Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

spockety

gah double post, mods please delete.

spockety

Yes really weird interview. not. :rolleyes:

What did you expect?

RAFA : "Yes Geoff, as you know I love blabbing all sorts of things that will make their way into the morning papers and give you plenty of ammo to run for the next 24 hours on Sky Sports News. So, here is my take on it. I hate the owners, the owners hate me, and you can take that to the fooking bank."?

:P

He said nothing. Every question about it he said "look I know you're doing you're job, but I'm doing my job by saying to you that I want to talk about the football tonight, and our 5-0 win".. or something to that effect. Big smile on his face.

Tusky

spockety wrote: »

Yes really weird interview. not. :rolleyes:

What did you expect?

RAFA : "Yes Geoff, as you know I love blabbing all sorts of things that will make their way into the morning papers and give you plenty of ammo to run for the next 24 hours on Sky Sports News. So, here is my take on it. I hate the owners, the owners hate me, and you can take that to the fooking bank."?

:P

He said nothing. Every question about it he said "look I know you're doing you're job, but I'm doing my job by saying to you that I want to talk about the football tonight, and our 5-0 win".. or something to that effect. Big smile on his face.

Eh... ? I didn't say it was weird, did you imagine that ?

I said it was funny. I was referring to Rafa telling the reporter that he deserved a raise for being so persistent but he wasn't going to get anything out of him.

gucci

the win was the important thing tonight. and to be honest after 20-25mins we struggled to make a clear opportunity for nearly the rest of the half. too many flicks and half attempts at passes etc. we just lacked that edge in the final third (whats new!)
However we got the goals in the end. positive to see us coming through with no injuries, and babel, pennant,alonso will all have benefited from the game time.
Jury is still out for me on babel, yes tremendous finish for the goal, but he wastes/loses the ball too often. ok maybe im being harsh, hes young etc, and i know if harry was playing i probably would be bitching about him right now.
Now onto next week, we have to beat villa at home on monday night. hopefully the press give rafa a bit of a break for a few days. maybe newcastle will apoint someone and take up theyre time a bit.

Tusky

gucci wrote: »

the win was the important thing tonight. and to be honest after 20-25mins we struggled to make a clear opportunity for nearly the rest of the half. too many flicks and half attempts at passes etc. we just lacked that edge in the final third (whats new!)
However we got the goals in the end. positive to see us coming through with no injuries, and babel, pennant,alonso will all have benefited from the game time.
Jury is still out for me on babel, yes tremendous finish for the goal, but he wastes/loses the ball too often. ok maybe im being harsh, hes young etc, and i know if harry was playing i probably would be bitching about him right now.
Now onto next week, we have to beat villa at home on monday night. hopefully the press give rafa a bit of a break for a few days. maybe newcastle will apoint someone and take up theyre time a bit.

Babel has only had 10 starts this season. He has come off the bench 16 times but that has normally been for about 10-25 minutes. Considering he is 21 and its his first year in the premiership AND he has been played as a winger, 7 goals so far is a pretty good return. I'd like to see the guy play week in week out. At the end of the season if he was still rusty, then have a go at him.

gucci

Tusky wrote: »

At the end of the season if he was still rusty, then have a go at him.

i said the jury was still out on him for me....meaning i hadnt fully decided?! i can see the potential, but the giving away of the ball so easily at times is my concern.

dc69

gucci wrote: »

i said the jury was still out on him for me....meaning i hadnt fully decided?! i can see the potential, but the giving away of the ball so easily at times is my concern.

this is why he has to be played as a striker.rafa says he can beat players,he will usually beat them 1 out of 3 times from what i have seen,he can have clumsy feet but when he is is front of the box he doesnt miss.period! he is an unbelievable finisher,he will have to be played up front next season,otherwise it was a waste of money.

DeadSkin

Luton did well in the first half, but it was only a matter of time before we put the ball in the net. Babel strikes the ball very well, some of his passing was poor tonight, but he does look a very good prospect.
Riise's sell by date is gone, his strikes are just gettin' worse.

Xabi had a cheeky attempt at goal from the kick-off at the start of the second half, knowing their keeper was carrying an injury.

citytillidie

How many of C Ronaldos goals have come from free kicks or pens.

Take them away i say he as scored as many as Babbel

tibor

Paraphrasing the Stevie G in post match interview...

Sky: "So did the recent events off the pitch inspire you all to go out and big display for the manager?"

SG: "No, we're not playing for the manager, we're playing for the team."

Ominous.

5-0 really flattered, Luton totally imploded in the 2nd half.

Tusky

citytillidie wrote: »

How many of C Ronaldos goals have come from free kicks or pens.

Take them away i say he as scored as many as Babbel

Eh, no. Not quite. Ronaldo is on 22 goals, Babel is on 7.

tibor wrote: »

Sky: "So did the recent events off the pitch inspire you all to go out and big display for the manager?"

SG: "No, we're not playing for the manager, we're playing for the team."

Thats not what he said.

citytillidie

Yea how many of them 22 goals have come from taking free kicks and pens?

lordgoat

citytillidie wrote: »

How many of C Ronaldos goals have come from free kicks or pens.

Take them away i say he as scored as many as Babbel

Very good point. Shame you can't win the league on penalties ?

PHB can you win the league on free kicks and penalties??

tibor

citytillidie wrote: »

How many of C Ronaldos goals have come from free kicks or pens.

Take them away i say he as scored as many as Babbel

*splutter*

Take a second to think before you post...

Ronaldo has 22 goals this season.
Babel has 8(including tonight).

tibor

Tusky wrote: »

Thats not what he said.

"Paraphrasing..."

Mr Alan

tibor wrote: »

Paraphrasing the Stevie G in post match interview...

Sky: "So did the recent events off the pitch inspire you all to go out and big display for the manager?"

SG: "No, we're not playing for the manager, we're playing for the team."

Ominous.

5-0 really flattered, Luton totally imploded in the 2nd half.

tibor wrote: »

Take a second to think before you post...

maybe you should follow your own advice no?

Liverpool dominated from the first whistle to the last. Good performance.

Gerrard cant come out and say, "oh the owners are twats, we love Rafa" even if he wanted to, why? No one has ever done that. even Carragher didnt do that on 5live last night. the team is always more important than owners, managers etc etc.

Gerrard made his statement where it mattered, on the pitch, by bagging a hat-trick.

---

still think/hope all the doom mongers could be eating there words by the end of the season. hopefully

whatawaster

what did he actually say, and in what context?

Mr Alan

Basically he said the important thing is for the team to concentrate on playing and not to get mixed up in all the ****e going on behind the scenes.

Also loved when that clown Shreeves was pushing and pushing Rafa to comment on the Klinsmann situation, and Rafa just kept laughing and saying something along the lines of;

"i have been too busy preparing for this game to think about it"

then on about the 4th time shreeves asked, "ok, now that the game is over, do you fell undermined by the owners? How does it make you feel?"

to which Rafa responded, "i feel happy because we won 5 nil, and played well, and i am going to call your boss and ask him to give u a pay rise, cause you are an excellent journalist!"

Get in there Rafa! Legend

tibor

Tusky wrote: »

paraphrasing - Putting into your own words the thoughts or ideas from someone else’s work.

You changed the meaning behind what he said so that would be incorrect paraphrasing.

Well, what did you hear then?

He was given a very clear oppurtinity to say something, anything, supportive of Rafa and he blanked it.

tibor

Mr Alan wrote: »

maybe you should follow your own advice no?

Liverpool dominated from the first whistle to the last. Good performance.

Gerrard cant come out and say, "oh the owners are twats, we love Rafa" even if he wanted to, why? No one has ever done that. even Carragher didnt do that on 5live last night. the team is always more important than owners, managers etc etc.

Gerrard made his statement where it mattered, on the pitch, by bagging a hat-trick.

---

still think/hope all the doom mongers could be eating there words by the end of the season. hopefully

:rolleyes:

lordgoat

Double post apologies

Mr Alan

tibor wrote: »

Well, what did you hear then?

He was given a very clear oppurtinity to say something, anything, supportive of Rafa and he blanked it.

you are right, he was given an opportunity to publically slate the americans and back Rafa, there is no way though that is wat Rafa would have wanted and would have provided another dagger for the yanks to stab benitez with, "oh rafa,you are turning the players against us".

wat we need to do is let all this ****e die down and start winning games, then it will disappear, the last thing we need is "GERRARD SLATES YANKS!" all over the papers for the next week.

the club stance will be the team is more important than managers,owners etc and rightly so.

PHB

Twice this has been brought up, I'm tempted just to change the sig to 'You can't win the premiership on penalty shootouts'

Also Ronaldo has scored 22 goals this season, in 26 games, 3 were free kicks, 3 penalties, that puts him at 16 goals in 26 games from open play.

event

citytillidie wrote: »

Yea how many of them 22 goals have come from taking free kicks and pens?

citytillidie wrote: »

How many of C Ronaldos goals have come from free kicks or pens.

Take them away i say he as scored as many as Babbel

sometimes it can be harder to score for a free kick than open play

I love the way some people try to disregard penalties, you still have to score tehm

tibor

Mr Alan wrote: »

you are right, he was given an opportunity to publically slate the americans and back Rafa, there is no way though that is wat Rafa would have wanted and would have provided another dagger for the yanks to stab benitez with, "oh rafa,you are turning the players against us".

wat we need to do is let all this ****e die down and start winning games, then it will disappear, the last thing we need is "GERRARD SLATES YANKS!" all over the papers for the next week.

the club stance will be the team is more important than managers,owners etc and rightly so.

It was the way he said it that came across very negatively to me.

He could have said something as simple as "It was a good result for everyone at LFC", or "It was a good performance for the team" or whatever, but he started his response saying "No, it's not for the manager...".

Nobody expected him to come out and say "Yeah, that Hicks chap is an arsehole" or anything.

PHB

Gerrards policy is the right one. No quote means no story. A quote even a positive one means more stories.

Mr Alan

tibor wrote: »

It was the way he said it that came across very negatively to me.

But dont you also think that Liverpool were lucky to win 5-0?

Maybe your judgement is somewhat off tonight?

I was half praying that stevie would say some explosive tonight, something along the lines of, "yea geoff, with all the ****e thats been said, it was important that we got out there and showed that Rafa is the man to lead this club forward. The idea of Jurgen Klinsmann managing this great club is hilarious, if i'd have known it'd be that easy, i may have applied for the job myself tbh!"

but i pretty much knew wat he was going to say before he said it. tis the liverpool way. only seems strange in context to how open and fortright Hicks was,thats obviously the thick texan way.

edit: whoever is trying to belittle ronaldos record, leave it out, the guy is on fire this year (and last too,****head!). Babel is doin well, but you cant compare the two.

Babel has a long way to go, and i think he will end up an out and out striker in the end. reminds me so much of Henry at times its not funny.

special note to Gerrard though who is on wat? 16 goals? not getting much praise from anyone, especially opposing fans.

tibor

Mr Alan wrote: »

But dont you also think that Liverpool were lucky to win 5-0?

Maybe your judgement is somewhat off tonight?

Eh, no, I said 5-0 flattered the performance.
If you think that was an amazing display of football, fair enough, I'll leave it at that.

Mr Alan

didnt say i think it was an amazing display, if we played amazing against them lot tonight we'd be banging in 10.

it was a good performance, 5 nil didnt flatter at all, we had all the posession and all the chances.

Dub13

It was a good performance but we should have did it first time around.

Mr Alan

Excellent article about Carragher, ****ing spot on too.

---

I can tell you with some certainty that Bill Shankly would have loved Jamie Carragher because he told me so.

Not via the gin-soaked throat of Madame Margie The Menopausal Medium in the back room of a London Road pub one wet Tuesday afternoon, but on a baking hot day in Melwood in June 1975, when I asked him to name the best Liverpool player he'd ever managed:

"I've had many skilful men," he rasped, "and the likes of Peter Thompson, Ian St John, Kevin Keegan and Steve Heighway were the ones who caught the eye. But the best professional of the lot was Gerry Byrne. He wasn't flashy and he wouldn't score you goals. But he was hard and skilful and gave you everything he had. More than that he was totally honest. Which is the greatest quality of all. He was a true Liverpudlian who couldn't look his fellow Scousers in the face after a game unless he'd given everything he had for 90 minutes."

Can you think of anyone who has worn the Liver Bird since Gerry Byrne more befitting of that description than Jamie Carragher? Can you think of another player ahead of Carra who you would count on to do what Byrne did in the 1965 FA Cup Final: Break his collar bone after three minutes, then, because substitutes weren't allowed, play another 117 minutes, delivering a cross that produced the opening goal? (Okay forget about the cross.)

For Byrne in '65, playing into extra time with two edges of jagged bone grinding together, read Carra in the dying stages in Istanbul in '05. Body wracked with excruciating pain, legs so cramped he could barely walk, pushing himself on, throwing himself in, carrying his team towards the finishing line.

I'm telling you, Shankly would have loved him. The great man's tongue would have lacerated clowns like Steve McClaren who were so blinded by the hype surrounding John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Ledley King, they failed to give Jamie an England shirt with the correct number on the back.

But then, over the years, many people have got Carragher wrong. And I hope there's a few of you out there who are big enough to admit it. During all those dire games under Gerard Houllier when he was played out of position at full-back Jamie took some awful stick. Certain Anfield regulars and many armchair supporters, frustrated at the lack of style and subtlety on the pitch took their frustrations out on Jamie's limited attacking skills (without questioning why Igor Biscan was taking his place at centre-half).

When Liverpool failed to break down teams Jamie copped it for not doing enough in the opposition's half, the same way Ronnie Whelan and Sammy Lee used to cop it - two other players with wonderful intelligence and work ethic who were integral parts of the red machine.

Carra kept his head down and his mouth shut and gave his all, despite knowing he was being used out of position. It was the same when he played for England and pundits and phone-in critics took their turn to underestimate him.

I still laugh at The Times's "ratings assessment" of his performance against Juventus in Turin in 2005: "Jamie Carragher: 6/10. Made important interceptions and blocks, although he caused anxiety when giving the ball away on the edge of his own penalty area."

I wrote at the time that it was a bit like giving Geoff Hurst 6/10 after his World Cup-winning hat-trick in 1966 and writing: "Only had three decent shots, and caused quite a bit of anxiety when one hit the bar and bounced on to the line."

Carragher was a colossus against Juventus. Just as he was in every single game on the road to Istanbul. When Rafa Benitez liberated him from his full-back misery and stuck him in the position he was born to play he was a revelation. By the end of the 2004/5 season we were all dreaming of a team of Carraghers and laughing at his exclusion from the PFA's Footballer of the Year short-list.

Because in a season of heart-thumping highs and gut-wrenching lows he was the club's most consistent performer. The true driving force, composed, committed and focused in every game.

When Benitez lost Steven Gerrard for that game in Turin, he said: "big problems require big solutions". No they don't, they require big men. Heroes who fear no one, lead by example and are prepared to die for a club.

In an era when many players see themselves as precious brands and allow their disloyalty to be seized upon by sharp-suited shysters, Carragher strikes a blow for the heroes of yesteryear.

For honest men who think the way fans with a fraction of their talent think, who have only four words to say when offered a generous contract extension: "Give me the pen." Men who don't spout cliches about performances "not being acceptable for a club of this size" but attempt to do something about it.

Carra is one of that rare breed whose desire is not to pine for a bigger stage or wage slip but to pay back their fellow working-class men who have made them so fantastically rich. Oh and he's quite handy at squaring up to muppets in permed wigs too.

Whenever I look at him in the heat of battle I see Tommy Smith, Ian Callaghan, Sammy Lee, John Aldridge, Jimmy Case and Gerry Byrne. Players who were underrated to a criminal degree outside Anfield and who rarely make it into the starting line-ups of most fans' all-time Liverpool XIs. But men who were loved by the Kop because week-in, week-out, they sweated blood for their fellow Scousers. That's why Shankly would have loved him.

Well done Jamie, here's to your next 500 Liverpool games. If not playing in them all, what about managing in the last couple of hundred?

Well can you think of a better man to trust your life with?

Jazzy

tibor wrote: »

Well, what did you hear then?

He was given a very clear oppurtinity to say something, anything, supportive of Rafa and he blanked it.

Steven Gerrard should never say anything with a camera on his face ever.
the fact that he siad nothing is in fact brilliant when a club is in a bit of turmoil

Mr Alan

just admit it, you love him, dont you!

Jazzy

PHB wrote: »

Also Ronaldo has scored 22 goals this season, in 26 games, 3 were free kicks, 3 penalties, that puts him at 16 goals in 26 games from open play.

jaysus, u Utd fans and your facts. didnt u see the thread title? Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion / Imagination Land 2007/2008

jesus_thats_gre

tibor wrote: »

Eh, no, I said 5-0 flattered the performance.
If you think that was an amazing display of football, fair enough, I'll leave it at that.

Something like 25 odd attempts on goal to 2 and 5-0 was flattering?



About the game. Twas an ok performance with nothing in particular to criticise. The job is done now and I think Liverpool fans would be happy just to move on from it and focus on upcoming games.

For fans of oppossing clubs who will probably post over the next 24 hours. No, we do not now think that everything is rosey. No, we do not think that was have turned the corner.. No, we don't want to read more ****e for another week or so.

Mr Alan

this would be ****ing superb news if true.

http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/premier-league/article3342139.ece

Jesus Wept

Mr Alan wrote: »

Basically he said the important thing is for the team to concentrate on playing and not to get mixed up in all the ****e going on behind the scenes.

Also loved when that clown Shreeves was pushing and pushing Rafa to comment on the Klinsmann situation, and Rafa just kept laughing and saying something along the lines of;

"i have been too busy preparing for this game to think about it"

then on about the 4th time shreeves asked, "ok, now that the game is over, do you fell undermined by the owners? How does it make you feel?"

to which Rafa responded, "i feel happy because we won 5 nil, and played well, and i am going to call your boss and ask him to give u a pay rise, cause you are an excellent journalist!"

Get in there Rafa! Legend

lol, I missed it.

Wonder will it appear online, hope so. Rafa makes me lol.

Mr Alan wrote: »

this would be ****ing superb news if true.

http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/premier-league/article3342139.ece

Who exactly is on the board?
Can they do anything to prevent Hicks & Gillette's plans to put the debt onto the club?
Were they taken at their word or was it a condition of the sale of the club?

I'm not suggesting you answer these questions Mr Alan, the article just failed to address them.

kryogen

about the post macth interview, stevie was asked did they "particularly want to put in a good performance for the manager" and he said its not "particularly for the manager, its for the team" there is nothing negative there, in fact i think its one of the most neutral comments ive ever seen him make when asked a question, he is unbelievably stupid/thoughtless normally when asked a potentially dangerous question and if i was a pool fan id just be delighted he didnt do anything to fuel the fire, as he said himself, it was important that the football made the headlines tomorrow, not the other stuff....dont read so much into it

i didnt see the game, but from what i can tell luton played fine till half time, defensively like, then fell apart after the second.. well done

Cyrus

tibor wrote: »

Eh, no, I said 5-0 flattered the performance.
If you think that was an amazing display of football, fair enough, I'll leave it at that.

tibor, is your goal in life to troll this thread, is there nothing happening in the united thread to keep you occupied?

raven136

check out martin samuels article about rafa today in the london times.sums up the whole issue and an excellent piece

redspider

Mr Alan wrote: »

article about Carragher, ****ing spot on too.

Yeah, I think most Liverpool fans and football fans in general appreciate the work that Carra is doing and has done for Liverpool. He deserves a large dose of congratulations for those 500 games. (I posted one on this thread). He has also done it with a fantastic attitude which is great to see, and I agree that he is a player that Shanks would have appreciated.

In terms of his skillsets, Carra has played a variety of positions and was used as a utility player in his early years, playing all across the back line and even in midfield. I dont know what his attacking talents were like in his youth, but over the years he has developed his defensive qualities, perhaps to the detriment of attack. But the team can certainly live with that as what he does at the back has saved Liverpool on so many occasions it is unbelievable and without him they would not be where they are today. Rafa gave him a centre-back berth replacing Henchoz and he has flourished in it.

> Jamie Carragher: 6/10

That's why no-one should trust any ratings that they read in newspapers or on other media. The only way to judge a game (and a player) is to watch the whole match yourself. To be more scientific about it, its necessary to watch it several times and replay all those key bits to fully understand what actually happened with 22 moving people and a moving ball. That could take about 3 hrs per match (or more), and few of us ever do that. But without doing that all we have are our hunches and perceptions of the things that have flashed before our eyes.

But once again, Thanks Jamie.

Redspider

DaBreno

Re Carragher. Put it simply, the man is my hero. He wasnt blessed with any special talent. Instead, he got to where he is through sheer force of will and a desire to succeed. Someone like that is an inspiration to anyone. A true captain of the side, the arm band would be better served on his arm.

_blank_

Didn't Gerard demand to be made captain as part of contract negotiations one of the times he was threatening to leggit to Chelsea?

zing

DesF wrote: »

Didn't Gerard demand to be made captain as part of contract negotiations one of the times he was threatening to leggit to Chelsea?

No - Houllier made Gerrard captain.

citytillidie

DesF wrote: »

Didn't Gerard demand to be made captain as part of contract negotiations one of the times he was threatening to leggit to Chelsea?

Only request he made in contract negotiations was the number 8 jersey

spockety

tibor wrote: »

Paraphrasing the Stevie G in post match interview...

Sky: "So did the recent events off the pitch inspire you all to go out and big display for the manager?"

SG: "No, we're not playing for the manager, we're playing for the team."

Ominous.

Very very unfair 'paraphrasing' from ya there.

He did not say "we are not playing for the manager, we're playing for the team".

What he actually said was more along the lines of "It's not about the manager, it's about the team performance".

Which I imagine is EXACTLY what RAFA would have wanted one of his players to say.

mike65

tibor=ignore. Please.

Mike.

spockety

Tibor is a Liverpool fan, I've been to Anfield with him on a couple of ocassions. ;-)

Mr Alan

DesF wrote: »

Didn't Gerard demand to be made captain as part of contract negotiations one of the times he was threatening to leggit to Chelsea?

No, not at all. In fact after the Chelsea debacle, he offered up the captaincy and it was left to senior players Carragher,Hypia etc to decide if he should remain captain or should it be taken away (obviously to Carra), they decided Stevie was their captain.
(oops, just broke my self imposed ban on posting during the day!)

_blank_

Oh, howya Al.

Hmm, fair enough, I must have been mis-remembering. Apologies folks.

What's the story with no daytime posting?

PMd you back btw.