kick316

If Alonso knows that he's leaving why would he put in a transfer request and thus miss out on potentially millions in compensation (he still has 3 years on his contract)?

If Tevez came, I think that he'd replace Kuyt. He would certainly be an upgrade. However, does our right side need much improvement? Strengthening our left side with a natural left sided player of Tevez's class would improve the team so much more than replacing Kuyt with Tevez.

From an interview a few days ago: "Journalist: It has been a good season and you will want to build in the summer, but you will also want to hold on to your better players such as Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso and Daniel Agger. It would be a real blow to lose any of them players wouldn't it? Clearly we don't want to lose key players, but Mascherano and Alonso have long contacts so that isn't a problem. We have been talking to Daniel Agger over the last few months and we are very close to agreeing a new deal with him. So hopefully in the next few days we will have some good news because Daniel wants to stay and the conversations we have had with him have been very positive." Link: http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...090502-0921.htm

Would you swap him with Tevez?

If any world class striker in their prime is available for 12m than you simply cannot turn down that opportunity. It's as simple as that. On the other hand, what hasn't been discussed enough is his wages. A 12m purchase price might be low for someone of his stature but what are his wage demands? Can we afford to accommodate his wage demands within our cost structure?

But I thought Michael Carrick was the best defensive midfielder in the world? (well according to Iain Dowie during the game)

I agree completely. There is no way we could have won so comfortably against the Mancs at Old Trafford if we had "passengers" playing in central midfield.

Yup....Carrick (2 goals), Park (1 goal), Anderson (0 goals) & Scholes (1 goal) have been banging them in.

Unbelievable.......we just beat the Mancs by 4 goals at Old Trafford and some of our supporters still find time to slag off a young player who played a part in the victory.

Completely!

Rafa’s statements were premeditated with the aim of getting some type of response. Judging from the outburst in the media he appears to have met his objective. Of course there will be many ridiculing him but surprisingly many are supportive and agree with what he said. What Graham Poll said in support of Rafa is extraordinary in my opinion. If you analyse what Rafa said, he is putting focus on the referees, the FA and the in-game behaviour of Man Utd’s players & manager. If his comments introduced any doubt in referees or influenced just a few wrong decisions against the Mancs than he would have achieved his goal. But those of a more simplistic nature or agenda driven will continue to peddle the “Rafa has lost it” angle or start comparing it with Keegan. Fact is Rafa is a very smart man and he did this for a reason. Can it backfire? Of course it could. Rafa could have taken the safe route and just stayed quiet but he took a calculated risk. That’s what winners and champions do.

In fact I would say that this puts the focus on the referees, the FA and the in-game behaviour of the Mancs (players & manager).

Rafa is a genius! Contrast what he said against what Slur alex just said a few days ago. Slur Alex tries to play mind games on us by putting pressure and introducing doubt in our players (Liverpool will crack, not experienced, etc etc). Rafa on the other hand is putting the focus on the referees and FA. You can be sure that from now on, every decision the refs (especially Bennett) make in the Mancs upcoming games and the conduct of the players/managers will be scrutinised. Also note the timing of the outburst. On the eve of the crunch tie between the Mancs and Chelsea...a fixture that often sees controversial decisions favoring the Mancs!

Am I the only one who rates him? Whenever I see Portsmouth (admittedly not a lot though) he has been excellent. Better than any of our FBs going forwards and solid enough defending. Having said that 9m is a lot though.

However rich you are a billion dollars is a considerable amount of money. And even if you had a billion dollars to spend would you really invest it in football?