Birmingham - Liverpool Match Thread

[onceared]

How many of the other top 5 teams have won at Brum this year?

What difference does that make? If you are suggesting they were too good for us to beat then fine. Youre wrong. But fine.
We weren't 'not good enough' we **** out. Rubbish team selection. Rubbish gameplan. Rubbish substitutions. Rubbish.
We had to win. HAD to. And regardless of who has and who hasn't won there, we could and should have.

[Bender]

How many of the other top 5 teams have won at Brum this year?

tbh does it matter there all above us anyway

[Craig_H]

What difference does that make? If you are suggesting they were too good for us to beat then fine. Youre wrong. But fine.
We weren't 'not good enough' we **** out. Rubbish team selection. Rubbish gameplan. Rubbish substitutions. Rubbish.
We had to win. HAD to. And regardless of who has and who hasn't won there, we could and should have.

It's all well and good isolating this game as being tricky, but as you say, we had to win it and we were in that position because of disgraceful results earlier in the season.

None of the top 5 won at Brum, but then, none of the top 5 went there with their CL place hanging by a thread.

We should've imposed ourselves on them after we scored, they were there for the taking and we should've pushed them back and sought a second goal. Instead, we sat off, invited them on and surrendered in typically cowardly Benitez style.

[Bender]

I'll repeat myself again .....the players do not enjoy playing for Rafa nor his tactics

[Craig_H]

He has the management mentality of a ****ing Wigan manager, yet he's managing a massive club.

Does he think we're that ****e that we have to fear what the likes of Wolves, Wigan, Pompey and Brum might do to us if we try to attack them??? ****'s sake, i'm still fuming.

[Lee]

could it be possible that rafa is putting himself before the club...that he may think the only way of saving his own skin this season is winning a cup and give up on the title...so he saves torres for benfica????.....terrible if i am right ...feel awful even suggesting it if i am wrong.... but cant find any other logic in taking torres off

Very possible mate.

See a few weeks ago I said that 4th place and winning the Europa League would be a decent season. Was thinking earlier on that even if we do somehow win the EL then I don't think I'll be celebrating it too much. Getting 4th is an absolute must in my opinion. We'll run out of games though, like we did last year.

Though the way we're playing, we could have another 15 League games and we still wouldn't finish 4th.

5th or 6th and winning the Europa League?! No thanks.

Just want this season over and done with.

[Bender]

He has the management mentality of a ****ing Wigan manager, yet he's managing a massive club.

Does he think we're that ****e that we have to fear what the likes of Wolves, Wigan, Pompey and Brum might do to us if we try to attack them??? ****'s sake, i'm still fuming.

for me Gerrards expression says it all.......he really has had enough of Rafa and if the manager doesn't go then our gerrard and torres will and that will really damage the club

[Big-Red-Ed]

What no post match thread?

This forum's as dead as our season. Nobody gives a **** any more because we are so used to seeing this **** week after week.

I can't wait for this season to be over and for a serious re evaluation of where this club wants to be. Some hard decisions have to be made.

[Kenneth]

Taking Torres off today is a luxury we should be able to afford, IF we had a squad with any depth. While Torres is our only real first team striker we can't expect to compete in the league, nevermind the league and a cup. It's madness. Yes, we aren't rolling in money but not buying a proven goalscorer was completely reckless. FFS, kevin Phillips would have improved our squad

[Mark79]

That footage tells it's own story. Nando was completely perplexed and clearly not injured. Gerrard's expression was even more emphatic, utter bemusement followed by a rolling of the eyes. I cant blame him.

Gerrard and Torres' patience with the manager is running out fast IMO and again, i cant blame them.

for me Gerrards expression says it all.......he really has had enough of Rafa and if the manager doesn't go then our gerrard and torres will and that will really damage the club

True. I've no idea if each of them will stay or go this summer, but its certainly becoming increasingly difficult to imagine all 3 at Liverpool come next season.

[the rev leeroy brown]

torres was gutted
gerard was gutted
the fans were gutted
rafa looks and sounds like he couldnt give a ****

obviously he does care but to watch and listen to him it really sounds like he doesnt. i'd love to hear rafa show a bit of emotion. not to the extent where he implodes and bad mouths other managers and looks like a right tit, but just to show he really wants this 4th place.

[onceared]

It's all well and good isolating this game as being tricky, but as you say, we had to win it and we were in that position because of disgraceful results earlier in the season.

None of the top 5 won at Brum, but then, none of the top 5 went there with their CL place hanging by a thread.

We should've imposed ourselves on them after we scored, they were there for the taking and we should've pushed them back and sought a second goal. Instead, we sat off, invited them on and surrendered in typically cowardly Benitez style.

That's because he's a ****ing whopper.
All the pragmatism, note taking, tactical nous and analytical genii in the world can't cover up for the fact he plays **** football, signs **** players, chooses **** formations, gives **** instructions and most damning of all he STILL now, even after he saw what we could achieve if we went out to beat teams at the tail end of last year STILL is more concerned with what ****ing Lee Cunting Bowyer can do to us than what Fernando Torres can do to them.
Pragmatic? Na ****ing coward.

[Bender]

Torres being subbed today

Gerrard looking fecked off

[Leyton388]

He has the management mentality of a ****ing Wigan manager, yet he's managing a massive club.

Does he think we're that ****e that we have to fear what the likes of Wolves, Wigan, Pompey and Brum might do to us if we try to attack them??? ****'s sake, i'm still fuming.

I said the same thing earlier mate. If he thinks going to wolves, pompey, and brum and setting up to nick one then sit back is ok then he should be the manger of the likes of wigan. But we are LFC and we should be going to places like that and going for the win rather than trying not to lose the game.

I seem to remember a lot of people kicking off about the amount of draws we had last season would cost us the league and that turned out to be true but there were still a lot of people who could not see this.

[Leyton388]

Taking Torres off today is a luxury we should be able to afford, IF we had a squad with any depth. While Torres is our only real first team striker we can't expect to compete in the league, nevermind the league and a cup. It's madness. Yes, we aren't rolling in money but not buying a proven goalscorer was completely reckless. FFS, kevin Phillips would have improved our squad

Again this is a gamble that rafa took when he signed Aquilani. Everyone could tell we needed a striker but he chose to spend his budget on an injured player and a right back. Not that i am saying Johnson was a bad signing as he is good but £17m or so is a hell of a lot to spend on a right back when you need a new striker.

Aquilani was not needed as we could have signed a striker and moved Gerrard back into the middle this season which if we did i am sure we would have been in a better position.

Some people may disagree with this but we all have our own opinions.