A view from the Terraces

[Red_Al_77]

Well I managed to get up to Anfield for the first time this season. I though I'd share my views if anyone is interested....

First and foremost I find it very hard to be critical of anyone or anything when you win 6-0 but perfection is what we strive for.

The Anfield Crowd:

It's disappointing that people only saw fit to sing consistently in the 2nd half. In the first we had a quiet rendition of 'Fields of Anfield Road'. Apart from that the Derby fans embarrassed our support in that first half. That said the 2nd half was excellent but it's easy to cheer and sing when the goals are flowing. Best chant of the day was "We're gonna win 7-6" by DC towards the end. Rafa clearly appreciated the chants about him coming from the Kop.

1st half

I have to say the 1st half was so frustrating. Only when Pennant realised he had the measure of their left back, and when Babel was finally given the ball, did we look like a top side. Up until then we scratched around. Agger, Mascher, and Pennant had excellent excellent 45mins. Torres reminds me so much of Rush it's uncanny. Sami's distribution was woeful.

2nd half

Well talk about chalk and cheese. Mascher dominated everything in the middle, Pennant and Babel were free to attack at will and Torres just was unstoppable. Best moment of the game was Mascher's interception and the Torres 1st goal. Class written all over it. I was surprised to see Pennant taken off and this did seem to unsettle Arbeloa as Yossi hasn't a clue how to cover his LB. Babel looked so comfortable on the RW. Alonso looked more confident than I've seen him in ages. Torres, well he's just gonna be a legend. His game and all round technique will ensure he scores 20+ goals this season and he is the missing link for me.

Stand-out players

Agger was supreme and never put a foot wrong all day. Torres was truly excellent. Mascher is the perfect foil for SG when he returns. If we don't end up buying him it will be the single biggest mistake of Rafa's reign. Babel is gonna be some player.

Derby

Absolutely ****e team. Good goalkeeper. Good fans. Going down, no question.

Overall

Great performance against a poor side. We have some absolutely outstanding players really on top form. I'm not going to be critical of Kuyt because he linked up so well at times but the back heels never worked Dirk and he wouldn't have scored if the goal had been 20ft wide. It just wasn't his day. Alex Miller did all the Pako bits and Rafa only really spoke to Alonso and Pennant once on the touch line. Other than that he seemed very relaxed.

Nice to meet up with Kaip, Rocket, RS4, Disco, KK07, Kurtangle, and The Glove.

Top of the league

[kop-al-74]

Great post Al.

Enjoyd reading that.Quite balanced and winning by that kind of margine it's very hard to not get carried away.What a game to go to.

[tomasjj]

Cheers Al.

[JPK]

Nice insight into things.It's nailed on Rafa will sign Monster.
He knows exactly what he has with him.Just on Kuyt,I hear what you are saying but he gives us great balance and always shows for the ball.
He links midfield and attack brilliantly and with Torres in front of him,we have a serious goal threat.Agger is class.I hope when we sign Sami's replacement it will be a player like Agger again.

[disco]

Nice to meet up Al

Totally agree with everything you've said.

I'll add that another funny Derby chant was 'Bring on United'

The missus did a good job of not being a Derby fan by clapping every goal up to 4-0. It then got too embarrassing, she got in a mood, and she stopped trying after that. Still not happy listening to all the punditry and reading the headlines

[Dhav]

Certainly signing Mascha permanently must be something of a priority, even if it will cost £20m.

I've been a staunch defender of Kuyt in the past, but he is testing my patience a bit now. You can't underestimate his hard work, and the link-up play, but even on the rare occasions when he gets into goal scoring positions he is pretty wide of hitting the mark. It's beginning to worry me.

[reddragon]

Well I managed to get up to Anfield for the first time this season. I though I'd share my views if anyone is interested....

First and foremost I find it very hard to be critical of anyone or anything when you win 6-0 but perfection is what we strive for.

The Anfield Crowd:

It's disappointing that people only saw fit to sing consistently in the 2nd half. In the first we had a quiet rendition of 'Fields of Anfield Road'. Apart from that the Derby fans embarrassed our support in that first half. That said the 2nd half was excellent but it's easy to cheer and sing when the goals are flowing. Best chant of the day was "We're gonna win 7-6" by DC towards the end. Rafa clearly appreciated the chants about him coming from the Kop.

Where did you sit Al? I ask this cos I was in the Kop as usual, and thought the atmosphere was much better than usual [considering it was Derby FFS] I could hardly hear the Derby fans, which meant they were poor as we can usually hear the aways pretty well.
1st half

I have to say the 1st half was so frustrating. Only when Pennant realised he had the measure of their left back, and when Babel was finally given the ball, did we look like a top side. Up until then we scratched around. Agger, Mascher, and Pennant had excellent excellent 45mins. Torres reminds me so much of Rush it's uncanny. Sami's distribution was woeful.
Agreed it was frustrating, but how can you think Agger played well first half. That big yarddogg from Derby beat him half a dozen times in the air - he was really struggling. Although Sami's distribution was poor [and he was badly caught out for pace at least once] he had a good game overall.
2nd half

Well talk about chalk and cheese. Mascher dominated everything in the middle, Pennant and Babel were free to attack at will and Torres just was unstoppable. Best moment of the game was Mascher's interception and the Torres 1st goal. Class written all over it. I was surprised to see Pennant taken off and this did seem to unsettle Arbeloa as Yossi hasn't a clue how to cover his LB. Babel looked so comfortable on the RW. Alonso looked more confident than I've seen him in ages. Torres, well he's just gonna be a legend. His game and all round technique will ensure he scores 20+ goals this season and he is the missing link for me.

Stand-out players

Agger was supreme and never put a foot wrong all day. Torres was truly excellent. Mascher is the perfect foil for SG when he returns. If we don't end up buying him it will be the single biggest mistake of Rafa's reign. Babel is gonna be some player.
Can't believe you thought this about Danny! And no mention of Kuyt [a masterclass in off the ball movement and link up play]. Agree Mascher was outstanding, and Babel just got better and better after looking a little overawed in the first 20 minutes.
Derby

Absolutely ****e team. Good goalkeeper. Good fans. Going down, no question.

Overall

Great performance against a poor side. We have some absolutely outstanding players really on top form. I'm not going to be critical of Kuyt because he linked up so well at times but the back heels never worked Dirk and he wouldn't have scored if the goal had been 20ft wide. It just wasn't his day. Alex Miller did all the Pako bits and Rafa only really spoke to Alonso and Pennant once on the touch line. Other than that he seemed very relaxed.

Nice to meet up with Kaip, Rocket, RS4, Disco, KK07, Kurtangle, and The Glove.

Top of the league

[Red_Al_77]

I was in the Upper Anny Road. Not a good yardstick I know being above the away support but still struggled to hear the Kop in the 1st half. The 2nd half however was totally different. Kuyt was excellent in his link up play but he still needs to be more a goal threat. Got forbid if Torres ever got injured. Agger was excellent IMO compared to Sami who wasted his possession. When Agger bought the ball out of defence in the 1st half it was with some menace. The only threat Sami posed in the first half was to low flying pigeons. That run where Sami was skinned for pace was worrying.

[reddragon]

Fair enough - you were in the Upper Anny so couldn't hear us in the first half. I was impressed by the atmosphere in the Kop on the whole, but agree it might not have been loud enough to hear from where you were. At least I could hear singing from the Kop when I was on the Kop which wouldn't normally be the case against the likes of Derby.

Sami's lack of pace, although worrying, is no real surprise is it? It's certainly one reason why he's a back up rather than a regular now that we're playing such a high line in defence. I agree Danny is better in possesion, however the first point of playing in defense is being a defender, and he was a little lacking in that department yesterday.

[Parm]

thanks for that, only saw the goals on ssn today, missed MOTD so no idea about our play etc.

[Revo]

Fair enough - you were in the Upper Anny so couldn't hear us in the first half. I was impressed by the atmosphere in the Kop on the whole, but agree it might not have been loud enough to hear from where you were. At least I could hear singing from the Kop when I was on the Kop which wouldn't normally be the case against the likes of Derby.

Sami's lack of pace, although worrying, is no real surprise is it? It's certainly one reason why he's a back up rather than a regular now that we're playing such a high line in defence. I agree Danny is better in possesion, however the first point of playing in defense is being a defender, and he was a little lacking in that department yesterday.

KOPITES ARE GOB****ES

[bonzai]

Well I managed to get up to Anfield for the first time this season. I though I'd share my views if anyone is interested....

First and foremost I find it very hard to be critical of anyone or anything when you win 6-0 but perfection is what we strive for.

The Anfield Crowd:

It's disappointing that people only saw fit to sing consistently in the 2nd half. In the first we had a quiet rendition of 'Fields of Anfield Road'. Apart from that the Derby fans embarrassed our support in that first half. That said the 2nd half was excellent but it's easy to cheer and sing when the goals are flowing. Best chant of the day was "We're gonna win 7-6" by DC towards the end. Rafa clearly appreciated the chants about him coming from the Kop.

1st half

I have to say the 1st half was so frustrating. Only when Pennant realised he had the measure of their left back, and when Babel was finally given the ball, did we look like a top side. Up until then we scratched around. Agger, Mascher, and Pennant had excellent excellent 45mins. Torres reminds me so much of Rush it's uncanny. Sami's distribution was woeful.

2nd half

Well talk about chalk and cheese. Mascher dominated everything in the middle, Pennant and Babel were free to attack at will and Torres just was unstoppable. Best moment of the game was Mascher's interception and the Torres 1st goal. Class written all over it. I was surprised to see Pennant taken off and this did seem to unsettle Arbeloa as Yossi hasn't a clue how to cover his LB. Babel looked so comfortable on the RW. Alonso looked more confident than I've seen him in ages. Torres, well he's just gonna be a legend. His game and all round technique will ensure he scores 20+ goals this season and he is the missing link for me.

Stand-out players

Agger was supreme and never put a foot wrong all day. Torres was truly excellent. Mascher is the perfect foil for SG when he returns. If we don't end up buying him it will be the single biggest mistake of Rafa's reign. Babel is gonna be some player.

Derby

Absolutely ****e team. Good goalkeeper. Good fans. Going down, no question.

Overall

Great performance against a poor side. We have some absolutely outstanding players really on top form. I'm not going to be critical of Kuyt because he linked up so well at times but the back heels never worked Dirk and he wouldn't have scored if the goal had been 20ft wide. It just wasn't his day. Alex Miller did all the Pako bits and Rafa only really spoke to Alonso and Pennant once on the touch line. Other than that he seemed very relaxed.

Nice to meet up with Kaip, Rocket, RS4, Disco, KK07, Kurtangle, and The Glove.

Top of the league

Great post mate, good to hear from you again....

[PLY]

People who sit in the Kop always think the atmosphere is great even when it's ****ing embarrasing.

I sit by the tunnel in the Paddock and the atmosphere is generally very poor and the Kop not very loud.

[reddragon]

KOPITES ARE GOB****ES

[reddragon]

People who sit in the Kop always think the atmosphere is great even when it's ****ing embarrasing.

I sit by the tunnel in the Paddock and the atmosphere is generally very poor and the Kop not very loud.

mate please re-read my post and then re-evaluate your comments

















also please note scousertommy's witty retort