Marseille Home CL - Post Match Discussion

[el matador]

against marseille we were ****.

Our play was rigid, slow and without any creativity at all.

people were waxing lyrical about ben arfa but he didnt do that much and in not sure if he's the next big thing from the french league.

having said that we need someone with invention and craft and someone who can carry the ball forward with a touch of the unexpected.

I dont want to have a go at riera but i think people are over-estimating his contribution to our success. Im not sure of the stats but i think he's got one goal and not many assists.

Its hardly 'the player liverpool have been missing all these years' bollocks.

Yes he's given us balance on the left hand side but so could have anybody half decent. He has looked dangerous at times but he has to show more.

Its not enough just to line up on the left hand side keeping the fullback out wide. There has to be more from our wide players.

any players that are classed as creative find themselves on the fringes at liverpool ie babel, keane and benayoun. It was boring **** stuff that we have come to expect from liverpool in recent years from a team packed with boring automaton 'play to rafa's instructions' attacking players.

utter ****e.

[Le Chef]

I'm sure I made these points about Reira now starting to cut inside about 3 league games ago.

And I'm sure I also made the point about Mascher being poor for quite a few games a while ago also

Reira, is doing nothing much at the moment. Seems to have got a bit of what Yossi has at the moment. Mascher.....well for me he's never been a good passer of the ball and now when he's starting to give silly fouls away, his poor performances are magnified even more

Agreed, but I think Riera looks knackered.

[-V-]

LOL. We seem to have exceptionally high standards and high expectations don't we? We conquer the top teams in europe on a regular basis and after each conquest their always seems to be a post mortem on here to discuss how badly we played. I say that we got the job done, our defensive held them off late on and thats what we do best when we are ahead. Well done to all the players and Rafa n co on another qualification (with a game to spare) from a difficult group.

On the subject of Babel- I don't think its very clever to write off his Liverpool career just because he is not first choice at the moment. Im pretty certain he hasn't been involved the last 2 games purely because he has been mouthing off in the press. Iv no doubt that he will get games this season, we have a very busy period coming up and its up to Babel to show his worth.

Dossena- Yeah he looked shaky when he came on last night and was getting turned and beat easily at first but then did he not recover? Im pretty sure that i remember him blocking shots and covering for our centre halfs when the pressure started to mount. Im also sure i remember seeing him winning a couple of corners up the other end. I wouldn't write him off just yet, he said himself that he is not playing well and he is obviously short of confidence. Clearly he is struggling for pace but i think he could sort it out. Might take a month or 2 so i wouldnt write off him off just yet

stupid to write off either, Babel i still have high hopes for.....and Dossena cannot be as bad as he looks at the moment!

Good post mate. Dossena certainly looks shaky at the moment but he deserves a bit more time to prove his worth.

First sensible post in this thread

It doesnt surprise me to see so much negativity on this forum. Iv gotten used to it now. Some 'fans' will never ever be happy. Were joint top and qualified in the CL with a game to spare and still they moan. Bet they wish we were getting smashed about like Arsenal every week or like Chelsea struggling to beat average teams like Bordeaux and now having a crucial make or break game against ****ing Cluj.

****in moaners. Seems to be a very small minority of 'supporters' who will never give Rafa Benitez the credit he deserves, ever

Chelsea pl14 33 pts
Liverpool pl14 33 pts
----------------------------------------------
Man Utd pl13 25 pts
Aston Villa pl14 24 pts
Arsenal pl14 23 pts
-----------------------------------------------


Liverpool pl 5 11 pts
Atletico Madrid pl 5 11 pts

Marseille pl 5 3 pts
PSV Eindhoven pl 5 3 pts

[Craig_H]

It doesnt surprise me to see so much negativity on this forum. Iv gotten used to it now. Some 'fans' will never ever be happy. Were joint top and qualified in the CL with a game to spare and still they moan. Bet they wish we were getting smashed about like Arsenal every week or like Chelsea struggling to beat average teams like Bordeaux and now having a crucial make or break game against ****ing Cluj.

****in moaners. Seems to be a very small minority of 'supporters' who will never give Rafa Benitez the credit he deserves, ever

You dont bet that at all, stop being so daft.

Expectations have risen, even with less than half the season gone, simply because we ARE doing so well. The fact that people whinge at the slightest thing is a back handed compliment.

[rudedog]

any players that are classed as creative find themselves on the fringes at liverpool ie babel, keane and benayoun.

utter ****e.

I disagree - Babel is on the fringes because he's been poor recently, the last few times I've seen him play he's given the ball away cheaply, made poor decisions when in posession and he isn't he type of player that will hunt down the ball when not in possession. I can't remember him ever having a decent game when he's been on from the start - he's only looked decent when he's come on as a sub.

Benayoun is on the fringes because thats what he is - a squad player, he's had opportunities to try and force his way in to the regular set up but so far hasn't really shown that he is at that level.

I'm not sure you could even say that Keane is on the fringes - he's made 14 appearances so far this season.

If Rafa doesn't like creative players, how do you explain why he stuck with Garcia? Admitedly he was brilliant and pants in equal measure but I believe he was one of the most creative players we've seen at the club in the last 10 years.

I think there is a misconception about Rafa not liking creative players - I think he expects all his players to work just as hard when not in possesion - a lot of creative players just don't do this. Players like Garcia, Torres, Gerrard and Keane are all creative players that also work really hard when not in possession and would be Rafa's 'ideal' type of attacking players.

[badpiggy]

It doesnt surprise me to see so much negativity on this forum. Iv gotten used to it now. Some 'fans' will never ever be happy. Were joint top and qualified in the CL with a game to spare and still they moan. Bet they wish we were getting smashed about like Arsenal every week or like Chelsea struggling to beat average teams like Bordeaux and now having a crucial make or break game against ****ing Cluj.

****in moaners. Seems to be a very small minority of 'supporters' who will never give Rafa Benitez the credit he deserves, everChelsea pl14 33 pts
Liverpool pl14 33 pts
----------------------------------------------
Man Utd pl13 25 pts
Aston Villa pl14 24 pts
Arsenal pl14 23 pts
-----------------------------------------------


Liverpool pl 5 11 pts
Atletico Madrid pl 5 11 pts

Marseille pl 5 3 pts
PSV Eindhoven pl 5 3 pts

i think it's the constant grinding out results that brings out the negativity. that and a lot of players not really getting going and/or maybe not being good enough longterm. we're only talking like - we're not cheerleaders.

[el matador]

I disagree - Babel is on the fringes because he's been poor recently, the last few times I've seen him play he's given the ball away cheaply, made poor decisions when in posession and he isn't he type of player that will hunt down the ball when not in possession. I can't remember him ever having a decent game when he's been on from the start - he's only looked decent when he's come on as a sub.

Benayoun is on the fringes because thats what he is - a squad player, he's had opportunities to try and force his way in to the regular set up but so far hasn't really shown that he is at that level.

I'm not sure you could even say that Keane is on the fringes - he's made 14 appearances so far this season.

If Rafa doesn't like creative players, how do you explain why he stuck with Garcia? Admitedly he was brilliant and pants in equal measure but I believe he was one of the most creative players we've seen at the club in the last 10 years.

I think there is a misconception about Rafa not liking creative players - I think he expects all his players to work just as hard when not in possesion - a lot of creative players just don't do this. Players like Garcia, Torres, Gerrard and Keane are all creative players that also work really hard when not in possession and would be Rafa's 'ideal' type of attacking players.

garcia is an exception because rafa had no other options to play than garcia. would a garcia type player get into the squad today - no chance whatsoever.

the case in point in benayoun - if ever there was a garcia type player its him and he cant get a game for us.

face it - rafa doesnt like creative players - he likes work horses with a certain amount of quality which makes for **** entertainment for the fans.

[Reece]

I'd argue that Benayoun can't get a regular game for us because he isn't better than the players that do.

[Shaggy]

I'd argue that Benayoun can't get a regular game for us because he isn't better than the players that do.

Amazing isn't it. Better players are preferred!

[el matador]

Amazing isn't it. Better players are preferred!

might be in the case of benayoun but what about keane and babel ? or are riera and kuyt better than them too ?

[Woobus]

might be in the case of benayoun but what about keane and babel ? or are riera and kuyt better than them too ?

Keane has pretty much been in the team all season. Kuyt is definately better than Babel this season he has probably been our best player of the season so far.
Riera has been playing better than Babel, havent seen Babel have a good game when he played from the start this season.
Babel needs games and Riera does look tired, would like to see Babel have a couple of full games to see if this helps him out.