alias75

Sorry couldnt answer this earlier (im in oz) i do think hes done a very good job with the squad if you look at some of the players he was left with all on huge contracts. We had Diao, Diouff, Traore, Biscan, Le Tallec, Murphy, Cisse, Cheyrou, Baros, all of whom were on big contracts and for the main none of them had consistently performed for the first team, thats a lot of players to move out and they had to be replaced. I think the problem is players like Bellamy and Pennant shouldnt be first team regulars in a potential title winning team, these players should be our 2nd tiers for those positions, hopefully by next season that will be the case. But overall i think the quality throughout the squad has improved. You could argue wide midfield is still weak but i dont think its any weaker than when he got here, certain areas like GK, central defence, central midfield are clearly stronger than when he took over.

Is this the same manager that got our highest points total in the league? Yes our results against our main rivals isnt too hot as i mentioned in another thread this is the next level we need to get to. Its obvious we need to buy better players to compete with Man Utd and Chelsea (lets not forget we are ahead of amazing Arsenal in the league) i have no doubt that Rafa is the right man and hopefully he'll be given the money to get his #1 targets. Thats true but asnt he been forced to go for quantity over quality because the squad was in such a bad state when he got here. He could have spent the money on less players but that would have left him with poor alternatives or players that are proven failures under GH. its taken him 2 seasons to almost totally get rid of the players he was left with that he doesnt want, lets hope from now on its quality over quantity.

thats how i saw it too, 1-4 at HT was no reflection on the balance on play, a side like Arsenal are always capable of doing that, remember the game they played earlier in the season and missed about 6 or 7 golden chances could have been 5 or 6 easily and ended up 0-0, today was the opposite of that, they scored with almost every chance they had and got a few good calls from the linesman. Our players made individual errors (again). Its always hard to lose big at home but i just put it down as a freak result and hopefully it will quicken the realisation from the board that we need better players.

Dont do anything stupid Kev (and im not talking about backing Watford with all your money) todays game will have absolutely no reflection on the next PL game, only 2 or maybe 3 of them that played today will play against Watford. If you are that confident we're not going to win though i suggest laying Liverpool instead of backing Watford that way you have the draw on your side too!

We dont really know what Rafa will do with big money to spend cos hes never been in that position. But we do know his big money signings like Alonso, Reina, Sissoko, Agger, Gacia have usually worked out. Theres always the odd Pennant or Morientas in there but in pennants case its clear we wanted Alves and couldnt afford him and in Morientas's case he just didnt work out here he isnt a bad player. Because the squad was so poor when he took over we've had to sign too many players in the "maybe" range some have worked out some havent, most of the ones that havent have been moved on. Hopefully now we can start getting his number 1 targets instead of settling for 2nd or 3rd choice.

I think all that tonight proved is that... 1. Rafa doesnt care about this competition 2. Some of our "experienced" players are past it, notably Dudek and Fowler who just doesnt have the legs to play against these types of defenders anymore. 3. Our kids arent a patch on Arsenals (ok we knew that anyway) Hopefully this is another wake up call to our fringe players, if you want to make it at Liverpool FC you have to raise your level or you wont be kept on. We know Rafa is ruthless, we know he knows the academy setup needs to be overhauled (and it is being) it always hurts after games like tonight but i agree that it will only make Rafa more focussed, and if it highlights the difficiencies of some players better now than later.

How did he disrespect the FA Cup? by playing Dudek? Dudek has been an international keeper for a decade now, as a manager you cant really legislate for individual errors. The FA Cup game we were full strength bar Dudek in goal.

i think the difference was our team was disjointed some first teamers some fringe first teamers some reserves. Im betting most of that Arsenal side tonight play together for the reserve team with toure and Fabregas added in there. Their young players are obviously a lot better than ours but we all knew that anyway.

Its clear Rafa doesnt care about this competition and had we won on the weekend im sure most fans wouldnt have cared either. Yes its nice to have a day out in Cardiff but it is the least important competition and think it should be used to give our young players a taste of what it takes to make it in the first team. A few of them now know what it takes and maybe that will give them a kick up the backside or else they wont have much of a future here. As for Dudek he is a proven international keeper and has been for a decade, he has to be expected to play better than he has, the fact he has had 2 poor games in a row is his own fault not Rafas. You could argue whether he should play or not after the weekend, but he should be able to play for the first team still without making these basic mistakes, if anything this should see Carson back soon which isnt a bad thing.

PL football is all about pace and power, you need a core of it in your side, at the moment we have Gerrard, and Bellamy and Gonzalez and maybe you could argue Sissoko and thats it. Think this needs to be addressed. Todays game was a clear example that Arsenals young players are much better than ours but hey we knew that anyway and hopefully its getting addressed. It also showed that playing a 20 year old with plenty to prove is sometimes preferable to playing players coming to the ends of their careers.

4 million for Neil forget about it, with his contract up at the end of the season blackburn have 2 choices either sell him for probably half that or keep him until the end of the season and lose him for nothing.

Guy on betfair forum says Ashley Youngs old squad number at Watford has been taken by Liam Williamson suggesting hes been sold. Of course that doesnt mean to use but we have been linked.

Im not sure if we do need 2 "old fashioned" type wingers. I think 1 of this type is enough. In my opinion Gerrard is as good as anyone in the world on the right, one on one id fancy him against most fullbacks, hes so powerful and his delivery from that wide right channel is superb. I remember reading Gareth Barry after the Villa game and he said he was so glad he wasnt playing left back for that game he said Bouma (who had been left back) had never faced anyone as powerful as Gerrard in that position. The problem in the past has been playing Gerrard there leaves us weaker in the centre, but with Momo, Alonso and hopefully Mascherano that isnt the case anymore. Imagine a right hand side of Alves and Gerrard, good luck stopping those two! I think we should be looking for a traditional winger for the left, Gonzalez certainly has the potential but i think hes not ready yet. Maybe Vicente although i havent seen a lot of him since his injury.

Cant agree with this, Alonso has been our best player the last 2 months, and hes one of the few that seemed to give a damn in the games we were losing before the upturn in form. check out the MOM threads for the last 10 games i reckon Alonso will have figured in about 90% of them. There arent many players like Alonso in world football and we are lucky to have him here, Rafa likes the 4-2-3-1 formation and Alonso is perfect for one of the 2 defensive midfield roles, Mascherano isnt a bad 2nd option either. If its a choice between Gerrard or Zenden for the middle then fair enough we go with gerrard but if its a choice between Sissoko or Mascherano or Gerrard for the centre then Gerrard should play wide right. Alonso should always start if fit. (assuming he doesnt need resting)

Sometimes when the game is tight you need strikers that can create chances for themselves and produce that bit of individual brilliance, just as Henry or Drogba or Eto does. We have 3 hard working honest strikers but Bellamy is the only one that you think can make something out fo nothing, the others as you rightly say rely on quality service. Owen is probably the last forward we've had that can make chances for himself we need someone like that to complement someone like Kujt. Plus more of a threat from out wide.

Think Torres is the obvious one, tall, strong bags of pace and able to create goals for himself.

Some great replies i havent been able to post since yesterday cos im currently in Oz and so when you lot are posting im in bed! The purpose of the post wasnt cos we lost 1 game to Arsenal but more of a recurring theme starting to happen against the big sides, especially in league games, yes we have beaten Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal under Rafa but check our league record out against our main rivals and its clear that needs to be improved. Im not saying im better than Rafa and i have complete faith in what hes doing but this is a forum afterall for talking about Liverpool. Its clear this team is very close to being a very good one, one that can challenge for number 19 but its also clear that we're not going to get there with the players we have, that was the purpose of the post, how do we take that next step from being 2nd or 3rd best in the PL and a good cup side to being possible winners of the PL and a team that consistently beats our main rivals. Some really constructive replies and a lot that tie in with my ideas too, i.e we arent that far off but need top quality in attacking areas.

Left backs dont cost squillions because most professional PL level left backs are able to control and pass a football under pressure, they are also able to use their weak foot for more than standing on. We happen to have a left back that while having a great engine and always giving 100% lacks the technical ability of most left backs at this level. I wouldnt get rid of Riise because he has been a very useful player for us over the years and i still think he is a valuable squad player but i think we can do better at left back because of his technical deficiencies.

Im not so sure, at this level its your defenders that get the most cheap posession, teams back off and get men behind the ball meaning your CBs and fullbacks get a lot of possession. If you have a fullback like Riise that technically isnt very good and keeps launching it your not going to be playing a smooth passing game because you keep giving the ball away. While its correct that Riise has been part of a defence thats kept a record number of clean sheets i wonder if hes hurting the team in other ways not defensively but in the way we're able to keep the ball. *I also accept in his defence he hasn't had a consistent left winger in front of him all season*

Think thats a fair point, because of the state of the squad when Rafa took over and also the failure of some of his signings we've had to blood 5 or 6 players each season since hes been here. Hopefully now we have the basis of a solid squad, from now on what we need to do is add 2 or 3 top players to that. Pre-season this year was a disaster because of the world cup most of our strongest 11 hardly figured in the warm up games, that made it even harder for the new guys to settle. On the surface left back may not be a priority as you say Riise was part of a defence thats kept many clean sheets, however my query is this, is having Riise at left back affecting the type and quality of football we play? very often in tight situations he has to launch it because as we know he has no right foot and technically he isnt very good. If you watch a game of PL football its the CBs and full backs that get the most "cheap" possession i.e possession with little or no pressure on the player, therefore if you have players in those positions that are comfortable on the ball and good passers you are able to play a more flowing type of game, if you have defenders that arent good in possession and launch it often its difficult to play a posession type of game.

I think the lack of available top quality wide right players means we may have to settle for Gerrard there, bringing in Mascherano (hopefully) gives us 3 very good players that can play the defensive midfield role in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Gerrard probably isnt as good wide right as central but the difference is negligible. Would the team be better with a combination of Sissoko / Alonso / Mascherano in the middle and Gerrard wide right, or a combination of 2 from the 4 central midfielders and Pennant wide right? I think the majority would agree the TEAM is stronger with Gerrard wide right providing we don't have to settle for Zenden or similar in the middle. Maybe if someone like Alves could be brought in that would change things but i dont see many right wingers out there that are better than Gerrard. 4-3-3 is an interesting idea but im not sure playing forwards in wide positions is the way to go. We do need to play a better brand of football but if you have defenders that have to huff it all the time because technically they arent good enough (Riise is guilty of this all the time) then its hard to do that. You need players that are comfortable on the ball and because its the defenders that get most of the cheap posession you need defenders that dont panic in posession. Agger and Finnan are both good in posession Carra and riise arent, you can get away with 1 of the back 4 but not 2.

Under GH and before him under Evans i always felt the problem with the team was we would always raise our game against Man Utd, or Arsenal but would always lose or draw games we should win, this was happening home and away. Under Rafa the problem seems to be the reverse, we've certainly improved against the sides we're expected to beat, but now against the other big teams we're struggling. Very often the pattern is the same, we hold our own fail to take our chances then lose the first goal and never look like getting back into the game. How can we take the next step which is to be outplaying and beating our main rivals on a regular basis? I think Rafa has assembled a very strong squad, if you look at the squad when he took over hes done a very good job of moving out the deadwood and bringing in quality in all areas. However when we compete against our main rivals the problems seem the same i.e a lack of quality of ruthlessness in attacking positions. I think defensively we're very strong and the clean sheet records over the last few season are testament to that, however i do think we can do better than Riise at left back, hes still a useful player to have in the squad but as a starting left back i think we need someone thats better on the ball Riise gives the ball away far too much, i also think defensively our left hand side is definately being targeted by opposition managers often Riise doesn't get tight enough. Possibles for this position are Lucas Neil, Gareth Bale, Leighton Baines. Central midfield i think is fine, if Mascherano does sign the blend is fantastic I think its pretty obvious the main problems lie in the attacking midfield positions. Pennant isnt good enough to be starting every week, the problem is as we've found out there arent many top quality right sided attacking midfielders out there, Alves is the obvious one that Rafa obviously wants. Another option is of course playing Stevie wide right as he proved last season he can be very effective from there, if we do have Mascherano, Alonso, Sissoko for that position id play Stevie wide right where hes as good as anyone in the world, the players we have to play centrally mean he wont be missed. Wide left i think is a problem position and looking at whos out there i dont see many alternatives. Vicente was a quality payer a few seasons ago, but im not sure how hes playing after injury? Theres also Simoa whose played there for Benfica. Maybe Kewell will come back better than ever but how likely is that? Up front we have 3 honest players but we're really lacking that 1 superstar forward like an henry or Drogba. A lot of our problems against the big 3 has been we arent creating enough and the strikers need 3 or 4 chances to get a goal. We really need a top quality striker that can make his own chances and also is more cliical than we have at the moment. Villa and Torres are the obvious 2, it may mean we sell crouch to bring in a big money striker if that has to happen so be it. I dont think we're that far off. Playing Rafa's favourite 4-2-3-1 formation we're almost there, we have a pretty solid back 5 with maybe the need for a left back, if Mascherano signs we have 3 top qualtiy defensive midfielders for that position and any 2 would do a top job, we have Stevie that can play the wide right role where he scored and created all those goals last season, i think Kujt can play the deep lying striker role really well which leaves wide left and the main striker. We arent far away.

By attacking midfielder im assuming you mean wingers because i think our central midfield blend is superb (even better if Mascherano signs) there arent many that spring to mind at the moment, maybe if Mascherano does sign Gerrard will play almost exclusively on the right, and i wouldnt mind that as he has proven to be very effective out there. Wide left theres always the chance Kewell gets fit, but i think we need to look for a top quality wide left player and as you say a real top notch striker like Villa or Torres.

think the main thing thats been highlighted in the games against Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal is we lack the number of gamebreakers these teams have. usually these games are tight and they are decided by a defensive error or individual brilliance, very often the first goal is crucial. In most of the games against these sides we've held our own for most of t but simply havent scored the first goal or taken advantage of the chances we've created. we dont have enough real quality in the attacking third, we have Gerrard but thats it really, others like Garcia arent consistent enough. Our forwards for the main part are hard working team players without that little extra of an henry or even a Drogba. And our wide players compared to Ronaldo, Robben even Giggs arent consistent enough. Thats where i think we need to improve.

Nice words from Wenger and Henry... Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry have joined forces to hail the Liverpool fans after an unprecedented show of fan passion kicked off Saturday's FA Cup clash at Anfield. The opening six minutes of the tie were played against a backdrop of incessant chanting of "Justice for the 96" as fans on the Kop held up a mosaic spelling 'The Truth' and sang their hearts out in an appeal for the justice they feel those who lost their lives at Hillsborough have never received. The inspiration for the idea came from the organisers of the newly launched Reclaim The Kop campaign and, while Arsenal may have prevailed on the pitch, the main men at their club were full of respect for the home fans. Wenger said: "You can only admire the Liverpool fans. They kicked every ball for the team for the whole 90 minutes and were just fabulous. The club has a great support here." Star striker Henry, who netted the third goal which killed off any chances the Reds had of a late fightback, added: "I'm not sure what the fans were singing at the start of the game but when it stopped the noise they made meant no-one could hear what was going on on the pitch. "I have such respect for this ground and these supporters. What a place this is to play football."