Liverpool FC Forum

by **taff** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:24 pm

He pushed his luck
This was the third round of the FA Cup in poor weather on a rough pitch and he picked the wrong team

He got it wrong, we will still love him come the weekend but he got it wrong

by **chiggz_likes_owen** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:25 pm

I'm sorry Woof Woof but I blame both, I agree with you about Benni underestamating the opposition and the tradition of the FA Cup and I blame the players. Both got wrong. Play our first team squad if we have to, they might be tired for our next EPL game but atleast we'd probably have won and HELL not be out of the FA CUP..ALREADY!

by **woof woof !** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:26 pm

zarababe wrote: the line-up was good enuff to beat this team... the players have failed ... and the manager must do some serious culling

Culling !!!! ARE YOU FKING SERIOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was our youth our future !!!

STOP DENYING THAT RAFA UNDERESTIMATED BURNLEY !!!

I'm not calling for Rafa's head ,I'm not even having a go at him !
I'm just pointing out that in his first season in the FA Cup he has learnt a lesson . As Andy Gray said (and I hate him) "If you don't respect the opposition ,they will bite you "
We showed no respect to Burnley with the side we fielded tonight and we paid for it .
Don't blame Djimi , he made a mistake , name one player who didn't .

by **Ade** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:26 pm

woof woof ! wrote:For once I think Rafa got it wrong .

When I saw our line up I THOUGHT Rafa was underestimating the opposition and the tradition of the FA Cup . At half time i was CONVINCED .

Well, live and learn Rafa ,and welcome to the FA Cup. I felt sorry for the first teamers who had to try and put together a performance against a fired up team who were more than able to take on our "kids" .

Can understand the many reasons why Rafa decided to play this line up bt as the saying goes "If you're serious about winning a competition ,field you best eleven or don't bother entering to start with"

Totally agree Woof. The line-up was a shambles. Don't tell me about the same team getting to the Carling Cup semi final - we got a lucky call against Boro at Anfield and were hanging on by the skin of our teeth at Spurs.

And besides, this is the FA Cup, a trophy that means a lot to this club, and we had Bournemouth waiting at home in the next round.

I just can't fathom what Rafa was thinking. Ok, we've got injuries to the squad, but we needed to negotiate this tie, put it in the bag, and regroup. The push on 4th place will shake out over another four months, with our rivals for it inevitably dropping points - Everton, boro, Spurs. We had to back ourselves to beat them over the run-in.

Seems to me Rafa puts more store by coming 4th and sneaking into the CL than having a crack at winning the FA Cup.

For me, this will mark Liverpool Football Club down as guilty of treating the FA Cup with disrespect.

by **A.B.** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:26 pm

Ffs I never want to see Potter,Raven,Walsh,etc... play again. It was horrible to watch. No passion what so ever.

by **Ciggy** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:27 pm

Your names either on a cup or it aint, and ours hasnt been on it for a long time, cause of some f@cker up there givin us the unlucky eye for years now.
Injuries season in season out, referees, dissaloud goals poor managers ffs weve had it all.
But we are still Liverpool Fc and f#ck off you up there who ever you are weve had enough bad luck.
Go give it to someone else :angry:

by **JBG** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:27 pm

Both players and manager are to "blame".

The manager played a reserve side and so took his chances, and the players choosen should still be good ebough to beat Burnley (though, just about), so both manager and players are both to blame.

Its as simple as that. Of course the manager has to be "blamed" as he picked a weakened side and took his chances. Unfortunately it backfired.

I'm not that worried, as we are in the latter stages of the CL and the League Cup, and have a fight on our hands for 4th place in the Premiership, so we couldn't really afford the cup run.

I'm not that bothered at all: the manager clearly sent out a message tonight that he cannot take the FA Cup seriously this season.

by **retford red** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:28 pm

As i see it our squad could not cope with an assault on 4 competitions this season, our priority this season is Champions league qualification via either the Premiership or the Champions league itself. We got lucky to get to the semi- final of the Carling Cup with pretty much the same squad who played tonight, and if we do manage to win the competition it will be an added bonus, okay we played poorly tonight and credit to Burnley they played well, but our exit from the F.A. Cup could be a blessing in disguise, it should allow the squad to concentrate fully on Liverpool F.C.'s main priority.

by **Ade** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:28 pm

Maybe i'm not agreeing with you Woof. Not sure whether you're having a go at Rafa or not now.

I am. I love the bloke and he's the man, no question. Doesn't mean he didn't ****** up tonight - he did.

by **taff** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:30 pm

I want to see the kids learn from this and come back tougher

We dd take it lightly and I understand Rafas thinking as the FA cup is unique and logically its league and CL that are more important BUT

This is the FA CUP and Benitez is about to learn that

The vast majority of us are taken with Benitez but dont make him blameless as he is the manager after all

by **parchpea** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:31 pm

I agree about these younger lads. Its all well and good backing our youth but most of these boys have no future at Anfield Im afraid. They are nowhere near good enough and will no doubt be scattered around the lower divisions before too long.

by **hawkmoon269** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:32 pm

taff wrote:We blew it tonight thats it

AB please understand the importance of tgis competition, yes Benitez is the man etc but this is the FA CUP

Yes it's the FA Cup, a holy institution. But finishing at least 4th in the Premiership is more important - remember the money being in the Champions League will generate, and the players we can buy. We are obviously not going to get massive investment from the US that we desparately need. How else are we going to rebuild the team, go down the high street and use collecting tins?

So in conclusion, Rafa was right to rest the important squad members, The FA Cup can wait - remember we wave won it before. We haven't won the Premiership.

by **A.B.** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:33 pm

John Barnes' Granny wrote:Both players and manager are to "blame".

The manager played a reserve side and so took his chances, and the players choosen should still be good ebough to beat Burnley (though, just about), so both manager and players are both to blame.

Its as simple as that. Of course the manager has to be "blamed" as he picked a weakened side and took his chances. Unfortunately it backfired.

I'm not that worried, as we are in the latter stages of the CL and the League Cup, and have a fight on our hands for 4th place in the Premiership, so we couldn't really afford the cup run.

I'm not that bothered at all: the manager clearly sent out a message tonight that he cannot take the FA Cup seriously this season.

You make an extremely good point.

by **Ade** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:36 pm

John Barnes' Granny wrote:Both players and manager are to "blame".

The manager played a reserve side and so took his chances, and the players choosen should still be good ebough to beat Burnley (though, just about), so both manager and players are both to blame.

Its as simple as that. Of course the manager has to be "blamed" as he picked a weakened side and took his chances. Unfortunately it backfired.

I'm not that worried, as we are in the latter stages of the CL and the League Cup, and have a fight on our hands for 4th place in the Premiership, so we couldn't really afford the cup run.

I'm not that bothered at all: the manager clearly sent out a message tonight that he cannot take the FA Cup seriously this season.

Agree with your first line JBG, but ultimately the responsibility, I think, lies with Rafa. He picked that team, and when you pick a makeshift side, with a lot of reserves and youth, the onus is on the manager more than the players - it's his team, he's giving them his faith, but they need direction - they ain't used to playing big games and few of them have played regularly with each other. They look to Hyypia and Rafa.

Tonight he wasn't just picking a lot of players who aren't yet ready – or in Djimi's case will never be ready – you're picking a team who don't have the extra gear that a TEAM has. Burnley had 11 players, we had 11 players, supposedly of higher quality. But they had a team, and in a Cup tie that can often win out.

As for taking the CL more seriously than the FA Cup, where is this taking us - are we really happy to be locked year in year out into a cycle of finishing fourth, picking up some cash and no trophies, one or two new players, finishin 4th again, no trophies, but picking up our CL cash.

'This has to be our priority?'

yeah, right. And in 10 years time we can look back and see that we didn't win the FA Cup once, but we came fourth and got into the CL regularly and kept ourselves in touching distance of the big boys.

There has to be more to our ambition than this.

by **taff** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:42 pm

Ade wrote:
John Barnes' Granny wrote:Both players and manager are to "blame".

The manager played a reserve side and so took his chances, and the players choosen should still be good ebough to beat Burnley (though, just about), so both manager and players are both to blame.

Its as simple as that. Of course the manager has to be "blamed" as he picked a weakened side and took his chances. Unfortunately it backfired.

I'm not that worried, as we are in the latter stages of the CL and the League Cup, and have a fight on our hands for 4th place in the Premiership, so we couldn't really afford the cup run.

I'm not that bothered at all: the manager clearly sent out a message tonight that he cannot take the FA Cup seriously this season.

Agree with your first line JBG, but ultimately the responsibility, I think, lies with Rafa. He picked that team, and when you pick a makeshift side, with a lot of reserves and youth, the onus is on the manager more than the players - it's his team, he's giving them his faith, but they need direction - they ain't used to playing big games and few of them have played regularly with each other. They look to Hyypia and Rafa.

Tonight he wasn't just picking a lot of players who aren't yet ready – or in Djimi's case will never be ready – you're picking a team who don't have the extra gear that a TEAM has. Burnley had 11 players, we had 11 players, supposedly of higher quality. But they had a team, and in a Cup tie that can often win out.

As for taking the CL more seriously than the FA Cup, where is this taking us - are we really happy to be locked year in year out into a cycle of finishing fourth, picking up some cash and no trophies, one or two new players, finishin 4th again, no trophies, but picking up our CL cash.

'This has to be our priority?'

yeah, right. And in 10 years time we can look back and see that we didn't win the FA Cup once, but we came fourth and got into the CL regularly and kept ourselves in touching distance of the big boys.

There has to be more to our ambition than this.

CL is the main thing but

Ditto

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