I never like to use harsh words against managers, let alone Rafa, but some choices he's been making the last few games have trully puzzled me. Also, the rotation policy seems to be more and more of a liability.
Just done watching it. I have seldom been embarrassed by Liverpool or the crowd at Anfield -- out played and out sung all of us should hang our heads. Nothing else to say -- NO ONE played well. This bunch needs to realize that they are not owed a win. OM's 4-5-1 beat us -- it was a classic Rafa beats the better team played in reverse on us. And will anyone say Stevie MBE needs to stop playing on his laurels and start doing something. On a positive note, maybe we can concentrate on the League. Oh and Sissoko should sit for a long time. Why no Mascherano? Having said that we'll get Pennant, Xabi and Agger back soon. And all we need do is win the last four games to advance!
ANyone know why Mascherano wasn't starting? Imo his best performances for Liverpool have been in the CL. It would seem he would be dead lock to start every CL game.
He either must have been unfit or Rafa misread Marseille because he would have been the perfect person to go up against the likes of Cana and Zaini.
You hit the nail on the head with that! Everyone played poorly. But if I could put the blame on a group of players it would be the midfield. Leto did nothing for 50 minutes and the only thing different about him and Benayoun was that Benayoun played like shit for 90 minutes and also missed a free header. Gerrard and Momos partnership was terrible. Bad tactical call by Rafa. But neither of those players played well and didn't adjust to anything. They couldn't feed the ball to Torres or Crouch. Not that either of them would have been able to do anything else without touching the ball 10 yards out of touch.
on the bright side . . . if we can take 4 points off Besiktas we can at least probably take the UEFA Cup spot if
I got up early- 4:30 am here to watch that crap. Honestly, I've seen some ugly football but never that bad in a Liverpool shirt. It seems the only time we played with any pace, any passion was in the last four minutes, and that was to try and get a draw. Momo was boss- boss of the worst passing performance by a midfielder earning what I earn in a year in one week. Leto was invisible, is Babel injured? He's a young punk, I'm sure he could've played today AND the weekend if fit. Usually I'll give it a few hours and try to get some perspective on things- but that was just limp. Marseille were playing nice one touch football, playing it into their striker well, our attack was the defenders seemingly trying to cut out Momo by lumping it forward like a league two Terry Butcher coached team. Bah!
"I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning and find myself in the UEFA Cup." - MBE, Dec. 2004 Everyone deserves a slap in the face after today. Onward!
As much as I don't want to say it, the Marseille fans were wonderful. Sounded like they were singing all 90 minutes and completely out sung our fans. That being said, this has been one of the most disappointing games I've ever watched. We started to push in what the 88th minute? Absolutely ridiculous.
PLAYER RATINGS vs Marseille Reina (9/10) Superb. The standout player of the night and the best player of the season so far. Wasn't able to do anything about the excellent strike from Valbuena, which came from Sissoko losing possession, sadly something we are all used to. Finnan (5.5/10) Never made a mistake defensively and got forward more as the game went on the supply crosses into the box but like all the other defenders seems to love giving long balls to strikers. Carragher (4.5/10) Worst game ive seen him play. He played Niang and Valbuena onside once each which couldve resulted in goals and made a few other defensive errors due to his lack of a good first touch. Was a major culprit of our poor first half due to the constant long balls that he sent to Crouch and Torres. Hyypia (5.5/10) OK in defence and positioning was good but along with Carra, kept pumping those long balls to Crouch and Torres in the 1st half which made no use of our midfield and just wasted possession. Cant wait till Agger is back, but he is still a good back up defender. Carra and Hyypia both need to look at how Rodriguez and Givet used the ball last night. The Marseille CB's actually looked to construct attacks rather than just clearing the ball out of defence and leaving all the work to the forwards. Aurelio (5.5/10) Very poor performance and im hoping its because of the long lay-off from his injured achilles. Had very poor first touch which resulted in lost possession. He made it very difficult for the strikers by sending long balls to them rather than passing the ball around and generating an attack. Benayoun (5/10) Must have caught the Sissoko virus of giving away possession cause he seemed to do it with such ease. Had a free header at the end which should have been put into the back of the net and didnt provide any width on the right or left flank and was never at the feet of the strikers (like Gerrard in 90th minute). I hope that his 2 goals against the powerhouses of Reading and Wigan didnt get to his head. I will be very glad to see Pennant, Babel and Kewell on the flanks. Gerrard (6/10) For some reason, was played in the usual Alonso role as a playmaker sitting just behind Sissoko, which took him out of the action. Constant long balls from the back 4 also meant he wasnt used in attack. Sissoko made it impossible to create a CM partnership with SG as he kept losing possession or making errant passes. Classic SG play in the 90th minute when he played the ball to Kuyt who layed it off for SG to charge into the box which resulted in a Torres shot that unluckily came off a defender and the post. Sissoko (4.5/10) The 'Makelele Role' is known to all football fans, the 'Sissoko Role' is also known to all Reds fans. He is the best in the world at giving up possession and he does it from simple situations...what amazing skill. It occured 6 times (approx) and resulted in 4 shots on goal (out of Marseille's total of 13), 2 on target and 1 goal. He doesnt offer anything more than Mascherano; hes worse in possession, passing, positioning, tackling, shooting, gives away more yellow cards and gives us hypertension from all the frustration. If he doesnt change, he will soon fall behind Lucas Leiva in the pecking order. Leto (3.5/10) Absolutely listless. Why would Rafa start him! He hasnt shown any form in recent matches, Riise and even Voronin looked better than him on the wing. Clumsy tackling, no first touch and either hit passes to hard at teammates or missed them altogether. Shouldve been taken off at half time, actually shouldnt have played at all. I would rather play Kewell with his groin strain than a fully fit Leto, at least Kewell has excellent touch. Crouch (6.5/10) Battled hard throughout but it seems that when he plays we start playing the long ball game just because he is tall. This is frustrating and just stupid as he is better with the ball at his feet with his back to goal where he can provide for onrushing midfielders. Torres (6/10) Had a poor game, not his fault though, it was due to the shocking supply that he was given. He was either sitting under the high ball or being given through balls that were too strong. Had a chance late in the game but somehow the linesman thought he was offside when he would have been 1-on-1 with the goalie. He also didnt have much support from Crouch which made the partnership useless. Riise (6/10) Shouldve started ahead of Leto. Showed good composure on the ball and unlike the other defenders he didnt just throw away possession with long balls. Voronin (6/10) Very lively when he came on even though he had to to attack from wide rather than playing as an out-and-out striker. Kuyt (6/10) Despite very little time, showed why he must start. Played in Gerrard in the 90th minute with great strength and touch. When he plays, he forms a partnership with the other striker as well as providing link plays with the wingers and central mids. RAFA (6/10) Starting Lineup: Why Leto when Riise wouldve at least given 100% effort on the pitch and Babel (if not injured) would have looked to take defenders on and provide an attacking threat as well as lurking at the feet of Crouch to provide support. Mascherano (unbiased) is the best midfield stopper in the world and makes breaking down attacks look easy. His precise tackling can also set up goals (see Derby game, torres goal). If Mascherano is not injured and this was just to give Momo a game, then **** the rotation policy. If Gerrard can play with a broken toe, then why cant a player play when he is fully fit. If Rafa doesnt want to play someone who is tired or has played 1 week ago, then why play Aurelio when he is coming off a serious injury and needs to be worked slowly into full match fitness...wasnt Arbeloa our best player at the start of the season at LB when we were winning. If it aint broke...dont fix it, leave Arbeloa there. Subs: Firstly Rafa shouldve subbed Riise on at half time for Leto and giving him 5 mins in 2nd half just lowers his confidence, which is NOT how to develop a talented younster...give him at least 15 mins in 2nd half if u have faith in him. Voronin on for Aurelio was a good sub, as soon as he was on he was chasing and harrassing and bring energy to the team which was boring, dull and stagnant. Kuyt was a needed sub cause if Babel is injured then he was the only other attacking player. TACTICS: Im hoping that Rafa didnt ask the back 4 to dump long balls on Crouch and Torres cause if he thinks thats the way to win then I'd have a chance at winning the CL. Especially at home, you are meant to attack the opposition from the outset to lift the noise and intensity in the stadium and put them on the back foot. We couldnt lose to Besiktas could we...
we clearly have some issues (excluding the CC match where Reading didn't field their strongest side) we've scored two goals in the last five matches against OM Wigan Birmingham City Porto Portsmouth cold, hard facts
Reina was definitely the only player who played decently for liverpool today (and kuyt in the last few minutes). if benayoun didnt get in gerrard's way, it looked like gerrard was heading straight for goal in one of those last plays. Momo, leto, gerrard, benayoun were all subpar and that's being generous.
Well,Liverpool and Marseille ans are probably the best at Western Europe.A curious point was when our fans started to sing "Aux Armes" - the Marseille theme - and after that Liverpool fans sung You'll Never Walk Alone (It seems that since both groups were chanting together). I want to see the match at Velodrome now,hehe.
I've only now watched this match and offer my analysis without reading the more insightful opinions which precede this one. Yet again we fail to score against an inferior opponent, only this time it happened on our pitch to a side that deserved the points. I can't help but notice the lack of cohesion among our guys. While other teams are playing their best XI, learning each other's abilities, preferences, and idiosyncracies, our guys are constantly shuffled and are behind. Our one touch passes are intercepted or steered into touch, while Marseilles plays one touch connect-the-dots. As if knowing this, our midfielders are effectively cut out of the build in favor of a long ball to Crouch, who settles and turns to see 6 defenders, Torres, and maybe a winger, that's it. I wish we could come forward as a unit with the ball. In North America NHL players go on average every third night, 81 nights a year. Sigh. The first 10' were terrible, as if we've never played in the rain. Tommy Smyth was right about Leto. He didn't belong. We hurry the ball forward much too fast. We have guys openly frustrated on the pitch, motioning to each other in confusion, urging runs where none are made. It appears maddening. LET THEM PLAY TOGETHER AND BUILD CONTINUITY, PLEASE RAFA. Draws vs inferior competition, now a home loss to Marseilles, it's time to be quite concerned. That said the world is not over, we can achieve our goals, but NOT the way it's happening now.
Did anyone else have the "I knew this was going to happen but I still don't believe this" when OM scored that beauty of a goal. You would have thought that with Gerrard and Sissoko in the midfield we would have a good midfield engine. But Sissoko decided to combine his worst offensive performance (poor touches, bad passes) and his worst defensive performance (bad giveaways, terrible defending) into one game. And Gerrard decided that he didn't have to show up. Overall, what bugged me most was the poor touches. I know it was rainy but seriously, a lot of my U-10 players had better touches this last summer than EVERY player had today.
Well I was going to comment on the game and such... but after reading this thread I'm struck by how gracious the Liverpool fans are. No OM bashing, or excuses or bullshit. Very classy. I wish you the best against the Turks, and the rest of the way in the pool. Remember, there are long stretches between games in the Champions League.... Plenty of time to find some momentum again. You guys are the total opposites of the Chelsea scum.
Marseille deserved the victory by such a beautiful goal...they have played a better, more exciting football, while we hit it long and prayed Crouch manages to head it into a dangerous chance for Torres. When I first saw the lineup, and especially after som 15 minutes, I thought to myself: "Is this really the team we should be playing in Champs League - at ANFIELD!?!?!?" Rafa screwed up royally here...and why doesn't he change players...even before halftime Leto, Sissoko out - Riise, Masch in. Maybe even Benayoun out, Babel in - or - Aurelio out, Arbeloa in. Pennant was missed. When the hell is Kewell getting healthy? The team seemed like they never played together and there did not seem to be any urgency at all...Rafa, this one is on you.
Nicely put. Really there's not much we could say after that. OM played the better football, scored a great goal, and would've been unlucky if we'd got an undeserved draw at the end there. We played crap and are now looking at an early exit. We do have enough class in our players to get out of this trouble, but it will take an effort.
whats there to diss Marseille for? They came to anfield and played football, no divin, no cheating just football us on the other hand were an insult to the name liverpool fc People can go on about what players were picked last night, but the facts were The Team let the club down long before Traore clone gave the ball away As a team they all stunk and not one of them stood up to be counted, you can say Reyna did but then there is no where for a goalkeeper to hide
we believe we shouldnt lose at home to anyone, dont take it personal, we have been to 2 of the last 3 finals so yes we do have that right
I say we close this thread with this as the last word -- Gandalf sums it up completely. Draw the line and move forward.