Why did.............

[DannyMan2006]

FFS, Skrtle wasnt fit. He was on the bench as a last resort. Will people plz stop asking stupid questions everytime Rafa makes a decision. End Of.

Fair enough but why didn't Carra and Agger play? They're meant to be first choice FFS!!!!!!!!!

Sack Rafa

[Red_Polo]

Surely nobody can really think Rafa chose Arbeloa to play CB over Skrtel for anything other than Skrtel being less than 100% fit? You could say well he shouldn't be on the bench then, but when a player is only nearly fit isn't it a question of risk management? How important was it to risk the player? We won without him, and Arbeloa's selection wasn't the major factor in our poor defensive performance, so it would seem to have been an alright call. Skrtel was on the bench because presumably if another CB had been injured during the game suddenly it would be worth the risk to play him.

[Johnny]

Hyypia will not be leaving Anfield at the end of the season this yr.
This season has proved that with Injuries and suspensions it`s good to have a seasoned pro in the ranks.It would be madness not to offer him a 1 yr deal and i doubt he wants to leave.

[DannyMan2006]

Surely nobody can really think Rafa chose Arbeloa to play CB over Skrtel for anything other than Skrtel being less than 100% fit? You could say well he shouldn't be on the bench then, but when a player is only nearly fit isn't it a question of risk management? How important was it to risk the player? We won without him, and Arbeloa's selection wasn't the major factor in our poor defensive performance, so it would seem to have been an alright call. Skrtel was on the bench because presumably if another CB had been injured during the game suddenly it would be worth the risk to play him.

I disagree. I admit I only watched the game on TV, but on TV he looked ****e, just as he did when he played CB the time before. He is great at RB IMO, but at LB or CB he is woeful.

[Red_Polo]

Our fullbacks were both poor as well though and it was our failure to defend properly as a unit that we suffered from rather than one player making mistakes, so to say he was the major cause of the poor defensive performance would be incredibly harsh IMO.

[Johnny]

I thought Arbeloa had a decent game in a position he`s not used to recently.

[Morten_nogamst_Pedersen]

Hyypia will not be leaving Anfield at the end of the season this yr.
This season has proved that with Injuries and suspensions it`s good to have a seasoned pro in the ranks.It would be madness not to offer him a 1 yr deal and i doubt he wants to leave.

[Dalglish]

Cos we played crap?

Ah ok. I was stupidly focusing on the 3 points and the win

[homer1]

Hyypia will not be leaving Anfield at the end of the season this yr.
This season has proved that with Injuries and suspensions it`s good to have a seasoned pro in the ranks.It would be madness not to offer him a 1 yr deal and i doubt he wants to leave.

Wouldn't be on huge money, no settling in period and still able to do a bloody good job for us if he didn't have to play the number of games in a row that he has had to this year. Model professional who won't complain about not playing week in week out. Absolute no-brainer for me

[Fubar]

We won, matter is closed.

[Elvis]

Ah ok. I was stupidly focusing on the 3 points and the win

The idea that we can "move on" or just focus on the win is absurd - the only way the team will improve is to look at the quality of our play whether we win or lose. Our home form has let us down this season - too many draws - and Saturday was almost another one of those occasions. Thankfully, I don't think Rafa will just say "3 points, job done" - he will analyse and re-analyse why we got into the mess we got in to before digging ourselves out courtesy of crap defending from Boro. He knows that Utd/Arse/Everton won't do us that favour....
The comment from Southgate after the match was very important - we looked edgy and nervous and they believed they could get something. That's part of our problem at the moment - too many teams believe that can get something - they know it, we know it. "This is Anfield" doesn't reduce EPL teams to jelly anymore. Until we start dominating play and thumping teams 4-0 they won't be intimidated and we will continue to struggle because we don't have the psychological edge we used to have. Of course, those who think the matter is "closed" cos we won should ignore this post...and probably not bother posting on a forum which promotes "discussion" of football.

[Reece]

The idea that we can "move on" or just focus on the win is absurd - the only way the team will improve is to look at the quality of our play whether we win or lose. Our home form has let us down this season - too many draws - and Saturday was almost another one of those occasions. Thankfully, I don't think Rafa will just say "3 points, job done" - he will analyse and re-analyse why we got into the mess we got in to before digging ourselves out courtesy of crap defending from Boro. He knows that Utd/Arse/Everton won't do us that favour....
The comment from Southgate after the match was very important - we looked edgy and nervous and they believed they could get something. That's part of our problem at the moment - too many teams believe that can get something - they know it, we know it. "This is Anfield" doesn't reduce EPL teams to jelly anymore. Until we start dominating play and thumping teams 4-0 they won't be intimidated and we will continue to struggle because we don't have the psychological edge we used to have. Of course, those who think the matter is "closed" cos we won should ignore this post...and probably not bother posting on a forum which promotes "discussion" of football.

But the fact is we have been in bad form domestically since Christmas. Do you just expect us to all of a sudden produce a wonderful display? I know what you are saying about getting to the stage of thumping teams at Anfield, but it takes time to get there, and winning (however you play) when in bad form is a positive step in that direction. Hence many people (myself included) were just happy to get a win, regardless of how we played.

[Elvis]

But the fact is we have been in bad form domestically since Christmas. Do you just expect us to all of a sudden produce a wonderful display? I know what you are saying about getting to the stage of thumping teams at Anfield, but it takes time to get there, and winning (however you play) when in bad form is a positive step in that direction. Hence many people (myself included) were just happy to get a win, regardless of how we played.

I'm happy you're happy, and I'm happy we got three points, but in the interest of us getting more home wins, we need (Rafa and the team need) to discuss that performance against Boro because it was deja vu (all over again)...

[AFII]

I think that we will play better when Agger is back playing in the league. We have missed him very much.

He will add the distribution from the back that we have missed and that means that the midfield will also be more involved.

Now we hoof it past the midfield to often and that means that we don't use the biggest strength we have good enough, the central midfield.

[Elvis]

I think that we will play better when Agger is back playing in the league. We have missed him very much.

He will add the distribution from the back that we have missed and that means that the midfield will also be more involved.

Now we hoof it past the midfield to often and that means that we don't use the biggest strength we have good enough, the central midfield.

I agree. Of course, we have a problem because it seems that certain key players (Torres, Stevie, Agger - possibly Mascher) can't be injured or dropped (er...cough...rotated) without this being a major detriment to the team. This means we still lack strength in depth in all parts of the pitch. Cue discussion about DIC and spending money...