Page 8 of 10
Posted:
Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:20 pmby El Nino_#9
RAFA'S PRAISES-
Rafael Benitez singled out goalscoring hero Steven Gerrard and Momo Sissoko for special praise following Liverpool's 2-0 victory over FBK Kaunas in the Champions League second round qualifier.
For Sissoko it was his Anfield debut and his first 90 minutes for Liverpool and he gave an energetic and enthusiastic display. Gerrard came on to score the opening goal and inspire Liverpool to a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Benitez said: "It was a difficult game to start with as they worked hard and closed down the space but we were much better in the second half and are through to the next round.
"Steven Gerrard is scoring a lot of goals for us and I wanted to put him on for the supporters to see him. I hope he continues to score a lot more for us.
"For me Momo Sissoko was one of the best players on the pitch. He worked hard, he won tackles, kept it simple and I am happy with him."
Regarding the hamstring injury to Peter Crouch, Benitez would only say: "I don't have any news at this moment and I will have to talk with the doctor to see what the problem is."
(i agree with rafa, sissoko does look good)
Posted:
Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:20 pmby drummerphil
nando is so slow,where is the real madrid legend and the player that starred for monaco in the champions league......even teddy sheringham looked quicker than him
Posted:
Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:22 pmby oOShrimpyOo
it wasnt a harsh statement, it is true, and sometimes the truth hurts but we have to accept it.
i agree we are miles off arsenal, chelsea and united. they have creativity and play attractive football, we dont. People might say playing attractive football doesnt win games, but infact it does, as the three sides mentioned above have proved. The only thing we have going for us this season is a big squad, which will help, and i hope your right, i hope the first eleven do click and give us more creativity and attractiveness in our play, otherwise who knows...
the fact is, did anyone watching that game think they were watching european champions?... anyone watching that who isnt a liverpool fan would wonder how on earth we won the CL.
i know i will get some stick from my mates about it, and being a liverpool fan i will obviously make excuses and say we didnt have a full strength squad out etc. etc. but i shouldnt have to make these excuses, so sort it Rafa!!
Posted:
Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:22 pmby dosserboy
H_K_LFC wrote:ITs been made obv tht we need a right winger and a centre-back as soon as possible now....but a decent victory...gd goals and again the legend stevie gerrard performing..cisse lookd gd but sissoko impressed me the most 2day
Agree there, Whibread and warnock impressed, not first choice in their respective postions but in a season or two's time will be great. I think Raffa, if he had any doubt before tonight, will realise that we need mickey owen A.S.A.P...I have stuck up for Moro but against poor oposition, he showed nothing again.
Posted:
Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:22 pmby drummerphil
obviously before i get pulled up......when sheringham was playing at top level
Posted:
Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:25 pmby 2520years
I bet Momo, Stevie G, Warnock, Cisse and Zak enjoyed the game.
I don't think Bolo, Nando or Hyppia did.
You win some, you lose some. Mind you, we've won 7 out of 7 so far. I just hope Middlesbrough don't completely shock us with the sort of quality we've not played so far.
Posted:
Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:32 pmby 66-1120597113
A professional job done! No injuries apart from Crouch who'll be fine tomorrow!
Dont expect too much,too early!
Every season is a new egg and every week is an omlette! 
Posted:
Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:59 pmby JamCar05
I haven't seen the game, but even though we only ran out 2-0 winners I ain't too worried, as it is still a bit early on. Our dependance on Gerrard is - as many before me have pointed out - the most worrying thing. Oh and by the way, did Moro really suck that much? Only asking 'cause I was over the moon when he originally signed for us, and it saddens me to hear:(
Posted:
Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:39 amby A.B.
the fact is, did anyone watching that game think they were watching european champions?... anyone watching that who isnt a liverpool fan would wonder how on earth we won the CL.
i know i will get some stick from my mates about it, and being a liverpool fan i will obviously make excuses and say we didnt have a full strength squad out etc. etc. but i shouldnt have to make these excuses, so sort it Rafa!!
The fact of the matter is none of our players have taken the early rounds of the CL seriously, and I don't blame them because they are more than capable of beating the likes of TNS and Kaunas without having to go into third gear. One of the players rescently said that they're using the first two rounds of the CL qualifiers as pre-season friendlies.
It's pre-season, the Premiership hasn't started and players are trying not get burned out before the season starts. Next week you will see a stronger line up and a better side because things will be taken seriously.
Posted:
Wed Aug 03, 2005 9:38 amby woof woof !
A.B. wrote:the fact is, did anyone watching that game think they were watching european champions?... anyone watching that who isnt a liverpool fan would wonder how on earth we won the CL.
i know i will get some stick from my mates about it, and being a liverpool fan i will obviously make excuses and say we didnt have a full strength squad out etc. etc. but i shouldnt have to make these excuses, so sort it Rafa!!
The fact of the matter is none of our players have taken the early rounds of the CL seriously, and I don't blame them because they are more than capable of beating the likes of TNS and Kaunas without having to go into third gear.
AB,if your statement was true I would be extremely worried . Winners take EVERY game seriously .What however is even more worrying is the fact that we had some players out there who should have been playing as though their very future at LFC depended on it ,instead we saw a lacklustre ineffectual performance from the majority of the team that gave rise to more questions than answers.
This was our sixth "pre season friendly" and although the side was very much an experimental one I would have expected us by now to be far sharper and with our resources to have cruised to a far more comfortable and convincing victory.
Until the introduction of Cisse and Gerrard we looked like a side that was floundering towards a 0-0 "victory" . If Kaunas had possesed a little more quality they could have made us look very foolish indeed.
If Rafa's decision to play Crouch and Morientes up front was based on the assumption that we would pump a load of quality crosses into the box and give the pair of them some heading practice ,then he must be privately seething with disappointment. We created nothing of note down either flank the entire evening ,and with a central pairing of two defensive midfielders we looked about as threatening as a quadriplegic boxer .Rafa has expressed his desire to rotate the squad but on this evidence outside of his first eleven we simply don't have the quality in depth to sustain a serious challenge in the premiership.
Gerrard aside only Cisse and Sissoko came out of this game with their reputations enhanced .Morientes' is now becoming a serial under achiever , Whitbread is nowhere near ready for serious 1st team action , Garcia is totally wasted playing wide right and yet Rafa's other option Potter is just not up to it .(Yes I know Rafa wants an effective right mid , I'm just talking about things as they now stand) .
To return to your point regarding third gear AB , many of the players even at this early stage need to drop the "I'm saving myself for the important games" attitude and IMO remind the mgr and us that they do in fact still have a third gear .
Posted:
Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:11 amby NorfolkRed
Before the doom and gloom merchants get too carried away shouldnt we cast our minds back a year to the third round (when we should have been even sharper than we are now) and remember that we LOST one of the two legs against Grazer AK - things seemed to turn out ok after that
Yes it wasnt pretty but if every below par performance gave us a 2-0 win i think i could put up with it
Posted:
Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:27 amby AlanHansen
JamCar05 wrote:Oh and by the way, did Moro really suck that much? Only asking 'cause I was over the moon when he originally signed for us, and it saddens me to hear:(
No, first half him and Crouch got absolutely no service into the box or link up play from the mf. Kaunas got everyone behind the ball and we struggled to break them down.
My juries still out on him though.
Posted:
Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:47 amby woof woof !
NorfolkRed wrote:Yes it wasnt pretty but if every below par performance gave us a 2-0 win i think i could put up with it
Are you always that easily satisfied?
When I expect to be served a juicy T.Bone steak I'm usually pi'ssed off when I'm given a dried up pork chop.
Posted:
Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:19 amby 66-1112520797