Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

dc69

pepe is his nickname,us legends refer to him as pepe reina.Uncool people call him jose or bald man reina!

LuckyLloyd

Great result.Hand it to Arsenal - they battered us in the second half. But we defended well and had the rub of the green.

By the way, as a fan you just can't fault the effort Kuyt puts in out there. He gives it a right rattle and everything he's got is left on the pitch. That's good enough for me.

Mr Magnolia

Great result for us. We were battered the second half and were lucky not to conceed, I'm looking forward to seeing the team selections for saturday.

witnessmenow wrote: »

I wonder who liam brady supports:rolleyes:

He works for Arsenal, I wouldn't epect anything less tbh.

mike65 wrote: »

Voronin was simply there to help run the clock down.

Mike.

What a waste of a weekly wage though.

ShiverinEskimo

A fine result for the pool. Was great being a Man U fan last night. Just somehow wishing both would go out. Enjoyable.

Nervous time for a few of the pool fans I imagine - not least Kuyt's 'clearance' for the corner.

Its yours if ye want it now.

prendy

anyone hear george hamilton when torres got subbed for voronin? "its a like for like substitution"...i had to laugh!!!!!:D

redspider

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool (CL qtr final, 1st leg)

Well, a good result for Liverpool, but it may not have been so as it was Arsenal that created more chances and probably deserved to win the game. Arsenal though, typically for them, made heavy work of putting any goals away. Indeed, their one goal was mainly down to Liverpool poor defending, awful defending in fact. No-one challenged for the cross and Adebayor had a free unchallenged header from 6 yards out. Even I can score those!

Liverpool's goal was better worked, but it was one of the highlights of Gerrard's match. I thought he wasnt really in the game enough on the night. Arsenal dominated posession, and Liverpool failed on many's an occasion to realise that the best way to defend against Arsenal is to try and keep the ball from them. Arsenal's passing was good and they unlocked Liverpool's defence several times. They clearly deserved to score. They also had a good shout for a penalty. I think it probably was. However, Hleb did go down easily towards Kuyt, which may have swayed the ref. He wasnt giving any fouls on the night for people that were 'looking for it'. There was no need for Kuyt to foul him anyway.

Torres was closely marked and was foraging for scraps by and large on his own but with support from Gerrard. Babel didnt do that much. Kuyt worked his ar.se off, and it was good for him that he got on the end of Gerrard's through ball for the goal. He was back defending as much as anything else, and he did okay with his passing.

The Liverpool formation was the 'now usual' 4-2-3-1:

---

Reina

---

Carragher -- Skrtel - Hyypia - Aurelio

---

Alonso ---- Mascherano ----
Kuyt

---

Gerrard

---

Babel --

---

Torres

---

Mascherano did well with his timely tackles and interceptions and harassing of Arsenal's midfield.

For Arsenal, Toure was immense I thought. Both in the back line and coming forward. Van Persie is still rusty after his lay-off and was subbed off. Walcott's pace was a threat especailly against a now-aging Carragher.

Bendtner was probably not a good substitution choice by Wenger though. He has never really shone for Arsenal, and he actually stopped a goal on the line.

But even if this match would have ended 2-1, Liverpool probably would still have held a slight advantage. The way it is now, it is still finely balanced of course, and a lot will depend on who scores the first goal in the 2nd leg. I would expect Rafa to rest a lot of his players on the weekend. Liverpool can afford to lose that match to ensure they have all guns blazing in the return leg. Rotation decisions now are crucial for both clubs. It will be chess-like in that regard.

I would rate the tie as still being very close. Arsenal clearly have the capability, but it remains to be seen whether they will implode mentally or not. I would expect them to ty valiantly, and if they get a goal, which they are clearly capable of, it will be game on. Liverpool are in a good position though, and if Rafa does rest many, we could see Liverpool get through. But its finely balanced any which way you look at it.

Redspider

Mr Alan

Voronin shouldnt play again, he didnt close down anything when he came on, just ****ing swanned around up there, ball going out of play iirc and he didnt even chase after it.

go back on tour with the quo and **** off.






(take riise with you please)

redspider

Roma 0-2 Man Utd
Man Utd are through barring a miracle.

Schalke 0-1 Barcelona
Barcelona are in a solid position to get through and should do it as well.

Fenerbahce 2-1 Chelsea
Whilst Chelsea have the away goal, they were clearly surprised by Fenerbahce's recovery. That 2nd goal was top quality. Fenerbahce is a difficult place to play and a 'hostile' atmosphere. I think that Chelsea still have the advantage though with that away goal and should get at least 1 back at The Bridge which will be enough to take them through. There is an outside chance that Fenerbahce could spoil the party by going for a 0-0, and that is possible, but I wouldnt bet on it.

redspider

Mr Alan wrote: »

Voronin shouldnt play again, he didnt close down anything when he came on, just ****ing swanned around up there, ball going out of play iirc and he didnt even chase after it.

I agree with you Mr Alan, for someone coming on with fresh legs, he was a very lazy so-and-so. I was surprised to see him come on, as I thought that even Crouch would have done better at being a potential target man (although obviously not a sprinting outlet). It was only for a few minutes, 5 plus added time. He did nothing of note though and his lack of effort was visible.

As for the other subs, Lucas did okay although I thtought he was too happy to pass the ball back to someone else, get rid of it quickly and should have been taking touches, etc. Benayoun was his usual self, and is not really good enough for Liverpool's standard.

The subs show that Liverpool do not have a big squad of quality.

Redspider

Mr Alan

i actually do think Yossi is good enough to play for us. think he is an excellent option to hahave.

raven136

i think yossi would work much better in the role that Gerrard plays behind Torres rather than an out and out winger.Babel had a poor game i thought.

I was a non believer in him but how is Hypia holding up,he now has played about 25 games this season and look s great doin it.Fantastic signing and player for us.

mike65

Hyypia is like good wine. I too was sceptical but the more he plays the better he has got, his timing is still immaculate.

Cesc Fabregas was speaking on Spanish tv after the game and conceeded the team were absolutely cream-crakered, Wenger cannot rest half his team if he thinks the title is still an outside chance (which it is). Rafa on the other hand will note that a scrappy point on Saturday would be a bonus as the run in from there is not too tough and Everton have hit the buffers with Chelsea and Arsenal still to play.

Mike.

IrishMike

Hyppia and skrtel were very solid at the heart of the defense again last night.
Carragher continued his recent tactic of kicking lumps out of people and hoofing the ball
as far away as he could, nothing wrong with that in my book!
Thought mascherano was unreal in the first half but completely and utterly disappeared
in the second, for me alonso was liverpools best midfielder
Torres always looked lively as did kuyt although he should have got a penalty given against him!
Thought babel was terrible again, he never ever plays well when he starts it seems.
Very strange.
Overall couldnt be happier with the result, an away goal is priceless.

zAbbo

Vorinin is coming back from injury isn't he? maybe with the view to him playing on Saturday, but it goes to show you that Crouch is almost certainly leaving this summer (well both of them are)

Good result, lots of hardwork from Carra/Kuyt.

It could have been quite easy for Arsenal to destroy us with 3/4 goals, but the defensive display gives the upper hand to Rafa for the return leg.

ciaran76

Heard on an English radio station this morning that some Pool fans had trouble getting into the ground because of forged tickets and a "crush" happened outside the ground prior to kick off.

Maybe the reporter on the radio was going over board I don't know but I haven't seen anything about it anywhere.

dobsdave

ciaran76 wrote: »

Heard on an English radio station this morning that some Pool fans had trouble getting into the ground because of forged tickets and a "crush" happened outside the ground prior to kick off.

Maybe the reporter on the radio was going over board I don't know but I haven't seen anything about it anywhere.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2008/04/03/turnstile-crush-at-start-of-liverpool-match-64375-20711814/

PHB

Shocking that the police would let that happen in England. Away fans always try to get in, but proper organisation in England always stops them. Surprised Liverpool fans even tried it in England, but I guess they knew that London police werne't good enough.

Chardee MacDennis

i thought alonso was disappointing - he came off the pitch with only 21 passes completed and 0 attacking passes (not 100% sure what exactly this means) according to the stats last night. 21 passes is shockingly low....

DeadSkin

Man of the match last night most definitely Kuyt.
The man has some stamina, he covered the most ground last night for Liverpool. Think stats said he covered 11.6km. He gets a lot of flack but one thing he has is he never gives up.
The last 10/15 mins he looked f*cked, but he could still be relied upon to get back and cover. He was brought in as a striker to score goals, but now Rafa has given him a new role and Kuyt does it very well. Was delighted he scored last night.

Babel was very poor, he's been given a nice run of games to show us what he can do, and we're still waiting. Earlier in the season when he was coming on as a sub he seemed to offer more. He doesn't seem to like to challenge anyone for the ball. One stage last night deep in his own half he didn't know what to do so he booted the ball crossfield and out to touch.

Mr Alan

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article2778185.ece

evil_seed

I was really disappointed with Babel. He oesn't seem to be delivering when he starts which is a shame. Alonso had a disaster of a game. I'm not suprised his game has dipped in the last month with the new arrival in his household. It happens all the time to players yet no-one seems to cop this.

Tusky

evil_seed wrote: »

I was really disappointed with Babel. He oesn't seem to be delivering when he starts which is a shame. Alonso had a disaster of a game. I'm not suprised his game has dipped in the last month with the new arrival in his household. It happens all the time to players yet no-one seems to cop this.

Yeah Ive been really disappointed with Babel also. He has the raw attributes, pace, power, skill & a great shot but he just doesn't affect games enough. He hasnt put one big performance in for us in a big game yet. Hasn't score a winning goal either.

I really hope he can develop into a great player. Its completely up to him whether he does or not.

Mr Alan wrote: »

Voronin shouldnt play again, he didnt close down anything when he came on, just ****ing swanned around up there, ball going out of play iirc and he didnt even chase after it.

Completely agree. This may sound harsh but for that I want him out of the club asap.

Comes on with 5 minutes to go in an away tie against Arsenal in the champions league qauter finals and looks LAZY ? How is that even possible ? He should have been chasing every single ball. I couldnt believe what I was seeing when he stood there watching the ball roll towards the touchline. Unbelievable.

5starpool

DeadSkin wrote: »

One stage last night deep in his own half he didn't know what to do so he booted the ball crossfield and out to touch.

That was clearly a miskick, and not what he intended to do.

In general though I have to agree that I am disappointed with Babel. It is like he is 'almost' about to make a breakthrough for us, but never has. Hopefully next season he will progress further. Personally though I don't think he like playing on the flanks too much and would prefer to be Gerrards new position, and if Stevie does get injured (or rested soon) it wouldn't be a bad option to play him there I think as an experiment.

NotWormBoy

5starpool wrote: »

In general though I have to agree that I am disappointed with Babel. It is like he is 'almost' about to make a breakthrough for us, but never has. Hopefully next season he will progress further. Personally though I don't think he like playing on the flanks too much and would prefer to be Gerrards new position, and if Stevie does get injured (or rested soon) it wouldn't be a bad option to play him there I think as an experiment.

Yeah, he's more of a forward than a winger. In fairness to him, he's always looked at his best when he's had a bit of space to run at the defenders at pace. Liverpool don't really play a style that suits that most of the time, we're quite tight or longballey a lot of the the time. When he does get the ball going forward wide he seems to be a bit isolated, which again doesn't help him. Mind you even a change of gameplan isn't going to solve his woeful delivery.

Tusky

I mentioned in the podcast that we had discussed the senior player already signed by Liverpool but the part were we did talk about him got cut off in the final editing. it is not one you mention in your posts, but we will soon know who he is.The name might cause surprise but remember whe you hear it that he can also play right

Posted by: guillem balague | April 01, 2008 at 02:59 PM

Regarding the Liverpool signing (I believe it is all done), he is English and, as I said before, we mentioned him in the podcast but it was cut in the editing. Do not expect a huge name, only another quality piece in the jigsaw. Ronalidnho? Hahahahahahahaha

Posted by: guillem balague | April 02, 2008 at 07:39 PM

Balagues comments on Liverpools new signing. What does this tell us ?

Well firstly, he is English. Secondly, its likely to be someone currently playing on the left or as a striker...but whom can also play on the right. So what we should do is get a list of English players that are playing on the left/up front and it will be one of them.

He said also its not a big name...although that doesnt really rule out many English left sided players.

mike65

Tis Agbonlahor or Stewart Downing or Pedersen etc.

Mike.

Tusky

mike65 wrote: »

Tis Agbonlahor!

Mike.

:eek:

Bentley ?

yom 1

mike65 wrote: »

Tis Agbonlahor!

Mike.

good shout

Swap with carson + cash possibly?

meditraitor

Tusky wrote: »

Balagues comments on Liverpools new signing. What does this tell us ?

Well firstly, he is English. Secondly, its likely to be someone currently playing on the left or as a striker...but whom can also play on the right. So what we should do is get a list of English players that are playing on the left/up front and it will be one of them.

He said also its not a big name...although that doesnt really rule out many English left sided players.

Bentley fits the bill

Spud83

Tusky wrote: »

Balagues comments on Liverpools new signing. What does this tell us ?

Well firstly, he is English. Secondly, its likely to be someone currently playing on the left or as a striker...but whom can also play on the right. So what we should do is get a list of English players that are playing on the left/up front and it will be one of them.

He said also its not a big name...although that doesnt really rule out many English left sided players.

Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Theo Walcot, Agbonlahor, Joe Cole, Sean Wright-Phillips, Micheal Johnson, James Milner, Mark Nobel?, Jamie O'Hara.

Right I'm out of ideas.

yom 1

meditraitor wrote: »

Bentley fits the bill

except for the comment about also playing on the right

Spud83

mike65 wrote: »

Tis Agbonlahor or Stewart Downing or Pedersen etc.

Mike.

Pederson = English. When did that happen.

mike65

oops! Bloody foreigners!

Mike.

meditraitor

yom 1 wrote: »

except for the comment about also playing on the right

Like he so often does for Blackburn.....

Nalz

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

Pederson = English. When did that happen.

Wenger gave him a contact for dodgy passports...and quicker than you can say Tomas Danilevicius, Pederson became english

Spud83

meditraitor wrote: »

Like he so often does for Blackburn.....

He always plays on the right. The comments suggest it is a left sided player who is capable of playing on the right if needed.

Bentley is a right sided player, or central player. Not suited to the left at all.

DeadSkin

5starpool wrote: »

That was clearly a miskick, and not what he intended to do.

In general though I have to agree that I am disappointed with Babel. It is like he is 'almost' about to make a breakthrough for us, but never has. Hopefully next season he will progress further. Personally though I don't think he like playing on the flanks too much and would prefer to be Gerrards new position, and if Stevie does get injured (or rested soon) it wouldn't be a bad option to play him there I think as an experiment.

Fair enough miskick, but there was a sense of panic about it.
Would like to see him get a bit of a run as a striker to see what he can offer us there, but with the form Torres is in, there's no chance. Is he playing on the left because he's our best option for that position?

If Torres is rested on Saturday, I would like to see Crouch up front.

Totally agree what's said here about Voroninin. Waste of a weekly wage, along with Kewell.

meditraitor

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

He always plays on the right. The comments suggest it is a left sided player who is capable of playing on the right if needed.

Bentley is a right sided player, or central player. Not suited to the left at all.

Ahhh, I should have read the post

Anyway what about lennon?

NotWormBoy

DeadSkin wrote: »

Would like to see him get a bit of a run as a striker to see what he can offer us there, but with the form Torres is in, there's no chance. Is he playing on the left because he's our best option for that position?

Well, with Alonso not really doing the business at the moment, is there an argument for going 4-4-2 with Torres and Babel upfront? I'd almost say there is except we don't really have anyone capable of playing left - unless you count Benayoun.

Tusky

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Theo Walcot, Agbonlahor, Joe Cole, Sean Wright-Phillips, Micheal Johnson, James Milner, Mark Nobel?, Jamie O'Hara.

Right I'm out of ideas.

Right well he said its not a big name so that rules out SWP & Joe Cole. There would be no chance of them coming anyway. Cant see Arsenal selling Walcott either.

Bentley
Downing
Young
Agbonlahor
Johnson
Milner
Nobel
O'Hara

I think its most likely to be Bentley, Young or Agbonlahor although it could be a fullback with Finnan retiring soon.

PHB

Duff?

Either way, remember, that balague often talks a load of ****.

Tusky

PHB wrote: »

Duff?

Either way, remember, that balague often talks a load of ****.

Duff isnt English. I think he was talking about someone who is English rather than playing in England.

He talks alot of **** alright but also more truth than most journalists. He broke the news of Torres/Garcia a few weeks before it happens.

Interviewer - "how much would Torres cost?"
Balague - "Oh I dont know, maybe 20m + Garcia?" with a big smile on his face.

Having said that he also reported that Man U had signed Torres a few seasons ago.

event

i saw somewhere else yesterday that lennon was linked with ye

PHB

He reports a lot, eventually he's going to get it right.

Also, most foreigners don't see a difference between Irish and English players, indeed a lot of English men don't

Fizman

meditraitor wrote: »

Anyway what about lennon?

I hope not. I really don't think he fits the Liverpool mould. He has been is similar form with Spurs as Babel has with Liverpool, both have looked promising at times but neither have made as much of an impact as they probably should. I think Babel has much more in his locker than Lennon however.

On Saturday, I'd have to agree with starting Crouch up front, maybe with Kuyt. It will provide a fresh challenge for the Arsenal back line, and they have struggled with Crouch in the past. I think ideally I would like to see Torres play no part on saturday. If it was the other way around, I honestly think Wenger would love to have an option like Crouch for the weekend game,if only to mix things up. Will be interesting to see what Rafa does.

Voronin and Kewell both need their P45s in a few weeks imo.

spockety

Debate raging that this is DIC's Samir Al-ansari behind Tom Hicks at last night's match...

_blank_

This man

http://www.zawya.com/cm/officers/pictures/sameer%20ansari.jpg

Is NOT in that picture tbh.

Tusky

spockety wrote: »

Debate raging that this is DIC's Samir Al-ansari behind Tom Hicks at last night's match...

Heh. Thats not even Hicks!

The Chessplayer

NotWormBoy wrote: »

Well, with Alonso not really doing the business at the moment, is there an argument for going 4-4-2 with Torres and Babel upfront? I'd almost say there is except we don't really have anyone capable of playing left - unless you count Benayoun.

Alonso needs more matches. Babel up front? Not a chance of it! He's poor enough on the left. Last thing we need is another dutchman running around up front like a headless chicken.

In terms of buying a wide man, someone mentioned Lennon. If you mean the squirty little lad from Spurs? Not good enough, and he's injured half the time anyway. What's the point of flogging Zendens & Smicers and replacing them with loafers like Lennon?

The Chessplayer

Fizman wrote: »

I hope not. I really don't think he fits the Liverpool mould. He has been is similar form with Spurs as Babel has with Liverpool, both have looked promising at times but neither have made as much of an impact as they probably should. I think Babel has much more in his locker than Lennon however.

On Saturday, I'd have to agree with starting Crouch up front, maybe with Kuyt. It will provide a fresh challenge for the Arsenal back line, and they have struggled with Crouch in the past. I think ideally I would like to see Torres play no part on saturday. If it was the other way around, I honestly think Wenger would love to have an option like Crouch for the weekend game,if only to mix things up. Will be interesting to see what Rafa does.

Voronin and Kewell both need their P45s in a few weeks imo.

Bang on! Ramos will be trying to palm Lennon off to the likes of Sunderland come the summer.

I think maybe save Crouch for the 2nd leg. Wenger wouldn't be expecting it, and it might unsettle the Arsenal at Fortress Anfield.

Both Voronin's style of play and appearance are clownish.