Rapid Vienna 1-0 Liverpool - post match thoughts

Feeling a bit gutted that we lost but at the end of the day it was just a pre-season game, so i won't lose any sleep over it. That commentator was proper annoying me though, the way he pronounced some of the players names, and the crap that he was coming out with... Oh don't get me started.

Only positive is Pacheco. He'll be a star one day.

Poor performance, and although it's only pre-season, I hate it when we lose.

Pre-Season matters little, we've had great pre-seasons and had poor seasons, we've had poor pre-seasons and great seasons so does it matter?

Yes!

Whether it's pre-season or not it's always good to get into a winning mentality. It's always good to hit the ground running. It's always difficult to shake off a barren spell of lack of goals. It's always disheartening to lose.

Obviously if we go to White Hart Lane are tw*t Spurs 5-0 nobody will even mention the results. But it's still nice to get rhythm and a winning streak built up. Get goals under our belt.

Lets be honest everybody is trying to make out these games don't matter because we've not done well. If they didn't matter people wouldn't have been praising Johnson's debut, last year people wouldn't of been drooling over Ngog's impressive pre-season or Voronin's the year before. Last year we were all singing our praises after hammering Rangers 4-0 and a good solid 1-0 win over Lazio, but all of a sudden we're doing badly in pre-season so it doesn't matter? Bollocks to be honest.

Pre-season is vital because not only does it gain our fitness, get some momentum going, it also shows what we're lacking and during this pre-season we're showing signs of struggling without Torres up top.

getting beat is never easy to take but at least it was only friendly.No goals is a bit worrying but i am sure we will start to step in the next game as the players are getting fitter.

The way I see it, you have to try to get things right now. Pretending these games don't matter is a losers mentality, and I'm sure the players know that we have to win these games.

DLS, I'm not saying pre-season isn't important - but I'll pay more interest to the results in pre-season when I see a recognisable Liverpool XI out.

We conceded a goal when Peter Gulacsi was in goal.  He's about our 4th choice keeper (even ignoring Itandje (tw*t) and that Bulgarian fella).

When the Spaniards etc are all back in - players I would expect to see us actually use in the first team - then the results will have more significance.

i know that i am not the only one that's been waiting, counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds, but for what i think? for this? no one seems or wants to win this game..the last season ended up in the very best of ways, so i expect that this season will be even better, so for a start when I've had imagine results like 7-0 or less or some astonishing matches, i realize, that with this mentality we'll have to wait a little bit longer to win some other EPL, sorry if anyone feels touched, but that's how i feel now,

in the good and in the bad times  'once a red always a red'!

Well that was sh*t.

Nemeth has been awful these first two games, I actually think I've seen him touch the ball about twice. Pacheco showed signs of being decent tonight but didn't really do much.

Only positive to take away really is that I guess it has been good for the lad's fitness, apart from that...

I suppose you could say that it has been more or less our reserve team playing though and so it's not exactly representative. We should start to see improved results now.

I'm just glad that the first teamers are back now to be honest, hopefully now we will see some at least half decent displays. None of the players looked like they could be arsed tonight.

Not a result we all expected but it is merely a chance to see how other players can adapt to the first team and give the proven players a run out to help get match fit ...its better to sort out a mess now than when it counts ,and i know we would like to win every game 3-0 but this is good for us because it also means the other teams are trying their best and not lying down for us which would be useless to Rafa and to us

JD, I understand all that mate and obviously these games aren't as massive as a title decider but I do think people are trying to lessen the results because they aren't going our way. If we'd won both games three or four nil, nobody would be making out they are "only friendlies". We'd be sat here saying Ngog/Nemeth/Pacheco all look great for the up coming season, Kuyt's picked up from where he left, Xabi can piss off if Lucas keeps up this form, Ayala looks ready to make the step and all the rest. That's the main reason why I'm not taking the look of "only friendlies" because had the results been in our favour, people wouldn't be saying that.

When the Spanish lads are back and we have a bit more fitness under our belt, things should pick up. We'll also have a clearer picture of Rafa's first choice XI which can only be a good thing.

If you're a winner, friendlies are never 'friendlies'. I know that we didn't have a full side out and we were trying out new things, but we lacked any creativity at all. DLS got it spot on, we lacked any potency in the final third.

I agree this wasn't the first choice team, but this is the rest of our squad. These games allow us to assess the strength in depth of the squad. I know it's early days, but we should be scoring goals and creating more chances than we are. I'm not worried at the moment as it's early days. The main point is that everyone is getting match practice. Can't wait to see the big guns back in action though, the Asia tour should be a very different story.

Its pre-season, fitness and organisation is being worked on.

Why some people get their knickers in a twist over a result like this is beyond me.

Its pre-season, fitness and organisation is being worked on.

Why some people get their knickers in a twist over a result like this is beyond me.

I'd be interested to see some of our results from campaigns in the 80's because I honestly remember us getting some pretty filthy looking results before we ended up winning titles and European Cups.

I'll admit the lack of chances we are creating is a problem.  If it's still sh*t after the next two then I'll maybe start to get concerned if we can't see off Thailand and Singapore.

To be fair, that was practically our reserve team playing up against a team who is in the Europa League next season, right?

Oh come off it and stop all the moaning!

It is a pre season friendly not a champions league final, yes we lost and no that doesn't make me happy but lets look at the reality of the situation.

We lose 1-0 against a side who looked fitter than us. We were playing youngsters and giving players run out. Which since I last heard was the POINT of a pre season friendly. I could hardly imagine Rafa and Stevie crying themselves to sleep over the result can you?

Also we have had bad pre season's previously and i don't think it effects us too much come match day of the league season.

Last season we hardly set the world on fire with our friendlies, scoring only 4 goals in our first 5 games, against much lesser opposition, and look we started the season off okay then didn't we.

So get over the result and look to the next friendly and lets see how we start the real season before crying over a couple of petty losses in friendlies.

What gives you the impression we're all crying over it?

I'd be interested to see some of our results from campaigns in the 80's because I honestly remember us getting some pretty filthy looking results before we ended up winning titles and European Cups.

The 83-84 pre-season friendlies, as found on Liverweb. http://www.liverweb.org.uk/season.asp?season=198384

3/8/83 away to Man United - we lost 4-3.
5/8/83 away to Hamburg - we drew 0-0
7/8/83 away to Feyenoord - we drew 3-3
10/8/83 away to MAC Morocco - we won 3-0
12/8/83 away to Ath. Madrid - we lost 2-1
14/8/83 away to Dinamo Bucharest - we won 3-2.

Two wins, two draws and two defeats. An even pre-season then. We all know the season ended with League, League Cup and European Cup success.

is this a joke?? How did we manage this? I'm not happy. Not happy at all

The way I see it, you have to try to get things right now. Pretending these games don't matter is a losers mentality, and I'm sure the players know that we have to win these games.

well??

Well maybe crying was the wrong choice of words for what i was saying, just don't read into the result to much is what i mean

I'd be interested to see some of our results from campaigns in the 80's because I honestly remember us getting some pretty filthy looking results before we ended up winning titles and European Cups.

I'll admit the lack of chances we are creating is a problem.  If it's still sh*t after the next two then I'll maybe start to get concerned if we can't see off Thailand and Singapore.

180 minutes of pre-season football and you're judging that for the CL and Prem . christ, I thought my wife panicked.

Oh come off it and stop all the moaning!

No!

It is a pre season friendly not a champions league final, yes we lost and no that doesn't make me happy but lets look at the reality of the situation.

It's still defeat for Liverpool Football Club. Whatever capaticy, it's still defeat. Something this club has forced into them, they do not accept. As an old Liverpool song says "shout no surrender, don't mention defeat". Every game for this club is a game we should, at the very least, try to win. The opening two friendlies we haven't shown that desire.

We lose 1-0 against a side who looked fitter than us. We were playing youngsters and giving players run out. Which since I last heard was the POINT of a pre season friendly. I could hardly imagine Rafa and Stevie crying themselves to sleep over the result can you?

The POINT of pre-season is to get ready for the upcoming season. Hardly great preparation no goals in over 180 minutes now is it? The youngsters we're giving a run out to are hardly excelling and staking a claim for the first team. The first team regulars we do have out there have hardly bust a gut to get fit, they'd get more out of running up and down the sand hills at Formby beach.

Also we have had bad pre season's previously and i don't think it effects us too much come match day of the league season.

Well that happens to be because most years our first game of the season is a Champions League qualifier or the Charity Shield. A competitive game, that gives the players something to play for ahead of the opening fixture. We use those games are the ones to try and turn up in.

Last season we hardly set the world on fire with our friendlies, scoring only 4 goals in our first 5 games, against much lesser opposition, and look we started the season off okay then didn't we.

Well no we didn't start to well against Liege, then two last ten minute winners against Sunderland and Middlesborough before another shocking outing against Liege and possibly the drabbest game of football against Villa. Cracking start to a season, performance wise eh? Which is what good pre-seasons build up. They get the rhythm and momentum going.

So get over the result and look to the next friendly and lets see how we start the real season before crying over a couple of petty losses in friendlies.

Why should we look to the next friendly, it's not a Champions League final is it? The next match has no importance either so lets just sod it off. Oh and by the way, we haven't had a couple of losses in this year's pre-season. We've had one loss, one draw.

I wouldn't look to much into pre season games but what is very hard to miss is how light weight we are up front, without Torres fit all next season we can forget about the league. Voronin is not the answer no matter how many people on here say get behind him. I can't understand if we are so broke why didn't we take a gamble on Owen, he more than likely won't be a regular with Utd either but who would you prefer to bring on to get a goal Owen or Voronin.

Rafa has to get someone in. What happened to the notion that every good team need 4 top strikers. We have one top class striker and very little else.(Kuyt has done his best work for Liverpool on the right side of Liverpool)

What gives you the impression we're all crying over it?

Exactly. I don't see why people are assuming this.

It's quite funny how some people feel the need to say 'it's only a friendly'. Of course it's only a friendly and everyone knows the main focus is to try the squad players out and work up the match fitness of the squad. That's the blatant obvious.

But in reality, LFC don't really have friendlies. Anyone we play wants to beat us - friendly or not - because we're LFC. Sammy Lee said this same thing the other day and I totally agree with him. It's important to strike up that winning mentality throughout the whole squad because you never know when these 'kids' or fringe players might be making sustained appearances when it really does matter. Especially when we literally haven't been funded for transfers by the owners yet. If the players see it as it's just a run out and it doesn't really matter, then that's not going to encourage a winning mentality. And you need that in abundance these days to win titles, especially when we haven't won a title for so long.

Is it wrong for us to have that 'want' to beat anyone we come up against?

It does my head in when we get beat, no matter what the focus of the game we play in is or who we play. I sincerely hope our players feel the same tonight.

I'll untangle my thong if people stop being so complacent. 

I'm not complacent and I know exactly what you mean RK - the squad didn't show an ounce of the 'killer' instinct we had towards the end of last season.  I think when a player puts on that red shirt the 'must win' mentality should come on the pitch with him not stay on the bench.  God they've all had a nice rest COME on red men let see the real deal again.  Don't care that it's a friendly doesn't mean we lose the competitive streak!!!