LIVERPOOL ARE CRAP

Last updated : 24 September 2004 By editor


Parker doesn't think too much should be read into United or Rio's performance against the Dirties because Liverpool were shite.

"Physical fitness wasn't a problem for Rio on Monday night. The problem could have been was he mentally fit enough? Could he keep his awareness?" Parker told the MEN.

"He hasn't been involved in games where people were moving around him quickly but Liverpool never really tested him. I thought they would have been all over him as early as possible and at every opportunity. I expected them to try and catch him on his heels and get him to answer a few searching questions early on but they didn't. It was one of the poorest Liverpool performances I have seen at Old Trafford in a long time."

"His next test comes in his next game and the few after that. As a player who has been out for five or six months with an injury, the first game back you get through it on enthusiasm and adrenaline. The whole thing keeps you going. But the following match is the tester. That's when the reality kicks in again. It becomes a totally different scenario. It is about your body recovering and how things go when that initial rush is over. Rio's next game at Spurs could be when he is pushed from pillar to post and we have to see if he can he handle that."

"Rio just did everything easy against Liverpool. He didn't try to over complicate things. He just defended as we know he can defend. He didn't try anything difficult at all. That was the right thing to do. It was the way anyone would play it returning after a long time.

Parker hopes that Ferguson starts to build a consistent unit at the back.

"Before Rio was suspended the partnership with Mikael Silvestre was excellent," added Parker. Those two were playing very well together. The whole thing came together against Liverpool again. I don't know whether the manager wants to keep that back four together now. He might have other ideas in his head. But I believe he'd rather not split it again. It is the only way it can get better. It is not about a back four it is about a five. The whole thing has got to work together now. I don't think you can juggle it."