tomasjj

Gerrard was very good. Lots of good movement from him. He just left his shooting boots at home. Just lace it son!

Babel is not a footballer. If you compare his football brain to King Kenny's, it would be like comparing Canis Majoris to a small pea.

In a way. It is criminal to see our center backs, mainly Carra actually, launch long punts towards the worlds best striker who is then up against 2-3 opposing players. I thought we couldn't keep possession with players like Babel and Kuyt, who much to often squander it easily, and Stevie who is off form, and is often prone to trying too difficult things too often which wastes possession. To be fair, I'd like Torres to play it a bit simple at times as well, and not try to take 3 men on alone so often.

Deabatable classifications there... My adjustments: I'd rate Skrtel as debatable. Agger as a success. Babel as a mistake. I am also tempted to but Riera in the mistake bracket, but I think that would be a bit harsh. Dossena should have been given more time and games imo, but as it stands, yes, a mistake.

Well, he is not in a position to judge anymore, as he has been poor himself.

With Babel, Stevie and Kuyt behind Torres, it was no surprise that we gave away possession so cheaply time and again.

It could well be that he has to adapt as he gets older and doesn't have that burst of speed or the drive anymore. He seems more interested in being the hub now, dropping deep and taking the ball off the central midfielders than making runs to be played in. I think his playing style to an extent gets more and more similar to Lampard now, whom we love to slate. He hangs about in between the lines looking to pick up the pieces, and is not as influential in other parts of the game. Which could well be smart, considering his age. I do worry about his injuries and poor form, and I would not be against selling him to a foreign club for much money, provided the manager got to reinvest it in the squad. To follow up with the Scouse "bashing", I also think Carra should accept a bit part role next season, much like Sami did earlier. Him saying he only had a poor half against West Ham was laughable. He has gone from very poor to average this season, and his lunge to bring down Hazard just before they scored was really poor, and symptomatic of the mistakes that have gotten more frequent in his game lately.

Carra WAS struggling for possession. Sorry.

Not really. He seems like a disruptive influence and is not the captain I would like at LFC. But what do I know. I know little of what actually goes on at the club and can only judge from what I see and read in the media and on forums.

Carra struggling in possession, and fouled their player in the box with a clumsy late poke. Lucky there. I suspect very soon he needs to take on a bit part role like Sami did.

Too big for his boots. Sell him after the world cup. IF the manager, whoever that might be, gets the money that is...

Some of our players are not acting professional. They are modern footballers - spoilt and overpaid.

To the question of managers succeeding fairly quickly, there are several other factors to consider as well. Some of them are: have they managed at top levels previously, how successful they were then, what was the competivie environment at the time etc. I don't think isolating and reducing the issue like this does us any favours.

But we can see differences in approach still - how direct, how much width, how attacking etc. I agree that this concept applies more when there is talk about someone coming in from outside the league in England. Out of curiosity, who do you see fit as successors, and why?

Fair enough. I didn't say track record didn't matter though. I am not completely sure how much emphasis to place on the different criteria myself, but I am flirting with the idea of putting more towards the style of play than I did previously

Decent points. I also worry about the lack of experience from English football. Yes, yes, Wenger, Mourinho, I know...but still!

I guess his idea was: Track record elsewhere does not necessarily mean success here, although to a degree it would probably be a factor amongst many. Managers without massive track records have done well here The philosophy and playing style the manager has on the game could then be held up against what we see as success criteria in the English game - and we could choose more on that basis than whether the candidate had won stuff elsewhere, to a certain extent of course. Still sounds daft now that I had to spoon feed it to you?

Against Lille: Reina Johnson Carragher Agger Insua (for lack of alternatives....) Mascherano Lucas Gerrard Aquilani Riera Torres

Yes, I also raised an eyebrow when I saw how quick Marriner was to book our lads at first chance. It is shocking. It happens much too often today.

Bilic? Prandelli? Another poster made a decent point about what the criteria for a new manager should be when he said the overall philosophy of football should take prevalence ahead of track record to an extent. I would also prefer a manager who has some experience from English football in some way.

This is spot on. It shows a complete lack of understanding of a quick and physical game. Bullying and barging into players are often not picked up on, where as a 50-50 where one player just gets the ball ahead of the other and they clash, it is an automatic yellow for the one to be just too late. Madness.

Play him on the right and stop moving him about. He needs to find his feet. He is decent, and a much better option than Dirk on the right.

Wigan has done a good job with picking up players from central/south america. Rodallega, Figueroa, Palacios

Lucas, poor sod, carried Gerrard defensively last night.

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