Blackpool 2-1 Liverpool: In game and Post Match Despair

 So much space in the middle of which Raul, Lucas and Poulsen were able to do absolutely F**k all with. None of them did that badly defensively except Raul for the first goal but contributed virtually nothing in attack. No pace, no quick passing, not willing to travel with the ball, resorting to shooting from poor positions, not having the vision to see Kelly and Johnson in space. Really really poor. And Kuyt/Jovanovic could've played all night and wouldn't have produced.

Felt very very sorry for Torres tonight because he worked hard and looked to have his touch back but just as has been the case so often this season the "Give the ball to Torres" mentality kicked in through our outfield players and all we did was just try and get the ball to him as quickly as possible. Not a single player willing to take  responsibility. And fair enough Blackpool are a decent side, they are above us in the league on merit but left acres of space in the middle of the park.

I think we could've done with a week off after Sunday but so be it, you play what you get and we failed. Need to do better. Confidence is absolutely wrecked in this squad, totally and utterly shot to bits.

if you put in Mcmahon Beardsley and Barnes into this side then we would see a change.So JH go and buy them.

Poulsen, Kuyt, Jovanovic, Lucas and Meireles massively failed at influencing the game for me. Not good enough for me them. Seriously. The laziness, the bad passing, the awful control and the lack of awareness. I've simply had enough of it from them. If Kenny was trying to see what he has to play with tonight, then I hope that he had a good long look at those players and what they don't bring to our attack.

As for the defending, that was also woeful. Nightmare. And it spreads uncertainty through the team. And when that is happening on a constant basis, changes need to be made.

Blackpool looked like they were the ones who have been in the top flight for decades. They oozed confidence. We look like a team destined for a relegation battle.

First ten minutes I was buzzing. I thought, "here we go, the bottle is back and we're gonna have a go at bossing the game". Then for me, we started giving the ball away cheaply. A team with good spirit and togetherness like Blackpool, don't need much encouragement. We started allowing space in the midfield. We started looking like a team who needed someone to hold their hand and lead them forward. It was clear that we were trying to use Kelly and Johnson on the wings but that was soon snuffed out and we just could not get the urgency and the composure to go through the middle. And we've seen this so many times before. It is not what an LFC team should be like.

Kenny's team selection properly raised an eyebrow with me before the game. Fair enough, the blue sh*te coming up and a hard worked game against the scum on Sunday. Plus it's only early days yet. But I think it's got it's just rewards to be honest. Playing Lucas and Poulsen in the middle is a huge mistake.

He played left back didn't he?

to be fair the lad might have had other things on his mind. Rightly or wrongly.

Our midfield were passing everything sidewards tonight except Meireles who kept passing it forward sadly it was to the opposition, have to say as well I'd sell Kuyt for the right money, the amount of moves that break down around him is unreal.

15 minutes into the game I never thought this is what the forum would look like today

No doubt. The midfield cost us the game today. They should be ashamed.

On the positives we were keeping the ball on the deck and not hoofing it.
Yes we were losing possession and their equalizer was a farce on our part.

We were though positively playing the ball through the channels instead of over and under.
Trying to.



Players?
Benitez and Hodgson's legacy.

Especially galling when you think of the squad size Rafa had at the end and the sheer amount of transfer turnover.
We turn out this sh*te.
Wonderful.

Captain Kenny. Steer this ship.

Will obviously take a bit of time before Kenny manages to get the team to play the way he wantr. But, he knows now how badly we are lacking in some areas.

Back then we had the best right back in the country, a brilliant centre half who's reading of the game and aerial presence was second to none. Not to forget the best central trio in the league in the form of Gerrard, Masch and Alonso. Two of them gone now. The third suspended and he might get some stick but boy did we miss him today.

Not a coincidence that it was a poor defence and hardly noticeable midfield that cost us the three points tonight.

Couldnt agree more about the defence. Total shambles, and it has been all season, even with Cara.
Nobody seems to know where they should be. Ive lost count on how many times the opposing strikers have been free or
unchallenged.

and you know that for sure do ya were did you learn that at school and I didnt say I wrote so stick that in your pipe and smoke it

You really put him in his place there didn't you.

Pathetic, if you don't support them, then don't comment. Simple enough.

Our midfield were passing everything sidewards tonight except Meireles who kept passing it forward sadly it was to the opposition, have to say as well I'd sell Kuyt for the right money, the amount of moves that break down around him is unreal.

Kuyt has lost his legs. Poulsen will probably never wear a Red shirt again and neither will Jova replace those 3 and the team looks half decent.Put Carragher and Gerrard in with a couple of decent signings and we will move up the league.

No doubt. The midfield cost us the game today. They should be ashamed.

Defense was sh*te too though

Agree walton, we need to replace them with quality that is where NESV are meant to come in.

+ I can't believe we're "only" 11 points behind Tottenham!?

Lets look on the bright side the Blueshite will be thinking its going to be easy.

When we regained possesion inside our half, blackpool pushed forward and man marked Torres and Jova. We could do nothing, much more so with all our stray, side and backpasses from midfield going nowhere. When we lost possesion in Blackpool's half our defence tracked back, our midfield nowhere to be seen and they pounded us like a pack of wolves. A serioud revamp is needed in midfield, we need to play Shelvey against the blueshite, at least he runs and runs and runs and harass the midfield. We need fast and combatibe players in midfield.  We need to play Joe Cole and not Kuyt. Cole is not one of the fastest, give him the ball and he'll create something out of it. As for Kuyt he can't pass and can't do a thing with the ball except all those useless side, back and stray passes.

Agree walton, we need to replace them with quality that is where NESV are meant to come in.

It might also mean we have to buy experienced mature players not cheap kids.

Is this the worst Liverpool season in over 50 years?

We had no drive our nothing from our midfield redkop, if you tightly mark Torres when our midfield had the ball we inevitable lost it our played it 5 yards backwards or sideways.

Hold on a minute, whats with all these "The squad is sh*te" remarks coming back in to swing? Ive lost count the amount of times Ive seen people defending Rafas squad, the amount of internationals he left etc, and the majority of them I agree with. But everybody on this forum knows that if Roy was still in charge here tonight we would be slating him, not the squad. Far too many knee jerks going on, anyone expecting our performances to be setting the premiership alight 4 days after Kennys arrival was being extremely naive.

It was a strange team selection, so what? Kenny stated himself he was going to give everyone a fair crack of the whip, there were some positives as well as a lot of negatives. Either way its going to take time.

He can't work miracles, theres a combination of factors contributing to our performances and they won't change over night. On a side note, Torres looked like a different player tonight.

While I didn't necessarily agree with Kenny's team selection I thought that the team as a whole played slightly further up the pitch and at least were far more attacking than in recent games away from home.

The big problem tonight and maybe has been for a while but just hidden by Hodgson's woeful tactics was the absolute dire performances from some of our players.

Dirk, Poulsen and Miereles were next to useless and I've reached then end of the road with Kuyt. I have not seen a professional player pass the ball so badly in a long time. It's as if he cannot make even a simple 5 yard pass and he is continually slowing down or even breaking down our attacking play.

Raul had another shocking game and it's maybe not the one off I thought it was while Poulsen was anonymous.

I've seen a few people have a go at the usual fall guy Lucas and I think it's a bit unfair as he was on his own in midfield as the other two were so bad he was having to play against three Blackpool midfielders and for me did a decent job considering.

Along with Lucas Torres and Reina were excellent and it's good to see Nando looking like he has a bit if fight in him again and my MOTM.

Defense again was very shaky and something Kenny and Clarke will probably be looking at in training this week as we always looked like conceding a couple tonight.

All in all a very disappointing night but I did see an improvement in approach from the manager and if he gets the performances from the players or finds players in the reserves or by signing then we will get better results soon.

A team like Blackpool has shown this season that it doesn't matter if you are an international player or someone who commands £50k and upwards a week. What matters is that you play for each other, you have players in the important areas of the pitch that do their job effectively and you sweat blood for 90 minutes.

Unfortunately we have very little of those types of players. What worries me even more is that when you are in a relegation battle you need players that will fight for the club and I'm not convinced that most of the squad really give a F**k.