Liverpool V Arsenal (H)

[GaryMc]

Everyone seems to be fit for this one so no more excuses.

Go on the attack from the get go and less of the two holding midfielders Rafa. Get Aquilani in there from the start. Need a performance like the United one. Go at them from the first minute. Aurelio at left back as Walcott will skin Insua. Kuyt should be dropped on current form but no doubt he will start.

[mousey]

aurelio showed again tonight that he is nowhere near a Liverpool player. i wouldnt be getting excited about having him back for Arsenal. a free kick here and there doesnt do it for me.

signed off
One P*ssed off Liverpool Supporter :mad:

[elvis]

aurelio showed again tonight that he is nowhere near a Liverpool player. i wouldnt be getting excited about having him back for Arsenal. a free kick here and there doesnt do it for me.

signed off
One P*ssed off Liverpool Supporter :mad:

He wasn't on the pitch long enough to judge him in my opinion, and he came on in midfield, not his favoured LB role,.

[trucker]

Fully fit squad Sunday hopefully, we'll no doubt win another corner will be turned, Paul Tomkins will be doing a DJ Spoony and people will be lapping it up.

[mousey]

He wasn't on the pitch long enough to judge him in my opinion, and he came on in midfield, not his favoured LB role,.

elvis I aint basing it on tonight. he just aint up to the standard needed. he wouldnt get near any of the other top teams in the Prem. you cant keep giving away the ball like he does.

[elvis]

elvis I aint basing it on tonight. he just aint up to the standard needed. he wouldnt get near any of the other top teams in the Prem. you cant keep giving away the ball like he does.

Ah well thats fair enough then,. my apologies,. I thought you meant tonight,.

I agree with you on the wasting possession,.

[byrnetred]

dare i say a must win:rolleyes:

[mousey]

Torres and Gerrard both will start Sunday so we can beat Arsenal. Lucas will most likely come back into the team so he is gonna have to be at his very best and make sure he and mascherano can boss the midfield and not leave the likes of Fabregas pass the ball.

[MutantNinjaSkrtel]

Gonna get slaughtered here but wouldn't start Aquilani Sunday-would bring him on for 20-30 mins depending on how the game is going.From what I've seen and read about him he seems to play quick-first time passes and push up towards goal at every opportunity.Reminds me a bit of Stephen Ireland.That type of player is brilliant v the likes of Stoke and Blackburn to carve an opening but the pace of Arsenal and the way they move the ball will destroy Masch if he's left isolated imo and we could get over run in midfield.In any case don't think Alberto yet has the match sharpness to cope in a game of that tempo.Stick with Lucas and Masch for this one imo.Solid and reliable if not spectacular.Get Aquilani on then if we need a goal second half.

[graham]

Fully fit squad Sunday hopefully, we'll no doubt win another corner will be turned, Paul Tomkins will be doing a DJ Spoony and people will be lapping it up.

pmsl :D:D

[Maverick]

Gonna get slaughtered here but wouldn't start Aquilani Sunday-would bring him on for 20-30 mins depending on how the game is going.From what I've seen and read about him he seems to play quick-first time passes and push up towards goal at every opportunity.Reminds me a bit of Stephen Ireland.That type of player is brilliant v the likes of Stoke and Blackburn to carve an opening but the pace of Arsenal and the way they move the ball will destroy Masch if he's left isolated imo and we could get over run in midfield.In any case don't think Alberto yet has the match sharpness to cope in a game of that tempo.Stick with Lucas and Masch for this one imo.Solid and reliable if not spectacular.Get Aquilani on then if we need a goal second half.

I have to agree with you about masch and Lucas if they play like they did against the mancs,not really a game to help aquilanis match fitness but arsenal are vunerable also with injuries of their own and a win would do wonders for our morale.I agree no matter how ugly the performance a result is the main thing.

[ROCCO]

Reina
Magic Cara Agger Aurelio
Masch Lucas
kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres

[ROCCO]

aurelio showed again tonight that he is nowhere near a Liverpool player. i wouldnt be getting excited about having him back for Arsenal. a free kick here and there doesnt do it for me.

signed off
One P*ssed off Liverpool Supporter :mad:

:confused:

Aurelio is our best left back imo ...

[reddave]

Reina
Magic Cara Agger Aurelio
Masch Lucas
kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres



would "rest" kyut and play aqualini with steve on the right and aqualani in he middle (if i was picking)..but i reckon your team wont be far off

[Badman]

lucas and masch will def start - theres no way he's gonna deflect from his two labourers in midfield, esp agaisnt a top4 side...so dont see us creating too may chances fromt eh middle of the park, against a defence thats worse than ours. mite get a draw maybe, but i certainly wouldnt be putting money on us to win. 1-1

[ROCCO]

would "rest" kyut and play aqualini with steve on the right and aqualani in he middle (if i was picking)..but i reckon your team wont be far off

Posted this on another site ....



Not as worried about set pieces with Arsenal as a very small side ..... Arsenal struggling at left back so would target them there
Would be tempted to put Aquilani in for Gerrard and drop kuyt and put Gerrard on the right and take advantage of Arsenal having their first 2 left backs out.
Reina
Magic Cara Agger Aurelio
Masch Lucas
Gerrard Aquilani Benayoun
Torres

[Maverick]

I think it's important to remember that we are 3 points off our new target of a top 4 finish and a win sunday would be great to catch up but also to hold back arsenal,I think we have got to believe we can do it but so do the team,I think I am going to remain confident we can achieve that until it's unrealistic.people question our response to the united and everton matches as not being a turning point but it's thanks to those results that we are 3 pts off 4th spot.

[mousey]

:confused:

Aurelio is our best left back imo ...


do you think he is up to the standard needed to win a Premier League?

[Daz]

Reina
Magic Cara Agger Aurelio
Masch Lucas
kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres

I;d be fairly surprised if thats not the team

[graham]

do you think he is up to the standard needed to win a Premier League?

I do,
I think he's a brilliant player. Especially from a dead ball. Injury prone though

[Deigo008]

need a win big time..... COME on REDS

[Pimboli]

do you think he is up to the standard needed to win a Premier League?

Beggars cant be choosers, if he is the best left back at the club he should be playing, there is no point comparing to other left backs in the league as apart from Cashly there imo are very few 'outstanding' left backs out there just ones that do a job and very few would be as good a dead ball kicker.

[Shay]

do you think he is up to the standard needed to win a Premier League?

IMO Yes most definitely, but he needs to keep fit

[Pimboli]

I was just reading Rafas quotes from last night in the Liverpool Daily Post and I have to say I really cant make out what Rafa is at. Apparently this game against he gooners is 'the beginning of a new season' has anyone told the rest of the league the last 4 months or so was a warm up?

[Niall]

I was just reading Rafas quotes from last night in the Liverpool Daily Post and I have to say I really cant make out what Rafa is at. Apparently this game against he gooners is 'the beginning of a new season' has anyone told the rest of the league the last 4 months or so was a warm up?

This is the Arsenal thread. If you want to keep knocking Rafa there is a thread to do so.

[Pimboli]

This is the Arsenal thread. If you want to keep knocking Rafa there is a thread to do so.

Are you following me round the board? ;)

Plus Rafas quote was made in relation to this game.

[Niall]

Are you following me round the board? ;)

Plus Rafas quote was made in relation to this game.

Certainly not;)

Are you going around the site knocking us all the time on purpose;)

Am sure he made other comments but you just took the negative slant shock horror!!!!

[Pimboli]

Certainly not;)

Are you going around the site knocking us all the time on purpose;)

Am sure he made other comments but you just took the negative slant shock horror!!!!

Well he did mention that the only positive from losing in that way is that you can be more focussed in the next game which I was leaving alone given the amount of games we have thrown away in the last few minutes from all the focussing. :)

[Niall]

Well he did mention that the only positive from losing in that way is that you can be more focussed in the next game which I was leaving alone given the amount of games we have thrown away in the last few minutes from all the focussing. :)

Which is all Doctor Rafa's fault:)

Anyway each to their own view.

[Rover 609]

Well he did mention that the only positive from losing in that way is that you can be more focussed in the next game which I was leaving alone given the amount of games we have thrown away in the last few minutes from all the focussing. :)

Heres another positive,we dont get 700 grand for winning so there wont be diamond necklaces for the daughters of family hicks and gillette off the back of our CL campaign returns.

[ROCCO]

I was just reading Rafas quotes from last night in the Liverpool Daily Post and I have to say I really cant make out what Rafa is at. Apparently this game against he gooners is 'the beginning of a new season' has anyone told the rest of the league the last 4 months or so was a warm up?

Rafa's the good , we have given the rest a head start and look so bad the owners have promised Rafa money for a new striker ..

[CrazyHorse]

RE: Aurelio...

do you think he is up to the standard needed to win a Premier League?

Absolutely. 100%

Are you sure its the same Fabio Aurelio were speaking about here???

Anyway...

Would love to see Aqua start, but he wont. Hoping to see him get game-time however... regardless of the score!

Reina
Johnson Carra Agger Aurelio
Kuyt Mash Lucas Yossi
Gerrard
Torres

Ill be very surprised to see anyone else getting in ahead of that team.
Insua will be exposed by Arsenals pace, and on current form is a liability if played.
Aurelio is by far our best left back, and in my top 3/4 in the prem, easily!

I hope to Fowler the team from last year appear from this weekend onwards.
Havent had many happy weekends this term, so Im hoping the boys start throwing some our way for the rest of the season, starting this weekend!

[pepesgloves]

more of this please;)
http://4gifs.com/gallery/d/139613-1/Soccer_pass.gif

[Liverpool-law]

Edgy board! Very little of this thread so far seems to be on the match! Gunners at home is never an easy game but unfortunately we've put ourselves in the position that anything less than a win is just not enough at this point. As someone said above, we gain three points but just as importantly one of our main rivals for the top four loses three. IF we can pull out a big performance (and with all our big guns back now is the time to do it) we can go on a run. If we lose this one, I don't know, fourth looks like a battle as it is without falling three points further back. I honestly think a win here could kick start us for Christmas and in the first week in January we could see a much healthier league table. Unfortunately if we lose I can't see us pulling out of the downward spiral. I'll be accused of being melodramatic but I really think this is the key match that will determine the way our season will go.

COME ON YOU REDS!!!

YNWA

[vincenzo]

do you think he is up to the standard needed to win a Premier League?
Yes, and hope he starts this one. Fully fit team now so no excuses!

[eegorbishcan]

Reina
Johnson Carra Agger Aurelio
Kuyt Mash Lucas Yossi
Gerrard
Torres



Think that team is spot on Crazyhorse, I think even if Aqua was fit Rafa'd go with Masch and Lucas to shore up the midfield, once the players show some confidence, the team surrounding them should be good enough to get something out of this...

I'm stating the obvious but Torres starting will give a massive lift to the team... I think he'll be the difference between us and Arsenal, he looked pretty hungry on Wednesday, lookin forward to the bounce on Sunday!

[Gray72]

Lets be honest I don't expect to see big changes with the team for Sunday. Well play the same formation and the only question mark will be over who plays left back and left midfield. Unfortunately all three left backs have been woefully short of form for one reason or another and Aurelio is our best bet. On the left side of midfield we have had similar problems with Benayoun, Riera, Babel, Dossena and Aurelio all having a go. I think Riera is probably our best bet but he's bee poor.

We need to start turning possession into goals. We need to start getting at teams instead of passing the ball to death only to concede with the oppositions first real attack. We need to be more clinical from corners and start scoring a few. The back four need to get some real confidence back and get the basics right again.

Against oppsoition like Arsenal you need to be clinical. They are a great team but are lacking up front so are really there for the taking. If we get at them early we could cause their young team no end of problems. With Gerrard and Torres likely to start we are a different animal to that who have paraded Kuyt and Ngog in the lone role. Aquilani may get a run out and his creativity could be the difference.

Arsenal have a lot of pressure on themselves and see it as a must win we can use this to our advantage. We need to get going, we've had false dawns against Utd and Everton so let this be the one. It wouldn't surprise me if we won but Wigan at home is likely to be the disappointing result. Lets see.....

[edcarroll02]

lucas and masch will def start - theres no way he's gonna deflect from his two labourers in midfield, esp agaisnt a top4 side...so dont see us creating too may chances fromt eh middle of the park, against a defence thats worse than ours. mite get a draw maybe, but i certainly wouldnt be putting money on us to win. 1-1

People need to move on from this apparent lack of creativity in the middle! Most of the attacking flair will generally push up the wings but unfortunately our right wing is being occupied by a mannequin these days!

[stamullen red]

a big game on sunday and especially after the recent dismal performances,three points a must in the game against the goons,would prefer aurellio at left full as insua looks to be off the pace in the last couple of games and the goons are very quick on the break and move the ball very very quickly i also think that dirk looks tired and maybe would suit us as an option on the bench,if as said in previous posts that the injuries to players are clearing up i would have masch playing in front of the back four and for him to stay there as i think the goons will target the centre backs to try and play through us we are playing at home and i would like to see a more positive performance and team from the start,put it up to the goons have a go 4-4-2 is my preferred option from the start with aquaman in the stevie g role supporting torres, aquaman probably wont last the full 90 minutes and the same with nando so while they are on the pitch i would like to see us being positive and maybe going back to two holding midfielders when the changes come about with lucas and dirk coming into the game.The reason i have stevie back in centre midfield is i think that if he can run at the heart of the goons defence and with his passing amongst the best in the world he will be able to create chances as opposed to the two holding midfielders who are not creating anything, i think that his driving runs from midfield and his power can upset the goons and with tommy holding the fort it can give stevie a bit more freedom to attack

REINA

JOHNSON CARRA AGGER AURELLIO

YOSSI TOMMY STEVIE REIRA

AQUILLANI NANDO


SUBS
DIRK
LUCAS
SKERTL
NGOG
CAVALIERI

[gav003]

Opportunity knocks after a great set of results for Liverpool and Arsenal today. We need 11+ performances tomorrow. A result tomorrow gives the team a great chance to push for a successful Xmas period. C'mon redmen!

[eegorbishcan]

Opportunity knocks after a great set of results for Liverpool and Arsenal today. We need 11+ performances tomorrow. A result tomorrow gives the team a great chance to push for a successful Xmas period. C'mon redmen!

+1

still can't believe todays results but its a fantastic opp, I know I'm getting ahead of myself here but I remember a team last year being 10 pts off the pace and not getting as much bad press as we are!!

[Molby Is a Legend]

+1

still can't believe todays results but its a fantastic opp, I know I'm getting ahead of myself here but I remember a team last year being 10 pts off the pace and not getting as much bad press as we are!!

No other team will ever get the bad press that we do mate the rags have a witch hunt going for Rafa and will knock everything he does.

As for tomorrow's game after todays results it is a huge game and i think we will be up for it and we will put 2 past them with no reply, This are the games that are made for Carra he will be immense and Stevie and Nando will be there normal selfs, The rest will work together as a team

I've good feeling bout this one and i think it will catapult us and drive us on

Come on you redmen

[CrazyHorse]

I've good feeling bout this one and i think it will catapult us and drive us on


I also have a good feeling about this game, but its what happens after it that more concerns me, like NOT losing straight away to teams we should be hammering.

Lets hope we can turn a corner after tomorrow.
YNWA

[bono]

I have to be realistic & say that a win will bring us closer to the top 4 but not in it......
...still a win would go a long way to getting into the champions league positions & then we can push on & dare i say it who knows.

Just hope we take this chance because they might not come around that often.

[RedPaddy]

No other team will ever get the bad press that we do mate the rags have a witch hunt going for Rafa and will knock everything he does.

As for tomorrow's game after todays results it is a huge game and i think we will be up for it and we will put 2 past them with no reply, This are the games that are made for Carra he will be immense and Stevie and Nando will be there normal selfs, The rest will work together as a team

I've good feeling bout this one and i think it will catapult us and drive us on

Come on you redmen

+1 !
They all focus on us, yet its ok for slur alec & chelski to have millions of pounds worth of player on the bench each week:rolleyes::mad:

[RedPaddy]

i just hope that pri$k arshavin is quiet - has he EVEN scored since the 4-4 game !

[SHOWTIME]

i just hope that pri$k arshavin is quiet - has he EVEN scored since the 4-4 game !

Ah he scores a fair bit and is a class act.But we def need to keep the prick quiet! :D

We better go for it today and he's gotta drop Kuyt.He is fcuking brutal and brings nuthin' to the team unless working hard defensively is enough to be a team.

I don't doubt his effort but it isn't enough!!

[Alex Raisbeck]

Ah he scores a fair bit and is a class act.But we def need to keep the prick quiet! :D

We better go for it today and he's gotta drop Kuyt.He is fcuking brutal and brings nuthin' to the team unless working hard defensively is enough to be a team.

I don't doubt his effort but it isn't enough!!

Thats not going to happen.

[SHOWTIME]

Thats not going to happen.

Ah I know but I live in hope. :)

[prendy]

i'm positive about today. it would be a great weekend if we can get the win.

torres and gerrard back fit. Aqualiani coming near match fit. if we go on a run of wins between now and the next arsenal game i think we'll be back in it.


today i would love to see

-----masc---lucas--
gerrard---aqua----benni--
---------torres-------


or else if aqualiani doesnt start

benni---gerrard---riera-



i think we wil win this.

come on you red men!

[TubbyReina]

when was the last nil all in this fixture?

[mascherIANO]

the next month or so is crucial for us..

Arsenal today is massive and Villa and Spurs in our next 5 PL games with Wigan and Wolves sandwiched in between...

A good result today could be the catalyst to a succesful christmas period.. 4 of the 5 games are at home also..

[IrishRed1892]

i'm positive about today. it would be a great weekend if we can get the win.

torres and gerrard back fit. Aqualiani coming near match fit. if we go on a run of wins between now and the next arsenal game i think we'll be back in it.


today i would love to see

-----masc---lucas--
gerrard---aqua----benni--
---------torres-------


or else if aqualiani doesnt start

benni---gerrard---riera-



i think we wil win this.

come on you red men!

think it would be a bit dodgy to start 6 players but......

[prendy]

think it would be a bit dodgy to start 6 players but......

are you questioning my tactics???:D

[edcarroll02]

+1

still can't believe todays results but its a fantastic opp, I know I'm getting ahead of myself here but I remember a team last year being 10 pts off the pace and not getting as much bad press as we are!!

Did they not have a rake of games in hand at this stage last year though!!

[Alex Raisbeck]

when was the last nil all in this fixture?

Today.....after you saying that!:D

[Alex Raisbeck]

According to RAWK
Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres.

[Skintown Red]

According to RAWK
Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres.

I like the look of that team

[gav003]

According to RAWK
Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres.
Confirmed:

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Insua, Ngog, Degen, Skrtel, Dossena.

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traore, Fabregas, Song Billong, Denilson, Walcott, Arshavin, Nasri. Subs: Fabianski, Diaby, Eduardo, Vela, Ramsey, Silvestre, Wilshere.
Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)

[Aido82]

Fernando Torres returns to the Liverpool starting line-up for this afternoon's Barclays Premier League clash with Arsenal at Anfield - listen to the game live online from 3.30pm GMT.
Related Links

*
*
*

The Spain star makes his first start since November 4 after his cameo appearance against Fiorentina in midweek.

Pepe Reina, Glen Johnson, Jamie Carragher, Fabio Aurelio and Lucas Leiva are all restored to the starting XI as boss Rafa Benitez makes six changes to the side that faced La Viola.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Kuyt, Mascherano, Lucas, Benayoun, Gerrard, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Insua, Ngog, Degen, Skrtel, Dossena.

[rev]

No Aqualani :rolleyes:

[StEtienne77]

He might get hurt against Arsenals rough midfield.

[gav003]

No Aqualani :rolleyes:

He might get hurt against Arsenals rough midfield.

C'mon lads leave the snips out and get behind the team.

[StEtienne77]

C'mon lads leave the snips out and get behind the team.
Backed Torres first goal with Paddy Power.
What more do ya want ;)

[rev]

C'mon lads leave the snips out and get behind the team.

I'll be behind the team 100% but that just baffles me!

[gav003]

Alright lads fair enough... c'mon redmen!!

[StEtienne77]

Rev, see you in the Granite in ten mins.

[serpheus]

Have a good feeling about this, i did torres to score first and l'pool to win 2-0

[rev]

Rev, see you in the Granite in ten mins.

:D:D:D

If only mate!! I'm dying from the xmas party last night :o

[Podgecheco]

Have torres backed heavy!!god i hate jamie redknapp

[Dzer2]

we look up for tjis one Hope they keep it up for the 90 mins

[bono]

tought that was 1-0 promising start however.

[stevieg05]

Good start from us, great chance for torres there but his effort was very tame, good peno shout too. I don't like howard webb at all!!! Remember stoke last season, and the dodgy pen he gave utd vrs spurs in last yrs run in.

[Dzer2]

Aurelio Best left back in CLub Webb not doing us any favours as usual.

[bono]

we could be 3 up by now hope it's not another one of them days.

[edcarroll02]

Anyone got a decent link by any chance?

[stevieg05]

This is the one im watchin, its very good quality
http://www.tvoo.net/ch2.html

[stevieg05]

Did masch just kiss arshavin on the forehead there or did i imagine it?!!

[Maverick]

We have got to put one away,very encouraging start from us though,have to monitor masch we could be seeing aqua sooner than expected.

[bono]

get in there KUYT

[stevieg05]

Its that man again lol Kuyt 1-0

[Maverick]

Good man Dirk,he needed that after poor performances,the goal we deserve!!

[JAMIE]

yes yes yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

[stevieg05]

Was a great free kick by aurelio, had the defence & keeper scrambling and it fell to kuyt

[Dzer2]

Go on the reds PLaying well push on now and beat them well. Jesus there seems to plenty of empty seats on telly.

[Ron1892]

First half has been excellent...The best ive seen us play in a while..

Torres and Gerrard have been playing class and they both look real sharp and up for it..

Masch and Lucas have been imense in the first half too..Constantly breaking up the arsenal play.

Pity about the torres chance..Usually he would have burried that..

Another Half like that please boys...

[bono]

We need the 2nd goal to put this one to bed but very good 1st half & if we play like that in the 2nd half we should have no problem getting that next goal.

[gav003]

Great 1st half- we've made them look ordinary, great tempo set by Masch and Lucas has kept any of their fluidity to a minimum. Only gripe is maybe we should have had more than 1 nil lead. Thought Webb got the Auriello booking wrong but suppose it was more the assistants call, remember when it was man's game:rolleyes: very soft yellow imo.

[bono]

First half has been excellent...The best ive seen us play in a while..

Torres and Gerrard have been playing class and they both look real sharp and up for it..

Masch and Lucas have been imense in the first half too..Constantly breaking up the arsenal play.

Pity about the torres chance..Usually he would have burried that..

Another Half like that please boys...

Spot on there but think Aurelio deserves a mention too has caused them problems going foward & doing his bit for the defence.

[stevieg05]

Great 1st half- we've made them look ordinary, great tempo set by Masch and Lucas has kept any of their fluidity to a minimum. Only gripe is maybe we should have had more than 1 nil lead. Thought Webb got the Auriello booking wrong but suppose it was more the assistants call, remember when it was man's game:rolleyes: very soft yellow imo.

I thought it was a definate yellow to be honest. But aurelio has been excellent so far today, along with most of the others

[Molby Is a Legend]

Great first half and we deserve to be in front,
Andy gray is doing my nut in here trying to argue that we dont deserve to be in front then saying i three or four times that lucas was offside FFS Andy Gallas was on the line........

Anyway i can see us getting another one or two here whole team playing well at the moment

[corcaigh]

what the f, the stream im watching is playing some crap Arsenal song and now some techno for the half time interval!!

looking good lads, i reckon we are stronger in more departments than arsenal. we look good down the right with only traore and nasri to deal with, almunia looks shaky, arseshaving and walcott havent done much. id get aquailini on for lucas though, he hasnt done a whole pile and hopefully Maschrano is fully recovered after the HT break.

[edcarroll02]

That was very unfortunate for the penalty and Torres definitely should have scored that chance, he's lacking a bit of match sharpness i guess! we really are a different team with the boys fit!

[Maverick]

I thought it was a definate yellow to be honest. But aurelio has been excellent so far today, along with most of the others

Agree,definate yellow,you raise youre arm nowadays and its deemed a dangerous action,Walcott made alot out of it and possibly made it look worse but Aurelio surely has made a great claim for the left back slot after his 1st half performance.More of the same lads and i hope we dont try to defend a 1 goal lead for 45 mins especially after the great 1st half play

[crumlin red]

masch has been immense torres is scrapping for every ball

[corcaigh]

I thought it was a definate yellow to be honest. But aurelio has been excellent so far today, along with most of the others

ya it was yellow, it was cynical enough but you're not a good defender if you can't do these things the odd time, aurelio is one of our best players out there and is probably now ahead of insua in the pecking order.

[Molby Is a Legend]

what the f, the stream im watching is playing some crap Arsenal song and now some techno for the half time interval!!

looking good lads, i reckon we are stronger in more departments than arsenal. we look good down the right with only traore and nasri to deal with, almunia looks shaky, arseshaving and walcott havent done much. id get aquailini on for lucas though, he hasnt done a whole pile and hopefully Maschrano is fully recovered after the HT break.

Are you watching the same match as me i think Lucas has been great breaking things up and getting forward causing there defence headaches he created the goal by jumping with almunia

[SUPERFAN]

Andy gray is doing my nut in here trying to argue that we dont deserve to be in front then saying i three or four times that lucas was offside FFS Andy Gallas was on the line........


technically,i think he was in an offside position mate.i think the rule is if there's an outfield player on the line 1 other outfield player or the keeper has to be in front of the opposition player for him to be onside.probably not explaining it well but if lucas had touched it in to the net i reckon it would've been disallowed.
anyway,much more like it from lpool,more of the same in the 2nd half.aurelio will have to be careful with walcott now he's on a yellow..

Jesus there seems to plenty of empty seats on telly.

maybe they're all still ootside stopping the owner(s) getting in.:D
did anyone hear if he/they got in?

[stevieg05]

Great first half and we deserve to be in front,
Andy gray is doing my nut in here trying to argue that we dont deserve to be in front then saying i three or four times that lucas was offside FFS Andy Gallas was on the line........

Anyway i can see us getting another one or two here whole team playing well at the moment

He actually was offside.......gallas was the only arsenal player between lucas and the goal because almunia had come out. But hey who cares :D

[Molby Is a Legend]

technically,i think he was in an offside position mate.i think the rule is if there's an outfield player on the line 1 other outfield player or the keeper has to be in front of the opposition player for him to be onside.probably not explaining it well but if lucas had touched it in to the net i reckon it would've been disallowed.
anyway,much more like it from lpool,more of the same in the 2nd half.aurelio will have to be careful with walcott now he's on a yellow..



maybe they're all still ootside stopping the owner(s) getting in.:D
did anyone hear if he/they got in?

He actually was offside.......gallas was the only arsenal player between lucas and the goal because almunia had come out. But hey who cares :D

Andy gray is still a cnut tho :D:D:D just aswell webb doesnt know the rules aint it :D:D

[Aido82]

ball bags

havent started the second half at all

johnston og, unlucky

[bono]

**** me just our luck.

[stevieg05]

Ya such a sloppy start to the second half, has been all arsenal and now a soft goal. Thought carra shud hav done better

[edcarroll02]

Arsenal really stepped it up so far, we're sitting off them a bit too!

[Aido82]

**** sake 2-1down

that little russian again

shit defending but great hit

[Dzer2]

Same sh1t different day stopped playing the same against city kicked them off the pitch for 50 mins then gift away a goal. F*** this just not playing

[stevieg05]

Poor from johnson there, pepe had no chance

[bono]

whats going on need a big reaction now it's all gone pete tong.

[edcarroll02]

Can't believe thats the same two teams out there, we're getting stomped at the moment!

[SUPERFAN]

great goal by arsh but shocking defending from johnsn again.
aquaman has to come on now,if he doesn't it's a fcukin joke!

[loppy]

ah crap. Come on the red men. COME ON LADS.

[born red 79]

Was listening to this on the radio. Premier football FM or somethin. At half time it said proudly brought to you by the S*N so now I'm ****ed..... any live feeds??

[edcarroll02]

great goal by arsh but shocking defending from johnsn again.
aquaman has to come on now,if he doesn't it's a fcukin joke!

Your wish is Rafa's command!! Time to show your stuff Aquaman

[stevieg05]

Was listening to this on the radio. Premier football FM or somethin. At half time it said proudly brought to you by the S*N so now I'm ****ed..... any live feeds??
http://www.tvoo.net/ch2.html

[Dzer2]

Yellow card main thought for that sub.

[loppy]

nice to see xabi there. Wish he was in the middle of the park thou.

[Aido82]

Was listening to this on the radio. Premier football FM or somethin. At half time it said proudly brought to you by the S*N so now I'm ****ed..... any live feeds??

http://www.irishkop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11342

[Aido82]

nice to see xabi there. Wish he was in the middle of the park thou.

my feelings too

[loppy]

ah crap. Come on the red men. COME ON LADS.

[Aido82]

ngog on for yossi

[Dzer2]

What has Kyut to do to be taken off

[bono]

Good pessure now but lads are starting to look tired ,

[liverirish]

What the hell has happened ere, we have fell apart, oh my god, oh my god I dont know what to say.

[Aido82]

degan for johnston ?????

must be an injury

[D5Hoop]

christ this is hard to watch....we are doing absolutely nothing.....

[born red 79]

Score??? must be near over now

[bono]

draw i think the best we can hope for now Webb has 'nt done us any favors today very depressing.

[JAMIE]

degan for johnston ?????

must be an injury

johnston has had a bad game

[edcarroll02]

christ this is hard to watch....we are adoing absolutely nothing.....

I'm sure the lads have just had the wind knocked out their sails by everything thats happened both this season and today! A freak own goal after owning the first half and then conceding a sloppy second within a few more minutes!! CAn't be easy to bounce back from

[D5Hoop]

Score??? must be near over now

two one down

[Aido82]

johnston has had a bad game

i know but to bring on degan

90mins up, 4mins added on

[armaghred]

PLaying into the kop 2nd half and not ONE shot.

If the score stays the same that's 11 defeats in all competitions thusfar, I'm a firm believer in Benitez, but this has got to be turned around or his position will be untenable

[Aido82]

i think thats it lads
very disappointing 2nd half, dont know what happened us

[Gray72]

A truely woeful shambolic performance from a bunch of bloody hasbeens and a manager who has been found out. What is left to say about this load of cr*p?

There is just too much wrong with this football club from the boardroom to the management to the players of the pitch and then the results.

A bunch of bloody primas walking around shrugging their shoulders and mumping about decisions made by the ref. Where's your fight and passion. I thought this was just about the worse performance of the lot. After a first half that promised so much to come out and not have one shoot on target is nothing short of pathetic.

LIVERPOOLARSENALPossession
Liverpool 49% Arsenal 51%
Attempts on target
Liverpool 3 Arsenal 5
Attempts off target
Liverpool 3 Arsenal 2
Corners
Liverpool 3 Arsenal 4
Fouls
Liverpool 19 Arsenal 16

I find it hard to believe we had 6 attempts on goal in the whole game. that is shambolic for a team who seem to think they have a God given right to be in the top 4 and the CL!!! Torres and Gerrard were just as poor in that second half as anyone else. Rafa your half time team talk must have been majestic!

[SUPERFAN]

ah well,at least lpool controlled the game..:rolleyes:

[stevieg05]

Very disappointing 2nd half performance from us

[liverirish]

What have we to do?????
Seriously lads this sh1t has gone on long enough!!
Sitting back after talking the lead is not the way what happened at half time ???:mad::mad:

[D7Hooper]

A truely woeful shambolic performance from a bunch of bloody hasbeens and a manager who has been found out. What is left to say about this load of cr*p?

Arsenal were poor alright

[Aido82]

ah well,at least lpool controlled the game..:rolleyes:

wonder what rafa will say

[born red 79]

sick

[D5Hoop]

Very disappointing 2nd half performance from us

disappointing is an understatement, we produced nothing in the second half !!!

[fermoyred80]

wonder what rafa will say

"Good to see Aqua get a run out but it was for longer than he had wanted and we wont see him until the FA cup in January"

Not one creative player on that pitch today, we look lost out there, nobody stepping up and grabbing the game, same shit diiferent game.

[up the pool]

A truely woeful shambolic performance from a bunch of bloody hasbeens and a manager who has been found out. What is left to say about this load of cr*p?

i think i have to agree with this statement how many more times are we gona have to come on here to vent our frustrations this season the whole situation is beond a joke now at this stage and i hope lfc fans love affair with rafa now comes to an end:mad:

[MR KING KENNY]

wonder what rafa will say
he'll think we played well, and were just unlucky, but over all we are looking good, its like a broken record

[corcaigh]

at least we played alright today, sad to say that was prob one of our better performances since the man u win. thought rafa's changes are fairly spot on today for a change, masch was looking like he might get another yellow and was hurt earlier, benni was one of our more disappointing players today and i thought degen showed well after coming on for johnson.

[Gray72]

Arsenal were poor alright

I suppose that is what makes it worse. they were woeful in the first half and we scored one. we were woeful in the second half and they scored two. That i'm afraid means they won.

[Aido82]

Hear fabregas there, he said "he had never saw wenger as angry in all his games, wenger shouting and screaming at players saying they are not worthy to way the shiirt", about time rafa did the same.

[SUPERFAN]

in riise lpool had a left back who couldn't kick with his right foot,now they have the opposite in johnson...

[Aido82]

at least we played alright today, sad to say that was prob one of our better performances since the man u win. thought rafa's changes are fairly spot on today for a change, masch was looking like he might get another yellow and was hurt earlier, benni was one of our more disappointing players today and i thought degen showed well after coming on for johnson.

wrong, we played aright for 40mins. In regards to the man u win, they are over performing, they are a poor poor team.

ngog and degan added nothing in my opinion

[red_shamrock]

That was painful. We were absolute sh1te second half, we've lost more games than Stoke now, we'll be lucky to finish top half at this stage. Depressing.

[Aido82]

3 wins in 15 games :eek:

[Gray72]

at least we played alright today, sad to say that was prob one of our better performances since the man u win. thought rafa's changes are fairly spot on today for a change, masch was looking like he might get another yellow and was hurt earlier, benni was one of our more disappointing players today and i thought degen showed well after coming on for johnson.

An absolute nonsense that is. 45mins does not constitute a good bloody performance.

[crumlin red]

at least we played alright today, sad to say that was prob one of our better performances since the man u win. thought rafa's changes are fairly spot on today for a change, masch was looking like he might get another yellow and was hurt earlier, benni was one of our more disappointing players today and i thought degen showed well after coming on for johnson.

we played alright for 45 minutes but the 2nd half was woeful we didnt
even have a 10 minute spell in the 2nd half were we dominated.what worries
me most is that was our best 11

[rev]

This is getting painful! The players seem to have lost faith in the manager

[Jockser]

toothless again.

[Aido82]

This is getting painful! The players seem to have lost faith in the manager

their not the only ones

[MR KING KENNY]

our best team today, and we never even had a shot on target in the 2nd half, well rafa the season starts today, is this another excuse, ffs same old shit with this man, we go 1 up and we sit back and playing one up front is a joke

[Liverpool-law]

Absolutely sick. Gutted. Even when we play very well in the first half, we get denied a stone wall penalty and Arsenal get a ****ing own goal that ignites their game. If we didn't have ****ing bad luck we'd have no luck at all. I can't remember an unrelenting three months of utter depression for the club since Houllier. I can't take the ****ing constant injuries (Torres, Gerrard Aquilani) bad luck (beach balls, own goals, late goals, penalty appeals) and plain bad play. We didnt do enough second half but it was some punch in the guts for a team low on confidence to have been playing really well and still get the shit luck of that own goal. Arsenal weren't in the game before that. When did they even threaten the goal besides the Arshavin goal? Someone up there must ****ing hate us, I give up, no more torture please!!!!

[Gray72]

I think the whole situation at the club is an absolute nonsense. We are the laughing stock of English football and the papers tomorrow will spell it out. Rafa has found a haven in the CL in the past but that has gone this season. He has run out of luck, unfortunately and I have finally lost faith in him.

In a first half we dominated, we could have been 3 up. To get them in at half time and to send them out like they did is a mystery to me. We didn't get going at all in the second half and not one sub had an impact. His £20m golden boy from Roma looked lost and went missing like everyone else.

[RedMurph08]

I think the whole situation at the club is an absolute nonsense. We are the laughing stock of English football and the papers tomorrow will spell it out. Rafa has found a haven in the CL in the past but that has gone this season. He has run out of luck, unfortunately and I have finally lost faith in him.

In a first half we dominated, we could have been 3 up. To get them in at half time and to send them out like they did is a mystery to me. We didn't get going at all in the second half and not one sub had an impact. His £20m golden boy from Roma looked lost and went missing like everyone else.



Fcuk off would ye!!! He was on the pitch for little more than 20 mins, im sure last week you were crying out for him to start!! Complete tosh

[Maverick]

3 wins in 15 games :eek:

I know there is no defending those stats,we played well first half and plain and simple appalling in the second half.we were pure flat and lacked anything going forward.there is no more excuses that's our supposed best eleven then I'm sad to say we are in big trouble,ngog is not even good yet,degen looks ok,johnson had a stinker,aqua at least tried today,kuyt absolute toilet.I feel so disheartened now.

[prendy]

at least we played alright today, sad to say that was prob one of our better performances since the man u win. thought rafa's changes are fairly spot on today for a change, masch was looking like he might get another yellow and was hurt earlier, benni was one of our more disappointing players today and i thought degen showed well after coming on for johnson.


what game were you watching? we were good for the first 30 mins alright but created absolutly nothing after that.

we were terrible. no shots on the kop goal in the second half is unacceptable for LFC.
there was so much wrong with the performance its not funny. Arsenal played poorly but were allowed walk out of anfield with 3 points. where is the pride?
after the OG johnson fell to pieces.
Aqualiani offered nothing when he came on.
Benni didnt get into the game at all.
Kuyt did nothing besides the goal.

[RedPaddy]

A truely woeful shambolic performance from a bunch of bloody hasbeens and a manager who has been found out. What is left to say about this load of cr*p?

There is just too much wrong with this football club from the boardroom to the management to the players of the pitch and then the results.

A bunch of bloody primas walking around shrugging their shoulders and mumping about decisions made by the ref. Where's your fight and passion. I thought this was just about the worse performance of the lot. After a first half that promised so much to come out and not have one shoot on target is nothing short of pathetic.

LIVERPOOLARSENALPossession
Liverpool 49% Arsenal 51%
Attempts on target
Liverpool 3 Arsenal 5
Attempts off target
Liverpool 3 Arsenal 2
Corners
Liverpool 3 Arsenal 4
Fouls
Liverpool 19 Arsenal 16

I find it hard to believe we had 6 attempts on goal in the whole game. that is shambolic for a team who seem to think they have a God given right to be in the top 4 and the CL!!! Torres and Gerrard were just as poor in that second half as anyone else. Rafa your half time team talk must have been majestic!

i have to say i agree with this assessment....yes, yet again the ref made some awful decisions, but the whole lot of them, including management, are an absolute disgrace to the club at the present time.....
So passionless was they´re effort in the 2nd half, it bordered on comtempt for the fans (not that those mute muppetts at the game appeared to contribute much !:mad:)
The general play is horrible, ´´hit & hope football´´
A few passes in the defense, forwards & backwards, forwards & backwards then H O O F & hope it finds a red shirt!:mad:
Simple 5 yard passes been fluffed or overhit:mad: ....
The club does indeed appear to be in ´´meltdown´´:(:mad::mad::mad::mad:
I just dont know, maybe its time for King Kenny to step in & steady the ship!?
im sick to death of my Liverpool FC associated foul moods!:mad:

[SOC]

I have to say when we went into the break 1-0 up I didnt expect to see us lose 45 mins later. I thought we had done well the first half and was hoping of more of the same in 2nd half and the 3 points.

Did anybody see Ian St John afterwards in the Sky box. A true Liverpool Legend saying it how he sees it. U could see its hurting him, he loves the club.

What about Redknapp giving his opinion then mentioning FERNANDO ALONSO. Somebody needs to tell him that not only did he not play for Liverpool he didnt drive for the Liverpool FC either!!

[SUPERFAN]

Did anybody see Ian St John afterwards in the Sky box. A true Liverpool Legend saying it how he sees it. U could see its hurting him, he loves the club.


what did he say mate,i switched it off at full time..

[JFT96YNWA]

I think the whole situation at the club is an absolute nonsense. We are the laughing stock of English football and the papers tomorrow will spell it out. Rafa has found a haven in the CL in the past but that has gone this season. He has run out of luck, unfortunately and I have finally lost faith in him.

In a first half we dominated, we could have been 3 up. To get them in at half time and to send them out like they did is a mystery to me. We didn't get going at all in the second half and not one sub had an impact. His £20m golden boy from Roma looked lost and went missing like everyone else.

Personally i don't give a flying f**k what the rest of english football or the media think , but your right in your 2nd statement , we didn't do ourselves any favours 2nd half - after we went 2-1 down the players looked as if " ah , crap here we go again " , there was zero passion in our preformance 2nd half , and that to me is just not on :mad:

[Aido82]

yeah sainty told it how it was, you could see it was hurting him

yeah we really needed fernando alonsos speed today - idiot

[Juan]

what did he say?

[CrazyHorse]

We were a shambles in the 2nd half, more akin to what we've been playing like for the entire season so far.

The first half we looked hungry for the ball and pressed well, but when your on top you need to take your chances.
To be honest, with the results that went our way yesterday, the players knew they needed to step up to the mark, that showed for about 35 minutes today.
But they ran out of steam, and Rafa hadnt got any answers to Wengers team upping the tempo, passing and control of the game.

Honesty of effort and working hard to win the ball is your starting point, as Johny Giles would say, but its in no way gonna win ya a league by itself.
You need the players to have clear understanding of their jobs, both when attacking and defending.
At times in the 2nd half, most of our players just lumped the ball towards Nando & gerrard hoping they'd produce yet again... it didnt happen, and we looked forlorn in the 2nd half.

Yeah, the OG was poxy, but as a team ya gotta put it behind ya and move on, we fell apart after they scored the equaliser.... ****ing pathetic.

As for Rafa making changes when we could all see they needed to be made... well, your too late gaffer... you should have listened to us along time ago on that front.
Did we honestly expect a masterclass from a player who's hardly had any game time this season?????
I didn't.. and neither did the rest of the team, because anytime Carra or Agger got the ball, Aquilani was bypassed more often than not with a thump up the pitch.
Even Gerrard and Lucas would rather a pass towards the wing, everytime Aqua showed for the ball. Its sickening to see a player we paid €20mill on look so ineffective, and not all his own fault either, it was like the players around him didnt trust a pass to him..

Anyway...
Pepe could do nothing about the 2 goals...
Carra played very well, and Agger did ok for the most part.
Johnson had a nightmare from start to finish, in the first half he kept losing possession and couldnt hold onto the ball to save his life. In the 2nd half, he was in the wrong place for the OG, but should have done better for their 2nd goal.
Aurelio showed he is a very good player today when fit, rightfully yellow carded imo for a high arm, but by far, the best LB in our squad.
Gerrard huffed and puffed, but theres only so much one player can do.
Mash for me, was again our best player today. His hunger and desire in these games cannot be understated, he was immense, even carrying a knock for quite a while.
Lucas did well also, particularly in partnership with Mash in the first half, but I thought he lost his way a little in the 2nd half, along with the rest of the team.
Yossi did nothing of note, and was extremely wasteful on occasions... the last few games has been like watching the old Yossi... who was no good. Very dissapointing.
Kuyt.. got his goal, but didnt have a good game, yet again. This man needs to be rested and soon!!
Torres tore into the gunners for about 50-60 minutes, and he looked very laboured for the remaining time he was on the pitch. On another day, he would have buried his chance, but I suppose even players like this man have an off day in front of goal.

And Aquilani, as stated above, he didnt have the chance to shine, as he simply wasn't getting any possession. When he did receive the ball, it was usually a breaking ball or a bad pass to feet. I dont know where Rafa had in mind where this guy was gonna shine for us, but he simply needs now, a run of games uninterrupted.

This has been a horrible season so far... by every measure imaginable.
What promised so much is crashing around our feet.

Can anyone honestly explain to me how a team who were in contention for the title last season with a few games left, go to no hopers who cant string 3 passes together in ANY game???

With a full strength team available, that did not inspire me with great confidence whatsoever....

[rev]

Can anyone honestly explain to me how a team who were in contention for the title last season with a few games left, go to no hopers who cant string 3 passes together in ANY game???


My opinion of this is the players are being affected by a lack of confidence in Rafa/ everything else going on at the club

[loppy]

lads that was hurtful. What can we do from here?

[bobby benitez]

in riise lpool had a left back who couldn't kick with his right foot,now they have the opposite in johnson...

Your pissed off like the rest of us but this is bolliks. Bolton away ring any bells?

EDIT: He scored goal of the season last year with his LEFT foot. FACT.

[crumlin red]

the amount of times we hoofed the ball in the 2nd half was unbelievable

[Dzer2]

Lads you wonder y D-red has left this is embarassing. Had to turn phone off. Nearly turned on the x factor. Cant even look forward to xmas the way this is going We will be going to watch preston and ipswich next year if this is not turned around. 100million required to buy players.

A central defender that can head the ball at least 6ft 6 And b a threat from set pieces
A midfielder (that can tackle and break someone up if needed) Stop the ball from flying through.
A mid fielder to replace stevieg as he wont last forever and can b rested


Second striker and a replacement striker

Need to play 442 2 out and out wingers with pace.

All the players tried in the first half but they were poor from pepe to torres in the second half.

We wont make the CL next year. I cant see any silver ware in the near future so we need to build for the future.

Off to the pub as far away from here as possible dont need to meet anyone to discuss this latest disaster

[Juan]

My opinion of this is the players are being affected by a lack of confidence in Rafa/ everything else going on at the club

if the players lose confidence in him,then he faces one hell of a job to turn it around,with all the problems at the club.
At this rate, its like the houllier situation all over again.

[bobby benitez]

Lads you wonder y D-red has left this is embarassing. Had to turn phone off. Nearly turned on the x factor. Cant even look forward to xmas the way this is going We will be going to watch preston and ipswich next year if this is not turned around. 100million required to buy players.

A central defender that can head the ball at least 6ft 6 And b a threat from set pieces
A midfielder (that can tackle and break someone up if needed) Stop the ball from flying through.
A mid fielder to replace stevieg as he wont last forever and can b rested


Second striker and a replacement striker

Need to play 442 2 out and out wingers with pace.

All the players tried in the first half but they were poor from pepe to torres in the second half.

We wont make the CL next year. I cant see any silver ware in the near future so we need to build for the future.

Off to the pub as far away from here as possible dont need to meet anyone to discuss this latest disaster

Get yourself an envelope and send that to Santa.

[CrazyHorse]

At this rate, its like the houllier situation all over again.

Nail... Hammer... Head!!

[SOC]

what did he say mate,i switched it off at full time..

yeah sainty told it how it was, you could see it was hurting him

yeah we really needed fernando alonsos speed today - idiot

Basically he said you could say Liverpool had their best team out there today with the exception of Aquilani just coming back. He said our run of results is just not Liverpool Football Club & he feels Rafa has until the end of the season to turn things around. He said you can blame the owners etc but what Rafa has bought just doesnt have enough quality etc. Redknapp got involved in it then by saying Gerrard/Torres arent playing with good enough players etc and u can see their heads drop etc.

Ian St John said he was on the radio & a discussion came up bout Torres leaving & I think he said a caller rang in & said 'I read Torres's book, he loves Liverpool, he wont be leaving!'. St John then said well he left Atletico Madrid, his hometown club that he loved when they werent where they should be.

[stevieg05]

Great post CrazyHorse, id agree with most of what u said. I know Kuyt scored today but he isn't givin us enough of a threat on the right wing. Id like to see Johnson play a few games there with Degan at rb, or even Babel on the right wing.
Our next 2 games are Wigan at home and Portsmouth away.......should be 2 definate wins, but they are 2 dangerous unpredictable teams who at the moment i wouldnt be too confident of beating. It wouldnt be as hard to take if we were playing well but being unlucky and losing, but we are gettin what we deserve from games imo, we have been brutal in nearly all of them.

[SUPERFAN]

Your pissed off like the rest of us but this is bolliks. Bolton away ring any bells?

EDIT: He scored goal of the season last year with his LEFT foot. FACT.

must've just gave his left foot a day off today so.
maybe i saw it differently to everyone else but i felt he could've cleared both of those chances today with his left..

[loppy]

lads that was hurtful. What can we do from here?

[bobby benitez]

must've just gave his left foot a day off today so.
maybe i saw it differently to everyone else but i felt he could've cleared both of those chances today with his left..

I agree with you on both counts, but I am willing to give him the benifit of the doubt. Bad day at the office, that is all.

[graham]

Basically he said you could say Liverpool had their best team out there today with the exception of Aquilani just coming back. He said our run of results is just not Liverpool Football Club & he feels Rafa has until the end of the season to turn things around. He said you can blame the owners etc but what Rafa has bought just doesnt have enough quality etc. Redknapp got involved in it then by saying Gerrard/Torres arent playing with good enough players etc and u can see their heads drop etc.

Ian St John said he was on the radio & a discussion came up bout Torres leaving & I think he said a caller rang in & said 'I read Torres's book, he loves Liverpool, he wont be leaving!'. St John then said well he left Atletico Madrid, his hometown club that he loved when they werent where they should be.
He also said that he thinks that we won't finish top 4 and he's thought that since the start of the season

[bobby benitez]

lads that was hurtful. What can we do from here?

Just keep at it, there is no magic wand. A change of manager would probably gives us a temporay lift that most clubs get but that would be knee jerking. You can say we were shit today, which we were, but until they flucked a goal we were never in any danger. Confidence is at an ALL TIME low right now. Need to keep going and stop feeling sorry for ourselves.

[Trevinem]

Lads chin up....firstly, thats Glens first poor performance since we signed him so everyone is entitled to an off day. We played well the first half and didnt show up the second. It was always going to be a tough game so if we had of gotten a point we'd have been happy.....obviously a defeat isnt a good result but Arsenal are a top side....its the games against lower opposition that are a serious step abck when we domnt win.....chin up....next game Wigan and we can start our roll from there

[loppy]

have to say can't slate johnson. Think he has been a great signing. Wasn't sure when we took him first but am now. The guy was just unlucky. Just don't see a way outta this slump at the min.

[gavindoyle]

at the end of the day that was probably our best starting 11 bar aqualani against a patched up arsenal side and did you notice thier bench compared to ours it was far stronger. The likes of Lucas and Ngog wouldn't stand out in the championship and there is too many players not up to the Liverpool standard

[graham]

Just keep at it, there is no magic wand. A change of manager would probably gives us a temporay lift that most clubs get but that would be knee jerking. You can say we were shit today, which we were, but until they flucked a goal we were never in any danger. Confidence is at an ALL TIME low right now. Need to keep going and stop feeling sorry for ourselves.

I don't think a change of manager would be knee jerking this deep into the season and the way results have gone. I kind of laughed off the thought of us not getting 4th place before. I thought it was just some media hysteria. But I've got to be honest I think we're in serious doubt of that now unless we can do something fast

[loppy]

have to say can't slate johnson. Think he has been a great signing. Wasn't sure when we took him first but am now. The guy was just unlucky. Just don't see a way outta this slump at the min.

[up the pool]

i think the idea of johnson on the wing with deggen at right back is a valid one i honestly dont think johnson is that good a defender anyway but would be so much more affective on the wing then kuyt

[fermoyred80]

Johnson was unlucky for the og but got caught napping imo for the second, there was alot worse out there today and that includes Arsenal too.


Father was telling me earlier that he seen in some bookies/racing post, that they are offering odds of 5/2 that Steve Gerrard will not win the league at Liverpool. After this seasons start and the way things are going that is a good price.

[Gray72]

What we should be talking about on this thread is the performance of the team today against Arsenal and in the main we have stuck to that. However this passion from fans on this site has been boiling for some time now and rightly so. 3 wins in 15 matches is simply unacceptable for a club who wants to compete both in the PL and CL. We have been dumped out of the CL, the Carling Cup and now the league.

Now every week we hear from the manager who rightly so backs the team, his staff and players. However everything at the club at the minute is wrong and unfortunately the club is suffering in many ways at the moment. I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel at the minute. Rafa ultimately picks the players and buys the players so the buck stops with him! Players such as benayoun, Babel, Aurelio, Dossena, Lucas, Riera, Ngog, Voronin have all been poor players and unfortunately we have been carrying these players too often. Yossi has really done well when we've been on top of games and is a flair player however when the going gets tough he goes missing.

Now the january window will be interesting. The yanks have clearly no respect for the club and it's values and we are no nearer to knowing about the future of it and the new ground. With this is the lack of cash in the transfer market. We will not be bringing in world class players in January and will have to make do. That just fills me with doom as half our squad aren't good enough!

Our second half performance must rank amongst the worst of recent times? We didn't have one shot on goal in the second half. Gerrard and Torres appeared to be on a crusade to do it all thereselve, I can understand this. unless we get some quailty up front to put away chances when we create them then we will just be another Wigan, Birmingham or Stoke, a mid table team. Torres is not fit and can't cope on his own. He let things get to him today again and he lost it, this affected his performance.

You live and die by your decisions and I fear that big money spent on Aquilani and Keane who have both failed to make an impression will come back to haunt him. We are were we are because we have had to make do with Ngog up top alone or Voronin and chances passed have cost us. We could/should have been 3 up by half time but didn't take the chances.

there simply is no excuse for that second half and i for one would like to hear what Rafa truely thought about it. Has he taken us as far as he can? I fear he has and can see no turnaround based on todays shambles.

[burkey]

Lads chin up....firstly, thats Glens first poor performance since we signed him so everyone is entitled to an off day. We played well the first half and didnt show up the second. It was always going to be a tough game so if we had of gotten a point we'd have been happy.....obviously a defeat isnt a good result but Arsenal are a top side....its the games against lower opposition that are a serious step abck when we domnt win.....chin up....next game Wigan and we can start our roll from there

No offence but we have been claiming that we will kick off every time we win (which isnt often )and still havent kicked on ,we have already lost 10 Competitive games this season which isnt good enough for the likes of Fulham,Blackburn and teams like that so really dont buy in to saying things like chin up Arsenal are a good team,yes they are but we should have a stronger mentality than that and make teams fear us once again.

YNWA
Justice for the 96



Justice for the 96

[bobby benitez]

I don't think a change of manager would be knee jerking this deep into the season and the way results have gone. I kind of laughed off the thought of us not getting 4th place before. I thought it was just some media hysteria. But I've got to be honest I think we're in serious doubt of that now unless we can do something fast

Maybe it would'nt be knee kerking but it would be madness. Rafa has ****ed up this season leaving us with NO back up for Torres. But I feel he deserves the opportunity to make amends.

I dont want to sound like Tompkins but I do honestly believe luck is riding us up the arse right now and that has to change. You need to remember that what we have in advantage over City,Villa and Spurs in experience. As bad as we have been we will still catch them for 4th and if we dont **** it, maybe it will hurt the pockets of the yank ****s.

[burkey]

What we should be talking about on this thread is the performance of the team today against Arsenal and in the main we have stuck to that. However this passion from fans on this site has been boiling for some time now and rightly so. 3 wins in 15 matches is simply unacceptable for a club who wants to compete both in the PL and CL. We have been dumped out of the CL, the Carling Cup and now the league.

Now every week we hear from the manager who rightly so backs the team, his staff and players. However everything at the club at the minute is wrong and unfortunately the club is suffering in many ways at the moment. I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel at the minute. Rafa ultimately picks the players and buys the players so the buck stops with him! Players such as benayoun, Babel, Aurelio, Dossena, Lucas, Riera, Ngog, Voronin have all been poor players and unfortunately we have been carrying these players too often. Yossi has really done well when we've been on top of games and is a flair player however when the going gets tough he goes missing.

Now the january window will be interesting. The yanks have clearly no respect for the club and it's values and we are no nearer to knowing about the future of it and the new ground. With this is the lack of cash in the transfer market. We will not be bringing in world class players in January and will have to make do. That just fills me with doom as half our squad aren't good enough!

Our second half performance must rank amongst the worst of recent times? We didn't have one shot on goal in the second half. Gerrard and Torres appeared to be on a crusade to do it all thereselve, I can understand this. unless we get some quailty up front to put away chances when we create them then we will just be another Wigan, Birmingham or Stoke, a mid table team. Torres is not fit and can't cope on his own. He let things get to him today again and he lost it, this affected his performance.

You live and die by your decisions and I fear that big money spent on Aquilani and Keane who have both failed to make an impression will come back to haunt him. We are were we are because we have had to make do with Ngog up top alone or Voronin and chances passed have cost us. We could/should have been 3 up by half time but didn't take the chances.

there simply is no excuse for that second half and i for one would like to hear what Rafa truely thought about it. Has he taken us as far as he can? I fear he has and can see no turnaround based on todays shambles.

Couldnt agree more the majority of players he has brought in are just not good enough to wear the famous Red jersey.

[barrydoherty]

We always do it score a goal to make it 1-0 then sit back, we came out in the 2nd half nothing like the firsthalf no pressure on the Arensal players at all no hunger to go up and score that 2nd goal, we do it time and time again. First 40 minutes were brilliant even know Arensal were poor but we still played as good as we have in past few months, when the penalty claim for gallas on gerrard was not given I was actually thinking to myself good because if we score too early Rafa just going tell them to sit back and thats were we always are the worse. 4 defenders on the bench and playing at home is pathetic, looking at our bench no options at all, The players in our squad aren't just not good enough and good be a challenge not for top 4. :(

[Maverick]

Lads simple as this 3 wins in 15 games!!we cannot defend our team with form like this.the problem I have is that these are grown men on big wages who have lost" confidence" give me a break,we look like a team who just don't care somtimes bar one or 2 players,many people slag degen but look at the desire he showed to get forward today,we need players in this mindset,if we acted like this at work we'd be sacked it's time for players that are underperforming to be dropped and gerrard and carra to show these guys the passion required to play for Liverpool fc.

[stamullenredmen]

completly sick after that we dominated the first half then just left it all in the dressing room and the og knocked the lads for six.really need to start getting it together or there wont be any champions league next season.

[rafalabamba]

When are things gonna change for us??we need a lucky break or something, i feel the blame has to be on the players as a whole today, Rafa made the right team selection and could do nothing different imo the players should of shut the game down and tbh arse looked really fired up 2nd half, i was only thinking earlier if we win today we'd be 10 points off and there might be the slightest chance of winning the league if we get on a run of good form and the rest hit bad form, how foolish of me

[gowinit6times]

I'm genuinely concerned after todays result that we will fail to finish top 4 this season. If thats the case we could see Reina, Torres, Mascherano leave whilst Gerrard and Carragher are coming into the twilight of their careers. Utterly depressing thinking about it, we have no stadium, are in financial meltdown and its hard to see where we go from here unless the Yanks are forced out.

I have never been as depressed over our future since Houlliers last season and whilst I have been a firm backer of Rafa since he came, I think he is now on borrowed time. Forget trophies, we need to safeguard the future of the club now and that is the biggest success we can hope for this season.

[walshy74]

good first half performance today but what happened in the second half, we didnt build on it at all. Should have been a peno first half dont know how webb didnt give it.
Poor og by johnson and once that went in it all went dowhill.
There was no fight in us at all
And why does carra keep humping the ball upfield he might as well just pass it to an arsenal player or kick it out of touch.
Hopefully we can turn this around soon but i am not overly confident.

[kopgod]

the amount of times we hoofed the ball in the 2nd half was unbelievable

i no it was so annoying to see this, we were 2-1 down and thats all i could see.

[pepesgloves]

i hate to say this as i am pro rafa but that display against the arse today was really bad apart from the monster it looked like nobody gave a fcuk i think rafa has lost the players what happened to him pacing up and down the line getting the players going:( now he just sits mumbling to himself just like the final days of mr gh:o

[SUPERFAN]

as if this day couldn't get any worse,ryan fcukin giggs wins sports personality of the year.
surely this madness has to end some time soon...:D

[barnestormer]

these same players brought us so close last year only lost 2 games the key is confidence we are at rock bottom,once they went a head our heads went down,they need to find the fight from some where even if it is route one for a couple of weeks and be hard to break down our selves,together we can all turn this season around think theres a full premiership program on wednsday lets get stuck in!! YNWA

[Gray72]

these same players brought us so close last year only lost 2 games the key is confidence we are at rock bottom,once they went a head our heads went down,they need to find the fight from some where even if it is route one for a couple of weeks and be hard to break down our selves,together we can all turn this season around think theres a full premiership program on wednsday lets get stuck in!! YNWA

No they didn't. You need to look at how the back four has changed around. The main change for us is the midfield and up front. We have for the majority of the season had Ngog up front who simply isn't this standard. Then we've had Vorinon who has to be one of the worst players I have ever seen in a red shirt. The Alonso debate is relevant as he kept us going forward. Lucas simply does not possess the same qualitities as Alonso. That is why we have real problems penetrating sides.

So the team hasn't changed by way of personel much but the dynamics have. We have so much possession without scoring week in week out. A goal makes such a difference and had we got 2 or 3 goals as our play deserved in the first half we would have gone on to win. Instead we concede and the heads go down. Glaring chances missed such as ngog against Blackburn and there are others cost us points.

Just look at those others above us Man Utd Berbatov, Owen, Obertan, Nani, Rooney, Giggs, Macheda, Welbeck Arsenal Nasri, Rosicky, Van Persie, Arshavin, Walcott, Bendtner, Eduardo Aston Villa Milner, Young, Downing, Carew, Agbonlahor, Heskey Man City Bellamy, Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho, Santa Cruz, Wright-Phillips, Petrov Tottenham Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Crouch, Defoe, Kranjcar, Bentley, Lennon, Modric. Now Liverpool Benayoun, Riera, Vorinon, Babel, Torres, Aquilani, Ngog. Now it is clear that we have less options than the rest and especially in the number 9 jersey. Rafa is to blame for leaving us short up front and blew £22m on Keane and £20m on Aquilani. That £42m would have bought some of the above mentioned.

[liverbird!!]

Look what it means to Ian StJohn the man was nearly crying talking about the way the club has gone, this is what we need to get going again the pride and belief that this is the best club in the world and actually show pride at games.

I'm sick to my stomach yet again and it makes me sad that our great club is at this stage. I'm a ****ing 40 year old and have supported this club since the age of 4, when I was old enough to understand, and to see the way the club has gone is sickening!!!

The pride, passion, love of the game has left the stadium and it's fcuking time we as fans show the players what we love about this club and get them to understand how passionate we are, to me not all players show they would die for this club, and IMO this is what this club is about!!

So in the words of Delia Smith!

LET'S BE HAVING YEA!!!

No point in getting rid of our manager because, if that happens we will end up another Leeds or Newcastle!!

I'm fcuking heart broken because 3 points today would have gave us a glimmer of hope and if you don't believe you don't exsist!

[vincenzo]

just back from this one.worst performance I have ever witnessed at Anfield (in the second half anyway).

[liverbird!!]

just back from this one.worst performance I have ever witnessed at Anfield (in the second half anyway).

Mores to the point, you get my little DVD??

[GaryMc]

Load of bolix. Worst keeper in premiership might as well have brought a deck chair. No more excuses. So called best 11 on the pitch. A corner was turned today and it was a fcukin bad one. Six defeats before Xmas. Stevie and the players doing too much talking to the papers and not enough on the pitch. I don't give a fcuk what anyone says Lucas is no better than Momo Sissoko. Plenty of running but fcuk all else. As for the hoofs in the second half, might as well sign John Fashanu if those are tactics. No point in bringing on 20 million player and bypassing him with mis directed punts to no one in particular.

[vincenzo]

Mores to the point, you get my little DVD??
i did

[liverbird!!]

i did

Thanks a million Vinny, you can let me know what it's like during the week
I'll let you watch it!! :-)

[SOC]

The second half really was a bad performance alright, as a lot of people have said too many hoofs up the park. Yossi had a very quiet game, didnt get really himself into the game. I kept waiting for a cut in then a little bit of trickery to get the crowd going. Kuyt got his goal but thats about it, I think he has been poor this season for us & I know he gives it all he's got but I just dont think he is good enough. Lucas gets alot of stick and I for one have given him some of that stick but he has produced some great performances this season but not enough for my liking. I know we all have our opinions on the players currently at Anfield but a friend of mine said to me the other week 'Kuyt is no more Dutch than Lucas is Brazilian' and at times I can see what he means.
Gerrard doesnt look himself at all. People can say he is only coming back etc but something is not right there with Gerrard I just get that feeling.

I would have to agree with a part of Souness's meltdown talk midweek. If we dont finish top 4 and dont secure champions league football he is right, it will be harder for Liverpool to attract the top top class players to Anfield and we will fall further behind. It doesnt bare thinking the mighty Liverpool FC outside the top four come May.

[stevieg]

Extremely disappointing today, could never forsee us losing when 1-0 up maybe a draw but not losing especially to such a shyte club and shyte fans.

Main thing is Champions League place and a bit more pride from the players. Sad to say but seems like Rafa may have lost some of the players, I hope not though.Ain't over till the fat lady sings, so we will have a better idea of where we are at come the end of the season.

The team needs continued support from the supporters not constant negative comments from the "fans".

Still hear people questioning spending £17/18m on Johnson, quality player and been our best outfield player this season, load of bull questioning that signing.

[rafalabamba]

i no it was so annoying to see this, we were 2-1 down and thats all i could see.

well yano how it goes...'Liiiiverrpoool...HOOF the ball''

[SHOWTIME]

The second half today was a disgrace.

Yossi and Kuyt were fcuking brutal!!

And why bring Aquaman on and not give him the ball??'

The players seem lost and Rafa can't sort it out.

I'm gutted by what's goin' on.Am completely stunned to be honest!!

[stevieg]

The second half today was a disgrace.

Yossi and Kuyt were fcuking brutal!!

And why bring Aquaman on and not give him the ball??'

The players seem lost and Rafa can't sort it out.

I'm gutted by what's goin' on.Am completely stunned to be honest!!

Have you ever played football in your life? What kind of statement is that?

Do you think the manager told the players not to give him the ball?

[SHOWTIME]

Have you ever played football in your life? What kind of statement is that?

Do you think the manager told the players not to give him the ball?

No what's football??Do tell me as you seem to know it all!!

I was on about the players not giving him the ball and hoofing it over his head!!

[stevieg]

No what's football??Do tell me as you seem to know it all!!

I was on about the players not giving him the ball and hoofing it over his head!!

You really haven't a clue what you are talking about, I give up with people like you, if I played against or with you I would two foot the **** out of you.

[SHOWTIME]

You really haven't a clue what you are talking about, I give up with people like you, if I played against or with you I would two foot the **** out of you.

Huh?I give up!Never gonna reply to you again.Good luck.

[carpe diem]

YPIsTKpAoE4

[elvis]

YPIsTKpAoE4

Perfectly apt that is, well said carpe

[barrydoherty]

Load of bolix. Worst keeper in premiership might as well have brought a deck chair. No more excuses. So called best 11 on the pitch. A corner was turned today and it was a fcukin bad one. Six defeats before Xmas. Stevie and the players doing too much talking to the papers and not enough on the pitch. I don't give a fcuk what anyone says Lucas is no better than Momo Sissoko. Plenty of running but fcuk all else. As for the hoofs in the second half, might as well sign John Fashanu if those are tactics. No point in bringing on 20 million player and bypassing him with mis directed punts to no one in particular.

Sissoko is 5 times the player Lucas is, It's sad when you feel your team going to lose the game when leading in a game. Going over to Wigan game on wed and hope we play like we did in first 40 mins and for ****sake don't sit back if we take 1-0 lead

[RedPaddy]

YPIsTKpAoE4

:D

[RedPaddy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray72 View Post
A truely woeful shambolic performance from a bunch of bloody hasbeens and a manager who has been found out. What is left to say about this load of cr*p?

There is just too much wrong with this football club from the boardroom to the management to the players of the pitch and then the results.

A bunch of bloody primas walking around shrugging their shoulders and mumping about decisions made by the ref. Where's your fight and passion. I thought this was just about the worse performance of the lot. After a first half that promised so much to come out and not have one shoot on target is nothing short of pathetic.


I find it hard to believe we had 6 attempts on goal in the whole game. that is shambolic for a team who seem to think they have a God given right to be in the top 4 and the CL!!! Torres and Gerrard were just as poor in that second half as anyone else. Rafa your half time team talk must have been majestic!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Redpaddy

i have to say i agree with this assesment....yes, yet again the ref made some awful decisions, but the whole lot of them, including management, are an absolute disgrace to the club at the present time.....
So passionless was they´re effort in the 2nd half, it bordered on contempt for us fans (not that those mute muppets at the game appeared to contribute much !)
The general play is horrible, we used to be noted for our ´´pass & move´´ game now its ´´hit & hope ´´
A few passes in the defense, forwards & backwards, forwards & backwards then H O O F & hope it finds a red shirt!
Simple 5 yard passes been fluffed or overhit ....
The club does indeed appear to be in ´´meltdown´´
I just dont know, maybe its time for King Kenny to step in & steady the ship!?
Im sick to death of my Liverpool FC associated foul moods!

good first half performance today but what happened in the second half, we didnt build on it at all. Should have been a peno first half dont know how webb didnt give it.
Poor og by johnson and once that went in it all went dowhill.
There was no fight in us at all
And why does carra keep humping the ball upfield he might as well just pass it to an arsenal player or kick it out of touch.
Hopefully we can turn this around soon but i am not overly confident.

+1

[rampant hair]

Have you ever played football in your life? What kind of statement is that?

Do you think the manager told the players not to give him the ball?

He's right you know, no point in having him sat in midfield watching the ball sail over his head.

Which is what we did for the last 40 minutes.

Doubt rafa told them to launch it long, which is perhaps even more worrying.

[Badman]

despite the all too inevitable shambolic capitulation in the 2nd half i still think we'l prob get into the top 4. not because we're any good or we've a top coach - coz we're crap for the most part...but coz the teams around us are rubbish too and have overrated coaches like hughes and redknapp...altho MON is starting to look like jose mourinho at the moment. its the same ol story - get a lead and sit back and thik we've it won. i mean we've talked all season about repeating the same mistakes again and again and again...but we still make em...and as far as i know thats the coaches job to rectify. we're so predictable (and predictably bad) its criminal.
when wenger laid into the lads at half time tahts what was required - maybe rafa has to do taht now and again instead of tht perpetual state of Zen he appears to exist in. the trouble is, this is where serious man management is required. some players recover from defeats like this no better and nothing dents their confidence, but others have their confidence on the floor and need a different approach in training to help em bounce back. but i feel wilth raf he did the same things in training in august as he'll do today...no change, nothing. he still believes his is the only way and wont change anything. and thats why we keep making the same mistakes.
the game itself is the same ol story - excellent 1st half, should be 3 up. get the lead and then tell arsnal u can have the ball all u want in the 2nd half and see how we get on. the trouble is that thats almost our best 11, maybe except aquaman for lucas, and we're still not good. and with no money to spend it aint gettin better soon coz how willit get better. we were never seriously gonna win the leage i felt anyway, i just didnt think we were gonna be in a serious dogfight for 4th...nice goal by arshavin too btw

[ROCCO]

Very worried now to be honest ....

But we need to get Behind Rafa and the team and hope we can turn this a round starting with Wigan on Wednesday ..

[Badman]

i'm behind the team 100%, but the state of affairs on the pitch is v worrying and if something isnt done soon to arrest the slide then even 4th mite be beyond us.the fact that we're linked with the likes of a 34yr old RVN and james beattie doesnt exactly inspire me with confidence either. u cna blame the yanks and the financial woes all u like but arsenal mad a profit again in the summer as wenger often does and he hasnt complained about 'how our debt is affectin our title aspirations' bullshit...just mananges his team and manages his players and gets on with it. i'm not saying wenger is a messiah or anything...in fact i think the hyperbolic praise he gets is way over the top, but they look more like a c'ship winning side than we do even tho weve got torres, gerrard, reina and masch in our side. thats what worries me...and they aint actually that good at all. another poster said to me that this is the worst league since leeds won it and did their best to lose it - it really was there for the taking. but both hte players and especially the manager bettter stop lookin for excuses and get on with it... i mean weve spent over 80m on reina, johnson, masch, aquaman and torres so playing the poor mouth for that 2nd half performance doesnt cut it with me

[stevieg]

Wigan(h), Portsmouth(a) and Wolves(h) are our next 3 games we couldn't ask for 3 easier games to try get our season somewhat back on track.

[Dzer2]

You live and die by your decisions and I fear that big money spent on Aquilani and Keane who have both failed to make an impression will come back to haunt him. We are were we are because we have had to make do with Ngog up top alone or Voronin and chances passed have cost us. We could/should have been 3 up by half time but didn't take the chances.


Yeah but the decision to buy the players is one thing the option not to play them is another. Keane only got cameo roles and aquaman has only 90mins played in half a season. It remains to be seen how much he is played from here on. There are some good young players coming thru but they are 4 years off if lucky we need to buy big in January. Wondering if its an option to sell the the debt to NAMA (the english version)that should free up some money.

[graham]

There was some posts yesterday on Ian St Johns comments after the game.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2009/12/14/1686195/ian-st-john-liverpool-will-not-finish-in-the-top-four


Ian St John: Liverpool Will Not Finish In The Top Four

Liverpool legend Ian St John believes that the Reds will not finish in the top four this season, unless they strengthen the squad significantly in January.

The former Kop hero - who made over 400 appearances for the Merseyside club - questioned manager Rafael Benitez over his transfer policy, and stressed that the ramifications of missing out on the Champions League could snowball into off-field catastrophe.

St John said on Sky Sports: "It's shocking.

"This team will not make the top four. Patience is wearing thin.

"The players Rafa has bought are not good enough. If we do not get in the Champions League it will have a big impact."

[Benbecul97]

An unlucky 13 points worse off than achieved in the same 16 games last season - nearly losing 1 pioint a game. Now thats consistency!

Shocking season! Any chance we could fast forward to May...and maybe even a trophy!:rolleyes:

[smarten]

Wigan(h), Portsmouth(a) and Wolves(h) are our next 3 games we couldn't ask for 3 easier games to try get our season somewhat back on track.

I am seriously worried about the next three games. We were a total disgrace yesterday in the second half. I never want to see a performamnce like that again. If we play like that I can see these three teams beating us!!! Where will we be then??

Where did it all go wrong??? How can a team go from last seasons performances to that of yesterday???

I really hope there is some imprvement on Weds or we are f***ed

[Liverpool-law]

Wigan(h), Portsmouth(a) and Wolves(h) are our next 3 games we couldn't ask for 3 easier games to try get our season somewhat back on track.

Yes we should beat them and so will all the other teams in the running for the top four. With the results saturday, yesterday was our chance to get back in the race. I don't think it matters what we do against the likes of Portsmouth and Wolves.

[Millhouse]

Id say Wednesday can't come quick enough for everyone - players & management included

[bono]

Very worried now to be honest ....

But we need to get Behind Rafa and the team and hope we can turn this a round starting with Wigan on Wednesday ..

+1

Shame we are saying this after nearly every game this season.

[Badman]

just waiting for the weekly "The Season starts now" line

[T.N.F]

just waiting for the weekly "The Season starts now" line

I think that interview was supposed to be printed this week!

[prendy]

Wigan(h), Portsmouth(a) and Wolves(h) are our next 3 games we couldn't ask for 3 easier games to try get our season somewhat back on track.

if we play like we did second half yesterday i'd be very very worried about these games.

[redspider]

http://LiverpoolRedspider.wordpress.com

Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal
Kuyt 41 -
– Johnson (og) 50
– Arshavin 58

Yet another result which shows that this is not going to be a season to remember for Liverpool, well, unless for the wrong reasons! Liverpool gave as good as they got in a tight game, but got nothing out of it.

Liverpool lined up at full strength, with Torres returning, in the standard 4-2-3-1 formation:

————- Reina ————-
Johnson – Carra – Agger – Aurelio
——— Lucas — Masch ———
Kuyt – Gerrard —– Benayoun
————– Torres ————-

Which on paper was strong. Aurelio was in for Insua possibly for his free kick speciality and Torres was back, however he was not match sharp and understandably so.

This was not a great game really, as I felt both teams played subdued football and didnt go all out attack. Liverpool had the better of the first half though and should have put more goals on the board. Most noticeably was a move by Gerrard and Torres which should have seen the spaniard score when through one on one, but his shot was both too tame and too close to Almunia who saved it.

Soon after came a very strong penalty shout for Liverpool when Gerrard ran through their box only to be ‘late tackled’ by Gallas. It was a clear penalty, so a big let off for Arsenal.

Liverpool finally got the goal they deserved but it came from a real clanger from Almunia who failed to deal cleanly with a crossed free. A scrappy goal from Kuyt but the Liverpool lead was deserved I thought.

Liverpool looked quite comfortable in the game. Arsenal were not passing through them like they can with weaker teams in the division and Reina was seldom threatened. But clear cut chances for either team were few.

In the 2nd half the pattern hadnt changed that much when a cross fom Walcott was barely blocked by Aurelio (I think Insua is better at defending than he is), was mis-kicked by Carra who could have cleared it and then a ’surprised’ Johnson ‘passed’ the ball back into his own goal with his left foot with Reina stranded. It gave Arsenal a quick and easy way back into the game which to that point they didnt deserve. The goal was typical of Liverpool this season though, where goals are often leaked at the back.

Things went worse for Liverpool soon after that, when Arshavin got a shot off from the edge of the box despite close attention from Johnson which was unstoppable. Sure, Johnson perhaps could have got closer but this was quick feet from Arshavin, who somehow was as shocked as anyone to see it go in. He only had 3 attempts in the whole game, his next was staight at Reina by the way, and it shows how fortune plays a big part in football.

Liverpool did a bit of huffing and puffing after that but never really looked like scoring. Aquilani came on at 65 mins for Mascherano, when perhaps Lucas may have been ’sacrificed’, but the new player was never going to change this game and he didnt do a whole lot. He looks a player out of practice and out of his depth and I would question whether Aquilani is good enough for Liverpool’s ambitions.

Benayoun had a very poor game I thought, coming inside a lot, providing no width, and himself and Aurelio did not link up at all well and thus made it easy for Sagna. So it was no surprise he was subbed on 79 mins, and Ngog came on. But Liverpool at this stage were a bit out of shape and created little as the game played out.

The tally at the end of the match read Liverpool’s 6 attempts on goal to Arsenals 7 attempts (these all include on targets as well as wides by the way!). So, it was far from a thrilling match. Compare this with Chelseas 24 on Saturday!

There arent many positives to take away from this game from a Liverpool perspective. Yes, it was good to see Torres back and he stayed on for the full 90, and his understanding with Gerrard is good. But Liverpool didnt up the tempo, up the atmosphere, and go all out, and this was dissapointing. Liverpool can take solace that they werent beaten by a better team, yet it is another result gone.

To make matters worse for Liverpool, in the race for 4th, Villa won, but at least Man City drew and Spurs lost at home to Wolves. This leaves the race for 4th as follows:

29 Aston Villa
28
27 Tottenham
26 (Man City p15)
25
24 Liverpool, Birmingham
23 Fulham

The next 3 games for Liverpool are must-wins, versus Wigan, Portsmouth and Wolves. If we cant get 9 pts out of that, the race for 4th may well be out of our reach and it will be difficult times for Liverpool FC and fans!

I realise many are complaining after that loss yesterday, but that was versus Arsenal and matches among the big-4 can go either way. Lets not over dwell on it or the significance of a subdued performance. It wasnt as if Arsenal beat us off the park, both teams nullified each other in a close if subdued game.

The litmus test of what this team wants and how much they are willing to put their hearts on the line will be the next three games. Lets judge AFTER that!

And hold our heads up high .....

Redspider

http://LiverpoolRedspider.wordpress.com

[garyc]

I would have to agree with a part of Souness's meltdown talk midweek. If we dont finish top 4 and dont secure champions league football he is right, it will be harder for Liverpool to attract the top top class players to Anfield and we will fall further behind. It doesnt bare thinking the mighty Liverpool FC outside the top four come May.

I'll tell you what will make it even HARDER................the fact we dont seem to have a pot to pi$$ in!!!:(

[barrydoherty]

I'll tell you what will make it even HARDER................the fact we dont seem to have a pot to pi$$ in!!!:(

What's even worse is that Birmingham have the same points as us after same number games played. embarrasing :o Only way is up and all that ;)

[stamullen red]

Well another defeat and another insipid performance,i am annoyed,angry and totally pissed off and the problem is i am not sure who i should vent my anger on,the owners,rafa,and the players all deserve some stick and not forgetting some of the ex-plyers who have stuck there oar in.It is easy to have a go when we are down and yes we are all experts while typing a few lines to post on this excellent site but it is a long time since i have seen a club recieve such bad press form all and sundry.The team from salford stutter from poor performance to the next but the press are affraid of the bully that is the bitter cnut that manages them he deflects a crap performance away from his team by saying that time keeping shoul be taken away from the officials well maybe if this had happened a few years back they might not have won so many games at the theatre of tat and then what we get are tv pundits affraid to have a go at other sides poor perfomances but will queue up to ask rafa the tried and trusted questions that they will or dare not ask other managers

[barnestormer]

No they didn't. You need to look at how the back four has changed around. The main change for us is the midfield and up front. We have for the majority of the season had Ngog up front who simply isn't this standard. Then we've had Vorinon who has to be one of the worst players I have ever seen in a red shirt. The Alonso debate is relevant as he kept us going forward. Lucas simply does not possess the same qualitities as Alonso. That is why we have real problems penetrating sides.

So the team hasn't changed by way of personel much but the dynamics have. We have so much possession without scoring week in week out. A goal makes such a difference and had we got 2 or 3 goals as our play deserved in the first half we would have gone on to win. Instead we concede and the heads go down. Glaring chances missed such as ngog against Blackburn and there are others cost us points.

Just look at those others above us Man Utd Berbatov, Owen, Obertan, Nani, Rooney, Giggs, Macheda, Welbeck Arsenal Nasri, Rosicky, Van Persie, Arshavin, Walcott, Bendtner, Eduardo Aston Villa Milner, Young, Downing, Carew, Agbonlahor, Heskey Man City Bellamy, Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho, Santa Cruz, Wright-Phillips, Petrov Tottenham Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Crouch, Defoe, Kranjcar, Bentley, Lennon, Modric. Now Liverpool Benayoun, Riera, Vorinon, Babel, Torres, Aquilani, Ngog. Now it is clear that we have less options than the rest and especially in the number 9 jersey. Rafa is to blame for leaving us short up front and blew £22m on Keane and £20m on Aquilani. That £42m would have bought some of the above mentioned.

thanks for getting that of your chest lol..its basicly the same team lets get stuck it!!!!!

[redabbey]

I had not realised that our ex-player and his wife were at the match on Sunday.

qM_gOLvtI_0

[mousey]

Did Howard Webb have anything to say after the game re: the Gerrard pen decision?

Not gonna use it as an excuse but i cant for the life of me see how he didnt give it?

the game Sunday reminded me of the 2003 enounter at Anfield when we battered them first half but only got the one goal for all our domination. Arsenal were far from exceptional Sunday yet we threw away the game. that's the most worrying point for me. we hit the panic button once the equalizer went in. no heart or spirit in the second half. the heads dropped and we went out with a wimper. Rafa has to get the team playing for each other again. there is no spirit in there at the minute, i'd love to see gerrard go back into the middle again too where he can influence the game better.

[mousey]

the atmosphere in the ground second half was non existent too. the place went dead. it was if once arshavin scored we knew it was over. was a very strange day and a sign of the times. A Black Sunday for sure

[Pimboli]

Did Howard Webb have anything to say after the game re: the Gerrard pen decision?

Not gonna use it as an excuse but i cant for the life of me see how he didnt give it?



While far from the worst Gerrard has been shown to go over easily in the box and any hint of theatrics now is a sign that its a dive seeing how he has been highlighted in previous matches. Webb clearly decided he was giving nothing to us or be intimidated by the crown so ignored most of the genuine decisions that should have gone our way including the penalty.

But I agree on the athmosphere even in the Kop it was subdued and when Silvestre came on people could hardly bother mustering a boo for him when any other day he's be slaughtered.

I dont think I have ever seen us play the long ball so ofter in a second half and for once the gooners 'hoof' chants were warranted. How often did Carra just smash one forward without even looking?

[MR KING KENNY]

While far from the worst Gerrard has been shown to go over easily in the box and any hint of theatrics now is a sign that its a dive seeing how he has been highlighted in previous matches. Webb clearly decided he was giving nothing to us or be intimidated by the crown so ignored most of the genuine decisions that should have gone our way including the penalty.

But I agree on the athmosphere even in the Kop it was subdued and when Silvestre came on people could hardly bother mustering a boo for him when any other day he's be slaughtered.

I dont think I have ever seen us play the long ball so ofter in a second half and for once the gooners 'hoof' chants were warranted. How often did Carra just smash one forward without even looking?
thats what has me worried the most, did rafa tell the back 4 to hoof, if he did (well im just not going there) and if he did not tell them to hoof it why did he let them keep doing it, we could all see arsenal were not at there best, we were far the better team in the 1 st half, and its like something sucked the life out of the team at half time.
in my eyes this liverpool team is far far better than this but rafa has them playing wrong and he needs to get it right soon very soon