Valerenga 3:3 Liverpool - Pre, in Match and Post Thread.

I've watched him in all the pre season matches he has played so far and I've yet to see him outpace anyone to the ball. That is why I don't believe that stat.

 Probably not much between Adam and Alonso pace wise but Alonso has about 4 times more ability. Adam dithers on the ball to much. Lot of people are going to be disappointed with him this season

I've watched him in all the pre season matches he has played so far and I've yet to see him outpace anyone to the ball. That is why I don't believe that stat.

 Probably not much between Adam and Alonso pace wise but Alonso has about 4 times more ability. Adam dithers on the ball to much. Lot of people are going to be disappointed with him this season

Adam will be alright I think, he can get caught out if the oppo gets someone to stick tight to him and cramp his space BUT he'll get plenty of time on the ball at Anfield where the majority of sides will look to soak up pressure and play on the break.

If you close Adam down he is fu**ed saw it time and time again last season when teams got tight to him, stand off him and he has eye for a pass but even at that I see him delaying the pass way to long.

 He seems to be very slow in lifting his head. Obviously you will get a couple of Hollywood passes off him when given space.

 The thing about yesterday is it exactly what i expected from Adam when we signed him. I'm amazed so many people have him in our starting 11

He will get time on the ball at Anfield because teams that press have to press all over the pitch. It doesn't work if you simply try and press the one player. He'll be fine. He's got a little burst over the first 10-15 yards and is able to get away from players in congested areas, he showed that on several occasions for Blackpool last year. At £6.5 million he was a good piece of business in my eyes.

Don' think he has any burst of pace, watched Scotland versus Ireland recently Keane pulled away from Adam before scoring and Keane is so slow it is unreal.

 If he is anything more than a squad player next season we are in trouble. I saw a lot of teams close us down at Anfield last season if I was an opposition manager I would close down Adam on every opportunity seen him costing Blackpool goals last season against Newcastle and Wigan when he was closed down quickly.

 Other than his set pieces can't see a good player there at all.

I guess it was a 50/50 split among Reds as to whether he was the right player for us. I was glad we signed him and still remain so but we don't have to wait too much longer to see whether he's up to it because he'll be expected to take Stevie's place for the forseeable future.

That disappoints me Scott, in a 4-4-2 with Lucas and Adam in midfield I think we will have a big problem

That disappoints me Scott, in a 4-4-2 with Lucas and Adam in midfield I think we will have a big problem

I don't think he'll play too much in a flat midfield 4 mate, and when he does expect to see Henderson tucked in on the right hand side ready to offer support in the middle of the park. We may see an out an out 4-4-2 against some of the smaller sides at Anfield next season but away from home and in the big games I'd be VERY surprised if Kenny doesn't go with 3 across the centre of the park given the make up and options we have in the position. I think most of us realise a flat 4 is pretty much dead and buried in modern football as things stand because it invariably means asking your 2 in the middle to win the battle against the oppo's 2 (or your 4 winning against their 5). On those grounds alone, asking Lucas and Adam (neither of them especially mobile or quick) would not be a good idea. I'm sure Adam will play in a 3 alongside Lucas and one from Gerrard (when fit), Henderson or Mereilles.  

I don't think lad should be a regular and pretty sure come Christmas he wont be. Just my opinion though.

Just watched the highlights on lfc.tv and thought Downing was great from what i saw. Henderson looked good.

Johnson looked F***ing clueless, as did Carra.

Have barely seen any of the pre-season games (saw a few mins of the match vs. Malaysia).
But sounds like it's in the defense were we've been looking the shakiest (give the no. of goals we're letting in).
Who'd have thought. Really hope we don't start the season wondering why we didn't buy a rugged centre back, and the defensive lads get it together. You think you've plugged one hole, and another one appears ...

Adam tries too hard at times. He pass the ball too strong etc.

We should make the things as simple as we did last season. Valenrenga played very simply with simple passes and easy crosses. They were also very fast and efficient at counter attack. Their players are so rapid!

Daniel Agger: Liverpool FC have to defend better with Premier League kick-off just days away

by James Pearce, Liverpool Echo
Aug 3 2011

DANIEL AGGER admits Liverpool have fallen short of their usual high standards in pre-season as he warned: “We have to defend better.”

The Danish centre-back was the pick of the Reds’ performers in Monday night’s 3-3 draw with Valerenga in Oslo. Agger netted twice on his return to the side after injury but took no personal satisfaction from the game in Norway.

It was the fifth successive friendly in which Liverpool have leaked three goals and Agger knows they must tighten up ahead of their Premier League opener with Sunderland a week on Saturday.

“It just wasn’t good enough, especially in the first half,” Agger said.

“The second half was okay but it wasn’t what it needs to be.

"The amount of goals we have conceded is definitely not good enough.

"We need to show we can keep a clean sheet and we have got to defend better.”

After a busy pre-season schedule which has taken the Reds to China, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey and Norway, the travelling is finally over.

Valencia await at Anfield in the final friendly on Saturday and Agger is bracing himself for a busy few days at Melwood.

“Kenny has his way of getting his point across,” Agger said.

“He has said himself that we need to be streetwise.

"That is what we have got to do.

“If you are a footballer, you have to be a perfectionist.

"We are all the same as defenders and so far we just have to admit that the way we have played has not been good enough.

“There is definitely something to work on.”

Monday night was Pepe Reina’s first pre-season game following a double hernia operation and the goalkeeper looked less than impressed with what unfolded in front of him.

The Spaniard said: “We have a lot of work ahead of us as we cannot afford to concede so many goals. To let in three is not our identity.”

Asked about Liverpool’s chances in the Premier League this season, Reina added: “We have to be optimistic but we were far behind last year. We need to make sure that we improve.”

Meanwhile, Milan Jovanovic’s miserable spell with Liverpool is over after a deal was agreed for him to join Anderlecht on a free transfer.

The Serbian frontman will pen a two-year deal if he passes his medical tomorrow.

Anderlecht general manager Herman Van Holsbeeck and Jovanovic’s agent Dejan Veljkovic travelled to Liverpool to complete negotiations yesterday.

Jovanovic has agreed a pay-off with the Reds and Anderlecht plan to unveil him prior to their home game against KV Mechelen on Friday.

Meanwhile, reports in the North East suggest Liverpool are closing in on a deal for Jose Enrique. Newcastle United are resigned to losing the left-back, who is out of contract next summer, but want around £6million for the Spaniard.

Kenny Dalglish has been in the market for a left-back all summer and missed out on Arsenal's Gael Clichy who opted to sign for Manchester City.

Liverpool Echo

It's clear we have to improve our defending record. Steve Clark marked his abilities with improving our defending record since he came and we got many clean sheets en route to become the 6th. But it's not all about the back four and keeper to fix this we should all take part in defense as a team.

aquilani was explosive, i stand by my reservations, his scoring record for juventus is poor but after this performance, i can't see how

i definitely want to see him start against valencia, maybe behind carroll with adam, lucas, henderson and downing also in midfield

the fact that we've conceded 9 goals in 3 games is concerning, i don't think we have a strong enough back 4

maybe it'll be ok once we stop rotating and we have more or less the same back 4 every week

Just watched the highlights on lfc.tv and thought Downing was great from what I saw. Henderson looked good.

Johnson looked f**king clueless, as did Carra.

yea they were both awful....johnson hopefully due to fitness, because he was getting skinned left and right.....they kept playing those square balls into the box with ease, and all of it came from Johnson side of the field....didnt help Johnson that Carra just stood and made little to no effort to clear it......