Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

Chardee MacDennis

Arbeloa was brought on to move the formation to 3-4-3, it wasnt a strange one. rafa cant go all out attack, his defensive brain would never let him do it, so this was the compromise instead of pushing the two fullbacks up and leaving it 2-5-3 he brought on arbeloa who can play centre back rather then having just 2 cbs or 2 and a make shift cb.

i dont understand how no one picks up on that - not even the tactical genii (sp?) at RTE!

EDIT: oh and i do believe it worked to an extent grabbing one back?

DSB

Mr Alan wrote: »

In the same way Milan were the better team in Istanbul, we were the better team in Athens. So i dont know where you somewhere think that Milan outclassed us. They won yes, but there was no shame in our defeat.

Ah here, no way, Milan were a far better side in both games.

Cyrus

anyone hear graham hunter on newstalk this morning?

He was at bayerns winter training camp, klinnsman understood the liverpool job was his next summer and had begun making plans, when they heard this they made him a massive offer and wanted him unveiled immediately.

Looks like unless DIC come back in rafa is going to be gone

Cyrus

DSB wrote: »

Ah here, no way, Milan were a far better side in both games.

no they werent, we were better in the second game

kida

Cyrus wrote: »

no they werent, we were better in the second game

This is the perennial Liverpool "better" - controlling possession does not make you the better team, if that was the case Liverpool probably have the best team in the league.

Cyrus

liverpool controlled the game, were we the better team in the first game because we ultimately won the cup

kida

Cyrus wrote: »

liverpool controlled the game, were we the better team in the first game because we ultimately won the cup

for curiosity - how would you define "controlled the game"

raven136

unfortunately no amount of fan suport will change this decision,Rafa will be gone by the summer and i have a feeling that a loss to inter and it ill be all over.Whats worrying me is that we are willing to let go one of the highest rated coaches in europe for a guy who never managed a club side ever and it was rumored it was his assisant who was the brains behind the national team.

Definitely deserves another season at least.Net spend of 60m in nearly 4 seasons,a champions league,an fa cup and another final.Compare his record over the past 3 seasons to the "attackng football genius" of arsene wenger and its fairly impressive.

kryogen

Cyrus wrote: »

liverpool controlled the game, were we the better team in the first game because we ultimately won the cup

lol so your saying you were better in the first game because you won the cup, and also, you were better in the second game despite losing the cup?


you gotta love pool fans

Sizzler

LOL at the Rafa Rotating Manager

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAFNVOGK2EM

spockety

I think that people are geniunely overlooking the real story here. This is no longer about Rafa's future at the club, it's no longer about how bad this season has been performance wise. It's not even about the fact that the owners discussed the managerial position with another potential candidate (happens all the time as we know).

The real story here, is that the veil has been lifted on the owners. We now know that they are the type of people who would have placed Liverpool's football in the hands of JURGEN KLINSMANN. I'm amazed that their incompetence in this regard is not the main story all over the place.

When the story broke, all eyes were and are still on Rafa to get a reaction. All eyes should be firmly on the two American owners, asking "What the f**k are you doing with our club?".

Melion

Should be some atmosphere for Rafa at anfield tonight

PHB

In all fairness, Rafa has brought this on himself. If Liverpool had continued to after the owners told him to concentrate on his results, he wouldn't be in this mess. But then you went on a magical run of 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses in the last premiership games. Wigan have a better form than that!
Rafa brought this on himself because he hasn't got Liverpool performing to the level they should be at. Not just in terms of challenging for the league, maybe that's beyond them, but they should be at a higher points tally than they are.

Melion

PHB wrote: »

In all fairness, Rafa has brought this on himself. If Liverpool had continued to after the owners told him to concentrate on his results, he wouldn't be in this mess. But then you went on a magical run of 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses in the last premiership games. Wigan have a better form than that!
Rafa brought this on himself because he hasn't got Liverpool performing to the level they should be at. Not just in terms of challenging for the league, maybe that's beyond them, but they should be at a higher points tally than they are.

No doubt ill get banned for this but thats a load of bollox
No manager, no matter what results he gets on the pitch, deserves to have the owners of the club broadcasting to the media that they are openly looking for someone else to do the job. Ive never seen anything like this happen before and it just shows how much of an amateur Hicks really is.
United had a shíte start to the season, did the Glaziers come out saying that they were talking to another manager just incase Fergie didnt get it right?

Cyrus

kryogen wrote: »

lol so your saying you were better in the first game because you won the cup, and also, you were better in the second game despite losing the cup?


you gotta love pool fans

no i didnt say that, obviously you have issues reading

PHB thats a nice argument, where would united have been now of they sacked fergie during the wilderness years when he was rebuilding the team?

PHB

****ed. That said, Fergie has the track record in the league that Rafa does not. It's all about faith in the manager, and when Rafa was told by the owners to concentrate on results, he couldn't deliver. It's a cruel world at the top, but if you don't show steady progress, even when you are rebuilding, you are gona get fired.

I'm not defending the actions of the owners in how they dealt with the media. That said, I think Rafa was equally immature about the whole situation at the start.

spockety

PHB, you are completely missing the point. This goes FAR FAR FAR beyond anything to do with Rafa, his results, performances this season etc.

We have two people in charge of the club, who have MADE PUBLIC that they offered JURGEN F*****G KLINSMANN first option on managing Liverpool. If he is their first choice, and he turned them down.... who the f**k is their SECOND choice??

We already know your opinion on Rafa and his results, I could pick out about 100 posts in this thread alone from you on the subject. Thanks.

kryogen

Cyrus wrote: »

no i didnt say that, obviously you have issues reading

PHB thats a nice argument, where would united have been now of they sacked fergie during the wilderness years when he was rebuilding the team?

lol no read your two posts again! its the basic point you are bringing up lol

ill paraphrase, liverpool were the best team in both games, best in first cause they won in, best in second cause they controlled possesion etc..

but by the logic do you not have to say milan were the best team in the second cause they won it??

on the rafa subject, his position is looking untenable at the moment and i think he is gone in the summer, as a united fan ill be sorry for that cause i actually look forward to playing liverpool when he manager!! poor guy cant get a result against us, but the point someone made about the owners and how they wanted klinsmann and that that is the type of calibre manager that they are willing to put in control of the team is an important one, the guy has limited managerial experience to put a positive spin on it, i assume they only know who he is cause of his time in america.

it doesnt signal great ambition from them does it

zing

kryogen wrote: »

lol so your saying you were better in the first game because you won the cup, and also, you were better in the second game despite losing the cup?


you gotta love pool fans

Cyrus was asking a question in the second post (but left out the question mark) - not making a statement. At least that's how I read it

mike65

THERE IS AN IMPORTANT MATCH TONIGHT!

/waves "hello"

Luton Town are almost not a functioning team anymore the administraters will not let plyers who are subject to bids or buys play tonight lest they get injured and the deals fall through.

Mike.

zing

mike65 wrote: »

Luton Town are almost not a functioning team anymore

A bit like us on the pitch so :rolleyes:

_blank_

mike65 wrote: »

THERE IS AN IMPORTANT MATCH TONIGHT!

/waves "hello"

Luton Town are almost not a functioning team anymore the administraters will not let plyers who are subject to bids or buys play tonight lest they get injured and the deals fall through.

Mike.

If Liverpool don't win convincingly tonight, I think the players, manager and backroom staff should all resign from football.

PHB

spockety wrote: »

PHB, you are completely missing the point. This goes FAR FAR FAR beyond anything to do with Rafa, his results, performances this season etc.

We have two people in charge of the club, who have MADE PUBLIC that they offered JURGEN F*****G KLINSMANN first option on managing Liverpool. If he is their first choice, and he turned them down.... who the f**k is their SECOND choice??

We already know your opinion on Rafa and his results, I could pick out about 100 posts in this thread alone from you on the subject. Thanks.

Actually thats not exactly what happened.
Chain of events:

Owners and Rafa have a private row over transfer fees. Rafa is told to concentrate on results.
Rafa in a press conference keeps saying he is focused on coaching nothing else.
Whole thing erupts in the news.
Liverpool perform relatively well, then lose to Reading then United.
Owners make an approach for Klinnsman around this time, noone sure exactly when.
Klinnsman showing a bit of class denies the approach.
Klinnsman takes Bayern job
Bayern guys say that he was wanted by Liverpool [I'd imagine in order to justify their decision because he had no experience]
Owners caught in a bit of a situation. Can't undermine the manager completely by saying they wanted him replaced, so they attempt to backtrack and make up this crap about how they only wanted him just in case.
In the meantime, Liverpool perform even worse.

So Rafa was told to concentrate on results, and then he would get the transfer money he needed. He didn't do that, and they offered Klinnsman the job. He turned it down, obviously setting his heart on Bayern.
Then Rafa had more time to get things back on track, he didn't, now the owners are probably going to replace him when somebody comes availible.

As for Klinnsman being crap, the thing about managers is that they are funny and unpredictable. Look at Real Madrid, the entire world was like what the **** when they fired Capello and hired a lower division manager. But what has happened since then? Who knows whether Klinnsman would have done well or not, but Bayern seem to think he'll do a pretty good job and they arne't exactly a small club.

Cyrus

PHB wrote: »

Actually thats not exactly what happened.
Chain of events:

Owners and Rafa have a private row over transfer fees. Rafa is told to concentrate on results.
Rafa in a press conference keeps saying he is focused on coaching nothing else.
Whole thing erupts in the news.
Liverpool perform relatively well, then lose to Reading then United.
Owners make an approach for Klinnsman around this time, noone sure exactly when.
Klinnsman showing a bit of class denies the approach.
Klinnsman takes Bayern job
Bayern guys say that he was wanted by Liverpool [I'd imagine in order to justify their decision because he had no experience]
Owners caught in a bit of a situation. Can't undermine the manager completely by saying they wanted him replaced, so they attempt to backtrack and make up this crap about how they only wanted him just in case.
In the meantime, Liverpool perform even worse.

So Rafa was told to concentrate on results, and then he would get the transfer money he needed. He didn't do that, and they offered Klinnsman the job. He turned it down, obviously setting his heart on Bayern.
Then Rafa had more time to get things back on track, he didn't, now the owners are probably going to replace him when somebody comes availible.

As for Klinnsman being crap, the thing about managers is that they are funny and unpredictable. Look at Real Madrid, the entire world was like what the **** when they fired Capello and hired a lower division manager. But what has happened since then? Who knows whether Klinnsman would have done well or not, but Bayern seem to think he'll do a pretty good job and they arne't exactly a small club.

except according to graham hunter this morning klinnsman was offered the job and was making plans, bayern moved swiftly to make him a massive offer to tie him up immediately because the pool job was his to take

spockety

So I presume if Sir Alex retired in the morning, you would not be at all alarmed if the Glazer's hired Jurgen Klinsmann straight away, yes?

Your sequence of events above is wrong. We know EXACTLY when Jurgen Klinsmann met with Hicks and Gillett, because Tom Hicks told us it was for Thanksgiving. This was the DAY BEFORE rafa's now famous press conference where he said he was focussing on his team.

So what we know is this.. Rafa and the owners discussed potential transfer targets etc., at the time of the Arsenal match a month earlier. Everything seemed fine. Then the owners talk to Klinsmann, and then they talk to Benitez and tell him to concentrate on coaching his team.

Gah, look I'm not going to bother, you are just wrong in your take on the sequence of events.

Besides which, as I already said, it's totally irrelevant. This is far far bigger than Rafa, or the owners. This is about the club. It is in peril. Tom Hicks has shown us in one single interview what his ambitions are for Liverpool, and how he intends on conducting his affairs. It is alarming.

If you can't see that, you are blinded by your insistence on doing nothing but talking about Rafa and his results. As I have already pointed out, there are about 100 posts from you that say the same thing in this thread over and over. We know it all already, thanks.

PHB

Hmm, I didn't ever hear that it was at Thanksgiving, that changes everything His actions are pretty poor show in regards to Rafa then. The reason I keep bringing up results is because I'm trying to show to you that the owners aren't just firing Rafa for fun, it's because they don't think he's good enough. Whether that's right or wrong is an entirely different question, but his intention is clearly to win, and he doesn't think Rafa can do that. Why he thinks Klinnsman can is a whole other set of questions once again, but his intentions seem to make sense if you accept the point of view that Rafa isn't good enough.

Zapp Brannigan

Any streams for the match tonight? I have exams so I can't trust myself to go to the pub and watch it!

spockety

PHB wrote: »

Hmm, I didn't ever hear that it was at Thanksgiving, that changes everything His actions are pretty poor show in regards to Rafa then. The reason I keep bringing up results is because I'm trying to show to you that the owners aren't just firing Rafa for fun, it's because they don't think he's good enough. Whether that's right or wrong is an entirely different question, but his intention is clearly to win, and he doesn't think Rafa can do that. Why he thinks Klinnsman can is a whole other set of questions once again, but his intentions seem to make sense if you accept the point of view that Rafa isn't good enough.

I notice you never commented on what your own reaction would be if the Glazer's went after Jurgen Klinsmann tomorrow to replace Sir Alex?

astrofool

9-0 to Liverpool tonight.

astrofool

spockety wrote: »

I notice you never commented on what your own reaction would be if the Glazer's went after Jurgen Klinsmann tomorrow to replace Sir Alex?

To be fair, Sir Alex would never be fired, he's able to win the premiership.

But if he stepped down tomorrow, the likely replacement would be Queiroz, so Klinnsmann isn't too far a step down. However, United could probably attract any manager in the world, Liverpool can't, simple as. Rafa was a coup, that hasn't turned out as well as hoped.

missingtime

The only thing stopping Liverpool attracting a manger is the sh!t that the owners have stirred up.

_blank_

astrofool wrote: »

9-0 to Liverpool tonight.

rofl

spockety

astrofool wrote: »

To be fair, Sir Alex would never be fired, he's able to win the premiership.

But if he stepped down tomorrow, the likely replacement would be Queiroz, so Klinnsmann isn't too far a step down. However, United could probably attract any manager in the world, Liverpool can't, simple as. Rafa was a coup, that hasn't turned out as well as hoped.

Talk about dodging the bloody question.

Q: "How would you react if Utd hired Klinsmann in the morning"
A: "Liverpool can't attract a good manager".

[ PHB - can you please advise why you edited my post? ]

mike65

May I make a suggestion?

Stop feeding trolls, WUMS and Mancs. Lets talk about the buisness of the day. and leave the rest to others. They'll get bored if no-one responds.

Mike.

zing

On tonight - Rafa is going to join the guard of honour for Carra. A nice simple show of respect on his part (maybe the americans could learn more than just football from him).

And no Skrtel - not eligible to play as he wasn't registered in time for the first game.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2008/01/15/rafa-benitez-to-join-jamie-carragher-salute-100252-20351593/

mike65

Thats a pity. If Crouch is certainty to start will Torres?

Mike.

Zapp Brannigan

I don't think Torres will start, but I wouldn't mind seeing him. He'd score for fun against Luton, plus we'd see how well himself and Crouch can play together.

Again I'll ask, any streams for tonight?

whatawaster

i think the team will be something like:

---

Reina

---

Arbeloa

---

Carragher

---

Hyypia

---

Aurelio

---

Mascherano

---

Gerrard

---

Pennant

---

Kewell

---

Torres

---

Crouch

---

missingtime

Ah I'd rather see Gerrard dropped and give Lucas a shot. We really need to blood in a few more of the smaller purchases.
I really dont want to see pennant in a red shirt again, i just dont rate him.

astrofool

spockety wrote: »

Talk about dodging the bloody question.

Q: "How would you react if Utd hired Klinsmann in the morning"
A: "Liverpool can't attract a good manager".

[ PHB - can you please advise why you edited my post? ]

I don't know what you're looking for here. If United hired Klinsmann in the morning, the fans would not react well. If United were languishing in 4th place, out of the title race, scraping through in Europe and the FA cup, then it probably wouldn't be as out of the blue (why are people so keen to diss Klinsmann btw? He was relatively successful with a poor German team.).

If Rafa left tomorrow, who do you think Liverpool can realistically get?

mike65

There was a pitch inspection at 12.15, hopefully the weather won't kill this tie.

Rafa says he is picking he strongest 11 so we'll what he thinks that is!

Mike.

Peyton Manning

Spockety, dont listen to that chap. As a United fan, I would be rightfully pissed off if it was announced that we were even considering Klinnsman as manager. And Liverpool could most definitely attract any manager in the world, bar those already content with their current job.

justfortherecor

zing wrote: »

On tonight - Rafa is going to join the guard of honour for Carra. A nice simple show of respect on his part (maybe the americans could learn more than just football from him).

And no Skrtel - not eligible to play as he wasn't registered in time for the first game.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2008/01/15/rafa-benitez-to-join-jamie-carragher-salute-100252-20351593/

That gesture should further cement his position of 'manager of the fans'.

DeadSkin

I dunno what to think about these american shenanigans and Rafa, it doesn't make pretty reading anywhere. I don't feel overly confident that Rafa will still be at Anfield come the summer, especially if the yanks are there.
When those Klinsmann stories came out, I thought what utter sh!te, but hearing that the yanks came out and admitted it has made my blood boil......Klinsmann ffs!!!!
On tonight I'd like to see Crouch back in, more importantly I'd like to see the Crouch/Torres partnership more in the prem. Crouchy offers so much more than Voroninin/Kuyt.

And oh, Mr Brannigan check out here http://www.rojadirecta.com/

Zapp Brannigan

DeadSkin wrote: »

I dunno what to think about these american shenanigans and Rafa, it doesn't make pretty reading anywhere. I don't feel overly confident that Rafa will still be at Anfield come the summer, especially if the yanks are there.
When those Klinsmann stories came out, I thought what utter sh!te, but hearing that the yanks came out and admitted it has made my blood boil......Klinsmann ffs!!!!
On tonight I'd like to see Crouch back in, more importantly I'd like to see the Crouch/Torres partnership more in the prem. Crouchy offers so much more than Voroninin/Kuyt.

And oh, Mr Brannigan check out here http://www.rojadirecta.com/

Cheers deadskin, just hope there's a non p2p one as I'm on a mac and there's no app for that.

Jazzy

astrofool wrote: »

I don't know what you're looking for here. If United hired Klinsmann in the morning, the fans would not react well. If United were languishing in 4th place, out of the title race, scraping through in Europe and the FA cup, then it probably wouldn't be as out of the blue (why are people so keen to diss Klinsmann btw? He was relatively successful with a poor German team.).

what have i told you about your "facts"? did you not see the title of the thread clearly states Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion / Imagination Land 2007/2008 ?

prendy

is the game on sky tonight?

tibor

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

Cheers deadskin, just hope there's a non p2p one as I'm on a mac and there's no app for that.

You can run Sopcast using Crossover on the Mac.

PHB

According to Sky TV guide, it's on Sky Sports 2. Kinda annoyed, considering it's going to be a complete walkover and Reading vs. Spurs is actually gona be a good game.

emc2

prendy wrote: »

is the game on sky tonight?

Yes. 8 O'clock kick off.