Liverpool FC Forum

[Bad Bob]

Fantastci result - though hay I expect that of Rafa's Reds !

Can see where Rafa is taking us - I hope some of you can too - 10pts of the pace and much more to come

er yeah right,

it will be exactly the same next season in the league, just as it has been for the last 4 seasons. rafa places his priorities in the CL and always will do, explain to me how we can beat inter and can't beat barnsley, west ham, reading etc etc etc

because he has no interest in english football, he has no clue about english football after nearly 4 years here.

sadly if we win the CL again this year this will buy him a stay of execution and we will meander on aimlessly again the league next season

For the record, this post is why I was having a pop at Peewee.  Sure, he had a dig at Kuyt earlier in the thread but that's to be expected these days.  It's this nonsense that Rafa doesn't care about the league that I think is absolutely not on.  First of all, it's completely and utterly untrue (and he knows it).  Second, it's got sweet FA to do with this match.  So, those that worry that poor Peewee is being hard done by, don't fall for his sanctimonious act...he started us on this "tangent" and he's rightly been called on it.  My last word on the matter...

[Ace Ventura]

I thought we rode our luck a bit in the first half and we were being pinned back far too much. Maybe it was to be expected with them needing the two goals and obviously being a top side.
Gerrard in the first half should of dropped a bit deeper when we were under pressure, or possibly just swapped places with Lucas for 10-15 minutes.
We were inviting them on too much and but for some wasteful play from there attackers it could of been a bit worrying.
Second half though seemed alot better and after the sending off....which i thought was fair enough by the way, we took control.
Torres's finish was brilliant...and the pass from Aurellio was weighted just right as well.
Kuyt was poor, peewee is right, his decision making was terrible and with someone with a bit more craft supporting Torres we could easily of broke away and scored more earlier imo. Joe Cole would be ideal, although it is highly unlikely they would sell to us.
Babel was also poor and gave the ball away too much and didnt battle enough at times. He needs to have more determination and heart.
Mascherano was again unbelievable, the tackle in the right back position near the end where he stole the ball and then left the player on the floor was top class.
Reina made some decent saves that made a massive difference and caught some awkward looking crosses as well that relieved alot of danger.

It was a superb win and although i think we did ride our luck a little, to go there and win is one of the results of the season by any team. We wont get the credit we deserve, despite being written off when the draw was made, but i like that. We dont need praise and seem to thrive off being underdogs anyway so long may the press continue it.

Gray was an absolute n!b, unbelievably biased but what do we expect, he will be worried about Everton getting 4th and us winning the champions league and them missing out.

[Yari7]

I dunno why Andy Gray gets so much hate. He is easily the best commentator in the business and usually his criticsm is spot on.

[heimdall]

I dunno why Andy Gray gets so much hate. He is easily the best commentator in the business and usually his criticsm is spot on.

he was being a dick yesterday though, completely biased against us, did he comment on the fact that that pr1ck Mancini was signalling for a card after every single foul, no but the sending off oh he went on and on about that, and that sending off was completely correct btw.

[Yari7]

I dunno why Andy Gray gets so much hate. He is easily the best commentator in the business and usually his criticsm is spot on.

he was being a dick yesterday though, completely biased against us, did he comment on the fact that that pr1ck Mancini was signalling for a card after every single foul, no but the sending off oh he went on and on about that, and that sending off was completely correct btw.

I don't see how that is being biased. The sending off was a poor descision which changed the game. It was a poor decision by the referee with massive consequences.

Both players went in a little high but it was in no way a sending off.

Manchini signalling for a yellow all the time is not even a talking point for Gray to make comment on. Liverpool players were giving away way too many fouls. Manchini happened to thinkt hey deserverd a yellow, somethign Gray himself didnt agree with. Rafa does it a lot as well. He was signalling for a yellow for the Matarazi challenges in the first game and we know that was harsh.

Grays' criticsm was spot on if we are looking at things objectivley.

[account deleted by request]

I thought we rode our luck a bit in the first half and we were being pinned back far too much. Maybe it was to be expected with them needing the two goals and obviously being a top side.
Gerrard in the first half should of dropped a bit deeper when we were under pressure, or possibly just swapped places with Lucas for 10-15 minutes.
We were inviting them on too much and but for some wasteful play from there attackers it could of been a bit worrying.
Second half though seemed alot better and after the sending off....which i thought was fair enough by the way, we took control.
Torres's finish was brilliant...and the pass from Aurellio was weighted just right as well.
Kuyt was poor, peewee is right, his decision making was terrible and with someone with a bit more craft supporting Torres we could easily of broke away and scored more earlier imo. Joe Cole would be ideal, although it is highly unlikely they would sell to us.
Babel was also poor and gave the ball away too much and didnt battle enough at times. He needs to have more determination and heart.
Mascherano was again unbelievable, the tackle in the right back position near the end where he stole the ball and then left the player on the floor was top class.
Reina made some decent saves that made a massive difference and caught some awkward looking crosses as well that relieved alot of danger.

It was a superb win and although i think we did ride our luck a little, to go there and win is one of the results of the season by any team. We wont get the credit we deserve, despite being written off when the draw was made, but i like that. We dont need praise and seem to thrive off being underdogs anyway so long may the press continue it.

Gray was an absolute n!b, unbelievably biased but what do we expect, he will be worried about Everton getting 4th and us winning the champions league and them missing out.

Spot on Ace

[JoeTerp]

Bob is right, the original peewee attack had nothing (at least for me) to do with him slagging off Kuyt, I agree with him, I don't gerrard played that great, in fact like i ahve siad for the 4th time now I was quite worried and was not pleased with the performance, but was very pleased with the result and at the end of the day thats all that matters, but you can still ahve a go at ppl that didn't play well, just don't go on about predicting losses in the future and saying that rafa doesn't CARE thats what I took offense to

[woof woof !]

Babel was also poor and gave the ball away too much and didnt battle enough at times. He needs to have more determination and heart.

I'd go further than that Ace. Over the last couple of games I've noticed how time after time the fella just give's up when chasing a ball that looks as though it's going out of play , Kuyt may lack Babels skills but he at least would chase the ball into row z , Babel on the other hand does a bit of a sprint and, with the ball still in play, just gives it up. Kuyt may have been poor last night but Babel was a complete waste of space. For sometime now I've been thinking the fella's got no bottle.

Overall a thoroughly professional team performance , marred only by the sub par performances of Babel and Kuyt. Once again our lack of real quality in the wide positions was glaringly obvious.

[redtrader74]

I dunno why Andy Gray gets so much hate. He is easily the best commentator in the business and usually his criticsm is spot on.

he was being a dick yesterday though, completely biased against us, did he comment on the fact that that pr1ck Mancini was signalling for a card after every single foul, no but the sending off oh he went on and on about that, and that sending off was completely correct btw.

I don't see how that is being biased. The sending off was a poor descision which changed the game. It was a poor decision by the referee with massive consequences.

Both players went in a little high but it was in no way a sending off.

Manchini signalling for a yellow all the time is not even a talking point for Gray to make comment on. Liverpool players were giving away way too many fouls. Manchini happened to thinkt hey deserverd a yellow, somethign Gray himself didnt agree with. Rafa does it a lot as well. He was signalling for a yellow for the Matarazi challenges in the first game and we know that was harsh.

Grays' criticsm was spot on if we are looking at things objectivley.

Grays criticism, whether right or wrong, grates because his bias for ManU is so clear, for us every failure is down to zonal marking and rotation, its clear he doesn't like Rafa, but then what bluenose does.

Come on, when another English side is winning in Europe the commentators are cheering to the rafters, the xenophobia is almost embarassing, but yesterday at the end Gray sounded as though he was at a funeral.

[redtrader74]

IMO the sending off was not too harsh, the foot was raised, and would have been worthy of a yellow, the issue has only been highlighted because it was a second yellow.

[Yari7]

Babel was also poor and gave the ball away too much and didnt battle enough at times. He needs to have more determination and heart.

I'd go further than that Ace. Over the last couple of games I've noticed how time after time the fella just give's up when chasing a ball that looks as though it's going out of play , Kuyt may lack Babels skills but he at least would chase the ball into row z , Babel on the other hand does a bit of a sprint and, with the ball still in play, just gives it up. Kuyt may have been poor last night but Babel was a complete waste of space. For sometime now I've been thinking the fella's got no bottle.

Overall a thoroughly professional team performance , marred only by the sub par performances of Babel and Kuyt. Once again our lack of real quality in the wide positions was glaringly obvious.

I disagree that Babel was a complete waste of space.

While he didnt have a good game (neither did Gerrard), he was able to get past the right back a couple of times and he did atleast attempt to make things happen by nearly getting through one on one and attempting to run past defenders. It just wasnt his night.

He has been very good over the last copule of games and I think he will be one to look out for next season.

[Yari7]

Grays criticism, whether right or wrong, grates because his bias for ManU is so clear, for us every failure is down to zonal marking and rotation, its clear he doesn't like Rafa, but then what bluenose does.

Come on, when another English side is winning in Europe the commentators are cheering to the rafters, the xenophobia is almost embarassing, but yesterday at the end Gray sounded as though he was at a funeral.

But again, most of the tiem we concede from free kicks it is down to the confusion caused by zonal marking. Alan Hansen who is a Liverpool fan is always talkign about how he is not a fan of zonal marking on Match of the Day and highighs the flaws. Is he biased as well?

And while I don't beleive rotation is soleley the reason for failure, if Andy Gray does beleive that, how is that being biased. Most Liverpool fans on this board also have a problem witht he rotation. Gray did a good job last night on commentary as he usually does and most of his points were valid. he gave praise where it was due and criticized when it was due.

[redtrader74]

Grays criticism, whether right or wrong, grates because his bias for ManU is so clear, for us every failure is down to zonal marking and rotation, its clear he doesn't like Rafa, but then what bluenose does.

Come on, when another English side is winning in Europe the commentators are cheering to the rafters, the xenophobia is almost embarassing, but yesterday at the end Gray sounded as though he was at a funeral.

But again, most of the tiem we concede from free kicks it is down to the confusion caused by zonal marking. Alan Hansen who is a Liverpool fan is always talkign about how he is not a fan of zonal marking on Match of the Day and highighs the flaws. Is he biased as well?

And while I don't beleive rotation is soleley the reason for failure, if Andy Gray does beleive that, how is that being biased. Most Liverpool fans on this board also have a problem witht he rotation. Gray did a good job last night on commentary as he usually does and most of his points were valid. he gave praise where it was due and criticized when it was due.

We have one of the best defences in Europe, and have had for the last 2-3 years, so zonal marking does work. Just like any system, if you don't practice it correctly it will fail at times. Hansens criticism has stopped, it was there in the early days of zonal but i've not heard it over the last couple of seasons, although he will still highlight poor defending, it not necessarily a criticism of the system, but Gray will go on about it forever. Like i said, the problem with him is that he doesn't criticise ManU or Arsenal in the same way, he fawns all over them, and is overjoyed when they win. Then again i expect no less, he is a bitter, and a dislike of LFC is inherent.

[woof woof !]

IMO the sending off was not too harsh, the foot was raised, and would have been worthy of a yellow, the issue has only been highlighted because it was a second yellow.

I agree RT, watch it again and its obvious the fella wasn't gonna win the ball. He had time to pull out of the challenge but was determined to take Lucas out. Don't blame him for that , but a yellow card was a natural consequence. For those that say "Lucas' foot was also high" ,it looked to me that Lucas got to the ball first and when he (Lucas) initially raised his foot the Inter player was still 3-4 feet away.

[Yari7]

Grays criticism, whether right or wrong, grates because his bias for ManU is so clear, for us every failure is down to zonal marking and rotation, its clear he doesn't like Rafa, but then what bluenose does.

Come on, when another English side is winning in Europe the commentators are cheering to the rafters, the xenophobia is almost embarassing, but yesterday at the end Gray sounded as though he was at a funeral.

But again, most of the tiem we concede from free kicks it is down to the confusion caused by zonal marking. Alan Hansen who is a Liverpool fan is always talkign about how he is not a fan of zonal marking on Match of the Day and highighs the flaws. Is he biased as well?

And while I don't beleive rotation is soleley the reason for failure, if Andy Gray does beleive that, how is that being biased. Most Liverpool fans on this board also have a problem witht he rotation. Gray did a good job last night on commentary as he usually does and most of his points were valid. he gave praise where it was due and criticized when it was due.

We have one of the best defences in Europe, and have had for the last 2-3 years, so zonal marking does work. Just like any system, if you don't practice it correctly it will fail at times. Hansens criticism has stopped, it was there in the early days of zonal but i've not heard it over the last couple of seasons, although he will still highlight poor defending, it not necessarily a criticism of the system, but Gray will go on about it forever. Like i said, the problem with him is that he doesn't criticise ManU or Arsenal in the same way, he fawns all over them, and is overjoyed when they win. Then again i expect no less, he is a bitter, and a dislike of LFC is inherent.

I heard Hansen not to long ago critisizing Zonal marking. It was definatley this season. He was critisizing zonal markign saying that it would be better if each man just marked a man.

Again, would you say he is biased?

As for Gray, always hear him criticizing Arsenal for trying to walk the ball into the net and how they don't have much width.

Can't remember anythign specific abotu Man Utd, but I know he does critcize them.

And for the sendign off, i haven't heard anyone except Liverpool fans trying to say it was a second yellow. General consensus is that the sending offs in both ties were harsh and it has favoured us.

Not that I am complaining, but if the shoe was on the other foot and we had 2 players sent off in the same circumstances, I wouldn't be happy. If that was a second yellow for the Inter player, then we are lucky Babel was nto sent of.

Babel should have got the second yellow for deliberate handball.