reinajohnson... carra.. skrtel.. enriquegerrard... lucas... allendowning.. borini... suarez jones, coates, kelly, henderson, robinson, assaidi, carroll? obvious weakness are carra in defense, downing in attack, and our lack of attacking options off the bench, especially if carroll can't go. borini and suarez will definately need to find their finishing boots for us to have a chance to win. i'm predicting a scoreless draw.
The only birds I ever saw in Manchester were sparrows and they didn't chirp, they coughed. A real test in this one. The book is obviously out on our game, press to stop us pressing, possess to stop us possessing and counter attack behind Adam when Charlie Adam passes to one of their players. Going to be interesting...or embarrassing, I'll let you know which on Sunday, post match.
I thought about it, but figured with no agger and enrique's injury, Rodgers might want an extra defender on the bench. Also, I think that this is the kind of deep-end match that Rodgers might be reticent to throw the youngster into. I personally would start him if I was the gaffer.
First home match of the season in front of the Kop, blood curdling atmosphere against reigning champs -- which gets louder when a 17 year old whiz kid whom the crowd are craving for comes on as sub and scores the winner fairclough-style -- a dream or a prediction?
To be honest, I don't have a good feeling about this at all. I think Downing is gonna start and that will nullify attacks down his side of the pitch. I do think Allen and Lucas can get us passing better in the middle of the park. But we still feel a little toothless up front and vulnerable at the back with no Agger. A win would be huge, a loss almost expected and a draw most likely. We need Suarez or Borini to find a scorer's touch or Gerrard to find his form to get a goal or two in this one.
I just don't understand why Sterling doesn't start. Next to Suarez he looks like the most dangerous offensive player we have and he doesn't look to bad defensively. Some say he's small and young but every time I watch him play he does a great job shielding the ball and holding off the defender. I just don't see what Downing gives us over Sterling.
i think it's the fear that if a teenager goes out there and has a stinker, then it might seriously dent his confidence and the start can end up doing more harm than good. i personally would start him because i think this kid has the moxie for it, but i understand holding him off.
I pray (not to Fowler, btw) that we'd don't get embarrassed at home. Play like we did against WBA and we're doomed. If Downers starts, then BR hasn't learned a bloody thing. And will Stevie finally get his head out of his arse?
Why the ******** would we start downing? Seriously! Throw borini on one side suarez on the other and have carroll in the middle in a slightly more forward position. Not ideal but a much better choice than having downing nullify an entire wing...
this is a match that is begging for someone to step up, starting with Rodgers. he has to see that Downing isn't adding enough to the attack, and there have to be better options. personally, i would love to see him start Sterling and run him and Suarez back and forth from right to left, probing the defense. we all know that nobody but Clichy can stand up to Sterling's pace. Man City started Rodwell in midfield against Soton, but he might not be the first choice against Liverpool. i don't know whether De Jong is 100%, but if Mancini wants a more experienced DM, i think De Jong is the choice.
i agree regarding downing, but who else can play there in the front three with borini and suarez? stevie can, but won't. cole is injured. it's a big ask for assaidi and/or sterling to make starting home debuts against the champions. carroll is either injured or in mothballs to be sold. shelvey looked lost up there against hearts.
there might be some rationale in favor of playing Carroll against the galumphing Man City defense. Savic probably won't be playing and neither will Agger, so that's out.
Same here. Last season we did much better in these "big" games though (few exceptions aside) so I'm hoping they come out with that kind of mentality. As long as I see a positive performance I don't really care about the result, I don't expect those to go our way way right away.
while i understand the basis for your view, i think "positive performance" should been no worse than a draw. i would rather see a 2-2 draw than a 0-0 draw, simply because i want to see the lads score. zero against Hearts and zero against Albion is disheartening.
We'll definitely see how the side responds to challenge here. Objectively, given our new manager / new system not bedded in/ etc its lambs to slaughter but this one is a wild card for me. Really don't know what to expect. What I'm hoping for is a display of bollocks out effort, win lose or draw. That would represent the most positive, hopeful sign for me. And while I'm at it, if Rodgers starts Downing I'll start drinking VERY early Pac time tomorrow. Sterling needs development but I don't think he's fragile just because he looks about 12 years old facially. He's sturdy as well as fast and handled the cloggers very nicely at Tynecastle. Worth a shot here imo.