Shak

Great pen

You don't know any more than he does tbh

-------------- Harper Carr -- Taylor -- Rozenhal -- Zoggy -----Geremi -- Butt -- Smith Martins -------------------------Milner -------------- Viduka

Then why would you rephrase it? >

Still very interested to see what Emre can do under the new regime before I write him off. Undeniably he's been underwhelming so far, but I do think there's a quality player in there somewhere.

Bouma had that look on his face that just said 'Listen mate, I don't want to have to annihilate you in a fight... so just fuck off, eh?'

Supremely is pushing it a bit, but Owen's off the ball work is definitely underrated. Much of it stems from how simple he keeps things. He knows his strength isn't going to be picking out brilliant passes or running at defenders, so rather than try he'll generally play the simple ball and look to get in the box. It'll be very interesting to see him try and play in a 4-3-3, dunno how he'll fare. Okay I'll rephrase; IMO he's comfortably still a Premier League player outside the box. His basic movement, control and passing is streets ahead of Ameobi's, simple or otherwise. I wasn't aware I was disagreeing with you, though reading it back it may seem that way.

Supremely is pushing it a bit, but Owen's off the ball work is definitely underrated. Much of it stems from how simple he keeps things. He knows his strength isn't going to be picking out brilliant passes or running at defenders, so rather than try he'll generally play the simple ball and look to get in the box. It'll be very interesting to see him try and play in a 4-3-3, dunno how he'll fare.

It'd be decent enough, I suppose. Can't wait for next wekend now, St. James' should be rocking.

As is Michael Owen's. Because he's tall Ameobi is brought deeper to win the ball, which he isn't very good at. He is really an out and out striker, just like Owen (except not as good at it) Ameobi will never score the number of goals per game that Owen does, or anything near it for that matter. So if he wants to contribute for us he'll need to improve his general play and learn to effect the game in deeper areas.

Great OG there, Liverpool in front. Torres looks very good, think the PL will suit him.

About 15 minutes ago tbh. Nothing's happened so far, it is Liverpool afterall.

One shocking one where he was away and just ambled towards it, allowing Faye to come in and win the ball. Had he had his arse in gear for that we could have scored as they looked exposed at the back. Saw that. Thought you might have.

Definitely needs to be used only as a midfielder, barring an emergency, which I suspect he will. Will be a great squad player with us mostly using 4-3-3. Be interesting to see what happens when Barton gets back should Smith keep this form up. Great performance.

One shocking one where he was away and just ambled towards it, allowing Faye to come in and win the ball. Had he had his arse in gear for that we could have scored as they looked exposed at the back.

Midfield was very good in general, Smith-Butt and Geremi are a very physical trio in there and will give anyone a tough time. Geremi's set pieces were a bit disappointing and you could blame him for their goal if you're being uber-critical but all in all a solid first game as captain. Rozenhal was great, reads the game fantastically and will be a great partner for Taylor if he maintains form like today. I've said Martins should do well out wide in a 4-3-3 and today shows it very well. Still has a few blonde moments with the ball but took his first goal brilliantly and did well for the second too.

Been watching it on Setanta, missed the first goal but have to say it was excellent stuff from us. Completely outplayed them in the first half, type of steely performance we've not produced amywhere near enough over the years. Second half was lethargic, but the job was done. Can take a positive from how well we dealt with conceeding the goal. They didn't really threaten again the rest of the game. Delighted, well done lads.

According to that Nobby "is about to enter the final year of his contract". Is that the one year contract he only signed this summer then? Crap southern journalism again Pedantic, to say the very least.

Squad depth ftw?

Tottenham Hotsocks FTW, you're all going down. My squad is so good that I'm not revealing it until after the deadline.

Shola's was on the right foot. Got it played in with his back to goal, held off the defender and buried it with his right foot in the bottom left corner. Chez's right.

He was awesome. I remember everyone raving about him after that, thinking he'd really push on. Excellent display from him the whole match, up front by himself. He bullied Desailly at SJP and scored an excellent goal from outside the box. He was closely marked and held Desailly off and scored on the turn. Someone might remember when that was? Err, that was Shearer. Ameobi's goal in that match was a left foot shot from about 15 yards out iirc, into the bottom corner? Err, no it wasnt, it was right foot just on the edge of the area, Leazes end and it went into bottom right. Ball from mid-way, chests it down and turns Desailly. I'll bet money on it. You're both right, they both scored quality goals in that match. Shearer's overshadowed Shola's as it was better, but Shola's was still a quality goal as well.

So what's his reasong apart from 'Nobody Likes England'? How old is he? Giving it to France again so soon would be ridiculous, even Italy would be chancing it a bit. Still though, what a pleb.

He was awesome. I remember everyone raving about him after that, thinking he'd really push on. Excellent display from him the whole match, up front by himself. He bullied Desailly at SJP and scored an excellent goal from outside the box. He was closely marked and held Desailly off and scored on the turn. Someone might remember when that was? It was Drogba-esque tbh. Not saying i'm a massive fan but he has shown he has got ability in the past. That was the game where Shearer scored the beauty as well, I think? Three seasons ago I believe, maybe even more. Anyone who thinks he's completely useless needs to have a word in all honesty. Just because he's inconsistent and generally seems to underperform doesn't mean you have to pretend he's woeful or anything. Some of the abuse Shola gets on here is shocking, and a disgrace, in all honesty.

Praying he comes good this season, I'm expecting more frustration though. He'll get plenty of games this season though. Allardyce will want a target man on the pitch at all times where possible and Shola is second in the queue to Viduka for that spot. If we get more of the same from Shola this year and Viduka picks up injuries we could be in trouble, as I can't see Martins, Smith or Owen doing well up front by themselves. I'd also be sceptical of any pairing from those three names being effective, barring smith and Owen possibly. On the bright side, it's really make or break for Shola over the next 2 years I think. By then I'm expecting Carroll should be ready to contribute in some form, and if Shola doens't produce over the next two years he'll be off.