Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

Tusky

PHB wrote: »

He did, and he was utterly immense. Incredible performance. I'm very hopeful about Newcastle tonight, if only it were anybody but Newcastle :P

Indeed. Although a Newcastle backlash has to happen sometime, lets hope its tonight. Also, if there is a good time to play Arsenal, its now.

Tusky

Tusky wrote: »

Indeed. Although a Newcastle backlash has to happen sometime, lets hope its tonight. Also, if there is a good time to play Arsenal, its now.

I wasn't going to go out to watch this game even though my best mate kept annoying me about it(Newcastle fan). I have a funny feeling they will get a result so I'll be going out with him accompanied by 7 Arsenal fans. Come on the magpies lol

AdrianII

PHB wrote: »

Realistically I think we'll see Torres rested for the CL game. Especially considering United will be sending out kids against Roma.

Never, el nino will play both games, score in both and we will be victorious in both - i hope

~Rebel~

PHB wrote:

Realistically I think we'll see Torres rested for the CL game. Especially considering United will be sending out kids against Roma.

Id be astonished and very annoyed if he didn't start that game. Its one thing going out of the champions league having done our best, its another to have a great chance to get out of the group on the last day and resting one of our best on form players. Whats it worth to make it to the next round? 10million? 20?

Id prefer he starts all 3 to be honest, as was said go straight out against Reading, try for an early lead and then take him off at half time or an hour.

For Arsenal Newcastle, i wouldn't be too surprised by a draw, or even a Newky win, with them going on to be rubbish at the weekend again.

emc2

Parry has come out and rubbished the Capello rumours this morning

From RTE.ie .......


Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has written off speculation that Fabio Capello has been approached about becoming manager as 'absolutely, completely and utterly untrue'.

Reports this morning claimed the Italian, one of the favourites to be named the new England boss, had been contacted both before and after last week's Champions League win over Porto.

The move was said to have been prompted by current manager Rafael Benitez's row with club owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett over transfers.

whatawaster

PHB wrote: »

Realistically I think we'll see Torres rested for the CL game. Especially considering United will be sending out kids against Roma.

nah there's five days between the games, plenty of time, allowing us to play our strongest players in both.

mike65

I was just on the wiki Liverpool page an spotted that Rafa has the highest win % of any manager apart from Dalglish*! 56.98% v 60.61%. He's better than I thought

Mike.

*W. E. Barclay and John McKenna also higher in the 19th century.

Unearthly

whatawaster wrote: »

nah there's five days between the games, plenty of time, allowing us to play our strongest players in both.

Very true

Stop the resting nonsense, 2 crunch games and not even halfway through the season, no Liverpool player should feel tired

cson

PHB wrote: »

He did, and he was utterly immense. Incredible performance. I'm very hopeful about Newcastle tonight, if only it were anybody but Newcastle :P

98% Pass Success rate. Something like 39/40 or thereabouts.

Mike65 wrote:

I was just on the wiki Liverpool page an spotted that Rafa has the highest win % of any manager apart from Dalglish*! 56.98% v 60.61%. He's better than I thought

He's clocked up a lot of points without ever threatening to win the title. If you get me

whatawaster

cson wrote: »

98% Pass Success rate. Something like 39/40 or thereabouts.




He's clocked up a lot of points without ever threatening to win the title. If you get me

with two points for a win back in Shankly/Paisley's days you didn't need to win as often - just not lose.

PHB

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Whats it worth to make it to the next round? 10million? 20?

It's worth an extra 20 million to win the thing. To get to the next round (and realistically the round after that) is worth an extra five million. This is Rafa's choice he has to make. Does he prioritise the league ahead of the Champions League? IMO he should, Torres rested mid week would make him much sharper in the game against United.

Id prefer he starts all 3 to be honest, as was said go straight out against Reading, try for an early lead and then take him off at half time or an hour.

3 games in 7 days is a lot, especially when you consider that two of them are away. Leaving Torres out of one of those games would really help, especially for a player that bases so much of his game on pace etc, rests make a big difference.

StickyMcGinty

PHB wrote: »

It's worth an extra 20 million to win the thing. To get to the next round (and realistically the round after that) is worth an extra five million. This is Rafa's choice he has to make. Does he prioritise the league ahead of the Champions League? IMO he should, Torres rested mid week would make him much sharper in the game against United.

aye, i'd say most supporters would be with you on that point too - the league should be his main focus this season.

but Rafa has a serious horn for the Champions league, and he knows that to get a decent kitty in January/Summer he'll have to get to the knockout stages at the very least

~Rebel~

Realistically if he's to be rested for one, it has to be the Reading game. Its the only one we should really be winning comfortably enough without Torres.

Marseille game is too big and we saw the quality of football they're capable of playing at Anfield, so we really need to be giving them something to worry about up front in that one.


If he HAD to be dropped for one, personally I'd go for;
Reading; Crouch and Kuyt
Marseille; Torres and Kuyt
Man U; Crouch and Torres

whatawaster

PHB wrote: »

3 games in 7 days is a lot, especially when you consider that two of them are away. Leaving Torres out of one of those games would really help, especially for a player that bases so much of his game on pace etc, rests make a big difference.

60 minutes v Reading, 60 minutes v Marseille and 90 mins v United should be no trouble in 8 days, with a 7 day rest afterwards.

PHB

I like the assumption that the Reading game and the Marseille game will be won in 60 minutes, while you might be that confident, there is no doubt that Rafa doesn't think like that.

Personally I don't see Crouch playing against United, I think Kuyt will be there.

Jazzy

PHB wrote: »

IMO he should, Torres rested mid week would make him much sharper in the game against United.

nah, dont agree.
I think he should be on the bench vs. reading and come on after 60/70 minutes. he should also deffo play against marseille and if he gets a goal in either match he'll be as sharp as he needs to be to do one against big rio

resting him would be a paranoid mistake. i dont see wayne rooney getting rested for the PL and if we wanna keep pace with Utd. and co. then we have to do the same.

PHB

resting him would be a paranoid mistake. i dont see wayne rooney getting rested for the PL and if we wanna keep pace with Utd. and co. then we have to do the same.

Rooney will be rested against Roma. If the Roma game mattered, I really think we'd see Ronaldo and Rooney not playing this weekend against Derby.

Tusky

As has said before, If hes going to be rested at all, it HAS to be against Reading.

However, I think if we go all out against Reading we should be able be able to get a couple of goals in the first half or before 60 minutes. Bring him off and same again against Marseille. From what I have read, that Marseille performance was a bit of a freak incident. I just checked their results since our game and they pan out like this - W3 D4 L4. They are currently 16th in the French league, 2 places and 2 points above religation zone. Their totals for the season in the league are W4 D6 L6 and their home form in the league is W2 D3 L2.

I don't think its unreasonable for us to be pretty confident going into this game and as with Reading, I think we should be able to get a couple of early goals and bring Fernando off with the Utd game in mind. I don't think its going to be easy but Marseille were definitely punching above their weight at Anfield.

The Liverpool they played at Anfield is massively different to the team they will play next week in terms of form and mentality.

whatawaster

PHB wrote: »

I like the assumption that the Reading game and the Marseille game will be won in 60 minutes, while you might be that confident, there is no doubt that Rafa doesn't think like that.

Personally I don't see Crouch playing against United, I think Kuyt will be there.

Definitely, crouch should play against Marseille though but against United it'll be a midfield three (Mascherano, lucas or Sissoko and Gerrard), Torres up top on his own, Kewell and Kuyt on the wings. Probably. Our best available line-up i think.

God i hope Agger is back by then.

walshki

whatawaster wrote: »

Definitely, crouch should play against Marseille though but against United it'll be a midfield three (Mascherano, lucas or Sissoko and Gerrard), Torres up top on his own, Kewell and Kuyt on the wings. Probably. Our best available line-up i think.

God i hope Agger is back by then.

Is Xabi Alonso not due back by the united game?

whatawaster

walshki wrote: »

Is Xabi Alonso not due back by the united game?

don't think so, and even so, we don't want him hobbling off like the arsenal game so maybe its best not to risk him.

IrishMike

walshki wrote: »

Is Xabi Alonso not due back by the united game?

Yeah but no point risking him.
Better off resting until the bigger games

Tusky

walshki wrote: »

Is Xabi Alonso not due back by the united game?

X Alonso Metatarsal Fracture 28th Dec 07
D Agger Metatarsal Fracture 8th Dec 07

mike65

Not sure I'd want Agger back for that game either to be honest.

Mike.

Jesus Wept

Result: Newcastle 1-1 Arsenal

Tusky

The-Rigger wrote: »

Result: Newcastle 1-1 Arsenal

good stuff!

Thanx 4 The Fish

well it certainly shows that they are not unstoppable. I would like to se agger fit for the Man United game, we have not got a lot of pace back there, well certainly in the middle and Agger certainly has that to burn. Only thing I suppose is that it may mean changing a very well working partnership at that stage.

Dont be at yourself

I wouldn't like to see Agger making his return against Man Yoo. Hyypia's cool head might be an advantage. I'd rest Carra against Reading, because nobody wants to see him pick up the yellow, it'd be a disaster.

I don't care if Torres is rested against Marseille either. I'd like to see Crouch started, and I think he'd do the job. Liverpool should be able to beat Marseille without Torres - and even if they don't, it's not the end of our season. People have often been critical of Rafa for favouring the CL, and I think it's unfair to criticise him if he fields a somewhat weakened team with an eye on the Utd game. Fergie has said he'll be fielding a weakened team at Roma, and that could prove decisive.

yayamark

New Manager Alert

http://www.liverpoolpies.tv/2007/12/fabio_cappello_news_special.html

In the past 24 hours, we've been hearing some dark rumblings about Fabio Cappello coming to Liverpool. If that was the case then I'd reckon the chances were that Rafa was a strong
contender for the England job.

With all the rubbish that's happened inside Anfield in the past fortnight I don't know whether to believe this or dismiss it out of hand. I'd be very sad if it was true, very sad.

Rafa's said he wants to stay. Parry has said that they haven't even spoken to Cappello. Cappello doesn't know anything about it. So where exactly has this story come from? We all know with football that rumours and smoke don't come without fire so who's the one stirring things. Who is the mystery source?

We've found references to the Cappello story from at least five different places today. I'm not going to make a judgement about this until I know more about it. I'll let you read and make your own mind up.

Jazzy

PHB wrote: »

Rooney will be rested against Roma. If the Roma game mattered, I really think we'd see Ronaldo and Rooney not playing this weekend against Derby.

wat? and only win 2-0 instead of 5-0 ?
i think we have to respect reading though. and kuyt isnt exactly on ideal form

Dont be at yourself

We all know with football that rumours and smoke don't come without fire

Most would say that the exact opposite is true, I would imagine.

Jesus Wept

Here is my 3cents.

The story I saw linked from here stated that Cappello has said that he was contacted prior to and after the Porto game.

Now why on earth would Cappello say such a thing?
It makes no sense.

If he was contacted, it makes no sense to say so because it shows your potential employers
that you can't stfu about things that you should stay quiet about.

If you aren't interested in the job in question, it shows all other clubs that you can't stfu about things you should keep quiet about.

In conclusion, Cappello has most likely said nothing of the sort.

IrishMike

Plus capello doesnt speak a word of english.
Cant see how the hell they would replace a manager mid-season with someone who
cant even communicate with his players.

A load of hot air tbh

xabi

When is our game in hand against West Ham being played?

zing

xabi wrote: »

When is our game in hand against West Ham being played?

Don't think it's been scheduled yet.

Spud83

My guess regarding Capello is that his agent or somebody close to him leaked this story or put it in the press. Not because it was true, but maybe to force the FA in to contacting him reagrding the England job. That way he could find out if he was in the running for it. Just a complete guess on my part though.

mike65

If you go back a page (or two) you'll see a post about Capello yesterday and its hogwash.

Mike.

event

IrishMike wrote: »

Plus capello doesnt speak a word of english.
Cant see how the hell they would replace a manager mid-season with someone who
cant even communicate with his players.

A load of hot air tbh

spurs did that with ramos though

DeadSkin

event wrote: »

spurs did that with ramos though

Yeah, but thats Spurs for ya .

Zapp Brannigan

event wrote: »

spurs did that with ramos though

Ramos speaks english though.

Dub13

Anybody who bought tickets for the IrishKop Xmas night out the tickets are in the post.

Thanks for your support.

Jazzy

event wrote: »

spurs did that with ramos though

they also have 4 strikers, no centre backs, no left wingers and a comedy duo in the centre mid. (and we still couldnt beat them )

hoof. flick on. keane scores.
rinse lather repeat


as for capello, its just a bit of nonsense that no1 should really take notice of. (if he was to join liverpool tho we could slag utd fans about having "the best manager in the world" )

Jazzy

on another note...
I know it may be early, but what would the preferred starting XI against man yoo be? providing we stay injury free of course.

MIne:

---

Reina


-Finnan---Carragher--Hyypia/Agger---Arbeloa


-Yossi

---

Gerrard----Mascherano---Kewell--

---

Torres

---

Kuyt

---

Agger if he is fit would be 1st choice as he is pacier then hyypia so when ronaldo drifts in we will be able to catch him. Arbeloa is also better defensively then riise so with masch on the pitch as well we would be able to handle tevez / rooney / ronaldo.
Yossi has some pace and trickery and can put in a better ball then babel so he should start imo. Kewell seems really up for it these days and his passing is far better then any other left sided player we have and that could be crucial in the top 1/3 of the pitch.
Kuyt gets the nod ahead of crouch as I think Utd are too experienced to let peter move about the box and get flick ons and headers. and lets hope torres creams rio

herbieflowers

he'll probably be rested for some reason only known to Rafa Benitez...!

whatawaster

Jazzy wrote: »

on another note...
I know it may be early, but what would the preferred starting XI against man yoo be? providing we stay injury free of course.

MIne:

---

Reina


-Finnan---Carragher--Hyypia/Agger---Arbeloa


-Yossi

---

Gerrard----Mascherano---Kewell--

---

Torres

---

Kuyt

---

Lucas instead of Yossi and i'd agree with the rest. It's important we retain possession and boss the midfield, while giving Gerrard that freedom to do what he does best.

kaimera

I do hope Harry doesn't trip over himself and plays.

I think he's one of the most technically gifted players we have atm and like Jazzy said he does seem really up for it. Babel as an impact sub late works it seems so start Harry!

AdrianII

Jazzy wrote: »

on another note...
I know it may be early, but what would the preferred starting XI against man yoo be? providing we stay injury free of course.

MIne:

---

Reina


-Finnan---Carragher--Hyypia/Agger---Arbeloa


-Yossi

---

Gerrard----Mascherano---Kewell--

---

Torres

---

Kuyt

---

Agger if he is fit would be 1st choice as he is pacier then hyypia so when ronaldo drifts in we will be able to catch him. Arbeloa is also better defensively then riise so with masch on the pitch as well we would be able to handle tevez / rooney / ronaldo.
Yossi has some pace and trickery and can put in a better ball then babel so he should start imo. Kewell seems really up for it these days and his passing is far better then any other left sided player we have and that could be crucial in the top 1/3 of the pitch.
Kuyt gets the nod ahead of crouch as I think Utd are too experienced to let peter move about the box and get flick ons and headers. and lets hope torres creams rio

Yet Yossi out of there.

Id also start crouch with torres instead of kuyt

event

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

Ramos speaks english though.

dont think so, thats why they took poyet from us, as he speaks english

zAbbo

event wrote: »

dont think so, thats why they took poyet from us, as he speaks english

which isn't saying much

mike65

What about lil' old Reading?

Rest Torres and Gerrard? or win the game in the first half then bring on Lucas and Kuyt/Voronin/Crouch (depending) to see the game out?

Mike.