Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

mike65

I'm wondering if a seige mentality/esprite de corp has spread among the sqaud and manager. Lets show them Yanks by scoring like crazy.

Mike.

Guy:Incognito

mike65 wrote: »

I'm wondering if a seige mentality/esprite de corp has spread among the sqaud and manager. Lets show them Yanks by scoring like crazy.

Mike.

Show them they dont need to give rafa any more money because we are doing fine as is?

Brando_ie

Stekelly wrote: »

Show them they dont need to give rafa any more money because we are doing fine as is?

Fake boardroom angst FTW

machiavellianme

Stekelly wrote: »

Plus a goal and a clean sheet means that young finnish centre half has a great career stretching ahead of him as 1st choice with Carra.

He's now our third best scorer in FF (61pts) after Pepe and Stevie G. Not bad for someone who wasnt expected to feature much this year and then scored OGs aplenty on his return. Hobbs was pretty good today imo. Blocked a couple of shots and seemed to have good positional sense.

Harry, Torres and Gerrard were immense. Hardly noticed Yossi or Lucas were even playing. Arbeloa impressed me for the first time today but Risse was wasteful. Not much between Crouch or Kuyt. Neither had a particularly good or bad spell while Babel did well, despite running straight into defenders on more than one occasion. He could do with bulking up and learning to stay on his feet a bit more.

adox

kaimera wrote: »

Level on points with Utd with a game in hand. I'm still happy out thus far

Same amount of games played actually.:D

mike65

Liverpool have scored 50 goals as of now and conceeded 13 in all competiton.

Mike.

Jazzy

we are doing well, but to keep up we have to be consistent. consistency has been our problem the past couple of seasons and like Inter in Seira A, we tend to stuff it up like old ladies. I think if we remain unbeaten to the Utd fixture and take 3 points from them we can genuinely say we are competing for the title.

cant wait for the Utd game now actually its going to be immense

kaimera

adox wrote: »

Same amount of games played actually.:D

Utd playing tomorrow right?

I'd call that a game in hand so.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Great seats, great game, great result, atmosphere was brilliant and alot of support for Rafa. Disappointed with Riise, did not think he added much today, thought Kewell was superb today mind, he worked hard and created chances.hat much of an influence on them then keep loaning him out and don't sell him

What is the difference between the team we beat tonight and the one that beat United ? Only think I can think of is Guthrie, if he is t

We have not got a game in hand over United but we are ahead of them in the league, and the United game on the 16th (I think) will be massive.

Rockee

Mr Alan wrote: »

ha ha ha ha! :D:D:D

Who was that English lad in the MIDDLE too? dictating all the play and being involved in all four goals, he didnt look like a half decent prospect!

Haha!! Yes, young Gerrard I believe Im surprised the anti-Gerrard club havent been on boards yet today!

Delighted though with the win, United shall be a cracking game!

Jazzy

ah yeah g-unit played well

i love him on the pitch and such... he should just have a talking in public ban imposed

Thanx 4 The Fish

Good assist, surprised that he is not letting anybody else on the pens. Is it greed, confidence or has he got himself in the fantasy footy ?

Melion

Can someone dig up the posts from a few weeks ago from the doom merchants saying we were out of the race and United were so much better than us there was no way we would catch them or Arsenal.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Nahhh, that would be churlish..

Jazzy

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Good assist, surprised that he is not letting anybody else on the pens. Is it greed, confidence or has he got himself in the fantasy footy ?

i reckon its because the team and rafa believe that he is the best person to take them. in that case swing away stevie... swing away

~Rebel~

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Good assist, surprised that he is not letting anybody else on the pens. Is it greed, confidence or has he got himself in the fantasy footy ?

I think I recall Rafa mentioning a few weeks ago that he picks the player to take pens in each game, based on their form and how they're getting on in training.

Dub13

If anybody has the Derby County credit on there fancard the tickets for the Man Utd game are online now,they are not meant to be up online ontill tomorrow.I all ready got fixed up with a ticket for the Kop for this game but I picked up a spare tonight,I am sure I will get rid of it.

Melion

Dub13 wrote: »

If anybody has the Derby County credit on there fancard the tickets for the Man Utd game are online now,they are not meant to be up online ontill tomorrow.I all ready got fixed up with a ticket for the Kop for this game but I picked up a spare tonight,I am sure I will get rid of it.

Are you trying to sell it?
Can i get first refusal by any chance?

Dub13

Melion wrote: »

Are you trying to sell it?
Can i get first refusal by any chance?

All my spares go to the IrishKop.com travel club as they help me out when I am stuck....its only fair.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Fair play.

Melion

Dub13 wrote: »

All my spares go to the IrishKop.com travel club as they help me out when I am stuck....its only fair.

Yeah, no worries man. Just thought id be cheeky.

Zapp Brannigan

Just saw the highlights there: Wow! Feels so good to be a LFC supporter now. Hopefully we can keep this run going and demolish Reading and Marseille, leaving us full of confidence for the Utd. game! Can't wait for that one, unfortunately I'm in work though

Dont be at yourself

So have we turned a corner then?

Turned a corner? We're unbeaten, and we"ve barely skipped a beat in the league all season - save for a few dodgy draws weeks ago at Anfield!

I'm delighted with the start we've made. It looks like near enough the whole squad will be fit and available for the Christmas run, which is great.

The Man Yoo game is gonna be a good one. It'll be the first time in a while that both teams were so close together in the league, so it should add a little spice - not that it's needed!

redspider

Some good play and results from Liverpool in recent days. The 4-1 win in mid-week was a nice one. At times it didnt look that good though on the night as we struggled to get away from them. But once it did start rolling we ended up with a flatterring result at the end.

Torres is proving time and time again that he is the business, so Rafa will need to chose wisely the games he 'rotates' him out for. Torres is clearly our best striker. Voronin and Kuyt are too similar and blow tepid most of the time. Kuyt is having a particularly poor spell and I think Voronin is at his capacity. Crouch gives us alternatives and is a useful impact sub and very difficult for backs to defend with. Ironically, I think Bellamy would have been an ideal partner for Torres with his good pace as well, but c'est la vie.

A solid win against Bolton yesterday. It would have been closer if Anelka had his sharp-shooting boots on. How he missed that chance, perhaps a hanker back to the days for playing for Liverpool and his mind subconciously would just not let him score. I still think he has an admiration for Liverpool and in a way wants them to do well, ironic as that may seem.

Torres was immense again and this time (as compared with Wed) Stevie G had his passing boots on. He played well, as did Lucas. These games are great for building up Lucas' match practice, understanding and self-confidence and all the signs are positive.

> Gerrard taking penalties, Is it greed, confidence

I think its confidence and its great to see. Its not that long ago when Gerrard missed a couple of penalties I think and passed over the responsibility. He wasnt even very comfortable with taking them in the CL final of 2005 (Alonso took the one during the game). Now he has to be held back, well, at least in league games where the pressure is 100 times less. But its all good to see.

And more good news, and a dillema, is that Masch and Alonso didnt play on Sat. That gives Rafa options, and I hope he doesnt over-tinker/rotate. Once Alonso regains his fitness there will be some difficult decisions to be made. And we could once again see Gerrard out 'wide'.

Melion wrote: »

Can someone dig up the posts from a few weeks ago from the doom merchants saying we were out of the race and United were so much better than us there was no way we would catch them or Arsenal.

I still dont think we will win the league. Its true that our form has been good of late and we have got out of the habit of those weak and tepid draws. Rafa seems to have now recognised that Torres is our best player and isnt playing Kuyt/Voronin as a forward combination, or Kuyt with Gerrard as the support in a 4-5-1. Is it possible to win the league? Yes, at this stage it is still possible. But do I think we will win it? No, I dont think we will. I can envisage, and its not hard, some of these draws coming back, the current good spell coming to an end, etc. It wont always remain this rosy. If it does, I will be more than happy to eat my words, and others will be more than welcome to label me 'ye, of little faith', etc.

Its a good run, but I'm not losing the run of myself. I dont think the players are either, and its a long way to go.

Like many other recent seasons, I think our best chance for silverware will be in a cup, but which one. The CL is on tender-hooks at the moment, and is always tough, and the FA Cup is always a dodgy one too very much depending on the draws, who and whether at home or not. There is a lot of chance and luck really. I'm not sure if the tin cup (ie: league cup) counts but I'll take it anyway. If we had've been stonger in the CL I would have suggested that, and Rafa certainly knows how to optimize our players in those 2-legged head-to-heads in the knockout stages.

Let's see .....

Redspider

Melion

I think we'll make it to the semi-finals(at the very least) of the champions league(just wait for this post to appear in the bad predictions thread). Bar the United game in 2 weeks i dont think we have a tough game(bar City away) until Chelsea on February 9th. If we could stay unbeaten until then we would be in a great position to win the league. I think it will come down to our run of fixtures at the end of March/start of April. We have United away on the 22nd March, Everton home on the 29th, Arsenal away on the 5th of April and Blackburn at home on the 12th. If we can get 7 points from those 4 game i think we'll top of the table and have a relatively easy run in after that.

Just watching the highlights now(gonna watch the full game on lfc tv in a few minutes. Torres is just out of this world, the boy is sheer class. Anyone who thinks he isnt world class needs their head examining, he is the reason we will be in the top 2 this season. Does anybody else see a bit of a partnership building with Gerrard like the one Owen used to have?

And just regarding Gerrard, the last few games have shown just why he is one of the best midfielders in the world today, the slating he got after the England game was a joke. The posts on here about him being dropped etc are hilarious now looking back, shame on those who posted them(wont name names though).

raven136

Melion wrote: »

I think we'll make it to the semi-finals(at the very least) of the champions league(just wait for this post to appear in the bad predictions thread). Bar the United game in 2 weeks i dont think we have a tough game(bar City away) until Chelsea on February 9th. If we could stay unbeaten until then we would be in a great position to win the league. I think it will come down to our run of fixtures at the end of March/start of April. We have United away on the 22nd March, Everton home on the 29th, Arsenal away on the 5th of April and Blackburn at home on the 12th. If we can get 7 points from those 4 game i think we'll top of the table and have a relatively easy run in after that.

Just watching the highlights now(gonna watch the full game on lfc tv in a few minutes. Torres is just out of this world, the boy is sheer class. Anyone who thinks he isnt world class needs their head examining, he is the reason we will be in the top 2 this season. Does anybody else see a bit of a partnership building with Gerrard like the one Owen used to have?

And just regarding Gerrard, the last few games have shown just why he is one of the best midfielders in the world today, the slating he got after the England game was a joke. The posts on here about him being dropped etc are hilarious now looking back, shame on those who posted them(wont name names though).

im not gerarrds biggest fan,he talks too much,moans about his position and has publicly undermined the boss on numerous occasions but he is integral to us. But he simply does not perform the way we need in the big games.Against the uniteds,arsenals etc he has to have a masch/alonso alongside him but its just something we have to accept.He deserved the abuse after the england game as did all the players,no leadership,no brains and they got what they deserved.Also the lst few games have been besikas,porto,bolton and fulham,its not like he was playing against kaka:D

Melion

raven136 wrote: »

im not gerarrds biggest fan,he talks too much,moans about his position and has publicly undermined the boss on numerous occasions but he is integral to us. But he simply does not perform the way we need in the big games.Against the uniteds,arsenals etc he has to have a masch/alonso alongside him but its just something we have to accept.He deserved the abuse after the england game as did all the players,no leadership,no brains and they got what they deserved.Also the lst few games have been besikas,porto,bolton and fulham,its not like he was playing against kaka:D

He "undermined" Rafa after the derby, check out the run he has been on since that game. He is right to moan about being played out of position. Would Wenger play Fabregas on the right side of midfield, Would Ferguson play Scholes on the right, Would Grant play Lampard on the right. No they wouldnt, so why the hell should we play our best midfielder on the right side?

raven136

Melion wrote: »

He "undermined" Rafa after the derby, check out the run he has been on since that game. He is right to moan about being played out of position. Would Wenger play Fabregas on the right side of midfield, Would Ferguson play Scholes on the right, Would Grant play Lampard on the right. No they wouldnt, so why the hell should we play our best midfielder on the right side?

he undermined rafa by saying torres should play every game when the media were on rafa's back about rotating,he says he doesnt feel the love from rafa in his book.How many times has scholes outplayed him in the united game?To answer your question,no rafa shouldnt play our best midfielder out of postion and thats why you never see Alonso out wide right.Listen i thin k he is fantastic and hope he can do what he did against fulham and bolton against united and then away to chelsea and arsenal.

mike65

Oh deary me. Gerrard is both overrated and underated. When he is in the zone he's unstoppable when its "one of those games" he's better off on the bench. The best way to accomodate him is proberly as part of a flexible 4-1-2-1-2 arrangment.

---

GK
LB--CB--CB---RB

---

DM
LW

---

RW

---

Gerrard
----CF---CF

Mike.

~Rebel~

What i'd love for our team in we'll say 2 years time would be;

---

Reina
Arbeloa--Carra--Agger--Insua/Aurelio

---

Masch

---

Alonso/Lucas
---Babel--Gerrard--Benzema

---

Torres

Looks a world class team there with just 1 additional player. This is taking into account that Babel Lucas and Insua would progress as expected. Think would put the fear of god into all teams and plays to everyone's strengths as well with Torres not really being a lone forward since Babel and Benzema are both very much WF's.

Daemonic

IMO Gerrard's greatest strength and weakness is his all action, be everywhere style. Against teams with a weaker midfield such as Bolton yesterday, Gerrard haring about with one player holding the central role is fine. Against stronger teams where a little more discipline is needed a midfield of Masherano for defensive duties, Alonso/Lucas as playmaker and Gerrard doing what he does best, running full tilt at the opposition is for me the best option.
That and Torres has to play every game he possibly can. His confidence and ability seems to lift the rest of the team. It's starting to look promising...

Tusky

redspider wrote: »

Some good play and results from Liverpool in recent days. The 4-1 win in mid-week was a nice one. At times it didnt look that good though on the night as we struggled to get away from them. But once it did start rolling we ended up with a flatterring result at the end.

Torres is proving time and time again that he is the business, so Rafa will need to chose wisely the games he 'rotates' him out for. Torres is clearly our best striker. Voronin and Kuyt are too similar and blow tepid most of the time. Kuyt is having a particularly poor spell and I think Voronin is at his capacity. Crouch gives us alternatives and is a useful impact sub and very difficult for backs to defend with. Ironically, I think Bellamy would have been an ideal partner for Torres with his good pace as well, but c'est la vie.

A solid win against Bolton yesterday. It would have been closer if Anelka had his sharp-shooting boots on. How he missed that chance, perhaps a hanker back to the days for playing for Liverpool and his mind subconciously would just not let him score. I still think he has an admiration for Liverpool and in a way wants them to do well, ironic as that may seem.

Torres was immense again and this time (as compared with Wed) Stevie G had his passing boots on. He played well, as did Lucas. These games are great for building up Lucas' match practice, understanding and self-confidence and all the signs are positive.

> Gerrard taking penalties, Is it greed, confidence

I think its confidence and its great to see. Its not that long ago when Gerrard missed a couple of penalties I think and passed over the responsibility. He wasnt even very comfortable with taking them in the CL final of 2005 (Alonso took the one during the game). Now he has to be held back, well, at least in league games where the pressure is 100 times less. But its all good to see.

And more good news, and a dillema, is that Masch and Alonso didnt play on Sat. That gives Rafa options, and I hope he doesnt over-tinker/rotate. Once Alonso regains his fitness there will be some difficult decisions to be made. And we could once again see Gerrard out 'wide'.




I still dont think we will win the league. Its true that our form has been good of late and we have got out of the habit of those weak and tepid draws. Rafa seems to have now recognised that Torres is our best player and isnt playing Kuyt/Voronin as a forward combination, or Kuyt with Gerrard as the support in a 4-5-1. Is it possible to win the league? Yes, at this stage it is still possible. But do I think we will win it? No, I dont think we will. I can envisage, and its not hard, some of these draws coming back, the current good spell coming to an end, etc. It wont always remain this rosy. If it does, I will be more than happy to eat my words, and others will be more than welcome to label me 'ye, of little faith', etc.

Its a good run, but I'm not losing the run of myself. I dont think the players are either, and its a long way to go.

Like many other recent seasons, I think our best chance for silverware will be in a cup, but which one. The CL is on tender-hooks at the moment, and is always tough, and the FA Cup is always a dodgy one too very much depending on the draws, who and whether at home or not. There is a lot of chance and luck really. I'm not sure if the tin cup (ie: league cup) counts but I'll take it anyway. If we had've been stonger in the CL I would have suggested that, and Rafa certainly knows how to optimize our players in those 2-legged head-to-heads in the knockout stages.

Let's see .....

Redspider

Must be pretty boring being the type of fan that you seem to be. After every single game you reiterate that you don't think Liverpool will win the league. Why exactly do you feel the need to do this ?

When we were not playing well it was "we wont win the league, were not playing well enough". Now that we are playing well its "The good form wont last". Its such a pessimistic attitude.

There are 4 teams that can win the league this season. Its too close to call in my opinion and its only December so I'm just going to wait and see what happens.

raven136 wrote: »

im not gerarrds biggest fan,he talks too much,moans about his position and has publicly undermined the boss on numerous occasions but he is integral to us. But he simply does not perform the way we need in the big games.Against the uniteds,arsenals etc he has to have a masch/alonso alongside him but its just something we have to accept.He deserved the abuse after the england game as did all the players,no leadership,no brains and they got what they deserved.Also the lst few games have been besikas,porto,bolton and fulham,its not like he was playing against kaka:D

What about the champions league final or the FA cup final ? No player always plays well. Its because we used to be so reliant (and in some ways still are) in Gerrard that when he doesn't play well, everyone notices as it effects the team so much. Playing well against lesser teams counts as well you know ? Ronaldo, one of the best players in the world has forged a career by taking apart lesser teams. Doesnt make him any less of a player in my opinion.

Gerrard has scored 8 goals in his last 9 games and has got SIX direct assists in his last two games. Along with Torres, Fabregas, Ronaldo, Rooney & Drogba he is among the top on form attacking players in the league at the minute.

shotamoose

Tusky wrote: »

Must be pretty boring being the type of fan that you seem to be. After every single game you reiterate that you don't think Liverpool will win the league. Why exactly do you feel the need to do this ?

Yeah I suppose being bipolar is probably more 'interesting'. FFS, you're basically criticising him for being level-headed and not getting carried away. FWIW, I'm with him - I don't think we'll win the league but would be delighted to be proved wrong.

sweetie

Tusky wrote: »

Gerrard has scored 8 goals in his last 9 games and has got SIX direct assists in his last two games. Along with Torres, Fabregas, Ronaldo, Rooney & Drogba he is among the top on form attacking players in the league at the minute.

... and Robbie Keane :eek:

I'm happy enough that we are still in touch and also playing good football and creating and finishing lots of chances. It'd important to enjoy watching your team playing regardless of results.

Tusky

shotamoose wrote: »

Yeah I suppose being bipolar is probably more 'interesting'. FFS, you're basically criticising him for being level-headed and not getting carried away. FWIW, I'm with him - I don't think we'll win the league but would be delighted to be proved wrong.

I havent seen anybody on this thread saying 'we are going to win the league'. I dont think anyone is getting carried away. For all I know we could pick up some injuries and finish 5th or 6th. I just dont see the need to constantly be so pesimistic. Lets just enjoy the good form that we are in now and see what happens.

sweetie wrote: »

... and Robbie Keane :eek:

I'm happy enough that we are still in touch and also playing good football and creating and finishing lots of chances. It'd important to enjoy watching your team playing regardless of results.

Aye, top scorer. Should have included him.

lpool2k05

Tusky wrote: »

I havent seen anybody on this thread saying 'we are going to win the league'.

We are going to win the league!!!:D:D:D:D

redspider

Tusky wrote:

Must be pretty boring being the type of fan that you seem to be. After every single game you reiterate that you don't think Liverpool will win the league. Why exactly do you feel the need to do this?

I dont feel any "need to do this" - the question was asked by Mellion "where are the doom-merchants?" so I gave an answer of sorts. I am not a doom-merchant, nor a pessimist. I try to be a realist at all times. Of course I think Liverpool can win something this season, and have the capability to do so. I just dont think that it will be in the league given what we have seen so far. I dont go on about it, and would be more than happy to be wrong and see us winning the league. Things are looking better right now, and lets hope they continue in that vein. That's certainly what I want , but whether that happens or not only time will tell. But I'll certainly enjoy the trip along the way ..... there is nothing boring about Liverpool games from my angle ....

Redspider

Jazzy

unrealistic liverpool fans = smug and up themselves Utd fans

IrishMike

unrealistic liverpool fans > smug and up themselves Utd fans !!!!

mike65

The playground is outside lads.

Mike.

Tusky

redspider wrote: »

I dont feel any "need to do this" - the question was asked by Mellion "where are the doom-merchants?" so I gave an answer of sorts. I am not a doom-merchant, nor a pessimist. I try to be a realist at all times. Of course I think Liverpool can win something this season, and have the capability to do so. I just dont think that it will be in the league given what we have seen so far. I dont go on about it, and would be more than happy to be wrong and see us winning the league. Things are looking better right now, and lets hope they continue in that vein. That's certainly what I want , but whether that happens or not only time will tell. But I'll certainly enjoy the trip along the way ..... there is nothing boring about Liverpool games from my angle ....

Redspider

Fair enough. I always find your posts to be well thought out & well laid out. Maybe I was being unfair in lumping you in with the typical 'we are ****', 'gerrard is best player in the world' sort of Liverpool fan. After each of your match reports though, you always seem to say '...but we aren't going to win the league'. I just don't feel there is need for that considering how close it is.

jesus_thats_gre

Liverpool could win the league if quite a few things go in their favour but I honestly do not think that it is likely.

mickith

hey everyone
couldnt find a thread or a sticky on this so apologies if there is one already
was wonderin what would be the cheapest way of getting tickets for a game in anfield
was thinkin about the sunderland game on the 2nd of feb i think it is
now i no ya can do it through the site and ring up for general sale but was hoping to get them for christmas time.not too sure if it would be possible or not
was on one of the english ticket sites and they were lookin for something like £130 for one ticket!
looking for different options if anyone nos of any
thanks in advance

just thought id post this pic.brilliant:p

Mr Alan

Ok, read something on another site that got me thinking.....

Does anyone think that Rafa may not want Mascherano? Lucas is getting as much game time as him, and looks pretty much as good, and younger.

Gerrard/Alonso/Mascherano/Lucas/Sissoko.

Thats how I'd rate em at the minute, and would love Momo to be sold and Mascherano to be ours proper, BUT maybe Rafa think that 17 million would be better spent in another position?

Just thinking out loud really, but it would explain all the game time Lucas has been getting the last few weeks, testing the water, if you will.

Although, hasnt Rafa actually said he does want him full time? Ah ****e, i'm talking gibberish, i need to go to bed.

zing

Haven't we had enough conspiracy theories recently ?

Just can't see Rafa not wanting Masch - particularly if it meant keeping Momo instead of him. IMO Lucas is getting the game time for two reasons - 1) his quality and ability & 2) Xabi being unavailable. Not saying that Xabi would keep him out of the team but there'd just be further competition for places.

One of them will go soon and like most people I reckon it's likely to be Momo. However if Lucas continues to improve it would not surprise me to see Xabi also being sold within 18 months.

Tusky

Mr Alan wrote: »

Ok, read something on another site that got me thinking.....

Does anyone think that Rafa may not want Mascherano? Lucas is getting as much game time as him, and looks pretty much as good, and younger.

Gerrard/Alonso/Mascherano/Lucas/Sissoko.

Thats how I'd rate em at the minute, and would love Momo to be sold and Mascherano to be ours proper, BUT maybe Rafa think that 17 million would be better spent in another position?

Just thinking out loud really, but it would explain all the game time Lucas has been getting the last few weeks, testing the water, if you will.

Although, hasnt Rafa actually said he does want him full time? Ah ****e, i'm talking gibberish, i need to go to bed.

Youre talking out of your arse to be honest

Lucas wasnt played against Bolton because Rafa went for an attacking lineup. Crouch, Torres, Benayoun, Kewell, Gerrard, Lucas. Mascherano wasnt needed as Bolton didnt really pose a threat. I would bet my house on Mascherano starting against Man Utd for example.

Its hardly as if Lucas had been getting THAT much game time. Mascherano has played far more often.

IrishMike

Lucas has only had 3 starts this season if memory serves me.
He is still only finding his feet and hasnt really given the kind of performance to suggest
he is anywhere near Alonso's level or ever will be. You do realise you are talking about
selling one of the 3 or 4 best central midfielders in Europe based on the performance
of Lucas in 3 games??
There is a better chance of Anfield being sold than Alonso

redspider

> Does anyone think that Rafa may not want Mascherano?

I think he does want him but whether Liverpool FC will have the budget for the price that MSI/Corinthians/Joorabchian demand is another story. Dealing with MSI is tricky at the best of times. It all depends on the price really. Perhaps another loan is doable.

I think the Owners would probably prefer only 4 central midfielders for those 2 places. That would mean that Sissoko should be sold. However, in matches where our tactic is just to break down the oppositions play and keep them at bay, Sissoko is the best at doing that with his long legs and athleticism, as long as he can make a 4 yard pass for someone else to then pass it properly. However, we dont have enough of those types of games though and Masch is not bad at that role either, although he is a far lesser physical presence, more of a fiesty worker. If Lucas continues to develop as he is going now, things are looking good for him and Sissoko is down the pecking order.

I think with Stevie G/Alonso/Mascherano/Lucas, we have a very strong central midfield cohort, with skills, options, capacity/depth for rests/rotation, etc. If we had similar strength levels in all other areas of the pitch, we would be very good indeed.

Redspider

~Rebel~

Not a chance will Masch go if its at all possible to keep him.

Even if Rafa had decided Masch wasn't in his future plans (which i doubt is the case), it just makes sense to buy him at a very good price. He could be sold on in a years time for a profit, and to a club of our choosing (important point, dont want Man U picking him up from Joorabchian).

IrishMike

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Not a chance will Masch go if its at all possible to keep him.

Even if Rafa had decided Masch wasn't in his future plans, it just makes sense to buy him at a very good price. He could be sold on in a years time for a profit, and to a club of our choosing (important point, dont want Man U picking him up from Joorabchian).

Only thing i will say on that Rebel is how good a price is it?
€17 million seems an awful amount of money for a defensive midfielder.
I know he is only 23 but playing it around in my head i find it very hard to
justify that kind of outlay.
An example is Yaya Toure at Barcelona. He is very Sissoko like but is also
actually able to pass the ball!
A player like him could replace both Mascherano and Sissoko and he cost less
than €7 million.
Not for a second doubting Mascherano but just wondering if we are paying
Carrick money for the guy?