Pre-match: Lille vs. Liverpool - 11/3, 18:00 (Europa League)

I'm basing my first XI on nothing but passion:

                   Reina

Kelly       Sotis      Agger      Johnson

        Mascherano  Aquilani

 Yossi         Pacheco          Babel

                  Torres

Gerrard and Carra dropped and rotting in the reserves. They are not ambassadors of this club if they think arsing about and using their 'local boy' status is enough to keep them.

Yossi is injured Crouchy

Yossi is injured Crouchy

Got a text alert that said that too... but also says Agger is back in contention.

Neither can i as much as lucas has improved i would rather have stevie on one foot than lucas not getting at the lad its not his fault but if we have any ambitions to rise to the top again then we will need a more skillfull player than that in the middle.

I cant believe people are throwing Lucas on the team sheet ahead of Gerrard..

Surely it goes beyond blind faith and rose tinted glasses and all that, must be a pure piss take. It seems Lucas has a group of fans  on this forum who will tirelessly defend him at all costs no matter what, and only these people can actually see the supposed quality he brings on the park week in and week out. Whilst the rest of the reds fans and the football world are a misreable shower of b's who want him to fail.

Anyways back on topic I would start with the following team;

                           Pepe
 Carragher         Agger      Sotis      Insua

  Babel           Gerrard Masch         Riera

                      Aquilani

                    Torres

I think we could come away with a sneaky away goal here, none other than by Gerrard.

Come on you reds!

I'm basing my first XI on nothing but passion:

                   Reina

Kelly       Sotis      Agger      Johnson

        Mascherano  Aquilani

 Yossi         Pacheco          Babel

                  Torres

Gerrard and Carra dropped and rotting in the reserves. They are not ambassadors of this club if they think arsing about and using their 'local boy' status is enough to keep them.

Probably wouldn't play Johnson at left back, but otherwise seems good. I'd be aiming at:

                   Reina

Johnson       Sotis      Agger      Insua

           Mascherano  Aquilani

 Yossi/Riera                             Babel

            Torres      Pacheco

Almost the same players as you have, but I think Torres needs direct support up front rather than someone pushing in from behind. I would also hope in this system, that Aquilani pushes into the space between Yossi and Babel and fills out a creative role. Then I'd go for 1:1/1:0 to us and play similarly in the 2nd leg as I think we're not capable of much more at the moment. (Not nagging just considering the facts )

Edit 1: I would also be considering, replacing Johnson with Kelly...

Having just read a few of the recent posts i cannot believe the sh*t being aimed at Stevie, rot in the reserves get fcking real  ,he cares all right and anyone who thinks not wants their head examined.

I'm basing my first XI on nothing but passion:

                   Reina

Kelly       Sotis      Agger      Johnson

        Mascherano  Aquilani

 Yossi         Pacheco          Babel

                  Torres

Gerrard and Carra dropped and rotting in the reserves. They are not ambassadors of this club if they think arsing about and using their 'local boy' status is enough to keep them.

Behave lad.
Oh yeah, don't be expecting miracles, we will take a 2-1 defeat here trust me, Lille are a nice side, champions legaue bound I reckon next season despite being 6th atm.

Hope to see Aquilani today.

Me too, desperately.

Can't wait for this now. And it's only early kick off too so I finish work and get straight home for the footy.

Bit of info:

A week before the return leg at Anfield, Rudi Garcia’s side – the top scorers in Ligue 1 this season – will be desperate to gain the upper hand on home soil as they look to qualify for the quarter-finals of a European competition for the first time in the club’s history.

Winless in their last two league outings, Lille are without the services of top scorer Gervinho (knee) and Brazilian striker Tulio De Melo (knee) as well as regular right-back Mathieu Debuchy (ribs), while January defensive signing Ricardo Costa is not qualified.

However Garcia can count on in form Belgian teenager Eden Hazard as well as his immovable three-man midfield comprising captain Rio Mavuba, Florent Balmont and Yohan Cabaye

I'm basing my first XI on nothing but passion:

                   Reina

Kelly       Sotis      Agger      Johnson

        Mascherano  Aquilani

 Yossi         Pacheco          Babel

                  Torres

Gerrard and Carra dropped and rotting in the reserves. They are not ambassadors of this club if they think arsing about and using their 'local boy' status is enough to keep them.

About a month or two ago... who would have thought Babel would figure in a starting XI based purely on passion  

Good lineup, would also like to see Carra and Gerrard dropped. If it happened their reaction in the next game would be very interesting. If Yossi is injured I would throw Maxi in instead, ups just remembered he is cup tied. Then Riera on the left and Babel on the right. Optionally Johnson could be played on the right wing if he is fit enough.

Thank's for your welcome  It will be a good match, we hope to do something versus Liv but Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt 
Our group for this match:
Aubameyang Pierre-Emerick
Balmont Florent
Béria Franck
Butelle Ludovic
Cabaye Yohan
Chedjou Aurélien
Dumont Stéphane
Emerson
Frau Pierre-Alain
Hazard Eden
Landreau Mickaël
Mavuba Rio
Obraniak Ludovic
Rami Adil
Souaré Pape
Souquet Arnaud
Touré Larsen
Vandam Jerry

                    Reina

             Agger      Carra    
Riera                              Johnson

   Aquilani
                Mascherano
                                  Gerrard

        Benayoun         Babel

                  Torres

the idea is simple really.

1. make passes count then move
2. riera and johnson are wing backs
3. 3/4 arriving or in the box for the wing crosses
  3(b) wing back retreat to defensive postions immediately after delivery into the box
4. aquilani distributing onto advancing wing backs or incisively into 3! strikers or laying off to a marauding gerrard
5. mascherano first line of counter attack defence mopped up by sotis and carra

this really cant go wrong and can cope with whatever defensive setup Lille choose. If they close up the central channel we play the wings to split them open and if they are expecting wing attacks we hit them through the middle, really the only question is wil Torres be scoring with his head (and have the commentator salivating at the thought) or with his feet.

NB carra and sotis can help a lot by learning from pepe's distribution from the back, either that or just let the ball run through to pepe and let him choose an appropriate defensive distribution

lets call this the christmas formation coz if they employ it properly it will feel like christmas when torres and gerrard are both looking for hat tricks on the night!!!!

Just want the lads who are picked to try their hardest, no more of that apathetic rubbish from Monday please.  Come out fighting and show a lot of pride and passion.  That shouldn't be too much to ask for should it?

Come on red men 

Gone for 1-0 to us.

And 6pm kickoff?  Better leave work a bit early for that.  Crossing my fingers that the viccy line isn't screwed up to night.

Im not liking these early kick offs, I hope I get home in time for the start, if not im not going to be happy.

might have already been said but i think this may do us some good this game.

In the league at the moment were playing 'must win' games which much cause sh*t loads of tension, pressure and stress.

The europa league games may be a chance to go back to basics, get the ball on the deck, knock it about, win a few games and build abit of confidence.

I no very little about Lille but the french league isn't as strong as the premiership and i imagine Lille would be a mid-table side or so if they were to compete in the prem. I've said it too many times this season and have been left disappointed, but i think Liverpool should pick 2 wins out of 2 against Lille. Im going for a 2-0 win tonight, a double from Stevie G to silence the critics.

                    Reina

             Agger      Carra     
Riera                              Johnson

   Aquilani
                Mascherano
                                  Gerrard

        Benayoun         Babel

                  Torres

the idea is simple really.

1. make passes count then move
2. riera and johnson are wing backs
3. 3/4 arriving or in the box for the wing crosses
  3(b) wing back retreat to defensive postions immediately after delivery into the box
4. aquilani distributing onto advancing wing backs or incisively into 3! strikers or laying off to a marauding gerrard
5. mascherano first line of counter attack defence mopped up by sotis and carra

this really cant go wrong and can cope with whatever defensive setup Lille choose. If they close up the central channel we play the wings to split them open and if they are expecting wing attacks we hit them through the middle, really the only question is wil Torres be scoring with his head (and have the commentator salivating at the thought) or with his feet.

NB carra and sotis can help a lot by learning from pepe's distribution from the back, either that or just let the ball run through to pepe and let him choose an appropriate defensive distribution

lets call this the christmas formation coz if they employ it properly it will feel like christmas when torres and gerrard are both looking for hat tricks on the night!!!!

actually i think i would rather have babel and benayoun switched over that was a mistake there really

actually I think I would rather have babel and benayoun switched over that was a mistake there really

I thought his putting Riera on the right and johnson on the left was a weird one too. Unless he expects the full backs to cut inside and shoot from range. Range as in 70 yards.

Aquilani behind Mascherano was also an odd one and i have no idea where Gerrard is playing . Left mid?

He might be good on championship manager this chap but i think his team in real life would get dicked 5-0 .

                    Reina

             Agger      Carra     
Riera                              Johnson

   Aquilani
                Mascherano
                                  Gerrard

        Benayoun         Babel

                  Torres

the idea is simple really.

1. make passes count then move
2. riera and johnson are wing backs
3. 3/4 arriving or in the box for the wing crosses
  3(b) wing back retreat to defensive postions immediately after delivery into the box
4. aquilani distributing onto advancing wing backs or incisively into 3! strikers or laying off to a marauding gerrard
5. mascherano first line of counter attack defence mopped up by sotis and carra

this really cant go wrong and can cope with whatever defensive setup Lille choose. If they close up the central channel we play the wings to split them open and if they are expecting wing attacks we hit them through the middle, really the only question is wil Torres be scoring with his head (and have the commentator salivating at the thought) or with his feet.

NB carra and sotis can help a lot by learning from pepe's distribution from the back, either that or just let the ball run through to pepe and let him choose an appropriate defensive distribution

lets call this the christmas formation coz if they employ it properly it will feel like christmas when torres and gerrard are both looking for hat tricks on the night!!!!

The idea is simple alright. Confuse both players and opponents with a crazy team

The idea is simple alright. Confuse both players and opponents with a crazy team

crazy because we would be all about attack and realise that with our zonal marking that at least we have a chance of scoring more than we lose this way. i dont see how its in the slightest bit crazy, i think all the team lineups i have seen for a long time have been crazy although i must admit a few looked promising (not the wigan one) before becoming clear that any attacking lineup was actually instructed to be cautious and defensive against the grain.

i miss the type of setup that made liverpool seek out rafa in the first place. he actually still had his cautious approach covered but with a lot of pressure and attack applied for sustained periods.

we need a set of balls and a lot of attacking prowess

actually I think I would rather have babel and benayoun switched over that was a mistake there really

Doesn't matter, Yossi is out injured.

Doesn't matter, Yossi is out injured.

has he already failed his late fitness test then?

crazy because we would be all about attack and realise that with our zonal marking that at least we have a chance of scoring more than we lose this way. I dont see how its in the slightest bit crazy, I think all the team lineups I have seen for a long time have been crazy although I must admit a few looked promising (not the wigan one) before becoming clear that any attacking lineup was actually instructed to be cautious and defensive against the grain.

I miss the type of setup that made liverpool seek out rafa in the first place. he actually still had his cautious approach covered but with a lot of pressure and attack applied for sustained periods.

we need a set of balls and a lot of attacking prowess

We can achieve the attacking prowess by having attacking full backs(Johnson and Aurelio) A playmaker (Aquilani)
width(Babel and Reira/Pacheco) and the best attacking duo in the world (Gerrard and Torres).

We can achieve the attacking prowess by having attacking full backs(Johnson and Aurelio) A playmaker (Aquilani)
width(Babel and Reira/Pacheco) and the best attacking duo in the world (Gerrard and Torres).

so basically ur in agreement with the team setup i put then (apart from aurelio being out injured unfortunately as i would have him in there if he was available)

has he already failed his late fitness test then?

He has'nt even travelled.

Meanwhile, Liverpool will be without Yossi Benayoun for their match in the Stadium Lille-Metropole, after the midfielder missed the flight as a result of the ankle injury he sustained at Wigan.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/rafa-and-glen-on-lille-test