Football v 35.0

[MercenaryChef]

Good win for Liverpool today, though Rodgers is still playing Gerrard deeper than I'd like him to be. I thought we looked a lot better without Joe Allen in the side.

Also, according to John Aldridge, Sturridge is having a medical tomorrow. He may have his faults, but it'll be bloody nice to have another striker.

great game for liverpool. it has been a long time since i have seen such a nice passing game and attack from the reds.

but, sturridge? i am not too optimistic about this signing.

[polishgenius]

Madrid lost to Malaga after Mourinho dropped Casillas to the bench. Hmm.

Milan getting a slapping from Roma, 4-0 with fifteen left to play.

[MercenaryChef]

does mourinho make it through the season at madrid? they are 16 points back. they are looking like they could finish third in a league that historically is a two team league.

the copa del rey is over for them. they only have the champions league available to them as a possible trophy. and i don't honestly see them winning it.

does jose quit amid great drama or is he sacked?

do we see him resurface next season in england?

[ljkeane]

but, sturridge? i am not too optimistic about this signing.

We need to sign someone though and we have to be realistic about who we're likely to get in January. We're going to continue to play 4-3-3 and Suarez is going to start most games, whoever we sign is going to have to be willing to either spend a lot of time on the bench or playing out wide for a club that probably isn't going to get into the Champions League. At least Sturridge has some some potential, so long as we aren't going to pay him ridiculous wages I don't think it's too bad an option.

[MercenaryChef]

We need to sign someone though and we have to be realistic about who we're likely to get in January. We're going to continue to play 4-3-3 and Suarez is going to start most games, whoever we sign is going to have to be willing to either spend a lot of time on the bench or playing out wide for a club that probably isn't going to get into the Champions League. At least Sturridge has some some potential, so long as we aren't going to pay him ridiculous wages I don't think it's too bad an option.

i am just wondering what liverpool might be able to get for.....i don't know.....35 million pounds? :leaving:

[Calibandar]

I'm annoyed that City once again picks up an ugly win in injury time. I want them further down the table now that they haven't been playing well.

does mourinho make it through the season at madrid?

You have to consider that they really do not want to sack him. It would be a massive cost to them if they fired him, and that is the last thing that club needs. For the last couple of weeks they have continiously downplayed all the rumours of his imminent sacking.

On the other hand, if this continues like this, they will fire him. They cannot afford to be seen as an embarrassment.

[MercenaryChef]

I'm annoyed that City once again picks up an ugly win in injury time. I want them further down the table now that they haven't been playing well.

the city win was not 'ugly' so much as it was allowed only because of poor officiating. barry was climbing the back of the defender with his hands on his shoulders to help with height and positioning. that is a foul. goal should have been disallowed. reading deserved a point from the game.

[baxus]

it is nice to see liverpool win comfortably.

and seeing gerrard playing as he did today was a sight for sore eyes, honestly.

recently even johnson started playing well, and today downing...

9 points out of possible 12 in the last 4 matches is not bad at all.

let's hope it lasts a while.

[Alex.]

dude, that was a foul. you cannot put your hands upon the defenders, leap/climb over his back to head the ball.

you and i both know that. but, i was glad to see reading lose another. newcastle needed the added space between the bottom teams and themselves.

I agree, but that's how it goes sometimes. Also agree about Newcastle, don't particularly want to see them get relegated this year. They play some good football (mostly) and have some outrageously talented players.

I disagree that Reading deserved a point from that, but then I'm biased.

[mormont]

"At the moment, for me and my coaching staff, Adan is better than Iker," Mourinho said. "We have been struggling in a number of areas, one of those has been defence. The coach analyses who is in the best situation to play and chooses his team and that is what I have done.

"You [the media] can invent what you want but it's purely a technical decision."

Hmmm indeed. Anybody believe Mourinho decided to drop the club captain, one of the top 'keepers in the world, for the first time in ten years, solely because he genuinely thought this reserve 'keeper you've never heard of was playing better? Anyone?

[The Iceman of the North]

someone calculated that repeating the same draw twice in a row is about 1/2,000,000.

does anyone think chances of UEFA being above fixing the draw to be higher than that?

Actually given the constrains, no two teams from the same country can meet among others, the chance of repeating it is more like 1/100. So although still somewat unlikely, not quite in the realm of impossible.

[mormont]

It may have been more of a power play than anything else. The senior players at Madrid tend to have a lot of influence on things, I've heard, so perhaps this was Mourinho putting Casillas in his place a bit.

It's true that dropping the captain is often one of the last straws a beleaguered manager clutches. But to my understanding Mourinho is unquestionably the boss at Real. And the explanation above is not only critical of Casillas but so clearly inadequate as to appear like a further snub, while also carrying some insult to the press (suggesting they would be 'inventing' a story if they didn't accept it). Add that to Mourinho publicly conceding the title last week - in December! - and I begin to wonder what he's up to. Is he trying to get the sack? Stranger things have happened...

[Iskaral Pust]

Good win today by Liverpool against a Fulham team that didn't turn up at all (except for Berbatov).

Best game of the season so far for Gerrard. Very good game for Downing, following a very good game against Villa. Johnson, Skrtel, Agger and Enrique were very solid and contributed to the attack, Lucas did pretty well -- still getting back to pre-injury form. Suso did OK out of position (he's a #10 for the future, not a winger). Shelvey didn't do a lot but was valuable as an attacking midfield presence so that Suarez was not isolated. Reina looked less than convincing on the couple of long-range shots that Fulham mustered but then he made a good stop from the late free kick. Suarez looked tired: I would have subbed him off at half time to give him a rest (Joe Cole or Adam Morgan in his place) but at least he did score late on to a break a mini-drought so perhaps that positive outweighs his fatigue.

Fulham's midfield was very lightweight but even so it was good to see Gerrard play better. He made several long passes but most of them hit their mark. In other games this season he has been guilty of forcing Hollywood passes that aren't on and giving up possession. He was much smarter with the ball today. Also a nice run and decent finish for his goal. He also got two assists although in both cases his assist wasn't a big impact in the goal that followed.

I also think that without Joe Allen we moved the ball forward faster at times. As I've posted several times, I think Joe is very good at his specialty short passing but he does not have a complete game for a midfielder and too many of his passes are sideways. But I have hopes for him getting more confident on attacking passes.

Henderson was unlucky not to get a game today. I think he and Sterling should expect to come into the team against Stoke, replacing Suso and Shelvey (move Gerrard to attacking-midfield with Henderson and Lucas behind).

I think Rodgers made a tactical improvement today. Against West Ham and Villa it was very noticeable how much space we left for counter-attacks. We had too many men squashed into a small attacking area. The constricted space made attacking harder for us and, when play inevitably broke down, make counter-attacking easier for the opposition. I think we may have been over-correcting for prior games when Suarez was isolated. I think we had a much better balance today and used the space well.

Another positive for Rodgers has to be the improvement in Downing, Enrique and Henderson this season. All three finished last season in very bad form despite being regular starters. Rodgers dropped all three and reintroduced them sparingly until they looked hungry and ready to prove a point. All three are playing much better now.

Am I the only Liverpool fan who watched Berbatov today and wished we good have him playing off Suarez? His intelligence and ball control would be great to have.

[baxus]

Hmmm indeed. Anybody believe Mourinho decided to drop the club captain, one of the top 'keepers in the world, for the first time in ten years, solely because he genuinely thought this reserve 'keeper you've never heard of was playing better? Anyone?

casillas has been in goal of real madrid for so long that imagining someone else in that position is just wrong for me.

on the other hand, so was imagining raoul playing for any other club...

i definitely don't buy his speech about reserve goalie being a better option.

Actually given the constrains, no two teams from the same country can meet among others, the chance of repeating it is more like 1/100. So although still somewat unlikely, not quite in the realm of impossible.

that 1/2,000,000 odds did seem too much.

add the fact that you can get same pairs in different order and odds get much better.

[Jon AS]

Looks like Huntelaar is staying in Germany after all. Why he'd sign a new contract now, after Schalke have just once again demonstrated that their ability for long-term planning is non-existent* is anyone's guess.

*Firing the guy who got you into the CL KO stage as group winners because of a few bad games in the league, then immediately proving that said firing was pointless by going out of the cup in the next game anyway? Oh Schalke, will you ever learn?

[Alex.]

Can you all please stop saying things like "Downing played well"? I just assume you're telling porkies and then feel compelled to watch *Liverpool* highlights on a Sunday morning.

Urghh

[MercenaryChef]

meireles gets 11 match ban in turkey.

Late on Thursday, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced an 11-match ban for Fenerbahce's Raul Meireles. The midfielder had been sent off with eight minutes to go after collecting a second yellow card. Meireles, in a rather ill-judged display of defiance, kissed the Fenerbahce badge on several occasions in front of the partisan Galatasaray crowd as he made his way off the pitch. Yet the severity of the ban didn't relate to either misdemeanour.

Referee Halis Ozkahya alleged in his report that Meireles spat at him and made a homophobic slur towards him following the sending-off. Nobody is saying that he behaved angelically in the aftermath, having crossed words with both Emmanuel Eboue and Felipe Melo as he made his way from the scene of the crime, but Meireles' reaction of shock and indignation has been quite unprecedented.

The former Chelsea man has bluntly accused Ozkahya of inventing the accusations leading to the ban, which, if it stood, would rule him out of Super Lig action until the end of February.

"It's unbelievable, a suspension of so many games, and based on the referee's lies," Meireles told Lusa, Portugal's main news agency. "I had access (to the report) and I was reading that he said I spat in his face. It's a total lie. It also says that I made a gesture to him that meant he was gay."

11 games? that is insane. turkish teams are under the umbrella of UEFA. i cannot possibly see this holding up.

[mormont]

11 games is not that outrageous. Di Canio got 11 matches for pushing a ref when he was sent off. Spitting at one and using homophobic gestures into the bargain has to be about the same.

Note that Meireles doesn't deny making the gesture, he only argues that he didn't mean it to be taken as homophobic. (He claims it was intended to show that the referee was 'weak' and caving in to the crowd's reaction.) You can see the gesture here:

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/fail/151106/raul-meireles-given-11-game-ban-for-spitting-and-making-homosexual-gesture-at-referee-doesnt-take-it-well.html

I have no idea what the gesture actually means - I don't really recognise it, must be a regional thing.

I don't know about the alleged 'spit' - at about 15 seconds, there's a bit that could be what the ref is referring to: Meireles is right in his face, angrily berating him, and, well, you can make up your own mind about it. To me it looks like one of those things that happens at a time like that: there may be spittle flying but it's not really spitting as such. But then again, that may not be what the ref's referring to at all.

[Alex.]

Rooney had an absolute stinker today before he was subbed. Not sure I've ever seen him play that badly.

E: my man love for Michu only increases after his goal today.

[MercenaryChef]

who will swoopin and buy up michu?

liverpool should consider him