chesterfan2 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Thursday September 20th 2018 Euro Cup – Group E – Matchday 1 Venue: Ukraine, Lviv Karpaty (N/A) vs. Liverpool (N/A ) Reina is going to be my Euro Cup goalie, at least initially, so he gets his first start of the year here. Lopez is in training but not match ready yet so Romero partners Salva up front. Drage gets a run out behind the front two. The game was all fairly even in the opening few minutes, wastefulness on both sides the main obstacle to both teams, then on 13 minutes we got an attack together, Yarmolenko crossing. Salva knocking the ball down and Romero on hand to side foot the ball past the wrong footed keeper. We should really have scored more in the first half but the goals wouldn’t come, a combination of good goalkeeping and bad luck to blame for that. I told them to keep going at half time in the belief that it would. It took a slice of luck in our direction for us to actually get a second, this on 65 minutes. Enriquez shot from a good 25 yards and the ball pinged off the post, straight out to Salva who knocked it back into the net, his first goal for the club. I thought the flood gates might open and we got a third on 77, the scorer Ian Finley who had come on for Romero in the 62nd minute, with his first goal for the club, a good strike from around the penalty spot, leaving the keeper flat footed. Karpaty got a consolation goal near the end but we ran out comfortable winners. Final Score: Karpaty 1-3 Liverpool League Position: 2nd Scorers : Romero, Salva, Finley Man Of The Match: Jorge Enriquez Team: Lezcano, Nagatomo, Yarmolenko, Kjaer, Lagator, Ishikawa, Lucas, Enriquez, Drage, Romero (Finley 62), Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Saturday September 22nd 2018 Premier League Venue: Molineux Wolves (16th) vs. Liverpool (7th ) Less than two minutes into this and we are ahead, Finley, given the start today, rewarding us with a silky run from just inside the Wolves half, ghosting past two or three defenders, going into the box before tucking it past the goalkeeper for a wonderful goal. Unfortunately it didn’t last as Lagator gave away an equaliser with a poorly directed backpass that was easily intercepted. The game degenerated for a bit into a scrappy affair and it was anyone’s guess who would get the goal to put them back in front. On 33 minutes it was us with a Parades free kick from the left wing, knocked down and then smacked home by Lagator for ,what I believe, is his first league goal for Liverpool and it also makes up a bit for the defensive howler earlier. Route One then got us a third only five minutes later as Lagator hit a long, raking, ball out of defence, with Finley running onto it, and then off down the left wing, his pinpoint cross found the head of Salva and he nodded it home. 3-1 up at half time, not exactly cruising but nevertheless playing very well. I took Nagatomo off and put Piris on in the right wing back slot. I told them all to carry on what they were doing. And made us a little more stout, defensively. Wolves came out fighting, as you would expect a team that finished in the Euro Cup qualifying places in the league last year to do, and they scored a fabulous goal on 51, a run and shot from just inside our half. I have to ask questions about the goalkeeping on that, I think Lezcano should have done better. On 65 Parades, who had been superb, had to limp off with an injury, Drage on in his place. Just two minutes after that Drage knocked over a corner, Ishikawa controlled the ball and fired it across the face of goal where Salva was on hand for his second of the day. On 84 Wolves grabbed one back against the run of play and we had a nervy last five minutes on our hands. Drage himself then limped off, 88 minutes on the clock. Replaced by Lopez, returning from his injury with a two minute (plus injury time) cameo. It turned out to be four minutes of injury time, a long four minutes, but we held out and registered the win. Not as good defensively as we had been doing, but going forward we still look very potent. Final Score: Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-4 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Finley, Lagator, Salva 2 Man Of The Match: Leandro Paredes Team: Lezcano, Nagatomo (Piris 45), Yarmolenko, Kjaer, Lagator, Ishikawa, Crisetig, Enriquez, Paredes (Drage 66(Lopez 88)), Finley, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 Wednesday September 25th 2018 Capital One Cup Third Round Venue: Ashton Gate Bristol City (CH 21st) vs. Liverpool (PRM 1st ) A banana skin if ever I saw one, or at least the potential of one. Nevertheless a chance to rest a couple of players, and a debut on the left wing for Stephen Jones; a graduate of the academy and a very exciting young player. We started well, with a goal after only 39 seconds, Ishikawa knocking the ball in from close range after a Lagator header from a corner had been blocked on the line. On 9 minutes it was two as Sterling cut in from the right, went past two and slid the ball under the diving body of the keeper for a very well taken goal. A defensive mistake allowed them to get a goal back on 17 minutes, Lagator saved a corner but gifted the ball straight to the forward who happily shot home. On 21 we restored the two goal cushion as Nagatomo was the man in the right place to stab the ball home in an almighty goalmouth scramble. Half time, three-one up, and playing well. I told them as much and sent them back out there. A minute into the second period and it was 4-1, Paredes setting up Salva for the goal, coolly taken under quite a bit of pressure. We grew a bit wayward after that, and then sat back and waited for the final whistle. It eventually came, a comprehensive 4-1 victory. Final Score: Bristol City 1-4 Liverpool Scorers : Ishikawa, Sterling, Nagatomo, Salva Man Of The Match: Shinta Ishikawa Team: Reina, Beer, Nagatomo, Ishikawa, Lagator, Lucas, Schweinsteiger, Jones, Paredes ,Sterling, Salva In the Fourth Round we got a home tie against Southampton. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 Saturday September 29th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Manchester United (6th ) United have not got off to the best start this season, and whilst they won’t be too bothered about going out of the Capital One Cup during the week the fact that it was to their local rivals, Man City, will have stung so I think we can expect them to be on a bit of a mission. A debut today for Samuel Boldrini our Australian wing back, as we revert to a 5-3-2 in order to take the game to them. The game starts well and we look the brighter of the two sides but we go behind on 20 as another defensive error against the good sides lets in Wayne Rooney in to take the ball round Lezcano and roll it into the empty net. We didn’t lie down though, which was good, and we were level on 27 as Parades curled in the corner and Ishikawa was there for his second goal in two games, squeezed in from a very tight angle. Level at half time then. I told them they could still win this, and you know what ? I really believed we could. The second half was end to end stuff, United bought on their half fit superstar Neymar and he saw a shot from thirty yards acrobatically tipped onto the bar by Lezcano. At the other end De Gea was in imperious form making two really good and one world class save in a period when we were on top. Rooney was a yard offside when he turned the ball in on 77, then on 80 minutes, Lucas won the ball midway in our half and fed Lopez on the half way line. United had committed too many men forward and Lopez was allowed to run at the heart of the United defence, he was closed down as he reached the edge but he fed the ball wide to Yarmolenko who drove into the box and then crossed for Salva, unmarked ten yards out, to head home for a two-one lead. The crowd went wild. Boldrini limped off in the 85th minute, replaced by Piris, Lopez broke clear on 89, hit a post and was then cleaned out as he went for the rebound, a clear penalty in my eyes but not given and Lopez had to come off too. Finley on. I took off a tired Lucas in the first minute of four minutes of injury time, Crisetig the man coming on, and we spent the last three or so minutes booting the ball as far down the park as we could get it. The whistle went and we were winners. What a fabulous, fabulous, day. Final Score: Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United League Position: 1st Scorers : Ishikawa, Salva Man Of The Match: Leandro Salva Team: Lezcano, Boldrini (Piris 85), Yarmolenko, Kjaer, Lagator, Ishikawa, Lucas (Crisetig 91), Enriquez, Paredes , Lopez (Finley 89), Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 Thursday October 4th 2018 Euro Cup – Group E – Matchday 2 Venue: Anfield Liverpool (2nd) vs. Vitesse Arnhem (1st ) Vitesse, league leaders in Group E after a 3-0 win (compared to our 3-1 of course), were the visitors tonight. We were strong favourites for this one, so I made a couple of changes. To call the opening twenty minutes scrappy is a disservice to the word scrappy. It was awful, from both sides, appallingly bad stuff, passes misplaced, shots out for throw-ins, awful. Then on 34 it changed, at last a slick move, passing to your own men and everything, obviously the shouting and the purpleness of my face on the sideline had impressed on them the need to try and play some football. Anyway, in the move Paredes took the ball over the half way line, and played it forward to Enriquez who then split the defence with a pass into the area that Yarmolenko ran onto and slotted the ball beyond the keeper’s reach and into the far corner, a lovely goal. On 39 we got a second, Paredes this time, picking up the ball on the edge of the centre circle and moving forward the defence seemed to part for him, allowing him to move to the edge of the ‘D’ and then smashing the ball in, the keeper left standing. Half time, two up and no alarms. I told them I thought they could play better, not entirely sure if they believed me. We pushed on in the second half but were too eager to shoot on a number of occasions and it took us to the 67th minute to extend our lead, Finley bundling the ball home after a Lagator cross had caused chaos in the Vitesse box. That was the match pretty much, they had a guy sent off at the death for a second yellow, but that made no difference to us, nor indeed, them. Final Score: Liverpool 3-0 Vitesse Arnhem League Position: 1st Scorers : Yarmolenko, Paredes, Finley Man Of The Match: Sime Lagator Team: Reina, Nagatomo, Yarmolenko, Kjaer, Lagator, Ishikawa, Lucas , Enriquez, Paredes ,Finley, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 Sunday October 7th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (2nd) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (3rd ) Our second place in the league would only be temporary if we could get something from this game. QPR had gone top by a point after winning their game the day before, but that meant they had played two games more than us. I went with the 4-1-2-2-1 formation here, as Tottenham have been a force going forward with their Mexican centre forward Fierro leading the goalscoring charts. Crisetig in front of the back four should give a bit of protection, that was my thinking. I think the formation change threw Spurs a bit as we started the better of the two teams and were a goal up in the 8th minute. Crisetig picked up the ball on the half way line and strode forward, playing the ball inside the full back for Yarmolenko to run onto, he drew the keeper and then rolled the ball to his right for Salva to pop the ball into the empty net. The rest of the first half flew by, Lezcano not really having been tested, a few desultory shots, which caused no alarms. In fact we had the best chance of the rest of the half right in the last minute of normal time as Schweinsteiger got to the line, pulled it back and Sterling shot over the bar from only ten yards out, a bad miss. I told them not to get complacent at half time, and almost all of them seemed to get that particular message loud and clear. Nevertheless Spurs came out fighting and for the first twenty or so minutes of the second period they held siege to our goal, but Lezcano was in superb form, one save where he threw himself to the left as the ball came through a forest of players was out of this world. Just past the hour he was beaten but Gareth Bale’s shot was rising and pinged back of the bar. Slowly we re-exerted a little bit of control and on 74 we got a second goal, a Schweinsteiger corner, headed in at the near post by Lagator, Spurs were finished after that and from that point we ran the game out, quite comfortable, as winners. Final Score: Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur League Position: 1st Scorers : Salva, Lagator Man Of The Match: Sime Lagator Team: Lezcano, Beer, Nagatomo, Lagator, Ishikawa, Crisetig , Lucas, Schweinsteiger , Yarmolenko, Sterling,, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Friday October 12th 2018 European Championship Qualifying Group H Venue: Ernst-Happoel-Stadion, Wien Austria vs. England I take the decision to play Wilshire, even though he is one yellow away from a one match ban in this qualification group, our next group match is at home to Israel (since when have they been a apart of Europe ?, but that’s a different question). I’d taken the controversial decision to leave Rooney out of the squad, as he’s not been in the best of form for United, but such is his reputation that in the Daily Express at least it seems that I am putting the continued existence of our nation on the line with this decision. Such is the life of an England manager. A cagey opening was followed by some scrappy football in which none of our lads really distinguished themselves. Austria played some possession football and frustrated our lads, I really expected them to cope better with that. On 36 minutes Austria surprised no-one in taking the lead, a loose ball on the edge of the box smacked home with a vicious shot. The lead didn’t last, though we were lucky to get the opportunity. The Austrians had broken up another England attack, but when they played the ball across the back line, it bobbled as it got the centre back and he lost control of it, Ian Finley nipped in, drew the keeper and scored, a goal out of nothing. At the break 1-1 and a telling off. The worst performer, Wellbeck was removed for West Ham’s Luke Freeman, and the tiredest, Chris Smalling was replaced by Southampton’s Martin Kelly. On the hour the Austrian keeper produced a marvellous save to deny Finley a second goal, then on 76 we went behind again, this one down to some poor goalkeeping by Joe Hart letting a soft shot go under his body. We don’t have too many viable options in the goalkeeping department so I could do without a dodgy keeper. The Austrians had their tails up now and there was no way back for our lads. This one ends in defeat. Final Score: Austria 2-1 England Scorers : Finley Man Of The Match: Ian Finley Team: Hart, Smalling (Kelly 45), Baines, Shawcross, Jones, Barkley, Cork, Huddlestone, Wilshire, Wellbeck (Freeman 45), Finley Of course defeat means a slating in the press. Team Selection, tactics, and in some quarters my qualifications even to be England Manager are all questioned. Obviously I'll not be able to leave Rooney out again, and just as obviously I'd have to rethink the goalkeeping options, but most of all I'd have to learn from this, oh yes. I'd have to learn. Back with Liverpool and some bad news on the eve of our next league game. Ishikawa was named in the Asian Games squad for Japan, and would be away for most of November. We’d have to cross that bridge when we came to it but for now there was a trip to East Anglia to think of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenthreeleader Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I suppose that's why they call it "The Impossible Job". Commiserations, sir. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Thanks 10-3, it's a job you need to learn quickly, I'd think ! Sunday October 20th 2018 Premier League Venue: Carrow Road Norwich City (13th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) The game’s opening ten minutes was a story of half chances to both sides, headers wide, shots off target that sort of thing. On 14 minutes it all changed as Paredes picked up the ball in the centre circle, ran with the ball, evading a couple of challenges to just inside the Norwich box where he proceeded to pass the ball into the back of the net. Another fabulous goal. Paredes turned provider in the 19th minute as he took the ball to the edge of the box, then split the defence with a pass to the feet of Salva, next to the penalty spot, and he ain’t gonna miss from there. The rest of the half was mainly our pressure, though Lezcano did have to make one good save, but we went in two goals up, and I thought playing very well. I told them as much though I have spotted a tendency for them to take the foot off the pedal a little when I tell them that. There were signs of that it has to be said in the opening exchanges, and that led to Norwich still believing they could get something out of the game. On 71 minutes they got a goal back, another one conceded by us from a corner, not picking up the second guy as the ball was flicked on, and slammed home. Norwich had their tails up and were searching for an equaliser, but on 86, Paredes sent Lopez, on for an ineffectual Romero, through on goal, his shot was saved, but Salva was on hand to knock in the rebound, three-one. We managed to let slip another goal in the 89th minute, complacent defending if ever I saw it, but in injury time it was us who looked more likely to score, but it finished 3-2, and we remain top. Final Score: Norwich 2-3 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Paredes, Salva 2 Man Of The Match: Leandro Paredes Team: Lezcano, Nagatomo, Yarmolenko, Lagator, Kjaer, Ishikawa, Lucas, Enriquez, Paredes, Romero (Lopez 60), Salva The result meant that we had nineteen points from seven games, five clear of a group including Man City in second and Arsenal in fourth. The other teams in the chasing group QPR and Man Utd had, like the majority of the other teams, played eight. It wasn’t all roses though as Paredes left the game with a knock, a twisted knee, and he’ll be out for two to three weeks. Which was a blow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Thursday October 25th 2018 Euro Cup – Group E – Matchday 3 Venue: St, Jakobspark Basel (4th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) Snowing, lightly, in Switzerland this evening, and freezing, but the game goes ahead. I fear this will be a leveller and so go with a slightly more defensive formation than I would have otherwise done. A leveller it was, we were appalling in the majority of the first period. Completely anonymous for the first 15, then we wasted opportunities and possession in equal measure. Meanwhile Reina wasn’t being unduly troubled by the Basel attack. On 41 we managed to craft a goal, a through ball from Yarmolenko, Salva took it on, and at the edge of the box hit a shot which the Basel keeper really should have stopped, but it went through his hands and into the net. A goal up at half time, and I’m not exactly sure how they have managed it. I tell them I think they can do better and send them back out there. They didn’t do better, Basel equalised a couple of minutes into the half, a good shot, Reina no chance, that’s what you get for trying to hold onto a one goal lead. We had chances late on to win it, but their keeper was up to the task. It ended a draw, very much a lost opportunity. Final Score: Basel 1-1 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Salva Man Of The Match: Andriy Yarmolenko Team: Reina, Piris, Nagatomo, Kjaer, Lagator, Crisetig, Lucas, Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Sterling (Ibe 61), Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Tuesday October 30th 2018 Capital One Cup Fourth Round Venue: Anfield Liverpool (PRM 1st) vs. Southampton(PRM 16th ) We revert to the 5-3-2 formation with Schweinsteiger playing just behind the strikers and De Felippe chosen to fill in the hole in the back three left by Ishikawa’s Asian Games escapades. Romero gets the nod over Lopez up front to give the lad some game time, something he’s been complaining about recently. 8 minutes in and we take the lead, a Schweinsteiger near post corner firmly headed in by Kjaer. On 18 Romero hit the post with a curling free kick, unlucky the lad was, there. In fact we wasted quite a few chances before we scored the second on 41. A carbon copy of the first this time it was Lagator arriving at the near post to head home a Schweinsteiger corner. At half time 2-0, and a good performance to boot, I told them as much. In the second half Crisetig hit the post, but that was as close as anybody got. A 2-0 win, completed at a canter, and on into the next round. Final Score: Liverpool 2-0 Southampton Scorers : Kjaer, Lagator Man Of The Match: Bastian Schweinsteiger Team: Reina, Boldrini, Yarmolenko, Lagator, Kjaer, De Felippe, Lucas, Crisetig, Schweinsteiger, Romero, Salva In the end of month awards I was awarded the Manager of the Month accolade and Leandro Salva was the Young Player of The Month. Not such good news from The Capital One Cup draw. We got a home draw in the Quarter Final, but against Tottenham, which is not the easiest draw we could have had. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Saturday November 3rd 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Southampton(16th ) As is sometimes the way our opponents earlier in the week in the cup are here again for a league encounter. A couple of changes in personnel for this one, but no change in formation, it worked so comprehensively last time I’d be impressed if they had worked out a way to beat it this time round. We struggled for the first twenty minutes to find a way through the Southampton defence, they were, this time, a lot better organised and gave us some problems early on. Life was not made any easier with Nagatomo having to come off on 15 mins, Boldrini his direct replacement. The game changed on 21 minutes with a piece of individual brilliance, as Alfredo Lopez picked up a loose ball midway inside the Southampton half near the left hand touchline, he took it on, past two defenders, into the box, foxed one more and then unleashed a shot which flew past the keeper without the lad moving. Excellent stuff. We seemed to switch off a bit after the goal, which was disappointing. Southampton got some of the ball, and got some shots in. None of them troubled Lezcano but we couldn’t rely on them not catching one right in the second half now could we ? I told them not to get complacent at the half time break, it seemed to sink in. Or had it ? just past the hour Southampton equalised, a free kick from 25 yards, screamed into the top corner. It was almost like you could see it coming. But to our credit we fought our way back into the game and grabbed a winner in the 87th minute. Enriquez, fabulous today, won the ball and lofted it over the top of the defence, Salva ran onto it and, on the rebound, knocked the ball in. Perhaps not deserved but if you want to win this league sometimes you have to win ugly, and that’s just what this was. Final Score: Liverpool 2-1 Southampton League Position: 1st Scorers : Lopez, Salva Man Of The Match: Jorge Enriquez Team: Lezcano, Nagatomo (Boldrini 15), Yarmolenko, Lagator, Kjaer (Piris 91), De Felippe, Enriquez, Crisetig, Schweinsteiger, Lopez, Salva Kjaer’s injury was just a slight knock, whilst Nagatomo would be out for up to 8 days with a bruised thigh. Meanwhile the table looked quite healthy: | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |[b] 1st | | Liverpool | | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 8 | +12 | 22 [/b] | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Tottenham | | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 6 | +12 | 18 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Man Utd | | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 18 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Q.P.R. | | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 17 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Chelsea | | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 17 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Everton | | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 15 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Man City | | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 6 | +12 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Arsenal | | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Stoke | | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Newcastle | | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 15 | +1 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Blackpool | | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 13 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Fulham | | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 16 | -5 | 12 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | West Brom | | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 10 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Norwich | | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 16 | -6 | 8 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Wolves | | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 15 | -6 | 8 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Southampton | | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 8 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Aston Villa | | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 7 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Watford | | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 23 | -10 | 7 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Burnley | | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 22 | -16 | 3 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | West Ham | | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 16 | -11 | 2 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 Thursday November 8th 2018 Euro Cup – Group E – Matchday 4 Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Basel (3rd ) Lorenzo Crisetig is forced into service as a left back for this one, all our left back’s either being injured or unregistered for this competition. Other than that it’s not all bad news fitness-wise, with Drage returning after injury getting a run out and Parades fit enough to appear on the bench. You could say we got off to a good start, a goal up on 22 seconds, Yarmolenko getting down the left, crossing and volleyed home by Sterling. Drage got back on the goal trail with a penalty on 8 minutes, as Yarmolenko was pushed in the back as a corner came over, right in front of the ref. Basel got their heads together and on 23 minutes got one back, we were caught up field and they struck quickly and decisively to get the goal. The comeback was short lived as we re-established a two goal cushion as Salva drew the keeper before pulling the ball back for Drage to slam the ball home for his second of the game. 3-1 up at half time, and playing well, the question was could we carry the performance into the second half. The answer was that we could, but our finishing was wayward, as on a number of occasions we shot just wide, just over, or straight at the keeper. Wayward until the 85th minute when Sterling cut in from the right, fed Drage and the Norwegian completed his comeback hatrick with some ease. The game ended a 4-1 win, a very easy match. Meanwhile Vitesse were beating Karpaty and so with two games left in the group we qualify for the First Knockout Round, First place in the group is still to play for, but qualification is now sorted. Final Score: Liverpool 4-1 Basel Scorers : Sterling, Drage 3 Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Piris, Crisetig, Lagator, Kjaer , Lucas, Enriquez, Yarmolenko, Drage, Sterling, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 Sunday November 11th 2018 Premier League Venue: The Boleyn Ground (Upton Park) West Ham (20th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) West Ham are in danger of losing their way if they are not careful this year. Three consecutive defeats have seen them drop to the bottom of the table, another one here might cut them adrift. Still we can’t afford to take our foot off the pedal here, so we won’t, or rather I hope we won’t. We started poorly and a side with a little more composure would have made us pay on at least two occasions in that opening ten or fifteen minutes. We made them pay for their wastefulness too, grabbing a goal on 17 minutes with our first meaningful attack of the day. Salva held the ball up on the edge of the box and fed Parades as he burst past him and into the box, Paredes then settled himself and slotted the ball into net past a static goalkeeper. On 22 minutes West Ham were awarded a penalty in what I thought was a shocking decision. Justice was done though, as they missed. On the half hour we were awarded a penalty, for a slightly agricultural challenge, Lopez stepped up and saw his penalty, too, being saved by the West Ham keeper. No surprise then that we got to half time still a goal up. I told them to play better and harder, and slightly more defensively. In the second period West Ham showed exactly why they were bottom of the table. They were all over us, should have scored six or seven goals, but they didn’t manage one, a couple of shocking misses in that, and not a lot down to the skill of Lezcano, though he did ok. The game finished 1-0 to us. Spawny, but a win, is a win, is a win. Final Score: West Ham 0-1 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorer : Paredes Man Of The Match: Sime Lagator Team: Lezcano, Benedetti, Nagatomo, Lagator, Kjaer , Schweinsteiger, Enriquez, Yarmolenko, Paredes, Lopez, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 Wednesday November 14th 2018 Premier League Venue: Vicarage Road Watford (16th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) A rest for Kjaer and a first league start for Lebron as a result. No other surprises in selection terms, but a bit of surprise as to the first goalscorer. On 4 minutes the ball was crossed from the left, travelled a long way across the box without being touched and Samuel Boldrini arrived at the back post where he smashed the ball in for his first goal for the club. Our lead lasted for less than a minute as Watford hit straight back, our habit lately has been towards sloppy defending at times and we were punished here. On 10 minutes though, we were back in front, Lopez fouled on the edge of the box, Paredes stepped up and curled the free kick over the wall and beyond the flapping arms of the keeper and into the net, a brilliant goal. Paredes turned provider on 14 minutes as he found Lopez in space on the edge of the box and Lopez used the opportunity to shoot home from 20 yards, giving the keeper no chance. On the half hour it was four as Boldrini got to the byline and crossed for Salva to turn it in at the near post. Four-one at half time became 5-1 on 50 minutes as Crisetig set up Salva for his second goal of the game, taken in from the edge of the box and dispatched past the keeper as he came out to close down the angle. On 67 we gave away a penalty, a clear foul by Lagator, no complaints. Lezcano though saved his second penalty in a row, and we stayed at 5-1. In fact on 77 it became 6-1, as Crisetig passed the ball in to Lopez, he beat two players before sliding the ball past the keeper. Seven-one on 80 minutes as Lucas turned home a corner, half cleared by the Watford defence. Salva completed his hatrick with a brilliant solo goal on 87, for 8-1. He got a fourth goal and our ninth on the 90 minute mark, Watford looked shellshocked at the end of three minutes of injury time, as we concluded our best 90 minutes of the season. Final Score: Watford 1-9 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorer : Boldrini, Paredes, Lopez 2, Salva 4, Lucas Man Of The Match: Leandro Salva Team: Lezcano, Boldrini, Yarmolenko, Lagator, De Felippe, Lebron , Lucas, Crisetig, Paredes, Lopez, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Saturday November 17th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Newcastle United (10th ) One change from the side that won during the week, Yarmolenko was tired so Mohammed Guindo steps into the left wing back role, for his first start. Otherwise we are unchanged, though I accept Paredes could do with a rest, I’ll try and get one more game out of him before that. In the match, after a quiet opening 15 minutes the game burst into life with a Liverpool goal on 18 minutes. A slick passing move saw the Newcastle defence chasing shadows. Eventually the ball was pushed to the feet of Salva and he had the time and space to pick his spot from 18 yards, and the confidence to make it work. 1-0 up. On 25 minutes Lopez chipped in with a very similar goal, more slick passing and the time Paredes set him free into the box with a defence splitting pass, and from there Lopez’s powerful shot did the rest. Just before the half hour mark Salva picked up the ball on the edge of the centre circle, he went past a couple of non-existent challenges and smashed the ball home from 20 yards, another picture book goal. On 41 Lopez was bundled over as a Lucas cross came over, the ref had no hesitation in awarding a penalty. Lopez and Salva had a little ‘conversation’ about who should take the pen, Salva won, and completed his hatrick with a pen that sent the goalie the wrong way. Four up at half time, a couple of tweaks and send them back out. The second half is an exercise in frustration, Salva denied by a superb reflex save, the closest we came to scoring. Still, 4-0 at home is not a bad scoreline. Final Score: Liverpool 4-0 Newcastle League Position: 1st Scorer : Salva 3, Lopez Man Of The Match: Leandro Salva Team: Lezcano, Boldrini, Guindo, Lagator, De Felippe, Lebron , Lucas, Crisetig, Paredes, Lopez, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Wednesday November 21st 2018 International Friendly Venue: Wembley England vs. Paraguay A friendly game so a couple of personnel changes and a couple of new caps, Nathan Redmond of Everton and Jay Rodriguez of Newcastle being the lads in question. And they were both involved in the opening goal, on 2 minutes, Redmond taking the ball down the right, crossing, Rodriguez forcing the defence into a half clearance and Ian Finley sweeping home the loose ball. Redmond grabbed the second himself on 37 minutes, he cut in from the right and rifled the ball home, a very well taken effort. Shawcross had the embarrassment of an own goal on 47 minutes as Paraguay got back into the match after the restart. Right at the death a Redmond corner was headed in by Lascelles and we had secured a 3-1 win. Final Score: England 3-1 Paraguay Scorers : Finley, Redmond, Lascelles Man Of The Match: Nathan Redmond Team: Smithies, Walker, Schiffman, Shawcross, Lascelles, Redmond, Henderson, Huddlestone, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rodriguez, Finley Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Saturday November 24th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Fulham (10th ) I hoped the international break wouldn’t harm our run of good form, especially with my former team the visitors today. Boldrini had come back from the international break as our only casualty. His strain would keep him out for a couple of weeks. Benedetti will fill in. Lucas has come back tired and Enriquez will take his place. Yarmolenko regains his place on the left. We’ll play a 4-1-2-2-1 formation as Fulham like to play five across the middle. I can’t see the 5-3-2 being too successful against that, but with two wide men we might give them something to think about. Crisetig limped off early, with only two minutes on the clock, so Lucas’s break proved short lived. The first half was cagey and uneventful, no real threats on goal from either side, and the last couple of games profligacy in front of goal seemed a long way off. Goalless at the break, I told them they could win it and swapped an out-of-sorts Salva for a bang-in-form for his country Ian Finley. He’s not had many chances here, so hopefully he’d take this one. But it wasn’t to be, what had been fluid going forward in the games prior to this became stilted and awkward, we struggled to make clear cut chances and though we never looked like conceding a goal, we never looked like scoring one either. Final Score: Liverpool 0-0 Fulham League Position: 1st Scorer : Man Of The Match: Jorge Enriquez Team: Lezcano, Benedetti, Nagatomo, Lagator, Kjaer, Crisetig (Lucas 3) ,Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Lopez, Salva (Finley 45) We lost Crisetig to a pulled hamstring, and he’ll be out for a month. Worse news was to follow in training the next day, as Lucas Leiva tore his hamstring and will be out for three months. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Tuesday November 27th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Aston Villa (11th ) This is one of our games in hand, and so it’s important to get a result. We revert to a 5-3-2, simply due to our lack of fit central midfielders, Schweinsteiger and Enriquez are the only ones fit, so they start. Another dour opening quarter of an hour turned into a dour opening twenty, yet on 21 we got a goal, some neat passing followed by Salva ghosting past one and firing home from the edge of the box, a super goal. Thereafter we huffed and we puffed but Aston Villa’s staunch defending prevented us from extending our lead. Half time and a goal up. Villa[‘s defending was committed but could they keep it up for ninety minutes ? I wasn’t so sure. We hit the post twice early on in the second half, but Villa’s defence really kept the pressure up. We managed to get a second goal on 72 minutes, a Nagatomo shot was blocked once again on the edge, but this time the rebound fell to Salva and he fired home from just inside the box. That was it for the scoring, and with 35 points from 13 games, we were seven points and one game in hand ahead of second placed Manchester United. Final Score: Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa League Position: 1st Scorers : Salva 2 Man Of The Match: Jorge Enriquez Team: Lezcano, Nagatomo, Yarmolenko, Lagator, Lebron, De Felippe, Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Parades, Lopez, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Friday November 30th 2018 Premier League Venue: The City Of Manchester Stadium Manchester City (3rd) vs. Liverpool (1st ) The first of a couple of difficult away games, that, if we can come out of them with anything, could go a long way towards getting us the league title. We set out quite defensively and frustrated City pretty much at the cost of our own ambitions going forward. Not a lot to note in terms of chances to note in the opening half hour, but on the half hour mark I was forced to change my plans. Enriquez had to come off, and a lack of a suitable replacement on the bench led to me putting on Paredes and altering the formation to be slightly more forward minded. The pressure from City increased, but they didn’t manage to test Lezcano very much. Then on 41 minutes we broke clear down the right, Sterling played the ball inside to Salva and he switched flanks with a raking cross field pass that Yarmolenko volleyed as it came down, the ball flying past the England goalkeeper, Joe Hart and into the top right hand corner. Half time I gave them the speech about complacency, which they seemed to gain some focus from and I set us out more defensively. Unfortunately it didn’t work, they were level within a minute of the restart, overwhelming our defence from the kick off and firing home from a narrow angle. After that though we looked comfortable but still a little bit shy of getting another goal. But another goal did arrive, late on, but it wasn’t for us. In the 81st minute City broke down the field, we had probably pressed forward a bit too hard and were caught on the break, eluded a couple of last ditch tackles and steered the ball past Lezcano for the winner. This was our first defeat of the season. The trick now would be to not let it become two in a row. Final Score: Man City 2-1 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Yarmolenko Man Of The Match: Simon Kjaer Team: Lezcano, Benedetti, Lagator, Lebron, Kjaer, Enriquez (Paredes 31), Schweinsteiger, Drage, Yarmolenko, Sterling, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Monday December 3rd 2018 Capital One Cup Quarter Final Venue: Anfield Liverpool (PRM 1st) vs. Tottenham Hotspur(PRM 6th ) This game saw the return of Ishikawa after his Asian Games duty, he went straight into a back four in the 4-2-3-1 formation we selected to match up to what Spurs were going to throw at us. Spurs got the opening goal on 8 minutes, our old nemesis, a header from a near post corner our undoing once more. We’d gone a while without one of those, but it looks like something that I’ll need to look at again. And as we pushed forward looking for an equaliser they got a second, this one on 40 minutes, sloppy defending to blame for this one, cup goalie, Reina badly positioned, to boot. At half time I blew my top at them, pathetic first half performance, awful defending. I took Lagator, for once playing absolutely diabolically, off and replaced him with Kjaer. I told them to go for the throat and sent them back out there. Well something must have worked as we pulled one back in the 47th minute, Ishikawa forcing home a corner that had travelled right through to the back post. It didn’t last as we inexplicably left their top scorer unmarked at a free kick and he volleyed home when picked out. We were playing as badly as I have ever seen Liverpool play, either as a Manager or as a kid growing up, but despite that we did manage to get a second goal, on 76, as Kjaer headed in a Schweinsteiger corner at the near post. We threw the kitchen sink at Spurs for the last 15 minutes, but our crosses mainly formed catching practice for their keeper and we ended up getting exactly what we deserved out of this game, nothing. It annoys me no end that when they play against the so-called ‘better’ clubs they forget how to play football. They did things today they wouldn’t do against other teams. Quite, quite, inexplicable. Final Score: Liverpool 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur Scorers : Ishikawa, Kjaer Man Of The Match: Bastian Schweinsteiger Team: Reina, Piris, Nagatomo, Lagator (Kjaer 45), Ishikawa, Enriquez , Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Paredes, Lopez, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Two losses on the bounce, that's the Liverpool we all love to hate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 That's the spirit, Mark ! Thursday December 6th 2018 Euro Cup – Group E – Matchday 5 Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Karpaty (4th ) We had already qualified of course, and Karpaty only had the challenge of not finishing bottom of the group to edify them, so other than our own final league position there wasn’t a whole lot riding on this one. That said, we had lost two in a row in all competitions, and I didn’t want the rot to set in. In the team, a 5-3-2 selection Salazar returns for his first match back after injury and Finley gets a run out up top. U18 starlet Jimmy Page, a central midfielder, gets a place on the bench, such is our injury crisis in that department. I don’t know about his parents, Led Zepplin fans perhaps ? To say that the first half was one sided would be an understatement, we dominated and, despite losing Nagatomo to injury early on (Piris replaced him, we peppered the goal with shot after shot, a few wide but mainly met with a goalkeeper performing heroics. Goalless at half time seemed an impossibility, but that’s what we got. I made a couple of adjustments and one change in personnel, Romero for Finley at the break, and told them how disappointed I was on them, I hoped that would get them going. I have to say, it seemed to work, as we were a goal up only 49 seconds into the second period, Salazar the left back popping up to slam that one home at the end of a move that had Karpaty chasing our tails. It was more of the same after that, but without the goals, we peppered the goal, but at the end we only had the one goal to show for it. Page came on for Enriquez in the 81st minute, and that was about it for this match, a win, but as Vitesse also won, it doesn’t solve who will finish top of the group. Final Score: Liverpool 1-0 Karpaty Scorers : Salazar Man Of The Match: Raziel Salazar Team: Reina, Nagatomo (Piris 27), Salazar,, Lagator, Kjaer, Ishikawa, Enriquez (Page 81) , Drage, Paredes, Finley (Romero 45), Salva Nagatomo injury was not good. A sprained ankle would keep him out for 5 to 6 weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 Sunday December 9th 2018 Premier League Venue: The Emirates Stadium Arsenal (6th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) A game, it has to be said, I was fully expecting is to lose. Nevertheless we set up in our defensive 4-1-2-2-1 formation with Enriquez detailed to man mark their attacking midfielder, the England attacking fulcrum Jack Wilshire. We started the game well, opening the scoring on 9 minutes when a Drage free kick from ten yards inside the Arsenal half and swung into the box was met by the head of Salva for goal number 17 of the league season. The rest of the half saw Arsenal trying to get back on level terms, but with Lezcano rarely called upon to do anything extraordinary. Yellow cards were liberally sprinkled in what was a niggly 45 minutes, but one in which we went in a goal up. The second half was pretty much one way traffic but for a single incursion up field on which Sterling forced the Arsenal keeper into a flying save. Other than that the defence was under the cosh for long periods, Lezcano called upon to produce quality save after quality save. Ishikawa to produce block after flying block. A stupendous second half defensive rear guard action saw us take all three points in a hard fought and well-earned win. If we are going to win this league, then wins like this need to be the norm. Final Score: Arsenal 0-1 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Salva Man Of The Match: Shinta Ishikawa Team: Lezcano, Benedetti, Lagator, Lebron, Ishikawa, Enriquez , Drage, Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Sterling, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 Wednesday December 12th 2018 Premier League Venue: The Britannia Stadium Stoke City (7th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) One major change for this one, leading scorer Salva,in need of a rest, given the night off, and want-away striker Luciano Romero given the chance to show off his talents. Elsewhere in the line-up our paucity of fit central midfielders led to a couple of youth players getting onto the bench. One of those lads, Jimmy Page, 18, was called on rather sooner than expected as Schweinsteiger limped off after only 4 minutes of the match. The rest of the half was curiously subdued with neither goalkeeper seriously tested, a yawn-fest for the paying public. At half time I told them they could win this game, if they wanted to, and in addition set them up to be a bit more positive. But the second half didn’t exactly go to plan, with us losing a goal in bizarre circumstances in the 53rd minute as Ishikawa tried to cut out a low cross but only succeeded in planting a flying header into his own net. Spectacular stuff. We threw the kitchen sink at them in response but only came out of it with a single goal, an 81st minute blast by Boldrini marauding down the right wing, and cutting in to fire home. We never looked like getting a winner and as such our lead was cut to five points by Man City. Final Score: Stoke City 1-1 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Boldrini Man Of The Match: Samuel Boldrini Team: Lezcano, Boldrini, Salazar, Lagator, De Felippe, Ishikawa, Enriquez , Schweinsteiger (Page 5), Paredes, Romero, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Sunday December 16th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. West Bromwich Albion (16th ) Schweinsteiger's injury was a bad gash to the head and he’d need a couple more days to recover. Drage slots into the side, and Yarmolenko returns at left wing back. WBA have not had the best of seasons to this point and though out of the relegation zone at the mo, they are by no means out of the relegation fight. A good game to get us back on track, at least I hoped and expected it would be. We started out the better team, pushing the ball around and taking the lead on 11 minutes. Salva found Lopez in space down the left, he played the ball into a crowded box, a shot flashed in and off the post, I had no idea who hit it in there, but Enriquez ran out of the crowd, an arm aloft, claiming the goal. We piled on the pressure but without much luck in front of goal, Lopez, in particular, short on goals recently showed a bit of a lack of confidence as he missed a couple of good chances. He was on hand though to be the creator of our second goal, a neat through ball that put Salva in with an opportunity to shoot from just inside the box. The keeper got a hand to it, but he couldn’t keep it out. The second half was an early period of West Brom pressure, easily dealt with, followed by a period in which we were the dominant force, though we couldn’t add to our first half total. Lopez was unlucky again, producing a fine save from the WBA keeper. The game closed out a straightforward win, one that combined with Man City’s surprise loss at Everton mean we are back to 8 points clear, 17 games played by all sides. Final Score: Liverpool 2-0 West Bromwich Albion League Position: 1st Scorers : Enriquez, Salva Man Of The Match: Jorge Enriquez Team: Lezcano, Boldrini, Yarmolenko, Lagator, Kjaer, Ishikawa, Enriquez, Drage, Paredes, Salva, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Thursday December 20th 2018 Euro Cup – Group E – Matchday 6 Venue: Gelredome, Arnhem Vitesse Arnhem (2nd) vs. Liverpool (1st ) A game that will decide the winner of this group. We both qualify for the knockout stages yet I know both sides would like to be at the top of Group E at the end of tonight. I make a few changes due to fitness issues, so Sterling gets a rare start, and Crisetig makes a start after a long layoff. We dominated possession early on, and created a number of chances that were all either defended pretty well or just plain squandered. We finally broke the deadlock just short of the half hour as Enriquez found Salva in the box and his shot on the turn left the keeper standing as it bounced in off the left hand post. The goal kick started Vitesse into life and they grabbed an equaliser in the 43rd minute, a low shot from just outside the box went under Reina’s body and into the net. A bad goal to give away, a way back into the game for Vitesse that they didn’t, to me at least, deserve. I told them at half time that if they got another goal quickly they could stamp their authority back on the game, and on 54 minutes they succeeded in doing exactly that. Sterling the guy who knocked home the half cleared corner by Drage. It was one way traffic after that and on 67 minutes we added a third goal, Luciano Romero heading home unchallenged a Drage free kick from deep on the left wing. Sterling it the post on two separate occasions before we added the fourth, Drage feeding Romero once more in the 82nd minute, the Argentinean firing home from twelve yards out on this occasion. Drage and Crisetig were instrumental in almost all of what was good in this half, of which there was an awful lot, we played some sublime football in this 45 minute spell, some of the best I have seen as Liverpool manager. Final Score: Vitesse Arnhem 1-4 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Salva, Sterling, Romero 2 Man Of The Match: Luciano Romero Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Lagator, Ishikawa, Crisetig, Enriquez , Drage, Sterling, Romero, Salva We’ll face FC Kobenhaven in the First Knockout Round, away leg first, with the winners of that facing the victors of the Man City/ Fernebache tie in the second round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Sunday December 23rd 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Everton (12th ) A festive edition of this, the most famous derby in English Football. In recent games Everton have had the best of this fixture winning five of the last ten, to Liverpool’s two. It was time, I thought, to start to put that record straight. In the team Romero got the chance to carry on where he left off against Vitesse, the misfiring Lopez makes way for him. Enriquez gets a night off with Crisetig and Schweinsteiger the chosen pair in midfield. Parades had an eventful first six minutes. In the third he was booked for diving as he tried to win us a penalty, and in the sixth he limped off injured, Drage his replacement. And it was through his replacement, Drage that we took the lead on 13 minutes, Salva the provider on this occasion with a slick inside pass that left Drage one on one with the Everton keeper. The Norwegian sent the keeper the wrong way and we were one-nil up. Drage once again surged through the Everton defence on 18 minutes, but his shot was blocked. Lorenzo Crisetig was on hand to knock home the rebound and we were two up, less than 20 mins gone. On 24 minutes two became three as Romero set up Salva for his nineteenth goal of the season, drawing two defenders before slipping the ball through to the deadly Salva, unmarked. Everton facing a hiding unacceptable in any derby match finally started to put together some decent play, yet they fell further behind on 29 minutes as we grabbed a fourth goal on the break, Yarmolenko tearing down the left after a long ball out of defence, getting to the byline and pulling back an inch perfect cross that Romero slammed home from only six yards out. Everton stuck to their guns, and stemmed the red tide for a bit, but on 38 it became 5-0, and Ishikawa bundled the ball home from a yard out at the end of an almighty goal mouth scramble following a corner. In the first minute of first half injury time it became six as Boldrini passed the ball into Salva, he turned and unleashed a shot that crashed into the back of the net for his twentieth league goal of the season. The half time dressing room was a happy place, but I still tried to motivate them with heaps of praise. But they still took their foot off the gas in the second half and coasted to victory. They had chances but shot wide, Everton were simply never in this one, and we ran out easy winners. Something for our fans to celebrate. Final Score: Liverpool 6-0 Everton League Position: 1st Scorers : Drage, Crisetig, Salva 2, Romero, Ishikawa Man Of The Match: Leandro Salva Team: Lezcano, Boldrini, Yarmolenko, Lagator, De Felippe, Ishikawa, Schweinsteiger, Crisetig, Paredes (Drage 6), Salva, Romero Our fans joy wasn’t reflected in the treatment room. The bad news in there was that the Paredes injury was a bad one. 4 months out with a torn calf muscle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Now that's what you call a Derby result. Well done sir Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Thanks Mark, it was a good win, but as is often the way,more to do with Everton's shortcomings rather than our brilliance ! Wednesday December 26th 2018 Premier League Venue: Bloomfield Road Blackpool (15th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) A Boxing Day trip to the seaside, with a team nearly the same as what finished against Everton, they had played some sublime stiff at times and I wanted to give them another chance here. Enriquez returning for a tired Crisetig the one change I did make. On 10 minutes we took the lead, Romero firing home from 15 yards on the volley after a clearance from a corner fell kindly to him. Romero and Salva combined on 14 minutes to play Enriquez in on goal and it was two nil, a four minute two goal salvo that had Blackpool rocking, and was good enough to take us to half time with a two goal lead. The second period saw us take a three goal lead on 53 minutes as Romero supplied Salva in the box in space and the Argentinean did the rest. The same combination worked for the fourth goal on 88 minutes and that was all she wrote for Blackpool, another heavy defeat, relegation beckoning for this side, sadly. Final Score: Blackpool 0-4 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Romero, Enriquez, Salva 2 Man Of The Match: Leandro Salva Team: Lezcano, Boldrini, Yarmolenko, Lagator, De Felippe (Kjaer 48), Ishikawa, Schweinsteiger , Enriquez, Drage Salva, Romero De Felippe picked up a minor knee injury early on in the second period, he’ll be out for three or so weeks. In addition to that Boldrini and Ishikawa were both selected for the Asian Games by their respective countries. They’d be away for up to a month. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Saturday December 29th 2018 Premier League Venue: Loftus Road QPR (7th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) A bit of a difficult prospect this one, QPR are in seventh because of their home form, and they make a very difficult proposition here. In the first half our, much changed, side, struggled to make an impression whilst keeping QPR at bay with ease. Goalless and not much to write home about for the fans at the break. I gave Jordan Ibe his full debut at half time, on for the ineffectual Sterling, I gave the rest of the lads a boot up the backside in the hope of a better second half. Within twenty minutes of the restart Ibe had caused enough consternation down the right to get the full back two yellow cards and an early bath. From the free kick resulting from the second yellow Schweinsteiger swung the ball in and Yarmolenko got on the end of it to head it home, 65 minutes gone, 1-0 up. On 78 QPR equalised, with our back line incapable of dealing with a throw in on the right, and the ball travelling a long way, uncleared, before it was bundled home. The game ended in a draw, but not before Lezcano was called upon to make a fine save a couple of minutes before the end. Final Score: QPR 1-1 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Yarmolenko Man Of The Match: Bastian Schweinsteiger Team: Lezcano, Piris, Salazar, Lagator, Kjaer , Schweinsteiger , Enriquez, Crisetig, Yarmolenko, Sterling (Ibe 45) Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 New Year’s Day rolled round, and with it a game, and after it 11 days off until our next match and an opportunity for the lads to have a bit of a celebration, a reward for our league position and thanks for staying sober on New Year’s Eve. I had another reason to celebrate, on New Year’s Day morning, The chairman called me into his office. He asked me if I thought we could keep the league position up. I said I thought we could, and I added that if I couldn’t do that from the position we were in, 6 points clear, just over half way through the season, then I couldn’t really claim to be a good manager. He added £70 million into the transfer budget, and extended the wage budget a tad to help us on our way. That would help. I went back to my office and started to send the scouts out to watch some players. Tuesday January 1st 2019 Premier League Venue: Villa Park Aston Villa (13th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) A debut today for a young English lad we picked up for £750,000 from Cypriot side Anothorsi. His name is Eric Cartwright and he’s captain of the England Under 19 side. He plays as a right back, and is equally happy as a wing back, which is what he’d be doing today. A cagey opening 45 minutes was echoed in practically every other game round the country. In the Premier League only one goal was scored across six matches in the first 45 minutes. Here chances were few and far between, and the fans probably looked forward to their half time Bovril more than they did the second half. I simply told the lads they could win the game and sent them back out there. It was like watching a different side, as we took the lead in three minutes into the second half. Salva getting down to the byline and cutting the ball pack for the arriving Eric Cartwright to slam the ball home for a goal on his debut. On 56 I replaced a tired Lopez with Romero. On 61 he set up Enriquez with a lovely through ball that cut out the Villa defence, and Enriquez took great delight in slamming the ball home. On 70 Drage had to come off injured, and I put Sterling on in his place. On 82 minutes it was Sterling who broke down an attack and took the ball from just outside his own box and down the left flank, he got to the byline, and fired the ball in low where it was turned in by Romero to cap off a convincing and very comfortable 3-0 win. Final Score: Aston Villa 0-3 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Cartwright, Enriquez, Romero Man Of The Match: Eric Cartwright Team: Lezcano, Cartwright, Salazar, Lagator, Kjaer , Lebron, Enriquez, Crisetig, Drage (Sterling 70), Lopez (Romero 56), Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 The first move in the transfer market was to move a player out. Jordan Ibe, an out and out winger of a style we don’t really use here, went to QPR for £7.75million, well over the odds as far as I was concerned, but I wasn’t going to tell them that was I ? We then got in a player I have long admired on loan, Nassim Metz, 21 a right sided attacker joins us until the end of the season from Olympic Marseilles Saturday January 12th 2019 FA Cup Third Round Venue: Anfield Liverpool (PRM 1st) vs. Bolton Wanderers (CH 5th ) A couple of changes for this one, Reina remains cup goalie, so he comes in, Romero gets a start up front and the forgotten guy, Couthino gets a start in place of Drage. Will Hughes returns to the bench after injury, and Metz gets a spot on the bench too. The early going was all Liverpool but it took us until the 21st minute to break the deadlock when Salva slid the ball in and Romero beat the onrushing keeper to the ball and slid it past him and into the net. A defensive error by Kjaer let Liverpool old boy Ngog in for an equaliser on 24 minutes, completely against the run of play. And that’s the way it stayed until half time, I made one change to take off Kjaer and replace him with Murray McLean a young lad from the reserves, only 16 years old (he’d set the record for the youngest ever Liverpool player by 97 days by playing today) who we got from Dundee United at the end of last year. We have a lot of faith in this lad, let’s see how he’d do here. He did ok, getting some touches early on. I took off Salva on the hour to give the local lad, Finley a run out. On 77 they broke down the field and scored again. We could make nothing of the chances that followed and there we were out of the cup. Disappointment for sure, a lesson in what happens if you don't take your chances. Final Score: Liverpool 1-2 Bolton Wanderers Scorers : Romero Man Of The Match: Lorenzo Crisetig Team: Reina, Cartwright, Salazar, Lagator, Kjaer (McLean 45), Lebron, Enriquez, Crisetig, Coutinho, Romero, Salva (Finley 60) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Tuesday January 15th 2019 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Burnley (19th ) We were in the middle of a long negotiation over West Ham and England right back Martin Dance, but we were a long way away from agreement. We had a couple of big games coming up, and I would like some reinforcements on board before then. Lezcano and Drage returned for this one, with De Felippe swapping his place on the bench with Lagator, Salva and Enriquez were also rested, with Lopez and Schweinsteiger coming in. The first half was scrappy, a hangover from our cup defeat meant our lads looked nervous and their play was full of mistakes. Burnley looked incapable of scoring and the first half crept by, goalless, and chanceless. I gave them a bit of a rocket at half time and it seemed to snap at least some of them out of their torpor. Cartwright looked knackered so Yarmolenko came on. The second half started much the same as the first, but just past the hour Romero produced a moment of brilliance, picking the ball up on the half way line, ghosting past a couple of lame challenges, taking the ball into the box and calmly slotting it home, a fabulous goal. We looked a better side after that and added a second through a Drage free kick from thirty yards that he curled round the wall. Burnley had been very physical and to be fair he had a number of chances to get this skill right, but to his credit, he did so eventually. Romero limped off on 80, which in his present form was a bit of a worry. Finley came on, and also for a full debut was another Academy wonderkid, 16 year old Scotsman, Gary Stewart, product of the Hibernian youth system. No further chances in the match and we ran out winners of what had been a very unchallenging game. Still, you can only play what’s in front of you and after the disappointment of the Cup, it was good to get back on track here. Final Score: Liverpool 2-0 Burnley League Position: 1st Scorers : Romero, Drage Man Of The Match: Lorenzo Crisetig Team: Lezcano, Cartwright (Yarmolenko 45), Salazar, De Felippe, Kjaer , Lebron, Schweinsteiger, Crisetig (Stewart 80), Drage, Romero (Finley 80), Lopez Romero’s injury could have been worse, but his concussion was the type of injury that could easily keep him out for a week, or even two. One thing looked clear, it looked very unlikely he’d feature against Chelsea on Sunday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 We did, however, add one to the squad, just in time for the game. Martin Dance, 20, six England caps to his name, from West Ham for an initial fee of £31 million, rising to £44million based on international appearances. He’s, even with his current level of ability, an upgrade at right back. Sunday January 20th 2019 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Chelsea (6th ) Dance starts on the bench, having only been with the club for 11 hours, with Benedetti getting the nod at right back in a 4-1-2-2-1 formation. Metz gets his first start on the right wing. Chelsea have been disappointing this season so far, but have recently improved and the opening passages of the game showed a team well up for the fight. It was no surprise, really when they took the lead on 27 minutes, a free kick from outside the box, fired through a gap in the wall leaving Lezcano with no chance. But we fought back well and were level just before half time, Metz causing chaos in the Chelsea box and the ball squirted out to Yarmolenko who kept a level head and guided the ball home. Level at half time, no real surprise there. I decided to take off Metz who looked nervous and unsure and replaced him with Sterling, and I told the guys they could still win this game. I hoped I was right. The second half was very closely contested with Crisetig the dominant force in midfield, we came closest to a goal on 67 as we crafted a lovely move that saw Salva’s header well saved. On 81 Chelsea struck the bar with a header, but another goal just wasn’t going to come. A draw, about a fair result in my view. Final Score: Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea League Position: 1st Scorers : Yarmolenko Man Of The Match: Lorenzo Crisetig Team: Lezcano, Benedetti, Salazar, Kjaer , Lagator, Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Crisetig , Yarmolenko, Metz (Sterling 45), Salva Following the game we made another signing. Giulio Ferraro a 19 year old Italian central midfielder bought for £10.25 million from Olympic Lyonnais, one for the future that can add depth to our midfield today. Later on that week Leandro Bittencourt a 25 year old German attacking midfielder was purchased for £24 million from Dortmund Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilDave Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I've been following this for a while, so thought I should drop in and congratulate you on a very smooth piece of writing indeed. I'm also impressed you've made it from Dienze to Liverpool in what, seven seasons? That's some going, even if you have just spent £40m+ on a full-back! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Thanks Dave, it's always nice to get feedback. The point of this game was to move on to bigger and better things whenever I got the chance, but like you say to do it in seven seasons was a bit quicker than even I thought was possible ! £40million is a lot for a full back, but he was the guy I had set my heart on, and was fished in for that much, he is a hell of a good player though ! Wednesday January 30th 2019 Premier League Venue: Old Trafford Manchester United (6th) vs. Liverpool (1st ) Bittencourt in on the right wing and Dance in as right back, as we retained the 4-1-2-2-1 formation. The game was a tightly contested affair, a disappointment to the fans of both clubs as these types of games can so often be. United took the lead in the 24th minute through Rooneyvia a bad mistake by Lezcano and held onto that lead with ease until half time. We were better in the second half, and hit the bar midway through the period, but it wasn’t to be and we slipped to our second defeat of the campaign. Final Score: Man Utd 1-0 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Man Of The Match: Simon Kjaer Team: Lezcano, Dance, Lagator, Kjaer , Ishikawa, Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Crisetig , Yarmolenko, Bittencourt, Salva Transfer deadline day came round and we had a bit of a shock as Romero formalised his request for a transfer. I’m not one for standing in his way, and so we invited bids around £11.5million for the lad. I started looking for a replacement quick sharp. We made a signing early on in the day too, with Matty Trewick, a 21 year old right winger who wanted away from Spurs. he only cost us £2.5 million, and gives us options down the right. We then got confirmation that both Piris and Nagatomo would be leaving us when their contracts expired at the end of the season. Both had become bit part players, so not much of a surprise there. The next move was a shock as Ian Finley decided to put in a transfer request, we accepted, but he won’t be shopped until we can line up at least one replacement. That replacement turned out to be a £7 million investment in a 19 year old Argentinean by the name of Marcos Bertello, purchased from Newell’s. We also signed another 19 year old striker, this one Italian and from Fiorentina, Alessandro Mazzini joins on loan for the rest of the season. And we added one more striker just before the window closed, Alberto Jesus, 23, a former Spain U21 international, came to us for a staged 48 month package totally £14.75million from Barcelona, a bit of a coup for us, this one I feel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Sunday February 2nd 2019 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers (15th ) Alberto Jesus would start on the bench, as would Bittencourt, with Drage playing well in the hole behind the two strikers it was too difficult to drop him, Salva and Lopez up front. The first half was, to put it charitably, appalling, no flow, very few chances, in fact the main threat came from Wolves right back’s long throw. It was a relief for all when the half time whistle went, I told them I wasn’t happy in no uncertain terms, which got them going a bit. I also threw on Alberto Jesus for the again ineffectual Lopez. It proved a good move as Alberto Jesus scored the only goal of the game on 48 minutes arriving in the middle to meet a Salazar cross and steer it home. It was the one bit of class in the entire match and it was enough to secure us a very uninspiring win. Final Score: Liverpool 1-0 Wolves League Position: 1st Scorers : Alberto Jesus Man Of The Match: Sime Lagator Team: Lezcano, Dance, Salazar, Lagator, De Felippe , Ishikawa, Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Drage, Lopez (Alberto Jesus 45), Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Tuesday February 5th 2019 Premier League Venue: Perryman Park Tottenham Hotspur (3rd) vs. Liverpool (1st ) A very difficult game this, Spurs have been excellent at home and our best chance was to come here and defend. To that end we picked the 4-1-2-2-1 formation again, with Salva on his own up top and Enriquez sitting in front of the defence. The game started at a pace with both sides apparently well matched. As with all of these games chances were few and far between and the half saw just the one goal. It went to us, scored on 29 minutes by Salva as he turned in a Drage corner from close range. Spurs hit a post late on in the half, but we would take what we could get here and went in at half time, pretty satisfied with the way things were going. We expected Spurs to come at us like a train and they did, they equalised on 49 but it was from a 35 yard free kick, curled round the wall, a work of art, no keeper in the world would have got that. We had what looked a perfectly good goal on 79 disallowed, only the referee knows why, and the game fizzled out into a draw. Before the game I would have taken that, so I can’t really complain when it happened. Final Score: Spurs 1-1 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Salva Man Of The Match: Sime Lagator Team: Lezcano, Dance, Salazar, Lagator, Ishikawa, Enriquez, Crisetig, Drage, Yarmolenko, Bittencourt, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenthreeleader Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Cruising. Great to see. I should add to EDs comments -- I've been reading you but not commenting, and that's wrong of me. You're doing very well here and this is a nice, easy read. Congratulations on a fine long term save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Thanks 10-3, much appreicated Sunday February 9th 2019 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Norwich City (13th ) Alberto Jesus gets a start today, with the out-of-form Lopez warming the bench, Bittencourt plays in the hole. I know my recent match reports have lacked a little detail, mainly due to their lack of excitement, but this one is going to be short even by that standard. Literally nothing of interest to report, a goalless game, we’re now 27 games gone and only three points clear of Man City in second place. Final Score: Liverpool 0-0 Norwich City League Position: 1st Scorers : Man Of The Match: Jose Enriquez Team: Lezcano, Dance, Salazar, Lagator, Lebron , Ishikawa, Enriquez, Crisetig, Bittencourt, Alberto Jesus, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Wednesday February 20th 2019 Euro Cup First Knockout Round First Leg Venue: Parken FC Kobenhaven (DEN) vs. Liverpool (ENG ) Two minutes and one second to score the opening goal, a Drage corner, an Ishikawa header onto the post and Lagator there to sweep in the rebound. It was on way traffic after that chance after chance with the returning Lucas Leiva to the fore, but a second goal would not come. Towards the end of the half Kobenhaven seemed to gain some strength from our inability to put the ball into the net and started to come into the game more, but at half time it remained one goal to nil. The second half was a more even contest, one without any goals. We had chances to extend the lead, but failed to do so. It shouldn’t matter but I guess it makes the second leg just that little bit more tricky. Final Score: FC Kobenhaven 0-1 Liverpool Scorers : Lagator Man Of The Match: Lucas Leiva Team: Reina, Nagatomo, Yarmolenko, Lagator, Kjaer, Ishikawa, Lucas, Crisetig, Drage, Lopez, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Monday February 25th 2019 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. Stoke City (8th) Our recent run of games against the bigger sides had bought us back into the reach of Man City in second. Now they were only three points behind, having played the same number of games. Tonight they would go to 19th placed Burnley whilst we faced 8th placed Stoke. We couldn’t afford a ‘continental hangover’ tonight, and I said as much in my team talk. Alberto Jesus started in place of Lopez, who’s loss of form was beginning to worry me somewhat, but otherwise no surprise selections. We started well and crafted an opening goal in the 6th minute, a delectable passing move ended with Alberto Jesus passing the ball into the box, where Salva spun on it and thrashed it home. A delightful move. We then contrived to give away an equaliser on 16 minutes and spent the rest of the half defending like the Liverpool teams of the late 2000’s, desperately, shambolically and ultimately really luckily. Lezcano proved why he is now our number one with a string of good saves. We were fortunate to go in level but we did. Meanwhile City were romping at Burnley and were three up at the break. Half time I laid into them, and took off Lucas and Ishikawa with Crisetig and Dance their replacements. The second have started off as badly for us as the first had ended, we were under pressure and Lezcano had to be on his toes. Slowly we came back into the game more and on 64 minutes we retook the lead, a Drage corner having been cleared found its way back to the Norwegian on the left wing. His drilled cross was met by the head of Lorenzo Crisetig and the resultant header damn near broke the net. The rest of the game fair sped by, we didn’t, amazingly enough, look like conceding after that second goal went in, so in the end it was a far more comfortable win than it had seemed like it could have been. Final Score: Liverpool 2-1 Stoke City League Position: 1st Scorers : Salva, Crisetig Man Of The Match: Raziel Salazar Team: Lezcano, Boldrini, Salazar, Lagator, De Felippe , Ishikawa (Dance 45), Enriquez, Lucas (Crisetig 45), Drage, Alberto Jesus, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Thursday February 28th 2019 Euro Cup First Knockout Round Second Leg Venue: Anfield Liverpool (ENG) vs. FC Kobenhaven (DEN) (Agg 1-0) I tried something a bit different here. The 4-2-3-1 formation with Lopez in the attacking midfielder slot behind Salva. It took only three minutes for it to take effect as Lopez got on the end of a Sterling cross and headed the ball home. The rest of the half went like the first game, plenty of chances but no more goals. A harshly disallowed effort by Salva and a very sharp double save by the Kobenhaven keeper the highlights of that period. But two up with just the one half to go, I didn’t have much to complain about. I told the lads to keep it up and they looked happy with that. We got a second goal on the night on 57 minutes, though Salva looked a yard offside when he accepted the pass from Lopez and then took the ball round the keeper. No whistle though, and the goal stood. We had another one disallowed on 64, Salva at least two yards offside this time, and rightly flagged. And then on 67 we added a third, Yarmolenko heading in a Sterling free kick, swept in from the left wing. Four minutes later it was four on the night as Yarmolenko turned provider as he headed the ball down on the edge of the box, where Salva hit a left foot volley into the roof of the net, for his second of the game. Final Score: Liverpool 4-0 FC Kobenhaven (Agg 5-0) Scorers : Lopez, Salva 2, Yarmolenko Man Of The Match: Alfredo Lopez Team: Reina, Dance, Salazar, Lagator, Ishikawa, Lucas, Enriquez, Yarmolenko, Lopez, Sterling, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 Sunday March 3rd 2019 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (1st) vs. West Ham (18th ) We went in with our 5-3-2 formation again, giving Lucas a rest and putting Lopez in the hole behind Alberto Jesus and Salva. I was more than a little surprised to see West Ham come out in an aggressive 4-2-4 formation, they clearly wanted to fight fire with fire. I was quite prepared to see how our fire matched up to theirs. The first half saw us have the better possession and better chances. West Ham had the ball in the net, but it was disallowed for a push I have to admit I didn’t see. We contrived to miss some golden opportunities and I went into the half time team talk thinking it might be one of ‘those’ games. I told them if they kept playing it would come, well, I wanted to believe that, at least. As it happens it was confidence well placed as on 46 minutes Salva laid the ball off on the edge of the box for Lopez to stride onto it and smash it into the top right hand corner from 20 yards out, a picture goal. Shortly after Lopez picked up a knock and I took him off, mostly as a precaution. Bittencourt the man to come on. On 69 minutes Salva fed Dance who, marauding down the right, broke into the box, got to the byline and pulled the ball back. Salva was on hand to make the most of the confusion and hit his 25th league goal of the season. I took the opportunity of a two goal lead to give Bertello a taste of the action, replacing Alberto Jesus, but the game faded somewhat in the latter stages as we saw out a comfortable win. Unfortunately it didn’t mean we extended our lead at all as Man City worked their way to an impressive 2-1 win at fifth placed Chelsea. Final Score: Liverpool 2-0 West Ham League Position: 1st Scorers : Lopez, Salva Man Of The Match: Alfredo Lopez Team: Lezcano, Dance, Yarmolenko, Lagator, De Felippe, Ishikawa, Drage, Crisetig, Lopez (Bittencourt 60), Alberto Jesus (Bertello 70), Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Thanks, I think ! Wednesday September 18th 2019 Champions League – Group H – Matchday 1 Venue: Anfield Liverpool (n/a) vs. Vfb Stuttgart(n/a ) A frustrating first half hour as we pressed forward against a strangely tentative Stuttgart side. We found a keeper in form and a midfield seemingly incapable of hitting the target, Drage the main culprit, shooting wide when only three yards out. The goal did eventually come though, a well worked ball to Romani on the right, he got to the byline, crossed and Lopez, up front for a suspended Salva, headed home from close range. We made it two as Drage robbed the defender on the edge of his own box as he dallied on a clearance, then Lopez flicked it inside to Yarmolenko, who made no mistake. Just shy of the half time whistle Romani got down to the byline again, pulled the ball back for Lopez to meet it on the volley and power it home. The half time team talk was an easy one. ‘Well done lads, keep it up.’, still, they had earned that one. Lopez completed his hatrick on 47 minutes, a one-two with Drage and then a powerful shot that flew in off the right hand post. We took our foot off the pedal after that. They never looked like scoring and we cantered to a 4-0 win. A win which didn’t put us top of the table, as Athletico Madrid put five past Maccabi Haifa in the other game in the group. Final Score: Liverpool 4-0 Vfb Stuttgart Group H Position: 2nd Scorers : Lopez 3, Yarmolenko Man Of The Match: Alfredo Lopez Team: Lezcano, Dance, Salazar, Lagator, Costanzo, Enriquez, Gandola, Yarmolenko, Drage, Romani, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Saturday September 21st 2019 Premier League Venue: Upton Park West Ham United (12th) vs. Liverpool (4th ) We dominated this match from early on, but were guilty of some shocking misses early on. Paredes finally calmed the nerves on 28 minutes as he turned the ball in on the far post following good work by Salva. This was the sole high point of the half as we failed to extend that lead into anything more comfortable. Into the second period and at last a bit of breathing space as Crisetig bundled the ball home in the 51st minute. On 65 it was three as Jorge Romani got his first goal for the club with a snap shot as he entered the box. West Ham got one back on 71 minutes, a failure to clear a bobbling ball being our main problem there. But that was as far as West Ham’s ambition went. We added a fourth in the 91st minute, Lucas the scorer. Final Score: West Ham United 1-4 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Paredes, Crisetig, Romani, Lucas Man Of The Match: Leandro Paredes Team: Lezcano, Dance(Boldrini 60), Lagator, Costanzo, Ishikawa, Crisetig, Lucas, Yarmolenko, Paredes, Romani, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilDave Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 What's the aim for this season then - domestic treble, CL and the Euros to top it off? Still impressed with how you're both performing and writing this one, cf2, very good stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenthreeleader Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Agreed. It's good stuff, cf. Great work building the club and writing it all for us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 Thank you gentlemen, most kind Tuesday September 24th 2019 Capital One Cup Third Round Venue: Anfield Liverpool vs. Southampton A game in which we gave debuts to three players, Kalala in goal, Franzoni at the back and Grynyshyn on the left wing. What followed was an awesome display of wastefulness and plain bad luck. We hit the post three times in the first half alone. The rest of the time we were blasting wide, sometimes by inches, sometimes by a country mile. It was frustrating stuff. The match was decided by a single piece of brilliance, In the 63rd minute Grynyshyn[/n] took the ball on the left wing, cut inside the full back and drove for the byline. On reaching the line he pulled the ball back where Salva was waiting, six yards out, to knock the ball home. That proved to be enough as Southampton had practically nothing going forward. A better team might have tested us, but as it was this was a most straightforward of cup wins. Final Score: Liverpool 1-0 Southampton Scorers : Salva Man Of The Match: Leandro Salva Team: Kalala, Boldrini, Salazar, Franzoni, Costanzo (Lagator 25), Lucas, Gandola (Crisetig 45), Grynyshyn, Paredes (Lopez 30), Romani, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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