Liverpool FC Forum

Toffeehater wrote:season over , game over . ZONAL MARKING !

Bloody fool 

bigmick wrote:Turned out to be a good thread in the end, one of the better match ones.

The excitement is great, and as long as you win the match it's much more exciting to come back from 2-1 down with four minutes to go and win it with a header 90 seconds from time than it is to go there and win 2-0. Even I can see that, and yes I enjoyed the moment just like everyone else did. To the fella a couple of pages back who quoted a post of mine when I was in the middle of a disagreement and asked why I couldn't just enjoy it without long posts all the time, he ought to read back further. Fifteen seconds after the game finished, I posted "Tactical genius ". I can't post any shorter than two words, although to some sometimes I can think of shorter words .

But anyway, the excitement was great, and though lacking in real quality from a football sense it has to be said it was a brilliant game. Absolutely magnetic on the eyes, and about as far removed from the turgid Wigan Away as you could possibly get. I commented in the rotation thread that it was really hard to pick formations and stuff, simply because the game was so broken up, "crazy" in Rafa's words of previous weeks. There is part of me that wishes we could play like that more often in all honesty (not with the bonkers team selection obviously) but with the same intensity. It kind of seems to suit us. Like kids who are given the chance to not wear uniforms for the day, it seems to bring our personality out more. Suddenly we seem more passionate, more connected with proceedings.

Sometimes our attacking play can look as well drilled as our defensive play, and as a consequence we seem to have a reluctance to go "off the cuff", to try something, to commit into an area where we haven't been previously or you couldn't pick. Our obsession with "control" can translate into predictability, and as against Everton it's no good "controlling" the game if you don't make a chance. Not for the first time this season when we have been deep, deep in the sh!te (and it doesn't come much deeper than 2-1 down to a relegation team with 4 minutes to go when you're going for the title), we've thrown the shackles off and produced something. I'm coming around to the idea that this kind of cup-tie, freestyle mode actually works in our favour to some extent and I'd like to see us use it more. Gerrard is made for that game, the high tempo, Roy of the Rovers stuff and even Kuyt's particular "gifts" lend themselves perfectly to it. It's just a thought but I like us when we really go for it, and not just because it's exciting to watch.

The last thing which needs to be said about the team selection is that bonkers or not, now we've won it while giving Alonso, Kuyt and Torres a rest, it is a bit of a result it has to be said. I wouldn't have risked losing the game so readily in order to achieve this, but no matter we did risk it, it was very fecking close to backfiring but we came through. The Manc result again shows how big a risk it was, even a draw would probably have seen the engraver sharpening his tolls for the 2008-2009 winners slot around the side of the Premiership trophy. It was a huge result, they don't come much bigger. Onwards and upwards, and of course, get in there   

Agree about the off the cuff remark.  There was a point there, midway through the first half, where I think we had 4-5 red shirts in or near the box as a cross was about to come in.  I saw Agger and Skrtel deep in enemy territory on a few occasions, Dossena and Arbeloa bombing forward with gay abandon and, of course, Aurelio doing a cameo as an advanced playmaking midfielder for much of the first half.  It was almost like a pick-up match, with people having a lark at playing novel positions.  Against a better team I've no doubt we would have been punished for it but it was still a breath of fresh air to watch.  Apparently Rafa was going mental on the touchline though--Setanta said he was barking orders at the left flank all half and kicked his chair in disgust at one point.  Another "crazy" game indeed!

bigmick wrote:

dawson99 wrote:The selection was awful, but it worked,

It's an intersting one this. Did the selection "work"? If we eventually won the game, does it by definition mean the selection "worked", or is there more to it than that? We were 2-1 down to Portsmouth after 86 minutes and got an equaliser and a winner within the last four minutes, courtesy of two substitutes who would feature in our strongest eleven but who weren't selected. We brought Alonso on to try and get something going (ditto the first eleven bit) as we'd fallen behind.

We did though eventually win the game. Does that mean the selection worked? If we lost any games then, does that mean the selection was wrong? It's definately an interesting one.

I think the selection certainly worked in the sense it made the game more interesting, but I'm not totally sure that's what we were actually trying to achieve.

Masch79 wrote:First of all I am not just saying this because we won - I have been really puzzled by some of Rafa's decisions lately but when I saw the line up yesterday I honestly thought what else can he do?
Torres looked absolutely n@ckered last Wednedsday night & is still on the way back from injury.
Alonso is apparently carrying a knock.
Kuyt runs his b0ll0cks off for 90 mins almost every match.
Riera, perhaps least in need of a rest but has still played a lot of games in succession.

It was a close shave but essentially all we did was put a weaker than usual side out and made the necessary changes to win the game and if the Manc b@stards had done the same their fans and the media would be crowing about "you can never write off Utd", "strength in depth", "red nose is a genius" etc etc.

I agree it was a gamble, but if it's a gamble that stopped Xabi, Nando, Kuyt or Riera from missing a month through injury then surely it was worth it? This is not just Rafa making random choices is it, he has a whole team of experts telling him the condition of each player. People say that it wouldn't have worked against a better side but they knew we were playing Portsmouth who had only won 2 of their last 15 and can't defend for sh1t. If we were playing a better team then maybe 1 or 2 of the stars would have played - imo a calculated risk that paid off (just! ) and could prove to be the difference between us still fighting for the title in May / falling away in March.

We hear complaints that Rafa is a negative manager but yesterday he set up with both wingbacks, Aurelio from the middle and 3 front men all getting forward. I know that many of us are but let's all give credit where it's due.

I'm glad Kuyt, Benny, Aurelio etc have been getting some support because I thought they were all really good yesterday. Babel agreed needs more games to find form but he has suffered because Riera has been so good, FFS King Kenny described Babel as a 'menace' so surely he can't be written off this season when he has had fewer chances to find form than last.

I am sure as hell that the players will not win the title this season if they don't believe in themselves, but the way they never give up a game and have fought back more than once this season makes me think that they believe in themselves more than some fans do. FFS let's get behind them, stop over reacting and being over critical and give the lads every chance to do what we all long for........



PS GET THE FECK IN THERE!!!!!!!

Crackin post that

GYBS wrote:

NANNY RED wrote:

Masch79 wrote:First of all I am not just saying this because we won - I have been really puzzled by some of Rafa's decisions lately but when I saw the line up yesterday I honestly thought what else can he do?
Torres looked absolutely n@ckered last Wednedsday night & is still on the way back from injury.
Alonso is apparently carrying a knock.
Kuyt runs his b0ll0cks off for 90 mins almost every match.
Riera, perhaps least in need of a rest but has still played a lot of games in succession.

It was a close shave but essentially all we did was put a weaker than usual side out and made the necessary changes to win the game and if the Manc b@stards had done the same their fans and the media would be crowing about "you can never write off Utd", "strength in depth", "red nose is a genius" etc etc.

I agree it was a gamble, but if it's a gamble that stopped Xabi, Nando, Kuyt or Riera from missing a month through injury then surely it was worth it? This is not just Rafa making random choices is it, he has a whole team of experts telling him the condition of each player. People say that it wouldn't have worked against a better side but they knew we were playing Portsmouth who had only won 2 of their last 15 and can't defend for sh1t. If we were playing a better team then maybe 1 or 2 of the stars would have played - imo a calculated risk that paid off (just! ) and could prove to be the difference between us still fighting for the title in May / falling away in March.

We hear complaints that Rafa is a negative manager but yesterday he set up with both wingbacks, Aurelio from the middle and 3 front men all getting forward. I know that many of us are but let's all give credit where it's due.

I'm glad Kuyt, Benny, Aurelio etc have been getting some support because I thought they were all really good yesterday. Babel agreed needs more games to find form but he has suffered because Riera has been so good, FFS King Kenny described Babel as a 'menace' so surely he can't be written off this season when he has had fewer chances to find form than last.

I am sure as hell that the players will not win the title this season if they don't believe in themselves, but the way they never give up a game and have fought back more than once this season makes me think that they believe in themselves more than some fans do. FFS let's get behind them, stop over reacting and being over critical and give the lads every chance to do what we all long for........



PS GET THE FECK IN THERE!!!!!!!

Crackin post that

got to argure nanny it is a cracker

So are you arguing with her or agreeing with her FFS