Bolton 0-1 Liverpool — Post match

[calvoboy]

This time last year (from 31st October - 19th December) we went on a run in the league which went:

Fulham (a) Lost 3-1
Birmingham (h) drew 2-2
Man City (h) drew 2-2
Everton (a) won 2-0
Blackburn (a) drew 0-0
Arsenal (h) lost 2-1
Wigan (h) won 2-1
Portsmouth (a) lost 2-0

So, 9 points from 8 games. In 2 or 3 of those games we were bloody awful, as bad as the crap we've been served up with this year.

Just saying like. All wasn't rosy in the garden last year when we had Rafa, and the current squad is weaker than last year's with Mascherano and Benayoun leaving. Rafa's a tremendous manger, who was at one with the fans, and gave us everything we'd want in a leader. But he's gone now, and won't be back any time soon, so there's no point dreaming about what might have been. We need to move on.

Roy's said some bloody stupid things, and made some bloody stupid tactical mistakes, but for the time being he's our manager, so as others have said let's just get behind the team and hope against hope that we can keep on winning. Results and performances will provide his final judgement, not endless whining on message boards.

[Lecter]

Reina hasn't been consistent this season at all.

I blame Roy 100% for this

Reina himself has bemoaned the changing of the coaching and the tactics do not in anyway suit Reina in fact if anything they actually prey on his weakness

[Chris]

Reina hasn't been consistent this season at all.

Are you confusing him with Edwin Van Der Sar? He's been class apart from an error against Arsenal.

Not his fault the people infront of him are playing like clowns.

[Fierce]

exactly, I have a really really hard time to see how any fans can be upset about a win - and a win against a hard fighting Bolton team at Reebok that is normally a hard place to play.

I ****ing cheered when Maxi scored, and I pity those fans that can't enjoy a late win in a close game with the team they are supporters of.

I just want to enjoy watching Liverpool again, and a win is what we needed and we got it. The state of the club is much more important than the state of any manager we currently have or might not have...

get in there

I also did a fist pump

But for much of the game I was thinking it was dire and that Hodgson needs to go. I still think that, and after the game I did wonder whether that would have bought him some time, and I don't want that

So I can understand the bitter sweet feeling and people perhaps not wanting us to win for that reason

My problem is, who is NESV talking to? Let's face it, they don't know our sport. And what worries me, are all the would be pundits viaing for the new kings ear.

I think this is hugely naive. Yes, they're American and into baseball and Nascar Racing, but **** me they have TV over there too

[Lecter]

This time last year (from 31st October - 19th December) we went on a run in the league which went:

Fulham (a) Lost 3-1
Birmingham (h) drew 2-2
Man City (h) drew 2-2
Everton (a) won 2-0
Blackburn (a) drew 0-0
Arsenal (h) lost 2-1
Wigan (h) won 2-1
Portsmouth (a) lost 2-0

So, 9 points from 8 games. In 2 or 3 of those games we were bloody awful, as bad as the crap we've been served up with this year.

Just saying like. All wasn't rosy in the garden last year when we had Rafa, and the current squad is weaker than last years with Mascherano and Benayoun leaving. Rafa's a tremendous manger, who was at one with the fans, and gave us everything we'd want in a leader. But he's gone now, and won't be back any time soon, so there's no point dreaming about what might have been. We need to move on.

Roy's said some bloody stupid things, and made some bloody stupid tactical mistakes, but for the time being he's our manager, so as others have said let's just get behind the team and hope against hope that we can keep on winning. Results and performances will provide his final judgement, not endless whining on message boards.

Dont remember us being in the relegation battle under Rafa though

The one thing I will say is this irrespective of results and performances I never felt worried under Rafa

I do under Roy the tactics are woefully inadequate, they are totally unsuited to the players on our staff and more importantly are the total and utter antithesis of anything and everything LFC has stood for for the best part of 50 years

you say results and performances will judge him well so far I've yet to see one performance from us that has come within a million miles of us at our best under Rafa

Oh sorry I forgot we cant possibly play better than we did against Blackburn

For the record I've moved on from Rafa but people keep bringing him back into the argument

Hopefully I'll shortly be able to move on from Roy as well before he brings us down another couple of levels

[calvoboy]

Ignoring Roy etc. for a moment, today I thought that was a scrappy, average performance. They are no different to when Allardyce was there. They play long balls up to two target men, and dive dive dive to try and win free-kicks in the opposition half. Their only threat was from knockdowns and flick-ons from aimless punts, and Kevin Davies (good player though he is) was worse than Drogba with his theatrics today. They are solid defensively though, and difficult to break down, and we didn't really consistently play well enough to create enough. That said, it would have been a totally different game if Torres and/or Gerrard had taken their chances.

At the end, a bit of class and a bit of luck won the day. I think we just about deserved to nick it, though an unbiased observer would probably say a draw would have been a fair result.

Worrying that Torres was poor again overall, I thought he'd kick-on from his performance against Blackburn, and he did have more to work with today than most games this season. Shame Gerrard had an off day too though, given how much we rely on them for a bit of a spark. Hopefully Merieles will step up a bit more once he's properly settled in (if Roy keeps playing him in CM where he belongs...).

[Lecter]

Ignoring Roy etc. for a moment, today I thought that was a scrappy, average performance. They are no different to when Allardyce was there. They play long balls up to two target men, and dive dive dive to try and win free-kicks in the opposition half. Their only threat was from knockdowns and flick-ons from aimless punts, and Kevin Davies (good player though he is) was worse than Drogba with his theatrics today. They are solid defensively though, and difficult to break down, and we didn't really consistently play well enough to create enough. That said, it would have been a totally different game if Torres and/or Gerrard had taken their chances.

At the end, a bit of class and a bit of luck won the day. I think we just about deserved to nick it, though an unbiased observer would probably say a draw would have been a fair result.

Worrying that Torres was poor again overall, I thought he'd kick-on from his performance against Blackburn, and he did have more to work with today than most games this season. Shame Gerrard had an off day too though, given how much we rely on them for a bit of a spark. Hopefully Merieles will step up a bit more once he's properly settled in (if Roy keeps playing him in CM where he belongs...).

We dont play to Torres' strengths simple as even today you say he was given more to work with but I dont think its enough

We are still expecting him to at times work miracles

That to me is again Hodgsons system

Hes so isolated at times its frightening

My best mate is a bluenose and as he said tonight Messi could play for you under Hodgson and still look clueless and isolated and I think hes right

If Hodgson is to stay we need someone different to Torres and that to me should tell you enough about which direction we are heading under Roy

[Taxi]

Are you confusing him with Edwin Van Der Sar? He's been class apart from an error against Arsenal.

Not his fault the people infront of him are playing like clowns.

No I'm not confusing him with VD****inS...Reina hasnt been in great form over the last 12 months. Maybe you're not understanding what I'm saying? We have average players and we have class, our class players haven't been at the level that we know they can be. I'm not saying Reina's been ****, but he hasn't been at the top of his game. Torres and Gerrard have been far worse though.

[Chris]

Reina hasnt been in great form over the last 12 months.

Oh my god, you have to be taking the piss?! He was absolutely astonishing last season, and this season made one error, thats it.

[calvoboy]

Dont remember us being in the relegation battle under Rafa though

The one thing I will say is this irrespective of results and performances I never felt worried under Rafa

I do under Roy the tactics are woefully inadequate, they are totally unsuited to the players on our staff and more importantly are the total and utter antithesis of anything and everything LFC has stood for for the best part of 50 years

you say results and performances will judge him well so far I've yet to see one performance from us that has come within a million miles of us at our best under Rafa

Oh sorry I forgot we cant possibly play better than we did against Blackburn

For the record I've moved on from Rafa but people keep bringing him back into the argument

Hopefully I'll shortly be able to move on from Roy as well before he brings us down another couple of levels

I agree entirely that I was never worried under Rafa, and unlike now, you could see where Rafa was heading from day one. Too many of our performances so far have been woeful, and it's difficult to see where Roy is heading. On the 'we can't play better than we did against Blackburn' point though, I just don't buy the "reading every interview as if it's the gospel according to Roy" thing. The bloke's clearly got verbal diarrhea - ask him a question and hundreds of words come tumbling out, most of which don't seem to have passed through his brain en route to his gob. He's spent that long at weak underdog clubs that he spouts ****e about how the likes of Northampton will provide a tough test, and how a run of 7 wins from 9 is fantasyland, as if it's a nervous tic. That said, I think most of the time, the general point he's trying to make is usually right, it's just that people keep seizing on one line out of 20 or 30 which is clearly bonkers. He needs to stop doing this, obviously.

On Rafa, I wasn't addressing the point at you personally, and I'm sure you have moved on. But lots of people are continually posting as if Rafa's way was and is the only way of doing things. We must play 4-3-2-1 for evermore, with zonal marking, Gerrard behind Torres, and pressing all over the pitch (OK that's a caricature, I'll admit - but all of those views have been expressed individually, if not altogether). There are lots of ways to produce a winning team though, Ferguson's way is different to Rafa's, which is different to Mourinho's, which is different to Guardiola's, etc. etc. In any case, I just think it's futile to compare as it's not like we can get Rafa back (at least this season). Roy has to be judged on his merits, and I'm sure he will be. If results and performances don't improve then he'll be gone, these new owners aren't stupid.

[calvoboy]

We dont play to Torres' strengths simple as even today you say he was given more to work with but I dont think its enough

We are still expecting him to at times work miracles

That to me is again Hodgsons system

Hes so isolated at times its frightening

My best mate is a bluenose and as he said tonight Messi could play for you under Hodgson and still look clueless and isolated and I think hes right

If Hodgson is to stay we need someone different to Torres and that to me should tell you enough about which direction we are heading under Roy

I agree based on what we've seen so far, but I just don't think the plan is to leave him as isolated as he has been, or to sit as deep as we have been. On the latter, I think it's a confidence issue, and last season we had the same problem of dropping deeper and deeper when we were going through that bad run. On the former, Hodgson has usually produced footballing teams. OK, away from home in Europe last year he often played Zamora up front and resorted to long balls down the channel to relieve pressure and to secure a result, but then so did we under Houllier with Heskey, and under Rafa with Crouch. Most of the time though, Fulham played neat little triangles through Midfield with Murphy pulling the strings. On the whole they were known as a good team to watch. We were great for the first 20 mins against Sunderland, and for the first 70 mins against Blackburn playing exactly this kind of game, so I'm hoping it's just a case of players getting used to the tactics. If these are the tactics, then Roy will be gone by Christmas anyway, as you will be right that they don't suit our players and won't get the results we need.

After 10 games though, and after selling Mascher after he refused to play on the day of the game away at Man City, replacing good squad players with dross in a desperate attempt to make the yanks the money they needed to hold off the banks, after the most protracted and complicated takeover saga in football history, to be only 3 points of Spurs in fifth and 5 points off City in 4th isn't a complete disaster.

[Craig_H]

Haha, Soto after the match getting the MoM "He doesn't want to speak..."

He only communicates when in battle.

Soto reminds me of this fella (the one on the left, for any non WWF fans from the 1990s):

[Mostar]

OMG

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/9129015.stm

Halfway down the page.

"We've not been playing that badly, in fact we haven't really played badly in more than two or three games this season, and have had some famous games in the Europa Cup to boost us along the way."

Sad part is that he truly believes that

Delusional old fool.

[Taxi]

Oh my god, you have to be taking the piss?! He was absolutely astonishing last season, and this season made one error, thats it.

[Craig_H]

I actually didnt think we were THAT bad today, certainly not for 'Hodgsons Liverpool' (as i'm now referring to us).

I thought we lacked somewhat in the final third, but we certainly held our own in difficult surroundings and with a referee who was most unhelpful throughout. We battled, we kept our heads up right til the end and in the latter stages, we got a few bodies forward and did seem to actually be looking for the win, instead of holding on for a point.

Obviously there's a lot of work to be done, we looked fairly disjointed going forward and there's a lack of fluidity. But we did create a couple of good chances and even when it looked like it'd end up as a drab dire 0-0, we kept going and looking for the goal.

Still want Hodgson out and i think it'll happen, but as for when, i'm unsure. Delighted with the win though, our confidence was so fragile and we desperately need wins to rebuild it and gain some momentum & flow.

Delighted to see the players' reactions at the end, you could tell how much they wanted that.

Decent gritty display and in circumstances when things have been **** and you're down in the dumps, you're not going to get sparkling confidence football.