One conclusion that can be drawn: our squad has no miserable c*nts in it that revel in the joy of putting 7 past a hopeless opponent. We should have sent a statement with the result. Instead, we were left holding our breath anytime QPR got into the offensive third during the second half. Suarez - opportunistic finishing and put us on the path to a solid win. Gerrard - I thought he was good today. He and Suarez were the only ones that seemed to want to score in the second half. Should have scored in the first half. Henderson - Best performance out of a player at the top of the midfield in a while. He has confidence, and when he is on the field, we actually are able to get out of our own half and hold possession in the offensive third. Allen - After a great start to his season, seems to have regressed to the mean. Not seeing enough from him at the moment to justify his starting. Downing - Damn Enrique pulling up with his hammy as we'll now see him at LB some more. Assaidi - Did he sleep with BR's sister or something? Why wasn't he given some game time instead of Suso to see what he can do? The Back 5 - A 3rd clean sheet in the league. Let's see a second in a row on Wednesday.
Don't mean to burst your bubble, but I've also missed the 1-0 away loss to Anzhi, the 1-1 home draw to Hearts, and of course most notably the 3-1 home loss to Swansea in the LC, which I still maintain is the result people overreacted to the most all year. Seriously, look through that match thread, it's the funniest thing you'll ever see. So in matches I've missed we're actually 2-1-2 in all competitions
Sorry, drob, I apologize in advance, but... I'm so sick and tired of hearing this shit. QPR is not that awful. WE MADE THEM LOOK AWFUL! QPR tied Chelsea 0-0 at Loftus Road. QPR was 0-0 by half at Old Trafford a month ago and lost 1-3. Arsenal only beat QPR 1-0 at the Emirates Every team we kick the shit out of is not awful. We are a decent ********ing team that just happen to have extreme lapses in concentration and individual performance. I heard the same shit from the commentators about Fulham and Norwich (who has gone on to do well recently). Perhaps, the reason the other team isn't pressuring the ball well enough is because they can't get near us fast enough to do so!!
Yeah, so were Villa. Still need to rise to the occasion and take care of business. All we needed was 30 minutes to put the match away. The last 60, especially the 2nd half were dreadful, for both sides. Should had at least 6 goals. Really, nothing new here except for Suarez finishing his chances. Midfield was dreadful and defense looked really feeble. If QPR had a striker who could've hit the broad side of a barn, we would've been in trouble. Fix the counter-attack defending, BR! Also, BR should've subbed earlier, now we have a tired side, Suarez & Gerrard in particular for Sunderland. Why no Assaidi, Sahin or even Coates?
True that. It's the central mid-fielders who cannot or do not track runners through the centre, especially when we turn over the ball. BR was ill but I get your point.
Hey, commentators, how awful is QPR now? Ask Chelsea! Was it Sunderland's fault this match, too? I'm telling ya. We ain't half bad. (...just can't defend worth a ********ing damn.)
Far too often we lose shape under attack-- see how many time 3 Liverpool players go for the same defensive header leaving no-one to pick up the second ball? Or just how easy we get breached from a turn-over around the opposition box? That has to be the next piece of the plan to put in place without neglecting, of course, the good work that's being done in other areas.
The key is how the fullbacks are playing. In England, the philosophy is very much rooted in the "back 4" all being defenders in the defensive third of the pitch. With Rodgers, our fullbacks are defending far up the field. Any pass that bypasses them (or the first two midfielders) instantly forces Agger/Skrtel to create a defensive shape they are not very accustomed to. At some point, they will start to figure it out, but look at the Barcelona model and how they have figured it out. They use defensive midfielders (Busquets, Masch, Song) and smaller/quicker guys (Puyol) as their CBs, because they cover a lot more ground and defend better 1v1 in space. I don't think we can do that far in England - as Stoke has shown us, even our big defenders can sometimes not be big enough, but with the right personnel and given the right time, we could be good enough. Either way, it's obvious where the biggest tactical improvements need to be made.
Good assessment that when the fullbacks are up field a good long ball into that space will put the CBs under pressure. That explains half of our defensive vulnerability. But the other problem seems to be defending set pieces around our box. Corners and second balls from free kicks leave us all at sea and vulnerable. We get to set ourselves up for most restarts and to practice these situation yet we haven't looked good on these this season. This also needs addressing as we go forward.