Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

Ruskie4Rent

Exactly, the fact that we are 6 points off the top and potentially 3 points off Utd having played badly for well over a month with key players missing is a cause for optimism in my opinion.

Yes, but he is realistic in that it is unlikely they can win the league at this point. You said yourself that they are only potentially 3 off united, but you're also behind chelsea and arsenal. Even if you get a run going you need the three others to slip up. It would be rather optimistic to think that is going to happen.
But as a fan, its ok to be slightly optimistic and, if liverpool become champions, enjoy rubbing it in.

mike65

If every draw is one goal from defeat (and it is) then we are not doing very well really.

Mike.

kryogen

the difference between champions and also rans is the ability to keep winning when playing poorly and not deserving victories..... united have done it in the past, arsenal have done it in the past, chelsea do it, and united still do it. liverpool havent been picking up the 3 points while playing poorly the way you need to to win leagues. think of the start united had, and then the run of iffy performances with 1-0 wins. we were still picking up the wins. chelsea all through their two championship runs did it, they didnt deserve to win some of their games but they did it. its what champions do. until liverpool can win consistently while playing poorly they will not win the league. being unbeaten is not all its cracked up to be. 1 win and 1 loss is better then 2 draws

spockety

Lads, the league is TEN GAMES IN for chrissakes.

"it is unlikely they can win the league at this point".

This is just a laughable point of view, given the amount of points left to play for. Laughable.

Chardee MacDennis

you know I prefered this thread when we were arguing with united fans about the team rather than with other liverpool fans who obviously want Rafa gone and think we definitely can't do anything in the league after ten games.

all is forgiven PHB...

~Rebel~

Another one of the youth stars is off on loan, this time Its Threlfall to Hereford. Can only be a good thing, getting games and experience.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_2838318,00.html

Hereford United have signed Liverpool teenager Robbie Threlfall on an emergency loan.

The defender has linked up with the League Two club for the next month and could make his debut against Darlington on Saturday.

Threlfall has been brought in by Bulls boss Graham Turner due to the unavailability of Dean Beckwith and Karl Broadhurst.

The youngster is capable of playing at left-back, or in central defence, but is yet to feature in Liverpool's first team.

However, Threlfall was a key member of last season's FA Youth Cup-winning side and has also been capped by the England Under 19 team.

HashSlinging

Wooooohhhooohhoooooooooooooooo

Happy halloween all.

PS is the match on anywhere.

Tusky

HashSlinging wrote: »

Wooooohhhooohhoooooooooooooooo

Happy halloween all.

PS is the match on anywhere.

Nope, nowhere live - I'm gonna ignore this thread so I dont see the score watch it on LFCTV at midnight.

Dub13

Tusky wrote: »

Nope, nowhere live - I'm gonna ignore this thread so I dont see the score watch it on LFCTV at midnight.

Not if I PM you the result....:p

Tusky

Dub13 wrote: »

Not if I PM you the result....:p

Now I know not to open any PMs.

The Liverpool team in full is: Itandje, Aurelio, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hobbs, Leto, El Zhar, Gerrard, Lucas, Babel, Crouch. Subs: Martin, Riise, Kewell, Benayoun, Mascherano.

Dont know WHY there are so many 1st teamers there when we have injury problems at the moment. Great news to see Harry & Mascherano on the bench. Cant wait to get a good look at Hobbs & Lucas as well. Good to see Babel starting up front. Very attacking line up... Last time I view this thread until after I watch the game.

KdjaCL

Tusky wrote: »

Cant wait to get a good look at Hobbs & Lucas as well..

Are they any use?



kdjac

RE*AC*TOR

KdjaCL wrote: »

Are they any use?



kdjac

Lucas was player of the year in Brazil last year. He's the youngest ever player to win it. Since 2000 the winners have been:

# 2006 : Lucas (Grêmio)
# 2005 : Carlos Tévez (Corinthians)
# 2004 : Robinho (Santos FC)
# 2003 : Alex (Cruzeiro)
# 2002 : Kaká (São Paulo FC)
# 2001 : Alex Mineiro (Atlético Paranaense)
# 2000 : Romario (Vasco da Gama)

He's played very little first team football for us so far, but he hasn't failed to impress me anytime he has played.

Hobbs was captain of the youth team, then captain of the reserves. Heard a lot of good stories about him, but never seen him play competitively.

mike65

Judging from comments on fivelive Pool are in command but not in the lead, Crouch, Babel, Leto all close.

Mike.

~Rebel~

christ i got my fantasy rafa selection very wrong this week, only 7. the backline messed me up, had riise to start and arbeloa in CB with carra. ah well, it was a tough enough selection that hopefully most others will be the same. had just gotten back up onto the frontpage results and all!


<edit> still on leaderboard thankfully, 4 points off top.


LFC's halftime report;

Liverpool are still searching for the breakthrough after missing a whole host of opportunities in what has been a lively first 45 minutes at Anfield.
The Reds have dominated for long periods but have yet to seriously trouble Michael Oakes in the visitors' goal with Ryan Babel, Lucas Leiva, Sebastian Leto and Peter Crouch all firing efforts just wide.

Robbie Fowler and Paul Parry have gone closest for the visitors but Charles Itandje reacted well on both occasions to keep them out.

Half time: Liverpool 0 Cardiff City 0

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N157525071031-2052.htm

mike65

G'wan Nabil El Zhar

Mike.

darkskol

Just under half an hour left, I wonder if Harry will make an appearance?

darkskol

All happening now,
Darren Purse then Gerrard!

.......

71st minute Harry comes on

Melion

Can definitely see El Zhar getting games in the next few weeks with Pennant out

~Rebel~

hopefully. Always looks exciting.

mike65

http://www.alexgodden.com/rawk/elzharcardiff.avi.zip

http://www.alexgodden.com/rawk/gerrardcardiff.avi.zip

Mike.

~Rebel~

good man Mike, Cheers!


<edit>

El Zhar's was savage! Gerrard was lucky to get his between the keepers legs. (Thats what she said)

mike65

Just saw this

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez says he would be happy to let former striker Robbie Fowler score for Cardiff when the sides meet in the Carling Cup at Anfield on Wednesday.

Benitez said: "Maybe we can leave him to score a fantastic goal in front of the Kop, but at the end of the game, if we have scored three."

Mike.

GBX

2 great goals. Well worked second, first one was a great strike. Id like to see him getting into 1st team more often

Chardee MacDennis

how did the young guys play to anyone who saw it?

Skittlebrau

~Rebel~ wrote: »

christ i got my fantasy rafa selection very wrong this week, only 7. the backline messed me up, had riise to start and arbeloa in CB with carra. ah well, it was a tough enough selection that hopefully most others will be the same. had just gotten back up onto the frontpage results and all!


<edit> still on leaderboard thankfully, 4 points off top.

I can't believe 3 people managed to pick that line up.

I was sure Harry would start.

mike65

I only got 7 right but its very hard to know with Rafa at any time never mind a league cup match.

Mike.

RE*AC*TOR

for those not intersted in downloading...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAdt8lVblS0

PHB

That Yossi Gerrard goal was incredible.

redzerdrog

cheers reactor.

two very nice goals. great finish for the 1st and the second was great play by both gerrard and yossi

Melion

2 great goals. Thats the kind of play we've been missing from Stevie for the last few months

Melion

Just watching the game now on lfctv, its 20 minutes in and Lucas hasnt missed a pass yet. Everyone has hit its target, this is amazing stuff to watch

Daemonic

From the highlights it went downhill for Lucas at some stage in the game

Tusky

Call_me_al wrote: »

how did the young guys play to anyone who saw it?

Just finished watching it now. Good performance from Liverpool, the scoreline flattered Cardiff a bit as we could easily have had a couple more. Itandje looked really good, much improved over the Reading game. Looked cool, calm and made a couple of really good saves. Not much he could have done for the goal.

Hobbs had a solid game, didnt really put a food wrong. Hes a big strong old style CB and looks like he would be good cover if needed. Aurelio looks like he is finding the form of last season before he got injured, a couple of nice moves, beat his man a few times and some good crosses. A couple of bad crosses as well though. Arbeloa had a solid enough game.

Leto had a bit of a frustrating game. Had a few shots scuffed. He tracked back well and seemed to be working hard but didnt impress really. Lucas was absolutely brilliant. He was very calm on the ball and I dont think he gave the ball away at all in the first half. He got up and down the pitch really well and put in a few good tackles. Really impressed with him. He looked very tired for the last 20 minutes and gave the ball away a few times and picked up a yellow card for a clumsy tackle. Id say this is down to not playing enough games hence not being 100% match fit.

Gerrard looked good, thats three goals in three games. He bursted forward plenty of times and was unlucky not to score a couple of times before he finally did. Cant remember him giving the ball away either. El Zhar didnt impress me at all apart from the lovely goal. Dont really see him breaking into the first team.

Babel was a bit of a headless pony and didnt look very effective up front. Looked better when he moved to the right wing towards the end. Crouch wasnt involved too much but looked good when on the ball. Benayoun was lively when he came on and he was very much involved with the goal.....what a goal! His first touch to take it away from the defender was lovely.

Kewell looked ok when he came on, eager to impress. Beat his man and had a couple of shots. Mascherano was only on for a couple of minutes. Great to see him back after three days having been told he would be out for three weeks.

Mascherano injury not being serious, Kewell returning, Gerrard back on form, Itandje looking decent & Lucas looking like a really good signing would be the main posatives to take from the game.

~Rebel~

Tusky wrote: »

Just finished watching it now. Good performance from Liverpool, the scoreline flattered Cardiff a bit as we could easily have had a couple more. Itandje looked really good, much improved over the Reading game. Looked cool, calm and made a couple of really good saves. Not much he could have done for the goal.

Hobbs had a solid game, didnt really put a food wrong. Hes a big strong old style CB and looks like he would be good cover if needed. Aurelio looks like he is finding the form of last season before he got injured, a couple of nice moves, beat his man a few times and some good crosses. A couple of bad crosses as well though. Arbeloa had a solid enough game.

Leto had a bit of a frustrating game. Had a few shots scuffed. He tracked back well and seemed to be working hard but didnt impress really. Lucas was absolutely brilliant. He was very calm on the ball and I dont think he gave the ball away at all in the first half. He got up and down the pitch really well and put in a few good tackles. Really impressed with him. He looked very tired for the last 20 minutes and gave the ball away a few times and picked up a yellow card for a clumsy tackle. Id say this is down to not playing enough games hence not being 100% match fit.

Gerrard looked good, thats three goals in three games. He bursted forward plenty of times and was unlucky not to score a couple of times before he finally did. Cant remember him giving the ball away either. El Zhar didnt impress me at all apart from the lovely goal. Dont really see him breaking into the first team.

Babel was a bit of a headless pony and didnt look very effective up front. Looked better when he moved to the right wing towards the end. Crouch wasnt involved too much but looked good when on the ball. Benayoun was lively when he came on and he was very much involved with the goal.....what a goal! His first touch to take it away from the defender was lovely.

Kewell looked ok when he came on, eager to impress. Beat his man and had a couple of shots. Mascherano was only on for a couple of minutes. Great to see him back after three days having been told he would be out for three weeks.

Mascherano injury not being serious, Kewell returning, Gerrard back on form, Itandje looking decent & Lucas looking like a really good signing would be the main posatives to take from the game.

How did Lucas and Gerrard look as a midfield pairing? Did it work? Were they able to both share the responsibilities, or was it more the case of Lucas hanging back and Gerrard haring off up the field? Its one thing im dying for us to have, a decent pairing with a good understanding who work well together.

Tusky

~Rebel~ wrote: »

How did Lucas and Gerrard look as a midfield pairing? Did it work? Were they able to both share the responsibilities, or was it more the case of Lucas hanging back and Gerrard haring off up the field? Its one thing im dying for us to have, a decent pairing with a good understanding who work well together.

Yeah they looked good, but it was the other way around. Lucas played on front of Gerrard for the most part. Gerrard was playing the Xabi roll, dictating the play although there were very few 'hollywood' passes. Lucas even showed up in the Cardiff 6 yard box a few times, so he was much more advanced. When Gerrard did burst forward I noted Lucas falling back to cover, which was good to see.

The front 6 towards the end of the game was one I wouldnt mind seeing again...

---

Crouch

---

Kewell

Benayoun

---

Lucas----Gerrard

---

Babel

We definitely retained possession much better than in recent games but I supposed this could be down to the lack of quality in the opposition. We still lacked some killer instinct in attack though. Should have put in at least 3, possibly 4.

~Rebel~

Tusky wrote: »

We definitely retained possession much better than in recent games but I supposed this could be down to the lack of quality in the opposition. We still lacked some killer instinct in attack though. Should have put in at least 3, possibly 4.

Great to hear that about Lucas and Gerrard.

Also great to hear about the posession retention. A lot of the times we've been rubbish of late hasn't even been down to level of opposition, more our inability to pass the ball 10 feet to a red shirt. I think once we get the simple things like that back on track we'll look much better. Tonight sounds like a good start.

Kanney

Youtube link?

~Rebel~

the goals are on the previous page.

Haven't seen any highlights yet though.

Mr Alan

was over at the game last night. good crack.

Gerrard is coming back into form which is great news for us at this time.

Arbeloa was decent at right back.

Yossi was excellent when he came on, his feet are so quick, he is like Garcia but not as wasteful with the ball.

Babel was fairly muck, looked better when he went out onto the wing, reminded me of Cisse (never a good thing), you could see the class he had at a few times with his touch and all, but you could tell he felt he was under a lot of pressure.

Crouch was decent, he really is SOOOOOOOO slow though.

Good to see Aurelio back.

Not sure about Leto, pussyed out of a couple of challenges which didnt go down too well with the crowd, and ya could tell he was trying to redeem himself most of the game. not quite sure if he will cut it at the top level tbh, but maybe with a bit of confidence he might be a different player, his performances for the reserves are consistantly great.

Great to see Mascherano back so soon.

El zhar didn't really do much apart from the goal tbh.

Hobbs looked solid which was great cause Fowler and Hasselbank are not an easy pair to deal with. Would quite like to see him start against Blackburn tbh.

Idjdsajkdsajkdaskljdfaks (the goalie) ; tbh, i think he is fairly muck. So obvious that Carra thinks he is muck as well, the whole back four seemed to have very little faith in him. couple of good stops, but he fumbled the ball a couple of times coming out to collect it from crosses and was quite fortunate there was no one around at the time.

Kewell looks slim and ready to impress. I'd like to see him get at least 30 minutes against Blackburn.

and last but not least.......Lucas

The boy is class, i can remember 2 passes the whole game that didnt reach their intended target and both of them times, he had the right idea with wat he was attempting. The lad is gonna be one of the top midfielders in the league in the next 3 years, i have very little doubt about that Once we get Mascherano signed up permanently, i'd let Momo go tbh. Alonso,Gerrard,Mascherano,Lucas will the strongest central midfield in the league. Having a 5th in Momo is only giving Rafa a selection headache that he doesnt need.

Kind of off the point BUUTTTTTT......

I am soooooooo tired, left Liverpool at 4.45 this morning and after arriving into work now! ****ing nightmare

zing

Rafa hoping Alonso could be back in 2 weeks
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_2840521,00.html

So that's Alonso, Torres & Agger all potentially due back in 2 weeks. tbh - I don't want them back in 2 weeks as there's an international break then and I'd sooner have them all stay at Melwood for those extra couple of weeks and have them fresh as daisies for the Newcastle game.

RE*AC*TOR

Kanney wrote: »

Youtube link?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqecjFodq44

Chardee MacDennis

nice one for that Tusky

spockety

Tusky wrote: »

Gerrard looked good, thats three goals in three games.

Over reliance on Gerrard! RAFA OUT!

:rolleyes:

RE*AC*TOR

Rafa saying Alonso, Torres and Agger could be back in two weeks. That would be good news.

Nunu

I thought Alonso broke another metatarsal...how could he possibly be back in 2 weeks

gucci

Nunu wrote: »

I thought Alonso broke another metatarsal...how could he possibly be back in 2 weeks

thought it was the same metatarsal he injured, but still find it hard to believe he will be back in 2 weeks?

*edit* beautiful play by benyoun for gerards goal.

jesus_thats_gre

Two good goals alright. There seems to be a nervousness about Liverpool's play but hopefully things will calm down once Agger, Alons and Torres come back from injury.

Going forward, this is what I see as our best team:

---

Reina

---

Finnan

---

Carra----Agger

---

Arbeloa

---

Alonso

---

Pennant

---

Gerard

---

Yossi

---

Crouch----Torres

---

mike65

Has Gerrard played his way through the bad patch?

Swap Yossi to right and Kewell left.

Mike.

Bounty Hunter

if everyone is fit (Harry) i would personally love to watch this liverpool team week in week out.

---

Reina
Finnan

---

Carragher

---

Agger---Arbeloa

---

Mascherano

---

Alonso
Gerrard

---

Kewell

---

Torres

---

Crouch

subs: hypia, Yossi, Lucas, Voronin, Kuyt

although im not a liverpool fan, that is the line-up i would most dislike to see against my side.

whatawaster

With Everyone Fit:

---

Reina

---

Finnan

---

Carragher

---

Agger

---

Arbeloa

---

Alonso

---

Mascherano

---

Gerrard

---

Kewell

---

Torres

---

Babel

---