Europa Semi; Atletico Madrid Away

[Guest TK-421]

Ujfalusi nuts are we

Me and him and them and me

We'll show you what he can do

With a leather ball and a four four two

 

For the Reds, at the back

We love him more than Gary Mac

Ujfalusi nuts are we

We're all Ujfalusi

 

Now ol' Alberto as we all know's

Got loadsa dappa suits

He's Roma bred and he keeps his head

'Though he's got Italian roots

Emotional but he keeps his cool

'Til he reaches the finals

And whether he wins or whether he don't

'Fuck me he's got close eyeballs'

 

Ujfalusi nuts are we

Me and him and them and me

We'll show you what we can do

With a leather ball and a four four two

 

For the reds at the back

We love him more than Gary Mac

Ujfalusi nuts are we

We're all Ujfalusi

 

Just in case we sign him.

[Mendoza]

Our away form this season has been abysmal. It's like the players are void of any idea what to do when we go behind apart from to follow plan A which seems to be over cautious to say the least. The players are not without blame as it seems only a few have the balls to use their own initiative. But the tactics are down to the manager and it's both frustrating to watch and wank. Can't imagine what some of the players must be thinking when they see the same old tried and unsuccessful tactics whilst playing away from home. We only need an off day at home and we can also struggle. Just hope we create enough chances in the second leg and they fall to the right players.

 

We always create chances. :whistle:

[stringvest]

Coop's posts on here have spelt out the depressing reality of our football for almost the whole of this season. The lack of dynamism, guile, technique and pace is so marked when comparing us to any team in the top 10 of the league, it's actually quite shocking. There are just no ideas in that lot. Gerrard's playing with people who are not on the same wavelength, can't think as quickly, and who just don't give him the options. Poor poor coaching.

[piscinin]

The Gerrard of last year would have buried the chance Lucas created for him. Would have been a different game then.

[coop]

The Gerrard of last year would have buried the chance Lucas created for him. Would have been a different game then.

 

Had Yossi not had his goal wrongly disallowed as well.

 

The reality is though i thought we got what we deserved.

[Guest TK-421]

Yeah, you just know if Gerrard and Torres are on song then we walk away with at least a score draw. Still think we'll make the final.

[DooooodekNo5]

Im not going to go on about how shite we were tonight as its been well and truly covered but likewise i thought Madrid were poor and a good team would have won at a canter against them.

 

It worrys me we have no gameplan, no idea what to do when we recieve the ball and no movement at all in every area of the pitch.

 

We are playing and have been all season like a team that needs fresh ideas as well as some serious spending on it.

 

This is it the million doller question what exactly is our game plan?

 

Whats our plan B and C ? and when do you give up on this system/tactics when even to a blind dog it clearly is'nt fucking well working.

 

Why cant he just try some new tactics/players (Pacheco,Aquilani,Nemeth to name a few).

Yes half our squad are fucking shite but just fucking well mix it up a bit all we hear from him is compact this controlling that, its just utter fucking aimless bollocks the whole lot of it.

 

The main objective of this game is to score goals to win matches, this is just fucking lost on Rafa.

[Brownie]

The Gerrard of last year would have buried the chance Lucas created for him. Would have been a different game then.

 

The Benitez team of this time last year would have made the miss irrelevant by creating several other chances and sticking one of them away.

 

You can spin it anyway you like it.

[G Richards]

We are not out of it yet, though if they score at Anfield it is hard to see us getting three, especially without Torres.

 

I'm fairly jaded with it all at the moment. I'm just waiting to see what happens on the ownership front, as the whole thing needs new life breathing into it. Everything is just flat. There's no urgency. No ideas. No sense of a team going anywhere.

 

It looks to me as though Rafa knows he is coming to the end of the line and the whole thing is being played out as though the players know that, with everyone going through the motions.

 

I will be hugely surprised if Rafa is still with us next season. I'm hoping he might yet sign off with another trophy, but I'm mostly looking forward to the ownership thing being resolved and a sense of hope coming back into the club. Right now it is stale resignation.

[Dougie Do'ins]

The Benitez team of this time last year would have made the miss irrelevant by creating several other chances and sticking one of them away.

 

You can spin it anyway you like it.

The Benitez team of last year wouldn't have been playing Europa League Thursday night football.

[stringvest]

At the start of the season, when we're hard done by, or miss an easy chance, it is tempting to use the 'if only' statement. As games go by, performances continue to disappoint, the 'if only' gets a little more tiring to roll out. As rubbish performances persist, the 'if only' gets more and more desperate, then to Evertonian levels, before reaching the point where anyone still using it is indisputably in denial.

 

We've been at that point for months. We've played some seriously poor teams in Europe, and we're in with a chance of a final. I'm less than excited by the prospect.

[Brownie]

The Benitez team of last year wouldn't have been playing Europa League Thursday night football.

 

Hehe, a much better retort than mine!

[TheHowieLama]

The Benitez team of this time last year would have made the miss irrelevant by creating several other chances and sticking one of them away.

 

You can spin it anyway you like it.

 

Exactly.

 

"The Alonso of last year would have set him up for 4 more and lobbed the keeper from his own half".

 

End of the day they are all excuses for something that is not right. There has to be a change. If I thought Benitez was able to adapt and work towards the strngths of the players at his disposal I would be willing to give him a chance. He can't so I won't.

[Monster Masch]

[YOUTUBE]cb06Euo-gbs[/YOUTUBE]

[TheHowieLama]

The Benitez team of last year wouldn't have been playing Europa League Thursday night football.

 

Nice.

[TheHowieLama]

At the start of the season, when we're hard done by, or miss an easy chance, it is tempting to use the 'if only' statement. As games go by, performances continue to disappoint, the 'if only' gets a little more tiring to roll out. As rubbish performances persist, the 'if only' gets more and more desperate, then to Evertonian levels, before reaching the point where anyone still using it is indisputably in denial.

 

We've been at that point for months. We've played some seriously poor teams in Europe, and we're in with a chance of a final. I'm less than excited by the prospect.

 

Don't you think the players share that sentiment?

[piscinin]

The Benitez team of this time last year would have made the miss irrelevant by creating several other chances and sticking one of them away.

 

You can spin it anyway you like it.

 

Aye those were the days. I remember them, when Gerrard could pass to his own players, inspire them, shoot on target. None of which BTW Benitez can do very much about.

[King Emlyn]

I think Benitez will be as relieved as the fans who want him gone when he goes, it's run its course, he has been a success on the whole but we're now so bad we're approaching Souness territory. A parting of the ways is now required; i'm convinced he would wholeheartedly agree.

[Guest TK-421]

Was it such a rubbish performance? Graham Taylor said it was a good result. In that context, does the performance so much matter? This is not an easy venue to win at.

 

If we can replicate our games against Lille and Benfica then we are through to the final. Whether we can do that without Torres is up for debate. Atletico are better than West Ham, that's for sure, so we need to make sure we convert what chances come our way and keep it steady at the back.

 

I think we'll have enough to go through.

[TheHowieLama]

I think Benitez will be as relieved as the fans who want him gone when he goes, it's run its course, he has been a success on the whole but we're now so bad we're approaching Souness territory. A parting of the ways is now required; i'm convinced he would wholeheartedly agree.

 

If he gets paid it will be wholeheartedly I agree.

[TheBitch]

 

I apologise for kicking a stink about Aquilani not getting on the other night; clearly I was wrong because he was being saved to play an important role in this tie!

 

If I remember correctly our good selves got slagged in the West Ham thread for questioning the substitutions and why Aquilani wasn't used, we were told in no uncertain terms that he would be an integral part of this game and to pipe down and enjoy the win.

 

Well, he wasn't an integral part, he was a spare part. Any explanations anyone?

 

Their keeper didn't have a single shot to save, not one, nothing, nada, nisch. His orange outfit was as clean as when he took to the pitch. Poor really from a club as big as ours that in a semi final we cant muster a shot on target.

(bar Yossi's goal)

[Guest LFD]

Aye those were the days. I remember them, when Gerrard could pass to his own players, inspire them, shoot on target. None of which BTW Benitez can do very much about.

 

Gerrard is feeding off scraps, as Mascherano / Lucas don't control games as Alonso used to and don't get us passing or Gerrard involved in the game enough.

 

I still feel he is being played out of position, especially when Torres is out of the team.

 

He is a rose amongst thorns and unfortunately the thorns are dragging him down to their level. He looks fed up and I don't blame him, we all are.

[King Emlyn]

If he gets paid it will be wholeheartedly I agree.

Hopefully Juventus can sort out his money, the thought of him hanging around here because of the money he would lose doesn't bear thinking about.

[WilliamW]

Aye those were the days. I remember them, when Gerrard could pass to his own players, inspire them, shoot on target. None of which BTW Benitez can do very much about.

Benitez obviously has absolutely nothing to do with how the players perform individually or as a team. I blame Rick Parry meself.

[Monster Masch]

Was it such a rubbish performance? Graham Taylor said it was a good result. In that context, does the performance so much matter? This is not an easy venue to win at.

 

Yes and Haha, Graham Taylor.