Liverpool FC Forum

[48-1119859832]

A.B,

I agree with what you have written. People are always quick to call us "Team Gerrard" or a "one man team". What these ppl fail to see is that each team has at least one player who stands shoulders above the rest. Arsenal - Henry, Chelsea - Makelele/Terry, Man Utd - Rooney/Ronaldo, Barcelona - Ronaldinho and AC Milan - Shevchenko.

However this doesn't mean to say that the rest of the squad is poor, it's just that in every team there is a player that can help lift the spirits of his team mates & can produce truly magnificent football and that's what Gerrard did yesterday. He is our captian and helped lifted the spirits of the players up when we were down and it was the same with Reo-Coker with West Ham as well.

The people who brand us "Team Gerrard" are just jealous because they don't have him or a player like him in their squad. But as you say where were these people when Garcia scored against Chelsea in two semi-finals. Where were those people when Hyypia and Garcia scored against Juventus etc.

A single player no matter how good they are cannot win you a match, they cannot make a team draw a match and they cannot single handly lose a match. That's utter ©rap right there. Sure you get a player that can change a match like Gerrard did yesterday but there is no such thing as a "one man team" not even Arsenal with Henry are a one man team. Let's be honest their are a few players in every club which the club relies on the most or in some cases relies on too much but that's because these players stand head and shoulders above so many. Henry, Gerrard and Makelele would be a prime example of this.

Sure you get these comments all the time, there is no escaping them, but ask these people one thing, why can't they play in the most entertaining cup finals?

Cast your mind back to 2001 when we beat Birmingham on penalties to hiost the League Cup, we then scored two late goals against Arsenal to win the F.A Cup. We then beat Alavas 5-4 to win the UEFA cup. Last season we came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 and win on penalties. That match was seen by many and rated by many as being "the greatest cup final in history of football". Then yesterday we suffered from De ja vu and battled against the odds to make this F.A Cup final of 2006 one of the best in years.

Let these idiots call us a "one man team" but it takes more than a one man team to make cup finals truly rememberable and truly exciting.

And nothing anyone says can change the fact that Liverpool put the C in cup and the F in final. Let them try and take away and tarnish over achievements they're just jealous that we are by far the greatest team the world has ever seen.

So next time anyone says anything, just point out the fact that Liverpool make cup finals worthy and politly remind them of the player they rely on.

[azriahmad]

We were 2 goals down by the 27th minute in a cup final and we had barely got a threatening shot at the opposition goal. Out normally slick passing game was a miss, the nromally reliable Reina decided to have an iffy day with his uncertain handling which gifted West ham their second goal, after Carra and Hyppia for whatever reasons decided to switch their usual positions at central defence and Hyppia was not exactly having the greatest of games. Add to that, Alonso was not as fit as he should be judging by his passing range.

It was down to out team spirit and grit that we managed to claw our way back and had a perfectly good goal by Crouch disallowed. Still, we scored 3 cracking goals which was not down to luck like a deflection etc. Konchesky had a very flukey goal where he intended to cross but it ended up in the net. The gods really gifted West Ham 3 gilt edged lucky breaks yet we still drew level.

At the penalties, it was down to the better 'keeper and only at this time did the real Reina turned up.

Lucky? They must be blind!

[bigmick]

We aren't an average team with one exceptional player and we weren't lucky yesterday. That said, yesterday we were an average team with one exceptional player .
Lets face it, we didn't play very well and they did compared to each teams relative potential. Fair play to West Ham, they played absolutely out of their skins but when you come up against the best midfielder in the World today, who is having his most effective game of the season then you are well and truly up against it.
Gerrards absolutely stupendous second goal was right up there with Ricky Villa's meandering run and finish for Tottenham, or Gascoignes outrageous free-kick against Arsenal as the the greatest FA Cup final goals of all time. Lucky? Not in the slightest, though if it's not too much of a contradiction West Ham can count themselves a shade unlucky that they ran into our captain when he was in that type of mood.

[laza]

For me the sign of a good team is one which doesnt play well and yet still manages to win the game
Most good teams in any sport will always seem to get the rub of green as the old cliche goes greats teams make their own luck

[Mark 23]

I wouldn't say the better team lost, nor would I say we were 'jammy'.  I think both sides were poor, I think Hyypia was exposed yesterday for how sluggish he is, but as a whole we deserved it.

They had 3 goals gifted to them, and we had one disallowed.  We practically give them a head start.

[48-1119859832]

I wouldn't say the better team lost, nor would I say we were 'jammy'.  I think both sides were poor, I think Hyypia was exposed yesterday for how sluggish he is, but as a whole we deserved it.

They had 3 goals gifted to them, and we had one disallowed.  We practically give them a head start.

Says it all really. 

[stmichael]

Good post AB and welcome back lad. Agree with pretty much all of it. No matter what we do, the press will always have something to pick holes with and criticise. A journalist called James Lawton wrote about Steve G today criticising him for disappearing in the big games. He is not his only critic. The man is the most complete footballer on the planet. He scored the greatest goal I have ever seen considering the circumstances. The man is supernatural. It should now become unlawful to give him stick.

All you can say about Lawton's quotes is he is talking through his poop shoot and here's why.

UEFA Cup Final - 1 Game = 1 Goal
Champs League Final - 1 Game = 1 Goal
Carling Cup Final - 2 Games = 1 Goal (2 if you count his OG!)
FA Cup Final - 2 Games = 2 Goals (3 if you count his penalty in the shootout).

In 6 Major finals for Liverpool Stevie has banged in 5 goals. The stats show that he is the ULTIMATE big game player. Cop for that Lawton you tw@t.

The problem for the media this year is that they cannot say things about Gerrard's committment to us now as he is settled and happy so they have to quote about him.

The other thing that gets to me is all the hype surrounding him playing in the attacking position for England at the WC in Rooneys absence. This time last year they would have all been wanting it to be Lampard.

Gerrard pi$$es over Lampard in every way possible but I get the feeling they are doing this to use Gerrard as the scapegoat WHEN England fail.

[73-1141222089]

Good post AB and welcome back lad. Agree with pretty much all of it. No matter what we do, the press will always have something to pick holes with and criticise. A journalist called James Lawton wrote about Steve G today criticising him for disappearing in the big games. He is not his only critic. The man is the most complete footballer on the planet. He scored the greatest goal I have ever seen considering the circumstances. The man is supernatural. It should now become unlawful to give him stick.

All you can say about Lawton's quotes is he is talking through his poop shoot and here's why.

UEFA Cup Final - 1 Game = 1 Goal
Champs League Final - 1 Game = 1 Goal
Carling Cup Final - 2 Games = 1 Goal (2 if you count his OG!)
FA Cup Final - 2 Games = 2 Goals (3 if you count his penalty in the shootout).

In 6 Major finals for Liverpool Stevie has banged in 5 goals. The stats show that he is the ULTIMATE big game player. Cop for that Lawton you tw@t.

The problem for the media this year is that they cannot say things about Gerrard's committment to us now as he is settled and happy so they have to quote about him.

The other thing that gets to me is all the hype surrounding him playing in the attacking position for England at the WC in Rooneys absence. This time last year they would have all been wanting it to be Lampard.

Gerrard pi$$es over Lampard in every way possible but I get the feeling they are doing this to use Gerrard as the scapegoat WHEN England fail.

Screw Lawton, St Mick....... what the fu@k does he know.....

Gerrard is without doubt, the best central midfielder on the planet...


And don't let them bastar!ds in the press get you all cynical.... If its true that they're setting him as the fall guy in case England don't make it... then they're gonna be sadly dissapointed.... Stevies grown up a lot and while he's still a little prone to the red mist, he can handle the world stage no problem....

Big game player! If anyone's gonna let the 3 lions down, it's gonna be one GNeville..... surely theres a better alternative out there... 

[yckatbjywtbiastkamb]

We aren't an average team with one exceptional player and we weren't lucky yesterday. That said, yesterday we were an average team with one exceptional player .
Lets face it, we didn't play very well and they did compared to each teams relative potential. Fair play to West Ham, they played absolutely out of their skins but when you come up against the best midfielder in the World today, who is having his most effective game of the season then you are well and truly up against it.
Gerrards absolutely stupendous second goal was right up there with Ricky Villa's meandering run and finish for Tottenham, or Gascoignes outrageous free-kick against Arsenal as the the greatest FA Cup final goals of all time. Lucky? Not in the slightest, though if it's not too much of a contradiction West Ham can count themselves a shade unlucky that they ran into our captain when he was in that type of mood.

wasnt gazza`s free kick in the semi`s mick?
pretty sure it was one of those semi`s played at wembley when the f.a. threw tradition out of the window for the sake of a few quid.
we didnt play well as you rightly pointed out but west ham also got the rub of the green, certainly early on with the own goal and keepers error for ashtons goal (but fair play to ashton he was the only fella to follow the ball in) and konchesky`s was an out and out fluke.
crouchie`s goal was on as well.
when their third went in i honestly thought we were fighting fate as well as the hammers and i couldnt see us getting back into it.
we didnt play as well as we can do but i wouldnt say we were lucky, we had to score 3 cracking goals to stay in the match and its not like we got a dodgy pen or an own goal or something.
maybe west ham were lucky we didnt bring our A game to the final but i suppose any team that close to victory is going to feel ripped off.

[JC_81]

If any team was lucky yesterday it was West Ham to be honest.  A Carra og, mistake by Reina and a cross from Konchesky that luckily ended up in the net.  Not to mention a perfectly good goal from Crouch being ruled out unfairly.  Add to that Carra and Sami both having an uncharacteristic off-day and both Kewell and Alonso carrying injuries... I'd say West Ham pretty much had everything going their way yesterday.

On the day yesterday Gerrard was immense, best player on the pitch by a mile.  And if we're perfectly honest he very nearly was a one-man team for much of the game.  Our overall performance was sloppy and our play was littered with mistakes, which is very unlike us.  But once again Gerrard produced when we needed it most, and even though a lot of our team were below par, they still showed the spirit and the fight to come from behind twice.  You can't play well every week and on days like yesterday you turn to your big players to to something.  Gerrard certainly did something.

I'd also like to give a couple of other mentions.  Reina who had a nightmare first half really turned his game around.  His double save at the start of the 2nd half and his tip onto the post in extra time were excellent, not to mention the shoot-out.  A lot of keepers would have gone to pieces after a first half like that, but it just shows his mental strength.  And I thought Sissoko was immense, he was the fittest player on the pitch, even Gerrard faded in extra time but Momo looked like he could run all day.  I am also really starting to see some improvement in his passing, he keeps possession much better than he used to, he's going to be some player next season.

[A.B.]

I think yesterday's game has also shown the team mentality and character once again. I dare not doubt the team when they're behind in the near future. Benitez has installed that confidence and mentality into those players. People wondered what Rafa was on about when he kept saying "I want players with the right mentality". But the team has showed that on a couple of occassions in the past two years.

Benitez said today that when a player makes a mistake it's important for that player to have the mentality to pick themselves up and not think about that mistake for 20 minutes otherwise you can't win. Reina showed his mentality, which is far superior than Dudek's. Yes Dudek made some great saves, but Reina made a mistake and he didn't let it affect him in the biggest game of his life so far in his career.

Against Luton we showed some character as well. Sure we shouldn't had been behind but it's football, happens. The way we came back was quite significant of how this team has changed since Houllier's exit.

Under Houllier we never really had this type of mentality.

[adamnbarrett]

Here is a thread that our good friends at BK made about luck.

They think we've got a pact with the devil

[Lando_Griffin]

Here is a thread that our good friends at BK made about luck.

They think we've got a pact with the devil

You have to log in to read it mate.

Just quote it and c + p the bitter c*nts' posts if you want us to read it. If not, PM them to me. I love a challenge!!!!! 


On the subject of us being "lucky", I suppose this is a c*nt inspired theory, based almost entirely in Mancland.

We were "lucky" by gifting West Ham 2 goals, conceding a freak goal, having a perfectly good goal disallowed, and having half our team riddled with cramp.
Didn't you just feel that lady luck was on our side after 89 minutes?


These thick b*stards convieniently forget about 1999, the scruffy scum w*nkers.
They were totally outclassed for about 88 minutes, then stole the trophy from Beyern with a couple of last-gasp tap-ins.

Obviously they were just brilliant, with a never-say-die attitude. Luck was so obviously against them, with Beyern hitting the post a couple of times aswell.

Sour, bitter grapes from sour, bitter scum.

We fought until our players could barely stand up. Stevie fought like a lion, and showed
the World that he is the best player in the World.

We won because we believed, because we fought, because we didn't give up, and because we're basically f*cking fantastic.

Take it away from us all you want, you spotty fcking soulless geeks, shunned by society and with a right-hand for a girlfriend.

You pieces of sh*t.

We are Liverpool FC, and you can all start sh*tting your pants because we are BACK.

And you're going to pay.

[A.B.]

Lando I missed your passionate yet straight to the point rants

I went on SoccerPulse.com forums in order to get some clips from our goals [best place to get it really] and while I was there, I stumbled upon on some of the most ridicilious sh1t in me life.

Just look what this anit-Premiership clueless tit posted regarding Gerrard and us:

Why did Liverpool gconcede 3 goals in the first place? They had to score 3 because they let 3 in. They let 3 in because their midfield was very weak. Gerrard is a midfielder who's supposedly their great leader. up and then redeeming yourself is hardly anything special. The mere fact that they had to come back 3 times in the match tells you something about their play overall. I submit that because Xabi Alonso was not a 100%, Gerrard had to pick the team up but he could only manage to get them a draw. Then Reina had to do the dirty work in the shootout.

Plus it's FA Cup we're talking about. To make it even worse, it was against West Ham.

While that was funny it's also quite sad and makes the bitters look like angels.

[Dalglish]

All you can say about Lawton's quotes is he is talking through his poop shoot and here's why.

UEFA Cup Final - 1 Game = 1 Goal
Champs League Final - 1 Game = 1 Goal
Carling Cup Final - 2 Games = 1 Goal (2 if you count his OG!)
FA Cup Final - 2 Games = 2 Goals (3 if you count his penalty in the shootout).

In 6 Major finals for Liverpool Stevie has banged in 5 goals. The stats show that he is the ULTIMATE big game player. Cop for that Lawton you tw@t.

The problem for the media this year is that they cannot say things about Gerrard's committment to us now as he is settled and happy so they have to quote about him.

The other thing that gets to me is all the hype surrounding him playing in the attacking position for England at the WC in Rooneys absence. This time last year they would have all been wanting it to be Lampard.

Gerrard pi$$es over Lampard in every way possible but I get the feeling they are doing this to use Gerrard as the scapegoat WHEN England fail.

Quality reply Tim.

Lawton has had his day dining out at the FA's expense no doubt then fills his column with tripe......

In some respects Stevie G doesn't always have the best of games for Engalnd but thats on account of having to be Lampard's Gimp running and covering his fat !

The last decent game Gerrard had fior England to my mind was the 5-1 hammering of Germany. In subsequent games he's been either instructed to play a holding role or had his head filled by Terry and Fat Frank with nonsense about how good life at Chelsea would be if he's only join ............

You get the impression that despite the hard man image he's actually very shy and sensitive and needs to feel good about his surroundings and the people he is playing alongside.

Personally I couldn't give a flying what "no marks" like Lawton think about Steven Gerard and as for setting him up as a scapegoat when England lose don't even go there ! 


Back on thread .............Lucky ? Yeah , course we are