Liverpool FC Forum

[Kharhaz]

Id go as far as saying this was Gerrards most influencial game of the season. Where the team suffered 4 changes Gerrard stood up as captain. He was brilliant last night.

[Madmax]

A win is a win lets just remember one thing we have got quite a few games comming up against average opposition and the plus point to that is torres will be back. If he was fit and played this game i could bet without a doubt he would have scored. i cant wait for him to start again. We need our goal machine back and fit.

[Bad Bob]

A vital win to keep the momentum going and reinforce our position at the top of the table.  It would have been awful to take the lead off Chelsea on Sunday only to hand them back the initiative tonight.  In that regard it was a good night.

In terms of the football, however, we were poor and I thought we were lucky to grind out the 3 points, as the penalty came at a time when we seemed out of ideas.  In terms of team selection, I think 4 changes were too many.  Lucas was okay but I'm not sure he was needed on the night.  Pennant was a complete and utter passenger and offered little.  That ball that Alonso pinged out to him early on that he let run out of play says it all--instead of sticking a hand up to say it was his fault he started in with the angry gesturing at Alonso, which was a joke.  Benayoun would have been a better shout to start on the night against a Portsmouth side that came to park the bus (no Defoe, Tony Adams? ).  On the other flank I thought that Babel started brightly but fadely badly after the clash of heads.  Watching Riera these past few weeks just reinforces how poor Babel is on the left flank as well.  He HAS to cut onto his right foot every time he's on the ball, which makes him predictable and easy to contain.  Utterly wasted on the flank and not good enough to start up top...I guess it's back to being an impact sub.  I thought Kuyt had a good first half but was non-existent in the second half.  Alonso had a good game, as did Arbeloa.  Aurelio did okay defensively but offered too little going forward, especially with Babel leaving him lots of space down the flank.  Carra and Sami did well with a limited Pompey threat and both had good opportunities going forward.  Gerrard had a strong game despite being in a position that made it difficult for him to influence proceedings against a Pompey team looking to sit deep and defend.

So, not one to live long in the memory but, strangely, a win that, in its own way, was every bit as important as Sunday's psychologically.  Roll on Spurs, who surely are ready for normal service to be resumed?

[Espionage]

Rafael Benitez reflected on the 1-0 win over Portsmouth and admitted he always had belief that his team would score after another late show at Anfield.

Steven Gerrard's 75th minute penalty kept the Reds top of the Barclays Premier League and the boss felt it was important his team kept up their winning momentum after Sunday's triumph at Chelsea.

"Clearly the win was more important than the performance," said Benitez. "After the victory against Chelsea it was important to get the three points tonight.

"We changed four players and still won the game and the message for the squad and everyone is we can make changes and still win. We used players with different qualities and we always had belief we would score.

"Portsmouth are a good team and we needed to be patient and keep passing the ball and creating opportunities. Being patient was the key word for us tonight.

"Everybody could see Portsmouth were defending well and they had a lot of bodies behind the ball so it was not easy to find the space. So we had to be precise with our final pass.

"We were very dominant in the first half and controlled the game. We had our chances and we regained the ball quickly.

"I thought the second half was more open and at the end we were a little nervous because they were playing a lot of long balls up to Crouch.

"I don't remember Pepe having a shot to save. Okay, we won the game with a penalty but we had other chances."

Despite seeing his team remain three points clear of nearest rivals Chelsea at the top of the Barclays Premier League, Benitez claimed he's taking nothing for granted.

"We will try to be at the top of the table for a long time but our idea as always is to think about one game at a time and the next three points," said the boss.

Benitez also revealed that Robbie Keane and Albert Riera were on the bench as a precaution because they were both nursing knocks from the weekend.

"Keane and Riera had some problems and were a little bit tired so I wanted to protect them," he added.

---------

I dont like the bold part bit

I dont mind the bold part but I dont like the way that he said it.


But have a look at this:

Oct 18th Wigan (H)
Oct 22nd A Madrid (A)
Oct 26th Chelsea (A)
Oct 29th Portsmouth (H)
Nov 1st Tottenham (A)
Nov 4th A Madrid (H)
Nov 8th West Brom (H)
Nov 12th Tottenham (A) Carling Cup
Nov 15th Bolton (A)

Games are coming thick and fast and we cant field our best 11 twice a week for almost a month. All of these games are important, even the Carling Cup I would be hesitant to play too weak a side as Tottenham will definitely field a strong team.

Every game is important and rotation is essential to winning the league despite what Rafa-bashers have to say; but we have to be intelligent in how we rotate.

[Bam]

I think this thread can easily be merged with the rotation thread. I'm happy with the result but TBH I am pretty dissapointed with the performance. But I suppose thats what you get, when you bring in four new players to the team. Again its more evident than ever IMO that rotating players to that degree can easily backfire.

On to our performance I'll start with the captain, because I thought he also mirrored the teams performance overall, I thought he was pretty average especially in the first half. Everything he tried which at times looked like a half hearted effort never came off. His passing wasnt anywhere near his best and his influence in the first half was just as much disruptive to the teams play as it was productive. He played better in the second half and I personally thought Diarra did a really good job on him, Gerrard did produce a sublime ball through to Yossi, and tried to drive us forward more. Diarra stayed pretty much with him and out muscled him on a few occasions.
I probably would of opted for a 4-4-2, not neccesily because its more attacking, but even at half time I would of dropped Gerrard deeper into the central role, he wasnt as effective there as he was against Chelsea. The other reason I would of gone with four in the middle, and of course looking back with hindsight is because both Babel and Pennant were for the want of a better word useless. All Babel seemd to look for when he had possesion was knock it 10 yards ut wide into space near the by-line, beat his man with pace, then just simply checked back and played it inside. That was all he had in his locker and we lost the balance with had when Riera's not there. Again him out there hindered us because he simply cannot play this role, he should of be given a go alongside Kuyt upfront. Talking of Kuyt it looked as though he's passed his virus onto Pennant the 'controllingaballdeficency', the f.ucking thing was bouncing off him left right and centre and like Babel offered next to nothing down the wing, the only real thing he contributed in was breaking our own attacks down. Along with Lucas he must be sold, I honestly cannot see the point of having Lucas on the field or even at our club, he did nothing all game and then when Pompey do push on in the last five minutes any composure he might of had went right out the window as he looked happy just hoofing the ball back down to James. I was talking about players holding their nerve when at the summit of the table and the Brazillian showed he had none, you dont need that in your team when the pressure is on, added to that he offered not alot all else.

It was good to see Hyypia play, that was a good decision by Rafa.

I thought Alonso was easily our best performer in the first half, he orchastrated everything and his passing was simply class. I too am glad Rafa offered to flog him off to Juve as he certainly now looks a new player. He brought back some of the old memories with his passing and vision and he kept the team ticking as all of our good play went through him. His performance plateaud out in the second half slightly but above all else he was my Man of the Match.

I thought Arbeloa was again very good and again showed his willingness to get forward, he was unlucky not to score with a good effort in the first half and although Pompey didnt pose him too much of a threat defesively every thing he did, he did it without fuss. Aurelio in contrast to the game at Chelsea looked pretty sloppy at times in the first half, I think it was that Dioup fella who had a decent heading opportunity from six yards out. The ball went over Carra and Dioup was inbetween Carra and Aurelio, unlike Carra Aurelio could see everythng infront of him and just stood there ball watching while Dioup went in with a free header. In the second half and again like Arbeloa he was asked too much defensivley and did produce a good shot that wn us the corner from the penalty we got. But in general he doesnt raid the flanks aswell as Arbeloa IMO and doesnt impose himself like he should do when getting forward and supporting his teamates.

I think Kuyt did well TBH, he didnt have the best of service, but you can tell he's got some of his confidence back with his willingness to take shots on goal. He worked hard and didnt really get the support from his nearest teamate Gerrard who was being well watched by Diarra most of the time.

I'm happy with the win, but not with the additions of Pennant, Babel and Lucas. Altough I agreed with the main consesus that we should rest a few players, I didnt agree with the amount and the formation either.

[Owzat]

Rafael Benitez "We changed four players and still won the game and the message for the squad and everyone is we can make changes and still win.
I dont like the bold part bit

I dont mind the bold part but I dont like the way that he said it.


But have a look at this:

Oct 18th Wigan (H)
Oct 22nd A Madrid (A)
Oct 26th Chelsea (A)
Oct 29th Portsmouth (H)
Nov 1st Tottenham (A)
Nov 4th A Madrid (H)
Nov 8th West Brom (H)
Nov 12th Tottenham (A) Carling Cup
Nov 15th Bolton (A)

Games are coming thick and fast and we cant field our best 11 twice a week for almost a month. All of these games are important, even the Carling Cup I would be hesitant to play too weak a side as Tottenham will definitely field a strong team.

Every game is important and rotation is essential to winning the league despite what Rafa-bashers have to say; but we have to be intelligent in how we rotate.

We can't keep this up for 90 mins every week when we're not freescoring. That said we've won THREE more games than any other ten game start under Rafa, scored only three less goals than any ten game start, and six is as few as we've conceded.

But every game bar the bitters has been tight :

1-0 x 3
2-1 x 2
3-2 x 2
0-0 x 2

2-0 x 1

Means no relaxing, while rotation may rest players it also brings a risk with it. Pompey were more than happy for a draw, a risky tactic in itself. We looked more or less like we have too often, plenty of attack, promise and little end product. Last season we beat pompey 4-1, we're SEVEN points better off than in the corresponding fixtures last season and scored ONE goal more (believe it or not).

[Number 9]

Good post Bam!

As for this bit " But I suppose thats what you get, when you bring in four new players to the team. Again its more evident than ever IMO that rotating players to that degree can easily backfire".

Certainly true BUT we cant expect Rafa to start with the same 11 every game.He also stated that Riera and Keane had knocks and were feeling tired,so they were left out because they were not 100%!
There are games in the season when all managers take chances and leave players out.Its a gamble though because they put their head on the block by doing so.I was expecting a few changes last night but was still a bit surprised at the line up.As long as he does not do it to the extent of last season we will be OK.Im just glad we got 3 points because the manager would have been hung drawn and quartered on here had we dropped two or worse,lost!

Spurs game is gonna be tough.It seems Harry has them thinking they are all supermen.What a difference a few days can make.
Best possible team out on Saturday is a must!

[Owzat]

A vital win to keep the momentum going and reinforce our position at the top of the table.  It would have been awful to take the lead off Chelsea on Sunday only to hand them back the initiative tonight.  In that regard it was a good night.

In terms of the football, however, we were poor and I thought we were lucky to grind out the 3 points, as the penalty came at a time when we seemed out of ideas.  In terms of team selection, I think 4 changes were too many.  Lucas was okay but I'm not sure he was needed on the night.  Pennant was a complete and utter passenger and offered little.  That ball that Alonso pinged out to him early on that he let run out of play says it all--instead of sticking a hand up to say it was his fault he started in with the angry gesturing at Alonso, which was a joke.  Benayoun would have been a better shout to start on the night against a Portsmouth side that came to park the bus (no Defoe, Tony Adams? ).  On the other flank I thought that Babel started brightly but fadely badly after the clash of heads.  Watching Riera these past few weeks just reinforces how poor Babel is on the left flank as well.  He HAS to cut onto his right foot every time he's on the ball, which makes him predictable and easy to contain.  Utterly wasted on the flank and not good enough to start up top...I guess it's back to being an impact sub.  I thought Kuyt had a good first half but was non-existent in the second half.  Alonso had a good game, as did Arbeloa.  Aurelio did okay defensively but offered too little going forward, especially with Babel leaving him lots of space down the flank.  Carra and Sami did well with a limited Pompey threat and both had good opportunities going forward.  Gerrard had a strong game despite being in a position that made it difficult for him to influence proceedings against a Pompey team looking to sit deep and defend.

So, not one to live long in the memory but, strangely, a win that, in its own way, was every bit as important as Sunday's psychologically.  Roll on Spurs, who surely are ready for normal service to be resumed?

We added a few players in the summer, but how many really strengthened the squad? When Pennant, Babel, Hyypia and Lucas are the players 'filling in' then you wonder where all the money was spent in the summer (£31m+)

I'm happy as the next bloke to win any game by any margin, with the odd exception where you expect to score a few, but we can 'grind out the 3 points' EVERY game. Chelsea are still too close for comfort, just one weekend going in their favour and we're second again on GD. Maybe it's worth playing Babel up front, hopefully Torres will be back for the spudz game. I feared they would find some form ahead of us playing them, their win at the weekend was nothing special, but coming from behind against the goners away is something I wouldn't back us to do - even this season.

All said and done I am pleased to get this one out the way and win it, we have three games in a week and wouldn't it just be that two were away to tricky venues. A good performance and comfortable win would have been nice, however I think we should all stand back and consider the bigger picture of that coming on the back of a win away to Chelsea and before a potentially revitalised spudz away at the weekend. If we come out of this next week with nine points out of nine then I'll be absolutely feckin' delighted and as happy as at any time in the past feck knows how many months or years. All we need now is someone else to inflict points damage on Chelsea and the mancs and goners to continue their less than perfect form.

In the past we may well have drawn last night, we beat the mancs and couldn't win the next game against lowly Stoke. Yes, I would like to see us scoring more freely and no, I can't see if or when that is going to happen, and yes, I do fear that our lack of goals and this potentially being our peak before a trough, will cost us. But in tough weeks like this regularly picking up three points is the sign of title contenders come champions. We've won FIVE in a row in the league, not always playing the prettiest football and not scoring as many as we'd like, but winning runs is what wins titles.

[Judge]

good win, albeit slim, but spurs will be a different proposition than a couple of weeks ago.

their stunning draw with the gunners, is proof that harry has certainly fired them up, or perhaps they understand him better than ramos? nonetheless, the table dictates we should win this one against spurs, however, to coin a phrase, you are only as good as your last game.

In short, i am anxious with the spurs game, and i hope we stifle them. Hopefully torres will be back and we can all stop worrying

[neil]

Id go as far as saying this was Gerrards most influencial game of the season. Where the team suffered 4 changes Gerrard stood up as captain. He was brilliant last night.

Gerrard showed the kind of endeavour we expect however he wasnt quite at the races last night, like the rest of the team he was nervous when portsmouth 'came out' after the goal, giving the ball away in dangerous situations. Pennant was particularly poor and as usual fained a knock to get himself off. Lucas needs to come out of his shell and at least try to dominate a midfield. Portsmouth are a big strong team with papa dioup a giant. Overlasting impression- freezing.

[Anfield rapper]

I was pleased with the result but not the performance we deserved the win. There was alot of hard work but we lost the ball to many times and at the end they seemed to just walk straight though some of our players. Also i thought we were too easy to defend against. We see it very often from the lesser teams just coming to a big club and wanting a draw. Man U and Chelsea seem to just steam roller them but its harder for us. Torres was missing and he would have added to our attacking play. I just hope he is back to play spurs and i hope this new confidence spurs have found means they will come out and play and not try to grind out a 0-0.

[Bam]

Good post Bam!

As for this bit " But I suppose thats what you get, when you bring in four new players to the team. Again its more evident than ever IMO that rotating players to that degree can easily backfire".

Certainly true BUT we cant expect Rafa to start with the same 11 every game.He also stated that Riera and Keane had knocks and were feeling tired,so they were left out because they were not 100%!
There are games in the season when all managers take chances and leave players out.Its a gamble though because they put their head on the block by doing so.I was expecting a few changes last night but was still a bit surprised at the line up.As long as he does not do it to the extent of last season we will be OK.Im just glad we got 3 points because the manager would have been hung drawn and quartered on here had we dropped two or worse,lost!

Spurs game is gonna be tough.It seems Harry has them thinking they are all supermen.What a difference a few days can make.
Best possible team out on Saturday is a must!

Cheers Barry.

I know what your saying, of course Rafa cannot play the same eleven every week. Its near enough impossible and taking into consideration Riera and Keane both had knocks and werent justified into starting is also fair enough.

I suppose what bugged me about it though was mainly the formation as oppossed to the personel. Sorry, the fact the players in that formation couldnt do it justice unlike Sunday.

Pennant positionally last night looked as though he was playing RM in a four man midfield. He pretty much stuck to the sideline and hugged it all night. He never once looked to come inside, and get into the box, he never once supported a one man striker in Kuyt. He stayed out wide and continued to knock in his "crosses" to one striker who had buckleys chance of getting on the end of them. Okay whip in a few crosses now and then, but dont just sit out there all night when you've got one man upfront. Have a shot, impose yourself. I dont think Pennants got the game intelligence and know how to do this TBH. He's to one dimmensional in that he looks to recieve a ball and head for the byline, instead of mixing it up every now and then to a have a shot or do something different and pose more of a threat.

Where as people in the past have said that Kuyt cannot play on the right of a four man midfield, but looks more comfortable in a five man midfield out on the right, its the opposite for Pennant. Kuyt even though he's limited knows he needs to menace, and offer the striker and the 'hole' player support. Even if thats by something simple as making space for Gerrard or whomever, I think he has a better understanding of the role myself.

Then you have Lucas. Tut. Another striker could of been on the field instead of him, and Pennants crosses would of had more probability in finding two strikers rather than one.

If Riera did need that rest, well then Babel was really the only possibilty, although I'd like to see him start upfront for once. Because on the wing he isnt able to do much apart from check back onto his right foot and play it inside, or lose it. Maybe that El Zhar kid could do a job out there ?

------------------ Reina

         Arbeloa    Carra   Hyypia   Aurelio

         Pennant  Gerrard  M, or A   Babel

                       Yossi
                             Kuyt

Pot and kettle you all may be thinking, that is still styling I know but if it had to be done in order to rest Keane and Riera, well I suppose it has to be done    But at least pick a team and a formation where you think your players are better suited to that formation.


I dont know if that post made much sense.   

[stmichael]

Great result. Couldn't give a monkeys about the performance. At the end of the day it was all about getting the three points and that's what we did.

[Gerrard30391]

I can only see from that performance that when we learn to finish, somebody is in for a pasting, a real pasting.

Expect to see a few goals when Torres is back!

[devaney]

Rotation is ok but not with players like Pennant who is so lazy he should never be seen in a Liverpool shirt, Lucas who just isn't good enough - will he get better? and Babbel who simply isn't on the same page a lot of the time - but I think he will get better.

Hyppia is quality and for a previous poster to suggest that he didn't make a difference is nonsense. He would be an automatic choice for me but I know his age is a problem. He should not have been left out of the CL squad.

Good result overall but like a lot of games this season we were not overly convincing. So much still to come and look at the results without Torres. Not a time to get carried away though.