Liverpool FC Forum

by **Scottbot** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:11 am

destro wrote:Right now its all over and all the knee jerks have had their say i thought i would add my two pennys worth

First of all the main reason why we didnt play well tonight....Rafa for the first time in Europe got his tactics wrong, im not saying Bellamy was poor he just didnt get the service he needs. He was picked tonight because Rafa expected Chelsea to play a different way ( more high up the pitch ) Rafa got it wrong but lets blame Bellamy because its easier

Zenden, already slated before he kicked a ball tonight, would of loved him to have got a hat trick and shut a few people on here up but unfourtunately he didnt even get a hat trick of crosses into the box without hitting the first man, was he put in the team for his experience,to track back, to not be so easily knocked off the ball ( see Gonzo ).

Whatever the reason it didnt work ...Rafa got it wrong

Alonso apart from giving away free kicks and trying hollywood balls he was almost non-existant, ive read a few posts that say he was ok, he wasnt even close to ok

Agger, was given a torrid time by Drogba and showed that he still has a bit to learn, Carra should of picked Drogba and left Agger with Shevchenko as it was obvious he wasnt up to it

Gerrard, what is the point in playing him on the right when he drifts all over the pitch to dictate the game and leaves us short, i mentioned it earlier on when the ball crossed in it ran out of play on the right, mainly because Gerrard was taking a corner from the left !!

Leave the corners and get on the edge of the box or at the back post for ALL the over hit crosses/corners

Arebola, tracked Cole all the way back to inside the box then chose to run behind him to cut out a ball he was never going to get to, another one who will learn a lot from tonights game

Mascherano, strong in the tackle and in keeping his passing simple, but was a little over run due to the absence of Xabi. Lucky not to give a penalty away because the new rules clearly state HANDBALL OUTSIDE THE BOX is a penalty ( Jose you are a muppet )

Carra prob man of the match for me, could of got across to help Agger and double up on Drogba for the goal but then again he probabaley thought ( like i did ) Agger had it under control

Kuyt, ran around looking busy like he always does, so what. nobody called for him to be subbed ?

Riise, expected more of a goal threat from him ( he likes to score against Chelsea) not really with it tonight, one mistake almost cost us another goal !

Reina, couple of great saves not much he could of done with the goal on a par with Carra for MOTM

And there we have , we lost but its only halftime with the right team selection,tactics and mentality ( and the crowd behind us)i dont see why we cant turn this around next tuesday

That's a good post mate.

by **Lando_Griffin** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:40 am

F*cking cockney scum. :no

by **skipper** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:51 am

Arbeloa and Riise were liabilities tonight. Neither had a lot of cover in front of them but their touches were awful. Agger was manhandled by that kunt, cheating, diving Drogba :angry:

. Masch and Alonso were both below par tonight.

And Zenden, oh dear. When Chelsea shut everything else down, Zenden was mostly our only attacking option. He had numerous chances to prove the doubters wrong. Numerous chances to show why Rafa started him. But instead, he was once again poor. He beat Ferraira maybe once or twice but most of his crosses were knocked down. He didn't show much pace and showed no composure with that shot in the first half.

How much do we miss Harry Kewell and Luis Garcia?
Far too much.

Rafa's tactics sure weren't great BUT the players are the ones that play the matches and most of our players tonight were not up to it.

by **Scottbot** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:56 am

Forgot to say the Reds away support was absolutely brilliant tonight. It sounded like a 50/50 split for much of the game. You could hear them singing pretty much the whole game and it's comical when the only reply from the home support was to try and wolf whistle and hiss over the songs. as for them plackie blue flags it was hilarious

by **agoodmentality** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:08 am

Lets hope Hicks & Gillet were watching cos tonight just shows the level of investment needed in the squad this summer

It kills me to say but our squad level is not as high as some other clubs, and if in beating barcelona, the new owners thought the squad just needed fine tuning, this game has confirmed to me we need some major signings, lets hope it does them.

It was'nt Rafa's system which lost us the game it was the level of the players picked.
REPLACE..Bellamy for Torres
REPLACE..Arbeloa for Alves
REPLACE..Zenden for Simoa
What do you think the result would've been?

that's for the summer this is NOW and we can still beat Chelski at Anfield,... stranger things have happend....

by **The Manhattan Project** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:39 am

Rafa has mastered the Champions League. In Europe, I don't think there is a single team we can't handle.

It's the Premiership teams we have trouble with. We invite them to attack us, we don't close them down enough, our marking isn't always so good and we are far too clumsy with our passes. In the slower European game I think sometimes you can get away with more than you can against a faster paced counterattacking Premiership side.

by **Bad Bob** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:11 am

Bamaga man wrote:
In the middle, I'm with Sabre--Alonso had a strong game. He made a decent fist of the Sissoko ball hunter role and he was generally strong in the tackle. Except at the very end, I thought his distribution was spot on and he was the only player working to switch play quickly, which was our best chance of getting in behind their defenders. Unfortunately, when one of your targets is Zenden, there's only so much that can be done. I thought it was a classic game of Alonso doing all the unsung things well, yet people moaning that he wasn't contributing anything. Mascherano, too, had a decent game but he was in tough dealing with Joe Cole's clever little runs and constant movement

Agreed with most of your post, but that I couldnt swallow. His distribution was pretty poor for most part of the game. Infact his square passes of 10/15 yards were okay at times. But when he had to play the ball forward it was very poor. He didnt play as well as he can, the unsung things also. He did look slow and and out of sorts when Lampard and J.Cole went forward in support of their players.
I think Rafa was right in bringing him off he had a shocker, and maybe Alonso should of came off 10 mins earlier. One because he wasnt at the races and two, to offer us as an attacking threat through the center with Gerrard.

If we go a goal down then are trying to get back into the game, one of either Mascha or Alonso HAS to ake way. There is no threat whatsoever in the middle and both are similar players that would rather sit back and shield the defence.

I guess I saw it differently, then, mate, because I thought Alonso played reasonably well. He most certainly did not have a "shocker", in any case. Sure, not every pass came off--how could they with Chelsea packing the defense? But, he did do some excellent work with the ball, especially distributing out wide to Zenden. I still contend that Xabi's ability to switch play quickly could have been a huge asset tonight if we had had the wingers to exploit the spaces that opened. With Zenden's lack of pace and Gerrard drifting infield (and very little overlapping from Arbeloa), there was no one to take advantage.

As for bringing one of he or Mascherano off to move Gerrard to the middle, that I could support--a tactical substitution to get our biggest goal threat a new avenue of attack not a hauling off due to sub-par play.

by **Effes** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:01 am

I think it's the classic European "situation" - one nil down from the first leg.

All is not lost, far from it.

I think people are just a bit negative because they thought we could have got a goal tonight.

Should be a cracker at Anfield.

by **Lando_Griffin** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:01 am

Alonso was one of our better performers if you ask me.

Just because his work goes largely unseen due to its understated nature, doesn't mean it's not there.

Arbeloa was p*ss-poor tonight - quite a shock as the lad has looked very good when I've seen him previously. Fact is, the score would be 0-0 had he kept goalside of Cole instead of ball-watching.

Still - on to Anfield, with the task of making the final even more difficult than before.

by **Effes** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:12 am

Lando_Griffin wrote:Fact is, the score would be 0-0 had he kept goalside of Cole instead of ball-watching.

Lando, I'd say Agger being too tight on Drogba was maybe the biggest reason for the goal.

But I think sometimes, you've just got to admit it's a good goal and no-one was genuinely to blame.
Cole attacked the ball, as any attcker would. Arbeloa could have done better but it's nit-picking, as he had less time to react.

It's only 1 nil. They wont enjoy playing at Anfield.

by **66-1112520797** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:13 am

Bad Bob wrote:
Bamaga man wrote:
In the middle, I'm with Sabre--Alonso had a strong game. He made a decent fist of the Sissoko ball hunter role and he was generally strong in the tackle. Except at the very end, I thought his distribution was spot on and he was the only player working to switch play quickly, which was our best chance of getting in behind their defenders. Unfortunately, when one of your targets is Zenden, there's only so much that can be done. I thought it was a classic game of Alonso doing all the unsung things well, yet people moaning that he wasn't contributing anything. Mascherano, too, had a decent game but he was in tough dealing with Joe Cole's clever little runs and constant movement

Agreed with most of your post, but that I couldnt swallow. His distribution was pretty poor for most part of the game. Infact his square passes of 10/15 yards were okay at times. But when he had to play the ball forward it was very poor. He didnt play as well as he can, the unsung things also. He did look slow and and out of sorts when Lampard and J.Cole went forward in support of their players.
I think Rafa was right in bringing him off he had a shocker, and maybe Alonso should of came off 10 mins earlier. One because he wasnt at the races and two, to offer us as an attacking threat through the center with Gerrard.

If we go a goal down then are trying to get back into the game, one of either Mascha or Alonso HAS to ake way. There is no threat whatsoever in the middle and both are similar players that would rather sit back and shield the defence.

I guess I saw it differently, then, mate, because I thought Alonso played reasonably well. He most certainly did not have a "shocker", in any case. Sure, not every pass came off--how could they with Chelsea packing the defense? But, he did do some excellent work with the ball, especially distributing out wide to Zenden. I still contend that Xabi's ability to switch play quickly could have been a huge asset tonight if we had had the wingers to exploit the spaces that opened. With Zenden's lack of pace and Gerrard drifting infield (and very little overlapping from Arbeloa), there was no one to take advantage.

As for bringing one of he or Mascherano off to move Gerrard to the middle, that I could support--a tactical substitution to get our biggest goal threat a new avenue of attack not a hauling off due to sub-par play.

That was the least he could of done, distributing the ball out to Zenden. I would expect any proffesional footballer to pick out a wide man every now and then. Considering passing is the best thing he can do with a ball it was a shame to see him place so many wayward passes.

Thats Xabi's main negative IMO, if his passing isnt upto the standard we know. His game can become very ineffective especially if a goal is needed tonight proved that.

I'm not singling Alonso out a few of our players had a bad game tonight. But when I read through some of this thread and saw people say Alonso had a decent game I couldnt help myself. I thought I must have been watching a different game.

Thats the thing see, Rafa went there tonight with the intention of getting a goal or two. The creators for the strikers are mostly your midfielders. In having Mascha and Alonso in the center, your never in a million years going to break a team like Chelsea at home. With Gerrard the only man in that quartet who actually looks like he can pose a threat out wide and being marked out or unable to get into the game we'll never look like scoring.

The onus really has doubled on Steven Gerrard to do something and Rafa has given the defence a double insurance in Mascha and Alonso. When one of them should be looking to do something up the other end of the pitch.

I said before Lampard I think has scored more goals than our entire midfield this season. And if Rafa starts with the same formation at Anfield I think we'll have a cat in hells chance of breaking them down.

Knowing how dangerous Chelsea can be on the break I'd would actually opt for the formation Sabre likes. 4-2-3-1 that way you'll get your double insurance in Xabi and Mascha, then have the creativity, threat and support for attack in your three men infront. Stevie in the center where he can actually do some damage. Pennant and Riise either side of him.

One last thing, if Rafa wanted Gerrard out wide tonight looking back on it. Shouldnt he of played Gerrard LM, Pennant RM ? Paulo Ferraira is there weakest link a Gerrard would of caused more problems down the left than Zenden would of done, and Pennant could of carried on doing down the right what he's been doing for the last few games ?

by **account deleted by request** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:38 am

Its only 1-0, at half time it looked like we could have taken a real beating and have no chance. We are still in this with a great chance.

I have to say I agree with Bamaga man about Alonso (so that proves I must be wrong!

) when we needed creativity rather than the obvious ball out wide, he just couldnt provide it. The style Chelsea played, chipping the ball up to Drogba(big boot some would call it) just emphasised Alonso's lack of pace.

The two things that worry me the most about the return match are, how the hell we handle Drogba, and what do we do about our lack of creativity up front.

We got pasted first half and Chelsea created about 5 or 6 decent half chances in the game. We probably had the better of the second half and yet only created 1 possibly 2.

I am thankful we are still in with a chance and confident we will take it.

by **Gracias King Rafa** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:22 am

Well well well,despite beating us last night Maureen still can't stop whinging that "handball" against Arbeloa and our direct football when Crouchie came on......like you weren't doing that with Dogbra all night? :angry:

I hope you've got an extra strong pair of knickers ready for Anfield you Portugese t0sser!!

Nevertheless l I was surprised Crouchie didn't start(did Bellamy actually contribute anything) and why wasn't Gonzo given a chance for the last 20 minutes or so?

Still,I can't wait for Tuesday night,we'll show those rent boys what an atmosphere is....COME ON YOU REDS!!!!!!

by **Rafa D** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:33 am

My tuppence worth:

*We missed Finnan a lot tonight. I feel Rafa would of gone with Riise at LM and Finnan and Arbeloa as the fullbacks. This would of give us a lot more solidarity at the back. Riise made his customary fuck up and I'm sure the defence would of been a lot more comfortable with that set up. Also the question mark will be asked of whether Cole would of got in front of Finnan for the goal? - We'll never know.

*Agger had a stinker, I said earlier before the game I would play Sami due to his experience and Chelsea's long ball options and I feel he would of handled Drogba a lot better. He bullied Agger all game and to be honest Agger was favourite to get to the ball when he crossed for the goal but I think because it was in the box, he stalled giving Drogba enoguh time to get the cross in.

*Maschereno and Alonso both had ok games in my eyes but I feel we missed Momo's destructive qualities in the middle. I know he's not flavour of the month but an away game against a top team is the perfect set up for Momo and its were he shines the most. They had a 3 man midfield of Obi, Makalele and Lampard so they immediate had an extra man in the cente of the field and I would of thought Momo would of bullied them a lot more than Alonso and Masch did. That was a gaffe by Rafa IMHO.

*I would of started Crouch as well with hindsight. He is more of a targetman obviously and he would of brought Gerrard and his partner(Kuyt or Bellers) into the game a lot more in the first half.

I don't think the ties over like some have suggested. I think its advantage us. Just.

by **66-1120597113** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:45 am

NO NEED FOR DEEP ANALYSIS OF LAST NIGHT!

THE BUCK LIES FIRMLY AT THE FEET OF RAFFA BENITEZ!
WRONG TEAM SELECTION,FORMATION AND TACTICS...............ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT!

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