Thursday, October 25, 2007

Viva la Rafalution?


Me thoughts on European Cup action this (& yesterday) morning:


Chelsea - Have lost their charismatic leader & most successful manager . . . ever; his replacement a unqualified nobody. Their talismanic 33-goal striker threatens to quit. Their capt & inspirational figure is out injured. This morning's score: Chelsea 2 v Shalke 0.


Arsenal - Start season without the great Thierry Henry. Not only was he their best player but perhaps one of the greatest of this generation. Fooking huge boots to fill or what? Their scoreline: Arsenal 7 v Slavia Prague 0


Scum: Started season badly with injuries & suspensions. Lost derby game. No out-&-out striker save injury-prone Saha. They travelled to Dynamo Kiev & won 4-2 (which makes it 12 goals in three games).


The "Mighty" Reds: Started season well but wobbled in Europe. Our campaign has begun to disintegrate at the usual Oct/Nov stretch. Against the weakest team in the group, Rafa proclaimed that "this is a game we cannot afford to lose." Lose we did (1-2) but even more damning is that we never looked like winning the tie. Uefa cup football anybody? . . . sigh

26 comments:

Jon-C said...

Defenders having wobbly legs especially senior citizen Hyppia + strikers that are not taking their chances = bye bye Champions League.

I'd say screw the UCL and lets concentrate on the EPL. We need to buy defensive cover come January as by looking at the current defensive lineup, injuries will and is already wrecking havoc to it.

Some will blame it on luck, but sometimes you make your own luck. 60% possession with over 26 shots at goal plus numerous gilt-edge scoring chances, we should have won it against a shaky defense. We really screwed ourselves over with the same old story - you don't win if you don't score. *sighz*

mark said...

The Draw - Room for optimism
Come on now lads. Tell me what each of you thought when you first saw the draw. We all knew that Marseille and Porto would not be pushovers but I don't think any of us expected to be outplayed by either of them, not after the number of quality signings we made. Not one of us could have been blamed for thinking that this team would be better and stronger than the last. We made additions to the team and to have thought that we would be playing piss poor football would have been blasphemous.

The Reality
After just 1 point from a possible 9, we are bottom of Group A and it looks almost certain that we are halfway through our campaign in this years Champions League. UEFA Cup Champions anyone? Perhaps we will look more at home in Europe's 2nd tier tournament. Marseille top the group with 7 points, Porto are 2nd with 5 points, Besiktas are 3rd with 3 points and last seasons finalists are dead last with 1. Even if we are to score maximum points from now, we will have to hope that Porto falter to either Marseille or Besiktas. European adventure well and truly over? A friend of mine had said he feared another Basel when he saw the draw and it looks like his fears have been realised.

Toothless
I'm sick of hearing how we played well despite losing. Let's be realistic now and put things into perspective. Yes, we did create chance after chance and yes, we did have the lion's share of possession but in the end what wins games? You got it, goals and unfortunately for us, they are as common as a saber tooth tiger. We signed exciting forwards in Voronin, Torres and Babel. Ok so Torres was out with an injury but I would hate to think we are only reliant on one individual to get us goals. Torres isn't going to play every game and he isn't going to be impervious to injury. We were playing one of the worst teams in Europe and we struggled to score! Our forwards were virtually non-existent and were spotted in the 18 yard box as often as Everton wins trophies. Don't get me wrong. It's great that we have so many players who are willing to work their socks off but it would be fabulous if one of them could stick the ball in the the net with some degree of regularity.

Before we had a problems with dodgy keepers who in spite of being big blokes, inexplicably had problems dealing with aerial threats. Cometh Pepe Reina who commands his airspace well despite other faults. Now it seems we have been stricken with another virus and inhibits us from scoring. Something in the water?

The Besiktas Faithful
A truly passionate bunch that never stopped singing or chanting the entire game. There were some shots of them moving about in unison and it was truly a sight to behold. Reminds me of what the Kop used to look like back in the day. The Besiktas Ultras are fans of the English game and many of them have expressed admiration for Liverpool because they believe that like us, they are the people's club. They are also a working class club who's fans show and undying devotion to the club. Did anyone hear our rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" towards the end of the match? It's not big secret that our song is famous world wide and the home fans showed some respect by applauding us when we sang it. Aside from the moment Stevie G's well placed header found the top corner, it was the only time the home fans weren't singing or chanting.

To look at it from another perspective, I couldn't help but wonder if the home fans were there to intimidate other first with the thought of supporting their teams second. I have much respect for Besiktas fans because of their passion. A few of them have also posted on RAWK showing their admiration for us but a particular scene of Pennant getting pelted by a projectile somewhat warped my perception of them. It then occurred to me that it wasn't just about supporting their team, it was about intimidating the opposition. I can't blame them really. Being one of the worst teams in Europe, they need to resort to every conceivable means that will give them an edge, and it worked.

Sami Hyypia
Poor old Hyypia, his heart is in it but his legs are shot and he knows it. You'll still see him getting forward each time he can, eager to make things right but deep inside he must know, his time is up. I found it a little harsh that they credited the goal to Sami. If anything, the ball deflected of his booth, it's not like he diverted it into goal. For a living legend that has achieved so much in his time here, it's sad to think his last memories of the club will to have put 2 goals into his own net in consecutive games. On a scale of 1-10, I don't think Sami has rated more than 5 in any of his games this season. Harsh but true. We love you Sami, we do and parting will be such sweet sorrow. We had good times but all good things come to an end. I think it's time that Rafa takes a gamble and fields players for the future like Jack Hobbs.

Rafa Benitez
He is not above criticism and it is foolish to think that he is. With our Champions League campaign looking all but over, the pressure will be on him to perform in the league. There are no more distractions now and failure to achieve anything other than a top 3 finish will be unacceptable. Next we play host to an Arsenal side in devastating form, as opposed to our indifferent one. If Besiktas could put 2 past us, how many do you reckon we'll concede on Monday morning?

It may be a little too soon to say this but this could be the game that defines our season. Arsenal will be 9 points clear of us should they win and in todays competition, 9 points is a mountain, especially given the inconsistent form we have been in.

anfield devotee said...

jonc: fooking hell, Rafa's positive spin on proceedings after the match put me in an even worse mood. What the fook!?! Which game you've been watching la dey? Been bloody rubbish since pompey draw la! Get it together pronto, its yer fooking job, Rafa!

mark: it was me who said the basel thingy la, who else but pessismist old anfield devotee. many laughed at that prediction, some were even angry that I would suggest such a scenario. But sorry lads, truth hurts.

uefa cup? what makes u think we won't get bullied by some other second rate teams there either. And I'm not talking bout yer Bayerns or Villareals but the unfookingpronounceable teams from eastern europe.

Arsenal game? We're royally fooked aren't we? Leafue is already looking like wishful thinking. Just needs a thumping like last season's to throw us further into the abyss of despair . . .

ISA said...

ahh..just got onto the net after this morning's ALAM FLORA performance. luckily i had too much work to sort out to grief, mope & bitch about our men in RED.

fer fook's sake..BESIKTAS??? no disrespect to them but...BESIKTAS??? aiyaa...

we were lacking in every department..60% possession? so what? keeping the ball and going nowhere, i.e playing with yourself AKA MASTURBATION!! doesnt give much joy to others, does it??

yup, you had players running around everywhere, i.e averaging a coupla gazillion miles per game..but like fooking headless chickens?? as far as i can remember..i never saw gerd muller breaking sweat, neither did romario but they were just THERE when it mattered...

for a moment, i thought of going on and on with whats wrong with Rafa and his expensively assembled clowns (after THAT performance) BUT on second thoughts, the less said the better...

FOOKING RUBBISH...prove me wrong against the Goons, rafa...

Bernard said...

Eisshhhh, yet another posting where all I can say is "Tak tau apa nak cakap". If we're lucky, we might only be playing for League Cup. UEFA Cup? forget it as Bayern or some spanish team will nick it. Come to think of it, we may not even make UEFA Cup. EPL title? Though I've said earlier to only make an assessment after the Dec/Jan games, I don't think I'll wait any more but to say "You must be joking mate". My unsolicited 1/2 sen worth opinion is a 2 horse race between Arsenal & ManUre with maybe Chelsea throwing a spanner in the works. We'll be lucky to even make UEFA next year the way things are going.

& I repeat my earlier plea to Mr. Sami Hyppia (2 goals in 2 games mind you) - please retire-la PRONTO!

muststopthis said...

???? Still in a daze......

mark said...

Oh well, bring on the Gooners next. A few of us will be meeting up at some undisclosed location to watch the game. Can't decide where at the moment. If anyone wants to join in, please do so.

anfield devotee said...

Please note the CONSPICOUS absence of all the usual Rafa-loyalists ie the three 'A's - Albertus, Afif & @dam. Apa la dey, am patiently awaiting yer explanations!

mark: perhaps we should just fooking throw the game, better arsenal than scum winning the league.

Anonymous said...

hey, not hiding k!

Just time taken up by football training (everyday!) for this Saturday's interdepartment football! Been dead after every training.

Remember ya, I can't watch the Champions League because I don't have Astro. So, whatever I perceive will be whatever I read. Ah yes, I saw the last few minutes before Besiktas score their second onwards while lunching yesterday!

Rafa, Reina, Kuyt, Gerrard and Carra said they were unlucky. 28 shots (but I understand how those are added up) against 4 and lose? From what I managed to see, I have no problems with Liverpool's attack in that last few minutes. The Besiktas players are basically all inside the penalty box. The fault would be no Liverpool players took long shots except Benayoun where his shot was deflected for a corner. One thing I was disappointed though was the speed of play. It was not the EPL speed Liverpool showed. It was the speed dictated by Besiktas.

On that, maybe it was Rafa's plan. Or, it might also be the players are simply keeping their legs fresh for Arsenal!

Being pessimistic surely isn't gonna do any good for everyone's health here. But being an optimist, I must say it is tolling on me to debate here...it's lonely, man!

Against Arsenal, on why we should not throw in the towel? Hmmm...let's see...Tottenham and Liverpool are pretty much in the same shoe currently with the slump. Except we have better quality players and manager (hold your guns!). That's why Liverpool is reaping off draws instead of losing most of the games.

The limitations are there for players and manager to change things when confidence is at such low. However, Liverpool have something that Tottenham don't have and that can change the mood now - the fans!

If this Sunday Anfield treat it as a Champions League semi-final, then can you imagine the good it will do to the players and the manager?

I think that is crucial to get them off the slump. The fans have always been the 12th player and it matters most now! Arsenal with Liverpool have the best away record now but Liverpool's home record looks bad. Where are the singing fans when they are needed most? It's not a time to be down and angry and blast the manager. It is a time to support just to get their confidence back and then see what happens.

I plead, come this Sunday, before the game, don't talk about Benitez if it is going to be anything bad. Don't make jokes about Liverpool going to lose. Instead, bring out the scarves and sing from begining til end and hope Anfield does too!

If everything is not well, we know we fans be well enough to support the team! Media has done enough damage to Liverpool and already damaged Spurs. This Sunday is all about the fans to me! If Anfield choose to be quiet (worst so once conceded), then I think they are to be blamed as well for losing the confidence everyone on the pitch has already lost!

Manager's confidence might be down, players' confidence are definitely down, should we let ours be when we are needed most? It is the Anfield crowd which matters now!

mozisgod said...

goonners champs???!%$%#%@#burp&*^(8469&%$(#)( [NOTE: INI NUMBER MESTI NAIK PUNYA].

god no. please. the mere inkling of a thought..ugh..then again..setan merah..menang kalu...lookin' at their fans..will be like walkin through hell on earth...or as araya/slayer aptly put it..'SOUTH OF HEAVEN'...have you ever noticed how giggly man utd fans get when the win something...like pornochicks going yeah..yeahhhh..yeahhh..syncopated..stylized..siliconized.(?!!..whaaat da fark are you on moz..club99 ka??)...MA-C-A-M S-I-A-L.
at least you lot...knew or realised when to shut up..after winning the..winning..the...chief..can't bring myself to say it...ugh. okay la. champions of europe. it was a great piece of football anyway. whereas i've got setan merah fans still blabbering down my arse..abt..cuntona..about seeking european glory again...i hope some farkinunpronouncable eastern european teams DOES win it... UGGHHHH
ARGHGHHGHGHGHGHHGHGHGHHGHG

wenger's kotex is falling down
falling down falling down
my fair gooonerrrs.

[NOTE/BEWARE: THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO/BECOME OF YOU IF:

1. YOU HAVE BEEN A DIEHARD FAN OF SUPER TEAM THAT SHOULD HAVE HAD NO EXCUSE TO BE UNDERPERFORMING
2. YOU HAVE BEEN A DIHEARD FAN OF A TEAM THAT AT TIMES PLAYS BREATHTAKING ATTACKING ENTERTAINNG FOOTBALL BUT STILL GOT A GAPING 'FOURFISTSCANGOIN' BACKLINE
3. YOU HAVE BEEN A DIHEARD FAN OF CLUB THAT HAS HAD AN ILLUSTRIOUS HISTORY.*sigh*.BUT NOT WON ANY PROPER SILVERWARE...IN THE LAST TEN..NO FIFTEEN..NO.FARK IT. I LOST COUNT.
4. YOU HAVE BEEN A DIHEARD FAN OF A CRUMBLING TEAM WITH A SUPER MANAGER, super players..super fans..that..that.. THAT'S BEEN CICRCUMCISED (WITHOUT ANAESTHETICS) OF ITS MANAGER.
4A. SOME MORE PUT COLGATE ON AFTER KENA CICRCUMSISED....
5.YOU HAVE BEEN A DIEHARD FAN OF A TEAM WITH A FARKIN BOARD THAT SKITTLES BEHIND THE WHOLE TEAM(AND IT'S FANS) AND GOES COMO ESTA SENOR TO ANOTHER BENITEZ LIKE-FIGURE?
6. YOU HAVE BEEN A DIEHARD FAN OF A TEAM..THAT ALWAYS LOOKED LONGINGLY..BLANKLY ALMOST LISTLESS ACROSS THE STREET AT THE FARKIN NEIGHBOURS SLURPING THEIR ARSENICFLAVOURED ICECREAMS...
7. UGH.
8. NOTHING.UGHHHHH AGAIN.
8. NOTHING. ARRRGHGHGHCIBAIKANNINABUCHAUCHEEBAIIIKAMLANLANLANLANARGHGHGHGHG.

i will understand if you lot would want me out of this blog pronto. Just giving you a picture of what may happen/may nOT HAPEEN..MOST LIKELY NOT LAA..come one man...liverpool FC whaattttt.. if things get out of control at anfield.

p.s. chief thanks for the platform mate..to piss..almost therapeutic
p.s.1 i hope the reds do farkin kick the gooners arse...up to oblivion..o satan is that too much to ask? i'm sure..at least one koppite is more that willing to korban an arm or a leg or
two..*grinsshowingdecayingteeth*

ISA said...

I just love optimists...the half full and not half empty lot. the sun is always shining and even if its not, there's always a silver lining to every cloud..

I think Bala and the most of us here are not exactly pessimists..but REALISTS.

Most of us have been fans for more than half our lives..go figure how many years that is as most of us are approaching 40! We've been through the paisley (too young for shankly), fagan, dalglish, souness, evans+houllier, solo houllier years..and now rafa. After dalglish, it has been a dreadful ride, with the occasional sparks, perhaps with one bright dawn i.e the treble year...but mostly false hopes.

whatever the result, week in week out we are still REDS. But lets get real, the last few performances were shite..and to say that we were unlucky is fooking insulting to us fans. 28 shots? shots are defined as anything towards the opponents goal, whether wayward, target bound or anywhere near Row Z. Heck, even johnny wilkinson can play in the EPL if just shots really defines a player..and even the keeper could be smoking a fag and face 28 'shots'..and I have already defined 'possession' in my previous post.

Opponents in the penalty box? Expected and must be factored in, after all, we are LIVERPOOL.

Us fans aint stupid. YET we still are REDS. even if we get relegated, i'd still be proud to walk around with the liverbird upon my chest.

Anfield is always buzzing before a game, with songs & chants. Its the starting point. BUT if the team does not respond on the field..susahlah to continue. The 12th man thing actually depends very much on the team, really. Fans start, team responds, thus the birth of the 12th man. If team does not respond, that 12th man becomes stillborn..Only difference at Anfield is that even if we are losing, but them players are playing their socks off, THAT 12th man will emerge, STRONGER THAN EVER..trust me, i was there in person in istanbul..fooking gave me goosebumps...

As for the manager, he's in charge of the team. He does not have the option of letting his confidence go down. He just simply can't. But at the same time, he cannot go on reassuring his players that its ok, we're unlucky. Better to say, ok, bad night, lets sort it out on the training ground trow, we've got lots of work to do. at the end of the day, it boils down to the manager..if the players arent performing, then get some who are or at least give someone who's itching to perform the chance.

Finally, despite what bala said, i dont think he really wants us to throw in the towel just yet. we are just fooking pissed off. even if he doesnt watch the game, he will be secretly hoping that a nice result will greet him the next morning...

Cheers to everyone and here's to the cannon shooting another white flag...

mark said...

Dude, once too often have we had a gazillion shots on goal as opposed to the opponents one, with them scoring. Surely it can not longer be a coincidence and cannot be used to as consolation.

anfield devotee said...

@dam: I believe mark & Isa answered yer queries. And as I said meself, fooking hard to believe Rafa was watching the same game when he spewed out those stats! We were FOOKING shite!

mozisgod: U are more than welcome with yer opinions here mate. Just don't tell us bout yer LFC poster ripping days of yore, la.

And I am in full agreement with you on Liverpool's current predicament. I have always sounded that warning to the eternal optimists that if we are not careful, we gonna end up like fooking Spurs.

As fer yer Martin Jol, sorry la, I agree with some other Spurs fans who acknowledge he has lost it & taken u guys as far as he can. Sort of like the Houllier situation with us a few years ago. Lucky yer board is appointing Juan Ramos rather Ossie Ardiles!!!

Isa: You would have to agree that arsenal are playing wonderful footie & deserve the title more than we do (not that we are gonna be challenging fer it), so might as well throw the game la. Fook it.
Last season we celebrated our 2-0 v chelsea at Anfield. What good did it do us except derail their title aspirations & allowed the fooking scum to take it. WHY!?!

ISA said...

and let the gooners say we are scared of them?

no fooking way...reminds me of the time i was playing for my uni..hmmm more than 15 years ago...got thrashed 6-0 by the near-invincible UPM team which had 6 barcelona'92 m'sian squad players in the opening match, met them again in the final & we were running scared...but we won 1-0, thanks to stout defending & mighty slice of luck..in all my years in footy, no team deserves anything until the final whistle..that too, only lasts till the next match.

true, the goons are playing nice footy but sorry bro, i hate the goons as much as i hate the scum & the chavs.. i dont give a fook about any other team actually...as long as WE win.

so, lets not give up just yet...you may never know which liverpool will turn up this weekend..

anfield devotee said...

Isa: Things are looking desperate! Visitesd this other blog (kopblog -link on main page) & though many remain confident & think we are gonna beat the arse, they really are clutching at straws when they are discussing whether HARRY FOOKING KEWELL gonna be fit fer the clash tomorrow!?!

We are well & truly fooked if Kewell is being talked up as a possible saviour . . .

Bernard said...

Hope springs eternal...& like Greavsy used to say "Its a funny old game". The ball is round & nothing is predictable nowadays. Case in point - see how Hamilton lost it when the title was there for his taking & just when you thought Alonso will take it, Raikonnen came up tops.

Throw the game? That's as cowardly as one can get. Even if we don't win squat this season, so be it but there's some bragging rights involved here. Yes its pretty lame but we have to at least show that though we may be down but we're not out.

anfield devotee said...

I know, I know, just a bit sick n tired of winning one offs rather than actually put a decent run together fer a proper assault on title. 17 years (& counting) is a very long time to wait . . .

Anonymous said...

I think the major difference we have here is our expectations.

For one, lots of you here have supported Liverpool for decades. You all have seen the glory days and even lived it from the Paisley to Dalglish period to the current time.

For me, it all started under Evans and Houllier. All I have tasted is the sweet success in 2001 (oh, UEFA Cup, oh, FA Cup!) under Houllier and then the last 3 years have been phenomenon under Rafa (to people like me, that is!).

Thus for us who never experienced the type of Liverpool football which Arsenal would be remembered for like how they played and are playing under Wenger now, the comparison we have in mind is different!

For all the past glories, what is offered by Liverpool now is nothing to you fellas. But to me, it is progressing since the day I followed Liverpool. Thus while there's every reason for you guys to be fooked off, there's every reason for me to be hopeful.

Yes, I agree with Isa a lot here are Realist. But Realist have two sides too - the optimist side and the pessimist side. Because in football, every game is different and there's no saying Liverpool will stay as such or improve. The season has just started for 2 months plus and on calculation, there's every reason to stay positive as much as there is to stay negative.

anfield devotee said...

@dam: Very well said. I can understand yer optimism now that u have put into perspective by saying it is an improvement from the previous years.

But I still beg to differ slightly. We older fookers also had to endure the lean (ie Souness & Evans years) times as well & acknowledge Rafa has raised LFC's profile considerably. No arguments there.

However, after so much grumbling regarding his supposed lack of budget, current team is playing some of worst football in living memory. Do NOT forget that although Evan's teams won fook all (besides the solitary league cup), they played with some panache & it was (almost) always a treat to watch.

No matter what yer previous achievements are, it is always bout the next game or campaign. Paisley & his lot never basked in the glory fer one second; they were always planninng fer the next match.

Paul Jewell (ex-Wigan gaffer) recalls how they had just won a hard fought European Cup semifinal away but on the flight back there was no celebrations. Instead, the Boot Room Boys were busy discussing tactics on a match v lower division side in the league cup. How's that fer focus? Jewell said THAT was the Liverpool way.

Another bone of contention is Rafa's bizzare tactics. Let's face it, Milan were very poor in the final last year (as compared to their dismantling of man utd in the semis); yet Rafa contrived to lose a european cup final that was laid out on a silver platter (eg taking off the incredible mascherano who had marked Kaka out of the game & brought on Aberloa when we were trailing 1-0)! Fooking unforgivable!

His rotation policy has clearly left a lot of players confused, unsettled & above all unhappy.

I have said it many times before & I will say it again. We are FOOTBALL fans FIRST & FOREMOST - that's why we fell in love with LFC. What they are producing right now is fooking shite!

Having said all that, the fact remains I am & will always be a Kopite. Just do NOT expect me to swallow shite performances of late quietly. . .

Once again, @dam, TQ fer yer comments & hope you will enjoy the game tonite.

Anonymous said...

Although I defend Rafa and the team a lot here, I too sometimes questions Rafa's tactics. The reason for me to defend THAT MUCH is probably because there's so much "negativity" here and I am trying to bring back some balance (not the best way probably).

I forgot where I got this but if we have the ability to predict Rafa, then he would be runover by other managers and there's no need for him to be there. I like the fact that Rafa making Liverpool ambiguous has its positives. For starters, we know the only thing others know about Liverpool is "We will never guess right who are starting and that's the only thing we will get right!" He needs two equally good players on all positions and maybe, after a year of better spending power, maybe he still hasn't achieve it. Thus, rotation might seem a bit worrying because like bringing in Lucas for Gerrard made us all dizzy!

Everyone has his weakness and I just think we are questioning too much. He achieved great heights with the same phylosophy with Valencia and I think patience is what we need. I am not saying give that man 10 years but it has just been 3!

As you said, the past never looked back to celebrate but moved on everytime almost immediately for the next game, the next season, the next competition. Isn't it with Rafa?

I remember I was left in awe so many times especially the one after the Istanbul comeback 3 years ago. He was talking to players with a serious look and that was probably on what they did wrong and need to improve!!! After a 3 goal comeback winning the Champions League and he did not seem to bother that much jumping around like Mourinho (beating Barca in Q-final?).

Rafa has always spoken about looking forward, the next match. Of course if every next match from now to May is the same and we are nowhere near the top, then yes, shoot as we may but I would think the consequence will be like Houllier - sacked.

Then again, that can only tell come May as Wenger agreed!

Tonight's match will be crucial and I just hope for a win. At times, winning is all people remember and that matters most! What read the headlines will be the winning team and not how they win it. So for tonight, it may come the way it came against Everton but I don't give a damn - it is still a win. However, I am not saying the "rot" should continue but just I will forgive and forget if 3 points are bagged tonight.

Come on, Reds!

mozisgod said...

this is me after sunday night football.

if my heart were a standard-issue size-5 football..

the black hex-as; nicotine stained patches,utter fear of klingon like tendrils & the 87 cup final.

the whites? - hope; taman football-wit; the thumbs-up sign tellin ya all's well; friendly drunken stupour... in dim-lighted bars with some guitars a-skankin from the box; sardonic cynicism, more beer; nigella lawson bending over that chocolate desert (sue me); charmin east coast dialects on sea-salt burned faces swallowing alleged fanaticism into a friendly gaze goin'...'molek blake abehhh'; O-kau-cham-tiger; jaws/shark curry & bak-kut-teh; the pursuit of belching inpromtu with glee, the 88-cup final (yes.out of pure D-E-N-G-K-I :)); intelligent football banter; the jalan pantai along dungungggg on the way to KT.... basically the few things in life that keeps 30-odd year old no-lifer bouyant et. al.

you think that which keeps my life buoyant is sad dude?

try farkin sunday night.

the football hit a nail.
pancit sokmo. *sigh*
no mo-pi-farkin-ko lai-liaooo can fix this.


p.s. pure magic by a pure magic brewer. fellas..in gerrad you trust!. i did not see the 2nd-half...see..

my game ended. i switched off.
cardiac arrest.. *coughbloodcoughblood*

anfield devotee said...

@dam: well, more of the same bizzare tactics that don't work eg voronin & kuyt wide when we have flank players aplenty (eg benayoun, kewell, gonzales, aurelio, riise, babel).

Does not put Leiva or momo on bench in case of injury to Xabi. . . etc etc.

Wha The Fook is the man doing la?

mozisgod: the dangers of being a spurs fan - leads to William S Burroughs-like ramblings ie jargon disguised as poetry. Careful dude, fine line between art & shite . . . but kudos fer trying!

He he . . . just being cheeky la, no offense meant!

Afif said...

It's a setback, not a disaster. We gonna win the rest of the ties, end of story. Keep the faith.

Come on you Reds!

anfield devotee said...

afif: Kindly note Fer Fook's Sake does NOT condone the use of hard drugs . . .

Anonymous said...

Flank players:

Pennant - injured!
Kewell - not yet well!
Gonzales - not at Liverpool anymore!
Aurelio - our for injury i think!
Riise - he played!

The others - the manager can only choose 11 to start and 5 on the bench.

Formation started the game and during the game always changes. To me, it is never 4-4-2 even if it started 4-4-2. Flanks go up and down and players make runs. In that case, the formation changes from attack to defence such as 4-4-3, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-3-1 and so on.

Managers have their reasons to choose whoever starts and that is down to what the managers see during training, which we, fans, can't see and don't know about!

Anonymous said...

Alamak, otak tak center ni!

i mean, 4-4-2, 4-5-1 (play flank), 4-2-3-1 (defending), 4-1-3-2 (prepare to counter) and so on!

:S