While the first half looked promising at times, it was discouraging to see the lads relax after Gerrards stunning goal. The overall performance of most Liverpool players clearly lacked any conviction when in possession and we gave the ball away far too easily.
Mascherano must have set himself a new record by having 2 nightmare performances in a row, which wasn't helped by his needless scissors tackle on Valbuena (who cynically returned the favour within a couple of minutes).
We're supposed to be one of the best teams in Europe but it really didn't show, with Marseille making us look ordinary at times. A draw would have been a fair result, but I'll take a win in these circumstances any day of the week. The important thing is that we've qualified for the knockout stages.
13 comments:
Yes you are 100% correct. I have never seen the lads pass the ball as poorly as I did last night. I lost count on how many balls were either too long and mis-passed and it is just not last night's performance it has been over the past few games were it has not been good to watch. I believe physcologically the result against spurs as affected the players more than just the next game. On your point about Mash, your are also correct, he has never played so poorly before between his tackles and passing.
I think the team is going through a mini-crisis in terms of confidence which I hope they will shake off soon. With the Irons up next at home I hope that the performances improve because those narrow wins and odd draw will soon turn into losses. I hope with Torres back playing he will bring back his match sharpness that he needs.
At this moment in time we need to get behind the players and get them through this and in all fairness I would rather be playing poorly (for a few games only) then to be playing blinding football and losing.
Some casual observations :-
- Dossena is shit and will never make it as a Liverpool player.
- Torres looked lazy and rumour has it has done his hamstring in again.
- Reina is supposed to be one of the best keepers around but he keeps making some very scary errors.
- Mascherano is one of our best players and we should forgive a bad game or two from him.
- Benayoun was a poor choice of substitution cos Reira was having an excellent game.
When you think about it, most of our performances this season have been pure crap. We keep getting away it but unless the team starts performing very soon its only a matter of time before we start slipping down the table.
@keith - it's definitely better to win while playing poor football, rather then losing while playing excellent football. But I'd really like to see us playing well while winning ;-)
@roger - I prefer not to think about it, blind optimism and a state of denial work for now ;-)
I would like to comment on Dossena.
The game last night was for me one of his best performances. I think he did a very good job defensively, acting like a second Carragher on several occasions. I agree that he still has some way to go being a creative force, and there have been too many poor crosses from him.
Hope the passing accuracy and improves. Because a month ago the team was keeping the ball, and totally controlling the games.
Also hope Torres is fit. He has looked a lot sharper the last two games than he did on that awful night in London.
T
Riera has surprisingly settled well but Babel had a much better first season with us (lots of goals and assists). Babel must be in the bad books with Rafa, would have preferred to see him on instead of Benayoun. Kuyt for all his guile and determination would never make it into the sides of Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd, but we wouldn’t be nearly as good without him. Captain fantastic did again for us last night, but hate it when we’re labelled a one or two man team. Dossena is so sluggish and we haven’t had as bad a left back since Traore !
Trond what game were you watching last night ? Dossena had one good clearance but was a complete mess defensively for the rest of the game !
Despite their inexperience - I wish Insua and Darby would get the nod ahead of Dossena and Degen, they would make much better full backs for us.
Dummy
Maybe it is a matter of what level you expect a player to perform on. Like I said, I had the impression this was one of his best games so far. I think he did some fine interceptions and seemed more determined than he has been before. Got caught by the cornerflag just once. New haircut as well..
Trond to be fair to Dossena it was a good haircut, I'll give him that much.
@dummy – Babel has so much potential it’s scary, but I’ll be surprised if he is still with us next season.
@trond & jessica- Dossena might be worth persisting with (based on his performances in Serie A), but surely he’ll be gone next season if he doesn’t start performing well enough during games. Who knows maybe next season he'll turn out to be one of the best full backs in the Premier League once he's adjusted.
I must admit I was not surprised at Wed's poor performance, they seem to have lost that sense of urgency when they get the ball, fortunately the other top three teams are also going through a rough patch. I believe that if Pool are serious about the title they will have to make some tough choices in Jan and sell off all the mediocre players and invest it in players with a proven track record. Once again Torres is out and the vulnerabilty of the frontline is exposed, one can only hope that the players pull their finger out and not let the CL title slip through our fingers .....
@bruce SA Red - unfortunately we'd have a very tough time signing proven players in the January transfer window when clubs would be less willing to part with them :-(
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