Guys I watched this compilation of Lucas vs Chelsea and it made me appreciate his contribution in the game even more... enjoy
Credit to MilanKakaBaros

Very bad news Well it is time for others to shine

Speaking of Barca, I just realised few days back that they have bought Ibrahim Afellay for £2.5 million. I don't know about you guyz, but I think that is quite a bargain. He is not yet considered as a great player, but I think he has the potential to be one. I would put him in the same class as Marko Marin. But again I don't really follow Dutch League or Germany Bundesliga. Maybe somebody who has constantly watching them can shed some light.

Our failure to secure 2 goal cushion has cost us 3 points. But we did put enough effort. Kuyt slowed down our attack
in one or two occasions. I would have sub him before Merieles. But I guess his work rate is too important for the team.

Jova is not good enough to be on the pitch. I would rather have Johnson as winger ahead of him anytime.

Luck is not on our side today. Few players who were involved in international friendlies looked tired.

Ngog is a striker and Pacheco is a midfielder. So they compete in different position.

Apart from those mentioned, I'm also impressed with Flanagan last nite. Calm and composed on the ball.

Hopefully in the 2nd leg it will be Repka vs A.Caroll. Now that's a fair fight.

Seriously we need to up the tempo. Cole sub was a good move. And Merieles needs to play closer to Lucas as they have good understanding with each other. Johnson has been poor defensively.

It seems that our tactic was to defend and play on the counter. But that does not happen much since they also opted for a safe approach. Do they think that they can get a result coming to Anfield?

I thought we started with 4 at the back but end up with five; Johnson, Carra, Soto, Skrtel n Wilson. It could be 3 centre back with GJ n Wilson as wing back. Overall a poor performance. None of the players stands out for me. Our only best chance came from GJ move.

Cole - was ok when he came on. Did not have much time in the first half. But he provided a good pass. Not much to offer in the second half. But I notice on few occasions he was asking for quick pass from our DMs but didn't seems to get that. I think he is the type of player that prefers quick short passes and one two pass.

Wilson - just ok. Didn't think Sparta offers much threat from the left flank. Notice he opted for hoof ball few times in the 1st half

Glad to see Agger back in the team. Btw is Johnson injured?

Cmon Cole its ur time to shine!

This post has been edited by farisq: Feb 25 2011, 02:01 AM

that's is blatant foul on merieles

The most positive note from the 1st half is Martin Kelly. That guy is strong and got no nonsense approach. His quick cross created our best chance. How I wish Johnson will sometimes put early ball into the box rather than bringing it to the corner trying to beat few defenders in the process.

Poulsen needs to make quicker decision.

Cole is alright. Why oh why u back off from challenging the goal keeper.

Glad the match is way better than the 1st leg. Notice that only Merieles and Lucas seem interested to initiate short passes and move.

Hope this is the last time we see them in this competition. Their play acting is worst.

here u go ->>highlights

Ngog was bought on cheap during G&H era which really shows what kind of owner we had at that time. At a relatively young age at that time, he is supposed to spend some time in the reserves to gain experience. But due to injury of our main striker, and us not having enough backup striker (which was a bad business decision), Ngog was thrown straight into the thick of the action and people had low expectation on him. But eventually he turned out good, and scored some important goals where others failed to score. Slowly people expect higher standard from him because of what he had provided so far.

To me he is the kind of player that need few consistence games under his belt to show his worth. This season so far he couldn't get that. It is no surprise that his performance not as consistent as we expect. So loaning him to a premier league side, or even lower division is not a bad idea as long as we have enough backup striker.

I think our 3-5-2 didn't seem to work against their 4-3-3. I don't know what is wrong there but it didn't produce enough fluidity in passing and movement.

I saw some glimpse of potentials in the link up play between Gerrard and Suarez, something like what we used to have in Gerrard-Torres partnership. Maybe KD can try to play Gerrard behind Suarez.

well your wish came true

It is good to be confident and positive going into the ManU game. But let's not get ahead of ourselves too much. Clearly we need to step up our game. If we play like we did against WHU we will be murdered. Judging on ManU-Chelsea game last nite (yes I watched the whole 90mins), their play is one level above us.

And I thought Torres display in the 1st half last nite was his best so far with Chelsea.

We should aim for 4th place until it is mathematically impossible. This season is full of uncertainties. Well if we can prevent ManU from 19th in the process then that is a bonus

This comment by KD on Carroll is just hilarious

"Whether he's involved on Sunday or not - I'm sure Fergie would love to know but we don't know. He might not even be a substitute - he might be going to see Boyzone!"

sos

Now we need our defenders to be alert every second, especially skrtel no switching off please.

Our attackers have worked theirs socks off. Lets not put that to waste.

Reina looked not 100% settled. And it is frustrating when we have to make a forced sub.