Atticus Finch

You just answered the question as to why we got rid. For all his goals at international level, he has never convinced at league level. Cisse is a better player and I would say more intelligent too. Baros may work harder, but a lot of that is head down towards the corner flag and he fits our current style of play even less than Cisse.

I'm not sure anyone was worthy of more than a 6 to be honest. Some general points:- 1. The pitch and the wind made it very difficult to judge the bounce and flight of the ball - which was why there were so many freekicks being given away by both sides. 2. Kromkamp looked quite good, even more so because of point 1. Poor freekick to give away for the goal but that always happens when defenders are adjusting to a new league. 3. Warnock was poor. Two awful backpasses that nearly cost us and twice put the ball straight into touch under no pressure. 4. The whole midfield was quiet, but then they were being bypassed a lot and it wasn't exactly the conditions for flowing football. Sissoko should not be picking up bookings for diving - he will always get them for tackles so he needs to cut them out of the rest of his game. They all stood up well to the battle and were not put off by some OTT tackling fro Portsmouth early on. 5. Cisse was better than last week. Will always have his limitations, but at least he was trying and working hard. Got some good crosses in, but:- 6. Morientes was dreadful. Limited service but that did not stop Cisse from trying. Just seems to be on the backfoot the whole time - no anticipation at all. Didn't attack the near post for any of Cisse's crosses and an awful touch when in a good position from Gerrards pull back. 7. The f***ing band was really doing my head in by the end. Fair play the drummers must have strong wrists to keep banging the drum all game, but what does that show - they are all w*****s!

Exactly. Whilst I'd be surprised if we were one of the clubs, I don't think we should be overly confident that we are in the clear. I don't see what evidence SGE would have, so more than likely he is just passing on rumours he has heard, so I doubt anything will come of it.

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Exactly his goal record is 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 I think. Certainly nowhere near Cisse's over his career, so b******s to that "composure in front of goal" point made earlier.

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I remember the England-Scotland game a few years ago. Was watching in the pub with some mates and they couldn't understand why I wasn't celebrating when one of the scum players (was it Scholes?) scored two for England. Just couldn't bring myself to do it. If Lampard scores an important goal in the World Cup I'll probably just point out that he is a jammy f***** as the keeper was sent the wrong direction by the enormous deflection

I understand the Gerrard comments from Sven are along the lines of his parents being threatened by fans when he was thinking of leaving.

I think we have one decent left back and two average ones, with Riise being the best. I disagree with those who say he hasn't improved - he clearly has on the defensive side of his game. Bottom line is that he will never be a subtle player and he is never going to be two footed. I also think that when he goes forward he suffers from Sami not being mobile enough to cover behind him if the attack breaks down, certainly compared to Finnan and Carragher covering. I think this is why it sometimes looks like he is out of position when the opposition counter. If you watch the defence closely when they are holding the line Riise is the only one of the three left back options that can be trusted to play the offside trap - Warnock and Traore are always out of line. In an ideal world we would have a better starting left back but Riise on current form would require a very good player to replace him - in the Premiership del Horno, Heinze and Cole are better but no-one else. There are only a select few that would do. The problem lies when he drops below his best form - the alternatives are not good enough. Traore has been awful this season after finally impressing me last year when he was excellent defensively. Warnock is a good solid pro with decent all round skills but just doesn't convince me as a left back - he just doesn't look that comfortable in the position.

If we are to sign a striker to play on a regular basis then it is going to have to be someone who offers more to the team than Owen does (although he has improved this side of the game immeasurably). Rafa has been quoted on several occasions about wanting a goal threat from all directions and integral to that is strikers who can involve their teammates. To combine that with a regular goal threat you are basically looking at a very select few players over the past few years - Shearer, Shevchenko, horse face etc. To find another one of those will not be cheap or easy. Until then I think he might stick with Cisse if he continues to show the improvements he has made in both performance and attitude over the last 4-6 weeks.

Lentini is a bit of a throwback. I remember all the fuss about him - did he end up having quite a bad car/motorbike accident at one stage? Look how much they paid for Pennant - 2m for a 15yr old, which was a big sum at the time. Didn't work out for him there and the danger with any player of that age is that if they physically mature early they can then be caught up by other players later on (although I think Theo is very skillful and not just physically mature like Cherno was). They also need games to progress. I think that the best thing for him would be 18mths more of regular football at Southampton before then moving when he is 18. He will have developed far more, even if it is just at Championship level, than sitting in someones reserves for at least a year. It might reduce the pressure a bit too - which at the moment would be substantial. I suspect Southampton are actually pushing this behind the scenes - they need the money and with the Rooney/Lentini comparison if they are at all worried they have the latter they may want to cash in now.

I wonder if he is thinking that if he has 3 or 4 at a similar age in each position the competition amongst them will mean they develop quicker and to a better level. Plus the odds of one of them "making it" are shorter, the more you get in. I also see he is focusing on the positions where we haven't really produced many good players through the ranks. [by good I mean good for us ie those that break into the team and stay there eg Carragher - he is the only defensive player in recent times, whereas comparatively we have had quite a lot of attacking talent come through].

Just buys in bulk - look at his centre back fetish in the summer! What position next?

That was reported somewhere though. I can't remember where unfortunately

I think that was his point (not having seen the article, but judging on the first post) - we still worship Fowler and let him know that, whereas Owen's reception was 'mixed'

Random choices! New stadiums you haven't been to yet? Personally I'd just take a home tie

It was not misplaced aggression. he went in for a sliding tackle and was a split second late. It looked far worse than it actually was. Hence the point a couple of posts ago about getting him to stay on his feet - which i think he is getting better at since he got sent off (Rafa deliberately leaving him on as a lesson to him in that match was very clever)

I want someone better (and taller for that matter) for our new left back. Watch teams isolate Evra on the back stick in the air

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...060106-0844.htm Jan Kromkamp today revealed it took just one meeting for Rafael Benitez to convince him to move to Liverpool. The Dutch defender was at home enjoying Christmas when the call came that Liverpool wanted to bring him to Anfield in a deal which would see Josemi move in the opposite direction. And the 25 year old admits it didn't take long for him to be impressed by Benitez's Anfield vision. "He was very clear with his ideas," says Kromkamp. "He explained how he wants me to play and what he expects from me. "He came with a board and showed me some tactics. The man breathes soccer. He is very passionate, and I like that. I think I am passionate player. "It was Christmas and I was with my parents in Holland. I was told there was a possiblity I could be flying to Liverpool. I asked why, because I was on vacation, and I was told Liverpool wanted to talk to me and they wanted a swap deal with Josemi going to Villarreal. "I said okay and came here and checked everything out. I was very impressed but I was impressed before I even came here as I know what a great club Liverpool is. "I know I cannot play in the Champions League any more this season but when Liverpool come along and want to have you, then you choose to go there. "The players in the Dutch team who play in England - Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robin van Persie, Edwin van der Sar - have all told me how good it is here. Their views were important when Liverpool came in for me. I have always wanted to play in England and now I have the chance. "I don't think I failed at Villarreal. It's just when Liverpool come along, it's easy to go there." Now that Kromkamp has arrived, he's desperate to play as many games as possible and show the Liverpool fans what he can do. "I want to play matches," he says. "That is important to me. I have to earn it in my training. The first thing I have to do is to learn the way of playing and make sure that I do my best and hopefully the manager will give me my minutes."You have players who like to sit on the bench and are okay with it. But I am a football player and want to play football. The only thing I can do now is my best and do well in training. I am confident I will get games, otherwise I wouldn't have come here. "At the same time I know it is going to be difficult. This team won the Champions League last season so who am I to come in and suddenly claim I should be playing? I must earn the right." I think he sounds like a cracking lad. The photo in the paper of him pissing about with Crouch, the messing around with Rafa when they were doing the scarf photos and the last para of that article all say to me that this guy is going to be really popular with everyone.

And in all fairness if he wasn't celebrating winning the CL and was stood around looking miserable at the back, he would have been crucified for that.

I think his joke was that the 'virus' excuse was used to cover up him being paralytic at the party and therefore unable to play, rather than anything more serious Or have I missed the irony in your comment? Well hidden if it is...

That was a fantastic effort - bit too long to catch on though I fear

Perhaps around the time of the Barca games, if they concentrate on that? Alternatively if the ANC disrupts them? Problem is their squad is so strong you have to feel they can rotate around those problems. The only area of the squads we are stronger in is central midfield (and arguably upfront). Clutching at straws moment - Barca stuff them over the two legs, destroying their confidence and they collapse after March, limping to third place?

Just been looking through the getty images of the tournament - Parry was at the press conf on 12/12, but wasn't at the one on 17/12. No shots of Moores at all. So what do you know?

Parry was definitely there - he and Rafa were pictured next to each other in the stand watching (I think) the Sao Paulo semi. As for Moores I do vaguely remember a shot of him arriving/leaving the team hotel during the TV coverage. Can't say at what stage of the tournament it was though