Liverpool v Stoke Match Thread

[Taxi]

Very scrappy but not half as bad as I was expecting it to be, but its not a great advert for the EPL.

[Guest]

Lucas has been good once again, trying to give his support to the strikers and he's been our most consistent threat in that first half.

[red g]

to make matters worse they are showng Arse v everton and i cant remember the last time we played as EITHER of them!!

[Guest]

to make matters worse they are showng Arse v everton and i cant remember the last time we played as EITHER of them!!

I don't understand what you mean.

[red g]

Rafa is so **** scared of losing this game that he has set us our like most teams do when they come to anfield and park the bus.

its embarrassing that going to stoke is seen as a not lose and not a must win

[Fivex]

Yes TV - wtf are these heads all about?

[Joe Le Toff]

Not a bad half i thought, terrible to watch but games against Stoke are never pretty.
Think our CB's have lloked strong and comfortable, we just need more in the final third yet again, Ngog isnt holding the ball up and we dont seem to have much penetration.

Think Rafa will be quite happy with that, if we dont make any stupid mistakes i can see us nicking this.

[red g]

I don't understand what you mean.

sorry mate, meant played as well as either of them.

You know.....2 passes together, players moving into space, team spirit, attacking flair.

[SK]

i sooooo wanted to punch this ref in the face, when i saw his smile when he was about to sent masch off vs. pompey, and now this..ARE YOU ****ING SERIOUS?!?!? YOU ****ING CUNT MASON!!!!!

we're not playing that bad at all, well, under the circumstances anyway, swap degen with maxi, who might have the vision for the final pass, and we just might to ok in this match.

[Guest]

its embarrassing that going to stoke is seen as a not lose and not a must win

I think it's about getting the basics right, counteract Stoke's long ball game then try to control the midfield. I don't see anything negative in that. Put Aquilani, Maxi (who hasn't played one game for us yet), Pacheco (young rookie) and we may not control anything, then lose a goal and it's game over for us. Rafa is doing it right.

[red g]

i will see fair play to the greek though. looked solid as ****....you just know he is always going to make that 1 **** up,

[kalesh]

It's always going to be an ugly game but at least we're showing a lot more heart and fight. We're winning some second balls for a change and the Kyrgiakos has dealt with the high balls much better than Skrtel. If we can keep it tight, show passion, then we have talent on the bench which can win the game. The FA Cup games aside, we've won two on the trot in the League. If results go our way this weekend and midweek, we could be above Spurs by next weekend.

[Guest]

sorry mate, meant played as well as either of them.

You know.....2 passes together, players moving into space, team spirit, attacking flair.

You aren't going to see us playing like that at the moment surely, based on our confidence and results?

Still, I feel we've been trying to play today and managed to cause them some problems with our passing at times, though it's nowhere near the standards we are capable of, but it's about getting there under the circumstances.

[zimbo]

Ideal platform to go on and win this. Stopped them playing, look generally solid and have a measure of control.

Substitutions could be vital. Bringing on Riera and Maxi, to provide width and quality on the ball, will make all the difference. Otherwise we'll continue to struggle to create.

[peekay]

I can see Stoke finishing this with 10 men, somehow.

Judging by the quality of refereeing I can see Stoke players punching ours and 2 LFC players get sent off.

Absolutely disgusting refereeing