Pre-Season Results - Do they ever mean anything?

Shows us our defensive options are extremely bare

Shows us our defensive options are extremely bare

 It demonstrates it quite graphically mate I agree, but to be honest the gaps have been there for quite a while now. I´ve felt we needed a really top class centre half for two or three seasons TBH, I really think the aquisition of one would see us being a completely different proposition.

 I know some really rate Agger. I don´t particularly but it´s a moot point anyway as he´s barely fit more often than Johnathon Woodgate, not as good either but there you go. Apart from him we are left with Carra who is still our best defender by miles, and Skyrtel and the Greek fella, neither of whom IMHO are good enough for a top team.

 Now I´m not saying I could name you a top class centre half who is available and affordable, but that we need one I´m absolutely certain. I think Cahill would absolutely walk into our team, perhaps Christopher Samba, I like the fella Perea at Athletico Madrid on the couple of times I´ve seen him (like sh*t off a shiny shovel he is) and maybe it´s Dann or someone similar. Whoever it is though, we need to find and sharpish.

 At left back I would go with Jack Robinson as I think he is going to be an absolutely top player. Insua is miles away from being good enough and that isn´t ever going to change.

I think the time to pass judgement will be when the season kicks off in a couple of weeks,if we get away to a good start I dare say nobody will give a sh*t about the pre season results.

PR Results? They should mean something...



In this case, best forgotten.   August 13th is the real world.

As JD said, there seems, this year especially, that there is/has been more interest in pre season results and performances than the Europa league last season.  Quite baffling really for games that mean little.

I'm still firmly in the 'no' side.  Good for fitness etc but in terms of results and beating good opposition, no.  There is not the same level of committment in friendly games and I think only in one game have we played anything resembling our first choice defence. 

August 13 onwards is what matters.  My worry is that plenty have been upset by pre-season so far, so if we don't hit the ground running, people will be on Kenny's back from the start.

"NO". How can anyone judge how we will perform in the season coming when we haven't played a full strength team yet? I'm sure there's a hell of a lot of work going on behind closed door's. New player's,new formation's.Nobody outside the club will know what to expect.Bring it on.

The only thing Pre-season has shown so far is that we still have defensive problems to sort out. Thankfully Poulsen won't play too many games this season, and I'm sure Kenny will have the lads sorted when we play Sunderland.
No need to panic IMO.

Problem with friendlies is that they aren't competitive games.

No doubt in my mind that players play within themselves, and quite a lot of players are also aware they are about to be sold/loaned out etc.

The vast majority of the older generation of fans will be amazed that so many people seem to be placing such weight on these results.

The first result that matters is against Sunderland at home, until then we can get as optimistic or pessimistic as we want.  Doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

Yes they do mean something, to me at least. I get pissed off any time I see Liverpool lose, whether that be against some no mark side in the middle of the Swiss mountains, on the opening day of the season or the final of the European Cup - a defeat hurts me as a fan.

Whatever it might mean, I just think if a good pre season equates to a good season, and a bad pre season equates to a bad season......so far,  we are foocked.

Just to put into context...

The scum beat Barca (sans  Messi ) last night in a U.S. tournament.
Little Judas Mickey O scored one.



.....and we are just bullshitting ourselves saying "Oh well. Its not important".

Thats bollocks.



Grimsby?  Hull ? Yeh. Home of the Cod.

The latter part of pre season friendly matters for the team. It's usually an indication on how well the players have settled into the formation and tactics.. and we'll get an idea on what play style we'll be expecting from the team.

But, I don't think the results matter as such, I'd rather we lose and play well than win and play badly.

I think the next few friendlies will have more of a baring on the Sunderland game than anything played so far . Tomorrow and the Valencia games will show us where we are at I reckon . Think we will see who will be starting against Sunderland more or less in the coming games. If we are kack then ,well you can start to worry .

 I´m a touch worried now if I´m perfectly honest. Not that I think we are as Igor puts it "kack" because we aren´t, but I think the friendlies so far show that as a unit we are some way off being ready to rumble. I really think it is going to be very difficult for us to get into the top four this season, and I think it is absolutely crucial that we ready from game one. Sunderland at Home is a very winnable opening fixture, and we really want to be ready to rock and roll on that day.

 I´ve no doubt that after a few weeks our quality will show through, but in a season where four teams will be harbouring beliefs that they have a chance of winning the title (Both manc clubs, Arsenal and Chelsea)* it is likely that at least a couple of them will come out the blocks very quickly indeed. We really don´t want to be in a situation where we are eighth after ten matches and seven points off of fourth. We might not get it back, and we need to start quick. I´m c ertain of that much.  

 * I think only three teams have a chance myself. Arsenal can´t win it.

It would be interesting to see the stats on teams that have won the PL and how they played in their preseasons ,Manure Chelsea Arsenal ,even ourselves in 08/09 season we were runners up how did we do in our preseason that year.?

http://www.anfield-online.co.uk/fixtures/2009/friendlies/
We played very well that preseason make of it what ye like , so far our preseason does not bode well for the season ahead.

From what I've seen of pre season, I just feel there's no real cohesion , fluidity in passing and composure unless Aquilani is playing :/

The results maybe do not matter but team patterns, fluency and movement do matter and so far we have not shown any.

Do we expext to hit the ground running when our 1st 11 with the exception of Suarez havent played a game together yet.

From what I have seen the Mancs and Chelsea have both been putting out the majority of their 1st 11 or at least their bench players and I expect both these teams to be challenging for honours.

Its the lack of everything that worries me at the moment.

Dirk Kuyt says Liverpool FC have plenty of time to address their pre-season problems

DIRK KUYT insists Liverpool still have time to put things right ahead of their Premier League opener against Sunderland at Anfield.

The Reds were held to a 3-3 draw by Valerenga in Oslo last night and they have now conceded 15 goals in five friendlies.

However, the Dutchman insists there is no reason to panic with just one pre-season game to come against Valencia at Anfield on Saturday before the visit of the Black Cats on August 13.

“We're very disappointed with the result,” Kuyt said.

“We had a really bad start to the game and conceded two goals. They were sharp and aggressive and played very well in the first half.

“I think from 2-0 down we tried to come back into the game and we scored some good goals. We played better in the second half and got ourselves 3-2 up but then gave it away at the end.

“We have to do a little bit more to be ready for the league but we still have time to work on things. We had a good trip to Asia, we've all worked hard and the next step is to put that into the games.

“I'm not concerned as it's still pre-season. If we beat Sunderland in our first game then it's been a good pre-season for us.”

Kuyt believes it's unfair to point the finger at his side's defenders for the glut of goals which Kenny Dalglish's men have conceded.

“We are letting in too many goals but the point is we have to defend like a team,” he added.

“That starts from the front and we need to improve.

“We know we have the ability and we just need to train really hard.

“We have another practise game on Saturday to put things right. I'm sure if we do that a little bit better in the next game then we will be ready for Sunderland.”

Kuyt also paid tribute to the support Liverpool enjoyed inside the Ullevaal Stadium.

“It's amazing how many Liver-pool supporters we have got over here,” Kuyt said. “I've played here before and it's always great to come to Norway.”

Raul Meireles missed the trip due to a bruised foot and Martin Skrtel is still hampered by a calf injury.

Liverpool Echo

It's hard to be optimistic to fix the problems in time to be honest. I think they need time and we should be patient to see the team playing at the expecting standard. Some are off injured and some are new and it's natural to see below par performances. The coaching staff have a tough work to address and fix it in time. We have abilities to cope with and get some results if not ideal and I predict a gradually strong performance on time.

Dirk Kuyt says Liverpool FC have plenty of time to address their pre-season problems

DIRK KUYT insists Liverpool still have time to put things right ahead of their Premier League opener against Sunderland at Anfield.

The Reds were held to a 3-3 draw by Valerenga in Oslo last night and they have now conceded 15 goals in five friendlies.

However, the Dutchman insists there is no reason to panic with just one pre-season game to come against Valencia at Anfield on Saturday before the visit of the Black Cats on August 13.

“We're very disappointed with the result,” Kuyt said.

“We had a really bad start to the game and conceded two goals. They were sharp and aggressive and played very well in the first half.

“I think from 2-0 down we tried to come back into the game and we scored some good goals. We played better in the second half and got ourselves 3-2 up but then gave it away at the end.

“We have to do a little bit more to be ready for the league but we still have time to work on things. We had a good trip to Asia, we've all worked hard and the next step is to put that into the games.

“I'm not concerned as it's still pre-season. If we beat Sunderland in our first game then it's been a good pre-season for us.”

Kuyt believes it's unfair to point the finger at his side's defenders for the glut of goals which Kenny Dalglish's men have conceded.

“We are letting in too many goals but the point is we have to defend like a team,” he added.

“That starts from the front and we need to improve.

“We know we have the ability and we just need to train really hard.

“We have another practise game on Saturday to put things right. I'm sure if we do that a little bit better in the next game then we will be ready for Sunderland.”

Kuyt also paid tribute to the support Liverpool enjoyed inside the Ullevaal Stadium.

“It's amazing how many Liver-pool supporters we have got over here,” Kuyt said. “I've played here before and it's always great to come to Norway.”

Raul Meireles missed the trip due to a bruised foot and Martin Skrtel is still hampered by a calf injury.

Liverpool Echo

It's hard to be optimistic to fix the problems in time to be honest. I think they need time and we should be patient to see the team playing at the expecting standard. Some are off injured and some are new and it's natural to see below par performances. The coaching staff have a tough work to address and fix it in time. We have abilities to cope with and get some results if not ideal and I predict a gradually strong performance on time.

Time is one thing we do not have,the season kicks off in less than 2 weeks,every player who puts on our RED shirt should be breaking their neck to secure a position in the starting eleven.The last thing we need is players who are content to sit on the bench picking up their wages not concerned if they play or not.Winning can be habit forming and from experience I know there is no better feeling in the world than seeing L.F.C. sitting on top of the league.

I don't really look into this pre season results, because it means absolute F**k all.

It's all about the players gaining match fitness and Kenny & co assessing the team.

The business end of things starts in less than 2 weeks, until then I'm all chilled.

It is a bit worrying that we are leaking goals but if you look at the different combinations of CB,s and FB,s that we,ve been using then to me it looks like experimentation from Kenny. He can obviously see that we need to freshen things up in defence. If we can keep Agger fit, then thats going to be a big plus for us. We hav,nt seen alot of Skrtel yet so he is in line to come back. Around the areas of the team we still have lots of players to come back in. Lucas, Miereles, Suarez to name but a few so i,m not to bothered. We had the same problem with abcentees last season cos of the World Cup.
If we get a LB,CB and a new striker i think we,ll be ok.

Tue 05th August 2008
4-1 v Valerenga
Alonso (19) Torres (49) Benayoun (60) NGog (84)