Great win I thought despite our defensive frailties.
Out attack continues to impress.
Skertel needs to stop his holding. Brendan Rodgers said after the game that he thought it was a hard penalty which is ridiculous when you see the incident again. It was a clear penalty and he Martin has got his hands all over the big Ivorian and it is not the first time he has done this this season. Many more penalties could have gone against him and I hope they analyze this and that Skertel stops some of his holding because it is overboard most times..
We desperately need a better defensive mid and Henderson for all his good play and runs going forward and his briliant work rate still has got a lot to learn in terms of positioning when we are under pressure. He needs to drop when we are under pressure and their attacking mids drop into that space between our mids and defence. Gerrard can only cover some space and not across the whole pitch and as soon as an extra body drops in there we have an issue.
Dyer and
Agger had a poor outing and I think it was timely that he got injured as we look safer with Toure running the defence with Skertel.
Sterling has gotten so much better this year and is showing consistency now I think. He did fade in the second half however as a team I thought we were sloppy in our passing throughout giving the ball away again and again until Joe Allen came in and improved things.
Mr. Allens Cameo was the best in a while and I think he deserves the start ahead of coutiho in the next game.
Coutinho is important for our success but he looked laboured in the last game and wasnt as agressive in pressure as in the game vs. Arsenal and I think that is down to attitude or fatigue which means he could potentially benefit from a rest.
Raheem steling had a fantastic pass through for Sturridge for the first goal and credit should go to him for that. It shows his passing is improving and I think he will continue to improve in many areas of his game but for me finishing is the key one considering how often his pace ensures he gets in one on one situations with keepers.
Shelvey had a decent game and I was surprised when he was taken off for Canas at half. He scored a great goal and was along with De Guzman, Routledge and Bony he alternated arriving in that space and either receiving and playing it around or running beyond out midfielders to try a shot or a through pass for another striker/attacking mid who was surging through.
They are very secure on the ball Swansea and pressure as aggressive as in the Arsenal game was needed at times to break them down and get hold of the ball. It was interesting that our direct play with quick passes to our front men often was what troubled Swansea. Brendan Rodgers have developped in this area where he now
Suarez and Agger had uncharacteristically poor games today and I wonder why. Agger one could possibly put it down to rustyness but I think there is a trend that against stronger sides we do not look as assured when Agger and Skertel play together in defence. Suarez despite his great assist gave away the ball far too often today and it was part of the reason we had poor retention of the ball. The same was true for Agger and it is not like him. It is also partly due to good pressing from the opposition at times but the choices that were made were often poor and it improved once Allen was brought on for Sterling.
All in all a good 3 points and I am almost happy Agger got injured because it likely means Toure is back at the heart of the defence for the next game which I think can only be good against Rodriguez and Ricky Lambert. It remains to be seen if I am right.
Still believe we will end up in 6th after losses in 3 of the next 11 games at home (cIty, spurs and Chelsea)
YNWA,
Stian
Toure despite his mistakes has an aura of experience and calm about him with few exceptions and he can deal with physical players like
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