Udinese post match thread

[Lecter]

we scored twice and had plenty more chances. i think the three shipped goals is the issue here.

Leaking goals has to be a major concern (the amount we have shipped is phenominal)

Rodgers talks about possession and ball retention limiting the oppositions chances of scoring goals

Thank god we have decent amounts of possession because otherwise we would be getting absolutely mullerred

We are wide open in midfield without Lucas and that has to be an enormous concern

[The Birdman]

Allen played well, but by his standards he's a bit below his best. He gave a couple of really bad balls away, which is most unlike him.

I do love him though. Those little passes he plays around the corner...and he loves a disguised forward pass. I can't wait for Lucas to come back and to push him up a bit.

Allen is a good player but last night he should have been taken off, Henderson was much better on the night.

[Lecter]

I actually think it is the opposite that is the problem - we need to use possession as a form of defence. I think the defensive errors come as part of the system. Just as last season our off the ball work and positioning is questionable. We make a lot of errors IMO because players are having to run back and/or cover large areas. Currently every time the opposition get the ball off us they think, and are usually right, that a counter is on.

We have the vast bulk of possession in games yet have conceeded and enormous amount of goals

Now thats ok if you are a free-scoring side which we are not

I must say I'm slightly worried about Rodgers

Dont get me wrong the football is nice and neat, we keep possession but we have little or no penetration and thats before we even discuss strikers missing chances which has been a problem for over 12 months and still hasnt been addressed

Borini for all his hardwork and running looks less of a finisher than Carroll did

[The Birdman]

We were good 1st half, controlled and it really was this 'death by football' we've been hearing about.
Udinese came back at us 2nd half and it was a bit end to end but then Rodgers made his substitutions.
Rodgers must have thought we're struggling a bit here I'll throw on batman and robin to save us and instead he got the ****ing chuckle brothers.
To me
To you
To you
To me

**** me Gerrard especially only wanted to pass to Suarez, it was embarrassing, the 3rd goal comes because Gerrard tries a hard outside of the right foot flick to Suarez when Shelvey (I think) is staring him straight in the face 10 yards away.

Rodgers is all about the team, the shape, the methodical way to keep the ball and shift the opposition about, Gerrard seems to grasp that vs Norwich and the majority of the Man U game.
Last night was Gerrard in his look at me I've got **** team mates I'll save the game myself and I only trust Suarez enough to pass the ball to.

You could see the rest of the team looking around at each other thinking **** me any chance of a pass like.

Oh and over the 90 minutes Downing was MoM, good final balls, worked hard, was still covering for Johnson in the 93rd minute. Still lacked confidence at times when he could have really got at the full back but credit where it's due he played well.

[Nicey]

just finished watching the replay ... did I imagine it or was the game stopped at 3.30 of 4 minutes of extra time ??

Oh and Downing is ****ing inept

[Nicey]

Rodgers was bang on with his after match thoughts ... came out still mentally in the dressing room

[yamiedo]

We were good 1st half, controlled and it really was this 'death by football' we've been hearing about.
Udinese came back at us 2nd half and it was a bit end to end but then Rodgers made his substitutions.
Rodgers must have thought we're struggling a bit here I'll trow on batman and robin to save us and instead he got the ****ing chuckle brothers.
To me
To you
To you
To me

**** me Gerrard especially only wanted to pass to Suarez, it was embarrassing, the 3rd goal comes because Gerrard tries a hard outside of the right foot flick to Suarez when Shelvey (I think) is staring him straight in the face 10 yards away.

Rodgers is all about the team, the shape, the methodical way to keep the ball and shift the opposition about, Gerrard seems to grasp that vs Norwich and the majority of the Man U game.
Last night was Gerrard in his look at me I've got **** team mates I'll save the game myself and I only trust Suarez enough to pass the ball to.

You could see the rest of the team looking around at each other thinking **** me any chance of a pass like.

Oh and over the 90 minutes Downing was MoM, good final balls, worked hard, was still covering for Johnson in the 93rd minute. Still lacked confidence at times when he could have really got at the full back but credit where it's due he played well.

I actually agree about Gerrard. I thought he was a bit selfish last night and I don't think Rodgers is going to have the balls to say anything about it just because of who he is. Suarez is always a bit selfish but at least he includes other players apart from Gerrard.

[Shaggy]

just finished watching the replay ... did I imagine it or was the game stopped at 3.30 of 4 minutes of extra time ??

Yep. Annoying.

[The Birdman]

We have the vast bulk of possession in games yet have conceeded and enormous amount of goals

Now thats ok if you are a free-scoring side which we are not

I must say I'm slightly worried about Rodgers

Dont get me wrong the football is nice and neat, we keep possession but we have little or no penetration and thats before we even discuss strikers missing chances which has been a problem for over 12 months and still hasnt been addressed

Borini for all his hardwork and running looks less of a finisher than Carroll did

No that bit isn't right, as they highlighted last night Borini's movement as a front man is fantastic, he has better movement than Suarez. Suarez is a much better individual footballer but in terms of runs, dragging defenders around, occupying defenders Borini for a 21 year old is fantastic.
His run for Shelvey's goal takes the 2nd centre back out of position, dragged him into the near post and those 2 occasions he went near then checked in behind the centre back for Johnson to roll it across the 6 yard box for 2 tap ins were brilliant pieces of play.
Carroll is miles behind Borini for runs, movement, intelligance and finishing.

Our problem isn't scoring goals it's picking the correct final pass, Johnson's little 5 yard ball inside to Sterling for the deflected shot late on was the only time he chose the right option around their box all game.

More composure and less panic with our final ball and we will score a lot more.
Defensively we look exposed because we don't have a defensive holding midfielder and because Carra is playing without the protection of a full back tucked in.

[Nicey]

What are your thoughts on Stuart Downing .... it was a good foul !!

I love this guy

bang on

[BobTheCharmer]

Oh and Downing is ****ing inept

I guess Downing is to blame for the troubles in Syria or the financial woes in europe.

[Nicey]

Yep. Annoying.

four minutes was a little on the small side considering we had maximum subs, time wasting and a couple of stoppages ...

Surely that cannot be allowed .. 4 minutes mean a minimum of 4 minutes I thought

Seems very strange ..

We have not had many decisions from Refs for a very long time it seems

[Nicey]

I guess Downing is to blame for the troubles in Syria or the financial woes in europe.

No but man ... come on 20 ****ing million quid .. takes a touch open goal and straight down the keepers nanny goat ..

As soon as sterling came on you had a sense of danger ... Downing was just Meh as usual and for the money he cost, he age and his reputation its not good enough ...

I mean hes not good enough for the 2nd string ...

Jesus if Kenny was not who he was or what he has done for the club, his little buying spree would go down as the worste investment of our money in the LFC's history

Enjoyed the game, we played well... Downing was **** and he has been behind all the currency manipulation that has has ****ed the markets across Europe ... da cunt

[Captain Stu]

Really enjoyable game, big performance from Henderson and Shelvey in the middle again and we looked a lot more flat when Henderson went off. Disappointed to not win but worth keeping in mind that Udinese have a Champion's League squad. We don't. They should be in the CL and not the EL and we absolutely dicked them.

That said - another game where we have all the possession, all the shots and come away with nothing. We have got to sort out these defensive mistakes.

OH! Coates was excellent too.

[Shaggy]

I'm not buying the Downing love in either. He was okay, which granted is far better than usual. In flashes he did what he's paid to do. There can't be a player in the league who has more shots and crosses blocked. For him that's a result - he doesn't look too foolish, and sometimes gets a corner out of it! It's the coward's way out. He half runs at someone, checks, goes inside and with, in his mind, no other options he simply blasts the ball against the defender who's right in his face. Countless Downing 'shots' and crosses are blocked. He plays with no conviction, no courage. I can't ****ing stand watching him pussyfoot around, blasting the ball against people.