Jim D

Indeed, you can look at Rafa's Liverpool and say we don't have a playing style, it is totally non-existent. On a side note, why did Rafa take Babel off??!! Ridiculous decision from the manager, he was the only player on the pitch who was trying to make something happen.

Wish some people would not try to push the blame onto the players the fact of the matter is this we have not been playing well for a very long time especially at Anfield. We've had mediocre performance after mediocre performance, nothing has changed, its the same old story, we have become very predictable. Its painful to watch because you KNOW it is going to happen, we are now at a crossroads in Rafa's tenure, the whole feeling is now reminiscent of Ged's last days. Our record at home is rubbish and ultimately over a series of games the manager is responsible for the poor form his team is showing. Rafa's job is hanging by a thread, lose to Inter and that is it.

Pathetic, PATHETIC.............Barnsley have two chances and take both CLINICALLY, we have tonnes and tonnes of chances and blow them all. Pig sick!

Barnsley have defended really well and luck has certainly been on their side but our finishing has let us down big time and another PATHETIC shot from Riise.

Same old story this season at Anfield and has been for a long time, nothing has changed, you can predict how the 90mins will play out even before we kick off.

Been peppering their goal this half but once again bad finishing is letting us down and now Rafa takes off Babel?! WHY?! He's been our best attacking outlet!

Both Benayoun and Crouch should have scored there.

Good play from Babel again and Kuyt once again plays a pass to a Barnsley player.

Think that is pushing it a little bit, he has been OK but not excellent, the goal was put on a plate for him by Babel. He couldn't miss that opportunity. He has tried to link up play, credit to him for that but again his first touch still lets him down.

Good move there, one two and then a fantastic cross and Crouch with a header and good save from the goalie.

Down to 10 men, Alonso has gone off for stitches I assume. Another chance to break then, Babel attacks, support comes too late where we have Kuyt and Crouch lumbering to get up alongside him. Babel has been our only attacking threat and the only one who seems comfortable with the ball at his feet.

What type of ball was that from Riise??!! Immediately puts Sami under pressure, luckily nothing comes from it for Barnsley. Good play again from Babel, but again no support or movement off the ball for someone to receive a pass

Another corner kick gone to waste there, why even bother giving us corner kicks, the ref might as well just point for a goal kick.

hahaha and Kuyt scores! Great work by Babel though. 1-0

Itandje with a good save, then a decent shot by Alonso, good save keeper. Better corner from us, Xabi with a snap shot which is blocked.

A better effort from Babel, tame, easy save for the goalkeeper. Kuyt's still can't trap a ball.

Our corners are still rubbish, Babel twice had the opportunity to swing one in and both times he has failed to deliver a decent ball. How hard is it to put in a decent cross from a dead ball?!

Had four shots so far, all from long range... Kuyt, tame shot and wide Alonso, shoots miles wide Riise, shoots miles wide Lucas, shoots miles over Chance to counter and Kuyt sprays a ball across the pitch to no one and out of play.

I think this point is important, just recently in the transfer window Liverpool Football Club had just broke their transfer record for a defender. Martin Skrtel cost the Reds £6.5million, the Mancs record, well Rio Ferdinand for £33million from Leeds United, that was almost SIX years ago. If that doesn't show the gulf in the transfer market potential of the two clubs nothing will. We are constantly playing catch up and always will, we never stand still, we are always improving, its just the other teams around us improve as well.

That is debatable, ask Ferguson, he has only won the CL once in 15 years despite all of his domestic success. Wenger has yet to win it himself.

.....because every new manager that comes in will be judged alone on his league performances and whether he can deliver the League title. And so they should. The league title is what we all want. "Alone" was the key word in that sentence, so it won't matter one jot whether the next Liverpool manager wins other trophies during his tenure? The next manager may come in and win 3 Champions League's on the bounce and a few FA Cups but still the masses wouldn't be satisfied. I feel sometimes as a club we are in danger of over obsessing ourselves with the League Title, where we could end up getting to the stage of being like Real Madrid and sack a manager because he failed to deliver the League, despite winning other major trophies. We may as a club sink into mid table mediocrity and become another Villa, Spurs or Newcastle and never come back.

Why not? Both Ferguson and Wenger have already been given 4 years to reclaim the title. Winning the first title is always the most difficult to crack especially at a club like Liverpool where the expectancy level is high and it is now approaching 18 years since we last won it. A lot of people say the Newcastle or England job is the poisoned chalice but at this rate it will be the Liverpool's managers post because every new manager that comes in will be judged alone on his league performances and whether he can deliver the League title. Everyone's obsession within the club of wanting the League title back is adding undue pressure on the manager and it will remain so until someone delivers it.

Then which managers that are available are capable of winning the Premiership? That know how the English game works, are familiar with it, know what it takes to win matches across England week in and week out? Does the manager have to be English or Scottish, do you risk bringing in another continental manager who will obviously need time to adapt to the English way, will that manager ever "get it?" or understand how you play football in the Premier League?" The past four Premiership winning managers: Ferguson, Mourinho, Wenger, Dalglish. Out of that list Mourinho seems to be the exception but he was given a huge transfer kitty (£300million worth of talent) so he was expected to win the title with that amount of financial backing in such a short space of time. The rest are managers who have been in the English game for over 10 years and know through experience what it takes to win the Premiership. Do we go with someone who has managed in England for a good number of years? Allardyce? O'Neill? Moyes? Redknapp? Curbishley?

Well to be honest there aren't that many managers out there who are better than Rafa. Rafa is a world class manager, he has proven that by winning trophies at home and abroad in different countries. There aren't many managers out there like that who are available or would be willing to come to manage in England. I feel it would be a major mistake for us as a club to let Rafa go at this point because if he went to another club he would still win trophies. Not many managers like Rafa come around that often.