Gambled On Red

[mccole]

Too Much Change and Not enough Charge! A huge combination of Bad Luck, too much risk and lack of passion was our downfall.


10 out of 10's

Howard at the start of the night was getting some warm up practice then came the corner. I have never seen why a keeper doesn't come for a ball within his 6 yard line especially when it is a ball to the near post. Keepers in my eyes need to dominate their goal but Howard has never been a keeper to do that. He wasn't to blame for the 1st goal but I couldn't help that he need to improve on this. 2nd goal, he had a 1 to 1 and guessed wrong but the 3rd what the actually F is he trying to do because is further away from the ball then the goal line, he can see Sturridge has time and has the ability but out he flies in No Mans Land and the Nail is in the coffin. 4th goal and Penalty just explained why we got beat by 4 and it should've been more but for awful defence infront of him.
4 out of 10

Stones will become our 1st choice sooner rather then later and rightfully so but tonight he had his "Benfica"
He wasn't to blame for our shocking defending, in fact at the 2nd half he marshalled Suarez to perfection.
BT Sport will say he was to blame for the 2nd but they fact all season has been to spray the ball to the flank quickly for counter attack like Coleman has done all season but Stones isn't Coleman. He made all the right runs but he is a centre back on the right wing, his crossing was Simon Davies-ish!
5 out of 10

Jags needed a MOT before the game and honestly we should call Watchdog because he was so far off the pace of the game. Again his slip which allowed Liverpool in only for Howard to block. He was nowhere for any of the goals which is totally unlike him then the 4th, Christ a 5 yard ball. Utter Dog Muck! For only his central defensive partner, he may well have been the worst player on the pitch.
3 out of 5

So Antolin Alcaraz, showed a calm head in the 1st 15 mins but then it became obvious that the lad has the mobility of a Asda trolley with a wonky wheel. It may have been Muscle Fatigue or the complete lack of everything we expect in a Centre Half but that was appalling. Lost out to so much in terms of pace, reading the game then his passing was sloppy and just poor. Just had nothing to give and then Liverpool exploited it.
2 out of 10

Missing our Left back, Baines didn't see him all game so I couldn't comment out of 10
MISSING PRESUMED DEAD All joking aside, I am a big fan of Baines but we couldn't find our rhythm and he certainly attempted to play out of the back through the midfield but if it wasn't his passing it was his lack of support from the midfield. In a big game we need our big players to turn up and he was invisible.
4 out of 10

McCarthy 1 of the hopes for the future but in all honestly he never stopped trying despite facing a losing battle. He was drained from the game and you could see he worked hard but if only the rest of the team gave the same this lad gave every game we would be challenging for the title instead of 4th. That said, he couldn't do it alone and he played a few daft balls but from his role he is limited to what he could've done.
6 out of 10

Barry Christ Liverpool actually signed him last night! 1st he lets his mate Gerrard in for a free header plus PoleAxes our ONLY striker, 2nd he and Alca-SPAZ completed the blind football of keepie ups to lose the ball and from there he was out of the game. Totally off the pace of a fast midfield, couldn't get a grip of the ball and couldn't use his experience to keep it. I know he has been excellent this season but Christ talk about a bad day at the office on 50K a week.
3 out of 10

Pienaar clearly unfit and a gamble which backfired MASSIVELY but in all honestly has he ever shown up in a Derby? Never got into any play in the 1st half and rightfully brought off.
3 out of 10

Barkley again another gamble which never took off. Saying that had his 1 min shot went in we could've been looking at a totally different game but that was our sort of night. He huffed and puffed but he didn't have any space to create for himself.
6 out of 10

Mirallas THANK YOU for attempted to put up a fight tonight. Top performance who in all honestly is the only player to hold their head up. He pressed, pushed, fought and attacked all night and got nothing to show for it but he will be massive for us in the run in and I pray to God he stays fit otherwise we are goosed.
8 out of 10 would've been 11 if he did Suarez.

Lukaku I think got 3 touches in the first 20 mins which again shows we lack creativity and then injured so that his season over plus it instantly deflated our team and lead to the debacle of the 1st half.
N/A

Subs

Naismith, Osman and McGeady. I don't want to have a go but looking at our bench we never stood a chance to impact the game. Naismith got about the same touches as Lukaku all game, Osman actually tried and McGeady just got some match fitness.

Martinez it is tough having a manager who is ultra positive and who installs a calmness in the team which brings massive results but he got it wrong. He gambled and tinkered when he didn't need too but you could feel that he wanted that win for us a bit too badly. A worrying sign is he seems to become stuck with tactics when a team has figured us out but that could be a lack of quality on the bench.

So there you have it. A Harsh lesson which I hope will springboard another run of games but unless we get some actually players in, the race for 7th is ON!

 

[TX Bill]

Pienaar clearly unfit and a gamble which backfired MASSIVELY but in all honestly has he ever shown up in a Derby? Never got into any play in the 1st half and rightfully brought off.
3 out of 10



Yeah, the last one actually. He was arguably man of the match in the match at Goodison.

 

[Tubey]

Pienaar has rarely shown up in a big game ever. He's the exact type of player that belongs at our club though - not elite, but not bang average. "Good".

3/10 is generous for tonight for him. Baines was so atrocious it was barely believable.

 

[dannyboy]

Pienaar clearly unfit and a gamble which backfired MASSIVELY but in all honestly has he ever shown up in a Derby? Never got into any play in the 1st half and rightfully brought off.
3 out of 10



Yeah, the last one actually. He was arguably man of the match in the match at Goodison.

He was brilliant in that one where Mascherano scored from a shot that was in more danger of hitting the corner flag before it took a deflection.

But on the whole that was par for course from Pienaar tonight. He needs replacing in our starting XI, a definite weak link.

 

[The Equaliser]

Was Barkley not worth a mention ? Thought he did OK like.

 

[Omarza]

No Barkley in there?

I think most of those that came back from injury didn't have a good game...I was glad they played...BUT maybe it went against us in hindsight...

 

[Moomin]

I've heard Pienaar will be gone in the summer.

 

[TX Bill]

I'm not gonna crack on players who've been injured and then thrown into the deep end, expecting them to have 10/10 matches.

That isn't realistic.

I did want to see more fight from those players tonight however and that was lacking amongst just about every player EXCEPT Mirallas.

 

[dannyboy]

I've heard Pienaar will be gone in the summer.

Good. We need better players than him in that position with the amount of possession we're enjoying.

He simply can't unlock a defence, makes us so easy to set up against.

 

[emb]

One of the big things Martinez has given our squad is a sense of self-belief that allows us to go to Old Trafford and the Emirates thinking we can win. The difference with those fixtures though, is that he wasn't fighting to take the media narrative with him. Nationally we were underdogs, no doubt, but there was at least a couple of papers and radio stations backing us to take the scalp.

When we play Liverpool, home or away, there isn't a single independent media outlet, before or after the game, that will back us. When we play other sides, ages is spent in the TV build-up talking up Liverpool. Whatever the city things, the city's media on match day (as it did sure enough on the radio, even with an Everton summariser fighting it) will come down on the red side.

It's not a complete get-out, but that has to hamper his efforts. From experience in other walks of life, knowing that the mainstream is against you, even when you have your hardcore of supporters definitely limits your performance.

Like referees' decisions though, we absolutely can't sit back and let that be an excuse. If the media is constantly trying to sell your best players or referees are refusing to give you half an inch, you have to play around it - and we definitely didn't tonight. Think it's worth mulling over though.

 

[Big Doug]

and people think we would be lost without Baines, Im gutted we never got rid for £16 mil+ and brought a decent LB cover like Martins Indi and used the bulk of it on another CM/ST

 

[sageyefc]

Good. We need better players than him in that position with the amount of possession we're enjoying.

He simply can't unlock a defence, makes us so easy to set up against.

This ^, pienaar is starting to loose his legs, and it shows cos hes the one who has that little cute pass and deft flicks. Think ultimetly ross will drop deeper where he can drive forward and spray balls around and have more time on the ball, So we need a proper playmaker that can interchange between the 3 behind our forward

 

[dannyboy]

and people think we would be lost without Baines, Im gutted we never got rid for £16 mil+ and brought a decent LB cover like Martins Indi and used the bulk of it on another CM/ST

I'm convinced we'd still only get loans in even if we got £16m for him.

 

[TheBlueGibbon]

and people think we would be lost without Baines, Im gutted we never got rid for £16 mil+ and brought a decent LB cover like Martins Indi and used the bulk of it on another CM/ST

Even if we had sold Baines, Martinez wouldn't have seen the money, just like with Felling and Jelavic and Moyes with Arteta.

 

[deipnosophist]

Good assessments. Baines though was 3/10. If he is our iconic player God help us. His form has COMPLETELY deserted him. Lukaku was 3/10. Personally, I would not sign him even if the opportunity arose. His touch is worse than my dead grans. He Again (as per WBA) gave the ball straight back to Liverpool leading to their goal.

I am not being negative here but we were rubbish and in all honesty are in fight with Newcastle, Southampton (possibly) for 7th. It is no accident that we always about 7th. Serious investment is needed to rise above that...we don't have it. I am not blaming anyone for that, just presenting the fact.
However, we can win the occasional domestic Cup