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Gerrard admits end of title race - on advice of power crazy Mods
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:23 amby Toffeehater
Sorry If this has been posted before , mods help to merge it into the thread if it has been posted before.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport....76.html
By Adrian Curtis
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Steven Gerrard has told his Liverpool team-mates and the club's supporters to forget about winning the Premier League title and concentrate on finishing fourth.
Liverpool had to settle for a point against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in a disappointing goalless draw. Their failure to turn their first-half dominance into goals meant they failed to overcome the Blues but Gerrard admitted the focus must now shift away from the title for yet another year.
The draw left Rafa Benitez's team 16 points behind leaders Arsenal and Gerrard said: "We realise now that we're facing a big challenge to finish in the top four and we've got to forget about the title and focus on fighting for fourth place.
"There are a lot of teams around us who are in good form and playing well so it's important that we don't let our standards drop. Chelsea was definitely a big improvement on how we've played of late. We looked more solid defensively and I thought we were the better side over the 90 minutes and if anyone was going to win it was us.
"Certain players who have had a bit of criticism of late performed really well and I think it was a good team performance against a side that have been playing very well lately.
"There are definitely a lot of positives to take out of this game. We controlled the majority of this game and it felt as if we could have snatched it."
Manchester City, Everton and Aston Villa all picked up three points over the weekend that meant Liverpool lost further ground in the race for fourth position in the table and a Champions League qualifying place.
But the Liverpool captain was more than happy with the performance apart from the cutting edge in attack. Gerrard said: "When we do go to those places we've got to perform like we did yesterday and maybe an extra five or 10 per cent could see us nick a win.
"I just thought we lacked that cutting edge in the final third, but I can't fault many other things because it was a good performance. I don't think you could fault any player. A couple of days before the game I said you need every player performing close to the maximum and I think we got that."
The England striker Peter Crouch, who missed a gilt-edged first-half chance to give Liverpool the lead, admitted they should have scored for the first time at Stamford Bridge under Benitez's management.
Crouch said: "A couple of half-chances came my way, and maybe the one on my left foot could have been better. If I hit the target then I think it would have gone in. We matched them and in the end we were the better side. We are still a way behind at the top, but we proved today that we'll keep going until the end."
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:35 amby GOAT
Bit slow isnt he
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:17 amby god_bless_john_houlding
Who's Gerrard kidding? It's not mathamatically impossible, therefore we never give up. The title is still possible.
Or so my heart says.
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:33 amby The Manhattan Project
Steven Gerrard has told his Liverpool team-mates and the club's supporters to forget about winning the Premier League title and concentrate on finishing fourth.
He's right.
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:18 amby 112-1077774096
next season if rafa is still boss gerrard may as well get this out of the way at the start of the season and tell us at that point we will be involved in a battle for fourth with city, spurs, everton etc
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:33 amby Ciggy
We went out the title race against Portsmouth away months ago.
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:29 amby account deleted by request
Ciggy wrote:We went out the title race against Portsmouth away months ago.
No it was after Portsmouth..... maybe Wigan was our last chance.
Sounds like the film A bridge too far .....
Brig. General James Gavin: So that's it. We're pulling them out. It was Nijmegen.
Lt. Colonel J.O.E. Vandeleur: It was the single road getting to Nijmegen.
Lt. General Horrocks: No, it was after Nijmegen.
Lt. General Frederick "Boy" Browning: And the fog, in England
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:54 amby The_Rock
peewee wrote:next season if rafa is still boss gerrard may as well get this out of the way at the start of the season and tell us at that point we will be involved in a battle for fourth with city, spurs, everton etc
Gerrard is merely echoing what the "its time for a change" brigade is advocating......
4th is the best we can get this season....
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:57 amby The_Rock
BTw did anyone here jamie rednapp's rant against rafa ? He said we won't win the title under rafa....
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:00 amby account deleted by request
Jamie Redknapp: Rafael Benitez falls behind
By Jeremy Wilson
Last Updated: 12:42am GMT 12/02/2008
Former captain Jamie Redknapp has delivered a blunt assessment of Liverpool's league progress under Rafael Benitez this season by saying that the Spaniard is currently further away than ever from bringing the title back to Anfield.
Benitez is in his fourth season at Liverpool and, after finishes of fifth, third and third, the club are again out of the title race for this season and only involved in a battle for the fourth Champions League place with the likes of Everton, Manchester City and Aston Villa.
Champions League, you're having a laugh: Jamie Redknapp (right), winner of the League Cup in 1995, has criticised Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who has taken the club to two European Cup finals in three years
"I don't think Liverpool can win it under Rafa Benitez," said Redknapp. "I think they are further away than they have ever been before. They have got no chance. Liverpool under Rafa Benitez can beat anyone on their day. But over the course of a league season they struggle."
The supporters of Liverpool have always prided themselves on their league record, but they have not won the title since 1990 and Manchester United are now only two behind their record-breaking tally of 18 championships.
But, according to Redknapp, it is European competition which matters most to Benitez, who has taken Liverpool to two Champions League finals in three years, including victory in 2005.
"For Rafa Benitez, the kudos is winning the Champions League. That's his priority and everything is geared to that," said Redknapp.
"You don't get to two Champions League finals without being a great tactician. But I look at Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea and they have all got match winners in their line-up.
"Liverpool have got two in Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Sometimes Peter Crouch can do it when he plays."
Liverpool have picked up only seven points in six league matches in 2008 and have also been unimpressive in labouring to victories over Luton and Havant & Waterlooville to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
Redknapp, who was speaking as a Sky Sports pundit, largely attributes the club's league difficulties to the rotation policy under Benitez.
"They make so many changes and you don't get consistency or understanding," he said.
"The best managers like Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson keep basically the same team and system. In their big games, they field their strongest team. But look at Liverpool. Who's going to play up front? I'm not sure about Dirk Kuyt, but who plays up front with Fernando Torres?
"When Peter Crouch and Torres play together they look as if they can make it work but they never really seem to be given a chance. They get one or two games together and then Benitez changes it."
With the FA Cup and the Champions League representing the only trophies realistically available to Liverpool, the next week will prove critical to their season. On Saturday, they face Barnsley in the FA Cup before the first leg of their Champions League first round match against Inter Milan next Tuesday
You mean this one ?
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:01 amby bigmick
No Lynds was right, it was Pompey Away. That was the game which convinced me we would not mount a challenge as it was obvious right there that we were going to continue with Rafa style even when the game was crying out for a sensible selection. We didn't score there where Torres and Gerrard were absent, and we didn't score against Birmingham the following weekend either where once once again Torres warmed the bench. Two weeks later, after the "restings" to keep him fresh, Torres got injured of course (with a muscle strain) and it was all downhill from there.
We were and are plenty good enough to be in the shake-up i am absolutely convinced of it. The meddling and tinkering with "options" and "possibilities" has undermined our challenge massively. The fact that in both of the games where we have come up against Chelsea we have been much the better team is of no surprise to me whatsoever. Unfortunately, the additional fact that we will very likely be hard pressed to finish within eight points of them once it's all totted up at the end is of no surprise to me either. No, we've shot ourselves in both feet with both barrels and it musn't be allowed to happen again.
On a slightly seperate note, Arsenal are still showing no real signs of slowing down. They are kind of showing the delayed gazelle effect in reverse as a great many of their players have played in almost every game and Wenger has steadfastly refused to go down the route of bizarre team selections. In copntrast, Ferguson must be hoping for a little delayed gazelle of his own as Man Utd sit five points adrift with twelve games to go. I wonder if he had his time again whether he would have rested Ronaldo and Rooney Away to Bolton.
Rafa talks of "gambling" with his team selections, and he does. Wenger gambles as well though. He gambles on putting out the strongest team that he possibly can in just about every single game. He gambles that even if his players are tired, the momentum they carry will get them over the line in most if not all matches. He gambles that the enthusiasm the players will feel as they lead the title race will give them an extra yard, as well as the rhythm and cohesion which they have built up will come to their naid when they need some inspiration. Wengers gamble may not pay off of course. Ultimately, Arsenal may run out of steam and win nothing. I must say though, that the type of gambling he's gone for is precisely what I'd like to see the Liverpool manager employ. Lets build a team, not two teams and lets go all out for the title.
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:06 amby account deleted by request
If nothing else at least Arsenal have had a title challenge, we got one week at the top early in the season, so I suppose we can't complain too much 
I think Fergies regret may be that he didn't buy a striker before the season started rather than the Bolton match to be honest.
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:50 amby club_Levis
s@int wrote:Jamie Redknapp: Rafael Benitez falls behind
By Jeremy Wilson
Last Updated: 12:42am GMT 12/02/2008
Former captain Jamie Redknapp has delivered a blunt assessment of Liverpool's league progress under Rafael Benitez this season by saying that the Spaniard is currently further away than ever from bringing the title back to Anfield.
Benitez is in his fourth season at Liverpool and, after finishes of fifth, third and third, the club are again out of the title race for this season and only involved in a battle for the fourth Champions League place with the likes of Everton, Manchester City and Aston Villa.
Champions League, you're having a laugh: Jamie Redknapp (right), winner of the League Cup in 1995, has criticised Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who has taken the club to two European Cup finals in three years
"I don't think Liverpool can win it under Rafa Benitez," said Redknapp. "I think they are further away than they have ever been before. They have got no chance. Liverpool under Rafa Benitez can beat anyone on their day. But over the course of a league season they struggle."
The supporters of Liverpool have always prided themselves on their league record, but they have not won the title since 1990 and Manchester United are now only two behind their record-breaking tally of 18 championships.
But, according to Redknapp, it is European competition which matters most to Benitez, who has taken Liverpool to two Champions League finals in three years, including victory in 2005.
"For Rafa Benitez, the kudos is winning the Champions League. That's his priority and everything is geared to that," said Redknapp.
"You don't get to two Champions League finals without being a great tactician. But I look at Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea and they have all got match winners in their line-up.
"Liverpool have got two in Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Sometimes Peter Crouch can do it when he plays."
Liverpool have picked up only seven points in six league matches in 2008 and have also been unimpressive in labouring to victories over Luton and Havant & Waterlooville to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
Redknapp, who was speaking as a Sky Sports pundit, largely attributes the club's league difficulties to the rotation policy under Benitez.
"They make so many changes and you don't get consistency or understanding," he said.
"The best managers like Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson keep basically the same team and system. In their big games, they field their strongest team. But look at Liverpool. Who's going to play up front? I'm not sure about Dirk Kuyt, but who plays up front with Fernando Torres?
"When Peter Crouch and Torres play together they look as if they can make it work but they never really seem to be given a chance. They get one or two games together and then Benitez changes it."
With the FA Cup and the Champions League representing the only trophies realistically available to Liverpool, the next week will prove critical to their season. On Saturday, they face Barnsley in the FA Cup before the first leg of their Champions League first round match against Inter Milan next Tuesday
sad but true.
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:17 pmby Big Niall
When I said Rafa will never win the league I was called anti-Rafa, funny how some folk are.Is Jamie anti Liverpool too?
I think SG might put in a transfer request in the Summer if Benitez stays as the team is going nowhere under him. He only stayed last time because after the CL win he thought we'd make progress and we did the first season. Now we compete with Everton,City,Villa and watch Arsenal (who spent very little) play much better football and finish 20 points above us, not to mention Manure & Chelsea.
Posted:
Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:19 pmby DAV
All of this thread is what ive been thinking