Ratings vs Liverpool

[HotspurFC1950]

I concur with the general consensus
Good:
Bale won us the match in the first half then disappeared 2nd half
Walker seems to be finding form at long last
Lloris is trying to command his defence but they are not listening, get Kaboul & Benny in there & the 'French connection' can rule. I have faith in him.
Bad:
It's a good side we're playing & Lennon and Defoe overall contribute as little as possible. We've been here before.
Average:
The rest. All a bit meh really. Suppose we should credit the defence for holding out & Suarez didn't get much joy overall.
Dembele looked a little rusty (er... Alan Shearer did you watch the match?) but he'll come on nicely for the run out.

And we won, despite them being in good form and having long spells of strong play.

I wasn't aware Gerrard was on the pitch for the most part but Enrique was energetic and Sterling is a proto-Lennon; quick but shot-shy.

[I know, I know, Lennon scored, despite me criticising his contribution and shooting in this review!]

Lloris. Kaboul. Gallas. Benny all French speaking a big advantage over other teams and referees. Walker needs to be told to learn French owise buy another right back.

 

[BK007]

Rodgers is a fool.

From the moment he took the job, he's been spouting off like no other.

Like Redknapp actually. Always consistently being interviewed, talking a helluva lot of shit and irrelevant crap.

 

[jonnyp]

Suarez showed what a small striker can do, when his side is not under pressure and he is given time on the ball. Also, I don't think he looked that great tbh.

I think he was outstanding. He made their whole team tick. He was everywhere trying to link up play.

 

[jonnyp]

I don't think he should have committed himself as much as he did. He saw Walker was there, and always likely to win the ball with his pace. It looked like he just decided to come out and then that was that.

Agree. It was a suicidal decision to rush out in that situation. It should've cost us a goal, luckily Henderson is shit. He could've easily gotten a red card or even injured Walker too in that situation. He shouldn't have been anywhere near it.

 

[stevenqoz]

Thought that as welcome as he was returning Dembele and Sandro did not combine enough to effectively keep the ball. AVB was right to bring him back in but we paid the price in terms of holding the ball in the middle of midfield....Huddlestone helps us do it better imo....he is a better passer than both of them.....and we do it better when he plays. This is not a black and white thing...the Dembele and Sandro combination is more dynamic

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Honestly no idea where to start after last night, even this morning it seems like the most bizarre game of football I've seen for years. It reminded me of when we won against Chelsea at the Lane for the first time in 278 years when Lennon scored the winner. It felt like a mid table side beating one of the bigger sides. That's not to say Liverpool are 'good', because they are not, they pass the ball nicely but they do fuck all with it. Sterling was ok but he's no better than Lennon or Walcott, Suarez is a terrier and he's impressing me more than he has done since he came to the Premier League, but he's certainly not a worldie.

And 'Brent'an Rodgers is a fucking phoney, what an absolute ****. Make team selections like that then have the audacity to claim two non penalties and say they were generally shafted. They had the ball as we let them have it, but they created fuck all with it and only scored because one of our own players kicked it into another ones of our players face.

For us, I thought Walker was decent, Gallas/Dawson were disgusting together, Dawson had a marginally better first half but then they both competed for 'chief ****' in the second.

Sandro was poor, Dembele on the ball is better than anyone we've had for years, but he lacks any real penetration and seems to shit himself when he gets near the penalty area, I would worry if we rely on him to be our play maker.

Dempsey didnt have a great game, but fucking hell what was the Sigurdsson sub all about? When you're pissing your pants and defending for your lives, unless you're making a massive tactical change then you leave it as it is. If they didn't have enough of the initiative then we handed it too them by bringing on the 'lack of confidence' Sig. Dempsey is very average, but how anyone wants the weak as piss, scared of a mouse fart Sigurdsson to play instead of him defies belief.

Bale was excellent first half, then couldn't be arsed second half.

Lennon worked his balls off without the ball, it's totally and utterly pointless comparing any passing stats as some kind of slight on Lennon when he has the insipid Defoe up front trying to bring others into the game. Sterling saw the ball a lot because Suarez did as well, if the latter got injured the former would struggle to get in the game as much.

Defoe. Falcao must have shit himself with laughter after last night.

Finally on the tactics, people used to say the lottery football was not the way to sustain a challenge for competing with the elite. Fucking hell, it's a lot more sustainable than the shite we served up last night that's for sure. It'll work sometimes, but we desperately need to find a happy medium.

Lloris - 6
Walker -7
Dawson - 5
Gallas - 4.9
Vertonghen - 6
Sandro - 5
Dembele - 6
Lennon - 6.5
Dempsey - 5.5
Bale - 7.5
Defoe - N/A

Subs

Fuck - 3
Off - 4

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Thought that as welcome as he was returning Dembele and Sandro did not combine enough to effectively keep the ball. AVB was right to bring him back in but we paid the price in terms of holding the ball in the middle of midfield....Huddlestone helps us do it better imo....he is a better passer than both of them.....and we do it better when he plays. This is not a black and white thing...the Dembele and Sandro combination is more dynamic

The only positive Huddlestone has on us is give us a higher average weight in the scrum.

Huddlestone does not help us hold the ball better in the middle of the park, if this was true we would have seen even a minute improvement when he came on for the last 5 minutes. I'd be surprised if he touched the ball more than twice.

Mind you, he did more than Sigurdsson.

 

[HotspurFC1950]

Why so much moaning ?

 

[stevenqoz]

Look at the whole game SB......we started on fire and progressively gave up the accendency. It is exactly in the middle that Huddlestone helps us....Dembele returning meant that Sandro played generally deeper....the role Huddlestone has had. Sandro as great a player as he is lacks the touch and vision to play those keep the ball passes. people can't have it both ways...Huddlestone is criticised for slowing the game down but he does keep the ball....just saying that Dembele and Sandro struggled to do this....rarely getting open to receive it short and because of that we increasingly played the whoosh from the back. Dembele, when he gets the ball tends to take palyers on (which he does very well) however this at a cost of bringing on midfield 'contests' continually. I'd prefer Huddlestone with Sandro and Dembele playing just in front of them instead of the ordinary Dempsey. With such a midfield three we have passing workrate and surgeability

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

Defoe. Falcao must have shit himself with laughter after last night.

I suspect even Falco would have been more effective

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Look at the whole game SB......we started on fire and progressively gave up the accendency. It is exactly in the middle that Huddlestone helps us....Dembele returning meant that Sandro played generally deeper....the role Huddlestone has had. Sandro as great a player as he is lacks the touch and vision to play those keep the ball passes. people can't have it both ways...Huddlestone is criticised for slowing the game down but he does keep the ball....just saying that Dembele and Sandro struggled to do this....rarely getting open to receive it short and because of that we increasingly played the whoosh from the back. Dembele, when he gets the ball tends to take palyers on (which he does very well) however this at a cost of bringing on midfield 'contests' continually. I'd prefer Huddlestone with Sandro and Dembele playing just in front of them instead of the ordinary Dempsey. With such a midfield three we have passing workrate and surgeability

Sorry mate I can't agree with any of that, last night in the first half our movement was better than it has been for weeks. Numerous occasions even Dawson and Gallas were playing one touch football with Dembele and Sandro as they constantly played round the Liverpool front 2/3.

Granted this only lasted for 10 mins and then it all went to shite in the second half when Dembele tired but there really is no place for Huddlestone in our line up at all. I would rather see Carroll every day of the week and then even someone like Parrett or another kid. Huddlestone does not offer us anything positive.

 

[AngerManagement]

I'm very happy with the result, it was important to win that game but on the balance of the game and performances as a whole Liverpool have a lot more to take from it than we do. They can be very encouraged by the way they played and optimistic about the future where as we have a lot of work to do

Without a doubt their advantage over us is Saurez and to a lesser extent Sterling, if we had players with their guile, craft, determination and creativity we would be a force in the league.

If only like BC suggested we could swap those for Lennon and Defoe, never gonna happen of course (well maybe if DC was still in charge of their transfer policies)

 

[ravo]

Lennon gets +1 for his nutmeg on Gerrard.

 

[dav3j]

Lloris - 8 - Didn't really do anything wrong, again. Quickly rising up the ranks as one of my favourite current players.
Walker - 7 - Actually had a bloody good game. Some last-ditch, game-saving clearances and blocks made.
Gallas - 6 - Looked nervous the whole time, I was just waiting for the mistake to happen. Half expected him to shit himself whenever Suarez ran at him.
Dawson - 7 - Solid game. Did well.
Vertonghen - 6 - Not his best game. Lost out a few times to Sterling's pace but kept a cool head. Amazed he didn't draw a card from Sterling with all the clumsy tackles he kept making (Sterling, that is).
Lennon - 7 - He scored! Will have helped his confidence, hopefully he'll shoot more often. Got at Downing well, great movement for his goal.
Sandro - 6 - Good in the tackle but gave away the ball an awful lot.
Dembele - 7 - What a difference he's made. Bit rusty but an integral part of the team.
Bale - 8 MOM - Ran the game for us, again. Great cross for the first and a brilliant FK.
Dempsey - 6 - Found himself in some good positions but didn't really achieve a lot when he did. Lucky to draw so many free kicks from their defence.
Defoe - 4 - I'd nearly forgotten he was there. Anyone got his stats? Must have had about 3 touches of the ball, all of them poor. Isolated up front and IMO should have dropped deeper.

Sigurdsson - 5 - Anonymous.

 

[Legend10]

I don't think I understand football anymore. For some reason I've always considered scoring a goal to be a relatively meaningful part of a game.

Not according to the guru that is Brendan Rodgers who said after the game:

'we had 65% possession tonight, and that's more important than goals'

Haha, jeez what a fuckin idiot he is!

 

[lennon4england]

Fuckin hell. It's getting really really hard to suck any positives from the performances. All you can hope is these results we are digging out get us through to January intact so that we can perform a complete frontal lobotomy on our side.

We have so many stupid fuckers it's really depressing. Walker, Dawson, Lennon, Demspey, Defoe should all wear big point hats with D on them when they come out the tunnel. Gallas, Bale, Sandro aren't exactly cerebral, and even Dembele and Vertonghen have their moments when you wonder if the others are rubbing off on them.

I would would swap Lennon and Defoe for Suarez and Sterling in the blink of an eye. Away from home against a side above them Suarez saw the ball 67 times, Sterling 61. Defoe 20, Lennon 28. Suarez made 31/40 passes, Sterling a kid having his first season 31/35. defoe 8/11, Lennon 13/17. What I like most about the pair of them is when the lose the ball it makes them angry, they want to scrap and get it back. They take it personally. That little kid Sterling's got more fight in him than Lennon, Defoe, Bale and Dempsey put together.

Lennon & Defoe. I'm sick of watching those two insipid little wankers do so little. Offensively and defensively. They should have been upgraded a while ago.

Bale is a talent, but he is so fucking lazy it's painful. I don't want to run on the pitch and punch the ref or the opponents goalkeeper, I want to run on a kick Bale firmly up the arse. First half he just stood and watched as their bloke (I can't remember who) just runs past him, into the box and through.

Both CB's were fucking awful tonight. The both looked wobbly, gave the ball away got sucked in and skanked.

I really do not know what AVB is teaching any of them, but I suppose all we can say is, in fairness to him, he is working with a really poor bunch of footballers, the poorest I've seen since Arnesen arrived and signed half of Europe in one window.

The first half was reasonably un shit. The second half was just heinous. No-one would move (the problem with a team full of stupid ****s) off the ball, when we did have it our passing was atrocious. We dithered in defence and made cluster fuck after cluster fuck, and only luck and Liverpool's wastefulness saved us from getting the result we deserved.

Ratings:

Lloris 8 - Again showed good proactive initiative.

Walker 6 - He was OK defensively tonight. Best I can do.

Dawson 5 - Got is some clearances but was clumsy, gave the ball away, generally just looked bad.

Gallas 5 - Same as Dawson. Got some blocks and tackles but also looked really shaky at times and made some poor moves.

Vertonghen 6 - OK but even he had a couple of less than great moments. We need a LB and Kaboul either side of him at CB.

Sandro 6 - Run ragged but also as bad as I've seen him for a while.

Dembele 6.5 - Was our busiest player on the ball.

Lennon 4 - There was a spell after they scored when he actually pressed with genuine purpose. Before that it was the usual ten yard pressing. Played no meaning flu part in the game.

Dempsey 4 - Someone needs to edit this ****s wicky page. He ain't no "attacking midfielder". He's an un-attacking striker.

Bale 6 - Does see more ball and get more involved than the other fuckers, and does carry a genuine threat, but he's such a fucking faggot, it drives me nuts sometimes.

Defoe 2 - Weak, insipid and worse, much worse is he's fucking lazy. When you are having a shit game and your side is under the cosh, the least you could do is close down properly. Lazy, selfish little prick.


I keep saying this, but we have kids who I have seen play better than this. I have seen them pass and move and work. We need to start getting them involved, they cannot be worse than the shit we are watching week in week out at the moment.

You say you'd rather have Suarez and Stirling than our bunch of ****s, but our bunch of ****s are showing a lot more end product than Liverpool at the moment, and our youngsters may pass and move better playing at the level they are playing, but there is no guarantee they will show more end product that our current front 4 of Bale, Lennon, Defoe and Dempsey.

For all of Stirling and Suarez's possession, Liverpoool have scored 18 goals to our 25. Considering our bunch of ****s see so little of the ball at least shows they are incisive and more clinical than Liverpool, which is why we are higher in the league and have scored 0.42 more goals per game. We know Suarez is a much more complete player than Defoe, but when you look at the bigger picture only the Manchester clubs and Arse have scored more goals than us. This is with Defoe being a selfish ****, Lennon a clueless ****, Dempsey a **** **** and Bale the best player in the Prem. It can't all be because of Bale though.

In an ideal world Defoe would hold up the ball and make 50 passes a game but he is 30 and has never shown this in his career. He is not going to change, but he is still capable of contributing to a significant amount of goals in the season so we have to get behind him. Until Ade gets back he is the best we have and we are showing enough to score goals regularly and win games.

 

[Legend10]

You say you'd rather have Suarez and Stirling than our bunch of ****s, but our bunch of ****s are showing a lot more end product than Liverpool at the moment, and our youngsters may pass and move better playing at the level they are playing, but there is no guarantee they will show more end product that our current front 4 of Bale, Lennon, Defoe and Dempsey.

For all of Stirling and Suarez's possession, Liverpoool have scored 18 goals to our 25. Considering our bunch of ****s see so little of the ball at least shows they are incisive and more clinical than Liverpool, which is why we are higher in the league and have scored 0.42 more goals per game. We know Suarez is a much more complete player than Defoe, but when you look at the bigger picture only the Manchester clubs and Arse have scored more goals than us. This is with Defoe being a selfish ****, Lennon a clueless ****, Dempsey a **** **** and Bale the best player in the Prem. It can't all be because of Bale though.

In an ideal world Defoe would hold up the ball and make 50 passes a game but he is 30 and has never shown this in his career. He is not going to change, but he is still capable of contributing to a significant amount of goals in the season so we have to get behind him. Until Ade gets back he is the best we have and we are showing enough to score goals regularly and win games.

No, Bale is a lazy **** chocolate soldier!

 

[dav3j]

In an ideal world Defoe would hold up the ball and make 50 passes a game but he is 30 and has never shown this in his career. He is not going to change, but he is still capable of contributing to a significant amount of goals in the season so we have to get behind him. Until Ade gets back he is the best we have and we are showing enough to score goals regularly and win games.

While I don't agree with quite how scathing BC has been, I do kind of agree with the general thrust of his argument. Defoe did absolutely nothing last night and was just appalling. No attempt made to drop deeper to receive the ball or press the ball, he was just always looking to be on the shoulder of the last defender, which was never going to work against a couple of shithouses like Agger and Skrtrltlrrltllrlrltlrl. Ade last season showed a good striker who can hold up the ball can set up as well as put away a fair few goals.

 

[tobi]

The very least Defoe could have done in the second half was occupy the two centre backs.

 

[JimmyG2]

Thought I'd sleep on it but the nightmares keep on coming. We got away with it again. Not a joy to watch
from 20 minutes on.. Will we put a complete performance together this season? . However I'm not going to send the three points back. Great result, questionable performance.

Lloris.....................7...Deducted point for the ill-judged dash from goal that should have been punished.
Walker...................7...The lights are on and there's someone at home at last.
Gallas....................5..Legs already gone and now the brain has followed
Dawson.................7..Deducted point for som atrocious distribution. Strong presence otherwise.
Vertonghen............7..Good early and imposed himself on young whatsisname..
Lennon..................6...Good anticipation for the goal but must impose himself more.
Sandro..................6 Every one is entitled to an off day. Probably needs a day off now.
Dembele................6. Clearly not match fit and should have been subbed earlier
Bale.......................8..Baled us out again. Scored one, made one, conceded one.
Dempsey................6 Getting into better positions just not doing much when he does.
Defoe....................5..One of his more anonymous performances

Sigurdsson............5..Doesn't seem to know what he's supposed to be doing and not doing it well.

AVB......................7..Doing ok with somewhat limited resources at the moment.