That's far too attacking, it'll get ripped to shreads when Real counter. Allen has to come in alongside Gerrard and Henderson with Lallana and Sterling in front of them. Balotelli up front but he'll get isolated. Seriously i cant see any way in which you guys could set up to avoid defeat.
I imagine we'll play like the away team and look to play on the break? Balotelli's hold up play is amazing and Real Madrid will push up all their fullbacks etc.
Hopefully the atmosphere at Anfield will be good. Hasn't been amazing so far this season..
United drew tonight! Such a shame WBA couldn't hold on but Blind's strike was good, nice to see Wisdom getting an assist too and it was a lovely pass. It's hard to believe they are one point below us and Arsenal are two points below considering how atrocious our form has been this season.
United drew tonight! Such a shame WBA couldn't hold on but Blind's strike was good, nice to see Wisdom getting an assist too and it was a lovely pass. It's hard to believe they are one point below us and Arsenal are two points below considering how atrocious our form has been this season.
West Ham who are currently 4th just says it all really....
West Ham who are currently 4th just says it all really....
exactly, it's way too early to talk about places - there's only one win between 4th and 12th. however it is nice to see that we're 5th after such a poor start. it's amazing that we're ahead of everton, spurs, arsenal and united after the start we've had, even if it's just by a point or two.
exactly, it's way too early to talk about places - there's only one win between 4th and 12th. however it is nice to see that we're 5th after such a poor start. it's amazing that we're ahead of everton, spurs, arsenal and united after the start we've had, even if it's just by a point or two.
With United playing against Chelsea, the 3 points at Hull is massive to widen the gap. Could easily drop points to Hull as they certainly are no push overs as well as our dire form. Hopefully the Madrid game will be the kick up the ass to get the form back.
That 3 points at QPR just feel even more sweeter now xD
With United playing against Chelsea, the 3 points at Hull is massive to widen the gap. Could easily drop points to Hull as they certainly are no push overs as well as our dire form. Hopefully the Madrid game will be the kick up the ass to get the form back.
That 3 points at QPR just feel even more sweeter now xD
west ham will lose to man city so we should be 4th by the end of the next set of games. but as you said, hull aren't pushovers. they're a much tougher team than people think and they showed that last season when they beat us.
the problem with us is that we make it so hard for ourselves. it's almost as if we aren't looking about widening the gap and getting ahead, we're looking at staying in touch. it's almost as if when our rivals drop points it means we can "afford" to drop points too. it really shouldn't feel like that as a fan.
west ham will lose to man city so we should be 4th by the end of the next set of games. but as you said, hull aren't pushovers. they're a much tougher team than people think and they showed that last season when they beat us.
the problem with us is that we make it so hard for ourselves. it's almost as if we aren't looking about widening the gap and getting ahead, we're looking at staying in touch. it's almost as if when our rivals drop points it means we can "afford" to drop points too. it really shouldn't feel like that as a fan.
The game will be at Anfield, anything less than a comfortable 2-0/3-0 win will be very disappointing. Getting a win vs Hull is expected if we want to secure a top 4 place.
The game will be at Anfield, anything less than a comfortable 2-0/3-0 win will be very disappointing. Getting a win vs Hull is expected if we want to secure a top 4 place.
didn't we say the exactly same thing for this QPR game (bar being at anfield)?
West ham can get something vs City. They're at upton park and will press hard for the ball. Good defensively too and with a midweek game City may be tired
West ham can get something vs City. They're at upton park and will press hard for the ball. Good defensively too and with a midweek game City may be tired
I don't really think West Ham are too much better at upton park then they would be elsewhere (if we're talking vs top 8) I rekon city will take all three points there
I suppose gotta be happy with being above all our main rivals for top 4. I know the other teams will improve but we surely will too, especially once Sturridge is back. Atm, it seems like our season will depend on how many injuries he picks up over the course of it.
I hope the team perform on Weds, I don't expect a win-at best we can get a draw but what I do expect is that team give 100% and work hard.
so you want Balotelli dropped, right? :P
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I personally think that now we have most of our midfielders and forwards fit, we should try to recreate the situation which allowed us to do so well in the second half of the season. Our first 11 in the second half of last season was: Mignolet, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Flanagan, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling, Suarez, Sturridge.
Sometimes as a 4-3-1-2, but I think we played better as a team when it was a 4-3-3. In defence, Moreno and Manquillo are infinitely better than what we had last season so the defence picks itself. Lallana has similar attributes to Suarez (whilst obviously no where near as good) in that he will play quite narrow from that wing position and he will dribble with the ball and get at defenders. Up front, I would go for Borini simply because he is most similar in style to Sturridge with his movement and ability to create space.
Lambert and Balotelli are a bit too static to be a lone striker for us. They both need Sturridge alongside them really. It ends up having a domino effect and tripping up the performances of the rest of the players because they simply aren't on the same wavelength.
I find it odd people saying we should start Allen because starting Coutinho at CM would be too attacking. The guy works just as hard as anyone else. Not once did we drop Coutinho for Allen in a big game in the second half of last season. The only times Allen or Lucas started ahead of him were when we were against big fat midfielders (e.g. West Ham) who were likely to bully him. That said, if we do start with Balotelli or Lambert up top, then maybe I would play Allen over Lallana or Coutinho because there is no point having all those creative players on the pitch if we don't have a striker who's movement can make it worthwhile.
so my team against Madrid would be: Mignolet, Manquillo, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana, Borini. 4-3-****ing-3.
I suppose gotta be happy with being above all our main rivals for top 4. I know the other teams will improve but we surely will too, especially once Sturridge is back. Atm, it seems like our season will depend on how many injuries he picks up over the course of it.
my team against Madrid would be: Mignolet, Manquillo, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana, Borini. 4-3-****ing-3.
I know we have been shockingly bad so far but if you consider our performances and then look at where we are in the league, we've had a fairly good return when you think that we've only had 1 good performance from 8. The fact that most of our rivals have also started poorly does help.
It's just so tight that I keep thinking about those 2 points that jagielka cost us. I'm sorry but it'll take me a while to get over how unlucky we're there. Although you could say the luck from the game yesterday more or less balances it out.
With regards to the Madrid game, I would have liked to see Lambert start although your preference/explanation for borini does make a lot of sense. Watch rodgers start Balotelli now...