David Ngog certainly wasn’t the most well loved figure at Liverpool at the start of his Anfield career. Many believed his inclusion in the starting eleven was symptomatic of Liverpool’s lack of squad depth and that both his first touch and finishing left a lot to be desired. To be honest, I was not ever one to denigrate Ngog too harshly; after all we only spent £1.5million on the player, and he had been thrown into the deep end in one of the world’s top leagues after playing only a handful of matches in Ligue One for previous club Paris St-Germain.
Certainly, his first matches in the first team were not always promising and on many occasions he would either run the ball into blind alleys when the better thing was to lay off the ball to a team-mate, or his first touch would let him down, an element which is crucial when holding up the ball as a lone striker. Perhaps he was asked to take on too much too soon but gradually, Ngog has managed to develop his game to a point where he can be replied upon to play a role in the starting eleven if he his called upon. Scoring seven goals at the start of the season is certainly not bad form, and although he still has the annoying knack of being found offside on occasion, there is certainly cause for optimism in his game.
Both Rafa Benitez and Roy Hodgson have kept faith with the young Frenchman, and although he is still somewhat of a raw talent, who can be a bit hot and cold, there is enough to suggest he can give the Reds an added option in attack. I would still like to add another striker or two to the squad though but I have no problem with Ngog being our fourth striker behind Torres and two others. For the time being though, up until January, if Roy wants to play two up front, he is either the choice to play Dirk Kuyt or Ngog.
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Lemmy and his band Motorhead at a French bar
This week it is even more of former Liverpool WAG Edita Hortova.
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Well yes, we do have away day blues. But why treat the symptom and not the cause?
Hear! Hear!
Since we have no choice, let’s get before Roy for now. Who knows, he might surprise us all at White Hart Lane…
PS All the same, how I wish we could rely on Rafa’s astute tactics for a challenging match like this!
To win away from home, we need to drop Carragher as he forces the team to play too deep because of his lack of speed. Put Mavinga at leftback, put Wilson alongside Soto, sell Skyrtel in January as Wilson is younger and better. Put Kelly at rightback, put Johnson rightwing. The team is better off without Gerrard. Push up to half way line and play an offside trap. This is the only way to create chances for Torres.
how old are you 7?
We should definitely play 4-4-2 at home and be more offensive against lesser opponents but away against Spurs I think 4-5-1 would be a better option. We need a stronger midfield to battle with Modric and VDV and I’d make one chance to the team and that would be Lucas replacing Ngog with Torres up front on his own. And I do remember last time we played 4-4-2 away we got raped by Man C…
Play Pacheco FFS! The boy is listed for the Golden Boy Award yet he can’t get a game under Hodgson. That’s just plain idiotic.