An inspired Liverpool.

[fudgeflaps]

Well, the pressure was on and the chips were down- an all-or-nothing, do-or-die fixture far away from home.

With the egos of the galaxy of stars shining too bright to make a sustained effort in the mundanity of the Premiership, Liverpool as usual at this level wake up and give the oppostion a bad doing.

0 - 4, the Reds and a place in the last 16.

They've just went out and saved Rafa's job.

[Deuce Bigolo]

not really that surprising given marseille are not a real contender

The 3-1 loss to reading said they had their mind on this game


now over to rangers


I see the lyon manager is trying to draw comparisons with scotland losing to italy and labelleing rangers as outright favourites

Mind games....favourites are Lyon(7 consecutive french titles)

A pity you can't prod these dumb fucks with a cattle prod everytime they talk utter fucking bollocks

The Italian Mnanager put it into perfect perspective when he said we're technically superior but team spirit wise no one comes close to what scotland have

[fudgeflaps]

It's an inherent trait of French, Italian and a lot of the bigger nations on the Continent that the vanity and egotism of a lot of these posturing, strutting, pouting pretty-boys does not really allow for team bonding and good team spirit.

11 high-maintenance individuals trying to tolerate each other versus a team with spirit, unity and camaderie doesn't generally boil down to ability and technique, as The Scots showed twice against France.

Still a massive effort required from Rangers, though.

[Deuce Bigolo]

I agree

Best example is Portugal...gifted footballers who blame their lack of silverware on not having a top class striker yet in club football they have several that can't stop scoring...egos

If you said to me at the start of the campaign Rangers would be in with a shot to qualify further I would have laughed in your face

Anyhting is possible if you defend well enough as the 1-1 draw against Barcelona proved.Think they'll be keeping that in my mind and not the other match

[Sam Slater]

A sign of the times I'm afraid. Smaller teams, with inferior players have things to prove, and are easily wound up for these big occasions. That 'we can do it' attitude brings teams together.

Now....as the Scotland team -insert any team- gets better, the players think themselves better, become more individualistic, and harder to bond.

You either get teams of brilliant players, that don't gel well, or mediocre teams that gel easily, and punch above their weight for a while. That's why the best managers can get the top stars to perform as a team. Look at Real Madrid before Cappello as a prime example.

[spunkie]

How do they keep managing to jam it? They're a poor team, yet even their own fans cant see it. Mark my words they will recieve a thrashing from a European team this season, and not before time!

[Deuce Bigolo]

If their a poor team then the EPL sucks...sitting 4th beaten once all season

As for the champions league ......last 3 games from memory 2-1..8-1...4-0

I'd say their an inconsistent team especially in the premiership(this season being an exception so far)but they are a persisitent team that rises to the challenge(a c milan leading 3-0 halftime ring any bells)

Right them off at your peril

For the record I support no one as I'm an Aussie

[colin]

their problem is going to be the next round.by finishing 2nd in the group they're nearly certain to be drawn against one of the big teams,Real Madrid,AC Milan,or Barcelona,etc.

[Sam Slater]

Milan would be the easiest at this stage of the season. By the time the semis and finals come round, Milan are out of the running in their domestic league and just play the B teams on any matches before a CL game; if any of the 1st team does play, it's at 3mph. This leaves the 1st team fresh, and they can spend extra hours on tactics and training up to the game.

You're always better off drawing a team who's fighting for their own league as well, as by the time April & May comes around, they're tired, and not as focused.

[crofter]

fudgeflaps wrote:

> Well, the pressure was on and the chips were down- an
> all-or-nothing, do-or-die fixture far away from home.
>
> With the egos of the galaxy of stars shining too bright to make
> a sustained effort in the mundanity of the Premiership,
> Liverpool as usual at this level wake up and give the oppostion
> a bad doing.
>
> 0 - 4, the Reds and a place in the last 16.
>
> They've just went out and saved Rafa's job.
>
>


Fuck me Fudge have you been taking football summerising lessons from Archie McPhearsome or something??!cool!