The Soccer Blog

Saturday, 1 January 2011

Matchday: Liverpool v. Bolton

By: Ed | January 1st, 2011
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Kickoff from Anfield at 15:00 GMT and 9:00 EST.

Ways to Watch:

Match shown live somewhere, I’d imagine, in the UK and on Fox Soccer Plus in the US.

MyP2P.eu
Atdhe.net
ChannelSurfing.net

Liverpool:

Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Aurelio
Kuyt Meireles Lucas Maxi
Ngog Torres

Bench: Jones, Kelly, Kyrgiakos, Gerrard, Poulsen, Cole, Babel

Steven Gerrard on the bench is what got the headline from the official site, but I’m far more interested in the dual returns of Daniel Agger and Fabio Aurelio. Past his time, but it feels like Roy Hodgson is so close with this lineup—at full strength, all he’d need to do is slide Gerrard in for David Ngog and play him just off Fernando Torres, and things would make a bit of sense. Not the case, though, and today I’d guess we get a much more composed display in central midfield.

Bolton:

Jaaskelainen
Ricketts Cahill Knight Alonso
Moreno MDavies Muamba Taylor
KDavies Elmander

Bench: Bogdan, Klasnic, Petrov, Blake

In the run-up:

As always, Kenny Dalglish manages moments of grace when the rest of us are calling for the manager’s head. I mean, that’s his job and everything, but still, the man isn’t a legend for nothing:

“Let’s just press the pause button and throw all our efforts and energies into one basket. Everyone – whether players, supporters, staff or whatever – has to throw everything towards the one aim and that is to get us three badly needed points from the game against Bolton today.

“Because if everyone sticks together we’ll have a better chance of getting those three points. If everybody does their job properly; if everybody sticks together; if the players excite the fans and the fans support the players and everyone is led in one direction, then we should get the result today.

“But without everybody being on the same page, it will make it a bit more difficult.”

Doesn’t necessarily change my opinion regarding Roy Hodgson or the club’s current problems, and I don’t think it was necessarily intended to, but it is a good reminder of how fortunate Liverpool are to have someone like Dalglish around. Whether or not he has a “bigger” part to play in the coming weeks and months is irrelevant—he’s clearly an important figure for the club moving forward and, for many people, is far more reliable than the man in charge.

Important to remember, though, that he’s not the one sitting here wishing you a Happy New Year—I am.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Match Preview: Liverpool v. Bolton; Hodgson Exit On the Way?Match Preview: Liverpool v. Bolton, 10.31.10Matchday: Liverpool v. NewcastleMatchday: Liverpool v. West HamMatchday: Liverpool v. Sunderland

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

Tags: kenny dalglish, Liverpool v. Bolton, Matchday Posts, Miscellaneous, Premier League, Team News
Tweet « Roy Hodgson, Lame Duck | Home | Liverpool 2, Bolton 1: Feeling Something Again »NoelInsanely lucky to have that goal count, but another one of those "If they played like that all the time, they'd have a lot more points" games, because that was certainly the right result.EdSo that ended well, yes?JerodYuss.ChrisLFCWhew.....EdTorres! If a guy ever needed one...eddielikewise joe coleRussellROH WHAT A BEAUTY!!! Torres, making my wee little heart leap!ChrisLFCCourse my feed went down 10 seconds before we scored...rats!!NoelHere's hoping your feed goes down again soon. Or something.ChrisLFCI'll take another one or two for the team if that's what it takes!DavidShocking defending on a set piece. What a surprise.NoelI find myself disappointed. I suppose that answers a question or two in itself. Shame, as Liverpool actually looked lively.ChrisLFCWe've had chances, just haven't converted...and of course, Bolton makes good on one of their few they've had. Gotta hope we come out and play the same way we did in the first half and get a couple, win 2-1.NoelLet's hope so. Though you have to think Bolton can play better than they did in the first.EdWell shit, Meireles off injured and Gerrard in central midfield.NoelTo be fair, he had two good, quick touches. But then Johnson got the ball and only had eyes for him, spoiling the build up to try and force something fancy, giving Bolton their best spell.DavidI am going to, perhaps naively, believe that the NESV lads are experienced and intelligence enough to sack Roy no matter the outcome today. We really need three points today and I refuse to hope for anything but. Here's hoping that 2011 is better than 2010. Happy New Year all!DavidSad to see empty seats at Anfield. I can't think of anywhere I would rather be.EdSo far, better than Wolves. Doesn't take much, obviously, but more encouraging.ChrisLFC20 minutes in...0 Agger hoofs.NoelWell, that was a scary moment thinking we might end up seeing Poulsen.LFC4LIFERealistically i hope to lose as many games as it takes to get roy out.it is better in the long run as we know we don't want his rubbish character/players/formations/tactics/face in LFC.On that note, no offense to those who look like him.LynzIs it safe to hope that we win this one seeing as Roy's going to be sacked anyway?

Happy New Year Ed, Noel, and everyone on the Liverpool Offside!blog comments powered by Disqus

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Birmingham - Arsenal Match Thread

Birmingham – Arsenal Match Thread - The Offside - Arsenal blog

« Birmingham – Arsenal Preview | Home | Birmingham – Arsenal Match ThreadBy: Martin | January 1st, 2011
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Lineups are in:

Birmingham: Starters: Foster, Dann, Johnson, Ridgewell, Carr, Ferguson, Gardner, Beausejour, Larsson, Jerome, Bowyer Bench: Phillips, Fahey, Taylor, Hleb, Derbyshire, Zigic, Jiranek

Arsenal: Starters: Flaps, Sagna, Clichy, Koscielny, Djourou, Song, Wilshere, Cesc, Theo, Nasri, van Persie Bench: Wojo, Eboue, Squillaci, Denilson, Bendtner, Arshavin, Rosicky

Well, no real news with the starting lineup — it was exactly as I predicted in my preview. Theo van Nasregas makes its triumphant return. The only curious note in our lineup is that Chamakh was left out of the squad completely. On the face of it, this is a decision that makes no sense — he’s played well and scored a lot of goals for us this season, and is very useful as a late sub for his proficiency both attacking and defending set pieces. I can only speculate that either (a) he has picked up a minor knock, or (b) there is something going on behind the scenes. I know Wenger has spoken about Chamakh has become “tired” and “jaded” (a curious word to use as I understand it) by the Premiership so far, but he can’t honestly be so tired he couldn’t play for 10 minutes, could he?

Manchester United beat West Brom this morning under pretty controversial circumstances, as several big calls went their way and West Brom missed a penalty. Wojo stirred up what is sure to be a bit of controversy this morning during the game. Brom had what was apparently a stone-wall penalty and last-man red-card turned down when Gary Neville made a bad challenge ona man clean through on goal in the box. Anyway, on his Twitter account, Wojo tweeted, “How can you not get frustrated with decitions like that going ALWAYS Man Utds way?! Its a clear pen and sending off!” And then, when some people started to give him stick for it and criticize him (including, hilariously, some Juventus fans, who don’t exactly have the cleanest moral track record when it comes to matters of preferential treatment from referees), he followed up with, “I don’t understand why some of you get frustrated with me for saying this. The decition was shocking! FACT! What a goal for WBA btw!”

I’m sure a big deal will be made of this in some quarters. He may very well get fined. And he should probably be talked to about this (well, the whole team probably needs to be talked to about this) — I’m sure he was right about it, and he wasn’t saying anything that thousands of others people weren’t saying on Twitter, or anything we weren’t all thinking. But this on the heels of Cesc’s tweet about the penalty we were not awarded against Wigan on Wednesday: “‘What’s the difference between this handball and my one versus Spurs? Referees don’t want us to complain about them but they make life difficult for themselves.”, which as also very reasonable for what that’s worth, we should be wary of having a team of guys on Twitter who complain about referees’ calls, if for no other reason than that that’s not the best way to get into the referees’ good graces.

Results elsewhere didn’t go our way, either. Manchester City held on to beat Blackpool 1-0, and Spurs beat Fulham by the same scoreline. Which means that we currently sit 5 points behind both Manc teams, are even on points with Spurs, and are just 2 points ahead of Chelsea. 3 points is really essential to this one.

Also, a reminder that the yellow card accumulation rules state that a player gets suspended if he gets 5 yellow cards before January 1 (like Cesc did against Chelsea). That now resets, so guys with yellows (I think just Chamakh and Koscielny are not suspended if they get another one today). The More You Know…

Come on Arsenal.

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Some Related Stories:Arsenal – Birmingham Match ThreadBirmingham – Arsenal PreviewArsenal – Birmingham PreviewArsenal 2 – Birmingham 1: Dive, Bad Tackles Mar Deserved Comeback Victory (UPDATED with Player Ratings)Arsenal – West Ham Match Thread

Category: Arsenal News, Birmingham, Fixtures, Premiership

Tags: Arsenal News, Birmingham, Fixtures, Premiership
Tweet « Birmingham – Arsenal Preview | Home | TheoW14RVP DIVE!Lana W. DawoodROOOOOOOOOOBIN!!SairaxChamakh has worked his butt off for us since coming here. It couldn't have been easy, especially in such a physical league. I say give the guy a rest. Bendtner and Vela can have a go today.

Not surprised Arshavin is benched. I think I remember Wenger going nuts on the touchline against Wigan telling him to track back or something. Anyhoo, he might get the start at ManCity anyway. Guess it'll depend on how well Theo does today.

All right, game time. Come on Arsenal!!blog comments powered by Disqus