Thoughts on Liverpool Games

[Ordar]

After having a night to reflect I thought I'd share my thoughts on last nights game.

Overall I though we played fairly well and easily could have got at least a point out of the game. It was actually refreshing that Dalglish acknowledged that. We created a few good openings, and in the last few minutes I thought we were destined to score. Regardless of the result and the media hype surrounding "King Kenny"'s return Liverpool look far from being a good team.

As normal we had the ball for long periods without making Reina make a save. The lack of creativity in the team is worrying.
-Stockdale had another solid game. Made some brilliant saves, including a genuine world class save from Mireles header. Was very unfortunate with the goal. Actually had the ball before JP swiped it into his own net.
-Pantsil was extremely poor. Not just for his part in the own goal. His possession and distribution of the ball is very poor. Looks a liability in defence, and lost his temper badly in the second half. Was unlucky to get booked, but he just costs us too many matches with errors.
-H&H were solid as normal got done by the through ball early on, but apart from that Kept Torres fairly quiet. Both had chances to equalise  late on. Hangeland was especially unlucky.
-Baird did alright. Totally exposed by Dempsey at times. His lack of pace is still a worry.
-Dempsey looked lively but sometimes just tries to do too much. Gave the ball away badly for the goal. Definitely better suited to play as a forward and had a decent volley saved
-Murphy, yet again, had an extremely poor game away from home. I seem to think this after every away game. He just shouldnt be picked in away games.
-Sidwell was quietly effective. Thought he kept Gerrard and Mireles in check for much of the game. Difficult for him when playing CM basically on his own.
-Duff was anonymous which surprised me as he was up against a out of position Glen Johnson, who cant defend in his preferred right back position, let alone on the left. I thought the game highlighted what a difference Wright-Phillips could have made for us. Duff is just too hit and miss, and has totally lost his pace.
-Dembele was really lively. Missed a couple good chances, especially the first (I thought the second was just instinctive). Worked very hard, and I was surprised by the amount of tracking back he actually did.
-AJ I thought had another good game. Easily looked our most threatening player, and created the chance before HT for Dembele. Its hard for him to play without a target man along side him. He's looking sharp though. The way we play definitely doesnt play to his strengths though as our attacking play is sooooooo slow.

Gera came on and was yet again totally ineffective. Not sure (yet again to repeat myself) why everyone is so bothered about him leaving.

Overall it was a decent away performance. If we'd had Mireles and Torres instead of Murphy and Dempsey, we would have easily won the game. It is encouraging to see us trying to actually win away from home though. Worryingly for us though, we still need  14 more points to get to the magic 40, so we'll most likely need to win away as we have Chelski, Liverpool and Arsenal to play at home.

Murphy, Duff and Pants need replacing, and I think Dembele should be playing wide and Demps up top until Zamo is up and running


Read more: http://cc.fulhamfc.com/forum/topics/thoughts-of-the-liverpool-game#ixzz1CENXI4v5

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I thought that we continued looking much, much better. We had them on the ropes for the last 20 or so minutes and aquitted ourselves well. Creativity wise, I think we are starting to get our groove back.

The only mistake Hughes made was not bringing on Sally at LB and switching Baird to RB. This would have given us more width when we were really pressing and we could have got more balls into the box.

[Matt]

I thought that we continued looking much, much better. We had them on the ropes for the last 20 or so minutes and aquitted ourselves well. Creativity wise, I think we are starting to get our groove back.

The only mistake Hughes made was not bringing on Sally at LB and switching Baird to RB. This would have given us more width when we were really pressing and we could have got more balls into the box.

Agree. You never know what you get from JP and last night he wasn't on top of his game so to speak. I hope Briggs get some more chances when he is back and that Baird is moved to RB.

[sipwell]

I have sent my fellow Belgian the message that he should score, darn him. He had 2 good opportunities but two times he was too hasty. Other than that he was spectacular again. Did anyone chuckle when he lost the ball, chased the player who stole it from (passing Baird who didn't know what to do) and then taking it back by pushing his opponent out with a touch of his shoulder? That was a highlight of the evening.

We were ineffective in front of the goal. The shots weren't good enough. I agree with your take on Gera. I am wondering what good he has done in all the games he has played so far. I even had the impression that without Duff the team was playing less good. He may well have been important last year, but he is not important now.
The goal in my view was bad communication between Pantsil and Stockdale. Pantsil tried to clear the ball (first time unsuccessful) but Stockdale just hit it a little so it went over him.

What are your ideas on Sidwell? I didn't really know what to think of him. He didn't yet seem to fit in

[ImperialWhite]

-Murphy, yet again, had an extremely poor game away from home. I seem to think this after every away game. He just shouldnt be picked in away games.

Murphy, Duff and Pants need replacing, and I think Dembele should be playing wide and Demps up top until Zamo is up and running

:dft004: criticism of Murphy makes me cry...

No way, sorry, Murphy had an excellent game. Liverpool fans thought Gerrard had a poor game - I disagree - Murphy kept him quiet. Murphy did his job perfectly.

Duff had a poor game on the back of a combination of an outstanding performance by Glen Johnson and another poor performance from JP.

Dembele had an outstanding game, as did AJ. Pity Dembele missed those sitters, but he did more than enough in terms of earning and maintaining possession to make up for it. The work rate of the pair is incredible, and it looks as if they could form quite the partnership (the first sitter Dembele missed, where AJ beat the fullback to pass back to Dembele was very Bobby/Gera-esque).

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I have sent my fellow Belgian the message that he should score, darn him. He had 2 good opportunities but two times he was too hasty. Other than that he was spectacular again. Did anyone chuckle when he lost the ball, chased the player who stole it from (passing Baird who didn't know what to do) and then taking it back by pushing his opponent out with a touch of his shoulder? That was a highlight of the evening.

We were ineffective in front of the goal. The shots weren't good enough. I agree with your take on Gera. I am wondering what good he has done in all the games he has played so far. I even had the impression that without Duff the team was playing less good. He may well have been important last year, but he is not important now.
The goal in my view was bad communication between Pantsil and Stockdale. Pantsil tried to clear the ball (first time unsuccessful) but Stockdale just hit it a little so it went over him.

What are your ideas on Sidwell? I didn't really know what to think of him. He didn't yet seem to fit in

Sidwell was solid, thought he looked for the forward pass more than Etuhu and was happy to make tackles.

I love Dembele. He was fantastic again last night, again holding up the ball and bringing others into play. If he had buried one of the two chances he would have been MOM. I cannot wait to see what he can do against a very open spurs midfield.

[Matt]

What are your ideas on Sidwell? I didn't really know what to think of him. He didn't yet seem to fit in

Thought he had a decent game. He's definatly better on the ball than Etuhu. As you say, he looking for his form after his passive years at Villa. Think he'll turn out to be a great signing in the end.

[sipwell]

I agree with ImperialWhite on Murphy. I was surprised he was seen as rubbish. He commanded midfield. The fact that not all of his passes reached their target had a lot to do with the fact that Liverpool played with 9 defenders instead of the usual 4 or 5.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I agree with ImperialWhite on Murphy. I was surprised he was seen as rubbish. He commanded midfield. The fact that not all of his passes reached their target had a lot to do with the fact that Liverpool played with 9 defenders instead of the usual 4 or 5.

Danny Murphy - 70 passes last night, 55 completed, thats a 78% completion rate, very good considering we were playing Liverpool away. He had 91 passes agaist stoke with a 74% completion rate. What a player, and one who is absolutely crucial to how we play and keeping the ball moving.

Interestingly, the next two players who passed the ball the most are Paintsil and Baird with 65 and 63 passes respectively.

[FatFreddysCat]

I only saw the second half but thought Murphy had a mare. Dempsey must accept a lot of the blame for the goal and Pants just seemed to completey panic in what should have been a straigtforward clearance (one of theirs almost done the same later). Dembele surprised me with his upper body strengh easily barging people of the ball. The last twenty minutes we had them on the backfoot and should have equalised. I thought we desrved a point. Also couldn't make out why Pants got booked when they was taking it in turns to kick him.

[FatFreddysCat]

I agree with ImperialWhite on Murphy. I was surprised he was seen as rubbish. He commanded midfield. The fact that not all of his passes reached their target had a lot to do with the fact that Liverpool played with 9 defenders instead of the usual 4 or 5.

Danny Murphy - 70 passes last night, 55 completed, thats a 78% completion rate, very good considering we were playing Liverpool away. He had 91 passes agaist stoke with a 74% completion rate. What a player, and one who is absolutely crucial to how we play and keeping the ball moving.

Interestingly, the next two players who passed the ball the most are Paintsil and Baird with 65 and 63 passes respectively.

But a lot of the passes he gave away completely broke down attacks and were quite simple, i;ve been impressed with Murphy of late, but poor last night  :046:

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I agree with ImperialWhite on Murphy. I was surprised he was seen as rubbish. He commanded midfield. The fact that not all of his passes reached their target had a lot to do with the fact that Liverpool played with 9 defenders instead of the usual 4 or 5.

Danny Murphy - 70 passes last night, 55 completed, thats a 78% completion rate, very good considering we were playing Liverpool away. He had 91 passes agaist stoke with a 74% completion rate. What a player, and one who is absolutely crucial to how we play and keeping the ball moving.

Interestingly, the next two players who passed the ball the most are Paintsil and Baird with 65 and 63 passes respectively.

But a lot of the passes he gave away completely broke down attacks and were quite simple, i;ve been impressed with Murphy of late, but poor last night  :046:

I would disagree, I think the ones he failed to make were on the whole, more difficult passes that would be getting the ball forward. We need a player to do this and Murphy is that guy.

[Oakeshott]

From what I saw Murphy was, as usual, at the heart of all our best play. To my mind he is the best footballer, with the best footballing brain, we have had at the Club for ages and hopefully in Steve Sidwell he's found an excellent partner in the centre of midfield.

With Moussa and AJ playing well and hopefully Bobby due to return, our problems look to me now to be at left and right back. Baird is a great guy but I'm not convinced he's the best left back we could have and I for one would welcome Konch. back if that proves possible. I suspect Baird is best as first reserve centre back. Pantsil is fast, acrobatic and a real character but he's a bit too erratic and reluctantly I think Hughes should be looking for a new right back as I don't think Kelly is quite good enough.

[jarv]

A lot of different opinions on this. So, first, I watched the whole game in comfort and thought it was one of the best away performances of the season. A bit nervous after Torres disallowed goal but in the end Fulham were by far the better team.
Duff's criticism, maybe he is too old for 2 games in 4 days. I find it hard to cticise anyone, it was (a rejuvenated) Liverpool at Anfield for goodness sake. Fulham's record isn't too good there.
I will agree on Pants though. His decision making can be poor, resulting in pressure which did not exist in the first place. Too hesitant at times.
Murphy and Sidwell subdued Liverpool's central midfield. Was Gerrard even playing? He hardly touched the ball except in his own final 3rd.
Liverpool knew they had a game on their hands. They worked their socks off, very high pressure all over the field when Fulham were in possession. They took nothing for granted and still Fulham looked the more accomplished team, especially in the second half.
The goal was a comedy of errors, felt sorry for Pants but a pro should not slice a simple volley off his shin into the net, completely in the wrong direction. I say simple volley because the ball actually sat up nicely for him.
Good performance, more like that and away wins are on the cards.

[The Bronsons]

Pretty positive about the performance. We were unlucky not to score; and unlucky to concede as we did; but then, the poo could argue they were unlucky to have Torres called offside first half. (Even if it *was* offside it was so close it could have easily been allowed.)

We all know we lack scorers, and Dembele is only just back to playing so can't be too critical of the misses. Murphy's performance was fine - I think people who criticise him must be watching a different game to the one I saw. Pantsil had a mare, partly because he was so desperate to make up for the own goal that he lost his head.

Most of all, I loved the commitment from the players, especially in the second half.

[duffbeer]

Despite the misses, Dembele is superb, and my only fear is that we will not be able to hang on to him.

Agree with Imperial White's assessment. 

Interesting thoughts by all on Sidwell because I found myself really missing Etuhu, but good points about the Liverpool midfield being kept quiet.

I thought we lacked creativity because the poo players put very little pressure on whoever had the ball, choosing to close down the passing options.  We need a way to respond to that.

[Ag]

It didn't appear we had as much movement up front when we were attacking as we did in the previous match.  That perception could just be the result of watching on tv.  But we had a lot of holding the ball looking for somewhere to go with it.  Liverpool's defending explains it to a point.

Murphy was good on set pieces and fine defensively but his passing undid a number of our attacks, especially in the final 20 minutes.  He's another one who I think should only play once a week (Duff being the other).  When he's fresh, Danny can be lethal, but soft passes and leaving them short is indicative of fatigue.  Unfortunately, Etuhu's injured so I don't know what choice we had.

I thought Sidwell did quite well and held his own with Gerrard on a number of occassions.  He's more subtle and not nearly as physical as Etuhu defensively.  Offensively, I think he's better.  Especially once he finds his form.

[JBH]

I think apart from Pantsil's own goal we looked solid, the only thing that really puzzles me is why was Duff so good on Saturday yet so bad last night? Prehaps he is not able to keep a high level of performance up when he plays 2 games in 5 days?

Also I would like to have seen Simon Davies playing as his corner's could have really hurt a poor Liverpool defence.

[Tom]

I have sent my fellow Belgian the message that he should score, darn him. He had 2 good opportunities but two times he was too hasty. Other than that he was spectacular again. Did anyone chuckle when he lost the ball, chased the player who stole it from (passing Baird who didn't know what to do) and then taking it back by pushing his opponent out with a touch of his shoulder? That was a highlight of the evening.

Your boy choked away two chances for goals. He needs to start converting those.

[JBH]

I have sent my fellow Belgian the message that he should score, darn him. He had 2 good opportunities but two times he was too hasty. Other than that he was spectacular again. Did anyone chuckle when he lost the ball, chased the player who stole it from (passing Baird who didn't know what to do) and then taking it back by pushing his opponent out with a touch of his shoulder? That was a highlight of the evening.

Your boy choked away two chances for goals. He needs to start converting those.

Moussa is going through the just back from injury stage and is not yet match sharp, just as AJ wasn't 2 couple of weeks ago, give him another week and he will be scoring again.  :045: