Liverpool FC - The Reserves Thread

chhers for the report Graham. I think our future looks really really brigh. We have some top young players there and our first team is young enough too

Just watching the repeat now, didn't catch it lastnight!

35 minutes in, they've played well upto now!

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N157989071210-1446.htm

Gary Ablett's reserves take on Middlesbrough at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington tonight knowing a victory would see them top the table going into 2008. 
This is the final reserve game of 2007 for the Reds, and for Ablett the prospect of seeing his team leading the way in the Barclays Premier Reserves League North would make the ideal early Christmas present.
 
"This is our last game before Christmas and if we win we will go top of the table so there is everything to play for," he said.
 
"Middlesbrough also know they will go top if they win so it's a game we are really looking forward to. It would be a fantastic confidence booster though for the lads to go top of the table.
 
"Our main job is always player development but we want to win every game we play and we always tell the lads that."
 
At the start of the season Liverpool drew 1-1 with the Teesiders in a controversial encounter at the Riverside Stadium, when Boro' striker Tom Craddock scored with a Diego Maradona style punch into the back of the net.
 
"That was disappointing to concede a goal like that but it was a good game which could have gone either way in the end," added Ablett.
 
Meanwhile Ablett's squad is boosted tonight by the return of striker Craig Lindfield who is now back at Melwood after his loan spell with Notts County.
 
"Craig has had a good month at County and he scored on his debut for them against Accrington Stanley," said the Reds coach. "He always works his socks off for the team and he has a great attitude."
 
In Lindfield's absence Hungarian striker Krisztian Nemeth has certainly made a name for himself and he has scored four goals in two games for the second string since returning from injury.
 
Ablett, however, has warned people not to get too carried away by the start the former MTK Hungaria ace has made.
 
"Krisztian is in fantastic form. In time we believe he will be a very good player but it's important to give him time and not get too carried away.
"He missed the first 11 weeks of the season through injury and he is still settling into life in a new country and learning a new language. He has done very well since he has come into the side and we hope he can do well again for us against Middlesbrough."
 
Unfortunately Nemeth's countryman Andras Simon hasn't had the chance to show his quality yet due to injury and his long awaited debut is on hold until the new year.
 
"Andras has a dislocated shoulder which is similar to the one Momo Sissoko did at Birmingham last season, and he is still about six to eight weeks away from returning," revealed Ablett.
 
"He actually came on trial with us last season and did very well. We then signed him in the summer and he played very well in pre-season. Unfortunately he then picked up his injury playing for Hungary Under-19s. Like Krisztian we think in time he could be a good player for us."
 
Remember, as always this match is being shown live on LFC TV which can also be watched online. Our coverage starts at 6.45pm GMT and kick-off is 7pm.


Should be a decent game this. For anyone wanting to go, we're playing at home - Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington. £5 Adults, £2 Concessions.

Nice to hear Lindfield is back and hopefully he will take some part tonight. Will be good to see how Nemeth gets on again too. Hopefully he can get another couple of goals and stick our reserves at the top of the league going into next year.

Come on you reds.
 
 

Let's hope the boys can do the business tonight eh Kenny.....are you going?

Show the first team how it's done

Good luck tonight Gary and the lads......and nice early Christmas present for them

Yeah, I'll probably go. Only a half hour drive at the most. And I'm sure I can drag myself away from the girls of Hollyoakes for one night!! 

Good Liverpool fix before the big one tomorrow!

Looking forward to watching this on telly. Top of the table clash. Looking forward to seeing Nemeth again and hopefully the lads can get the week of to a good start ahead of tomorrows game

Nemeth just missed a great chance.

Final score 4-0, two from Spearing and one apiece for Huth & once again Nemeth.
 
MOM has to be Spearing for me, not just for his goals he was everywhere tonight. When that unthinkable day comes that Gerrard hangs up his boots we could well have the ideal replacement in this lad, and next to him Plessis is starting to remind me of Alonso.
 
Special mentions to Nemeth, Leto & Insua, most of the lads had a great game but these three & Spearing were the standout performances for me.
 

Here's tonights report from the offical site

Liverpool Reserves surged to the top of the Barclays Premier Reserve League North after they produced a superb example of attacking football against high-flying Middlesbrough at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Monday. 
Goals from Ronald Huth, Krisztian Nemeth and a double from Jay Spearing secured a convincing 4-0 win over the North-East outfit to ensure Gary Ablett's men edged two points clear of leaders Sunderland going into the Christmas break.
 
The Reds were the superior side throughout the 90 minutes and should have taken the lead as early as the second minute, but Nemeth's impish lob from 25-yards flew inches over.
 
The Hungarian hot-shot had hit four goals in two reserve outings prior to the match, but his goal touch deserted him again five minutes later, when he followed up his moment of creative genius with a woeful finish from six yards out.
 
It was a huge let off for the visitors and they went on to have their best chance of the match on 13 minutes when Stephen Thompson sent a looping header just over David Martin's crossbar.
 
It was a rare scare for the Liverpool keeper and proved to be as good as it got for Boro, as the Reds took control of the proceedings on 17 minutes.
 
A corner from the right was touched into the path of Ronald Huth who showed great composure to rifle the ball into the roof of the net to give Gary Ablett's men the lead on 17 minutes.
 
It seemed to knock the confidence out of the away side and the Reds should have doubled their lead within minutes but both Sebastian Leto and Krisztian Nemeth were brilliantly denied by Matthew Atkinson in the Middlesbrough goal.
 
The North-East outfit were struggling to deal with the pace and movement of the Reds' forward line and they were again grateful to their keeper when he kept out Jay Spearing after a sublime link-up with Stephen Darby.
 
Only a combination of misfortune and poor finishing prevented Liverpool from extending their advantage going into the interval with Damien Plessis firing a shot inches past the post and Nemeth unlucky not to be awarded a spot-kick after he was hauled down in the area.
 
In great contrast to their first-half display, Boro made a bright start to the second period and Darby was forced to make a magnificent last-ditch tackle to prevent Ben Hutchinson from equalising.
 
It proved to be a telling contribution too, as a moment of magic from Nemeth saw Liverpool double their lead on 52 minutes.
 
The Hungarian hot-shot received a short-free kick from Leto and ghosted past his marker before unleashing a venomous drive from 25-yards out, to claim his fifth goal in three matches.
 
Ablett's side had struggled to convert their dominance into goals before the Hungarian was drafted into the side, but his prolific strike rate must have rubbed off on the rest of his teammates, as the Reds went goal crazy in the remainder of the match.
 
Jay Spearing was the man with the golden touch, taking advantage of a defensive mix-up to curl home the third on 64 minutes, before he bettered it with his second 13 minutes from time.
 
The midfield maestro hit a magnificent 30-yard free-kick that arced over the despairing dive of Atkinson to put the seal on Liverpool's fourth win in five matches.
 
It was a miserable experience for Boro's youngsters, whose night was compounded by the sending off of John Johnson on 69 minutes, after he received a second yellow card for a terrible tackle on Jordy Brouwer.
 
Teams: Liverpool Reserves: Martin, Darby, Insua, San Jose, Huth, Plessis, Spearing, Crowther (Putterill 65), Brouwer, Nemeth (Pacheco 72), Leto (Duran 75). Subs not used: Gulacsi, Ayala
 
Sunderland Reserves: Atkinson, Hines (Harris 51), Cronesberry Bonar 68), Goulon, Johnson, Grounds, Thompson, Arca, Hutchinson, Walker, Owens. Subs not used: Steele, Burton, White.
 
Referee: Mr M Matadar
 
Attendance: 1,168.
 
Liverpoolfc.tv Man of the match: Jay Spearing: Yet another superb display from the diminutive midfielder. Capped his performance with two magnificent goals. 

Good display.I'm starting to like the look of the Team
Good Players and i think a lot of its down to Ablett
Ive been very impressed with
Spearing showing good skill ,fight and has a bit of Stevie G bout him.
Plessis has very good control,passes and tackles and calmness on the ball, a mix between Alonso and Sissoko at his best.
Insua defiantly looks like he will be fighting for a 1st team place next year,good defender and at attacking strong in the tackle and has a good left foot.
Nemeth looks like a great prospect has a great touch,his movement and his ability to turn wit back to goal is very good,has a good eye for goal and a habit of hitting the back of the next so far,and he still has to learn English i think he can only get better.
Roque & Huth look a solid pair,comfortable on the ball,good in the air and can pick a pass

Cracking game. Very good team performance. Although on Boro's display, I can't understand how they were top of the league. Only looked a real threat for the first 15-20 mins.

Spearing is a special player. He may usually be one of the smaller players on the pitch but he more than makes up for that by usually having a big influence on the game. The more the game progressed the more he bossed the midfield. Took both goals very well and his second was influenced by Ablett actually. Was just about to cross it and Gary gave a whisper to have have a crack. Spearing turned round and placed it over the goalies head. Class!!

As I said, a very good team performance. The only thing that bothers me a bit is Brouwer's attitude. He seemed to expect things on a plate, or if he got the ball, he'd want to take the world on. But hopefully he'll brush up on these things. Ablett certainly shouted at him many more times than any other player.

Great to see Huth score. He had a pretty solid game along with San Jose. Nemeth was again very dangerous. He's showing signs of a very good striker.

Plessis looks good every time I see him. Calm head and holds the midfield pretty well. Very one footed though. Not sure if he ever touched the ball with his right foot. That can be worked on though. Was a comedy moment in the first half where he showed pure determination to win the ball back from a corner - great to see!! But he won the ball back with his crown jewells, bless him. He limped off the pitch, with the female physio and then had to limp down a doorway in the empty stand on his own to 'check' if everything was alright. It's not good when that happens on a cold night, trust me! 

Reds reserves top of the league going into next year. Ablett seems like he's doing a great job. Keeps the players focused all the way through the game. I just hope we see a few players breaking into the first team and doing well. There's a lot of good potential.

Good to see the official site knew who we were playing tonight eh Tommo. 

The official site still got one bit wrong though Ken, the Boro player was sent off for a foul on Leto, not Brouwer.
 
I have to say I agree with you about Brouwer's attitude, I mentioned it after the derby & there seems to have been no improvement in this game. The worrying thing is he's at an age now where Agger, Sissoko, Hobbs & Babel have all had their chance in the first team, but he still doesn't look anywhere near breaking through. I hope I'm wrong but I see him being one that falls by the wayside.

The one player who looks ready to me to challenge for a first team place is Insua. You can see how much physically stronger he is compared to most of the opponents he comes up against but hes also an intellegent player. Ive said before here that we have some very talented young players at the club and I hope we keep them and give them a chance

Well done last night lads great result playing good football

I agree Brian that Insua is very talented, the only problem he has is that he's extremely one footed. Last night he had a clear cut goal if he took the shot with his right, but instead tried to bring it onto his left & missed the opportunity. If he can learn to use his weak foot more often we'll have a hell of a player on our hands though.

agreed Eddie he is one footed but there is a certain player who I am not to fond of who plays left back some times who is also one footed but I dont think has as much about him as insua does!

By the way does anybody here think our reserves should be allowed enter the league? Theyd be well able to work there way up from league 3 and could enter the cups. And I for one would be dead happy to get over to Anfield to watch them. And I believe it could also be a starting point for getting locals back to Anfield

Imagine a league tie at Anfield Liverpool V Liverpool b in a frew years time!!

I personally don't think Insua will get many chances in our first before he moves on. Doesn't do it for me... sorry.

Leto on the other hand will get his chances along with Nemeth... who could be a new Fowler for us one day.

on the point of brouwer before he came to us someone from ajax said they were suprised we wanted him because they never thought he would make it but they were also happy for him

on the point of brouwer before he came to us someone from ajax said they were suprised we wanted him because they never thought he would make it but they were also happy for him

Maybe our scouts spotted a quality in him that would be useful in English football and not in Dutch football?

Maybe our scouts spotted a quality in him that would be useful in English football and not in Dutch football?

I read somewhere in the summer that Ajax didn't want him to leave, but his Dad and the boy wanted Anfield pretty badly. He isn't an Ajax "reject".

I read somewhere in the summer that Ajax didn't want him to leave, but his Dad and the boy wanted Anfield pretty badly. He isn't an Ajax "reject".

More than likely! Similar to the Pachecho case with Barcelona! As I've said before, youngsters can't be tied down with contracts and if their minders, parents, etc feel that they'd be better elsewhere, it's upto them!

I see the ability in Bouwer, I just unfortunately don't see the passion or commitment. Maybe he's not so happy in this country after all?

I see the ability in Bouwer, I just unfortunately don't see the passion or commitment. Maybe he's not so happy in this country after all?

Fingers crossed something changes his mind, he looks good enough to make it! I think Nemeth has settled alittle more, especially after the mini-derby! Nice brace to establish yourself can't do much harm!

For me Brouwer just hasnt got it and at his age should be showing alot more then he has been.Doesnt show heart are commitment either that doesnt belong at this club.Maybe if he works alot harder but still i just dont think he has what it takes.Id like to see somone else get a run out in his position as he has got his chance so far and hasnt taken it.