Nice result.

Apparently Joe Allen was in the stands.

He's just as good.
/deal with it :P

He was. There are photos.

Ecstatic with the game... opposition weren't the best but I'm glad we still put them in the ground. We've struggled with the small sides, not the tough ones.

The first 15 minutes especially just blew them away. Gerrard, Suarez, Borini and Downing were ripping shit. Downing seemed a new player, oozing confidence and beating his man for fun. Borini never stops working and his movement off the ball is very very intelligent. Suarez was MOTM and honestly, just an incredible player, and the Boss being back in the middle allowed Gerrard to get forward more and link up with the front 3.

Borini's goal was very well taken, excellent from Suarez in the build up. And Gerrard's too, all made by Suarez. We eased off a bit in the 2nd half but Johnson's goal was a stunner.

So, Allen is coming in and probably Adam going out if I had to guess. I've seen some more photos and Agger definitely has a tattoo on his knuckles but I can't see if it's YNWA. There's definitely an A at the end though.

Of the sides we could draw in the next round the only two I want to avoid are Anzhi and Dinamo. Maaaybe Feyenoord too. But we should be fine.

Yer good sound result - importantly the squad is getting game time.
BR certainly doesn't sit back and not say much in his press blurbs.
No mention of Carrol imno in his praise what he has up front for choice ;)

On you Carra !


A special presentation was made to Jamie Carragher ahead of Thursday night's Europa League clash with FC Gomel at Anfield in recognition of his 700th appearance for Liverpool last week.

The defender chalked up the milestone in Belarus one week ago, and was presented with a commemorative silver liver bird by Kop legend Roy Evans on the pitch prior to kick-off.

Evans was, of course, the man who handed Carragher the first of his 700 appearances - against Middlesbrough in a League Cup tie at the Riverside Stadium in January 1997.

You're right, defending is more about ball playing, but lets just have a look at the ball playing aspect of it.

First lets compare Agger and Thiago Silva

Thiago Silva last season, 27 games, 1478/1625 passes with a 91% completion rate.
Daniel Agger, 27 games, 886/1049 passes with a 84.5% completion rate.

Now lets have a look at some of the Central Defenders in the top 5 leagues, who played at least 20 games, with better pass completion % than Daniel Agger last season shall we.

Rio Ferdinand 90% (1164/1293)
Vincent Kompany 86.6% (1424/1645)
Joleon Lescott 87.5% (1242/1419)
Laurent Koscielny 84.8% (1441/1699)
Thomas Vermaelen 85.5% (1248/1460)
Per Mertesacker 89.2% (974/1092)
David Luiz 85.1% (746/877)
John Terry 91.3% (1667/1826)
Branislav Ivanovic 85.8% (916/1067)
Phillipe Senderos 85.2% (826/969)
Ashley Williams 85.3% (2212/2594)
Steven Caulker 87.3% (1396/1600)
Ledley King 90.6% (755/833)
Borja Ekiza 87.5% (631/721)
Gerard Pique 86% (881/1025)
Carlos Puyol 90.7% (1039/1145)
Pepe 85.4% (1232/1443)
Sergio Ramos 86% (1701/1978)
Julien Escude 84.9% (897/1057)
Nicolas Spolli 85% (741/872)
Andrea Barzagli 89% (1618/1817)
Leonardo Bonnucci 88.4% (1406/1591)
Giorgio Chiellini 87.4% (1947/2227)
Giuseppe Biava 87.9% (501/570)
Andre Dias 87.1% (582/668)
Simon Kjaer 87.3% (780/893)
Gabriel Heinze 86.7% (1198/1382)
Mehdi Benatia 85.2% (888/1042)
Aurelian Chedjou 88.1% (1234/1400)
Marko Basa 87.5% (766/875)
Cris 85.4% (746/874)
Nicolas N'Koulou 89% (1211/1361)
Hilton 85% (1182/1391)
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa 84.7% (1193/1409)
Mamadou Sakho 86.8% (806/929)
Sylvain Marchal 84.9% (803/946)
Manuel Friedrich 85.1% (783/920)
Holger Badstuber 89.4% (1983/2217)
Jerome Boateng 87.3% (1340/1535)
Rouel Brouwers 90.3% (815/903)
Dante 88.2% (1985/2250)
Martin Stranzl 87.5% (1074/1228)
Serdar Tasci 87.8% (1162/1324)

That's 43 Central Defenders in the top 5 leagues in Europe who were all better passes/ball players than Daniel Agger last season. Does that mean they can all claim to be without doubt one of the best ball playing defenders in the world?

Anyyyyyway.



His tattoo proved he was a red.... ;)

Do you actually know what a ball playing defender is?! It isn't just a name for a defender with a good pass completion percentage. :lol:

Luckily for me and my argument Dagger is a very good defender!

:lol: all this too much information BS....
I have played with quite a few good defenders in my young days and as long as they spoil/or tackled the opposing attacking player as far as I'm concerned thats his job and done - great IF he can pass well Most of the times but today the role is also how they distribute eh - oh those high % rates include those countless huge under pressure pass's they play to their wide men at times twice or more through some games whilst the opposition sits back waiting for forward movement ;)

I rate Dagger just as parraboi says "defender" he's good thats his job imo.

+1

Can you tell that to certain Liverpool fans :d

The thing is Agger + Skrtel have a good partnership and the Liverpool defence was excellent last season when he was in it.
from Opta Joe:



Now that has to value him highly to Liverpool, less so to other teams and there are other factors at play here with the rest of the team and opposition would factor in especially as this is all games not just league games so would include Liverpool's cup runs. I would also be a pretty small sample size but it is still a good indicator. Would like to see it as a Agger + Skrtel partnership as well

other teams in their respective leagues goals conceded per game. Milan (0.87), Thiago Silva did not play every game but still a indicator, Man City (0.76), this is the best in the Premier league (Man U conceded 4 more coals over the season). Juve had the best in the top leagues with an amazing 0.53 goals a game but going undefeated sort of requires that.

I think you will find that the person who needs to be informed of this is an Arsenal fan.

I wouldn't say they are just down to huge under pressure passing but more down to how teams play. You see many players from the same team like Terry I would not say is an amazing passer but The way Chelsea played last season meant he did have a high pass completion. 3 Borussia Mönchengladbach players made the list because they had one of the most organised defences in Europe. Terry had a pass completion of 91.3%, .3% higher than Silva and 5.8% higher than Thomas Vermaelen who I think is a good ball playing defender

Edited by moofa: 10/8/2012 11:52:06 AM

This is why "stats" are misleading at times - proven for us the Beast Skrtel/Dagger together we have been strong at the back full stop, Daggers pass/% oh my :lol:

Not for LFC fans but for the stats man :(

Don't get me wrong, Daniel Agger is a very very good defender, there's no doubting that. But I still wouldn't ever pick him over someone like Kompany or Silva. Daniel Agger is a good ball playing defender, but wouldn't say he's without doubt one of the best in the world, again Kompany and Silva are a class above.

Yeh, I know SydCro presented those ones.

But wait until the season starts, there will be stats galore in here showing how good every Liverpool player is, except one stat, the league table.

yeryer yer BB - I think imno is the stat poster here right ? well what would you expect who from any club posts bad news :lol: your time WILL come :d

sydcro I agree he's not without a doubt one of the best in the world as has been mis quoted imo but effective does the job veryvery well as you said - talking LFC our defense hasn't been our weak side.

And the MUFC thread will be full of quotes about Paul Scholes and City will end up winning the title.

To be fair, it's the Liverpool fans who bring the Scholes debate up, we just join in :lol:

Agree with that. He's not in the top 4-5 in the world but he's certainly on the next rung down. I'd class him in the top bracket of EPL CBs though.

No it's not Busby. I never bring it up. I don't think any LFC fan does.

Our back 6 is rock solid.



The rest of the team could be strikers, ain't nothing getting past those lot! :P

We've been through this before - I'm not an LFC fan ;)

Drawn Hearts in the playoff round. Not bad. Good that we don't have to travel much.

vs Hearts on my 18th birthday!

Bellamy has gone to Cardiff. Thanks Bellers, YNWA.

Was a pleasure having you back Craig. Single handedly won the 2nd leg v City. All class.

Best of luck.

Allen's officially signed. Welcome to LFC Joe! 5 year deal

I think he could be a key signing. 8-[

But seriously, I'm stoked. Brendan knew that he was the man he wanted for that role, and it's vital we get the midfield right. A pairing of Lucas and Allen will release Gerrard further up the pitch, and they both have excellent passing and movement off the ball. I'm so excited.

Swap Adam for Dempsey, and bring in Afellay/Tello on loan, and I'll be a happy boy!!! And maaaaybe one more offensive signing but I won't lose sleep if we don't. And I wouldn't mind LB cover either.

Surely would be a waste signing Dempsey to sit on the bench.

Think Allen will be a great signing for you guys. Him and Lucas in a midfield pairing will be excellent, with Gerrard wreaking havoc further up field.