Every formation has its merits ... on paper; every tactic has its strong points ... again on paper. I think formations and tactics are secondary to how the players apply themselves on the field.

Remember how Kuyt remarked that the way Liverpool is playing now is like the Dutch "total football". I believe it's because every player is moving and running now. Remember those days (no need to mention under who) when a winger/fullback got behind the opposition's defence and crossed .. only to find that there was hardly any red shirt in the box to meet the cross. The players were almost static.. keeping the formation, keeping the shape ...!

Now, under KD's old bootroom philosophy, there's plenty of off-the-ball running and players are constantly moving. This results in the opposition not knowing where our attack is going to switch to. If we have many players who can score, this will certainly cause panic as our opponents have to watch out for all these players who are running towards their goal!

Flashback to our goal against Chelsea with Meireles (whose strength is in his tireless running and willingness to shoot) running behind Kuyt and you can imagine what can happen when we play like this every time.

Keeping in motion and running up and down is sheer hard work. That is precisely why KD said the players have to work hard.

Wigan cannot be underestimated. Nobody should be underestimated - that is also another old bootroom principle - we should field the best line-up possible and play the best possible. If the opponent turns out to be in good form, then at least we can grind out a hard-fought win. If our opponents are in bad shape, then we should just be professional and clobber them!

This is one thing that KD still has to work on : to get the players to push on for as many goals as possible even after we have taken the lead..

Looking forward to see these qualities displayed by our players and hence, another good performance ..

We also played 5 defenders against Stoke at home, if I'm not mistaken. KD's belief is the defence must be rock solid. Remember how leaky our defence has been this season?

With 3 in the centre, the fullbacks can support the attack according to their capabilities. It's enough to play with one recognized forward when we have 4 or 5 proven scorers - Gerrard, Meireles, Maxi, Kuyt ..

call them whatever!

Wigan played with alot of determination, as expected. It is also true that our players suffered from fatigue due to the international matches. This is a small hiccup but I believe we will recover.

I was impressed by Suarez. Had he scored in the first half with that beautiful move into the box, our confidence would have been boosted and we could have buried Wigan.

Nevertheless, I'm elated to see such a skillful player in the red shirt!

I watched Gerrard whenever he was in the camera frame - he had a poor game. At times, he did not even seem interested or want to play!

Not saying that the defeat boils down to Gerrard alone, but because the players look to him and often pass the ball to him, his listlessness inevitably has an impact on Liverpool's game.

Disappointing...

The chance for 4th place has definitely got weaker with this defeat, but I will not say "gone". Football can be rather unpredictable and we can still hope as long as it is mathematically possible.

Blooding more youngsters like Kelly and Wilson is definitely the way to go. It's the only way to prevent disappointing defeats after an energy-sapping midweek game.

Wah.. why take such great risk just for football!

Seriously, I won't write off our chances of getting 4th yet although I admit that the task got tougher with that last defeat.

I will not go so far as to predict a result but I am quite sure that Liverpool will play at a high level against the Mancs ... because we usually raise our game against them. So, I'm really looking forward to that match!

Steve Clarke and his team are trying to get Meireles, Agger and Aurelio fit for Sunday's match, but Kelly is confirmed out for about a month with a hamstring tear.

Of the former three, Aurelio has the best chance to play, followed by Meireles.

If Agger cannot be fully fit, KD will find it difficult to play 5 at the back anyway...unless he pulls Aurelio back to LB.

The pressure is on the Mancs to win. They have to..

After such a disastrous start, it is very highly unlikely for Liverpool to challenge the top 2. So, we are just playing to show everyone that we are still a force to be reckoned with and that we can match the Mancs in every way.

Let the Mancs come against our 5-man defence and get frustrated. Hopefully we can then sucker-punch them!

Should be an entertaining match..

Great win! Never imagined that one day Lucas would marshall the defensive midfield the way he did. Glad to see him confident enough not to pass the ball to the off-colour Gerrard unnecessarily.

What a player Suarez is and what an acquisition he's turning out to be! If this is the beginning of things to come, then wow! there's a great, great deal to look forward to with this guy!

Andy Carroll looks good despite his long lay-off.

Agree. The Mancs were dominating in the opening 15 to 20 mins with some cool and accurate passing and things could have been different had they scored first. Our confidence is still shaky and a few of our players have the tendency to doze off towards the end of matches.

Don't know what KD will do with Gerrard because he is clearly off-colour at the moment. Sorry to say this but he actually broke up a few of our own attacks with poor passes or failed interceptions. Except for Lucas, our midfielders are rather soft in their tackling and often lose the ball in one-on-one situations. However, I believe both Clarke and KD must have noted these.

Sunderland is tough competition especially at home. We have to keep going all out in every match now!

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.

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..