LFC 2-2 Man City [LFC win on pens]: Pre Match, In Game and Post Match Chat

I was happy how we reacted after conceding the 2 goals but I'm very even more worried now. How can we compete for anything with such a small and average(some players) squad. Allen was useless! Had no influence on the game and it was as if he did not want to get the ball. I think it's because we are no more keeping possession but it's not forgivable to play like this. Enrique was poor, and unlucily it's clear now that we need another LB.
WE need at least another winger and a striker, a good CM unless Suso lives up to expectations and a LB.

Positives:
Hendo was very good at the end, in the first half he was playing alongside Allen who did not help anywhere.
Can looks great as usual.
Lucas was good too and gave more balance to the team. (I'm still not convinced by Gerrard at DM)
Sterling is  going to be our star player next season, he was onside on the goal he scored, wasn't he?
Coutinho was his usual self although he should work on his shooting. He could have been the best scorer of this competition had he been a bit better in this area.
Mignolet was good during the pelnalties.

Overall delighted with the eventual victory but...

Studge worries me, and not just because of last night. He thrives just as much on chances created for him as he does creating his own chances. He's not as busy as Luis, so he's not going to have as much ball. He goes missing for huge parts of the game, not every game, but he does do it. And like I said, he's a confidence player and the second something doesn't go right for him, it affects him. Thought he went missing last night and we cannot ever afford to have that happen. He needs a second world class striker alongside him, or someone who will dig in and take the flack for him.

Lambert didn't get going and should have done much better with his point blank header, but to be fair to him, I don't think he's going to be a starter. Probably someone to come off the bench when needed.

Coates was good and bad, too erratic for me

Thought Kolo was great

Couts, livewire but still needs to 'up' his accuracy on goal

Allen was poor and either gave the ball away or got caught in possession

Henderson looks to have continued with the same vein of form he showed last season; great goal too

Johnson was just Johnson, which means ineffective. I'd be happy if we nabbed Richardson for me; what little I saw of him told me he's still a good RB

Enrique did ok and is making good with his come back

Chan good, as was Lucas, Robinson, and the rest

Sterling was brilliant, again, and for me, he's going to be our most important player this season. He is the one who can and will terrify defences with his pace and trickery

Impression I came away with though, is that we still need to improve in defence and attack, especially in defence. So no surprises there

I was happy how we reacted after conceding the 2 goals but I'm very even more worried now. How can we compete for anything with such a small and average(some players) squad. Allen was useless! Had no influence on the game and it was as if he did not want to get the ball. I think it's because we are no more keeping possession but it's not forgivable to play like this. Enrique was poor, and unlucily it's clear now that we need another LB.
WE need at least another winger and a striker, a good CM unless Suso lives up to expectations and a LB.

Positives:
Hendo was very good at the end, in the first half he was playing alongside Allen who did not help anywhere.
Can looks great as usual.
Lucas was good too and gave more balance to the team. (I'm still not convinced by Gerrard at DM)
Sterling is  going to be our star player next season, he was onside on the goal he scored, wasn't he?
Coutinho was his usual self although he should work on his shooting. He could have been the best scorer of this competition had he been a bit better in this area.
Mignolet was good during the pelnalties.

Prepare to see your beloved club win things and relax, I'm not being patronising, I can't stand anyone shooting us down especially after nearly winning the league last season.
Our team is immense, couple of signings then worry again next window.

It is good to see the lads get into winning, winning can  be infectious and can only be good for the players and all RED supporters. Well done REDS.

http://www.reddit.com/r/footballdownload

Liverpool v Man City: Reds beat Premier League champions

Liverpool won a penalty shootout against Premier League champions Manchester City in New York after the two teams had drawn 2-2 in 90 minutes.

After a scoreless first half in the friendly at baseball's Yankee Stadium in front of almost 50,000 fans, striker Stevan Jovetic gave City the lead.

Midfielder Jordan Henderson equalised before Jovetic struck again, but winger Raheem Sterling levelled.

The Reds won 3-1 on penalties after City missed their opening two attempts.

The top two in last season's Premier League met in the International Champions Cup, a friendly tournament featuring eight European clubs.

Liverpool next face Italy's AC Milan - a win for Brendan Rodgers's side could see them reach the final in Miami - while City face Greek side Olympiakos.

Liverpool: Jones (Mignolet), Kelly (Robinson), Toure, Coates (Sakho), Enrique (Johnson), Gerrard (Lucas), Henderson, Allen (Can), Coutinho, Lambert (Sterling), Sturridge.

Manchester City: Caballero (Hart), Clichy (Richards), Kolarov, Boyata, Nastasic, Fernando, Navas, Zuculini, Milner (Iheanacho), Jovetic (Toure), Dzeko (Sinclair).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28571344

Some extra images are posted in the Picture Thread.

I remember the days when some of you lot were talking about Ibe being better than Sterling...

Yeah. A couple of seasons ago now.
Sterling has been immense the second half of last season.
Even then, imagine if Ibe got his goal scoring sorted. He could get very close to Sterling,
and that would be boss for us.

Anyway

Woah woah wooooaaaaaaah
woah woah wooooaaaaaaah

I only watched a bit of the first half but will watch the rest later. Cracking result and will instill a lot of confidence in the lads. We are tuning up very nicely for the start of the season, the opening match against Southampton will be very weird though, as we've nicked 3 of their best players :-)
I actually think Ibe will becoming a superb player for us, if he can sort out his shooting then he could be a natural striker.

Apparently more people attended the Liverpool vs Man City friendly, than any New York Yankees home game this year.

How I rated the performances of a particular few:

Kelly and Enrique looked completely out of their depth. Navas was a real handful for Enrique and got the better of him on many occasions. Enriques tendency to punt the ball long was also a real frustration. Kelly was slow on the turn and needed to commit a few professional fouls because of that.

Coates was our stand out defender until Sakho came on. What a difference the big Frenchman made to the side.

Joe Allen was far away the worst player on the pitch. What is his role as a footballer? Because as far as I'm concerned, he was passing to the team in sky blue. Steven Gerrard, as usual, is looking incredibly immobile. When you see both him and Hendo in possession of the ball, it's clear to point out who has the younger legs. I can see the 14/15 season being Stevie's last full season. He has played consistently for the past decade and it is really starting to take it's toll. Still offers us everything he has, but his decision to retire from international football was quite obvious give his display last night.

Sterling was immense. If there was ever any critism I had of him last season, it was his ability to finish off a move. That seems to have improved significantly with his first goal and his disallowed goal. What a finish. He was also pulling the strings when he received the ball in the attacking third, which shows he is more than just a pace merchant.

Daniel Sturridge frustrating again. He look's isolated and Rickie Lambert did little in creating those gaps for him.

City were impressive given their team. They looked well organised, passed the ball well, and fielded their 2nd string team.

If I had to judge from that display alone, I think it is quite obvious that two top fullbacks are required. How have we never addressed these positions? I also believe that we need someone to fill a void left by Luis' departure. Raheem isn't ready at such a young age to do so, and Lallana hasn't the quality to either. It's all good buying young players with a big potential but this is a hole in the team that needs to be filled in immediately. Thirty days for that to change.

City were impressive given their team. They looked well organised, passed the ball well, and fielded their 2nd string team.

And they lost.

And they lost.

They drew after 90 minutes with a second string team. Funnily enough they got worse when Yaya Toure came on but I thought they performed very well. The movement of Navas, Jovetic and Dzeko caused us problems in defence but admittedly, these are still top footballers. Our defence probably did flatter them though.

How I rated the performances of a particular few:

Kelly and Enrique looked completely out of their depth. Navas was a real handful for Enrique and got the better of him on many occasions. Enriques tendency to punt the ball long was also a real frustration. Kelly was slow on the turn and needed to commit a few professional fouls because of that.

Coates was our stand out defender until Sakho came on. What a difference the big Frenchman made to the side.

Joe Allen was far away the worst player on the pitch. What is his role as a footballer? Because as far as I'm concerned, he was passing to the team in sky blue. Steven Gerrard, as usual, is looking incredibly immobile. When you see both him and Hendo in possession of the ball, it's clear to point out who has the younger legs. I can see the 14/15 season being Stevie's last full season. He has played consistently for the past decade and it is really starting to take it's toll. Still offers us everything he has, but his decision to retire from international football was quite obvious give his display last night.

Sterling was immense. If there was ever any critism I had of him last season, it was his ability to finish off a move. That seems to have improved significantly with his first goal and his disallowed goal. What a finish. He was also pulling the strings when he received the ball in the attacking third, which shows he is more than just a pace merchant.

Daniel Sturridge frustrating again. He look's isolated and Rickie Lambert did little in creating those gaps for him.

City were impressive given their team. They looked well organised, passed the ball well, and fielded their 2nd string team.

If I had to judge from that display alone, I think it is quite obvious that two top fullbacks are required. How have we never addressed these positions? I also believe that we need someone to fill a void left by Luis' departure. Raheem isn't ready at such a young age to do so, and Lallana hasn't the quality to either. It's all good buying young players with a big potential but this is a hole in the team that needs to be filled in immediately. Thirty days for that to change.

God you're boring.

God you're boring.

What exactly is your problem?

Am I not aloud to express an opinion on here without being unfairly criticised? Find it quite bizarre how mods let little forum bullies like you get away with nonsense like this. If you really think I am that boring, you know where the ignore function is. I don't particularly find your posts entertaining, or posts of different forum members, yet I don't have the audacity to come out and call them boring, purely because doing so behind the device you are using is cowardly.

They drew after 90 minutes with a second string team.

But still lost the overall game with what was a relatively strong team.

Funnily enough they got worse when Yaya Toure came on but I thought they performed very well.

But despite them performing well and us being as sh*t as you've made out, we won and they lost.

The movement of Navas, Jovetic and Dzeko caused us problems in defence but admittedly, these are still top footballers.

And the movement of Henderson, Sterling and Coutinho caused them just as many problems as they caused us. At the end of the day, we carved them open constantly. They had two very scrappy goals.

Our defence probably did flatter them though.

And yet they hardly had a shot that troubled either Jones or Mignolet.

Wasn't as bad as some are making out. Our full backs were absolutely awful again and that needs to be addressed though. They only created things when Navas was destroying Robinson or when Jovetic was drifting out wide (and even then they actually only created 1-2 chances and scored two scrappy goals). Going forward I thought we didn't click for large spells yet we could have easily scored 5 or 6 which is very promising.

Hendo and Raheem were great and two very good cameos from the bench from Sakho and Can as well.

But still lost the overall game with what was a relatively strong team.

But despite them performing well and us being as sh*t as you've made out, we won and they lost.

And the movement of Henderson, Sterling and Coutinho caused them just as many problems as they caused us. At the end of the day, we carved them open constantly. They had two very scrappy goals.

And yet they hardly had a shot that troubled either Jones or Mignolet.

Something you need to realise DLS is that I am not always negative. All I've done is given City credit for how well they came out and attacked us, but then I acknowledged that we had out a 2nd string defence which could have been reason for them looking as strong as they did in attack. I'm not going to pick flaws with City's team because they, as a club, have no interest to me. Yes, we did still win albeit it on penalties, but we also at one point had our strongest midfield out, and we were not dominating. But then again, it's a pre-season friendly and a lot of players were clearly struggling with the pace (i.e Joe Allen).

I'm not going to read too much into the performance though. It was a friendly at the end of the day and the only major disappointment for me was a couple of our defenders and Joe Allen.

I actually think Ibe will becoming a superb player for us, if he can sort out his shooting then he could be a natural striker.

I don't think that's something a natural striker should have to sort out 

I don't think that's something a natural striker should have to sort out 

Yea I was confused by that as well. Ibe is a good player but he is not as good as Sterling. Ibe reminds me of Theo Walcott which is not entirely a bad thing but he needs to be dynamic. His scoring will come with confidence as it has with Sterling.

Didn't see the whole game so can't comment on most of it, but what a fantastic goal that was from Raheem, made it look very easy with that first touch.

Didn't see the whole game so can't comment on most of it, but what a fantastic goal that was from Raheem, made it look very easy with that first touch.

And the even better wrongly disallowed goal. Was like a Michael Owen in his prime finish.

Sterling's got the potential to score A LOT of goals. I'd say we've got a 20-30 goals a season man right there. Providing he stays fit for the duration of the season then he'll be a major contributor in filling the goals deficit that the departure of Suarez - brought about.

I don't think that's something a natural striker should have to sort out 

fair point, what I meant was that in the same way as Thierry Henry started life as a winger before becoming a prolific striker the same could happen for Ibe, he has everything needed apart from shooting accuracy but that will come, I hope.