Also, playing Andriy Voronin, there has to be about well, every striker in the Premier League is better. And the Championship.
Outplayed, simple as that. Terrible passing for large stretches, no spacing, no creativity and an excellent plan by Bruce to frustrate the hell out of the Reds. The squad should be big enough to deal with the loss of two players--even players like Torres and Gerrard.
Voronin made Babel look good. that's hard to do. This one is on Rafa's head. the balloon thing sucked, but Sunderland deserved to win that
Don't need to blame the balloon/beach ball. We were awful. Passing was terrible, zero width, no composure and no bite in the tackle. The team selection was wrong today and Rafa will get slaughtered in the media. But the players didn't seem to have any belief or heart today either. F***!
Watching games like this, with the owners we have, and the turmoil in the FO....where would this team be without Gerrard and Torres? Scary.
This is all on target. Not a single player with the exception of Reina and Carrragher did any thing well or with conviction. Sunderland might have won 4-0 without the two I mentioned. I would have played Riera and Mascherano from the start. Probably Ngog too. We are now going to struggle to get 4th nevermind the league. This start is as bad as the end of Houllier. While I don't like being overly negative, this result certainly warrants it. And we have to play Tuesday and Sunday in two absolutely critical matches.
We don't know, but he probably was manning up and playing hurt after the ankle knock when with Holland. By the way we have been outplayed 5-0 over our last three games in all competitions. That's a massive player and management problem.
That hurts. Our starting 11 w/o Gerrard and Torres is really weakened. We will not win the league with Voronin, Ngog, Babel and even Kuyt leading up front. Hopefully we can salvage our season and regroup and push for top 3 but this seems to be a painful period for us. I have faith we will regroup but a title challenge seems unlikely unless defense strengthens up with Agger and Skrtel forming a solid partnership and Aquilani hopefully become a starter in the mid and starts creating chances for the team. We really need a solid backup to Torres b/c the current players I mentioned are not up to snuff.
i don't rightfully think he should. But if ownership stays as is, I wouldn't be shocked if he did. they're putting the blame on him, and him alone. I think Rafa shares a part in it all, but I don't think he should get the axe. The team is certainly better off for him, when he's at his best. Not sure today was it, but he's earned a bit of rope.
It's the entire team's fault. There is no person worthy of solitary blame here. We played poor and lost. The goal was a mess and the kid that threw the ball in, who appears to be a Liverpool fan needs to get a good spanking from his dad... either that or I'll be happy to do it for him. It's still a long ways 'till may. They sky is not falling. Walk on.
Just got back from the Stadium of Light. Tough game to swallow as that goal can't be pinned on Pepe - it literally was the balloon's fault and the defenders for giving way too much space to shoot. Inside the stadium I noticed the Traveling Kop didn't sing that much today because I think they were in shock. A few takeaways from this game - -Babel is even worse in person than on tv - he botched 2 or 3 chances literally right in front of where we sat and I just . -Welcome back Agger - he had a solid day at the office. I saw him stretching what may be a calf or hammy, so hopefully the nagging injuries are gone or close to it. -Our midfield lost it today. Lucas was ok but he and Masch just didn't command the game well enough in the middle of the park. Too many opportunities for Sunderland throughout the game. -Glen Johnson was phenomenal today; had a lot of good attacking runs. -Liverpool seemed to be a final ball away from numerous opportunities all day. -Atmosphere was good. Sunderland really got behind their team and the bottom line is I think they wanted it more than we did. Oh well, on to Lyon then Manure. YNWA.
The only two who could seemingly do anything to threaten Sunderland were Johnson and Yossi and they couldn't do it today. We have no bench and we'll pay for it dearly this season - we'll need a lot of luck in the injury department to turn this thing around and make it to champ's league. On paper, imo, ManUre, Chelski, Arse, City and Spurs have better, deeper teams. This will be an interesting year, no doubt.
I lay fetal position after that game waiting for the pain to subside. Rafa's been here 5 years, and we really have not a single player other than Gerrard that can create and command an offense? Nobody who can pull the strings and know when to press the action and when to calmly draw the pace down if Gerrard is out. I'd expect that our coolest person on the ball, Yossi, would have been a solid pairing, albeit outta his natural position, in the center of the park today. Why move Kuyt up top when he's been comfy on the right and why put young Spearing in asuch a critical role in such a critical game with such an odd cast of characters and a new formation. . .could he possibly have succeeded? I won't be negative on Voronin. He had limited time, and i'd have preferred one of the Bundesliga's best strikers last year start up top. If this is not the exact time to start him, then he shouldn't be on the team. . which is what many think anyway . There were a couple of ways to go with our starters but i think Rafa got it all wrong. . and i know this cuz i'm a fan. I woulda gone with the following if Masch couldn't start: Voronin Riera Babel Kuyt Lucas Yossi