We've won the game~~LOL to Rafael van Der Vart for saying Liverpool feared 'em~~~

AND GERRARD IS BACK IN BUSINESS~~~YNWA

This post has been edited by n0v4m4r1n3: Feb 26 2009, 09:37 AM

Anybody watch the rafa interview after the match? It seems that he always avoiding to answer the questions regarding his contract.

yea and tis strategy really working well for rafa everytime since liverpool backline is very hard to breakdown......but still wat disappoint me is tat 1 of ur fans keep on claiming tat liverpool dunno how to play football n lack of quality in football.....if it is true, then how about real madrid lose to a team tat dunno how to play football n lack quality in football??n to my surprise he claim tat he has watch football for more than 12years.... ....no hard feeling here but i think tat fella need some consultation.......

okok.....OT over......lets enjoy tis very special moment for all the liverpool fans.......lolz (first-leg only la wei...... )

beautiful football vs defensive(boring) football
brazilian football vs european football
entertainment vs result
beautiful football without success < boring football with success

This post has been edited by gerrardling: Feb 26 2009, 10:14 AM

Perfect answer where seeing us draw 10 games in the league.

Rafa is such a cup games specialist. For yesterday match even without Gerrard, Alonso marshalled the midfield alongside Mascherano. That's the key for me.

Hopefully we can kick start the title hopes again after this victory.

Is Barcelona boring?

what a nice summary
anyway yes! 3 huors sleep! and now my eye's is damm pain!
somemore just gave a short speach(report) to my sales man,
and they ask me, " u tengok bola semalam ka?"
i was like "Ya,..."
but well, good job benny! and AGAIN! we WON WITHOUT THE SERVICE OF TORRES N GERRARD!
but it's hard la, without a proper striker ...
when babel came out i was like :xwhy not ngog

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Added on February 26, 2009, 10:20 amBtw, we beat a team who run a 9 games unbeaten>??
haha.. Bring it on! i love being "black horse" and play from "behind!"(in reallife, it's fun too) lol

This post has been edited by gidlcin: Feb 26 2009, 10:20 AM

Waking up this morning after yet another European night, an imaginary bright ray of red ripped through the thick gloomy clouds that filled the skies. One could associate the darken skies to how Real must be feeling after being beaten for the first time this year, after having scored 10 goals in their last 2 games. There was an obvious stark contrast in form coming into this game with Real having hit 6 past Betis in a game that was effectively over by half time while we struggled to find a way past a side with one of the worst away records in the league. It wasn't a game for the purists but games between two European titans often turn out to be a chess match with so much as stake. Both are arguably out of the title race in their respective leagues and success in Europe will be a much welcomed saving grace. I think it's been proven time and time again that albeit what our opponents may say, we fear NO ONE in Europe. Ronaldinho once famously said that no English club would go through to the semi-finals a few seasons ago and what happened? 3 English clubs made it to the last 4. Now VDV claimed we would be afraid and what happened? We were both assured and calm. We did play a defensive game but to be honest, we were so composed in defense that I rarely felt any tension at all! The naysayers would say that we parked the bus but hey, we still managed only 1 shot less on target that Real Madrid, and more importantly, we scored.

Observations

1) Standout Performers
Dirk Kuyt - Another workmanlike performance from our reliable Dutch.
Martin Skrtel - Had an excellent game in my books. I think he even overshadowed Carragher in this one. Cleared EVERY aerial threat and didn't give Raul a sniff at goal.
Javier Mascherano - Constantly harrased any white player on the ball.
Fabio Aurelio - Never thought I'd be praising his defensive prowess but he got really stuck in and put in a couple of strong challenges.

2) I couldn't help but think that Real Madrid would struggle against a side like Hull given how uncomfortable their backline looked when dealing with high balls. I've always said that I don't think Cannavaro will cut it in the Premiership given the number of long balls played and I think he was finding it really uncomfortable last night. You got the feeling that we always had a chance from set-pieces and it wasn't really a surprise that one of our smallest players on the pitch managed to head the ball in from a free kick no less, where you have time to organise your defence.

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Added on February 26, 2009, 10:39 amSame thing happened to me! I was having breakfast with our Commercial Director and a couple of colleagues. He looked at the Liverbird emblazoned upon my left chest. He then switched his gaze to the right where I have my "King's of Europe' badge with 5 stars under it. Finally, he looked up at me and went, " so you watched the game this morning eh?".

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Feb 26 2009, 10:39 AM

liverpool under RB as always are EFFICIENT on european night . real madrid is always vulnerable at the back for the past dont know how many donkey years.

on this night the real madrid attack let them down and once this happen , the RM defence will be under pressure and the goal by liverpool is not a surprise.

liverpool under RB is not a bad team at all although not always exciting and sometimes even boring.

over a 90 or 180 ( 2 leg ) game ,efficiency can most of the time get things done for you

real madrid will need a small miracle to overcome this 2nd round tie . very few team if any could come to anfield to get 2 goals on european night. if anything , with real madrid having not sort out their defence especially at the centre , liverpool should score at least 1 goal . torres must be a very disappointed and angry young man now . he may unleash his anger on real at anfield .

the best real could hope for is for RB to make some funny team selection that real could capitalize on but then RB almost always got it right in UCL and if not , liverpool players is still reliable in europe at least until the semi-finals

talk about psychology and mind mentality . the only thing yet to materialize is for liverpool to put into use this IDEOLOGY at the english premiere league

This post has been edited by sunnyK: Feb 26 2009, 11:14 AM

haha babel should play more in striker role....
he better play striker than left midfielder....
at least he can contribute something.....
btw, glad to see our captain back....
n plz make benni as a regular for the next2 game....
aurelio also...

Have the same thought about Aurelio, never expects to see him put in strong challenges. He knows how to defend afterall

On another note, generally, there's a saying that in European matches, the pace seems slower than BPL & players have more time on the ball but in this morning match, the pace in the first half was in breakneck speed. This surprises me as well as the team performance as I'm expecting some kind of defensive football ala GH era. To my surprise we did held ourselves well in the match with decent one touch passes and off the ball positioning. Not to mentioned the chances we had is more than I hoped for

I don't really subscribe to the view that we parked the bus on goal. It's more like we play more defensively as trading blows with Real in Bernabeu is like committing suicide, not to mentioned without our talismanic captain. As man for man, we do not have the quality nor the strength in depth of Real. Hence a more conservative strategy is needed. Away from home to one of the best teams in Europe without our best player & they expect us to play attacking football like home team

I'm especially impressed by Yossi running, seems like he's getting back his form from his WH days as we can see he's dribbling a lot more while bringing teammates into play. The same can't be said of Babel. Seeing his first touch makes me wonder how come he can be a pro

On side note, a bit concern seeing Riera going off boil after a great start in Reds career. He seems lethargic though & some of his decisions making kinda baffling.

Well I honestly didn't see him do much else other than chase down lost causes. He does better when we are defending a lead because he does hold up the ball well. It's different when we are looking for a goal which has often been the case especially at home this season. When we are chasing the game, he really distrupts the momentum of our attack by trying to do too much on his own.

While we revel in this victory, I don't think we should get too carried away. I mean in recent season Marseille and Benfica have come away with wins at Anfield. Olympiacos almost knocked us out as well with an early goal back in 2005. Barcelona scrapped out a 1-0 win after losing 2-1 at home so anything can happen. Expect Real to be a different force when they come to Anfield.

Why is an Arsenal fans here trying to judge whether we play boring football or not?
Where is Arsenal at the table now?

yes.. only one english team not won.. hope Inter can get an away goal from their ground..

We were lucky tat aurelio took the FK instead of Alonso. I bet Rafa gave the order not to let Alonso take it.He was seen frustrated when Alonso sent the FK wide.AGAIN, too POWERFUL shot.

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Added on February 26, 2009, 12:04 pmWhat? we rely too heavily on Torres and Gerrard? Torres hardly get ball last night...again, What?

This post has been edited by solstice818: Feb 26 2009, 12:04 PM

and Liverpool dont tend to do well in Anfield, especially when they're expected to win!

Not so surprising on Aurelio la.Like usual, he played well in big matches.Anyway, I'm surprised that Babel actually made 5 passes.He knows how to pass after all.

As for Riera, he might be out together with Torres.Torres twisted his ankle while Riera get a knock by Gago.



This post has been edited by solstice818: Feb 26 2009, 12:16 PM

well. torres got a few decent chances, but got block/save by the defenders/GK..

yes Alonso Fk, is too POWERFUL!
but his 1st half, that he try to shoot from half court.. Lol! that's nice! and IF casillas?(his name) misjudge then that would be a goal! lOL

Most goalkeeper would expect that's a wide shot and don't bother to save.He made a save and a pretty good one...Guess the donuts and starbucks for the 1st 18minutes make him awake and concentrate well

Only Bayern enjoy their goal fest! and with 5 away goal.. for sure they gonna proceed to the next round.. atleast 70% sure =__= 80? 99? well..doesn;t matter cause if Liv face them next round, we gonna beat them! haha...