The Real Reason Liverpool’s Title Hopes are In Ruins
by Michael Fish on January 26th, 2010 77 commentsRafa haters keep walking it’s luck and bad officiating that have left Anfield ruing what might have been.
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A famous quote from a sports psychologist : “The New York Yankees do not win because they have the best team, but because of their stripes” – well the same applies to Manchester United!
After relentless debates about Liverpool’s form this season it has come to my attention that the only people who want Rafael Benitez sacked are those who are a part of the SAFSB’s(Sir Alex Ferguson Suicide Bombers)… You might be wondering why I call this elite group “SAFSB’s”, well here we go. First of all: Manchester United haven’t set the world alight with glittering performances, and after losing Christiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez Manchester United are a mediocre team. It is there for everybody to see that Manchester United were indeed a “1 man show”. This is where we get to the point… Like Sir Alex Taggart, the supporters get on other clubs backs to hide the fact their team is playing extremely poor, yes they might have the points to say otherwise but we are all football people aren’t we? If it wasn’t for 6 minutes of “Fergie time” in the Manchester Derby or the uncountable own-goals scored by the opposition when they couldn’t hit a donkey’s backside from a yard out they would be exactly where Liverpool are right now or probably even worse! Why do I call them suicide bombers? Well they both have the same motive… Both believe and live by someone’s misinterpretations of words and deeds, both follow leaders with their eyes wide shut and both set out to destroy anybody who is a threat… in this case Rafael Benitez…… 3 back to back victories and counting!
Let’s have a look where Manchester United have been lucky and where Liverpool have been unlucky and see where that would position the teams in a fantasy league table:
Manchester United 2 – 1 Arsenal. Completely outplayed only for a ridiculous penalty being awarded to Manchester United when Rooney dived his way into the record books.
Manchester United 4 – 3 Manchester City Completely outplayed, only to be granted a goal in “Fergie time”.
Manchester United 2 – 2 Sunderland Completely outplayed, only to be granted a goal from a family member of Manchester United’s “Captain”.
Manchester United 2 – 1 Bolton Wanderers Own Goal Zak Knight disguises Manchester United’s impotence in front of goal.
Manchester United 2 – 0 Blackburn Rovers Perfectly legitimate goal, disallowed for Blackburn.
Birmingham City 1 – 1 Manchester United Own Goal Birmingham City, which shouldn’t have stood because Rooney was in an offside position…Interference with play àIf Rooney wasn’t standing there, the defender wouldn’t have had to made the tackle, which subsequently ended up in his own net.
Manchester United 4 – 0 Hull City With the Score at 1-0 Rio Ferdinand took a swing at Fagan, his arm struck the Hull City Striker’s face in an off the ball incident… If the Referee or Assistant Referee would have seen this, this would have been a penalty for Hull City and Manchester United reduced to 10 men
All Scores retrieved from (SkySports.com, 2010)
So what would that be in terms of points lost, well Manchester United would have lost 3 points against Arsenal, lost 2 against Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers and Hull City and 1 point against Birmingham and Sunderland which comes up to -11, excluding Blackburn Rovers as there is no legitimate reason to believe you would have dropped points. 50-11= 39 points, coincidently 2 points more than Liverpool have with Liverpool having a game in hand
Liverpool’s misfortunes:
Sunderland 1 – 0 Liverpool Sunderland’s goal scorer, A BEACHBALL, as replays show that Darren Bent’s initial shot was going wide… Still waiting for the FA’s Goal panel to make a decision on who gets credited with the goal.
Liverpool 1 – 2 Arsenal completely dominated Arsenal to only be undone by an own-goal by Glenn Johnson
Fulham 3 – 1 Liverpool Reduced to 9 men… Degen deemed to have committed serious foul play when replays show both feet were on the ground and he attempted to block the ball and did not go for the players legs… Jamie Carragher later sent off for pulling back Bobby Zamora when Replays show that it was Zamora who was doing the pulling.
Portsmouth 2 – 0 Liverpool Javier Mascherano sent off for “Serious foul play”, indications are that the referee sent Mascherano off for the push not the tackle, well, if somebody stood with their full weight on my knee and I feel my ligaments about to snap I would push that player too!
Stoke 1 – 1 Liverpool 2 blatant penalties turned down, both on Lucas
All Scores retrieved from (Skysports.com, 2010)
What would this mean to our points tally well we would have been able to get draws against Sunderland and Fulham and would have probably seen off Arsenal, Stoke and Portsmouth = +10 which would put us on 47 points with a game in hand, Title Challenge, probably top of the table!
So why do we have yet again something in common? Well we have both been screwed by players moving on to Real Madrid and we are both playing as badly as one another… The only difference is that Manchester United have lady luck on their side and we look like we have been cursed by a psychopathic gypsy.
YNWA!
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anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Some of the stuff I agree with and I don’t think it’s Rafa’s fault. Even if he’d played a different formation and a few different players like some posters have been crticising him for, would not have made that much difference and injuries have not just hit us hard at times they’ve crippled us. The Arsenal game summed up the lack of confidence and belief in the team something that I have not seen for ages, we were domonating the game and then at 1-1 we started playing like we’d lost.
Strengthening the squad was a major factor in the demise this season sure Rafa would have loved to spend after such a good season last year, if he did i’m sure we’d be looking down the table and not up.
Too many people quick to point out the negatives and their best elevens but how about trying to stay positive 4 wins from 6 rather than lost 10 of the last 20!
We have enough media scumbags on our backs we don’t need ‘our own’ sticking the knife in!
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
That is the worst blog I have ever read. You may as well say ‘If only we had won every game we would be top of the league’. Liverpool are finally getting their rewards for so many last minute winners last year which were totally undeserved. Even then you still didn’t win the title.
I’m not a Man United fan, and agree they have been at times mediocre this season. However credit to them for still getting results, and despite the infuriating amount of own goals that have benefited them this season, they have still had to win the other games
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Just to add to my post Xabi going to Madrid was maybe Rafa’s fault but mistakes are made but rather than focus on that i’d rather have a look at the bigger picture.
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Ahh selective journalism, it can prove any point you want. You forgot Villa 0-1 Liverpool – created nothing all game, and won sue to a richard dunne slip in the snow
spota - January 26th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
pure pro rafa propaganda GET A GRIP SON WHERE FUKING CRAP UNDER THE FAT WAITER I WILL NEVER READ ANOTHER ARTICLE BY DIVVY MICHEAL FISH DOES THIS MAKE ME ONE OV FERGIES SUISIDE BOMBERS .SPOTA SEASON TICKET HOLDER 10 YRS WATCHING THE REDMEN SINCE I WAS 6 IM KNOW 33 RAFAZ NEARLY AS BAD AS ROY EVANS FISH ARE U SMOKING CRACK OR WOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
that’s football, liverfag
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
A
Another crap article. Yawn. zzzzzzzZZZZZZ
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Bad article! united an average team? valencia, evra, rooney, carrick, vidic and ferdinand not to mention a whole heap of potential youngsters like welbeck and gibson. Also plenty of experience in scholes and giggs. They have been playing flowing attacking football and have way more depth. They have several strikers who are all way better than ngog and kuyt. yes we were lucky but not undeserving mate. ManUboy
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
This is the reality that Manutd are in right now .. the same goes to Liverpool but more to Manutd. Manu are far luckier for being in the current position.
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
not a single part of this article is an excuse…. thats football, it goes against ya one week but on another week it cud go for ya, football is a funny old game, deal with it.
and by the way arsenal bossed that game at anfield
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
gr8 article
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
FISH STICK TO PREDICTING THE WEATHER!
AS FOR YOUR POINTS OF WHAT IF OR IF THIS HAD HAPPENED …YOU COULD PROBALY ANALYSE A MILLION GAMES AND SUGGEST WHAT IF…YES LUCK IS INVOLVED IN SOME WAY..BUT AT TIMES YOU HAVE TO EARN IT…
THE REASON TITLE HOPES ARE IN RUINS IS SIMPLE RAFA BENITEZ….AND HIS PIG IGNORANCE TO THE OBVIOUS! LUCK SWINGS ABOUT IN MANY DISGUISES & AS SOMEONE WHO HAS WATCHED US FOR A VERY LONG TIME WE HAVE BUCKETFULS ….ITS JUST NOW LADY-LUCK IS LIKE MANY OF US STICKING THE TWO FINGERS UP TO THE MAN FROM SUNNY SPAIN WITH THE PAEDO GOETEE!
JIMMYCARTERWINGWIZARD – WAKE UP THE NATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
THE CHOSEN ONE
Michael Fish LETS TAKE RESPONSIBILTY HERE
THE REAL REASONS WHY WEVE BEEN POOR THIS SEASON IS SLOOPY DEFENDING COUPLED WITH INJURIES/ OK LUCK HAS COST US 6 POINTS TOPS BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY WE SHOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH TO SCORE 2 GOALS AGAINST MOST OF THE TEAMS OUTSIDE THE TOP 4/
LACK OF CONFIDENCE AND OUR ABILITY TO PLAY PUB FOOTBALL AGAINST AVERAGE TEAMS DONT HELP EITHER BUT TOUCH WOOD WE ARE COMING BACK
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
THE CHOSEN ONE
MY BROTHER A MAN U FAN JUST SENT ME A TEXT
APPARRENTLY ITS SO CALLED IN LIVERPOOL THAT ALL THE SCOUSERS HAVE THEIR HANDS IN THEIR POCKETS. LOL
ITS A GOOD ONE BUT IF WE WIN THE EUROPA CUP AND THEY WIN NOTHING WELL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
jesus this is bad. every team in the league suffers good and bad luck not just one team so at the end of the season it does nearly always balance itself out so to blame luck wich affects every1 in the league is stupidity. the reason is we have an arogant manager that cant admitt he is wrong and comes up with ridiculous excuses, buys bad players with a few exceptions, comes up with bad tactics and team selections, put it this way rafa has had plenty of time now. he picks the team and squad he buys and sells the players he is the motivator the coach the one who stamps his style of play on the team and so on basically the team is all down to him so if they are playing badly it is his fault so dont blame luck or injuries good managers buy good squad players to cover injuries, good managers also face up to mistakes and problems and fix them they dont come up with stupid excuses and expect it all to get better. this article sounds as if rafa himself wrote it oh fergie this fergie that united are so luky we have it so bad forget united and worry about our own problems and own team.
...samlfc.... - January 26th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Good everning or late afternoon everyone.
hmmmm i agree with the fact that we have been unlucky in most of our games but thats football as i’ve seen some games where we were actually lucky e.g deflected goals and stuff but unfortunately had more bad luck than good.
was the the run of bad luck entirely our fault? No
because of a few reasons:
Rafa has indeed costly mistakes but the players cotnribution and lack of confidence didn’t exactly help either.
Aquilani was injured longer than we expected so we ahd no attacking midfielder.
we had Voronin as a striker.
and some of Rafas tactics were debatable.
Realy a run of bad luck, Some mistakes and confidence ruined our title hopes this season. when we finish with this season we can look back at this season and pin-point the mistakes what kept on occuring in matches and sort them out.
our title hopes were ruined this season but it doesn’t exactly mean next season will be aswell
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
the chosen one
anonymous – January 26th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
HILARIOUS!!!! MY FRIEND IS WENGER A GOOD MANAGER? COS HE NEVER SEES ANYTHING!!!
IS SIR RED NOSE WHISKY FACE TAGGOT A GOOD MANAGER? COS HE ALWAYS BLAMES THE REFEREE WHEN HE LOSES.
SORRY MATE I RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE THERE
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
rytestation.blogspot.com
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
THE CHOSEN ONE
OK GUYS HERES A WONDERFULL SITE I GET FOR WATCHING FREE FOOTY ON THE NET FOR ALL LIVERPOOL FANS. IT WONT LET ME WRITE THE LINK IN FULL SO ILL TYPE IT IN TWO STAGES
HTTP THEN THE 2 DOTS SLASH SLASH rytestation.blogspot.com
ALL ONE WORD. ITS PRETTY GOOD
PEACE OUT
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
THE CHOSEN ONE
IDIOTS GUIDE
http
:
//
rytestation.blogspot.com
ALL ONE WORD
liverpool is on tonight
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
fair enough you disagree mate in my last post tho i dont imply or mean to imply watch tapping fergie is a good manager and i didnt say blaming the ref makes a good manager a good manager can realise their own mistakes and put them right INSTEAD of blaming the ref or officials all the time. i dont think fergie is a good manager give most managers the time he has had and the money he has had over the years at a club that size and they will do well. anyway the point im trying to make is rafas arogance blocks him and the team making much progress just one example is zonal marking hasnt worked but it was his idea so he wont drop it.
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
the reason liverpool aint playing well rests with 1 player …gerrard..if he plays well the team plays well…but seems to have other things on his mind…maybe worried about the fact he aint his childs father becoming common knowledge and the resulting abuse he will get at every game he plays .
for those of u that dont know stevie gerrards kid aint his so i been told be a jurnalist friend..that was what the fight in night club was about last year . the dj was shouting over the mike …whos the daddy…aimed at gerrard…nothing to do with the choice of music as papers said..
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Wow this blog is lame
Liverpool have unlucky in some games and lucky in many. This blog only had the unlucky part. Fish, You are just pissed cuz your team can’t do well and blame others. Lame Lame Lame Liverpool was lucky last season gettin winner at the last movement.
Im a Man United fan, and agree they have been bad this season. They are still getting results, and despite own goals that have benefited them this season, they have still had to win the other games. You didn’t mention the unlucky pard of Man Utd. Im never ever gonna read your blog again.
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
anonymous – January 26th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
well said!! totally agree with yiur comment
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
whoever agrees with this article needs there heads sorted out…
you could write an article like this for every single team in the premier league…..
Liverpool FC Danny - January 26th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Very well written but you have to put a certain amount of blame on Rafa
Liverpool FC Danny - January 26th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Don’t forget
Blackburn 0-0 Liverpool- The worst bobble ever for Ngog’s shot
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Liverpool tossers
We dont care what the redshite say
Coz the everton boys are here
Liverpool FC Danny - January 26th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Fuck of Everton scum
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
THE CHOSEN ONE
January 26th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
ok heres the deal yes you do have a point in rafa arrogance, fergie isa good manager based on success. wenger based on developement of young talent and rafa on his achievements in europe. but on rafas ability to learn and improve i question just like you
for example zonal marking. my point is a bit different from yours.
fact zonal marking has been in english footy 20 years or more before rafa came to this country. remember corners . people on near and far poss. people having number of people in wall for free kicks. the only difference is each club adapts it to fit the team. whether its just one player doing zonal or more.
fact-its been working for us in rafas whole regime and has been the corner stone of our success making our defence one of the best in the league. their use to be a time wed score one goal and just shut up shop.
where i question rafa and the team is their inability to adapt and to be flexible with it. obviously just my opinion mate yet again.
btw george graham used zonal quite alot and we all know about his defense. scrapping it to me isnt the option its about players taking more responsibily and being more aware and active iof the enviroment and maybe having a player or two macking their best headers.
to me that makes sense.
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
what a piss poor blog. Im a passionate Reds man but please your smokin PCP if you think we have been just unlucky. The players have stopped playing for Rafa, and its his own fault. Rafa is all tactics, tactic & tactics and that is it! He lacks the personal skills in which a good manager needs. Too many disgruntled players at the club and some just lacking confidence and a manager unable to do anything but dish out more tactics…and this has killed our title hopes. His treatment of Xabi left a bad taste with some players and when you add in the off-field issues with Rafa and the owners and all the money issues, you can see why things have been crap. Rafa you’ve been great but now it’s time to bring Guss Hiddink to finish off the season and give us a hope of making the top 4
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
The reason the yankees win so consistantly ( 27 championships in roughly 100 years) is that they don’t sell the best players, they buy them, a lesson both manu and liverpool should learn
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
if you dont care what is said why are u on here reading all this and then even commenting. u havent thought this one through have yah
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
THE CHOSEN ONE
- January 26th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
FFS I GIVE UP
1-IS ALONSO THE MESSIAH? IF HE WAS CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY THE SEASON BEFORE HE LEFT HE WAS CRAP? MAYBE RAFA GOT THE BEST SEASON OUT OF HIM BY PUTTING HIM UP FOR SALE AND GETTING 35 MIL FOR HIM/. COME ON GUYS
2-PLAYERS DONT PLAY FOR RAFA? WELL EMM PARDON ME BUT BEING A PROFESSIONAL IN FRONT OF 45 THOUSAND HOME SUPPORTERS. WHAT ARE THEIR EXCUSES. CANT THEY PLAY FOR THE FANS? EXPLAIN OUR HOME DEFEATS? DONT THEY HAVE PRIDE TO WEAR THE SHIRT?
I GIVE UP
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
TEAM FOR TONIGHT
.
Reina, Carragher, Insua, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Mascherano, Lucas, Gerrard, Riera, Maxi, Kuyt. Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Babel, Ngog, Degen, Darby, Pacheco.
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
ok chosen one fair point by the sounds of things you have been waching football a little longer than me and it shows. im not questioning zonal marking in general but as you have mentioned i question his ability to adapt it for the better it may have worked preiously but now it isnt and like we both agree he hasnt got the ability to learn and adapt it to fit now. thats just one side point though i think his arogance gets in the way of many different aspects. i also agree with anonymous – January 26th, 2010 at 8:06 pm about his lack of personal skills and the players not wanting to play for him any more, he doesnt seem to have the ability to inspire the team or een get the best out of them. personally i think he has to go and im not just being a sheep here i was saying this even when lpool were doing well as wierd as that sounds, i havent liked rafa for a while. whats your view on him ? whats good and bad or whether he needs to go or not ?
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
c.mon lads were havin a bad season were skint were watching pish week in week out our 2 best players play 2 miss 3 were out champs league fa cup league cup fk all chance of winning the league weve got a severe problem which can be easy sorted weve got to bite the bullet and get rid of rafa hes been brilliant for us but like every other reds fan would agree hes not given us what we want the fkn league hes been close but fks sake were liverpool and close is not good enough ive said on past liverpool threads weve got to get back to our boot room mentality and i think that only people with proper red blood should manage us mant names have been mentioned thomson keegan toshak etc but what about stevie nicol hes doing well in usa and for a while at least he could lean on king kenny for advice put it this way it cant get much worse
kermit - January 26th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
finally a lineup that looks in somee way attacking
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
THE CHOSEN ONE
anonymous – January 26th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
firstly my views on you? ity would be nice if you put a name down lol
but ill name u N.L.R not like rafa
ok my veiws on rafa
yes the teams has been stagnated but the players and owners have to take rsponsibilty/ yes rafa signed them but liverpool pay there wage. i agreed with rafa when he wanted to sell alonso and i personally feel we would of been better equpped to win the league with barry in our squad. ill tell you why……
in all my years of watching football i cant recall a team winning the league with their 2 central midfield players scoring only 3 goals between them. if im wron please correct me. our wingers did their bit or more and so did our strikers. only 2 people in our defence normally score and that eliminating own goal jamie .if our central midfield would of got us 9 goals we would of won the league. explains the draws. alonso is a good player but lacked the ability to be mobile enough and skillful to take on players and create space or score when an opponent puts all their players behind the ball. that was his weakness and hopefully it will be rectified. we need a fluent midfield. hopefully it will come.
rafa has made us the best team in europe seeded no one in previous draws so he must be doing something right. won us trophies and if you look at his cv before coming to us it shows hes a great coach. what he lacks is his ability to improvise and get the best out of some players. having said that hes done well with torress, gerrard, masch and riena to be fair to him. his buys hasnt been bad considering the value of the squad now and what he has to spend.
i could go on but i think he concentrates more on the opponent to nullify them than us playing to our strengths and is too defensive minded. hence he tries to play european football in the premirship. either way i hope he gets it right and wins the title next season.
would make my day only time will tell.
baggins09 - January 26th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
rafa writting for COS now? fuck off i bet hull, stoke and all the rest use the same excuse when they lose to us
kermit - January 26th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
bring on aquilani for lucas, and someone tell maxi rodriguez he is playing wide right
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
look ive been a liverpool fan for over 35 years, and yes it really hurts to see the way we are playing , it simply is not good enough, yes its nice to have a squad full of internationals, but lets face it the passion just isnt there anymore. cmon how the hell do we lose to reading at home, in the days of emlyn hughes it would have been totally unacceptable, however today it seems to be accepted. that kind of attitude says it all. untill we start investing in british youth then it can only continue, even our reserve & youth is full of would be not good enough players, we need to bring back the pride & passion
Benji - January 26th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Simply not enough chances have been made……
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
rafa is so negative, we are playing away to wolves, we need to win and we play 2 defensive midfielders who cant pass…. I GIVE UP….
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
fuck rafa and all of hes followers, that was shit..
kermit - January 26th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
that was depressing viewing
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
not bad luck tonight just not good enough and thats the bottom line. No chances at all and totally agree two holding players against a side that are struggling to stay up? WTF is that? Kermit bang on, Lucas for Aquillani and drop Gerrard back to run from deeper…in fact anything but this to try and create something
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
We need a proper central midfielder, ie a playmaker. Lucas is not it. I am not blaming him but he is not what we need. No creativity in the middle,couldn’t hold the ball up top.
Dreadful performance, no one played well
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
as ive been named n.l.r by chosen one i think i will use it lol. as chosen one pointed out in his last post to me rafa does concentrate far too much on nullifying the other team than on us creating chances and actually playing good attractive offensive football and that is one of my biggest problems with him again tonight we looked flat boring and had no real spark going forward its gettin painfull to wach. although me and chosen one may disagree on some things i think we will both agree on that much. personally i dont care much for what rafa has achieved in the past we live in the present and look forward to the future past is the past and currently rafa and his team are not good enough and the future doesnt look too good at the moment. to me and this is just my opinion the players atm turn up to play as if they are turning up to a 9-5 shit pay desk job, they need to be reminded of the kid they used to be that would have given everythin to be in the position they are now reguradless of the money and would of given everythin for the team and played with a passion, the players need to start enjoying it again. again this may be because im just anti rafa as you can tell but lpool dont play enjoyable football its all tactics and boring the players cant just go at it naturally and enjoy it.
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Like last days of houllier?
Red_Phoenix - January 26th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
anonymous – January 26th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
That was me by the way
Momus Najmi - January 26th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
I am sorry bro but this is no excuse for anything
A man makes his own luck and Rafa is just determined to screw any chances of anything good happening
Playing against wolves now look at this
TWO Defensive midfield players and one striker WOw
Playing a central defender as right back when you have played Degen in the past two games done good and as a reward you dont play him at all in this game
What the hell is this man thinking ???
I dont get it
I admit i dont know too much about football team management but I know enough to realize that this Rafa is digging his own grave
What do you hafta fear against Wolves i just dont get it
brought Ngog in later and it changed the perspective should have had him from the start as second striker ……..
I dont get it all those who support Rafa ….. do you guys hate Liverpool? Becoz there is no sense in supporting this manager if you dont …..
Rafa is not good for our club …… wake up your freaking eyes already
I dont want a recap from you telling me what he has done and what he hasnt over the past …. just talk of the present and tell me … how was this team selection and formation good? Explain to me why did he do this …..
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Why can’t the owners grow a set of bollocks and answer the fans calls. Sack Rafa and then sell up and piss off. Can’t understand how such unbelievably boring/negative football can keep you in a job. heartbreaking and frustrating to see this happen to the club.
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
rafa wont learn from this like he hasnt from every other match 2 defensive midfielders with no creativity is not going to win us games, gurantee he wont change it tho unless he is forced to. either dilusional and lives in his own fantasy world or he is the most arogant and stuborn man on earth either way its no good for us
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
red phoenix what do you mean that was me by the way ?
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
n.l.r
sorry red phoenix we posted at same time so i was bit confused what yah meant lol
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Why did rafa leave out Aquilani, He has more creativity than his beloved Lucas.
Benji - January 26th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Good performance by the boys…. Unlucky not to have scored a few times there….. Referee was shit….. Rafa was awesome as usual…. Great plan with the 2 holding midfielders against Wolves…..
Long Live Rafa
Aquilani4goals - January 26th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
here we go again…..just want to say this to all rafa supporters that rafa will keep disappointing you… he is not consistent…we can’t get to top 4 if we draw with the likes of stoke and wolves, it not possible…we were just flat no creativity ,in short wolves were the better side today….Rafa cannot take us there he is a confused man ,he has lost the plot.gerrerd should be resting he is not fit no match fittness.what pacheco doing on the bench .give this lid 20 mins…why playin maxi 4 90 min cmon play babel…lucas playin 90 min while aquilani warm the bench… what is going on two defensive midfielders against wolve you are guarenteed that midfield will lack creativity and the attack will be zero so much 4 rafa but he cannot take us to 4th position he need to go,sack rafa now….or else no champions league for us next season
Aquilani4goals - January 26th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
what is wrong with Skrtel he is a shit player and cara ….. they should take a hike…rafa needs a sack,,,
anonymous - January 26th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Some of you liverpool fans make me laugh, don’t get me wrong a lot of you are sensible and realise why liverpool are having a bad season. But blaming luck is just pathetic as people have mentioned this article looks at liverpools bad luck and manus good luck (which i do not agree with in some cases) what about liverpools good luck and manus bad luck.
And someone mentioned liverpools injuries admittedly to your best players but manu only had 1 defender fit at one point and having to play back up goalies for long periods plus berbs hasnt been fully fit for a while but the difference is manu had the depth to deal with it and where we have had luck is we had rooney in brilliant form.
And yes we aren’t playing our best football but we been consistantly good most of the season. Plus any team who loses a key player or 2 like ronaldo and tevez will have to adapt to playing without them its not the same team without your key players like when torres and gerrard arent fit liverpool dont look the same but unfortunately rafas lack of man management and people skills forced alonso out and even though a lot of people like to deny it liverpool havent adapted to playing without him yet whereas we have dealt with our losses relatively well considering we lost such a goal machine in ronaldo.
As a lot of people have already stated rafa needs to go hes not good enough in the premiership, ive never seen liverpool as a threat in my lifetime even when you do well last season i wasnt worried for a second i said in january we cant lose it now. You want mourinho then i would really worry!
trav09 - January 26th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
YNWA why dont you check yourself in to a clinic or get some professional help for your sense of delusion. Let the manager make his own excuses for his pathetic shortcoming, tactical shortfalls, and negative mentality. HE DOES NOT need you to do it for him. Afterall , “we need to work hard, and ju shee, we will be focusing on ja next game. Jish ish all we can do, no.”
Red_Phoenix - January 26th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
anonymous – January 26th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
No worries. lol
anonymous - January 27th, 2010 at 12:16 am
Did he just say that city outplayed united? Didn’t he even watch the scond half?
united goals:
#1: rooney: Evra running down the side, playing rooney who turns around and beats the goalie.
#2: Nice cross from giggs finding Fletcher who heads home another.
#3: Same as #2.
#4: Giggs spotting Owen who’s unmarked within the box, and Owen makes no mistake.
City goals:
#1: Barry: Mistake by Foster, ball given to tevez who plays it to barry who faces an open goal.
#2: Bellamy: takes a shot, scores, simple as that.
#3: Bellamy: Mistake made by Ferdinand, Bellamy is given the ball and only needs to run and shoot.
summary: united scores 4 team effort goals, city scores one individual goal and get’s lucky twice.
as for who played best: First half: City. second half: United, city barely even made it over the midfield except from when they scored.
anonymous - January 27th, 2010 at 1:48 am
Probably the worst blog ever posted…. We are in the state we are in because of us, not because of some cursed luck. There is no point in sulking about if, what, shoulda, coulda crap, because this is where we should be given our performance throughout this season. The whole Alonso saga has obviously taken everyone at the club aback, and we haven’t been able to get on track ever since. The fact that Rafa constantly fields weak teams against “weak” opponents, goes against his mantra of taking “one game at a time”. That’s complete bullshit, we can see right through it when h constantly leaves good players on the bench, thinking about the next game. Sorry, but Rafa and the players are the reason why we aren’t doing well. Performances from both have been absolutely lacklustre against woeful opposition, its a wonder how we got a draw against Wolves last night. That result at Craven Cottage earlier in the season was a sign of things to come. We were completely played off the park before those sending offs, and there is no way we would have come back. And we fielded a pretty strong side too if memory serves me.
Enough of passing the buck, the finger is pointed squarely at our players, Rafa and then the owners. All have to take responsibility. All have to apologise.
Retryboy - January 27th, 2010 at 2:27 am
Got to be the biggest load of rafa loving blinkered stuck in istanbul bollocks ever lol is it supposed to be funny? We have been unlucky with injuries but we have always had enough quality available to win against whoever we have played. Beachball? Totally outplayed deserved nothing…fulham? Rafa takes off all our best players when the game is level for european game on the coming wednesday…outplayed arsenal are you Fucking mad? What game did you watch did you turn off at half time? Portsmouth embarrassingly outplayed us deserved the win. Everton played us off the park fluke of a goal. Ngog’s dive got us a point at brum plus Reina’s brilliance has saved us how many points we didn’t deserve.
Retryboy - January 27th, 2010 at 2:30 am
Well annoying when it gets to a certain amount of comments got to use another browser on my phone and its playing up so wasn’t being rude on the highlights thread guys just browser won’t let me post
anonymous - January 27th, 2010 at 4:14 am
Your an idiot. We were completely outplayed by Portsmouth, Fulham and Sunderland. Another fool who blames everything but Rafa and his negative tactics. Awesome display again tonight versus Wolves, we were so unlucky we didnt score from our ONE shot on target. We have had some good luck too, the lucky deflection to Torres for the goal against Villa for one.What a ridiculous post, complete waste of time.
Machine Head - January 27th, 2010 at 8:04 am
wtf is this? rafa is rubbish and its time to go. other clubs have had slumps but not this bad. he has ruined the club. oh ya,also the americans.
managers come and go but fans are forever
anonymous - January 27th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Let’s stop blaming Rafa and the boys for a change and coolly analyze last night’s match in its entirety. To be fair, Wolves had most of the possessions from the word go whereas we couldn’t get our passes right. And I suspect they’d be more disappointed they couldn’t convert the few good chances they had had. After all it was a home game for them and all that. To be honest, we were lucky not to concede. Our performance was totally lifeless and bereft of any confidence to say the least. Even so, I just couldn’t help myself wondering what the outcome would have been like had Riera not been substituted by Ngog; he was just hopeless with those passes/crosses. Let’s hope the next game would yield more positive results. Come on lads, YNWA.
P.S. Looking forward to a change next season.
tintaal - January 27th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Dear Mr. Fish,
Man U score last minute goals because they put their opposition under relentless pressure for the last 15 mijns of a game. Eventually, one of their many attempts at goal goes in.
Liverpool start with 2 DMFs against the likes of Wolves. They had more shots on goal than us as well as more shots on target. “Luck” occurs AFTER you are 1-0 down to Sunderland after hitting a beachball and then proceed to ATTACK them for the rest of the game.
spota - January 27th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
i just hope the juventus thing is true ! fuck off rafa . can i have my 90pound back for my tickets and petrol for last night . spanish prick
anonymous - January 27th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
That is the most biased and short sighted blog I have ever read. Liverpool are where they are becaue that is where they deserve to be. They have not been as good as Man City, Spurs or even Villa. To claim that their position is due to bad refereeing and bad luck only confirms what the rest of the premier league fans already know…. Liverpool fans are deluded into believing Rafa’s rubbish that he reads from a sheet of A4.
A quick look at their squad will tell you all you need to know. Most of their players would not get into Man City, Villa or Spurs squads, never mind their starting 11 (bar Reina, Gerrard, Masch’ and Torres).
The point I go onto make is this…. The premier league is moving forward into a new era where certain clubs have money to burn and the rest will struggle to compete. Clubs that have not built the foundations (through larger capacity stadiums, youth academies etc) will not be able to compete with the Chelsea’s, Man City, Villa’s or even Birmingham City in the next decade. Unfortunately failure to qualify for the Champions league this season means Liverpool will continue to decline and replicate the sort of form that Spurs showed in the 90’s.
Rafa should be sacked for his failings in building a sustainable future for the club and dwindling the fans money over the last 5 years. Lets face it, Arsenal and Liverpool were two similar sized clubs in 2005 with Liverpool having more money and a bigger stadium, but Arsenal a better team. 5 years later the gulf between the two is massive. Arsenal are well placed for the next 10 years with a new ground and a young team, Liverpool are nowhere.
The truth is that Benitez is as much to blame for the state of the team as the owners are for the state of the club.
anonymous - January 27th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Fielding weakened teams against supposedly weak sides is a reflection that Rafa doesn’t get the league. You may as well field weak sides against the top four and lose and field strong teams gainst the weak teams to ensure a win.
If you were to beat the bottom 14 twice in a season then that is nearly enough points to secure the title on its own.
RB prefers to get his teams up for the big games against ManUtd and win those and risk dropping points at Wolves & Birmingham.
His managerial style is suited to the cup competitions because of this. If Lpool want to win the league, they should find a different manager
anonymous - January 27th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
if the club means anything to the yanks then pay the 20 million to get rid of raffa that will be the best 20 million spent. rather that than a xabi would be replacement
anonymous - January 27th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
yeah thats right best suited to cup comp. thats why we lost to reading and knocked out of euro. Lets face we should not be in euro its a cop out 2nd chance cup which only makes the big clubs a little more money. totally unfair
anonymous - January 28th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Don’t agree. Being a Life time Liverpool supporter, I wish I could agree but this is the real world. It doesn’t matter when if a team has been unlucky or lucky for 10 games… what matters is the 3 points at the end of each games…
so what if MU and Chelsea gets outplayed in many games and still win by a single goal??? What matters is that they can still get the goal that makes the difference even when they’re outplayed and that’s why these 2 teams keep winning the league in the last 5 or so seasons. Look at last season.. we just needed to convert 2 of our draw games into wins to win the league…
I’ve read many comments from people who are baffled by Rafa’s playing of 2 defensive mids and leave Aquilani out to dry and I totally agree with these people. Against strong teams, that i can understand. but why so defensive against teams like Wolves??? What have we got to lose considering the position we are in??? Especially when Aquilani seems to be getting better and better… (ring any bells?) remember Keane? he was starting to score goals and become the player he was in Spurs last Dec and we go sell him in Jan.
LFC is gonna be screwed anyway if we don’t make the top 4… so it’s all or nothing… attack the shit out of lesser teams… don’t give them the confidence to attack us by playing safe…