Don't get me wrong, I thought we were superb as my match report reveals, but Allardyce's analysis of the game on Match of the Day was utterly perverse. No mention of the brilliant defensive work of Collins and Tomkins - that was left to Hansen - but instead a strange claim that we had the better chances in the game.
Now I can remember three chances: the Collison header that was cleared off the line - but Gerrard's shot blocked by Tomkins on the line was a better opportunity; Diame's shot from the angle after his brilliant dribble - but that shot was always rising and I was screaming for him to go down for a penalty; and Cole's blocked shot from the edge of the box - but it was Carlton and the ball was heading wide anyway.
It is true that Liverpool didn't have many chances thanks to our brilliant defensive work, but the disallowed goal was only marginally offside, Suarez put his cross shot through the legs of Jussi and only inches wide from an impossible angle, and Jussi was much the busier of the two keepers over the 90 minutes.
It is times like this that Doctor Evil appears such an arse. Instead of being honest and saying we got we came for after doing a professional number on Liverpool, his ego demands that he makes absurd claims to make it appear that we were the better side, when clearly that was not so.
Brendan Rodgers overdid things when he said that only one team was trying to win the game, but I must admit that I was yelling for all 11 men to get the right side of the ball for 87 minutes of the game - and the right side was behind it!
One last thing, well done to Rodgers for complimenting the West Ham fans for respecting the minute's silence and well done to the fans themselves for showing that respect.
Match report here: http://thegamesgonecrazy.blogspot.ro/2013/04/liverpool-0-west-ham-0-brilliant.html
There is no such thing as "only marginally offside". You are either offside, or onside. History is already being re-written by Rodgers, most tabloid reports etc., saying the offside flag was in error. Watch Match of the Day 2 again. He was half-a-yard offside conclusively on the freeze-frame. That's simply offside, nothing else. Good comments otherwise!
ReplyDeleteCollison, Cole, Dimae
ReplyDeleteall better chances than any Liverpool had
I was at the game yesterday and it was the manner in which we played that was just "so not" West Ham. Fine we got a point and Collins was excellent. But apart from the odd moment and chances we had, usually because Liverpool were more concerned with pouring forward themselves, everything was "anti-football." And that has to come from the manager right? The time wasting at every opportunity; One of our players took a free kick and asked the linesman twice where to take it from when he and the ball had never moved from the incident. An injury of only one minute brought about what looked we were preparing for penalties on the half way line as we went for drinks. The whole thing was laughable and delayed the game restarting because we didn't have any players on the pitch!
ReplyDeleteIt went on all afternoon. I didn't pay all that money to watch us act out what was like a pantomime! Is this what football has come to? Really? On the day Liverpool weren't that good anyway. Perhaps we could have won if we weren't so intent on wasting time and we actually took the game to them. We all worried that when Allardyce came in we would stop playing... and guess what? We did!
Is this really West Ham?
1155, I think you are being harsh. We had no Joe Cole, no Noble, no Carroll, no Reid and only half a Nolan. In the circumstances, I thought it was a brilliantly professional team performance. Yes we went there to spoil but as a West Ham fan sick of thumpings at Anfield, I loved every minute of it!
ReplyDeleteGood point Andy. I wonder what Brendan Rodgers would say if he had a teenage daughter who came home and told him that she had a bun in the oven. I don't imagine he would say: "that's OK sweetie, your only marginally pregnant".
ReplyDeleteFIVE COMMENTS? And one of those is yours. Car crash blogging. Total humiliation. Thank God for LEEDS UNITED eh?
ReplyDeleteThis is cool!
ReplyDelete