Chelsea v Liverpool - post match thread

[FatTony]

Hopefully Aquilani will be fit soon and one of Masch or Lucas will be thrown on the bench. We badly need someone who can dictate play and pass the ball around.

Aquilani fitness record isn't great, he was out for several months injured in the early part of 2007, then in the latter part of 2008 (Oct 08 - Jan 09), then March 09 - ongoing. I hope he's sorted now as the last thing we need is to be carrying another injury prone player.

We need someone to dictate the game but is he the man? You get time on the ball in Italy, a luxury not given in the EPL.

[BigChief]

Same questions were asked of Alonso and he adapted. Hopefully Aquilani won't take as long to adapt. Plus, how much worse a playmaker can he be than Masch/Lucas?

[red g]

Aquilani fitness record isn't great, he was out for several months injured in the early part of 2007, then in the latter part of 2008 (Oct 08 - Jan 09), then March 09 - ongoing. I hope he's sorted now as the last thing we need is to be carrying another injury prone player.

We need someone to dictate the game but is he the man? You get time on the ball in Italy, a luxury not given in the EPL.

but as far as i am aware, Roma's medical team were partly to blame hence the long lay off and hopefully the cure!!!

better men than you or I seem to believe he is the mutts nutts and on Youtube he rocks

hopefully he has the quality to settle straight away and forms the perfect trio torrardilani

[Tee]

Aquilani fitness record isn't great, he was out for several months injured in the early part of 2007, then in the latter part of 2008 (Oct 08 - Jan 09), then March 09 - ongoing. I hope he's sorted now as the last thing we need is to be carrying another injury prone player.

We need someone to dictate the game but is he the man? You get time on the ball in Italy, a luxury not given in the EPL.

I don't agree on this one, especially the way our midfield is always so deep, picking up the ball from the feet of the CBs most times.

And the good players always seem to have time on the ball - what is the saying, the first few yards are in the head (or something like that).

[DannyMan2006]

We have had a terrible start, but it's better to have a terrible start than finish like that. Titles can be lost in the first half of the season, but they are won in the second half. Cliches maybe, but still true.

I'm not too fussed about the result and performance to Chelsea, as they are a top side and we had chances to win and level the game once a goal down. The defeats and performances against Villa and Spurs were my concern, but sometimes you just have to forget about those and put them down to poor early season form.

At this stage I'm not too worried. When I will be worried is if Agger and Aquilani come in and make no difference to our play, or if Gerrard and Torres are injured and out for long spells. It's no secret we lack depth in the key areas where football matches are won, but if Aquilani does prove to be the missing link, and T+G stay fit, we still have a chance of winning that title. Because with those two we are capable of beating any team in the world.

[Tee]

We have had a terrible start, but it's better to have a terrible start than finish like that. Titles can be lost in the first half of the season, but they are won in the second half. Cliches maybe, but still true.

I'm not too fussed about the result and performance to Chelsea, as they are a top side and we had chances to win and level the game once a goal down. The defeats and performances against Villa and Spurs were my concern, but sometimes you just have to forget about those and put them down to poor early season form.

At this stage I'm not too worried. When I will be worried is if Agger and Aquilani come in and make no difference to our play, or if Gerrard and Torres are injured and out for long spells. It's no secret we lack depth in the key areas where football matches are won, but if Aquilani does prove to be the missing link, and T+G stay fit, we still have a chance of winning that title. Because with those two we are capable of beating any team in the world.

Spot on mate.

[DannyMan2006]

Aquilani fitness record isn't great, he was out for several months injured in the early part of 2007, then in the latter part of 2008 (Oct 08 - Jan 09), then March 09 - ongoing. I hope he's sorted now as the last thing we need is to be carrying another injury prone player.

We need someone to dictate the game but is he the man? You get time on the ball in Italy, a luxury not given in the EPL.

What you say is something we are all aware of and of course it is a worry. The injury side is something I'm sure we have looked at and I doubt we would splash £19m if there were major doubts.

The biggest obstacle is if he can settle and have an immidiate impact. Had the team been winning it would have been easier and far less pressure on him. But I feel a huge weight is coming down on his shoulders, but that goes hand in hand with a £19m fee and being the direct replacement for a huge fans favourite.

[DannyMan2006]

One more thing, everyone is praising Skrtel and yet having a go at Mascherano for one mistake.

Well had Skrtel marked Drogba tighter he would not have had the freedom of the park to look up and whip in a dangerous cross for Anelka to score.

Mascherano and Skrtel both had good games and maybe made only one mistake each all game. Yet the one mistake they made is where Chelsea scored from. Fine margins in the big games.

[FatTony]

What you say is something we are all aware of and of course it is a worry. The injury side is something I'm sure we have looked at and I doubt we would splash £19m if there were major doubts.

The biggest obstacle is if he can settle and have an immidiate impact. Had the team been winning it would have been easier and far less pressure on him. But I feel a huge weight is coming down on his shoulders, but that goes hand in hand with a £19m fee and being the direct replacement for a huge fans favourite.

What you say is something we are all aware of and of course it is a worry.

Agree, the otherside though is that we're still struggling and Aquilani comes out fighting.

Anyone who has a go at Mascher for yesterdays one mistake is bonkers, he was superb. I'm bigging up Skrtel though as I normally think he's ****, but he did very well yesterday.

[Tee]

Has anyone crticised Torres for his misses yet? I mean, on another day he could easily have scored 2 goals. As DannyMan says, fine margins in big games.

We had some bad breaks yesterday but in general I thought we were more than a match for them. The only disappointment for me was the for and even attitude of Riera. Was really expecting more from him this season.

[cream]

We have had a terrible start, but it's better to have a terrible start than finish like that. Titles can be lost in the first half of the season, but they are won in the second half. Cliches maybe, but still true.

I'm not too fussed about the result and performance to Chelsea, as they are a top side and we had chances to win and level the game once a goal down. The defeats and performances against Villa and Spurs were my concern, but sometimes you just have to forget about those and put them down to poor early season form.

At this stage I'm not too worried. When I will be worried is if Agger and Aquilani come in and make no difference to our play, or if Gerrard and Torres are injured and out for long spells. It's no secret we lack depth in the key areas where football matches are won, but if Aquilani does prove to be the missing link, and T+G stay fit, we still have a chance of winning that title. Because with those two we are capable of beating any team in the world.

We had an absolutely fantastic second half and still didn't win the title, picking up as many points as possible throughout the season wins you titles.

We are almost at the quarter point of the season and we've not found any rhythm yet, we've dropped too many points already (5 points behind the same point last season). We're already playing catchup.

[zimbo]

At this stage I'm not too worried. When I will be worried is if Agger and Aquilani come in and make no difference to our play, or if Gerrard and Torres are injured and out for long spells. It's no secret we lack depth in the key areas where football matches are won, but if Aquilani does prove to be the missing link, and T+G stay fit, we still have a chance of winning that title. Because with those two we are capable of beating any team in the world.

We are. But only if we get the ball up to them in positions where they can actually have the greatest impact. This is something that we're struggling to do against better sides this season, and stems largely from the creative vacuum at the heart of the midfield. Although on the whole I thought the performance yesterday was generally a good one, the sharp early ball up to the front two was absent for the most part. And on those occasions it did come, the support from midfield was too slow in arriving. My concern is that, in our current system, it's becoming easier for well-organised teams to isolate Torres and Gerrard, which in turn leads to them becoming frustrated (sulky, call it what you will) and less likely to give the kind of performance we need.

I'd still be in favour of moving Gerrard back as a means to maximise his time on the ball. You need to ensure that your most effective players are involved in the game, as they are obviously the ones with the greatest influence on results. In a number of games this season it's been too easy for opponents to stop this happening. At the very least, we need to be able to put a Plan B into operation during a match, to at least give teams a different threat to think about and to make our attacks less predictable. At the moment the deployment of Benayoun seems our most likely way to achieve this.

[red g]

there seems to be more to this fall out with riera than meets the eyes. I fully expect him to have a prolonged stretch on the sidelines now and see Benni/Babel take his place

[DannyMan2006]

We had an absolutely fantastic second half and still didn't win the title, picking up as many points as possible throughout the season wins you titles.

We are almost at the quarter point of the season and we've not found any rhythm yet, we've dropped too many points already (5 points behind the same point last season). We're already playing catchup.

Didn't we improve from March onwards? The start of the second half of the season was woeful. Think we lost to Boro and dropped some points by drawing games we should have won.

The start of the season is all about buliding up points so the second half of the season is more comfartable. If you build up a lead it obviously allows you more margin for error, but it can also effect your mindset in a negative fashion, as the team that wins the league tends to have a strong finish and that is all about building momentum.

What it all comes down to is how many points you think will win the league and whether or not you feel LFC can go on a long winning run. If the first answer is 90 points then there is generally little room for error over the course of a season and the second part is essential.

At present I am not sure on if Liverpool are capable of winning ten games on the bounce. I am waiting to see the effect Aquilani and Agger can have before deciding on that.

[cream]

Didn't we improve from March onwards? The start of the second half of the season was woeful. Think we lost to Boro and dropped some points by drawing games we should have won.

The start of the season is all about buliding up points so the second half of the season is more comfartable. If you build up a lead it obviously allows you more margin for error, but it can also effect your mindset in a negative fashion, as the team that wins the league tends to have a strong finish and that is all about building momentum.

What it all comes down to is how many points you think will win the league and whether or not you feel LFC can go on a long winning run. If the first answer is 90 points then there is generally little room for error over the course of a season and the second part is essential.

At present I am not sure on if Liverpool are capable of winning ten games on the bounce. I am waiting to see the effect Aquilani and Agger can have before deciding on that.

Maybe too late by then. Not sure you can have a poor first half to the season then expect to win the league by having a brilliant second half.