Felt like we should have won that in the end. Outplayed them for the majority of the second half, and played some really nice football in the process.
Sadly, I feel like Rodgers made a substitution that he maybe didn't need to make, as we seemed to lose impetus when Lallana was taken off, who up to that point was putting in a very good shift. Would like to see more of this form from Sterling as well, who put in his best performance in a while.
So I should name the players I want to prove my point ?
If you believe Milner isn't good enough, you need to back that up by giving examples of who is (in your opinion) - especially those that are free agents. He wont be our only recruit should he come to the club, and he won't be our main signing dither. It's a no. -brainer events if only from a squad perspective.
But he wasn't and we aren't. So he needs to be discounted from future plans and seen as a welcome bonus when he is fit. But being physically fit and having your match antennae well-honed aren't the same thing.
Well that's CL qualification definitely out of the window now, we can only equal United's points total. I wonder if Rodgers will go gung ho against Crystal Palace again thinking we can better United's goal difference.
Pleased with our performance after we levelled, an away point at Chelsea would normally be pleasing but knowing it ends any small CL hope we had is disapointing. Not this type of game or performance that lost us that place though for sure.
I, for one, loved Gerrards post match interview. So hope he comes back in some capacity in the years to come.
Ibe looked pretty good when he came on, lets hope he stays as long as stevie did
Well that's CL qualification definitely out of the window now, we can only equal United's points total. I wonder if Rodgers will go gung ho against Crystal Palace again thinking we can better United's goal difference.
We're four points clear of Spurs, with 2 games to go. This time I'd be all for it.
Pleased with our performance after we levelled, an away point at Chelsea would normally be pleasing but knowing it ends any small CL hope we had is disapointing. Not this type of game or performance that lost us that place though for sure.
I, for one, loved Gerrards post match interview. So hope he comes back in some capacity in the years to come.
Ibe looked pretty good when he came on, lets hope he stays as long as stevie did
We cheered him for that, huge respect to him for getting his own dig back for the hounding they have given him. They started booing him until Mourinho stood up and applauded him, urging them on. At least he wasn't two faced and was open about what he thought, good on him!!
We cheered him for that, huge respect to him for getting his own dig back for the hounding they have given him. They started booing him until Mourinho stood up and applauded him, urging them on. At least he wasn't two faced and was open about what he thought, good on him!!
It was brilliant. Even Jose has said in the past how bad the atmosphere is at Stamford Bridge. How pathetic did they look with their little laminated signs? Plastic till the end. Stevie leaving is going to rob them of their only chant.
I don't see it as extreme, and I don't think a fit Sturridge would have necessarily meant us finishing 4th. When he plays upfront alone, we don't create much and he doesn't score many. Those games where Suarez was absent were largely 1-0 wins we had to grind out. I love the guy but he needs either a partner or a player behind him who can feed him chances.
It's not as if Lambert, Balotelli and Borini have been missing absolute sitters every game they've played. We just haven't been playing to their strengths (not that any of them are good enough to be starting for us) and we haven't been creating chances for them. I think we've probably thrown more crosses into the box when Sterling's been upfront than when Lambert's been there. The great thing about Suarez was that he created a ridiculous amount of chances for himself and those around him, but we still haven't filled that void. Instead we spent a truckload of cash on players like Markovic and Lallana (who is 27 today, so happy birthday to him) who aren't bad, but don't currently look as if they'll help us become great again.
I'm not thinking about Lambert and Borini as they were always 3rd and 4th choice. Lambert never was going to have the pace and movement to be a 1st or 2nd choice and was only elevated when Sturridge got injured and it was evident Balotelli's form was not going to improve any. It didn't help that Lambert seemed paralysed by the reality of playing for his boyhood club.
I was more thinking of the host of chances Sterling missed in Sturridge's absence.
Consider these games once Sturridge got injured...
Aston Villa (H), 72% possession, 12 attempts (1 on target), no goals, lost
Everton (H), 48% possession, 16 attempts (8 on target), one goal, drew
Hull (H), 66% possession, 10 attempts (4 on target), no goals, drew
Newcastle (A), 65% possession, 5 attempts (3 on target), no goals, lost
Sunderland (H), 52% possession, 8 attempts (3 on target), no goals, drew
Arsenal (H), 63% possession, 26 attempts (13 on target), two goals, drew
Leicester (H), 59% possession, 15 attempts (6 on target), two goals, drew
Everton (A), 56% possession, 11 attempts (7 on target), no goals, drew
WBA (A), 80% possession, 14 attempts (4 on target), no goals, drew
Hull (A), 68% possession, 11 attempts (10 on target), no goals, lost
That's 10 games without Sturridge where we've had decent possession and/or chances yet scored just 5 goals and accrued a meager 7 points out of a possible 30 - and six of these games were at Anfield.
) cannot agree that a fully fit Sturridge wouldn't have translated many of the draws into wins and got a point or better out of the defeats (all of which were to poor sides defensively). Even a conservative estimate of three draws to wins and two defeats to draws would have given us 8 extra points and would have made all the difference.
Balotelli didn't get chances because he failed to make many runs unless directly chasing the ball. He doesn't do selfless runs. just selfish ones. Henderson and co had little to hit when he played. Our system from last season was all about pace and movement and Balotelli and Lambert simply short-circuited that once Sturridge limped off.
If we get an energetic, willing and mobile forward or two, the system should right itself - Origi may help even if he doesn't score often - creating space behind for others running from midfield helps too.
We cheered him for that, huge respect to him for getting his own dig back for the hounding they have given him. They started booing him until Mourinho stood up and applauded him, urging them on. At least he wasn't two faced and was open about what he thought, good on him!!
Great to hear Steve G saying after the game that Jose was the best manager in the world. That must stick in the throats of a few of you.
Nope, I would freely agree with Stevie that right now Jose is the best manager in the world, at least we can see talent and appreciate it, unlike others!
Personally I don't have any issue at all with what he said. He's been slaughtered at Chelsea for years so it's hardly fair to expect him to say anything nice. Why should he.
I thought he looked fed up, probably more with being taken off. Was hardly an attacking move.
Only looking in from the outside of course but i suspect there is little too no relationship with BR anymore.
Great to hear Steve G saying after the game that Jose was the best manager in the world. That must stick in the throats of a few of you.
Not really - he's the best manager at winning things and can optionally do it without Ronaldo and Messi too. That's different to being the best manager for Liverpool Football Club. As I've said before, I could stomach the man's tactics and sometimes cynical "strategy" and gamesmanship for a single season if it meant us breaking our 25 year duck but I don't think I could warm to it for any longer than that. Like last time, I wonder how long the Chelsea faithful will tolerate it if the going gets tougher. I'm sure they won't have such an easy time of it next season if Arsenal remain consistent, United shop at Defenders R Us, City freshen things up and we buy a striker that can score more than four goals a season.
Not really - he's the best manager at winning things and can optionally do it without Ronaldo and Messi too. That's different to being the best manager for Liverpool Football Club. As I've said before, I could stomach the man's tactics and sometimes cynical "strategy" and gamesmanship for a single season if it meant us breaking our 25 year duck but I don't think I could warm to it for any longer than that. Like last time, I wonder how long the Chelsea faithful will tolerate it if the going gets tougher. I'm sure they won't have such an easy time of it next season if Arsenal remain consistent, United shop at Defenders R Us, City freshen things up and we buy a striker that can score more than four goals a season.
If it's as easy next season then I suspect Sky will be wanting a refund.
I am sure come August all teams will have a few new faces.
Great to hear Steve G saying after the game that Jose was the best manager in the world. That must stick in the throats of a few of you.
He's second to Pep in my book, but Stevie is entitled to think that. It's certainly a close one. He's a rather unsavoury character but tactically astute and incredibly good at getting results when he needs them.
Comments
Sadly, I feel like Rodgers made a substitution that he maybe didn't need to make, as we seemed to lose impetus when Lallana was taken off, who up to that point was putting in a very good shift. Would like to see more of this form from Sterling as well, who put in his best performance in a while.
If we win our last 2 games by 6 goals each and Utd lose both their remaining games, one by a couple of goals, we will be 4th!
Yeah, all right.
Decent performance.
If you believe Milner isn't good enough, you need to back that up by giving examples of who is (in your opinion) - especially those that are free agents. He wont be our only recruit should he come to the club, and he won't be our main signing dither. It's a no. -brainer events if only from a squad perspective.
That wasn't the point I was making.
I, for one, loved Gerrards post match interview.
Ibe looked pretty good when he came on, lets hope he stays as long as stevie did
We're four points clear of Spurs, with 2 games to go. This time I'd be all for it.
We cheered him for that, huge respect to him for getting his own dig back for the hounding they have given him. They started booing him until Mourinho stood up and applauded him, urging them on. At least he wasn't two faced and was open about what he thought, good on him!!
It was brilliant. Even Jose has said in the past how bad the atmosphere is at Stamford Bridge. How pathetic did they look with their little laminated signs? Plastic till the end. Stevie leaving is going to rob them of their only chant.
I'm not thinking about Lambert and Borini as they were always 3rd and 4th choice. Lambert never was going to have the pace and movement to be a 1st or 2nd choice and was only elevated when Sturridge got injured and it was evident Balotelli's form was not going to improve any. It didn't help that Lambert seemed paralysed by the reality of playing for his boyhood club.
I was more thinking of the host of chances Sterling missed in Sturridge's absence.
Consider these games once Sturridge got injured...
Aston Villa (H), 72% possession, 12 attempts (1 on target), no goals, lost
Everton (H), 48% possession, 16 attempts (8 on target), one goal, drew
Hull (H), 66% possession, 10 attempts (4 on target), no goals, drew
Newcastle (A), 65% possession, 5 attempts (3 on target), no goals, lost
Sunderland (H), 52% possession, 8 attempts (3 on target), no goals, drew
Arsenal (H), 63% possession, 26 attempts (13 on target), two goals, drew
Leicester (H), 59% possession, 15 attempts (6 on target), two goals, drew
Everton (A), 56% possession, 11 attempts (7 on target), no goals, drew
WBA (A), 80% possession, 14 attempts (4 on target), no goals, drew
Hull (A), 68% possession, 11 attempts (10 on target), no goals, lost
That's 10 games without Sturridge where we've had decent possession and/or chances yet scored just 5 goals and accrued a meager 7 points out of a possible 30 - and six of these games were at Anfield.
) cannot agree that a fully fit Sturridge wouldn't have translated many of the draws into wins and got a point or better out of the defeats (all of which were to poor sides defensively). Even a conservative estimate of three draws to wins and two defeats to draws would have given us 8 extra points and would have made all the difference.
Balotelli didn't get chances because he failed to make many runs unless directly chasing the ball. He doesn't do selfless runs. just selfish ones. Henderson and co had little to hit when he played. Our system from last season was all about pace and movement and Balotelli and Lambert simply short-circuited that once Sturridge limped off.
If we get an energetic, willing and mobile forward or two, the system should right itself - Origi may help even if he doesn't score often - creating space behind for others running from midfield helps too.
5th place is more or less secure, which avoids the Europa League qualifying rounds (at least I think it does).
It was the rest of his interview I enjoyed more.
Nope, I would freely agree with Stevie that right now Jose is the best manager in the world, at least we can see talent and appreciate it, unlike others!
Me too, the very best, and spot on!
5th place and FA cup winners or 5th and 6th if arsenal win the cup get straight to the group stages.
The other place is two qualifying rounds and four rounds for the fair play team
I thought he looked fed up, probably more with being taken off. Was hardly an attacking move.
Only looking in from the outside of course but i suspect there is little too no relationship with BR anymore.
Not really - he's the best manager at winning things and can optionally do it without Ronaldo and Messi too. That's different to being the best manager for Liverpool Football Club. As I've said before, I could stomach the man's tactics and sometimes cynical "strategy" and gamesmanship for a single season if it meant us breaking our 25 year duck but I don't think I could warm to it for any longer than that. Like last time, I wonder how long the Chelsea faithful will tolerate it if the going gets tougher. I'm sure they won't have such an easy time of it next season if Arsenal remain consistent, United shop at Defenders R Us, City freshen things up and we buy a striker that can score more than four goals a season.
If it's as easy next season then I suspect Sky will be wanting a refund.
I am sure come August all teams will have a few new faces.
He's second to Pep in my book, but Stevie is entitled to think that. It's certainly a close one. He's a rather unsavoury character but tactically astute and incredibly good at getting results when he needs them.
Where is the hope when he leaves.