Boro V Liverpool - Post match thoughts and rants

[Red Chilli]

We don't have a hope of winning the league this season.

In fact it's looking more and more like our main battle will be fighting off Man City and the Bitters for fourth.

That's exactly what I was sayign to myself today whilst watching the game.

We LOOK like a team challenging for 4th, that's our level at the moment.

[cobain]

Played like a gang of spineless ****houses. Hardly any fight in them yet again, let alone ability to control a football.

At least arsenal dropped 2 home points.

If you really want to clutch at straws, were unbeaten in 6

Yeah and who's gonna profit from that? The filth. I rather see Arsenal winning the league than those cnuts.

[bigfooty]

He's clearly lost his way and lost the dressing room.

Against Luton we bottled so many challenges and had less of the ball against far inferior oppo. Today we were better in the tackles but a number of players looked out of position, disinterested and not sure exactly how they were supposed to be playing. So many hoofed balls that Torres and Voronin had no chance with. Even Crouch would have struggled but he probably would have won some and made it easier for Nando.

Boro are a poorer team than last season. We are supposedly a better one, not just for the 45M we spent in the Summer. But this performance was worse than the corresponding match last season and even that wasn't particualrly good. It just doesn't make any sense.

[Nic83]

The reason Crouch doesn't play I can only presume is that he doesn't fit in with how Rafa want's the team to perform. He wants that crushing machine effect I guess, where everyone is moving around and interchanging and not the more static nature of Crouch (even though Crouch does have great movement in the box).

The problem is that in 2005-2006 with Crouch leading the attack we actually looked like a team with a clue at times. 9 league wins in a row n all that. Since then Rafa has taken the attack in a different direction and it's clearly not worked out. He should swallow his pride and start building the team around Crouch and Torres with Babel as the other option. Start getting some width to the team instead of spending fortunes on defenders or central midfiedlers.

He was a Rafa signing though. We wouldn't DROP him last year no matter what! So there MUST be something going on behind the scenes

[Craig_H]

Trophys aren't handed out in January...so, try in May.

Excellent.

What does the 'we created chances' cup look like?

[Joe King]

Trophys aren't handed out in January...so, try in May.

Trophies are lost in January

[rage]

half the team aren't in form and stevie's gone missing because of the bollcoks being played by rafa! Let me see, i'll put in a world class display but get dropped next game yea great for confidence. Or how about I get to watch players like voronin, kuyt, momo and riise put on a red shirt when better players are dropped.

How the **** does voronin get picked in front of crouch? The more i think about it the angrier i get. ****in hell Rafa what on earth are u doing? Short of a miracle your gone end of this season.

[tomasjj]

Excellent.

What does the 'we created chances' cup look like?

Trophies are lost in January

Keep fishing fellas.

I forgot you wanted to wallow in sorrow.

[disco]

Unbelievably, we're no worse off after today's games

One win - hopefully against Luton - and we'll regain our early season confidence and form. We don't suddenly become **** overnight.

[disco]

We don't suddenly become **** overnight.

Well, we have, but you know what I mean

[-V-]

So because i criticize the manager im not a good enough fan. Get real son, im not saying sack him, im just saying he needs to sort himself out.

He's making mistakes regularly and he deserves to be criticized for it. You cannot defend his team selection today and his stubborness, it's appalling. He should accept he's messed up with Voronin and Kuyt (and riise and benayoun etc etc) and move us onwards

[bigfooty]

He was a Rafa signing though. We wouldn't DROP him last year no matter what! So there MUST be something going on behind the scenes

Crouch was not first choice last season, far from it in fact. He only started about half our games, Kuyt starting the most with Bellamy around the same as Crouch. This despite him being the only senior striker to remain from the previous campaign.

I don't want to go into the stats but Crouchy was by far our most effective striker last season, we winning 3 of 4 matches with him in the side. When we went with other strikers we won 1 of 3.

[Nic83]

Ok Ok, I meant his first season.....

I think Rafa has a 'thing' about persisting with his new signings that don't perform.

His philosophy is obviously one of ok I'll play him till he starts producing and then I'll bench his over performing ass.

TBH, if he was sacked, i wouldn't give a **** (Rafa)

[ronniedrew]

Bollocks as usuall!

The whole team under-performed! I don't know why, but our defence today was absolutely ****e! It reminded me of the Derby defence when we thrashed them 6-0 at Anfield. Reina made an unusual amount of mistakes today. Gerrard ... where were you before the 85th minute?

Riise and Voronin were utter garbage today! Woeful as **** and no wonder we don't do nothing in attack when only Torres is playing there with 4 defenders defending against him. Oh and Riise's shots are very accurate - I'm amazed at how he can hit the corner flag each and every time he decides to shoot.

Rafa was clueless today! Why is he constantly leaving non-performers on the pitch is beyond me. Why didn't he substitute Riise and Voronin at half-time? Bloody hell!

All in all, this was another ****e performance and I REALLY am glad all these "we can still win the title" bollocks is over now! I hope I don't hear that line until the start of the new season! **** off, no guts, no will, no nothing. Thank **** for Torres and his individual goal!

Sometimes, I wonder where we would be without Torres and Gerrard?

i think there is something seriously wrong in the dressing room,

today gerrard obviously wasnt giving his all, he had more than 1 shrug of the shoulders and shakes of the head, if you dont like it captain, then do something about it

all over the pitch, second to every ball, they wanted it more and that for me is the most disapointing thing. the outfought us and they deserved to win imo. and for a while now we are playing crap football, early to torres etc , no real pace or width down the flanks, very one dimensonal

maybe were a lot further off than i thought.

[AFII]

Voronin
Kuyt
Riise
Sissoko
Carson
and maybe Crouch

Replace them with one or two quality attacking players like Diego and Capel.

Strikers.....Torres, Babel, Diego and Nemeth.
Capel instead of Riise.

We can afford Diego and Capel if we sell off the players I listed and we would have a better squad.

We will miss out on fourth place if Rafa don't sort out our attacking problem. The hoofing from the back will more or less stop when Agger is match fit again.

Diego and Capel are only examples but you get my point. Out with the deadwood and in with quality.