Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool: In-game & post-match trauma

So we've given the best team in the league (City) one hell of a scare, to the point they're begging for the final whistle, had a goal disallowed wrongly and had 2 near open goals (Johnson / Raheem) missed to get a deserved point. Then we've got battered by Chelsea in the first half after being clearly tired and come back into it, should have had at least 1 penalty, maybe 2 and definitely a man sent off. Don't understand all the negativity really if I'm honest.

We were clearly less fit, we couldn't make changes that they could and our squad was thoroughly exposed. I tried to suggest before the game that anyone who was expecting a win here was really setting their expectations way too high in the circumstances and so it proved. For evidence of how leggy we were just watch Henderson, while some may doubt his talents there's probably not a person in the country who would doubt his energy levels and the lad was simply knackered. When your most energetic player is knackered and you're playing 10 of the 11 that played the last match what do you expect when they have a fresher midfield.

I will say I thought we had some poor performances out there topped off by Glen Johnson, a more abject performance I can't remember. Allen would also have to go into the poor pile and so would Coutinho.

On the plus side I thought Sakho was really good and young Raheem was superb he hasn't deserved to lose either of the last 2 games, really stood out for me.

The difficulty moving forward is that we seem to have picked up a few more knocks and that was also to be expected with 2 games so close together.

I think Brendan can take some flak for leaving Alberto on the bench but it's clear he doesn't rate the lad at this point. That's why I'm confused as to what we do in January because there's too many players that we sign that simply don't figure for us. Is it Brendan who decides, does he actually have a big influence on the decisions, I'm not convinced. If it is him deciding and he then doesn't play his signings then that needs changing, or if it isn't him signing them and someone else is making the decisions then that needs changing, there's a fault somewhere there and it needs fixing before we go spending more money on players who simply wont feature for us.

It's been a hard first half of the season and we all knew that December would be the most difficult and testing for us. I think we can come out of it with our heads held high, we battered Tottenham in a style I've not seen at WHL ever. We terrified City to the point they admitted we're the best team they've faced and ok we limped out a bit at Chelsea after the fixtures caught up with us but we could quite easily have drawn that game too.

Encouraging signs for our future and I believe we'll make a damn good go at getting into that top 4, no I don't think we'll win the title, I thought that was too ambitious a suggestion at the time and maybe got people's hopes up a little too much. It's time for FSG to back Brendan though because the man can only work with the tools he's given and he's running out of them pretty quickly.

You must have missed his press conference after the previous game then?

It would be a bit silly of Brendan to go all guns blazing again while under the threat from the FA.

Its all the FSG love in and Webb is great bollocks you don't need to be obviously angry to get your message across.Its not against any rules to say what you think and describe what you saw.The FA have him trussed up like a turkey.

So we've given the best team in the league (City) one hell of a scare, to the point they're begging for the final whistle, had a goal disallowed wrongly and had 2 near open goals (Johnson / Raheem) missed to get a deserved point. Then we've got battered by Chelsea in the first half after being clearly tired and come back into it, should have had at least 1 penalty, maybe 2 and definitely a man sent off. Don't understand all the negativity really if I'm honest.

We were clearly less fit, we couldn't make changes that they could and our squad was thoroughly exposed. I tried to suggest before the game that anyone who was expecting a win here was really setting their expectations way too high in the circumstances and so it proved. For evidence of how leggy we were just watch Henderson, while some may doubt his talents there's probably not a person in the country who would doubt his energy levels and the lad was simply knackered. When your most energetic player is knackered and you're playing 10 of the 11 that played the last match what do you expect when they have a fresher midfield.

I will say I thought we had some poor performances out there topped off by Glen Johnson, a more abject performance I can't remember. Allen would also have to go into the poor pile and so would Coutinho.

On the plus side I thought Sakho was really good and young Raheem was superb he hasn't deserved to lose either of the last 2 games, really stood out for me.

The difficulty moving forward is that we seem to have picked up a few more knocks and that was also to be expected with 2 games so close together.

I think Brendan can take some flak for leaving Alberto on the bench but it's clear he doesn't rate the lad at this point. That's why I'm confused as to what we do in January because there's too many players that we sign that simply don't figure for us. Is it Brendan who decides, does he actually have a big influence on the decisions, I'm not convinced. If it is him deciding and he then doesn't play his signings then that needs changing, or if it isn't him signing them and someone else is making the decisions then that needs changing, there's a fault somewhere there and it needs fixing before we go spending more money on players who simply wont feature for us.

It's been a hard first half of the season and we all knew that December would be the most difficult and testing for us. I think we can come out of it with our heads held high, we battered Tottenham in a style I've not seen at WHL ever. We terrified City to the point they admitted we're the best team they've faced and ok we limped out a bit at Chelsea after the fixtures caught up with us but we could quite easily have drawn that game too.

Encouraging signs for our future and I believe we'll make a damn good go at getting into that top 4, no I don't think we'll win the title, I thought that was too ambitious a suggestion at the time and maybe got people's hopes up a little too much. It's time for FSG to back Brendan though because the man can only work with the tools he's given and he's running out of them pretty quickly.

what signs mate 1 point from 12 against the top 4 so far.We need a lot more and I don't put all the blame on Brendan but the bench today was a complete joke.

what signs mate 1 point from 12 against the top 4 so far.We need a lot more and I don't put all the blame on Brendan but the bench today was a complete joke.

I think the performance against City and Tottenham are enough encouragement mate. I know what you're saying about what we've actually won in terms of points. You could make a case for Tottenham having a make-shift backline and they just crumbled under the same kind of conditions we faced today (back of Europe game). I still don't think that could truly reflect how well we played in that game.

Against City we matched them man for man, they've destroyed everyone that's set foot on that turf and we put them to the sword, so much so that they struggled in their next game the same way we struggled today. Thankfully for them they have more cover and could cope, we couldn't.

We're not far off mate, we do need the right signings though because, as you said, our bench today was quite something to behold and I hope a stark reminder to FSG that they need to supply the goods.

Really irritated by the sneaky, persistent fouls Chelsea were committing to break up play today. Some might say it was professionalism. I call it cheating. They were lucky not to get a red card. And Howard Webb can piss up a rope, the knackersack. Should have at least yellow carded Eto'o in the first few minutes. And how he missed that blatant pen... We've been robbed a bit in these last few games.

But I wouldn't hit the panic button just yet. We should have got something today, and also against City, but I still think if we can keep consistent we'll get more points from the second half of the season than we did the first. Most of these top teams have yet to come to Anfield. Stevie and Studge are due back soonish and hopefully we'll buy a couple of gems in January. FSG have surely got to open their wallets after seeing our bench today.

The head says we'll finish in the top three as long as there are no more silly slip-ups against the likes of Hull and Saints. The heart reckons we'll have something to say about where that title is headed.

So we've given the best team in the league (City) one hell of a scare, to the point they're begging for the final whistle, had a goal disallowed wrongly and had 2 near open goals (Johnson / Raheem) missed to get a deserved point. Then we've got battered by Chelsea in the first half after being clearly tired and come back into it, should have had at least 1 penalty, maybe 2 and definitely a man sent off. Don't understand all the negativity really if I'm honest.

We were clearly less fit, we couldn't make changes that they could and our squad was thoroughly exposed. I tried to suggest before the game that anyone who was expecting a win here was really setting their expectations way too high in the circumstances and so it proved. For evidence of how leggy we were just watch Henderson, while some may doubt his talents there's probably not a person in the country who would doubt his energy levels and the lad was simply knackered. When your most energetic player is knackered and you're playing 10 of the 11 that played the last match what do you expect when they have a fresher midfield.

I will say I thought we had some poor performances out there topped off by Glen Johnson, a more abject performance I can't remember. Allen would also have to go into the poor pile and so would Coutinho.

On the plus side I thought Sakho was really good and young Raheem was superb he hasn't deserved to lose either of the last 2 games, really stood out for me.

The difficulty moving forward is that we seem to have picked up a few more knocks and that was also to be expected with 2 games so close together.

I think Brendan can take some flak for leaving Alberto on the bench but it's clear he doesn't rate the lad at this point. That's why I'm confused as to what we do in January because there's too many players that we sign that simply don't figure for us. Is it Brendan who decides, does he actually have a big influence on the decisions, I'm not convinced. If it is him deciding and he then doesn't play his signings then that needs changing, or if it isn't him signing them and someone else is making the decisions then that needs changing, there's a fault somewhere there and it needs fixing before we go spending more money on players who simply wont feature for us.

It's been a hard first half of the season and we all knew that December would be the most difficult and testing for us. I think we can come out of it with our heads held high, we battered Tottenham in a style I've not seen at WHL ever. We terrified City to the point they admitted we're the best team they've faced and ok we limped out a bit at Chelsea after the fixtures caught up with us but we could quite easily have drawn that game too.

Encouraging signs for our future and I believe we'll make a damn good go at getting into that top 4, no I don't think we'll win the title, I thought that was too ambitious a suggestion at the time and maybe got people's hopes up a little too much. It's time for FSG to back Brendan though because the man can only work with the tools he's given and he's running out of them pretty quickly.

Pretty much agree with all of that, top post.

All this talk of selling half the squad shows how F***ing stupid those posters are.

There's something very wrong about you here labeling other posters here stupid, especially when you have so little a post count

Even on internet forums there's such a thing as pecking order and knowing your role. Learn yours.

There's something very wrong about you here labeling other posters here stupid, especially when you have so little a post count

Even on internet forums there's such a thing as pecking order and knowing your role. Learn yours.

Having a higher post count does not give people more of an entitlement to express opinion. Everyone is entitled to have a say whether they have 1 post or 10,000. (Also, if you have a look, SM has been on this forum longer than you have - not that it's relevant )

While SM went about saying things slightly wrongly, he does have a point. We cannot say that we should be selling half the squad on the basis of one bad result. That's simply not right. Almost every one of them underperformed today - the polar opposite of the City result. I personally think we can put that down to exhaustion.

If we can get our heads together then that'd be awesome. If not, then I sense negativity overload. I think everybody should be pulling together about now.

Its so easy to see why many including myself are disappointed after losing to two teams who like us are challenging for a top 4 position in the league. IMO the two we played away this week have the most complete squads in the Premiership, but i personally take great pride in the fact we gave them over the balance of the two games a hard fort battle and but for some bad officiating in both games we would have come away with at least two points and made sure they both drop home points. I remember the best day of my life, (along with the birth of my two kids) not being given a hope at half time in the 2005 Champions league final in Istanbul. That only gave us 45 mins to go into extra time we have half a season to make the top 4 and possibly challange for the title if we can keep all key players match fit. And who knows who we bring in to the squad in the next transfer window? The teams around us all have European hopes this season so that should leave us a clearer run in...hopefully! Looking forward to Wednesdays game more now!

There's something very wrong about you here labeling other posters here stupid, especially when you have so little a post count

Even on internet forums there's such a thing as pecking order and knowing your role. Learn yours.

Seems like there's a bit of, "my dick is bigger than yours" going on here. I don't know what would make you say something like that, completely irrelevant.

Look at it this way all our bad luck and controversial decisions should be out of the way for the season run in.

I am surprised but I am pretty happy with the situation. Yes the last couple of results have not gone our way but we
ran it pretty close. We should have gotten something from them.

We have a much easier second half now, and are only 6 points off the lead. I am a bit worried about the hull match given our walking wounded, but there are a lot of matches left. With all these home games I think we could get 40 points out of the remaining 17 matches.

So we've given the best team in the league (City) one hell of a scare, to the point they're begging for the final whistle, had a goal disallowed wrongly and had 2 near open goals (Johnson / Raheem) missed to get a deserved point. Then we've got battered by Chelsea in the first half after being clearly tired and come back into it, should have had at least 1 penalty, maybe 2 and definitely a man sent off. Don't understand all the negativity really if I'm honest.

We were clearly less fit, we couldn't make changes that they could and our squad was thoroughly exposed. I tried to suggest before the game that anyone who was expecting a win here was really setting their expectations way too high in the circumstances and so it proved. For evidence of how leggy we were just watch Henderson, while some may doubt his talents there's probably not a person in the country who would doubt his energy levels and the lad was simply knackered. When your most energetic player is knackered and you're playing 10 of the 11 that played the last match what do you expect when they have a fresher midfield.

I will say I thought we had some poor performances out there topped off by Glen Johnson, a more abject performance I can't remember. Allen would also have to go into the poor pile and so would Coutinho.

On the plus side I thought Sakho was really good and young Raheem was superb he hasn't deserved to lose either of the last 2 games, really stood out for me.

The difficulty moving forward is that we seem to have picked up a few more knocks and that was also to be expected with 2 games so close together.

I think Brendan can take some flak for leaving Alberto on the bench but it's clear he doesn't rate the lad at this point. That's why I'm confused as to what we do in January because there's too many players that we sign that simply don't figure for us. Is it Brendan who decides, does he actually have a big influence on the decisions, I'm not convinced. If it is him deciding and he then doesn't play his signings then that needs changing, or if it isn't him signing them and someone else is making the decisions then that needs changing, there's a fault somewhere there and it needs fixing before we go spending more money on players who simply wont feature for us.

It's been a hard first half of the season and we all knew that December would be the most difficult and testing for us. I think we can come out of it with our heads held high, we battered Tottenham in a style I've not seen at WHL ever. We terrified City to the point they admitted we're the best team they've faced and ok we limped out a bit at Chelsea after the fixtures caught up with us but we could quite easily have drawn that game too.

Encouraging signs for our future and I believe we'll make a damn good go at getting into that top 4, no I don't think we'll win the title, I thought that was too ambitious a suggestion at the time and maybe got people's hopes up a little too much. It's time for FSG to back Brendan though because the man can only work with the tools he's given and he's running out of them pretty quickly.

Reasonable post in a sea of insanity.

Seems like there's a bit of, "my dick is bigger than yours" going on here. I don't know what would make you say something like that, completely irrelevant.

Calling the majority of posters on here "F***ing stupid" got under my skin. Nothing more, nothing less.

Having a higher post count does not give people more of an entitlement to express opinion. Everyone is entitled to have a say whether they have 1 post or 10,000. (Also, if you have a look, SM has been on this forum longer than you have - not that it's relevant )

While SM went about saying things slightly wrongly, he does have a point. We cannot say that we should be selling half the squad on the basis of one bad result. That's simply not right. Almost every one of them underperformed today - the polar opposite of the City result. I personally think we can put that down to exhaustion.

If we can get our heads together then that'd be awesome. If not, then I sense negativity overload. I think everybody should be pulling together about now.

Fair enough

Its all the FSG love in and Webb is great bollocks you don't need to be obviously angry to get your message across.Its not against any rules to say what you think and describe what you saw.The FA have him trussed up like a turkey.

I think Brendan was being somewhat sarcastic in saying Webb had a great game and I think it's poor form for some to laud him one  week then totally flip to criticising him the next when he is under pressure from the FA.

Sometimes I think he can't win with some people.

Back to the game and we pretty much lost the game in midfield and also their thee forwards had much more influence on the game than ours and Hazard in particular always looked a threat. I also thought Willian did a lot better than some on here and he had that bit of power in his game that we lacked going forward at times.

I actually thought we did alright at the back for most parts and Sakho again was the pick of the CB. Full backs let us down again and Agger wasn't that great at LB from my point of view but Glen on the other side was yet again our worst player and his form is a real worry.

Disappointed to lose both these games and even more so today as we didn't play that we'll especially first half but the decisions didn't go for us yet again and how Webb missed that penalty call only he knows.

I think today's game in particular shows we still need at least one full back and an athletic powerful midfielder in January to really push on so I hope Brendan sees this and FSG do the needful.

Onwards and upwards.

I think Brendan was being somewhat sarcastic in saying Webb had a great game and I think it's poor form for some to laud him one  week then totally flip to criticising him the next when he is under pressure from the FA.

Sometimes I think he can't win with some people.

Its partly his own fault. He says the squad is thin but that FSG have been fantastic supporting him? He says the squad is thin but he lets Borini and Wisdom go out on loan.I am confused what is he saying because this squad isn't good enough or big enough to really challenge is it.
The good thing is if he gets some support we have all of the contenders to come to Anfield and that could still be a huge factor along with the top 6 or 8 taking points of each other.
I think Henderson had a really nasty tackle on him and it really slowed him down and Luis was so isolated he couldn't really get in to trouble them.
Just a bad Christmas lets hope the new year starts of well.

There's something very wrong about you here labeling other posters here stupid, especially when you have so little a post count

Even on internet forums there's such a thing as pecking order and knowing your role. Learn yours.

Ha ha you really are a tool.

Squad depth is everything in this league. Oh and Webb is going to help Utd get to fourth.

At least it was well highlighted on tv that Webb had a clear view of the Suarez penalty incident, and fu**ed  us over.

Eto shouldn't even have been on the field to score that goal. Webb screwed us once again.
We didn't deserve a draw today but should have gotten one.

We were poor today no doubt about that.

Fatigue was a factor and Luke sums it up perfectly for me in his post.

On a quick break in work and haven't been able to read the thread fully. So apologies if some/all of this has been said already.

Firstly, Chelsea were the better team. They beat us in all areas of the pitch. That's the best I've seen them play in a long time and it happened to coincide with one of our weakest performances.

The strength (or lack of) in our squad was a major factor. A tough December finally caught up on us and it showed, we we slow and tired 15 mins in. I think everyone struggled today, some more than others, bit ultimately we just didn't have the energy needed to properly threaten them.

The game was lost in the first half, we were terrible and we were made pay for it. I think credit is due for the way we regrouped and went at them in the second half.

Even at our weakest we still put a game to Chelsea (arguably at their best). The last two games, although ending in defeat, have shown a lot of strength and character in the squad we have.

Being 5th now is not the be all and end all that some would have you believe, just like being top at Christmas was not the amazing situation we may have thought. This league is still wide open, 6 points off top spot and just a point off 4th, this can go anyway... so lets start with 3 points against Hull and take it from there....

YNWA

Ha ha you really are a tool.

And that's where I draw the line.