Manchester City 0, Liverpool 1: Just Like Old Times

By: Noel | January 11th, 2012

Manchester City 0
Liverpool 1 Steven Gerrard 13′ (pk)

A week after falling 3-0 to Manchester City in the league, a Liverpool side without two of their top players returned to face a City side missing three of their best for the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals. In the end, the visitors managed to escape on the back of a Steven Gerrard penalty and a committed—if at times tense and confusing—defensive display, taking a narrow lead home to Anfield for January 25th’s second leg.

With Kompany, Toure, and Silva all missing for City, Liverpool always seemed to have a better chance than the week before when they’d bossed possession but fallen to a trio of well taken strikes. Still, City went into the match with a far more expensive squad to pick their replacements from than Liverpool, who as against Oldham played Jay Spearing in the holding midfield role while Andy Carroll returned from the bench to lead the line in Luis Suarez’ continuing absence.

None of that was hugely surprising, however, and the real selection shocker was that after having Friday off, Charlie Adam found himself starting on the bench in a move that signalled his recent dip in form hasn’t gone unnoticed by Liverpool’s coaching staff. As much as Adam not starting was a surprise, so too was that Steven Gerrard was able to start his second game in a row in Adam’s place as he continues to work back from the series of injuries and infections that have plagued him for more than a year.

Meanwhile, Jose Enrique also found himself making a rare appearance on Liverpool’s bench as Dalglish started the right-footed Glen Johnson at left back to counter the tricky and left-footed Adam Johnson, a move reminiscent of Rafa Benitez playing the right-footed Alvaro Arbeloa against Barcelona and Lionel Messi in the Champions league in years past. It was a role Johnson played to near-perfection, hardly putting a foot wrong outside of a moment late in the first half when Micah Richards used his power and pace to beat Johnson on his weaker left side. Certainly, though, when it came to the reason for his move—namely, negating Adam Johnson—it was a top performance from the Liverpool fullback and another sign that when they want to, Kenny Dalglish and Steve Clarke are more than capable of leaning on tactical ingenuity in order to win a match.

And for much of the first half, their tactics gave Liverpool the run of play, the away side dominating possession for long stretches and stopping City from getting a shot on goal until the 43rd minute. Hart, though, was impressive as always in goal for City, stopping a right-footed effort early from Andy Carroll as the big striker powered past a shaky Stefan Savic, forced into action in Kompany’s absence. Soon after, Hart would save City twice more, first stopping a perfectly curled Gerrard effort heading for the bottom corner before blocking Carroll’s flick-on of Stewart Downing’s volley off the ensuing corner.

Liverpool’s second corner in a row, though, would provide the breakthrough, with the ball falling to Daniel Agger in the box. The Danish centre half would poke the bouncing ball past Savic, who flailed wildly at the Liverpool player, bringing him down. There was momentary concern that Agger might have picked up a knee injury as referee Lee Mason pointed to the spot, but when Agger was able to walk away under his own power Gerrard stepped up and beat Joe Hart low and to the left, his drilled effort finding side-netting when the City keeper had guessed right and anything less would have been stopped.

The first signs that everything might not go Liverpool’s way came in the 23rd minute when Jay Spearing pulled up with a hamstring injury. With no City player within ten yards of him when he went down and with Lucas out for the remainder of the season, one might reasonably expect Liverpool will now be left without any senior holding midfielder for at least the immediate future.

Back with events in the recent past, however, the immediate result was the introduction of Charlie Adam off the bench. And the immediate result of that was that Manchester City began to see far more of the ball. It wasn’t all down to Adam being less suited to the role he was being asked to play than Spearing, but it certainly didn’t help Liverpool’s fluidity that Steven Gerrard suddenly had to check his attacking instincts and Jordan Henderson—until then putting in perhaps the best performance of his Liverpool career—ended up dropping deeper and deeper to cover as the half progressed.

Things further shifted in City’s favour after 39 minutes, when a misfiring and possibly injured Mario Balotelli was removed for Samir Nasri before he could do himself—or anybody standing too close to him—any more damage. It meant a nervy close to the half for Liverpool, with the best chance the one that came from Glen Johnson’s one misstep, with Richards beating him to the outside and cutting the ball back to Adam Johnson only for the England international to blast it into the stands from the penalty spot.

*

If the first half had seen the story shift from Liverpool dominance to desperately hanging on, the second half would at least stick to its theme of dogged defending and hoping to take a lead—or at the very least a draw—back to Anfield for the second leg. And given that no side had shut out Manchester City at home since 2010, as Liverpool sank deeper and deeper throughout the half and City began to press forward, it began to seem inevitable that Reina would be beaten eventually, leaving Liverpool once again regretting that they hadn’t fully capitalised on early dominance.

Clearly, though, it was an intended tactical switch from the visiting side and not simply tired legs and City pressure, as first nine and then eventually ten Liverpool players dropped into their own penalty area, defending deep and central and looking to stop a City side lacking a target-man from playing it through them. Early on at least it led to Liverpool trying to play on the counter, but with Carroll left completely alone in the centre circle with absolutely no support it never amounted to much.

It also once again makes it impossible to really judge Carroll’s contribution to the match, leaving fans with a first half that was the usual mixed bag of hard work and poor touches that has begun to define the player and a second where he might as well have sat out in a lawn chair for all the times the ball came anywhere near him.

If Carroll’s utilisation in the second was as disappointing as his often heavy touch in the first, what was intriguing was the way in which Dalglish and Clarke attempted to tactically nullify City’s attack. It was likely Liverpool’s most negative display under Dalglish, and it certainly wasn’t much fun to watch for long stretches—and at times it seemed as though the players were slow to fully put into practice their frequently changing instructions—but just as clearly there was a lot of thought behind the squad’s shifting positioning and personnel as the half progressed.

It all seemed to get more than a touch confusing on 59 minutes, when an underwhelming Stewart Downing found himself removed in favour of Jose Enrique. Downing’s performance had certainly been dire, and he fully deserved to be removed from the pitch, but the key reason behind the move was to counter City shifting Adam Johnson off the right wing after Glen Johnson had closed him down all evening.

However, with three fullbacks on the pitch it was far from clear how—or even if—they had been told to set themselves up tactically, with Glen Johnson moving inside as a left-sided centre back in a central trio before pushing ahead and central as something of a cross between a defensive midfielder and sweeper. Johnson made a number of fantastic defensive stops during this time, including a perfectly timed sliding tackle to stop Sergio Aguero in the box, but at times the defensive unit looked as confused as to their new roles as the watching fans were.

Things settled down a fair bit when Johnson moved to the right to counter the introduction of Aleksandar Kolarov and Martin Kelly helped to form a trio of central defenders, but by that time it almost didn’t matter who was playing what position—with Carroll dropping deeper and deeper in an attempt to become involved in the game, Liverpool at times had all ten outfield players packed into their own penalty area. And from that point on it was defend, defend, defend, with any moment of Liverpool possession quickly followed by a punt downfield to nobody in particular.

With Jamie Carragher introduced in something of a straight swap for Craig Bellamy on the right wing after 79 minutes, Liverpool would spend the final moments of the game that way, desperate to take the lead home with them. And all the while the fans waited for the seemingly inevitable City sucker punch to draw level.

It nearly came when Aguero headed onto the bar as injury time began, but in a season filled with bad luck and bad bounces for Liverpool, for once the woodwork went their way. On the whole, it was far from a positive display—at times it was downright ugly—and questions will remain about certain players and the wisdom of so wholeheartedly retreating into their shell as Liverpool did, but in the end the result was there, and it’s the result that matters. Which, in the end, makes it all seem a little bit like those nervy European away nights of the Benitez era, when tactics and cagey play and the odd nicked goal earned Liverpool countless advantages to take home to Anfield. One can only hope that when the time comes for City to pay their visit later in the month, Liverpool will have rediscovered the kind of home form that might allow them to capitalise on tonight’s hard-fought result.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:

Category: League Cup, Match Recaps, Miscellaneous, Team News

« Matchday: Liverpool v. Manchester City | Home | Glen Johnson Makes Clean Interception, Escapes Unpunished »

Momo

Tbh I'm happy with all the sh*t said here about Carroll,Hendo,Adam and Downing.That shows you how knowledgeable about football is the LFC's fan base,the best in UK.
On the other hand it shows you too how proud are large sections of fans of ours.In spite of all the press hype the fans are holding their heads high and don't care about the opposition of the day.They want a win in style and not an ugly win,but sometimes a win is a win. So far we've been used with this team to have a good ball possession rate with many clear cut chances that we failed to convert into goals.Since yesterday we're beginning to learn how to grind out a result under high pressure.

I am one of those who consider Carroll as monodimensional but when I see an excellent player like Aguero rated at £38m with 200k a week being so selfish and squandering 3 clear cut chances at a crucial time for City,I think I'll stop moaning for a while.
Luis Suarez dentist

Well I was a little worried last night sitting in with the city fans (needs must). As it turned out you could hear a pin drop, real lack of atmosphere!

Good performance first half apart from the usual suspects (Downing, Carroll) but second half was horrible to watch!

Still it was a very professional performance and I think we will finish the job second leg.
fastrail

What?You were there? That's why you're not in the forum during the game
fastrail

wait is it forum?or blog?lol
CharlieAdamsBuckteeth

I wonder how much Spearing's exit had to do with the decision to retreat. If Kenny/Clarke are thinking, 'hell, there's no way I'm letting Chaz try to be the fulcrom of play against the SuperCityStars", I'm right there with them. I do think the Stoke match was taken into consideration as well. Which is nice, also. Because I effing hate Stoke. Of all the matches this year (excepting United) that I would like to win 6-0, Stoke at Anfield is right at the top.
LouisvilleRed

H96 update, new petition for Kevin Williams' mother, Anne.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.u...
Marque Pierre Sondergaard

Reading Danish interviews with Agger, I get annoyed when I see him pushing forward to attack. I love a defender, who is good with the ball as much as the next guy, but I know it means he is unhappy with the lack of initiative from the midfield and attack.

Scary to see how anonymous Gerrard became in the 2nd half. Without good steel behind him, we are wasting one of the most talented players of his generation.

I love to see Enrique play. Never anything excessive with him; never anything rash. He controls the ball and times his tackles wonderfully. I will say the same about Johnson really. I know we do this all the time - singing the praises of our back 4 - but my goodness, they deserve it!

Carroll was feeding on scraps tonight, but even so, he is so poor with the ball at his feet. He used to have muscle to help him against defenders. The height he still has. But is that all? Using a slot of of the 11 just to have a tall stationary lamp post to lob balls in to?
Joe Wright

A central defender running out from the back isn't a bad thing to see. Pique often does the same for Barca, as Puyol used to. It causes confusion in the oppositions midfield as no one knows who should pick him up.
Suarez from the car park...

Enrique for CDM. get Kelly sharpened up for the full back position.
Jake_LFC

This is an overreaction, as are many of the posts here. We took an early lead against a very strong opponent, and decided to play for the 1-0, rather than look for more. Simple as. Everyone needs to calm their sh*t down.
Jake_LFC

...and by 'this', I mean your paragraph on Gerrard (and finally, figured out how to register myself as a user! What. Up.)
Wiseman Ryan

Johnson was lucky to stay on the pitch. If Kompany's was a red card, then Johnson's must have been. Had he missed the balled he would have snapped both of Lescott's legs.

Getting does not make a tackle fair, and having two feet off the ground is a clear red card as it is extremely dangerous.
Suarez from the car park...

That's what's coming out of the media today.

The rule is about 'reckless' and 'uncontrolled', I think he was very controlled, stayed on the ground rather than being up in the air, brought his legs together so he wouldn't scissor the other guy and to keep his feet from going up in the air, and got to the ball a significant time before Lescott so it wasn't even a tackle in the end.

If there had been anything of a scissor in that tackle, as Kompany's excellent tackle had, then I've no doubt he would have got red.

there just wasn't even a tackle there at the end of it. that's my take anyhow.
Momo

Well said
Redarmy

We go to the toughest place in England and come away with a 1-0 win, and some of you guys come in and complain about Carroll and his movement or his first touch or whatever. What the fuck is wrong with you guys? Why all this negativity?
downright ridiculous!
Obegibrian

negativity? dude its either ua drunk, insane or just naive or very silly. Andy Carroll is shiiiiiit. the guy cant run, pass, dribble or control the ball. he is just an eyesore every time he gets the ball. Even my grand mother can do better than Carroll
Sandro

yeh i thought he played alright in the first half.. you can't really judge his performance in the 2nd considering when he did knock the ball down there was no player in a red shirt within 20 yards. On the plus side Johnson was my man of the match.. best defensive display I've seen from him.
fastrail

Not complaining about the win, but we have to be honest about him. The win does not overshadow his poor first touch and whatever. And it is not just down to this one game, he's been like that the WHOLE season. Surely you won't be satisfied with that, not with a club of our reputation. He's got to do better than that. Hell, he can't even pass right. Look, I really wish I could praise him and not bashing him but for now, I just can't. You are our no 9, wake up Andy.
Suarez from the car park...

This season is fast becoming a write off for him. He was scoring like Ba last season until he was injured.

He's not moving anything like he was then, though granted we don't play the same direct style as Newcastle.

I simply don't think he's going to get his movement back this season, we'll see what a run of games does for him, but I think we'll have to hope he gets the right preparation done in the summer.

I think it's all linked, the fitness, movement, sharpness, intelligence. When you miss any of those, it really shows - look at Savic and Balotelli last night.
PDubz18

Look at Diego Milito on Inter Milan. Scored 2 goals against Munich to cap off 30+ goal season in the CL finals during 2009-2010. Last season, he tallied less than 5 in a terrible season.

Carroll has had a shitty year in Liverpool, but remember he's been on Tyneside all his life. He has never had this much pressure on him, and it shows in his play. Writing off a 22 year old as a failure after the largest change of his life doesn't really do him justice.
fastrail

I think no one is writing him off. Everyone must hope (I do) that he will come good later. They are just stating the obvious on his contribution right now.

Yes, I know he's young and he's under a lot of pressure right now, don't remind me about that. But isn't that is part of footballers job? He surely must know that when he decided to come here to carry on the 35m price tag. Take the pressure and prove people wrong, prove it to us on the field. If not, you'll never be a top player. With the way he play right now, even Ngog seems better than him. And Ngog is worth like what?4m?

No, I'm not hating him. I just want him to be good. So, analysing his weaknesses rather than accepting poor performanceS can let us determined whether he's improved or not on the said weaknesses in the future.And I'll admit I'll be the first one to shout "Andy!!!!" when he is scoring goals for fun in the future, you can call me a hypocrite I don't care, but sometimes criticism is needed when it is needed.
redtrev73

First off, great write-up. Ta.

I've said it before but I'll say it again...it was ugly but it was beautiful. That delightful paradox neatly summarises yesterday's performance.

To be fair, in the first half, before Wee Jay got crocked, we were far superior. Dominant in possession, faster to the ball, harder in the challenge and far more chances created. The loss of the little man and the spectacular ineffectiveness of Stewpot left us struggling to maintain those standards but the defensive display that followed was awesome to behold.If it hadn't been for Chaz giving away dumbass fouls 30 yards from our goal Citeh would have looked almost impotent and a legion of Redmen/women would have avoided 25 minutes of buttock-clenching. . As it turned out, Special-Teams-Kolarov was really poor in his delivery and the bluemooners remained toothless. Sweet.

Special mention to Jonno for his adaptability yesterday. As usual, he was excellent at left back and snuffed out his namesake cutting-in as well as getting forward himself. When he was moved again (twice!!) he adapted and made game changing tackles. Top man.

Carroll will be lampooned again after another Bambi-on-ice display going forward but boy, did he put in a vital shift in a defensive capacity, especially from those late set-plays. I was mentally screaming for Dirky but I knew that The King persevered with Andy for his defensive aerial prowess, so I told myself to shut up.

SkAgger was imperious again. Pepe was VERY solid. Kells looked comfy except for that horrible back pass. Hendo was solid and energetic. Stevie was a leader, even when his legs had clearly gone with 25 left. And any Redman with a heart enjoyed Carra's cameo.

Winning ugly. I'll buy that for a dollar. Good night at the office.
Suarez from the car park...

I'm sure in the right situation, Buttock clenching has it's place and is to be applauded.

Yes, well done for Jonno - and for not getting sent off! We rode our luck a bit and I'm not sure how much was deliberate park the bus, how much was tired legs and how much was the loss of Wii J.

Loved having Carra IN FRONT of the defence. Far less risky.

Unrealque should have come on for Wii J and I think we wouldn't have got pushed back so far. He's close to being my fave player after Lucas. Just as important as Captain Fantastic and little Luis.
Yann

Excellent stuff redtrev. All power to you. Butt-clenching - yes! Carroll Bambi-on-ice - bing badaboom! Your wrap is spot on and thoroughly entertaining. My only sadness today is in the sick rumour that Dirk is wanted by the Turks. I have only love for the man and would be gutted to see him go. He's a heart and soul guy for the Reds and thoroughly unappreciated. I remember every crunch goal he's scored - and there have been many. In this campaign I'm learning the meaning of bitter-sweet. Oh, and Charlie Adam - just fuck off!
Redarmy

Good night at the office, indeed!
One thing about Chaz though - I absolutely loved his 'dumbass' foul on Balotelli and his little provocation that would have led to him punching out the rest of Chaz's teeth had it not been for Milner to hold him back. That's how you get that guy sent off! Go Chaz!
Marque Pierre Sondergaard

Amen Redarmy. But I was just watching a clip on the LFC youtube channel yesterday, where Adam did us good against Chelsea. I always get so edgy when we play Chelsea - particularly at Stamford Bridge - maybe because they have snatched 2 excellent players from us. Seeing that clip reminded me how grateful I was for Adam's services on that important night. Let's not forget that.

I do think he is not of the kind, which can play every game starting, week in, week out and be solid. Let him come off the bench every so often to keep him hungry. I think that will do his game good. It sure can't be the lack of minutes that hurts his game.
fastrail

A little note on Carroll..the problem with him is not about him not being able to dribble out of defender and create something out of nothing, cause we all know he can't. The problem is his very very very poor first touch, inability to hold the ball, and when he did hold the ball (rarely) he misplaced his pass, either to the opposition or slightly behind our player at times, which slows the play down.
Ryan

Looks like Liverpool was managed by different men in the two halves: Kenny the first and Steve Clarke the second. Jose Mourinho was enjoying himself, watching his old protege do his best Special One impression. We brought in Steve Clarke last year, and now we have bigger hopes of winning a trophy. It's nice when decisions are good ones.

If I was Carroll, I'd be watching back to back episodes of Zidane kicking everyone's ass in Europe. The first touch is the most important touch, and the first touch most frustratingly has to be the one he doesn't have. I've never really grasped how important the way you receive the ball is, until recently. I watched the Arsenal vs. Leeds game this week. I saw Arshavin donkey punch every pass he got. 70 minutes of agony from a man who was playing a game that pretty much decided his ability to play for Arsenal. Thierry Henry comes on. he beats the offside trap on his second try, makes a magnificent first touch, and second touch: goal. The only thing more enjoyable would be to see Dave Chappelle do a Thierry Henry impression (just think about it, you'll like it).

We parked the plane. It was annoying and boring, but the good doctor did what needed to be done. Carroll didn't look threatening, we had no defensive midfielder, we were away from home, and Manchester City were a goal down, refusing to be shut out for the first time in a year. When you look at it that way, there's no better time to E-brake that bitch.

For God's sake, Charlie Adam had better not fuck up and keep us from going to Wembley.
5yearplan

The big worry from last night is I can see gerrard having to fill the defensive midfielder role until spearing comes back, a waste of his talents.
Geza27

Just like the old times, with one major exception: once spearing was replaced, citeh walked through our midfield pretty much every single time they tried it...this is not how it worked under Rafa. This is very concerning especially if wee Jay is out for a longer period of time.

On a different note I was very impressed by the performance of Micah Richards, both defensively and offensively... with him and Kelly, England's future is bright for the right full-back position.

las but not least and in all seriousness: if we forget for a moment that we paid 35mm for carroll, who would not jump at the occasion of selling him for 10mm???
5yearplan

I have to respond to this, Carroll worked his socks off last night, in the first half he held the ball up brought players in and caused a fair amount of problems in the city defence.
Spearing coming off was the key moment in this game and Carroll was left isolated but none the less he chased people down and did his fair share of defending.

I understand people being critical and you say "if we forget for a moment that we paid 35mm for carroll" buts thats the trouble if we had paid 10 million the critisism of him would be nowhere near as bad.
Marque Pierre Sondergaard

I don't know 5yearplan. I just don't know. I was listening to the pundits talking about how Savic was clearly shaky and nervous and how you could/should exploit that. It all counts: Adam's silly ways of unnerving Balotelli etc.

At Newcastle Carroll had swagger and all the rest of it - I don't know if he had the sense to try and unnerve already shaky defenders to exploit that. Someone like Suarez has that in abundance. He can smell the fear and he chews them up for it.

Maybe all the "clean your act up and stop hanging out with Joey Barton" stuff about Carroll has robbed him of some of those qualities? He was a goal scoring bad boy, who was told to clean up his act if he wanted to be in the big league and called up for England, but on the other hand he is pretty awful as a squeaky clean "pro" now. I think some of that devil may care/masculine edge has been taken out of him.
Geza27

To be honest, I do not think that he worked that hard…maybe harder than usual, but not up to the standards we can expect from an LFC player (I distinctively recall a few moments that really annoyed me). And at the end the main issue is that he is not skilled enough to compensate this and still deliver a top performance. A good counter-example is Ibrahimovic…

Anyway, I am certainly not an Carroll-basher and still do have some faith that he will come good but for now we simply need to face the reality that his contributions to the club over the last year have been significantly below everyone’s expectations.
kenny

I age 5 years during every game
tonyblues

I have no problem against packing in the box 10-0-0. You don't visit a team that outclasses you in talent and play your game on their turf. That's just tactics. Guus Hiddink did that with Chelsea against Barca for 2 matches and came a few seconds short of pulling a gigantic upset.

Ugly win? That's what good teams do.
PDubz18

Mourinho vs. Barca in 2009-2010 season. A great counter-attacking display at San Siro left Mourinho 3-1 up on agg. He parked that bus at the Nou Camp, losing Thiago Motta to a red card in the first half hour. Ended up losing 1-0 that game but went through. Ugliest great game ever.
KC

Exactly. People seem to have forgotten how the previous week we lost 3 - 0 to ManCity at the Etihad Stadium when ManCity didn't even play that well. In this game, we lost our only defensive midfielder Spearing, one of the few players who could help shield the back four so why would we risk our lead and keep foraging forward at an away ground against a team, although not first team, was still very dangerous as displayed against ManUnited. Ugly win was what it took and I'll take it.
Parkje04

Reporter: "Roberto Mancini's not very happy with the challenge that Glen Johnson made at the back end of the game on Lescott. What did you make of it?"

King: "Never saw it."

Long live the king.
redtrev73

Perfect. Just perfect.
Suarez from the car park...

A mighty performance from the reds alongside some dire individual performances.

I can't believe you thought Henderson had a good game Noel.

He really doesn't do anything positive with the ball, just lays it off for someone else to take the responsibility.

I know he's young, needs a couple of seasons, but he just seems like a bit of a passenger, if less a liability than Adam.

Love to see Mancini whine. Another ferguson in the waiting.

Citeh will have a few bodies back for the next leg, so 1 goal isn't enough, but at least we start ahead.

Here's to cobbling together a team for Saturday.
PDubz18

What? Henderson had a fine game. Do you even know what a midfielder is supposed to do?
Suarez from the car park...

I'm really struggling with this one.

He receives the ball and touches it off to the next nearest player, and it's rarely anything significant.

He doesn't go past players, lacks nerve when in a position to do some damage, and he's passed 100 league games now.

He's only 22 and I'm fine with that, but I don't see showing qualities to drive the game as presumably we will want him to do.
Momo

Is there anyone here who can tell Hendo that Football is about being the first to kick the ball under all circumstances and that a midfielder is supposed to send the ball to the wide areas and then rush to the box either to match the cross or to recapture the second ball? So I'm pretty sure if Hendo can comply with that stuff he'll be a superstar overnight.
Geoff Twentyman

Now, I'm not for one minute trying to compare Henderson to this person in terms of quality; but hasn't Xavi been doing that all his career?

Busquet's does it from deep and Xavi does it motoring around the pitch.

It's not always a bad thing, but the balance in the side needs to be such that someone does something creative with the ball and not just keep possession for possession sake. (passive possession maybe?)

Of course once Busquets and Xavi have knocked it about a bit, they would have manoevered into a position where they can give it to Iniesta who can have a run at goal.

Either that or Messi can drop deep to collect the ball and have a pop.

They then might slip it through to an onrushing Sanchez or Pedro...

I'm not concerned with Hendo - I'm concerned with the penetration of the dynamic of the players around him.
Suarez from the car park...

ooh, you're on thin ice comparing this lot to Barca!

I'll wait until I see Henderson go past anyone before I even remotely admitting you have a point.
Geoff Twentyman

Xavi doesn't go past anyone...
Momo

Got me here. Well said again.
Geoff Twentyman

I think the irony might have been lost in that post.......
Red2death

By all accounts and from all viewpoints, I heard City were terrible today.

I hope us not being more aggressive doesn't come back in two weeks time and bite us where the sun don't shine. Grateful for the lead and all, but one goal is hardly a mountain to climb for City.

Anyway, between now and then, we have 6 premiership points to secure.
NotTooXabi

Gerrard & Henderson were pulling a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid routine right up to Jay pulled his Aurelio. The change when Charlie Adam came on was beyond palpable. I'm tempted to call him Monkey Wrench and be done with it. That hole in our Leiva undermines two of our most dynamic play-makers not named Suarez. All good and well to swoop for some dynamic players like Hoilett, Zaha, or Sinclair...but if we don't buy some serious midfield steel, pots and pans my friends.

Pots and pans.
Suarez from the car park...

Another classic from the NTX stable...
brother jon

i think Coates can be a solution. granted, i missed the oldham match so i didn't see his reportedly shaky outing. but, while he's no speed merchant, he's good positionally, a tidy tackler, and can find the 5-10yard outlet pass. (as opposed to the 5yd hot-potato pass) and he'd be a great aerial shield too. and he's done it before (sorta) as a sweeper in front of a back three.

cuz while i agree about the problem in the middle, i'd like to see us get a finisher (or two) before we get a destroyer.
Geoff Twentyman

Step up Mr Coady or Mr Roddan?

If not, we can't bring in another DM/CM - we'd have too many once they got back to fitness. For my money, it would have to be a DLP if we are going to recruit someone.
fastrail

I would love to see either one of them get a chance
Suarez from the car park...

What about UnRealque? He's a seriously intelligent player.
Get Kelly sharp and playing as the fullback and put Unrealque in as the CDM where Spearing is injured.

Clever players those Spanish dudes (is that racist?), he reads the game superbly, he's strong and quick.

Reckon he'd take it like an Evra to a trumped up FA charge.

Henry Winter in the Telegraph would only mention an early 40yard pass from Adam, the press love this guy and won't have a word said against him.
fastrail

That is worth a try too. Enrique is so good at tackling and keeping the ball. He's good at passing too. Definitely worth a shot there.
jpr

Best defense in the Prem - Reina, Jonno, Skrtel, DAgger, Enrique.

Best defense in the Carling Cup - Reina, Jonno, Skrtel, DAgger, Enrique, Kelly, Gerrard, Adam(kind of), Carra, Hendo

10 defenders = clean sheet for Pepe and dirty underwear for me.

Kenny got the tactics right to start with Stevie and Bellers and try to get on top early. We should have had a few goals. Andy had an easy chip over Joe Hart. Stewie actually spanked a volley that deflected off Andy and was just saved by Hart.

That 2nd half was a little tough to watch. It was always going to be tough without Spearo and with Bellers and Stevie tiring and Andy isolated up front. The sight of Mancini losing his shit made it much easier and even a little enjoyable. 2 losses and only 1 win at Etihad in 2012 for City. Nasri was very labored trying to find a way to break us down. They are so much less without Silva.

Great win though. Frustrated them all tremendously. We'll need to be better at Anfield for the full 90 minutes.
purify_the_body

Bravo to you, Noel, for writing so well about a game that was played so poorly in the 2nd half.

What a strange feeling. I remember scraping past Chelsea in the CL on Garcia's controversial goal, and it didn't feel like this. This feels unmanly somehow. That's messed up.
Very_Angry_ Brand

As Long As Reds Win...
Geoff Twentyman

So it goes to show, you can have all the possession in the world and lose 3 nil, but park the bus and win.

What would have been interesting is to have seen how the match would have played out at 0-0. I fear without the early goal, would have seen a similar result to the recent league match.

We've scored - but only from a penalty; not from open play and Kenny and Clarke must be pulling their hair out at our performance in and around the penalty box.

That said, you gotta take the breaks when you get em, and we did that tonight.
Antonio

A game I wish it finish as soon as possible which was very unusual for me who always love a football game can last forever. It is a boring game after all. As Noel said it, negative or even ugly. In a football term, Liverpool parked a bus infront of their own goal month, playing 6 defenders after the introduction of Carra.
I start to miss Crouch when compare to Carroll, who can chest down the ball or close control ball much much better. Crouch also did Robot dancing.
However, a 1-0 advantage is always sweet to take home. I believe City players should be more exhausted than Liverpool player, but I am concern Liverpool players look less fit, and with a game comeing very quickly on Sat, with less players to choose from. Only Maxi will be fresh.
I congratulate Liverpool but not excited with the display although the game plan was effective.
KC

The display was ugly but we won. I take that over all the times we have dominated possession and chances and ended up drawing or losing. I don't want us to play like this but I think this situation called for it.
Marque Pierre Sondergaard

Ugly win is a nice change from undeservedly loosing.
Suarez from the car park...

Love it. "
Crouch also did Robot dancing"
Leftfield or what.
Mike

Glad I wasn't the only one that loved that line.
fastrail

Well...the 2nd half almost gave me a heart attack. However, seeing as the plan worked out in the end I'll be lying if I said I'm not happy. 1-0 isn't that much tho and we've got to do better at Anfield, which I believe we will. I won't try this 1-9-1 tactics on my FM tho! :P

p/s: I got an avatar at last, yay!