Utd - Liverpool post match

[JohnDoe]

Cole was played out of position to accommodate Merieles.

He needs to get used to it, because he's going to have to do that all season.

[JohnDoe]

Win. Win. Draw. Win. Win.

Win. Win. Win. Win. Draw.

I don't think there's any chance we suddenly develop this type of consistency after the start we've had, even if we play Blackpool five times. Time will tell.

[danperkins]

I can be. I'm impressed with Meireles, but not with Joe Cole.

Cole was played out of position to accommodate Merieles.

[Mostar]

after ten games i am very confident we will be in 4th.

The next 5 games will define our season not the last 5. Out of those last 5 would i have taken 5pts? of course not.

Would i have taken 3pts of 4th after 5 games? looking at our fixture list i would have happily taken it.

I am grateful for small mercies

[ronanm]

Looking at Benitez, he would have struggled to get any more points than Hodgo has imo. He's trying to shape a team that he inherited, integrating new players into the squad while he's at it. It was an incredibly tough schedule in the PL and was always going to be tough. Hodgo all the way for me (at least until the end of the season)

[danperkins]

The think the problem areas are across the defence and in the wide areas, we need someone like Chris Samba, a commanding,mobile CB. At the moment we do not have that and aerially we are second best.

Johnson and Konchesky are average defenders that is clear, Konchesky is functional at best, can be solid but destroyed against Nani's pace, Johnson is just a lousy defender as been said time and time again.

What was very evident to me was we seemed to get to a point in the pitch, the last third and we completely ran out of ideas, aimless sideways passing, no movement and nobody taken the game by the scruff of the neck. Tentative,lethargic and predictable.

Bedding players in and developing some sense of continuity takes time, its unfortunate for us and Roy that the fixture list has been so difficult, there has been no forgiveness and we really have got punished.

We have some weak links that really need to be addressed, Maxi & Skrtel are not good enough for first team football, Carra really needs to be replaced come next season, his great organizes skills and his voice are only getting him so far these days. Having Aurelio in first team would be nice but for christ sake he has to be one of the biggest crocks in footballing history, i was naive to think that he would be playing every week and Konch would be back up.

Torres is playing woeful but FFS the service, if you could call it that is nothing short of ****ing embarrassing. And we will have to wait until January to address that problem (well if LM problem is addressed). Anyways bad result, average display but signs of improvement in certain areas. We need 6 points from next 2 games and we have to start getting a run of wins or the gap will be just too far for us to even consider 4 th place.

Gutted about today but season for us now starts from hear, we have to push on.

[JohnDoe]

you never are

I can be. I'm impressed with Meireles, but not with Joe Cole.

[lancinleeds]

Looking forward to our next five games I am going to be optimistic. Today we came up against a side who may not have the quality they used to, but still know how to win.

We have a run of five games now where we can properly bed in Gerrard, Cole, Meireles and Torres and get them linking up properly, don't forget today was the first day the four of them have played together. From what I have seen I really think JC and RM can add something we were missing last year.

Hopefully Babel will get a chance, I really think if we can give him a run against this type of opposition he will thrive and hopefully step it up for the big games - though I am less than convinced that Roy is convinced by him.

I would really like to see Agger in the centre to start things off. I think the Konk will hold up against opposition we have to face in the next few weeks - I am just worried against bigger opposition, hopefully Fabio will be back sooner rather than later.

All in all I think we have a real chance to pick up at least 13 points in the next 5 games (though how things have been I wouldn't put it past me eating my words in a few weeks...we shall see)

[red g]

I'm not impressed with Joe Cole at all.

you never are

[red g]

Riise is better than Konchesky
Arbeloa is a better defender than Johnson
Skrtel has never kicked on from the form he showed in his first season
Agger is not in the team at centre back to carry the ball forward
Carragher, as stated, is two years older
Alonso won't be replaced, remains to be seen if Gerrard can do a similair job job
Mascherano every day over Poulsen
Torres is not the same player as two years ago

So no...its not just Alonso is the difference between second and relegation. Add into the mix uncertainty at board level, demotivation and a new manager's transitional period and you have a serious set of problems to deal with.

This is going to be so much worse than Houllier's first season in charge.

We should be happy with mid table if the early season is anything to go by.

after ten games i am very confident we will be in 4th.

The next 5 games will define our season not the last 5. Out of those last 5 would i have taken 5pts? of course not.

Would i have taken 3pts of 4th after 5 games? looking at our fixture list i would have happily taken it.

I am grateful for small mercies

[Daniel 7]

He must either change his mid-table-team-negative-****-tactics, or get the **** out of here.

And I think I saw someone give Poulsen a rating of 7 on here. More like a 2 IMO. **** player so far.

You're way off the mark with Poulsen today. Unspectacular I'll give you, but he wasn't by any stretch of the imagination ****. He did what he was brought in to do. There was a lot of negative football, sideways and backwards, but no way was he a 2/10.

[Tatterdemalion]

just coz you dont understand it its ****ing gibberish is it..?

stick to doom mongering haha ..

get an educashun den you mite get to understand fings innit

You're seriously embarassing yourself. I didn't understand it because it's bollocks.

To begin with you don't make a profit on lien. That's ****ing collateral

And as for 'educashun', well let's leave that one - I'm very well educated thank you.

[JohnDoe]

my worry, still early days though. seen enough of cole and merieles to think they can be a big difference.

I'm not impressed with Joe Cole at all.

[red g]

after those games its chelsea!
If drogba and essien are still fit and on form i fear a most worrying day.
with the talent we have at our disposal, i still can not believe how badly we play.

my worry, still early days though. seen enough of cole and merieles to think they can be a big difference.

Why Skrtel over Agger though? extremeky worrying

[Daniel 7]

i said the team without Torres and Gerrard, playing an entire season.

It's not just Alonso anyway, it's Alonso, Mascherano, Benayoun, a couple of more years on Carragher, Skrtel being chosen over Agger and a serious defensive downgrade on the the two full back positions as well as a significant reduction in squad depth.

Riise is better than Konchesky
Arbeloa is a better defender than Johnson
Skrtel has never kicked on from the form he showed in his first season
Agger is not in the team at centre back to carry the ball forward
Carragher, as stated, is two years older
Alonso won't be replaced, remains to be seen if Gerrard can do a similair job job
Mascherano every day over Poulsen
Torres is not the same player as two years ago

So no...its not just Alonso is the difference between second and relegation. Add into the mix uncertainty at board level, demotivation and a new manager's transitional period and you have a serious set of problems to deal with.

This is going to be so much worse than Houllier's first season in charge.

We should be happy with mid table if the early season is anything to go by.