WrongIslander

Well he just made himself look like an absolute cock. Eriksen 19, new kid on the block, Liverpool arn't good enough for him. Suarez 24, only man other than Cruyff, Bergkamp and Van Basten to score 100 goals for Ajax. Liverpool are a great club, where do I sign. Silly boy.

He's hard to like thesedays though when all it takes for him to reneg on his defence of Liverpool is someone to suggest he's wrong. Even on the occassion when he is right and continues to stick up for us his indepth retort tends to be "nah carm on". He ends up like that bloke on the fast show: "So Jamie, good game today by Liverpool, the zonal marking worked a treat." "Well yeah zonal marking, it's the future innit, ya know priceless." "Actually I thought the zonal marking was at fault for the first and second goals." "Yeah zonal marking, waste of space innit really." "But zonal marking has led to less goals from setpieces than man to man during Rafa's time at the club in comparison with the top 4." "That's right zonal marking, great really." "Ah but Liverpool have given away less corners so the ratio isn't fair." "Well that's it innit less corners, not fair, zonal marking, what's the point really it's rubbish."

The brazilians have had questions over Robinho's attitude from day one, that's why they love Neymar because although raw they feel his application is there to fulfil his talent, also they believe he's a more gifted player. I hope they're right just to see a player of that quality.

Well that's what I came here to say so thanks for saving me the trouble.

Sandro was immense today in a real midfield dogfight that included Flamini on the right wing and 94 year old Clarenece Seedorf on his own to run midfield and pick out any pass he wanted. ITV talked complete and utter shite, the man of the match was Dawson by a country mile.

It has to be said, even seeing Spurs win does my head in. I never want any English side to win in Europe other than Liverpool, I mean it's not natural is it? There are still three quality sides out there that are more than a match for any of English sides. Shaktar, Marseille and Barcelona. Barcelona could quite easily beat every side they meet in the competition just as they are favourites to do so, so I'm not all that worried yet. Obviously Spurs winning it is infintely preferable to either of the other cockney sides getting it and there's the added bonus of Wenger once again having to rely on his stupid comment that anyone can win the CL (anyone remember that comment), anyone but him that is...

I feel sorry for Pato, he seems to have been dragged along for the ride in this. He's a quality quality player who puts in effort and isn't scared even at 21 to try and win the game on his own. Spurs defended in numbers tonight and Robinho and Zaltan's lazy half assed play was only ever going to break them down through a moment of genius, the type they think they can pull off every game but that realistically don't come along all that often. Pato throughout the game showed movement off the ball, a touch, a willingness to run at players and came closest of any player to breaking deadlock, be it when he rounded Gomes of when he fired just wide. He's 21 years old and he's going to be an immense player in a few years at which time a few people are going to look more than a bit daft with comments like: "Pato is shite" Milan will go out, reload (they already have started to) and get a proper target man, more than likely Italian and get him to play alongside Pato. I reckon they could try for that lad at Lazio whose name escapes me at the moment. They'll look to buy a quality CB to play next to Silva who is aerially dominant and they will bring through players like Merkel, Strasser, Abate, Emanuelson, Pato, Antonini etc Milan do things the right way, they always have and I certainly wouldn't sleep on them coming back much stronger from this defeat by next season. What odds Seedorf gets at least a coaching role if not a shot at being manager?

Torres has a good record against Barca. Just sayin ...

What you just wrote, well it seems the more likely scenario from your posts. You don't approve mediocrity which is why you want to dilute any achievement Benitez made in Europe? You want to talk about drawing too many games and being too cautious in the league then I'm right there with you. You want to talk about his stubborn arrogance that holds him back from being truly great then again I'm all ears. I don't understand how you can go after a man that won a European Cup with pennies in comparisson to the man you are hailing and then site money as the main reason English clubs including Liverpool F.C. did well. If your point was Chelsea were so consistent because of the money spent and the fact Mourinho made them practically invincible at home then sound. Even United fans would have a case to argue about their achievements in Europe being based on some kind of financial superiority given what other clubs had spent and failed to achieve.

He's crap in the big games alright. Once again he proves what a complete and utter lazy shithouse he is when it comes to the crunch. Did Code bum him before I was here by any chance? He's exactly the kind of player I'd imagine he loves. Just read my earlier post: "Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the most complete forward in the world. That is until someone bothers to mark him, then he turns into a complete bag of shite and starts sulking, crying and moaning. You do have to question the mental state of someone who when asked in an airport if he is carrying anything illegal in his bag he replies "only a bomb". Dickhead." This is a thread that just keeps on giving and will continue to do so wherever he turns up at next thinking he's god.

Yeah but Arsenal are just as bad. Did I hear Spurs fans singing "if you know your history?"

Nice try but one tie where you are desperately hanging on against an injury ravaged ageing Milan side does not a genius make. If he should go on to win the trophy, continue to qualify for the trophy and get to the latter rounds then you'll have a point. Are you sure you're a Liverpool fan by the way? You seem desperate to undermine every player or manager we have or have ever had.

If we had an attack of Pato, Carroll and Suarez you'd rim them all. Pato's no N'gog though ...

Pato is anything but overrated. As for Milan, I'm surprised at their attacking line up, I would have thought that it would have been obvious that Spurs would look to have what they hold and attack only up the wings with the odd cross to Crouch. How desperately do Spurs need an all action dominant centre midfielder? Seedorf is slower than Crouch but simply by being able to use his brain he's able to outwit the whole Spurs midfield. If Milan let Spurs away from this, they're shite. I've got money on Milan and Valencia to win their ties and Pato to score first. The ominous figure of Gareth Bale is all I'm really worried about from Spurs side.

"Barcelona have done to Arsenal what Arsenal do to 99% of the teams in the premier league." Still on form as ever I see Jamie.

At the time I was a Rafa fan and I went to Istanbul. I remember being overjoyed at us landing a top coach although I'd put Mourinho forward as the coach I wanted before Rafa joined the argument, I think after Porto a lot of us had. Towards the end I come to resent Rafa for his overly cautious tactics in the league and his reluctance to let any area of the club run without him being involved. Overall? I remain a fan of Rafa Benitez despite some harsh words I had about him in the past and despite some of his less than acceptable (to me at least) antics when he lost the plot. So I guess that makes me "Rafa fan in Istanbul".

I'd love to see some of the clips of Rafa on Sky as I wasn't lucky enough to witness it first hand. I was however lucky enough to witness this and every other home game as well as Istanbul live: Even the classless rent boys and the squeaky bloke can't take away from the enjoyment I get from this video and I own that enjoyment to RAFA BENITEZ. I still literaly get goosebumps when that final whistle goes, I mean actual literaly not Sky Sports literaly or figuratively as it's also known.

Try as we might our squad was alway destined for great things so it was impossible to hold on to the key players we'd splashed out on previously. Carson - Sheff Wed/Charlton/Villa/WBA Traore - Charlton/Portsmouth Biscan - Panathinaikos/Dinamo Zagreb Kewell - Galatasary Nunez - somewhere in spain (can't remember where)/ Nunez, Nunez & Fink/Somewhere past the end of the map Le Talent - Le Havre/host of loan clubs/Le Mans/Auxerre Pongolle - Blackburn/Recre/Atleti/Sporting/Zaragoza Cisse - Marseille/Sunderland/Panathinaikos Baros - Villa/Lyon/Galatasary Sometimes untold riches just isn't enough to hang on to the best.

If you ignore the fact that his most tactically astute performances came in games where every team we played had a more expensive squad than us and the kind of proven world class players we could only dream of buying at that time, well then you'd have a point. Dudek/Buffon/Cech/Dida Riise/Zambrota/Gallas/Maldini Hyypia/Thuram/Terry/Nesta Carragher/Cannavaro/Carvalho/Stam Finnan/Zebina/Ferreira/Cafu Kewell/Nedved/Duff/Seedorf Alonso or Hamann/Emerson/Makelele/Gattuso Gerrard/Blasi/Lampard/Pirlo Garcia/Camoranesi/Robben/Kaka Cisse/Ibrahimovic/Gudjohnsen/Shevchenko Baros/Del Piero/Drogba/Crespo. That's before you get to our "bench" or "squad" players that excelled under Rafa in Europe like Traore, Biscan, Le Tallec, Pongolle and even Nunez. He made sure they all had a part to play as a great coach always will. If you look at those four teams above and you being unbias, does Liverpool factor into the final in any way shape or form from your statistical view? Rafa went above and beyond. We were expected to make it out of our group and we underperfomed nearly not doing so, from that moment on, the man was untouchable regardless of the squad he had at his disposal.

Indeed it was. They all look alike to me .... *hides*

Moscow v Porto is the tie of the round for me, if Porto get by them then I make them favourites to meet us or City in the final.

Agree with all of that other than one thing. I think one day Rafa will realise (if he hasn't already) the error of his ways in trying to do too much. I think partly the fact he looked for total control at Liverpool was the incompetence he saw around him. If Rafa had not looked for total control our youth system would not be nearly as good, so that's another thing we have to thank him for in hindsight. If/when Liverpool are settled and we have proven that we have the right men in the right jobs I believe the job should be offered once again to Rafa under the condition that he just does HIS job. If he accepts those terms then I truly believe that he will win the title that evaded him when he was here because once again with hindsight, it's easy to see we had one of the best managers in Europe and if you take away his obvious flaw then he could have been the best.

You want to know why we were so feared in Europe (and we were) because we had the savviest European manager around (and I couldn't stand what he served up in the prem so this is in no way bias) and any team coming back to Anfield knew that no matter what they had, we could take if from them. Olympiakos may not have been the greatest side in Europe but they gave us the task of scoring three goals to get through, a task we against the odds completed. We battered the overrated Bayer Leverkusen, Berbatov and all. We beat Juve the only way it was really possible for us to because like everyone else we faced from that moment on they were ten times the side we were. Garcia's magic and then one of the most disciplined italian-esque performances in Europe you'll ever see. Chelsea were already planning for Istanbul, their fans had bought the tickets and Mourinho was telling his side how much better they were than Liverpool. He was right of course, they were ten times the side we were but he'd forgotten two things. Our history - people say we overrate this but that's because they don't get it. It was our history that inspired us every one of us that went to that game that night, it was our history that allowed us to dream because it certainly wasn't the present! We used our belief from nights gone by that we'd either witnessed or heard about to inspire our players and it worked, they all gave more than they ever have or probably ever will again. Rafa Benitez - Rafa love him or hate him knew exactly how to get the best out of his side over two legs and was a master at shutting down or at least making the opposition less effective. Once we had what we needed we held it. "We shall not be moved" was the cry and it was apt as we were not no matter how many times Chelsea pressed forward. The final? Well Milan also underestimated us and the effect that we as supporters can have on our players. They met with the same outcome as the rent boys. Benitez then got a better squad to work with and we were less defensive other than against Barca. We played a better brand of football and we more than matched Chelsea over two legs and our victory this time wasn't built on none shall pass, it was more, we're every bit as good as you even if we arn't as consistent. That's right code, Chelsea were indeed consistent and that's why they did so much better in the league, but over two legs when it was all on the line when we peaked in Europe (despite sadly not being able to take that final step in a game we should have won) they couldn't beat us. They dealt with us on the way down and while we put up a fight, we simply weren't good enough over the two legs and they were at that time the better side in Europe and in the League. You have to hold your hands up to that fact. Do you really think that Chelsea, the players, the fans, the owner wouldn't swop their consistency in Europe for just ONE European Cup? Of course they would. They have been more consistent in Europe, that doesn't make them better and Rafa certainly didn't take a back seat to anyone in Europe.

I might be wrong but I sensed a bit of sarcasm in his post.

This from the man who used Mourinho's semi finals as a stick to beat Rafa with. When it comes to Lucas or the European Cup, you're priceless. Some perspective would indeed be nice I'd say. In 2005 Rafa Benitez won a European Cup with 2 players he bought, Hamann, Dudek, Gerrard, Carragher and a some also rans. Chelsea's European record on its own is quite impressive, it's consistent right up to the point where it matters most and each manager they have had has had a more complete squad to work with than Rafa ever did in 2005 or 2007. "Rafa's record in Europe is decent" 2 final appearances and one European Cup is "decent" is it? Behave.