Leeds v Liverpool - Post Match Thread. (Sorry Fredo :D )

[Craig_H]

yeah yeah - he's just a Mr Average midfielder - be brutally honest Barnie - would you rather have Spearing or say, a "Molby" type midfielder? (pardon the name pun! - i always will love big Jan) he doesn't look like he could make a killer pass.......that's my only criticism of the lad.

He just lacks physical presence.......anybody agree?

The ball through to Babel late on was pretty penetrative.

[Molby]

Dossena won't leave. He's being employed as 'rent a mate' for Aqualani.

Operation - this has been bugging me for some time now......why the signature?

[Nicey]

Rode our luck a little but comfortable in the 2nd half.

Aurelio was superb, always composed and accomplished, always calm, hardly gave the ball away and put in a few excellent deliveries into the box.

N'Gog also lead the line brilliantly, battled hard, made it stick and took his goal beautifully.

Babel was a constant threat and looked confident, good performance.

Spearing was also very tidy and held his own well, some very nice balls through and worked hard too.

Good game from Degen too, a good threat going forward.

Now the negatives.

Mascherano was an idiot, poor display and a stupid thing to do which could yet get him suspended. Didnt look like he was focused and to me, looks Barcelona bound. Doesnt look interested.

Dossena, even against League 1 opposition, was woeful yet again. Exposed several times, easily beaten one on one and looked out of his depth. Against a third tier side.

Riera - quality was there, but looked really lazy and as if his main priority was to not get injured. Few balls he couldnt be arsed to chase, never put himself about for any 50/50 challenges and looked very much in 'do just enough but no more' mood. Bit disappointed, because the ability is there.

Overall, a bit fortunate, but job done.

This really trully ****ing annoys me, I have noticed his dispays look a little half assed also and I prayed he was not taking the low road and chumping out because A. He did not get his move to Barca or B. Is a shoe in for a Move next Jan or Next Summer.

I know its a cliché but if there ever was a player who owes us its him. Wondering if the lack of a new improved contract from us is a reflection on our desire to cash in on him at a later date and subsequent his lack of form

Regardless he need to buck his ideas up fast and stop trying to score wonder goals from the half way line

[SB]

That was a stunning finish. Theres something about him.....he does seem to get chances and his finishing looks decent. He's quick and tonight at times was really using his strength which he hasnt done much before, he's definitely learning.

I like him.

His 1st touch set it up beautifully. Looks a very smart finisher

[Craig_H]

This really trully ****ing annoys me, I have noticed his dispays look a little half assed also and I prayed he was not taking the low road and chumping out because A. He did not get his move to Barca or B. Is a shoe in for a Move next Jan or Next Summer.

I know its a cliché but if there ever was a player who owes us its him. Wondering if the lack of a new improved contract from us is a reflection on our desire to cash in on him at a later date and subsequent his lack of form

Regardless he need to buck his ideas up fast and stop trying to score wonder goals from the half way line

The other problem with Mascherano is that if Argentina crash out of the world cup qualifiers in the next 6 weeks or so, any motivation to play well in order to cement his place in the team, will be gone.

Having said that, as skipper, it's doubtful whether he'd ever be dropped anyway, regardless of whether his performances slip.

[PTP]

don't know about anyone else but i actually enjoyed last nights game - firstly like i said yesterday i wasn't too bothered what happened so found myself pretty relaxed watching it, it was good to see our ressies get a game, plus leeds gave it everything making it a pretty entertaining match.

PLus points were Degen played well - it's a shame he just can't get fit and stay fit, if he could manage a run of games in the carling cup/sub appearences here and there etc I think he would provide some sort of cover johnson which we really don't have at the moment. I thought spearing played very well, composed on the ball - he played 4 great passes in a row during the 2nd half that didn't really get picked up in the commentary as the move died down - killer balls that went to waste, but he rarerly if ever gave the ball away. Ngog was very good too - looked sharp from the first minute, worked the leeds defence and took his goal brilliantly so fair play.

The others, well again like i said yesterday, it was good to get the likes of babel, skyriakos, aurelio(for match fitness) etc out on the pitch for a good competitive game - whilst they werent' 'amazing' it's important to keep them match fit as well they will at some point be needed in the first team as cover

Then there is Dossena don't want to be too harsh on the lad but ****ing hell he was all over the shop! an apparently Italian international!!! - he got turned inside out all night, was constantly court out of position, ****ing woeful really.

So job done, got the result without really pushing ourselves, the young lads Ngog and Spearing done themselves no harm at all, no complaints from me.

[dww]

I can't decide whether I think that Mascher's head is wrong or he just starts seasons slowly. He looked better against West Ham and he started last season fairly poorly. On form he is a brilliant (albiet limited) player but each season he has taken a while to get sorted.

I think next season we might actually be better off swapping him for Lucas + a tall defensive midfield player irrelevant of how true the stories of his desire to leave are. It's not that I don't rate him more that I think we have a tendency to rely on him more than he can be relied upon and the fact he is a midget feeds one of our bigger weaknesses. I think we do need a specialist defensive CM but increasingly I have my doubts that Mascherano is the ideal one for us.

Obviously I say this now and next week he'll sort his form out and make us all look like fools for questioning him.

[Reece]

Swap him for Yaya Toure

[PTP]

Spearing was poor I thought, he never backed N'gog up and he lost the ball far too often
N'gog was good and worked very hard scored a good goal.
Degan does look threatening going forward which is nice.

really???: i'll watch it again tonight then - i thought he played well, certainly in the 2nd half - he didn't misplace a pass and was popping up in space and looking for the ball regularly. A harsh critiscm to the young lad to say he didn't 'back up' ngog imo, to be fair, i was suprised rafa had pushed him so far up as i didn't believe thats the type of midfielder he was.

[dww]

Much like everyone else I was impressed by Ngog. However I think his distribution and decision making was at times naive. He looks like a player who would really benefit from a few month first team football somewhere. Obviously we are unlikely to give him that quite yet and we don't really have the strength in depth to loan him out. If he spent a while getting kicked and dealing with it I think he would stop us having to worry about someone to come in when Torres is out (he would be an ideal swap tactically and could like well with the likes of Kuyt if we decided we needed to put two up for whatever reason).

[Reece]

really???: i'll watch it again tonight then - i thought he played well, certainly in the 2nd half - he didn't misplace a pass and was popping up in space and looking for the ball regularly. A harsh critiscm to the young lad to say he didn't 'back up' ngog imo, to be fair, i was suprised rafa had pushed him so far up as i didn't believe thats the type of midfielder he was.

I thought he gave the ball away a number times. No worse in that regard than anyone else mind

[PTP]

That was a stunning finish. Theres something about him.....he does seem to get chances and his finishing looks decent. He's quick and tonight at times was really using his strength which he hasnt done much before, he's definitely learning.

I like him.

- i really hope he kicks on and becomes a great little suprise signing from rafa - someone who comes off the bench to nick or create a late winner here and there, and is capable of filling in for torres for the odd game like last night etc -

i mentioned a few months ago that i watched him for france u21's vs the apparently mighty and amazing England u21s - Ngog played upfront on his tod and he ****ing battered the england back 4 all night, totally outclased them iirc made the goal that put france into a comfortable 1-0 lead and then his coach took him of after 70 mins as if to say this is to easy for him, i've seen enough lets rest him and give some else a run - even the sky commentators commented that the french coach had shown mercy to england haha.

[Craig_H]

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=60485&highlight=N%27Gog

Just call me a visionary.

[JohnDoe]

N'Gog is a decent finisher and has good technique, but it's his mobility and decision making that I don't like. At least those are things that can be learned and improved.

His scoring record is encouraging, just never play him with Voronin. They're terrible together.

[PTP]

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/show...hlight=N%27Gog

Just call me a visionary.