That is a good article. Cant pick holes in any of it. I had a bit of a rant last night about Ngog, altough I blamed Rafa for playing him, not the lad himself. This quote taken from the article is what I was trying to say. "I was told that when N’Gog appeared on the touchline ready to come on, Keane was caught on camera saying “I ****ing bet it’s meâ€. He knows he’s got an hour to do something, and if he doesn’t then he’ll get hauled off. I wouldn’t have minded had it been Babel who was sent on, as it would have been something different and he’s a player who can make things happen. But N’Gog? I’m not going to slate the lad, but here’s a novel idea: How about sticking him in the reserves and waiting for him to start hitting some goals before we throw him in at the deep end. He isn’t ready, and it’s not fair to be putting him in this situation. It won’t be long before the fans are on his back, and that won’t do him any good at all. It’s the manager who deserves the flak, not David N’Gog. Mind you, I heard Rafa on the radio saying that N’Gog played well so that substitution worked."
I think its fair to say that most of us admire Rafa and his ways... But in my earlier post I squarely blamed the lack of a win on team selection last night... It didn't work playing Sami and Yossi, while leaving Babel & Dagger on the bench. In no way am I trying to start a coup against Rafa, and I considered my post before submitting. How I felt a few hours after the game was.. how I felt. The squad depth is not good enough... Its been our downfall over the last few seasons under Rafa in the league.. And what happened this year??? He played a steady team through the first 10 or so games, and we done really well. As soon as the few changes are made to the starting line-up, the old rotation chestnut is back. I make no apologies for believing that our squad players are not good enough, not yet anyway. Bringing on fringe players who haven't even cut the mustard in the reserves, and taking off players who's confidence is really low is not gonna win us the league Im afraid.....
Are you for real? He had a great chance against Fulham and hit it straight at the keeper. Fresh airs against Bolton, manu, madrid, a woeful effort Monday. I'm all for supporting our players but let's have a bit of perspective here lads. He has been rubbish. The painful truth is that Voronin had contributed more to the team than Keane at this time last year. No matter how you dress it up (played out of position, not given a full game, lone striker etc) HE HAS NOT PERFORMED - by any metric - goals or assists
It was a bad result, fair enough. But the reaction of the fans at full-time was ridiculous. Apart from the usual couple of blocks on the Kop (who sang their hearts out as they always do) the rest of the ground was quiet as a church again. And then suddenly all those who were quiet for the whole game suddenly found their voices to jeer and boo at the final whistle! I can't understand that myself. The effort from the players was there to see and OK there was a lack of confidence and maybe even a lack of quality at times going forward but they gave it their best - It was just one of those games. We don't have any divine right to win every week and just one loss this season in the League is to be admired not scorned. Top of the League is fine by me!!
> Why though when we are playing inferior opposition at home, does our manager not go for it in the last twenty mins. Keane should have been left on I agree that Keane should have been left on. I think Rafa is more cautious, especially since the time was it we lost 2-4 against Chelsea at home because he did go for it. He knew before hand that a draw was not the end of the world. It was not a CL final situation where we were 3-0 down and had nothing to lose by going all out. I think that Ngog for Keane was a mistake. By the way, what's the story with El Zhar? He wasnt even on the bench and may have done a job coming on for Benayoun. > Dossena - Only made one cock up But is he good enough going forward and attacking? Aurelio is clearly better. > Ngog – He should be bustin himself to get involved and make an impression He should be. Maybe he will develop, or maybe not. He needs game time, maybe a loan out would do him good. At the moment, he doesnt cut the mustard but every player deserves a chance. Lets not blame him for his selection. And he may have played better with Keane on. > Reira – Has been off the boil in the last few and keeps cutting in field. Rieira is very one footed. A good defender will keep him under wraps as Lucas Neil did. Hats off to Neill for that. Rieira needs to learn to use his right foot more. This training is needed when players are 11 years old so I'm not sure if it will work now. I forgive playes for not having a perfect shot on their weaker foot, they should of course be able to get something on it, but dribbling with both feet, that should be a given. Rieira doesnt threaten to use his right in a dribble and hence Neil could shepherd him easily. Which brings me back to a topic I raise every now and again: McGeady. He can use both feet, he plays on the left, he can play on the right, he has pace, he is jinky, he can beat players. We need a player like that. Okay, he has faults. His shot direction and power at times is woeful. He may not be good enough for the english league level and may struggle against better defenders week in and week out. But is he worth a stab? Gonzalez was, and surely McGeady is better, and perhaps better than Rieira? Booing I'm not a fan of booing nor do I condone it. I dont do it. I can understand why some people may do it at times. Its not 'The Liverpool Way' though. And has been pointed out, it may gee up some players and help their performances but it can also deflate others. We just dont know. Better not boo to be on the safe side. Encouragement is what gets any player through difficult times, such as being on top of the league whilst playing badly. And when times are really tough, singe 'Walk On', just like was done at the CL final in 2005. Imagine if the fans would have booed the team off in that match. Its the wrong thing to do ....... Redspider
This is one of the best posts in this thread I posted some remarks earlier which reflected my frustration after the game but i was behind my team until the end and will always be. What is the point in having a forum if from time to time you cannot post both positive and negative feedback etc. I posted negative feedback yesterday and i got treated, like i was the one and only LFC supporter at the game doing all the booing,which i did totally the opposite,before someone jumps on my back again.
just on a side note here .. I don't think I'll ever sit in block 124 anfield lower again for a prem match, I had a pain in my right ear from listening to the eastenders and nearly all of my block was like the euro train, 3 cockneys sitting behind me supposed Liverpool fans saying "go on jamie lad in a fake scouse accent" every time carragher had the ball, clowns. I also think that any LFC fan that boos our players is a complete and utter cunnt
I was in the kop and there was good support for the team throughout the game. There were a few boos at the end of the game but I reckon there was less than people are making out. I haven't seen it on tv so not sure how it came across. We missed the opportunity to take advantage of Chelsea losing and that's disappointing but there's no excuse for the boos. It would have been a better idea to belt out a few verses of YNWA in celebration at going top but sadly that didn't happen.
How many chances do we create per game?? Roughly 20 or so. RK misses a few of them, the others miss most of them. Torrres's last goal was in October. RK will come good, letting him play the full game would help.
I agree with you as far as backing Robbie to come good but Torres has been injured since October. Not exactly a fair comparison with Robbie. People are right to start start feeling that it's just not happening for him and it may not ever happen for him. I'll still get behind him to succeed as long as he's at the club but he can't keep playing the way he is now. Maybe Rafa needs to let him play the full 90 minutes for a few game. Show some confidence in Robbie. You can only say "it was a tactical substitution" for so long before Robbie gonna start taking it to heart.
i dont get this "he should stay on the pitch, it would help etc" the only time he deserved to stay on the pitch and didnt was against west brom where he was in for a hatrick. otherwise, he's derserved his substitution.
It's about confidence. He cost £20million and he hasn't played more than 70 minutes for his club. As I said, Rafa can say how confident he is in Robbie all he wants but actions speak louder than words. If trusting Robbie to play 90 minute games in succession is what it takes to get him firing on all cylinders then that's what should be done. If it was N'Gog or Babel we were talking about it'd be different. They're young and still learning their trade. They need to use their sub appearances to impress the manager and get some experience. Keane is proven premiership quality and for some reason he's not reaching the heights we all know he's capable of. Rafa should trust him to do his thing and play him for 90 minutes (unless there is some other reason why he won't play him for 90 minutes).
if he doesnt play well enough in 60-70 mins, he doesnt deserve to play 90. thats how i see it. robbie hasnt been playing well enough bar west brom.
Much of his performance is down to being played out of position, and one man upfront policies meaning no service. Generally, he has a good report card. He's been taken off in all bar 5 league games he's played. He must have missed at least 3 games worth of time alone, in the amount of time he's been off the pitch. FT has been injured, but has also played games since October. He hasn't scored since, and he's had chances as well.
And that's probably exactly how he feels. Poor Robbie It's a vicious circle that usually starts with a player not playing well and slowly getting less and less time on the pitch which just erodes at their confidence. Unfortunately for Robbie, he's been subbed off at the 60 mark since match 1.
Yeah, between injuries. Hardly top form. +1 with everything else you said though. He's doing everything right bar putting the ball in the back of the net. And that's down to two things confidence and full match practice/fitness. Neither of which he seems to be getting from the manager at the moment.
Expectation V Experience. "Its harder to win it the first time " There is a reason why people pick Man U or Chelsea to win the League and that’s because they have recently won it and no matter what we do at the moment we have NO Players who have experienced this . More importantly we have no players who have won it while having so much expectation (especially at home) from the supporters who want it so much after so long. Watching the game the other night you could feel the tension on and off the park . To analyse the game is very hard due to this ,point is case , when have you seen Stevie take so many long shots so early in a game ? As this feels like our best chance for nearly 20years , I think , This season should not be judged by the quality of the performances ( as should we win the league come May , I think then the team will blossom in the following seasons) but solely on getting the "job" done. The season should be judged as a season and not individual games IMO. Of course the is a big "should" but hopefully the point from Monday night might be vital come May. The opposite feeling of course would be to suggest that we are just not good enough and haven’t got the squad to maintain at the top , but I’m not feeling that just yet .