So, what of Aquilani?

[Craig_H]

But if the ref himself looks at it again and says it may have been harsh, then they dont have to worry about 'not backing' their ref.

[RichC]

true, but will he? I hope I am wrong but have a feeling he won't.

[Mostar]

I'd like to see him play on Thursday, but not at City.

I personally would like to see him play on Thursday and Cityh. He needs to get few games in the row to gain any confidence. He is a too good of a player not to be given a proper chance to prove himself.

How many times was this tactic by rafa slated last season. not attacking enough, lucas isnt worthy of a starting place yadda yadda yadda.

aqua in for joe with stevie and masher in the centre is the way forward if we want a goal threat.

Same for me. I'd like to see us trying to challenge to win in Cityh rather than to squeeze out a tie.

I really want to see Aquilani perform. He definitely brings something to the team that nobody else does. Like I have said before, he brings tempo and wonderful passing to our game. He should definitely start against the lesser teams in the league, I would love to see him and Cole working with Gerrard and Torres against the park the bus teams.

To me Aqua man is a player that we should use more frequently. His creativity can help in terms of making more scoring chances and his ball control can definitely increase number of possessions, which once again we were lacking yesterday.

[DannyMan2006]

I want to see Gerrard stay in CM and as such I see him as the ideal deputy to the role Joe plays, behind the striker.

He played off Kuyt against Tottenham last year at Anfield and he had a great game, shows he can perform against the better teams.

I think it is fair to say that if we could get a decent fee for him we should be looking to sell, but I'm talking more about £15m here as opposed to £10m. We could probably get the same fee next year as we could this for him. And for an understudy to Joe, we are unlikely to get any better for £10m, If Aqua can settle.

If Alberto sorts himself out we will have a great player on our hands, we all know that. Joes past record has indicated he will not play 60 games a season like a Frank Lampard would, so Aqua as back up to him leaves us in a good position.

[BrooklynRed]

City away at Spurs played Barry, Yaya Toure AND De Jong and they pretty much got overrun by Spurs because Bale was excellent out wide (we have no width) and none of their three DM/holding midfielders could link up attack. We had the same link up problems in the first half and got lucky on the goal; it was Mascherano, who by the way was being slated on here non stop as unnecessary (he looked vital to me!), who played Ngog in on goal.

Personally, I think we need more creativity AND support for Mascherano in order to break City down but we also need wide play, of which we have little. It's a real dilemma, because I'm not sure Aqua is the answer for either of those problems at the moment, especially if City stay negative-- I think Adam Johnson starts this match for them, with Adebayor replacing on of the DMs, which creates a whole new set of issues. Tough call on Aquilani.

[Chrono]

It's Man City away mate, not Hull at Anfield.

Arsenal are going to be the best team we face in the league that need to be shut down so if we managed to outplay (imo) Arsenal without 2 DMs then I can't see it being a problem against City who looked incredibly average against Tottenham.

They may have spent a **** load but I genuinly have no fear in playing them. In fact I have to say I was calm through most of the Arsenal game at our composure and positioning when under Rafa I was constantly worried but we are only 1 game on so guess we will see how it pans out.

[Craig_H]

I want to see Gerrard stay in CM and as such I see him as the ideal deputy to the role Joe plays, behind the striker.

He played off Kuyt against Tottenham last year at Anfield and he had a great game, shows he can perform against the better teams.

I think it is fair to say that if we could get a decent fee for him we should be looking to sell, but I'm talking more about £15m here as opposed to £10m. We could probably get the same fee next year as we could this for him. And for an understudy to Joe, we are unlikely to get any better for £10m, If Aqua can settle.

If Alberto sorts himself out we will have a great player on our hands, we all know that. Joes past record has indicated he will not play 60 games a season like a Frank Lampard would, so Aqua as back up to him leaves us in a good position.

I'm not sure we do. Not in english football, at least.

[Craig_H]

Arsenal are going to be the best team we face in the league that need to be shut down so if we managed to outplay (imo) Arsenal without 2 DMs then I can't see it being a problem against City who looked incredibly average against Tottenham.

They may have spent a **** load but I genuinly have no fear in playing them. In fact I have to say I was calm through most of the Arsenal game at our composure and positioning when under Rafa I was constantly worried but we are only 1 game on so guess we will see how it pans out.

We outplayed Arsenal?

Dunno what game you were watching mate.

[Chrono]

We outplayed Arsenal?

Dunno what game you were watching mate.

Yes, I believe we did. We played half the game with 10 men, went a goal up and were very unlucky to draw it in the end. Of course they would be expected to have more possesion but we matched them for shots on target and were actually the only team to score.

[Craig_H]

Yes, I believe we did. We played half the game with 10 men, went a goal up and were very unlucky to draw it in the end. Of course they would be expected to have more possesion but we matched them for shots on target and were actually the only team to score.

No way did we outplay them. How does matching them for shots on target suggest we outplayed them? Surely we should've had loads more shots if we'd done that. And that thing about 'the only team to score' thing is a tad juvenile too

We knew what we'd be in for, so we got men behind the ball and stifled them, but we didnt outplay them. They had bags of possession and our organisation at the back limited them well, but at the expense of creating a lot for ourselves. They controlled the first half without really turning it into chances and we produced a better 2nd half.

A draw was a fair result in the end, the only unlucky point for us, was that we were only a few minutes from holding on.

On the balance of the game, Arsenal would've been hard done by not to get anything out of that.

[DannyMan2006]

I'm not sure we do. Not in english football, at least.

I did say if he sorts himself out.

We outplayed Arsenal?

Dunno what game you were watching mate.

We did not out play Arsenal, but we will not meet a better team in the league at breaking down defences and keeping the ball.

We've always struggled against Arsenal for as long as I can remember in the past 5 years or so. I think it's only them and Chelsea who we will struggle to give a good account of ourselves against this year.

As top 4 is the aim, I think we are well positioned to achieve that with the right signings.

[Chrono]

No way did we outplay them. How does matching them for shots on target suggest we outplayed them? Surely we should've had loads more shots if we'd done that. And that thing about 'the only team to score' thing is a tad juvenile too

We knew what we'd be in for, so we got men behind the ball and stifled them, but we didnt outplay them. They had bags of possession and our organisation at the back limited them well, but at the expense of creating a lot for ourselves. They controlled the first half without really turning it into chances and we produced a better 2nd half.

A draw was a fair result in the end, the only unlucky point for us, was that we were only a few minutes from holding on.

On the balance of the game, Arsenal would've been hard done by not to get anything out of that.

Well considering they had all that possesion they did **** all with it and outplaying someone in my book just means you perform better than the other team which regardless of this being defensive or not we managed to score with 10 men and then even when they had possesion we were in complete control in my opinion.

Did you expect us to have more possesion with a man (or two) less?

[Craig_H]

I did say if he sorts himself out.

We still have no real evidence that he can be a consistently useful performer in english football though.

We did not out play Arsenal, but we will not meet a better team in the league at breaking down defences and keeping the ball.

We've always struggled against Arsenal for as long as I can remember in the past 5 years or so. I think it's only them and Chelsea who we will struggle to give a good account of ourselves against this year.

As top 4 is the aim, I think we are well positioned to achieve that with the right signings.

Wouldnt dispute much there.

I think we stood up to them pretty well defensively and stifled them excellently. As well as doing what we could in their third of the field, when we could. Outplayed is way off IMO, we matched them well but neither side deserved to win or lose it.

[DannyMan2006]

Well considering they had all that possesion they did **** all with it and outplaying someone in my book just means you perform better than the other team which regardless of this being defensive or not we managed to score with 10 men and then even when they had possesion we were in complete control in my opinion.

Did you expect us to have more possesion with a man (or two) less?

I think we have to look at the first half and see how we failed in possession to get a proper out look on the game. Too many aimless balls up towards N'Gog as opposed to quick, vibrant passing through the midfield.

[Craig_H]

Well considering they had all that possesion they did **** all with it and outplaying someone in my book just means you perform better than the other team which regardless of this being defensive or not we managed to score with 10 men and then even when they had possesion we were in complete control in my opinion.

Did you expect us to have more possesion with a man (or two) less?

I'd be very surprised if you found many people that would take yesterday's game and come to the conclusion that we outplayed them. Not sure what point you're trying to make re possession, of course i didnt. I also didnt expect us to outplay them and wasnt surprised that we didnt. That's no criticism though, very rarely do Arsenal get outplayed.