Aye it was an awesome game of football. I was at a viewing party in 1 Utama at the time watching it with a couple of hundred other reds. As the players were lining up to take the pens, my mates and I were all on our feet with our hands on one another's shoulder as the players do at the centre circle.

Great goal from Gerrard. When asked about the goal, he plainly said that he was too tired to run anymore which is why he decided to belt it from distance.

Please stop spamming and behaving like children. If you guys want to continue arguing about bookies, start a topic and take it there.

It isn't just one way traffic I assure you. I myself can't stand him constantly blaming the ref for our defeat while at the same time ignoring the fact that Spurs were brilliant. It's like King Kenny said, credit needs to be given to them for taking the game to us. Claiming that the match was fixed and all isn't any better and I'd much rather we own up and admit that we were poor on that day than find excuses, especially ones with no shred of evidence. We may as well blame the grass for being too long then. We were poor and people should deal with it instead of being in denial.

I personally feel the latest tirade of comments was tiring but justified. I can't stand it when we start to blame our defeat on everything but ourselves.

I share the opinion that Suarez operates better as a lone striker. He likes it when the defender is close up against him so he can quickly turn away from him and burst away. For that, he needs space. Having someone with very little mobility like Carroll next to him, you get the feeling that a strike partner will only get in his way. I'd like to see Suarez lead the line with a 2nd wave of support from the likes of Kuyt, Downing, etc. Suarez can get behind defenders with his pace, guile and quick turns but he needs support to play ball back across goal to.

Well maybe lone striker isn't the most accurate term to use. I think a lot of teams these days deploy a 4-4-1-1 formation with an auxiliary striker supporting the lone front man ala Torres - Gerrard. Rafa often plays with a lone striker from his time at Valencia when Mista lead the line at the Mestalla. He preferred his goals to come from midfield. Some examples of secondary/support/second strikers are Jari Litmanen, Teddy Sheringham, Dennis Bergkamp, Peter Beardsley and Ruud Gullit. The idea is that the second striker can drop back into midfield and become more involved the game and you'll note that most of them are creative and can play passes, unlike more direct strikers.

Your example of Toshack-Keegan is akin to the big man - small man combinations of Heskey-Owen and Quinn-Philips. These used to work on the past when English sides in particular played route 1 football often. The idea was for the big man to knock the ball into space for the small man to run into. Few teams use this tactic now. Strikers are now by and large, no longer huge lumbering giants who can only head the ball. The likes of Carroll and Crouch can play with their feet unlike say, Duncan Ferguson.

You're right. Playing a lone front man with no support is a bad idea. It's how Hodgson played Torres and even when he inserted N'Gog to keep him company, they were so isolated, their partnership was ineffective. Unless you have attacking players in midfield, it's futile to have 2 blokes stranded alone up front, hence one should play in front of the other i.e. 4-4-1-1 like when Beardsley played behind Rush.

The idea of having Suarez lead the line therefore was not to have him isolated but to have someone like Gerrard supporting him as a second striker, a role our captain filled really well when he played behind Torres.

Aye, came with quite a reputation saving about 60% of penalties taken against him or something. Maybe he needs a routine like Grobbelar or Dudek to screw with the mind of the penalty taker.

---

Added on September 22, 2011, 3:38 pmAnyone know if there is a replay of the game. Came home late last night but failed to stay up long due to alcohol overdose.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Sep 22 2011, 03:38 PM

Thanks for that.

We should really have wrapped the match up in the first half. We hit the post 3 times and had Suarez been more clinical, we could have opened up a comfortable lead but instead we let Brighton back in during the 2nd half. What a rocket from Bellamy by the way. Smacked the post proper it did. I'm rather surprised we didn't start Doni. He is surely one of the better backup keepers in the league and if he doesn't get to play in the first round of the League Cup, one wonders if he'll ever get a game if Reina stays fit.

Glaring mistake from Coates which almost cost us a goal. If you ask me it was defending 101. Playing the ball across your own penalty box is a no-no if you have opposition strikers waiting to pounce. You get away with it sometimes but it really isn't worth the risk. Hoping he'll settle in soon.

Mistake from Spearing, I think everyone agrees. If I'm to scrutinise, I'd say Carra was a little rash in sliding in as it was a tight angle and it was probably wiser if he had stayed on his feet.

On a last note, I was surprised to see Vicente on the Brighton bench!

I actually prefer Kelly over Johnson. Whilst Johnson is arguably better going forward, I think Kelly is a better defender and at 6'3", he's better at cutting out crosses to our far post. It says something that Johnson was played on the left last season to accommodate Martin Kelly whom I rate really highly. I think he's been really consistent since breaking into the first team, offensively and defensively. Johnson is a little more erratic and prone to the odd mistake.

and guess where we got the $50 million quid from? thanks for buying a lemon, moron.

I've been backing Carroll since the start but even I'd have to admit that he's looked nothing like the player I saw in Newcastle. Could be his price tag, or it could be he's still suffering from a hangover after celebrating a big money move but he's been looking sluggish. For a big bloke, he's been shoved off the ball too often for my liking. Maybe a run in the ressies will do him some good.

Yup, Shankly loved mind games. It has also been said that the home dressing room door way was made lower to make the players look bigger as they walked out.

Some ridiculous comments on Carroll IMO. Sure, he's not at his best but if you've seen him play for Newcastle, you'll note that he does have talent. What hasn't he settled into life at Anfield? Who knows? Could be the pressure from having a huge price tag over your head. Could be he's adjusting to King Kenny's style of play. The thing is, the new season is just 6 games old which is a little too soon to consider drastic measures like loaning him out . I don't think he had a bad game last night. He tried to turn creator and hit a wonderful pass across goal for Suarez. He had one header saved by Hennessy and another that cannoned off the post. He was perhaps a little over ambitious at the end but nonetheless, showed some good close control. I don't see how he had a bad game last night.

Let's get some perspective shall we? Surely some of you didn't expect the likes of Adam to be the same player Xabi was, or Henderson to instantly turn into a Steven Gerrard? I have to admit that I don't think Henderson has done well since joining but I also do consider that he's even younger than Martin Kelly at the moment and what King Kenny sees is potential so don't expect him to be world class all of a sudden. Adam is only in his 2nd season in the top flight and he joined from Blackpool, not Real Madrid so we shouldn't expect miracles out of him.

The Merseyside Derby is one of the oldest in England and perhaps the most unique in that it's common to have members from the same family supporting opposite sides. Also, form goes out the window as both teams fight for bragging rights. Having said that, Everton are if you ask me, a weaker team than they were last season having had to sell players like Arteta and Yakubu. If we are to be serious contenders for a top four finish, we have to beat them as I imagine all our rivals will. There's nothing I'd like better than to see Tim Cahill in absolute misery.

Well not really. Evertonians and Liverpudians live in the same area and even under the same roof. You guys live apart and from what I've learned speaking to locals, the East Coast rivalry is a little more akin to Liverpool vs. Man Utd.

One must be able to see the future to predetermine when to bring a sub on. If a team is playing well and players aren't tired, why risk breaking their rhythm unless you're changing tactics? It's wise to resist bringing a sub on early in the event someone gets injured or sent off. I don't see why King Kenny should bring on subs earlier just for the sake of it.

Building a spine
Ah the age old debate on rotation. Rafa was criticised for practicing this policy during his tenure and unfairly so as other managers did the same as well. I personally believe in what Shankly said when he first began to rebuild the team, that the team should be built around a strong spine, Goalkeeper / Centre Half / Creative Player / Goal Scorer. He started by signing Ron Yeats and Ian St John. It seems that Rafa attempted to carry on the tradition by building the team around Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, adding Pepe Reina and who some of us thought was the final piece of the jigsaw, Fernando Torres into the mix. It almost worked for us though didn't it? We finished 2nd in the league with these 4 players onboard only for us to lose arguably our most creative player, Xabi Alonso the following season.

Fast forward a couple of years and few would argue that Carra is getting on whilst Gerrard is becoming more injury prone as he was early in his career. If we do manage to convince Pepe and Suarez to stay, who then would replace Carra and Stevie? It remains to be seen if the likes of Henderson and Coates will be stalwarts in the team for years to come. In short the core of the team should remain. Some players need to play as often as they can, the rest can be rotated.

The Merseyside Derby
I tend to think we need more steel in derby games and the inclusion of combative players will be a plus. The Dirk Kuyt article was an interesting one and I'd like to see him start against Everton. The rest of the team will be pretty much the same I imagine. Question marks over whether or not either Carroll or Gerrard will start. Our captain is being eased back into the team after a lengthy layoff and to play him for a full 90 mins in a fiery derby may not be the wisest thing to do. Sure it's a game we want to win but we've still a long way to go this season. Carroll did well against Wolves and I imagine he'll start as well.

German strikers in the Premier League? Rare, perhaps but with good reason. The German's haven't churned out too many quality forwards since the Klinsmann, Voeller era. Lukas Podolski plays well during World Cup tournaments but disappears at club level. The exceptions could be Miroslav Klose and possibly even Oliver Bierhoff but the likes of Carsten Jancker, Oliver Neuville, Fredi Bobic and Gerald Asamoah weren't exactly prolific. Mario Gomes is in form now but so was Kevin Kuranyi a few seasons back. Of all the top nations in the world (i.e. Italy, Brazil, France, Argentina, England, Spain), I think Germany has had the least amount of prolific forwards in the past 2 decades.

A lesser know German forward who I thought had some degree of success in Premier League was Uwe Rosler when he was at Man City. He averaged a goal every 3 games which is a pretty decent considering he wasn't a full blown international.

I won't be around tomorrow and thought I'd post this today. Tomorrow will mark the 30th anniversary of Bill Shankly's death, a sad sad day for any Kopite. Here's an interview with Karen Gill, his granddaughter.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news...ny-100-per-cent

Fields of Anfield Road
Outside the Shankly Gates
I heard a Kopite calling
Shankly they have taken you away
But you left a great eleven
Before you went to heaven
Now it's glory round the Fields of Anfield Road.

All round the Fields of Anfield Road
Where once we watched the King Kenny play (and he could play)
We had Heighway on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
Of the glory round the Fields of Anfield Road




Hope you guys carry on with more tributes and postings on Shankly tomorrow.

Today should be a happy day for me. My colleagues and I will be leaving for Janda Baik soon for our team building exercise. However my thoughts are fixated on a man who made us what we are today. A man who literally rolled up his sleeves to personally help rebuild an ailing club. A man who is gone but should never ever be forgotten. I never met the man nor was I even a fan when he left us but it speaks volumes of his stature that even so, someone like me can feel so connected. Having read about him and listened to stories from the lucky few who knew him, it's as though I do know him but that was Shankly for you. Someone who was so in tuned with the fans, who was always willing to listen, to stop to have a chat and to give us his time of day.

It's weird Shanks. I never met you and yet I miss you.

They might have taken you away 30 years ago, but we will never forget what you have done for us. You took us from being an ailing club languishing in the 2nd division to being one of the most feared sides in Europe. You instilled in us values that we hold dear to until today. They may accuse us of living in the past but that is just testament to you and what you achieved. That we still talk about you like you were still around yesterday tells you how much we miss you. It tells you how grateful we are not just to have had you as a manager, but a fellow fan. You may be gone but I guarantee, you will never be forgotten. Rest in peace Bill. Just as you are always looking down on us from above, we are always looking back up. YNWA.



This post has been edited by Duke Red: Sep 30 2011, 08:23 AM


Attached thumbnail(s)

I passed your place going in mate. It was just a day trip and I'm back now so I'll likely watch the game tomorrow in Kelana Jaya

Dude aren't you in KK though? Btw, it's the anniversary of his passing.