Lucas is what Carra was.

I well remember the jeers that greeted Carra whenever he played because he used to be such a bungling defender. I think it was Houllier who persisted with him, and just look at him these past 6 to 8 years!

If I was the manager, I would have given up on such players. That's why I still think that Roy Hodgson is not such a bad manager. I remember how eye-brows were raised when he made Lucas captain during pre-season and kept using him as the season progressed.

I am one of those who didn't like Lucas. I felt he was such an unusual Brazilian player : devoid of skill, flair and balance, and wondered how he ever won "Young player of the year" at one time.

I suppose one should never write off a young player too quickly.

carra was bad under houllier coz he kept played him as a fullback..when rafa came he convert him to centerback...thats when his performance improved

hiccups are normal actually. just some fans expecting a big win given that Liverpool facing Braga; and lose. i can understand their dissapointment but it's not over. there are still a home leg to play with. of course, KD needed to use other players at his disposal as well; not only to assess their performance and ability but also to give some other players a rest.

yup. agree with u. when i saw the line up i already have a bit of idea how KD wanted to play this game. only that a bit of unlucky moment for Kygriakos with his mistimed challenge. but just want to highlight that when Liverpool tried to get a goal back by using long ball to Carroll, their play look quite limited. of course, the players tried to utilise the aerial advantage that they had but since Gerrard and Suarez aren't available, their attacking option was stretched. but, last night game just a small hiccup for Liverpool. KD still need to focus on climbing to the CL spot.

Well, Gilberto Silva, Edu wasn't much of a flair and skillful player too but we already accustomed to the fact that most Brazilian players are skillful.

i think that the stint on full back position added more attributes in his game. he became much more agile and mobile.

I beg to differ.

He was bad and the negative label of being one of the "spice boys" didn't help him. Houllier saw his defensive qualities and consistently used him in the first team - usually at the left-back position.

That was where he played and shone when Liverpool won the famous treble in 2001.

What is also true was that Benitez switched him to CB to partner Hyppia in 2004 and it was in this position that he won the CL with the Reds.

My point was that talented young players need someone who believes in their potential to give them a chance..

Read somewhere that he's considered as what Brazilian called as ...ship steerer ? (cant rmb the exact word).
Thats why he don't need the flair even though he has them, seriously, as there's already abundance of them in Seleccao. His role is what Dunga was to the Seleccao now. To keep things tidy & discipline, his role is much more appreciated in Brazil than others as there's lack of players in this role for them.

Fair enough for KD to give the like of Cole, Spearing and Poulsen a chance to feature in starting eleven.

I think Spearing has done better than the other two. Even when he was pushed back to take the defensive role after Poulsen sub he did a good job. Cole also got fully 90min to prove his worth, yet he offered nothing significant. Except for the penalty claim which I think he tried too hard to ensure contact. And I don't remember him manage to put any crosses.

So for me Cole time is up. So let's see who is next in the pecking order, Pacheco maybe. I think Maxi, Pacheco, Cole/Jova should all be given equal chance on the pitch to see which one can offer more at least until we acquire a better player in the summer. Right now I only see Maxi n Cole given the chance.

not sure if this has been posted

and i find this very funny
grass allergy
Mario-Balotelli-grass-allergy



This post has been edited by Petre: Mar 11 2011, 04:29 PM

Carra was not bad when play as fullback, in term of defensive duty wise, he performed well.
It was the ability of overlapping, putting cross in, aka the attacking wise that make people feel he was bad.

Just like Mascherano was played at RM, resulted players strength is not fully utilised.

Every player has his own strength.
You only get best out of player if you him at right position.
Not every player is a utility type of player and can perform whenever being told to play at where.

and the right position for carra is CB not fullback..lets juz say that he dont offer much when he played as a fullback..he's a decent fullback at best

this morning's match is probably our most disjointed performance so far under dalglish.

but having said that, we have spearing playing out of position in the right for most of the game, it's a gamble taken by dalglish in order to fit in all five midfielders who're better off in the middle (cole, lucas, poulsen, meireles and spearo). somebody has to cover the wings, but cole and spearo aren't the best racing down the sides and making sublime crosses into the box. which in turn limited johnson and carra from going further up the pitch in the opposition half. spearing played much better after he got moved back into the middle and meireles out wide, but it was probably too late to make any significant impact.

it's still very much an open tie, one goal back in anfield and we're back into contention. braga surprised me with their style of play, very good in keeping possession and i think most of their passes were successful, headers even. that's something we should learn, we hardly got into the game because most of the time we tried attacking as soon as we got the ball only to lose it as quickly.

it was a poor challenge by soto to concede the penalty, but overall let's not take anything away from the home side. it was a dull game from our POV, but braga made us look bad really.

while on other issues, i think cole had a good call for penalty when he got tripped by kaka but cole did look like he lost the ball behind him before getting tripped. not very happy with kaka's elbow in the air as well, if a freekick was awarded kaka would've walked. too many stop start moments throughout the game with the ref blowing every now and then, made it seriously boring to watch.

one week to rest and prepare for the rematch, let's hope we'll finish the job at anfield.

i guess grass in england and italy have very much difference.

i do recall isaw few games that carra play well as a full back. he did well in executing overlapping run and supplying the crosses.

in euro clash , u cant blame anyone.. we r generally weak in certain position...

player like meireles, gerrard, cole, johnson failed to up the standard cz of somes reason

he played quite well

sorry...but you always speak nonsense...meireles not up to standard?

well, Gerrard out for a month after operation!

source

aduhh Gerrard out plak got tough fixture coming,hope the others will perform well and Suarez performs more miracle moments

last nite he missed passes the ball alot la n always look dead when min 70+ in every game..
as a midfielder he shuld control the tempo of the game.. not juz waitin sum1 feed him the ball to score..

last nite game the midfield is dead... i will not bash carrol if he cant score for the team if we r playin like tis,, he's keep coming down to middle to keep the ball up..

the gud thing is we got suarez..
the bad thing is too many injury player..

shipped out players like agger / aurelio.. waste of space

Aurelio yes.bt not agger.give him another half season.if he still injured at january next year.then sell.

Torres: Chelsea more fun

By ESPNsoccernet staff

Fernando Torres says he is enjoying a more friendly dressing room atmosphere since swapping Liverpool for Chelsea in a £50 million move on transfer deadline day.

Fernando Torres is yet to settle into the Chelsea side
GettyImagesFernando Torres is yet to settle into the Chelsea side

• Ashley Cole avoids charge
• Rafa surprised Reds found him distant

Though Torres is yet to score for his new club, with Carlo Ancelotti still attempting to find the right blend in an attack that also boasts Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba, the Spain striker appears content he made the correct decision.

Rafa Benitez was notoriously aloof from his Liverpool squad during his time at the club, and Torres says Ancelotti has created a more congenial working environment.

"Chelsea have proved they have top-level players in all departments and that they will always be competitive whatever happens, with an owner who will invest when it is necessary," Torres told Marca.

"There are more personal relationships and jokes between the players than there were at Liverpool. Everything was much more serious there. Here, you don't have to prove you are a professional - it is assumed."

Torres has once again explained that boardroom upheaval at Anfield - the transition from the era of Tom Hicks and George Gillett to that of NESV and FSG - convinced him to move on from Liverpool in January.

Describing the situation as "chaos", Torres says he felt he needed to join a club capable of challenging for major trophies immediately.

"I knew I was an idol for the fans but it wasn't the same anymore," Torres said. "The institution was in chaos with the sale. There was all this talk of possible projects.

"In many ways it reminded me of [former club] Atletico Madrid ... a great history, many ideas but without money. It needed time. I don't have that. People aren't honest in the world of football. You can't say the truth or be clear with people. It's a business and nobody is anyone's friend."

Source : Soccernet!

Guys wat your comment ? !!!!!!!!! damm...

I was waiting for someone to highlight this. This guy cannot stop talking, can he???

I cant blame him fully also.we are far too inconsistent and only turn up for big matches.

the only mistake on his part was the timing.

he should have put in the request earlier or waited till end of season.

Good luck to him and hope he stops talking about us as most of us are already over him.