More good news for the game in Milan.Materazzi is ruled out through suspension and Cordoba will be out for six weeks with the injury he picked up last night. Nice start although it would have been nicer if it had been their 2 forwards.
Materazzi deserves to be out ... he lacks any pace whatsoever, and he relies on those shirt pulls every time he goes up against a forward with pace. Ibrahimovic was really shut down at Anfield, but they have to keep it that way. He is so dangerous, especially at the San Siro. He can shoot from anywhere. The game is on the 11th of March, 3 days after Newcastle ... who does Rafa choose to rest on Saturday? Clearly we need full points against Newcastle, but we need a full squad against Inter as well.
Hopefully Newcastle will get that first win under Keegan out of their system against the Mancs this weekend and will go back to being muck again after so we wont have to worry about fielding our strongest team against them before the Inter game. As Sourpuss said its not in the Italians make up to chase a game so hopefully with them pushing up it will lead their backline exposed for Torres to take advantage of.
Capello gives Liverpool San Siro warning Capello gives Liverpool San Siro warning From Reuters ROME, Feb 22 (Reuters) - England manager Fabio Capello has warned Liverpool not to think they have sewn up qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals after beating Inter Milan 2-0 at home on Tuesday. "Liverpool must be very careful at the San Siro," he said in an interview in Friday's edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport. The English Premier League side face the Italians in the return leg on March 11. "Inter are really strong at home. Even at Anfield they defended with order after (defender Marco) Materazzi's sending off, conceding only a couple of chances. "They can reverse the result, although it shouldn't be forgotten that Liverpool haven't reached two finals in three years by chance." Capello also said his former club AC Milan still had a lot of work to do to ensure qualification on March 4 after Wednesday's goalless draw with Arsenal in London. "Milan must be just as careful as Liverpool," he said. "Arsenal are capable of important feats, they find spaces and they strike at speed. "But Milan did not slip up at the Emirates Stadium even under maximum pressure. It is the Milan team of the Champions League."
Chivu the latest injury blow for Inter Some more good news for us, Chivu is a doubt for the game next with a dislocated shoulder. There's no doubt they will go into this game with a gung-ho approach, but with Cordoba and Matterazi already ruled out, Torres must be relishing a counter attack run or two at a pretty inexperienced defence. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_3229591,00.html
milan All depends on what team, formation rafa plays. Even with a good team out, if he plays for a draw we are gonna get hammered, where as if we attack like we can and get that away goal we are as good as in the quaters.
Inter will be expecting Liverpool to sit back and defend the lead, Im not so sure that we'll play like that. Chances will come Liverpools way, if Torres and Babel are on form, they can put Inter out before they have a chance to get back into it.
same team as bolton, 4-4-1-1, with carra back at CB and finnan on the right. solid at the back and gerrard/babel/torres kill them on the counter
i just hope Rafa Plays a settled Back 4 for the next 2 Games cos Set Pieces are the one way i think Inter could hurt Lpool. let's be Honest,before Gerrard Scored yesterday Lpool's Defending from Set Pieces was terrible and Bolton were very unlucky not to Take the Lead... having Said that Lpool have never lost Away in the CL by more than 1 Goal under Rafa so i'm pretty confident
milan Good point, we are very weak at set plays. If we zonal mark we are in trouble, i would perfer . finnan carragher skrtel aurelio pennant masch gerrard babel kuyt torres
I'd still play crouch ina game like this - more likely to nick one than kuyt and the italians wont b used to a player like him. I always thunk he's a useful tool in away games like this in the CL
I really don't see the point in playing pennant if crouch isn't starting, he gives the ball away too easily and without crouch to aim for he offers very little. I think the formation against bolton with carragher back in the centre and finnan at right back is the way to go. Torres, Babel and Gerrard will get chances on the counter attact and with Inter down two of their regular CB's i think we should be able to get that vital away goal.
Agree with you totally, I really do think that is our best formation. A world class right winger instead of Kuyt and I do not think Rafa is far away from getting it spot on (If he sticks to it of course!!). Put Carra back in the middle and we should deal with crosses better than we did against Bolton
Sorry to quote myself but it was on Champions League weekly last night that he is struggling to make the 2nd leg.
read today that ibra trained wit inter in front of fans today http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=610329 also chivu should be fit as well.2 good players,couldve done without them playing but sure we stuffed them when they had both in home leg anyways
Is anybody else feeling nervous about the game tomorrow. It just reminds me of the levekusen game in 2002 when everyone including myself was cock sure we'd go through and it all went tits up. Maybe it's just me, I get very pessimistic when thinks are going great and just expect us to **** things up.