Liverpool FC Forum

[115-1073096938]

Reina - 6. Had little to do, but done what he had to well, could do nothing about the goal. Made some good punches and handled the ball well.

Finnan - 7. Consistent as ever, went forward well and defended well.

Carragher - 7. Was solid made some good tackles.

Hyypia - 7. Commanded the backline was often cool under pressure and generally marked van Nistlerooy and Rooney out of the game.

Riise - 7. Defended well, made some good hard tackles, just failed to get forward enough.

Gerrard - 6. Made a few good forward runs but stuggled, looked like he was trying to hard to impress at times, failed to lead the team as he has done in recent months.

Sissoko - 5. His inexperience showed badly against Giggs and his passing was woefull. He was pulled out of position alot of times and generally had a game to forget.

Alonso - 7. Bossed the game, passed well, protected the defence well just failed to create any space for the forwards with his forward passing.

Kewell - 6. The effort was there again, had a go but was left a bit icsolated on the left wing with little support. He played alot of the game on the half way line. Definately regaining some form though, looks to have gained half a yard of pace aswell. Definately improving with every game.

Crouch - 6. Was slow to the ball, and didn't get involved as much as he should have. Worked hard though and put defenders and goal keepers under pressure.

Cisse - 3. Went missing, failed to close people down, was lazy leaving Crouch to close the goalkeeper down having to run 25 yards when he could have done it and ran 10. Disgrace to the club. Absoloute disgrace. The missed chance i could forgive if there was an ounce of effort there but there simply wasn't. This isn't a knee jerk reaction, this yesterday was a confirmation of how poor he actually is. I said the other year he'd be an improvement on Heskey, how wrong was I? I'd love to have Heskey back in place of this complete and utter disgrace. At least Heskey had it in him. No talent at all with Cisse which makes his attitude even more unbearable. If that was me yesterday i wouldn't have started him, however after 20 minutes he deserved to come off.

[stmichael]

Cisse - 3. Went missing, failed to close people down, was lazy leaving Crouch to close the goalkeeper down having to run 25 yards when he could have done it and ran 10. Disgrace to the club. Absoloute disgrace. The missed chance i could forgive if there was an ounce of effort there but there simply wasn't. This isn't a knee jerk reaction, this yesterday was a confirmation of how poor he actually is. I said the other year he'd be an improvement on Heskey, how wrong was I? I'd love to have Heskey back in place of this complete and utter disgrace. At least Heskey had it in him. No talent at all with Cisse which makes his attitude even more unbearable. If that was me yesterday i wouldn't have started him, however after 20 minutes he deserved to come off.

bit generous stu

[115-1073096938]

I thought so!

[Espionage]

I think that 6 is a little harsh for Reina as he didnt do anything wrong for the whole game, safe hands on every shot that came. The long range effort from Rooney that had me squirming in my seat it looked like he was beaten, but on a different angle you could see that he covered the distance superbly.

I definately agree that Sissoko had a game to forget, it seemed like the only time that Gerard looked menacing was when Alonso skip passed Sissoko or passed to Crouch who then passed to Gerard. People tend to remember when Sissoko passes go astray but he still has alot to learn about where his passes lead the people recieving them. Gerard basically got isolated because him and Sissoko were not on the same page.

This happens in all sports these days and it sickens me.... coaches do not choose players on ability, they choose them on their physical attributes and then try to mould them while the players that actually understand the game go unnutured. Cisse for 14 million is one of the worst signings in history. Injury sminjury.......... whatever happens to your body, your instinct remains.
Overall I pity Cisse, he knows that he is not good enough and he has been hoping this season that somehow things will turn out right.
I think that people who blame his commitment should give it a rest, it is not his fault that he is .....

(Sorry for the rant, i hope this doesnt turn into another Cisse thread.....)

[dawson99]

i think 6 for crouch is very generous too (and thats not sarcasm)

[banana]

Reina 7 - Not much to save. Another game well played. No mistakes, no fancy just consistent old fashioned goalkeeping. A solid reliable spanish shotstopper. The winning goal could have been saved, but can't blame him for not saving that one either.

Finnan 6/7 - Did his defensive duties but failed to contribute offensively. But hey, our cautious approach was probably planned by benitez and executed by finnan. Could have worked well if it wasn't for Cissshit.

Hyypia 7 - Well played game. Never got challenged on pace and stood his ground like a giant. A couple of mishit passes and bad clearances but nothing to cry about really.

Carra 7 - Mr. Liverpool with another solid display. A tad better than Hyypia on the ball.

Riise 6 - Same as finnan. And overall our defence did well. Man poo never produced anything of real danger to us. They won their first corner in the 70th minute!!! And with less than 4 shots on goal we should have kept a clean sheet and won.

Gerrard 6 - Not his best game. He tried but failed. Sometimes i felt like his passing wasn't that bad or anything. It was just Cisse hiding behind Rio or failing to move or whatever that made his passes look bad.

Alonso 7/8 - Wonderful ball control and chess player mental ability. A superstar with bags of skill. Completely denied Man U posession in midfield. Controlled the game.

Sissoko 7 - Wow. What energy and drive. Fantastic work rate. Broke down numerous attacks, chased the ball like a sick dog, protected the back 4 and alonso. Got his standard yellow card. A couple of bad passes yes, but he won ten times as many balls as he lost.

Kewell 6 - Went missing for large parts of the game. Nothing to say really.

Cisse 0 - Worst game I've seen from any player this season. He is not dangerous on nothing, his head is mentally retarded, his movement sucks, his attitude stinks, his work rate is missing, his braincells are those of a wild monkey, and worst of all he ain't even pacey.

Crouch 6/7 - Absolutely neutralized by his own team mate. Crouch had so many clever flicks and knocks but no striker seemed interested to do nothing about them. With a better partner crouch would have had two assists last night.

[metalhead]

Sissoko - 5. His inexperience showed badly against Giggs and his passing was woefull. He was pulled out of position alot of times and generally had a game to forget.

Disagree completly with you stu.. i agree with banana about him, he was very energetic in the game and tackled well, he was always there and never disappeared. he was quick to react in one of the chances that we almost scored, when ferdinand took the ball off the line.

yes cisse.. DISGRACE FOR THE CLUB

[mark the red]

sissoko is all about high energy and he done well, thought the rat richardson disrupted him.  reina had nothing to do, and crouch was poor, but he is only as good as the people around him as he allows us to build as a team, so when cisse goes missing there is nothing crouch can do

[metalhead]

Agree about crouch, he needs a good striker to play by his side, thats why i wanted morientes to start not that cisse! i wish garcia started, he likes to pop up from some where and nick a goal

[Rafarian]

Read this!

REDS DOWN BUT NOT DEFLATED

While Liverpudlians everywhere will be feeling very down on Monday there are still plenty of reasons to be cheerful and take heart from the fact that we didn't deserve to lose to Manchester United.

Losing a goal at any time is never good but to lose the match in stoppage time from a set piece was cruel and tough to take for Liverpool. The 12 game unbeaten run in the Premiership might have come to an end at Old Trafford but Liverpool showed on the day that they can more than match United.
 
Indeed had Djibril Cisse taken a glorious second half chance Liverpool might have even gone on to win the game but sometimes that's the way it goes for a striker.
 
Liverpool controlled the overall play and had good possession but they just couldn't find the breakthrough. Rio Ferdinand turned out to be the hero for United making a goal-line clearance to deny Cisse then scoring the winner from a set piece.
 
A disappointed Rafael Benitez said: "When you concede a goal in the last minute to your rivals when you are trying to get second place you must be very disappointed.
 
"We were controlling the game and did a good job keeping the ball and playing good counter attacks but to lose a goal from a free-kick in the last minute is very disappointing. Always the small details can make the difference.
 
"We had chances to win the game. Cisse had a great chance when he was in front of the goal under no pressure. We need to finish the chances we create but all we can do now is concentrate on the next game. I am not looking at the league table and my concern is my team and how we are progressing."
 
The word progression is a fitting word for the Benitez era at Anfield so far. Since losing at Fulham in the Premiership on October 22nd 2005, Liverpool then went on to win 10 straight Premiership games, were unbeaten in 12 of them and took a total of 34 points out of a possible 36. That's no mean feat and no reason why Liverpool can't go on a similar run again.
 
We still have two games in hand over United so the race for second place is far from over. The main consolation to take is victories over United at Old Trafford in 2000, 2002 and 2004 unfortunately ended in false dawns. Under Benitez Liverpool are on the up, progressing rather nicely and optimism is high for the future.
 
Losing to Manchester United always hurts but the future is certainly bright for Liverpool under Rafael Benitez.
[B]

We will be getting stronger and stronger.................

[Ciggy]

Cisse 0 - Worst game I've seen from any player this season.

Your  generous 

[laza]

Cisse 0 - Worst game I've seen from any player this season.

Your  generous 

And i thought you would change your name to
Im going get ya Cisse 

[Rafa D]

Thought Sissoko had a good game, always running and gettin stuck in. He tried that trick where he drags the ball round far too often but thought he got stuck into the Mancs. When he went off a fella next to me said, all the mancs are sh.tting it coz there goes the new viera and I thought he was spot on.

[115-1073096938]

his braincells are those of a wild monkey,

Racist! 

[azriahmad]

Benitez lamented Cisse's miss with the goal at his mercy.

Looks like his days are numbered. i won't be bothered if he left, only bothered about how much we can recoup.