Gerrard being taken off

[Guest My Giddy Aunt]

Turned out alright in the end then!

 

Interesting comment by Rafa that he took him off because he wasn't playing "with his head, but his heart".

[IgPig]

Its an outrage

[Rory Fitzgerald]

From my point of view I think we got out of jail today with that red card. We were terrible and the team tactics were poor.

 

Gerrard's substitution was crazy. How did Sissoko deserve to stay on, Voronin ?

 

We were blessed but you get them in a season and I wont knock it

[stonty]

Bewildering

[_00_deathscar]

I agree with the Sissoko comment, but we certainly were not "terrible" as you put it.

 

Voronin and then Sissoko both had glorious opportunities to square the ball in, or get it on target - both arsed up.

 

Took young Skywalker to rescue us.

[fred milne]

I thought it was a brilliant decision - Rafa imposing his authority on Gerrard.

[Mike S]

From my point of view I think we got out of jail today with that red card.

how was it not a red card?

[libero]

I may leave myself open to a bit of ridicule but IMHO Gerrard has not been playing worth a f*** for a few weeks now, maybe a wee boot up the erse from Rafa is what is needed.

He did look tired today and was not in the game as much as he should be.

Levia came on and did well but i have to agree that Momo was like a man short today.

[Rory Fitzgerald]

how was it not a red card?

 

Im not saying it wasnt, of course it was but we never looked like doing anything up to that point. There were two different parts to that game. 11 vs 11 and 11 vs 10. When it was 11 vs 11 we looked inept at times and took a Gerrard burst to open something

[Guest My Giddy Aunt]

I have to say (as we won) that it was good to give Gerrard a little kick. He has not been good at all of late, and i think people saying he was having a great second half are misguided. He was just making himself very busy.

[Tommy Cockles]

I thought his post match comments were as nonsensical as the substitution.

 

If he had said "I was keeping him fresh for Besiktas because I really will take some stick if we get beat there" then fair enough

[KD07]

I thought it was a brilliant decision - Rafa imposing his authority on Gerrard.

 

I'd rather he pick a different game. Especially when you weigh the fact that Gerrard is our best player, won the equalising peno, playing against a side with a man down and we still needed a goal or two to win it.

 

It's great that it turned out well but I still rank it as a bad call.

[Shanklyanfield]

I may leave myself open to a bit of ridicule but IMHO Gerrard has not been playing worth a f*** for a few weeks now, maybe a wee boot up the erse from Rafa is what is needed.

He did look tired today and was not in the game as much as he should be.

Levia came on and did well but i have to agree that Momo was like a man short today.

 

I agree he hasn't been playing well for a few weeks so drop him then, but in the 2nd half today he was our best player before being taken off and the reason we where back in the game! The time to kick him up the a*** is not when he is playing well!

 

The head not heart comment is a bit weird as well, I'd just like to see Momo play with his feet and just once find a red shirt! If anyone can honestly say Momo deserved to stay on ahead of gerrard today I will be totally baffled!

[fred milne]

I thought his post match comments were as nonsensical as the substitution.

Rubbish. He could have dodged the issue by saying Gerrard was starting to tire after playing a lot of football recently but he didn't. He told it straight. Gerrard wasn't playing with enough intelligence.

[Mike S]

we did play better as a team once he went off, we created at least 4 chances in the next 10 minutes that I can think of - two misses from voronin, one from sissoko, one from babel.

 

so, I disagreed with the desicion at the time, but rafa

[floyd]

Was gutted that Steptoe saved his effort on the line. If he'd off scored the winner, that tw4t Andy Gray would of fvckin spontaniously combust.

We know he's a fvckin bluenose, so why does he co-commentate on our games, because he's getting more and more bitter. First to the last minute, he was fvckin biased.

[Florist Cinema Pond Goal]

I thought his post match comments were as nonsensical as the substitution.

 

If he had said "I was keeping him fresh for Besiktas because I really will take some stick if we get beat there" then fair enough

 

The explanation that the decision was an issue of tactics rather than fitness made the choice more logical, and easier to understand.

[Shanklyanfield]

Rubbish. He could have dodged the issue by saying Gerrard was starting to tire after playing a lot of football recently but he didn't. He told it straight. Gerrard wasn't playing with enough intelligence.

 

So gerrard who won us the penalty and was our main driving force wasn't playing with enough intelligence but Momo was ?

[fred milne]

I'd rather he pick a different game. Especially when you weigh the fact that Gerrard is our best player, won the equalising peno, playing against a side with a man down and we still needed a goal or two to win it.

No. This way it may a have an effect and get through to Gerrard. He's been in need of a sharp shock for a while.

 

Also, its a great boost for Lucas - the manager showing faith in him to replace the captain away in the derby in a game we need to win against ten men.

[IgPig]

I thought it was a brilliant decision - Rafa imposing his authority on Gerrard.

 

Agree with the second part

 

I would have taken Momo off though - Gerrard was a threat - Momo is playing like a man who is terrified of the ball. His confidence is shot and he probably needs a few games against some s***e teams to get it back.

Edited October 20, 2007 by Post Kuytal Glow

[McBain]

He takes Gerrard off and not Sissoko and then says it was because he wanted us to keep the ball more

 

Mentalism

[fred milne]

Momo probably needs a few games against some s***e teams to get it back.

Such as Everton.

 

Seriously, without playing great, I thought he did what was asked of him. He worked hard, disrupted their rhythm and won the ball. He even had a chance at the end.

[Bootle Buck]

Baffling! Gerrard was starting to look himself and causing Everton problems and then took off. Sissoko was playing woeful and giving ball after ball away and stays on.

[Bootle Buck]

date='Oct 20 2007, 14:27' post='1902435']

Such as Everton.

 

Seriously, without playing great, I thought he did what was asked of him. He worked hard, disrupted their rhythm and won the ball. He even had a chance at the end.

 

 

You could also say he gave the ball away too much and missed a sitter.

[KD07]

Either way, Rafa has enormous cojones all the same.