TheFridge

It's mad, there is no excuse. Was saying the other day i'd sell him if we upgraded with a proven DM but to be honest even then he would still be very handy to have in the squad, although i doubt he'd be happy with that. Another thing i find mad is the opinion that Can should replace Lucas, there's just no logic to it, we're winning games playing well, keeping clean sheets yet lets go and change it? it would likely mean Lovren/Johnson back in too, fuck that! Can is doing well where he is, he might well be a better DM than Lucas one day but at this moment no way, Lucas is comfortably our best, he shouldn't be for reasons you give but the fact is he still is.

He's been making mugs of them all season but you wait until he has a bad game or makes a bad mistake, they will be flat out in 5th gear then because they really do need something (anything!) to justify these clueless ramblings we're seeing.

His decision making/judgement/anticipation whatever you want to call it is of a really poor standard, his shot stopping is the only part of his game that is at an acceptable standard. When do we ever see him sweeping up on the edge of the box or just outside it? not often, still can't forget that long through ball by Stoke at Anfield where any old goalkeeper should be coming out and collecting it with ease, instead he stayed on his line and let Diouf have a first time shot from 7 yards out on the angle, it was staggeringly bad goalkeeping, as were those through balls where he did come darting out against Ludogorets at home and City away, gifting them open goals. He was much improved yesterday but there was still a wild flap at a corner in there that was lucky not to cost us, he basically just guesses and gambles what to do half the time because he lacks instinct and is weak minded.

Phil Neville is the worst pundit out there, yes even worse than Garth Crooks.

Thought after their start if they are still there in the new year then it would be time to take them seriously, obviously they are a serious threat now, a lot will depend on how they go for the next month or so without the injured players, if Koeman gets them through it still picking up results then i reckon 2 of us, Arsenal and United are fucked. Another thing on Saints, their blip was against all the best teams apart from Burnley, it's not like they have had a bad run against the dross in this league, they seem to swat the shite aside without much trouble, could do with them losing some games to the Sunderlands and Stokes. In one way i don't care too much about the others at the moment, we should really be fucked already but have done well of late to still be in with a shout, we just need to keep pressing on and picking up those 3 points, screw what the rest of them do for the time being.

Thought he was world class today, as usual. A shoo-on for our player of the season, surely?

Feels like Spurs get a late winner every other week.

Starting to feel some optimism coming back for the first time in ages. We should be putting games away earlier but we're keeping clean sheets (hooray!) so it doesn't really matter in the end. That's exactly why we bought Lambert, loved the celebration and well pleased for him, think the whole team done well and even Mignolet was doing a good impression of a solid reliable goalkeeper, for the most part anyway.

This place seems allright... http://www.stopstream.com/

Haha, is that it? anyone can play that old trick of dragging up old posts to make (or try and make) someone look bad, even someone as schitzophrenic as you. That Gerrard comment was in the amnesty thread too, bad form really, though it's no surprise the idea of that thread is lost on you. How about actually answering the question anyway? or are you going to continue to try and get away from the actual point of this whole conversation?

You go and look if you must, i'm mostly fair and rational when judging our players unlike yourself, you will even find the odd post praising that waste of space Johnson for a good performance, i doubt you will find much regarding Lucas as i think he has done well and been one of the few postives for us this season. I'd sell him in the summer too as long as we upgraded for someone who is proven in that role. Can you answer the question why you think anyone who gives Lucas some credit for doing a good job is a lunatic who thinks he's world class and man of the match every week? That statement really does look like the thought of demented irrational mind, it's a prime example of hypocrisy too, doubt you see it though, when Lucasitus takes hold all sense and reason go out the window!

Haha!

And here is a prime example of that irrational bitterness, folks, didn't take long, never does when someone sticks up for him. Why is it when someone gives him some praise and recognition for playing well they are a raving lunatic who thinks he's world class? where does this drivel come from? and why does it produce these bizarre reactions? This recent opinion had me laughing out loud through its pure and utter madness... "Lucas's very limited role, lest we forget, is to protect the back line. Something he is incapable of doing effectively, so we play 3 CBs" Haha! I mean what the fuck? For whatever reasons Lucas sends some of you loopy, right into cloud cuckoo land. I've never thought he was close world class and have critcised and praised him like all players, i can't stand Johnson and Balotelli but if they play well i'd recognise, admit it and say fair play, sticking with reality when judging players is the best way, even ones you don't like, it's also ok to change your mind, there is nothing wrong with that, thats where some of you mess right up.

It's funny reading these curtain twitchers going full into drivel mode because Lucas has done well and played a big part in preventing our season from completely imploding. If we won 5-0 with him scoring all 5, making 20 out of 20 tackles and clearing 3 off the line he still wouldn't get any credit from some fans, actually they'd be even more bitter and irrational! strange old stuff really.

The performance he put in at Sunderland the other day was top notch, he seemed to always be there when we needed someone to be there. Him and Henderson have been doing the dirty work very well of late, we're forcing more mistakes and winning a lot more of those 2nd balls now, might not be pretty and might not seem that important to some but it really does make one a hell of a difference.

Huge blow for them, if those 2 stayed fit for the rest of the season i think they would have been nailed on to see out the 17 games and get top 4, still think they have a good chance with plenty of winnable games coming up. Other players get the headlines but Davis and Cork have both been important for them, underrated and often ignored the pair of them, Cork is injured too so that doesn't exactly help the situation in the middle of the pitch.

I really do miss Liverpool being able to defend well, especially those chess matches in Europe, as mentioned there is something very satisfying knowing you are mean and miserly at the back, i think a big part of it is knowing that you will nearly always give yourself a chance. Defending well is the key to success, it always has been, all of us should know this better than most, yes there are exceptions but that's exactly what they are, it isn't the norm.

That post is wronger than wrong, not one bit of it is fact, here is how you do facts... Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benitez won these trophies for Liverpool... 2 FA Cups 2 League Cups UEFA Cup European Cup 2 European Super Cups Under Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benitez Liverpool had some of their greatest ever victories, beating all the biggest name teams in Europe... Barcelona Real Madrid Inter Milan AC Milan Juventus Roma Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Porto Benfica These 2 managers gave a generation of Liverpool fans an experience they had never had, a taste of the glory days, a taste of the real Liverpool and what the club is ultimately all about.

Only 10 managers have ever won 3 or more European trophies, they are... Giovanni Trapattoni, 5, (1 CL, 3 EL, 1 CWC) Bob Paisley, 4, (3 CL, 1 EL) Nereo Rocco, 4, (2 CL, 2 CWC) Ferguson, 4, (2 CL, 2 CWC) Carlo Ancelotti, 3, (3 CL) Jose Mourinho, 3, (2 CL, 1 EL) Jose Villalonga, 3, (2 CL, 1 CWC) Rafael Benitez, 3, (1 CL, 2 EL) Johan Cruyff, 3, (1 CL, 2 CWC) Udo Lattek, 3, (1 CL, 1 EL, 1 CWC)

Last season was the first time Liverpool had conceded 50 or more goals in the league for 20 years and only the 3rd time in 50 years. Out of the 76 games played across the 2008 and 2009 League seasons Liverpool lost only 6 of them whilst scoring 144 goals and conceding 55. Of the last 11 full time Liverpool managers (Kenny x2) dating back to 1959 only 2 have never won a trophy for the club, Roy Hodgson and Brendan Rodgers.

Yeah, they have the balance and mixture of their team spot on, plenty of physicality in the right places, some skill, creativity and a bit of pace in attack, solid keeper, full backs that can get up and down but know how to defend first and foremost. Like you say they fully deserve to be where they are, behind the top 2 they've been the best of the rest.

I've seen no evidence of this yet, based on the 21 games they comfortably look good enough for a top 4 place, they have for the whole season, they had a blip but who doesn't? I was skeptical of them and whether they could keep it up after their start but it's the new year now and they look as strong now as they did back then, they are serious contenders, they've got most of the big teams out of the way too and bar one fuck up against Burnley away they have been swatting the cannon fodder aside, that's how Arsenal usually get their top 4 place, doesn't really matter too much how you do against the top teams as long as you consistently beat the shit. Koeman looks like the real deal too, looks and sounds like a man who knows exactly what he's doing, highly impressive from him this season, manager of the season with ease so far.

Agreed, he looks to have the tools to be a success here, ok maybe not goals yet but i'd bet they will come, i think he could end up being a monster of a player for us.

That's the thing though ain't it? we need better than 'pretty decent'.