Thoughts turn to Sunday

Teams please.


Mine?

VDS/Foster

Brown Rio Vidic Evra


Ronnie Carrick Scholes Nani

Tevez Rooney



I have bad feeling about 4-5-1 and Giggs though...

Kusckak

Hargreaves
Vidic
Pique
O'Shea

Ronnie
Fletcher
Anderson
Nani

Tevez
Saha

nft.

VDS/Foster

Brown
Evra
Rio
Vidic

Ronaldo
Carrick
Scholes
Anderson
Nani

Rooney

foster
hargreaves rio vidic evra

ronaldo carrick anderson park

rooney

tevez

A lot of Liverpool players are shooting their mouth off in the press, and talking up their title chances, including the fat waiter.

Usually backfires so it can only be good news.

Originally Posted by legendary saf

A lot of Liverpool players are shooting their mouth off in the press, and talking up their title chances, including the fat waiter.

Usually backfires so it can only be good news.

Exactly. And we are quietly going about our business.

And I don't give a £#%&! how we perform as long as we get 3 points against that shower of phlegm guzzlers

Originally Posted by legendary saf

A lot of Liverpool players are shooting their mouth off in the press, and talking up their title chances, including the fat waiter.

Usually backfires so it can only be good news.

Link? do they actually think they can win the title.

I want Carrick to start and finally come to terms with his destiny.

How does the Carrick song go again?

They seem to be on a bit of un upswing lately. I hope we £#%&!ing hammer them 6-0 and put them back in their place, i want to see liverpool fc forums in meldown and their confidence shaken to £#%&!.

Originally Posted by hughes......oh i say!

foster
hargreaves rio vidic evra

ronaldo carrick anderson park

rooney

tevez

Park????? no way Wonky....other than that your team is spot on I'd play Giggs or Nani instead of Park

Originally Posted by £#%&! KFC

Park????? no way Wonky....other than that your team is spot on I'd play Giggs or Nani instead of Park

i'd start with nani on the bench. he needs to learn. park is good enough for 45mins, i know he's not exactly devastating but he can work out when to pass a ball.

putting hargreaves in at right back when he's not played there all season is crazy, Brown is the exact medicine we need for them, some strong physical challenges right from the kick off is whats required and thats exactly what brown can deliver and some, he might not be the best going forward but look how many attacking type players we have already, he shouldnt need to be. Get brown back in and stop this flirtation with unnecessary tinkering. Also theres no way the dog eater should be anywhere near this game, £#%&!ing headless chicken, no discipline in his play at all.

Can't afford to carry Scholes and Giggs in this game.

VDS/Foster

Brown
Rio
Vidic
Evra

Ronaldo
Fletcher
Anderson
Nani

Rooney
Tevez

Maybe play Park instead of Nani, think he's a risk myself.

Anyway i'd play Fletcher in there, he's a big game player and is on good form.

We have more quality than them, of that there is no doubt, but they have their three key players on top of their respective games - Torres, who (along with Fabiano at Sevilla) is the form striker in Europe at the moment; Gerrard, who is playing at his best level for a couple of years; and Mascherano, who has looked dominant when I've seen him of late. Whereas the only player I could honestly say is on anything like top form in our team is Ronaldo.

So you have to think we're going to see a lot of players getting to Ronaldo, we're likely talking almost constant doubling up, which to me suggests that our other players are going to have to step up in a big way if we want to win this. They're certainly capable of doing that, but our recent performances really haven't been particularly encouraging, to say the least.

The fact that Gerrard has been shifted forward behind Torres will probably make it a bit more difficult to shut him down as an attacking threat. At Anfield, we only needed to pressurise Mascherano when the ball was with their defence to force Gerrard back into a deep position to pick the ball up, but that's not going to work this time. So we're going to have to be a lot more watchful of the space in front of the defence during the defensive phase, making sure we don't vacate the spine of the pitch and trying to put decent pressure on him as soon as picks the ball up in these kinds of areas.

The other player we obviously have to be watchful of is Torres. In Spain, virtually everyone other than Barca would play a slightly deeper line than usual against Atleti, and then try to close him down as soon as the pass was played to him, providing there was at least one player to cover behind. This generally worked to great effect, frustrating Torres and often forcing him deeper to pick up the ball in less dangerous areas. This was very similar to the kind of strategy we employed at Anfield, and I could see us going the same way again. Also, it's perhaps worth noting that he's not nearly as big a danger on his left foot.

Since we're at home this time, we'll likely take a more positive approach than we did in the away match. So we also have to be careful not to get caught on the counter - particularly on the left with Evra caught up the pitch, as this potentially leaves the slightly leaden-footed Vidic isolated against Torres with space behind. Babel will also be a threat in this regard if he plays. I'm not a big fan of his, but his pace and very hard shot means that he can be a danger on counter-attacks. He's pretty much one footed, so the general idea will probably be to show him outside onto his left as much as possible.

I think you want to mark Mascherano and Lucas/Alonso reasonably closely and pressure them aggressively once they pick up the ball, closing down the short passing lanes for Mascherano in particular. This way you force the play back to their defenders, who you provide with as much time as they want on the ball. Let them bring it from the back - they're all technically very limited players and I would fancy us to win any deep balls. There's also the potential for invited pressing on their fullbacks.

Liverpool, as normal for them around this time of the season, are desperate. Also as normal for them, they are so far away from any genuine possibility of finishing as champions that they begin to roll teams over, playing under no real pressure - they have a certain swagger when it comes to ensuring they prop up the rest of the "Big 4", and again, as normal for them, they begin to laugh and joke and talk themselves up. In fairness, they are good at squeezing teams out over two legs, and round about now this knowledge often fuels their delusions of grandeur which persist, remarkably enough, into the modern era (although who can argue with their recent European club competition adventures on the face of it, I suppose).

Meanwhile, Manchester United are 3 points clear at the top with 8 games left in defence of their status as the best team in England, a status they've officially won on 9 previous occasions since Liverpool last managed to claim such a banner. It is a position United are used to, and it is a position that United handle with a certain comfort that should not necessarily be mistaken for anything other than professional expertise, such quality running throughout every fibre of the club as it undoubtedly does.

The moments of absolute class may have been somewhat fleeting of late, and indeed many times throughout all too many routine displays previously this season. But when the team are in those moments they are simply untouchable. It takes two or three inspired moments of our thing to beat the opposition down. Sunday's game will not be any different in that respect, even if the intensity will be off the scale, and the joy those moments bring will be celebrated with absolute relish; I expect Liverpool to be firmly back in their box before the end.

that's unusually on the ball for you mate..

Originally Posted by Lou_Macari_Chippy

putting hargreaves in at right back when he's not played there all season is crazy, Brown is the exact medicine we need for them, some strong physical challenges right from the kick off is whats required and thats exactly what brown can deliver and some, he might not be the best going forward but look how many attacking type players we have already, he shouldnt need to be. Get brown back in and stop this flirtation with unnecessary tinkering. Also theres no way the dog eater should be anywhere near this game, £#%&!ing headless chicken, no discipline in his play at all.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

The moments of absolute class may have been somewhat fleeting of late, and indeed many times throughout all too many routine displays previously this season. But when the team are in those moments they are simply untouchable. It takes two or three inspired moments of our thing to beat the opposition down. Sunday's game will not be any different in that respect, even if the intensity will be off the scale, and the joy those moments bring will be celebrated with absolute relish; I expect Liverpool to be firmly back in their box before the end.

I'd feel a lot more confident if I could actually remember the last time someone other than Ronaldo scored. In any case, I admire your optimism and certainly hope that you're right.

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

I'd feel a lot more confident if I could actually remember the last time someone other than Ronaldo scored. In any case, I admire your optimism and certainly hope that you're right.

Wasn't questioning your appraisal of the current situation Serenity, rather I was just attempting to convey in words the heights I believe United are on the verge of reaching that enable us to continue on our merry way without seemingly breaking sweat more than a dozen times per game. I think we can step up a gear almost inperceptibly, a quality both a remarkable in itself, and at the same time utterly devastating for the opposition. Liverpool will not be immune to this phenomenon.

It was Ji btw

I think I've just achieved my first coaching badge having just read that!

Originally Posted by Serenity Now

We have more quality than them, of that there is no doubt, but they have their three key players on top of their respective games - Torres, who (along with Fabiano at Sevilla) is the form striker in Europe at the moment; Gerrard, who is playing at his best level for a couple of years; and Mascherano, who has looked dominant when I've seen him of late. Whereas the only player I could honestly say is on anything like top form in our team is Ronaldo.

So you have to think we're going to see a lot of players getting to Ronaldo, we're likely talking almost constant doubling up, which to me suggests that our other players are going to have to step up in a big way if we want to win this. They're certainly capable of doing that, but our recent performances really haven't been particularly encouraging, to say the least.

The fact that Gerrard has been shifted forward behind Torres will probably make it a bit more difficult to shut him down as an attacking threat. At Anfield, we only needed to pressurise Mascherano when the ball was with their defence to force Gerrard back into a deep position to pick the ball up, but that's not going to work this time. So we're going to have to be a lot more watchful of the space in front of the defence during the defensive phase, making sure we don't vacate the spine of the pitch and trying to put decent pressure on him as soon as picks the ball up in these kinds of areas.

The other player we obviously have to be watchful of is Torres. In Spain, virtually everyone other than Barca would play a slightly deeper line than usual against Atleti, and then try to close him down as soon as the pass was played to him, providing there was at least one player to cover behind. This generally worked to great effect, frustrating Torres and often forcing him deeper to pick up the ball in less dangerous areas. This was very similar to the kind of strategy we employed at Anfield, and I could see us going the same way again. Also, it's perhaps worth noting that he's not nearly as big a danger on his left foot.

Since we're at home this time, we'll likely take a more positive approach than we did in the away match. So we also have to be careful not to get caught on the counter - particularly on the left with Evra caught up the pitch, as this potentially leaves the slightly leaden-footed Vidic isolated against Torres with space behind. Babel will also be a threat in this regard if he plays. I'm not a big fan of his, but his pace and very hard shot means that he can be a danger on counter-attacks. He's pretty much one footed, so the general idea will probably be to show him outside onto his left as much as possible.

I think you want to mark Mascherano and Lucas/Alonso reasonably closely and pressure them aggressively once they pick up the ball, closing down the short passing lanes for Mascherano in particular. This way you force the play back to their defenders, who you provide with as much time as they want on the ball. Let them bring it from the back - they're all technically very limited players and I would fancy us to win any deep balls. There's also the potential for invited pressing on their fullbacks.

Good posts from Serenity and Throb.

Whilst everyone's been going on about Liverpools great form I've been saying it's 'cos they haven't got any pressure, they're very likely to finish 4th and they won't win the league so they suddenly turn it on with no pressure. I'm glad somebody else has said it.