Wigan Away - Match Thread

[shaunstrudwick]

Yeah he has to cut that out. Its doing him, the team and the fans no good at all.

 

I'm surprised the media havn't picked up on it and started to rally a Gerrard to Chelsea/Man City/Real Madrid campaign.

 

when 4th is mathematically impossible they will - i have no doubt about that

[shaunstrudwick]

He lost them months ago.

 

i agree - though some people seemed to have forgotten

[ngogswilly]

when 4th is mathematically impossible they will - i have no doubt about that

 

I'd be scared there might be truth to it at this point.

[Iantn]

i agree - though some people seemed to have forgotten

 

Mainly the players actually.

[shaunstrudwick]

A - (Don't laugh now) Because I think the misguided fool thinks we can win the Europa. I know, I know...

 

fulfilling his promise of finishing 4th should be the priority

 

he can't rely on the possibility of maybe winning the Europa to save him

 

he fucking got us relegated from the proper European cup ffs!

 

i have zero time for Rafa anymore - he should resign tomorrow

[stringvest]

I think Gerrard will be the first to admit he had a shite game. He's had a few this year, probably his worst year since he became a first team regular. Some of his teammates play that bad 90% of the time though. That's got to be depressing for a player rightfully regarded as world class and a major reason why Benitez has won anything since he's been here.

 

Gerrard knows he could be playing alongside better players week in week out and not have to suffer from the immense frustration that playing with the dross must visit upon him every week. When one of the very few players that was up there with Gerrard and was on the same wavelength upped sticks in the close season, Gerrard's heart must have sunk.

 

A frequently unavailable Torres, and a whole load of shite to call your teammates. That must really grate when he knows he could be playing with Kaka or Ronaldo.

[shaunstrudwick]

Mainly the players actually.

 

yeah - as evidenced tonight

 

wtf?

[RoboRiise]

fulfilling his promise of finishing 4th should be the priority

 

he can't rely on the possibility of maybe winning the Europa to save him

 

he fucking got us relegated from the proper European cup ffs!

 

i have zero time for Rafa anymore - he should resign tomorrow

 

 

Agree completely.

[Iantn]

I think Gerrard will be the first to admit he had a shite game. He's had a few this year, probably his worst year since he became a first team regular. Some of his teammates play that bad 90% of the time though. That's got to be depressing for a player rightfully regarded as world class and a major reason why Benitez has won anything since he's been here.

 

Gerrard knows he could be playing alongside better players week in week out and not have to suffer from the immense frustration that playing with the dross must visit upon him every week. When one of the very few players that was up there with Gerrard and was on the same wavelength upped sticks in the close season, Gerrard's heart must have sunk.

 

A frequently unavailable Torres, and a whole load of shite to call your teammates. That must really grate when he knows he could be playing with Kaka or Ronaldo.

 

Not really arguing with any of that mate but if his mind is else where he knows were the door is. I love the lad but if he's thinking he deserves better then he can fuck right off.

[a stoner]

Just got in and checked the result. Why am I not that surprised. Shocking.

[Iantn]

yeah - as evidenced tonight

 

wtf?

 

As evidenced by the points pick up since around Boxing Day actually.

[shaunstrudwick]

I'd be scared there might be truth to it at this point.

 

if nothing happened re: ownership and manager this summer then why the fuck would he want to stay - he's getting on for 30 and deserves to win some fucking trophies

[shaunstrudwick]

As evidenced by the points pick up since around Boxing Day actually.

 

erm 21 out of a possible 33 (the last 11 games) is pretty poor IMHO

[Guest TesticleOReilly]

That's got to be depressing for a player rightfully regarded as world class

 

World class, my arse.

 

World class players win things. Maradonna. Zidane. Totti. Ronaldo (Both of them). Cruyff. Gullit. Hoddle. Figo. Ronaldinho.

 

Gerard is none of them, and has no league medals to prove it. The odd 'marauding' run from midfield has us all believing the hype that he's the best in the world. The sooner we wake up and get a grip the better our outlook will be.

 

A world class player who can't put in a decent corner. He never has been.

[Iantn]

erm 21 out of a possible 33 (the last 11 games) is pretty poor IMHO

 

For a group of players that have no confidence in their manager (apparently) that ain't bad going that.

[piscinin]

I think Gerrard will be the first to admit he had a shite game. He's had a few this year, probably his worst year since he became a first team regular. Some of his teammates play that bad 90% of the time though. That's got to be depressing for a player rightfully regarded as world class and a major reason why Benitez has won anything since he's been here.

 

Gerrard knows he could be playing alongside better players week in week out and not have to suffer from the immense frustration that playing with the dross must visit upon him every week. When one of the very few players that was up there with Gerrard and was on the same wavelength upped sticks in the close season, Gerrard's heart must have sunk.

 

A frequently unavailable Torres, and a whole load of shite to call your teammates. That must really grate when he knows he could be playing with Kaka or Ronaldo.

 

So if his head is so wrecked and it's that which is causing all these 10 yard passes to go stray. When is it going to change because we're not signing a whole bunch of world class players this next window?

[GJM]

The most depressing aspect for me is that I ha very little optimism that the game would turn out very different to how it did.

 

This season, away from home and against inferior opposition, we have been fucking awful. In most of these games, we have played shite football and the players look disinterested - one really does has to wonder why this is and whether they have any faith in the way that they are being asked to play football.

 

There really are few experiences more dispiriting just now than watching us play 90 minutes away from home. Gutless, clueless, lifeless, hopeless.

[Woo]

World class, my arse.

 

World class players win things. Maradonna. Zidane. Totti. Ronaldo (Both of them). Cruyff. Gullit. Hoddle. Figo. Ronaldinho.

 

Gerard is none of them, and has no league medals to prove it. The odd 'marauding' run from midfield has us all believing the hype that he's the best in the world. The sooner we wake up and get a grip the better our outlook will be.

 

A world class player who can't put in a decent corner. He never has been.

 

Ha!

 

Hahahahahahahahaha!

 

What an absolute load of shite.

[Mendoza]

World class, my arse.

 

World class players win things. Maradonna. Zidane. Totti. Ronaldo (Both of them). Cruyff. Gullit. Hoddle. Figo. Ronaldinho.

 

Gerard is none of them, and has no league medals to prove it. The odd 'marauding' run from midfield has us all believing the hype that he's the best in the world. The sooner we wake up and get a grip the better our outlook will be.

 

A world class player who can't put in a decent corner. He never has been.

 

Oh dear.

[Funkasy]

he doesn't mean it, he's just a little hot right now.

 

Gerrard is a world class player but he should not take corners i give you right in that.

[shaunstrudwick]

For a group of players that have no confidence in their manager (apparently) that ain't bad going that.

 

but you were trying to use those stats to argue that they players HADN'T lost confidence in the manager!

 

i agree for a bunch of players who HAVE lost the confidence of the manger it is a fair return

[shaunstrudwick]

World class, my arse.

 

World class players win things. Maradonna. Zidane. Totti. Ronaldo (Both of them). Cruyff. Gullit. Hoddle. Figo. Ronaldinho.

 

Gerard is none of them, and has no league medals to prove it. The odd 'marauding' run from midfield has us all believing the hype that he's the best in the world. The sooner we wake up and get a grip the better our outlook will be.

 

A world class player who can't put in a decent corner. He never has been.

 

W-O-W

[shaunstrudwick]

So if his head is so wrecked and it's that which is causing all these 10 yard passes to go stray. When is it going to change because we're not signing a whole bunch of world class players this next window?

 

when Rafa walks

[RedBrian84]

That was truly, truly woeful. Worse even than the Portsmouth game. To say it was poor is to miss out on the golden opportunity to use words like shambolic, lifeless, inspid, and at times atrocious.

 

I don't even know where to begin. Except to say that hats off to Wigan- while not an outstanding team by any stretch- they wanted it more tonight. First to every ball, including second balls, harder in the tackle, more adventurous going forward, more ideas when getting forward...the list goes on about just how they showed us up tonght.

 

We, on the other hand, were just shit. First- Insua. Not Premiership standard in the slightest. So he likes to get forward and cross? Great. Can he defend? Can he fuck. The amount of times that Carragher, Kyriagkos, Benayoun or Lucas had to come and try to bail him out the shit when he was caught out of position or skinned alive by N'Zogbia (not a natural right winger by the way!!) was unreal at times. But he wasn't the only one. Kuyt was just awful. I'm a big defender of him, but tonight was dire. Like Lucas, Maxi and Torres. Gerrard was the worst culprit of the lot, quite possibly the worst I've seen from him in a long, long time. But overall really I struggle to see any positives. The Greek had another decent game I guess, and it was nice to see Johnson back, and to have Benayoun and Torres some game time. But Aquilani and Babel were introduced too late; we should have changed at half time (a really brave manager would have sensed that the first eleven were not up to it before half time and maybe changed things before the break) to adapt a more attacking style. Because this was shite.

 

I know hindsight is a great thing- but what we saw tonight wasn't hindsight, it's happening every single week. We only beat Blackburn because they were worse than us. Christ only knows how we beat United, Spurs, both derbies and Villa on this diabolical form.

 

If we didn't have the best 'keeper in the league, we'd have been long out of the 'race for fourth' and languishing in mid table by now, so hats off to Reina. He and Mascherano have been showing not only effort, but fight and determination and should be an example to the rest. As for the manager? Well, on 64 minutes, the Wigan manager was up, out of the dugout, barking orders and preparing a substitution. Rafa? Sitting down. Seemingly no idea how to change things for the better. Well you can start by being more positive Rafa, because really speaking, this season is over. And has been for a long, long time. Time to go down fighting.

[Iantn]

Dunno if posted earlier but,

 

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was disappointed with his team's attitude after their defeat to Wigan Athletic.

 

The Reds were beaten 1-0 at the DW Stadium in a Premier League tie that could prove influential in the race for a top-four finish come the end of the season.

 

Liverpool had looked to have turned the corner in recent weeks after a poor run of form, but a woeful performance that lacked creativity in the final third will give hope to their rivals in a hunt for a UEFA Champions League spot.

 

Hugo Rodallega got the only goal of the game on 35 minutes, slotting home an Emmerson Boyce cross from the right after Dirk Kuyt surrendered possession.

 

And Benitez had no qualms about the result after the final whistle.

 

"We have to be really disappointed, after a defeat you always cannot be happy," he told Sky Sports.

 

"In the first-half we didn't do anything, (we were) giving the ball away, not winning any first or second balls.

 

"It's difficult to explain. The second-half a much better attitude but it wasn't enough.

 

"It's difficult to explain. I think it's a question of attitude in the first-half.

 

"I think that the players in the second-half showed character. I think sometimes we were playing too quick, but at least we showed character, in the first-half we didn't play well."

 

When asked about Wigan's performance, Benitez remarked: "I think that they were working very hard from the beginning to the end. We expected this."

Blow

 

Liverpool's position in the quest for a top-four finish is hurt by the fact that they have now played more games than any other side in contention.

 

But Benitez, who promised that he would lead the Anfield outfit to a Champions League berth earlier in the campaign, insists they will not give up.

 

He added: "We have to keep going. We have an important game on Thursday (against Lille) and then we have to keep going, keep winning games if we can.

 

"We had some chances but we didn't play well."

 

When asked what the atmosphere was like in the dressing room after the game, he said: "Everybody was really low."