Pre Match : Hoffenheim v Liverpool FC : Tues 15, 19.45

I disagree completely. I disagreed at the time as well, it's not a matter of nostalgia. He was a far better defender than he was given credit for. He was part of a very strong defensive unit for a long time, but no attacking fullback will ever be perfect in defense, for the perfectly good reason that it is impossible. Some people like to rave about Roberto Carlos, for example, ignoring that his attacking instinct left a lot of space at the back (leading Scolari to playing with 3 defenders in 2002) or Paolo Maldini, who was a brilliant defender but not half as good as Roberto Carlos going forward. The thing is it is nearly impossible to be great at both things. Riise was very good going forward and adequate at the back, far from the sh*t defender some make him out to be. We had a decent balance with Finnan on the right who was very reliable defensively, although he didn't contribute much in attack.

Aurelio was also good, but I'd still have Riise ahead of him.

Riise wasn't the worst defender I've seen for us, and as you say, he was pretty good going forwards.
He was a big lad as well, and that out ball, diagonal, from Hyypia to the left for Riise to attack in the air, brought us a fair few goals, and that's before we get to his absolute F***ing hammer of a left foot, and decent crossing ability.

Then again, I remember players like Julian Dicks, so Riise was always going to look good after that shower 

For tonights game, the nerves are starting to creep in already.
Hopefully we can do a job over there tonight, then finish them off at home.

Worried. Our defence is for the taking. Every corner is a real chance for them to score.

Any encouragement on our defence apart from our strong strike force?

Was our defence crap at the end of last season?

Riise was a very poor defender but scored a few screamers during his time. As a result, many seem to remember him as a good player but that wasn't exactly true.

Aurelio was far better but had an even worse injury record than Sturridge.

You think a left back who was part of a defence that kept something like 22 clean sheets during the league season in 05-06 was a bad defender yet you defend Mignolet for being what you perceive to be a good player?

Fair play.

Apart from that I will not make the Live thread, I will not see the first half

You think a left back who was part of a defence that kept something like 22 clean sheets during the league season in 05-06 was a bad defender yet you defend Mignolet for being who you perceive to be a good?

Fair play.

Reina won the golden glove award three years in a row if I recall correctly, with Riise as part of that defence.

Apart from that I will not make the Live thread, I will not see the first half

Sorry to hear that Clint.
Your match threads are legendary, and I enjoy them very much, to the extent they've become part of my matchday prep 

I hope whoever steps in does as good a job as you always do.

Desperately need an away goal here.

Reina won the golden glove award three years in a row if I recall correctly, with Riise as part of that defence.

I just don't know where and how the myth developed that he was somehow a bad defender - makes me question whether people actually followed Liverpool during that period. If he was good enough to be Rafa's key left back for the first few years of his reign, as you note in the period where Reina won three golden gloves in a row, then he would have been good enough for almost anyone in my view. More to the point it was his ability to score big goals in big games (Man Utd, Everton, Barcelona, Chelsea etc) that made me a big fan of his, not to mention setting up our first goal in Istanbul. Yeah, it was nice to look back a decade or so and see a glut of players you could rely on in big occasions and with the ability to be a steady and reliable presence at all times.

The team today have the mentality of schoolboys by comparison.

I don't get off until 4pm and the starts at 2:30 pm my time (VA, USA) so I will be on airplane mode from 2:30 until later tonight. I see us getting a goal, and if we can draw at more than one goal I will feel pretty good. Hoff's style sort of caters to ours from what I read. Can anyone whose watched them confirm that?

Hoping for a strong performance and a positive vibe from the support. In the end, it's the football we are here for, hey?

Like 434, I have to watch in record. I train my team from 2:30 to 4 and every kid knows if he spoils the result for me by shouting out something showing on his phone at the end of training, he's going to get binned. They know I am not joking. Living and breathing with every kick of the ball is far and away my favorite passion. I'll analyze on the replay, but for my first viewing, it's all about the experience.

Come on the Champions League-qualifying Reds.
 

I really hope to see Karius in goal tonight. Not that Migs was totally at fault against Watford just i want to see him get a good run of games, build his confidence up and let him become the commanding goalie i believe he can become. I would also start Robertson tonight, I know its quite an important game to put him into but i have way more belief in him then Moreno. Lets hope Klopp has given Dejan and Joel a good kick up the arse eh. Come on you reds....0 2 win tonight i can feel it.

Apart from that I will not make the Live thread, I will not see the first half

I don't mind taking over your duties for one game? I'll try my hardest to make it look like you've created it!

I know HScRed1 sometimes does the live match threads too.

Hoping for a strong performance and a positive vibe from the support. In the end, it's the football we are here for, hey?

Like 434, I have to watch in record. I train my team from 2:30 to 4 and every kid knows if he spoils the result for me by shouting out something showing on his phone at the end of training, he's going to get binned. They know I am not joking. Living and breathing with every kick of the ball is far and away my favorite passion. I'll analyze on the replay, but for my first viewing, it's all about the experience.

Come on the Champions League-qualifying Reds.

Great part of living in America, not many people care about it so less to ruin it.

I just don't know where and how the myth developed that he was somehow a bad defender - makes me question whether people actually followed Liverpool during that period. If he was good enough to be Rafa's key left back for the first few years of his reign, as you note in the period where Reina won three golden gloves in a row, then he would have been good enough for almost anyone in my view. More to the point it was his ability to score big goals in big games (Man Utd, Everton, Barcelona, Chelsea etc) that made me a big fan of his, not to mention setting up our first goal in Istanbul. Yeah, it was nice to look back a decade or so and see a glut of players you could rely on in big occasions and with the ability to be a steady and reliable presence at all times.

The team today have the mentality of schoolboys by comparison.

Yep which means although this team probably has more raw talent than our winning team of 2005, they will ultimately get nowhere near emulating their achievements.

2005 was a campaign built on a solid defence and working hard for each other. I want to see performances to be proud of, but the fear for the current crop is that they are probably too soft to produce such back to the walls displays.

If we progress we will probably see 4-2 wims and 3-2 losses. Istanbul aside we saw no football of that type. This team sounds exciting, but i'm actually growing weary of those types of results. Not a huge fan of basketball football (anymore).

4th (I think) these guys were in the Bundesliga last season. So don't expect them to be mugs.
Think I heard they were very tall side too, so they'll probably be rubbing their hands looking at our defending.
Would expect few, or no, changes from Jürgen.
Would settle for a draw if handed it now. But lets see...

https://twitter.com/empireofthekop/status/897453757251891200

Yep which means although this team probably has more raw talent than our winning team of 2005, they will ultimately get nowhere near emulating their achievements.

2005 was a campaign built on a solid defence and working hard for each other. I want to see performances to be proud of, but the fear for the current crop is that they are probably too soft to produce such back to the walls displays.

If we progress we will probably see 4-2 wims and 3-2 losses. Istanbul aside we saw no football of that type. This team sounds exciting, but i'm actually growing weary of those types of results. Not a huge fan of basketball football (anymore).

Yeah. I think they look pitiful compared to that team from the mid to late 00s who took to the field like adults and looked like they enjoyed taking the responsibility on behalf of the fans and the whole club.

Like yourself, while winning games 4-2, losing 3-2 etc it may be 'entertaining' for the neutral, it makes for a tough spectacle for us the supporter to watch. It really emphasises the beauty of controlling a game at your own tempo and when we lost games under Rafa we did so by a goal or two (with the opposition having to WORK to score against us rather than just sit back and watch the men in red make complete tw*ts of themselves like today) but never humiliating ourselves by conceding countless numbers of goals and going from complete control at 3-0 or 3-1 to drawing or losing the thing altogether. I never had to worry about losing a game when we were 2-0 up under Rafa. These days I'm constantly worrying and very very agitated.

Yep which means although this team probably has more raw talent than our winning team of 2005, they will ultimately get nowhere near emulating their achievements.

2005 was a campaign built on a solid defence and working hard for each other. I want to see performances to be proud of, but the fear for the current crop is that they are probably too soft to produce such back to the walls displays.

If we progress we will probably see 4-2 wims and 3-2 losses. Istanbul aside we saw no football of that type. This team sounds exciting, but i'm actually growing weary of those types of results. Not a huge fan of basketball football (anymore).

I know what you mean. I love attacking football and all that, but I take your point that it is hard to imagine this current squad securing a 0-0 draw away at Juventus (with Gerrard suspended if I recall correctly) as we did in 2005.

I'm sure someone's working on the match thread as I type this but Moreno's in tonight. Our most experienced player in European Football - Milner - is warming the bench.

No changes from Klopp from the weekend... 

Hoffenheim are a team that likes to press high and pass it around up top, will be interesting to see If our midfield trio can cope with this.

Wagner is a bit of bruiser