Fringe Players

[Ben_Itez]

First half they were all pretty abysmal....Lucas being about the only one who looked capable of passing to another red shirt. Our ball retention up front and out wide was perhaps the worst ive seen from a liverpool team in the last few years. Torres being the worst culprit, shall we flog him too???

Second half was much improved but against a pacy slick passing side i feel playing Hyppia was a mistake...he simply hasnt got the speed anymore and adding alittle match rustiness into the equation = disaster.

Degen was pants but im prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt due to match fitness etc. Still he doesnt really look a liverpool player.

2nd half. Much better all round especially after Alonso came on and El Zhar moved up front. Insua looked useful at left mid and Dossena wasnt as bad as the first half but still his positioning was suspect for the 4th goal although tbf Sami failed to move up with the rest of them to play offside enabling Zokora to burst through.

Lucas played a couple of cracking balls especially the one when Gomez got injured....who knows if we'd got that penalty we could have got back into it although we didnt really deserve it. Ball retention up front was better and we put together a fair few slick passing moves. The older reserves/back up players got their chance to play and didnt really take it.

Still not quite the damning indictment of our youth policy that everyone is making out....the vast majority of the really promising ones are a touch younger than those played last night and will get their chance next year IMO.

[Shanks]

Even Torres looked poor last night

Yeah I thought that, he was playing like someone who was just back from an injury or something.

[Marky]

Is that a joke?

Also, Finnan can't get a game for Espanyol (apparently, according to Mr Michael ). He was abject last season and, IMO, was rightly ditched.

Finnan should never have been sold imo.

[dww]

I think many of our players have the skills to succeed but at the minute several of them seem to lack the belief or possibly personality to impose themselves on games. This is particularly true of Plessiss and Lucas, both of which I like as players and believe have great potential. I really think they need to be player for a team fighting for wins week in week out to toughen them up mentally. It is currently too easy for them to coast along not developing significantly. They need to learn to take responsibility and run a game.

Hyypia is an awkward case these days he looks to need a few games to get match fit but can't play more than a game a week. This is certainly his last season IMO and it is a shame that none of our promising young CBs have kicked on.

Dossena is infuriating. He has had some good moments and has shown enough glimpses to imply that there is something to be worked on. His mentality looks all wrong and he never seem sto use his physique.

[Craig_H]

He doesnt look happy at all maybe suffering from depression, hopefully when he gets used to the lanugage he might settle in a bit better.

He's actually pretty fluent in english mate. No language excuse here.

[Neil Young]

Finnan should never have been sold imo.

Finnan's best days, such as they were, were clearly behind him. Are you Irish by any chance?

[Reece]

Dossena is infuriating. He has had some good moments and has shown enough glimpses to imply that there is something to be worked on. His mentality looks all wrong and he never seem sto use his physique.

Even Lennon out-muscled him at one point last night

[lackyboy]

Finnan should never have been sold imo.

I understand that viewpoint but, as shaggy mentioned earlier, Finnan was abject last season and on the decline IMO. The quality of his replacement is questionable.

Arbeloa, - whilst having a great start to the season, I am not sure yet if he has the qualities to be the long term answer at right back. Great value purchase by Benitez though.

Degen - very little to go on so far apart from a couple of uncomfortable displays whilst not match fit. However, a free transfer from Dortmund was never likely to be our first choice full back. I believe he may have been signed as temporary cover for a season or so but why Darby could not have done this job is another point altogether.

Currently, I would still like to see a top quality right back signed next season and hope that Arbeloa continues to improve and show more consistency to make that a tough decision for Benitez.