Haris Vuckic is handed a start and will play just behind lone striker Demba Ba which may come as a surprise to some who expected to see Hatem Ben Arfa start the match after an impressive scoring cameo against Bolton at the weekend. Other than that, Newcastle are unchanged. Ryan Taylor retains his place and even though Davide Santon is fit to return he must make do with a space on the bench.
For Liverpool it’s an ex-Newcastle forward line as Craig Bellamy is paired with Andy Carroll in the absence of Luis Suarez who sits out the match courtesy of a one game suspension for his contemptuous hand gesture at Craven Cottage a few weeks back. Steven Gerrard takes a place on the bench while another former Mag, Jose Enrique, starts.
For a bit more information why give Shamrock’s most excellent match preview a look by clicking here. It’s always a good read and is a good way of spending a few minutes before the big kick-off.
If you can fins a decent stream then please share it with your fellow Mags. The game is on Sky this evening but not everyone has it or is in the pub so if you can find a good’un make you you leave a link to it below.
Right now though, it’s Game On!
Howay the lads!
Liverpool: Pepe Reina; Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger, Jose Enrique; Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Jay Spearing, Stewart Downing; Andy Carroll, Craig Bellamy
Subs: Alexander Doni, Martin Kelly, Jamie Carragher, Jonjo Shelvey, Maxi Rodriguez, Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt
Newcastle:Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Ryan Taylor; Gabriel Obertan, Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez; Haris Vuckic; Demba Ba
Subs: Rob Elliot, Davide Santon, James Perch, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi, Leon Best
Toonsy, I think you have just summed the whole team up tonigh
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Gerrard MOM for ***** sake 🙄
toonsy(Quote)
Next up against man utd. 🙄
geez.
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
I think Pardew muffed it today.
We needed 2 men up front, cos our 5 man midfield (3 of them non-existant) had nothing to hit.
wtf Gerrard man of the ,match !!!!!!!!!!
Munich Mag(Quote)
we are making these look good,
Big Dave(Quote)
Telegram to AP ‘Urgent get Fat Ash to splash the cash or the season is going to die on its feet’.
Liverpool were very ordinary, what does that make us.
ash1001(Quote)
next game i hope i will see Ben arfa from the start i dont wanna see Jonas and Obertan both in the game at the same time
HBA39(Quote)
So then…….. Where are all the tactical masterminds who wanted a 4-5-1? 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
MOM Stevie g , wow never saw that coming. What about Skirtle with that fantastic clearance poor get wouldn’t get a look in or bellers for that matter.
kimtoon(Quote)
Liverpool champions league spot for Liverpool, they are miles behind spurs man u man city arsenal and even Chelsea? These commentators are fucking clueless
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Toonsy, AP was the ringmaster of that one, and what a mess he made of it
ash1001(Quote)
I just hope all the fans that were thinking we were better than liverpool and that we would beat them realise that we’re not as good as some think, our 1st 11 is good but our strenght in depth is poor
Big Dave(Quote)
nice play by Gutierrez…**** i wanna kill my self when i see Sameobi , Obertan Jonas
HBA39(Quote)
Liverpool are **** lads ,but tonight we are crapper. Really wish we had gone with two up front we looked toothless .
kimtoon(Quote)
I just hope this is a one off because too many players wern’t up for this, the only good thing was that Carroll never scored
Big Dave(Quote)
i only counted 3times ben arfa being involved in the play. 🙄
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
The quickest Jonas moved all night was to get the shirt off Gerrards back
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Kimtoon….divvent say that, you’ll have toonsy on yer ! 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
ash1001 – I can point you to hundreds of comments from fans who wanted that system. It got played. It got shown up for what it is – **** 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
ffs , Man u next. 👿
kimtoon(Quote)
AOD, thats not his fault, we were just playing the ball long and hoping.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
“Joe Cole’s thoughts next”
I reckon that’s a chimp on a bike 😆
toonsy(Quote)
I think i’m in credit munich i agreed with him earliar on like. 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
Toonsy re the 4-5-1 system I was advocating it was without the wide men for tonight. Jonas and Obertan were never going to get any joy against those full backs
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Toonsy are you stupid or what? its not about the 4 5 1 its about the players you put in with Obertan and Jonas it doesn’t matter your tactic it will look hooriibble these guys don’t know how to control a ball, to eliminate an opponent to make a pass or to cross . Your best player to play as a number 10 Benny in the bench put Benny in the right or in the left i will prefer so we will be a bit more dangerous. And it was 1-1 until the clever Simpson had the best idea of his life to protect a side of Krul for a free kick of 30 meters, he believes that Bellamy has a 200 km/h shoot or what..? really tonight it was really easy to get something from this game
HBA39(Quote)
Pards has to take some blame but IMHO the players have to take more, its just not good enough 👿
Big Dave(Quote)
kimtoon….ya big crawler yi ! 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
one negative about 2nyts game was we needed to be ALOT more adventurous , we kept on going back to the defence and tim krul far many times!! obertan lost the ball and didnt do enough for me again!! anyway imo thats probs the hardest game out the way of the season now!! lets crack on and beat man utd on wed and it will be all forgived from 2nyts match!! one plus about the game was ANDY CARROLL DIDNT SCORE 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
Army69(Quote)
HBA39 @ 325 😆 😆 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
I am not saying is ben arfa fault,is the formation that doesn’t work well tonight. No one passing the ball to ben arfa.
And relax lads,we will be still 7th even we lose to man utd next. 😉
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
Toonsy I agree with you, 4 – 5 – 1 is not gonna work, we aint got the legs to support a lone man up front
ash1001(Quote)
HBA – Clearly I’m not stupid. Certainly not stupid enough to bang on about a 4-5-1 with **** wingers like others do/have been 😆
toonsy(Quote)
Allright lads it’s new years eve tommorow get pissed forget about 2nite and enjoy the fact we got 30pts and have our *** parked in 7th place. p.s Someone put a gag on Rednapp and J.C FFS
kimtoon(Quote)
I am so sorry,How many times should i say.
Ben arfa is equally **** in crossing the ball.He is suited as No.10 to score goals.
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
glad i did not go i would want my money back. complete shat. 👿 roll on fulham 😯
toonitis(Quote)
I think the wheels have came off the toon chariot. We will REALLY struggle from now on in. Thank goodness we have the points in the bag from early doors.
Sorry like, but that’s the way I see it… 🙁 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
Did u see goofy as ***** , fat , arsed **** , dwayne dibley look alike jose enrique when liverpool scored the freekick , his happy goofy horrible twatful stupid face running to kiss bellamy!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Army69(Quote)
Not sure what is going on with our wingers and our passing in the final third is so poor.
shottiesbru(Quote)
hammered again. pardew is ****. team is ****. unless you watch all games live. not just bits n bobs [highlights] too much jack charlton long ball , sammy is not good enough.raylor is not good enough. jonas is not good enough. obertan is not good enough.cabaye is good but where the fu.k was he same with tiote. we got most of our points from being lucky against so called lesser teams earlier in the season. still no ambition. fu..in wa.k.
mickey s(Quote)
Just hope that i never see Obertan in a newcastle shirt again , the guy is **** . Until their second goal i thought Simpson had a very good game , then he got in Tim’s way for that goal . Ba had no service and Vuckic was left on an island because imo Tiote was just not at the races tonight , his passing was way off .
Axel(Quote)
Ash – It can work, but it needs to be done differently and not conventionally. Not many wingers get much change out of Liverpool so Jonas and Obertan were pissing against the win from the start. The problem then lays in the middle, but we only had Tiote and Cabaye up against Spearing, Adam and Henderson so we were outnumbered in the middle and out-thought on the flanks.
Effectively we have no middle then which a lot of people said. So then we have to resort to long balls up front. The problem is that the link man, Vuckic then Ben Arfa, are never close enough to get onto anything that comes off Ba.
toonsy(Quote)
mickey s I’m gonna send you some of my prozac mate 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
mickey s – why do u come on this blog then if we are that ****?? go and do some dishes or something – mug!!!
Army69(Quote)
Simmo had a great first half, and a dreadful 15 minutes in the second half, a couple of his actions which cost us the game. Granted Tiote passed him a difficult ball, but he’s a footballer ffs and should be able to find a way out of it… 👿 👿 👿
Munich Mag(Quote)
Got to be honest, I am a huge fan of Vukic but jeez, why start with him in place of HBA? Utter madness.
Stuart79(Quote)
Bellamy called Krul a dutch ****…
Racist!! 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
but if ben arfa play on the wing he wil not cross the ball he will eliminates his opponent and goes in his left foot and shoots because he has really a great shoot. And in a wing he will touch more balls because as Vuckic in the first half when you play as number 10 in this team i think the wingers don’t know that you need to give the ball to your number 10. Vuckic touched 5 balls in the first half. Look to other teams which played with a guy in the hole, their number 10 receives all the ball.
But at the end we start good the second half Liverpool was down until this stupid mistake from Simpson in this free kick
HBA39(Quote)
Well it was fun seeing us kicking aboot in the top 7…. 😆 😆
Back to the real world ! 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
When you see their second goal it is so embarassing. Comedy caper defending
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
pardew has got to start benny on wed – jesus christ!!
Army69(Quote)
Spencer – That is in my match report. It may ruffle a few feathers 😆
toonsy(Quote)
ah well, never mind. at least Carroll didnt score.
Didnt like the formation. Ba up front all game on his todd?? Their defenders had him shackled all night.
Obertan was very poor. Simpson was worse..
mark(Quote)
Loving the doom and gloom merchants on here all of a sudden.
Not a good night, admittedly, but Liverpool are undefeated at Anfield this season, and the teams that have taken a draw have, by and large, been outplayed but lucky.
Frankly, we’re 8 points better off than this time last season and 16 points off our total haul from last season.
Improvement was the aim, improvement seems likely. Get a grip.
blip(Quote)
Wouldnt worry about the result tonight lads. Did anyone really expect us to win tonight? Maybe a draw but hey ho at least we have points on the board and its another hard game out of the way. Chin up lads, Still a brilliant 2011.
The 59 Sound(Quote)
I agree 353, its ok, dont expect to get anything from this game.
The 59 Sound(Quote)
i just dont get how our wingers want to go back rather than forward, in my opinion the difference was they thought about attacking and we just want to go back all the time or lump it to ba who is on his own against two center backs
shottiesbru(Quote)
Toonsy- 😯 I think the result has already ruffled a few 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Blip. We we’re battered this evening, which is really disappointing. You are only as good as you’re last match, and we have been stinking for the last 6-7 games. We really do need to get a grip imo, the players and manager that is. 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
kimtoon. please hurry up and send some then. bit me nails to the bones and supped me new years eve supply of special brew.
mickey s(Quote)
and Pard says HBA is not 100%, but in my opinion even at 80% he can play in this team. I cannot imagine how he can play more bad than Jonas, Obertan, Vuckic or Best. these guys done nothing so he cannot do worse. So put Benny in the pitch from the start and give him a run of games.
I don’t know if someone disagree but the only player who has been dropped after the first half because he played bad was Ben arfa ( and Best one match because he had a yellow car which was close to a red card just before the end of the first half). Obertan needs to be dropped and Jonas to but i dont know who to put in the wing, at the end i dont care just ttry someone else. **** that Marveaux is not fit because he is better than Obertan and Jonas 10 times.
HBA39(Quote)
Said it before and will say it again.
Simpson is dogs**t! He played a part in all three goals.
1 goal. Enrique beats him and gets a cross in. He only played with him for two years, surely he should know he will always try for the byline.
2 goal. On the goal line.
3 goal. No composure and boots ball out, giving possession back to Liverpool.
We need to hope he doesn’t sign a contract because he urgently needs replacing. Not good enough for a decent Premier League team. Back up at most
~ El Toro ~(Quote)
Also, how are people slating Obertan ahead of Jonas?! Jonas has been **** poor and produced nothing for months now. He needs replacing. Bench player at most.
Sammy Ameobi is not ready at this level. We are desperately missing Marveaux.
~ El Toro ~(Quote)
@358 munich mag, we have had hard games tho mate. At least we have got enough points on the board. Always hard today, your being deluded if your having a go at the players and manager today.
I go to enough games and see us and have to be calm about it, i bet loads of peope on here hardly ever go to games by having a go at players on here like that. Get a grip lads, today was ok, not end of the world and still 7th. End of.
The 59 Sound(Quote)
I’m sorry for Simpson, he was having a good match until his mistake! Our main problem is our wingers!! Look at Downing and Bellamy, compare them to Obertan and Jonas! We need to stop thinking that Hba cannot play on Obertan’s place! A winger should have skills and crossing habilities before being able to defend! We need to change that point of view! Jonas is very disapointing at the moment! Obertan is criminal against football, he’s Fu***** Rubbish!! It’s not about 442 or 451, we cannot continue with wingers who cannot cross, who cannot score, who cannot make assists! Joey wasn’t a Winger but he was our best player last season! Because he had at least a great right foot! For me, we need to buy someone to play at Obertan’s place or put Hba at right winger! And it’s time to give Shane Fergie a chance!! Last season he gave us some good services!! Tonight Liverpool wasn’t that good, they were Ok, Stevie G change the match, we were ok but we can’t continue to loose by mistake everytime!! Next Mu, Wednesday St James Park!! Howay toon
Blackbartoon(Quote)
Well I thought it was nice of the lads to donate a rare home win to the scousers. Did I see right – after their last goal it looked like we were happy just to get on the bus and go home. I think we made them look good tonight, Tiote’s passing was bizarre, and I think that Al’s tactics were not great at all. Shouldn’t have started with Raylor, brought HBA on too late & changed nothing around when we were definitely being overran. I’m afraid Obertan is starting to wear out his welcome with me now (and I have been on his side), they had the measure of him and most of his touches looked panicky. Felt sorry for Vuckic too, looked out of his depth tonight.
Tsunki(Quote)
if we buy a left back at january window we can put Santon in the right and our new transfer in the left so we will be better. But i think our main problems come from our wingers. Because no team has strikers who can eliminates 3 opponent and score a goal each game, every team has his most dangerous players in the wing, except us. So if Ba is beaten in the air we have no chance to score like tonight because Ba has no chance against Agger in the duel in the air.
HBA39(Quote)
“Also, how are people slating Obertan ahead of Jonas?!”
Because Obertan is the latest scapegoat no matter how bad others are or what he actually does manage to do 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Problem with Simpson is he is a passenger:
– If he goes forward we need someone in close proximity just incase he is pressured and needs a short pass.
– He needs to receive the ball when not under any pressure.
– He needs a winger to help him defend all the time as he backs off far too much.
We can’t afford these types of players. They hold teams back. He needs to be offloaded sharpish. Santon for RB
~ El Toro ~(Quote)
army 69 . i come on her to voice my opinion which i am entitled to. and i stick by wot i say . knob.
mickey s(Quote)
Evening all, haven’t read all the comments above yet, but am very disappointed by tonights showing.
I think its fair to say we beat ourselves tonight. Never seen us play so lethargically. So negatively from the ko. As soon as L’pool upped the tempo it was game over. We seemed to panic and just kept giving the ball back to them
I think its obvious we cant play 4-4-1-1. We just end up hoofing the long ball all the time in hope.
Got to go back to 4-4-2. imo and do what we are good at.
Not gonna slag off any particular players, they were all pretty poor.
But the manager gets my anger, he got it completely wrong from start to finish. The line up the formation and the game plan. All poor and it showed.
Ah well time to crack open that malt I got for xmas.
Cheers.
👿
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
I feel both obertan and jonas are offering very little down the wings at this moment in time, hopefully if santo gets a run in the team, jonas will be back to normal. But obertan, I hold no hope for him, as i feel that SAF would not have sold him so cheap if he thought he had a gem on his hands,
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Toonsy you will be happy Jonas is at the same level as Obertan. For me Jonas is even worse in term of football skills, I don’t know how this guy become a professionall player. At least Obertan every 10 games can do something that is at a level of premier league wingers. But it seems that for Newcastle fans the winger must be very good defensively and must defend a lot. No way we need to have wingers like Nani, Sturridge, or Adam Johnson.. these players are quality wingers, they are dangerous for the other teams. Our wingers are dangerous but for our own team.
HBA39(Quote)
ET @ 368 so what your saying is you think we need more than a CB this window ❓ 😉
And its allright people saying that we shouldn’t have expected anything from this match tonight that we should get a grip ??? I didn’t expect any points tonight but I expected more from the players ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
HBA39 @ 372 and where are we going to get these players like Nani, Sturridge, or Adam Johnson.. just pluck them out of thin air 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
Wingers are ***** offensively as they have been all season. Too much long ball.
For the second goal seems a bad tactic? Or poor communication/silliness from Simmo, third goal we should have fucking hooned it rather than passing along the back four.
Fookin depressed.
Newkie(Quote)