Spurs post match blues!

[little dave hedgehog]

yes i agree. this is in an ideal world.

[The Birdman]

If teams press you high up the pitch the logical thing is to go front to back and bypass them

Problem then is the forwards ability to hold the ball up whilst your midfielders get up and support them

The thing is I think Kenny is a lot cleverer than some people actually think

The make up of a Carroll/Suarez is very smart imo its supplementing that partnership that requires work in the summer

It's not rocket science is it Lec?
Carroll was hardly going to get Lucas and Spearing buzzing around and beyond him.
Now, Suarez, Gerrard, Meireles, maybe Kuyt if he is central and whoever else we buy in the summer will be a different prospect.

The self styled "best fans in the world" slagging off our record signing when he hasn't played a game for us at more than 75% fit (IMO) makes me sick.
****ing idiots

[little dave hedgehog]

we were all fairly poor today, and i thought luis lost the plot to an extent. more worried about that really. carroll wasn't doing the business for us, but at this point in his lfc career, and given his fitness levels, i wasn't surprised, nor do i blame him. i got laughed at when i said we should bring on ngog, but kenny agreed

[Arn]

i think passing around them is better for a couple of reasons. mostly because pressing high takes a lot of energy, and if you move the ball well, and quickly enough it will tire the other team considerably-especially if they aren't getting any joy. it's demoralizing. also, it will get you a lot of space to work with as the game wares on because eventually they will learn that closing down your defenders isn't really working and they'll have to back the **** off and let you work.

You do know that is the tactic Rafa used in most games. Let the opposition chase the ball and then up the tempo after 60 minutes or so. The opposition decided to back off in most games because we didn't had a player like Suarez in the team. Torres was out injured very often.

That is what his subs after 60 minutes is all about. It is a gamble to do it that way but it very often paid off. The space opens up more and more as you say. It is simply no use to start in a high tempo in the PL. The teams are used to that type of football. Better to slow the tempo down and let the opposition chase the ball and get tired. They are not used to that type of football.

Now we have a plan A and a plan B on the pitch in Suarez and Carroll. KK can decide if he want to pass the ball a lot or play quick counter attacking football when Carroll get match fit.

[little dave hedgehog]

yes arn, i know.

but our success against teams like man u were always down ourselves pressing them relentlessly and starting with a very high tempo.

[little dave hedgehog]

also, as lec amd birdman both point out (in their own ways), you really need someone like xabi alonso to make this work against all comers. someone who can keep the ball moving intelligently for a whole match. agger is another player that could be important to us in that regard when he steps into the midfield. but trying to pass around all the other teams with spearing and lucas in the middle with carra (the human hoof) and skrtel behind them, and carrying flanagan at right back was never going to work every time. i did think it was a bit surreal watching andy carroll try to play pass and move today, but bless him, he gave it a good honest go. dunno how great at that he'll ever be. had a nice weaving run that caught me by surprise as well.

[RichC]

yes arn, i know.

but our success against teams like man u were always down ourselves pressing them relentlessly and starting with a very high tempo.

high tempo football and pressing is when we've looked at our best over the past 2 years.

yesterday was probably a good wake up call for us all, we didn't play well and still have quite a lot to do in the summer but that's what we've got to be looking forwards to now.

I am sure that they'll be a lot of work undertaken to get Suarez and Carroll to gel up front and I think that combination when fit and the right players around them will get us a lot of goals, be it directly or players coming on to finish the ball (gerrard, merieles et al) infact I expect the team's style of football to evolve further into what we want and need to push on.

[Lecter]

Kenny: Slow start costly
15th May 2011 - Latest News

Kenny Dalglish admitted Liverpool were made to pay for a slow start as Tottenham Hotspur dented their European aspirations with a 2-0 victory at Anfield on Sunday.

A volley from Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric's penalty secured the points for Spurs to ensure the race for Europa League qualification will go right to the wire.

In order to finish fifth, the Reds must now better Tottenham's result against Birmingham when Dalglish takes his charges to Aston Villa next Sunday.

"I think they started better than we did, scored a goal and we didn't start to play for 25-30 minutes," the boss told his post-match press conference.

"We started to look a bit better, but then at the start of the second half they got the second goal and that gave them a real foothold in the game.

"It was difficult for us to break them down. We didn't have enough on the day to break them down and penetrate their goal, but I don't think Pepe was overly busy either.

"We never played as well as we can play and that's a disappointment for the players because it would have been a fitting way for them to finish the last game of the season at Anfield for the efforts they've put in since January. But maybe it was too much of a fairytale.

"We're disappointed we never got the result because it would have been a fitting way to end."

He added: "We don't know why we didn't start as well as what we have done and are capable of, but I suppose like in everything else, you get days like that."



Tottenham were able to double their advantage in the early stages of the second half when they were awarded a penalty after referee Howard Webb had adjudged John Flanagan's shoulder charge on Steven Pienaar to be a foul.

Dalglish preferred to keep his own counsel on the incident when questioned by journalists, admitting he'd rather look at the performance of his own side.

He said: "It's just unhelpful to everybody we can't express our true thoughts and it's even more disappointing that the officials get away scot free without coming in to explain their decisions as well.

"I think it's safer for me to leave it at that and get on with the next question.

"It's not a race for fifth place in my mind, it's just disappointment there at the performance.

"You can have refereeing mistakes but you cannot legislate for that - we can only look after ourselves. We could have been a greater help to ourselves if we had started the game better than we did."

Meanwhile, reporters quizzed Dalglish on how Andy Carroll's return to the starting XI had impacted upon his side's approach to the game.

An injury to Raul Meireles meant the No.9 was restored to the team having missed Monday's win over Fulham with bruising.

Dalglish replied: "Whoever is going to play, it doesn't affect anybody's approach or attitude to the game - you go into the game, you start nice and sharp and on you go.

"He hasn't trained as much as he or we would have liked. We were forced into playing him a wee bit because David Ngog had only had 45 minutes in a reserve game, so it was either him or Andy. For Andy to last as long as he did was more than we expected.

"I don't think a change in the way you play should contribute to changes in attitude and approach to the game. We never approached it well enough in the first half and paid the price for that."

As it was the final home game of 2010-11, Dalglish led the Liverpool squad and staff on the traditional post-game lap of honour.

The Kop afforded them a rapturous reception despite the disappointment at the result.

"We feel as though we've short-changed them by not getting the result," said Dalglish.

"That's the disappointing thing. The appreciation will always be here for their support, so sometimes it's nice to reward that with a victory and it was unfortunate we couldn't do that today."

[little dave hedgehog]

for the record i never meant to suggest that a pass and move game at the back necessitated a slow tempo. i'm all for a fast paced match.

[El Diego]

Why are Spurs getting praised??? We were **** but they were ****ter than us, they got two lucky goals.

[RichC]

sounds like that even if we finish 6th we're in the Europa

[Reece]

sounds like that even if we finish 6th we're in the Europa

How come?

[Fosterbloke]

Perhaps we miss a player like Meireles more than we realise. If we have Aquaman back then that would give us backup if one was injured.

[Neil Young]

Why are Spurs getting praised??? We were **** but they were ****ter than us, they got two lucky goals.

Someone else described Van Der Vaart's as a wonder goal. I thought it was deflected but I've only seen it once and it wasn't mentioned on the commentary.

So was it a lucky deflection?

[Shaggy]

I thought so.