new liverpool thread - everyone loves them (1 Viewer)

[washingcattle]

aqua starts, the front line isn't as isolated. lfc score goals. am i missing something? is it that simple?

after the nadir, in a season littered with low points, of the athletico, you couldn't ask for a better team to twat. gerrard plays better with aqua on the pitch, it's fucking obvious.

my head's melted.

Problem as far as I can tell is linking the defence and midfield because Gerrard couldn't be bothered by the looks of things lately and neither Lucas or Masch pass well enough. Aqua was good on sunday though.

 

[I Bleed Black]

Maxi is starting to show his quality too, super ball to Aqua for Gerrards second goal and finished his own goal well too. Pity he can't play on thurs.

 

[trev]

Slowly building Aquilanis strength up i'd say...in a sense - like Lucas before him. Gerrard liking the look of Aquilani and Maxi and so am i. I'm gonna stay this summer...how about you Stevie?

 

[Franco]

You folks aware it was against Burnley Pool were playing, right?

 

[I Bleed Black]

You folks aware it was against Burnley Pool were playing, right?

The same Burnley that beat your lot earlier in the season. I don't think anyone here thinks we are world beaters after the weekends performance, just discussing the relevent points from the game.

 

[Hector Grey]

i can see rafa's problem with aqua. he gets forward, he's often ahead of gerrard, and he makes runs into the box. he turned the 4-2-3-1 that rafa, once a flexible manager not afraid to tear it up and start again if needs be (2005, half time... rafa's greatest trick was convincing the world's media and lvierpool fans that his tactical acumen existed. of course, starting that game with hamman would have been too simple, right), is absolutely wedded too even when it clearly doesn't suit some players, into a 4-1-4-1, or, if gerrard was advanced enough, a 4-1-3-2...what ever it was, his ability to get around makes the formation so much more fluid, and brings players into play from the wing, links front to back, and all those good things that lucas clearly can't and that xabi did. xabi had more passes in him though, which he needed to cos he was less mobile. lucas used to be that player, and you can also see why rafa loves him so much, because he took that galavanting, young player of the year from brazil, and turned him into michael thomas.

so that's rafa's problem with aqua, you can't nail his feet to the centre circle, so best not to pick him. god knows, he might just venture forward, leaving only 6 players to look after the shop.

 

[Franco]

The same Burnley that beat your lot earlier in the season. I don't think anyone here thinks we are world beaters after the weekends performance, just discussing the relevent points from the game.

Not my lot. Just offering some perspective is all.

 

[Hector Grey]

there's too much fucking perspective here already. but thanks for your patronisation.

 

[Hector Grey]

jon joe shelvey on his way for 3 mil say the papers. he's been talked up for a while, hasn't he. there's no better team to join for the nurturing of young talent though, just ask dani pacheco, who'd surely be in the barca first team by now if he'd stayed there. or the decent looking daniel ayala, so highly rated rafa wants gary cahill, just to see if having 5 players ahead of him will make him up his game.

grand days.

 

[evil bandit]

Good old Diego, he loves scoring against The Pool !!!

Athletico's route to the final is an odd one

D
L
L
D
D
L
D
W
D
D
D
D
W
L

FINAL

 

[Wheels]

Good old Diego, he loves scoring against The Pool !!!

Athletico's route to the final is an odd one

D
L
L
D
D
L
D
W
D
D
D
D
W
L

FINAL

Liverpool's would have been almost as pitiful. That should almost be that for the Rafalution. If there was any thing left in his bag he would have guided us through it tonight. Close as the score was, a better team than Atletico would have carved us to ribbons. For such a defensive coach he's really lost the knack for grinding out those wins. Oh and without Torres, where did we look to in the last few minutes - either of the other attack minded, ball controlling goalscorers? No, they'd been subbed in favour of a b team player and a youngster that he had the opportunity to develop this season and decided not to. Pack your bags for Turin Rafa, the Kop won't block your path anymore.

 

[I Bleed Black]

I remember well when we used to grind out the results, especially in europe, the defence could be relied on to do the simple things right like clearing the ball to avert danger and picking up players at the back post. Ah the memories.

 

[Cormcolash]

Good old Diego, he loves scoring against The Pool !!!

Athletico's route to the final is an odd one

D
L
L
D
D
L
D
W
D
D
D
D
W
L

FINAL

Ha. That truly says it all about this fucking travesty of a 'competition'.

 

[Hector Grey]

there's little point even going through the "tactical" mistakes he made last night, but bringing on a right back with 10 minutes to go and you're chasing a goal was obscenely bizarre, even by his standards. that hurt. physically hurt. i felt sick.

 

[Janer]

Chelsea goal: Unbelievable. Steven Gerrard, under no pressure whatsoever, attempts a ridiculous back pass and Didier Drogba steals in, rounds Pepe Reina and slots home. It's a gift... and the conspiracy theorists' brains go into overload.1403: GOALFLASH Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea (Drogba)


You gotta love Stevie G...a true loyal Liverpool fan if ever there was 1. .|..|

 

[Unicron]

What's the story with the Asian script on the Liverpool players' shirt where their normal shirt sponsors are?

 

[Wheels]

I can't imagine any Liverpool fan will take solace from what that defeat means. Breaking point.

 

[ratmonkey]

Rafa out.

 

[I Bleed Black]

What's the story with the Asian script on the Liverpool players' shirt where their normal shirt sponsors are?

Carlsberg in chinese. No great surprise we lost today, did anyone really expect us to get anything?

 

[Wheels]

Dear Liverpool fans,

Considering the weekends match is a 'nothing to play for' for both teams, the season post mortem can begin in earnest. Obviously there are massive question marks hanging over the management, the owners and the players but what do people want/think will happen during the Summer? These months are usually rightly dubbed silly season, but it's pretty clear that more changes than usual are going to come in.

Scenario 1 - Rafa stays, no new owners but Torres/Gerrard/Masch happy to stay once more:

Benetiz is a stubborn, defensive c**t who seems to have lost the faith of Gerrard and Torres. However, best case scenario for this is that Liverpool ditch a load of deadwood or unhappy players (Babel, El Zhar, Riera, Benayoun, Degen) and buy in a few half decent, affordable players (like Ireland, Micah Richards, Carlton Cole, N'Zogbia) Aquilani, Maxi, Lucas and Greek all build on last season, Pacheco and Nemeth blossom, we learn to defend again and we battle our way back into top 3/title contention. Probability : possible, but doubtful.

Scenario 2 - Rafa stays, new owners come in but want to cash in on Torres who is fed up:

Benetiz reluctantly agrees to flog our beloved Torres, only on condition that he's able to bag the likes of Aguero or Villa plus some decent new wingers and another forward. The 4-2-3-1 system is abandoned in favour of a more fluent attacking formation, Gerrard is rejuvinated by the development of Aquilani, Maxi and possible others, we learn to defend crosses and set pieces and we battle our way back into top 3/title contention. Probability : possible, but I doubt it.

Scenario 3 - Rafa leaves, no new owners, either one or more of Torres/Gerrard/Masch leaves

This is the nightmare scenario where we lose pretty much all our assets and building work from the last 5 years. Even with a lump of cash from the sale of Torres or one of the others, we'd struggle to attract new players without investment. Fighting with Everton and Villa for 5th would be most likely and our best case scenario manager wise would be Roy Hodgsen or M'ON. Worst case - Dalglish or Carragher holding the place together at the seams. Probability: unless there's some masterplan behind the scenes, quite possible.

Variable - NEW OWNERS. MONEY.

This is obviously the ace in the pack. It might mean a number of things - Benetiz finally gets his (last)chance to splash out big and do what he's always said. The big guns all stay and are happy with the new star players (Silva, Joe Cole, Cahil, Turan). Or, Rafa jets off to Turin taking Kuyt, Lucas and his favourite work horses with him and the club has the audacity to approach the likes of Mourinho, Van Gaal and Hiddink to spear head a rivival, bringing in even more illustrious players and ideas. Probabilty: Unlikely, but who the fuck knows?

Basically, whether Benitez stays or goes it's all about what Broughton has been promising as 'a bright future'. If that can happen this Summer, then we might have a chance to stop the rot and get back on track. If it takes at least another season then I fear this is the end of the Gerrard/Torres era and we will be seeing a very different Liverpool for a few seasons.