Guz

So the level our players are compared to is the s***test in the team instead of the best? Who gives a monkeys if he's still the best defender in the team; no one is suggesting he gets dropped, just that he pulls his finger out of his a*** and gets back to playing like he can. The same goes for everyone in the team.

I agree with some of your general sentiment about concerns in the way we are playing. Sometimes we look like a complete shambles and are definitley still finding our feet. But in terms of the bit in bold, well we have the best away record and points tally at this stage of the season since Rafa was appointed. We'd already lost 4 times last season by this stage. It's not pretty, it's not easy but we're still clinging on and edging forward as far as I'm concerned.

Dont think our players are bold enough either a lot of the time. Our best moment in the first half (babel shot) came when Yossi got the ball and had the b******s to keep it for a moment, use a bit of skill while moving forward and play someone through out wide. It was flowing, quick and incisive. Arsenal do it all the time because they back their own ability 99 times out of a 100. I'm sure that comes from the manager and within the player himself

There is no way Carragher is playing to the best of his ability. Sorry, your expectations of him must be tiny if you think that.

We're gonna f***ing t*** Besiktas and Fulham. Shove the mockers up yer a***, we're gonna kick back into gear this week.

He maybe the best defender we have but he is playing s****. I dont understand people not being able to see that. He has been f***ing awful recently and has had another mediocre start to the season. I'm not saying drop him, sell him, bum him, whatever. I'm just saying he is off form. We all know how good he can be. He can be the best because he's f***ing boss but AT THE MOMENT he's playing as s*** (if not worse) than everyone else in the side (bar Gerrard)

The difference in opinions on Crouch between tonight and last year's game at Ewood is staggering.

Maybe half the problem is that we simply don't? A good run of results (including 3 wins out of 3 in Europe) will see us right back in there and we're only 3pts behind United and level with Chelsea if we win our game in hand but we need to get back to winning ways. I'm fully behind Rafa, am still confident hes the right man for the job but there are some concerns and these need to be rectified very soon before we slip out of the race.

He doesnt look knackered, he looks like a Derby County defender. Just because he's Carra doesnt mean he has to play a blinder every game, all the time. He hoofs everything that comes near him and his being lucky that his errors in the box aren't being punished by the opposition. He's playing s***. Blaming someone else sums us up at the moment because the only player who looks like taking any responsibility for his performance seems to be Gerrard and thats been a very recent turn around.

Probably the only defender or midfielder in the squad (minus the new signins) who doesn't hoof the ball regularly and has the intelligent movement to provide a decent passing option for the back four . The formation yesterday made perfect sense with two widemen occupying their full backs, Gerrard occupying Flamini, one of the centre backs dealing with the lone man (Adebayor) leaving 3 to deal with runners from midfield. But the lack of technical ability on the ball of Carra, Sami, Riise, Voronin and Kuyt was horribly exposed when trying to retain the ball.

f***ing legend for me. Turning the European cup final after coming on as a sub and then carrying on in the later stages (+ scoring a penalty) with a broken foot.

I'm sticking with my original prediction that we'll challenge till quite deep into the season but fall short in the end

I dont know if we'll miss Pako in terms of his technical input to the side, I really dont know enough about what goes on in training to do so. But since Pako was always involved with the players and seemed to have a solid partnership with Rafa, it would be quite natural if his sudden departure affected us mentally a little bit.

Pako's departure was quite sudden and abrupt, atleast for us it came out of the blue. I dont think it's a crazy idea to suggest that it may have threw us off the rail a bit (yes we did beat derby 6-0 though) and are just looking to get back some rythm as a side. It would be very natural if it affected the team short term. But we dont really know what goes on behind the scenes so wont really find out for a while (if ever)

Anyone know how much unforced rotation we did upto and including the Derby game? Genuine question. Was it more or less than since the derby game (international break)?

And it was only a couple of weeks ago that we and the press/media seemed to be collectively w***ing over our prospects this season after handing a similar thumping to Derby. I dont think either us or Arsenal will win the league this year but there are some serious over reactions going on.

Would love to see Gerrard moved back out to the right when Xabi is back, maybe even earlier. Let Babel, Pennant, Benayoun and maybe Kewell fight it out for one winger spot. I'm not saying they're the only bad performances in the last 3 games but I dont think we're good enough as a unit yet to have both of our wingers as potential "passengers". Going through a little rough patch at the moment but it could've been worse I guess.

To be honest, result wise, this is only the first big blemish on our start this season for me. We were s**** against Pompey and Porto but we came away with draws at grounds where we probably deserved to lose and where not many teams will go and pick up a win. Dissapointed at the s**** performances eyes but they weren't disasters by any means. Today wasn't a disaster either I guess but it was f***ing annoying because we should be strolling past these like we do almost every team that comes to Anfield. The 11 we played today were more than good enough on paper but were s****. We havent looked s**** very often under Rafa's tenure at home, so I dont understand why people are getting so over the top. Frustration I can understand but there seems to be so much doom and gloom it's crazy. Maybe it's a result of people getting carried away after we thumped Tolouse and Derby. Over reaction at both ends of the scale. I still doubt that we're going to win the league but long term aspirations aside, we're going through a little dodgy patch at the moment but are still unbeaten. There's still a f***ing long way to go.

f***ing spot on. Now while I was dissapointed to see Torres, Babel and Gerrard on the bench it was even more gut wrenching to see the aforementioned players (and I'd add Voronin, Arebloa and Momo to the list because they're not definite starters yet) turn in such mediocre performances. It's not good enough to hide behind the excuse of an international break, especially when over half the team didn't play 2 90minute games. At the end of the day I'm glad we didn't lose and we're 5 games unbeaten in the league now. I still think this team is playing for self belief and confidence that we're good enough to win the league. I reckon the same goes for Arsenal. It's a bit like Chelsea in Abramovich's first season. They had a lot of stars and new [expensive] signings but for the first 10 games or so it seemed like they were just playing for the belief in themselves that they could mount a serious title challenge. On another point, I do think that the "top 4" will drop more points this year at games like this. Everton, Pompey, Man City, Newcastle, West Ham, Villa, Blackburn are all better sides imo than last year and travelling away to these teams will be tricky.

Team selection is only half of the issue. All of our outfield players who played today will get a lot of games this season. The back four, Xabi and Pennant especially. Yet the team performance was very poor. Whether the team selection was right or wrong, when the team doesn't perform the players and manager will always get stick. It's part of the game. Today wasn't a disaster by any stretch of the imagination but it could've been better because Pompey werent that great except exposing our mistakes. At the start of the season I thought we had a good squad but were putting a lot of faith into players who weren't part of our spine (Reina, Carra, Finnan, Agger, Gerrard, Torres) and that if we're to get close to the league then the likes of Pennant, Crouch, Benayoun etc. HAVE to perform and they have to take their chances on the pitch when Rafa hands it to them. It's dissapointing that so many players didn't turn up today.

I'm more concerned with the use of the ball from the back which, especially early on, was truly awful. Same goes for midfield movement.

hOOOOOOOOOOOF

Dont think its just Torres. Our best attacking players , atleast in theory, are Gerrard, Torres, Pennant, Kuyt (imo), Babel and Alonso when he's played alongside Mascherano. Now Masch was never going to play today so Xabi was always going to play deep. But then when only 1 of the above list plays, how can we expect to win a tough away game? How many results did the Mancs get last season without Scholes, Giggs, Rooney and Ronaldo? Not many I would guess. It's a tough ask. That being said though, not many teams will win at Pompey this season and a point is not the worst result in the world but wish we'd turned in a better performance.

It's true that. But at the same time, I'd be really delighted if the players all actually feel that in their minds/hearts. Title winning sides in the last 10 years, probably a lot longer, have all been full of arrogant c**** full of self belief. Keane, Scholes, Schmichael, Giggs, Cantona etc. walked onto the pitch believing they were good enough to beat anyone. Heck, even Ferguson has got that sort of thinking from the likes of O'Shea and Fletcher. We haven't had a side like that for bloody ages where the squad, as a collective, truly believes they're good enough to win the title. Talk is cheap and all that though so hopefully they can back it up with more good performances