Spurs Game

[Guest LFD]

Spurs without Lennon look very limited, very glad he didn't play.

 

Thought the team showed plenty of passion and fight, with Carragher leading by example in this regard... but Mascherano, The Greek, Kuyt, Lucas etc should also be proud of themselves.

 

Reina made a save or two just before our goal which was really important. Thought Kuyt took the goal really well, as he still had a lot to do after decent work from Aquilani.

 

The Greek had another fine game and I like him, think he was worth the money we paid for a fourth choice centre back. Kuyt helo up the ball well and really does have super movement with his endless running, plus took his goals well. Mascherano and Lucas gave the back four brilliant protection and another plus was the performance of Riera - who I think is our best option on the left or certainly has been before Maxi arrived. I lovely Maxi's pass before Ngog winning the penalty, one touch and right where Ngog wanted it, that is what we have lacked at times penetrating, slick, one touch passing.

 

I agree with Brownie had Spurs turned up or Lennon played I think we probably would have struggled. But given our injuries, I thought it was a spirited performance, fully of graft rather than craft.

[Tom R]

I thought it was a spirited performance, fully of graft rather than craft.

 

Perfect summary.

[Faustus]

A massive, massive win.

 

As I said in the match thread after the Stoke game, I was pleased with the nature of the performance rather than the performance itself in terms of playing with spirit and being up for the battle, and I thought we more than followed it up.

 

Reina and Mascherano were outstanding. I was pleased to see Riera and Degen put in a shift on the flanks and I thought Lucas did a decent job as well.

 

I heard some fella behind me say something about Kyrgiakos that hit the nail on the head for me. He said to his mate that 'he's just a big fucking yard-dog, but sometimes you need that.' I totally agree. He's a very limited player, but the last two games he's been up for the scrap and given us all. I think he's won every single ball in the air in the past two games. For me, he's done enough to keep his place against Wolves.

 

Carra's taken some stick this season but I thought he epitomised the team last night. The bit towards the end of the first half when he bombed through the tiniest of spaces between Bale and someone else (think it might have been Palacios now, but can't remember) to win a corner just summed it up. Motivated by pure desire. Liverpool legend.

 

Dirk Kuyt- he fucking infuriates me, but fair play to him last night. He could have scored about five last night and that's no exaggeration! I'm not a fan of him up top on his own because I think he tends to drift infield and out to the flanks too much to look for the ball (and there were times when I thought he did this again last night) when you really need a fixed presence up there, but credit where credit's due, he had a stormer. Never stopped working (but we all know that about him) and caused Spurs plenty of problems.

 

Just hope we can go on a bit of a run now and string some wins and decent performances together.

[Fowlers God]

In Dirks post match interview he was asked if the two goals made up for the miss against stoke. I cannot remember his exact response but said that it had kept him awake all night. This is meant something to me anyway. It meant he cared and was aware how much it means to win.

 

The wolves game cannot come at a better time. With all due respect and we have to respect every team we play at the moment, we could do with hopefully an easy win so we can build on last night.

[Kevin D]

Enjoyed that more than I have any win in ages. It was vintage Benitez(questionable team selection, strange set-up but vindicated in the end) and the performance reminded me of his first two years here. We missed about 4 good chances and I don't remember when we last created 4 chances in a game.

 

Seem to have put together a mini-run without noticing, no reason it shouldn't continue.

[Guest LFD]

Enjoyed that more than I have any win in ages. It was vintage Benitez(questionable team selection, strange set-up but vindicated in the end) and the performance reminded me of his first two years here. We missed about 4 good chances and I don't remember when we last created 4 chances in a game.

 

Seem to have put together a mini-run without noticing, no reason it shouldn't continue.

 

In his first two season's he had a limited team, got them all working hard and hitting teams on the break, as we did last night and it was effective.

 

But really we should be doing more than sitting deep and hitting teams on the break. Sure we have injuries, but we should have a better squad to cope more easily in this situation.

 

It was a performance full of guts, but we should really be able to play a more expansive game even without Gerrard, Torres etc. As it showed against Stoke we can't just defend deep, as we don't have too much threat on the counter attack with Kuyt, Riera, Aquilani etc,

[zigackly]

Enjoyed that more than I have any win in ages. It was vintage Benitez(questionable team selection, strange set-up but vindicated in the end) and the performance reminded me of his first two years here. We missed about 4 good chances and I don't remember when we last created 4 chances in a game.

 

Seem to have put together a mini-run without noticing, no reason it shouldn't continue.

 

I've been moaning for a while that I couldn't see the signs of revival and before the game last night I was at one of the lowest ebbs I have experienced with regard to our football.

 

I'm feeling pretty fucking chipper this morning though. Let's just hope we can continue it against Wolves.

 

With regard to LFD's post, we need to walk before we can run. We've just been in possibly the worst rut of form we've experienced in my memory.

[Fugitive]

I feel happy the day after a game for the first time in ages.

 

I'm also badly hungover after going to Medication for the first time in years.

 

Good night all round.

[Ted]

Really, really good win that. Utterly deserved too and I've not been able to say that too often this season.

 

Thought in midfield Mascherano was excellent. Lucas was, well, Lucas. He gave away a few stupid fouls and gave the ball away a bit (wasn't the only one) but all in all he was pretty decent.

 

Kuyt was much improved, but the term "couldn't get any worse" springs to mind. His control is still poor, along with his decision making. Don't know if anyone saw his attempted overhead pass that hit him in the face and went for a throw in, shit like that I've come to expect from him lately as he's just looked unbelievabley clumsy but he did well last night and credit to him.

 

Aquilani was ok. I think he looks really lightweight though and muscled out easily on a few occassions by Spurs midfield/defence. His form will hopefully come on in time and I agree with Andy Gray when he says that Aquilani should now be finishing games. He'll get that soon though, so no real worries there.

 

Riera did well, probably his best performance of a stop start season and he showed flashes of good play. Hopefully he'll start to give a fuck a bit more because he's looked like he couldn't give a fuck quite a lot this season.

 

Degen was the worst player on the pitch in a red shirt. He makes Cisse look as intelligent as Xavi; he just doesn't know what to do.

 

That moment when Mascherano was bombing forward and looking for someone to run ahead of him on the right and Degen was just stood on the halfway line was ridiculous. What's the point in playing right wing if you're not going to run the line? He was very, very poor and I hope Maxi comes in soon.

 

Sub wise: Ngog was brilliant, Darby didn't have time and Maxi looked comfortable.

 

Sky were calling it contraversial, but I don't see how. I don't think Defoe's goal should have been ruled out and Webb showed himself, again, as the most overrated ref in England. But that, and Modric's first half chance, were all Spurs had. We could, and should, have been way out of sight but 2-0 will do.

 

Just need to kick on now. Well done to the players and Rafa, though. Apart from Degen.

 

EDIT: Can't believe I wrote that shite and left out the defence.

 

All superb, especially Carra and The Greek (apart from his fuck up).

[zigackly]

Rafael Benítez finds respite with the help of Dutch courage

Tony Barrett

 

Having appeared cornered, with all escape routes closed off, Rafael Benítez managed to pull off the latest in a long line of great escapes — this time at the expense of a man nicknamed Harry Houdini, no less.

 

Just when the walls appeared to be closing in on the Liverpool manager, he clambered his way to safety — for the time being at least — with a hard-earned but merited victory over Tottenham Hotspur that cut Liverpool’s deficit behind the North London club, and Manchester City, to a single point.

 

Say what you like about Benítez, about his record in the transfer market, his man-management skills or his ability to get the best out of his team, but when it matters most he has a happy knack of coming up with the win that keeps him out of harm’s way.

 

Throughout his career, the Spaniard’s success has been built on responding to adversity. Maybe that explains why he decided to crank up the pressure on himself and his team in advance of their latest meeting with a rival for top-four status by billing the clash as “make or break”. Perhaps Benítez has realised that he – and by proxy his team – are at their best when the odds seem stacked against them.

 

If that was his strategy, it worked. Liverpool can this morning look at the Barclays Premier League table with a great deal more optimism than they have for some time.

 

Not only are they back in the middle of a fascinating race for that all important fourth-place finish, they are the only one of the four main competitors who have the experience of having completed this tricky course and distance in the past 13 years.

 

Harry Redknapp could only look on with begrudging admiration as his managerial adversary once again wriggled off the hook. If he did not know before, the Spurs manager is now all too aware of the standards that his team must reach if they are to take Liverpool’s place at European football’s top table.

 

Certainly, Route 66 — this was the 66th consecutive game in which Tottenham have failed to inflict a defeat on one of the established members of English football’s “big four” away from home — turned out to be yet another road to nowhere for Redknapp and his players and they can have few complaints.

 

Dirk Kuyt, the Holland forward, scored both Liverpool goals, the first in the opening minutes and the second during injury time, but the reality was that the home side’s margin of victory could, and perhaps should, have been greater.

 

Displaying a collective determination that has been often missing this season, Liverpool made light of the absence of their biggest stars — Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were again unavailable through injury — to produce arguably their most spirited performance of the campaign so far.

 

A total of ten points from their past four games gives an unexpected credence to the theory of George Gillett Jr, the co-owner, that Liverpool have simply been struggling to overcome a blip caused by ill fortune and injury. Perhaps, for once, the Liverpool co-owner has hit on a hypothesis that will find favour with the fans.

 

Redknapp may argue that the glitch could have been extended into something more severe had Jermain Defoe not been denied an equalising goal for offside, but to do so would miss the point. Tottenham were second best on a night when they failed to deliver on the rich promise that has characterised their form in the first half of this season.

 

Like his manager, Kuyt simply refuses to be written off. A string of abject performances and the ensuing criticism would be more than enough to undermine players of lesser spirit than the Dutchman. But what he lacks in technique he so often makes up for in heart and this was one of those occasions.

 

Kuyt’s opening goal was well taken enough, as he calmly found the bottom corner of Heurelho Gomes’s net after being teed up intelligently by Alberto Aquilani. But it was his injury-time goal from a twice-taken penalty, conceded when Sébastien Bassong upended David Ngog, which provided the most vivid example of his strength of character. Pilloried on Saturday for missing a late chance that denied his team all three points away to Stoke City, Kuyt’s response was emblematic of a Liverpool side that refused to buckle.

 

The race for fourth place now promises to be the most keenly contested in years. Liverpool have responded to question marks about their ability to stay with the pace in the best fashion possible, by gaining momentum at the expense of one of their closest competitors.

 

Tottenham must respond in a similar manner by putting this setback behind them and rediscover the confidence that has put them on an upward trajectory since Redknapp took the helm at White Hart Lane.

 

It is tough at the top all right and the Spurs manager — who was regaled with chants of “You’re getting taxed in the morning” from the Kop — faces the challenge of having to replenish the belief that Spurs can still qualify for the Champions League, a conviction that Benítez insists is endemic within his own ranks.

 

It is this expression of faith that underlines the magnitude of Benítez’s latest escape. Defeat last night would have all but ended such hopes; now the Liverpool manager can afford to look forward with a belief that his minimum acceptable requirement for the season is within reach.

 

Liverpool (4-4-1-1): J M Reina — J Carragher, M Skrtel, S Kyrgiakos, E Insúa — P Degen (sub: S Darby, 90min), J Mascherano, Lucas Leiva, A Riera (sub: M Rodríguez, 81) — A Aquilani (sub: D Ngog, 79) — D Kuyt. Substitutes not used: D Cavalieri, J Spearing, R Babel, D Pacheco. Booked: Mascherano, Lucas.

 

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): H Gomes — V Corluka (sub: A Hutton, 62), M Dawson, L King (sub: S Bassong, 81), G Bale — L Modric, W Palacios, J Jenas, N Kranjcar (sub: R Keane, 65) — P Crouch, J Defoe. Substitutes not used: B Alnwick, D Rose, Giovani dos Santos, R Pavlyuchenko. Booked: Jenas, Bale, Palacios.

 

Referee: H Webb.

[RyanLFC]

Last night was fucking top. Only just woken up.

[Wor Horse]

They acted like they cared last night.

 

The sex has gone but at least they care, that's why I'm willing to give this relationship a chance.

[tenner]

I taught Carra set the tone early with a few crunching tackles and the team responded. A good display by all and the result puts us back in the hunt for fourth place. Passion was back in the team.

[Torvald Utne]

I taught Carra set the tone early with a few crunching tackles and the team responded. A good display by all and the result puts us back in the hunt for fourth place. Passion was back in the team.

 

I had to laugh when I saw your location.

[Captain]

I was out skiing last night. Absolutely made up with the results, although I'm not sure it will mean much in the end.

[Kevin D]

Last night was fucking top. Only just woken up.

 

Designated match-thread starter.

 

In his first two season's he had a limited team, got them all working hard and hitting teams on the break, as we did last night and it was effective.

 

But really we should be doing more than sitting deep and hitting teams on the break. Sure we have injuries, but we should have a better squad to cope more easily in this situation.

 

It was a performance full of guts, but we should really be able to play a more expansive game even without Gerrard, Torres etc. As it showed against Stoke we can't just defend deep, as we don't have too much threat on the counter attack with Kuyt, Riera, Aquilani etc,

 

I agree. Would be lying if I said that allowing Tottenham to dominate possesion at Anfield while only playing , at a push, three recognised attacking players is ideal. I thought they'd punish us, and they probably would have if they had anything about them, as the second half wore on and I was crying out for a change in strategy and personnel but Rafa timed it perfectly.

 

Even if the passing and decision making left a lot to be desired, I thought the positives far outweighed the negatives. It was probably the best performance of the season,actually. That's us played all three of our -*sighs* - rivals and I've not seen anything to justify the hype they've received, very limited teams in my opinion.

[23_Carra_Gold]

You see those 'experts' banging on about the 'offside' Defoe incident today?

 

Is it not made irrelevant by the fact that he dragged Pepe to the ground before sticking it in the net? Does the fact that he fouled the keeper escape these thick cunts?

[llego]

I promised myself i wouldn't moan adter last night as a win is win.

 

Needless to say I was very unhappy about a number of things and one or two players need lining up and shooting and there was some weird decisions made again by the manager.

 

You poor dear. I know how hard you take it when we win. I recommend you curl up with a nice hot mug of warm milk and just forget about the world for a while.

[Tom R]

You poor dear. I know how hard you take it when we win. I recommend you curl up with a nice hot mug of warm milk and just forget about the world for a while.

 

Go fuck yourself, you tit.

 

You can't ever accuse me of not wanting us to win. it's precisely because i want to win that I actually fucking give a shit and am prepared to see the shit that is in front of me.

 

You can keep closing your eyes and ignoring the fucking stench in front of you, if it makes you feel better, but don't ever accuse me of not wanting my fucking club to win just because I'm not blind and stupid.

 

Cunt.

[Original202]

Thought it was a fantastic performance and it was the first game in ages I've enjoyed watching.

 

When we play with that much aggression and intensity we're a match for anyone, even without the best players. It reminded me of the 2005 win over Juventus when we started on fire. You can just tell we're going to win from the first few touches in games like this, especially when the crowd is roaring too.

 

How we can keep up that sort of performance is another matter though, but it should give everyone a huge lift and make afew players realise that they are allowed to take some responsibility themselves rather than hoping for Gerrard or Torres to do everything for them.

 

Would take any sort of win next week against Wolves. 13 points from 15 and all of a sudden things can look very different.

[Dublin Red]

Go fuck yourself, you tit.

 

You can't ever accuse me of not wanting us to win. it's precisely because i want to win that I actually fucking give a shit and am prepared to see the shit that is in front of me.

 

You can keep closing your eyes and ignoring the fucking stench in front of you, if it makes you feel better, but don't ever accuse me of not wanting my fucking club to win just because I'm not blind and stupid.

 

Cunt.

 

 

It obviously suits your agenda when we lose so I would agree with the poster.

 

Also, from reading your non "hilarious" posts, you seem to talk an awful lot of predictable shite about tactics, formations etc.

 

Did you ever play to any decent level yourself ? I doubt it, to be honest ;)

[RobbieOR]

You see those 'experts' banging on about the 'offside' Defoe incident today?

 

Is it not made irrelevant by the fact that he dragged Pepe to the ground before sticking it in the net? Does the fact that he fouled the keeper escape these thick cunts?

 

I said that at time to me da when Gray was banging on about the offside.

[zigackly]

Accusing people of wanting us to lose is bullshit. No red wants us to lose.

[Squabblefest]

I got back from the game, watched it on Sky and fucking loved it just as much.

It's been months since I last did that.

 

My favourite moment was just before half time when Jamie chased them down by the Kop and won us a corner out of nothing. The fucking noise that went up and then the camera pans across us and one fella's still on his feet pumping his fist in the air. It sent shivers down my spine.

I fucking love this club and its fans and I'm proud to be one of them.

[Wor Horse]

I got back from the game, watched it on Sky and fucking loved it just as much.

It's been months since I last did that.

 

My favourite moment was just before half time when Jamie chased them down by the Kop and won us a corner out of nothing. The fucking noise that went up and then the camera pans across us and one fella's still on his feet pumping his fist in the air. It sent shivers down my spine.

I fucking love this club and its fans and I'm proud to be one of them.

 

is right.