Post-Match Wash Up - Arsenal

[Kopite_Colin]

This is an unacceptable result for a club of our status. Unacceptable. Not even Evans & Houllier managed to lose by that much in any game.
Benitez must look hard at his decision making this past week, he bottled it, fact.
Firstly, making a promise to Dudek so he can play in the cups is ok but not against one of our biggest rivals, in two cup competitions. You can break a promis Senor RAFA & if Dudek can't handle it he can pish off to another club. The manager always has the last say.
Dudek was rusty and lost some of his agility. He cost us both games.
Secondly, why chop and change the defence ? It is one part of the team that must be stable and untouched especially in big games.
Bringing Warnock after his injury was wrong. Palleta with Hyypia was wrong.
Finally, we will finish this season trophyless and Rafa will take the bulk of the blame. FOOK ME this is a bad week.

In my opinion, now we'll see what Rafa's really made of. Which I actually think is interesting. Let's hope this man digs deep under pressure, deals with the crap and isn't Houllieresque in his blind loyalty. And we'll see what hopefully what DIC bring too. We'll have to dig into the coffers for cover for Gonzalez and Garcia now.

[Kronenburg1892]

I'm more concerned for the season. The table is the yard stick.

If the CC had been the first game, and still played the same team, at least we would have fielded our best 11 for the FA.

That to me was always the plan.

Fog got in the way, and turned that tits up.

For me, and hopefully Rafa, the game 31st of March is where the season will count. Where we should guarantee 3rd, Arsenal can still get **** all, and the table tends to tell the season, so....

I just wish Paco Herrera was still around, we seemed to play teams tacticly with him about.

[BtN]

Ironically, I didn't think we were that bad toinight - apart from Dudek, who cost us 3 goals. When they got the pen, I turned to my wife and said thatit would be just typical that he saved it - and sure enough....

Once again I thought we were the better side,a lthough Paletta was shaky. But 2 goals gifted by the keeper, one clearly offside - TBH there wasn't that much in it. Two Gerrard shots & a Carra screamer saved...we could have easily won that without Dudek's mistakes.

What I didn't get was why Dudek was replaced at HT.

you pissed ?

[Kopite_Colin]

No - just shell shocked. I taped the game as I was on my way home from work. If you actually watch the game again, Arsenal actually did very little, but everything fell for Baptista - he'll never have anotehr game like that: 4 attempts, 4 on target, 4 goals (and a missed pen). Again we controlled possession but becuase of poor keeping / linesman / mistakes by Paletta/Sami we conceded silly goals again (5). Only their free-kick goal couldnt have been avaoided. But we scored 3, had a 4th disallowed and 3 cracking saves from Almunia.

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

Ironically, I didn't think we were that bad toinight - apart from Dudek, who cost us 3 goals. When they got the pen, I turned to my wife and said thatit would be just typical that he saved it - and sure enough....

Once again I thought we were the better side,a lthough Paletta was shaky. But 2 goals gifted by the keeper, one clearly offside - TBH there wasn't that much in it. Two Gerrard shots & a Carra screamer saved...we could have easily won that without Dudek's mistakes.

What I didn't get was why Dudek was replaced at HT.

Agree with this, our back-ups aren't that bad, just not good enough.

Everyone of the back 4 and keeper were a joke. I can forgive Peltier's poor positional play because he's really a midfielder, and inexperienced. The rest all have to go. Paletta on loan to another Premiership side to see if he's really that ****, Hyypia because he's past it, Warnock because he's not good enough and Dudek of course, nothing more to say.

[desertscouser]

This is an unacceptable result for a club of our status. Unacceptable. Not even Evans & Houllier managed to lose by that much in any game.
Benitez must look hard at his decision making this past week, he bottled it, fact.
Firstly, making a promise to Dudek so he can play in the cups is ok but not against one of our biggest rivals, in two cup competitions. You can break a promis Senor RAFA & if Dudek can't handle it he can pish off to another club. The manager always has the last say.
Dudek was rusty and lost some of his agility. He cost us both games.
Secondly, why chop and change the defence ? It is one part of the team that must be stable and untouched especially in big games.
Bringing Warnock after his injury was wrong. Palleta with Hyypia was wrong.
Finally, we will finish this season trophyless and Rafa will take the bulk of the blame. FOOK ME this is a bad week.

I totally agree RS.

I can't remember a season where we've been hammered as many times as this. Did Souness' teams ever ose 6-3 at home? Did they ever lose 3-0 to Arsenal and the blue ****e? Did they ever put up **** all fight at Old Trafford like this season? Where's the mentality that Rafa keeps banging on about?

This season's been an utter shambles.

[rushscored4]

Everyone was singing 'We won it 5 times', extra loud in response to some **** Arsenal fans were singing. It stopped and this one lone fella carries on, voice almost at breaking point, 'In gay Paris, you won it no times'. ****ing fell about laughing!

A well known phrase rearranging the words "straws", "at" and "clutching" springs to mind...

[alunevans]

stunned.
Arsenal were superb but (kneejerk time here)

Dudek - ****e
Paletta -****e - wont make it.
Guthrie - see above
peltier - see above
Garcia - ****e. Move him on.
Fowler - finished

Will discuss tomorrow.

Re guthrie, have you seen him play centre mid? He's always been so much more impressive there. When played right and left mid he doesn't play anywhere near as well. But in the centre he's looked pretty impressive.

[alunevans]

I know we're not meant to rant and rave and we're meant to believe the League Cup doesn't matter (although to me that belittles all the times we've actually won it) but tonight was unacceptable.

It was a humiliation.

It strikes me that no matter how embarrassing we are there's always someone who will defend it.

It doesn't have to be an overreaction to take a pop at that tonight. It was after all the only domestic competition we were in. And now we're not.

The league was dead and buried by November (and I'm being kind by saying November). The FA Cup was over the moment we entered it. The League Cup has now ended with the footballing equivalent of a cat's nose being rubbed in its own ****.

Its now Champions League or bust and its only just January.

Why not put out a team to give the domestic season a bit of life still.

I really think it's about time people stopped defending everything as some sort of genius backfired. Sure there's knee jerkers around who need to get a grip too. But to be humiliated twice in a few days, both times at Anfield, is not on.

Especially when we've been well and truly thrashed numerous times this season already.

The League Cup is only a **** meaningless cup when you have something else more important to aim at. Domestically, we didn't. This was it. So let's drop the arrogance about it being only the League Cup.

David Moores says that Liverpool FC's reason for being is to collect silverware. If so, why not go and try to win the only domestic silverware we are still in the running for? I really don't understand it.

And it annoys me to see Arsenal reserves play the game properly like our first team still haven't managed to do.

[JCase]

That was a decent feekick, least Dudek cld have done was try and dive for the fecker instead of being rooted on the spot and looking gobsmacked. We shld bring Carson back ASAP. Any chance of us ever signing that keeper from Citeh?

[Red_Polo]

Everyone was singing 'We won it 5 times', extra loud in response to some **** Arsenal fans were singing. It stopped and this one lone fella carries on, voice almost at breaking point, 'In gay Paris, you won it no times'. ****ing fell about laughing!

[carlton]

Maybe this was a cunning plan by Rafa to show the new investors that our reserve and lesser squad players are not up to it and that serious $$ is needed to build a squad of genuine quality. I think a good way to measure the stregth/quality of a teams squad is to think how many of them, lets say 6-8 for arguments sake, would get a game/start at another premier league club?

Arsenals player set up is, quite frankly, scary and the envy of the leagues I should imagine.

[Finnish_Red]

I don't think fredo finds that funny

[tomasjj]

This is an unacceptable result for a club of our status. Unacceptable. Not even Evans & Houllier managed to lose by that much in any game.
Benitez must look hard at his decision making this past week, he bottled it, fact.
Firstly, making a promise to Dudek so he can play in the cups is ok but not against one of our biggest rivals, in two cup competitions. You can break a promis Senor RAFA & if Dudek can't handle it he can pish off to another club. The manager always has the last say.
Dudek was rusty and lost some of his agility. He cost us both games.
Secondly, why chop and change the defence ? It is one part of the team that must be stable and untouched especially in big games.
Bringing Warnock after his injury was wrong. Palleta with Hyypia was wrong.
Finally, we will finish this season trophyless and Rafa will take the bulk of the blame. FOOK ME this is a bad week.

How can you say this was down to Rafa is beyond me.
Dudek is an experienced international, he should be able to play better but he let Rafa and the team down.

Defence? Maybe because the others were tired or needed a rest, or maybe some of the squad players should get a look in sometimes?

Nevertheless, on paper the team should be good enough to match the reserve Arsenal. Blame rests with the players and their errors.

[Harv]

This is an unacceptable result for a club of our status. Unacceptable. Not even Evans & Houllier managed to lose by that much in any game.
.

3 goals we lost by...im sure ive seen us lose by 3 goals in the houllier era, and im certain Uncle Roys boys would of lost a couple of games by 3 goals at least.