Liverpool V Real Madrid Anfield 22/10/2014 - 20:45CET (19:45 local time)

         Mignolet
Manquillo         Skrtel              Lovren ('cos we dont have any better available) Moreno
                                Lucas
               Henderson             Coutinho
                               Gerrard
                 Lallana                     Sterling
                             

Better? False 9

Got to go back to the diamond, try and win the midfield battle and kill the supply to their star attackers.

Mignolet; Manquillo, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno; Gerrard, Hendo, Allen, Lallana; Sterling, Balotelli.

Not expecting anything from this but it wouldn't surprise me if we at least got a point.

One thing I'm sure of -- Balotelli needs to be benched until he can actually show the drive and determination it takes to be a Liverpool player!! So, the question becomes "who do we start up top?"

We could play Lambert as a target man. He is big, strong, holds the ball up well, and usually picks the right pass. If we go with this then I'd like to see Lallana play just off him as our 10 with Sterling and Markovic on the wings.

Alternatively, we could play Borini as the number 9. Madrid will dominate the ball and the game, which means we will need to play on the counter. Borini seems best suited to playing on the shoulder of the last man and making penetrating runs into the channels. If we play Fabio up top then I'd like to see us slip Raheem in right behind and use his pace to support Borini on the counter. Behind that, play 2 banks of 4 and double up at RB/LB - Johno and Manquillo on the right, with Enrique and Moreno on the left. Gerrard and hendo in the middle.

However, I'd personally opt for Coutinho as a false 9. He has the ability to control the ball under pressure and he will draw fouls which will give us an opportunity to get up the pitch. He also has a great ability to turn defenders and pick a through ball. Play Sterling and either Markovic/Lallana on the wings and break with pace. Then pack the midfield and bunker down when we don't have the ball. Play hendo at RCM and have him double up on Ronaldo at all times.

My 11 would be:

Migs
Johnson-Skrtel-Lovren-Moreno
Gerrard
Hendo-Can
Lallana-Coutinho-Sterling

Mig
Maquillo - Lovren - Skrtel - Moreno
Gerrard
Henderson - Allen
Lallana             Sterling
Borini

         Mignolet
Manquillo         Skrtel              Lovren ('cos we dont have any better available) Moreno
                                Lucas
               Henderson             Coutinho
                               Gerrard
                 Lallana                     Sterling
                             

Better? False 9

I actually think Sterling and Lallana could work mate and I love the amount of work-rate we'd have up top so yeah I'd be all for that.

Would still keep Gerrard sitting deep and bring in Allen for Lucas, therefore moving Cou forward.

                       Mig
   Manquillo Skrtel Lovren Moreno
                   Gerrard
        Henderson     Allen
                 Coutinho
          Sterling       Lallana

Certainly a team full of industry and hard-work, good at retaining the ball, put pressure on Allen/Henderson to make an extra man moving forward. I like it.

Thinking about it, I'm not sure a diamond would work against Madrid.
Isolated full backs a big risk playing so narrow.
Definitely a non runner if Johnson and Enrique are the full backs.

Those were the days.....

Liverpool 4-0 Real Madrid.

Liverpool Vs Real Madrid 4-0 HD

Well thank F**k monkey boy isn't playing.:-)

*Gulp*

However, I'd personally opt for Coutinho as a false 9. He has the ability to control the ball under pressure and he will draw fouls which will give us an opportunity to get up the pitch. He also has a great ability to turn defenders and pick a through ball.

Seriously couldn't decide between Borini and Balotelli in my head for this one, but love this idea, think it could be a great shout!

Personally, and I don't mean to come across negative here, but I really cant see us getting anything from this game. The form Ronaldo is in terrifies me when I consider our defence, he's got 15 goals in 8 games (not including the Champions League ones).

All over the pitch I feel they are much stronger than us. If we are to get anything then I can see it being through Sterling or Moreno creating something with their pace, on the counter attack or maybe a Gerrard set piece, be it penalty or freekick.

This has the potential to be a terrible night for us when you consider their attack and if Johnson is starting then Ronaldo is going to rip him to pieces.

Every game we go into I believe we can easily get the win but I think this is the first time I can recall where I have genuinely had real concerns about.

People say about how we got the 1-0 win last time in Spain and then stuffed them at Anfield but back then we had Pepe Reina in top form...now we have Mignolet who is nowhere near that level, we had Carragher leading the defence and also had a very reliable Arbeloa....now we have Lovren leading the defence but nowhere near the level of Carragher back then and a right back who isn't at the level of Arbeloa, we had Skrtel but again, he was playing better than what he is now and we also had Hyypia. I'd put Moreno as the only improvement on our defence from back then but that's because of his lighting pace and ability to track back and keep with the runners which will be vital given the pace Madrid have. We also had Alonso and Mascherano back then, two of the best players in their position around, as of now we don't really have a set midfield because its constantly changing due to injuries but even still, I'd rate them two and Gerrard much higher than what we have now. This isn't a dis-service to Hendo but as of this moment I don't feel he has hit their level of back then just yet, but he will before long. We obviously have Coutinho and Sterling who I feel are a real benefit to us and could be the key to getting anything against them but they will have to try and do so whilst being bullied by a stronger team (physically).

If we go out there and play like we have been then there is no point even turning up because we will get humiliated so its vital we keep our shape, stay with the ones they are supposed to be marking, be first and second to every ball that is there to be won. Ensure our passing is snappy and accurate and most importantly, don't take any needless risks.

We have been lacking goals and if we had Sturridge then I'd be more confident so if we are to get anything the defence and Migs have to trust each other and not make any stupid mistakes, no letting them take 3 touches with the ball in the box before we even get close to them like on the build up to the Vargas goal, no drifting out of position and no rash challenges.

This game will go one of two ways; either we will rally together and come through as the underdog like we have so many times before or we are going to get hammered. Hopefully its the former because if we pull off a win then I can see it being a massive boost to the entire club and could be the springboard to a fantastic run again like we went on last season. The lads need a bit of a boost so let this be it!

There is every chance Madrid could become complacent like against Sociedad when they lost 4-2 so let's make sure we are on hand to take advantage and punish any mistakes that they make. 

Balotelli doesn't deserve to play. Would prefer Sakho over Lovren too.

Think it will be a miracle if we get a draw but you know - funny old game etc. etc.

i really don't know why carra isn't doing defensive coaching work. anyone know of any reason or at least a coherent hypothesis?if he gave us one more season last year, we'd have won the season.

sorry, wrong thread, admins please feel free to move this to the "Jamie Carragher To Retire At The End Of The Season" thread.

back to matters, i'm going to be honest, i'm bricking it a bit about madrid. last time they were here, we had probably the best liverpool team of the last 10-15 years and i felt confident. F**k we even finished with dossena, spearing and babel on the pitch and still could have got more goals.

this time is different, we've let in more goals than all of our main rivals and we're struggling to score, not to mention real having scored 25 goals in their last 5 or 6 games. however, that game against qpr could have galvanised us and i hope we start playing to our potential, because the season so far ha snot reflected the quality of the players we have. i'm sh*tting it but looking forward to it.

It's only Madrid, in the Champions League,  at Anfield!  How are we going to get the lads fired up for this one?? Hmmmm

It's funny though, even after seeing how bad we are, I'm not nervous at all for this.... I reckon a 1-1 draw, or maybe even a win by one goal... we seem to perform more in the 'big' games.

Despite the lack of form by most of our players, everyone of them should be up for this game. After all it is another European night at Anfield, and with the crowd behind the lads, anything can happen, here's hoping for a greatly improved performance from all the lads, giving Real Madrid. Bale or no Bale the shock of their lives.

Remember last season when everyone (including their own fans) thought United would get bummed by Munich at home? It finished 1-1 and Scum got a deserved home draw.

There is no reason why this cannot happen to us. It can be possible.

Remember last season when everyone (including their own fans) thought United would get bummed by Munich at home? It finished 1-1 and Scum got a deserved home draw.

There is no reason why this cannot happen to us. It can be possible.

Absolutely and they were coached by Moyes!! No reason why we should be fearing Real they are coming to Anfield not some poxy Eastern European outpost in Siberia.

Point at least here would be huge, they're apparently missing Bale and Ramos, also heard Varane is a doubt?
For us I think Allen is a must start
                                    Mignolet
                   Johnson  Skrtel   Lovren   Moreno
                                     Gerrard
                             Henderson   Allen
                                      Lallana
                            Sterling       Balotelli

Jones; Toure, Enrique; Can, Markovic, Lallana; Lambert
                             
                       

Álvaro Arbeloa: Anfield is unique. I’ve told my team-mates to enjoy it

Álvaro Arbeloa knew. “When they opened up that little ball and the piece of paper inside said “Liverpool”, I said: ‘Group B’. I knew we’d be drawn against them.” The Real Madrid defender smiles. “Well, I don’t know if I knew it or if I just really wanted it.” Either way, there it was: Real Madrid v Liverpool. The last time the two teams met was in March 2009 and Arbeloa was on the other side. Liverpool won 4-0. Now he is going back to Anfield, this time dressed in white.

He got lucky; Xabi Alonso did not. Moments after the draw, the phone rang. “It was Xabi and he was fuming. “Bloody hell, typical. How unlucky am I?’” The only consolation Arbeloa could offer was to tell Alonso he might get there with Bayern Munich. Alonso knows what he’s missing; others don’t yet. So Arbeloa has told them.

“I’ve told everyone this is an opportunity they shouldn’t miss,” he says. “They’re used to a stadium that holds 80,000, sure, but Anfield is la bomba, unique. It’s only 45,000 and they say: ‘Well … ’ and I say: ‘Well?’ Those 45,000 make the atmosphere very, very special. I’ve told them to enjoy it. I can imagine what Anfield will be like, how they’ll sing You’ll Never Walk Alone and cheer every corner or throw-in close to our area as if it’ll end in a goal – and I know it’ll feel like that to us.”

Arbeloa has not been back since he left in the summer of 2009, four months after that 4-0, and since then he has become a world and European champion with Spain, and won the Champions League with Madrid, helping them end a 12-year wait. He and they arrive as defending champions, the wait worth it. “I read an interview with Magic Johnson saying he and LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan had to go through shitty times before becoming champions; they had missed opportunities, too,” Arbeloa says. “I could relate to that.”

It is a Thursday afternoon at Madrid’s Valdebebas training base and the Spaniard is looking over his career, exactly 10 years since he made his debut for the club, a youth-teamer alongside the galácticos. “My first touch was a backheel flick to Zidane, right in front of the dugout. Straight away it was: ‘play it simple! Simple!’.” If that makes him laugh, so does his first Liverpool start after his move to England from Spain: a Champions League debut at the Camp Nou marking the man who, along with Arbeloa, made his competitive debut on 16 October 2004: Lionel Messi.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he says. “I was training at Melwood and Rafa [Benítez] came over. ‘Left back’. Left? Marking Messi. I stood looking at him, waiting for him to start laughing. This has to be a joke but I saw he was deadly serious. I thought: ‘madre mía.’ The idea was that I’d be strong on my right when Messi came inside, so we went to Portugal [for a training camp] and I was left-back every day, preparing.

Arbeloa grins. “That was the famous golfing week … Rafa had given us a curfew: 1am or 2am. There was a lively dinner then me and [Javier] Mascherano sang some Spanish song on the karaoke. I can’t remember what, something so bad I wiped it from my memory. Anyway, the time came and us new players left. The others stayed and the golf club thing happened. I escaped. I heard about it the next day and couldn’t believe it but of course [Craig] Bellamy played well, scored, and celebrated with the golf stroke. [John Arne] Riise played well, too.”

As for Arbeloa, he stopped Messi. It was some start, particularly for a player who had never expected to join Liverpool at all. “One day my agent called me. ‘We’re going to Liverpool’,” he recalls. “I pretty much had to sit down. ‘What?’”

“I had a five year contract at Deportivo. For the first three years Madrid got half of any transfer fee and I thought: ‘There isn’t a hope in hell of me leaving here in the first three years.’ But they had financial problems and [selling me] meant paying others. It happened so quickly that I was in shock – there was no time to prepare and I was lost.”

“I remember in my first few days looking out of the window, the snow was coming down and I thought: ‘What have I got myself into?’,” Arbeloa says, signalling halfway up his shins. “It was up to here. Madre mía. I was only 23 and I’d never been away from home. Now I had a new country, a new language, a new league, a new team.”

A new manager too. “I’d mostly played at centre-back but Rafa saw me as a full-back and training was different. Rafa corrects you the whole time – and I mean the whole time. Even if it’s just a kickabout he’ll stop the game to correct you. He never stops correcting you, ever. It was a constant stream of instructions and I didn’t have time to think. One-on-one he would explain in Spanish but he always spoke to us in English in the group. If he heard us speaking in Spanish he’d give us a bollocking you wouldn’t believe. ‘English!’.”

“I was lucky, Mascherano came at the same time. They set us up with homes in Park Avenue and we were neighbours, together every day,” Arbeloa says. “But we were welcomed so well: better than it might be the other way round. If you brought an English manager to Spain and he brought in five English players, I’m not sure it would be the same. The pressure that surrounds clubs here is different.

“At Liverpool it helped that they already loved Rafa so much and Luis García, Pepe [Reina] and Xabi, who was practically an honorary Englishman. And Fernando [Torres] later came, too. It’s not like he was signing nobodies. Rafa opened the door; the fact he was doing well made Spaniards open our eyes to England.”

Arbeloa rates Benítez as one of the best coaches he has had, unique when it comes to analysis: more meticulous, more studious, than others. Arbeloa listened and followed, he did what he was asked not what he wanted, which is one of the reasons Benítez valued him and one of the reasons other coaches have. Yet there is a contradiction that Arbeloa wrestles with. He admits he is not yet sure what the answer is.

“A coach says something and you might think ‘that’s not the way I’d do it’ but you need to do it. You can’t just do what you want … well, unless you’re as good as Cristiano Ronaldo,” he laughs. “I’ve had very different coaches asking very different things and it is hard to say what the key is because they’ve all been successful. I don’t know what to think. I think the conclusion is that football’s about the players. Of course [José] Mourinho is fantastic, [Pep] Guardiola is fantastic but what would happen in a team that wasn’t as outstanding as the ones they had?”

“I suppose the key is for everyone to believe in what they’re doing and what the manager’s doing: that they’re united, professional, intense,” he continues, thumping his fist into his palm. “One player lets you down, fine, but two or three do and it comes crashing down, a house of cards. Football’s simple … but not that simple.”

Rafa’s way worked. Liverpool reached a second Champions League final in three years, losing 2-1 to Milan. Arbeloa played for two minutes: he came on in the 88th minute and Dirk Kuyt scored in the 89th but the hope was fleeting. “There were 10 minutes left when Rafa called me but the ball wouldn’t go out and when it finally did the fourth official had disappeared to look at I don’t know what. I had to wait another two. I was going to play 10 minutes but played two. Kuyt scored. ‘Come on!’. But there was no time. We didn’t win, even though we had a much better team than in Istanbul.”

That was not their only near miss. “People forget that we almost won the league [in 2008-09]. We didn’t win it because of sodding [Federico] Macheda. There were weeks where we kicked off before United and we’d board our flight home with them losing, only to get off the plane and find they’d come back. Again. At times we could touch the trophy but they always came back.”

That was the end. That summer, Benítez signed Glen Johnson. “You think: ‘We’ve nearly won the league and the first thing you do is buy a £20m right-back?’,” Arbeloa recalls. “I said: ‘Listen, thanks for everything.’ He couldn’t say I had to stay. He had a right-back and I had a call from Madrid. It was an incredible opportunity: Cristiano Ronaldo was going there, [Karim] Benzema, Kaká.”

Arbeloa departed having lost a European Cup final; in his first season at Madrid they were eliminated by Lyon and then lost three successive semi-finals. In May, at last, the décima arrived, their 10th European Cup – better even than the World Cup, Arbeloa says. In the meantime, Liverpool missed out on an opportunity of their own: in two decades, the league had never been closer, not even in 2009 when Macheda got in the way. Reward came with a return to the Champions League.

“I don’t think anyone expected it,” Arbeloa admits. “Liverpool played with a very attacking style and surprised us all. Luis Suárez had an incredible season scoring 31 goals and how many assists? They still have [Daniel] Sturridge and [Raheem] Sterling but Luis Suárez is Luis Suárez and you can still see the gap. [Brendan] Rodgers will have to find a way. I think he will.”

Arbeloa has watched them on TV; on Wednesday he will see Liverpool in the flesh. There are few of his team-mates left – “only Lucas, who I have the most contact with, Steven [Gerrard] and Martin Skrtel” – but when he walks in the surroundings will be familiar. Very different to the Bernabéu with its NBA-style lockers, giant player portraits and huge, state-of-the-art facilities. “You get changed at Anfield and you have one little hook for your shirt, your trousers, your jacket, everything” Arbeloa says, laughing. “There’s no space, especially in winter when you’re wearing a big coat. It’s very, very small. You’re squashed in but that’s the tradition and the values the club transmits. There’s no luxury and maybe that helps maintain the connection between players and supporters. It has its charm.

“Then you leave the dressing room and see ‘This is Anfield’. That sign’s the incarnation of a spirit, a way of preparing yourself as you head on to the pitch. I would reach up and touch it before every game – and I’ll do the same on Wednesday night.”



http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/20/alvaro-arbeloa-liverpool-real-madrid-champions-league

All our top European nights at Anfield have been a "Get straight at them and pen them back right from the first whistle"
Its the only way to get a hold on the game with the top continental teams...
Put them under pressure...
Force a few early corners
Test their goalkeeper early doors
Give the ball to Sterling who should be given a free role to roam where he wants.
Keep the back 4 on a high line and push up..
Rack up the volume of the Kop..

If we sit back and fanny about playing suicide passes back to Minoglet and across the back THEY will put us under pressure and the last thing we need right now is to get over run and give ourselves a mountain to climb by half time.

As well as being very skilful Real are solid in the midfield tackle so we need to be like lightning not only in the tackle but to the second ball..

Make no bones Real Madrid are very good and as we know they're scoring goals for a laugh these days and generally taking the piss but if Brendan and Stevie can put some fire in our players belly's there's no reason why we can't come away with the home win we need to help get us out of this group...

Mignolet

Johnson
Skrtel
Lovren
Moreno

Henderson
Gerrard (c)
Allen

Sterling
Balotelli
Lallana

Subs: Jones; Toure, Enrique; Lucas, Can; Coutinho; Lambert.

Can't wait to watch this, hopefully it's a cracker.

2-1 to us, Balo and Gerrard scoring and Benzema for them.

YNWA 

I know i am a pessimist on the forums and in general about Rodgers, but i'm convinced that the lads will make up for the letdowns in this season and will make a fantastic game against Real that will lit up our season.

Mario to score a wondergoal !