Stoke vs. Liverpool : Reds Players Rating and Post-Match Analysis
Liverpool came into this fixture on the back of another poor away performance against Wigan in midweek.
Although they avoided defeat with a 1-1 draw, it ended a three match winning streak that had pulled them out of the bottom half of the table and away from the relegation zone.
The same fixture last season saw Sotirios Kyrgiakos head Liverpool bravely into the lead only for Robert Huth to equalise at the death on 89 minutes.
Dirk Kuyt's last minute header hit the post as Liverpool went in search of the winner but the Reds came away with only a hard fought point when three looked on the cards.
Stoke City and their manager Tony Pulis make no secret of their footballing philosphies and no excuses for them either. When teams come to the Britannia Stadium they expect an aerial bombardment from all corners of the pitch.
And this proved to be where Stoke beat Liverpool; with more desire, want and simple hard work.
Goalkeeper : Pepe Reina
1 of 14
6 of 10
After a week media speculation over Pepe Reina's future which was nipped in the bud with the Spaniard coming out publicly to re-iterate his commitment to Liverpool, his performance today was another reason why he is so highly valued and needed at Anfield.
Any goalkeeper is going to suffer against Stoke City's methods of playing the ball straight into the box and harassing the defenders and goalkeeper.
There is not a 'keeper in the Premier League that at some point in a game against Stoke will not make an error. Reina was not comfortable with the aerial bombardment but coped as well as anyone could expect.
He made some excellent saves from shots coming in from outside the area and generally had as good a game as could have been expected against Stoke.
No real blame can be put on Reina for either goals and apart from those instances not much more could have been expected.
Left Back : Paul Konchesky
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3 of 10
Time and time again Paul Konchesky was beaten when confronted by a Stoke City player. Former Liverpool player Jermaine Pennant beat him, Kenwyne Jones beat him and a host of others.
Konchesky along with his manager is not the quality that is expected at Liverpool Football Club. It is a sign of the mediocrity that Roy Hodgson brings to the place that when looking for a left back, he believed his former player at Fulham could be good enough.
All round, it was another poor defensive performance from the former Fulham man. He also showed little going forward, the highlight being a good cross in the later stages of the first half.
Poor display.
Right Back : Jamie Carragher
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4 of 10
Once the team sheet was out, many Liverpool fans were dissapointed to see that Martin Kelly was not playing at right back.
Roy Hodgson had decided with the return of Sotirios Krygiakos that Jamie Carragher would be pushed out to right back.
It is possible that Hodgson does not know that Carragher despises playing there but will do if asked as he is a team player.
If asked, most fans and pundits would probably say that even so early in his career Martin Kelly offers more at right back than Jamie Carragher.
Carragher as usual gave his all but in this position, his all is not good enough. There were so many chances when he could have powered down the flank but chose not to, instead pulling up and playing the ball backwards or sideways.
His distribution was poor and crossing was not much better.
The blame for his poor performance rests on his shoulders but the poor management decision to play him there rests on Hodgson.
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Centre Back : Sotirios Kyrgiakos
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7 of 10
The only one of the Liverpool players who can come away from this match with his head held high. Sotirios Kyrgiakos returned to the Liverpool defense and again put in a towering performance that his fellow defenders should have emulated.
Granted that the type of attack that Stoke City employ plays to the giant Greeks strengths, but he was solid in the air in both penalty boxes and was also the few threats to Stoke's goal from set-pieces.
The experienced defender was a match for Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones and gave as good as he got and held his ground well.
Soto is playing well under Hodgson but it is a petty that his other defensive colleagues are not following his lead.
Centre Back : Martin Skrtel
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4 of 10
Martin Srktel was given a torrid afternoon by the Stoke attack and it appeared that he did not enjoy his time out there at all.
He was given a lesson in how to win aerial battles by Kenwyne Jones and learnt that to win a ball there are instances when you do not need to even jump. Jones pretty much had Srktel in his pocket and his frustration boiled over and his was shown the yellow card late on.
He was completely taken out of the play with Jones' first touch when controlling the pass from Jermaine Pennant for Stoke's second goal and that summed up Srktel's afternoon; second best all day.
Left Midfield : Maxi Rodriguez
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5 of 10
Maxi Rodriguez has improved considerably this campaign and this game he showed some nice moves and clever runs. But overall, it was just not good enough and not clever enough.
On 63 mins, he shot straight at the goalkeeper when either side would have resulted in the equaliser.
Maxi was substituted in the 72nd minute and possibly should have been off earlier as he really did not do enough in the game to warrant being on the pitch that long.
Right Midfield : Raul Meireles
7 of 14
4 of 10
Raul Meireles did not feature in the game at all for the first 15 minutes, in fact if he had just stood on the right flank and did nothing he would have done little more than he actually did.
After 30 mins he showed again that he has a venomous shot off both feet but though powerful they did not trouble the Stoke goalkeeper.
The television commentators echoed what many Liverpool fans have been saying for weeks; that Meireles is a square peg in a round hole. They continued that he is as central midfielder as a central midfielder can get.
It is only hoped that Roy Hodgson picks up on this observation when watching this match again, as he does not seem to be able to understand it himself.
If Meireles is not played in the centre of midfield then he should not be played at all. He does nothing on the flanks.
But, after paying so much for a player, Hodgson does not have the back bone to place him on the bench, where he should be rather than being asked to play out of position.
His manager is more to blame for his poor marks than he himself.
Centre Midfield : Lucas
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6 of 10
Lucas again out in a solid performance in midfield, where he battled away and hardly mis-placed a pass.
A 2nd yellow card in injury time meant that he was sent off and will miss the next match and will be missed by the team.
The young Brazilian battled away in the heart of the midfield and it was a shame that other team mates did not put in the same commitment he did.
Centre Midfield : Steven Gerrard
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5 of 10
Steven Gerrard probably thought that it was going to have to be up to him again to pull his team away from defeat. And it was not until Liverpool went one down that Gerrard started to take charge with some powerful runs.
Too little, too late.
On the half hour, he worked the Stoke goalkeeper with a powerful shot but produced little goal threat after that.
Gerrard has once again come away being on the losing side with his beloved Liverpool and frustration could be seen etched on his face at the final whistle.
Forward : Dirk Kuyt
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5 of 10
Dirk Kuyt started alongside Fernando Torres in attack for the second game in a row but ended it on the flank.
The Dutchman, in only his second game back after injury had little impact on the match. But he gave his usual all action, energy packed performance, apart from that there was little more he added.
Forward : Fernando Torres
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5 of 10
It is an astonishing fact that between Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard have combined for Liverpool's last 12 goals. Any argument to suggest that Liverpool are not a two man team is mute.
Torres is coming back to form and had hit a goal scoring streak and he started this game off well. He looked hungry, alert and sharp, however as the second half wore on, he looked more and more frustrated and upset.
Torres needs to be given chances and his conversation ratio is phenomenal. Without service he is average.
Roy Hodgson must set up his teams to provide chances for his top striker to put away but if when starved of service, he will have afternoons of averageness as today.
Substitute : David Ngog and Ryan Babel
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David Ngog - 2 of 10
David Ngog provided little to no goal threat when he came on for Raul Meireles in the 66th minute. This was again a poor change by Roy Hodgson. Ngog is far too lightweight a striker and to ask him to come on and make a difference against a physical team such as Stoke was never going to be anything else but a failure.
He had little impact but Hodgson should have realised this and not put him on in the first place.
Ryan Babel - 7 of 10
When Ryan Babel came on, it was one of the few positive moves made by Hodgson all afternoon. Why did he not realise that to beat Stoke you had to stretch their defense on the wings with pace and power. Babel provided this when he came on.
Powerful running and a few strikes on goal made his introduce a success but too late to save Liverpool from another defeat.
Manager : Roy Hodgson
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4 of 10
Roy Hodgson made several tactical mistakes today:
1. Playing Jamie Carragher at right back rather than the promising and improving Martin Kelly
2. Playing Raul Meireles on the flank.
3. Throwing on David Ngog (not the strongest player on the bench) to win the match against one of the most physical teams in the league.
4. Failing to understand that to beat Stoke, pace and power on the flanks was needed.
Once again, Hodgson has been found wanting tactically and strategically.
POST MATCH ANALYSIS
14 of 14
Liverpool were out fought, out muscled, out thought and out played this afternoon.
In the first half, they were completely overrun by the aerial bombardment of Stoke City's offense. So much so that they were utterly unable to impose their own attacking threat on the game.
Stoke City recorded their first victory ever over Liverpool in the Premier League, in fact this was their first win over the Reds in 26 years!
Another embarrassing afternoon for fans and players.
Roy Hodgson should have expected what Stoke were going to throw at him and countered this with threats of his own.
Liverpool were simply devoid of attacking ideas. Stoke needed to be stretched on the wings and in these positions he played Raul Meireles and Maxi.
Maxi has improved and hence arguably has justified his inclusion, but Meireles is ineffectual on the flank and he should not have been picked.
Ryan Babel was promised more starts by Hodgson but he has seen little playing time but when introduced was easily the most effective Liverpool player on the pitch.
It also appears that Hodgson does not have the metal to make the tough decisions.
He appears not to be able to drop Jamie Carragher. In Martin Kelly, he has a right back who is maturing and promising. And even now is far more effective a right back than Carragher, yet once it was clear the Sotirios Krygiakos was back to partner Martin Skrtel in the centre of defense, rather than drop Carragher he pushed him to right back.
It is no secret that Carragher hates playing there and his perfromances in the past and again today illustrated this.
He played the best he could, but that is sadly not good enough.
To bring on David Ngog was also a mistake. He is far too lightweight to ever have made any impact.
It would have made more sense to bring on Milan Jovanovic on the wing to supplement Babel on the other and that would have given the Stoke defense something more to think about.
Liverpool's revival has been halted and they are stuck in midtable. This should not really surprise any Liverpool supporters as this is the part of the table that Hodgson is used to being in and is not capable of leading a team any higher.
It is time the new Liverpool owners brought in a manager who knows how to lead a team to more than mid table mediocrity as this is as good as it gets under Hodgson.
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