UCL: Liverpool vs. Chelsea [22.04.2008]

[NJ10]

Firstly, congratulations to Chelsea. I think over the course of last night they just about deserved it.

Really thought we were going to go on and win it when Torres equalised, but Chelsea were too strong in extra time. Carragher battled well with Drogba all night, there is a reason we love Carra so much and he showed it last night, but when DD is on that kind of form he is so hard to stop, and Hyypia wasnt up to the job. I wonder whether if Skrtel had been on the pitch whether he would have snuffed him out a bit better...but ifs buts and maybes.

I honestly think what this game came down to was individual errors, and big game players, and i think Chelsea are littered with them- Drogba, Terry, Ballack, Essien, Lampard, Makelele, Carvalho, even Ashley Cole who had a very good game i felt- whereas perhaps we only have Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano & Carragher, and the rest just seem to tread water. Kuyt i thought was awful, Arbeloa was very poor (I am disappointed he seems to have pushed Finnan out of the running), Riise is not good enough and Alonso & Benayoun didnt have good games, which in turn impacted on Gerrard & Torres, who didnt get into the game often enough, but when they did they looked threatening.

Some fans gave Gerrard a lot of grief last night when he went over to applaud them, that is bang out of order. He wasnt at his best, but he put a shift in, used the ball pretty well and he was up against one of the best defensive units in the world in Makelele, Terry & Carvalho. These people calling him a traitor were probably the people who tried to start sickening songs about Lampard left before the endl, then came back in when Babel scored....some fucking fans they are!

Finally, on Lampard- we were discussing him on the coach down, i stated that i thought if he played, then he would have a quiet game as his mind may be elsewhere. How wrong was I?! He was immense from the start, never wasted a pass, kept his head and did himself proud. He has never been my favourite footballer in the league, but i gained a hell of a lot of respect for him last night.

[hanuma]

Originally Posted by NJ10

Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano & Carragher, and the rest just seem to tread water.

Testament to the manager that he gets them so well prepared for these nights - not once did you look like giving up (although Ballack's freekick going in might have done that). Skrtel looks a good find he probably would have stopped our first goal.

I can't lie, if I'd have posted last night it would have been a feast of FU's such is the contempt that familiarity breeds. But today you can really appreciate just how hard Liverpool made it for us again and how that's something you have to admire and respect. Big time club, big time performances, if aided by big time failure in the league.

He was immense from the start, never wasted a pass, kept his head and did himself proud. He has never been my favourite footballer in the league, but i gained a hell of a lot of respect for him last night.

He had the sort of game that most people don't notice him having. All eyes were on him tonight and suddenly everyone notices what a good player he is. I swear this wasn't nearly his best game for us, it was just typical Frank.

[NJ10]

Originally Posted by hanuma

not once did you look like giving up

Exactly mate, which is why the arseholes who stormed out with a titty lip during extra time should be ashamed. I remember the stories from Istanbul of lads who left at half time and missed the glory and people were saying they felt sorry for them?!! Fuck them, they are a disgrace and they dont deserve success.

Originally Posted by hanuma

I can't lie, if I'd have posted last night it would have been a feast of FU's such is the contempt that familiarity breeds. But today you can really appreciate just how hard Liverpool made it for us again and how that's something you have to admire and respect. Big time club, big time performances, if aided by big time failure in the league.

Nice one.

Wish i could argue otherwise about the big time failure, but at the moment it is true. I wonder what we would be like in the CL if we were fighting at the top of the table come spring.....hopefully one day i will find out!

Originally Posted by hanuma

He had the sort of game that most people don't notice him having. All eyes were on him tonight and suddenly everyone notices what a good player he is. I swear this wasn't nearly his best game for us, it was just typical Frank.

He's a quality player, that surely has never been in question. The penalty last night though was bottle. Real bottle. Just like for England against croatia, he didnt get nearly enough credit for that imo.

[Dellas]

Firstly I am ecstatic that we are in the Champions League final.

We played amazingly in the 1st half. Drogba didn't fall over once and I'm glad Benitez said what he said cos it seemed to really fire him up, he really did dominate Carragher, Hyypia and Skrtel. Lampard and Ballack were immense, credit to both of them, one suffered a major loss and to play one of his best games of the season and then to take a very crucial pen against a top keeper, hats off to the lad, would have made his mother proud. Ballack having played a big part in the Man united game to then give such a gd performance yesterday as well was unbelieveable he worked so hard and his shots were very gd and tested Reina. Essien has been having good games recently ever since he came back from the ACN but playing at rb his runs were even more inspiring and defensively he was a rock, he was very unlucky to have a gd goal disallowed, Benayoun had to come inside to get any joy. Makelele did a great job of keeping gerrard quiet. Terry and Carvalho had a tough job to keep Torres quiet but 1 against 2 meant their job was made a bit easier. Cech made a few really important saves and unfortunately couldn't keep Babels late shot out. A.cole had one of if not is best game in a Chelsea shirt. J.Cole was quite ineffective and tbh he seemed tired seeing as he is the only Chelsea player having played more than 30 games this season. Kalou woke up at the right time and was quite effective on the left imo. Malouda came on and throught the 2nd half he was quite poor but in extra time he got better, which was surprising. Anelka came on and linked up perfectly with Drogba would love to see more of those 2 upfront.

Credit to Liverpool at half time they looked out of it but they came out and really put the pressure on us and perhaps should have got a 2nd. What surprised me the most was that even tho they all hadn't played in the EPL they seemed to be tired in extra time when we woke up for some reason. Btw Torres is a great buy and will be interesting to see how Liverpool do next season in the EPL. Also a shame that Crouch didn't play cos I feel if he was given more time up front with Torres they could form a gd partnership.

The pitch was pretty poor due to the rain but that didn't stop a very thrilling game of football.

interesting fact...all the goals were scored in the same goal...

[hanuma]

Originally Posted by NJ10

Wish i could argue otherwise about the big time failure, but at the moment it is true. I wonder what we would be like in the CL if we were fighting at the top of the table come spring.....hopefully one day i will find out.

You need more quality. Your second XI's getting better, your first hasn't improved enough.

I may moan about our wingers not being good enough but they've produced more for us than yours have for you. A better leftback would really help you out. I just pray we don't sell you Bridge. What's Finnans status btw? (short and long term).

Alonso has been a dissapointment most of the games I've seen him in. Mascherano and Lucas look like being very good though. One more central midfielder that can play (i.e. not Sissoko) and Xabi finding consistent form would make you about as strong as us in central midfield.

Carragher, Skrtel, Agger and Hyppia is very good.

Lampard and Drogba have been our most productive players and the most productive players in the world for years now, Gerrard and Torres are similar. The difference is we've had enough cash to make some disasterous moves and still end up with extra production around them, Liverpool haven't.

[NJ10]

Originally Posted by hanuma

I may moan about our wingers not being good enough but they've produced more for us than yours have for you. A better leftback would really help you out. I just pray we don't sell you Bridge. What's Finnans status btw? (short and long term).

Exactly. Babel has the potential to be very good, but I question whether he is best used wide or through the middle. He also seems better equipped as an impact substitute just now, but his finishing and his pace is impressive. Pennant is way too hit and miss and not nearly productive enough, Kuyt is a big weakness, Kewell will be gone in the summer and we dont really have a youngster coming through- Leto hasnt come on, and Guthrie i dont think will be kept on next season despite doing well for Bolton.

Bridge would be a useful signing, I wouldnt blame him for looking to move on, but I'd be a bit surprised if Chelsea let him go to us. We need to pluck a Clichy or an Evra out of somewhere! Ive heard Fernando Amorebieta from Bilbao linked, but when I have seen him he has been more of a centre half so that seems odd.

Finnan just seems to have fallen behind Arbeloa at the moment, not quite sure why. I rate Finnan very highly, and Arbeloa is prone to errors at times. I would rather have seen Arbeloa at LB instead of Riise, with Finnan at RB on Wednesday because of the solidity SF gives.

Originally Posted by hanuma

Alonso has been a dissapointment most of the games I've seen him in. Mascherano and Lucas look like being very good though. One more central midfielder that can play (i.e. not Sissoko) and Xabi finding consistent form would make you about as strong as us in central midfield.

.

Alonso's form has dropped off, but there are promising signs. I thought he was excellent at Anfield against Chelsea. He has been going backwards since around the time of the Cup Final in 06 to be honest, in the season up to that he was incredible. I wonder whether having Sissoko alongside him gave him an extra sense of responsibility with the ball? At the moment Mascherano is the main DM, and rightly so, Alonso needs to step his game up. As for Lucas, I hear he is more of an attacking midfielder than we have seen thus far, so maybe we will see more of that next season. He passes the ball nicely, he has hit a couple of decent shots (although he seems reluctant to do so at times), and he seems to have a bit of a football brain, so hopefully he can keep improving.