Malcolm X

Yes you can because they are 'dead good'. We are better than others but not them as the leage table shows.

Boll*cks and boll*cks again. That is utter s****. Our form this season hasnt been too bad (Stoke, Hull, Fulham and West Ham aside) When you spend much of the season without your top striker and then on occassions such as today not having your best player, it is always going to be a tough ask to win the title. Let us also put it into perspective, Utd have been unbelievable in the last 14 games. Their current form is reminiscent of Arsenal 2003/04. You just cant live with that just as Utd or Chelsea could not live with that Arsenal side. We dont have enough world class attacking players and dont have the budget to buy them. Having said that I am 100% confident we will finish 2nd.

I had a bad feeling about today. Cant see us getting back into this. Looks like Soul Glos prediction was spot on.

Because you are comparing GH's 5th year against Rafa's 1st year with a squad that was built by GH over 5 years. A squad that Rafa has since dismantled during his 5 years to the point that Stevie G, Carra and Hyppia are the only ones remaining from the squad that Rafa inherited from GH. So yeah its a fair point to say we can ignore our league position in Rafa's 1st year. For the record we finished 7th under GH's 1st season and 5th in Rafa's 1st season but had the 'small' benefit of winning the European Cup.

'Borders on the religious', does it f*ck. All I am trying to point out is that Rafa deserves some credit for winning the Champions League with an average squad. Referring to the league position in that year is just plain ridiculous. Everyone acknowledges that Rafa could have done better in the league but to his defence it was his first season in this league and he did not have the squad to last us the full league campaign. In two legged ties or one-off games it was a completely different story. Winning the league is always going to be difficult when your rivals have either had an established squad and/or significantly greater resources at their disposal to buy any player they like. Rafa was playing catch up from the word go, that is a fact. And for the Houllier comparisons, GH lost to Marseille in the Uefa Cup with the same squad minus Alonso and Garcia. This is the same Marseille team that were soundly beaten by Rafa's Valencia in the final of the Uefa Cup.

Thats the point David, Rafa used that team to win the European Cup when most managers would not have even got close to that. I doubt even Maurinho, Fergie or even Wenger would have achieved what Rafa did with that squad. Granted they werent the worst 9 players in the clubs history but with the exception of Carra, Stevie, Hamman and possibly Owen, they werent the best around. And Houllier scraped to 4th place with the above set of players. When Rafa took over Kewell was blighted by injury problems, Heskey had already left and he lost Owen in August. It takes a special manager to work with a limited squad and the setbacks he faced in his 1st season. I go back to my original point, it was a truly magnificent achievement by Rafa to win the European Cup with that team.

Having watched the 2004/05 final again, I am not sure Rafa gets the credit he deserves for that win. I've heard mutterings such as 'it was Houllier's team after all.' I still cant believe we won a European Cup with Cisse, Smicer, Riise, Baros and Traore. If you all think they were/are very good players, where are they now?

I'd go for: ---------------------------Reina---------------------------------- ----------------Skrtel----------------Carra----------------------- Babbel-------------------------------------------------------Aurelio --------------------------Hamman--------------------------------- -------------------Alonso------------Mascherano------------------- --------------------------Stevie---------------------------------- ----------------------Torres----------Heskey----------------------

Henry played in a much better side all round that was brimming with attacking talent and world class players. That Arsenal team that Henry won titles with had players like Pires, Bergkamp, Ljunberg and Viera. And for the record, Torres is a more complete striker than Henry. He is stronger in the air, has two good feet, has a higher workrate and he produces in the big games.

The thing, is because he has pulled us out of the fire so many times, we take it for granted and expect him to do that every game. When he has a bad game we seem to get on his case. We sometimes dont realise how fortunate we are that he plays for us and not anyone else. He is up there with the best midfielders that have ever played this game. IMHO he is the best player ever to play for LFC. I know people believe Kenny was/is the King but I believe Stevie to be more versatile. The standard of Gerrard's play is close to Kenny's when he plays off the front man but he can also play centre mid, right back, left back, left mid and even upfront. Who can forget his performance at right back in Istanbul to counter AC Milan's left winger Serginho.

We get offended by your blatantly dumb comments d*ckhead, thats why. Villa are where they are because of lack of pressure which comes with lack of expectations. Managing Liverpool Football Club comes with huge expectations particularly as we are constantly reminded of not winning the league by the pro-Manc media. The fact that Villa were close to relegation wasnt because of their squad, its because they had an average manager in O'Leary at the helm despite 6 signings in that season. MON inherited a squad that was in far better shape than the one Rafa took over. And lest we forget the current 'overachieving' Villa side is above the Chelsea team that has invested over £250m since Rafa took over and that doesnt include the players that were already there prior to that. So in short f*ck off and go somewhere else.

DIC is almost completely out of the question. Dubai is on its knees. Its property market has taken a huge pounding as has some of its overseas investments. Any cash it is likely to have will now be reinvested in Dubai to kickstart the economy. If we are to attract investment from the Middle East it is most likely to come from Bahrain, Qatar and possibly Kuwait.

Agree. The Torres substitution was absolutely spot on, he brought him at exactly the right time. Well in Rafa.

The thing is some of the negative stuff is coming from our own fans.

W*nker.

Cant believe its 0-0 after a half like that.

And you are perfectly capable of rational analysis are you? Yeah sure. You would have judged the situation on its merit. And Rafa didnt? For all you Rafa could have seen the drop in Gerrard's performance and the fact he wasnt contributing. He also might have seen signs of tiredness. So rather than risk him getting injured and missing the 'six pointer' against Chelsea, Rafa made a decision to take him off early and bring Keane on. I'd trust Rafa's judgment over yours any day of the week.

Yet Rafa has got us to 2nd place ahead of Chelsea despite the 'undeniable f*** up in the last two transfer windows'. Oh sorry I forgot, thats not down to Rafa, its the players he has at his disposal.

And Gerrard ends up getting injured and misses the Chelsea game. You would have probably come on here saying how stupid Rafa was to leave him until the end and that he should have been subbed.

Agreed. I have a feeling that Xabi will boss the game with some squad players stepping up to the plate. Xabi always seems to raise his game when asked to take the responsibility. I will never forget his performance in the Derby when Gerrard got sent off. His form this season has been close to that level. My team would be: ----------------------Reina---------------------- Arbeloa---------Carra--------Skrtel----------Aurelio -----------------Xabi-------Masch---------------- ----Benayoun---------Babel----------Reira-------- ------------------Torres------------------------- Subs: Cavalieri Kuyt Agger Pacheco Spearing Ngog Dossena

He'll be back for the City game. Dont think he'll get in ahead of Aurelio.

We beat Chelsea 2-0 to leapfrog them. We are still in with a decent shout for the league and the Champions League. Gerrard's injury is not good news but its not a poor week by any stretch.

Its been confirmed, its a tear. He's out for 3 weeks.

Every time I watch that final a huge smile spreads across my face. It reminds why I support this fantastic football club. It was without doubt the best night of my life. It was a hell of a fix.

The problem with this transfer is that the f*cker could come back to haunt us on 24 May, the last game of the season when we play Tottenham at Anfield.