Liverpool FC Forum

by **Bad Bob** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:12 pm

red37 wrote:
NiftyNeil wrote:I can't believe this place sometimes. We've been playing kak for weeks. When we put in a record breaking champions league performance, we've got people puttin the boot into Riise, someone slagging all our goals off as being "soft", saying we only won because they were so poor, their keeper winning us the game and someone slagging of the player that got a hat trick and two assists.
While not getting too carried away, let's enjoy the win for what it was. All the lads did well last night, some more than others. And while Besiktas were no Barcelona, they are still a Champions League side who have already beaten us, so they're no mugs. It says it all that no other team has won by that scoreline in the Champions League before. We earned it, so give credit where credit's due.

Well said there Nifty...

Though the lengths some are going to describing last nights events, outside the sensible perspective that should be considered based on the collapse of the opposition as any real substantial force, particularly in the second half; is quite frankly embarrassingly OTT to say the least...

Agreed, Red. We played very well. We took the chances that were there (while spurning a few others) and we enjoyed ourselves in the process. But, from the moment Yossi stuck his second away (and some could argue, his first) Besiktas were beaten horses and played like it. So, we shouldn't get too carried away with the significance of this result. It was great fun to watch but time will tell what it means.

My hope is that it gave the entire team the shot in the arm it needed. We have been very poor over the last month and have had to work very hard to eke out results. Dishing out an 8-0 mullering in front of our supporters is exactly the tonic needed. If we can use this result to claw our way back toward the top of Group A, it'll be a brilliant moment. More importantly, if we can build on it with another winning performance on Saturday, we'll be on the road to recovery in the league.

It's worth mentioning, as well, how important it is to have players at the margins of the first team, like Benayoun, Babel, Crouch, Voronin and Aurelio putting in excellent performances and gaining confidence. In addition, it's fantastic to see Harry Kewell back in the side and playing well. Let's hope both he and Aurelio can stay fit and continue to progress towards making their respective positions their own given that they are, by some distance, our most potent left-sided combination, IMHO.

Finally, it made me laugh every time David Pleat said "Benanoon" and I loved John Champion practically yelling at Rafa to smile after the 8th one went in!

by **europian-kings** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:26 pm

it is in our hands,
all we gota do to be 100% sure of going through is to beat porto and then beat marseille by anything other then 1-0.
we dont need to rely on other results if we get the job done.

by **ivor_the_injun** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:36 pm

Bad Bob wrote:
red37 wrote:
NiftyNeil wrote:I can't believe this place sometimes. We've been playing kak for weeks. When we put in a record breaking champions league performance, we've got people puttin the boot into Riise, someone slagging all our goals off as being "soft", saying we only won because they were so poor, their keeper winning us the game and someone slagging of the player that got a hat trick and two assists.
While not getting too carried away, let's enjoy the win for what it was. All the lads did well last night, some more than others. And while Besiktas were no Barcelona, they are still a Champions League side who have already beaten us, so they're no mugs. It says it all that no other team has won by that scoreline in the Champions League before. We earned it, so give credit where credit's due.

Well said there Nifty...

Though the lengths some are going to describing last nights events, outside the sensible perspective that should be considered based on the collapse of the opposition as any real substantial force, particularly in the second half; is quite frankly embarrassingly OTT to say the least...

Agreed, Red. We played very well. We took the chances that were there (while spurning a few others) and we enjoyed ourselves in the process. But, from the moment Yossi stuck his second away (and some could argue, his first) Besiktas were beaten horses and played like it. So, we shouldn't get too carried away with the significance of this result. It was great fun to watch but time will tell what it means.

What heartened me was to see how our lot carried on applying the pressure, even when the job was long since done.

Benayoun plucking that overhit crossfield ball out of thin air in particular was an example of this, and when his touch unfortunately went to a defender, he was straight on him, closing down, and in doing so he snuffed out the quick break option for them when he blocked the ball out for a throw.

There were many more examples, but it was great that - while we treated the game almost like an exhibition when we had the ball - the intensity when we didn't have it was absolutely first rate.

Besiktas' tails were wagging before the first whistle, and don't forget they had an early chance. It's a measure of how well we played that it was one of very few opportunities they had going forward, and they looked like they'd been passed to death by half time. History will say that they were appalling on the night, and they were, but that's in part because we snuffed them out as a going concern very, very early on, even before we'd scored.

by **peterc1992** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:44 pm

Bad Bob wrote:
peewee wrote:qualification is not in our own hands

Is that true?

Aren't the standings as follows?:

Porto 8
Marseille 7
LFC 4
Besiktas 3

By my maths, we're through if we beat Porto and Marseille (assuming they both beat Besiktas), unless Marseille manage to tonk Besiktas by an even greater scoreline to over come our goal difference advantage. Have I missed something?

do ti not go by results between the two teams rather than goal difference,all we have to do is to beat Porto and then beat Marseille by more goals than they beat us,if we get the same result as last time then it goes down to goal difference and i think we have better

by **taff** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:56 pm

ivor_the_injun wrote:What heartened me was to see how our lot carried on applying the pressure, even when the job was long since done.

Benayoun plucking that overhit crossfield ball out of thin air in particular was an example of this, and when his touch unfortunately went to a defender, he was straight on him, closing down, and in doing so he snuffed out the quick break option for them when he blocked the ball out for a throw.

There were many more examples, but it was great that - while we treated the game almost like an exhibition when we had the ball - the intensity when we didn't have it was absolutely first rate.

Besiktas' tails were wagging before the first whistle, and don't forget they had an early chance. It's a measure of how well we played that it was one of very few opportunities they had going forward, and they looked like they'd been passed to death by half time. History will say that they were appalling on the night, and they were, but that's in part because we snuffed them out as a going concern very, very early on, even before we'd scored.

I totally agree with you

by **Dundalk** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 11:09 pm

Extract from a piece I read today..

Well, what in the name of god can be learned from an 8-0 win against a side who wanted to leave the stadium after the first half hour? Last night’s game was a bizarrely dull affair where eight goals came with a disgraceful ease. Where does it leave Liverpool? It leaves them with some confidence going into the next few Premiership games at least but it had the air of a freak occurrence rather than a revival. A Houllier corner being turned almost.

Kevin Keegan’s last game in charge at Newcastle was a 7-1 defeat of Spurs which tells you that the odd thrashing can’t cover up a multitude of poor performances. In the end; the Yossi hat-trick, Crouch and Babel doubles as well as Voronin’s flick for Gerrard’s goal were nice but no one has changed their mind about this side overnight and many questions remain. How can Crouch be continually ignored in the league when he scores or causes trouble whenever he plays? Are Aurellio or Riise up to the job at either left back or left midfield? Why does Mascherano wait until the game is nearly up before he starts to actually pass instead of lumping it out of play or back to the central defenders?

The win only strengthens the argument that Benitez has no excuses for failure this year, he has an excellent squad but, for the most part of this season, he has used them incorrectly.

by **Sabre** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:01 am

I've just finished watching the whole match. It was a soothing game. We needed a game like this.

The most important things has been mentioned already, by Ivor and others (1). The best bit of the game was that despite we were 4-0 we worked to recover the goal with great aggression, we never lost concentration, and that's difficult and a good sign under those circunstances.

Goals are soothing and bring confidence. In the first 8 minutes we saw failed chances and some minor mistakes, we were dragging that anxiety we've been suffering the last weeks. The goal brought confidence, and that, and a very poor Besiktas made the rest.

Besiktas was very interesting to analyse because they did wrong everything that can be done wrong. Their back four wasn't tight, they only got two off sides in all the game, and one of them was Crouch's fault, not their merit. They didn't press nor colectively, nor well. You could count their done tackles with 10 fingers. No aggression, no pressure, no concentration, no nothing.

In the last games like Blackburn we weren't playing as bad as against Marseille or Besiktas away, we were being decent but lacked confidence. With confidence, chances like the one Kuyt and Crouch had against Blackburn are finished. When you have trust, you score goals even with the árse, as Babel showed

. I hope this win and a couple of wins in the league will put us in the winning mood, I'm very happy because this was the kind of thing Liverpool needed.

About the players, it was interesting to see Babel has a range of finishing touches. We saw him doing a classy touch with the heel, we saw him heading not great but decently and with power a ball to the bar he had interesting minutes. I think he's used in the wing because he doesn't have the LG's ability to move in narrow spaces and his pace is better used when there's space better. But he has shown that you could play him as a striker perfectly.

Crouch did a very good game. He has scored another goal with the head, well finished. In the first goal, he showed a great reaction speed, few players would have reacted that well, and that's what I liked of the play. The first finish was not great, but he reacted quickly again and scored. Well done. He also was very helpful in the build up and assisted Voronin in the first minutes of the first half very well. Good game.

Mascherano deserves to be praised because he did very well all the "unsung" tasks

Happy to see Gerrard scoring, he has shown again that couple of poor games he had were nothing but a recovery of an injury. This goals will serve well for his confidence aswell.

Great to see Fabio Aurelio getting minutes, once he has games in his pocket I think he'll be more mentioned by the forum members, I think he's better than Arbeloa or any other player for the LB, IMHO. Only showed that class in little dosis yesterday but I have no doubt he will. Arbeloa did well, BTW, except a couple of mistakes in the beginning.

And last but not least, what a great bunch of people The Kop are. They supported, Rafa, Gerrard, Kewell, Crouch, the team, they do not understand about controversies, policies, or polemics, they do their stuff, they support the team.

by **Paulobjk** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:38 am

Hey,
I'm a Porto supporter and I'm seeing too much arrogance and optimism from you as most of you had already taken for granted that the game against porto will be just a walk, the game is won, porto is only going to anfield to suffer the defeat that is already planned lol.
By the way, you should remember the first match against us...you looked (although you are not!) a very bad team, but had a day of extreme luck as everyone admited, even benitez.
And should I remember u also, that we are unbeaten this season not only in the championship but also in the UCL.
So calm down, because even if you want to win (I'm sure you do) we're not going there to see you play and put the bus in front of the goalkeeper.
We need the victory also to qualify and Porto is Porto, one of the teams with most presences in the champions league,1st place in the group and great environments and stadiums like anfield just make our players play better.

Cheers guys! Looking forward for the clash

Congratilations for the historical win

(bjk in my nickname has nothing to do with besiktas lol it's just a coincidence)

by **NANNY RED** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:38 am

Rafa showing his sense of humour on last night match

Rafa Benitez celebrates 'almost' perfect day Nov 7 2007

Liverpool Echo

LIVERPOOL boss, Rafa Benitez, celebrated a day which was “almost perfect” for Reds fans.

After receiving unanimous approval for their new £400m stadium, the Reds shattered a Champions League record with their thumping 8-0 demolition of Besiktas.

“It is a really positive day for the club,” said Benitez “to be in the record books and get the go-ahead for the new stadium makes a lot of people really happy.

“It’s almost a perfect day.”

Why not perfect?

“They had one chance,” smiled the perfectionist Reds manager

Qualirty Rafa lad

by **Paulobjk** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:40 am

Hey,
I'm a Porto supporter and I'm seeing too much arrogance and optimism from you as most of you had already taken for granted that the game against porto will be just a walk, the game is won, porto is only going to anfield to suffer the defeat that is already planned lol.
By the way, you should remember the first match against us...you looked (although you are not!) a very bad team, but had a day of extreme luck as everyone admited, even benitez.
And should I remember u also, that we are unbeaten this season not only in the championship but also in the UCL.
So calm down, because even if you want to win (I'm sure you do) we're not going there to see you play and put the bus in front of the goalkeeper.
We need the victory also to qualify and Porto is Porto, one of the teams with most presences in the champions league,1st place in the group and great environments and stadiums like anfield just make our players play better.

Cheers guys! Looking forward for the clash

Congratulations for the historical win of yesterday!

(bjk in my nickname has nothing to do with besiktas lol it's just a coincidence)

by **NANNY RED** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:50 am

Paulobjk wrote:.
So calm down, because even if you want to win (I'm sure you do) we're not going there to see you play and put the bus in front of the goalkeeper.

wheres the bus going lad and what number is it?

Im waiting for the no 6

by **112-1077774096** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:58 am

Dundalk wrote:Extract from a piece I read today..

Well, what in the name of god can be learned from an 8-0 win against a side who wanted to leave the stadium after the first half hour? Last night’s game was a bizarrely dull affair where eight goals came with a disgraceful ease. Where does it leave Liverpool? It leaves them with some confidence going into the next few Premiership games at least but it had the air of a freak occurrence rather than a revival. A Houllier corner being turned almost.

Kevin Keegan’s last game in charge at Newcastle was a 7-1 defeat of Spurs which tells you that the odd thrashing can’t cover up a multitude of poor performances. In the end; the Yossi hat-trick, Crouch and Babel doubles as well as Voronin’s flick for Gerrard’s goal were nice but no one has changed their mind about this side overnight and many questions remain. How can Crouch be continually ignored in the league when he scores or causes trouble whenever he plays? Are Aurellio or Riise up to the job at either left back or left midfield? Why does Mascherano wait until the game is nearly up before he starts to actually pass instead of lumping it out of play or back to the central defenders?

The win only strengthens the argument that Benitez has no excuses for failure this year, he has an excellent squad but, for the most part of this season, he has used them incorrectly.

wow, my sentiments from someone else

by **hello_red** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:58 am

Sabre wrote:And last but not least, what a great bunch of people The Kop are. They supported, Rafa, Gerrard, Kewell, Crouch, the team, they do not understand about controversies, policies, or polemics, they do their stuff, they support the team.

My sentiments exactly la.

by **D___C** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:15 am

Dundalk wrote:Extract from a piece I read today..

Well, what in the name of god can be learned from an 8-0 win against a side who wanted to leave the stadium after the first half hour? Last night’s game was a bizarrely dull affair where eight goals came with a disgraceful ease. Where does it leave Liverpool? It leaves them with some confidence going into the next few Premiership games at least but it had the air of a freak occurrence rather than a revival. A Houllier corner being turned almost.

Kevin Keegan’s last game in charge at Newcastle was a 7-1 defeat of Spurs which tells you that the odd thrashing can’t cover up a multitude of poor performances. In the end; the Yossi hat-trick, Crouch and Babel doubles as well as Voronin’s flick for Gerrard’s goal were nice but no one has changed their mind about this side overnight and many questions remain. How can Crouch be continually ignored in the league when he scores or causes trouble whenever he plays? Are Aurellio or Riise up to the job at either left back or left midfield? Why does Mascherano wait until the game is nearly up before he starts to actually pass instead of lumping it out of play or back to the central defenders?

The win only strengthens the argument that Benitez has no excuses for failure this year, he has an excellent squad but, for the most part of this season, he has used them incorrectly.

Agree with that completely. Rafa hasnt used the squad properly. His mistreatment of Crouch is baffling. Every time he plays he looks a real threat..yet he is often benched and an out of form Kuyt selected ahead of him. Hopefully this 8-0 thrashing will instil confidence into the squad and we can progress into the knockout stages.

by **mungi** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:54 am

yea crouch has to start. what will it do to his confidence if he doesnt.

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