Liverpool v Unirea Post Match

[Matt]

i thought he played well, not brilliant mind, just better than some of the others, he put in his shift, he was always avaliable for the ball, tried to put crosses in, was taking players on. more than decent performance

Fair enough mate. He was better than Riera, I'll give him that much

[Vermilion]

I dont think expecting to create a few chances against Unirea at home, is an example of overly high expectations.

Or maybe it is, and our standards have dropped into the toilet.

It's not the expectations of one game that matter, it's the general level of expectation that effects players imo, as i think it has with England over the years, players refuse to take responsibility, they hide, and they play with a fear of losing instead of with a hunger to win as their overiding emotion, scared to make a mistake, the game passing them by.

[Rich]

I think he showed glimpses of real quality in his earliest cameos, but yeah, nothing since.

I'm probably being overly critical, but pinging a couple of decent passes against Arsenal in the Carling Cup is his one and only highlight.

[Chris]

I'm probably being overly critical, but pinging a couple of decent passes against Arsenal in the Carling Cup is his one and only highlight.

His 2 assists, the bicycle kick that should have got us a pen, he's not done much else mind. And its a worry, but even the hapless Fellaini has looked a player this season so some do need time.

[Rich]

Cobra is swigging Coors hmmm

[joyno]

Who do you think would win in a fight?

Rambo or Cobra?

depends which one was playing for liverpool

[cream]

Subs changed the game for us today. I hope to ****ing god Rafa does some re-building this summer, the three behind Torres need over-hauling.

[Rich]

His 2 assists, the bicycle kick that should have got us a pen, he's not done much else mind. And its a worry, but even the hapless Fellaini has looked a player this season so some do need time.

One of those assists was against Bolton - he was utterly, utterly woeful in that game.

[Matt]

So Rich, what do you make of Aquilani?

[joyno]

Cobra is swigging Coors hmmm

4.5 percent, wimp.

[Chris]

One of those assists was against Bolton - he was utterly, utterly woeful in that game.

I agree, just being picky after you'd said he'd done nothing other than a couple of passes since he's been here.

[Rich]

So Rich, what do you make of Aquilani?

Was happy with the signing in the summer, problem is even if he's a yard off the pace thanks to the injury he looks about 3 yards off the pace.

[Leyton388]

Nothing like bit of 80's porn music to set the mood!

[calvoboy]

Some people will just never ever admit or acknowledge any negative points about us. There's always gonna be an excuse, anything that lays the blame away from our team and/or manager.

You'd think we were producing faultless displays, to read some of the comments.

As one who you might class as being on the positive side tonight in the match thread, I'll explain where I always come from, both when it comes to LFC and in general.

If I have a life philosophy, it is "worry about the things that you have some control over, and don't waste your time on the things that you have no control over whatsoever".

So, while it's a travesty that we've gone into the season, and through another transfer window, with only one recognised top quality striker, to me there's no point worrying about that tonight. He's injured. As is Benayoun, our other consistent creative player.

Looking at what was available to us tonight, I don't know what more we could have done. We needed more width and creativity, that was clear. But I don't think many would have started with Babel and Pacheco tonight if they were asked to pick their best team (though I'm aware those who thought this competition was a waste of time would have picked them).

On tonight and tonight alone then, Rafa picked his best team, came up against a negative defensive team with no interest even of hitting on the break, brought on Babel and Pacheco, and got the win.

Yes, for next season it's a disgrace if our squad doesn't have more creative players in it. But what's the point of banging on about that for the next three months when we can do nothing about it. Let's look at getting the best out of what we have available instead?

Same as my attitude to SoS and the Gillette and Hicks problem. No-one's happy with our current situation regarding ownership. But until anyone has an idea of something constructive that might actually change things, you can count me out of the pointless and self-defeating howls of outrage and pitiful protests. They might blow off a bit of steam, but they'll achieve nothing.

[Craig_H]

It's nothing to do with not worrying over what you cant control, it's just about seeing what's staring you in the face. Not you personally i mean, just you as in 'one', generally.

And i've no qualms with the personnel, it's more the playing mentality they're sent out with.

Slow, pedestrian, methodical, painful to watch at times. No real tempo or dynamism, by the time we've played the ball across the park or into an advanced area, we've given the opponents lightyears to regroup and re-organise themselves.

We make it hard for ourselves, and it's due to the dreadfully slow tempo and 'chess' style of play that our manager favours.

We CAN play with a good high tempo, we CAN move the ball quickly and we can do all these things that help us find space and make the opposition defenders make errors and let us in for clear chances - we saw it from throughout March, April and May 2009.

But the problem is, we only did that because we HAD to just go for it, with the points gap between us and United, and needing to win every game. It's like how we often only start to attack with any threat, after we've gone behind.

Our 'natural' Plan A style is cautious, slow, laboured and dire. We've all seen what we can achieve when an attacking tempo and quick mentality are used - but that's not our manager's preferred style and his favoured slow tempo nothingness is why we'll never win the title.