Arsenal (Home) - 03/03/'12

[Croque Monsieur]

Well a disappointing result. Thought we played well and deserved more from the game. Our finishing is shite.

 

Here endeth the lesson. We've been frighteningly profligate in front of goal all season, today was no different.

 

We desperately need a poacher; dare I say it, someone like Hernandez for the Mancs (and hopefully around his price tag as well - no more expensive English 'prospects' please).

[lebron]

I don't even want to write a long post, but i have one thing to say to all those negative bastards who complain about shit with shitty arguments.

 

If Martin Kelly had scored and we had won 2-1, would you be fucking happy because we played a good game, and finally managed to score, or would you still write the same piece of shit that you have posted?

 

We played a good game. Created more than enough chances, kept them from chances, but still couldn't win. You cannot do anything about that as a coach.

 

Except picking players capable of putting the ball in the back of the net (Bellamy, Maxi, Carroll ?!) and people able to keep track of the players they are supposed to mark (Coates) instead of people with no results in the aforementioned categories this season...

[Croque Monsieur]

The difference between us and Arsenal today was one player. Put van Persie in a Liverpool shirt and we'd have been four up at half time.

[Dave D]

Just too wasteful.

 

Same story too often this season. We've played well at times but reality is, Stoke or even Everton are in touching distance. Not good enough.

 

Note- Luis Suarez, superb player, not a goal scorer. Why we didnt adrress this in January we'll never know. A decent striker up there with him today would have made the difference.

 

We'll get one in the summer, my gut feeling says it wont be Kenny signing him. Get the feeling the owners will be pretty ruthless.

[Joso]

Perhaps the Carling Cup and maybe even FA Cup will save Kenny this season....

[PaulMcC]

Woeful finishing and bad defending by Carra beat us today.

 

The reason the finishing is poor is because we bought player who can't finish or create clearcut chances, bar Suarez.

 

Adam is completely shit.

[Beantown Red]

How is Suarez not a goal scorer? His goal record @ Ajax or the Uruguayan National team is great.

[xerxes]

The reason the finishing is poor is because we bought player who can't finish or create clearcut chances, bar Suarez.

Luis has six league goals this season. That is not good enough.

[navbasi]

Unfair to point the finger of blame at Suarez xerxex, he's hardly had a 'normal' season has he? Let's get someone to blame with him of the same quality and let's see how many goals he bangs in.

 

I just got home from the game and still trying to work out how we didn't win? Have come away more often than not from Anfield stratching my head.

 

Until we get an out and out striker that is going to score 20+ leage goals a season we're going to be having the same conversations week in week out more often than not.

 

4th is a massive ask now, start giving Sterling and Cody some minutes so they are ready for more action next season.

 

Now I'm going to bed and hope I feel better in the morning.. Doubt it.

[Guest alantkayll]

Frustrating is a big word in football, and it certainly applies to Liverpool this season. Yes Kenny needs to buy better this summer, yes his signings in the main have been poor. But he has made us this year a team that now wins silverware to a team that "used" to win silverware.

 

This is the first season in more than a decade were Liverpool actually play very very good football. Its a fine line between winning,losing and drawing this season.

[G Richards]

In many ways that was the story of our season. We actually played quite well and I still can't believe, all these hours later, how we lost that match. Loads of corners. Dominant in possession. Hit the post twice. Missed a penalty. Plus a few other chances went begging.

 

Normally I would take heart from a performance like that and console myself with, 'These things even out over the season', 'We'll play a lot worse and take all three points' and other such cliches.

 

But unfortunately we have seen this before, on numerous occasions this season. We are not taking our chances when they do come. And we are not creating enough clear cut chances to correspond with our good play (when we play well). A better striker and a better winger will help enormously. Beyond personnel we are not putting enough men in the box either.

 

How things stand right now is that fourth is very unlikely. Had we won we'd have been sitting four points behind both Arsenal and Chelsea right now, with a game in hand. Unless we string together 6-8 wins sharpish (and we don't look like we have that in us) then the games will run out and we will finish anywhere from 5th to 7th. At that point Kenny may possibly be vulnerable.

 

Still, there's a dozen games to go so we will have to see what it brings. Frustrating day today though.

[xerxes]

Unfair to point the finger of blame at Suarez xerxes, he's hardly had a 'normal' season has he?

I am emphatically not blaming Suarez specifically, he has been far and away our best forward of the season - but with six league goals.

 

My point is that despite everything, we have a right for the fee and wages to expect more goals.

 

For the record I would have Luis and Dirk as a two, consistently, up front.

[Informer]

Fucks me off that we look a much better team than Arsenal and Chelsea and we sit 10 and 7 points adrift of them both.

[xerxes]

Frustrating is a big word in football, and it certainly applies to Liverpool this season. Yes Kenny needs to buy better this summer, yes his signings in the main have been poor. But he has made us this year a team that now wins silverware to a team that "used" to win silverware.

 

This is the first season in more than a decade were Liverpool actually play very very good football. Its a fine line between winning,losing and drawing this season.

A very fair summary.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

The difference between us and Arsenal today was one player. Put van Persie in a Liverpool shirt and we'd have been four up at half time.

 

What is your point? We could have signed Van Persie for £35m.

 

If we had Messi we'd probably win the league, and if I had a bird round tonight I wouldn't be posting on here.

 

But none of that is the case, hence we lost.

 

And by the by - Arsenal are shit. Milan put 4 past them and Louis fucking Saha tore them a new one last week. I thought we performed well today but its not like we were playing Real Madrid. The fact that we dominated them, at home, is pleasing but for me does not forgive the fact that we fucking lost. And are 7th, 4 points above Norwich.

 

(Not directed at you.)

[FrenchEyeGlass]

Frustrating is a big word in football, and it certainly applies to Liverpool this season. Yes Kenny needs to buy better this summer, yes his signings in the main have been poor. But he has made us this year a team that now wins silverware to a team that "used" to win silverware.

 

Hey, I know you love the club and you have a nice little fan-club on here, but you don't half talk crap.

 

Your post was fine (if a little dreamy, WRT the silverware) and I largely agreed with the sentiment underlining it. Then came your second paragraph...

 

ATK The "ITK"

 

This is the first season in more than a decade were Liverpool actually play very very good football. Its a fine line between winning,losing and drawing this season

 

Now, I know you bitterly despise the man (everybody has neurotic obsessions), and maybe he fucked one of your loved ones, who knows. But surely, not even Benitez's harshest "critics" (or should I say thick cunts) could seriously suggest that we didn't play "very very good football" in the 2008-2009 season. You know, when we came closest to the title than in 'the last decade'?

 

We played better football that season than we have so far under Kenny, not that you would have noticed because you were probably sticking pins in your voodoo doll.

[Faustus]

ATK and G Richards both spot on there.

[dirk grout]

Spot on? Anybody that thinks the football we're playing this season is better than 08/09 is completely clueless.

[buffaloboy]

Defeat today was hard to swallow. Arsenal were so so so so so damn lucky! Someone on here said we are still playing like a Roy Hodgson side, don't be so silly. We played well today but our finishing again was bad. Under Roy there was no playing well.

 

I'm sorry to say it but yes Reina is not at the level he was. 2 years ago I thought it was a travesty that he wasn't Spain's number 1 as in my opinion he was better than Casillas but not anymore. Thaty winning goal was a keeper mistake, no two ways about it. It wasn't a howler but a mistake all the same. Your top level keeper has to be getting down fast for that one. It's a great hit by van Persie and not an easy save but a top class goalie should have the reactions to get to that.

[Guest alantkayll]

Spot on? Anybody that thinks the football we're playing this season is better than 08/09 is completely clueless.

 

My posts going back to the second half of that season are very complimentary to Rafa and how he let the "shackles" off. But that team was far better than this one, player for player.

 

But as a season as a whole we have played some very good football, like I say best in over a decade. Just my opinion.

[ngogswilly]

I think we're playing better football these days. Or at least more free flowing and dare I say Attacking football. But we're far from as effective as we used to be. Yes we were boring as fuck most of the time(aside from patches at points throughout the season) a few years back, but we were very effective.

 

I think we've got a very strong foundation right now, and we've played some great stuff this year. So much so that I think if we had a goalscorer of any note in the team we'd be a few points ahead of Arsenal now easily.

 

So we could debate all night what was better...us now or us a few years ago.

 

But I believe IMO at least, we're playing good stuff in general. We just can't finish to save our lives and some of our lads are prone to playing like fucking idiots in the final third. If we can find a way of sorting that out then we could do very well next season.

 

But its up to everyone involved to get their act together.

[Faustus]

Spot on? Anybody that thinks the football we're playing this season is better than 08/09 is completely clueless.

 

The football we played from about late February onwards in 2009 was truly breathtaking. The rest of the season before that was pretty turgid, resilient and conversative. Not that that's always a bad thing, but I will always rue those three home games we drew in a row against Fulham, West Ham and Hull when the wins were there if we actually decided to go for it.

 

The one thing that's disappointing, for me, is how we're not getting as many men into the box as we were this time last year. On the whole, we've played some great stuff all year round but badly miss that cutting edge.

[Guest ShoePiss]

My posts going back to the second half of that season are very complimentary to Rafa and how he let the "shackles" off. But that team was far better than this one, player for player.

 

But as a season as a whole we have played some very good football, like I say best in over a decade. Just my opinion.

 

You had all of your posts deleted.

[dirk grout]

The football we played from about late February onwards in 2009 was truly breathtaking. The rest of the season before that was pretty turgid, resilient and conversative. Not that that's always a bad thing, but I will always rue those three home games we drew in a row against Fulham, West Ham and Hull when the wins were there if we actually decided to go for it.

 

The one thing that's disappointing, for me, is how we're not getting as many men into the box as we were this time last year. On the whole, we've played some great stuff all year round but badly miss that cutting edge.

 

Yes cos we're not drawing games at home this season are we? My post was in response to the ridiculous claim (a claim that you described as 'spot on') that the football we are playing this season is the best we have played for a decade. It quite clearly isn't. It really isn't a matter of opinion.

[Faustus]

Yes cos we're not drawing games at home this season are we? My post was in response to the ridiculous claim (a claim that you described as 'spot on') that the football we are playing this season is the best we have played for a decade. It quite clearly isn't. It really isn't a matter of opinion.

 

I know, mate, but my point is that we have at least looked like winning those drawn games at one point or another. In my opinion, there's only been the Stoke and Swansea games (off the top of my head) were we've got exactly what we've deserved.

 

I sat there through those three games I mentioned and while people booed after we went top after drawing against West Ham (and certainly not something I agree with), I could see where they were coming from because it was a chance to build a significant lead over the Mancs while they were in Japan. Kind of like why I was so frustrated coming out if the Hull match when Rafa brought Lucas off the bench ahead of Robbie Keane. Now Keane was wank for us and I love the bones of Lucas, but it doesn't take a genius to realise who'd be most likely to get a goal with 5 mins to go.

 

I'll be honest though, it's not a period I want to go back to. Personally, I got the feeling that was our last chance of the title because of Hicks and Gillett and I think that's where a lot of frustration came from that season.

 

I think though we're built on much more solid foundations this season though. On the whole, we've played some great football but I think what went on at both ends highlighted how badly we need a goalscorer.I think the squad is in as good shape as it's been for years and only needs two or three tweaks providing we can keep everyone.

 

Honestly, I don't think it's the doom and gloom as people have made out. The Champions League will be a huge blow to miss out on and I was absolutely sick after that today, but we've got one trophy in the bag and could still stand to win another; which I feel could certainly compensate.