Topic: Man Utd 1 Liverpool 0 post game

[Agger]

Haven't seen a double substitution from a Liverpool manager in a while. And before the 70th minute for that matter. I liked it.

As for the game, proud of the boys.

[Rohit]

There is a reason ferguson hasnt been as successful in europe as he has domestically, that is the refs are not on his side as they are in the league.

[smicer07]

meireles is such a shitouse.

Mate, Rafael was coming in two footed. Meireles either has to pull out or accept a broken leg. That's why he didn't go in hard.

[Torpedo Tommy]

It was a soft penalty but we'd have got that at ours.

Would we?

Someone remind me when we got a soft key penalty (i.e. at 0-0 or 1-0) at Anfield or anywhere else?

New Years honours?  The man is a corrupt disgrace who should never be allowed on a football field again.

He's had three decisions to make; the penalty, Rafael's 2 footed challenge of the ball and finally Gerrard's lunge.  If he gets the first two right its 0-0 after 35 minutes, Rafael is booked, we have a free kick and 11 men. 

Sadly he's folded to Ferguson once more and, got to admit he's made the right decision on Stevie who was a little silly.

100% effort for 90 minutes was refreshing - unfortunately Webb's inability caused us more problems than the Mancs!

[whtwht]

A ref gives a pen when he's blindsided by the defender making the challenge, and overrules a linesman who is looking directly side on to it and gave nothing.
He really is shite.

This.
Proud of the team play today btw. So relaxed with Kenny at the helm even with so much against us.

[Young Young]

Pity with the result, nothing worse after such a solid performance. I love youth and to see Kelly being our best player is brilliant and Jonjo coming on and doing well too. On the other hand it's Fernando, he was our worst. Is this because he was up on his own or what? He 'Fernando' needs to sit down with Kenny and trash out his issues because to me feels like there is lots of stuff bothering him. It will be interesting month on how he responds working with Kenny. YNWA

[TheDpoLenz without the please like]

Surely it doesn't matter where he plays...anyone who can outperform Sir Ryan The Holiest Saviour of men, women and children Giggs OBE CBE MBE PHD deserves special praise

Boring very boring.

[Mal]

1 - Berbatov didn't take sufficient contact (if any) to go over like he did. Ergo he dived. Arguably (if we're going to see it totally one eyed) he should get a yellow for his trouble rather than a penalty & man of the match.

2 - Steven was very, very silly but given Rafael going through Merieles two footed in the build up it's understandable as to why might have got away with it. If Webb had stopped the game for the two footed challenge by Rafael we wouldn't even be discussing it. For me Merieles saw it coming & did the sensible thing to avoid a bad injury (broken foot not impossible given Rafael's challenge); he not doubt was expecting a decision in his favour; we all know why it wasn't given.

3 - We looked like a football team again. Not outstanding in our play but our application & the decisions from the dugout were first class throughout.

[TALBERT]

bloke on this is Anfield phone in

makes a great point

if Webb sent players off for similar tackles like Gerrard's today

Holland would of finished the WC final with 8 men

[Paul JH]

meireles is such a shitouse.

Behave. Is that all you can do today, call one of our players a shithouse? Proper fan.

[Agger]

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish: "The two decisions are important factors in the game. If you take those away, our players showed great commitment because it's a difficult place to play. The supporters stayed with us for the whole game and the players worked tremendously hard. I don't think it's a penalty kick. The referee didn't blow instantly for the sending off..."

Excatly what I thought. He wasn't gonna give a red card if it perhaps hasn't been for Ferdinand's disgusting outburst.

[Picklez]

well,
We played much better football than we did under the previous manager
We had a plan B - (Babel, Shelvey and Ngog on which had an immediate impact) + subs before 80 minute 
We played well with 10 men with our captain out
Kenny showed how much of a legend he is

Players that stood out against the rest:
Kelly-Had a solid game throughout, rarely made a mistake and it's clear he's gonna become something special
Pepe-Gave 110% as always, an honour to have him as our GK.
Lucas-Was brilliant throughout really.

However,
Things won't change overnight, I didn't expect a glorified win just because of a change of manager but I also didn't expect how much the team changed (for the good, we played so much better than under Roy)

Look at it in this way, we gave the mancs a run with just 10 men and a recent change of manager. We only lost because of a bent ref and a diving c*nt. Now we can focus on the league.

Onwards and upwards lads

[LFC Forever]

Hope Webb goes under a lorry on his drive home, c*nt.

Thats taking a bit too far mate. Teribble Ref but I dont want to be harmed in any way.

[Mr Dilkington]

Much better performance, an instant impact by Kenny, purely down to his presence on the sideline. Glad to see Agger back in the centre of our defence, don't think Skrtel is good enough so we need to find a parner for Dagger, if he even stays....

Kelly, well the boy is just an awesome talent, never ever looks uncomfortable, covers well and blocked off so many of Evra and Giggs's runs, MOM by a distance. Aurelio was good aswell i thought, so good at playing from the back, he and Agger make the world of difference...

Lucas and Meireles were ok, lost the ball a few times, but did their job and kept play ticking over. It'd make life so much easier for them if they had a winger to hit though, opens up the pitch and gives the centre mids an outlet when we're bogged down, something the much maligned Reira gave us, just not on a consistent basis, and he wasn't the quickest. A new winger would give this team such a different outlook though, will add 10% to Torres's game, Gerrards and as i mentioned Lucas and Raul.

Maxi was Maxi, tidy enough but no real pace to make anything happen. Likewise Kuyt was Kuyt, but i felt he played better today than he has recently.

Torres was poor again, but lets give him time eh? As VDM posted, we need patience and we need to stop abusing the people that don't deserve it. Lets see who Comolli and Dalglish come up with in January, lets wait for the King to implement his own style, then judge.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

This dark period is tough, no doubts, but people must be patient, anyone who saw us beat Crystal Palace yesterday will know the future is very very bright.

[Mr Boat]

Really encouraging spirit today, even Torres ran off with a spring in his step. Could easily have gone the other way without the two incidents. I'd have wanted both our way but the pen was defo a dive. Just hope we carry this into the next game. At least we were all happy with the lineup for a change.

[JK-3]

In my opinion it seemed we had set up as so

Lucas

Raul        Gerrard

with Gerrard having freedom of the town and Raul dropping into the wide positions to cover for the scum's overlapping full backs.

Spot on, although we did play well with all three of them on the pitch, I don't think this is the right way to set them out.

[callanlfc5times]

There is a reason ferguson hasnt been as successful in europe as he has domestically, that is the refs are not on his side as they are in the league.

Two Champions League wins and another final? As well as a fucking shit load of semi finals?

[Phil M]

meireles is such a shitouse.

[Scousebeef]

It might sound strange after a defeat but it's the first time in a long time I've been looking forward to the next game.

Youve just hit the nail squarly on the head fella!! I was wondering what that feeling was because Im having too. Im not sitting here cringing thinking about the next game Im actually looking forward to it!

What a massive difference Kenny has made already and he's only been at it for 24 hours!! 

[Beninger]

Considering we went to OT and lost to the scum, I feel much better about today than I have all season.  We actually showed some fight, and in the end, they needed their good friend to win it for them.  Give Kenny some backing in the market. 

[Alan_X]

I have never been so happy after a game. A great performance from the lads. Morrientes is a wuss though and doubts are creeping in for me. Why am I happy. Well I just cant stop smiling after seeing Kenny ruling the roost again and that was a fantastic team performance. Can there be ANY doubt into who is the best RB at the club after that immense performance from Kelly. The guy is a rock, just superb today he was. Well done lads. Aint going to comment on the manner of the result, no need.

Morientes?

[ricardosc]

Now we see something.

FUCK WEBB BTW.

[Gazza-LFC]

Agreed, I posted something similar at the final whistle when i was worked up, realised it was really out of order and deleted it, so should he.

Exactly, can understand the anger and frustration and its a spur of the moment thing. Wishing someone death is over the line

[Young Young]

meireles is such a shitouse.

Relax.... He will probably be embarrassed enough when he sees it again

[driftinwest]

I really rate him, but I think Aurelio had a difficult game today...especially in possession.  I thought for sure he'd redeem himself with that free kick, but it was a good save. 

He had a better game than konchesky would have had, he knows when to support the attack and when to defend the other useless c##t would have been a hindrance to the side, there is a case there today for keeping Kelly in at right back and pushing Johnson up and seeing if he can resurrect his career with us.

[vicgill]

Agree. It was a tough tackle, a bad one even, but wish people would actually look at it properly, because for me it wasn't two footed. He lunged in, yes, but one angle shows that he didn't lunge in two footed.

Gerrard took the ball, in my day that would have been a perfect tackle and I agree with you Paul it wasn't two footed.

[Groundskeeper Willie]

Mate, Rafael was coming in two footed. Meireles either has to pull out or accept a broken leg. That's why he didn't go in hard.

And yet, nothing was given. Unbelievable.

[El Torres gol]

unfortunately Webb's inability caused us more problems than the Mancs!

[gaztop08]

meireles is such a shitouse.

stupid comment..Rafael was going in two footed

[INABITSKI]

http://plixi.com/p/68901817

Still penned in.

Not even allowed for a piss. Wankers.

[SpartanTree. No deccies or lights.]

Thought Aurelio had a poor first half but grew into the game and all in all showed that he is the clear choice at LB.

I like the look of Agger and Skrtel at the back, got involved in afew scuffles but dealt with open play well.

Cannot fault Pepe Reina, out man of the match for those four of five saves in a row.


Torres looked sharp initially but faded once Gerrard was dismissed.
He will undoubtedly benefit with Kenny's football and we'll see the best of him.

 I was also impressed with Carrick's recovery.

Think Fabio was a little rusty but did well overall.  Came close with the free kick - just love his technique !
i like the fact that Skrtel & Agger got involved in a few scuffles - shows some fighting spirit and lets the opposition know they're in for a fight.
Pepe is a legend.  Period.
Hopefully nando will have SG up with him to help carry the burden.  or we sign a forward in jan.
Carricks recovery was indeed amazing.

[Mr Dilkington]

Not that disappointed just feel conned like I normally do with the refs (Atkinson and Mason) we have in our games.

Let's start with Pepe, looked a bit tetchy at times but in the 2nd half he was fucking superb, was a moment where he made 5 consecutive saves.

The back 4 are definately setup differently now, noticeably when we had 11 men we played higher up even with the pace of Hernandez to run in behind. Thought Agger was superb in his defensive duties as was Skrtel (though he really needs to get rid of that shirt pulling habit at corners), both were brilliant on the ball bar a few overeager passes from Skrtel, just not hoofing that ball made so much of a difference even when we had 10 men. The full backs I thought did well, Kelly got absolutely fuck all support from Kuyt which was disappointing as that was the reason Dirk was probably picked to track back Evra, but Evra and Giggs were constantly doubling up, which Meireles did well to see and cover for the time he was on the pitch. Kelly had a great game though, tried to stop crosses getting in rather than let them get in and have the centre backs have to deal with them. On the otherside Aurelio kept Nani quiet bar a few moments where Rafael was allowed to overlap. Great performance from the back 4 as a unit, they didn't concede a goal, that shit was gifted to them.

Midfield was a bit of an odd one for this game, of course with Stevie's sending off it made it a completely different game. At the start though it was a 3 man midfield, Stevie had the freedom of the pitch but dropped deep to exchange passes well with Raul and Lucas. Lucas I thought was brilliant, kept the ball well, pinging it around, and was everywhere like a duracell bunny, even getting forward when down to 10 men. Raul kind of let down the midfield unit in the second half, I think it was a good change to take him off. Shelvey did ok when he came on, but he has a lot to learn yet about central midfield positioning, he'll be on a similar learning curve to Lucas.

In my opinion it seemed we had set up as so

Lucas

Raul        Gerrard

with Gerrard having freedom of the town and Raul dropping into the wide positions to cover for the scum's overlapping full backs.

Finally the 3 forward men, though we had the same setup as Rafa, I think Kenny's initial thought was that one of the midfielders should cover any runs from Rafael and Maxi would play higher up and narrower, and stay near Nando. I thought Maxi did his job very well, can't remember him giving away the ball and he was always in position to accept a pass and be a good outlet. On the other side of the pitch I think Dirk was given more work, he was going to play narrower and close to Nando but had to also cover Evra's runs and help out Kelly which I don't think he did to well. I got a bit frustrated with him in the second half as he kept losing the ball or doing silly passes. He ran his bollocks off though.
Nando actually looked up for it today to me, when we had 11 men, it looked like he just needed a half chance and he was going to do something, he ran his socks off today as the two centre backs inevitably once we down to 10 and could not press just passed between themselves. He had to be taken off just for being knackered out from chasing the ball. Did quite a few things well, other things not so well but you can see returning to this system is going to help him.

Overall teamplay even when down to 10 was about retaining possession, recycling it, moving it from left to right and back if needed to find space with either Aurelio's good delivery or Kelly's overlapping runs. We had a lot of shots from distance but nothing to threatening for the scum. You could see when we had 11 how we had 2/3 players pressing in groups and it showed as Evans and Ferdinand resorted to hoofing the ball up to their forwards which Agger and Skrtel dealt with ease.
The delightful thing was seeing both our centre halfs and our fullbacks, all who have been culpable of taking the easy way out this season with long balls, playing it short to the midfield, playing it to the wide players and being ready to receive passes all the time.

It's disappointing to lose like so but it looks good to see that we've already got out that thinking we are a mid table team and playing like one rut. Let's see how it progresses against Blackpool, hopefully give them a spanking.

I hope Pacheco gets a shout in the hole against them now Stevie's out!

I should add, we definately need a pacy player on the left hand side of the pitch, whether that be a winger or a full back. Luckily on the right hand side both our right backs have good speed and can overlap very well. Aurelio on the other side has great delivery but won't be overlapping as often. Babel was dodge today as usual, he needs to think quicker on the ball.

As good a psot as you'll read on this thread.

[Pheeny]

Unnecessary abuse of LFC players will result in a 24hr ban.

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

Encouraged by what we saw before the sending off. Berbatov cons a penalty, the referee takes centre stage, we lose at Old Trafford.

Depressing, but there are some positives to cling on to.

[bloodred09]

Cardiac arrest is over we have our HEARTBEAT back what a difference to the shite served up before. Awful penalty decision not best pleased with Meireles i think Kenny got the subs spot on as Raul was soft in the challenge, Stevie got his own back on Carrick a bit unlucky but no arguments. The thing for me was the spirit, today i felt like my team was back alive. DALGLISH DALGLISH oh and btw Kelly was superb

[Phil M]

Morientes?

[scatman]

Martin Skrtel hasn't been mentioned by many.

I thought long ago that he and Daniel Agger were our future CB pairing and he made endless blocks
and interceptions today, I think they compliment each other.

The marking when Evans hit the post was a worry but once Kenny (and hopefully Steve Clarke) get the time to adress
these matters hopefully we'll see such lapses eradicated.

Maxi and Meireles didn't give great accounts of themselves on the whole but hopefully they can bounce back v Blackpool
if selected.

All in all a very pleasing display, who knows what we might have done second half with Stevie on the field.

Can't remember the last time we had a double substitution!

As other have said, this had to be the most upbeat I have ever been not long after losing to them,
the feel good factor is here, we have a man who knows how to get the best out of players, a man who is revered,
a man who isn't afraid to make changes when necessary, who can bring the team together and get us playing as a unit
as we did under Rafa in our best periods over the last few seasons.

Roll on Blackpool!

I mentioned him just above ya in my long as player by player report. Thought him and Agger were superb to be honest. Both kept it simple when on the ball which i loved.

Anyone notice how there wasnt any need to much shouting and how 2 international centrebacks managed to organise a back 4 which was cruely denied a clean sheet by a con artist?

[koptommy93]

people can always find something to moan about, but we have to look at the positives from the performance of which there were many

[gritsvanilla]

I have never felt so up after a defeat to the cheats, outplayed them 11v11 and gave as good as we got when down to 10, not only did we outplay them we also outsung them and for the first time in ages we looked like a collective unit, how Berbatov got MOTM astounds me, he did nothing of note other than the dive, kudos for ITV for celebrating the art of diving, kids all across the land can now perfect their "slight touch i'm going down like i've been shot" routine as apparently it's all part of the modern game, fuck that no wonder people are turning away from the so called beautiful game.

All the best performances came from the men in white, Kelly (he should really be starting the guy is quality), Reina, Lucas, Aurelio, Kuyt and i thought Agger and Skrtel were excellent today.

[El_Pistolero7]

Robbed by ref who tells blackpool players that they should dive when they feel a touch if they want to win penalties.
Why didnt Rafael get a red card for his 2 footed stamp on meireles? If gerrard is sent off for 2 feet off the ground then surely Rafael had to go?
However, great defending, great subs by kenny, proud of the performance- every1 giving 100%... Kelly MOM for me