a few inescapable conclusions...

[badpiggy]

[QUOTE=tomasjj;328906]

Hahaha... you are having a laugh mate.
Are you an ex top manager/player then?

nope, just the same as everone else here - a liverpool fan - merely questioning what appears to be a bizzarely uncritical view of our performance last night. my bottom line is this - we gave the ball away to a team that is excellent on paper but realistically, nothing else at the moment.

if we can "tear them apart at will" in the first half but not score then it says a lot about our "mentality" in the 2nd half that we wouldn't continue in the same vein. you can't score if you don't have the ball. even though every team will have at least one chance even when playing ****, i think barca's one chance last night should have been ronaldinho's shot against the post. they didn't deserve any more than that but we let them have the ball.

[Laddsy]

[QUOTE=tomasjj;328936]

he is just on a wind up.

I would put $500 on a wind up

[tomasjj]

[QUOTE=bloody and porcine;328941]

they didn't deserve any more than that but we let them have the ball.

1. Cause they have great skill.
2. Because we got tired.

[Laddsy]

[QUOTE=bloody and porcine;328941]

nope, just the same as everone else here - a liverpool fan - merely questioning what appears to be a bizzarely uncritical view of our performance last night. my bottom line is this - we gave the ball away to a team that is excellent on paper but realistically, nothing else at the moment.

if we can "tear them apart at will" in the first half but not score then it says a lot about our "mentality" in the 2nd half that we wouldn't continue in the same vein. you can't score if you don't have the ball. even though every team will have at least one chance even when playing ****, i think barca's one chance last night should have been ronaldinho's shot against the post. they didn't deserve any more than that but we let them have the ball.

Has anyone told you that we were playing the best team on the earth???



I would say that Ronaldinho would cost more than 80% of our 1st team. Get a grip for ****s sake

[friedk]

The Liverpool manager

"I am very proud of my players and our supporters. The atmosphere was amazing and that's why I always say we have the best supporters in the world. I am disappointed we conceded a goal and lost the match on the night but we deserved to go through. We deserved to score a lot of goals in the first half and even in the second when Barcelona had more possession we had chances on the break. We weren't finishing the opportunities we were creating but we worked so hard. We managed to hang on and and made sure we qualified."
Rafael Benitez

The opposition manager

"We won this leg but maybe we were lucky considering the amount of chances they created in the first half. We tried everything possible and I am proud of the spirit and effort my players put in. They worked hard and tried everything but Liverpool are a difficult team to play against. They are strong and mentally tough. That is the way it goes. Sometimes it is like that in football however hard you try. I can only congratulate Liverpool, they are a vigorous side and for the neutral it must have been a game full of good attacking football. From Liverpool it was a great performance. Their style is very difficult to play against. We tried everything, although we were not at our best. We fought to the very last seconds but Liverpool were highly motivated and they defended in such a way to stop us getting close to their goal. Anfield is such a difficult place to play in, so we are out, but I was very impressed with the spirit and fight we showed. I now expect to see that for the rest of the season."
Frank Rijkaard

The Liverpool player

"The club's got a great history in Europe but besides winning finals this is probably the biggest result in Europe we've ever had. Barcelona are the best club side in the world, even though we've knocked them out. We were hanging on - with 10-12 minutes to go we were just praying for the whistle. We didn't realise until a few seconds after the blew it that he had - we got there in the end."
Jamie Carragher

The Liverpool player

"We were unlucky not to go in at half-time ahead. Barcelona are so good going forward, they play such nice football, but we stuck in there and are in the last eight now. We've got great spirit, grit and determination - people were throwing bodies about and that's one of the reasons we're through. It gives us great confidence, going through against the best side in Europe over two legs."
Steven Gerrard

The local newspaper

"Liverpool deserve the plaudits for deservedly dumping out the continent's finest team, while their victory in the Nou Camp a fortnight ago can rightly be praised as perhaps their best away result in Europe. Almost inevitably, it was Eidur Gudjohnsen - who memorably missed in injury time of the Anfield semi-final for Chelsea in 2005 - that stepped off the Barca bench to give the visitors hope with a well-taken strike. Had they snatched a qualification-clinching second goal during the remaining 15 minutes, it would have been a travesty after Liverpool had, their finishing apart, produced arguably their best performance of the season."

But what do they know :whatever:

[captainfog]

I don't see how you can say we played negatively. Were you watching a different game?

The first 60 or so minutes of the game we played Barca off the park. As has been mentioned by myself and others in this thread, if we had better players on the field we would have converted that possession into goals.

Of course we were pushed on the back foot towards the end of the game. Did you honestly expect Barca to roll over and die without a fight? They might be in a poor run at the moment but they're still packed with magnificent players, including Eto who most people on the forum want US to sign.......

Other than putting away some of the numerous chances we had, I don't see how we could have played much better. If we play with the same passion, attacking intent and tempo as we did in that first 45 against Barca for the rest of the season, then i will be a very happy man.

[AFII]

[QUOTE=Laddsy;328955]

Has anyone told you that we were playing the best team on the earth???

We are the best team in the World.


I would say that Ronaldinho would cost more than 80% of our 1st team. Get a grip for ****s sake
Gerrard would cost more than him.

[Manofthebog]

I take it we got knocked out then.

[Laddsy]

[QUOTE=AFII;328967]
We are the best team in the World

True but we would not even be in the same breath as Barcelona a few weeks ago


Gerrard would cost more than him.

I would like to believe that, but there is no ****ing way. Of course Gerrard is a better footballer but you try telling that to the rest of the world

[Joe Le Toff]

Should I just point you to the great AC Milan sides of the 90's. They were a fantastic attacking force (with Gullit and Van Basten at the fore) but they were mostly a crushing machine which played a pressing game most of the time. They destroyed Barca in a final (4-0) where Barca were the overwhelming favorites. And guess what, they played exactly the way we did yesterday ... The difference being they were clinical and converted most of their chances. If we had done that yesterday night, nobody would have complained.

And above all, as you say, that great Milan side had Van Basten, the most complete striker of all time.
If we had a striker with half of Van Bastens goalscoring ability let alone anything else, i have no doubt we would have convincingly beaten both the Mancs at the weekend and Barca last night.

[Diego]

and to be fair i reckon only gerrard would have made that side out off all of our players thats how good they were...

[enema of the state]

I think thats a fair post

i dont

we outplayed barcelona for an hour and man utd for 92 mins

the only fault was a failure to convert hard won chances

that is only a matter of 1 more player - if we had a rush, a van diverboy or the etoo of last season, wed have won these games 2-1 or better and wed be hailed as the complete side/ best in europe blah blah blah.....

were REALLY close to where we want to be when we can put in those 2 performances v scum and barca in 3 days. the step to making the performances turn into results is mainly psychological.

a £30m top quality CF banging the goals in might just lift the whole squad and let us take the step.

[fah-q]

Still;taking what you have said into account we are still in the last 8 of the CL, put out the best team in the world and current european champions, playing extremely well for at least half of the tie (first 20 mins of the nou camp and most of the second half yesterday aside).

We witnessed on of the magical european nights last night, shocking our new owners by all accounts too, and still people aren't happy.

[badpiggy]

[QUOTE=Laddsy;328955]

Has anyone told you that we were playing the best team on the earth???



I would say that Ronaldinho would cost more than 80% of our 1st team. Get a grip for ****s sake

so last night in barcelona, we were watching the best team in the world? how standards have dropped... they certainly have some of the best players in the world but that's saying a totally different thing.

overall then, we were watching the two best teams in the world but amazingly neither are top of their own leagues, ourselves by a considerable distance. now if people are saying that we are the best club in the world with the most amazing fans, history and tradition, i'd agree 100%. given that amazing tradition and history, none of you find it the least bit disappointing that we gave the ball away so much under fairly minimal pressure.

so the rest of you were reclining in your armchair, sipping armagnac and toasting a suberb tactical approach - "that's it, let them have the ball, we don't need it"? no you ****in weren't - you probably wanted to throw the tv out the window such was your frustration just like me. today the result is all that matters. agreed. we've progressed and that's what matters. agreed. atmosphere, fans etc unsurpassed and legendary. agreed. brilliant play and workrate without the ball. agreed. should have finished the game in the first half. agreed.

barcelona were something to be scared of on the night. wrong.
giving the ball away is a good tactic. wrong.

[fah-q]

and to be fair i reckon only gerrard would have made that side out off all of our players thats how good they were...

But we had 11 players who played like a team (well 10 when Pennant came on) whereas they had a collection of individuals who when pressured and closed down couldn't provide much inspiration.