Champions League Week 1

Nalz · 13-09-2006 10:28pm

el rabitos wrote:

what are u talking about? who mentioned starts to the season? last night liverpool were pretty average, tonight so were united...it is what it is.

fairly terrible = pretty average

????

Put smart remark ↓↓↓↓↓

wheres me jumpa · 13-09-2006 10:29pm

el rabitos wrote:

what are u talking about? who mentioned starts to the season? last night liverpool were pretty average, tonight so were united...it is what it is.

Sorry I just found it bizarre that you responded to his comments about Liverpool by dragging United into it.

el rabitos · 13-09-2006 10:32pm

wheres me jumpa wrote:

Sorry I just found it bizarre that you responded to his comments about Liverpool by dragging United into it.

he's a united fan, no? seemed like a bit of pot calling the kettle black

Nalz · 13-09-2006 10:35pm

el rabitos wrote:

he's a united fan, no? seemed like a bit of pot calling the kettle black

far from it

oh......IMO

mike65 · 13-09-2006 10:37pm

Pity to see the diving season is back in swing already.

Mike.

Nalz · 13-09-2006 10:40pm

mike65 wrote:

Pity to see the diving season is back in swing already.

Is that Van Pirsie you are talking about, or is there more incidents tonight?

wheres me jumpa · 13-09-2006 10:43pm

el rabitos wrote:

pot calling the kettle black

Perhaps. But his point is still valid.

mike65 · 13-09-2006 10:45pm

Trilla him and Ryan Giggs as well.

Mike.

el rabitos · 13-09-2006 10:48pm

wheres me jumpa wrote:

Perhaps. But his point is still valid.

as is my own

wheres me jumpa · 13-09-2006 10:48pm

mike65 wrote:

Trilla him and Ryan Giggs as well.

Mike.

Giggs dived.

Nalz · 13-09-2006 10:48pm

mike65 wrote:

Ryan Giggs.

yeah it was hard to call that one, I wouldnt have given it myself but Giggs was impeeded. He did make the most of it, and injured himself in the process.

evilhomer · 13-09-2006 11:16pm

mike65 wrote:

Pity to see the diving season is back in swing already.

How did the ref give a penalty for that?
The lads on RTE thought it was a peno too!!!
I don't get it, He kicked the ball passed Boruc who had come flying out to meet him, Boruc pulls out so as not to impead him, brushes his shoulder, giggs down like a ton of bricks!

Lyon look as good as ever against Madrid, good dark horse for the competition.

Guy:Incognito · 13-09-2006 11:23pm

Van Persies one was ridiculous, he left his leg o make it look like there was contact, didnt get any so tried again on the keepers arm, still none so he just twisted and flung himself on the ground.

VIDEO REF VIDEO REF VIDEO REF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!eleveneleveneleven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MrJoeSoap · 13-09-2006 11:47pm

Nice to see two sides Shelbourne have drawn against in recent years doing well away from home tonight.

Steaua hammered Kiev 4-1 and Lille came from behind to draw 1-1 with Anderlecht.

Nalz · 14-09-2006 1:17am

I watched the Giggs incident again, and I change my mind - it was a penalty. Not only was he impeeded, the keeper stuck out a leg and it made contact with Giggs. Giggs didnt fall over his leg. He was taken down.

I too thought it was very harsh, but I watched it again on skysportsnews from behind the endline camera, and there was definite contact.

yop · 14-09-2006 9:22am

Giggs was borderline, yes he made the very very minimum of contact and he "feel" but as for Var Pratsie, pure joke, and they had their keeper sent off.

I wonder will UEFA resind the red card.

jester77 · 14-09-2006 10:17am

yop wrote:

Giggs was borderline, yes he made the very very minimum of contact and he "feel" but as for Var Pratsie, pure joke, and they had their keeper sent off.

I wonder will UEFA resind the red card.

I was at the game last night and from way up in the stands it even looked like a dive, don't know how the ref could have given it. Van Persie seems to have some balance issues the way he was falling over :rolleyes:

kinaldo · 14-09-2006 10:24am

The Hamburg goalie was shown on TV crying in the stands so I guess he felt hard done by. I certainly don't think it was a sending off given the angle Van Persie would've had to score from. No need for a double punishment, Arsenal were lucky enough to even get a penalty out of it.

BaZmO* · 14-09-2006 10:33am

Giggs' one was definitely a penalty. If a keeper comes that far off his line and doesn't get the ball he's gonna get sent off if he makes minimal contact, but as for RVP.. :rolleyes: that one was a dive without a doubt.

Good to see Dunphy contradicting himself once again last night. He was praising Saha to the highest degree, strange considering that it wasn't too long ago that he was saying that he wasn't good enough to play for France. :rolleyes:

On the subject of Saha, why didn't he jump when he was in the wall for Nakamura's (sp?) goal. No doubt it would've been saved if he had of. Ah well, 2 goals and an assist. You can't be too critical of his defensive play with a result like that.

RE*AC*TOR · 14-09-2006 10:37am

Ryan Giggs is a human person.

BaZmO* · 14-09-2006 10:48am

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Ryan Giggs is a human person.

Eh.....ok....

TheMonster · 14-09-2006 11:00am

Giggs was probably a penalty - one thing for sure he did not dive - there was contact. Judge by the reaction of the keeper.

_blank_ · 14-09-2006 11:08am

TheMonster wrote:

Giggs was probably a penalty - one thing for sure he did not dive - there was contact. Judge by the reaction of the keeper.

Hmm, OK

Celtic Keeper wrote:

"For me it was never a penalty, so I was angry," said the 26-year-old.

"I tried not to touch him, and he just dived. It looked like he dived.

"I am upset, and so are my team-mates. We played well, but it was not enough."

TheMonster · 14-09-2006 11:13am

seansouth wrote:

Hmm, OK

lol - at the time there was little reaction

Raskolnikov · 14-09-2006 11:30am

Have to say I was very impressed with Lyon this week. As maligned as Houllier was at Anfield, he seems able to do the business at Lyon.

redspider · 14-09-2006 12:02pm

PSV 0-0 Liverpool

Whilst not an enthralling match, it was a result that suited Liverpool and to some extent suited PSV. Both teams fancy themselves as coming out of this group. Both teams had chances, Liverpool probably shaded it with theirs and Gerrard nearly took the win with a post-hitting effort in the 89th minute with Gomes beaten. A draw was a fair result.

The unusual aspect to this game from a Liverpool perspective was the player selection. It was unusual to the extent that the Uefa/CL officials couldn’t figure it out (ie: what was given to the TV stations such as RTE was woeful). It was a 4-4-2:

-----------------Reina -------------
Finnan &#8211; Carragher &#8211; Agger &#8211; Warnock
Pennant &#8211; Sissoko &#8211; Zenden &#8211; Aurelio
-------- Kuyt ----- Bellamy --------

Whilst the structure of 4-4-2 was good for containment and with some fast players up-front also for possessing an attacking threat on the break, the player selection was unusual for the omissions, as arguably Liverpool’s best player Gerrard was left on the bench as was Alonso, another creative player.

However, Benitez has to be commended for putting players into positions and roles that suited their characteristics, and this point at least bodes well. His alterior motive was to think of the match on the weekend against Chelsea, but resting BOTH Gerrard and Alonso would not be a normal decision even for that.

The fraility of the weekend with Hyypia was shored up with Agger. His pace was needed for the likes of PSV’s Kone and Farfan. PSV lined up in a 4-3-3, with Kromkamp at right-back and a much happier player it has to be said. What with Morientes getting 3 goals on the night elsewhere in Valencia’s win, and Kromkamp playing a good game at right-back for PSV, there is a case that perhaps Liverpool’s system or perhaps the english league is not getting the best out of some players.

PSV though were very narrow and tried to play everything through the middle. They only got a few chances as a result and the remainder of their game was left to long range shots.

For Liverpool, Carragher was directing all operations from the back. Finnan did his job well and got in some telling tackles when needed. Agger was solid and didn’t get caught out. Warnock also did ok but tired a lot in the match late on. He didn’t provide much going forward. Reina nearly made a couple of mistakes and needs to be more careful positionally and read the ball better and make calls better. This will cost us in other games.

In midfield, Pennant had a good performance and did quite well. His trickery is quite good, and he works quite hard. Not a perfect player, perhaps lacking in top-speed pace (ala Bellamy) but good nonetheless. Sissoko, well, as usual, very physical, all legs and does what he does best, breaking up the play, making tackles and getting possession back for Liverpool. However, he has very little going forward. His 'African' style, is hard to gel with the rest of the team, but as Liverpool’s ball-winner, he performs an important function.

Interesting to see Zenden playing in central midfield, but as he was constantly coming into the central area of the pitch when selected wide midfield anyway, this role actually suited him in my opinion. He is not the best that Liverpool could play there however, and Gerrard and Alonso would both come before him in the pecking order. But he did ok.

Aurelio is a strange player at times. He doesn’t have great positional sense and wastes a lot of energy on the pitch. This catches up with him later in games. However, he has proven to be weak at times in defence and Warnock is a safer choice for left back. Aurelio is still learning but left midfield I think suits him better than left back.

Kuyt had a good game. He tried hard, he knew he was on Dutch soil and he didn’t let the whistling or booing effect him. He linked up quite well with Bellamy and if these two players had better support in terms of width, say with a better left midfielder and from midfield, say with Gerrard and Alonso as the centre pairing, then I think Liverpool could have taken this PSV team. But whether such a formation without Sissoko could have kept PSV out is another story. And Rafa went for the safer option.

Bellamy used his pace effectively, he made good runs, he got into some good positions and on another night he may have got a goal. On one occasion he made some space but his shot was weak on his left foot. He was the player though which the PSV crowd respected the most at the end of the night, although they also remembered Gerrard.

Benitez did bring Alonso on with 30-mins to go for Sissoko. However, Alonso whilst better going forward was not at the same level of defending, so PSV gained in strength. It would have been better to bring Zenden off and re-establish Liverpool’s usual midfield pairing. Perhaps Benitez kept Zenden on to allow him to play a full game in Holland and garner some extra loyalty from the player, maybe.

Then, Rafa did bring Gerrard on, but he took off Bellamy. That was strange as Bellamy was one of Liverpool’s better players on the night and it would have been good to see both a fresh Gerrard and a Bellamy attempt to cnjure up something with Kuyt and Pennant Finally Gonzalez came on but his defensive qualities were worse than Aurelio and he didn’t get up to the pace of the game when going forward so it didn’t mean much. Gerrard nearly scored with that shot on the turn, but it didn’t go in and PSV escaped with a draw.

As mentioned, not an enthralling match, but a safe match, the result that was needed especially after the 3-0 defeat to Everton the weekend before. Liverpool need to build momentum further, and it will be interesting to see who is played this weekend v Chelsea. As its away, a draw would suit Liverpool so will we see more of the same. No-one can guess Rafa's formation, but surely Gerrard and Alonso, rested players will feature and probably Crouch. Time will tell.

Overall, a good safe start for Liverpool in the CL.

Redspider

Nalz · 14-09-2006 1:25pm

Jaysus Redspider, you should look for a job with the daily star or skysportsnews! a read and a half

redspider · 14-09-2006 4:26pm

Trilla wrote:

you should look for a job with the daily star or skysportsnews! a read and a half

Usually others will suggest not to encourage me in case my 'writings' get longer, and who knows, you could be winding me up. Don't worry, I dont get the time to write up stuff on all that many matches.

Enjoy the football,

redspider

Guy:Incognito · 14-09-2006 5:44pm

BaZmO* wrote:

Good to see Dunphy contradicting himself once again last night. He was praising Saha to the highest degree, strange considering that it wasn't too long ago that he was saying that he wasn't good enough to play for France. :rolleyes: .

He wasnt playing for France tho. Maybe Dunphy thinks France are better than Utd.

TheMonster wrote:

Giggs was probably a penalty - one thing for sure he did not dive - there was contact. Judge by the reaction of the keeper.

Just becaue there was contact doesnt mean he didnt dive. A light brush isnt enough to make an honest player go down, it's still contact tho.

Champions League Week 1

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