Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (League Cup SF 1st Leg): In game and Post Match Debate

Phil or Lucas MOTM for me.

He's young, naive and as a result, will make mistakes. Heck, it's really the only big error he's had so far in his young career at Liverpool

But that will go with experience and apart from the mistake he was great tonight.

I think we can excuse him tonight.

We can and will excuse him mate but Carra had a right go and it seemed a bit over the top for me for his only mistake in a game. I think they even brought it up after full time as well.

Managed to see 80% of the game. Opposition goalkeeper being MotM rings some bells.  Not one bad performance from our lads.

Skrtel MOTM for me, had Costa in his back pocket all night and gave him a nice elbow to the head for his cheating antics.

I'm so proud of our boys, they played Chelsea off the park. 16 shots to 1 is impressive. This is the best and most consistent team in the country, full of world stars and came off the back of a 5-0 win...yet we outplayed them. Coutinho was my MoTM simply because he is so class, he can create, take on players and just looks like a joy to watch almost every game now. Having said that, could have given motm to Lucas, Can, Sterling or Markovich.

The referee is the biggest c##t in the league, absolute piece of sh1t that should not be managing any top flight games. I hope we make an official complaint and BR for once comes out and say the referee was pisspoor. Yea he'll get fined, but a c### needs to be called out. That border line punch on Can from Costa was far more blatant and deliberate than Marko's yet we get a red card and he gets sod all. I hope we as a club point it out.

Apart from that, great effort lads. When Studge comes back, I can see us converting more chances. Stevie shoulda got the winner.

Skrtel MOTM for me, had Costa in his back pocket all night and gave him a nice elbow to the head for his cheating antics.

Costa had nearly given up with ten minutes to go.

We can and will excuse him mate but Carra had a right go and it seemed a bit over the top for me for his only mistake in a game. I think they even brought it up after full time as well.

Jamie seems to have forgotten what he was like at the age of 20 and for accusing Can of a lack of pace   

Having a hard deciding who was the bigger c**t tonight: Costa or Atkinson.

What a performance!!! That trumps the Spurs and Arsenal games for me.

I'm just salivating with the thought of Daniel Sturridge up top when we play like that. We'll be winning games 5-0 all the time. Defence has improved ten-fold too. And a pat on the back for Migs who is improving game on game now.

Mignolet

Can - Skrtel - Sakho

Markovic - Henderson - Lucas - Moreno

Sterling - Coutinho

Sturridge


Subs: Ward, Manquillo, Enrique, Toure, Gerrard, Lallana, Balotelli

My ratings:

Mignolet: aside from one astute dash from his line, had about as much input into proceedings as me and I was watching the game from the armchair. 7/10.

Can: Save for the fact he is too honest (like a couple of our players) was excellent. He HAS TO IMHO HAVE Fabregas over once he realises he's getting done. Take the yellow for the tangle of arms and legs outside the box. The only variable with this lad though is in which position he's going to make his name, he's going to be an excellent player somewhere or other I'm sure of it. 8/10.

Skrtel: Faultless performance save for a slight criticism of two attacking headers from which he should have done a wee bit better. 8/10.

Sakho: My MOM but I mistakenly clicked on Skrtel (no harm done because he was excellent too). What a beast of a defender this lad is becoming. 9/10.

Markovic: Surprisingly adept at the defensive side of things and a lovely footballer going forward. I'm still convinced we are only seeing a fairly low percentage of what this kid is actually capable of. 8/10.

Moreno: Once again more solid defensively than he has been previously. Somebody has clearly talked to him about not bombing on too much though and he's taken it a tad literally. Once or twice tonight I was willing him to pin his ears back and go, but I guess he's still learning his game. 7/10.

Lucas: Another peerless performance from the Brazillian. He really is beginning to rediscover his best ever form in a red shirt. Anyone who voted him MOM totally has my understanding. 8/10.

Henderson: Thought he got up and down well and produced the odd telling pass. That's two excellent performances in a row now from Jordan. 8/10.

Gerrard: looked a bit leggy and I'm not sure was actually 100%. That said there were little snatches of pure quality and almost a goal (although I think he'll be disappointed not to have scored). 7/10.

Coutinho: Mesmeric but extremely naïve on occasions. He gets clattered from pillar to post sometimes but only actually goes down when someone body checks him, then he doesn't get a free kick for it. If he copied Hazard and hit the deck when people barge him, or hit the deck when someone tries to tackle wrong side, he'd be practically unplayable. Too honest but he'll learn, wonderful footballer. 9/10.

Sterling: Fantastic goal and worked Terry and Cahill all night. Sometimes our own fans can't see what's right in front of their noses, and when I see people advocating we pay 40 million quid for Ross Barclay then slagging this kid off I despair. What a talent he is. 9/10.

Lallana: The right sub at the right time for the right player and so nearly got the winner. Beautiful feet and balance, just need to keep him fit. 8/10.




Brendan: Can't really see how he could have improved his personal performance tonight. 9/10.     

Difficult to choose MOTM, which hasn't happened often this season and makes me frustrated as hell because why cant we always play that well?

Can gets my vote htough because he didn't let the penalty have a negative impact on his game and thought he barely put a foot wrong!

Having a hard deciding who was the bigger c**t tonight: Costa or Atkinson.

Hazard was a pr**k too! There must have been a sniper in the crowd every time he was tackled!

Hazard was a pr**k too! There must have been a sniper in the crowd every time he was tackled!

I think it's high time people in FIFA or whatever came clean about the way football is going. Is it a contact sport or not? In Hazards case it isn't, because if you so much as touch him he goes down. The penalty WAS a penalty in my view, but the lad was already on his way down before Can got to him. Some of the times he fell over in midfield tonight were embarrassing, and when he jumped into the path of Lucas before screaming and going down at the inevitable collision it was becoming ridiculous. That our man got booked for that shows up the nonsense for what it is.

Hazard was a pr**k too! There must have been a sniper in the crowd every time he was tackled!

They're all pr1cks mate. Mourinho teams are well drilled in the art of all underhanded tactics, dirty tricks and the dark art of conning refs.

Lucas for me. Didn't put a foot wrong. Has to be the best DM in the prem right now?

Still Magic for me but top game from him today and has been one of our most consistent performers all season.

That c**t Maureen has said they were always in control. Bollocks!! We tore them apart and they can count their lucky stars they got a draw.

I loved how our players stepped up, got stuck in and hammered the sh*t out of them in challenges. Markovic, Can, Skrtel, Lucas etc. Costa, Hazard and co. didn't like that at all.

Lucas for me. Didn't put a foot wrong. Has to be the best DM in the prem right now?

Defensively, Matic & Schneiderlin are better, but Lucas is the better passer. I'd say overall, 3rd best DM atm

Matic

Not based on tonight he isn't

Could only watch the first half sounds like I missed a great performance in the second half.

From what I saw Lucas, Skrtel, Sakho, Coutinho and Gerrard were excellent, I had a feeling we would beat this lot this time around wasn't to be even though we absolutely battered them in the second.

Can't wait to get home and watch the second half.

Also gives me lot of comfort that we made Chelsea look sub par in a nearly full strength line up.

Another good allround performance, Chelski new they had a game on their hands, especially in the second half. Their keeper certainly kept them in the game. With Sturridge to return shortly and all the new signings showing significant improvement, things should only improve in the next few months.

Absolutely dominated them, but didn't get the win, in for a tough game at the Bridge.

I do find it very depressing though how 'we' (being the general consensus) seem delighted after that, we haven't won and left ourselves a very difficult game in the 2nd leg against that shower.

Brendan got it spot on tonight though, best performance of the season, but we need to be clinical in games against top clubs, you can't waste chance after chance like we did and expect to get away with it.

Not many sides win at the Bridge, admittedly, but after tonight's performance the Reds have every chance of pulling off a win against the odds, with a bit of luck on their side for once.