GRADY

Thought they were both poor and were dominated by the spurs centre mids. Agree that our wide players were also poor and didnt help in giving options. Anyway, losing at spurs isnt going to cost us the league. As united showed last season losing a few is ok as long as you dont draw as many as we did against lesser teams. Lets hope we improve in that area. I think we'll beat stoke by a few goals

el hadge fuckin diouf and salif diao might have something to say about that.

He must think buying aqualini even with him being out for a couple of months is a better bet than the alternatives who were available in the market. He must also think lucas can cover. Id like to see spearing given a game on wed against stoke.

No big fan of babel but it does amuse me that people are saying he is shit and the majority of them same people are saying lucas did fine??????? what the fuck is that about. I would guess Lucas has started more games than babel over the last 12 months and he too has done fuck all. In my opinion Babel has ability although its clear that for whatever reason his liverpool career is going backwards. As for Lucas I hae never felt he was anywhere good enough to play for Liverpool. He may prove me wrong and Il be happy if he does as we clearly need him too but Il be very surprised. By the way its obviously not lucas's fault we lost today and Im not saying that. A very poor team performance with reina, johnson and benayoun being the only ones who did well. Im sure we will fuckin kill stoke on wed and It cant come quick enough.

awful performance. only positives the contribution of johnson and benayoun did well when he came on. so fuckin pissed off. been looking forward to this game for ages and then thats how we play.

Really hope gerrard is playing. Needs the likes of riera and babel (when given a chance) to kick on this season to assist the likes of gerrard in breaking teams down. Id say the same about lucas but I dont think he is good enough. Hopefully he will prove me wrong over time but cannot see it

I was chattin to a juventus fan about him the other day askin what he thought. He reckons hes very similar to alonso. Great awareness and touch, good passing good at dictating the play and reading the game. Said he isnt very quick but that he has a good shot on him and he reckons hes capable of scoring more goals than alonso. He reckons he will be a good signing for us but thi lad does have a bit of an italian bias although he seems to know his football.

I think Richards is a good player who could be a great player. Its typical of this county that as soon as you fall out of the limelight everybody starts saying hes no good. Until last season Richards was fantastic, all the top clubs were rumoured to be after him and he was playing for england. He and Glen johnson seem to have done a complete switch. But in my opinion they are both good players and I think it wont be long before richards regains his form and the likes of united arsenal etc are sniffing around himagain. As for arbeloa Im aware his contract expires at the end of the season but I cant help thinking Madrid have done us again. 3.5 million buys fuck all in the current market. We probably payed similar on that kid who hasnt played a competitive game for paris. nevermind eh, if he doesnt want to play for us there is no point keeping him. Lets just hope this money we are gettnig can be pooled together to but this top wide/forward player we still need

Madrid just think they can turn up and take our players when it suits. Mcmanaman on a free, owen for fucking 8million and giving us that bag of bollocks otherwise known as Antonio nunez. At least you get the impression here that if Alonso goes they are gonna be paying top dollar for him. I think them fuckers need to remind themselves who they are dealing with. Wasnt too long ago they were leaving anfield with their tales between their legs after a good fuckin hidin an now they think we have to sell players to them like we are some lower division side.

Taken from the guillem ballague site - lets hope this doesnt happen eh 19/07/2009 United Prepared to Swoop for Frustrated Villa David Villa`s dream of signing for either Real Madrid or Barcelona appears to be slipping away from him. Madrid`s pursuit of the Valencia forward effectively came to an end with the signing of Karim Benzema, while Barcelona are edging closer to sealing a deal with Inter Milan for Ibrahimovic in a deal that could see Samuel Eto`o move in the opposite direction, if the Cameroon striker agrees to the switch. Villa had come close to obtaining his dream move to one of Spain`s big two clubs, but despite the best efforts of the player and his suitors, a move has thus far failed to materialise. Real Madrid had been very close to an agreement, after offering €43 million plus Negredo to Valencia but, after it had appeared they were prepared to sell the player for a similar fee, but ongoing institutional crisis at the Mestalla never fails to surprise - and the new board in charge of the debt laden club turned down the offer. On Friday, Barcelona felt they were close to agreeing a deal with Valencia, but their €45 million verbal offer was subsequently rejected. Villa had even offered to reduce his personal terms in order to give Barcelona greater bargaining power, but that was still not enough to persuade Valencia to release the player. Consequently Joan Laporta decided to follow up on a conversation he had first held 2 weeks previously with Inter`s Massimo Moratti, and the Barcelona president travelled to Milan on Friday to seal an agreement with the Italian club for Ibrahimovic. Alexander Hleb, a target for Everton, could also be included in the package on a loan agreement. David Villa was unaware of Barcelona`s agreement with Ibrahimovic - as were the Spanish international`s representatives - and his discovery, on Saturday morning, that Barcelona had effectively abandoned their pursuit of him has left him distraught. Manchester United have been following the situation very closely and they have told Villa`s representatives that, in the next day or so, they will make an offer that they feel will be well received by both Valencia and the player. In order to satisfy Valencia, that would mean United are prepared to offer the Spanish club around €45 million, plus a salary package in the region of €8 million a year to the player. David Villa has always insisted that he would like to remain in Spain and that he does not want to move abroad, that is, until now. However, for the second consecutive season, the player has seen his dream to move to one of the two top Spanish teams end in frustration, and it is plausible that his increasing frustration at his current situation could prompt him to abandon Spain and drive him toward the Premier League and into the hands of Manchester United. Villa`s representatives have been told that Sir Alex Ferguson`s comments that United have ended their summer spending is nothing more than an attempt to avoid becoming distracted by a summer of speculation and is a strategy for dealing with an increasingly volatile transfer market - and that if the United manager is presented with an opportunity to sign a player of David Villa`s calibre, then he has both the resources and the desire to do so.

I think if we were going to buy an english alternative to Silva, Young would be the best bet. But to be fair cant really see it happening. Downing released comments the other day saying he was told by o'neil that Young was staying and after the barry debacle last year you can only guess at how much they would want for young. If they paid £10-11 million for him from watford my guess would be we would be smashing our transfer record spent on torres to get him which doesnt quite seem right. But for those who say hes shit im not too sure about that though. Last year in the prem league he assisted 9 goals - the highest in the league was van persie with 11 assists. Gerrard was our top with 10. In the 2007 - 08 season he assisted 17 goals second only to fabregas on 18.

Being honest im quite surprised theres not been more speculation in the papers on who would be alonso's replacement

just been a piece in the echo about masch. nothing new really just saying benitez is not going to sell him

Cause they are a threat with that money. We are still stronger than them but they have a good side now. Agree with a few peoples points that if and when (more likely) they get a manager with a top reputation they will find it easier to attract the very best players and will be even more dangerous. But with big names come big egos and it will be interesting to see how asy Hughes finds it to control one or two of them

You shouldnt be allowed to buy foreign players till they turn 18 giving our own kids at least the chance to get to 18 developing an if they are not good enough then ok. Clubs are losing identity. An while I dont blame Benitez as its all about winning and to do that you need the best players wherever they may be I cant believe this area isnt producing fantastic young kids who are being stifled by foreigners

I think people have short memories. We had a fantastic end to the season but the time around january and even before when we were drawing all them home games against sides who sat back was concerning. I accept torres and gerrard were not always fit together but isnt that the point - we need someone to complement them. Im happy with the johnson signing but if someone would have said to me a month ago will you be happy if you just sign a right back id have said no. Still need a top creative player in my opinion. The main positives to take out the situation being for me we are keeping continuity and hopefully therefore morale (may be affected by our centre mids movements) and Ronaldo has fucked off!! which I think is possibly as good news as we could have had. Do have to remember as someone mentioned though that chelsea will start the season with joe cole and essien back (2 key players)

No mate - I take your point. Its not going to be easy to replace somebody like alonso an like you say it appears a lot more complex buying a top player now than in times gone by. I would rather alonso stay and maybe its me being naive but I suppose I just think no matter who you are LFC dont wanna be keeping players against their will. I personally dont watch enough foreign football to draw a list of possible replacements but I would have thought Rafa has probably expected this for the last 12 months and maybe Barry was his number 1 target but if Rafa is nothing else he is thorough. I would have thought he will have 2/3 names of players who he thinks can replace Alonso. It does seem a massive shame considering the season he has just had but tempting as the alternative is I dont see keeping Alonso against his will as bein the Liverpool way.

Who said anything about the last 10 years - I never said that. Its rare for a top club like Liverpool to lose their better players but when owen left us he was just as important to us as alonso is now I would have thought. We won the champions league the following year. Listen I accept Alonso is one of our better players but in my opinion Liverpool FC dont keep players who dont wanna play for the club.

I agree mate. Feel thats the difference between us an united. Gerrard requested a move and although he was our best player we said ok and accepted chelseas bid. HE HIMSELF changed his mind and decided to stay. United kept Ronaldo against his wishes last year and for me that shows no class. They're admitting he was bigger than the club. As far as im concerned we only want people who want to play for this club playing for this club no matter who the fuck you are. We've replaced better players than alonso

I agree mate but there is this issue of madrid continually trying to have us off in the transfer market which i do not think Rafa is going to allow considering alonso has 3 years left on his contract. I expect him to go for somewhere between £25-30 million. If madrid spent the reported money on benzema then they can pay the above on alonso.

Some of the papers are saying the cheeky twats madrd have actually lowered their bid now. They really do fuck me off as it would not surprise me, if they think that alonso has demanded to leave. They have done nothing but have us off in the transfer market. took mcmanaman on a free took owen for 8 million when he was one of the best strikers in the business then demanded 16-18 million for owen from us the year after!!!!! The cheeky twats. I suppose the key to this should alonso go is having any deal in place for his replacement because as soon as we receive 25-30 million (which i guess it will be) every fuckin club will be demanding the lot for whoever we want. Could be a crazy summer. ronaldo leaving united, alonso leaving us. Apparently city are in talks for adebayor and terry may fuck chelsea off! odds on that 6 months ago

to be fair though, on a free transfer why have we not taken him when we have voranin and ngog as back up for torres at present? Surely the positives outweigh the negatives

Have to say I was always one of them who spoke highly of owen having seen him playin in the youth team and watched him coming into our team an making the grade. When he went to spain could kinda accept it. Felt he should ahve give Benitez a chance though When he got 'had off' by madrid an went to newcastle I was pissed of as I thought he should have stood his ground and said he would only go to liverpool forcing them to accept the lower bid. But even after that I ahd fond memories of him as a player for us But now I have to say I have lost respect for the little twat. Fair enough United were the best team after him but is reputation with liverpool fans (which I accept was low with a lot) will have hit an all time low and I expect him to get a big fuckin booing when he turns up next year. I do have to say though I cannot understand why he has not been takin on a free. I prefer him to voranin an ngog and I just hope he doesnt prove to be another tevez type player and score important goals for them

You would have to say if we could sign a top quality matchwinner and keep our centre mids as the situation is looking at present you would be made up. United losing their top player, chelsea failing to sign kaka and hopefully villa it could well be a very positive summer. Long time to go I accept and it wouldnt surprise me one bit if united get either ribery or silva but even so neither can do what Ronaldo did on a consistent basis

I think thats key. Pleased to see Johnson has signed as I think hes a good player and its clear Rafa wants him and he appears his first choice. But we need to remember that if asked during the season the majority of people would say we need a top wide player or someone who like gerrard and torres can be the difference in the tight games. Pleased about Johnson though - bit of positivity too which we all need after reading all the stuff about the club being skint and the saga regarding the ownership. Wonder what gerrard thinks of the signing as obviously he will have trained with johnson with england