i didn't manage to catch the first half and watched only 40 minutes of the second, but from that short duration the team played so much better than the previous 4-5 games. kudos for the great scoreline, and good to see fringe players showing what it means to be wearing a liverpool red.

didn't see what happened in the first half as reported by soccernet, but midway through the second spearing was bringing the ball forward in the middle and when he saw no teammates making any good run he yelled furiously at far more experienced teammates, not afraid of letting them know a piece of his mind. this is what i enjoyed watching. gerrard and carra used to do that every match, but i like the fact that spearing is by no means a better player but he dared to scream at players when they're not doing enough for the team, regardless of their age or how long they've been in the squad.

same with kelly. he may not be as sound as spearing, but i thoroughly enjoyed watching him chasing down opposition players down the flank, and the occasional galloping up the field a la carra-esque, not beautiful yes, but plenty of passion there.

meireles and cole were probably the difference in midfield today, both have got good feet and touches, solid passing and alert. steau may be weak but these two are in the middle of all good works throughout the match.

solid display from ngog again, at the moment he looked much better than a half-fit torres, and definitely not the same ngog we saw last season. much better control and touch, smart flicks and ambitious, still lose possession easily at times but major improvement in all departments after the summer break.

didn't see much of babel other than 3 intercepted passes in 2 minutes in the 2nd half. he has so much potential and yet it's frustrating to watch him taking the wrong options almost every other time. reminds me of garcia, exciting and agonizing to watch, but garcia surprises us more often with wondergoals and mazy runs.

the fringe players have upped the standards. how will the first team react this weekend? with displays like this players like spearing and kelly could walk into the first 11 and the senior players could not complain.

who is the captain for last nite match?

hey guys ,

just some off topic discussion , who the other players you think play similar to xabi alonso?

raul meireles looks more like attacking midfielder to me last night and I always get confused between him and Joe Cole .(poor internet streaming )

player that play almost similar to xabi in my opinion is Banega , Xavi , Arteta , Scott Parker =( I dont have much choice as I only follow up Spanish League and BPL

Watched again the highlight.... It was actually Lucas' poor first touch that led to his goal

you know that guy who karate kick xabi in final WC?that's his evil twin

Xabi has grown softer in real madrid.he's not the clint eastwood i know anymore.

but a goal still a goal and he deserve some credit for that goal , I will put Lucas for MU game since he played very well in last 2 match against MU last season.

I think on

left flank is battle between

Jovanovic and Konchesky

vs

Gary Neville/John Oshea and Nani


right flank should be

Johnson and Maxi(he play very well yesterday)

vs

Evra and Giggs

more concern bout our midfield where I am sure either Lucas or Poulsen will play against MU =(

it is between

Gerrard and Lucas/poulsen

vs

Fletcher and Scholes

---

Added on September 17, 2010, 4:54 pmNigel De Jong he play for ManCity now and he is more like a Huddlestone-type player for me

I can still remember how Cahill , Fellaini , Vidic , Lampard get red card when played against Alonso

This post has been edited by leaF: Sep 17 2010, 04:54 PM

i want to download this whole match. does anyone know where to download the whole match?

No not Banega or Xavi or Arteta infact. Banega is or can be classified as a box to box and Xavi & Arteta play much higher up the pitch compared to Alonso.

Alonso is essentially a deep lying playmaker, perfect for a diamond midfield .If there was another midfielder that can be classed as a deep lying playmaker that would be Andrea Pirlo of AC Milan. He and Gattuso were equivalent to Alonso and Mascherano if not better during their glory days. both of their qualities meshing perfectly with Gattuso doing all the tackling and making simple passes and Pirlo making to those raking passes to Inzaghi and Shevchenko. doenst it remind us of a midfield that we had a couple of season back? that aside , he was every bit vital in Italy winning the World Cup in 06 as was Alonso for Spain a few months back

i don't mind him screwing up as long as he cleans up his mess. and this occasion he did a pretty good clean-up job, hahaha...

still, when lucas came in he seemed to be in a lighthearted mode, which is something we rarely see in the first team deployed through this early season matches. today the players looked like they're enjoying the intensity of the match, and drilling hard to impress. they moved the ball faster, more accurately, and most importantly, with intent. players drift into good positions off the ball, and those who didn't would receive a good wake-up call from the young spearing. players are running to open up space and good options.

i wonder, if one of these days spearing gets to start in the team with the likes of torres, gerrard and carra, would spearing dare to rip them apart like how he did this morning?

It was Reina... Fully deserved the armband... A lot of his teammates came out before and said how he great is as a leader...

so.. if there any chance that if pirlo come to anfield that would mean that we get alonso back?

paul scholes is similar to alonso..

controling game and tempo..

super long pass

Why would Pirlo want to come to Anfield? he is like Gerrard to AC Milan to what Gerrard is to Liverpool

As much as i and everyone want Alonso to come back..but itll remain a pipe dream.

Pirlo is too old to be switching clubs actually...plus he loves his club so much, he won't leave unless Milan sells him.

Alonso is still young and has a better chance to come back though...since Madrid likes to do player clearances once in a while

Anyways good performance from our 2nd stringers. If Joe Cole didn't get a red card and played the 2nd half vs Arsenal....and also vs Man C, Birmingham, I'm sure he can make a difference. Damn.

But anyways, at least he's back now, with our new box-to-box mdf , Raul Meireles. Liverpool can now play with more creativity and pace up front if those two stay fit the whole season!

one thing I like about Alonso is he didnt depend much on his pace to play the game.Compare to Mascherano and Gerrard he is slower but he use his experience and skill greatly.He can be our new Gary Mac =)

i agree more with u when u said that scot parker play like alonso..yeah...noticed that before..and u guyz can see how he play againts man utd...he control well at the middle..he like to turn around like alonso..the way he run and send long ball almost simillar..

i am a sentimental for midfielders like Riquelme...

but not sure if this calm elegant style suited for EPL..

anyway, heard that Raul and even Spearing looked better than Poulsen...that's a relief....


This post has been edited by nando: Sep 17 2010, 07:38 PM

Liverpool's financial troubles could come to a head



Hmm..the situation is becoming worse and worse..

but can I know why every time any bad news of Liverpool in Soccernet is sure to be reported by that Harry Harris? Just looking at the 'By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent' you would expect something bad to come up..

Spearing is even better than Lucas imo...
RH should give more chances to Spearing as he is our local lad n he will become the next Gerrard one day...