Liverpool 1, United 1: Failing to Finish

I was slightly annoyed to not see Bellamy coming on late.  I feel like Downing should be used when Carrol is used, as most of his chances seem to come from crosses.  I felt Bellamy would have added some pace and quickness in the attack against the lumbering defenders.  Oh well.  It is a point gained, but Hendo's volley had me standing on the coffee table, until it was saved... If it had 4 more inches of height (that is what she said) it would have been quite possibly one of the most glorious winners ever.

hey guys its my first post....nice to see guys you here complaining about subs.its a very  pleasent change...was a different story a year ago.we use to pray not to bring on any subs even when things werent working for us.
     i dont think fergie's lineup wasnt more about resting his star players...i think his main purpose was to contain us for first 60 aur 70 mins then bring on the subs coz he kew if started with attacking lineup we would rip them off as we did last year.

United rested their best attackers and sat back, just begging to be beaten...and we couldn't quite do it. Oh, well. I think that's the team we are this season, though. Not enough quality to really take it to them. Good showing today that showed our limitations. We have quite a few good players, just not too many great ones.

And amazing how much better Adam is playing in a 3-man midfield like he's supposed to, eh? Henderson, too, when he's not on the wing and in his comfort zone closer to the middle. 
I'd like to see that 3-man CM some more and for Kenny to give them a run of games to try to develop some chemistry and cohesiveness. Swapping formations and forcing Carroll in just disrupts things. Having said that, I expect next Saturday to see Carroll out there starting next to Suarez, with just Gerrard and Adam in the middle while Lucas serves his suspension...

i agree with you.3-man midfield will bring best out of our all CMS and m including henderson too.it works perfectly for possesion football.i wont mind kenny playing 3-man midfield of steve,adam and henderson against lesser sides especially at home.i dont think ita always necessary to have DM against lesser sides too.and i think we will this formation in next match as lucas is suspended.

Unfortunately, I don't see Kenny employing a 4-5-1 as his regular formation, probably more his "big game" set-up. He seems to have his heart set on 4-4-2/4-2-2-2. Far being it from me to question his footballing sense, but my favorite is still the variable 4-3-3/4-2-3-1, the former with possession, the latter without possession. I think the team still needs time to find their perfect harmony and a bit of work in the January market wouldn't go amiss. 

Carroll is a great Plan B, but I don't know if I like him and Suarez working together. I was never fully convinced that pass-and-move can work well with constant crosses from the wing. Carroll as a traditional 9 with crosses coming in is a fine Plan B, but I think Suarez needs a competent partner to play his style and leave Carroll on the bench when the focus is pass-and-move, with Gerrard playing in the hole behind them. That would be FEARSOME. Someone like Cavani, Higuain or Carlton Cole (hahaha!) Downing really needs to be put on the right as an inverted winger when Carroll's not on the pitch. Cutting inside is far more helpful with Suarez as the #9 than throwing him crosses that go to a defender's head 9 times out of 10.

As a final note, PENALTYYYYYY! HANDBALL!!!! PENALLLLLLLLLLLTYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! *sobs*

I couldn't see it being a pen... ball hit hand.  Suarez should have finished early in the match  as hendo should have late..

First of all, just because Kenny is a legend doesn't mean he's infallible. Just look at his naive tactics & selection at Tottenham (ouch). His latest lineup shows he's learning about this squad, which is great. Putting Carroll and Henderson on the bench is progress.

And 4-5-1 in big games only would be progress, too, since that's when Adam will be the most exposed. 

"That would be FEARSOME." lol, that's what Kenny was thinking when he bought Carroll. Of course, you're right. I am not a big fan of Pipita but he would be a good partner for Suarez. Sadly, however much Kenny wanted it to be true, Carroll's not anywhere near his class. 

i to saw some really nice things in the movement of that 3 man mid when hendo was introduced and stevie dropped back... specifically it demonstrated that maybe steven's future does lie further back in the lineup as he ages, he seemed quit content to let hendo do the running around for him.  also, i reckon andy slots right into that formation, if i had my druthers id invert stuey and suarez on the wings of a pretty direct attacking trident, at least to see what it looks like when we have steven, stuey, adam, suarez and andy all together in the same lineup...

Yeah, honestly I don't think any of our CMs has the legs to get up and down the pitch for 90 mins, but platooning with a 3-man MF seemed to work out nicely as they can take turns making runs and covering.

To be honest before this game I was really nervous and wasn't feeling too positive about what the result might end up as. After the game though, I don't understand why other teams just can't seem to beat ManU. They aren't unbeatable but why do other teams seem to just fold under when versing them? I mean people can talk about how ManU were fielding their Bteam and we were playing at home but when Fergie brought on his three star strikers, I thought we actually ended up playing even better and more excitingly than before. Shame on the slip up and the missed chances but things like that happen. As much as I don't want to say this, I thought his tactics of smothering out the midfield in the first half worked pretty well.

What we can take out of it is how important it is for us to get a clinical finisher. Every week its the same ole same ole we just aren't finishing our chances. But no matter what, I'm glad everyone's really fired up and I think we are heading up.

I know I don't know that much football to be honest but I'm glad that this game got some fans to stop being so trigger happy with their criticism. Carragher was pretty beast in defense and there were so many balls he read so well. He isn't fast anymore and that is a shame but he's still a top defender. Skrtel played well too other than his slip up (which I actually didn't see I was too busy getting pissed off at Chichi) and I loved how he actually did a full length sprint with the ball straight down midfield and had a chance on goal even though both times ended in naught. Kelly was amazing, just kept shutting down Ashley Young who had barely a look in and even got subbed off. And Enrique is just a beast.

However, one thing I am really concerned about is him and Downing's link up play. They always seem stuck together and blocking each other on the sidelines which makes their play clumsy in that area. If they start linking up better I'm pretty sure we'll be even more fruitful on the left. But still Enrique = beast (he can slip up sometimes when he's dribbling but I like how he tries to continue play rather than just straight clearing it under pressure)

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Suarez's dance during Gerrard's free kick (HILARIOUS) and also how pissed off Ferdinand and Evra got towards Suarez. It was so funny to see Evra acting like a child and how pissed off Ferdinand got at every call against him, mostly because of Suarez. I love Suarez he's amazing and I don't care that he makes a meal out of every challenge because he's awesome.

WELCOME BACK GERRARD AND GET SOME REST LUCAS :D

By the way was anyone else as nervous as I was when Gerrard stretched his leg more than a 30 degree angle? I was thinking OMG YOUR GROIN!!

Isn't it incredibly stupid how most of our problems from our key players is most likely due to the international break? the FA would never have 2 premier league games within a day or two of each other and you expect Lucas and Suarez to travel across the world and still put in the 90 minutes? It is nice though to think that Spearing could have put on a better performance than an exhausted yellow carded Lucas. 

WTF

Goal.com has De Gea as the man of the match and Downing as the flop? How the Hell? Why not make Kuyt flop of the match at least for not converting that absolutely perfect cross from Downing?

Ryan, you know better than to cite Goal around here.

You're grounded.

Can I blame this one on the captain? or the crack? yes the crack! I'm all sorts of fucked up, so entirely unreasonable.

Oh. You're not buying it?

Shame upon my entire family.  

ya, they gave skrtel the highest rating of our defenders i think, seemingly for that 50-yard gallop to nowhere, cuz he didn't do anything else (other than lose hernandez in the 6), and certainly nothing that carra, kelly or enrique didnt do...

Don't go there!

Another fair-minded and accurate write-up Ed, thanks.

 Kenny's wry smile said it all in the post-match presser. He knew we left points on the Anfield pitch but that annoying reality was tempered by the high level of the second half performance and the equally annoying but simultaneously heartening reality that we could have won by two clear goals in the end. Aunty alex knew that too if his unusually jovial and magnanimous demeanour was anything to go by. As a pleasing aside, how fantastic is it to be led by the only man in the Premier league who refers to the Manc-chief as 'fergie'? No sycophantic titles from Kenny for his fellow Glaswegian, after all he's very much the daddy in that relationship since the day he marked the whinging, sharp-elbowed former Rangers man out of a reserves game in the late 60's.

Jimmy Greaves used to witter-on about "a game of two halves" and the phrase could have been coined for this match. Ferguson paid a bizarre compliment to the debatable ability of Charlie Adam to run a game by assigning man-marking duties on the Scot to Phil Jones. His starting 11 seemed to be all about industry and conservatism. Nani, Hernandez and Rooney were kept on the bench, no doubt with the intention of launching a late charge. This tactic pissed me off intensely as I had hoped to revel in the comparative strength of the Redmen bench before the kick-off, so fuck you fergie! The first 45 minutes was all huffing and puffing, much perspiration and little inspiration. Only after the interval did the game take-off and when it did it was the Redmen who bossed it.

Pepe was totally untroubled until he had to cruelly pick the ball out of the net. True, he read the game well and took a few good crosses and there was one dodgy moment where he managed to fumble a ball he'd already taken easily but truthfully, it was one of his quietest outings in a while and that, of course, is a tribute to the defenders in front of him.

Carra-bashers should hang their heads. One die-hard hater-chump even tried to blame him for the goal in the twittersphere. The guy was excellent today, reading the game ahead of the opposition and generally keeping the aimless punting to an acceptable minimum. His central partner was decent too but lost Hernandez spectacularly for the goal. His foray up the Utd. by-line (because nobody offerd an out-ball) was the comedy moment of the afternoon...nosebleed stuff for the big Slovak.

Either side of those two, Enrique and Kelly were very solid defensively and forceful in attack. A pair of  gems (and both of them tanks, to boot). I still have reservations about the combo of Jose and Downing. Too often they were at odds rather than in unison and they seem to just eat up each other's space. The fact that our Spanish full-back links superbly with Bellers is food for thought for Kenny (and the start of a new hobby-horse for me!).

Poor old Lucas had his poorest day for a couple of seasons and after the constant exertions for club and country he seemed half-a-yard off the pace from the kick-off. His afternoon ended with the crooky finger after 60-or-so minutes. Most of us saw this coming and there's no doubt he will be back on-song after a rest. Charlie Adam - he needs a man-marker you know...The gap-toothed stroller was as ineffective as ever in the opening half  but started to play some decent football in the second period. It's no coincidence that this improvement coincided with the dropping-deep of Stevie after Lucas was sensibly withdrawn by the boss. I can't dislike Chaz as intensely as some seem to ( I keep hoping he'll be a new Molby ) but I would still have Wee Jay in my 11.

Aah, Stevie. Welcome back kid. A fine performance today, particularly the discipline he showed positionally. This development bodes VERY well for the Redmen as the Captain could not previously be relied upon to play the deep role with the defensive rigour it requires. His free-kick was delightfully fortuitous and also just, y'know....delightful. When you consider that the kid is still only getting near where he can be performance-wise...well, exciting times folks.

On the flanks the industry of Dirky was eminently predictable and no less wonderful for that. I thought he was fantastic today, nipping at mancs in possession and using the ball cleverly himself. Only a wonder-save from De Gea stopped him claiming a deserved winner. Stewart Downing was pretty muc AWOL for 45 and came into the game as it wore on. There's a cranky Welshman way-ahead of Stew-pot in this fan's thinking.

Luis Suarez - he'll give you twisted blood. So many mancs left chasing shadows today by Luis. Another man not at his brilliant best but a decent display nonetheless. At one point a calmer finish would have given us the lead and he was a constant worry to Ferdinand and Evans. Hopeful he will return to his more predatory ways against Norwich and Uncle Woy's Baggies.

Cap-doffing of the day is to the excellent Jordan Henderson who replaced our Brasiliero. Busy, strong, effective and positive, he was exactly what we hoped he might be when we signed him. An audacious lob deserved better and his late headed attempt was close even if twitter haters tried to attack the kid for missing a sitter.

A year ago we surrendered meekly to the bluenoses and then lost to the mancs at Castle Greyskull. A fortnight ago we beat the Toffees at their place and this evening we are all quietly gutted at droppin 2 points to the mancs in a game we deserved to win. (Ed's title says it all - get them doing extra shooting drills Kenny!) So much change. So many reasons to be content but we won't be happy until we're back on top. This is good. This is Anfield.

Dirky wasn't on the flanks today.  Otherwise spot on.

Definitely should have had Bellamy on at the end, perhaps for Downing, but then the Stew-pot put in some of blinding crosses that we should have won the game from.

So what do you do?

Not to quibble with ya jonny, but I reckon Dirky did a LOT of work on the right today...anyhoo, once the kid starts, I'm a happy Irishman.

Well written as always, Trevor.

I see things exactly as you do regarding the left side, and I believe I stated something similar this week in response to Noel's post on Downing. With Enrique being a threat on the left (nice to see that Sir Whiskey Nose put Park on to neutralize him instead of Nani there) we don't really need a LAM who stays wide. Downing did have some lethal crosses late in the match, but it would've been nice to have Bellers cutting inside with pace, linking up with Suarez, and giving Smalling and Ferdinand more to deal with on the ground. 

I really don't see the logic in playing so many crosses when Carroll is on the bench and Suarez is our center forward. More pass and move, please.

Exactly. 

Having both Enrique and Downing on the left when Carroll and Kuyt weren't really in the box was a little frustrating and it seemed like Bellers might've done a good job if he got on and did his little one-twos with Enrique to either cut inside or release down the flank to get a cross to the backpost. 

ok, i get it, and its worth a shot, but bellamy is physically incapable of being our starter cos of his knees.  he's almost ledley king.  sure he can start a few, and he's a great option off the bench, but stuey's fine - i think the issue is a bit overblown to be honest.  as is mentioned above, with suarez in there, he's not really the type of striker thatll get the best out of balls crossed in from the wings.  im not suggesting the line up was bad yesterday, but we bought carroll to partner suarez, and we bought downing to supply balls to carroll...so, anything else is a work in progress, but thats ok, itll get there.  enrique and downing have only played together 8 times, u can't expect instant chemistry all the time - and to be fair, there were only a couple, maybe three instances where they got in each other's way... cud it better sure, and im sure they're working on it.  but right now, the best week-in-week-out option remains downing, cuz bellamy has no knees.

so where does carroll come into this equation for you?

Big Andy is where he needs to be at this point in his development, 'blanca...on the outside, looking in...waiting to get a chance and highly motivated to take it. Imagine our combined glee if he seizes his opportunity and makes himself undroppable. Now, if only Kenny was as ruthless with Chaz, he might elicit a similar reaction from him too...

ya, he's got less option there though, and to be fair adam stepped up to the plate yesserday

What gets me is ManU goes through every team, and we can hold them and even beat them, and that means other teams shouldn't be a problem. we do very well when its a tough opponent, but the lesser we aren't in the zone mentally as it being tough

No Lucas next game, but bettr to have him missing Norwich than other matches, I hope...

Can't work out Fergie's team, Not sure the Giggs Jones Fletcher thing worked...

Fergie was protecting his big players for Europe and then Citeh next weekend.  The whole biggest game thing was his wind up against the blues.  

Citeh are the one team that is most likely to challenge him this year and for many years to come and he knows hit.After the game he said they'd played all the big teams knowing that Citeh are not up till next week for them.  Standard Fergie stuff.  Never says anything without it being a wind up.  After the cheating diving gits he's been through at Man Ure, it's a bit rich of him criticising Suarez who creates far more havoc legitimately then any diving.

nil-nil for 70 mins, then super subs to draw the game?  i thnk it worked a treat... course if hendo's volley dips in its a different story.  as has been mentioned, eloquently by trev, its awesome that liverpool is so deep into fergie's pysche that he is pre-empting our goalscoring with his initial squad selection...

Disappointed, but when you're only marginally better than the opposition, sometimes a draw can happen.

More concerned that we get 9 points from the next 3 games.  Very very achievable and really it's what we should expect of Liverpool.  We have to make it our bread and butter, and you won't get an easier run than this.

Dissapointed for sure but with a cooler head I have to say that my confidence in our potential is up, considering that:
- Agger and to a lesser extent Bellamy were not involved
- the Stevie-Charlie- Lucas combination looks promising
- we did miss the target in a few instances but we won't always face on-fire goalkeepers like De Gea today

But for now:
http://youtu.be/6gljC6rKvBU 

Kelly put my predictions to shame and absolutely dominated Young today. Was up his backside all day and never let up. A focused and powerful performance.

Enrique is an absolute rock defensively and provides a great offensive outlet, but am I the only one who freaks out ever so slightly whenever he starts pivoting and dribbling under pressure around our own box?

Are we really saying it was a clumsy challenge on Chaz and not a blatant dive? 

Anyway, solid performance, we kept a very defensive Utd side to a single shot on target and did enough to win it, even though we had to settle for just the one point. Our profligacy is a major frustration, but we can only hope that if we keep creating all these chances, at some point the goals will really start flowing.

As far as I am concerned Camel lip caught Adam, it wasn't a dirty foul but there was no need for Adam to go down he was about to shoot as he was pretty much clean through.

As regards Berbapuff last year, Agger never touched him, that was swan lake at his best.

Adam - no worse than Berbaflop going over under pressure from agger in the FA cup last year.  He got a penalty for that one.

Good catch on the Adam thing--had thought I changed it right after I wrote it, was thinking of his earlier challenge and included it there for whatever reason.

Cheers.

on Kelly: 'we were the 39%... and we were wrong'. which is why keeping Bellamy on the bench is even more frustrating. maybe Jonno needs Kuyt's cover on the right, but if Kelly  has it locked down, then surely Bellamy gives us more thrust than we got from Dirk today.

gud job puttin ur hands up, boys, thats what true fans do!  but, khaine, re: the gaps - quit it. 
wud u prefer we dont get a free kick on the edge of the box to go 1-0
from Captain Fantastics 5th v utd?  we shud be thanking adam like he
thanks his in house pastry chef.

Oh no, I'm very happy he got the free kick and we scored from it, considering how important that turned out to be. It's still a dive though, and I can't defend that, as it's something I'd rather not see in my football, particularly coming from the men in red. But, much like dodgy refs and Sepp Blatter, it's something I guess I'll have to live with.

sorry wasn't a dive, Camel lip defo caught him, the replay shows that clearly.  Downing's was a proper dive and a very poor one indeed!!  He needs a lot more practice in my opinion.

hah, sho' nuff.  and there's a certain #7 that makes a 5 course meal out of every touch he receives... and i love it.

I think the chances thing is smptomatic of a team settling down.  It's still only 8 games old with a lot of time having been given to youngsters/new players.  

Wait a dozen games more or so, a lot more work, and a bit of water under the bridge and they'll be more comfortable with each other from the point of view that playing off each other becomes less deliberate and more instinctive.   

That should leave them just a little more relaxed which mentally gives you a fraction more time, and hopefully the finishing improves from that.

It was a good game for us, while we can't get carried away.  Fergie was saving his big guns for Europe for much of that game.

Enrique was outstanding, probably MoM for me but I didn't see a bad performance today, possibly a tired one from Lucas.

I might have gone for another sub - Bellamy for Downing later in the 2nd half to shake things up a bit but Hendo looked bright and should have made one of those chances count.  As for Suarez, I'd swap his creating something out of nothing for finishing what he does create.  He could have had his goals up to double figures by now.

A good run of lower league sides now until the Chelsea Citeh double header, so fingers crossed just take a whole bunch of points and watch for Spurs slipping up.  We want to go into Xmas placed as a definite 4th spot challenger.

Both Spurs and Chelsea will start dropping points once they start getting banged up in Europe. Got to keep the spirit in the squad high which will allow us to play at our best and take as many points as possible. It's all still to play for; 4th and even possibly(?) 3rd. Not sure if the Geordies are for real, but wouldn't expect them to stay around top 4 for too long.

Our play in the last 20 minutes desrved all 3 points. We had 27! crosses. The one from Stanley Devastating to Dirki should have sealed it. Could have hit it almost anywhere except where he did. Hendo had a nice shot that could have scored. His sub at 57' had a positive impact on the match. Smart of Kenny to take off Lucas who was tiring from midweek and on a yellow. United had a whole 2 shots in the entire game. Charlie had his best game in a red shirt. Luis should have scored on his chance early.

You don't always get what you deserve from every match. But, you do from an entire season. We need to stay positive as a squad and keep battling. Just like everyone did today.

agree. 

once you get to 10 games or so, that's a fair barometer of what ur team is about, and as we approach that marker, id say we're on course for a top 4.  we're far from shite, but we have a helluva lot more potential to realize, so it shud be onwards and upwards.

also, i wanna see wat sort of dynamic we can get from a lineup including carroll, suarez, downing, adam and captain fantastic... so much potential... 

Not to be negative, but we have a lot to prove. For example:

 -  We've yet to score a single away goal when the opposition had all 11 men on the pitch.
 -  We've only beaten 2 lower-table teams at home (Wolves 14th, Bolton 17th). 
 -  In half our home games we had the lead and lost it, then failed to score again.
 -  We've yet to visit ManU, City, or Chelsea -- all undefeated at home.
 -  Zero clean sheets at home so far.

Suarez is incredible and we have had some good moments, but we were 6th last year and we are effectively in 6th right now. This next run of games will be huge, as Red2death said above. We need clean sheets, and someone is going to have to start scoring other than Suarez.

How about Gerrard?  Adam has 2, Carroll also scored in the Derby????
We can't prove how we'll do against manure, chav's n city until we play them.

ya i agree, and yet all of that is within the grasp of the squad, as is.

I share your sentiments. The fact that we are frustrated with a draw against the league leaders speaks volumes. I think 'frustration' has summed up Liverpool's season so far.

I think our season thus far has been defined by us not taking our chances. Games against the likes of Stoke and Sunderland where we have dominated play but simply couldn't take the hatful of chances we created. Today we should have again capitalized on our 2nd half performance and come away with all three points.

I was also disappointed that Carroll and Bellamy were not bought on in the 2nd half when we seemingly had Utd on the ropes. Utd's defence were not at their best today and I feel the introduction of these two players could have swung the game in LFC's favour. Downing should have been replaced earlier in the 2nd half, thought his crossing was very wayward today. And may be Carroll could have connected with a couple of headers near the end. Especially the one which Rooney cleared off of the line in the final 5 mins.

But if's and but's won't help us today, we must chalk this one down to improving our final ball and taking our chances.

Carroll might not even have anticipated that cross that Shrek cleared.  As you said it's all if's n but's.  The players on the pitch were unlucky not to finish off the job.

I would put Carroll on for Suarez. When it comes to those two players, I don't think they work so well together, but they are a direct switch to a different style of play, which arguably was what we needed.

Also, the Rooney thing. The stream I was watching, the commentators got these massive boners talking about Rooney. I about threw up. Seriously. Bullshit. He was smart enough to see he was about to get scored on so he headed the ball, just what every other player in the box would have done if they were close enough. 

ok, but if ur gonna put carroll on, wudnt downing be the #1 source of ammunition for the big lug?

 WTF was fergie thinking with that line-up? that he doesn't need Rooney, Hernandez, Nani, Valencia, Anderson or Berba to beat us? the cock!  we shoulda made him pay for that.   

Ferguson did that because he had no respect for our team.  They were gonna rest those guys for next week's big game against manchester city.  Kevin Keegan said that the team that Man U fielded was an insult to liverpool and it was.  Coaches are not blind they see that we are struggling to soore and create chances frequently.  Even though we drew the game today it felt like a loss.  We had a phil jones playing defensive midfield, along with giggs, park,young and fletcher are you kidding me and we drew

That's a nonsense mate, Taggart picked that team because he was running scared of being beaten 4 times on the trot.  Kevin Keegan?  Great footballer...naff pundit.  Dalglish had more success at Newcastle than Keegan.  We should have made them pay, sloppy finishing and good goalkeeping kept them in it.  Whisky nose knows we're coming up the hill and he's worried.

He obviously came with a plan to stifle to midfield and congest, trying to keep things safe and possibly throw on his supposed game-changers in rooney/nani when players are tired.

I was very certain that if we could score before he made those changes we could go on to win it which is why it was very disappointing we'd conceded from a set piece. United did not manage anything close from open play. 

However, I'm fairly confident that we'll see a Liverpool side that will be getting more confidence and more clinical in the next few matches.

We did. He was going to downright loose until he used up all his subs bringing on every forward he had. He nicked a point with THREE STRIKERS and 2 offensive wingers. He had to put his center back in the middle of the park to stop our midfield. I think we made a point. 

Also, they only scored from a corner and from a slip up from one of our defenders. It wasn't even open play they barely got a peep in. For anyone to praise ManU for their game yesterday is deluding themselves. Not that I can say we were superb but we were definitely better.

No offense to Suarez, but we need a clinical finisher like Hernandez.

Makes sense. Sometimes I catch myself dreaming about that 1-2 day period in January when it looked likely that we were going to have a Suarez/Torres combo. I mean, just look at what could have been:

---------Reina-------
Kelly--Carra-Agger--Enrique-
--------Lucas-Gerrard------
Kuyt-------Suarez------Downing-
-----------Torres-----------

Holy Shit. 

ya except if we need an extra goal scorer besides suarez, then where is he in that lineup?  surely not torres...

Got me exactly.  Thanks trev

thats pretty offensive

Don't get me wrong, I like Suarez, but we need him and an additional striker on the field like Rooney and Hernandez who can just put the ball in the back of the net.  Carroll isn't quite there yet. 

believe me i get it, just bustin ur balls over here... to suggest that a liverpool player shud be anything like a man u player on a day when said man u player scores an equalizer at anfield, well... u get the idea...

I hear ya. Great name, fella.

ya, hafta agree with the write up.  If you wuda told me before the season started that we'd get 4 points from the everton and man u games, i wudve been happy.  had u told me that after tottenham, i wudve bit ur hand off for it.  as it stands, i am weirdly disappointed, not least because each of those 4 efforts (suarez, hendo, kuyt, hendo) had me out my seat screaming at the boob tube. 

cud we have seen carroll on for kuyt in the last ten minutes?  bells on for adam (good as he played) for the last 6-8? sure, but its hard to believe our chances wudve been any more clear cut than what they were - and as ed says, gotta take wats given to u, otherwise ur just arsenal in an adidas kit...

i will say that dagger wuda likely done better on that set piece.  skrtel is a big, strong lad, with a nice aerial game in his locker, but for whatever reason he's shaky during defensive set pieces, coates can't develop fast enough far as im concerned.

All in all, progress.  Clarkey was making noises before the game that this early in the season, win or draw, man utd or scunthorpe, its all about progress.  we were better v wolves than we were at tottenham, better at everton than we were v wolves, and i think its safe to say we were better today than we were against everton.  progress. walk on boys, lookin for max points from the next 3 fixtures.

Still a little disappointed, and those last few chances are going to stick with me for a while, but the return of Gerrard to our midfield and to the scoresheet is nothing to sneeze at. And while I was screaming at him to score, it IS good that Henderson had such a positive impact once he came onto the bench. I was having nightmares about Adam's defending prior to this match, so kudos to him as well for, y'know, not living up to them.

Our fixture list looks easier after this--Norwich, West Brom, and Swansea. But we have got to finish our chances. Perhaps we should have Bellamy start a game?

Those were the longest last ten minutes of a game for awhile now. 

Enrique had another faultless game, could've added another assist had Kuyt managed to turn that cross in. How strong is he, exactly? Never seems to falter in a shoulder challenge with perfect balance to boast.

All in all, it was a rather solid performance which just lacked more than the one cutting edge that Gerrard provided. Suarez most certainly should've tucked away his chance in the first half, those 2-3 chances right at the end... damn. They got me all sitting on the edge. 

Lucas has been due a poor shift for a long time coming now, when was the last time he did not start for Liverpool when he was available? Considering the games he's played, club-wise and internationally and how he'd had to double up the previous games with Adam lacking defensively, it was about time. Perhaps, his card comes nicely to sit him out the next game and get a breather.

Hendo's performance after he came on was pretty encouraging, definitely better in a central position than out wide. Downing seemed to float in and out though, whenever he tried to run at the defence it just lacked an edge to it. Adam seemed to turn in a pretty positive performance as well. We didnt seem to need Lucas on the pitch after he went off and that pretty much summed up United's midfield today.

Subs wise, would've preferred to have seen Bellers and Carroll thrown on for the last 5-10 minutes to grab something. Oddly tho, bellers seems a better combination with Enrique so far.

Frustrating result but we're miles better in our current position than we were last season. Onwards and upwards.

Enrique could easily have got the MoM award today.  

the side gelled really well today, and I was surprised that ManUre's midfield wasn't so effective with Fletcher and Jones in there holding, but we didn't give them time and got bodies around the ball to win it back.  Great stuff.

You're right about Bellars, he could have come on for Downing just to shake things up a little.  Oh, those chances....  Citeh on top tonight - that's good news.

Bellers cutting inside seems a more fitting combination with Enrique in the matches they've featured. 

Downing and Enrique usually stay out wide and look for a cross and more often than not so far this combination has either resulted in blocked crosses or crosses into the box without bodies in the box. 

3 relatively winnable games next, would most certainly like to see Bellers get a nod in those games. 

that cross for kuyt was stuey, not jose.  not to take nething from jose.