Who has impressed you most? For me its Lucas I think hes been our best player in each game he's played and I hope he takes his oppurtunity now Xabis gone and proves alot of people myself included wrong. Also Martin Kelly, I said on this forum recently of the local youngsters used this summer I omly expect Kelly to make it, have high hopes for this lad and think he could see alot of action this season, hes way ahead of Darby in talent and maturity on the field.
Didn't see it all- bits and pieces due to work etc. But agree on Kelly, haven't seen enough of Lucas.
Think Martin Kelly has been good alrite. Would be worried about our back up if Pepe got injured tough. Havent been overly impressed with any of the lads.
Sorry to say i havent seen very much of it but one thing that interests me is the amount of playtime Babel has got.2 ways of looking at it i suppose but my view is a positive one and i really hope he realises the potential this season we all know he has.Theres no question Lucas's performances will have a huge bearing on our early season form as i reckon he's a certainty to start our 1st 4 games.
Pre season has shown me that our back up Keepers, Back up Centre backs and back up strikers are no where near the required standard. Lucas, kelly and Babel have been the form players. One other question has arisen for me is how is Vorinon still a Liverpool player..! We still cant take a good corner..! Our first eleven will match anyone that's against them...one or two injuries and were in trouble.
Ive liked the look of Johnson going forward especially tonight, Kuyt always puts in a good shift be it a friendly or not, but ive gotta agree on Lucas and Babel, Big big opportunity being presented to these two lads this season i think especially Lucas, just hope they realise what they have and grab it with both hands!!
Over the years I have chosen not too take too much notice of pre season performances. The hard yards are done on the training field and the matches are just a kick about. Riise had a storming pre season a few years back banging in goals, ending up havin a shocker. Vorinin two seasons ago is another example. A lot of the opposition were pure cack and its about building up fitness. Saying that been impressed with Kuyt and Babel in games I saw.
Im expecting big things from Ryan Babel this season. Also from what I've seen of johnson he has been impressive..
Lucas as i expected has stepped it up pre-season and hopefully will become a regular starter. Really think the lad showed a lot of courage in the face of the idiots and boo boys who wrote him off at the start and middle of last season as he finished the season in fine form. On the whole i don't pay much attention to pre-season as it's mickey mouse stuff.
To be honest nobody has really impressed me in pre season. Lucas has been better and now needs to keep it up and keep improving, yossi and dirk look like they've picked up where they've left off. Pre season has shown me that there is dead wood at the club and players I fear might get too much important game time next season. Players like degan and voronin being top of that list. Its also shown me that the young talent at the club could be better. Our starting 11 is very strong its just back up where we can improve if we pick up injuries. I think cavalieri is a decent keeper, dossena is a decent left side player, but players like ngog, spearing, san jose, darby aren't the type of players I feel can be relied on if needed.
Like the majority of posters in this thread I have been very impressed with the progress of Martin Kelly. When he was brought on last December for Jamie Carragher in the last CL group game against PSV he performed very well in his limited time on the pitch. He looks to have matured into a player to be trusted and I really think he can make it as a Liverpool first team player. I totally disagree with reddave above I think Diego Cavalieri is a very good keeper and I think he is plenty good enough as our No. 2 keeper.
Never a truer word spoken (i don't know if truer is a word though)! Never have been able to take a corner, if we could it would be a great get out of jail free card in a game that we're not playing all that well in. Don't know why Voronin is still there but knowing Rafa i'm sure we'll be seeing plenty of him this season. And if we suffer so much as a single first team injury i'm very very worried about cover, left back and left wing are the only places we have adequate cover in and i'm not even sure about how long Aurelio is likely to be out for.
I'd agree with that, I think Diego is the best back-up keeper we've had in a long while, and I include Kirkwood in that who was supposed to be the next big thing, I never rated him.
Hard to read to much into these games with the quality of opposition and other factors incl. Babel and Lucas have looked good but I'm pretty sure Rafa knows what 11 players will be starting at Spurs (barring any injuries) and I'm sure they'l be ready for it.
I thought Martin Kelly looked fabulous last night.. very strong youngfella hope he can break through to the first team soon.
agree with most of the poster s here that Martin Kelly is the stand out player from the youngsters. Looks comfortable at both centre half and full back and does well getting forward. Babel and Lucas have played well and i hope they carry this form while improving into the new season. Ngog game is showing signs of improvement too not just for his finish last night but also his awareness
So we can definately say from above posts that Kelly will be there or there abouts in the upcoming season. Two others that have performed well for me is one Nemeth, he has a knack for scoring but is a little rough around the edges yet. And two is Ngog, I think he shows signs of improvement and composuer on the ball plus he finds himself in good positions and can finish well. I think with more confidence we might see more of Ngog this year. Sorry but I cannot say anything positive about Voronin, not good enough and seems like he doesnt want to be there at all.
For me Nemeth is still way off the first team, and would question whether he will ever make it. He did well in the reserves 2 seasons ago and his name has been bandied about ever since. But he has not excelled himself in pre season this year, or last in terms of scoring , and that’s what he is supposed to be all about. Ive liked what Ive seen of Pacheco but he still has a bit to go yet. The popular Spearing (better put on my armour to shield me from this one..) and Darby, for me arent good enough for the Liverpool first team. Lucas and Babel have done quite well in pre season and Ngog has showed promise too.
i hope lucas carries his form into the league but you cant compare pre season what so ever..he has so much space in these games anybody can do well...he wont have as much time on the ball in the pl and thats where he struggles..