Sure it was yet another poor performance from Liverpool resulting in a boring draw with Fulham. But these things happen to all teams throughout the season. Fortunately our latest stumble has coincided with all our title rivals suffering frustrating results also. Chelsea and Manchester United both experienced 0-0 draws, while Arsenal were hammered 3-0 by Manchester City.
It seems a like lost opportunity for 3 more points (which it is) but let's pretend this past weekend never really happened as we're still top of the table. The harsh reality though is that if we want to win the Premier League this season, then we're going to have to put in far more effort against the 'smaller teams' rather than take them for granted.
10 comments:
The problem is that these "stumbles" are getting far too frustrating. We should really be beating teams like Stoke + Fulham at home (and away). Too many players just didn't bother and they need to be working harder. I fear these kinds of results will be repeated throughout the year as teams will come to Anfield content to go for a draw, safe in the knowledge that we lack sufficient creativity to break them down.
It was stupid for Benitez to start with Lucas. Alonso has been having an amazing season for us and deserved to start and he would have made the difference between us winning the game or not. Lucas looks like a player who has no confidence and it is badly affecting our prospects. We should have been 2 points ahead of Chelsea today.
Rafas poor team selection made it look like he was keeping one eye on Europe when the Premier league is supposed to be our primary target this year. Very disappointing.
Playing ALonso for 3 games in 8 days may end in:
1. bad play by him as he's obviousl tired.
2. He might make a bad tackle and get himself unnecessarily booked.
3. Worst case scenario, he might get injured.
He played full 90 min in Spain game and Gerrard is injured. So he was rested for the first half. Honestly if the team had performed to its potential we'd have won.
I WILL not blame Lucas for this game. Actualy speaking, he was one of our better players on the day. Mascherano, who played a full game for Argentina, did not play well. Kuyt (who too played for Holland) too was not playing as well he's been playing for us. And Lucas plays a kind of game which does not suit to Mascherano's. It would be better if he is paired with Alonso or Gerrard in the central mid field. Just see the change in Lucas after Alonso came on. He was much better.
Was happy with Torres getting better. Expecting him to score in the next game.
maybe rafa focuses on the champions league because he knows we are not strong enough to win the premiership
@dummy - true, but there has also been a few games where we didn't really deserve to win, yet we snatched a victory anyway, so I guess these things balance out a bit
@roberto - I think Abhiram hit the nail on the head regarding Rafas decision to pick Lucas ahead of Alonso
@roger - it's not inconceivable, but Rafa knows more than us about the players conditions (fitness etc)
@abhiram - it would be hard to blame any single player for this match. Like you say he was one of the better ones, but needs a bit of a confidence booster I reckon.
The enforced usage of Leiva as a starter clearly demonstrates our lack of depth in the midfield and why it would have been beneficial to have had Barry in the squad now but not at the expense of losing Alonso to Italy.
Mind you, if Barry was on our pitch then Manure may have got three points.
'What ifs' are no help.
Bring in a decent midfielder in January please Senor Benitez.
@twombly - the sad thing about Lucas is that he does have the ability and potential, but I suspect some other team will get to avail of his potential in the future.
Having Barry in the squad would have been a problem if we weren't selling Alonso as we'd also have Mascherano & Gerrard to look after...
But now that Alonso appears back to his best, I'm glad he's stayed and hope he will for a long time too
And guys did you just see the way the crowd treated Lucas at Anfield? Pathetic... Felt really bad for the lad. They were booing our own guy there....
Never seen such disgraceful behavior from our own so called 'fans'...
We have always been famous for being behind the team as a 12th man in every game. Those fans put a blemish on that record. :(
@abhiram - I didn't think Lucas was as bad as many have made out. But the booing is hardly going to help his confidence at all.
Post a Comment