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I can see it now, Demento picking up Mascherano next summer after we have passed on our option!!! We're helpless as we do not have a word in the matter and demento has finally solved the last piece of the puzzle and found the midfield general to balance his team..... No way in hell should we let that happen :wallbutt: And a comment about the transfer fee mentioned above, I think it was 20 million Euros, approx. £ 13 million....

Hopefully he will, as our Captain is fantastic when on form, but this year he will be pushed all the way by Reina, Agger, Carra, Alonso, Mascherano and Torres... Hopefully Voromania and Crouchmania will run wild as well :thumbsup:

Not even Porto, that's why he's on sale for next to nothing :whistle:

It was meant as a wind up and a joke..... I would love it if we got him though.... With new owners who are commercially minded, and the press going on about Ronaldo being the worlds most marketable player, I am surprised they(perhaps they have not yet gained enough knowledge about the game and it's world wide marketing) have not pushed for Quaresma as he is one of those few players I think can compete with Ronaldo in terms of being marketable...... If he played for a club like Liverpool that is!! Gerrard and Torres are of course other such players... And before anyone starts to have a go at me for thinking commercially concerning signings, he is marketable because of his skills and those skills would be very usefull for us as we are (and have been for some time) lacking in that department....

Quaresma anyone:smile:

This is some funny shit...... "Lower" clubs have got investment but we are a BIG club, and we look like we will take the first thing that's offered. Jeeezzz Think!!The people of Liverpool, including the rs want EFC to stay in Liverpool for the better of the city." First of all, no you are not a big club, you are one of those small teams we should piss all over at Anfield. Second, I personnally don't know to many that want you to stay in the city, of to Kirby you go, I wish you luck:whistle: For some reason they seem to think they can fill a 50.000 capacity week in week out?? If you want to have some fun this place is full of great quotes to give you some good laughs: http://www.bluekipper.com/emails/emails259_stadium.htm#lol

At home against the shit teams of the PL we could play 3-5-2, with Mascherano,Alonso and Gerrard in the central midfield..... Nobody matches that central midfield :lol: And we also have Momo and Lucas as back-ups.... ohh-o-ohh-o we got the best midfield in the world.....

Class - pure and simple...

The biggest obstacle is the fact that the qualifiers come so early in the season ,before we have hit our stride.... This is really the only thing that concerns me.... It would probably be better to meet a team who are also in pre-season compared to a team who is in the middle of their league season - Rosenborg being one of those, even if they do stink at the moment...

Initial reaction to reading this post :wow: :$ :lol: Ignored.....

Thanks!!! :$

I has entered my mind, and could very well be true..... I hope so because I've felt him and babel have looked tired and heavy.... Fingers crossed for the two of them to find form as soon as competitive matches begin...

Yes, but I don't think you'll pay £ 20 million for a player if you're not going to play him, especially when the team is crying out for a goalscorer. What I meant with Voronin was that he is fighting for a place next to Torres, and instead of starting two players who are unfamiliar with the PL, he will choose Kuyt to partner Torres instead... Agree with you that the German league is probably more akin to the PL than the Spanish one.....

:biggrin: Imagine the fans reaction for the lack of goals then.... I can picture the headlines now; Sack Rafa!! And just for the record I agree that Crouch probably was our best striker last year and that he has a very good goals to minutes ratio, but the little he has played in pre-season he has seemed slow and of the pace to me... That's why I did not agree with the on current form statement... Actually based on pre-season I think Voronin deserves a place in the team, but I think Rafa favours Kuyt....

---------------Reina--------------- Finnan----Carra------Agger-----Riise Pennant---Sissoko----Alonso----Gerrard --------Torres--------Kuyt------------- Voronin Abeloa Kewell Hyppia Carson This is what I think Rafa will play, not necessarily what I would play. Reina is our number one in goal. Finnan, Carra and Agger are 3 sure bets at the back, and Riise will play right because he is better than Arbeloa, Aurelio is injured and Heinze will not have familirized himself yet if he arrives.(That goes for any other potentially late arrivals as well) Pennant is on form so he will play. It's an away game and we need someone doing the defensive duties, Sissoko put on an great display against Pompey and Mascherano have not trained with the squad yet. Alonso will play besides Sissoko and the surprise of the day will be Gerrard playing on the left with a licence to roam..(Stronger defensively than Kewell) On top he will start Torres with Kuyt, which he clearly favors over Crouch and Voronin is benched because he does not want people unfamiliar with the PL starting the first game as our forwards. On the bench: Carson - cover for Reina Hyppia - cover for carra and Agger Voronin - good pre-season but unfamiliar with the PL, cover for Kuyt and Torres Arbeloa - cover for Riise and Finnan Kewell - cover for Gerrard (indirectly also for Sissoko/Alonso/Pennant) Maybe he will include Benayoun rather than Kewell? Babel and Lucas needs more time....

On current form Crouch would not even make the reserve team - based on displays in pre-season....

I laughed, mostly because I visioned the scorn you will receive from some of the people on here :D

I fully expect Rafa to be the manager when we open the new stadium for the 2010/2011 season.... He is buying lot´s of youngsters and have signed the spine of the team on long term contracts, every indication is that he is here for the long term. And for anyone who claims he is under pressure if he is not successful(?), Fungusface have reached 1 CL final in his 20 years at Utd, Rafa has managed 2 finals in his first 3 years at Liverpool... I would say that is pretty much a definition of being successfull..... He will stay until we are the greatest team in the world, and seems to have the backing of the American owners to make it happen....

I also like this approach, however I do not think we currently have the wingers for this approach to win us the league... In a dream scenario, we would have a world class poacher, a world class playmaker and 2 world class wingers at the club, and if we´re greedy we could add a world class wing back for the right hand side, now that "would give us options for sure" to quote Rafa..... How to keep them all happy I do not know....

Might be true, but it was more down to Mourinho´s tinkering with the system, playing 4-5-1 (4-4-2 sometimes) instead of 4-3-3 last season, in order to accomodate Ballack and Lampard in the center together with a defensive midfielder... This season he will revert back to 4-3-3, using Essien to run his engine room in the middle, that´s why I think they will win the league this year __________________

Yes he is my uncle, we have loads of fun at family gatherings....

Agreed:biggrin:

If he chooses to utilize Torres as an out and out striker as you suggest I agree that it would be great to partner him with an "Aimar type" player... Personally I like the 2 strikers with a playmaker in the hole approach, but I do not think that will happen under Rafa: Dream scenario - Diego Ribas playing in the hole behind Torres and Villa/Milito:thumbup:

Under Rafa I think Torres will play the "hold the ball up" role with a licence to roam, that´s why I think the system could accomodate a poacher... Torres will do what was done by Kuyt and Crouch last year.....

Might be true, but it was more down to Mourinho´s tinkering with the system, playing 4-5-1 (4-4-2 sometimes) instead of 4-3-3 last season, in order to accomodate Ballack and Lampard in the center together with a defensive midfielder... This season he will revert back to 4-3-3, using Essien to run his engine room in the middle, that´s why I think they will win the league this year