Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

RE*AC*TOR

mike65 wrote:

Did I hear the RTE commentator suggest that Voronin would be coming on? Either way he's useless, I spent most time watching ITV.

Mike.

They got confused by Lucas' blonde flowing mane.

Kimbot

mike65 wrote:

Did I hear the RTE commentator suggest that Voronin would be coming on? Either way he's useless, I spent most time watching ITV.

Mike.

You heard correct, they are idiots!! I was laughing to myself because I knew as fact he wasn't even on the bench!!

Great to see kuyt get the 2 goals he deserved them to be honest.
Lucas looks class, his first shot and he nearly scored a beaut!!
Arbeloa is getting better all the time, really like seeing him going forward now.
Momo was an animal, passing was good etc.
Masch was good aswell tonight.
Yossi looks like he is going to terrorise defenses for us this year so I would like to see him played more.

Zapp Brannigan

Loved how the RTE commentator says "And here's Mascherano, he can really hit them!" I'm sorry but maybe he can but I think that's the first shot I've ever seen Masche take in a Liverpool shirt.

mike65

He also wondered aloud why Leto got a round of applause, well as Trevor THE BLUE Stevens had to point out, it was that sort of evening and all is well with the Good Ship Liverpool at the moment. Was it Ger Canning? If so he's a GAA man is'nt he?

Just seen a useless fact - that was Liverpools first euro game since 1997 without either Gerrard or Carra.

Mike.

Mr Alan

Hypia - did well reads the game so well its not funny, more than able to stand in for Carra in his absence.
Agger - looks so confident on the ball, think this lad is defo gonna be a liverpool legend
Arbeloa - wat a buy from Rafa, looks super, didn't think i'd like him but he seems to be a real decent defender and handy going forward too
Riise - can't wait for Aurelio to get back.
Leto - thought he started ok, but bad couple of touches and his confidence vanished, only young though so plenty of time for improvement
Mascherano/Sissoko - wat a headache rafa has! these two were great today, at the moment i'm leaning towards Gerrard and Masch in the middle.
Benayoun - as someone above said, when he drifted inside, he looked class, worked his balls off too, hope to see him get a fair crack of the whip this year.
Kuyt - works so hard its not funny, wish he wouldnt though - floating around that box for a season and i have no doubt he'd get 20 goals (if he got the right amount of games)
Crouch - should have done better with the two headers, but in fairness, he scored and played pretty well.

subs:
babel - looked good,nice play for Kuyts goal.
Lucas - cannot wait to see how he progresses, definately seems to have a bit of class about him, quality signing from Rafa.think if he settles in well-either Alonso or Momo will leave in Jan, or definately the summer. Gerrard/Alonso/Mascherano/Lucas/Sissoko is definately just taking the piss,spoilt for choice!

Not bothering to talk about Finnan or Reina, cause they both did **** all in the game

Stky10

millersangel wrote:

Leto - thought he started ok, but bad couple of touches and his confidence vanished, only young though so plenty of time for improvement

I thought he just ran out of steam. He looked wrecked anytime the ball came near him in the second half. Didn't he only get to play in one pre-season game due to work permit problems?. It looked it tonight. Given time, he should be alright. Knocked some decent corners in.

Mr Alan

yea i meant to mention that, both Leto and Benayoun seem to be able to take good corners - hopefully now that means we can keep Gerrard in the box, we really need to score from more corners

edit: thought it was cool then sang Luis Garcias tune too, nice way to say goodbye to the little fella after his letter to us.

fair play to the club for the tributes before the match, very touching.

Reminded me of this video, not sure if it was posted here before, but its from a Europeran Cup game with Real and AC in the aftermath of Hillsborough-the AC fans who were always taken with how passionate Liverpools support was spent the days leading up to the game handing out flyers with the lyrics to YNWA to be sung during the minute silence. Touching to say the least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZrVfMRyoE0

shane86

Thought the crowd were a disgrace tonight, seemed to be on non stop Sissoko after his awful play of the throw to him about 12 odd mins in. He had a good run at goal, he dodged one defender and cleared a second iirc but the booing had started before he cleared the first lad, how are you meant to score when from crowd noise it feels like your playing in X city in Easten Europe with 70,000 locals and 1200 Liverpool lads behind you . Considering his weekend goal, if you told me this would have happened pre match id be half expecting the same clonws to boo during the applause for the young blues fan shot.

Considering Momos goal at the weekend he wouldnt be blamed for sticking the fingers up, saying **** yis and heading elsewhere after the rating the crowd gave him tonight.

Mr Alan

wat are ya talking about!?!? the crowd was behind him all the way!

constantly singing his name (mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo sissoko) and the ''we've got the best midfield in the world chant'' (Xabi Alonso, Momo Sissoko, Gerrard and Mascheranoooooo-O!)

Zapp Brannigan

i thought the crowd were shouting "Shoooooooot" rather than booing him.

darkskol

millersangel wrote:

(mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo,mo sissoko) and the ''we've got the best midfield in the world chant'' (Xabi Alonso, Momo Sissoko, Gerrard and Mascheranoooooo-O!)

linky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayivhplxuwM

~Rebel~

Yeah i think its just his cheer sounds like boo's, same as Muuutuuu's at Chelsea and Ruuuuuuud's at Man U.

Most of the player points have been said already by you folks (good work!) so just wanna say a few small things.

Leto i wont judge till i see him play a few games in front of Aurelio or Arbeloa because Riise seems incapable of linking up with a winger. Was the same with Gonzo last year, it was telling that gonzo's best performances came when paired up with Aurelio in the few games before Fabio's injury, after which Gonzo went down in form again when played with riise. I've been paying more attention to him since about halfway through last season and he's getting on my nerves a bit..

Yossi looks fantastic when he has a free role to drift in and cause mayhem, which i think will be great for offsetting the problem PHB has pointed out in the past of "gerrard plays well, we play well, gerrard poor, we're poor".

Also, Babel seems to play much better when he comes off the bench. In his few starts he seems to drift out of the game for ages and never looks as dangerous, but when he comes off the bench he always looks right up for it, loads of running and getting into positions. I think i'd prefer to see Yossi and Pennant start the next few in the wide areas, with Babel replacing one of them for the last half hour or so.

longer then i planned, but oh well.


Oh and PS. Im joint 3rd on the overall FantasyRafa.com high scores leaderboard! Just call me Gaffer

mike65

Saw that! My selection for the game crashed me down to 17th.

Mike.

copacetic

shane86 wrote:

Thought the crowd were a disgrace tonight, seemed to be on non stop Sissoko after his awful play of the throw to him about 12 odd mins in. He had a good run at goal, he dodged one defender and cleared a second iirc but the booing had started before he cleared the first lad, how are you meant to score when from crowd noise it feels like your playing in X city in Easten Europe with 70,000 locals and 1200 Liverpool lads behind you . Considering his weekend goal, if you told me this would have happened pre match id be half expecting the same clonws to boo during the applause for the young blues fan shot.

Considering Momos goal at the weekend he wouldnt be blamed for sticking the fingers up, saying **** yis and heading elsewhere after the rating the crowd gave him tonight.

ya feckin muppet, either u are deaf and dumb or I am. No one was giving him a hard time....

gucci

positives from last night, number 1 were in the champions league!!
number 2 we look to have great strength in depth in most positions, hopefully we can hang on to all of them, arebola looks good at right full too, so we know we can do a shuffle if anything happens to finnan. lucas looked good. bennyoun looked good centrally too. but we should have won about 8-0 last night!! hopefully we start taking more of our chances in matchs soon!!

whatawaster

Good Performance last night

Reina - Not a lot to do but he seemed to lose concentration a few times. Can't afford that against a better side 6

Arbeloa - Solid in defence and got forward well. He could be first choice RB for many years 8

Riise - Useless as ever. Hoof or Shoot, Hoof or Shoot. I don't think he helped Leto at all. 5

Hyypia - Easy game. He'll never get an easier headed goal. 7

Agger - Didn't do much wrong. 7

Benayoun - Started poorly but dominated the game from then on. Linked up well with Arbeloa. Looked dangerous when cutting in from the right. 8

Leto - Bright first ten minutes, but then might as well have not been there 5

Mascherano - He was everywhere 8

Sissoko - He was also everywhere, but gave the ball away far too easily 7

Kuyt - Deserved his two late goals for his extraordinary work rate. Great cross for Crouch too. 9

Crouch - Took his goal well, but his heading was terrible. Some nice touches and link ups with Benayoun and Kuyt - 7

Lucas - Seems very good on the ball. Nearly set up a Kuyt goal with a lovely pass 7

Babel - Lovely work for Kuyt's first goal. 7

MementoMori

we should have won about 8-0 last night!! hopefully we start taking more of our chances in matchs soon

I'd nearly take this as a positive. Against Sunderland and Toulouse, Liverpool looked well in control and confident that a goal would come if they continued to play whereas in previous seasons they would have started to get edgy and try and force things.

Also it's good to see them winning games well even if the strikers aren't particulalrly on scorching form right now. Can you imagine the day the strikers hit form. Anyone for a 5/6/7 goal romp against Derby?

Mr Alan

Don't think anyone can complain about a 4-0 win against a team that beat Lyon 2 weeks ago.

Strikers not of form?? They've all scored Voronin-2 Kuyt-2 Crouch-1 Torres-1, that'll do for me

gucci

it was interesting to see how well kuyt and crouch played together actually, providing some good crosses for each other, which should have yielded more, but i guess thats just bit of rustiness.

RE*AC*TOR

Crouch missed a lorry load of chances. Also he's not saying the right things in the post-match interviews. He should be coming out and saying he's happy to fight for his place etc, but he's not. He is quite obviously not happy with the striker situation, which is fair enough, so he should either piss or get off the pot - ie knuckle down or ask for a transfer.

The Rooster

gucci wrote:

it was interesting to see how well kuyt and crouch played together actually, providing some good crosses for each other, which should have yielded more, but i guess thats just bit of rustiness.

I must have missed the crosses Crouch was putting in for Kuyt. I thought PC was useless again. Those two headed attempts at goal were very poor. He's our 4th choice striker - by a distance. If Sami had been playing up front, he would have had a first half hat-trick to go with his second half goal

I'll make allowances for Leto given he showed a lot of potential in the first 15 mins or so, but apart from PC and JAR, I thought we were really good. I've been saying for a while that Arbeloa is the real deal. Mascho is immense, Momo is in the form of his life, Lucas looked very promising, Yossi looks super and has real cutting edge - would really suit Torres.

This is the most exciting Liverpool team in years. Of course its very early days and whether we're good enough for the long haul, and how we'll recover after our first disaster, remains to be seen. But at the moment I'm enjoying the ride!

RE*AC*TOR

Jonas Gutierrez - speculation in a couple of papers, probably rubbish, but here's a quick clip anyway....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAaVDSH47pI

Mr Alan

I'm a big fan of Crouch and i think he is an excellent player, but he obviously is not one of our first choice front two.
I wouldn't be suprised if he leaves before Fri, the noises coming from him in relation to his happiness wit the rotation system aren't good.
With Babel being able to play up front, think it we get a good offer for him, Rafa will listen to it. With Harry Redknapp talking about signing a big name striker, but NOT Anelka, think Crouch might be on his way out

Mr Alan

wat position is he? can't watch it in work

zAbbo

The result 4-0 was encouraging, but I think we should have been more clinical, and a good result doesn't neccessarily paper over the cracks of some poor individual performances.

Riise - looking totally out of his depth and very one dimensional in Rafas attacking side.

Leto - negative impact from Riise who didn't seem to want to play with Leto. Leto looked nervy, and a run of games in the reserves will be needed before he makes a 1st team apperance.

Arbeloa - looks more and more solid each time he plays, RB seems his most natural position

Mascherano - quality, incredible engine, we're looking to have his talent at Liverpool

Momo - still too negative, and lacks the cutting edge, gives the ball away easily.

Benayoun - a real matchwinner and creative force.

Crouch - 4th choice, will score goals, sometimes infuriating to watch.

Kuyt - Grabbed 2 goals, workrate was amazing, especially in the last 20minutes when he ran the right wing channel.

Overall, a good start, Last year we'd have won 1 nill, or 2 nill scoring in the 94th minute.

Rafa - defensive cover, before Friday !

dardoz

Was well impressed with Lucas last night when he came on. His first touch passing looks great and he looks imo our closest direct replacement for Gerrard when he is on the ball.

Masch and Sissoko were immense in the centre. Our right side looked class last night with Arbeloa and Yossi but unfortunately, it only highlighted how weak or left side still is..

Leto was anonymous for all but the first 10 mins, and Riise, despite how strong he is on the ball and having enough power in his shot to pump it straight out of the stadium into some poor devils car window, he is beginning to look a little ordinary. Especially when the squad around him is improving so much.

I would like to see Yossi given a go in the premiership, but I think the fact that he's a little light doesn't suit us when we play a physical team. Therefore I think he seems to be more or less a straight replacement for Garcia for our European games, great when he has space to weave into and make a killer passs. I can't see him getting a game that much premiership starts unless he gets into the gym more and bulks up a bit.

Lastly, Peter Crouch's post match interview pretty much spells his future out as clear as day. He wasn't giving off the right impression at all about the rotation system. I can't see him leaving before the deadline, but after the amount of missed sitters he had last night with his head I think we should cut our losses and find a quick replacement.

The Rooster

dardoz wrote:

Lastly, Peter Crouch's post match interview pretty much spells his future out as clear as day. He wasn't giving off the right impression at all about the rotation system. I can't see him leaving before the deadline, but after the amount of missed sitters he had last night with his head I think we should cut our losses and find a quick replacement.

I missed that interview. If anyone has the time to spell out what he said, I'd appreciate it.

DaBreno

Bit of a training session last night but some nice cameos. Leto was good for the first half, looks like a good prospect if he keeps the confidence up.
I thought there was something about Lucas that just oozed quality. He didnt put a foot wrong, kept it simple and looked good. Nice find.
Arbeloa looks better everytime he plays. Like Agger last season, he got off to a slow start but he is lucky in that he plays in a posistion with little or no cover so he keeps getting his game. And with that comes the experience. He could well be one of the most selected players this season.

Mashcerano : Noit just a tough nut but an incredible passer of the ball.

I thought the real winner last night was Benayoun. He did it all : Showed all the time, displayed great energy, seemed to pop-up everywhere. He went past players, sold dummies and almost always found his team mates with passes. Made a nice goal too. We need more of that and less of his agent talking about a transfer. Guy has shot to the head of the Newbie list in my opinion.

Regarding Crouch : Brilliant on the ground, useless in the air. It remains a mystery how someone that tall can be so bad heading a ball. you would have thought he would have grown up exploiting his height to that effect. Its not that he misses chances, he misses very easy chances and misses them badly. The lad needs to pull the finger out and work on that in Training or I can see Rafa letting him go. Shame. If he could head a ball, we would play him every week.

The Rooster wrote:

This is the most exciting Liverpool team in years. Of course its very early days and whether we're good enough for the long haul, and how we'll recover after our first disaster, remains to be seen. But at the moment I'm enjoying the ride!

Same here. This is a great squad right now, quality and quality cover in every posistion. That midfield is orgasmic. (im almost afraid to watch them with other people in the room). We have a good run of beatable teams ahead. Lets do it!!

mike65

Last nights highlights http://youtube.com/watch?v=U0VuqyxrVWI

Mike.

Mr Alan

I'm convinced that if Crouch was a good header of the ball, he would be among the best strikers in the world.

Kanney

Thanks MIke, looks like a good performance, was at a match and missed the majority.

rahim

millersangel wrote:

I'm convinced that if Crouch was a good header of the ball, he would be among the best strikers in the world.

I can't imagine it's something they wouldn't work on with him though. I mean, it would be such a huge addition to his game if he could, so whats the problem??? Is it that they don't work on it in training with him (which would be crazy in my opinion)? Does he not put the effort in to working on it? Or is it that he just can't improve it?

gucci

The Rooster wrote:

I must have missed the crosses Crouch was putting in for Kuyt. I thought PC was useless again. Those two headed attempts at goal were very poor. He's our 4th choice striker - by a distance.
!

he pinged in a beauty of a cross for kuyt from edge of the box in second half (maybe it was late in first half either), which he headed over the bar, sort of just like if PC had headed it himself

Mr Alan

i can only presume its that he just can't improve it!

remember toward the end of last season when he broke his nose? He was banging in the headers after that! Maybe they should get someone to smash his nose in again?

The Rooster

millersangel wrote:

i can only presume its that he just can't improve it!

remember toward the end of last season when he broke his nose? He was banging in the headers after that! Maybe they should get someone to smash his nose in again?

You might be on to something there! Sami certainly nailed his header 3 days after breaking his nose.

DeadSkin

Toulouse are a woeful, woeful side, it's a shame Crouch can't head the ball and that Riise wastes so much posession, should have scored twice what we did.
I missed the post-match interview with Crouch, if he was moaning, yeah I'd say get rid, don't need sh!t like that in any team.

Mr Magnolia

dardoz wrote:

Peter Crouch's post match interview pretty much spells his future out as clear as day. He wasn't giving off the right impression at all about the rotation system. I can't see him leaving before the deadline, but after the amount of missed sitters he had last night with his head I think we should cut our losses and find a quick replacement.

He certainly didn't do himself any favours regarding a first choice striker. He was shocking. Christ how he couldn't even head the ball on target is beyond me. I though he was past that after the halfway stage last season.

Kyutt didn't have me doing cart-wheels last night either. There was some positives though. Benayoun had a few great spells. If he can settle himself down he'll be a great asset.

event

millersangel wrote:

I'm convinced that if Crouch was a good header of the ball, he would be among the best strikers in the world.

if i could finish and run, i would be too;)

im not a major fan of his, but he is very effective

millersangel wrote:

i can only presume its that he just can't improve it!

i think thats true, cos here's why. Bear with me, it may be a bit silly

as a kid, he was probably very tall, when he was 14 - 17. he would have towered over players at his level and i imagine that he didnt have to work very hard to head, probably didnt even have to jump. as a result, he would never have developed his neck muscles, it can take quite a bit of effort to get a header on target.

he is now in mid twenties, and he hasnt really developed those muscles, but needs to work much harder to win a header, than say as a 15 year old

its not quite the same as shooting, as you naturally get more power in your legs as you get older, but not in your neck

could be one theory, or i could be completely talking shíte

Mr Alan

think its a bit of both

Cyrus

Mr Magnolia wrote:

He certainly didn't do himself any favours regarding a first choice striker. He was shocking. Christ how he couldn't even head the ball on target is beyond me. I though he was past that after the halfway stage last season.

Kyutt didn't have me doing cart-wheels last night either. There was some positives though. Benayoun had a few great spells. If he can settle himself down he'll be a great asset.

while kuyts finishing left a lot to be desired, some of his play was excellent, lovely turns and little flashes of skill and of course work rate, additionally he did set up crouch and score 2 so not a bad night

delighted to see him score, he needed to get off the mark

rahim

rahim wrote:

I can't imagine it's something they wouldn't work on with him though. I mean, it would be such a huge addition to his game if he could, so whats the problem??? Is it that they don't work on it in training with him (which would be crazy in my opinion)? Does he not put the effort in to working on it? Or is it that he just can't improve it?

Im sure they do work on it. Some people are just naturally not able to head the ball. Thierry Henry is another one.

The Rooster

The Irish Times today said that Liverpool have rejected a bid from Portsmouth for Peter Crouch. Portsmouth are expected to come back with a higher offer, but Liverpool won't sell unless they have a replacement - perhaps why the link to Julio Baptiste.

Kimbot

The Rooster wrote:

The Irish Times today said that Liverpool have rejected a bid from Portsmouth for Peter Crouch. Portsmouth are expected to come back with a higher offer, but Liverpool won't sell unless they have a replacement - perhaps why the link to Julio Baptiste.

Or Adriano!! Either way Baptista destroyed us last season so I think it would be a good move!!

rahim

Deleted User wrote:

Im sure they do work on it. Some people are just naturally not able to head the ball. Thierry Henry is another one.

Thats true I suppose. It would be such an advantage if he could head even slightly better though. Imagine he could head as well as Garcia. That would be special.

Malice

jonny24ie wrote:

Baptista destroyed us last season so I think it would be a good move!!

You're judging him one one game? By that logic, given that Messi, Deco and Ronaldinho were all very quiet against us last season you wouldn't like to see them at Anfield?
Baptista seemed utterly disinterested for most of last season and just doesn't strike me as the kind of player Rafa would be interested in. I'd be happer seeing someone like Craig Lindfield getting more games if Crouch does go.

Kimbot

malice_ wrote:

You're judging him one one game? By that logic, given that Messi, Deco and Ronaldinho were all very quiet against us last season you wouldn't like to see them at Anfield?
Baptista seemed utterly disinterested for most of last season and just doesn't strike me as the kind of player Rafa would be interested in. I'd be happer seeing someone like Craig Lindfield getting more games if Crouch does go.

I meant getting rid of Crouch would be a good move, he doesn't seem to wat to play for us!!
Baptista is a good player on his day and Rafa has been known to get the best out of players.

I would drool at the thoughts of any of the above (Messi, Deco and Ronaldinho) playing for us!!

Vokes

Baptiste had a right old rant back at the beginning of the summer about his time with Arsenal. Complained about the opposition defenders kicking lumps out of teams, about the bad weather, about the poor lifestyle, etc..

So id be pretty shocked to see him make a move to Anfield
(which I hope he doesn't).

spockety

SofaKing wrote:

Baptiste had a right old rant back at the beginning of the summer about his time with Arsenal. Complained about the opposition defenders kicking lumps out of teams, about the bad weather, about the poor lifestyle, etc..

So id be pretty shocked to see him make a move to Anfield
(which I hope he doesn't).

Indeed:

“The teams from the north of England are terrible,” said Baptista in The Times.

“When we play them I have counted their centre-backs booting up to 30 long balls upfield per game.

“The weather over here is killing me. We’ll get one day of sunshine for every 30 days of rain, and it is driving me to despair.

“My girlfriend and my mother are frightened about not seeing the sun in England. They miss being in Madrid.

“Premiership football is very hard. I am Brazilian and I enjoy playing the ball, making clever touches and taking bicycle kicks. Arsene Wenger does not forbid me from doing them, but the game is so fast I don’t even have time to think about them.

“The moment you stop to think, someone has taken the ball off you and knocked you to the ground. Over here they value a corner kick more than a fancy flick.

“I am lucky to be with Arsenal, as they are a team that likes to play proper football.”

Mr Alan

wat a girl^^^^^

Stky10

Besian Idrizaj going on loan to Crystal Palace for a year. Good move for him, he looked a good finisher in the pre-season game he played in

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/crystal_palace/6970086.stm