alias75

Its very frustrating, we aren't scoring enough goals given the chances we're creating, we should have been at least 2 goals clear before they scored today. On top of that we're not keeping clean sheets. Its difficult to know what to do to improve, i do think we need better CBs, often this season we're conceding poor goals and defending too deep does invite pressure onto you. In terms of taking the chances we create there's not a lot you can do about that apart from buy better attacking players. Suarez could have had 2 or 3 with more luck and better finishing but you can't be too harsh on him because often he's creating the chances for himself. Downing was poor today and im not sure why he spent so much time on the right, Bellamy looked dangerous and should have stayed on. Found it strange that we brought Downing off when Carroll came on, but the truth is the game should have been comfortable. We were a little unlucky hitting the post 3 times but its happened too often already this season.

Could have had a few goals but for some great goalkeeping (and the odd crossbar) and would have some really important assists with better finishing. In terms of what was available for that position im happy with him i think he'll improve the more he plays with Enrique and as the team gets more settled with Gerrard in there. With Gerrard back it might mean he spends less time on the right as that's somewhere Gerrard can play and i do think he needs to play primarily as a left winger.

the biggest plus is the performance of Adam with Gerrard in the team, if thats a taste of things to come he could be a good player for us. I have no problem playing a 4-2-3-1 if thats going to get the best out of players like Adam and Henderson, it does put a lot of onus on the attacking players but I think a combination of Gerrard, Suarez, Downing, Bellamy, Carroll, Kuyt is good enough and if we're struggling the option is always there to put a forward on for a midfielder.

.............................Reina................................. Kelly..........Carra...............Agger..............Enrique ..............Gerrard....Lucas.....Adam..................... Kuyt.......................Suarez.........................Downing Tough choice not to play Carroll but midfield is crucial we need to dominate there and i think we'll struggle to do that in a 4-4-2. Kuyt and Downing to work hard out wide to stop their full backs getting forward plus when we attack we have good movement and lots of flexibility with that front 3 plus Gerrard.

If Stevie isn't fit to start how about Henderson in central midfield?? He does have the energy to get about the pitch and does have a physical presence that Adam doesn't. I do think his better games for us have been when hes played more centrally he certainly looks more comfortable there at the moment. Assuming Gerrard isn't fit enough to start games at the moment and with Agger injured... ........................................Reina............................................. Kelly.............Carragher.......Coates.................Enrique .....................Henderson...Lucas........................... Kuyt...........................Suarez............................Downing ...................................Carroll........................................... Or you could swap Bellamy for kuyt and maybe Kuyt for Carroll??

Adam is a luxury we can't afford in a 4-4-2 because defensively he's not good enough and hes not mobile enough he gets run passed too often. In a midfield 5 id play him as long as the 2 alongside him are disciplined defensively. He does offer the team lots in terms of his passing and his set piece delivery but if its leaving you exposed at the back is it worth it?? Henderson needs time to feel comfortable and at the moment i don't think its doing him much good playing every week, we have Bellamy or Kuyt who would offer more, i do think he'll be ok eventually because he does look like someone that will work hard and there are aspects of his game that are good, but he needs to do it for 90 min and at the moment he's doing the bare minimum which isn't good enough. At the moment Lucas and Gerrard is our best central midfield but i hope we look to sign someone like Lucas, in the modern game having 2 holding type midfielders is fine as long as you have 4 attacking players in front of them and as long as they can pass it as well as destroy. Another Lucas type should be our # 1 priority at the moment because I think it would help the team in so many ways.

Agree with that, another Lucas type that can get around the pitch plug the gaps and pass the ball well is all we need, we have enough attacking options in Gerrard, Downing, Suarez, Bellamy, Kuyt, Carroll, we don't really need that creativity from central midfield at the expense of more important things.

Probably the most important area of the pitch in terms of controlling the game and also protecting your back 4, at the moment the balance is clearly not working with both Adam and Henderson not doing enough to justify starting every week. Obviously getting Gerrard back will help, i think he has to play in the middle because that's such a key area, the question then is who do you play on the right? do you stick with Henderson and hope he improves or do you put Kuyt or Bellamy in there, because at least with one of those two you know they won't go hiding and you know they'll work extremely hard for the team.

Think we have to start defending higher up the pitch because if we want to play a high tempo pressing game making the pitch so big creates so many problems not only in terms of fitness but also in terms of getting numbers to support the forwards. Pepe is the perfect keeper to play that way but until we get a bit more pace at CB its not going to happen because it leaves us to exposed to the ball over the top. But an extra 5-10 yards will make a huge difference to many different aspects of our play.

I don't really mean as a number 10 behind the front man more the more forward thinking of a midfield 3 with less defensive duties or at least those duties involve pressing further up the pitch rather than being a holding midfielder where if someone runs past you they're running at your back four. Something like this... ....................................Reina.................................... Kelly.........Carragher.......Agger..............Enrique ...............................Lucas.................................. Bellamy.........Gerrard....Adam..........Downing ..............................Suarez............................... You give him less responsibility defensively by having Gerrard and Lucas do that, they are both much more mobile, and that frees him up to playing slightly further forward where he can be more of an attacking threat.

I think we've done ok, we've improved the strength of the squad you only have to compare our bench this season with last season to see that and thats with Gerrard and Johnson injured all season. Suarez, Enrique and Downing clearly improve our first 11. Henderson is a young player with lots of scope to improve, he shouldn't be in our strongest 11 but he looks like he has a good attitude and im sure he'll improve. Carroll is also very young and offers us something not many teams have, however we have played the majority of our best football when he hasn't been in the team and he clearly needs to improve. In hindsight i think the £35 million could have been spent better but he's our player now and we need to forget about the fee and get behind him, but he also needs to show an improvement in terms of his attitude. Haven't seen much of Coates but Carragher needs replacing soon so he should get a chance.

I do wonder if Adam would be better used further forward, i know he likes to pick the ball up from the CBs but his strengths are in the attacking third and hes too much of a liability defensively to play that deep for us. I watched him a lot at Blackpool and he would get caught out defensively a lot most games and you'd see players just running past him often, he can't get away with that here. When Gerrard is back id play him alongside Lucas as traditional central midfielders, play Adam further forward with little defensive responsibility apart from closing down etc high up the pitch. He does offer a lot in terms of his goal threat and passing and set piece ability but he can't play as a defensive midfielder because he can't tackle and is too slow when people run at him which is a huge weakness if you're playing as a defensive central midfielder.

Agree he looks like a level headed lad and he will improve but at the moment he's a passenger which we can't afford, for the money we paid for him you'd hope he'd have come in with more of a confident / arrogant attitude that a lot of top players have but he looks nervous so we need to be patient with him and he will improve as he gets more comfortable but he shouldn't be in the first team he has to earn that place and he hasn't yet. The way we finished the season last year with Maxi and Spearing its a little unfair that players like Adam and Henderson have come straight in.

Downing too

everyone knows with Spurs you have to stop Bale and Modric, we had Skrtel playing right back which was a mistake, but im not sure who else we could have played there if Kelly wasn't ready, the safe thing was to have Kuyt in front of him. Defensively Adam isn't quick enough to cope, i saw it so many times with Blackpool last season but he can't get away with it here, either he has to play further forward and we bring in Spearing or Gerrard or he has to start on the bench and come on when the game is more stretched and players are more tired and he can find the time and space he needs to play. With no european football there's no excuse for starting games slowly like we did today, we should be focussing all week on these league games.

They earn their luck by having 4 or 5 players forward all the time but they have rode their luck defensively and Chelsea have missed 3 absolute sitters. Utd look great going forward but every time ive seen them they look vulnerable in midfield and at the back yet the opposition aren't taking the chances they're getting and Utd will always score goals with the attacking players they have. Defensively Chelsea have been terrible.

..............................Reina........................... Kelly.........Carra...........Agger........Enrique ...................Lucas.....Adam................ Bellamy............Gerrard..............Downing ...........................Suarez............................. Not sure about Adam defensively but maybe with Gerrard in there instead of Henderson he'll get a bit more protection, think a front 4 of Bellamy, Downing, Gerrard and Suarez is good with lots of pace and good movement. The Carragher situation needs addressing too and id be looking to slowly blood Coates or you could even play Kelly in there and have Johnson at RB.

With no European games this season id have hoped we wouldn't see these types of lacklustre performances in the league, we should be fully focussed on each league game and be able to start it and a high tempo that just didn't happen today. We need to decide on our best team and stick to it, that should be based on performances rather than how much we've paid for someone. Assuming everyone's fit what would be our strongest team?? Personally i wouldn't have Carroll, Adam or Henderson in it at the moment.

We need to forget about blooding new signings and start fielding our best team, some of the players that finished the season well last year like Maxi and Spearing have been treated badly with new signings coming in before they've earned their place in the team. The old Liverpool way was you had to play your way into the team. As far as i see it only Downing and Enrique deserve to be in the team on form. Hopefully we can get a right back fit for the next game and maybe even Spearing in for Adam because him and Lucas gave us plenty of energy in midfield and allowed the front 4 players more freedom to play, defensively Adam isn't up to it at the moment and id be using him later on in games. Henderson clearly isn't ready, when you pay that sort of money for a player you'd hope they'd be a bit more confident but he doesn't do enough at the moment although he seems like a good guy that will learn and get better and he gets more confident, hopefully Stevie can get back into the team cos thats a straight swap. We need to forget how much we paid for Carroll, the fact is we play better when he's not in the team he's a young player and he has a role to play but he shouldn't be starting games at the moment.

The fact also remains if the referee's had done their job properly we would have played against 10 men for most of the game v Sunderland and would have had a penalty and at least a point today.

Great news!! Will be like having a new £50 million signing. Can't wait to see how he's used by Kenny, think right side tucked in a little will be his best position given who else we have, and can't wait to see him link up with Suarez, Adam etc..

Yep he did look pretty sharp, he's played a lot wide left recently does that mean Downing on the right?? or will Bellamy be able to play on the right of a front 3??

Lots of differing stories doing the rounds, the injury he did have was a very serious one, ive been told for a normal person to have the type of groin injury he had would usually take around 18 months to recover from. Because he's a fit athlete he can heal in about 6 months but that still means he might not be ready to play again until November and who knows how effective he'll be?? His groin was basically off the bone and because he took injections and played through the pain for us so many times it was a pretty serious injury. Hopefully he decides to call it quits for England so he can finish here on a high if any player deserves it its Stevie. I don't think we'll ever see the box to box, roy of the rovers type player we all love but there's no reason why he can't reinvent himself and become a top quality midfielder that sits more. I bet he can't wait to play with Suarez etc... and hopefully he comes back soon.

This is what id been told, Kenny really didn't like the way he ducked out of a few challenges and if the offer was right he was happy to let him go. I guess it'll only be a good deal if the money is used well but going on whats happened so far with the new owners, Kenny and Commolli you have to be optimistic that it will be used to good effect.

Depends what you want from central midfield, most teams now go with 2 workers and the creativity comes from other areas, anyway Adam is probably the most effective central midfielder in the PL in terms of the number of goals and assists he gets. I did think he was a good player though, technically he was very good and he was clever with his movement, but Kenny obviously thought we had better options and if the money we got for him allows us to get someone like Hazard then its a good deal.