Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

zing

Was looking at the Fixtures & Results page on lfc.tv just now ... last 3 games - 2-0, 4-0 & 6-0. What can we expect against Pompey

el rabitos

zing wrote:

Was looking at the Fixtures & Results page on lfc.tv just now ... last 3 games - 2-0, 4-0 & 6-0. What can we expect against Pompey

if its the liverpool we all know, a 1 - 0 defeat.

if we've moved on and improved an 8 - 0 victory will convince me :cool:

Kulgan

Exactly

The pompey game will be a good indication of whether this team has really moved up a level.

kryogen

stevie definatly thinks hes bigger then he is, he had the cheek to say in a post match interview (regardless of whther its true or not) that maybe now his manager is learning that centre midfield is his best position, you dont disrespect your manager like that publicly, you play for the team, your manager picks the team, simple as.....do the job where your played to the best of your ability and never question your managers tactics publicly... i think he knows how to play the media game very well, not too unlike mr beckham, and he tries to come across as the real liverpool lad playing for his boyhood team and all that, he was prepared to go to chelski if ye didnt up his already substantial wages....to me it shows where his real loyalty lies, his bank balance...its a sad fact that there are not many players left these days who actually play for the crest...not the wage packet.

*takes step back* "let the slating begin!

Mr Alan

kryogen wrote:

he was prepared to go to chelski if ye didnt up his already substantial wages....to me it shows where his real loyalty lies, his bank balance...its a sad fact that there are not many players left these days who actually play for the crest...not the wage packet.

That is absolute nonsense, the reason he considered a move was nothing to do with his wages. You're not allowed just make stuff up ya know!!!!!

Vokes

kryogen wrote:

stevie definatly thinks hes bigger then he is, he had the cheek to say in a post match interview (regardless of whther its true or not) that maybe now his manager is learning that centre midfield is his best position

link to the interview?

The Rooster

Well assuming he doesnt aggravate his injury playing for England, Stevie will be back for the Pompey game. I think the commentator for the Derby game said Mascherano is playing a friendly for the Argies in Australia on the Wed before the Pompey game, so with jet lag he's unlikely to be considered.

Pennant is a certain starter, especially as he won't be on international duty, but with Portsmouth being quite physical, Rafa may ponder over bringing in Sissoko and/or Riise into midfield. Though I hope he sticks with Babel and the formation we've been playing.

event

millersangel wrote:

That is absolute nonsense, the reason he considered a move was nothing to do with his wages. You're not allowed just make stuff up ya know!!!!!

aye, was cos he didnt feel loved, or enough commitment from the board

poor stevie, that must have been so bad for him

Mr Alan

nice contribution event.

zAbbo

event wrote:

aye, was cos he didnt feel loved, or enough commitment from the board

poor stevie, that must have been so bad for him

Because he was being dicked around with his contract (thank you Rick Parry) and didn't know what was happening, he's certainly one of those players who needs to be loved, but I've always thought he has repaid the team and always puts in the effort.

Regarding playing out of position, I doubt any other decent world footballer would have put up with it, Nike would have routed Ronaldinho out of Barcelona if he had even played half the games Stevie has had to play out of position.

Maybe you're right Mark, I can certainly see why opposing fans have a go at him, is it any different from the loyalty shown by Rio, Lampard, Terry et al holding out for their bumper contract wages.

I'm glad SG is a liverpool player, but he'll never be adored by the fans as much as Carragher.

whatawaster

Comments about Gerrard being one of our most wasteful players is very wide of the mark. Sure he takes risks and a lot of the time they don't come off, but I think we need a player in our team who will take those risks, and keep taking them, even when things aren't working out. I mean imagine it's the 93rd minute of the 2006 FA Cup Final. We're 1-0 down, Gerrard gets the ball 30 yards out and skies one high over the bar. We'd all be shouting at the tv, calling him wasteful and greedy. Should he have stopped and played a simple pass? That's what lesser players would have done, Carrick for example.

I do agree though that Riise is one of the most wasteful players I have ever seen. Anytime I see him with the ball, within 50 yards of goal, with a little bit of space, I die a little.

Mr Alan

zabbo wrote:

Maybe you're right Mark, I can certainly see why opposing fans have a go at him, is it any different from the loyalty shown by Rio, Lampard, Terry et al holding out for their bumper contract wages.

I'm glad SG is a liverpool player, but he'll never be adored by the fans as much as Carragher.

Gerrard has more loyalty in his broken toe than Rio has in his entire body.
Anyone who questions that needs their head examined.

As for Lampard and Terry? Well i actually think their loyalty is more to Mourinho than to the club.

Your right about him never being as adored as Carragher.

Stky10

This insistence on loyalty from fans is pretty hypocritical. How many of the same fans would leave a company that trained them up for their rival company if they were offered higher wages?. Now obviously there is a difference in that these footballers are millionaires anyway so what the hell difference will an extra 10% make, but football is a short career that can be ended at any moment by injury (as Solksjaer and probably Clive Clarke found out last week), and usually the team that offers the higher wages, can offer a greater chance of winning silverware as well.

PHB

I mean imagine it's the 93rd minute of the 2006 FA Cup Final. We're 1-0 down, Gerrard gets the ball 30 yards out and skies one high over the bar. We'd all be shouting at the tv, calling him wasteful and greedy. Should he have stopped and played a simple pass?

It depends. If it's the last minute and it's desperate most players would shoot. 20 minutes in to a game, you might do that, but if you do it every time you get the ball (exxageration to prove a point) unless you can produce some magic, the attack will break down every time you get the ball. Take Riise for example. Gerrrard is good enough to create one or two chances or score a goal a game when he does the magic, but if he sometimes played the simple pass he'd be incredible. Now he has the players around him to play it.

Kanney

Gerrard out of the team? Come on, hes a pivotal part of the spine of the team. I like how well Masch played the last day, squad performance is really putting pressure on other players in each position, Masch was close if not, man of the match, so some may say bye to alonso, but he scored two and player well, sissoko scored his first for the club in the absence of Gerrard.
Up front, Crouch scored one on Tuesday, Kuyt scored two on Tuesday, Torres scored two on Saturday, Voronin has scored two in his last two games, one as a sub.
Wide men, Babel opens his account, whereas Pennant has been our best player so far.
Arbeloa has surprised a lot of people with his versatility in the absence of Carra, things are looking up for us.
Looking forward to seeing Aurelio back, anyone have an update?

machiavellianme

And what did he do against Chelsea? The simple pass to Torres instead of trying to do it all himself.

Zapp Brannigan

Only just saw the match, good performance.

We can't get carried away though.

Mr Alan

Mascherano surely wont be playing the Portsmouth game but a midfield of Gerrard and Alonso/Sissoko is as good as anything in the league, so i aint worried

Kanney

Masch has been confirmed not to play, because the Argies are playing a friendly in Australia.

RE*AC*TOR

Gerrard and Masch would be my preferred pairing in the centre. Alonso hasn't replicated his first season form for us in quite some time.

Gerrard is a good passer, he can take the ball forward on his own, he can shoot, he can tackle. He has very few weaknesses in his game, and I disagree that he is always trying to play the glamour ball. In recent time past there was a huge weight on him to be the centre of everything, due to a lack of wingers or other creative players.

Mascherano has never failed to impress me. I think he's a more sensible version of Sissoko, who can also pass.

Having said that Masch will miss the Pompey game, so it will probably be Alonso and Gerrard, barring any international injuries.

PHB

machiavellianme wrote:

And what did he do against Chelsea? The simple pass to Torres instead of trying to do it all himself.

Which is what is soo bloody annoying about Gerrard. It's not like he can't play the simple game, he can, and he'd be amazing at it.

Kanney

Simple pass to Torres? That was cracking pass, outside of the boot. Genius.

Daemonic

Kanney wrote:

Looking forward to seeing Aurelio back, anyone have an update?

This was posted on LFC.tv on 26/08

Liverpool have been boosted by the return to light training of left-back Fabio Aurelio.
The Brazilian, who has made 25 appearances since arriving at Anfield from Valencia a year ago, has been missing for five months after rupturing his Achilles tendon against PSV in April.

Aurelio could make his return to the first team within weeks.

Kanney

Brilliant, I thought before he got injured he showed some real promise. I gem with set pieces tho.

Attractive Nun

millersangel wrote:

Gerrard has more loyalty in his broken toe than Rio has in his entire body.
Anyone who questions that needs their head examined.

In what way is Rio Ferdinand particularly disloyal? He came up through West Ham's youth system, played there for 5 years. After a spell at Leeds, he's been with United now for 5 years. I don't mean to hold him up as a shining example of Le Tissier-esque club loyalty, but why pick on Ferdinand?

Kanney

Cos hes a douche. People say that gerrard demanded huge money during the chelski drama. But Rio demanded more, and for a player of his "quality", that is ridiculous.

The Rooster

Personally I dont think Aurelio is anything more than a hard working squad player. I don't think he's near the class of Finnan and Arbeloa, but he is good to have in case of injuries or when lads need a rest.

If Gerrard did two things differently, you'd have to go a long way to find a better central midfielder IMO:
1. Learn that shooting isnt always the best option
2. Get in or around the box for our corners.

Mascherano is awesome. Personally I think he's the best holding midfielder in the world. I'm disappointed every time he does not appear on the Liverpool teamsheet. And this time last year he couldnt make the West Ham team!

Mr Alan

Attractive Nun wrote:

In what way is Rio Ferdinand particularly disloyal? He came up through West Ham's youth system, played there for 5 years. After a spell at Leeds, he's been with United now for 5 years. I don't mean to hold him up as a shining example of Le Tissier-esque club loyalty, but why pick on Ferdinand?

Because the post i was responding to mentioned Rio,Lampard and Terry. Rio forgot to piss in a cup and was out for 9 months. Then soon as he was able to play again, he demanded a pay rise, he was booed by his own fans for the entire pre-season if i remember correctly. That is terrible disloyalty to show a club that has been paying you for 9 months while you were ineligable to work due to your own stupidness.

LeTissier . . . . . Loyalty/Laziness . . . you decide!

The issue with Gerrard/Chelsea was NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS PAY PACKET!!!!!!!!! stop mentioning them together

Attractive Nun

millersangel wrote:

Because the post i was responding to mentioned Rio,Lampard and Terry. Rio forgot to piss in a cup and was out for 9 months. Then soon as he was able to play again, he demanded a pay rise, he was booed by his own fans for the entire pre-season if i remember correctly. That is terrible disloyalty to show a club that has been paying you for 9 months while you were ineligable to work due to your own stupidness.

....

The issue with Gerrard/Chelsea was NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS PAY PACKET!!!!!!!!! stop mentioning them together

Genuinely asking here, because I don't know: When Gerrard decided to stay at Liverpool, was he given a pay rise? If so, I find it odd that you are so willing to believe what Gerrard says about his reasons, but so quick to condemn Ferdinand's actions. Even so, what's so horrible about asking for a pay rise and so noble about asking for whatever Gerrard was asking for? (which was what exactly? Rick Parry to get Steven Gerrard wallpaper in his living room and buy him a bunch of flowers every week?) I certainly don't know the ins and outs of either situation - maybe Ferdinand, influenced by offers from Chelsea and Real Madrid, felt that he was undervalued at the club and intended to ask for a pay rise. Then he got a (ridiculously lengthy) ban and thought it would be better form to wait until he was actually playing again to ask? He's guilty of arrogance, maybe/certainly, but to conclude so conclusively that 'Gerrard has more loyalty in his big toe than Rio', is a tad harsh IMO.

millersangel wrote:

LeTissier . . . . . Loyalty/Laziness . . . you decide!

I will not stand for any questioning of Matt Le Tissier! He is an infallible football god and was perfect in every way. Aside from club loyalty, the only reason he stayed at Southampton was because he was committed to single-handedly building schools and hospitals for orphans.

Kanney

Attractive Nun wrote:

Aside from club loyalty, the only reason he stayed at Southampton was because he was committed to single-handedly building schools and hospitals for orphans.

Orphans with diseases.

Mr Alan

ha ha ha. I aint slating Le Tissier, always liked him as a player, wonderfully gifted. But i think another reason he stayed at Southampton all those years was he enjoyed being a big fish in a small pond. And if he went to another club he probably would have had to work on his fitness

Dont fancy a Rio Versus Gerrard argument, suffice to say that i stand by my original comment.

Attractive Nun

millersangel wrote:

Dont fancy a Rio Versus Gerrard argument, suffice to say that i stand by my original comment.

Fair enough, I will just let this speak for itself then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhpXuHRtH9M

Mr Alan

i cant view that in work . . . wanna tell me what it is or keep it as a suprise for later?

Attractive Nun

Well considering it would be the most disappointing surprise ever... it's a video of Rio Ferdinand 'mercing/punking' Peter Crouch. Clearly Liverpool's most humiliating moment in a long rivalry with United.

(And yes, if you haven't seen it before, Rio Ferdinand comes across as a bit of a knob. But he's from the hood so it's OK)

Mr Alan

yea i saw it before. absolute complete and utter loser.

kryogen

LOL poor rio has really upset you in a past life hasnt he millersangel!!!

poor chap, god what a stupid idea for a show though, anyway, i searched and searched and couldnt find a link that works to that interview, i found one but the sound is non existent on it, ill have a look later and if i can find one ill post it no problem. think it was after the villa game...

Chardee MacDennis

who do i write to to get that 6 minutes of my life back?

Mr Alan

yea it was after the Villa game, wasnt that disrespectful really, just kind of said that central midfield was his best position is all. . . . Rafas comeback was class though, when he was told wat he said, he laughed and said something along the lines of...''yes, maybe he is strongest there, we will see if he scores 23 goals like he did playing on the right''

Love Rafa

kryogen

yes,and if he had said that his opinion (gerrard) was that his best pos was CM then its fine, but for him to say that maybe his manager will realise/learn that its the best place to play him?? i mean who does he actually think he is? lol i missed rafas response! quailty!!!

Mr Alan

did he definately say it like that at the time? ''maybe he'll learn thats my best position??'' cant remember that part of it

kryogen

yeah,i cant remember it word for word but i do remember the point he was making, and i thought the words he used were disrespectful of his manager at the time! it stuck in my head because i was shoced that he would say this publicly, after you had made such a good start to the season why would he want to rock anyones boat you know!! ill keep looking for the intervoew, maybe i can find a transcrpit or quote or something

zing

millersangel wrote:

did he definately say it like that at the time? ''maybe he'll learn thats my best position??'' cant remember that part of it

Think it was along the lines of 'everyone else knows my best position is ...' but can't remember it too well

Mr Alan

i like the Rafa quote after Mourinho saying Chelsea had no divers, didnt surround refs, were a pure nieve team and had no one who did violent tackles.

when the interviewer said it to Rafa he responded, ''yea, and i'm little red riding hood''

legend

Shankley laid the foundation, Paisley built the house, and Rafas doing the garden!

event

so what do you all make of pako (sp) leaving?

reports in teh paper that he left over a few falling outs with Rafa. Supposedly Rafa wasnt too pleased to see him laughing and joking with Jose after the Chelsea game. Also, he applied to be Director of Football for Bilbao, behind liverpools back. Rafa supposedly also brought in a new fitness coach in the summer, a big part of Pako's responsibility.

Now this was in a sunday rag, so may not be true, but what do you make of it?

Dub13

If we can get the max points from our games in Sept we will be well on the way.

mike65

event wrote:

so what do you all make of pako (sp) leaving?

reports in teh paper that he left over a few falling outs with Rafa. Supposedly Rafa wasnt too pleased to see him laughing and joking with Jose after the Chelsea game. Also, he applied to be Director of Football for Bilbao, behind liverpools back. Rafa supposedly also brought in a new fitness coach in the summer, a big part of Pako's responsibility.

Now this was in a sunday rag, so may not be true, but what do you make of it?

Lots of speculatation. The Times puts the ultimate split down to Rafa beliving that Pako had become too chummy with various members of the senior squad. He runs Liverpool like a Sgt-Major!

He decided to bring in two new coaches one for fitness - Paco de Miguel and Ángel Vales for technical analysis over the summer and no doubt that sent a message to Pako Ayesteran.

Something I've read is that much of the striker rotation and conservative tactics was down to Ayesteran. I presume he was impressesing on Rafa the need to use limited resources as carefully as possible. Then the new owners arrive open the chequebook and that requirement goes out the window.

Bye-bye Paco.

Could be all completely wrong of course!

Mike.

Chardee MacDennis

The Rooster wrote:

Personally I dont think Aurelio is anything more than a hard working squad player.

in fairness most of us would have said that about arbeloa until recently...

kryogen

do the liverpool fans here really believe that "this is your year" or is it like every year when people say its going to be "liverpools year"?

i am interested in this,my liverpool fan friends seem to be very deluded this season so far with victories over the mighty derby and sunderland and villa under their belt, they see a signifigance in being top of the table right now. i would like to get the honest opinions of you guys here please.

do you remember last week? when city were top of the table? and all their fans sarted to think they werent gonna finish mid table for some reason? that they could maybe push for europe and all that? it was almost as funny as my liverpool fan friends telling me they were gonna win the league!!

city do have a better chance of playing european football next season then that in my opinion...

but i would like to hear your honest views, thanks!

spockety

Liverpool fans have good reason to be optimistic these days. It's not delusion unless Liverpool have no hope in hell of winning the league. Unlike in the last couple of seasons, Liverpool have got off to a relative flyer, sitting top of the league after 4 games with a game in hand over 2 major rivals.

But these opening 4 matches are just part of a bigger picture for Liverpool fans in general that fans of other clubs might not appreciate..

New (seemingly decent and supportive) owners.
Stunning new stadium on the way.
2 CL finals in 3 years with 1 victory under the belt.
Club record signing in Torres.
Some surprising, and some not so surprising bloody good squad members coming to the fore (Mascherano, Arbeloa, Agger, Pennant).
Some good new signings (Babel, Benayoun, etc)
Rafa Benitez (we are now seeing his labour over the last 3 years bear fruit I believe).


So basically, in general, Liverpool fans are getting more and more bullish about their prospects because of all of the above things.

As I said already, the only reason you would think your friends are deluded is if you genuinely believe that Liverpool don't have a chance to win the title this year. And if you think that's the case, then it is you my friend who is deluded.


p.s. 1000th post to this thread!

kryogen wrote:

do the liverpool fans here really believe that "this is your year" or is it like every year when people say its going to be "liverpools year"?

i am interested in this,my liverpool fan friends seem to be very deluded this season so far with victories over the mighty derby and sunderland and villa under their belt, they see a signifigance in being top of the table right now. i would like to get the honest opinions of you guys here please.

do you remember last week? when city were top of the table? and all their fans sarted to think they werent gonna finish mid table for some reason? that they could maybe push for europe and all that? it was almost as funny as my liverpool fan friends telling me they were gonna win the league!!

city do have a better chance of playing european football next season then that in my opinion...

but i would like to hear your honest views, thanks!

marco_polo

kryogen wrote:

do the liverpool fans here really believe that "this is your year" or is it like every year when people say its going to be "liverpools year"?

i am interested in this,my liverpool fan friends seem to be very deluded this season so far with victories over the mighty derby and sunderland and villa under their belt, they see a signifigance in being top of the table right now. i would like to get the honest opinions of you guys here please.

do you remember last week? when city were top of the table? and all their fans sarted to think they werent gonna finish mid table for some reason? that they could maybe push for europe and all that? it was almost as funny as my liverpool fan friends telling me they were gonna win the league!!

city do have a better chance of playing european football next season then that in my opinion...

but i would like to hear your honest views, thanks!

Nice trolling btw, I personally haven't seen the words "this is our year" anywhere in this thread. <ust be a bit worried eh?

It has been an encouraging start to the year and if we can keep it up then who knows. I don't this anyone here "expects" to win the league. But if you think it is beyond the bounds of possibility that liverpool could win the league, then I think you are letting your bias cloud your judgement.

And City have a decent chance of europe too despite the recent setbacks. After all they only have to do better than Spurs and the Everton.