Liverpool FC Forum

[JBG]

I hope that the silver lining to last night's result is that we'll lose a few of those bandwagoner fans that came out of the woodwork last May.

You know the type: the guys who think Rafa was stupid to sell Baros, that the board were nuts to let Owen go to Madrid for peanuts and then not re-sign him 12 months on at twice the money, the guys that think we are a rubbish team and that there are major problems blah blah blah.

People that have been fans of Liverpool for more than 5 minutes will understand that this is one of the most promising times we've been in for 15 or 16 years, and if people thought things are bad now, then they weren't about when it all went pear shaped under Souness, and such like.

Our great European adventure came to an end last night. It had to end somewhere. At halftime last May 25th, when we were 3-0 down, any one of us would happily have swapped being thrashed 4-0 by TNS in the first round of this years competition if we could come back against Milan and win, let alone going out to Benfica in the last 16.

And for those who say Benfica are a mickey mouse club, well, such is another sad indictment of a Sky Sports era football supporter. Benfica have had as proud a European history as most, and while their current side are not going to set the world alight, for me there is no shame in going out to a club that has such great heritage.

I've been reading many of the posts today and you'd swear we had just been relegated. I'm as disappointed as anybody, but one poor display doesn't mean the end is nigh. Its just part of sport, and even the great sides of the 1970s and 1980s had their bitter disappointments and setbacks.

The criticism of the team, for me, has gone way too far, which is perplexing, given that we are actually having one of our best seasons in years, in so far as we have been consistent and steady all year and real, genuine groundwork is being laid.

Winning the big trophy last year had the one downside in that it was always going to raise expectations to ridiculous levels, and last night's result has seen that particular chicken come home to roost.

I'm sick and tired of fair weather fans and this place has its fair share of them, and they come in the usual guise, although I'll refrain from getting into that.

The way I see it is that those who have gone completely over the top in their criticism betray their shallow natures as Liverpool  fans, as genuine long standing fans who had to endure the disappointment of every manager since Daglish will recognise the great thinks Rafa Benitez is doing for this club.

[ivor_the_injun]

Great post JBG. Absolutely spot on.

[MaccaLFC]

Agree with everything you said mate, the future's bright, the future's red.

[metalhead]

I hope that the silver lining to last night's result is that we'll lose a few of those bandwagoner fans that came out of the woodwork last May.

You know the type: the guys who think Rafa was stupid to sell Baros, that the board were nuts to let Owen go to Madrid for peanuts and then not re-sign him 12 months on at twice the money, the guys that think we are a rubbish team and that there are major problems blah blah blah.

People that have been fans of Liverpool for more than 5 minutes will understand that this is one of the most promising times we've been in for 15 or 16 years, and if people thought things are bad now, then they weren't about when it all went pear shaped under Souness, and such like.

Our great European adventure came to an end last night. It had to end somewhere. At halftime last May 25th, when we were 3-0 down, any one of us would happily have swapped being thrashed 4-0 by TNS in the first round of this years competition if we could come back against Milan and win, let alone going out to Benfica in the last 16.

And for those who say Benfica are a mickey mouse club, well, such is another sad indictment of a Sky Sports era football supporter. Benfica have had as proud a European history as most, and while their current side are not going to set the world alight, for me there is no shame in going out to a club that has such great heritage.

I've been reading many of the posts today and you'd swear we had just been relegated. I'm as disappointed as anybody, but one poor display doesn't mean the end is nigh. Its just part of sport, and even the great sides of the 1970s and 1980s had their bitter disappointments and setbacks.

The criticism of the team, for me, has gone way too far, which is perplexing, given that we are actually having one of our best seasons in years, in so far as we have been consistent and steady all year and real, genuine groundwork is being laid.

Winning the big trophy last year had the one downside in that it was always going to raise expectations to ridiculous levels, and last night's result has seen that particular chicken come home to roost.

I'm sick and tired of fair weather fans and this place has its fair share of them, and they come in the usual guise, although I'll refrain from getting into that.

The way I see it is that those who have gone completely over the top in their criticism betray their shallow natures as Liverpool  fans, as genuine long standing fans who had to endure the disappointment of every manager since Daglish will recognise the great thinks Rafa Benitez is doing for this club.

Spot on JBG! Well said!!!

I said it a million time before we played benfica that they are a really good team!

Alot of people are looking liverpool negatively rather than positevly! we are third and we still have a shot at the F.A cup!

BRING IT ON ARSENAL

[adamnbarrett]

Couldn't agree more JBG 

[JBG]

If I hear one more fan claiming that Milan Baros was a "great" Liverpool striker or how we are so far behind in the "EPL" (its the fu.cking league, nobody calls it the "E"  "P" f.uc.king "L") then the Mandible Claw is just going to have to come out.

[drummerphil]

I hope that the silver lining to last night's result is that we'll lose a few of those bandwagoner fans that came out of the woodwork last May.

You know the type: the guys who think Rafa was stupid to sell Baros, that the board were nuts to let Owen go to Madrid for peanuts and then not re-sign him 12 months on at twice the money, the guys that think we are a rubbish team and that there are major problems blah blah blah.

People that have been fans of Liverpool for more than 5 minutes will understand that this is one of the most promising times we've been in for 15 or 16 years, and if people thought things are bad now, then they weren't about when it all went pear shaped under Souness, and such like.

Our great European adventure came to an end last night. It had to end somewhere. At halftime last May 25th, when we were 3-0 down, any one of us would happily have swapped being thrashed 4-0 by TNS in the first round of this years competition if we could come back against Milan and win, let alone going out to Benfica in the last 16.

And for those who say Benfica are a mickey mouse club, well, such is another sad indictment of a Sky Sports era football supporter. Benfica have had as proud a European history as most, and while their current side are not going to set the world alight, for me there is no shame in going out to a club that has such great heritage.

I've been reading many of the posts today and you'd swear we had just been relegated. I'm as disappointed as anybody, but one poor display doesn't mean the end is nigh. Its just part of sport, and even the great sides of the 1970s and 1980s had their bitter disappointments and setbacks.

The criticism of the team, for me, has gone way too far, which is perplexing, given that we are actually having one of our best seasons in years, in so far as we have been consistent and steady all year and real, genuine groundwork is being laid.

Winning the big trophy last year had the one downside in that it was always going to raise expectations to ridiculous levels, and last night's result has seen that particular chicken come home to roost.

I'm sick and tired of fair weather fans and this place has its fair share of them, and they come in the usual guise, although I'll refrain from getting into that.

The way I see it is that those who have gone completely over the top in their criticism betray their shallow natures as Liverpool  fans, as genuine long standing fans who had to endure the disappointment of every manager since Daglish will recognise the great thinks Rafa Benitez is doing for this club.

well done JBG.........

Some things need to be said,it gets rediculous when you get so called Liverpool fans who know feck all about the team or history before 2001 even.......
And furthermore cant spell the name of a Liverpool player without going on the official site....

[Cool Hand Luke]

Excellent post JBG. I don’t know why you waste your time in General Chat!

The reaction to the Benfica result has been kind of shocking. It is definitely true that expectations have been over inflated since the Champions League final, people were talking about winning the title when we had just finished 5th with 50 odd points.

Losing to Benfica in the last 16 of the Champions League isn’t great, but it isn’t exactly shameful. They are a decent outfit and we have lost to worst teams this year (i.e. Fulham, CSKA SOFIA at home).

Rafa has been in charge for little over 18 months and we have made huge strides this year. The squad is looking stronger and more balanced than it has in a long time, and results on the pitch are showing this.

Rafa has made mistakes, just like every manager ever to manage, he has learned a few harsh lessons since he has been here (i.e. Morientes) and he will be wiser for it. We have a few big weaknesses no doubt about it, but I’m sure Rafa is aware of it, its not as if he doesn’t watch the games! But at the moment he can’t remedy the situation. I said at the time when Rafa took over that it would take 2 or 3 seasons to build a squad that Rafa would be happy with and reflects his footballing philosophies.

This season things have progressed faster than I anticipated and I am very happy with the direction we are going in.

[MaccaLFC]

If I hear one more fan claiming that Milan Baros was a "great" Liverpool striker or how we are so far behind in the "EPL" (its the fu.cking league, nobody calls it the "E"  "P" f.uc.king "L") then the Mandible Claw is just going to have to come out.

I couldn't give three flying fu.cks how far we're behind in the league at this present time, we can all see the improvement being made, now it's just for the picky things to be sorted out, ie/ the comings and the goings in the summer.

Next season will be class, looking forward to giving the LEAGUE a really good go, and if the improvement carries on at this rapid rate, we'll be right up there with Chelsea.

Saying that, this season isn't over, the FA Cup is something I think all us reds want badly this year, really wanna get to Cardiff, and 2nd spot would be a major boost in terms of CL qualification automatically.

[metalhead]

If I hear one more fan claiming that Milan Baros was a "great" Liverpool striker or how we are so far behind in the "EPL" (its the fu.cking league, nobody calls it the "E"  "P" f.uc.king "L") then the Mandible Claw is just going to have to come out.

great liverpool striker? i remember when he had the ball he used to look at the ground and doesn't look around and see whats infront of him, one day he will smash into the goal post   

becareful of the claw JBG, its dangerous

[drummerphil]

Baros was an aardvark in disguise

[greenred]

You hit the nail on the head there JBG.Expectations were raised to such an extent that people were expecting miracles every match.Wenger was right when he said it takes quite a bit of luck to win the European Cup.We rode our luck last season but didnt get any against Benfica.We were the best team in Europe in the late seventies,early eighties(and yes,i mean every season for eight years at least) but we still managed to get knocked out in 79,80,82 and 83, to inferior teams.What im saying is,even then,when we were the best by far,we still didnt win it every year.We didnt get the breaks,we were unlucky,we couldnt get the ball in the net....just like the Benfica tie.Lets not be greedy,Istanbul was wonderful,it was possibly the most emotional night of my life,but its gone now.Lets now give Mr Benitez,Stevie,Carra,Xabi and all the lads our full support.We still have second place to fight for,and the FA cup.Next season we will be in better shape to fight for the Premiership and ol' big ears again.

[JohnBull]

I hope that the silver lining to last night's result is that we'll lose a few of those bandwagoner fans that came out of the woodwork last May.

.

Grow Up you soft Sod - The initial team selection must have brought cheers in the Benfica dressing room ( and I'm not talking about the defence)
Once again a BIG game and the wrong selection. Too much trying to be clever.

And don't call me a Plastic Supporter - Born and bred longer than YOU


Sir Bob " I don't change players unless I've got a better one and then ONLY one at a time"

[Red Soul]

These 'fans' are failing to see one major point.

That is, that this season is nothing more than a work in progress.

It started as soon as Rafa arrived, and it's still ongoing. Rafa has signed several outstanding players - Alonso, Garcia, Sissoko, Reina, Crouch, Morientes... each one of them capable of holding a first team place. What other manager, on the transfer kitty that Benitez has been given, could make that many signings at a top five club in such a short space of time and have them fit seamlessly in with the rest of the team? Rafa has also been getting results from the players he inherited - Stevie G's mammoth performances, Harry Kewell getting back towards the player we wanted to sign, the watertight partnership of Carra and Sami. As well as all this, he's been investing heavily in young talent, giving this club one hell of a good chance of success in the long-term future.

This season, we've seen some real foundations for us to build on. We've been consistent over the whole campaign, which in the past has been a sticking point for us. We've seen Liverpool easily controlling matches - not just the lower-league sides, but also the top clubs. We have an absolutely awesome midfield that I wouldn't swap for any other in the Premiership. We've seen Liverpool come away from tricky matches with good results - matches that we would have lost a season or two ago - and had to put up with whiners finding fault with massively improved performances.

We're a team in flux at the moment. Arsenal are the same, they are waiting for their young team to flourish. Man Utd are the same - their midfield, once their strongest area, are on the wane in a big way. We're no different. We have the plans of a new manager to adapt to, ones which require new personnel and new tactics. Changes like that take a long time to apply and come to fruition, and I don't believe we will see Rafa's footballing masterpiece for another couple of seasons at least. Winning the Champion's League last season was a fluke. A beautiful, magical fluke, helped along in no small way by the blood, sweat and tears poured into it by the players, but a fluke nonetheless.

Now, despite the very obvious fact that we would never wish to be without that legendary night in Istanbul, we have to deal with the fallout. Namely, unrealistic expectations placed upon the coaching staff and players by 'fans' with no vision, no patience, and no real heart for the team.

The season, for me, is nothing more than a marker of our progress so far. And so far, the signs are good. Very, very good indeed. We've forced ourselves very nicely into the so-called 'big three', been touted as Chelsea's only real threat in the future by the media (who generally take a very negative stance on the chances of LFC), we've still got a shot at lifting the FA Cup, we're fighting for second place in the Premiership, we reached the last sixteen of the Champion's League despite playing all the way from the very first qualifier, we've seen the team play a horrendous number of games in an extended season and they still give everything they've got on the field.

Liverpool have a future we can all be justifiably excited about.
And to all our fair-weather fans - we'll see you again in a season or two.

Because no doubt you'll be in here by the bucketload once we wrestle the title from Mourinho's sweaty grasp.

[el_stinger]

Totally Agree with you JBG on that one.