darnells

A sane post!!! couldn't agree more. We were the better team in the second half, i cant remember ever seeing us play such a good passing game going forward. dEGEN did well and Voronin got better in the second half. I thought our midfield did well, they were playing against 3 players so how people can criticise them its beyond me. I thought Kuyt was poor though, he just lacks technical ability and it costs us in many offensive positions.

Quite surprised about the views in here, i thought we were unlucky in the second we were the better team and had good chances. To be fair to Voronin he improved as the game went on, Degen did well in supporting the attack, NGOG was impressive, Plessis was solid, Spearing did well. People should be happy i thought we were unlucky not to score in the second half. I was impressed with the team, Skrtel is still not good enough for me. The greek did alright.

I suggest you go back and watch videos of him, he certainly had a decent turn of pace. Insua is not good enough, he is constantly caught out positionally and lacks pace. He was shocking against Fiorentina and appaling against Lyon, in the latter game he was exposed too often. Liverpool simply cannot have rookies like Insua and Lucas starting for them. Rafa's faith in these two looks more unfathomable as weeks pass. Simply not good enough, Riise, Warnock and Aurelio are better players than Insua.

Lucas isn't to blame for the defeat but that doesn't change the fact that he offers nothing and goes missing against decent opposition.

No fucking quality - rafa will be gone soon. Too many poor players respresenting Liverpool. Lucas, Insua, Skrtel and Voronin are symptomatic of players who simply aren't up to it. We lost to a side who had technical ability and not just work rate, Rafa has never bought players with technical ability - players like Kuyt are just no up to it, runs all day but is woefully lacking in any quality.

insua is total muck!

WTF DOES LUCAS DO!!

Insua is not good enough, he has caused us so many issues. Lucas again has contributed nothing. Kuyt has a lot of endeavour but no quality. I really hope Rafa realises that he has to buy offensive players. Overall though a great effort considering the lack of quality. Liverpool fc should never again be in this predicament!

all i will say is that if Babel was at Arsenal, we would be going on about how good a player he is. Rafa cannot nurture talent!

Thats not true, for a third of that season we played two up top and rafa still preferred Kuyt who was going through an awful period, even when Crouch scored he was dropped. We reverted to one up top only after that - fair enough Crouch didn't start, but doesn't justify him getting left out of squads. Rafa has his favourites, look at the treatment a worldclass player like Alonso got compared to what the crap Lucas gets. You don't alienate your best players - alonso left because he was treated like turd by Rafa - for the sake of Barry - who he didn't even get!

My point is Crouch wanted out because Rafa didn't manage him well, in that last season he was treated like crap, left out of squads etc. I think back to the champ league final where as soon as he came on we scored, shame it was in the 80th min - If redknapp can keep him happy as 3rd choice how can rafa not. The point about Keane was we all questioned the point in buying him when he was never going to start - 20 mill for a sub. Was Rafa ever going to leave his rigid one up top - the answer was no and he was never going to drop Gerrard. Why didn't he buy Asharvin, a player we were crying out for? Too much money has been wasted on mediocrity and this season his team selection beggars belief! the owner situation will no longer be his saving grace!

Great Post! Rafa has cocked up, the owner situation has been overlooking the fact that his management, in particular - his purchases and man-management have been shocking! Crouch is seemingly happy as 3rd choice - the mind boggles, Bellamy looks like 15 million pound player and Alonso was being offered out for 12 million and Barry was wanted for 18mill and Keane purchased for 20 million with Dossena at 7 million - all this equates to a manager i certainly wouldn't trust in the market.

make some fuing subs!!! why is the manager so robotic!

3 centre backs and we still concede, Lucas and Spearing starting in central midfield for Liverpool - joke!

We are just so poor. No top 4 Rafa has to go!

Ridiculous... people have lives outside football, may be you believe footballers shouldn't do anything else. Obviously you haven't been on the inside of a football club, believe me many players document what goes on behind the scenes and put it on their blogs/personal sites. As for his performances, this season he has been doing a better, but then he has only started 2 games - so quit bitching and get behind him!

Some of the stuff in here is embarrassing, yeah - some dont rate him but abusing him because of a Twitter account - God give me strength. Footballers are just like everyone else and in Ryan's case, he is 23 years old. The fact that he has a reasonable amount of followers justifies why he has one. If you don't approve of it - don't read it. But there obviously a few who look for any excuse to take pot shots at a liverpool player - very sad!

Fair Play fella!

Its not about Steven Gerrard, its about the team, hence the fact Rafa played him right mid for a season. How would it stifle his game? Isn't his game arguably being stifled now because no one in the midfield is capable of getting him the ball. The only question that needs to be asked is would Liverpool be stronger with Gerrard there and i think the answer is obvious. You're missing the point about Johnson, there is no doubt he has quality but the most pressing concern was not stregthening the full back position to the tune of 17-18 million when the team was struggling elsewhere. We didn't fight to keep arbeloa we didn't even open up contract negotiations with someone approaching the last year of his contract - which shows rafa wanted to sell. N'gog is a rookie and Voronin is crap, our squad of strikers is one of the poorest in the top half of the league. These players come off the bench and produce little to nothing. We couldn even flog Voronin who scored a few in Germany. My point is Lucas shouldn't be filling in because he does the same job as Masch, whether he is improving or not he is a poor mans alonso and a poor mans mascherano. He adds nothing offensively, its not his fault he is limited, its Rafa's fault for persisting with him - completely mediocre. I take your point on the owners, but that still cant escape the fact that Rafa has assembled a completely unbalanced squad, the problems now have been for all to see. Many people proclaimed that Masch and Lucas couldn't play together last season but Rafa went into this season believing it would work - it hasn't. Yes, we stifled chelsea but we only looked like scoring when guess who came off! Babel actually offered a threat to Cole and Yossi actually looked to unlock the opposing defence! Rafa selection this season has been abysmal, Fiorentina - need i say more!

Fletcher is a good player and anderson has shown moments e.g his first season - lucas hasn't.

It's Rafa fault for playing a player ill equipped to play for Liverpool, he offers nothing. I dont blame Lucas, he would be good for like Wigan but Liverpool need better. As fergie did with Kleberson and Djemba Djemba, you ship them out if they arent up to scratch instead of this personal crusade, which only shows his stubborness!

Have to agree! his aloofness to players like Alonso contradict his continued support of a player like Lucas. Imagine Alonso receiving the same backing when he was in poor form - he wouldn't have left. Look at Crouch at Spurs, he isn't first choice there either, look at Bellamy at City. Our squad has got worse and that's down to his inability to manage his players.

1) Rafa could play Gerrard alongside Monster - the predicament he is in is down to himself - no one bought Lucas for him and no one forces him to play. He replicates what Masch does, he also bought a player he knew was going to be injured - so may be you need to analyse all that. 2)Arbeloa was sold, we didn't have to sell him. I like Johnson but if you have limited funds, i dont think you can justify spending 17 million on a fullback. Again we didn't have to sell Arbeloa - rafa choose to. 3)In his tenure at the club, how many strikers have we had, the fact that we ended up with only one forward has to go down to the man who assembled the squad. I dont like the Yanks but its ludicrous to suggest that the squad is unbalanced because of them. Rafa bought the players and assembled the squad - pure and simple. He has to carry a lot of the flak, Lucas has never been good enough and even though he hasn't been the worst, his best offers the team little to nothing. Everyone can see it but Rafa persists with playing him and when you have Kuyt on the right and Riera offering nothing on the left - you cant expect us to create anything. Kuyt cannot beat a man, Riera is in woeful form, Monster and Lucas offer 0 offensively. Torres and Gerrard cannot carry the team! Rafa has had ample time to sort this out. He went for Keane when he should have gone for Asharvin, he went for Morientes when he should have gone for Anelka. Yes, hindsight is a wonderful thing but these are the decisions he gets paid for.

Fact is that no one forces Rafa to persist with Lucas, everyone knows he adds nothing but Rafa is just being his stubborn self. The investment hasn't been huge but you have to spend what you have wisely, decisions such as buying a right back for 17 million when you need to strengthen various areas dont really make for a good squad balance. Going into the season with just Torres is a mockery. Rafa has built an unbalanced squad, so he has to be blamed for that, not hicks and gillet.

Generalisations? they're obvious points. Lucas is not rated by anyone who watches football, Rafa backs him but no one who has consistently watched him and can form an objective opinion believes this guy is good enough. But i forgot the press are always against liverpool so when they are raving about Masch, Gerrard and Torres we should write off those views as well. Beyond the press its patently obvious to most red fans, which is why he has been booed so much - not that i'll ever advocate for that. No one is asking for Skrtel to be world class - why do you keep on going on about that - whether he improves is irrelevant. On his current level, i don't think he makes the cut - and that's the point! As for Insua, he is not pacy - i wouldn't say slow but he is not that quick as you seem to imply, may be you should watch him chasing marchionni shadow and reconsider. I am simply reinforcing the point made that we have some very weak links, i am not advocating that we dont have better becuase for every player i have criticised i have suggested an alternative in the squad bar Lucas. As for Kuyt, he is solid, but too often you cannot rely on the fullback to provide penetration, especially when you have been defending ineptly. Kuyt too often performs poorly, the odd goal will only get you so far. The reliance on Gerrard comes from the fact that the flanks provide no creativity whatsoever. Mark Gerrard or block the supply to him and Liverpool are rendered ineffective. Play someone with the ability to beat the fullback right mid and this creates more issues for the opposing defence - that is my point. Kuyt has his use but i dont think he should be a regular starter. As for comparing players, how can you judge the quality of one if you dont compare him against your rivals - you wouldn't have a problem if i was saying Torres and Gerrard had no rival but when i say Lucas wouldn't make any other starting lineup you raise a contention. You have your opinion and i have mine, however, nothing i am saying is that radical - i want liverpool to improve but thats not going to happen until Rafa admits flaws in his selection. Aurelio central mid with Lucas! - that's my take