Wouldn't be too concerned about the performance, which wasn't awful. We dominated in defence and midfield just our creative players in Sturridge,Courinho and Lallana had an off day on the same time. 1 bad performance in the middle of 10 good ones I can live with. It's the exception rather than the standard unlike the first half of the season where it was the standard.
As I keep saying, there are two issues; 1) who people think should have been taking the penalty (don't think anyone as said anyone other than Mario here); and 2) respect for the managers instructions (this would suggest Hendo taking it) Gerrard, Hendo and Studge all clearly thought Hendo should have been taking it but as you rightly said, we don't know if Brod told Mario to take over the responsibility when he introduced him. However, I would say that if that was the case, surely Brod would have said so in his interview.
And as I keep saying, I suspect it was a communication problem, and one which this incident has highlighted. Because of this, it shouldn't happen again, and because Mario scored no harm is done. My issue is with Gerrard as I've said all along. I'm a great fan of his and a staunch supporter through the flak he's been getting for the last couple of years, but imo he was out of order here and his words can do more lasting PR damage than the storm in a teacup on the pitch. I'm disappointed in him.
If that was the case, it would have been very surprising. If Balo had been acting with Rodgers blessing, there would be NO WAY that Henderson and especially Sturridge could have acted in the way they did. At the very least it would have been a failure of communications. At worst it would have been players disrespecting their manager's instructions. Could you imagine Mourinho Ferguson or even wenger accepting that?
Credit to Rodgers in the post match interview - he's normally quick to throw Mario under the bus but he handled it very well.
I think that teacup storm would have happened regardless of Gerrard's comments tbh. Having said that, I don't read tabloids etc either so I've seen a reaction at all. Talksport didn't mention this morning though. I understand why people would be annoyed by his comments though.
They#ll have to come at us to score over there, so that will play into our hands on the fast counter. Well it should, anyway
It probably helps us to be playing at the Ataturk rather than their place.It will be more difficult to get their legendary atmosphere going
I'm sure you're right. But it would have blown over fairly quickly because there's not a lot in it. The club captain's words might have given it legs ( mixing metaphors there, but you know what I mean). I don't read tabloids either, as you might have guessed.
They would if they didn't know Brod had given Mario his blessing. In this instance, I would agree its a breakdown of communication. However, I would have thought Brod would they say he'd told Mario to take it clearing all confusion, we all know how much he likes to be centre of attention.
Europa League Final against the #bitters FA Cup Final against the #mancs 2 games for the best/worst season in ages
Got to love Balotelli. He is box office in a very unique way. On or off form he manages to fill pages in blogs and papers and I am sure the media are enjoying the clicks on the stories they get on Balotelli. It is no surprise that the last 5 pages have masked what was a poor performance due to Mario and his antiques. All I wish is he keeps that form from the last three matches and earn us a top 4 spot and trophy.
No, but it's still a game in its own right. (Is there any prize money for winning a leg of a tie?) Of course the tie is still finely balanced, but we won the game at home and I'll take that as a reason to be happy. Next week is next week.
