Liverpool v Middlesbrough: Match Thread

Right im off on the lash be back later probably in the drunk thread 

Im a bit surprised at how happy everyone is. Now I dont want to be a grump so Ill break my post up into positives and negatives from the game. Start with the positives

1)Most obvious was winning. With 8 minutes to go it didnt look likely but in fairness to our boys if one of the other big 3 won that way wed be told how great the fighting spirit is and how they believe theyre never beaten well our lads won today like that so credit there

2) Robbie Keane looks like hes growing more into his game. Linked well at times with nando and was unluckey that some things didnt come off for him

3) El Zahr. Wanted to run at boro with the ball and I believe if he gets a run of games can cause trouble on the wing

Now the negatives

1) Passing at times was embarrasing even Alonso was woeful at times. Needs to be sharpened up if were hoping to challenge. Also why do we insist on hoofing long balls out of defence at times? Pogatetz and Huth would have loved that. If theres nothing on carry the ball out until someone is in a position to take a pass

2) set pieces. Pathetic to put it simply. How many corners dont clear the 1st man? Huge improvement needed here

3) Players form. Arbeloa stinking again Rafa may need to rethink his leaving out of Finnan. Yossi was great pre season but poor the last 2 games that count and its not good enough for a team hopng to win titles

4) Crowd. At times seemed very quiet today especially when team needed them the most. All well and good singing when we score but what about when things arent going well thats when the singing and encouraging is needed   

Gerrard was the hero of the day (again) but Carragher was the man of the match.He had scored the first goal and also took the ball and started the attack for the second goal in the injury time

and he was very strong in defence

Just got back from the game. Poor performance but at the end of the day we're getting the results even when we aren't playing too well.

Can hardly describe the feeling when Stevie scored! It went complete nuts

Agree with Brian...I too am confused by how pleased every one seems.

Thought our defence look fragile.
Alonso showed why Rafa was so keen to bring in Barry. He gave the ball away so many times and was generally poor (as for his apparent 'wonder' pass to Torres last week, if it wasn't for the Kuyt dummy it would have been intercepted)
Again showed we have no width.
Still am not convinced that Rafa knows his best 11 or more importantly the most effective strategy.

Obviously great to have 2 wins from 2 but we only just scrapped in.....and don't say 'have faith' and all that BS....just saying that it wasn't a convincing or deserved 3 points.

What a game,had the emotiions flowing and what a cracker by Stevie.

Was the winner shot inside or outside the box? I can't decide cause i'd a fiver on him to score from outside the box at 11/1 as posted in the betting thread.

Agree with Brian...I too am confused by how pleased every one seems.

Thought our defence look fragile.
Alonso showed why Rafa was so keen to bring in Barry. He gave the ball away so many times and was generally poor (as for his apparent 'wonder' pass to Torres last week, if it wasn't for the Kuyt dummy it would have been intercepted)
Again showed we have no width.
Still am not convinced that Rafa knows his best 11 or more importantly the most effective strategy.

Obviously great to have 2 wins from 2 but we only just scrapped in.....and don't say 'have faith' and all that BS....just saying that it wasn't a convincing or deserved 3 points.

I think everyone is caught up in the euphoria of turning the match around when all seemed lost, I don't think many of us actually thought we played brilliantly.

I agree with your analysis of Alonso, he had a particularly poor game today. He seems to be blowing hot and cold at the moment. Either he's shut out and missing all his passes, or else he's got the game by the scruff of it's neck and is controlling the midfield. He needs to find consistency at the highest level of his game, or else when the squad is back at full strength he could find himself doing a bit of bench-warming, especially if Rafa brings in another midfielder/winger before the end of August.

I won't say have faith, but we will be in a better position to see how well we're playing when the squad is back to full strength. Mascherano could have helped a lot today, especially as the goal was a 20-25 yarder, the kind of position where Masch might have been when it was struck! What's certain is that we'll have a better balance with our first choice DM in the line-up.

True. Masch will make a big difference but again I think it will throw up my point that I don't think Rafa knows his best formation/strategy and as importantly which would bring out the best in the 11 at the same time. If he wants the Masch, SG and GBarry midfield trio then that leaves no room for REAL wide players if you play Torres AND Keane.
I don't think he knows how to or really wants to play with width and pace. He loves compact and defensive with the element of counter rather than pressured offence.
Just think we look fragile at the moment. We will get better of course but I just don't see a strong plan B when the sh*t hits the fan aginst a proper team...

PS Think Southgate had done a great job with Boro....thought they looked a tight unit...

Im a bit surprised at how happy everyone is. Now I dont want to be a grump so Ill break my post up into positives and negatives from the game. Start with the positives

1)Most obvious was winning. With 8 minutes to go it didnt look likely but in fairness to our boys if one of the other big 3 won that way wed be told how great the fighting spirit is and how they believe theyre never beaten well our lads won today like that so credit there

2) Robbie Keane looks like hes growing more into his game. Linked well at times with nando and was unluckey that some things didnt come off for him

3) El Zahr. Wanted to run at boro with the ball and I believe if he gets a run of games can cause trouble on the wing

Now the negatives

1) Passing at times was embarrasing even Alonso was woeful at times. Needs to be sharpened up if were hoping to challenge. Also why do we insist on hoofing long balls out of defence at times? Pogatetz and Huth would have loved that. If theres nothing on carry the ball out until someone is in a position to take a pass

2) set pieces. Pathetic to put it simply. How many corners dont clear the 1st man? Huge improvement needed here

3) Players form. Arbeloa stinking again Rafa may need to rethink his leaving out of Finnan. Yossi was great pre season but poor the last 2 games that count and its not good enough for a team hopng to win titles

4) Crowd. At times seemed very quiet today especially when team needed them the most. All well and good singing when we score but what about when things arent going well thats when the singing and encouraging is needed   

We Won! So everyone's happy.

Benanyun is a brilliant players that makes incursions into the opponent's defence. But he is being played way out of position.

Our defence was often susceptible to their counter attack because, Sketel was trying to attack too often. He is adding this to his game in order to compete with Agger and Hyypia. That exposed us a bit. Not his usual game.

Passing. At times we become complacent. Gerrard & Alonso had balls taken off them that shouldn't have been taken.

You missed a key point Brian. Crappy Refereeing. How many penalties did he ignore? 2 - 3 infringements against Torres? and 1 - 2 against Gerrard?. That was totally Biased refereeing.

When Mascherano returns, we will probably change formation and the defence wont be under so much pressure. Having Alonso and Mascherano as defensive midfielders will reduce the pressure on our dear Reina. He was brilliant today too.

At 1-0 0r 1-1 it would have been extremely disappointing and frustrating to drop 2/3 more points at home after last season.

But the lads kept going and never gave up despite not playing great and we've got the 3 points, which is the main objective before every game.

No need for over-analysing or nit-picking, we won, have 6 points out of 6 and off we go to the CL game and then Villa Park.

In the words of W.C. Fields;

'Everybody's got to believe in something.
I believe I'll have another beer.'
 

The win is what counts and we will get better, those who start like an express train always come off the rails, mind you we have to improve on this for Wednesday and we will...

The match is Game of the Day on SS1

The game was breathtaking. what a finish from stevie.. el zhar seems very promessing hope to see more of him this season
other than that refree sucked !!!!

We got the 3 points and that is what counts,Rafa said last seasonwe would not of got the points and to be fair he is right ,how many points did we drop against teams we should of taken to the cleaners.There would be no complaints if we won ALL our games in a similar fashion,but it could be bad for the old heart.

Let's look on the bright side.

We have been playing under par - we all know we can play a lot better - and we're top of the league with our best start in years.

Perspective my friends.  We need to keep ourselves in a decent position so that when we do 'hit form' it's not too late.

If we have gone top of the league whilst playing below par then when we hit form there is no reason why we should'nt still be there.

I have complete faith that we can do this. Manure aren't looking too good without Ronaldo. I'm hoping them and Chelsea draw tomorrow, as they're both away I think. Chelsea at the moment is our biggest threat. World-class players, world-class coach. But we'll do 'em.

Gerrard has said the Kop inspired his goal:

The skipper sent Liverpool to the top of the table with an unstoppable Kop end hit four minutes into injury time.
 
This came five minutes after Jamie Carragher cancelled out Mido's second-half opener.
 
Gerrard said: "When you are kicking towards that Kop end you can feel them helping you and helping the team. It was a great feeling. This is what we play the game for – the roof came off the place at the end.
 
"The fans were patient with us even though things didn't always go how we wanted. Middlesbrough played well and maybe deserved something from the game, but we showed character and kept going until the end.
 
"We have been working on having a positive mentality and trying to kill off the lesser teams and we finally got the breakthrough thanks to Jamie Carragher.
 
"Yes, I was surprised because he doesn't get many, but it was a good shot even though it got a deflection."
 
Ominously, Gerrard believes he is still only 70 per cent fit following a persistent groin problem.
 
"I would say I am only about 70 or 80 per cent at the moment but I am working hard on the training ground to get to the level I want to be at."

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N161029080823-2009.htm

Heard Gerrard saying after the game that he 'felt' for Middlesbrough.

They need to stop spouting that sh*te straight away.  Winners never feel sorry for losers.

A lot better performance today I feel, the strikers are linking up and starting to keep out of one another's way, Dosenna is playing better and getting more crosses in and looks as though he will start to settle now (Aurellio will probably start next week anyway) and we are WINNING the games we were drawing last season! and as a result are now top of the table YES!!!!!!!!!

What about Carra's goal as well! beautiful play from the ever strong, charging goal machine that he is great effort lad! and if that was not enough how about a last grasp perfect thunderbolt from captain marvel Stevie G? he had a really good game and to think he has just shaken off a slight injury and claims not to be fully fit yet? OMG with a performance like that we're in for a another amazing Stevie G antics season!

Heard Gerrard saying after the game that he 'felt' for Middlesbrough.

They need to stop spouting that sh*te straight away.  Winners never feel sorry for losers.

Nothing wrong with a bit of professional sportsmanship JD, and to be fair they held us well @ home for a good 80 mins but then took their "eye off the ball" in the last ten.

MOTD on tele now.  Or if you can't be arsed moving, and you're in the UK, you can watch it on the BBC football website.

The 'pundits' had best pay some respect to the league leaders.

MOTD on tele now.  Or if you can't be arsed moving, and you're in the UK, you can watch it on the BBC football website.

The 'pundits' had best pay some respect to the league leaders.

they can't deny us a little respect this time surely!