Stoke game build up

[Daffy Duck]

Ok so no Gerrard, Torres, Benayoun, Johnson, Babel, possibly Mascherano, Riera (?) and we got rid of Dossena and Voronin who would usually fill the empty spots on our bench, surely there's got to be place for some youngsters in that squad?

[Shaggy]

do you wonder? Kuyt on his own, its bloody obvious isn't it?

Ngog up front, Kuyt on the right, Aurelio on the left.

[Icon]

Ok so no Gerrard, Torres, Benayoun, Johnson, Babel, possibly Mascherano, Riera (?) and we got rid of Dossena and Voronin who would usually fill the empty spots on our bench, surely there's got to be place for some youngsters in that squad?

Might even be a breath of fresh air!

Some passion and effort even?

[the rev leeroy brown]

I'm not surprised after that ****house performance the other night, but we're so short up front you wonder WTF we're going to do.

you are kidding right?!?!?

after his performance mid week he should have been a dead cert to play.....probably to start. ****ing disgrace if he's been left out of squad.

[DeeTheDog]

for 15-20 mins of the second half, aquilani ran the ****in show. for the last 35-45 he was visibly exhausted. i'm very hopeful he'll be an excellent player.

Agreed for the first twenty minutes of the second half Aquilani was passing the ball around quickly and getting the team moving forward.

I am not questioning his ability, because he has been miraculous throughout the years but too much deference is shown to Gerrard. Too often, other team members look to pass to Gerrard when the better ball would be another team mate.

Gerrard is a fabulous player but clearly has not been fully fit this season, so he has not been able to pull as many rabbits out of the hat. I don't think it is a coincidence that our most productive period of play against Reading came at the start of the secondm half, when the ball was played more to Aquilani and Lucas in the middle. Without the overawing presence of Gerrard, perhaps it will allow others players to play with more freedom and more instinct instead of constantly looking for Gerrard or Torres.

One plus that no can argue is that Gerrard will be no where near our corners.

[Shaggy]

you are kidding right?!?!?

after his performance mid week he should have been a dead cert to play.....probably to start. ****ing disgrace if he's been left out of squad.

I can only assume you are joking, cos I certainly am not.

His "performance" in midweek. You were impressed? You were impressed with that?

[the rev leeroy brown]

I can only assume you are joking, cos I certainly am not.

His "performance" in midweek. You were impressed? You were impressed with that?

i was impressed with babel....no bull. he tracked back, passed well instead of the usual take it on himself, ran the front line towards the end of the game trying to hassle the defenders well too. he wasnt great but compared to everybody else out there bar lucas, dgen and for a period of time aqua, babel was our best performer.

[Shaggy]

i was impressed with babel....no bull. he tracked back, passed well instead of the usual take it on himself, ran the front line towards the end of the game trying to hassle the defenders well too. he wasnt great but compared to everybody else out there bar lucas, dgen and for a period of time aqua, babel was our best performer.

Now I know you're joking.

[Chris]

i was impressed with babel....no bull. he tracked back, passed well instead of the usual take it on himself, ran the front line towards the end of the game trying to hassle the defenders well too. he wasnt great but compared to everybody else out there bar lucas, dgen and for a period of time aqua, babel was our best performer.

This has to be a wind up?! He was woeful, as lazy as ever and had the chance to take the game to a division 1 team and didnt. He's so ordinary its unreal.

[-V-]

Hopefully thats the end of Babel now. Probably could have given him 1 last chance with a start against Stoke but if he's out then he's got to be sold now

[the rev leeroy brown]

Now I know you're joking.

This has to be a wind up?! He was woeful, as lazy as ever and had the chance to take the game to a division 1 team and didnt. He's so ordinary its unreal.

i'm deadly serious. there are people on this website ( plus just the average fan you meet in the street )who will never accept lucas played anything other than ****e. i know cause i used to be one of them. but his play of late, although not great, has been a marked improvement. i am willing to admit i may be wrong about him.
the same can be said of babel. he DID have a good game mid week. he DID play better than most. but he will NEVER be accepted by some fans. which is a shame.

[Chris]

the same can be said of babel. he DID have a good game mid week. he DID play better than most. but he will NEVER be accepted by some fans. which is a shame.

What DID he DO in 75 minutes that was any GOOD? I genuinely CANT remember anything.

[Shaggy]

I remember him doing that half-arsed pansy jump into defenders when he pretends he's trying to head it. Did that a few times.

[the rev leeroy brown]

he lay the ball off for kyut well when in the past he would have taken a pointless shot on. he put ngog in beautifully but the young lads control let him down. he was n our own half on quite a few occasions giving cover to the full back. he ran down defenders to hassle them into kicking long. he just seemed genuinley up for it. and i cant belevie you honestly didnt recognise this.

[TheElephantMan]

i was impressed with babel....he tracked back

To be fair he did once. He made a complete mess of it, but he did find himself in a defensive position during one Reading attack. I know he's not a defender, but he doesn't contribute anything in any area of the pitch. He doesn't help out with the defence and doesn't make any effort to get forward in a hurry.

I'm relieved that he's not going to be involved in the Stoke game.