Lyon (a) - Post Match Thread

[DannyMan2006]

Good, **** off to bed, take the bottom bunk and don't wake your brother up.


BTW I'm going by what I've seen of both sides against us, and Fiorentina looked far more impressive.

If that is all you're basing it on then that's being a bit silly isn't it? I mean, that could have been a one off from Fiorintina for all you know...........

[FatTony]

If that is all you're basing it on then that's being a bit silly isn't it? I mean, that could have been a one off from Fiorintina for all you know...........

Well, its no more silly than going by previous CL seasons as an indicator. Squads change and form changes, just as ours has.

[Red_Polo]

Well, its no more silly than going by previous CL seasons as an indicator. Squads change and form changes, just as ours has.

How is using over 20 Lyon matches sillier than using 2?

[DannyMan2006]

Well, its no more silly than going by previous CL seasons as an indicator. Squads change and form changes, just as ours has.

Which is why I also mentioned current form, such as them out playing Fiorintina, as a major factor in my reasoning.

[FatTony]

How is using over 20 Lyon matches sillier than using 2?

Last season means nothing though does it, its history. Its all about this season.

Anyway, tbf I was just winding that Chris up.

[Guest]

I'm proud of my team and proud of my manager. Sometimes I just despair at some of our supporters. ****ing disgrace.

[Darkon]

We will still qualify into the next round.

are you kidding?? At the cost of who?

Lyon are 100% sure to finish above us, and fiorentina need 1 point....

We're screwed - uefa cup our best hope now

[Darkon]

**** tonight. We were unlucky having dominated the game again against Lyon, and recent games show that our squad simply can't cope with this many injuries. I'd argue that we are without Johnson, Aurelio, Riera, Aquilani, Gerrard and half of Torres at the moment from our first choice 11 - take 6 first choice players, including the two best players, out of any of the other top four clubs and they'd struggle too. What's vital now though is that we get a result at home on Monday night and take it from there.

Tonight's was supposed to be a "must win" for the champions league, and Man Utd was a "must win" in the league. Fulham became a "must win" after we'd lost it too. Well, for me, we are genuinely in a "must win" situation now. Win on Monday against Birmingham, and we could quite conceivably be just 4 points off the Mancs despite an appalling run of injuries and results. We would carry a positive result into the international break, and we could possibly have Johnson, Gerrard, Riera, Aurelio, Aquilani, and a fit Torres back in the squad by the time we then face Man City and Debrecen. If Lyon could get a point at Fiorentina, we'd then be set up for yet another dramatic European night needing a 2-0 win at least to go through. Our whole season could start to pick up, and we could go on a bit of a run.

Lose or draw on Monday, and every last shred of hope in the league would be extinguished, and we'd be going into Man City and Debrecen with little confidence and could be turned over. The pressure would continue to mount on Rafa, and with no obvious replacement who would be remotely interested in taking the job at this time, we could go into freefall or see a season of him struggling under pressure from the media and fans to make the top four, reminiscent of Houllier's last season.

We're in the ****, and nothing seems to be going our way, but with players to come back things could change quickly if we can start to get a couple of results. We've got to go on a run now though to stand any chance in any competition, and Monday has to be the start of that. I can't be arsed with too many bitter recriminations about tonight. Just another night where nothing went our way, and the lack of quality in the squad was exposed by such a horrendous sick list.

It's just so ****ing depressing this season. We are having a mare all over, even though we are playing fairly we end up throwing points because we are not good enough with the end product (finishing and last ditch tackles).

It's going to be a long day at the office

[Rix007]

Liverpool the new Leeds..
Time for Rafa to get moving...

[Guest]

It's just so ****ing depressing this season. We are having a mare all over, even though we are playing fairly we end up throwing points because we are not good enough with the end product (finishing and last ditch tackles).

It's going to be a long day at the office

Our squad is decent enough. It's not so much different from last season's.

[Darkon]

Our squad is decent enough. It's not so much different from last season's.

I agree with that, we more or less are at the same strength as last season, perhaps only weaker at our 4th choice CB.

It is just so frustrating that one of the best defenses last season is making mistake upon mistake this season.

It is also frustrating, that up front we don't score enough goals, and it's really only Torres that has delivered this season. The goals from other players are to far between right now.

I'm gutted right now!

[Guest]

I agree with that, we more or less are at the same strength as last season, perhaps only weaker at our 4th choice CB.

It is just so frustrating that one of the best defenses last season is making mistake upon mistake this season.

It is also frustrating, that up front we don't score enough goals, and it's really only Torres that has delivered this season. The goals from other players are to far between right now.

I'm gutted right now!

But there was a period this season when we won 6 on the trot and scored a lot of goals, not just from Torres or Gerrard, but from Benni, Kuyt, Riera ...

Based on last night's performance we are starting to control games again. Doing that against Lyon on their own patch is not an easy thing to do and we should be encouraged by that.

We haven't turned into a bad team overnight and some of the comments from fellow fans, especially the attacks on some players have left me with a sense of disgust at the way some of our fans behave. There's the frustration yes, but **** me, we are turning like the Newcastle's of this world with reactions like that.

[SimonNo7]

I'm not sure I agree with that, Fiorentina are playing some lovely stuff at the moment.

And am I right in thinking they have never lost in the Champions League at home or is that just against English teams?

[The_weatherman]

**** tonight. We were unlucky having dominated the game again against Lyon, and recent games show that our squad simply can't cope with this many injuries. I'd argue that we are without Johnson, Aurelio, Riera, Aquilani, Gerrard and half of Torres at the moment from our first choice 11 - take 6 first choice players, including the two best players, out of any of the other top four clubs and they'd struggle too. What's vital now though is that we get a result at home on Monday night and take it from there.

Tonight's was supposed to be a "must win" for the champions league, and Man Utd was a "must win" in the league. Fulham became a "must win" after we'd lost it too. Well, for me, we are genuinely in a "must win" situation now. Win on Monday against Birmingham, and we could quite conceivably be just 4 points off the Mancs despite an appalling run of injuries and results. We would carry a positive result into the international break, and we could possibly have Johnson, Gerrard, Riera, Aurelio, Aquilani, and a fit Torres back in the squad by the time we then face Man City and Debrecen. If Lyon could get a point at Fiorentina, we'd then be set up for yet another dramatic European night needing a 2-0 win at least to go through. Our whole season could start to pick up, and we could go on a bit of a run.

Lose or draw on Monday, and every last shred of hope in the league would be extinguished, and we'd be going into Man City and Debrecen with little confidence and could be turned over. The pressure would continue to mount on Rafa, and with no obvious replacement who would be remotely interested in taking the job at this time, we could go into freefall or see a season of him struggling under pressure from the media and fans to make the top four, reminiscent of Houllier's last season.

We're in the ****, and nothing seems to be going our way, but with players to come back things could change quickly if we can start to get a couple of results. We've got to go on a run now though to stand any chance in any competition, and Monday has to be the start of that. I can't be arsed with too many bitter recriminations about tonight. Just another night where nothing went our way, and the lack of quality in the squad was exposed by such a horrendous sick list.

Good post, add to the list of injured players our missing squad players as well, they count as we couldn't play any of our three right backs and I think Dossena is injured as well. Agger is only half fit just as Torres and hasn't played many matches for a long time. The back four had never played together and it showed, I thought they struggled at times to keep a straight line when playing the opposition offside.

I actually thought things got worse when Voronin came off for some reason, maybe he was working harder than Babel. I was also praying for Aquilani to come on for the final 15 minutes for Benayoun, think he would have added composure and fight in midfield.

I am resigned to the Europa league now, but that also means we can maybe afford to concentrate harder on the league instead, resting players here and there.

[Darkon]

But there was a period this season when we won 6 on the trot and scored a lot of goals, not just from Torres or Gerrard, but from Benni, Kuyt, Riera ...

Based on last night's performance we are starting to control games again. Doing that against Lyon on their own patch is not an easy thing to do and we should be encouraged by that.

We haven't turned into a bad team overnight and some of the comments from fellow fans, especially the attacks on some players have left me with a sense of disgust at the way some of our fans behave. There's the frustration yes, but **** me, we are turning like the Newcastle's of this world with reactions like that.

We had a good start of the season, but in the PL in the 11 games so far these have scored (goals is the row with 10 in it):

Fernando Torres 25 S 9 10(0) 10 1 0
Steven Gerrard 29 M 8 8(0) 3 2 0
Yossi Benayoun 29 A 15 8(3) 3 0 0
Dirk Kuyt 29 S 18 11(0) 3 1 0
Glen Johnson 25 D 2 10(0) 2 0 0
Ryan Babel 22 A 19 2(5) 2 0 0
David Ngog 20 S 24 0(4) 2 0 0

I think that somewhat witnesses that we have trouble getting the ball in the net, when Torres is out (although the babbel and ngog stat is decent!). The thing that really frustrates me right now is that I can't figure why it's not functioning. Yes I think Alonso was a big loss to the team, but what would have happened if he became injured??

Our squad depth is just not there, and getting beyond the first 11-14 players leaves us very weak. The confidence now must be quite low as well, and that really hampers us as well I guess.

We just have to walk through the storm right now, and get back on track. The league title is a long shot away right now, but we just have to keep going. Even if Molby last night said that no team have thus far one the premiership with the amount of looses we have now (depressing stat that).

But it is in the wake of adversity that you really see who really supports!