Galactico

Houllier was terrible for that - those 'two gems', plus Cheyrou, Biscan, Diouf, Diao, Smicer, Traore, every one of those was sold to us as a great acquisition and the entusiastic pursuit of Cisse followed the same lines. After a good start, Houller became a pretty poor judge of players, starting with the 2002 debacle (a warning from history if ever there was one). As he declined, he couldn't even use/keep the good players at his disposal, like Litmanen and Anelka. It's sad that a guy who started so well as our manager lost his way so badly.

I think he was our best defender last season and is underrated, but we did defend appallingly as a team last year. A simple cross into the box often caused chaos, with neither the keeper nor the CBs looking comfortable and it was too easy to get at kurt back line. Agger had a disappointing season and Sakho was finding his feet in the Prem, but I think the problems were around how we defend as a team as much as about personnel. The collapse at Palace was a microcosm of the whole season - we lacked leadership and organisation defensively and whether Lovren is the answer to that remains to be seen. Skrtel wasn't only our best defender, he also scored 7 goals, including goals against Arsenal (2), City and Chelsea. I think he starts in front of the other CBs on form, meaning we may start out with him and Lovren as the CB pairing. If Agger gets it back, he's still the best defender at the club (though will probably leave), and with Sakho there too there should be competition for places in future with Ilori to come back at some point too. None of these are poor defenders, the problem is our defensive organisation, or lack of.

Agreed. Reina had in any case gone into a pretty steep decline and was costing us points in the last two years. Mignolet has made some mistakes, but I bet he won us points more often than costing games - can only really think of City away where he costs us points. For me, he had a better first season than Reina did - Reina did go on to become a great keeper for a few years, but made plenty of errors in his first year and was every bit as unreliable on crosses then as Mig has been. Reina is clearly calling the club's bluff, sitting there drawing his wages and knowing he's unlikely to play. If it comes to it, we may have to let him go for nothing.

I don't think I'v ever enjoyed watching us as much as in that era. We were brilliant, devastating and unstoppable. Nicol would probably make my all-time LFC team - as good as Neal was, Nicol offered so much going forward as well as defensively. Criminally underrated as you say. And that midfield combo of McMahon and Whelan, in what was really an early version of 4-2-3-1 - great engine room doing the hard work and providing the foundation.

Sorry, meant league titles not doubles - can see that's not clear in original post :)

Meant 88-90 mate. Tis true we lost the ability to defend in big games in that era - that Palace game was fucking insane.

Ach, I don't listen really...but I'm talking about Mancs who are into their football and will recognise the greatness of Liverpool players before Barnes, but not him. Agree with your assessment - in terms of ability, he was the Ronaldo/Henry/Suarez of that era, but the era didn't have the hype of the Premier League.

Some great examples here. Often it seems the level of fans' excitement at the signing is inversely proportional to how successful the player then is. Morientes was probably the one I was most excited and subsequently disappointed by, but Kewell, Cole, Diouf, Saunders, Babb, Ince and Keane were all players we were thrilled to get and then let down by. So to a lesser degree were Gonzalez, Kirkland, Leonhardsen and Clough. There were a few in the Houllier era - who could forget the 'new Zidanes', Cheyrou and Biscan, the 'new Vieira' Diao and the much-heralded but ultimately ineffective Valdimir Smicer. Carroll does stand out because he's still our record signing and one of the most expensive player sin history. Downing and Adam were others who the pundits certainly thought would improve us and who turned out not to be up to the job. With hindsight, you can see how that splurge cost Kenny his job and is in marked contrast to the approach we take now - though let's face it, Aspas, Borini and Alberto were all disappointing signings too. Given the relative lack of excitement at the arrivals of Sturridge, Hyypia and others,maybe the theory also works in reverse. There's not been that much excitement about Markovic in spite of the fee, and there's plenty of negativity about Remy and even Lallana from some. Hopefully they turn out to be players that prove some of the doubters wrong, just as others have proved the optimism unfounded.

Just looking at some old clips...and I'm not sure that the great LFC side of Barnes, Beardsley, Aldridge and co - built by Dalglish - gets the credit it deserves. There has not been a better footballing side to watch in this country before or since. The team did blow the Double tat the last gasp twice by losing big games they should have won - Wimbledon and Arsenal - and of course didn't compete in Europe - but looking at their quality, it's hard to imagine they wouldn't have waltzed off with another European Cup. They were pretty unstoppable in the league and really shouldn't have lost the title to Michael Thomas and Arsenal in 89, which would have given them 3 in a row. We hear a lot about the great teams of the late 70s and early 80s, yet less about this great side, which stands comparison with any. As an aside, there's a almost a collective amnesia among Manc fans about that team. I've had MUFC fans (no doubt based on Red Cafe comments) tell me that there were only 3 players in the Double winning side of 86 that weren't there under Fagan (actually, that discounts Nicol, Gillespie and Beglin coming through from the Reserves) - while ignoring the fact that after eking out that last triumph, Dalglish had a trophy less season and rebuilt from scratch. Aldridge, Beardlsey, Houghton and McMahon were all his signings and Barnes was one of the best players ever to wear the shirt, as well as heralding a major tactical shift with a return to traditional wingers. Another Manc said to me once that Barnes looked good at Watford but then lost his way...a remarkable statement given he was twice Footballer of the Year with us. I think they spent the late 80s doing acid and listening to the Happy Mondays, having grown incredulous at the emergence of yet another great Liverpool side. But it's not just the Mancs or the 'football history only includes the Premier League' crew. One of the greatest sides ever to grace the game is generally dismissed in favour of earlier Liverpool sides and people are more likely to talk about George Graham's boring Arsenal when discussing the pre-Premier League era. Maybe it's all part of telling the Premier League story - the Mancs' first title winners were a big contrast to Graham's percentage men - or maybe people have forgotten just how good they actually were.

Always rated him,but it is amazing what a bit of confidence can do for a player. Played where he was today, in a system that suits him, he looks every inch the player I thought we were getting.

Sturridge's movement and first touch have been excellent and the way he gets in goalscoring positions in the box is what we've been missing - a poacher. Suarez has been brilliant up to now, but with Sturridge as his foil, he seems likely to go up a notch further. I didn't know Sturridge was as good as he has looked so far - makes you wonder how different things would have been if we'd signed him as part of the Torres sale, as was talked about at the time - Andy Carroll may still be at Toon. As for Borini, I think it's very harsh to judge him this early - people need to learn that young players often take time to bed in, both Lucas and Henderson were dismissed early in their Anfield careers, one has proved the doubters wrong and the other is in the process of doing so. The likes of Henry, Pires, Drogba and Ronaldo all took a bit of time to settle when they came to England - it seems very brutal to write a lad off after a handful of games.

I can't help but feel this is an attempt by the agent to smoke out Man United or even Spurs. A brilliant player at his best, the question is whether Liverpool or the Premier League would see it. Coutinho may in fact be a better bet long term, at the risk of sounding like JWH. And that's another thing,it's a little suspicious how stories like this start appearing whenever FSG are facing a bit of flak.

I know exactly how you feel mate. It's fucking infuriating. There is absolutely no way of knowing from the photo what this guy is doing. He could be coughing, booing, he could be going 'Ooh' and he could be getting something out of his pocket, scratching himself, readjusting his arms after stretching them out in appeal - anything. If there were monkey chants people would at very least have been looking around in horror. There may be something in it but can't help but think this is an attempt to create a story out of very little.

Must say the mind-numbing stupidity of Man U fans who accuse us of racism and then celebrate a goal by signing a racist song about their own player is staggering.

I think Roy Keane is right that the subs changed the game. Kuyt in particular was excellent and pushed them right back. Carroll had a really good second half and caused them problems and we just looked the likelier to nick it at the end. They passed it around nicely, especially first half when we stood off them and made them look good, but they created nothing apart from the goal and one run and shot from Valencia. Kuyt really should have made it three at the end, which would have been taking the piss, but there's a poetic justice in an error from Evra leading to the winner.