Magic8Ball

whilst possible I think we should stop clinging to hopes like that - realistically he'd need to be regularly scoring 8-15 per season in Spain to have a chance of exploding as a goal threat here. I think he scores about 5

while Silva's talented- he doesn't score a lot of goals

First there was Ossie's diamond, now we have, da da da dah, "Rafa's Rhomboid" .... bit narrow isn't it ?

why don't you just list their league fixtures ?

Football's great conspiracy theories Chelsea's tumultuous elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona and Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo has been accompanied by allegations of a Uefa plot to prevent another all-English final. Here are some other great football conspiracy theories. By Rory Smith Last Updated: 5:45PM BST 07 May 2009 Liverpool v Inter Milan, 1965: Leading 3-1 from the first leg at Anfield, Bill Shankly's side were beaten 3-0 in front of 90,000 at the San Siro in what one Liverpool director referred to as evidence that "they are never going to let a British team win the European Cup." Ian St John saw one legitimate goal chalked off, while Spanish referee Jose Maria Oritz de Mendibil allowed two controversial Inter goals to stand. Derby County v Juventus, 1973: It is a scene immortalised in The Damned United: Brian Clough loudly informing the Italian press he would not speak to "cheating --------". Clough's first European adventure was mortally wounded by a 3-1 defeat in Italy after Archie Gemmill and Roy McFarland were booked – ruling them out of the return, which Derby won 1-0 – and Juventus substitute Helmut Haller accompanied referee Gerhard Schulenburg to his dressing room at half-time. Brian Clough's memory was sullied by inaccuracies in that 'Damned' book Barcelona?s hit-and-miss Champions League record in England Leeds Utd v AC Milan, 1973: A European Cup Winners' Cup final dominated by strange decisions from Greek referee Christos Michas, Norman Hunter being harshly dismissed and two Leeds penalty appeals turned away. The Greek FA later found Michas guilty of match-fixing in relation to events in the game and he was banned for life by Uefa. Leeds Utd v Bayern Munich, 1975: Picking up the pieces from Clough's disastrous 44 days at Elland Road, Jimmy Armfield somehow guided the remnants of Don Revie's side into the European Cup final. Bayern won 2-0, but not before referee Michel Kitabdjian had ruled out Peter Lorimer's valid goal and denied Leeds two clear-cut penalties. Anderlecht v Nottingham Forest, 1984: The only proven case of bribery affecting an English team's progression in Europe. Clough's Forest side won the first leg at the City Ground 2-0 only to lose 3-0 in Belgium, with a controversial goal ruled out. Anderlecht later admitted they had paid Spanish official Emilio Guruceta Muro £20,000 as "a loan" before the game. Bobby Moore in Colombia 1970: Just weeks before England mounted their unsuccessful defence of the World Cup in Mexico, talismanic captain Bobby Moore was arrested and charged in Colombia, accused of stealing an emerald bracelet from a hotel shop. All charges were dropped but files released two years later suggest the incident was a deliberate sting on the part of the Colombian secret services. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...y-theories.html

does anyone actually believe the Zlatan rumors ?

Not really, I saw the situation as analogous. In football we often see teams running back to their 18 yard box when they lose the ball and trying to defend from there. Rafa has us playing a pressing game and defending as far up the field as possible, similar to the reuse used by the basketball team. It may not seem new to many old timers here but it did seem like something forgotten under Houllier. by not retreating and challenging all the way Rafa's built a team that doesn't allow the opposition to play to their strength ( compare to the basket ball situation) this unsettles the opposition and allows for our attacks As said earlier most teams seem to retreat to their 18 yard box. This suits most big teams the Mancs in particular

Thanks, sometimes we don't realize how lucky we are to have Rafa. His instinct and street smarts will make him a great wherever he goes. This article seems to validate his approach

Luis Suarez

This is from a long Malcolm Gladwell article. I know most of you wont read this, but I thought it worth posting as I got the feeling this applies to why the Mancs do so well and why Rafa's approach is bearing dividends. Executive summary: Breaking the rules is how under dogs win HOW DAVID BEATS GOLIATH When underdogs break the rules. by Malcolm Gladwell MAY 11, 2009 A non-stop full-court press gives weak basketball teams a chance against far stronger teams. Why have so few adopted it? KEYWORDS Vivek Ranadivé; Coaches; Basketball; Daughters; Mumbai; David and Goliath; Underdogs hen Vivek Ranadivé decided to coach his daughter Anjali’s basketball team, he settled on two principles. The first was that he would never raise his voice. This was National Junior Basketball—the Little League of basketball. The team was made up mostly of twelve-year-olds, and twelve-year-olds, he knew from experience, did not respond well to shouting. He would conduct business on the basketball court, he decided, the same way he conducted business at his software firm. He would speak calmly and softly, and convince the girls of the wisdom of his approach with appeals to reason and common sense. The second principle was more important. Ranadivé was puzzled by the way Americans played basketball. He is from Mumbai. He grew up with cricket and soccer. He would never forget the first time he saw a basketball game. He thought it was mindless. Team A would score and then immediately retreat to its own end of the court. Team B would inbound the ball and dribble it into Team A’s end, where Team A was patiently waiting. Then the process would reverse itself. A basketball court was ninety-four feet long. But most of the time a team defended only about twenty-four feet of that, conceding the other seventy feet. Occasionally, teams would play a full-court press—that is, they would contest their opponent’s attempt to advance the ball up the court. But they would do it for only a few minutes at a time. It was as if there were a kind of conspiracy in the basketball world about the way the game ought to be played, and Ranadivé thought that that conspiracy had the effect of widening the gap between good teams and weak teams. Good teams, after all, had players who were tall and could dribble and shoot well; they could crisply execute their carefully prepared plays in their opponent’s end. Why, then, did weak teams play in a way that made it easy for good teams to do the very things that made them so good? This bit stood out to me, reminded me of the mid table teams falling back and allowing the Mancs to do what they do best, take shots and play around the penalty area Ranadivé looked at his girls. Morgan and Julia were serious basketball players. But Nicky, Angela, Dani, Holly, Annika, and his own daughter, Anjali, had never played the game before. They weren’t all that tall. They couldn’t shoot. They weren’t particularly adept at dribbling. They were not the sort who played pickup games at the playground every evening. Most of them were, as Ranadivé says, “little blond girls” from Menlo Park and Redwood City, the heart of Silicon Valley. These were the daughters of computer programmers and people with graduate degrees. They worked on science projects, and read books, and went on ski vacations with their parents, and dreamed about growing up to be marine biologists. Ranadivé knew that if they played the conventional way—if they let their opponents dribble the ball up the court without opposition—they would almost certainly lose to the girls for whom basketball was a passion. Ranadivé came to America as a seventeen-year-old, with fifty dollars in his pocket. He was not one to accept losing easily. His second principle, then, was that his team would play a real full-court press, every game, all the time. The team ended up at the national championships. “It was really random,” Anjali Ranadivé said. “I mean, my father had never played basketball before.” This reminds me of Rafa in his earlier seasons here. I tell you the man should write a book on Management Rest of the long article here http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05...currentPage=all

The penalty against Spurs is where I started doubting, but let's just hope we win all our games

Benitez is equally determined to keep hold of Xabi Alonso, despite interest from Juventus and Real Madrid, and is likely to revive his move for Gareth Barry, the Aston Villa player, as an alternative to, not a replacement for, the Basque. Benitez is confident he will be able to sign Barry for around £9 million after Villa missed out on Champions League qualification. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...l-signings.html

BENITEZ: DON'T BE AFRAID OF US TOP TARGET: But Villa might feel he would be overshadowed by Gerrard and Torres at Anfield Wednesday May 6,2009 By Peter Edwards Rafa Benitez claims that his top targets should be motivated by the chance of joining Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres at Liverpool rather than fear that they will be pushed into the shadows by the two prolific marksmen. Benitez responded to suggestions that wanted men such as Valencia duo David Villa and David Silva, along with Almeria’s Alvaro Negredo, could be put off a move to Anfield by the power of inspirational captain Gerrard and star striker Torres. He has no concerns on that score – and clearly does not believe the bitter experience of Robbie Keane, bought by his boyhood idols last July and sold back to Tottenham little more than six months later, will in any way deter potential signings. Manager Benitez is sorry to lose Sami Hyypia, who leaves in the summer for German club Bayer Leverkusen after 10 years’ distinguished service despite being offered a coaching role. But he prefers to concentrate on the positives as he looks ahead. “Everyone knows how good Torres and Gerrard are, and they do play very well together,” said Benitez. “But we have 60 games or so a season. That means there are going to be plenty of chances for everyone, so I don’t think it would be a problem. Obviously it depends on the quality of the players, but I think we will manage. “We have been working hard identifying players. It is just a question of signing the right ones, but I am confident we will.” Gerrard has been unstoppable at times this season and is the club top scorer with 21 goals. He has been at his most potent in the role supporting Torres but Benitez believes he can perform virtually anywhere. “The thing with Stevie is that he is an intelligent player,” said Benitez. “He can play on the right, middle or left, as well as a second striker, so we will have options. “He’s clever and has matured, so we just have to make sure we use his quality in the best way for the team. I don’t think it makes a big difference what position he is in.” Veteran Finland defender Hyypia explained why he has decided to move on after enjoying so much success in the centre of Liverpool’s back line since joining for a bargain £2.5STnS million from Dutch club Willem II in the summer of 1999. “The main reason is I still feel that I’m young enough to play football and I know chances to play here would be limited,” said Hyypia, 35. “I spoke to the manager and I didn’t want him to make promises about how many games I would play, but this season has been mentally very difficult. I haven’t played a lot and playing is what I enjoy most. “I understand it isn’t possible to play enough games here for me to be happy, so I had to look elsewhere. I got the option to go abroad to Bayer Leverkusen. “The whole package was good, they have big plans for me and hopefully I can go there and help them to be successful. “It was very difficult because from day one I have felt at home here. I have had good relationships with the club, the staff and all the players who have been here over the last 10 years. “Coaching is something which has always been in my mind, but I have to take my badges first. At the end of my playing career I would like to come back here one day as a coach.” Benitez said: “We are all disappointed because we will miss Sami. He is so important to the club.” ‘There will be lots of chances for everyone’ http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/99241

C'mon you knew there had to be some catch

they can play Arshavin in the league, and it just takes a couple of early chances for Arsenal to be 2 up

pi55es me off too

what sort of hoodoo do man u have over teams ?

well arsenal are out of this, best we can hope for is them beating Chelsea so they try against Man U (in the league)

You're probably not that confident in your abilities Hassony's right, wish we would stop assuming poor players will play better in a better team - doesn't always follow

Actually preferred the Luis Suarez link

Liverpool fans voted Xabi Alonso man of the match against Newcastle. Clairvoyant passing and two shots from distance that ricocheted off the bar: Alonso was a beast against the Magpies. But I suspect it was his temporary martyrdom that won Alonso the honor over some of the other candidates. Xabi took the full force of Joey Barton’s thuggish tackle on 87 minutes before being stretchered off the pitch. If it hadn’t been for that sacrifice, I think the big contender might have been Yossi Benayoun. Yossi was unstoppable on Sunday. Twisting left and right to leave United defenders in the dust. Popping up in every part of the attacking third. Shuttling fierce balls into the box from wide positions. Opening the scoring. Benayoun was man of the match for me. In the late part of the season he’s been one of Liverpool’s best players. At some point this season, Yossi’s game opened wide. In the early part of the year, he struggled for place. His game confidence seemed deflated from so much time on the bench. But Liverpool’s results were so consistently fantastic early on, Rafa Benitez had scuttled his rotation policy and the fine form of Dirk Kuyt and Albert Riera meant Liverpool’s favorite Israeli international wasn’t seeing the quantity of pitch time he’d enjoyed the previous season. But as the year went on and Liverpool’s form dipped with an abundance baffling draws sneaking in with the Reds’ collection of outstanding wins (Liverpool pulled doubles over Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid), Yossi found his way into the team more and more. Yossi began finding form and causing threats which earned him a series of starts in February which culminated in his brilliant header against Real Madrid at San Bernabeu, earning Liverpool an away goal and a lead to bring back to Anfield. He scored again two matches later (his next start) in the 2-0 win over Sunderland. Just as Benayoun found winning form, injury struck. He missed out on the second leg against Real as well as the big victories over Manchester United and Aston Villa. I feared injury would break up Yossi’s run of form. But he assuaged my fears in stoppage time against Fulham, when he took the ball deep into the box, turned his man and fired an angled shot past Mark Schwarzer to secure all three points and keep Liverpool in the title race. His teammates chased him down and piled themselves upon him. He’s had his droughts, but Yossi Benayoun has been an important player for Liverpool since he joined the Reds in 2007. Arriving in the same transfer window as goal-scoring phenomenon Fernando Torres, Benayoun’s contributions can seem overshadowed. But his importance is undeniable. Wily, creative and relentless, Benayoun is at his best coming in from the right. His cross has improved over the seasons with Liverpool, but his ability to cut into the box from out wide, turning defenders and creating chances is his best weapon. In the early part of the season, when his form languished at times, he hesitated to take the shot in traffic, often laying it off to someone else. But now that his confidence soaring and he’s getting his goals in, Yossi will try anything from anywhere. The element of surprise is always on his side as his body language gives no hints as to which way he’s going to twist next and at which momment he will fire the ball. With the departure of Robbie Keane and David N’Gog yet to show what he can do for Liverpool on a regular first-team basis, Yossi role a proven goalscorer who will not rest is invaluable. In the long term, Benayoun is going to prove to have been a massive bargain. Hopefully, West Ham don’t call and ask for more money as he continues to astound. http://www.epltalk.com/yossi-benayoun-live...ret-weapon/6617

Dossena and Voronin (with Itanje) should about cover Barry. So net cost ~0

thanks I found this ( video included, naturally) http://www.imscouting.com/global_news_item.aspx?id=1919

how good is this guy and how does he play?

That's a pretty big main weakness !