Liverpool FC Forum

by **Dalglish** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:03 am

When the dust settlers on this epic encounter between two teams who for different reasons were desperate to reach a Champions League final I think we may well look back on it as a blessing in disguise. The prospect of playing Manchester United in the final filled me with dread to be honest and not because I was afraid they would beat us. As anyone who actually goes to Liverpool/Man U games will tell it's not for the faint hearted and you spend 90 mins watching the game then the rest watching your back ! A final in Moscow in front of the world's media with the spotlight on the behaviour of fans would be a risk we won't have to run now that Chelsea have finally manged to win a Semi Final against us !

Also, I can't believe that there are LFC fans out there who would want the Mancs to win !
I know the Evertonians bang on about history and knowing it but a few on here could do with a history lesson when it comes to knowing who our real rivals are.................................

Chelsea are simply a recent problem but once Ambramovich goes to prison for his doddgy dealings in the Ukraine over all that oil he stole or gets bored with his play-thing of a club and withdraws his roubles , Chelsea will make Leeds look like a well run club.

United to win ............... What is football coming to ! As Leon so eloquenttly puts it .........I'd rather have my ollies cut off than see them win a raffle nevermind the CL !

Lets hope that after we gave it a massive effort over the two legs that this defeat doesn't turn into a character assassination of players/manager/referee etc........ It was quite simply a wonderful game of football just as the 2nd leg against Arsenal was. I'll tell you what , it was a damn site better than that drivel that the Mancs served up last night ! What happened to the free flowing football that the Mancs are supposeadly famous for ? Ohhh I forgot , they weren't playing Derby or Wigan ! Ferguson always retreats into his defensive backline when paired up against quality opposition and last night he didn't disappoint !

At least we had the privalege of watching the best player in the world ..............No, I'm not talking about Ronaldo but Lionel Messi, a joy to watch for all the right reasons and this after 6 weeks out with an injury. His touch at times was Maradonaesque whilst Christiano did what he always does in the big games, throws himself to the floor and his arms up in the air. One point to praise about Man U.............. Paul Scholes, top professional and class in the true sense of the word. Pity some of the mans dignity and decorum hasn't rubbed off on Ronaldo and Rooney !

Somebody on the forum commented about not quite being up at the level of Chelsea and Man U and there is some truth in that but consider this ........ CFC brought on 3 substitutions tonight with a combined transfer value of £58 Million .............SUBS !!!!!!!! Thats twice what we paid for Torres !

The curtain falls on another European adventure and for once we aren't there for the final night but for all the financial superiority that the two finalists who will be there in Moscow have, we have been to 3 European finals (2001/2005/2007)since the last one that Man U attended in 1999 and Chelsea are in their very first so lets not let a bit of SKY's hysteria about this final being historic get in the way of the facts.

Walk on ..............

by **Emerald Red** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:12 am

Good post, mate. And a lot of sense and perspective. Us and them in the final could have potentially lead to lose of life. I'm not exaggerating when I say that either. There would almost certainly have been complete chaos.

Still, I feel that none of the finalists deserve to be there. Their road to the final has been an easy one, bar the semi's. Barca against United were poor, and we'd have rolled them over easily. Chelsea had the harder task of actually beating us, and to be fair to them, if you manage to do that, then you probably do deserve your place in the final. Still, a hard one to take for various reasons.

by **Kharhaz** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:16 am

The prospect of playing Manchester United in the final filled me with dread to be honest and not because I was afraid they would beat us. As anyone who actually goes to Liverpool/Man U games will tell it's not for the faint hearted and you spend 90 mins watching the game then the rest watching your back !

Your not wrong the scummy batards ! I felt if we could beat chelsea tonight then no doubt utd would be worried, but as sick as it makes me with tonights result there is no doubt, utd and chelsea have caught up to us when it comes to europe. They have done the dirty work that comes with succeeding in europe, not pretty but it is effective. Barcelona could easily have beaten utd previously but maybe, just maybe managers like red nose and baron greenback are noting what rafa does. Armchair supporters put it down to luck, we put it down to tactics. And rafas brains.

by **NANNY RED** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:19 am

Quality post Dalglish.

by **Rush Job** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:38 am

Dalglish wrote:When the dust settlers on this epic encounter between two teams who for different reasons were desperate to reach a Champions League final I think we may well look back on it as a blessing in disguise. The prospect of playing Manchester United in the final filled me with dread to be honest and not because I was afraid they would beat us. As anyone who actually goes to Liverpool/Man U games will tell it's not for the faint hearted and you spend 90 mins watching the game then the rest watching your back ! A final in Moscow in front of the world's media with the spotlight on the behaviour of fans would be a risk we won't have to run now that Chelsea have finally manged to win a Semi Final against us !

Also, I can't believe that there are LFC fans out there who would want the Mancs to win !
I know the Evertonians bang on about history and knowing it but a few on here could do with a history lesson when it comes to knowing who our real rivals are.................................

Chelsea are simply a recent problem but once Ambramovich goes to prison for his doddgy dealings in the Ukraine over all that oil he stole or gets bored with his play-thing of a club and withdraws his roubles , Chelsea will make Leeds look like a well run club.

United to win ............... What is football coming to ! As Leon so eloquenttly puts it .........I'd rather have my ollies cut off than see them win a raffle nevermind the CL !

Lets hope that after we gave it a massive effort over the two legs that this defeat doesn't turn into a character assassination of players/manager/referee etc........ It was quite simply a wonderful game of football just as the 2nd leg against Arsenal was. I'll tell you what , it was a damn site better than that drivel that the Mancs served up last night ! What happened to the free flowing football that the Mancs are supposeadly famous for ? Ohhh I forgot , they weren't playing Derby or Wigan ! Ferguson always retreats into his defensive backline when paired up against quality opposition and last night he didn't disappoint !

At least we had the privalege of watching the best player in the world ..............No, I'm not talking about Ronaldo but Lionel Messi, a joy to watch for all the right reasons and this after 6 weeks out with an injury. His touch at times was Maradonaesque whilst Christiano did what he always does in the big games, throws himself to the floor and his arms up in the air. One point to praise about Man U.............. Paul Scholes, top professional and class in the true sense of the word. Pity some of the mans dignity and decorum hasn't rubbed off on Ronaldo and Rooney !

Somebody on the forum commented about not quite being up at the level of Chelsea and Man U and there is some truth in that but consider this ........ CFC brought on 3 substitutions tonight with a combined transfer value of £58 Million .............SUBS !!!!!!!! Thats twice what we paid for Torres !

The curtain falls on another European adventure and for once we aren't there for the final night but for all the financial superiority that the two finalists who will be there in Moscow have, we have been to 3 European finals (2001/2005/2007)since the last one that Man U attended in 1999 and Chelsea are in their very first so lets not let a bit of SKY's hysteria about this final being historic get in the way of the facts.

Walk on ..............

Top post that.

by **bigmick** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:46 am

It's a great post Ian, and unfortunately I don't think the fact that we aren't in the final wil mean it'll go off without a hitch either. I still think there'll be absolutely murders over there, although admittedly not as much as there would be if the Mancs were playing us, and obviously I hope not literally.

As for the match, it was a brilliant spectacle and as you say, reminiscent of the Arsenal games. Such encounters are decided by the smallest of details, by the bounce of a ball and having been on the right side of such bounces on a few occasions over the last couple of years, this time it just wasn't to be.

There are differences in the relative quality of the squads without question, and equally there is noargument that is due in no small part to a financial disparity. I'm not sure about the "three subs worth 58 mill" thing though as 30 million of that was a frivolous purchase of his countryman by Abrhamovich. Clearly Annelka and Malouda are both quality players, but neither changed hands for sums which ought to be beyond our reach and it is these sort of player which i hope we concentrate on from now on. We don't need to buy six new blokes for next season in order to complete our two full team mentality, a couple of genuine first team players would suffice nicely. We keep proving in Europe that when we play our best team or somewhere close to it, we aren't a million miles away. Should we do so more often in the league we won't be far away there either.

by **Dalglish** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:48 am

Thanks , I'm filling up here

It helps ease the pain of losing when you write about it ..................Well thats my excuse !

by **Dalglish** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:50 am

Anelka was £16 Milliona And Malouda I'm sure was £12 Million Add that to the 30 they paid for S.hitchenko = £58 Million but we digress........

by **Dalglish** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:54 am

bigmick wrote:It's a great post Ian, and unfortunately I don't think the fact that we aren't in the final wil mean it'll go off without a hitch either. I still think there'll be absolutely murders over there, although admittedly not as much as there would be if the Mancs were playing us, and obviously I hope not literally.

I hear that the stadiun in Moscow doesn't have turnstiles either .............. Don't UEFA ever learn !

Chelsea and Man U on foreign soil is marginally easier to police than a LFC/MUFC one !

Throw in the Local Russians to boot and you have a molotov cocktail just waiting to go off.

But no doubt SKY and UEFA will gloss over it all with their well drilled PR team and fluffy mascots ! :Oo:

by **RedRoots** » Thu May 01, 2008 1:04 am

I'm gutted as we all are but it's something less to worry about i suppose, we played a team who had the luxury of playing Michael Essien(a great player) at right full when our full backs were..well we know how they were..! We were beaten by a better side simple as that.. don't know wha else to say really apart from I hope Alonso has a great Euro campaign so we can get a good price for him.

by **Reg** » Thu May 01, 2008 1:10 am

Good post mate, well done.

There is no disgrace going out in the semi final of the CL. We beat Inter Milan, we beat an excellent Arsenal side, we added to our already fearsome reputation.

Some teams like in Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal and most of the Spanish sides have forgotten how to compete and win in europe. We are blessed that despite the problems off the field and the frustration Rafa has endured tryng to build his squad that we remain in the top echelon of european football.

I doff my cap to Rafa, the lads, LFC and of course the fans who make up for so many of the clubs failings, in providing the city of Liverpool and european football in general, something to be in awe of.

by **laza** » Thu May 01, 2008 6:52 am

Walk on Ian, great post yet again.

One of hardest things about this loss will now be cheering on Chelsea as Manc win is simply unfathomable.

Other then that, the dream is over for this year, roll on next season for hopefully more stable campaign

by **RedBlood** » Thu May 01, 2008 7:29 am

RedRoots wrote:I'm gutted as we all are but it's something less to worry about i suppose, we played a team who had the luxury of playing Michael Essien(a great player) at right full when our full backs were..well we know how they were..! We were beaten by a better side simple as that.. don't know wha else to say really apart from I hope Alonso has a great Euro campaign so we can get a good price for him.

i hope alonso has a great euro2008 so he can come back in pre-season and take into next season for us, why anyone would want to sell a class player like alonso is beyond me

by **dawson99** » Thu May 01, 2008 7:50 am

My mate, one of many chelsea fans, texted me right after the game. and what he said made sense. he said that we got chinned, simple as. we were the better team over the two games and we got chinned. simply put, thats football, you can't win 'em all. we beat them the last two times, and this time they beat us.

im not gonna cry about the result. like many i was absoltuely dreading the final against the mancs, and like many on here i'll be hoping chelsea beat them because

a: ferguson cannot win another trophy, please!
b: maureen ain't so special anymore.

So chin up people, 3 semis in 4 years, 2 finals in 4 years, one cup in 4 years, what club on the planet wouldnt want a record like that?

by **Dundalk** » Thu May 01, 2008 9:41 am

Good post Ian.

I know how Arsenal felt now when we put them out! We gave are all and it wasnt enough on the night but to come back the way we did was very credable and we had them on the ropes in the last 20 mins of the second half.

All in all we can be really proud of what we achieved. Since Rafa arrived he has put us back on the map in Europe and we were a little unlucky last night.

Roll on the Premiership next year

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