Match Thread: Liverpool vs Marseilles - CL Group Stage Round 1 (16/09)

zAbbo wrote: »

Liverpool don't really deserve 3 points here.

Don't agree. While Marseilles have done well the last half hour - Babel had two very clear chances to kill the game.

God bless Reina though!!

Played Pepe.

Not good enough, we started with the wrong side, didn't know what we were at and didn't string 2 passes together. The substitutions were pointless.
Of all players you want on the pitch with the way that the game was going you'd want Alonso, he'd get on the ball and control midfield, but no... he doesn't bring him on.
Lucas just isn't up to scratch, what was he doing on the pitch. For me Benitez just isn't doing in and we will never win the prem with him.

We'll see what side he plays against stoke, theres no use having a good side if you only play your best team against the top 3, we drop too many needless points. No point in beating united if we drop points to Villa (who were having a bad game)

Phew.

Positives:

Babel was fantastic, really really good.
Gerrard looked v.sharp
Carragher & Skrtel were both solid
Reina made some great saves
Riera again looked very composed and almost created a goal

Negitives:

Lucas was absolutely dire. The most obvious substitution for me was Alonso on for Lucas. We needed to keep the ball and calm the game down. Alonso would have been perfect. Instead, Rafa left Lucas on - he constantly gave the ball away and went in with rash tackles. Looked out of his depth.

Mascherano looked tired, understandibley.

Dossena was very shakey and gave the ball away a lot.

---

Why cant Liverpool ever calm the game down once they are in the lead ? Instead of keeping the ball, passing it around and making the other team work - they always sit back and gave the ball away time after time after time. The game today, and countless others, could have been won much more comfortably.

However, after the United game & this game, we seem to be in much better form than the start of the season and still havent lost..which is good stuff.

just listening to rte and i think we lost 4-1:mad: not a great 2-1 away win in europe.
Certain panel members believe their own hype,vincent hogan was right a while back,these boys are rubbish.No match analysis just attacks on the manager.
Saying we are miles behind Arsenal?take a look at rafas years in charge compared to wengers in the same period.

Good win,great first half and poor second.
Babel,Gerrard and the bits of Riera were good and its a great start to the campaign

raven136 wrote: »

just listening to rte and i think we lost 4-1:mad: not a great 2-1 away win in europe.
Certain panel members believe their own hype,vincent hogan was right a while back,these boys are rubbish.No match analysis just attacks on the manager.
Saying we are miles behind Arsenal?take a look at rafas years in charge compared to wengers in the same period.

Good win,great first half and poor second.
Babel,Gerrard and the bits of Riera were good and its a great start to the campaign

I love how they showed Marseille's four chances in the second half and failed to mention Babel's two really good chances which came before the last two created by the home team.

Selective and dishonest punditry imo. Or grossly incompetent. :rolleyes:

colly10 wrote: »

Why? Did we go out to draw the game today? Why have Torres on his own up front when we did fine with 2 strikers at the weekend?

because torres worked better all season last year on his own and always has done.
Babel worked closer with him and gerarrd and it became a near 4-3-3 when we had the ball around their box.

People need to stop listening to Dunphy and Co. I'll listen to them when i see their managerial qualities,oh yeah lets ask souness how managing liverpool went for him.

colly10 wrote: »

Not good enough, we started with the wrong side, didn't know what we were at and didn't string 2 passes together. The substitutions were pointless.
Of all players you want on the pitch with the way that the game was going you'd want Alonso, he'd get on the ball and control midfield, but no... he doesn't bring him on.
Lucas just isn't up to scratch, what was he doing on the pitch. For me Benitez just isn't doing in and we will never win the prem with him.

We'll see what side he plays against stoke, theres no use having a good side if you only play your best team against the top 3, we drop too many needless points. No point in beating united if we drop points to Villa (who were having a bad game)

Dunphy is that you?

The French deserved something from the game, Cheyrou was very impressed, ran midfield.

Great goal by Stephen Le Tissier, top top quality!

I know Rafa "Park The Bus" Benitez has a fantastic record on recouping money on muck players, but he would be lucky to get bus fare for Dossena, terrible player.

Boggles wrote: »

I know Rafa "Park The Bus" Benitez has a fantastic record on recouping money on muck players, but he would be lucky to get bus fare for Dossena, terrible player.

Yeah I just HATE when a new player moves to a new country and isn't immediately fantastic! fck sake like, wtf Rafa!!

/sarcasm

In all fairness, he's shown plenty of flashes in his games so far, particularly in the prem that he can be very very good going forward, taking on players and getting in crosses. Yeah he's looked rubbish at times, as many many many players do for a few months after joining a new team.

Bit of realism, patience and perspective perhaps?

I don't know why people are complaining about our team tonight. Our front four were excellent at the end of last season and this is the first time they've all really been this year, so it certainly wasn't a weak team, and certainly not one set up to get a draw.

Babel could easily have had a hat-trick and was very dangerous throughout. He always looks likely to give the ball away, but if he continues to be this dangerous it's a decent trade-off.

Boggles wrote: »

I know Rafa "Park The Bus" Benitez has a fantastic record on recouping money on muck players, but he would be lucky to get bus fare for Dossena, terrible player.

Evra was rubbish in his first few games for United in a new country. Unfair to judge Dossena now.

whatawaster wrote: »

Evra was rubbish in his first few games for United in a new country. Unfair to judge Dossena now.

Indeed Evra probably had one of the worst debuts I have ever seen, taken off at half time if I remember correctly.

I can only judge Dossena on what I have seen of him in the 5 games or so. He is 27 years of age and supposedly peak, he didn't cost peanuts either, if he continues in the same vain I don't think we will see much of him to judge him.

Your right thou, too early to completely right him off.

We got the 3 points at the end of the day and thats all that matters. Was happy with Babels performance tonight, he didn't let himself get outmuscled while on the ball.

elshambo wrote: »

Im a liverpool fan have been for donkies and i agree with almost EVERYTHING Eamo says about Liverpool

Rafa (who i like as a bloke ish) is a "hold on" manager
Liverpool should be a "sit on it" team

If you dont know the difference your a liverpool fan in name but not in philosophy or understanding

There is a reason yer average liverpool fan on the Net NOW writes the same way as yer average ManU fan (hint its to do with yer average Man U fan not belonging anywhere near a football or football club!!!):eek:

I don't think you are as smart as you would like to believe.

There are (or have been) very few club sides in the world who can pass the ball well enough to be able to kill a game by grinding out the clock and monopolizing possession for long stretches when playing away from home.

Those that are, will generally have (or had) players who are technically gifted and comfortable on the ball in 9 or more positions on the pitch. We don't have that sort of class all the way through the squad.

In any case, finding players these days who are exceptional athletically AND the kind who are excellent at getting it down and playing it around at varying tempos is extremely difficult. Take our four first names on the teamsheet for example: Gerrard, Carragher, Torres and Mascherano. They are all top class players but are not the type of players that are going to do what you or Eamo think is so easy.

- Gerrard is at his best when he is going for the killer pass, dribble or shot. He is very direct in style and has shown to be at his worst when attempting to dictate play from the center of the park;
- Mascherano is a phenomenal athlete, who defends and tackles as well as any player in the world. But his biggest weakness is when he attempts to knock the ball about;
- Carragher is maybe better on the ball than he is given credit for, but is definitely not in the top twenty ball playing center halfs in Europe;
- Torres is bad at linking play outside the box. He loses possession a very high percentage of the time when receiving it. But who cares? He is lethal at scoring goals;

What our four best players bring to the table is pace, athleticism and directness. But their natural game is to play at a high tempo when they have the ball and look to get it moving forward and further it on quickly. They happen to be awesome at either winning the ball back or driving towards the opposition goal at a high pace, and it is a big part of why we win games.

But that is your core, and they don't fit a style of football that Barcelona or Arsenal play. Your core is going to dictate what is possible tactically.

Pundits like Dunphy and laymen like yourself like to trivialize how difficult it is to A) build squads over a period of time and to keep all the balls in the air over a 55 game plus season. And secondly, you tend to A) believe that there is only one way to skin the cat hang your hats on the fabled impact that one of the players who isn't featuring at any point would surely bring.

The studio tonight was adamant that Alonso would surely have changed the entire course of the second half tonight. Nonsense. Alonso is known to be slightly errand with his passing through lapses in concentration and, in any case, one good (not world class) player will always struggle to completely change the tempo of a team's play.

We got a good result tonight away from home and, whilst it may not have looked particularly pretty, we have been getting them so frequently over the past five years that at some point it should be beyond question or consideration as nothing more than luck. Right?

I mean, I think it should be clear to anyone that the Benitez's philosophy works in Europe. The critics frequently claim though that it won't work in the premiership. That it will be impossible for us to play like we do and do enough over 38 games to win the league. Because we don't pass the ball well enough; hold possession long enough; and impose our game on the opposition often enough to win the premiership. And of course, those who spout such a train of thought of course believe that the book is closed on the subject. That this is A) set in stone as footballing reality and that the way Benitez currently goes about business will never change.

Well, last year we win the league if we A) take more out of the games versus the other three contenders or Beat Reading away, Wigan at home, Birmingham away, Boro away, Villa at home - all games that could have been won with a few bounces here and there. We're closer than people like to admit, and for all their pretty football - Arsenal tailed off dramatically last year both physically and mentally. Get your old Liverpool tapes out - in Europe they were given all day on the ball from continental teams that never closed down. And at home they were given the ball time and time again by teams that were rubbish at holding on to it. It's not that easy anymore. And getting it right like Utd and Chelsea have the past few years is no easy task.

It took Ferguson more than five years to get title number one. Mourinhio is a genius who was given some of the best talent available in European football to work with. Maybe everyone is right and there only is one way - and they will be vindicated some time in the next three years when Benitez is sacked with no premiership medal to his name.

But the real acid test will be how close the next guy in will get.