Luton Match Thread

[Croque Monsieur]

Agree with that. I often think he sees the players as chess players that always have the same ability to influence games in whatever position they have irrespective of what other players are partnering them etc. On another note I am shocked that Brownie is getting stick for being negative as he is a balanced poster - yes some of his recent posts are negative (as are my own) because we are going through a bad period on and off the field. If we were playing great football and sitting near the top then their would be no reason for negativity or criticism but unfortunately we aren't.

 

I'm with you on this one. It would appear Rafa seems to think the team is some sort of machine in which you can take out one component then replace it with another component and expect it to work in the same way. Unfortunately players are all too human and it doesn't turn out quite as you expected.

Also, I don't think Brownie is being negative at all. The lad is expressing an opinion, and as another season of (relative) failure drags on his opinion is gaining validity.

[109_ultra]

Rafa's won this competition before, but of course everyone knows better than him. It was 'a tricky away tie'. Loads and loads of them over the years. Please can we turn down the hysterics?

What is needed is for the uncertainty surrounding the club sorted out one way or the other and I hope to God it's sorted in favour of Rafa. Sacking a man who has brought us great trophies in recent years verges on the suicidal. It does and will take time and patience to win the league as there are some great teams out there.

 

It was a tricky away tie at a horrible ground against a team of fellas who's next pay packet probably depended on the result. Our players didnt come close to matching their desire. To sort out the uncertainty the players need to start winning matches NOW as Rafa said after the game. Of course the fa cup can throw up games like today but what LFC needs more than ever in the current circumstances is things going right on the field - the timing of the last two performances couldnt be worse. We should be shitting all over Wigan and Luton but the mentality of some of our players just isn't what it should be.

[Baz1969]

We were fucking shite today. Totally outclassed and outfought by a team two divisions below us.

 

I've had a read through this thread and when are you blind, opinionless twats going to stop pulling the wool over your own eyes.

 

We played as bad as i've seen us play for a while today.

 

Wake up and grow up fucking idiots!

 

Well said.

[Croque Monsieur]

It was a tricky away tie at a horrible ground against a team of fellas who's next pay packet probably depended on the result. Our players didnt come close to matching their desire. To sort out the uncertainty the players need to start winning matches NOW as Rafa said after the game. Of course the fa cup can throw up games like today but what LFC needs more than ever in the current circumstances is things going right on the field - the timing of the last two performances couldnt be worse. We should be shitting all over Wigan and Luton but the mentality of some of our players just isn't what it should be.

 

Does that mentality (and I'm assuming you mean a winning mentality!) come from the manager or the players themselves? Some of those lads out there don't know if they'll be playing from one week to the next. How can they hope to build up a winning mentality and understanding with each other when they're lining up with different team-mates in different formations every other week?

[05 Milan]

I just went back and checked and it was 2-1 when I posted. You and 05Milan can go and check if you like.

 

If i'd gotten it wrong I would have apologised but as I say i've just checked.

 

If i'm 'always negative', I take it I was fuming after the Man City game as well then? You can check that thread if you like.

 

I'm not happy at the moment because I think something is seriously wrong at the club. We're not doing very well so it's only natural that posts will be a bit negative. It must be nice being a super fan and always looking at the bright side, I wish I could be like that.

 

The one you argued with, can't remember who, said it was 3-0 at HT, you said it was 2-1, i remembered it was 2-0 at HT and just pointed it out.

[King Emlyn]

1-1

Tek a boo sun, tek a boo.

[Brownie]

The one you argued with, can't remember who, said it was 3-0 at HT, you said it was 2-1, i remembered it was 2-0 at HT and just pointed it out.

 

And you got it wrong 05Milan, which in itself is no crime, but you were trying to enhance the image of me being negative otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned it.

[lawrie]

We were fucking shite today. Totally outclassed and outfought by a team two divisions below us.

 

I've had a read through this thread and when are you blind, opinionless twats going to stop pulling the wool over your own eyes.

 

We played as bad as i've seen us play for a while today.

 

Wake up and grow up fucking idiots!

 

?? We played REALLY bad today, and everyone knows it. It isnt the first time and it certainly wont be the last.

[109_ultra]

Does that mentality (and I'm assuming you mean a winning mentality!) come from the manager or the players themselves? Some of those lads out there don't know if they'll be playing from one week to the next. How can they hope to build up a winning mentality and understanding with each other when they're lining up with different team-mates in different formations every other week?

 

Its a mentality to win for the club, the fans, the manager but probably more importantly for themselves - it can be instilled by the manager but at the end of the day some of them players were shitting out of fifty fifties all over the pitch (cant recall one 50/50 we won?) - thats not down to formation its down to heart and mentality.

[Rashid]

my main observation with liverpool with gh and with rafa is we don't enjoy ourselves, we play with shackles around our anckles we are built to not lose, so the margin in games is usually tight resulting in mental and physical fatigue, and the few games where we do play with freedom there are big changes so any confidence aquired is gone.

 

Will you stop writing in just small letters! It does my head in. Ficking hell dredd.. sort it out.

 

But I agree 100% with that.

[Thants]

Hello all. It was a cracking cup tie.

[George Costanza]

Today was a typical 3rd round cup tie. David v's Goliath with David performing far superior than their every day level. We were shit, on a one off game basis you take it as a bad day at the office and be greatful to be still in the hat for tomorrows draw. it can ahppen to the best of teams. However the concerns come from these type of performances becoming far too frequent

[cochcaer]

Does that mentality (and I'm assuming you mean a winning mentality!) come from the manager or the players themselves?

 

Rafa. I thought we played quite open football in his first season but in hindsight that was probably because Cisse and others weren't automotons like the current bunch of Stepford Footballers. We've steadily become more defensive and the only overlapping if forwards going deeper than midfielders. You'd think Houllier sneaks into the dressing room before kick off, rubs out Rafa's tactics and replaces them with his own.

[stringvest]

Hello all. Very very poor again today. Yet in amongst a sea of terrible individual performances, Kuyt managed to undershine everyone again. I feel bad about singling out the guy yet again, but fuck me, that was an absolutely shocking performance from a premier league player. One of the worst I've witnessed from any player of any team. Hardly ever made a pass to a teammate. And managed to get a teammate booked.

 

The whole team need to look at themselves though. Lucas and Alonso terrible, fullbacks awful, Babel and Benayoun ineffective, Crouch static (but at least followed up for the goal and didn't give the ball away) - only the goalie and Carragher came out with any real credit today.

[moxter]

I only watched the second half. But I have to say, this is the worst I've felt since Burnley - because I thought (hoped) that Wigan would be as bad as it got. We were truly dreadful. Perhaps it was different in the first half (?) but what I saw wasn't a plucky lower division side putting up a manful performance, hurling themselves into tackles and goal-line clearances and holding out for a brave draw. It was Luton destroying us in every part of the pitch. Carragher and Riise (who I thought were our best players) putting desperate high up-and-unders just to get the ball away from our box. Lucas and Kuyt giving the ball away time after time. And oh, my, word...Steve Finnan was absolutely awful today. I'm his biggest fan in the world but this season his mustard-cutting abilities are just not there.

 

As with the Wigan game, the problem for me is that there IS NO OBVIOUS SOLUTION. As much as we might debate things on message boards, the fact is we all disagree on what's wrong. There isn't necessarily a right answer. The only thing I would say is this: for all we might get hacked off with one player or other not being 'world class', EVERY one of these players has, at some point, shown genuine ability for an extended period, at Premiership level and beyond. Hell, most of them have got to a Champions League final, some of them have even won it. They ARE better technically than Luton's players, no matter how much we slag Kuyt, Riise or whoever. Kuyt scored 14 goals last season and was probably our best striker - and we had a decent season. He doesn't go hopeless. Riise has been part of a top European squad for years and has played two Champions League finals, and with 68 caps for Norway. He's not suddenly hopeless (it's not hard to name better left backs, but HOPELESS simply isn't a word you can use about a player with his expertise and accomplishments.

 

AND YET a nearly-full-strength team get dicked on by Luton. There were no redeeming features about today's performance; we were utterly shite. As the bloke on the telly said, there's not a single player who can look in the mirror and be proud of himself tonight (they said Carra was the exception, but even carra has better days - much better days). That was a team with q.u.a.l.i.t.y all through the XI today.

 

So, logically, blame MUST go solely to one man. Rafa has got something fundamentally wrong today - and that 'something' has been a cancer that's been spreading through the dressing room in the last few weeks. Will h get the sack? Do the Yanks honestly give a shit whether we play nice football or not? Of course not. There's be extra cash in the bank from a replay - they're probably delighted. Results might matter to them somewhat, they coulsn't give a toss whether we play sexy football or not. No, the financial figures will determine Rafa's position, subject to whatever reports Parry feeds them.

 

What do we do? One again, dear friends, just like on Wednesday, I don't have a fucking clue - and that's what's so depressing.

[Anny Road]

''This is far from what we have come to expect from a Benitez side. At the very least his teams have always offered organisation, professionalism and a work ethic which makes them notoriously hard to beat.''

 

Has he lost the dressing room? Serious question.

[George Costanza]

Tony B's match report:

 

Luton Town 1, Liverpool 1 - Liverpool Daily Post.co.uk

 

 

EDIT: 'kinell - I put the URL in and it added the title all by itself. TLW's gone posh.

 

top notch report that.

[dave u]

I blame the players for that shambles today.

 

Ablett's reserves would beat Luton.

[Brownie]

I blame the players for that shambles today.

 

Ablett's reserves would beat Luton.

 

It's worrying that the players are being blamed for an increasing number of games lately. Something's not right behind the scenes - whether it's the fact that the players are expecting Rafa to be sacked I don't know, but as I say it's very fishy.

 

There's no fight or urgency there and that's been really evident this week.

[aws]

I blame the players for that shambles today.

 

Ablett's reserves would beat Luton.

 

No work-rate. Every 50/50 ball shirked.

[Moschops II]

''This is far from what we have come to expect from a Benitez side. At the very least his teams have always offered organisation, professionalism and a work ethic which makes them notoriously hard to beat.''

 

Has he lost the dressing room? Serious question.

 

Most people in any line of work lose focus when they know their boss is leaving. It's human nature.

 

(For some reason, I just typed "hyman nature" first just then. Hm).

[Vincent Vega]

What worries me is crap first half display, you expect the players to go in at half-time and get a bit of a bollocking and come out fired up for the second half. What in fact happens is we are equally as shit. Surely the dressing room at half-time is where Rafa sorts out what went wrong in the first half and we see an improvement second half?? I have to say I'm very worried and wonder if some of the players are no longer listening to him/willing to give their all for him (I'm thinking those who are constantly rotated).

 

I was also alarmed at his urgency to get Mascherano on as soon as we took the lead. This natural instinct to protect a 1-0 lead is going to be his undoing, much like our previous manager.

[WaltonRed]

Good point to bring the dressing room up, its possbile he's lost it. The players are'nt stupid they know he's going at the end of the season or sooner.

[zigackly]

I was also alarmed at his urgency to get Mascherano on as soon as we took the lead.

 

He had Mascherano stripped off to come on before we scored. Most likely because Alonso is still looking for full fitness.