duke2

Yeah, hilarious. Ok, never mind, I'll find somewhere. Thanks for all the smart-arse suggestions :)

Long-time lurker here. Southport lad and lifelong Red exiled in London all of my adult life. I'm coming home this weekend with my wife and baby to visit my parents for Easter and want to watch the Norwich match in a Liverpool city centre pub with a load of proper Reds. Only seen the lads once this season, the league defeat at the Emirates. I've watched most of the rest of our matches on TV on my lonesome. Is there anywhere in particular that anyone can recommend for a warm welcome, lots of singing and some decent beers? Maybe some good lunch options too in case I can persuade my old Dad to get out of his chair and join me? Any suggestions (with rough locations/road names included) much appreciated. Thanks

Code, you wanting us to sign Quaresma is how I know that you simply don't uderstand football. He's never been a serious option, even at the start of his career or in the days of Rashid raving about him in every third post. The very fact that you think he'd be a good signing for us, compared with your constant badgering of a player like Lucas, makes me wonder how you expect to be taken seriously. Quaresma is a 12-year-old fan's wet dream and an amazing 'YouTube player' but of no use to a team whatsoever. YouTube shows his astonishing skill and close control but it rarely shows what you really want to know about a player you're looking at. It doesn't show what you see when you watch a footballer play a full 90mins; namely, the end product. What is the outcome of all of his skilful play? A huge majority of the time with Quaresma it is nothing. His decision making is rotten. He is way too interested in beating his man for the fifth time or pulling off some flashy cross-heel pass with the outside of his foot to think about what is best for the team. His team-mates make runs that he looks up and sees but he hasn't got the maturity to pick them out when there's an opportunity to try something magical. He's a wizard on the ball for sure and he's quick and plays on the wing. Sounds just what we need. But as someone posted earlier there's a reason he plays in Turkey, has never won anything (to the best of my knowledge but do correct me if I'm wrong) and failed abjectly to keep up with his mate at Real. Watch a few videos that show his every touch or involvement against a team in a single game (I find they are among the more useful videos when looking at a player we've been linked with) and you'll see that for all his showpony swagger, he's an irritatingly stupid player that loses the ball long before he's swung a good cross in or played a telling pass.

Yes. Absolutely. He will improve us no end by giving us the kind of goal-scoring opportunities that we don't currently have within the squad. Suarez will continue bamboozling defences with his vision, his close dribbling skills and his ability to unlock tight units with a brilliant pass, either through the middle or from either wing. Adam will improve our ratio of scoring from corners and set-pieces. Downing will finally give us somebody that can deliver excellent crosses from open play and put the ball right onto Andy or Stevie's head. Opposition teams will know we can come at them with four or five different ways of creating goal-threats. Really hope we get him.

I really like the enthusiasm that the more seasoned watchers among you have for this crop of young players - the thought that there could be up to half a dozen players from our youth ranks fighting for a first team place in years to come is mouthwatering. Obviously Sterling could be special. But I have a question - I've watched all the clips I can find on YT and watch them whenever I can on LFCTV - I'd like to know, what's his left foot like? He's clearly very confident in his ability to cut in from the left and create or score. His speed and quick feet give him the tools to be very dangerous when cutting into the box. But there seems to be scant evidence if him getting to the bye-line when on that side and sending over a decent cross with his left. This is not a criticism of the boy and I appreciate how young he is and therefore how much time he has to develop - I just wonder if he has this as an option in his armoury yet because people on here are comparing him to Johnny Barnes and that.

Just tried Veetle for the first time (never come across it before someone here mentioned it early on in the first half). Downloaded it and was happily watching the game in HD on the laptop until it just turned off. A message came up about respecting the rights of copyright owners etc - does anyone here watch footie on Veetle regularly? What do I need to do etc? Warning: talk to me like a luddite. I'm a technical dunce. Thanks.

Some people shouldn't be allowed to own the internet.

Dennis, I think it might be time for bed mate. You are are criminally confused. And a bit of a nob.

I agree with Xabi D's banning. The man was a bellend and a half. I've been your classic lurker, logging onto this site pretty much every day since I came across it in about 2003. Xabi D's replies got me angrier than any other poster in all that time. Really disliked him. He was the sort of 'fan' you hope aren't out there in enough numbers to account for a large proportion of us because of the image we would project to others. I think Rash was different though. It's a shame he let himself down, especially as he knows exactly what it takes to get a banning both here and on other sites. The problem with him is he's so naive. I hardly ever agreed with his views on football, LFC or Rafa but at least he had an opinion and at times, he proved himself capable of contributing to debate. Xabi D didn't understand debate at all but some of Rashid's posts really did provoke some reasonable discussion. Then there were the other times when he would be so desperate to be right that he would fall into the trap of being a dick - like the whole Red Cafe affair, or just constantly comparing Liverpool to United or Barcelona. Wish he'd have heeded the numerous warnings he was given.

That's what the club keeps saying Spider-Neil but then the papers are consistently describing him as 'unsettled'. They must be getting it from somewhere?

I'm a bit worried about selling the likes of Yossi to help fund the acquisition of Barry or whoever else. I like the idea of Barry here and I agree with the sense made in the analysis some on here have given in the past about him moving over to the left to cover for Dossena when the full-back pushes forward but we need to be careful about who we sell to make that happen. I think Yossi is a great player and under-used by us. There are a number of different views on the forum of the talent this guy has and I don't really wish to get into that, you either rate him or you don't. But what's undeniable is this - while he isn't the only player we have in the squad who can go past a player when one-on-one, he is the only one who can skip past a number of players at will, and does it often, and does it from deep positions. You could argue that Jermaine has all that in his locker but I think he does it less and besides, much as I admire JP's efforts to integrate and succeed, he simply doesn't have Yossi's knack for scoring all different types of goals. So if I had to sell one, it wouldn't be Yossi. I know the boss wants a trimmer squad this year but we shouldn't get rid of assets that can still be of use. We are all crying out for width/wide players/attacking midfielders/wingers/forwards/goal threat from the flanks/whatever the hell you want to call them - and Yossi does it, he fulfils all those roles. Yes he might not start too many league games but I love that we have his sort of quality on the bench. He's not as fashionable as some but he's easily capable of unlocking the best defences Chelsea and Man U can put on the pitch. I worry that if we trim too far to get Barry, we'll suffer when we need the players we've sold. If you look at what most people here are saying in terms of what the squad needs. it seems to be cover for Babel and someone else at right-back if Finnan and Bob both end up going. Let's not create more vacancies on the right eh?

Top of the Kop, today, 1.12am: "I just hope fans like Xabi D etc wont big him up too much and put the lad under too much pressure." 1.37am: Hehehe.

"We should play Gerrard wherever's best for us. I happen to think if we play our current system he's best for us in his current role. If we're playing 442 i think he's best on the right." - PaulMcC Correct.

Yes, you're right. Gerrard used to get up and down the pitch when we played him in the centre but that was because he played in a different team with different strengths provided by different personnel and run by a different manager. Rafa has found a system - and has provided (most of) the players to play in it - which unleashes Gerrard as probably the best all round attacking midfielder in Europe. The seasons that we have stripped the captain of all defensive responsibilities (including when we've played him on the right of a four) he has has been at the heart of many if not most of our goals. Just because Arsenal or Barca or whoever would probably play him in the centre doesn't mean we should. If it's true it would be because it would fit their system to play him there and because he would perform there better than anyone else in that squad - maybe they have all the attackers they need and instead require a driving force in the centre circle. But we don't. We have Mascherano and are looking at having a number of decent options to sit there and do that job alongside him. Meanwhile, we have a fucking monster of a partnership up front between Gerrard and Torres which scared the life out of most defences in Europe and the PL last year. Even if Villa came I wouldn't give Gerrard any reason to worry about staying in position and defending. I'd want all three up there with either of Villa or Stevie wide, feeding Torres and picking up his lay offs. Like someone said earlier, you don't use a nuclear weapon to guard a gate.