Post-Match - Bolton (a)

[Dirk07]

Yes he does. It gives recovery time for Skrtel and Agger though.

+ Aurelio

[Mattshark]

+ Aurelio

[tsb]

Three points and all three LFC scorers in my fantasy footy team. Good day!

[vonk]

Our defence looked shaky at every set piece and the second Bolton goal was a joke. Sending off was deserved, I don't know what the muppet on the BBC is on about. Davis was dishing it out all afternoon and Lucas was going forward in the clear. It was a yellow. Here are my players ratings:

Reina 8 - Made an incredible save when it was 1-1. Confident throughout and was excellent with the ball at his feet today.
Johnson 9 - Excellent. Got us back in with the goal and hit some beautiful crosses. He is a quality player. Defended well and shows his intelligence. Some great runs in the box. Guy on tv made the point that Rafa's big signings have been excellent. This was one of them.
Carra 4 - Poor. He is important to us because he organises the defence. But he is not getting those last ditch tackles in at the moment. He was the worst of our two centre halves today
Kyriakos 7 - Thought he did well. He lost one header to Davies and it resulted in the second goal. He is certainly good in the air and it was an honourable debut. May struggle with pacey forwards though. Certainly a reasonable backup and might be a threat from set pieces.
Insua 9 - What can I say about this kid. He was exceptional. Great first touch and provided good wing support. He and Riera seem to work well together.
Riera 7 - I thought he was a threat when he was on. Attacked the defender at will. Tired at the end.
Kuyt 6 - Poor first half where he tried hard, but kept giving the ball away in the last third. Second half he was much better. Should have hit the target with one effort but his layoff on the chest to Torres was class. Involved in the failure to add a fourth.
Bennyoun 5 - He did ok but I think we could have paid for his wastefulness. Came on when the game had opened up so it was a nice time to come on. Had some chances but the part at the end where he tried to backheel the ball to Voronin as the 4 players in the box tried to walk the ball into the net was a joke. I think if they had equalised there would have been a lot of people annoyed with what went on then.
Masch 7- Dominant in midfield. Hardly put a foot wrong and did his job to perfection
Lucas 2 - Spent the first half hiding. Gave away a stupid free kick where Reina bailed him out. When they went to 10 he has more space to play his sideways passes. His only contribution was to get tripped. I have given up on him and anyone who can see him influencing games is not watching the games I am. He is Rafa's stubborn streak.
Gerrard 6 - Was totally marked out of the game first half. When they went to ten, he dominated. Dropped back to where Lucas was supposed to be and showed him how to dominate a match. Totally influential for the last 3 minutes. Hit the bar and then had some wild efforts but read the BBC description of his goal.
Torres 7 - Great header to knock it down for Gerrard. Was a threat throughout but missed some decent chances first half. Fought on all game and his finish was exquisite. Should have scored more but we got away with it.
Voronin 5 - Didnt do much really.

...can't wait for Aquilani.

[shelly]

Good lord do the people who write the match reports even watch the game?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/8222679.stm

Bolton 2 - 3 Liverpool

By Ian Hughes


Torres was on target as Liverpool fought back to beat Bolton
Liverpool twice came back from behind to beat a stubborn Bolton side, who had Sean Davis harshly sent off.
Kevin Davies put the hosts in front when he tapped in from a corner only for Glen Johnson to equalise with a low shot into the bottom corner.
Tamir Cohen restored Bolton's lead with a volley but then Davis was given a second caution for a foul on Lucas.
Steven Gerrard hit the bar before Fernando Torres finished clinically and Gerrard rifled in the winner late on.
It was a bitter blow to Bolton, having lost Davis to a debatable referring decision and some gamesmanship from Lucas.
Brazilian Lucas, whose reputation has recently been damaged by poor performances (what reputation? if anything he did ok first two games until his o.g at villa) , did little in the match other than to do his best to influence the referee to send off Davis. (what rubbish! Bolton were kicking our players off the park and it was only a matter of time before someone got sent off)
And it proved a turning point, as Liverpool finally applied pressure on Bolton and showed an urgency that had been lacking until that point.
That it should have happened only once they had numerical superiority must be a worry to boss Rafael Benitez, who had before the game called on his players to kick-start their season.

With two league defeats in their first three matches, Liverpool's title credentials were already being called into question.
And there were still be doubts after another largely unconvincing performance against a Bolton side struggling for form. (Can't journalists even use proper grammar nowadays?)
Benitez had singled out Gerrard as having been particularly below par so far their campaign but his skipper responded here in the perfect way. (No, no! He didn't, he said several of his senior players but SG was noticeable because he usually plays so well!! Plus did SG respond? Until Bolton went down to 10 he was hardly noticeable, albeit being manmarked)
Although he was not at his thrusting, influential best, Gerrard's contribution proved decisive when he thrashed in a volley in the 83rd minute to seal three points for his side.
Early in the match, Benitez prowled the touchline looking frustrated and unimpressed, his players showed little invention to lift his mood.
The visitors had also looked less than solid at the back with debutant Sotirios Kyrgiakos having a few nervous moments.
And the visitors were stunned when Bolton took the lead as Kevin Davies poked him from close range after Liverpool failed to clear a corner.
Soon after, Torres incurred the wrath of the Bolton players after they felt he had looked to win a penalty despite Zat Knight cleanly taking the ball.
From the resulting corner, the ball was half cleared and fell to Johnson who struck a low shot beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Bolton went into the interval feeling aggrieved but moments after the restart they were back in the lead.
Jaaskelainen punted the ball upfield, Kevin Davies flicked the ball on and Cohen volleyed in to score against the team his father used to play for.
The two goals were the first that Bolton had scored in the league this season and at that point, another shock defeat looked on the cards for Liverpool.
But it was referee Mike Riley's (eh? you watching a different match ian?) yellow card that changed everything when he showed it to Davis for the second time.
Immediately Liverpool came piling forward and Gerrard smashed a vicious shot against the bar.
Moments later parity was restored when Dirk Kuty (learn to spell the players names you idiot!) chested the ball into the path of Torres and the Spaniard lashed home.
Bolton did their best to hang on as Liverpool chased the victory.
But it was to prove a fruitless task and when a corner fell to Gerrard, the England midfielder cracked in his volley into the top corner.
Liverpool almost scored again when Torres had a shot hacked off the line, but a greater margin of victory would have been flattering.
While Liverpool still need to improve to challenge for the title, they will be relived to have won and Benitez will be pleased with his side's spirit. Bolton, too, can take some positives from a performance that gives them hope for the rest of the campaign.

[Parm]

A win is a win and we can, will and must improve upon this one

[ronniedrew]

we have only conceded poor goals this season. really poor, not attacking the ball at the back at all, other than that we were dominant, with poor finishing

do we ever look dangerous from corners?, whats that about?

3 points, thank ****, onwards and upwards

[DannyMan2006]

we have only conceded poor goals this season. really poor, not attacking the ball at the back at all, other than that we were dominant, with poor finishing

do we ever look dangerous from corners?, whats that about?

3 points, thank ****, onwards and upwards

We're a small team so will never be the best. But I think the start has led to a loss of confidence at set pieces.

[Oberon]

We do need to improve but if we keep getting 26 or so shots off every game we can't be far off.

Rafa's BBC interview http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ol/8228880.stm

Like his quote from YNWA and a bit about transfers too, if I heard right.

[DannyMan2006]

We do need to improve but if we keep getting 26 or so shots off every game we can't be far off.

Rafa's BBC interview http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ol/8228880.stm

Like his quote from YNWA and a bit about transfers too, if I heard right.

Yeah, he's not closed the door on transfers has he? Still working, but will be difficult. I'd be happy enough if we brought in a striker.

Clearly as seen in mid week for the reserves N'Gog is not quite there yet, and it was quite telling he did not make the bench. Voronin looks usefull when he comes on but is not a finisher, more a creator. I think we need a point man should Torres get injured and purely when Torres needs resting.

[Marky]

Thank **** we won! That is all.

[Lee]

Yeah, he's not closed the door on transfers has he? Still working, but will be difficult. I'd be happy enough if we brought in a striker.

Clearly as seen in mid week for the reserves N'Gog is not quite there yet, and it was quite telling he did not make the bench. Voronin looks usefull when he comes on but is not a finisher, more a creator. I think we need a point man should Torres get injured and purely when Torres needs resting.

I can't seem to get the video to play. What did Rafa say then mate?

We do need another striker, a poacher or something. **** knows who is available on the cheap though?! Or who's good enough to grab on loan for a season?!

[flyboy]

we desperately need a playmaker to replace lucas right NOW. marcos senna would be coup but that would be wishful thinking. i cringe every time i look at that sorry bench

[Marky]

we desperately need a playmaker to replace lucas right NOW. marcos senna would be coup but that would be wishful thinking. i cringe every time i look at that sorry bench

Isn't Senna a defensive midfielder though?

[Slinky Skills]

****, now it's internationals, breaking up the rhythm. We needed a run of consecutive games just to get the hang out winning and building our confidence, now this ****e.

I agree, ****ing bolloks the International break is.



Lucas lacks confidence. He doesn't want to try things. We lack someone like that in central midfield at the moment and I think now is the time for Gerrard to move back there.

He is lacking in confidence but that will come in time I'm sure. I also believe that Steve should be moved back into the centre with Lucas moving forward and playing a bit more advanced. At the start of the game he was doing his best to get into more forward positions. At least give him a blast up there and let Gerrard play in a more central role, besides it's where he's said he'd rather play and we all know that Stevie is more than capable of tracking back as well as getting forward, something Lucas isn't capable of doing at this moment in time.

I also think switching their positions would take some of the pressure off Lucas and will let him relax a bit more and play his more natuaral game. Once he gets more comfortable playing there either keep him there or retreat back to a more central position.