Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

wcarey1975

Hero Of College wrote: »

I knew that much at least. Barry is out of European action for any other club than Villa until the Spring.

Sorry to ask this question again but I from what I see the above rule seems to apply to the winter window. Teams have until the 31st of this month to register their squard of players for the Champs League proper which is also the same point that this window closes. So assuming that we make it into the group stages we we be able to put Barry in that list.

Karmafaerie

PHB wrote: »

Alonso was fine in his first season. Once people realised what he could do, he got special attention. Happens to every good kid. Gerrard, Ronaldo, Fabregas all went through the same thing.
Those 3 upped their game, found ways to perform even though they had the attention on them. Alonso has not.

That pretty much sums up Alonso to me.

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

I really think people are being too harsh on Alonso.

He did well when he came back into the side towards the end of last season, he had a fine Euro 2008, and he's had an excellent pre-season. Alonso has been playing some of his best football over the last few months.

Does one game in which the whole team underperformed, against well-organised European opposition, write off Alonso's chance of making any impact domestically?

How is this so hard to understand?!
For Spain, Alonso is given time and space, so is brilliant.
In the pre-season, Alonso is given time and space, so is brilliant.
In his first season, Alonso was given time and space, so was brilliant.
In Europe, Alonso is given time and space (usualy), so is brilliant.

In the premiership however, he's closed down, harried, bullied off the ball, and can't cope.
If we want to win the premiership, we need better.

Simple.

DeadSkin

gixerfixer wrote: »

Jebus.Hope for the love of christ it is'nt Downing if we are signing another player before the window closes. Average player at the best of times.A step up from Pennent?....doubtful

Pennant plays the right, Downing the left.
Downing is a much better player than Pennant.
Downing played all Prem games last season scoring 9 goals.

p.pete

Karmafaerie wrote: »

For Spain, Alonso is given time and space, so is brilliant.

Not always - Euro games he was only on when it didn't matter, so he got time and space. I've said this before but look back to the last world cup when there was high expectations of spain again, and at that time, high expectations of alonso. They breezed through the group (against Tunisia, Saudi arabia and ukraine) and everything was roses. First knockout match and France charged him and all went to pot.

Shame, as he has a lot of talent. Maybe we should loan him out to a Championship team for a few weeks?

Boggles

Did Downing not just sign a 5 year contract?

gixerfixer

Boggles wrote: »

Did Downing not just sign a 5 year contract?

At that means what?

MementoMori

gixerfixer wrote: »

Jebus.Hope for the love of christ it is'nt Downing if we are signing another player before the window closes. Average player at the best of times.A step up from Pennent?....doubtful

Considering our current options on the left-side, signing Downing would make a lot of sense to me. Currently I think Babel is first choice, followed by Benayoun. After that it's either a case of throwing Ngog on (all reports seem to indicate he's always played as a striker as opposed to a wide player) or playing one of the defensive left-backs (Dossena, Aurelio, Insua) In both those cases you're playing people out of their preferred/best positions - [This is arguably the case with Benayoun as well as I don't think he'd said left wing was his first choice position] which I don't think makes sense in the long-run. Or even the short-run when it comes down to it but needs must.

Downing's a left-sided player whereas Pennant is a right-sided player so I don't think comparing them makes a whole lot of sense. Even if you do compare them Downing is quite clearly a better player - especially when you consider his age plus the fact that he scores goals regularly in a struggling Boro side, something which is absent from Pennant's game. I wouldn't be rating him as out of his world but I do think he's a fair bit better than just average.

Also given Boro's willingness to sell on Luke Young for a tasty profit
(bought last year for £2.5m sold for £6m to Villa) and the statement their chairman made - basically said was too good a financial deal for the club to turn down, I do think Downing could be gettable.

I would be disappointed if we did not get at least one more big signing.
Assuming a sale of Itandje for £2m, our net summer spend is around the £5m mark so far

In other news Aurelio is apparently back to fitness. Havent heard anything about Skrtel but presumably he is still out

Also Benayoun clearly isn't going anywhere - Voronin, Pennant and Finnan are the three most likely players to move.

My quess on the squad team for Sunderland is as follows.
Reina, Arbeloa, Dossena, Carragher, Agger, Gerrard, Plessis, Benayoun, Kuyt, Keane, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Hyypia, Alonso, Aurelio, Voronin, Pennant, Ngog

Only change to the first team is Gerrard in for Alonso - would also expect Ngog to replace El Zhar and Aurelio to replace Insua on the bench

Karmafaerie

Karmafaerie wrote:

Karmafaerie wrote:

Carlesberg don't do stupid, but if they did...!!!

http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp...torycode=60795

Carlsberg partners with The S88 to offer drinks vouchers for 13,000 pubs

Carlsberg is offering drinkers a free pint in 13,000 pubs on the August Bank Holiday weekend in what it claims is one of the biggest ever free pint giveaways in the on-trade ever.

The promotion will run in The S** on Saturday, August 23, and will offer all 3.2 million readers (over 18 years of age) a voucher which can be redeemed for a free pint of Carlsberg on Sunday, August 24.

This week, all pubs taking part will receive promotional posters to build excitement and awareness around the event. All free pints can be redeemed by participating outlets against the average cost of a pint of Carlsberg, reckoned by the brand to be £2.50 in the UK.

S88 readers can find their nearest participating outlet by logging onto [url]www8888888888888888888888

Carlsberg head of on-trade customer marketing David Scott said: “The August Bank Holiday is traditionally the biggest of the year. This year more than ever we wanted to support British pubs with a promotion designed to drive more people through the door with the promise of a free pint on us.”

“With over 13,000 pubs this is one of the biggest free pint giveaways in the on-trade ever. The S** has partnered with us and understands the aim of the promotion, to support British pubs and reward their readers, while encouraging them to go to the pub over the Bank Holiday weekend.”
[/url]

Again robbed from IrishKop.

A friend of mine emailed them about it.

Here's their response.

Thank you for your email which we received via the Carlsberg website.



Carlsberg is pleased to be able to offer consumers one of the largest free pint promotions ever this August Bank Holiday. By working with The Sun, the UK's largest selling paper, Carlsberg has been able to ensure that approximately 3 million people across the UK will be able to enjoy a free pint at their local this Bank Holiday Sunday.



Carlsberg is sensitive to the fact that Liverpool fans feel very strongly about The Sun, and is very proud of its long association with and support of Liverpool Football Club over the past 16 years, and apologises if any offence is felt as a result of the upcoming free pint

promotion.



Kind regards



The Lagers Team

Just a final note on this.

The Echo were in contact with Carlsberg, and it seems they're gonna pull the whole thing!
My friend got a response from the Echo editor saying

Hi *****,

Thanks for your email.
Carlsberg have backed down... the story will be on the Echo website shortly.

Regards,

Andy Campbell
Deputy Editor
Liverpool Echo
0151 472 2343
07748 704476
andrewcampbell@liverpoolecho.co.uk

Boggles

gixerfixer wrote: »

At that means what?

He is contracted to the club until 2013 after signing a 5 year extention in February.

I know contracts don't mean squat anymore, but can't think of another big signing that would leave that fast after a player signing a long contract basically 4 months off the end of last season.

He would cost in the region of 14 million if he does go.

missingtime

Boggles wrote: »

He would cost in the region of 14 million if he does go.

Eeeewwww...

Bacchus

The promotion has been axed.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/08/15/liverpool-fans-fury-carlsberg-forces-u-turn-100252-21539674/2/

Karmafaerie

Bacchus wrote: »

The promotion has been axed.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/08/15/liverpool-fans-fury-carlsberg-forces-u-turn-100252-21539674/2/

It really was a bad decision!

Bacchus

Fair play to them though at the same time for having the decency to cancel the promotion. I know their reasons may have had more to do with the prospect of bad publicity from Liverpool fans but I'm still happy they canceled the promotion.

missingtime

According to that link people are now gonna stop drinking Carlesberg...any drinkers here?

wcarey1975

I used to drink it but not any more. Was at the game last friday night and had some at the ground and couldn't finish it..... Not very nice anymore! But thats just my opinion.

Dont be at yourself

Karmafaerie wrote:

How is this so hard to understand?!
For Spain, Alonso is given time and space, so is brilliant.
In the pre-season, Alonso is given time and space, so is brilliant.
In his first season, Alonso was given time and space, so was brilliant.
In Europe, Alonso is given time and space (usualy), so is brilliant.

In the premiership however, he's closed down, harried, bullied off the ball, and can't cope.
If we want to win the premiership, we need better.

Simple.

Simple? A gross over-simplification, more like. It's very lazy to come to the conclusion that Alonso is spanish, ergo he's a good technically but he can't take the high tempo, hustle & bustle of the premiership. Doing so ignores the good form he has shown over his entire time at Liverpool. And while not an excuse for poor form, a succession of ankle and foot injuries have no doubt contributed to his lacklustre form and fitness. Rafa's deeper employment of Alonso has also reduced his obvious impact on games - though it appears he's given more of a license to get forward this season.

Football is not rock, paper, scissors. It's not black and white. Football, at its highest level, is not vastly different from competition to competition, or from team to team. The Premier League has a reputation for being fast-paced and physical, and it's a deserved one. However, for every get-in-and-about-them Bolton, there's a shrinking violet Tottenham who give plenty of time on the ball and don't close down to any great extent. Alonso himself is more than willing to get stuck in when chasing the ball, and this is a side of his game that's often overlooked.

And besides, Alonso has played well and passed well in high-tempo games in both Europe and the league on countless occasions. Much like Rafa, he is a victim of his early successes. Few expected him to set the world alight like he did in his first season, and this raised expectations hugely. Since then, he's been nothing if not solid. He has rarely grabbed the game by the scruff of its neck, but then that's not why Rafa sends him out on the pitch.

Tusky

Karmafaerie wrote: »

That pretty much sums up Alonso to me.



How is this so hard to understand?!
For Spain, Alonso is given time and space, so is brilliant.
In the pre-season, Alonso is given time and space, so is brilliant.
In his first season, Alonso was given time and space, so was brilliant.
In Europe, Alonso is given time and space (usualy), so is brilliant.

In the premiership however, he's closed down, harried, bullied off the ball, and can't cope.
If we want to win the premiership, we need better.

Simple.

Stop being so patronizing. You write your posts as if you know better than everyone else. As if you are a teacher and the rest of the posters are your students. Heres some info for you.

The 05/06 season (Alonsos second)

Chelsea 91
Man Utd 83
Liverpool 82
Arsenal 67

This was our best league finish under Benitez and our highest ever premiership points finish. We also won the FA cup this year with Alonso scoring 2 goals. He scored 5 goals that season, 2 more than in his first season.

The midifeld for the entire season was Kewell--Alonso--Sissoko--Gerrard

In the 06/07 season we finished 3rd, ahead of Arsenal again and got to the champions league final. Alonso played pretty much every game this season also. Alonso again scores more goals than in his magical first season.

07/08 - we finish 4th and win nothing. Alonso has only 27 apperances, (4 of those in the cups). He is in and out of the team, struggling with fitness and form. Lets not forget, he broke his metatarsal TWICE. This is the same injury that kept Agger out for the whole year.

Its a complete myth that Alonso has been **** since his first season. His first two season were his best, his 3rd season wasnt quite as good but the team in general wasnt as good. His 4th season was plagued with injuries & bad form.

People have short memories.

Dont be at yourself

07/08 - we finish 4th and win nothing. Alonso has only 27 apperances, (4 of those in the cups). He is in and out of the team, struggling with finess and form. Lets not forget, he broke his metatarsal TWICE. This is the same injury that kept Agger out for the whole year.

And to go further: our form, in terms of both performance and results, improved with Alonso in the team. The Arsenal game where he picked up his injury was a microcosm of that. We are a different team without him in the side.

Mr Alan

i hope you're all right about Alonso (tusky/nekkid), really do.

Dont be at yourself

Oh come on Mr Alan, you talk as if our season hinges on Alonso. He is not even close to being the weak link in our team. Before the Xabi to Juve rumours started, everyone was happy to keep him in the side.

Tusky

Mr Alan wrote: »

i hope you're all right about Alonso (tusky/nekkid), really do.

I'm not saying that selling Alonso and buying Barry wouldnt improve us. Im not saying we shouldn't sell Alonso and buy someone better.

I just hate it when people say he has been **** since his first season as its completely untrue. People literally think about 18 months and no further.

If it was up to me, I would keep Alonso over Barry though.

Tusky

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Oh come on Mr Alan, you talk as if our season hinges on Alonso. He is not even close to being the weak link in our team. Before the Xabi to Juve rumours started, everyone was happy to keep him in the side.

The weak link is undoubtedly STILL the wide areas. Right full, right wing, left wing back up.

Mr Alan

Tusky wrote: »

I'm not saying that selling Alonso and buying Barry wouldnt improve us. Im not saying we shouldn't sell Alonso and buy someone better.

I just hate it when people say he has been **** since his first season as its completely untrue. People literally think about 18 months and no further.

If it was up to me, I would keep Alonso over Barry though.

in fairness Tusky, 18months is an eternity for a player to be out of form.

as i have said, i would like nothing more than to see Alonso back to his best, but i have my doubts.

Tusky

Mr Alan wrote: »

in fairness Tusky, 18months is an eternity for a player to be out of form.

as i have said, i would like nothing more than to see Alonso back to his best, but i have my doubts.

Well as I said, he was injured for over half of last season and thats why he struggled with form.

Mr Alan

i understand wat you are saying about the wide positions Tusky, but it worth remebering that we dont actually play with wingers, we play with 2 wing forwards, for those 2 positions we have Keane,Gerrard,Babel,Kuyt and Benayoun who are all excellent and we have probably one more 12m-18m player coming in to add further attacking threat there.

we are hardly weak there imo.

PHB

we are hardly weak there imo.

Liverpool: Keane/Gerrard[only 1], Kuyt, Babel, Benayoun
United: Rooney/Tevez [only 1], Ronaldo, Nani, Park, Giggs
Chelsea: Malouda, Cole, SWP, Kalou
Arsenal: Van Persie, Rosicky, Nasri, Vela, Walcott

Liverpool are by far the weakest there out of the top 4. No doubt better than the rest of the league (although Villa and Spurs first 11 wingers would push everyone) but worse than those 4, both in squad and in first 11.
You play with wing-forwards not wingers, fine, everyone gets that. Great wing forwards currently playing would be Van Persie, Robben, Ronaldo.
None of your wingers are even close to that standard. At best you play Gerrard out there and he's bloody good, but its not his natural position.

People literally think about 18 months and no further.

He's been here 36 months. He's been below average for half of them. Injuries no doubt played there part but he was poor before the injuries came.

Tusky

Mr Alan wrote: »

i understand wat you are saying about the wide positions Tusky, but it worth remebering that we dont actually play with wingers, we play with 2 wing forwards, for those 2 positions we have Keane,Gerrard,Babel,Kuyt and Benayoun who are all excellent and we have probably one more 12m-18m player coming in to add further attacking threat there.

we are hardly weak there imo.

I never said the word wingers.

I would dispute that. Although Gerrard is good on the right, it would be a bit of crime to play him there seeing how well he played behind Torres last year. He set up so many of his goals and scored plenty himself.

Ive never seen Keane played on the wing.

Kuyt is only good enough for back up. He was awful for more than 50% of last season.

Benayoun is good enough for backup.

Babel could potentially make the position his own but he will need to seriously improve this season and start effecting games more.

Dont be at yourself

The weak link is undoubtedly STILL the wide areas. Right full, right wing, left wing back up.

Well, we'll know enough to judge in a few months.

For what it's worth, I think Arbeloa is one of the finest full-backs in the league. He's not spectacular offensively, but I've no complaints from him defensively. The jury is very much still out on Degen.

The purchase of Keane gives us options in the final third. We'll possibly see Gerrard fill the inside-right role more next year, and we know he can do that job very well. Kuyt isn't a bad alternative, and I think that role in the 4-2-3-1 is tailor-made for him.

We are short on cover for the attacking positions. Benayoun, Kuyt and Voronin dont offer enough 'game-changing' quality coming off the bench.

Dub13

I dont think this has been posted yet on this thread.

Liverpool Fans fury forces Carlsberg U Turn.

You can read how it happned on this thread.

Please Read & Support this - Important ! Carlsberg ... Probably the...

whatawaster

Mr Alan wrote: »

i understand wat you are saying about the wide positions Tusky, but it worth remebering that we dont actually play with wingers, we play with 2 wing forwards, for those 2 positions we have Keane,Gerrard,Babel,Kuyt and Benayoun who are all excellent and we have probably one more 12m-18m player coming in to add further attacking threat there.

we are hardly weak there imo.

We are very weak there. Benayoun is good back up, but he's too inconsistent to help us sustain a title challenge. Similarly Kuyt is great for European nights when he works his socks off, but should not be first choice on the right side.
Our team looks ok when Babel, Gerrard, Keane and Torres are fit, but i think it's crucial we sign a top quality left sided attacking midfielder.
I don't think Downing would suit us at all, he's more prone to hugging the line and getting in crosses, whereas we specialise in getting no more than one player into the box to meet crosses. He may be better than Pennant, but like pennant we are not compatible.

It's hard to say who we could sign for the left, but i was very impressed with Rakitic in the European Championships. I'm sure he'd cost a lot less than Barry as well. Kranjcar wouldn't be a bad bet either.

zing

PHB wrote: »

He's been here 36 months. He's been below average for half of them. Injuries no doubt played there part but he was poor before the injuries came.

48 months actually. He signed in summer 04.

Dub13

Dub13 wrote: »

I dont think this has been posted yet on this thread.

Liverpool Fans fury forces Carlsberg U Turn.

You can read how it happned on this thread.

Please Read & Support this - Important ! Carlsberg ... Probably the...

Here is an update from the Liverpool Supporters Union


The SOS have been in dialogue with Rick Parry about this since yesterday morning. Rick pointed out that this was obviously done without any consulation with LFC, and no-one at the club knew anything about it until we had pointed it out to them.

He agreed it was insenstive and causing great distress, and agreed to contact Carlsberg and ask for an immediate response from them. As late as 10pm last night he was in contact with the union to say that it had been escalated up to Director level in Copenhagen, and he was confident that Carlsberg would react positively.

I'd like to thank him for his prompt response to the supporters concerns and his hard work in following it through. Thanks also to everyone out there who emailed Carlsberg and kicked up such a fuss.

He gets a lot of stick, does Rick, a lot of the time; but he's done good here.




(JMac)
__________________

PHB

zing wrote: »

48 months actually. He signed in summer 04.

Jesus christ you're right, I'm getting old I remember posting about the signing on this board

The Rooster

Dub13 wrote: »

He gets a lot of stick, does Rick, a lot of the time; but he's done good here.

That fell nicely into Rick's lap.

Its my firm belief that Parry's primary objective is to curry favour with the fans.

I also believe that it was he who reported to the yanks the crowd reaction at the Lazio game (all praise Xabi and "you can shove Gareth Barry")

Karmafaerie

Tusky wrote: »

Stop being so patronizing. You write your posts as if you know better than everyone else. As if you are a teacher and the rest of the posters are your students. Heres some info for you.

The 05/06 season (Alonsos second)

Chelsea 91
Man Utd 83
Liverpool 82
Arsenal 67

This was our best league finish under Benitez and our highest ever premiership points finish. We also won the FA cup this year with Alonso scoring 2 goals. He scored 5 goals that season, 2 more than in his first season.

The midifeld for the entire season was Kewell--Alonso--Sissoko--Gerrard

In the 06/07 season we finished 3rd, ahead of Arsenal again and got to the champions league final. Alonso played pretty much every game this season also. Alonso again scores more goals than in his magical first season.

07/08 - we finish 4th and win nothing. Alonso has only 27 apperances, (4 of those in the cups). He is in and out of the team, struggling with fitness and form. Lets not forget, he broke his metatarsal TWICE. This is the same injury that kept Agger out for the whole year.

Its a complete myth that Alonso has been **** since his first season. His first two season were his best, his 3rd season wasnt quite as good but the team in general wasnt as good. His 4th season was plagued with injuries & bad form.

People have short memories.

No Tusky, i just happen to have a good memory.

I remember everytime people slag off Voronin last season, when he started 17 games due to injury, and then listen to them all jumping to Xabi's defence when he started 23!!!
Both played the majority of games in midfield.

Voronin
Starts________Goals________Assists
17_____________6____________4

Alonso
Starts________Goals________Assists
23_____________2____________2


So Excuse me if I get annoyed by the hypocrasy.
(And no I'm not comparing HHH and Xabi skillwise, just showing how ridiculous it is the amount of abuse that one gets, while the other is praised.)

People look at Xabi with rose tinted glasses.
He's a great player, but he hasn't performed since his first season.
If you want to blame injury, then fine.
Why should we rest our teams creativity on an injury prone player?!!

That's an excercise in stupidity!

The role that Alonso plays is arguably the most important of the team.
He is our outlet.
He is supposed to start all of our attacks.
And he can't do this against high tempo teams.

Ye mention that not all teams that we play are high tempo and physical obviously.

But do we have trouble against those teams?
No.
We struggle against two types of team.
The high skilled teams at the top, who have better squads, an so can outplay us, and more importantly here, the high tempo physical teams!

How many times over the last few seasons have we sat here in the off season, bemoaning the fact that we can't break down the lesser teams?!!!

Can ye not put two and two together?

Alonso is inefectual against these teams, and we need to beat these teams in order to win the league, or even to challenge for it.

Xabi, as much as I love him and hope he stays, will never be able to do this.

Alonso is our midfield general.
If you loose too many wars, you get a new general!

Dub13

And from Carlsberg


15 August, 2008

By James Wilmore

Drinks firm cancels free pint promotion after fierce backlash from Liverpool football fans

Carlsberg has ditched a controversial free pint giveaway promotion with The Sun newspaper, in light of a huge backlash.

The free pint vouchers were due to be included in the tabloid over the upcoming bank holiday weekend, but will now not go ahead.

The link-up between Carlsberg, sponsors of Liverpool Football club and The Sun, much hated on Merseyside, provoked a furious response from Liverpool fans and pubs, some commenting on The Publican website.

Many supporters refuse to buy The Sun because of its highly controversial coverage of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans died.

Despite apologising in 2004 for its reporting of the events, fans have never forgiven the newspaper.


A statement released by Carlsberg said: “Carlsberg apologises for any offence caused by the planned free pint promotion in The Sun.

“Carlsberg is very proud of its long association with Liverpool Football Club and the people of Liverpool over the past 16 years.

“In light of the reaction to the promotion, we have decided not to proceed with the activity.”

Rick Parry, chief executive of Liverpool Football Club, said: “We are delighted that Carlsberg has responded in the right way so promptly.”

PHB

Posts about the match moved to the match thread. Talk about it in there.

--amadeus--

Since when did Voronin play in a deep midfield role? I agree that the abuse he gets is OTT but not sure we were watching the same teams...

On the Carlsberg thing kudos to RP for getting something right (for a change) and to Carlsberg for holding up thier hands and admitting they got it wrong. It'll be interesting to see how the S*n explains it to it's readers..."errr we were going to give you a free pint but because we're hated we can't!"

Karmafaerie

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Since when did Voronin play in a deep midfield role? I agree that the abuse he gets is OTT but not sure we were watching the same teams...

On the Carlsberg thing kudos to RP for getting something right (for a change) and to Carlsberg for holding up thier hands and admitting they got it wrong. It'll be interesting to see how the S*n explains it to it's readers..."errr we were going to give you a free pint but because we're hated we can't!"

I don't know if we're watching the same teams, but I don't think we're reading the same posts.

Show me where I said deep midfield?

I said midfield, as Voronin started most games before his injury on the right or left, and after in the Gerrard role of attacking midfield.

I was using Voronin as an example as he gets the most stick, and along with Xabi is one of the players being questioned all off-season.
Also both were missing for half the season with injury.

Not because they play the same role.;)

Mr Alan

Just got an email from my mate Aldo

Update:

Hi Alan,

We’re stepping up our bid for fan ownership of Liverpool FC, and launching a new phase with the backing of LFC legends, celebrities and politicians.

Come and join us at this launch, which is being held before the second leg of the Champions League qualifier on Wednesday 27 August, at the Liverpool Lighthouse, in Anfield, starting at 5.30pm. There will be plenty of time to make it to the match – the Lighthouse is on Oakfield Rd, just 2 minutes walk from the ground, and we’ll be done by 7.00pm.

You’ll hear from Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport and former Chairman of Supporters Direct, me and other ex-players, as well as Rogan Taylor, board member and founder of ShareLiverpoolFC.

There will also be the chance to ask questions about how it will all work.

The urgency of fan involvement in the club has become acute since the American owners took over. Now saddled with debt, we’ve all read story after story this summer of Rafa trying to sell players to find money to buy new ones. Even the money for Robbie Keane was borrowed, and has been added to the burden on our once financially stable and secure club. Now, apparently, Hicks and Gillet have been unable to agree to put the finance together for the Barry deal which is now dead in the water.

This great Club is losing ground, day by day. If you love LFC, please think about committing to the ShareLiverpoolFC project – either on your own or in a group – or with your time and support. (see www.shareliverpoolfc.com for more information or to re-register your support).

If you’re already signed up, please pass this invitation to a relative, friend, neighbour or workmate – especially those who might not go on the internet very often.

Numbers at the event will be strictly limited by the size of the venue (about 400 people), and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. So get there early to be sure of a seat. There’s a café at the venue if you want a bite to eat before the match!

I’m gutted by what’s happening at our club, and really motivated to do something about it. ShareLiverpoolFC can work if we all get behind it. So pass the word.

YNWA

John Aldridge

missingtime

With all this slagging of our players no wonder I'm doubting any chance we have.

"You'll never walk alone" anyone???

Mr Alan

I walk alone to the Dart everyday. Except some days when my mate shane walks with me.

dont give that "you'll never walk alone" lark, gets on my tits sometimes, its like a cartoon character football fan.

fans in the kop were giving players stick in the 20s,30s,40s,50s,60s etc etc, there is nothing wrong with discussing which players you think are good and which ones you think are ****e. never has been, never will be-its part of football. its not disrespectful to the team or players.

monkey9

Mr Alan wrote: »

I walk alone to the Dart everyday. Except some days when my mate shane walks with me.

dont give that "you'll never walk alone" lark, gets on my tits sometimes, its like a cartoon character football fan.

fans in the kop were giving players stick in the 20s,30s,40s,50s,60s etc etc, there is nothing wrong with discussing which players you think are good and which ones you think are ****e. never has been, never will be-its part of football. its not disrespectful to the team or players.

It's especially ok to slag off clowns like Voronin

missingtime

Mr Alan wrote: »

I walk alone to the Dart everyday. Except some days when my mate shane walks with me.

dont give that "you'll never walk alone" lark, gets on my tits sometimes, its like a cartoon character football fan.

fans in the kop were giving players stick in the 20s,30s,40s,50s,60s etc etc, there is nothing wrong with discussing which players you think are good and which ones you think are ****e. never has been, never will be-its part of football. its not disrespectful to the team or players.

Yea I know YNWA gets on my tits too...but over the last 4-5 pages there has been a bit too much giving out

"Keane was a poor buy - his honeymoon period is over, Alonso has been **** the last 3 years, Voronin is rubbish"

I'm well ****ing nervous about this match tomorrow and its in no small part to reading this thread.

We should trounce Sunderland whether or not Alonso or Voronin are upto scratch or not.

So I'm gonna say something positive:

Sunderland 0 - 3 Liverpool (Torres, Benny and Keane)

COME ON YOU REDMEN!!!

Karmafaerie

missingtime wrote: »

With all this slagging of our players no wonder I'm doubting any chance we have.

"You'll never walk alone" anyone???

No matter what you think about the "YNWA", I think it's fair to say that it went out the window when people decided Voronin was crap because of his haircut!;)

Karmafaerie

monkey9 wrote: »

It's especially ok to slag off clowns like Voronin

:rolleyes:

The guy with the best goal/game scoring record this season is a clown!
3 goals in 3 starts in pre-season.

And before you start b****ing about pre-season not counting, everyone thinks Alonso is amazing because of his pre-season.

Tusky

uh oh.

Can we start with injury news, Rafa?

We had some problems the other day with Xabi Alonso and Yossi Benayoun receiving dead legs, and Fabio Aurelio and Martin Skrtel are improving, so we will see this afternoon and then decide. Steven Gerrard was training really well yesterday and he is okay.

Good news that Fabio is nearly back?

Yes, I think so. We need these players. Competition for places is good.

You've had a good pre-season in terms of results but are you happy that all your players are ready for the season?

Yes, I think it was important to see all the players training and we are really close to that. Philipp Degen is still injured but the rest of the squad is nearly there. If we see the Olympic players back soon, it'll be fantastic for the rest of the season.

Robbie Keane was your major signing over the summer – how is he fitting in?

He is okay - training really well and hard. He will need time, as always, to get an understanding with Torres and get to know all of his teammates.

What sort of system do you expect to play with those two?

It depends on the games. Keane has good movement in between the lines but also up front. We can play with both up front or maybe just one.

How excited are you by their partnership?

For a manager, when the ball is in attack, everything depends on the players you have. When you have players with quality and game intelligence like Keane and Torres it makes it easier for me, so maybe I will enjoy it.

Are you happy that you have the right sort of strength in depth now?

The squad is better and that was my idea. We do have some problems on the left because we have lost John Arne Riise, Harry Kewell and Sebastian Leto – because of his work permit. Okay, we will see what happens in the future but yes, the squad is better.

Another young player you've brought in is David Ngog, who's caught a lot of people's eye. Is he one to watch this season?

Yes, we knew when we bought him that he was a good player. Watching him in every training session, you see different things. You see his quality and I think he's also been pretty good in the games. He will be a good player for us for the rest of the season and hopefully for the future.

The years go by and every season people say it will be Liverpool's year, but do you feel that this season – do you feel it could be your year?

As I said, we have a better squad, but it always depends on the other teams too. We can be really good but, look at a few years ago when we got 82 points but still finished third. There are very good teams in the Premier League.

Is the Premier League your priority this year?

Our priority is always to try to win every game, then you see whether you are a contender or whether you can win this trophy or another. We will try to do our best in all the competitions but if you had to decide which one you wanted, I think all the fans would say the Premier League.

Last season you rested some of your major players in Premier League games – is it going to be the same this time or can we expect a more settled side?

It depends on the game and the players. Last season people talked about Torres but he was injured for two or three games and then on the bench for one or two. If you win, nobody talks about rotation. We will try to win and then you can talk about victories and not rotation.

Do you expect to make any more signings before the end of the transfer window?

Really, I don't know. We will continue working and then see.

Is any deal for Gareth Barry dead given the fact he played in the UEFA Cup?

I will try to be very clear because I would like to talk about the next games and Sunderland. Everybody has been talking and it is clear some newspapers and journalists – and all our supporters know this – blame me for everything: global warming; rises in petrol prices; everything. In this case, I want to be clear: since I talked with Martin O'Neill in April, I didn't talk with anyone else at Aston Villa. All the talks have been between Rick Parry and the owner and chief executive of Aston Villa – and they have been pretty good. If someone wants to talk about Barry in the future, they will have to talk to the owner or chief executive of Aston Villa, or Rick Parry. I was not doing to talks about Barry; I was not doing to talks about Alonso and Arsenal.

Has the situation been frustrating for you?

If you want to talk about players, you have to talk to Rick Parry; if you want to talk about football, talk to me.

In terms of football, are the players keen to get that Standard Liege performance out of their system this weekend?

Yes, the reaction of the players in training yesterday was fantastic. We were very happy to see them back on the pitch after a bad performance, and they showed a high tempo and determination. That is what we wanted to see.

And do your scouting reports suggest Sunderland are a better side this season?

Yes, they have clearly signed some good players. It is always tough to play away at Sunderland because they have some quality players. It could be a physical game but also a game with good football.

Back to the title race, and you say you have a better squad but the other three teams will have as well, won't they? Is the gap between you and them narrower?

You really don't know. We are pleased with the people we have signed but it will be the same with the other managers. For me, good teams have signed good players, and maybe we will see some surprises.

Hero Of College

monkey9 wrote: »

It's especially ok to slag off clowns like Voronin

Voronin is OKAY, the guy came on a free, and you usually get what you pay for. He had a few very good games last season when he was asked to stand in for Torres, one example would be his outstanding contribution in the Everton game at Tescos in the Autumn.

If someone comes in with an offer of £5m up, I'd let him go, even if it was £3m or something like that, if for no other reason than £3m is a £3m profit margin.

Tusky

Karmafaerie wrote: »

No Tusky, i just happen to have a good memory.

I remember everytime people slag off Voronin last season, when he started 17 games due to injury, and then listen to them all jumping to Xabi's defence when he started 23!!!
Both played the majority of games in midfield.

Voronin
Starts________Goals________Assists
17_____________6____________4

Alonso
Starts________Goals________Assists
23_____________2____________2


So Excuse me if I get annoyed by the hypocrasy.
(And no I'm not comparing HHH and Xabi skillwise, just showing how ridiculous it is the amount of abuse that one gets, while the other is praised.)

People look at Xabi with rose tinted glasses.
He's a great player, but he hasn't performed since his first season.
If you want to blame injury, then fine.
Why should we rest our teams creativity on an injury prone player?!!

That's an excercise in stupidity!

The role that Alonso plays is arguably the most important of the team.
He is our outlet.
He is supposed to start all of our attacks.
And he can't do this against high tempo teams.

Ye mention that not all teams that we play are high tempo and physical obviously.

But do we have trouble against those teams?
No.
We struggle against two types of team.
The high skilled teams at the top, who have better squads, an so can outplay us, and more importantly here, the high tempo physical teams!

How many times over the last few seasons have we sat here in the off season, bemoaning the fact that we can't break down the lesser teams?!!!

Can ye not put two and two together?

Alonso is inefectual against these teams, and we need to beat these teams in order to win the league, or even to challenge for it.

Xabi, as much as I love him and hope he stays, will never be able to do this.

Alonso is our midfield general.
If you loose too many wars, you get a new general!

The whole validity of your argument took a big knock when you compared Alonsos stats to that of a striker

Voronin played up front or in the hole most of the time. Very occasionally he was played in one of the wide positions. He would be in an around the box for our attacks and would be in the box for corners etc.

Alonso played as a pretty defensive holding midfielder. Its a ridiculous comparison. For the record, I think Voronin is good enough for 4th choice but was played too often last year.

Secondly, explain to me how we finished 3rd in the league, won the fa cup, and achieved our highest ever points total in 05/06 if Alonso wasn't performing ?

p.s - hes not injury prone, he just had a bad year with injuries last year.

Hero Of College

Tusky wrote: »

uh oh.

not so much "uh-oh" as "here we go again". Parry and the Yanks are tits. They insist on undermining Benitez at every twist and turn. Bill Shankly, he of the 3 leagues and 2 FA Cups in 14 years, initially turned down the Liverpool job cos the board picked the team.

The same thing is eventually going to happen here. The Yanks and Parry are effectively picking the team cos he JUST CAN'T GET THE GUYS HE WANTS WITHOUT ALL THIS FUKKING AGRO.