Liverpool FC Forum

by **puroresu** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:31 am

Another poor performance and not surprised.

by **parchpea** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:41 am

Absolute gash that.Lads just didnt look interested at all.Still in Rafa we trust

by **account deleted by request** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:06 am

Thankfully I missed todays game. Sounds as if our problems with getting the players "up" for the run of the mill games has continued ?

by **NANNY RED** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:08 am

s@int wrote:Thankfully I missed todays game. Sounds as if our problems with getting the players "up" for the run of the mill games has continued ?

Dire Saint , the only one if im honest who looked a.rsed was Pepe,

by **account deleted by request** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:21 am

NANNY RED wrote:
s@int wrote:Thankfully I missed todays game. Sounds as if our problems with getting the players "up" for the run of the mill games has continued ?

Dire Saint , the only one if im honest who looked a.rsed was Pepe,

If Rafa is going to let this continue, we should bring back Souness......... at least he knew how to really feck up a squad.

by **NANNY RED** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:33 am

s@int wrote:
NANNY RED wrote:
s@int wrote:Thankfully I missed todays game. Sounds as if our problems with getting the players "up" for the run of the mill games has continued ?

Dire Saint , the only one if im honest who looked a.rsed was Pepe,

If Rafa is going to let this continue, we should bring back Souness......... at least he knew how to really feck up a squad.

Saint mate id give them all a slap im telling you , and yes that includes Rafa, I really wish sometimes we would go back to the old days when players wernt perfoming you would stick them in the ressies for a couple of games , didnt matter who they were , Im in total disbelief at the way we are , The club is rotton at the mo from top to bottom and its breaking me heart mate,

you never know maybe our season will start next month :laugh:

dont know why im laughin because theres feck all to laugh about , an me feet are still tingling ill bet you i get chillblanes because of that shower of sh.ite ,

by **Espionage** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:43 am

Our players did not show up, and they have to take a lot of the blame for that. Take a look at these player ratings from goal.com, they dont always get it right, but I think they got it about right today:

LIVERPOOL

Pepe Reina - 6 - Perhaps at fault for Church's goal, as he seemed to think the ball was heading into touch. Made amends with a smart save from Sigurdsson in the second half, and some good punches under pressure.

Stephen Darby - 6.5 - Looked full of nerves to begin with, but made a couple of key interventions which helped settle him down. Was a lot better in the second half, and showed a sense of adventure with a couple of daring runs from deep.

Jamie Carragher - 6 - Struggled when left isolated against Church or McAnuff, but as ever found himself in the right position to make several big blocks and tackles.

Martin Skrtel - 6 - Covered pretty well, although his willingness to get tight might have resulted in a penalty on Sigurdsson. A few moments of indecision went unpunished, and he found Rasiak a tricky customer.

Emiliano Insua - 5 - Was troubled by McAnuff's pace, picking up a booking for a cynical shirt-pull, and his distribution from left-back was too often aimless. The Argentine has been much improved in recent weeks, but struggled here.

Dirk Kuyt - 6.5 - Clever dummy allowed Gerrard's cross to beat Federici, and he looked lively in the first half. Less effective in the second but was probably - with Darby - one of Liverpool's better performers overall.

Lucas Leiva - 6 - Took a blow to the face early on, but was a stellar performer in midfield. Passed the ball reasonably well, put his foot in, and his bursts forward helped Liverpool threaten on the counter.

Steven Gerrard - 6 - Levelled matters with a well-angled cross which beat Federici, and created one chance for Torres with a beautifully curled pass, but was as guilty as anyone of wasting possession in midfield.

Fabio Aurelio - 5 - Missed a couple of presentable chances on his left-foot, and was affected by the malaise which gripped the Reds at times, conceding possession far too easily. Needed to help Insua more too.

Fernando Torres - 6 - Burst into life on a couple of occasions, heading wide and being denied by Federici in the first half. Always looked likely to pick up a goal, but was left frustrated as a late header landed on the top of the net.

David Ngog - 5 - Could maybe have held the ball up a bit better, and drifted round the periphary of the game too much. Had a few useful moments, but it was no surprise when he was withdrawn for Aquilani on 67 minutes.

Substitutes

Alberto Aquilani - 5.5 - Brought on to help his side keep the ball better, and his presence did enable Liverpool to get a bit more possession. Dwelt too long on a couple of occasions, but looked positive and confident at least.

Yossi Benayoun - 6 - On for the woeful Aurelio, and almost engineered a winning goal for Torres in stoppage time.

I just dont understand how we looked so poor.... The only explanation I can think of is that our confidence is fragile and we played a team that had absolutely nothing to lose.

by **Espionage** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:58 am

One thing (actually just about the only thing) I was impressed with the game against Reading was we actually played a 4-4-2. It didnt work out this time, but we have exclusively played a 4-2-3-1 for a few seasons now.

What did we look like passing it out of our defence? It looked like nobody was presenting for the ball because they were unfamiliar with the position they were playing in.

- Lucas looked uncomfortable where he was, the types of passes that he made out of defence showed that people were either not giving him options or maybe his normal outlet passes were just not there.

- Kuyt looked clueless on the right wing in terms of his spacing to create width, he drifted in without an overlap. He didnt stretch the defence by pushing forward either. He did still put in a few good crosses, but all in all he is definitely not suited to this RM role. He can get away with it in a 4-3-2-1 because Johnson provides the real width because we have Masch backing him up. Whatever it was down the right, it was not working!

Just a description of 2 there, but in all, what I said about Lucas could just about the whole team. It didnt help that Darby's clearances were aimless hoofs, which I dont blame him for. He probably thought it would be a chance for him to have a relatively easy run in a team that would play well and dominate possession.

by **Bad Bob** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:30 am

Completely rubbish performance from top to bottom. The lads couldn't hang onto the ball to save their lives, were far too narrow and far too static. I'm appalled how far we've slipped. :no

by **Ciggy** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:41 am

woof woof ! wrote:What a bag of Sh'ite

Unf'uckingbelievable, other than that I'm lost for f'ucking words.

Sums it up, and we have played like that all season, that wasnt a one off the worst thing about it was being on ITV so it showed the world how feckin cr@p we are.
Embarressing.

by **Johnny Boy** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:07 am

Masch79 wrote:
Johnny Boy wrote:What's happened to Insua he was totally inept?

Some people have very short memories, on Tuesday night people on here were lauding Insua as our mom - the lad is only 20 so will suffer from inconsistency, especially when the team in general is playing poorly / inconsistently. I was praying for Rafa to take Insua off before he got a second yellow and couldn't believe it when he did a straight swap with Benny / Aurelio, thought he would have dropped Aurelio back an taken Insua off.

I realise he is young, however we were playing Reading not Barcelona.
His positional play is poor and he was constantly giving the ball away.
Not that long ago he was viewed as our brightest prospect , from me included. He has more experience than many of Arsenal's young kids - but they have no problem doing the basics.

by **made in UK** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:08 am

Just seen the goal Reading scored, one of "our better players" Lucas let his man go.

Jesus, the plaudits some of our fans give to average players just goes to show how far we've dropped. The Dead wood needs a clearout players like Rieira, Babel, Lucas, Kuyt, Insua (awful), Skertel, Voronin and Aurelio all need shipping out. I don't care what others say on here about those said players I know my football and I know that mob ain't good enough for LFC. Gerrard, Carragher, Mascherano and Agger need to pull their fecking socks up along with the manager of course. Mind you, if you are any of the four players mentioned and irrelevant of how good you are if your surrounded by dross you'll be brought down over a period of time. Two or three players cannot sustain carrying average players season after season.

by **Johnny Boy** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:16 am

I don't quite get some of the comments about Lucas and Kuyt - I thought they , like the rest of the team , were awful.

That break late in the game were Kuyt overran the ball was just typical of his touch - the guy isn't a natural footballer at all, he just relies on hard work - sorry but that's not enough.

Darby did 'ok', Torres worked hard but had little support, other than that I can't see any other positives.

by **Owzat** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 10:16 am

Espionage wrote:Our players did not show up, and they have to take a lot of the blame for that. Take a look at these player ratings from goal.com, they dont always get it right, but I think they got it about right today:

LIVERPOOL

Pepe Reina - 6 - Perhaps at fault for Church's goal, as he seemed to think the ball was heading into touch. Made amends with a smart save from Sigurdsson in the second half, and some good punches under pressure.

Stephen Darby - 6.5 - Looked full of nerves to begin with, but made a couple of key interventions which helped settle him down. Was a lot better in the second half, and showed a sense of adventure with a couple of daring runs from deep.

Jamie Carragher - 6 - Struggled when left isolated against Church or McAnuff, but as ever found himself in the right position to make several big blocks and tackles.

Martin Skrtel - 6 - Covered pretty well, although his willingness to get tight might have resulted in a penalty on Sigurdsson. A few moments of indecision went unpunished, and he found Rasiak a tricky customer.

Emiliano Insua - 5 - Was troubled by McAnuff's pace, picking up a booking for a cynical shirt-pull, and his distribution from left-back was too often aimless. The Argentine has been much improved in recent weeks, but struggled here.

Dirk Kuyt - 6.5 - Clever dummy allowed Gerrard's cross to beat Federici, and he looked lively in the first half. Less effective in the second but was probably - with Darby - one of Liverpool's better performers overall.

Lucas Leiva - 6 - Took a blow to the face early on, but was a stellar performer in midfield. Passed the ball reasonably well, put his foot in, and his bursts forward helped Liverpool threaten on the counter.

Steven Gerrard - 6 - Levelled matters with a well-angled cross which beat Federici, and created one chance for Torres with a beautifully curled pass, but was as guilty as anyone of wasting possession in midfield.

Fabio Aurelio - 5 - Missed a couple of presentable chances on his left-foot, and was affected by the malaise which gripped the Reds at times, conceding possession far too easily. Needed to help Insua more too.

Fernando Torres - 6 - Burst into life on a couple of occasions, heading wide and being denied by Federici in the first half. Always looked likely to pick up a goal, but was left frustrated as a late header landed on the top of the net.

David Ngog - 5 - Could maybe have held the ball up a bit better, and drifted round the periphary of the game too much. Had a few useful moments, but it was no surprise when he was withdrawn for Aquilani on 67 minutes.

Substitutes

Alberto Aquilani - 5.5 - Brought on to help his side keep the ball better, and his presence did enable Liverpool to get a bit more possession. Dwelt too long on a couple of occasions, but looked positive and confident at least.

Yossi Benayoun - 6 - On for the woeful Aurelio, and almost engineered a winning goal for Torres in stoppage time.

I just dont understand how we looked so poor.... The only explanation I can think of is that our confidence is fragile and we played a team that had absolutely nothing to lose.

At last, someone who appears to have watched the game with his eyes open or at least with an unbiased pair of eyes. I suspect some have poor memories as they seem to only recall second half and even then selectively. Kuyt had one shocking touch second half, but most of his first half touches were instant and played sharply and accurately to a team-mate so hardly "slowing down attacks" as some allege too often

Reina 6 - didn't have too much to do, maybe could have done better for the goal but really TWO players marking one at the far post and Skrtel with the goalscorer SHOULD have got in a clearing challenge

Darby 7 - played pretty well, defensively sound with one excellent block, but shame he was partly at fault for their goal in not clearing. (not taken anything off for it)

Insua 4 - shocking performance, beaten too much first half and conceded the free-kick they scored from. Lucky to stay on, for some reason McAnuff must have got bored with doing Insua every time (and Aurelio did occaisionally double up)

Carragher 7 - one of his better performances, although why he wasn't where Skrtel was for the goal I don't know. I reckon he'd have got (something) between ball and goalscorer.

Skrtel 5 - poor defending for the goal, not great all game. Lucky not to concede a penalty, I think we could easily have conceded two had it been a better side/different competition.

Kuyt 6 - our best player in the first half, good first touches and put in some decent crosses which at least one could have been made more of. Made the goal with his well timed run, ITV reckon he left it but frankly I'm not convinced, but his presence meant the keeper only got enough hand on it to help it over the line. Had a poor(er) second half, not helped by the midfield disbanding. Would have been my MOTM but for his second half dip which cost him one or two points in my rating (8/9 first half > 4/5second)

Aurelio 5 - had a half-decent shot that should have been on target, didn't help out Insua enough and was not great going forward

Lucas 6 - tidy and effective most of the time, sat back a bit too deep at times but did play one delicious long ball through which we didn't make much of. Between him and Darby they could have defended better for the goal, but he did win some crucial challenges even if, like others, he did give away silly possession - especially second half when he sat too deep and there was effectively no midfield.

Gerrard 5 - apart from the goal which was made by Kuyt's assist/run, what did he do? Not a lot, well that pass Espionage mentions, but rather than being our midfield general, he was more like the general's batman.

N'Gog 5 - like others, wanted too long on the ball and was too easily dispossessed in congested areas.

Torres 6 - his late header was one of about two chances he didn't take, the header too high because he had to jump and couldn't get over it, the other chance he just didn't get the villa touch on. Caught offside too often, drifted onto the right a bit too much in the second half and while he was ok, was caught in possession too often like others.

Benayoun 5 - came on, looked busy but didn't do too much

Aquilani 6 - tried to thread passes through in their half, did play one good ball into the box but Insua didn't seem committed enough to the cause. He too was caught in possession too often, our players wanted too long on the ball in their half and seemed too hasty to clear in our's.

Benitez 4 - why pick Aurelio at LM? Why stick with Insua when he was getting roasted? Why doesn't he make substitutions before 68 minutes? I think he'd settled for a draw and back to Anfield before the game, shocking considering Reading are just above the Championship drop zone and have a poor home record.

by **Owzat** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 10:22 am

s@int wrote:
NANNY RED wrote:
s@int wrote:Thankfully I missed todays game. Sounds as if our problems with getting the players "up" for the run of the mill games has continued ?

Dire Saint , the only one if im honest who looked a.rsed was Pepe,

If Rafa is going to let this continue, we should bring back Souness......... at least he knew how to really feck up a squad.

If you can watch a replay please do, I'd like to know what your views are on some players as you are a lot less biased than most and say it as you see it rather than how you want to see it. You don't select Kuyt's worst touch in the match as representative of his performance, any more than you'd take Gerrard having scored as making him MOTM.

I gather Coppell chose MOTM, McAnuff won the free-kick Reading scored from but wasn't that influential second half and didn't make most of beating a man he could beat at will (Insua) who was on a yellow card.

Liverpool FC Forum

READING VS LIVERPOOL - R3 5:15

Who is online