Liverpool FC Forum

[Ace Ventura]

Will post a proper reply later as i have to go and play a match in a minute.

Just want to say that Rafa took the p!ss out of Gerrard yesterday. Dragging off the skipper in a local derby, after he had just got us back into the game and looked our best player was a ridiculous decision, he keeps gambling and ok this time he got away with it but next time we wont be so lucky.
The comments about bringing him off as well were b@llocks, he wasnt squandering posession or running around like a headless chicken. He was playing well seemed up for it and was genuinley bemused when he was taken off.
Did anyone else see the wry smile, well sort of smirk on Gerrards face when Sissoko was put in near the end and he dragged his shot horribly wide ? He must of been thinking to himself, how the feck is he on the pitch in my position ? There is no point at all of Sissoko getting himself into positions like that, absolutely pointless passing to him in those sort of areas.
Can anybody explain why Rafa will not make a substitution at half time ? After the first 15 minutes when we had started really well, Everton totally controlled the game and with us trailing 1-0 come out in the second half with the same players looking devoid of creativity and ideas.
Make no mistake we got lucky, very lucky. Lucky that Hibbert was selected (he is absolute garbage) Lucky with the Lescott penalty decision and Carragher was lucky not to get sent off, he seemed to really lose the plot.
I am obviously made up with the result, but if Rafa persists with his strange gambling we wont get away with it very often.

[Toffeehater]

Will post a proper reply later as i have to go and play a match in a minute.

Just want to say that Rafa took the p!ss out of Gerrard yesterday. Dragging off the skipper in a local derby, after he had just got us back into the game and looked our best player was a ridiculous decision, he keeps gambling and ok this time he got away with it but next time we wont be so lucky.
The comments about bringing him off as well were b@llocks, he wasnt squandering posession or running around like a headless chicken. He was playing well seemed up for it and was genuinley bemused when he was taken off.
Did anyone else see the wry smile, well sort of smirk on Gerrards face when Sissoko was put in near the end and he dragged his shot horribly wide ? He must of been thinking to himself, how the feck is he on the pitch in my position ? There is no point at all of Sissoko getting himself into positions like that, absolutely pointless passing to him in those sort of areas.
Can anybody explain why Rafa will not make a substitution at half time ? After the first 15 minutes when we had started really well, Everton totally controlled the game and with us trailing 1-0 come out in the second half with the same players looking devoid of creativity and ideas.
Make no mistake we got lucky, very lucky. Lucky that Hibbert was selected (he is absolute garbage) Lucky with the Lescott penalty decision and Carragher was lucky not to get sent off, he seemed to really lose the plot.
I am obviously made up with the result, but if Rafa persists with his strange gambling we wont get away with it very often.

hhaha yea i saw that dry smile on Gerrard 's face , i though that he was smiling abt a joke or something but later i reliazed that maybe cos of that miss that was really why he was smiling ...
Yea we're not gonna get away with daylight robbery every time , we need a number 2 , if rafa cannot get pako back i suggest the best option is Sammy lee , who isn't half the assistant that pako is but he's btr than nothing

[ConnO'var]

we need a number 2 , if rafa cannot get pako back i suggest the best option is Sammy lee , who isn't half the assistant that pako is but he's btr than nothing

Knee jerk, mate.... imho...

I don't think it's wise to make a rash decision or any decision of that nature for that matter....

Identify the root cause of the problem... THEN, rectify it.

Throwing solutions willy nilly in the hope that one will eventually solve the problem is foolhardy in the extreme, I feel....

2p worth at any rate..

[Wilhelmsson]

1) Just want to say that Rafa took the p!ss out of Gerrard yesterday. Dragging off the skipper in a local derby, after he had just got us back into the game and looked our best player was a ridiculous decision, he keeps gambling and ok this time he got away with it but next time we wont be so lucky.

2) He was playing well seemed up for it and was genuinley
bemused when he was taken off.

3)Did anyone else see the wry smile, well sort of smirk on Gerrards face when Sissoko was put in near the end and he dragged his shot horribly wide ?

4) He must of been thinking to himself, how the feck is he on the pitch in my position ? There is no point at all of Sissoko getting himself into positions like that, absolutely pointless passing to him in those sort of areas.

I’d like to add a few points here;


1) Rafa’s decision to substitute Steven was a peculiar one to say the very least. I have put down the substitution down to two possible reasons. A) Rafa wanted to give Steven a reality check, by substituting Steven, Rafa was informing Steven that he might not always play 90 minutes in a match. B) There is a rift between both Rafa and Steven.

2) Gerrard should learn to accept that he is a team player and should learn to accept that there will be times where he will be substituted.

3) Laughing at a team mate’s misfortune is not behaviour of a professional, in fact it just makes me believe the claims which suggest that Gerrard is a complete moron.

4) The CM position is not Gerrard’s position; he has no divine right to play for the club. Gerrard should have to work for his place in the team like everyone else, I don’t care how good a player he is, he should be given the same treatment as everyone else.

If he doesn’t pull his weight, then he should be dropped. If he can’t learn to work and function in a team then he should be sold. I’m glad Gerrard stayed with the club, but there are times, when I ask myself, is Gerrard larger than the club itself?

[Lando_Griffin]

Pathetic.

We win the Derby we lost 3-0 last season, and STILL you bunch of prats havbe a pop at Rafa.
You ungrateful, ignorant b*stards.

"Ooh, ohh - you CAN'T sub Gerrard!!!!"

Didn't his replacement win the winning penalty, brainless cretins? Had it not been for a handball, would Stevie "Can't be dropped" Gerrard's replacement not have scored the winner himself?

You bunch of silly, stupid, arrogant, bigoted w*nkers.

You lot need a f*cking bullet I swear to God.

[Igor Zidane]

Pathetic.

We win the Derby we lost 3-0 last season, and STILL you bunch of prats havbe a pop at Rafa.
You ungrateful, ignorant b*stards.

"Ooh, ohh - you CAN'T sub Gerrard!!!!"

Didn't his replacement win the winning penalty, brainless cretins? Had it not been for a handball, would Stevie "Can't be dropped" Gerrard's replacement not have scored the winner himself?

You bunch of silly, stupid, arrogant, bigoted w*nkers.

You lot need a f*cking bullet I swear to God.

But your not seeing the big picture lando. With gerrard on we would have definatley won wouldn't we ,not only just and very very very luckily. It wasn't down to rafa mate ,it was lady luck of course (silly boy).

[hello_red]

Well said Lando, I wouldnt of said it in such a strong fashion but 3 points is 3 points and a win against your bitter rivals is always great!

Peace

[Lando_Griffin]

Pathetic.

We win the Derby we lost 3-0 last season, and STILL you bunch of prats havbe a pop at Rafa.
You ungrateful, ignorant b*stards.

"Ooh, ohh - you CAN'T sub Gerrard!!!!"

Didn't his replacement win the winning penalty, brainless cretins? Had it not been for a handball, would Stevie "Can't be dropped" Gerrard's replacement not have scored the winner himself?

You bunch of silly, stupid, arrogant, bigoted w*nkers.

You lot need a f*cking bullet I swear to God.

But your not seeing the big picture lando. With gerrard on we would have definatley won wouldn't we ,not only just and very very very luckily. It wasn't down to rafa mate ,it was lady luck of course (silly boy).

Ah yes - with the peerless Gerrard on the pitch we win every game, don't we?

I forgot. 

[Igor Zidane]

About the gerrard substitution, i really don't see what the fuss is all about. Rafa made a tactical call and got it right . If he had got it wrong and we went on to lose 2-1 or even draw,i'd understand. We didn't ,we kept the ball better and created a fair few chances and got a winner ,if it hadn't been a pen it would have been a goal.

Regarding rafa's post match comments i can't explain what he meant about the gerrard sub ,all i'll say is ,it is my feeling that he wasn't intending to insult gerrard ,he was explaining it as a purley tactical sub , i think .

[Graeme Noble]

Watching the game today i felt sick, it was some of the ugliest football i've seen, and i'm not just talking about Nevilles face.

[JohnBull]

HTF can anyone applaud Gerrard's substitution while Sissoko stayed on the pitch ?

This situation is starting to look like a pyssing competition and LFC are the side that's going to lose out.

The win was another lump of luck and ,while I love seeing the team win, the football played was a disgrace and the performances of the players should have resulted in them giving their wages back, that's if they had any decency or pride.

"THE ULTIMATE SATISFACTION IS TO WIN A MATCH AND BE ABLE TO SAY THAT YOUR SUPPORTERS WERE TRANSPORTED SOMEWHERE BEAUTIFUL FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF"   Arsene Wenger

If only I could look forward to one of those days again, because we have had loads of them at Anfield but not for a long long time.

[Emerald Red]

I have said it before and I will say it again..

In recent years we have been losing this type of game, this season we are winning them.

Chelsea and Man Uts have proved that when you are not playing well you need to win these games to challenge.

I would rather win ugly than lose with style!

And this is my concern.

We all know we can and do play better. But often at times, when we are on form and playing good stuff, it's been noted in the past that we don't take our chances. How ironic it would be that we start playing like Brazil, only to start losing games. I hope this doesn't start happening. It would be so typical of us over the years.

[The Manhattan Project]

Winning ugly is fun. Very satisfying.

Before the match, I said I wanted LFC to be aggressive in this match to take on the legcrunchers of Everscum.

LFC did exactly that IMO, although Dirk took my suggestion a little bit too seriously.

[redtrader74]

The impression i got from Rafas interviews was that SG wasn't following instructions. Shocking as it may have been, if a player is too involved in the game to do as he is told then subbing is the managers perogative, whoever he is.

I very much doubt in the middle of a derby that Rafa is thinking 'i'll take SG off, that'll show the media'. Everyone knows he is close to being diagnosed with OCD with the amount he thinks about a game, so it would be out of character for him to substitute a player for vindictive reasons.

As i have said i personally would have hauled off Momo, but the managers the expert, and lets not forget Leivas' contribution in setting up an excellent chance for Voronin and shot which won the penalty. Its strange that even after a win against the blues Rafa is still getting grief, fck me what if we drew? Had the substitution been anyone but SG, it would have ben called inspired. 

[Igor Zidane]

The impression i got from Rafas interviews was that SG wasn't following instructions. Shocking as it may have been, if a player is too involved in the game to do as he is told then subbing is the managers perogative, whoever he is.

I very much doubt in the middle of a derby that Rafa is thinking 'i'll take SG off, that'll show the media'. Everyone knows he is close to being diagnosed with OCD with the amount he thinks about a game, so it would be out of character for him to substitute a player for vindictive reasons.

As i have said i personally would have hauled off Momo, but the managers the expert, and lets not forget Leivas' contribution in setting up an excellent chance for Voronin and shot which won the penalty. Its strange that even after a win against the blues Rafa is still getting grief, fck me what if we drew? Had the substitution been anyone but SG, it would have ben called inspired. 

I've said it in another thread , the manager can't win at the moment with his team selections ,substitutions or tactical setup , win lose or draw he just can't win . It's getting ridiculous when we win against the bitters away from home and he still gets slagged.