andyfm

Do you mean tactics or rotation or both? I've only just come back to the forum after a time away so I am playing catchup on all the longtermers current opinions.

1. What happened to Foster Gillette as the communication between UK and US still seems to be poor? 2. How have your American clubs performed in recent memory and why? 3. Do you make money from your American clubs or is it done as a social thing? 4. Do you expect to make money from LFC or are you doing it because scousers are really really cool? 5. What do you think of Cilla Black and Jimmy Tarbuck then? 6. Thanks for Torres. More please.

:wow: Even an injured Aurelio in the stands is better than a fully fit Traore on the pitch. Where is Djimbo now?

Hiring the firm of Torres, Babel and Benayoun in the summer would be the start of that particular phase of construction. Rafa just needs further planning permission. Whether or not he is retained as the main architect on the project is up to the American financiers.

Interesting question. I have no idea because watching Italian football is possibly the most boring experience on earth. So I voted for Torres.

You'd sell 3 players who have been here less than 6 months? And 3 of our 4 strikers plus our other striking option in Babel! :thumbup: And you'd replace them with balloon animals and bits of coloured paper. Probably. Because the number of top quality strikers available in the January window is historically very high. 8)

Well, to be fair, Hicks probably doesn't really care how Diana died, or who's shagging who on Big Brother 27, and has little to add to those essential debates.

Best of the lot is the Irishman, Tommy Smith, who does ESPN (they have the Champions League games). I have never heard a commentator be 100% wrong 100% of the time before. Legend has it he just turned up at the ESPN studios and they hired him because "he must know what he's talking about, he's from Europe".

Thank your stars you have not emigrated to the US and don't have to hear gobshite phrases like "seeing-eye shot" (shooting when the keeper's view is blocked) or "winning the pk" in order to watch your team when there is no original Sky or Setanta commentary from the UK. And when they do import a Brit or Irishman, they usually do just that. Pick anyone at random because we are all experts. I think internet forums should dispel that idea quite quickly. I, of course, would do an excellent job. However, shouting "you f*cking Manc bastard" at 7am on a Saturday morning would curtail my career quite quickly. Sad, but true.

Thanks. Actually when I look at what Rafa has managed to do to the first team squad in just 3 seasons, I am pretty amazed. Not to mention the amount of potential in the reserves and academy that seems to increase by the day. Whether anything comes of it remains to be seen, but it is the right thing to do, as it could finally save us some big bucks.

I voted for Carra purely because I cannot believe he only had one vote. How many times did he stop Pepe even having to make a save in a match over the last year? What happened to a team of Carraghers? None of the others would even get a game in that case. Plays virtually every match, with different players alongside him every week, and is a model of consistency. And before you say it, he hasn't had his greatest start to the season ever, but has still been brilliant. He even had to play alongside Riise on boxing day. No man has ever given more.

He's a young kid, some days he looks ace, some days he looks like he has borrowed Traore's legs and ball control. He is nowhere near the finished article. Give him a couple of years to get some consistency then we can judge him. He does look rather promising though.

Wow, you have the same list as me! Give it back :telloff:

So we lash out on a couple more top class players, which is what Rafa wants to do (hence the recent 20m players comments)? Rafa has had less money to work with and came into position with a weak first team and very weak squad. Plus one of his two star players, Owen, bailed out on him immediately before the start of the season. Here is the 2003/2004 squad, Houllier's last season. Goalkeepers Jerzy Dudek, Chris Kirkland, Patrice Luzi Defenders Carl Medjani, Stephane Henchoz, Jon Otsemobor, Steve Finnan, , Djimi Traore, Sami Hyypia, Salif Diao, Jamie Carragher, John Arne Riise Midfielders Dietmar Hamann, Danny Murphy, Bruno Cheyrou, Steven Gerrard, Igor Biscan, Vladimir Smicer, Harry Kewell, John Welsh Forwards Michael Owen, El Hadji Diouf, Anthony Le Tallec, Milan Baros, Florent Sinama Pongolle, Emile Heskey, Richie Partridge I have taken the liberty of emboldening the remaining players. That means the ones you mention as being still in the team are the absolute cream of that squad, which is why they remain and are in contention for first team places. The rest have been shipped out and replaced to find better first team and squad players. Thank Christ. Of course, Rafa has got some of his signings wrong, but that is the case with every manager. He has also generally shipped out the failures pretty quickly. Actually, I look at that squad and shiver with suppressed memories of shiteness. Compare the 2007/2008 squad. Goalkeepers Pepe Reina, Charles Itandje, David Martin Defenders Steve Finnan, Sami Hyypia, Daniel Agger, John Arne Riise, Fabio Aurelio, Alvaro Arbeloa, Jamie Carragher, Jack Hobbs Midfielders Harry Kewell, Steven Gerrard, Yossi Benayoun, Xabi Alonso, Jermaine Pennant, Javier Mascherano, Lucas Leiva, Mohamed Sissoko, Nabil El Zhar Forwards Fernando Torres, Andrey Voronin, Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel I think our options and first team players in every department of the team are a vast improvement. Plus we have loads of kids and young players who may or not make it into the squad over the next two or three years or so. Which is how Arsenal have suddenly managed to be superb again with minimal outlay. To take some of the comparisons with the squad Rafa inherited... Reina improvement on Dudek. Agger improvement on Henchoz. Arbeloa improvement on Otsembor Aurelio improvement on Traore Benayoun improvement on Murphy Alonso improvement on Cheyrou Pennant possible improvement on Smicer Mascherano replaces Hamann, which I thought impossible Leiva improvement on Biscan Torres improvement on Owen The rest of our strikers are an improvement on the rest of Ged's strikers, not matter what anyone says about them individually. They at least put 100% in and do not go off in a big girly sulk half the time. Plus he kept the very best of Ged's squad, except Owen who bailed. So looking at our current squad, Rafa will now, if he is allowed to, be adding quality. Of his summer signings, I think Torres and Benayoun are excellent, Babel is a prospect (needs to work on his Djimi leg syndrome) and Voronin is a squad filler to replace Fowler. What's to complain about? We may not be there yet, but we are far closer than we have been since we last won it. This squad would have won the league 10 years ago. The bar has been raised very high since then as a result of the manc and chelsea spending. Even Arsenal have struggled to keep up until the kids came through this year to support the likes of Fabregas. I am confident for the future. If we cannot add the big players, we will have to wait for some of the kids to make it. Like Arsenal did when building their stadium so they could be in a position to compete financially. Arsenal's advantage was that they had won it in living memory so were able to be patient.

Two reasons we struggled there. We still do not have enough good first touch/passers in the squad. Of the front 6, Babel, Voronin and Riise struggled to control and pass the ball accurately and positively most of the game. Coupled with the fact that most of the back 4 have the same problem, this meant we squandered possession time after time very cheaply. A passing game is only as strong as your worst passer. There was some competition for that title today. Secondly, the players effort was pathetic. They assumed they just had to turn up to beat Derby. Turned out to be true, but only because Gerrard and Alonso took over our play towards the end much further up the pitch, the two midfielders who on the day could keep possession and do something positive with it. Heck, we won. When we don't, Rafa gets the stick for it, but I'd put this down to the players. You can blame Rafa for the players he picked for the front 6, but they are still far better than they showed today, and easily should have had enough to win comfortably. Unfortunately some of them forgot you still have to do the business on the pitch. I've seen Liverpool sides do that before and it ain't tactics, it's just a bad day at the office due to poor focus by too many players. If anyone thinks Rafa is not the best bet we have as manager, then I would look at both the "first choice XI" and squad we have now, and compare it to the last ten years. I am much happier than at any time in recent history, and there are a lot of positives for the future. Some finetuning is still necessary, but a major overhaul is no longer necessary for the first time in many years. Of course, if we lose to City, I will change my mind and lead the charge. :D

Another potentially very good signing if it's true. We are looking particularly decisive this summer. It's rather nice.

I'd rather have fake Puskas than fake Zidane anyday! :thumbup:

So we've signed someone who has no competition to be the next Puskas. Fantastic!

Well, Kenny is past it and Billy Liddell and Albert Stubbins are still dead, so I guess it'll be another disappointing summer for me too.

I agree with you on the tactics, but I honestly think that comes from the fact that Rafa does not trust the attacking players he has at his disposal to turn around a deficit. We seem capable of attacking from the outset on occasion but collapse once we let a goal in. So I reckon Rafa shuts up shop in most games as a best fit solution. The statistics under both Houllier and Benitez support this. Funnily enough, Evans side could do comebacks big style, but had much more attacking flair, which is my point. However Roy's boys were never solid at the back. I guess the proof of Rafa's ability is how we manage when we do have the attacking players he wants. Can we then come back when we go a goal or 2 down, like our rivals? I hope so. A cutting edge and the belief that brings is all I reckon we lack.

Not just the determination though. We seem to have no belief that we can create something out of nothing when things are not going well. I only get that feeling from Gerrard and Garcia and neither impressed too much on that front last season. Going back to 1988 again, we had Barnes and Beardsley who could produce something from nothing and that knowledge raised the game of the rest of the players all the time. And made the opposition more nervous. That is all we are missing, along with someone who can hit the proverbial barn door like an Aldo. Rafa's outburst after the final makes me think that is what he reckons too. Of course, I have been known to be wrong frequently. 8)

I think a lot of people are getting caught up in the big money/name players. The only quotes I saw Rafa making about quick signings were in the 10m to 15m range, hardly big bucks by today's standards, the same as an Alonso, Macherano or Kuyt. Considering the players I reckon we have at the moment who are the nucleus of a very good side, Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Crouch and Kuyt all cost/will cost less than 15m. Add in a better left back (though not an urgent requirement), another centre back, a left and right wing and a "fear of god" striker (the effect Rush, Aldo, Fowler and Owen had on defenders). The striker is the only one I could see getting beyond that range if and only if Rafa thinks it is necessary to land the right player to partner with Crouch or Kuyt. Anyway, silly season is here. I am quite relaxed, absolute worst case is we'll have the same side as last year and a new coach. If Rafa gets pissed off and ends up at Madrid, I'll take Capello in a heartbeat. But I reckon the chance of not improving the squad and the gaffer leaving is quite unlikely to say the least.

I don't post much, but this is stupid. Let me give a slightly different perspective. I love Rafa and think he is the best manager for us at the moment. I also think he is a big fucking drama queen and was well unimpressed with his outburst right after the final, which kicked off all this fuss in the first place. He'd get carpetted for that sort of shit in any other business. Bascombe has a history of being used by LFC managers, so I am not going to take anything he says as gospel. And how dare he fuck off on holiday after contributing to this shitstorm! :whistle: The Yanks said cash was available to Rafa and was player specific. That is all I remember them saying. If once all is said and done this summer, we have not improved the squad with quality attacking players (just a striker or two and a winger or two remember, I reckon a left back and another centre back would be handy), then that is the time to say we were taken the piss out of. Of course, if we do sign some 'big names', all the naysayers will claim victory for having forced the issue. :P On to current affairs... Yossi is a decent player I reckon, very much in the Ray Houghton style. If we already had a John Barnes style player for the other wing then I reckon people would be less critical. Just because we ain't got a Digger yet doesn't mean we shouldn't snap up a bargain potential Razor if we get a chance. Course it's only a bid. Players who are up to scratch in our squad? There's loads of them. We have a keeper, 2 centre backs, a right back, 3 (!) central midfielders and a couple of second strikers that I reckon are good enough to put up a challenge. Most of whom are confident enough to sign new contracts. All this world class shit is bollocks, as probably at least 3 of the individual players in our fantastic 1988 midfield of Barnes, McMahon, Whelan and Houghton would only be described as world class by Liverpool fans. Similar with Souness, Kennedy, McDermott, Case. What we have now is a one dimensional midfield lacking balance (if it goes wide, nothing good comes of it) and no Rush/Aldridge/Fowler/Owen type to keep defenders honest and open up more space. Easy to sort, what's the panic?

In 2005, I remember the renewal coming through in the post when I got back from Istanbul on the Friday and I renewed on the Saturday at the ground while still buzzing me tits off.

Paid for mine on the credit card line last Thursday, arrived in the post Tuesday, so there are delays. Nerve wracking waiting to see if the post arrives each day though!