Would love to see Aurelio gets some time on the pitch

of course no from the start. Maybe last 10 to 15 min. If he does come in, it would be on the left mid.

He can put good crosses and on his day, he can deliver deadly free kick

Torres pushed the ball slightly inside n the defender capitalized on it. btw a good positive 1st half.

Lucas played well. Don't think Raul deserves a yellow. He gets the ball first and pulled away immediatly to avoid contact.

Glad we didn't play defensive. Losing in this manner is less irritating I guess.

Our mistake is that we didn't mark Modric tight enough. He might not be the quickest player but he makes clever run on and off the ball. In the 1st half they almost score from his cross.

I agree with you in this. Maybe it is not a coincidence that the whole team play better when he is out. But it is hardly his fault if he outshines others. After all he is the one who keeps on saving us time and time again and proving his worth to us. Well maybe the the media over-hyping him and made him untouchable is not helping also.

But I will be disappointed if the other players don't step up and take responsibility or play with confidence just because Gerrard is on the pitch. I can't hardly remember any player scream or having a go at Gerard when he made wrong pass, or any mistake. (Maybe Spearing will do it someday ) That's what I want to see. If GD is not being a team player then someone should remind him, that kind of mentality. Not "Gerard is in the team so I should show my highest respect, he can do no wrong".

Btw anyone watched el classico last nite? Lassana Diarra reminds me of Mascherano...

I guess that's his main role now warming the bench and defending his place on the bench Not like Barca needs any defensive player last nite

and it looks like this time Spurs is taking over that role. They already did it again Inter. Lets see how they coupe with other big guns.

lol i knew something is wrong with your comment there. It's like you got a leaked copy of RH press conference script

Btw, I tot we played better in the 1st half. Scored from our first attack if memory serves right. 1 or 2 good pass from Pacheco. Good display from Babel. He used to play on the right mid in his first season. Good goal by Jova. We conceded to many corners.

2nd half not so good. We seems content to defend the 1 goal lead. I think that was the instruction from our manager. When we put the players behind the ball n only Babel left upfront, its just a matter of time before we concede. I tot the goal could have been flagged offside because of the interference from the Steaua player. But unfortunately, our defenders did not move up fast enough. As usual, we started to attack after that.

on the players:-
Reina - commanding display except for the goal.
Pacheco - Good 1st half. poor 2nd. Btw, his willingness to close down opponent is almost Kuyt-sque
Babel - Few dangerous run. Better ball control
Jova - Work hard, not much a threat except for the goal
Defenders - Slow at times
Joe Cole - seems rusty.
Jonjo - invisible

Ngog - not much understanding with the rest

I can understand if RH want to defend the lead and play on the counter. But we should just have keep possession at midfield rather than defending deep and invite pressure to ourselves.

phew

I thought Torres did a 'Masch', u know...

Good football overall. It looks like the players are starting to gel. Quick to close down opponent, winning 2nd ball. Well, Villa did not pose much threat.

Koncheskey - good performance so far
Johnson - poor game. Slow and look most likely to lose the race with their winger
Maxi - keeping up pressure on their defense. I think he will score in 2nd half provided that he tries to have simple goal
Lucas/Maxi - good pass, command of midfield together wit Meireles.
Babel - Link up well wit Kuyt. I always think they have gud chemistry. Glad he makes the full of his chance tonight.
Defense - did ok. Soto covered Johnson in few occasions.
Reina - ok except for the bad pass

Another higlights

Highlights Liv - Ast

Yup they had few main players missing. We were also without Torres, Gerrard n Carra. It's more of the case that our replacements are better quality then theirs it seems.

I would like us to keep the Lucas-Meireles combo.

Let's face it, our football has been predictable for quite a while:-
1. Attack starts with Gerrard n pass to Torres. Torres does the magic n goal
2. Defender (or any player from deep) hoof to Torres

We make ourselves predictable with that kind of play. Last nite was a good team football becoz every player step up n take responsibility.

Once Gerrard is back, I want to see him play behind Torres in 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 with him just behind Torres. I would even consider him playing on the right since it worked quite well in Rafa's 1st season (or is it 2nd season?). But I think only Rafa has the gut to do that.

Anyway, for us to be less predictable we need others to be more involved in the attack build up. Lucas can play through ball as good as Gerrard. Merieles can shoot as good as well.

On the 3rd goal, it was counter attack football as its best. I notice that Reina always wants to play the ball early. But he can only do that if the player makes early run and find space. Last nite Maxi, did just that and it paid off with him at the end of that move.

Just read Reina comment on us not to rely on certain players only.

"The win was achieved without Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher and Reina added: ''We have a big squad, there are not only three in the team. We have 24 men and we are all here to deliver."

Source

would love to watch the video... I'll erase the commentary from my memory afterward

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: How the game was won in 10 steps.

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/12/07/liv...-0-aston-villa/

According to this page


Sunday 12 December 2010

Barclays Premier League
NEWCASTLE UNITED VS LIVERPOOL
ASTRO SUPERSPORT 3 (CH817) & SUPERSPORT HD (CH831) 1.30 am LIVE


It's Takraw time!


It seems Lucas is the manager's favourite now ahead of Poulsen...

Carrol vs Skrtel. There's only one winner there. It shud be Soto challenging not Skrtel.

Btw our Lucas-Merieles combo looks good. Good partnership n understanding. Most of our attack come from them.

Torres is okay. Only that we can't play early ball to Torres becoz a) there will be at least 2 players marking him b) He does not shield the ball enough. Ngog is better at holding the ball.

There's only 1 player I would replace, Kuyt. He tends to breaks the attack and sometimes drifting inside when he should be on the right.

I certainly won't solely blame Roy for this defeat. He didn't do much wrong with the selection. For me the key moments/incidents that contribute to this defeat...

1) Skrtel seems to loose his focus once this Ranger dude came in. Few occasions he failed to defend and Soto and the rest have to cover him. It affected all the back four. And thank you for letting the ball bounce for their 2nd goal.

2) Ngog was one of the positive tonight. Not only his holding is good but he closed down defense and steal ball few times. Loosing him means we don't press them high up much.

3) Torres miss proved to be costly

4) Lucas forget to close Carrol. His overall play was ok, but that is just not acceptable.

Merieles is MoM for me. Followed by Ngog n Lucas. Positive football overall. But too much long ball in 2nd half

Chelsea benched Drogba in the 1st half last nite. ManU has benched Rooney before. I'm not sure about Arsenal, but the idea of leaving your main striker (who is fit) on the bench is not alien to the top 4 teams. It could be due to them being out of form or maybe tactical.

I have to admit that the idea to leave Torres on the bench, and play with Ngog n Babel is quite tempting. At least in the first half. Drogba reacted positively yesterday with a goal n (missed) penalty :-p Maybe it will also do good to Torres.

But looking at the reality, we may not afford to do this. The gap in quality between main striker and back up between Rooney/Berba or Drog/Anelka is not that much compared to Torres/Ngog, Babel.

What is your thought?