schmuckdonald

This is the biggest Summer in a long while. Mess it up and we could fall so far behind it'll take us years to get back. Can see Redknapp going to England soon and Mancini getting the sacked, meaning Spurs and City have problems coming up and we need to get our squad in a position where we can capitalize. Need to break into top 4 again next season. Got to be the minimum requirement. And Comolli has to earn his money by buying well in the next few months.

Problem is EVERYONE (me included) are expecting a fantastic summer that'll completely perfect our squad and push us high up amongst the competition, whereas in reality we'll probably get 3 or 4 more good players that STILL won't be enough. The expectations game is going to be even more difficult for Kenny because of who he is.

He's basically a more cartoonish Thomas Vermealen. Good in highlight reels, pushing forward, but susceptible to simple defensive mistakes.

I predict the starting XI by the end of the season being: Spearing Spearing Spearing Spearing Spearing Poulsen Spearing Spearing Spearing Spearing Spearing Subs bench: Joe Cole.

S*** in England today, but Real lost, which is always good.

Can't without Kelly. Only got two players who can play the wing back role and that's him and Johnson.

Said he tore it on twitter.

Bring back Kromkamp.

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If we batter these today it'll be the single most cathartic thing I've ever felt. Even more than beating Torres @ Chelsea.

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Genuinely pleased for the lad. Completely deserves it.

Notice the passive voice in what I said, as in this COULD have happened. Was more in reference to the fact that DH was dealing with possibilities, not realities. But beyond that, Alonso struggled to adapt after teams knew to close him down to stop us playing. He had a foot put up his a*** and was also helped that we reached our pinnacle of dominating possession and grinding teams into the ground in that season, so there was always less pressure on him because midfields couldn't get close to him. But anyway, that's enough of bait biting for one day.

If none of the Barry saga happened then Alonso may well have had another mediocre season and his value would have been less anyway. The fact he was effectively hamstrung so he couldn't sign the players he wanted is the point. He made mistakes, he made bad signings, and he sold players prematurely but he did a fantastic job within his resources and it would stand to reason that he would have done better with more resources. That's enough of that, anyway.

Gerrard has been known to go missing, leaving holes in midfield. Adam is more used to playing in a tight three in the middle of the park, as well as the fact he's not been tested at the highest level with a lot more pressure on his shoulders. If you want to play that 4, you need a back 3 to provide solidity at the back and the numbers just don't add up.

Same with Lucas. It's ok, by that time we would have signed everyone under the sun.

Isn't it under-23 but you're allowed 3 players over that age? Could be wrong. Age restrictions didn't stop Milner playing for the U-21's for about 10 years anyway. Also, would imagine Ramsey, Fleck, Wilson and a couple of others to have a decent shout.

briankettle - Benitez on Sky: He wanted Gerrard "deeper" alongside Jovetic, with Alves and Malouda wide, feeding Torres. Thanks Tom, George and Rick. #lfc Admittedly, it's pretty easy to proclaim things like that after the fact, but still.

Just on Lucas again, out of the fan voting MoM statistics (Morse' ones) Lucas has been in top 3 the most out of any player this term. So he must be doing something right.

I don't want to turn this into (another) formation debate, but under Rafa we played a ridiculously strict 4-2-3-1, with - generally, Kuyt, Gerrard and Benayoun/Riera (at its height) behind Torres with Masch and Alonso holding in a supporting role. It was effectively a 4-2-4 when we had possession. I see your point when it comes to when we lost the ball, but even then they stayed relatively high up the pitch because they pressed the ball and we played high up the pitch in general. Don't get what point you're trying to make about Suarez, in every game we've played under Kenny we've played with a free-runner behind a centre forward. First it was Meireles, not it's Suarez. It means Meireles has to adapt his game to either come in from wide or play a more restricted role on the pitch, but I don't think Suarez will be restricted. The one thing that's become apparent under Kenny and Clarke is that we're going to be watching a Liverpool side that's dynamic going forward and, fortunately, solid at the back.

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Agger winner after playing a 1-2 with every lfc player on the pitch. Then he runs to Hodgson and gives him a face rub.

If Napoli got him for £3m it'd be one of the best deals they've ever done. Him and Gargano would be tasty. Fortunately, it is probably b*******

Neymar said he got a banana thrown at him or something I read somewhere?

He's under-rated because he isn't, nor will he ever be, a highlights reel player. Then he's over-rated because he's had a hard time but worked hard to get through it, adapted and kept his head down and progressed to a high enough level for him to be a mainstay for Brazil and one of our top performers this season, so people like him as a player and get defensive over him. I've been guilty of being over-the-top about him in the past, but I still think he's a player that a lot of the top teams in Europe would have and he would play a fair chunk of games. Not exactly a bad thing to be. Was thinking about this the other day, I can see him realising his full potential in a 3 in the middle of the park, alongside a heavy duty defender and a more attacking player. I'd say him alongside Meireles and a, for the sake of argument, a Hamann would allow him to play his game, which is to control the midfield from a tactical point of view. He's only 24 and he's by far and away our most assured performer in midfield on a regular basis. Plus he's f***ing dynamite against the Mancs.