Indonesia XI 0-2 Liverpool: Friendly

Good to hear that it was a win. Won't read anything into it though, praise or criticism alike (funny how criticism can get a look into these pointless friendlies but any praise is shouted down). Standard run of the mill pre season friendly. Take more enjoyment when we play Celtic which should be cracking! Great day for the fans though

We should have played much better IMO, it was quite boring to see us play at times and it was often the case last season, we were quite sterile. Alberto needs to find his position and Downing was sh*t as usual. We still need 2 attacking players(1 to replace Downing and another to add quality to our starting 11)

It was good to see the defense do it's job well and we were calm in possession. I was impressed by our young lads in the 2nd half.

What do you expect mate? not having a go like, but just coming back from a terrible injury.

Oh no mate, wasn't a criticism of him, expected him to be that rusty. He needs a lot of minutes before he's going to be back up to speed. (I'm a big fan of Kelly for your info)

Only pre season but when did pass and move turn into pass-touch-pass? Sort it out eh Brendan?

 Couple of observations.

 1. Fairly clearly at the moment Brendan sees his first choice centre half pairing as Daniel Agger and Kolo Toure. Toure actually does look pretty good, hopefully this combo works.

 2. Steven Gerrard and Joe Allen are fully recovered from their respective operations.

 3. Aspas is a busy striker who can play a bit, but he is a zillion miles away from being Luis Suarez.

 4. Luis Alberto can play a bit too, but he is going to need to significantly get busier if he's going to make an impression on matches in England.

 5. Mignolet is a good keeper, that was an excellent save in the first half.

 6. Raheem Stirling has developed noticeably since last season.

 7. Our supporters in Indonesia are excellent at singing Liverpool songs. They just need to work on context, singing them at appropriate moments etc. 

3. Aspas is a busy striker who can play a bit, but he is a zillion miles away from being Luis Suarez.

 4. Luis Alberto can play a bit too, but he is going to need to significantly get busier if he's going to make an impression on matches in England.

This on the observation of probably about 90minutes game time in total, one of them games was also in very hot conditions with a mental amount of humidity. Sounding like Federer to be honest pal.

Couple of observations.

 1. Fairly clearly at the moment Brendan sees his first choice centre half pairing as Daniel Agger and Kolo Toure. Toure actually does look pretty good, hopefully this combo works.

 2. Steven Gerrard and Joe Allen are fully recovered from their respective operations.

 3. Aspas is a busy striker who can play a bit, but he is a zillion miles away from being Luis Suarez.

 4. Luis Alberto can play a bit too, but he is going to need to significantly get busier if he's going to make an impression on matches in England.

 5. Mignolet is a good keeper, that was an excellent save in the first half.

 6. Raheem Stirling has developed noticeably since last season.

 7. Our supporters in Indonesia are excellent at singing Liverpool songs. They just need to work on context, singing them at appropriate moments etc. 

Agree with all of Mick's points.  Here are a few additional thoughts:

Ibe looks like he could be another gem off the production line from the academy.  If his development continues along similar lines as Sterling's then we'll have a pair of top quality wingers in a few years. 

Coutinho is pure class!!  The kid has so much natural flair and creativity in his game, and it is just fun to watch him play. 

As a team, we looked very sluggish and lacked any sort of real cutting edge or thrust.  Probably a combination of the weather, the nasty pitch, the time zone difference, the long flights, etc.  However, I thought we looked much better against Preston than we did today.

Very poor first 45 with Downing particularly abysmal. Picked up signifigantly in the second once Ibe and Sterling entered the fray. Still considering the conditions and the shocking state of the pitch it wasn't the worst run out. And the supporters were boss!

This on the observation of probably about 90minutes game time in total, one of them games was also in very hot conditions with a mental amount of humidity. Sounding like Federer to be honest pal.

 Of course it's not based on 90 minutes, it's based on this game, that's why I put it in this thread. These are my thoughts based on what I saw. Now I could wait until February next year and I've seen them both play 20 matches, that way I've not only got less chance of being hopelessly wrong but I can also see what everyone thinks and just agree with the majority. I generally don't go with that approach though, I post my thoughts as I think of em like. Sorry if it makes me sound "like Federer", but there it is.

 I find your comments odd to be honest. I've hardly slagged either player off, I've simply said that although Aspas is busy and can play a bit, he isn't Suarez. Not earth shattering stuff by any stretch, neither is my assertion that Luis Alberto is going to need to (as Olivia Newton John once said) get physical if he's going to make an impact. Don't see what's controversial about it in all honesty, pal.

That support was mental.  Can't remember seeing anything like that in recent memory, felt like a European night almost!

Can you imagine if all our games at Anfield were like that?

Probably the best wools in the world.

Pretty poor effort if I'm being honest, sometimes it was boring to watch. However the conditions and the pitch weren't condusive to our style of play and it was only the 2nd game back together so I'll give it a pass mark and hopefully with the perfect pitch the lads will be presented on the hallowed turf that is the MCG, we'll get our passing game up and running.

I must say in Melbourne at the moment, it's freezing so a bit worried about the lads going from the extreme heat of Indonesia to the cold of Melbourne ( nothing like Englands cold though) within the space of a day. Hopefully they don't catch a cold 


Getting back to the match, one thing that stood out for me is out set pieces. We are so F***ing sh*t at them, especially the corners. Nothing has changed from last season. BR needs to sort this sh*t out in the next few weeks. I'm so F***ing sick of everytime getting a corner, Stewart Downing F***ing takes it and he can't even beat the first man!!! Whilst you're at it BR. Can you get some more players in the Box?

First time really making a reply on the forum as I'm still "learning the game" so I can't articulate some of the specifics of the game like most of you but I was pretty bored most of the match to be honest. There were times where I "shuddered" at the feeling that we looked similar to how we've played the past 2-3 years. Again, like most of you guys saying, maybe it was the sh*tty pitch and/or the heat.

As usual, I loved watching Coutinho scoring, even though there was a bit of a lucky reflection...just goes to show his determination and resolve to score. One of BRs best purchases and I liked him from the start so I'm a bit of a Coutinho fan!

Thought the passing was pretty poor and I don't know about you guys but for me, Johnson the past season (at least the latter half), and today, has been pretty bad! I used to like Johnson but I get nervous now when he's got the ball. That ridiculous "pass" (if you can call it that) to Toure (?) just proves to me my suspicion that he doesn't seem to give a toss anymore. I hope I'm wrong but I'm basing this off his past/recent performances.

Did enjoy seeing Sterling on the pitch but his goal was a gimme from a generous pass from Assaidi so I wasn't overly ecstatic because he SHOULD HAVE scored that...still, I'll take it and 2-0 means 2 friendlies with a clean sheet!

My worries(?):

1) I imagined Suarez on the fence about the rest of his time at LFC and watching THIS match and thinking, "forget it, I'm going to transfer" (based on "rumours" he wants to play for a definitive CL team)

2) I'm on a serious budget (unfortunately) and probably won't get Sky sports this year, let alone Sky and BT together to watch 9 matches through December but if I saw PURE DOMINATION in these pre-season games then I'd probably go hungry a couple days per week to pay for Sky/BT...just don't see any real amazing footie just yet and depending on how the seasons starts, will probably just watch MOD unless/until I see dominant football.

Don't get me wrong, I still feel we're improving the squad with the recent signings and if we can get a couple more good/great transfers before end of August then I'd be even more hopeful.....just saying this match today didn't impress me a whole lot but, glad we won...even though I expected it.

Just watching the replay. Didnt Downing seem very central in the first half? And we didnt seem to have much shape with the front four either.

First time really making a reply on the forum as I'm still "learning the game" so I can't articulate some of the specifics of the game like most of you but I was pretty bored most of the match to be honest. There were times where I "shuddered" at the feeling that we looked similar to how we've played the past 2-3 years. Again, like most of you guys saying, maybe it was the sh*tty pitch and/or the heat.

As usual, I loved watching Coutinho scoring, even though there was a bit of a lucky reflection...just goes to show his determination and resolve to score. One of BRs best purchases and I liked him from the start so I'm a bit of a Coutinho fan!

Thought the passing was pretty poor and I don't know about you guys but for me, Johnson the past season (at least the latter half), and today, has been pretty bad! I used to like Johnson but I get nervous now when he's got the ball. That ridiculous "pass" (if you can call it that) to Toure (?) just proves to me my suspicion that he doesn't seem to give a toss anymore. I hope I'm wrong but I'm basing this off his past/recent performances.

Did enjoy seeing Sterling on the pitch but his goal was a gimme from a generous pass from Assaidi so I wasn't overly ecstatic because he SHOULD HAVE scored that...still, I'll take it and 2-0 means 2 friendlies with a clean sheet!

My worries(?):

1) I imagined Suarez on the fence about the rest of his time at LFC and watching THIS match and thinking, "forget it, I'm going to transfer" (based on "rumours" he wants to play for a definitive CL team)

2) I'm on a serious budget (unfortunately) and probably won't get Sky sports this year, let alone Sky and BT together to watch 9 matches through December but if I saw PURE DOMINATION in these pre-season games then I'd probably go hungry a couple days per week to pay for Sky/BT...just don't see any real amazing footie just yet and depending on how the seasons starts, will probably just watch MOD unless/until I see dominant football.

Don't get me wrong, I still feel we're improving the squad with the recent signings and if we can get a couple more good/great transfers before end of August then I'd be even more hopeful.....just saying this match today didn't impress me a whole lot but, glad we won...even though I expected it.

Good post fella, post more.

Decent run out for the lads, form not that important at this stage but Johnson was almost as bad as that pitch!

Great credit to the fans out there, the way they sang YNWA put modern Anfield to shame.

Watched the game yesterday and again it was standard pre-season fair to be honest. Players finding some fitness and a chance to see a bit more of the new players. We're struggling to be really penetrate in these games so far but it's no surprise seeing as we're missing our 2 best frontmen. Brightest aspects so far for me is to see the reinvogoration of Sterling. He looks very lively and also looks to me to have been in the gym over the past few months and it will make a real difference to his game if he can get that little bit stronger. The other big plus has been the form of Coutinho who (if Luis leaves) could become the new main man this season. I still think we need to spend some money on a blue chip young CB prospect but I have to admit that Toure has slotted in and looked very comfortable right from the off.