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If you thought they actually had a clue about football to begin with you must be living in la la land. Even they admitted so themselves. PS: No offence intended, just found what you said quite funny...

Looks like ours... (but in blue, obviously...)

Aye. Some very good touches this evening. Has to start on the weekend. In a 4-4-2 with Suarez. And I am not a fan of 4-4-2 generally...

That was what I meant when I wrote "defo a Commoli signing to me". Well said.

Showed character and presence today, even from right back. Think this was the game which he finally grew out of his shell.

F*cking ball that was into the corner for Bellamy to chase down.

The logic is quite simple. Consistently qualifying for the CL apparently gives you two things: 1) attraction power for the better players 2) the money to get more of these players in The domestic cups won't mean as much if we're winning them year after year but can't crack the top 4, as the longer you stay out the more difficult it is to get back in. Not sure why UEFA won't give the Europa League winners a spot in the CL qualies...

Posted this on the Kenny thread a few weeks ago. It was a normal challenge, and I'm almost certain (I have a bung knee myself) that the injury had a lot to do with putting in a full shift 48 hours prior. I can't imagine the sports science people said it was OK to play Lucas. The lad hadn't had a proper rest for a while, with Brazil's involvement in the Copa and playing just about every game in 2011 up to that point. Horrible management. Thought it when I saw Lucas on the pitch, still think it now. What's made it worse (in hindsight) is that winning the cup should have propelled our challenge for 4th upwards. Instead we've collected 4 points from 8 league games...

Do dogs normally go for walks alone?

It would be like bringing Baros back on, but this time WHEN he's being substituted...

Holden, if he gets back to fitness as before is a very solid player from what I saw. Good shout. I'd keep Adam though, I think he can add to our attacking play if he's played further up field without the defensive responsibilities. When we're 2-0 up with 15 minutes to go.

I have no opinion about Ayre's suitability to the role like some do. However, if every part of the Suarez affair was approved by him, then to me it is a sackable offence. It was amateurish, and what was even more scary, they appear to not know what they were up against. As opposed to the way Broughton and the legal team worked through all the different scenarios when managing the club purchase, we had no absolutely clue.

Defo a Comolli signing to me.

8 9 14 15 18 | 2 5 Gerrard-Torres-Alonso-Benayoun-Kuyt | Reina 08/09 key players. Won't get you the jackpot but should win enough to last a long while...

Off the top of my head: 04-05: Losses to Chelsea, Man Utd and Birmingham 05-06: Chelsea 4-1 06-07: O'Shea at Kop end 07-08: Tevez set play 08-09: can't remember the last time we went unbeaten at home 09-10: Villa, Arsenal and Chelsea I seem to recall that we conceded only something like 6 goals at home in 06-07. And two or three of them were to Charlton during our CL Final warm up game...

Agree that Rafa would appreciate a DoF. Rodgers appears to be adapting the Barca approach in terms of playing style. AVB seemed to like a compact, mobile passing team as well. Positives. Agree that for young managers to take on a high pressure job (like LFC, Chelsea) they need to have the structure and support in place. AVB's main problems were the egos in the club. Some being older than him didn't help as well. And I'm sure they were all comparing every manager to Mourinho. Would he have the same problem here? No - only Carragher will be the issue. I say that from a footballing perspective - AVB wanted to employ a very high defensive line at the start and had to compromise. Once he caved in, I think that was the start of his demise at Chelsea. The philosophy and strategy has to be established first, so that there is less need to change the playing personnel if/when a new manager joins. Commoli has to earn his money in this respect, but do we trust him to set this philosophy at our club? I don't know enough about his capabilities. Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique and Lucas are as good a spine as any (fitness permitting). This is a core that is comfortable on the ball, and are mobile enough to play a high tempo pressing game high up the pitch. Suarez under the right setup would be immense again (last spring). Kelly, Coates, Shelvey, Spearing and Henderson will be good quality squad players at worst. Gerrard is ageing, Maxi and Kuyt are likely gone this summer. Downing is a waste of money as a backup but whilst we have him on the books there is always use for a left footed winger with decent pace. Adam is a useful wild card to have in the squad. Put him in a three and his deficiencies can be minimalised. Finally, has Guardiola signed a new contract yet? He has previously made positive comments about LFC as a football club, and knows that we have the best people in youth football (outside of) La Masia. I know it's incredibly unlikely he'll join, but if there's even a 1% chance of it happening then we should be pulling the stops.

The hug would have delivered the following messages: 1) It is a privilege and an honour to meet you. 2) You are one of my football heroes. 3) Thank you for some amazing experiences as an LFC supporter. And if you love someone you want to tell them what you think is best for them, no? In my humble opinion, Rafa needs to move on. I wish so badly that he's back at the club and can lead us to glory again. He might well end up back in charge again, but there are forces which will prevent him from being successful. For me, one of the best tactical performances I've ever seen from a Rafa team was the first half of Barca at home (CL '07) when we lost 1-0 but went through on away goals. The fluency in our pressing was glorious.

Love Rafa. Hate the media. I watched the Spurs-Swansea game today and Neville was going on and on about zonal marking. With no regard to the fact that most of that team are not very tall, so whatever system they use they aren't going to be the best at defending corners. They won't change their ways. To them, Rafa is clueless, negative, stuck in his [superior] ways and refused to adapt to the British method/mentality. He will get destroyed after his first 0-0 draw, never mind losing 6 out of 7. If I ever met Rafa I would give him a big hug, and probably start tearing when telling him that, his longing to be back at LFC will never be, or end well if it did. Which is a huge shame...

Done to death this one, you're right. But what has really surprised me is THAT was the LFC I expected to see under Kenny. As someone who started following the club in the mid 90s, I've seen Evans' cavalier attacking style, Houllier's solid and counter-attacking brand, Rafa's controlled teams. And kept hearing about Kenny's LFC mid-late 80's teams which were all about pass and move. And thought the Maxi-Meireles-Lucas-Spearing-Suarez-Kuyt act last season was just that. And BTW I think we saw Kuyt in one of his best spells for LFC last spring because of the tactics and intelligent players surrounding him.

Been thinking about this - surely the sports science people would never have told Kenny it was fine to play Lucas 2 days after he put in a world class performance against City at Anfield? Considering Lucas had a very short break over the summer, and also played in just about all our games leading up to that point (including internationals). He put in another superb performance and ultimately contributed to our first trophy in 6 years, but my goodness we have suffered during his absence haven't we? I remember being really worried when I saw that he was starting the game and as soon as he went down I feared fro the worst. I suspect (having a bung knee myself) he did his ACL due to his quads and hamstrings not being as strong as they would normally be, going in for a rather harmless challenge. (Happy to be proven wrong as I haven't seen any close ups of the challenge.)

Liverpool to miss a peno: 12/1 on Bet365 - get on it!

Picks the right pass most of the time. Needs to stay in the team.

Wasn't Martin o'Neill supposed to be front runner as his successor...?

Given we're (according to the analysis on this thread): 1) longer and more stretched 2) pressing less between the lines 3) we've lost Lucas for the last few months Is it mainly due to Skrtel and Agger being as good as they've been? Enrique? Have we actually dominated possession more the season (stats would be useful)? As for last season's style of play, I'm still with you, and have been banging on the same drum for the longest time. I was led to believe that it was Kenny's style of football - pass and move, with a lot of intelligent movement between the lines. We're struggling to get players in the box half the time - last season Maxi and Meireles would be storming ahead of play. Suarez loves playing from deep, and is not an out and out forward - just watch the number of times he hangs back around the edge of the area waiting for the return ball when he needs to be charging into the 6 yard box. That said, I really enjoyed our first half performance on Saturday - thought it was absolutely brilliant, and against Arsenal's first choice back 6 too (keeper + 4 + Song). When you have Suarez and Kuyt playing there is fluidity in the movement up top and between the lines, with a good link to the midfield. Henderson put in a good performance because Kuyt was in good form. Kuyt's movement and influence I feel is underrated/unnoticed but he does seem to get teammates into the game when he's on form. Anyway, my summary of the issues leading to our woeful goalscoring record (which ties in to the home form) this season: 1) Adam, Henderson and Downing - stats showed they were amongst the top 10 goalscoring chance creators last season. Great, so who's finishing them chances? Simplistic, but it's true. Henderson offers nothing when he doesn't take responsibility, Downing is rubbish at finishing and Adam is guilty of making wrong choices when close to goal. ... ... ... 2) Maxi - one of our most natural goalscorers...we have problems putting the ball in the net but still he doesn't get game time 4) Carroll - he's not the 1 in the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 but due to lack of resources we need to accommodate him 5) Lucas - did he absolutely have to start in the Carling Cup QF (yes I'm aware we won our first trophy in 6 years with his contribution in that game immense), 2 days after putting in a world class performance against Man City? He played in the Copa, and started (almost) every game up to that point. Was Kenny forced to take a risk and play him? 6) Gerrard - why is he still playing in central midfield when we are clearly in need of his goalscoring ability further up the pitch? 7) Bellamy - our quickest player, and possibly most consistent goalscorer this season can't play consistently... I was trying to justify a spot for Adam on that list, but concluded his inclusion in the team is circumstantial. Clearly he'll never start games ahead of Gerrard or Lucas (apart from rotating tired legs) in central midfield, and if we even got his total goal/assist contributions shared between Downing and Henderson we'd be in a much better place.

That's what bothers me about him - he looks like he has it in him, but is deferring responsibility. If it was the team of 08-09 which had Torres, Gerrard, Alonso, Benayoun and Kuyt all in top form that would be understandable. Lucas in that team often deferred responsibility but in comparison to Hendo you can understand, given the leaders (and level of talent) around him. Henderson is deferring to the likes of Adam and Downing which for me is not acceptable, given they are players around the same level. Yes, he's young but he needs to be told to step up and take charge because there is ability in the boy.