Matchday 2

[SM]

What's this 'two man midfield' idea? Liverpool played with a five man midfield this morning.

 

[jod23]

I hope jod23 has recovered from Skrtel high-fiving Wilson.. I know he probably burnt his Skrtel shirt as soon as it happened..

The goal should definitely not have stood, very unfortunate for Bournemouth who had a goal of their own unjustly ruled out because Lovren is a marshmallow.

And lol at the Bournemouth chant "Steven Gerrard, he left cos you're s**t".

Did see the high five with Skrtel and one of their players and instantly thought somebody will bring that up on BF. Again though, as I said, that's fine against Bournemouth. I said I dont want to see that against our rivals. You wont see Skrtel doing that with Mancs or Blue shite.

I have the strangest feelings towards Lovren. He is clearly passionate and he wants to do well, but I flat out hate him. I hate him because he is a gigantic liability. He has been nothing but awful since joining the club. I love Liverpool so usually get behind all the players but I just cant seem to get behind Lovren. He's that bad.

 

[jod23]

I feel like people are misinterpreting why I got annoyed at you. I have zero issue with people laughing at Chelsea. I did it myself. I got annoyed because you made a huge amount of posts during the end of the game, with a number of them in a row, where it was clear you were besides yourself with glee, which I really didn't understand considering your side wasn't playing. Watching the game live and having post after post coming in from you was getting annoying which is why I pulled you up on it.

Ok mate hahah.

1. It's a message board/forum. The point of the website is to post and talk about football. I was up and watching a live game and talking about it as it was happening, as were a few others.

2. Why would it matter if I was beside myself with glee? Which I wasnt anyways. I hate City now just because of Sterling and I dont want them to succeed. It means Sterling left for nothing. So I dont want City to win anything. I'd honestly rather see Chelsea win the league despite my hatred of them. So I wasnt really beside myself with glee.

3. How can you understand fans of other football teams not being happy when bad results happen to their rivals. Do you even football????

 

[elhadjihenry]

lol @ Bournemouth ' s goal not being a foul. Clear as day.

Looked very soft to me, it took a few looks to figure out what the foul was actually called for.

Considering Liverpool's goal also should have been ruled out, Bournemouth can feel very unlucky about that result. Can only imagine how Mourinho/Wenger would have reacted to those kind of decisions going against them!

 

[jod23]

What's this 'two man midfield' idea? Liverpool played with a five man midfield this morning.

No we played with a two man midfield and three AM's in front of them. You can call it a 5 man midfield if you want as AM's I guess are midfielders but really it's Hendo and Milner at the base doing the grunt work. It doesnt work, at all.

We've created dick all in two full games against average opposition. Arsenal are gonna dick on us next week unfortunately. Well unless Rodgers changes s**t up.

 

[Bojan KantKick]

Ok onto my thoughts with Liverpool.

We were terrible and very lucky. Coutinho is clearly offside and makes a play for the ball distracting the goalkeeper. It should have been flagged offside.

I wish I could sit down with Brendan Rodgers and have a chat to try to understand why he thinks what he is doing is going to work.

As Rough_Edges and Sozabarus has said, the idea is for one to sit and the other to attack in the Hendo/Milner pivot. But it just doesnt work. It didnt work for 60 minutes against Stoke and fair enough, maybe he thought it was an off day, so he tried it again, but again it didnt work.

He needs to put that idea to bed now. We didnt even have the cattle to change the formation once Henderson came off injured as Can just went straight into Hendo's role.

With a two man midfield, we create absolutely nothing.

Lovren is a flat out liability.

Maximum points from two games and two clean sheets but im far from happy. Rodgers is way off in his squad selection, he is marginalising the wrong people in Sakho and Lucas and even his set up and tactics with the new players is off.

We need to change the system, bring back Lucas and Sakho into the fold and play a 3 man midfield pronto.

Im really annoyed at BR despite getting two wins from two.

Bookmark this. Arsenal will tear us apart next week if we continue with the same players in the same setup.

Did you catch MNF last week by any chance?

GNEV is still on compassionate leave so they had Roberto Martinez on with Carra. Carra was tearing into United, saying that BRodge had told Carra that United's tactics of playing it out from the back with the CM dropping deep to collect the ball doesn't work and leaving defenders 1 on 1 with attackers was a disaster waiting to happen. Martinez looked at him as if he was a lunatic and said most continental teams do this including Barca.

I guess all managers have their different views and are generally very stubborn but it was interesting to see the different 'philosophies' coaches have.

Is Firmino ready to start yet? Looking forward to seeing how he goes. Seems like you guys struggle a bit unless Coutinho is dominating the ball but it's early days.

 

[SM]

No we played with a two man midfield and three AM's in front of them. You can call it a 5 man midfield if you want as AM's I guess are midfielders but really it's Hendo and Milner at the base doing the grunt work. It doesnt work, at all.

We've created dick all in two full games against average opposition. Arsenal are gonna dick on us next week unfortunately. Well unless Rodgers changes s**t up.

What does the M in AM stand for lol.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

I feel like people are misinterpreting why I got annoyed at you. I have zero issue with people laughing at Chelsea. I did it myself. I got annoyed because you made a huge amount of posts during the end of the game, with a number of them in a row, where it was clear you were besides yourself with glee, which I really didn't understand considering your side wasn't playing. Watching the game live and having post after post coming in from you was getting annoying which is why I pulled you up on it.

Wow. Clutching at straws there.

It's a forum, people are going to post.

 

[jod23]

Did you catch MNF last week by any chance?

GNEV is still on compassionate leave so they had Roberto Martinez on with Carra. Carra was tearing into United, saying that BRodge had told Carra that United's tactics of playing it out from the back with the CM dropping deep to collect the ball doesn't work and leaving defenders 1 on 1 with attackers was a disaster waiting to happen. Martinez looked at him as if he was a lunatic and said most continental teams do this including Barca.

I guess all managers have their different views and are generally very stubborn but it was interesting to see the different 'philosophies' coaches have.

Is Firmino ready to start yet? Looking forward to seeing how he goes. Seems like you guys struggle a bit unless Coutinho is dominating the ball but it's early days.

I didnt see that no. Rodgers is one of the most stubborn blokes going around though, he infuriates me. I couldnt believe he stuck with the exact same team (even the subs) that put in such a dross performance against Stoke.

No surprises we saw the exact same dross against Bournemouth. Two shots on target at home against Bournemouth. That's not good enough.

Firmino is a strange one. Im trying to figure out if he is a Rodgers buy or a committee buy. Rodgers always favours his buys. Lovren over Sakho. Balotelli was shelved (a good idea mind) Joe Allen over Lucas, Lallana over everyone. Freezing out Markovic who I think was a committee buy. It wont be good times for Firmino if he A) isnt a Rodgers buy and B) doesnt tear it up to change Rodgers mind anyways.

Lallana has been invisible for two games straight. If Firmino doesnt start against Arsenal, ill be annoyed.

Everything we do runs through Coutinho. Without him, we're ****ed. Haha.

 

[glenferry23]

Going to throw in my two cents on the banter issue.

It goes all ways. Plenty of teams/supporters cop it from time to time. Arsenal and Wenger are always good for a laugh when we (inevitably) stuff something up, City/Chelsea loses are always welcomed, United have copped heaps from their decline in recent years, Spurs always being Spurs provides plenty of banter material.

Liverpool cop it more than most IMO.

It's all good. Can't take this stuff too seriously, its all a bit of fun at the end of the day. Much more important things in life to be concerned about.

And in closing, without knowing precisely what the danger is, would you say it's time for our viewers to crack each other's heads open and feast on the goo inside?

Yes I would Kent.

 

[SM]

Wow. Clutching at straws there.

It's a forum, people are going to post.

Don't think I'm clutching at straws and not sure how you feel the need to jump in.

 

[SM]

I didnt see that no. Rodgers is one of the most stubborn blokes going around though, he infuriates me. I couldnt believe he stuck with the exact same team (even the subs) that put in such a dross performance against Stoke.

No surprises we saw the exact same dross against Bournemouth. Two shots on target at home against Bournemouth. That's not good enough.

Firmino is a strange one. Im trying to figure out if he is a Rodgers buy or a committee buy. Rodgers always favours his buys. Lovren over Sakho. Balotelli was shelved (a good idea mind) Joe Allen over Lucas, Lallana over everyone. Freezing out Markovic who I think was a committee buy. It wont be good times for Firmino if he A) isnt a Rodgers buy and B) doesnt tear it up to change Rodgers mind anyways.

Lallana has been invisible for two games straight. If Firmino doesnt start against Arsenal, ill be annoyed.

Everything we do runs through Coutinho. Without him, we're stuffed. Haha.

I thought Coutinho was very average this morning to be honest, he tries to do too much with the ball too often. I remember I said similar last week just before he scored the goal. One worldy doesn't make his overall game good enough.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Ooh bit sensitive on the subject

 

[SM]

Ooh bit sensitive on the subject

10/10 bantz.

 

[jod23]

I thought Coutinho was very average this morning to be honest, he tries to do too much with the ball too often. I remember I said similar last week just before he scored the goal. One worldy doesn't make his overall game good enough.

Everyone was average. But he was the best of an average bunch. Well in an attacking sense. Our best player was Clyne who is 60 billion times better than John Glenson.

Oh and you are clutching at straws dude. I threw the ring into the fires of Mordor, it's over. You were precious. Let's move on.

 

[jod23]

Going to throw in my two cents on the banter issue.

It goes all ways. Plenty of teams/supporters cop it from time to time. Arsenal and Wenger are always good for a laugh when we (inevitably) stuff something up, City/Chelsea loses are always welcomed, United have copped heaps from their decline in recent years, Spurs always being Spurs provides plenty of banter material.

Liverpool cop it more than most IMO.

It's all good. Can't take this stuff too seriously, its all a bit of fun at the end of the day. Much more important things in life to be concerned about.

And in closing, without knowing precisely what the danger is, would you say it's time for our viewers to crack each other's heads open and feast on the goo inside?

Yes I would Kent.

So what you are saying is that I threw out some normal Bantz and a few posters were a little bit precious and couldnt take the heat?

I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

 

[Bojan KantKick]

. Let's move on.

Yes please.

 

[Bojan KantKick]

I thought Coutinho was very average this morning to be honest, he tries to do too much with the ball too often. I remember I said similar last week just before he scored the goal. One worldy doesn't make his overall game good enough.

They lack creativity with Firmino on the bench. Coutinho has to do 90% of the playmaking.

 

[SM]

Everyone was average. But he was the best of an average bunch. Well in an attacking sense. Our best player was Clyne who is 60 billion times better than John Glenson.

Oh and you are clutching at straws dude. I threw the ring into the fires of Mordor, it's over. You were precious. Let's move on.

I thought Gomez was more impressive than Clyne to be honest. Benteke was very good as well.

I did move on, you're the one still talking about it.

So what you are saying is that I threw out some normal Bantz and a few posters were a little bit precious and couldnt take the heat?

I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

MOVE ON.

 

[elhadjihenry]

lol just saw this, worst free kick routine ever?

 

[Confuscius]

Is Firmino ready to start yet? Looking forward to seeing how he goes. Seems like you guys struggle a bit unless Coutinho is dominating the ball but it's early days.

It should've been the perfect chance to start firmino today imo. subbing him on under those circumstances is making it difficult for him to make an impact.

It's clear the starting 11 needs a few changes, which is why I'm confident we'll be seeing the same thing against Arsenal in a weeks time

 

[SM]

It should've been the perfect chance to start firmino today imo. subbing him on under those circumstances is making it difficult for him to make an impact.

It's clear the starting 11 needs a few changes, which is why I'm confident we'll be seeing the same thing against Arsenal in a weeks time

Rodgers was apparently mad at Firmino for not dropping back to defend, left Moreno and Gomez a bit exposed, but not really sure that you need your LW/LAM dropping back when you have two LBs playing next to each other.

 

[Sozabarus]

Ooh bit sensitive on the subject

Is how I imagined you were saying it as you typed haha. Anything that reminds me of David Brent is ok in my book.

It's why I still like Rodgers.

 

[ADL9798]

Yeah I'm sorry we aren't going to agree here.

No pace in ball movement and Other than Coutinho pushing forward, Henderson and Milner, especially the latter wouldn't be banking for the back of the net action.

no disrespect to STO/BOU but only 4 or 5 big chances amongst 180 minutes is concerning and despite Liverpool sitting quite deep (at home vs Bournemouth ????) still thought Bou were creating some good chances.

My Liverpool 11;

------------Mingolet----------

Clyne--Skrtel---Lovren--Gomez/Moreno

---------Milner---Henderson------

-----Lallana---Coutinho---Firmino/Ibe-------

--------------Benteke-----------


Firm/Cout/Lallana can all rotate amongst each other throughout.

Also would consider Ings on for Lallana as well, Benteke was really good, having another striker running off him could've created a few more chances

Just thought with the amount of duels and hold up play Teke he won, he could've played a couple of Giroud like tips round the corner. I suppose that'll come with chemistry.

That's literally exactly how we set up today wasn't it? The problem with that is that neither Henderson or Milner are ideally suited to sitting at the base of the midfield in a 4-2-3-1 and controlling play as neither are what I would consider holding midfielders, they're both high energy, box to box midfielders.

Both are extremely fit and naturally more attacking players, and bring more to the side when they have another mid anchoring behind them (in a 4-3-3 or a midfield diamond) allowing them to shuttle up and down the pitch in a 4-3-3, creating numerical overloads and stretching the opposition defence or covering back to help our defence if required.

It may seem counter intuitive but because of this, it's actually a more attacking (and certainly more balanced) formation for us if we take off Milner or one of the attacking midfielders and bring on a Can or a Lucas to anchor the midfield and dictate play behind Henderson and Milner/Coutinho, with 2 attacking midfielders supporting Benteke, allowing them the freedom to push forward.

For me our ideal formation until Sturridge returns in a few weeks would be:

Firmino-Benteke-Milner/Ibe/Lallana
------Coutinho-Hendo------
------------Can--------------
Moreno-Sakho-Skrtel-Clyne
----------Mignolet-----------

 

[jod23]

lol just saw this, worst free kick routine ever?

Huh? I really like the routine. It's just Milner's shot was skied. He should have been troubling the goalkeeper.