moving about to find space for your team mate to pass to you than it is chasing the opposition and forever closing down. There will be times when the shape of the opposition is such that when we win the ball deep in our own half, that we can counter attack at pace, but other times it's a case of simply keep the ball and knock it around. The opposition will then either be happy to let us play in front of them, which also suits us fine as we hold the lead, or they will get desperate either flying into tackles, which breaks the game up with free kicks (again that suits us fine), or will lose their shape somewhat and we then need to take advantage of that by creating a chance(s).

I think Rodgers got the defensive line up wrong tonight. We never looked comfortable. We were too easily cut open. Like I was saying in my post above im not sure Lucas is the one to blame, Gerrard put in half a shift tonight and Id have no problem dropping him going forward if needs be. Problem is theres no one there to replace him. Even his free kick when we had all our big men up, he took a ridiculous shot at goal from 30-35 yards out instead of whipping it in.

Our winning streak had to come to an end sooner or later, away to Swansea was always going to be a tough call. Hopefully we will see Toure restored to the team for Saturday and its important we go back to winning ways to keep the momentum up.

And agreed Eriksen was a huge miss

[Ed]

Gerrard put in half a shift tonight and Id have no problem dropping him going forward if needs be. Problem is theres no one there to replace him. Even his free kick when we had all our big men up, he took a ridiculous shot at goal from 30-35 yards out instead of whipping it in.

Seemed to be a huge difference between Stevie & Shelvey in terms of
time on the ball. Not sure we can afford 90 minutes of Stevie week in
week out in the league (i was probably saying this two seasons ago).

Fact is Swansea destroyed us in the second half and we had no answer.

I think he whipped in two nice free kicks in the first half & occasionally
launches one from deep but against the sustained dominance of Swansea
as the match wore on? Hendo'll run his socks off (out of position to accomodate
Coutinho) and Lucas is a busy bee. Not sure where Allen fits in to all of this.

As we saw, in the premier league, it's a young mans game over 90 minutes in
the centre of the park.

[Gurdeep]

Motormouth is at it again 

http://www.teamtalk.com/news/2483/8927781/Rodgers-ready-for-title-fight

[Juan]

Seemed to be a huge difference between Stevie & Shelvey in terms of
time on the ball. Not sure we can afford 90 minutes of Stevie week in
week out in the league (i was probably saying this two seasons ago).

Fact is Swansea destroyed us in the second half and we had no answer.

I think he whipped in two nice free kicks in the first half & occasionally
launches one from deep but against the sustained dominance of Swansea
as the match wore on? Hendo'll run his socks off (out of position to accomodate
Coutinho) and Lucas is a busy bee. Not sure where Allen fits in to all of this.

As we saw, in the premier league, it's a young mans game over 90 minutes in
the centre of the park.

I'm not sure if it had anything to do with 3 games in a week for Gerrard or not but for me he was way off the mark in terms of where we need our centre midfield performance to be. It's definitely where we need to strengthen next. Where we finish could depend on it. As you say the second half performance against Swansea was poor. Home games hopefully wont be a problem but I'm not sure what they are going to do to prevent a repeat of that second half away. We do seem to be finding a new level of consistency and thats with the team only occasionally coming out of first gear so far. Ten games in it will be interesting to see how things have settled. 

[Juan]

Our squads top 4 credentials will be tested early with the news Coutihno has been ruled out until the end of October.

Does Suarez now slot in behind Sturridge?

Alberto scored a hat trick for the reserves, maybe this will give him some more game time too.

[Ed]

I'm not sure if it had anything to do with 3 games in a week for Gerrard or not but for me he was way off the mark in terms of where we need our centre midfield performance to be. It's definitely where we need to strengthen next. Where we finish could depend on it. As you say the second half performance against Swansea was poor. Home games hopefully wont be a problem but I'm not sure what they are going to do to prevent a repeat of that second half away. We do seem to be finding a new level of consistency and thats with the team only occasionally coming out of first gear so far. Ten games in it will be interesting to see how things have settled. 

Agree entirely, away from home there's a problem in midfield
Swansea had their attacking energy central and we dumped
ours out on the right.

Now for sure there were a few debutantes in our set up but to
concede the initiative so dramatically & be unable (with substitutions)
to regain a foothold was surprising.

Last season it was more a case of us been hit on the break, I can't recall
a team spending the guts of half an hour dominating us, camped in our
half and relentlessly attacking.

I wouldn't mind but we had the lead, couldn't hold it & then were lucky to
hang on.

It gives an indication of how Swansea viewed us that they felt comfortable
going for a win - down both flanks & through the middle.

I wouldn't necessarily argue with a point, but wasn't happy with the manner
of it and note that the two goals we got were gifts.

[barticus]

Our squads top 4 credentials will be tested early with the news Coutihno has been ruled out until the end of October.

Does Suarez now slot in behind Sturridge?

Alberto scored a hat trick for the reserves, maybe this will give him some more game time too.

I would think it would have to be a shoo-in for alberto cos the players looked pretty clueless creatively once coutinho left the field...oh and i hope toure is fit for southampton...i hope sakho will be a great success as he showed some good touches but he also showed a lot of bad points, he needs to be eased in...i can understand that he played if toure was unfit...but let's hope he and agger are back to full fitness at the weekend...