Stewart Downing - West Hahahaham player

[Tee]

I wouldn't say terrible, no-one had a good game last night barr Raheem and maybe Lucas when he came on.. but he was alot better then some of the performances he put in last season..

Likely as poor as the rest.

As a whole, I think Downing could do well if given a chance. He is a very good player, he's not ****e as some say. What he lacks is the mental strength when things are going wrong for him.

He has the Anfield crowd against him tbh, a lot like Henderson. Let's not kid ourselves and say we have intelligent fans who back our players. We have fans like every other club. We don't offer unconditional support. If we did we'd have never booed a young player from Brazil struggling to adapt and adjust.

For Downing to do well he needs the backing of our support. That will come if he starts the season well. It really is as simple as that for him. He's no John Barnes but he's still a very cultured player who can make things happen when he's on his game.

I no the type of comments I'll get back and I'm not bothered tbh. If Dan and Matt and the rest want to call him ****e they can. In all honesty he was last year and I doubt he'd disagree with that himself. He has his work cut out to win back the support of the clubs fans, but a goal like last night certainly won't do him any harm.

I think he does get the support from the fans at the matches, its just sheer frustration at his lack of 'balls' to really have a go at the full back. Thats how it was last season anyway. Hopefully he can get a lot of confidence from that strike last night and hit the ground running, it is his last chance really this season.

[Phoenix07]

Stewart Downing would have to change how he's played all his career to fit in. He'd have to press and repeatedly find small spaces. His previous teams relied on counter-attacking play.

Think he'll be a bench player to be honest and Suarez, Borini and Dempsey will be the attacking trio.

[el matador]

He didnt play very well but neither did anyone else.

All the forward players will struggle in this system because there are no gaps to exploit or run into due to the slow build up.

We will not score a lot or goals and in four pre seasons weve scored three.

[DannyMan2006]

Stewart Downing would have to change how he's played all his career to fit in. He'd have to press and repeatedly find small spaces. His previous teams relied on counter-attacking play.

Think he'll be a bench player to be honest and Suarez, Borini and Dempsey will be the attacking trio.

I think Downing is one of the few English players who are skilled when un possession of the ball. He has a great left foot. Excellent control of the ball and a great passer and crosser of the ball.

His problem as a winger is a lack of sheer pace, his problem as a footballer at the highest level is a weak mentality. When things go well for him he's a very good player. When they're not, he hides.

[DannyMan2006]

He didnt play very well but neither did anyone else.

All the forward players will struggle in this system because there are no gaps to exploit or run into due to the slow build up.

We will not score a lot or goals and in four pre seasons weve scored three.

When you are LFC you rarely get acres of space to play in. More often than not that's we've struggled in recent seasons. We lack the real quality players with the key to unlocking a tight defence.

We could do with another game changer like Suarez. As Matt Shark says, we have too many "safe" players. What we need are replacements with the magic touch.

[saj]

Didn't see the game, but apart from the cracking strike how was his overall game?

There was one moment where he ran back 30 yards or so to catch up to the attacker. I have to say he is ridiculously quick as he caught up and tackled him. Other than that, he didn't tik the taka very well at all. Well nobody did to be honest.

[RedReet]

After playing so well, I think hitting the bar and not getting that first goal against Sunderland last year put a lot of pressure on Downing as the games went on and he suffered. Hopefully this year the reverse will happen, after playing **** and getting the goal, he’ll gain confidence and go on and have an excellent season.

[Doc_antonio]

We can only hope.

[Nicey]

After playing so well, I think hitting the bar and not getting that first goal against Sunderland last year put a lot of pressure on Downing as the games went on and he suffered. Hopefully this year the reverse will happen, after playing **** and getting the goal, he’ll gain confidence and go on and have an excellent season.

Lets hope so ... he is our player after all ...we should want the best for him in order to get the best out of him

[red g]

Luckily I didnt see the game last night but after getting over the shock of Downing scored, Saw it expecting a tap in but it was a superb effort and don't think any premiership keeper would have saved it either.

Hopefully he can push on from last season and get back to his average best.

[Gibbo]

Downing

[baitman]

Downing

what... has he left

[danperkins]

He's ****

[Nicey]

He's ****

No he really is not, he did not perform well last season.

[SB]

I hope he scores 10 goals for us and gets some confidence. I always hope for the best for all our players. If they leave that's a different matter.