Ratings and Reactions: Liverpool 2-2 Villa

[vandaq]

okay it looks messed up after posting it but you get the idea

[foreveryoung]

Guzan had no choice but to go for it, though he pulled out of the touch. To me it was a professional dive, its part of the game now. Up to the referee to say penalty or not, he did get it wrong though!

Heard a phone in on WM, guy said Liverpool are not top 4 material and have to put diving into there game to win. Absolute spot on. Watch the wankfest on match of the day tonite.

[Danishlad]

Guzan - 7 - Good saves and distribution but should know not to go near Suarez (dirty diving expletive)

Bacuna - 7 - Immense in the first half but got sloppy in the second

Vlaar - 8 - Really makes such a difference when he plays

Clark - 7 - Pretty solid

Bertrand - 7 - Composed and can actually defend - who'd a thought that could happen

Westwood - 6 - Some of his set pieces were actually good, got involved

KEA - 6 - Erratic but had some good moments

Gabby - 8 - So difficult to defend against, we really lost our edge when he went off

Weimann - 6 - Good goal but still not quite on form but improving

Benteke - 8 - All hail the beast!

Subs: 

Sylla - 5 - Not great really

Holt - 6 - No pace but plenty of good touches and passes

Luna - too late to rate 

The ref was atrocious, can't believe he didn't consult the linesmen for the penalty.

Performance: 9 - Probably one of the best displays I have seen in ages - no idea what Lambert has changed?

Agree with this, though bit harsh on Weimann, he ran himself ragged man marking the Liverpool def mid. Did a great job. Scored too.

[foreveryoung]

[CrackpotForeigner]

 

 

Stilyan said it was a penalty. I am disappoint.

He's wrong.

When a keeper puts his hand from that angle against the strikers legs, nine out of ten times it's a penalty. I would not blame the ref too much.

 

 

I think the way to stamp it out (assuming reviews are out of the question) is to have retrospective two or three match bans for obvious dives. As things are at the moment the worst that could happen to you is a yellow.

[bradarmstrong_]

 

Liverpool had won 6 in a row at home scoring for fun, 5 past Norwich, 4 past Fulham and West Ham. So it makes the result look a lot better.

and I will argue that we deserved the win by quite comfortably.

 

Not arguing that am I? But a point in the grand scheme of things against a team playing so well at home is great for us. Whilst being disappointed to come away with only a point a lot of teams around us have come away from Anfield on the back of thrashings.

[AntrimBlack]

That was a great first half, we tore them to pieces and I thought we were going to run riot.

What undid us was sitting back after the second goal, and then losing Agbonlahor, but make no mistake, after the way we played in the first half, we deserved to win that, and they did not do enough in the second half to deserve a draw.

Vlaar was MOM for me, but Agbonlahor, Benteke, Weimann and Clark were also excellent. Bertrand was also excellent, and that is what you get when you have a player who will be a bit more expensive.

However, I do not feel that any of our midfielders are good enough, and this will need to be addressed before we make much progress.

And why Holt in lieu of Albrighton, Gardner or Helenius, two `big men' up top unbalances the team? And why Sylla at all?

Great result, for all that, and perhaps it will send us on a good run.

[briny_ear]

That Guardian match report is laughable. Shocked that we can play well and mocks our away kit. Really? Grow up.

The fundamental problem with punditry and many sports journalists is there is inability to to challenge these obvious dives for fear of upsetting the big clubs. Rather than criticise Suarez, it's "well, what did you expect?", "silly Guzan", or "Suarez knows what to do in these situations". It's pathetic.

The Guardian is a dreadful newspaper. I expect no less from those cretins.

The Guardian is the best newspaper in the UK, the only one worth reading. Their reporting on Villa is also consistently excellent.

see my post on the previous page, the write up for todays game is somewhere between amateurish and childish

Just in case you didn't get it first time, the guardian is the best paper in the UK and their reporting of Villa is excellent. Who do you think is better? Express? Mail?

[NoelVilla]

 

 

Liverpool had won 6 in a row at home scoring for fun, 5 past Norwich, 4 past Fulham and West Ham. So it makes the result look a lot better.

and I will argue that we deserved the win by quite comfortably.

 

Not arguing that am I? But a point in the grand scheme of things against a team playing so well at home is great for us. Whilst being disappointed to come away with only a point a lot of teams around us have come away from Anfield on the back of thrashings.

 

Ok I agree. Read some other opinion into your post. We can agree that they haven't met a good team in those games 

[Mantis]

Just in case you didn't get it first time, the guardian is the best paper in the UK and their reporting of Villa is excellent. Who do you think is better? Express? Mail?

Don't try and pass off opinion as fact.

[KJT123]

It is not the referee's fault. If i was the referee, i would've give it. Suarez is blatantly conning the referee. 

[bradarmstrong_]

 

 

 

Liverpool had won 6 in a row at home scoring for fun, 5 past Norwich, 4 past Fulham and West Ham. So it makes the result look a lot better.

and I will argue that we deserved the win by quite comfortably.

 

Not arguing that am I? But a point in the grand scheme of things against a team playing so well at home is great for us. Whilst being disappointed to come away with only a point a lot of teams around us have come away from Anfield on the back of thrashings.

 

Ok I agree. Read some other opinion into your post. We can agree that they haven't met a good team in those games 

 

Haha we can agree on that mate. Just amazed we stopped Suarez scoring, to think I made him my fantasy football captain as well this week 

[Frobisher]

Lineker is on the wind-up. He can't seriously believe what he is saying - there is no chance he would be saying the same thing had it been Gabby who had dived.

[LordSepulchrave]

 

 

 

 

That Guardian match report is laughable. Shocked that we can play well and mocks our away kit. Really? Grow up.

The fundamental problem with punditry and many sports journalists is there is inability to to challenge these obvious dives for fear of upsetting the big clubs. Rather than criticise Suarez, it's "well, what did you expect?", "silly Guzan", or "Suarez knows what to do in these situations". It's pathetic.

The Guardian is a dreadful newspaper. I expect no less from those cretins.

 

The Guardian is the best newspaper in the UK, the only one worth reading. Their reporting on Villa is also consistently excellent.

 

see my post on the previous page, the write up for todays game is somewhere between amateurish and childish

 

Just in case you didn't get it first time, the guardian is the best paper in the UK and their reporting of Villa is excellent. Who do you think is better? Express? Mail?

 

 

I actually agree that The Guardian is the best UK newspaper generally, but that article was fairly snide and patronising.

[KJT123]

If Delph churned in this performance last season we would be going crazy. Another excellent display from the young man to add to his collection this season.

[VillanousOne]

 

 

 

 

 

That Guardian match report is laughable. Shocked that we can play well and mocks our away kit. Really? Grow up.

The fundamental problem with punditry and many sports journalists is there is inability to to challenge these obvious dives for fear of upsetting the big clubs. Rather than criticise Suarez, it's "well, what did you expect?", "silly Guzan", or "Suarez knows what to do in these situations". It's pathetic.

The Guardian is a dreadful newspaper. I expect no less from those cretins.

 

The Guardian is the best newspaper in the UK, the only one worth reading. Their reporting on Villa is also consistently excellent.

 

see my post on the previous page, the write up for todays game is somewhere between amateurish and childish

 

Just in case you didn't get it first time, the guardian is the best paper in the UK and their reporting of Villa is excellent. Who do you think is better? Express? Mail?

 

 

I actually agree that The Guardian is the best UK newspaper generally, but that article was fairly snide and patronising.

 

same here.

[CrackpotForeigner]

 

 

 

That Guardian match report is laughable. Shocked that we can play well and mocks our away kit. Really? Grow up.

The fundamental problem with punditry and many sports journalists is there is inability to to challenge these obvious dives for fear of upsetting the big clubs. Rather than criticise Suarez, it's "well, what did you expect?", "silly Guzan", or "Suarez knows what to do in these situations". It's pathetic.

The Guardian is a dreadful newspaper. I expect no less from those cretins.

 

The Guardian is the best newspaper in the UK, the only one worth reading. Their reporting on Villa is also consistently excellent.

 

In your opinion. Personally I can't stand them. They seem incapable of impartiality.

 

 

I'm with briny. Excellent paper (although they do publish some fairly loopy social comment from some fairly loopy lefties at times). Their reporting on Villa is pretty good. It's not their fault we've been a terrible side for three seasons.

[villa4europe]

 

 

 

 

That Guardian match report is laughable. Shocked that we can play well and mocks our away kit. Really? Grow up.

The fundamental problem with punditry and many sports journalists is there is inability to to challenge these obvious dives for fear of upsetting the big clubs. Rather than criticise Suarez, it's "well, what did you expect?", "silly Guzan", or "Suarez knows what to do in these situations". It's pathetic.

The Guardian is a dreadful newspaper. I expect no less from those cretins.

 

The Guardian is the best newspaper in the UK, the only one worth reading. Their reporting on Villa is also consistently excellent.

 

see my post on the previous page, the write up for todays game is somewhere between amateurish and childish

 

Just in case you didn't get it first time, the guardian is the best paper in the UK and their reporting of Villa is excellent. Who do you think is better? Express? Mail?

 

 

im not saying they arent, but at the same time i am saying that the report from todays game is really poor

 

it was written by paul wilson, who writes for the observer, he's the northern correspondent so im assuming he doesnt usually cover our games

 

with not that many other incidents from todays games that i know of id be surprised if this doesnt get included in a lot of chief football correspondents leading articles this week so it will be very interesting to see what is said

[TRO]

• 01 Guzan - 6/10. It was a dive yes but he should never have made that tackle. OK otherwise
• 07 Bacuna - 4/10 questionable all game Booked
• 23 Bertrand - 7/10 solid debut, such an improvement on Luna and adds a lot of balance to our team which improves our game as a whole. 1 or 2 bad tackles through trying to impress Booked (Luna - 81' )
• 15 Westwood - 5/10 didn't notice anything he did other than one volley right at the keeper
• 04 Vlaar - 9/10 just a beast. We're nothing without him
• 06 Clark - 7/10 some important tackles and solid alongside Vlaar but at fault for the first goal Booked
• 08 El Ahmadi - 3/10 terrible player Booked (Sylla - 62' )
• 16 Delph - 5/10 didn't notice him
• 20 Benteke - 7/10 still a bit lethargic, but got the goal and he has so much more vision than the rest of the team
• 10 Weimann - 6/10 got a goal but other than that he was still very much Andi Weimann The New
• 11 Agbonlahor (Holt - 49' ) - 8/10 we changed when he went off. He is such an important player to us

 

Holt - 7/10 did a fine job, chased the ball and brought others into the game. Absolutely doesn't deserve the abuse he gets

Sylla - 2/10 awful. Not a footballer. No talent whatsoever.

Luna - not much time

If those markings applied to our midfield......we would have been buried

Simply don't agree.

[Ulver]

Far better, most likely because we played some **** football instead of just hoofing it. It's not (excuse the cliche) rocket science