Nice one Mertesacker.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/new...s-mesut-2926321

With Gerrard out I reckon we could go 3-5-2 tonight. One key area will be the leftback position which will most likely be filled by Flanagan. He'll have a tough time against Aaron Lennon and Kyle Walker. Playing 3 centrebacks would help compensate by having the left most centreback (most likely Agger) support Flanagan. Allen, Henderson and Lucas to take up central roles. Coutinho to play off Suarez. This is to me our best possible lineup against and inform Spurs team that have won their last 4 games, drawing one. We are in for a torrid time.

You're being too literal and no I wasn't joking. A 3-5-2 morphs into. 5-3-2 when defending. I'm not going for that formation out if choice but we have injuries resulting in very few options up front and in midfield. Looks like we're going with a 4-4-1-1 tonight but if anyone gets injured upfront we'll have no replacements bar Alberton and Moses.

Don't see why a 3-5-2 is disastrous against quick sides. Care to explain?

Superb performance from the lads. Expected the worse as our record at the lane prior to this morning had been abysmal but the lads stepped up. Jordan Henderson was superb in his central role, in the absence of Stevie G. He was one of 5 players in a red shirt that completed over 90% of his passes. If there was any doubt over our superiority it surely has to be erased when you consider that Spurs failed to muster a single shot on target. The closest semblance of an attempt on target was Soldado's weak attempt that resembled more of a back pass to Mignolet. Henderson continues to impress this season and he was doing just about everything last night. He was defending, spraying passes across both either flank, making penetrating runs forward and linking up well with the attackers. It was his tenacity that led to our first goal as he worked hard to win the ball, leaving it for Suarez to finish. It was also off his backheel pass that resulted in Suarez crossing for Flanagan to cannon his shot in off the crossbar. Anyone see Kenny's reaction after Flanno had scored? King Kenny works really closely with the lad. Remember how when 2 season ago, Flanagan had accidentally injured Carra and was visibly shaken? Kenny pulled the young lad aside, had a word with him and they shared a laugh to loosen the lad up.

Speaking of Flanagan, what a performance from the lad. I thought he'd be in for a torrid time up against Lennon and Walker but he was superb especially at getting forward. 2 seasons ago, I thought he looked a little uncomfortable in the opposition half but so much has changed.

What about Luis Suarez? I don't think there are enough superlatives in the English language to describe him. The added responsibility of being appointed captain didn't bother him as he out in another world class shift. There is no doubting he is the best player in the Premier League at the moment. Despite missing the first 5 games of the season he has now scored more goals than the entire Spurs team.

Another performances worth mentioning came from Coutinho and Allen. The former was a constant menace up front whilst the latter was constantly pressing opposition players and pushing forward when needed.

Suffice to say, the lads stepped up and I'm extremely proud how everyone pulled together and the younger lads upped the ante.

Reflection. We are now sitting second just 2 points off the summit and it will be interesting to see if we can get any result from our away trips to Chelsea and City. If we do, we will only have 2 teams (give or take) in the top 10 to play away against in the second half to the season in the form of Man Utd and Southampton. If we can take a point from trips to the bridge and the Al-Ettihad, a top 4 challenge is surely in the reckoning.


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If anything the manner in which we ripped into Spurs does suggest (again) that we may he ready for life after Gerrard. Not the first time we'll be having this discussion either. Without everything having to go through him, the other flourished. They were there to pick up the slack and they did so in emphatic fashion. I think Stevie is still an important member of the squad and if anything it does indicate that we can afford to rest him every now and then even against top quality opposition.

Good piece on Hendo and this isn't a knee jerk reaction from the Spurs game either. He has put in a number of impressive performances this season and there is nothing wrong about being proven wrong like I have myself.

http://metro.co.uk/2013/12/16/why-the-surp...-spurs-4232304/

He's making an observation. How can I tell? There wasn't an insulting word used at all was there?

Funny that mancs should talk to us about focusing on our own wins. You lot are notorious for singing anti-Liverpool songs even when you aren't playing us. Happened recently against Villa as well.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2012...-anti-liverpool

Can anyone even remember the last time we sang anti manc songs during a game that they weren't involved in? Precisely.

Coincidentally, it was also against Wigan that you lot sang about Suarez being racist. These aren't the only examples either.

You lot are in no position to accuse others of taking the piss.

It pains me that some Malaysians are supporting Berjaya FC and are oblivious to how Tan Sri made his fortune, and how many people he's cheated. The legacy continues still if you ask people who have dealings with them.

Based on history, I won't be surprised if they signed 3 players and then refused to pay for them.

I'm absolutely delighted for Flanagan and I can see why he's being picked ahead of Martin Kelly. He has improved in leaps and bounds over the last 2 seasons. He was previously inept at getting forward and he's obviously worked on that part of his game. Was nice to see him outpace England rightback, Kyle Walker at one point. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a local lad come good and I can only imagine the elation of scoring in front of your fans. Against Spurs, Flanagan made more tackles and interceptions than any other Liverpool player. Well done lad.

English and Welsh

Notice I said, "at one point".

He didn't play the perfect game of course, no one does. Even Suarez has been guilty of missing easy opportunities despite scoring 17 goals to date. It was conceivable to believe that he would be overawed by the occasion given that he was up against Lennon and Walker but he wasn't. In fact he's improved a lot over the last 2 season as I've stated earlier. His offensive game has picked up and he isn't as reckless as he used to be defensively. That's what's different,to not the fact that he scored a goal and Walker didn't.

Comes back to my point of how important the defensive midfielder is especially in BR's high defence line. Mentioned before the season started that BR had targeted CBs with pace and in the end we got Ilori and Sakho. If you read all their report cards (Alderweireld etc), the one common they all had was pace. When the CBs do get caught out (case in point when Sakho went foraging forward before losing the ball against Spurs), it is the defensive mid that assumes the role of temporary CB.

I actually feel sorry for AVB. I liked that when he first signed for Chelsea, he had the balls to drop under-performing senior players in place of younger ones. Thing is he phased them out too quickly. Same thing happened at Spurs. He made too many dramatic changes to the squad but he wasn't the only guilty party.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/new...-summer-2933690

AVB's sacking shows just how times have changed and how patience is no longer a virtue. I suspect that it was the fact they were crushed in 2 games that he got the sack and not because they lost those games. If this is true then it's a tad unfair given that you lose a maximum of 3 points whether you lose by 1 or 5 goals. AVB's Spurs finished last season with their highest ever points tally in the Premiership and he has the highest win percentage of any previous Spurs manager at 55%.

What then contributed to his sacking? Getting whipped 5-0 three weeks after getting hit by 6 didn't help. Didn't help either that virtually all their first choice defenders we not available with the exception of Kyle Walker. Michael Dawson has been having an awful season and has only won somewhere between 30-35% of his tackles which is awful for a defender. There are also strong suggestions that Levy did not sanction the purchase of players AVB wanted, Hulk in particular. Instead, Levy instructed AVB to play Adebayor, a player he doesn't see eye-to-eye with to the extend the latter was ordered to train with the youth team. Levy wants Spurs to play with arrogance and swagger whilst AVB prefers to set his team up to accommodate the opposition. In short, they seldom agreed.

This leads me to Liverpool...

Brendan Rodgers had his detractors and in actual fact, he still has. It's just that they're in a state of cryogenic sleep given we're just 2 points off the summit. However, I'm sure many will be happy to be proven wrong if he continues to improve us. I was apprehensive and yet optimistic and one reason for that was that unlike Levy and AVB, Rodgers and the owners are on the same page. The rationale behind Roy Hodgson's appointment is still one of the world's greatest mysteries and the appointment of Kenny Dalglish was meant to be a stop-gap measure which revitalised the flagging morale amongst the players and the fans. The appointment of Rodgers however was better thought out. To date I cannot remember a time when they disagreed with one another's decisions. Long may this harmonious relationship continue.

No different from having 2 right footed CBs which is pretty common.