ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Liverpool- This losing is getting old

Posted by Kevin Brodie on 11/02/2009

This is getting old. I'm not sure what Liverpool did to upset off the soccer gods but whatever it was it must have been bad. I couldn't' believe the team sheet on Saturday morning. Missing from the squad was Skrtel, Agger, Rierra, Gerrard, Auerilo and Ngog. I just couldn't believe how many forced changes we had.

Everyone knows that I'm a huge Rafa supporter. We need Rafa more then he needs us but this was not one of his better games. I have no problem with him taking off Torres after 60 minutes but his decision to remove Yossi was a surprise. Surely Kuyt was the better option, Kuyt had a very poor game and looked tired. The other beef I have with this team was that Vornonin was in it. He was terrible and is simply not good enough to start an away league match. I would have rather seen Yossi behind Torres and even Babel out left. Babel was awful again by the way.

Liverpool actually dominated the first 25 minutes of this match. Fulham barely got out of their own half. For all possession we didn't have that many clear chances at goal. Although Degen was finding some joy down the right, his final ball was not great. Finally an opening did arrive as Yossi took the ball down well but his shot hit the post. Of course, the way the games are going for us we found ourselves a goal behind from Fulhams first attack. Poor marketing from our Greek center back and a lazy Insua allowed Zamora to tap it in.

Liverpool battled on and Torres equalized with a fine strike. I thought we would go on and win the game...The second half was something from the twilight zone. Liverpool were bloody awful. No one took responsibility, no one wanted the ball..Once Torres came off I said well 1-1 won't be that bad..Little did I know that we could gift Fulham a second goal and the referee would make two terrible decision.s How he let their players kick Torres all over the park in the first half..and then send Deggen off for his first foul is beyond me. Carragher's was not a red card either..he got the ball and Zamora was offside..but the way the soccer gods are going the ref got it all wrong. Personally I don't think we would have come back anyway we were just to poor on the day.

Rafa has it all to do and I was very angry at the end of the match. It has just not been fun watching them this year.

Comments

Posted by Me on 11/02/2009

I am an Arsenal fan but this looked interesting to me so I read it. All I have to say is this. Everyone said at the beginning of the year, Arsenal this Arsenal that. They won't be in the top four when it is all said and done with. Now look at where the season is. To me. Liverpool is almost out of it already. The one impressive win was to a Manchester United team that looks to be a little weaker this year than normal. Chelsea are the strongest team right now but I think Arsenal and Man U will give them a run. Arsenal is second in my opinion but Liverpool are not even 5th right now to me. Aston Villa are better and Tottenham are better not to mention Manchester City. I see them finishing sixth or even seventh if they are not careful. You can blame soccer gods or whatever you like but the fact is, that won't help you win. By the way, the line "...we were just to poor..." should be "...we were just too poor..." I am just saying, as a journalist getting paid to write, that is sort of bad.

Posted by Siew on 11/03/2009

Once Torres was taken off, Fulham suddenly comes alive. They do not have the pressure of everybody watching Torres resulting more opportunity for players to attack.

Liverpool just too ordinary. I think they will end up not qualifying for Champion League next year (5th in the premier league table).

Sad sad sad.

Posted by Goldhill on 11/03/2009

Yes agree. It has just not been fun watching them this year with Rafa's tingkering. So I have decided to terminate all my TV's sports channels and just have fun reading with your soccer comments ... hahaha.

Posted by lotfee on 11/03/2009

sack rafa.....he's rubbish at liverpool...nothing good unless ashame us.
i as liverpool supporter since 1970s, felt disappointed too much what i saw team today..sack rafa....his idea just finish!!!

Posted by Praga -SA on 11/04/2009

I think Liverpool needs to acquire about 81 points
to win the league.This would mean winning all remaining home games and another 7 away games.I actually think that this is very achievable with a full strength squad,which would include Aqualaini,who I think is a brilliant player.So its
hope and pray that we could have a full strength squad very soon.How bad is the current run really,considering that Liverpool only picked up 16 points from 10 games between 21 Nov - 27 Jan last year.We have now picked up 18 points from 11 games.You know what,a full strength Liverpool team at full flow can only be stopped from winning the league by sheer bad luck.

Posted by kenny chitiza on 11/04/2009

got my nane from this team n m a passionate but the real problem we have is that our replacement players dont wanna take the initiative to be counted and be anfield legends we have major offloadin to do

Posted by zubzeera on 11/04/2009

very very very very very sad.... GOD bless LIVERPOOL & GOD save LIVERPOOL...

Posted by aussie steve on 11/04/2009

send the greek back to athens were he came from,and yes insua is lazy,and carraghers form he should be playing for stevenage,jnstead of liverpool.we need some decent signings come january or we could finish in the bottom 10,the defence sucks and that is being polite.

Posted by PK on 11/05/2009

Rafa is excellent. Of course, he is having a rough time, but all managers do. Look at Scolari. He guided Portugal to the Semi final of the WC, and two years later had a bad run with Chelsea. Rafa has been good, though he needs to get some help in the transfer market. Gillet and Hicks giving him 20m didnt't help either. I think Liverpool may have a below par season, but well come back next year.

Posted by aifi james on 11/05/2009

i totally agreed with your last sentences..It has just not been fun watching them this year..
i love liverpool so much, thinking about this make me feel very sad. i cant afford to see them losing anymore..

Posted by HJJ on 11/08/2009

Rafa has had very little to work with, and I don't believe it should fall on his shoulders to carry the burden of the losses this season. Even without Gerrard, we have so many players of quality that it is a wonder to see us losing out to mid-table teams (which we are at the moment). It feels like after last year's failed run for the Prem even with 89 points, our players have lost the passion and creativity to turn games around; something that was vital to the gears of the team last year.

That said, I believe Rafa's plans are designed more toward the future of the club. With the overhaul of the Academy program, the graduation of Academy players into the first-team, and the recruiting of young foreign talent, our second-string team is looking younger and younger. Against Fulham, only one person on the bench was above the age of 22, and that was Dossena. I say give Rafa 3-5 more years and wait for the team to mature before we make any serious judgements.

Posted by Kelvin on 11/08/2009

Well, I am Liverpool supporter for more than 30 years. After watching Liverpool beating Man Utd 2-0, I thought the Reds has come back to their form again. But, things went wrong somewhere against Fulham. I just don't understand why Rafa Benitez like Voronin and Lucas so much? He should sell away this 2 players as well as Dossena. They are not suitable to play Liverpool style. Voronin, not aggressive, Lucas very conservative, Dossena out of style. I hope Rafa Benitez sell away this 3 players and get someone better to Liverpool.

Posted by Ben H araseb on 11/09/2009

eish liverpool season is going in the different direction than i thought. yes its sheer bad luck and rafa's ideas which are not working. rafa needs to employ better shouts to get good players or he must buy 3 to 4 established players to strenghen the team. good luck rafa and liverpool because you need it. liverpool die heart supporter.

Posted by very sad on 11/09/2009

we are very poor this season!
rafa shouldn't have sent torres off he should let him play for abt 80 minuts cuz when torres is ther we have more chances!
and yes the greek should be sent back to where he came from and voronin is not fit to play in such a good team!!

Posted by very sad on 11/09/2009

Posted by Spencer on 11/09/2009

Everton vs. Liverpool Nov. 29

The reds are going down, Toffees are on the way back up. I don't want to hear about 'oh liverpool has had to make so many changes to their lineup' when we have Arteta, Jagielka, Osman, Pienaar, Neville, and Jo out. Man up and deal with it. When it comes to the 29th, Liverpool is going to fall at the hands of the Toffees and have their season permanently labeled as a disappointment.

Posted by damo on 11/09/2009

Please can someone tell me how Lucas plays so often, i know we have injuries but surely there is someone else. Hopefully with the end to Aquillani's injury i may not have to watch him give away stupid free kicks around the box, and try and shoot from 30 metres and give the ball away.

Posted by Ambrosia on 11/10/2009

How could we win if we were playing only with 1 man down every single match? With Lucas Leiva in the starting line-up, I am sure any premier league team would end up in the bottom 10. He is not doing anything in attack and he is so poor in defense. We miss Alonso.

Posted by aussie steve on 11/10/2009

here we go again we get 1-0 lead then a stupid pen 40 out from goal,what do you get woefully 10 year old defense,and i cannot blame carreghar this time,its the whole back six that the problem lies,chelsea,man unt,man city,arsenal have all got players that like to run from deep insua is a turtle skertle,carreghar,aggerand the greek refuse to sneak over the half-way mark,I also think XABI ALONSO madeup for alot of lucas and macheranhos weaknesses,reira still has to prove himself watching aquilani I think him and gerrard will work good together,When the window opens in jan throw some defenders out and get some new ones to climb in.

Posted by Kevin - Canadian Scouse on 11/10/2009

I new as soon as we lost Alonso that we were not giong to win the league this year. He really was a huge key for Stevie G and Torres to be able to play their game. Of course, no one could predict teh mass injuries that LFC have been inflicted with. I now would be happy with UEFA Cup qualification as the injuries are still mounting after this weeks game and no end in site. I would love to see van der vaart in a reds jersey come Jan - although I don't really see that happening. And yes, we also deperately need some improvement at the back. Hyypia is being sorely missed! If LFC can get healthy and get a few good signings in Jan we may be able to squeak into the Champions league, but it's going to be a tough battle for that fourth spot!

Posted by Linderson on 11/11/2009

I am a liverpool dive hard fan. It has been a very bad situation where Liverpool have done badly.It was a surprised to me
Looking back,lacking of money to buy better players is one of the issue that need not be taken lightly. This is one of the main issue that has troubling Liverpool for the last few seasons.
As long as this issue is unsolved, Liverpool will still have to wait long to win the EPL.
Hope luck will be on Liverpool again where most of the players will recover soon.
As we all know "Liverpool will not walk alone" No matter rainly day or shining day, we will be together with Liverpool to soldier on.
Liverpool is a legend and we will walk with our heads high when the season's end.
Keep moving on &
Good Luck

Posted by joey on 11/11/2009

Firstly let say I feel for Rafa he has a better chance of win the injury crisis tournament than the league at the moment. A question needs to be asked is it the manager and coaches that have to be blamed for the team's poor performance. Lets take a moment to think back of all the games we have played which one of them was Rafa on the pitch playing. The players have to take responsibility, what type of players do we have that actually believe they can't win if Gerrard or Torres aren't playing why do we have those players in the team. I think the reason we bought them was coz they were seen as very good players good enough to play for liverpool but the moment two players aren't there the team falls apart. The Manager to me needs to start motivating the players give them belief that they can do without Torres and Gerrard. Oh by the way Voronin and Babel just need to go back to the academy and learn how to hold on to the ball, pass defenders regularly most of just to learn to play

Posted by joey on 11/11/2009

Liverpool need not worry about the league the season maybe FA cup or something like that. Bare with me we have lost more games than we did in the 2007/2008 season when we came fourth. We should rather concentrate on rebuilding the team selling the likes of Babel, Voronin, Dosena, Javier (he seems like he doesn't want to be at liverpool)we can try get a Forlan or even Crouch then look to get some quick center backs cause Carra is really not playing well this season he seems to be second to the ball and fouling at times he is getting away with it but for how long. We need cover for Gerrard someone who can play in the center and get more forward thinking midfielders. Just look at what Arsenal, Chelsea, Man U have in the mid. Lampard, Essen, Joe Cole, Carrick, Giggs, Fletcher, Cesc, Kalou. players who are a force going forwrd and are good defensively not disrespect to Lucas he forward play is none existant and when you have him and Javier together you just have a static midfield

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