Liverpool Fc @ Anfield - Reds Supporters Gatherings

[Cum_Luver]

there he goes again,making some strange decision.
although i think he must be thinking of the CL match against Lyon which we must win.
but taking two of your best players of the night,is just not right when we should go for a win.
after Torres went off,Fulham just sensed that we are there for their taking.
then the red card against Degen,totally wrong although Jamie's red is right.

voronin just does not fit into EPL. we should have sold him when Berlin wants him permanently and perhap use the cash to bring in some attacking players.

very disappointed after last weekend. i think Rafa's day is numbered maybe his odd will raise above that of Phil Brown.

[beck7777]

Tonight score read as follow:

Fulham 3-1 Rafa

Much as I support and back Rafa, he lost the game today, not Liverpool..

We dominated in the 1st half but went down unexpectly until Torres score with his 1st chance.. Mind you, it was even really created by us..

2nd half is the time we go for the kill, yet Torres was subbed..

Nevermind, when down a goal again, Benayuon was subbed again..
Replace by who??
Sorry, I dont its the correct time to bleed youngsters...

Is Rafa getting back the "Its CL soon so I must rest my star players" symdrom again?

If Torres can last 80min vs Manure, I dont see why he cant play more tonight when he is fitter...

This defeat has really blew our title hopes as I dont see how the other big 3 can drop or lost that as many games...

[bochapsing]

Originally Posted by Cum_Luver

there he goes again,making some strange decision.
although i think he must be thinking of the CL match against Lyon which we must win.
but taking two of your best players of the night,is just not right when we should go for a win.
after Torres went off,Fulham just sensed that we are there for their taking.
then the red card against Degen,totally wrong although Jamie's red is right.

voronin just does not fit into EPL. we should have sold him when Berlin wants him permanently and perhap use the cash to bring in some attacking players.

very disappointed after last weekend. i think Rafa's day is numbered maybe his odd will raise above that of Phil Brown.

torres wasn't fit... it'll be worse if rafa played him for 90min and his injury worsen and miss more games.. it's kind of decision a manager has to make..

as for benayoun subsitution, i guess rafa shifted his focus on lyon match after conceded the 2nd goals.. afterall loss = 0 pt, draw = 1 pt, not much difference..

again, there're some contestable ref decisions against us..

deggen neither went in 2 footed, nor studs up.. moreover no contact was made.. it's a yellow card offense..

carragher's red card is bit harsh too, i thought i saw in the replay that he actually got the ball first.. regarding his first incident, i think ref ruled that zamora was pulling back him at the same time, that's why no foul given against him..

are aurelio, agger, skrtl, ngog ill or injured?

can predict that all the press, media, experts are all out to criticise rafa... guess i'll stay away from soccer website and newspaper for the next few days...

[rahl]

Originally Posted by beck7777

Much as I support and back Rafa, he lost the game today, not Liverpool..

2nd half is the time we go for the kill, yet Torres was subbed..

Nevermind, when down a goal again, Benayuon was subbed again..

Bro I don't know if you recall 3 seasons back, Rafa did the same thing and threw the away game at Reading. We also lost 3-1 that night and also had a forthcoming CL league. I remember castigating him for it, and some bros here replied it was better to get the players ready for the CL game (which I think we won).

Regardless of context, it should never be right to throw a game. It's just not Liverpool.

I can agree with withdrawing Torres, who has been injury prone, but not Kuyt or Yossi. The useless Voronin was still on the pitch at the final whistle.

After the euphoria of Anfield last weekend, this is a sharp slap in the face.

We really looked threadbare. The only thing we can do now is to get our injury list resolved:

Without in any way trying to defend Rafa, did you all hear the Liverpool fans singing at the end?? At least some Liverpool spirit did not die out there at Craven Cottage.

[rahl]

Originally Posted by bochapsing

torres wasn't fit... it'll be worse if rafa played him for 90min and his injury worsen and miss more games.. it's kind of decision a manager has to make..

again, there're some contestable ref decisions against us..

can predict that all the press, media, experts are all out to criticise rafa... guess i'll stay away from soccer website and newspaper for the next few days...

Bro, the refs have been shite for a long time now. They should get a red card themselves. Suddenly we have 3 red cards in 2 games.

Good idea to stay away from the papers

[omnia]

shake my head n sigh...u n me both Bro...

Originally Posted by qw2op

who was ze captain after carragher left ze pitch? ...

[too_hot]

Sacking Rafa will be exactly wat he wants. He will get a huge payout (i can't believe that there are no clauses dat allows an underperforming manager to be sacked without compensation) and then move to Real Madrid for an even fatter paycheck. They should use other methods to humiliate him like how he humiliated us until he cannot take it and resign so that no need to pay him compensation he doesn't deserve.

De saddest thing about last nite is that wat happened didn't even surprise me. When i saw torres being taken off, i knew we were in trouble and true enough, it was all downhill from there.

[HeadOn]

something interesting gonna happen in liverpool from now till xmas time...i think rafa n the owners are all having their own tactics now..

for rafa, he wanna revenge on the owners for breaking so many promise..the best is bring down liverpool, let liverpool out of CL n europe next season..in tis way, pool will suffer badly financially..if he got the sack, who cares, he got a huge payout..

for the owner, they will monitor till xmas..lets say they're of CL n also appear not to make it into CL next season liao, owner may secretly off load torres to real madrid for 60m pounds in Jan transfer window..at least the $ will be here to cushion the fin blow..tat may make rafa angry n hope he resign himself..if sack, the $ from torres can help pay also

but watever, liverpool going to suffer..who knows Gerrard may ask for a transfer request too..

[omnia]

was Torres really unfit n still recovering fm an injury??...just looking at his posture when he came off the pitch spoke volumes...the lad wanted to play n knew he cld...moreover he also knew that the Reds really needed him at that moment...

Yossi's substitution was also diabolical...Yossi was the Reds most creative player on the pitch...err...in fact the only Reds creative player on the pitch...why was Rafa throwing in the towel at such a crucial moment?...the Lyon game is no excuse as this game was crucial to Reds picking up momentum n they still stood a reasonably good chance at that time...

n that @#% pony tailed arse Voronin sld never ever be allowed to pull on a Reds shirt again...he is a useless piece of shit...Rafa sld hv used Babel on the wing n let Yossi call the shots in the middle creating opportunities for Torres which was sorely missing...

regardless of the poor ref's decisions let's face facts...the Reds were back to their poor awful mediocre form apart fm Torres, Yossi n Reina...Fulham deserved the victory because they believed in themselves n went for the win...

sadly n unfortunately what i said abt Rafa is again coming home to roost...i take no pleasure n delight in saying so...but why am i not surprised...like i keep telling u chaps...BOTH Rafa n the Yanks hv to go before the Reds can find true stability and head up n on...

Originally Posted by bochapsing

torres wasn't fit... it'll be worse if rafa played him for 90min and his injury worsen and miss more games.. it's kind of decision a manager has to make..

as for benayoun subsitution, i guess rafa shifted his focus on lyon match after conceded the 2nd goals.. afterall loss = 0 pt, draw = 1 pt, not much difference..

again, there're some contestable ref decisions against us..

deggen neither went in 2 footed, nor studs up.. moreover no contact was made.. it's a yellow card offense..

carragher's red card is bit harsh too, i thought i saw in the replay that he actually got the ball first.. regarding his first incident, i think ref ruled that zamora was pulling back him at the same time, that's why no foul given against him..

are aurelio, agger, skrtl, ngog ill or injured?

can predict that all the press, media, experts are all out to criticise rafa... guess i'll stay away from soccer website and newspaper for the next few days...

[omnia]

i don't think the travelling Kop was singing for Rafa...i think they were singing for the club they love...

Originally Posted by rahl

Without in any way trying to defend Rafa, did you all hear the Liverpool fans singing at the end?? At least some Liverpool spirit did not die out there at Craven Cottage.

[rahl]

Originally Posted by omnia

i don't think the travelling Kop was singing for Rafa...i think they were singing for the club they love...

That's what I meant.

[beck7777]

Originally Posted by rahl

Bro I don't know if you recall 3 seasons back, Rafa did the same thing and threw the away game at Reading. We also lost 3-1 that night and also had a forthcoming CL league. I remember castigating him for it, and some bros here replied it was better to get the players ready for the CL game (which I think we won).

Yes I rememer that season where we were in a mess, cause Rafa choose to focus on Europe...

But bro, this season is totally different.
After last season, this season is where we make the biggest step to win the league...
We already had the worst start to the season for so many years, and we are all glad we got back to track last weekend on to throw all the hard work away last night...

We wanna be champion of England, not Europe...

[Adidas020108]

Ronnie Whelan has accused Rafael Benitez of prioritising the Champions League in order to secure a job abroad, and the Liverpool legend also believes the manager's "days are numbered" at Anfield.

Speculation is surrounding Benitez's position once more after Liverpool were defeated 3-1 by Fulham on Saturday. The loss at Craven Cottage was the club's sixth in seven games in all competitions and leaves them nine points off top spot with 11 games played.

With the score at 1-1, Benitez substituted Fernando Torres to general bemusement and later admitted that he had done so with Wednesday's Champions League game against Lyon in mind as the striker had been nursing a groin injury.

Whelan has used the incident as evidence for his theory that Benitez has already abandoned the league - a situation that would not sit well with Liverpool fans as Manchester United aim for a record 19th title this season.

"It's all gone wrong with the manager and he's shown exactly where his priorities lie,'' Whelan told RTE Television. "He wants to win the European Cup so he can get a job in Europe. For me, his days have got to be numbered at Liverpool.

"He's taken players off who are the only players who are going to give you a chance of winning the game. And he drags them all off because he's got a game on Wednesday.

"When I saw the team I thought he's not bothered about this game. He's putting all his eggs in one basket and I can't see why he's done it."

very bad decision by Rafa.
maybe it is time for us to look for new manager.
the EPL should be our top priority....it has been a long time since we last won it.

[Xgenre]

I agree last weekend was terrible. It's a case of deja vu for a lot of us. Here were some of my inner most thoughts. What? Again? Putting on these suspect players who hasn't been performing? And these players like Voronin really didn't perform in the end. Heck, where's Ngog? Surely Ngog can't be worse than Voronin?

As the match progressed, I just felt I can't trust Rafa to make a normal logical decision that other managers would make. Like putting on more attacking players to try to win the game. Whatever happened to taking off 1 central defender and adding another striker? After all, losing 2-1 and losing 4-1 is the same what.. Zero points to us.

But then, think about it. Rafa, for me, has either been super brilliant or super flop in his tactics for us quite often over the past 5 years. He likes to change the tactics according to our opponent's style. Quite often, we don't even know what kind of team will be fielded. How often will you wonder ('Eh.. how come the 1st 11 players are like that?') when we see our teamsheet during a live broadcast?

When he played Biscan in central midfield and we drew with Juventus in ECL... Wah Rafa is the man leh. When we won 4-1 at OT (last season) and 2-1 2 weekends ago, we all thought Rafa was the most brilliant manager ever man. Then there are also the flops. Resting Crouch in the World Club finals. Resting our top players when we play the lesser teams away and constantly getting burnt as a result.

My point after all this is... we got to take the good and the bad parts of Rafa's style of management. It stinks when he gets it 101% wrong like last weekend at Fulham. Then against the odds, suddenly we look like we can kick the shit out of any team man... That's rafa lar guys.. I'm not so sure if we should sack him. It doesn't make sense to throw the captain out of a sinking ship. We should be trying to steady the ship and plug the leaks instead of changing leadership in the midst of a crisis. Even Houllier was asked to leave only at the end of a terrible season, to minimise team disruption.

If we sack Rafa, will things be better, I do wonder? The worst thing to do is to sack him because we are angry with short term results. Why? Because the new manager will still have to deal with 2 stingy Yankees. Without any real transfer budget (Rafa only spent what he got from sales this season), will a new manager be better? So far, only Arsene Wenger doesn't built his success on big transfer budgets but his success really took seasons to build. Even MON at Villa spent a lot to build a successful team.

my humble 2 cents worth. still damn disappointed at what happened at fulham but only decided to type out my thoughts after 2 days.

[beck7777]

Originally Posted by Xgenre

But then, think about it. Rafa, for me, has either been super brilliant or super flop in his tactics for us quite often over the past 5 years. He likes to change the tactics according to our opponent's style.

My point after all this is... we got to take the good and the bad parts of Rafa's style of management.

If we sack Rafa, will things be better, I do wonder?

Yes sacking Rafa dont help matters but what we ask for is abit more of consistance...

I also agree that Rafa plan his team according to his opponent which until today, I kinda buff by his style(Maybe thats why he is the boss, not me)

I feel that we should field a team to bring the best out of us and let others worry instead of worry what the opponent gonna do...

And as a top manager at a top club, its really time to have more good than bad parts of management...