The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[Stalin]

Kewell off for babel? Another puzzler from Benitez!

Kewell was f**king rubbish out there today

Was Gerrard even playing?

Kewell is RUBBISH every day. How they justify paying him is beyond me.

How the f**k do you work out Kewell is rubbish every day? He has been in great form since he has returned from injury, one poor performance and you all jump on his back. And yes, Gerrard was playing today. Quiet enough game offensively but he tried hard, put in a good few tackles and tracked back well, better than he normally does.

In a game as frenetic as todays, its going to be hard for anyone to impose themself on the game. Had liverpool managed to score first (which we were unlucky not to do), we would probably ahve sat back with everyone behind the ball and saw the game out 1-0.

We played extremely well defensively today, restricting an attacking unit as good and fluent as United's to one chance from open play is no mean feat.

But sure y'all go and jump on the bandwagon and slag off some easy target. Kewell maybe? Rafa? Just make sure you dont come up with any independent thoughts.

[Stalin]

A shocking game..
Whats the point of paying 30m for a striker when you play like wimbledon. Vidic and Rio will clear the ball away all day when its humped into the box.

Their two central midfielders were awesome.

No they were made look good by a brainless midfield performance by Pool
Cant see Rafa surviving after that performance and no loss if thats the style of play we have to look forward to

Who paid 30m for a striker?

[Gaelicy O Flaherty]

No it is doom merchants like you that slate Rafa on internet forums and have the cheek to slate a fellow supporter for sticking up for our manager and a much maligned player that is the problem with SOME so called fans.  To say we won the CL in spite of Rafa discredits anything else you say

[Rossie11]

Who paid 30m for a striker?

We did.. torres.. 26.5 but whos counting.
Playing like we did today renders whoever you have upfront sterile..
Torres' strength isnt in the air so why persist launching scuds up to him

[J70]

A shocking game..
Whats the point of paying 30m for a striker when you play like wimbledon. Vidic and Rio will clear the ball away all day when its humped into the box.

Their two central midfielders were awesome.

No they were made look good by a brainless midfield performance by Pool
Cant see Rafa surviving after that performance and no loss if thats the style of play we have to look forward to

Or maybe the midfield performance look poor because of the pressure the United players were putting Liverpool under, sitting back and quickly closing everything down whenever Liverpool got into the final third?

United were camped on the edge of their box for most of the second half. Liverpool tried to work it down the wings, but between the numbers United had in the box and the aerial ability of their defenders, there just wasn't any space in there, even when they did manage to put a ball across. Even Arsenal would have struggled to create space in that United backline today.

None of us complained when Liverpool won a few at Old Trafford under Houllier using the exact same tactics. Give credit where its due.

Benitez isn't going anywhere. Who are they going to get to replace him? Mourinho? Do you think he'll be keen when he's told that money is going to be relatively scarce?

I'm not saying that they should be endlessly patient with Benitez, but the club is plainly in far better shape than it was when Houllier left. Its unfortunate that Chelsea have become a powerhouse since then and that United and Arsenal have also raised their game, but that's the way it goes. I just hope the owners are a bit more patient and realistic than the fans who venerate him one week then call for his instant dismissal after every setback.

[J70]

Who paid 30m for a striker?

We did.. torres.. 26.5 but whos counting.
Playing like we did today renders whoever you have upfront sterile..
Torres' strength isnt in the air so why persist launching scuds up to him

How would you have played the game, tactically, then? Would you have asked United to move their back line up the field a bit, and lose the two midfielders in front of their back four, just to give Torres a bit of space to attack and through which Gerrard could play some passes?

[Lecale2]

WTF?  

[Stalin]

You were raised on a diet of league success? When the teams 'back in the day' lost a game, did you jump on their backs then and start slating all the players then? Surely a fan as loyal as yourself wouldnt have been up to such shenanigans.

What do you mean we managed to win the CL 'in spite' of Rafa? Is this some revisionist bullshit theory that Rafa was not the main reason behind the CL victory? Was it players the quality of Traore, Sinama Pongolle, Mellor, Nunez, Baros etc that won it for us?

Rafa is our most successful, and best qualified manager since Kenny Dalglish. He doesnt have what it takes to win the PL? I guess those skills that saw him take Valencia to La Liga arent transferrable.

On todays performance we are no closer...-Yeah, Utd really outclassed us in every department today. They created so many chances that we just didnt know what to do. Ronaldo, widely acclaimed as the best player in the world, really tore us apart, didnt he?

Of course im disappointed at losing what was a mustwin game but knee-jerk reactions such as your own are such a load of shite. The truth of todays game that there was nothing to choose between the two sides. It was a scrappy, fast paced encounter in which no side can truly say they dominated.

Maybe the odd cup success is ok for people like yourself and your soccer am attitude, but I was raised on a diet of League success.

[Edited by Mod3 - Personal Abuse]

[Stalin]

A shocking game..
Whats the point of paying 30m for a striker when you play like wimbledon. Vidic and Rio will clear the ball away all day when its humped into the box.

Their two central midfielders were awesome.

No they were made look good by a brainless midfield performance by Pool
Cant see Rafa surviving after that performance and no loss if thats the style of play we have to look forward to

Or maybe the midfield performance look poor because of the pressure the United players were putting Liverpool under, sitting back and quickly closing everything down whenever Liverpool got into the final third?

United were camped on the edge of their box for most of the second half. Liverpool tried to work it down the wings, but between the numbers United had in the box and the aerial ability of their defenders, there just wasn't any space in there, even when they did manage to put a ball across. Even Arsenal would have struggled to create space in that United backline today.

None of us complained when Liverpool won a few at Old Trafford under Houllier using the exact same tactics. Give credit where its due.

Benitez isn't going anywhere. Who are they going to get to replace him? Mourinho? Do you think he'll be keen when he's told that money is going to be relatively scarce?

I'm not saying that they should be endlessly patient with Benitez, but the club is plainly in far better shape than it was when Houllier left. Its unfortunate that Chelsea have become a powerhouse since then and that United and Arsenal have also raised their game, but that's the way it goes. I just hope the owners are a bit more patient and realistic than the fans who venerate him one week then call for his instant dismissal after every setback.

Good to see a bit of reasoned sense being talked on here amongst the shite. J70 you will probably be castigated for your 'soccer am' attitude now. 5times was raised on a diet of league success, dontchaknow, and because of supporters like us we are 'mediocre.'

Cos 2 CL Finals in 3 seasons is the very defiinition of mediocrity, or didnt you know?

[Rossie11]

J70 we made it easy for united. We were playing at home and we didnt get our midfield on the ball, winning 50/50 balls, crisp passing, 1-2s round them. get the wingers into the game and stretch their defence and create space. Sweet jesus Brown Anderson and Hargreves were part of that awesome immovable force you speak about.

What did we do. Long balls up field. Just cause Van der sar dropped a few did we think he might keep doing it..
Was there no plan B?

Once Utd seen that all we had was the long ball of course they were going to set themselves up the way they finished the game.

I for one am not happy with the style of play and its down to Rafa. Its lazy and brainless and while it may win once off cup games it wouldnt come with an asses roar of the premiership. With trips to Utd CFC and arsenal still to come we are looking at being 20 points off the pace again this year come May.

[Stalin]

I think you'll find we were much the better side against Milan, 'probably the best club side in the world' last year. Who would you have played instead of Zenden? Incase you hadnt noticed we werent exactly overwhelmed with quality players in LM last year. But im sure your managerial CV is more impressive than Rafas, you seem to think you know much better than him anyway.

You obviously are a plastic. 'Genuine' supporters dont come on internet messageboard and start criticising our players and manager, given any excuse. Congratulations on being rich enough to be able to afford season tickets. Maybe after my student days are behind me Ill be able to get one too, and be as 'genuine' a fan as yourself.

A settled team to win the league-yeah tell that to Mourinho, Fergie and Wenger. You dont have a clue, do you?

[Stalin]

J70 we made it easy for united. We were playing at home and we didnt get our midfield on the ball, winning 50/50 balls, crisp passing, 1-2s round them. get the wingers into the game and stretch their defence and create space. Sweet jesus Brown Anderson and Hargreves were part of that awesome immovable force you speak about.

What did we do. Long balls up field. Just cause Van der sar dropped a few did we think he might keep doing it..
Was there no plan B?

Once Utd seen that all we had was the long ball of course they were going to set themselves up the way they finished the game.

I for one am not happy with the style of play and its down to Rafa. Its lazy and brainless and while it may win once off cup games it wouldnt come with an asses roar of the premiership. With trips to Utd CFC and arsenal still to come we are looking at being 20 points off the pace again this year come May.

sure kewells shite, no point giving the ball to him. seriously, when utd are defending in numbers it is incredibly hard to get wingers to find the space needed to get to byline and get a meaningful ball in. they stifled the life out of us. when a defensive unit as good as that sits and defends it is going to be extremely hard fo anyone to unlock them.

whats this style of play youre unhappy with? whats lazy and brainless about it?

[J70]

J70 we made it easy for united. We were playing at home and we didnt get our midfield on the ball, winning 50/50 balls, crisp passing, 1-2s round them. get the wingers into the game and stretch their defence and create space. Sweet jesus Brown Anderson and Hargreves were part of that awesome immovable force you speak about.

What did we do. Long balls up field. Just cause Van der sar dropped a few did we think he might keep doing it..
Was there no plan B?

Once Utd seen that all we had was the long ball of course they were going to set themselves up the way they finished the game.

I for one am not happy with the style of play and its down to Rafa. Its lazy and brainless and while it may win once off cup games it wouldnt come with an asses roar of the premiership. With trips to Utd CFC and arsenal still to come we are looking at being 20 points off the pace again this year come May.

If you're unhappy with the style of play, fair enough. Who am I to tell you you're wrong?

However, it was clear from a very early stage today that Liverpool weren't going to pass the ball around United. Sure, they tried it, but balls kept going astray or being cut out by United's defense/midfield. How many times did Kewell lose it, either being outmuscled, outnumbered or by giving a pass away? It certainly looked like Liverpool were doing their best to get him and Benayoun in the game to me.

And I'm not sure what game you were watching if you think Liverpool weren't competing for 50/50 balls. They won a succession of tackles, particularly throughout the second half, as United tried to clear their lines, after which Liverpool generally tried to work the ball onto the wings. The problem was that the crosses were going into areas packed with players and dominated by the likes of Ferdinand and Vidic.

One other thing - this was the exact same lineup that was lauded for their performance in Marseille. Had he changed it and still lost, the screaming about rotation would now be drowning out all other criticisms of things like formations and tactics!

[Over the Bar]

Torres came to Liverpool with a good scoring record but with a reputation as a big game choker.   He vanished when up against Real or Barca in Spain and his debut against ManU did him no favours.  He looked like a conference player.   His first touch today was the worst I've seen for some time.

[DirtyDozen12]

I cannot believe so many of you think Kewell is Shiite, this really annoys me, i mean, are you guys watching a different Kewell than me.  Liverpools biggest problem, which once again was exposed today, is natural width.  Kewell is the only natural winger we have.  Benynoun & Babbel whilst good players on their day are not natural wingers.  Both players are inclined to cut into the middle when running with the ball as opposed to getting down the byline and whipping in a good meaningful cross.  When Kewell has had possession of the ball in the last few games, i think he has looked the most likely to create something.

The same goes for Arbeloa, i dont not see how this man starts over Finnan (think he is back from injury).  Again as a right back, Arbeloa tends to cut into the middle instead of staying out wide.  This is what makes Finnan so good, he supports the attack and keeps the thing wide and most of all, he puts good crosses into the danger area, Please take note John Arne Riise who should be riding pine in my opinion as he has offered absolutely nothing this season.