cotter
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Everything posted by cotter
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no he preferred to spunk the oligarch's roubles on jarosik, ferreira, kezman, hilario, wright-phillips, sidwell, boulahrouz, del horno and tiago. the best football came in his first season with ranieri's players plus drogba and carvalho. most of that side had already finished 2nd in the premiership and reached a champions' league semi final. hardly comparable with what rafa faced, big club or not. he "likes the risk". ha ha ha ha ha ha. in chelsea and inter he took over the two surest things in european football. anyone can look 'special' with a multi-billionaire at their back. for the money he was spending abramovich probably reckoned he could expect to see much better than the turd mourniho was serving up. and i reckon he's probably right.
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curbishley and strachan were on the shortlist when houllier left.
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[YOUTUBE]UT0CASRagsM[/YOUTUBE]
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garforth town
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not a bad consolation. let's give rafa more control of the rest of the club.
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thought it was more of a defensive debacle than a downright shocking performance. thought we played ok for the first 20 minutes, and then again in patches in the second half, but were continually undermined by atrocious mistakes at the back. for me babel came out of the game with credit. he didn't always make the right decision, but he was isolated a lot of the time, and continually surrounded by 2 or 3 defenders. he showed more spirit and character than any of the others, bar alonso when he came on. thought el zahr did well when he was shifted in behind the striker. and that lucas was ok.
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i think much of that is true. it is worth remembering arsenal got thrashed there last season, so i can accept a defeat, but the lack of fight and character was disappointing. it's also right to say that we're now in much more of a position to write-off a bad performance in the league cup. the focus is, as it should be, on the bigger prizes. while the manager and his players need to take responsibility for last night's shambles there is a world of difference between where we were then and where we are now.
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thought the moment when he got it in a bit of space on the edge of the area second half and hit a good shot with his weaker foot was the one decent moment he had. still think it's a little early to tell, but he's clearly struggling with the pace and physical side of it so far.
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they look like they have a better squad on the basis of one game. i think the season as a whole will be a better gauge. plessis, lucas, ngog, hyypia and el zahr are much further down the pecking order than anyone they played last night. the real concern is the lack of strength at full back. and it was basically a shambolic defensive display, from dossena and degen in particular, that cost us that game. it's difficult for experienced players, never mind kids, to show much without a solid defensive base.
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there are obviously issues with the set-up. but ultimately if the kids are good enough they'll get their chance. it wasn't so long ago that welsh and partridge were deemed to be the next big things. when was the last time one of these hyped youngsters actually made it? or we regretted letting one go? fowler, owen, mcmananaman, gerrard weren't the lucky ones, they were just the ones with massive talent. i rather have too many players than too few. at least then it's a competetive system opposed to one where the fans are pinning all their hopes on a local lad who isn't even good enough for the championship. none of these boys are hanging around in the reserves for years and years anymore, if they're not good enough they're moved on. if you get one or two of the current generation of 16-20 year olds coming through it'll make the money spent worthwhile, and many of them will be sold on for a profit anyway given how successful our youth teams have been in recent years.
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i think luck can plays it part in the odd game. what we're seeing now though are regular comebacks and defiance in the face of defeat. seems to me that's more to do with extra quality combined with greater belief than luck.
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hate the way the phrase 'bottler' is thrown about. calling murray (or even henman) for being a bottler is no better than that muppet on talksport accusing carra of the same thing. these are sportsmen near the top of their games, often having achieved it without half the talent of people who never got nearly as far as they have. dealing with and sometimes failing in the face of huge pressures is part of top level sport, but is an entirely different thing to bottling it. if murray was a bottler he wouldn't be in the us open semi-final leading 2-0 against the world number one, regardless of what happens from here on in.
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and robben, cech, ferreira, kezman and tiago mendes. just the £120 million worth of talent added to a team that finished 2nd in the league and got to a champions league semi then.
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whatever club you support expectations will generally be high at the beginning of a season. under rafa i think we have consolidated our position amongst the top 4 clubs in the country more than at any time in the last 10-15 years, maybe longer. i expect that to continue and am grateful for it. i still think we're a little way off the united/chelsea behemoths. a title challenge (whatever that really means) is possible, but i don't think we're yet in a position to expect it as a matter of course. even our best finishes during the time period i mentioned were rarely, if ever, proper 'challenges'. and no amount of 'we are liverpool' posturing changes that. at this point in our history it is about evolving into a really top side. that takes time. there will be no instant revolution without abramovich type levels of net spending.
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benitez has rarely complained about lack of money. his problem all along was knowing exactly what his budget was, which effected his ability to forward plan, and the speed with which deals were concluded/not concluded because of the various conflicting factions at board level/parry's dithering.
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so has barry fry.
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he doesn't watch football he just plugs himself into a matrix of stats every weekend.
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any comparison between an individual footballer and a manager as good/or not good enough to win the league is ludicrous. as is the obsession with players rather than teams, or the selective use of statistics and half-arsed facts. worse managers than benitez have won the league. and worse players than barry or kuyt or alonso for that matter. it's probably true that better players haven't won half as much too. the levels of desperation to prove a prospective liverpool player and existing liverpool manager with an incredible CV wrong is pretty pathetic. and people wonder why their continuously mocked on here.
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which makes him a different player to barry. perhaps rafa's less worried about dictating games, and more worried about winning them.
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i don't believe he restricts him. mascherano had no problems getting forward last season even though he's a 'defensive midfielder' and not particularly great in the final third. there are loads of examples of mascherano trying to take the game by the scruff of the neck in an attacking sense, getting forward, shooting at goal, looking for a killer pass.
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there's this assumption that xabi would be some kind of attacking tyro if it hadn't been for rafa benitez. perhaps the reason he's surplus to requirements is that he struggles with the pace of the game in the premiership and as a result can't get forward to the same effect as gerrard or even barry.
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beyond the fact that they're slightly different players, and have often been playing in different positions, these stats are meaningless since they were also playing in different teams with different qualities. the fact that barry is a former centre half would improve our defending at set pieces i'd imagine.
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fair enough. although i'd say the one thing barry has over of those two is a proven record in the english league, a clear desire to play for liverpool and an off and on the field chemistry with our best player and captain (something that i think has been understated). the way gerrard and torres linked up last season shows what an impact that kind of understanding between two good players can give a team. i rate silva, but i have slight concerns about him physically. i know nothing about his personality or desire to play in this country. modric too could be a good signing, but he's also a gamble. i think keane has been bought to do that role to a certain extent anyway. i think the alonso v. barry stuff is petty and completely missing the point.
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nothing like judging a player before he's even signed. wenger has a long-standing interest in barry. capello rates him. he's proved himself a consistent performer in the premiership, and to a high standard. he is also flexible. don't really understand why people are so keen to hold alonso's deficiencies against benitez. even at his best he's a controlling midfielder rather than one who makes and scores goals. is rafa holding back gerrard and torres or mascherano or carragher or any number of the player who've improved since he's been at the club? whether barry is a less talented player is a moot point. he's a different type of player. he carries the ball more than alonso, he crosses more, he's more inclined to give and go, he can fit into a role in a 433 or a 442 that alonso can't. a front six of barry, mascherano, gerrard, babel, torres and keane is so fluid you can fit them into almost all formations. the only role that remains the same is mascherano's, and in essence that is who alonso is competing with.
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haven't got a problem with alonso going, much as i like him. would have a problem with him going to arsenal, unless it's for really ridiculous money. you just don't sell good players to your rivals. i don't think barry is a direct replacement for alonso. i think alonso is now seen as a pure holding player and as such will be competing with mascherano for a place. whatever system he plays i think the manager wants more end product from whoever plays alongisde mascherano than alonso has managed over the last few seasons, and all the stats suggest barry will offer that.