Matchday: Liverpool v. Stoke City

SUP SUAREZES BAN GOT US DOWN WERE WINNING THIS LEAUGE !!!!!!

Wasn't THAT bad of an effort, aside from the usual bombastic bombs from Adam, Downing and Johnson. You can't blame Kenny too harshly on this one, because most everyone except Maxi had a chance to succeed. Stevie was in form and creative, but there were gaping holes in the midfield. Starting to think that maybe we're just not a good team in general. What scares me the most is that we've become the most boring team in the Prem. Can't believe I even spent 90 minutes watching that game! Gotta' hold tight to our Carling Cup hopes!

Adam -... Rubbish...
Downing - ...Garbage...
Andy - ...heavy elephant with big head but no legs...
Henderson - Got Potential but no good enough..
KD - ....Good to be LFC's Ambassador but not as a Manager...not good enough..

Adam - Rubbish..
Downing - Garbage..
Andy -  Heavy Chicken with head but no legs..
Henderson - ....got potential but not good enough..
KD - ....Is good to be LFC's Ambassador, But not Manager....

I feel unemo enough to be happy about something; Coates was pretty good. And so was Skrtel.

But thinking about Agger is making me emo again.

I wonder what Maxi must think when he sees Downing getting picked ahead of him?

Last summer we got rid of some dross Poulson, Ngog, Cole, Jovanovic. My question is are they any worse than the dross we brought in Downing, Carroll, Henderson, Adam.

Those new purchases are a write off this season.  

You can only hope that next season they are improved by the maturity of not being in a new side anymore.

Nonsense! Enrique has been outstanding. Henderson plays much better when given a chance in the middle and will come good (along with Shelvey), and Bellamy has been very good when he actually gets a chance to play. 

Adam and Downing are the poor signings. Get rid, along with Carroll.

Nonsense? I think by "those new purchases" he meant the 'big' three of Adam, Carroll and Downing. Not the whole purchases.

NO, NO, NO PLEASE FUCKING NO! Don't give them another bloody season!

They are not good enough footballers to play for Liverpool FC it really is that simple.

Kenny might not agree. Hell, he WILL not agree!

Fastrail, I hope your wrong. I really, really hope your wrong!

These are the days that I curse Gerrard for scoring that FA Cup goal and converting me to a Liverpool fan...But we will come through. We are Liverpool FC. We have won 18 league titles and 5 European Cups. We have great owners and a manager who is Liverpool personified. We have players who are proud to wear the shirt. Let us have faith in them and I am sure they will justify our faith. I would rather be a Liverpool fan than any other team in the world, because we have the best supporters in the world. We don't sing YNWA just as a ritual, we believe in it. Come on you Reds. YNWA, proud to be an LFC fan 

Ya...I feel Proud of being Liverpool fan, but the facts is: Liverpool won't make it to top 4 this season, because we don't have the Manager like RAFA now, I think most of the reds fan out there really can feel it.

We may well have players who are proud to wear the shirt. There are more than a few of them who must be thinking 'how the fuck have I fluked becoming a Liverpool player'.

I know I sound extremely corny but that was me consoling myself about the pathetic performance today. Hope that next week is better. Anyway back I go to playing FIFA and beating Stoke 10-0 or 15-0.

Bet you still couldn't get Downing to score! lol

No doubt we were compromised by who we could attract but not convinced we helped ourselves. 

I'm afraid I will always be a Rafa fan.  he proved he knew how to get 1st team players and given backing he would have proved that point.  

The rest of his purchases were a gamble but they always will be at that  price point.

Ya..RAFA...LFC need you to come back home!

Don't apologise for been a Rafa man. The man is a legend.

I don't really get the we were compromised by who we could get argument. There are players out there who would be a damn sight cheaper and more importantly a lot better than what we got. Some of them (Mereilles, Aquilani) were on our books!!!!!!!!

Adam for Meireles was the cause of my depression

Ouch just saying that is painful!

The starting lineup did not work, 3 defenders against stoke was just waaaaay too defensive and poor. Kuyt was absolutely terrible. Someone please explain to me the reasoning behind benching Carroll; a strong performance at City should have been rewarded with another start at home in front of the Kop. Instead, Dirk "First Touch" Kuyt gave Stoke an easy first half isolated up front.

There's no excuse for this game; it was terrible to watch and just plain old poor. The thought behind the starting lineup was poor and the execution was poor.

Against City we lined up in the normal 4-4-2/4-3-3, and yet today Kenny decided that the world class attacking force of Walters and Crouch demanded taking a striker away and adding a central defender. I gave Kenny the benefit of the doubt the last 6 home draws, putting it down to unlucky finishing.

How did he take a strong team on the stretch last year and then turn every player into a nervy wreck in front of the Kop? Suarez looked a shadow of the player he was at Ajax and last season, and that was before he decided to call Evra a black. Carroll has barely improved. Downing has the ability but has no mentality to ever be good at Anfield. Kuyt is basically done and probably should be moved on while we can get more than 0 euros for him. Maxi never sees the field even though he's the most clinical striker in the squad. Coates looked strong but he's in the same boat as Maxi. Lucas is gone and yet there hasn't been anything official in the search for a suitable replacement. Gerrard is back but he hasn't shown the driving personality that could rescue points at the death by himself.

Everything points to a weak team mentality, a lack of that extra inch of effort that means the difference between hitting the post or the back of the net. Kenny was such a revelation last year because he gave that team mentality after a long stretch of players clashing with the manager. Now, when Suarez's finishing started drying up, the team came down with him and hasn't been able to pick it back up. It's Kenny's job to recognize what he needs to do and do it. Up until now I really haven't questioned Kenny's judgment, but honestly how can I not with this inferiority complex that is going on.

Kenny has lost the plot, he's going back to the bad old days of having favourites, ignoring players coming through the ranks, and dour defensive tactics. Giving Carrahoof a new deal is a bad move. We're better off with him as cover, while Kelly and Coates get experience.

Top 4, no fucking chance.

If the backline had Agger in it, I'd be in agreement with you that we were too defensive. But if we had 4 at the back without Agger and conceded I probably would have shot someone.

Nicely said, we seems to lack the mentality. Right now I can only see Bellamy alone who had the kind of mentality like "we have to win this!! I'll do whatever I can!!" while the others just like " ah don't worry someone will score this and win this for us".

so pissed, I wrote it 3 times (sorry about that).

**Edit** Sorry, double post...probably out of anger.

Well, that settles it, we're fighting for 6th place.

To put a team under pressure you have to have forwards in the box and midfielders following up.  The service can choose which line to serve into.  

We barely had anyone in the box.  

THere's not a lot of point in controlling the middle vs stoke, they'll give you that as soon as you put more than two bodies forward.

For us, the guys who are supposed to do damage have not been added to this summer.

Suarez, Gerrard, Maxi, Bellamy are the only real threats.  Dirk isn't doing it.  Only Suarez is in the future of the club realistically with fitness/injuries etc.

Downing, Adam, Henderson are neither providing dangerous service nor are they a goal threat.  Dirk is pretty off this season.

Will someone also tell these idiots that near post shots are a waste of time.  It's a tiny angle to aim for and any spill doesn't come out into a dangerous area.  It's such basic stuff.

Hard luck Skyrtel, nearly a header to seal off another excellent performance.  He provided the two big moments of danger in the game for us, plus there was Dirky's header, but he's often not on target anyhow.

Crushed.  January was the month to give us a reason to feel good about February which is very tough.  
We've got 1 point out of 6 so far.  6th place form.

a few times we didn't have players running into the box.

a lot of times we simply didn't have good balls into the box.

Well, that settles it, we're fighting for 6th place.

To put a team under pressure you have to have forwards in the box and midfielders following up.  The service can choose which line to serve into.  

We barely had anyone in the box.  

THere's not a lot of point in controlling the middle vs stoke, they'll give you that as soon as you put more than two bodies forward.

For us, the guys who are supposed to do damage have not been added to this summer.

Suarez, Gerrard, Maxi, Bellamy are the only real threats.  Dirk isn't doing it.  Only Suarez is in the future of the club realistically with fitness/injuries etc.

Downing, Adam, Henderson are neither providing dangerous service nor are they a goal threat.  Dirk is pretty off this season.

Will someone also tell these idiots that near post shots are a waste of time.  It's a tiny angle to aim for and any spill doesn't come out into a dangerous area.  It's such basic stuff.

Hard luck Skyrtel, nearly a header to seal off another excellent performance.  He provided the two big moments of danger in the game for us, plus there was Dirky's header, but he's often not on target anyhow.

Crushed.  January was the month to give us a reason to feel good about February which is very tough.  
We've got 1 point out of 6 so far.  6th place form.

Well, that settles it, we're fighting for 6th place.

To put a team under pressure you have to have forwards in the box and midfielders following up.  The service can choose which line to serve into.  

We barely had anyone in the box.  

THere's not a lot of point in controlling the middle vs stoke, they'll give you that as soon as you put more than two bodies forward.

For us, the guys who are supposed to do damage have not been added to this summer.

Suarez, Gerrard, Maxi, Bellamy are the only real threats.  Dirk isn't doing it.  Only Suarez is in the future of the club realistically with fitness/injuries etc.

Downing, Adam, Henderson are neither providing dangerous service nor are they a goal threat.  Dirk is pretty off this season.

Will someone also tell these idiots that near post shots are a waste of time.  It's a tiny angle to aim for and any spill doesn't come out into a dangerous area.  It's such basic stuff.

Hard luck Skyrtel, nearly a header to seal off another excellent performance.  He provided the two big moments of danger in the game for us, plus there was Dirky's header, but he's often not on target anyhow.

Crushed.  January was the month to give us a reason to feel good about February which is very tough.  
We've got 1 point out of 6 so far.  6th place form.

We are still fighting for 4th. It'sjust that we won.t get it, not with this roster.

Sad to say I put it down to tactics rather than personnel.  I mean, it doesn't matter who we get, if there's something preventing them from occupying the opponent's box, no one could score.  I don't know what Kenny has told them to do, but apparently it doesn't involve attacking the ball.  It doesn't matter if we get to choose from the world's best goalpoachers, if the tactics involve them being left up there to do a one-man show we'll end up with the same result.  

Crap performance from both players and manager.  We needed that goal to draw Stoke out of their shell, and we didn't get it.  But that's just completely our fault.  Enough teams have scored past Stoke this season, whether they park the bus or not.

But as for Feb being tough, well, you've seen Liverpool long enough to know that hard games on paper are where we thrive and easy games are where we choke.  Tougher opposition on the horizon?  That'd be a refreshing change.

The worst part is the next game is a week away so for a whole week I'll be reminded of this match.

Lol....so true!!!

I would be quite happy if we sign nobody in the transfer window as long as we can offload Adam, Henderson, Carroll and especially Downing and make a sincere promise that we will never ever be stupid enough to buy British again.

I'll keep Henderson, but seriously the other guy just annoys me. Not good enough for Liverpool. And before someone stops bashing me/us...remember..it's not just down to this game...they had been playing a lot of game...well if you guys still believe for them to come good later...it might have been too late, and you can say goodbye to Champions League. Well, it's not like we can do anything about it though.

If I'm the owner of LFC, KD will be asked to leave in good way...

We are not even close to been a Champions League team. Frankly we will be lucky to make Europa League!

After spending hell lot's of money, we still unable to reach top 4..what the F**k...RAFA..really miss you..

Don't censor the fuck, just shout out your frustration!!

Yeah. And now I bet someone will come out and said that we are not backing out players. How the hell can we back them when they are not showing anything on the pitch. We are Liverpool, we can't settle for a team of mediocrity. And I'm sorry I ever scold you before for bashing Downing. Turns out he's no good like you said.

Bloody hell I wish I had been wrong! I think if anything he is turning out even worse than I thought!

True...i don't think is only the players problems now...it's the Manager problem..

Keep Henderson (I still have faith in him) and for once I am in total agreement not even going try to argue. I'm in an abyss of angst right now.

Carroll has the wrong attitude.  

If the ball goes over your head, then fucking turn around and expect it to get knocked back in.  Don't just trott off and think your job's done ffs.

He got mugged alot in the penalty box but he got in the way of TWO chances. a;sdkjf;aksdjf;aklsjdf;alkjsdf;asdjf;askjdfd;askd

The only positive with Carroll today is that it meant Downing was replaced!

Henderson I still have a small amount of faith in, but he always strikes me as someone who is very busy doing very little.

We have spent £80 million on Carroll, Downing, Adam and Henderson to replace Mereilles, Ngog, Poulson and Jovanovic. With the exception of Mereilles (quality player) there is not much to choose between the rest!

Henderson is improving his defensive abilities and you can see that he can pass intelligently and keep possession but one thing that he needs to improve on is lethality in the final third. He's not confident enough in that area and at this moment in time, he really needs to be. But I have faith that he will improve because he's young and he doesn't have too much pressure and negative attention. If he works on his confidence in the final third I think he'll develop into a really good signing.

I don't have the energy to be positive about any of the others to be honest. I feel bad for Carroll, I wish he didn't cost so much so he wouldn't have that pressure but we really need a new striker.

Henderson looks scared to be a Liverpool player. He always picks the safe option. But you are right there at least looks like there is something to work with when you see he him play.

With Henderson, watching him week in week out you actually see him improving. Comparing the first few games Hendo and the Hendo now there's markedly a lot of improvement. When you see players improve, the fact that they aren't great yet is okay cause they could get there. But I'm getting tired of sticking up for some of the other new players that just aren't improving at all. Its already way into the season and they've stayed at the same place they started. I CAN'T DEAL ANYMORE.

Come on...relax..is expected...LFC can't make it for Top 4 this season, will be no miracles happen under KD. 

Remember that one of the 'supposed' benefits of buying British was that they could adapt quickly............................

adapt quickly...suuureeee!!

Ugh don't remind me.

Only consolation I think was that Hendo was one of the developing British buys, kept for the future rather than for the right now, with 3 of the others signings suppose to provide the right here right now.

So depressing! Downing has been mediocre his whole career will never understand why we signed him.

Will I be excommunicated for saying that performance was Hodgsonesque?

No, it wasn't as bad as that, but it was toothless.

Got to love those clean sheets. Fuck.

Dirk had an excellent opportunity to win it for us.  Hate he couldn't do it.  Just didn't have it today.

Hasn't had it all season.  Skyrtel was our best player today.  He was unfortunate not to get his header on target.

Yeah, kinda feel bad for him. Last season all his touch seems to be converting into goals.

Is there something worse than losing the will to live?  If so, this game made me feel whatever that is.

I mean at least we didn't concede. Its hard to be positive though because its 4am in the morning and I'm wondering why I stayed up.

I know that feel bro. Always!!

Fuck...just fuck

I hate Stoke and the commentators

I miss Suarez

this liverpool side is a shit version of a shit arsenal side 

yeah, at least their pinball wizards had attacking intent. we've got way too many off-loaders.

I'm just sitting in front of the computer and screaming profanities. As usual.

I feel like throwing my laptop right now.

So from hitting the woodwork we've moved on to really narrow misses.

Holy crap, Howard!

DON'T WASTE THE BALL CHARLIE..NOT AT A TIME LIKE THIS..

okay sorry for the caps..just had to

NOOO DIRKY!!!

Bellers is just what we need.

Downing off and Carroll on. It's like replacing a punch in the nose with a kick in the knackers!

Just got back from going out with my friend...and was quite shocked when it's still 0-0...even surprised by the lineup...how's the game going? Typical us again? Or is it a good performance with no luck in finishing? Damn I knew hoping for 5-0 is too much

almost no chances.

And that came at Anfield.

Hey cool, 0-0 on 67 minutes.

TIME TO PANIC

Howard webb, Manure's number 12.  

47 seconds into the second half before Downing's first misplaced pass and his left hand half raced saying sorry lads i'm shit.

Football vs Anti-Football.  It's a draw.

One dangerous pass, Skyrtel across the box.  The rest has been garbage.

What's with balls not clearing the first man?

The back line looks good, Adam is Adam does, Stevie's not quite on song today, Kuyt's looking better than he has done, what's the point of Downing, Henderson just isn't a threat.

We're trying to play fast but when we're near the box, there's no support.  The early attempts at one touch on the edge of the box were just pinball, impossible to control.   The crosses in don't  have anyone to cross to.

The commentators love Adam's long balls, but we always lose the ball. What's the point.

You know as much as I hate the guy who chucks in those long ball throwins, I have to respect the fact that his ball went WAY far. But that's it if he does it again, I'm going to scream at him.

How are we supposed to score with one guy in the box? Nobody pushes forward. Very frustrating! The only guy to pick out is Dirki and he's marked by 3 or 4 defenders. Even the crowd is half asleep. And somebody please duct tape Tony Pulis's mouth shut. Please.

Oh is he the one that keeps screaming?

The crowd looked from Liverpool to Stoke, and then Stoke to Liverpool and then Liverpool to Stoke again, it was impossible to tell the difference.

This is how far we have fallen. If you sign players like Downing and Adam quite frankly we are where we deserve to be - also rans.

You win the matchday thread if you quit watching.

On the plus side, it is almost 3am where I'm at so a dull and boring stoke performance is only going to help when it comes time for me to go night night..

There are no winners involved in any aspect of this match....watch it, don't watch it....either way, we're all cursed for the rest of the weekend for simply being semi-interested.

Can anyone please tell me what Downing is supposed to be good at?

He can't shoot, his passings average, his crosses are poor, he never beats his man, he's nippy but not really a speed merchant, he is useless in the air and not the best defensively.

What is he in the team for? One of the worse players that I have ever seen in a Liverpool shirt.

Coates beat more players on one run than Downing has all season!

I tried not to be one of those people who call for downings head, I really really truly didn't want to be that guy, but honestly unless the dude scores 10 goals over the next few months, I'm not interested in seeing him wear our jersey.

I was like you couple of months ago...but after realizing the truth....I'm with LSD now

Before that freekick Webb said to Gerrard, "You better be fuckin ready for your match against Manchester United, I will be there."