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

[silver 5 star]

erm I think Chelsea won the League last year mate.

Must have an old telly.

[mybacklight]

We held our own and nearly won the match.. Loads of positives to take away from the game. Disappointed we didnt get the third goal, but we be back and we once we are a bit sharper we finish them mancs good style.

[Meako1977]

erm I think Chelsea won the League last year mate.

The first winner of the 'spot the deliberate mistake' competition on a Monday. Prize in the post!!! Just e-mail me your full name, address, credit card details.

(Smart ass!!)

[Sat1]

I accepted the defeat before the game began.

Never done that in my whole life, and felt sad for it.

[LiamG]

Although Jovanovic came on, i think Babel should of got at least 15minutes to run at there defence

[Mad Men]

Although Jovanovic came on, i think Babel should of got at least 15minutes to run at there defence

The game was crying out for pace on the wing....Babel time...and when we had them on the back foot, and scored, we when and did the complete opposite...sat back and defended...and conceded possession time and time again until that 3rd goal.

[proudred]

I thought mereles played good yesterday. why he was subbed for jova I don't know .Babel should have replaced maxi at half time.

[stoa]

It was an odd game. We might have had decent possession, but apart from the two goals we didn't do much with it (and I dare say we wouldn't have scored had Evans and O'Shea not fouled Nando). Once again we looked like we were shit-scared of them, not pressing and simply waiting for them to do something. When we had the ball, we were happy to pass it around in midfield and whenever we tried to go forward the ball was almost immediately lost. Overall I'm worried about the way we're playing (as the defending was quite shocking yet again).

There are some positives though. Mereilles looks like a good player and once he's fully settled I'd imagine he'll become important for us. Poulsen also did his job, but then again I think Lucas could offer the same thing. And I loved how Agger was having a real go at that Michael-Jackson-looking twat.

[ozzy-red]

We held our own and nearly won the match.. Loads of positives to take away from the game. Disappointed we didnt get the third goal, but we be back and we once we are a bit sharper we finish them mancs good style.

Held our own?
we deserved to get beaten 4 nil. lucky to score the two we did.
and the only positives that i can see from that game is that gerrard played well, and torres was dangerous when he was given the chance, which was rare.
our defence was shaky, our midfield, particularly the wingers were poor and unimaginative.
Hopefully it's just taking time for the team to gel under roy, and hopefully he realises that agger is our best centre back and should be starting every fucking game

[FanField]

And I loved how Agger was having a real go at that Michael-Jackson-looking twat.

the dirty little cheating bastard

[Hank Scorpio]

Anyone think that United were there for the taking yesterday?  We defended way too deep and gave up an opportunity.

United had their strikers constantly falling back and helping press our midfield.  We just seemed to back off and invite crosses.

United have been stuttering of late and allowed us back in also.  Just think we should have taken the game to them.

[Art Vandelay]

Did we have a single decent chance in open-play during the entire game?  I genuinely cannot remember us having an opening that we worked, or a shot on target.....did Van Der Sar actually make a single save?

[Alonso_The_Assassin]

Anyone think that United were there for the taking yesterday?  We defended way too deep and gave up an opportunity.

United had their strikers constantly falling back and helping press our midfield.  We just seemed to back off and invite crosses.

United have been stuttering of late and allowed us back in also.  Just think we should have taken the game to them.

United crumbled after the two goals. We went down the road of every other mid table team by sitting back in the final ten minutes at Old Trafford. The rest is history.

[stjohns]

This is not a great utd team but you've still got to be on the top of your game to beat them. We were pretty clueless for most of the match and I'm afraid the scoreline flatters us as it could easily have been an absolute hammering. Still, typical of the way things are going for us these days, that Berbatov finally remembers what he's being paid to do.

[LFCfan4Life]

We just seemed to back off and invite crosses.

the story of our season so far

[killerH]

Anyone think that United were there for the taking yesterday?  We defended way too deep and gave up an opportunity.

United had their strikers constantly falling back and helping press our midfield.  We just seemed to back off and invite crosses.

United have been stuttering of late and allowed us back in also.  Just think we should have taken the game to them.

That's where we lost the game imo - it's astonishing that a team that cannot defend crosses or corners (Carra and Skrtel) are so shit at preventing them. I mean Jova yesterday could have tackled O'Shea, but he just stood off for about 2 or 3 seconds - waiting for the cross to be delivered. 

And what on earth was Paul Konchesky doing for their first goal? Standing in the middle of the goal, blocking Pepe and then handballing it -almost getting sent off! If he was standing on the line, next to the post, he would have blocked it.
Also why was Nando marking Berbatov? Must be a joke really? Why wasn't Skrtel marking him, after all he charged to the near post to shove someone.

What can we give to have Sami back? Our defence seems to have gone back to the Mid 90's, shite at defending crosses, corners and can't head the ball for toffee (apart from Soto, but he'll never play apart from the Europa League).

Defending so deep and inviting crosses only compounds our misery.

[cornelius]

I accepted the defeat before the game began.

Never done that in my whole life, and felt sad for it.

Obviously weren't following us during the nineties and noughties if it's the first time you've ever done that.

United crumbled after the two goals. We went down the road of every other mid table team by sitting back in the final ten minutes at Old Trafford. The rest is history.

I see your point but I've seen far more gutless displays from us at Old Trafford down the years than yesterday.

[muckerg2010]

One word for us yesterday...........AWFUL!

We we're not positive enough in any of our play! Poulsen needs to be sent back where he came from, the guy cannot pass forward! He just gets the ball in an advanced position and goes backwards! We sat back for 85 minutes of the game and let the mancs come at us. If you go to old trafford with one striker, you are never going to win. You need to get at them and pressure Utd for every ball, not sit back. Torres only came to light once Ngog came on, as he knew he had support. Even Nando can't take on 4 defenders! Come on lets be realistic about this! We should of gone there and attacked from the off, but as per usual of late we went and played for a draw! Someone somewhere in that Liverpool dressing room is holding the team back, as I haven't seen one game this season (apart from Thursday 2ns half) where we have been a force to be reckoned with. We have the talent, it just isn't utilised! And as for Hogdson saying he didn't think O'Shea should of been sent off! Well enough said! I don't want to quote the FA rules, but if you are last man a bring down a player on a goalscoring opportunity, your off my son!!!!!!!!!! 

[cornelius]

Anyone think that United were there for the taking yesterday? 

The thing is everyone knows how to beat United...have a go at the wankers. Teams that do it, have shown time and again, just how ordinary they are sometimes. Their reputation is carrying them on a lot of occasions but they are most definitely in decline at the moment. The question is, will everybody work this out like they did with us at the beginning of the 90's?

[Dr Manhattan]

To be fair she obviously means 'at some point during the season', not 'at the end of the season'. That should be pretty obvious - there's plenty better reasons to rip the post apart

Firstly, she doesn't mean 'at some point during the season' because it clearly says 'the title' in her post, and the title is at the end of the season, not during it.

Secondly, she already followed up the point she was making and pretty much confirmed that she meant at the end of the season.

So no, it wasn't "pretty obvious".

[lionel_messias]

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.

Retweeted this fucking briliant post. Its hard to see the wood from the trees sometimes. Ultimately the man in question was too political though.

I think people should try and respect Roy more though, at least for this season while he struggles with the mess of our squad. We are not and never will be Man City.

[lionel_messias]

Defending so deep and inviting crosses only compounds our misery.

Our kingdom for a centre half.

[stockdam]

We seemed to expect at most a draw from the match. When we got back to 2-2 then we sat back instead of attacking them. I'm not sure what babel has done but he should be playing as he gives us width and pace on the wing.

[jaffod]

It would be interesting to see how many goals the mancs have scored against us in the last 20 years simply by putting crosses into the box.
 I reckon it would probably work out at an average of one a season. In the same period I can only really remember Torres' header last season resulting in a goal for us. The old pisshead certainly knows how to play us.

[lionel_messias]

It would be interesting to see how many goals the mancs have scored against us in the last 20 years simply by putting crosses into the box.
 I reckon it would probably work out at an average of one a season. In the same period I can only really remember Torres' header last season resulting in a goal for us. The old pisshead certainly knows how to play us.

With Konchesky on one side and Johnson on the other, expect this tactic to be repeated in the Premiership

[RossoBianchi]

Although I never understand people filming them, I do enjoy watching these vids of United goals. So despite the result, you might like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqQoJk48p1Y

[bleedsred1978]

15 minutes to go at old Trafford at 2 all and we bring on a centre back instead of a speedy forward= Wrong message to the team and a game losing change.

[reds88]

the dirty little cheating bastard

United can't do without one in their team.

[jaffod]

United can't do without one in their team.

Funny how Slurgie is able to accuse Torres of cheating and yet absolutely fuck all has been said about that complete and utter c*nt who plays for them.

[JohnnoWhite]

We held our own and nearly won the match.. Loads of positives to take away from the game. Disappointed we didnt get the third goal, but we be back and we once we are a bit sharper we finish them mancs good style.

This is... ahem......how shall I put it kindly - a little bit of an overly rosy-tinted specs viewpoint don't you think?

[Alonso_The_Assassin]

]

I see your point but I've seen far more gutless displays from us at Old Trafford down the years than yesterday.

Oh definitely, mate. I was just alluding to the fact that we did what many teams have done when placed in the same situation as us yesterday at the wretched joint (most glaring example was probably Villa back in 08/09). We dropped 10 yards back just inviting the pressure. Pepe couldn't move cause our centre halves were stood on his toes! The writing was on the wall when Meireles come off, imo. Fucking depressing but reality's a c*nt, no?

[nicholasanthony]

No, we did not have more possession in the first half. Stats are 58% in the mancs favour and a similar amount for the second.

Really? Someone had us 54-46 up at half time in the pre-match thread. Yours does sound more likely though.

[PaisleyPrint]

the dirty little cheating bastard

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/nani-play-acting-liverpool-6931844/

Freedom posted this on Agger's thread.

[Fruity]

Really? Someone had us 54-46 up at half time in the pre-match thread. Yours does sound more likely though.

I think sky has us at 50.5% to their 49.5% and after the first 10 we had the lions share of possession in the first half, but we didnt do a great deal with it. They had far greater territorial advantage in possession stakes though (meaning they had more possession in our final 3rd than we did theirs)

[sigilium]

I can't believe that drunk, whiskey nosed wanker has the audacity to say nando cheated, he was blatently fould twice, one of which should have beena sending off (I know some here disagree but...) Nani must now have replaced Ronaldo as the biggest cheat in the league. Wish Dagger woud have put a proper tackle in on him after the soft little shite went down claiming a penalty

[nicholasanthony]

I think sky has us at 50.5% to their 49.5% and after the first 10 we had the lions share of possession in the first half, but we didnt do a great deal with it. They had far greater territorial advantage in possession stakes though (meaning they had more possession in our final 3rd than we did theirs)

No doubt they dominated us. But as cliche as it is, its not really about possession but rather what you do when you have it. I wouldn't mind getting done in possession stats if we were a crisp counter attacking machine but unfortunately we are not.

[common]

On a positive note, we're not that skint. We're only 20k short (Insua's week wages) from getting a point yesterday. 
Fuck off Hicks Gillet and Purslow you c*nts.

[Jason_King]

Few points from the game and I cant put them together as eloquently as some on here so here they are in laymans terms-

Konchesky not as bad as some make out, yes his crossing was awful and the dozy bellend shouldnt have drifted into the middle of the goal for a corner, I mean wtf?!

Carragher- Not awful but sickening to see Berba murder him for the header. Soto would have been an option today if he had a quicker centre back alongside him as Berba is never going to hammer someone for pace and he wouldnt have beat Soto in the air.

Maxi- Waste of time and always has been. A free player so to be expected and very, very average, ok first touch and little else. Could never understand the Maxi love on here myself.

Meireles- I like him, looks like a good allround centre mid, can play a bit and put his foot in.

Poulsen- Can put his foot in, looks an alright stopper, no masch by any means

Gerrard- Played well, good to see him in CM and showing some discipline. Im not sure if he is better off Torres instead of Meireles with RM looking a good allrounder, although potentially not as dangerous as SG up top

Cole looked ok

We badly need some width and another front man, but this isnt something we didnt already know

Torres did well off little service

even at 2-2 I had a feeling we wouldnt hold on :-(

Nani is a despicable little cnut as well

[JohnnoWhite]

Few points from the game and I cant put them together as eloquently as some on here so here they are in laymans terms-

Konchesky not as bad as some make out, yes his crossing was awful and the dozy bellend shouldnt have drifted into the middle of the goal for a corner, I mean wtf?!

Carragher- Not awful but sickening to see Berba murder him for the header. Soto would have been an option today if he had a quicker centre back alongside him as Berba is never going to hammer someone for pace and he wouldnt have beat Soto in the air.

Maxi- Waste of time and always has been. A free player so to be expected and very, very average, ok first touch and little else. Could never understand the Maxi love on here myself.

Meireles- I like him, looks like a good allround centre mid, can play a bit and put his foot in.

Poulsen- Can put his foot in, looks an alright stopper, no masch by any means

Gerrard- Played well, good to see him in CM and showing some discipline. Im not sure if he is better off Torres instead of Meireles with RM looking a good allrounder, although potentially not as dangerous as SG up top

Cole looked ok

We badly need some width and another front man, but this isnt something we didnt already know

Torres did well off little service

even at 2-2 I had a feeling we wouldnt hold on :-(

Nani is a despicable little cnut as well

Even as a United fan I'll agree with that sentiment. Can't be doing with cheating diving bastards whichever club they play for.

[muyuu]

This is a rather poor United, but still miles better than us at the time

We do look like a small time act at the moment.