Liverpool FC Forum

by **stmichael** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 6:40 pm

Disappointing result again but not surprising given our recent away form. My observations were as follows:

Diao and Traore start. What is going on? Hamann on the bench? I can't stand Traore. The man is a tool, he should be sold in Jan and left in the reserves from now on... although we did not see any typical spanner head errors today, its evident that the man is a [censored] bag. As for Diao, he either gave the ball away or gave away a free-kick.

Kewell - time's so close to being up it's basically over.... once again he was lazy, once again he did not go past a man once. I was actually comparing duff and kewell. Everytime duff got the ball he looked a threat, everytime kewell got the ball he looked a joke.

Getting annoyed now with this away form [censored]...

Another goal conceded from a set piece. I actually thought we defended well for the majority today but one lapse in concentration and we get punished.

Kirkland looked unbelievably shakey, even though it was his first game back in the first team for a while.

Xabi Alonso's free kicks were nothing short of abysmal.

Oh yeah and the referee was sh#te.

Thoughts please.

by **A.B.** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 6:44 pm

The ref is always sh!t when we lose eh? I agree with Stmikey

by **mynameisred** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 6:48 pm

It hurts us all losing and not playing well away from home but we HAVE to keep the faith and be patient. Its a new team with a new manager who unfortunatly has to learn about what works and what doesnt in terms of tactics in games instead of the training ground.

by **madred** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 6:51 pm

Going on to Kirkland Stmike i thought he had a pretty decent game considering it was his return. No doubt that he is Liverpool's no1 keeper and will proove that once he has a run of games. I would put Harry up for sale soon because i have now seen enough to know he is not the top player that we signed from Leeds at all. Not enough running, no wizardry and not enough commitment for the team. We lacked that physical presence in the shape of Gerrard and thats why Didi should be the first name down on the teamsheet now. Very baffled i am over Diao's selection ahead of him but hope that Benitez is never mad enough to leave him out in a big game like that again.

by **Redrider** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 6:52 pm

It' tough but predictable, I'm just pleased that we didn't get thrashed out of sight.

by **stmichael** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 6:54 pm

mynameisred wrote:It hurts us all losing and not playing well away from home but we HAVE to keep the faith and be patient. Its a new team with a new manager who unfortunatly has to learn about what works and what doesnt in terms of tactics in games instead of the training ground.

that's fair enough, i'm prepared to give the manager time.

however when i turn up at the pub full of optimism i see that the manager has made 5 CHANGES. yes i know we were sh#t on tuesday but that is too extreme. traore at left back and riise on the left wing with diao in centre mid? jesus. how can hamann be dropped for diao? also, play cisse and baros upfront with kewell on the left. It's just plain negativity.

by **A.B.** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 6:57 pm

The players who should had started had a chance against Chelsea but our manager didn't believe that they could so he made five insane changes.

by **banana** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:01 pm

Horrible display by Kirkland. It is obvious that we need a new goalkeeper in january.

by **72-1090627431** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:01 pm

That performance warranted enough to say Xabi Alonso, should never take another free kick for LFC.
Not even close to the target,overhit all the time!

I actually thought Diao and Traore were ok. id actually keep them as squad players, Rafa must be thinking the same as me as Finnan and Hamann were on the bench.

What pi**es you off in these games for LFC is when your watching it, you always know were gonna conceed a goal at some stage, and struggle to get back in it.

NO HEART WHATSOEVER.

we need another grame souness or somethin, i hate it when opposition teams can just do whatever they like.

I have to say though, i take back the words i said on Cisse, id actually give him the benefit of the doubt. HE showed some good touches and had a good shot, he is better than Heskey, but he needs the ball to his feet in dangerous areas more.

by **72-1090627431** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:04 pm

stmichael wrote:Diao and Traore start. What is going on? Hamann on the bench? I can't stand Traore. The man is a tool, he should be sold in Jan and left in the reserves from now on... although we did not see any typical spanner head errors today, its evident that the man is a [censored] bag. As for Diao, he either gave the ball away or gave away a free-kick.

Yes but St Michael, he dropped Hamann cause he is poo and you dont win games by playing negatively like Hamann likes to. Traore did ok actually, you cant say he was that bad.

PS. Dudek would have saved that joe cole shot.

by **Fat Controller** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:05 pm

It's obvious that Rafa put a team out that would maybe get him a point and it backfired.Im surprised he left out Hamann and Finnan because Chelsea have a great defence and a Didi through pass or a Finnan wing run and cross would have been a great way of breaking that defence down.Overall the team imo played not that bad and for a while i thought they would have at least got a point.I in a way understand Rafa's formation because one of the worse things in football is having a monkey on your back and Liverpools away form is a definate monkey because the longer it goes on the harder it is to get rid of that monkey and we can see now how the press are picking up on this away form thing and this as one can see is playing on both the management and players minds,so come on Liverpool put it to bed now before that other monkey(black november) comes along.

by **stmichael** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:07 pm

Hustlers Revenge wrote:Yes but St Michael, he dropped Hamann cause he is poo and you dont win games by playing negatively like Hamann likes to. Traore did ok actually, you cant say he was that bad.

i think hamann has been superb when he's played this season. at least he can play the ball to someone on his team. diao is negative and also gives the ball away more often than not.

by **A.B.** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:07 pm

Hustlers Revenge wrote:
stmichael wrote:Diao and Traore start. What is going on? Hamann on the bench? I can't stand Traore. The man is a tool, he should be sold in Jan and left in the reserves from now on... although we did not see any typical spanner head errors today, its evident that the man is a [censored] bag. As for Diao, he either gave the ball away or gave away a free-kick.

Yes but St Michael, he dropped Hamann cause he is poo and you dont win games by playing negatively like Hamann likes to. Traore did ok actually, you cant say he was that bad.

PS. Dudek would have saved that joe cole shot.

STFU!

by **mynameisred** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:08 pm

Although he may not be, as Hustler so eloquently puts it 'poo', I fear Hamman whilst still a quality player he may not hav etrhe legs to play at the highest level anymore. I do like him as a player tho and feel he can do an important job consistantly.

by **stmichael** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:20 pm

First off, I'm not winding anyone up. It *is* still the early days of a new regime, no Stevie G, and all that blah blah blah...I hope we get it right in time. Just discuss, don't flame me for pointing out the obvious.

BUT let's not forget that the Scum bring in enough new players every year and still tick away getting results, that Chelsea just ripped the guts out their system and haven't lost yet, so just to say "we have a few new players and a new coach" is only an excuse for the first 10 games or so. If *they* can get it right, so should we.

10 games is up. Where are we?

1. 4 away losses in a row is a problem. It's screaming SOMETHING IS WRONG with this system. The player selection is going to be brought under scrutiny - Kewell hasn't had a decent game yet, and I have serious questions about not starting Hamann, especially favoring Diao at Stamford Bridge. Finnan's been playing well, why was he dropped? Riise played in midfield for the first time today, why? Warnock is showing more potential than Kewell, why was he not brought on, even started?

2. If we play 2 strikers and win at home, and play 1 striker and lose away, how long will it take to question that mentality? Too many times Cisse looked all alone out there. This 4-5-1 stuff works if you have creative midfielders who are willing to run their bollox off - if we're just gonna throw Diao on there to sit back, and Kewell or Garcia goes missing, we're effectively playing with only 3 attacking players, and the chances aren't coming. The number of times I saw Cisse surrounded by Blue shirts....

3. Half the team can't be arsed to show up - Cisse and Garcia went missing against Scum, the whole team took the day off against the Greeks, and today was the wrong time for Kewell to go missing again. Why don't we look motivated away?

4. We beat Norwich and WBA at home, and lost to Chelsea and Scum away. Does this mean our home form/tactics is better than our away form? Shouldn't we beat Norwich and WBA no matter where the game is played and what tactics we use? I think we're showing that we're mid-table at this rate. We're better than the ****** teams, and outclassed by the top teams. Worrying. The ****** teams get our hopes up, and then we meet a top class team away, and we have no chance. We could have been torn apart against the Scum and Chelski for 4 goals easily.

5. Set Pieces!! We *cannot* be doing this. There is no excuse for 4 straight set piece goals conceded. GET IT SORTED.

10 game (or thereabouts) scorecard:

B-

Shows some signs of potential, but has some serious work to do. Must work on set pieces. Consistency is a problem. Question marks over team selection. Does well in games that *should* be 3 points. Breaking down organized teams is an issue. Must defend better down the flanks.

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