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spearing wasn't terrible, hendo couldn't do what he does, i.e look for the ball. spearing needs a bit of support not the constant slating he gets from lfc fans. he is a valuable squad player and much much more useful than hendo who is always going to be an invisible type.

I thought Spearing was our best player tonight. The rest were just average, at least Jay was interested and fit.

same just fashionable to have a go at jay it seems..think he will have an important contribution this year.

I disagree. Hendo looked pretty good to me, especially right before he came off. He isn't a glamourous footballer because he keeps things very simple and looks for the easy pass usually (which spearing needs to learn how to do). Jay's had worse games than today, but he gives the ball away far too much. Jordan needs a bit more confidence to take more risks because he has the skills to back them up. Spearing takes far too many and doesn't have the skills to pull off what he's trying to do.

jay will play a hell of a lot more than hendo this year. hendo ain't glamourous sure but he also isn't a fighter like jay. surprised if hendo isn't moved along next summer probably.

My feed wasn't great, and I missed a fair portion of the first half so I never really had a feel for how we played from the start. It did appear we were on the back foot though, but it's still pre-season and we were playing away.

Downing scored a great goal but Rodgers' celebration revealed he had the same impression of the game as I did - very disappointing.

1. I don't know whether the problem is Carragher himself (as in, we wouldn't have this problem were Agger playing) or whether our fullbacks and wide midfielders aren't pro-active enough, but I didn't enjoy watching the DM and CBs passing it back and forth, gradually zig-zagging backwards until forcing Jones to hoof it upfield. Someone has to provide an outlet for the forward pass, or someone has to learn to carry the ball forward himself if we're to get anywhere playing it from the back, but we showed a singular inability to do either. The number of passes I saw between Skrtel and Kelly or between Carra and Enrique on the other flank were both nil, and that's a problem right there. There may have been one or two missed due to the poor quality of my feed, but if a ball did reach the fullbacks it must have come straight back. Once Lucas was on, Gerrard basically wasn't in the game, but as the 3rd central midfielder (and as captain!) he needs to make himself available. Rodgers must must must address this fault.
2. We misplaced a great many passes in the middle third. This contributed to much of the pressure on us, and most of the poor passing came either from underhitting it or expecting movement from our players that never came.
3. Both 1 and 2 really stem from a lack of familiarity with the system, forgetting that tiki-taka means you can't just stand around waiting for the ball to come to you. As fitness improves and as the players begin to understand the high demands of the system, so will our passing and our ability to get into the opposition half and keep the ball once there.

Dalglish seemed to think "winning ugly" was about abandoning one's principles and playing route 1 football, but if he ever wanted an example of "winning ugly" last night's game was it; playing badly but winning anyway. We won mainly because our opponents were poor, but you can only beat what's in front of you. Lot of work to do, but it's early days yet and now Gomel must score at Anfield, so we shouldn't be too negative. It's a work in progress, never forget that.

Henderson gave the ball away several times because he passed into space where he expected someone to run, but the run never came. The "someone" was Spearing practically every time. Demonstrates quite ably that the former is much more likely to make an impact in this system than the latter. Tiki-taka isn't about standing around - it's about running hard to give options to the ball carrier, and Henderson does this naturally (which explains why he was so tired, and also why Gerrard wasn't in the game after Hendo was subbed, because Gerrard didn't put much effort about the park last night, let's be honest). Spearing often can't even make a pass that finds a team mate who is standing still, so how will he factor in movement as well?

i am sure jetlag must have played a part and i am sure hendo will never be able to play in the 3

i would play shelvey ahead of hendo, i just cant see him being able to make it as a first 11 player here.

yes certainly jonjo looks up for it and a proper go getter,just wish he had a turn of pace..hendo is a hider, we will have to cut our losses on him.