Let`s see if bennett continues to book every player who shows dissent, can anyone explain to me why Torres was booked when he was the one being fouled? I must be missing something, we all know Rooney is the king of dissent, he should get sent off every game . Having said all that it was only a matter of time before Masch got sent off, lets hope he keeps it shut from now on and learns from this. Bottom line we were not good enough, defended to deep again and allowed Man U to dictate this just does not work against them, hopefully Benitez adopts a more attacking style from time to time, to play counter attack effectively you need to leave players further up the pitch. A very dissapointing day lets hope we can redeem ourselves in Europe.

Colin Williams, wolverhampton, UK

uzo,i think thats how the rest of the country felt in the 80s when a penalty infront of the kop was the norm.why dont lfc fans concentrate on their teams failings instead of focussing their energies on a refereeing decision.they came into the game on the back of7wins and with what they thought was a real chance to have a go against utd through gerrard and torres.even before the sending off they were lucky not to be2goals down at least!the gk and right back were awful,alonso and kuyt look to me2be average at best,and the strikers came up against the best defence in the league.rafas proclamation that he'll win the title sooner than fergie(7yrs)may yet come true,but it seems lfc were closer under houllier.oh well, theres always europe...

bally, heathrow, uk

I thought it was an exceptionally poor performance from Steve Bennet. Its only in the big games he gets it wrong ,consistently.
This referee is unable to handle the most important game. Where is his consistency is dealing with players. He has been influenced by the comments of the managers. I feel that he has no empathy with the players. Its time for him to be downgraded and a referee who can deal with players in a quiet assertive manner to be promoted.

Michael Bardwell, Sheffield, England

I'm with Gaz from Preston here. Bennett, like countless other refs who have been to Old Trafford, seemed to have fallen under the Man U spell. His decisions were inconsistent and it was a foregone conclusion that United were going to kick hell out of 'The Chief' in order to encourage inflammatory reactions.

Ferguson has a killer rep and Man U have a clever and talented team. Refs and visiting teams should not be swayed by this though. It was clear his decisions were wrong as even ANDY GREY of all people believed that Torres and Mascherano had been treated unfairly.

bennett lost control of the game and and simply reinforced the nationwide disdain for Man U. Often you hate the people you fear. Strip Man U of its arrogance, reputation, moaning and media support, the fear disappears and so does the myth.

It's a pity Bennett couldn't remember this.

barney, Liverpool, UK

i am a passionate Liverpool supporter but today i have to admit we were beaten by a better side ...on the day. LIverpool did not turn up and no matter how much we talk about provecation and the ref being useless i think Little Chief Masch should have kept his cool and not got involved in the Torres booking.
Looking at the games coming up we have now lost him for the derby next week and if the FA increase his ban then the Arsenal league match as well may be gone ......by then maybe fourth place too.
i am sure this game was a blip but Liverpool cannot afford to lose players for temper tantrums and thou i rate Masch as one of the best players in the prem i have to say he was like a little boy yesterday and im sure he will feel pretty stupid when he sees the playback.

steve, watford, herts

The way Steve Bennet handled the match showed the difference between refereeing the English game from the Spanish. Methinks the helsmen of the English game think only of the welfare of Man United as distinct from that of the rest of the teams in the premiership. It is an open secret that no team in England gets away with what Man United does. Liverpool are now the villains but, it happens to every other team except sometimes, when some brave referees go against the norm. Is it not ironic that despite all the help for Man United, they have won the European Champions League twice? This is a feat already accomplished by some teams in England who are no longer in the EPL. Such unmerited support can only take them as far as the premiership and no more.

uzo nnanyelugo, cincinnati, ohio/usa

Booking Torres for having the temerity to ask if it was acceptable for him to expect his ankles to be kicked every tackle was hardly a blow for decency. It was a provocation. If you're going to book players for questioning the referee, then book ALL players throughout the 90 minutes. The thing is: it only works when it is consistent. If one ref laughs at someone moaning, another one ignores it and the Bennetts of this world reach for a card, it's chaos. The problem with dissent, in the form of contesting decisions, is that, if you're REALLY insistent on making punishment the norm, you'll start off with several sendings off. It's no good sending one off, booking another and then pretending the rest doesn't happen. That's garbage - but that's what happens. Refs bottle it. They look for a sacrifice and then stop. It's either an offence ALWAYS or it isn't. I doubt any game in the first month when such a policy is enforced would finish with more than 15 players on the pitch if it was enforced consistently. Don't attempt to introduce such a policy if you don't have the courage to see it enforced. Otherwise it's a shambles. Today we saw a shambles.

Gaz McKenzie, Preston,