Definitely, different wasn't it. The good, the bad and the ugly. Good fun football from the team. The looks on their faces said a lot and the look on KK's when Charlie scored, said it all. Good matches for Henderson and Jose, they both seem to have found their place in the team. Good that the crowd recognised the Lucas contribution. Good game from Downing, he needs to score doesn't he? Bad, that we didn't score more goals, that could have been a "Sunderland" if the ref had more of a say. I would have been happy with (At least) 6 today, 3 we scored, 2 for the PK's the ref robbed us of, and 1 with Luis hitting the bar. His buddy Luganito sitting in the stands will get him for that. Ugly, refereeing and the switch off, that gave away a late goal. Enjoyable to a point today, for us and the team.
It is concerning about Carroll but I hope supporters at the matches will be patient and give him time. He's not a "bad" player. Everyone is judging him according to his transfer fee. But as long as we're winning - with or without him on the pitch - let's just be patient and supportive.
I actually like Carroll coming on like that, too bad he didn't get on the end of one of those crosses. Maxi and Carroll totally messed up an already messed up bolton.
Not much to add, as it's been pretty well covered, except that I love having a center forward who can absolutely bulldoze any opposing CB. Not sure what exactly happened since they didn't show a replay, but Carroll made Zat Knight wish he'd never stepped onto the pitch today. I really like the way Maxi is playing right now. He's quality when surrounded by quality. Great player to bring off the bench to spell our starting XI and make sure they leave the match injury free. Hendo with a great game. Adam with an assist and goal. Downing could've scored two or three on another day. Enrique with a quiet blinder of a game. I'd say it's been a pretty good summer.
That's more like it. The home crowd was in genuinely full voice for the first time since we spanked the skanks. Absolutely fabulous football all round; the pass and move football is not yet 1988/89 vintage but the pieces are almost in place. Ruthless decision by Dalglish to drop Carroll but, boy, did it pay off! I hope it spurs him on-- he certainly gave the defenders a hard time when he came on. Still some wrinkles to iron out-- I think Adam over-does the long passes. He's not Alonso and he must learn to play for the team. I thought Carragher's lapse was a rare one but at this level with all those young guns about could be costly in terms of a starting place. Otherwise a very solid platform on which to build. Too bad about the international break.
"Rampant Reds go top" reads the front page on soccernet.com. I could get used to that. Bolton was overrun. We should've scored at least one more in the first half. Suarez can be a bit greedy but he makes us better. Few seasons ago, I wanted Kuyt and Lucas out for lack of quality ... red card for me. Squad is back to full fitness - it seemed they could play another game. Every time we dominate and find ourselves on a little run, international week rolls around.
It's a tough ask to have Gerrard back by that date. I mean, he isn't even training at the moment, and won't be fit for a while. I hope he's ready by the end of September, so he is ready to recieve sir. red nose on october. I hope Jonshon is back, since i expect it'll be awhile till we see Kelly again.
His long range passing is fine and probably one of the main reasons we bought him. He did a couple in the 1st half for Suarez and Downing which were sublime. With Alonso we were all about dominating through possession whereas Kenny has set us up to create as much as possible even at the risk of sloppy final balls. Charlie wouldn't get in Rafa's team but the way Kenny has set us up he'll be just as important as Suarez, Lucas and Reina. Overall very good game. The big difference between a forward 3 without Carroll is that they all move about and switch positions, like last year with Maxi. Some games will suit Carroll's style but at home agaisnt the smaller teams our fluidity without him is prefered.
I don't think it'll be THAT long...in fact we may see both back for Stoke. TBH if we MUST use Skrtel at RB again, it wouldn't be the end of the world. He played well there yesterday
He played well after we went 3-0 up but before that him and Carra were just passing back to Reina almost every ball they got. It might have been better had Agger and Carra changed sides but we looked a little vulnerable on the right. If both MK and GJ are out I'd rather Flanagan played.
Yea I agree. Very Germany-esque style of play, it's fantastic to see and Adam has impressed me quite a bit. In the scheme of things, Adam will become a very important player for us. It will be interesting to see what will happen or how his role will change with Gerrard back in the side. And building a multi faceted team is probably the most important thing Dalglish is doing. This way we'll be ready next season should be qualify for the CL (or Europe for that matter) and have proper depth and prepared players in different set ups.
I know the referee coped some criticism but I though he wasn't that awful. He missed a penalty call for each side but that happens at the best of times. I think I've seen much worse from Probert (and Howard Webb), to be honest. I agree Flanagan is a better bet-- Skrtel at right back again is a gamble too far. But Agger at right centre-half would be much worse. Shows just how much juggling it takes for a good bench, doesn't it?
I think Gerrard's going to get the Henderson role as it's currently devised. Start in the hole behind the striker and then work his way outside when the match is established a bit.
Hold on mate, what exactly does he deserve some credit for? He didn't do anything. If the measure of a 'good game' from him is going to be that he is able to 'bounce' someone around a little bit then I think it would have been easier to just buy a defense guy from the Washington Capitals. I'm not hating on him, I just don't think he is anywhere near ready yet. I can live with giving him 15 minutes here and there but the difference between the offense when he is on and when it's Kuyt and Suarez is blinding. He may be capable of much more, maybe it's that he didn't really want to leave NU, maybe he is just lazy but I'm not going to praise him just because he wears red. I will cut him some slack and wish him the best, that he gets better, more comfortable and that he finds a way to become a part of the team. But until then it is what it is.
We haven't really seen Carroll partnered with Suarez so we can't say for sure if that doesn't work. Mostly this year its one or the other. Any lineup with Suarez is better than one without it.
The bigger problem is that people expect carroll to be the finished article already - and they won't admit it - it's all due to price. All of a sudden we are seeing things like "lazy" and not working hard enough etc. Amazing really when thats not the case at all. Last I saw him he was tracking back 40 yards to dispossess a League One player. Amazing that 3 games into the season he has already been written off.
People said Dzenko was a waste of money and now he's full of goals. Learning how to maximize big guys takes awhile
No we haven't. And to be fair, it's too early to judge Carroll, unless you're a sports reporter or an opposition supporter. He's 22 and still developing as player. My worry is if he were to assume that he's the finished article-- there have been some hints of that-- and he starts getting frustrated when he things don't go his way. I'm sure his being dropped from the starting line-up is part of his education.
I just find it foolish to think that a player has to play every week or be in each lineup. As it stands now, Carroll's main attack is his physicality and heading prowess in the box. Bolton, with Knight and others are built to handle that type of attack better than most clubs. However, as we saw yesterday, they're able to be exploited with faster attacking players. Kenny has options people. One week his lineup might be completely different than another. It's not like we've got Messi, Xavi and Iniesta on the team sheet that can't be moved from the lineup. We've got Suarez and two or three others that should be on there week in and week out, but at other times this season, some won't always fit what we're going to have to do to be successful.
Then again, they're different players. Dzeko, while being a "big guy" is extremely skilled, fast and has the game intelligence of a playmaker. In Germany there was always a Dzeko vs. Gomez argument, the modern complete striker vs a more traditional poacher/target man. One is clearly more beneficial for a team than the other, who in turn can limit the team more than help it.
Pending on team setup, yes, one can be more beneficial than the other. Some clubs still can use that poacher more.
Oh I can agree with you it's unfair to write someone off at this point in the season. That said, I am disappointed in his performances, his attitude doesn't seem right, I'm amazed that he slows the game down so much when he plays, it makes it miserable to watch. I am one of those people who doesn't believe he is good enough to play regular first team football yet; I think in a year or two maybe he'll be there but not right now. I'll cheer for him when he's on the pitch but I'm always going to hope he isn't on the team sheet.