LFC vs Everton - post match reaction

[Kopite_Colin]

I agree with you about leaving Finnan exposed (see one of my earlier posts). But that's cos the rest of our MF going forward was so f*cking woeful. The manager needs to carry the can for selection and tactics - and today (as we have been for weeks) we were ****e going forward. I think Rafa has effectively "slapped" SG for possibly ignoring his orders and drifting inside so much. But without him we'd have been royally ****ed today. On that showing SG has more balls than Rafa - who continues to baffle and frustrate me.

[Gazzla]

Despite the fact we didn't play well today we created at least 5 or 6 clear cut chances that we should have scored from but we didn't. Sissoko, Riise & Voronin all ****ed up when they should have done better with excellent opportunities

[Guest]

Agree with all of that

Today changed my view of Rafa, I still have immense respect for him , but unless he brings in a coach to improve our attacking play I do not think he will win us no19.

He is too conservative.

I know many others have already said this, but to me today was an eye-opener.

He is playing favourites (Sissoko) to the detriment of the team.

We were without 4 players, Agger, Alonso, Arbeloa and Torres, but that is no excuse for the complete lack of shape we had for much of the match.

Having said all that , we won

Rafa knows better than us. We should have complete faith in him until the end of the season. What will you all do if he wins us the league ?

Sit tight ... We're unbeaten and 3rd in the table atm. We'll see if Arsenal will keep up playing this way all season.

[Kopite_Colin]

We see it differently Tom. I would never leave Sissoko on and bring Gerrard off in a game we needed to win against a team with ten men in it.

If you want a match winner, Gerrard is one of them. Is Sissoko. We wouldn't have even been in the game without Gerrard. The first 10 mins were much like the previous 30 until Gerrard got us the pen and reduced them to 10 men.

I know people will quote the league position, but I remember Houllier being top of the league, and I knew in my heart of hearts we were never going to stay there.

Time is going to tell on this. Personally, I think Rafa was garbage today. If the ref had made the correct decision it would have been 2-2.

It was there for the taking, but he chose caution. Fundamentally, that worries me, because it happens too often. Perhaps its the reason why we are so inept at breaking teams down. Perhaps the fact that he played with two defensive midfielders against 10 men is an expression of the reason why we do.

Is he a manager who'll have the balls to take a team to the cleaners? My doubts are there. I'm just glad I can express them in the aftermath of a victory.

I agree with you so wholeheartedly - hurts to say it but it's true.

[Red_Polo]

****ing great way to win

Comms pissed me off a bit at times, aside from the usual Gray ****e,what really annoyed me was having to constantly hear 'Phillip Neh-vill' instead of just 'Phil Nevvle'

We were **** today, but who cares? I'm in love with 'pool and I feel fine

[breffniboy]

we're 1 point behind manure - and unbeaten in the league. I just don't get it with people on here.

Looking at the bottom line ,sure, everything is great. It's when you look above it there are reasons to be concerned and perhaps think that we are in this admittedly decent position despite how we have played and not because of it.

If we continue to play like this, do you think we'll be unbeaten and a point behind manure come season's end? Or even by January for that matter? Not a chance mate we'll be miles behind as usual, that's the point.

[redblood]

The game was there for the taking. Rafa didn't have the balls to go for it but he got lucky. **** performance from the manager in my view, and shows that he's fundamentally negative in mindset.

Little he does these days makes sense to me.

Nothing he did tactically pushed the game in our favour.
Changed Stevie to the left at half time and Stevie broke in this position to win the pen to bring us back into it.

Much of what he did worked against us.

Pitiful performance from Rafa in my opinion. Thankfully, despite it, we got the 3 points, more thanks to Clattenburg than the manager.

Yes, that final shout really was a pen (the first of their shouts never was in a month of Sundays).

If anyone knows why any team playing 10 men needs Sissoko in it, let me know. We were very very fortunate to have avoided the headline being "Nine Man Everton Salvage Late Draw In Derby".

I'm thrilled we won, but let's be honest about it, it showed Rafa in all his negativity.
Or it showed that sometimes being a lucky manager is what you need to be.

My doubts about his leadership are firming up (yes I know that's not a popular view). But he's now in a position where, in league football, he very much needs to win me back again.

[carlton]

I bet there will be no DVD rushed out next week after that!

[Kopite_Colin]

We won today and we're still very much in this race. But Rafa needs to have a long look at his squad and the way he uses it imho. We have too many players who don't / can't change the game when the chips are down, and taking our lost potent attacking forces off and buying "attacking" players who are sub-standard doesn't help.

We may yet go on and win it - and if so I'll be ecstatic - but right now - I'm not yet convinced we'll ever win it with Rafa at the helm (there - I've said it).

[tomasjj]

Andy Gray was a joke - he acted like a tabloid journalist all day. Appalling stuff.


It was disgraceful actually

Sissoko was abysmal, as we all know. Delighted for Sami that we won. Mascherano did really well considering the week he had. Kuyt has incredible mental strength, but I think Rafa's system is ruining him as a player. Sad to see.
Yup. Momo was ****. Also, Maschers passing isn't near the quality of Alonso's, sadly. Kuyt is strong
Rafa desperately needs a top class number 2 to come in. I'm really worried about the effects of Pako's departure...does he trust anyone anymore? His lineups and substitutions are very worrying of late.
Agreed. Seems Rafa needs someone who is not a "yes" man to challenge him a bit.

Lucas had a nice little cameo, but it was only a cameo....let's not get carried away.
True, I think he will be ace though. His use of the ball is great, and he looks to always have time. Reminds me of Alonso that.
This result is a huge boost for us going into a difficult week, and there are many positives on the way ... namely the returns of Agger, Alonso and Torres.
Great that we somehow managed to sneak that win without risking them

[Jack D Rips]

Andy Gray is the biggest C*nt in the world.

I love how Jamie Redknapp denied the second Everton penalty incident was not a penalty

Carra's celebration is a legend

He may indeed be the biggest C in the world but I think he called it right today

[Guest]

We see it differently Tom. I would never leave Sissoko on and bring Gerrard off in a game we needed to win against a team with ten men in it.

If you want a match winner, Gerrard is one of them. Is Sissoko. We wouldn't have even been in the game without Gerrard. The first 10 mins were much like the previous 30 until Gerrard got us the pen and reduced them to 10 men.

I know people will quote the league position, but I remember Houllier being top of the league, and I knew in my heart of hearts we were never going to stay there.

Time is going to tell on this. Personally, I think Rafa was garbage today. If the ref had made the correct decision it would have been 2-2.

It was there for the taking, but he chose caution. Fundamentally, that worries me, because it happens too often. Perhaps its the reason why we are so inept at breaking teams down. Perhaps the fact that he played with two defensive midfielders against 10 men is an expression of the reason why we do.

Is he a manager who'll have the balls to take a team to the cleaners? My doubts are there. I'm just glad I can express them in the aftermath of a victory.

We created 5 or 6 clear cut chances Alun ! We didn't take them. We would have been high and dry had Voronin scored in the first minute.

We should give the manager some credit. I can't agree with people saying he's a defensive coach ! Every team needs a balance, i.e neither attacking full throttle not being a boring defensive team like the Arsenal during the Graham days.

He's managing a whole season there, not just one game. It's his philosophy and it's brought him results with Valencia before. We have a better squad now, and proof of that is the result today, where we were without Torres, Alonso and Agger.

There's also a lack of confidence in the team and this should explain the performance which was not free flowing. Results must come first, then the swagger will come back.

[alunevans]

Rafa knows better than us. We should have complete faith in him until the end of the season. What will you all do if he wins us the league ?

Sit tight ... We're unbeaten and 3rd in the table atm. We'll see if Arsenal will keep up playing this way all season.

"Rafa knows better than us." Thats not really a good riposte to a criticism. I could reply by saying Graham Taylor knows better than you. Would you have complete faith in him until the end of the season just because he knows more than you do?

It's like saying "cleverer people than you think Rafa is doing the right thing." To which I could almost certainly reply "cleverer people than them think he's not." Which would get very circular.

And to be fair, Wenger has several season's evidence that his teams play that way. The (accumulating) evidence is that Rafa's mindset is a negative one, and we've been there before.

Anyhow, we won. So all's good today. It could (and should) have been worse.

I'm going to enjoy the win, but I stand by the view that it was despite the manager, and it has left me with a number of concerns.

[TigaSefi]

The amount of bollocking i got from saying Rafa is ****e in the EPL last season makes me feel vindicated today. He was next to useless and really should start growing some balls and play more attacking football.

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

We see it differently Tom. I would never leave Sissoko on and bring Gerrard off in a game we needed to win against a team with ten men in it.

If you want a match winner, Gerrard is one of them. Is Sissoko. We wouldn't have even been in the game without Gerrard. The first 10 mins were much like the previous 30 until Gerrard got us the pen and reduced them to 10 men.

I know people will quote the league position, but I remember Houllier being top of the league, and I knew in my heart of hearts we were never going to stay there.

Time is going to tell on this. Personally, I think Rafa was garbage today. If the ref had made the correct decision it would have been 2-2.

It was there for the taking, but he chose caution. Fundamentally, that worries me, because it happens too often. Perhaps its the reason why we are so inept at breaking teams down. Perhaps the fact that he played with two defensive midfielders against 10 men is an expression of the reason why we do.

Is he a manager who'll have the balls to take a team to the cleaners? My doubts are there. I'm just glad I can express them in the aftermath of a victory.

Totally agree Alun.

I can't see us winning the league under Rafa unless he changes certain things or principles which he has.

There's no doubt what he does brings success in Europe, but the Premiership is a completely different kind of competition, with it's own demands.

Lucky today, spawny even. We'll take it but as you say Rafa could have so easily been under major fire for his team selection, tactics and substitutions. The 3 main responsibilities of any manager and he got it the majority of it wrong. Not good.