Anyone still think Gerrard and Torres should have started on Sat?

[JohnDoe]

:whatever:

That was just to get your attention

[Gazzla]

The team we put out on Saturday was good enough to win but didn't play well enough. End of

[cobain]

Fair point, but is it tactics? If you are criticizing Hyypia's selection in the team due to the opposition having quick players, you should do so nearly every game he plays because EVERY team at this level have quick players in attack.

Why do you criticize it now then? Because the statistical chance that Hyypia will eventually be caught for pace was materialized today.

That is not a reason to criticize Rafa, unless you're also saying that Hyypia shouldn't have a place in the squad because of his weakness and Rafa's a big idiot for not realizing that. This is another issue.
If you do acknowledge Hyypia's benefits as a squad member, you should also acknowledge his weaknesses and that as a player who will get plenty of games this season, he WILL be caught for pace at certain situations. That is not the manager's fault for not sticking a rocket up his arse is it?

Rafa probably thought that Hyypiä would have no problem whatsover with Gerrard and most importantly, Mascherano helping in defence ... Yet they ****ed it up. And yes, this was the only wrong change Rafa has done (otherwise, I was very happy with team selection today). Yes, Rafa shouldn't pick Hyypiä for this match as Porto's forwards are waaay quicker than he is ... If they (Rafa and his coaches or whatever) had done their homework, they should have known that.

The reason we were poor on the flanks is because Pennant, Babel and Finnan were ****e, was it not? It's not that we didn't try to get balls to the flanks. Every time we did, we lost the ball. Rafa usually doesn't make substitutions at half time unless he's forced to and a player's error and temperament has nothing to do with TACTICS. It's a human error, like a centre back slipping on his arse. I find it hard to believe Rafa screamed at Pennant to kill the opposition's players, so a guy at this level should know better and be careful when he has a yellow.

Why is it the manager's fault when the players couldn't string two passes together? At this level, players don't need their manager's 'spiritual help' to string two passes together! Obviously the poor possession game caused the players to hoof the ball up the field often, but do you honestly think that was a manager's order? Or was it more an effect of the players' poor performance?

It could be the manager's fault if the passing was inconsistent in its purpose, or the structure of our team wasn't right, but the players tonight couldn't play a simple pass! Why is it his mistake that he put out a team, which consisted of 10 of our "fans' unofficial best 11", and it, as you said yourself, horribly underperformed?

All I'm saying is that Rafa reacts tooooooooooooo damn slow! ALSO, he says that he prepares his team for every match and that they analyse every opponent - I think they didn't do their homework this time around. If he sees that the team is getting battered out there and that we can't get the ball, why the **** wait with substitutions or changes in formation? For the majority of the game, Torres was sleeping in the Porto's penalty box and it seemed that we're playing with 10 players (when Pennant was sent off, with 9). That was a waste if you ask me and if you see that the striker is completely isolated, why insisting on still playing him there?!

[Johnny]

The team we put out on Saturday was good enough to win but didn't play well enough. End of

Same tonight,blaming Rafa for player failure is the easy way out.

[JohnDoe]

Rafa probably thought that Hyypiä would have no problem whatsover with Gerrard and most importantly, Mascherano helping in defence ... Yet they ****ed it up. And yes, this was the only wrong change Rafa has done (otherwise, I was very happy with team selection today). Yes, Rafa shouldn't pick Hyypiä for this match as Porto's forwards are waaay quicker than he is ... If they (Rafa and his coaches or whatever) had done their homework, they should have known that.

Name me a Premiership side without a starting striker who is waaay quicker than Hyypia and tell me why, if we're sticking to your logic, should we EVER play Hyypia again?

All I'm saying is that Rafa reacts tooooooooooooo damn slow! ALSO, he says that he prepares his team for every match and that they analyse every opponent - I think they didn't do their homework this time around. If he sees that the team is getting battered out there and that we can't get the ball, why the **** wait with substitutions or changes in formation? For the majority of the game, Torres was sleeping in the Porto's penalty box and it seemed that we're playing with 10 players (when Pennant was sent off, with 9). That was a waste if you ask me and if you see that the striker is completely isolated, why insisting on still playing him there?!

Rafa is not a basketball coach, he can't chop and change every single second, that will confuse the team more than it will help (Does the term tinkerman ring any bells?). He physically controls two things: The team and the substitutions. The team was fine, Rafa was spot on in his selections and even his critics don't think that was "the problem". You can only make three subs a game. Do you honestly think the team's performance had anything to do with subs?

So we're down to 10 men, away from home, under pressure, the players can't string a pass together... Oh I know! I'll make a quick substitution and suddenly a magical beam of energy will shoot right through the team and everything will be right again.

[red g]

the only thing i blame him for is not subbing Pennant, it was obvious he was about to get sent off !!!

in fact i blame rafa for buying him as he is not good enough anyway

[JohnDoe]

the only thing i blame him for is not subbing Pennant, it was obvious he was about to get sent off !!!

in fact i blame rafa for buying him as he is not good enough anyway

The same Pennant, who has been one if not THE best and most consistent performer we've had this season, up until Saturday?

Yeah, I see your logic. Drop in form, sell.

[Johnny]

The same Pennant, who has been one if not THE best and most consistent performer we've had this season, up until Saturday?

Yeah, I see your logic. Drop in form, sell.

Alot of silliness on here tonight.

[wiw]

All I'm saying is that Rafa reacts tooooooooooooo damn slow! ALSO, he says that he prepares his team for every match and that they analyse every opponent - I think they didn't do their homework this time around. If he sees that the team is getting battered out there and that we can't get the ball, why the **** wait with substitutions or changes in formation? For the majority of the game, Torres was sleeping in the Porto's penalty box and it seemed that we're playing with 10 players (when Pennant was sent off, with 9). That was a waste if you ask me and if you see that the striker is completely isolated, why insisting on still playing him there?![/QUOTE]

Surely playing him high up top is the first way of keeping the opposition back? The problem we had was ball retention, above all. Their wingers pressurised our fullbacks very well, as they did with the whole of the midfield.

The way we defended tended to be double up on the wingers and allow the fullbacks the ball. This worked reasonably well, but in order to build attacks and maintain posession our wingers have to be 'not ****', which frankly they were.

Clearly their CB's were suspect in the air, we just didnt make the ball stick upfront enough

[kanban111]

I might be wrong but we seem to suffer more than most after international campaigns,we seem to take a few games to get over it,it's a big worry,all the other big boys have the same problem but we suffer it more it seems,all momentum goes out of the window in one fell swoop like they haven't played together for a month.
Some stato may prove me wrong but it seems that way to me every season.

[CAD]

Abso****inglutely.

[kanban111]

I must admit,we were getting battered for most of the game & for all intents & purposes looked like losing,so when we went down to 10 men & getting battered why we took another 15-20 minutes to make a substitution is beyond me & yet again the starting eleven without Agger is also baffling,surely Sami can get a game at the weekend,yes i'm not Rafa but i don't get it,is this where Pako made some sense,i don't honestly know.

[Craig_H]

Looking at their level of energy, imagine their condition a few days ago...

Personally I want at least one of them to play every game since they're our biggest attacking threats in the team, but looking at their performance today you start to understand what Rafa's thinking when picking the starting line-up.

He sees things we don't see, he thinks about things we might not think about. To many people if it's not written in the player's profile that he's "jaded and in need of a rest" and his fitness stands at around 88%, he MUST play or the manager's incompetent.

Some perspective please.

Yes they should've started at Pompey. The CL group is easily retrievable with the remaining 5 games. The PL is where you cant afford to drop points you're well capable of winning, because the competition can take advantage.

The other teams in our CL group arent equipped to pull away to the point where we cant catch up. Our PL rivals are.

[Craig_H]

Only reason Rafa gets the criticism for not playing Torres and Gerrard is the result of the match. I remember plenty of times before when he "over-rotated" and nothing was mentioned about it and you know why? Because we won.

Yeah but do you not see that the team selection has a DIRECT IMPACT on whether we DO win or not??!

Of course the result is the most important thing. You usually get the result via players who win you the match. Players like Gerrard & Torres...

[JohnDoe]

Yes they should've started at Pompey. The CL group is easily retrievable with the remaining 5 games. The PL is where you cant afford to drop points you're well capable of winning, because the competition can take advantage.

The other teams in our CL group arent equipped to pull away to the point where we cant catch up. Our PL rivals are.

But there was no guarantee we would have won the match had we fielded them on Saturday, especially when they were not match fit. You're talking like it would have been "in the bag" had they played when it clearly wouldn't, considering Pompey have one of the best home records in the league.