Topic: WBA (H) Round Table

[Veinticinco de Mayo]

First question.  So was this it, the first really good performance of the season?

[Hinesy]

That's good enough for me.

[Floydy]

impressive- flexible, relentless, slick and clinical ...... ahem ....for more then 45 minutes.
Good to know we still have some players to bring  in who could make al the difference once they have settled, Alberto & Aspas & Moses and throw sterling into the mix as well.   
We have plenty left in the tank and we are in a good place right now.  We have lost  this fixture 2 seasons on the bounce so oit was pleasing to put them to bed nice and early. Well done BR and well done lads.

[Zeb]

Was the answer 'yes'?

And, can we do this again next week please? Especially goals 1, 2 and 4. I liked those.

[Djimi Smicer34]

First question.  So was this it, the first really good performance of the season?

First really good performance over the span of a full game, definitely. 

[Red Genius]

i'll take that....

I remember the mancs being great at having a shite start to the season and start performing in the new year. Be great if we were on the road to a similar vein of performance.

[Big Red Richie]

We're still a work in progress, and several areas still have to be improved on.    That said, it's coming along nicely, and bodes well for the future if the learning curve is maintained.

The Arsenal game this coming week will be a good barometer of how far we've come, and how much more we have to go.


On a slightly different tangent though, we'll learn more about the current state of mind of our team and squad when they're up against it, as apposed to having it easy.

We're playing well at the momnet, so no complaints from me, but when we have to dig deep and come from behind, or we have a bad game and get beat.  It's how their mental toughness stands up to the test, is when we'll all know if we are genuine title contenders, or just johnny come lately's going through a purple patch.

It's certainly good to watch at the moment, and we're playing some cracking stuff in patches.

We just have to make sure those patches start to blend together into a full game, and more importantly, take that confidence in the next game, and the next game, and the game after that.

It's not one off fantastic performances that win you the title, it's consistancy that does.


My one major concern though, is still set pieces.

We still look very susceptible to teams with a little inventiveness, and well drilled set pieces.

[McrRed]

Well, I've just seen Lucas's interview. Full of his own importance. And he's right, you know.
Excellent balance between him and hendo which allowed Stevie to do his thing. SAS were phenomenal. Back line were good = Win

[Funky_Gibbons]

I still think Stoke first game of the season was out best performance. Thought we absolutely dominated that game and should have scored more. This is perhaps the first time we have played well and taken out chances and put the game to bed pretty early.

[MolbyLovesGravlax]

Was the answer 'yes'?

And, can we do this again next week please? Especially goals 1, 2 and 4. I liked those.

1,2 and 4 were magic, but 3 is exactly the type you need to win tight games or ones you are struggling to impose yourself on. That delivery from Gerrard was perfect and I doubt Arsenal would have any more answer to it than West Brom did.

[stockdam]

This win was based on strong teamwork from the back through midfield.

Lucas and Henderson had good games as did Gerrard.

The most important aspect was that we had Cissokho and Johnson as extra attackers. We were able to pass the ball about and always had those two when the middle got congested. We were able to hold onto the ball well and when we lost it we had 5 or 6 players hunting the ball down.

Obviously we have the outstanding player in the EPL and he scored three very good goals. Sturridge's goal was a brilliant goal too.

For me the win wasn't about Suarez.....it was about our strength and discipline behind him. Once we have that strong platform then there's no defence in the EPL that's going to keep SAS out.

Skrtel, Toure and Sakho were very good especially at set pieces which is the only way I could see WBA getting into the game.

Things are looking up and we should go into every match with the confidence that we have the best two strikers in the league.

[Fat Scouser]

Stop moaning. I don't like the 3 at the back idea either, but fuckinell are we something going forward? I want to moan and complain. But this side is something to watch.

[John C]

Undeniably VdM, we even overcome WBA's short attempt to spoil the Anfield party when they went 3-0 down and tried to stick their chest out at us. But WBA were mainly pigeon-chested for 80 minutes which contributed to us being able to strut our stuff uncontested imo. BR will be delighted while Clarke will be fuming.

We witnessed some great individual and team performances with Lucas looking as imperious as Luis looked marvellous - I hope the two-pals chatted about their long term future at the club over a shandy last night.

It seemed to go unnoticed the exquisite ball Lucas played to Sturridge in the first half which he was unable to control to get himself through on goal. I haven't seen it on any highlights at all. Stevie seemed to enjoy what Lucas was doing also and assisted him in battle to easily control the midfield. Aided of course by Henderson's energy which should be the basis of our starting 11 against the Gunners.

It was great to see Kolo & Sakho both enjoy their game with little to do within their own tidy performances.

I have to say though, I know he's been injured and he's new to us but Cissokho looked like he may not be the competition for Enrique that we need. Impatient me aye.

It was good to see Johnson settle back until he seemed to take a knock which was a genuine worry ahead of next week. We need his runs and ability to carry the ball - even if its often described as "too many touches".

When was the last time we celebrated 4 superb goals like that, they contributed to a decent atmosphere giving us and our manager an opportunity to really enjoy a game of decent football. There were even cheeky cheers as we passed the ball about late in the second half, it really was that good a day.

[Funky_Gibbons]

It seemed to go unnoticed the exquisite ball Lucas played to Sturridge in the first half which he was unable to control to get himself through on goal. I haven't seen it on any highlights at all.

There's a Lucas highlights video in the video/audio thread which contains that pass.

[IanZG]

Honestly think we were really good against Stoke in the opener, only a superb performance by Begovic and a couple of hits of the woodwork let that game go into a tense last few minutes. Having said that, this was a better performance in pretty much every way, excellent game by every member of the squad, some of the best goals I've seen in a while and more than a few decent chances we didn't convert.

Lucas has been superb, the back 3 looked better than in previous matches, still not completely used to playing like that, but it's to be expected of a formation that we only recently started playing, great to see Kelly, Alberto and Allen all come off the bench, would be happier if the latter two got a few more minutes, but that's really a minor complaint i an amazing performance by the Redmen.

Add to that the fact that Fabio scored a beauty today, it's really been a good weekend, though the news of Lou Reed's passing ruined that quite a bit, but that's not what this topic's for...

More of the same guys, really pleased how the team's looking this season!

[Tony19:6]

Without doubt Lucas's best performance of the season, Id go so far as to say since he did his ACL was it against Chelsea 2011?
Gerrard also seemed more comfortable with his partner finding his form, capping a fine individual performance too.
Sturridge seemed determined to get on the scoresheet, earning a goal of the season candidate for that exquisite chip.
What can you say about Suarez. Acted like a cnut in the summer but capable of being in with a shout of the best player on the planet in that form.
Could be an LFC legend if he really wants...

[trenchtownrasta]

Poor starts have almost become a tradition at LFC, how many times have we seen our teams start off poorly, losing when we should be drawing and drawing when we should be winning in the earlier stages of the season? This season, by luck or design, we have weathered our bad performances, wining in spite of them.

I suppose the contrast in the standards set by the second half of last season was primarily to blame, I knew our team was capable of more, especially in midfield. Thankfully Rodgers said it himself a couple of times, which extremely encouraging and quashed any fears of the team being rudderless. But, seriously, why weren’t we controlling the games like we did last season?

"it's always good to develop while you're winning games"

I heard this from Martinez on match of the day yesterday and thought: that's exactly what we have been doing. We were (and still are) developing; what’s more we were developing while winning, bonus. I’m not saying that every game has seen improvement, after all progress isn’t always linear, but last season there were problems, problems that were maybe harder to define in the second half of the season, neatly summed up by the fact we finished seventh, however, improvement was more than apparent yesterday and thanks to our pragmatic approach we already sit tight in second place. Looking back on Rodgers' complaints earlier in the season, particularly at Palace where reporters seemed surprised that a manger was kicking water bottles over despite his team was winning 2-0 and criticising the performance despite them winning 3-1.  I loved the fact that here at Liverpool Rodgers wasn’t talking about fixing something that was broken; instead he was talking about improving a system that was already producing results. Despite these results, however, it was plain to see that we needed urgent attention in midfield.

Midfield Improvement

Blame the formation, the combination of players or whatever you want but our midfield has played poorly this season, our dynamism and pressing have been more than questionable at times. Thankfully all but one of the displays was against teams that didn't have the verve to capitalise. There was a sense of worry, albeit overly dramatic, on these boards. We were worried that our midfield was doing enough to get through games but was basically being buoyed by our attack, goalkeeper and great defending at times. In short we were worried we were going to be found out.

Yesterday, however, Liverpool looked very good in mid-field and this where I saw the greatest improvement. Lucas and Gerrard provided great stability and were good in possession. The most important factor for me though was that we pressed well and better than we have in any other game this season. Now I'm no tactical guru and I do lose track of the players in-game position but if my memory serves me correctly this was the first time this season Henderson started and stayed in CAM, where he was fantastically dynamic, he continually harried, chased, tackled and closed down the opposition and was in my opinion a big factor in our improved midfield game. The energy of Henderson assisted by livewire Suarez helped whittle our famous second half lull down to the few minutes after they scored.

So yes, yesterday was our best performance but let's not rest there, long may we keep developing while we are winning.

[RedSince86]

good to see the pressing game again, and in the post match interview brendan said he told the players this week in training he wanted to press higher up the pitch,as we saw WBA's midfield  were not given anytime on the ball especially in the 1st half.

[Cochise]

Boss performance from the team. The only thing I can complain about, which I don't want to but I think if its not addressed it'll cost us goals, is Mignolet coming for corners. Was he trying to catch or punch? I think someone has said he's probably been told to attack opposition corners aggressively after our recent poor form against set-pieces.   

[Garstonite]

I haven't read any of the post-match analysis, but has anyone else mentioned how utterly ridiculous their penalty was? Aye, thought so. Sorry, I'm just pissy because I've got Mignolet in my Fantasy Team.

I thought we were good. It helps a lot when Suarez is in that kind of mood, but I thought our midfield dynamic was better. We looked far more comfortable without possession. Well, as much as you can be. We're still surrendering too much of it at times. Our positioning was much better though, as was our overall shape. Moses is going to struggle getting minutes if we carry on with this formation. Potential for him to fill in for Johnson perhaps, but I think Rodgers recognised his massive shortcomings in the number 10 position. That was nice. A little bit of the more ruthless Rodgers of last season. Henderson obviously isn't ideal there, but his pressing was exceptional. It's still underrated pressing, which is odd. It sounds simple, but it's a skill in itself and Jordan's bloody good at it. Even with his funny run.

Arsenal is obviously a very different proposition next week, of course, but I'm looking forward to it. It'll be interesting to see if we've got the bollocks to do it at the Emirates, although we're not quite at Southampton's level just yet.

Interesting image I've just seen on Twitter re. our pressing:

[Draex]

Well overdue was this performance - we've threatened it all season, finally everything slotted together.

Questions to answer? How do you fit in Coutinho and keep Suarez and Sturridge? Surely the 3 at the back is sacrificed as it's clear a central midfield that has Lucas/Gerrard/Henderson (or Allen) will give us that platform to control the match..

Don't be fooled thinking Brom are a poor team - they battered Arsenal but were unlucky, they also beat gollums old men army already this season - they are a solid and generally strong in the midfield - we made them look average, we pressed well and kept possesion - we also were dam clinical.

In a year that ourselves, Everton and Southampton all have young, progressive managers who are getting their teams to play footbal,l the league is not going to go by the original plan I think - teams are smelling blood of the previous "top 4" and maybe they rested on their laurels for too long - if we keep developing and keep picking up points no reason we can't get top 4.

Was good to see a complete team performance - not a weak link in sight.

[Twelfth Man]

Well overdue was this performance - we've threatened it all season, finally everything slotted together.

Questions to answer? How do you fit in Coutinho and keep Suarez and Sturridge? Surely the 3 at the back is sacrificed as it's clear a central midfield that has Lucas/Gerrard/Henderson (or Allen) will give us that platform to control the match..

I agree. Playing just two, in any combo, leaves us wide open for attacks straight down the middle. We'll sacrifice width, a bit, but it allows us to get the ball to our lethal attack, while retaining some solidity and control in the middle. It will also afford Gerrard a bit more time and space to create things. I would like to see Agger/Sakho at the back at some point. Don't think we will change formation for the game against Arsenal. Coutinho might get a run out with 20 minutes to spare depending on how the game is panning out, but I don't see him starting.

Cissokho, solid, setup Luis amazing header, gets up and down, was also found out a little bit against Brom, the way one of their midfield players ghosted past him, the penalty clip, does not have the drive of Enrique going forward. Hope to see Jose back next week.

Personally, I would not get that carried away by the result, a genius goal from Luis opened the game up for us. And once teams come at us, we can be devastating. We struggle when we can't get that first goal, and the longer we go without it, the more anxious our play gets. 

What a difference two weeks to Lucas' energy levels and endurance. Thought he was almost up to his pre-injury form. But again, a word of caution, had we not been ahead and cruising he, like the team, might have found it tougher going. We can't always rely on Luis/Sturridge genius to open games up for us, though it is brilliant when it does happen. More goals from elsewhere, and less reliance on the critical first goal should be the next step of the 'kaizen'.

[LiamG]

Best performance over 90 minutes!

[MolbyLovesGravlax]

Stop moaning. I don't like the 3 at the back idea either, but fuckinell are we something going forward? I want to moan and complain. But this side is something to watch.

Am I the only one who is growing fonder and fonder of the idea of 3 at the back? It seems like RAWK has quickly abandoned it, but I want us to continue with it and see what we end up with. Yes teams can play a certain way to counter it, but that is true of nearly everything in football. I mean unless you want us playing with disciplined banks of four ala the Hodgson ideal, you are going to give up chances, but I think it is a platform on which our master technicians can create moments of utter magic.

[JustDan]

Am I the only one who is growing fonder and fonder of the idea of 3 at the back? It seems like RAWK has quickly abandoned it, but I want us to continue with it and see what we end up with. Yes teams can play a certain way to counter it, but that is true of nearly everything in football. I mean unless you want us playing with disciplined banks of four ala the Hodgson ideal, you are going to give up chances, but I think it is a platform on which our master technicians can create moments of utter magic.

I'm with you, I like it. I can't say why I do exactly. I have no in depth analysis packed full of statistics and graphs as to why we should stick with it, I'll leave that to others
Obviously it has it's disadvantages as you said, but no matter how you play there will be weaknesses in a formation.
A big part of the uneasiness has got to be the fear of the unknown. 3 at the back isn't very common, so people are more inclined to not like it.

[Koplord]

That was our most complete performance for 90 mins this season yes.

We finally seen what has been missing for the most part in terms of closing down and pressing well , retaining possession , quick sharp passing , and lots of movement and interchanging.

Lucas on form made a huge difference aswell even when he gets those shitty deflections it all helps in breaking up the other teams play and momentum , his positional game yesterday was immense at times this season he was pressed a player but ended up leaving a huge hole in the area he left but with others pressing at the same intensity that didn't happen.

Henderson did what i have said Moses hasn't been doing and that's dropping back into midfield and making a 3 and for sure that made a huge difference i think it even allowed Steve Gerrard the license to go further forward knowing it wasn't going to leave Lucas stranded on his own.

For the Arsenal game i would bring back Enrique if he is fit because i just felt Cissokho was caught flat footed or ball watching at times.

[CHOPPER]

First question.  So was this it, the first really good performance of the season?

Great games of football are like great sex.

Usually, you go into it and expect so much from both, but walk away feeling the world hasn't really moved for you. But on those occasions you're not expecting the world to be set on fire, yes, you stumble away all wobbly legged and silly smiled.



I'd say the same, and use the same analogy of a good piss up, but everyone knows that one.... I shit yeeee not! 

[Koplord]

Great games of football are like great sex.

Usually, you go into it and expect so much from both, but walk away feeling the world hasn't really moved for you. But on those occasions you're not expecting the world to be set on fire, yes, you stumble away all wobbly legged and silly smiled.



I'd say the same, and use the same analogy of a good piss up, but everyone knows that one.... I shit yeeee not! 

I know where your coming from

[CHOPPER]

PS

Formation


Formation


plectrum


Hovis brown bread


Brown Bitter


Formation

[LFCobsessive]

This game took me by surprise and I was in semi-shock. It was Lucas's, Gerrard's, Henderson's best performance of the season and of course Suarez's.
Best 90 minute performance by the players as a team this season.
I'd say enjoy it and have some confidence for the Arsenal match too, which has come at the perfect time. We need to see what players are the biggest game players. All games are important obviously, I hope you get my drift.
The reason I'm confident we can embarrass Arsenal at the Emirates is; it's as simple in my thinking as this, we actually play a bit like arsenal this season(they play like us) surgical passing with intent, at a high tempo. We have a well better strike force, they only have the one striker, we have a better goalie and also we actually have a better set of defenders. If decisions don't spoil the match. I'm not that worried about us playing them. My reasoning may seem odd, it probably makes me put it in perspective just for my own peace of mind, I think we will steam roll them.

[PhaseOfPlay]

PS

Formation


Formation


plectrum


Hovis brown bread


Brown Bitter


Formation

And I haven't even posted yet.

[Sarge]

Yes very good performance but that niggling thing in the back of my mind still feels teams can get at us to easy, no much to add to what has already been said, that's it really.

[BazC]

I think it was the most complete performance of the season- dominated midfield, won the ball back easily, supported the attackers quickly and scored some great goals. The only negative for me was Johnson going off - I hope he's not injured for next week. Kelly coming on and suddenly we're at sea - he's no right wing back, that's for sure. West Brom posed some questions after that, and started testing our defence a lot more. Sturridge soon slapped down any notion of a silly comeback from 3-0 down. I hope Johnson going off was to give Kelly some minutes rather than him being injured though. Perhaps it showed that Kelly's not fit yet? I did suddenly notice an awful lot more of Gerrard/Lucas/Henderson in the covering position, with Kelly not able to get back quick enough.

Also good to see Allen get some minutes - although with Coutinho back and Henderson putting in that performance, it'll be hard for him to get a look in at the moment.

[LFCobsessive]

I think it was the most complete performance of the season- dominated midfield, won the ball back easily, supported the attackers quickly and scored some great goals. The only negative for me was Johnson going off - I hope he's not injured for next week. Kelly coming on and suddenly we're at sea - he's no right wing back, that's for sure. West Brom posed some questions after that, and started testing our defence a lot more. Sturridge soon slapped down any notion of a silly comeback from 3-0 down. I hope Johnson going off was to give Kelly some minutes rather than him being injured though. Perhaps it showed that Kelly's not fit yet? I did suddenly notice an awful lot more of Gerrard/Lucas/Henderson in the covering position, with Kelly not able to get back quick enough.

Also good to see Allen get some minutes - although with Coutinho back and Henderson putting in that performance, it'll be hard for him to get a look in at the moment.

I thought Johnston played on after that injury scare, so I just think he was going to play for a set amount of time and not the full 90 and then got took off to be safer than sorry. if Kelly had to start against Arsenal, I think he will play better than coming on as a sub.
My dad was really worried about everyone getting injured by any knock, these players are physically well built so they aren't as fragile as glass.
I do agree with you, it's more to settle everyone's worries about the injuries we've had, and any future knocks.
It looked to me as if Johnston acted when he went down and there was an ulterior motive.
Maybe I'm cynical.

[KopThat]

This is definitely our best 2 halves of football, in other games we have faded a bit in the 2nd half.

The individual brilliance for the goals will always stand out, but it was a very solid team performance.

Mignolet was guilty of flapping at times, but another good performance.
The back three seem to be getting used to the system.
The engine room of Gerrard, Lucas and Henderson were very good and nice to watch.
Wingbacks were good but not outstanding.
SaS gave the best attacking performance this season

Allen and Kelly both looked a little lost, but Allen improved after he got a few touches.

[Kopenhagen]

Dropping Moses and playing Lucas, Gerrard and Henderson in a midfield three really made us a lot more balanced. Lucas really played out of his skin. As someone said in another thread, it's a bit early to say he's back, but that was his best performance over a full 90 this season; he never suffered the chronic second half drop off and his passing was really excellent. If it wasn't for an absolutely fantastic performance from Luis, Lucas would have walked MOTM. And he'll walk into the Brazil squad if he keeps playing at that level. Keep it up!!!

Only negatives I can really see is that Cissokho really isn't great defensively, but definitely more than solid in the final third and when carrying the ball forward. Also - and I know it's early and a bit nitpicky - Kelly looked badly off the pace when he came on.

[Sangria]

I think it was the most complete performance of the season- dominated midfield, won the ball back easily, supported the attackers quickly and scored some great goals. The only negative for me was Johnson going off - I hope he's not injured for next week. Kelly coming on and suddenly we're at sea - he's no right wing back, that's for sure. West Brom posed some questions after that, and started testing our defence a lot more. Sturridge soon slapped down any notion of a silly comeback from 3-0 down. I hope Johnson going off was to give Kelly some minutes rather than him being injured though. Perhaps it showed that Kelly's not fit yet? I did suddenly notice an awful lot more of Gerrard/Lucas/Henderson in the covering position, with Kelly not able to get back quick enough.

I wonder if Sterling is a better option at the moment, with 3 at the back and Kelly not quite ready.

[skooma]

Really pleased with what the team showed in this match. Hopefully more of the same on Saturday.

[ScouserAtHeart]

I wonder if Sterling is a better option at the moment, with 3 at the back and Kelly not quite ready.

What sort of message would that send out to McLaughlin? "Yes, our first choice RB is out and his backup is not fit enough, but despite your excellent performances, we'd rather play someone else out of position that trust you with it"

[DanA]

What sort of message would that send out to McLaughlin? "Yes, our first choice RB is out and his backup is not fit enough, but despite your excellent performances, we'd rather play someone else out of position that trust you with it"

When did it become about messages?

You play whoever is best for the job, if that's Sterling out of position then so be it.

Whether or not he's a better option is a different argument though.