Manchester City 3, Liverpool 0: Something’s Always Missing

Sell Chuggie Adam and Downing. loan out carroll. buy a goal poacher, a winger,

                                         Hendo   Wee J

   Kuyt/Winger to be bought    Stevie G     Bellers/Maxi

                                  Goal Poacher(Bent, Podolski, Soldado?)

What do you ppl say.. carroll could find some form and return and adam and downing would be gone for the good...damage control..

Podolski is going to arsenal, soldado is not going to leave Valencia. They play CL every year, which is not something I can say about Liverpool atm. Bent looks like the option but then carrol will have to leave. Which would be 35mil down he drain. Ty Kenny, u suck at transfers.

Buying a winger would be great, and a striker doesn't have to be a poacher, just good with his movement and technique.

Didn't need to buy Downing, Could have just used kelly as a winger.  Young, brave and gutsy and quick.

In terms of who's available and would come, I don't know.  I would go for Dembele for midfield, Odemwingie as a trickie forward with an eye for goal.  

If carroll could be developed up to 10 goals/season that would be an achievement.

But Rafa had tabs on the very good players in Europe.  Comolli needs to do his thing.  So far, he's holding Hendo up as his big achievement, which it isn't.
Got a feeling he wouldn't have picked Carroll or Adam though.

Let's see the forest for the trees here. This loss is squarely on the shoulders of Kenny. Putting the logical player choices into the game from the start not only would have helped us compete, it probably would have won us the game. Bellamy, Gerrard and Maxi on the bench against the #1 team in the Prem and the #1 keeper in the Prem is just too astonishingly stoopid to believe. Having Downing, Adam and Henderson (despite his nice pass) on the pitch instead is like opting for your second stringers over your first teamers. Carroll hasn't proved himself worthy in one single game, and yet Kenny puts him in as the single striker. Downing is an abomination. How many times are we going to watch him aimlessly boom the ball forward? If either Bellamy or Gerrard were on the end of that Henderson pass, it would be in the net. By the time Kenny put the proper players in, it was way too late....again, for the umpteenth time this season. Let's pull away the veil of the player-legend and look at Kenny for what he is at this place and this time...a sub-par manager.

Bellamy can't play every game because of his knees, and Gerrard is apparently not fit enough to start yet. Kenny's a very good manager, just not a good talent scout.

transfer strategy?  First thing you get is players good enough to take the place of your best, then fit around that.

Thanks for the post, Ed, even if I've been dreading reading it. Don't love the calls for Kenny's head that I'm seeing in the comments, though I do think it's time to drop Downing for Maxi. 

Since bellers knees don't work well enough to play in every game and assuming Carroll gets dropped and recognizing Kuyt may just be on the (precipitous? (might be a bit harsh to say based on one rusty performance)) downside of his career, who do we put up top while Luis is gone? 

Don't kid yourself. Carroll will start every game.

Well, we had the chance to really affect the complexion of that game when the early chance fell to Downing.  

He went for the far corner which Hart is always going to save MAYBE unless it's from a top draw finisher, when he should have put it through his legs.  No guarantee as he sets himself up to sit on the ball if necessary legs outstretched both sides.

That and a double mistake by Kuyt (where were you going?) and then Reina (doh! becoming a bit regular Pepe) and suddenly we go from the chance of a 0-1 lead to a 1-0 deficit.  

And then Ya Ya gets away from Johnson in a pretty normal run for a corner.  2 mistakes, 2 goals - that's a side that is strong and isn't going to be easy to beat.

Their defence was just too strong for us and would have been for most.  Crosses easily cut out, Gerrard's one-two's blocked off.  We may not have been able to pull them around, but it's why they will win the league.

The also crowded the ball when we had it to break up our play, we coped quite well (except Kuyt's dispossession) and still managed to pass it around but cancelled out any directness in attack, giving the defence loads of time to organise themselves.

In essence after the first 10 mins we would have had to be brilliant to beat them and we're unashamedly not there yet.

In hindsight, I would have played on the 2 games in 48 hours factor by holding posession and passing it around short, back and forth to the extreme, just making them run and chase, and wait for a run into the box to pass into.  

I think that would play to some of our strengths and their potential fatigue - so long as we learn to make those runs.  It's partly how Gerrard found Carroll in space against Newcastle.

I don't understand where all your disappointment about this game is coming from. We were clearly the 2nd best team - what do you expect from a game against the best team in the EPL on the road? To expect a win, like some of you seem to do, is complete nonsense at this point of our development and with the squad we have.
Better teams than us have lost at the Etihad and will lose there in the future.

Also I find it amusing to critizice our offensive players for not creating enough without even mentioning what a great defensive unit Man City has assembled - We didn't create a lot of chances 'cause we were up against some worldclass defending.

The great thing about this game is - we're done playing City in the league.

I criticized our build-up play and, by extension, our offensive players, because I think our approach lacked variation until about 75 minutes into the match.  They definitely outplayed us, and you're right to point out that a loss at the Etihad shouldn't be a surprise.  For me, and maybe for some other people, the frustration was in watching us go at their goal with an approach that was like banging our heads against a wall without ever even trying to bang any other part of our bodies against it.  Maybe we never would have gotten through precisely because City are so defensively solid, and there'd have been no shame in that given the strength of each team's squad at the moment.  However, when we look that much like a one-trick pony whose one trick isn't very good, disappointment is inevitable.  We sold ourselves short.  That was my impression, anyway, although I realize not everyone seems to have shared my particular frustration.

Well that is called optimism...seeing what we did against them last time around plus they only got a two days rest as well as a lost before that there will always be an optimism to win the game...and seeing them played yesterday man city is nowhere the team that had been dominating the league so far....so we really should have won that. That's why people are disappointed. At least we should have drawn that game.

Thing that disappoint me the most is that people are already calling for Kenny's head. Yes he did make poor transfers and sometimes dodgy decisions but we are no Chelsea. Give him a break, he restored our pride last season.

I agree, but fans shouldn't feel bad about criticizing Kenny or even asking for a change in command if he keeps this up. After all, he is still the interim coach and has not been permanently installed. As he often said during the Torres trade, no one person is bigger than the team. And that goes for Kenny, too.

No, he was temporary last season and then in May both he and Clarke signed 3-year deals.

Really? My bad. Guess we're done stuck for now.

Not sure why you think we were clearly 2nd best. I thought the game was quite even and they only scored on our mistakes. We controlled the ball quite a bit, which was certainly not a part of their game plan.

The disappointment comes from knowing we had plenty of opportunities in the final third, but were unable to take advantage (as usual). The problem was not that City are world class defenders, because they only had one outstanding defender (Kompany). You are giving them too much credit. 

Rather, Carroll has no pace or positioning and made it easy for their line, and our CMs did not flood the box. Most of the time we put crosses in, we were far outnumbered in there. For all his touches and attempts, Downing did not produce anything. They didn't stop us as much as we just sucked in the final third. That's disappointing.

To call a 3-0 game 'quite even' is funny! Oh, and they also hit the post, with 10 men that is...

We controlled the ball because they had the lead after 10min - I think having an early lead and play on the counter attack is very much part of their game plan. And, sadly for us, they're pretty good at it.
The only thing to be disappointed about is Downing not scoring after 5 min, that would have changed the complexion of the game.

Nicely said

The other great thing is that we will have learned more from this game than City did and the next time we play them in the Cup we will have Stevie G. back and we're going to kick their asses. Crossing into Andy who is being marked by two defenders who are bigger and quicker to the ball than he is may not be the best strategy. Unless we can coordinate the cross and his movement and figure out a way to make him first to most balls. Bellers was looking dangerous too.

Just Wonder Reds Management thinking of Calling RAFA back into the team...maybe he is still waiting for the call...

It'll never happen.

10 men ManC is too good for Liverpool (Soccernet.com), what the....! to be honest, KD is really a good manager, but in this kind of situation, we need a better manager...really miss RAFA..

Either that or $500 mil pounds to spend in the transfer market with CL footy to offer. That and Lucas, Suarez and Stevie G. back. How would Rafa do minus Torres, Gerrard, Alonso and Masch?

Agree with all your points Ed and most of the other in the threads, well apart from 'drunken chicken man'.

I'm more disappointed with the fact that 2 goals came from our direct possession, Kuyt and Enrique's passes!?

Not being too hard on Carroll, he had no support and no service and was up against a defender who got man of the match [enough said really]. 

Frustrating thing for me was seeing Downing charge forward, in threatening style, then stop, pass to either johnson or enrique and look to move inside rather than overlap. Would have been better for the overlap OR even better get to the byline and cross rather than looking for the fullback?

When Carroll did get a cross and had support he found Kuyt, don't get me started on Kuyt, had a terrible game and lets be honest he does put a shift in but right now he's not producing anything going forward, he was rubbish last night!

Adam was also rubbish last night, i'd take just Stevie's dong at the moment! Adam doesn't look anything like the player he was last year, just praying that Stevie and his dong can get himself fully fit and take his place.

Henderson and Spearing both played well, Spearing did his job well, although no Lucas - Spearing was strong. Another chance created by Henderson's quick first time passing, just a shame it fell to Downing rather than Maxi, who surely would have scored that!?

Also great to see Skrtel, legging it back full-pelt to stop Toure - never a penalty!

So nothing to worry about from a Liverpool sense or everything to worry about!?

We desperately need a good winger and also a forward who can support Carroll or Suarez and give us another option.

I guess "we just need more luck" then ay Kenny. I can't watch Andy Carroll play football anymore, it disgusts me. Let's return to what worked last season rather than continuing this failed experiment. 

I agree with ya...

Meireles bettter than Adam.

I agree with you!

Any one can see that but the King. Adam is 26, 27? Is this the prime he brings to Liverpool? Have we seen a game that Adam domintes the midfield like Meireles, or Lucas? Some even believed he's brought in to do Alonso's job. My goodness. 

I have this idea in my head that we don't practice things that good teams practice.  We don't look like we have a game plan or any discipline.  Substitutions and starting lineups rarely look tactical.  At some point Dalglish needs to address these issues.  It felt like we had momentum coming out of the Newcastle match but that is gone now.  My overall issue is that I miss Rafa Benitez.  He would never have bought Andy Carroll, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing.  Charlie Adam was inexpensive yet still looks like a luxury purchase.  The Suarez ban may really expose Dalglish's transfer policy.  I think it says something that the best part of our team, the defense, has seen the least influence from Kenny Dalglish.  He brought Enrique in but the others are Rafa purchases and are clearly being coached by Steve Clarke.  We need some pace and creativity behind the striker(s?), a winger that can really cut in and create havoc, someone in the mold of a young Bastian Schweinsteiger, cover for the left side of our defense and a legitimate number 9.  I don't think we can swing all that this window but they are out there: Gaston Ramirez, Lars Bender, Moussa Sissoko, Leroy Fer, Georginio Wijnaldhum, Joe Allen, Inigo Martinez, Kevin Strootman, too many La Liga players to name, Lucas Moura, Stevan Jovetic, and a striker.  I don't know who he is, but I know he's not a £24 million Darren Bent.  We need to make a play for some young players, nobody too expensive because we have more than one problem.

I miss RAFA as well ! we really need a tactical and strategies minded manager 

Henderson seriously? He is the headless chicken of the team. Constantly getting into people's way and trying too hard to look for possession. Adam and Downing are like yo-yos. I really don't blame Carroll. He is definitely no Suarez, but the least Downing/Johnson/Enrique/Kuyt could do is to put a decent enough ball for him to plant his gigantic head on it.

Henderson, seriously.

Yeah, Henderson's pretty good. That through ball to Downing was ace and showed his natural vision and technique. He should have added that as an assist to his excellent pass to Gerrard last week, eh?

Agree. That pass was a rarity in this edition of Liverpool. Never saw Adam made one like this, never.

We could have played another 90 minutes and never scored. It was painful to watch.  It was one poor cross after another. Johnson and Enrique would run up to the box, look around, pass it back and forth a few times (there's your high pass completion stat) and then decide, what the heck, I guess I'll send in an impotent cross right to Vincent.  Gerrard tried a couple of one-two's, but that's it. We had absolutely zero creative spark.   

Downing is not capable of chipping the ball. I think KK should tell him that the next time he has a 1v1 with the keeper, just pretend he (the keeper) is Andy and make a weak cross over as usual over him into the goal.

Also when is the last time a long range shot of ours was on target? I mean Hendo, Adam have probably tried this 30 times and not once has it come close to the goal. And they always put their hand up as a contrite gesture. Well, apology not accepted!

If there is ever a time to buy a forward it's when you have scored the least amount of goals in the league come January. Hope the drunken chicken masters at FSG get the message.

right about the crosses. seems like a lot of times our players find themselves in good position on the flanks to cross without challenge but the cross couldn't find its target. i think its downing n johnson most of the time.

Yes, Bale and Lennon have the same issue - inaccurate crosses. But at least they got deep whenever they tried. WE should get at least Lennon and Carroll wl be a happy dude

Can anyone explain to me why Dirk Kuyt has been forced to play on the right also. I know it's not like were spoiled for choice on the wings, but Kuyt is naturally a poaching center forward. We know how well he links with Suarez(which cannot be overlooked again this window.) Price tags shouldn't matter.  

Charlie Adam is garbage.  Gave the ball away, bad challenges and most dissapointing bad crosses and service.  Downing and Kuyt put in good efforts, but just not good enough.  All three need to be benched in favor of Gerrard, Maxi and Bellamy.  If Gerrard isn't fit I'd rather see Shelvey than Adam.

i think the scoreline flattered city. it reflected our inability to finish more than city's dominance. although the score was close to spurs 0-4, in no way did city controlled us like spurs did. but they took their chances, we didn't. so credit to them. still, after they were down to 10 men, come on guys...

it gets more and more frustrating after each 'just lacking that quality finish' game. if we took our chances against supposedly smaller teams, then this lost against a team that has a perfect home record wouldn't be so bad. as it is, we missed the opportunity to leapfrog teams above us that also lost.

on another note, i felt in the 1st half our best midfielder was spearing. how about that?
bring on oldham. i'm very confident our quality finish will come out then.
i think...

Bottom line: 
I'm done with Downing.  He's a great squad player, but he's no 20m starter.  
I just feel bad for Carroll.  It's the same thing every game with him.  Play to his head, not every good service and scrappy chances.  

Gerrard shows that with good service and more direct, smart play we can be a good team even with the squad we have now.  But what I think is BUY, BUY, BUY!!!!!

I just read we completed 511 passes to City's 256. Is that true? Whoa!!

Passes         City             Liverpool
   All         256/331           511/593
   %             77%                86%
Possession    36%                64%
Territory       45%                55%
Attack 3rd   67/107            191/238
Assists           2                     0

Shots           City             Liverpool  
All                11                 16
Goals              3                  0
On Target        6                  6
Off Target        2                  7
Blocked           3                  3

Shit goals        2                  0
Keeper error    1
Soft Pen          1

Attack          City             Liverpool
Crosses         2/8               7/39
Take-ons       5/9               8/13
Corners         3/5               4/6
Offside passes   0                 0

Defense         City            Liverpool
Tackles         13/19            15/18
Interceptions    12                 14
Blocks              3                  3
Clearances    28/44              1/5
Headed clears 16/26             1/3
Aerial duels      8/19          11/19  

I must have watched a completely different game. 64% possession and 55% territory. 191 passes to 67 in the attacking third. No Lucas and YaYa Toure running at our goal from 60 yards only required one pass to create a chance. I guess.

We must have been Barca without Messi. And I missed it.

These stats dont reveal the whole picture. Downing and Adam exchange passes, Downing receives the ball back and races past the center circle.  Micah comes out a little, Downing changes direction only to be intercepted by Yaya. He turns around runs with the ball towards the center and gives it to Henderson who gives it to Adam. A lot of passes!! wooohoooo!!!! We're outpassing City! It's not the defeat that bothers me, but the manner of it.

No Suarez, Lucas or Gerrard for 60 minutes against a team that has spent a NET of $440 million pounds in the transfer market over 5 years and has an annual salary budget of $175 mil pounds. At their home field and gifted two goals by a trio of bad and unlikely mistakes (contributed to by a fucked up ball and driving rain) and a soft pen. 

City is easily the best team in the Prem this year and have many top world class players and killer depth at every position. Their back line is BIG, STRONG, FAST and can play. They have been by far the better team in every match this year, including their losses to Chelsea and Sunderland. The only match where they were not the far superior team was against us in the 1 - 1 tie at Anfield. Aguero, Dzeko and Balotelli at the front. Silva, Milner, Barry, Nasri, DeJong, YaYa Toure at mids. My god. Must be nice to just pick the 20 players wanted from world football, pay them 150% of what anyone else will and have them available for 4 years.

Are these stats real?  I'm asking because of what I assume is the little editorial addition in the middle about the goals, but the 39 crosses bit would confirm my impression watching the game that, through the first 70 or 75 minutes, our attacking play seemed mostly focused on creating crossing opportunities.  As in, I didn't just think we were settling for crosses-- I thought we were genuinely aiming primarily to produce crosses, presumably in the hope that enough of them would subsequently lead to headers that we would almost certainly get a goal.  But that wouldn't make any sense.  Shot-creation makes sense as an offensive strategy, and sometimes shots will come from crosses and a centered ball is actually the best way to get a good effort on goal.  But playing to produce crosses and just banging them in, figuring one will maybe pay off, is counter-productive.  Crosses aren't efficient when they aren't 'on'-- first you have to get the ball out to a player out wide, which is fraught with possibilities for losing possession; then you have to hope he actually gets the cross in, which usually involves getting past at least one player to some extent (even just to steer the cross around him); then you have to hope it's a good cross, which certainly isn't a given; then you have to hope it finds a typically-outnumbered forward rather than any one of a number of defenders or the goalkeeper; then you have to hope the forward can actually direct an effort on goal both accurately and with power without it being saved.  Obviously any type of concentrated attacking play will involve risking loss of possession, but I have a hard time believing that forced crosses are anything but substantially less likely to pay dividends than forcing a short passing game or even forcing shots from distance. 

Those stats are from Opta with a minor editorial addition from me for the 2 goals that were gifted to City.

Nice to know we beat MC but the scoreboard

7/39 crosses, omg!!

I felt during the game that City were not very good, but that we just had trouble exposing them. These stats back that up big time. We are attacking a lot and just lack the quality to make it count.

That was a 1 - 1 game masquerading as a 3 - nil drubbing. The "player influence" opta graphic is amazing. The most influential players of the 27 that played were Jose Enrique, followed closely by Downing, Hendo and Jonno, followed by Spearo and Skrtel tied with YaYa, Milner and Clichy for City. Stevie and Bellers were hugely influential from 57 minutes, dwarfing anyone from City. We had 39 crosses, but they wereostly dealt with by the big City defenders. I felt we were not only looking to create an immediate chance by picking Carroll out, but also looking for that second ball from an intended Carroll knockdown.

there were a few spells where we were parked in the attacking third.  But it never really looked like we would find a breakthrough.

Leo Messi!!

King Kenny's got me grumbling a bit these days.  I get including Carroll up top.  With the club "accepting" the Suarez ban, the big man has to be relied on.  Say what you will about the "35 million pound man" tag and how unfair it is, but if there was ever a stretch where a player had to prove his worth, it is now.  Sure, he's young, but they paid for the long term AND the short term.  That said, it is infuriating to watch him lug around the field.  Would a 4-4-2 with some combination of Maxi/Kuyt/Bellers up top really be worse than what we saw today?
What really is starting to bother me though is the inclusion of Adam in every starting XI.  Maybe Stevie isn't ready to play a full 90, but what the heck is wrong with Maxi? If you're going to play Carroll up top, drop Spearing back into Adam's role and put Maxi in up top.  I swear the first 15 minutes of the match Adam looked like he didn't give a shit.  There were a few laugh out loud moments where it looked like he was just going to phone the whole match in.  He did have a few nice set pieces, I will grant him that, but nothing IMO that warrants an automatic inclusion every game.

Have to say I thought Downing played well today, especially in the first half.  He was consistently going forward, and while many of his runs didn't amount to much, I put that on Carroll and/or the lack of support from the rest of the squad going forward.  

We were out played today, plain and simple, but between the first and second goals we were a dangerous team.  If you replace the big man and Chug-a-lug Charlie today, I'm convinced the scoreline is different.  

Here's the question: Is the squad better with Carroll and Adam on the bench or on the pitch?  Right now, I say bench.

You said we were "out played". Do you really think so? I thought this game was very similar to the Villa game. We weren't really better than Villa, but we got 2 easy goals and got to cruise. Same thing today but we were on the other side.

Personally, I thought we were pretty badly outplayed, and that the 3-0 scoreline was actually a more or less fair reflection of the game.  They pressed us high up the pitch very effectively early in the game and got a goal out of it.  The game was then ours to chase, and we chased poorly.  Our attacks were predictable and rarely effective.  We relied too much on the hope that banging in crosses to a reasonably large forward would pay off, in spite of the fact that he was typically at least double-teamed (by reasonably large defenders-- Kompany is slightly taller than Carroll) and stranded.  From two consecutive corners, they were able to produce nearly as much threat as we produced all day, to say nothing of the fact that they actually made good on their goalmouth threat.  Then, insult to injury, Milner even gave us a lesson on taking penalties after we were caught flat-footed on a break.  The way I saw it, City played exactly the game they would have wanted to play-- press early to force mistakes, get in front, then counterattack knowing we'd have to come at them. 

To me, saying that they weren't really better than us unfairly denigrates their performance.  Yeah, the first goal was cheap (and how did Downing contrive to blow his chance just before?), but they scored it and were entitled to dictate the game from there.  Can't blame them for not putting on a lights-out kind of a show when we didn't push them very hard.

5 years of NET transfer spending of $440 mil pounds. 2011 annual salaries of $174 mil pounds. We held our own at their home pitch missing Lucas, Suarez and Gerrard for 60 minutes. Not too Xabi.

You're right, and there's cause for some optimism I guess in that we weren't embarrassed-- or at least, it's a confirmation of the fact that we aren't completely outclassed by the title-contenders right now, which is roughly where I think most people think our squad is at the moment.  For whatever reason, I just found our build-up play through most of the match really, really irritatingly one-dimensional, and that's colored my reaction to a game in which I was fully aware that we were underdogs.

Yea, it was so irritatingly one dimensional. Come on guys, the 75th cross just got cleared by Kompany, can we Please change it up. Too big, physical and quick for big Andy. Things looked better with Stevie and Bellers, though. The optimism will be getting Eden Hazard or a killer striker in January. We could use a little help.

I do think we were out played.  Though we dominated possession for long spells, we had VERY few genuine scoring opportunities.  And Citeh are such a dangerous team in transition that it felt like we were right with them when, in reality, I think it was just a product of their style.  We'd pass the ball around for 5 minutes, and Citeh would get possession and within 20 seconds - scoring opportunity.  

No doubt they had more pace, directness, and purpose. We used to do that a few years ago -- teams in the CL would feel they controlled the game, but they were the ones eliminated. 

Bit like Napoli does now, just sit back and then let Cavani, Lavezzi, Hamsik, and (soon) Vargas sprint down the field and smack one in. We could do that with Suarez if he had some help.

See!!!!!!!!!!!!! When the drunken chicken master Andrew Carroll play,100% Liverpool will lose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He don't know how to score because he drunk b4 the game!!!!!!!!!!! Manager chicken master Kenny Dalglish sleeping because he let Craig Bellamy not playing!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who know maybe the chicken master Dalglish want to get some private income!!!!! That's why Liverpool lose to 10 man Manchester City!!!!!! Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

hahaha....hey, I totally agree with you! I think the reds owner need to hire back RAFA..I think he is still waiting Reds to call him back..

Poultry based criticism is always the most cutting.

I'm nodding, but I don't know why.

hmmm... i feel a sudden urge for fried chicken

I've had drunken chicken before, It's delicious.

All I have in my house is turkey. This is beyond disappointing.

Stewie should have put that shot through Harts legs. Would have been an easy goal and changed the whole complexion of the game. Take away the Pepe mistake and the soft pen and the score today was 1 nil. Kuyt should have faked that shot and dragged the ball back, Kompany twisted and went down, Dirki would have been 1 on 1 with Hart 5 yards in front of goal. (And probably hit the fucking post!). They didn't have that many really good chances either.

We need Stevie back full time and I would like a goalscorer for January. I think Stevie, Jay, Hendo, Kuyt and Maxi (and Stewie & Adam as a sub) could give us just enough at mid, but we need someone to take responsibility for getting goals. Actually I would like a big time striker and world class midfielder. (Eden Hazard). Damn January is pricy and less talent available and we'll get hammered again pricewise. We need 4th place. Europa League is real shit revenue-wise and still very competitive.

Just as disappointed as everyone else.

As soon as i saw the starting line up i knew it wasn't going to be a good day. The starters were on the bench and the subs on the field! Carrol and Downing are severe liabilities! 55 million pounds for those! Babel and Ngog/Crouch would have offered more of a threat for less. Since Lucas' injury, majority of our passes in midfield have been long balls..from wing to wing or straight to the attack.  It's so obvious what the silent blonde guy offers us: ticking things over neatly. What's the objective? Getting Carrol to score or ensuring Liverpool wins? !!

Wow, that is the ultimate insult to say N'Gog would be more dangerous. Ouch.

I can't believe how much I miss Ryan Babel right now.

I REALLY HATE THE FACT THAT CARROLL WAS ALLOWED TO START!! Downing is like a barking dog that doesnt bite. kuyt didnt look good because he was forced to play with downing and adam. Gerrard, bellamy and maxi came on too late what do you expect them to do when we are 2-0 down.
If this is the starting line up for the next man city games we will loose all of them.
We need to put a squad of finishers against man city next time.

Ouch!

truth is kenny and commoli have bought players who've been terrible-henderson has been ok,adam about the same while downing and carrol have been atrocious
i dont see us making top 4,we'll need another run like the second half of last season,but with kenny playing downing when he doesnt deserve to be on the field thats going to be hard to do

They bought chance creators and we have created  chances.  

For finishing, everyone has been a disappointment, even Suarez.

If we don't make top4, I honestly don't see the owners keeping Kenny. He is directly against their overall strategy of shrewd bets on young talent all around (including management).

true.. hopefully we can make 5th for europa league football

I think I just lost my next 5 erections...

There are few things clear for me after this game... The most obvious is that the signings we made are honestly not good enough. Let all seriously be real apart from out defense with exception of Suarez, Gerrard, Lucas and Bellamy... We are lacking in serious quality. Downing chips in here and there but seriously we do not have a good enough squad for the Champions league. When a 32 year who cost nothing is more impressive than "the future of England" we seriously need to be concerned/ We need to spend this January and inject some real top four quality or 6th place is the best we can hop for. 

Disappointed Die hard fan

If Henderson's the H in CHAD (or I'm just missing something), I don't think he's deserving of being lumped in with the others. He's been one of the more consistent bright spots over the past few weeks, and proven to be the most promising of 2011's British additions.

I agree.  It makes me wonder we never got to see him partner Lucas in a midfield two.  Kenny seems to have a lot of faith in Charlie Adam, but it has become really hard to justify his ever present role.

Really sick to see LFC is still still still...stuck in the middle of table, some ppl are still saying that: ya..give them some time...but really...I don't really optimistic for LFC going top 4 with this kind of performance, what most of reds supporters HOPE & BELIEVE they can..but realistically, do you think so?

Sadly I don't think we will get top 4 this season. A combination of Bad luck, Lucas injury, Suarez suspension, Gerrards injury and CHAD have combined to make things very difficult.

One thing I do want though is a win at Old Toilet against Manure with Suarez netting the winner.

I am very dissapointed that the club has (reluctantly) accepted a decision from the Ferguson Assosiation.

Any German or Italian fans who support Liverpool fancy writing a letter complaining about racist/xenophobic comments that whisky nose has made previously?

Two wrongs don't make a right. When faced with ignorance and aggressive authority like the FA, it's best to just hold your head high and ignore them. There's nothing to be gained by doing more -- the fine and ban won't be reduced. And doing it now means we get to use up games on the cups instead of the league. Good choice.

The gain to be had is that if the case is escalated to a higher authority, Suarez gets the chance to clear his name.  

Beyond the ban, right now the history books will show that Luis Suarez is a convicted racist.  Years from now no one will remember that the case was contentious, that there was actually no conclusive evidence, that it was a very shaky decision based totally on the believed word of one man who also happened to be the accuser.  None of that will play a part in his legacy.  The only thing to stand the test of time will be 'Luis Suarez: Good Footballer.  Racist.'  That's eminently unfair to someone who has no racist intentions whatsoever, and frankly could well be guilty of nothing more than pissing off the wrong person - a fellow footballer who'd rather exact vengeance creatively off the field than challenge on it.

Of course what's also unfair is that if he does appeal, he's guaranteed to have his and the club's name dragged through the mud for another 6 months to a year, plus have this case hanging over his head which could affect his football, the number one priority in his life.  It's a no-win situation, and congratulations to Evra and the Utd lawyers for pulling it off.

I think you're speculating. Regardless of the truth, perhaps it's 6 or 12 more months of this being in the headlines that would make it his legacy. They could also increase the ban.

Also, if you look at it legally, it would be tough to get anywhere against the FA. They have laid out their reasons and conclusions and that's not illegal even if it's bullshit. They have said he's not a racist, so has Evra, so that's going nowhere. Suarez' name won't be cleared for anything short of a public Evra confession that he lied, which won't happen.

The club also wants to get off the front page, and the club is supposed to be bigger than any one player. So it goes.

And you're right.  And KC too.  

I completely agree that accepting the verdict is the most practical way forward for the club.  And they've done it nicely too, all the while maintaining Suarez's innocence and their rejection (in principle) of the decision.  

It just sucks, that's all.  Sucks that Suarez will be unfairly branded a racist.  Sucks that he won't be allowed to play football for a while.  Sucks that Evra will at the same time get away with using abusive language just because Suarez was accused and he wasn't.  I wouldn't wish a ban on Evra too, that does nothing to help Suarez or Liverpool.  But I also wouldn't wish injustice to prevail, and in this case it seems like it has.  That's all.

the timing meant that today we gave points to citeh.  On feb 6th we play tottenham then ManUre and suarez can play .  

simples.

I support him and I'm sure most of Liverpool support him. That's all we can hope for. The media is constantly changing and sure people might continue booing him for awhile but someone is bound to make another gaffe that will take the media's attention away.

People need to understand it's hard to get world class players without champions league football. We have bought mostly squad players, which is why we required youth, until champions league which was to be assumed with the class we do have(Lucas, Stevie, Suarez, Reina). The problem with this is that we panicked and payed prices that are worthy of class players.

The money spent on Downing and Carroll could and should have been spent on buying young talent.  Players that have really high upsides.  Instead we bought players that don't look particularly hungry for the type of success Liverpool Football Club demands

I agree.  
I think they wanted to balance the age of the squad (FSG) and wanted players who could develop but wouldn't leave without ECL footy - unlike the excellent players we lost.

So I have to reluctantly say that if it takes one or two more purchases to get the goals flowing, the rebuilding will have to be seen as a success.

My projection was 9pts improvement on last season and another 6 if they got Carroll firing.  We have the 9 pt improvement so far, but we haven't got a striker firing.

I think, for once, you're a bit harsh, Ed.

A rare wonder-gaff from Reina.A nothing-penalty.Two brilliant half-chances for downing and then kuyt.In another universe we should/could have won this game 2-1.We didn't, despite misfiring crosses and a couple of poor choices when in possession.I'm not worried by this result. Not one bit.Am still concerned about the squad though...it does need improving to the point where Adam is a clear squad member and not first choice for the team - ditto for the rest of CHAD...but I think that time is coming.YNWA

Could be the case. It just seemed like more of the same rather than any sort of discernible progress. And I'm with you on the nothing penalty and good chances that were created, but just not feeling particularly positive about the display.

"More of the same"? Isn't that what we have seen so many times this season: The freak mistake by the otherwise solid player, the penalty that should/shouldn't have been given; the woodwork; the bad luck etc. I am tired of hearing these things over and over. When these form a solid pattern over time, it is a symptom of something deeper, not just the odd bad day in the office.

That's sort of what I was trying to say.

I agree 100 percent that there is a lack of improvement. I just feel like we have to many guys looking to play the final ball, instead of just keeping possession moving. The class of Toure and Silva in midfield was apparent without lucas.

we paid for chance creators and we have created lots of chances.