Hearts 0:1 Liverpool in game & post match discussion.

Only caught the game from the start of the second half. Was quite impressed with the way the lads played. Some of the youngsters seemed to be doing themselves justice, e.g. Sterling, Robinson. Disappointed, once again, with the performance of Charlie Adam but I have come to expect that.

This competition will be great for blooding youngsters. Would have been great to see Morgan given at least 10 minutes on the pitch but he barely had a touch of the ball. However, I am sure he will get his chance. On Borini, goals will come. His work-rate is excellent and positioning is also very good. I will never see him as a major goal scorer and I know we didn't have Suarez or Carroll but, and nothing against Borini, tonight highlighted even more to me that we need a goalscorer.

Hearts gave themselves some justice by playing reasonably well. However, I fully expect us to play reasonably comfortably next week and get a win. Either way, a 1-0 away win is good against any team in Europe but to do it with a few youngsters was great to see.

I was delighted to hear Carra and Fowler talking post-match and praising the abilities of the likes of Morgan and Kelly, who played an excellent ball in for the goal.

A Great post Semple lad sums the night up perfectly, I was going to post the highlighted portion of your post but thought I'd credit the author instead !

Borini is a joke when you consider that good money has been paid for him and Carroll isn't even started. Rodgers is scaring the hell out of me.

He's played what 3 games? Already scored his first goal and could have had a couple today if it wasn't for some dodgy linesman.

1-0 away win. Typical Liverpool European away day. Now to hammer them at Anfield

A win away in Europe is a good outcome no matter how it came about.

Gonna head out so that the bellyachers and moaners and groaners can have some bandwidth to complain about how horrible we were.

Don't know if it's been mentioned in here but what was the reason for the 6 fingers from the Hearts fans ?

Borini looks like just what we need imo. Stood on the shoulder of the last defender, has pace and gets in the right positions to cause problems. Unlucky not to score but played a part in the goal.

Others will dissect the game to the n'th degree so I'll just give a passing comment that hit me tonight after watching the baggies game and this game.

We appear (based on two games I know) to be a side that will come together. I base this on confidence, we went drastically downhill after Daggers sending off and our play suffered as a result and tonight our play improved drastically after the goal. I think once we start getting goals we'll end up on a massive lift and will put the shits up everyone.

I'll leave those of you with a more positive outlook as regards our future to wish it to be true. The rest of you can gloat in the misery of our negative points.

Don't know if it's been mentioned in here but what was the reason for the 6 fingers from the Hearts fans ?

Hearts beat their rivals Hibs 5-1 in the Scottish cup final last year mate. 5 fingers on one hand and 1 on the other, just reminding them of the score!

Hearts beat their rivals Hibs 5-1 in the Scottish cup final last year mate. 5 fingers on one hand and 1 on the other, just reminding them of the score!

That was tragic, Hibs are my favorite Scottish side! haha

A Great post Semple lad sums the night up perfectly, I was going to post the highlighted portion of your post but thought I'd credit the author instead !

Thanks mate, I do try.

Let me add, on wards and upwards Kopites. We have a game to look forward to on Sunday and then the Scots come to get played on Thursday

Brendan Rodgers' faith in fresh faces shows Liverpool lack class
Nuri Sahin's impending arrival at Anfield is key for a manager lacking in talent – as seen by Liverpool's narrow win at Hearts

It was a risk worth taking and a point worth making. Brendan Rodgers was accused of an affront to Scottish football and the Europa League with his team selection against Heart of Midlothian but it also showed his employers at Liverpool the stretch on his resources to make the group stage of European football's poor relation, never mind the promised land of the Champions League.

Tom Werner was present at Tynecastle to witness Rodgers' team secure a slender but valuable away win and the manager must hope the arrival of the Liverpool chairman on British soil signifies the start of a productive spell in the transfer market. Better late than never. The early indications suggest this is indeed the case, with Nuri Sahin on the brink of a season-long loan move to Anfield from Real Madrid despite Arsenal's prolonged pursuit of the Turkey international. Sahin may undergo a medical on Merseyside on Friday as Rodgers desperately seeks to improve the technical ability of Liverpool's midfield.

For the first leg of the Europa League play-off Rodgers' favoured a three-man central midfield featuring players who could be elsewhere when the transfer window closes, or would be if the manager could afford to reduce the squad further and those players were prepared to leave. Jonjo Shelvey was offered to Swansea City in Liverpool's first offer for Joe Allen, Bolton Wanderers want Jay Spearing and Liverpool are open to £5m bids for Charlie Adam. Rodgers had hoped to start with Andy Carroll in attack for the first time this season but the centre-forward, another who he had hoped to sell to swell his transfer budget, was unavailable after reporting a hamstring problem on the eve of the game.

As a former Rangers midfielder Adams received a predictably hostile reception from the Hearts supporters every time he touched the ball. There must have been occasions when Rodgers was tempted to join in. His demand for possession football and intelligent passing, evident in spells at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday prior to the second-half collapse, was again lost on many of those charged with the responsibility.

Adam was by no means the worst offender. Shelvey sprayed some dreadful long-range passes out of play, dangerously across his own defence or straight to a Hearts player when a shorter and simpler option was available. Spearing was also careless on occasion in front of the Liverpool defence, Jordan Henderson remained on the periphery and the instruction to play out of defence even under pressure caused similar problems to The Hawthorns. As Rodgers has said repeatedly, the development of a new team structure and style will take time. He is also aware that time is a commodity managers rarely receive, particularly in a demanding environment like Liverpool, but at least there was no added burden in the Europa League thanks to Andy Webster's own goal.

The work-rate could not be faulted and there was satisfaction on offer to Rodgers in the contributions of Raheem Sterling and Jack Robinson on the left. Fabio Borini's link-up play, though not his finishing, with the Italian striker hitting the post when sent clean through by Sterling, also impressed in the central role vacated by Carroll. Liverpool need young players to emerge more than ever this season as senior players leave to reduce the wage bill. The performance from Sterling, who gained in confidence and composure as the game wore on, provided hope in that regard.

Given the problems in Scottish football and the paucity of the resources available to the Hearts manager, John McGlynn, it may sound rich of Rodgers to publicly wish for further signings or to question Liverpool's spending after a £120m outlay in 2011. As the banner in the Liverpool end lamented: "Against Mod£rn Football". But this is a manager and a club under pressure to return to the Champions League and aiming to change its recent direction, style and personnel for £20m, plus monies raised from player sales. It is some ask.

Rodgers can hope only for rapid development on and off the pitch in the coming days. On Sunday he faces Manchester City in his first Premier League game at Anfield as Liverpool manager and fresh on the back of the 3-0 defeat at Albion. Hence the decision to leave Luis Suárez, Steven Gerrard, Martin Skrtel and Glen Johnson behind on Merseyside and to start with a team containing four players likely to start on Sunday – Jose Reina, Jamie Carragher, Martin Kelly and Borini.

Whether the impending arrival of Sahin prompts a flurry of signings is likely to depend on off-loading others but there has been an absence of suitable offers so far for Carroll, Adam and Daniel Agger. It was striking that, when speaking of his confidence that Agger will remain at Liverpool despite Manchester City's advances, Rodgers should say; "Like every player in the group, if someone comes in with a big offer then that might be out of my hands in relation to the club and where it is at with finances."

It was only a few months ago that Werner proclaimed Liverpool had the resources to compete with any club in the world

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/aug/23/liverpool-nuri-sahin-hearts-europa-league

We were piss poor first half, did much better second half once Hearts has run themselves out. We won so lets all pretend we are blind and just move on.

It was ugly and totally disjointed. Totally let down by a severe lack of intelligence and awareness in midfield. Thought Adam was the best of the midfielders but that wasn't saying much. Henderson, Spearing and especially Shelvey were bloody awful. Our defence, particularly our full backs, were NOT following the plan. There were too many aimless long balls played forward to an absolutely helpless Borini. It will take a long time for Brendan to implement and get rid of these bad habits, but I think you'll find that many of these players will not be Liverpool players in the long run if that's what they conjure up. Spearing and Henderson should have a lot to worry about. This was their chance to impress and they failed miserably.

On the plus side Sterling provided more evidence to show that he is the man not just for the future but for the present.

We were piss poor first half, did much better second half once Hearts has run themselves out. We won so lets all pretend we are blind and just move on.

I know where you are coming from. If we had drawn, I wouldn't have been as happy. Needs to be remembered we played a few youngsters and a few bit-part players. It was by no means our starting XI. Don't worry s@int, we will get their.

A win is a win is a win. 

I'm a little concerned by Liverpool's insistence at playing the one way though.  Almost every time Reina now has to roll out the ball.  So predictable.  Let's mix it up a little bit.  Let's keep the opposition defenders a bit on their toes when he has the ball.

Adam disappointed me again as did Downing, although that is hardly a surprise.

Promising from Sterling, and I'll say something for Borini - at least he is getting himself in positions.  Last thing that lad needs is fans 'doing a Lucas' on him.

All three of our away performances so far have been below average performance wise but we have got the result on two of those occasions.  Let's hope we put in another decent performance at Anfield this weekend.

I am no big fan of Downing but I don't think he did an awful lot wrong. He came on at left-back, out of position and linked well with Sterling. He also defended soundly as well.

Win and a clean sheet.
Lovely.
Sterling deserving of a permanent squad place.

Don't agree? Want Downing and Cole?
Get the F**k out of here.

Well done kidda.
Hopefully Morgan can see some more time too.

First thing Rogers said was that it was going to take time for things to get better. We have played what 2 competitive games? I didnt watch the West Brom game but this was a completely different side yet we have people complaining because some players dont seem to be up to par. Half the people say so and so played the best game of their careers and the other half say the same player was sh*t. No one knows wtf they are talking about (including myself). Lets get some games with this new squad under our belts and then we can start to begin to think about complaining about our players.

A win is a win is a win. 

I'm a little concerned by Liverpool's insistence at playing the one way though.  Almost every time Reina now has to roll out the ball.  So predictable.  Let's mix it up a little bit.  Let's keep the opposition defenders a bit on their toes when he has the ball.

Adam disappointed me again as did Downing, although that is hardly a surprise.

Promising from Sterling, and I'll say something for Borini - at least he is getting himself in positions.  Last thing that lad needs is fans 'doing a Lucas' on him.

All three of our away performances so far have been below average performance wise but we have got the result on two of those occasions.  Let's hope we put in another decent performance at Anfield this weekend.

When we did punt it long we were f**king awful. True we weren't much better on the floor but in the air it was awful.

A win and a clean sheet. We won ugly rather than lost pretty.

There was only a few positives regarding individual performances, with more negatives to be honest, but more importantly they done the job collectively.

A win is a win is a win. 

I'm a little concerned by Liverpool's insistence at playing the one way though.  Almost every time Reina now has to roll out the ball.  So predictable.  Let's mix it up a little bit.  Let's keep the opposition defenders a bit on their toes when he has the ball.

Adam disappointed me again as did Downing, although that is hardly a surprise.

Promising from Sterling, and I'll say something for Borini - at least he is getting himself in positions.  Last thing that lad needs is fans 'doing a Lucas' on him.

All three of our away performances so far have been below average performance wise but we have got the result on two of those occasions.  Let's hope we put in another decent performance at Anfield this weekend.

To be fair, Downing was playing in the left back role. Thought he did well there considering.

Our midfield for the majority of tonight was non existent. Allen did well and changed the game for us when he came on.

Reina -8 did what little was asked of him well

Kelly - 7 made the goal but not at his best

Robinson -7 Thought he supported Stirling well and had a solid game against a tricky player.

Agger - 6 not at his best

Carra -6 think the criticism of him was a little harsh

Henderson -6 invisible for much of the game, played a couple of excellent through balls.

Adam - 7 probably our best midfield player on the night (until Allen came on) but still not good enough on this performance to challenge for a place in the team for Sunday.

Spearing - 5 not a great game by Jay, but Hearts didn't make it easy for him.

Shelvey - 5 probably our worst player on the night, hardly anything went right for him. Even when he made a great pass Borini was wrongly called offside.

Sterling -8 Excellent performance, but lack of other outlets meant he was overused and consequently heavily marked. M.O.T.M.

Borini -7  Did much better than against West Brom, worked hard and got in some good positions. Missed the easiest chance of the night when we hit the post.

I think only perhaps Sterling made enough of an impact tonight to affect his role at the club. Deserves a position on the bench and thinking of the alternatives probably a position in the team

Only caught the game from the start of the second half. Was quite impressed with the way the lads played. Some of the youngsters seemed to be doing themselves justice, e.g. Sterling, Robinson. Disappointed, once again, with the performance of Charlie Adam but I have come to expect that.

This competition will be great for blooding youngsters. Would have been great to see Morgan given at least 10 minutes on the pitch but he barely had a touch of the ball. However, I am sure he will get his chance. On Borini, goals will come. His work-rate is excellent and positioning is also very good. I will never see him as a major goal scorer and I know we didn't have Suarez or Carroll but, and nothing against Borini, tonight highlighted even more to me that we need a goalscorer.

Performance was as expected with so many players sat at home on the sofa, rather than earning their weekly 50-70k on the pitch and getting the weekend result out of their system. We got the job done, no more no less, and should add a few more goals to it next week.

Obvously the group phase will be significantly tougher than what we've faced so far, so we'll probably need to send out decent teams and give the competition the respect it deserves. It's a competition we've won 3 times, so it's something we should take seriously.