Have you changed your mind after swindon? Benteke straight into the 11?
Gomez in at LB?

Seriously disappointed in Moreno so far... I thought we were getting a highly rated left back?

It's there a part of this forum where more people talk about EPL? I'm surprised an Australian football forum would be so quiet on the League that seems to be the most popular amongst most people....

Well, your backline was experience straight up, sakho scares me at times but you'd place him at LB anyday over Moreno, agree he has been over awed some games last season, i'll never forget at home against manu how out of depth he was of all games !
Once Sakho is tired Gomez straight on and i hope he handles to be a start up soon enough.
We've paid the $$$$'s yes why not start up the big fella ! Stoke wouldnt like it for starters - his first game in our no9 with all the enthusiasm for your 1st game i'd hope he'll beast it !
after he's softened them up early 2nd half give Ings or Origi the front.

No way Sakho plays at LB. Gomez might get a run. I'd reserve judgement on Moreno till after this season, takes some players longer to adapt to the EPL. I think he'll come good.

Pr1mo,
We all differ, yer sure was Moreno's 1st season, it was very ordinary, did some ok attacking raids down the flank but his job is being defensive, making his opposite turn back, error or otherwise - that he did no where near good enough having been a start up player many times season past.
OK, 1st season blues, gawd we had a few once again suffering from this, lets hope they do MUCH better from this weekend on.
Now, Sakho, he may not be the obvious choice at LB but he sure did better than Moreno - thats all I'm looking at but not as the answer - I see and hoping Gomez takes his chance very much.

I'm not confident with Moreno. If he wasn't yet linking up well with the team I'd say he'll work out out. But he just doesn't defend well, gets turned too easily and gets caught out of position often.
I hope I'm wrong because we paid for a highly rated Spanish left back.

99% sure it will be Gomez this week - beyond that is hard to say. Depends how Joe does.

Lallana - Coutinho - Ibe and hopefully Bentekkers up front. Milner and Hendo will hold central

Praying it's Sakho with Skrtel but I feel it may be Lovren...

Burning $$$$$$'s has been our way for years :x Moreno may prove us wrong but I just can't see it at this stage.

imno appears :)
We must give Lovren the chance for were so thin for a decent Skrtl solid sound partner I'm willing Lovren to work out [-o<
Yep, thats the things with Sakho, he can play inside or outside but your not 110% confident , once he faces a opponent with pace and balls are through behind him he's gone, then some of his passing scares the be jesus out of me.
Better chance than Moreno for sure but GOMEZ has to own LB - his preseason performances showed so much potential.

Moreno is 23, we paid what, 12M for him? We paid 20M for Markovic and I've gt more hope for Moreno than Markovic.

Other than a few games (granted they were generally big games) I don't think Moreno was that bad. He was also playing as a wing back a lot of the time last year.

I prefer Sakho over Lovren, but in reality I dn't think either of them are a long term solution.

Not long to go now....

Figures you quoted are right.

Haven't written Moreno off, as said lets see what he delivers this season when given the chance.
On a Skrtl partner the ideal scenario is buying a proven CB full stop - but I can't see it happen as yet thats why I'm praying Lovern 2nd season delivers but I'm not betting on it.


Yer, can't wait for early Monday morn 8-[

Edited by M.L.: 9/8/2015 09:33:29 PM

4 hours to go. \:d/

Till you draw with Stoke in the 85th minute! :O

-PB

I wish we still had D Agger.

You guys staying up to watch the game? It's a big ask with work looming large Monday morning.
Really disappointed we have so many games on Monday or Tuesday in the first 5-6 weeks... I thought that may not happen until deeper in the season when the Europa league kicks off...

Hoping Firmino, Gomez, Ibe and Benteke all make big statements today!

Given our history at the Brittania I'll take it!

Why is Benteke alive?

I'd take boring over the 6-1 thumping any day

Coutinho you sex god. What a hit. What a match winner.

3 points are what matters. Delighted.

Legit?? You watched that shit for 90 minutes and think one moment of brilliance is all that matters?!

Liverpool looked f***ing lost for the entire game. Benteke was constantly out of position and seemed to have absolutely no idea what his role was in the side. What's the point of trying to hang onto the ball and play some decent football if you're going to have him up front? BR seems to have just completely lost the plot.
Coutinho had a moment of brilliance, but he was pretty shocking for the rest of the game.

Can was great when he came on, Lovren had one of his better games in a red shirt and Ibe showed that he can be useful if he can give his marker the slip. However, there were very few positives for Liverpool in that game, even if it was Stoke away.

After what happened at the Britannia last season, combined with Stokes home record, yes the result was all that mattered.

Bit harsh. It though it was a bit of a chess game and both sides defended their goals very well. 3 shots on target to 1. It was boring, a word i think is overused in football but applied last night since we played it very safe. Round 1 is always a tricky one, just ask Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton or Southampton.

I'd take a 1-0 over a 4-0 right now, I don't want other clubs to notice us. I'm happy to fly under the radar and sneak 3 points :d

Edited by tbitm: 10/8/2015 02:08:20 PM

As for Benteke, could he have got any worse service last night? Can't blame him for that

:lol: Jesus calm down.

It takes time for a side to come together and gel. Especially with what, 4 brand new faces last night?

None of the big sides have done well this week.

We had a pre season with no big tests, and then to start the season away to Stoke is very very difficult.

To get the 3 points is fantastic. Was it our greatest game? No. Is it realistic to expect brilliant fluid football, on the road at Stoke in the first game of the season? No.

I think we defended well, limited their chances and showed genuine desire to try and win the game late on.

On an individual basis

Mignolet - Thought he was largely untroubled, did well when he had to including that direct FK which almost went all the way through.

Clyne - Thank god we have a good RB again. Will take time to develop understanding with Ibe down the right but they can be devastating together.

Skrtel/Lovren - Dealt well with the threat of Diouf. Lovren in particular impressed me as he wasn't a liability like I was expecting.

Gomez - A few panicky moments but kept Walters quiet for the most part. Defensively solid which we have been missing over there. Don't know if he'll hold his place but he did nothing wrong.

Central Midfield -
Hendo / Milner did ok, Hendo was obviously the deeper of the two and Milner was more adventurous. However I think as a midfield pairing it has its weaknesses - most importantly it limits Hendo and Milners attacking instincts - As we saw last season Hendo busting a gut to get forward and be that third man runner was integral for us and him sitting deeper meant we lost that fluidity.
When Can come on and sat deeper it released Henderson - and that led to probably our best opening in the match.

I'd like Can to play that DM role occasionally to allow Hendo to get forward. He shouldn't be sitting deep in games like this. Maybe in home matches when we're on top and sitting much higher it will be ok.

Ibe - Had the better of Pieters but showed a little naivety at times. Again, great outlet and deserved the start on his pre season form. Muniesa handled him well though.

Lallana - Struggled to get into the game, he and Coutinho were in similar spaces and it didn't quite work out. He's a great footballer though.

Coutinho - Tried hard but had little success until the goal. He's capable of winning games though. Very lucky to have him.

Benteke - Terrible service but was good in general play and played some nice passes. Would've liked him to work a bit harder up front in pressing though but I think the team were told to sit off a bit today.

Can - Coming on changed the game. That sprint back and tackle in the 93rd min was immense. Love him.

Firmino - A few nice touches but couldn't glean much.

:)

Cheeez EG.
Are you on a rampage on us ?
Wtf, what did you expect ?
Imno explains alot.
We got reemed 6-1 last game.
New faces and you expect us out of the blocks playing tika taka flowing footbal lol
At one of the hardest grounds taking points away with you - seriuosly gaining points like this is better than none ! :)
As said we'll take that 3 anyday as would any team.
Stoke are no easy beat bottom dweller - physical well drilled squad now results proven, for us even worse having up to 3 ex reds who like Adam normally plays above against us.
Bet you Johnson is soewing not putting away that effort in front - thank christ :).
To early to judge but were better off thsn how Cech and others are feeling :)

If this was a game in November/December then your points would be valid. It was a typical 1st game of the season, Benteke had 60 mins with the team going in to it - was never going to be seamless.

Edited by Pr1mo: 11/8/2015 12:13:41 AM

A hard earned valuable 3 points.
Excellent goal from coutinho.
Good games from clyne and lovren.
I hope we play men a bit closer to benteke next game. He was pretty isolated....

Not sure firmino is ready to start yet. I'd like to see emre can slot in at DM behind Milner and hendo. Hopefully freeing them both up to get forward more and provide better service to benteke.

Mignolet
Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno
Can
Hendo, Milner
Ibe, Coutinho,
Benteke
Subs for Firmino(50), Ings(70), Gomez (70)

I think Gomez will get the nod over Moreno, apart from that I'd say that would be close to the line-up.

Depending on how the game is going it would be good for Firmino and Origi to get some minutes under their belts. Problem I see is that starting Can, Hendo and Milner leaves us light for cover on the bench in those central spots, especially given Lucas is rumoured to be going and Allen is out for a bit.

I see your point but I don't think we'd let Lucas leave without signing another midfielder. I'd have Lucas on the bench every week to bring on when you want to close out games.

At home perfect to give Gomez his intro to start up.
Another good lesson for Moreno to lift his game, bring him on mid 2nd half.
I sure would like to see Firmino and Origi get a run but just depends how were going early 2nd half.

Origi over Ings? Who is higher in the pecking order?