Good performance

[Gav]

Ok they're a poor team ,but thought it was quite clinical the way we put them to bed -delighted nando scored,goin mad crouchy didn't get on the scoresheet from that rebound

Some header by l'il luis -amazing technique

nice interaction between the sumo and cisse for the 3rd

 

only gripe is that a few more goals would've been nice

 

on that red card - might be wrong but I could've sworn it was for something nasty (possibly racial )said to momo,not the ref.at least thats what it looked like from the replay -might be doing the guy a injustice but can't think what else would make the ref send the lad off like that

[Nick Leeson]

s'what I thought about the sending off Gav. He did have a snidey look on his face when he was saying whatever it is he was saying.

 

Thought they defended quite well even though we had all the play they threw some good last ditch chances in which defo stopped the score being a proper twatting.

 

Not going to praise or criticise any of the players individually as it's all been said before. Job well done.

[Captain]

Good performance indeed. I think Cissé took his goal very well after Kewell set him up.

 

Btw, Chelsea lost :laugh:

[Dirk]

I thought the same about the sending off. The ref said he sent him off for racist abuse. T'was just on ITV.

[Nick Leeson]

Ref has just confirmed it was for racial abuse. Uefa will probably wipe it clear though as racism isn't a punishable offence in football anymore.

[Nick Leeson]

Good performance indeed. I think Cissé took his goal very well after Kewell set him up.

 

Btw, Chelsea lost :laugh:

Although Chelsea getting beat is nice to see, it's certainly made our position a little more worrying.

 

Betis have defo got something to play for now at Anfield as they know we have got to go to Chelsea after that.

[Cardie]

Yep.

 

Could have done without Betis winning.

[chrisbonnie]

yeah, the lad was sent off for racial abuse, i thought thats what it was myself

 

as for the performance, we where fantastic, in fairness, they`re hardly world beaters, but talking about beaters, who`s gonn astop us in this competition, we seem fucking amazing in it yet again, in fact, ALOT better than last year

 

chuffed Chavski lost, but in another way i was hoping the group was gonna be finished tonight, but ah well

 

oh, what about alonso again, im not a child, but im not that old either(24) he seems the most influential player we`ve signed in my memory, he just never loses the ball, i love the guy to bits, in a non gay way of course :$

[Dirk]

Although Chelsea getting beat is nice to see, it's certainly made our position a little more worrying.

 

Betis have defo got something to play for now at Anfield as they know we have got to go to Chelsea after that.

 

 

We only have to go after Chelsea if we don't get something from Betis. If we draw with Betis we are through. We are three points ahead of Betis with two games to play.

[Gav]

Ref has just confirmed it was for racial abuse. Uefa will probably wipe it clear though as racism isn't a punishable offence in football anymore.

 

bastard - thats disgusting thing to do to a fellow professional- should throw the book at him- what made me sure was the look of hurt in momo's face when he said it

[Captain]

Although Chelsea getting beat is nice to see, it's certainly made our position a little more worrying.

 

Betis have defo got something to play for now at Anfield as they know we have got to go to Chelsea after that.

That is one way to look at it. I choose another perspective: Chelsea lost top position in the group and it's now ours to lose.

 

I'm confident we will not lose to Betis at Anfield. They will have to attack us and leave some space behind their back four, which should suite us nicely because I presume Djibril will start that game. He's got so much more mobility than the other two it's unreal!

[Nick Leeson]

I know we're 3 points ahead of them but them knowing we've got to go to Chelsea is definately an incentive to go all out for the win against us. I'm not shitting it but we could have done without the inconvenience. It's probably going to be the biggest game Real Betis have ever played so they'll give it everything against us.

 

We could have forgot about the champions league after tonight and concentrated solely on the league, until the knock-out stages.

[RedinSweden]

oh, what about alonso again, im not a child, but im not that old either(24) he seems the most influential player we`ve signed in my memory, he just never loses the ball, i love the guy to bits, in a non gay way of course :$

 

I agree he is ace. I love him, in a full on man-love way. He has turned me. The missus will understand.

[Captain]

I know we're 3 points ahead of them but them knowing we've got to go to Chelsea is definately an incentive to go all out for the win against us. I'm not shitting it but we could have done without the inconvenience. It's probably going to be the biggest game Real Betis have ever played so they'll give it everything against us.

 

We could have forgot about the champions league after tonight and concentrated solely on the league, until the knock-out stages.

I'm not buying into that. Do you really think Rafa would just concede first place in the group to Chelsea if they had beat Betis tonight?

 

I don't.

[Guest attacking_play]

no worries on Betis...we need the pressure...we wont be complacent now. Chelsea on the other hand..will feel mighty pressured at ANderlecht..knowing they are expected to win, and needing to at least draw...hehe..looking forward to it all...

[Red Nick]

Thats two good performances on the trot and further to the other thread i think you can see the nucleus of Rafa's team evolving. However I dont think he has got a clue which his best attacking options are. He tried 4 different options tonight.

 

Garcia seems to be back in form which does make a huge difference for the home games.

[Brownie]

Thought we were outstanding tonight. They aren't the best side obviously and we should be winning comfortably, but it still has to be done. Chelsea struggled to beat them at home so it's a fairly good achievement i'd say.

 

The manner of the victory and performance was the most satisfying thing though. We played some really good football and had a good tempo throughout the match. I thought the way we won the ball back so quickly was a feature of the game. Sissoko is really useful in this aspect so i'd stick with him in the middle and Gerrard on the right until January as it is the most balanced side available to us at the moment.

 

Alonso was brilliant too and whisper it quietly, but Kewell looked really sharp as well!

 

Overall a good night, although Saturday is far more important for me. Hopefully we will have gained a lot of confidence from this and we can start pushing on in the league a bit.

[Red Nick]

i thought Alonso's defensive work was truly excellent which means that a Alonso/Gerrard CM pairing would be defensively solid enough to cope with most teams, at anfield this would allow us to play Kewell and Garcia in wide positions if required but like Ian says id keep SG wide until Jan

[Guest Gazmo25]

Thought it was an excellent performance and I though Big Sami was back to his best, don't know what it looked like on tv but at the ground he looked like the Sami from 00/01. Only gripe is regarding our crossing and set pieces, esp.corners. Need sorting out. Regarding Chelsea, we need to put a positive spin on this. It's in our hands and we should get at least a point against Betis. Really happy with tonight though, esp happy for Nando, first of many.

[Brownie]

Thought it was an excellent performance and I though Big Sami was back to his best, don't know what it looked like on tv but at the ground he looked like the Sami from 00/01. Only gripe is regarding our crossing and set pieces, esp.corners. Need sorting out. Regarding Chelsea, we need to put a positive spin on this. It's in our hands and we should get at least a point against Betis. Really happy with tonight though, esp happy for Nando, first of many.

 

Have to say i'm airing on the side of caution regarding the status of the group right now. Betis are a good side and could cause us problems at Anfield so we have to be on our mettle. I think we are more than capable of beating them, indeed I believe a point would be enough. I've followed Liverpool and football for long enough now though to realise that you can never be certain.

 

I think we'll beat Chelsea at the bridge though no matter what, it's written in the stars.

[Red Nick]

like us to lose to betis and beat chelsea knocking them out, in fact we could lose to betis and draw 1-1 or higher to put chelsea out, wouldnt it be fantastic to see chelsea out

 

Not sure if my heart could take another night like the last one though

[RedinSweden]

Thought we were outstanding tonight. They aren't the best side obviously and we should be winning comfortably, but it still has to be done. Chelsea struggled to beat them at home so it's a fairly good achievement i'd say.

 

The manner of the victory and performance was the most satisfying thing though. We played some really good football and had a good tempo throughout the match. I thought the way we won the ball back so quickly was a feature of the game. Sissoko is really useful in this aspect so i'd stick with him in the middle and Gerrard on the right until January as it is the most balanced side available to us at the moment.

 

Alonso was brilliant too and whisper it quietly, but Kewell looked really sharp as well!

 

Overall a good night, although Saturday is far more important for me. Hopefully we will have gained a lot of confidence from this and we can start pushing on in the league a bit.

 

I think Garcia deserves a mention too. Cracking header and his workrate is excellent. He tackles back, chases rebounds. I love him. Gerrard was all over the place causing trouble too. Alonso, I'll say no more on and Sissoko is a cracking find, the swedish commentators were creaming over him. Only 20. Ace.

[Brownie]

like us to lose to betis and beat chelsea knocking them out, in fact we could lose to betis and draw 1-1 or higher to put chelsea out, wouldnt it be fantastic to see chelsea out

 

Not sure if my heart could take another night like the last one though

 

As much as I dislike the cunts I would have preferred them to win tonight to secure our progression. They are despicable, but I care far more about us than them so anything that helps us out is a good thing for me.

[Red Nick]

I think Garcia deserves a mention too. Cracking header and his workrate is excellent. He tackles back, chases rebounds. I love him. Gerrard was all over the place causing trouble too. Alonso, I'll say no more on and Sissoko is a cracking find, the swedish commentators were creaming over him. Only 20. Ace.

 

i dont think its a coincidence that since Garcia has returned to form we have improved greatly.

 

Saying that i would defo put him on the bench for Villa game as he always struggles away from home when were up against it.

[MLB]

Thought we were outstanding tonight. They aren't the best side obviously and we should be winning comfortably, but it still has to be done. Chelsea struggled to beat them at home so it's a fairly good achievement i'd say.

 

The manner of the victory and performance was the most satisfying thing though. We played some really good football and had a good tempo throughout the match. I thought the way we won the ball back so quickly was a feature of the game. Sissoko is really useful in this aspect so i'd stick with him in the middle and Gerrard on the right until January as it is the most balanced side available to us at the moment.

 

Alonso was brilliant too and whisper it quietly, but Kewell looked really sharp as well!

 

Overall a good night, although Saturday is far more important for me. Hopefully we will have gained a lot of confidence from this and we can start pushing on in the league a bit.

 

 

Agreed. That's much more along the lines of what I was hoping to see this season. It wasn't perfect, far from it, but the passing and movement was much improved, and we never went back into our shell after we got the first goal. The back four were outstanding (special mention to Riise who has shown an excellent attitude in the last couple of games, and should surely be our first choice LB for home games now), and Alonso is very nearly back to his very best form. The only disappointing performances for me were Crouch and Garcia. Obviously Garcia got himself off the hook a bit with the goal, but he was still very exasperating at times, and Crouch just looked off the pace in what was already a very slow front line. Overall though it was a very positive performance, and hopefully we'll see more of the same spirit against Villa. Right now I reckon our first choice line up should be:

 

Reina

Finnan

Riise

Carra

Hyypia

Gerrard

Alonso

Sissoko

Kewell

Cisse

Morientes

 

 

...with Crouch and either Djimi or Warnock coming in for certain games. If we stick to that and keep up the more positive tactics then we should start amassing points and climbing the table in no time.