FK Rabotnicki vs Liverpool

[lfc_REDMAN]

Out of interest, what starting line-up would you choose for this game? With Hodgson being advised not to use World Cup players, it would be a fairly young team.

[Gabon]

4-2-3-1

-----------------------Cavalieri-----------------------

--Degen------------Kygriakos-----Ayala----------Darby--

----------------Spearing-----------Lucas---------------
--Babel/Eccleston--------Aquilani----------Jovanovic--

--------------------------Ngog-------------------------

Subs: Gulasci, Kelly, Shelvey, Ince, Palsson, Amoo, Dalle Valle, Robinson, Irwin

Young/reserves side yes but if i was Roy I would take Dr Peter Brukners advice for the first leg and bring the WC players back for the home leg.

These players have been training hard and whilst friendlies are nice this is the real deal and lets see what they've got. IF we get done i'd be sure it would be not by more than 2 goals so IF that did happen yopu would like to think that with both the WC players back and new signings they wopuld get the job done and ensure our progress. Whilst the line up may be a risk surely our priorties are getting results in our first 5 games (arsenal, man citeh, west brom, birmingham and ManUre) of the season.

[torben-picnic]

-----------------------Reina-----------------------

---Johnson----------Wilson-----Ayala----------Darby--

--Babel--------Spearing-------Aquilani-----Jovanovic--

-----------------N'Gog------Pacheco------------------

Subs
Ince
Gerrard
Carragher
Agger


Bollocks to the Doc

Johnson hardly broke sweat for England and Reina didn't play, Carra and Agger hardly played, all will be fit and not burnt out.........I dont rate the greek bloke so Wilson gets a shout.

[furns]

Just received word that this game will be televised LIVE on Setanta on Fri 30th starting 415am. Kickoff is 4:45am AEST. Replays @ 1230pm and 1030pm. Was only confirmed this morning.

[Gabon]

So with the squad named what team would you select.

The Liverpool squad in Macedonia is: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Agger, Jovanovic, Kyrgiakos, Lucas, Wilson, Ngog, Spearing, Darby, Shelvey, Kelly, Skrtel, Eccleston, Ayala, Hansen, Gulacsi, Amoo, Dalla Valle, Ince.

Team i would select:

-----------------------Cavalieri-----------------------

--Wilson------------Skrtel-----Ayala----------Agger--

----------------Spearing-----------Lucas---------------
--Eccleston--------------Aquilani----------Jovanovic--

--------------------------Ngog-------------------------

Subs: Gulasci, Kelly, Shelvey, Ince, Amoo, Dalle Valle, Darby

[Benj]

I's rather see if this wilson feller can do LB.

Also heard that Dalla Valle is decent too.

-----------------------Cavalieri-----------------------

--Kelly------------Skrtel-----Agger----------Wilson--

------------------------Lucas-------------------------

--Eccleston----Spearing--------Aquilani----Jovanovic--

--------------------------D.Valle-----------------------

Subs: N'gog, Ayala, Soto, Jonjo, Amoo, Darbs & Gulasci

[MakeYourOwn]

I seriously wish some of the 'fans' on this site would shut the fark up about Ngog and how we should get 'rid' of him... regardless of the team we played against, this lad is still young and given the right experience he will be CLASS (it's like i have to defend his potential like i had to defend LUCAS a couple of seasons till now - oh btw, 2 games in a row he's CAPTAIN... so i guess Hodgson rates him highly as much as RAFA huh TORBS??)

Nice to see Kelly having a good match and what surprised me is this Amoo fella, heard of him, had to admit not much though but he's definately come out of left field and showing promise (hopefully our own next PEDRO) .... hahaha

Rabotnicki 0 Liverpool 2: David Ngog doubles up to get Roy Hodgson's boys off to a flyer

By Colin Young in Skopje
Last updated at 12:06 AM on 30th July 2010

David Ngog was the unlikely hero last night, scoring the first two goals of Roy Hodgson’s reign to silence the hostile fanatics in Macedonia.

And assuming they paid their £4.99 for the privilege to watch the game on Primetime, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Joe Cole will have watched a very satisfactory performance from

Liverpool’s young second string, which means they could even afford to sit out this weeks second leg.
Off the mark: David Ngog pounces on defensive uncertainty to give Liverpool the lead after 14 minutes

New boss Hodgson was concerned he would be remembered as the Anfield chief who was humiliated in his first game against a team of unknowns from Macedonia, having put out a Liverpool team containing so few household names.

His fears were misplaced. Liverpool coasted to victory on a sultry night in Skopje, silencing the 20,000 fanatics who doubled FK Rabotnicki’s usual attendances and turned out to see the biggest game in their club’s 73-year history and were praying for an embarrassing night for the Premier League stars.

Ngog scored in the 17th minute to silence the hostile crowd who had reserved their hatred for Greece defender Sotoris Kyrgiakos, jeering him throughout. Greeks are not liked in Macedonia.

But the defender, recalled with Martin Skrtel to add some steel and experience to the back four, with Daniel Agger filling in at left back, typified the no-nonsense approach to what Hodgson predicted would be a testing fixture.

The new Liverpool boss embraced his assistant Sammy Lee and acknowledged the minority of Liverpool fans in one corner of the stadium and was clearly delighted.

Hodgson said: ‘I am very satisfied. It was a game which could have been very difficult. I’m pleased we go back to Anfield with a margin which enables us to be more
comfortable there.

‘You learn a lot about a team in every game and there are a lot of players I need to learn about because some I have worked with and some like Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger I have hardly worked with, so it was a very good exercise.

‘I’m delighted so many players can go back to Liverpool feeling good about themselves. I fear having taken on this job there’s a weight of expectation every time I
pick a team. I knew when I took the job that would be the situation and I’m prepared for it.’

The home side barely tested Diego Cavalieri on a rare appearance for the Brazilian goalkeeper. One bouncing shot from 30 yards does not constitute a busy night. Liverpool, cheered on by about 300 fans from England and various parts of eastern Europe, had already gone close before Ngog broke the deadlock with a simple move in the 17th minute. The anticipated pressure from Rabotnicki never materialised.

Captain for the night Lucas forced goalkeeper Martin Bogatinov to race from his area, following Alberto Aquilani’s neat through ball, and David Amoo caused havoc on the left and right. Kyrgiakos also went close with a header.

But Lucas made no mistake when he turned provider with a quick free-kick which caught the home defence napping. Bogatinov and Fernando Lopes made a mess of a simple clearance between them, allowing Ngog to walk the ball into the empty net with embarrassing ease. It was his eighth Liverpool goal since his £1.5million move from Paris St Germain two years ago and a crucial one for his new manager.

His ninth and second of the night followed 14 minutes into the second half when Stephen Kelly and Amoo combined well down the right to create another opening for Ngog to tap-in again.

Hodgson was particularly pleased with Ngog. He said: ‘I have never discussed him leaving. At our club everyone wants about 30 new players and 30 to go but I am not looking at things like that. David has done well, worked very hard in training and I was pleased he crowned his performance with two goals.

‘This team does not need a major overhaul. We need to add one or two which Rafael Benitez said he would have done if he had stayed and I certainly want to.’

Rabotnicki gave it a go immediately after the break without seriously troubling Cavalieri and the second goal killed the contest.

Coach Zoran Stratev said: ‘Liverpool came with a second team but we were scared of the name. We could see who was the best team and the level of Macedonian football. Our chances are minimal at Anfield.’

This was a game Hodgson could afford to lose but certainly did not want to. He asked the board to prioritise the Europa League as their last concern, certainly way behind Champions League qualification. And he appeared to get his wish, resting his England contingent on the pleas from his sports science staff. He managed to resist the temptation to throw them in for his first game and they are more likely to play some part in a friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday.

At least this result means they will surely not need to play in the second leg at Anfield on Thursday.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z0v7YrPdBE

[Benj]

I seriously wish some of the 'fans' on this site would shut the fark up about Ngog and how we should get 'rid' of him...

Who upset you MYO?

I couldn't see any of the posts above commenting on him?

I had him benched only cos I wanted to see DValle. Just as I would've if Nemeth/Pacheco were there.

But I still think he has a very bright future.

& Amoo surprised everyone I think. Could be a little Pedro (Hopefully he likes passing to Torres a bit more than Pedrito though )

[aussie_RED_4life]

great result, very average game (terrible vision on sentanta) stoked ol mate roy boy got us off with a win in first competitive outin... Ngog pretty impressive looked little sharper than most games last year maybe the opposition quality not as high but hopefully he's grown as a player with his experience from last year... do ya's reckon roy will play 4-4-1-1 like rafa or just didnt have the fire power with him to play 4-4-2???

[Benj]

He had plenty of attacking players and will have quite a few come the start of the season.

with players like Aqua, Gerrard, Cole, Jovanovic, Babel, N'gog, Torres, Pacheco, Nemeth, Maxi, he has no shortage this season.

Id love to see a 4-1-4-1 (with Lucas holding, Gerrard and Cole attacking and Jova&Maxi on wings) or 4-1-3-2 with Jova up front with Torres, Lucas holding and Cole on the left, Gerrard mid and Maxi right or some combo like that.

[5times]

I seriously wish some of the 'fans' on this site would shut the fark up about Ngog and how we should get 'rid' of him... regardless of the team we played against, this lad is still young and given the right experience he will be CLASS (it's like i have to defend his potential like i had to defend LUCAS a couple of seasons till now - oh btw, 2 games in a row he's CAPTAIN... so i guess Hodgson rates him highly as much as RAFA huh TORBS??)

i may have misread but when did anyone have a pop at ngog in this thread for you to lose the plot, tad irrational, but we've all come to expect that.

[MakeYourOwn]

I seriously wish some of the 'fans' on this site would shut the fark up about Ngog and how we should get 'rid' of him... regardless of the team we played against, this lad is still young and given the right experience he will be CLASS (it's like i have to defend his potential like i had to defend LUCAS a couple of seasons till now - oh btw, 2 games in a row he's CAPTAIN... so i guess Hodgson rates him highly as much as RAFA huh TORBS??)

i may have misread but when did anyone have a pop at ngog in this thread for you to lose the plot, tad irrational, but we've all come to expect that.

Benj - You need to take this from a holistic perspective mate, because anything and everything i post i do especially when passing judgment - others seem to think of always the 'here this thread' whereas i am talking about in the context of the start of this season and the wheeling and dealing and the general consensus in the EARLIER posts (in a realistic time frame context), not specifically THIS MATCH thread where certain posters were creaming about getting rid of 'kuyt/lucas/ngog, etc' and we should be buying this and that because they are 'not good enough'.. if you don't believe me, oh say why not do a quick gander in our own forum say in the past month? That's where i draw my generalization from - in a realistic time frame AND HOLISTIC approach mate

5times - ahhh ever the follower and always having a crack and dim witted and childish and nothing else better to contribute - seriously you got anything else to contribute or anything other than a childish slant to start off on your first post of this topic? LOSER.

[torben-picnic]

MYO
If N'Gog and the miracle Bongo'er Lucas were THAT good last year we'd have walked the league.
Average players at best in an average team.

2 games in a row as captain hey! whooo
pray tell which world beaters did we play?
pre season games mean shit mate at any level, if you played you would know that.
Shame Dunga didnt think the same of him ay

Fowler was 18 when he first scored for Liverpool against Fulham, he followed that up by scoring 5 in the return leg against 2 weeks later........Owen was 18 when he 1st scored for Liverpool, both of them LOOKED class and turned out to BE class, N'Gog would'nd lace their boots so please don't regard him in the same calibre.

[5times]

MYO - all you do is kill any discussion about lfc on the spot. with your over opinionated views. when i read your posts i actually imagine you would be screaming at the screen, dead frustrated that your point isnt getting across

and torbs - agree massively. lucas and ngog arnt aweful but they arnt world class, they arnt players that are gonna win us the league.

ill probs be in perth later this year MYO so if your out watching games and the like, ill come watch with you, id honestly like to hear your views on football.

[MakeYourOwn]

MYO
If N'Gog and the miracle Bongo'er Lucas were THAT good last year we'd have walked the league.
Average players at best in an average team.

2 games in a row as captain hey! whooo
pray tell which world beaters did we play?
pre season games mean shit mate at any level, if you played you would know that.
Shame Dunga didnt think the same of him ay

Fowler was 18 when he first scored for Liverpool against Fulham, he followed that up by scoring 5 in the return leg against 2 weeks later........Owen was 18 when he 1st scored for Liverpool, both of them LOOKED class and turned out to BE class, N'Gog would'nd lace their boots so please don't regard him in the same calibre.

ahhh oh blinkered one... to be fair mate, you are quite correct, they WERE average players in an average TEAM last year, but THEY AT LEAST played better than average than the REST of the TEAM and BETTER than certain 'world class' players at a consistent level when called upon huh? And it wasn't exactly Ngog's fault that he was thrust into the limelight with our beloved Torres out injured once again huh? We had to do with what we had and the fact that now, under a different coach, they are rated huh.... though i imagine lucas more huh torbs? that MUST REALLY CUT YOU huh? hhahhahahhahhhahaha

And why the heck are you talking about in regard to Fowler and Owen in the same vein? yeah they are CLASS in a Different era BUT did they exactly 'walk us to the title?'

2 games in a row he's captain and at an early age where there are more seasoned players around him? doesn't say for much??? hahahahaha oh blinkered one...u are definitely CUT (not 6 pack cut ok mate?)