Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

Thanx 4 The Fish

Continued on from here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055102394

Have fun.

Mr Alan

This is the best day ever!!!!!!!

Jazzy

go on, get in!

marco_polo

Hip Hip, Hurray

emc2

Leto gets clearence to play:

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156642070810-1153.htm

good to have a single thread bad!

RE*AC*TOR

I think Mike65 should be allowed start this...

Mr Alan

I was actually just thinking the same thing!

emc2

now we have the thread back if we could only unearth Bannor we'd be all set.

mike65

Hurrah!

I say, jolly good and about time too.

Aston Villa - Liverpool thoughts anyone? Will Rafa play a safe 4-4-2 with old hands filling out the majority of positions + Torres? I think so myself the bench will feature the big-money new boys proberly.

Mike.

emc2

mike65 wrote:

Hurrah!

I say, jolly good and about time too.

Aston Villa - Liverpool thoughts anyone? Will Rafa play a safe 4-4-2 with old hands filling out the majority of positions + Torres? I think so myself the bench will feature the big-money new boys proberly.

Mike.

Will we win on the first day of the season for the first time in 6 year (or is it more?)......

rahim

mike65 wrote:

Hurrah!

I say, jolly good and about time too.

Aston Villa - Liverpool thoughts anyone? Will Rafa play a safe 4-4-2 with old hands filling out the majority of positions + Torres? I think so myself the bench will feature the big-money new boys proberly.

Mike.

I think so too, but who can predict what Rafa is going to do???
Really looking forward to seeing how the new signings do so I hope some will make an appearance.

_blank_

So, Rafa's beard.

I hear he's getting rid of it before the season actually starts?

swalsh

I remember him saying it before one of the pre-season games that he would get rid of it

Ardent

In before lock!

Really looking forward to the game tomorrow. Roll on the new season, let's hope we get off to a flying start.

What time is the game tomorrow does anyone know?

kaimera

Kyut & Torres to start.

Torres to score one, assist for another and Gerrard to pop up and sneak one.

Heinze to be in the stands watching and wanting..

Mr Alan

watching and wanting . . . beautifully put!

Mr Alan

Seansouth - Rafas beard is legendary! If the Eircom league had more super cool beards, it might get people interested!

mike65

Its a 5.15 KO for Setanta cash!

Mike.

marcphisto

nice, I met actually get a chance to see that!!

AdrianII

Glad its back

0-2 pool tommorrow - any one get sany match odds, gambling links are banned at work

marco_polo

mike65 wrote:

Its a 5.15 KO for Setanta cash!

Mike.

My guess at the starting lineup:

---

Reina

---

---

Finnan

---

Carragher

---

Agger

---

Riise

---

Pennant

---

Gerrard

---

Mascherano

---

Benayoun

---

Kuyt----Torres

---

Subs:
Carson (still here I think)
Hyppia
Alonso
Babel
Crouch

Would be pretty hopeful of kicking off the season with a narrow win

Mr Alan

Really looking forward to Benayoun this year, he has looked sweet pre-season.

could prove to be bargain of the summer!

swalsh

Carson gone to Villa. Think he could have really pushed Pepe but at least he will be getting regular apperances. Just glad he isn't available to play against us tomorrow

Zapp Brannigan

Would love to see Benayoun get a start on the right, with Gerrard central. I don't mind who plays up front with Torres. We really should win this game so we can send a message out to everyone.

And, yay the thread is back!!

marco_polo

AdrianII wrote:

Glad its back

0-2 pool tommorrow - any one get sany match odds, gambling links are banned at work

PP odds

17:15 Aston Villa v Liverpool 3 - 1 23 - 10 10 - 11
Aston Villa (+1.0) v Liverpool 8 - 11 12 - 5 11 - 4

missingtime

Whooo! Back in action.

Villa 1 - Liverpool 1

If we win it wont be spectular, rather a messy 1 nil, 2-1 affair

AdrianII

marco_polo wrote:

My guess at the starting lineup:

---

Reina

---

---

Finnan

---

Carragher

---

Agger

---

Riise

---

Pennant

---

Gerrard

---

Mascherano

---

Benayoun

---

Kuyt----Torres

---

Subs:
Carson (still here I think)
Hyppia
Alonso
Babel
Crouch

Would be pretty hopeful of kicking off the season with a narrow win

not sure about benoyoun

throw in kewell there and its spot on

mike65

Don't forget Fantasy Rafa Its not too late to sign up and look stupid every week (often twice a week).

League name: Boards.ie
League password: boardsiefootball (you'll need to type rather than copy and paste).

Kudos to ~Rebel~

Mike.

_blank_

millersangel wrote:

Seansouth - Rafas beard is legendary! If the Eircom league had more super cool beards, it might get people interested!

Zapp Brannigan

Anyone else think T4tF closed the old thread just so he could start a new one

Mr Alan

uh oh, conspiracy theories! we don't want this thread to sound like the Utd one!!!!!!

mike65

T4tF Pm-ed me after the old one got closed offering me the oppotunity to kick-of the new thread. I declined saying it would'nt ever be the same! sniff!

Mike.

Mr Alan

Fair play Mr Fish, maybe you do have a heart after all

~Rebel~

*wipes tear from eye* its a happy day friends, our fallen comrade has returned!

Now, something i've been wanting to bring up for ages - Paul Anderson - what the fuk has he done to Rafa to not get in any of the preseason games? He wasn't even listed in any of the reserve preseason games i think. Now he's been loaned out, unless he really really impresses, i dont think he'll have a future at Pool..shame really, looked a fantastic prospect from what i've seen of him.

Zapp Brannigan

So anyone else going to be missing the match? I don't get off work until 6 so I'll defintely miss the 1st half and probably a big chunk of the second

~Rebel~

Oh also another topic that didn't quite deserve its own thread - whats the deal with the reported interest in Cicinho? Theres no need for him IMO, not sure when he'd get his game, unless it was LB or something..The only problem area we have that could be disasterous is CB and we've not really been linked with any bar Heinze which is worrying me a bit..

Mr Alan

Yea not really sure the story with Anderson either, seems very strange. Its true he has always impressed. It just seems like Rafa doesn't fancy him at all.

Think Guthrie going on loan is a good move, think of all the young lads coming through, he looks the most impressive, just a shame its in a position where he has fairly stiff competition!

Not sure wat to make of the Cichinio speculation, definately think there is something in it though, wasn't Rafa in for him before he went to Real when he played against us in those World Club Championships?

Maybe Arbeloa is just a stop gap and it'll be between Finnan and Cicinhio for the RB position, Stevie still has a couple of good years but he is no spring chicken!

missingtime

~Rebel~ wrote:

Now, something i've been wanting to bring up for ages - Paul Anderson - what the fuk has he done to Rafa to not get in any of the preseason games? He wasn't even listed in any of the reserve preseason games i think. Now he's been loaned out, unless he really really impresses, i dont think he'll have a future at Pool..shame really, looked a fantastic prospect from what i've seen of him.

Yea... I always bring this up as well. I saw some of him in the reserves and he wins a man-of-the-match award every other game, can't understand why he wasn't put on the team for the pre-season.
Someone said he's still one 19 or 20 so he has a while yet. Rumours are that has a lively social life which is frowned upon

Sajan

Regarding Anderson I think he had been with Swansea for a while before it was actually announced.

Mr Alan

The lively social life thing gets mentioned a lot in regards to him alright, no smoke without fire and all that!

darkskol

Just saw that its back
I think tomorrow will be close 1-0 or 2-1 to Pool

Thanx 4 The Fish

Just got setanta there today, when does the LFC tv channel start broadcasting then ?

Thanx 4 The Fish

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

I think Mike65 should be allowed start this...

millersangel wrote:

I was actually just thinking the same thing!

Zapp Brannigan wrote:

Anyone else think T4tF closed the old thread just so he could start a new one

mike65 wrote:

T4tF Pm-ed me after the old one got closed offering me the oppotunity to kick-of the new thread. I declined saying it would'nt ever be the same! sniff!
Mike.

I thought so too.

Zapp Brannigan

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote:

I thought so too.

See. See!? I knew it!

LFC TV starts in late september.
Getting excited now about the new season! C'mon the Pool!

redspider

So, a new season for Liverpool and the other top-flight teams is about to start. Yet again, a season for Liverpool where fan demands will be high, and (new) club owner expectations will be high, yet vying to do well in both the League and the CL will be a difficult task.

Has Rafa/Owners bought wel, so farl? Torres is 'unproven' in this league and will take time to adapt. Babel and Voronin also, the latter may gel better. But, the outcome is unknown really. Benayoun is a known quantity but I cant see him making that much of a difference, surely.

There's also been a swathe of leavers such as Bellamy, Cisse, Pongolle, Garcia, Zenden and Gonzalez. These were no slouches.

I cant see us making a step change in improvement (ie: 3rd to 1st) with so many personnel changes. A slick working team will take a while to develop, and may not in one season, and it will be the usual problem of what is our best 11. Rafa will 'tinker'.

So, predictions:

Liverpool may do okay but with a yet another new team it is likely to be yet another year of 'transition'. 3rd would be good and a challenge at the title least would be all I would be looking for. A good run in the CL is also vital for the dosh and I would expect Rafa to optimize on that if the league tilt isn't looking so viable come March/April.

You cant go far wrong with predicting either Man Utd or Chelsea to win it though as much as that may be unpalatable to many. I think it will be a closer comp this year, as Chelsea are clearly not what they were, a lot will depend on Drogba and it remains to be seen if Shevcenko will do the biz or not and how other new acquisitions will fit in. Robben might leave as well.

Man Utd have strengthened but both Giggs and Scholes are a year older and they played their part last time. And surely defenders will learn to tackle C.Ronaldo when he's doing the step-overs rather than watching and waiting for him to finish. Tevez may get them a few, and he will be Rooney-like. Torres may be a more refined player, time will tell, but Tevez certaubly could have done a job for Liverpool. You certainly couldn't discount Man Utd and they have got to be slight favourites.

Arsenal will miss Henry, even though he wasnt himself last season, and the young lads may not be able to produce the goods on a consistent basis. I could see them winning a cup though with the right draw. They may be in the fight for 4th/5th as some have pointed out, but could also be in the 2nd/3rd battle, and maybe its Liverpool who will be tussling with the likes of Spurs.

Newcastle are due an improved season, but it remains to be seen how much.

Sund-ireland for mid-table would seem doable. Their (business) plan now is to crack into Uefa in the next two years. Its interesting to see how an Irish-ran club will fare in the long-term.

Can Spurs really break into a CL spot? I hope they do it, but not at Liverpool's expense. Arsenal I wouldn't mind, but "I would love it, love it" if it was Chelsea or Man Utd. ;-)

Lets hope there is some good football played .....

Redspider

~Rebel~

Yeah really excited about opening day. this is the first time in a while all our new players have been added in nicely before the window shut. Very excited about our squad, we can put out 2 very good teams (except for CB) which i've never really been able to say before.
In theory (gonna count carson for this)

Reina

---

Carson

Finnan

---

Arbeloa
Carragher

---

Agger
Paletta/Hobbs

---

Hypia
Auralio

---

Riise

Pennant

---

Benayoun
Mascherano

---

Alonso
Gerrard

---

Lucas/Sissoko
Babel

---

Kewell

Torres

---

Kuyt
Voronin

---

Crouch

mike65

CB is indeed looking rather thin, I'm surprised rafa has'nt addressed this area before now rather than mess about with Heinze transfer. Paletta is arguably the weakest member of the first team squad.

Mike.

Drag00n79

Great to have this back. The last few weeks were like being evicted from your house!!

Drag00n79

Just a heads up on this, the Toulouse - Liverpool Champions League Qualifier is live next Wednesday on both ITV1 and Setanta Sports 1 (K.O. 3.30).
ITV1 is definitely doing the second leg live too on Tuesday 28th August (K.O. 8.05). No word from RTÉ on either yet.

Malice

Great to see the new thread back. I missed it! I'm going to go with a 1-0 victory for Liverpool tomorrow. Villa will probably (hopefully) play a bit more positively that Sheffield Utd did in last season's opener. Hopefully no dodgy early season performances this time around. Torres to score a scrappy goal in the second half and the papers to go overboard proclaiming him to be the new Keegan/DalglishRush/Fowler etc.

The Rooster

marco_polo wrote:

My guess at the starting lineup:

---

Reina

---

---

Finnan

---

Carragher

---

Agger

---

Riise

---

Pennant

---

Gerrard

---

Mascherano

---

Benayoun

---

Kuyt----Torres

---

That would be my guess too, with the exception of Alonso in for Mascho. I'd say Mascho will come in for the Chelsea game, with Gerrard going wide. Crouch will start against Toulouse as the foreigners have more problems with his awkwardness. I'd say Kewell and Arbeloa will start against Toulouse also.

I've a bad feeling we'll start with a scoreless draw against Villa. Hope I'm wrong. In normal circumstances draws away to Villa and home to Chelsea wouldnt be bad results - but it would probably leave us 7 points behind the mancs already, and that would be very bad!