Official Match Thread Europa League Last 16. Liverpool v Manchester United

I expect Liverpool to score. We will most likely need 4 or 5 to win and that simply isn't happening. It's done and dusted, I'm afraid. We're simply not good enough to turn it round.

Sunday is the focus now too. If we lose that, confidence will be lower than its ever been. Meanwhile, Liverpool have a weekend off.

Originally Posted by Billy Redface

I expect Liverpool to score. We will most likely need 4 or 5 to win and that simply isn't happening. It's done and dusted, I'm afraid. We're simply not good enough to turn it round.

Sunday is the focus now too. If we lose that, confidence will be lower than its ever been. Meanwhile, Liverpool have a weekend off.

Hate the away goals rule tbh. And especially when it £#%&!s with my evening. Liverpool score and it's over unless we're a couple up.

First goal is huge, basically. Get it and we have a chance.

The optomists should have a punt.
United 50/1 to win the Europa with some bookies.
Scousers 5/1

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

You do have to remember that many of those players, including Rio btw, allowed the club to drop from 1st to 7th because they didn't like the manager. Doesn't suggest that they'd certainly have fought for Van Gaal either.

I was the same as Tibs with many of the players I hoped LvG would improve. But Nani did look a bit sluggish initially under him, like he needed the move. If Rafael had been replaced by a proper RB I don't think he'd be missed. The only one I was frustrated with was Welbz.

Overall recruitment has been a bigger issue than sales imo. Di Maria and Falcao wasted a year of the rebuilding and last summer he appears to have signed three players with suspect mentalities. That's a huge £#%&! up when the squad he had was already short of leaders.

Mata and Smallinf the captains recently. Says it all. I do think Chelsea are going to have a similar problem soon tbh. When Terry leaves that empty void left by Drogba, Lampard, Terry will need to be replaced with new leaders.

To be fair to Vidic and Rio they were both on the outs when Moyes arrived, Ferguson had started phasing them out for Jones, Smalling and Evans and everyone but Moyes knew they were no longer able to play week in week out, did they down tools towards the end? Almost certainly, but a lot of it was simply they were massively overplayed.

Ferguson gets a shit for what he left behind, but if the rumours of Thiago and so on are true, a competent manager with Thiago and a decent budget should have finished top 4 without even trying. European football is more or less designed to perpetuate our success, which makes the last 3 years £#%&!ery all the more damning.

Originally Posted by ScholesGingerSheen

To be fair to Vidic and Rio they were both on the outs when Moyes arrived, Ferguson had started phasing them out for Jones, Smalling and Evans and everyone but Moyes knew they were no longer able to play week in week out, did they down tools towards the end? Almost certainly, but a lot of it was simply they were massively overplayed.

Ferguson gets a shit for what he left behind, but if the rumours of Thiago and so on are true, a competent manager with Thiago and a decent budget should have finished top 4 without even trying. European football is more or less designed to perpetuate our success, which makes the last 3 years £#%&!ery all the more damning.

That's true about Rio and Vida being overplayed. It was madness. Fergie had put in place that system of resting them, especially Ferdinand. If I remember right Moyes played Rio at Palace on the Saturday evening and then in Athens on the Tuesday. Mental stuff.

But the effort from the players in Athens that night was shocking. Gave up. Seen since with Mourinho and Chelsea how easily it happens.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

That's true about Rio and Vida being overplayed. It was madness. Fergie had put in place that system of resting them, especially Ferdinand. If I remember right Moyes played Rio at Palace on the Saturday evening and then in Athens on the Tuesday. Mental stuff.

But the effort from the players in Athens that night was shocking. Gave up. Seen since with Mourinho and Chelsea how easily it happens.

rvp should have scored for us in athens and made up for it in the 2nd leg with a hat-trick

hard to believe smalling still plays for united 2 years later and is still falling over under no pressure when the ball comes to him

He gone yet

This is a nightmare that I want to wake up. What happened to this team???

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

what i don't get is why he cleared the path to the 1st team but then didn't allow pereira, januzaj and wilson the chance to make the step up that he's subsequently offered to lingard... i find it hard to believe they couldn't have adapted at least as well as the players he went with...

at this moment though we do still have pereira and januzaj, we do have rashford (and lingard), and we do have varela and borthwick. there's also this mensah fella and a few others, and there is a hope that actually these 2 years could be written off if it meant year 3 saw a dynamic side largely based around that lot

Got given a few chances before being palmed off to Dortmund. Was pretty awful, almost unbelievably lightweight.

Let's see if we get any more out of him this time round.........

Originally Posted by dunk

Yep. He's limited, but he was our best player last night. What does that say about the rest of them.

he wasn't our best player. but what it says about the rest of them is they don't look so good when our game plan revolves around a useless £#%&!ing lump who just waves his arms around and jumps into people and underhits passes. best player, my £#%&!ing arse.

Originally Posted by Tiberian

Absolutely, Sold the wrong players, kept the wrong players, bought the wrong players. People were so quick to praise him for dumping the deadwood that they ignored the good and useful players being jettisoned along with them.

I was excited by the possibility of LVG, I wanted to see how a coach of his standing would bring the best out of the likes of Welbeck, Rafael, Nani, Jones, Smalling, Evans, not world class players but people who had been around and contributed to successful teams and understood the mentality and personality needed at this level.

evans was an absolute £#%&!ing @#%&!.

Originally Posted by utd99

Problem is, the only people who can sack him now are even more clueless than him. And all they see are dollar signs. They will let their little cash register messiah run the football side into the ground rather than risk killing the golden goose.

this. owned and run by people who know £#%&! all about football. and there are no surprises there. the glazers are the real enemy.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

what i don't get is why he cleared the path to the 1st team but then didn't allow pereira, januzaj and wilson the chance to make the step up that he's subsequently offered to lingard.

pereira has actually played well every time he's come on. all there is to get is that king louis is #@&%!ed. there are plenty of youngsters he has given a shot to and they seem to have fallen out of favour after one game or one bad pass. (hello, tyler...)

Originally Posted by andyroo

Well not the one who rushes £#%&!ing Fellaini back for a trip to our hated rivals anyway.

What a @#%&! move that was.

yup. even if he hadn't rushed him.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Well my point was more that when the group is so limited it's hard to know what the best is. I looked at that side last night and it was an average CB pairing, a woefully average midfield pairing and three kids playing in attack ahead of a midget. Maybe they're performing below their potential, but I'm not sure. If so not by much.

LvG actually made very good changes at the break which got us back into the game.

it is £#%&!ing obvious our best is not the team with which he started. and he didn't have to start like that. good changes? bringing carrick on, when carrick should have £#%&!ing started (in midfield)? when are you just going to admit that he is one massive £#%&!ing idiot? oh, he's made some mistakes and he's had some bad luck? no. he is a £#%&!ing idiot who makes the same £#%&!ing mistakes over and over.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Liverpool aren't good enough that beating them 2-0 is impossible. We just put three past Arsenal.

this, however, is still true. if he puts out a better team and we score early, liverpool could totally fold into themselves and klopp will foam at the mouth. we have to put out a £#%&!ing midfield, though. and he cannot start with all of memphis, rashford and martial and no attackers on the bench.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Hate the away goals rule tbh. And especially when it £#%&!s with my evening. Liverpool score and it's over unless we're a couple up.

First goal is huge, basically. Get it and we have a chance.

We have no £#%&!ing chance we are out.... Even when we get beat next week you will be posting it's not over and Van Ebola is still the man

Have a £#%&!ing day off from yourself seriously

Van Ebola....

Originally Posted by Ethers

Van Ebola....

Originally Posted by £#%&! KFC

We have no £#%&!ing chance we are out.... Even when we get beat next week you will be posting it's not over and Van Ebola is still the man

Have a £#%&!ing day off from yourself seriously

Originally Posted by red in cumbria

Got given a few chances before being palmed off to Dortmund. Was pretty awful, almost unbelievably lightweight.

Let's see if we get any more out of him this time round.........

he needed coaching and believing in.

he already had the 13/14 season under his belt when van gaal turned up

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

he needed coaching and believing in.

he already had the 13/14 season under his belt when van gaal turned up

A strange decision to loan him where we did, I will grant that.