............ Liverpoo just scraped through at home last night against Liege. Anyone watch it?

The mousers were crap, (only Skirtel looked any good), and the Belgians hardly got a decision from the ref all night.

The "calm downs" have now played three games, looked rubbish in all of them, but have scored very late goals in each to win.

I find that worrying.

Totally agree Just, lucky lucky scum suckers, deserved sod all.

I'm not worried about their last minute goals, okay, if it were against teams in the big 3, or Everton, Villa, maybe Tottenham... fair enough. But this was Boro and Sunderland and no offence to them, they're not world beaters.

Utterly sick of the scousers and their "famous European nights" - hope they get Inter Milan and Jose thrashes them... they'd hate that.

I agree Just. This 'play crap and win' stuff is not something we want to see them do for much longer.

Hopefully their luck will run out very soon and these piss poor performances will get the lack of points they deserve.

Cannot believe how jammy they were last night. knew it would happen though.

Nothing at all seemed to go Standard's way last night, it seemed to me that even the referee was against them, gave some very dodgy, and somewhat tedious decisions Liverpool's way, but failed to do the same when fouls were committed the other way... I was very impressed with Standard however, they've got some useful looking players and if they can keep that level of performance going i'd expect them to go far in the UEFA Cup... one question though..

How on earth can Liverpool keep being seeded for the draw by UEFA, when they have to constantly qualify because they're league position isn't good enough?

All I could hear was the Standard support - 'The Kop' - more like 'The Kip'

Another desparate skin of the teeth result - at least they were denied a fair shout for a pen though

Good to see Stevie Me (the pillar of ingerlund) timing a groin strain op at a key stage of the qualifiers - maybe ingerlund will actually have a chance of winning now

All I could hear was the Standard support - 'The Kop' - more like 'The Kip'

Another desparate skin of the teeth result - at least they were denied a fair shout for a pen though

Good to see Stevie Me (the pillar of ingerlund) timing a groin strain op at a key stage of the qualifiers - maybe ingerlund will actually have a chance of winning now

Out played, out fought and out thought.

Great atmosphere though.....................from the Belgie's

Talk about ride your luck

Saw bits and pieces of the game , 1st half Leige should have been at least 2-0 up. Benitez has to be the luckiest manager in the history of the game.

Out played, out fought and out thought.

Great atmosphere though.....................from the Belgie's

Best bit was the Belgies singing 'you only sing when you're winnin' to the silent vermin

Their season is turning into a disaster, and its only just started. Sooner or later these late winners are going to dry up, and this "dream partnership" of Keane and Torres has done absolutely nothing.

I heard they were "dancing on the Kop" list night. Another one of those famous European nights, I guess Its funny to see how expectations have fallen there

Sooner rather than later Benitez is gonna get the chop which will be a sad day because that means they might actually get a good manager who uses tactics and experience rather than horseshoes up his ass. The fans will go ballistic, but im sure with how much they are already hated, the owners will not care for a minute. St Steven will probably jump ship like the rat he is

The scousers have to live with the fact that they were clearly, CLEARLY bested by the champions of Belgium over 210 minutes of football. The famous Liverpool were made to look like garbage. And theyre supposed to break a 19 year domestic spell now? I would say good luck, but thats all they have

Edited August 28, 200817 yr by TheWestwayWonder

Their season is turning into a disaster, and its only just started. Sooner or later these late winners are going to dry up, and this "dream partnership" of Keane and Torres has done absolutely nothing.

Yeah, but the other way of looking at it is that they will eventually start playing better. Personally, (unfortunately), I think that will happen. They have a decent enough squad IMO. And I would have thought that three last gasp wins in a row will only strengthen their self-belief and boost confidence. They could have, maybe should have, lost all three games they have played so far. The fact that they won them all worries me.

Incidentally, the ref last night second-half! How much was in that brown envelope? Maybe we could get a ref rating from Liam using his official UEFA iffy-o-meter.

gerrard is out for the next month or so,so watch their season hit the skids very rapidly startin with villa on sunday. no gerrard no liverpool

Luckily, he won't be playing for England, Lampard and Hargreaves can do the job.

Luckily, he won't be playing for England, Lampard and Hargreaves can do the job.

Oh Gem:

Manchester United's Owen Hargreaves has been ruled out of England's opening World Cup qualifiers, adding to Fabio Capello's problems in midfield.

BBC Sport

Incidentally, the ref last night second-half! How much was in that brown envelope? Maybe we could get a ref rating from Liam using his official UEFA iffy-o-meter.

That's what the qualifyers are for.....to make sure the bigger clubs get thru!!!

Incidently this is the 5th year running Liverpool have had to qualify this way, meaning they haven't been in the top 2 for a long time.

Yeah, but the other way of looking at it is that they will eventually start playing better. Personally, (unfortunately), I think that will happen. They have a decent enough squad IMO. And I would have thought that three last gasp wins in a row will only strengthen their self-belief and boost confidence. They could have, maybe should have, lost all three games they have played so far. The fact that they won them all worries me.

Incidentally, the ref last night second-half! How much was in that brown envelope? Maybe we could get a ref rating from Liam using his official UEFA iffy-o-meter.

Just, your point makes sense, and it is a bit worrying that they have played sh*t and gotten all the points. That is the hallmark of a title winner right there.

But at the same time, they have two things now going against them: Europe and Benitez.

If they had lost against Liege, that would put them out of all but the domestic cups on week 2 of the season, allowing them to concentrate fully on the league. Now, with an easy group with Eindhoven and Marsellies, surely they will progress and that means at least another 8 matches they will have to play. On a squad lacking the quality depth like theirs, that will be telling over time.

Second thing is Benitez. In four years, he hasnt really achieved anything outside of that CL win that luck played a gigantic part in. Poor record against the big four, regularly drops points to crap teams, doesnt reinforce with quality (Riera?) and rotates rotates rotates. Kuyt and Voronin are backing up El Nino and Keane. They sell useful players like Crouch and buy more mediocre fullbacks. I just think the man has been exposed for what he is.

We have improved. If they get Berbatov, the Mancs will improve, and until Liverpool prove they can hang with the big boys and get results, then its all hypothetical. Not trying to put out any famous last words, but I think their absymal form early in the season is more of a worry for dippers than a blessing. Sooner or later will come another Barnsley where the team doesnt get up for it and they are embarrassed. And then Benitez is going to feel the pinch from above or leave on his own. I think that day is going to come this season.

Sooner or later will come another Barnsley where the team doesnt get up for it and they are embarrassed.

Good post up until that bit. Lets not forget we were equally bad / embarrassing against Barnsely. :(

Good post up until that bit. Lets not forget we were equally bad / embarrassing against Barnsely. :(

Haha, I knew I would be called out on that. I shouldve gone with Havenot and Waterwhoville :( No excuses for us, though, we were poo that day, our owner had already been trigger happy with the manager's job

I think if Scolari drops a clunker in a domestic cup it will be looked on alot more favorably as a bad day out, wheras if Benitez drops one, and theyre not looking good for the league, it might be curtains for him. Hicks and Gillett seem to have lost their patience.

Yeah, but the other way of looking at it is that they will eventually start playing better. Personally, (unfortunately), I think that will happen. They have a decent enough squad IMO. And I would have thought that three last gasp wins in a row will only strengthen their self-belief and boost confidence. They could have, maybe should have, lost all three games they have played so far. The fact that they won them all worries me.

Incidentally, the ref last night second-half! How much was in that brown envelope? Maybe we could get a ref rating from Liam using his official UEFA iffy-o-meter.

Liverpool 2 United 1

Bump.

Again, I might be tempting fate, but United were by all accounts crap at the weekend.

These two are like opposites. Scousers are who to worry about until December, United are the team to watch from Feb onward. If it gets to boxing day and they are still in the running for the title, only then will I be convinced their annual cycle has been broken.

I'm with Just on this one. They were winning when they were playing badly, are now starting to play well and are even getting the little bits of luck that you need to mount a serious title challenge.

As much as they dominated Manure, they won thanks to a ridiculous own goal, and a mish*t shot which would have probably been cleared by the defenders on the line if Babel hasn't miscued it into the ground.

That was a BIG win for them and has really got their tails up. If we drop points on the weekend against a Man U tam desperate for a big win, then they will be firmly at the top of the table and full of confidence.

It just doesn't bear thinking about.