N'gog is the worst striker I ever seen.. hopefully he will get better soon.

NGOG = boNGOG = boNGOK....
it's related each other.. hmmmm

don't know what was our scout saw in him..

actually ngog got talent and potential.. but he is not ready yet to pay full match for us..
he stil young n inexperience, somemore most of our games is crucial n pressure..
i think best way for ngog is make him a supersub becos he's good on that job..
revert kuyt back to striker as solution for Torres absence...
there's no way for rafa to put 2 striker in his tactical and he will never do that, and that's the problem now..

An absolutely crucial 3 points in our quest for a 4th placed finished. Our rivals for that spot did us a favour by either losing or drawing.

A cagy affair by and large and I feared the worst when Kyrgiakos foolishly lunged with two feet at Fellainin with his studs showing. Didn't matter that the Belgian stomped on his leg, the rules are clear on this and if you go in with both feet, studs showing, you're going to get a red. The derby lived up to it's reputation with a red card being shown every 2 games. My only regret is that Cahill didn't get his head kicked in, the way Kuyt almost did when unibrow swung his foot into his face after the whistle had gone. Good to see Agger come to the fore after Anichibe shoved Stevie in the chest. Reina was also spotted amongst those in the scuffle. I don't condone violence but I still think it's a positive because it showed solodarity amongst the lads.

All in all I think our star performers were Dirk Kuyt who worked tirelessly upfront making a nuisance of himself at every opportunity, Mascherano being himself (anyone remember the two important tackles he made in the box in the space of 10 seconds?) and Insua for keeping Pienaar rather quiet. In general I think the whole backline has to be given credit for keeping Everton at bay especially after Kyrgiakos got sent off and we had to play for just under and hour with 10 men. In contrast, Maxi Rodriguez was invisible and I'm surprised he wasn't taken out sooner. Many were excited when we signed him but let's put things in perspective. He had trouble getting into the first 11 at Atletico who aren't playing particularly well at the moment. Can't help but wonder if sales of the i-pad would be affected if they got Maxi as an ambassador.

no no dun judge maxi too early pls... pls be noted that maxi is just got his 1st full match against everton.. but still able to perform well with some quality passing n keeping ball possesion well.. and same goes to aqua as well.. both of them got their own quality to be suit with our playing style..
to me maxi is a good player, he understand gerrard well although that is only his 1st full debut..
he is not invinsible, watch the replay back after this and see how his 1-2 passing with gerrard (end up with Ngog's poor wide shot) shows how quality he is..
give Maxi n Aqua some times and they will pay us back with a gud performance after this..

On the contrary, this isn't a judgement call :-



Rather, it's both and observation and a fact. I personally feel people were getting a little too excited and expectations need to be managed. Some posters have a tendency to envision every player coming to the club to he our messiah. When I say "invisible" it isn't meant to be taken literally. Honestly, what else did he contribute with the exception of that 1-2 play you are referring to? Just because I felt he did nothing, doesn't mean I'm calling him a lemon. If I were to rate his performance in that game, I'd give him a 5 simply because he was by and large, unnoticed and seldom involved.

Here's a rating from goal.com



Guess I'm not as generous.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Feb 8 2010, 12:32 PM

Yes, he did make a mistake or two.Overall, he was great.The fact that we are able keep a clean sheet with 10men speak for itself.Insua did his part.

I actually like the part where he stole the ball off Donovan.

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Added on February 8, 2010, 1:38 pmHe is good for someone of his age.Maybe not yet ready for starting games but he is definitely one of the better player that should be in the squad.

He might be another Benayoun...Played well as supersub before breaking his way into first team.Give the lad a break and some time to breath.

This post has been edited by solstice818: Feb 8 2010, 01:38 PM

Regarding Maxi, I still long to see a team with full confidence consisting of Nando, Gerrard, Aquilani and 2 of Maxi/Benayoun/Riera. Mouth-watering stuff... Or at least, on paper.

WOW, are we talking about the same striker who has bagged 6 goals in all competitions so far? I don't know if you guys have high expectations or what, but he's only 20 fyi.

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Added on February 8, 2010, 1:52 pm2 reasons: Man-marking -if any- executed poorly. And Howard failing to deal with the cross. Probably distracted by Kuyt as well.

This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: Feb 8 2010, 01:52 PM

Ngog is a really interesting player - played well during pre-season, was poor whenever he played during the season until the recent three games. Yes, he doesn't look like a natural scorer now but he really improved in terms of ball control and holding.

He's a little bit of Heskey (because of his built and strength) and a little bit of Crouch (because of his height and surprisingly good ball control).

I felt it was a mistake replacing him with Babel. Even if Ngog's tired, he could still be relied upon to trap the ball when others pass to him and hold it till someone comes. Babel .. was just running around like a headless chicken - couldn't even control the ball properly .. sigh!

I like Ngog very much, I'm pretty sure 1 day he will turn out a good player if not the next Thierry Henry. Give him time.

Just last month, some has been bashing Lucas and this time around, he's improved. Most players need time to hit the right button to get going. Very little are like El Nino who gets started in just 3(is it 3?) games on a debut Anfield appearance with goal against Chelsea.

High expectations have been set since the arrival of Torres, but in reality, we have to accept that he is a rare gem. Many were gutted because Rafa chose Lucas instead of Aqua during the bad times.

With Lucas & Greek improving, seems like now we have a very good line up with very good subs on our bench (Maxi, Aqua, Aurelio, Benny, Degen, Babel). Can't wait for Torres & Johnson to come back and see what the line up is like and with motivation and fighting spirit we've seen in the last 5 games, it's gonna be a interesting season.

All in all, we have a very good squad now, and we just need to have that motivation, belief and fighting spirit to win as many games as possible.

need to check with bookies la, nanti aston villa ter'score' 3 "own-goal" lagi,



ini martin's AV always 'never' menang against his mentor's team.

I hope draw. works best for everyone hehehehe. At the end of the day, doesn't matter what people's results are if we are not getting our 3 points. Big game, this next one. Arsenal will be looking to bounce back, Sotty K should be suspended and Insua will have to work hard to keep the likes of Walcott/Sagna at bay :S

I think the partnership of Agger/Skrtel and Carra in the center works better against Arsenal's slick 1-2 passing more than Agger/Skrtel and Soto...Can we try putting Darby/Kelly back in RB?

I hope Aquilani plays and do something against Arsenal, since he was in consideration from Arsene Wenger for the past few seasons but he never made a move on him.

Ngog at least know how to position himself and time the run to avoid offside trap, can see from replay, he bent his run a few time to stay inside and create space for others to pass for goal opportunity.

I don't share the optimism, Liverpool has poor record against Arsenal, while although get 17 points out of 21, away form is still very questionable. Remember Liverpool away match record is quite poor as well.

we got 17 points out of 21?

Just to add, I like some posters here cannot help but scoff at comments suggesting that Aquilani wasn't used against Everton because the game was "too physical" for him. What is he? A bloody pansy? If it is really true, why the hell did we buy him anyway considering most English sides, are by nature, physical? Neither Lucas nor Benayoun are built like tanks are they?

yeah, i kindda agree wit u but its rafa the one who monitoring his fitness level week in week out n u can never understand rafa when he making decision, but take nothing away from him, aquilani could start against arsenal, just could..

Agree 100%

The English game is never not physical in any ways...I remember Luis Garcia saying he got grounded by a whack from Rio Ferdinand from his 1st game with Man U, and Rio just told him "Welcome to the EPL"

I guess the reason we didn't play him is because Lucas is better than he is XD frankly i don't blame rafa for not starting him. While he may not be a pansy, but neither is he as defensively oriented as Lucas and Masch. And you need to be defensive in the midfield against the likes of Fellaini, Cahill, Arteta. Unfortunately, his best position is already occupied by none other than Captain Marvel himself.