Liverpool vs Fulham - match thread

F**k off rafa for your selection, u saw that alonso passed more passes than masch & lucas in the whole match. I'm very very very frustated

The selection, you should think you can rest Alonso against Fulham, so i dont discredit him for that

The subs baffled me however

Tell that to Chelsea who have been just as "inconsistent" as us, drawing at home to both Newcastle and a very poor Tottenham side.

Our title hopes can't be written off with one bad performance, and it's certainly not like us to give up in November!

I don't care about anyone else other than ourselves mate. I remember what it's like to win a title and you have to make the most of your home games.

We were very poor today but we must admit that Fulham played really well their second away point this season. Their 3 draw for the last 6 Anfield games

Geez overreaction or what.  To say we're not going to be title challengers is a tad overboard don't ya think?  Chelsea only drew today too against a team lower in the league than Fulham.  Today was disappointing and Rafa's team selection and subs weren't the best either but there's still a long way to go.

Look at it this way...we've won a load of games coming from behind, games we didn't deserve to win.  We're still unbeaten at home, level on points at the top and we're not as bad as Arsenal

I think we'd all have taken this at the start of the season and a draw against a decent Fulham side isn't the end of the world.  Still think Rafa needs to get his priorities sorted  though.  Doesn't he know its the league title we want!!

With Stevie missing, All they wanted was to see Xabi on the bench and thier confidence went up a few rungs. Rafa played right into thier hands. Lucas is still developing, he should be on the bench and used when games are safe. FFS. When will Rafa give these teams some respect? Does he think they're going to come to Anfield to roll over.  We need to dominate from the start not after 50 or 60 mins. His selections and subs for the so called lesser sides are gonna undo all the hard work gone before. If teams can get at us at Anfield because we field weakened sides, they get a confidence boost and are near impossible to break down after the subs are put on in the later stages. Fukced up again Rafa.

Though I know a lot of the blame will go to Lucas (yes he played bad) but a lot of players out there were quite poor. Keane was dreadful he should of scored in the first half, Riera was owned by Pansil, Kuyt was in and out of the game, Javi wasn't controlling the middle. I think Rafa subs were a bit odd, Keane and Lucas should of been taken off instead of Kuyt and Javi.

I think it is a slight consolation was poor results for Arsenal and Chelsea but I dunno how many chances we are going to get to go top clear and I have a feeling it will be few and far between.

Surely you would have to start either one of the two (Gerrard or Alonso)
With Gerrard injured Alonso needed to start, and control the midfield. Ok, that being said, the attacking substitution was wrong also. Babel for Rierra?   Rierra looked more dangerous, in fact he is good enough to take defenders on, often he gets the beating of them and then back pedals instead of surging into the box or down the wing. I guess he will learn with experience. Keane should have given way for Babel, since Keane was anonymous. Third mistake, Lucas should have been subbed. He looks too slow with his passing, often his passes are behind the player, rather than in front, slowing the momentum of the attack.
Ok, Ive had my moan, but all in all the damage was not too bad after Chelsea failed to score against Newcastle. Man Utd are no certainty to take 3 points against Villa, especially with their injury problems. Arsenal are becoming more and more irrelevant by the minute. A chance missed perhaps, but not a disaster. Hopefully Benitez will learn from the feedback and improve his selection choices in future matches. We can only hope.

  I'm sorry to say this BUt Keane is not in it  yet ,,to be honest nobody was today  except torres and the back 4
   
         This is our big problem ,we struggle too much against the lower teams ,but these you have to win ,,it does not count if you beat the big teams and fail against the fulham type ones
                       on the good side chelski drew at home too ,lets hope the scum drop points too ,so it won't be that bad , then  Again this is a good opportunity missed

Substitutions were poor, not to mention starting Lucas instead of Alonso. Then, putting Alonso in for Masch when Lucas was virtually a black hole until the last 15 minutes. I though Kuyt was our most dangerous attacker today, taking him out is unbelievable. Whether Reira should have been removed is questionable, but either Babel or El Zhar should have come on for Keane, dismal today.

Besides all that, Aurelio was solid, along with Kuyt. Torres and the rest of the defense were decent but not brilliant. Babel, Alonso, Masch, and the little I saw of El Zhar, average or just under average. Riera was below average but not the worst. Lucas was awful for first 70 or so but was around average at the end. Keane, I haven't got anything to say, the dictionary in my head can't find a proper word to describe that performance.

All in all, poor performance by most players who were needed to win this game outright. I guess its good Chelsea weren't good enough to win either.

On another note, the atmosphere was terrible today.  The fans should have been lifting the team, but in the end it was a dire match with a dire atmosphere and a dire result. 

The only positive was Torres who was looking as hungry as ever.  Keane is shocking and very disappointed in Babel when he came on.  Lucas actually improved in the second half but still should never half started.  Poor decision by Rafa.

2 home games
0-0 stoke
0-0 fulham
These games just remind me of the liverpool from last season. It just seems that unless we score early on against sides who want to park the bus infront of the goal their confidence grows and we all know it will finish 0-0.
Rafa had to bring babel on for keane not riera. riera was playing half decent. Anyone can challenge me here and tell me if i am wrong but Babel should play upfront against West Ham instead of Keane. Keane can stop complaining about being brought off early now. He's not giving us anything .
I think everyone agrees now that Lucas was given an excellent chance today and failed to take it again.
I agree with barrymanulow. Gerrard or alonso against fulham, gerrard injured = alonso plays.

I don't get this. The substitutions are only ever poor when we fail to win. Had any of our subs slotted one in, which it was touch and go near the end, the substitutions would have been sound.

To be honest, I feel we should have been winning before the substitutes could have been blamed.

Chance to go clear top of the table, but apparently, we don't want trophies. Xabi should have started, Babel should have come on for Keane, Riera should have stayed on.
Frustrated with Rafa's selection and the way the team played.

We have had a long term problem in being to reliant on Gerrard and the decision today to not play Alonso was baffling and unless he is carrying a knock it dosent make sense, I know Alonso played 90mins in midweek but so did a few others. These results happen and all the top teams will have there share and when you don't play well it's important you don't lose (achieved) so we have another point toward our goal and now we must make sure we win the next game and qualify for the CL (just the boost we need).......

Lucas was that bad today I think he needs to be shipped out in Jan. He's not done anything to graet before today either. I thouight he might improve bur alas, I think it's time to move him on

Macscherano is fantastic but he's not the type of player who runs the game like gerrard or alonso.
Rafa's answer to that role today was lucas and he was absolutely sh*t. We should be grateful that chelski will be feeling the same as us right now because  we would feel alot worse had they won today. Shouts of title challenge gone would be shouted.
For me, Benitez has to give Babel or El zhar a full game upfront against west ham because thery can't do worse than keane right now.

Loads of people are overreacting here. Giving up on the title already when your joint top of the Premier League in late November?

Jesus Christ.

We were very poor today but we must admit that Fulham played really well their second away point this season.

We were poor.  That was it.  Fulham we're not fantastic we were just appalling.

Loads of people are overreacting here. Giving up on the title already when your joint top of the Premier League in late November?

Jesus Christ.

I'm not giving up on the title.  I just expect that Chelsea and United will be far stronger than us in the run in.

We missed a glorious opportunity today, as we did at Stoke, as we did at Spurs.

Not good enough, but to be fair, the piss poor crowd at Anfield didn't deserve us to get them 3 points.

we should have won. Xabi was impressive, he really can pass the ball. Nando was sharp and the bright side is that chelsea didn't get 3 points either.

Chelsea are consistent in their performances through the season. Liverpool and United both perform better in the second half of the season. Arsenal are out of the running already.

It's not over til it's over. And that's 24 games away.

We were poor.  That was it.  Fulham we're not fantastic we were just appalling.

imo they defended well, they threw their bodies infront of our player so they couldnt get a shot in.

imo they defended well, they threw their bodies infront of our player so they couldnt get a shot in.

11 pub players can put bodies infront of the ball and still make it hard to score