Liverpool FC Forum

[account deleted by request]

I think people need to stop looking at this game as a barometer of our form at the moment.  Away games in Europe are always tricky affairs and that lot wasn't helping the game out with all of their air ballet--it was always going to be a disjointed, grind-it-out affair. 

And, as Lando's mentioned, Alonso was our only "best 11" midfielder on the pitch and that's where this match broke down for us.  Our defence was solid, our forwards worked hard but the midfield simply could not keep possession let alone dictate tempo or provide service for the forwards.  In the end it took a rare set-piece goal for us to eek out the points.

BUT...

Come Sunday we'll have Momo back and probably Stevie as well.  That just leaves the LM position to fill (hopefully, not by Stevie again) so I think we'll see a much better performance.

To be honest Bob, both Lando and your good self are probably right, its just Sunday is weighing heavily on me. Its nothing to do with form, its just the one game I fkn hate!

[Bad Bob]

I think people need to stop looking at this game as a barometer of our form at the moment.  Away games in Europe are always tricky affairs and that lot wasn't helping the game out with all of their air ballet--it was always going to be a disjointed, grind-it-out affair. 

And, as Lando's mentioned, Alonso was our only "best 11" midfielder on the pitch and that's where this match broke down for us.  Our defence was solid, our forwards worked hard but the midfield simply could not keep possession let alone dictate tempo or provide service for the forwards.  In the end it took a rare set-piece goal for us to eek out the points.

BUT...

Come Sunday we'll have Momo back and probably Stevie as well.  That just leaves the LM position to fill (hopefully, not by Stevie again) so I think we'll see a much better performance.

To be honest Bob, both Lando and your good self are probably right, its just Sunday is weighing heavily on me. Its nothing to do with form, its just the one game I fkn hate!

I'm nervous, too, mate--these matches always shred the nerves and there's a lot of self-confidence at stake in this performance (never mind the six-point swing).  I hope that the lads perform like they did at Stamford Bridge and that, this time, the rub of the green goes our way. 

Any sense who's officiating this game, yet?  These matches always seem to turn on crucial calls/no calls.  Surely it won't be Riley given the cloud surrounding the whole Cech incident?

[account deleted by request]

Manchester United v Liverpool 
Referee: Graham Poll
KICK OFF: 13:00 Sun 22 Oct 2006

[Bad Bob]

Manchester United v Liverpool 
Referee: Graham Poll
KICK OFF: 13:00 Sun 22 Oct 2006

F*ck!!  Well, I might have predicted that.  If it's not the long neck it's the prima donna for these sorts of ties.  Expect at least one utterly rubbish decision to go against us. 

[Lando_Griffin]

Manchester United v Liverpool 
Referee: Graham Poll
KICK OFF: 13:00 Sun 22 Oct 2006

F*ck!!  Well, I might have predicted that.  If it's not the long neck it's the prima donna for these sorts of ties.  Expect at least one utterly rubbish decision to go against us. 

We can f*cking forget about a penalty decision going our way now.

Even of Wayne fat b*stard Rooney walks up to Crouch in the Scum Penalty area, takes out an Uzi and shoots 50 rounds into him, that f*cking numpty will wave play on.

Graham f*cking Poll - brains of a f*cking milk bottle. 

[The_Rock]

While i'm happy with the win, something is not right with the team now. Its looks like the players can't be ar$ed...

My take (and believe me, i hate to keep bringing this up).....this is due to rotation. Its seems like the players don't really give a sh1t because no matter how they perform, it doesn't really guarantee them a "starting 11" berth in the next match.

[Leonidas08]

What was with the Kit they were wearing?

Where is carlsberg sponsor?

[112-1077774096]

What was with the Kit they were wearing?

Where is carlsberg sponsor?

its not possible to wear advertising involving alcohol in france mate, they have banned it

[woof woof !]

The performance was woeful . Gonzales and Zenden in particular a complete waste of space. We seemed unable to string more than 2 passes together . What happend to the Liverpool that could keep hold of the ball with simple passing and leave the other team chasing round in circles . It seems like a long time ago that we were able to comfortably boss a game .Bordeaux were a very very poor side , we should have taken them apart .

Final verdict . Good result but far from encouraging performance.

[puroresu]

The performance was woeful . Gonzales and Zenden in particular a complete waste of space. We seemed unable to string more than 2 passes together . What happend to the Liverpool that could keep hold of the ball with simple passing and leave the other team chasing round in circles . It seems like a long time ago that we were able to comfortably boss a game .Bordeaux were a very very poor side , we should have taken them apart .

Final verdict . Good result but far from encouraging performance.

Thats my biggest worry.  The lack of posession and holding the ball for good periods of time.  We played an avergae side who havent won a CL game since 1999 yet we stuggled and never looked comfortable.

[Leonidas08]

What was with the Kit they were wearing?

Where is carlsberg sponsor?

its not possible to wear advertising involving alcohol in france mate, they have banned it

Oh ok, i was thinking something like that.


Thanks for clearing it up

[NiftyNeil]

I'm a bit disappointed to read this :

Rafael Benitez today praised his senior stars for rising to the challenge of recapturing their best form but insisted the Reds still have work to do to secure qualification for the knock-out stage of the Champions League.*

He must of been watching a different game. While I'm pleased with the result, the performance was awful - and if the players are being praised for that, then how are we to improve.


* taken from liverpoolfc.tv

[mattylfc]

How annoying was the coverage by the way? the camera angles were absolutely terrible, they were just adding to my frustration.

Really hard game to sum up in my opinion.  Obviously we got the three points, a win in france where we have struggled in recent years, clean sheet away from home, goal from open play away from home.

I also thought that our defense was superb last night, very strong and didnt get involved when most of their players were trying their hardest to dive and irritate us. 

The hardest thing to take is the fact that we were not in control of the game at any point last night.  In recent years this is the one thing we have based ourselves on, we have enough quality to keep the ball, dictate the play and make the other team work very hard to get the ball back.
Unfortunately tonight this didnt happen and as a few people have allready suggested, you can look no further than the midfield.  Garcia and Gonzalez gave us nothing out wide and failed to create any real openings. I couldnt really notice zenden too much and Alonso was once again below his own standards, very quiet and set pieces were poor.

Sissoko made a difference when he came on and i think kuyt did very well.  Kuyt showed some great experienece and some good examples of how to use your body, keep the ball up their end of the pitch and play the easy pass backwards when needed.

As poor as our performance was though, we really needed the result tonight.  Not only for CL qualification but for confidence,  i think we will now build on our first away win of the season and step up to the next level.

Gerrard, Sissoko and Kuyt will all come back into the fold on sunday and they will all make a huge difference to the team.

Bring on the scum.

[Noise Noise]

What was with the Kit they were wearing?

Where is carlsberg sponsor?

What im interested in is the Tracksuit top the bench had on, any idea if these can be bought?  Didnt see any on official site....

[woof woof !]

Gerrard, Sissoko and Kuyt will all come back into the fold on sunday and they will all make a huge difference to the team.

They cetainly will .
Despite the recent additions we have made ,with the exception of Kuyt it is last seasons "heroes" that we are depending on .

We may have strength in numbers ,but not in quality .