Why change a good thing. Let's go to win and put out an unchanged lineup: -----------Jerzy(no choice anyway) Finnan----H-----H(if unfit Igor)----Carra Diouf------------Stevie----------Vlad ----------------Harry ---------Mikie-----------Milan Subs: Patrice Heskey Biscan Riise Murphy Diao Comments? Lanky on Comms?
Henchoz out 1 - 2 weeks According to the official site (http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N141829030912-1422.htm), soccernet.com (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=276948&cc=5901), etc. Henchoz is out 1 - 2 weeks from the ankle injury he picked up midweek with Switzerland, and Biscan will continue to start in his place.
That's as I suspected. Riise still gives cover as a center half injury would move Carra into the middle. I'd add Le Tellec to the subs then.
Yeah, I'll be around to do comms. Anything to not have to listen to those home decorating shows my girlfriend watches incessantly on weekends...
You too! My wife does the same and then tries to make me feel guilty because I’m not guilding all the mirrors in the house. I read on the Liverpool Carlsburg page “Babbel warns Blackburn that Harry Kewell is a threat” I think that was a little Bennedict of him. Souness would never have figured that out for himself…! Looking forward as ever to the comms and comments. I have a kids game at 10am PST. What time is THE game?
10 am EDT is game time, 3pm GMT. I have a wife and two daughters who alternate between The BEEB America and the American rip offs of the same shows. And then they complain about me watching soccer.
LOL at this thread. My wife (in addition to the aforementioned programming) is intent on watching "Queer Eye..." every time it's on.
Right, but only one connected to digital, and that's the best TV. I can watch ESPN on any one of four TVs but not FSW or PPV. However, I do feel you pain.
Brilliant. Anything wrong with this? ....................Dudek ....Finnan--Hyypia--Biscan--Carragher ......Diouf--Murphy--Gerrard--Kewell ...............Owen--Baros Kewell to drift forward and into the center; Gerrard to hang back in support of the defense. Subs: Luzi Diao Riise Smicer Heskey ----
Red Knight, I like it but I think GH'll stay with Vlad the Intermittently Effective! I also think Harry will play in a hole behind the two front runners.
Right--the eternal struggle on these pre-match threads: "What we would do" vs. "What GH will do." Your picks are probably right as far as what Houllier will do. I just don't see how he can conclude that Vlad has played Spud out of the starting XI. ----
While Murphy was our best player last season, I think he's been pretty invisible this season. As good as he can be at times, he just doesn't impose his game on opposing defenses as often as he should. Vlad seems to have benefitted from the extra attention given to Kewell, as well as the extra space created by Gerrard's move to the holding slot.
I still got no digital and no internet (save the occassional library trip), but I did notice that FSCalifornia shows a Premiership match during midweek, so maybe I'll get lucky soon.
Sign of the times, that we have one telly, but 3 computers with Internet access. My kids are well trained though, I walk in the room and my 12 year old immediately switches to channel 203 (FSW) and asks "what match is on Dad?" My wife gave up on our honeymoon in 1990 when the England vs Germany world cup semi final took precedence over other entertainment that was available
Kewell's arrival has definitely shaken things up for the better in our midfield, and BTW so has Diouf, who is vastly improved. That has pushed Murphy away from the attacking midfield role that got him ten goals last year and, as you point out, made him our best player last season. He thus has a less visible role now. Both Kewell and Diouf, if their form holds, will make whoever that fourth midfielder is (Smicer or Murphy) better. Where we disagree is whether it's Murphy or Smicer who is most likely to make the most of this opportunity. You're sold on Smicer at the moment, and I'm just not quite there yet. I admit that with Vlad, I am always bracing myself for disappointment (just as others on this board sometimes do with Heskey, for example). Fair enough. If Smicer starts tomorrow, as expected, I hope I'm proved wrong, of course. ----
I think that both Murphy and Smicer are inconsistent. They both have different strengths and weaknesses that, depending on what the rest of the midfield is doing, either help or hurt the team. When we need a bit more toughness, Murphy is the guy to go to. When a defense needs to be broken down, Vlad's creativity is the answer. But I've noticed that, when both are on the field at the same time, they both play poorly. It seems like they've never found a way to work together and tend to nullify rather than compliment each other.
Same starting XI as the derby Dudek Finnan Biscan Hyypian Carragher Diouf Smicer Gerrard Kewell Owen Baros Luzi Traore Riise Heskey Le Tallec No Murphy in the matchday squad
Blackburn's team God Neill Babbel Amoruso Gresko Thompson Ferguson Flitcroft Emerton Cole Jansen Yorke Tugay Johansson Baggio Kelly
Hunter's taped pre-match bit mentions that Blackburn got Emerton for just over 1 million GBP. A few years ago he was rated at 6-8 million. Definitely a bargain for them.