Liverpool vs Chelsea (Apr 27 2014)

[Coro]

 

Our defence is not the best, Brendan knows that. Any strategy based on us relying on our defence for 90 minutes is clearly not what we are about, to do so would have been suicide.

 

 

 

Why would a team set up defensively against a team that is set up defensively?

[RobC]

Couldn't agree more.  I find it such an odd thing to come out with as well.  It's one of the worst cliches that never gets pulled.  As if teams like Barcelona and Bayern only have one type of player who can only do one type of thing.  The Plan A if it is any fucking plan at all won't just be to do one thing.

 

Yesterday for example we had Sterling and Coutinho.  One is primarily a pace player.  He has other attributes but he's the guy who stretches defences with pace and wing play.  The other is the player good in tight spaces, dribbling and creating for other players.  On top of these two we've got Gerrard and the best two forwards in the league.  Tony Cascarino, now robbing a living as a pundit, felt we were naive to be playing Sterling and Coutinho against Chelsea.  How do cretins like him get paid for this?

 

We tried to win the game.  The only reason we got beat was because Gerrard slipped over.  It's not as if we were dominated in midfield or they were awash with chances.  If we had played another defensive player rather than one of these two we would have had less chance breaking them down and I seriously doubt Gerrard wouldn't have slipped because another player was on the pitch.  It's absolutely laughable.

 

You get these absolute beauts trying to come up with reasons that aren't there.  The other corker I've read is Gerrard was having too many shots.  What an absolute cracker.  That's it that's why we didn't score because Gerrard should have rolled it to Lucas Leiva instead.  We were passing it round the edge of their box all day yesterday struggling to create anything.  We weren't going to score crossing it in because for a start it was beyond impossible to get to that position never mind the fact we haven't got anybody good at heading and coming up against a defence that is very good at heading and defending crosses.  The only way was from a shot outside the box and I'm glad Gerrard saw that or at least Brendan may have and told him to do it.

 

Some games like yesterday, the attacking side is just out of your hands.  They defended really well and we set up with our most offensive line up with the players available.  We subsequently got beat because Gerrard fell over not because we were too attacking.  We don't defend very well against poor sides and they're telling us we should have set up to defend against Chelsea.  How do these fucking dickheads get away with it?

Spot on mate, perhaps moving Gerrard further up, because he wan't needed at the back, was our plan B.

[TheHowieLama]

Why would a team set up defensively against a team that is set up defensively?

 

To outsmart them. Tricky tactics doncha know.

[xerxes]

Why would a team set up defensively against a team that is set up defensively?

A team, confident that they would not concede, for whom a draw is enough.

 

I like what Brendan has achieved,and the upsides far outweigh the downsides. The odd defeat happens, i would much rather watch a team who tried to outscore the opposition like we do, than concede fewer as the Rent Boys do.

[Coro]

A team, confident that they would not concede, for whom a draw is enough.

 

I like what Brendan has achieved,and the upsides far outweigh the downsides. The odd defeat happens, i would much rather watch a team who tried to outscore the opposition like we do, than concede fewer as the Rent Boys do.

 

You said

Our defence is not the best, Brendan knows that. Any strategy based on us relying on our defence for 90 minutes is clearly not what we are about, to do so would have been suicide.

 

 

Answer the question.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

Blaming the tactics would be a valid angle of attack if we conceded the first by over committing players and got hit on the counter attack, with the goal being a direct consequence of our haphazard tactics, if we got suckered on the break.

 

But, this never happened. The tactics were fine and would've got us in at 0-0 at half time if Gerrard hadn't have slipped. An individual error. Rather than a tactical oversight.

 

Then, we had to play attacking football in the second half to try and salvage a draw.

[Nightcat]

It was not so much the tactics, but the attitude.

 

To open up a Mourinho defence you need to do it like Guardiolla's Barcelona. We were waaay too polite and soft with them. We needed more anger, bullying, pushing, screaming, try to unsettle them, try to bully their young defender. That's how you succeed against this bunch of cunts. That's how Barcelona humiliated him again and again, while he was in Spain. We behaved to them like gentlemen, almost having to apologise for wanting to win and they repaid us with their usual unsporting, time wasting/faking injuries and defensive tactics.

[Major Tom]

Interesting watching Carra's and Neville's views.

[JermainePennant]

Its easy to blame Rodgers with hindsight and say he got it wrong, before the game I wanted us to go for the win as a draw would have put big pressure on us to win the last two games.

 

Obviously now I would have loved it to be a draw but Brendan didn't get it wrong Imo, without the mistake we were controlling the game and looked like we would atleast get a draw.

[gingerhulk]

Brilliant once again from Carra and Neville. 

[Lee909]

Its easy to blame Rodgers with hindsight and say he got it wrong, before the game I wanted us to go for the win as a draw would have put big pressure on us to win the last two games.

 

Obviously now I would have loved it to be a draw but Brendan didn't get it wrong Imo, without the mistake we were controlling the game and looked like we would atleast get a draw.

Exactly

Say we played to draw yesterday and conceded a daft pen and drew next monday, everyone would have crucified Rodgers for changing a winning game plan.

[Sweeney287]

Interesting watching Carra's and Neville's views.

Missed it, what did they say?

[Major Tom]

Missed it, what did they say?

Carra said we had pulled the time wasting stunt many times ourselves and had no cause for complaint when it was used against us. Used 2001 away to Barca and against Chelsea under Rafa as examples.

 

Neville said we panicked and highlighted a few examples when Suarez was free but we aimlessly hoofed it into the box or shot from range. He said the key was Suarez and we needed to get it into his feet inside the box as many times as possible but we didn't. We weren't patient enough.

 

Neville also said he doesn't trust City to win the next three games and if we win our next two, we have a big chance. Called City slight favourites, though.

[Coro]

Its easy to blame Rodgers with hindsight and say he got it wrong, before the game I wanted us to go for the win as a draw would have put big pressure on us to win the last two games.

 

Obviously now I would have loved it to be a draw but Brendan didn't get it wrong Imo, without the mistake we were controlling the game and looked like we would atleast get a draw.

 

We've been playing full pelt for the past 3 months so to knock it down a gear, having lost 2 players crucial to the way we play, was never going to be easy.

 

As far as I can see, no one is blaming the manager or players.

 

We allowed Chelsea to retain their shape by forcing the pass too early. It's a learning curve for a young set up.

[Sweeney287]

Carra said we had pulled the time wasting stunt many times ourselves and had no cause for complaint when it was used against us. Used 2001 away to Barca and against Chelsea under Rafa as examples.

 

Neville said we panicked and highlighted a few examples when Suarez was free but we aimlessly hoofed it into the box or shot from range. He said the key was Suarez and we needed to get it into his feet inside the box as many times as possible but we didn't. We weren't patient enough.

 

Neville also said he doesn't trust City to win the next three games and if we win our next two, we have a big chance. Called City slight favourites, though.

Cheers, seems fair on retrospect

[JermainePennant]

Cheers, seems fair on retrospect

Cant agree, I cant remember a time I have seen the kind of time wasting Chelsea did at the start of the game.

 

I haven't watched the game again and probably never will but when we were 15-20 minutes in to it at the time I honestly thought they had wasted a good five minutes atleast.

 

The referee not booking them early on when it was clear what they were doing over and over again let them know they could fuck around as much as they like, big decisions get brought up with referees but not booking a Chelsea player until the 90th minute was as bad a decision as Ive seen.

[Major Tom]

Cheers, seems fair on retrospect

Yeah, nut watching Chelsea waste time like that was still massively frustrating. Mourinho is such a self aggrandising twat. Claims they are can't win the league but celebrates as though they have just won it. Massive, massive cunt.

 

But we gave it our all. Looking at Neville's assessment, we did panic a little but all I could see was a blue wall camped on their 18 yard line so the players surely saw the same.

 

Just gutting all in all. But where there is life, there is hope!

[RedRazor]

Why would a team set up defensively against a team that is set up defensively?

It was a game we didn't need to win - a draw would have been good enough for us. It was a game they had to win, anything less then their title hopes were all but mathematically over - they would have had to come at us eventually.

[BCM]

Carra said we had pulled the time wasting stunt many times ourselves and had no cause for complaint when it was used against us. Used 2001 away to Barca and against Chelsea under Rafa as examples.

 

Neville said we panicked and highlighted a few examples when Suarez was free but we aimlessly hoofed it into the box or shot from range. He said the key was Suarez and we needed to get it into his feet inside the box as many times as possible but we didn't. We weren't patient enough.

 

Neville also said he doesn't trust City to win the next three games and if we win our next two, we have a big chance. Called City slight favourites, though.

 

He's talking shite there, we never took timewasting to the level shown yesterday that was ridiculous. It started in the first minute and carried on till the bloody end.

Also we were huge underdogs to Chelsea their squad in 05 was unreal. We had Biscan Le Tallec Mellor Carson Traore playing us into the final.

For that shitehawk Maureen to take one of the most expensive group of attacking players seen in England and produce the shit he has in the last few games he should be ashamed.

Wonder what Roman makes of it.

[Stickman]

Good article by Maddock in the Mirror slagging off the trampy Steptoe impersonator..

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-0-2-chelsea-jose-mourinho-3469510

[Major Tom]

He's talking shite there, we never took timewasting to the level shown yesterday that was ridiculous. It started in the first minute and carried on till the bloody end.

 

I agree with you and I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. But Carra was talking about slowing the game down in general and not the extent to which Chelsea did it.

 

He said we would hoof the ball upfield against Chelsea under Rafa so as not to be caught on the counter. Same as Chelsea yesterday.

 

They showed Schwarzer distribution map. All hoofs save for one pass sideways. He also highlighted one bit when Schwarzer had the ball and 7 players told him to slow down and he was kicking the ball about in the box for 20 seconds. But we let him.

[RedRazor]

Its easy to blame Rodgers with hindsight and say he got it wrong, before the game I wanted us to go for the win as a draw would have put big pressure on us to win the last two games.

 

Obviously now I would have loved it to be a draw but Brendan didn't get it wrong Imo, without the mistake we were controlling the game and looked like we would atleast get a draw.

Whoa there tiger.

 

I don't think anyone is doing that.

 

If Coutinho and Sakho had put away one or both of our best first half chances then the world would look like a much better place today. But they didn't.

 

I am happy Rodgers set us up the way we played and I'm glad he stuck to his principles. A little bit of luck (or a little less bad luck?) and it all could have been so different.

 

The fact that we are discussing the other options that were available does not mean that the finger of blame is being pointed anywhere. It is just reds chatting shit on the internet and wallowing in our misery and despair. We will get over it. We will pick up six points in our next two games AND improve our goal difference by 13 and win the league on goal difference if we have to. Simples.

[BCM]

I agree with you and I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. But Carra was talking about slowing the game down in general and not the extent to which Chelsea did it.

 

He said we would hoof the ball upfield against Chelsea under Rafa so as not to be caught on the counter. Same as Chelsea yesterday.

 

They showed Schwarzer distribution map. All hoofs save for one pass sideways. He also highlighted one bit when Schwarzer had the ball and 7 players told him to slow down and he was kicking the ball about in the box for 20 seconds. But we let him.

 

 

Fair enough and yes we probably did, i havent seen Carras assessment i was just going off what was said in the post i quoted.

Im glad Maddock has had a go at him in that article too.

[JermainePennant]

Whoa there tiger.

 

I don't think anyone is doing that.

 

If Coutinho and Sakho had put away one or both of our best first half chances then the world would look like a much better place today. But they didn't.

 

I am happy Rodgers set us up the way we played and I'm glad he stuck to his principles. A little bit of luck (or a little less bad luck?) and it all could have been so different.

 

The fact that we are discussing the other options that were available does not mean that the finger of blame is being pointed anywhere. It is just reds chatting shit on the internet and wallowing in our misery and despair. We will get over it. We will pick up six points in our next two games AND improve our goal difference by 13 and win the league on goal difference if we have to. Simples.

 

I wasnt referring to anyone on here but I have seen since the game some saying brendan got it wrong which I dont feel was the case.

[Phoenix]

Missed it, what did they say?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdmxV-7QvJ8

 

Might be taken down by the time you get to see it. Excellent analysis. Especially losing our composure in the attacking sense in the second half.