Sport Liverpool Football Club

[dogsout]

Have you seen him play, Kelthink? He's brilliant. I'd be surprised if we did sign him to be honest. There's no doubt he has the talent to succeed over here, I'm just not convinced we'll have the money to sign him as well as the players we need for our problem areas. He's very versatile; he's played from the left more often than the centre this season. He's also two footed and I think he could play anywhere in the '3' behind Torres.

We've been linked with Samir Nasri quite solidly recently as well. He's another massive talent that I'd love to see brought in, but he'd also cost a bomb and is similar to Modric in that he's a '10'. I think most would agree that we should be looking for someone to play on the right of the '3' behind Torres. Maybe a Modric or Nasri could adapt to this role, they're certainly more talented than any of the high profile traditional wingers that we have been linked with in summers past.

Guillem Balague did an interview with Rafa for his TheGame podcast a while back and claimed afterwards that Rafa has agreed three deals already. Two of them are believed to be youngsters from South America (maybe Buonanotte) and the third is apparently an English player that won't provide a big name but will go straight into the first team and provide "another quality piece to the jigsaw". Whoever he is, Balague says he can play on the right, which indicates to me that it either isn't his natural position, or he hasn't been playing there this season. So maybe Young or Agbonlahor...

[V3zna]

Have you seen him play, Kelthink? He's brilliant. I'd be surprised if we did sign him to be honest. There's no doubt he has the talent to succeed over here, I'm just not convinced we'll have the money to sign him as well as the players we need for our problem areas. He's very versatile; he's played from the left more often than the centre this season.

We've been linked with Samir Nasri quite solidly recently as well. He's another massive talent that I'd love to see brought in, but he'd also cost a bomb and is similar to Modric in that he's a '10'. I think most would agree that we should be looking for someone to play on the right of the '3' behind Torres. Maybe a Modric or Nasri could adapt to this role, they're certainly more talented than any of the high profile traditional wingers that we have been linked with in summers past.

Guillem Balague did an interview with Rafa for his TheGame podcast a while back and claimed afterwards that Rafa has agreed three deals already. Two of them are believed to be youngsters from South America (maybe Buonanotte) and the third is apparently an English player that won't provide a big name but will go straight into the first team and provide "another quality piece to the jigsaw". Whoever he is, Balague says he can play on the right, which indicates to me that it either isn't his natural position, or he hasn't been playing there this season. So maybe Young or Agbonlahor...

We usually have a net spend of around £25 million per summer so Modric and Rafinha are surely within that limit? Could be a bit of money brought in as well with several departures inevitable.

Nasri looks awesome and he would certainly be ideal for us. Modric and Nasri have glittering careers ahead of them for sure.

As for Young and Agbonlahor I would say Bentley might be another one within that bracket. As much as I respect and like listening to Balague he has been wrong on occassions though.

[David Kenny]

Modric does look good, but I'm confused.

When England played Croatia the papers seemed to think that a deal that would take Modric to Chelsea had already been done. I'm guessing that (as usual) they were full of shit, but if Chelsea are interested it might push the price beyond Liverpool's range.

[Kelthink]

And if anyone needs a midfielder less than us, it's Chelsea! Unless Lampsy-Wampsy is good as off due to his ludicrous wage demands...

And yeah, I really haven't paid attention to him playing. I guess he must be 'the shit', but is he going to usurp Gerrard or Alonso? Those players are too safe for that.

[David Kenny]

And if anyone needs a midfielder less than us, it's Chelsea! Unless Lampsy-Wampsy is good as off due to his ludicrous wage demands...

And yeah, I really haven't paid attention to him playing. I guess he must be 'the shit', but is he going to usurp Gerrard or Alonso? Those players are too safe for that.

I think Modric can play anywhere across the middle or in the hole as a playmaker so he'd be a useful player for any squad I reckon.

[dogsout]

We usually have a net spend of around £25 million per summer so Modric and Rafinha are surely within that limit? Could be a bit of money brought in as well with several departures inevitable.

Nasri looks awesome and he would certainly be ideal for us. Modric and Nasri have glittering careers ahead of them for sure.

As for Young and Agbonlahor I would say Bentley might be another one within that bracket. As much as I respect and like listening to Balague he has been wrong on occassions though.

I was still hoping we'd see Alves brought in. Rafinha's good, and one day he'll be excellent, but Alves is better. I don't see Bentley being the player Balague is talking about simply because he's a natural right winger. Balague said "he can also play on the right". There's no way Balague could have this wrong, he did the interview with Rafa and Rafa told him who the players were and how they fit into his plans. We'll see who it is once the season is over.

[dogsout]

And if anyone needs a midfielder less than us, it's Chelsea! Unless Lampsy-Wampsy is good as off due to his ludicrous wage demands...

And yeah, I really haven't paid attention to him playing. I guess he must be 'the shit', but is he going to usurp Gerrard or Alonso? Those players are too safe for that.

As has been mentioned: He can play anywhere in the midfield and has spent most of this season playing on the wing in a formation very similar to our own.

[DeNeo]

WOAH! Hicks has asked Parry to resign!

I'm not Parry's biggest fan, and would like to think if DIC bought us they'd bring someone else in (like David Dein...). But I really wouldn't want him to go like this. Luckily he can't get sacked unless the whole board vote him out.

[Gabzy]

It's pretty out of order from Hicks really, I mean, is he purposefully trying to cause unrest at the club?

[Commander Jameson]

Funnily enough, the reasons given by tHicks that Parry should go are actually correct. But since Parry is on Gillett's side at the moment, he is helping keeping tHicks out. So until DIC come on board, I'm happy for Parry to stay. Once DIC buy the club, bye-bye Parry.

There is an excellent article by Brian Reade in The Mirror about Wenger vs Benitez.

3 games when Wenger myths were exposed

Brian Reade 12/04/2008

Arsene Wenger reckoned those three games with Liverpool would produce a moment of truth for his team. But when the truth was delivered he tried to swat it away with a lie. An embarrassing one at that. Blaming the referee for the 4-2 Anfield defeat was a lamentable diversionary tactic. Wenger failed in Europe once again because his squad wasn't strong enough and his leadership wasn't good enough.

A few myths were shattered in those three meetings about a team whose free-flowing football is hailed as the best in the land. Easy on the eye it undoubtedly is. But you don't win games by adding up the passes and you don't win trophies without a killer's mentality. In the two games at the Emirates, Arsenal failed to score from open play and at Anfield Pepe Reina was hardly tested outside the two goals. Over the two European ties the Gunners threw away a leading position three times. Each time, very cheaply.

Wenger has clearly needed to dip into his £60million war chest but refused to on the grounds it might upset the balance of a team of kids who were developing together. Another myth. Most aren't kids anymore. The average age of the starting line-up at Anfield was 25.

The Frenchman's real moment of truth will come tomorrow if he fails to beat Manchester United, meaning his trophy haul these past four years comprises one FA Cup. Benitez can match his FA Cup over the same period, throw in a European Cup and possibly add a second one next month. So how come Wenger is perceived in this country as one of the great managers of modern times yet Benitez is consistently derided?

The Spaniard recently masterminded wins home and away against Italian league leaders Inter Milan. Wenger beat their ageing Milan rivals (who lie 20 points behind them) in the San Siro but failed to do so at the Emirates. Yet whose achievement had English football in raptures? Wenger's of course. The Arsenal boss rested five first-team regulars against Liverpool last Saturday to keep them fresh for Europe. It cost them the points which probably cost him the title but no one said a peep. When Benitez did that earlier in the season he was slaughtered for being a Tinkerman.

Liverpool clawed their way back into Wednesday's game via Sami Hyypia's free header at a corner, yet no one pointed out the deficiencies of Wenger's man-to-man marking system. Whenever Liverpool concede from a set-piece, Benitez is savaged for employing zonal marking. Maybe it's time Benitez's legion of critics within football (and Anfield) faced their own moment of truth, and admitted he is not in his third Champions League semi-final in four years because he has pact with the devil, but because he is one of the modern game's great coaches, whose only failing in top-flight management has been an inability thus far to deliver the Premier League title to Anfield.

Maybe they should accept he's been up against clubs like Chelsea and United these past four seasons, with far greater resources, and recall it took Alex Ferguson seven years to win his first title. Maybe, now the blood is drenching the boardroom carpets, they will realise civil war has been raging at Anfield all season, and Benitez has been caught in the middle. His mental health publicly questioned, judgments undermined, spending ridiculed and forward planning sabotaged. They even admitted to actively seeking his replacement.

Yet his reserve side has just walked the northern section of the Premier Reserve League league, he stands on the brink of a Champions League Final and qualification for next season's competition. I'm sure his many critics will dismiss it as a fluke. Just like his two La Liga titles and UEFA Cup wins were at Sevilla. [sic - should be Valencia]

What did Gary Player once say about being lucky. The more he practised the luckier he became. In the biggest club competition in the world Rafa keeps getting plenty of practice. Maybe one day he'll get lucky, unlike Wenger, and win it. Oh . . he already has.

[DeNeo]

Liverpool clawed their way back into Wednesday's game via Sami Hyypia's free header at a corner, yet no one pointed out the deficiencies of Wenger's man-to-man marking system. Whenever Liverpool concede from a set-piece, Benitez is savaged for employing zonal marking.

Finally!! That's the first I've seen any report mention that.

[Meat]

Would Hicks just leave already. Once DIC are in, Benitez can get rid of the mediocre players and build our galactacos. We cant keep relying on Torres. We need more world class

And Babel is a fantastic player, he's going to be something

[ras el hanout]

Would Hicks just leave already. Once DIC are in, Benitez can get rid of the mediocre players and build our galactacos. We cant keep relying on Torres. We need more world class

And Babel is a fantastic player, he's going to be something

We all wanted Parry out and when Hicks wants Parry out we all cry, the poor guy can't do anything right.

And Babel, he seems to be mentally very weak. I kind of fear for him. He's had some absolutely rotten games for us. I mean, he's not that young. It's not like he's 18.

[DeNeo]

We all wanted Parry out and when Hicks wants Parry out we all cry, the poor guy can't do anything right.

It's more to do with the way Hicks is going about it. If Parry had gone when the Americans came in, none of us would've been too bothered. But since Hicks is trying to do it now to run things his own way and gain more control of the club, it's a bit worrying.

[ras el hanout]

It's more to do with the way Hicks is going about it. If Parry had gone when the Americans came in, none of us would've been too bothered. But since Hicks is trying to do it now to run things his own way and gain more control of the club, it's a bit worrying.

Maybe he's doing it now so that somebody else will be in place for the summer to handle transfers? And Rafa wants his gone. Maybe Rafa said get him out?It's a horrible mess though, I'll give you that. What's Gilette's motive in backing Parry apart from to fuck things up more?

[DeNeo]

What's Gilette's motive in backing Parry apart from to fuck things up more?

Well yeah that's pretty much his only motive - he's not going to want to give Hicks any more control over things.

[ras el hanout]

Well yeah that's pretty much his only motive - he's not going to want to give Hicks any more control over things.

Well he should really be taking the blame here. I mean, if Hicks really isn't going to sell then I think the best we can hope for is Hicks taking total control. If he had total control and Parry was sacked then we wouldn't really care, would we?

[Takizawa]

We all wanted Parry out and when Hicks wants Parry out we all cry, the poor guy can't do anything right.

And Babel, he seems to be mentally very weak. I kind of fear for him. He's had some absolutely rotten games for us. I mean, he's not that young. It's not like he's 18.

What difference does that make? He's finally developing into a hell of a player at Liverpool just like Henry did after moving to Arsenal.

[kimble]

Yes, I agree. Sometimes players (people) develop confidence later in life. Babel looks like one of these people and those two goals are the sort of events that help develop the self-belief to go on to better things.

[ras el hanout]

But he's had great games and then follows them up with real stinkers. Like, really bad games. Like the first game against Arsenal he was awful. Somebody was saying on here that even before he arrived he was very up and down. And do you deveop confidence later in life? He's 21, he's not that young.

I hope he turns out great though just proclaiming him great or even very good after this season seems a bit of a stretch.

[V3zna]

Babel alledgedly told Van Basten he would rather be a rapper than a footballer. Strange.

He's also a devout Christian. That shouldn't make any difference but I think he needs a certain amount of arrogance or cockiness to bring out the best in himself.

Personally I'm happy with his progress this season and next term when whole back fours are pre-occupying themselves with trying to mark Torres then Babel will get a bit more freedom and space.

[dogsout]

I said before he arrived that he was still very raw and inconsistent but that he's got bags full of talent. He's just adapting to the league as well as a new life style in a new country. I've no doubt that given time (another couple of seasons most probably) he'll be one of the best players in the league. As for Hicks and Parry, it's pretty obvious that Hicks is only doing this to gain power. All of the reasons he has stated are perfectly correct, the only problem being that those problems have been apparent for years. Rafa's outburst after the CL final last year should have led to Parry being shown the door. I find it pretty incredible that Hicks was behind Parry back in November when he was stripping Rafa of some of his responsibilities and handing them to Parry, whilst publicly undermining Rafa and attempting to get Klinsmann in to replace him. As far as I'm concerned Hicks getting total control would be a disaster, and for that reason alone, I hope all on the board who oppose him dig their heels in and try to force his hand.

[DeNeo]

Team for today:

Rafa Benitez makes three changes from the Arsenal victory in midweek, with Lucas, Alvaro Arbeloa and Ryan Babel coming in for the suspended Javier Mascherano, Sami Hyypia and the injured Peter Crouch.

The Reds XI in full is: Reina, Arbeloa, Aurelio, Skrtel, Carragher, Lucas, Alonso, Gerrard, Babel, Kuyt, Torres. Subs: Itandje, Riise, Hyypia, Voronin, Benayoun.

Mascherano aside, probably our strongest line up.

[V3zna]

Ryan Babel is hopeful that he will one day emulate Thierry Henry and make a permanent transition from winger into feared centred forward.

The Holland international admits he studied the Frenchman's style of play from an early age and is confident he can continue to improve his game to the sort of level that saw Henry establish a reputation as one the best strikers in the world.

"Henry is an idol for me," said Babel.

"I used to watch a lot of him on TV because he plays upfront and I like to look at how he plays and what kind of decisions he makes at key moments.

"Like me, he started also as a winger before he joined Arsenal and it was unfortunate he left for Spain the year I arrived.

"Benitez knows I like to play upfront, though, and hopefully one day he will give me the chance to play there and for me to focus on my favourite position.

"I'm trying to do the same as Henry by moving from winger to play inside. I try to improve my game so hopefully one day I'll be the same or maybe even better than the level Henry reached.

"I hope to give the manager another choice upfront and even after training I spend half an hour practising something extra such as my finishing or control to reach that level."

That's exactly what I wanted to hear.

[a big boy]

Would you swap him for Alonso or Lucas, out of interest?

[DeNeo]

Would you swap him for Alonso or Lucas, out of interest?

Lucas probably. Alonso still has the edge over him.

I might even put Carra at right back, with Hyypia or Agger when fit partnering Skrtel. Carra was immense there against Arsenal.

[rjpageuk]

Not a great first half, we have been ok and will probably feel like we should be in front but havent created enough.

Some bad ref decisions - Roberts was onside and through and Gerrard was fouled when sort of clear on goal, both decisions were wrong from the ref.

Apart from that not a lot has happened.

[DeNeo]

Christ how many decisions is the referee going to give against us. We should've had at least 3 free kicks just outside the box.

And Babel has reverted to being his usual self

[Commander Jameson]

That first one was not a penalty. You could see what was going to happen as soon as that ball went through. Gerrard's right foot moved towards Friedel who had pulled out. The second one was definitely a free kick just outside the box and Samba should have gone.

[ras el hanout]

I just get the feeling Gerrard hates Lucas, twice Lucas has been through and Gerrard has ignored him.