Re: It hurts so much but they are still my heros! Had a chance to go out for dinner and a couple pints and it still hurts. But its a bittersweet hurt, you know? Like I'm so damn proud of them for getting there again and performing so well. And I know that the future is just going to get brighter. And I am so damn proud that our captain and manager and rest of the team are gracious in defeat and comport themselves with dignity. And I am so damn proud of the supporters and how we stand by our team through good and bad. As much as I love when this club wins trophies, I love even more the quality of their character. I had the good fortune to go to Anfield last month and catch my first game. One thing that I took home with me was an even greater sense of belonging to the Liverpool "family", as corny as that may sound. Maybe it was because we were American, but every single Liverpool supporter we met there was welcoming and open and friendly and made us feel right at home. I swear, I'm welling up with tears right now as I write this, but I just love this club so much. They--and you all--are my heroes. YNWA
I'm gutted by the loss. I've never felt this bad after a Liverpool loss before. Milan talked a lot of shite and played like shite. Except for the assist Kaka was nowhere to be seen(Sly rated his game a 9). Liverpool played the attacking football and Milan were conservative to say the least. Keep your heads up lads, you played your hearts out. YNWA.
After all is said and done that quote is all it boils down to. We had 90 minutes to score, why the hell are we arguing about 1 minute of added on time. They scored 2 good goals...Yes, two! The first was bloody jammy but this is football and you make your own luck. Inzaghi broke through the defense probably looking for a rebound if Pepe doesn't hold it. I don't think he knew anything about the ball until it "hit him". Without the benifit of instant replay I thought it hit him on the face or side of his head. We've taken worse than this so lets stop bitching about it, this is Liverpool. The second was text book, sick as I was about it. I had to admire the timing of the run, the pass and the clinical finishing. Like the man said "We need a freeking striker" We had our chances and had no conviction about putting the ball in the "Back of the old onion bag" Dida did the goalkeeper routeen of shutting the near post and as Gerrard went for his shot he know exactly where it was going. It shot was so slow I could probably have stopped it today. I was disappointed with the timing of the subs, Crouch should have come on the same time as Harry. Harry subbed in Milan adjusted, crouch came on 10 minutes later, Milan adjusted. If they'd have come on together in a plan they'd have had more of an effect. Crouch made the concilation goal for us. We did have more of the ball but in the end they did what was needed. Score two goals. Well done Milan. Let's get out of the blocks early next year and play some Premiership Football.
Ok I've read through the 30 pages of posts since I left last night and there's not much I can add to everything. Two bad defending errors led to two goals, for them. Bad finishing and poor options in the last third cost us. Rafa's tactics were spot on the whole way through, though predictable, and if we'd put away any chance in the first half- we would not be complaining about the missing 20 seconds or the elbow goal. Yes the ref was poor- I was swearing at him every time he didn't call a Milan foul on 'Arry, but would call up Kuyt or Crouch for standing there minding their own business while getting shoved in the back by a desperate defender. The time added on conspiracy was just bizarre, maybe we should all write to the German Chancellor to get them to teach how to count to three in German schools Once Milan got their goal against the run of play, they were always going to use their "experience" to run down the second half, slow down the play and use any excuse to wind down the clock. Congrats to the boys for making the final and making a game out of it, and bring on next year. YNWA
Let it go Red, all this guys posts are juvenile. Most of the Milan fans have a bit of class. This one wants to gloat, ignore him.
i thought Rafa got the tactics spot on to start, except for starting Kuyt, who isn't a solo striker, better left to Crouch. but his substitutions were absolutely horrendous. waiting so long to bring on Crouch, and then bringing him on for Masch? why not Riise who was just wasn't 'on' tonight? and what are you doing bringing on Arby for Finnan when we are chasing the game? and while i'm at it, Fandel was atrocious. while he didn't cost us the game, he did keep us from any sort of rhythm in the offensive end by calling a foul on dirk or crouch any time the ball was played to them. we had the chances to get more from the game. kuyt is good when linking with another striker, but he just has no desire to get into the box and do anything possible to score goals. a lot of work needs to be done over the summer to get us ready for a premiership challenge. let's have it.
Well after letting my-self cool down a bit I would like to say that I am proud of the lads for what they have achieve in maing it to the final, in my generation (early 20's) we missed out on the glory days of Liverpool and had to go through the terible times of the 90's and now I have got to expereince 2 finals in last 3 seasons which is something special becasue we never know when we will reach this stage again (hopfully not too long), they put up a good fight and though the goal Kuyt meant little it shown me that we have heart and fight until the end. As for the match it-self well we beat our-selfs really, we had good control of the first half and we failed to make it into anything on the score sheet (which is the story of the season) and then despite what Pippo said that he tried that goal (by the reaction of the players of AC Milan they never knew who it hit), when they scored that sort of agaisnt the run of play at a bad time in the match it was really worrying and in the 2nd half we had to push and they got a ball to beat the trap and scored and it was too little too late from there. I always feel bad to pin a loss of this magnitude on a player or two but there were some poor individual performances....Zeden looks out of depth, I found it hard reading article before the game how we were waiting on a fitness test of him, it wasnt like it was a key player though I will say Kewell did no better. Gerrard blew hot and cold and missed a chance to really pull us up and Kuyt simply moves too much, no wounder his goal total was low becasue there was points in the match where he had the play on the winger side where a striker shouldnt be and we seen what happens when he is in the box, he scores. Also like to congrat Milan on a great final!
Re: It hurts so much but they are still my heros! Still got my LFC badge as my pic on msn, and it will stay up there to support the boys. They did us proud, tried until the death and didnt let down the values of the Liverpool Football Club. For that- I'm proud of their efforts. YNWA
if you actually read what i was responding to, instead of taking things out of context, maybe you would understand what I was talking about
Isn't funny after all this BS talk about "attacking football" that only one team pressed the game? Just proves how stupid fans and journalists can be. Shove your World Cup and CL Trophy up your ass. You're still scared shitless to lose and cry like bitches when you do.
True, if we had a different ref - the chances of the end result going our way may have risen a bit... but when it comes down to it, ultimately, I have to say I'm dissapointed with Raffa's timing. Zenden was doing more harm than good. Kewell should have come on while we were still dominating, in the first half -- not when Milan are dominating and we're unable to get the ball to his feet. Crouch should have also been brought on for *Alonso* -- not Masch, early in the second half. Soon as he was brought on he made a big impact, but god damnit, it was too late. Apart from that, everything else was alright. We dominated most of the match, but a bit of bad luck and a couple stuff-ups won Milan the trophy. Next year.
Re: It hurts so much but they are still my heros! Screw all of the lazy losing bastids.....I going to become a lifelong Chelsea suporter. Jose for knighthood...!!!
My biggest problem with the officials happened with not allowing Arbeola to come on for five minutes. The fourth official should be banned from football. He has one job, get the attention of the referee during a stoppage in play and let the substitution to be made. He sat on his hands for five minutes while Rafa was screaming at him. Herbert was a bloody terrible referee, but he's not why we lost. Rafa managed the game pretty terribly, I don't know why Zenden was on to begin with, then he was terrible. He was just not fit enough and stopped several good movements in the first half. I love Stevie G, but he was awful as well. Mascherano was incredible. For a laugh, read Wahl's article on SI. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/grant_wahl/05/23/champs.react/index.html Hilarious. Liverpool couldn't stop Kaka? Did he see the first 78 minutes of the game? By the way Kaka dove so many times throughout the match or else he has the balance of someone with an extra chromosome. He falls down so easily it is infuriating because he is so talented. I don't think that was a foul Alonso made, I think Kaka made it a foul by going to ground so easily. Considering how Kuyt was manhandled, that's not a foul. I've watched many Bundesliga games and referees let a fair bit of jostling go on for headers, at least allowing both guys to jump for the ball. This guy didn't. The worst was he was lazy, he would make the call from 30 yards away. This is the second CL final in a row where I have been very disappointed by the German referee's performance. They have many competent referees but I am disappointed by these performances. I really miss Collina. Maybe we were spoiled by his ability. Florian Meyer is the name of the fourth official. If anyone got paid off, it was him. I don't know why he forced Liverpool to wait 5 minutes to make a substitution. It didn't change the outcome but what an absurd thing to do.
Well, I’ve been out drinking a bit with my friends so excuse any typing mistakes. First off Milan are worthy champions even if we played a bit better on the night. My hat goes off to Milan! Congratulations on your victory. We had our chances and let them go begging....but all is not sorrow as we are going to be a much better team next year. Chin up and I'll see you in the Morn. (If I'm sober)
Yeah, after thinking about it more, I am not as mad at the referee. But the one thing he did wrong which you can't do as an official is peg certain players. It seemed like during certain parts of the game that he pegged certain Liverpool players (Alonso and Kuyt come to mind). One of my friends that doesn't watch soccer very often remarked this about Gattusso. "So is it just me or did Milan transfer Gattusso in from The Prison League". I think that remark is perfect example of Gattusso's style and look. Disappointing from Kaka. I actually liked him as a player, but today he fell under very little contact every time. He is a talented player, but he should stay on his feet more.
Re: It hurts so much but they are still my heros! Ah just going out for my second round, cheap beer doesn't make things better (unless there is a lot of it). Just excited for next season, I like the team we have now and it can only get better.
If there is any justice in this world, the referees will be held accountable by UEFA.... Then again, thats the same organization that allowed a club to enter the competition that was found guilty of match fixing... go figure.....
Re: It hurts so much but they are still my heros! I must say, I really only began following the club recently, and I didn't think this loss would sting as much as it has. It feels as painful as when one of my other clubs loses a championship (example: the Giants losing Super Bowl XXXV). It's an odd testament to the ties that bind a team and it's supporters. They fought all the way...again. They overcame the odds...again. They made us proud...again. Getting to the final is a hell of an accomplishment. And as has been said, there is so much to look forward to in the future. To Rafa, Stevie, and the boys...YNWA.
I know Harry Kewell didn't play great but he showed that he cared. He was showed good passion. One, he tried to drag Inzaghi up after Pippo got hurt after getting hit with a ball (a la Drogba). Two, he argued with the referee a lot. Hopefully he can get fully fit for next season and have a good injury free campaign next year. That or we can get a good transfer sum for him.