The Liverpool FC Thread

I'm glad we gave it our all.

And we did.

We can talk all day long about penalties and offsides, but at the end of the day, you win some & you lose some.

It was a definite game of two halves.

But what killed us was the first few minutes of extra time.

Chelsea came out of the blocks quicker - simple as that.

How many football cliches can you fit into a sentence about LIVERPOOL.



Proud of them, they gave it their all and just wouldn't lie down.

They kept going til the final whistle, and deserved better luck.

In rafa's voice: Now we must improve and look to do better next season. We were good, and compact and we controlled big parts of the game. Now we must learn how to kill those games off.
And then we will see."

Unlucky Liverpool,and thank you. That was a cracking game to watch. Bit gutted Chelsea won it,but if i'm being open,I think they're better equipt to deal with Manure in the final. Plus it now really is a 2 horse race for everything,kind of a good penultimate fight to the death.

As Stevie G said, it just wasn't meant to be.

I too am proud of the effort the players have given all season.

We need to spend in the summer and strengthen in places.
If we'd beaten Birmingham we'd only have been 9 pts off the top.
Considering the fact that we've drawn 12 games this season, it's easy to see that without dropping some silly silly points we would have been serious title contenders as we looked up until it all went pear shaped in November / Dcember (thank you Mr. Tom Hicks & co. )

Rafa is building a team to dominate, as all the great Reds managers have done before him.

Let the Mancs have their No.3 or Chelsea their first, the final is in a rather familiar place next year, here's a musical clue:

..in 77 and 84 it was...."

We'll bring her home next year and that league title too while we're at it!

YNWA

wrong, it's super ally mccoist, from his tv commentary and fifa commentary days

hyypia did indeed have a penalty, the announcer on ESPN kept commenting on the replay of the ref putting the whistle to his mouth then back down, in the NHL when a ref wants to call a penalty or a goal, or anything, if he puts his whistle to his mouth before he has a chance to blow it, he can say that and his decision will stand, the mental aspect of just the thought of blowing the whistle and having to raise your arm to do that isn't taken lightly in most american sports, which most have eventually put in a video replay system

here's another conspiracy for you, no video replay in football cause it's harder for refs to influence games when they can't make the calls they want, look at the hyypia replay again with the ref in the shot, it's real hard to find on youtube though, lots of lampard penalty videos and stuff when i searched liverpool chelsea, that ref put his whistle to his mouth to call the penalty, then back down, hyypia kind of seemed at a few angles to play up the fact he was fouled, because he was, a leg was stuck out, and he was dribbling pretty skillfully for a center back lol and he deserved the penalty, but in slow motion it looks like he played it up a bit, but that could and probably was just the slow motion, cause when i saw it live and then normal speed replay it looks like he just gets the boot and goes down, can't see him diving when he's dribbling through everyone trying to find gerrard for a 30 yard screamer gerrard has shown his dribbling skills a few times this year too, surprised me at times cause he has done some things and shown some skill at pace, he's not a short guy either like hyypia and crouch, tall dudes with some skill all of them

i have been reading in the papers for weeks now that rafa keeps saying "we are all working together to move foward, we talk everything is good" and they (the board, owners, management) are working on transfers already

anyone up for some speculation as to the comings and goings this summer at LFC?

What, you mean with you?

I doubt it.

[edit on 5-5-2008 by pmexplorer]

I'd like to get the post season started, and also look ahead to the new campaign (roll on august!)

So for the post season, who has been our best player?

I know most people would say Torres, and it's true that he has been superb.

He sometimes goes missing in games, but has the knack of popping up and scoring after doing nothing (or very little) for a while.

Meanwhile, I think the monster has been incredible - an overlooked player by some, but he has given us so very much in that defensive role.

Stevie G has had another fine season, and I think is the main reason that nando blossomed as quickly as he did.

Lucas looks a great signing and is still very young, as is babel.

Reina has looked a bit shaky at times, but I think this is more to do with the zonal marking than anything else, and he still won the golden gloves.

Benayoun has been good coming off the bench, and has given us a bit extra against stubborn teams,plus 10 goals.

The signing of Skrtel was inspired! What a great player he looks - if he continuues to develop, he'll be one of the best, and with agger back next season, carra could find himself at right back!

Kuyt has had a difficult season, but has worked really hard and scored some crucial champs league goals.

I fully expect some of the youngsters to start pushing for first team places soon - most notably plessis and insua, but also jack hobbs and perhaps danny guthrie, but they are not going to be regulars just yet.

We may also see the inclusion of nemeth and simon, and perhaps el zhar.

I think crouch will probably go in the summer - but not for 15 million! although having said that he IS an international and has shown he can score goals at every level.

I really hope alonso doesn't go - he's the best passer we have.

Kewell is pretty much gone already, and it looks like riise may be gone as well.

We may see a couple of the fringe players like pennant and crouch stay IF (and it's a big IF - it would be illegal in europe) FIFA manage to bring in their latest attempt to shackle english teams by bringing in the 6 and 5 ruling.

So, for players in?

Well there's lots of rumours floating about, but perhaps the most credible involves Gareth Barry.
Frankly, I'm surprised that villa have managed to hang onto him for so long - he's a class player and would be a great addition, particularly if alonso is sold.

David Bentley? Probably not.

We need a couple of defenders, a winger and a striker as well as maybe another back-up goalie with a bit more experience than itandje.

There's lots of sites full of transfer rumours, but I won't go into some of the wilder ones.

For next season, we need to close the gap, turn some of those draws into wins and win a trophy or two.

For this season?

B-
Could do better.

For next season, I'm looking for an A.

[edit on 13/5/2008 by budski]

Good post mate.

Without a doubt Torres has been an absolute revelation.
He would have to get the vote considering the impact he's made in just his first season. Not sure about the 'goes missing' part though! Lol. I think given the right service he is always a threat but when he doesn't he can be isolated at times, he's still learning aswell of course.
Stevie came in for criticism at times especially when we hit that horrible November/December period but more often than not he led by example as ever and his goals/assists ratio was excellent yet again.

I'm delighted you mentioned Masch, one of the highlights of the season was was securing his future at the club, he is an immense player for his age and I truly believe he can go on to be an LFC great.

Pepe Reina is without a doubt one of the best stoppers in th world right now and we're very lucky to have him, yes he had a few dodgy moments like at OT, it was goodison the season before but what keeper doesn't? Three consecutive golden glove awards considering the fact that the back 4 has been changed frequently (due to Agger's injury) says it all about him and his distribution is exceptional.
Yossi has proved to be an excellent squad player, perhaps he could have been given a bit more game time but his goal return has been very pleasing.

I fully agree about Skrtel, Rafa does it again, when he clears it, it stays cleared! Has composure on the ball, tough in the tackle and already has formed a good understanding with Carra, great signing, he might even keep Dagger out of the team when he returns.

Dirk had a tough time finding the goals but how invaluable a player he proved to be for us in Europe. He works so hard for the team, it's easy to see why rafa remains loyal to him, will we ever see the prolific goalscoring Kuyt we saw in Holland, I doubt it but he deserves another season at Anfield for sure .

Lucas and Ryan Babel have shown they are the future of the club, Babel finished the season really well and he really could be anything once he keeps his head down and keeps learning. Lucas is a little lightweight but the boy has an eye for a pass and I think he will keep getting better.

Nemeth, Plessis, Insua and Pacheco are some very bright prospects for the future, Ablett has done a sterling job with the ressies this year.
With the new 7 sub rule, hopefully we'll see more and more appearances by the youngsters next term.

We were so close but yet so far in the CL but given the off the field
shenanigans and boardroom turmoil we've endured to finish a strong 4th
and to finish nearer to the top points wise than previous seasons with just 4 defeats was in my opinion significant progress.

D is for draws, we had too many, they cost us the title, well that and our inability to take 3 pts from the rest of ''the big four''.

I hope Xabi stays, he struggled to recover from his injury but against Chelsea at home he looked back to his best, controlling the game with his neat passing.
Some fans are very much against Barry coming to Anfield but I think he would also be a very solid addition for our left flank.

With Kewell almost certain and JAR very likely to be leaving Barry would be a very good addition to the squad, plus he is good mates with Gerrard which has to be a help.

I feel sorry for Crouchy, he loves the club and the fans but with Torres and Rafa seemingly settled on 4-2-3-1, next season looks like more of the same, but we do need a proven goalscorer on the bench to take the pressure off Torres, who that might be I don't know, nest season might be just too soon to put pressure on someone like Nemeth but who knows?

We're probably going to be as optimistic as ever going into next season but the simple fact is we have to strengthen if we are to match the mancs and chelsea's spending, the arrival of a new assistant (maybe the return of Sammy Lee) seeing as Alex Miller has left the club could have a really positive effect.

Here's hoping....


Oh and one more thing....


TOM HICKS - GET OUT OF OUR CLUB!!

www.petitiononline.com...



[edit on 13-5-2008 by pmexplorer]

[edit on 13-5-2008 by pmexplorer]

The transfer window is open, degan has signed, dossena to come.

The gareth barry saga is getting out of hand and at 18 million he is overvalued, but he would be a great addition to the squad, as would keane (another rumour)

I've heard a lot of people saying we should sign silva - but he had a disappointing euro's.
He's another garcia perhaps - drifts in and out...

I'll be disappointed if alonso goes, but at last we are getting shot of sicknote harry kewell, and also le tallec.

A pity riise had to go, but it's been on the cards for a while - nevertheless he has done well for us over the years and I wish him all the best.

Anyone got thoughts on where we need to strengthen?
Don't forget agger is back in training, and we should have less problems this year with more competition in the centre of defense.

Personally, I think crouch and voronin need to go and bring in another striker (like keane) who can play in the 4-2-3-1 formation that rafa was using at the end of last season.
Perhaps another wide player, with pennant being sold.

Your thoughts, dreams and realistic aspirations for the new season, and who you would like to see brought in

Sooo....

Riise has gone, which saddens me as he's been such a cool player for the club.

According to the papers today Crouch has gone to Portsmouth for £10million. I think we should have kept him, but then I'm not Rafa

Liverpool fell £1million short of Barry's valuation up to that point, so things may be looking up there.

We offloaded LeTallec, which is fine by me, Xabi still hasn't gone (hope they keep him!), and we've signed Andrea Dossena and Philipp Degen. We have a £3million bid in for Diego Cavalieri (which is kind of a slap in the face for Martin!)

Emiliano Insua also signed up longer term.

We need another striker. I think Robbie Keane would be excellent. A Keane/Torres strike partnership based on last years form would be amazing - whether or not the interest is just paper talk is yet to be seen.

The owners are talking again, and the prep work has begun on New Anfield.

And......a certain Mr.Henry keeps talking about how he loved playing at Anfield, and it was his favourite ground. He had a bad year for Barca and might like to come back to the Premier League. The rumours were in overdrive last year.....

nah. probably not

[edit on 5/0708/08 by neformore]

we're signing these offensive fullbacks,that's all good but where are the outright wingers?

you can't win the league without dangerous flanks.guys who can go outside and cross or cut inside and shoot/score consistently.they keep the entire back 4 on the back foot

they cost big money but for good reason..we need 1

Robbie Keane is officially a RED!

See how you think this looks:

------------------------------------ Reina--------------------------------------

-----------------Carra/Aurelio Skrtel Agger Dossena/Arbeloa-------------

---------------------------- Masch Alonso/Barry/Lucas----------------------

----------------- Gerrard-----------------------------------Babel-------------
---------------------------------------------Keane-----------------------------
-------------------------------------Torres-------------------------------------

This would allow Gerrard, Babel and Keane to interchange, with the full backs coming up to fill the gaps, and the 2 defensive midfielders providing cover for them.

I put carra at right back simply because both skrtel and agger are better ball players and we need to move out quickly from the back - carra dwells too much on the ball and then runs out of options as the opposition move into defensive positions.

Pace and quick balls mean space to attack in - both agger and skrtel are better than carra at that.

Of course the transfers may not have stopped yet - we may yet see the arrival of a winger, preferably silva but....

I don't think we're too far off now - if we had turned half of those 13 draws into wins last year...

Looking forwards to the new season

[edit on 28/7/2008 by budski]

The idea of old fashioned wingers is dead as a dodo - they hardly exist anymore, even ronaldo is not a winger, he interchangers with the other front two and spends more time as a centre forward than as a winger.

The game these days is so much more fluid, with players interchanging in order to create space for others - old fashioned wing play is dead, there isn't one player I can think of who spends a game with chalk on his boots, doing nothing but hugging the touchline and beating players to put in a cross.

It's now about creating space with pace and fluidity of movement, with extra men coming up from the back to provide more options, and the defensive midfielders covering for them - that's why we play with TWO defensive midfielders.

I'm sorry to say that we may never see the game again, the way stanley matthews played it.

We also have to have fluidity of formation - just watch the formational changes during a match, there'll be at least 3 changes of formation during a defensive, pushing and attacking movement.

It's the name of the game.

For a truly awesome read, try Rinus Michels' book "Team Building – the Road to Success"

agree,old fashioned wingers are over.you do need an offensive weapon on the flank though.

look at kuyt,babel and benayoun.kuyt's a workhorse.babel a work in progress,definitely not a wide player.benayoun is a classy interchange passer but no threat out wide.

fluidity is the name of the game but if you have no offence,on either side,aside from overlapping fullbacks who can be adjusted for,you have no chance imo.the defence sticks 3 on torres and it's over

i hope rafa plays keane exclusively on the right,he's class out there

will check out that book,sounds interesting

Two days to go until our first real game of the season, away at standard liege.

It looks as though it should be quite a comfortable win for us - BUT it is vital that we get through.

I'm going for a comfortable win on aggregate, although I see them testing us at their place.

Then, sunderland on saturday - not an easy game first up, especially with keano at the helm, but I still think we'll get a win and our first three points of the season, and may we get many more.

Or at least enough to see us top come may

We'll see. Anything can happen in Europe as Rangers just proved

The Barry saga has grated on me all summer. Keane coming was cool. I just hope the partnership with Torres is all we expect it to be

The big thing for me is seeing a fully fit back four. Agger coming back is like a new player and Pellegrino being on the staff means that the whole back line should only get better and better.

I hope for good things this year - but then I do every year. I'm not going to fall into any confidence traps again

0-0
adequate performance, where we were half a yard off the pace, but a very good workout, and I expect us to turn them over at anfield in a fortnight.

Well, there's our first 3 points of the season, first of many more I hope, all thanks to than man again. Fernando Torres, Liverpools No.9.

A few things are obvious, to me though. We are missing Mascherano in the centre, Babel on the left and, for all his hard work, the right wing is not really the place for Kuyt. Once they're back from the Olympics, things should really start surging along.

The problem there is, where to play Yossi? I like him, he's a good creative player and deserves a place somewhere. Play him on the right instead of Kuyt? That said, with a Gerrard/Masch midfield centre, where to play Alonso? Still, tis a nice dilemma to be in, wondering exactly where to fit in these world-class players.

Good to see Keane in a Liverpool shirt too. He looked out of his depth against Liege, looked a bit more at home against Sunderland.. He'll come good, think he's just trying too hard to impress at the moment. Relax a bit, just let it flow and he'll start doing the job properly.

Dosenna, a quietish but good introduction to the English league, looks like a good player so far and offers a nice outlet going forward on the left.

All in all, quite happy at the moment. I just wish all these off the field antics were sorted to settle the team. That, plus a bit of fine tuning should see us, whilst maybe not top of the league come the end of the season, at least up there scrapping and a lot closer than recent seasons.

Liverpool were awful midweek and only slightly better against Sunderland.
They will have to improve dramatically if they are to challenge anything or anyone this season.

reply to post by Freeborn

---

I watched the whole match, and I have to disagree with your assessment - unless you watched MOTD highlights which showed very little of the control we exercised,particularly in the second half.

We controlled most of the game, having over 60% of the possession, and more shots overall, as well as the majority of the set pieces.

They had set up to try and frustrate us, and they did this well, by holding a high line and compacting the play whilst keeping a lot of men behind the ball.

I think we were the better team and deserved the win - most possession, most shots, most corners.

We are going to have to get used to winning ugly when the situation demands it as teams try to stifle us.

We still have masch, lucas and babel to come back, and they should all be pretty sharp having played at the olympics.

reply to post by budski

---

Yeah Bud, I watched the whole match too.
Sunderland did indeed use spoiling tactics but despite Liverpool's superior possession they struggled to break The Mackems down.

Yes, to win things teams have to learn to win ugly.

It's a long way to go but after watching Chelsea today and Man Utd, (knowing the Mancs have some fantastic players to come back and with the likely signing of Dimi Berbatov), I really think Liverpool are going to struggle to compete against these two teams this year.

[edit on 17/8/08 by Freeborn]