Liverpool FC Forum

by **Toffeehater** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:47 am

, rafa can never win can he? I was surprised he didn't pick kuyt , in good form and i think we missed his work ethic , had he been on and playing on the right , i don't think simao would have scored . Rafa should have gone with pennant for the right side , riera looks like he's settling in , he's no ronaldo but he's given us more balance and shown that he is a intelligent player who plays the simple pass when under pressure , he can take on players , deffo our best left sided player in the past few years , maybe bar a fit and healthy kewell

by **Toffeehater** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:50 am

Liverpool relief after hard-earned point

October 22, 2008

Liverpool striker Robbie Keane admitted he was happy to come away from the Vicente Calderon Stadium with a point after his side's 1-1 Champions League draw with Atletico Madrid.

GettyImages

Goalscorer Robbie Keane leaves the field with an injury after being subbed with Rafa Benitez.
Keane opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 14th minute but Simao Sabrosa levelled seven minutes from time to grab a point for the hosts.

The Spanish side piled on the pressure in the second period and could have easily won all three points, as Keane acknowledged after the game.

"In the first half we had quite a few chances so we knew they would come out fighting and make it difficult for us," Keane told Sky Sports.

"They put us under the cosh in the second half and then they had a few chances towards the end so all in all you have to be happy with a point."

Keane missed a gilt-edged opportunity to double Liverpool's advantage minutes after he opened the scoring, but chose to attempt an elaborate flick from a close-range volley and missed.

He admitted he regretted the decision and should have scored.

"I should have had two. It was a great ball from Stevie (Steven Gerrard)," he said.

"It's no excuse but the ball was swerving all over the place. I should have got something on it but it wasn't to be."

"I think we had control of the game in the first half and part of the second half and I'm disappointed because we had chances to finish the game off," Liverpool coach Benitez said.

"We then made a mistake in the 83rd minute and we paid for it.

"If you said to me before the game that we would have seven points it might have been good, but after leading until the 83rd minute and the chances that we had, in my opinion we have lost another two points."

by **LegBarnes** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:53 am

NANNY RED wrote:
LegBarnes wrote:
NANNY RED wrote:Ill tell you what though when Agger took the ball by the scuff of the neck an came out of defence on his little run and played a sweet ball i had a little flash back for a mo i was seeing Hanson doing it.

An no im not compering them

Nanny its Hansen by the way.

Pitch was crappy and the ref and linesmen couldn't have a less fair game tbh.

Listen if i wanna call him Hansom i will

Ha Ha

Ok I let you off.

by **LegBarnes** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:55 am

Tbh it don't matter if we won 1-0 or draw 1-1 it will still put us in pole to win group all we have to do now is beat AM at home with torres hmm shouldn't be to hard since Torres will be out with a point to prove.

by **Toffeehater** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:03 am

I don't think torres has anything to rpove , athletcio did not want to sell him but we made too good a offer to turn down and besides they already had a qually if not slight less capable replacement aguero and besides with the money they bought folan

by **burjennio** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:41 am

I think one of the linesmen had Liverpool done in a treble last night, cause he threw in the worst performance i think ive ever seen from a match official. Not that I minded though. Did anyone catch Andy Gray and Martin Tyler lambasting Riera for diving when he was clearly fouled! Bitter bluenose tw@t

by **tonyeh** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:50 am

Disapointed by that. Liverpool were :censored:

in the second half. Atletico could have won that, even though they were terrible in the first half. Defending was awful. Dossena and Arbeloa are rotten in their positions, Agger's still fückin about and WTF was Robbie thinking? If I was the manager, he would have got the bollocking of a lifetime for that stupid showoff nonsense. All he had to do was knock the feckin ball in the net. If that was Kuyt, that's what he would have done. That would have been the game over. Liverpool could have played out the remainder of the match in third gear.

John Giles, Ronnie Whelan and Eamon Dunphy on RTE television said at the beginning and the end of the game that Rafa was out for a draw. I think they're right. Obviously, Rafa was resting players for Sunday's game, but Gerrard looked furious coming off. The win was there for the taking.

2 points thrown away. It might not be that important in the whole scheme of things, but it's a bloody waste.

by **woof woof !** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:56 am

TBH Burjennio I thought Riera did dive . The linesmen were sh'ite but the sh'ite decisions at least were not all one way.

Tyler and Gray however are a pair of Kunts, not for the first time their entire commentary seemed to be in support of the team playing against us. Little credit was given to us, our errors were always highlighted whilst good stuff was just glossed over. Despite dominating the first half all we got was stuff like, " Liverpool look comfortable but they do have the wind at their backs" WTF ! sick of the pair of them :angry:

by **Redman in wales** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:02 am

Sabre wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Guys why was Gerrard taken of was he injured?

It seems that Rafa was thinking in the next game. First Keane, at min 55, who put a "surprise face" when he was subbed. Then Gerrard, and then Alonso in min 80.

No apparent injuries. In Alonso's case I'd say he was tired, but the others subs just seemed to be resting players for the next match.

apparently, according to the reports today all three were injured!!

:sniffle

by **GYBS** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:06 am

Happy to get away with the draw in the end - think we could of easily of been beaten the way the second half went .

by **radun5** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:08 am

About Keane, in fairness I thought he was just caught in the air in the wrong place, so he desperately tried to get a touch on the ball, the ball had a lot of pace and he was surprised, that was all. It is not like he wanted to show himself. These are my two pence.

by **tonyeh** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:14 am

radun5 wrote:About Keane, in fairness I thought he was just caught in the air in the wrong place, so he desperately tried to get a touch on the ball, the ball had a lot of pace and he was surprised, that was all. It is not like he wanted to show himself. These are my two pence.

Nah...look at it again, if you can. He was trying to be Ronaldo. Trying for a smartarse shot and failed spectacularly. He walked away looking to the heaven's. He knew he'd fücked up big time.

The godsh!te. :angry:

by **maypaxvobiscum** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:17 am

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is hopeful key trio Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Robbie Keane will be available for Sunday's crunch showdown at Chelsea.

None of them finished last night's 1-1 Champions League draw at Atletico Madrid, with striker Keane and midfielder Alonso both struggling with knocks, and captain Gerrard suffering from fatigue.

It will not be known until later today how serious the problems are but Benitez is keeping his fingers crossed there is nothing too serious to worry about.

"The three players have had some problems,'' said Benitez, whose side are locked at the top of the Barclays Premier League with Chelsea on 20 points.

"It was a little bit of a muscle problem for Robbie. Gerrard is okay. He was really tired and Alonso has a knock on his knee.''

Keane, who had given Liverpool a 14th-minute lead at the Vicente Calderon before Simao Sabrosa earned Atletico a point with a late equaliser, was the first to be taken off when he was replaced by Dirk Kuyt just after half-time.

"We need to check with Keane. I don't think it will be serious, but anyway we need to take care of him. He will see the doctor,'' Benitez said.

"We are trying to keep players with fresh legs and 100% fit, so we were trying to protect all of them.''

When asked if he had any fitness concerns for the clash with Chelsea, Benitez answered: "I don't know now, we will have to wait for tomorrow.''

Gerrard was the next to make way, being replaced by Ryan Babel in the 61st minute, before Alonso left the action with 15 minutes to go, Lucas taking his place.

Eight minutes after Alonso's departure, Atletico managed to equalise, but when asked if the change had played a part in the goal, Benitez insisted he had no choice but to replace the Spain international.

"I explained the reason already, he was injured and he was asking for the substitution,'' he said.

Liverpool were without the services of star striker Fernando Torres for the match, with the former Atletico hero remaining in England to continue his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Benitez admits things might have turned out differently if the prolific forward had played, but preferred not to dwell on the subject.

"Obviously he's a special player and it could have been a different match. But he was unavailable so it doesn't matter. He couldn't play,'' he said.

Liverpool had been good value for their half-time lead at the Vicente Calderon after limiting Atletico to just a couple of half-chances in the opening period.

However, the Rojiblancos looked a much better side after the break following the arrival of star striker Sergio Aguero, who had started the game on the bench due to concerns about his fitness.

Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina admitted the young Argentinian helped turn the game around for the Spanish side.

"He is a tricky player who you notice when he is on the pitch because he causes a lot of problems and is difficult to stop,'' said Reina.

"What is really important now is to get to 10 points and not slip up at home.''

Wednesday's result leaves Atletico and Liverpool locked at the top of Group D with seven points from their opening three games, with the pair meeting again at Anfield on November 4.

by **stmichael** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:44 am

First half excellent. Second half was a complete shambles defensively. Got exactly what we deserved by sitting too deep and inviting pressure.

A draw isn't a bad result though. I'd probably had taken it before the game.

by **Roger Red Hat** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:56 am

tonyeh wrote:
radun5 wrote:About Keane, in fairness I thought he was just caught in the air in the wrong place, so he desperately tried to get a touch on the ball, the ball had a lot of pace and he was surprised, that was all. It is not like he wanted to show himself. These are my two pence.

Nah...look at it again, if you can. He was trying to be Ronaldo. Trying for a smartarse shot and failed spectacularly. He walked away looking to the heaven's. He knew he'd fücked up big time.

The godsh!te.

I cant get to grips with this trend of calling our players (or manager) names? wtf gives you the right to call Keane a gobsh!te? He made a mistake - fair enough. Even Ian Rush missed a sitter or 2, Owen missed a couple and so did robbie Fowler. back off a bit - there's no need.

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