Topic: Man Utd vs Liverpool-In Game Commentary & Post game shite...

[jaffod]

Well they is no point being negative about all this mate.

Save that for the owners.

We have to get behind the team.

Must say the fans were quality today at the toilet and showed true support.

I just don't see the need to do all this fucking 'predictor' stuff, that's all. It's pointless and can only leave you with egg on your face.

[cal_liverpoolfc]

Well think I've got to say today was one of the few times I've felt ashamed to be a Liverpool fan.

The % of fans singing the Munich songs and making plan gestures is by far the highest I've ever witnessed, it was a disgrace.

Agree.

[El Campeador]

If this was a match under Benitez, we would have all sorts of stats being blurted out about possession. But under Hodgson I guess he does not get such grace, because he isn't Benitez.

No it's because Hodgson neither won neither the points nor the possession stats.

Home team score and possession listed first

07/08 at Anfield    0-1 61%-39%
07/08 at Trafford  3-0 61%-39%
08/09 at Anfield    2-1 54%-46%
08/09 at Trafford  1-4 55%-45%
09/10 at Anfield    2-0 43%-57%
09/10 at Trafford  2-1 56%-44%

Since you make it sound like an excuse, the last time we needed an excuse where we had more possession than the Mancs *and* lost was 2007/2008 at Anfield.

If your point was to suggest that we'd hide behind ball possession every time Rafa lost against Ferguson, I'm sorry but that's Fergieshit.

[jaffod]

Well think I've got to say today was one of the few times I've felt ashamed to be a Liverpool fan.

The % of fans singing the Munich songs and making plan gestures is by far the highest I've ever witnessed, it was a disgrace.

Fuck them. All I could hear was what sounded like 60,000 singing 'sign on' and 'without killing anyone'. Fucking manc c*nts.

[Gnurglan]

However, it is a double standard to lend unconditional support to one man and loathe everything the other man does.

Believe me, I really want to like Hodgson. I don't loathe what he does. But in a nutshell, Rafa was sacked and Roy was brought to improve us. Roy didn't think he'd need a lot of money. We were overstaffed. Our aim is clear, it's top four. I can live with that. So let's go for it!

Partly it's the circumstances and partly it's Roy. We lower our expectations. It's as if we don't even think Roy has it in him to finish top four. Roy on the other hand signs players for the short term, he has us play with 9 men at the edge of our own box, he talks about S i r Alex and so far nothing really indicates that this is a man who will get us going. It's early days, yes and by all means, respect Ferguson, but there's no need to sir him and basically put us in a position below him/them. It's sports. Belief is a factor and there's no need for us to give it up.

What message do we send here? We don't need money, we're overstaffed, but we can't really match the mighty Ferguson? Our aim is top four, but we should ditch our aggressive defence and play like Fulham? We have Gerrard and Torres, who were a lethal attacking force, but now we isolate Torres up front and have Gerrard kick it long for him from deep?


 

[Karlton81]

But you were talking about how it's no surprise Rafa has gone because he couldn't deliver the one thing we crave the most.
 Do you honestly feel, on the basis of what you have seen so far this season, that that is likely to change in the next couple of years?
 If the answer is yes then I feel you are somewhat deluded, if the answer is no then what was the point of replacing a top quality coach with Roy Hodgson?

After Rafa's 1st 5 games in charge did you actually believe we would have won the CL in his 1st season??

Would you have believed that after the season we finished 2nd the following we would have finished 7th??

Give Hodgson a chance, a lot can change in a season, let alone 5 years.

[steveeastend]

The Liverpool way... supporting any given manager. Which is a good thing basically.

How much of you would have prefered Souness to be sacked earlier from today´s point of view?

The Liverpool way shouldn´t be an argument used in order to support stupidity...

If Roy cannot prove to be up to today´s requirements for modern football tactics in the next couple of month it´s absolutely necessary for the club to change the manager asap. Otherwise we won´t only loose our position, we will loose the likes of Torres, Agger etc. as well just like Mascherano.  Mistakes happen, it only will end in a nightmare if you won´t admit it.

[storey1]

Not even arsed by that considering the fucking "Mur-Der-Ers" shite they come out with constantly.

two wrongs don't make a right i'm afraid.

[Koplass]

I thought we played ok, we contained them well, passed the ball quite nicely and were comfortable for the most part. We were a little ponderous in attack but took our couple of chances well. The problem is our defence, we have three central defenders who completely lack aerial ability and two fullbacks who aren't much better. All three of Berbatov's goals were a result of us not clearing the ball properly in the air.

The only defender we have that I actually trust in those scenarios is Soto, but he isn't good enough on the floor to play in these big games. I think we're going to struggle massively all season if Hodgson can't improve us at the back.

[silver 5 star]

Fuck them. All I could hear was what sounded like 60,000 singing 'sign on' and 'without killing anyone'. Fucking manc c*nts.

Indeed.

[bigbear]

But you were talking about how it's no surprise Rafa has gone because he couldn't deliver the one thing we crave the most.
 Do you honestly feel, on the basis of what you have seen so far this season, that that is likely to change in the next couple of years?
 If the answer is yes then I feel you are somewhat deluded, if the answer is no then what was the point of replacing a top quality coach with Roy Hodgson?

Neither Rafa, Roy Hodgson, Jose Mourinho or Bob Paisley would win the League with this group of players from a standing start.

The ship had stalled big time last year and Rafa was not the man who could put that right under the present regime. Only Dalglish could have possibly fired it up but that was high risk as it could have gone the other way and left him hanging and he is maybe too precious for that.

I did not want Hodgson but let's give him a go. We have had an horrific set of opening fixtures, lost our new star signing for 3 league games but put in a decent effort today at a place we have not turned up to a few times recently.

We need a centre half who can head a ball urgently and then let's see where we end up, the balance in midfield was not too bad today if we'd had a bit more threat from Maxi and Torres was a bit sharper.

We have two home league games coming up and if we win those then the world will be a much brighter place.

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

I love the way people are happy to see Agger come out in the press and criticise the current tactics (if he did indeed criticise), like it should be applauded for possibly causing a rift in the team.

Any in team problems should be done behind closed doors, but no, people call it "standing up" for what he believes in and think it's a good thing, pathetic, like this club is not in enough shit as it is.

An attempt to Carragherise one of the world's premier defenders and leaving him out because he won't turn shit is the reason why the club is in shit.

I agree with you that ideally things are kept in house, but tell you what, it doesn't matter if it's Liverpool or your local bakery, things only get kept in house when the results and the potential for results are there. I for one felt it important to know straight out why the best centre half at the club was on the bench.

Good.

[kkhaku]

It was the first season he was here, and points-wise we did finish closer to the relegation zone. Position-wise however, which is what people generally tend to go on and the way in which final placings are awarded since the dawn of time, we were 5th.

You said we "had many" seasons under him where we finished closer to the relegation zone. Even if you meant points-wise you'd be spectacularly wrong, so it's a completely laughable statement.

Your correct doc, but have you looked past the actual point of the post?

The tactics that lost us the match today involved sitting far too deep, isolating Torres, not employing any real width, constant passing backwards due to lack of movement in attack, over reliance on one or two players, and of course the constant hoofing. These are things we've heard Hogdson's Liverpool team criticized for since the start of the season.

What she's trying to say, however, is that we suffered from the same problems under Rafa. For more than one season. Maybe Roy's tactics are not the problem.

Frankly, I disagree. The tactics are a problem. The players are performances are a bigger problem though.

On another note - good God do we miss Dirk Kuyt.

[INABITSKI]

Not even arsed by that considering the fucking "Mur-Der-Ers" shite they come out with constantly.

From men, women and kids...

The FA pulled Spurs up a few years ago for singing to Sol Campbell, yet these lot are continuously allowed to sing this shite?

[Aristotle]

My biggest problem with Roy so far is that he appears to be making all the stubborn "mistakes" Rafa made. He makes odd substitutions and looks hellbent on playing his players.

I can not for the life of me understand the tactical failures of those substitutions today. Taking Meireles off (although I think someone mentioned he picked up a knock) for Jovanovic, putting Agger in for Konchesky and Ngog for Maxi. Changing the entire left flank of our team when we are weak there to begin with, but at that moment had the upper hand. They were stunned, all we had to do was go for the jugular. But he breaks up the (then) winning formula and completely offsets the balance of the team. Since he took off Meireles he should've stuck Lucas in and moved Gerrard up front with Torres.

And if there ever was "Babel time" that second goal was it. They were ours for the taking, they were looking shaky at the back and we needed to attack them directly, which just so happens to be Babel's only capability.

Now I'll support our manager, but I won't do it blindly. I have nothing to base it upon. Hodgson was brought in under the worst circumstances. Replacing the man that brought us European glory and title challenges and who was a big favourite, after reports that managers like Pellegrini, Deschampes and Hitzfeld were, up to a certain point, interested in the job. And biggest of all the undisputed King of the Kop wanted the job. Credit to Hogdson and all that, but when you are bottom on an (alleged) 5 man shortlist it's hard to strut along confident that the decision made was a purely footballing one.


I can accept that I may just be a head-in-the-sand ignorant, spoiled fan living on former glory and if so there's not a lot I can do about that and there sure as hell is a lot less that any of you can do about changing that. And I really don't give a shit if I am that unoriginal in bringing Rafa into it, but even at the absolute worst of times we always, always had something to look back on to find confidence.
When he first came here the only thing most people knew about him was that he won the league dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona for the last half a century or so. And he was the man that came to Anfield and whose team, at times, made Liverpool look like an average Sunday league team. He was the man that brought us victories (some of them against all odds) against Chelsea, Arsenal, the Mancs, Juventus, Inter, AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid. Who brought us 2 European finals in 3 years, an epic FA Cup final and many, many, many memorable wins against just about every team.
Even after a horrible, horrible game we could look back, with confidence, at the time we won at the Nou Camp, when we ended Chelsea's home streak, the 2 weeks where we scored 4 against Real Madrid and the Mancs and won Aston Villa 5-0 knowing deep down he was the man who could bring us back to that regardless of team sheets and odds.

Now we are in a situation where we stand on the brink of financial oblivion with a manager who has not won away since August 2009 (read that somewhere, if I'm wrong I stand corrected) and when he has been challenged so far as boss, failed tactically.

You can call me whatever you want. Doom monger, naysayer, ignorant, pessemistic, unsupporting or any other unoriginal thing you want. That's the way I see it, that's how I feel and there's not a single thing related to Liverpool Football Club at the moment that's telling me that it will change any time soon.

[Promised to never post on RAWK again]

Martin O'Neil then?

Martin O'Neil is a moron and I don't want that chimp anywhere near our club ...

Any new owners will keep with Roy for at least a season.

Highly unlikely ... If we do get new owners before the start of the next season, they will hire a higher profile manager ... Hodgson is merely a competent caretaker, and as such, he will have my support ... However, he is not a long-term solution for LFC, especially if we want to be back into the top 4 any time soon ...

[Fanxxxxtastic]

You know what, I'm not going to stop going on about Rafa. Fuck all yous who want to moan about it.

We got shot of a fucking amazing manager, a bloke who got us, a bloke who stuck up for us, a bloke who stood up to the pricks we hate, a bloke who stood up to the owners and wouldn't be bullied, and a bloke who took us to within a whisker of the title. A bloke who won us the champions league, made us a fucking terrifying proposition in Europe, a bloke who delivered batterings to the likes of the team we played today and Real Madrid, and you want people to NOT go on about him?!?

Fuck off. He was the mustard. The dogs bollocks. As good as it gets. And we got rid of him after ONE shite season to replace him with a yes man, a lovely old gent who kisses the arse of Ferguson and who has one of the worst records in the league.

No, I won't stop going on about Rafa, and I won't stop comparing the two. If you don't like it that's just tough shite.

It's a right bastard, but I can't get that fucker out of my system either

Just as you think you feel your getting over him, the swine sucks you back in again

[silver 5 star]

two wrongs don't make a right i'm afraid.

Maybe we should have got Ghandi as manager.

[Gnurglan]

After Rafa's 1st 5 games in charge did you actually believe we would have won the CL in his 1st season??

Would you have believed that after the season we finished 2nd the following we would have finished 7th??

Give Hodgson a chance, a lot can change in a season, let alone 5 years.

I'm all for giving him a chance. What I worry is that we will change in the wrong direction. So far we've watched standard 1A defending and we haven't impressed going forward. Say we get our defence to work - we'll be where we were five years ago.

Can't say anything for sure about the future. But what exactly indicates that we're on the right track now? Owners? Board? Manager? Players? Fans?

[steveeastend]

I have no clue what Stevie´s talking about... great posession? Performance very good? Created a lot of chances?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9013919.stm

[Karlton81]

An attempt to Carragherise one of the world's premier defenders and leaving him out because he won't turn shit is the reason why the club is in shit.

I agree with you that ideally things are kept in house, but tell you what, it doesn't matter if it's Liverpool or your local bakery, things only get kept in house when the results and the potential for results are there. I for one felt it important to know straight out why the best centre half at the club was on the bench.

Good.

I think that Agger is a remarkable CB, However he is more of a elegant CB that a rough and tough CB, and when ur up against Rooney and Berbatov, seen as Carragher is so unlikely to be dropped, i personally think you need physical CB's and that's why Skrtel played. I would also play Skrtel when we play Chelsea as i can see him dealing with Drogba better than Agger.

[Fordy]

Neither Rafa, Roy Hodgson, Jose Mourinho or Bob Paisley would win the League with this group of players from a standing start.

The ship had stalled big time last year and Rafa was not the man who could put that right under the present regime. Only Dalglish could have possibly fired it up but that was high risk as it could have gone the other way and left him hanging and he is maybe too precious for that.

I did not want Hodgson but let's give him a go. We have had an horrific set of opening fixtures, lost our new star signing for 3 league games but put in a decent effort today at a place we have not turned up to a few times recently.

We need a centre half who can head a ball urgently and then let's see where we end up, the balance in midfield was not too bad today if we'd had a bit more threat from Maxi and Torres was a bit sharper.

We have two home league games coming up and if we win those then the world will be a much brighter place.

Top post mate.

[hoonin]

We have two home league games coming up and if we win those then the world will be a much brighter place.

But I want it, no, DEMAND it now. Next week is no good.

[firing squad]

I have no clue what Stevie´s talking about... great posession? Performance very good? Created a lot of chances?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9013919.stm

[steveeastend]

I'm all for giving him a chance. What I worry is that we will change in the wrong direction. So far we've watched standard 1A defending and we haven't impressed going forward. Say we get our defence to work - we'll be where we were five years ago.

Can't say anything for sure about the future. But what exactly indicates that we're on the right track now? Owners? Board? Manager? Players? Fans?

Hodgson still has to prove if he´s up to the requirements of modern football tactic, which is absolutely crucial for a club who wants to play a role in domestic and european football. If not, he is not the right man for LFC.

After listening to Gerrards post game interview I fear that AL55 quotes might be actually true.

[El Campeador]

Give Hodgson a chance, a lot can change in a season, let alone 5 years.

That was his first chance right fucking there. It was his chance at immortality. Down two goals at Trafford, for one fleeting second, Roy Hodgson's "chance" was staring at you right in the fucking face. United had shipped late goals in their last two league matches, they were trembling, everyone felt it. Balanced on the proverbial knife-edge.

Then Berbatov cemented a stone in history that you will all fucking hear about, for fucking ever.

That marked the end of Roy Hodgson's First Chance At Immortality. Hopefully he does better with his next chance, eh, we don't "support our manager" like we used to. In fahct, our last manager Walked Alone.

Welcome to Liverpool Roy. Use your chances well.

[bigbear]

But I want it, no, DEMAND it now. Next week is no good.

Ok, I'll get the wand out. Sadly there is no quick fix and that is even if we restrict our thoughts to on-field matters only.

[firing squad]

I think that Agger is a remarkable CB, However he is more of a elegant CB that a rough and tough CB, and when ur up against Rooney and Berbatov, seen as Carragher is so unlikely to be dropped, i personally think you need physical CB's and that's why Skrtel played. I would also play Skrtel when we play Chelsea as i can see him dealing with Drogba better than Agger.

and he did a brilliant job because Berbatov scored 3 goals today. Top work right there.

[Not funny reecehenebry]

That was his first chance right fucking there. It was his chance at immortality. Down two goals at Trafford, for one fleeting second, Roy Hodgson's "chance" was staring at you right in the fucking face. United had shipped late goals in their last two league matches, they were trembling, everyone felt it. Balanced on the proverbial knife-edge.

Then Berbatov cemented a stone in history that you will all fucking hear about, for fucking ever.

That marked the end of Roy Hodgson's First Chance At Immortality. Hopefully he does better with his next chance, eh, we don't "support our manager" like we used to. In fahct, our last manager Walked Alone.

Welcome to Liverpool Roy. Use your chances well.

If he had to put in another Cb from the bench,why didn't he put Soto on?If we are going to allow crosses why not play the only player we have that can handle them?

[HiTs]

Spot on ......but depressing.

My biggest problem with Roy so far is that he appears to be making all the stubborn "mistakes" Rafa made. He makes odd substitutions and looks hellbent on playing his players.

I can not for the life of me understand the tactical failures of those substitutions today. Taking Meireles off (although I think someone mentioned he picked up a knock) for Jovanovic, putting Agger in for Konchesky and Ngog for Maxi. Changing the entire left flank of our team when we are weak there to begin with, but at that moment had the upper hand. They were stunned, all we had to do was go for the jugular. But he breaks up the (then) winning formula and completely offsets the balance of the team. Since he took off Meireles he should've stuck Lucas in and moved Gerrard up front with Torres.

And if there ever was "Babel time" that second goal was it. They were ours for the taking, they were looking shaky at the back and we needed to attack them directly, which just so happens to be Babel's only capability.

Now I'll support our manager, but I won't do it blindly. I have nothing to base it upon. Hodgson was brought in under the worst circumstances. Replacing the man that brought us European glory and title challenges and who was a big favourite, after reports that managers like Pellegrini, Deschampes and Hitzfeld were, up to a certain point, interested in the job. And biggest of all the undisputed King of the Kop wanted the job. Credit to Hogdson and all that, but when you are bottom on an (alleged) 5 man shortlist it's hard to strut along confident that the decision made was a purely footballing one.


I can accept that I may just be a head-in-the-sand ignorant, spoiled fan living on former glory and if so there's not a lot I can do about that and there sure as hell is a lot less that any of you can do about changing that. And I really don't give a shit if I am that unoriginal in bringing Rafa into it, but even at the absolute worst of times we always, always had something to look back on to find confidence.
When he first came here the only thing most people knew about him was that he won the league dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona for the last half a century or so. And he was the man that came to Anfield and whose team, at times, made Liverpool look like an average Sunday league team. He was the man that brought us victories (some of them against all odds) against Chelsea, Arsenal, the Mancs, Juventus, Inter, AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid. Who brought us 2 European finals in 3 years, an epic FA Cup final and many, many, many memorable wins against just about every team.
Even after a horrible, horrible game we could look back, with confidence, at the time we won at the Nou Camp, when we ended Chelsea's home streak, the 2 weeks where we scored 4 against Real Madrid and the Mancs and won Aston Villa 5-0 knowing deep down he was the man who could bring us back to that regardless of team sheets and odds.

Now we are in a situation where we stand on the brink of financial oblivion with a manager who has not won away since August 2009 (read that somewhere, if I'm wrong I stand corrected) and when he has been challenged so far as boss, failed tactically.

You can call me whatever you want. Doom monger, naysayer, ignorant, pessemistic, unsupporting or any other unoriginal thing you want. That's the way I see it, that's how I feel and there's not a single thing related to Liverpool Football Club at the moment that's telling me that it will change any time soon.

[megabomberman]

I'm not criticizing Hodgson because he was brought in by this board - I'm only suggesting that he doesn't get the automatic support that I gave other managers because of it. That's not something I can explain, it's just my own personal feelings. I've personally been against many decisions that the board and the owners have taken. It would take something special for me to line up unquestioningly behind one of their decisions, because their track record is, frankly, shit.

Like I suggested, and you picked up on, Hodgson's football results on the pitch may take me from "uncomfortable observer of Hodgson's appointment" to "outright proponent of the Hodgson Way". So far, he's really given me little to suggest the change was for footballing reasons, that we got a superior manager in the footballing sense for the 11.5 million quid we spent to upgrade managers. But football's an afterthought.

Business wise, the direction is alarming. The squad is getting older in a hurry due to the age of his recruits and the age of the Rafa-era players that Hodgson has chosen to keep, and the money's running out. We'll have to replace Konchesky, Kuyt, Gerrard, Carra, Maxi, Cole, Poulsen, Jovanovic, Kyrgiakos, and Aurelio within the next 3 years. Even Torres, Meireles and Johnson are the wrong side of 25. Even if this flock of players starts bringing in results, we're gonna be fucked soon. We don't have any Patos or Messis on our team. The youngest player who has a claim to the word "starter" is Lucas, and he's the most picked on member of this team, and I don't expect him to be around for much longer. Insua is gone. Ayala is on loan. Mikel San Jose starts for Bilbao. Two kids were swapped for Konchesky. Nemeth is in Greece. The Riojas bought for 2015 are being popped without any thought to Best Drinking Date.

But getting back to Rafa - I disagree with your statement that "we" thought he should have gone for the jugular when he "settled" for something less. Rafa had the right approach - first become dead hard to beat, then worry about converting the draws into wins. Everyone bitched about the draws in 2008/2009 - well I'd give my left arsecheek for that many draws every season. Every season Baz. I would take that many draws every season. Let me say that again so that there is no confusion. I would take that many draws every league campaign.

You know why? Because Rafa had it right - with that many draws, and taking something like 14 points from top 4 teams (that's sick) we still had the most points that any second place team ever had. If we did that every year, we'd be within shouting distance of the title every season. Most of us just cannot wrap our limited intellect around the fact that it's not about one hand; it's about getting to the final table. Just because you create chances to see a flop, it doesn't mean you go all in every hand. It's a campaign. Fuck going for it every minute, instead be hard to beat and consistent. Take the points from home/away matchups against top opposition. That's it, djes. You don't need to go for broke against Stoke. Most times, Kuyt's opener counts, and Gerrard's shot goes in off the post. Meanwhile, you accumulate a war chest from Champions League revenue, and spend a percentage of it on a lot - a lot - of cheap, promising kids.

Instead, we did what Rafa always said not to do. We pushed harder than we should have in 2009/2010 when we didn't really have a chance at winning the hand, lost when it was obvious we weren't gonna win, took that as an indictment of Rafa and the whole fucking system, and then tilted madly. Victims of emotion. Pathetic really.

I can't speak for most people, Baz, but my discomfort with how we look now isn't about plucking random results and comparing them. It's about the entire tournament, indeed, the entire portfolio, not an isolated case by case comparison. Rafa made it so that you didn't give a shit which fucking ball emerged of Platini's jar. On any given day, Rafa's Rojas - a portfolio full of individual results that may look questionable in isolation - looked like something I'd put my money on. On any given day. You can't say that now. Would you fancy something out of an away trip to Inter Milan right now? Would you fuck. He'd fucking rip us to shreds, then look at his watch, the fat fuck.

Whether he bought Alonso for 10m or sold him for 30m, whether he bought Mascherano or sold Sissoko, whether Crouch fired blanks or became prolific for England, whether he swapped Josemi for Kromkamp (sp?) or Dudek for Reina, whether he played Gerrard on the right or off Torres, whether he "went for it" or "settled for a draw", whether he won in Istanbul or made 2 finals in 3 years, whether he stuck with Bellamy or bought Torres, on or off, whether his team conceded 4 to Arshavin or hit Chelsea for 4 at the Bridge - Rafa earned my respect, and my support because the longterm results were overwhelmingly positive. Random decisions and results mean nothing.


If Rafa were a fund, I'd invest in it. It looks like it would feature consistent performance, profits, and dividends - possibly boring, but those are usually stellart investments. I didn't disagree with any single individual thing Rafa did, especially not fucking subs or silly shit like "going for it" because I knew that over time, I was in the right hands. Day to day decisions may have indeed been random; but the long term results were on an upward trajectory. In his shittiest year, he came within minutes of a European final. That's long term results smoothed out for ya.

Unfortunately, some of us sound like folks who sold a longterm winner at the first sign of trouble, hopped onto a risky stock, and are now peering intently at the price over the last week, while alarm bells are ringing on the one year chart. "Oh it'll be alright, Rafa lost at Trafford too, it's not so bad," they say.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

In particular just reading all the amazing stuff, the roller coaster ride in bold,

some clueless arm chair, flick the back page supporters are still so oblivious to all this though, unfortunately they will be getting their just desserts soon...

We think things are bad now,

we don't know the half of it yet.

[steveeastend]

My biggest problem with Roy so far is that he appears to be making all the stubborn "mistakes" Rafa made. He makes odd substitutions and looks hellbent on playing his players.

I can not for the life of me understand the tactical failures of those substitutions today. Taking Meireles off (although I think someone mentioned he picked up a knock) for Jovanovic, putting Agger in for Konchesky and Ngog for Maxi. Changing the entire left flank of our team when we are weak there to begin with, but at that moment had the upper hand. They were stunned, all we had to do was go for the jugular. But he breaks up the (then) winning formula and completely offsets the balance of the team. Since he took off Meireles he should've stuck Lucas in and moved Gerrard up front with Torres.

And if there ever was "Babel time" that second goal was it. They were ours for the taking, they were looking shaky at the back and we needed to attack them directly, which just so happens to be Babel's only capability.

Now I'll support our manager, but I won't do it blindly. I have nothing to base it upon. Hodgson was brought in under the worst circumstances. Replacing the man that brought us European glory and title challenges and who was a big favourite, after reports that managers like Pellegrini, Deschampes and Hitzfeld were, up to a certain point, interested in the job. And biggest of all the undisputed King of the Kop wanted the job. Credit to Hogdson and all that, but when you are bottom on an (alleged) 5 man shortlist it's hard to strut along confident that the decision made was a purely footballing one.


I can accept that I may just be a head-in-the-sand ignorant, spoiled fan living on former glory and if so there's not a lot I can do about that and there sure as hell is a lot less that any of you can do about changing that. And I really don't give a shit if I am that unoriginal in bringing Rafa into it, but even at the absolute worst of times we always, always had something to look back on to find confidence.
When he first came here the only thing most people knew about him was that he won the league dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona for the last half a century or so. And he was the man that came to Anfield and whose team, at times, made Liverpool look like an average Sunday league team. He was the man that brought us victories (some of them against all odds) against Chelsea, Arsenal, the Mancs, Juventus, Inter, AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid. Who brought us 2 European finals in 3 years, an epic FA Cup final and many, many, many memorable wins against just about every team.
Even after a horrible, horrible game we could look back, with confidence, at the time we won at the Nou Camp, when we ended Chelsea's home streak, the 2 weeks where we scored 4 against Real Madrid and the Mancs and won Aston Villa 5-0 knowing deep down he was the man who could bring us back to that regardless of team sheets and odds.

Now we are in a situation where we stand on the brink of financial oblivion with a manager who has not won away since August 2009 (read that somewhere, if I'm wrong I stand corrected) and when he has been challenged so far as boss, failed tactically.

You can call me whatever you want. Doom monger, naysayer, ignorant, pessemistic, unsupporting or any other unoriginal thing you want. That's the way I see it, that's how I feel and there's not a single thing related to Liverpool Football Club at the moment that's telling me that it will change any time soon.

Absolutely great post!!!

[Gnurglan]

I have no clue what Stevie´s talking about... great posession? Performance very good? Created a lot of chances?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9013919.stm

Strange that. We didn't play well. We created very, very little going forward. Sure we had the ball 50% of the time, but what did we do with it? Guess he tries to be positive, but the only thing we should take with us is that we went from 0-2 to 2-2, despite not being very good.

I can understand that he's supportive of Hodgson. It's only fair to say that it will take time to get the ideas across.

[Dubai_Red]

He's a nice guy and knows his football. He doesn't have a stick up his ass like most managers in this league, and we're fortunate to have him. He has a jovial spirit to him, which is shocking considering the owners and the mess he's put himself in. People talk about Roy as if the enemy, saying he's beneath the standards of the club and somehow plotting against us just like Hicks and Gillette and Purslow. But he took a risk. By taking this job with the owners, he has put his entire managerial reputation on the line. Talk about courageous. Take all the pressure of this job normally, considering the history and the incredible expectations, and double it because of the mess we're in right now. He is taking that on. And all of this, he does with a smile on his face. He's someone all the doom-mongerers on this board should look towards.....keep your head up, we'll get through this. People seem to think if you don't hate the manager and talk in negative terms 24/7 you're somehow not loyal to the club and a ridiculous fan. But hey, maybe I'm just being naive and incredibly optimistic. But I must say, he likes being here, and I like having him here.

Is this a wind up? He is fucking lucky to be managing us, not the other way round as you've stated. Furthermore, what do you think is his managerial reputation which he is putting on the line by agreeing to manage us?

This appointment was a lottery for Roy, a one in a life time opportunity to manage one of the biggest clubs in world football!!!

Ffs!!!

[storey1]

Maybe we should have got Ghandi as manager.

because Gandhi controls what comes out of a morons mouth at a football game. cop on lad.

[Strummer77]

In fahct, our last manager Walked Alone.

Disagree. I think we supported Benitez a hell of a lot, at least the real fan did. It was the board that didn't support him.

[Liam N]

Overall... a shite 1st half performance and a 2nd one in which thanks to great character and balls we managed to get level... temporarily. What can we all take from the game? Well...

- Even if Nando doesn't score, his skills are very much valuable (two "assists" by being fouled)
- Stevie is CLASS. He did a great job tackling, defending and clearing. And of course, great finishing in the set pieces. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Raul M a DM? I was sure that he would be the new guy in an Alonso position so Gerrard could continue lo link with Torres way farther. We should try that in the future, it would be interesting.
- BTW Meireles wasn't at his best, but it's clear we need the guy. He did more than ok in his 2nd PL match and his first derby. I wasn't bothered by his sub, 'cause he just played 2 days ago and he isn't "that settled yet" right? We should be thankful he started. Although, the fact that Jova was the one that came in instead of Babel IMO was the problem.

- Obviusly, there has been a lot of comparison between RH and RB. First of all, I think Rafa was a really great manager, but there were 2 particular things that got on my nerves about him: being so ROBOTIC (at some moments LFC didn't have any spark, we were just mechanized and unsurprising, the main reason why we couldn't break down poor oppositions) and above all, being the nerd that he is, studying every little detail, being so f*ckin STUBBORN, y' know, making non-sense subs, and sticking to ideas that costed us dear for a long time (some line ups, the godamn zonal marking, etc), like he didn't learn from his mistakes. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not having a go at Rafa, the guy really earned my respect (which means a lot). I'm only bringin this up cause it seems that Roy seems to learn this type of things pretty quickly. We were not LFC, but we weren't certainly the team that travelled to Birmingham last week were we? There was improvement, there wasn't a Lucas/Poulsen partnership, there wasn't any LFC serbian at the start, and we seem to be walking (slowly) towards the right direction. Now if only he could grow a pair, realize he is at England's best team now and be ambitious, go for the win from the very first second and call Red Nose a fagg...   

- Carra was ok, more damage cleared than harm done. Maxi was terrible, sadly, he can read the game so well but lately he hasn't been himself. Poulsen, well, he wasn't the reason we lost was he? He got a few good tackles, but still, his space could be better filled. Cole doesn't seem to have the pace to be best suited in a flank. Ngog gave us a new look when he came in, his presence was very important for us to go forward and score. Should he be a starter from now on? The way the team improved seems to suggest so.

Let's just get behind the lads, get G & H out as soon as possible and we'll be a force in England and the whole world again. As for today, let's just get this out of our system. Get some decent time with your family, friends or missus, have fun and take your mind off it. Tomorrow, you can punch any manc that tries to annoy you with the game. But tonight, well, let's just achnowledge that non sleeping fans won't do the club any good ok?

Cheers

[Karlton81]

That was his first chance right fucking there. It was his chance at immortality. Down two goals at Trafford, for one fleeting second, Roy Hodgson's "chance" was staring at you right in the fucking face. United had shipped late goals in their last two league matches, they were trembling, everyone felt it. Balanced on the proverbial knife-edge.

Then Berbatov cemented a stone in history that you will all fucking hear about, for fucking ever.

That marked the end of Roy Hodgson's First Chance At Immortality. Hopefully he does better with his next chance, eh, we don't "support our manager" like we used to. In fahct, our last manager Walked Alone.

Welcome to Liverpool Roy. Use your chances well.

Hang on, what did you want him to do at 2-2? put a pair of fucking boots, sub himself on and bang a top corner from 75 yards?

you can't always use the manager as the reason you lose or win, his selection may have put us 2 down and it also may have got us back into the game.

but it's not his fault Torres didn't mark Berbatov properly, Carragher was out jumped or that Berbatov produced and world class finish.

[Karlton81]

and he did a brilliant job because Berbatov scored 3 goals today. Top work right there.

didn't say he played well, out of the 3 goals how many were directly his fault? and who's to say Agger would have done better?

[Gnurglan]

After listening to Gerrards post game interview I fear that AL55 quotes might be actually true.