boro vs. pool mathc thread (scores and what not)

StickyMcGinty · 13-08-2005 07:48PM

Call_me_al wrote:

i think we played well, we were away from home and we limited the home side to 0 shots on goals. dominated the game, a little unlucky gerrard didnt score, but i am pleased. we will only go from strength to strength

totally agree, wouldnt be too pessimistic lads we've gotten stronger and stronger

Davei141 · 13-08-2005 07:52PM

When it settles im sure it wont be too bad but im still absolutely gutted, i cheered 4 times only to realise they just missed

horrible feeling

PHB · 13-08-2005 08:01PM

I still am not convinced that Liverpool have what it takes to go and really take on teams that are happy with a draw.

Drag00n79 · 13-08-2005 08:15PM

Fairly disappointed with the formation from the start. It appeared that we were setting out our stall not to lose rather than to win. However, when Ehiogu was sent off and they put only one up front, I could not believe we still persisited with 4-5-1. I would have thought Riise coming on for Zenden after the sending off would have helped too. Im just going to have to keep saying to myself tonight it is only the first match of the season and we did not have the luck of some other winning teams today.

Take it · 13-08-2005 08:20PM

PHB wrote:

I still am not convinced that Liverpool have what it takes to go and really take on teams that are happy with a draw.

blah blah blah, if liverpool won 5-0 youd say they scored to many

Liverpool played well and were v unlucky not to win, im personally not reading to much into this game, 1st game of the season against boro away is no easy game. they had zero shots on target which is hopefully a sign of what the defence can do all season.

i think Rafa will go for a 4-5-1 away and 4-4-2 at home in the EPL this year

Necronomicon · 13-08-2005 08:27PM

I'm surprised that Rafa started with the 4-5-1. I thought he'd switch to the 2 up front when Cisse came on, surprised to see him stay on the right. Especially when 'boro went down to ten men.
I don't think you can really judge how far a team are going to get in a season based on the first game, but on this game you'd think that Liverpool would have to finish their chances a bit better. They were throwing the kitchen sink towards the end. Then again, I guess you could chalk it up to being just one of those days. Gerrard on another day probably would have finished off one of the many chances he had.
As for 'boro, I wonder which strike-force Mclaren will favour for the season. None of them had too much to do today, the Yak looked bright though.

RE*AC*TOR · 13-08-2005 08:38PM

good performance second half for the pool. Boro never really figured and we should have applied more pressure in the first half.

Morientes never got the service he needed - Baros was far more effective with that type of play. We're gonna need a right winger to get the best from morientes. Cisse is not a winger, nor is garcia.

+points - Gerrard looked up for it, defense looked solid, sissoko had a good game and looks a prospect.

ianomccabe · 13-08-2005 09:13PM

I'm as frustrated as anyone else with a point today but i have to say i'm delighted with the performance.

Back 4 were solid, reina showed great commanding presence within his area apart from one lapse.

Sissoko was as hungry as i've seen a liverpool player in ages, he really wanted every ball and never stopped running. Gerrard created chance after chance, just a pity he couldnt put one away. alonso looked sharp and his distribution was good. Garcia and Zenden linked up well with the other midfielders but neither are the type of winger that will whip in cross after cross.

Morientes looked good in patches, lack of pace let him down at times. Cisse looked like a player pisd off cos he's playing out of position. He voiced his concerns within melwood towards the end of last season that he did not want to play out on the right. Baros looked like a player who knows he has no future at the club.

If a out and out right winger can be sourced by benitez then i think this team can click. They created enough chances without one to win 4 or 5 games.

I think benitez was right to go with 1 up front. Liverpool's problem away from home was they could never get a grip on games. They definitely did that today and i know as cliched as it sounds i think they could have won 3 or 4 nil on another day

Chardee MacDennis · 14-08-2005 01:50AM

Nando cant really pull it off by himself up front, cant wait to see how crouchie does in that role

PiE · 14-08-2005 11:48AM

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

4-5-1 is fine when we travel away to teams that are going to put us under pressure, but Middlesboro never attempted to do that to us. Rafa needs to stick two strikers up front against these teams away from home.

They were my exact words in the pub yesterday.

Gutted about the result, considering how many chances we had but hey... we lost this fixture last season didn't we?

Jivin Turkey · 14-08-2005 12:35PM

Im surprised at the negativity of some peoples reactions to this result.

I agree it was a little disappointing, but only because we completely dominated the game. 4-5-1 was obviously the right formation because it totally nulified Boro who hardly had a kick. We would have won the game had Gerrard not been cut down when clean through.

Boro are a good side and not a side that we can just expect to turn up and beat. They beat us 2-0 at the Riverside last year. This year we totally owned them. They will take points off a lot of teams at home.

Dont be at yourself · 14-08-2005 12:41PM

4-5-1 was obviously the right formation because it totally nulified Boro who hardly had a kick.

If we have any real title aspirations, should we going to the riverside just no nullify boro, or should we play for a win? We need to aim higher than scoreless draws away from home to teams like Boro, and the tactics and mentality yesterday, especially in the first half, aren't going to push us up the table.

Jivin Turkey · 14-08-2005 12:46PM

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

If we have any real title aspirations, should we going to the riverside just no nullify boro, or should we play for a win? We need to aim higher than scoreless draws away from home to teams like Boro, and the tactics and mentality yesterday, especially in the first half, aren't going to push us up the table.

For a start I dont think we have any real title aspirations.

And its not like we didnt go for the win, we had all the chances. We didnt go there to just "nulify" them we played in a way that did that and they hardly got a kick, and we still got a few chances to boot. On another day Gerrard would have scored a couple (which he admitted himself).

Benetiz said after that it was two points dropped, but Id imagine that underneath he is not that disappointed with the result as it was the type of game that we were losing last year, and as I said this year we dominated it and could have (should have?) won.

Dont be at yourself · 14-08-2005 12:52PM

But why don't we have any real title aspirations? We're not short on talent. It's because we drop points to these teams. We have the quality to go out and attack teams like Boro away from home more than we did yesterday.

Liverpool didn't go for a win until the latter stages of the second half. We had one clear chance in the first half, and not much more until Ehiogu's sending-off. And by then it was a big ask, with Boro playing inside their penalty box. Gerrard could have scored one or two, but that'd mask a pretty laclustre attacking performance, if you ask me.

The result is hardly a disaster (and it, after all, the first weekend of the season), but I hope it's not a sign of things to come.

Jivin Turkey · 14-08-2005 01:08PM

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

But why don't we have any real title aspirations? We're not short on talent. It's because we drop points to these teams.

Its because we are short on talent in comparison to Chelsea/Arsenal/United.

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

We have the quality to go out and attack teams like Boro away from home more than we did yesterday.

"Teams like Boro" are not that far off us. They finished three points behind us last year. I think it would be somewhat naive to expect to turn up and attack them from the off, they are a solid unit (as demonstrated yesterday) and have pacey forwards

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Liverpool didn't go for a win until the latter stages of the second half. We had one clear chance in the first half, and not much more until Ehiogu's sending-off. And by then it was a big ask, with Boro playing inside their penalty box. Gerrard could have scored one or two, but that'd mask a pretty laclustre attacking performance, if you ask me.

Liverpool were constantly probing, and had plenty of chances before Ehiogu's sending off. That sending off cost Liverpool the match.

Im not saying it was a brilliant attacking performance, but I dont think it wasdown to the tactics, more so the poor displays by individual players, Garcia, Zenden and Morientes.

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

The result is hardly a disaster (and it, after all, the first weekend of the season), but I hope it's not a sign of things to come.

I would be delighted if we dominated all our games like we did yesterday. We were never under threat. The forwards will develop an understanding and get sharper, and the goals will come.

PHB · 14-08-2005 01:16PM

About 2 or 3 years ago teams would have to do the following to win the premiership:

Win all home games against teams outside the top 5
Win all away games against teams outside the top 10
Draw the rest
That'd give you:
84 points

However the bar has been raised.
It's only a bad result because of the preformance, but if you asked most people before the match, they'd take the draw. And i'm sure Benetiz is happy enough

mike65 · 14-08-2005 01:20PM

Calm down!! The only error yesterday was the failure to start two up front, I imagine Rafa will spot this and we'll know quick enough if he has. Is anyone else a little worried that Rafa stuck Cisse on the wing? I can't help but wonder if he'll be offloaded if a decent offer comes in.

Mike.

~Rebel~ · 14-08-2005 01:46PM

mike65 wrote:

Calm down!! The only error yesterday was the failure to start two up front, I imagine Rafa will spot this and we'll know quick enough if he has. Is anyone else a little worried that Rafa stuck Cisse on the wing? I can't help but wonder if he'll be offloaded if a decent offer comes in.

Mike.

Id say its more along the lines of Liverpool were dominating but Garcia wasn't putting any ball in whatsoever and kept loosing possession so cisse was brought on to make his quick runs to the by-line and get those crosses in, which is exactly what he did.

garcia needed to come off and i cant think of anyone else who could have come on besides cisse to put those crosses in. I wouldn't worry about him being stuck out there to much either, rafa has made it very clear a right winger is one of his priorities, its just till he gets it, cisse has proven he does the best there.

He had a dodgy first few minutes but then settled in and won free after free and when he didn't he put in a few excellent crosses at least 1 of which should have been finished (gerrards)

Jivin Turkey · 14-08-2005 02:21PM

mike65 wrote:

The only error yesterday was the failure to start two up front, I imagine Rafa will spot this and we'll know quick enough if he has.

I really dont think its as simple as this.

So who would be dropped for the second striker? Sissoko who was arguably our best player in midfield? Gerrard or Alonso? Zenden or Garcia thus disrupting the balance of the team?

The reason Boro looked poor is because Liverpool could control the game because of the five man midfield. If they had gone 4-4-2 who is to say Boro wouldnt have had more chances, and judging by JFH's scoring record I wouldnt put it against him putting a chance away had it come his way.

el rabitos · 14-08-2005 03:09PM

So who would be dropped for the second striker? Sissoko who was arguably our best player in midfield? Gerrard or Alonso? Zenden or Garcia thus disrupting the balance of the team?

exactly

the 4-5-1 system isnt as restictive as it looks, it allows gerrard to have a free role and hover around the box waiting to blast one in.

sissoko does the makele type job and breaks down the other teams attacks and alonso is left to spread passes around the pitch.

4-4-2 is more restrictive on the midfield and it doesnt allow gerrard the freedom he needs to be effective

and without sissoko playing middlesborough would have looked a far more attacking and dangerous team yesterday.

Drag00n79 · 14-08-2005 03:27PM

We should have put two up when Boro were down to ten and were only playing one up themselves.

Jivin Turkey · 14-08-2005 03:33PM

Shamrok wrote:

We should have put two up when Boro were down to ten and were only playing one up themselves.

I understand what you are saying but that would have meant taking Cisse off the right wing and replacing him with who? Move Finnan up? Take Sissoko off for Riise and play him there?

Drag00n79 · 14-08-2005 03:38PM

Jivin Turkey wrote:

I understand what you are saying but that would have meant taking Cisse off the right wing and replacing him with who? Move Finnan up? Take Sissoko off for Riise and play him there?

Coul dhave moved Finnan up or could have taken Warnock off and gone three at the back. It wouldn't be the first time.

PiE · 14-08-2005 04:15PM

Jivin Turkey wrote:

I understand what you are saying but that would have meant taking Cisse off the right wing and replacing him with who? Move Finnan up? Take Sissoko off for Riise and play him there?

Alonso wasn't having a good game, he could have been taken off leaving Sissoko covering Gerrards forward runs. Leaving Morientes and Baros up front with Cisse coming on for Garcia. Morientes couldn't have been too tired since he did very little running for the first 70mins anyway.

Jivin Turkey · 14-08-2005 06:16PM

PiE wrote:

Alonso wasn't having a good game, he could have been taken off leaving Sissoko covering Gerrards forward runs. Leaving Morientes and Baros up front with Cisse coming on for Garcia. Morientes couldn't have been too tired since he did very little running for the first 70mins anyway.

I agree that Alonso wasnt having a good game, but had he been substituted and we not scored "we would have lacked the penetration his passing gives us".

We had enough chances to win the game as it was. Gerrard got taken out when clean through, two good headed opportunities near the end. On another day we would have won it, and to take three points at Boro is a great result. The performance was good, we dominated, we just lacked a killer instinct in front of goal. It had nothing to do with the formation.

Chucky the tree · 14-08-2005 08:29PM

Morenities cant really play the lone striker role. Thats why we bought crouch. If he wasnt injuried he would of been upfront on his own and his a much better opition. Away to good teams like boro we have to play 4-5-1.

We arent a team looking to win the title, we looking to improve on last seasons performances. WE have, last year we lost 2-0. Got the draw this year and really should of won. I am pleased with the result myself. Just disappointed considering the chances we had werent created.

Drag00n79 · 14-08-2005 08:39PM

Jivin Turkey wrote:

I agree that Alonso wasnt having a good game, but had he been substituted and we not scored "we would have lacked the penetration his passing gives us".

Why are you using inverted commas? Did anyone say this?

Jivin Turkey wrote:

to take three points at Boro is a great result.

It would have been nice.

Chucky the tree · 14-08-2005 09:06PM

Shamrok wrote:

Why are you using inverted commas? Did anyone say this?
.

why would someone say it when it never happened?

el rabitos · 14-08-2005 09:19PM

he was referencing rafa benitez. know your benitez quotes children

mada999 · 14-08-2005 10:43PM

I thought we played well.....more performance's like that and we will climb the table no hassle....we just were lacking a little luck

boro vs. pool mathc thread (scores and what not)

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