The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - RIP Diogo

[Geoff Tipps]

Very poor from the bench last night. Bringing on Sterling when a defensive player was needed was criminal. In saying that the players who bombed on looking for the third goal need a kick up the arse-Gerrard especially. Thought he was abysmal when he came on.

[heganboy]

FIFA / UEFA are going to be pissed when they find out Liverpool had a player registered as Joe Cole last night who quite patently wasn't who he said he was...

[Minus15]

Good one

[EC Unique]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20523405

Could you make the top 7 lads?

[Gabriel_Hurl]

no

[Gabriel_Hurl]

team tonight

Reina, Johnson, Downing, Agger, Skrtel, Allen, Gerrard, Henderson, Enrique, Sterling, Suarez

[laoislad]

Great start to the game for Liverpool

[GalwayBayBoy]

Rodgers recent team selections have had me a bit worried. Downing was awful at left-back against Swansea and he's picked at left-back again against Spurs who have the two quickest wingers in the league. It's not like we don't have other options at full-back because we do.

Nothing going right in this game anyway. Spurs score one from a deflection and Liverpool have missed an absolute sitter and had another cleared off the line. Hard to see us coming back from 2 down. Not exactly banging the goals in at present.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Hmmm...didn't deserve to lose that one really. Liverpool dominated the 2nd half even though it took a Bale OG for us to score. Missed a fair few chances. Just lack a cutting edge unless Suarez scores and tonight he didn't.

Unbeaten 8 match run over but we do have a run of very winnable games now until we play Man U again in mid-January. Need to start winning them though. Draws are not going to get you far up the table.

[laoislad]

Thought a point was deserved at minimum tonight.
Played Spurs off the pitch in that second half,I think Liverpool had 14/15 corners compared to 1 for Spurs.
Only one stat that matters though and like so many other games this season Liverpool get nothing when really they deserved more.
Hopefully a few signings will be made in January.

[thewobbler]

LL, Liverpool might have had 14/15 corners, but I don't know if Lloris actually made a save in the game, apart from Suarez's hopeful effort from the right-hand end line. If Liverpool followers call this as dominating a game, then I'd be worried for your healths.

Liverpool are going slowly in the right direction, but suffer from the same problem Spurs do, in that the players seem so worried about being in their positions, they're never taking a chance to be in the right place in attacking channels. One time last night, Johnson got the ball on the right touchline around the edge of the penalty area and looked up. There were 5-6 white shirts in and around the Spurs box. There were no red shirts. This has got very little to do with a lack of strikers, more to do with a lack of willingness to commit.

I can't count the times this year that Bale has burst a hole down the Tottenham left and looked up to see only Defoe, marked on all four sides. Seems that Liverpool have an even worse dose of this problem.

[Bingo]

Wasn't happy when I seen that Downing was at LB. You may get away with that at home to lesser opposition but away to Spurs where you'd have Bale and Lennon running at full backs? Put the team on the back foot straight away.

Liverpool are in a bad place and need to start turning decent displays into wins. For the talk of playing well and "dominating" we still aren't creating enough. Centre midfield of Allen and Gerard just aren't making this happen. Totally reliant on Suarez, Johnson and lately Enrique to create anything. Sterling is probably at risk of been played too much.

We need Lucas back quickly, maybe this will free Allen further forward or at least give him a rest which he hasn't had with the Olympics in the summer. Come 1st January the owners need to be writing cheques, no delay, get it down, not always easy in January and may add to the price of the targets but it needs to be done.

Undefeated in 8, can now read as 1 win in 6. Its a new start for the club with rodgers and he needs time but he may not have time to keep the likes of Suarez.

[johnneycool]

Wasn't happy when I seen that Downing was at LB. You may get away with that at home to lesser opposition but away to Spurs where you'd have Bale and Lennon running at full backs? Put the team on the back foot straight away.

Liverpool are in a bad place and need to start turning decent displays into wins. For the talk of playing well and "dominating" we still aren't creating enough. Centre midfield of Allen and Gerard just aren't making this happen. Totally reliant on Suarez, Johnson and lately Enrique to create anything. Sterling is probably at risk of been played too much.

We need Lucas back quickly, maybe this will free Allen further forward or at least give him a rest which he hasn't had with the Olympics in the summer. Come 1st January the owners need to be writing cheques, no delay, get it down, not always easy in January and may add to the price of the targets but it needs to be done.

Undefeated in 8, can now read as 1 win in 6. Its a new start for the club with rodgers and he needs time but he may not have time to keep the likes of Suarez.

How much time and money will Rodgers be given to bed in his 'philosophy'??

I think he'll be given more time OK, but money will be in short supply and there'll maybe be the odd free transfer in January, but nothing exciting.

[AZOffaly]

Darren Bent may arrive in January. What's the thoughts on him? Apparently he's not going to play at Villa any more because if he makes 3 more appearances for them, it'll cost them another £5m to Sunderland, according to Johnny Giles.

He's certainly someone who has the ability to score goals, but will he suit the system of play? I'm a bit worried about that, because as far as I can see the glaring flaw in Rodger's philosophy thus far has been hitting the back of the net. We've all been giving him a pardon on the basis of not having a real #9 striker, but if he had, how will his shape be affected?

At the moment, we are basically

    Reina

Wisdom, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson

Sterling  Allen, Gerrard, Sahin (or Shelvey or X) Enrique

     Suarez


If you drop a number 9 in there, you're going to have to either go 3-5-2 to keep his favoured three man engine in midfield, or else go 4-4-2 with wingers but only 2 men in the middle or 4-3-3 with Suarez out of position in the front 3, and Sterling the other one flanking the #9.

It will be interesting, because if he goes 3-5-2 it has to be Coates or Wisdom with the other two boys, so what do you do with Johnson or Enrique?

It's good to have options, but I hope he does the right thing.

[Denn Forever]

Don't know if a goal poacher will fit in with the Rodger's philosophy.  Maybe it does?