Jim D

Not a bad bench.

Looks like 4-4-2 to me...with Lucas left side Finnan Carragher Hyypia Aurelio Babel Mascherano Gerrard Lucas Kuyt Torres

The only time I can ever remember Cisse scoring a goal clincially instead of whacking it was against the Bitters at The Pit, think we won 3-1.

Obviously that was taken a little too serious! That would mean the following seasons under Paisley were failures....1975, 1978, 1981. In two of those seasons we went on to lift Big Ears. In some respects, yes, cups are a bonus but you wouldn't turn one down as important or prestigious as the European Cup even if it meant not winning the League.

It doesn't end there, when Bayern Munich won the European Cup in 1975 they finished 10th in the Bundesliga. Of course when we won the European Cup in 1981 we finished 5th in the league.

To be honest most "footballers" nowadays are an "athlete" but there are some footballers out there who are making thousands a week today that wouldn't be playing at the top level of the game say 20 to 30 yrs ago. There is now too much emphasis on fitness rather than footballing skills. We've got some players in our squad who can't even control a ball under pressure, play a simple pass, move into space, put in a decent cross and take a decent shot on goal. They treat the football like a hot potato and are not comfortable with the ball at their feet.

Should read 1973 obviously!

Legendary Liverpool defender Tommy Smith has launched a stinging criticism of Reds boss Rafael Benitez after his side were knocked out of the FA Cup by Barnsley. Brian Howard's injury-time winner at Anfield dumped Liverpool out of yet another competition, leaving them with just the Champions League - in which they face Inter Milan this week - to contest. And Smith, who captained Liverpool to the 1971 league and UEFA Cup double, has hit out at Benitez's controversial rotation policy and decision to rest several key players for yesterday's visit of the Coca-Cola Championship side. Smith told BBC Radio Five Live: 'In the programme for yesterday's game Benitez said cup competitions are always dangerous if you think you can beat teams easily. So why on earth didn't he put a strong team out against Barnsley?' Smith admitted Reds fans may finally start to run out of patience with the Spanish boss. 'I should imagine so. At the end of the day Bill Shankly used to tell us you're only as good as your last result. How on earth does Benitez think he's going to win stuff if he puts a second-class team out? 'Because Liverpool's squad is not as strong as I think he thought at the beginning of the season. I don't think he's even got a strong first XI. 'How could he leave (Jose) Reina, (Steven) Gerrard and (Javier) Mascherano out?' Smith admitted the last-16 European tie with Inter is now do-or-die. 'I'm afraid so,' he said. 'He keeps going on about winning four cups and all that but at the end of the day it's not even entertaining at Anfield at the moment. The crowd keep it going but they booed everybody at the end of the game and quite rightly. 'The first person you put on the team-sheet is Gerrard. How on earth could he sit on the bench for 75 minutes and watch that...then he (Benitez) talks about chances. Well, they've gone. You can't score after the game finishes.'

Just like GH, some of GH's best buys were defensive players but came short in the attacking department.....Diouf, Cheyrou.

I feel a poll is coming on.....

There was also another incident in yesterday's game that summed Riise up. He had the ball centre circle area and was put under a little pressure from a Barnsley player. So he decided to play the ball back to Sami who was at centre half. So instead of using his right foot his used his left foot to play the pass with the outside of his foot totally got it all wrong and the ball headed towards the left back area. Poor old Sami then had to run across the pitch to try and keep the ball in play, was put under immediate pressure from a Barnsley player and couldn't stop it going out for a throw. It was an awful ball.

That is basically it in a nutshell. Look at the Mancs, they have lost more games this season than us in the League but are miles ahead of us and challenging. Why? because the Mancs play to their strengths and attack teams into submission, now and then they will lose a few games such is the nature of their play (eg West Ham, Bolton and City). But the majority of the time they will win games through sheer persistence and the League table shows that. We've drawn far too many games in the league because of our cautious, tactical approach, it allows teams and gives them hope to get back into a game and thus we draw and drop two points. It is better to win one and lose one than draw two games. Mancs P26 W18 D4 L4 Liverpool P25 W11 D11 L3 That statistic tells you everything, we've drawn 7 more games than them whereas the Mancs have won those 7 games. That is 14 points dropped despite being unbeaten in those 7 games. That is ultimately the difference between us not challenging for the title and struggling for 4th place.

Scathing match report.... By CHRIS BASCOMBE at Anfield RAFA BENITEZ has demanded revolution from the moment he arrived at Anfield. Today, even his most loyal supporters cannot avoid the conclusion one of those changes is set to be in the manager's seat. The Kop boss began the day saying he would know within five days if his team had "turned the corner". CLICK HERE FOR MORE REACTION FROM THE GAME After five minutes of Barnsley's epic win at Anfield yesterday, it was obvious Liverpool had hit another cul-de-sac. Now Benitez finds himself in danger of being driven out of town as the Kop's fury was turned from the boardroom to the pitch. The Spanish coach's persecution complex has been intensifying by the week, but he will struggle to find anyone to blame for this atrocity accept for his misfiring players and another baffling team selection. It was a catastrophic decision, in fact inexcusable, to rest keeper Pepe Reina, even more so than skipper Steven Gerrard. Reserve Charles Itandje isn't just an accident waiting to happen, he ought to be wearing an ambulance siren on his head. He was hopeless against the minnows of Havant and Waterlooville in the last round — but this was an exhibition of uselessness barely witnessed in a Liverpool player. He flapped at every cross and offered hardly any resistance when Stephen Foster equalised on 57 minutes and Brian Howard struck a famous winner for the visitors. How this clown was ever allowed near a Liverpool shirt is a matter for Benitez to explain. But having been caught in no-man's land for Foster's header, he was vulnerable against each Tykes attack in the closing minutes. The French stopper was even fortunate to still be on the pitch after an ugly tackle on Kayode Odejayi. Ref Martin Atkinson, who waved away a stonewall penalty appeal for a foul by Sami Hyypia on match-winner Howard seconds before he struck, gave Barnsley nothing. Contrast the shambles of Itandje with Barnsley hero Luke Steele. Had the keepers swapped sides, this would have been a Kop rout. A week ago, Steele was struggling to get a game for West Brom reserves. But this was an afternoon he will never forget. Alongside defensive titan Dennis Souza, he was inspirational, denying a late flurry from Anfield's strikers and paving the way for the injury-time winner from Howard that stunned, but didn't completely surprise, an increasingly hostile crowd. Benitez pointed to the series of missed chances, as well as the Barnsley No1's display, as he insisted uncharitably his side deserved to win. Most extraordinarily, he even defended the performance of his keeper. Benitez said: "I'm frustrated because throughout the last month we have been saying the same thing. "We had a lot of chances but their keeper was man of the match. We created a lot, so it's difficult to explain how we lost. "We must be more ruthless. I don't regret changing the keeper. If we had taken our chances, it would be different. Their keeper was fantastic. "They didn't have so many chances so I don't blame our keeper. I think we deserved to win." Despite the bravado, the crescendo of boos at full-time showed eactly that the Anfield faithful are in no mood for excuses. The FA Cup was supposed to be Liverpool's salvation in a miserable season. There was little clue of the drama to follow when Dirk Kuyt ended a drought that lasted longer than a hosepipe ban to put Liverpool ahead on 32 minutes, converting Ryan Babel's cross. In fact, for 45 minutes most of the passion, excitement, twists and turns were courtesy of the performance of Barnsley fanatic Harold ‘Dickie' Bird. Cricket's most notorious umpire arrived late into the Anfield Directors' Box to watch his beloved Tykes. And he endeavoured to kick every ball thereafter. When the full-time whistle blew, only his excited fellow Yorkshiremen restrained him from jumping onto the pitch to join the celebrations. Yes, Barnsley rode their luck at times. Who doesn't in cup football? But as Liverpool's search for a winner became more frantic, so the threat of Barnsley's counter-attack increased. It took Benitez 73 minutes to recognise what most Liverpool fans have known for the past seven years — without Gerrard, such miserable performances are always more likely. After being rested for the visit of Inter Milan on Tuesday, he was summoned from the bench, but even he could not alter the mood. Steele's heroics denied Crouch, Hyypia, Kuyt and Harry Kewell, as Liverpool twice hit the bar. But Itandje's fumbling saves and erratic strolls from his line also kept the Kop nerves jangling. Then Howard danced his way into the box in the third minute of added time to send 6,000 away fans into orbit. Barnsley did not steal victory here. They richly deserved it. Boss Simon Davey, in his first management position having previously been on the coaching staff at Preston, said: "It is very hard to put this into words. This is what dreams are made of. "To bring my team to Anfield, and for them to score the winning goal with the last kick in injury-time is wonderful. "I never played at a high level as a player and this is the height of my coaching career, so it's fair to say that it is the best moment of my football career." Liverpool still have the Champions League to look forward to, and given their history in fighting back from positions of weakness, this may yet prove as bad a result for the Italians at it was for Benitez. There is no doubt the siege mentality and culture of paranoia he is nurturing will head into overdrive over the next 72 hours as the debris of this defeat is assessed. As ever, The Kop will rally around their team, but anything other than a similar response from his players on Tuesday will surely spell the end of his reign. He added: "Everyone is disappointed, but we can't change it now. Just think about the next game." Rafa has asked everyone and for everything to change at Liverpool. Today, he should listen to those who have wanted the best for him since he arrived at Valencia, and take this advice. It is time to look in the mirror.

To be honest it wouldn't surprise me at all if we got a positive result against Inter on Tuesday night. It would just be so typical of Rafa Benitez's Liverpool.

Played 15 Won 5 Drawn 6 Lost 4 over a two month period. 4 of those wins came against lower league opposition and two promoted teams. Very mediocre and inconsistent, those results clearly reflect our performance on the pitch....gash.

Not only that I don't think Rafa knows who his best 11 is. We could ask everyone on this forum who thinks our best 11 is and I'm sure we'd get numerous line ups. There would be the obvious candidates, perhaps 7 of the starting 11 but the rest is pot luck.

Which is the difference between the English and Spanish/European game. To win the League in England you got to have excellent man management skills whereas in Spain and in Europe the game is much more tactical. That is one of the reasons why many people on here think Rafa will never get English football. We should be going out there beating "lesser" teams to death, playing to our strengths. But Rafa seemingly picks his teams to nullify the strengths of the opposition, worrying more about them rather than worrying about how we are going to play.

A month onwards and still my opinion hasn't changed about the players within our squad apart from Babel who should now be promoted from "Squad Player" to "First Teamer". If Rafa does stay in the summer he has got to cull the squad particularly those players at the bottom of this list and bring in two or three top QUALITY signings. Indispensable Gerrard Torres First Teamers Finnan Agger Alonso Mascherano Carragher Reina Babel Squad Players - Good enough Hyypia - Done well when called upon Benayoun - Decent player and always chips in with a few goals Crouch - Gives us a different attacking option Arbeloa - Will push Finnan for the RB slot very soon Leiva - Shown glimpses what he is capable of Skrtel - Shaky start, starting to show his worth Squad Players - Not good enough Riise - Hoofs and give the ball away cheaply under little pressure Kewell- Injury prone, not the same player Voronin - Free transfer, that tells us everything Aurelio - Injury prone, never be a consistent performer Pennant - Very little end product Kuyt - Workhorse, very little attacking threat Itandje - Backup goalkeeper, looked shaky when called upon

I think the rotation of personnel isn't the issue here, I think it is more to do with the rotation of system we play from game to game. Wenger and Ferguson rotate their personnel to good effect, one player is left out and the player who comes back in seems to fit into the system flawlessly, so why is it not working for us? I personally feel we have too many systems, the players sometimes don't have a clue what they are suppose to do, which then leads to a lack of cohesion and teamwork. This also ultimately leads to seeing players being played out of their natural positions. This season alone we've played what? 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, 4-4-1-1, 4-5-1, 3-4-1-2..........it is just too much, Rafa is over complicating things just stick to two basic formations and leave it at that. All his Valencia team ever played was 4-2-3-1.

I think this is an important aspect which we may have overlooked, since Pako has gone our form overall has been mediocre, Rafa needs someone beside him on the bench to question his decisions during a game and out on the training pitch. Sometimes a manager just won't see everything even the most obvious things from the touchline, he needs a right hand man. Every successful team has one, Ferguson had Kidd and now Quieroz, Wenger has Rice. Pako was the "bridge" between the manager and the players, since he has left that bridge it seems is slowly wasting away. Rafa needs to get an Assistant manager in NOW.

Agree he was the only player out there first half who was trying to MAKE something happen, a constant menace to their right back, willingness to take on players and to create something. When he was dragged off I was shocked.

If he can't steady the ship then Rafa as good as a manager he is, he must not have good man management skills. Maybe Pako was the master at this while Rafa was the master of the tactical game. Is Rafa trying to bite off more than he can chew in not appointing an Assistant Manager?

Think everything you say there sums up our form and performances on the pitch since December. We're now in the middle of February and it is still no better.

Struggling to beat Luton, Havant and not beating Barnsley says a lot about Rafa's position as manager at the club. We've not played well in a run of games for ages and this season is over if we go out to Inter Milan.

But the manager is responsible for tactics, motivating his players, working with the players on the training field and picking a team that goes out there to win a game. The buck stops with the manager FULL STOP.