NAMING RIGHTS THREAD: Liverpool really won't win the Premiership 2010-2011

just read it, he's being kept in for a couple of days but seems to be okay

Maybe his eyes have boggled out of his head?

guilty lol

I thought Kaboul did well, actually, getting stuck in and barnstorming down the right.

The problem - well, there were a lot of problems:

lack of strategy, composure
hoofing it up to big man (though angled balls not just route one)
acres of space in defence - not sure why as the defenders didn't play poorly, on the whole
Gallas error and marking problems for A's 3rd goal
Pav so blunt he made Crouch look dangerous
Crouch not dangerous
in general: no reliable striking power anynore
Lennon on left, when he came on, not ideal
Hudd and Modric asked to do too much in midfield - this was perhaps key and why Sandro improved things so much
Gomes unreliable though one or two saves

Sandro having tightened up the team even went through on goal, what a player he looked.

VdV best game since December or so.
Modric also excellent, heroic taking the ball and hurrying it into dangerous areas.

I guess the club has reached a point where the strikers are no longer worthy of the midfielders and wingers.

pa / agree about BAE's composure, nonchalance under pressure; sounds dangerous but seemed to work last night, though I think his marking was at fault for 3rd goal

the defenders had fine games individually, but i think closer inspection would definitely highlight that their movement and marking in the first half in particular made chances easy for arsenal to come by.

Lennon is probably as useful on the left as on the right, for me. His running pace is somewhat blunted but his delivery and decision making seems to improve when facing goal on his right foot.

Completely agree that the strikeforce is now probably the major concern, though another fit centre half the calibre of king or woodgate would make a big difference too.

I thought Lennon played well when he came on actually, it's difficult when we're playing both him and Bale because everything tends to go through Bale as the better player.

I guess the club has reached a point where the strikers are no longer worthy of the midfielders and wingers.

This is exactly the problem - our defence can be dodgy but is generally okay, the problem all season has been that we just haven't scored enough goals. I'm trying to work out how good a Rodallega or Gyan would be as the lone striker at the top of that team, although I still live in a fantasy world where we end up buying Berbatov back.

pav for lone striker the rest of the season, i still believe......

Crouch last night, do we now just accept that he's just completely without purpose or am i blinkered?

Barely noticed Crouch on the pitch, perhaps Pav's awful first touch was just more conspicuous. Would happily sell them both tbh. Defoe is a stranger case, he could potentially be great again but the system we play now is manifestly unsuited to him.

defoe is not good enough to change the midfield for, but the summer could well see changes in the midfield re bids etc

Up to defoe whether he'll settle for squad role, but this season he's not deserved any better. And though the team isn't playing to suit him, he's still been plain poor in his own terms quite besides that.

Four strikers out, two strikers in. Te orwellian solution.

Pav was our weakest link last night (I like him, but then I see him play and I don't like him)
Crouch our second (I don't like him).

Wonder if there is a young lad bubbling under that we don't know much about.

we dont ever seem to produce strikers of note, i remember lee barnard and then tomas pekhart were both good prospects but....

I remember Paul Moran! scoring a super winner vs West Ham in perhaps very late 1987.

ah well you've trumped me there i'm afraid.

Scott Parker wins writers' player of the year award

Parker's selection as the FWA Footballer of the Year only underlines the scale of his contribution to a West Ham team that could still be relegated - and probably would be already if it wasn't for his professionalism and performances. It's often easy to shine in a good side but Parker has carried a poor team and has been so outstanding that he has finally convinced England coach Fabio Capello of his worth. A worthy winner.

I can't recall any award going to someone like this before - not entirely sure it's the right choice, but to be applauded in any event imo. Can't say it's the wrong choice either tbf.

Phil McNulty, BBC Sport's chief football writer: It's often easy to shine in a good side but Parker has carried a poor team

But seriously, I think it's a gutsy decision, and indeed one to be applauded imo.

one gets the feeling Nult sees himself as the Scott Parker of BBC Sport

There should be an award for best sports writer chosen by footballers, surely

one side can't play football, the other can't read

Fuck that. Parker is soooooooooo good that his team are... only in contention to go down instead of already relegated, player of the year! There have been great and consistent players who have earnt or saved their teams many points single handedly all throughout the season. Where was Parker when West Ham got... umm... hammered by almost every team for half a season?

no manager of the year gongs been awarded yet?

don't see why driving on a team fighting relegation is any less impressive than being a pleasant bonus in a team at the top of the table (Bale, Nasri)

michael cox's team of the year on espn, limited to one player per team

Keeper: Petr Cech, Chelsea
Defender: Stephen Carr, Birmingham
Defender: Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United
Defender: Aaron Hughes, Fulham
Defender: Leighton Baines, Everton
Midfielder: Lucas Leiva, Liverpool
Midfielder: Scott Parker, West Ham
Midfielder: Luka Modric, Tottenham
Midfielder: Samir Nasri, Arsenal
Midfielder: Stewart Downing, Aston Villa
Forward: Carlos Tevez, Manchester City

Substitutes:
Ali Al-Habsi, Wigan
Chris Samba, Blackburn
Youssuf Mulumbu, West Brom
Stuart Holden, Bolton
Joey Barton, Newcastle
Charlie Adam, Blackpool
Matthew Etherington, Stoke
Matt Jarvis, Wolves
Asamoah Gyan, Sunderland

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6401602/michael-cox-best-starting-xi-epl

One forward? Best league in the world?

don't see why driving on a team fighting relegation is any less impressive than being a pleasant bonus in a team at the top of the table (Bale, Nasri)

― i've got blingees on my fisters (darraghmac), Friday, 22 April 2011 15:29 (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

because he isn't doing it particularly well? esp. compared to say Charlie Adam.

charlie adam should be ignored for the purposes of player of the year because it's just not fair to the rest of the mere mortal footbalists.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/5643075383_efd07be230.jpg

^ player of the year not shown

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9107386@N06/5643109991/in/photostream

It's a purely honorific award that seems to be based entirely on form over the fortnight when voting takes place - it's just nice to see someone get it who could actually use the acclaim imo, Drogba and Tevez and the rest can make do with their medals and their fame and their worldwide marketing opportunities.

stuuuuu

This next game is the last hope of a title race this year, I feel.

Take heart, Gibson and Evans are both playing.

And Vidic isn't

So what can we conclude from all of this? A couple of things: that my daughter will be told to stay away from footballers and that Darwin's prediction that "light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history" never took into account the super injunction.

Follow the Secret Footballer on Twitter: @TSFguardian

From BBC minute-by-minute
augustburnsalex on Twitter: "Re 1230. Berbatov shouldn't get a look in. I've never been a fan since he joined, he just isn't a United player."

Who needs 20 goals eh?

I reckon Owen will score today btw

Stunning insight from Chris Coleman that when people play against their old clubs they either do really well, or they don't.

Who is secret footballer John Galt?

Michael Owen will be keen to prove the boo boys wrong but a lot will depend on Leighton Baines and his ability to outthink the big centre half while focusing on getting that all important goal he so desperately wants.

Everton not offering enough on the counter, a Utd goal before h-time seems inevitable.

Utd to win 3-0 but not before Beckford misses an open goal.

Yah Everton are toothless, United will win here.

Nicely blocked by hernandez when nani about to score.

ok how was that not a foul on the defender?

"old fashioned shoulder-to-shoulder contact" or similar.

shockingly i agree with coleman in that bilaytednov has been awful so far. Giving the ball away every time he gets it.

sometimes hernandez has almost too much movement. Both rooney and fabio have played balls towards his initial run when that was the one to fake out his marker and he had then made another.

too much movement for knuckledragging lumpens like rooney to anticipate, you mean

scholes or berba could pick him out blindfolded ; )