Topic: Round Table Chelsea 1 - 2 Liverpool

[Hank Scorpio]

A quick point about the winner from Johnson, which I'm sure people have already mentioned.

It was great to see Johnson marauding down the right so late on but it's important to note the build up play prior to him receiving the ball. 

We were on the back foot, when Enrique got hold of the ball and dribbled out of defence.  On the left hand side Enrique, Downing and Suarez (I believe) managed to keep the ball, in a tight area under pressure, for 4 or 5 passes before one of them found Adam who then of course played that wonderful ball to Johnson's feet.

That's Johnson at his best, but he needs players around him and especially in midfield who are able to keep the ball and allow him to make bursts forward.  He's dangerous when he gets into that position but what we've seen over the last two seasons is Johnson on the back foot, defending and not completely utilising his attacking ability.  Hopefully players like Lucas, Adam, Enrique and Suarez can retain possession well enough for him to move further up the pitch and do damage.

[Yorkykopite]

A quick point about the winner from Johnson, which I'm sure people have already mentioned.

It was great to see Johnson marauding down the right so late on but it's important to note the build up play prior to him receiving the ball. 

We were on the back foot, when Enrique got hold of the ball and dribbled out of defence.  On the left hand side Enrique, Downing and Suarez (I believe) managed to keep the ball, in a tight area under pressure, for 4 or 5 passes before one of them found Adam who then of course played that wonderful ball to Johnson's feet.

That's Johnson at his best, but he needs players around him and especially in midfield who are able to keep the ball and allow him to make bursts forward.  He's dangerous when he gets into that position but what we've seen over the last two seasons is Johnson on the back foot, defending and not completely utilising his attacking ability.  Hopefully players like Lucas, Adam, Enrique and Suarez can retain possession well enough for him to move further up the pitch and do damage.

That's a really good point. A few years back we would have been content to clear our lines and simply belt the ball up the pitch to no one. In fact with Riise at left back there would have been no other choice. Enrique, especially, does not like to give the ball away. Some of us might feel he takes rather too many risks to keep it. But I like him and I like his risk-taking. He has the skill and the strength to work out ways of escaping difficulty while retaining possession.

[Hank Scorpio]

That's a really good point. A few years back we would have been content to clear our lines and simply belt the ball up the pitch to no one. In fact with Riise at left back there would have been no other choice. Enrique, especially, does not like to give the ball away. Some of us might feel he takes rather too many risks to keep it. But I like him and I like his risk-taking. He has the skill and the strength to work out ways of escaping difficulty while retaining possession.

Shame that in the same summer that we acquired a top class attacking right back we lost the supply in Alonso and the plan to replace him with Aquilani didn't quite work out.

[drpepe]

You're absolutely right.  The pass was good and it was by Lucas. It speaks therefore even more to Luiz's powers of recovery.

I was of course getting mixed up with an earlier pass which was from Kuyt and was desperately underhit. The one, ie, that Terry unaccountably skipped over to leave Dirk in possession. Sadly Suarez could make nothing of the ensuing pass because it caused him to decelerate - in fact almost stop.

i like the way the pass transforms into a good one when it  is a different player making it. 

[steveeastend]

The total cost of out starting 11 against Chelsea was 81m quid.

Less than the bunch of players on the bench than, no?

[hassinator]

Agenda or calling it how it is? Saw this on TLW on Kuyt's stats - obviously can't vouch for the source, but is there any imperative to wielding the blunt weapon that is Kuyt if his defensive stats are failing? I'm not quite sure how much miles covered comes into it - the odd deceiving run aside - if the rest is deteriorating.

 - Kuyt's not had a great season so far. He has the lowest passing accuracy in midfield, slightly below Adam at 76.9 percent. Only 18.2 percent of his crosses are successful. 21.8 percent of Downing's crosses are on the money, while Henderson, another who has received some stick, nails an impressive 27.5 percent of his crosses. Kuyt's defensive or attacking stats are nothing to write home about either. But there is no metric for miles covered (or at least I haven't come across it) and I'm sure the indefatigable Kuyt would be right up there with the best on that stat.

he is 31 and has based his game on energy and enthusiasm. 

its understandable why he is still here - continuity - but its time for him to go.

[Yorkykopite]

Shame that in the same summer that we acquired a top class attacking right back we lost the supply in Alonso and the plan to replace him with Aquilani didn't quite work out.

Yes, well the culture of the team was different then. Rafa was battening down the hatches and getting obsessed with 'second balls'.

[Yorkykopite]

i like the way the pass transforms into a good one when it  is a different player making it. 

You'll need to read - and understand - the next sentence to work that one out. 

[reddd10]

This game was another reminder to certain ex-players that they needed Liverpool more than Liverpool needed them.

[sattapaartridge]

Great pressing from the Redmen.

There. I said it.

I thought we hustled them well in the first half, and in patches of the 2nd half. Their power was evident, and Skrtel for me, looked up for the physical battle with Drogba. I thought it was a good match to watch, with the little battles on the pitch. Like Lucas says, I hope we can press like this against the lower teams.

I know Kuyt didnt do much in the match, but he was one thing. Disciplined in his position, didnt wonder, and actually did put he foot in a little bit. His shooting though, does puzzle me, no matter how much he tries, he never can get a shot from distance on target. I used to say when I was younger "How can you be a professional player if you cannot get a shot on target with that much space?" Fair deuce, I was a bitter wanna-be footballer back then.

[Xabinator]

Give credit where it's due, and allocate blame where it's due. It wasn't a woefully underhit pass, it was a marginally underhit pass which, considering it was hit first time, was pretty good. And it wasn't by Kuyt, it was by Lucas.

Barking up the wrong tree there, sangria........ Yorky simply remembers a poor pass, or a weak shot, or a GK flapping at a cross, or a motorist running over a kitten.....and automatically assumes it was Dirk Kuyt.

[Yorkykopite]

Barking up the wrong tree there, sangria........ Yorky simply remembers a poor pass, or a weak shot, or a GK flapping at a cross, or a motorist running over a kitten.....and automatically assumes it was Dirk Kuyt.

An excellent assumption I would say, though obviously not a foolproof one.

[Sangria]

Barking up the wrong tree there, sangria........ Yorky simply remembers a poor pass, or a weak shot, or a GK flapping at a cross, or a motorist running over a kitten.....and automatically assumes it was Dirk Kuyt.

I've rewatched that period, and there was an underhit pass from Kuyt to Suarez a minute or two earlier. As yorky says, he mixed that up with the later one that involved Luiz. The Kuyt pass was a poor execution of the basics, as it was made without too much pressure, with the ball already under control, to a receiver who didn't need a specially hit pass. I don't think it was as important as yorky makes out, but in some ways it's even worse, as it's a routine pass that should be executable in his sleep.