What did we learn from the friendly against GC?

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I was lucky enough to be at the first game under the new manager Roy Hodgson.

Even though it was only a draw, we can learn a lot about the new future of our club.

Firstly, the players were in their new black and yellow away-kit in a 4-5-1 line-up with N’gog playing up front.

In my opinion they only played in this new away-kit because they had to promote it. I personally like it but most of the people there would have loved to see them in they normal red kit.

At the beginning of the game the gaffer only watched and analysed the game.

Then from about 30 minutes into the game he started to give some advice to the players.

But over all Roy was more of a quiet manager.

Interesting was that he positioned a player on each post when GC took a corner.

Then he made some early changes in the second half but unfortunately it didn’t change the way of the game. Though I think it’s great that he made the changes not during the HT but only then when he saw that it’s still not working.

I’m not saying that the reserves team was bad, they weren’t, they tried really hard. But with this GC team, which didn’t contain much potential players, there was never a way of getting a great game.

We can only hope now that with the World Cup players back from their holiday he can finally start working on an again invincible Liverpool squad. But I have faith in Hodgson that he’s going to get us back on track. From what I’ve seen on Wednesday he seems like a really good manager with good tactics.

Lastly, I think Milan Jovanovic and Joe Cole are great signings so far. I met them both and they were really open and friendly. Jovanovic was really happy to be a Red, he couldn’t stop talking with the fans and giving them signatures and taking photos with them. This serbian player is also great for the merchandising because the serbian people are very proud to have a fellow country man in Liverpool. There were some serbian flags already. I also overheard some people say that Joe Cole’s being there was only for publicity. Well I agree, he was very popular there. Of course they have now to prove on the pitch that they’re worth their money.

So all in all it wasn’t a great game for the people on TV but it was very important for the players aswell as for the manager to get to know each other.

You’ll Never Walk Alone

-Nina

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7 Comments

  1. What game were you watching? The youngsters played well. Given that it was our first game of the season against a decent team it was a good performance. Some of these players haven’t played first team before so it would be good if people cut then some slack.
    The young defenders equipped themselves well and even ngog looked lively.

    1. i didn’t say the reserves were bad! In terms of first performance for the first team they all played good but I just said it wasn’t such a great game to watch on TV. For me it was great to see them live.

  2. My fav: “Lastly, I think Milan Jovanovic and Joe Cole are great signings so far. I met them both and they were really open and friendly. Jovanovic was really happy to be a Red, he couldn’t stop talking with the fans and giving them signatures and taking photos with them…”

    Continued insight into Hodgson’s tactical brain. For whatever reason, and diminished expectations aside, I have a good feel that this season will look up. My chief concern is depth but a few shrewd signings plus our youth (Pacheco, Dalla Valle, Amoo, Ince, Spearing, N’gog, Ayala, Kelly, Nemeth {if around}) can and will make a difference.

    It’s a long season granted but I can’t wait for more reads on all things LFC.

  3. Nina is right, it wasn’t a great game to watch. There were maybe a total of 3 shots in the game. It reminded me a lot of how we played last season. We didn’t get many chances, but neither did the other side. Overall though, just a lack of that cutting edge going forward.

    But, just because it wasn’t an exciting game doesn’t mean there aren’t things to be excited about. Our defense played very well except for a couple close calls. I had never seen Amoo play before and I was rather impressed with him. Ngog had a few exciting individual moments. Shelvey looks promising and definitely likes the ball at his feet.

    I know there are other positive things I noticed, but it has been a few days since the game. I think if we had had Pacheco and Nemeth available they could have given us a little extra spark, but overall I was fairly satisfied with our youngsters’ performance.

  4. I think we learnt that in putting Lucas as captain, Roy showed that he rates him. He also said the following: “But in that scratching the surface, Alberto has come out of it very well, as has Lucas, who is really the only person who can say he is a genuine Liverpool regular.” Lucas to start first game of the season for sure!!

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