Im sure Carragher reads all the forums so he can be hip pundit making same points as the fans. Last time it was slagging Lindjers off now Gakpo.
There are a lot of posters and pundits that just jump on the bandwagon and pick on the lowest fruit to garner likes, when at times the more popular player has been just as bad, but that doesnāt suit the agenda
We are an elite team and usually donāt need more than three goals to win the game. The rare occasions when that happened arenāt more in number than other elite teams. The fact that we did so yesterday isnāt the measure by which we conclude that we are not an elite team.
I do realize you donāt necessarily mean that we are not an elite team, just wanted to add my view on itā¦
I know we are but we seem to be putting the emphasis that we canāt just have one of those performances, has to be Gakpoās fault not the defence that conceded a number of chances.
Too many of you are surrounded by their fans. At this point itās like Everton showing up for their two games a season.
I do agree with that point.
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Fluffing our lines in the five on two attack was a real sickener. Nine times out of ten we score from such odds, and if we had of doneā¦ they wouldnāt have come back from that - Bad day at the office, onwards and upwards. We will have forgotten all about this game when we take the 3points off them in a few weeks time.
As for the offending chants, the incompetent PL really do need to get a grip.
I think itās easier to emotionally cope with a situation where we lost because the one player weāve already decided isnt good enough let us down than because a player you adore and would be playing in your cup final team if we were playing one this week had a bad day.
Even against a shit team like Utd, the margins are tight so it doesnt take much to lose a game you should have won, or would have won on a different day. But credit to United, they got punched in the mouth and unexpectedly rallied themselves. I suspect even portion of our players were a bit surprised that, but itās a cup game (their final?) at a full OT still kind of buoyed by the Ratcliff situation - it shouldnt actually surprise us that they managed to raise their game. Even if it is a bit surprising they did it after looking like they were on course to lose. Twice.
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Iāll be honest in that I was almost screaming at the tv for Gakpo to pass it earlier when we got that break. However itās not as if we havenāt messed up chances like that before, and Iām sure weāll do it again.
My issue stems from the fact that, although I actually like Gakpo and earlier in the season preferred him starting so we could control games before bringing on Nunez later against a tired defense, I donāt see what positives he brings to the team lately.
Our two goals basically came from our pressing up front, especially on that right hand side. Also as the commentator pointed out frequently Salah staying right out on the touchline meant that Wan Bissaka - a player who will rigidly stick to any directions to mark a certain player but who seems to be unable to take the initiative - left a large gap between the centrebacks and full back. Once Salah went off their left back had virtually no duties to mark anyone but worse he had the freedom of Old Trafford as the person meant to be playing right attacker was just drifting aimlessly around the pitch.
I think it was our 5-0 win there a few seasons ago where I had a good laugh at the after game analysis where the pundits were talking about how most of the United players tried to press but when one or two players blatantly refused to put the effort into pressing how easy it was for us to beat their pressing and in fact benefitted from it as players had been dragged out of position trying to cover for their teammates lack of effort.
And thatās what did it for me. Itās a quarter final of the FA Cup away at our worst rivals. If you come on and weāre winning 2-1 you better put everything you can into the game. Look at how many players ran themselves into the ground so much we could all see that they were exhausted yet they still kept trying. Then Gakpo comes on and if he sprinted once in the game then I must have missed it.
I can understand if players donāt have the required skillset. I can understand mistakes such as the 5 on 2 break. What I cannot understand is the complete lack of effort, heart or desire from a player, esp in the circumstances and set up when he came into the game.
Since I first replied to your post Iāve read this thread fully and Iāve seen people criticizing Gakpo as well as people defending him. Unfortunately Iāve gone past the point where I feel I can defend him if he isnāt willing to put any effort into his game when heās on the pitch.
You know what annoyed me.
Not Gakpo fucking that up but the absolutely shite defending on their equaliser for 3-3. Not only did we clear it once we decided to give in back to them so they could stroll it home.
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Something had to give and personally this is the competition Iād have put last in a list of priorities.
The performance was mostly fine. Mental and physical fatigue caught up with some which affected our decision making. But it should serve as lighter fluid and reignite the fires to give us another push, especially when we go back there.
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This. Well said.
I wonāt pretend Iām not gutted by the result and more importantly how we screwed the pooch against a piss poor man utd team.
But considering weāve won the carabao cup and weāve got the chance of the Europa and EPL , this wonāt keep me down much. Win one of the other two and the frustration caused by this will largely be alleviated.
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What!?
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Iāll have to remember that one. I think I would usually use the phrase ādrop a clangerā which is originally military slang and nothing to do with these chaps:
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Is that like a clanger?
Just fixed it. Clanker didnāt come up in spell check. According to Urban Dictionary it is a racial slur against robots. Iām turning into Susie Dent this afternoon.
A few weeks ago I was all for throwing the tie against Southampton, so it would be churlish of me to act as if Iām pissed off at going out.
I think we will benefit from the reduced workload as we head into the last run, so Iām not really that bothered. I remember how gassed we were going into the run in of 2022, and I still think had we gone out of the FA cup early on, weād have bagged one of the big ones.
The only thing that bothers me is that it was them. They are fucking shite, and we should not be allowing them to drag us into extra time from a goal down, or winning the game from a goal down.
That, I put down to tiredness. I think that we looked leggy, there was a sense of fatigue to our decision making and some of the passes and build was really sloppy.
Weāll be fine going forward, and no-one needs to panic. We focus on the positive, which is that we are favourites for the Europa League, and bang in the league race, if not favourites for that.
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Houllierās Liverpool and Danny Murphy says hi
A poor first half, a good second half until the last 5 minutes and a very poor extra time. Gakpo and Elliott so poor.