Topic: Re: RAWK Round Table FFC 2-3 LFC

[archie]

Lucky enough to get a ticket.

You can't repeat The last performance every game. But the team never gave up, stayed patient and we got our rewards.

Penalties? The celebration when they are awarded. Then that strange mix of hope and despair before they are taken. Then it's slotted home by our captain and we are 4 points off the top. Love it.

To be there to share in that joy at the end. The individual and collective belief that we are going to do something special.

Maybe we will, maybe we won't but it's great to be part of it.

[royhendo]

I'll post an odd perspective on the game. I was in rural Wiltshire, amidst a biblical storm, and by extension a domestic power cut. So no wireless, and no stream.

So I popped to the boozer, and found myself in the company of several (yokel and otherwise) Man Utd fans, watching the Arsenal game, and reading the text updates on here for our own. And so it was fun, amidst the Moyes-based derision, to witness their reactions to the on-screen updates, in each case steeled by the time lag before BT Sport caught up with reality. It seems they thought they'd make fourth on some level, while knowing really that it just ain't gonna happen.

It seems they covet our manager. Did you ever hear the like?

But of course, cheers of joy when Fulham took their leads, and groans of inevitability for our equalisers. I departed when their game finished, their chat intolerable, but walking home, the news came of the pen, and I startled some local fauna with a shout and punch and kind of star jump when the penno was awarded, and worse when confirmation came that it was slotted.

Soaked but bloody delighted. Goodness knows how it felt to be there Archie - wish I'd been there with you.

Then a download and the game itself, in full. My word. What a ball from Gerrard. Two of the finest passes in two consecutive games you're ever going to see.

[E2K]

I didn’t actually see the game. I was working ‘til 9 and then travelling home, depending on text updates from my better half (whose head I nearly took off in the excitement following Yossi’s winner in this fixture back in ’09) and twitter and slowly feeling like I was going mad. No way to follow a match, no way at all. I did catch the extended highlights of the second half on Sky when I got home and, to be honest, it looked to me like we played quite well. Not “beating Arsenal 5-1” well, but then football doesn’t work like that, does it? I can’t speak for the first-half, but if it was as bad as I’ve seen some suggesting then at least we put it right after half-time. We were pleasingly patient and controlled, I thought, the exact opposite of what Manchester United were on Sunday against the same opponents. Aside from another poorly-defended cross, this time against the run of play, and Steve Sidwell briefly channelling the spirit of Xabi Alonso, Fulham barely got a sniff.

I wrote earlier in the day of the 3-2 against Portsmouth in 2008/09 as a means to illustrate the kind of talent you typically need to change a game that’s getting away from you, the kind of talent that Brendan Rodgers simply doesn’t have on his bench right now. That night, Kuyt, Alonso and Torres were unleashed at various times to terrorise the home side, and the result was a constant pressure that built and built over the last half-hour of the game, a vice closing tighter and tighter until Portsmouth simply buckled. That team was the best that Rafa managed in his time at Anfield and had been four and a half years in the making. It was also battle-hardened in the Champions League. As such, it was experienced and could be expected to keep its head having gone 0-1 and 1-2 behind. Rodgers’ team, on the other hand, is just eighteen months old and full of youngsters like Coutinho, Flanagan, Sterling, and now Teixeira, and yet you look at that game last night and tell me whether their heads went at 1-2, whether they went and hid, whether they started panicking? No, no and no. Instead, they kept doing what they needed to do, they kept probing, they kept that vice tightening on Fulham until they couldn’t stand it anymore. And that’s when Riether flew in on Sturridge and gave away the winning penalty. Just like Özil’s flop to the Anfield turf under pressure from Henderson on Saturday, it was the physical manifestation of submission, a groggy boxer taking a swing and getting his jaw crushed for his troubles. And it was all borne of that pressure, of doing the right things and keeping your head at the crucial time. Mentality, I believe they call it. You’ll win fuck all without it. This team would appear to have it, and it was hugely impressive to watch it in action.

There are still problems at the back for sure. I appreciate what Mignolet has brought to the team, but I would respectfully suggest that the cross for Fulham’s second needed to be claimed. Perhaps his mishap against Arsenal on Saturday at 1-0 was playing on his mind, perhaps he’s decided not to come for anything anymore or maybe, just maybe, he’s being told not to, but anything on the edge of his six-yard box should be fair game. Ahead of him, the team is missing its best two full-backs and best two centre-backs, so there’s plenty of context there. Manchester City are a completely different animal when Kompany doesn’t play. If Arsenal lost Koscielny and Mertesacker for as long as we’ve been without Agger and Sakho, or Chelsea lost their entire back four as we have, I would expect a dip in quality from them as well. Poor Kolo looks under siege every time the ball comes near him and that doesn’t just affect the way we defend, it affects how we attack. Agger’s appearance at the end, then, on a night when the team overcame those defensive lapses and claimed a hugely significant three points, was a pretty welcome sight in and of itself ahead of 12 games that have the potential (and that’s a fact) to be extraordinary, and that three points last night will undoubtedly stand to this team as they try to make that happen.

[E2K]

Oh, and Stevie's pass for Sturridge's goal and composure for the penalty? Magnificent, as was the celebration afterwards 

[Corkboy]

Obviously a lot of tired scribes around, two games in a week takes its toll.

I only saw extended highlights as I was off submitting to my weekly humiliation of playing with fuckers less than half my age. It was still a bit emotional. Where Arsenal was a sort of wonderland, this was back to flawed but gritty play where strength of character and mind won out. We gave away two genuinely shocking goals. Touré's ball bobbled a very small bit in front of him but his feet weren't set right so he was waiting to fall over, which he promptly did. The thing is that he was under very little pressure. Holtsby's ball was cute but Richardson's cross was a bread and butter ball for a centrehalf and he didn't have anyone hanging out of him. Mystifying. The self same Richardson then gratefully accepted Skrtel's magical ball for him. No, I have no clue what the fuck he was trying to do. Unless Flanagan screamed "not my ball", I can think of no reason whatsoever for that decision.

Credit Fulham, they looked like they were at it, but they really didn't create much and their two goals were gifts from very little pressure. As for ours, Coutinho got a little lucky with his, but the moment of the game was Gerrard's pass for Sturridge. I waxed lyrical about Small Phil's ball last time out but this was its equal, at least, a dismissively elegant arc of a pass into the path of his mate. I will, however, take this opportunity to remind several paid writers that it was Cissokho who won the ball for the captain, not himself. All I saw of Texeira was his ball for the penalty. How did he do? Was he like for like with Sterling or did the picture change?

Overall, as many members have said, this had a whiff of Benny Noon at the same venue in 2009. A turbulent league table around us and we win another one right at the death. We're in that yoyo zone between contenders for the title and contenders for fourth, largely due to our tour de force last time out and the indomitable nature of this win. Fulham turned up but the scoreline reflects our generosity as much as our penetration. And on that faintly erotic note...

[Vulmea]

Watched the whole game and it wasn't that easy to describe.

At times we looked in complete control and at others you feared any long punt into our half and we'd gift them a goal.

Its an odd thing a Liverpool team fierce in attack but so devoid of confidence at the back

A defensive mid who can be completely at odds and then utterly dominant

a strikeforce that when combined is unstoppable but who love to play for themselves

teixera had a decent shot when he came on  I wasn't expecting to see him in an away fixture, he seems  a bit of a luxury item but I guess we dominated possession and the lads ability on the ball in the stiffs is very impressive

agger came on very late but was a welcome sight

flanagan a bit like Wisdom last year needs to be managed carefully, some games, then  a break, there is the odd brain fart going on but he's done a far better job than i was expecting, the system we play probably allows him to make mistakes which can be recovered

Mignolet's shot stopping is magnificent, his distribution average but at Sunderland they believed his cross taking improved a 100% on what it was with good coaching - possibly also a bit self fulfilling the more successful you are, the more successful you're likely to be

Toure ....... not sure what to say about the lad that could help

Both goals we conceded were poor and nearly entirely of our own making

 we did keep going, their second was a sucker punch when we looked far more likley to score the winner, once again a little lacking in finishing off our good play - the win was more than justified - Gerrard's penalty superbly taken given the pressure he must have been under

there looks to be some slacking in the witch hunt for Suarez - last season his challenge on their keeper would have seen demands for a six match ban for reckless endangerment and repeat after repeat of the challenge from any angle which made Suarez somehow look culpable - there's my paranoia showing again

anyhow a double fist clench for the penalty - great resilience from a side that hasn't always shown the character and belief away from home

Rodgers is learning and improving and the team reflects it - what  a journey this season - it can still all be snatched away,  football can be a very unforgiving game but one game at  a time and lets see where we end up

[slimbo]

Got up early to watch the match. Talk about highs and lows. The calamity of Kolo's error which brought about that sinking feeling of "it's going to be another one of those games". Redemption when the sumptuous ball from Gerrard was delivered into the path of exactly the right person, Daniel Sturridge. You just know he's going to put it away 9 times out of 10. I don't think I expect it more from any other player in the EPL, Suarez included. We start to pressure, you know a goal is coming. Suarez hits the post and Fulham go up the other end and score. You know the rest.

A few of things stood out for me this game.

1. After going 2 -1 down I was still of the belief we could get something from this game. Not sure I have had that in other matches where we have gone behind away from home. Sure I hoped we would, but it wasn't belief. I was on the edge of my seat urging the boys on. Even after the equaliser I thought we might still get a winner.

2. The belief our players demonstrated was great to see. Suarez and Gerrard revving the boys up after the equaliser to keep pushing for the win.Not sure I've seen that level in a while.

3. Rogers bringing on Texiera for Sterling. His belief in our young talent and his lack of fear in bringing off players who might have expected to stay on is admirable. It's easy to talk about doing this sort of thing but another to do it in the heat of the battle when your gut tells you to go with the tried and tested. It shows a strong underlying philosophy that drives our manager and bodes well for our team into the future.

All in all this was a crucial win for us. Belief is such an important factor in football and you get the sense that this game just might remove any doubts players had about whether they are title quality or not. More so than  the Arsenal match because I think they know that on their day they can tear anyone apart. It's games like Fulham however that can sap your confidence when things don't go well, or consolidate an unswerving determination that we are Liverpool FC, and we will win.

[decky]

I'll post an odd perspective on the game. I was in rural Wiltshire, amidst a biblical storm, and by extension a domestic power cut. So no wireless, and no stream.

So I popped to the boozer, and found myself in the company of several (yokel and otherwise) Man Utd fans, watching the Arsenal game, and reading the text updates on here for our own. And so it was fun, amidst the Moyes-based derision, to witness their reactions to the on-screen updates, in each case steeled by the time lag before BT Sport caught up with reality. It seems they thought they'd make fourth on some level, while knowing really that it just ain't gonna happen.

It seems they covet our manager. Did you ever hear the like?

But of course, cheers of joy when Fulham took their leads, and groans of inevitability for our equalisers. I departed when their game finished, their chat intolerable, but walking home, the news came of the pen, and I startled some local fauna with a shout and punch and kind of star jump when the penno was awarded, and worse when confirmation came that it was slotted.

Soaked but bloody delighted. Goodness knows how it felt to be there Archie - wish I'd been there with you.

Then a download and the game itself, in full. My word. What a ball from Gerrard. Two of the finest passes in two consecutive games you're ever going to see.

It was magic mate, there was about 7 or 8 of us all piled into a mass man hug scrum and then we all fell on our arses, laughing our bollocks off, fists pumping and screaming 'it's on!! it's fucking on!!' The whole Putney end erupted, for a few brief seconds it was like the Kop against Chelsea in '05. Something big happened last night and everyone in the away end felt it.

[has gone odd]

like many, due to severe lack of live coverage, I had to rely on good old fashioned ignorance of the news until sky highlights.

was full of the cold and couldn't be arsed messing about with stuttering video on virus riddled web streams. I had a kind of jokingly pessimistic view of the evening, wittering on to anyone who would listen in the household that we beat arsenal so well that it was obvious our inconsistent team could be thumped by 5-1. 

I turned on the tv at 10pm to enjoy a bit of Liverpool and the result was right up on the screen, thank you very much sky you brain dead assholes .. why, just why?!! my beloved girlfriend, being quite football illiterate, started to natter on and asked if Jamie redcap still played for us ... Fulham scores.

fast forward to gerrard scoring the pen and going nuts at the corner flag .. fucking superb! love football and especially this club. just wish I could rewind the night and not know the result until the goal, the feeling when that went in mustve sent any level headed red going nuts!

it may not decide the season but by fuck does it put us right back in the race. am sure theres more heartache and joy to go but am totally loving it this year.

 

[Avens]

Would others agree that in the few minutes Agger was on he showed what we'd been missing? He won 3 headers (I think) ahead of the Fulham attackers, being proactive in getting to the ball first, while Toure and Skrtel (who I think has been in great form recently) seemed happy to allow Bent the time to get the aerial balls down. That decisive action that immediately puts us on the front foot is what I'm looking forward to seeing again.

[Hinesy]

Remember the Round Table is the continuation of the best of the Post Match Thread, just without the emotional kneejerkers ruining it, so please don't feel you have to have a degree in tactical analysis to participate. Although I do love reading them too.

[slimbo]

Would others agree that in the few minutes Agger was on he showed what we'd been missing? He won 3 headers (I think) ahead of the Fulham attackers, being proactive in getting to the ball first, while Toure and Skrtel (who I think has been in great form recently) seemed happy to allow Bent the time to get the aerial balls down. That decisive action that immediately puts us on the front foot is what I'm looking forward to seeing again.

Totally agree. Felt a huge sense of relief after he threw himself into that first header.

[Canuck33]

Squeaker, lads, it was. Looks like we're turning into a big occasion team and struggle with the weaker opponents. Massive 3 points that one. Hope we bring in some player AND coaching reinforcements over the summer. The whole defensive unit isn't up to snuff. Mignolet needs to start commanding the box, the CBs are hot and cold, depending on the day, the FBs are not quite what will get us to the promised land. If we can pull off CL this year, it'll be a miracle, and Rodgers deserves all the credit.

[brownie 09]

Squeaker, lads, it was. Looks like we're turning into a big occasion team and struggle with the weaker opponents. Massive 3 points that one. Hope we bring in some player AND coaching reinforcements over the summer. The whole defensive unit isn't up to snuff. Mignolet needs to start commanding the box, the CBs are hot and cold, depending on the day, the FBs are not quite what will get us to the promised land. If we can pull off CL this year, it'll be a miracle, and Rodgers deserves all the credit.

we might not be as glamorous as against the tougher opponents but I'm sure I read today that out of 30 points against the bottom 7 teams we have 28points.

[rickardinho1]

Just like in 2008/2009, we must be most neutrals' favourite team to win the title (note: not favourite for the title but favourite team) in my opinion. Everyone likes an upstart underdog, and on the flip side nobody likes filthy rich clubs who just buy everyone for bloated fees (apart from their own fans).

Just look at how many fans Dortmund got with their positive attack-minded approach. A couple of years ago I looked at their club in envy wishing we could be like them, and now we're well on our way to doing that.

[Redwhiteandnotblue]

There was one small moment during the game that I thought highlighted the winning mentality that Luis Suarez has and the example he sets to the side. Straight after Coutinho scored, rather than joining the scoring celebrations straight away, he ran to the goal, grabbed the ball, and started heading back to the half way line. Though he then briefly joined in the celebration, it was to chivvy his younger team mates back to the half way line... he'd conveyed the message, both to Fulham and to his team mates that "I didn't come here for a draw" and "I'm not about to settle for one, we're going to win this". There was a real urgency to get on and win the game about him.

[TheDarkKnight]

The win was fantastic. The performance, especially second half, was as good as you're likely going to see from an away team at a relegation scrapper in blustery conditions. The pass by Gerrard was special. The penalty by Gerrard was calmness personified.

But I'd like to just touch on the mentality we showed yesterday in the face of adversity. Mainly because the one thing I've been bemoaning after dropped points at Hull and West Brom was our lack of being able to grind out a win. We've come from behind to draw games several times this season which is testament to a certain degree of our character, notably games at Newcastle, Everton and at home to Aston Villa spring to mind. But it seemed to have been an age since we had scored a last minute winner, and it shouldn't be underestimated how significant such a win is to a team vying for the top spots. Of course, in our last push for the Premier League title - in 2008/09 - we put in many great performances over the course of the season, just like in this campaign, but also showed a resilience to dig in and get results when not at our absolute peak level (Fulham away being the most memorable such result).

Winning that game in the last few moments last night was vital, not just last night but also, hopefully, in the long term. We have 12 league games left, I expect us to go out and annihilate a few opponents just like we have done all season but there will also be the odd game at your Crystal Palace and West Ham's, potentially, in which it's tight and in which may need to show the same qualities we produced last night in order to get over the line with a win.

Whether that could be the difference between top spot, second, third, fourth place or fifth, nobody yet knows, but I just had the impression (as previous round table posts of mine will have suggested) we needed to win a game when not at our free flowing best, not just draw, and last night that is precisely what we did.

P.S. Steven Gerrard is boss.

[totalimmortal]

So you made the cut-off just below Villa and Hull. Great use of statistics. Admirable!

Actually, he probably saw this image:

No need for you to be a dick about it.

On Fulham's second, I think Skrtel might be the least at fault of anyone. The only way he would have played that ball was if Flanagan hadn't called for it and Mignolet didn't come for it. He was in the third best position to play that ball, but with no one else claiming or coming for it (as far as he knew), he had to get something on it.

Also, another thing that I noticed was another dangerous pass by Sturridge across our box that was intercepted by a Fulham player about 25-30 yards out. Rodgers needs to get in his ear and tell him to cut those out.

I was perplexed by Teixeira's substitution, but it seemed like he really offered a calming presence and was happy to see his impact on the ball through for the penalty.

I thought Cissokho had a great game and is quietly going about his business, proving all the people wrong that called for his head. Is he better than Enrique or Johnson? No, but he's a solid backup who will do the business for us defensively when he needs to. Also, the ohyoubeauty blog pointed out our huge number of defensive errors this year (31, most in the league) and yet Cissokho and Flanagan have committed zero.

It was a great, great win and I braved the crappy, jittery streams to watch it live and was glad I did.

[MNAA]

It was about 10 minutes after 5 in the morning when the head dropped a bit. Luis shot just hit the post. It dropped further when a minute later we shot ourselves in the foot yet again to gift Fulham their 2nd. Yet somehow there's this nagging feeling that this time it's different. That we would kept at it and eventually prevailed. And prevailed we did.

Everything is coming together isn't it? Rodgers is pushing all the right buttons. I want us to be back among the European elites and that should still be the aim and we are looking very, very good. Winning the league would be a dream come true after more than 40 years with the same bird and 20+ years of hurt. We're good enough to win it but we're neither the 'big' horse nor the 'small' horse. We are the ultimate dark horse here. If not this season, sooner rather than later, our Brendan will bring home the holy grail.

Highlights of the night was Rodgers sending Joao Carlos Teixeira for Raheem when we are chasing the game. A debut, when we are chasing the game, away, in a difficult condition - that's a signal to the rest of the field that Rodgers is as astute manager/leader as there is. We triumphed at the end and that boy will be awesome one day for us.

Onwards and upwards. 12 games to go and I am excited. We can win this!

[Redwhiteandnotblue]

Actually, he probably saw this image:

No need for you to be a dick about it.

On Fulham's second, I think Skrtel might be the least at fault of anyone. The only way he would have played that ball was if Flanagan hadn't called for it and Mignolet didn't come for it. He was in the third best position to play that ball, but with no one else claiming or coming for it (as far as he knew), he had to get something on it.

Also, another thing that I noticed was another dangerous pass by Sturridge across our box that was intercepted by a Fulham player about 25-30 yards out. Rodgers needs to get in his ear and tell him to cut those out.

I was perplexed by Teixeira's substitution, but it seemed like he really offered a calming presence and was happy to see his impact on the ball through for the penalty.

I thought Cissokho had a great game and is quietly going about his business, proving all the people wrong that called for his head. Is he better than Enrique or Johnson? No, but he's a solid backup who will do the business for us defensively when he needs to. Also, the ohyoubeauty blog pointed out our huge number of defensive errors this year (31, most in the league) and yet Cissokho and Flanagan have committed zero.

It was a great, great win and I braved the crappy, jittery streams to watch it live and was glad I did.

Hang on, you're blaming Flanagan rather than Skrtel for Fulham's second goal and then saying Flanagan's made no mistakes. You can't have it both ways...

[Warks Moustache]

Watching Gerrard knock in that pen felt like Yossi Benayoun all over again. I feel like we are invincible.

Strange game overall, but make no mistake we were good value for the win. I think Toure's mistake just causes a lot of uncertainty in our defense for the rest of the game. Frankly, there is no way Sktrel makes that mistake for the second goal if we hadn't conceded that ludicrous own goal.

Thankfully Agger, Johnson, Enrique, Lucas and Sahko are almost back. So many quality players coming back will be a great fillip to the team and crucial in our remaining 12 league games. I expect to see us more defensively sound now.

[Alonso_The_Assassin]

Shades of 2009 when Yossi banged one past the keeper, eh? Does anyone remember sum 2 minutes prior to that glorious moment when the very man who made us believe hooked one wide? Yesterday,  thought that was emulated when Continho blasted his volley wide of the keeper; on the surface of the matter, anyway. Subconsciously, though, I always thought we were a good chance to win this, even with 20 minutes to play. That’s just the belief that’s canvased all throughout the club, from the manager to the supporters. You can talk about triangles and playing out from the back all you want, but that’s what Brendan Rodgers has instilled the most into club since his arrival; the belief.

It was a sub standard performance, but it was sub standard simply because Fulham put up a really good fight. Holtby looked quality and if Spurs fall away from now until the end of the season, they’ll rue the fact they let this lad go out on loan. Sidwell was relentless in breaking down the play and giving the likes of Coutinho and Sterling little room to work their magic.

But we stuck to our guns and believed. And that’s what defines class sides from decent ones. The collective belief; that’s developed by a colossal mentality and we have it. It’s been missing for the best part of 5 years, but make no mistake about it, it’s back.

That’s what happens when you draft in the likes of Kolo Toure; a winner. Yes, his mistakes on the pitch have been well documented but his actions off the field in the dressing room have helped change the culture. I liken his signing to when the Indian Pacers signed David West (talking NBA for those unaware). He changed the whole culture for the club and now they’re flying. Under Rafa Benitez, players like Bolo Zenden portrayed a similar role. Not stars, but pieces in the jigsaw required to move forward as a collective.

Our defensive play was questionable last night. Posts above have highlighted such without getting the iron bar out from under the bed. With Agger coming back I’d suspect the ship the steady.  His three headers in 60 seconds were one of the night’s highlights for me, as stranger as that sounds. To further point out the peculiar nature of highlights, it was refreshing to see the likes of Aspas shouting at the fourth official about the alleged foul given away by Sterling.  When players rarely involved are up off the bench berating the officials you know the team spirit is at its apex.

Defensive frailties aside, the old mantra comes shining through. Concede 2, we’ll get 3 or 4. I can’t remember ever having such a luxury. We’ve been used to keeping clean sheets and being tidy at the back. Brendan Rodgers has flipped the priorities and its paid dividends. Daniel Sturridge is a player that makes me shake my head in disbelief and that’s not even mentioning the mercurial Luis Suarez! The statistics of a club legends in the making should they stay on in years to come. The latter will always be subject of interest from other clubs; it’s something we have to deal as a club and so far, we’ve done it as best we can. But Sturridge? He just seems like a 10 year job in the Red shirt to me. An absolute class act.

Steven Gerrard. The balls of the man never seize to amaze. The pass to Sturridge for the first goal was something transcendent and in fact, vintage Steven Gerrard. His ability to pick a pass separates him from his contemporaries. The penalty; was there any doubts?
Moving forward: the title tilt. Some may be wrangling with their head and their heart and trying to come up with some sort of answer, but I’ll tell you one thing. Why shouldn’t it be us? Why not us? It’s a simple question that should be answered accordingly: why not, indeed.

[Warks Moustache]

Hang on, you're blaming Flanagan rather than Skrtel for Fulham's second goal and then saying Flanagan's made no mistakes. You can't have it both ways...

One is a statistical error (i.e. conceding a penalty, missing a tackle), and there are errors that are more subtle (not calling out/taking responsibility for a cross into our box). Flanagan could very well be guilty of later and it wouldn't show up as an 'error' in the stats.

[Severely]

I'm looking forward to some of the more knowledgeable posters' analyses of the game - it's difficult to remember much of the game outside of the 'moments': the Toure own goal, the spectacular collision resulting from a failure to communicate between Flanagan and Skrtel and the subsequent goal, that Gerrard pass, that Coutinho goal, that extra time penalty...It feels like another step forward, but more so on a mental level. I'm finding it very difficult to put together any sort of critical evaluation of the performance itself as a whole due to it being emotionally centred around certain memorable moments.

[Canuck33]

Watching Gerrard knock in that pen felt like Yossi Benayoun all over again. I feel like we are invincible.

Strange game overall, but make no mistake we were good value for the win. I think Toure's mistake just causes a lot of uncertainty in our defense for the rest of the game. Frankly, there is no way Sktrel makes that mistake for the second goal if we hadn't conceded that ludicrous own goal.

Thankfully Agger, Johnson, Enrique, Lucas and Sahko are almost back. So many quality players coming back will be a great fillip to the team and crucial in our remaining 12 league games. I expect to see us more defensively sound now.

Let's just hope that those lads come back in some game shape. We sure can use them.

[Djimi Smicer34]

That penalty going in felt like a watershed moment for this club, a proclamation that its time for the rest of the league to really take Liverpool seriously again.

It was far from our best performance but, and it feels like this gets said a lot about us lately, this was a game that we would not have won in recent seasons.  Most of us feared a slip-up, for the players to panic and stumble rather than reinforce our credentials as a genuine contender.  The fact that we didn't is yet another marker of our progress under Brendan Rodgers. 

A lot has been said about our attacking quartet of Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho in the aftermath of our annihilation of Arsenal but once again it was our captain who stepped up and delivered when we needed him most, who kept his head when every Liverpool supporter watching the game was losing theirs.  We might not have the biggest squad but we have one that is showing the character of potential champions, one that is desperate to win.

We also saw again why we are lucky to have our manager.  In a game of such high stakes, he has no qualms in investing faith in the young players at his disposal and they are reveling in and repaying that faith. 

This is the type of result that makes a champion, I really don't want to get carried away but I'm dreaming again and that in itself is an amazing feeling.

[Robinred]

These days I live in Wild West Wales, so gone are the times I could use my Season "priority" ticket, which used to allow me a great view of a main stand stanchion, or a view of a tiny pitch from the distant corner in the gods of the Annie Rd. and the Kemlyn. I have my Sky (thanks Rupert) and B.T Sport, and a big computer screen to watch streams when neither the aforementioned will suffice. At 3.30 yesterday afternoon a huge storm left me without electricity.

So wrapped up in three layers of warm clothing, and lit by an old torch the like of which gave a certain Welsh comic his most memorable night at The Apollo, I switched on a tiny battery-operated transistor, and listened to an appallingly bad 5 live programme featuring two Liverpool "greats" who now they no longer pull on the red jersey, are anything but (great, that is). Lawro seems, in fairness, to be belatedly seeking something between forgiveness for being a twat for all these years, and a genuine desire to actually side with the team which provided him with those countless honours that almost certainly allow him to continue earning a crust. In other words, not Manchester United. Ronnie Whelan has such a bad case of anti-Lucas Leiva I cannot take seriously a single word that leaves his lips. Kevin Kilbane, in such company, is a breath of fresh air.

The sound was so bad I got only the gist of the action, given that some was inaudible, and in any case the time our game was featured constituted about a quarter of the total air time. Actually make that a fifth; I'd forgotten the times when Mark Pougach needed to remind all and sundry what a grade A weapon he is. Where do the Beeb find such a constant supply of utter twats?

Needless to say, in the almost dark, and with only the transistor and a bottle of Grants for solace, I spilt a glass of said nectar over my lap when the pen was converted. It was the last of the bottle, but it didn't seem to matter.

[Canuck33]

That penalty going in felt like a watershed moment for this club, a proclamation that its time for the rest of the league to really take Liverpool seriously again.

It was far from our best performance but, and it feels like this gets said a lot about us lately, this was a game that we would not have won in recent seasons.  Most of us feared a slip-up, for the players to panic and stumble rather than reinforce our credentials as a genuine contender.  The fact that we didn't is yet another marker of our progress under Brendan Rodgers. 

A lot has been said about our attacking quartet of Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho in the aftermath of our annihilation of Arsenal but once again it was our captain who stepped up and delivered when we needed him most, who kept his head when every Liverpool supporter watching the game was losing theirs.  We might not have the biggest squad but we have one that is showing the character of potential champions, one that is desperate to win.

We also saw again why we are lucky to have our manager.  In a game of such high stakes, he has no qualms in investing faith in the young players at his disposal and they are reveling in and repaying that faith. 

This is the type of result that makes a champion, I really don't want to get carried away but I'm dreaming again and that in itself is an amazing feeling.

Now there is a great opinion, analysis, summary. If we can repeat grinding out results from a seemingly lost causes, we might be champions this year.

[totalimmortal]

Hang on, you're blaming Flanagan rather than Skrtel for Fulham's second goal and then saying Flanagan's made no mistakes. You can't have it both ways...

The stat was from a stats driven blog, not something I was asserting. I do think Flanagan should have called for that ball, but didn't. That won't show up in any stats though.

["21C or 70F?" SchizoidWeatherMan!]

Just a couple of observations from my side. Apologies for my rather ordinary views in a high quality thread like this.

1) We completed 655 passes compared to Fulhams 276. This was a performance very unlike the Everton and Arsenal performances. For all the praise we got for our quick and incisive counter attacking against those two, this was more like the approach we expect a Rodgers team to have, dominant in possession and retaining the ball for extended periods. Which brings me back to our tactical flexibility and versatility, which is absolutely brilliant. We can play in many ways now, which makes it harder for opposition managers to figure us out and neutralize us.

2) Jordan Henderson and Martin Skrtel completed the highest number of passes for us, at 88 and 87 passes respectively. All of our defenders and midfielders completed more than 60 passes, which illustrates my point. Our midfield and defence passed it around with gay abandon and Fulham refused to press.

3) Steven Gerrard is growing into an absolute colossus in that holding/deep lying role as he gets used to it. He was brilliant in attack and defense both. He participated in 10 duels and won 8, made 5 tackles and won 3. He also won 2 aerial challenges. He did all this having completed 74 passes at an 86 % success rate. Not to mention a successful penalty conversion and that mind blowing Pirloesque/Alonsoesque pass from deep.

An accomplished all round midfield performance from our captain. May it continue.

4) Toure's cockup got all the attention but otherwise he was nowhere near as bad as many made him out to be. His passing and distribution was spot on and he won more than his fairshare of tackles and duels. It illustrates how an isolated incident can cloud the judgments of fans because it cost us a goal.

5) Suarez was the most involved of our forwards with 55 completed passes, having participated in 12 duels. It shows how selfless he has been playing in a more conservate role to accommodate Sturridge as a striker. His workrate, general movement and desire was brilliant to see.

He may not be scoring goals recently but his performances have been absolutely spot on in terms of the role he has been asked to play. Even forgetting all the goals he has scored this season, his assist stats still make him one of the best performers in the league. It will be an absolute travesty if he doesn't win the player of the season award.

Overall a very accomplished performance from us, clouded by a couple of avoidable mistakes in defence. It showed we can dominate possession as well as we can counter attack, which is the kind of versatility top teams exhibit (unless you are Barca  ).

Really looking forward to our next game.

[rickardinho1]

One thing I noticed that I haven't commented on yet is how Fulham dealt with Sterling. From their point of view they managed to contain him really well by sprinting at him and harrying him at full pace every time he receive the ball and it seemed to work. In the second half especially they forced him to turn back and play a pass inside or backwards rather than turning to run at them. It was surprisingly effective.

[CHOPPER]

A tale of two penalties : Season defining penalties.

17/08/13 and 12/02/14.


The reds are coming up the hill boys.....

[TepidT2O]

Lots of thoughts back to Yossi in 2009.

That was a winners mentality that the squad had, this season we have a slightly different mentality.

We have an unassailable belief in the team that we can score goals. I don't think it's the same steel as the 2009 squad, but it could grow into that in time.
But, if you are one down and you KNOW you always have a chance of scoring that must breed confidence.  We must measure this with the belief that we can also concede at any time however.

We have strangely become dragged into a title race, I'm not sure that's something that normally happens

What is so positive is that every problem we have had with the team over the last 18 months has been targeted and dealt with. Maybe the defensive issues can be tackled in preseason the way our attacking set pieces so clearly were this season?

[royhendo]

It was magic mate, there was about 7 or 8 of us all piled into a mass man hug scrum and then we all fell on our arses, laughing our bollocks off, fists pumping and screaming 'it's on!! it's fucking on!!' The whole Putney end erupted, for a few brief seconds it was like the Kop against Chelsea in '05. Something big happened last night and everyone in the away end felt it.

Magic - I love Fulham. I know a lot of folk hate that away, but I absolutely love it.

[royhendo]

Also, a few posters having 'beaut' exchanges in here. Take it to PM if you must - be grown ups.

[hollger]

I didn't think Fulham would completely abandon their tactics from the Utd game and suddenly go full steam ahead just because they were at home. I did expect a bit of a change however, and that's pretty much what we saw right up until they scored. Both times they noticeably attempted to shut up shop - which is absolutely fair game, based on their league position. It was up to us to then find the key to that padlock and I think we did it fairly well. We didn't attempt to flood their box and play long balls or percentage crosses like Moyes' team, we kept calm, passed it around and tried to find the space - which is somewhat what I expected us to be all the time under Rodgers.

We attempted/completed way, way more passes than against Arsenal/Everton. A big part of this though would have to be down to the fact we were made to play it around, going from back to front then back again in order to retain possession as Fulham stayed organised and resolute in the main. You have to give them a bit of credit, especially Holtby and Richardson. They caused our nervous back line some problems, although the two goals we conceded were largely due to errors of our own making.

The first - Touré, what were you doing?! Body shape all wrong... but yes there was a bobble. However the ball wasn't really very threatening - he could have even controlled it before that wild swipe. Not sure what to put that down to - Touré's nervousness, the overwhelming desire not to make another mistake maybe - or a lack of good communication in and amongst our defence - a path I'm more drawn to following when analysing the second goal. For me, Mignolet should be out and claiming that cross. If he feels he cannot (or has been told/coached not to - but really, why?!) then he should be directing - no, screaming at the guys in front of him to help them out. Someone else has mentioned how Skrtel was the 3rd option to clear that cross, so there was clearly a big mix up in there. Not something that can't be worked on though and you have to factor in the lack of our first choice players - Flanno is learning all the time so will always have a mistake or two in him, and Touré is essentially 4th choice (although he can't be blamed for the second, obviously).

Still, we came back. We dug deep and stuck to our tactics even when it seemed it was to be "one of those days". In truth though, on reflection we probably could have had the win wrapped up well before the calamitous 90th minute lunge of desperation by Riether. The free kick from Suárez, who also hit the woodwork. The chance for Coutinho from the Suárez lay off - all good chances that on another night may well have found their targets.

Credit to Rodgers too - bringing on Teixeira was a bold move. A debut for a young lad in a high-pressure situation probably raised eyebrows in some quarters when the likes of Allen, Moses and Aspas were on the bench. Yet Teixeira was calm, his passing sound. The type of player we needed to unlock that stubborn Fulham rearguard - a 'second Coutinho' if you will. Indeed, it was from a Teixeira pass that Sturridge was felled for the penalty - some justification there, Mr Rodgers.

Onto our captain. Whilst he didn't reach the dizzy heights of the Arsenal game he still had a massive effect on the game. The pass for the Sturridge equaliser was simply majestic. In the blink of an eye he'd seen it was on and then delivered, with a deft flick from the outside of his right boot, one of the passes of the season. The weight was perfect and let's be honest - did anyone think Daniel was going to do anything other than score?! Exactly. Then to step up and tuck away the penalty... lad's got some pretty big balls on him! There must have been a huge weight on his shoulders there - scoring wins the game, in front of the travelling Kop too - the gravity of it all must have been huge. You could see the release in his celebration, that goal meant so much.

A good performance then? Yes, overall we weren't bad. The weather was crap and it was a tough, dogfight of a game at times. We made some mistakes but we didn't let them bring us down. The media love to point to exactly these type of wins when teams win the league - ground out victories when they aren't at their best, and that's just what this was. It keeps the momentum going, keeps the spirits up and more importantly keeps us in the frame for the top four (or higher).

Even if we don't end up fighting for 1st place this year, the improvements we've made are clear to see. Get some of those 'top quality' players in the summer and we've a solid foundation to ensure we're back right up there challenging every year. You can't really ask for more than that.

[Timbo's Goals]

These days I live in Wild West Wales, so gone are the times I could use my Season "priority" ticket, which used to allow me a great view of a main stand stanchion, or a view of a tiny pitch from the distant corner in the gods of the Annie Rd. and the Kemlyn. I have my Sky (thanks Rupert) and B.T Sport, and a big computer screen to watch streams when neither the aforementioned will suffice. At 3.30 yesterday afternoon a huge storm left me without electricity.

So wrapped up in three layers of warm clothing, and lit by an old torch the like of which gave a certain Welsh comic his most memorable night at The Apollo, I switched on a tiny battery-operated transistor, and listened to an appallingly bad 5 live programme featuring two Liverpool "greats" who now they no longer pull on the red jersey, are anything but (great, that is). Lawro seems, in fairness, to be belatedly seeking something between forgiveness for being a twat for all these years, and a genuine desire to actually side with the team which provided him with those countless honours that almost certainly allow him to continue earning a crust. In other words, not Manchester United. Ronnie Whelan has such a bad case of anti-Lucas Leiva I cannot take seriously a single word that leaves his lips. Kevin Kilbane, in such company, is a breath of fresh air.

The sound was so bad I got only the gist of the action, given that some was inaudible, and in any case the time our game was featured constituted about a quarter of the total air time. Actually make that a fifth; I'd forgotten the times when Mark Pougach needed to remind all and sundry what a grade A weapon he is. Where do the Beeb find such a constant supply of utter twats?

Needless to say, in the almost dark, and with only the transistor and a bottle of Grants for solace, I spilt a glass of said nectar over my lap when the pen was converted. It was the last of the bottle, but it didn't seem to matter.

 

Enjoyed that.

[Crosby Nick]

I find the older I'm getting the more of a nervous wreck I'm becoming. I'm sure that shouldn't be the case?! I couldn't watch the game and being a bag of nerves I find listening on the radio excruciating these days. Obviously you can still get updates from a variety of sources so I used a mixture of the RAWK matchday commentary (who brought great news of the Sturridge goal!), the unbearable SSN (where upon I saw Coutinho had scored) and then the good old fashioned wait for full time, shit yourself and then check the final score on the phone. It was like waiting for Telextext to load up, nervous anticipation, a degree of optimism mixed with sickening pessimism and then...boom!

I then sat down to watch the extended highlights only to have to deal with sick kids (my own, I'm not a nurse).

No tactical analysis whatsoever.

Finally watched it last night, it looked like we played pretty well on the whole with a few comedy episodes (although clearly not funny at the time) thrown in. What is there to say on them? Personnel changes may help although we've been gifting goals all season. Kolo clearly needs a little spell out of the firing line but it won't guarentee the soft goals will stop.

I don't want to dwell on that though. The team showed great fortitude to put those setbacks behind them and keep pressing until the end. For large spells of the second half we seemed to be pinning them back and it seemed only a matter of time before we would score. That kind of win can only do wonders for their confidence.

[Grobbelrevell]

That penalty going in felt like a watershed moment for this club, a proclamation that its time for the rest of the league to really take Liverpool seriously again.

It was far from our best performance but, and it feels like this gets said a lot about us lately, this was a game that we would not have won in recent seasons.  Most of us feared a slip-up, for the players to panic and stumble rather than reinforce our credentials as a genuine contender.  The fact that we didn't is yet another marker of our progress under Brendan Rodgers. 

A lot has been said about our attacking quartet of Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho in the aftermath of our annihilation of Arsenal but once again it was our captain who stepped up and delivered when we needed him most, who kept his head when every Liverpool supporter watching the game was losing theirs.  We might not have the biggest squad but we have one that is showing the character of potential champions, one that is desperate to win.

We also saw again why we are lucky to have our manager.  In a game of such high stakes, he has no qualms in investing faith in the young players at his disposal and they are reveling in and repaying that faith. 

This is the type of result that makes a champion, I really don't want to get carried away but I'm dreaming again and that in itself is an amazing feeling.

This sums up very well my thoughts in the immediate aftermath of the game.

I haven't been this optimistic about the future direction of the club since the height of Rafa's reign.

[Timbo's Goals]

Bit like yourself Nick. The nerves/older bit especially.

 

I actually listened to the LFCtv commentary. Ian St John and Steve the LFCtv commentator had us playing poorly. I watched the Press Box on LFCtv last night. James Pearce of the Echo said we were abysmal - the poorest he's seen us all season.

I've only watched the Sky one hour edited version so far but I thought we played pretty well. Certainly there were mistakes - two costly ones as we all know - but overall I saw a pretty assured performance against a very determined and confident Fulham side who were doing their level best to make life awkward. Despite that we persevered and seemed to control much of the play with a patient passing style which wasn't easy with all the harrying and which ultimately got its rewards with a fully merited a win which could and should have been more comfortable.

So what the fuck these commentators and reporters were watching I'm fucked if I know.

Unless it's me, of course.

Whatever, it now means I've got to squeeze in watching the whole thing again to determine whose got it right. Me or them?