By dedlfc
In our first real test back at the big table of Champions League
football Real Madrid showed exactly why they are European champions and how far
we have fallen down the pecking order with a 3-0 victory in a display which
oozed class at Anfield.
Karim Benzema scored twice after Cristiano Ronaldo broke his six-match
duck at Anfield with a superb opener to edge within one of club icon Raul's
all-time Champions League goal scoring record.
In the final analysis it was not even close. Real's first win - in fact first goals - in
four meetings against the Reds came all too easily as they highlighted the gulf
in class.
The Spanish side last visited Merseyside in 2009, at a time when we
could conceivably argue we were still contenders for Europe's top honours.
Now we are feeling our way back into the competition and it is tough going.
On that March evening five years ago Madrid were torn apart 4-0 by - in
Steven Gerrard's words - a "world-class" Fernando Torres.
There was no-one approaching his stature or the recently departed Luis
Suarez among the home side's ranks and the game-plan appeared to involve just
giving the ball to Raheem Sterling.
That was asking a lot of the 19-year-old, even for someone with his
precocious talent.
It had all looked so good for 23 minutes as Liverpool evoked memories of
famous Anfield nights of the past, boosted by the fervour rolling down off the
Kop.
Sterling's pace caused Real's defence some problems and former Reds
defender Alvaro Arbeloa got away with a trip on the youngster as he raced on to
Jordan Henderson's ball over the top.
Gerrard troubled Iker Casillas with a low, dipping shot which was
parried by the goalkeeper, who then got in a flap trying to deal with the Reds
captain's corner.
Joe Allen clipping a shot wide and Philippe Coutinho fired against the
post late in the half was as close as we would come, as Real, having
absorbed the early pressure, switched up a gear in an instant.
Ronaldo, whose previous involvement amounted to being fouled by
Henderson after just nine seconds and seeing a low shot comfortably claimed by
Simon Mignolet, was unsurprisingly the instigator and finisher.
Laying the ball off to James Rodriguez, he darted forward to get on the
end of a deliciously weighted return ball and hit a sublime half-volley past Mignolet
with centre-backs Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel seemingly comatose.
If we were stunned by that, we should have seen the second and third
goals coming as they resulted from familiar flaws which have haunted us all
season
On the half-hour, Toni Kroos lifted a cross to the far post where a poorly
positioned Glen Johnson left Benzema unchallenged to loop a header across goal
and in at the far post.
A Kroos corner 11 minutes later floated over the head of Mario Balotelli
and hit Pepe on the chest, with the Portugal defender reacting quickest to nick
the ball past Mignolet for Benzema to tap home.
And what of our £16 m striker Balotelli? Brendan Rodgers resisted the
chance to drop the misfiring striker. But
the Italy striker got a first shake of the head from his manager within two
minutes - and was replaced at half-time by Adam Lallana, after swapping shirts
with Pepe as he headed down the tunnel which was a total disrespect to all
Liverpool fans and then refused to sit and support the side from the bench
which was totally out of order. Maybe he was on Instagram boasting about his
newly gained Real Madrid shirt or arranging for it to be framed!
.jpg) |
| Pepe, can I have your shirt please? |
In the time he was on the pitch he produced one surging run past
left-back Marcelo, only to cross high over the head of Sterling.
Carlo Ancelotti's team were 3-0 up at the break, but this was no Istanbul.
With Gerrard's magical years behind him and an over-reliance on
Sterling, there was no catalyst to spark a comeback and seemingly no belief
they could mount one.
Even Ronaldo appeared to take pity on us as, faced with a one-on-one
with Mignolet from six yards, he lacked his characteristic clinical cutting
edge and the keeper stuck out a foot for a good reaction save.
Madrid played the whole of the second half in second gear using
containment and counter-attack with very little concern with Saturday's clásico on their minds. Even when we
did muster an opening, substitutes Lazar Markovic and Emre Can and Allen
contrived to mess it up between them.
The only positive on the night was Basle losing 1-0 to Ludogorets in
Group B's other match, leaving the second-placed Swiss and the Bulgarians on
three points alongside us.
Negatives
Again our defensive display was again abysmal. One world class goal, the other two could
have been stopped with better defending. Gerrard playing as a defensive midfielder is
not a protective shield for our defenders but more like a turnstile where
everything comes at our defence, when will Rodgers realise that he cannot play
that role? All the central defenders
Rodgers has bought have not been able to do the job for us which is extremely
embarrassing. We had an opportunity to
bring in a defensive midfield shield such as Alex Song but chose not to follow
up on our interest in him.
Ballotelli should not play for us again, he is a total disgrace to our
club and does not deserve any more chances.
The midfield trio of Allen (the very poor man's Xabi Alonso), Gerrard and Henderson couldn't live with the
Madrid duo of Kroos and Modric who systemically out manoeuvred our midfield by
several levels of sheer class.
Positives
Coutinho and Sterling were our only bright sparks and to a lesser extent
Lallana played better than Ballotelli, but, wasn’t saying much as the Italian
was again very poor.
Man of the match - Coutinho - excellent technical skills times - tried
hard but was unable to influence as he did vs QPR last weekend.
Team
Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 02 Johnson, 37 Skrtel, 06 Lovren, 18 Moreno, 14 Henderson (Can - 67' ),
08 Gerrard, 24 Allen, 31 Sterling, 45 Balotelli (Lallana - 45' ), 10 Coutinho (Markovic - 67' )
Substitutes
01 Jones, 04 K Touré, 09 Lambert, 19 Manquillo, 20 Lallana, 23 Can, 50 Markovic
Ref: Nicola Rizzoli
Att: 43,521
NO COMMENTS?
ReplyDeleteMo
Well that was kind of what I expected in every way. Leaky at the back and Mario Pathetico up top. On the up side the Ludogorets result does us a real favour, if we win our last two games we should go through regardless of whether we get spanked again at the Bernabeu.
DeleteAfter Balotelli got subbed we looked so much better up front, the ball was sticking and there was good movement, we lacked the incision of a Suarez or Sturridge but we were back to the style of football that got us up the table last year and I hope Rodgers now stops indulging Balotelli drops him, sticks him on the transfer list for January and gets back to playing pass and move counter attacking football up front even if it is without a recognised striker.
As for the defence, no one has covered themselves in glory this season (or last season for that matter) but I maintain that a capable top level goal keeper would calm everything down back there considerably. Having said all that it was great to see the Reds back on the big stage even if we did get a bit of a shoeing. Anfield sounded great for the first 20 mins before the wind got taken out of the sails.
I was saying to Karl last night this isn’t all down to Balotelli (although can’t condone swapping shirts and not sitting with team).
DeleteWe can’t defend, pure and simple. The second and third goals… it was like watching a car crash in slow motion. Ronaldo goal was brilliant, but given where he picked the ball up from if that was any other player wouldn’t we being saying where was the midfielder tracking the run!?!
We’ve let in 7 goals already this season from set pieces, the ‘chuckle brothers’ Skrtel and Lovren are woeful and once again the midfield is non-existent. These are two international defenders and neither looks like a leader.
We had to play at optimum levels just to keep up and once that petered out after 20 minutes they stepped up a gear and that then it was Murder She Wrote. We are lucky there is an El Clásico over the weekend or else we could’ve been on the end or a record drumbing and that’s the main reason why looked better in the second half although we looked better balanced. Glen Johnson... what’s the point...? Mignolet, feet first for the challenge? Conclusion, short on quality and lightweight.
Like to see Emre Chan get a run or games because with him in the team he gives us the option of switching to a 4-4-2 on occasions and given Stevie a breather.
The Liverpool fans were class. Applauding Ronaldo off as they knew they'd seen as class act. Isco looks what he is a very high class footballer who in most sides in the world would be a fixture and we all now how good Kroos and Modric are.
Silly Defence+No Strike= expected defeat.
DeleteThe First Half was a blur.
DeleteAnd Second Half has shades of the Liverpool of last Season with Fluid movement and I think that was the snag.
fluidity of movement was what made Liverpool awesome last season, Balotelli has be rested and enough said
Mario = pointless, Johnson = criminal, Gerrard = dead man walking; we were lucky it was only 3.
DeleteTime for BR to make the changes anyone can see needs to be made, play Sterling as a false number 9 until we get Sturridge back and hopefully we can offload Mario in Jan to a team even more desperate than we were, alternate Gerrard with Emre who looks like he can provide much needed drive to our midfield and anyone but Johnson at right back!
If BR take your advise Livingstone, we can beat RM at their backyard on the 4th of November. Believe me when I say we can beat them with a 1:2 scoreline. Watch what Barcelona will do to them on Saturday.
DeleteOn the positive side we have to remember that we were playing a side that beat Bayern 4-0 last season and for spells we actually looked quite good. Our areas of weakness are plain to see but we have a decent manager who I reckon can make do and mend until the January window and keep us in the hunt for 3rd and 4th place. In January we need a striker and a keeper, failure to address those areas will be disastrous.
DeleteFor sure, after the1st 20 minutes we were totally outclassed. Genial finish by Ronaldo but aided by our defensive tracking and play. We conceded pathetic goals - we need a plan B.
DeleteI think Balo played ok offensively but his image consultants advised him badly about swapping shirts or finding anything amusing about being 3-0 down.
I think Ming did fairly ok not allowing CR to make it 4. He must be going such an intend pressure right now, it is untrue. We will beat them 2:1 on the reverse fixture. No one I am sure will take me serious now, but wait and see. It is pure psychology, Liverpool will go there knowing that no one give them the chance of getting anything and just enjoy themselves with no pressure. RM will be the one with massive pressure and expectation to turn us over with several goals. There will be a shock on the card on the 4th of November. Beware I say so. Basel will beat or draw with the Bulgaria side. So the table after 4th November will be RM 9, Basel 6, Liverpool 6 and Bulgaria Team 3. Or Basel 4 and Bulgaria Team 4. At that point our destiny is back in our hand to beat both Basel at home and Bulgaria Team away passport to knock out stage sorted.
DeleteKarl – you will be singing you never work all day long returning from Spain come the November the 4th.
DeleteReduce the number of games the legend has to play please and we just may be making sense. Some time I feel his presence on the field reminds me of Alex Ferguson over looking David Mo at Old Trafford from the Executive Box. Start him on the bench and let see where that get us.
DeleteAgree about needing a goalkeeper. He seems on a mission to punch everything and while he a brilliant reaction shot stopper he doesn’t command his area.
DeleteIn terms of a striker, just who will be available in January? I heard a Liverpool supporter saying today we should be look at players like Berahino… WBA now value him at £30 million plus. We still have 2 months to go until then, Brendan is going have to work out how he uses Lambert and Borini. Given Balotelli’s performances so far they must be wondering what’s going on. Feels like Brendan built everything around Sturridge, Balotelli, Sterling and Coutinho and the other two were bit part options which he doesn’t know what to do with now or at least he doesn’t appear to trust them.
By the time we get to January let’s hope it’s not only Lallana of Brendan’s transfers that’s pulling up any trees because when he goes in for more cash John W he may just be asked questions? Talking about transfers, hopefully BR will try to rid us Glen Johnson in January and get us a transfer fee.
We need a central midfield option too and with any luck he’ll remedy that situation. We play with attacking full-backs thus it falls on Stevie to cover when they get forward. It’s arguable whether he can do so game in game in, game out.
Just watching his press conference…
Brendan “the boy is doing his very best, whether that will enough in the longer term, we’ll have to wait and see, but that’s the same for every player.” (was asked another question about Balotelli and snapped back “Is this the Mario Balotelli press conference?”
Will also consider playing Sterling upfront in the future as he’s played there past. Also, said any action regarding the shirt swapping incident will be taken behind closed doors.
To be fair I think that Can and Moreno have also shown a lot of potential, Lovren and indeed Sakho would both improve dramatically with a keeper that he trusts behind him and Markovic is young and should be given to the end of the season before we start passing too much judgement. I also can’t wait to see Origi in a red shirt, he looks the business.
DeleteIn terms of our striking options, Rodgers expected Borini to clear off to Sunderland and Lambert was a twenty goal a season plan B who was going for 4 million so probably worth a punt but there is always a point in the latter stages of a players career where age catches up and their form drops of a cliff, unfortunately for us that point for Lambert was Summer 2014.
I’m sick of moaning about Balotelli so I won’t go into that again but I will say that any scouting system worth it’s salt should have extensive research on hundreds of potential signings, the idea that we should just accept that the club was caught unawares by Suarez’s exit is laughable. At any given time Liverpool should have a list of at least 15 to 20 strikers that they are interested inshould the need arise and you would expect them to have their eye on markets all over the world like South America and Africa. Why then is it that we only buy people playing in Europe? That we seem to be obsessed with what Rodger’s calls ‘profile’ if Mario is an example of a player with profile then it’s clear that we can do without it (sorry couldn’t help it ). We just need to look around a bit, the Portuguese and Spanish teams are always buying kids from non – European markets who turn out to be world beaters, you just need to do your homework.
Rodgers came out and said after the Basel defeat that Balotelli was a panic buy but how do we allow ourselves to get into that situation? It seems that Loic Remy was the only name on the list and when that didn’t work out it was panic stations? Don’t we pay a lot of people good money to ensure that doesn’t happen? FSG need to sort it out.
Guys I will prefer Remy to Mario any day. If he spend that much minutes in the field as Mario, he will get more goals than the two he got for Chelsea.
DeleteI think the plan was to replace Suarez with an established striker rather than throw an untried youngster like Origi in at the deep end, hence being linked with Falcao before we heard his wage demands. The problem as Arsenal found out is that top strikers, cost big money and demand exceeds supply, the difference being their gamble with Welbeck is paying better dividends than ours at the moment.
DeleteI can’t think of too many strikers who I think would be a significant improvement on what we have much less 15 to 20, once you eliminate the strikers at all the other top European clubs who is left?
Because of Suarez and his mood swings, Brendan seems to think he can work the oracle on every troubled soul. It doesn’t matter that he wanted to sell Borini, he’s here now and so is Lambert, so unless he going to cast them to the reserves, especially if he’s going to banish Balotelli (which I doubt) he needs find a way of assimilating them even if it’s only for cameo roles.
DeleteThe players you mentioned have shown promised and I’ve mention Can because he looks like could develop into what we require in midfield, but Brendan has taking a chance in that he’s gone with inexperience hoping they hit the ground running. We need some of the them to start showing up sooner rather than later because at the minute one player is bearing the brunt.
There’s nothing stopping Brendan moving into pastures news re the transfer strategy, but as you say Europe, particularly, France, Spain and Portugal seems to be his domain. In terms of the top end, the transfer strategy as it is ensures that we are not going to spend big numbers on the top echelon, that’s way the Balotelli transfer was a natural fit. Champions League team and still had players saying no…
How do you grow their value if you do not play them. If Borini was that load of rubbish as BR thinks, I do not think Sunderland would have come haunting for him with that amount of money. I bet you we will not get half of that money come January for him.
DeleteBony, Lacazette, Kevin Vollandd? It’s true that it’s hard for us to rhyme off a load of strikers who realistically could have come in and done a job but we have people who are paid six figure salaries to look for talent and they should be able to talk your arm off.
DeleteTake Bony even though he’s an established premier league we weren’t going to double his wages to get him to come to Anfield, true we can offer CL football but there’s no guarantee he would play any of those games if Sturridge was fit. So what we are really offering is a back up role to Sturridge for probably less money but with performance incentives.
DeleteBony wanted 80k which is what we are paying Balotelli and with Sturridge’s injury record it was always likely that whoever we brought in would see plenty of action.
Delete