nd

Certainly not a write-off. It's his first season with us after all. But with backing from rich new owners, Rafa will probably see him as dispensable if a cracking alternative is available.

I don't see the problem with having four great central midfielders, esp. when one is also a great option on the right. I think the expectation must be that we challenge on all four fronts (like Man U and Chelsea this season) and fresh legs in the engine room is a must. Rafa believes wholeheartedly in rotation, we know that. And with our new money we shouldn't be looking to sell Alonso to fund a striker and two brilliant wide-men. With Madrid hovering over Rafa, and Rafa asking to speak to the owners to clarify their vision, I think it's fairly clear that some hard bargaining on summer transfers is about to take place. Central midfield is not the problem area...

For me, Carra has excelled in every defensive position he's played for us. Yeah, he's been skinned a few times - but the likes of Henry, when on song, could skin the likes of Maldini too. Every defender *needs* a few nightmare performances in his past. First name on the teamsheet for me, and has been since Houllier. And England's loss is our gain. Had Carra been born in London, or played for the Mancs, he'd have over 50 caps by now. The fact that McClaren sees Phil Neville as a possible better choice for the qualifiers tells you all you need to know about the stupidity of the England set-up. f*** 'em.

I'd be gutted to lose a player of Alonso's class, but s*** happens. Players come, players go. We're well stocked in the central midfield cupboard at least.

To be honest, I'll be disappointed with anything less than a win that puts the skids under their bid for the title. They're due a bad run, and I would rather like us to be the team that starts one for them.

Nowhere near as good as Vieira yet. At times he looks the part, but Vieira was top f***ing class for years.

I'm kinda surprised we're not in for him. He's obviously a major talent and is equally obviously just as pissed off about the West Ham situation as Mascherano. I reckon if we don't go for him then another top English club will do. If Rafa wants him then I would think we'd be in a strong position to land him.

That can only be a pisstake.

I'm not going to slag off specific players because I think Crouch, Bellamy, and Kuyt are all very good players with specific strengths that are useful in specific situations. But I think it's inarguably the case that spurned chances have cost us a lot of points this season, and Rafa will do something about it before next season.

Legally, Hicks's a*** is covered I'm sure. Morally...you certainly have a point. "The socialism I believe in is not really politics; it is humanity, a way of living and sharing the rewards." I doubt Shankly would've been pleased with modern football, full stop.

Football entered a new era some time ago. The rules have completely changed. I'd say that getting two loaded Yanks with experience of running, ahem, 'franchises' is bang in step with the times. Like it or not. Well done to Parry and Moores for the completion of much hard work. It's not as glamourous, but those two have worked just as hard as any manager or player for the good of this club. Will we win the league because of this deal? Not instantly, no. But without taking care of the business side of things Liverpool FC would eventually be left with the vapours of past successes to live off, and not much more. We're still up there, and we can finally trade meaningful blows in the transfer market with the likes of Man U, Chelsea, Madrid. It's not an equal footing - Man U piss all over everyone on the business side, Madrid maintain the de facto backing of a national government, while Chelsea can piss all over everyone as long as Abramovich is allowed to keep his corrupt billions - but Liverpool set foot in the new global arena today. Like it or not.

Weird considering the fuss over Bowyer and the attack that nearly killed that Asian kid. Especially given that Bowyer walked, while Woodgate was convicted.

Neither am I, but on the basis of that vid we could do worse. Boca aren't a s*** side, and it looks like he caused them plenty of trouble.

Groundshare with Everton.

While the optimist in me believes that it still certainly is on, the realist takes a look back to the table in October after our capitulation at Old Trafford (the real nadir of our season, not the Arsenal losses). We were eleven points behind back then and...we're eleven points behind today. Only now there are less games to play, and more goals to make up (should it come to that). We're pinning our hopes on a Manc implosion. But shipping two late goals in a match against another top-four side (on an excellent run) is the only sign of vulnerability they've shown for a good while. A somewhat Herculean task, then, and if Rafa somehow pulls this out of the bag then he will assure his place among the Gods of football management.

Still early days for Paletta though. I imagine every defender has horror stories to tell.

I don't think that's realistic. Certainly isn't the case for any club I can think of. We're not alone in paying a few million here and there for useful squad players from other clubs. I don't think the ideal situation you set out has ever or will ever be the case. Our youth set-up will, if we're lucky, produce 2-3 gems every decade or so, and a few more decent squad players on top. We might make a few million selling off the rest. I think the issue here is, as fyds points out, the type of player that graduates to the senior set-up. We've all heard of plenty of promising youngsters down the years, so maybe the problem is indeed to do with training rather than innate quality? Maybe the current set-up is choking the talent rather than nurturing it in the correct way? Whatever, we're not alone in struggling with this problem. Arsenal and Man U, for example, should arguably be streets ahead of us given the longevity of their managers. But Wenger, for example, is mainly a very good poacher - and from his comments this week (as well as his transfer activity in snapping up promising youngsters from across the world) it looks as if Rafa wants to do better in this department as well.

I agree with that (although Manc friends of mine would say that they've helped Man U be average). I guess the likes of Warnock and (in the past) Thompson have done similarly for us, although not as well. But, still, you wouldn't swap our list of players for theirs, or Arsenal's, or Chelsea's.

Some interesting facts about kids from the youth teams of 'the big four' in The Times today: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,283-2543669,00.html I'd say that Carra, Gerrard, and Owen represent an excellent return when you look at the journeymen from all four clubs in that list. You'd only want Terry, Cole, and Fabregas. The Arsenal defeats have got everyone spooked, and it's obvious that Rafa ain't happy with the Academy, but it's not like any of our rivals are churning out home-grown footballing heroes. Buying in youth talent seems to be the order of the day, and Rafa is sorting that one out.

And for one of those seasons he was probably our best left back since the 80s.

Any young player is bound to worry about moving to a big club, but I kinda think that if they have confidence in their ability they are denying themselves a clearer route to the top. The extra money and successful traditions that a club like Liverpool has over a club like Reading means better facilities, better training, better players around to learn from, and, most importantly, a better manager. An all round better culture, in short. Breaking through is important for the obvious reasons, but being thrown into competitive games too early is just as big a risk as being thrown in too late. If this kid is as good as people seem to think then working under a manager like Rafa and with players like Alonso and Gerrard has gotta be a better option than Coppell (a good manager, no doubt) and Bobby Convey or whoever. And if he doesn't have that kind of confidence, he ain't ever gonna make it to the very top. I think this is a different situation than, say, Shaun Wright Phillips - who was at the stage where he needed first-team games, and was seduced by money.

"Do people expect me to play Finnan every week? He has had to play in every fixture this season." might be reading too much into this, but for Rafa to single out Finnan when he obviously wanted Alves last summer makes me wonder if he's not repeating in public arguments that he's made in private.

Carra was trying to do the right thing and failed, whereas Dudek was nowhere near it - slow as f***. I reckon Jerzy has to take the blame for this one, even though Carra did make the wrong call.

With the Mancs edging ever closer to our 18 titles, I'll be backing Chelsea for many years yet.

What about the trophy trophies, Super Cup / World Club? Don't remember and can't be arsed Googling, but would be interested in knowing the answer if anyone does!