Post match v Reading

[Darth Marty]

to briefly summarise.....

ive just got home, i obviously know the result but what was the problm today, who played well, who didnt, subs made well or not, team selection good or not?
thanks fellas

[willa1975]

The good...Gerrard continued his goalscoring form, Torres looked dangerous while he played, and that's about it.

The bad...awful team selection, awful substitutions...seemed like Rafa basically decided to pack it in after we went down 2-1, awful performances from Riise, Crouch, Sissoko and Voronin, and poor refereeing decisions that went against us.

All in all a horrible day at the office.

[Darth Marty]

cheers willa, i was surprised at voronins inclusion but hey ho, rafa knows best eh

[Red Chilli]

What I mean is, is it also a coincidence that we lost because Hobbs made his debut? Or because we started without any wide midfielders? Or because Sissoko started? Or because the referee made some questionable decisions? Or as you say, because we played with two defensive midfielders?

You could reason that all or any of the above are coincidences, or, as I prefer, that none of them are.

I know that you don't favour playing two defensive midfielders and you could be right that was the reason for our defeat today. But in a match with so many other, clear, potentially contributing factors, it is one hell of an assertion to make.

It's more of a coincidence that we play 5(?) matches in a row with 1 defensive midfielder and win those games playing attacking open football then play 2 defensive midfielders and suddenly lose a game, in my opinion.
But I didn't actually blame the defensive midfielders for the result, I merely pointed out the coincidence

[disco]

We lost because of one man, the ref, not because of any tactic or any player.

I kind of agree, but still they took their few chances and woodwork, goalie and ref stopped ours.

One of those things. Happens now and again. Making those subs was definitelt the right thing to do.

[disco]

Oh, Sissoko was rubbish.

Unfortunately had to sit near a racist ****er though :whatever:

[Red Chilli]

2 defensive midfielders again = dropped points to an inferior team

[Red Chilli]

Oh, Sissoko was rubbish.

Unfortunately had to sit near a racist ****er though :whatever:

Should have reported him

[disco]

Today was just one of them days. Take it on the chin and come back punching even harder. Just like Ricky will tonight.

[disco]

Should have reported him

We did. Manager shrugged his shoulders.

So I had a word.

The guy kept saying 'useless babboon', 'don't pass to the babboon' etc. etc.
Funny thing was, when I spoke to him he didn't realise he was being offensive

He stopped though, but genuinely I can't believe he didn't see anything wrong with his behaviour (he was some old-ish chap sat on his own)

[Red Chilli]

Fair play to you

[disco]

My take is that we were by far the better team. Their pen came out of nowhere, and wasn't a pen. We then dominated the next 45 minutes, should have had a penalty ourselves. They then scored from an almost undefendable free-kick, again against run of play, and then on the break.

Perhaps not as dominating as a home game but 9 games out of 10 we win 3-0 at a canter.

Even post subs we created chances, Babel and Kewell looked bright, just couldn't score.

[Darth Marty]

If what disco says is correct I can live with that, **** happens, my gripes are that we picked voronin and sissoko...I dont think either are good enough, babel and kewell on bench...mmm....ah well, we are still going to win the league, not going to lose again all season, mark my words!

[disco]

Fair play to you

Cheers. Everyone was genuinely shocked, but (to start with) laughing at how ridiculous it was - I've heard about people talking like that in the 70s and 80s (he also mentioned throwing banana's etc.), but never witnessed it. It quickly turned into embarrassment and then 'hang on - that's not right'.

It wasn't an aggressive, genuinely hateful racist ****, it was a dinosaur who didn't realise what he was saying was wrong (or, perhaps, thought it was acceptable and we'd not bat an eyelid)

[disco]

Sissoko was genuinely dreadful. Shame when Leiva was around.

Voronin was ok, not great but had a couple of good shots and good assists.

It's a cliche, but it genuinely was one of those days.

Personally, I thought it was the right team for the fixture. Rafa changed it at the right times (brought Kewell on to get the win..... and they scored as the substitution was being prepared - perhaps we lost concentration?!)