Liverpool FC vs Le Arse - EPL - Sept 2 [R]

I don't know what you guys were watching today but I think we were the better team for the most part of the game. There were some bad mistakes (unfortunately crucial ones by Gerrard) and our finishing was rather bad, however it was not all doom and gloom. We had penalties not given, a few chances that had they went in would have made the world of difference and some flashes of brilliant football here and there. It will take time and new players to get to where I think BR wants to go and patience rather than frustration should be preferred. I really enjoyed this game and up until the second and goal I thought that we could even win it.

Apart from the actual loss, the saddest part about today was seeing the substitutions. How does one expect a team with Downing as the first substitute and Shelvey the second to do well in the EPL? Look at the other top teams and their bench and then look at ours. I was so jealous the other day when I was watching City play... They threw in Silva to change things up a bit... Freaking Silva a staple player from the Spain dream team. And who do we have as a sub? Downing? Hell, we don't even have a pure front-man for the starting line-up, why am I even wondering about the bench...

 

Yesterday you were fuming over the mishandling of the transfer window by FSG, what changed?

 

Ready my posts, I've been saying the same thing about Dempsey, I don't at all believe he'd have improved us today. I'm not saying firing Hodgson was unreasonable either, I just see Rodgers unrest coming with a few more of these results. And unfairly so.

 

LOL!

The fact that some are thinking that Clint would be a solution up front is indicative of the lack of ambition projected upon the club by the ownership's dealings in the transfer window. How sad is that? Thinking that Clint Dempsey would be the factor demarcating success from failure.

 

The personnel today was perfectly suited to the 4-3-3 though, thats why those players are out there. I don't get what you mean at all. Borini is not a traditional striker, neither is Suarez. The 4-3-3 is all about flexibility and interchangeability. That's the whole point of the BR experiment. That's not rigidity at all, you're mistaking the period of transition as that.

 

So this f**king Fulham turncoat is telling you how to behave, it's his right to bitch, at least for him and the mouse in his pocket. Well that's what I assume when he says "we!"

 

The object of the game is to SCORE goals while hopefully playing some good football. There was some good football played at times today by Liverpool and will probably continue to be throughout the season. It won't mean a bloody thing without someone who can find the damn net.

Gerrard's mistakes have already amounted to goals by the opposition 3 times this season. WTF is going on with him? He's giving the ball away far too often.

If a defender grabs the attacker by the shoulder in the box and also clips his heels that is a penalty. It's not hoping the ref will hand us a goal, it's a fucking penalty. It's then up to the penalty taker to convert. That no-call was pretty big.

I'm glad to hear that BR at least expected an attacker to come in. Now the question is can he recall Carroll or not?

I'm confused by the substitutes. Maybe it was a ploy by Rodgers to show the owners "this is what happens when you don't pony up the expected funds." 3 defenders on the bench was just stupid otherwise.

This could be a long season...

 

I find the finger pointing to Gerrard for the goal a bit retarded. He lost the ball on the edge of the opposition's box FFS. Johnson's role was the primary, and criminal, reason we conceded. How, at this level of football, do you not notice someone galloping in front of you, then when you do notice still don't bust a gut to get goal-side until the last minute?

Gerrard had a terrible game; yet the irony is if Suarez didn't fluff his shot and Agger his header he could have had two assists. Reina should have never been beaten by Cazorla's shot either. We could've very easily had a penalty and Mertesacker sent off.

I am just not as pessimistic as the rest of you. Not yet, anyway. Arsenal were class, but we were pretty good too. I think Rodgers got it wrong with bringing Sahin so soon - Shelvey made the team much better balanced. I don't think Suarez is going to have a game that bad for a long time either. Nothing happened for him - couldn't stop the ball to save his life (which further made Gerrard's attempts look even worse).

Stop whinging, get behind them.

 

These are good points, Suss. There are other issues that need addressing and discussing, to be fair, but the problem today was the players on the pitch today. They didn't just do enough, I'm afraid to say. And Rodgers may need seriously to consider what to do with Gerrard; he's making a habit of losing the ball and setting up the opponents on goal. He's a good enough player to adjust but his waving through runners on goal is getting ridiculous and needs to work just as hard to break up attacks. And the full-backs are getting done far too often.

I do wonder, though, does Rodgers actually have an attacking plan? When we get around the box, all ideas seem to desert us and, with many players in attacking positions, we easily get picked off by counter-attacks.

Having said that, Sterling, Allen and Shelvey were very good.

 

For those who a crying we lost because we didn't sign Dempsey. Well, get over it, he went to another team, it's a non issue.

For those who think we lost because we didn't have Big Andy to charge in and rescue us in the last ten minutes. Well, get over it, he went to another team, it's a non issue.

For those who think Howard Webb has a special agenda just to screw with Liverpool because he's paid off by SARN, go see a shrink.

For those who believe FSG are a bunch of cheap bastards who don't want us to win. Well just think were we where before they bought the team. Remember?

The system was working well today, still scares me playing roulette in our own area though and the ball came out well most of the time with Johno and Jose. We had them backing up and making mistakes. Where the system broke down was at the pointy end, Suarez and Gerrard have had better matches than the last two. Borini had a couple of chances to put those two through early on with good chances that would have totally changed the play of the match. But the man has no vision, 30 yard shots when Gerrard and Suarez are in motion to finishing areas is just asinine and juvenile.

We didn't capitalise on chances we had, that's the story. The Arse played the right game and hit us on the break. We played the right game and just plain f**ked up our chances.

 

To me it is the issue. I think we have a very good and entertaining team but what we don't have is a player that can scrap and get the ball into the back of the net ala Dempsey. I'm not the only one that's crying over not getting another forward I think BR is right with me.
We had the same issues last year and I haven't seen anything so far this year that makes me believe it's going to change.

 

^^ Hear, hear ...

 

That's the most obvious solution to me. As part of a front three, Gerrard is deadly. Play him deeper and he's a liability. Benitez realised that a long time ago.

 

I don't think it's unreasonable to get on the players a little or even Rodgers for that matter after a loss. The fact is the season has begun and these games matter. We're not the only team with new players, new manager and a new system. (Swansea seems to be doing fine, for example) We have enough talent on the pitch to win games. FACT.

Of course, getting the players to perfectly execute Rodgers system is going to take time and it may never come for some of the senior players to be honest. It may be too much to ask of them. It works well in Spain b/c the players have been brought up with this style of play. That's why I think Rodgers is so keen on the youngsters as they are more keen to adapt. The roster is going to vastly different in one years time, I would imagine.

I don't know that two clinical strikers would have made any difference today, b/c I don't think our build up play was good enough to unlock the defense. Arsenal swarmed to the ball and did not allow us any good looks on goal at all and our players, much like last season, lacked the creativity to make space.

Here's to hoping that once we find our stride, that we go on a long unbeaten run to "make up" the lost points. All we can do it believe.

 

I am of the camp that think they are cheap bastards but do not believe they don't want us to win. They think that we can win (and by win I mean the title, CL etc) on the cheap, which I find extremely implausible.

Worse of two evils is still an evil.

Like I said, I thought we played well for most of the game and were the better team. And up until the second goal I was really enjoying it.

 

When that second goal went it, I almost got up an left the pub. Just couldn't see us scoring at that point.

A few years ago Tony Mowbray had WBA playing some lovely football. They got relegated just the same b/c they jsut couldn't score enough their defense was clearly not up to the same level as Swagger/Skrtl. Put the ball in the net...simple. Who wants that job???

 

Can't I multitask and whine and get behind them at the same time?

 

I watched the game at a tavern w/ the two other Liverpool fans that I know.

I felt like breaking a stool over my knee when it was finished.

What happened to the team that played against Citeh?

I'm pissed off.

Blah.

 

Beautiful Disaster.

That's the best way to describe this team. They look great passing the ball around and looked confident in the first half, but did anyone ever feel like we looked like scoring? The nightmare of having no backup is that when we have days like today when Gerrard & Suarez look like garbage, we have no hope of scoring. Borini looks way out of his element, and we can only hope he finds his feet. Sahin looked competent but too early for a verdict. Not very happy that we got burned on the counter so many times. We need a healthy Lucas back very badly. The few bright spots were Sterling and Allen, who were both great.

We are all obviously very frustrated. 2 years ago we heard, "oh it's Roy, we'll be ok. Just give it time." Then last year, "The King inherited a huge mess, but we'll turn it around. Just give it time." Now here we are, another year and the same song. This time I have a lot more faith in our coaching staff. Rodgers has a great vision and I have a good feeling about him. The growing pains are very frustrating though.

 

I am referring to the rigidity of sticking to a formation that may not be suitable to the players, as opposed to changing formations. I am not referring to the innate flexibility or freedom given to the players in that particular formation. I like that BR gives them freedom, just question if a 4-3-3 is feasible right now.

I understand that it is only three games and two of them were against top teams. But we need to beat them (and not ourselves) if we want to move up in the table from last year. I don't think another 7th place finish should be accepted as a matter of course.

 

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