Swansea 2-2 Liverpool: In game and Post Match Analysis

Bearing in mind we were gifted 2 goals, I thought it was a sh*te performance overall. 1st half ok. 2nd half (esp those possession stats) was shocking.

Here's my views of some players;_

MIgnolet - Didnt do badly. I think Pepe wouldve done better. Moral of the story? If it aint broke, dont smash something...!

Sakho- made some mistakes but I really like his athleticism. And think he'll do well.

Skrtel - some mistakes, but I wonder more about Rodgers's  coaching team. Infact, I dont rate them at all.

Coutinho-obviously we missed him when he went off. He fits in really well with Sturridge. However, I think we need to put to bed the daft idea that he is somehow the "new Suarez". He is different, a terrific passer, but NOT a Suarez type player.

Sturridge- did well early on. Showed he's more finisher than someone who can create his own chances.

Aspas - despite his age, has hardly played any top flight football. And it shows. A signing thats full of spin... and not much else.

Gerrard - I'm sure he struggles as the all action central midfielder. Recent results would support that.

Henderson - to me, he's another in a long line of overhyped midfielders. He's an ok player. But my question is - is he a winner? Does he stand over and above opponents, week in week out? Ofcourse he doesn't. He's a midtable player. I actually whether it was the accountants who chose to keep Henderson and sell Shelvey.

Overall- Rodgers is far too one dimensional in his tactics. I dont rate his attention to detail either. We have a VERY limited bench.
There is an inherent flaw in relying on Ste G and Lucas each and every game to keep the engine room running.

Shelvey ( yes I know he doesnt play for us duhhh!!) - I think he looked traumatised. This time last yr he was on that daft tv show with Rodgers promising him big things. Now he's playing for nobodies. And Joe Allen/Henderson/Luis Alberto are at Anfield instead of him. I never rated his footballing brain, or some of his skills. But one thing he DID do was have a desire to win. Remember him giving Ferguslime that abuse?

Ok we're top of the league. But for Rodgers to say that a point is a good result against these no-marks is pretty ridiculous.
I predict certain areas where we will struggle this season.

Bearing in mind we were gifted 2 goals, I thought it was a sh*te performance overall. 1st half ok. 2nd half (esp those possession stats) was shocking.

Here's my views of some players;_

MIgnolet - Didnt do badly. I think Pepe wouldve done better. Moral of the story? If it aint broke, dont smash something...!

Sakho- made some mistakes but I really like his athleticism. And think he'll do well.

Skrtel - some mistakes, but I wonder more about Rodgers's  coaching team. Infact, I dont rate them at all.

Coutinho-obviously we missed him when he went off. He fits in really well with Sturridge. However, I think we need to put to bed the daft idea that he is somehow the "new Suarez". He is different, a terrific passer, but NOT a Suarez type player.

Sturridge- did well early on. Showed he's more finisher than someone who can create his own chances.

Aspas - despite his age, has hardly played any top flight football. And it shows. A signing thats full of spin... and not much else.

Gerrard - I'm sure he struggles as the all action central midfielder. Recent results would support that.

Henderson - to me, he's another in a long line of overhyped midfielders. He's an ok player. But my question is - is he a winner? Does he stand over and above opponents, week in week out? Ofcourse he doesn't. He's a midtable player. I actually whether it was the accountants who chose to keep Henderson and sell Shelvey.

Overall- Rodgers is far too one dimensional in his tactics. I dont rate his attention to detail either. We have a VERY limited bench.
There is an inherent flaw in relying on Ste G and Lucas each and every game to keep the engine room running.

Shelvey ( yes I know he doesnt play for us duhhh!!) - I think he looked traumatised. This time last yr he was on that daft tv show with Rodgers promising him big things. Now he's playing for nobodies. And Joe Allen/Henderson/Luis Alberto are at Anfield instead of him. I never rated his footballing brain, or some of his skills. But one thing he DID do was have a desire to win. Remember him giving Ferguslime that abuse?

Ok we're top of the league. But for Rodgers to say that a point is a good result against these no-marks is pretty ridiculous.
I predict certain areas where we will struggle this season.

F**k me mate, I wanted to top myself after that! Seems your determined to talk down every single individual performance.
Skrtel had a great performance and made a match-saving challenge.
Mignolet, MOTM for me, put in a far better shift than any pepe did the year before.
Sturridge might not make his chances, I'm sure he doesn't profess to, but there's nothing wrong with having a player that enjoys playing on the shoulder of the last defender. This, in fact, was exactly what we needed.
Overall not a great performance but these players stood out to me.

F**k me mate, I wanted to top myself after that! Seems your determined to talk down every single individual performance.
Skrtel had a great performance and made a match-saving challenge.
Mignolet, MOTM for me, put in a far better shift than any pepe did the year before.
Sturridge might not make his chances, I'm sure he doesn't profess to, but there's nothing wrong with having a player that enjoys playing on the shoulder of the last defender. This, in fact, was exactly what we needed.
Overall not a great performance but these players stood out to me.

. Its not that critical. Bearing in mind we struggled against a nomark team in the 2nd half.

I really like Sakho. I think he can certainly become a world class player pretty soon. Sturridge showed some real class, maybe he'll become world class too. And the comments werent criticisms of him. Just an acknowledgement, that he's a predominantly  finisher, not a Suarez type of "start it from the half way line" player.  Obviously, we need someone to supply him. And I dont think Aspas is the man for that.

Skrtel _ I've been vociferous in keeping him. And would still keep him. But occasionally he gets caught out on things. Something I'd partly(or sometimes fully) attribute to  the coaching staff or midfielders

Moses showed some great stuff early on. But ofcourse he is not our player!

Mignolet I think is a good keeper. But Im not fooled by any claims he was brought in purely for footballing reasons.

My thoughts....

Sakho reminded me of Djimmi Traore

Midfield will be out muscled frequently this season.

Too many small players in our squad.

We need a midfielder - a 24 year old Gerrard would be nice Santa.

On the bright side....

Team seems to have more spirit

We will finish higher than last year

We have loads of room for improvement and have not lost yet.

I always like Djimmi !





 

. Its not that critical. Bearing in mind we struggled against a nomark team in the 2nd half.

I really like Sakho. I think he can certainly become a world class player pretty soon. Sturridge showed some real class, maybe he'll become world class too. And the comments werent criticisms of him. Just an acknowledgement, that he's a predominantly  finisher, not a Suarez type of "start it from the half way line" player.  Obviously, we need someone to supply him. And I dont think Aspas is the man for that.

Skrtel _ I've been vociferous in keeping him. And would still keep him. But occasionally he gets caught out on things. Something I'd partly(or sometimes fully) attribute to  the coaching staff or midfielders

Moses showed some great stuff early on. But ofcourse he is not our player!

Mignolet I think is a good keeper. But Im not fooled by any claims he was brought in purely for footballing reasons.

That's better!
Yeah I agree I think Sakho can go on to be a great player, people said he had a difficult game but I thought he was solid and won a lot of vital headers.
The good thing about that is Suarez and Sturridge should compliment each other well, with Sturridge getting into the right positions for the pass from Suarez or he can use his movement to create space for luis to do his thing.
I really think that mignolet has been the difference between the start of this season and the start of the last, he has made some incredible saves and handles the ball well, doesn't make you sh*t yourself like pepe.

) Whether Aspas had played half a game 3 games or 300 games for us that appearance last night is amongst the worst ever seen in a red shirt and it worries me taht some fans see it as being a great fan to defend it

Sorry fella but that is possibly one of the most over the top statements I've ever read on this board. The lad only player what? 35 minutes? In what was largely a shape and shuffle exercise without the ball as we clung on to a draw. It's reading ridiculous statements such as this that forces Red fans to defend the player. Yeah sure he had very little impact on the game but beyond our defenders, who did impact the game I. An attacking sense during that second half? No one is who.

. Its not that critical. Bearing in mind we struggled against a nomark team in the 2nd half.

A comfortable middle of the Premiership side and League Cup winners.  If we talking about who the nomark is...

I really cant figure out the drop off in our level from 1st half to 2nd

Coutinho being taken off and replaced by Aspas killed our link from midfield to attack.  We desperately missed that creative spark in the middle of the pitch to be able to relieve pressure when Sturridge got isolated up top.  It will be important to get Suarez back as he will be able to perform this role like Coutinho does, even if he does it in a very different way than Phillipe does. 

I wasn't that impressed Aspas from the start, he looks slight and doesn't seem to be a natural goalscorer (while Moses slides one home in his first PL match). Plenty of praise for him early on though from a lot of people for closing people down and 'running the channels'. Reminds me a bit of Borini though, tad non-committal, shying from responsibility to hit the target or beat guys.
But that doesn't mean he can't improve, so too early to right him off as an LFC player. Think he's got more to him than Borini, he's quick, and maybe needs a bit more time to steel himself for tough away trips. Not a Suarez or a Sturridge, but will give him a bit more time.

Sorry fella but that is possibly one of the most over the top statements I've ever read on this board. The lad only player what? 35 minutes? In what was largely a shape and shuffle exercise without the ball as we clung on to a draw. It's reading ridiculous statements such as this that forces Red fans to defend the player. Yeah sure he had very little impact on the game but beyond our defenders, who did impact the game I. An attacking sense during that second half? No one is who.

35 minutes is nearly a full half of football. Point out 1 thing he done for the side in that 35 minutes just 1. Most subs do at least 1 thing even if they come on with 10 minutes to go.

He lost every ball  that went near him either through poor touch or being easily brushed off the ball. Scott no matter what spin you put on it he was sh*te   

Bearing in mind we were gifted 2 goals, I thought it was a sh*te performance overall. 1st half ok. 2nd half (esp those possession stats) was shocking.

Here's my views of some players;_

MIgnolet - Didnt do badly. I think Pepe wouldve done better. Moral of the story? If it aint broke, dont smash something...!

Sakho- made some mistakes but I really like his athleticism. And think he'll do well.

Skrtel - some mistakes, but I wonder more about Rodgers's  coaching team. Infact, I dont rate them at all.

Coutinho-obviously we missed him when he went off. He fits in really well with Sturridge. However, I think we need to put to bed the daft idea that he is somehow the "new Suarez". He is different, a terrific passer, but NOT a Suarez type player.

Sturridge- did well early on. Showed he's more finisher than someone who can create his own chances.

Aspas - despite his age, has hardly played any top flight football. And it shows. A signing thats full of spin... and not much else.

Gerrard - I'm sure he struggles as the all action central midfielder. Recent results would support that.

Henderson - to me, he's another in a long line of overhyped midfielders. He's an ok player. But my question is - is he a winner? Does he stand over and above opponents, week in week out? Ofcourse he doesn't. He's a midtable player. I actually whether it was the accountants who chose to keep Henderson and sell Shelvey.

Overall- Rodgers is far too one dimensional in his tactics. I dont rate his attention to detail either. We have a VERY limited bench.
There is an inherent flaw in relying on Ste G and Lucas each and every game to keep the engine room running.

Shelvey ( yes I know he doesnt play for us duhhh!!) - I think he looked traumatised. This time last yr he was on that daft tv show with Rodgers promising him big things. Now he's playing for nobodies. And Joe Allen/Henderson/Luis Alberto are at Anfield instead of him. I never rated his footballing brain, or some of his skills. But one thing he DID do was have a desire to win. Remember him giving Ferguslime that abuse?

Ok we're top of the league. But for Rodgers to say that a point is a good result against these no-marks is pretty ridiculous.
I predict certain areas where we will struggle this season.

I've read some sh*te on this forum,but fcuk me you take the piss. Would usually give someone a chance but you are just a complete and utter w**ker so fcuk off you knob. 

I just don't get it ! I agree that we missed Coutinho when he was forced off, and the debutants need time to bed in, and Aspas didn't have the best of times when he came on.
The problem is, we performed just about the same in the last three games, without all the above hang ups. Coutinho wasn't taken off injured in the previous three games and we were still crap in the second half.
 We got lucky against all three sides in the second half of each match. It was only a matter of time before we got opened up, and the luck didn't hold.
 The only luck we got last night, is that it didn't finish 4 - 2 to Swansea. Why is everyone looking for excuses when the reality is, we just aren't good enough to sustain the quality we are capable of, for 90 mins. Either that or the manager has got the tactics and game plan seriously wrong.
 If anyone thinks we are going to make the top 4 with continued second half performances like that, they are going to be seriously dissapointed.
I want to win the prem as much as the next man, but the reality is, it won't happen playing like this. Suarez is a great player but he isn't super human. It's gonna take more than his return to change the second half collapses i'm sure.

Coutinho being taken off and replaced by Aspas killed our link from midfield to attack.  We desperately missed that creative spark in the middle of the pitch to be able to relieve pressure when Sturridge got isolated up top.  It will be important to get Suarez back as he will be able to perform this role like Coutinho does, even if he does it in a very different way than Phillipe does.

So what was the cause of our second half demise in the three previous games Harry ?

A comfortable middle of the Premiership side and League Cup winners.  If we talking about who the nomark is...

BURN! Oh wait, that was us

----

Probably the first point overall is that, despite remaining top of the league, it was a wee bit of a back to reality for us -- not that any of us really rationally believed we're title challengers given our squad. A match like yesterday showed we still lack significant depth.

I think we can analyze a few different points of the match, but for me the loss of Coutinho was massive. It shouldn't be surprising to anyone that once he went off injured, our midfield was significantly weaker as an overall unit. And to me, that was the difference between 3 points and 1 point because even if we had dropped off like we did in the second, we saw at the end of last season that Coutinho to Sturridge on the counter was devastating for the opposition. I'm surprised Brendan didn't bring on someone like Luis Alberto as opposed to Iago Aspas to give us three in midfield again.

Overall, it was a great match if you're a neutral though. Really entertaining, if not annoying for us to not get three points.

I've read some sh*te on this forum,but fcuk me you take the piss. Would usually give someone a chance but you are just a complete and utter w**ker so fcuk off you knob.

Never mind eh Brendan. I can see the Swansea fans calling you "Judas" had some traumatic effects for you. Ahhhhhhh....

 

Can someone correct me. Obviously I missed the match when we won 5-0.
I had some daft idea that we drew 2-2, were gifted 2 Shelvey goals and were utterly slaughtered for possesion in the 2nd half..
 

35 minutes is nearly a full half of football. Point out 1 thing he done for the side in that 35 minutes just 1. Most subs do at least 1 thing even if they come on with 10 minutes to go.

He lost every ball  that went near him either through poor touch or being easily brushed off the ball. Scott no matter what spin you put on it he was sh*te

My judgement on Aspas is based on what he's done over the past 7 yrs or so. He's 26 yrs old. And his FIRST season in top flight football was LAST YR. That doesn't mean he just about to blossom into some kind of superstar. It means that up until now, he has not looked good enough to be a top flight player. Remember the lower end of la Liga is pretty weak anyway.

He's another Borini, just not as "good".. Should never have been considered for a club like Liverpool.
If you want to fill out a squad, fill it out with younger players who will improve. Not this.

My judgement on Aspas is based on what he's done over the past 7 yrs or so. He's 26 yrs old. And his FIRST season in top flight football was LAST YR. That doesn't mean he just about to blossom into some kind of superstar. It means that up until now, he has not looked good enough to be a top flight player. Remember the lower end of la Liga is pretty weak anyway.

He's another Borini, just not as "good".. Should never have been considered for a club like Liverpool.
If you want to fill out a squad, fill it out with younger players who will improve. Not this.

Says it all. Why are we even going for players like that? Players who have only had one season experience of top flight football at 25/26

Clearly if he was good enough, he would've been playing in the la liga since his early twenties. The league he is used to is clearly the league compatible with the limited amount of quality he has. Borini will be better than this guy.

My judgement on Aspas is based on what he's done over the past 7 yrs or so. He's 26 yrs old. And his FIRST season in top flight football was LAST YR. That doesn't mean he just about to blossom into some kind of superstar. It means that up until now, he has not looked good enough to be a top flight player. Remember the lower end of la Liga is pretty weak anyway.

He's another Borini, just not as "good".. Should never have been considered for a club like Liverpool.
If you want to fill out a squad, fill it out with younger players who will improve. Not this.

Shocking, really.

A lad on the other team named Michu played one season in top flight before his transfer for Swansea and I'm F***ing sure you would take him right now. There are plenty other examples but I'd rather you have one right infront of you from the match.

Get a F***ing grip. You're not judging anyone off 7 years, you haven't seen Iago Aspas play besides when he's put our kit on.

Shocking, really.

A lad on the other team named Michu played one season in top flight before his transfer for Swansea and I'm f**king sure you would take him right now. There are plenty other examples but I'd rather you have one right infront of you from the match.

Get a f**king grip. You're not judging anyone off 7 years, you haven't seen Iago Aspas play besides when he's put our kit on.

heard Gary Gillespie say last night that liverpool fans give people time, he should read this forum !

Aye, still top of the league, I'm happy with our position at present & once we have the mad man back in our ranks then we should be good to build on a early good start.

Cheer up gents.

Shocking, really.

A lad on the other team named Michu played one season in top flight before his transfer for Swansea and I'm f**king sure you would take him right now. There are plenty other examples but I'd rather you have one right infront of you from the match.

Get a f**king grip. You're not judging anyone off 7 years, you haven't seen Iago Aspas play besides when he's put our kit on.

Excellent point.

I give every player a chance and Iago will be the same.

I've read some sh*te on this forum,but fcuk me you take the piss. Would usually give someone a chance but you are just a complete and utter w**ker so fcuk off you knob.

That's really harsh. He only voiced his opinion. Why were you so rude to him?   

That's really harsh. He only voiced his opinion. Why were you so rude to him?   

It wasn't his opinion that provoked that response, it was the way that he presented it. 

I give every player a chance and Iago will be the same.

Some players take some time to acclimate to a new team, league, and country.  He deserves time to find his feet.