Post Match Thread: Still unbeaten, Gerrard's on his way back....

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Kuyt is a striker but his technique is letting him down at the moment. I agree that Babel should be given a run in the side, I can't understand why he was benched today though it would have been a perfect game for him.

Exactly we needed pace on the wingers and just didnt have it.

[Revo]

Reina - Great performance, unlucky for the goal he conceded
Finnan - Not playing his best at the moment and his forward play leaves a lot to be desired
Carra - Played well, I think he's doing the running for both him and Hyypia and it affects his game
Hyypia- Not good enough anymore, he can head all day, but his distribution is woefull and he's too slow
Riise - Poor in defence, poor in attack - not good enough
Gerrard - Best display for some time, very happy with his return to form
Alonso - Superb display of passing, we are so much better with him in the team, disapointing that he's probably back out for a while
Mascherano - Did his job well, his passing still looks a bit off, but it's a minor gripe
Kuyt - Played well enough, doesn't benefit him playing out of position so much
Torres - Didn't look fit, why was he playing at all, someone in our medical team needs to be questioned about this
Voronin - Poor all match, came off about 60 mins too late


Arbeloa - Looked rusty
Bennayoun - Average
Crouch - Should have started

would only take exception with benayoun, we looked like a better team when he came on. better movement and clearly more mobile moving up the pitch.

if anyone on this site wants to defend voronin i have some news for you. he is ****ing ****. stop embarrasing yourselves with ****ing nonsense. he is nowhere near good enough to play for liverpool and if the manager thinks that he is, i will be the first to say **** off rafa cos this is not the sexy valencia football we all want to see. rafa has time with me but if that time includes your voronins of this world, im sorry rafa has to go. not even upset with todays game, wenger has been building this for a couple of seasons.

[Tom]

If Alonso is really out for a while we're fcked. That's very bad news.

[kemm1]

He played for the team and kept the ball very well. It has to be said that he's not been played in his position. He's a player Rafa likes because he's tactically excellent.

If we'd played Babel from the start (and prob Benayoun), Arsenal would have been more dangerous from the flanks. They had to try to play from the middle which is more difficult.

The game was very even today. On chances alone it was. I think a draw was a fair result. We're still unbeaten and Arsenal still have to play manure next week, and if they get a draw and if we win our match, we will be closer.

So you're saying the Kuyt was playing just to contain the opposition and Babel didn't play because that would have meant we would have been more attacking, hence leaving more space for ARSEnal to attack?

[El Jefecito]

The difference today was Fabregas and that we played with some players that isn't 100%.

You won't be able to control a game against a team like Arsenal if two or three players isn't 100%.

We battled very hard today and that is a big step forward to what it has looked the last few weeks.

All our CMs were better than him.

[JPK]

I though YOUR post about him playing well was a windup! are you for real? terrible performance - I'm not saying that's his fault as he's been out a while but don't let your rose tinted specs make a fool of you.

Alonso was class.He was a major loss going off.He would be sensational with Arsenal who have quicker and more technical players.
Give credit where it's due

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

He played for the team and kept the ball very well. It has to be said that he's not been played in his position. He's a player Rafa likes because he's tactically excellent.

If we'd played Babel from the start (and prob Benayoun), Arsenal would have been more dangerous from the flanks. They had to try to play from the middle which is more difficult.

The game was very even today. On chances alone it was. I think a draw was a fair result. We're still unbeaten and Arsenal still have to play manure next week, and if they get a draw and if we win our match, we will be closer.

You make some salient points there about his tactical awareness and his work ethic for the team.

But "he kept the ball very well"? I'm sorry but are you sure that was Kuyt? He gave it away more than anyone. He was like a colander, the ball bouncing off him and going through him continuously.

[kemm1]

Exactly we needed pace on the wingers and just didnt have it.

Agreed, ARSEna's fullbacks didn't have to worry about defending for the vast majority of the match.

[Joe King]

Hands up Riise, Hyypia, Kuyt, Voronin to go

Not good enough

Good to see Gerrard back!

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

If Alonso is really out for a while we're fcked. That's very bad news.

Don't agree.

Great player. But we've got Lucas to step in for him.

More concerned about Torres' fitness and when Agger comes back.

[andyinswinton]

If Alonso is really out for a while we're fcked. That's very bad news.

I thought first half it showed exactly why we have missed him recently. He's a very important player.

The formation was an interesting one with Alonso and Macherano playing in the centre with Gerrard pushed further forward. Replace Voronin and Kuyt with two others and that would be a very tasty formation.

[Joe King]

Why it's laughable ? Kuyt was excellent, that's my opinion, as much as your's is probably as laughable.

Excellent? Please show me which match you were watching because I wasn't seeing an excellent Kuyt. He was piss

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Don't agree.

Great player. But we've got Lucas to step in for him.

More concerned about Torres' fitness and when Agger comes back.

Do you honestly think Rafa will put him in over Momo?? I dont

[Imy]

Riise was the main culprit of giving the ball away, brainless twit, i honestly hope we sell him in the Jan window.

Crow and Kuyt as wide men what makes Rafa think they can play this role? they neither have the pace, skill, ingenuity for this role.

[FatTony]

How negative can you be it's untrue ! We've played well today. Arsenal can outpass any teams but they don't create much compared to the amount of possession they can have.

It's been a tactical decision by Rafa to play a counter attacking game, but we could have used the ball better for 20 mins in the first half just after our goal.

I can't believe anyone who watched that said we played well. We resulted to hoofing the ball into nowhere for much of the game.

There were some good individual performances (Gerrard, Carra and Mascher) but the team played average route 1 football. As a team we are quite poor.

There are far too many players in the team who just aren't up to scratch.