Liverpool FC Forum

by **Ace Ventura** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:44 am

I genuinley dont think that they have an easy game over the weekend either.

Sunderland are fighting for their lives, they havent won in a while so they could either buckle under the united pressure or it could go the other way and they could dig in and nick something.

United havent exactly been tight at the back in the last 3 league games shipping 8 goals in the last 3 league games.

The fact that we play before them again means that we can try and apply some pressure, if we beat Blackburn it again sends us top and keeps them under massive pressure.

All still to play for definately.

by **stmichael** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:57 am

Ace Ventura wrote:United havent exactly been tight at the back in the last 3 league games shipping 8 goals in the last 3 league games.

Yeah but Sunderland can't score goals.

Cisse is back to his normal self after having a decent spell and Jones hasn't been the same since the interest from Spurs a while back.

I can't see anything other than a United win. In many ways, you wish Keane was still at Sunderland for this game.

by **tubby** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:57 am

Anyone who thinks after the Villa game that Utd will win it is crazy. It is premature to be making such comments. Looking at the present situation. They barley beat a team we beat 5-0. A few weeks ago they had not conceded a goal in x time now they are letting in several goals per game. We on the other hand are looking as strong we have ever been under Rafa. They will drop points for sure.

by **Judge** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:04 pm

stmichael wrote:
Ace Ventura wrote:United havent exactly been tight at the back in the last 3 league games shipping 8 goals in the last 3 league games.

Yeah but Sunderland can't score goals.

Cisse is back to his normal self after having a decent spell and Jones hasn't been the same since the interest from Spurs a while back.

I can't see anything other than a United win. In many ways, you wish Keane was still at Sunderland for this game.

at best a draw with sunderland, unless they do a fulham and win 2 nil

by **Owzat** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:07 pm

I wish the mancs had scored three times before villa had scored and villa had come back late, the problem is they've won it late on and through their latest "wonderkid" which will be an immense boost given they were missing (according to one teletexter) eight top players. We can gain a lift by our run of form and winning at the death, but they really needed that late winner or it would have been three without a win.

And while we're only one point behind instead of one ahead which would have been the case but for the late winner, that difference is enormous. They lose their game in hand they're still ahead, if they'd lost it and been behind then we would have been in charge - the pressure of that potential situation might have told. I think our run-in is better, although Chelsea home and away in the Champions League is going to take its toll more than Porto. They've been here before and survived, last season was closer than they'd have liked, but this is our first chance of taking it right to the finishing line. You could argue the pressure has been off us since the media wrote us off, have written us back in and we're one defeat away from being written off again!

I said elsewhere that it's the small things going for you that make a difference, needless touch/back-pass and the mancs score, depleted squad and a kid who would not otherwise have played scores, FIVE minutes of stoppage time which must have lifted the mancs and filled the villa players with fear - one side pushing for the win welcoming the five minutes, the team desperate to hang on dreading it. It's funny how some sides you think would give the mancs a tough game don't often - villa, everton, spudz - while other sides who might be relegation candidates one season and UEFA Cup contenders the next, go and beat them. Who would have backed Newcastle to be the only other side to deny the mancs three points at old trafford?

Just looking at the table it's so clear where our title challenge may ultimately be denied.

Home

Man Utd P15 W13 D1 L1 PTS 40 (Won 86.67%)
Liverpool P15 W9 D6 L0 PTS 33 (Won 60.00%)

Away

Man Utd P15 W8 D4 L3 PTS 28 (Won 53.33%)
Liverpool P16 W10 D4 L2 PTS 32 (Won 62.50%)

Why do teams fear going to old trafford more than Anfield? The reffing there but maybe most importantly teams know that what happened to villa happens more often at old trafford than at Anfield. We start without key players and we struggle, they somehow find a winner somehow - and spending doesn't come into it when talking about a kid.

by **Ace Ventura** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:08 pm

stmichael wrote:
Ace Ventura wrote:United havent exactly been tight at the back in the last 3 league games shipping 8 goals in the last 3 league games.

Yeah but Sunderland can't score goals.

Cisse is back to his normal self after having a decent spell and Jones hasn't been the same since the interest from Spurs a while back.

I can't see anything other than a United win. In many ways, you wish Keane was still at Sunderland for this game.

Nah Sunderland will score i reckon, just got a feeling, especially if Ferdinand is out.

Its a game on paper that united could win convincingly but you never know.
Pressure does funny things to players, but we have to take the three points against Blackburn first, apply the pressure again and see if they crack.

by **tubby** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:19 pm

Out of all the NE clubs I would pick Sunderland to stay up. I think they can get a draw out of Utd.

by **Dundalk** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:41 pm

Rafa comes out fighting again :buttrock

Rafael Benitez has accused Sir Alex Ferguson of being scared of his Liverpool side and talking "too much" about other teams.

The Anfield chief, despite having the Champions League showdown with Chelsea on Wednesday night as his immediate objective, could not resist another swipe at the Manchester United chief as the Barclays Premier League race reaches boiling point.

Benitez was responding to claims from Ferguson that the loser of the Liverpool-Chelsea quarter-final will then be United's biggest challenger for the title because they will only have one competition to contend with.

Benitez will have skipper Steven Gerrard fit following a minor groin problem and Sami Hyypia (knee) and Yossi Benayoun (hamstring) available for the first leg with Chelsea.

But the fierce battle with United for the domestic title is clearly Benitez's driving inspiration.

He said of Ferguson's claims: "It is not mind games, I think it maybe is that he is a little bit scared (of us)."

Liverpool took over at the top of the table on Saturday evening with a late winner by Benayoun at Fulham.

But less than 24 hours later, United produced a stunning comeback victory over Aston Villa with the decisive goal coming in the fourth minute of injury-time from 17-year-old Federico Macheda.

That grabbed the initiative back for the Old Trafford club, but Benitez has come out fighting.

He said: "I do not have a problem with United. Clearly one of us, either Chelsea or us, will end up focusing just on the Premier League after this.

"I think Sir Alex will be supporting Liverpool in this tie because he knows we are the bigger threat now.

"If we continue in the Champions League maybe he will think we are tired. If we are not in this competition then he knows that we will be a (bigger) threat in the Premier League.

"If Chelsea are not in the competition, then he knows they will then be a threat also in the league. But he will lose anyway, whoever goes out, because they will still be a big threat to United.

"You have to prepare well for every single Premier League game, it is tough (to be in the Champions League as well). So he will clearly be supporting us tomorrow and next week.

"I would like to be worried about both competitions, it means we will continue to be successful.

"We just concentrate on our team, while he likes to talk too much about other teams."

Benitez claims he was unmoved by United's late heroics against Villa, saying: "We knew there would be situations like this, with us one point ahead, or one point behind. And everyone knows five minutes (of injury time) at Old Trafford is a very long time.

"I watched the game, but once United scored their second you felt they would win the game.

"He (Ferguson) is in the driving seat now and in a better position, but there is still a long way to go and we have confidence. We are pushing them and we will push them until the end.

by **GYBS** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:49 pm

get in there Rafa - love to hear what ORN says in response to that

by **Judge** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:51 pm

Dundalk wrote:everyone knows five minutes (of injury time) at Old Trafford is a very long time.

by **Ciggy** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:03 pm

Sky Reporter'' Is United the hardest draw you could have or is it Barca??''
Porto fan '' No its Liverpool they would have been hardest''

:laugh:

Is right lad :cool:

by **Emerald Red** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:19 pm

Effes wrote:
Emerald Red wrote:
Effes wrote:
Emerald Red wrote:
aCe' wrote:its kinda hard to see manutd slipping after coming back against Villa now...
Arsenal could very well get a result against them but cant see anyone else realistically getting the job done against them...
then you have US on the other hand... is there any chance we'd go out and win all our remaining games in the league ?
title is as good as lost and we might aswell focus on Europe now...

F*ck right off!

These are the type of responses I was talking about earlier.

aCe has only voiced his opinion.

ER's response has started the aggro - if we want threads to be clear of flame wars, then I'd say let's
abstain from such replies. They're uncalled for.

An opinion met by my opinion of his defeatist opinion. What do you want me to say or do? Applaud? Shake his hand? Bollox. How many away fans were at Fulham? How many stayed for 30 minutes after the game chanting "we're gonna win the league"? If I stood and voiced his opinion in the middle of that lot, what would be the response? Yeah, "FUCK OFF!", that's probably what.

ER - Im not gonna argue with you about what is right or wrong.

I will be there on Saturday against Blackburn, and I will be going as mad as I was against Villa.
I would be like this even if I harboured doubts about whether I thought we were gonna do it.

A football forum has nowt to do with "supporting" the team, IMO. The "support" is what happens at the ground. End of.

Ive made this point countless times before, but the penny just doesn't seem to drop.

Can't argue with that, Effs. Well, it can be about support, or at least voicing where your allegiances lie. I'm never one to try and debate the real nitty-gritty about tactics, where players should or shouldn't be played, formations etc etc. A football manager knows more than I do. If he (Rafa) is doing something that most will call "odd" or sometimes - in their untrained opinion - wrong, then it's hard for me to argue because what I think, and what a highly trained and educated football manager thinks, are two entirely different things and he is doing things obviously to his vision. It's his work. It's like me walking up to a plumber or a mechanic, or some other professional in a trade I haven't a clue about and telling him "Oh, you're doing that wrong." Still, makes interesting discussion, but I think it's best for myself not to talk tripe and act like I know more than player and manager. At the end of the day, all I can do is support because I refuse to get embroiled in all the detail. Doing so, you put your heart on a sleeve. This is a do or die situation we are in. We are supposed to be a red army of support, and like any army, defeatists and deserters deserve to be shot down. Perhaps not in the way that I did (was a spare of the moment thing) but it's understandable all the same.

by **Emerald Red** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:24 pm

Ciggy wrote: Sky Reporter'' Is United the hardest draw you could have or is it Barca??''
Porto fan '' No its Liverpool they would have been hardest''

Is right lad

Doesn't it feel great that you now know other fans of other clubs from around Europe now look at us as "the one" to avoid. To them, drawing us means that they are almost certainly out. It's a thing to be proud of. Imagine, just barely 6 years ago, we were a joke in Europe. Revered no more highly than your Porto's and Lyon's. Now we're the lion in the jungle.

by **Judge** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:24 pm

Ciggy wrote: Sky Reporter'' Is United the hardest draw you could have or is it Barca??''
Porto fan '' No its Liverpool they would have been hardest''

Is right lad

yeah

by **GOAT** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:45 pm

Ciggy wrote: Sky Reporter'' Is United the hardest draw you could have or is it Barca??''
Porto fan '' No its Liverpool they would have been hardest''

Is right lad

Brillant stuff

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