Player ratings

[Howard_lfc]

Reina - 6. Looked a little nervous.
Finnan - 7. Defended well and got forward supporting Pennant at times.
Carragher - 7. Disappointed the time and space allowed for their headed goals.
Agger - 7. See Carragher above.
Aurelio - 7. Got absolutely raped - through no fault of his own.
Alonso - 8. Kept the ball well
Gerrard - 7. left gaps in midfield when breaking forward. Should have scored also. Worked hard.
Pennant -5.5. One good cross - and ran around a lot.
Garcia - 5.5. Good goal - but constantly lost possession and lacked awareness
Kuyt - 7. This bloke will never have a bad game whilst he works as hard as he does.
Crouch - 8. 2 goals - great hold up play - worked hard.

subs
Sissoko - 6. Too late to really have an impact.
Gonzales - 5. Ineffective.

[Shaggy]

Agreed with Garcia's rating. Despite Luis' goal and a bright opening 10 minutes, he was abysmal for the remaining 80 - especially in the 2nd half. Frustrating beyond belief, I can't believe he stayed on.

[Rich]

Wouldn't have given every defender a seven. All of them should get 6's!

[Shaggy]

Reina - He's giving me kittens. 5

Finnan - Mr Seven Out Of Ten does it again. 7

Carragher - Lost his man for the first goal but threw in the usual amount of last ditch blocks. 7

Agger - Least convincing performance from him yet. He can't be immaculate every week. 6

Aurelio - More and more evidence of this 'wand' of a left foot he possesses, but as bad defensively as he is good going forward...in fact worse - which, for a left back, isn't ideal. 6

Pennant - Nice assist apart, he continues to be exceptionally average. 6

Gerrard - Another quiet game. 6

Xabi - Struggled. 5

Garcia - Exceptional for 10 minutes, **** for 80. 6

Kuyt - Entitled to a quiet game. 6

Crouch - Two chances, two goals. And what a second goal. Undroppable at present. 9

[anfieldanfield]

5 = Average peformance...

Reina (4) A liability throughout, the more I see him play, the more I wonder whether this lad really is the future. We'll see....

Finnan (7) Played well, solid.

Carra (7) Some quintessential last ditch tackles during that nervy last 15mins, generally solid.

Agger (5) Needs to grow a couple of inches and hit the gym. If both play, Davies could bully him off the pitch on Saturday. Was at fault for the second goal.

Aurelio (5) A real curate's egg of a performance. Going forward, he's a threat, lovely cross for Crouch's goal. Defensively, well, he's...total ****e.

Pennant (5) What can I say that hasn't been said already. Did well for the first goal, granted, but overall ? Tepid, at best. I genuinely can't see him scoring a single goal all season. Not one.

Alonso (5) Did ok, no more, no less. If Ross comes on here and tells me he was superb, and I'm missing all this supposed 'unsung' work, I'm going to shoot myself. He still gives the ball away far, far too often and he's one of the most flat footed players I've ever seen.

Gerrard (6) Somethings missing, I'm not sure what though! And I dont think it's 'just' the lack of goals either. Hmmm.....

Garcia (7) Lively, inventive and creative.

Crouch 8 Superb. The second goal was incredible. Must start ahead of Bellamy on Saturday.

Kuyt (5) Average, as Ryan said, needs a rest.

[Bob]

Sorry Howard_lfc i'd lean towards Shaggy's POV.

Our left side was the weakest it's been all season. Always feel for the LCB when playing beside an inept LB - their on a hiding to nothing

Gerrard's desperate for a goal to get him started.

[anfieldanfield]

Reina - 6. Looked a little nervous.
Finnan - 7. Defended well and got forward supporting Pennant at times.
Carragher - 7. Disappointed the time and space allowed for their headed goals.
Agger - 7. See Carragher above.
Aurelio - 7. Got absolutely raped - through no fault of his own.
Alonso - 8. Kept the ball well
Gerrard - 7. left gaps in midfield when breaking forward. Should have scored also. Worked hard.
Pennant -5.5. One good cross - and ran around a lot.
Garcia - 5.5. Good goal - but constantly lost possession and lacked awareness
Kuyt - 7. This bloke will never have a bad game whilst he works as hard as he does.
Crouch - 8. 2 goals - great hold up play - worked hard.

subs
Sissoko - 6. Too late to really have an impact.
Gonzales - 5. Ineffective.

Insanely generous!

Xabi, 8 out of 10 ? Not a chance.

[Bob]

5 = Average peformance...
Agger (5) Needs to grow a couple of inches and hit the gym. If both play, Davies could bully him off the pitch on Saturday. Was at fault for the second goal.

Wasn't his best performance, but that's harsh. Look at the bigger picture.

Wish Rafa wouldn't tinker with the defence - that's a timebomb waiting to happen.

FYI - he wont grow a couple of inches - and he's a fair bit taller than Carra!

[MrMichael]

5 = Average peformance...

Reina (4) A liability throughout, the more I see him play, the more I wonder whether this lad really is the future. We'll see....

Finnan (7) Played well, solid.

Carra (7) Some quintessential last ditch tackles during that nervy last 15mins, generally solid.

Agger (5) Needs to grow a couple of inches and hit the gym. If both play, Davies could bully him off the pitch on Saturday. Was at fault for the second goal.

Aurelio (5) A real curate's egg of a performance. Going forward, he's a threat, lovely cross for Crouch's goal. Defensively, well, he's...total ****e.

Pennant (5) What can I say that hasn't been said already. Did well for the first goal, granted, but overall ? Tepid, at best. I genuinely can't see him scoring a single goal all season. Not one.

Alonso (5) Did ok, no more, no less. If Ross comes on here and tells me he was superb, and I'm missing all this supposed 'unsung' work, I'm going to shoot myself. He still gives the ball away far, far too often and he's one of the most flat footed players I've ever seen.

Gerrard (6) Somethings missing, I'm not sure what though! And I dont think it's 'just' the lack of goals either. Hmmm.....

Garcia (7) Lively, inventive and creative.

Crouch 8 Superb. The second goal was incredible. Must start ahead of Bellamy on Saturday.

Kuyt (5) Average, as Ryan said, needs a rest.

You just cut and pasted exactly what you posted on SCM didn't you?

[anfieldanfield]

You just cut and pasted exactly what you posted on SCM didn't you?

Yes.

[Resu]

Reina - 6. Looked a little nervous.
Finnan - 7. Defended well and got forward supporting Pennant at times.
Carragher - 7. Disappointed the time and space allowed for their headed goals.
Agger - 7. See Carragher above.
Aurelio - 7. Got absolutely raped - through no fault of his own.
Alonso - 8. Kept the ball well
Gerrard - 7. left gaps in midfield when breaking forward. Should have scored also. Worked hard.
Pennant -5.5. One good cross - and ran around a lot.
Garcia - 5.5. Good goal - but constantly lost possession and lacked awareness
Kuyt - 7. This bloke will never have a bad game whilst he works as hard as he does.
Crouch - 8. 2 goals - great hold up play - worked hard.

subs
Sissoko - 6. Too late to really have an impact.
Gonzales - 5. Ineffective.

I think 7 to Aurelio is generous. Good going forward, but no awareness in defense.
8 for Alonso? I thought his passing was poor. Some of this square passes were terrible.

[zimbo]

Only player to warrant more than a 6 in my book was Crouch. The rest were varying shades of average.

[Howard_lfc]

I think 7 to Aurelio is generous. Good going forward, but no awareness in defense.
8 for Alonso? I thought his passing was poor. Some of this square passes were terrible.

Aurelio was left exposed all the time; he was simply overrun. I thought he played well.

I thought Xabi did alright - but obviously misjudged that coz everybody disagrees!!!

H

[fowlen]

Reina - 6. Looked a little nervous.
Finnan - 7. Defended well and got forward supporting Pennant at times.
Carragher - 7. Disappointed the time and space allowed for their headed goals.
Agger - 7. See Carragher above.
Aurelio - 7. Got absolutely raped - through no fault of his own.
Alonso - 8. Kept the ball well
Gerrard - 7. left gaps in midfield when breaking forward. Should have scored also. Worked hard.
Pennant -5.5. One good cross - and ran around a lot.
Garcia - 5.5. Good goal - but constantly lost possession and lacked awareness
Kuyt - 7. This bloke will never have a bad game whilst he works as hard as he does.
Crouch - 8. 2 goals - great hold up play - worked hard.

subs
Sissoko - 6. Too late to really have an impact.
Gonzales - 5. Ineffective.

Reina 5 - a couple decent saves, but flapped way too much
Finnan 6.5 - was given a torrid team but was rarely beaten, and allowed the defense/midfield to get back and support#
Agger 7 - pretty solid and good in position
Carra 6.5 - not his best game and was given a torrid time up front
Aurellio 4 - great crosses and support play, but defensive positioning and play was awful. They looked so dangerous everytime they broke down the left - he was caught infield too much
Garcia 6 - he was in there to attack and he did so, scored an excellent goal and his touch was excellent, yes he lost position, but generally only in their half, and only because he was trying to run at them....
Alonso 5 - very disappointing
Gerrard 7 - not his best game, but covered the field remarkably, and made some good breaks / shots
Pennant 7 - broke and played really well. A constant outlet, but too many crosses went astray
Crouch 9 - great game, great goals
Kuyt 7 - worked his socks off again and really stretched them. Unlucky with his shot that hit the post

[CAD]

As long as Gerrard/Alonso and Carra/Agger had the strength to cover for Luis and Fabio we controlled the game. The first 45 mins we played them into the ground with power football. As the second half progressed the "back3" suffered from the "Fabio effect" and substitutions should have been made. That's when Momo was needed. After 55 mins and not before.

The leftside was a defensive disaster last night but created so much in the first 45 mins going forward that we didn't suffer that much from it. The Turks had their chances with crosses from their RM in the first half as well because Fabio was not to be seen out there. Poor Agger. It's Sami and Traoé all over again.

If Rafa had thrown Riise or even Warnock in after 55 mins and subed Garcia with Momo the two goals would never have happend.

Reina - Does not inspire confidence in the defense these days. Looking more and more like Dudek every day. 4,5.

Finnan - Wonderful cross for Crouch's goal. I love when he goes forward. He should be forced to make too runs every half upfield. Was involved in both goals from the Turks but the real problem lies elsewhere. 7.

Carra/Agger - Suffered from Fabios woeful defending. Agger basically played a CB and a LB at the same time. Carra spend too much time trying to close the gap. The entire Backline suffered from Fabio's exploits. Both goals came after initial crosses from our left side. I really don't think that they can be blamed for the two goals. It happens when the opponents gets to throw low pressure balls into our box time after time. They did well to hold down the fort for almost 60 mins! 6,5 for both.

Aurelio - Woeful positioning and no defeding whatsoever. It's all good that he did better on the ball and made some runs and passes upfield but if you can't fulfill the primary target, namely to defend, then your just not cutting it! I can't wait to get Riise back! 4.

Pennant - beat his man on several occations and looked really good in the first half. Created lot's of situations losing his marker. Really good 1st half. Lost a little in the second and needs more concentration on the final ball. Gave us drive and pace on the right wing in the 1st half and that is exactly what we need! 6,5.

Alonso - The pace and movement on the ball is lightning when Gerrard is in the midfield. Looked a little dazed and we didn't really see a lot of him. 6.

Gerrard - Just looks better at CM. Let's face it people. Gave us the speed we need in our passing and made us look like a team with drive and ambition. The first half was magic and this was all due to Gerrard. 7,5.

Garcia - From hero to zero. Took the happy boots off in the break and he should have stayed off with them. 6.

Kuyt - worked his ass off tonight as usual and looks sharp. Must be the best partner any striker could wish for in a 4-4-2! The reason Crouch could do what his good at. 7.

Crouch - Finally gets to do what he was meant to do. To stay and lurk in the box. Looked sharp when he had to and scored a wonderful goal. Didn't back track anywhere near as much as he used to because of Kuyt. Well done Crouch. A striker strikes and that is all that matters. Fair play Crouch. 8,5 and MOM.

Rafa - good team. We played the best football I have seen for a long time in the first half. Should have done something about Fabio sooner rather than later. 7,5 for three goals, 60 fantastic mins and Gerrard a CM!

Player of the day: Sukur - What a player. If you didn't love him before you will now. Thank God this 'has been' was at Anfield to safe the day with his 'deadly skill'. Looks like a 2CV going off-road.