liverpools title challenge is over

[poorscousertommy]

*Ahem* What is RCDNW?

[sonsofthedesert]

*Ahem* What is RCDNW?

Rafa Can Do NO Wrong brigade. It's a stupid insult thrown out by people that have nothing better to say. Before any one says anything I am not in this group as I believe Rafa made 1 mistake yest, he should have plaid Torres or Kuyt instead of Crouch. Other than that I still think the other 3 top teams would be happy with the result and we should chill. We will drop points agaist worse teams - all the top 3 will.

[JPK]

I agree with this. What is also annoying is the amount of people who come on here and have a go at people who express unhappiness at a decision or a performance.

Like the sensible people I don't see things through red tinted glasses. I am willing to discuss negative aspects of Liverpool FC aswell as the positives. For instanced, a positive aspect of yesterday is we were lucky to get a point considering they had 3 clear cut chances that our strikers would have buried.

Noone has said our title challenge is seriously over. People have just made the valid point that if we had played our strongest side we could have won yesterday. And that point is absolute fact.

We aren't doom and gloom merchants, just people making valid points. Yet when they do on here everyone ****ing moans.

If the Pompey strikers had been on form yesterday and had scored the three very good chances they had yesterday (compared to our zero clear cut chances) and we had lost 3-0 would you have been so happy with the result?

Do you know why Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd have dominated the league whilst we have fought for our Champions league lives? They play their best team every week.

You can't moan at people for being unhappy with a poor performance and pointing at the fact that our worst performance of the season happens when the team is completely changed and the players who have provided a lot of the positiveness to our great start are dropped.

Brilliant post

[Craig_H]

The point is not did we drop points today or not. The point is that, if we keep resting our best players away from home againts pretty decent home teams like Pompey, we will continue dropping points. And then in end of the season we will not have enough points to win the title.

These are the games where you either win the title or lose it. Man Utd and Chelsea usually win these kind of games by one goal. A goal usually scored by one of their regular match winners, Lampard, Drogba, Rooney, Ronaldo.

We left two of our regular match winners on the bench yesterday and came home with one point. I believe, that would Gerrard and Torres started the game, we would have had enough quality to score that one goal to get three points.

Sweet jesus, someone who gets the point.

[justyafivetimes]

Sweet jesus, someone who gets the point.

be honest - for me first post to get 5 stars


ya gotta love me already

[poorscousertommy]

Rafa Can Do NO Wrong brigade

Ahhh...cheers

Ty postman pat

[Craig_H]

Not one player in the starting eleven had played a full 90 minutes for their international side midweek. This is the reason why we were able to put on a good strong display and control the game for the most part.

Rafa could have played his so called best players and they could have played ****e and got beat, like a hell of a lot of teams will get beat when they go to portsmouth this season. We were not far away from getting the win anyway that our performance probably deserved over the 90 minutes.

Well played lads and well done rafa.

[thekop]

I'm saying we should've picked our strongest side because Pompey away isnt a game where you rest players.

:

We did have a good strong team out there yesterday mate, what i'm saying is that, we've got a long season ahead of us bud, and you've got to take into concideration is that we had a lot of players on Internationan duty and that we never had much time to prepare for the tough game pompey were gonna give us, therefore, Rafa had to use the players who he thought were able to do the job, yes, in theory yes, we should of been able to field our strongest side against pompey but, that's what a good depth in squad means, we now have a sufficient and quality squad who should be able to cope against any team, unfortunatly, we came up against a very good side who worked their socks off(not saying that we did'nt) and maybe took advantage of us resting a few players who normally would be starting the match but hey, there's a long way to go yet mate and, we are second in the table with a game in hand over the mancs so, lets look at the bigger picture and get behind the Rafa and the Team and see what happens.

I respect your views bud but, one game does'nt loose the premership just yet eh

[Craig_H]

people will never be satisfied.

We have had an excellent start to the season. FFS we are second to Arsenal who will fall away because their squad is **** and they are bound to get injuries. If we were 6 points behind Chelsea and Man U already then yes, I could understand some feelings of doom.

Come on chaps, we can't win every game. WE CAN stay unbeaten though for long periods and that will ensure we are in the mix at the end which is all anyone can ask for. I personally think we will win it this year. I haven't said that after 4 or 5 games into the season for a long long long time.

It's a great time to be a 'Pool supporter so don't winge, we ain't had it so good in the league for years

I agree we cant. Yesterday was one we easily could've won though.

Keep resting our top players, and we certainly wont win every game. Or the league.

[Craig_H]

Oh and Manure didn't win at pompey. They are no pushovers. Harry has spent a lot of cash at that club. Tough away fixture. Yes, we could and should have played better, that I am not disputing, however, I don't think anyone should write of our title challenge because of one game we draw and don't concede in.

This is the thing people cant seem to get through their beaks:

I KNOW Portsmouth are no pushovers. I KNOW Man Utd didnt win there (not that it matters what they do, it's what WE do that counts). And i know it's a tough game.

But when the points are THERE for the taking (and the impact of Gerrard and Torres when they came on SHOWED how easily we could've won the game had they started) and we just say "Ah no thanks, we'll just have the one ta. Keep them other 2 points" it's a fecking well waste.

There ARE games we wont be able to win. Yesterday wasnt one of them.

We virtually CHOSE not to win with that pedestrian lineup. And that really pisses me off.

[Craig_H]

Cruxt of the matter is right here in DS' post IMO, and what DJS alluded to earlier.

We have a strong squad and with the indifferent start Man U and Chelsea have made, plus their desperation to succeed in Europe, and Arsenal's young squad probably not ready to challenge yet, I have no doubts this is a golden opportunity for us to win the league. It's already so tight at the top of the table - no team will run away with it, and every point will count this season. 3 points away at the likes of Portsmouth as opposed to 1 could make the difference between #19 and 17 years of hurt becoming 18.

With the words coming out of Anfield, I honestly thought Rafa was prioritising the league this year, and it is about time. With all the success we've had in Europe the last 3 years, it's league success we really crave.

Yet when we have a tricky away league game at Portsmouth just before a Champions League game, and Rafa leaves out Gerrard and Torres, it does make you question where his priorities truly lie. It seems like the same old story, resting key players for league games so they are ready for Europe. The way I see it, Porto is not a key game, we could probably afford to lose still win all our home games plus another away to top the group.

To be honest, I do not understand his logic in the team selection yesterday. Gerrard - ok, he's played two games in quick succession after being injured, so may not be in peak fitness. Otherwise, if he's fit he should play every game, especially away from home. Rest him for Derby, Birmingham at home, but not Portsmouth away. If he's not 100%, play him against Portsmouth then rest him against Porto, and Birmingam if necessary. Same with Torres, he's played two internationals, but he's fit and it's early in the season. There should be no issue of fatigue and if it's the case that he's trying to get them at peak fitness for the latter stages of the season then rest him on Tues or next Sat. Like jockey Hansen said last night on MOTD you dont rotate key players in tricky away games, you rest them in the easier home fixtures (the way fergie and Mourinho do).

This post is a lot longer than I thought, for which I apologise, but it's because I am so baffled by his selection yesterday. There is no legislating for some of the poor performances of the likes of Alonso, Crouch, Momo and perhaps that team should have been good enough to win regardless, but why not pick the strongest team to give us a better chance of getting the 3 points? Every point will count this season and we can't afford to sabotage our title hopes by playing a considerably weaker team at difficult away fixtures.

I love Rafa too, but sometimes I just think he tries to be too clever for his own good.

[Craig_H]

You don't half come over as friggin pompous sometimes, i agreed with you in the other thread that rafa did make a **** up and that's the way i see it as well, however this thread has got nothing to do with RCDNW the lad is just highlighting the positives so far

Sorry morph, but as you've acknowledged, Rafa fecked up, yet the original poster seems to be one of those who'll never acknowledge it if Rafa makes a daft mistake.

In other words, a RCDNWer

[Craig_H]

be honest - for me first post to get 5 stars


ya gotta love me already

It's a diverse forum. There are some who disagree with me.

And then there are those who are right

[captainfog]

This is the thing people cant seem to get through their beaks:

I KNOW Portsmouth are no pushovers. I KNOW Man Utd didnt win there (not that it matters what they do, it's what WE do that counts). And i know it's a tough game.

But when the points are THERE for the taking (and the impact of Gerrard and Torres when they came on SHOWED how easily we could've won the game had they started) and we just say "Ah no thanks, we'll just have the one ta. Keep them other 2 points" it's a fecking well waste.

There ARE games we wont be able to win. Yesterday wasnt one of them.

We virtually CHOSE not to win with that pedestrian lineup. And that really pisses me off.

harsh.

we had some excellent players out there. I thought Yossa and Crotch were innefectual, however, they should be good enough. Apart from that we had a pretty strong team.

I think you're reading too much into the team selection. If you think we won't win the league with players like that then you would have to concede that we won't win the league at all. They will play many games, Torres and Stevie won't be fit for every game.

[Craig_H]

We did have a good strong team out there yesterday mate, what i'm saying is that, we've got a long season ahead of us bud, and you've got to take into concideration is that we had a lot of players on Internationan duty and that we never had much time to prepare for the tough game pompey were gonna give us, therefore, Rafa had to use the players who he thought were able to do the job, yes, in theory yes, we should of been able to field our strongest side against pompey but, that's what a good depth in squad means, we now have a sufficient and quality squad who should be able to cope against any team, unfortunatly, we came up against a very good side who worked their socks off(not saying that we did'nt) and maybe took advantage of us resting a few players who normally would be starting the match but hey, there's a long way to go yet mate and, we are second in the table with a game in hand over the mancs so, lets look at the bigger picture and get behind the Rafa and the Team and see what happens.

I respect your views bud but, one game does'nt loose the premership just yet eh

First up, i never said anything about losing the title.

One game doesnt of course, but if this is how rafa is gonna pick his teams, then i promise you we dont stand a cat in hell's chance of winning the league.

We had a solid, workmanlike team starting yesterday, but little or no spark and no matchwinners on the pitch. Sometimes you can win with a team collective, a solid but not spectacular performance. You can grind it out.

Not at pompey though, they're a well drilled organised and decent side, who are good on their own patch. That in itself is why you shouldnt drop players who can win you the game.

Yes, we had internationals, but so did United & Arsenal. Furthermore, if SG and Torres are on the bench, they have to be capable of playing the majority of the game. What if someone had got injured 5 mins in? SG or FT might've been required to put in 85 mins. If they're on the bench, they're able to play.

More than any of that, we have 2 games coming up where their presence wont be crucial. Yesterday wasnt one of those games.