FA Cup 09/10 Thread

[Baddar]

For those that don't know, the Bristol City-Cardiff game is on the FA website;

http://www.thefa.com/FATV.aspx

IN THE SNOW~!

[Dynamite]

Why don't they use the orange balls anymore? The yellows just not the same.

[stokeriño]

2-1 to Reading!!

20 minutes to go...

[Crybaby Bunting]

Lolverpool

[Adam]

If Rafa Benitez survives this one he's the luckiest man alive. He has GOT to go now, there are no more excuses. He is failing miserably and plunging the Liverpool name into oblivion one game at a time.

[Hobo]

Go Leeds!

[Shelty92]

Bwahahaha.

This just made United's FA Cup exit much easier to bare. I hope Rafa never gets sacked.

[Noah]

With Special 1 tv maybe on the way back, I don't ever want Fat-Man Rafa to be sacked.

[therockbox]

If Rafa Benitez survives this one he's the luckiest man alive. He has GOT to go now, there are no more excuses. He is failing miserably and plunging the Liverpool name into oblivion one game at a time.

The Liverpool name should have died two decades ago when Souness tore it down. It's a testament to what Rafa has done for this club that people are calling for his head for half a season that was a frequent occurrence under the likes of Souness, Evans and Houllier.

That said, there are no excuses for last night, the entire club is rotten. The board, the manager, his staff and the players. Nobody cares, even the likes of Gerrard and Carragher just trudge moaning at everyone else. Sacking Rafa (which we won't anyway because the Americans can't afford to) would be like chopping off a foot to cure cancer.

Wholesale changes are needed at every level, but we don't have the owners to facilitate that.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

And it's not a huge stretch of reality to imagine Liverpool not making it into Europe next season and if that happens then I think Torres will be off...

[therockbox]

He could be off even if we make it into the CL. If someone makes a massive bid (not hard to see Man City offering £60m for him) it won't be turned down.

[Hobo]

Personally, I don't think Benitez has done much different than last season. The players have underperformed and the club at ownership level is in a bad state. I rather feel sorry for Rafa because he's the guy who'll take the flak for a list of players who aren't trying (players who the majority of challenged for the league last season, and some who've won everything but the Premier League) and owners who've put him in a potion where he can't make the team competitive.

There was something mentioned on Sky Sports news of fans saying this was one of the worst Liverpool teams ever. But the Souness years say hello.

[therockbox]

Anyone that seriously believes this team is worse than anything we had under the previous three managers is obscenely stupid.

[Szumi]

Yeah, definitely not the worst Liverpool team ever, it's just a squad that has been raped by injuries, and more importantly, a lack of motivation. While Torres, Gerrard, Aquilani, Benayoun, and Riera have struggled off and on with injuries, there was also losing Agger coming into the season, and now Johnson later. However, even when fit, Gerrard's been rather dismal, and now that Aquilani is starting to play more and regain his form, he's yet to impress. Carragher, as everyone probably knows, has been atrocious for the most part, and Skrtel has been pretty inconsistent too. Only Reina and Lucas have played well this season throughout.

And it's very possible Torres leaves in the summer, but that could be a blessing in disguise for Liverpool. He's a world class striker, but one who's always battling injuries. Liverpool direly needs someone who can stay fit.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

So much pressure is put on Carragher that it's unsurprising that he's hardly setting the world alight.

[therockbox]

So much pressure is put on Carragher that it's unsurprising that he's hardly setting the world alight.

In what way? He's been regressing since the Champions League final in 2007 - he's not been under pressure for that long.

edit: Torres out for six weeks, Gerrard two, Yossi three-four. Johnson still out for a month, Riera still out, Kelly out, Babel apparently jarred his ankle, Aquilani still feeling his way back in, as is Mascherano.

WE SHOULD STILL WIN THE LEAGUE.

[Hobo]

For me Carragher and Gerrard are actually part of a problem with the club on the pitch. They're nowhere near what they're made out to be a lot of the time. Carragher has, as noted been in decline for a while. Gerrard is probably the player who annoys me the most because when he gets stroppy he doesn't play. Babel would be close to most irritating after that.

[Hobo]

Liverpool manager Benitez should go, says Ronnie Whelan

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez

Benitez is running out of time to save Liverpool's season

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez should be replaced following the shock 2-1 FA Cup defeat at the hands of Reading, says former Reds captain Ronnie Whelan.

The Spaniard has vowed to fight on, despite the loss to the Championship side, an early Champions League exit and poor Premier League form.

"Liverpool have not been good. They have lost 10 of the last 20 games," Whelan, 48, told BBC Radio 5 live.

"He should have gone a long time ago. They have got to do it now."

Benitez has come under increasing pressure this season, with the club having to settle for a Europa League campaign, while lying seventh in the Premier League - 12 points behind leaders Chelsea.

The misery continued on Wednesday night when Championship side Reading dumped them out of the FA Cup after extra time in front of their home supporters.

It was their 12th defeat of the season and after Benitez told the club's website he would "keep working hard with my team", another ex-Liverpool star expressed his displeasure.

Former Reds and Republic of Ireland midfielder Jason McAteer told LFC TV: "Sometimes you just can't defend that kind of performance. It was poor. Liverpool just didn't really create anything and, to be fair, the better team won."

Liverpool now face the prospect of finishing the campaign without a trophy for the fourth successive season, with any hopes of success hanging on their Europa League efforts.

But with captain and midfielder Steven Gerrard and striker Fernando Torres coming off injured during the Cup defeat, McAteer is fearful for the remainder of the campaign.

"They are the two players who can produce a bit of magic," added the 39-year-old.

"You just look around the team and when those two are not there, who is going to create that bit of magic? Where is that bit of leadership and quality?"

BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson, co-commentator for BBC Radio 5 live at Anfield on Wednesday, also expressed his concerns but believes Benitez's tenure may continue.

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BBC Sport's Phil McNulty

"If you take Gerrard and Torres out of the Liverpool team then it is ordinary to say the the least," the 53-year-old told BBC Sport.

"If they spent the season without those two then Liverpool would do well to finish halfway up the table. Obviously a lot of people on the back of last night's defeat are saying that Rafa should go but I don't think he will.

"For a lot of people the defeat by Reading has made their mind up but not the inner workings at the club."

However, Whelan, who made 493 appearances for the Reds and captained them in their 1989 FA Cup final triumph, suggested the club could turn to a former manager as a short-term solution.

"Do they bring in someone until the end of the season? Kenny Dalglish is back at the football club," he stated. "Could he do it until the end of the season and see what happens?" As a player, Dalglish joined Liverpool from Celtic in 1977 and spent six years in charge on Merseyside before leaving in 1991.

Lawrenson believes the Anfield faithful may eventually help to determine Benitez's fate.

"The club have said they will wait and see whether they qualify for the Champions League but there will come a time, especially if they go out of the Europa League early, where the crowd will end up making the decision for the board," he said.

"If you say to Benitez 'thank you but no thank you' then who are you going to get in? Are you going to lose a Gerrard? Or a Torres? That is the most important thing to think about. I think he'll have a stay of execution.

"He has promised the supporters the club will finish in the top four but they look further away from doing that than probably they ever have since he's been there."

However, former Reds striker John Aldridge does not feel that sacking Benitez would benefit the club, even though he admits that the Spaniard has some serious deficiencies to rectify in the side.

"We can turn the tide, I don't think to get rid of Rafa now is the answer," Aldridge told Sky Sports.

"Maybe Rafa has lost some confidence within himself because certainly the team has lost confidence and belief - it is there for everyone to see on the pitch.

"We are not scoring goals as much we should be and we are conceding a lot more than we have been.

"There is perhaps a lack of togetherness on the pitch, if anything.

"But Rafa has got confidence in his own ability. If he didn't, I'm sure he'd walk away to help the club.

"I think Rafa has got to do his best with the team and hopefully we'll get to May, we'll have secured the fourth place and, who knows, maybe won the Europa League."

Benitez, whose contract runs until 2014, arrived at Liverpool from Valencia in 2004 and guided the club to Champions League glory in 2005 and an FA Cup triumph in 2006.

The Reds also reached the Champions League final in 2007 and were runners-up to Manchester United in the Premier League last season.

Yes Ronnie, that worked out so well for Celtic ten years ago.

[stokeriño]

I've never really been sure why former players' opinions get their own full article with stories like this. They're just as authoritative as any of the other bajillion player/pundits (i.e. not especially). The fact they wore the same shirt 20 years ago hardly lends them additional insight into the current situation.

[therockbox]

Ronnie Whelan has been banging the 'Rafa Out' drum almost since the day he arrived.

I remember when we beat Real Madrid last season - he was absolutely gutted.