Liverpool 2-2 Aston Villa: In game and Post match deconstruction

Wasn't Gerrard the MOTM for the match?

Really voted by who?

Wasn't Gerrard the MOTM for the match?

 

Personally I thought Gerrard was hands down our best player in the second half, all our attacks came from his passes. Different opinions and that.

Personally I thought Gerrard was hands down our best player in the second half, all our attacks came from his passes. Different opinions and that.

I agree Chats, however his first half was dreadful, I would rather they didn't play him at all if he could only play defensive mid. But yes his second half was really good.

MOTM for me was Hendo, he was consistent right out and played the old Gerrard role in the first half

For the first 15 mins in the second half Gerrard was the destroyer of old and dictating play unfortunately that was about it. But like you say all down to opinions.

Great first time pass and assist from Hendo there!

Great first time pass and assist from Hendo there!

It was yeah but also look at Suarez's run and determination, granted he doesn't get it passed back to him but that level of desire and determination is what we lack so badly in midfield and instead of goals it's simply winning back the ball that is the measure of success.

Hendo has all the tools in his kit, sometimes he just seems to not even bother looking for them, great flick though and made the half time team talk that much easier.

Hendo and Lucas should never be dropped! They do what needs to be done, and the strikers benefit from their job. Lucas knows when to start and attack and when to keep possession, he defends well and has a very good and accurate range of passing. He is the boss of defense and midfield to me.

As for Hendo, he runs throughout the game, provides options on the wings or in the box, makes assists and scores occasionally.

These two should never be dropped unless we sign players which can replace them.

I'm disappointed by Coutinho and I really think he needs to be dropped.

SAS & Sterling
with Allen, Hendo and Gerrard in midfield can beat anyone and every player knows what to do. It was really  silly to change to a 4-4-2.

Player wise it was the midfield and forward line I wanted. I thought we would play with Coutinho as the 3rd midfielder/attacking midfielder behind the forwards so I cant be too harsh on BR for the selection. Tactics wise though he made a massive error, playing 2 against Villa's 5 was madness.

The rest has already been said on here just needed to get it out there.

I was quite happy with the formation and side picked - with the obvious exception of the execrable Cissokho - but it was clear very early on that Coutinho and Sterling were not going to drop into central midfield areas enough, and as such, Gerrard and Henderson were overrun.

Another massive factor is again the defence. We can't afford to carry Toure and Cissokho, and we badly need Enrique, Sakho and Agger back. Mignolet is also having a shocking run of form and is costing us a goal every game at the moment. He should be dropped, but we have no backup because Jones is useless.

If anything, it simply reinforced where we need to strengthen: midfield. But we won't.

Ratings:

Mignolet (3). Horrible, flappy display and yet another comical goal conceded. Much more of this and we'll be back in the market for a keeper this summer.

Cissokho (2). Cumbersome, useless tw*t; hapless in attack and worse in defence. We've had some truly

Toure (4). Looked very much a squad player

Skrtel (7). Did his best to hold together the defence and it is to his credit that we didn't concede more goals with Mignolet, Cissokho and Toure giving him next to no help.

Johnson (6). Always an outlet in attack and made several good runs. Not enough end product.

Gerrard (6). Awful display in the first half, with Villa all over him. Much improved in the second with yet another nerveless penalty and some quite wonderful passing. Needs robust support from his midfield partners, though.

Henderson (6). Not great in the first half, when his energetic buzzing was like a fly - always in the background and annoying, but unlike a wasp, never any danger of stinging anyone. Good display in the second when there were more bodies in CM, great effort well saved by Guzan.

Coutinho (5). Our most creative player didn't craete much and was hooked at halftime.

Sterling (6). Very industrious and always showed for the ball. Kicked around a lot.

Suarez (7). Quiet by his standards, but still got a pen and created havoc.

Sturridge (7). Great finish from an inspired Henderson flick. Will get even better.

Subs: Lucas (5). Only on for 20 minutes but the extra body made all the difference. Ditto Allen.

When Cissokho is your best defender, you're having problems. Bit unfair to the guy really, as he's having quite a good game. But how bad is our defence? Shambolic

Shocking first half, totally unacceptable

Cissokho our best defender? You are bonkers and wrong.

Cissokho our best defender? You are bonkers and wrong.

For the first half he was our best defender, albeit at going forward and making himself available. He was trying his best to get to the byline and was always ready to receive a pass in the final third. Hardly ever did I see our other fullback during the entire game do anything at all of note. Granted Cisso's defensive job was poor in that first half hour (but like everyone elses), and granted he was dire after that initial first half, but again, so were the other defenders. So going by that, I maintain he was our best defender in that game.

I'm not saying he was 'good', only that he was our best defender in a game where all of our defenders were terrible

Anyway, I'm much more concerned with Coutinho 

I had a Partoidectomy done Thursday 16 in Kolkata and was still in hospital with a drain hanging out my neck, couldn't even move my neck. Requested the nurse to let me watch tv in a single room as it was empty and two people sharing room didn't have tv. I was delighted that they let me watch it but the meds were really affecting my senses and was dozing in and out. Can't remember anything about the match except that it ended 2-2.
Voted Sturridge motm from reading the newspaper. 
Gonna have to wait till they show the rerun on tv. 2 points lost.    Was surprised to read in the papers that villa haven't lost to us 5 times on the bounce at Anfield. 

For the first half he was our best defender, albeit at going forward and making himself available. He was trying his best to get to the byline and was always ready to receive a pass in the final third. Hardly ever did I see our other fullback during the entire game do anything at all of note. Granted Cisso's defensive job was poor in that first half hour (but like everyone elses), and granted he was dire after that initial first half, but again, so were the other defenders. So going by that, I maintain he was our best defender in that game.

I'm not saying he was 'good', only that he was our best defender in a game where all of our defenders were terrible

Anyway, I'm much more concerned with Coutinho

He wasn't, Skrtel was, and nobody else on the planet agrees with you.
When the numbers are stacked that high - as in 7 billion vs 1 - I think you'd probably have to agree that you're probably wrong.
There are stone-age hunters in Papua New Guinea who could tell you via crude cave drawings how sh*t Cissokho is.

Great first time pass and assist from Hendo there!

The subtlety of that chip was a joy to watch, took the defence out completely.

He wasn't, Skrtel was,

Going forward Cissokho was our best defender - which is my point.

and nobody else on the planet agrees with you.

Going forward Cissokho was our best defender - which is my point.

When the numbers are stacked that high - as in 7 billion vs 1 - I think you'd probably have to agree that you're probably wrong.

Going forward Cissokho was our best defender - which is my point.

There are stone-age hunters in Papua New Guinea who could tell you via crude cave drawings how sh*t Cissokho is.

And I'd agree with them. But going forward Cissokho was our best defender - which is my point.

"When Cissokho is your best defender, you're having problems. Bit unfair to the guy really, as he's having quite a good game. But how bad is our defence? Shambolic

I maintain he was our best defender in that game.

I'm not saying he was 'good', only that he was our best defender in a game where all of our defenders were terrible

"

This is what you said. Now, even if it would be relatively easy to argue the point that a defenders primary job is to defend, and that defending is the most important, nay, crucial aspect of being a player who is a defender, it is even easier to point out that our best defender in the game was Martin Skrtel.

So if you asked anyone on Earth the question: "Who was the best defender in the Liverpool team agaisnt Villa?", the answer 7 billion times out 7 billion, would be "Martin Skrtel".

That noise is 7 billion people laughing at you.

I actually thought Cissokho was our best attacking defender, right up until he wasn't. I mean, first half he was working hard, second half, oh my...oh my what was embarrassing

For the first half he was our best defender, albeit at going forward and making himself available. He was trying his best to get to the byline and was always ready to receive a pass in the final third.

Now kindly stop missing the POINT (which, once more just for you; was that he was our best defender going forward and offering options in the opponent's half), and pay attention to what people actually post. That way you don't waste my time or make yourself look silly.

EDIT: Oh, and editing your post after reading mine, and then changing it in an attempt to dig yourself out of a hole is disingenuous at best.

Anyway, I've got your card marked.

Don't pick on just Cissohko.  Everyone was poor 1st half bar sturridge and Henderson.

Mignolet imo is NOT a first choice keeper at present.  Far too many stupid mistakes so far. Hopefully BR will have the sense to bring pepe back and make SM fight for his place. I imagine stevie will hopefully never play that role again. Despite his capabilities he is an attacking through and through. 

Brendan Rodgers will never be allowed to bring Reina back despite the lack of experience between the sticks, that situation prevails because of a financial implication which also saw Pepe unloaded in the first place.
The manager is forced to shuffle a threadbare squad because of the same financial constraints.
JWH and the lovely Linda were at the game and witnessed the above shortcomings, was his presence significant or will he continue with the ruinous economics that are affecting match-day performances?
Performances that will occur when the same economics demand the manager is forced to field a player as off his game as Cissokho was.     

Now kindly stop missing the POINT (which, once more just for you; was that he was our best defender going forward and offering options in the opponent's half), and pay attention to what people actually post. That way you don't waste my time or make yourself look silly.

EDIT: Oh, and editing your post after reading mine, and then changing it in an attempt to dig yourself out of a hole is disingenuous at best.

Anyway, I've got your card marked.

I'm not in a hole. I just said you were wrong about calling Cissokho our best defender, because he wasn't.

I'm not in a hole. I just said you were wrong about calling Cissokho our best defender, because he wasn't.

Yes, that's it, you're right. I'm wrong.

I'm not in a hole. I just said you were wrong about calling Cissokho our best defender, because he wasn't.

It's his opinion.