9emfire

exactly...Rafa had in mind to move out Gerrard and put another creative attacker in his place. The formation remains just a slight tweak where we can better utilise Gerrard in the middle with alonso/masch in those games where we need more 'push' against teams made up to just park the bus infront of their goal. Will be good too if opponents think they can out-mark Gerrard and cut Torres supply line. More possibilities. No?

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11828_5094595,00.html [..Valencia's financial plight means they can no longer be considered a big club, according to Mestalla legend Santiago Canizares. The goalkeeper was there during the glory days around the turn of the century, when they twice reached the Champions League final and then - under Rafael Benitez - won two Spanish titles in three years. Those days seem a long way away now, with debts crippling the club, a new stadium to pay for and most of the first team up for sale..] It went downhill then after Rafa left. Along with him goes the beautiful crushing machine that is Valencia...a prelude of how unplayable they had became and how unplayable we can be. How they did came to Anfield and played us all over the park and we were left wanting. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...090401-0950.htm [..AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti believes Liverpool are the toughest opponents in European football. The Italian has pitted his wits against Rafa Benitez's side in two Champions League finals, losing out in Istanbul in 2005 before prevailing two years later in Athens. "Liverpool are the hardest team to play against in Europe," said Ancelotti. "Benitez is a great coach. He has a well organised defence and the perfect counter-attack. To play against them is always dangerous. "Liverpool don't let you play." ..] We had gone a long way since then and our football now is honestly a joy to watch. How we make difficult matches seems easy to win. [..It hurts the former Spain No 1 to talk about his former club in such terms since his time in Valencia was the most fulfilling of a distinguished career. He said: "It is the club that allowed me to develop my profession during the best years of my career. "I was lucky to be there when we had great players and great coaches who made the team great. I lived moments which will be very difficult to repeat in the history of Valencia, and that I will always remember."..] The star players who joined Valencia prolly had the ideal image of Valencia but the most important ingredient was already missing...the person at the helm..Rafa. What they are now succumbed to only a group of talented individuals without real directions and success. I hate to imagine if our fate will end up like that. And we have to sell our star players as the success was no longer forthcoming. We can be like spoilt brats...dismissing the success in Europe like it never count for anything even though these success did bring not only silverware but also the recognition and monetary rewards that came along with it. Even people in Europe eg Cryuff,ZZ and even Maradona sat up and starting to notice us now. These achievements thus far cannot be dismissed casually. I for one am glad that the 'project' by Rafa is not ending...to the contrary indeed.

passion drives a tired leg on...without it i wonder if we'll ever win at istanbul. yes of course he can do the job no doubting at that. but just imagine for a second...with passion and even some interests, wouldn't that be a tonic on its own. something that spurs them to dig within when he going gets tough and not just plain mercenaries

ultimately we only want players who want to play for the shirt...if he is having second thoughts, i have no regrets no matter how good they are....leave that slot for those who absolutely knows what it means to play for LFC.

good thing too Friedel red card got rescinded. If Villa attempt to play route one footy with heskey and carew up top...we will see a VERY nervous manu fullbacks as its the hoof balls they are not too comfy with. also the 5 nil routing hit them hard and they will want to prove they are no pushovers....hopefully that will raise the desire to perfom much much better. Milner will be one of those desperate to run the ground. Manure too will want to prove themselves and from this i expect an open swashbuckling high tempo-ed game and hopefully they batter themselves and maybe few more red card in the offing for the scum players.

true. also an opportunity to get our players that just came back from injury lay-offs back to full order eg Arbeloa, Agger, Xabi etc Time for torres to regroup and regain his awesomeness too after a less than admirable showing in villa game

while we are at it maybe get Rafa to share scum team notes/tactics with villa.. if they can thwart scum and even gunners champs league qualifyng fourth place ...even better

Reina, torres and even Rafa is breaking records.....all is good building blocks/healthy indicators that we are moving in the right direction... may it long continue. Clem was my fav but Reina added assists and peno-saving to his game and is fast making him appeal more to me. Good time really to be a red fan. Thanx Rafa

I reserved the privilege of having Rafa surprise me if we lift the League this time and even crazier if he does both. In my eyes, this season is already a successful one after seeing us compete in a manner not before the yesteryears. We cracked lotsa shell this time round...winning chavs both ways and even being the first team to defeat them at their mythic bridge fortress, the double over scum and humiliating them at old toilet, tamed RMadrid and showed their close to 100k fans and even the rest of spain the real footballing lesson. All this despite the shyte Rafa has to content with. Granted the man has his flaws too but at the beginning of the season i just wish we can compete well and i will not be too disappointed if we did not get the silverwares this time round even after all our triumphs and efforts. If we should fall, we'll just get up again and try even harder and knowing we are in safe Rafa's hands...it only fills me with greater optimism for years to come. It'll surely come in the end.

1.Reina 2.Kuyt 3.Riera 3.5 Arbeloa

i look forward to us overhauling the goal difference in the table...i fancy us taking the goal difference lead for a change to prove how 'defensive' we really are......TAKE THAT SKY and rest of the world now nothing less than 5 nil will do for me :-P

should always conduct separate training session at a separate venue for skrtel i'm telling ya

is this the same diogo luis santo who wore number 100 when playing for portuguesa. I reckon if he is that good he can yet wrestle #10 from voronin. But #100 is an absolutely no-no

me too. waiting still what names the rafa sceptics will throw that will GUARANTEE the league title under this circumstances he has been working under. or whom can outdo Rafa in every way he did. Shameful really cos my m8s used to praise how knowledegable LFC supporters yet some quarters keep asking for rafa's head on talkshows, radio phone-ins etc. Some just simply turn the blind eye on what he had done. its with threads like this i really wish rafa really go and along with him the collapse of our spanish-influenced staffs and players and then maybe in hindsight after that we can really see the true value of the manager we had. would love to see the day an own's foot kick its masters' teeth. think too that LFC is not a musical chair for testing managers... disgraceful really

we had a good look at Johnson at right back yesterday and his game seems more matured and filled with tenacity. Would be a good shout for a right back. Even better if we get shot of Degen and pay him instead the wages.

Finnan Degen and him would be challenging for the spot on the pysio table. Harsh I know but perhaps getting shot of him was not a bad idea afterall.

Shame on the manc....even try to wind up an 84 yr old at a hospital bed?...classless

Well said there.

Even when Gerrard was younger and just starting out in the first team, he showed much fervour and careless tackles at times but we allowed him to develop and developed well he did. If every young players get shot down within their few opportunities and not allowed to develop, are we then posturing for only 'quick-fix' solution and spend careless wads of cash getting our players. For a 21 year old, I've seen enough in him to suggest that he is on the right track developing into a good player. Even Babel too for that matter. Careless or naive they might be in this stage of their career but if this generation of players were allowed to develop well, we may just have the next cream of players in the club. The future can only look bright.

bad to think only for short terms. Here we have a competent 21 year old who is already quite attuned to hitting it up and running in the first team and that is on top of a very decent fee when we brought him in. Will gerard, alonso be there forever? Nope I don't think so and at least we have the next batch of players ready to take on the mantle to ensure we remain competitive and yet we have quarters who are ever so ready to dish and dismiss them.

Oh...a 20mil striker who fail to make an impact like Torres did so far.....yep its a mystery that baffles. Hindsight is such a prick up the ar$ for sure

I'm just trying to sound complicated but I'm not. :honest:

imho Babel deserves the fair shot of a starting place. otherwise, how can he ever develop into a player he is capable of. do bad he may but i strongly believe he is not the type to put his head down and admit failure, learn he will and overcome those shortcomings he could. if we cannot conceive the idea of Babel starting games, how can we ever have hope to see ngog, nemeth and even pacheco on matchdays. Rafa is a meticulate one and he would have given it a whole night's thoughts and analysis before he will involve Babel in the starting 11.

Goal.com Profile: Andrea Dossena Andrea Dossena has been one of Italy's best defenders this term. He is on the verge of signing for Liverpool. Salvatore Landolina is on hand to reveal the defender's rise to fame. Statistics Name: Andrea Dossena DOB: September 11th 1981 Height: 1.85m Weight: 74kg Position: Defender Current Club: Udinese Calcio 1896 Early Years Andrea Dossena was born in Lodi, a small town in the region of Lombardy- home to both Inter and Milan. He began his football career with Hellas Verona and he quickly moved up into the club's youth system after showing incredible talent at a young age. In 2001 he left the youth team and made the step up to the senior squad under Alberto Malesani's tutelage. Dossena made his Serie A debut on November 18 2001 and he was thrown in at the deep end as his first appearance was against bitter rivals Chievo in the Derby di Verona and he played alongside emerging talents such as Mauro Camoranesi, Alberto Gilardino, Massimo Oddo, Marco Cassetti and Adrian Mutu. He was quick to adapt within a side boasting plenty of youth and brilliant talent with massive potential. Onwards And Upwards Dossena spent four years with the Gialloblu but in 2002 his side were relegated to Serie B following a last day defeat to Piacenza. It was a steep learning curb for the player but he kept his place in the side and decided to stay where as most of his team mates jumped ship. It was a wise decision which paid off in 2005 when he was signed by Serie A outfit Udinese. Fiery character Serse Cosmi, who coached the left-back at the time, decided his left back was surplus to requirements at the Stadio Friuli and he sent him on loan to Treviso. Dossena made 21 first team appearances for the Biancocelesti but he couldn't stop them sliding into Serie B. At the end of the 2005/06 season, the stopper was recalled back to the Bianconeri by Giovanni Galeone. The stopper went on to feature 28 times for the Zebrette and he was soon to be reunited with his old coach from Verona. Galleone was sacked by the Stadio Fruili based outfit after falling out with the club's directors. Alberto Malesani, who played a big part in Dossena's early career at the Gialloblu, was reunited with his former Verona star. Rise To Fame In just two years, the powerful defender has made massive strides towards a rewarding career. He has played 63 times for Udinese and this season he has impressed in Serie A. His performances against the top four clubs in particular were outstanding. He kept the Nerazzurri's star studied line up quiet in the 0-0 draw back in January. Dosena marked Zlatan Ibrahimovic out of the game as his side stole a valueable point against the league leaders. The left-back was dangerous all night and his constant runs and dangerous crosses from the wings caused the Nerazzurri problems. The Udinese number 8 also gave his side a shock lead against Juventus but they went on to lose the game 2-1. The defender's work at the back helped his side earn a very respectable sixth place finish which rewarded them with a UEFA Cup place. However, the former Verona man might not feature in the competition. Anfield Awaits The Italian stopper has the chance to play in the Champions League next term with Liverpool who are on the verge of signing their target. Rafa Benitez has been impressed by the Bianconero and the Reds are focused on taking the rising star to Anfield as a replacement for John Arne Riise. Dossena has similar qualities to the Norwegian but he is more graceful on the ball and has a sweeter first touch. He is also excellent in the air and has a commanding presence at the back. His current coach Pasquale Marino has revealed that the player will move to Liverpool. It is believed the Reds are close to signing the defender from Lodi for around £8m. The future is looking bright for the stopper and no doubt he will impress wherever he ends up playing. Salvatore Landolina certainly fills me with optimisms reading that.

He'll be the new "GOD"