Liverpool v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[nick harper]

Somehow we need to get back to doing the basics well,closing down,keeping shape,tackling etc.
 It's hard though with 3 out of the back 4 playing really badly. Cuellar needs to come in for sat,should've played yesterday.
 Midfield is non existant,but its to be expected with a rookie centreback,and rookie midfielder who i'm afraid isn't up to the task.

 Albrighton didn't quite look fit enough,as he struggled against a weak left back.Gab was completely isolated,though he didn't do himself any favours by not holding the ball up,and I dont know where to start with Ireland,he looks so lost at the minute.
 We could really do with Heskey's strength up front,and NRC leadership in the midfield,as we fell apart so easily last night.
 The worrying thing is that losing is becoming a habit,and if we go an early goal down on sat the team could fall apart.
Well done to the away support,the only positive thing from last night.
 

I actually thought Ireland showed glimpses of what he is capable of. He was the only one who was prepared to have the ball and look for the forward pass. Didn't always come off but he played passes in both halves that opened them up. For the second Gabby should have scored.

[Merv]

Considering that, for the majority of Houllier's spell in charge, we've been playing one up front and five in midfield, teams have been slicing straight through us far too often. We're not difficult to beat and we're not scoring goals. We're not really doing anything.

Injuries have hurt us, yes, but last night's team was actually reasonably strong and we should have done far, far better against a pretty ordinary Liverpool team missing arguably their three most important players. I thought we were supposed to have been working on a more 'solid' shape before the game?

I'm starting to get that awful 'how the hell are we going to win a game' feeling.

[garyshawsknee]

Somehow we need to get back to doing the basics well,closing down,keeping shape,tackling etc.
 It's hard though with 3 out of the back 4 playing really badly. Cuellar needs to come in for sat,should've played yesterday.
 Midfield is non existant,but its to be expected with a rookie centreback,and rookie midfielder who i'm afraid isn't up to the task.

 Albrighton didn't quite look fit enough,as he struggled against a weak left back.Gab was completely isolated,though he didn't do himself any favours by not holding the ball up,and I dont know where to start with Ireland,he looks so lost at the minute.
 We could really do with Heskey's strength up front,and NRC leadership in the midfield,as we fell apart so easily last night.
 The worrying thing is that losing is becoming a habit,and if we go an early goal down on sat the team could fall apart.
Well done to the away support,the only positive thing from last night.
 

I actually thought Ireland showed glimpses of what he is capable of. He was the only one who was prepared to have the ball and look for the forward pass. Didn't always come off but he played passes in both halves that opened them up. For the second Gabby should have scored.

Somehow we need to get back to doing the basics well,closing down,keeping shape,tackling etc.
 It's hard though with 3 out of the back 4 playing really badly. Cuellar needs to come in for sat,should've played yesterday.
 Midfield is non existant,but its to be expected with a rookie centreback,and rookie midfielder who i'm afraid isn't up to the task.

 Albrighton didn't quite look fit enough,as he struggled against a weak left back.Gab was completely isolated,though he didn't do himself any favours by not holding the ball up,and I dont know where to start with Ireland,he looks so lost at the minute.
 We could really do with Heskey's strength up front,and NRC leadership in the midfield,as we fell apart so easily last night.
 The worrying thing is that losing is becoming a habit,and if we go an early goal down on sat the team could fall apart.
Well done to the away support,the only positive thing from last night.
 

I actually thought Ireland showed glimpses of what he is capable of. He was the only one who was prepared to have the ball and look for the forward pass. Didn't always come off but he played passes in both halves that opened them up. For the second Gabby should have scored.

Thats the problem though,he's showed glimpses in the past few games,but 2 or 3 years ago he was one of the best midfielders in the league,so he really needs to deliver sooner rather than later.

[nick harper]

Considering that, for the majority of Houllier's spell in charge, we've been playing one up front and five in midfield, teams have been slicing straight through us far too often. We're not difficult to beat and we're not scoring goals. We're not really doing anything.

Injuries have hurt us, yes, but last night's team was actually reasonably strong and we should have done far, far better against a pretty ordinary Liverpool team missing arguably their three most important players. I thought we were supposed to have been working on a more 'solid' shape before the game?

I'm starting to get that awful 'how the hell are we going to win a game' feeling.

Too often our defenders are faced with strikers running at them. Coupled with their own hesitancy and lack of confidence, it is a recipe for disaster. I know the centre halves have come in for a lot of stick recently but our midfield is far too lightweight and give little protection.

I don't want to criticise Hogg, Bannan and Clarke but in away games particularly, they look out of their depth. We miss Petrov badly.

What I do find inexcusable is our lack of organisation at set pieces. I watch every free kick from behind the sofa as we look like we will concede every time.

[AV82EC]

Somehow we need to get back to doing the basics well,closing down,keeping shape,tackling etc.
 It's hard though with 3 out of the back 4 playing really badly. Cuellar needs to come in for sat,should've played yesterday.
 Midfield is non existant,but its to be expected with a rookie centreback,and rookie midfielder who i'm afraid isn't up to the task.

 Albrighton didn't quite look fit enough,as he struggled against a weak left back.Gab was completely isolated,though he didn't do himself any favours by not holding the ball up,and I dont know where to start with Ireland,he looks so lost at the minute.
 We could really do with Heskey's strength up front,and NRC leadership in the midfield,as we fell apart so easily last night.
 The worrying thing is that losing is becoming a habit,and if we go an early goal down on sat the team could fall apart.
Well done to the away support,the only positive thing from last night.
 

Are you sure?  Not even 1500 of us bothered to go (at £41 and live on TV I can understand it) but we took the piss out of our own team for pretty much the entire second half.  Shit Support mLord indeed.

[garyshawsknee]

Least they showed more heart than the team,i know that wasn't hard.

[pablopicasso_10]

i only watched the first half as i had a top of the table 6-a-side game i had to play in the second half, which we narrowly lost after dominating most of the play in -5 iced pitch conditions... not a great night tbh...

congrats to liverpool, they fully deserved to win that comfortably... the second was offside, however, it wouldnt have made the slightest bit of difference if it had been chalked off anyway, so hardly even worth mentioning... which is probably why the media have hardly mentioned it... amuses me how the media have shouted about liverpools missing players, but conveniently played down ours though...

as for the villa, that was a continuation of the season tbh... utter garbage at the back, too lightweight in midfield and nothing up top to cause any problems...

dunne, collins and warnock are absolute rubbish... warnock and dunne in particular... how they cat even get the basics right, is beyond me... (i told you how shit warnock was paggers... still want to swap him for konchesky?)... any midfield consisting of hogg is always going to struggle, even if we are taking the cowards way out and packing it with 5 in there... which brings me to the question, if we are playing 5 in there, how on gods green earth can they be so god damn invisible?

as for ireland, if that cnut ever pulls on a villa shirt again, it will be a disgrace... the little baldy weasel is a waste of space and i would rather young delfouneso plays in the hole or play two up top than have him anywhere near a villa shirt... i didnt think i would ever say this, but he makes sidwell look half decent!

clark had a mare... he is young and has that right every now and again especially playing out of position, but he was poor last night... albrighton was clearly brought back too early, downing is wasted on the right wing, and an unfit gabby cant do anything with no service or support... what is the point in him holding the ball up, if there is then no one there to lay the ball off to?

all in all, that whole "performance" was utterly disgraceful, and i am gearing myself up for a relegation scrap...

as for houllier, he showed a complete lack of respect to the club he now manages... im surprised the prick didnt start celebrating with the liverpool fans when they scored and after the final whistle... as for him touching their sign, what a cnut... with an attitude like that, the fan support he does still have left, wont last much longer...

personally, i dont want him sacked... i am fully aware of the injuries we currently have, and that the type of football he wants to play does not suit half of the hoofmerchant cloggers that lack technical ability that o'neill paid so much money and wages for... and for that we are struggling... if anything, houllier has tried to change our approach too quickly... i think that is why he likes the likes of clark and bannon, as they do have the ability that matches the way he wants to play... and for me, that bodes well for the future... that is if we dont get relegated in the process... but with players coming back into fitness, and a few purchases in january, we might be able to turn this awful awful whole year around (we were shit in the last few months of o'neills season too, as we always were under him for the last third of every season he was with us)...

but for the moment, the experienced cloggers just keep making basic mistakes that have nothing to do with the way the manager wants to play... they are just basic errors, and for a while now, i am shitting my pants every time the opposition has the ball anywhere near the centre circle, because i just feel like we are mistake away from conceding yet another stupid goal...

[WikiVilla]

Hi All, first post on here, can't sit back and watch the club spiral helplessly down without voicing my opinion.

The appointment of GH has been a massive mistake - does he have a probation period to get through ? If so, surely he's failing it and the board must act now

[barrysleftfoot]

  Ireland was looking for a foward pass last night, at least he was'nt hiding, but he looks overweight to me and a bit sluggish.Does'nt support the attack quick enough tbh.

  Downing was the best player on the pitch last night, Albrighton was'nt fit.

 Collins and LYoung, desperately need to be dropped, both awful last night.

[Legion]

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