Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

dc69

Tusky wrote: »

What happened to Bruno ? Wasnt he supposed to be a great talent ? Havent seen or heard much of him since he joined.

hes on the bench,hes only 16(coming on now)

rosboy

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Nemeth takes a tough ball down, shrugs off two defenders and scores again, 8 goals in 9 reserve games, not too shoddy.

Yet Benitez put a donkey like Voronin on the bench against Arsenal!

mayordenis wrote: »

i reckon if none of plessis, anderson, nemeth, san jose, el zhar, insua get a decent run next year there probably no point in us having a youth system,

+1

Thanx 4 The Fish

Well, reserve champions. 1-0 was enough, had a couple of other chances but as it turned out that was enough. Nemeth and Huth superb today, that guy pecheko did well for the assist, took ball out of the air well himself and put a ball right to nemeths feet.

Melion

How was Insua?

rosboy

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Well, reserve champions. 1-0 was enough, had a couple of other chances but as it turned out that was enough. Nemeth and Huth superb today, that guy pecheko did well for the assist, took ball out of the air well himself and put a ball right to nemeths feet.

Just saw the last few minutes, but Andras Simon seemed to have the ball glued to his feet. Great control.

Tusky

rosboy wrote: »

Yet Benitez put a donkey like Voronin on the bench against Arsenal!

All this talk about Voronin and Kuyt is silly. I know the Kuyt bashing has died down a bit but it has been going on all season. Ive no problem with people criticizing players...but dont think that any of the first team players wouldnt absolutely dominate the reserves...because they would.

Kuyt scored 71 goals in 101 games in the Dutch league. He would be a star in the reserves. Voronin as well. Just look at how well Pennant & Kewell look when they are in the reserves. The difference in quality is immense. Same would be said for Riise...he would be running the pitch!

rosboy

Tusky wrote: »

All this talk about Voronin and Kuyt is silly. I know the Kuyt bashing has died down a bit but it has been going on all season. Ive no problem with people criticizing players...but dont think that any of the first team players wouldnt absolutely dominate the reserves...because they would.

Kuyt scored 71 goals in 101 games in the Dutch league. He would be a star in the reserves. Voronin as well. Just look at how well Pennant & Kewell look when they are in the reserves. The difference in quality is immense. Same would be said for Riise...he would be running the pitch!

I saw Kewell in the reserves a few weeks ago, and he didn't look impressive at all:)

Kristian Nemeth has been scoring goals for fun this season. Voronin has been out injured for a long time. He came on against Arsenal on Wednesday and seems to have no interest in running at all. He didn't chase any balls, make any tackles or really contribute to the game at all. Fair enough, maybe my use of the term "donkey" was a little harsh:D. But Benitez was essentially putting out a second string team. He could have played Alonso, but chose instead to play Plessis (who I was delighted with). If he's going into the game with this mentality, why not put Nemeth on instead of Voronin? He had established players in Gerrard, Hypia and Torres on the bench. These are players who can change a game when they come on. Voronin, having been out for so long was never going to contribute much.

PHB

Because he needs to keep Voronin in the public if he wants to sell him. Don't be surprised to see Saha get a run out if United manage to win the league early

Mr Alan

Adebayour:

"For sure we are ready. A lot of our players have already played against Liverpool. We played them in the FA Cup and Carling Cup last season, so for me the atmosphere will be similar to what we saw a year ago.

---

This lad cannot be ****ing serious if he thinks the atmosphere will be anyway similar to an FA cup match or Carling Cup involving two ****ing B teams?!

dc69

Mr Alan wrote: »

Adebayour:

"For sure we are ready. A lot of our players have already played against Liverpool. We played them in the FA Cup and Carling Cup last season, so for me the atmosphere will be similar to what we saw a year ago.

---

This lad cannot be ****ing serious if he thinks the atmosphere will be anyway similar to an FA cup match or Carling Cup involving two ****ing B teams?!

apperantly he was quickly informed by the arsenal press officers,that the atmospere will be alot louder than the other matches lol

Melion

Mr Alan wrote: »

Adebayour:

"For sure we are ready. A lot of our players have already played against Liverpool. We played them in the FA Cup and Carling Cup last season, so for me the atmosphere will be similar to what we saw a year ago.

---

This lad cannot be ****ing serious if he thinks the atmosphere will be anyway similar to an FA cup match or Carling Cup involving two ****ing B teams?!

Expect him to freeze up after about 90 seconds tomorrow night, the atmosphere is going to be electric but for some reason i dont think it will come close to Chelsea last season and in 2005.

Kimbot

Melion wrote: »

Expect him to freeze up after about 90 seconds tomorrow night, the atmosphere is going to be electric but for some reason i dont think it will come close to Chelsea last season and in 2005.

i get the strange feeling it might be better than chelsea!

Mr Alan

better than Chelsea 2007-yes, 2005-no,doubt it.

i have a bad feeling about the game tbh. hope i'm wrong.

Thanx 4 The Fish

So do I, now. Don't post again until after the game.

Kimbot

Didn't see the 2005 part, 2005 was electric, I will never forget how much the road outside the Kop shook for an hour before kick off. It was unreal.

I have a feeling Torres will score in the first 20 and we will sit back and try soak it all up for the rest of the match.

Thanx 4 The Fish

We really need the two if we are to sit back and be careful at set pieces, we have been dodgy for a little while on them now.

Melion

Torres is 9/2 for first goal. He's won me a lot as first scorer this season and im hoping he makes it more tomorrow

Tusky

I too am nervous about the game and its not often I say that. I dont think that the game at the Emirates means much. All it means is the Arsenal have to score and I think they will score. So it basically means that we have to score at least one goal to go through.

If we sit back and try to go through on the away goal, we will be punished. We have to score at least one goal I feel. Hope we can do it.

dc69

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

We really need the two if we are to sit back and be careful at set pieces, we have been dodgy for a little while on them now.

agreed,it makes no sence to me that players like bentner and adabayor are not being marked by skrtel and hyypia.

Mr Velo

Look guys, of course we're all going to be nervous, but faith in the men in Red!!! We'll do it tomorrow night - no doubts!

Hope Arsene is blown away by the noise..... but then again, Woodison is a more intimidating venue isn't it???? :rolleyes:

Sqaull20

lol at you lot

Yee should be more worried about Torres freezing up

If we ( Arsneal ) dont concede in the first 30 minutes we can do it no doubt, we have beaten much better teams than this Liverpool team..

Melion

Sqaull20 wrote: »

lol at you lot

Yee should be more worried about Torres freezing up

If we ( Arsneal ) dont concede in the first 30 minutes we can do it no doubt, we have beaten much better teams than this Liverpool team..

You seriously think Torres will freeze at Anfield

dc69

Sqaull20 wrote: »

lol at you lot

Yee should be more worried about Torres freezing up

If we ( Arsneal ) dont concede in the first 30 minutes we can do it no doubt, we have beaten much better teams than this Liverpool team..

LOL


does anyone know what this rumour is that hicks is to make an announcement after the game,i have heard people talking about it but i cant find the source,who did he say this to?

Sqaull20

Melion wrote: »

You seriously think Torres will freeze at Anfield

Ask Rio

Anyway atmosphere shouldn't be a problem, Cesc and the lads said they love playing away, less pressure and all.

Sqaull20

We Arsenal fans need to shut up for a while!

Throws yee a shovel

Dont be at yourself

Team picks itself I guess, although I thought Finnan did very well at the weekend. Is he match-fit for such a game tonight though?

---

Pepe
Carra-Skrtel-Hyypia-Aurelio

---

Mach-Alonso
-Kuyt-Gerrard-Babel

---

Torres

Rafa's said that Crouch may start, but I would be very surprised.

Mr Alan

Sqaull20 wrote: »

we have beaten much better teams than this Liverpool team..

and we can say the same.

looking forward to this game, am so nervous though tbh.

and Squall i dont think many people are digging Liverpool into a hole here, people would be fools not to respect a team like Arsenal.

ibh

Any chance Benitez will put in Arbeloa instead of Aurelio?? I just have a sneaky feeling that he would see Arbeloa as being a better 'defender' and stick him in.. Agree that Finnan looked very good on Saturday and should at least be in with a shout although Carra's a dead cert at RB i'd say..

IrishMike

Backed the pool to qualify @ 8-13.
Feeling quietly confident.
It will probably end up 1-1 and 10-9 on penalties with me suffering at least 2 minor
strokes in extra time but if we get through it will be worth it!

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

IrishMike wrote: »

......with me suffering at least 2 minor
strokes in extra time but if we get through it will be worth it!

Only to repeat the same process against Chelsea in May! there you go... fate tmepted....

sweetie

BBC gossip has Henry leaving barca this summer. Surely he would fit in here better than Ronnie. Great replacement for crouch/voronin. Also Pennant to Newcy for 6 mill. Nice one Kev!

Malice

IrishMike wrote: »

It will probably end up 1-1 and 10-9 on penalties with me suffering at least 2 minor strokes in extra time but if we get through it will be worth it!

Please don't say that, my nerves are jangling just thinking about it! I'm hoping for a couple of early goals to put the tie to bed early so I can relax to a certain extent.
The games against Chelsea and Barcelona last season were very hard on my health. God knows how much the stress took off my life expectancy .

monkey9

The nerves are starting to kick in now alright. I wish i were going to it. It'd be great to be in the city now, going to a pub beside the stadium for the afternoon!!!
I'd say this match is pretty much 50/50. I know we have the advantage of the away goal, but to be honest i fully expect Arsenal to get one themelves. I could see them scoring twice. So in the end we may end up needing to win the game while the score draw will do Arsenal. I just can't see us keeping a clean sheet.
Safe to say though, another epic European night awaits at Anfield!

Mr Alan

took this from another site, but i feel its appropriate to all the Rafa doubters out there.

Cast your mind back 4 short years........


...would you have believed your future-self coming back from the future and telling you that in April 2008 you'd be staring down the barrel of your 3rd European Cup Semi-Final in 4 years?

Not even taking into account winning it once and being runners-up once, would you have even believed that 3 times in the semi-final was possible?

Thank you, Rafael Benitez, and COME ON THE REDMEN.

Malice

Mr Alan wrote: »

took this from another site, but i feel its appropriate to all the Rafa doubters out there.

Cast your mind back 4 short years........


...would you have believed your future-self coming back from the future and telling you that in April 2008 you'd be staring down the barrel of your 3rd European Cup Semi-Final in 4 years?

Not even taking into account winning it once and being runners-up once, would you have even believed that 3 times in the semi-final was possible?

Thank you, Rafael Benitez, and COME ON THE REDMEN.

I thought you weren't supposed to post until after the game?
Anyway, you're absolutely right, as much as the English media love to devalue it, the European Cup is the premier cup competition at club level. Muchos gracias to Rafa for Chelsea (x 2), Barcelona, Juventus, Olympiacos, Inter Milan and many more (especially Arsenal tonight )

IrishMike

malice_ wrote: »

Muchos gracias to Rafa for Chelsea (x 2), Barcelona, Juventus, Olympiacos, Inter Milan and many more (especially Arsenal tonight )

Stop tempting fate !
Dammit people if liverpool lose im blaming this thread!
:pac:

Mr Alan

malice_ wrote: »

I thought you weren't supposed to post until after the game?

oops forgot! sorry T4TF!

Sherifu

It's in the bag tbh. /points at bag

IrishMike

/me kicks the living crap out of the bag

Over 8 hours to kickoff and im nervous already

redspider

Liverpool v Arsenal (CL)

The build-up for this match is underway, with both sets of fans probably equally apprehensive. Liverpool fans have more reason to be slightly confident though as they have the mathematical advantage, but we all realise that its a game of football and anything can happen, as Arsenal have decent firepower. Its all to play for really.

I dont think Liverpool fans should be nervous though.

Benitez has called on the Liverpool fans to make it a fantastic and 'intimidating' atmosphere, ala the Chelsea clashes of recent years. I think that will help but it wont put off the Arsenal players. It may spur the Lierpool players on though. It will be interesting to see if we do try and blitz them from the off or go for a steady start. I would love to see a blitz but I think Rafa and the players will intuitively be safety first.

Benitez also recognises the failings in Liverpool's handling of crosses, stating the obvious really:

"They have some good players for these situations: Adebayor is good in the air and Fabregas is good with crosses," he said. "We knew there would be a risk. If you analyse the number of goals we are conceding it is too many, but if you look at the chances the other teams are having it is not so bad. "We are checking why and we need to defend with more intensity. It's not a problem with zonal marking because you see teams that use man to man conceding goals. "With us, one day one player has made a mistake and another day a different player has made a mistake. We need to be more aggressive in defence."

By the way, I agree with you Mr Alan. Would Liverpool fans have believed a few years ago that we would have gotten to two finals, won one and are now in a pole position to get to a 3rd semi-final. That is an achievement I think that should be applauded.

In relation to that, what is the level that Liverpool fans would be happy with this season:

a) 4th in league, CL quarters
b) 4th in league, CL semis
c) 3rd in league, CL semis
d) 4th in league, CL final
e) 3rd in league, CL final
f) 4th in league, CL winner
g) 3rd in league, CL winner

I presume no-one would be happy with 5th in league, CL quarters ! My base level now would be b) (although at the start of the season I would have taken a) and anything above that will be a welcome bonus.

Redspider

Meanwhile, Liverpool Reserves (the real reserves) have won the Reserve league with 2 games to spare, after beating Blackburn one nil. Liverpool's team: Liverpool Reserves: Martin, Darby, Insua, San Jose, Huth, Ayala (Plessis 77), El Zhar, Spearing, Pacheco (Bruna 59), Nemeth (Simon 77), Flynn. Unused subs: Gulacsi, Kelly

It doesnt mean much but its a step in the right direction for those players concerned.

DeadSkin

Arsenal will score tonight, they are a threat to us at set pieces[I hope I'm wrong].
Torres will score tonight, his record at home is fantastic, will he score more than 1, I hope bloody so.
Gerrard will probably step up again and score on one of those fantastics nights at Anfield.
What's people's thoughts on the suggestions of Rafa starting Crouch? There is no way he'll drop Torres, can't see him dropping Kuyt to accomodate Crouch.

Dub13

SOS Banner Finally Ready

This will be on the Kop tonight


Link

zAbbo

We don't need to take risks to secure this game, it will be the same solid lineup, with Finnan at RB.

Looking forward to it, I like these games where things get decided, the 1st leg gives us a slight advantage, but Arsenal know that if they score once, it's advantage Arsenal.

Should be fun.

stick-dan

Ok wow this is gonna be some game tonight, stuck in lectures atm and checking the line up on any site i can lay my hands on. Anyone know what the official line-out will be. Tonight will be monumentus to our season. Anfield will be electric and all people lucky enough to be there I envy you so much. Hopefully liverpool play to win and not to block out all attacks.

No-one expected us to get as far as we did the last two times so let's go out and kick arsenal off the pitch.

Best of luck to the Lads

DUB13 cool banner mate!!

zing

Gillet is in town and will be at the game tonight. I know neither of them are welcome at Anfield but at least he's got the guts to turn up unlike his partner in crime who'll be at a Texas Rangers game tonight.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2008/04/08/gillett-arrives-for-big-game-100252-20735505/

Interesting that TB mentioned Ian Ayre in it - could there be some significance in that ? Or is he just pin pointing a location for supporters to go to and rant at the guy.

prendy

stick-dan wrote: »

Ok wow this is gonna be some game tonight, stuck in lectures atm and checking the line up on any site i can lay my hands on. Anyone know what the official line-out will be. Tonight will be monumentus to our season. Anfield will be electric and all people lucky enough to be there I envy you so much. Hopefully liverpool play to win and not to block out all attacks.

No-one expected us to get as far as we did the last two times so let's go out and kick arsenal off the pitch.

Best of luck to the Lads

DUB13 cool banner mate!!

lol the official line-up?
have you never heard of rafa benitez????
nobody will know the line up till 7 or so!!!

Dub13

Not sure if this has been posted before.

Speed Painting of Torres and Rafa

Torres Link

Rafa Link

machiavellianme

Since Carsons value appears to be dropping, why would we want to sell him? Does anyone here really trust Itandje? He seems to be all flapping, all nervous and all round awkward everytime he's come on for us this season. God forbid if anything should happen to Reina.

Mr Alan

Carson wont wanna play second fiddle to Reina, and he knows and has admitted himself, that he is not good enough to take his place.

therefore i wouldnt imagine we have much of a choice but than to sell him

Melion

Dub13 wrote: »

Not sure if this has been posted before.

Speed Painting of Torres and Rafa

Torres Link

Rafa Link

Holy shít, they are incredible. Ive got the Torres one as my wallpaper now.