Liverpool vs. Roma

The game is in 2 hours and no thread you guys disappoint me


AS Roma-Liverpool FC ROMA (4-3-3):Lobont; Rosi, Burdisso, Castan, Taddei; Bradley, Tachtsidis, Pjanic; Lopez, Osvaldo, Totti

Liverpool XI to face AS Roma: Gulacsi, McLaughlin, Skrtel, Carragher, Enrique, Spearing, Shelvey, Aquilani, Cole, Eccleston, Sterling.

Club friendly... and they play on neutral ground. maybe that's why it's not much to talk about.... or maybe not!

Odds are close. i predict a draw in this match! what do you think?

Full house on Fenway Park - Boston. This game will be interesting afterall.

if this is the best eccleston can show at age 21, he needs to be let go. not liverpool material, nor will he ever be from the looks of it. completely invisible up top. also, spearing is genuinely not good.

Aquilani/Shelvey/Sterling and Joe freaking Cole have looked great so far though.

Also, two penalty shouts denied and a woodwork hit? This is looking strangely familiar.

....then Roma goes home the victor... Sorry Liverpool! Nice game though. LOL

Lots of encouraging signs from this game, and the first of two goals was more class from Bradley than defensive lapse. I'm a little worried that the first 11 is going to have so little time together before the season, but since most of them are back from last year it shouldn't be too big of a deal. Excited to have Lucas back, and hope to see Pacheco, Aquilani, Shelvey and Sterling play bigger parts this year... Each has looked very good in their two appearances. Joe Cole also looked as though he could provide some quality for the team, one can hope that carries over into the season.

On the negative side, I have to call out Jay Spearing. He really isn't of the quality for what Liverpool is trying to accomplish; his passing and decision making was poor, and his defense wasn't helpful at all, those being the three things he needs to contribute from that role on the field. I truly hope we have someone who can rotate with Lucas so that Spearing sees limited time on the field. Charlie Adam too seems poor on the ball and placing passes, his goal notwithstanding (which, it must be said, was a great take). Nathan Eccleston will not be doing anything for the club at any point in the future; I have yet to see him do anything of interest, and he's older than Shelvey or some of our other prospects. I'd rather see Pacheco, Sterling and Morgan feature in the front line than him in the Premier League this season.

Other than that, though, not much to criticize.

Agreed with everything you said and I'd like to just add how poor Enrique was. Horrid IMO. Misplaced passes, losing possession over and over, getting caught out of position. Horrible crosses.

We're lucky that Robinson is showing promises, he might become a starter sooner than expected.

I was watching the game and the entire time I was thinking that Liverpool is chasing after the wrong American, and the right one for their system ended up putting them away.

Then you either do not understand Dempsey's game, or underrate him greatly... and have completely ignored the fact that Liverpool have a surplus of CM's and a lack of attackers. Whether our CM's fit directly into the preferred system or not is a small problem compared to actually lacking players for that position as we do for Demspey's likely role.





On the pre-season so far: Hugely impressed with how Sterling, Morgan, and Suso have stepped in and made their presences known during their time on the pitch. Sterling, along with Shelvey, really was the go-to man in the first half who the side looked to to make things happen. Suso struggled a bit at RF/RW but when he drifted inside today, and played at CM against Toronto, he was constantly looking to make the team tick as well. Morgan, in his time, has looked ten times the player Eccleston is. He also appears to have a bit of an attitude, which isn't a bad thing for a striker. I hope he continues to develop, as he'd add a very handy option to the team.

Sterling has only reaffirmed that he's a class young player with huge potential. I'm torn on the idea of loaning him this season, as I think he could prove a handy option for the club if Gerrard picks up another injury in the middle of the season when games are coming thick and fast. I would like to see him playing consistently, though. Pacheco has also shown some indication of finally stepping up, after his disappointing loan. If he can kick on from that it could make the end of our transfer window considerably easier.

I think Eccleston was merely in the shop window for these games but his performances will have done him no favours here or elsewhere. He just doesn't look to have much about him. Wilson, as well, probably hasn't done enough to save his Liverpool career... though being played at LB so often hasn't helped the young CB. Sama, Wisdom, and Adorjan all continue to look like good prospects but also seem to be a way off breaking into the first team yet. Adorjan may not have the physique for the PL, honestly, but only time will tell.

Shelvey was fantastic, and Pacheco was very impressive too.

I am gonna literally kill myself if we give Pacheco away for peanuts and keep jokers like Cole and Downing

Schweini wrote:Shelvey was fantastic, and Pacheco was very impressive too.

I am gonna literally kill myself if we give Pacheco away for peanuts and keep jokers like Cole and Downing

No, you won't. And I personally take offense with the suggestion. It is not against the rules though, so I will not be removing it myself. I would request you do so.

Good game guys,could've went either way.All the best for the new season.

Patrick Bateman wrote:Good game guys,could've went either way.All the best for the new season.

Same to you my friend....This summer fixture between our clubs might just become a tradition

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:

Patrick Bateman wrote:Good game guys,could've went either way.All the best for the new season.

Same to you my friend....This summer fixture between our clubs might just become a tradition

Likely, given that the owner of Roma is a partner of Henry in FSG.

The second half was very entertaining and, while not quite as engaging, the first half had some good play from both sides as well. A good match overall, other than Heinze.

RedOranje wrote:

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:

Patrick Bateman wrote:Good game guys,could've went either way.All the best for the new season.

Same to you my friend....This summer fixture between our clubs might just become a tradition

Likely, given that the owner of Roma is a partner of Henry in FSG.

The second half was very entertaining and, while not quite as engaging, the first half had some good play from both sides as well. A good match overall, other than Heinze.

EX Man Utd player what did you expect ?

Can't really be bothered with friendlies, but nice to hear from you guys that some of our youngsters were on their game. Could do wonders to our team if the likes of Sterling and Suso turned out to be the real deal.

Our youngsters played well. Considering it was essentially our reserve squad with starters sprinkled in, I was pretty pleased. Now, had that been a squad full of first 11 candidates, I would've been severely disappointed with the first half. However, considering the circumstances, a good showing overall.

One thing I noticed was our boys not quite comfortable with the new style/approach. This was especially obvious in the first half. Several times we strung a few short passes together, became frustrated, and ended up lumping it over the Roma midfield in an attempt to get it to the forwards. In short, movement for some and quality for others was lacking. Eccleston simply wasn't good enough, and Cole seemed come deep to find space and then stand there waiting for a pass. (Sterling once again demonstrated why we're all so excited to see him mature as a player.) Part of Cole's problem could be preseason fitness, but I would be very weary of any starting lineup including him as a winger (even though I think that's where Rodgers sees him fitting in due to his defensive aversions).

Lucas and Skrtel both looked good, even if I wish Skrtel hadn't been so quick to clear everything. I think that was more out of necessity than playing style. Agger looked a bit off the pace, but that's understandable. Enrique's play worried me a bit, but I didn't think it was as awful as many seem to think. I think he just lacked a little decisiveness in attack. Wilson actually looked pretty solid as his backup, though he did lack a bit of attacking impetus.

In all, there were a lot of bright spots and only a few real concerns. The best part is that no one got injured. In other words, it was a successful friendly.