Pompey post match

[super_xabi]

MOM is between Aurelio, Benni, Kuyt and Torres for me - at a push I'd say Benni, always looked dangerous.

Some guys were mentioning Aurelio in midfield earlier this week - is Rafa an Est member?!?

Maybe Rafa is Rashid?!

[-V-]

Im still in disbelief.

On one hand im overjoyed that we won and are top of the league atleast for the night but on the other hand i am seriously questioning Rafa Benitez

[JohnDoe]

Aurelio done a good job as well.

Yes he has.

[The Erectile Banana]

I fear that Babel has a 'Heskey' mentality. He has all the attributes to be a top player but he just doesn't seem to have the devil in him and go out and show everyone

I agree that Babel's main problem in mental. He seems to lack the self belief to become a top player. His other main problem is his appalling lack of vision. he often misses the most simple of passes.

The more I have seen of Babel this season the more convinced I am that he's just not good enough.

[tsb]

Can't. Stop. Watching. This. Goal

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/2062261/

[super_xabi]

I agree that Babel's main problem in mental. He seems to lack the self belief to become a top player. His other main problem is his appalling lack of vision. he often misses the most simple of passes.

The more I have seen of Babel this season the more convinced I am that he's just not good enough.

I'm in agreement unfortunately which is a real shame

[-V-]

I agree that Babel's main problem in mental. He seems to lack the self belief to become a top player. His other main problem is his appalling lack of vision. he often misses the most simple of passes.

The more I have seen of Babel this season the more convinced I am that he's just not good enough.

Its purely down to confidence. I honestly believe he has been badly handled by Rafa this season. Giving the lad 8 or 9 minutes here or there earlier in the season has not been good for him

[memzey]

Thought Babel was OK. I think part of his problem is that people expect him to play like John Barnes circa 1988 every time he touches the ball. He's a young lad, with loads of potential and ability. Hope Rafa perseveres with him and he makes it. If he does, he'll be one hell of a player.

To be honest I thought we played well throughout the game. In fact both Pompey's goals seemed to come against the run of play for me. Any other result apart from a Liverpool win would have been a travesty, especially given Dirks ruled out 'goal'.

[Tatterdemalion]

I'm really worried as I prayed for a goal just before that cross for Torres came in...

[Joe King]

Its purely down to confidence. I honestly believe he has been badly handled by Rafa this season. Giving the lad 8 or 9 minutes here or there earlier in the season has not been good for him

He clearly thought after a long stint in the side he would be playing this season but he hasn't proved anything when given the opportunity that he could displace Riera who isn't the best left winger in the Premiership.

I will applaud the players mentality and character to get back into the game today however I am seriously starting to question Benitez more today. Was there an ulterior motive to the side he picked today? Was he showing two fingers to the doubters and the media, or was it to the owners? The system wasn't brilliant today. His plan B clearly didn't work today but when plan A was implemented, we shot straight up.

Play the best players in the best positions and we will do well. Start tinkering and our challenge will end very soon.

[The Erectile Banana]

Thought Babel was OK. I think part of his problem is that people expect him to play like John Barnes circa 1988 every time he touches the ball. He's a young lad, with loads of potential and ability. Hope Rafa perseveres with him and he makes it. If he does, he'll be one hell of a player.

To be honest I thought we played well throughout the game. In fact both Pompey's goals seemed to come against the run of play for me. Any other result apart from a Liverpool win would have been a travesty, especially given Dirks ruled out 'goal'.

I don't think anyone expects anything like that much from him.

I agree that he hasn't been helped by not getting a decent run in the side but this doesn't disguise the fact that he has no awareness and little footballing intelligence. He always picks the wrong option and has no sign of improving in this regard. The fact that a player in his position continues to have these problems is worrying.

[Maxiedge]

Its purely down to confidence. I honestly believe he has been badly handled by Rafa this season. Giving the lad 8 or 9 minutes here or there earlier in the season has not been good for him

I don't know man, his decision making is awful. You can't teach that.

[The Erectile Banana]

He clearly thought after a long stint in the side he would be playing this season but he hasn't proved anything when given the opportunity that he could displace Riera who isn't the best left winger in the Premiership.

I will applaud the players mentality and character to get back into the game today however I am seriously starting to question Benitez more today. Was there an ulterior motive to the side he picked today? Was he showing two fingers to the doubters and the media, or was it to the owners? The system wasn't brilliant today. His plan B clearly didn't work today but when plan A was implemented, we shot straight up.

Play the best players in the best positions and we will do well. Start tinkering and our challenge will end very soon.

I can understand why he rested a few tonight. The 120 minutes against the bitters including 45 with ten men must have been very draining. What today proved is that our squad isn't as strong as say Chelsea's or United's but I think we all knew that anyway.

[Joe King]

I can understand why he rested a few tonight. The 120 minutes against the bitters including 45 with ten men must have been very draining. What today proved is that our squad isn't as strong as say Chelsea's or United's but I think we all knew that anyway.

We need some serious investment and development in our depth in the summer.

[vonk]

I'm clear about what happened. The big players saved us. Rafa took a risk and it almost bit him in the arse. Ngog was poor and so was Babel. I don't know what to think about Babel. Even Carra and Arby had poor games by their standard. Skrtel and Agger immense. Benyoun had his best game in a Liverpool shirt. He is getting some consistency into his game and it was great presence to pick out Torres in the end. Masch stepped it up when Alonso came on. Alonso is so important to us. His passing really split pompey open. Kuyt was great when he came on. Him and Torres up from were night and day compared to Babel and Ngog. You can't say tactics won us that game, we rode our luck. Rafa should thank Torres, Dirk and Xabi tonight for saving him a whirlwind of doubt.