Penalty-gate

If Balo had been anywhere near as selfish as Sturridge was in front of goal tonight he'd be torn to bits
Admittedly Sturridge has earned his stripes but ffs Daniel get your head up at times son even Ronaldo lays on the odd assist

This.

We could have more goals had Sturridge made some passes instead in messing about int he goal when there was no chance of scoring. For example, in first few minutes he has a go from an impossible angle when we had two players in the box waiting.

5 live, Talk sh*te and every single paper talking about Gerrards comments and no mention of the actual match.

Stevie really should have kept his mouth shut, hardly acting like an ambassador for the club.

I think that Henderson was happy to let Mario take the penalty but he was unhappy when Sturridge butted in. If Sturridge should have kept quiet then we would not have had this drama.

For me, the most disappointing behaviour was from Sturridge. The debate was between Hendo and Mario, and the latter is man enough to decide if its gonna be him or the former. After Mario scored, Studge did not even join the celebration. Probably, he wanted to score on his European debut cos he has scored on his debuts in the League, FA and League Cup for us.

And it was hardly a year back, he was so pumped to score his first hat trick and hit a rocket towards the moon in the merseyside derby. Mario has always had the balls for occasions like this, and he was the best penalty taker on the pitch. PERIOD.

BR's mistake I would say. The order should've been rearranged when Mario entered. And if he seeks an apology, both Mario and Studge should be doing it. But heck, we won the game and that's it. I'm sure the lads had a chuckle about it in the dressing room.

This.

We could have more goals had Sturridge made some passes instead in messing about int he goal when there was no chance of scoring. For example, in first few minutes he has a go from an impossible angle when we had two players in the box waiting.

Yup.

Can see Sturridge causing a few more ructions within the team before the seasons out with selfishness. We saw glimpses of it last season but Suarez was having none of it and made his feelings known. Now that Sturridge is the perceived main man, he's only going to get worse. His own ego simply won't allow him to make the simplest and correct decision.

Th right man took the penalty as far as I'm concerned and I would have dreaded either Hendo or Sturridge stepping up. We all saw how cocky and blase Sturridge was with his penalty attempt last season. He doesn't seem to understand importance unless it's self-importance.

All of the on-field squabbling and Gerrards post-match dressing down detracted from what should have been THE talking point of the match....Ibe - and us eulogising him.

 

I think that Henderson was happy to let Mario take the penalty but he was unhappy when Sturridge butted in. If Sturridge should have kept quiet then we would not have had this drama.

Completely agree, no reaction when balo took the ball. Wasnt until sturridge had his 2 cents that its got messy

take the fact its Mario out of if... the decision was made pre match. Henderson takes Pens. End of.

the manager made the call and EVERYONE should of abided by it...

Mario was out of order and we looked amatuerish!

and before someone states that he scored no its a moot point, i say this; the fact he scored is irrelevent, they're  all professionals and all capable of taking pens... some more than other granted but its more often than not a goal, regardless he gets hs name on the scoresheet!

take the fact its Mario out of if... the decision was made pre match. Henderson takes Pens. End of.

the manager made the call and EVERYONE should of abided by it...

Mario was out of order and we looked amatuerish!

and before someone states that he scored no its a moot point, i say this; the fact he scored is irrelevent, they're  all professionals and all capable of taking pens... some more than other granted but its more often than not a goal, regardless he gets hs name on the scoresheet!

Have you ever seen Hendo take a penalty?

In fact has he ever managed a free kick onto target!

Looking at it again I thought Sturridge was out of line.  Almost did a defenders job in trying to put our own player off. [Apologies for the jarg quality video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NniNQ1vN3c#

Have you ever seen Hendo take a penalty?

In fact has he ever managed a free kick onto target!

Doesnt matter... he mugged him, and the manager!

its up THE MANAGER ONLY who takes the pens not someone on the pitch who want to up his pathetic goal rate!

How are we sure that hendo was even meant to take it?

i think everyones jumping the gun on this one.

Firstly, this is an inconsequential issue that should be resolved quickly and easily with a couple of conversations.

Secondly, Henderson shouldn't be taking penalties when we have Balotelli or Sturridge on the pitch. Lambert should be ahead of him in the pecking order too. Perhaps he only grabbed the ball to save the 'argument' between Studge and Balo over who should get it.

The only issue is that if Hendo was the designated taker, Mario has undermined him as captain, and the manager himself, by taking the ball. I don't know if Sturridge is pissed at not being allowed to take it himself (if Hendo wasn't), or at Mario for undermining the authority of the skipper.

Ultimately though this is such a nothing it didn't deserve over-blown analysis and being talked to death. It's a minor issue that BR should sort out. These players are professionals and I doubt it'll affect how they play in the future at all.

Plus, if we'd have been offered at the start of the season controversy surrounding Balotelli taking a penalty and scoring, over any of the other ways some journo's thought he could 'disrupt the squad', I think we'd take it.

Doesnt matter... he mugged him, and the manager!

its up THE MANAGER ONLY who takes the pens not someone on the pitch who want to up his pathetic goal rate!

Yeah, but you need to take into account that conditions and game plans change throughout the course of the game. Hendo's name may very well have been up on the board to take it -not a hard choice really given the alternatives. But as soon as substitutions were made with more capable penalty takers taking to the pitch, the duty should have deferred to the most relevant person. If he didn't already do so (obviously the case) Brendan should have added that as a caveat in his pre-match or half-time talks. 

I thought Hendo was happy enough for Mario to take the penalty. The swear and nod of the head was more to do with Sturridge butting in and telling Jordan to take the ball back and take the penalty - he must have thought "Do I really need this".

And I would just hand Mario the captain's armband. He'd end up taking all penalties, corners, free-kicks and throw-ins too. It would be hilarious.

The bottom line is, is that if Gerrard is not on the pitch then Mario should be taking any penalty that is awarded as his record speaks for itself.

take the fact its Mario out of if... the decision was made pre match. Henderson takes Pens. End of.

the manager made the call and EVERYONE should of abided by it...

Mario was out of order and we looked amatuerish!

and before someone states that he scored no its a moot point, i say this; the fact he scored is irrelevent, they're  all professionals and all capable of taking pens... some more than other granted but its more often than not a goal, regardless he gets hs name on the scoresheet!

We certainly did look amateurish but that is absolutely of no bearing on the penalty incident.
From the 'take no prisoners' look on Balotteli's face when he looked Jordan in the eye and told him 'I'm taking it' there was some conviction involved.
The mediocrity that shrouded Anfield was for Mario's part a challenge, a challenge he could only confront with decisive action, maybe he saw anyone else attempting to rescue the game as being as indecisive as the previous 85 minutes of none progress.

Maybe he knew a change had come and this was part of his revolution, his performance and attitude can't be faulted last night.
Sticking rigidly and inflexibly to any plan is sometimes a faulted strategy.

I've missed all this as I was working all day.

Sounds like a bit of a balls up all round.

Is all it was Si.

In my opinion Stevie was firing a little shot across Mario's boughs - that's all. You can debate whether he should have done it or not but the fact is he did.

Personally I dont think he should have singled him out just for the penalty incident - which is why I suspect the bigger point was - "you're part of a team son, don't forget it".......or maybe he was just getting his retaliation in first in anticipation of a battle for the pens when fit 

Bottom line - did anyone on here have much doubt when he did step up? I sure as hell didn't.

At the end of the day, the main headline on the BBC Football page is about what Gerrard said, not what Mario did.

Really thought Steven would know better than to call out a current teamate on national television.

I love Mario's self belief

What this is, is nothing more than a silly storm in a tea cup all caused by the ill advised comments by Gerrard. Henderson handled it well on the pitch, it's a shame Gerrard didn't handle it well off the pitch. Now everyone's talking about the most banal story this season rather than talking about a good Liverpool performance, leading to a win in a European tie against tough opponents. That is the most important story, not some petty squabble between over inflated egos on the night.

I'm surprised anyone would designate Henderson as a penalty taker anyway, especially over Ballotelli.

If Henderson is our best set piece taker in training I really fear for the rest of them.  One things for sure, if Hendo or Sturridge had taken that pen I would have been behind the sofa praying to any God who would listen.  Funny thing is when Ballotelli stepped up there was never a doubt in my mind that he wouldn't score.

Whole thing has been blown out of proportion, not helped by our skipper sat in the studio having his little dig at Mario.  All that matters is winning the game and for that to happen you have your best penalty taker taking the spot kicks, and when Stevie isn't on the pitch that is Mario Ballotelli, not Jordan Henderson.

Daniel Sturridge should wind his neck in a bit too and give his ego a rest.

2 big f**k ups. Things werent clear enought beforehand.

And Henderson should have walked away with the ball. And THEN maybe turned round and said "miss at and you're finished at this club".

Balotelli is a tw*t. Henderson lacks the spur of the moment decision making, AND that hard edge.

I actually think Balotelli is a better pen taker than Henderson by q a way too.

Why do people keep saying this? We don't know how good Hendo is. We know Balo is very good, which is reason enough to want him to take them, but we don't know Hendo's level relative to that. I think if Hendo was designated taker he probably is very good. Rodgers knows much better than us.

According to the daily fail who have a direct quote from Gerrard from August, it really should be a non issue.

'I'm aware he's a terrific penalty taker,' Gerrard said in August after scoring a penalty for Liverpool in their 3-0 win at Tottenham.

'I'm sure he'll get the chance to take some penalties for the club. The manager's told me if I'm not on the pitch he'll take them.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2961412/Mario-Balotelli-Liverpool-s-second-choice-penalty-taker-according-Steven-Gerrard.html

So, on the one hand, Gerrard expects to take pens if he comes on as sub, and on the other hand he confirmed Balotelli as second taker but doesn't think he should have taken it last night.

Assuming the quote above is accurate, and that nothing has changed since, it appears to me that Balotelli was right.

I know there's a lot of assumptions in there, I'm just going off the info I have.

It's all a bit of a storm in a teacup in any case, and will have been sorted out between players and manager already.

Do we know who is the designed  penalty taker , when gerrard is not involved in the match?
 Is it a custom that the captain of the day takes the kick? if this is the case , with due respect , hope Hendo will not be vice captain, seeing his corners and freekicks
 not a big fan of Mario, but cannot deny he is a very good penalty and freekick taker
 Someone said above , its not an  important point that the penalty was scored, because it was decided before the match who takes a possible penalty kick, If this was the case, yes Mario "disobeyed' ,hehe  now we can fine him for disobeying and another fine because he scored
 wonder what would have been  many comments if Hendo re-took the ball off mario , took the penalty and missed
  we sometimes are happy to win with an own goal, a deviation , a lucky goal a scrappy win etc etc
So!!
  YNWA