Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

copacetic

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I found this post I made back on the 26th of January because I remember getting an unmerciful load of stick back then as a result of it from defiant Liverpool fans. I was told my suggestions were 'moronic', that I was 'talking out of my arse', 'didn't know what I was talking about' etc. yet look at where Liverpool are now. Out of the title race, out of the FA Cup after titanic struggles with the mighty Havant & Waterlooville, Luton and of course Barnsley and now facing a crucial European game with Serie A leaders Inter with Rafa Benitez reportedly on the way out if the European adventure ends prematurely.

All I want to say is - told you so. I predicted they hadn't a hope of maintaining a decent challenge.

Alonso has been useless - a fact acknowledged by Rafa and the player.

Arbeloa and Aurelio have likewise been very poor and contrary to what I know many of you think, I still maintain that Agger isn't good enough for a team looking to launch a title assault. I'm eager to know if Tusky stands by what he said to me back then:



I think it's evident that these players are liabilities like I said and quite clearly are NOT good enough. PS Tusky, would you still say no to Jermain Defoe now? I thought he took his debut goal for Portsmouth against Chelsea quite well. I hear they're a pretty decent side. Then again, what do I know?

My two cents on Liverpool's current predicament is that Rafa's time is up and he's taken you as far as he can. I predict Inter will knock out Liverpool when the two legs are over and done with and that effectively will be that.

oh sweet jesus:rolleyes:, great point that 2 players who have been out injured most of the season are 'liabilities'.

Mr.Nice Guy

copacetic wrote: »

oh sweet jesus:rolleyes:, great point that 2 players who have been out injured most of the season are 'liabilities'.

Yeah you're quite right if they'd been fully fit you'd be world beaters right now.

Jesus Wept

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

All I want to say is - told you so. I predicted they hadn't a hope of maintaining a decent challenge.

There isn't a slow enough pace in existence to applaud you at.

Well done.

IrishMike

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Yeah you're quite right if they'd been fully fit you'd be world beaters right now.

What has two players being injured all season and you saying they are crap
as a result and liverpool being world beaters got in common?
Liverpool cant mount a title challenge because they have 1 striker and no
wingers, its not because they dont have enough central midfielders or defenders
Your post on 26 jan was laughed at because it was moronic, your last posts
just reinforced peoples opinions of you, congrats.

RE*AC*TOR

I haven't harped into this discussion in the last few days. I think the media assassination of Benitez is completely over the top, but given the recent results it is not 100% unexpected. Certain things have conspired against Benitez this season including: Gerrard's seeming distaste for the manager. Carraghers poor form and growing distaste for Benitez. The chronic injury to Daniel Agger. The poor form of Dirk Kuyt (he wasn't world class last season, but he was a helluva lot better). The ownership fiasco. The absence of Pako Ayesteran.

In recent years Liverpool have been out of the championship race by October. This year we were firmly in it until the Christmas period. While the form since then has been dire, I think progress had been made.

Let us not forget, had it not been for Benitez Hicks / Gillet would not have been exposed for the con-artists that they are - and we still might be living in the fantasy world where they were benevolant owners stumping up cash and building a new stadium.

I still believe that Benitez is the long-term right manager for Liverpool. Why? I believe he has shown the tactical accumen in his time here to assure me he is capable of bringing us to the next level. I believe he has substantially strenghtened the squad with each passing season - Mascherano / Agger / Torres / Babel / Lucas are all top quality players. Whether he will get that chance or not remains to be seen.

monkey9

Paul Eaton 19 February 2008

Steven Gerrard today admitted Liverpool will need to produce their best display of the season to beat Inter Milan at Anfield.
The two sides clash in the first leg of the Champions League last sixteen clash with the runaway Serie A leaders favourites to book their place in the quarter finals at the expense of Rafael Benitez's Reds.

Gerrard accepts he and his teammates face a daunting challenge this evening but he's confident Liverpool's recent history of knocking European giants out of the competition can be repeated again.

"To get the kind of result we need we are going to have to turn in maybe our best 90 minutes of the season. It is going to have to be one of those great performances," he said,

"They are a fantastic side. You have to be, to be so far ahead in the Italian league, as they are at the moment. They are odds-on to make it three titles in a row and that's a fantastic achievement for them.

"We will need to take our chances against them, and that's been one of the frustrations of the season for us. We have dominated games and created lots of good clear sights of goal, and we haven't taken them.

"It's not just about the strikers, it's the whole team who have been missing those opportunities and we have to change that.

"We need to make a good start to get us up for the trip to Italy. The San Siro isn't a place where you want to be chasing a result. In a perfect world we would score a couple of goals and keep it tight.

"But Inter don't concede many goals and they have got great players all over the pitch. So we will have to play well, we know that, and this is the type of game we normally respond in."

Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano has insisted he'll be forgetting about personal friendships during the 90 minutes of action this evening.

The Argentine midfielder will come up against international team-mates Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso and Julio Cruz tonight as the Reds look to bounce back from defeat at the weekend with a morale boosting victory over the Nerrazzuri.

"They are my team-mates for my country but my job is to stop Inter Milan's players," he said.

"When I play for Liverpool, I don't have any friends in the opposing side.

"When I go out on to the pitch, when I get my mind into playing mode, I forget about everything except winning.

"If that means getting myself between the ball and people who are friends off the pitch, then that is just the way it is."

monkey9

By David Maddock19/02/2008

Rafael Benitez last night launched a passionate defence of his Anfield regime as Martin O'Neill emerged as a serious contender to replace him.

The Spanish coach, whose Liverpool side face a crunch Champions League tie against Inter Milan tonight, insists he is still best placed to deliver the title the club have waited almost 20 years to lift again.

He said: "I understand why I am under pressure, but I have real confidence I will be here for a long time because I am the man to deliver titles for this club.

"My commitment to this club is 100 per cent clear."

Along with Villa boss O'Neill, Jose Mourinho and Frank Rikjaard are in the running as the question of the club's ownership is decided over the next few weeks.

Whether it is Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett in charge, or Sheikh Mohammed's DIC investment group, the feeling is there will be a need for change unless the current boss offers evidence of progress.

That now can only come through the Champions League. But Benitez reiterated it would be a mistake to replace him.

He added: "Liverpool appoint managers expecting them to win the Premier League, but I can do that. I know where those improvements have to be made.

"Look at Arsenal. They have won one cup in three years, but they are now in a position to win a title. It takes time.

"We have improved the squad and the club and I can continue to do so.

"Since I arrived we have been in seven finals and there is evidence of progress. OK, we have had setbacks this season, but that is the time you discover what is required to move forward."

Hicks has insisted Benitez will stay in charge for at least the next two years left on his contract but, with DIC moving closer to a takeover, the Spanish coach finds himself under intense pressure.

The Arabs have already taken soundings on who could replace Benitez and O'Neill has emerged as a real contender because of his ability to get the most out of his players and operate on limited budgets.

zing

Bah to the O'Neil story - yet more media conspiracy.

Spud83

I do believe that its possible O'Neill could be on the owners shortlist if they are planning on getting rid of Rafa. He is a much better candiadate than Klinsmann after all. There is no way O'Neill would go near Liverpool right now with so much unrest of the ownership. He is happy with his American, dont think he would swap it for two crazy ones.

Same goes for a lot of top managers I would say, if G&H stay in charge and Rafa goes(either by firing or quitting) I think they would stuggle to attract a top manager, if any are even available.

_blank_

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

I do believe that its possible O'Neill could be on the owners shortlist if they are planning on getting rid of Rafa. He is a much better candiadate than Klinsmann after all. There is no way O'Neill would go near Liverpool right now with so much unrest of the ownership. He is happy with his American, dont think he would swap it for two crazy ones.

Same goes for a lot of top managers I would say, if G&H stay in charge and Rafa goes(either by firing or quitting) I think they would stuggle to attract a top manager, if any are even available.

Disagree completely.

Liverpool is still a huge club, they could attract the very best aailable imo.

Sure, didn't Ireland attract GioTrap?

Mr Alan

First off, G&H probably wont be around for long.

Second, even if they stay, there will stilbe no problems attracting managers.

LuckyLloyd

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

All I want to say is - told you so. I predicted they hadn't a hope of maintaining a decent challenge.

Well done. Nothing beats a good "I told ya so" in the morning now, does it? Bet that feeling of pride and self - satisfasction was just bursting through your joints as you were typing that out. A wry smile to yourself even?

---

Anyway, what I'm fervantly hoping happens tonight is that the squad; the staff; the fans and everyone directly involved in tonight's game forget about all of the speculation and get out into Anfield to give this game a right proper go. All of the context is pointless now. Benitez will be in charge for this tie, so the negativity or concerns for the future can be put aside for the next two weeks.

At the end of the day, we have a squad of players that have been around the block in this competition twice in the past three years. There have been countless times in the past seven years where we have pulled it out at home. It's time for the players to roll up the sleeves and be counted. And believe me, the players should be taking most of the blame for the performances over the past few months. When they don't perform anywhere near what they are capable of in terms of technical and tactical dilligence you can only blame the coach so much. They ****ing owe him one.

Lets go.

monkey9

By James Lawton
Tuesday February 19 2008


Something has to give at Liverpool. Indeed, there is some evidence that it has already happened and that it is Rafa Benitez's hold on some of football's most basic realities. He is a good man with some impeccable, even brilliant qualities, but there are also flaws which make it increasingly improbable that even a convincing victory tonight over the aristocrats of Italian football, Internazionale, will do much more than prolong what is becoming an agony.


Certainly, Benitez should know better than most the folly of believing his Champions League triumph in Istanbul still bestows the job security of a senior civil servant. Yet still he clings to a remarkable but ageing victory, all the time failing to grasp that football, no more than any other competitive business, has never asked, "What did you do for me three years ago?"

The game will always be concerned with today and tomorrow, a truth the Liverpool manager ignored when he declared, on the day he lost to Barnsley: "I don't know too many managers who have won the European Cup."

As a Madrileno, he surely cannot have forgotten Vicente del Bosque, the taciturn man from Salamanca who won European club football's greatest prize not once but twice, yet still found himself sacked by Real Madrid just a year after his second triumph.

Perhaps Benitez, for the sake of his peace of mind, has indeed expunged from his memory that staggering piece of injustice inflicted on a manager who had also collected Real's 28th and 29th Spanish League titles.

Bizarre

The brutal truth is that Benitez, with ever diminishing success, appears to have been attempting to impose his own increasingly bizarre version of reality. The more emphatic he becomes in his self-belief, the further his team seems to slip away. But then let's be honest. It is not a team. It is an assortment, a series of options, none of which has encouraged the fundamental ambition of every great manager, a sense of growth.

Benitez's predecessor, Bill Shankly, never won a European Cup but he did lay down the principles of an empire which, at one point, gathered it in as though it was not a challenge but a right.

Shankly once climbed on to the table in his little office under the main stand, clenched his fists and said of emerging young players: "One day this team is going to go off like a bloody bomb in the sky."

Shankly signed players like Ian St John, Ron Yeats and Emlyn Hughes and nurtured Tommy Smith and made them gods. Benitez doesn't make gods, he makes squad members and bench warmers to be deployed when the fancy takes him.

He has been trying to win while ignoring the most basic aspect of building a winning team. However many winners of Europe's top prize Benitez does know, he has clearly failed to see an instinct that links them all, from Matt Busby and Jock Stein to Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson.

It is the drive to fashion a team rather than a collection of pieces that can be fitted, at will, into some kind of endless jigsaw puzzle. Benitez believes in the ever-shifting jigsaw game. He has made rotation a personal creed, supported by nothing more substantial than a belief in his own powers to play the master puppeteer. The result was shocking against Barnsley. It ran far deeper than the unrest of the fans. The body language of the team announced dismay even before Jamie Carragher, a bulwark of central defence who was recently asked to play at right-back, went public with his belief that the team is just not good enough.

Hearing the comments of the zealous Carragher brought a biting sadness for anyone who was around on that Istanbul dawn when Benitez so impressively outlined his plans for Liverpool's future.

As Steven Gerrard paraded around the team hotel with his medal on his chest, Benitez said that this was merely a downpayment on future glory. There would be new players fitting into a grand plan.

Grand plan, or egotistical fragments? Benitez's ego is not expressed in his manner. Indeed, he can be a man of great charm and this was never more apparent than when he was knocking Mourinho out of the Champions League. Mourinho raged at the injustices of the world. Benitez talked coolly, and with great civility, about his hopes for the development of his team.

The problem is increasingly plain. There has been no development. Some tactical triumphs, no doubt. But no evolution. Benitez juggles his players without the merest acknowledgement of another school of thought, which points out that every great team has thrived on familiarity and mutual respect in the dressing room.

When Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles became the only Englishmen to win both the World Cup and European Cup (in the space of two years), they did it while playing more than 60 games a season, most often on pitches which the modern player would dismiss as ploughed fields. Shankly made a change in his team as a last resort rather than a first instinct. He won a title with 13 players.

Yes, we know times change, along with diets and scientific input and equipment, but some things are eternal.

One of them is the need of a professional footballer to feel secure in his role, and his ability.

Dreams

That can only be reinforced by seeing his name on the team sheet. Fighters fight and footballers play football, even if they are rich beyond most dreams.

Rafa Benitez doesn't even pay lip service to such a well established notion, or the trust in his players displayed by Busby when he poured himself a nip of pre-match Scotch and took his place in the stands and confided his feeling of unassailable confidence.

Liverpool now have to count the consequences. Most discouragingly, they include the breaking voice of Jamie Carragher and his manager's desperate belief that a great club, once familiar with serial success, can be sustained by not much more than an old deposit made in the bank of Istanbul.

- James Lawton

machiavellianme

monkey9 wrote: »

Benitez doesn't make gods, he makes squad members and bench warmers to be deployed when the fancy takes him.

Sad, but true.

monkey9

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I found this post I made back on the 26th of January because I remember getting an unmerciful load of stick back then as a result of it from defiant Liverpool fans. I was told my suggestions were 'moronic', that I was 'talking out of my arse', 'didn't know what I was talking about' etc. yet look at where Liverpool are now. Out of the title race, out of the FA Cup after titanic struggles with the mighty Havant & Waterlooville, Luton and of course Barnsley and now facing a crucial European game with Serie A leaders Inter with Rafa Benitez reportedly on the way out if the European adventure ends prematurely.

All I want to say is - told you so. I predicted they hadn't a hope of maintaining a decent challenge.

Alonso has been useless - a fact acknowledged by Rafa and the player.

Arbeloa and Aurelio have likewise been very poor and contrary to what I know many of you think, I still maintain that Agger isn't good enough for a team looking to launch a title assault. I'm eager to know if Tusky stands by what he said to me back then:



I think it's evident that these players are liabilities like I said and quite clearly are NOT good enough. PS Tusky, would you still say no to Jermain Defoe now? I thought he took his debut goal for Portsmouth against Chelsea quite well. I hear they're a pretty decent side. Then again, what do I know?

My two cents on Liverpool's current predicament is that Rafa's time is up and he's taken you as far as he can. I predict Inter will knock out Liverpool when the two legs are over and done with and that effectively will be that.

I remember you posting those alright . I was embarrassed for you then.....but you've really out done yourself this time. Alonso, Agger, Aurelio and Arbeloa all injured for the majority of the season. Still injured since your post from above, but because we've struggled while they've been out injured or in the likes of Alonso and Aurelio, only coming back now you have somehow come to the conclusion that you are correct in your assertion that they are not good enough. I do genuinely hope you are trolling, because if they really are your opinions, you're either under ten years of age or just don't understand football at all. I'm assuming the latter seeing as you were told that back in January.

monkey9

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

I haven't harped into this discussion in the last few days. I think the media assassination of Benitez is completely over the top, but given the recent results it is not 100% unexpected. Certain things have conspired against Benitez this season including: Gerrard's seeming distaste for the manager. Carraghers poor form and growing distaste for Benitez. The chronic injury to Daniel Agger. The poor form of Dirk Kuyt (he wasn't world class last season, but he was a helluva lot better). The ownership fiasco. The absence of Pako Ayesteran.

In recent years Liverpool have been out of the championship race by October. This year we were firmly in it until the Christmas period. While the form since then has been dire, I think progress had been made.

Let us not forget, had it not been for Benitez Hicks / Gillet would not have been exposed for the con-artists that they are - and we still might be living in the fantasy world where they were benevolant owners stumping up cash and building a new stadium.

I still believe that Benitez is the long-term right manager for Liverpool. Why? I believe he has shown the tactical accumen in his time here to assure me he is capable of bringing us to the next level. I believe he has substantially strenghtened the squad with each passing season - Mascherano / Agger / Torres / Babel / Lucas are all top quality players. Whether he will get that chance or not remains to be seen.

I concur

evil_seed

I'm just looking at the prem table. We have drawn the most matches in the league. 11. i'm not usually one to talk about what ifs, but, out of those 11 5 games come to mind that we really should have won (brum, spurs, arenal, both chelsea games). IF we had won those games we'd be top of the league. stupid point but i had to say it.

On the subject of the match tonight, I feel that if there is not a performance, not an epic one, but the type just to relieve the pressure a small bit, all the press about Rafa will only get worse. I'm predicting a bad night, but here's hoping I get quoted tomorrow and have my words shoved down my throat

Spud83

DesF wrote: »

Disagree completely.

Liverpool is still a huge club, they could attract the very best aailable imo.

Sure, didn't Ireland attract GioTrap?

Yes they did very well to attract a 68 year old from club football in Austria. International football is much much different than running a club, and its easier to attract big names towards the end of there career.

Liverpool are a huge club, that will never change, but any manger coming in is going to be looking for the full support of the board. If they dont know who that board is gonna be, or are not convinced of the commitment of the board, then they will think twice about taking the job,

Mr Alan wrote: »

First off, G&H probably wont be around for long.

Second, even if they stay, there will stilbe no problems attracting managers.

Attracting managers no, attracting top class mangers I belive yes. Remember you are probably going to be lookng at a manger who is already employed.

Mr Alan

monkey9 wrote: »

By James Lawton
Tuesday February 19 2008


Something has to give at Liverpool. Indeed, there is some evidence that it has already happened and that it is Rafa Benitez's hold on some of football's most basic realities. He is a good man with some impeccable, even brilliant qualities, but there are also flaws which make it increasingly improbable that even a convincing victory tonight over the aristocrats of Italian football, Internazionale, will do much more than prolong what is becoming an agony.


Certainly, Benitez should know better than most the folly of believing his Champions League triumph in Istanbul still bestows the job security of a senior civil servant. Yet still he clings to a remarkable but ageing victory, all the time failing to grasp that football, no more than any other competitive business, has never asked, "What did you do for me three years ago?"

The game will always be concerned with today and tomorrow, a truth the Liverpool manager ignored when he declared, on the day he lost to Barnsley: "I don't know too many managers who have won the European Cup."

As a Madrileno, he surely cannot have forgotten Vicente del Bosque, the taciturn man from Salamanca who won European club football's greatest prize not once but twice, yet still found himself sacked by Real Madrid just a year after his second triumph.

Perhaps Benitez, for the sake of his peace of mind, has indeed expunged from his memory that staggering piece of injustice inflicted on a manager who had also collected Real's 28th and 29th Spanish League titles.

Bizarre

The brutal truth is that Benitez, with ever diminishing success, appears to have been attempting to impose his own increasingly bizarre version of reality. The more emphatic he becomes in his self-belief, the further his team seems to slip away. But then let's be honest. It is not a team. It is an assortment, a series of options, none of which has encouraged the fundamental ambition of every great manager, a sense of growth.

Benitez's predecessor, Bill Shankly, never won a European Cup but he did lay down the principles of an empire which, at one point, gathered it in as though it was not a challenge but a right.

Shankly once climbed on to the table in his little office under the main stand, clenched his fists and said of emerging young players: "One day this team is going to go off like a bloody bomb in the sky."

Shankly signed players like Ian St John, Ron Yeats and Emlyn Hughes and nurtured Tommy Smith and made them gods. Benitez doesn't make gods, he makes squad members and bench warmers to be deployed when the fancy takes him.

He has been trying to win while ignoring the most basic aspect of building a winning team. However many winners of Europe's top prize Benitez does know, he has clearly failed to see an instinct that links them all, from Matt Busby and Jock Stein to Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson.

It is the drive to fashion a team rather than a collection of pieces that can be fitted, at will, into some kind of endless jigsaw puzzle. Benitez believes in the ever-shifting jigsaw game. He has made rotation a personal creed, supported by nothing more substantial than a belief in his own powers to play the master puppeteer. The result was shocking against Barnsley. It ran far deeper than the unrest of the fans. The body language of the team announced dismay even before Jamie Carragher, a bulwark of central defence who was recently asked to play at right-back, went public with his belief that the team is just not good enough.

Hearing the comments of the zealous Carragher brought a biting sadness for anyone who was around on that Istanbul dawn when Benitez so impressively outlined his plans for Liverpool's future.

As Steven Gerrard paraded around the team hotel with his medal on his chest, Benitez said that this was merely a downpayment on future glory. There would be new players fitting into a grand plan.

Grand plan, or egotistical fragments? Benitez's ego is not expressed in his manner. Indeed, he can be a man of great charm and this was never more apparent than when he was knocking Mourinho out of the Champions League. Mourinho raged at the injustices of the world. Benitez talked coolly, and with great civility, about his hopes for the development of his team.

The problem is increasingly plain. There has been no development. Some tactical triumphs, no doubt. But no evolution. Benitez juggles his players without the merest acknowledgement of another school of thought, which points out that every great team has thrived on familiarity and mutual respect in the dressing room.

When Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles became the only Englishmen to win both the World Cup and European Cup (in the space of two years), they did it while playing more than 60 games a season, most often on pitches which the modern player would dismiss as ploughed fields. Shankly made a change in his team as a last resort rather than a first instinct. He won a title with 13 players.

Yes, we know times change, along with diets and scientific input and equipment, but some things are eternal.

One of them is the need of a professional footballer to feel secure in his role, and his ability.

Dreams

That can only be reinforced by seeing his name on the team sheet. Fighters fight and footballers play football, even if they are rich beyond most dreams.

Rafa Benitez doesn't even pay lip service to such a well established notion, or the trust in his players displayed by Busby when he poured himself a nip of pre-match Scotch and took his place in the stands and confided his feeling of unassailable confidence.

Liverpool now have to count the consequences. Most discouragingly, they include the breaking voice of Jamie Carragher and his manager's desperate belief that a great club, once familiar with serial success, can be sustained by not much more than an old deposit made in the bank of Istanbul.

- James Lawton

whether or not you agree with this article (i agree with parts) its a super article compared to most of the tripe one reads nowadays.

PHB

Ya know, I always said that Agger, Van Persie, Saha, Parker, Richardson, Castillo were ****, and this season I've been proved right!!

What do you mean they've been injured? Well surely that means they are ****!
Agger Arbeloa and Alonso are by far the least of Liverpools problems, that's why its a silly post. Why not point to Riise, Kewell, Yossi, Kuyt, Crouch, Hyypia?

----

Would MON take the job? He's apparently going to be given a lot of money in the summer, but still I'd imagine he'd take it. Not sure how he'd do to be honest. If you are staying within the PL, I think personally Hughes would be a much better choice, or Moyes.

LuckyLloyd

Mr Alan wrote: »

whether or not you agree with this article (i agree with parts) its a super article compared to most of the tripe one reads nowadays.

.

James Lawton is a top notch sports journalist though. I disagree, but at least it's a reasoned and well written piece.

Mr Alan

If Liverpool were to sack Rafa i'd like to see them take a risk on Hughes as manager

LuckyLloyd

PHB wrote: »

Would MON take the job? He's apparently going to be given a lot of money in the summer, but still I'd imagine he'd take it. Not sure how he'd do to be honest. If you are staying within the PL, I think personally Hughes would be a much better choice, or Moyes.

ALL of those names are a step down in managerial achievment and abillity. This is the key problem with the whole situation.

zing

PHB wrote: »

or Moyes.

:eek: :eek:

The chances of that happening are somewhere between slim & none

PHB

Why are they? They are steps down in achievement, but not necessarily ability. You have to give young managers a chance ya know. Moyes has done incredibly well at Everton, evidenced by the fact that they have spent so so little, and have once beaten you in the league, and are now currently in front, and are gona be close to you are the end of the season.

Moyes just needs a chance at a big 4 club imo. Hughes I think aswell, think he's got that special something,

Same with Klinnsman. He had little achievements, but Bayern still went for him, because they believed in his potential.

If you could get Mourinho, that'd be great obviously, but I think he wants to manage in Spain or Italy.

tonc76

evil_seed wrote: »

I'm just looking at the prem table. We have drawn the most matches in the league. 11. i'm not usually one to talk about what ifs, but, out of those 11 5 games come to mind that we really should have won (brum, spurs, arenal, both chelsea games). IF we had won those games we'd be top of the league. stupid point but i had to say it.

On the subject of the match tonight, I feel that if there is not a performance, not an epic one, but the type just to relieve the pressure a small bit, all the press about Rafa will only get worse. I'm predicting a bad night, but here's hoping I get quoted tomorrow and have my words shoved down my throat

IF we won those 5 games instead of drawing we'd have 54 points and would be still points be 8 off the top - stupid point and you did say it:rolleyes:

zing

Skrtel unlikely to feature tonight - probably a bit too soon for him according to TB.

Reckon tonights team will be along the lines of:

---

PR

---

SF

---

JC

---

SH

---

AA
JP

---

XA

---

JM

---

RB

---

SG

---

---

FT

---

Nailz

RB?? Sorry but I forget... But I reckon a 1-1 or 2-2 in tonights game, Torres will score though I think.

Mr Alan

Ryan Babel.

missingtime

zing wrote: »

Skrtel unlikely to feature tonight - probably a bit too soon for him according to TB.

Reckon tonights team will be along the lines of:

---

PR

---

SF

---

JC

---

SH

---

AA
JP

---

XA

---

JM

---

RB

---

SG

---

---

FT

---

Pennant - eww.

~Rebel~

I think for tonight since we're at Anfield and pretty much need the win, we should go 4-4-2 with Gerrard in midfield next to Masch with Crouch and Torres up front and i guess Pennant and Babel on the wings. But id really like to see early changes if its not working, Yossi for Pennant if he's not getting in the crosses and Kuyt or yossi for Crouch if he's not having a good one. Always 50/50 with him.

Pity about Skrtel, would have liked to see him start tonight instead of Sami. Its the deep end alright, but he was fantastic against Chelsea. im terrified of Sami's lack of pace and could see Inter being able to just pass around him.

I'm predictng a MOTM from Masch tonight, have a feeling he's gonna dominate the midfield in this game.

Melion

Mr. Nice Guy, people laughed at you because your post was a joke. You had a world renowned attacking CENTRAL midfielder playing on the right wing. You said Agger wasnt good enough despite the fact that he has been out injured/drunk since September. You said Arbeloa wasnt good enough despite the fact that he has been our best defender this year and only behind Gerrard, Masch and Torres as our player of the season so far. You've just come back and reinforced what we all thought already.

As for tonight, i think he will go with the kind of formation he played against Chelsea because we need to win this game, i dont think a draw will be good enough to take to Milan.

machiavellianme

Melion wrote: »

You said Arbeloa wasnt good enough despite the fact that he has been our best defender this year and only behind Gerrard, Masch and Torres as our player of the season so far.

Come on now, our best defender this year has surely been Benitez. Who else has consistently defended bizarre team sheets, poor performances and awful substitutions all year long and still seems to be up for more?

Even Mr. Alan's defence of Kuyt hasnt been so staunch

zing

This backs up some of what I've been thinking in relation to the DIC deal - that right now getting dumped out of the CL could be far more beneficial to the club than beating Inter. Progressing further just gives G&H that little bit more of a life line & bargaining power over the valuation of the club.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/35432/Yanks-so-much-Liverpool-to-be-Arab-owned

missingtime

No More Rotation. Aparently.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=79430

mike65

tribalfootball s-h-i-t-e but as its just a guardian link it may be true!

Useless fact for tonight - Inter are on 499 goals in all European competition while Liverpool are on 498!

Mike.

IrishMike

zing wrote: »

This backs up some of what I've been thinking in relation to the DIC deal - that right now getting dumped out of the CL could be far more beneficial to the club than beating Inter. Progressing further just gives G&H that little bit more of a life line & bargaining power over the valuation of the club.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/35432/Yanks-so-much-Liverpool-to-be-Arab-owned

Was thinking the exact same thing at lunch time.
It would sting a little but taking a long term view Inter knocking Liverpool out
and then Liverpool coming 5th could be the most favourable outcome for the
club if those American gimps wont sell up.
They would be backed into a corner with only DIC able to bail them out and
so wouldnt be able to ask for the crazy money they are no doubt going to
want.
A strange situation to say the least.

machiavellianme

missingtime wrote: »

No More Rotation. Aparently.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=79430

What difference does it make now that the damage has been done?
He'll still "rest" Stevie and Torres the weekend before CL games if possible.

mike65

A strange situation to say the least.

Damn right. So here's hoping for a magnificent defeat by Inter - they boys play well but the Italians play the game of thier lives and win 2-0. That way its not so bad.

I shall now run and hide from Mr Alan and a few others.

Mike.

missingtime

mike65 wrote: »

tribalfootball s-h-i-t-e but as its just a guardian link it may be true!

football365 are running with it too

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_3167883,00.html

IrishMike

mike65 wrote: »

Damn right. So here's hoping for a magnificent defeat by Inter - they boys play well but the Italians play the game of thier lives and win 2-0. That way its not so bad.

I shall now run and hide from Mr Alan and a few others.

Mike.

Heres hoping Inter win 1-0
The club is sold by the weekend
Liverpool win the away leg 1-0 and go through on penalties

Carlsberg dont do football teams but they do sponser one .................

missingtime

Ah lads, hoping for the team to loose.

Boo-urs.

zing

missingtime wrote: »

football365 are running with it too

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_3167883,00.html

they're only marginally more reliable than tribalfootball. Wouldn't trust either site

event

2-1 to liverpool so

missingtime

zing wrote: »

they're only marginally more reliable than tribalfootball. Wouldn't trust either site

They are quoting from the guardian though.

`NO MORE ROTATION` FOR RAFA
Posted 19/02/08 10:41
EmailPrintSave


Rafa Benitez has reportedly told his players that there will be no more rotation this season as he bids to save his job.

According to The Guardian, he gathered the players on Sunday after the FA Cup humiliation and 'told the assembled throng it was the intention to field only his strongest team in the pursuit of this season's remaining two targets: fourth place and the Champions League.'

Reports suggest that Benitez needs to at least finish fourth in the Premier League to keep his job beyond the summer, and Benitez is prepared to sacrifice his usual rotation tactics to achieve that.

DeadSkin

From the guardian today.

zing

missingtime wrote: »

They are quoting from the guardian though.

Saw that - I meant in general though.

Ardent

Re: rotation - I'm glad Benitez is ditching his excessive rotation policy but I fear it's a lesson too late for the learning.

Mr Alan

FACT.

Rafa rotates less than Ferguson and Wenger.

I'd be happier if the players ditched their underperforming policy tbh.

zing

Mr Alan wrote: »

FACT.

You forgot the !!!! Anything that has FACT followed by a bunch of exclamation marks is always true. People will doubt you now