Tactical rigidity

[kev776]

Last night Rafa deployed what was in my opinion was possibly our best team (less Hyypia), it looked balanced with plenty of width, good options with Kuyt and Torres and with Mascher and Gerrard two of the finest central midfielders available anywhere.

So why did a team who sold 40m quids worth of talent in summer look fresher, faster, and fitter than us? They were full of flair and new ideas and were prepared to try them. I know they were at home and a point is better than none etc but surly at this level location doesnt matter, we should be able to beat these teams on skill alone home or away.

Our ability to break up Porto's attacks than promptly boot the ball back to tham was amazing, why on earth do we constantly fail to hold onto the ball?

Kenny Dalgliesh was once asked by a reporter before a game, when he was gaffer "What are your tactics today Kenny?" he replied by saying, "No idea, lets see what the team does when it goes out on the pitch".

Does Rafa constrain the team by his rigid tactics? the skill and class of this team is there for all to see, does anybody think if he relaxed a bit we may see the likes of Babl, Benny or Torres showing some of the flair their previous history has shown that they have.

[friedk]

Not at all.

I think it was a very poor performance, end of story.

Tactics are meaningless if your players don't perform and that was our problem last night.

[cobain]

I have absolutely no idea why Liverpool played crap yesterday! It was painful to watch as we couldn't keep the ball let alone put two passes together

Rafa picked the strongest team we have (bar Hyypi&#228, but this was really shameful! The team totally underperformed and why is that, we will never know. Porto's tactics were spot on as they cancelled every move we made. They put pressure on us from the first whistle onwards and it was really uncomfortable for our whole squad. But since we have so much potential in our squad and probably one of the best players in the world, I thought we'd somehow manage to keep the ball, slow things up a bit and slowly start to play like we used to/should. But this never happened.

It was a terrible performance and yes, we should be lucky that we snatched a point there ... But this must stop right now! We have the best midfield in the world, but yesterday, it was one of the worst.

[paulc]

I have absolutely no idea why Liverpool played crap yesterday! It was painful to watch as we couldn't keep the ball let alone put two passes together

Rafa picked the strongest team we have (bar Hyypiä), but this was really shameful! The team totally underperformed and why is that, we will never know. Porto's tactics were spot on as they cancelled every move we made. They put pressure on us from the first whistle onwards and it was really uncomfortable for our whole squad. But since we have so much potential in our squad and probably one of the best players in the world, I thought we'd somehow manage to keep the ball, slow things up a bit and slowly start to play like we used to/should. But this never happened.

It was a terrible performance and yes, we should be lucky that we snatched a point there ... But this must stop right now! We have the best midfield in the world, but yesterday, it was one of the worst.

Still to get a result away to Porto is very good outcome especially playing badly. No loss this season yet so all good

Sign of good team to get results when playing badly

[kop-al-74]

Still to get a result away to Porto is very good outcome especially playing badly. No loss this season yet so all good

Sign of good team to get results when playing badly

[cobain]

Still to get a result away to Porto is very good outcome especially playing badly. No loss this season yet so all good

Sign of good team to get results when playing badly

We should win last night, but since the team totally underperformed, I'm actually quite happy with the result. It's a good start to the season overall, but I hope I never see a game like yesterdays' again!

[paulc]

Also how did chelsea inter and scum get on when they played Porto away?Porto are not a bad side, they may have sold players but are still a good side

That was on paper our hardest group match

[cobain]

Also how did chelsea inter and scum get on when they played Porto away?Porto are not a bad side, they may have sold players but are still a good side

That was on paper our hardest group match

I'm really having troubles with all this comparing lately.

It's nothing but an excuse to play bad. So what if Inter, Porto, Chelsea etc. drew or lost at Porto? We should have won the game in first 20 minutes with that squad

[kev776]

Also how did chelsea inter and scum get on when they played Porto away?Porto are not a bad side, they may have sold players but are still a good side

That was on paper our hardest group match

Chelsea, scumbags and Inter lost to what I believe was a much better Porto side, 40m million quids worth better, we have spent that to improve, we were lucky last night to get away with a draw.

Even taking into account luck, with Rafas rotation policy the players looked flat and slow. when they should at least be fit and alert, 11 seasoned professionals cant all have a bad day at the office at the same time, is this a sign of life without Paco?

[Jack D Rips]

I'm really having troubles with all this comparing lately.

It's nothing but an excuse to play bad. So what if Inter, Porto, Chelsea etc. drew or lost at Porto? We should have won the game in first 20 minutes with that squad

This talk about Inter Scum and Chelski is utter bull****. We were crap last night and previous matches can not cover that up

[paulc]

This talk about Inter Scum and Chelski is utter bull****. We were crap last night and previous matches can not cover that up

We were bad but are people forgetting Porto are a good side. they are champions of Portugal for what its worth.

I am not defending it but we will get through group

If we play bad and win title by getting results I will be happy

But hey you have the the right to your opinion

[JohnDoe]

Does Rafa constrain the team by his rigid tactics?

What are his tactics and why are they rigid?

We didn't play well because, shock horror, the players didn't perform well.

So what if Inter, Porto, Chelsea etc. drew or lost at Porto? We should have won the game in first 20 minutes with that squad.

Ridiculous statement.

[cobain]

What are his tactics and why are they rigid?

We didn't play well because, shock horror, the players didn't perform well.



Ridiculous statement.

OK, I give up! I'm completely satisfied with the fact that we're comparing ourself to Chelsea and filthy scum all the time. because they're so much better than us that we need to follow their footsteps.

Brilliant!

Rock on dudes

[paulc]

OK, I give up! I'm completely satisfied with the fact that we're comparing ourself to Chelsea and filthy scum all the time. because they're so much better than us that we need to follow their footsteps.

Brilliant!

Rock on dudes

Well going on Premier League Titles they have...

(waits for barage of abuse)

[AFII]

The reason is that Hyypia played.

When he plays then we have no other option than to play with a very low defensive line and that rules out any quick attacks and a good distribution from our central defenders. Instead of Agger passing the ball when he plays the opposition knows that they can pressure Hyypia and Carra so they will have to hoof away the ball. When Agger plays he can pass the ball out of a tight situation, Hyypia and Carra can't do that.

That makes the whole team unbalanced. Pennant and Babel needs to defend a lot more and they are not good enough doing that.

It was a big mistake by Rafa to play Hyypia. Just to accept it and move on.

Hyypia has been fantastic for us but he is to slow now and we need to replace him with a central defender that will allow us to play our normal game with a higher defensive line.