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Article: Liverpool 0 SC Braga 0 - EL Round of 16 2nd leg (Mar 17 2011)

Discussion in 'Liverpool' started by Roberto, Mar 17, 2011.

  1. Roberto

    Roberto Member

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    Liverpool (0) 0 - 0 (1) Braga


    Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Wilson, Carragher, Skrtel, Meireles, Cole, Maxi, Lucas, Kuyt, Carroll.
    Subs: Gulacsi, Kyrgiakos, Flanagan, Spearing, Poulsen, Pacheco, Ngog.

    Braga: Artur, Alberto Rodriguez, Paulao, Miguel Garcia, Silvio, Leandro Salino, Hugo Viana, Vandinho, Paulo Cesar, Lima, Alan.
    Subs: Cristiano, Kaka, Dani, Mossoro, Peterson, Helder Barbosa, Meyong.

    please log in to view this image
     
    #1
  2. Ze

    Ze Well-Known Member

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    Liverpool 2-0, it'll be 1-0 for a long period of time and then a late goal when it looks like it's going into penalties. I hope Maxi goes off and Pacheco comes on sometime during the game.
     
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  3. Roberto

    Roberto Member

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    I'd like to see us really take them out a nice big scoreline would be orgasmic!!
     
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  4. Bozz

    Bozz Well-Known Member

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    Arrrrggghhhh so so frustrating
     
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  5. Sir_Red

    Sir_Red Well-Known Member

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    Terrible. Carroll really just will not work for us, not because of his ability as a player but because our team converts into a hoofball team when he's on the pitch. Disgraceful. Carragher, Lucas, Meireles, Reina, all hoofing the ****ing ball aimless up towards Carrol. As if he's gonna ****ing be able to bring it down by himself, then take on the defenders by himself and score one on one. Wheres the BUILD UP. ****. That's just what summed up tonight. A steaming pile of ****.
     
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  6. Roberto

    Roberto Member

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    Exactly what me and my old man just said... He saw the comment and said "whoever that is there has summed it up perfectly"

    Couldn't bear it at times reminded me of the crouch days. Carragher being the worst culprit for hoofing!
     
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  7. Gutierrez's Right Boot

    Gutierrez's Right Boot Well-Known Member

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    Until You get wingers that can cross thats what your going to have to put up with im afraid
     
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  8. KingPepeReina.

    KingPepeReina. Active Member

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    Exactly.
    I couldn't see a whole lot wrong.Liverpool seriously are in need of wingers.There definitely was a lack of quality in the final third coming from the wide areas of the midfiield,Maxi and Cole are definitely not the answer,squad players yes.First teamers no.I reckon one or the other should be kept to play that role just ahead of the midfield and just behind the strikers with widemen not as widemen,just popping off the strikers.
    I do believe however that Kenny when he gets the job full-time will address this.
    On the positive side.The midfield seems to be more mobile,the defence seems to be more organised,Glen Johnson was more disciplined than he has been in a Liverpool shirt.Danny Wilson is getting better with experience,okay he's not perfect,he was a bit niave at times against their right hand side man what was his name again...oh yeah Alan.
    Is there a need for a massive overhaul.No I don't think so.Am I more confident than I was this time last year.I sure am.Those that think that NESV won't allow the manager to make the changes that need to be made are seriously stupid.I firmly believe they will.
     
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  9. James_8

    James_8 Member

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    That was dire. Too many alehouse balls. Players taking easy option all the time because Carroll was there. Officials were inept too.

    We didn't deserve to stay in this competition though, only played two good games out of about 12 in europe.
     
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  10. Ze

    Ze Well-Known Member

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    Disappointed. Disappointed in the linesmen, Disappointed in the Referee and Disappointed in the players.

    As fans the Europa league has been our only hope and for many of us the only thing we have to look forward to regarding Football this year. Now it's more than likely we won't be in the Europa league next season either.

    Carroll just didn't do it for me today - he didn't look sharp enough. Joe cole looked much better but he disappeared for much of the game. Ngog didn't take any of chances properly. Kuyt kept straying offside. Wilson looked very uncomfortable on the ball. Carragher kept hoofing it. Skrtel was actually okay. Johnson looked very good down the wing. Meireles controlled the midfield but all too often had nobody to pass it to. Lucas overstretched and overran too much. Maxi had some moments of quality went missing the rest of the time.

    Overall not a good team effort.
     
    #10

  11. KingPepeReina.

    KingPepeReina. Active Member

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    When I made my point about a whole lot not needing changing I was refering to the addition of wingers.
    This is the way I see it with wingers.
    Reina.
    Johnson Skrtel Agger Left back.


    Lucas
    Mereiles


    RW LW.
    Cole.
    Carroll.
    Three additions.At left back,wide right and left.
    The same thing applies when Kuyt and Suarez play together.A real need for natural width.
    I reckon it had more to do with a lack of personel than a lack of effort.
    Will it be addressed in the summer,I'm 100% sure it will.
     
    #11
  12. I Sit Next To A Badger-Leazes Corner

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    Class, Class, Class, Class, Class, ****ing class <laugh>
     
    #12
  13. Hash.

    Hash. pure daycent

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    joe cole is **** the faster he goes back down sarf the better .....on a lighter note i hear aqua is coming back
     
    #13
  14. Roberto

    Roberto Member

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    Another problem was when they did get the ball down on the ground the players were static as hell. No one was making any creative movement or making space for the man on the ball. Almost always guranteed a backward pass or a wayward one.

    The one reason Suarez see's so much of the ball is because he's always trying to find space. He's nearly always available.

    Last night we had players standing with no thought or movement. Prime example for me was when Raul had the ball in midfield and Lucas was ahead of him and he just stood there with a Braga player causally standing in front of him, that combined with the other players lacking movement meant he passed back to the defence!!!

    Skrtel was IMO one of the better players he defended well and didn't give much away.

    Another thing that pissed me off with Lucas last night was the headless chicken running... He was running after everyball and he was no where near getting the tackle. Also right at the end when we were chasing the goal Reina got hold of it after a Braga attack and was urging everyone to get up there for one last attack and Lucas was just trotting along no urgency nothing... Fair enough he has been running for 90 mins but one last attack to keep the hopes alive and you can't do it?? Leave off.. It ended up with Meireles hoofing it upfield to the Braga keeper!! ****ing summed the night up!
     
    #14
  15. Sharpe*

    Sharpe* Senior Member

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    Nothings realy changed to be honest.

    On our day we can beat the best, but there are not enough good players in the squad, its as simple as that. The saying you cannot polish a turd comes to mind.

    Kenny will be fine, but we need investment. Until then this will continue.
     
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  16. Muppetfinder General

    Muppetfinder General Well-Known Member

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    I'm going to do the unthinkable here and lay some of the blame at Kenny's door. I think when that many players are hoofing it then it's come from policy. Not that it wasn't forced on us through a line-up determined largely by injuries but I think Kenny's still learning Europe. Carroll's newness didn't help but was necessary so hey ho.

    Danny Wilson overlapped as little as he did in Braga. Maxi was having a decent season until his mate Torres left. Dirk looked like he'd had one game too many and let's remember we've been in the Europa since July. Do we really need another marathon energy-sapping next season just for the sake of Euro footy?

    And Ngog looked the sharpest of all. Should've been on after 60 minutes.
     
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  17. James_8

    James_8 Member

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    No European football for us next season then. On the evidence of what we've had to sit through this season, that may not be a bad thing, although I daresay the club's accountants will strongly disagree. Barring a couple of notable exceptions against Napoli and Bucharest, our exploits in the Europa League this year have been depressing. So bad that Channel 5 have had to try and keep people tuned in by constantly plugging whichever Steven Segal movie was following the game.

    This was as bad as any, in fact it was probably the most depressing as it was so weak. It was limp, and I'm talking 'Pele before he discovered the joys of Viagra' limp. I'm shocked as I really didn't see it coming at all. I thought we'd go through, but I could also have seen us going out in a blaze of glory after conceding an away goal and forcing them to survive an all out blitz on their goal at the Kop end. I'd never have predicted such a lame 0-0 in a million years.

    This was a European night at Anfield, it's not supposed to be like this. Even when we go out, there's usually fireworks and a blood and thunder game. The expression 'damp squib' could have been invented for night's like this. Virtually nothing happened, it was garbage.

    Cole had a shot saved, Carroll had a goalbound header inadvertently blocked by Kuyt, and &#8230;. erm&#8230;. that's it really. Absolute ****e. Kenny needs to get a grip of the players and let them know that having Carroll in the side isn't a licence for them to just hump the ball forward in his general direction time and time again.

    The centre backs were the main culprits, Wilson and Reina also overdid the long ball stuff too. It's not just on them though, the midfielders need to be showing for the ball more and moving better. I very much doubt that the first thing in the defender's heads when they get the ball is to launch it to the Big Man. But when there's not much happening in front of them, it's the safe and easy option. Surprisingly, a mate of mine sat in the Paddock reckoned the bench were actually instructing the players to hit it long. I don't know why we'd be taking that approach, but it clearly didn't work and I hope we don't see it again.

    We need to nip this in the bud, as Andy Carroll is far more than just some battering ram. He battled for every ball but even when he won them (which he invariably did) it came to nothing because the players around him did nothing. Nobody played well. Not one of them. Carroll was the pick of the bunch based on the fact that I don't think he could have done any more than he did given how we played.

    To get the best out of a player like Carroll, you need to get crosses in. That means the wide players or full backs need to get down the sides and deliver quality. None of them did. I remember one cross from Cole in the second half, none from Maxi, and I don't think Wilson even crossed the halfway line. That left Johnson, but much of the time they doubled up on him and he was unable to get to the line and cross the ball. At least there was some intent to do so from him, which is something. We really missed those surging runs and pinpoint crosses that Martin Kelly provides.

    The really frustrating thing is that I don't think Braga are any good, but they were just so comfortable because we were so easy to stifle. They offered nothing going forward, and they are through to the next round because of that stupid penalty conceded by Kygriakos in the first leg. Reina barely had to make a save over the two games, but neither did their keeper.

    Worryingly, I don't see what else we could have done in terms of team selection. Maybe Spearing could have played in the middle with Lucas, with Meireles pushed on and either Maxi or Cole being left out. The side Kenny picked though was probably our strongest available on paper at least, and it made sense having Dirk pushed up front alongside Carroll.

    It just didn't work though, mainly due to us being too narrow, not controlling the midfield and the sheer amount of long balls we played. A couple of years ago we'd have swatted Braga aside without even breaking sweat. We ate teams like them for breakfast. Now even the most mediocre of European opposition is proving to be a difficult obstacle, and in the case of Braga an insurmountable one.

    It's almost two years ago that we hammered Real Madrid. Two years can be an awful long time in football, and the team (both in terms of tactics and personnel) that took the field against Braga was unrecognisable from the one that smashed Madrid 4-0.

    I'm sounding like a broken record, but the squad has no depth, no pace and no width. Very little flair either, although Suarez makes a huge difference when he's available. It still rankles that he was not allowed to play for us in this competition, and it makes no sense.

    Why is Torres allowed to play for Chelsea in the Champions League even though he played for us in the Europa, but Suarez is not allowed to play in the Europa because he played in the CL for Ajax? It's bollocks. The ruling states that because Ajax were knocked out of the CL into the Europa that Suarez is cup tied, but it's not really fair to Europa League sides is it, given that there is relegation from the CL to EL but no promotion going the other way.

    Stupid rule by a stupid organisation. And yes, I am being bitter about it because I had to watch that insipid mess of a performance, knowing that we had a player in the stands who would probably have won the game for us had he not been cup tied due to some stupid rule that makes no sense.

    It was just totally deflating seeing this toothless performance. Even the crowd couldn't really get going because the team gave them nothing to get worked up about. The fans were no doubt expecting another rousing European night, where we can make some noise and be the 12th man.

    You have to have something to make some noise about though. A shot, a crunching tackle, a great run, something. We had NOTHING. The fans wanted to get into it, but screaming your head off because we've won a throw in on the halfway isn't going to happen is it? The only thing we could get worked up over was some staggeringly bad officiating, they really were terrible. All of them, referee, linesmen, those two wasters behind the goal, they were all crap. Almost as crap as the men in red, but not quite.

    I wasn't overly worried at half time, we were attacking the Kop end second half, and I thought Kenny would get a grip of them in the dressing room and get them to start passing to feet and moving. Play our football, pin them back in their own box and get plenty of crosses and set pieces in to Carroll.

    Never happened though. The second half was worse than the first. I'd have changed it at half time, and brought Spearing on for Maxi. Kenny eventually did that, and also sent on Ngog for Cole. It didn't help, we were no better after the change as the rot had already set in.
     
    #17
  18. James_8

    James_8 Member

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    Braga were comfortable, they were working extremely hard to press us when we had the ball and we just couldn't hurt them. Corners were always going to be our best chance of scoring, and that's how it turned out when Carroll powered in a header that looked to be going in until it struck an oblivious Kuyt on the back of the head. Not Dirk's fault, but it summed up our night.

    By that point I was resigned to the fact that we weren't going to score. The optimism I still had at half time completely vanished as the ball struck Kuyt's bonce. I doubt if I was the only one, that freakish incident seemed to suck all the air out of the stadium, and the game just petered out into nothing.

    It could have been worse, as they had some opportunities on the break that they couldn't make anything of. Like I say, I don't think they're any good but they didn't need to be as we handed this tie to them in the first leg in Portugal and we were not good enough to wrestle it back from them at Anfield.

    We have a team capable of occasionally producing good performances and winning games, but they just can't do it consistently because the reality is they aren't good enough and have too many flaws. Not even Kenny can fix that unless he gets new players in. Not just one or two either, although if I could only get one or two they'd both be widemen and I'd make do with what we had elsewhere, despite glaring deficiencies at left back, centre half and centre mid.

    I'm sure we're still looking at trying to get 5th place and whilst it's mathematically possible we'll continue to go for it. It's not going to happen though is it? Whilst I can see Chelsea and Spurs dropping points, there's no doubt that we will too.

    The squad has not been able to cope with playing in Europe and then having to play again domestically three days later. If we aren't in Europe next season, I'd expect our league form to improve dramatically. I'd also expect us to take the domestic cups a lot more seriously than we have been.

    The downside is not being in Europe would hit us hard financially, and it also means less games to blood youngsters, which is a problem given the amount of quality kids we have knocking on the door and in need of games.

    Personally I'd give some of them the odd game now. We're not going to get 5th, and frankly I couldn't care less whether it's 6th or 9th now as long as we are looking to next season and blooding some players to see if they can cope. I doubt that's the approach we'll take though, Kenny will want to finish as high as possible and win as many games as he can. That's his mentality and let's not forget he also hasn't been given the job beyond this season yet.

    I'm really not too bothered if there's no European football at Anfield next season, but I badly wanted to win this competition this year. It would have been a great day out in Dublin, it would have been amazing to see Kenny winning something and it would have ended our five year drought without a trophy.

    It's even more disappointing because this cup was there for the taking. There isn't a team in it that a couple of years ago we wouldn't have hammered. The biggest threat was City, and they'd already gone crashing out before our game even kicked off. It was there for the taking, but we just weren't good enough, and haven't been good enough all season.


    Team: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Wilson; Cole (Ngog), Lucas, Meireles, Maxi (Spearing); Kuyt, Carroll:
     
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  19. Swarbs

    Swarbs Well-Known Member
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    Not necessarily. If Utd or City (assuming they stay in the top 4) win the FA Cup, the EL spot will go to the sixth place team - I wouldn't bet against that being Liverpool, although Bolton are starting to put some decent form together and may have an easier run in.

    Which begs the question - would Liverpool fans be happy if Utd won the FA Cup, if it meant you got into Europe next season?
     
    #19
  20. crazyhorsealegend

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    a season without europeon football might be good for us as we can concentrate on the domestic season.
     
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