West Ham vs Liverpool, 20th September 2014

[RedPaul]

Well that was a bit shit to continue what's been a disappointing start to the season, 3 defeats from 5, and a couple of perhaps fortunate wins against a brand new Southampton side and that Bulgarian side whose name I will never be able to pronounce, but we did give the spuds a damn good thrashing which felt very good. It's really far too early to jump to any conclusions, but if we're talking opinions, we've obviously really got to do better as a team. For me last season we had that dodgy defence, but were generally able to score a lot more than most of the shite teams we played even if they managed to score against us (which they invariably did). This made for an entertaining rollercoaster ride where we performed better than expected. This season however we're still dodgy defensively (in spite of investing a small fortune on new defenders), but we just can't seem to score as many, which means more defeats and closer games. That's partly due to no Suarez who was, let's face it, phenomenal and irreplaceable last season, and also due to an inconvenient injury to Sturridge and the bedding in of Balotelli (who incidentally I think has improved with every game). We'll get better no doubt, especially once Sturridge returns and some of the new players properly bed in.

 

However our talented young manager now has the biggest test of his managerial career to date following that rather impressive spending spree over the summer. I actually think we'll be fine and with our strong squad I expect us to be ok. I don't think our first 11 is quite as strong as last year, but overall we have a much better squad so I don't think we'll be far off where we were last season, although more likely 3rd/4th. We certainly should not be settling for anything less than that! Sterling has continued to improve (think he learnt an awful lot from Suarez last season) and I think a Sturridge/Balotelli/Sterling combination up front will be good enough to put the frighteners on most sides to enable us to push on confidently from a disappointing start. Just got to get Dan fit, because without him we're impotent up front to be honest.

 

It's interesting to me that Rodgers thought Sterling should be rested for last weeks game against Villa yet has played Gerrard in all the last three. Gerrard still has tonnes to offer, and it riles me when fans make him the scapegoat of our poor start, but nevertheless Rodgers will need to start playing him a little more selectively and effectively at his age. Sterling on the other hand is young enough to play much more frequently and is now one of our most important and threatening attacking players.

As for the new signings, I don't think you can make any firm judgement after just a few games, but obviously there might be a few concerns which you hope will be put to rest as the season progresses. 

[stringvest]

[Gym Beglin]

I'll tell you this for free, Borini is more use to us than Gerrard.

 

Christ, stevie is playing against lads who used to have his picture on their walls.

 

We hardly coped last year, we concede 50, this isn't knee jerk, this isn't new information.

 

Neg away, deep down you know it's over.

[Dicko]

It hasn't been the most inspiring of starts.

[Newport]

I'm not an expert on goalkeeping but I do know there is a better chance of making saves if you try to reach the balls that are coming at the goal you are supposed to defend. Mignolet didn't on any of the three goals we conceded. Someone needs to tell him he can use his hands.

[Dicko]

I'm not an expert on goalkeeping but I do know there is a better chance of making saves if you try to reach the balls that are coming at the goal you are supposed to defend. Mignolet didn't on any of the three goals we conceded. Someone needs to tell him he can use his hands.

Someone needs to tell him to fuck off and take that cunt Achterberg with him.

[Fi!]

It is pretty harsh when 2 of our midfielders are out, Allen and Can. We have to call up some youth player if we are looking at a side without both Lucas and Gerrard.

[billypilgrimnz]

It is pretty harsh when 2 of our midfielders are out, Allen and Can. We have to call up some youth player if we are looking at a side without both Lucas and Gerrard.

Deal.

[Paulie Dangerously]

Urgh. That actually happened last night didn't it?

[Phoenix]

Top four is going to a huge a struggle this year. Rodgers shouldnt be even mentioning the league nevermind going on about not entertaining it.

 

Yesterday was embarassing and it wont be getting any better until we have a genuine attacking threat outside relying upon Sturridge who is made out of glass and a 19 year old Sterling.

 

Wasting 65 odd million on attacking players and none of them are good enough to make a huge difference.

[Paco]

I thought we got back into the game well when we went 3 at the back but it needed changed again because although we were better defensively we werent creating enough to equalise. gerrard was doing nothing because he was being man marked so why not take him off and make the team find another way themselves?

[Mook]

I can't see us getting top four.

 

Gutted.

[ratcatcher]

Fucking hell, some people throw in the towel easily dont they?

 

We're a massive club but have been off the pace compared to the regular big hitters in the league for the best part of 15 years.

 

Leaving aside our abject performance last night for a minute, I have to say I was disgusted with a couple of west ham players last night. The big lad who kept going down with that thigh problem was an utter disgrace. Always went down after they lost the ball, never went down when they had possession.

 

And why did the ref stop the game for him, twice? His head isnt attached to his fucking leg. And how the fuck was the lad who scored the 3rd even on the pitch for that two footed 'tackle'?

 

As for us, we just didnt get out the traps. Couldnt believe the comical defending which has beig going on pre Rodgers. Why dont our players shout for the ball? Last night there must have been 5 or 6 times when two players went for the same ball causing confusion and giving whu a man 'spare'? This has been going on for years. Remember carragher and skrtel at spurs a few seasons ago? How fucking hard is it to train the players on this?

 

Mignolet is getting a lot of stick. The second goal was in my opinion a cross and even if it wasnt, no keeper was getting that. The first shows a major flaw in keepers nowaday in that they rarely come for balls in the 6 yard box. 3rd goal I dont think there's much he can do on it.

 

We've los our little pass and move game for some reason. Last season we'd play little triangles and always have an option. Where's that gone and why?

[Razoray]

We've spent 120 million to field an inferior first eleven, that in and of itself is mental. We'd of got better results this season fielding Mig, Enrique, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Gerrard, Henderson, Allen, Coutinho, Sterling, Sturridge every game than this current lot trotting out for us.

that's silly reasoning. johnson allen and sturridge are all injured. we needed to invest heavily in the squad. whether the correct players were bought is another story though

[billypilgrimnz]

We won't finish Top 4

[Tony Moanero]

Fucking hell, some people throw in the towel easily dont they?

 

We're a massive club but have been off the pace compared to the regular big hitters in the league for the best part of a quarter of a century.

 

Leaving aside our abject performance last night for a minute, I have to say I was disgusted with a couple of west ham players last night. The big lad who kept going down with that thigh problem was an utter disgrace. Always went down after they lost the ball, never went down when they had possession.

 

And why did the ref stop the game for him, twice? His head isnt attached to his fucking leg. And how the fuck was the lad who scored the 3rd even on the pitch for that two footed 'tackle'?

 

As for us, we just didnt get out the traps. Couldnt believe the comical defending which has beig going on pre Rodgers. Why dont our players shout for the ball? Last night there must have been 5 or 6 times when two players went for the same ball causing confusion and giving whu a man 'spare'? This has been going on for years. Remember carragher and skrtel at spurs a few seasons ago? How fucking hard is it to train the players on this?

 

Mignolet is getting a lot of stick. The second goal was in my opinion a cross and even if it wasnt, no keeper was getting that. The first shows a major flaw in keepers nowaday in that they rarely come for balls in the 6 yard box. 3rd goal I dont think there's much he can do on it.

 

We've los our little pass and move game for some reason. Last season we'd play little triangles and always have an option. Where's that gone and why?

 

Correction.

[Phoenix]

that's silly reasoning. johnson allen and sturridge are all injured. we needed to invest heavily in the squad. whether the correct players were bought is another story though

 

We needed to invest at least two real quality players who would make an immediate impact upfront and midfield. Balotelli and Lallana are not them. You have to have a competitive first eleven before even thinking about the squad.

 

Sturridge would have made a difference.

Allen's stock rises the less he plays and as for Johnson most were askig for him to binned.

[KopOut]

I'll tell you this for free, Borini is more use to us than Gerrard.Christ, stevie is playing against lads who used to have his picture on their walls.We hardly coped last year, we concede 50, this isn't knee jerk, this isn't new information.Neg away, deep down you know it's over.

We've just lost the best player in the world and changed half the team. There's little or no defensive rotation with old and new, injuries aside. Add to this Sturridge's injury, and a Gaffer thinking with his balls instead of his head, and there are few surprises.

[Tony Moanero]

We needed to invest at least two real quality players who would make an immediate impact upfront and midfield. Balotelli and Lallana are not them. You have to have a competitive first eleven before even thinking about the squad.

 

Sturridge would have made a difference.

Allen's stock rises the less he plays and as for Johnson most were askig for him to binned.

 

It's not Lallana's thought he was injured. How do you know he wouldn't have made an immediate impact?

 

Allen is a very good player. His stock has risen because his quality shines through when he plays.

[Gnasher]

We needed to invest at least two real quality players who would make an immediate impact upfront and midfield. Balotelli and Lallana are not them. You have to have a competitive first eleven before even thinking about the squad.

 

Sturridge would have made a difference.

Allen's stock rises the less he plays and as for Johnson most were askig for him to binned.

At the risk of sounding repetitively boring regarding my little Welsh friend. Joe Allens stock has not only risen just because he hasn't played, it has also risen because he was part of our only good performance this season when we slaughtered Spurs away from home.

[Faustus]

I am absolutely sick to the back teeth of the fucking soft goals we concede. Honestly, what the hell do we do on the training ground all week? Do we just play head tennis and then have a game of five-a-side or something?

 

To be fair, though, for all the work you can do on team shape on the training ground- and God knows we need a lot of it sorting- but some of the mistakes that supposedly top class defenders are making on a weekly basis is just scandalous/ Honestly, it's like watching kids in the park chasing a football. There's fuck all communication or organisation. Have a look at our defensive line and it's like an Etch-A-Sketch squiggle. Honestly, who taught these people how to defend? It's the fucking first thing you learn as a kid: how to hold a fucking line. If the full back's bombing on, you shuffle over and get the deepest midfielder to drop 5 yards or so. It's just basic shit and it's frustrating the fuck out of me how we haven't grasped it. You don't have to be Jamie Carragher- just open your fucking mouth and TALK. You can see what's going on on the pitch, so fucking do something about it by communicating with those around you. And fucking nobody seems to put names on balls. The amount of times we see two players going for the one ball is criminal. Lovren is stealing a living if he's supposed to be an organiser.

 

Skrtel and Sakho aren't much better in that respect. The argument about Skrtel- 'he's not a talker'- is fucking pathetic. He's pushing thirty, for God's sake, and is one of the senior defenders at the club. He needs to step up. As I said, you don't have to be Jamie Carragher to assume responsibility. Stephane Henchoz was hardly a motormouth, handing out bollockings, but he could fucking organise and assumed responsibility. With Skrtel- and I said the same thing about Agger when he was here- I get the impression he's coasting to an extent. Don't get me wrong, he's had good games, but I don't get the sense he's ever had the determination to make himself the number one centre half and take on the position with relish the way Hyypia and Carragher did in previous years. When Rodgers dropped him during his first season in charge, his reaction spoke volumes for me- having a strop and sulking rather than accepting that his form hadn't been good enough and doing something about it.

 

Sakho? I'm sorry, I just don't see it. He's far from a poor player, but people exalt him as if he's Franz Beckenbauer. Why? Because he can pass a ball? It's the same when Agger was here- it's amazing that the ability to pass a ball five or ten yards to a red shirt can blind so many people to his deficiencies. His propensity to switch off is just shocking for someone with such a good rep- his fuck up v Ludogorets, which led to them hitting the post being a case in point. Again, he's another who needs to step up. It baffles me that he was captain of PSG because, yeah, fair does he doesn't speak English, but you never see him taking responsibility. As a defender, he's just passive. You don't need to be fluent in a language to spot danger and let your mates on.

 

To be fair, though, I recognise that having someone like Mignolet in goal doesn't exactly breed confidence and it's no wonder everyone is shitting themselves. I think the bollocking Gerrard dished out to him during the week spoke volumes about what everyone thinks of him. The best keepers in the world have an arrogance that they're boss, an aura- people like Courtois and Neuer just go 'that's my ball, I'm having that'. Mignolet looks like a lad in a game of five-a-side who's been made to go in and is grateful when the ball so happens to hit him in the tit. Fucking man up, start dishing out instructions, start fucking shouting, for fuck's sake. We must have the meekest fucking backline in the league.

 

I could go on and on about the midfield shape, but, to be honest, there's just so much and I can't be arsed making this post even longer. While Sturridge is out, I'd gladly accept a more pragmatic approach to try and grind out a couple of wins and get a few clean sheets just to breed some confidence. Everyone must be shot to pieces.

 

Christ, I'm pissed off. If you couldn't already tell.

[BCM]

Thanks Rodgers........................ Thanks for this Hangover.................... Its fucking epic

[Gym Beglin]

A lot of Sakho and Lovren bashing, but we wouldn't be short of top clubs taking them off our hands I bet.

 

I'm running out of ways to explain how desperate Gerrard and Lucas are.

[eeyore]

I don't think a single club who could afford to match the wages we pay them would come forward for either Sakho or lovren. Even on a free

[Bjornebye]

I hate coming on match threads after we lose because people spout some utter fucking shite and I hate people giving the manager down the banks and over-reacting. 

 

That said I can't believe Lucas and Borini started. They are simply not good enough and offer fuck all. Lucas gets in Gerrards way and stops him playing to his strengths and although i can understand the logic of playing a mobile forward with Balotelli, Borini just fucking runs around and offers shit all. 

 

Lallana was excellent when he came on and I think if he starts we win that game. 

 

West ham were brilliant in that first half, they won every 50/50 and every time they came forward they looked like scoring. 

 

2nd half we were marginally the better team but created hardly anything. I know we are blending in new players but we need to get a shift on because right now we aren't tearing into teams like we can. 

 

As for the abuse Pidge was giving Stewart Downing…. well….. I clapped him as he came over near us to take a corner just out of respect as an ex player, Pidge however stopped short of jumping over the hoardings and sparking him out. 

 

One more thing, after their 2nd goal, one of their fans threw a banana at their own player. We couldn't believe it. And it stayed there all game and all. Very surprised nothings been said about it. 

 

Oh I fucking love Balotelli.