Liverpool 2 - 2 Man City: Post Match Dwelling

City spent £230 odd miilion and still looked sh*te.

I agree thought they missed a Voronin!

So the answer to the question is no you havent been to Anfield so you know nothing.Only a tw*t would comment they obvioulsy know fuckall about lad. now go and play with your toys.

I haven't been to Anfield for a match. So do I know nothing? I find this comment F***ing offensive mate, watch it alright.

Sunderland beat Arsenal today, and Man shitty should have gotten at least a result against manure. We are just getting very unlucky I feel, we ain't any worse than the other teams despite our injury crisis. Honestly the only team in the league really looking impressive is Chelsea, and even they aren't immune to the odd slip up.

Not wishing to have a pop mate  and by the way i am no lucas basher but if you think he is a creative midfielder then i dont think you are watching the same game ,
To be creative you either have A bags of skill or B great vision and technique ,could you enlighten me as to which of theses qualities the lad has ,he is a defensive midfielder and getting quite good at it but dont tell me he is creative .sorry if slightly off topic .

Our defense was sh*t, Agger is our only consistent defender and ironically he is injured (again).

I thought Lucas and Mascherano were quite creative, N'Gog and Gerrard we're playing well too. Kuyt was poor.

Slightly off-topic but why didn't Rafa bring on Aquilani when we were chasing the game?

Slightly off-topic but why didn't Rafa bring on Aquilani when we were chasing the game?

I have wondered the same, but from what I've read we were playing decent and maybe he didn't think it necessary? Plus with the forced subs early he may have changed plans a bit. I'm sure had those not happened he may have. One eye maybe on the Debrecen game too?

Slightly off-topic but why didn't Rafa bring on Aquilani when we were chasing the game?

Because he had to make 2 substitutions in the first 20 minutes and having brought Benayoun who wasn't fully 100% he decided to put Aurelio on for the last ten minutes.

Slightly off-topic but why didn't Rafa bring on Aquilani when we were chasing the game?

I think you and 45,000 others were thinking the same thing. I can only think it was due to the injuries earlier that Rafa had to change his planned subs. Just hope when he does play him its not too late.

I think if we are being honest Rafa thought more about losing the game than winning it and Aureilo was to shore up the left side because Wright Phillps was starting to have some joy. Maybe that is Rafa biggest downfall he at times is not positive enough.

Hats off for Benny. Such a swift..hardworking..prof icient.. Skillful..consistent..et c is rare. Hope we never sell him. He is a kind of player who changes the tempo of the game even when he comes in as a sub. Masch bossed the entire filled. Lucas.. Lucas... Lucas..hope the team coach train you some target practice of the ball with your head, but you generally played well.

1 win in 10 dreadfull

There's only one season why a creative player like alberto didn't play and it has nothing to got with him. That reason is the main reason, in my view atleast, why we are struggling this season. And that is Lucas. Alberto had to come in his place but rafa just loves the guy so much that he didn't want to take him off. Tell me what did lucas do today or this whole season to justify his tag as creative midfielder. He can only self-destruct. But for lucas, alberto would have been a regular by now. Rafa is taking too long with him just to accomodate lucas. How's alberto gonna be match fit when he just warms the bench. Sometimes i hope we finish 5th so that rafa leaves. And He's happy with character of team.. For a home draw against a team which came looking for draw. How did rafa let team sit back on 1 goal lead wit so long to go.I've lost patience wit him.. Guess IT'S time for him as well liverpool to move on.   

There's only one season why a creative player like alberto didn't play and it has nothing to got with him. That reason is the main reason, in my view atleast, why we are struggling this season. And that is Lucas. Alberto had to come in his place but rafa just loves the guy so much that he didn't want to take him off. Tell me what did lucas do today or this whole season to justify his tag as creative midfielder. He can only self-destruct. But for lucas, alberto would have been a regular by now. Rafa is taking too long with him just to accomodate lucas. How's alberto gonna be match fit when he just warms the bench. Sometimes i hope we finish 5th so that rafa leaves. And He's happy with character of team.. For a home draw against a team which came looking for draw. How did rafa let team sit back on 1 goal lead wit so long to go.I've lost patience wit him.. Guess IT'S time for him as well liverpool to move on.   

You're obviously not aware that Aquilani was injured.

Lucas has done a good enough job to keep him out of the squad anyway.

You're obviously not aware that Aquilani was injured.

Lucas has done a good enough job to keep him out of the squad anyway.

  yes he WAS injured, has been on bench for almost a month now. Especially when We're chasing the game i think we need bit more quality. Lucas only plays parallel and back passes. He's supposed to be play maker

Our problem at the moment is that we have 2 midfielders doing the exact same job, watching Real here and Xabi is ditating the game and I know I'm going to get slated for this for bringing it up again but while Lucas had done an adequate job he has being no replacement for Xabi, he was poor today thought Masch carried the midfield today.

 We need someone creative in the midfield and sadly it is Lucas that is currently the weak link in there.

Disappointed today but not surprised. We're in a rut at the moment, well off the pace of the leaders. At this stage we need to focus on making sure we get a CL place, really think it's at risk if we let a gap form.
Today the defense actually didn't look too bad when defending in open play - we just need to sort out how we defend set pieces. Very slack letting Adibore have a free header from the penalty spot. But Agger, Insua, Skrtyl, Carra (tho a few terrible passes) did relatively OK.
In the center Masch played well but Lucas had another poor one. Said it at the start of the season, we'll not get moving up the table with both of them there. They just don't give us enough creativity from the centre. They're OK defensively, but that's not enough. Has either of them scored this season in the Prem Lge? And Lucas at the death
SG and Benny did OK too, as usual they'll try things and have a go. Kuyt was poor, lot of stray passes today, dodgy control. SG got a bit tired, to be expected after being away. Hard to critisise Ngog, young lad a bit out of his depth. Babel, pity he got injured, just don't think it's gonna happen for him at this stage.
And Aquilani still on the bench ?!?
Rafa will stay till end of season, no matter what. But they should make the change then. Need a fresh start, we're treading water. Lots of great talk - but no end product. Some people will buy the excuses, but many are tired of them. Yeah we have injuries, but that's life. We need to be able to absorb them. Am sure I'll get plenty of flak, but this isn't kneejerk, just weary of watching us struggling, moaning, making excuses. The club/the team is bigger than any one person, we need to do what is best for it.

Our problem at the moment is that we have 2 midfielders doing the exact same job, watching Real here and Xabi is ditating the game and I know I'm going to get slated for this for bringing it up again but while Lucas had done an adequate job he has being no replacement for Xabi, he was poor today thought Masch carried the midfield today.

 We need someone creative in the midfield and sadly it is Lucas that is currently the weak link in there.

I don't think Lucas was bought with the intention of him being a regular first team starter - at the moment he's filling the gap left by Aquilani as he is injured.

I agree that it's not a good idea against most teams to play with the two defensive midfielders, however, I'm not sure what else we can do whilst Alberto's out. We haven't any other centre-mid's, which comes back to the strength in depth argument again, but the important thing to remember is that firstly we don't have the money to spend on a talented creative central midfielder who's going to warm the bench when our squad is fully fit.

So then we have to ask ourselves, should we drop Stevie further back alongside Masch and put two up top? Seems plausible. However that may leave us a bit short in terms of attacking threat.

I just think in January we need to have a major deadwood clearout and bring in some reinforcements that are going to fill us with more confidence. That's what I/we'd hope for anyway.

There's only one season why a creative player like alberto didn't play and it has nothing to got with him. That reason is the main reason, in my view atleast, why we are struggling this season. And that is Lucas. Alberto had to come in his place but rafa just loves the guy so much that he didn't want to take him off. Tell me what did lucas do today or this whole season to justify his tag as creative midfielder. He can only self-destruct. But for lucas, alberto would have been a regular by now. Rafa is taking too long with him just to accomodate lucas. How's alberto gonna be match fit when he just warms the bench. Sometimes I hope we finish 5th so that rafa leaves. And He's happy with character of team.. For a home draw against a team which came looking for draw. How did rafa let team sit back on 1 goal lead wit so long to go.I've lost patience wit him.. Guess IT'S time for him as well liverpool to move on.  

Another Mr Negative/Rafa Basher/Lucas Basher on the boards after a disappointing result. Sick of this. Alberto has only been fit for match time really for the last few weeks, not for that long. Lucas has been good alongside Masch for fucks sake. Honestly the pairing of Lucas and Masch has been one of the best parts of this season, nothing much else has looked as solid as them. You're just another who looks for a scapegoat and sees Lucas as an easy target i think.
I would like more creativity in midfield to but the fact is we don't have the players at the moment. Lucas is doing a fairly good job considering he is never going to be the creative type.

I would have partnered Gerrard with Masch much earlier to be honest would have given us drive from midfield Ross. I would have played with 2 up front like we did against Utd Kuyt and Torres, and played either Babel or Eccelston on the right to be honest but then that is just my opinion.

Things just not going our way at the moment but i thought there were some good performances today especially Mascherano,the only down side today was when we went 1-0 up i think they were there for the taking and we seemed to take our foot off the pedal.We just need a bit of luck and turn in one of these games into a win and we will go on a good run.

In contrast to everone's comments......I think we lacked tempo and I thought Stevie looked a bit dis-intereted tbh...maybe thinking what's there to play for (sincerely hope not but i do fear it a bit) although we did show commitment to get the equaliser!

the only down side today was when we went 1-0 up i think they were there for the taking and we seemed to take our foot off the pedal.

Very true that. It was our downfall today that.

The confidence of our team is not right. We get a lead and then we start bottling it. Nothing to do with Rafa, it's the players on the pitch at the time. Passes started going astray, we were launching the ball up the pitch to no one and in turn we invited an average team of expensive players onto us.

The irony of Babel getting injured. Because we needed a player like Yossi on the pitch. And he came up with the goods.

Kuyt, Lucas and Insua were my problem players. And Gerrard faded in the second half.

Kuyt needs dropping. He's having a sh*t season so far and for me, he doesn't deserve a given starting place lately. But who've we got to come in ahead of him on the right?

Lucas was poor in my opinion. A good few times I noticed the ball drop out to the edge of the box when we were on the attack. Rather than anticipate it, he was camped out on the centre circle. Ridiculous.

Insua is another one who's having a bad season. More and more people seem to be getting the better of him. His pace doesn't look like it once was and his attacking play is not having too much of an effect.

Given Gerrard is coming back from injury and that he did have a decent first half, I thought he drifted in the second half. He knows when he should up his game though and I have all confidence in him being his usual brilliant self next game.

Feels like a defeat doesn't it?

But it wasn't. It could have easily been, but it wasn't.

Great to see a defender chip in with a goal. Great to come back level. Just a shame we couldn't get that winner.

We'll come good us soon though. We're getting better, gradually. And whilst other teams around us are dropping the odd few points, things aren't as desperate as some people would have you believe. Once this injury curse has lifted and we have a full squad to choose from, we'll click into gear, the confidence will rise and we'll get on a winning run.

Unfortunately it was Liverpool of old. Take the lead and try and defend it.

Once Marty scored, we simply sat off City. They didn't push us back, we sat back. Invited pressure and it cost us. We didn't try and get the second to go 2-0 up and win a game we had to win.

We defended rather poorly, too many times Ireland coasted in and around the 18 yard box without one of our midfielders tracking his run. Up top there was very little either, certainly from out wide - as usual. Did Given actually make a save from open play other than Masch's 30 yard effort? (Skrtel's came from another free kick).

Another case of not enough players turning up. Two more points dropped, simply not good enough.

Excellant post RedKenny think you nailed almost everything and I know Dunlop agrees Kuyt performances this season has being shocking I can understand bad performances but in some of the matches he can't even control the ball.