The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[GalwayBayBoy]

Good result and performance. Granted Chelsea were missing a few players but we didn't deserve to lose to them at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season so swings and roundabouts. Thought Bellamy should have come on a bit earlier.

Only 5 points behind Chelsea now. Hopefully Arsenal pick up the 3 points tomorrow.

[saffron]

Hopefully Arsenal pick up the 3 points tomorrow

Definitely united are getting very close on the league titles front

[The Real Laoislad]

Great result today didn't see it live was working but looking forward to match of the day i hear Riise had a cracker hit the cross bar

[J70]

Great result today didn't see it live was working but looking forward to match of the day i hear Riise had a cracker hit the cross bar

He was very unlucky. Hit it from about 40 yards!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bifdp0mRsww

[magpie seanie]

Thank you Liverpool!

[Norf Tyrone]

Fair play to Liverpool today, as they thoroughly deserved their win. Was fairly confident going into this one until Cavlaho wasn't playing, and then I'd of took a draw with bells on.
The absence of 2 centre-halfs certainly cost the Blues. The first goal came from Fererria ball watching and letting Kuyt steal in behind, and the second was probably attributable to Robben being injured. It was critical that Cole and Geremi stopped delivery into the box today so as to protect the centre. However when the cross was headed clear to Pennant, the plan would've been for Robben, and Kalou to be backing up.

Still thems the breaks.

Thought the second half we showed better, but lacked leaders, and some class in the top hlaf of the pitch. Wright-Phillips did ok today, and with a wee bit of luck two of his crosses could've worked there way into the goal. Lampard was too quiet, and lacked the authority of JT to grab the game. Ballack...well what does he actually add?

I think if Man U win tomorrow it's not all over but some of the crowd will be on the pitch. However if points are dropped I still believe. The next 3 PL games are winable, and if we get JT back before, or during that run it can still be done...........

Wycombe (H) CC
Forest (H) FA
Blackburn (H) PL
Charlton (A) PL
Boro (H) PL

[The Real Laoislad]

just watched match of the day..two great goals shopuld have been 4 or 5...
Oh yeah was that Djimi Traore playing for Portsmouth? when did that happen

[deiseach]

Get in there, Arsenal! Man U have to come to Anfield, play Chelsea at the Bridge . . . we can still do this!!

[deiseach]

Dr Fun has passed on to that great Spion Kop in the sky. Truly one of sport's great nutter fans, he will be missed

RIP Dr Fun

[Carmen Stateside]

The following is from the Liverpool Echo! 

WELCOME to the real world Jose. The world where football managers have to manage with economic restraint. A world where injuries and suspensions have to be overcome through shrewdness and acumen, not the wave of a chequebook. 

And a world where the loss of three players from one department of the team has to be stoically endured.
 
So while many will focus on the poverty of Chelsea's defending at Anfield on Saturday – and for 20 minutes it was Dog and Duck United stuff – perhaps some will now feel inclined to celebrate Rafael Benitez's recent enforced reshuffles.
 
Three central defenders missing on the same afternoon? Get on with it. Like the Liverpool coach has done for the past two months shorn of the services of a trio of influential midfielders.
 
Aside from Steven Gerrard, Momo Sissoko is the most influential member of Liverpool's midfield. He has been missing since November 8.
 
Liverpool's record in that timescale? Won 10, drawn two and lost two in the Premiership.
 
Bolo Zenden and Luis Garcia are also important options in that same department. Both have been missing for large chunks of the season – and in case anybody has forgotten, Harry Kewell is also a member of Liverpool's midfield.
 
The Reds even lost Xabi Alonso for 10 minutes on Saturday while he had a mouth injury patched up.
 
Their overwhelming superiority over the champions – especially in midfield – didn't dip for even a second.
 
In the engine room of the match, Liverpool totally dominated Lampard and an expensive German show pony.
 
Ballack? Change a vowel and you're not far away from an accurate description of his performance. One decent crossfield pass was the sum total of Michael Ballack's afternoon contribution – while he was even nutmegged by a team-mate during a comedy free-kick routine which seemed to epitomise Chelsea's troubles.
 
Mourinho afterwards tried to explain away his side's slump by labelling Liverpool route one. Hmm. Potenciometro, chaleira and preto, Jose. That's Portuguese for pot, kettle and black.
 
And while Chelsea's defensive deficiencies might explain Liverpool's approach, they don't adequately explain why Pepe Reina was not called upon to make a single meaningful save all afternoon.
 
That's because Liverpool were totally and utterly in command.
 
And while it's still fanciful to talk of a title charge, with reinforcements on the horizon the hitherto written off Champions League challenge may not be the lost cause some outside of Anfield appear to think – and Chelsea are now visible on the Premiership horizon.
 
Momo Sissoko is back in training now and itching to launch himself into a tackle.
 
But his absence seems to have dispelled one Anfield myth for the time being at least – that Gerrard and Alonso can't play together. Hands up for occasionally airing that theory...
 
"I've read that myself, and I don't think it's true," said Liverpool's skipper in a programme interview. "I think that good players play with each other whoever they are and I enjoy playing with Xabi. I think if you look at the results we've had playing together we've done well. I think we complement each other."
 
Perhaps. Or maybe Gerrard's more thoughtful approach to his midfield responsibilities, following discussions with his manager, has resulted in a better balanced partnership.
 
On Saturday Gerrard showed commendable restraint. With Sissoko on board, he can rampage forward and make your first goalscorer bet the equivalent of buying money.
 
Alongside Alonso he has to sit deeper, and time his bursts more cannily, and Liverpool's results since Sissoko's shoulder popped suggest he has taken that lesson on board spectacularly.
 
Six goals in the same period underline the argument.
 
On Saturday, with Liverpool playing long to make full use of the unsung Peter Crouch and the excellent Dirk Kuyt, he wasn't required to burst forward as often. Long, short or anything in-between, Chelsea were always second best. So what of the Chelsea manager?
 
"Bye, bye Mourinho!" The Kop provocatively roared, along with a mischievous airing of "Rafa's The Special One!"
 
It will undoubtedly be a sad day for the Premiership when the little Portuguese takes his talents and personality to new shores.
 
But despite his charisma, despite the colour he has brought into English football and despite his undoubted ability, it is impossible to feel sympathy for him.
 
You can't feel sorry for a man who regularly slanders opposition players, a manager who waves imaginary yellow cards on the touchline and makes such sweeping accusations he eventually has to issue an apology, who has managed without economic restraint and a man who has even impugned the integrity of the Royal Berkshire Ambulance Service.
 
None of the above can be levelled at Rafael Benitez. Perhaps observers outside Merseyside may now start to appreciate him a little more.
 

[Carmen Stateside]

Here is another article from it!

JOSE Mourinho wanted so much post match sympathy at Anfield, some of us presumed the match sponsors were Kleenex. 

Every excuse he desired was willingly presented as he assessed where it went wrong for his side and right for Liverpool.
 
As 'The Special One' admitted he's not so special after all and complained about a lack of centre-backs, it was tempting to ask if this was because of injuries in defence, or whether he was missing Robert Huth's impact up front in the last 10 minutes.
 
Hearing Mourinho complain about lack of support in the transfer market is a bit like hearing a billionaire moan about paying tax.
 
Liverpool finally beat one of their main rivals in the Premiership on Saturday, only for Rafa Benitez to be told this was not the 'real Chelsea'.
 
Quite how defensive problems prevented Lampard, Ballack, Wright-Phillips and Drogba making any contribution – and turned one of the best strikers in the world into a £30m dud – is a matter for debate, but no doubt there's a good reason.
 
Strangely, sympathy was less forthcoming two years ago when Benitez regularly headed into fixtures against the Londoners, Arsenal and Manchester United with striking options of Neil Mellor or Florent Sinama-Pongolle, or used Steven Gerrard as a makeshift frontman.
 
These facts are overlooked when Benitez's overall record against the 'big three' is presented. As he said before kick-off, history only records results, not circumstances which led to them.
 
In those days, it wasn't an Anfield injury crisis, or lack of strikers which was Benitez's problem. When the Reds failed in those fixtures, it was the real Liverpool who had shown up. One rule for Benitez and another for Mourinho? You bet.
 
Not that Liverpool will particularly care about the inquest at Stamford Bridge. That Benitez still has more important Premiership considerations made this win so significant.
 
Finishing above Chelsea remains a dream as much as an aspiration, but Liverpool have achieved their first goal of the season six months in. They have shown an eternally disbelieving public they can challenge the country's elite.
 
It remains to be seen if slicing the gap between third and second has any impact on an unlikely title tilt, and the caution from manager, skipper and a succession of Liverpool stars was wise.
 
Too often a significant Anfield victory has ballooned in its self importance with fans as guilty as journalists and players of absorbing the hype.
 
There are times when the moment of victory itself is satisfying enough, without attaching greater worth which would be undermined by a poor performance at Upton Park in 10 days.
 
This campaign began with the pursuit of Chelsea the prime objective. Just three months ago, that looked beyond the club. Not now. But even as the Reds came to terms with the enormity of a win which safeguarded their wildly optimistic league hopes, there was an acknowledgement of the scale of the task remaining.
 
The days when beating Roman Abramovich's Chelsea signified the end of Benitez's journey to restore Liverpool's place at the top of the English game have already passed.
 
Now it's just another tick on the things to do list.
 
Signs of decline at Stamford Bridge mean even if the Reds are able to shrug the Londoners aside, their ultimate target is still way in the distance.
 
Come May, one hopes this will be perceived as the victory which gave Liverpool the momentum and confidence to believe anything was possible.
 
Equally, like so many other occasions since 1990, it may be looked upon as a triumph which underlined the sense of 'if only', as a team capable of so much more still finds itself too far behind the likely champions.
 
It's impossible not to stare at the table today without lamenting wasted opportunities against Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and Blackburn, against whom a series of wins would have magnified the value of this success. Instead, Liverpool must use this win as a platform for much more.
 
Chelsea, it must be acknowledged, were there for taking.
 
But weakened or not, Liverpool had to take advantage and show their class. They did so with ease, enjoying a win every bit as comfortable as every other home triumph this season.
 
Benitez kicked Mourinho where it hurts, pairing Crouch and Kuyt and urging his players to go direct against the inexperienced and nervous centre-backs. Once Kuyt put the Reds ahead with an elegant finish on four minutes, it seemed more a case of how many Liverpool would get.
 
That they only added one was as improbable as the second itself. Jermaine Pennant's steady rather than spectacular improvement has been noted and he confirmed this with a strike which was out of the ordinary.
 
Although Chelsea enjoyed plenty of possession once they settled, Pepe Reina was untroubled, while chances flowed at the Kop end.
 
Crouch could curse his lack of aerial power again. He would be on 30 goals by now if he could add the phrase 'bullet header' to his portfolio.
 
Riise's thunderbolt and a late Kuyt volley could have piled on the humiliation for the Londoners.
 
The energy and commitment across the park made a comeback impossible. Steven Gerrard gave arguably his best display against Chelsea since you know what, while Jamie Carragher reduced the formidable Drogba to the role of ball boy.
 
The full-time inquisition regarding the identity of the impressive left back was also notice of the impact of Fabio Aurelio, although he tired late on.
 
Liverpool had far more to lose than their opponents on Saturday, but the circumstances of the season means the gain won't be measured until later.
 
What is beyond dispute is the buoyancy at Anfield today, and the firm belief that not only can Chelsea be caught, but that Manchester United's lead can also be reduced.
 
Unlike previous false dawns, this is balanced with caution as the perils of predicting too much often prove counter-productive.
 
The broadcasters love spending the week emphasising how the destiny of the Premiership can be decided by such fixtures, but when the dust settles, a win still represents a mere three points, no matter how much sweeter the victory.
 
This was a very good weekend for Liverpool, but everyone at Anfield recognises there's much more to be done to transform it into a pivotal one.
 

[The Real Laoislad]

Steven Warnock gone to Blackburn Rovers..I liked him thought he was a right good player

[Norf Tyrone]

Signs of decline at Stamford Bridge mean even if the Reds are able to shrug the Londoners aside, their ultimate target is still way in the distance.

It think it says more about Chelsea that a decline is when we are still challanging for 4 trophies!

Mourinho afterwards tried to explain away his side's slump by labelling Liverpool route one. Hmm. Potenciometro, chaleira and preto, Jose. That's Portuguese for pot, kettle and black.

Completly out of context. He stated that Rafa wasn't stupid, that he knew Chelsea's weakness in the air at the back and exploited it.

[deiseach]

Ballack? Change a vowel and you're not far away from an accurate description of his performance. One decent crossfield pass was the sum total of Michael Ballack's afternoon contribution – while he was even nutmegged by a team-mate during a comedy free-kick routine which seemed to epitomise Chelsea's troubles.

Ho ho, very satirical. David Prentice, you are a complete numpty

[J70]

Signs of decline at Stamford Bridge mean even if the Reds are able to shrug the Londoners aside, their ultimate target is still way in the distance.

It think it says more about Chelsea that a decline is when we are still challanging for 4 trophies!

Mourinho afterwards tried to explain away his side's slump by labelling Liverpool route one. Hmm. Potenciometro, chaleira and preto, Jose. That's Portuguese for pot, kettle and black.

Completly out of context. He stated that Rafa wasn't stupid, that he knew Chelsea's weakness in the air at the back and exploited it.

`
They were all predicting last week after the Arsenal games that Liverpool's progress had reached an impasse under Rafa. Now they're probably blowing Mourinho's problems up out of all proportion. One or two players back, a good win or two, and this shite will blow over for Chelsea as well.