micmij

Same here.

:lol:

I'll go with that (including the comment!)

Gerrard Mascherano Alonso

1. Insua 2. Keane 3. Lucas

1. Gerrard 2. Alonso 3. Arbeloa

And just because it's about injury - Kewell's done his groin again and is back in Australia for surgery...

Hyypia Alonso Benayoun

1. Dossena 2. Hyypia 3. Alonso

1. Torres 2. Aurelio 3. Agger

1. Alonso 2. Agger 3. Kuyt (for the first half - where was he second half?)

Keane Benayoun Arbeloa

Alonso Arbeloa Gerrard

Gerrard Alonso Arbeloa

Gerrard Babel Alonso

Gerrard Alonso Riera I'd like to give them all a vote, though!

I can only hope that his opinion was coloured by his disappointment at not getting anything from the game. The only time when that tackle is not a yellow is when the referee decides to give a straight red. FFS, touching the ball doesn't come into it when you've had to go through the player to get the touch! Agree entirely! Valencia was taking the piss during the whole lead up to that free kick. Initially, he stood just to the left of the wall, but was a metre ahead of it. The ref told him to get back and he encroached to his original position again when Alonso touched the ball. Sure he didn't 'break' before the kick, but he was still a metre closer than he should have been despite specifically being told to get back.

Kuyt Alonso Riera Solid game from Carra, too, and good performance from Agger after the error - he really adds another dimension to our play going forward.

I may not know anything but, aside from Riera, I thought he was our best player in the first half. Yes, he made a lot of 2 yard passes but he was always working into space and giving those players an option & we generally kept the ball and played it out of the defence fairly well. Also, City allowed us to get fairly high up the pitch without too much pressure (once we negotiated their strikers who were working hard to close down our defence). This meant we had to try and get in behind them as playing through them was going to be very difficult. It wasn't surprising that Alonso wasn't able to pull off a killer pass in those circumstances.

Excellent win! Particularly as Gerrard, Masch, Carra & Skrtl (perhaps our most consistent performers away from home over the last 6-12 months) were all well below their best. Alonso continued his excellent form this season. Torres put in another fantastic forward's performance. Arbeloa did his defensive duties well (unlucky for the 1st goal really), but put a LOT of pressure on the Man City defence with his runs. Riera also had an excellent game but faded a little as the 2nd half wore on. As for our first half performance, we started well (better than them), they worked their way back into things, created a little pressure & were able to force the ball into the back of the net despite a couple of good defensive efforts (Alonso's challenge & then Arbeloa's challenge). Their 2nd goal came from a free kick, but sometimes they just go in and there's not much you can do about it. We also created a couple of chances & should have scored first through Kuyt. It was certainly not as bad as some people make out and they were certainly not a 2-0 better side.

Alonso Torres Arbeloa

Gerrard Alonso Keane

Gerrard Alonso Torres

Babel Reina Gerrard

As cover, yes, long-term he's a centre half, though. Although, he has a very good touch, he's probably too big to play there consistently - i.e. physically it would be too demanding for him.