Blackburn away - post match discussion

[rage]

some things that stood out for me
babel is bound to be rusty but i thought he looked far better on the right.
insua is better than doseena
kuyt won't score goals upfront on his own
arbeloa needs to practice on his crossing
masch had his best game but is still playing below his standard
hyypia still has it
lucas was brought on too early. i liked it better last time when rafa tried to bring him on in the last minute of injury time.
alonso has been our best player this season
reina and carra rarely have a bad game
i'd like to see more of el zahr on the pitch

good win but we're still nowhere near the level we can play at

[dww]

It is interesting that now we are top of the league there has been no mention of rotation despite the fact that we must have changed a big proportion of our players for this game and some of those bought in were a bit of a surprise.

[Sarb]

It is interesting that now we are top of the league there has been no mention of rotation despite the fact that we must have changed a big proportion of our players for this game and some of those bought in were a bit of a surprise.

Don't think there is anything with rotation. The key is when our main men have been fit they have played. Past seasons there have been issues when the likes of Gerrard and Torres were rested. I don't think rotation is bad when you keep the spine of the team stable, but when you start taking your best players out when not required then it becomes open to criticism

It'll be interesting to see if we still end the season as strongly as previous seasons

[dww]

Don't think there is anything with rotation. The key is when our main men have been fit they have played. Past seasons there have been issues when the likes of Gerrard and Torres were rested. I don't think rotation is bad when you keep the spine of the team stable, but when you start taking your best players out when not required then it becomes open to criticism

It'll be interesting to see if we still end the season as strongly as previous seasons

IIRC Torres was rested once other than carrying an injury last season. We have rested/rotated/changed the midfield make up quite a lot this season and the defensive pairing of late too. I tend to think that the change has been much less between this season and other ones to be honest, even if the emphasis has changed.

[Neil Young]

Rotation is only an issue if you don't win.

[Craig_H]

I can recall some posters in here saying he shouldn't have played. Realists?

I dont recall saying that myself, so perhaps you should go and take it up with them, instead of me.

[Craig_H]

It is interesting that now we are top of the league there has been no mention of rotation despite the fact that we must have changed a big proportion of our players for this game and some of those bought in were a bit of a surprise.

There is no mention of rotation because we're now rotating at a tiny fraction of the rate we did last season.

[dww]

There is no mention of rotation because we're now rotating at a tiny fraction of the rate we did last season.

Liverpool vs Fulham: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Kuyt (El Zhar 81), Leiva Lucas, Mascherano (Alonso 64), Riera (Babel 78), Keane, Torres.

Liverpool vs West Ham: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Dossena, Benayoun, Gerrard, Alonso, Riera (Babel 78), Kuyt, Keane (Ngog 66).

4 changes

Liverpool vs Blackburn: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Insua, Benayoun (Riera, 87), Mascherano (Lucas, 83), Alonso, Babel (El Zhar, 64), Gerrard, Kuyt.

4 changes

I'm pretty sure that we have been pretty consistent actually in the number of changes - I can't be arsed to look back any further but I think we have maintained approximately 3 changes per game which is about the same as the averages claimed by Tompkins for 2006/07 season (http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drill...70808-1304.htm) and I doubt there was a big difference in 07/08. Not sure that the injury rate was much different either.

[Craig_H]

The point is that 4 changes is pretty much the maximum we've had this season and it's not happened that often. It's usually been 2 changes or something. Last season, it was 5 or 6 changes, and quite frequently.

After 9 games this season, we'd make 14 unenforced changes. Last season, at the same point, it was over 40.

[Matt]

Liverpool vs Fulham: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Kuyt (El Zhar 81), Leiva Lucas, Mascherano (Alonso 64), Riera (Babel 78), Keane, Torres.

Liverpool vs West Ham: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Dossena, Benayoun, Gerrard, Alonso, Riera (Babel 78), Kuyt, Keane (Ngog 66).

4 changes

Liverpool vs Blackburn: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Insua, Benayoun (Riera, 87), Mascherano (Lucas, 83), Alonso, Babel (El Zhar, 64), Gerrard, Kuyt.

4 changes

I'm pretty sure that we have been pretty consistent actually in the number of changes - I can't be arsed to look back any further but I think we have maintained approximately 3 changes per game which is about the same as the averages claimed by Tompkins for 2006/07 season (http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drill...70808-1304.htm) and I doubt there was a big difference in 07/08. Not sure that the injury rate was much different either.

To be honest Dave, when I saw the line-up yesterday I thought 'uh-oh' because it looked a bit like one of Rafa's end of the season teams when there's nothing to play for.

Good result in the end. I was shouting at the telly when Babel got subbed but El Zhar once again came on and did a decent job. Going on current form I was amazed that Benayoun beat a man and even more amazed that he managed to score from it but he's still a valuable squaddie.

We lost our composure after they scored but it was the right result in the end and absolutely vital after Monday. Hopefully that will have restored a bit of belief after the 0-0's because we've now got two similar home games sandwiching the ever-daunting trip the the Emirates.

[cannotmakeit]

Babel was invisible.

[fred_plasticine]

Babel was invisible.

a strange display i agree. you would have thought he'll do everything to impress once given a chance to start a game but he didn't look interested, unwilling to put an effort in. never really tried to take people on. talent without a workrate is a waste of time.

[rage]

a strange display i agree. you would have thought he'll do everything to impress once given a chance to start a game but he didn't look interested, unwilling to put an effort in. never really tried to take people on. talent without a workrate is a waste of time.

he's rusty and looked far better in the second half, especially on the right. oh and i'd take talent without workrate instead of just workrate every day of the week.

[dww]

To be honest Dave, when I saw the line-up yesterday I thought 'uh-oh' because it looked a bit like one of Rafa's end of the season teams when there's nothing to play for.

Good result in the end. I was shouting at the telly when Babel got subbed but El Zhar once again came on and did a decent job. Going on current form I was amazed that Benayoun beat a man and even more amazed that he managed to score from it but he's still a valuable squaddie.

We lost our composure after they scored but it was the right result in the end and absolutely vital after Monday. Hopefully that will have restored a bit of belief after the 0-0's because we've now got two similar home games sandwiching the ever-daunting trip the the Emirates.

I was pretty surprised too. In general though I think that the changes (possible exception for Babel) did a good job. It is clear that Rafa thinks that Benayoun is a good option to unlock these sort of teams who set out to frustrate us. He was good last season at it and that was his best game for us this year.

The good thing about this season is that I genuinely feel we could beat anyone. Obviously we haven't always fulfilled that but at kick off I genuinely think we will be the victors and that hasn't been the case for a long while.

[cumbriankop]

loved the reaction of players like xabi and arbeloa to scoring. xabi especially showed how much the mentality of the team is focused this year on the league. loved it and think it goes a long way to explain why we're winning games when we might not have last year