Udinese post match thread

[Captain Stu]

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.

Spot on.

He's done this before, plays well in less important games but then the Premier League comes up again, he gets a chance and he's the same spineless jellyfish that we've come to loath.

Still want him gone in January.

[kingfunk]

Iv never seen a player kick the ball straight down the keepers neck so many times, just because he hasn't got the balls to go either side- he is so one dimensional and so predictable... He will be gone this time next year.

[Shaggy]

Iv never seen a player kick the ball straight down the keepers neck so many times, just because he hasn't got the balls to go either side- he is so one dimensional and so predictable... He will be gone this time next year.

No doubt he'll be gone. See the post-match interview? Interviewer suggested to Rodgers that Downing had responded to his "call to arms". BR totally swerved it,. said "Stewie worked hard" and then changed the subject.

[Maxiedge]

Also, Coates' own goal. If there ever was an own goal that should be investigated for bribery

[Captain Stu]

The fact that he's currently being put out the team by children with next to no first team experience speaks volumes. Brendog is (rightly) searching for ANY alternative to playing Downing. He had 46 chances to impress last season and managed to underwhelm in basically every single one.

Also, Coates' own goal. If there ever was an own goal that should be investigated for bribery

It was a belting header.

[kingfunk]

Haven't seen it but we can safely say from what we have seen so far, if BR does not fancy a player there is no hiding it in the press.
The BR system is really making the the not so good players stick out, which is great!

[Captain Stu]

Haven't seen it but we can safely say from what we have seen so far, if BR does not fancy a player there is no hiding it in the press.
The BR system is really making the the not so good players stick out, which is great!

Absolutely.

Nowhere to hide for the remaining mediocre players.

[baitman]

Also, Coates' own goal. If there ever was an own goal that should be investigated for bribery

not his fault, really. as a defender who likes to get into the oppo box and smash the odd header in he just saw that cross, saw the attacker was going to miss it, and thought **** it, thats too good to miss, its going begging...

[el matador]

Rodgers is learning about the players so he will make mistakes. I dont understand why henderson was taken off last night. He was solid and kept things moving so I dont get why he went off for gerrard. If anything either allen or probably shelvey should have come off that way were still solid in the middle and we have one offensive midfielder on the pitch.

We cant keep clean sheets either. yes its not our first choice lineup but the manner of two of the goals was not right. We keep getting caught out from our own attacks and gerrard is culpable too many times.

You know that he will always look to pass to suarez regardless of better passes on. his short passes keep getting intercepted and then we look shambolic and shapeless. To beat us you need to be a good counter attacking team which a lot od the top sides are.

Some of the passing is fantastic and for about 20mins before half time they couldnt get near us but we didnt look like hurting them either. We dominated the ball but we didnt threaten them.

[dww]

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

I agree about the fact that we still have problems up front but I think we score enough to win games if we were better at the tactical element of possession. My point is more that you have to keep the ball in the right areas and know what to do when you lose it (which is inevitable). At the minute I don't think we are careful enough with either aspect - we seem to think that simply possession is enough, which it is not.

[Carras_Shin_Pads]

not his fault, really. as a defender who likes to get into the oppo box and smash the odd header in he just saw that cross, saw the attacker was going to miss it, and thought **** it, thats too good to miss, its going begging...

haha took a couple of reads but made me chuckle!

[RichC]

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

yeah it was stopped early

[Tribute]

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.

...there's just a world of difference in attitude and positivity when you compare the likes of Assaidi and Sterling to Downing. Not their greatest games, but Assaidi and Sterling go at players and take them on, Downing looks clueless and lacks any sort of decisiveness. On the rare occasion he does beat a player, he turns back on himself, plays it back or just sits on it and the chance to cross is gone.

For such an experienced player (transfer fee aside), he's so negative, lacklustre and frustrating...

[Captain Stu]

...there's just a world of difference in attitude and positivity when you compare the likes of Assaidi and Sterling to Downing. Not their greatest games, but Assaidi and Sterling go at players and take them on, Downing looks clueless and lacks any sort of decisiveness. On the rare occasion he does beat a player, he turns back on himself, plays it back or just sits on it and the chance to cross is gone.

For such an experienced player (transfer fee aside), he's so negative, lacklustre and frustrating...

Definitely.

If Sterling and Assaidi hit a wall - as they did last night - they just look to get the ball back and try again. Downing seems to try once, **** out and then not bother again as he knows he'll get dicked.

The guy has bundles of talent but absolutely no application.

[Shaggy]

Does he have bundles of talent? I don't think so. Decent left foot, bit of pace, that's it. Can't go past people, can't shoot, seldom spots a pass.