v Manchester United (H): Post Match

[Roboklopp]

Thank **** for the gym. Rest of my life is ****ed. Good to let off some steam.

[BootRoom]

I know that mate, but a point at the Emirates (given our record their) would not be disastrous.

It will be if we end the day in 7th, 6 points off 4th and an inferior GD by 15 goals (assuming the mancs dispatch Villa to move into 3rd) with 7 games left.

[Lecter]

I personally just thought it was a bad day at the office

I went to the match with my best mate who is an Evertonian (not a bitter though). He thought we were ****, the referee was ****ing **** and United were ordinary say the least (that is from someone with no axe to grind)

I thought it was really interesting for the media and the way they portrayed it as some great United performance both tactically and in terms of on the pitch

I thought we were so far off the pace it was frightening and I didnt have it down United pressing us like Swansea did

Sterling was absolutely atrocious for me and his form over the last few games has been poor but I have felt the team hasnt performed that well the last 2 or 3 games. I thought today there was very few good performances with Skrtel or Sakho probably the pick of the bunch

[Tee]

Coutinho failed to impress Pele I reckon. He probably left as a Man Utd fan.

[wiw]

Agree with you guys saying our formation has been sussed, and agree that Sterling is a waste at wing back. A defeat has been coming as we've played poorly against Blackburn and Swansea, so this wasn't a massive shock. The ****e refereeing and stupidity from Gerrard just make it harder to take. Credit to United they deserved it, but i thought Rodgers was a little naive in sending out the same team when Butt-head clearly would've had a plan to counter it.

For me today was the day to try something different, maybe back to the 4-4-2 diamond that worked so well last year, just stick Sterling in Suarez's place. Hard to predict what formation we are going to use in the future, i don't think 3-4-3 is the answer long term, and the very successful diamond relied on 2 quality strikers (which we now don't have) and Sterling in behind, which in turn makes recent signings like Markovic and Lallana redundant. Meh.

One of those now, if we lose to Arsenal, which i think we will, i'd rather send out the reserves from then on to avoid getting into the Europa

[Exiled_red]

I think the problem is as players have been coming back we have started to change the system, and I'm not sure it works. Sterling and Coutinho need to the the attacking midfielders, Lallana is a decent player but I think we lose something when he is up there instead of Sterling.

We were terrible in the first half and all over the place, things weren't improved when Gerrard got sent off within seconds of coming on, the team had alot of spirit and aggression, Hopefully Skrtel doesnt get in trouble for the incident at the end.

I thought on the whole did ok with 10 men, but we never really looked like scoring with 10 or 11. The result is so frustrating because of where it leaves us in the battle for 4th a draw wouldn't have been bad, but I always hate losing to thm.

I also thought the ref was ****, although he can't be blamed for the result.

[I, Ravel Morrison]

I think the problem is as players have been coming back we have started to change the system, and I'm not sure it works. Sterling and Coutinho need to the the attacking midfielders, Lallana is a decent player but I think we lose something when he is up there instead of Sterling.

We were terrible in the first half and all over the place, things weren't improved when Gerrard got sent off within seconds of coming on, the team had alot of spirit and aggression, Hopefully Skrtel doesnt get in trouble for the incident at the end.

I thought on the whole did ok with 10 men, but we never really looked like scoring with 10 or 11. The result is so frustrating because of where it leaves us in the battle for 4th a draw wouldn't have been bad, but I always hate losing to thm.

I also thought the ref was ****, although he can't be blamed for the result.

Agree. Sterling as one of the #10s mixes it up better and makes the attack more dynamic and direct, our strengths. Playing Lallana there instead and Sterling at wingback feels like we're shoehorning the latter.

[BigChief]

Agree. Sterling as one of the #10s mixes it up better and makes the attack more dynamic and direct, our strengths. Playing Lallana there instead and Sterling at wingback feels like we're shoehorning the latter.

It was Daley Blind vs Raheem Sterling. Guess who should have been ****ting their pants pre and during the game (I'll give you a clue its not supposed to be the one who thinks he can demand 150k a week)?

[dom9]

So a pretty **** day really. Another again tomorrow.

Let's pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and carry on again as before.

And let's be nice to each other while we're doing it.

[Fosterbloke]

I'm over it now. It's a game of football, we ****ed up, I'm sure we'll learn something.

Mata's goals were exceptional. You can't complain when you're undone by a world class performance.

[I, Ravel Morrison]

It was Daley Blind vs Raheem Sterling. Guess who should have been ****ting their pants pre and during the game (I'll give you a clue its not supposed to be the one who thinks he can demand 150k a week)?

I agree to an extent. He's certainly not performing like a 150k/week player, but at the same time, it isn't really fair to expect him to perform like a 150k/week attacker as a wingback when the rest of the team was feckless too in the first half. It's on him and on the team.

I think he's asking too much anyway.

[frank the tank]

26m was the price paid. It doesn't mean he is worth that. If he wasn't English and England based when buying you'd pick him up for 8m.

Careful.......you get slated for saying that on here.


For me, Lallana is a squaddie......nothing else. The fact that he was our most expensive signing last season - in a summer where we spend double of our next highest summer spending spree - is a slap in the face....

[frank the tank]

Still sick over the result.....

A few points I would make (some of which are echoing what has been said on here already):

1. If Sterling wants 150k per week then he can **** right off. Sell the guy and if that means he goes to Man City or Chelsea, then so be it. He is just as likely to become the new Shaun Wright Phillips as he is the new Gareth Bale. Rodgers should consider taking him out of the team for a game or two because he is (a) a little bit wrecked (b) a little bit lazy and (c) thinking he is the new Messi because he has scored 10 goals in a season.....big deal.
2. It might be time to consider changing the system. The 3-4-3 (or 3-4-2-1 / 3-6-1) has served us well because it brought back a bit of solidity in our defense. It also got us more possession in the middle of the pitch and allowed us to press teams higher up the pitch. I wouldn't mind seeing a diamond formation again though with Emre Can and Moreno in the full back roles, Lucas sitting in front of Sakho / Skrtel, Allen and Henderson in midfield with Coutinho behind Sturridge and one other. It would help sturridge out up front and although we would be sacrificing Lallana, if would also allow Hendo and Allen to press higher.
3. Lallana should be a sub anyway - regardless of the formation we play. I've never been a fan but for me he is 2% slower than our other attacking players. He seems to take 4 touches when 2 would have done and for me he doesn't really have a best position either. I think he might be good in La Liga / Serie A but for LFC, i think he should just be a squad player at best.
4. I don't think top-4 is over by any means - even if we lose to Arsenal in our next game. United's next 4 games include Villa and City at home followed by trips to Chelsea and Everton. They won't get 12 points there. If Arsenal beat LFC then it makes their position in the top 4 very strong - but they still need to play Chelsea and United before the end of the season. We are still the masters of our destiny. In reality we have very hard matches away to Arsenal and Chelsea remaining but we should be looking for max points from the rest of the games. (Newcastle, Hull, WBA, QPR, Palace and Stoke).

[Leyton388]

Still can't believe we didn't turn up for the biggest game of the season. Absolutely pissed off with the whole thing.

[McDermotX]

Still can't believe we didn't turn up for the biggest game of the season. Absolutely pissed off with the whole thing.

Woke up thinking it was a bad dream.

Clowns.