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Juve, Leverkusen - First leg 0-0 at home is generally a good result. Better than 1-1 or 2-2 or even a loss. Chelsea 0-0 would have taken us to penos.

I'd just started playing and watching football then - it was the first live telly match I'd caught as a serious football fan. I didn't really know the rules back then (still don't to an extent) and I thought Redknapp won the ball and it was never a peno. But the commentators were so obsessed about Cantona and how he was going to score on his comeback etc etc they never really bothered analysing it objectively. So I assumed that it was a penalty. Glad that's finally straightened out!

I have this sneaky suspicion this store sells fakes from Asia. Can anyone verify this?

This is the way I see it - His first season saw some of the best passing of a football from an individual in a long time. Watch the Spurs game at Anfield again, it was some of the best football we've played under Rafa, consistently in a single match I thought. His second season, he toughened up and his off the ball play was fantastic, but his passing was not as pin point nor consistent as his previous season. But his tackling and defensive game, and ability to read and break plays Hamann like was certainly at its best. The Everton Anfield game was certainly one of the best all round midfield performances I'd seen for a while. Last season, his performances were more well rounded, and yes he did have a solid season but there weren't enough majestic performances for me. But I'll still maintain that if he were to be played a little further upfield, in a more compact team with better off the ball movement, we'd see the best of him again.

Xabi is my favourite player, but for some reason his passing game isn't quite as dynamic as in his first season. I think it's got something to do with the way we play, and as mentioned in my previous post, I don't like where it's heading. In Rafa's first season, I thought we started to play football again and was very excited about it. Somehow this season (overall performances) we've regressed football wise anyway - less movement, less passing, almost as if we've reverted to the Owen days under Houllier of hit and hope. And it's not as if we don't have the players to play better football, we absolutely do. Reina is an excellent user of the ball from goals. Finnan, Arbeloa and Aurelio are very competent on the ball from fullback. Skrtel and Agger can play. In midfield, Alonso, Gerrard and Mascherano can all pass the ball, and our best footballer in tight situations (IMO) is Benayoun. Torres and Crouch can most certainly play football. Kuyt is hit and miss but by he seems to have a good understanding of the game - pity his ability on the ball isn't great.

This is how I see it. Firstly, the team needs to be more compact length wise - the three functional units needs to be tighter. This means playing a higher line. This means having pace in the back line so we are not susceptible to the ball over the top. We have missed Agger a lot this season. Next, there needs to be movement off the ball. Support the ball carrier. It's a very simple game. Pass the ball, move into space. Run to the ball carrier, and always give him more than one "out ball". Finally, play our best technical players and then acquire more - we have intelligent players who can use the ball well already. Babel would look a much better player in Arsenal or Man Utd, because they support their teammates. We need to do the same for him - he was isolated and getting double teamed, and had very little support. Doesn't help his confidence at all. Even Alonso looks a pretty poor passer, he's taking two, three touches to look for passes because there aren't enough players moving off the ball. It's infuriating. I was watching our game against West Ham at Anfield last season, and it looks like the quality of our football this season has gone down. Very static players, all playing as if they've been told to hold their positions. The team is too stretched out and it is forcing players to either hit it long, or lose the ball. This is something the manager needs to address, but I'm not holding my breath on it happening before the summer. But it needs to change. We just make things hard for us when we can't keep the ball, as many have mentioned.

Only worry for me is that Lucas every once in a while dwells on the ball for that split second too long. In a derby match, he'd find it pretty tough in that respect...

Just saw on Sky Sports news a clip which filmed Rafa continuously staring at Bennett on the way back to the tunnel...looked like he'd have shot the c*nt if he had a gun right there and then...

I think he needs to just play with more aggression and put himself about for a sustained period at certain points of these big matches. We did pretty well for about 5-10 mins in the 2nd half. And the catalyst seemed to be that Stevie was looking up for it then. After a while it fizzled out a bit. A case of the old saying taking the game by the scruff of its neck? Having said all that, when he did play with more passion and aggression in the derby, Rafa took him off...sometimes I wonder if Rafa has coached that 03/04 (tail-end) all action player out of Stevie. Surely he must recognize that we need that superman once in a while and not force Gerrard to suppress it all the time?

He's a technical and intelligent player, and if Gerrard were to be left out/rested/injured I'd like to see Yossi take his place. But defo not a wide player, doesn't quite work for him. He needs runners around him and to be involved in plays so teammates can take advantage of his movement and also ability to thread passes in tight areas.

99/00: 1-1 00/01: 1-0 win 01/02: 1-0 win 02/03: 4-0 loss 03/04: 1-0 win 04/05: 2-1 loss 05/06: 1-0 loss 06/07: 2-0 loss I think if we score a goal there it would be progress under Rafa, but our record isn't as bad as you say it is. We went to Chelsea without Torres in Jan/Feb and got a point at a place which we've had more dire results than Old Trafford in the past 10 or so seasons. And that 1-0 loss two seasons ago was so undeserved, we should have scored through Cisse who was being a total pr*ck, that would have seen us finish 2nd as well...

I think I might have mentioned this before, but if we played Chelsea over two legs again, that would make 20 matches between the two clubs in Rafa's 4 seasons in charge. So far the record stands at: 04/05 - 3 losses (2 league, 1 League Cup), 1 draw (CL), 1 win (CL) 05/06 - 2 losses (League) , 2 draws (CL), 1 win (FA Cup) 06/07 - 2 losses (1 League, 1 CL), 3 wins (Charity Shield, League, CL) 07/08 - 1 loss (LC), 2 draws (League)

Yup, which makes the way Man Utd and especially Arsenal play football nowadays all the more impressive. McAteer was actually pretty good at whipping in crosses, never really realised that back then. Maybe the quality of crossing has deteriorated these days due to the balls being lighter. Nevertheless, I happen to have a copy of the Man Utd 2-0 game at Anfield from that season, and the pace was pretty intense then...

The defence that year was (joint) 2nd best in the league. In the next season before James imploded during the Newcastle game, we had the best defence and attack in the league at that point. But hey, don't let facts get in the way of a general opinion... Football has definitely changed in the past few years though...

We do have Benayoun who is excellent at quick passing and especially in tight areas. We need a couple more players who have quick feet and know how to beat their man and make play in tighter areas. Throw them on for home games, instruct fullbacks to bomb forward and more often than not we'll overrun teams.

Get them to watch videos of when Gary Macca was around, or even ring him up and ask him to give some tips. It's not very tough, we have a few pretty tall guys, and Sami is still good in the air. Stick him at the near post, float or whip it in. In theory anyway...

McAllister was great with them. We scored heaps (in comparison to recent years post Macca) in the treble season and a few more in the one after that.

We're due another two matches against Chelsea to fulfill our annual quota (since Rafa joined) of 5 matches a season against that lot, so if we do go as far as the semis, I'd bet on us playing them in the quarters or semis...

So true! There's also zonal defence, Gerrard not being played as a central midfielder... Slightly off tangent, my mate who's an Arsenal season ticket holder said to me earlier "I hate Liverpool. How can they lose to Barnsley one day and 3 later beat Inter? It's because they're a European team. I hate them. I want Arsenal to be a European team! I want Arsenal to win the Champions League!!!". I laughed out loud, and said I wished we were a Premier League team...

I think there's a difference between "I can't see it in him" and "he's got absolutely no chance", the latter which can be classed as a proper "writing off".

Twice the price, but twice the player...

"We'll know more in five days' time whether we have turned a corner or not," said Benitez. Source The curse of the moving corner...?

Well for the record, I said from the start of the season that Arsenal will be there or thereabouts in the title race. Many could see what Wenger was doing, highlighted by their excellent league cup run last season. I have this opinion that when the going gets tough, you revert to your basic instincts. Hence the point about when Arsenal are in bad form, it's not because they're trying to do the things they normally do, which is pass and move. Sure, players' passing will go astray, their touch may not be as great and the confidence won't be there to pull off the harder plays. But I think they'll still try to support the ball carrier and play their way into a match. Because that seems to be what's been drilled into them, what they practice day in day out on training. That's why when they're high on confidence, they play on instinct. My mate pointed out something too - they look like they're having fun out there. Wouldn't you enjoy playing football like that, and winning? On the other hand, we seem to be drilled differently. Therefore when the chips are down, we have the whole team spread out 15 yards from each other, with absolutely no movement off the ball and therefore the only option is a backpass, or a hoof upfield. Defensively we are still decent though, and hence whilst we've not won too many matches during our poor spell, we have not lost many either. I watched the Chelsea match from right up the top of the stand. When we had the ball, there was not enough movement, and players were taking up wrong positions half the time. I put that down to their lack of playing time together and this is down to too much chopping and changing from the manager. Maybe it's oversimplification, but I can't think of another reason.

Because we got results and looked to be progressing. Doesn't mean I didn't think we could be passing the ball better. But if it gets results, great. Also, Rafa's team looked to be progressing - this is his 4th season and we're no closer to winning the league. And in my opinion it's had to do in part with the manager's tactical preparations and matchday performances. And also because Rafa's grace period (during which I will defend him to the hilt) is coming close to an end if it hasn't already.

In his first season, there was a stark difference in the way we played, especially at Anfield. There was a purpose to our play, better passing and movement. That much was obvious. At Valencia it seems like he had a squad of players who were very good on the ball anyway. I was watching the Real 7-0 match last weekend, and one thing was very obvious - even 5 down at half time, Valladolid (I think?) were still passing the ball around very well, and carving out chances with their players able to beat their men out wide or produce passages of play which opened up the Real defence. They passed the ball and moved around with purpose, and should have got at least 3 goals in the second half but for some silly indecision in front of goal and a great save from Casillas. Could that be the difference between the Spanish and English leagues? I don't watch enough of La Liga to be honest, but from the few matches I have this season, Spanish mid-table teams have players that are excellent on (and off) the ball in comparison to the English league. With regards this quote "as for rafas team not keeping the ball.. nothing could be further from the truth.. the lack of knowledge some of our so called fans have of our team is a disgrace" - sure, we play better football than under Houllier. But if Rafa put possession right up the top of football principles, we'd be playing more like Arsenal than what we currently are. Almost all top teams play good possession football, and to do so you need players who can put their foot on the ball, turn on it and on occassion beat their man. And then, move into space. They always have two outlets. Watch Arsenal play, there's always a "triangle" formed between players on the ball and two supporting men. At our best we play decent to good football. If Rafa believed that possession of the ball is that important Benayoun would be one of the first players on his teamsheet, and the last one off the pitch when things are going wrong. He would slot into Arsenal's team very comfortably - he has a very good touch, can pass the ball well, has excellent movement and even knows how to find the net. If you go by those axioms which I presented (which you could argue as oversimplification and I'd agree) you cannot tell me that Rafa sets his team out with ball possession being at the top of the three. Too often you'll see that there is not enough movement off the ball, not enough support for the man on the ball, not enough midfielders getting ahead of the strikers. If Rafa put possession higher on his priorities in training the team, you'll not see Mascherano get the ball and have only two passing options - the square ball and the pass back to his central defender. And that's not wholly down to the team's confidence, it's the style of play. I've seen Arsenal come unstuck and have their possession game stifled, and it's hardly down to their players' lack of movement or standing 15 yards away from the ball carrier. I'm certainly not saying we need to be passing the ball like Arsenal (or even Man Utd). But if you don't have enough players who can win you matches (Chelsea did in their first couple season without playing spectacular football) by beating their men or whipping in pin point crosses which even Crouchy can't miss, then you need to find a different way of playing well consistently. And that would be by passing the ball well and having midfielders actually running ahead of their strikers and regularly getting into the box (something I've noticed Lucas do on occassion). We've played some pretty stuff this season, and we did at times last season - Crouch's goal against West Ham at Anfield was fantastic. But consistently we don't do it enough. Possession in and around the opposition penalty box is not quite the same as in the middle third or further behind. And that's why we're almost 20 points off the pace right now.