Newcastle United vs Liverpool

[kalasoma]

Just offside I would say, eh?

 

What that tells me is that they've got four players on the go ready to attack the goal. Admittedly, one of them is offside, but I can't remember a time during play when we had that many of our own players in their penalty area, ready to challenge.

[xerxes]

But let's be honest. We just don't have very many good players, and we're not a very good team.

 

True.

 

There is no replacement for playing well, and approaching each game in the right frame of mind- miracaulously things start to go for you then.

[Aldonose]

What that tells me is that they've got four players on the go ready to attack the goal. Admittedly, one of them is offside, but I can't remember a time during play when we had that many of our own players in their penalty area, ready to challenge.

 

Yeah, their seems to have been a massive change in both our approach and mentality from the end of last season. If I'm honest, I think it was that approach more than any other reason why we all had a renewed optimism for the future.

[Whelan]

Yeah, their seems to have been a massive change in both our approach and mentality from the end of last season. If I'm honest, I think it was that approach more than any other reason why we all had a renewed optimism for the future.

 

The team was so abysmal under Hodgson, it would seem that we have exagerated the effect in the second half of the season. We added Suarez to a side that should have been competing for a UEFA cup place anyway.

[billypilgrimnz]

But let's be honest. We just don't have very many good players, and we're not a very good team.

 

This is it in a nutshell. Think of all the players we have that:

 

- have terrible first touches

- are poor passers under pressure

- can't dribble past a man

- can't head the ball

- have terrible decision-making capabilities

- can't shoot

- don't know how or when to burst into space

- give up at the first sign of resistance

- spend all their time ball-watching and don't bother to think ahead a few seconds

- can't cross to save their lives

- consistently run into trouble instead of looking for a pass

- are slow

 

It's a sad state of affairs. We don't have a genuine Top 4 team.

[Bobby Hundreds]

I just can't get my head round the fact we still don't get players forward into the box, it's like we are oblivious too it. I don't think there's a single person that isn't failing at the club this season. We constantly make wrong choices, in signings, in fees, in tactics in selection in choices on the pitch decision making, fucking blue on a kit, with PR, with backing players at the wrong times or not backing them, in rotation, in interviews. It's a little bit shit.

[Captain]

Shitbags.

 

That is the word that best describes this team, not poor, not shit, just shitbags. Too many of them let their heads go down, and start sulking and lets be honest Gerrard is unfortunately one of the worst for this. Caroll started well and then as soon as he felt (not knew), just felt that we might get beat he didn't want to know.

 

I actually saw him on the half way line, walking towards their area when we were attacking! Gerrard sulking, Bellamy sulking, Enrique hiding, Suarez undisciplined, Caroll sulking isn't going to win you any games. We saw it at Wigan last week as soon as the second went in, the arse went. We have seen it far too many times by this shower of gutless shitbags.

 

Fuck right mids, or attackers spend the summer looking for some bollocks for our players and we might start improving.

 

To me, Gerrard looks like he's given up on winning that elusive league title he so craves. And when you think about what he's gone through the last three years, who can blame him.

 

He's gone from being captain of his hometown club, leading them out to lift the European Cup and the FA Cup. We were top dogs in Europe, officially ranked no.1 and feared by everyone in the CL. Only three years ago, he led his team out at a roaring Anfield to play Real Madrid in the return leg in the CL. A Liverpool team that beat the shit out Real and sent them home to Spain with a 4-0 defeat. A Liverpool team where he was accompanied by Mascherano and Alonso in midfield, and had Torres to bang them in.

 

Fast forward to these days. He's surrounded by the likes of Spearing, Adam and Henderson in midfield, relying on Andy Carroll to score.

 

It's no wonder Gerrard looks like he does.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Christ, putting it like that from mascherano alonso and Torres to henderson, spearing and Adam is depressing. But we had shit owners who turned us more into a selling club then Rafa made some very bad buys which set us back then Roy Hodgson was Roy Hodgson , leaving Kenny with probably the worst squad of players we have ever had, we then get a windfall and proceed to blow it on more shite players. We didn't fall off our perch we whittled it into a dildo and fucked ourselves up the arse with it.

[Whelan]

To me, Gerrard looks like he's given up on winning that elusive league title he so craves. And when you think about what he's gone through the last three years, who can blame him.

 

Fast forward to these days. He's surrounded by the likes of Spearing, Adam and Henderson in midfield, relying on Andy Carroll to score.

 

It's no wonder Gerrard looks like he does.

 

Then go! Sorry but how he thinks sulking is going to help I am not sure. He said he would do everything in his power to make sure that Kenny kept the job and was sucessful, well I saw a sulking brat yesterday (with a few others). If that is the case, then that is Gerrard thinking of himself, not the team. As I say, if that is the case.

 

Sulking and feeling sorry for yourself is not going to get us out of the shit. And is no help to anyone. So I am not accepting that. Look where Tottenham finished last season and they should/could have challenged for the title, look where Newcastle finished last season and they could finish top four this season. look abroad, Dortmund, 6th & 5th previous seasons to finishing champions.

 

The more simpler argument would be that he isn't a CM anymore, and (as was always the case) lacks the displine to play there. Move him further up behind Suarez (who also lacks discipline) and start controlling the midfield.

[Hooch]

The worrying thing for me is that we didn't actually do too much wrong. We're just not very good.

 

This. I've come to this conclusion now too. We're just not very good. We are around the 7th or 8th best team in the country, so thats where we will probably finish in the league. Simple. Lots of work to be done this summer.

[Newport]

Just offside I would say, eh?

 

There was a slight touch from one of the other players who clashed with Flanagan, but he was still offside even then, and the linesman was not at level with our backline.

[DooooodekNo5]

I just can't get my head round the fact we still don't get players forward into the box, it's like we are oblivious too it. I don't think there's a single person that isn't failing at the club this season. We constantly make wrong choices, in signings, in fees, in tactics in selection in choices on the pitch decision making, fucking blue on a kit, with PR, with backing players at the wrong times or not backing them, in rotation, in interviews. It's a little bit shit.

 

Pass me the shotgun ... depressing .. but that sums a lot of it up.

 

 

Decision making , we hardly ever get it right on and off the pitch , we need to start with a clean slate and start getting things right.

[Randy Marsh]

Shitbags.

 

That is the word that best describes this team, not poor, not shit, just shitbags. Too many of them let their heads go down, and start sulking and lets be honest Gerrard is unfortunately one of the worst for this. Caroll started well and then as soon as he felt (not knew), just felt that we might get beat he didn't want to know.

 

I actually saw him on the half way line, walking towards their area when we were attacking! Gerrard sulking, Bellamy sulking, Enrique hiding, Suarez undisciplined, Caroll sulking isn't going to win you any games. We saw it at Wigan last week as soon as the second went in, the arse went. We have seen it far too many times by this shower of gutless shitbags.

 

Fuck right mids, or attackers spend the summer looking for some bollocks for our players and we might start improving.

 

Agreed. Mentality and belief is our biggest problem. We are a club full of fannys. When the going gets tough, we shit ourselves.

 

I just can't get my head round the fact we still don't get players forward into the box, it's like we are oblivious too it. I don't think there's a single person that isn't failing at the club this season. We constantly make wrong choices, in signings, in fees, in tactics in selection in choices on the pitch decision making, fucking blue on a kit, with PR, with backing players at the wrong times or not backing them, in rotation, in interviews. It's a little bit shit.

 

Agreed again.

 

To me, Gerrard looks like he's given up on winning that elusive league title he so craves. And when you think about what he's gone through the last three years, who can blame him.

 

He's gone from being captain of his hometown club, leading them out to lift the European Cup and the FA Cup. We were top dogs in Europe, officially ranked no.1 and feared by everyone in the CL. Only three years ago, he led his team out at a roaring Anfield to play Real Madrid in the return leg in the CL. A Liverpool team that beat the shit out Real and sent them home to Spain with a 4-0 defeat. A Liverpool team where he was accompanied by Mascherano and Alonso in midfield, and had Torres to bang them in.

 

Fast forward to these days. He's surrounded by the likes of Spearing, Adam and Henderson in midfield, relying on Andy Carroll to score.

 

It's no wonder Gerrard looks like he does.

 

I agree with your post, but find the whole situation a bit ironic given that all the talk at the time was of Gerrard and Carragher lobbying for Benitez's removal. To what extent that is true or not, we'll never know, but certainly the talk from both players was of their wish for an English manager.

[cuppatea]

Agreed. Mentality and belief is our biggest problem. We are a club full of fannys. When the going gets tough, we shit ourselves.

 

While I agree our mentality and belief leave a lot to be desired you can't underestimate the drop off in quality the squad has suffered over recent seasons.

 

Just looking at the Champions League quarter finalists, 4 of the remaining 8 teams (and the 4 best teams, along with Bayern) are fielding key players they've recently signed from us. We've lost established internationals from Spain, Argentina, Portugal and Italy and replaced them with players who can't get in the England squad.

 

Looking at the lineup on Sunday, would any of Carragher, Flanagan, Spearing, Shelvey, Carroll or even Bellamy see regular first team football for the teams above us?

 

How high would you expect a team who counts the likes of Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson amongst its key players to finish?

 

I think a lot of our current plight can be explained by the fact we've lost a lot of very good players in recent years and replaced them with those of vastly inferior quality. All the belief in the world isn't going to take a squad consisting largely of midtable players towards a title challenge.

[sir roger]

There was a slight touch from one of the other players who clashed with Flanagan, but he was still offside even then, and the linesman was not at level with our backline.

 

He has to flag.

 

If the referee decides there has been a touch or whatever then that is a different argument, but that liner cannot make that judgement. Once the ball reaches Cisse he has to flag & leave it to the ref, but he didn't.

[Randy Marsh]

While I agree our mentality and belief leave a lot to be desired you can't underestimate the drop off in quality the squad has suffered over recent seasons.

 

Just looking at the Champions League quarter finalists, 4 of the remaining 8 teams (and the 4 best teams, along with Bayern) are fielding key players they've recently signed from us. We've lost established internationals from Spain, Argentina, Portugal and Italy and replaced them with players who can't get in the England squad.

 

Looking at the lineup on Sunday, would any of Carragher, Flanagan, Spearing, Shelvey, Carroll or even Bellamy see regular first team football for the teams above us?

 

How high would you expect a team who counts the likes of Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson amongst its key players to finish?

 

I think a lot of our current plight can be explained by the fact we've lost a lot of very good players in recent years and replaced them with those of vastly inferior quality. All the belief in the world isn't going to take a squad consisting largely of midtable players towards a title challenge.

 

I couldn't agree more mate. We are a shadow of the team and squad we were 4 years ago. However even if you go back to Istanbul, Rafa won a European Cup with on paper arguably a worse team than we possess today. Last season we went and drew at Arsenal despite going 1-0 in the 95th minute. It's about mentality and belief. This current side doesn't possess either. Mentally, we are the antithesis of the strong sides of years gone by.

 

I agree that ultimately only talent will get you right to the top and keep you there. But without the right mentality you won't be going anywhere fast. Look at that manc side that are about to wrap up the league. As Champion sides go, they are absolute shit. We have outclassed them at Anfield 3 times in the past 18months. But they have the right mentality. They are winners. We are anything but.

[Bjornebye]

key mong/bad harmony/shit mentality factors

 

Atmosphere for most games at home

Lack of killer instinct when going a goal up

5/6 players in squad simply not good enough but keep playing

Percieved sense of failure against unrealistic expectations (pressure)

Charlie Adam's grid