It is hard to know what to make of Liverpool’s performance against Steaua Bucharest last night. On the one hand, it was a difficult match away from home with a sizeable amount of young players in the team, but the display that we witnessed from the Reds was not pretty to say the least. I err on the side of believing that it is very hard for a group of players who haven’t played much together to put in polished performance but there was certainly a lack of control when the ball was in Liverpool’s possession.
None the less I was pleased that Roy decided to start some of Liverpool’s young players and credit where credit’s due. Jonjo Shelvey, Martin Kelly, Danny Wilson and Dani Pacheco all started last night and did not hide away in a difficult away European tie. Games like this are crucial for youngsters to gain experience and to come out with a draw, with a blunder from Pepe Reina only preventing them from winning, shows that none of them were overawed by the occasion. Kelly especially looked assured and confident at right back while Shelvey and Pacheco tried to make things happen when they were on the ball. Wilson was helped by Sotirios Kyrgiakos playing alongside him, and with the exception of one miss kick, he didn’t look out of his depth. It was also pleasing to see Nathan Eccleston coming on as a substitute in the second half for goal-scorer Milan Jovanovic and he made one impressive run which got one of the Steaua defenders a booking.
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Lemmy and his band Motorhead at a French bar
This week it is former Liverpool WAG Claudine Keane.
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CLICK ON THE IMAGE OR HERE TO SEE CLAUDINE KEANE’S GALLERY
does resting kancheski involve putting his left leg on a cussion “the only part of him that works” BADLY !.
am i the only one who likes eccleston that much?he has so much pace and if this guy is treated right,he will be a star for liverpool and england.it was a difficult and “cold” game to expect a performance(especially from our young guys)so i am pleased with the result.babel had a good time troubling steaua’s defence a lot.i would have cole on the right and pacheco behind babel but that doesnt mind now.we should add 2 or 3 players to our roster but we have some youngsters to promote.Kelly,Ayala,Wilson,Pacheco,Eccleston,Ngog are players that need to prove their talents as they are very good for their age.
Babel did well in the game.
Pachencho was wasteful in RM, shld hve played him behind babel, he shld improve his positioning to gel with midfielders.
Wilson needs to learn many things mre frm seniors. He didnt show his abilities.
Kelly was jst one standout youngster did his job to perfection. So did Jonjo.
Nathan shld start the nxt europa league match got quick feet. Really useful to take on defenders.
I did’nt expect much from young lads especially pacheco,jonjo and later eclleston when lfc played 10 man behind the ball.
I think Hodgson should give our youngsters more chances after this game. It was a difficult game in Bucharest but they showed that they’re up to the task. It was nice to see Pacheco start but I would have preferred him to play behind the striker instead of out wide cause that’s where he’s the most effective. Shelvey did a reasonable job in the middle with Poulsen and Wilson also did alright, considering he’s only 18 and has never played in the premier league before. Kelly was again solid at right back and I think he’s capable of doing the job when Johnson doesn’t play. Babel was one of our best performers and I thought he did a good job up front on his own. He set up Jovanovic’s goal and gave a good pass to Cole only for him to miss. Throughout the match he held up the ball well and troubled Steaua’s defence without much support from other players. Jovanovic also did well and I think after the performance, Hodgson should consider playing Jovanovic and Babel more cause in recent weeks they haven’t played much. Instead of playing Ngog up front with Torres, perhaps Babel can have a go alongside Torres while Jovanovic should play out wide on the left flank. With Stevie and Carra out injured and Joe Cole out of form I’d like to see Hodgson play more of his fringe players and youngsters especially Jova, Babel and Pacheco.