Liverpool vs Steaua Bucharest: Match Thread

[CJ]

Terrier like midfielder, quick thinker, good in possession, will get you goals and win plenty of balls in midfield. All around player.

cheers

[danperkins]

ah good so RM looks like he may add a much needed dimension to our play

i wonder if we can build on this for the weekend?

his movement is streets ahead of likes of Lucas,Poulsen,Aqua so big improvement hopefully, love to see him start against mancs, much more dynamic with him in the side iMO

[destinydude]

That was some strike by Lucas

[red g]

his movement is streets ahead of likes of Lucas,Poulsen,Aqua so big improvement hopefully, love to see him start against mancs, much more dynamic with him in the side iMO

although i fear Lucas and Poulsen and Skrtel at the back to

[banditos]

that must have been some half time talk from hodgson because the 2nd half was brilliant. i really enjoyed watching it and i havent said that too many times recently.

anyway thought maxi woke up 2nd half and was reaaly good. cole excellent throughout, meireles will do very well for us - keeps it simple and likes to move. ngog took his goal well.

at half time i thought jay was struggling but was much better positionally2nd half and to win 4 1 without gerrard torres and carragher is a good result.

we needed some confidence and hopefully that will give the team the boost we needed.

[Assassin]

his movement is streets ahead of likes of Lucas,Poulsen,Aqua so big improvement hopefully, love to see him start against mancs, much more dynamic with him in the side iMO

He was anonymous in the first half, what game were you watching

[Vermilion]

That was some strike by Lucas

[JohnDoe]

although i fear Lucas and Poulsen and Skrtel at the back to

We'll lose if this happens. I once called Lucas and Masch the worst first choice central midfield we've ever had but Lucas and Poulsen beats it.

[banditos]

I think that second half performance showed what Roy is aiming for with the team. Passing and movement was good, we closed them down very quickly and completely dominated. I just hope that the guys that were rested got the idea too.

[Craig_H]

I think that second half performance showed what Roy is aiming for with the team. Passing and movement was good, we closed them down very quickly and completely dominated. I just hope that the guys that were rested got the idea too.

The worrying thing, is that we've only done this against dross opposition in the Eurodisney Cup.

[banditos]

We'll lose if this happens. I once called Lucas and Masch the worst starting central midfield we've ever had but Lucas and Poulsen beats it.

If Lucas plays like he did tonight (albiet only for 15 mins) more regularly, then it might not be too bad a CM.

[lancinleeds]

Danny ****ing Dyer ffs

Anyway the game, poor first half, a lot better in the second. RM came into the game, thought he got more involved when he was pushed up a bit. Kelly did well again. Ngog scores goals again! I thought Maxi was solid without being amazing.

[red g]

After some great performances tonight, we get to see another one Go the Dyer

[red g]

If Lucas plays like he did tonight (albiet only for 15 mins) more regularly, then it might not be too bad a CM.

I would save him for the newcastle game

[DannyMan2006]

You're hard to please. We win 4-1 at Old Trafford when they created nothing and only scored from their traditional penalty kick, we dominated the midfield and created more chances and won at a canter, yet you make it sound like we were under the cosh, which was far from the case. In fact it's the opposite of the case

Also, your selective memory has led to your misdescribing the goals totally. The Torres goal wasn't a counter-attack at all. Skrtel cleared his lines and it's not his fault that Vidic couldn't trap a bag of cement and was worried out of possession by Torres to score with a fine finish. It was a long clearance and had nothing to do with counter-attack play. It just fell in an area where Torres, as usual, could make a fool of Vidic. Skrtel wasn't even looking where to hit the ball, he just made a typical CB clearance

Aurelio's was a free-kick, but you chose to omit the terrific build-up play that had put Gerrard in the clear only to be hauled down when through on goal by the ponderous Vidic. The excellent free-kick was just reward for an excellent move - which also was nothing to do with counter-attacking play.

Dossena's goal wasn't remotely from being played down the left when United were "going for broke". We had a goal kick that went right down the middle. Man U's team were lined up to deal with a goal kick in the way all teams do, so weren't in a position to be caught on the break and they were the opposite of "going for broke" - standing around with hands on hips describes it better. Yet again Man U's ponderous centre-backs couldn't deal with a bread-and-butter straightforward ball and Dossena got on the end of it to score well. So that was directly from a goal-kick assist from Reina and so therefore had absolutely zero to do with counter-attack play.

The goal you don't remember was a penalty resulting from a fine interchange between Gerrard and Torres, a move the quality of which Man U failed remotely to match all game.

In summary, we dominate the game, had far far better chances, Reina was a spectator, we deservedly won and they got a spawny penalty early on and failed to disturb Reina's slumbers for the rest of the match yet you seem to want to big up their performance and denigrate ours despite the facts.

Given that you seem to remember nothing at all about the game I wonder if you actually watched it?

In fairness I was harsh. But to say we dominated the game was totally wrong. As would saying we won at a canter, because we didn't do that either. it wasn't a 4-1 game, far from it.

In fact, you even highlight some of my points. I was being generous it seems when I said the Torres goal was a counter, if you want to call it a hopefull punt up field by our defender then there you go, hardly clincal attacking play.

In fact, you make every goal we scored sound like awful (or ponderous in your words) defending by United - again, that is hardly amazing attacking football by us.

In that game we did what we normally did against Man Utd, the same thing we will do on Sunday. We sat back and absorbed pressure. The only difference between that game and many other in the past is that we had the rub of the green. How often do you see United players get sent off and penalties given against them at Old Trafford?

I'm not saying it wasn't a fantastic display - it was. But to say we totally dominated them and carved them open at will is going some. And I'm well known for being very optimistic about Liverpool.