first! Wayheyyyyyyy!
another good blog as usual gerry, lets hope the boss uses the game tomorrow night to blood Aquilani and give Torres some game time for his fitness. Bring on the Arse on sunday, I’m pretty confident we can win with a fully fit squad and finally kick-start our season. Come on Red Men…

Great points Gerry, I’m eagerly awaiting tomarrow’s game too. Right on about Ngog, its good to see him getting some recognition as he has been one of the few bright spots in the absence of the storm that is El Nino. Torres and Aqualung coming back from injury, Gerrard on the brink of full fitness, Masch getting his head straight, things are looking up and at this point I’m full of hope. I can’t handle much more dissappiontment anyway…

For all the doom and gloom …
When you consider the bad string of results… it really is amazing that we are only 12 points off the leaders!
You’d think it was well more than that the way some people are going on like the best we could hope for is a battle for 4th!
I know our form has no one convinced we will go on a run of games, but the completely discounting the possibility that the teams above us can’t drop 4 games???

The worrying thing is not how far off the pace we are at the moment (and yes of course we all would want to be closer to the leaders and not had the bad results, but this is where we are) but what appears to be a bit of a wobble at Chelsea, while Scum are, so far, weathering the arrival of their injury storm.

The LAST thing we need at this point, is for Scum to leapfrog the Chavs. But it’d be nice to see them both struggle to a couple of draws… and that would start to change the complexion of the Two Horse Race in a New York Minute!

……
The Fiorentina game might not mean anything in terms of points or advancement, but having stemmed the tide in recent games, it’d be nice to see that tide turned… we could use a good solid win tomorrow.

But either way, Rafa is in a no-win situation. He’s gonna start Aquilani, so if we win with him in the team, the knives will not only be out and sharpened, but getting headily hurled in his direction for not starting him sooner. (you know, as opposed to nurturing him towards said performance)
…and if we don’t…
well he’ll have wasted a bunch of money on a useless crocked Italian.

….
As for Ngog… he’s far from the finished article, but the problem for him is that Liverpool fans have been sold an endless string of “potential” players over the past decade (longer really)… from Cheyrou to Ngog.. with far too few coming even remotely good. (The great Graeme Souness signing, Sean Dundee anyone?)

So any assessment of Ngog’s potential gets seriously beaten with the utter failure that the likes of Cheyrou and Le Tallec were, and Babel is slowly (well maybe not so slowly) becoming.

The lad has a decent touch (and yes Gerry, that is probably the hardest thing to teach a player… nothing but constant practise with a ball, over an extended period of time, can improve your touch) and he has decent movement… a pretty fair ability to read the game and make a decent run into space…. and he has shown a willingness to get stuck into the physical side of the Prem, rather than shirk it.

…On the other hand, he’s yet to score 20 goals in a season, so fuck him! He’s useless! Get shut and buy James Beattie….
(puchchchchchch…. that was my head exploding)

Nice one Gerry.

Fully agree with you on Lucas… he got loads of potentials and he is certainly the most consistent player in red so far.

Ngog’s Goal/ minutes play is not bad either. hope he could improve on that

Heard that Real Madrid will be unloading hoards of players for the Winter Transfer window.

Anyone think that it is a good idea to get Rafael van Der Vaart, Garay etc…

Van de Vaart looks a good buy. Will Rafa have the money would be the question Skeat, and even a free transfer as we know is not really free. Then, Rafa would have to sell first. Next question would be which players would be offloaded.

God Bless you Gerry brought a real chuckle out of me with the lets hope they learn from their parents mistakes and use a condom, one of your best quips yet. I like Eggnog, the natural flair and instincts are there. Things that are difficult to teach like the timing of your runs and creating space is all there. His technique is good and as well as he holds the ball up he turns away from defenders really well creating that space that all strikers need. His heart is in the right place as well and he works his soaks off. If only he had Babels power shot but the finishing will come in time and as he gets stronger and more mature, not that it is bad at the moment he has a decent strike rate. One of my only criticism of the kid is that he tends to put his head down and try to do to much when the simple outlet pass would have worked better, saying that it is good to see him have the confidence to take on players.

I disagree with your line-up as I would like to see us build on what we have already started. Lucas could do with a break as could Kuyt and Carra, but for the rest I wouldplay them and maybe sub them after the first half. I would like to see this team, or there abouts

Cav
Johson (Degan), Skertal, Agger, Aurellio
Masch Acquaman (Spearing)
El Zhar Gerrard Reira
Eggnog (Torres)

Maybe Babel on for Reira instead of Spearing if he is fit.

The injured players need to build up match fitness and get back their sharpness.

Sorry forgot Benny, he could come on for Aquaman, by dropping Gerrard back and playing Benny in the hole.

When Gerrard began playing for us at 18, his enthusiasm (very woelcome)would often cost us as much as it’d help. Rash tackles, overenthusiastic celebrations and a tendency to drift positionally or try to do too much would allow the opponent in. In some ways he didn’t look like what we now know him as, 500 games later. All of us, including the team’s most ardent critics, have to start from somewhere. It might not be the Liverpool Way of lore, but it’s certainly the human way.

Let’s give Lucas a break. Does he make the effort? Does he lower his head when things go awry? Does he give at least 100% in all games? The answers to these and more, if we’re honest, are certainly yes. Where are his former rash tackles? Look at the Gerrard opener above and see real improvement in the lad.

[On defense] Have we just kept three clean sheets in a row or am I dreaming? Have we changed from zonal defending to achieve this? We’ve certainly been tested on route one defending from two very physically strong teams, Everton then Blackburn, and kept clean sheets in both. While debatable, I’m inclined to believe we’d have failed this particular exam a few weeks back.

Let’s take all the positives we can find, as they keep coming.

[On Ngog] What do I like about this youngster? His enthusiasm, willingness to learn, Heskey-esque unselfishness (and ability to hold the ball), work rate, pace, van Persie-like turn, and understated goal return ratio. He also seems level headed going by his comments to the press and uncomplaining. He’s still developing, and (again) like in Gerrard’s case, can still improve. Who can’t?

Just been thinking of something. It’s clear we were woefully unprepared for the injury list we’ve so far accumulated. While part of this blame would land on the coach, how many teams in the PL and beyond would have managed to hang in there somehow with the “inferior” resources at our disposal? While continually blaming the man at the helm of this team, why not give credit where due – in this case, guiding the team to where we currently occupy. We’re by no means out by a long way. We’re still four wins behind the PL leaders, have two more losses, all without most of our core XI.

While we have much to lose (if not already lost), we’re still in Europe (the Europa), are in the running for a top four finish, still have Torres, Gerrard, Reina, Masche, Carra, Rafa (among others). We might have the most clueless owners in history but we aren’t bankrupt. We’re alive, the only thing that allows us to whine as we often do. It might pay to remind ourselves that despite the crap we find ourselves in, we’re still far better off than sides at the bottom of the league, or former giants playing in lower divisions. We’ve been spoiled by recent success, and love this club passionately, but it must never make us forget we’re still among soccer royalty and nothing will ever change that.

We must also never forget that Shankly inherited an average club and took us to the summit of success, one step at a time (as Rafa the Red’s doing now), and WE WILL BE BACK!

I’ll be relaxed tonight, regardless of our outcome against Fio. I know we’ll give them a reminder of where they’re playing and my gut feeling’s that our team news might just get interesting from this point on with all our returning players. I can’t wait for the Aquaman’s debut.

Keep them coming, Gerry.

Siempre es posible. YN(Ever)WA(Ever)!

Fantastic Blog Gerry…

It appears that its a crime nowadays to be positive…certainly in the eyes of some of the lower life forms anyway (perhaps theyre from Alabama and their mother and father are brother and sister)…

Morning lads…
I don’t want to open this can of worms again, but I think Babel’s still injured. But I’m quite happy with the lad at the moment after what he had to say about that other arse wipe which calls itself a newspaper.

And if he has learned his lesson, well, let’s keep the hope that he can still deliver when needed. He’s such a bloody frustrating character. But if he takes a leaf out of Yossi’s and NGog’s book, gets his head down, works hard, keeps schtum – who knows.

I read a comment that summed it up really well… Yossi learned his football playing in war torn streets. Babel has been treated like a star since he went into the Ajax youth academy.

As for Lucas, you said it all Gerry and you’re dead right about his shooting… Sadly, I don’t think he’ll ever have it to his game, but if he added that, he could go onto become a Paul Scholes type player. And that’s high praise from me.

NGog, well, he could go onto become a Thiery Henry type. Before you think I’m going nuts, I’m only using Scholes and Henry as examples who we all know and know their game. I’m certainly not saying they are anything like them at this stage of their careers. I’m just saying they have a similair style/technique and with hard work and maturity, that is the heights they should be aiming at.

As for the game tonight, I haven’t checked the CL registered players. But I’d love to see some of the kids get a chance… especially Pacheco. I just can’t wait for this kid to mature enough to play Premiere football. I love the lad and firmly believe he’s going to be a star.

Which will come in handy… as for bringing in players in January, forget it.

Pay rises/contracts are now coming out of the transfer fund and Pepe and Masch are going in for talks.

As for Masch… I think one of the biggest things affecting his game was Argentina’s troubled world cup qualification. He’s game certainly improved once they secured their place, and he is now getting back to his best. I’d like to see him with Aquilani tonight, and Lucas to be given a well earned rest.

Getting long here, but as for the league… Best I can say is, despite all our woes, we are still only 3 points of 4th place. And of course Tottingham and Arry the Spiv are having a wonderful season according to every reporter/pundit/expert and their cat and dog.

The hypocrisy’s truly amazing eh. But anyway, all we can do is keep pegging away. We all know how strongly we finish the season, but I can’t see Chelsea dropping enough to let anyone else in and they’ve got a really easy run of games coming up. So one at a time for us, I’d say.

As for the kneejerks, gloaters, and down right traitors… I thought it would be full of Owen’s hat-trick in here this morning. And though I very much doubt it, I hope they have finally got the message.

Talking abt Appy Arry and his team, and i ask this from all those jerks ,err,knee-JERKers, who slate rafa for kicking out likes of keane and crouch, HOW MANY GAMES HAVE KEANE STARTED FOR SPURS ??

He seems so happy sitting on teh bench and not a whisper of anger and frustration neither by him or teh media…. Whereas teh same media was going bonkers wen he was left out on teh bench by Rafa….

Proof of a certain “AGENDA” against the spanish i persume …..

Dizzy, the best one is Aquilani. The press/media have been having a field day about this lad. But not once have they mentioned Zhirkov or Downing…
Downing made his debut last Saturday after signing in the summer. Zhirkov made his last night in a nothing Champion’s League game.

The only thing I’ve seen/heard in the media about each of these players, and their managers, is a big hurray and congratulations as they have finally come through all their woes.

It’s just the way it is.

What odds Owen scoring 20 goals this season?.A quarter strength Manc team still beat the Bundesliga chumps!.Aqui needs 15 goals to justify his transfer fee.Van Nistle to join the Reds in Jan?.

Thanks for the blog Gerry! Great read. Dizzy, you beat me to it: Keano hasn’t started the last 2 games for Spurs, and not a beep from the press. And now the Times are talking of him being loaned out to Celtic in January. But hey, no mention of Appy Arry in the article.

HA HA. I knew it would start…. now watch this space.

Been away almost 12 months as i’ve been pretty poorly, but getting back on the road now, but i have kept on reading the comments and greatly enjoyed most of the guy’s quips in here, my good friend’s FS,Keith, LB,TimmyT,Dougal, Skeat on his wonderful up-to-date score and commentary and all the other lads in here who i know but can’t remember and finally Gerry who has kept this sick old bastard in effin stitches.
Glad your a grandad again FS as i am going to be again next Feb that’ll be 3 in all.
Pissed myself laughing FS at some of your responses to Hula Sula, Smiff, and the other 2 gobshites, why Gerry put’s up with them i dont know (i think he’s perverse) but we all have a cross to carry.
Oh and by the way i am one of the benefit brigade now as my disability wont allow me to work anymore,
so Smiff lend’s a tenner there’s a good manc.
YNWA.

mickey has 2 premiership goals. same as johnson, babel. 1 less than ngog. 2 less than dirk.

i must say i was impressed by the scums result yesterday as i was expecting them to get hammered what with wolfsburg needing a win at home.

i would love to see a strongish team on today – aqui, torres, stevie, glenda. let them start playing together and get them ready for le arse.

come on reds, give us a happy december!
YNWA

Fatty I was expecting the same comments mate. I logged in and was waiting for: “Owen scored a hattrick and he was free, voronin was free and is shite, sack rafa!”

I bet it will all start again after the game.

Id personally like to see Agger, Stevie, Kuyt, Johnson and Lucas rested. Especially Agger and Stevie cause I think they will be key in games ahead.

Aqua and Masch together and Torres stretching his legs for 20min at the end.

Would love to see Pacheco play on the european stage.

Iam actually excited about tomorrows match.

FS

Yup.. Aquilani wud be the new stick to beat rafa … Just wait till he play tonite… He plays good, rafa’s doomed for not playing him earlier… He plays bad, Rafa’s slated for wasting MILLIONS on poor purchases… I must say, i was not highly impressed wen he purchased him.. but then keeping in view the budget constraints,i realized that probably Aqualani mite prove to be a bargain buy… I was also restless to see him in action sooner but after reading abt his treatment at ROMA where he was continously rushed back after every injury, i realized that wat rafa is doing is the rite thing .. And c’mon, how can these media pundits be sooooo dumb as not to see the rough tackling game of blackburn and and everton in teh derby … I bet had aqualani started/featured in those two games, he was certain to catch a knock and sit out again …

And for someone who is raving abt manx half-strength team beating LAST season’s fluke champs (who btw sit at no. 8 this season), i wud say it was more due to the pathetically poor finishing of those CHAMPS (hitting target once in 20 attempts) rathr than any impressive game by manx…

Welcome back Theredman. I remember the great humour you gave to this blog, great to see you back.

Burgerman: 15 goals to justify his transfer fee!!!!! ????? Man, the medication you’re on must be PREETTTY strong…

Gerry, excellent blog as usual. I’ll settle for a victory, a clean sheet and no more injuries. I think we should go for the Europa League as well as gunning for a top 4 spot. Burgerman, you think Aquillani needs 15 goals to justify his signing fee. How did you arrive at that figure?

Aitch, with regard to your post at #3, I thought Sean Dundee was signed by Roy Evans. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

BurgerMAN…
BurgerBOY…
BurgerKID …

He sure makes me more confused wid his every post!

Thank’s Steve,
just had to come back and have a go at what Keith and FS call the CBC, cant let them 2 have all the fun now can i,
Burger’s a whopper as well (if you’ll pardon the pun).

Alright Red mate, sorry to hear you’ve been ill. I thought you was in Walton… hope you’re feeling better now. And good luck on the next grandkid. Nothing like it is there mate. I love mine to bits.

As for the some of the idiots posting, I’d take no notice mate. It’s a shame they haven’t got a brain cell between them. It would actually do the blog good if there was someone with decent thought out criticism of the team and Rafa.

But having said that, I still haven’t read or heard one really good intelligent argument as to why we would be better off without Rafa. And in all truth, it’s a sad state of affairs we are in as a club but I just can’t see how Rafa can be blamed for that.

Obviously he makes mistakes, but the fact is, if it wasn’t for him we would probably be in an awful state right now. Just think if Gillette would have got his way and we had Klinnsman in charge now. The thought of it is enough to make me flesh crawl.

And talking of Klinsman, have a guess who’s in the expert pundit chair for Sly tonight… Yep. You’ve got it. So, que loads of “What has gone wrong at LFC, Jurgen?” “What would you do to put it right?” “Would you still take the Liverpool job.”

It’s see through, completely bloody transparent. But still some of our “Supporters” keep falling for this sort of shite. I honestly dispair.

I listened to the Blackburn game on TalkShite. It was the only access I had to it…. Stan Collymoore is their match day “expert.”

It was an absolute disgrace. It started about 12 in the afternoon and was still going on on the phone ins by 7 o’clock. It wasn’t even just opinion. It was was just downright lie after downright lie, all aimed at belittling Rafa and getting him the sack. But the thing is… our great “Supporters,” were queing up to not only agree with the lies but add their own and demand Rafa’s head.

And as if worrying about them getting their way and setting the club back years wasn’t enough, think about it…. when we do finally win the title, we will only attract more of them.

Enough. I’ll be putting meself on a downer. And in all truth, I’m actually looking forward to tonight’s game.

Hope you’re fully better soon mate.

Man-Burger,

15 goals to justify his transfer fees?

I can’t remember Alonso scoring 10 goals per season in all competition….. or is my memory failing me?

Essien’s fees are also higher than Aquilani…and I supposed he is scoring >10 goals a season as well… so is Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves and Nani and Ballack etc etc…

…and welcome back, theredman…

…and ooh… Sol Campbell going to Man utd?
WTF….

Actually looking forward to tonights game – I would prefer if the team had some regulars in it though – just so the team can get used to playing with each other.

Hope Aquilani can deal with the pressure but in fairness couldn’t ask for an easier game to bloody the boots

On other news looks like me not making the wigan game could work out nicely – going over to London on Sunday – have some dude willing to sell me a ticket for the Arsenal game at £85 – only problem I’ll be travelling up and back on Sunday from London to Liverpool – I’ll take their cheering on the way up if I can listen to their silence on the way back

Lads I no its hard but buger-bullshit just comes in to get responses. Ignore an it will go away just like suicide07 and CBC. Let them go and drink from their half empty glasses.
I really wanna win tonight because it will help us for sunday,but imagine the team will be chopped and changed alot so like everyone just hope the team comes through unscathed espically aquailani.
One think though akka it would be good to see agger play another 90mins becase he hasn’t had a decent run of games and we definitely want him firing on all cylinders for sunday.

2-0 liverpool.

An Lin… you’re talking Arsenal fans – you can only distinguish by the different levels of silence. So, it’d be hard to tell either way.

As for BM… I give him his due. He’s consistent. He doesn’t regurgitate media bollix. He seems to just sit there dreaming up these little scenarios for himself and then comes in here and drops his little bomb shells. They’re usually good for a chuckle and I’ve come to kinda, sorta like them…
I’m still laughing at Henrik Larson.

Hi Redman I was wondering what happened to you, sorry to hear of the troubles, congrats of the little one and it is good to see you back on the blog long may it continue.

I must admit that I am also keen to see tonight’s game, the long awaited début of the man they call aqua. I don’t give a shit what the rest of the plonkers shout or say but if he has a blinder Rafa has done the right thing and given him time to recuperate. Yes I have also screamed for him to come on at times but he has had a good rest and hopefully he will be up for it for the rest of the season, good enough for me. I hope the same holds true for Torres as well. 3 points off fourth place and people are writing us off to finish in the CL spot, ludicrous. The stories are already doing the rounds that we would have to make 15 odd mill profit in the transfer market if we don’t finish in the top 4 in order to fund the debt. Just goes to show what Rafa has accomplished, the entire transfer budget is based on what he has achieved since he has been here. We have actually gone backward in terms of net spend since the TWO TWATS took over and deluded life time fans since 2004 what his head.

Parry and Moors hold your head in shame. Mostly I blame Parry, Moors was just plain stupid.

It would be good to see Pacheco FS, I just think we have too many people coming back from injury that need game time to accommodate the youngsters. Our first team squad needs to get match fit first. Reira looked well off the pace as did Benny for some reason and we cannot expect Aquaman to play the whole game, the same might be true for Aurelleo and do we give Gerrard a rest. We just cannot make enough subs to accommodate the youngsters at this stage. The talk is that Torres will play for twenty odd minutes as well. I think it is important to put out a strong team to continue progressing and growing the old confidence bug.

Suicide 07 …. Classic has to be one of the best

Bang on Keith,
i think he should play the strongest squad possible and get that engine running that ran so sweet for the last quarter of last season.
Thanks for your kind words lads, FS if i’m not mistaken did’nt the Reds go on an unbeaten run of the last 18 games of the season to win the title, cos i certainly wont write them off.
YNWA,

Redman, good to have you back! Hope your feeling better mate. I thought you retired to a remote village in the Wirral with no internet access or something.

Good blog Gerry. I liked the Tiger Woods line and I agree. I can’t see Chelsea dropping 13 more points than we do. I’m not even confident we’ll start to put a run of wins together yet. We are looking more difficult to beat but not really looking like beating sides on a consistent basis.

Aitch made a fantastic point about the amount of strikers we’ve been fed who had potential but never did anything. Ngog does look like he has the ingredients to be a good player. Time will tell.

As for Lucas. I don’t think he is confident enough to play any killer passes or deliver a decent strike from long range. Don’t think I can remember him even making an attempt at a 40 yard pass. For me he is Gilberto Silva Mark II. Those type of midfield players have never been my favourite. Get it, give it, all very neat and tidy but not really penetrating the opposition very often. If Gerrard is not firing we get very little creativity or creative threat from our central midfield.

Degan is not in the Champions League squad so can’t play tonight. I would not change our back 4 as its starting to look good again and I think the more practice they get together the better. I’d play Gerrard as well because he needs more games to get match fit and find form. I’d put Torres on for 30 mins.

Regarding Aquillani. My criticism is that he has been fit since the Arsenal game 28th October (5 weeks ago) and since then has played a total of 21 mins. I know injured players need to be eased into thinks slowly but bloody hell. I think Rafa has been a bit over cautious with him. Has he played any reserve games since the Sunderland reserves match in October? I don’t think so. He’s been in the first team squad and just parked up on the bench. Rafa says he’d like to bring him on when we are either losing and need to change the game or winning comfortably. So if the games are tight and physical as most PL games are especially given our form then Aquaman won’t come on. I beg the question…. When exactly will he have played enough football to get to his best physical condition? March-April? Very frustrating.

Difference between Downing and Zirhkov is that its arguable that these players are even starters in their respective teams. They are squad players I think so no real focus from the media has been given them. Aquaman has come in as replacement from arguably our best player last season. He’s obviously in theory going to be key for us but hasn’t been able to play. Rafa has been bigging him up too basically saying he is the dog’s bollocks and we’ll see the quality when he is fully fit. It means all eyes will be on Aquaman tonight. It won’t be an under the radar full debut like Downing and Zhirkov.

Welcome back Redman

Yeah a lot of shite has been spouted in here for the last few months

Only Fatty has had the the gumption to fight it

Lads I dont give s fuck if Gibson from Man utd can tie his own shoelases

He cant even lace our Lucas” (a player who is becoming the Hero of most LFC fans)

Ive been staying away recently cause of all the shite aruments (as have a few other members .,Knight??)

but you know what fuck that! Fatty you have been fighting the corner with Keith and a few others so I’m gonna help ye lads out

fuck being underwhelmed by arguments

lets take it to the mob

Over and out

Nice one LB

After readin me #36 I realise the grape is hitting me fingers hard so Ill pass the baton till tomorrow

Thanks for the blog Gerry

Over and out

Welcome back Redman, sorry to hear you were unwell but great to hear from you again. Also congrats on the new grandchild, I didn’t even know you were pregnant!

Well why do you think i’ve been gone so long,
thank’s Gerry.
YNWA.

very good article from the main site:

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2009/12/08/10-reasons-why-liverpool%e2%80%99s-season-lies-in-tatters/

Donal – You’re right there has been a little bit too much shite spouted in here lately and it appears that even the hallowed halls of Kopblog has become infected with kneejerk flu.
Maybe I should have done something about it sooner but I have to act on it now or the place will just turn into a shithole.
So I have my Red cards ready and I shall be watching the comments carefully. I won’t single out any individuals at this stage but what I will say is that pig ignorance and disrespect is no longer an acceptable form of communication here at Kopblog and anyone who indulges in it from here on in will be banned.

I thought you was in the big house on Hornby Road for awhile.

LB, Aquilani pocked up the virus after the Arsenal game, and that held him up a bit. But I agree, it’s time to get the bubble wrap off the lad and set him loose.

As for Zhirkov and Downing, what you say might be true, but it still shows the hypocritical double standards of the media in this country.

I mean ffs, digging out Klinsman as the pundit for our game again!

I also fully understand why you lads want a really strong team out, but you have to take somethings in to consideration… Yossi and Albert for instance are only back in because of horse afterbirth. I’d definetly rest them two.

And you’re dead correct about getting a settled defence again, but I’d also like to see Carra and Insua getting a break. I can’t think of another game where they will. And then Johnson has only just come back, so could he do with a rest?

Gerrard… well, I think Gerry said it all in the blog. We are so spoilt by having this lad, that we sometimes don’t do him justice. I dread the day he can’t hack it for us anymore. And I think we have to safe guard him. Having a wee rest won’t hurt. He can come straight back in and do the business, if he’s fully fit, as if he hasn’t been gone. So I wouldn’t worry about giving him a few days more.

Torres, deffo needs some pitch though. And I also think NGog, could do with a bit of a break. So, hopefully, we’ll see at least 20 minutes half hour of Nando.

As for Pacheco, in all honesty, I’m just dying to see the kid in some meaningfull games. I really do believe this lad can become something special.

LB

For a moment if we do believe that the cases of Zhirkov and Downing arent comparable to that of Aqualani, can you tell me how many times did u hear those Sly-Sports pundits slating Mark Hughes for playing 8 consecutive draws after spending all those millions ??? AND if it wasnt for Given’s penalty-save, it was the 9th one on its way..

I dun even remember them farting his name!!!

No FS,
her majesty has never had the pleasure of me yet, do us a favour mate and send me your E-mail address as i want to talk to you in private about a few mates who are at the moment, did have it but now have got windows vista (its shite) and left your address on the old XP which my grandson now has in Newton le Willows.
You may be right about giving some of them a rest buddy but i now think he should throw caution to the wind and give ford cortina a fucking good hiding and let them show sky sports and all the other brain dead twats just what they are going to miss without us.
YNWA.

[email protected]….
You’re not spying for the nat king cole are you!

I’d put a smiley but they’re for tarts.

You’ve got to make a penny or two heh heh.

Would’nt you know it fuckin E-mail’s down on blueyonder what a shit company that jar of pickles branson runs.
Send you one soon as its running again mate.
YNWA.

Christ the sky commentators are doing my head. “why didn’t owen go to Liverpool must be what they’re thinking” “well i think he’d rather play for manchester utd”
Also because aquilani hasn’t scored a thunder bolt from 40yards they’re disappointed with him.

Pleased enough with the first half just not finding our feet in the final third. p.s loving stephen darby’s opening crunching tackle. well done young blood.

Was about to say the same soarin. I hate sky at half time.
Apparently we have been completely shite and fio deserve to be leading.
Also aqua has been average. Ffs! Personally I think aqua has looked class, his forward passing has been superb (only better to come).

I HAD respect for shearer before he sold his soul to the devil (sky).

Apart from still having his tights and knickers in a twist over the 5-1 twatting we gave his beloved Newcastle last season, what is the matter with that senile cunt Alan Shirtlifter i cant remember him saying anything decent tonight about LFC.
Well said Akka i got no respect for the pillock.
FS yuor beloved Pacheco came on and nearly lit Anfield up in his first minute

Fuck sake, we’ve been a fucking joke in this CL campaign. A fucking joke.

Easy there LB. It was virtually viewed as a friendly match today.

Big positives for me. Aqua looks like class and pacheco is definately a prospect.

However, I gaurantee the CBC wankers to be back$

not read the blog or comments as yet (picking up my jiro) but let’s see who comments after this result.

How the fuck did we lose that!!! better team by a country mile. Thats a lesson for young derby you cant switch off for a second.
You were right FS pacheo does look the business would have been great if he got the winner.
Strange the ref blew it up 5seconds early. seein as they scored then celebrated does that not mean another minute added these days……… or is that just old trafford??

Fuck me, he even beat me to it.

Oh boy …. Its gonna get painfully stupid here very soon …

maybe that we were still singing after the loss..yah??

Is that not what we used to do? I think that it’s call support!

Smith its a credit OUR fans sing at full time. I’m very proud of that. Unlike YOUR lot at old scumford who leave around 75mins………. to beat the traffic. Strange your getting so upset by a meaningless match??

Smith if ur embarrased to wear the jersey, or think singing when losing is shite then FUCK OFF!!

This game wasn’t about winning or losing. It was about seeing aqua get some useful minutes, torres getting back and fringe players gaining experience.

@smith
sell your jersey to a real fan then you wanker. go and kiss arse with the rest of the fucking scum bag, and play with the old whiskey nose bag of shite.
we should have won it but we dint, but we sure as shit showed improvement so fuck yourself

Wise up smiff:

“being labelled as a loser by every other fan”

I am sorry that people are teasing you for ‘supporting’ LFC.

Enough said. Fuck off and do one.

Can’t we ignore this guy please?
As any other Liverpool fan, I am aggrieved too, but these guys are disgrace.

Smith, if u can’t wear the clubs jersey with pride even when losing, then again FUCK OFF!.

You’ll never walk alone has a special meaning, u obviousaly have no idea.

Go support the chavs or citeh.

By that guy I mean Smith and likes of Kings of Kop and Co who will take over soon.

Trying to get the first red card from Ged.

OK, I will give it a go.

Smith, PLEASE explain what would you do to turn this current situation around.

Hint, please consider our current financial issues whilst doing so.

Go for it. Now is your time!

here we go… You could set your watch by it.
Cue the drivel!

No Liverpool fan.. and I mean NO Liverpool fan would use the phrase “i can just imagine you pushing and shoving everyone while making a claim for your benefits” Smith used in #64

Irrefutable evidence he is a Manc… so STOP fuckin conversing with him. I know its hard, but ignore him. He’s got nothing intelligent to say anyway.

I’m tired of this bollocks, Smith and his posts have just been deleted.

Did you see Benny’s goal celebration? Yeah me neither… he was almost embarrassed to have scored.
THAT tells you everything you need to know about where the players’ heads were at today.
Personally, I think they should still have busted a nut to try to win, but this is what you get at this level. They’ll be holding something back for Sunday.
I don’t like it, it goes against everything I believed in as a player and a coach, but I do understand it. Its big picture thinking.

Personally I thought Aquailani’s performance today answered every mystified question regarding why he hasn’t featured before now. You can tell the lad has talent, but he’s so far off “game pace” and his touch is massive rusty.

The player who most impressed me today was Insua. Such calmness on the ball for someone so young.
And a well deserved nod for Dossena who stepped in and had a good game… offered more than we’ve seen form Riera recently (injury not withstanding.)

Torres looked sharp for a lad who’s been out for a while. Let’s hope he’s fit enough for Sunday.

We could have done with a win for the confidence factor, but ultimately the result meant nothing.

RESULT!!!!!!!

Have you banned him Ged?
I know you fundamentally don’t like to do that, but his time is well past due!

Lurgan buddy,
my old grandad always said “you cant educate pork”, but i quite enjoyed the match and as someone above has said about young Darby that he cant switch off for a second so he learned a valuable lesson tonight (hopefully)and again with just a bit of luck, well who know’s.
YNWA.

Gerry,
thanks spoilsport i was just digging the thesaurus of cunting swear words to reply to smiff.
Obviously all the lad’s know he is’nt a red and started treating him as such, oh well there goes my fun for the week.
YNWA.

Yes Aitch, I’ve banned him as best as this system will allow although it’s possible he may turn up under a different username, but if he does I’ll just keep deleting him and his posts.
I suspect there may be several others joining him soon.

Sorry it had to come to that Gerry but can’t have idiots like that insulting people and getting away with it on the blog. I dare say there’s a few other noses you’ll have to put outta joint before the end of the season but think it’s time. Anyway I seen enough tonight to make me think we can giv the arse a good kickin so I’m stayin positive. Up at 4am so hope it’s not all doom an gloom tomorrow.

YNWA…… we even sing when were losing!!

insua looked good nice and sharp,packman had some nice touches and looks a good one for the future.
aquaman just needs time on the pitch and he will be good for us, give us a different option.dosa did good job too.Would have been nice to have got the win but hey steady improvement. it gave some guys a rest.Torres looks about ready now hope he as no adverse raction.

Shame you barred The Smiths… best thing out of Manchester since the 12 noon to Lime Street Station.

But I’ve changed me mind. Something just told me he’s not a Manc. I think Lurgan picked up on it. Cut and paste…
“yah maybe it doesn’t affect you , being labelled as a loser by every other fan…”

Obviously a very disturbed young man. Hope he doesn’t hurt one of his co-workers when they are out picking up the bins tomorrow.

Sorry, very unfair on bin men that. It’s actually a good job, and they’re decent fellas just a bit stoned and drunk and couldn’t think of anything to take the piss with.

Anyway, small potatoes.

Serious stuff…
Let’s face it, the game was no more than a friendly. A very good game to give Aquilani a run out and not much more. In fact, it was just about a step up from organising a behind closed doors friendly for him, or a pre-season game.

But having said that, there are serious problems at Anfield. But then again, having said that, this wasn’t really the game to judge how deep these problems run and how badly they are going to affect the rest of our season.

For what it’s worth, here’s what an old fat has been loser thinks…
Most importantly, Aquilani. Not fair, and impossible, to judge the lad on that. But what I will say is…
Plus side: good touch, good pass and move style, always moving, making himself open, obviously very comfortable on the ball. So, judging on that alone, he will be a good out ball for the defence, and a good platform for the attack. Also seems to have good vision for the pass (Sound for a fella with eyes so close together, he’s almost a Cyclops). Great first time balls, played some really good crisp passes without taking a touch. Gets forward. Adds some height to midfield, won a good few headers. Gets into the box and supports the attack/player on the ball.
Negative side: too many fancy flicks. They might work in Italy but are pretty much useless here and usually result in losing the ball. Don’t want him to cut it entirely out of his game. That little bit of guile can often open up a defence, but well… I hope he’s not a graduate of the Garcia school of footy. I loved Little Luis, but you know what I mean about giving the ball away.

Anyway, too early to judge. We’ll have to wait and see.

As for the rest of the game/team/players, I don’t think there’s much to draw from that performance or comment on. I do want to say something though, that I left alone because, of the way things turned out, I didn’t think it was worth mentioning…
When we tried to sign Barry, the plan wasn’t to sell Alonso. It was actually for Barry to play on the left with Dosenna behind him. Having watched that tonight, I can only say what a shame that never worked out.

But as I say, I never bothered mentioning it then because it didn’t happen so why bother now. But give it a little thought, add it what we have… fucking yanks.

But there’s the rub lads. There is no magic wand. We can’t just throw billions at these problems. We have to choices… keep calm, build slowly or throw it all out and what?

PS… Mark my words, Pacheco is going to be the first star to come out of the revamped academy.

…aahh… Little Luis Garcia…

…we sold him as Torres came into the side…

Can you imagine having little Luis back in the current team with Nando making the kind of runs he makes… often Luis would play flicks into space, but no one was running onto those flicks.

Luis got all the blame for “losing the ball” and I’ll grant you he did, but if we’d had intelligent forwards at the time, or even SG playing in the hole as he now does, maybe someone would have been there to get on the end of them…

But there it is.
Luis was sold to raise funds. (I reckon Rafa would have liked to keep him?)
Alonso is sold to raise funds. (I reckon Rafa would have liked to keep him?)
…the cycle continues…
Who’ll be sold to raise funds next?

…hmmm… in re Smits
why do I have the song “ding dong the witch is dead, the witch is dead” from Wizard of Oz, running through my head?

… oh christ… show tunes??? I must be gay?
Logging off now… must shag wife furiously…

No Aitch. Lastthing we need is another Luis. I loved the lad, and everything about him. But, if this makes sense after saying I loved him, we can’t afford another one.

As I said, to early to judge, but I hope Aquilani isn’t the type to give away posession by trying to be too cute.

It’s a sort of Catch 22, because we obviously need that type of creative touch but we still have to be solid… a difficult tightrope to walk. Let’s just hope the lad gets it right.

And PPS to me last comment… Kuyt should not run the line on his own anymore. He just can’t do it. NGog is a better option.

Don’t jump on that.
1: I’m not slagging Dirk. I love the lad.
2: I know NGog needed a break.

I’m just saying exactly what I said… Dirk should not be upfront on his todd. He can’t do the job.

Well that was a worthy 5 minutes spent horizontal… now that I’m back to my manly self…

I personally think Luis was hard judged. Its not like his flicks were aimless… he just didn’t have anyone else in the team on his wavelength… but I understand why people have the opinion of him they do.

And you’re right, it is a catch 22. We all want to see flair and fancy footwork, but you can’t sacrifice the steel for it.
Its what some people tend to have been overlooking over the last few games.
Yes okay, we maybe haven’t threatened a lot going forward, but you have to shore up the leaky boat, before you start paddling frantically for the shore.

Frankly, the majority of the current players can’t find each other with a straighforward pass at the moment, so fancy flicks or straightforward 10 yard balls… makes no difference.
But we’re steadily climbing out of the quicksand and eventually things will click.

Too much info. I hope Missus Aitch has a peep in here, catches you and batters you… I know she’s harder than you!

Messing about aside, Luis was a luxury we couldn’t afford at the time. I know all he did at/for the club. I was a fan. But we couldn’t carry that sort of player then. Bad choice of words but too drunk to change them and I reckon you know what I mean.

And I don’t think Aquilani will end up the sort of player who gives away the ball too cheaply. I’m just worrying about how long he will take to adapt… get the balance between risk and guile right. I hope, and I’ve a feeling, he will be alright.

Anyway, I’m off to bed now, but here’s a thought…
Reina
Johnson, Carra, Agger, Aurelio
Masch

Gerrard, Aquilani, Yossi

Pacheco
Torres

No way will Rafa play it, but I’d love to see that against Arsenal.

Fortunately, she rarely comes close enough to read the screen FS.
She pokes her head in me office, sees the Koblog screen and just rolls her eyes and says “Are you talking footy again, I thought you were supposed to be working?”

But yes, she’s well harder than me!

aquilani + ngog + pacheco

Sods law we get punished twice from the right. Unfortunately young Darby has not done himself any favors last night, yes difficult time to come in but on the evidence, Kelly is a much better prospect, going forward and in defense. It was a pity Degen was not registered as I would have liked to keep the momentum going and we could have done without conceding soft goals.

Interesting game and I very much liked what I saw in Aquaman (is there a song from Jethro Tull in the works, sitting on a park bench, snot running down his nose, aqualung my friend) you can see he has great technical ability as well as vision, the rustiness and match fitness will come right very soon. What impressed me most was his speed of the mark and his running into space and his desire to attack. He is very much more in the Xabi and Iniesta mould of midfield players then the Alonso sitting deep and spraying passes. I am getting very excited as to what he will bring to the team once every body is fit. The flicks don’t concern me he was trying to hard to impress in his first outing he will settle down.

What was also interesting was the difference Torres made when he came on, the while completion of the game changed you could almost sense it. Benny was very much off the pace and under par last night and I agree with FS Kuyt gives absolutely nothing as a lone striker and should be banned from playing there. Ngog (I know he needed a rest) is by far the better option when Torres is out.

A lot of their attacks came down the left hand side (their right) and Insua has a tendency to ball watch, while Dossena had a decent enough game, missed a few good chances but tended to leave Insua isolated. This happens with new combinations so it was to be expected. I was surprised not to see Aurelleo start at the back in order to give him some match time. He was lost in the middle when he replaced Mach which led to the goal when we lost his defensive cover.

Pacheco oozed class and its time he sat on the bench and be introduced more to get him acclimatized to the Prem. Yes slowly but he does not look out of is depth even at 18 and he could be a very good option for us to change things.

Yes a meaningless match but important in certain aspects. A pity we shipped that late goal but it was a youngster’s mistake so forgivable especially in the context of the game. It will take some time but this team could be awesome when everyone is match fit and we gell as a team. I was very surprised that El Zhar did not feature, I wonder if he picked up another knock. I would have preferred him up front alone if Ngog was rested, because I think Kuyt needs a rest as well. What gives with Reira as well I know he was way off the pace against Blackburn but I thought he would have been given a run out instead of Dossena if he is to be sold in Jan. Disappointed but not too disappointed if you know what I mean. Well done Gerry thank goodness I did not have to read his shit and it was deleted before I logged on. Enough is enough

Regarding little Luis,
i was reading about him the other day, he has now left A/Madrid after making about 7 starts for them and has now gone on to R/Santander where he cant get a game for them either even if the lowliest of players are fit,
the A/Madrid coach who signed Luis said he wished he never had and was one of the biggest mistakes of his football career.
How sad is that.
YNWA.

Aitch I would disagree with you when you say that Alonso was sold to raise funds – Xabi himself has come out to say that he wanted a new challenge but that Rafa’s attempt to sell him the previous year had badly upset him. In saying all that, Rafa did want to keep him this summmer.

As for last night: glorified friendly – happy to see Aquilani, Pacheco and of course Torres all get some time on the pitch. A draw would have been perhaps a fairer result. Shame that Darby made that last gasp error – but he’ll learn from that mistake. In my eyes Kelly is the better right back though.

As for the banning of Smith – obviously that is Gerry’s ultimate decision but it could potentially set a dangerous precedence. The user called Smith can simply re-register under a different name and continue as is. Now Gerry has said that he’ll know who he is..but unless he starts banning user IP addresses – you can’t really stop “banned” users simply choosing a different alias. What I’m getting at is that any potential dissenting voice could be deemed to be the new “Smith”. I would be more in favour of just ignoring their drivel (as long as it’s not racist, homophobic or any other form of hate speech – then ban)

i cant belive a fellow Red can ban another Red simply because he comes up with a different opinion! is this how small reality has been reduced to! its so tragic!

Nways abt last night’s game,am glad that Rafa finally started AA,hope to see much of him in a couple games and what is this am hearing abt Babel moving to Spurs?

Hello Fellow Reds, long time listener, first time caller. I’m from Melbourne, Australia and I haven’t had a chance to watch the game yet, ESPN is replaying at 1am this morning so I will record it to see Aquaman but it sounds like he went well. I’ve had the misfortune to read The Sun online today and it has made my blood boil. Do they not realise that half that team would not have started if this game meant anything to anyone? Talk about Liverpool-bashing. And all these idiots coming on here and saying the same shite. Get a grip!!

Sula, it wasn’t just an ‘opinion’ from Smiff, it was total bollocks & personal insults at fellow bloggers – or so I believe? This site is all about having an opinion, but then back it up with facts, figures & common sense…not personal insults & bullshit that was spewed by him/it!

That is sad news about Luis. I really like the lad. Oh well, he’ll always be a hero to the Kop.

Keith mate, as for the game last night and things in general really…
Well firstly, don’t take this wrong but nothing game or not, we are in trouble. The knives are really out over here mate, and if things don’t get turned round, and get turned round quick, things could turn very nasty very quickly.

In a way, I’m sorry I never got to see all The Smiths comments. There’s more and more of it each day. This is how they are now. You ask them for an alternative. They can’t come up with one. You try to talk to them and reason a few things out. You just get a load of abuse and they think anyone over 40 is an arsehole unless they are carrying on like them. 50… forget it. You’re already in God’s waiting room.

But it’s growing and growing. They listen to TalkShite, watch Sly, read the Daily Manc and fall for it hook line and sinker.

Over here on Sly the experts were, Klinsman, Souness and Wilkins… mischief making at it’s finest. Souness was his usual – pure bitter nasty bastard. Klinsman was his usual – rabbit caught in the headlights. Hasn’t got a clue. But then that’s not why he’s there. We all know why he is.
Wilkins… well have to give the lad his due. They tried to set him up, and what with him being a Chelsea coach and ex-Manc legend, they must have thought they’d hit the mother lode.
Funny enough the lad was very logical and tried to explain some of Liverpool’s problems. So, he was soon shut up and glossed over.

Then after the game last night, I put TalkShite on just to see how bad it was like. It couldn’t have got much worse. That Collymoore is really stoking the fires now. And it’s working.

One funny note though, some Scouse lad rang in and he started on Collymoore…. “But you wasted your talent Stan.”

As it went on, it got worse… “You didn’t even turn up for training.” You was a bad influence in the dressing room and for the young lads.”

The lad kept dead calm and just kept giving it to him. Collymoore lost the plot and started screaming in that horrible accent. The fella with Stan kept trying to cut in but Stan lost the plot and wanted a screaming match.

The lad just kept dead calm… “But how can you slag Rafa off Stan?” “You didn’t even stay in the game.” “We all know what you did… in car parks and pubs…. even hitting women and that.” “In fact, how did you get a job in the media… is it just because everytime you write something or open your mouth it’s just to slag off Rafa and LFC?”

Collymoore went proper balistic. The lad just kept dead calm and giving it to him… all truth an all. It was great. But the fella with Stan cut it off and went to adverts. And someone must have calmed the thick bastard down in the break. Funny, really funny, while it lasted though.

But anyway, me point is… This shit is growing and growing. The only way to stop it, is to start bloody winning again. And I’m sure we will, but it has to start soon or I fear for the worst. And whether you like Rafa or not, well, even if you are in the Rafa Out Camp… I tell you know, if we sack him or he walks while them other two are in charge, we are in deep deep trouble.

Arthur… they are too clever to say anything racist or any other ist.

And I have actually stated many times, that we need different opinions in here. What we don’t need is people carrying on like that.

I actually got a laugh out of his shite. I couldn’t wait for him to get home off the bin round and kick off. But in seriousness, we could do with some Rafa dissenters. The thing is, no one puts forward a decent argument.

They just end up going on one and getting abusive. As I say, I get a laugh out of it, but it has already driven away several decent people… Alec and Aussie Kopite for sure. And what’s happened to Jack and Knight. I know gentlemen like them can’t stand seeing that sort of stuff.

But the thing is… you won’t get an intelligent Rafa out post. Because, fact is, right now, there’s no alternative.

We are not seeded fer Europa league.

Juventus anyone?

Ace blog as usual Gerry & shame ye had to delete the comments from a certain smiffy as me was curious to see what the fuss was all about.

FS,

I wish i could watch it through youtube or something.

(**China banned Youtube**)

FS,
i know some of the lads dont bother in here much now because of the chuckle brothers, but the CBC bought me back in, i was like old mother riley rolling my sleeves up ready for a go, alas the level head of Gerry has stepped in, never mind eh, (where’s that fuckin dog).
YNWA.

2 points out of a possible 12 V Cortina and Lyon is laughable.We could only score 2 V Debrecen and finished with a -2 GD. Atletico finished bottom of thir group, yet they won 2-1 @ Anfield in August.Still can’t defend crosses and another howler of a game from Kuyt-1 goal in over 2 months.Cortina had a reserve team out last night and Aquili looks nowhere near as good as Overmars or Petit.
As the Kop mag said in August, “we are sick of waiting, now is the time to win the title”.Taggart rattled in 92 points in his sixth season and Wenger scored 90 in his fifth.Guive the job to Hiidink now or Lippi after the world cup.With Jose going to Cita, we will be lucky to remain in the top 10 if Rafa stays.Evans and Ged finished 3rd and 4th in their final season, so why should Rafa get special treatment?.Big Ron was fired after 5 seasons and he got within 4 points of the title!.

Why do the likes of Smiff get banned for getting personal and abusive and the likes of FS remain in here,isnt that double standards! well i guess some one said it,when someone doesnt agree with FS is regarded a traitor,and its so sad that Gerry has fallen for that too!

Personally I think Rafa got it wrong last night, yes we do not know the injury situation, who is carrying knocks or who did not recover from the Blackburn game. It very easy for us to spout our armchair expertise from the side with nobody holding us accountable. Saying that I cannot for the life of me understand why Darby was played unless Johnson was injured. We have just got our defense back to where we need it. To throw in a youngster and not even our first choice youngster (Kelly is, I understand he is injured and Degen was not registered) was asking for trouble. We needed to continue on our run even if it was just a draw. Aurelleo and Johnson should have played as wing backs and you could maybe sub them on the hour but it would have given us a solid platform to attack from as well as width. Benny looked tired and why was EL Zhar not given a run out and Reira, as well as Kuyt a rest. Why play Dossena when he has been frozen out for the entire year, with rumors of him going in Jan. Rafa makes decisions that drives me crazy at times. Yes he is hands on and has all the details but still it can be frustrating. Lucas could have been on the bench and come on for Masch to keep it tight, the Aurelleo switch made no sense, he was a yard off the pace in the middle.

Sula if you don’t like it you can always leave in solidarity with your soul mate. Makes us all suffer the from the lack of your wisdom and insight by staying away that is the best punishment you could inflict on us, I am already trembling at the thought.

FS or anyone,

Regarding #91, can we get it in Youtube or something?

I’d love to see it and forward to my friends.

@burgerman
i wouldnt want Rafa to leave now but i want him to understand that whateva he did at Valencia has failed to work at liverpool,its a different league and has its own demands!

Can anybody remember the last time the Mancs conceded a goal in the last 10 mins that changed the result of a game?.Rafa inherited a Valencia side that had been in consecutive CL finals.He didn’t have to contend with Taggart in Spain.We are no better than 1998 or 2004.If Riera wasnt good enough for Cita, how could he be good enough for Anfield?.The scouting system needs to improve radically!.After season 5, Taggart improved the team from 78 to 92 points, the rest is history.We need a massive clear out, starting with Kuyt,Riera etc.

Only could get to see the first half last night – from what I seen of Aquilani – I was impressed although he will need more time though to be on the same wave length as the rest – but some of his passing was good didn’t look laboured, would be a bit concerned about his tackling,

Didn’t see Pacheco but have heard good things – was he any good ?, do you think he can make the step up ?

What about Della Valle – I heard he was the next up and going youngster we got – can anybody who watched the reserves confirm if he’s any good – used to be able to watch them but since me dodgy box is gone can’t

@KeithSA
i have neither the time or the inclination of takin seriously wateva u want to throw at me but my opinion remains some1 shouldnt be banned because he doesnt agree with you! so many folks have said too much shit that i dont agree with,i have been called names by the likes of FS,but have i ever pushed for his banning from this forum? i thought we were all old enough to contain every one’s opinion!

Burgerman,
Ngog scored against them in the last minute to make it 2-0 for us,duh.

Burgerman,

At #103, you said “Can anybody remember the last time the Mancs conceded a goal in the last 10 mins that changed the result of a game?”

1) Manchester Derby: They conceded a goal against City, but were given seven minutes of extra time to score a winner

2) The game at Anfield this season. They were going for an equaliser until Ngog scored late on.

What do you have to say?

CBC RIP 2004-2009

The Mancs didn’t lose any points in those games by conceding a goal in the last 10 minutes.Read the question carefully!.Can you remember a game where they conceded a goal in the last 10 mins that cost them 1,2 or 3 points?.Happened to the Reds 3 times in the CL this season.Careless teams do not win titles.

Seriously though lads, don’t respond to big-mac’s barbed comments. He has a lot to say but doesn’t know why he’s saying it. FFS his favourite word is etc – says it all. Never once has he detailed why this or that should be done – it just should because he/she said so.

As for aquaman last night, he sort of just drifted out of the game last night, which is probably understandable considering that he hasn’t played that much.

Some nice touches but too many fancy flicks but as someone said earlier that this was probably because he felt that he had to impress. The lad has the weight of expectation on his shoulders.

What I did see last night from him is that he gets forward well and if he can head a ball then we could be quids in. His timing of runs is good and has also the awareness of the space around him. Always has his head up and can tackle a bit to. All-in-all not too shabby.

Hopefully the rust will fall-off very quickly because we need it to.

Aitch, not a big fan of my Beattie proposal from the last blog then?

And with fan’s like you behind LFC how can we not win titles, it must really miff you and your sort.
YNWA.

Lurgankop,

I agree with you. Let’s forget about these attention seeking folks…

Well Sula all I can say is this blog is by far the richer for your pearls of wisdom so thoughtfully worked out, with tremendous wisdom, compassion and insight with regards to the Liverpool Way. I myself hang on to your every word, probably because I cannot read it or decipher what you are trying to say. Without CBC we would be a mere shadow of a blog with no real content. I am sure History will be kind to all you 2004 life time supporters.

Now now Keith.

Sula, Smith was a shit stirrer and didn’t hurl abuse in response to like being thrown at him… he just was abusive.
(I refer you to his comment I quoted in #68… and that was not his worst. THAT my friend is NO Liverpool Fan!)
I wouldn’t categorize you in the same mold, but you might want to beware of defending him.
For the time being, I think most people in here have given you the benefit of the doubt. Tempers have gotten frayed recently and Smith brought the whole tone of the blog down by yards.
People who normally wouldn’t be abusive started to get so because of him.

Most people in here won’t have a problem with you having a different opinion… just with the way you express it and back it up.

If your premise is “I have a different opinion and fuck you” then sorry to say, we don’t want you in here.

I rarely type a single paragraph in here. Not because I think what I have to say is all-important, but because I try to go to lengths to make sure people understand my points.
Its easy to read something and get the wrong end of the stick, even if you spend 2 paragraphs explaining it… so what chance one-liners?

Its one thing to say “I’m entitle to my opinion” but once we express that opinion, we are opening ourselves up to criticism of it… and yes at that point, we do need to justify it.

Otherwise, the option is to have your opinion and keep it to yourself.

(and Lurg… no not a particulalry big Beattie fan, but mostly don’t think he’d fit into our system)

@Gerry

I dont want to comment on Smith and whether he is mancs or not as i dont have an idea but what you have done is cut down his freedom of speech and to me thats quite cheap to say the least.

You have set a very dangerous precedent and i wont be surprised if i see myself,sula or anybody posting against Rafa or the team getting banned. Even if u do that Mr Gerry, i would like you to have a common yardstick and check what others specially FS,KiwiMark have posted here. Have a common yardstick to judge the comments.

@theRedMan

Answer what BurgerMan asked.

“Can you remember a game where they conceded a goal in the last 10 mins that cost them 1,2 or 3 points?.Happened to the Reds 3 times in the CL this season.Careless teams do not win titles.”

Match:

Aquilani comes in… Best thing to happen to us. I am not too bothered about the result yesterday. Lets win the battle on Sunday.

For as much as criticism i have got by the Rafa Brigade here, i would like to reiterate that you and I share a common passion for LFC. We will always have arguments regarding the manager and the quality of the team but our fundamental point of interest and passion remains the same.

@Aitch

Personal abuses..well its not what this site deserve but then abuse has been exchanged and not just thrown at one direction. So if u want to ban someone then ban both the parties. Lets be fair in our judgement.

Neways.. whats done is done. I from my end will try to maintain discipline w.r.t what i type from this point on.

‘freedom of speech’, do me a favour!

I did by allowing you to express what u wanted to. Hope that makes sense to you.

somnath07ins,
i cant remember last night i’m an alcoholic.

@theredman

ok. I will take that. He made an important point though. Remember 4-4 against Arsenal? Amazing match.. but we were careless in defense which cost us 2 points and was a body blow to our superb title challenge.

remember to pick-up your jiro for the weekend redman!

Ah shit Redman, bad joke. Just remembered your circumstances.

No offence intended mate. Sorry about that.

Ah no offence taken my friend,
just glad to be back online and in here with everyone again, but its like what Aitch has said above, lately you need to be more than a couple of paragraphs long to explain oneself properly and i did not with answering burgerman, but i stand by what i should have said is that “when we played the mancs Ngog scored in the last minute so effectively the result was 2-0 instead of 1-0 voila changed result.
YNWA.

Lads it good to see most people are still positive about our season, instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water.
.
How anyone can think the game was anything other than a half arsed friendly is beyond me.
.
Ford Cortina still had top spot to play for we had nothing other than losing more players to injury.
.
The positives on the night far outweighed the negatives, several injured players returning and getting some game time.
.
Young players getting valuable experience.
.
Fill in keeper getting a well earned run.
.
No body injured.
.
Yes I know losing gets fans frustrated but when it’s basically a pre season friendly we all really just value the run.

Gaz I am actually very positive. If you think we have basically a half fit squad, yes if people cannot see that Gerrard, Benny, Aurelleo, Torres and Aquaman are not fully fit and are certainly not playing any where near there best just yet, Kuyt is knackered from playing every single game, Insua must also be a bit knackered of the team that played the other night, throw in a Kid on the right, is it any wonder things are not quite gelling at the moment. The others like Reira, woefully short of match fitness, same goes for El Zhar, Babel is injured, Agger, Degen and Johnson just back from injury, with Lucas and Ngog (22 and 19) being relied on far too much yet have manfully risen to their respective tasks and proved their worth then they cannot be the sharpest tool in the box. With what I saw from the man called Aqua and the sheer class of Torres when he came on, when Gerrard starts to fire as we know he can and we get back into a rhythm, with Johnson storming down the right and a fit Reira down the left, not to mention Benny and Agger as goal threats this team is quite capable of going on a charge like nobodies business, steam rolling team aside. We need to lift them and get behind them because it is only a matter of time before we start firing and playing then way we finished of last year

Burger Man… you’re an idiot.
Sula… you’re a prick.
Somanth… you are one lying bastard.

There you go. How’s that you shower of shite.

Gerry banning me would be doing me a favour keeping me away from twats like you.

Thank the good Lord you will never darken the doors of Anfield… you fucking morons. Go and support the Mancs. You’re not wanted at Liverpool.

Alright lads haven`t been in or a week or so.I`d love to say i was staying out because of some of the vile posted in here but i actually had a problem with the oul broadband.

I missed all the fun.For christ sake why couldn`t this happen during the international break or when we win and the chuckle bro`s are nowhere to be seen.

Dissappointing result last saturday but to take the positives it was another clean sheet(haven`t heard the Zonal thing lately??).

Wednesday was a glorified friendly and even though the result was irrelevent nobody likes losing.

Positives from wednesday…

1.Aqualini finally getting some real game time.

2.Pacheco.Promising from the young lad.Have been watching him for a while in the ressys and like what i see.

3.Return of Torres.Looked sharp and hungry,boeds well for sunday.

Negatives.

1.Stephen Darby.Unfortunately he`s slightly out of his depth at that level.Will do well to have a future at LFC but i wish him well.

2.Kuyt.He looks absolutely shattered IMO and needs a rest.I thought he should have got it last night but it wasn`t to be.

3.Obvious one,the result.Even though we were out it would have been nice to sign off with a win.Winning breeds confidence.

Redmen good to see your back and well and ready for the fight.Pity Gerry shot down your number one target before you got your teeth into him.He was a wind-up merchant anyway or else just a complete dickhead.Both me says.

Before i forget super stuff there Gerry keep up the good work and the good fight.

We have to get fully behind the redmen for the Xmas period and beyond.

Welcome back Mr Redman. It’s good to see old friends (and even worthy foes) again. Sorry indeed to hear you have not been well, but I guess being a granda makes up for some of the stuff you’ve been through.

And as one friend returns one rather irritating git gets the boot. Thumbs up from me Gerry as, to be honest, I had begun to despair with the heavy, lumpy abuse coming from you know who. Good riddence.

Actually I’ve started to skip any posts coming from that gang as it is pointless. It’s easy to sit down and write what you think is wrong and wrap it in a Rafa-Out. But it’s soooo boring children. What people here have asked you do is give us your alternative, give us your way forward?

I didn’t see the game last night so (I don’t count highlights, and I’ve also given up listening to Ray Houghton, Ronnie Whelan, Graham Souness et al), guess what, I can’t make a relevent comment beyond saying it was good to see Pachego playing.

Sorry to hear that things are building up such a negative head of steam down Liverpool way Fatty. It does not help the team in any way at all.

I have a feeling the Arsenal game is now the latest (Manc-magnitude) must-win game.

A defeat here would be a right kick in the goolies. At the same time it should be a good game, and, to be fair, there is always a chance to play good ball, and score against them. We’ll have to play as well as we can, given our erratic, error strewn season that’s asking a lot tho’.

I reckon Rafa will start with Torres and Stevie, flanked by Benny O and Kuyt with the usual 6 behind them. Can’t see Nemo in the mix from the outset. I think this game is absolutely crucial for confidence and also it keeps us ticking along with the Arse. We need it now precisely because we are not playing well, not confident and because of the negativity around the club and on the lips of many of our own supporters. We will come good at some stage (Burgerman) but we got to limp along for now. Fingers crossed that we scrape a 2-1 with a glorious Dirk miss hit. Anything will do.

Now I know Burgerman/Sula/kopking/ ??? you won’t like to read that. Somehow that we, the mighty Liverpool, are hoping on a wing and a prayer, that we somehow get the better of Arsenal. That we, the mighty Liverpool, are in fact struggling for form and confidence. But that’s reality my friends. And the reality is that we don’t have the pick of players or managers or owners and we can’t just sweep the whole lot of the board and start again in January. That is our reality lads so get down and dirty with the team and the manager and us lot too. Or else … well check out Fatty’s advice for example.

Hi all,

posting for the first time, having been told about this site by a mate. I live in Australia and, not being a rich man who can afford Sky Sports on pay TV, I don’t get to watch full matches often. I generally have to make do with Champions League games on free-to-air, so with the Reds now in the Europa League I won’t be seeing them much again this season.

Thought I might contribute my view regarding some of the issues, large and small, that seem to get discussed here. I’ll try and post when I can but I’m often busy and there will be times when I won’t be able to make it here, or I might only be able to post one thing before I have to leave again. As for my views, I’m not hopeless romantic, nor a pessimist, I think of myself as being more realistic about what I expect from the club.

I only saw the goals from the disappointing loss to Fiorentina. The Italians did have much more to play for but I was still hoping to see a performance that would lay the foundations for Anfield to be a fortress once more. Alas, it was not to be. Ultimately, to me this CL campaign has been awful, especially as we managed a just single draw from the big meetings with Lyon & Fiorentina, and small wins against Debrecen, who got consistently thumped by the others. Late goals cost us three times, but a goal counts just as much whether its scored in the first or last minute, and overall Lyon & Fiorentina deserve their qualification.

Of course, injuries have seriously upset the side’s momentum this season, but in my opinion every club has to deal with injuries at some point and I can’t help but feel like there should be more of a back-up when this occurs. Yes, we don’t have the same financial power as Man Utd or Chelsea, but we’re horribly threadbare once our first XI gets broken up. This is particularly manifesting itself in our defence, which so far is keeping a clean sheet only every fourth game or so. We’re conceding 1.26 goals per game this season, as opposed to about 0.8 or 0.9 per game across last season.

It was good to hear that Aquilani made a decent impression on his full debut (Pacheco too). I’m still concerned about the decision to spend 17M quid on a fragile guy who has a patchy injury history (averaging just 26 matches for club & country across the last 3 seasons), and is entering a notoriously physical league. He’s now ready, but it’s a bit too little, too late and the club is pretty much out of contention for major honours.

Committing to this purchase, the likes of Michael Turner were financially beyond us from then on, and we haven’t nearly as much depth as is desirable. I watched Wes Sneijder put in another great game for Inter yesterday and wondered what might have been if we’d gone in for him, as Inter got him with 15M euros and a bit of persistance.

Looking on, Arsenal this weekend, and I think this is a big test for both sides as we’ve both trying to recover some momentum at the moment. After that it’s Wigan, Pompey & Wolves, and that should see us take a helpful 9 points.

In conclusions, I think it would do more harm than good to get rid of Benitez, I still think we’ll be top 4 by season’s end, and I’m prepared to think of season ’09/10 as just one of those times when things go awry (it happened to Arsenal last season), but as I’ve outlined, there’s a few things that make me wonder whether things might have been made just a bit better than they are.

That’s enough from me for my first post, hope you all have a good day and let’s roll the Gunners on the weekend.

Sula,
first you have to understand one thing. Your pal Smith, who you seem to want to defend repeatedly made comments like…
“let’s see what the benefit brigade has to say this time!!”
… that’s not an individual insult hurled at one poster. It is a fundamentally disrespectful statement made against everyone from Liverpool. Its racial, its prejudice, its downright, bang out of order.
And if you don’t understand that, then you need to do a bit of research before your next posting.

I caution you to distance yourself from him and his posts.

One of Somnath’s recent posts included the following jibe, “the Rafa Brigade led by ring leader Fake Scouser”

Now FS doesn’t need me defending him, he’s perfectly capable of defending himself, but I will say this… because it applies to a lot of other lads in here.

I’ve been coming into Kopblog for the better part of 4 years. Initially I didn’t start slinging my weight around. I read what people had to say, tried to glean as much info as I could, from their posts, about their background and experience, and when I did start posting my own opinions, got into some great discussions with people who both agreed with me and disagreed with me.

Sometimes, its easy to forget that you are not all native born sons. I count myself lucky to be a born and bred scouser, but I also recognize that that isn’t a necessary requirement to be a died in the wool Red!

Like me, FS was born and raised in Liverpool. Like me, he’s played competitive footy on more than one continent. Like me, he has coached the game competitively. Like me, he’s been lucky enough to stand on the Kop and cheer teams past and present.

I know these things, because I’ve been coming in here a long time. So surely you can understand how those of us who have been around a while, simply cannot take anyone seriously who refers to the man as the “ring leader Fake Scouser”?

Its not just insulting. Its not just daft. Its fuckin ignorant!

Pretty much everyone who is trying to look on the positive side of things right now, is backing up their reasons for it, by listing what those positives are, and more impotantly, WHY they feel these things are positives.
We only ask that those in the negative do the same.

And if you don’t like that standard… there are plenty of forums out there, where you can go to sling mud with no consequences.

I and many others in here, would prefer that this place stay more civilised.

And on that note. FS #127… behave lad!

… oh.. and Arthur, re#88.
Yes, I know he wasn’t strictly sold for funds, I understand the circumstances surrounding the departure of Alonso, but ultimately that’s what it comes down to, when you consider, we didn’t even spend all of his transfer fee on replacements (direct or otherwise)

Well said Aitch. I too have been commenting here for 4 years now, but before that I stayed away for commenting for about 1 yr (i would pop in, read the blog and comments).

Its not that I thought i couldnt contribute or state my opinion, it was because of the wonderful and insightful comments made by the other posters. I have learnt a great deal from the other lads, even lads i dont always agree with.

I have been here for almost 2 years now.
Though has been a Red supporter for more than 17 years now, but currently benefitting from the comments and information that I learnt from the inputs by the guys.

Well said Aitch, Akka & Skeat. Can’t say I’ve ever stood on the Kop, but I’ve been supporting the Reds for 30+ years (out of South Africa), as have my 3 brothers – one of whom lives in the UK & gets to see at least 3 games per season at Anfield. And I have only been visiting this blog for about a year, and like Akka, have kept schtum as I’ve believed that I could learn a lot more from the likes of TT,FS, LB, Aitch etc than by actually posting any comments. It was just a pity that the blog was soiled by the likes of (you know who) – never any basis or facts to their arguments – unlike LB. Anyway, on to Sunday’s game: I for one am pretty happy that we are playing a team who are as short/small as us, and like tpo play footer – not a route one side with half a dozen 6 foot+ players in their side.

Please, please can we just get back to discussing the footie & just plain ignore these twats.

Ignore em & they will go away.

They only keep lingering around because many of us here explode in anger at some of the comments.

Ye can detect the glee in their posts as it sets off many a punter here on a looong rant.

Again, me implore ye to just IGNORE their posts.

When required, the administrator of this blog will do the necessary. Its his blog, so its up to Ole Ged.

Sorry Puchong. Forgot to add that Eboue & Bendtner are out injured, and Fabregas & a couple of others are carrying knocks as well.

(*SORRY OFF TOPIC*)

Aitch: Ever heard of a band called Manilla Road? Obscure power metal from the States.

If ye have not, pls check this out: http://rapidshare.com/files/195926310/90-MR-TDLG86_by_Tebymetal.rar

Its a download link to their classic LP The Deluge.

Enjoy!

To everyone else, many apologies fer this non-footie transmission & have a great weekend!

Nay apologies required Rafalution.

Good news on Bendtner. Fer some reason our back line seems to have forgotten how to defend against aerial threats.

Strange. Don’t know why but its good their battering ram is out.

i have been following this blog over a year now and have been supporting this club for over 20 years out of malaysia. I must say that spending 1 year reading the blogs and comments here have certainly enriched my knowledge of the club many many times and my love for it has been elevated to greter heights. thanks to all the knowledgeable fans here for their insights and excellent opinions backed up with sound arguments.

i still remember my first comment here was “challenged” by Aitch and after a few comments later, I realized that my way of putting forward opinions are not right! i started to observe and learned from the more experienced people and what can i say. it has been fruitful since and personally i’ve gained so much by reading and seeing how arguments are countered in an insightful manner despite the occasional foul mouthed words!

Thanks and keep it up lads! YNWA has so much more meaning to me now than ever!

I am a follower of this blog for two years and I supported the club since 2001. This blog and its comments have taught me a lot of things. For example, I never knew that this club has seven trophy-less years despite being managed by Bill Shankly.

My love for the football club has never been stronger. From what I learned, this club different from the rest because this club is not destined for greatness, instead it worked hard to attain greatness and become what it is today. Thus, I can understand why Fat Scouser would say that Liverpool would be just like any other clubs in England if it wasn’t for Shankly.

Well my name is Digger and I’ve been following the blog for 5yrs, posting for 3, I like dinner and a movie and long walks on the beach and….oh and Aitch is my most favourite poster and….FFS! Come back Smith! All is forgiven! Fricken circle jerk in ‘ere! Fatty you daft ol git get in here and abuse someone, Keith prattle on about about injuries and net spend and so forth, Aitch, well….well Aitch your my most favourite heh heh! Come on lads, its a flippin sewing circle in here this morning

Wicked humour Digger.

Thought that you would be interested in this digger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ8qNT9fca8&feature=channel

Ooooohhh!….I’ll make one for Aitch!….

Hey Digger boy, nothing like a bit of Love eh !
No harm in people expressing a bit of interest and appreciation and you never know you may have a few “fans” out there yourself. To all The mini-Diggers out there… It’s safe to come out now … sort of.

Good spot there Raffalution 133 (more love Digger). It’s true it’s a match up between 2 of the smaller teams in the EPL. Let’s see if the lads can remember how to play footie after the recent blitz.

I am actually a little bit more positive now that I think about it. I know they always score against us but we have banged in a fair few ourselves. I wonder would Babel (no-one has mentioned him for a while i.t.o. football) have a role in this game. Possibly not a starter but he would be a good option if we need to push for the game later. I assume tho’ he’s still injured.

Lurgann
iv’e had a go at that and its shite it does’nt work, so i ended up making a willy warmer, that did’nt feel comfortable so tha missus undone it and made the 2 grandkids cardigans (only kidding it was 1 cardie)
Well one of LFC’s greatest managers ever Souness reckons the Reds are going into melt-down ?

Well it tis the season I guess Dougle! Shouldent that read ‘one of LFC’s greatest players ever’ Redman? Well, thats how I prefer to remember him. Good to have you back btw. Anyone heard from Kenny Dalglish LFC legend lately?

Lurgan mate… There was that many of us in our family, and we were that poor that there wasn’t enough clothes to go round. So, me mother croutched me a hat so I could look out the window at The Anfield floodlights.

Can’t really be arsed with all this. How long’s it gone on. And more to the point.. how f-in long will it go on.

As Rafa puts it, here’s a few facts…
These people came in here and at first were met with a lot of civility and patientce. People really went to lengths to explain a few things.

We all know where the abuse started, and the effect it’s had on this place. Well, like I’ve said a million times, you can get a little snap shot of what’s happening in the real world from this blog.

More and more people moaning and whingeing with no understanding of the situation. Booing players and ranting against the manager… FFS last season there was even boos for a draw against West Ham that sent us to the top of the table.

And next time you watch the game on telly, take a look at the crowd as the camera’s crawl across them during YNWA.

Half of them don’t even know the bloody words to our anthem. They stand there like rabbits caught in a headlight or take pictures of the few remaining people who try to get behind the team and support them in their efforts.

Well, there’s more and more of them at each game. And there’s even more jumping on the forums and phone ins to attack what they pretend to support.

And it’s always the same ignorant substance-less nonsense… look at our own little band wagon jumpers. These fellas can’t even come in here after we win, with words of support. They just lurk about the edges, like vultures, waiting for the next setback so they can pounce.

FFS a draw at Blackburn – especially with injured players trying to claw their way back to form and fitness – is not a bloody bad result.

Blackburn have lost one bloody game at home all season. Yet, bang… soon as the ref blows the whistle, they are like Jackals picking over the carcass.

In my book, if you care for something you don’t kick it in the face when it’s down.

Now I’ve been accused of an awful lot of things in here and called loads of things from a fake to a bum.

And not that I need to explain or justify myself to these sort of people but the fact is…
I have always tried to contribute. I have always tried to educate when I thought someone was wrong, and I’ve appologised when I’ve been in the wrong.

I’ve also got tickets for anyone who has ever asked me, and I’ve went out me way to arrange it and meet them. I’ve always made sure they was only ever charged face value, even though arranging this can cost a few quid. I’ve met them home and away. I even went up to Liverpool one time to meet someone, when I really couldn’t do it for quite a few reasons. And when it has been impossible to met them myself, I’ve had friends of mine met them and take care of them.

In fact, I’ve always made people very welcome, taken them around, given them the tour from a local’s perspective, went for a few pints with them and introduced them to people. And I’ve done that for people I’ve never always agreed with, or even known… sometimes arranging this for people in this blog who’s family or friends have been going to the match.

I’m not moaning. It’s actually been a pleasure to do it. I will never forget the look of delight on Knight’s face as the goals went in and the ref blew the final whistle against the Mancs. But that man had suffered through two terrible performances before that, after going to big expense and effort to get to the games.

But, except for me cutting him off from 2 rather lovely young ladies – he never complained about anything. In fact, we had a great time that day, and Knight even made it onto the BBC…
giving an interview about our problems this season. But not once moaning, and not once blaming the only people who are trying to put it right.

And the only reason I say all that is to explain one thing… I’m no saint. But I’ve always been hospitable and welcoming to anyone from anywhere. I actually enjoy showing people round Anfield. It will sound daft, but I see it as a sort of duty, a sort of, well, put it this way…

On my European football travels, I’ve made some great friends – as has our whole club. There’s nothing like going to say Porto or Atletico Madrid meeting the locals, playing them footy in the square, drinking and singing together. It’s brilliant.

We are not like other clubs. Liverpool fans make friends all over the world, even in places where other English clubs riot. And these things cause long term good will for our club….
there’s still lads who come to Anfield from Mounchengladbach since 77. They’ve become life long friends of the club and even passed it down to next generations. It’s a truly great and unique thing about our club.

It goes from the terraces to the boardroom… look at what happened when the coach of that little Irish team called Anfield and asked for a match. That sort of little hospitable friendly gesture, is what makes us special.

But I’m not going to stand by and silently watch some fools damage the very thing they pretend to love. And that goes from the terraces to the boardroom an all.

I don’t do it in real life. I won’t do it in here. I’m not some silly old keyboard warrior though. I do exactly the same thing at the match. In fact, I thought I was going to get a good hiding in Budapest for turning on a crowd of young fellas who were booing the team and Rafa.

What sort of fella stands round while his life long friend is being battered? Not fucking me anyway.

The fact is, we all know there are problems at Anfield. None of us are happy with what is going on, but even some of Rafa’s worse critics can see the reasons why and use a bit of logic with their critiscism.

It’s hilarious really…
“When did Man U give up a goal that late?”

What the fuck that has got to do with anything is beyond me. But, as several people pointed out…
Anfield! NGog! 2 fucking Nil!

They don’t even know something as basic as that, but use it as some sort of silly stick in their Arsenal. And that’s what it has become… a constantly shifting array of barbs to attack the club with.

Shifting goalposts I usually call it, but it’s far worse… it’s picking another weapon to fit the scenario. And it’s always the same I, I, Me, Me, give me, give me…
“I want Lippi. Hiddink, Cappello, and god forbid, even Maureenio.”

It’s christmas and my 4 year old grandaughter now sits on the couch next to me, watching toy after toy advertisment…
“I want that.” I want that.” I want that.”

Not much point in trying to explain to her, that I can’t give her them all or afford them all. And seeing she’s only 4, it looks like I’ll have to put up with that for a few years yet. Same in here, I suppose.

So, fuck it. There’s footy to be played this weekend. I reckon we can do this lot and start moving up the table.

Aquilani looks a player to me… Maybe he might just become the Terry McDermott type, that I reckon this team has been screaming out for.

Redman,you still haven’t answered the question I posted earlier.When did the Mancs concede a goal in the last 10 mins that cost them 1,2 or 3 points?.It happens so rarely, I can only remember Dan Murphy in Jan 2002.Paisley and Shanks teams rarely conceded match changing positions, thanks to superior mental and physical strength-the hallmark of champions!.QED.

Can’t you just feel the love in here.

Enjoy your cardie redman. Just in time for crimbo.

I know that it’s early days for aquaman but I think that he would be perfect to play just behind torres (or beattie – couldn’t resist that one Aitch) and pull Gerrard back into midfield alongside masch/lucas. From what I’ve seen of him he can spot a pass and times his runs into the box very well.

Fuck, I already salivatating at having Torres, Stevie G, and aquaman on the same field at the same time. Attacking from all angles.

Personally, I think that there’s a good chance that aqua will start on Sunday against Aresnal’s up and coming team – which they have been for the last 5 years! We shall have to wait and see.

Nice post FS and I know what you mean about the kids / society today. They are bombarded by crap continuously. As I said already, last year Santa brought me daughter a bike and what did she say? – ‘he forgot about the Nintendo DS’. One good slap later…

Anyway, this is a LFC footie blog so I shall leave it there. Away to look at some clips of T Mc D.

Not a bad start

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGYoTYAOSwY

BM, it is very easy to debate with you. You always debate with examples, not arguments. And football is so rich in statistics that for evry one you sprout out, i can come back with another. And you can surely with another, and round and round we go.

But I have some time free today, so here goes for the last 2 years.

08-09
Manchester United 2 – 2 FC Porto – Porto 89` Chelsea 1 – 1 Manchester United – Chelsea 80`
Liverpool 2 – 1 Manchester United – Liverpool 77`

07-08
Arsenal 2 – 2 Manchester United – Arsenal 90`
West Ham United 2 – 1 Manchester United – WH 82`
Manchester United 0 – 1 Portsmouth – Pmth 78`

This doesnt mean United are shite, cause there are many times they have scored in the last 10 as well. Hell last season we were making a habit of turning draws to wins and losses to draws in the last 10 mins. Some things need a bit more analysis than simple statistics.

YNWA

Ahhh….thats more like it! Me and Fatty: Ebenezer and Grinch! Good post. And I mean that. I think this game will be a corker on sunday. 2-2 I reckon. Arsenals innate instinct to attack should allow us to get at them too. Cant see us keeping them scoreless so it should bring us out of our shells. Maybe we can steal a late winner for a change?? My team would be: Pepe, Johnson, Carra, Dagger, Aurelio, Benni, Masch, Aquilani (just go for it), Dossena (great game wed), Stevie and Nando. Head:2-2, Heart:3-2.

It was a bloody terrible post Lurgan but it had to be said… it’s like inviting the burglars into your home.

Oh well, fuck them.

Do you remember a few months ago, I said we needed a Terry Mc type player, but they only come along once in a bluemoon. Well, hopefully it’s that time mate.

He looks the business to me. Bit concerened about the flicks and tricks, but I’m sure he’ll soon learn to time them and they’ll become a great weapon.

The 2 things we’ve been lacking all season…
A settled defence attacking the ball, and that bit of guile that not only keeps the ball moving but keeps the football flowing. We’ve seen none of that high tempo pressing game this season. Get that back and a bit of solidity at the back, and we’re in business.

As for Arsenal and the 5 year thing… I love Wenger. I think he’s a great manager. And don’t forget, The Mancs would have been out of sight by now if it wasn’t for him. But the fact is… It’s not just the last 5 years. Wenger has actually let 2 title winning teams age and fall apart without replacing them in time – even when there was money at his disposal. And I don’t think they are out of the woods yet.

And look at what has happened to our 2 clubs in the last 5 seasons….
One club has won 1 European Cup, reached another final and two semi finals. They’ve won an FA Cup. And got within two – yes 2 – goals of winning the title, finishing the season with a club and league record haul of points while not winning the title.
The other one hasn’t… even though they had good owners, a settled board, plenty of money, much more resources than us, bigger stadium etc, and had the platform of 2 title winning teams to build on.

Which leads me to something. I should just let it go now, and I should know better, but…
BM, what the fuck has that silly unrelated question got to do with anything?

Man United have won how many titles in the last 20 years?

It’s about as relative to our situation as why hasn’t Arsenal won more. But you’re asking it as if it’s some sort of earth shattering revelation.

So, do you honestly not realise that there’s more on our plate to worry about?

Pearcey’s back with another one of his block rocking beats. Ho Ho Ho fellow Kopblogians! Yuletide merriment to you all, Ho Ho Ho.

Bhavster, in 2 of the games you mentioned the goals didn’t come in the last 10 mins!.In the remaining Prem games, the late goals conceded counted for nothing because the Mancs won the titles during all of those seasons.The Mancs reached 2 CL finals as well, so the late goials conceded turned it to be irrelevant.By contrast the last second goals conceded V Lyon knocked the Reds out of the CL!.QED.

Oh Dear No 10 feeling left out, merciful bead heading is the third door to the right. Will somebody please say the wait with abated breath to see what Digger writes next or we will never here the end of it? I myself look forward to your post even if it to see if I can pick holes in it. I know it’s a back handed compliment but I am having a shitty day, make that year, queuing up for benefits does that to a person. I feel a T-Shirt in the making “Proud member of the Kopblog Benefit Brigade”. Give Rafa the Benefit after asll he has done and accomplished is what we are saying. Saying that I knew a bloke signing on in London, Irish lad whose preferred occupation was a Shepard, use to have me in stitches, lets see the fuckers find me job minding sheep in London.

FS you have insulted me terribly I thought by proximity of birth (St Helens) that I was a scouser, only for you to tell me I was a woolly back. Your explanation of that was better than the imagination, but does that make us a relation of the Aussies? That would be tragic. I listen to tapes of when we left and laughed at what I sounded like. You would have been able to understand Carra better.

The fact is this blog is a safe haven to fight, laugh, argue, reminisce and remind us of who and what we are by supporting this great Institution. It’s very easy to criticise and pull things apart, the trick is to do it constructively with better and well thought out argument that the usual he is shit get rid of him. Rather ask your self with what and who will do a better job under the same situation and limitations. No matter how much you swear and kick your donkey cart it isn’t going to turn into a Ferrari if you put Schumacher in the driver’s seat, it will still be a donkey cart until you have the money to buy something better.

3 points off 4th place remember, all is definitely not lost. I have a very strong feeling (like my bet with LB last year) that we will make a lot of people choke on all the bollocks they have spewed by the end of the season.

What’s this QED mean… quite errelevant discussion?

Is it not Queer Erect Dick?

Keith, I’ve just wasted half hour of me life rooting round for that clip of Shankly talking about the Kop… “It’s like a family.”

It doesn’t matter where you’re from mate. But sadly we all have a brother, sister, cousin, uncle whatever, that we’d like to kick up the arse and tell to get a grip.

Quite eliterate

Irrelevant.It means point/argument proved.

Oh dear. Point proved. HA! What fucking point would that be?

I’m Quite Eliterat indeed, Terry. But you forgot to add Div on the end.

Quod erat demonstrandum….the point has been demonstrated. Have you forgotten your Latin FS?

(Lurgan, you’re thinking of Julian Simmons)

LK, giro, not jiro as you posted earlier.Santa might bring you an OED for christmas!.

QED me arse… to prove a point you have to have one in the first place.

If me auntie had bollacks she’d be me uncle.

burgerman,
have you ever supported Liverpool Football Club?

Who needs a spell-checker with burgervan is in town? Did I speel twat wong?

MTMMC, are you from Norn Iron?

liquic… I doubt he’s ever supported anyone but himself.

But it’s actually quite hilarious… think of all the millions of really relevant things that have been mentioned in here and completely ignored, especially by the Anti-Rafa’s when it has put them on the spot.

But this one ridiculous irrelevant none point, is supposed to be treated as some sort of earth shattering revelation and point proved… point of what? And, even if it had a point, what does it prove?

Referees give Man Utd more extra time when they are behind. Proven fact.

But does it prove Liverpool would have won the league if they didn’t get the extra Fergie time, or that the Mancs wouldn’t have won it?

Does it shite. It’s nonsense. That’s why.

Sorry but on a youtube rage today – can’t be arsed checking that giro/jiro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KysjEyRsZ_k&feature=fvst

Can our FT be as good as him?

Burgerman,
you know an awful lot of stats for the mancs and your supposed to be an LFC supporter, me i know fuck all about them barring the obvious,18 titles, bacon face getting knighted and Ryan Giggs the greatest welsh international who could never be arsed playing for Wales.
Take your manc stats and shove them up your jacksie cos i aint bovvered they truly dont interest me, if i find an answer to your question will it give LFC 3 more points. Thank’s for the welcome back Digger and Dougal, honestly the kid’s of today tut tut.
YNWA.

Oh well, I’m off out but to put things in perspective…
If you think about it, another 2 goals last season, would have been enough to turn two of our draws into wins, two wins that would have won us the league.

Yep. That’s how close we came… Gerrard hitting the bar at Stoke. Gerrard’s perfectly legitimate goal against Stoke at home standing instead of being written off for no reason.

Had Torres be fit/fitter for two more games?

But the fact was, a little investment in the summer and we could have put that right.

Well all know what happened, and the fact is, in real terms, besides what he’s brought in, Rafa has spent nothing in the last two summers.

And this situation is getting worse… Rafa has brought in record profits for our club for each of the seasons he’s been in charge. But he’s been given less and less money. And now he has to use transfer money to negotiate new contracts with players.

And when all our woes are taken into consideration, it’s actually a miracle what we have achieved under Rafa. Yet because of this weird season we are in, some people want to just throw 5 years of progress out the window and start again.

FFS… start again with what?

If you honestly don’t believe that getting shut of Rafa would lead to disastorous consequences for our club, you are living in a dream world.

I have said many times what would probably happen if Rafa leaves. Why not stop and think what will most likely happen before coming out with ridiculous demands?

We would all like to see Rafa go out and buy the best of the best. But ffs, get in the real world. It’s actually not as bad as you like to make out…
Team, played, points…

Chelsea 15 36
Man Utd 15 34
Arsenal 14 28
Tottenham 15 27
Aston Villa 15 26
Man City 14 25
Liverpool 15 24

Coming fixtures….

Bolton – Man City

Chelsea – Everton

Tottenham – Wolves

Man Utd – Aston Villa

Liverpool – Arsenal

They could all drop points, but City, Man U, Arsenal… things go our way, things change dramatically. And that will be the case all season. We just have to keep the faith, and support, and hopefully we’ll finish this season like we have had in the past… winning more points than anyone else, and playing some great football.

Try it. You might even like it and get more fun out of it than moaning, whingeing, back stabbing and making a kneejerking fool of yourself.

Lurgan… he’s better!

BM, sorry i put 2 goals that were 12 and 13 minutes from the end instead of 10!!!

in all honesty, whats your point here – that the season Scums won the title, they did not concede many late goals, and the ones that they did, in the end, turned out to be irrelevant?? Well done for figuring that out.

YNWA

anyone read the report on soccernet that mascherano didnt give a direct answer on his contract talks? went round the bush a bit with his “i just want to give my best playing football for liverpool right now.” now that kind of response bugs me. there’s no torres or reina type declarations of “this is the only club for me” which put an end to any doubts about whether they are staying. our linchpin midfield for all you know could turn out to be lucas and aqua next season.

Sorry to divert the attention guys… but wid january window fast approaching and we are being linked wid quite a few names now… Van der vart and Ruud van Horseface and even recently that russian pavlo-something … Any thoughts on that ?? are they even real or just the usual media’s hit-in-the-dark attempt …

For me, we do need some back up as in someone who can play in stevie’s role as well as taking up a striking role … But do we really have any dosh ?? I remember wen the new sponsor deal was struck, there were “PROMISES” by the ever-lying yanks that Rafa’s gonna have some chunk of it for january window ….

Any inside news on probable january transfer targets ?? FS ??

Pearcey says the cupboards are bare!

Who knows Dizzy. Pigs might fly one day, but from all I know, and from past experience that we all, know… I very much doubt we’ll be seeing any new arrivals in January.

Which sort of answers Redneck too…
Rafa has now been told that any pay rises/new contracts have to come out of the transfer budget.

Out of all the senior pros/first team players, there’s only Pepe and Masch to tie up long term deals with.

I reckon come the summer, Masch will be let go of so as to fund any moves Rafa wants to make. Which is a shame and will probably get Rafa more stick from the “experts,” as they’ll only ignore the fact, that Rafa will have doubled LFC’s outlay on yet another player.

Well said rotund Liverpudlian

Redneck, that’s because Masch wants to go to Barca, simple as that. If he doesn’t get his dream move then I can see him signing a new contract with us but if Barca come in with a serious bid then it’s adios!

I said the Blackburn game had 0-0 written all over it. The Arsenal game definitely does not! 2-2 I reckon with a lot of chances squandered at both ends as well.

We’ll do them LB. And I think Masch is serious about staying in Liverpool, but I think he’ll be sacrified because the amount of money/profit we will make on him will allow Rafa to bring in a couple of new recruits.

HA! Cracker.

I just seen this. Normally I’d just post the link, but I think this was worth a cut and paste. Get in there Rafa lad….

Rafa Benitez has hit back at Graeme Souness after comments made by the former Liverpool manager that the club are on the verge of “meltdown”.

Wednesday’s Sky Sports studio panel of Souness and Jurgen Klinsmann were critical of the Reds after they succumbed to another late sucker punch in the UEFA Champions League which saw them lose 2-1 to Fiorentina.

Souness, who managed the club in the early 1990s, revealed his fear that his former club could capitulate should they fail to qualify for next year’s European competition.

But Benitez, who came close to leaving the club when American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks spoke to Klinsmann about the possibility of taking over from the Spaniard, was unfazed by the Scot’s comments.

“I switch off the volume of Sky,” Benitez joked to Sky Sports News. “I think they both have a fantastic record as a manager so the fans they know really well what they say.

“The club we have to win, we have a responsibility, we have to concentrate on our job and that’s it. If someone talks too much then that’s their problem but the fans know the records they have both as a manager is fantastic.”

Fernando Torres, who Souness fears will leave the club if they do not clinch Champions League football next term, conceded earlier on Friday that he thought Liverpool were out of the title race.

But Benitez was not yet ready to give up on hopes that the Reds can end their 20-year wait for the domestic crown ahead of Sunday’s clash with Arsenal, which can be seen live on Sky Sports.

“I am just thinking about Arsenal,” the Spanish tactician added. “We have to play against Arsenal, try to win, think about Wigan, think about Portsmouth and carry on.”

The weekend clash, which resulted in a 4-4 thriller last season, could see Liverpool go within one point of the Gunners should they claim maximum points.

But Benitez was quick to play down the significance of the Anfield showdown, claiming every game from now until the end of the season is vital to the Reds’ quest for a top-four finish.

Of Sunday’s game: “I think it’s important but every game can be important to the end of the season.

“We have to start with this one because they are at the top of the table so if we can win we will be closer and we’ll have better chances to finish in the top four.”
*****************************************

PS… I’ve just got my Portsmouth ticket sorted. I can possibly get a couple more tickets to this game if anyone wants them.

Not so sure about Masch FS I think he’d love to go to Barca.

Well done Rafa – it’s about time he had a go back. I’d have loved it if he really took their managerial records apart though.

@Gerry

Please check post #127. I hope you will atleast have the guts to say something on that.

I would like to see Aquilani with Mascherano instead of Lucas. Lets start to play for Wins and not just to avoid defeats.

Straight from the horses mouth- Aquilani:-

“It’s not the season I was expecting when I signed for the club, that’s true. I was expecting to play in the Champions League, to find ourselves competing for trophies. But it is a long season, and the finish of it is a long way away. There is still time for that to change.

“I have seen plenty of reasons while I have been here to be positive about where the team is going, both tonight and in training.”

“We have a lot of things to improve on, but we also have all the ability we need to get better. I am certain we will get better. With the players we have available to us, we can only get better. I don’t have any doubts about that at all.”

To all the naysayers… He just might be best positioned to know, dontcha think?

And if that ain’t enough, even in the interview Torres gave to Sky yesterday… the one where he said we couldn’t win the title (which is supposed to fill our hearts with fear that he’ll fuck off)… he said more or less the same as Aqua, that once everyone was fit and flowing, we’d put a run together.

Not LFC related but this is mental

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU3VMuEAxY0&feature=related

Somnath, check this… you are a lying bastard. I repeat you are a lying bastard.

Once I realised you was a young fella with not much knowledge, I spent days and days chatting with you, explaining things, telling you some historical things, and even recommending things for you to read so you wouldn’t react like a spoilt kid everytime we dropped a point.

Eventually you even give up on pretending to learn and considering things. You just waited for the next set back, and set about the team and players again.

So read my lips… I have no time for people like you in here or in real life. I can’t stand lying, back stabbing gimps… you lying back stabbing little gimp.

And that’s the last time I will even wasted cyber space on you.

Hee hee… Lurgan, I think he’d just read Somnath’s latest LFC match report.

Re: 180, its very simple Fatty, if he’s serious about staying he’ll sign the contract. If not then adios Javier. It has nothing to do with ‘sacrificing’ him or anything like that. He’s wanted out since the Summer and it appears from his current non-commital stance that little has changed. No great mystery here, this ones an open an shut case far as I can see.

@Fat Scouser

“Go and support the Mancs. You’re not wanted at Liverpool.”

i sometimes wonder how old you are mate,can u post ur Birth certificate for me to see some time mate! u r sounding like a 7yr kid who owns the ball and has a right to choose whoever kicks it! Liverpool FC is much bigger than what u think,much bigger than ur brains which think abt who is needed at liverpool and who isnt!

@ Somnath
Do u think guys like these are worth ur time? dont let tem step on ur toes whatever junk they throw at you,ur opinion is entitled to stand whatever what they say!

I don’t think that it is right that Rafa has to take into account wages from his transfer budget.

Considering what we have seen from the borrowers since they have arrived, just upgrading Pepe’s and Masch’s wages could (probably) account for most of Rafa’s budget next summer. This is just pure shite.

No-one can work under these circumstances. Dark days indeed.

Lusa, you just don’t get it mate.

Lurgan, I’m in norn iron

From #181, here’s the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/8408904.stm

Is it just me or does being Liverpool manager increase the aging process 5-fold?

Somnath & Sula: Guys (or girls, whatever…). I quote FS – “Eventually you even give up on pretending to learn and considering things. You just waited for the next set back, and set about the team and players again.”
So what he is saying is that you ‘guys’ only post comments when we lose – that being negative, anti-LFC comments that slate the manager, the team, the (true) supporters etc. Can you not try & look at any positives? Can you not realise that Rafa has had to deal with limited funds (don’t you go believing the bullshit figures that Sky & the press go spewing out), injuries, the Yank owners, the UK press etc? If I had a chance, I would kiss this guys feet! A true gentleman & fantastic manager! Nobody is perfect, but can you morons not actually fathom what he has had to go through? What don’t you understand? I get more input & intelligence from my 2 year old son! Fuck, you assholes wind me up. Anyway, for what it’s worth (being a new ‘poster’ & all), I reckon all out attack against the gooners – just to satisfy the chops who are saying that Rafa plays a too cautious game. Stevie alongside the Monster, Aqua in front & between them, and Kuyt/Doss & Benny out wide – with (of course), Nando.

MickieD, I should be back home next march or so. We should meet up with Roarin and have a few pints.

What d’ya think?

Only if Julian comes too!

Nice one MickieD

You know that I meet that pompous twat on the Ormeau road. I said hello to him and he just give me the eyes and pranced away like the queen he is, shades and all, even though it was January.

Total prick, but at least you know where you stand with him i.e. not too close.

For those who don’t know who he is:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Julian+simmons&FORM=BIFD#focal=7e1955b068ab26556d9931405c9ebf69&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.belfasttelegraph.co.uk%2Fmultimedia%2Farchive%2F00046%2Fjulian_simmons_46381t.jpg

Someone you would never get tired slapping.

Supposedly he’s a red supporter as well!

I’ve seen that Julian Simmons geezer before, can’t remember why or where though.

Digger mate. No. There is no mystery to it at all… If Rafa wants to buy, he has to sell. In fact, he has to sell now just to improve players contracts. Poor fucker must feel like Del Boy at the January Sales.

But the notion that Masch will go to pay for other players is not something I’ve pulled out my arse. It’s the worst kept secret at Anfield. But just look at it with a bit of logic…
Who can we sell, who will bring any real big money and a good profit?
Who is probably more than likely happy to go anyway?

So, I’d love to think Masch’s contract talks are taking place for one reason only… to tie the lad to the club for the foreseeable future.

But I happen to think, it’s to tie him to the club in order to force the most money possible out of Barca when they come knocking after the World Cup… so lets hope the lad has a great one.

Sula, as for you’re not wanted at Anfield… that’s not my opinion. That’s the Kop’s. In fact, they formed a Reclaim The Kop movement to keep people like you away!

Do you honestly think you could go on there and start spouting all that sort of nonsense with out someone having a word with you?

But then it’s academical anyway, as you never will go there. In fact, you probably won’t even come in this blog for much longer when you join your home boys in “supporting” Chelsea or the Mancs or Man City, or…. insert most succesful team’s name here.

The old saying, with friends like you we don’t need any enemies, has never been truer.

FS I can tell it kills you to bite your tongue,but hand on heart if you just blank them out, they will leave the site. It feeds their ego’s that your willing to give them a mouthful an it keeps them coming back.

As for mash I think he’s a goner in the summer and thats not because(like you say) its the worst kept secret. Its because of the alonso like response’s before he left. Also because he’s playing so well this season it’s like he’s whoring himself to barca to make sure it happens.

I know the game has little loyalty left but how can a gem like torres who also is from a sunny climate come and show his undying love for a club he has no real reason to. Yet mash gets his career resurrected by rafa as he’s left at relegation mediocre club at best.

Though i suppose we should be grateful it’s masch an not torres because that would really make it unbearable. The fact torres can be like that in toady’s came is just remarkable, the guy better watch out he’s making me like him more than Fowler an i really dont like anyone doing that!!

P.s lurgan if your back around the end of march i think we play the mancs on the 20th. We could hit the bot for that one,although I’m really fragile during before an after those games.

Lads check out paul tomkins article on the main site,its a great read.

You bastards just realise that for once I get my daughter to sleep and I’m able to swing online for a bit and you have all f@#ked off!!

Ah well I’ve kelly’s heros sky plused from last week think I’ll give it a butchers…….. for the 900th time.

As good as this blog is and the posters in here you will always have the one or two tits who come in.Thats life,its best ignored.I know its hard but they soon leave.
Or else they`ll stay on giving each other those pathetic high fives they`ve been handing out in defiance.

Samantha and Sula i`ll say it only once,if you don`t like/agree with what we say in here why don`t you just be like the wind and BREEZE!!!

On to some footy now.

I don`t think Rafa will go with Aquallini from the start sunday.Some think throwing him in from the start on sunday will turn us into some super attacking machine.The fact of the matter is Aquallini is not match fit yet.His lack of sharpness would no doubt be exposed against a side who move the ball about very well to say the least.Lucas and mash will do a job similar to one against the mancs.They will close down the space and keep the pressure on their midfield.This is the reason i think Rafa will start with those two.

Torres i hope will start so thats a plus for us.I am predicting a 3-1 victory from the reds on sunday.

Roarin, I know. It’s pathetic of me but I can’t help it. I’m a daft bastard. But honestly, just once, I’d love to see these people give some sort of answer to what they consider our woes, when in all fact, before Rafa arrived was a normal season for LFC… wallowing round medocrity, when there wasn’t even all the ownership/money/debt worries.

As for Mascherano, who knows why he’ll stay or go. But whatever he does LFC will still be there… and one great footballer or a lot of money better off. Terrible business by Rafa again, eh?

As for Torres, couldn’t agree more. Just an all round brilliant lad. You’d think Rafa derserved a bit of credit for not only buying the lad but forcing H&G to buy him.

That’s the thing though mate….
Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Mascherano, Insua, Kuyt, Aquilani, Torres, Benny, on and on and on..

Rafa’s built a great squad. I could go on about the history of the evoution to becoming a great title winning team…
building a spine, sorting a defence, becoming hard to beat then becoming hard to stop, adding flair to the grit, winning some cups, putting in a title challenge… ultimately winning the title.

The big money has changed all that, going back as far as Leeds and Blackburn. But if you haven’t got the huge dosh, it’s still the route to success.

We’ve suffered a set back, but fuck me, you’d think we was an all conquering title winning team that was all of a sudden in a relegation fight.

Anyway, on the good news front…
We beat all the top clubs over Europe to the signature of some kid from Iceland… Emillson.

If nothing else, he sounds like a Brazillian. (watch that get taken seriously, and ending up in a leathering for Lucas).

But that’s where the new no money policy leaves us… grabbing kids and bargains. Shite. But the real world.

An yeah Tim, I can’t see Aquilani starting either. But a little bit of me keeps wondering did Rafa drag him off the other night after an hour with thought of minutes against Arsenal.

I think he`ll definately be involved at some point FS maybe 25 minutes or so.Who comes off for him will depend on the way the game is panning out.Looking forward to this one though,can`t wait.

I wish Masch would take a leaf out of Xabi Alonso`s book.He knew very early on in last season that he was playing his last season for us and he still kept his head down,didn`t talk to the press about his future,work hard and had his best season for us.I have to respect him for that.

Although Mash is playing well of late,i`d wish he`d do the same with the press.No matter what he says its just translated into “I want to go to Barca,i want to go to Barca”.

Timmy, you said it yourself… Press.

So, I’d take no notice until it’s done one way or the other… which will probably be after the next World Cup.

Up until then he’s ours, and thankfully he’s playing well again. I love the lad to be honest. I know he can be a menace, and I’d love him to be a 12 goal a season from central-mid player, but I love the little fucker. And as I said, whatever reason he stays or goes for, it’s still a great bit of bizz by Rafa.

And I’m off to bed now, but think you’re right…
It should be Masch and Lucas against the Arse. But who knows with that ultra defensive boss we’ve got?

It’s just as likely to be Aurellio and Aquilani.

@Gerry

Please look into #186.

@Sula

I know it. I dont mind what they say. I am not a blind supporter. I am not only a fan of LFC, i love the game of football too. I watch other teams too and i just intend to pick the positives from even our arch rivals because to become champions you ought to learn from teams who are winning things at present.

@Roaring Red

No question of not coming back here. Just look at all the posts. Our apprehensions are echoed by others at diff point of time but with a much mellowed tone.

@TimmyTorres

Learn to spell names correctly first.

Check #203.
“But who knows with that ultra defensive boss we’ve got?”

If the same thing was told by us,we would have been crucified here. Height of double standard.

Check #190

Same thing told by us.

“No-one can work under these circumstances. Dark days indeed.”

But we would have been abused like hell for being a pessimist like that.

This site is LFC site but have some graciousness to accept that there a big gang present here who do not want any anti Rafa or anti Football team comment. Its correct to prevent it when someone’s intention is to malign the team but when criticism is due,lets have the guts to accept it.

Tomorrow..we should play Aquilani from the start.Only way we can win against Arsenal is to outscore them. We have to attack them and expose their defensive fragility.If we can score a couple of goals within 60-65 mints…take Acquilani off..bring Lucas.

With regards to the Masch he is probably the one player we can use to strengthen the team. Taking emotion out of it and yes if we did not have the financial constraints it is madness to sell him. For the greater good selling him to Barca for 30 odd mill would be sound business. Lucas, again my opinion, will be the better option from both an attacking perspective and defensive perspective to partner Aquaman who I think is going to become immense by the end of the season and outstrip Alonso playing wise and impact wise, just a feeling I have got. I think Babel is history unless he does something miraculous in the second half of the season. Dossena will be sold as well, maybe as soon as January and if Reira does not pull finger I can see him dropping down to a squad player as Rafa brings in a couple of wide and striking options. Nemeth should be back and with Ngog will gives us depth up front for the Carling and early FA cup rounds. I can also see Rafa bringing in another youngster to understudy the holding midfield role. Pacheco will have a much greater role to play next year as well, wide left and in the hole. Kelly I like and I can see him getting more game time as well.

For the Arsenal match it will definitely be Lucas and Masch in the middle, with Aquaman coming on for 30 min or earlier depending on the state of the game. I cannot see us shipping too many goals with Johnson, Cara and Pepe back in with Masch in front of them. It’s a solid combination and Arsenal are short up front. I think we will keep it tight try dominate possession and with Gerard and Torres up front and Johnson over lapping, with Benny on the left, take the chances that will come our way. I can see it going the same way as the Manc match and I think we could be more than a match for them, I hope with a little luck.

Well said Keith and I pretty much agree with it all.

It is pretty much nailed on that Masch and Lucas will start and the worse thing we can do is to try and beat the arse at their own game. We tried it last season and although we dominated, we were too offensive, leaving our defence exposed and it ended up being 4 all.

I will quite happily settle for a boring 1-0 victory with Wenger not seeing the goal!

Thanks for the laugh Lurgan, the Wenger not seeing the goal has to be an all time classic I am still laughing.

Poor Rafa, coming in here, I’m starting to know how he feels… picking up his newspaper every morning and looking at shite like that…

“But who knows with that ultra defensive boss we’ve got?”

You see Somnath lad, that’s called sarcasm. It was aimed at knobheads like you. But over your head it whooshed…. just like all the other times when I sat and chatted to you for days on end, patietntly explaining things.

So go check yourself…. check yourself right into some other club, that you say you like.

Or I tell you what… let’s put an end to this. You and your compadres tell us what you think is wrong at LFC, and how to fix it?

Go on, just give us your master plan for the club?

Let’s talk some LFC. Give me your analysis of the club, what’s going on there, both on and off the pitch? Tell me what you think is wrong and what is right? Tell me how you would go about fixing what was wrong?

Let us have the benefit of your long standing wisdom as a “supporter” of LFC.

You can get Sulaman the not quite so magnificent to help you. Maybe even Burger Man might drop a couple of his hand grenades in to back you up.

But for once, instead of bringing this blog down to absolute banality, put forward an argument, some ideas and some solutions.

Ball’s in your court.

I agree with both the lads who bothered to post on the actual football and the next match. Apparently that’s completely wrong though…

“Tomorrow..we should play Aquilani from the start.Only way we can win against Arsenal is to outscore them. We have to attack them and expose their defensive fragility.If we can score a couple of goals within 60-65 mints…take Acquilani off..bring Lucas.”

Could someone email that onto Rafa? Seems he’s got it all wrong and all you have to do is attack Arsenal.

But meself, I’d prefer Keith’s plan over, like Lurgan pointed out, leaving the back door open and taking the chance on another four goals against.

Oh well, what do we know, eh.

FS – someone actually posted that as the plan for Arsenal?

Words fail me…surely no one who follows the game, who knows anything at all about the game, whos actually listened to whats being talked about in here could post something so mind boggingly stupid!

I cant comprehend the lifeform that is so moronic as to actually think thats all it takes…

I have said it before and I’ll say it again…there are too many stupid people in the world…

Oh and what I came into actually say….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1235197/Liverpool-boss-Rafa-Benitez-stunning-blast-Graeme-Souness-Jurgen-Klinsmann.html

Normally I can’t stand that paper, but that stories a hoot. But besides Rafa fighting back, he goes onto let us know what is happening.

So I wouldn’t expect much money being spent in January lads.

As for Aquilani and Lucas Keith, I think you’re bang on. I could see them two really complementing each other as a partnership… Lucas breaking up play, linking up with Aquilani, and then him getting it to, and linking up with, Gerrard and Torres. It could be devestating.

I hope I’m not expecting too much, but I can see Aquilani becoming our new Terry McDermott. Well, maybe that is a bit too much of a dream. Terry was a fantastic player. But who knows, and I think the lad comes out of that sort of mold.

As for Babel, I was really encouraged by what he said about the Sun. I just hope he looks at some of the other lads and learns his lesson… keep schtum, work hard, wait for the chance. It will come again. But then bloody grasp it with both hands. Do what is expected and earn the shirt.

Look at when Yossi’s agent started shit stirring in the papers… Yossi put an immediate end to it. Done the right things and look at him now. I’ve sort of given up on Babel, but who knows… if the lad got his head right and applied himself it could still work out.

Riera, well you have to remember why and how he ended up here in the first place. I don’t think Rafa ever really saw him as much more than a squad player. But give the lad his due… he went about his business in the right way, and not only became very handy for his but forced his way into first choice left winger for probably the best team in international football.

So, I wouldn’t write him off just yet. And I still think he brings us more natural balance on the left than any other player in the squad.

Which brings it round to Dosenna… Keith, I think you’re right. The lad will be unloaded as soon as possible. It’s only fair on him aswell in a World Cup year. Still I think it’s a shame though. I really like the lad and his attitude.

And who knows, he could have been a great success here if Rafa’s plans had worked out…
Dossena at left back with Barry just ahead of him. I think that combination would have been great at both attacking and defending.

But then we all know what scuppered that plan. Well, no. Sadly we don’t. But I’m now beyond explaining to people who don’t want to know.

sula
Posted on December 10, 2009 @ 12:15 pm

@burgerman
i wouldnt want Rafa to leave now but i want him to understand that whateva he did at Valencia has failed to work at liverpool,its a different league and has its own demands!

Sula – how fucking dumb are you???

You have had this explained to you a fucking billion times you clueless little fucking toe rag!

It has got fuck all to do with what Rafa is doing…his methods clearly work…youre just too fucking stupid to see it…

Once again you dumb mother fucker…read Paul Tomkins piece and buy the book soccernomics…its 90% to do with money – specifically the wage bill…

LFC doesnt have the money – so we are in fact very unlikely to win the league…the fact we have come so close is solely down to Rafa…we have been outspent by up to 8 clubs, there are at least 5 who have higher wage bills – this means we should really only expect to come in 6th…the fact we came in 2nd last year clearly indicates that Rafa is performing miracles…

You have been told this time and time again…yet you fail to get it…

Just how fucking stupid are you?

And that goes for you too Somnath…why do you dumb arses fail to get this vital single most important fact…why are you so fucking dumb?

Fuck me – you 2 really piss me off…fuck how I hate people as stupid as you too…total fucking planks…

@FS

#208

Your post is quite diplomatic. However i am not convinced that you planned it for ‘Knobheads’ like me ! You meant it when you typed that. I will not try to convince you on that.

Let me correct you on the issue of you trying to educate me,chatting wid me and making me understand etc etc. I am not as educated as you in LFC matters but i do have some knowledge about the club. I keep learning but at the same time i refuse to accept that everything what Rafa does is right.

You have asked me to give a detailed analysis and my plan on what should be done. I will give it very soon.

#209

Tell me whats wrong in that? Why cant Acquilani play from the start? We anyways planned for this correct? Now that he is back..lets put our best team possible and attack them right from the start. Even without Van Persie they have goals in them..they play an attacking game. To defend is not their nature. You defeat such a team only by taking the game to them. Otherwise we might let in another last mint goal and in spite of 89 mints of fantastic defending we might loose and will have nothing to show.

For fuck sake why can’t you guys just ignore each others posts? Its like a school playground in here!!

That was an interesting article in the Daily Manc FS. Yep that £60m that had to go to RBS completely fucked our budget. The bank will probably want another payment next year. So my question is if we sell Masch next summer for say £35m how much of that will go towards the transfer kitty?

The club is in a right state.

I’m thinking about how it would be if we played 4-4-2 against Arsenal. Ngog and Torres together up front. Unsettled Arsenal’s defence.

Reina
Johnson, Carra, Agger, Aurelio
Kuyt, Gerrard, Masch, Benny
Ngog, Torres

Thoughts?

@KIWI MARK LFC

Instead of hurling abuses you tell me why you think playing Acquilani is not a good idea?

Your post #212 demands attention of Gerry.

@Gerry

Please look into #212. No abuses please.

@KiwiMarkLFC

I can prove it to you that you pop in here and just read some posts and get an idea that we are trying to malign rafa and the club and start typing nonsense.

“LFC doesnt have the money – so we are in fact very unlikely to win the league…the fact we have come so close is solely down to Rafa…we have been outspent by up to 8 clubs, there are at least 5 who have higher wage bills – this means we should really only expect to come in 6th…the fact we came in 2nd last year clearly indicates that Rafa is performing miracles…”

You have just repeated the same thing. I dont want to talk on behalf of others by i keep repeating that after we lost to Aston Villa..i clearly stated that as a LFC supporter i will be happy if we finish 4th this season. How many times i have to prove that i like all u guys know the financial constraints.

As a matter of fact,this place was buzzing with ‘We will win the title’ chants a few months ago.

Going forward, if our financial hardship is the truth..then where do we go from here? Tottenham,Aston Villa,Man Citeh are catching fast. Not qualifying for CL will be a body blow. Thats where the concern is. Under such a situation when we drop points in games like Blackburn..tel me why we should not be upset?

FS I have been surprised that Rafa has not given Dossena more of a chance. It seems he made up his mind that he won’t work and that’s it, tad unkind, because I don’t think he is as bad as some people would like to think. The problem for me is Auelleo, as good as he can be is more injured than not and giving Dossena more of a chance to settle down could have been the way to go, but obviously Rafa has seen him in training and made his mind up.

Reira was piss poor the last time he played, he looked half fit and hardly ran. It could have been our only option and he was still carrying a knock, but for now I would like to see Pacheco on the bench, especially against the Arse as their style would suite him as an impact player coming on to change things. We need to get palyers fit because Benny, besides Kuyt looks knackered as well. I see Ngog is also out and that’s why he did not play against Ford Cortina. I liked what I saw from El Zhar from his brief appearance the other day. He is quick and technically good and I think there is more to come from this lad. When everybody is fit we do not have a bad squad, thin yes, but as the youngsters gain and grow that will be rectified despite the Yanks handicap. You just have to applaud Rafa with what he ahs been able to accomplish on sweet fuck all in relative terms. History will prove him the better manager than Wenger in terms of youth development because he still is practical an builds from a solid platform not just gifted kids.

Kelly, Ayala, Spearing, Pacheco, Nemeth, Ngog, Insua and you can add Lucas and EL Zhar to that equations, Babel has not fulfilled his potential but he was a kid when he joined us, with the likes of Buchtmann, Eccelston, Ammo, Ince, Bruno(as good as Pacheco and a future star) Dalla Valle (theres talk but I am not convinced yet), Mavinga (hearing good things about him) and a few more as the next generation that will come through. That’s a lot of youngsters coming through and even if a third (5 or 6) of them make it into the first team squad that is a lot of added depth not too mention quality for relatively small outlay. We need to keep the faith and support Rafa to the hilt because even if the other do not make it he will sell them on for a profit.

@LB

Why play Ngog and not Aquilani? We need to outnumber them in the midfield. Thats where they will start their moves.

My line up:

Reina
Johnson, Carra, Agger, Insua
Kuyt, Aquilani, Masch, Riera
Gerrad
Torres

Here, here LB guys please just ignore guys. Ngog was sick I do not know if he has recovered, but I would be very surprised to see that line up he will go for the tried and tested one of,
Riena
Johnson, Carra, Agger, Insue
Masch, Lucas
Kuyt, Gerrard, Benny
Torres.

On the bench will be El Zhar, Pacheco (I hope but probably not) Aquaman, Reira, Skertal, Cav, Aurelleo

How’s this for a future line up

Riena
Johnson Carra, Agger Insua
Lucas Aquaman
EL Zhar/Kuyt Gerrard Pacheco
Torres

Or

Same back four
Gerrard Aquaman
El Zhar Pacheco Benny
Torres

Or

Gerrard Aquaman
Benny Nemeth Pacheco
Torres

LB we have to keep it tight against the Arse, we have more than enough going forward with Johnson, Agger, Insua, Lucas, Benny, Kuyt ,Gerrard and Torres to score goals against a less than robust Arse defence, but we cannot afford to concede sloppy goals. If we go behind I can see Aquaman being brought on early.

You’re probably right Somnath in that we might have to outnumber them or at least match them in midfield. But I just had a thought that Arsenal might find it difficult if we occupy both of their centre backs. I’d like to see how an Ngog/Torres partnership would go. This might not be the game to experiment with it mind.

I think Aquilani will be on the bench. He was knackered in the 2nd half against Ford Cortina and that was a slow paced game. The Arse game will be a lot more physical and a lot quicker. He’ll be well off the pace if he starts I think. So if we go with the usual formation I think it will be Lucas and Masch in midfield. Torres might start and play 70 mins or so. Aquilani might come on for 20 mins or so replacing Torres. Riera is not ready to start a match yet but could come on for 15-20 mins replacing Benny. The state of the game will determine the subs.

The starting line up could look like this:

Reina
Johnson, Carra, Agger, Insua
Masch, Lucas
Kuyt, Gerrard, Benny
Torres

By the end of the game it could look like this:

Reina
Johnson, Carra, Agger, Insua
Masch, Lucas
Gerrard, Aquilani, Riera
Kuyt

Did not see your post Keith but you are probably right. I would also like to see Pacheco on the bench especially if Ngog is sick. I reckon he’s more likely to get Europa league action as he is a home trained player so is in our UEFA squad.

How is Nemeth getting on?

Apparently pulling up trees in Greece and scoring for fun, the lads is class and probably the nearest I have seen to a Kenny type player. Not an out and out striker yet will score his fair share of goals but will create for his strike partner as well. Nemeth and Pacheco are the natural heirs to the Gerrard in the hole role, though I can see Pacheco playing the Messi type role out wide but on the left, in my humble opinion. But then again according to other Rafa’s youth policy is a failure so who knows.

Watch this space for Bruno, by all accounts he is as good as Pacheco, still only 17.

Keith, I have a feeling Rafa will agree to sell Nemeth to AEK in the summer. I can’t seen Nemeth and Pacheco BOTH getting much football next season. Nemeth is 21 next month and will want some football. Here is what he had to say in an interview 29th Nov:

“The fans keep telling me that AEK is a great club,” he said.

“They’re really impressive and certainly more enthusiastic than Liverpool’s. What I experienced at the derby with Olympiakos (in which Nemeth scored) was something that I’ve never felt before.

“I really wondered what the fans would be able to do if we performed better in the league. I think that if Liverpool and AEK work something out, I’d be extremely thoughtful about staying in Athens permanently.”

Nemeth added that just because AEK were struggling in the league would not put him off signing permanently.

“It never crossed my mind to ask terminating my loan deal due to AEK’s bad performance,” he stated.

“Certainly, we should be better. I’m sure that we’ll get better and along with the team, I’ll improve myself too. I’ve fallen in love with Greece and AEK’s fans.”

LB, you’re quite correct. It really is daft of me to respond. I know that, but the fact is… I can’t stand idly by and watch LFC/Rafa getting attacked.

Bonkers, but that’s me… I do it at the match an all mate. You want to see me turn on them. I go right off. I should know better. And at my age, it’s going to end up with me getting a pasting one of these days. I thought one was on the cards in Hungary. I don’t give a fuck though mate. I’d do the same again.

But the fact is, I’ve really tried with these people. And honestly, that has took an awful lot of patientce. It was bound to snap in the end… FFS, I’ve just explained something I said, and been told that’s not what I meant!

The mind really would boggle, but nothing surprises me from these people.

But I’ll tell you something. Put the H on this..
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFVapZsbYf0

See that 10 Times Champions flag… well, I just got that clip emailed to me the other day. That’s an old friend of mine’s flag. I actually carried it all round Rome in 77, and that could well be me on The Kop waving it.

And I think I’ve showed you this before, but see that chubby kid hanging on the lampost…
ttp://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/pooloflife/shankly1.jpg

That’s me.

Sorry mate, I know there’s far more important things in life than LFC, but they are far too big a part of mine to stand by and watch idiots wreck it.

You may think that’s over the top. And in the context of this blog, it probably is. The few idiots that come in here are of no consequence really. They will never go to a match in their lives, and probably disappear off here soon. But I’ve said this many times before mate, and I stand by it….
These sort of people that have attached themselves to the club, are really starting to damage it… and damage it badly.

Look at that youtube clip, you’ll never see an atmosphere like that again. It’s already been diluted to the point of destruction. And there’s even worse damage being done on the internet and on the phone ins.

I loved Rafa’s answer… I turn the volume down. But the fact is, the noise is getting louder. And these idiots are helping the media in their witch hunt.

I’ve pointed out time and time again, what could happen at LFC. You even say yourself about RBS, demanding the loan money… Masch will bring 30, where will the other come from?

It’s really precarious times we are in. And although I don’t expect it to happen, there is a distinct possiblity that the club that has been with me longer than anything else in my life – and that’s including family and friends – could really slip away into long lasting, if not permanent decline.

That’s not over the top. I’m not married to the club, or bleed red and white like one of our friends in here. But the fact is…
We’ve all seen it happen to other clubs. And one of our owners, Hicks, has already watched it happen to at least 2 of his other “Sporting Franchises.” And Gillette has already claimed bankruptcy and left his Hockey and Nascar franchises in really perilous predicaments.

So no mate… I can’t stand by and ignore the idiots who could very easily leave us in the same predicament. When all they are really bothered about is getting some stick from their friends on Monday morning at work because Man U have won and Liverpool only managed to draw against Blackburn.

I see your point FS, I really do. It’s the constant tit for tat back and fourth that has started to really annoy. That’s the school play ground aspect. I reckon you, Gerry, Aitch and Keith and a few others have put the idiots right in their place. But the constant tit for tat just encourages them to come back with more meaningless bollocks. As a result we struggle to get a decent football based discussion going and the quality posts get lost amongst the bollocks.

By the way I wish I could zoom in on you in that Shankly photo!

Hey lads,

I’m really looking forward to the game tomorrow, should be cracker! The misses is a gooner through and through as is the rest of her family so it adds a bit more spice to the game for me, the last few games have been draws which in a way is probably the best result to keep the peace but obviously I’ll be hoping for the result we all want! The best game we’ve watched together (well for me anyway) was the CL quarter final 4-2. We watched in a bar in Laos that stayed open illegally till about 4 in the morning, crowd was pretty much split down the middle so there was a great atmosphere, 40p beers, stunning Laos waitresses, mushy shakes, happy days! Did feel sorry for her in the end though, she was gutted, only after the delirious smile left my face of course!

On the game tomorrow, I think Rafa will start with Mach and Lucas with Aquaman coming on later on, depending on the score me thinks! I think it’s the right way to go though, I don’t think Aqua fully match fit and with Arsenal’s passing game he might end up chasing shadows. Mash and Lucas on the other hand will break up a lot of play and fustrate them. My team for tomorrow is:

Reina

Johnson Carra Agger Aurlilo

Kuyt Mash Lucas Benny

Sorry pressed send by mistake,

again team is:

Reina

Johnson Carra Agger Aurlilo

Kuyt Mash Lucas Benny

Gerrard
Torres

The only change I can see Rafa making from the team above is Insua for Aurlelio.

A hard fought 2-1 to the reds (fingers crossed).
YNWA

LB, I can see your point-of-view (yes it is possible) but we cannot let these guys get away with this tripe.

In anything you do, what you put in is what you get out and I don’t think that some of these guys make an effort to understand what is being said here.

They just go on and on ad nauseam, trying to prove that they were right. Not trying to understand/improve the difficult circumstance we currently find ourselves in.

Here’s one of my favourite clips from the shanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrTbG6dql74&feature=related

I know what he would have done with them!

Couldn’t agree more LB. I come in here to post something, read the shite, go on one, post it and then shake me head for half an hour trying to work out why I’m such a daft twat.

And I’m getting sick of saying this, but you’re right again… I missed all them football related posts and it’s good discussion.

What I fear about the kids and our financial situation is… the Academy will become like a farm, getting kids in for relatively next to nothing, growing and developing them and then selling them on.

Which is basically what we will do anyway, but I fear finances will enforce some moves that shouldn’t be done… Nemeth for one.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the interview. Them answers where in response to a Greek journalist. He could hardly say, I hate it here, the fans are shite, I want to go and go now.

But like Keith said, he is doing really well out there, and if a firm offer, with a decent profit comes in, what do you think the Yanks will do?

Yep. And sadly there’s no aspect of the club you can look at without taking them into consideration.

Even in the dark days of Souness, supporting LFC was still a laugh… you met up with mates, went the match or pub, had a laugh, had a moan after another pasting, then had a few pints and waited for it all to happen again.

But these days, fuckinghell. If it’s not a boycott, it’s a protest. If it’s not a protest, it’s a campaign of some sort. If it’s not a campaign, it’s putting the boo boys in their place.

It’s almost ruined the whole fucking thing for me. And I’ve stated many times before, Shankly’s trophyless years where some of my favourite ever times as a Kopite. You wouldn’t know it today, but it’s never really been all about victory and trophies… even though both Bill and Bob would kick me up the arse for saying that.

And while on that subject… LB I’m the little fat fella, second one down on the lampost. I thought I’d showed you that before.

Did you ever see an old LP, the 12th man? It’s a record of the Kop in it’s day. Me mate is slap bang in the middle of the cover. I’m gutted. I used to stand in that spot week in week out and would have been on it an all… but I was probably off eating pies!

As for Dosenna Keith. I agree it’s a real shame. But the real shame of it is… they couldn’t afford Barry. Him and the Doss might have been brilliant together.

Oh well, just another thing we have to thank H&G for.

Just checking up on Nemeth. 7 appearances with 3 goals. Not bad.

However, he hasn’t featured for AEK since the 9th November, when he scored a goal. Is he injured?

He also seems to pick up quite a few yellow cards. Not a criticism, just an observation.

Oh and as for Arsenal…
We went bang at them in this fixture last season. We was playing great, free flowing, high tempo, pressure football at the time… We still give away four goals, getting caught on the break by our own gung-ho tactics as we pressed to get maximum points and keep our title hopes alive.

We couldn’t do that even when we was playing great. To try and do it tomorrow, in our fragile state, would be complete and utter madness!

Ah fuck LB,
shall i roll my sleeves back down already, your quite right my friend it is annoying but also right are FS, Lurgan and Kiwi M, i seriously think that the chuckle brother’s only come in here to wind the lads up and with the constant sniping at the club and manager they truly get up my nose (still cant find the answer to the elusive goal that changed the result of the manncs game’s or why paul scholes pubes are brown while his nut is red).
But as FS has stated quite simply “tell us what’s wrong, why, and how to fix it all, then we could all bow to Somnath, Sula and Burgerman as they place before us Gold Frankincense and Myrrh and hail old whiskey nose as the second coming.
2-1 for the reds tomorrow Benny and Torres.
YNWA.

Well said redman. I’m all up for some decent input into how LFC can move forward without Rafa. However, no-one can come up with a decent argument.

Queer Erect Dick!

Somnath, we cannot just go out & play ‘attacking football’. As FS says in 233, going out ‘gung-ho’ is totally stupid & pointless. We scored 4 playing this football last season, but had 4 put past us. Masch & Lucas have to start. Aqua can come on later. Our best bet to win the game is on the counter – if Nando plays. Remember, they don’t have a great defensive recors, but with Fabregas, Arshavin etc, we need that defensive midfield in place. BTW, hope the Mancs, Chel$ki, Spurs etc all drop points today (duh), but it’s quite difficult deciding who you want to win i.e. Villa 3 points over the scum, or a draw? Decisions, decisions…

E’r Redman, clock the kid standing right under the letter B on the club’s…
http://eil.com/Shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=297439

He’s an Huyton lad. Mickey, stocking face, Connor. Big fat lump from by the Quiet Man. If you’ve seen him you know him… dead ringer for Arthur Mullard.

I still go to games with him and he’s brother, Bert, to this day.

Toffee’s two all at the fridge!

…and Lurgs, Spurs are down 0-1 at Wolves, Citeh are drawing 2-2 with Bolton. C’mon you Toffees!

2-2 at the bridge half time, come on Everton!
Tottenham losing 1-0 to wolves and City and Bolton tied at 2-2 as well!

Could be a good weekend for us lads!!

@ Somnath #215

“You have just repeated the same thing. I dont want to talk on behalf of others by i keep repeating that after we lost to Aston Villa..i clearly stated that as a LFC supporter i will be happy if we finish 4th this season. How many times i have to prove that i like all u guys know the financial constraints.

As a matter of fact,this place was buzzing with ‘We will win the title’ chants a few months ago.”

————————————-

Watch this space, I wont be surprised if we are still in a “mathematical” striking shot of being in a serious title hunt come MAY … am damn sure the likes of chelski and manures will drop points .. and we have just got our first-choice team back to full fitness …

Bit small the photo FS,
even with my bins on tried to zoom it by right clicking but it does’nt give you the option.
Its some haircut the kid’s got though Small faces or what.
Lurgan buddy thank’s for the “well said” but it was FS’s idea earlier on in the blog just thought i’d highlight it a bit more, but i like the way us fake scouser bullies stick together.
Bolton 3-2 citeh.
YNWA.

hate to say this but i’m backing chelsea to win, so as to stay ahead of the mancs (should the scum beat villa next). anything but the scum topping the table.

Fat Scouser

Whilst I agree with you that we adopted a gung ho approach against Arsenal, I believe we shoy ourselvves in the foot due to individual errors in our defence. All their goals came against the run of play. It’s not very often that Arsenal’s opponents dominate possession but we battered them in terms of possession. I was gutted that we didn’t win. By the way our little neighbours are holding Chelsea 3-3 at the Bridge in stoppage time.

That should have been ‘shot ourselves in the foot’ not ‘shoy’.

By the way Chelsea conceded 3 goals from set pieces and Spurs conceded a goal from a set piece. No talk about man marking.

3 all at the fridge. That is the first two points that they have dropped at home this season and the Chelsea ‘supporters’ are booing at the final whistle. What can you say? It’s unbelievable.

Spurs beaten at home to the mighty Wolves. Their manager must be shite! Citeh drawing away to the mighty Bolton. Their manager must be shite! Chelsea only drawing at home to the mighty Everton. Their manager must be shite!

and so on and so on…

Anyway, with today’s results, it really is an opportunity for us to get things back on track. Otherwise our manager must be shite!

Dizzy, being the eternal optimist, I’m with you on the ‘come May’ bit. The is the first time this season that results (so far) have been going our way. Loads of draws, Spurs losing…just waiting for the Scum game to start. Well done the blue noses hey? Keep the Faith guys!

I wonder if Talk Crap will receive calls from Spurs fans who want Harry Redknapp out. I’ll like to know what ‘expert’ Jamie Redknapp thinks about daddy’s performance.

Owen hat-trick and then he’s dropped. I wonder what the media would think about that… if he was a Liverpool player.

Sorry to say this lads… But I told you so. I can’t be arsed rooting around through all the drivel I’ve posted but it’s back there somewhere. I tried to point out a few results might go our way this weekend, and would put a different complexion on things.

Lurgan not surprised the Chelsea fans booed… you have to remember since 2004 they have attracted thousands and thousands of life long fans, who are married to the club, and bleed blue and white around the water cooler on Monday morning when their Manc fan mates are making fun of the poor wounded souls…. Sack Ancelotti!

Bayo mate, that still on proves what I’m saying…
We can’t go all out and leave the back door open. They’ll carve us up… remember their 4th goal last season – bang out of defence to Walcott, run like fuck with it, length of the pitch, square to Arshaver, bang… 4th goal.

And with our recent record, our need for points, and our big chance of cashing in on some decent resutlts… we should keep it really tight. Play shit on a stick footy if needs be, but press the ball like fuck, and grind out a win. 1 nil would suit me fine.

Watching Villa right now… wouldn’t hold me breath on them getting anything. Complete tactical mess as always under MON. He’s as bad as Appy Arry and Fat Sam… route one cack as usual.
And to think the media want to give that tosser our boss’s job, and, even worse, some of our morons agree.

Why is it only Rafa knows how to beat this shite? They are here for the taking.

HA! HA! It paid off… 1 nil the Villa.

Think Man U fans will get behind them and help them out? HA Better fire up the Karoake machine.

Yellow for diving Rooney…. Nevermind Owen Lurgan mate. What will the press make of that. It’s only cheating foriegners and Steven Gerrard that dive. We all know that, eh!

HA! It just keeps getting better. Now fuckin get the ball on the deck Villa, stretch them, run at them, they are on the ropes and there for the taking.

Seriously though, it’s a very exciting game between the mancs and Villa but pure football wise, it’s a complete mess. There are billions of Italians now turning in their graves!

If Rooney gets a serious injury this side of Feb then the mancs will seriously be fucked.

BTW, who’s that 30 odd million player sitting on the bench?

Lurgie mate, Villa will now go on to commit suicide. ONeil hopefully will wise up, tell them to get at them, press the ball like fuck, keep it on the deck, get the fullbacks up the pitch, and get some fucking pressure on Vidic. Make the big daft bastard defend on the turn and when facing goal.

I agree it’s exciting for the nuetral, but I’m not nuetral. They are there for the taking mate.

Problem is, 20 years of success buys you an awful lot of respect. And I won’t be surprised to see Villa do what all of them do…try to protect the lead, sit back, invite them on and then get sucker punched.

When will these fucking managers learn.

Well, at least it’s fun watching them flap, Rooney getting booked, Sir Ryan of Giggs fucking up everything, including corners. It might yet end up a really good day.

Someone said they’d rather see Chelsea win than let in the Mancs. Fuck that.

Problem is… come January, expect both Ancelotti and The Tramp to splash the cash. We need these fuckers to both drop points over the busy Crimbo period.

Fully agree on that though… long term injury for Shrek and they are in the shit.

Thats the world’s most expensive Barbie-Doll Lurgan ….

Saint Micheal of Manchester is taken the field… Que miraculous saver and a legend is born.

Lurgan is Carew on the bench?

If Villa get him on, with Heskey off, push him right inbetween Vidic and Brown, get the fullbacks up in support, and really try to stretch the play, then hit them through the middle or with crosses from high up the pitch… this game is there for the taking.

Come on FS,
he’s got a wife and kid’s to support ?,
was’nt commenting in here when he decided to join that lot and i must say i was absolutely fuckin gutted its nearly on a par with coming home and catching the missus in bed with your best mate and if that was’nt enough when i saw him first time in the manc shirt i said fuck you that hurts,
if he can forget LFC at a drop of a hat well i can forget him and what he did for us that’s how i feel and sorry if i upset some of you guy’s as i know most of you are very fair minded, as i thought i was till that happened, FS i’d be just as fuckin livid if Voronin joined that shower of shit that’s how much this benefit brigadeer hates them cunts.
YNWA.

Sorry for all this but… The Mancs finally managed to sort of do a chant… “If you all hate Scousers clap your hands!”

What the fuck. 1 nil down to Villa at home and that’s all they can come up with.

Oh dear… Wayne Rooney how can you sleep?

What a shame that lad was messed up in the head. He could have been a legend playing just behind the best striker on the planet.

I thought that he was carrying an injury FS but could be wrong.

You liar… if you was dying, I know you’d miraculously rise from your sick bed to drive Vronin over there!

Gift wrapped.

About the LP… that’s the best picture I could find. I’m sure you’d know Mick by sight. Poor fucker… Face for radio sort of lad.

And this game is still on mate, just got to get Heskey off. He’s like a bloody statue. After saying that he’ll probably score from a corner. But if they had someone to pressure their centre backs, they’d have this.

Carews coming on …

here comes the change!

Missed the last few minutes. Just came back, and hope I’m wrong but from what I’m watching right now… Villa are doing what they all do, sitting back, and are about to committ suicide.

FFS, have they no memory. They done the same thing last season on the run in.
Fucking idiot ONeil.
They won’t survive like this

Sorry for going on but this is driving me mad. Did you see that… fucking break was on there, no one would go past the half way line.

Fucking shithouses they deserve to get beat. They done the exact same thing last season when that Italian kid came on and done them in the last second.

Idiots!

Hahahaha … Loved the look on FumgusFace’s Face … only 3 minutes ..

Whahaaaay, fuck you Manc Wanks! What a great day for us, results wise! Did you see Mr. Ferguson salivaating/spitting at the mouth after 3 mins injury time was announced? Several more purple blotches added to his nose…so, do the ‘top 2′ look that invincible? I reckon it’s up to a (fully fit) Reds side to make a challenge? Let’s do the Arse tomorrow & talk again. I’m gonna head down the shops tomorrow with my shirt on with a huge grin on me face.

Honest FS,
i hate them fuckers with a passion only surpassed by my preference for wearing my wife’s clothes when she’s out.
Well i think we should all call FS the second coming as he basically predicted most of what has happened to the chavs,city,spurs and last of all the dear old scouse lovers manky utd, i fuckin love it.
YNWA.

Wasn’t that hilarious. I thought the old fucker was about to self combust. Great stuff loved it. Normally I’d shut the curtains if they was playing in my garden, but I knew they could come unstuck today.

Make no bones about it though… that victory came despite ONeil, not because of him. But no doubt, the media will be rolling out the genius headlines right now.

Oh well, fuck them. Let’s just hope we can cash in.

I’d stick with the tried and trusted formation and players tomorrow. But if Rafa does decide to play Aquilani from the off, I hope he drops Kuyt and plays Gerrard on the right…
Reina,
Magic, Carra, Agger, Aurelio
Mascherano, Lucas
Gerrard, Aquilani, Riera,
Torres (If fit).

That’s the only way I can see us keeping the balance right… tight enough at the back, enough going forward. The left wing would worry me a bit, but I think that would be best for this game. It’s hard on Yossi, but I think Riera and Aurelio would be the better choice for this.

Would like to say that’s it for the night and bail out to the pub. But they alehouses are crap down here. You off out tonight, Red mate? Longy Labour club?

Funny old game I wonder what the media will make of these results. Well we have a great chance to close the gap, we have to take it. I love the commentary at the Fridge (thanks Lurgan you are on a roll today) of the 13 goals conceded by Chelsea 11 are from set pieces not one moan about man marking funny that. It’s going to be a very interesting season and if we can get on a roll who knows what can happen, let’s start with a win tomorrow. I almost thought the commentators where going to cry that United didn’t win, you could almost hear them willing United to score.

Missed that thanks Red, hope you was in your manly attire while typing though!

I like that combo FS it works for me, but I would play Benny or Kuyt instead of Reira he is not fit

you could almost hear them willing United to score.

Yeah, but isn’t it great when they don’t Keith.

Funny as fuck. I just wish some managers would grow some bollacks and go for them instead of sitting back like that.

BM… as I’ve told you a million times, that’s why they don’t give many up at the end of games.

No one has the bollacks to go for them.

Not knocking them for that though. We got away with the same thing in the glory days. As I said, 20 years of success buys a lot of respect.

And no doubt the old soak will go and spend big in the window, but that team is there for the taking. They haven’t turned to shite overnight. I always said they wouldn’t. But the cracks are showing.

Such a shame we have to worthless conmen holding the purse strings… a few bob invested right now and we could go on to… Ahh fuck it. No point moaning. We have to get on with it how it is. T
And because of that, everyday I thank god that we’ve got Rafa.

True Keith. I forgot for a moment there. Getting carried away. Think I’ll have to calm down and open another tin of that amber medicine.

Amen, FS, TF we’ve got Rafa…

Oh and Keith mate, that goes back to something from today… would you fancy Dosenna and Barry on the left of that team?

Well so far so good. All around us got the results we needed them to get.
Now we just need to do the business at our place!

Personally, I wouldn’t even have Aquilani on the bench for this one. He’s not fit enough. We’ll already be starting with SG and Torres at half-mast, so the last thing we need is a 3rd half-fit player on the field.

I’d love to see us go with a 4-4-2 as LB suggested, but the fact is, the Arse don’t just play a “beautiful passing game”… they play it quick… like a game of one or two touch on the training ground… but the other thing is (a hard lesson we learned to our detriment last season) they can break with blistering pace… something our defence doesn’t have (or has a hard time coping with at any rate)

This game is all about keeping it tight and not giving anything away.
You wanna call that boring defensiveness?
You wanna say thats playing to nullify the other teams strengths instead of playing to our own?
That’s fine, you can sday that, but I’ll counter that such criticism is both naive and inexperience talking!

What is needed Sunday is a methodical approach to nullify their strengths and capitalize where we can going the other way.
Sure, that is a “cautious approach” … but to do otherwise against the Arse would quite simply be suicide… especially with a team not hitting on all cylinders, with its best players still not even 90% fit… and on a weekend when all our other “rivals” have just handed us a “get out of jail free” card!

That’s my opinion anyway.

So basically Aitch, shit on a stick will do.

Couldn’t agree more.

Based ont he last few outings, I wouldn’t mind seeing this adjustment to the line-ups some of you have proposed

Reina,
Johnson, Carra, Agger, Aurelio(or INSUA)
Mascherano, Lucas
Gerrard, The ONION, DOSSENA,
Torres (If fit).

As a defender, I prefer Insua to stop attacks, but Aurelio provides a bit more pace to combat their break,(and dead ball delivery of course)… tough call?

If SG would be “willing” to play right, then great. Get Benny in the hole and since Dossena is a quick fucker with an eye for a fast break, we use him to catch them on the break.

(and yes FS, you might be right about Dosser and Barry… though I think it is worth noting he’s hardly been pulling up stumps since his move to Citeh?)

Fuckin preach it brutha… I don’t even require the stick from this one!

Aitch mate, I reckon tommorrow is a time for the tried and tested. I’d post the usual 11 in this space, but who knows… injuries will have the biggest say on who plays and who plays where.

But the way to beat the Arse is to press and harry them all the way. Give them no time whatsoever on the ball. Be quick into the tackle and hard. Keep at the fella in possesion at all times.

Only 1 fly in that ointment… They shift the ball so well and so quick, that legs alone can’t keep up to it.

So the formation will have to be bang on. That’s why I say, the tried and tested… 4,2,3,1.

And whoever gets picked, you can bet Rafa will give these instructions… Keep it tight at the back, with plenty of cover from centre mid, work hard, going forward and tracking back. When in possesion don’t waste it. Keep patient, but keep pressing. It will come.

And I honestly believe it will come mate, if we put in the graft.

Agreed.

I think today’s results put added pressure on the affaris… like we don’t have enough to begin with… but today’s reults were big-time for us… couldn’t really have been collectively better.

These are the games that everyone bangs on about though aren’t they… the big game on the big stage and all that.

It’ll be tight and so it should be… let them go get their “great advertisements for the premier league” elsewhere!

(Oh… and could someone keep an eye on that fuckin Arshavin bloke )

Well, I’m off. But before I go… the one thing you can bet on Aitch, is Rafa will have the tactics right. I just hope the players on the pitch don’t get carried away and go for it. Toe to toe, trading blows with them tit for tat – or as that just reminded me, all out attack just trying to score more than them as one genius recommended – would be absolute madness.

Still, I’m sure we’ll see a decent game of footy, but yeah… I liked that line. And fuck the nuetral an all. Boring 1 nil will do for me.

No FS,
got the grandson staying but might venture in there sunday night, have’nt been out a lot since being struck down with that shit as i have to be careful.
Well done the villa.
YNWA.

Just a little comment on the Chavs tonight. I noticed hundreds of empty seats (in the few shots I saw) in stamford bridge. Just what does it take to fill that place? You’d have to be top of the league or something eh! Muppets.

Forgot about that mate. But you know what… I hardly use the boozers nowadays either, can’t be arses with them. Leave them to the young bucks, eh.

Just watched MOTD. Some great footy today. You were right though Lurgan… nothing at all was questioned by the balloons on the couch.

Hansen did get about to mentioning all the goals Chelsea are leaking from set pieces, but all he said was… “It’s like a virus they’ve caught and it will soon clear up.”

Wow, a virus eh. Can’t remember us getting much sympathy when we had a proper one, that downed half the squad. Oh well, nothing new there then.

Funny as watching the Tramp. The BBC mics picked him up. When the extra time board went up I heard him dead clearly roaring at the 4th official… “Where the fuck did you get that from?”

It made my day that. Like a comedy tonight. Gabby Logan on the couch before the Hull Blackburn match… The Apprentice versus the Master.

Fuckinell… Fat Sam Allarshite – The Master. I’ve heard it all now.

What a goal by that Figueroa lad… brilliant that. Great vision, awareness and technique.

And wanted mention Dean Ashton… Just heard the lad is finished. That’s a shame that. I rated him and was hoping we’d land him when we tried a couple of seasons ago. Fit, he’d have been a good foil for Torres. But the lad was always crocked. And now finished at 26. The poor lad must be gutted. And if I remember rightly it was SWP that done him in an England training session… wonder if the lad will get compo?

Oh well, off to bed. Let’s hope we can cash in tomorrow.

dougle,
I can’t imagine anything sadder on this planet than being a Manc.
But the 2nd saddest thing would have to be, being a Chav.
The 3rd, being a right wing, U.S. Christian Fundamentalist.
The 4th, related in any way to either Hicks or Gillette!

Aitch – perfect list…100% correct…

Also – Sack Ferguson – I mean how crap is he…cant even beat Villa…what a crap mananager…and as for Ancelotti – what a disaster – theres no way Chelsea are going to win the League with him in charge…:-)

Come to think of it…

Imagine if Hicks or Gillette had their end away, with a Manc Bird (named Smith), in Chelsea, who then turned to Jesus!

Oh dear… you’d be one sad-arse muthafucka!

Great result for us all around.

We should take advantage now.It will be difficult but certainly we are capable of beating them.

Rafa, please Aquilani from the start.

@Dizzy for #238

I am hoping for the same to be very honest.

Could not have asked for a better series of results for our main rivals so need to take advantage of that today. It’s gonna be tough to wake up at 3am to watch the match down here but it’s so important for us that I’m gonna have to make the effort. Torres, Gerrard and Aquaman will hopefully all start and we can give them a good old-fashioned arse-shavin!!

2 – 1 is 17 too 2, and Gerrard first goal scorer is 13 too 2.

I think I’ll be having a bit of that. Have a sneaky feeling old Dirkie might bag one today though. It’s his type of game for scoring…. One Nil to the shin of God, might be a good bet an all.

Oh well, time to start bricking it until the final whistle. I hate these sort of games. Seems to be forgotten, but all the results that went our way – went Arsenal’s way to!

They will be desperate to win this. No wonder…

Team P Home Away Pts Goal Diff
W D L F A W D L F A
Chelsea 16 7 1 0 23 4 5 0 3 17 9 37 27
Man Utd 16 6 1 1 16 8 5 0 3 18 6 34 20
Aston Villa 16 5 2 1 16 6 3 3 2 10 8 29 12
Arsenal 14 6 0 1 22 7 3 1 3 16 11 28 20
Tottenham 16 5 0 3 21 8 3 3 2 14 14 27 13
Man City 15 4 3 0 16 10 2 5 1 13 11 26 8
Liverpool 15 4 2 1 21 8 3 1 4 10 12 24 11

3 points will put them 3 points behind the Mancs with a game in hand.

Oh and look at that… the mighty Mancs have lost just one less than us. And the runaway Chavs have already lost 3.

I think some people need to study that table. Not quite the doom and gloom they would have you believe it is.

Still we need to get the points from this. So, like I said, I think we’ll see the tried and tested…
Reina
Magic, Carra, Agger, Insua
Masch, Lucas
Kuyt, Gerrard, Yossi,
Torres.

For once the bench should look really strong an all…
Cavalieri, Skrtel, Riera, Ngog, Babel, Aurelio and Aquilani.

No doubt there’ll be a few screams at that, thinking it’s a personal dig. I couldn’t give a toss. I’m talking LFC here…
And the fact is we can’t give the opposition much possession today. And even then, Arsenal don’t even need possession that much to hurt you.

So, we need a pressing game. And funny enough, you get that from a pressing team.

We need to play like we did against United…. pressing, harrying, giving no time on the ball, and retaining it when we are in possession. Lucas is very good at this.

Aquilani looks like he’s going to be a real player to me. But, at this stage of his career, and at his fitness level, he can’t be pitched into a game like this. Not yet.

Against Fiorentina he gave away possession with little flicks, tricks and backheels. But worse, he then stood still when he should have been working hard to win it back.

Playing for LFC and Rafa, he’ll soon get that out of his game. Not the guile. He’s been bought for that. But he’ll learn to time the tricks better, when to use them, the right situation at the right time, and most of all… how to graft.

Who knows with Rafa. He might spring a surprise or two. And injuries/match fitness might force his hand. But right now, the only way I can see Aquilani on the pitch, is coming off the bench if we are losing.

Of course all of that will go completely over some people’s heads and be seen as an insult. Get a grip…
As I said, Arsenal will be just as desperate to win this as us. They have lost 4 out of their last 6. Like us, with the results yesterday, they’ll be looking at this game as a way of getting back on track and making up ground on the leaders.

With no Van Persie or Bentdner they’ve got no height up front at all. So it’ll be all on the deck, even more than usual. Their fullbacks will come at us, and spread the play. They’ll be fast and direct, coming at us from all angles… So therefore, expect to have Masch and Lucas in there, and for them to have their work cut out for them.

Could go on, but why bother… you either get it or you don’t.

Well, here it is from the horse’s mouth…
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/aqua-and-torres-could-start

Make of that what you will.

You only need to look at the table to understand just how congested this season is at the top of the table…

On the one hand we are miles off the pace some 13 points behind Chelsea…

But we have played a game less…

I remember the Barcodes having a similar lead much closer to the end of the season and being caught…

Hell – I think we had a similar lead one year (under Roy Evans) and collapsed…

I dont think we can win it this year…but its not out of the question…

I think the team to watch (as FS mentioned above) is the Arse…only played 14 – win both games in hand and theyre level with the Mancs…

If any managers should be being persecuted its Redknapp and Hughes – with their massive budgets and wage bills they should be really challenging – but they arent much closer than us…

Well – I had better stop being positive – I might get arrested by the thought police…theres no room for that kind of thinking in todays world…

Clearly facts and logic have nothing to do with forming opinions for some people…

The Arse frighten me at the moment…if we are not top of our game they have the ability to do us over…and they will be up for this even more so knowing their position and the results that have just occurred…

Fortunitely I feel they are also very fragile at the moment as well…lets hope its the second lot that turn up…

FS – From your line up I would swap Insua with Aurelio myself – I feel he is better going forward and less likely to dive into tackles and get beaten one on one – I feel his experiance is what is required for this game…and I feel Rafa may suprise you and me and start with Aquilani…although I agree with you that Masch and Lucas is the probably the best bet for this game…and with the Arse having Arshaver, Fabregas and Nasri in midfield it is indeed going to be very quick, slick, on the deck style football – requiring not only the midfield to pay attention but the full backs to be very mindfull (and to expect some assistance from the wide men in front of them – hence Kuyt and Yossi)…

Looking forward to the game…glad its at Anfield…wouldnt want to be playing them at their place just yet…think we need a bit more confidence for that and too feel we have fully turned the corner…but a win here will give us that…so heres hoping…

Morning FS,
COULD start but i hope he does’nt play Aquilani and if he has to bring him on let it be around about 65th min.
Remember little Luis, how many times did he lose the ball trying a fancy flick or what-not, but when they did come off it was a big threat, happy memories eh.
Everyone having a roast dinner today and this poor fucker has to make do with sausage baps (cant even have onions with it), oh well never mind i could be a manc or chav eating prawn sarnies and trying to eat them as quick as i can so i can carry on singing anti scouser songs.
Still say 2-1 for the boy’s Benny and Nando.
YNWA.

Kop a load of this shit,
Shrek pretending a B52 bomber.
http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/12/football-cheats-no-20-wayne-rooney-man.html.
hope it works.

And this looks ominous.
http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=kop-prince-faisal-bin-fahd-pulls-plug%26method=full%26objectid=21893743%26siteid=93463-name_page.html

Just caught a bit of MOTD and what can you say? 3 all, in a cracking game between bolton and citeh, 10 minutes odd to go and people start leaving. Unfuckingbelievable. Just about sums up the current breed of football ‘supporters’ that we now have.

Also, how much fatter can Fat Sam’s head get? It can barely fit onto my TV!

Thought that you would like this FS.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/8410256.stm

I would start with Aurelio. He is by far our best provider from a dead-ball situation and we have a general height advantage over the Arse – one of the few teams that we do have this advantage.

Might not be pretty but I don’t give a toss. We need the three points.

As a few of the lads have pointed out, last season at home we went toe to toe with them, when we were playing arguably the best football from a Liverpool side for the past 20 years. Result? 4 all.

We are nowhere near this level, as of yet, this season. All-out attack today would be football suicide. Keep it tight, harass them and take our chances when they come.

Starting to get nervous now. I hate/love these matches with the Arse.

It is indeed a shame about Ashton FS. He used to give our backline all sorts of problems and I was, like you, hoping that he would sign for us.

Injured during training for a useless friendly match with Greece. A complete and unfortunate waste.

BTW, the bookies must have made a killing on the footie yesterday!

Alright Redman. I’m on a diet…. So for poor aul Fatty today, it’s only half a Lamb, cacked in mint sauce, mounds of roasties, mountains of carrot and turnip, tons of sprouts and lashings and lashings of gravy all washed down with about 15 cans of Carling. It’s no life, eh.

Been and got me bet on… 2-1, Kuyt first goal. Not that it needs anymore, but it’s only a little interest bet. And a daft one, but I just fancy our Derek today for some reason.

Looks like we’re all worried a bit about the left wing. I know I am. I expect Walcott to be out there, and I don’t think whoever we can play there will cope with his speed, not for a full game anyway. So we have to box clever, keep them from getting decent passes into him, in any space or the space to run on to. A tall order.

If we was playing to our full potential, I’d say fuck them. Worry about our own game. And I’d even say… fuck them. Attack! Attack! Attack! But it would be madness in these circumstances.

What an horrible aul bastard that man is, eh Lurgan. Did you see the story this week… he took Moyes, Fatty Alarshite and Martinez to dinner – probably to put Martinez in his place and let him know backing Benitez will not be tolerated by him and his cronies. I honestly can’t stand the fella.

And it’s not jealousy of his success. You can’t take that away from him, and I actually take my hat off to him for it. But as a man, I think they don’t come much worse… a cheating, arrogant bully, with absolutely no saving graces that I can see.

Here’s a true one…
Young Scouse lad waiting on him at some big function. He got the kid sacked, said he had not being addressing him as Sir Alex.

Getting a poor skint kid sacked for such pettiness… Fuckin Socialist from Govan my arse.

Oh well, taking the dog for his walk, might just have a couple to settle the nerves while I’m at it.

Cant wait for today’s game. The results may have also favoured arsenal yesterday but given our situation i feel they were alot more in our favour…….because im a bias bastard.

Like i said before torres going off the pitch can give the other team so much confidence no matter who they are. However torres coming back against a team can give us so much confidence while wrecking the oppositions no matter who they are.

lets get the show on the road our season starts today.

P.s off topic i met the kilmarnock football team out last nite in belfast. One of their wingers came over an asked to get a picture taken with me,puzzled i asked why and he said i was a dead ringer for their physico(alec). so i said no problem. he then shouts across lads he said yes and half the team jumped in and started laughing. Bizzare that alec must be one good looking bastard.

Alot of results favouring us yesterday,i hope we can capitalise on that, watched the villa game,i couldnt help but laugh at the look on ferguson’s face,no one gets used to losing games,with his experience in EPL he should have known better!

Well,i’d love to see us hitting Arsenal on the counter attacks coz am sure they are going to pass the ball around so often that they will put our back four on their toes, am seeing FT scoring in this one,and what a game for Stevie to lift up his performance,am seeing a hard fought 2-1

GOOD LUCK!!!

Roarin..just seen the pic posted on the Kilmarnock website. Which one are you?

ttp://www.travelblog.org/Photos/1262521.html

FS .. u lucky …..

It IS Kuyt …. !!!

Other than that goal, Kuyt’s touch and passing have been fairly horrendous. Hopefully the goal will give him a spark for the second half!

Oh dear…. Kuyt’s touch and passing have been sound. He lost one ball that came at him like a bullet…
Not having a go Steve, but why does everyone keep buying into the media myths of LFC…. Kuyt, Lucas shite – my arse. Two bloody great players.

Great performance. Exactly what we needed… constant pressure on the ball when we haven’t got it, good ball retention when we have.

And if Torres wasn’t so rusty, it would be 3 nil by now.

Thought Lucas & Masch have been immense 1st half. Well done Rafa. The guys also seem up for it – great bonding after Kuyt’s goal! C’MON you RedMen!!! Nice to see Xabi at the game. Once you’ve played for the Reds, the club is in your blood.

Don’t get me wrong FS, Kuyt is one of my favorite players. But it certainly seems he’s been in a bit of a rut as of late. Looked to me there were a few balls lost because of a bad touch by Kuyt early on in the game, but he looks to have perked up after his goal.

As for Lucas, another superb game in the middle. Great tackling, and I remember a beautiful long pass through to Kuyt early on as well.

I agree that we’ve played well overall, no complaints.

Would have loved to see Torres take a touch to the left on that break early on though!

“great advertisement for the premier league”

well I called that one wrong, didn’t I.
Great game so far. Should be 3 up.
Come ON You Reds!

Now we’ve gone 2-1 down I’d like to see how we respond. Too many times this season the team has shown no balls in adversity. The minute a team raise their game a bit we fall apart!

What kind of fucking defending was that from Johnson – for both goals!?

Heartbreaking that’s all I can say. Fluke, and a wonder strike.

I’ll leave it to the naysayers and gloaters now.

But LB, please tell me you aren’t falling into that “Johnson can’t defend” school.

Great LFC myths, Number 4 million and twenty three… Magic Johnson can’t defend.

PS… I had a tenner on our Derek for first goal. Hope people aren’t too upset I never lost me money. They’ve got plenty to gloat about as it is.

CUE the madness.

I think Johnshon can defend. He was unlucky. 2nd half we didnt play football. Almunia wasnt worked for a single time.No shots on target. Below par Torres(expected).

A chance to reduce the gap goes begging. What can i say.. Arsenal without Van Persie still somehow got 2 goals.

It’ll fall on deaf ears, but here goes anyway…

A game of 2 halves…. a SERIOUS opportunity missed… and back to the drawing board!

We were never gonna be able to keep up that tempo from the first half.

Howard Webb is a cunt… and we should have had a pen in the first and one in the second… at least one of which should have seen them reduced to 10 men.

Lucas and Mascherano play just fine together. We were clicking along until Masch went off. Now Masch was injured so it was probably a forced sub, but Aquilani is nowhere near fit enough for the first team yet (especially in light of how some other players faded in the 2nd) and we suffered when he came on for Masch. Masch on present form, both keeps possession far better than Aqua and breaks up play far better …not to be too critical of Aqua, I’m just talking at this moment.
Its a catch 22 for Rafa right now, the lad needs game time, but at what price? We lost possession badly with him on against FIO and the same today!

Benny was baked and ready to serve at half-time and offered us fuck all in the 2nd half. Should we have had Dossena on for him? Easy for us to say now.

Stevie G also faded badly in the 2nd half. And on another day Nando would have roasted Gallas at least a half-dozen times.

They got lucky for their first goal and took advantage of that and the fact we were no longer pressing them with the high tempo.
Arshavin’s goal was fuckin ACE though wasn’t it? The lad really is something special… But again, would Arshavin have been a Red if not for the Yanks?

Desperately dissappointing… a real missed opportunity today… but on the basis of the first half performance… proof of hope?

Addendum to above.

The Masch is back to his Monster self… so as far as I am concerned… long may the Barca rumors continue. I hope he’s fuckin linked with them every week if it prompts those sorts of displays!

I’d have gone Man-of-the-Match for Masch if he’d lasted the 90, but since he went off, its gotta go to Lucas. Absolutely Terrific display by the lad!

@Aitch

Game of two halves-True.

Howard Webb-I couldnt agree more with you.

Lucas and Mascherano- Yes they play well together but time and again Gerrad and Torres have been without quality service for significant duration in games.Aquilani has to fit in. Its December..if Aquilani is still not match fit then was it a wise decision to buy him for 20m at d 1st place?

I cant agree with you on this one. We have to play Aquilani..we might loose the ball defending against teams but i am sure Torres and Gerrad will be much well fed. Goals wins us matches.

Some people here were talking about us keeping clean sheets again after Blackburn. That idea will go out of the window now.

Dossena for benny? NO according to me.

Arshavin: World Class.

Dissapointing it is. I am surprised, we had no shots on target in the 2nd half. We were attacking the Kop end.

Yes Mascherano was my man of the match too.

Somnath, its a fair enough comment, but unfortunately, it doesn’t tell the whole story… goals conceded lose you matches.

Losing possession in the middle of the field is not a good idea… and traditionally not the way you win games.

Aquilani is clearly a good player. He’s got some guile about him and WHEN he is firing on all cylinders, he’s gonna be a great addition to the team… I don’t think that time was today!

Introducing him today was a big gamble (for a manager supposedly “too cautious”) and it didn’t pay off.

Aquilani did not provide any more significant balls forward to SG and FT today, than Masch had been providing.
Don’t take that the wrong way, I don’t want to appear too critical of the lad.
I agree philosophically that he will provide more attacking flair, when fit… but in terms of practical application, it didn’t happen today!

Again, My Dosser for The Onion suggestion is not a philosophical one… 9 times out of 10 I’d have Benny on the pitch.
All things being equal Benny is twice the player Dossena is, but the lad was fried by half-time today, and lost the ball virtually every time it came to him in the 2nd half.
Against FIO, Dossena got forward, looked full of vim and vigor and provided some real attacking threat… so its not an outrageous suggestion.

That was a predictably tough match with neither team allowing the other to play through a packed midfield. Not seen the stats but only a handful of corners and it felt like not much (quality) play in the final third for either team.
Positives for me include;
1) The return of several 1st teamers
2) First half display – however, some players found it tough to maintain that level into second half
3) Lucas & Masch – Lucas ventured forward more than I’d noticed in previous games and still maintained his holding role.
4) General attitude was strong but I feel like the lads need a lift and a bit of a break from somewhere…
5) We used our game plan and stopped Arse from playing their desired game despite our tired legs

Other points;
1) Ref was poor but that seems all too common these days!
2) We need to put a run together
3) Some other tired cliches!

Soz to “hit & run” but going out now to drown my sorrows. Looking forward to reading some other posts later (more intelligent and knowledgable than mine).

Ah fuck,
when are the boy’s going to get the rub of the green ?, Arshavin world class maybe but the ugly little fat cunt was lucky to be on the pitch when he scored, after the 4th blatant foul Wanker Webb decided to book him.
I could’nt make out what went wrong in the 2nd half apart from Benny being absolutely knackered he looked almost relieved when he went off and that’s not having a go at him, but as FS pointed out all yesterday’s results were good for the Arse as well if they won here.
Johnson did have a stinker by his standards but i think he is still carrying that injury.
FS, was going to comment at half time but i thought no i might jinx and bollocks the big fella, i think i should have done it now.
But heads up lads and dont forget as sula and burgerman always maintain “You’ll never walk alone”.

Good comments RafasBeard.

Its easy to despair after a result like today’s… especially given recent results.

But moments change matches.

If we’d got the pen when Gallas took SG out, we’d have been 2-0 up at half time. How would that have changed the game.

Then you get that daft bobbledy-dink own goal in off Johnson’s foot and the whole complexion of the match changes!

Some will say that’s just excuses, but it is also the reality of the situation.

Some days you get the bear… some days the bear gets you.

I didn’t even want to come back in here tonight, but I have to say something…

Rafa’s biggest job is to keep the lads heads up now. They’ll be getting it from left, right and centre… telly, radio, papers and gobshite fans on the internet and phone ins.

I’m listening now to the phone ins… not one of them is Scouse. All of them are agreeing with the media, and aiding them in their witch hunt.

One twat, with a Southern accent, is calling NGog for everything and saying bring back Keane. He’s even just had the nerve and gall to say Scousers are too loyal!

I bet he’s the type that takes the piss out of Scousers and tells Scouse jokes. But yet the same kunt is putting himself, and being put, forward as a Liverpool fan.

His last word… sack Benitez, bring in Maureenio.
Complete knobhead.

And please don’t take this wrong lads, I know we are from all over the world in this blog. But I am absolutely sick and fucking tired of this.

There’s another cockney sounding fella on right now, doing the same thing. He’s just criticised Liverpool FC for not sacking managers and moaned about Scousers staying too loyal to their own.

I honestly can’t take much more of this… do the fuckers add anything to this club… sitting there taking fucking pictures instead of backing the team when they do go the match, and then calling the phone ins to fucking moan, complain and play into the media’s hands.

Mark my word… these are the sort of cunts who will kill this club and all it stands for, and then they will just move on to the next successful team that takes their fancy.

I don’t want to sound dramatic, but my heart bleeds at what is becoming of our club and our “Support.”

Signing off now as an African sounding fella says all he wants for Christmas is Benitez sacked, and another weird sounding fella saying Benitez will kill the club.

Sorry lads had to be said, and please don’t take it personally… but to me, it’s like we invited the burgalars into our house.

And if that does upset you, I don’t really care. I wouldn’t march in your front door and shit on the welcome mat.

Absolutely gutted. We were brilliant today Lucas Mascherano and Aurelio had great games. We made them look rubbish and I can’t believe we lost the game in 10 minutes. The only down side to the performance was that Gerrard was a bit Stevie Me today. Apart from that it was encouraging, for all they get critisized Arsenal actually have good defenders, as long as we continue to play this way we’ll stroll into the top four.

FS, I did make a point of looking for it today…

Every single time the ball went out for a throw in…
…it looked like Hollywood Boulevard on Oscar night.
There were more flashes going off than there are at the fuckin Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show!

It would never even occur to me to take a photo at a match… I’m too busy watching the spaces and the runs and such… and thinking, “ooh, look at the run, pick him out.”

Well to say im gutted is an understatement, but there was enough in the game to see we are gaining some form slowly yes but its coming, just hope its not to late by the time we get there.

Lucas was good again i think he will make it, and be a sound player for us. Aurelio had a good game.We just need another striker with an eye for goal. Steve looked jadded in the second half.They looked ordinary in th efirst half, i agree it was a game of two different halfs as regards how we applied our selves, but hard to keep it at that pace in the second if the whole group are not fully match fit.
Thats the difference to the end of last season super fit and goals coming from quite a few different areas.

FS im not scouse but i love the team and think if Rafa is left alone he will sort it out.

and fuck these so called wankers who call them seleves LFC fans they sure anit supporters.Id walk to the kop if i had to, half of these tossers wouldnt know where anfield is let alone been to the ground.

i used to think egnore them but if we do they will win and where would we be with some germany twat in charge doing as hes told.

what the fuck have twats like Souness (grest player) but crap manager, kinkerman hes the same couldnt manage a good shite,

we must keep going and back Rafa, If the mancs had listened to there fans and got rid of whiskey nose then where would they be now.he went on to turn it round. So dont knock loyalty it a commodity that is rare in this must have it now brigade.

dont think it couldnt happen to us cause it could and its been said before, be careful what you wankers are whishing for you might just live to regret it

keep on fighting the wankers.

keep the faith UNWA

Totally gutted today. We didn’t deserve that.

To top it all, Ryan Giggs is sports personality of the year? Don’t mind the fella actually but sometimes you wonder who runs the beeb.

Have been very busy with work and other stuff so have not been on here much recently.

Still back Rafa 100%. I have a friend who only texts me after a bad result ‘ Rafa has to go’.

We have become used to the bad defending but what really disappointed me was that we had half an hour to get back in the game and we never really looked like scoring. I though we lacked real urgency in the second half and leadership.

What was the story with Gerrard today ? At the slightest tocuh he went to ground. Ok that was a stonewall peno in the first half. There was one incident after about 85 minutes when he was going down the left wing and got the slightest touch and went to ground. Summed up our day.

I haven’t seen the game yet, so can’t comment on players .( I was at church, Yes thats right Aitch
a conservative Christian here)
Anyway sounds like we played well in the first half and then lost our way after the two goals.
Always knew it would be a tough game against Arsenal.

Hello, everyone. I’m a two-year lurker and a first-time poster. This post is maybe more immediately inspired by Fat Scouser’s contribution at #318, but it’s something I think everyone should be noticing.

It’s going to be an extremely lengthy KopBlog debut for me, but I do hope some of you take it all in. These are trying times for LFC, but I don’t want to discuss recent form or results. I just want to talk about being a supporter. For those of us who maybe started supporting more recently, I think we need to remember what turned us on to the club in the first place. For those of you old heads who were born Scouse by the grace of God, I’m hoping I can show you that support from the “outside” shouldn’t necessarily cause you a sensation of impending doom. For those diehards who incessantly ask the skeptics, “WHY then do you even support Liverpool?” it seems no one ever gives a developed answer. I will provide my [perhaps overdeveloped] response, and I do hope that many around the world have had the same type of journey.

I’m a fellow in my mid 20s, and I’ve lived my entire life in America. I didn’t really pay any attention whatsoever to football until perhaps the Euros in 2004. Even then, it was just a glimpse, and I probably didn’t get promoted to “casual follower” until the 2006 World Cup.

After that, for whatever reason, I was hooked, and I knew I was going to commit myself 100% to the beautiful game. While I still follow American sport religiously, a part of me will be forever jaded with what’s become of them — absolutely insane money being tossed around, stupid sponsorship and business relationships drowning out the game itself, obnoxious PA announcers telling you when to cheer and how to behave, flashing neon lights and trendy music trying to pump you up… Mind you, we’re already seeing some of that in football, particularly on the financial end, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. For the most part, I think football is still mostly about raw passion and spirit, and this is most easily recognized through its supporters. Football, while hugely about results and winning, I think is the sport most closely connected with just being a human being.

Based on that, I made a decision to follow a sport that is barely even mentioned in passing once a day and to support a team that plays in a country in which I do not reside. On paper, the process of choosing a club seems quite ridiculous and totally arbitrary. Well, it is, so if you’re going to do it, you had a better do it right. Otherwise, you’re a total faker. Of course, you’ll never be a supporter by birthright, but like citizenship, you can one day become “naturalized.”

I’m speaking from a purely American perspective, but I’ve a feeling much of the same applies to the countries around the globe. I think the process nowadays is quite simple. Some random Yank isn’t going to up and start following football one day and say, “I guess I’ll go with Wigan or maybe Villareal.” No, your selection pot is basically handed to you. First, you want a club that plays quality football. There are quite a few of them. Perhaps most importantly, you want a club whose games are consistently on the tele and broadcasted in a language you understand. Right from the get go, that should beam you to the Premier League. And by default – due to the amount of coverage and the fact that you probably won’t have much of an interest supporting a mid-table club that never plays in Europe – your choices are simply confined to the Big Four.

I’m going to doubt that the majority do this beforehand, but for me personally, prior to even getting to the point of selecting a club, I watched as many games as I could and did as much research on football itself — tactics, history, everything — as humanly possible. I basically just squeezed as much information into my brain as it could take over a period of several months. I had to because I really didn’t have much of a football background at all — I was simply a person fascinated by the game.

Once I felt I had a sufficient understanding of football as a whole, I started considering clubs. Again… in the United States it’s Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United. You’re going to have to be quite an eccentric person to choose otherwise.

So now I had to watch these teams play and learn all about the culture of their clubs. Again — history, important figures, footballing style, types of people who support them, etc. I was throwing myself in head first, and I did not want to be part of a culture that would ultimately mean nothing to me. At the very least, I wanted to take comfort in being able to sit down with the average supporter of my club knowing that we shared some common ground… if not in physical location and upbringing, at least on a level of ideals and philosophies… common ground of virtue.

Chelshite and the scum were immediately out of the running for me. Supporting them would be like an Englishman moving to America, deciding he wanted to watch baseball, and settling on the New York Yankees. As far as I’m concerned, the Manc and Chelsea supporters in America — of which are the majority — are simply people who don’t know how to think for themselves. Unless one of them can tell me he has family roots tying him to one of those clubs, I cannot really have an ounce of respect for them. Voluntarily choosing them makes no sense.

So for any self-respecting person who is not from England, it’s my view that you can choose only Arsenal or Liverpool. Obviously, Liverpool’s history and culture makes Arsenal into a laughing stock, but it’s not as if the objective should be to “steal” an identity. For me, at least Arsenal is not completely trying to purchase its trophies, and they’ve contributed a little bit to football in general over the years. All things considered, I can give someone a little time of day even if he does support the Arse.

I’ve made this all seem like a long process, I’m sure, but my decision was essentially made for me from the beginning. In my progression, I just felt it necessary to do all the preliminary work to reach an already foregone conclusion.

From a young age, I was quite mad for a small group known as The Beatles. Now, supporting a team because a rock ‘n’ roll band came from its city is asinine. But such was my obsession that I felt it necessary to learn all about the city of Liverpool itself — long before I ever gave a lick to football.

Even from across the ocean, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Liverpool, in its heart of hearts, is home to some of the most sincere and honorable people you could hope to meet. A working class city that fears no man and commands the respect of every man. In that regard, learning about Liverpool made me think about the city where I live, Philadelphia. And the people who support Liverpool reminded me in some ways of the people who cheer for the professional teams in Philadelphia. But beyond that, I knew that I could sit down over a pint with your average Scouser and speak about both the simple and the greater things in life — not just a sport or a team.

And then when I immersed myself in the history, tradition, and culture of Liverpool Football Club, I simply fell in love. If the city itself is often stereotyped through a dull, workmanlike lens of gray and black shades, the club more than makes up for that. Maybe I’m being too dramatic or artistic, but to surround yourself with the culture of Liverpool FC is to absorb some of the richest and most vibrant colors that your eyes can behold. The concept and the fabric of what the club is built on is simply beautiful.

In a nutshell, that last paragraph is mainly why I support the club. I guess all the preceding paragraphs are about how I arrived there. No, I never shaken the hand of Shankly, but if I were to ever meet him in some form or another, and if he asked me to do it, I wouldn’t hesitate to follow him to hell and back with a tank of gasoline under each arm.

And we could all go on for hours and hours about the great ideas, great men, and great moments that have shaped this club. By and large, I still see these things rippling through the players, the supporters, and the energy and passion itself. But I also recognize that some of it is disappearing.

This should be of huge concern not only to anyone whose family has been supporting the club for generations but to anyone who has supported the club ever. That type of erosion of spirit is the real tragedy — not our current position in the league.

For anyone who might make an accusation of living in the past, I say to you that the past is what we were built on. And if you say that all you care about is results and the here and now, then you are a lost cause. You must concern yourself not only with present tense but also with wherewithal and longevity.

Every supporter wants to win the league as badly as the next. But every true supporter wants to do it in The Liverpool Way. A lot of teams in many sports around the world use that term of “Way” quite liberally. In reality, there are very few — even the successful ones in modern day — that have retained the identity which made them great in the first place.

I hope that each and every one of you support the club because of The Liverpool Way. I know I do, and I know that it is what will see us through the dark times and in ascension back to the top. And I know we have a manager and many key players who understand and embrace it. For the most part, the supporters have always believed, too. We need a magnificent revival of this kind of belief.

On our own separate, individual levels, even before we scream over the owners’ appalling lack of character and finances, before we deconstruct the manager’s decisions, before we consider whether certain players are capable of the necessary performances, we must first consider the intangibles that make Liverpool extraordinary. These have been in places for decades. And long after Hicks, Gillette, Rafa, Gerrard, Carra, and Torres have left, those intangibles must remain. In the meantime, those intangibles will, in one way or another, be the factors most responsible for bringing themselves some company. Intangibles do always look nicer when joined by trophies, don’t they?

This has been a disappointing season, and none of us know what kind of note it may actually end on. But if you think Liverpool is losing its way, we need to start with pointing the fingers at ourselves. No one is asking anyone to look at a piece of shit and try to convince themselves it smells delicious. Just no matter what, no matter how gloomy things may seem, remember what Liverpool Football Club is and why you support it. And ask others to do the same. The support and belief must never waver.

I hope this all doesn’t seem totally presumptuous and arrogant. Given the extremely short amount of time I’ve been a fan of Liverpool, it’s a bit silly and self-righteous of me to take issue with the evolution of so called Liverpool “supporters.” But I do think I’ve seen and heard enough from many different places, and I understand what’s going on. And after all that, I guess what I’m saying with all this long-windedness is no different than what that old sage Gerry always preaches: Keep The Faith.

If you’re finding that difficult to do, just take a couple minutes to actually think about it and step outside your very small world of personal affairs. It’s not about being able to brag to people about how you support a winning side. It’s not about dreading to have to deal with any grief that might be offered to you by supporters of other clubs when you lose. It IS very much about silverware and continuing a winning tradition, but if that’s all you care about, you’re a fraud. I don’t really direct that at anyone in here, but it’s just something to keep in mind as we all interact with one another and with those outside of this forum. There is an internal battle of supporters vs. “supporters” that we all wish didn’t have to take place.

I hope none of our supporters are actually frauds, and I hope they can get the picture after simply thinking things through for a few minutes. And if that still doesn’t work for them, they truly can just piss off.

That result hurt, more so because it was frustrating as I thought the lads had a descent game and a few things just didnt fall our way (Own goal, penalty decision).

Fair play to Arsenal though.

I know I might get blasted for this statement, but i honestly think we will take maximum points in this Xmas fixture. Call it optimism, but I think the lads are starting to gel.

Yes FS, cant stand those phone in wankers.

In my opinion, Rafa got the team and tactics correct. But these wankers would have you believe that he forgot to tell Johnson not to score an own goal and hence not fit to be a manager.

On a nice note, great to see Xabi at the game, true professional.

I was up until 3 in the morning watching the game and it was a disappointing result after what was a very promising start. The team dropped their heads and were visibly off the pace in the 2nd half. The kicker is we really should have been at least 2 or 3 nil up by half time. Torres missed a Golden opportunity when he was one on one with the keeper in the 1st half, which on another day he would have buried or at least made the keeper work and we definitely deserved a peno as well.
Gerrard was clearly obstructed in the box, Gallas was nowhere near the ball and somehow everyone including the 4th official decided not call it. That is now the 3rd blatant penalty we have been denied this season after the 2 on Voronin earlier in the season that has cost us points. Gerrard’s reputation as a diver may have preceded him and affected the ref’s judgment. Ronaldo was getting them all the time last season regardless. A pity that…

This was as close as we’ve had to a full strength team in this season so it is understandable that it was going take a little more time to gel or have players regain their fitness. Our storming 1st half performance where we showed glimpses of the crushing machine the 2nd half of last season got my hopes up though only for it to be brought down to earth. We did not threaten or register a shot on target in the 2nd half which was disappointing. Almunia seemed shaky at times and we really could have capitalized on this. I agree with the argument that Dossena deserved to be brought on at some point on the left. His crosses are not always perfect but he at least has a left foot. I like Benayoun but he is less effective down the left wing because he always has to cut back onto his right before crossing the ball or coming in to play it. When our tempo dropped in the 2nd half his effectiveness on the break was really nullified. On a positive note I think Degen looked pretty good breaking down the right with his pace. A pity about the quality of his delivery but he was probably rusty like everyone else who hadn’t been playing for months. He is definitely a good option to have now that (touch wood) his injuries have subsided.

There were also a few more positives to take from the game of course: Torres, Gerrard and Aquilani getting more minutes, Mascherano having one of his best games of the season before getting clattered by a dangerous, thigh height, studs up follow through by Denilson, Lucas again proving to be one of our most consistent players this season and actually moving up the pitch a bit more, a goal scored by Kuyt who was going through a barren spell and our defence dealing well with crosses and pacey wingers until the unforunate own goal. Arsenal did not trouble us much besides their occasional break down the wings and they really did not create much against us.

Despite this setback, I am confident we can go on a run of wins over the congested, upcoming fixtures and rise up against all adversity. I won’t be holding my breath for the two conmen to provide Rafa much needed funds for a backup striker but hopefully we can get one on loan and somehow negotiate a purchase during the summer. So…which brings me to the Jan. transfers: which of Elia (swap with Babel), Keirrison (loan), Zezinho, Juan Mata (loan/purchase), Louis Saha, Carlton Cole, James Beattie, Ruud horseface and Pavyluchenko do you want to see at the club or are a realistic possibility in your opinion? I don’t think we will be able to afford anybody over 5 million without selling 2 or 3 players but I think we can manage to negotiate a loan deal at least until the summer.

Sun King..

That was a top notch post from you.

Yokohama,

James Beattie? OMG

Skeat, he was mentioned in the media as an option that (not me) but the club were after. It is probably a load of bollocks but I just threw him in because he was a rumouried target. I’m not saying that I would like him at the club.

Having said that, with our lack of funds we could do with any affordable reinforcements that can do a job.

Sly Sports News has had the usual over reaction to the game yesterday. Minute by minute text message and email rants from Liverpool fans who want Rafa out.
But if Rafa was to leave or be pushed out what would we get? It’s the middle of the season so we would only get a stop gap. As many others have said in here what top manager would want to come here considering the financial constraints the club is operating under. Any new manager would need time to make their mark on the team. How many of the CBC would give any new manager that time?
Come the summer if Rafa was gone I’d say we would be looking at international managers who failed to qualify for the World Cup, the managers who do well will stay with their country or be bought by Man City…maybe City will buy them all.

We’ve had a shocking start to the season after what we were hoping at the start. But this has been Rafa’s first real tough spell and some want him out but have no ideas on who to bring in or how that would help the club. Do the doommongers dump their wives/girlfriends at the first argument? Should we dump Rafa in this tough time or do we stand by him?

Your choice.

P.S. My 6th wife and I love Rafa.

Forgot to say, Sun King; excellent post

And Sun King. That was an excellent post. When I saw your name, I feared the worst because I thought it derived from the news rag that all Liverpool supporters despise, the “S*n”…. But anyway, you must have been referring to an Egyptian Deity.

The Kopblog which I have been reading for a good 9 or 10 years or so now is an excellent place to learn about Liverpool history where probably the most knowledgeable supporters gather and talk about everything Liverpool and life in general. I was immediately hooked on Gerry’s humorous blogs and the banter. These days unfortunately we have quite a lot of infighting, slagging with a few disagreements amongst our posters which is more prevalent than before. In fact the comments section rarely used to go over 200 but now we are seeing 300+ posts in between Gerry’s blogs quite regularly. It is getting more reactionary like the TIA post match comments section, which by the way is still preferable to some of the other sites.

Anyway, Sun King I know a little bit about where you’re coming from. I was born in the Wirral, lived in West Kirby when I was an infant and moved to Japan where my father works, been expatriated and based here since. I did visit relatives in England occasionally during summer but did not live in England until my 3 year stint at University, in Liverpool: 1999-2002. Whenever I could get tickets I went to Anfield and went with my mates to the Kop. Although these were the Houllier years and the football wasn’t always great to watch we all chanted and sang and it was an amazing experience every time I went. I can’t imagine how it must have been during the terraces days or when the true supporters could afford to go every match instead of tourists or outsiders like me.

Although I was born very close to Liverpool, I never got to go to the Kop until I was a teenager. Ironically, the introduction of Sky and the Premier League, which coincided with the start of Liverpool’s barren spell and the irreversible change of football for the worse was around the same time I was able to get TV coverage of football over in Japan. Before the Sky era, all I had was European and English highlights, International games/tournaments, the occasional Serie A match and J-League. Anyway besides Tranmere Rovers which had absolutely no media coverage I had either Liverpool or Everton to choose from as a boy. I think after watching some European games during the 80s early 90s was enough to convince me. It was an easy decision because there were players I admired such as Barnes, Rush, Keegan, Daglish, Beardesly, Fowler, McManamann, McAteer and e.t.c. Once the Premier League began, I was able to follow the team every week. I bought the kit, collected posters and memorabilia of the team as a boy. I was sheltered in a way but I did feel that I had an identity. The three years spent in Liverpool were great times indeed as well. I had mingled with the locals and immediately got the impression that the people were warm, friendly, hospitable and humorous. I also studied history at University and managed to cover a lot on Liverpool, dock and shipping history, pub culture and the integration and settlements of various people of different races. Even though my mother is Japanese and I look different I never felt strange or out of place in Liverpool. I live in a port city in Japan called Yokohama which has a similar parochial or community based feeling of togetherness and a strong identity.

I’ve always felt that the nightlife in Liverpool is one of the best in the World! It doesn’t matter whether the economy has gone to shite or how high the unemployment rates are, the spacious/trendy bars, clubs and local pubs are always bustling and heaving with people! ?

Ok…I may have been visiting TIA since I was at University but Kopblog was launced in 2003. I do remember another blogger who used to almost compete with Gerry on each blog which I found amusing. Anyway it has been 6-7 years since I’ve been reading Kopblog not the 9-10 which may have been an exaggeration. Aplogies.

Its quite some time since yesterdays match. Immediate reaction will have to be of immense despair and dissapointment.

Good to see Aquilani back. Great to see Gerrard,Torres and Acquilani on the same pitch representing LFC. For a fan like me who has got much stick for trying to be critical of Rafa and his tactics, this was the moment i was waiting for. We need these 3 talented players along with Johnshon and Benny to give us the creative impetus which we need so badly.

I dont want to comment on whether we can finish 4th or not at this point. I am sure we will. What bothers me even more is the lack of attitude which this team has shown whenever we have been taken on in a game by our opponents.
To me there was no reason why we could not have carried on with our monster 1st half display. Again we were unlucky to concede the 1st goal but where was the reaction to that? We allowed them to come back at us again. That for me is the worrying aspect. We are a bit too afraid to be bold or i dunno how to put it..perhaps to easily rattled.

The only thing i never liked about the match was the final score,but i loved the creativity and am wondering why we never play like that against the small teams! and my other worry,we’ve lost that comeback spark that we had last season,we have lost so many games with the 2-1 score,may be Alonso or Abeloa has a thing to do with this! we were parctically supposed to kick start our season yesterday but it never came and am wondering when it will come,if we keep losing games like this,top spot will fade away and pressure will mount on Rafa!

I read a book on a lad who climbed Mount Everest, that last 100 metres took him 3 days, he wanted to give up every hour. However he pushed through and reached the summit. It took him a couple of hours to come back down 500 metres. Once he reached the summit it was so much easier. Once our lads knock up a few wins the mountain won’t look so steep.
.
Sommy, I’m impressed with you posts on this game, heads up all, we won’t go anywhere looking for scapegoats.
.
Lads if your frustrated, imagine how those 11 lads on the field feel.
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Anyway look on the bright side, it could cause the Americans to re-evaluate their brand loyal investment. Things will get better.
.
Anyway back to the tongue in cheek, heard numerous sites calling for Rafa’s head, so I thought I’d help with the next job advertisement.
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Wanted a person to manage a world class football team based in Liverpool, England.
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The position intails turning a current with no additions squad into a domestic and European force.
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The position will not attract any additional funding above sales, however all sales will go towards funding debt and palyer wages.
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Any monetary funds gained beyond this will become the sole property of the owner/s.
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The successful aplicatant will need to have vast media bending ability otherwise they may succumb to less than favourable consideration.
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Finally all players brought must be sold for a considerable profit otherwise your allocation of buying cheap young players will be cut.
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If you think you can fulfill the above criteria without throwing away your self esteem and dignity, please apply.
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We may even meet you at the airport if golf is called off.
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Sorry lads couldn’t resist, been reading other sites.

Bugger – that was so unjust…we looked really good for most of that game…

Lucas was immense…Masch aint going nowhere…I really think he was struggling because of the stress of getting Argentina to qualify…now thats done hes back…and back big time…

You have to feel for the players…they played so well and put in so much effort – all for nought…I just hope they can see the positives and their fragile confidence doesnt take another bashing over this…

They have to look at the good things they did in this game and realise that on any other day they would have won, and just about any other opposition they would have thumped…

Theres no point in getting down over this one…that wont help anyone with anything…play like this in the next game, and keep playing like this till it turns…thats all they can do…

And thats all we can ask…

I cant understand the calls for Rafa’s head…again we played well…theres f all Rafa can do about Johnsons terribly piece of bad luck or the bloody over talented russian…

Somnath, have you ever being kicked repeatedly in the nuts?

Don’t take that the wrong way because the only reason I said that was because that’s how the lads must have been feeling after that great strike from Arsehaving.

You think about it. After all we have went thru’ and then we’ve played them off the park with their best footie this season, should have had a pen and been at least 2 up by half-time.

5 mins into the 2nd half and then there is a deflection followed by another deflection followed by Johnson sticking it into his own net. Then 8 minutes later you get that goal from Arshavin.

You could see the lads head drop and wondering wtf do we have to do to get a break. I wouldn’t call it a lack of attitude anyway.

As I say, don’t take this the wrong way, I am just trying to explain why I think the performance levels dropped after 58 minutes.

FS, Glen Johnson fucked up twice and those fuck ups led to goals. I am not saying he can’t defend. No myth there, no bandwagon and no agenda. I am expressing what my eyes told me. 2 mistakes, 2 goals, we lose.

My eyes also tell me this. That we have shown very little fight this season. We concede a goal and the towel gets chucked in. I don’t know if it’s lack of fitness, lack of confidence, lack of team spirit or what. Arsenal go 2-1 up with 32 mins left plus stoppage time and we don’t even come close to testing their goal keeper.

In the first half we were great but as good as we were in the first half we were as poor in the second. That was no vintage Arsenal side either. They looked ordinary to me which makes the result and 2nd half performance even more frustrating.

I don’t know how Rafa is going to lift the players confidence but I guess that is what he is paid to do. Wigan next. If we take the lead and then concede then what? Chuck the towel in again? We’ll see.

Some excellent articles – not sure if everyone has seen these…but they are well worth the read…

They clearly explain the current situation at LFC and the work of SoS…are heavily based on facts and are a must read in my opinion…

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2009/11/10/questions-answers-session-with-sprit-of-shankly-on-hicks-gillett/

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2009/11/12/hicks-gillett-n-spirit-of-shankly-liverpool-fans-questions-answered-part-two/

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2009/11/25/our-owners-lack-of-ambition-is-rafa-the-glue-holding-our-hopes-together/

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2009/11/02/hicks-gillett-love-the-green-of-the-dollar-more-than-the-red-of-liverpool-fc/

Sun King, fantastic post mate. Interesting insight.
I had to watch the game on sly sports, and was filled with electricity by our first half performance, especially Mascherano and Lucas…..they were everywhere, and made fabregas and co seem less than average. The referee certainly did us no favours. Turning point in the game for me was Denilson’s foul on mascherano which seemed to affect him. Things weren’t the same after that. Bennie seemed out of sorts, and couldn’t deal with the pace of sagna. Johnson didn’t seem his usual self yesterday.
I ignore the press and kneejerker reactions in the main, but i have to say I was hurt seeing Ian St John joining the sly sports brigade and damning Rafa on tv. Granted the fella cares about the club, but his blatant support of the Sly sports agenda was sickening.
The 2nd half was clearly not what we wanted, but i felt the boys needed a lift from somewhere. In other countries they use the stadium sound system to motivate the team during the game, any chance we could try that at anfield to get the crowd going in support of the team? I really think if there is going to be a change or the extra something to lift the team it could start in the stands.
LFC till I die!!

@Gaz

Yes we are in this together.

Suffering a monumental hangover, so haven’t caught up with all the comments. And I hope mine last night didn’t offend anyone. Everyone has the right to support whatever club they want, and have an opinion on it. But I stand by what I said… if you bring nothing to the club but negativity, you don’t belong and you’re not welcome.

As I said, I wouldn’t dream of coming into your house and shitting on the welcome mat.

I don’t think Lads abroad, even as close as Ireland, realise how bad the media witch hunt has become… it’s constant. It’s from every angle, and I think if you heard/seen it 24/7 you’d become just as defensive as me.

These are really perilous times for LFC, and the media is rubbing it’s hands in glee at the thought of our demise.

All that happened yesterday was, we played a bloody good team at a time when our confidence is very low and fragile. While not exactly murdering them yesterday, we outplayed them. But due to players not being totally match fit, we couldn’t keep up that high tempo pressuring game.

Once we lost the lead to an absolute fluke, heads dropped, confidence went and legs became even heavier. It was all very understandable really. But as usual it was met with the total over reaction of the hyped up times we live in, and as usual the kneejerkers took over.

And it drives me mad… not the football served up, not the players, not the management. Obviously some people in here don’t understand why I get so bloody angry at what these people are doing to the club. But I’m not going to explain all that yet again.

But the fact is… There is a witch hunt in this country against Rafa. And this isn’t some accidental occurence. The media would like nothing better than to see LFC fall apart. You might think I’m going over the top, but all I can say is… The Sun. The Truth. And if you look or think back to them times, you will see they weren’t the only ones.

Sadly though, the sort of person attracted to the club since they hype of Sly has made football a global entertainment industry, doesn’t know or understand that. And are completely hoodwinked by all the propaganda, and so end up aiding the media in it’s agenda.

I keep saying this over and over. I’m not the only one. And you don’t have to be a local to see what’s happening. Many good fans from all over the world can see it for what it is. But we are being over ridden by the morons. And I honestly fear they will eventually make the job untenable for Rafa. And if that happens, the club will be left completely in the hands of H&G and we are in serious serious trouble.

Conceding 2 goals is the norm.When is the last time the Mancs lost @ GS having gone 1-0 up?.Aquilani will never score as many as Ljungberg or Pires.The bloke looks half-fit @ best.Second half offered nothing going forward.Is Johnson worth 5 times what was paid for Finnan?.No Van Persie, yet Arse beat us for a second time in 4 weeks.Sagna looks a bargain @ 6 million.In October 2003, the Arse won 2-1 @ Anfield thanks to a og from Diao-deja-vu.Evans and Houllier were fired after finishing third and fourth, so Rafa either finishes top 2 or gets fired.No manager has taken longer than 6 seasons to win their first title.Last summer Wenger made a profit of 25 mill in the transfer market!.Rafa broke even and has spent 100 mill more then Wenger since 2004.Expect the usual tripe from Paul Tomkins, a first rate spoofer.

Thanks for the contribution Burger Meister… now could you please tell us how to solve our problems and then us simple less knowledgable folk can then get on in the real world.

Burgerman maybe you should apply for Rafa’s job….you clearly seem to think you could do it better……because its just that easy isn’t it?

Idiotic!

Hansen has a good piece on http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football and timesonline.co.uk/thegame is pretty good as well.No tabloid rubbish.Nobody wants to buy the club so blaming the Yanks is pointless.Wenger has had no mioney, he uses his scouting network to buy players @ bargain prices.Rafa wasted 40 mill last summer.Where is Babel who cost the same amount as Henery and almost as much as Ladyboy?.Yet Another dog’s dinner from Rafa.

BM, you are correct! Wenger has spent much less than Rafa (though i would be intrigued to see his spend last year – arshavin, edu, nasri have not come cheap).

BM, could you also please provide an analysis of Arsenal and Liverpool results and trophies the last 5 years? Thanks.

YNWA

burgerrman,
how many ARSE kits do you have in your closet? What else are in your closet?

No serious club would allow a manager more than 5 seasons to win a title.SW have ditched their manager because he hasn’t a win in 9 games!.Good managers make it look easy.Taggart made the most profit on a player ever on a player bought and sold by a club.He cost less than Aquilani !.Not a word from Gerry.Expect a 1-1 on Wed night.Souness was better than this.Check the stats in his final season.

Read the comments… LB it’s pretty self explanatory really. In fact what I said in me first post explains it without needing to go on any further.

But what do we need to come out of this?

Well, a fully fit 11 on the park would be a start.

Do you realise that was the first time in 10 weeks that Gerrard and Torres started a game together. In fact, it was only the 50th time they’d started together in all competitions.

A run of results would be next… even 2 or 3 scrappy One nil wins will help. It’s funny how a few wins will gather momentum – just like a run of freakish defeats will smash confidence, a couple of arsed/shinned in goals can be the start of trophy winning runs.

I think Johnson played really well yesterday. The first goal was a fluke. Normally he would have just clipped that outside the post. The double deflection done him. But so what… that’s one game.

That lad will go on to become a fantastic player for us. I have no doubt about that whatsoever. Will he ever live done the media myth that he can’t defend… well, probably only if he or Rafa ever leaves Liverpool. Then in the media, he’d suddenly become the best ever attacking fullback since Kaffu.

Dec Starr… Sky where just at it again. How many times has Jurgen Klinsmann been in the pundit’s chair? Twice – both on European nights when we was in trouble. Both times he was more or less offered Rafa’s job.

Sky knew exactly what they was at yesterday by inviting Ian St. John. And didn’t they hit the mother lode, nearly reducing the man to tears pumping him up on all the old stories of Shanks and then hitting him with the doom and gloom mongering.

Well, here’s the rub… St. John completely loves LFC. He is not part of the media agenda like Souness and other ex-players like Whelan, McMahon and co. He’s the genuine article.

But he has a radio show in Liverpool, and it’s much like Tommy Smith’s column in the Liverpool Echo… Both are rooted in the past. Both have that old school mentality… “No bloody foriegner is going to tell me how to play our game.”

They were reared by Shankly. Ever hear the story of Shankly taking the team to play in America and appear on the Ed Sullivan Show?

When they arrived and got to their hotel in New York, Shankly ordered all the lads to bed immeadiately. Paisley pointed out to him that due to the time change, it was only 6 PM. Shankly….
“No bloody Yank, tells me what time it is. And I’m telling you lot… It’s time for bed.”

Hilarious. But shows a lot of how they think/thought. St. John is very much from that school. He genuinely hurts whenever we lose and he is a great and faithful servant of the club. But he is also from the “We Are LFC!” school of thought.

And to him, by some devine right, we should be dominating English and European football no matter what. And that’s from a man who went 7 years without a trophy under Shanks. He’s a bit like reading some of the kneejerkers in here… no logic, no reasoning of the circumstances we are in, just “We Are Liverpool FC. I want the title. I want it yesterday.”

And knowing that full well, Sky pulled him in to the job, for the first time ever, and that hairy arsed little monkey bastard, Richard Keys played the man like a bloody piano.

And that is the truth from a man who watched him for all his career and still loves him to this day. Do you remember his thoughts on Houllier? He hated him from day one and constantly belitted him from the word go and still does to this day.

Ahhh Burger Man you never fail do you… By the way, we where first in for Ronaldo. We alerted Man U to him and then they outbid us.

But not to worry, I believe Larson is still available. So now if you could just sort out who is going to manage him in Liverpool red, and then maybe we could all get on in the real world like I said earlier.

So come on. Ball’s in your court. You sack Rafa and…?

BM, what about Veron, Tiabi, djemba-djemba, Kleberson, Forlan, Bosnich, Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves? Conveniently forgotten. No?

Should Wenger be sacked, since he’s won sweet FA in the last 5 years?

Any analysis on your behalf would be most welcome, instead of these random bits of ‘info’.

If the Reda hadn’t wasted money on Diouf and Cheryou, there would of been enough cash for LB.As for a new manager, how about Pako Aysteran, the brains behind Rafa, just like Pete Taylor and Clough.We haven’t won a trophy since the bald one left.You, my friend are speechless!.

LK, managers will always buy flops, when you win 3 prems in a row they are quickly forgotten!.Wenger has a job because he won 3 titles in his first 7 seasons.Until Rafa wins the prem, he is going to get clobbered like his 3 predecessors did.Graham and Taggart faced a similar pressure and came up trumps.6 losses before Christmas and out of the CL against a mediocre Lyon and Fiorentina sides as well as dreadful pre-season form sums the season to date.

Why doesn’t Pearcey’s photo come up neext to his name?

BM, why do you support LFC? Serious question. And what does that mean to you in terms of rights and responsiblities.

FS – was watching the build up on Sky yesterday and saw something that reminded me of what you had posted years back. Shanks picking up a LFC scarf from the ground and throwing it back to the crowd. Brilliant.

YNWA

Bhavster, there was a scarf thrown to Shankly once from the Kop and it fell on the floor. A policeman went to kick it out the way. Shanks pounced on the scarf, wrapped it around his neck and said to the policeman… “That’s someone’s life.”

Had a flair for the dramatics our Shanks. But it was true. And I know times have changed, but when one of your family or friends is going through a hard time, you don’t kick it in the face when it’s down.

Well, maybe some do. But I don’t like them and I wouldn’t like to be one of them.

Still haven’t seen any plan from any of them, but I only asked them round about when Villa beat us. Maybe they just need a bit more time. But I’d love them to get on with it. Maybe we’d have less dummy spitting to put up with, but I doubt it.

@ FS – The Sly agenda is really disturbing! They’re not even subtle about it anymore….its disgusting! They did the same with Martin Jol at tottenham, started the campaign to hound him out, then moaned about how mistreated he was!
I am at an impass because i would love nothing better than to total boycott sly sports, unfortunately as a Londoner with a young family I don’t get to go to as many games as I’d like. Only 2 so far this year at Anfield, and 2 in London I have no choice but to watch the games they show on tv. Its really frustrating hearing all the crap from the commentators during the game and their twisted manoeuvring after the game. It makes me want to smash my tv!!I feel helpless because I can’t do something to answer their tripe!!

“If the Reda hadn’t wasted money on Diouf and Cheryou, there would of been enough cash for LB.”

Who’s the Reda? Do you mean Rafa?

Who’s the LB? I presume you mean left back?

Reda’s mate Rafa got us 3… Insua, Aurelio, and Dosenna.

They cost a combined 7 million and one hundred thousand pounds. All are internationals. 2 became Argentina’s and Brazil’s left back, whilst playing for LFC under Rafa… one was free. The other cost £100,000.

They are the result of slowly upgrading from Djimi Traore who Rafa inherited and sold at a good profit… enabling him to spend some money on the world champion’s attacking left back.

However, due to the lack of funds, and the mis-management of what was available by a CEO who Rafa has now seen off, the player wanted to play in front of Dosenna, Barry, couldn’t be bought.. therefore, making a defensively fragile, but good attacking fulll back, surplas to our requirements.

Had we got Barry, our left flank would have been much like our right – Dosenna/Barry, Johnson/Kuyt. It’s central to Rafa’s football philosphy, and very successful as seen at Valencia.

As Rafa said himself, 17 million would seem a lot for Johnson, but he 9 million of that came from the Crouch money and the Arbeloa money… who, despite your lack of knowledge, wanted to leave LFC but stayed an extra season out of loyalty to Rafa. And then provided a good profit, because while playing for LFC under Rafa, he had went from somebody nobody had heard of to Spain’s first choice right back and a target for Real Madrid.

But fuck fact…. why look at the truth when it’s so much easier to blame that bloody awful scouting system!

Just popped in to let you all know how I fared out yesterday (had a ticket to the game) – well I didn’t ticket remains stuck in hotel safe, and to top it all off we go ahead and lose – I think there’s a name for days like that

Decstar, I live in Bournemouth so I know how difficult and expensive it is to get to the match. I go to more away from home than at Anfield. To be honest, I prefer it that way. Not as many tourists at the aways. In fact, it’s practically cheaper and easier for me to go to European aways than it is to get to Anfield.

So, I know what you mean about watching the games on Sly. I used to go the pub, but I got put in at home for this season. At least I never had to listen to the twats in the alehouse but at home I’ve got no choice.

It’s drives me mental too mate. But it’s understandable in this day and age we live in… all hype no substance. What I can’t stand is, our so called fans falling for it. They are determined to push Rafa out the door…. and as you can see from the post Rafa plans posted in here by our own kneejerkers – we are in serious trouble if they win.

says it all really on the negativity towards Benitez

http://www.epltalk.com/does-even-google-not-love-rafa-benitez/13813

Intereting article…..could it be true? £20m transfer cap per season?!!

http://www.epltalk.com/rafa-benitezs-20m-buying-cap-fact-fiction-irrelevant/11435

Burgerman with his manc stats again (352),
what a fuckin tosser.

And this one is for the Lucas bashers!!

http://www.epltalk.com/lucas-leiva-is-not-a-flop/10794#comment-86851

Redman… I know bringing up irrelevant Mac statistics is ridiculous. But it’s the lack of knowledge and downright lies that get to me.

Everytime he posts it’s illogical, unrational, unknowledgable like that shite above – Arbeloa etc.

But not only that, he actually uses media driven lies.

So then it’s done to two things…
1: He actually believes the malicious lies.
2: He knows it’s bollacks and presses on with the agenda regardless.

Neither are any excuse. But the really frightening thing is… more and more are crawling out the woodwork each day.

Do you ever listen to TalkShite?

I purposely do it every now and again, but most times I avoid it like the plague. Today was one of them days. But I didn’t have to listen. I know the agenda for the day. It will have started with Alan Brazil this morning and will go around the clock until Brazil comes back on and starts it all again.

The few callers who do manage to get through in support of the team/Rafa will be cut off immeadiately. And most don’t even get that far. Loads of lads have told me they have rang in fuming at the lies and agenda and they have been screened out and stopped from getting on air.

Oh and Decstarr… I’ve looked at a few of them links. All I can say is, after reading the pieces on Rafa’s outrageous spending and Tom Hicks philanthropy… I’ll be swerving that site from now on.

Pro American propoganda, mate.

FS seems the media slant isn’t reserved to just tv and radio….its everywhere.

I’m off out. But Redman…
“If the Reda hadn’t wasted money on Diouf and Cheryou, there would of been enough cash for LB.”

If it wasn’t so fucking sad it would be laughable.

Tatty bye for now… While I’m out, please try to come up with that plan BM and the others.

I could do with a good laugh.

I have daily debates with lads at work about Liverpool and Rafa, and event they (all supporters of other teams Arsenal, Chelsea, ManU, Villa etc) have started to come round to the fact that there is a media agenda.

FS…don’t know if you were putting my comment in with the ‘post Rafa plans’…my post was the futility of replacing him and that the knee-jerkers should wise up and be loyal.
Guess I shouldn’t post half way through a night shift to keep me awake.

No mate. That Rafa and 6th wife made me laugh. Poor Newcastle fans must feel like Elizabeth Taylor, just a bit fatter.

Decstarr, they even have threads on Manc sites about the media agenda against Rafa. Of course, they absolutely love it and say it’s what he deserves but even they know how the media have it in for him.

It’s nothing new. It goes back as far as I can remember, really really aul fellas like Redman have seen it longer. It’s just part of the anti-Scouse thing that goes on in England. But in all honesty… I have never seen nothing like this out and out blitz they have on Rafa.

It’s gone beyond all reason now. Only sensible thing I can remember BM saying… There’s only 1 way to stop it. Win the title.

Problem is, they will probably hound him out of the job before he has time to do it.

The thing is, they have now moved on to phase 2… they are actually now trying to just reduce the fella to a figure of mockery and ridicule. Once they do that, that’s it, game over… the job will become untenable for him.

Doom and gloom at the moment, yes. But one thing i have noticed so far, Degen is very good moving forward, and more, seems to be capable of beating defenders. Can’t Rafa use him as a right winger infront of Johnson and give a bit of rest to Kuyt? I think with Johnson and Degen, the right side can be more than ok. That is my opinion anyway.

Well, thanks to our Dirk, I’ve just picked up 70 quid. But I agree. He needs a rest, but I think it would be better to play Yossi or El Zhar there, maybe even Gerrard as Aquilani gets fitter.

But came into post this….
“I believe that at the moment Liverpool don’t have the confidence they had last year,” Wenger said. “It’s difficult to play for 90 minutes at the pace they showed in the first half. When they didn’t get a second goal, a little bit of fear crept in. We were not really under threat in the second half.”

Can’t argue with any of that. But I can say the spirit that won us games like at Fulham last season will come back with a few wins and fitter legs. And yeah, that’s only opinion, but I reckon it’s the logical one to make as we’ve seen what this team can achieve when it’s back is against the wall.

@ BurgerBaby ..
“When is the last time the Mancs lost @ GS having gone 1-0 up?”

Ummmmm …. Earlier this year in March… Winning 1-0 and losing 4-1 … at home… Remember who did that ??

Usually when Rafa needs a win he gets one. With Valencia they say he was 45 minutes away from the sack. 2-0 at half-time, away from home, they went onto win 2-3 and then went on a run to win the league.

I am not saying that the same thing will happen with us (I wish) but we defo need a result against Wigan or the pressure will seriously start mount on him.

FS, I read somewhere that El Zhar and Riera were both injured for the Arse game.

Let me begin by saying that I support Rafa and want him to stay on.
He is now facing a massive test: Can he reignite the spirit within our squad? It is not an easy task, especially with the media constantly shouting for blood and supporters joining in.

I watched the 4-4 highlights in the buildup to Sunday’s game. I was amazed by the determination and drive in team, especially for number 2 and 4, we just kept coming and hitting them until we got the goal.

Compare the second half on Sunday to that, for the most part played by the same personnel, and they were like the ghosts of themselves.
I know we have players returning from injuries and fitness levels are varied to say the least. But first and foremost we are lacking in spirit and belief, those don’t get mended on a treatment table.

Here’s to us bouncing back against Wigan on Wednesday!

Yeah Lurgan they both were. I was just talking in general about who should play if and when Kuyt gets a rest.

Kristur, that’s spot on. Trouble is we aren’t only fragile mentaly, we are physically shattered. But I agree… Rafa’s most important immediate task is to get the belief back into the players. Not an easy task with the media witch hunt and some of our “supporters.”

But I came into say this…
I just got a call from a mate back home. He was on the SOS protest on Sunday. How come Sly and nobody else has reported this…

The protest was a direct action by SOS to keep Tom Hicks out of Anfield for the Arsenal game. Apparently it was a great success and both Hicks and Foster Gillette weren’t allowed anywhere near the ground by the police.

There was at least 400 people blocking all entrances to the ground and distributing – HICKS, GILLETTE NOT WELCOME AT OUR CLUB – leaflets.

The protest was peaceful but at least 3 people were arrested. And all anti-owner banners were confiscated at the gates and not allowed into the ground. Banners weren’t returned to their owners after the game.

Now in our saturation media – that spends I’d say, at least 50% of it’s sports content on reporting LFC’s demise – you’d think that would warrant some sort of mention.

Have any of you seen, read or heard anything about it in the media?

I haven’t. I wonder why that is?

Still great result by SOS. And I know some people don’t agree with these actions and think they will only further damage the club. But what else can be done?

Myself, I’m glad they got the message over. Hopefully it will sink home and eventually the owners will lower their ridiculous demands, put a realistic price on it, find decent owners, take their ill gotten gains and fuck off.

Top comments Sun King #333. it reminded me of the first time I went to Anfield. I was a bit late and had to run up the steps to find my seat. As my eyes viewed the pitch and the inside of the stadium for the first time I was greated by YNWA. I immediately started crying (soft tw*t!). The emotional impact was astounding. I ended up sounding like Barry White the next day because I’d sung and shouted so much during the match. Talk about atmosphere!

A few comments;

Our spine is returning to full strength which is always a good sign. If we can maintain the spine over Christmas then we could do well.

I maintain that the players’ spirit is still strong and I see a great team spirit. Did anyone notice Reina’s reaction when Johnson scored the own goal? He immediately patted him on the head to console him and started to gee up his team mates. He is an unsung hero in my eyes and a truely great keeper and team man.

Finally, we need to put a run together but I worry that if we focus on the prize rather than the steps on the journey to reach that prize then we’ll make things too complicated and heap too much pressure on ourselves. Albeit the “prize” is minimum of 4th place but like any big project, it’s easier if we break it down to smaller pieces. This makes it more achievable and less daunting. i.e. don’t simply say, “we need to get 4th place” but instead say, “we need to win our next match”. Better still, make sure each player wins their next tackle/challenge and take it one step at a time. This makes it simpler for everyone and reduces the weight of expectation.
I can see the players’ mentality from the last few games putting this into place and I feel that we are very close to winning first one game and then maybe another and another. The turn around last season was staggering and with a similar squad of players we can do the same again.
YNWA

(p.s. I wasn’t crying ‘cos I thought I’d never see my car again)

Forgive my stupidity but what does the GS stand for in the quote above from BM?

FS I listened to the match on Sunday on 5live and they mentioned the SOS protest, but the DJ said he didn’t see how this season’s problems could be blamed on the Americans

Ah THE PLAN,
well what it is FS is this, you get the foo foo valve bend it backwards insert an acorn screw add a bucket of sparks and wah lah we will be back playing like we did in the later half of last season, oh yeh and sack Rafa fuckin nimps.
No FS i dont listen to talk shite, if i want to listen to drivel and fuckin nonsense i put the grandkids DVD of the flowerpot men on.
FS my mate who is also a season ticket holder was in the Windermere pub with a gang of lads, Bobby said we all just sat after the game absolutely stunned, hardly anyone spoke until he said one wanker said we will never win the prem with this fella(Rafa), what about giving mourhino a go, my mate said he’d only had a couple of swallows of his pint he stood up and poured the rest over the fuckin idiots head and walked out, i said that’s fuck-all you want to go into Kopblog and read what some of the gobshites come out with in there, “when was the last time ryan giggs smiled, how many pimples has paul scholes got and do you think anderson takes it up trap 2,” true about Bobby and his pint though.
Maybe it might be a good thing if we did’nt qualify for the CL this season, then the 2 fuckin cowboys may have no choice but to sell the club.
YNWA.

Michael, I am assuming GS means Castle Grey Skull.
as in Old Trafford.
Good job by SOS.we can only hope that G.&H will get the message that they are not wanted at Anfield.
Only trouble is who has money to buy a Football Club in this economy?

As much as we criticize Rafa(I myself have done it)there is no denying the fact that the team we hav now
is much better compared to what rafa inherited. So lets not get into that debate and its my suggestion to burgerman that its
better not to compare what Rafa has done with Arsene or Sir Slex.

However, we cannot rule out BM’s questions completely. Since Ayestran left as Rafa’s deputy we are indeed finding it hard to win trophies.
Thats a fact. His departure was our loss. Same goes for Xabi Alonso. Same might happen for Mascherano.

The position where Rafa find himself is so precarious that it is very difficult for an ordinary fan like me to even comprehend. The least we can do
is to support him and thats exactly what we should be doing now.

Yesterday, i was insisting that Rafa should play Aqua from the beginning. Counter argument was our balance would be disturbed and we cant
make way for tricks and frills. What i didnt understand was..how could Aqua change the game coming in at 1-2 down with Arsenal bossing the game when
he was not fit enough to start? All i am saying is..Aqua should have played the 1st half and probably depending upon his fitness withdrawn by 65 mints.

What is the way forward?

I agree we are suffering from lack of confidence. We are getting rattled whenever the opposition is starting to dominate us. But the fact is we must
gather ourselves and start winning games. This season finishing 4th wil be difficult given the rise of Villa,ManCiteh and Tottenham. Our financial condition does
not allow us to finish outside 4th if we are to bring better players and aim to win the big trophies.

I am glad to see the trinity of Gerrard,Aqua and Torres finally together on the pitch and i believe that these 3 will propel us to 4th place minimum at the end of the season.

For all the bad fortunes bestowed on us,somewhere the sun will shine and we will find back the touch.

theredman, the alternative plan to restore LFC to greatness is to get an ex-assistant manager, current fitness coach, to replace Rafa.

It’s pretty simple when it’s spelled out for you.

Good grief.

Nice story about your mate though. Keep them coming.

I am usually proud of the usual faith bestowed upon my fellow reds.

However, recently I would think perhaps the faith we have invested is gradually turning into some blind faith.

Yes, definitely the current team rafa has is better than the team he inherited and that speaks volume.

I have no qualms in agreeing that he is tactically second to none but his man management and motivational talks are almost null.

Read an extract on Torres’ autobiography recently and he somehow hinted that in his first season he didn’t really know how rafa works and thus played his own game, he became an instant hit. Granted he has been injury hit this season so let’s see how he performs now that he has understood more of Rafa’s philosophy.

It’s also never a hidden fact that Rafa treats his players like robots as mentioned by several stars including SG and FT. Is that supposed to be some praises or indirect sarcasm? As a matter of fact (strictly my own opinion), I think it’s been some time since i’ve seen SG playing with a smile and drive we’re used to seeing him with under GH. He hasn’t been happy.

Some players need a pat on their back, most players do. A lot of our gems have been hugely affected by Rafa’s quarantine-style and unusual of man management.

Babel is a classic example. A young lad with a potential that might even surpass that of CR9 imo, would need better care and concern by his manager. Look at how Wenger smartly invest his faith and instilling of confidence into his young lads and newly recruited players.

Look at how he put some appalling blind faith in the likes of Aurelio, Lucas, and even Kuyt. I’ve nothing against Kuyt, just that I feel in every top teams there should be at least 1 or in most cases, 2 world class wingers. No doubt Kuyt is a workhorse but I believe we need more than that. Credits to Rafa though, I guess he realized this and recruited Glen J to complement DK.

I still do believe in RB’s managerial skills, but I don’t think he’s suitable for the EPL.

I don’t know if anyone would agree but EPL requires a lot lesser of tactical discipline as compared to the other 2 leagues. The essence of EPL, to me, is the ability to hype up the players to die for you. Because the pace is so rapid, it seriously require the players to not only be tactically sound, the players have to play with the belief and drive.

Mourinho, Ferguson and AW are classic examples. They prosper in the league but more often than not, fail in Europe. Why?

IMHO, they have excellent man management skills and are able to instill the belief and motivate their players to give their all and chase for every loose ball to get a result, which is essential in the EPL, which by the way, I honestly think is the toughest league in the world.

Never a fan of Mou but I was pretty impressed with how he convinced his multi-millionaires to die for him on the pitch.

And as a matter of fact, none of the above mentioned are great tacticians and that show in their records in the CL, which is of a more tactical battle.

Notice how we battered Man U and maybe even Everton on several occasions and struggle to beat the lesser teams when we do not have the luck?

In those matches, Rafa was spared the duty of giving pep talks/motivational talks because in ‘derbies’ like that, even Voronin would be naturally motivated.

One last thing to add on, and I have been deeply disturbed by it.

Liverpool FC has become an example of a football club that refuses to rely on home-grown talent.

GH was my least favoured LFC mgr by a far stretch but at least he gave chances to SG, D thompson, Murphy(yes he was bought), Warnock, S Wright, Mellor and even Owen.

What has Rafa brought in? Where would our next Gerrard, Owen or Carragher come from?

Just my 2 cents worth..