the_eristic

Agger would suit the "playing from the back" philosophy Houllier is supposedly espousing perfectly, though, and if capable of maintaining his fitness, is a fantastic player. Kjaer is more blood and guts, which we already have, and would probably be at least £15m, as he just went to Wolfsburg in the Summer for €12m. I'd take Agger without a second thought if Ireland's not going to get a look in here.

Finally getting around to the Vonnegut I've had in the queue for ages. Been reading substantially more dry stuff like Camus' The Rebel, which was surprisingly dense and difficult in places, not only topically, but because it felt as though some inferences were lost, or more correctly, buried in translation. Before that, I think I was reading something from AJ Ayer, so compared to those, Slaughterhouse-Five is flying by.

My reaction: "asboufwth0apyphpyw45246grsfvt!~!!!" :^| Clark or Albrighton (for his determination to fix his mistake and actually doing so) MOTM.

Was he intentionally deployed wide today? Need to get him through the middle and into the box, not playing on the wing, because nobody else gets forward to support or attempt to get on the end of anything!

Who was that manager who went mental and sacked one of his players in the locker room at halftime? Can we get him in to deal with this lot tout de suite?

It's a bit of everything all once, but for me, it comes down to nigh 100% of the senior players, which are mostly MON's, not even trying to compete. Ultimately,professional athletes shouldn't just **** give up because they get a new boss they may not like. Other professionals don't, highly paid or not, and they have to actually work.

Cowards. Yet again, only the kids and, incredibly, the anti-kid Pires made any effort whatsoever.

Cowards. We only have two players on the pitch.

Which was really Collins' (I think, maybe Hogg or Warnock?) fault for passing it to Lichaj, putting him under pressure with no Villa players available as an outlet. Whoever made the pass had somebody on the left with no Spurs players nearby, iirc, to whom they've could've passed and avoided the pressure entirely.

How about actually giving the strikers the ball, instead of pass back, pass wide, cross, pass back, pass wide, cross? Delfouneso was desperate for someone to pick out his runs so he could play facing goal, and the maybe two times he had the chance, he caused trouble. Also, too slow/not even going for the second ball, yet again. Lichaj MOTM. Bale got practically nothing out of him, and the one potential mistake he made was the result of a stupid pass from Collins (I think, might've been Warnock?). Seemed to be the only one willing to really have at Spurs towards the end, too, instead of waiting around for his teammates. Collins reverse MOTM. Lost far too many aerial battles for his height and ability, and I could've cut out Hutton's cross from here, if they'd have just given me a contract. Delph rusty, but not as bad as some are making out. Some good passes, a little slow as one might expect, not enough support from the rest of the team.

Would be rather curious were he ginger to any degree.

Black Swan is astounding, probably Aronofsky's darkest work to date, which is saying something. 8^|

I'm really getting the feeling he needs to be just in front of a central two, not part of.

Lichaj will work harder than Beye, has more drive all-around and willingness to get stuck in (and also isn't just returning from injury), I'd give him a shot.

I don't think he quite realizes yet how aggressive one can and often must play against certain opposition. As mentioned, recently, he's been tasked with marking the likes of Skrtel and Hangeland, who are both 6'4"+ tanks. Handling players like that is already going to be tough for him (they should be Collins' responsibility, as he's our tallest defender), but he needs to learn to throw everything he's got into them, he's probably not going to have anything called against him when battling guys that big and physical, and if he doesn't, they'll just run him over as we've already seen.

Hogg MOM. At least he had at them. Friedel - let down by garbage defending, made a good save on the blast from Johnson, not really much to do otherwise Young - was he even on the pitch, only showed up to make a needless hoof Collins - way to man mark, also, are you a segway in disguise? Wait, those have a reasonable turning radius. Dunne - ^ Warnock - shambolic mistake allowing them to win the corner for their 1st, granted Babel was offside for the 2nd but positioning didn't help Clark - too slow and inexperienced to play in a midfield two against a fairly quick and aggressive side, made a decent tackle here or there, though Hogg - wayward at first but a trier, really got into the game second half but had little help Albrighton - look a touch short on fitness but was at least going for it, once again not enough help or supply Downing - good little pass to Gabby for the chance, and got lots of balls in, but all wasted as either nobody in the box or collected by Reina Ireland - might as well've not been there in the 1st, much improved in the second but still couldn't get the ball to our strikers Gabby - frustratingly isolated and became progressively downtrodden, but shouldn't have been taken off, imo Subs: Delfouneso - Positive impact, but let down by poor supply Pires - kept the ball well, but we didn't need composure when he came on, we needed people busting a gut to get the ball to our strikers Carew - a little better, but still not good enough, should never be wide left in our half while we're in possesion On the whole, too slow, too indecisive, too static.

**** our defenders. **** 'em.

YES!

Prefer a lefty taking corners from that side, get Bannan or Downing over there!

Maybe too short, though, as most of their central mids are 6'+ and willing to throw their weight around. Might *gasp* Osbourne get a shot?! :shock: May actually be room for him in a midfield three, holding behind Bannan and Pires or Young. He's not a good footballer, but he at least has the size and strength to battle it out and maybe win a few 50-50s in the air, something our midfield hasn't been doing at all, and which just invites pressure, especially late in games. I can't believe I've just put forth a case for Osbourne.

Are we going to see Nathan Baker and Arsenio Halfhuid?!

An excellent showing with the USMNT against South Africa yesterday, seems to be coming on leaps and bounds with practically every game! (Guzan was great, too, btw!)

He's a striker, not a centre mid. Not all forwards can be like Gabby, and even fewer can do anything if not provided with the ball. As for effort, at least he was attempting to defend Nani's cross, unlike our right back who was distracted until too late. Blaming our draw on a 19-year-old centre forward instead of our team's mentality late in games, as some are doing in the match thread, is a touch ludicrous. Yes, he could've done better, particularly with that pass to Lichaj near the end, but really, the whole team could've done so much more, short of Downing and Albrighton.

Nervy passing, but wonderful effort! Did his job well!

To be fair to him, the team barely made an attempt to get hold of the ball and get it to him. We were already sitting back too much and inviting United pressure, leaving him pretty isolated. Closest he came with one or two notable exceptions were desperate hoofs from the backline, and he's never going to win many of those against Ferdinand, Vidic, and co at 19.