Crystal Palace 3-3 Liverpool: In game and Post Match Assistance

How Much flak is everyone gonna get at work today? It's not gonna be pretty

I'm the boss so I'll just fire the bas**rds.

Seriously though I'm working with a gay guy who hasn't the first clue about football and a Bayern fan later on who loves how we've played this season and wanted us to win the league.

Last night showed why brendan wanted carra to stay on originally. Because of no authority in defence. With reina a distant menory with his command of the back 4 (plus missing his amazing ball distribution), agger seemingly out of favour, there is no-one there to be a leader like carra was.

The only defender in the EPL I can think of who does what carra did... plays for the chavs :-(

How Much flak is everyone gonna get at work today? It's not gonna be pretty

Today? Started as early as last night at final whistle for me.

I've fallen out with a so called mate of mine of nearly 20 years. Started winding me up at the final whistle, so I gave him some of his own medicine (I normally don't bite, but last night was too much to take). Long story short, we won't be seeing much of each other from now on . That might seem overboard but some of the things he said didn't even have anything to do with football. Bed made - sleep in it.

It's true about some people; they can dish it out but they can't take it.

I guess everyone is feeling pretty hollow this morning. I keep going over those last 12 minutes in my head. Still can't quite believe we had 7 lads in their box for a corner when we were 3-1 up and the goal difference no longer mattered. It just needed someone to twig on that we didn't need to chase anymore goals at that point. It's bizarre. I mean I started off by telling people to stop banging on about goal difference in the match thread on a few occasions but at 3-0 I was completely sucked in and thinking 'you know what, why not, we can put 6 past anyone in this league'. I guess the players were thinking the exact same thing even at 3-1.

Hopefully it will feel better tomorrow and I still have a feeling City with have a few sticky moments on Sunday. Somehow it's a bit easier when you know you have to win the game, particularly if you're a side that like to attack such as ourselves or City.

I am too upset to even discuss/debate this match, What the f**k happened.

I kept waking up during the night and it just kept rushing in   3-3    FFS

It's true about some people; they can dish it out but they can't take it.

Thats a huge majority of the population. And as for the keyboard warriors - would like nothing better to stick one up their a**e and go 'ctrl-alt-delete' that you f**in kn*b jockey

fortunately my roommate is a Milan fan, so he does't dare opening his mouth. gf on the other hand is a born and raised manc. and it gets ugly sometimes.

In the cold light of day...

1. Inability to control a  game for 90 minutes. A feature this season is going all out in the first 60 minutes and then tiring towards the end. Placae paced themeselves much better. Johnson had Bolassie in his pocket for an hour but couldn't sustain the energy levels and in the end bolassie made him look poor.

2. lack of leadership. No one on the field to take things by the scruff of the neck. gerard is getting towards the end of his career and needs henderson alongside him.

3. People got over-excited about the goal difference (including the crowd, Sturridge and Suarez). Was never going to happen. The team just couldn't sustain those energy levels.

4. Brenda has a lot to learn. Poor substitutions. Failed to respond to Palace's substitutions and the change of shape they brought. He also should have known that Palace have a tendency to come strong at the end.

Top of league and I've never felt this disappointed, theres always twists in the title race and last night was one of them, Palace should never of been allowed to get back into the game - Lucas looked like a lost boy sometimes on the right side, no pace and no bite, Allen is coming on for me though looking more like a Hendo. Win or draw it was still never gonna be in our hands, just got to sit and wait now for tomorrow but whatever happens whoever is going to the Newcastle game we need to clap/cheer our boys off the pitch as they've given us a wonderful season and a dream to dream that might just be out of reach never the less Walk On, YNWA.

Our defence has done this on so many occasions this season. We get into the lead and then we implode massively. We basically just invite the opposition to do as they please around and inside our 18 yard box and for the umpteenth time this season its cost us points.

What Skrtel was doing for that 3rd goal I will never know. He just ran towards the ball and then stood still while somebody knocked it over his head where Gayle was waiting in yards of space. He may be good in the air and when tackling but Skrtel is woeful positionally more often than not. However, the attackers also have to take some of the flack for last night, can't count on my hands how many easy chances we missed that needed just a minor amount of composure but instead we just swung a foot at everything and knocked it for 6.

Been on the receiving end of what some would call 'banter' since last night as they thought it would bother me, I think they failed to realise how much sh*t I've received for god knows how many years from the red sh*te, I also pointed out to them the difference in squads and how a paper thing squad like ours has challenged them all the way. They're lucky both of their last 2 games are at home or I could have seen West Ham frustrating them. 

4. Brenda has a lot to learn. Poor substitutions. Failed to respond to Palace's substitutions and the change of shape they brought. He also should have known that Palace have a tendency to come strong at the end.

Agree to an extent with most of what you said apart from the above. There's simply no grounds for it being true

First part, well, every manager every day continues to learn so it's neither here nor there. Poor subs? We're 3-0 up and Rodges believes we won't concede 3 goals in 9 minutes so he gambles (I would too) on perhaps whittling down the GD a bit more. As for knowing Palace always come strong at the end; where do you get that from?

My mates a True Red but at the start of the season he put on a bet of Man City winning the League into Luis Suarez top scorer. I saw him today and said you must be the Happiest Red on the Planet at the moment, he shrugged and I said how much you gonna win, He said just over $3,000. Love the fella but hope he does his money. 

"moses" what the F**k does he ever offer in game.

I still think there is a twist in this title race yet. Its looking bleak right now - but the darkest hour is before the dawn.

City - with all their billions - should have won this league 4-6 games ago, but mental strength is not their strongest ploy.

I do think that in one of the last 2  games they will switch off because they think its all over

Just gutted. 

I've had quite enough of bad. Being a supporter - an honest one, is about being able to follow ur team loyally but also to critique where necessary. And it were necessary last night. The team cried out for experienced leadership in a white hot atmosphere, to be able to gather thoughts and shape and diffuse a situation. The manager and captain here are crucial. Taking Sturridge off allowed Palace to have no fear of pace at the back, the ball over the top from Gerrard to Sturridge has been our effective get out/relieving ball all season  and without this threat they were able to push forward at will. Brendan himself said at half time they talked about not getting caught up in silly goal difference dreams. He needed to arrest that behaviour especially in his captain, when they did so. I can accept the Chelsea defeat, it was bad fortune. Even toure making an individual mistake at West Brom you can say - well everyone's human but three bloody goals in a mad 11 minutes when there is time and availability to stop it - I cannot accept. It's just not good enough and burying your head in the sand thru some misplaced sense of loyalty to deny any constructive sense of criticism does not make you a better supporter. After all, if we don't acknowledge mistakes - how are we going to get better ?

Taking off Sturridge wasn't unexpected. He's just come back from a Hamstring injury. That wasn't the mistake, the mistake was not changing the formation and making it more defensive, allowing us to close down the game once he had gone off. As soon as they began to get back in to the game we should have forgotten about goal difference and secured the three points.

It's been the same all season. We've won lots of matches by the odd goal despite high scoring in them but you won't out score every team in the league and if our defending had been better this season, we wouldn't have been worried about our goal difference anyway. It's been said here on this board several times how our dodgy defending could cost us the title. Well boys and girls, it has and that was down to our not strengthening that department in January and playing silly games with a Russian over a midfielder we did not need.

Can't 'talk'; don't wanna 'talk'.

Taking off Sturridge wasn't unexpected. He's just come back from a Hamstring injury. That wasn't the mistake, the mistake was not changing the formation and making it more defensive, allowing us to close down the game once he had gone off. As soon as they began to get back in to the game we should have forgotten about goal difference and secured the three points.

It's been the same all season. We've won lots of matches by the odd goal despite high scoring in them but you won't out score every team in the league and if our defending had been better this season, we wouldn't have been worried about our goal difference anyway. It's been said here on this board several times how our dodgy defending could cost us the title. Well boys and girls, it has and that was down to our not strengthening that department in January and playing silly games with a Russian over a midfielder we did not need.

I wouldn't have confidence in our team to be able to close out a game atm.

There is some crap coming out in the media! Aside from the journalists stirring... it's the professionals that are doing my head in.

Spurs tweeting a mock video about the reds.
Man City players all tweeting away and getting over excited.
Huth coming out saying Suarez should have a 3 match ban for crying.

Everyone out there wanting Liverpool to slip up.

Then there's the Man Utd fans who have completely forgotten about their club this season and are sharing every mockery image they can.

What a day... well.. it's not over yet.

But even if, we will get stronger for next season!! Looking forward to it already.

Subs was the mistake in this match, not defending. We always felt confident going forward. When Raheem was subbed the pace to run at or behind was wiped out and they got bolder and bought in a pacy striker. Still no excuses for blowing a 3 goal lead.


I am trying to recall when we blew a 3 goal lead with 15 mins to go?

There is hope but very little. Is right that we be proud of the achievement and also right that people are slating cos "pats in the back, we've had plenty of them before".

Recovered now.

Let's face it, city where never going to drop points in their final 2 home games.

what's done is done, so lets go out with a bang and finish 2nd.

much later and it still hurts

Haven't read a lot of the thread but all I'll say is defensively we need work. Throwing 3 goals away isn't just nerves it's pathetic defending. The third one is particularly crap. If anyone can tell me what Skrtel thought he was going to do by standing two yards off and letting someone head it over him into the space he'd just vacated, please tell.

Only watched a live stream and it was crap so I missed their second. Haven't exactly been keen to watch the highlights yet.

Fantastic performance to be 3-0 up away at a very tough team, but shipping 3 in 12 minutes or so and throwing that lead away was sickening. We learnt a lot from the Chelsea game and we'll learn more from this one.

I too thought City would win their last two but that does not excuse our own performance in the last 15 minutes. Even if you aren't going to overhaul the GD, you have to keep the pressure up and we've let them off the hook.

That game was almost a microcosm of our season; some excellent football, and some not so good defending that ultimately costs us points.