2014/15 Champion's league

[Uncle Si]

Aaaaaaand Liverpool 1-0 down. Hopefully we can rescue a point here. Arsenal are destroying Galatasaray away, 4-0. Wellbeck looks a great buy at this point, he has a hat-trick so far tonight. Good for him, he was wasted talent at united.

Unwatchable...

 

[Nog]

Basel? That's a bit shocking!

 

[Nog]

Basel? That's a bit shocking!

Have you seen Liverpool lately? It's really not that shocking...

Not much, but we are talking about Basel. They don't even have 1/4 of Liverpool's budget.

 

[Uncle Si]

Basel? That's a bit shocking!

Have you seen Liverpool lately? It's really not that shocking...

Not much, but we are talking about Basel. They don't even have 1/4 of Liverpool's budget.

Basel beat Chelsea twice last year and Spurs. Knocked United out of champs league a couple years before

No excuse for our performance but Basel's no first timers here

 

[Nog]

It apparently doesn't matter. We've regressed back to the way we were when Rodgers first came to us. Boring, passing too much, not attacking, no desire, no threat going forward.

It's time for Gerrard to go to the bench. He's effectively useless to us after 20 mins each game. We need a new Keeper who will have more command of his box. We need another striker. We need to play the diamond 4 with Henderson in the middle, Lallana and probably Coutinho on the sides and Sterling as the number 10. We need a better defensive coach. We need. We need. We need.


It just sucks because I think for the most part the signings we made were good, bordering on great - Lallana, Moreno, Manquillo, Can. But Markovic looks out of his depth at the moment after a couple of promising appearances, Ballotelli needs a foil to let him get into space, and Lovren needs to remember how to defend. Coutinho's form HAS to improve some time, he's looked lost this season. Gerrard is really just done, he can be an impact sub at CAM for the rest of his career and would contribute SO much more than he is now.

Luckily, there's still a lot of time to turn things around, and I believe they can. Just need to get back to attacking football, and stop pandering to the old-school fans who want to see Gerrards name on the teamsheet every match. Rodgers still has plenty of equity with this team, but if he doesn't start making some tactical changes and showing us the attacking, free-flowing football we saw last year, he'll be on the hot-seat in no time.

You seem to have a lot of holes :?

Basel? That's a bit shocking!

Have you seen Liverpool lately? It's really not that shocking...

Not much, but we are talking about Basel. They don't even have 1/4 of Liverpool's budget.

Basel beat Chelsea twice last year and Spurs. Knocked United out of champs league a couple years before

No excuse for our performance but Basel's no first timers here

Not claiming that they're first timer, but they aren't great. If you are focus enough you can beat them.

 

[Nog]

On a side note, and my hatred aside, I've seen a great matchup between Barça and PSG last nite. Far better than Atletico Juve I've watched tonight.

 

[Uncle Si]

It apparently doesn't matter. We've regressed back to the way we were when Rodgers first came to us. Boring, passing too much, not attacking, no desire, no threat going forward.

It's time for Gerrard to go to the bench. He's effectively useless to us after 20 mins each game. We need a new Keeper who will have more command of his box. We need another striker. We need to play the diamond 4 with Henderson in the middle, Lallana and probably Coutinho on the sides and Sterling as the number 10. We need a better defensive coach. We need. We need. We need.


It just sucks because I think for the most part the signings we made were good, bordering on great - Lallana, Moreno, Manquillo, Can. But Markovic looks out of his depth at the moment after a couple of promising appearances, Ballotelli needs a foil to let him get into space, and Lovren needs to remember how to defend. Coutinho's form HAS to improve some time, he's looked lost this season. Gerrard is really just done, he can be an impact sub at CAM for the rest of his career and would contribute SO much more than he is now.

Luckily, there's still a lot of time to turn things around, and I believe they can. Just need to get back to attacking football, and stop pandering to the old-school fans who want to see Gerrards name on the teamsheet every match. Rodgers still has plenty of equity with this team, but if he doesn't start making some tactical changes and showing us the attacking, free-flowing football we saw last year, he'll be on the hot-seat in no time.

You seem to have a lot of holes :?

Basel beat Chelsea twice last year and Spurs. Knocked United out of champs league a couple years before

No excuse for our performance but Basel's no first timers here

Not claiming that they're first timer, but they aren't great. If you are focus enough you can beat them.

you know the game's not that simple..

but really our biggest issue is being dynamic going forward, and I hate to say it, but Gerrard is the biggest weakness in that.

Our priority shouldve been replacing him and Suarez. I dont mind any of the players we got, as depth was needed. But Gerrards effectiveness has waned. A player like Vidal or Pogba, maybe even Bender, Motta, Verratti, etc...

Its clear that Balo is going to take some time (if it ever comes to fruition). and while i dont mind Lambert on the squad, when Remy's deal feel through we needed to fill that with quality. Balo is a different player than whats missing at the moment.

The return of Sturridge will help.. but its "getting late early" right now. Team needs some positive results and good play or we could be in for a very very long winter

 

[Gatehawk]

What a game by Arsenal. Why is it so hard to see this kind of performance on a consistent basis? It didn't even look like they were rocked by the injuries they've suffered. Nearly everything went right for the Gunners and no one can say Arsenal didn't deserve to win. It was easily better than the match in Dortmund. Welbeck is proving to be a good buy, honestly he's been putting in some good and consistent performances since arriving. It was great to see Welbeck notch his first career hat trick and Sanchez to score again also. The only blemish on the match was Szczesny's red card. Though when you compare Wojciech's challenge to Felipe Melo's ridiculous two footed challenge on Sanchez in the 1st half, it's a harsh decision. I'm seriously still trying to figure out how Melo only got a yellow on that.

One other thing I wanna talk about is the blatant display of disrespect by Galatasaray fans who, after Welbeck's 2nd, lit and threw flares onto the pitch. Good on Sneijder and Muslera for going over to calm their fans down, but that's still uncalled for.

 

[Uncle Si]

What a game by Arsenal. Why is it so hard to see this kind of performance on a consistent basis?

Im going to go with... Arsenal dont play Gala at home each match... as the answer to that question.

Still, a strong performance. Gala was just as poor. They basically left themselves open to Arsenal's strengths. Poor set up, poor execution, just oddly naive from a club used to European travel.

 

[Gatehawk]

What a game by Arsenal. Why is it so hard to see this kind of performance on a consistent basis?

Im going to go with... Arsenal dont play Gala at home each match... as the answer to that question.

Still, a strong performance. Gala was just as poor. They basically left themselves open to Arsenal's strengths. Poor set up, poor execution, just oddly naive from a club used to European travel.

The way Galatasaray set up is the exact reason I don't believe that the 3-5-2 formation is good. It's massively obvious that the weakness of the formation is that it's easily exploitable by players with plenty of pace and that's exactly what Arsenal had with Sanchez, Welbeck and Ox, as well as Ozil, in the position he has to be played in, making crucial passes. I do have to say I was a bit surprised to see Cazorla played in a deep lying role, but somehow it worked.

There's no doubt that Gala did themselves no favors yesterday. Wynalda even said at halftime that if Sneijder is your best defender, there's something going wrong. Gala were poor, they weren't all that much better against Anderlecht 2 weeks ago either, but still gotta give Arsenal credit, they took the game and, unlike against Besiktas, put the game to bed and didn't really create any nervy moments.

 

[Uncle Si]

What a game by Arsenal. Why is it so hard to see this kind of performance on a consistent basis?

Im going to go with... Arsenal dont play Gala at home each match... as the answer to that question.

Still, a strong performance. Gala was just as poor. They basically left themselves open to Arsenal's strengths. Poor set up, poor execution, just oddly naive from a club used to European travel.

The way Galatasaray set up is the exact reason I don't believe that the 3-5-2 formation is good. It's massively obvious that the weakness of the formation is that it's easily exploitable by players with plenty of pace and that's exactly what Arsenal had with Sanchez, Welbeck and Ox, as well as Ozil, in the position he has to be played in, making crucial passes. I do have to say I was a bit surprised to see Cazorla played in a deep lying role, but somehow it worked.

There's no doubt that Gala did themselves no favors yesterday. Wynalda even said at halftime that if Sneijder is your best defender, there's something going wrong. Gala were poor, they weren't all that much better against Anderlecht 2 weeks ago either, but still gotta give Arsenal credit, they took the game and, unlike against Besiktas, put the game to bed and didn't really create any nervy moments.

have to have the team to exploit it though, and Arsenal certainly did so. All credit to them.

Juventus is the only team I'm aware of that runs an effective 3-5-2. That midfield 3 of Pirlo, Vidal and Pogba certainly help their cause. Me personally, I'm not a fan of it, although my HS team employs it in certain games (more of a 5-2-3). Its either difficult to defend in consistently or difficult to attack in consistently. I honestly cannot find a balance.

 

[Gatehawk]

have to have the team to exploit it though, and Arsenal certainly did so. All credit to them.

Juventus is the only team I'm aware of that runs an effective 3-5-2. That midfield 3 of Pirlo, Vidal and Pogba certainly help their cause. Me personally, I'm not a fan of it, although my HS team employs it in certain games (more of a 5-2-3). Its either difficult to defend in consistently or difficult to attack in consistently. I honestly cannot find a balance.

People seem to think that the 3-5-2 formation can work with good center backs and that wide players to play cover. But you'd still need to deal with the pace of the opposition. If you have a player who's biggest strength is their pace, and it's no secret Arsenal have players known for their pace, it's incredibly difficult to run a formation like that unless you have the right personnel, and like you said, Juve does it right, and it's cause they have the right players for the required jobs.

 

[Uncle Si]

Bonkers day...

 

[Gatehawk]

Bonkers day...

36 goals in a single day and a single player with 5. Yeah bonkers sounds about right.

 

[InSuarezWeTrust]

So much for keeping it respectable.

This is the worst defense we've ever had.

*sigh*

As much as we wanted to deny it, we all knew Madrid had the ability to make us look like the Keystone Cops. I do want to make it out of the group, but after that we are likely to get smashed.

I do think we should try and focus on the league so that when we qualify for the UCL next year we can be a legitimate threat to make a run.

 

[Uncle Si]

Honestly...

I thought we played alright. Ronaldo's goal was just world class. Yes, Lovren needs to learn his spacing better, but only by a yard. that pass from James was simply sublime, and the finish? come on, thats why we watch.

Second goal was a bit of a strange one. We were still in the match, ball swings wide. Now back post defending would go to the wing back (Moreno) there, but he was obviously assigned to find and mark Ronaldo. you can see him leave his space to go to him. the other responsible party wouldve been the left CM (Allen?). got there late, and Benzema's finish again was no joke.

Third one was Mignolet doing Mignolet stuff, which is getting quite tiring. If he realizes he can actually use his hands there he lands on the ball, instead of stabbing at it with his lunging feet like someone trying to jump out of a window.

we looked energetic, decisive moving forward and at times dangerous. until the 3rd goal I thought we could still get value from the game.

all that said. this team needs to string some confident results together. I think we are still dangerous, and still a candidate for top 4. I think we are better than United, Everton, Spurs. But... the group needs to find itself.

My thing is that this team is not the devastating attacking presence of last season, and it needs to stop pretending it is. Shore up the cracks in the middle of the field before foraying up the park like its a pub league game. try and find the counter. (ie...Arsenal and Everton last year).

But I dont know if BR has the depth to permit a change in philosophy. I'm beginning to wonder if he can overcome his naivete to keep his job into 2015-16.

 

[Gatehawk]

Podolski and Gibbs are life savers.... that is all.

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

No Gerrard, Ballotelli, Sterling or Henderson for Liverpool. Expecting a massacre.

Poor from Rodgers, play your strongest team. All that last season to get into the Champions League, all the hype when the draw was made...for him to wave the white flag & get the excuses in early. It may not be the strongest starting team but it's an expensive one.

Wouldn't be happy as a fan if I made that journey.

 

[Uncle Si]

No Gerrard, Ballotelli, Sterling or Henderson for Liverpool. Expecting a massacre.

Poor from Rodgers, play your strongest team. All that last season to get into the Champions League, all the hype when the draw was made...for him to wave the white flag & get the excuses in early. It may not be the strongest starting team but it's an expensive one.

Wouldn't be happy as a fan if I made that journey.

Honestly, I'm not happy... but not because of the team selection. The sad thing is that only name recognition separates that team selection as being weaker than the one from Newcastle. Only player he left off that maybe needed inclusion was Sterling. No one else warranted another start after the shit show at Newcastle.

What all Liverpool fans are unhappy about is how bad this team has performed. Not sure that the team he is sending out there is more or less waving a white flag than if the likes of Balotelli, Gerrard, Henderson were out there.


If he's resting them for Chelsea, ok, sure. But again, this team has been disjointed and poor since day one. maybe this is a kick in the ass. maybe its resting key players. maybe its sending a message.

but the real truth here is the players rested and the players starting are all BR. He has taken credit for his changing of Gerrards role and getting the most from Henderson. he's brought in the players that start tonight. Basically he made his bed (or grave) and now he's going to sit on it for 90 minutes.

 

[Gatehawk]

My only reaction to Liverpool's XI is "What the f*** is Rodgers thinking?"

I'm expecting Liverpool to be halfway back to Merseyside before halftime. They are gonna get run over by a freight train tonight.