Liverpool FC Forum

[The Manhattan Project]

It was a fair result considering they had a goal wrongly disallowed.

Although I thought Benayoun was onside when he scored.

[LFC2007]

Men against boys first half, we eased off second and lost our solidity and shape, and they equalised deservedly I thought. A good result nonetheless, but on our day we have the ability to absolutely demolish a side like that.

[Reg]

Bottom line - Liverpool are playing far better and more confident football than this time last year.

Yossi needs a kick up the harris, Keane has to stop showing off and just score otherwise I thought the first half performance was great (just watching it all again now).

In terms of building blocks, its coming together.

[maypaxvobiscum]

is this the first time kuyt didnt start a match?

[NANNY RED]

Sorry if ive posted it already i forgot an cant be ars.ed lookin back

Man of the match , Best player on the pitch Xabi Alonso by a country mile ,

[Redman in wales]

excert from bbc match report:

"It is a headache for boss Rafael Benitez ahead of Sunday's game at Chelsea, with Fernando Torres already struggling with a hamstring problem."

[Reg]

Robbie Keane adds to Liverpool injury worries

They were unable to follow the example set by Manchester United and Arsenal and record an emphatic victory last night, but the 1-1 draw achieved by Liverpool away to Atlético Madrid keeps Rafael Benítez’s side well on course for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Benítez will have returned from his home city frustrated after seeing an 83rd-minute goal from Simão cancel out Robbie Keane’s first-half opener, but his biggest concern will have been the fitness of the Ireland striker. Keane’s delight at scoring only his second goal for Liverpool was partially offset by a groin injury that could make him doubtful for the Barclays Premier League showdown with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

With Fernando Torres, who missed last night’s draw with his former club because of a tear to his right hamstring, also struggling to be available, Benítez’s attack could be severely depleted for the top-of-the-table clash.

Although there was no recurrence of the racist chanting that had marred Atlético’s previous European game, against Marseilles on October 1, there were some ugly scenes outside the Vicente Calderón Stadium before the game, with about 900 Liverpool supporters initially refused entry as the turnstiles at the away end became overcrowded. Some fans had to wait 25 minutes before being allowed in, during which time aggressive policing led to clashes with a section of fans.

[Ace Ventura]

Not bein funny but credit to the players and Rafa, he played a strong side which responed and dominated the game, there where lapses at the end but that was to be expected.
First half without Torres and a natural wide right player we easily controlled the game and it was hard to tell who was the home side.
Thought Alonso and Mascherano first half wher magnificent and to be fair thought Dossena played well, i have give him loads of stick but he got beyond the RB and used the ball well. If it wasnt for Keane trying that mad flick or Riera being OTT after being fouled we probably would of won, but fait play, great through ball by Gerrard, great first touch and finish by Keane as well, superb goal even if it was half a yard off, Benayoun was on side though.
Athletico i thought were dire until Aguero come on, goal also on side, think by then we had switched off an settled for win or draw, i think we are miles better than them and will win 2-0 or 3-1 at home, had the 1-1 tonight but doubled it up with Gerrard first goal.
Lets just hope the players are ok for Sun, made up Rafa picked a strong side and then took Gerrard off rather than bringing him on, fingers crossed with Torres too, we could win there if we had a go !

[Kharhaz]

Good result. Considering changes were made to have to just one striker (Keane), it could have gone worse but fortunately Atletico gave too much respect for Liverpool in the first half to push forward and threaten us. Second half, they started playing like the home team.  I thought the officials for this match were terrible. I was watching the match on the ESPN stream and agreed with the american commentator. They were consistant. Consistantly wrong ! Also agree with the comments on Benayoun. Very frustrating player. Going forward he does offer possibilities but the rest of his play is horrid. There was a moment when Liverpool lost the ball and Gerrard was legging it back to midfield to help out and Yossi just walked ! Didnt impress me at all.

[Reg]

October 23, 2008

Police main concern in Calderon of fearCommentary: Tony Evans

It was the game they could not move. But plenty of travelling Liverpool supporters had cause to wish this match was played 300 kilometres from the Vicente Calderón Stadium last night.

Uefa wanted to divert the match away from Madrid after trouble during the Champions League tie against Marseilles but postponed the two-match sanction after complaints by Liverpool. Last night, the visiting fans could see Uefa’s point. This was not a hooligan problem. The Liverpool fans mingled easily with the Atlético Madrid hard core before the game, a shared adoration of the injured Fernando Torres uniting Spaniard and Scouse. At the turnstiles, however, there was chaos — almost 1,000 visiting fans were caught up in a frightening crush and refused entry by a heavy-handed police presence. Only the intervention of Liverpool stewards prevented a serious confrontation.

Uefa’s accusations against Atlético concerned a failure of organisation. William Gaillard, the Uefa head of communications, added a racist edge that was not justified by the charge sheet. There was no hint of bigotry last night but if the Spanish club cannot handle the simple task of funnelling 3,000 visiting supporters into the stadium, then perhaps Uefa was right.

And it is a shame that anyone should leave the Vicente Calderón with sour memories. The stadium bounced from start to finish as the Atlético fans cast off their worries about poor domestic form and produced a continuous cacophony that even Anfield would admire.

When Robbie Keane scored after 14 minutes, the Atlético fans did not interrupt their chant to claim offside. Their delight at Simão’s late equaliser was unrestrained.

But even if that goal proves to have secured their place in the knockout round of the Champions League, it is unlikely that this stadium will see much action once Uefa finally makes up its mind on the timing of the punishment.

From their performance last night, it is clear that Atlético have a long way to go if they are to compete with Europe’s best. However, it seems a shame that their fans should have to travel more than 300 kilometres (186 miles) to watch their side just because the club and the police could not organise a booze-up in a brewery. But the mayhem that happens before matches here needs to be addressed. Over to you, Mr Gaillard . .

[heimdall]

Our defending is not good at the moment, in particular Arbelola is terrible, he was out of position for their disallowed goal and also out of position for their goal, plus several times they had a man parked on the right side of our goal and where the hell was Arbelola??
Of course since Arbelola is a good friend of Rafa's there is zero chance of him ever being dropped, if someone is better than Arbelola, like perhaps Finnan, then they just get inexplicably sold!!

Having said all that I am happy enough with a draw, we didn't deserve anything more, and it didn't look like Rafa or the lads wanted any more. You do NOT rest your players untill the job is done and at 1-0 away it isn't!!

I am now really crapping myself about the Chelsea match, if our defending is as bad as it was today then they will just play down the left and absolutely murder us.

[SupitsJonF]

One thing I was very pleased with was the subs.  As soon as Alonso came off I knew there was no chance of us scoring again, except maybe with a nice Babel/Kuyt linkup (which was almost) but it's resting key players for Chelsea.  Once Keane picked up a nick I think rafa realized we already had at least 1 point and if everything goes well 3, and that this top of the table game is very important so why risk players like Gerrard and Alonso.  Showing that he is starting to care about the Premier League quite more then he used to.

Refs were absolutely horrible, Reira carded for what exactly?  He was tripped by the defenders back foot and should of been a penalty.  Would of one if Keane would of realized he wasn't Ronaldo, but overall this isn't a dissapointment.  If we were home it would be a different story.

Bring on Chelsea 

[Bad Bob]

Fairly disappointed with that result because AM looked there for the taking.  They came back into the game when Aguero came on but we should have been at least 2-0 up by then (Keane's air kick or Yossi's wrongly disallowed goal).  I thought Babel had a guilt edged chance to score at the death, too.

On the bright side, we're still in pole position at top of the group and have 2 of 3 of the remaining fixtures at Anfield.  Hopefully Rafa's subs will help the cause on Saturday as well.  Fingers crossed on Keane's supposed groin niggle.

[The_Rock]

Job done...now lets move on to the main event (ie...chelsea).

Atelitico madrid is miles better than celtic and the team arsenal beat....Heck...they are even better than Roma too so this should put this result into perspective.

On a small note....here is my weekly beneitz rant - Does beneitz seem intent on not picking players on red hot form ? Kuyt seems to be on the best scoring run in his LFC career then finally rafa drops him.....    .....

[maypaxvobiscum]

Job done...now lets move on to the main event (ie...chelsea).

Atelitico madrid is miles better than celtic and the team arsenal beat....Heck...they are even better than Roma too so this should put this result into perspective.

On a small note....here is my weekly beneitz rant - Does beneitz seem intent on not picking players on red hot form ? Kuyt seems to be on the best scoring run in his LFC career then finally rafa drops him.....    .....

isnt that what some always wanted?