Sport Liverpool Football Club

[rjpageuk]

Alonso's not guaranteed to start for them either you know. In fact he barely features for them.

Indeed, it is his first appearance in Euro 2008 isnt it? Fabregas doesnt even seem to start for them!

[ras el hanout]

It's not just the fact he's not guaranteed a start. It's the way it's done at Liverpool at the moment. I mean, apart from the spine of the team - when was the last time there was an awesome impact made by one of our fringe players? Alonso looked like he was playing for his place last night. At Liverpool you can't play for a place. Getting a chance and being awesome does not help your chances of starting for Liverpool, things are probably different for Spain.

[redbloodcell]

Alonso's not going to be at your gaff next year anyway is he?

[dogsout]

Doesn't look like it, no.

[dizogg]

It's not just the fact he's not guaranteed a start. It's the way it's done at Liverpool at the moment. I mean, apart from the spine of the team - when was the last time there was an awesome impact made by one of our fringe players? Alonso looked like he was playing for his place last night. At Liverpool you can't play for a place. Getting a chance and being awesome does not help your chances of starting for Liverpool, things are probably different for Spain.

When was the last time a Man Utd or Chelsea fringe player made an awesome impact? They're fringe players for a reason.

[Kelthink]

I dunno diz, Luis Garcia made awesome impacts for a fringe player. And I reckon if Babel was used in that way he could do so, until his skills mature a bit.

[dizogg]

Ok I admit Liverpool are fucking shit. Lets all start supporting Real Madrid instead.

[dogsout]

Babel pretty much has been used in that way so far. Which was why I mentioned him further up the page along with Skrtel, Lucas, Benayoun and Arbeloa.

[Guest]

When was the last time a Man Utd or Chelsea fringe player made an awesome impact? They're fringe players for a reason.

They need to earn it certainly. The thing is we don't see how they do in training. That can be a clue. They were calling Ronaldo the greatest player in the world back when he was all step overs and no end product. 3 years on and we can see why Fergie gradually edged him into the team.

Mind you I also remember someone (Van Basten) saying that Baros would be the European footballer of the year someday. But then again didn't he earmark Ritchie Humphries for greatness?

NO! A quick wiki check and it was...

Humphreys played the first game and scored twice. He then played in the second game against FC Utrecht and scored again. Johan Cruijff was the guest of honour for that game and he praised Humphreys and said he was the next Marco van Basten It was during this pre season tour that he was taken under the wing and guidance of Wednesday legend Chris Waddle.

[ras el hanout]

Okay, I admit it, Alonso has turned shit for us for reasons other than Benitez!

When was the last time a Man U or Chelsea fringe player made an awesome impact? What a silly question! Our team is made up of 5 or 6 fringe

players, their's are not.

Rafa's sorted - as long as he keeps finishing seasons well. Then people forget everything. As long as you finish the season well it gives hope the fans over the summer. "We finished the season well! I can't wait until next year."

Christmas the next year. "Fuck!"

We should get that Slaven Bilic chap. And keep Alonso.

[dizogg]

I dunno, people forget how competitive the Premier League is. Its not as if all other teams are sitting back and doing well without an effort, most teams are spending big. The three teams above us last season are full of world class players and managers, and not afraid to get their chequebook out for who they want. For the resources Benitez has done a solid job in the prem whilst also bringing us Champions League and FA Cup glory. As much as we'd all love to win the premiership, so do all the other teams around us. People make the mistake of thinking a new manager will automatically be good. Considering the ownership instability it could be a disaster. I for one am thankful for Benitez, he's brought me personally a lot of joy, with players like Torres coming in and Champions League victories.

[dogsout]

That's the way I see it.

[dogsout]

Okay, I admit it, Alonso has turned shit for us for reasons other than Benitez!

I don't think he's gone to shit. When he was fit last season it was clear for all to see how important he was. He broke his foot, twice. That's just bad luck. I don't understand why so many people think he's been poor since his first season. He's been anything but for me. He's improved the defensive side of his game tremendously and has had to adapt to a different role in the team because the opposition know not to give him time on the ball. He typically gets closed down much quicker than the rest of our midfield and because he's not the fastest he can't make space for himself in those situations like a Gerrard or Mascherano can. He's still a very good player, though he'd probably do much better in a slower league.

When was the last time a Man U or Chelsea fringe player made an awesome impact? What a silly question! Our team is made up of 5 or 6 fringe

players, their's are not.

Are you sure? Kalou, Malouda, Ferreira, Shevchenko, Pizarro, Bhoularouz and Ben-Haim; O'Shea, Brown, Silvestre, Park, Fletcher and Saha.

[a big boy]

http://football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_3713769,00.html

Is Silva or Barry even a question?

[Das]

Weird, I was just saying to diz last night that we should buy Silva!

[V3zna]

http://football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_3713769,00.html

Is Silva or Barry even a question?

I don't think it's a question of either of them, more a question of both of them. Silly websites are forgetting although we may have spent our summer transfer budget last January on Mascherano and Skrtel the sales of Alonso, Crouch, Finnan, Pennant, Guthrie, Riise and Carson could cover our outlay for Dossena, Barry and Silva.

As for David Silva he's blatantly skillful and gifted but his descision making is often lacking & even in Euro 2008 he's still prone to going missing for long stretches of games. I'd have him at Anfield far, far sooner than I would have either Downing or Bentley though. Silva is a good replacement for Luis Garcia at least.

[dogsout]

Don't forget that the refinancing package included £40m for transfers. I'm sure there is more money available than we've been led to believe. It strengthens the club's position if selling clubs aren't aware that we have extra money to play with. I don't think we'll see a NET spend in excess of what we've seen in previous summers but I do feel it won't be as low as most people are thinking.

Silva's obviously very gifted and I've mentioned him loads of times in here as a player I'd like signed over the last couple of years, but I can't help but think that £20m is too high a price. If we wanted to buy anyone from this Spain squad it would have been advisable to get the deals in place prior to the tournament because we're just going to be fucked over with the prices the way they've been playing. I'm gutted that we've not been linked with Arshavin yet and now there are reports that Arsenal are in for him for the meagre fee of £10m. He'd be a great buy for any Premiership side and I'm not basing that off of one Euro 2008 appearance and the UEFA Cup Final. I've seen him play many times this season and he's never been anything less than stellar.

[V3zna]

I'm gutted that we've not been linked with Arshavin yet and now there are reports that Arsenal are in for him for the meagre fee of £10m. He'd be a great buy for any Premiership side and I'm not basing that off of one Euro 2008 appearance and the UEFA Cup Final. I've seen him play many times this season and he's never been anything less than stellar.

That's a player that would certainly not need any time to adjust to the Premier League.

With the revolving door at Arsenal, Man Utd about to lose their key player and Chelsea being rebuilt, we might just find our direct rivals a bit weaker than usual next season.

[Hewson]

Just seen this on the Guardian website:

Gillett and Hicks bury their differences at Liverpool

George Gillett says his relationship with Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has substantially improved

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/ju...l.premierleague

It's about time there was some movement over this. Let's hope it's the end of all the hideous public slanging.

[Takizawa]

I'm gutted that we've not been linked with Arshavin yet and now there are reports that Arsenal are in for him for the meagre fee of £10m. He'd be a great buy for any Premiership side and I'm not basing that off of one Euro 2008 appearance and the UEFA Cup Final. I've seen him play many times this season and he's never been anything less than stellar.

I'm pretty sure my suggestion of him being a Liverpool player a few months back was met with quite a big of negativity from you guys

[dogsout]

Nope. That was van der Vaart, was it not?

[edit]: Yeah, it was.

[ras el hanout]

I dunno, people forget how competitive the Premier League is. Its not as if all other teams are sitting back and doing well without an effort, most teams are spending big. The three teams above us last season are full of world class players and managers, and not afraid to get their chequebook out for who they want. For the resources Benitez has done a solid job in the prem whilst also bringing us Champions League and FA Cup glory. As much as we'd all love to win the premiership, so do all the other teams around us. People make the mistake of thinking a new manager will automatically be good. Considering the ownership instability it could be a disaster. I for one am thankful for Benitez, he's brought me personally a lot of joy, with players like Torres coming in and Champions League victories.

People forget that when Benitez arrived he was lauded as being able to compete with the big boys without having the biggest budget. Now it seems he needs a budget as big to compete. We haven't got as big a budget as the others and won't have, even if Hicks and Gillett were to fall in love again.

A new manager could be a disaster. But then fortune favours the brave. Don't you ever forget that.

It's not as if Rafa has been working on a shoestring. He's probably spent the third or forth amount of money out of the top four. And we've finished third or forth. I don't see any miracles being worked there, you know what I'm saying?

[Takizawa]

Nope. That was van der Vaart, was it not?

[edit]: Yeah, it was.

No I remember saying the same for Arshavin...

[Takizawa]

Ok my bad, I did post about him a while back but the only repsonse was this:

But he has a funny name.

[dizogg]

People forget that when Benitez arrived he was lauded as being able to compete with the big boys without having the biggest budget. Now it seems he needs a budget as big to compete. We haven't got as big a budget as the others and won't have, even if Hicks and Gillett were to fall in love again.

A new manager could be a disaster. But then fortune favours the brave. Don't you ever forget that.

It's not as if Rafa has been working on a shoestring. He's probably spent the third or forth amount of money out of the top four. And we've finished third or forth. I don't see any miracles being worked there, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah exactly, no miracles. I don't expect miracles, you can't expect miracles. Thats why they're miracles. (Although it seemed like a miracle when we won the Champions League to be honest!)

Do you have any quotes that LFC or Benitez put out that said he win the premiership without a big budget? Doubt it. And in my eyes we are definitly competing.

[ras el hanout]

Yeah exactly, no miracles. I don't expect miracles, you can't expect miracles. Thats why they're miracles. (Although it seemed like a miracle when we won the Champions League to be honest!)

Do you have any quotes that LFC or Benitez put out that said he win the premiership without a big budget? Doubt it. And in my eyes we are definitly competing.

Well in my eyes we aren't competing. We're like chalk and cheese eyes, me and you. You see potato, I see potato. And of course there are no quotes from LFC. What would they say? We can't compete finacially? Rafa probably said it's not all about spending big money when he arrived though. I'd check it out if I wasn't 100% certain he was lauded as being able to do things cheaper like what he did at Valencia. I mean, are you saying Rafa is the best coach in the World? Are you saying we could not get a better coach? I firmly believe Ferguson or Mourinho or Wenger would have gotten more from our squad, the same squad. I reckon they could even win the league with our squad. Our squad looked incredibly strong before the season started. It was only as time went on and Benitez started fucking around that it was the players who weren't good enough. The players Benitez bought. They weren't good enough and that was because we weren't spending enough. I also think if a lot of the managers in the Premiership spent what we did that they'd be where we are. I don't think Rafa has shown anything in the Premiership. Anything at all.

You're going to say there are no other Fergusons or Mourinhos or Wengers, They're miracles of football! Well, maybe, just maybe there is one out there. Maybe Slaven Bilic is one? I sound like a bandwagon jumper saying his name but by god I find him beguilling.

He's been here four seasons and there are probably now four players he bought that are absolute keepers with regard to their performances under Rafa.

Torres, Masch, Reina, Agger and Skrtel. Hey, that's five! Three of those players were bought the season gone. So for the first three years there are two absolute keepers. Reina and Agger. At this rate he'll nearly have eleven by the time Gerrard retires.

Arbeloa is also good. Rafa has spent an enormous amount of money.

I'd keep Crouch and Alonso as well but Rafa's gone off those depite them seemingly being integral not too long ago. He stumbled upon a formation that worked so it's start again time.

edit, holy fuck couch? The word is coach, dumbass.

[a big boy]

I literally can't believe how fickle football fans are sometimes.And when I say this I mean I can't believe Benitez gets any criticism whatsoever.

1. His Valencia side were the best team in Europe. "From 1999 up until the end of the 2004 season, Valencia had one of the their most successful periods in the clubs history. With a total of 2 La Liga titles, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 Copa del Rey and 1 UEFA Super Cup, in these six years, no less than five first class titles and two UEFA Champions League finals had been achieved." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valencia_CF#T...ropean_football

2. Ferguson, Wenger and Mourinho are along with Benitez probably the finest managers in the world. Inheriting a squad probably inferior to Everton's current one, the fact that Benitez has even managed to stay competitive with them, let alone close the gap, while on a fraction of the budget is a miracle in my eyes. In fact, I can't think of another job in the world apart from manager of Valencia or Liverpool where you're not only expected to be the best, but to be the best on a fraction of the budget of everyone else with the same ambition. It's testament to Benitez not only that he can work under that kind of pressure, but has actually for the most part delivered. And if you can't appreciate that you simply don't deserve him.

[a big boy]

Well in my eyes we aren't competing. We're like chalk and cheese eyes, me and you. You see potato, I see potato. And of course there are no quotes from LFC. What would they say? We can't compete finacially? Rafa probably said it's not all about spending big money when he arrived though. I'd check it out if I wasn't 100% certain he was lauded as being able to do things cheaper like what he did at Valencia. I mean, are you saying Rafa is the best coach in the World? Are you saying we could not get a better coach? I firmly believe Ferguson or Mourinho or Wenger would have gotten more from our squad, the same squad. I reckon they could even win the league with our squad. Our squad looked incredibly strong before the season started. It was only as time went on and Benitez started fucking around that it was the players who weren't good enough. The players Benitez bought. They weren't good enough and that was because we weren't spending enough. I also think if a lot of the managers in the Premiership spent what we did that they'd be where we are. I don't think Rafa has shown anything in the Premiership. Anything at all.

You're going to say there are no other Fergusons or Mourinhos or Wengers, They're miracles of football! Well, maybe, just maybe there is one out there. Maybe Slaven Bilic is one? I sound like a bandwagon jumper saying his name but by god I find him beguilling.

He's been here four seasons and there are probably now four players he bought that are absolute keepers with regard to their performances under Rafa.

Torres, Masch, Reina, Agger and Skrtel. Hey, that's five! Three of those players were bought the season gone. So for the first three years there are two absolute keepers. Reina and Agger. At this rate he'll nearly have eleven by the time Gerrard retires.

Arbeloa is also good. Rafa has spent an enormous amount of money.

I'd keep Crouch and Alonso as well but Rafa's gone off those depite them seemingly being integral not too long ago. He stumbled upon a formation that worked so it's start again time.

edit, holy fuck couch? The word is coach, dumbass.

So much bullshit I don't even know where to begin. But is it not blindingly obvious he hasn't just gone off the likes off Crouch and Alonso, but the fact he isn't able to keep hold of his quality squad players in order to raise cash even to buy one or two £15 mill players a season perfectly illustrates the difference between Liverpool, Man U and Chelsea?

You definitely don't deserve him.

[ras el hanout]

I literally can't believe how fickle football fans are sometimes.And when I say this I mean I can't believe Benitez gets any criticism whatsoever.

1. His Valencia side were the best team in Europe. "From 1999 up until the end of the 2004 season, Valencia had one of the their most successful periods in the clubs history. With a total of 2 La Liga titles, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 Copa del Rey and 1 UEFA Super Cup, in these six years, no less than five first class titles and two UEFA Champions League finals had been achieved." <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valencia_CF#T...ropean_football" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valencia_CF#T...ropean_football</a>

I surely don't need to tell you what's wrong with this point.

As for the squad he inherited being worse than Everton's. Don't be silly. And, of course, how much has Benitez spent compared to Everton?

You guys all seem to be resigned to it being whoever spends the most wins the league. Why bother playing football then? At the start of the season teams should just announce who much theur squad cost and the league can be decided that way.

And he hasn't gone off Alonso and Crouch? He needs to sell them? Explain why he didn't use them this last year. He wanted to increase their value? Please try and think about what you're saying before you reply.

[dogsout]

Alonso was injured for most of the season, when he was fit he invariably played.