West Ham Vs. Liverpool 19/09/09

[Captain]

Thank fuck we won it. We were pretty shit tonight, and that includes Carra, Gerrard and Benni.

[ratcatcher]

Some piss poor comments by some people on here slagging players off, left, right and centre.

 

OK it wasnt pretty and defensively at least, it needs to be sorted but there's no need for the overreaction by some.

 

After the villa game I said we needed to win the next 4. We've won 3 out of 3. Neext week we need to win again. Simple as.

[Delmar]

Good enough. I'd prefer 1-0, it's kind of hard to score 3 times in every match. The scouse spine was absent today, but an excellent win regardless.

[Guest simon]

Bad performance but we won so i'm happy being able to grind it out like that is how a league winning team does it.

[Red-Ed]

Good win.

 

Defensively we were poor.

 

Nando looks like he's getting back to his best and Masc on the whole seemed more up for it.

 

Stevie was below par which is always a concern and a pleasing cameo from Babel, admittedly they were shattered at this point but it's these flashes of quality that make him all the more frustrating.

[05 Milan]

Delighted for Babel, start him against Leeds.

[Jarvinja Ilnow]

that was horrible but at least we ground out the win. I'm fiarly pissed now and I blame Rafa's central midfield selection for causing me to hit the bottle on a Staurday. Lots to worry about in this performance, and I hope Rafa doesn't think Luicas and The Chief is the way forward.

 

A plus was Babel looking like he might cared. But he is a bit of a tease and you can't be sure

[James H]

:lol:

 

He is something else isn't he?

 

Masterclass from Mr Diamond Lights tonight.

[Spagbol]

Babel was shocking other than his cross. He's a wimp.

 

Can't believe people aren't giving Lucas credit where it's due. He ran the midfield today - stuck his foot in and kept us ticking over all game.

[kacangpool]

phillyhamman knows

[Spagbol]

I hope Rafa doesn't think Luicas and The Chief is the way forward.

 

You mean our two best players?

 

Just proves how thick and cliche ridden footie fans are.

[Brownie]

Good win Reds. Made fucking hard work of it though.

 

Lucas MOTM.

 

Lucas MOTM? I thought he was okay, pretty much as usual. Just what you come to expect from him, winning some good tackles and headers and playing simple passes. When he does that alongside Gerrard, such as the Burnley game, then for me that's fine; he's doing his job.

 

When he's playing alongside Mascherano however, I think we miss the incisive passing and creativity of a Gerrard or Alonso, but that's not Lucas' fault.

 

I'm mellowing towards the lad because he gives his all and it's patently not his fault that he's selected when he shouldn't be. It's becoming clear to me that the lad is at best a decent destroying midfielder and I think he has good qualities for that role. As an attacking player, however, well he just doesn't have the ability at this level.

 

Overall I think it was a very patchy performance. Overall it was poor defensively, although much improved in the second half. Mascherano was very good and looked back to his old self. Gerrard was very poor and looked laboured. Just one of those days I think, although he usually looks more committed. I'm not worried about him though, he'll create and score shit loads this season, it's just the way it is!

 

The biggest positive from today was Torres' performance. He looked a lot more hungry, was less expressive towards the officials and got stuck in, much like in his first season. When he does that, he also gets goals because his work earns them. I genuinely believe that the little things go your way when you approach things in the right manner and I think that was the case with Torres today and long may it continue - 55 goals in 91 appearances.

 

Much better results since the Villa game and hopefully we're well on our way now.

[camus]

I've been holding this inside for more than a year and never thought I'd be able to utter the words but I'll come out of the closet now: well done babel! Where have you been for the last year and a half!

[ferryman]

Onward and upward we're now 3rd.

 

Is a draw in Manchester and a Spurs win, tomorrow too much to ask for?

 

:drool:

[Red-Ed]

Watching the highlights I liked Torres celebration for the second - straight to Babel. Somehow we need to bring him into the fold, massage his ego and see if there really is a consistent player in there. I think Torres sees this and hence why he went to him.

[ratcatcher]

Oh and I love it when we play in white shirts and black shorts!

 

Classic!

[rebel23]

it's too easy to tactically deal with Gerrard now when he plays up top, everyone talks about how good he and Torres were but that becomes too known by managers, players, etc and they build their instructions/defence around that whole premise.

[King Emlyn]

Browny spot on.

[Cath]

Babel was shocking other than his cross. He's a wimp.

 

Can't believe people aren't giving Lucas credit where it's due. He ran the midfield today - stuck his foot in and kept us ticking over all game.

 

Eh? Babel's taken a huge amount of stick on here (most of it justified) but he was up for it today and showed the attitude most of us want to see from him. Agree with Milan 05, start him against Leeds. The balls he played that didn't come off could be sorted by a bit of a first team run.

[Brownie]

One thing for me as well, we have lost two games but have 12 points from six games. Three games and three draws give you 12 points also.

 

Proof that it's how many games you win that counts at the end, not how many you avoid defeat in.

[SpeedyG]

it's too easy to tactically deal with Gerrard now when he plays up top, everyone talks about how good he and Torres were but that becomes too known by managers, players, etc and they build their instructions/defence around that whole premise.

 

Sheeeiiit, next they might work out Torres plays up front, then we'll be REALLY fucked.

[Red-Ed]

You need more than an average of 2 points a game to win the leage, but I imagine if we had won three and drawn three everyone would be a lot more cheerful and optimistic in general.

[Captain]

I'm just glad this ended in a win and not a 3-3, it would have been meltdown on here if it did.

[King Emlyn]

One thing for me as well, we have lost two games but have 12 points from six games. Three games and three draws give you 12 points also.

 

Proof that it's how many games you win that counts at the end, not how many you avoid defeat in.

Which is why Utd are champions. Like Carragher said; "In this league it's the draws that kill you"

[Spagbol]

The goals against column is a worry though. I suppose we'll naturally tighten up as the defence gets settled, but we really need to sort out this marking at set pieces. We just never seem to learn from our mistakes. Any other team would have had two men on the post after conceding that header, yet we stick to the pre determined set up.