The Soccer Blog: Matchday: Liverpool v. Steaua

Thursday, 2 December 2010

Matchday: Liverpool v. Steaua

By: Ed | December 2nd, 2010
steaua

Kickoff from Steaua Stadium at 18:00 GMT, 1:00 EST.

Ways to Watch:

Match shown live on ESPN (HD) in the UK and GolTV (HD) in the US.

MyP2P.eu
Atdhe.net
ChannelSurfing.net

Liverpool:

Reina
Kelly Kyrgiakos Wilson Aurelio
Pacheco Shelvey Poulsen Jovanovic
Cole
Babel

Bench: Jones, Lucas, Ngog, Skrtel, Eccleston, Flanagan, Robinson

Steaua:

Tatarusanu
Bonfim Gerardo Gardos Latovlevici
R.Gomes Bicfalvi
Nicolita Surdu Tanase
Stancu

Bench:

In the run-up:

Your time is now, Joe Cole. Or something. As usual, interesting take on the topic from the manager:

“He isn’t a naturally confident character. He suffers when things are not going his way.

“Everyone at the club has worked hard to make sure he doesn’t take it too hard and take too much on himself, because he’s quite happy to take responsibility.

“Sometimes those players can take too much on themselves and push themselves even further down. Everyone at the club, but in particular the senior players and his England colleagues here, has done a great job.

“I don’t know how frustrated he has been. But he is a long time with us, a long contract and we know what he’s capable of doing. The sooner he produces it of course the better for me, but there is no pressure on him in that respect.”

Probably not anything worth getting fired up over, but I’d doubt Cole is too thrilled about his lack of self-confidence being splashed about the morning pages ahead of his return. Hopefully his therapist has signed a release of information for Roy—he’ll teach that quack a thing or two about psychology.

Related to Cole, though, I’m curious to see how his return goes today (assuming that he’s in the eleven) and beyond—with Roy stating that the first team is fairly settled, and something resembling cohesive, positive play taking place on a few recent occasions, it’s hard to tell where Cole fits in. The absence of Steven Gerrard over the short term might open things up, but Raul Meireles and Maxi Rodriguez are both playing well right now, and Dirk Kuyt isn’t likely to miss out. Cole’s versatility will obviously aid him, but I don’t know that he’ll walk straight into a starting spot.

And on the world stage, there’s this: Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. Bad news for England and the US, of course, but great news for countries with serious oil money and shirtless horse-riding prime ministers. Silver lining in all of this is that there’s plenty of time for the U-12 organizations in various countries to start the climatizing for 2022—average summer temperature in Qatar is only 115 degrees.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Liverpool 4, Steaua 1: Better When I’m Not AroundMatchday: Liverpool v. FK RabotničkiMatch Preview: Liverpool v. Steaua Bucharest, 12.02.10Match Preview: Liverpool v. Steaua Bucharest, 09.16.10

Category: Europa League, Matchday Posts, Miscellaneous, Team News

Tags: Europa League, Joe Cole, Matchday Posts, Miscellaneous, Roy Hodgson, Team News
« Match Preview: Liverpool v. Steaua Bucharest, 12.02.10 | Home | Liverpool 1, Steaua 1: Wake Up and Read This »ChrisLFCJust got out of a meeting in time to see the Gamecast go to FT. Sounds like an ugly outing...lucky to get a point were we?
How'd Pacheco do starting?Noeli: We were lucky
ii: He was anonymous
iii: But then again the whole side was
iv: And he was better than Cole at leastJustin Bonebrake1-1 we advance. Meh, I'll take it.NoelWow, Lucas on in the 89th minute... that's the best time to make game-changing substitutions. When the game is effectively over.Red2deathOh come on Noel. Just a few days ago we were on his back for giving up the game with 3 minutes to go. Now we criticize his optimism in the 89th. Real hypocrites all us Liverpool fans!JoelRoy is protecting the point, as this is a great, great performance away in Europe against a very very good team. Draw is the fair result, because both teams tried hard and we didn't create enough chances to justify us winning.ChrisLFCSounds like the genius we know and love...Red2deathWe're playing some simply breathtaking hoofball out there tonight. Roy must be so proud. The kids finally took to heart all those classic tapes of Wimbledon and Bolton he's been showing.NoelAt least those sorts of sides are fired up playing that way. This feels like watching MLS. Or what I imagine Serie B might be like.Justin BonebrakeAnother "killer" pass from Poulsen. Well, they are certainly killing me >.I believe that was, "Oh, for fuck's sake".NoelIf he hadn't likely been the worst Liverpool player on the pitch today, or if he'd done anything meaningful for the club in the past, I might be more sympathetic to his point.NoelSit back even more in second. Ride luck. Luck runs out. What a surprise.Justin BonebrakeDamn you moon!!Justin BonebrakeRay Hudsonism: On Bucharesti "You could turn to cheese before this team scores." lollerskates.Justin BonebrakeIs it just me or does Joe Cole look like a blind mole in the middle of the pitch? Swap him and Pacheco Roy, please.Red2deathFrom the intermittent patches that I can watch, we're riding our luck. I don't see this one ending up 1-0.NoelYep, lots of passive defending. You'd think with an entirely swapped out side energy wouldn't be an issue and they could press a bit, but even Babel and Cole are dropping back half way into the Liverpool half when Steaua gets possession.

...and no Poulsen off for Lucas to start the half. And I'd been crossing my fingers so very hard.Justin BonebrakeI'm loving it so far. Did you see Jova after that goal, "I AIN'T GOIN' NOWHERE, BITCHES!"EdGood point, that badge kiss was more like a savage bite.Noel...trying to figure out if this Tanase is really ambitious or just really, really shit at delivering crosses.EdRegardless, he's getting enough chances to be proficient by the end of the match.NoelOh Joe-JoeNoelPaint drying. Paint drying. More paint drying.

Where the hell did that come from?EdLots of defending, lots of hoofing. 15 minutes in.EdAnd Jovanovic puts Liverpool ahead. THE TIDE IS TURNING.NoelOh Ray Hudson, I do love your lunatic ramblings, but I wish you never attempted serious commentary. I wonder which three matches exactly it was he thinks Poulsen had "crackers" in.Red2deathWow. Pacheco starts. Hodgson 1, Red2death 0.NoelHoly shit they just panned across Pacheco in the starting 11... here's hoping he stretches the Steaua defense tighter than spandex on Venice beach.blog comments powered by Disqus