I was also frustrated in the 2 games you mentioned, as well as the Wigan away game, when they let Wigan attack near the end.

But I have a slightly different take on the situation regarding the attacking play, as I think it’s more the confidence gained from thrashing both Madrid and Scum that led to the free flowing play. Proof? Just look at Fulham game. Like the Stoke game, lots of chances but no goals, but the lads just played and played and eventually we got one.

Success leads to confidence and confidence leads to success. I think we’ll play somewhat the same way, being tight at the back, but I’m sure our guys now have the confidence to press the opposition and crush them into submission. We’re already very, very hard to beat (just look at last 2 seasons), and I believe the draws will be less this time round, with players like Benayoun and Kuyt getting into rhythm.

YNWA

One interesting way to look at it is if we had been more adventurous in the 11 draws and won six of those games and lost five, we would have seven more points and won the title, all other things being equal. In fact, if we had only won five of those drawn and lost six, we might still have won the title if we had maintained our goal difference.

The FA introduced three points for a win to encourage taking a positive approach to every game versus the “win your home games, draw your away games” mentality of the ’70s and ’80s.

It would be interesting to do a comparison of the final tables from the two points for a win era and the final tables from the three points for a win era to see whether the standings would be any different using the differnet points systems. (Someone has probably done it.)

If you do the comparison for this season, the top four standings would still be the same but the points difference would be a lot closer:
2 pts 3 pts
win win
Man Utd 62 90
Liverpool 61 86
Chelsea 58 83
Aresenal 52 72

My point here is that I think Gerry is right. Rafa needs to go for it more often. We might lose a few more but we’d win a few more and actually have more points.

That said, there is a bigger debate to be had within this thread around resources, squad depth, money and ultimately, of course, the American clowns and their entourage that are mismanaging the club. Let’s not forget it was hard for him to set up incredibly aggressively when either one or both of Gerrard and Torres were out injured. To me, it just reinforces what a great manager he is.

YNWA

As always Gerry, another fine blog. This is my first reply to one of your blogs.
Whether Rafa keeps the shackles off for the start of the season, or not, one thing that will be different is the fact that the opposition, whoever we play, will be a hell of a lot more cautious against us in case we rip them to shreds. The fear of playing us that has been missing since the Dalglish/Rush days is now returning and this was in evidence since the 4-1 massacre at the Mancs. What could also go in our favour is the fact that we won’t be seeing wholesale changes to our first XI, if we do manage to add players, they will more than likely be squad players to add more depth and, where the rest of our rivals will be full of new faces trying to gel and figure out their best system, we’ll be hitting the ground running and, hopefully, carry on where we left off.
Here’s hoping the financial mess caused by Gillett & Hicks doesn’t force Rafa’s to sell one of the star players (i.e Alonso or Masch), a few sensible additions for cover and we’ll be there at the end of May.

YNWA

Very valid concern raised in this posting Gerry.

Yer very right to wonder if Boss man will revert to type next season.

Much will depend on who comes & goes during the transfer window.

Anyone know how much Juve offering fer Dossena?

ps: Anyone watch the South Korea v Saudi world cup qualifier – great stuff. Much better than the “match” between Eng & Mighty Andorra . . .

Hi Gerry great blog and many valid points, but I think you are over simplifying things. I also think Rafa has changed and adapted quite a lot since he arrived at LFC and his understanding of how to win the Prem should have got us there this year and I really think it is only a matter of time.

What I think is glossed over to quickly this season is firstly the new players that needed to be integrated, injuries to Torres, Gerrard, Agger, Arelleo, Arbeloa as well as Masch, and Babel having to go to the Olympics (I know Lucas went but the impact was not the same) and their form really suffered as a result.

We had a good start points wise if not playing wise, when we went through the dip our need to get three points also coincided with everybody getting back to full fitness as well as the team clicking into gear with a greater understanding of each other and a greater belief.

While yes Rafa is cautious by nature he wants to win as desperately as we do and his understanding of how to win the Prem has to be there after five years and especially with how we finished the season. I would be very surprised to see us change our approach in the Prem next year. For me Europe and the big games against the top say 6 will always be a tactical battle and we now he is one of the best at that. However our ending attacking style approach we used towards the end should be the order of the day next year for the rest.

Also another thing I think should be mentioned we are getting to the point where Rafa has a team shaped in his image (yes within the budget he has had to work with) Total football is to start with defense, work on the spine and lastly add the attacking flair. That attacking flair came to the fore once all the injured players where back and everybody had settled down. Good times ahead.

As Gerry just a quick footnote that might speed up the demise of THicks.

Hicks is set to sell a stake in his Texas Rangers baseball club to stave off debts which are close to totalling 350 million pounds.

The Texan businessman defaulted on three separate loans last month from the Hicks Sports Group and he is now scrambling around to service his debts in a difficult financial market.

Hicks is hoping to sell a minority stake in the Texas Rangers and with debts spiralling, he said: “We have to be open to solutions that may include partners who own a controlling interest in the Rangers.”

PS Gerry I know a lot of what I have said you have covered in other blogs and I agree with you Rafa has and will continue to make mistakes, who doesn’t, apart from Digger and FS, and as you rightly said the thing about Rafa is that he makes less mistakes than most and is a perfect fit for LFC and we are very lucky to have him, long may it continue.

I like the subject matter and all things Rafa. I’m a devoted fan of RB and think he’s one of the best things that have ever happened to LFC. Is he fallible? Hell yeah! Who isn’t? Did SAF get it right against Barca in the CL final? His gameplan was pure disaster.

However, what the media conveniently forgets is Rafa’s numbers. We’ve not gone below #5 in the PL during his watch. Fine, we might “only” have won the CL, FA & Super cups, and Charity Shield, but we’ve made steady progress, year by year, without funds (wish they’d also report that), and with the two biggest owner-oafs in human history!

The Reds have actually overachieved in all they’ve done and scared the wits out of all opponents. Rafa’s loyalty to the club, and his recruitment of passionate players – including those from his native Spain – is a tremendous boost to the club. By so doing, he’s contributed enormously to our popularity in the Peninsula.

Rafa is supposedly a bad coach, so bad that he singlehandedly supplies the most players to the no. 1 ranked soccer team in the world at present! He’s increased the marketability of “overrated” stars like Torres, unearthed jewels like Alonso, and “underachievers” like Arbeloa and Riera. Ever “useless” defenders like Dossena keep earning caps since moving to Anfield!

We’re back to Shankly’s Boot Room, only with enhancements, and Mersey pride is on the up.

Liverpool FC can surely do with more useless coaches like Benitez.

PS: To me, progress in this team will be determined by how quickly we can get rid of Dumb & Dumber at the top. I’d rather we took a small step backwards in the League, but rid ourselves of the two “owners” and continue building with serious, devoted fans of the club. I will not let the anti-LFC media and rival fans determine my devoted club’s progress. Que Sera Sera.

Thanks Gerry for giving my innermost thoughts a continued voice.

Ronaldo gone!!

I hope Real Madrid goes one step forward and buy Ribery. Chelsea should not get their hands on Ribery. If we manage to keep all our stars and add as Rafa has planned, we will be the champs!!

It is no secret Gerry that had we played with an attacking mind set in the first half of the season we could have won the title easily.

I honestly think this years title was thrown away by us rather United snatching it. And the onething which i hope everyone here will agree that we have the team to play attacking football and at the same time keeping a tight defense.

Well said, Gerry! Rafa is the single biggest positive factor on the improvement of the squad, the backroom boys and progress in the League. I think he will add two or three players to the strength of the team. And sell a few dullards.

Morning lads, and what a mad morning – The Tranny off for 80 million quid. Nice one. That’s a guarenteed 30 odd goals a season they’ve lost for starters. really funny listening to all the manc loving media this morning putting a positive spin on this. One knob is even saying The Tramp will now buy Torres.

HA! As if that lad would have anything to do with them bastards. Do you know he just got married? No. Well, it’s not surprising because there was no castles and Heloo magazine exclusives for this lad. Just a tiny ceremony with a couple of friends and family.

So, having said that, it’s sort of me point. I really don’t want to take this off on some Manc/Tranny tangent. It’s a great blog and some equally great comments. And the focus should be on that and us not them tossers.

But the Torres/Ronaldo thing sort of highlights what I’m saying… Mentality.

Everyone in here knows what I think of Rafa, and I still have absolute faith in him. Keith mentioned something that needs to be taken into consideration… It happens at all teams that go onto to become long term champions/challenger – first you get the defence right, and you make the team incredibly hard to beat. Then you get ths spine right and start to win/dominate games. Final step is the flair and guile that takes you that final step, and you become pracitcally impossible to stop.

All great managers who have built champions/dynastys have done it this way. The hype in footy means the patientce levels have dropped, but the process of building chaps hasn’t. Rafa has now completed this process.

So like many have mentioned, a lot hinges on the signings now and I trust Rafa to get that right. But having said that, I think this team we have is good enough to win the league. In fact, I think it’s too good not to win the league.

Like the process of building, it’s something we’ve discussed before… the fact is the team and the manager probably didn’t think we/they was good enough to win the league. It goes back to that argument about having to challenge before winning.

Like you said Gerry the difference between the team in the first third of the season and the last quarter was remarkable. If you didn’t know better, you would have thought you was watching two different teams. So, what changed?

First quarter/third – we was leading the pack, grimly hanging on to the front, shitting ourselves and constantly looking over our shoulders. Teams and fans alike, we weren’t used to it. We weren’t comfortable in front and we was constantly waiting to be hauled back. Therefore we played with a constant anxiety. It was written all over us – manager, players and fans.

Yes, there was other problems… the Keane saga, and the way accomodating him changed our style and formation. The injuries, and so on. But the bottom line was, we just weren’t used to it and it showed. And you’re right, the Arsenal game is a perfect example of that. I was at that game. I don’t think there was much Rafa could have done to change it. The players seemed to visibly shrink as the nerves took hold. I was in the crowd. You could actually feel the tension off them and I’m sure it passed onto the players as well. and then every game we seemed to become more and more worried/anxious until we finally
surrenderd top spot.

Last quarter of the season – well, this is turning into a longer saga than Kenny’s avatar so I’ll just say, we all know what happened. But don’t underestimate the lessons learned by last season – all parts of it.

Rafa will always be cautious. It’s his way. He won’t change. He will build us, in fact he has very nearly built us, a new Valencia. They may have been called the crushing machine, but could they play. Remember what they done to us at Anfield?

So, I am now more than convinced that we will win the league soon and become a proper lasting force again in European football. And I have always believed that since the man arrived. But far more importantly I now think the team/squad believe that – really believe that. And I just can’t wait for them to get let loose next season.

In fact, I hope to fuck we get the other top teams quite early in the season. That will give us a chance to get ahead early and we won’t bottle it again.

Onwards and Upwards lads. Onwards and upwards!

The 1-1 draws V Wigan in the past 2 seasons have both come in January and finished off the Reds title challenges.The Mancs can buy 3 or 4 quality players with the Ronaldo money.Why is Lucas not being mentioned as a transfer target?.

FS, Well said, Well said, Well said! Boy, that echo sounds good!

“over half a kaka in debt” nothing short of genius gerry lol.

p.s I’m loving the fact the mancs are putting their chests out an telling everyone there bigger an better without faggot boy……. i really feel its gonna have a serious impact on them next season……..how sad!!!

Great Blog Gerry, I have that little question in the back of my mind as well? Will we play the attacking football that we played in the last quarter of last season right from the beginning of this season?

The games that come to my mind are the Arsenal game you’ve mentioned, the Villa game that you also mentioned – I was actually seething watching this game. And also the Everton game at Anfield.

FS, made a good point about the belief. It definitely makes sense when I think back to the games I’ve just mentioned. We bottled it big time in the Everton game. Battled like fuck to take the lead, got the goal and then we shat ourselves.

Next season there should be no self doubting from any of our squad and manager. The belief should be there and thus we should play positively. I hope this will be the case.

After the 4-0 against Real and the 4-1 at Old Trafford the team and manager took on a new level of confidence. Even in games afterwards where Gerrard or Torres were injured the other players just got on with it and done the business. The results against Real and Utd were massive for us. Players know when they’ve played a big team off the park and they know when they have tactically/defensively squeezed out a result. Usually we beat a good side by doing the latter but in those 2 games we did the former and I think the players took a lot from it.

It also helps that a lot of our players are winning with their national sides. Kuyt has been scoring a lot of goals for Holland recently and laying on plenty of assists. The Dutch have been slaughtering teams. Same can be said of Spain and England. So we have Gerrard and the Spanish contingent winning, feeling good, and playing well.

With the Chavs having a new manager and Utd losing their best player I’ll be confident in August.

LB mate, it’s the times we live in – hype, hype, hype, gimme, gimme, gimme and gimme it yesterday cos I won’t wait. For instance… The Rafalution! Nice catchy soundbite – but bollacks.

It’s not Rafalution. It’s not even revolution. With football it’s always been, and, as far as I can see, will always will be, a case of Evolution.

Well, we have now pretty much evolved.

Take Real Madrid… Kaka an Ronaldo. So what? We’ve seen it all before in the first Galactico era. It’s good for selling shirts, but it’s not going to stop that shite defence leaking goals left right and center.

God, I hope we get them in the CL next season. And like I said, I hope to fuck we get all our top oppostion very early in the season. I can’t wait to set about them.

I’m too old to be wishing me life away now, but I honestly just can’t wait to get going now. I’ve also had a very strong rumour sent my way. I’m not putting it in here. It wouldn’t be right now. But if it comes off, I will be buzzing and it would definetely add the flair and guile to Rafa’s jigsaw. Not that Bennayoun hasn’t done that already. Just look at how that lad came on in the last quarter when the confidence was flowing.

As for the others…
Chelsea and Ancelotti? Very bad mixture that I reckon.
Mancs so what?
Arsenal – better get that cheque book out quick.

But us, definetely moving into phase 3 of our evolution. And you all know what I think the only thing that can stop us is. But I’m not going to even give them a footnote.

Did anyone see how Glen Johnson played yesterday? The lad is class man! His forward play was better than was better than everyone else on the pitch and that included Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney etc.

Than was better than was better? Oops.

Great stuff Ger, you probably know your preaching to the choir with me on this one so I’ll leave it at that lol! Kinda wish christine was staying down the road in a way. I want all them pricks there when we win it. And no fucken bullshit excuses from the mancs that we couldent do it when he was there. Still, as Fatty says, its surely a massive dent in their title bid and a loss of 6 or more points. A loss we must capitalize on. No. 19 is no. 19 no matter whos down the road.

FS, verifique su correo electrónico

Well said FS and something I forgot but it is vital that we can draw on that experience of actually putting in a decent challenge and knowing we could have actually won it. The mental part of the game is so vital for any top sportsman, belief that they belong at the top, belief that they can actually win the Prem, all these vital ingredients will be there next time around.

I have just picked up another article that Gillette (the poisoned dwarf) has two offers of around $ 300 mill to buy the Canadians (ice Hockey Team), he bought it for $180 odd mill plus he owns the building (Shopping Centre)they are in which will be included in the deal. It looks like the a serious about getting the funds

Don’t understand that Cantonese melarkey LB. And I’m just off out now. But must say this… I reckon Glen Johnson would now be out of our price range mate.

And yeah Keith, I saw that. Find it all a bit worrying to be honest, but I’m not going to open that can of worms on this nice day.

FS, It meant check your email mate!

Super stuff Gerry,

Some good points on Rafa.To answer your question on weather the team will carry on as they are,nobody really knows.

What i do know is the players now have the beliefe that they can do a job against these teams they were previuosly struggling to beat.

Weather its the fact we tonked the mancs and real in one week or the fact we had nothing to lose,i don`t really know.It was probably a combination of both.

I am confident now that the experience of being in a title race will stand to us this time around.

Lets hope Rafa can give us one or two little treats this summer to push us on.

Only thing i have to say on the ladyboy news is good riddence.

The mancs will have some money to spend now so even though they are losing a 30 goal a season man they have the money now to spend on two more attacking players to make that up.So i don`t think they`ll be handycapped that much.

I hope they actually keep Tevez now,that`ll be 30 odd million out of their purse and it won`t improve their squad.

Well one area they will be a lot weaker in is the free kicks they score from around the box. Whatever you say about ladyboy he is a far better free kick taker than Beckham ever was. I don’t know of any player who is available who is better than and offers as many goals as Ronaldo and who is accostomed to the premiership.

As regards us, well I think even without any signings we have a team strong enough to win the league but I think Rafa will turn the screw by making sure we strengthen. We have to in the right back area as we don’t have any experienced back up – got to be a priority.

I have also sold my avatar to Real Madrid for £50,000,000.

Kenny, surely Real Madrid would have liked to see your avartar perform before shelling out that much readies?

Great news this morning on the Tranny heading off to Real Madrid, but let’s not get too complacent about the state of the Mancs. Though Wiskey Nose is tactically inept, let’s not forget the man does know how to build a squad.

They may have upwards of £110 million to spend on transfers if you can believe the rags (£80 for Tranny and their normal £20-£30 million they normally have). That could bring a Villa, Ribery, and a Benzema?

Like FS said early, I would love to get all of our rivals early in the season. I think we’ll be a lot more settled to start the season and it would be great if we could get out in front of everyone (again) and see if we can hold on this time.

FS,
ttp://img142.imageshack.us/img142/8856/ronaldoo.gif

He`ll miss this though!

GOOD BYE AND GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE TO THE DIVING WANKER! I hope you break your leg and fail miserably in Real! That’ll certainly be 80m quid “well spent”.

And I’ll be most interested to see whether La Liga refs are as lenient as Premier League refs when it comes to his trademark divings.

The Scum has just created a hole out of their team, not even 80m quid extra can fill that gap quickly enough, for I simply do not believe the Wanker’s replacement can slot in as quickly as our Torres can, and this is where Rafa excels when he does gets his target man.

Gerry, you might want to rephrase “over half a Kaka in debt” to “half the Wanker in debt” now.

(BTW, at first I thought this “gravatar” thingy would just be for Kopblog only, but it seems this gravatar thing is tied in to my WordPress account, so please do pardon the non Liverpool-related gravatar as I prefer using this when posting in other WordPress blogs. )

(Hyde might have an idea who’s on my avatar. But I won’t bet on it. )

Interesting times! I have had too much too drink tonight. Will comment tomorrow. Cheers, mates!

Kinny, Kenny’s the expert on avatars, so you should seek his advice

Not much to say except:
- great blog Gerry and who knows how we will approach next season. I get the feeling that Rafa regards the premier league as a marathon and keeps his sprint finish for the end. Hopefully his timing will be better next season (although 86 points is not a bad return)

- The game that pissed me off the most was the Villa game. As you said Gerry they were there for the taking but I had the impression that the lads thought a point at Villa was a ‘good enough’ outcome. This will need to change next season.

- I agree with FS that this year’s experience in being in the running for the league will hold us in good stead for next season.

- IMHO, Being lucky with injuries, this squad is already good enough to win the league

- The Manure have lost 30 goals a season. Wouldn’t mind getting them in the CL group stages

- Only downside is Hicks has started to try and sell-off some of his US assets. Not good news!

Less of your cheek Lurgankop.

LB: Real Madrid said it sounded foreign so it must be good.

Some people think spending £80m on one player is crazy for Real Madrid and great business for Utd but check this out:

Back in 2003, when another United Galactico Beckham went to the Bernabeu, Real earned US$600m in sale of shirts and other merchandising, increasing profits by 137% in the four seasons Beckham was there.

Beckham sold one million shirts in his first six months, at a time when Real was full of Galacticos like Zidane, Raul and the original Ronaldo.

Professor Simon Chadwick, sports business expert at Coventry University, says: “Ronaldo can be viewed in the same bracket as Beckham when it comes to global marketing impact.”

“Even if Real sign one or two of the other stars, there would be a real focus on Ronaldo and Kaka’s talents on the pitch, and also their brand off it. That will pay for the transfers many times over, even with the bumper salary package.”

Tell you what lads, I reckon you’re gonna be glad we’ve got Rafa over the next week or so, because, once the media start to get over this Ronaldo cack, they’re bound to turn on us with both barrels blazing. And we’re going to need a steady hand to steer us through the shite storm that’s brewing.

Mark my words, we’ll be seeing loads of this over the next week or so… LFC Bollaxed. H&G Skint. Mascherano and Alonso leaving. Torres weighing up move to Mancs. Gerrard off to jail. Carra on crack.

I’ve already heard the starts of it on Talk Shite and Sly Sports News. They’ve both already had Torres sold to the mancs this afternoon and then they moved on to Agger. Why Agger? Well, why not.

They’ll try any distruption now. And once they’ve run out of headlines to proclaim the tramp a genius for unloading a disruptive influence at exactly the right time, they will turn on us because they know the tide is turning. So, don’t be fooled by any of it.

Let’s face it, that’s really Giggs, Scholes and Ronaldo gone. So, what does it leave in mid-field… Park, Nanni, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher and perma-crock Hargreaves. So, I reckon they’ll need as much help as they can muster and their friends in the media won’t be shy at delivering it.

But anyway, I agree with whoever said this before – I don’t want them to slip from the perch. I want us to knock them right off it. And hopefully, the only thing we will hear/see out of Anfield… the unveiling of the 2 players Rafa says we need but in all reality the 2 we can afford.

PS… meant to say, next season’s fixture list comes out next Wednesday. Thank fuck for that. It should hold back all the madness that’s on it’s way for at least a couple of days.

haha nobody has an avatar now.

It’s bad business for manure in my book LB. £80 million is ridiculous but we live in ridiculous times but it’s a drop in the ocean when talking about his market value, but talking about his value on the pitch for the dirty mancs that’s another matter. Anyway who gives a dam about them, as FS says even 2 key signings, a right back and/or a wide midfielder/back up striker and I’d be confident of the title coming back to L4.

ok back to everyone has one except me. Boo Hoo it’s not fair I’m going to have a chat with fat head Sam and his bum chum taggart to see what we can come up with to right this terrible wrong.

No Lurgan, I already figured how to change my avatar, I just chose not to.

And we can’t draw the Scum in the CL Group Stage even if we want to destroy them many times over for the fun of it.

LB, the Diving Wanker is no where in the same league as Beckham. For some reason, Beckham just ticks all the right boxes when it comes to marketing, not to mention compared to Ladyboy, Beckham is way more likable for an ex-Scum.

While in Real, Beckham merchandise attracts the attention of the casual neutral (non-Scum) fan, but even they might find it hard to take a liking to that Diving Fuck.

Confidence is key, but real conviction is even more important, and the lads have gained that through the experience of the latter half of the season. I think the lads initially never really believed that they were good enough to win the league, but they’ve overcome that now.

However, I also have to say personally that the argument of Rafa throwing away his so-called “cautious approach” (I call it “sensible approach”) has actually very small tale to the performance of last season.

The only diffence I feel he made was that the team played with a(slightly) higher back-line. However, maybe because of this, we started to leak some silly goals as well.

It works both ways, so I wouldn’t really force Rafa to throw away the “shackles” so easily.

I think the more telling factor was down to the fact that our players were not professional enough. The only reason why we played so well in the latter half of the season was because the players really became desperate to win.

Had the lads been more professional and spanked their own backside with the same psychological approach from the beginning, we would have won at least 2 of the games being discussed. So why didn’t they?

Maybe the old tramp is good at doing just that– spanking the backside of the players in every game to instill that winning mentality.
May be, contrary to our belief, Rafa was actually a bit too gentleman-like to our players when they performed shite. And maybe, our club was always a bit like that during the lost 2 decades.

I remember reading an interview of David James about a year ago, and despite being a bit of a wacko, he had an interesting point of view.

During his time at Liverpool, when he was selected for the National squad, he said that he found a profound difference in the mentality of the manc players to the lads that had been selected from other teams, most noticeably, the Reds. He noticed that even during the get-together trainings, the manc guys were always competing against each other, even to the point that it was becoming a bit vicious. Contrast to that, it seems that the liverpool lads would constantly joke around and have fun, and try to protect each other so as not to get any injuries, etc.

James went on to say, that although he preferred the liverpool “friends” mentality and that he could just not “get” how the manc players were acting towards each other at that time, he did feel that maybe it was that kind of daily ruthlessness that resulted in the professional displays and result shown by the mancs on the domestic scene.

I think our current squad has gone beyond that now, but maybe it was a bit of mental laziness and indulgence that contributed to some of the disappointing results. Maybe they were feeling sorry for themselves, and thinking, “here we go again, another draw on the horizon.”

Systematcially, I really don’t think our team played any differently in first half of the season.

That’s my take, anyway.

Let’s not get carried away with sale of the diving scumbag.

Best we just worry bout our own lot. As its been said more than once, the signings in the next few months will determine where we go next.

I clearly remember the optimism after GH had managed second place & even the signings of World Cup “Heroes” Salif Diao & The Spitter were positively greeted.

We all know transfers can go horribly wrong even when players come with all the right credentials. And the ‘Buy proven EPL quality’ argument has gone stale after the Keano Affair.

So let’s hope despite the tight budget, Rafa is able to pick a few more Torres/Alonso quality signings, & less of the Josemi/Gonzales duds.

Walk On!

Ronaldo..flower-in-my-hair, top scorer for Manure is gone. Great! I hate that ladyboy. But they now have the money to splash on new players: Tevez?, Ribbery? Villa? Whosoever, it does not matter. Rafa and our boys shall take them on and do a double over them again!

More intriguing is to find out if Kenny will ever get his gravatar to work the suspense is killing me. As for the rest I will leave it to Rafa to bring in the right people (what we can afford) Our team is good enough as it is and it looks like we will be keeping everybody which I fully agree with expect maybe Dossena going back to Italy which will not affect us at all and the same can be said if he stays so it is a win, win for us. I am also pleased that Babel looks like he will be given another year and I think this could be a really positive move and hopefully we will see him come flying out of the blocks in the Alonso mould. Continuity, continuity is the key with 2 good options to strengthen the squad.

i think it will be extremely hard for united to fill the gap ronaldo leaves for two reasons.

he was only one player on the pitch. yes they can buy two or three world class players and stregten their squad but that doesnt necessarily strengten the team. Especically against the weaker teams in the league ronaldo was their most important player. i think there is only a handful of players in the world that could have the same impact as ronaldo

which brings me to my second point? anybody united will acutally want they will have to pay way over the odds to get them. Other teams now know they are flush with money so the price automatically goes up (like it did with chelsea when abromovich took over). Also, united are run by smart business people (berbatov aside but that was furgesons call). they wouldnt blow 80m on one player. anyone they are interested in this summer they will have to compete not only with barcelona and chelsea but also cash flush man city madrid and even possibly porthsmouth. In my opinion they will definately not be as strongh as last season especially if they lose tevez as well but that is probably unlikely now (but he doesnt strengthen last seasons squad). Keep the faith and trust in Rafa.

Good blog Gerry, my opinion is the failure to put Spurs away in London caused us the most grief. We had countless chances but like most football matches it all changed at the end. I thought it knocked the stuffing out of us for around 6 weeks.
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Anyway thats my opinion. Anyone heard any rumours about the sale of the club, the yanky lads are looking happy, is something going on.
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Also where the hell are RM getting the cash from in this global downturn/correction/recession. (depends on the paper). All very quiet on our side of the fence, some little squirrel must know something. Anyone heard anything about a player coming in from Holland.

Also thought I’d mention, it’s good to see the slave finally getting some monetary recognition, that should make Blatter happy.

Keith, if attitudes won titles, I would be desperate to hold on to Dosenna. He certainly has that all important mentality that Rafa loves in a player. By putting in a transfer request he now saves the club alsorts of money on his contract and wages, and in these days of mercenary greedy footballers, I applauad the lad for that alone. And I’ll always remember him for his goals against Madrid and the mancs. A thoroughly decent lad in my book.

But that won’t take us onto the next level. And along with Dosenna I hope we see Babel, Intandje, and Vronin all head out the exit door. Degan? Who knows? But whether we sell him or not, I reckon the most we’ll see from that lot is 12 million tops. And that’s if we manage to get shut of them all at top dollar in this financial crisis.

Then it’s down to what we get from H&G? Well, I knew quite well we wouldn’t be getting what was promised – at least 20 million plus at least 15 from the Keane debacle. In fact, I reckon we’ll be lucky to get the 15 from Keane’s sale, which means we’ll be getting last season’s transfer money. What a mess, eh.

But we’ve got to get on with it and we all know this transfer window is critical. Rafa needs to get it completely right, and although he’s making all the right noises I can imagine he’s rather pissed off to say the least. And I know he gets extremely well paid, but his job isn’t the easiest. Sometimes he must wonder why he didn’t just fuck off to Real Madrid in the first place.

Like Gerry said, he’s not above critisim and I’m sure there’ll be times when he deserves it but I’m glad this blog was on this subject and made us all stop and think. Me, I’m just glad we’ve got him and wouldn’t swap him for anyone in the world. In fact, when you consider all the problems and expectations at the club, I don’t think there is another man who could do the job as well.

So anyway, I don’t think we’ll get to know the actual figures. I reckon they’ll be well hid from the likes of us. But, summising Rafa get’s top dollar on the deadwood, I reckon he will have 30 million tops or about enough to bring in one decent creative player/striker and some decent cover for Arby.

Blackburn, The Mancs, Arse and the Chavs all capitalised on putting in a serious title challenge immediately before they won the Prem.If the Reds don’t win next season then we will have to contend with Cita who will have Moaninho in place next summer.No mention of football on Radio Merseyside this morning.Is this a first?.

Interesting stuff from calamity there Hyde and he is of course right. Utds hunger to win was matched only by the ruthlessness with which they went about achieving it. Dependant on money he may be and a master tactician he is not but the one thing that can be attributed to taggart is he instilled that winning mentality and hunger in his side. From schmeical through Keane up to cantona, he moulded a team in his own image populated by players for whom defeat was not an option. But its our time now….

FS, why are you such a masochist by listening to Radio talk or watch Sly TV that lamblast LFC? If you know there are rubbish, then don’t listen in or watch the program. Don’t do it then go on camplaining how sit they are. Why not spend your time more profitably here in this site.

Was it Saviola FS?

I’m inclined to agree with gaz… kinda been saying it all season.

Losing out on the title wasn’t down to any tactical errors on Rafa’s part. He fielded the same player in those draws, as he did in later matches, but they simply didn’t perform to par in a few of those games and in the others, got completely discouraged byt the bar, the post, the opposition keepers game of his life, and in a few cases the ref.

We essentially have two players capable of winning a game on their own in the space of 5 minutes… and they were unavailable for large parts of the season.
And potential match winners either didn’t show up… Babel for instance… or took a while to get up to speed… BennyOnion for instance… or had a good first 1/3rd of the season, a poor middle 1/3rd, and a good final 1/3rd… Kuyt particularly.

Even if we were to buy no one this summer and start the season with the exact same squad, I’d fancy our chances pretty highly as things stand now.

One of the 7 shots that hit the post at Spurs goes in and we win that game. Likewise one other result and we win the league on GD.

As far as Scum go…
Forget his 30 goals for the season as a number and think for a minute about how many of those 30 were match winners??
What Scum have lost, is a guy who scores “match winning goals” in games they were losing. Are their replacements going to win them 12-20 games single-handedly (perhaps a high estimate, but not by much?)

Likewise, a fair deal was made on SkySports about Tevez not being a great loss coz he only scored 8 league goals… ignoring the fact that half of them were match winners, late on, off the bench… in games when we were breathing down their necks.

Subtract 4 match winners by Tevez and LFC are Champs… so so-far, the transfer window is looking pretty good… especially if they waste all 80 mill on only 2 players!

Amsochist, that made me giggle Knight. But I’m sure you’re right. I listen/watch that cack, start off laughing at all the hysteria, and anti LFC bias manc arse kissing, but end up fuming. I’ve got Talk Shite on right now. It’s been hilarious for days. When the Ronaldo deal broke, it was like Diana dying. The mourning was hilarious. I was just waiting for Candle in The Wind over a montage of Ronaldo’s goals. Within an hour it had turned to rage and then it was Tramp arse kissing time. Apparently he’s now a genius for getting shut of a bad apple at the exact right time.

It’s still on this morning. In fact, it’s been non-stop since it was announced. It really is funny. And there’s no chance of me stopping listening mate. It just makes the coming toppling of them all the funnier/sweeter.

And Lurgan it’s just a rumour so I don’t want to start anything in here. I don’t think there’s anyone outside of a select few in Anfield who know anything of Rafa’s plans.

Ooops…. Masochist.

Here’s a giggle, which I got from me mate:
Pandemic alert: deadly CR7 virus is now out in the open. Victims display symptoms of sudden petulence, poutingand sudden urge to dive from an upright position. A 68 year old Scot has been arrested for questionining. Virus has spread to America and Paris.

opps, its CR9

Here’s an interesting article in The Telegraph: Samuel E’to in return for Mascherano. Quite interesting and tempting offer. Now if Barca can only tempt by throwing in another player, like Alvaro Negredo, it may do the trick..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/5523048/Liverpool-offered-Samuel-Etoo-in-return-for-Javier-Mascherano.html

Oops! Barca could not have thrown in Alvaro Negredo as he is with rival Real Madrid. But anyway my point is, throw in someone else in Barca that we need, ideally a midfielder or right back. Then that would be ideal.

And the Glen Johnson to Anfield rumours are persisting as well.

Apparently he would prefer a move to Liverpool ahead of a move to Chelsea. I like this lad more all the time!

knight… seriously… what part of that is a good deal for us.

We trade Masch… an integral part of our midfield/defense… a “spine of the team player”, who starts virtually every game unless he’s injured…

…for a 2nd striker… someone who’s gonna be on the bench more than on the field (since we play 4-5-1 and won’t be shifting to 4-4-2 anytime soon) … and have to play 2nd fiddle to Torres!
+ a cast-off to be determined later?

(and that’s without getting into the fact that E’to wouldn’t be willing to that!)

Come on… think before you say these things.

E’to for 6-8 million… sure come on down… here’s the bench lad, get used to it!

E’to in a swap for someone who was recently priced at 20+ mill… puhlease!!!!!!

Word has it that Portsmouth have accepted a bid of £17m from Chelsea for Glen Johnson.

If we really want him, we could pay them £8m plus the £7m they owe us for crouch and then sell Arbeloa to Real Madrid for the £8m we paid for Johnson. Net result we get a much better right back (especially when it comes to crossing) and, in effect, he won’t have cost us a penny!

I know Chelsea would still have offered £2m more than us, but if it’s true that Johnson would prefer a move to Anfield, then this deal could happen.

I’ve got to agree. If we played 4-4-2 then the E’too thing might have some mileage, otherwise forget it.

Also, Rafa is interested in Lavezzi and Silva. Why? because both can play up front or wide, and Rafa loves versatility.

gerry, why is there a add on kopblog inviting me to train with man united in soul. might not be a bad idea, i would do my worst to kick the shit out of shrek.

e’to for mascha makes no sense unless we play 442 but i would not take that deal. e’to is a top player and i would love to see him at LFC (if for nothing else as cover for Stevie & LFC#9) but not at the expense of losing the best defensive midfielder in the world.

on another note the more i read and learn about Torres u understand the man is not FT9 but LFC#9)

soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=654451&sec=soccernet.com&root=soccernet.com&cc=5739

Aw come on guys….Can we please NOT put first team players into any complex proposals to wrangle new players.

Steve I like the math on acquiring Johnson, but NOT at the expense of flogging our currnt 1st Choice right back to recoup the funds.

Healthy competition for places is what we need! Under your scenario…Johnson gets injured or red carded, and we’re back to square one… playing either Darby or a central mid in a position he doesn’t want to play!

I can’t say I agree that Johnson is a “much better right back” but to each their own, if that’s how you feel.
But he is good, (and a Platini quota filler) so by all means bring Johnson to Anfield (if he wants to come and especially if he snubs a higher offer from the Chavs… that’s Golden) but upon his arrival, its on him to wrest the right back slot from the incumbent…Arbeloa.

… er… meant central def out of position, not central mid.

I really only mentioned Arbeloa to Madrid for 8 mil because it had been rumoured that they are about to offer that for him. In any case Aitch let’s not forget about Deggen!

I had actually forgotten that Pennant was at Portsmouth on loan……….. so, 7m to clear their crouch debt, 5m for Pennant (assuming Pompey want him) and 4m in cash to secure Johnson.

How does that sound? You’ll notice, Aitch, in this latest scenario I am not trying to flog Arbie!

I like Arbie, but I would rate Johnson as a better all round player, this lad can score cracking goals with his LEFT foot, too. Let’s hope he is on his way to Anfield!

Pennant is out of contract. He’s such a prick, he ran it down. So, we won’t get a penny for him. As for the Johnson rumours, remember these are press rumours. In fact, even worse they are Daily Mail rumours. I don’t know why that paper hates us so much. But have a look through their LFC stories – they hate us with a passion and every day this week they have reported on at least one player a day to be leaving us … Alonso, Masch, Bennayoun, Arbie and even Arbie and Torres.

And try reading their Hatchet Man column. It’s certainly got the right name as far as Rafa and LFC are concerned.

Gotta say Im with you on the Eto/Masch thing Aitch. Theres no way on Gods green earth Rafa would swap Masch for Eto. Where would we play him?! Who’d replace Masch? Its just pure unadulterated tabloid bullshit. In fact I’m starting to feel insulted. They must think LFC fans are morons. This is without doubt the worst silly season in recent memory. At least try and make the lie credible ye hacks!…. Eto for Masch indeed….

Aitch, No need to get carried away just because your opinion is directly opposite of mine. Do read carefully what I said.

I like E’to very much. A proven natural striker, I think he can forge a good partnership with Torres upfront. So far, we have had a lone striker up front. Torres played in how many games last season because he was injured? Who did we have to replace him? Kuyt, Ngog? We have difficulties upfront when he is not playing, a few wins accepted including that beauty over Manure, We really do not have two First team strikers. E’to thus fits the bill. That is my point.

Masch has been awesome for us. Rafa says he is worth more than Stg40, Stg50 million and does not want to sell.

We do clearly not have the funds. I said that if we can get not just E’to but negotiate tough and get two instead another good player well, why not? E’to plus Xavi or Daniel Alves for Masch. In other words drive a bargain if we have to sell Masch.

I did not say we should just accept the direct swap of the two. That’s totally different from your what you think I said.

FS, my mistake, I didn’t realise Pennant was out of contract at Anfield. How did the club let that happen?

BBC sports website (that font of knowledge) are also heavily tipping Johnson to leave Portsmouth this summer.

As for the Daily Mail, perhaps it should be re-named the Daily Manc?

Morning lads.
Steve Pennant refused to sign a new contract and also refused to move when other clubs came in for him. Stoke and Fernabache made offers, others were rumoured to want him. He wanted to do a Bosman and so kop a nice signing on fee for himself. He also flatly refused to play for the reserves, and, to cut a long story short, was a complete and utter prick – out on the piss and disrupting the other lads.

Shame we can’t make any money on him when we really need it, but fuck him. Just get him off the wage bill, and let him go and ruin the bit of career he has left.

As for Masch, he will be gone within a couple of seasons. So, let’s hope he’s a bit more loyal than Pennant and we make a few quid on him. I love Masch, but he’s not settled well in Liverpool and, more importantly, neither has his wife. Apparently she hates it here in England. That’s understandable. So, let’s just hope Masch is an honourable fella and stays while we need him and then gets us a decent transfer fee when he leaves. He owes us and Rafa that much.

If he leaves in a couple of seasons, I don’t think it will be that bad. We’ll be able to cope without him then, but he would be a huge lose right now.

Why do you think the manc press are trying to unsettle the spine of our team? The loss of any major player right now could do for us, and set us back a few more seasons. But they know quite well that within a few more seasons of building, we’ll be able to cope with the loss of anyone including – Gerrard and Torres.

I like that one Steve – The Daily Manc. It about sums it up, and expect them to be at it for the next couple of weeks.

The players report back for pre-season training in about 2 weeks, and the fixture list comes out this week – Wednesday at 10 am, I think. And what with all the internationals and the Con Cup, the lads won’t have had much of a break. So, expect the disruptions to get much worse in the next fortnight.

But Rafa is a sly old fox. He’s kept his cards very close to his chest. And judging by the only thing he has actually said, I expect/hope 2 players will arrive within the next 2 weeks. I think it will be cover for Arbie and a player who can play on the left wing and in the hole as second striker – a Silva type player but not him.

I understand exactly what you are saying Knight, but I don’t think Rafa would touch Eto no matter the price. He hasn’t got the mentality, also the new English tax laws is going to make attracting top players even harder. The tax rate is now 50% for them type of big earners. Do you know Arshavin is now earning less money than in Russia, due to the taxes?

Anyway, I’m going to spend the next few weeks pretty much ignoring things, until I’m off to Espanyol for the pre-season friendly. I love pre-season games. It’s fun going. You can go and watch the lads train and chat to them. But this pre-season is cack. The only other alternative was St. Gallen and Rapid Vienna, but I’ve looked into it and the cheapest I could have done it would have still cost about 800 quid or about a couple of hours wages for Pennant.

Fucking footballers, eh. Lucky bastards, don’t know they’re born.

Nice post, FS. knocked alot of nails on the head!

It seems that the Sunday Express are the first to leak the news: “Fergie plots £40m bid for Liverpool sriker Fernando Torres”

I knew that having sold wanker, it was only a matter of time before someone linked scum with FT. They have more chance of winning a popularity contest in L4!

Fucking hell, Pennant really is a little cunt, isn’t he? And to think he once played for LFC!

My personal opinion is all footballers are up for sale its just the price thats the issue. I don’t personally believe there is an issue with Mash but if 50 million bid came in I think Rafa would sell him.
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Mash is a great player, and before I get slated he one I love because of his heart and soul effort but he does have limitations and thats in his attacking play. He also doesn’t really add anything to the goal scoring sheet.
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I hope he stays but if we need the money then that’s the telling factor. Hope he stays but you never know in football.
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Ps what the fuck has happened to Bascombe, he’s become a bitter twisted fuckwit. Maybe he’ll be like Pennant and walk away from the NOWT on a bosman. Oops might be a spelling mistake there.

All this speculation about Masch is a bit worrying, as it is with Xabi.

The pair of them are among the very best at the precise jobs they do for the team and although you are bound to get rumours in silly season, these rumours about two of our best players just don’t seem to be going away.

No player is irreplaceable, and I agree that every player has his price, but why burden ourselves with the hassle of having to replace these two?

If either come out and say that they want to go, it will be a different scenario but if they are happy to stay we should make sure we keep them.

Ayt this stage of the season, the paper’s sports pages have nothing else to do but speculate. The Sports editors will tell the reporters to dig up a story, any story, even if it had been to look at Mascherano’s wife and speculate that she is not too happy in England and likely to go to Spain. Or link FT to manure. And Benayoun to Spain. Or London Barnes to the Jamaica job.

If Mascherano’s wife is not happy in England, why did he sign a long term contarct with LFC? Who bailed him out of the cold at West Ham and made him the player he is now? It was Rafa. He was grateful and hence wants to stay.

But, heck, if Barca must come and buy him, then they should offer over the odds for him. Certainly a straight swap with Eto will not be enough.

As for Pennant, I just wish he will go away quickly and not tarnish the good players still at LFC.

I can’t understand why people get so caught up in silly season. But the club have released an official statement. Hopefully this will stop the papers and some of our own supporters from getting caught up in all this shite. I doubt it. But here’s the statement anyway…
ttp://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N164742090614-1327.htm

Knight, it is not rumour about Mashcers wife. She is very unhappy in England. She spends a lot of her time in Argentina with their kids. Obviously this is also hard on Masch. I think he will give us one more season. He seems an honourable lad and he has said on many occasions that he wants to win trophies for Rafa and LFC. But don’t expect him to be here for more than 2 seasons tops. I reckon this will be his last.

Pennant is gone. Spain play tonight. Watch that and stop flapping and take any notice of rumours in the press. What next group panic attack because some arse wipe rag has said Torres is going to the mancs.

Just watched Nando bag a hatrick. Alonso had a good game to. Well, all lads did, sort of played like we’d expect… Nando and Xabi top class, Riera and Arbie, decent with a couple of cock ups. They all came through without a worry and I just hope it stays that way for the whole tournament.

Oh well, off to bed. Wonder what nonsense our wonderful media will have waiting for me tomorrow. You’d think Nando to the mancs would take some topping but I wouldn’t put anything past them.

Night. Night.