Liverpool 2-0 West Ham Utd (31/01/15)

[Doc H Ball]

Just back.

Had a blinding Friday night at various pubs. We were a gang of 20 and lots of hammers in town enjoying the pool hospitality. A great city and a great people in my experience.

The Arkles (again) and The Brooklyn Mixer in the centre recommended.

I was sat on my tod in the main stand just by the Kop. I was immediately clocked and the people around shook my hand, talked knowledgly about the game and bought me drinks.

I do find it weird reading on here sometimes that various supporters are this, that or the other. When I go to the games and mix with the locals, I generally find that nearly all loyal supporters are downright decent.

The programme reminded us that we hadn't won in 51 years and 41 games at Anfield. We had scored 7 times in the last 29 games meaning an average of over 6 hours per goal! When you think of the players we've had in that time, I wasn't overly confident.

And so it proved. 52 years, 42 games and one goal every 6 hours 35 minutes.

We did scare them for half an hour. Certainly their fans were nervy, but I put that down to them starting slowly rather than us really troubling them. Valencia looked weak not seemingly knowing where to play, JOB is not a good enough reserve defender at this level, poor Collins is playing with a knock and Carroll off/Sturridge on was the end of all that.

I haven't read the thread, but I don't suppose I'll be the first to say that I can't figure out our shape. We should have gone for these ****ers (what exactly did we have to lose?) by playing Valencia off Carroll and Downing behind instead of accommodating Nolan.

As for Enner, the boy had his head down most of the time and looks unhappy. I'd either bench Nolan and play him there or ask Chelsea to swap him for Cahill if they're that mad.

Great weekend, but at 51 years old (there's that ****ing number again) even I had more chance of scoring than the team did. By my calculations, I'm going to have to live another 74 years....

[Morocco Mole]

First half we lined up like this....

--------------Song-------------
-------Nolan----Downing----
Morgan----Caroll----Valencia

Yeah, weird....

[the pink palermo]

J
When I go to the games and mix with the locals, I generally find that nearly all loyal supporters are downright decent.

Great comment .

It's sport .It's what we all watch on our day off .

[Doc H Ball]

****'s the liver mind.

[The Old Mile End]

Disappointed with the end result – perhaps this game was lost before it even started due to lack of self belief and team selection. Another year rolls by and our record at Anfield continues to worsen - unchallenged.

It looked quite promising for the first 20 minutes or so. We had a good outlet in the pace of Valencia which was causing them a few troubles. It’s a shame that he was our only real outlet though because once they worked out how to effectively nullify it, we were mostly on the back foot. This was especially so as they targeted JOB’s side and totally over ran us in midfield.

Was Sakho sacrificed to appease the Senegalese? Probably. Would it have made any difference? Only if the mindset and game plan were there – and evidently they were not.

There has been some debate on here on the usefulness of the Carroll-Nolan system and the tactics used in games when they play. This is an important issue because we are no longer climbing the ladder. However, the evidence is pretty clear - there is no real argument to be had. The manager will play Nolan and Carroll whenever they available regardless of our opposition. The evidence shows that Nolan is seen as the better prospect in the middle, and others will have to play accordingly. The fact that Downing has been more effective in that position is immaterial. The evidence is that the manager prefers to play a tighter game, and that all the early season openness and adventure was simply stop gap.

This is an important issue because it clearly affects the play of other players. Almafitano looked ineffective in this game. Caught in possession a couple of times, he hadn’t properly got into the swing of it. However, had Noble been selected at Nolan’s expense (the correct choice), perhaps he would have brought the others into the game more with the control and distribution that was clearly lacking. To many, this would seem the better option. It allows us to open up, feed Downing, and in turn feed the forwards – especially if we are running the channels.

Sadly, the evidence is that the manager prefers us to keep it tight, to play without the need for pace, to wrestle with goalkeepers at corners, and to loft it up to our big and expensive centre forward. It’s all about survival. It’s all about a point per game at this level. It’s all about damage limitation. It’s all about being surrounded by players you’ve known for years who will play in your style. It’s all about percentages and choosing your games.

I’ve seen every game this season. There is a very clear difference between the games up until early November and since. We can blow hot and cold that’s for sure. I don’t expect us to win at Liverpool. But, now that we have the weaponry to do so, I would like to see us realise it and use it. We need to understand why we were higher than them in the league and having the better season up until yesterday. Once we understand this, we will do better.

Overall, and in comparison to recent years, we are still doing well. However, it looks like it’s back to “Buyer Beware” for away games.

[sosc67]

Sam you need to drop Nolan pronto please i know he is your Cpt,General etc etc but his best role moving forward is come off the bench.

[Harry Hound]

The injuries and AFCON really ****ed us today. Whatever the options we don't have a huge squad and our attacking options were limited due to Sakho being left out of the team and Jenkinson being injured. Carroll did cause some concern to their defenders first half but they eventually got on top of him. Inwas just pleased that it was only 2-0 as with both Sterling and Sturridge fit and on form they had the potential to really tear us apart yesterday.
Just hope that we can get over the injuries as we've got a real challenge ahead of us and on that form the team will need to excel to get anything out of the next couple of months. I suspect that now Sam will be prioritizing the FA cup and our league form will dip.

[bubbles1966]

A couple of 1-1's and he started obsessing about clean sheets again.

Instead of thinking, "how are we going to get the second goal?" he started to ask "how can I stop them scoring one?"

[bullyhammer]

Just back.
I was sat on my tod in the main stand just by the Kop. I was immediately clocked and the people around shook my hand, talked knowledgly about the game and bought me drinks.

I do find it weird reading on here sometimes that various supporters are this, that or the other. When I go to the games and mix with the locals, I generally find that nearly all loyal supporters are downright decent.

....

Well said, Doc. We all take the mick out of other supporters, not least the Scousers, but (heresy of heresy) I've always found the "real" Scouse fans to be some of the more knowledgeable. When it comes to our own sides few of us can claim total objectivity!

[Bamber Gascoigne]

A couple of 1-1's and he started obsessing about clean sheets again.

Instead of thinking, "how are we going to get the second goal?" he started to ask "how can I stop them scoring one?"

[Crouchend_Hammer]

A few of the English lads out and about in Buckhurst Hill last night, Nolan, Carroll, Downing, Cresswell and Etherington apparently. Hope we not got training today!
Btw Not passing any judgement as I wasn't there, but I know it was pretty late doors

[Phil S]

twist

[morganwhu]

Really didn't turn up in the second half.

Winston Reid was awful, totally merked by Sterling and Markovich on numerous occasions, surprising to wake up to rumours Liverpool are considering a bid.

Aaron Cresswell had his worst game yet, also struggled with Markovich and gave the ball away far too much.

Nolan totally anonymous, it's boring to have to bring it up every game but the biggest frustration is Downing playing out of position to accommodate Big Sam's bum boy.

Having the sun shining down for the whole of the first half was also a bit painful.

At least the kaiser chiefs put on a show ..... Far better value for money!

[Swiss Pauli]

First half we lined up like this....

--------------Song-------------
-------Nolan----Downing----
Morgan----Caroll----Valencia

Yeah, weird....

Initially, it worked quite well at cutting off their passing game but once they got a handle on what we were doing it lost effectiveness. I think the main reason for that is that - whoever we pick in central midfield with the possible exception of Kouyaté - are not very good at closing down quickly.

They, on the other hand, have a load of quick midfielders who chased us down and pressured us into mistakes.

[bubbles1966]

They kept targeting the same vulnerability, the same one they always target when they play us - right back.

Picking Amalfitano at RM just compounded the weakness. He's good going forward but Jarvis is better at helping out a full back.

A midfield three of Song (who played well), Downing and Noble is comfortably a match for - in fact it's better than - Lucas, Henderson and whoever the other entirely forgettable one was. It wasn't picked.

O'Brien simply doesn't have the pace to play full back. Straightforward lumps down the field from our corners were effective because of the lack of pace which enabled them to move the game into our half.

That said, there was precious little in it first half and they seemed to spend almost all of it serving up toothless fayre in front of us.

[Gep]

All this talk about the bin dippers going to be exhausted after their extra time against Chelsea during the week. :lol:

[bubbles1966]

Sturridge goal

Not the keeper's finest moment.

[Swiss Pauli]

A midfield three of Song (who played well), Downing and Noble is comfortably a match for - in fact it's better than - Lucas, Henderson and whoever the other entirely forgettable one was. It wasn't picked.

Wouldn't The Forgotten One be Coutinho? Or Maybe Lallana? Sterling also dropped deep, or moved wide. We couldn't handle their fluid movement and pace in the final third. Henderson had a good all-round game, and pinged a few long range passes to Moreno of the sort that Gerrard usually puts into the stand

Noble - who was lucky not to get booked for hacking at Sterling from behind in the move that led to their second - isn't any better at closing down quick players than Nolan.

[the pink palermo]

Yesterday I saw the worst Liverpool team I can remember comfortably beat us , which says much about both clubs at the moment .

If anyone had any doubts as to where we need to spend money - real money- in the summer, Joey O'Brien confirmed it yesterday .Time and again Liverpool exploited his flank .

The skipper I thought was decent for the opening 20-25 minutes but faded very badly and for Sam to leave him out there was bewildering .

For the first time in 3 years a fully fit ( as opposed to one returning from injury) Mark Noble was left out, and just as he did against Saints all the way back then. the Manager realised his error and brought him on in the second half .It's very simple, we need his passing .For all the stick he gets on here, he is our best footballer and really ought to be the first name on the team sheet .In recent times he has struggled by his standards, and there were a few interesting theories doing the rounds yesterday as to why that might be,but he has to start ,

Cresswell had a very poor game, failing to get forward like he normally does .......Morgan had an off day , Valencia looks much better with Sakho as his partner with Downing behind them ....

I could go on, but you get the idea I'm sure .We had the wrong team from the start , we lacked belief , lacked a plan and never ever looked like winning .

Did their keeper have a proper save to make ? I don't think he will have an easier 90 minutes this season .

And to keep the good news rolling in, Collins limping off, Reid taking a knock .......if Jenks is out again next week , just what sort of side will we put out against Rooney, Falcao, Van Persie ?

Sam is currently falling into the Avram trap of not knowing his best combination of players , he seems confused in his own mind, and if he is, what state are the players in ?

He has to make tough choices now .

Nolan, Noble, Song, Amalfitano, Kouyate, Downing .Pick 4 to do the job .

Carroll, Cole, Valencia, Sakho .Pick 2 that work well as a pair .

Ultimately the difference was delivered by Sterling and Sturridge, but that really shows how far Liverpool have fallen in terms of standard .

Not one player who took the field yesterday would get anywhere near either clubs all time XI .Ordinary stuff from both teams , simply not good enough for either clubs aspirations.

[Doc H Ball]

.... there were a few interesting theories doing the rounds yesterday as to why that might be.

Care to share?

If Noble is sold and Nolan kept, then that will be the end for Sam.

I can't see Sullivan allowing it for a number of reasons - unless of course he wants Allardyce to dig his own pit.