Liverpool v Stoke - Post match anguish thread

[lickedlollipop]

we/they/lfc fans showed that ****ers what we think about rafa

[Shaggy]

Shaggy, I agree with parts of your post but the fact that the players actually showed some fight is not something that we should be pleased about. This is a minimum requirement for any team and something that we should expect to see in every performance.

Totally agree but the inescapable and sad fact is our players haven't been showing it at all. We've been shrinking violets, gutless cowards who crumble at the first sign of pressure. Today we fought like **** and showed great character, and that, to me at least, was very pleasing.

[The Erectile Banana]

Would this have been a good game to thrown in new or recently back from injury players though? And it is obvious we need another striker.
People are saying Pacheco should have played, but seriously, he would have got slaughtered.

I never said anything about throwing in new or recently returning players.

The side picked was defensive and I can see the logic behind that but the eleven players out there today should have been capable of a more coherent performance. I know confidence is low and I'm not expecting champagne football just our lads being able to string a few passes together. Lucas and to a lesser extent Aurelio were the only ones out there today who seemed capable of doing that.

[Roboklopp]

I still love Rafa and I don't blame him for the whole of this by any stretch - in fact, he's 3rd in line after the owners and players for me- but I'm really not sure if we don't need a change anymore.

[Mattshark]

I never said anything about throwing in new or recently returning players.

The side picked was defensive and I can see the logic behind that but the eleven players out there today should have been capable of a more coherent performance. I know confidence is low and I'm not expecting champagne football just our lads being able to string a few passes together. Lucas and to a lesser extent Aurelio were the only ones out there today who seemed capable of doing that.

I think the problem was that it is not a game suited to N'gog's style of play, he is not a physical player and that is what we needed up there today.
I do think it was a good game for him to learn in though. I think with more strength up front it would have made a difference, but we lacked options in terms of creativity that we could really start with.

[Taxi]

Chelsea 4-0 up on 33 mins

not that it really matters anymore

[Roboklopp]

Totally agree but the inescapable and sad fact is our players haven't been showing it at all. We've been shrinking violets, gutless cowards who crumble at the first sign of pressure. Today we fought like **** and showed great character, and that, to me at least, was very pleasing.

aYe it was, which is kind of why this hurt more than Reading in a way.

[little dave hedgehog]

I might be glad I slept through this

Seriously though,

[badpiggy]

completely and utterly with shaggy and more disturbingly pete, matt and a few others on this. we have to look at where we are realistically and not as the team of last season or the team of 20+ years ago for that matter. we could have been taken apart today such is the bottomless pit of low confidence we're in but you could see from the players reaction to clearances, headers etc that we really went back to basics today. what ****in team has gone to stoke and turned on the style? load of bollox. onwards and upwards, get in a striker and go out to look to hurts spurs all over the pitch - that is all we can do at the moment and expecting anything much else is madness.

[el matador]

Yes, that is why I said season.

You have not at all backed up your argument in the slightest.

What good would change do?

honestly, someone swapped your brain for a muffin.

does anybody apart from the obvious seriously believe that rafa can turn this around ?

[Bender]

No because there's not been any performances to suggest this

[SimonNo7]

I thought he'd already decided to stay when he signed his 5 year contact?

Well I'm sure he had, but that was before it got to the point it is at today.

Perhaps he is now considering what on earth he can do to get this poor excuse of a team to play football.

Perhaps he thinks he's tried everything and the last thing he can do is to walk away but then feels he would be letting us, the fans, down if he did.

[Mattshark]

does anybody apart from the obvious seriously believe that rafa can turn this around ?

Why not? He has done it before and not just with us.
Twice with Valencia, his first season and after finish 5th in his second.

[Guest]

does anybody apart from the obvious seriously believe that rafa can turn this around ?

I think you'll see by our away support that there is still a majority of supporters who still believe he can. They were still chanting his name at the end today.

[The Erectile Banana]

I think the problem was that it is not a game suited to N'gog's style of play, he is not a physical player and that is what we needed up there today.
I do think it was a good game for him to learn in though. I think with more strength up front it would have made a difference, but we lacked options in terms of creativity that we could really start with.

I agree with that. N'gog was incapable of holding up the ball when it was played up to him. He obviously struggled with the heavy attentions of the Stoke WWE tag team at the back. If he had been able to make the ball stick it would have helped our performance, but as you said it'll be a good experience for him to learn from.