Liverpool v Unirea Post Match

[Armchairkopite]

The problem with this team is the manager, i was there last night and my God it wasn't pretty.

I have backed Rafa to the hilt but his time has come to an end imo.

[SK]

my brother was at the game last night and he said that he had massive concerns over Aquilani who looked terrible last night.

I didnt watch the match as I was working but apparently I didnt miss much.

Its wierd how we look lacklustre without Torres even with the likes of kuyt and gerrard in the side.

But the aquilani thing does worry me. Was anyone else at the game and did he really play that bad ?

noticed that in the counter attack we had at the end of the game where there was 3 or 4 of our players against only one of their defenders, and first Kuyt then Masch passes the ball in the air which enabled the only defender to just easily clear the ball. whereas if the two passes would have been played on the groud we'd probably come with at least 2 players agaist their goalie.

[Armchairkopite]

noticed that in the counter attack we had at the end of the game where there was 3 or 4 of our players against only one of their defenders, and first Kuyt then Masch passes the ball in the air which enabled the only defender to just easily clear the ball. whereas if the two passes would have been played on the groud we'd probably come with at least 2 players agaist their goalie.

Our passing is absolutely crap, unless we are playing the ball backwards which we do 99% of the time therefore its noticed as much.

[SK]

Our passing is absolutely crap, unless we are playing the ball backwards which we do 99% of the time therefore its noticed as much.

our midfielders don't offer themselves enough for the ball when it's in possesion of our defenders. and when they do get it, there's not movement up front to pick out a pass. we don't form triangles which are the basis of any football playing side, our players don't swich positons and create space for other players to run into. we lack the confidence to make runs and difficult passes, rather we opt for the safe steady moves which are easy to defend against. we're playing like a team that has one training season per week and has been formed one month ago.

the good things are we seemed to be more solid in defence and don't make idiotic mistakes(the arsenal goal aside) that we did in the first half of the season. also our defending of set pieces has been a lot better.

[Slinky Skills]

Our passing is absolutely crap, unless we are playing the ball backwards which we do 99% of the time therefore its noticed as much.

So true.

[Armchairkopite]

It's simple get rid of the middle man, Rafa out.

Doesn't take much to make supporters become despondent these days ...

Thats bull, negative football has taken its toll, fans are paying in to be entertained by these lads that are earning thousands a week and they deserve a lot better.

disappointing result granted but we should horse them in the away leg when they have to attack.

on a plus note, aurelio look so composed left side he must play against city, pacheco looks like a real gem and babel again showed he is class. far and away the best player on the pitch for us.

Babel the best player on the pitch, eh no.

What bugged me was the simple ability to pass the ball along the ground. Even the shortest of passes seems to need to go a foot or two in the air. It means the player has to take a touch to control the ball before he can even think of doing something with it.

And its not just last night, I see it happening pretty much every game we play

It slows the play down and makes one touch football pretty much impossible.

Our passing is atrocious.

my brother was at the game last night and he said that he had massive concerns over Aquilani who looked terrible last night.

I didnt watch the match as I was working but apparently I didnt miss much.

Its wierd how we look lacklustre without Torres even with the likes of kuyt and gerrard in the side.

But the aquilani thing does worry me. Was anyone else at the game and did he really play that bad ?

Not buying this Aquiliani bashing, he was at the heart of two of our best moves in the first half, he can make things happen.

our midfielders don't offer themselves enough for the ball when it's in possesion of our defenders. and when they do get it, there's not movement up front to pick out a pass. we don't form triangles which are the basis of any football playing side, our players don't swich positons and create space for other players to run into. we lack the confidence to make runs and difficult passes, rather we opt for the safe steady moves which are easy to defend against. we're playing like a team that has one training season per week and has been formed one month ago.

the good things are we seemed to be more solid in defence and don't make idiotic mistakes(the arsenal goal aside) that we did in the first half of the season. also our defending of set pieces has been a lot better.

Its down to the manager mate, we can see the problems they are obvious and they are many.

I agree with all your points and there is so much more, last night was the final straw for me with Rafa, he looks weary and its reflected in the performances on the pitch.

Fourth is not good enough for him to keep the job, we need to play decent football.

[dizzycat]

I think that Aquilani was playing too deep last night and because of this didn't really have the chance to influence the game. The ball was bypassing him and it also didn't look like the team were looking to give him the ball. He also looks like a pass and move type player which is something we haven't done much of in central midfield this season. I would say he's got the ability, but we need to find a way to intigrate him in the team so that he can be effective. I think he needs to look at Yossi for inspiration, Yossi is slight but tenacious as hell, if Aquilani wants to be a success he'll need to add this to his game.

[RoadEnd]

I think that Aquilani was playing too deep last night and because of this didn't really have the chance to influence the game. The ball was bypassing him and it also didn't look like the team were looking to give him the ball. He also looks like a pass and move type player which is something we haven't done much of in central midfield this season. I would say he's got the ability, but we need to find a way to intigrate him in the team so that he can be effective. I think he needs to look at Yossi for inspiration, Yossi is slight but tenacious as hell, if Aquilani wants to be a success he'll need to add this to his game.

I was just about to post something similar.

[Big-Red-Ed]

Your post doesn’t make any sense. When it does, it doesn’t. When you make a point, you contradict yourself in the next sentence. If this is the worse you've seen, buy the 2001 UEFA cup DVD.

"Your post doesn’t make any sense"

A bit like our play! I was implying that every link in the chain is broken. I thought we played some good football at that time. A little bit too direct for the purists but not the worst.

[Big-Red-Ed]

The end of the Houllier era and the Souness era were far worse

You are right about that, it's a perspective thing though. We all agree the football at that the end of Houllier and with Souness was grim but we had got so used to it that it became second nature.

The difference this year is we that we were c*ck teased last year in to thinking that this was the year we would finally do it and now faced with this crap maybe we are all guilty of losing perspective.

[dww]

I'm not sure whether Aquilani has the skills to make it with us but it is pretty clear that he is not the intelligent leader on the pitch that we need to play Rafa's tactics as well as we did last season. I think he might improve if the rest of the team started gelling a bit more and we were playing in the right areas of the pitch more often. The problem is that we need someone to dictate where the game is played and I'm not really convinced that Aquilani is the player to do that.

He might in the long run give us an alternative to Gerrard off Torres or benefit hugely from a fit and in form wide player I guess.

[Rich]

I'm not sure whether Aquilani has the skills to make it with us but it is pretty clear that he is not the intelligent leader on the pitch that we need to play Rafa's tactics as well as we did last season. I think he might improve if the rest of the team started gelling a bit more and we were playing in the right areas of the pitch more often. the problem is that we need someone to dictate where the game is played and I'm not really convinced that Aquilani is the player to do that.

He might in the long run give us an alternative to Gerrard off Torres or benefit hugely from a fit and in form wide player I guess.

Agreed - however his problem with playing him in the Gerrard position is that he isn't an athlete and doesn't have the skills or vision (on evidence) to be a "Bergkamp" type player.

[the rev leeroy brown]

What game were you watching?

He was crap last night, gave the ball away way too much in the process.

granted he had not much defending to do but you could see agger, skittle and carra seemed happier and more confident to have aurelio in rather than insua. fabio made runs forward all night and was readily available to receive the pass. his deliveries were miles miles miles btter than the dwarfs. and finally someone else to take corners off stevie. fabio was far from crap last night......what game were you watching??

[SK]

granted he had not much defending to do but you could see agger, skittle and carra seemed happier and more confident to have aurelio in rather than insua. fabio made runs forward all night and was readily available to receive the pass. his deliveries were miles miles miles btter than the dwarfs. and finally someone else to take corners off stevie. fabio was far from crap last night......what game were you watching??

[the rev leeroy brown]

after watching the game i had a feeling that 442 would have suited us much better. ngog is a decent player but not suited for a lone striker role. he is a good target man / hold up player but the 4231 we play that suits torres so well doesnt so much suit ngog IMO. however, with torres still out, i would like to see ngog and babel as a two man attack. babel has pace to catch headers on and knock downs while ngog has a bit of an eye for goal and is a good target man. i reckon together they could hold the fort till torres is back.