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Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Fidel Castro wrote:Given - 6
Zabba - 8
Bridge - 7
Kompo - 8
Lescott - 8
SWP - 5
Johnson - 7
de Jong - 7
Barry - 6
Ireland - 4 (blame it on the hughesie? blame it on the shackles? BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE!)
Adebayor - 7

I thought we were the better team but fuck knows what that Ibrahim sub was about?! Should've brought Bellamy on for KuntaKinte and given Ade the support he deserved.

Well out of order.

He came out with that shackle comment himself mate

Fidel Castro wrote:

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Fidel Castro wrote:Given - 6
Zabba - 8
Bridge - 7
Kompo - 8
Lescott - 8
SWP - 5
Johnson - 7
de Jong - 7
Barry - 6
Ireland - 4 (blame it on the hughesie? blame it on the shackles? BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE!)
Adebayor - 7

I thought we were the better team but fuck knows what that Ibrahim sub was about?! Should've brought Bellamy on for KuntaKinte and given Ade the support he deserved.

Well out of order.

He came out with that shackle comment himself mate

Called himself Kunta Kinte? How does that work?

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Fidel Castro wrote:

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Fidel Castro wrote:Given - 6
Zabba - 8
Bridge - 7
Kompo - 8
Lescott - 8
SWP - 5
Johnson - 7
de Jong - 7
Barry - 6
Ireland - 4 (blame it on the hughesie? blame it on the shackles? BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE!)
Adebayor - 7

I thought we were the better team but fuck knows what that Ibrahim sub was about?! Should've brought Bellamy on for KuntaKinte and given Ade the support he deserved.

Well out of order.

He came out with that shackle comment himself mate

Called himself Kunta Kinte? How does that work?

No. He came out with that stupid comment that 'his shackles were finally off'.
Wasn't as stupid as Tranaldo's slave comments but it comes a close second.

Btw - where did he I ever say he called himself KuntaKinte???
rearrange these words: mouth. in. putting. words. my.

Fidel Castro wrote:

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Fidel Castro wrote:

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Fidel Castro wrote:Given - 6
Zabba - 8
Bridge - 7
Kompo - 8
Lescott - 8
SWP - 5
Johnson - 7
de Jong - 7
Barry - 6
Ireland - 4 (blame it on the hughesie? blame it on the shackles? BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE!)
Adebayor - 7

I thought we were the better team but fuck knows what that Ibrahim sub was about?! Should've brought Bellamy on for KuntaKinte and given Ade the support he deserved.

Well out of order.

He came out with that shackle comment himself mate

Called himself Kunta Kinte? How does that work?

No. He came out with that stupid comment that 'his shackles were finally off'.
Wasn't as stupid as Tranaldo's slave comments but it comes a close second.

Kunta Kinte's shackless never came off did they? Instead his leg was cut off and his daughter raped.

Am I the only one who does not get the Kunta Kinte thing? Is that from a book or movie or something?

avoidconfusion wrote:Am I the only one who does not get the Kunta Kinte thing? Is that from a book or movie or something?

A book everyone should read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roots:_The ... can_Family

Sorry, he msut've been comparing himself to the slave in Roots who lost 2 grandmothers whose shackles WERE released

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

avoidconfusion wrote:Am I the only one who does not get the Kunta Kinte thing? Is that from a book or movie or something?

A book everyone should read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roots:_The ... can_Family

Nqdp.
I think you need a new sig m8.

GIven -6 He punched the ball away for once.
Zabaleta- 8
Kompany 6
Lescott 6
Bridge 6
Johnson- 6 As stated above, started brightly, but faded toward the end
de Jong - 7 His usual self
Barry- 6
SWP- 5
Ireland 4
Adebayor 6

Bellamy 5- A tough role off the bench, but lost the ball too often
Ibrahim- No rating, didn't involve himself enough in the match enough

Mancini 6 - Tactics were okay considering the options he had at his disposal, I don't like switching SWP and Johnson though

avoidconfusion wrote:Am I the only one who does not get the Kunta Kinte thing? Is that from a book or movie or something?

Ask uncle Google

Socrates wrote:We weren't remotely negative, I take it back he isn't just on the booze he must be on crack...

The line up wasn't negative, unfortunately the style of play and the way the line up was deployed was entirely negative.

Another opportunity to pull ahead wasted, the fact that Mancini was happy with a point in the after match interview sums it all up. Pathetic.

GIven -6 Not troubled a lot and was better in the air
Zabaleta- 8 Started of a little shaky but grow in confidance and performance during the game.
Kompany 7 He's better than Kolo ,stronger and faster.
Lescott 7 He was strong in the air and didn't lose many air battles.
Bridge 6 He is a descent passer but he loses to much of his game with being one footed,extremely one footed that is.
Johnson- 6 Lively start, less lively second half. Promesing though.
de Jong - 8 Broke up play on several occasions and unfortneatly he sometimes breaks up our own counter attacks. Fighting spirit!
Barry- 6 He's been let down in rescent weeks by his bad first touch. Today was the same.
SWP- 5 I don't like when he starts to take 3 or 4 defenders on without support. Play the simple game sometimes, Shaun!
Ireland 4 Scared and not in this game. Where is Superman?
Adebayor 6 Worked hard today but didn't link up enough with the midfield not he's fault sole.

Bellamy 5- Not much ado about nothing. He has been seen better. Infact very much better
Ibrahim- 5 He looks like a very young Fernandez,run,run, but where and why?
Mancini 6 - I think he is learning the english game bit by bit and it's not pretty. I think though he has sent signals to the squad that name means nothing i.e Ibrahim,Boyata. etc.
CTID!!

GIven -6 Not troubled a lot and was better in the air
Zabaleta- 8 Started of a little shaky but grow in confidance and performance during the game.
Kompany 7 He's better than Kolo ,stronger and faster.
Lescott 7 He was strong in the air and didn't lose many air battles.
Bridge 6 He is a descent passer but he loses to much of his game with being one footed,extremely one footed that is.
Johnson- 6 Lively start, less lively second half. Promesing though.
de Jong - 8 Broke up play on several occasions and unfortneatly he sometimes breaks up our own counter attacks. Fighting spirit!
Barry- 6 He's been let down in rescent weeks by his bad first touch. Today was the same.
SWP- 5 I don't like when he starts to take 3 or 4 defenders on without support. Play the simple game sometimes, Shaun!
Ireland 4 Scared and not in this game. Where is Superman?
Adebayor 6 Worked hard today but didn't link up enough with the midfield not he's fault sole.

Bellamy 5- Not much ado about nothing. He has been seen better. Infact very much better
Ibrahim- 5 He looks like a very young Fernandez,run,run, but where and why?
Mancini 6 - I think he is learning the english game bit by bit and it's not pretty. I think though he has sent signals to the squad that name means nothing i.e Ibrahim,Boyata. etc.
CTID!!

Dunno where this Kunta Kinterubbish is coming from but I dont think someone understands the phrase 'the shackles are off' ... but never mind (also a shame its turned into anouther kiddy banter thread by Mr Mclaren et al)

But to touch on one thing - Our Back 4 today were the best I've seen for quite a few games now - Kompany and Lescott complement each other, Zabba was class and Bridge was very good - 8 for each!

De Jong ran the midfield and Gerrard had to resort to his usual diving and cheating when he's struggling, Think Ade kept trying but its a thanless task up there on your own against a Scouse defence.

SWP and Johnson were good - Johnson the better of the two today but both lacked that quality for the final ball too often.

Would have been better to see Bellers up front with Ade and keep SWP and AJ on together.

We played better in all departments apart from the last third of the pitch, our final balls were poor and the lack of support upfront for Ade lost us two points in my opinion.

We never looked like loosing this one though, If toure displaces either Lescott or Kompany (injuries accepted) then Manchini will really dip in my estimation.

Just my opinion and I didnt even have to swear! ;-)

It doesn't really matter what the line up or formation is to determine whether we put in an attacking performance or not.The reality as I see it is that we basically are playing with 4 attacking players and leave it to them to create and score any goals.Two of those players also have fairly clear defensive roles as well down the flanks so that the full backs don't get overloaded.

If those front 4 play at the top of their game we can win games but with 1 ,2 or even 3 not playing that well we will always struggle to win. Maybe a flash of brilliance will get us home but more than likely we won't win games against decent sides.In today's game we had 2 imo opinion who didn't play well and the other 2 ( ade and AJ) were ok without being great.Liverpool are a good side but currently very defensive and grinding out whatever they can. Neither team really threatened to score today and we could still be there now and it would be nil nil.

All the best players on view were defenders. I thought all our back 4 were very good in their dfensive roles although a little lacking in their passing and attacking support. The questio for me is whether their lack of attacking is down to team plans or individual inability.Probably THE most important role today in the way we set up was Ireland and he was probably our weakest player. SWP struggled to get any joy whatever wing he was on and although Johnson looked good at times the end product was missing.That left Ade who I thought worked hard and was threat but was really a lone runner. We missed Tevez a lot.

Eoin-didnt see the game today, can you give us a proper match rating?cheers

Hmmm

Given - 7 - Fine. Didnt really have much commanding of the area to do, kicking was much better.

Zabaletta - 8 - Not the most consistant of players. Pony against Stoke, thoroughabread today. MOM

Kompany - 7 - Got away with that tackle at the end. Sound otherwise.

Lescott - 7 - Lynchpin defensivly. Gave the ball away a bit too much for my liking though.

Bridge - 7 - Solid. Struggled to get forward due to liverpools shape.

De Jong - 7 - Had Gerrard to pick up today so had something to do. In these kind of games hes always handy. Its the ones we are expected to win which i fail to see his use.

Barry - 7 - Got around the pitch well. I cant help but think that he is playing in the wrong position. He'd be better in De Jongs role. Though we dont quite have the midfield options to move him.

Ireland - 5 - Didnt influence the game nearly enough. And when he did get the ball nothing came from it. Played a key role badly. An on form Ireland and we would have had more chances.

Johnson - 7 - Some great runs but went quiet in the second half and put in some poor balls.

SWP - 7 - I thought he was getting into the game on the right then Mancini inexplicably switched him to the middle then the left!! I couldnt believe he was brought off before Ireland.

Adebayor - 8 - Best performance ive seen from him since September over 90 mins. Good outlet, strong control, had a couple of good chances and did some work. Great.

Subs

Craig - 6 - Didnt really get into the game

Ibrahim - 6 - Out of his depth

Grob wrote:Hmmm

Given - 7 - Fine. Didnt really have much commanding of the area to do, kicking was much better.

Zabaletta - 8 - Not the most consistant of players. Pony against Stoke, thoroughabread today. MOM

Kompany - 7 - Got away with that tackle at the end. Sound otherwise.

Lescott - 7 - Lynchpin defensivly. Gave the ball away a bit too much for my liking though.

Bridge - 7 - Solid. Struggled to get forward due to liverpools shape.

De Jong - 7 - Had Gerrard to pick up today so had something to do. In these kind of games hes always handy. Its the ones we are expected to win which i fail to see his use.

Barry - 7 - Got around the pitch well. I cant help but think that he is playing in the wrong position. He'd be better in De Jongs role. Though we dont quite have the midfield options to move him.

Ireland - 5 - Didnt influence the game nearly enough. And when he did get the ball nothing came from it. Played a key role badly. An on form Ireland and we would have had more chances.

Johnson - 7 - Some great runs but went quiet in the second half and put in some poor balls.

SWP - 7 - I thought he was getting into the game on the right then Mancini inexplicably switched him to the middle then the left!! I couldnt believe he was brought off before Ireland.

Adebayor - 8 - Best performance ive seen from him since September over 90 mins. Good outlet, strong control, had a couple of good chances and did some work. Great.

Subs

Craig - 6 - Didnt really get into the game

Ibrahim - 6 - Out of his depth

Could not agree more with all this. Particularly the swapping swp to the lef, he was starting to work his magic on the right until then,

GIVEN - 6 - Apart from a spell of constant corners in the first half to deal with it was his quietest day at the office all season. Nothing much to do. He still doesn't look comfortable playing it from the back but his opposing number was just as bad at short pass distribution too.

ZABALETA -7 - Tried his best to support SWP in the opening 20mins or so. Was frustrated though with very little room to work with. Couldn't pick out passes as it was too tight. In the second half he was the only player to show a desire to get forward and really tried to spur the team on and got a good kicking on no less than 3 occasions for his troubles.

KOMPANY - 6 - Is one of the players who will give me hand in head moments throughout his career I think. He is superb for 85mins a game but is also liable to do something stupid in the box, whether that be letting Rooney free for a header or sticking his leg out for a cast-iron penalty (thanks Yosi!!). Will also play the ball 9/10 perfectly but that 1/10 is normally a pass that leads to a shot on goal.

LESCOTT - 6 - Very little to do alongside Kompany. Both looked positionally sound and knew what each other was doing which was lovely to see as Toure does not give this feeling of comfortableness at the back. His passing was poor but not dangerous. Hard to give more than 6 for Lescott and Kompany as they only had to mark a Kuyt that never got near the box.

BRIGDE - 6 - Never struggling in this game, didn't support the left winger as much as he has done in the past. Very disciplined.

DE JONG - 6 - Was actually playing in front of Barry for the first 20mins of the game in a more forward role but then the two switched back around. Tried a couple of forward passes (the first of the season) but mostly to the side and back. Marked Gerrard well but he needs to deliver more to his role other than sideways passing and tackling.

BARRY - 6 - Looked more comfortable in the first 20mins as the furthest back midfielder but then looked his very slow and ponderous self when asked to get up the pitch and onto the left wing to support. I still believe that De Jong and Barry cannot play with each other and we need to choose between the two. They both want to do the same job.

IRELAND - 5 - Playing in the hole behind Adebayor and didn't look up for it. He likes to break late into the box and finish. However, he spent most of this game with his back to goal trying to hold the ball up in midfield. Often he wasn't strong enough and lost out easily. When he was strong enough he'd flick it off first touch without looking where it was going. Looked shockingly short of confidence when on goal and not wanting to shoot.

JOHNSON - 6 - some nice trickery in tight situations and shows some very good potential. His rawness shown through in this game though as he resorted to blasting every cross and corner without looking and he had no control over his crosses into the box. Faded out of the game in the second half quite quickly.

SWP - 5 - Was getting a lot of the ball and looking to make something happen in the first half. However, in Mancini's delight of playing wingers on the opposite flank he effectively subbed SWP without taking him off the pitch. SWP is terrible on the left because he is so one dimensional when taking players on. He gets away with it on the right as the touchline helps him out. On the left he cuts back inside and then loses the ball every time.

ADEBAYOR - 7 - Looked really up for this game. Chasing down every ball and putting himself about. He staying in the middle a lot more than in previous weeks when he would race down the wing. Looked strong and should of got a penalty. He had our only shot on target, a very good one too and just missed from a header from Kompany's cutback. The defenders had it tough with Ade and it was nice to see him in full flow. For someone as isolated as he was for most of the game he did well.

Given - 7 - Didn't have much to do, was happy with his punch in the first half and kicking was good

Zabaleta - 8 - Exceptional display today, first time I have EVER rated his performance

Kompany - 7 - Dealt with most things effectively

Lescott - 6 - Dealt with most things effectively, but distribution was non-league standard

Bridge - 7 - Again dealt with most things effectively

De Jong - 8 - Did a good job holding the midfield together. I think it says a LOT abouot De Jong that Gerrard was pretty ineffective

Barry - 6 - Still have huge doubts. He did better as game wore on but in general his distribution was abysmal for a player of his quality.

Ireland - 4 - Forget his mistakes or how he may be unsuited to this particular style of play, one thing I thought I would never write about Ireland, but yesterday he has lost heart. The occasions he "decided" not to challenge the man 3/4 yards away from him were the sign of a man on his way out of the club.

SWP - 6 - Struggled. Again. As above though, lack of support from the midfield didnt help.

Johnson - 7 - With 2 men closing him down, he lost the ball a lot, however he was always hampered on forward runs by no support from the midfield, leaving Adebayor as the only option. Infuriating that yet again we dont have a corner taker who can beat the first men.

Adebayor - 8 - He put some really hard work in, best effort I have seen from him for yonks. Hopefully when Tevez is back he wont be quite so isolated.

Subs
Both - not enough time time to rate

Lots of things to be positive about amidst a dire game. Defensively strong, reasonably robust in midfield, eventually we might just crack it up front and I am more optimistic now for the next few weeks