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FA Cup: Barnsley shocks Liverpool

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Wow. Just wow.

Tiny Barnsley, currently lodged in 14th place in the Coca Cola championship, just knocked off EPL giant Liverpool in the FA Cup on Saturday. A 90th-minute goal from Barnsley captain Brian Howard gave Barnsley the 2-1 victory in the FA Cup Fifth Round.

If you watched the game you saw Barnsley’s defense bend but not break as Liverpool created several good chances to put the game away. It was one of those games where you couldn’t help but root for Barnsley (unless you are a Liverpool fan of course).

How do we put this one into perspective for you non European soccer fans? Well, if you’re a college football fan, this was Appalachian State upsetting Michigan at Michigan, only Ap State in this case was a mediocre I-AA team instead of the best I-AA team in the nation. Oh, and the winning "touchdown" came with seconds remaining.

Now you wonder if this pushes Rafa Benitez one step closer to the Liverpool exit. I think it’s safe to say he’s out come the summer. That is unless he pulls off another magical Champions League run. I wouldn’t hold my breathe on that happening.

Did you watch this game? Share your thoughts on it below.

Comments

  1. Yes, I’m sure Benitez, and some fans, will blame it on “those Yank owners, who know nothing about football,” but the fact is he’s the coach, and with his player pool, there’s no reason to drop this game. However, that’s what makes upsets so great and entertaining, because they’re not “supposed” to happen. That’s why we play the games, folks. Love it!

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  2. As Barnsley fans in Toronto, we were delirious when Howard conjured up his glory strike.

    Lots of comments from Barnsley fans on the gracious applause and comments from Liverpool fans. A number of Barnsley supporters in the Kop lived to tell heart-warming tales. Best of luck for Inter.

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  3. Onionsack said: “rpks- your a damn idiot if you think DC or even Houston could stay up in the EPL”

    Now there’s the sort of argumentation we’ve come to expect from sacks of onions and other assorted Eurodhimmis. When one has no argument, or is too lazy to conjure one up, the default option is to play at being the Vicar of Bray.

    First, Sack, what do you mean by “even Houston”? Are you claiming there is a substantial gap in quality between Houston and DC United? Could you tell me what it is about these teams that so separates them in your eyes? Or are you relying on a quick google at MLS and muttering to yourself “Houston won that silly league’s championship, so I shouldn’t quite p*ss on them as much as I’d want to”?
    Second, Sack, why couldn’t a team like Houston or DC stave off relegation in the EPL? Because the starting eleven lack sufficient quality? Because they do not have a deep enough roster for a long season? Because Yanks fare poorly in the Year of the Rat? What are you envisioning? Is your scenario that they play for a season in EPL, but do so under the current MLS financial rules? That they are bound to the roster restrictions set by the league? Because you are awed by the track record of what teams like Chelsea, Fulham, Leeds [when still in the EPL], or Old Firm sides such as Celtic and Rangers, have accomplished when they have played against MLS sides?
    C’mon, Onion, gather your thoughts into that sack, set aside the bitters, and give a go at it. You can do it, any idjit knows that.

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  4. Ahh, it warms the cockles to watch the arrogance of money plant the seeds of decline.

    The chanting protests against the owners after the game showed the scale of the rift that has developed within Liverpool, and it is only a matter of time before something changes.

    Whether it will be the end for Rafa (he has the fans support) of some rebalancing within the board (with the support of big bags of cash) will depends on who is better at the politicking. This season is already write-off as the power-struggle has sidelined any focus on competition.

    When all this is sorted out and the summer transfer window opens it will be a question more of who is sold than who is brought in – 60 pros on the books is far too many, even if you are playing 100 matches/season.
    On the other hand, with the inability to obtain enough world-class quality of the likes of Torres it’s inevitable that you’re gonna end up with so many bit-part players.
    That said, priority acquisitions are Quaresma, Owen and a dominant centre-back.

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  5. while this is truly is a shocking result, i’m not sure it really compares to the Michagan-App State game. There are about 120 Division 1 American football programs, and while not all of them are going to be better than every Division 2 team in a given year, most of them will be. Therefore, I would argue that App State’s victory was much more of an upset than this Barnsley result because there are only 30ish teams “between” Barnsley and Liverpool.

    However, that doesn’t mean that Liverpool won’t fire Benitez ASAP. They shouldn’t, but I bet they will.

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  6. Is it really a shock? Liverpool have been showing this form all season they can make beautiful passes all day, dominate possession against weak teams and then they don’t have the ability to kill these teams off like Arsenal and Man U.

    Its been a Liverpool trait for 10 years struggle against the Bolton’s of the world but can still beat Barcelona.

    Fantastic end to a game and for Barnsley, but its all about money isn’t it? The FA Cup does not have enough money involved, when Championship teams are putting out weak sides in the 3rd and 4th round you know the FA Cup is just becoming a mirror of the league cup.

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  7. @UNITED
    “Benitez was a dead man walking months ago. This result is the effect, not the cause, of his upcoming departure from the club”

    agreed. Although I would hate for him to be sacked it seems inevitable he will be.

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  8. I am not a huge Liverpool fan, but I follow them. They are my pick of the “big four” (quickly becomingthe big three).

    It seems the me those darn Yanks (espicially Hicks) came in and just totally unsettled the whole organization. In comparison, at Man U, the Glazer’s came in, loaded United with debt, but then disappeared and let the real Football people run the club, AND SIGN THE PLAYERS THEY WANT. Never thought I’d say this but the Glazer deal is looking good in comparison to these slappy chaps that took over Liverpool. Good idea to let the world know you were considering another manager. This is positive how?

    Rafa is not without blame, though. He should be able to “rally the troops” and look beyond the off field drama. I agree he will be gone in the summer, hopefully of his free will. Would hate for him to get the sack.

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  9. Kuyt is hard working but pedestrian. Gerard is a Maverick. With teh exception of Torres, their forward line is *ss. Rafa is stubborn and will lose his job because of it.

    As long as we are at it:

    Cash in on Gerard,Pennant and the swashbuckling Veronin

    Pick up Van Der Vaart, poach Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn

    4-5-1

    ———-Torres————–
    Babel——————Bentley
    ———–VDV—————-
    —Mascherano–Lucas/Alonso—
    Riise-Carra-Agger-Finnan

    4-4-2

    ———-Santa Cruz———-
    ———-Torres————–
    Babel——VDV———Bentley
    ———Mascherano———–
    Riise-Carra-Agger-Finnan

    I don’t really even care about Liverpool but I was thinking about this the other week and thought I would post. Ideally, Essien in a completely free charging role instead of VDV.

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  10. Thats why I said it was wishful thinking. And I meant the first lineup a VDV as a support striker with Kuyt and Babel as advanced wingers.

    Wishful thinking, thats all.

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  11. No offense Ted – but that’s a horrendous lineup. Kuyt needs to be sold. Gerrard just doesn’t play well with other attacking mids, so Van Der Vaart wouldn’t fit in.

    I also don’t see why Alves would join when Benitez will be gone. Plus, where are Liverpool going to get the money to pay for him? Sevilla will likely ask for >30mil.

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  12. As a Liverpool fan surrounded by nothing but Manc’s and Chelski supporters, today’s result left me devestated and heart broken. I have stuck up for Rafa at every point and turn but I’d have to say unless he delivers the Champions League, he’ll be out of Liverpool. I’d have to agree with ted’s line up. If we’re going to compete for anything next year we’re going to need a “heart transplant”. Players that are much more willing to sacrifice and go that extra inch in the late stages of the games.

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  13. As a Liverpool fan, Benitez has run his course. Mourinho, Rikjaard and Lippi most likely will all be available in the summer.

    Van der Vaart will be available this summer, and it would be a huge steal to grab him away from Juventus. We would do well to pick up Dani Alves, as well as a left back / midfielder (Riise has been poor). Mancini could move as well.

    Of course, there is the problem where we don’t score goals….

    My wishful lineup for next season.

    —————–Torres—————–
    –Babel—————————Kuyt–
    ————-Van Der Vaart—————
    ————————Gerrard———
    ——–Mascherano———————-
    –Riise———————–Dani Alves–
    ———Agger——–Carragher———
    ——————Reina—————–

    Or a 4-4-2 with VDV operating as the support striker and Mancini sliding in for Kuyt.

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  14. @Posted by: UNITED | February 16, 2008 at 01:17 PM

    …except that players who have recently played in/vs Colaship sides have said MLS is mid/upper Colaship quality.
    You can catch League 1 online and you will pray for a Columbus vs. RSL matchup instead.

    Anyone thinking an MLS side with their current roster could easily stay up in the Prem are guilty of some wishful thinking. Nothing is impossible, but it would take a LOT of breaks going their way.

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  15. “winning the fifth most MLS Cups”

    Clarify: winning the fifth most MLS Cups in this decade/century/milennium. MLS in the Doug Logan era was total Mickey Mouse.

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  16. “DC United are the one team that could stay up in the Premiership”

    How is it that the third-best team over the last seven years, by hardware count, with a single MLS Cup (winning the fifth most MLS Cups) is commonly regarded as far above the rest of the league?

    Two Supporters Shield wins from an unbalanced schedule does not make a team great. The kowtowing towards DC United may be encouraged by the smug DC fans, but it doesn’t have any correspondence to reality.

    100 out of 100 games, I’d take last year’s Houston over last year’s DC. And Chicago’s win over DC was no fluke– they dominated that series.

    As for this year, a roster made up of recently signed South American rejects does not make a team into Real Madrid.

    DC, paper tiger.

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  17. The MLS is upper League 1 level. The best teams are probably lower Championship level.

    Benitez was a dead man walking months ago. This result is the effect, not the cause, of his upcoming departure from the club.

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  18. I am also saying that they wouldn’t have the constraints of a salary cap. Plus I never mentioned Houston. But DC with the team they have now plus more depth could stay up. You need to imagine them as more of WIgan or Birmingham, they will bounce up and down for a decade or so.

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  19. rpks – DC United would need to be very lucky with injuries, and probably get knocked out of the league and FA Cups in the first round. Otherwise, I don’t see how they would have the depth tp stay up. Their top 14-15 players could probably compete well, but over a 9-month season, they’d have no choice but to run development players out there in meaningful matches. And that could get ugly.

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  20. When it comes down to scousers need to realize Rafa is terrible and with him at the helm is setting them back. Villa, Everton, and Spurs are going to pass them. Villa and Spurs will spend more then them and have great managers. Everton just works hard to succeed, plus David Moyes is managing that talent better than Rafa is with pool.

    If the scouser fans want a winner, they should look to Marcelo Lippi, this is his type of team. Hard working players at every position and a great leader in the middle. Liverpool needs Lippi, but the owners are as bad as Rafa.

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  21. As a Chelsea fan, this just makes my Scouser friends more angry. But gives me the joy of laughing and celebrating. Plus I am watching the Chelsea match, I wish it was live, I stumbled onto the final score and now I am just watching to see a clinic on possession soccer.

    As a fan of both EPL and MLS, I realized Major League Soccer is at the Championship level, but DC United are the one team that could stay up in the Premiership, as a Fire fan if Klopas and Guppy do their work they could one day create that type of club. In two years things will change though, a much higher cap makes this league much better.

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  22. I think the owners of Liverpool are becoming the scapegoat for the clubs problems. They gave Rafa his money, and he either 1) spent it poorly or 2) sat his good signings on the bench with his ridiculous rotation policy. Rafa needs to go

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  23. That match was about as entertaining as it gets.

    And I loved how Barnsley played. No time wasting. And no running to the corner flag. Many clubs would NEVER have won that match becuase for the last 5 minutes any time they got in Liverpool’s third they would have just run to the corner flag, trading a chance to win for a chance to bleed a few seconds to presumably help get a draw.

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  24. without Torres there isn’t a lot of talent difference in the two sides. Keeping Gerrard on the bench for so long after Barnsley tied it up and taking Babel out were mistakes IMO.
    BaBye Rafa.

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  25. LOL @ Liverpool.

    I love seeing these rich whored out clubs get beat. Those greedy clubs suck up all the TV money domesticly and from UEFA to entrench themsleves at the top, so when they get beat by a team whose wage bill is less than their top player….it’s such sweet justice.

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  26. Wow, that game reminded me of why the F.A. Cup is so great. What great end-to-end stuff in stoppage time! I pressed rewind to watch that goal over again about 6 times after watching it live…great stuff!

    BTW, Ives do you have any info on Musampa to Toronto?

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  27. What a great finish. There should have been a PK for Barnsley right before the GWG, but that didn’t matter as it ended in the right result. Karma for the ref not calling that penalty against Liverpool. Take that Gerrard!

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  28. Sorry that I missed this game. Yes, this should end the Benitez chapter at Liverpool. The only question is whether he will be fired or slink out the door on his own. The fans will clearly turn against him now. Benitez will surely blame the ownership for this debacle but it is of his own making.

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