should win this easily..

my line up:
Kirkland / Dudek for GK

Finnan ---- Hyypia ---- Biscan --- Riise - Vignal

Diouf :star: -------Gerrard------ Kewell

--- Le Tallec ----Owen ----- Heskey

 

Heres mine

Dudek

Finnan Hy. Biscan Riise

Gerrard

Diouf Smicer Kewell

Owen Heskey

Diao, Traore, Le tallec, Pongolle, luzi.

ALso I heard on koptalk the cisse deal is here. Is it true?

 

i've a feeling when we are comfortable , we tend to loose it somehow!......finger crossed....it should be a hattrick of win for us.....at the moment!

dudek

finnan
bis-can do it
hyypia
riise - of the machine

gerrard
smicer
kewell
diouf

microwave oven
hersey chocolate!

 

how anyone can still put "Kirkland/Dudek" as the goalkeeper is beyond me. Forget the fact that he's injured, Kirkland isn't number 1 and won't be while Dudek is in this form. For Fukk sake, Dudek has saved our asses so many times this season it's untrue. Disgraceful to even comtemplate replacing him.

 

should win this easily..

I don't think it'll be a walkover. We showed against Chelsea that we are no walkovers, even though the score could have been more there. We'll frustrate and try to stop you playing, and could nick a goal froma set-piece. But unfortunately against his fomer club means a goal for Emile Heskey. You'll probably beat us, but it won't be as easy as you think, unless we play like we did against Villa.:depress:

 

Hi everyone..

Well I don't think it'll be an easy game at all..!! Leicester have the psychological effect after their 4-0 romp of Leeds.. we've been feauding all through the week over the Carra- Neill incident.. and we've been rocked by 3 injuries in a week.. So it's not a piece of cake as some are suggesting!

With Heskey almost certain to start.. I'm having my doubts over how we'd enter the game.. But my main worry is our bench.. I'm kinda curious who we'll be seeing sitting there when the game starts.. not much to choose from.. I'd say Luzi, Traore, Le Tallec, Murphy and maybe Diao (if he's back from injury)..

To me.. keep it simple.. same mentality.. same approach.. and they should not sit back if we score.. that simply invites them to attack again and again..

and I'm with Doc.. Dudek's who I want to see between the posts for the season.. not cuz Kirky is injured (of course).. but cuz a) He deserves to be there b) He IS our number 1 keeper.. Kirky should get a try here and there in the cups and maybe even Europe..

YNWA

 

My prediction this morning of a 2-1 Liverpool win with Marcus Bent scoring was correct then. Still we haven't let ourselves down again and put in another battling display, and we'll be on the Premiership for once tonight.

 

lol Liam

vignal is on loan btw, i don't know why he's listed in your lineup

3 points in the bag, lets keep the wagon rolling boys

 

Three points:

1) Diouf is excellent on the right. However, he needs to be told to be a little less selfish and a little less desperate to go for goal all by himself.

2) Biscan was doing okay until Bent scored the goal. He is a makeshift replacement for either of the H-H against teams like Liecester at home but the prospect of letting him tackle Nistelrooy and Henry doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Since you just can't expect both Henchoz and Hyppia to be fit all the time, we MUST get a defender in January.

3) Owen should NOT take the spot-kicks. He scored all 3 of the penalties but each one of them were lucky. He took the first one against Chelsea twice, almost had his second one saved by Friedel because it was too weak and again today's shot was too weak and would easily have been saved had Walker guessed the side right.

 

he might not wanna sign a new contract with us , you know if we take away his sweets!

 

Logic, you are obviously not a keeper. Owen's pen was brill.

 

Hi everyone..

Excellent performance if u ask me! And no disrespect to Leicester.. but I believe we should've won more convincingly.. Leicester were at there best in the final 10 minutes of each half.. and I've never seen a team pressuring players on the ball like they do! Credit to Mickey Adams and his side for putting in a good show.. Oh.. and one hell of a goal by Bent! gave Dudek NO chance..

As for us, now this is MUCH more like it IMO, there's a good improvement over the last time I saw a Liverpool game which was the win at Goodison.. we're getting used to attacking continously and we're clearly enjoying it

Smicer looks like a whole new player! and I think we can see the Kewell + Diouf effect clearer game by game.. Diouf was very good.. except he always tried to go that extra step.. and as Logic was saying.. was a bit too concerned about him being on the score sheet..

Heskey.. good goal.. and two good goal clearances! other than that, I still think Emile can DO much better.. especially in the physical department.. someone with his size and muscles should NOT be pushed about like that and should not fall that easily..

Biscan and Hyypia are starting to gel together.. looked very stable.. and Biscan's passing has improved a lot! maybe we WILL get to see the player who who was being chased by the likes of Juventus

Gerrard and Owen were there usual.. excellent.. Owen is starting to spread the ball more.. Gerrard was a bit too confident.. but again, his vision and passing are simply amazing

My only comment would be to move Riise and invite him to attack more.. Good to see Le Tallec getting a few minutes of 1st team footie and he almost scored!

Again, no direspect for the foxes.. but we should have scored more with a display like that..!! I enjoyed the game !! it's simply incomparable to the bores we saw last year..

My question would be.. when Hamann is fit again.. what would happen then??

Anyway, 3 wins on the trot.. next stop.. the UEFA Cup

 

Hi everyone..

Excellent performance if u ask me! And no disrespect to Leicester.. but I believe we should've won more convincingly.. Leicester were at there best in the final 10 minutes of each half.. and I've never seen a team pressuring players on the ball like they do! Credit to Mickey Adams and his side for putting in a good show.. Oh.. and one hell of a goal by Bent! gave Dudek NO chance..

As for us, now this is MUCH more like it IMO, there's a good improvement over the last time I saw a Liverpool game which was the win at Goodison.. we're getting used to attacking continously and we're clearly enjoying it

Smicer looks like a whole new player! and I think we can see the Kewell + Diouf effect clearer game by game.. Diouf was very good.. except he always tried to go that extra step.. and as Logic was saying.. was a bit too concerned about him being on the score sheet..

Heskey.. good goal.. and two good goal clearances! other than that, I still think Emile can DO much better.. especially in the physical department.. someone with his size and muscles should NOT be pushed about like that and should not fall that easily..

Biscan and Hyypia are starting to gel together.. looked very stable.. and Biscan's passing has improved a lot! maybe we WILL get to see the player who who was being chased by the likes of Juventus

Gerrard and Owen were there usual.. excellent.. Owen is starting to spread the ball more.. Gerrard was a bit too confident.. but again, his vision and passing are simply amazing

My only comment would be to move Riise and invite him to attack more.. Good to see Le Tallec getting a few minutes of 1st team footie and he almost scored!

Again, no direspect for the foxes.. but we should have scored more with a display like that..!! I enjoyed the game !! it's simply incomparable to the bores we saw last year..

My question would be.. when Hamann is fit again.. what would happen then??

Anyway, 3 wins on the trot.. next stop.. the UEFA Cup

Agreed Yasir, didn't get to the match, but I listened to it on the radio and saw the highlights. Impressive performances particularly from Diouf and Gerrard and we could have had four or five goals, whereas Leicester scored from what was their only real chance. Keep it up boys!

 

"I keep reading how these two(manure & arses) are light years better than us. I'd say thats so much BOLLOCKS! I watched the game today and if its any indication of their quality we should have no fears of competing with either of them. "

the key for our squad at this point is self-belief. we need (a) a couple of solid 4-5 goal tonkings of mid-table teams and (b) a come-from-behind win against one or two top teams.

with that added boost to confidence, our squad can beat anyone in the league based on what I've see so far. the skill and efort is there.

 

we did ok that game, gerrard missed a sitter though! a bit too fancy i'd say but would have been a real nice goal if it had gone in.

ian walker - the luckiest goalie of this weekend

 

Hi... been quite a while.

Good match against Leicester. A fair clean fight and we deservedly came off winners although the scoreline is a little too generous to Leicester.

If we continue to improve on our new approach to the game and Ged dun lose his senses, we will definately be up there with a good nice shout for the title.

 

Three wins in a row. When was the last time we did that? Good game overall. Smicer is turning up finally in a game, while Kewell is turning out to be a smart and cheap bargain. Always prepared to give his all, it certainly shows in his moves and build-ups. It seems that with this attacking line-up, Murphy will be the biggest loser in this. Already left on the bench and as long as the goals goes in and the 3-pts in the bag, he will be losing confidence he was showing last season. But it will also give him the wake-up call and if he does not improve, he might have to find a new club. But it is way too early to contemplate that.

Overall, with such an offensive line-up, chances should be translated into goals. I looked at the highlights and observed that the chances we created are not exactly fantastic, and I wish we could improve on that and take our chances. Other than that, I am pleased with the team and next up, Uefa Cup.

paw

 

Liked what I saw and I believe Christian Daimano had a positive effect on how the team is playing this season.

Having said that, there is a general feeling that we are not clinical enough yet in terms of our offensive play. We are not as devastating as the Mancs, Gunners and Chelski, despite having a wealth of talents. There is room for improvement and I hope that this approach goes on as the team moves up another gear.

Dudek will always be the Number 1 for us, despite all the promise that Kirkland has shown. He is at his peak and I consider him as one of the best goalies in the EPL.

Finnan, unlike his days at Fulham, looked as though he had been given strict instructions not to venture too far up, but in some ways, it is encouraging to see how he has been supporting Diouf/Kewell on the right. An extra man on the flanks will be very useful.

Riise is still not back at this usual self this season. Not sure why, but I think he can do very much more in helping Kewell out on the left when the team goes up front.

Biscan looked extremely clumsy and cumbersome in the middle of attack. I know that he is not the most pacy of defenders around, but I think his positional sense in the box is very questionable. I don't think he is suited to be an able replacement for Henchoz, even when playing against Wolves.

Gerard has been playing ok. Not exceptionally fantastic or according to the high standards which he set for himself when he burst into the scene. We know what he is capable of, but what is missing is his telling passes which can shred any team's defence to shreds. I think he has been punting too many long balls that he has clearly forgotten how to pass on the ground.

Smicer can never be a Scholes. Yes, he can pass the ball around a bit, but his attacking play in the last third of the field leaves very much to be desired. All this talk about Vladmir being an able replacement for Macca is really hogwash. Scholes has proven to be able to dictate the offensive play and pop up often enough to score vital goals for the Mancs, but Smicer runs too much like a headless chicken and is pretty poor in terms of his positional sense when in attack.

Kewell and Diouf excite me when they play on the left/right respectively. In my opinion, they are the reasons why we have been playing slightly better these days. With the flanks as an addition option, it makes opposing teams harder to defend against us. One can only hope that the Toad will continue to allow them the license to maraude on the flanks.

Heskey will always be the fall guy when Owen plays. With Baros' injury, it looks like we'll be stuck with him for some time yet. I hope that with the recent spell he has been in, he will have enough confidence to try harder when the ball is at his feet in the six-yeard box.

Owen should continue to take penalties or at least, the coaching staff should make him practise his penalty taking more during training. Confidence is vital when you are a forward and this must be imbued constantly in his mind. Ruud's miss yesterday (and how nervous he looked before taking the spot kick) proves that even the best strikers can miss when emotionally he is not ready to take a penalty.

Having said all this, I am afraid that Chelski will be our biggest rivals this season for the CL spot. Their 5-0 win at Molineux just goes to show that all the talk about their team not settling down well enough is all nothing but crap.

Yet, it is encouraging to see how the team has been passing the ball around (although not as much as I would love to see). If we continue to play this way and that the Toad allows the players to be adventurous, we will be snuffing teams out of sight when we get into a groove.

We might not be up there at the end of the season but if given the right circumstances and the right tactics, we can be somewhere near there.

 

well.......it was a great game to watch and i do feel that our home form gotto improve more cause i realise we play with ease during the away games. Kewell was awesome and Diouf could do better if he did not fancy so much footwork.

it will be 4 on a row come this friday after the uefa cup!

 

Kewell and Diouf excite me when they play on the left/right respectively. In my opinion, they are the reasons why we have been playing slightly better these days. With the flanks as an addition option, it makes opposing teams harder to defend against us. One can only hope that the Toad will continue to allow them the license to maraude on the flanks.

You hit the jackpot.

Dj Domino, I am incidentally a keeper since my birth and I know what I am talking about. However, you have every right to have a different opinion to that of mine especially because everyone in here seems to be sure of Owen's capabilities as a penalty-taker. Probably, he will miss a crucial match-saving penalty in the 90th minute (I hope I am wrong though) and then will people realize that he and RVN is simply not on the same level when it comes to shooting from the spot. And anyways, it's not like we havent got other players to do the job. Noone doubts Owen's abilities as a player but he just doesn't have it in him to take penalties.

 

Biscan looked extremely clumsy and cumbersome in the middle of attack.

I can only agree to that! Biscan was clumsy in attack :tongue:

Seriously, I know Biscan is no Henchoz in terms of stability and decision making.. but it's very clear that he's improving and especially in terms of confidence.. no more rash challenges and needless yellow cards.. and the way he spreads the ball sometimes reminds me of Gerrard! Anyway, good to see him trying harder when it seemed fans and players were losing faith in him

 

Houllier hope for Heskey

From BBC:

Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier hopes Emile Heskey's goal against Leicester will kick-start the striker's season.
Heskey has been under pressure to start scoring more regularly and responded with Liverpool's second in their 2-1 win against his former club Leicester.

Michael Owen gave Liverpool the lead with a penalty and Heskey added the second before Marcus Bent netted a late goal for the visitors.

"That should be the start of things, he is on the scoresheet now and that will give him plenty of confidence," said Houllier.

"He has power, pace and strikes a ball superbly.

"He plays with finesse when maybe I am looking for something else from him.

"He is not a nasty person and you are not going to change that - but he needs to use his attributes more often than he does."

The win was also Liverpool's first at home since the penultimate game of last season when they beat Charlton.

Houllier added: "The pressure was on the lads a bit before the game, it has been a long time since we have won here."

 

good game, the team was pretty confident & well organised ,
my ratings :

Dudek 7, didn't have a lot to do, not to blame for Bent's goal..
Finnan 7 made no mistakes (apart from a cross which he couldn't control well), was very cool on the ball..

Hyypia 7.5 average day for big Sammy

Biscan 6.5 was fine throughout, but could've done better to prevent Bent from scoring, he has improved imo..

Riise 8 good game for the ginger headed player

Diouf 9 :star: was good, enjoyed his tricks, good perfoemances from him after his first disappoting season

Gerrard 7.5 good game for gerro..

Smicer 8 impressive game for him , hope he keeps his form like this

Kewell 9 another good game for the Australian, he's really settling in

Owen 8 good game :thumbsup: Gosh.. all the players had a pretty good game!
fully deserved the penalty & was a pain in the :arse: for leicester throughout

Heskey 8 as well, good goal

also Le Tallec was great, although he had only a few minutes on the field but he almost could've had an immediete impact by scoring :star:

UEFA Cup here we come
this season's UEFA cup looksset to be the best in recent years imo,
Liverpool, Blackburn, Brussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Roma, Valencia, & Parma (they qualified didn't they?)

the competetion will be fierce, & I'm confident that with the current attacking minded style of play that we're playing then the teams above will have something to fear about us

 

Hyypia 7.5 average day for big Sammy

Biscan 6.5 was fine throughout, but could've done better to prevent Bent from scoring, he has improved imo..

Even though the rest of your marks are well overboard(8 for Riise??) these two are quite odd.

Biscuits was poor throughout, gave the ball away constantly, kept losing aerial battles and his positional play is awful. 5 out of ten for him.

Hyypia was just as bad, the goal was his fault, plain and simple. Biscan went to jump with Deane and Sami should have been picking up Bent, instead he stood in the vacinity of Dickov, even thouh Finnan had him covered, and allowed Bent to walz through and score, he didn't even attempt to make a tackle. Another poor game from Hyypia, he has been very poor this season. The sooner Henchoz gets back the better. a generous 5 for Sami

 

Hi Doc..

Well I do differ with u on Biscan.. Not a formidable performance that cements him in the side.. but nothing close to the shaky player we used to occasionaly see last season.. He's gaining confidence.. and making some good tackles to prove it..

I do agree that the goal was a Hyypia-Riise mix up.. the gap between them was huge.. and simply inviting Bent to go in..

Ya, I think L4E over exaggerated a bit on the ratings.. I'd say Riise was a 6.. as he's clearly not thinking offensively as he used to.. Hyypia a 7.. Kewell an 8.. and Heskey barely a 6.5.. he scored a difficult goal.. but other than that.. he's most important contributions were defensive!

My MoM would be Diouf maybe.. with Smicer, Gerrard, Owen and Kewell right behind him.. but to me.. it was an excellent 'team' performance.. and 3 points in the bag