Liverpool FC Forum

[taff]

Three points

Thats all I have to say to be honest

[puroresu]

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.

We have real problems out wide.  Right side we have an out of form Pennant and Garcia who isn’t really a winger.
Left side Gonzales and Aurelio both have struggled so it’s a lottery on who Rafa play’s.

I really thought this year we would have some real width and score from wide positions but its been really disappointing.  Did u see Joaquin’s (how I wish we could of got him) cross for the Villa's 2nd goal.  Awesome!!!

[Rimetto_]

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 .

What is quality???

Going away in Europe and coming away with 3 points playing with a midfield full of lets face it back-up players (at the moment). Only Alonso will probably start on sunday out of the 4.

So i think in my mind although the performance wasn't good to come away with 3 points away from home bearing in mind we've not won away this season until lastnight was a quality result (not performance)

and the best thing is Momo,Kuyt,Gerrard all fresh for the game against Manure.

[alessandromagno]

An away win in the CL is a great result by any standards.

[RUSHIE#9]

Having had a few hours to reflect on last nights game now I admit that I maybe went a bit over the top laying into the performance so much. Yes it was a pitiful display of heart from some of the players but in the end we managed to scrape the win. What really got me going was the fact that some of the "senior" players (i.e.1st team regulars) are letting their games drop to the level of some of our poorer players instaed of trying to bring the best out of them. The one incident that stands out came in the 1st half when Riise got done in the corner and just turned and watched the player go into the box instead of going after him. I'd expect more from an international player, that you'd get from a lower leagues defender.
Still a win is a win and if we get the same result on sunday I'm sure we'll all be more than happy; however a similar performance and we'll be looking down the barrel of a 3 or even 4 nil defeat i fear.

[lfc_amy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ysqMDGDvtE   ssn highlights for more join www.lfcland.com

[woof woof !]

An away win in the CL is a great result by any standards.

Think some are missing the point . Nobody is complaining about the result . However the manner in which it was achieved for me at least raises serious questions about the much hyped depth of quality in our sqaud , particularly our midfield.

With Gerrard and Sissoko missing we looked far from convincing . Maybe we can get away with one of them missing ,but both of them at the same time ? no way .Zenden and Gonzalez were light years away from being suitable replacements . Against a better side than Bordeaux we would have been seriously embarrased .

[dilbertsbanana]

It was unfair for the responsibility to be put on Gonalez in the first place. He needs to be eased into the team, we need to treat our players well or our turnover will always be massive.

Gonzales has a raw talent and he will develop into a great player for us im sure.

Zenden is a different matter, hes past it im sorry to say.

[crouchaldinho]

Im in total agreement with the posts from people who were disappointed with the quality of the performance last night (and the last three games for that matter). Thinking back to last season, virtually any team we were up against, you were fully EXPECTING us to win, AND do it with style.  When i watch us this season (considering our recent form) although im looking to see more of the same, its more with hope rather than expectation - we're just not even nearly firing on all cylinders yet.

Having said that, we've had poor starts before (including last season) and then gone on to piece together some excellent results in succession. Lets hope that a hard-fought (if not completely convincing) away win can kick-start the rest of our season.

[jkop]

3 points happy days, but as a few people have already mentioned it should have been an easier 3 points. Still with a few main players back for sunday it should be a good match.

[matrix]

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.

rock...   there is some sence in your madness... sad but true 

[puroresu]

Cant wait for the Wii.  Zelda is going to be awesome!!!

[RUSHIE#9]

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.

rock...   there is some sence in your madness... sad but true 

Matrix I'd say your point could have some relevance but to put another slant on it, last night two of the most disappointing peformances came from the core of players that aren't regularly rotated - Risse & Alonso. Apart from the pass to Garcia in the build up to our goal he was very poor IMO. I've already pin pointed one poor moment and there were other occasions when he could have done more. Alonso again frustrated me, his form this season has been poor for him and apart from the Newcastle goal he's just looked a very pale shadow of what he is capable.

The rotation is becoming a cause for concern with the current form but at the same time you'd have to say that not many players within the squad are putting in displays that say 'Go on Rafa dare to drop me now!' when they get a chance.

[kalos]

I think it's time to consider things other than rotation as the reason for some pretty inept performances

I as much as anyone wanted to see Liverpool take the Premier league and Champions league by storm, especially with the new arrivals.

Time to reflect though.

Question: Would the following players make Cheatski, Manure or Arsenal's starting XI?

Gonzalez- Not a  prayer

Bellamy - Bench at best

Kuyt- possibly

Aurelio- Nope

Pennant - No

Agger - Possibly

Crouch- Bench at best- maybe the odd start away from home

Rotating cannot be blamed for overall lack of top quality.

In the final analysis I think we are still three/four players or so from challenging the other big guns.

Rafa probably needs to get in some better quality in January as well as try to squeeze the best he can from the above.

Otherwise mediocrity beckons.

[Lando_Griffin]

On the other hand, would the following players get in OUR starting team?:

Saha - no.
O'SHea - no.
GAry Big nose Neville - no.
Wes Brown - no.
Rio Ferdinand - no.
Silvestre - no.
Carrick - no.

Carvalho - no.
GEremi - no.
Fat Frank - no.
Boularouz (Or whatever his name is) - no.
Essien - no.
Kalou - no.
That other young signing - no.


It's easy to say "so and so wouldn't get in their team".

But I wouldn't think any of the abov-named players are better than our first choice players.

That means we're obviously better than them.