Biggest defeat to Man City for 70 years!

[Ageing Stick Insect]

That did not make for good viewing!  The loss of Masch was obvious and 2 up front away from home against a City side packed with talent didn't make sense. You do that against weaker sides.

I know it's early days for Roy so I'm not going to bash him but I do wish he'd changed things at helf-time because Jovanovic looked poor most of the evening. Also Agger cannot play left-back so we need someone there fairly rapid.

Hart is an exceptional keeper and if the Torres effort had gone it making it 2-1 who knows what might have happened. It was clear frustration had set in long before the end.

We also missed Cole's creativity. Hopefully with two less strong games coming up we can regain some confidence which must have taken a knock tonight.

Looking at it with my half-empty goggles we're 3 off the bottom but with my half-full ones we're 3 points off the top four. There's time to recover but a positive performance is essential in our next Europa and league games.

Now I just have the tricky bit of facing City fans at work tomorrow. 

[Juan]

Re-posting in this thread.

Just as I would give Roy and the team credit when credit is due I think it is equally fair to lambast the team and the manager when they put on a performance like tonight.

We looked like the team of 11 new players uncomfortable playing with each other not City.

On tonight's display and with almost a full team we wont come close to challenging for anything worthwhile, not to mind finishing in the top 4.

Gerrard for about the 15th season in a row looks head and shoulders above most of the other outfield players. Lucas is not good enough for Liverpool, Carragher is a spent force. Johnson was shocking, Kuyt's touch was diabolical to say the least.

Hard work and graft are attributes used to describe players who just dont cut the mustard and on tonights performance we have plenty of players that are exactly that.

Torres must be looking at the transfer window wondering if a move can still happen because himself and Gerrards talents are wasted in a team that performs like that.

As for Hodgsons tactics, decision making and use of substitutions, you wouldn't have seen them in a Championship game. We have witnessed some bad results over the last few seasons but that rates right up there with them.

The forwards looked isolated, waiting to pick up scraps from balls just lofted up from defense. Gerrard was almost expected to cover the two central midfield positions Lucas was so ineffective.  Jovanovic to give him his credit showed some glimpses of promise. Defensively we got cut open, Carragher struggling to get back, Johnson chasing shadows. We allowed cross after cross be whipped into our box from both wings, rarely closing the likes of Adam Johnson down.

People can point to the fact that its so early on in the season but this is just yet another repeat of early seasons gone by. Fans should no longer accept this crap. We look a spent force in desperate need of an overhaul and although this is a rant in the heat of the moment I refuse to keep making excuses as to why we are so often so bad.

Maybe its time fans increased the pressure on the yanks to go because on tonight's performance we are light years off a team that although drew got battered by Spurs on the opening day of the season.

[Juan]

That did not make for good viewing!  The loss of Masch was obvious and 2 up front away from home against a City side packed with talent didn't make sense. You do that against weaker sides.

I know it's early days for Roy so I'm not going to bash him but I do wish he'd changed things at helf-time because Jovanovic looked poor most of the evening. Also Agger cannot play left-back so we need someone there fairly rapid.
[

Well if thats the way Roy plays his football away from home its no wonder Fulham had 4 wins in two seasons on the road.

[Jim B]

We can change managers as much as we like, but the problems at this club won't go away until the owners do.

[Ageing Stick Insect]

Well if thats the way Roy plays his football away from home its no wonder Fulham had 4 wins in two seasons on the road.

Juan,
He's far from being a stupid man so I don't expect to see 4-4-2 away from home for a long time. He took a chance with a side that is still bonding and it didn't work out. Did anyone see that coming after City's weak 1-0 win in Europe last week? No.

I can't agree with your assessment of Jovanovic. I thought he was poor and drifted infield far too often giving us no width on the left. We were overrun in midfield and that should have been addressed at half-time.

It will be interesting to see the formation on Thursday and I imagine there are quite a few senior players who want to give a better performance.

[Ageing Stick Insect]

We can change managers as much as we like, but the problems at this club won't go away until the owners do.

I prefer Roy to Rafa despite tonight's defeat. Let's see how we fare after 6-8 games. Roy will learn from that.

Three good reports from you over the weekend. I don't suppose you have any good news to impart? I think we could all do with cheering up after tonight.

Nice look to the new website. Just one request. Can we have a link to your AnfieldRoad.com site please?

[Tes]

We can change managers as much as we like, but the problems at this club won't go away until the owners do.

Exactly. No amount of wallpaper could cover these cracks. It's not minor shrinkage, it's major subsidence.

[Ageing Stick Insect]

Whilst tonight was a big shock to the system let's not forget that when we beat Manure at OT 17 months ago it was their heaviest defeat to us for 70 years! And they went on to win the title!

We're two games in and have had the hardest fixtures. A little bit of realism is required. It takes a while for a new manager to understand all his players and work out the best formation.

Let's not forget that turgid 0-0 game at Eastlands last season. Would you really want a repeat of that? I know I wouldn't.

[Juan]

We can change managers as much as we like, but the problems at this club won't go away until the owners do.

Jim I'm not suggesting for a second we change managers, what would be the point with the state of the club off the field. And despite our financial woes Roy deserves time and a chance to get things right.

But aside from the lack of funds provided to the manager I will refuse to make excuses for the team and the manager this season when we witness games like that.

Roys had a baptism of fire in the league and tonights proven he is yet to come to grips with what it takes to manage Liverpool but tactically he needs to learn and learn fast because the players at his disposal are far better than what we have seen tonight.

[Kopite999]

Did you hear liverpool fans singing for Benitez? As much as i liked him i dont agree with that. Woy didnt deserve that. Ngog and Torres playing together was a big mistake. Ok if we had West Brom or Blackpool at home but not City away. We got out numbered in the centre of the pitch all game.

[Juan]

Whilst tonight was a big shock to the system let's not forget that when we beat Manure at OT 17 months ago it was their heaviest defeat to us for 70 years! And they went on to win the title!

We're two games in and have had the hardest fixtures. A little bit of realism is required. It takes a while for a new manager to understand all his players and work out the best formation.

Let's not forget that turgid 0-0 game at Eastlands last season. Would you really want a repeat of that? I know I wouldn't.

ASI dont get me wrong I'm not saying sack the manager. I am simply saying it as I see it and tonight was appalling.

There are players in that team that should not get the chance to wear the shirt. Last thursday Lucas played with Poulsen in central midfield. Poulsen played the holding role and Lucas had the opportunity to do what he is meant to do best, be a box to box midfielder. He was anonymous. And tonight again he offered nothing. Time after time when we had a throw instead of offering himself up as an option he shyed away, on one occasion he wasnt even being marked.

At times its may be ugly but as far as the manager goes I will definitely give him time. For some of those players who have been under-performing for too long now my patience has finally run out.

As for last seasons 0-0 at the eastlands, i would take that any day over the 3 nil drubbing that we saw tonight.

[Juan]

Did you hear liverpool fans singing for Benitez? As much as i liked him i dont agree with that. Woy didnt deserve that. Ngog and Torres playing together was a big mistake. Ok if we had West Brom or Blackpool at home but not City away. We got out numbered in the centre of the pitch all game.

Didnt hear that but Roy definitely doesn't deserve that.

That said our fans that travel probably rarely saw Rafa put in a performance as tactically inept as that.

Roy does deserve better but he needs to learn from this quickly otherwise he might find the team struggling to match last seasons 7th.

[Juan]

Having time to reflect on last nights defeat i'm still gutted to say the least. My expectations for this season were probably as low as they have ever been for Liverpool but I never expected that.

I'm still shocked we managed to be as bad as we were.

Seeing Torres come off brought back that memory from the end of last season when we needed a goal he was hauled off with a shocked Gerrard looking on. I'm not suggesting Torres should have stayed on, clearly hes not there yet and needs to be protected.

I'm not sure how Hodgson will manage to lift the spirits of the likes of Torres and Gerrard today, they must be wondering if they made the right decision in staying. Maybe he will point to the fact that Mascherano and Cole were out but the loss last night was much more than 2 players missing.

But all that said and having let off steam about the state of the team last night there is no point on dwelling on it anymore and it should be put down as part of the steep learning curve on the part of Hodgson.

Lets just hope this is an early season blip and its onwards and upwards for Roy from here.

[barticus]

I'm sure Roy will get it right in the end....it's his 5rd match after all...i think he'll soon realise that kuyt and lucas should never be played together and it should be either or...
i didnt see the match but its at eastlands and the last two seasons were pretty close games....citeh have spent close to 200 mil since then...and it shows...money eventually shows in the league...and mancini is not an idiot...

mascherano was missing...and it seems he's on his way...he misses his wife and kid...which is all very well but whatever happened to stand by your man...with 28 mil for toure....the 15 mil offer from barca is a joke...both real madrid and barca have stuffed us in the past (not on the pitch, mind)....and when fortune turns to better times we shall remember...

the best thing for the club is that it gets seized by the RBS in october...even with the 9 point deduction it will mean an end to the yankee carpetbaggers...in order to prevent the club then being sold to other 'not fit carpetbaggers' then RBS needs a reminder of their position in all this....they get fatter on the profits of the interest on our club and as they do so we deepen our decline...a reminder that the thieving banksters will get far more bad publicity and thus damage their 'product' is needed....

Oh and one more thing...bravo to jim on the new look to the forum! It's class!

[Ageing Stick Insect]

ASI dont get me wrong I'm not saying sack the manager. I am simply saying it as I see it and tonight was appalling.

I know you're not Juan. There has to be an underlying reason for that poor performance.

There are players in that team that should not get the chance to wear the shirt. Last thursday Lucas played with Poulsen in central midfield. Poulsen played the holding role and Lucas had the opportunity to do what he is meant to do best, be a box to box midfielder. He was anonymous. And tonight again he offered nothing. Time after time when we had a throw instead of offering himself up as an option he shyed away, on one occasion he wasnt even being marked.

Lucas has played okay in the past and I don't want to start blaming players this early into a new season and under new management. The 4-4-2 was alien to them and clearly didn't work. Let's see what a different formation does.

As for last seasons 0-0 at the eastlands, i would take that any day over the 3 nil drubbing that we saw tonight.

At least we went out to win last night comapred to the mustn't lose attitude of last season's game. And that loss will send clear signals that we can't do that again.